Cars – Page 4

Inside Brembo’s brake factory, where technology is making better brakes

brembo, Cars, Le Mans / Beth Washington / July 10, 2025

“Ultimately, the more cooling holes, the lower the temperature of the disc,” Miller said. “You have mechanical wear between the disc and the pad, and 350˚ Celsius and below you have a lot of dust, which physically wears the disc. At higher temperature ranges, the dust between the pad and the disc creates friction. That results in less wear and less impact.”

The shift to technology

While manufacturing is the visible side of the brakes process, CEO Daniele Schillaci emphasizes the role of technology. In the last three years alone, Brembo has hired more than 100 software engineers in Italy, China, India, and the US (some in Silicon Valley).

“The automotive business is in a very deep transformation phase with new technology, software, AI, and electrification,” Schillaci said. “Until a couple of years ago, Brembo was a very nice company building cast iron discs, aluminum calipers, and carbon ceramic for racing. But when it came to software, Brembo wasn’t top of mind.”

Cast iron discs are cooled a bit differently. Brembo

That’s changing, as the manufacturer has poured money and resources into its newest offering, a software-controlled product called Sensify. Billed as the first fluid-free braking system that continuously controls and supervises each wheel’s braking, Sensify integrates software and mechatronics, combining mechanical, electrical, computer, and robotics engineering with code.

Brembo sees Sensify as a significant breakthrough that represents a new standard in the automotive industry, and the company built the software and AI in-house. While some outlets are describing it as brake-by-wire technology, which debuted more than 20 years ago, Schillaci says it goes way beyond that.

“Sensify is more than brake-by-wire,” Schillaci said. “Brembo has been collecting data from its test benches for many years. With this data, combined with our internally built algorithm, Brembo has increased its ability to read the data and understand the impulse in the braking system at each corner. The car will stay stable, without vibration, even in emergency braking situations.”

As racing evolves, parts manufacturers will have to as well. Brembo, like the rest of the industry, aims to stay on top of the shift and use the latest tools to remain successful.

Inside Brembo’s brake factory, where technology is making better brakes Read More »

Mazda reveals next-gen CX-5 details, including a hybrid, due in 2027

Cars, Mazda CX-5 / Kelly Newman / July 10, 2025

A red third-generation Mazda CX-5 in profile

The new model goes on sale this year in Europe. Credit: Mazda

More recently, Mazda borrowed the hybrid powertrain from Toyota’s RAV4 and dropped it into the CX-50—conveniently, both SUVs are built in the same shared factory in Huntsville, Alabama. (In exchange, Toyota gets access to Mazda’s Soul Red paint for the RAV4, which is a pretty fair swap.)

Both the CX-5 and CX-50 will continue to coexist in dealerships: The former is a global bestseller, and the latter is made in the US for North American tastes. Finally, there will be a hybrid CX-5 to go with the hybrid CX-50, although not until 2027. Not much is known about the new “Skyactiv-Z” engine other than that it will be a four-cylinder gasoline engine that operates at the ideal stoichiometric ratio of air to fuel throughout the rev range.

For 2026, though, the CX-5 will come with Mazda’s Skyactiv-G 2.5 L four-cylinder gasoline engine. Mazda has also developed a new generation of infotainment system for the CX-5, joining the growing list of automakers that have adopted Google’s Android Automotive OS and Google automotive services.

The addition of a hybrid in 2027 will be welcome, as Mazda has often lagged behind in terms of fuel efficiency. Mazda

Expect pricing much closer to the car’s official US launch in 2026.

Mazda reveals next-gen CX-5 details, including a hybrid, due in 2027 Read More »

Nissan feels the effect of US-China trade war

Cars, EV adoption, Nissan, trade war / Shannon Garcia / July 8, 2025

Nissan’s future product portfolio is feeling the effects of some of Trump’s other policies. Working with congressional Republicans, the president has chosen to end federal tax incentives meant to encourage the adoption of clean energy vehicles like EVs. As a result, many new EVs will get $7,500 more expensive for most customers from October 1.

There’s no question that EV incentives help spur demand, given the higher purchase price of an EV. No credit means lower demand, so Nissan is delaying a pair of EVs it plans to build in Canton, Mississippi, according to Automotive News. The automaker has told its suppliers to expect a 10-month delay to the original schedule for an electric Nissan crossover now due for November 2028, and an Infiniti version that will now go into production in March 2029.

It’s not the first time this year that the production schedule at the factory in Canton has been torn up and redone. In April, Nissan said it had to “face reality” and accept that “the sedan market is shrinking,” as it cancelled a pair of electric sedans that were also to be built in Canton in the coming years.

Nissan feels the effect of US-China trade war Read More »

Rivian’s new Quad-Motor R1T and R1S beat the competition in any conditions

car review, Cars, First drive, Rivian, Rivian R1S, Rivian R1T / Mike M. / July 8, 2025

Faster than a supercar to 60, still able to rock crawl with the best of them.

