Cars – Page 5

Ford switches gears, will push smaller EVs over full-size pickup and van

affordable EVs, Cars, EV adoption, Ford / 9u50fv / August 8, 2025

The Ford Motor Company is adjusting its electric vehicle strategy. The automaker will prioritize smaller and more affordable EVs ahead of the replacement for the F-150 Lightning fullsize pickup truck and e-Transit van. The Lightning replacement, codenamed T3, should now appear later in 2027, with the van a year behind.

Here in 2025, EV adoption isn’t exactly going the way everyone thought—or rather hoped—it would. The hype surrounding EVs worked fast, and the glinting dollar signs in people’s eyes as they saw Tesla’s share price soar higher and higher convinced even people who don’t care about decarbonization that going all-in on EVs was the way to go.

But it takes longer to develop a new vehicle than it takes to excite an investor. And it takes longer even than that to build out the charging infrastructure necessary to transform EV motoring from something for early adopters and the eco-conscious into a viable alternative for a largely incurious and change-averse general public. Which is a long-winded way of saying the industry got out over its skis.

Take the Ford F-150 Lightning. Americans adore their pickup trucks, and the Lightning is a darn good pickup in most regards. It looks like a normal F-150, and while it might not tow as far before it has to stop, it does most other things as well or better than the gasoline-powered equivalent.

But something the size and shape of a full-size pickup truck is always going to require a lot of energy to push it through the air—even if you squeezed the drag coefficient, there’s no getting away from so much frontal area. And that means you need a gigantic battery in order to meet range expectations. And that means the truck that customers thought would cost $40,000 actually costs way more; sometimes as much as twice that. So it has hardly been the sales success people once imagined.

Ford switches gears, will push smaller EVs over full-size pickup and van Read More »

2025 Subaru WRX tS review: A scalpel-sharp chassis lets this car dance

car review, Cars, Subaru WRX / Shannon Garcia / August 7, 2025

Lots of suspension tweaks but no extra power for this WRX variant.

Subaru went with a sedan for the current version of the WRX. Credit: Jim Resnick

The Subaru WRX has always been the equivalent of an automotive shrug. Not because it lacks character but because it simply doesn’t care what others think. It’s a punk rock band with enough talent to fill stadiums but band members who don’t seem to care about chasing fame. And the STI versions of yesteryear proved so talented that fame chased them.

For 2025, Subaru updated the WRX to now include the tS, which at first glance appears to be the same flannel-wearing street fighter. But looks can be deceiving. The tS hides sharpened tools underneath, translating to better handling and responsiveness.

What does “tS” really mean?

Subaru positions the tS as being tuned by STI, but it’s not an STI return. Sure, that’s technically true; only Subaru can name something STI. And to be clear, there’s no extra power here, no gigantic wing that takes out flocks of birds, and no pink STI badge on the trunk. But the tS is imbued with enough STI-ness to make a case.

A blue Subaru WRX in profile

The WRX still sticks to the same recipe that made it so popular, starting in the late ’90s. Credit: Jim Resnick

The hardware updates begin with electronically controlled dampers, stiffer engine mounts, a reworked steering rack, and huge, gold-painted Brembo brakes from the WRX TR, with six-piston calipers in front and two-piston units in the rear. Subaru’s engineers didn’t try to reinvent the WRX. They just put some finishing touches on it.

The engine story remains essentially the same. A 2.4 L turbocharged flat-four still produces 271 hp (202 kW) and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm) of torque from 12.0 psi of turbo boost, unchanged from the standard WRX, and the familiar boxer thrum remains. Power courses through a six-speed manual transmission to Subaru’s faithful symmetrical all-wheel-drive system. And not that most WRX buyers or fans would care much, but the sportster logs low EPA figures of just 19/26/22 city/highway combined MPG (12.4/9/10.7 L/100 km).

Driving: Precision dancing

The WRX tS doesn’t go any quicker than the base WRX since they both carry the same output, same transmission, and same essential guts and weight, but it’s no less fun. I didn’t do any measured testing of hard acceleration times, but I did dance around with the tS on my private test track in the Arizona desert.

A blue Subaru WRX seen from the rear 3/4s — Quad pipes burble pleasantly. Credit: Jim Resnick

I’m no Fred Astaire, but cinched into a willing, capable car, finding Ginger Rogers in front of you is rare. When I do, it’s time for celebration. Meet Ginger. As a WRX, she might be wearing ripped jeans and rubber soles, but when gliding across this dance floor (sinewy roads), no one cares.

Over the years, several plucky, beasty sportsters have punched way above their weight classes. The STIs of the past; the late, great Integra Type R (yes, I’m old enough to have tested it when new); the odd ’60s vintage racing Mini Cooper S (“the flying shoebox”); and various strains of VW Golf GTI all conspire to plant a smile on the face of even the most jaded car snob. This is the tS.

