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Welcome to a society where seemingly the only way to encapsulate buyers is through toys, toys, toys! Flash, flash, flash! Gimmicks galore, and give us more! We love it when companies tout an upcoming product so heavily, placing it on a gilded pedestal for prospective buyers and investors to gawk. We also love it when said product becomes the center of ire and controversy in the public eye and when said products tend to fall apart, not do what they’re claimed to do, or backpedal on their original promises. But to cleanse our palettes and present to the world something refreshingly honest, we’ve been gifted the Hyundai Ioniq 6, South Korea’s entry into the affordable-ish electric sports sedan fray.

Skip to section:

• Specs
• Design
• Price
• Interior and tech
• A brainless daily driver
• Pleasantly sporty
• Conclusion

Hyundai Ioniq 6: see prices at CarGurus

Price and specs

Key notes. The Ioniq 6 has few trims and a handful of powertrain configurations, including a base model with 240 miles of range, all-wheel drive, and rear-drive “Long Range” variants that achieve 316 and 361 miles, respectively, and less-frugal rear-drive models on 20-inch rollers that score 305 miles. This Limited Long Range tester on its 20-inch wheels has the big kid 77.4-kWh battery and dual-motor all-wheel drive, good for 320 horsepower, 446 pound-feet of torque, and 270 miles of range, plus all the goodies that come with being the top-rung Ioniq 6.

Base price:	$50,150
As-tested price:	$55,480
Motor/battery:	Dual motor + 77.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
Transmission:	single-speed
Drivetrain:	all-wheel drive
Power:	320 horsepower
Torque:	446 pound-feet
Weight:	4,578 pounds
0-60 mph:	4.4 seconds
¼-mile:	13.2 seconds @ 103 mph
Top speed:	124 mph
MPGe:	111 city, 94 highway, 103 combined
Range:	270 miles

Ioniq 6 exterior design

The Ioniq 6 is unique, sleek, and sporty from some angles. It’s also weird, bulbous, and fugly from other angles. It’s tough to decipher what exactly Hyundai was going for, but I’ll give them props for delivering us a unique shape from the brick Polestar 2 and bubbly Tesla Model 3, and neither of them is that much of a looker anyway.

The side profile screams Mercedes CLA and CLS, which is likely a call to Hyundai’s European influence and their bid to out-German the Germans. The mid-level tailgate spoiler and rear lip spoiler give mild WRC vibes, like a Ford Sierra Cosworth or Escort Cosworth. Hell, add a support beam connecting the two and lift it on Fifteen52 wheels, and you have a Gen Z rally car.

In typical Ioniq fashion, squares and cubes define the little details of the Ioniq 6, and they can be found everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Check the seats, steering wheel, rearview camera, trunk release, exterior lighting, etc. It’s a CLA that’s been in Tron and back and has the pixels to prove it.

What’s hot?

– Strong, sports car-like acceleration – Well-tuned, easy to modulate brake and throttle pedals – Far more premium driving experience than some key rivals – Buttery smooth action of the many driver assists – Abundant rear seat legroom – Ergonomic interior with brainless controls

Ioniq 6 pricing breakdown

Hyundai makes speccing an Ioniq 6 really easy. Ready? Choose from the SE Standard Range, SE, SEL, and Limited trims. The latter three, with the bigger Long Range battery and more powerful motor, can be optioned with a rear-drive single motor or with dual-motor all-wheel drive. There are not really any major option packages on any trim aside from wheel locks, floor mats, road safety kits, etc.

A 2024 Ioniq 6 Limited starts at $50,150 and includes much of the same equipment as the lesser trims, from the digital displays to the safety aids and the 20-inch wheels. That fancy-schmancy Limited moniker does earn it a large power sunroof, power-folding side mirrors, a 12-volt outlet in the rear seats, and adjustable powertrain sounds for overgrown children who like it when their EVs make Star Wars speeder noises.

It’s me. I’m Overgrown Children.

Dual-motor all-wheel drive adds $3,500 to the price tag, while my tester’s pearly Serenity White paint tacks on another $470. Factor in carpeted floor mats for $210 and a $1,150 destination charge, and my tester rang the bell at $55,480, up there with the refreshed Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3.

Ioniq 6 interior and tech

The digital gauge cluster and 12.3-inch infotainment screen are perfectly legible and have an adjustable blue light filter for nighttime driving. Bitching. Adaptive cruise with lane centering is standard. Yes, please. There are 360-degree parking cams that seem silly in operation but turn out to be real life savers when you realize you can angle them to peek just ahead of blind corners. Smart, indeed. There are not one, not two, but three methods of blind spot warning: A light in your mirrors, a visual indicator in one of the gauge cluster screens, and blind spot cameras on either side. Oh, yes! Uncrashable? No. But the Ioniq 6 will make you really hard to defend if you do crash one.

Built-in navigation with destination searching and EV charger locating is included. Hallelujah! But should you prefer to bring your own navigation from home, wired CarPlay is standard, and you can sit your phone nicely on the charging pad just beneath the dash controls, which feature a mix of haptic touch and hard buttons and knobs.

If you really want to get silly, the higher-trim Ioniqs come standard with a nearly infinitely adjustable ambient lighting setup and adjustable EV powertrain sounds, which can scale from “Off” to “Annoyingly Loud.” It’s a goofy and playful feature that emits fun sounds, like a sci-fi speeder or spaceship. It can just be set to irritating volumes, is all.

A brainless EV to commute in

Comfort done Korea’s way

I’ve only driven a Polestar 2 around a parking lot during the LA Auto Show, and I’ve only driven older, pre-facelift iterations of the Model 3, so I’ll hold back driving comparisons until I can get proper seat time in newer versions of both. But I can say this Ioniq 6 deserves a place among them, if not above them.

The cabin is wonderfully airy, and the contrasting accents and ambient lighting do a great job of breaking up the sea of black “bio-based” leatherette enough to ward off the feeling of bleakness German interiors are infamous for. The power sunroof amplifies the airiness, and the seats are perfect when running down every last mile of its 270-mile EPA range, although the roofline raises concerns in the rear seat for anyone over six feet. At least the legroom and trunk space are quite generous.

While initially drawing skepticism, the haptic touch climate controls work flawlessly, and every icon falls right into hand. The hard buttons for media controls are handy in a pinch, and Bluetooth and CarPlay are near-instantaneous to connect. Why no wireless CarPlay? Beats me. That’d be a knock against it in the eyes of younger buyers who love wireless everything nowadays, but at least what you’re given works exceptionally. Just give us a real frunk next time.

Perhaps the only real strike against the Ioniq 6 inside is the abundance of hard plastics reminding you of this car’s $37,500 base car roots and that Hyundai badge on its nose. But I can take the plastics knowing it’s screwed together far tighter than any Tesla I’ve ridden or driven in recent memory, completely devoid of squeaks or rattles, even over broken pavement and deep potholes.

A driving experience worthy of luxury car branding

Around town, the Ioniq 6 feels authentic to itself rather than trying to be more of an appliance than it already is. It’s just a car, and it’s just a nice, well-insulated, compliant one with a little bit of spunk and classiness. The aforementioned driving aids work smoothly with inoffensive beeps and gentle operation of the adaptive cruise and lane-centering systems. There are four levels of brake regen, adjusted via repurposed paddle shifters, which change the in-town flavor of the Ioniq to whatever you’re craving, from full-regen with one-pedal driving to nearly off with normal car coasting.

Although this is the insultingly named “Long Range” Limited with a 270-mile rating, the second lowest in the lineup, my mixed driving returned a frugal 3.8 miles per kilowatt-hour. Times that by the 74 usable kilowatt-hours in the 77.4-kWh battery, and that’s a mixed driving range of 281 miles. Still not stellar, but better.