Lots of EVs can accelerate quickly, few also have off-road abilities that would put a mountain goat to shame. Credit: Tim Stevens

It’s getting harder to find hyperboles to describe the performance of modern EVs. Horsepower figures measured in four digits and acceleration figures clocking in well under three seconds aren’t exactly de rigueur, but they’re well short of rare these days.

Rivian’s latest generation ticks those boxes, joining the automaker’s range alongside the cheaper dual-motor models we tested last year. The new Gen 2 Quad-Motor versions of the company’s R1S SUV and R1T truck offer 1,025 hp (764 kW) and 1,198 lb-ft (1,624 Nm) of torque, enough to get the pick-up from 0 to 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds—the heavier SUV is a tenth slower. That’s awfully quick for a truck that weighs in at around 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) and can tow 11,000 pounds (5,000 kg) or, in the case of the SUV, seat seven comfortably.

That spread of performance and practicality is impressive, but as I learned in a day behind the wheel of both the $115,990 truck and $121,990 SUV, winding around and over the mountains surrounding Lake Tahoe, that’s just scratching the surface of what they can do.

Rivian launched its second-generation R1 last year, with a cheaper dual motor version. Now it’s time for the more powerful quad motor powertrain to hit the road. And the trails. Tim Stevens

More motors, more potential

As you can guess by the name, the Quad-Motor editions of Rivian’s R1 machines offer four motors, one per wheel. That, of course, provides those astronomical performance figures, providing the sheer force necessary to accelerate them so quickly.

But it goes well beyond that. Most EVs with all-wheel drive—including the cheaper dual-motor R1S and R1T that Rivian started selling last year—rely on a pair of motors: one up front and one out back, each splitting its power across two wheels courtesy of a differential. Each differential divvies up the twisting force from a motor but introduces extra friction and drivetrain losses into the equation.

Most traditional differentials also struggle with wheelspin, such that when one wheel starts to lose grip, the EV actually needs to apply the brakes on that wheel to keep it from spinning wildly. Hitting the brakes while you’re trying to accelerate isn’t great for maximum performance.

Rivian R1 interior — Rivian continues to eschew buttons and phone-casting interfaces like CarPlay. Credit: Tim Stevens

Installing one motor per wheel simplifies the whole setup immensely. Now, each motor can be controlled individually, with no differentials required to ensure power goes where it’s needed. If one wheel starts to slip, the car can simply cut that motor’s power without impacting any of the other three.

That process is helped by Rivian’s new system architecture introduced in the Gen 2 R1 platform last year. This not only greatly simplified the architecture of the vehicles, cutting cost and weight, but it enabled far more finite control over those motors.

The four motors are backed by a 140 kWh (usable) NMC battery pack, which, for the first time on a Rivian, is charged via a Tesla-style NACS port. That pack offers up to 374 miles (602 km) of range per the EPA if you go with the efficiency-minded all-season wheel and tire setup. Switch the Quads over to Conserve drive mode, and Rivian’s engineers told me upwards of 400 miles (643 km) on a charge is possible.

But if you want that eye-opening acceleration figure mentioned above, you’ll need to opt for the optional summer wheel and tire package, which swaps out the low-rolling resistance tires for a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 5 S tires on staggered 22-inch wheels, measuring 275 wide at the front and 305 at the rear.

More into the off-road side of the equation? There’s another wheel and tire package available: 20-inch wheels with aggressive Pirelli Scorpion tires. Choose wisely, because your selected wheel and tire will have a huge impact on the personality of your Quad.

Rolling clean

I started my day in an R1T Quad-Motor on the street performance-oriented Michelin tires, and sadly, the first hour or so was spent idling through traffic. That meant leaving most of those 1,025 horses safely blanketed in the stable, but it did give me time to sample the more nuanced changes in the Quad.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time in Rivian’s second-generation machines, but Quad-Motor features a few updates. The cel-shaded visual display design has been cleaned up a bit, especially the gauge cluster view of the world around you, meaning the entirety of the interface looks equally clean and charming.

Sadly, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are still missing, which I found particularly annoying when testing the now Atmos-equipped sound system. Since I couldn’t access the music I’d downloaded on my phone, I was stuck relying on the truck’s data connection to stream music through Apple Music. Connectivity is spotty in the rural routes around Lake Tahoe, and it was rare that I got through a single track without stuttering or outright pausing. Fumbling for my phone and having to pair over Bluetooth felt awfully low-rent for a $119,900 as-configured machine.

Rivian infotainment screen showing the RAD tuner — The RAD tuner is new. Credit: Tim Stevens

An unexpected software surprise was the new RAD Tuner. This presents you with a screen full of vehicle parameters to modulate, including standard stuff like suspension stiffness and throttle response, plus far more nuanced parameters like front-to-rear torque split and even roll stiffness. You can modify any of the stock on- or off-road modes or just add new ones to your heart’s content.

