2016 Toyota Prius Powertrain and Chassis Details Revealed (Mostly)

We got a warm, cozy feeling after learning more about the 2016 Toyota Prius—warm like the car’s improved exhaust-heat-recirculation system and steering wheel with a heat-absorbing synthetic fabric. Or was it the cup of coffee we just drank?

Either way, Toyota has detailed the fourth-generation Prius’s powertrain and chassis—although not on every point—ahead of our drive of the car next month. Here’s what we now know:

For starters, the 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder carries over its output ratings of 98 horsepower and 105 lb-ft of torque, although Toyota says it has completely re-engineered the engine. Among the improvements: A higher-capacity exhaust-gas-recirculation system, new intake ports, redesigned coolant passages, and lower-friction piston skirts, and it also now uses a lower-viscosity oil.

The electric drive motor is smaller to save weight and to fit within a smaller transmission case, but it also loses a few ponies and pound-feet. It’s now rated at 71 horsepower and 120 lb-ft, compared to the current model’s 80 horsepower and 153 lb-ft. As we heard last year, this motor will be supplemented by one of two battery packs: a nickel-metal-hydride unit in entry-level models and a more-powerful, more-energy-dense lithium-ion pack for top trims. Toyota shifted the battery from the cargo floor to beneath the rear seats, opening up two additional cubic feet of storage in the hatch. Moving the battery also allowed Toyota to offer the Prius with optional all-wheel drive, called E-Four, that uses a second electric drive motor to spin the rear axle. With only 71 hp and 41 lb-ft to offer, E-Four’s second motor is more of the “bad weather peace of mind” type than, say, something Ludicrous.

The familiar body shape, now punctuated with all manner of Mirai-style slits and creases, is said to be more more slippery, at 0.24 coefficient of drag versus 0.25. Torsional rigidity is up 60 percent thanks to a new ring-shaped frame-rail design, reinforced roof bars, and lower B-pillars, and a “laser screw welding” technique that essentially plugs the gaps between spot welds for a tighter panel fit. Toyota says this should help make the 2016 Prius ride quieter and smoother. High-strength steel now comprises 19 percent of the Prius shell, up from three percent. A new control-arm rear suspension and revised front shocks promise to make the most of the standard 15-inch low rolling-resistance tires. Overall, the new Prius is 2.4 inches longer, 0.6 inch wider, and 0.8 inch lower. The wheelbase remains the same, but the driver now sits 2.3 inches lower and enjoys another 0.8 inch of headroom.

Toyota is talking to those drivers, too. In Power mode, the powertrain monitors for aggressive throttle inputs and higher lateral g’s; if detected, it then will “implement a sportier acceleration and deceleration.” Engineers tuned the ECU software to deliver greater low-rpm kick, and thought it worthy to address brake feel—long a weak point of regenerative hybrid systems—with a new hydraulic booster.

Hyundai and Rockstar Performance Garage Create Burly, Off-Road Tucson for SEMA

Perhaps the last thing anyone expects of the innocuous Hyundai Tucson crossover is actual off-road swagger, so it’s rather amusing to see this SEMA-bound 2016 Tucson festooned in rock-crawling regalia by Rockstar Performance Garage. Think of it as the antithesis of the slammed, Bismoto-modified, 700-hp Tucson “anti-crossover” that will also be on display at this year’s SEMA show.

With black paint, custom bumpers, smoked lights, skid plates, multiple LED bars and light “spikes,” and, of course, an upgraded sound system, the RPG Tucson looks like something Batman might buy his son for his sixteenth birthday. It rides six inches higher than the stock Tucson, with fenders modified to make room for the 32-inch Mickey Thompson MTZ P3 tires wrapped around KMC 17-inch “Bully” wheels. The suspension, meanwhile, gets new 2.5-inch adjustable coilovers and shocks from King Shocks.

Under the hood, new turbo plumbing, a high-flow exhaust and new intake and intercooler systems are among the changes made to the 1.6-liter turbo four. While Hyundai did not specify how much output has been increased as a result of these new bits, it’s safe to say that it produces somewhat more than the stock motor’s 175 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque. As for its all-wheel drive system? No word on any changes to that, so don’t expect to see it creeping though Moab any time soon.

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Will it ever see dirt? Likely not much. The most Hyundai would say is that its Blue Link navigation system “will help the vehicle get to all its events with ease as it tours the country next year.” So if your idea of “off-road” is being loaded on a trailer, that’s probably about as off-road as it’s gonna get.