The Robert test

Knowing what good entertainment is worth, I brought my friend Robert along for an afternoon of WRXing. He owns multiple exotic sports cars, loves talking about them (but has never taken them to the track), and can rarely be bothered to discuss anything else with wheels. Robert flies in private jets, wears Brioni, and has a place on Park Avenue stocked with a case of Dom. (Perignon, that is.) “Jaded” is scratching the surface.

Subaru WRX tS interior — It’s very blue in here. Credit: Jim Resnick

After about 10 solid minutes of no-nonsense, twisting private test-track floggery at 6,000 rpm, full of opposite-lock steering and ABS tickling, I looked over at Robert as we came to a stop. I couldn’t have slapped the grin off his face if I tried.

“They sell this to the public?” he asked incredulously.

I relayed some more facts to Robert before we roared off again.

“These new adaptive dampers offer three modes, including Comfort, Normal, and Sport. There’s also a fourth Individual setting where you pick your throttle response, steering weight, damper stiffness, and all-wheel-drive behavior,” I told him.

He demanded to go again.

Subaru WRX engine bay — STI has not worked its magic under here. Credit: Jim Resnick

“Yeah, also, Subaru reduced the body roll rate by 30 percent from the WRX TR and limited brake dive and acceleration squat by 50 percent, I think through the new dampers,” I said as we entered a high-speed corner at about 95 mph.

It was at this point that Robert asked if we had a sick bag onboard. He was quiet the rest of the afternoon.

To be sure, I love an overachiever, and that’s the WRX tS. The smart cookies out there in Subie-world will take care of the tS engine in creative ways to bring into fuller balance the power/handling equilibrium, because if someone messes with the tS suspension, they’d be nuts. It’s about as stiff and capable as I could ever want in a car that needed to be driven on real roads. Perhaps grippier rubber? But even then, more grip would throw off the natural chuckability of the tS, and I love chuckable cars. The tS’s steering quickness and feel are both right on point.

Interior and daily use: Highs and lows

Big seat bolsters, but they don’t fit every back. Jim Resnick

Inside, the WRX tS doesn’t reinvent the Subaru design playbook, but it does offer upgrades. The most obvious are the Recaro front seats, which are a mixed bag. They provide oodles of support but are perhaps too aggressive for some body shapes. They’re extremely snug and hold you in place, provided you fit into them. I’m not that broad-shouldered, but the Recaro’s side bolsters nearly allow air to pass between my back and the seatback, so tightly coupled are the upper side bolsters.

The 11.6-inch portrait-oriented infotainment screen returns, and while it packs all the obvious functionality, such as Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a decent native navigation system, it still suffers from terribly sluggish response times. The new digital gauge cluster offers multiple display options, including a driver-focused performance view with boost pressure, gear position, and torque distribution.

A new digital gauge cluster can be configured as a typical presentation of dials or a track-oriented cluster with a bar graph tach. Navigation depicts maps crisply, too.

But Subaru’s EyeSight, which offers a variety of driver monitoring systems, breaks all known records in nannyism with pervasive, over-the-top reminders about driver attention. The system instructed me to keep my hands on the steering wheel, even though my hands were already on the steering wheel. It told me to keep my eyes on the road, but I was looking straight ahead at the car in front of me. Perhaps it was programmed by a very nervous George Costanza?

The build quality in the WRX TS is up to snuff, and soft-touch materials cover more surfaces than before. The cabin isn’t quite that of a luxury car, nor would anyone really expect it to be. It’s functional, durable, and right in character for the tS and for a Subaru.

The WRX tS retains some quirks, like the raucous engine note, especially under load and when first fired up. Until the fast idle has settled down, the exhaust is very boomy at the rear of the car.

Would it be a turbo Subie if it didn’t have a hood scoop? Jim Resnick

And then there’s the price. At $48,875, including the required destination charge, the un-optioned WRX tS gives you almost no change from $50,000. That’s a big heap of money for a WRX with no additional power than others and no STI badge, except on the gauges and shift knob. However, you do get a chassis above reproach, brakes that never give up, and steering that can shame some exotics. And it renders the Roberts in your life mute.

A veteran of journalism, product planning and communications in the automotive and music space, Jim reports, critiques and lectures on autos, music and culture.

2025 Subaru WRX tS review: A scalpel-sharp chassis lets this car dance Read More »

Trump’s trade and environment policies are a disaster for carmakers

Cars, EV adoption, trump tariffs / Beth Washington / August 6, 2025

General Motors blamed Trump’s tariffs for costing it $1.1 billion in Q2 and as much as $5 billion by the end of the year. And while the new anti-EV adoption policies are yet to fully bite, it’s clear they’ve motivated some action inside the GM boardroom. Although GM CEO Mary Barra wrote to investors that the company believes “the long-term future is profitable electric vehicle production,” she followed by explaining that GM’s flexible factories will help it succeed in a world where EPA fuel economy targets are no longer a thing. That’s probably why GM added 300,000 more units of capacity for “high margin light-duty pickups, full-size SUVs and crossovers.”