As someone who is often frustrated by the lack of configurability in modern EVs, I loved being able to tweak every slider. Each adjustment is paired with an intuitive graph and explanation showing you exactly what it does. Best of all, I could really feel the differences. Dragging the roll slider up and down made the R1T go from a relaxed, floppy feel to a taut, engaging turner.

Unfortunately, nothing I changed made the ride quality any better. The truck was surprisingly harsh over broken asphalt, and there was a fair bit of road noise, too. That’s a big difference from what I’ve experienced from Rivian’s R1 machines in the past, making me think the sportier wheel and tire package is the culprit here. I unfortunately did not have a chance to sample the all-season wheels and tires, but I would have to figure their less aggressive design would be an improvement.

Given that, I’d probably skip the Michelin tire setup. But with it equipped, the truck was impressive. Acceleration was truly eye-opening, as you’d expect, while the ability to seamlessly apply power to each wheel as needed resulted in a confidence-inspiring machine when the traffic cleared. Only the complete lack of steering feedback dampened the fun, but even so, the R1T Quad-Motor is far more engaging on the road than a truck this size has any right to be.

A pair of Rivians seen off-road at dusk. — Time to get dirty. Credit: Rivian

But things got even more fun when the road ended.

Rolling dirty

The second half of my time behind the wheel was spent in an R1S Quad-Motor outfitted with the more aggressively treaded Pirelli Scorpion tires. That three-row SUV brought me up and over some astonishingly tricky terrain, including a sheer rock wall that, on foot, would have required a ladder.

Over loose gravel and tricky articulations, the new Quad showed its ability to lean on those tires with grip while quickly cutting power to those left hanging in the air. This is the kind of next-level traction management that trumps locking differentials and makes an R1 Quad-Motor a cinch to drive up even the most extreme terrain.

It was easy going down, too. On loose surfaces, with the regen set to maximum and the SUV’s central display showing the output of the individual motors, I could see how each corner of the vehicle dynamically ramped its regen up or down to match the available grip. The result was a clean, straight descent.

The side of a Rivian R1T, seen from the rear. — Tire choice is quite important. Credit: Tim Stevens

The Quad-Motor is even easy to turn around in tight spaces. Rivian’s original Tank Turn returns, now rebranded and expanded as the Kick Turn, enabling 360-degree spins on loose surfaces or even tail-dragging pivots around tight corners. The process of engaging this mode is a bit clumsy, requiring you to hold buttons on the steering wheel simultaneously with both thumbs to indicate spin direction. But, when off-road at least, this helps to make up for the R1’s continued lack of rear steering.

At the end of the day, I honestly wasn’t sure whether I was more impressed by the on-road or off-road capabilities of Rivian’s new Quad-Motor machines. That spectrum of performance makes the top-shelf R1 series unique, an addictive mixture of supercar speed and super truck capability.

Rivian’s new Quad-Motor R1T and R1S beat the competition in any conditions Read More »

F1 in Britain: Terrible English summer weather equals entertaining race

Cars, F1, Formula 1 / Beth Washington / July 7, 2025

Maybe Bernie Ecclestone was right about fitting racetracks with sprinklers.

Oscar Piastri’s McLaren emerges from the spray during the 2025 British Grand Prix at Silverstone in England. Credit: Clive Mason/Getty Images

The heat dome that oppressed much of Europe has broken. Not a drop of rain marred the 24 hour races at Le Mans, the Nürburgring, or Spa-Francorchamps, held unusually over consecutive weekends this June. Similarly, last weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix took place under scorching skies that were baking the Tyrolean mountains. No such luck for the vast crowds at Silverstone attending the British Grand Prix this past weekend, who definitely needed their waterproofs. On the plus side, the addition of rain certainly made things interesting.

Like many British race circuits, Silverstone was a former World War II airbase. Originally home to Wellington Bombers, it’s very exposed to the wind, which was gusting at times during practice and qualifying, making life complicated for the drivers. Lewis Hamilton made the home crowd smile by topping the time charts during FP1. Hamilton has struggled to get to grips with his new Ferrari for much of this season, but at Silverstone he looked much more comfortable, finishing FP2 less than a 10th of a second behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc, although neither could match McLaren’s Lando Norris for outright speed.

On Saturday, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen who rose to the top, snatching pole position from the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Norris by about a 10th of a second. George Russell’s Mercedes was competitive in the colder temperatures, securing fourth on the grid ahead of the Ferraris of Hamilton and Leclerc. Mercedes’ young rookie, Kimi Antonelli, qualified seventh but would start 10th as a result of a penalty acquired in Austria, and Haas rookie Oliver Bearman put in the eighth-fastest time, but ignoring a red flag during Saturday’s final practice session landed him with a 10-place grid penalty. As it was, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso lined up seventh for the race, followed by Pierre Gasly’s Alpine, Carlos Sainz in the first Williams, and then Antonelli rounding out the top 10.