The steering is sharp enough to make parking lots a cinch, further aided by the cameras, sensors, and short bumper overhangs. Again, shame on you if you so much as ding this thing. And while the ride is mostly comfortable, you can’t help but feel it’d ride leagues better with the lower trims’ smaller wheels and fatter tires, but such is the trend of “RIMS real big.” Still, the occasional firm impacts can’t shatter how well-engineered this car feels and how endearing it is. One can only imagine what it’d be like if it wore the Genesis badge.

Now, did I say spunk earlier?

The pleasantly sporty sports sedan

Ah, yes. How can I forget? The dual-motor EV with the sizable battery and oodles of torque just so happens to be capable of snapping your head back into the headrest like it’s attempting a G-force-actuated chiropractic service. The Ioniq 6 Limited AWD is no Ioniq 5 N or Model 3 Performance, and we’re yet to see if an N version will come to fruition. But 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet from its dual motors and 77.4 kWh battery are plenty. That 270-mile range might not attract many buyers when Tesla exists, but it can surely make every mile a blast for those hopping out of their Elantra leases into one of these.

The comfortable suspension squats and exaggerates the feeling of acceleration, making the Ioniq 6 feel quicker than its reported 4.4-second 0-to-60-mph run, but it doesn’t flop on a twisting road or tight freeway on-ramp. The sharp steering, while devoid of feel, as is typical in this class, is well-weighted and less video-gamey than I remember in pre-facelift Model 3s and feels about on par with the Polestar 2. The firm, easy-to-modulate brakes can be adjusted in feel in the drive modes and in a Custom Mode individual setting. I felt little difference in either available mode, but either brake feel mode felt easy to get to grips with.

Just like how it’s easy for the Pirelli PZero all-seasons to get to grips with, well, the road and getting this roughly 4,600-pound brute to stick to the tarmac. I’d prefer a more eco-minded tire over what I’d call overkill, as I’m sure most normal buyers would, but this is dandy. The Pirellis, low center of gravity, clever suspension tuning, and 50/50 weight distribution result in an enjoyable driving experience, even when well out of the environment most Ioniq 6s will call home.

Want some extra spice with that spunk? Turn on the powertrain noises, and let them ramp up through the nonexistent rev band as they activate a Star Wars hyperdrive-like sound once you get up there in speed. For an added challenge, try braking using only the regen paddle shifters. Let the brain rot take hold, and you might actually think you’re engine braking. Man, the Koreans sure do know how to have fun with even their more sedate and mature cars.

What’s not?

– Polarizing styling – Fastback roofline may impede rear-seat headroom for taller occupants – Range is only okay in Limited AWD guise – Plasticky interior – Ride quality would be better with smaller wheels – Laughable “frunk”

New Hyundais: see prices at CarGurus

A masterful display of quality at an agreeable price

The Ioniq 6 exudes confidence without being egregious. Yes, there’s a sea of plastics, but they’re tightly bound and styled in an efficient yet attractive manner that appeals to both the tech-savvy and the traditionalists. It’s comfortable and can be more so if you step down in trim and wheel diameter. Its range isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s plenty for most metropolises and, as I’ve proven, has the potential to yield more than its EPA rating. The Ioniq 6 is surefooted and surprisingly fun when flogged just a wee bit, and everything blends together in a well-executed and cohesive manner that’s becoming less common in cars nowadays.

The Ioniq 6 isn’t necessarily the definitive commuter car for me, but I can easily see it being the definitive commuter car for many. Rarely do I see present-day cars this likable right off the bat without pulling any sort of rabbit out of its hat to draw our attention away from any glaring deal-breakers. The Ioniq 6 doesn’t have to because it has no deal-breakers, except maybe having to rely on stupid Electrify America until Hyundai follows in Volkswagen’s steps and the revised Model 3 promising improved quality and performance at competitive pricing that’s tough to ignore.

However, in a refreshing turn of events, here’s an EV that’s not jingling keys for investors and hype beasts. Instead, here’s an EV that’s just an excellent car by an excellent company that’s still going through the glow-up of the century.

“Life has many doors, Ed Boy,” said a character in a hallucinogenic-fueled fever dream of an Ed Edd N’ Eddy episode. My, oh my, how that throwaway line stood the test of time.

Six years ago, 19-year-old me had signed one of the most transformative contracts to have ever put leashed me. Lost, despondent, in search of an edge in life after my first trainwreck of a college career, I enlisted in my state’s Air National Guard unit, and soon, it was a life of monthly drills and annual training with one of the best C-130 airlift wings. Fast forward six years, plenty of training months, a COVID emergency activation, another short-lived college attempt, a couple of entry-level car dealership jobs, and an overseas deployment, and my tenure has reached its end.

To extend my contract or not to extend? That was the question. Ultimately, it was the latter choice I thought would suit an older me best. But was the journey worth it, the option to join years ago and the choice to leave to fully pursue a career in automotive media? I couldn’t even say with a hundred percent certainty at the time, and my mind raced with a million possibilities for a life I hadn’t fully sorted out. But perhaps a little road trip would give me time to think.

By February of this year, my contract had finally timed out. Come April, I embarked on one last journey from my home in sandy, sunny Las Vegas up north to Reno to collect trinkets-turned-memorabilia from my locker and say some goodbyes to old friends. “Never say never,” they say, so I’m certain it wouldn’t be the last I’d see of any of them. But it’d certainly be the last I’d see most of them for a long while. So I prepared for the long haul and loaded a weekend’s worth of attire in the trunk of my less-than-practical 2022 Subaru BRZ, heavily modified for track duty by a good friend who previously owned it yet just livable enough to be my just-good-enough daily driver and, for this instance, an all-weather road-tripper. Maybe I should’ve listened to my mom and bought a Forester.

One last time on familiar roads

8 a.m. on a Friday, I psyched myself in for yet another 400-plus mile excursion on familiar two-lanes I’ve driven dozens of times on my way to Reno for Guard training and activation. It’s a simple trip, and I’ve driven for longer. But my goodness, that first run up to Reno is always a dreary haul.

Miles and miles of nothing but sand, rocks, the color brown, and, oh, look at that! More sand. The I-95 northbound eventually widdles down from a traditional four-lane highway to a two-lane country road, cutting through one of the most desolate parts of the entire United States without much in the way of other traffic to enjoy on-the-go car spotting. When you do, it’s often an 18-wheeler, a lifted pickup, or some Malaise-era rust bucket. Snoresville. Travelers making this journey, please bring lots of caffeine and a playlist of heavy music, and know that passing the inevitable semi takes a sharp mind and a bit of horsepower.

Occasionally, the wandering mind is treated to historic mining towns like Goldfield and Tonopah, popular stops for lab-brewed caffeine-in-a-can, fresh octane, and junkyard car spotting. Walker Lake near Hawthorne is Middle Mevada’s sample tasting of French Riviera motoring, with cliffside views, roadside homes and lodging, and flowing sweepers to let the BRZ stretch its legs a little, or at least when it’s not stuck behind a convoy of lumbering semi-trucks. Otherwise, the drive is mostly a bore.

Thankfully, the persistent bunch who cross into the Reno-Tahoe area are rewarded with flowing hills and lush greenery unheard of to a desert rat like me. But not me, though. I was greeted with a flash snowstorm that my all-seasons thankfully dispatched with somewhat ease and with only a little bit of pants-browning on my end.

Farewell and thanks to the airmen who guided me

Through snow and slush, I made it to my home away from home in time to make one last round at the local Air Guard base. I didn’t think much about my future on the way up. All I could think of was escaping the The Hills Have Eyes counties and high-tailing it to civilization to the hotel check-in desk without turning the BRZ into another road safety statistic. Shoutout to Goodyear for making stellar rubber and my friend who loaned me these hand-me-down tires.

