Welcome to Critic’s Notebook, a quick and off-the-cuff collection of impressions, jottings, and marginalia on whatever The Drive writers happen to be driving. Today’s edition: the 2017 Acura ILX. I wanted to like the Acura ILX. I really, really did. On paper, it sounds like the sort of car I’d buy. Peppy four-cylinder engine? Solid. Eight-speed dual-clutch transmission with … Read more
You may have seen the news last month that the global population of tigers is actually 40 percent higher than scientists previously estimated, given advancements in the techniques and technology used to track the animals. It was a rare uplifting moment—in a world where everything good seems to be going away, or changing beyond recognition, … Read more
When measuring a mountain, there are many straightforward ways to quantify how impressive it is. Height is, of course, the most obvious: How many feet above sea level is the tallest point? But height can be deceptive: a rock at 6,000 feet will tower over a 4,000-foot summit that borders the ocean, despite the fact … Read more
It’d be wrong to call the 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor anything less than extreme. Upon its release, it was quickly dismissed as “outrageous” and “silly,” and after hustling it through the desert, I can confirm the truck does deserve those labels. But for good reasons, actually. Those fender flares are questionable—that much hasn’t changed—but much … Read more
If you’re going to knock Audi for anything these days, it’s that the German automaker can be … well, a little too German in its approach to building cars. The competition does seem to be having more fun: BMW’s gone truly batty recently, and it’s still cranking out fan-service enthusiast models like the new M2 … Read more
Before the company royally angered its fanbase with bucktooth grilles and charging a subscription fee for heated seats, BMW pissed traditionalists off in the early 2000s with its then-new iDrive system. As one of the very first appearances of bona fide screens in cars, iDrive 1.0 was controlled exclusively by a single rotary knob. Ironically, … Read more
As you may already know, I used to have a 2008 Saturn Sky Redline, a weird roadster that I loved for many reasons, most of them which I shared with you over the course of several blogs (and some rants, too). With a few modifications, the Sky was a truly fast convertible that most passersby … Read more
The Ford Raptor has earned the right to be called an icon. Every version’s been a bad-ass Baja truck you can hit the desert with right out of the dealership; a cool idea with excellent execution. The new 700-horsepower 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R is the most extreme yet. And for those who insist on … Read more
Fourteen hundred miles from home, at a race track I’ve never driven before, I experienced the 2023 Honda Civic Type R at its angriest: From the passenger seat. I giggled and marveled at four-time Formula 1 race winner Sergio Pérez mercilessly overdriving one of a few new CTRs in existence. Later that day, I had … Read more
There’s a line of thinking that says the Dodge Challenger is the only true remaining muscle car. The Ford Mustang and Chevy Camaro, while wonderful in their own ways, have become too well-engineered, too good at handling, and too competently luxurious to really feel like the chest-beating, widow-making, American street sledgehammers of yesteryear. The 2023 … Read more