Ferrari's British driver Lewis Hamilton on the grid ahead of the Formula One British Grand Prix at the Silverstone motor racing circuit in Silverstone, central England, on July 6, 2025. — Lewis Hamilton has more wins at Silverstone than any other F1 driver. Credit: ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images

Race day was rainy, with the F2 feature race proving a good preview for the main event. A heavy shower during the F1 pre-race buildup saw everyone choose to take the formation lap on intermediate tires, although sections of the track were dry enough that Russell, Leclerc, Antonelli, Bearman, and Racing Bull’s Isack Hadjar all diverted to the pit lane at the end of the formation lap for slick tires. That was the wrong gamble—the last few turns were far too wet for slicks, as they would soon find out.

Who wants to bet?

Up front, Verstappen had placed the wrong bet, too, opting for a dry weather setup that was light on downforce. The first few laps were interrupted by virtual safety car periods as drivers collided or spun off, with others like Leclerc choosing to take the opportunity to stop for tires—another bad bet, as it turned out.

Verstappen was passed first by Piastri, then Norris got by as the rain returned. Verstappen was clearly not having a good time and had an off-track excursion that was greeted with a roar by the partisan spectators. But the Red Bull got back past Norris in the pits, as McLaren was forced to double-stack its cars, losing Norris a second or two in the process.

The main problem with running F1 races in the rain is the lack of visibility. The aerodynamic downforce generated by the cars sends up huge rooster tails of spray from the rear diffusers, with more water pumped into the airflow by the treaded intermediate or wet tires. And so, on lap 14, a full safety car period was declared, with the cars circulating behind the Mercedes AMG coupe at a reduced pace.

The safety car is present during the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Great Britain at the Silverstone Circuit in Towcester, England, on July 6, 2024. — Did Piastri violate safety car procedure? He didn’t think so, but the stewards did. Credit: Jon Hobley | MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The race went green for about a lap until Hadjar crashed heavily in the spray, hitting the back of Antonelli before even seeing the Mercedes in front of him. A mistimed brake application by Piastri just as this safety car period ended saw Verstappen briefly pass him on track before the green flag was waved—normally this would garner the passing car a penalty, but in this case the stewards chose to penalize Piastri with a 10 second time penalty, to be served at his next pitstop. With his teammate Norris just a few seconds behind, this robbed the Australian of the win, gifting it to the other McLaren instead.

Verstappen, like the stewards, thought Piastri was playing games behind the safety car, and it evidently unsettled the Dutch driver, forcing him into an error like in Spain a few weeks ago. The reigning world champion fell as low as 10th, recovering to fifth place by the end.

The second half of the race saw various drivers gamble on slick tires, betting the track was dry enough to build enough tire temperature to go faster than the grooved intermediate rubber. Fernando Alonso went first on lap 38, followed by George Russell, both of whom struggled initially. Waiting a few more laps proved wiser, but even by lap 44 the very fast Stowe corner looked like it was wet enough to get a driver’s attention.

Norris delighted his many fans in attendance by taking victory ahead of Piastri, passing his teammate easily, while the Australian was held stationary for his penalty before his team was allowed to change the car’s tires. That closed the gap in the standings between them to just eight points.

Well deserved, well overdue

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 06: Third placed Nico Hulkenberg of Germany and Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber celebrates on the podium with his trophy during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 06, 2025 in Northampton, England. — I can’t imagine anyone in the paddock was displeased to see Nico Hulkenberg finally earn a podium. Credit: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images

But the biggest smiles were surely for the man in third place. Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg got past Lance Stroll, then held a hard-charging Lewis Hamilton at bay for the final chapter of the race to secure third place. It was the first podium finish for Sauber since 2012, and the very first for Hulkenberg, who waited a record 239 races to achieve the result. The highly rated German driver, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Porsche on a spare weekend in 2015, has never had access to front-line F1 machinery, but even so, this result was well overdue.

When he was still in charge and wanted to get his own way, Bernie Ecclestone would often throw out a number of implausible-sounding or extreme ideas for the sport in order to force teams to back the less-extreme idea he really wanted implemented. One of those extreme ideas—one he brought up back in 2011—was to fit F1 tracks with sprinklers that would come on at random, and while we never saw it happen, the added chaos of a wet-then-drying track has proved time and again to create entertaining racing. Maybe we should give it a go?