The next couple days were spent filling my travel cup with sentiment and nostalgia for days when younger me didn’t give a damn about anything other than the weekend. Coworkers in my shop said their goodbyes and their best wishes, imparting their post-service benefits advice as I loaded my Little Subie That Could with old military uniforms. I rendezvoused with old friends and reminisced on our times together, from student flight to basic training and on to our first and only deployment together to the shores of Northeast Africa. Djibouti was a blast, and now we were left pondering on the next steps in our lives as my friends also contemplated life after service and whether they should continue or also part ways.

It’s a volatile time in the world, and we Gen Z brats hardly give much thought to where we’ll be in a year, let alone where we’ll be in a decade. Keeping with the typical Asian-American family dynamic, I’ve faced immeasurable pressure to succeed and fall into a field where stability and security are at arm’s length away. Doctor. Nurse. Engineer. Stay in the Air Force and make officer ranks. Right. Perhaps I damned myself with any sort of digital media gig, instead falling into a purgatory where I teeter between abundant hope, feeling like a million bucks and that I’m on top of the world, or feeling like I’m on the verge of imminent failure at all times. Better Help, take my money.

Anyway, enough existential crisis. We’d rather not spoil the moment. We had late-night pancakes to finish and celebratory liquor to down.

The long way home

So came the end of my military service, out with a laugh and some drinks rather than some big bang of a TDY like I thought it would. Still, so many friends I wish I could say goodbye to who were either away on their own TDYs or had already separated from our unit and dropped off the face of the earth. It was goodbye, but not for forever. I still owe my best friend from basic training a dual at Thunderhill against her Camaro. That’s for certain. Now, how to make this final run home count.

Ah, yes. Here comes Apple Maps to the rescue once again. This time, pitching me an alternate scenic route that takes me down past Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes, running alongside the Sierra Nevadan mountains before dumping me in the I-15 between home and Los Angeles. It’d extend my trip by over a hundred miles and turn a six-hour drive into nearly nine.

Sure. Why not? It’s the weekend, after all. It was one of the routes Maps always recommends you take, but you never do out of “I ain’t got time for that.” But on that particular weekend, I had all the time in the world.

Onward I went. From Reno down south past Washoe Lake and into Carson City. From Carson City into Gardnerville. And from Gardnerville into God knows where I was after that, but man, it sure was breathtaking. The highway departs northern Nevada suburbia and begins to snake up and down, in and out of the nearby snow-capped hills, soon dumping me on the coast of Topaz Lake. Or so the signs said it was Topaz Lake.

I was in and out of agricultural lands I never even knew existed in this corner of Nevada and northeast California. I wanted to believe that once you’ve seen a few patches of grass driving up the I-5 between SoCal and The Bay, you’ve seen them all, but this was different. Familiar yet alien. It was like the drive up here except with more greenery and less creepy crack houses and brothels. The hours ticked away, and a few podcasts and playlists were crossed off. I passed a junction flooding with tourists bound for Mammoth Lakes, soon followed by a drastic descent from the treeline down into a valley where the Sierra Nevada mountains grew from mere hills to gargantuan towers, with their snow line soon disappearing from beneath your hood and rising high above.

I know we car enthusiasts often bemoan freeway road trips versus secluded backroads, but come on now. Sometimes, it’s worthwhile to leave the sports car in Comfort mode and cruise, especially when the freeways look like this so you can stare at nature’s creations you wouldn’t see anywhere else. And I couldn’t ask for a better sports car for such a journey. Or, well, maybe I could. Nah, who am I kidding? I could. But it got the job done.

The greatest and worst GT car

For hundreds of miles upon miles, the little BRZ came into its own and made good on my claim that it’s the world’s cheapest GT car and surprisingly capable tourer. Mostly. I mean, that GranTurismo Trofeo from a couple months ago would’ve been epic, but we embark on journeys with the tools we have, not the tools we want.

My main compliments from my press car review last fall stood strong: ride quality was remarkable for such a small, cheap car, even on track-focused coilovers that my friend had set to nearly maximum stiffness. Potholes were of little to no concern. All-season tires were game-changing in how my car tackled the rain and later snow and slush in the Reno-Tahoe area, encouraging me to explore the snowed-out country two lanes nearby. The seats were oh-so-cozy, and their fiery-hot, ass-searing heating elements came in clutch. Toasty!

The aggressive alignment could do with a little less tramlining, even with skinny, not-so-race-ready rubber. Just a little. And the fuel economy with the massive aero took a notable hit versus a stock BRZ. The mpg wasn’t bad, but the economy hit, plus the small tank, meant the range was sometimes a bitch. Still, I couldn’t complain. It was a fantastic and wonderfully capable driver’s car, and nearly running dry near a gas station at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountains, just within a stone’s throw of Mount Whitney, was its own blessing in disguise.

Even Bob Ross would still stop and stare, and maybe he’d even paint my car a happy little friend.

Final thoughts on my final stretch

A great trip needs a great finale, and I found one on a familiar highway traversed by my family as well as millions on a regular basis. As the valley of otherworldly mountains spat me out onto the I-15 and the arid desert, I reflected on the life I led and the one I had been given. If you told 20-year-old me that those high school dreams of getting paid to write about cars like my favorite automotive personalities, I would scoff and probably give you a good gut check for playing with me like that. It was a dream that felt out of reach under the pressure of family conformity and utter confusion at how people even broke into this industry. Now, I look back, grateful I took the leap I made, although fearful for an increasingly uncertain future in such a volatile field. But hell, I made it this far, didn’t I?

Whether I was a humble freelancer or Supreme Editor Overlord of Road & DriverTrend, the truth was I had made it into a career I had dreamed of but didn’t think possible. All I have to do is run away with it and not look back. And that’s probably the best advice I can give a stubborn dreamer fueled more by passion than material desires. If you see a window of opportunity, any window, big or small, jump straight through it and never stop. Of course, play your cards right and play them smart, but don’t back down lest you discover the biggest life regrets come when you throw in the towel on your endeavors.

Is my career perfect? Fuck no. But I’d still be parking cars or bouncing between lecture halls for some dead-end major at the university right now if I didn’t take that chance.

As for the Air Force, it’s safe to say that chapter ran its course as this new avenue of digital media and the oh-so-fantastic world of adulting (and for realsies this time) just turned green for me. Come to think of it, aside from extra coin, a splash of life guidance, and a bit of adventure, I can’t fully recall why exactly I enlisted in the first place. But while I’m deciding to part ways and begin anew, I’ll forever be grateful for all it gifted me, even as a mere Guardsman. And so onward I go into this new career I’m building from scratch. I will always look back on that uniform fondly.

I started this trip overflowing with anxiety and my mind racing. “What’s next? What am I going to do? What if I fail at this? Should I have stayed enlisted? Should I change careers?” On the last leg home, my mind fell at ease, only asking one thing at the moment: “Lake Dolores Waterpark looks beautiful under the setting sun, doesn’t it?”

Among our favorite pastimes at Acceleramota is mindlessly scrolling through car deals and sharing the best ones to help people like you (or myself) save money. Ask my wife. The only way I can muster the strength to get out of bed is to find the most cursed Facebook Marketplace listing that morning, and from the laughter-induced dopamine rush, I emerge. But, in genuine pursuit of the best lease deals and finance offers, nothing beats CarGurus. Our marketplace of choice for new and used cars, CarGurus, will connect you directly with a local dealer to redeem these sweet, sweet car lease deals and sales you’ll find on vehicles from all the top auto brands, including Kia, Mazda, Jeep, Chevrolet, Honda, and more!