Ford said that the tariffs could cost it as much as $2 billion this year, despite it making more actual vehicles in the US than any other automaker. That’s because it has to pay the US government to import raw materials like steel and aluminum, as well as components and subassemblies.

Foreign automakers are also feeling the effects, given the importance—until now, at least—of the US car buyer. Stellantis, which owns the Jeep and Ram brands, said it had already lost $2.7 billion this year due to tariffs, although the automaker stands to benefit in the coming years from the gutting of fleet fuel efficiency fines.

Aston Martin may benefit from a lower 10 percent tariff for UK-made cars, but it described the process as “extremely disruptive,” and although it has now restarted shipping cars to America, it issued a profit warning last week.

BMW is among the less badly hurt; although its operating margin fell to 5.4 percent, this was within its expectations. Mercedes had to warn investors to expect less this year, and it says the US will become a less-important market for the company, which plans to make up for it with growth in China. Volkswagen Group said the tariffs have cost it $1.5 billion so far this year, and it has also revised down its forecasts for the rest of the year.

Although Porsche announced record deliveries in North America just a week ago, its operating profit was a third of that a year ago. “In the US, import tariffs are also putting huge pressure on our business. Looking ahead, the movement of the dollar could also have an impact. In addition, the transformation to electric mobility is progressing more slowly than expected overall, with consequences for the supplier network,” said Porsche and VW Group CEO Oliver Blume.

Trump’s trade and environment policies are a disaster for carmakers Read More »

2025 Morgan Plus Four review: Apparently, they do still make them like this

car review, Cars, Morgan Plus Four / Mike M. / August 5, 2025

A Morgan Plus Four with the door open — Morgan motoring is best when exposed to the elements. Credit: Michael Teo Van Runkle

In Sport+, the optional active sports exhaust system ($2,827.50) also helps to impart a slightly more serious soundtrack. This one manages a bit of drama as turbo whine and intake rush creep in through a complete lack of sound insulation. Plus, the exhaust barks out back with little pops and bangs on throttle liftoff.

Without a doubt, nothing on the road can quite compare to a Plus Four today. What other lightweight sports cars even survived into the modern era, when a Porsche Boxster or even a Lotus Emira now weigh above 3,000 pounds (1,360 kg)? Only the Mazda MX-5, perhaps, which weighs slightly more, with swoopy modern styling and economy car materials on the inside.

Speaking of which, plenty on the Plus Four could use a bit more of a premium touch. The steering wheel looks reminiscent of a Lotus Elise or even an original Tesla Roadster, plasticky and cheap despite the leather and physical shape actually turning out fairly nice. A thin wood rim would go a long way, as would remedying some other questionable build quality decisions throughout.

The interior lacks the charm of the exterior. Michael Teo Van Runkle

More wood on the dash, rather than the standard painted silver, might reduce glare with the convertible top laid back. And even with the roof up and the removable door panels in place, the Plus Four never approaches anywhere near weatherproof, as I felt strong drafts from around my left elbow, and the sliding plexiglas windows entirely lack seals. The sun visor attachments also rattle incessantly, and the Sennheiser premium sound system can’t even bump loud enough to drown the annoyance out, so perhaps skip that $3,770 option.

Some of the Plus Four’s issues seem easily fixable: Remove the roof, forget the music, and torque down some fittings a bit more here and there. Needing to worry about such avoidable irritations in the first place, though, proves that Morgan may have modernized the car, but a certain level of classic British engineering still applies.

Even so, nothing else I’ve driven mixes driving pleasure and crowd pleasing at the level of the new Plus Four. At the price of $103,970 as tested, I simply cannot forgive the decision not to offer the choice of a manual transmission, which would transform this classy roadster into an entirely different animal indeed.

2025 Morgan Plus Four review: Apparently, they do still make them like this Read More »

Rivian tells Ohio: Stop blocking us from selling cars to your citizens

car sales, Cars, DTC, Rivian / 9u50fv / August 5, 2025

Scout Motors, the new SUV brand from Volkswagen Group, has also raised some hackles with its plan to sell direct. VW and Audi dealers are suing the company, claiming they should have been offered the right to sell its cars since they also sell other brands from the giant automaker. (The dealers’ argument conveniently ignores the fact that those dealers don’t have a right to franchises for Porsches, Lamborghinis, Bugattis, or the other brands within the VW Group empire, but don’t go expecting consistency here.) A separate group of California car dealers is also suing Scout over direct car sales.

Rivian v. Ohio

In Ohio’s case, the most recent affirmation against direct car sales came in 2014, with a state law that forbids issuing a license to sell cars to anyone who is “a manufacturer, or a parent company, subsidiary, or affiliated entity of a manufacturer, applying for a license to sell or lease new or used motor vehicles at retail,” although it did make an exception for Tesla.