Damson Idris, one of the stars of the recent F1 movie, was on hand to wave the checkered flag at Silverstone. A second viewing of the film reveals that the script is actually even cheesier than I first thought, and a number of plot holes continue to bug me—if the Rolex 24 at Daytona is at the end of January, how come the F1 season was halfway through, for example? Then again, I also rewatched Days of Thunder to see if I was hasty in placing F1 ahead of the NASCAR movie in my recent review, but I found enough to remain satisfied that I got those two in the right order. Normally, technical accuracy plays a back seat to a good plot. For F1 The Movie, it’s mostly the other way around.

Jonathan is the Automotive Editor at Ars Technica. He has a BSc and PhD in Pharmacology. In 2014 he decided to indulge his lifelong passion for the car by leaving the National Human Genome Research Institute and launching Ars Technica’s automotive coverage. He lives in Washington, DC.

F1 in Britain: Terrible English summer weather equals entertaining race Read More »

2025 VW ID Buzz review: If you want an electric minivan, this is it

car review, Cars, VW ID. Buzz / 9u50fv / July 3, 2025

The fast charging stats are acceptable for a 400 V powertrain. VW quotes 30-minute fast-charging from 10 to 80 percent, with the battery able to accept peak rates of 170 kW. In practice, I plugged in with 35 percent SoC and reached 80 percent after 21 minutes. Meanwhile, a full AC charge should take 7.5 hours.

You want plenty of space in a minivan, and there’s a huge amount here. In the US, we only get a three-row version of the Buzz, which offers features that the two-row, Euro-only version can’t, like air vents and opening windows in the back. There are also a plethora of USB-C ports. You sit up high, with an H-point (where your hip goes) that’s a few inches above that of other minivan drivers.

One of the downsides of that large battery is the extra height it adds to the Buzz, although a tight turning circle and light steering mean it’s never a chore to drive. However, getting in could be a little simpler for people on the smaller end of the spectrum if there were grab handles or running boards.

The width shouldn’t prove a problem, given the number of commercial Buzzes you now see working as delivery vans or work trucks in Europe these days. The bluff front and large frontal area may also explain the wind noise at highway speeds, although that can easily be drowned out by the sound system (or two rows of children, perhaps). Driving slowly, and therefore efficiently, is made simpler by the lack of side bolstering of the seats and that high H-point that magnifies any amount of roll when cornering.

VW’s infotainment system still lags a bit, and the car relies on capacitive controls, but at least they’re backlit now. Jonathan Gitlin

Both middle and third row are viable places to put fully grown adults, even for long drives. The specs actually give the third row the edge, with 42.4 inches (1,077 mm) of legroom versus 39.9 inches (1,014 mm) for the middle row, and VW had to issue a recall because the rear bench is slightly wider than federal rules allow if you only have two seatbelts.

2025 VW ID Buzz review: If you want an electric minivan, this is it Read More »

From Le Mans to Driven—where does F1: The Movie rank?

Cars, culture, F1 the movie, movie review / Shannon Garcia / July 3, 2025

How well does the world of F1 translate into the tropes of a sporting movie?

Damson Idris (left) and Brad Pitt (right) star in F1 The Movie, directed by Joseph Kozinski. Credit: Apple

It may not have escaped your attention that there’s a new film about motorsport called F1: The Movie. It’s a return-to-racing story with elements you’ll have seen before, just maybe with other sports. A driver has been looking to slay his personal demons. There’s a wise veteran, an impatient rookie, and an underdog team with its back to the wall. Except this time, the backdrop is the multicolored circus of Formula 1, seen close up at 200 mph.

Backed by Apple and made by people responsible for high-energy productions like the recent Top Gun: Maverick, the film takes advantage of some of those same ingredients. For one, the filmmakers got an all-access pass from the powers that be, filming on the actual Formula 1 grid during 2023 and some of 2024. Having seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton as a producer helped with that. And the filmmakers were able to capture remarkable footage in the process thanks to powerful cameras that are now much smaller than the versions they strapped to some US Navy fighter jets.

The movie comes with a prebuilt audience, one that’s grown enormously in recent years. The Drive to Survive effect is real: Motorsport, particularly F1, hasn’t been this popular in decades. More and more young people follow the sport, and it’s not just among the guys, either.

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 04: The cars of the upcoming F1 based movie are seen driving on track during previews ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone Circuit on July 04, 2024 in Northampton, England. — Spot the camera car. Credit: Joe Portlock – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

I’m not a new fan, but I only started really paying attention to the series at the end of 1993. I’d have reviewed the film sooner, but the screenings occurred while I was on vacation, and the 24-hour races on consecutive weekends at the Nurburgring in Germany and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium were not to be missed.

The setup of F1 sees Sonny Hayes (played by Brad Pitt) brought back to the world of F1 30 years after a crash ended his rookie season. We find Hayes racing in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, filmed at the actual race last year. He’s lured back to F1 by his old friend, who now owns APXGP, in a Hail Mary attempt to score some points before the end of the half-completed season, thus saving the team.