Quick notes before I set you loose! As some dealers recently signed up with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to apply EV tax credits at the point of sale, keep an eye out for these models. Purchasing one from the right dealer could add even more savings – up to $7,500. That said, if you lease an electric car, any electric car, including plug-in hybrids like the Mazda CX-90, is eligible. In my experience leasing an Alfa Romeo Tonale, dealers are happy to pass on the savings. And when you’re in the market for a luxury vehicle, leasing can make more sense than buying anyway, especially when you can write it off on your taxes.

And don’t forget this. If you think you can score a better lease deal than what’s advertised here, you probably can. Dealer-specific lease offers can sometimes beat out what’s advertised by the manufacturer, depending on inventory and regional trends. So, if you suspect you can score an even hotter lease deal, then by all means, contact your local dealers, which you can do through consumer sites like CarGurus.

(Editor’s Note: Updated April 15, 2024. See updated pricing and new or refreshed offerings from BMW, Buick, Chrysler, GMC, Audi, Acura, and Land Rover!)

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Acura deals and finance offers

2024 Acura Integra | $349 per month for 24 Months ($4,999 due at signing)

The Integra has a more defined and premium feel than other vehicles in its category, Civic-based or not. While it might not be as flashy as its rival companies, it certainly makes up for those shortcomings in how it handles the road smoothly and safely. It’s a decent value for its proportions and a worthwhile successor to the old Integra nameplate, complete with a decent and lengthy warranty compared to its rivals in this space.

Acura Integra: see prices at CarGurus

Audi deals and finance offers

2024 Audi Q5 | $523 per month for 36 Months ($4,917 due at signing)

Audio continues its history of comfort with the Q5. This luxury SUV is superbly quiet for its size, but they do say true luxury whispers. This model adds heated steering wheels as a standard. So if chilly morning commutes are a part of your week, this good be a lifesaver. Speaking of which, the Q5 faired well in crash tests. This paired with automated emergency braking, forward-collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alerts you’ll feel more than secure even with up to five passengers.

Audi Q5: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Audi A3 | $440 per month for 36 Months ($3,834 due at signing)

For 20 years, the A3 has been an affordable small sudan and steady seller for Audi around the world. A more fuel-efficient entry makes this a great day-to-day sedan for the aspiring yuppie. The A3 is a bit more expensive than comparable vehicles but it is a smidge more performance-focused with a dose of added modernity and maturity. So what do you need for a few extra thousand? But all signs point to this being a dream to drive in all types of weather.

Audi A3: see prices at CarGurus

Buick deals and finance offers

2024 Buick Envista | $239 per month for 24 Months ($3,480 due at signing)

The Envista is incredibly versatile, and it should cost an arm and a leg… But it doesn’t. Given the current market, this subcompact SUV is very affordable and well worth the investment. Buick designed this with a beautiful exterior, giving off the vibe that it’s a high-end luxury vehicle when it’s also a spunky, fuel-sipping crossover. It’s a good size for those who do not want to commit to a much larger SUV but still need the backseat space for pets, kids, and anything in between. A plus rating across the board for a Buick that’s under $25,000. Now, that’s crazy.

Buick Envista: see prices at CarGurus

2023 Buick Envision | $309 per month for 24 Months ($3,929 due at signing)

Although the Buick Envision was discontinued in November last year, it is still an incredibly sleek compact SUV. Its sophisticated aerodynamic lines are in line with that of past Buicks. Exceptional fuel efficiency and smooth cruising have made this the 14th most reliable luxury and small compact SUV at iseecars.com. With heated seats and a heated steering wheel, this is a fan favorite for drivers in chillier climates. And the smart All-Wheel Drive means it tackles snow effortlessly.

Buick Envision: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Buick Enclave | $479 per month for 24 Months ($4,977 due at signing)

Buick is known for luxury, and they didn’t skimp on those details when designing the Enclave. A roomy interior means you can take up to seven passengers on your next trip, of which you’ll be riding in style. Every detail was well thought out with the lavishness you want from Buick. Plus, there is a moonroof for a panoramic view of the night sky. This is a dream for stargazers. The Enclave has a predicted reliability score of 85 out of 100, according to J.D. Power, which is great for an SUV of this stature.

Buick Enclave: see prices at CarGurus

BMW deals and finance offers

2024 BMW i4 | $499 per month for 36 Months ($4,599 due at signing)

BMW enters the all-electric chat. The i4 is a Gran Coupe that delivers a maximum range of up to 307 miles of smooth driving. With a driving performance that charts better than the gas-powered M cars that preceded it, this BMW is a fair entry into EVs. Now in it’s fifth-generation the eDrive technology is vastly improved. Even the position of the battery has changed the car’s center of gravity to ensure a smooth and secure ride every time. High-tensile steel and aluminum were used to mold this vehicle into a sleek beautiful car like only BMW could design.

BMW i4: see prices at CarGurus

2024 BMW X1 | $579 per month for 36 Months ($4,589 due at signing)

The BMW X1 is a classier station wagon. Just kidding, it’s BMW’s most affordable SUV, and there’s currently a lease deal on the all-wheel-drive, turbo four-banger xDrive28i. The X1 rates exceptionally on many lists in several categories and is probably one of the best SUVs available currently. Customers have noted its quick reflexes and roomy cabin, making it perfect no matter if it’s run to the grocery store or a jaunt out in the woods. A Benz for all seasons.

BMW X1: see prices at CarGurus

Jeep deals and finance offers

2023 Jeep Renegade | $339 per month for 42 Months ($4,599 due at signing)

Outside of having a totally badass name, the Jeep Renegade is a solid and affordable SUV. This is Jeep’s smallest vehicle, and while this will be the year you’ll find it in America and Canada, there is still plenty of value in it. It’s dang roomy for its size, and the fuel efficiency is excellent, whether you’re running around town or heading into the wilderness for a camping trip. While it might not be as agile as its brother, the Wrangler, it handles bumps and humps better than many of its competitors.

Jeep Renegade: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Jeep Wrangler | $349 per month for 36 Months ($4,899 due at signing)

Speak of the devil! The current-gen JL Wangler is the best version to ever exist. Packed with all the features, toughness, and reliability of previous generations, everything got upgraded. This off-road legend is timeless and always gets the job done. With a comfy interior and higher-end trims, you’d imagine this to be a much more costly vehicle than it is. There is a reason everyone knows the Wrangler. Trustworthiness and solid safety will earn you a legacy like that. 

Jeep Wrangler: see prices at CarGurus

Cadillac deals and finance offers

2024 Cadillac CT4 | $399 per month for 36 Months ($3,739 due at signing)

A solid entry in the luxury car space, the Cadillac CT4 is a compact premium sports sedan whose performance more than makes up for its size, thanks to the Camaro-based Alpha Platform chassis. This sporty and reasonably priced sedan allows those with a smaller budget to still enjoy the opulence of a Caddy. The Cadillac Smart System safety tech suite is really where the car shines and makes it worth every penny.

Cadillac CT4: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Cadillac XT4 | $469 per month for 36 Months ($3,509 due at signing)

Cadillac’s smallest SUV is certainly big on details. A feature that truly makes this feel like a vehicle of the future is exterior LED lighting. Stay with me. Now, both the front and the rear have IntelliBeam auto high-beam. This is such a cool look on a very sleek SUV. With a nine-speed automatic transmission, front- or all-wheel drive, and a turbocharged engine, the XT4 certainly has speed on its side. If you think it’s time to own a Cadillac, you won’t regret this one. 

Cadillac XT4: see prices at CarGurus

Chrysler deals and finance offers

2024 Chrysler Pacifica | $564 per month for 36 Months ($4,069 due at signing)

My favorite thing about the Chrysler Pacifica is that it was so obviously used in product placement for a certain era of time, like in the Desperate Housewives PC game in 2012. A few Chryslers were but the Pacifica was prominent. But I digress, it has remained a best-seller for Chrysler and a fan favorite for soccer moms nationwide. It is, after all, America’s most-awarded all-wheel-drive minivan. This version is the only van that offers both gas and plug-in power.