Rivian says that Ohio has no legitimate interest in preventing it from selling cars to Ohioans and that the state “allows manufacturers like Rivian to perform warranty service and other repairs on vehicles in Ohio, to rent vehicles to consumers in Ohio, and even to sell new vehicles to Ohioans from out-of-state dealerships that can be delivered to Rivian service centers in Ohio. Nonsensically, the thing that Rivian cannot do is actually complete the sale of Rivian vehicles in Ohio.”

Last year, Rivian CEO and founder RJ Scaringe told journalists that the “horrific state-by-state level of rules… are as close as you can get to corruption,” and that “you essentially have lots of dealers that paid for lots of laws that make it really hard for us to interact directly with the customer.”

He’s not wrong about the vociferous opposition to OEM direct car sales. “The direct sale model is nothing more than an effort to crush competition and suck profits out of local communities to Silicon Valley and Wall Street,” the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers said.

And Rivian has faced lawsuits from dealerships in Michigan (successfully) and Illinois (unsuccessfully) in the past.

Rivian tells Ohio: Stop blocking us from selling cars to your citizens Read More »

BMW’s next EV is its most sustainable car yet—here’s why

BMW iX3, BMW Neue Klasse, Cars, Sustainability / Shannon Garcia / August 4, 2025

Sadly, the US is unlikely to get the Econeer trim, which uses a seat fabric made entirely from recycled PET bottles (instead, we should be getting an eco vinyl option).

Of course, you need to do more than just pick better materials, some of which have been recycled, if you want to seriously dent the carbon footprint of your new vehicle. That’s especially true if it’s electric—for all an EV’s benefits, they remain significantly more energy-intensive to build than a new internal combustion engine vehicle. And automakers do need to make serious dents in their carbon footprints: BMW has to slash its carbon emissions from a 2019 level of 150 million tons down to 109 million tons in 2030. For 2024, it was down to 135 million tons, the company told us.

Fishing nets are turned into plastic granules, then used to make bits of the car.

The Neue Klasse is essential to meeting that goal. The factory in Debrecen, Hungary, is powered entirely by renewable energy, including an entirely electric paint shop, and it generates two-thirds the amount of CO₂ as one of BMW’s established factories. And the battery pack, which uses an all-new BMW cylindrical cell, has a 42 percent smaller carbon footprint per kWh than the prismatic cells used in BMW’s current 5th-generation EVs.

We can’t say much about the expected efficiency of the new 6th-gen powertrain until later this month, but we can say that BMW calculates that the iX3 can reach its break-even point with an ICE vehicle within just a year. Charge the car with entirely renewable electricity, and within just 10,900 miles (17,500 km), it’s on par with an ICE vehicle; using the normal European energy generation mix, that crossover comes at a little more than 13,300 miles (21,000 km).

At 124,000 miles (200,000 km), the iX3 should have a lifetime carbon footprint of 23 tons (or 14.6 tons exclusively using renewable energy); by contrast, a conventionally powered BMW X3 crossover would have a footprint of 52.8 tons.

Check back on August 25, when we can tell you what else we learned about BMW’s next EV crossover.

BMW’s next EV is its most sustainable car yet—here’s why Read More »

Tesla loses Autopilot wrongful death case in $329 million verdict

autopilot lawsuit, Cars, Tesla, tesla autopilot, Tesla lawsuit / 9u50fv / August 2, 2025

Tesla was found partially liable in a wrongful death lawsuit in a federal court in Miami today. It’s the first time that a jury has found against the car company in a wrongful death case involving its Autopilot driver assistance system—previous cases have been dismissed or settled.

In 2019, George McGee was operating his Tesla Model S using Autopilot when he ran past a stop sign and through an intersection at 62 mph then struck a pair of people stargazing by the side of the road. Naibel Benavides was killed and her partner Dillon Angulo was left with a severe head injury.

While Tesla said that McGee was solely responsible, as the driver of the car, McGee told the court that he thought Autopilot “would assist me should I have a failure or should I miss something, should I make a mistake,” a perception that Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk has done much to foster with highly misleading statistics that paint an impression of a brand that is much safer than in reality.

The jury heard from expert witnesses about Tesla’s approach to human-machine interfaces and driver monitoring, as well as its use of statistics, then considered their verdict on Thursday afternoon and Friday before deciding that, while McGee was two-thirds responsible for the crash, Tesla also bore a third of the responsibility for selling a vehicle “with a defect that was a legal cause of damage” to Benavides’ relatives and Angulo. The jury awarded the plaintiffs $129 million in compensatory damages, and a further $200 million in punitive damages.

Tesla loses Autopilot wrongful death case in $329 million verdict Read More »

Lotus still knows how to make a driver’s car: The 2025 Emira V6, driven

car review, Cars, Lotus Emira / 9u50fv / August 1, 2025

The mid-engine sports car is an increasingly rare breed, but Lotus still carries the torch with its Emira, which is available with a choice of supercharged V6 or turbocharged inline-four cylinder engines. Between its steering, compact dimensions, standard manual transmission, and low mass, it’s a breath of fresh air, and it’s ready to capture the hearts of enthusiasts. Pricing starts at $102,250 for the V6, which is in direct competition with the Porsche 718 Cayman GTS while it lasts, and a sea of mostly cosmetic options inflated this example to $116,950.