An F1 driver’s most immediate rival is always their teammate—they both have to drive the same car, after all, so comparisons are immediate. (Pedants: please no long arguments about different setups or upgrades—you know what I mean.) And thus Hayes’ rival is Joshua Pearce (played by Damson Idris), a young driver in his first season who sees no reason to trust a driver whose arrival in his team mid-season seems more like a practical joke. That’s as much of the plot as I’ll reveal, but the writing is so formulaic that you can probably construct the rest for yourself quite easily.

What works, what doesn’t?

That’s not to say it’s a bad film. Yes, it requires some suspension of disbelief if you know enough about racing, but the issues are pretty small. The racing scenarios seem outlandish, but all of them have happened at one time or another—just perhaps not all to one team in nine races. Mostly, it’s a very close look at some parts of the sport most of us would never see—an actual F1 wind tunnel test filmed at Williams’ facility, which required assurances to the sport that this wasn’t just a way for that team to gain some more wind tunnel hours. McLaren’s impressive MTC shows up, too, though I’m quite sure you can’t park either a car or a bike by that particular door and expect to find either there when you return.

Brad Pitt, an actor playing Sonny Hayes, and Idris Damson, a driver for the fictional APX GP team in the Apex F1 movie by Apple Studios and Bruckheimer Films, pose for a portrait during the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on December 5 to 8, 2024. — Pitt and Idris filming on-track at the Yas Marina circuit during the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Credit: Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images

That’s the level of detail you can expect to trip you up. You may notice that a sequence that’s supposed to be in Spain or Belgium looks a little too much like Brands Hatch, an hour outside of London. Or that a seat fitting should take at least some amount of time.

Among the film’s biggest successes is what we don’t see. The cars don’t have an endless sequence of gears for the driver to punch their way through. No one suddenly remembers to accelerate all the way halfway down the straight rather than out of the apex like in real life. No race cars are driven out of tracks into high-speed pursuits, and no drivers have conversations with their rivals mid-race at 8,000 rpm.

All of that qualifies F1 for a podium position among racing movies. Neither the recent Rush nor Ford v Ferrari could resist some of those dumber tropes, and even the most desperate racing junkie will admit that neither Driven nor Michel Vaillant are really worth the time it takes to watch them unless the intention is to Statler-and-Waldorf your way through it with a friend.

And of course, there’s Days of Thunder, which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who also produced F1. The NASCAR movie loses what was third place in my personal pantheon of racing movies to the carbon-fiber newcomer. There’s little distance between them; I’m just much more interested in F1 than stock cars.

Only 3rd place?

The only problem is that all this has been done before. The last time F1 was this big, the same combination of fast cars and good-looking drivers captured Hollywood’s attention just the same. John Frankenheimer was the man who got to make the movie, and 1966’s Grand Prix broke new ground at the time, starring James Garner, who I’m told turned out to be rather fast behind the wheel in filming. Its story is sentimental, and some of the acting is a little wooden, but it’s visually exciting and features spectacular footage of the 1966 F1 season.

James Garner and Toshiro Mifune starred in Grand Prix. FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images

The fact that Grand Prix broke so much more new ground than F1 means that Frankenheimer’s film finishes just ahead for me. But neither can quite supplant the magic of Le Mans, the 1971 film starring Steve McQueen, which was recently remastered on Blu-ray.

McQueen might have been one of the world’s biggest movie stars at the time, but he mostly wanted to be a racing driver. He wasn’t bad at it, either—in 1970, he almost won the 12 hours of Sebring in a Porsche 908 despite having broken his foot in six places a couple of weeks earlier. The actor was originally up for Garner’s role in Grand Prix and never gave up on a motorsports movie, capitalizing on his success in the late 1960s to get his own project underway.

Objectively, as a movie, Le Mans can be considered a failure. There is no dialogue for the first half-hour, just the occasional narration from a trackside announcer that contextualizes the scale of the annual 24-hour race. There was no script for months during filming, and the film went through directors John Sturges and Alan Trustman before Lee H. Katzin finished the job.

Even so, there was an assortment of many of the actual race cars that competed in the 1970 race at Le Mans. And the town had graciously allowed McQueen’s production company to close some of the roads used by the track for more filming. The cars were mostly piloted by the elite racing drivers of the time, but McQueen drove his own character’s Porsche 917K—at racing speeds but with heavy film cameras rigged onto it—as did Siegfried Rauch in the Ferrari 512.

This is what happens when you let a frustrated racing driver make a movie. CBS via Getty Images

Other footage had been shot in the actual 1970 race, both trackside and onboard, thanks to the same Porsche 908 that McQueen drove earlier that year in Florida, which was used as a camera car. At times, it’s more like a documentary. But only at times. With Le Mans, there was no CGI, and no other tracks were standing in for filming.