Chrysler Pacifica: see prices at CarGurus

Hyundai deals and finance offers

2024 Hyundai Elantra | $199 per month for 36 Months ($3,499 due at signing)

One of the most affordable cars on the market, the Hyundai Elantra is in a class all its own. The 2024 version sees leaps in both tech and styling. The modern and streamlined shape makes it perfectly stylish for every day and long-haul journeys. This compact sedan also allows you to turn your phone into a key. Create a digital key to share with loved ones so they can unlock doors without your assistance. Integrating technology seamlessly into our vehicles and lives is all we’ve dreamed of.

Hyundai Elantra: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Hyundai Kona | $232 per month for 36 Months ($4,012 due at signing)

The Kona is on the smaller side of SUVs, yet it manages all weather conditions with confidence and skill. Don’t let size be a deterrent; this is a safe and featureful vehicle. The Kona’s all-wheel drive maintains a firm grip on the slickest of streets, making it a great pick for locations with ever-changing forecasts.

Hyundai Kona: see prices at CarGurus

Mazda deals and finance offers

2024 Mazda CX-30 | $244 per month for 36 Months ($2,999 due at signing)

Elegance was certainly in the minds of the designers for the Mazda CX-30. It quite literally is a work of art. Light and shadow are perfectly captured as this vehicle moves at all speeds; a constantly shifting S-curve dances along the doors. But it is also there as you admire the car from different angles, even at a standstill. It’s a beautiful illusion. The CX-30 is also one of the safest and most affordable vehicles on this list, with a 5-star rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Mazda CX-30: see prices at CarGurus

Alfa Romeo deals and finance offers

2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia | $519 per month for 42 Months ($5,550 due at signing)

An Italian with luxury and performance, no, not that car maker. We stan the other famous brand, Alfa Romeo, ’round these parts. The Giulia is no exception; the quality and horsepower we’ve come to love from this renowned manufacturer are well on display. With its roots deep in motorsports, why wouldn’t it produce a car with the most powerful standard turbo engine in its class? The Quadrifoglio isn’t just a good luck charm. It’s a status symbol.

Alfa Romeo Guilia: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale | $379 per month for 24 Months ($5,210 due at signing)

Another beautiful Alfa Romeo makes the list. When I saw this at the 2023 New York International Auto Show, I gasped. It’s actually breathtaking. And as you would expect from Alfa Romeo, the Tonale handles like a dream. Our founder, Gabe Carey, also agrees with the sheer brilliance of the Tonale’s performance and appearance. We here at Acceleramota would rather be in an Alfa than a Ferarri. Sorry, not sorry.

2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale: check local availability

Honda deals and finance offers

2024 Honda Accord | $279 per month for 36 Months ($3,669 due at signing)

Built for everyday driving, the Honda Accord is a popular midsize sedan for a good reason. Responsive steering, braking, and a comfortable ride are all reasons why you’ll find this model at the top of many lists. While this deal is only for the LX base trim, you’re getting the basics like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a slew of driver-assistance features.

2024 Honda Accord: Learn more at CarGurus

2024 Honda CR-V | $319 per month for 36 Months ($3,499 due at signing)

The CR-V is a top-seller car for Honda. This sporty hybrid is rugged yet still sleek and efficient. It’s a distinctive style for sure, less angular and Gundam-esque than Toyota’s design language. You don’t need to be heading out for a weekend of camping to truly get the most out of this vehicle. So many of the features make everyday life easier, like the hands-free access power tailgate. Imagine loading in groceries and having the ease of the door just opening with a wave of the foot. What a time to be alive.

Honda CR-V: see prices at CarGurus

Nissan deals and finance offers

2024 Nissan Altima SV | $269 per month for 36 Months ($3,239 due at signing)

Manufacturers are getting better with safety and technology, and Nissan is at the forefront. The very reliable Altima is right there, ready to keep you safe should you dare exploit that BIG ALTIMA ENERGY. The intelligent all-wheel drive system remains vigilant on the state of the road and can react quickly. A feature like this is so important for driving in busy areas or long commutes. America loves this car for a very good reason.

Nissan Altima: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Nissan Sentra | $239 per month for 36 Months ($2,589 due at signing)

If you’re looking for efficiency, the Sentra is an excellent option. The 2024 version enhances every drive you take with cutting-edge technology, a dynamic style, agile performance, and a luxurious inside and out. Make your commute a little more comfortable with smooth handling and intelligent climate control.

Nissan Sentra: see prices at CarGurus

Toyota deals and finance offers

2024 Toyota Highlander | $459 per month for 36 Months ($4,999 due at signing)

A tried and true best-seller, the Toyota Highlander is definitely one of the best out there. Year after year, even little tweaks make this a highly desirable SUV. Everything about it was designed with the rugged outdoorsman (and woman) in mind. Its ability to handle all terrain with control and ease means there are very few places you wouldn’t be safe driving this. And that big ol’ turbo powertrain means plenty of torque to get up and over any obstacle. 

Toyota Highlander: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Toyota RAV4 LE | $329 per month for 36 Months ($4,999 due at signing)

The RAV4 was made for the outdoors but handles just as beautifully in the ‘burbs or city. A darling vehicle for Toyota, the RAV4 is prepared to take you and your family anywhere. This compact crossover SUV is prepared to navigate trails with ease just as smoothly as it cruises the highway.

Toyota RAV4: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Toyota Camry | $319 per month for 36 Months ($3,999 due at signing)

There is a very good reason the Toyota Camry is America’s best-selling midsize sedan. It’s everything you look for in a vehicle: style, performance, and safety. This sleek, smooth car has been a US fan favorite for 21 years, and the 2024 version keeps that tradition alive and well.

Toyota Camry: see prices at CarGurus

Kia deals and finance offers

2024 Kia Carnival | $399 per month for 36 Months ($3,499 due at signing)

It’s like they always say: there ain’t no carnival like a Kia Carnival. This eight-passenger minivan features a spacious interior, cutting-edge safety tech, CarPlay, Android Auto, and, of course, it wouldn’t be a minivan without power sliding doors. Bear in mind that this deal only applies to the most basic LX trim.

Kia Carnival: Learn more at CarGurus

2023 Kia EV6 | $299 per month for 36 Months ($4,499 due at signing)

Heart set on an electric SUV? The Kia EV6 is a stylish midsize option with decent cargo along with sharp steering and handling. Its performance is impressive, too – you’re looking at Kia’s most powerful production model, complete with 576 horsepower. Go from 0-60 in only 3.4 seconds at a big discount. While this price is exclusive to the rear-wheel drive Wind model, check with your dealer because there may be incentives on other trims, including the all-wheel drive version.

Kia EV6: see prices at CarGurus

2023 Kia Forte | $199 per month for 24 Months ($3,499 due at signing)

The Kia Forte is a sophisticated little sedan with above-average utility and great value for the money. With a long list of available amenities, this comfy ride is an affordable dream for commutes and trips. The Forte offers excellent value when paired with good performance from the GT trim, high fuel efficiency, and a comprehensive warranty.

Kia Forte: see prices at CarGurus

Subaru deals and finance offers

2024 Subaru Outback | $305 per month for 36 Months ($3,055 due at signing)

TikTok’s favorite manufacturer, Subaru, has rizz. The Outback is an excellent SUV and, for years, has outranked others in this category. Subaru boasts that 97% of Outbacks purchased in the last decade are still on the road today, so this is a very good investment to make. Those engineers are doing something very right; the Outback has become the definition of reliability and durability.