Like many Lotuses before it, the Emira’s foundation is a bonded aluminum chassis with Bilstein passive damper-equipped double-wishbone suspension at all four corners and the engine mounted right behind the seats. Curb weight isn’t as low as you’d think at 3,187 lbs (1,445 kg), but it’s contained within an overall length, width (sans mirrors), and height of 173, 75, and 48 inches (4,395 mm, 1,905 mm, 1,220 mm), respectively.

Mid-engine layouts generally put the same components like radiators in the same places, and the Emira’s shape follows its predecessors (as well as cars from McLaren or Ferrari) with large intake ducts straked across its doors and rear fenders, a low nose, and little overhang past the axles. In fact, these are key in its sense-of-occasion appeal; climbing over its door sills and into its driver position is teeming with “let’s go” energy, and the view out the windshield—fenders, short nose, and all—is more exotic than anything else at its price.

A lime green Lotus Emira in profile

The shape is dictated by the underlying form. Credit: Peter Nelson

Behind the seats is a Toyota-sourced 3.5 L V6. Lotus has tuned the engine and added an Eaton/Edelbrock-sourced supercharger. It revs freely like a sportbike, and it produces a sharp, angry tone anywhere above 2,000 rpm. Adding to the drama is a clear view of the bypass valve in the rear-view mirror, feeding or re-routing boost depending on throttle input. Power is rated at 400 hp (300 kW) and 310 lb-ft (420 Nm) of torque, which feels healthy everywhere—but especially within the final thousand rpm or so. Hitting 60 mph (97 km/h) from a standstill takes just 4.3 seconds.

Lotus still knows how to make a driver’s car: The 2025 Emira V6, driven Read More »

Tesla picks LGES, not CATL, for $4.3 billion storage battery deal

Cars, LFP battery cells, LG Energy Solution, Powerwall, Tesla / Beth Washington / July 30, 2025

Tesla has a new battery cell supplier. Although the automaker is vertically integrated to a degree not seen in the automotive industry for decades, when it comes to battery cells it’s mostly dependent upon suppliers. Panasonic cells can be found in many Teslas, with the cheaper, sturdier lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells being supplied by CATL. Now Tesla has a new source of LFP cells thanks to a deal just signed with LG Energy Solutions.

According to The Korea Economic Daily, the contract between Tesla and LGES is worth $4.3 billion. LGES will begin supplying Tesla with cells next August through until at least the end of July 2030, with provisions to extend the contract if necessary.

The LFP cells probably aren’t destined for life on the road, however. Instead, they’ll likely be used in Tesla’s energy storage products, which both Tesla and LGES hope will soak up demand now that EV sales prospects look so weak in North America.

The deal also reduces Tesla’s reliance on Chinese suppliers. LGES will produce the LFP cells at its factory in Michigan, says Reuters, and so they will not be subject to the Trump trade war tariffs, unlike Chinese-made cells from CATL.

Although Tesla CEO Elon Musk has boasted about the size of the energy storage market, its contribution to Tesla’s financials remains meagre, and actually shrank during the last quarter.

Tesla picks LGES, not CATL, for $4.3 billion storage battery deal Read More »

2025 Polestar 3 drives sporty, looks sharp, can be a little annoying

car review, Cars, Polestar 3 / Kelly Newman / July 29, 2025

Earlier this month, Ars took a look at Volvo’s latest electric vehicle. The EX90 proved to be a rather thoughtful Swedish take on the luxury SUV, albeit one that remains a rare sight on the road. But the EX90 is not the only recipe one can cook with the underlying ingredients. The ingredients in this case are from a platform called SPA2, and to extend the metaphor a bit, the kitchen is the Volvo factory in Ridgeville, South Carolina, which in addition to making a variety of midsize and larger Volvo cars for the US and European markets also produces the Polestar 3.

What’s fascinating is how different the end products are. Intentionally, Polestar and Volvo wisely seek different customers rather than cannibalize each other’s sales. As a new brand, Polestar comes with many fewer preconceptions other than the usual arguments that will rage in the comment section over just how much is Swedish versus Chinese, and perhaps the occasional student of history who remembers the touring car racing team that then developed some bright blue special edition Volvo road cars that for a while held a production car lap record around the Nürburgring Nordschliefe.

That historical link is important. Polestar might now mentally slot into the space that Saab used to occupy in the last century as a refuge for customers with eclectic tastes thanks to its clean exterior designs and techwear-inspired interiors. Once past the necessity of basic transportation, aesthetics are as good a reason as most when it comes to picking a particular car. Just thinking of a Polestar as a brand that exemplifies modern Scandinavian design would be to sell it short, though. The driving dynamics are just too good.