F1 can’t quite make that claim. At times, the cars seemed to be at slightly different scales on track—a product of Pitt and Idris being filmed driving slightly smaller, slightly slower F2 cars. Perhaps my biggest issue was with some of the unsporting behavior you see on screen. Those antics work better in a comedy like Major League; in a serious drama, it feels a little like disrepute.

None of that will stop me watching F1 again, however.

From Le Mans to Driven—where does F1: The Movie rank? Read More »

Tesla Q2 2025 sales dropped more than 13% year over year

Cars, Tesla deliveries / Mike M. / July 2, 2025

Tesla sold 384,122 electric vehicles during the months of April, May, and June of this year. That’s a double-digit decline compared to the same three months of last year—itself no peach of a quarter for a car company with a stratospheric valuation based on the supposition of eternal sales growth.

The automaker faces a number of problems that are getting in the way of that perpetual growth. In some regions, CEO Elon Musk’s right-wing politics have driven away customers in droves. Another issue is the company’s small, infrequently updated model lineup, which is a problem even in parts of the world that care little about US politics.

Most Tesla sales are of the Model 3 midsize electric sedan and the Model Y, its electric crossover. For Q2 2025, Tesla sold 373,728 of the Models 3 and Y across North America, Europe, China, and its other markets. But that’s an 11.5 percent decrease compared to the 422,405 Models 3 and Y that Tesla sold in Q2 2024, a quarter that itself saw a year-on-year decline.

The rest of Tesla’s sales are a mix of the increasingly elderly Model S sedan and Model X SUV, as well as the US-only Cybertruck. Here, the decline is far more severe—with just 10,394 sold, that’s a 22.5 percent decrease on Q2 2024. Tesla does not break these numbers out with more granularity, so it’s unclear just how few Cybertrucks were among that, but it does bring to mind Musk’s claims that Tesla would sell between 250,000 and 500,000 Cybertrucks a year.

Tesla Q2 2025 sales dropped more than 13% year over year Read More »

GOP wants EV tax credit gone; it would be a disaster for Tesla

Cars, elon musk, Tesla / Mike M. / July 1, 2025

The Republican Party’s opposition to tax credits for electric vehicles has stepped up a notch. As its members in the US Senate add their input to the budget bill that came from their colleagues in the House of Representatives, among the changes they want to see is a faster eradication of the IRS clean vehicle tax credit. The tax credit provides up to $7,500 off the price of an EV as long as certain conditions are met, and the language from the House would have given it until the end of the year. Now, it might be gone by the end of September.

The looming passage of the bill appears to have reopened the rift between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the Republican Party, which the billionaire funded to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in the last election. After a brief war of words earlier this month that was quickly smoothed over when Musk apologized to President Trump, it seems there’s the potential for strife again.

Yesterday, Musk once again took to his social media platform to denounce the budget bill, threatening to form a third political party should it pass and reposting content critical of the GOP spending plan.

The changes to the budget would be quite deleterious for Tesla. Although its sales have collapsed in Europe and are flagging in China, the US has remained something of a bulwark in terms of EV sales. Most of the EVs that Tesla offers for sale in the US are eligible for the $7,500 credit, which can be applied to the car’s price immediately at purchase, as long as the buyer meets the income cap. That means all these cars will become significantly more expensive on October 1, should the bill pass.

GOP wants EV tax credit gone; it would be a disaster for Tesla Read More »

Apple’s push to take over the dashboard resisted by car makers

android auto, Apple, CarPlay, CarPlay Ultra, Cars, infotainment, syndication / DJ Henderson / June 25, 2025

Of the original 14 brands listed by Apple, Jaguar Land Rover said it was still evaluating the system, while Ford and Nissan along with its Infiniti brand said they had no information to share about future application.

According to a survey conducted by McKinsey in 2023, almost half the car buyers said they would not buy a vehicle that lacked Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, while 85 percent of car owners who have Apple CarPlay or a similar service preferred it over the auto group’s own built-in system.

Picture of infotainment system with CarPlay and Android Auto icons — Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

Many carmakers, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, have developed infotainment and operating systems, but they would continue to offer the option of using standard Apple CarPlay to meet consumer demand. Apple said customers were going to like CarPlay Ultra, and carmakers would ultimately respond to consumer demand.

BMW said it would integrate the existing Apple CarPlay with its new design, while Audi said its focus was to offer drivers “a customized and seamless digital experience,” so it would not use CarPlay Ultra, although the standard version was available on its vehicles.

While Volvo Cars said there were no plans to use CarPlay Ultra, its chief executive, Håkan Samuelsson, said carmakers should not try to compete on software with technology companies. “There are others who can do that better, and then we should offer that in our cars,” he said.

Aston Martin integrated Apple’s CarPlay Ultra with its newly developed infotainment system but stressed that the design inside the car remained “unmistakably” Aston Martin. The traditional physical dials were also available for those who do not want to use the touchscreen, it said.