Subaru Outback: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Subaru Crosstrek | $299 per month for 36 Months ($2,549 due at signing)

A compact SUV paired with Subaru’s legendary Asymmetrical All-Wheel Drive traction makes this a killer pick for those on the go and off to the forest. The 2024 Crosstrek goes hard. This is the safest version of the vehicle that’s ever been on the market. Subaru upgraded their EyeSight Driver Assist Technology, as well as other detection sensors, to alert at a moment’s notice. Very smart to have in low visibility areas. They have also improved their Starlink connection for extra safety, which could be handy in dark, isolated woods.

Subaru Crosstrek: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Subaru Impreza | $249 per month for 36 Months ($2,549 due at signing)

The 2024 Impreza is the ultimate all-weather vehicle, packed with cutting-edge technology, premium engineering, and a versatile, sleek hatchback style. For this reason, the Impreza was selected by experts at IntelliChoice as a SmartChoice winner for High Retained Value for two consecutive years.

Subaru Impreza: see prices at CarGurus

Chevy finance deals and offers

2024 Chevy Malibu | $319 per month for 36 Months ($4,999 due at signing)

Looking for an affordable midsize car for the whole family? We like the Chevy Malibu as an option. The Malibu is a reliable and competent sedan that’s kind of sexy and handles well. Honestly, if you need a car you wouldn’t mind letting your teen or young adult kid drive, at least you know it’s safe and sturdy. This almost decade vehicle has some staying power, it’s wallet-friendly, cushy, and spacious. 

Chevrolet Malibu: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Chevy Blazer | $309 per month for 24 Months ($4,919 due at signing)

My college truck was a 2001 Chevy Blazer. I drove it all over the mountains of Virginia and Pennsylvania. I loved this SUV, and so did my dog. I moved to NYC in this, so I can vouch for the roominess of it. There are tons of space for pets, friends, boxes, and even skiing equipment. I still think about how beautifully this handled in feet of snow and icy roads and had tons of torque to get up the entire side of a hill to a ski resort. The Blazer is definitely a vehicle I’d recommend for the sporty types. This 2024 version is one of the best yet. 

Chevrolet Blazer: see prices at CarGurus

2023 Chevy Bolt EV | $309 per month for 36 Months (up to $4,919 due at signing)

For the longest time, the Chevy Bolt EV compact hatchback was the EV price defender’s greatest weapon against their adversaries. Not only is it affordable, but it squeezes a lot of power into a compact package. Making considerably more horsepower and torque than the Chevy Sonic it supplanted, the standard Bolt EV can zip from 0-60 in just 6.5 seconds while carrying five passengers up to 259 miles at a time.

Chevy Bolt EV: learn more at CarGurus

2024 Chevy Camaro LT1 | $279 per month for 24 Months (up to $6,689 due at signing)

Few things scream American more than a V8, but alas, 2023 marked the beginning of the end for big block, high-displacement engines. So, why not make the most of it by leasing one of the last great muscle cars, the Chevy Camaro? Get ’em while they’re hot… and going out of production. The LT1 trim, as the name suggests, shares its 6.2-liter LT1 V8 small block engine with the Corvette C7, making 455 horses and 455 lb-ft of torque. Ain’t nothing wrong with that! Although current Chevy lessees can get away with putting $5,189 down, you will have to plunk down a sizable chunk of change if you’re new to the brand.

Chevy Camaro: learn more at CarGurus

GMC deals and finance offers

2023 GMC Canyon | $369 per month for 36 Months ($7,999 due at signing)

This is GMC’s all-grown-up big-boy truck, and it is stellar. Although it is pricer than its counterpart (Chevy’s Colorado), this third-gen Canyon is turbo-charged and made very specifically for off-road. This is a workhorse of a pickup truck. With upgraded suspension, robust turbocharged torque, and supreme pulling power, the Canyon will quite literally get the jobs done on all terrain.

GMC Canyon: see prices at CarGurus

Dodge lease deals and finance offers

2023 Dodge Charger | $429 per month for 42 Months ($5,649 due at signing)

We are a bit biased here, but this is a good-looking car. This might also be sentimental, with the production of the Charger coming to an end, but it’s still a stunning piece of ingenuity. Dodge is releasing six packages inspired by some of the make’s most iconic looks. Whether on the racetrack or just cruising on the highway, the horsepower will have a special place in history and our hearts. Probably a good idea to grab one now, even if it’s just a cozy SXT cruiser.

Dodge Charger: see prices at CarGurus

2023 Dodge Challenger | $399 per month for 42 Months ($5,699 due at signing)

Past and present, the Dodge Challenger is a stunner. Even in its modern iteration, there is something beautifully timeless about it. Dodge knows how to make pretty perfect muscle cars. Another make getting sent to the junkyard in the sky, the 2023 Dodge Challenger is a glorious send-off version. The incredible horsepower and speed are something to behold for years to come. Instant cool points here, and right now, you can snag a plush SXT at a comparatively low cost.

Dodge Challenger: see prices at CarGurus

Volkswagen lease deals and finance offers

2024 Volkswagen Tiguan | $289 per month for 36 Months ($2,999 due at signing)

Its spacious cabin comfortably holds up to seven people. It comes standard with heated front seats, and right now, lessees in select regions can take home the S model with 4Motion all-wheel drive for $299 per month – that’s like half the price of a monthly parking spot in NYC!

Volkswagen Tiguan: learn more at CarGurus

2024 Volkswagen Jetta | $279 per month for 36 Months ($2,999 due at signing)

An American fan-favorite, the VW Jetta is a modern sedan that is actually cool. Volkswagen doesn’t overlook any detail in this update. All materials were carefully selected to make the interior as cozy as possible, like a home away from home. This is especially true with a state-of-the-art digital cockpit for an intuitive user experience. Clear, concise driving information helps you get anywhere safely and efficiently. We get why this is a hit.

Volkswagen Jetta: see prices at CarGurus

Ford lease deals and finance offers

2024 Ford Escape | $393 per month for 48 Months ($3,601 due at signing)

While the Ford Escape might not be the most exciting car on the road, sometimes you just need an affordable, reliable daily to get you from point A to point B without spending half your salary on fuel. And that’s exactly what the Escape is: a practical, front-wheel drive family hauler with the option of all-wheel drive across trim levels. But even without any upgrades, the 2023 Escape includes all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from modern vehicles, including a touchscreen infotainment system, a backup camera, Bluetooth connectivity, and a six-speaker sound system.

2023 Ford Escape: learn more at CarGurus

2023 Ford Explorer | $496 per month for 36 Months ($4,855 due at signing)

“Built Ford Tough” is a very true statement, and no vehicle exemplifies this better than the Explorer. This SUV was made to work, as it can tow up to 5,600 lbs. The Class IV Trailer Tow Package makes bringing your camper or boat along on your wilderness vacation quite simple. You don’t need to love the great outdoors to get the most out of the Explorer, but it doesn’t hurt. With Ford’s Co-Pilot360 Technology, stay completely in control no matter where you roam.

Ford Explorer: see prices at CarGurus

Volvo lease deals and finance offers

2024 Volvo V60 Cross Country | $609 per month for 36 months ($3,985 due at signing)

A roomy, hardy, and reliable wagon built for all adventures. The Volvo V60 Cross Country can literally weather all storms and road conditions. Regenerative braking with this mild hybrid means that energy gets stored in the  48V battery, and this helps cut fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions.  With all-wheel drive, an off-road mode, and high ground clearance, this is everything outdoorsy people search for in a car.

Volvo V60 Cross Country: see prices at CarGurus

2024 Volvo S60 | $435 per month for 36 Months ($3,909 due at signing)

Volvo’s mild hybrids save fuel without sacrificing performance in the process, and their S60 is a beautiful example of this. The S60’s smooth takeoffs and gentle acceleration tackle the streets of cities and bumpy highways with ease. If you didn’t love driving before, you will after experiencing this car.

