Tag: jalopnik.com

Despite receiving less press fanfare than its big sibling the LS, the Lexus ES was introduced alongside the larger sedan in 1989 as the first two Lexus models ever sold. Over its seven generations, the ES has always lived its life as the Lexus version of the excellent if utilitarian Toyota Camry, and it has…

The biggest differences between the 2026 Subaru Crosstrek Hybrid and Forester Hybrid are styling, body size, trim variants, cargo capacity, and market segment. The Crosstrek Hybrid is a subcompact crossover SUV riding on Subaru Global Platform (SGP) underpinnings but with a raised ride height and rugged body cladding. Meanwhile, the Forester Hybrid is a small…

It seems that Southwest Airlines has adopted a similar policy as the Mos Eisley Cantina when it comes to droids: “We don’t want them here.” A recently released policy spells this out in no uncertain terms. Southwest Airlines does not allow human-like or animal-like robots to be transported in the cabin or as checked baggage, regardless…

In the perfect scenario, your engine operates with an air-fuel mixture – or stoichiometric ratio – that is exactly 14.7 parts air for every one part gasoline. This is the goldilocks zone where internal combustion chemistry is just right, and your emissions drop significantly. When that 14.7:1 ratio tips over, you end up in the land of lean…

Rivian, the electric automaker known for a cool outdoors-focused electric trucks and SUVs (and Amazon delivery vans), is a fairly new kid on the block. Founded in 2011 by Robert Scaringe, the company offers an SUV called the R1S and a truck, called the R1T, along with two smaller SUVs, the R2 that just went on sale, and the…

Little else is more frustrating as a driver than watching the highway grind to a halt behind a long line of semi trucks. These rolling steel roadblocks can seemingly pop up out of nowhere, trapping commuters for hours with nowhere to pass. There are stretches of highway across America that have earned a reputation as brutal…

Wind the clock back a decade, and asking why the LS remained the default swap choice would have been a pointless question. The answer was obvious — engines were cheap, plentiful, aftermarket support was huge, and detailed build threads were out there for DIYers to follow. For reliable V8 power on a realistic budget, the…

When Mercedes-AMG announced that the C63 would go from housing eight rowdy cylinders wedged beneath its hood to just four with a plug-in-hybrid system attached in the new W206 generation, car enthusiasts raised a collective eyebrow and made a pretty big fuss. Now, I drove that car, and when it was in the right mode…

Welcome back from your long weekend off to this Second Monday (simply known as Tuesday). Wherever your travels may have taken you, I hope the journey was more entertaining or at least more exciting than my road trip of enlightenment in finding out how many more gas stations are now along 31 on my travels…

Suicide doors, also known as rear-hinged, clamshell, coach or a whole host of proprietary names, are a holdover from a different era. Car doors that swing open from opposite sides are borrowed from the pre-automotive days of horse-and-carriage coach building, hence the “coach doors” term used by automakers like Rolls-Royce. The style was all the rage…