People close to the carmaker said discussions with Apple in integrating CarPlay Ultra involved setting clear lines on data sharing from the start. The use of CarPlay Ultra did not entail additional sharing of vehicle data, which is stored inside Aston Martin’s own infotainment system and software. Apple also said vehicle data was not shared with the iPhone.

Graphic illustration by Ian Bott; additional reporting by Harry Dempsey in Tokyo.

Apple’s push to take over the dashboard resisted by car makers Read More »

Tesla launches robotaxi service in Austin

austin, Cars, elon musk, robotaxi, robotaxis, syndication, Tesla / Beth Washington / June 23, 2025

Tesla’s robotaxi service, touted by Elon Musk as the future of his flagging electric-car maker, launched in the company’s home city of Austin, Texas, on Sunday with about 10 vehicles and a human safety driver on board amid regulatory scrutiny of its self-driving technology.

Shares in Tesla have risen about 50 percent from this year’s low in early April, with investors hopeful the autonomous ride-hailing service will help revive a company that has suffered declining sales and a consumer backlash against Musk’s political activism.

Despite the hype surrounding Tesla’s robotaxi, the launch—with a company employee seated in the passenger side for safety while leaving the driver’s seat empty—was low-key, and the initial service was open only to a select group of social media influencers.

Shortly before the launch, Musk said on social media that the robotaxi service would begin “with customers paying a $4.20 flat fee.”

According to Musk, who has stepped back from his US government role to focus on the electric-car maker and the robotaxi, the self-driving Tesla Model Y vehicles will only operate in limited areas, avoid challenging intersections, and have teleoperators who can intervene if problems arise.

The limited launch comes as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration continues to carry out multiple investigations into Musk’s claims about the capabilities of Tesla’s autopilot and “full self-driving” systems. Despite its name, the full self-driving system still requires humans to sit in the driver’s seat and pay full attention—unlike Google’s Waymo taxis.

The NHTSA wrote a letter in early May seeking additional information about technologies that would be used in Tesla’s robotaxi service. The regulator said it had received Tesla’s response and was reviewing its content.

Musk said in a social media post this month that the company was being “super paranoid” about safety. But he has also claimed there would be 1,000 robotaxis “in a few months,” and that the service would expand to cities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Tesla launches robotaxi service in Austin Read More »

2025 Audi S5 and A5 first drive: Five-door is the new four-door

Audi A5, Audi S5, car review, Cars, First drive / Mike M. / June 18, 2025

The S5 is eager and more engaging to drive than the A5. Jonathan Gitlin

Like the Q5 last week, the A5 and S5 use a new electronic architecture called E3 1.2. This is a clean-sheet approach to the various electronic subsystems in the car, replacing decades of legacy cruft and more than a hundred individual electronic control units with five powerful high-performance computers, each with responsibility for a different domain: ride and handling, infotainment, driver assists, and convenience functions, all overseen by a master computer.

On the road

Sadly, those looking for driver engagement will not find much in the A5. Despite the improvements to the front suspension, there’s still very little in the way of feedback, and in comfort mode, the steering was too light, at least for me. In Dynamic mode, on the other hand, the car felt extremely sure-footed in bad weather. The A5 makes do with conventional springs, so the ride doesn’t change between drive modes, but Audi has tuned it well, and the car is not too firm. I noted a fair amount of wind noise, despite the acoustic front glass that comes with the ($6,450) Prestige package.

The S5 will appeal much more to driving enthusiasts. The steering provides a better picture of what the front tires are doing, and the air suspension gives the car a supple ride, albeit one that gets firmer in Balanced rather than Dynamic modes. Like some other recent fast Audis, the car is deceptively quick, and because it’s quite quiet and smooth, you can find yourself going a good deal faster than you thought. The S5’s exhaust note also sounds rather pleasant and not obnoxious.

The A5 cabin has a similar layout as the Q5 and Q6 e-tron SUVs. Audi

The A5 starts at $49,700, but the $3,600 Premium Plus package is likely a must-have, as this adds adaptive cruise control, a heads-up display, top-down parking cameras, and some other features (including USB-C ports). If you want to get really fancy, the Prestige pack adds speakers in the front headrests, OLED taillights, the aforementioned acoustic glass, plus a second infotainment screen for the front passenger.

Meanwhile, the S5 starts at $62,700; the Premium Plus package (which adds mostly the same stuff) will set you back $3,800. For the S5, the $7,550 Prestige pack includes front sports seats, Nappa leather, rear window sunshades, the passenger display, and the adaptive sports suspension. Those are all some hefty numbers, but the A5 and S5 are actually both cheaper in real terms than the models launched in 2018, once you take seven years’ worth of inflation into account.

2025 Audi S5 and A5 first drive: Five-door is the new four-door Read More »