Volvo S60: see prices at CarGurus

Mercedes lease deals and finance offers

2023 Mercedes S-Class | $1,349 per month for 36 Months ($10,763 due at signing)

It’s okay to be posh; there is no judgment here. Every year, the S-Class evolves into a more intuitive and advanced vehicle, and that’s exactly what embodies the Mercedes-Benz User Experience. The sportiness of this sedan and its very recognizable grille not only help it stand out in the mix but also make it unmistakably an S-Class. This is kind of a beauty and brains situation, and it gets our thumbs up.

Mercedes S-Class: see prices at CarGurus

Porsche lease deals and finance offers

2024 Porsche Taycan | $949 per month for 39 Months ($9,829 due at signing)

Unlike VW, its more affordable sibling, it’s not cheap to own a Porsche, and the Taycan is no exception. Despite its $90,900 starting price, the base model Taycan might not keep up with the Tesla Model S in a straight line, but its two-speed transmission on the rear axle, superb handling and suspension system, and sportier interior make it a great family cruiser that’s still plenty capable on a track or a backroad. And now you can score one for under a grand a month for 39 months.

Porsche Taycan: Learn more at CarGurus

2024 Porsche Macan | $849 per month for 39 Months ($8,649 due at signing)

One might expect the 2024 Porsche Macan to cost an ungodly amount, but it’s quite reasonable. The Macan is Porsche’s other bread-and-butter sports ute behind the Cayenne and will soon be their second EV alongside the Taycan sedan. Porsche was able to create this Macan with a strong emphasis on the brand’s signature driving dynamics and steering feel. They ate with this model, and you’ll definitely turn heads cruising in it.

Porsche Macan: see prices at CarGurus

Land Rover deals and finance offers

2024 Land Rover Defender | $829 per month for 36 Months ($7,495 due at signing)

Every good list should include something a little high-end. Enter the Land Rover Defender. Is it silly expensive? Yes. Is it worth that price tag? Also, yes. When you look up the very definition of off-road there will be a picture of the Defender. Combine the sexy, flowing Land Rover box design with a beautiful, luxurious interior, and you get a winner. It could be more fuel-efficient, but when you look this good, that’s a small price to pay for everything else being excellent.

Land Rover Defender: see prices at CarGurus

Best car subscription deals

Finn | $200 off first month

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Finn is completely changing the process of what it’s like to shop for cars. In fact, we called it the best car subscription you’ll find in 2023. Browse its selection online of an ever-growing catalog of different makes and models, select your subscription term length, and then confirm your order. Your car will be delivered right to you if you live in the Northeast. And right now, we have an exclusive discount to save $200 on the first month of your subscription. Just use the code FINN11XACCELERAMOTA200.

Finn: shop new inventory

Car accessories, merch, and collectibles

RevMatch | 15% off ANY coffee bag

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Don’t go falling asleep at the wheel. RevMatch has a wide selection of small-batch, craft-roasted coffee to help you start your engines (wake up in the morning). Right now, you can use the promo code REDLINE15 to receive 15% off everything on the site.

Save 10% with code DRIVENY10 at RevMatch

Acceleramota Merch | 20% off

Promo code: INSTANTTORQUE20

We’ve finally launched our merch store! And, starting off, we have a selection of T-shirts, crewneck sweatshirts, and hats to choose from. Be sure to use our promo code INSTANTTORQUE20 for 20% off your order for a limited time.

See Merch Store

History loves to repeat itself. Watching A New Hope and then seeing The Force Awakens decades later? Spanish Flu became H1N1 then COVID, and who knows what’s next? Fans of World War I? Wait ’til you learn about the sequel. In the late 2000s to early 2010s, there was the venerable Toyota 4Runner and a throwback-retro off-roader that shared DNA selling alongside one another. And today, it’s the same story on repeat. Toyota just launched the all-new 2025 Toyota 4Runner to accompany the downsized, downmarket Toyota Land Cruiser.

Fun! We get two off-roady family haulers that just so happen to be based on the same platform, share the same engines, occupy nearly the same niches, and will probably be priced within a stone’s throw of one another… Wait a minute.

Oh shit. That’s not good, is it?

Toyota 4Runner: see prices at CarGurus

Now there are two of them?

We live in an age where the crossoverfication of a brand’s model lineup is now common practice. Ford banks almost entirely on trucks and SUVs, while the Mustang stands as the last pony in its car lineup. BMW, Mercedes, and Audi are locked in a wee-wee measuring contest to see who can pump out the most turtle-shaped SUVs. And Toyota, while still leaning heavily into its car lineup, has been doubling down on filling every possible crossover and SUV niche with curiosities like the Venza, Corolla Cross, or Grand Highlander.

Now, it has two mid-size off-roadsters in its ranks, the recently launched 2024 Land Cruiser and the brand-new 2025 4Runner. Both run on the same Toyota New Global Architecture or TNGA platform (TNGA-F to be specific) that also underpins the mechanically similar Tacoma. Both feature four-wheel drive and run the Tacoma’s 2.4-liter i-Force MAX turbo-four hybrid powertrain. Both are being touted for their ruggedness, dependability, off-road prowess, and strong heritage. Sound familiar here? It sounds like the old 4Runner-FJ Cruiser story. And last I checked, only one of them is still standing.

How 4Runner sibling story last played out

The last-gen Toyota 4Runner launched in 2010, while the generation before that persisted from 2003 to 2009. Both generations rocked the mighty 4.0-liter “1GR” V6. The FJ stuck around from 2007 to 2014, although Toyota continued to manufacture and sell it in some Asian and South American markets until 2022. Like the outgoing 4Runner, the FJ is often criticized for archaic driving dynamics, which ironically also garnered praise from those who found it endearing and authentic to trucks of old. Paired with its hot retro styling, the FJ quickly became a modern classic, as used FJ prices have likely proven, even before the pandemic price booms. So why did it go away in the first place?

Well, in case we forgot, a certain economic crisis from around that time frame didn’t do so well for car buying. Gas guzzlers were out of style! How the hell were we supposed to drool over the latest and greatest Jeep fighter when some people couldn’t even guarantee they could keep their homes? It was rough on everyone, and its aftershock was felt for years to come.

As a result, new FJ sales never quite reached Toyota’s expectations, likely due to buyers swaying to the more practical 4Runner, which didn’t have its fun but silly suicide doors or atrocious blind spots. Not everyone could get on board with the dedicated off-roader, but they may just hop aboard its sibling with more space, conventional doors, better visibility, and more luxurious trim levels. They did what they had to after seven years of parading the FJ around and pulled it from the U.S. market.

What does the duo look like now?

They boast 6,000-pound towing ratings. Neat. They both feature the base i-Force MAX hybrid engines pumping out the same 326 horsepower and 465 pound-feet, although the 4Runner will get a base i-Force powertrain pushing 278 ponies and 317 pound-feet. Alrighty then. Both rock double wishbones in the front and a multilink setup in the rear with disconnecting sway bars. Badass! Except, well, if you make them this damn similar, they’re bound to cannibalize each other’s sales. Or are they?

In the words of a little birdie in the car industry who gave me his two cents, there are two key sentences he told me: “Pricing is critical,” and “This is why product planners can be fucking stupid sometimes.”

Most people will gun for the presumably more affordable 4Runner, which would logically start anywhere between $40,000 and $45,000 and likely ship with the base non-hybrid i-Force engine. In theory, it can do everything the Land Cruiser can do and then some, especially once you step up to the TRD Pro and Trailhunter, which will feature a hot widebody wrapping over 33-inch all-terrains not offered on the Land Cruiser. But where does that leave the Land Cruiser, which now occupies nearly the same niche at a higher price (starts at $55,950) and doesn’t currently offer any such trim level?