Although it shares a platform with the big Volvo, the Polestar 3 is strictly a two-row SUV. Jonathan Gitlin

High praise

In fact, if there’s another brand out there that might be starting to pay attention to the way Polestars drive, it should be Porsche. Bold words indeed. Often, dual-motor EVs have one motor rated as more powerful than the other, or perhaps even of different designs. But the long-range dual motor Polestar 3 (MSRP: $73,400) is fitted with a pair of identical 241 hp (180 kW), 310 lb-ft (420 Nm) permanent magnet motors. The drive units are not entirely identical, however—at the rear, clutches on either side allow for true torque vectoring during cornering, as well as disconnecting the rear axle entirely for a more efficient mode.

2025 Polestar 3 drives sporty, looks sharp, can be a little annoying Read More »

F1 in Belgium: The best racetrack in the world

Cars, F1, Formula 1 / DJ Henderson / July 28, 2025

Changeable conditions usually make for exciting races, but 2025 was a bit dull.

Does every race track have to have a ferris wheel now? For the record, Eau Rouge is the left-hand corner those cars are approaching—the corner at the top of the hill is Radillion. Credit: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Formula 1 made its annual stop at Spa-Francorchamps, the historic track that winds its way through the hills and trees of the Ardennes. I’ll admit, I’d been waiting for this one; in fact, I’ve become somewhat of a Spa bore, having fallen in love with the place all over again a few weeks ago while attending the Crowdstrike 24-hour GT3 race.

The 4.3 mile (6.9 km) track delivers, whether that’s as a challenge to the drivers—corners like Eau Rouge, Raidillon, Pouhon, and Blanchiment are the equal of any. There’s elevation change, something that neither Monza nor Silverstone nor Montreal can offer. It has history, dating back well before the start of the Formula 1 world championship in 1949, albeit in a much longer, much scarier version that was truncated by more than half in 1979. The views are spectacular from almost anywhere you choose to watch from, and despite the track’s size, its a pleasant and easy walk through the forest paths (just as long as you can stop imagining that one scene from Band of Brothers).

The food and drink in the region are worth a visit by themselves, and architecture fans will enjoy the Belgians’ chaotic attitude toward planning permission and house renovations, which appears to boil down to “do whatever you like as long as it looks good and won’t fall down.” Pretty good driving roads in the area, too, although they get even better toward the Nürburgring, just over an hour away in Germany.

The other thing Spa has plenty of is weather. (Well, almost always; while it rained during practice for the 24 hour race last month, the race itself was completely dry. As was the Nürburgring 24 the weekend before. And the 24 Hours of Le Mans the week before that. Which scares me.) But there was weather aplenty for the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix.

Sprint weekend

This year Spa held a sprint weekend, significantly shortening the practice time available to teams, most of whom brought technical upgrades to the race. Sprint qualifying was determined by track evolution, with the surface getting grippier as more and more cars attempted to set fast times. Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto in particular garnered some well-deserved attention for getting into SQ3, up among the very fastest cars, as did the Haas of Oliver Bearman (and his anything-but-a-rookie teammate Nico Hulkenberg).

McLaren’s Oscar Pastri secured the pole for the sprint race, lining up next to the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, a team now under the direction of Laurent Miekes after Red Bull’s corporate owners gave founding team principal Christian Horner his marching orders two weeks ago. As I wrote some months ago, for the past few years Red Bull’s design team has built cars that, while theoretically fast, are so difficult to drive at the limit that only Verstappen can exploit them properly. A single driver in the fastest car can win the driver’s championship, but if you want the team’s title—and that’s the one the bonuses are tied to, usually—then you better have both cars scoring good points. Just ask McLaren.

And Red Bull can no longer claim to have built the fastest car, even in Verstappen’s hands.

SPA, BELGIUM - JULY 26: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL39 Mercedes and the rest of the field at the start during the Sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Belgium at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps on July 26, 2025 in Spa, Belgium. — The grid negotiates the first corner—La Source—at the start of the sprint race. Credit: Clive Rose – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

That said, starting in second place at Spa is not so bad. After the slow hairpin of La Source—which McLaren has finally built a car able to cope with—there’s a long run to Les Coombes, with the challenge of Eau Rouge and Raidillon on the way. Verstappen got a good tow from the slipstream behind Piastri’s car along the Kemmel straight toward Les Coombes (isn’t it better when all the parts of the track have actual names and not just turn 1, turn 2, etc?) and got past, staying there in first place until the end, 15 laps later. Behind him, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did something similar to Piastri’s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris.

Although the Mclaren is a faster car than either the Red Bull or Ferrari, at Spa its speed came in the corners, and the orange cars were unable to close on or pass their rivals on the straights.

