CarNewsWorld

Max Verstappen Slams Front-Wheel-Drive Cars: 'Worst Thing Ever'

Red Bull Racing switched to Honda engines for the 2019 season when it ended a 12-year partnership with Renault. Even though Honda left Formula 1 after the 2021 championship, the turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 powering the RB21 this year still uses a Honda-developed engine. Over the years, F1 driver Max Verstappen has appeared in various commercials promoting production cars, including the Civic Type R.

But from 2026 until at least 2030, RBR will use a new powertrain co-developed with Ford. The four-time F1 champion is already starring in a loosely veiled ad for the Blue Oval. Riding shotgun in an RS200 driven by journalist Chris Harris before hopping behind the wheel of a Mustang GTD, Verstappen didn’t hold back on his feelings about front-wheel-drive cars: “I think it’s really boring. For me, it’s like anti-driving. I drove sometimes in the simulator. It’s like the worst thing ever.”

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The New Porsche 911 Turbo S Debuts This Year. And It Will Be a Hybrid.

It’s been over a year since Porsche introduced the first 992.2-generation 911 variants, but the lineup is still far from complete. Following the launch of the facelifted GTS, Carrera, Targa, and GT3 models, the next flavor is due in the coming months. CEO Oliver Blume announced during the half-year earnings call that the Turbo S is set to break cover later this year. A non-S model is likely coming as well.

Going hybrid likely means the new Turbo S will deliver more punch, not that the 992.1 was underpowered. With 640 horsepower and 590 lb-ft from its twin-turbocharged 3.8-liter boxer engine, the pre-facelift Turbo S already had 60 hp and 37 lb-ft more than its predecessor. But unless Porsche finds ways to cut fat elsewhere, the added hardware will come with a weight penalty. In the case of the GTS, the extra mass amounts to 103 pounds for the US-spec version.

BMW Just Set the Coolest Nürburgring Record.

A BMW M3 CS Touring just set the quickest lap for wagons at the Nürburgring, beating out its less hardcore sibling.

BMW revealed on Thursday it took a particularly interesting Nürburgring record back in April. The M3 CS Touring, the company's most extreme station wagon, now holds the record for quickest wagon around the Nordschleife, with a time of 7 minutes, 29.49 seconds.

Mazda Is Making a New Rotary Sports Car.

We could see Mazda's new production sports car as early as next year; otherwise, details are still slim. Until it officially makes its debut, here's what we do know about Mazda’s upcoming coupe.

For Mazda fans, the name of its new sports car is very important. The iconic RX-7 gave way to the RX-8, which means the next logical step—you'd think—is the RX-9. Given that this new sports car will likely also pack a rotary engine, it would only make sense. Mazda even admits that the Iconic SP concept would make a "good successor" to the RX-7.

Maserati Says People Have a 'Bad Feeling' About Electric Supercars

It’s been a few months since Maserati canceled the fully electric MC20 after realizing customers “are very keen on driving powerful ICE engines.” That’s according to an official statement sent to Motor1 by a company spokesperson back in March. With that in mind, it’s no surprise the Modena-based automaker is now channeling its efforts into gas-powered models.

Davide Danesin, Head of Engineering, told Autocar that some people have a “bad feeling” about supercars equipped with a battery. We'd add that the sentiment likely extends to most performance-oriented cars, from affordable hot hatches to seven-figure hypercars. He went on to admit that “there are still customers looking for pure mechanical cars,” as evidencened by high-end buyers who had no interest in an EV version of the MC20.

V12-Powered Lincoln Continental Concept Shows What Might Have Been

The turn of the 21st century was a time of great optimism in the American auto industry, exemplified by a series of concept cars that attempted to drum up interest in the stodgy Lincoln brand, then known primarily as the purveyor of that staple of livery services, the Town Car.

It’s rare for a concept car to be offered for sale to the public, but that’s the case with one of the best of the millennial Lincoln concepts. A V12-powered vision of a new Lincoln Continental from 2002 that never reached production, it’s due to be auctioned off by Mecum on September 20 in Chicago.

Get off that Porsche 911 configurator! New V8 Mercedes Concept AMG GT Track Sport is coming.

The new Mercedes concept is likely to be unveiled at the Munich Motor Show and points to a hardcore sports car that will target the Nürburgring lap record.

The Mercedes-AMG division might be looking more heavily into electric power than ever (as evidenced by the 1,341bhp AMG GT XX concept), but the new Concept AMG GT Track Sport shows just how important internal-combustion engines remain to the brand.

Teased officially for the first time, the Concept AMG GT Track Sport is based on the second-generation AMG GT sports car, which arrived in 2023. Although only a concept, we suspect it’ll pave the way for a new halo car within the AMG GT line-up. In fact, Mercedes has suggested as much by saying the concept “provides a preview of a possible expansion of the GT series with a V8 engine”.

Faraday Future’s New FX Super One Luxury Van Has a Funky F.A.C.E.

We’re at Faraday Future’s Southern California headquarters getting our first look at its upcoming new vehicle, when we walk around to the front of the car. The LED grille is flashing and pulsing through images and video like a Times Square billboard. That’s the point: The F.A.C.E. of the FX Super One is designed to draw attention. It got ours.

F.A.C.E. stands for Front AI Communication Ecosystem, and like everything else in this era, it has an artificial-intelligence component to it, because of course it does. Imagine you have your Super One parked outside at a sporting event, and you program your F.A.C.E. to promote a product you have. People could potentially interact with said product placement and get answers. Or you can just goof off and have it show photos of you in a Speedo, or your dog or cat in a cute outfit. Oh, the possibilities. (To be clear, it has to be parked to show anything interactive.)