2016 Kia Optima Priced Optimally for Mid-Size War

Kia has released pricing for the all-new 2016 Optima sedan and—surprise!—it costs the same as it did before. In today’s car-pricing climate, holding or cutting a car’s price is something of a coup, so kudos to Kia on that one. The Kia also undercuts most of its competition, including the Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, Nissan Altima, and the Toyota Camry. Here’s a breakdown of the Optima’s five trim levels—LX, LX 1.6T, EX, SX, and SXL:

Optima LX: $22,665; standard equipment includes a manual six-way driver’s seat, 60/40 split-folding rear seats, cruise control, a driver’s automatic down window, a 5-inch touch screen, a backup camera, Sirius satellite radio, Bluetooth, 16-inch aluminum wheels, and chrome exterior trim. The LX comes solely with a 185-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a six-speed automatic.

Optima LX 1.6T: $24,815; as its name implies, the LX 1.6T trades the LX’s 2.4-liter four for a turbocharged 1.6-liter four making 178 horsepower (but 195 lb-ft of torque, 17 greater than the LX’s engine). The turbo is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. This trim level also adds gray-finished 16-inch aluminum wheels, heated and power-folding side mirrors, acoustic front window glass, auto up/down front windows, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and pushbutton ignition with keyless entry.

Optima EX: $25,715; curiously, the EX goes back to the LX’s 2.4-liter four/six-speed automatic combo. Otherwise, it adds 17-inch wheels, LED taillights, dual projector-beam headlights, LED running lights, dual-zone automatic climate control, two rapid-charge USB ports (on top of the non-rapid-charging port standard on every other model), a heated steering wheel and front seats, a 12-way power driver’s seat, woodgrain interior trim, and leather seating surfaces.

Optima SX: $30,515; the SX steps up to a turbocharged 2.0-liter four with 245 horsepower and is the range’s sporty variant. As such, the SX adds a sport-tuned suspension, paddle shifters, 18-inch aluminum wheels, dual exhaust outlets, gloss black exterior trim, red-painted brake calipers, adaptive self-leveling HID headlights, and a rear spoiler. Inside, there’s an 8-inch touch screen with navigation, a color screen in the gauge cluster, metal trim, and rear side-window sunshades.

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Optima SXL: $36,615; sharing its turbocharged 2.0-liter four with the SX, the SXL slathers the Optima in options. This means: quilted nappa leather seats, a 10-way power passenger seat, an electronic parking brake, adaptive cruise control, a panoramic sunroof, automatic high beams,  LED reading lamps, heated second-row seats (outboard positions only), and special 18-inch wheels. The safety roster is impressive, too, with rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, lane-departure warning, and a surround-view camera.

2016 Tesla Model X: Tesla's Electric Crossover Finally Spreads Its Wings

It’s called the Tesla Model X, but it should probably be called “Elon’s Headache.” Behold, finally, Tesla’s two-and-a-half-ton electric sport-utility vehicle that shows, in Elon Musk’s own words, that “I think we got a little carried away.” There are those much-ballyhooed “falcon wing” motorized doors with their multiple hinges and a brace of ultrasonic and capacitive sensors to prevent disaster; the self-opening and -closing front doors; the “monoposto” middle-row seats that put their passengers on stout, movable pedestals; a massive wrap-over windshield that necessitated the world’s most unnecessarily complicated sun visors; and a HEPA cabin filter that, says company founder Elon, creates “hospital operating room cleanliness in the car.”

How does the X drive? Like the Tesla Model S on which much of the parts below the floor are based. Spear-sharp steering and governed body roll make for a grace that utterly belies the extra thousand pounds on the Model X’s back. Owners of a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S would recognize the way the car’s acceleration squishes all six (or seven, depending on the configuration) passengers into their seats—and the way it seems to flaunt physics.

In a short drive around a cone course near Tesla’s manufacturing facility, we drove a Model X P90D, the hyperfast version with the so-called “Ludicrous” acceleration mode. Stated curb weight: 5441 pounds. Towing capacity: 5000 pounds. The driver sits high but the bodywork rises such that it just feels like a Model S on jackstands. The different view is up, where a wave of shaded glass flows over your head, standing in for the windshield-header beam and sun visors on most cars. The sun visors attach to the A-pillar and can be stretched across the cabin to magnetic posts to create a sun shield. The windshield, says Musk, is made from seven layers (“like a tiramisu”), and he also figures it’s the largest piece of glass in a production car.