Teams and drivers faced a dilemma for Sunday’s race. They could either set their cars up for dry running, with less downforce and more top speed, or give them a higher downforce setup to capitalize on the rain. The thing is, they have to make that decision before qualifying on Saturday, then stick with it. Changes are allowed to setup, but only if you opt to start from the pitlane.

The McLarens took first and second in qualifying, with an amazing lap by Charles Leclerc that pipped Verstappen to third place by 3 milliseconds. Alex Albon got his Williams into a fine fifth place, and Red Bull’s other driver, Yuki Tsunoda—who has a much better relationship with Miekes than he ever did with Horner—made it into seventh just 0.3 seconds behind his otherworldly teammate. Bortotelo repeated his feat, snatching 10th in qualifying.

Not everyone had a good quali, particularly not Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who was eliminated among the first drivers for the second time in two days, something the seven-time World Champion described as unacceptable. Mercedes’ young phenom, Kimi Antonelli, who replaced Hamilton, was also eliminated among the first batch, part of a miserable weekend for the Italian who just graduated from high school.

Race day

Sunday morning was greeted with plenty of rain, affecting the support races and then delaying the start of the Grand Prix. Formula 1 has both intermediate and wet grooved tires, which pump gallons of water into the air from the track at speed, creating huge clouds of visibility-obscuring spray that, at a place like Spa, just hang between the trees. It’s this lack of visibility, rather than the wet track itself, that makes F1 so cautious, and so the formation lap was held behind the safety car, at which point the race officials decided to red flag things and wait for some more rain to come through and then leave.

Aston Martin F1 Safety Car, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri of McLaren during the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps in Spa, Belgium on July 27, 2025. — The FIA was far too cautious in bringing in the safety car and getting the race started. Credit: akub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The race eventually began 90 minutes late and circulated behind the safety car for far longer than was necessary, given the emergence of a dry line before too long. The red flag gave plenty of drivers and teams the opportunity to tweak their setups for the rain—something that turned out to be the wrong move given the FIA’s reticence to throw the green flag.

Piastri, in second place behind Norris, did to his teammate what Verstappen had done to him the day before and snatched the lead well before Les Coombes, staying just far enough ahead of his closest rival for the championship throughout the race. A small mistake by Norris and a slightly slower pitstop from his team meant he never got close enough to challenge Piastri for the lead. Behind them, Verstappen was similarly unable to make his way past Leclerc.

Star of the race for me, and the viewers who voted him driver of the day, was Hamilton. Starting from the very back of the queue in the pitlane, Hamilton’s Ferrari was set up for wet weather, and yet again we saw the skills that have won him more F1 races than any other driver in history. Have you ever seen someone overtake at Stavelot? I might have, but only in Gran Turismo 7.

A key to Hamilton’s success was pitting for slick tires at the right time—lap 11, just ahead of almost everyone else—and the British driver finished in seventh place at the end, behind the low-downforce Williams of Albon.

The 2025 race will not rank high in the pantheon of Belgian Grands Prix in terms of a thrilling race, but if you’re a motorsport fan, you owe it to yourself to make it out there sometime. Did I mention the World Endurance Championship has a six-hour race there in May? The tickets are far cheaper than F1, and you get a lot more access, too.

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.

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The electric Stark Varg EX is brutally fast but a little too unrefined

Cars, electric motorcycle, first ride, Stark Future / 9u50fv / July 25, 2025

This all-electric enduro monster needs a little more time in the oven.

Finding high-speed off-road harmony with the electric Stark Varg EX. Credit: Stark Future

The sport of off-roading suffers from a fundamental discordance: The desire to get out into nature and the irreparable harm inherent in the process of off-roading. That harm comes not only from damage to the land itself, but from an environment polluted with both fumes and noise.

Off-roading in an EV isn’t exactly a panacea, but it goes a long way toward at least solving those last two concerns. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to off-road in quite a few extremely capable EVs, but none more so than the new Stark Varg EX. This thing is an all-terrain monster, a diminutive 264 lb (120 kg) motorcycle with twice the torque of a Porsche 911 GT3, enough capability to cross nearly anything you care to run it over, and just enough civility to be street-legal.

It’s a wildly impressive two-wheeled machine—but one that’s not quite ready for primetime.

A new electric player

Founded in 2020, Stark Future’s first motorcycle is the Varg, which means “wolf” in Swedish. The Varg MX is an electric motocross and enduro monster that has already won numerous races and even the British Arenacross Championship. Where that machine was designed exclusively for off-road play and competition, the new Varg EX makes some concessions in the name of on-road legality and practicality while delivering a number of upgrades and tweaks over the earlier MX.

The Varg EX is built around two things: a 7.2 kWh battery pack and a permanent-magnet electric motor that, despite not being much larger than a can of soda, produces 80 hp (60 kW) and an astonishing 692 lb-ft (938 Nm) of torque.

Bikes are built at Stark’s facility in Barcelona, Spain, where workers assemble battery packs plus the bikes they power. While much of the bike is traditionally constructed, the company is experimenting with titanium laser sintering, a form of 3D printing used to create the bike’s beautifully sculpted footpegs. They provided a strong, secure platform for me on the adventure that lay ahead.