2015 Nissan Murano Platinum AWD

WHAT WE LIKE: This past summer, we liked loading the Murano with people and stuff and taking it on long-weekend excursions. Ride quality is good, and the interior is easily quiet enough for young children to nap­. The rear seat has plenty of room for young and old alike, and there’s lots of cargo room in back. The front seats are particularly comfortable for hauls long and short, and it’s easy to find a good driving position, although some drivers would welcome more thigh support. Pleasing ergonomics, a sensible layout of the controls, and logical display screens minimize driving distraction. The chocolate-brown upholstery and tasteful silvery wood-grain trim lend an upscale ambiance to the cabin. Well-behaved adaptive cruise control, which will bring the vehicle to a complete stop, helps minimize the stress of summer-weekend traffic jams on Michigan’s I-75. A fuel range of 400-plus miles is also a boon.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: The continuously variable automatic transmission has come in for a lot of criticism. One editor noted that the Murano“makes a beeline for the lowest possible engine speed. Every time you give it the boot, it moans and bellows its way up to 4000 rpm, sounding like a distressed cow in dire need of milking.” Another driver described the powertrain as “unpleasant,” but features editor Jeff Sabatini opined that the CVT is offensive only when you’re driving the Murano in a sporting manner, which buyers are unlikely to do often, if at all. Murano customers are perhaps more likely to be bothered by the high load floor in the cargo area as well as the somewhat shallow door pockets and the smallish cubbies for stowing road-trip paraphernalia.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Not a thing. The only times the Murano has seen a wrench so far is during its scheduled maintenance visits, which come every 5000 miles. The first service cost $59.59 and was comprised of an oil and filter change, a tire rotation, and an inspection. The second maintenance checkup was identical but cost 34 cents less, thanks to a drop in the price of the oil filter. Add that to the piggy bank.

WHERE WE WENT: Aside from a handful of commutes to northern Ohio, the Murano hasn’t left the state of Michigan. But it racked up thousands of miles going back and forth a total of nine times to various locations in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula—Up North as we like to call it—from our home base in Ann Arbor. The Murano visited family cottages, summer camps, resort towns, and even Lake Michigan’s Beaver Island, which is a 32-mile ferry ride from the mainland.

2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500

“This is a truck that’s easy to embrace. It knows what it wants to be.”

That is the final line in our entry for the 2015 Chevrolet Silverado in a recent four-truck comparison test, a test in which the Chevy finished second behind only Ford’s newer F-150. As we’ve been saying since the truck debuted for 2014, the squared-off, steel-bodied, leaf-sprung Silverado, on paper, is completely unremarkable. And yet somehow, the assemblage of its entirely unexotic components is something more. For 2016, the Silverado retains its simple hardware but gets a new face, expands the availability of its optional eight-speed automatic transmission, and adds Apple CarPlay integration.

If that list of updates sounds comprehensive, it really isn’t. Besides a newly topographical hood—with more creases stamped into it than seemingly every other body panel combined—and the loss of its stacked headlights, the 2016 looks the same as the 2015. Inside, there’s nary a hint of disturbance, with the dashboard, steering wheel, and seats carrying over unchanged. As we mentioned, there is Apple CarPlay (Android Auto integration joins the party in a few months), and it’s operated via the uplevel 7.0- and 8.0-inch MyLink touch screens. The look of the screens is familiar, although they now share internal hardware with the upgraded units in the 2016 Malibu, which means they respond more quickly to inputs than before.

2016 Honda Civic Sedan: The 10th-Gen Car Is Alive!

The road to recovery can be long—just ask Honda’s Civic. The small-car benchmark for decades, the Civic started to go awry when it transitioned from a normal-looking sedan, coupe, and (occasionally) hatchback to a futuristic, windswept-tadpole-shaped thing in 2006. It wasn’t just the styling that threw us for a loop; the weird two-tiered dashboard and lack of driving zest outside of the hot Si models did the car no favors, and neither did the increasing goodness of the Civic’s competition. But things weren’t truly dire until 2012, when that year’s new Civic became so un-Civic-like as to force Honda into redesigning its redesigned compact sedan for 2013.

If the 2013 Civic was the first step toward recovery, consider the truly all-new 2016 Civic sedan step four. Steps two and three were Honda’s announcements of a new line of twin-cam, VTEC-equipped four-cylinder engines with direct fuel injection and—on some engines—turbocharging, as well as the promise that the U.S. will finally get the ultra-high-performance Civic Type R later in this vehicle generation.