Ride time

Take a look at the back wheel of your average electric motorcycle, a Zero or LiveWire or the like, and you’ll see a rubber belt connecting the electric motor to the rear wheel. This has the primary benefit of reducing noise while also virtually eliminating the need for maintenance.

Chains are much louder and require oiling, eventually stretching enough that they’ll need replacing. On the surface, then, the chain at the back of the Varg EX might seem out of place, but it has its advantages.

That chain helps give the Varg EX a distinctive sound in the world of electric motorcycles. It’s a fair bit louder than much of the competition but still a stealthy machine compared to the screaming two-stroke or droning four-stroke engines that dominate the world of off-road riding.

The rear wheel and chain of an electric Stark motorcycle. — The rear wheel and its noisy chain. Credit: Stark Future

Neither of those power sources holds a candle to the Varg EX. I was politely but firmly encouraged to start my ride with the bike set to deliver only 35 hp (26 kW), less than half its outright capability. I expected to graduate to higher levels before long, but I quickly learned there wasn’t much point. Even limited, the Varg EX is scary quick.

It takes only a quick twitch of the wrist to lift the front wheel toward the sky, something that’s thankfully easy to catch with the rear brake mounted on the left bar rather than its traditional position by the rider’s right foot. No transmission means no clutch lever, freeing up that space on the grip.

Yes, there’s just one gear, but that single speed, combined with the 14,000 rpm motor, equals a top speed of 81 mph (130 km/h). A swap of the sprocket spinning that chain can bring that higher if needed, but this isn’t a machine built for high speed. It instead has the kind of instant torque and smooth power to crawl up technical terrain at a walking pace if you like or, with a little more twist of the wrist, send it over the worst obstacles.

Tech time

You select your power in the Varg EX through the handlebar-mounted touchscreen, which is actually a basic Android smartphone in a proprietary case that Stark aspirationally calls an Arkenstone. Through here, you can plan routes, track your bike’s performance, and craft five custom drive modes, selecting exactly how much power and regenerative braking you want. It’s a brilliant level of customization that I wish more EVs offered.

You then cycle through those modes with a pair of buttons mounted just inside the left grip, part of an impressively machined-looking set of controls. Sadly, in practice, neither of these systems works well. In my two days in the saddle, I lost count of the times those buttons got stuck, likely jammed internally thanks to the fine Pyrenean dust that filled the air as I rode.

Sticky buttons meant I was never sure when the bike had changed modes. A touch of haptic feedback in there is supposed to confirm you’ve switched from one mode to the next, but as you can imagine, a little buzz from the handlebar is hard to feel when riding over rough terrain.

The grip and controls for an electric motorbike — The buttons next to the grip could be better. Credit: Tim Stevens

So I was left squinting at the screen—which was a challenge to see in the bright Catalonian sun—and sadly, even that was unreliable. The Stark app on that Arkenstone crashed on me a half-dozen times while I was riding, leaving me with no way to know what mode I was in or, indeed, how fast I was going until the thing rebooted.

OTA and a prayer

The software can be fixed, and I’m sure it will be soon enough via over-the-air updates, but I fear the issue with the buttons is going to be harder to address. A better system would be something like BMW’s multi-controller, a wheel you rotate forward or backward, which would not only fix the sticking issue but also let the rider know precisely how many modes they’ve cycled through by feel.

I also wish the Varg EX offered some sort of rider-assistance system. Traction control and wheelie control would be nice, but even basic ABS would be appreciated. These are features that serious riders would turn off when off-road, but they’d be helpful for more casual riders on-road.

A Stark Varg EX motorbike on display in the wilderness. — Needs more work, sadly. Credit: Tim Stevens

Still, its features are on par with competitors like the Husqvarna FE 501s or KTM 500 EXC-F, only with way more power and available at a fair price of $12,990. For that, you’re getting a machine with incredible off-road performance plus enough battery capacity to spend all day riding the trails. Stark says to expect up to six hours of off-road riding on a single charge. While the constant software failures made tracking efficiency difficult, after one three-hour ride, I still had 42 percent remaining. High-speed on-road riding will surely drain things much faster.

In many respects, the Varg EX is a wildly impressive package, but it’s one I struggle to recommend as it currently stands. The software is broken, those buttons are a concern, and for a bike positioned as being tech-forward and streetable, the lack of even a token traction control system or ABS is unfortunate.

However, in its element, the Varg EX is a remarkable ride. I was blown away by its capability, which will far exceed that of most riders, certainly including my own. Despite being a rookie off-roader, after a few hours of riding, I was climbing and crossing some incredibly challenging terrain. Yet I could just as easily cruise my way through cattle pastures, weaving between cows and calves who stood there curious and unconcerned by the bike’s quiet whir. Just try doing that on a two-stroke.

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