Is There Such a Thing as a Re-Re-Redesign?

Even though we’d already seen this latest Civic in tonal-gray 3D renderings submitted for patent approval and found it quite attractive, somehow in the metal, with paint, and chrome, the finished product looks a little less so, and our staff is divided on whether the car is handsome or awkward. Whatever your take, there’s a lot going on with the Civic’s surfaces, with numerous creases, curves, and scallops decorating its body. Honda managed to remain faithful to the Civic concept’s overall aesthetic (which, by the way, was attractive), but something feels a little lost in translation.

The overall shape is interesting, especially the sedan’s lower roofline (by one inch) and its long silhouette that terminates in a trunklet. But some in our office liken the tail to that of the now-dead Honda Crosstour. Others see a little bit of the 2010 Ford Fusion in the face. Unquestionably, the car’s midsection is perhaps its best component, long and flowing and free of excess cut-lines or stampings. And the new Civic is fairly large—there’s an extra 1.2 inches between its axles and an extra two inches of width compared to the old model—and the car’s design would be notably less successful if its myriad shapes were squeezed onto something smaller.

Crack open one of the Honda’s big doors, and the outlook improves mightily. The Civic’s new cabin is upscale, especially in the top-flight Touring trim, and the instrument panel is arranged in a refreshingly logical manner. Honda’s 7.0-inch touch-screen dashboard display has an improved menu structure and larger on-screen buttons (plus Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration), and the climate controls are arranged horizontally beneath it, close at hand. The seats are new and less couchlike, and the back-seat area is enormous, with two additional inches of legroom. Gone is the layered gauge cluster of before, in its stead a simple three-pod affair with temperature and fuel gauges on the periphery and a digital panel in the center with a virtual tachometer and a digital speedometer.

Honda’s Engine Development Just Hit VTEC

We aren’t particularly sure why the tachometer is so large, because the vast majority of Civics sold likely will be equipped with the car’s new CVT automatic. A six-speed manual is standard, but with Americans struggling to pay attention to things that aren’t their phones while driving, most new Civics will come with two pedals and not three. In the LX and EX, the six-speed manual and the optional CVT bolt to a naturally aspirated 158-hp 2.0-liter 16-valve four-cylinder with Honda’s VTEC variable valve timing and lift tech. The EX-T, EX-L, and top-spec Touring models utilize a turbocharged, direct-injected 1.5-liter four that also incorporates VTEC and produces 174 horsepower. Sadly, the new turbo four is backed exclusively by a CVT; less sad is that Honda has proven it knows how to make a decent CVT with the latest Accord. And besides, the two engines are far more powerful than the outgoing Civic’s 143-hp 1.8-liter four, and Honda says that the 2016 Civic sedan’s highway fuel economy will top 40 mpg regardless of the engine under the hood.

Honda’s technical updates reach beyond the Civic’s engine bay, with improvements in body rigidity, refinement, and even the seating position. An expanded use of high-strength steel helps stiffen the Civic’s body by 25 percent, says Honda, with 12 percent of the body now employing the stronger steel compared with 1 percent in the outgoing Civic. The doors feature triple seals and the windshield uses acoustic glass to reduce road noise, a key complaint we’ve levied against Civics for years. Underneath, the strut front and multilink rear suspension setups have been retuned, while variable-ratio electric steering, bigger front and rear anti-roll bars, and a new brake-based understeer-mitigation program (the system brakes an inside wheel to help the car turn into corners) promise better handling and, hopefully, a return of the driving fun that once characterized the Civic lineup.

More specifics regarding the Civic sedan’s pricing, fuel economy, and trim-level equipment breakdowns will come later, but there will be a host of new safety features on at least the top-spec Touring model. (Stuff like automatic emergency braking, road-departure mitigation, and adaptive cruise control are on the docket, as are full-LED headlights and taillights.) Oh, and the U.S. lineup also soon will include a five-door hatchback, a coupe, Si versions, and, as mentioned, an ultraspicy Type R variant. Will the Civic’s bold new look, high-tech new engines, and grown-up interior bring its plot back into focus, or will Honda’s stalwart compact sedan continue to flag? We’ll need to drive it to find out for sure, but Honda certainly is hoping its 10th-generation Civic continues the nameplate’s storied history with honor.