“What they’re [Toyota] trying to do is cutting their cake into smaller slices,” says my anonymous industry insider. “The 4Runner buyer will be younger. Less affluent. More hardcore. The Land Cruiser buyer is someone who probably occasionally goes off-road but only to the campsite or the Grand Canyon, if that. Or they’re probably the buyer who likes the styling but doesn’t want to make that leap to the Lexus GX Overtrail.”

Of course, as he had mentioned, pricing is key to negate any overlap the two siblings will clearly have, as it will dictate who’s really buying them. “Realistically, we’re probably not going to see too many of the TRD Pros and Trailhunters for how much they’re going to cost. There is going to be some overlap, and I don’t know who a 4Runner Platinum is even for.”

In its own bid to stand apart, the Land Cruiser is seemingly leaving its old ultra-hardcore off-road image to the 4Runner. The rock crawlers, the mud boggers, and the Baja prerunners can have their fill, even without the fancy trims as it can be presumed they’ll be as easily modifiable as the last gen. The Land Cruiser appears to take a more relaxed approach in a similar vein to the far pricier Land Rover Defender, meaning it may ride plusher, be more friendly on the street with its more street-oriented tires, and be more refined with its more upscale interior. The Land Cruiser is also i-Force MAX only and features a full-time four-wheel-drive system not offered on the 4Runner, which uses a more traditional and rugged four-wheel drive with manual selection for rear-wheel, four-wheel, Hi, and Lo. The Land Cruiser has a more expansive greenhouse, whereas the 4Runner appears to be the same hunkered-down machine gun nest the old one was but now with the new Tacoma’s mug.

Interesting that they’re playing the practical card yet not offering the Land Cruiser with a third-row seat while the new 4Runner can be specced with one and the new Lexus GX has it standard. Weird.

Even so, you can still tell Toyota is trying for an SUV that may not cost much more than a mid-grade 4Runner. As my source says, it’ll be for the casual hikers, campers, or overlanders who don’t need something as riotous as a 4Runner Trailhunter and greatly appreciate the old-school boxy styling that old Land Cruisers were famous for and is making a comeback in modern SUVs. Also being a Land Cruiser, it’s not like its old-timey styling is a compromise on practicality. There are normal doors and big, expansive windows FJ owners could only dream of.

Toyota Land Cruiser: see prices at CarGurus

How the Land Cruiser and 4Runner will get along

Will the inevitable price and performance delta be enough to separate the two? I love both of them, and I wish for the success of both of them. There’s still plenty of overlap but also plenty of room for separation to let each truck shine on its own merits, and then the next question is, will buyers see that? Perhaps base model to base model, yes. But I’m skeptical as buyers start hiking up their respective trim levels. Those who don’t want a super hardcore 4Runner can just buy a lower trim level, sure. At the same time, the ambitious few who are especially into off-roading but may not need the likes of the TRD Pro or Trailhunter will buy one anyway because Americans love excess capability in case the universe catches us with our pants down on a leap year with all the stars aligned to create a situation where we might need it.

In the end, once the two meet on showroom floors, Land Cruiser will have its clear buyers. It will be remembered as a lovable, exemplary vehicle as the FJ once was, true to its heritage but with the added usability that not only makes it a great off-roader but a damn good car, as journos are just now finding out. But so will the 4Runner for similar, if not less, money thanks to its zealous, younger, and more adventurous fanbase. But what do I know? After all, the Land Cruiser banks on a far more prestigious heritage than a Venza and will be more refined and usable than any FJ before it. I could be proven totally wrong, and it and the Tacoma-with-a-bed-cap 4Runner will learn to live in harmony.

Anyway, I’ll take a base Land Cruiser with the round headlights, please. Thank you.

Take a nice long look and tell me tires are just tires! If they were, places like Tire Rack or outlets like Tyre Reviews wouldn’t be a thing trying to hammer into peoples’ heads that there are specific tires for specific purposes. Those of you who know will know. All-seasons, performance, winter, all-terrain, etc, like the different elements in Avatar, except there is no one tire who can master all of them. Each is given a purpose for a reason, and each comes with its own array of tools and rubber compounds to get the job done.

Or so the manufacturers say. But just how different are, say, your friendly neighborhood all-season and a dedicated high-performance tire in reality? Let’s take a closer look as I swap from a set of 200-treadwear Hankook track tires to 560-treadwear Goodyear all-season performance tires in preparation for a thousand-plus-mile road trip.

Skip to section:

• Tread design
• Rubber compounds
• Driving impressions

Shop tires at Tire Rack

On the surface (literally)

All-season:

My all-season tires, even though they’re sports car-focused tires with an emphasis on enhanced steering response and grip over lesser all-season or economy tires, will feature an abundance of tread seldom found on any true high-performance tire. The tread will be deeper and siping, those thin cuts that greatly help evacuate moisture, will be in far greater numbers. Notice the wide, deep central grooves that funnel water away from the surface of the tire and the thinner siping that runs perpendicular to it in order to eject it. The reason for this design is simple.

All. Season. These tires need to tackle a wide variety of conditions throughout the year, using its complex tread design to evacuate rain or grab at light snow in order to maintain a decent contact patch for the car to still grip. All-season tires aren’t created equally, however, and a performance-oriented one like this Goodyear Eagle Sport All Season will be designed with a firmer rubber compound and stronger construction (more on that in a bit) to not have as much tread squirm in the name of steering responsiveness. Other all-seasons may be designed with more winter capability in mind, trading outright dry grip, tread life, and steering feel for a design that can better grab at deeper snow, like a Michelin Cross Climate.

High-performance:

Now, let’s look at the rubber that just came off the car, a 200-treadwear track day tire, the pinnacle of street-legal ultra-high-performance. Aside from being “performance-oriented” like the Goodyear, this Hankook Ventus RS4 is pretty much the polar opposite of what you can expect an all-season to look like. There’s hardly any damn tread to begin with! There are a couple of shallow grooves and some angled tread for maybe evacuating water when it feels like it on a Tuesday afternoon. It’s all for a higher cause.

Even the best summer performance tires’ tread is a compromise between comfort, everyday use, and street legality. However, as you climb the hierarchy of tires, that compromise fades as these tires realize their true purpose: to corner fast as hell!

Tread and overly soft rubber leave room for flex and squirm, which dampens steering responsiveness. It also removes crucial rubber from the surface where it can otherwise form a greater contact patch. More rubber meeting the road means more grip, so why not have more rubber on a car whose purpose is backroad and on-track performance? Of course, this means a greater chance at hydroplaning, too. Less tread means water has fewer places to go, so drivers must exercise caution on a rainy track day. Some top-dollar summer performance tires are actually shockingly good at wet weather grip, but those abilities gradually disappear the more focused the tire on track duty.

What kind of rubber meets the road?

All-season:

Starting with the rubber itself, all-season tires are often constructed from a softer, higher-silica compound intended to work in a wider temperature range and provide greater comfort. They can still handle hot summer days, albeit they’ll likely overheat and lose traction under the stresses of performance driving quicker than their more dedicated summer-oriented counterparts. But they can also resist freezing in frigid temperatures and remain soft and pliable. Of course, they’re no substitute for a true winter tire, but they’ll survive.

Construction varies greatly among the subcategories of all-season tires. In the case of a performance-oriented all-season tire, we can usually expect a soft center tread block for improved ride quality but firmer outer shoulders and a stronger sidewall for reduced squirm and enhanced steering response and traction during spirited driving. It’s similar to the construction of a summer tire but not often at their level.

My Goodyears feature the company’s RaceWrap Construction Technology, which is its fancy name for an extra ply that wraps around the sidewall and down to the bead, increasing sidewall strength and, therefore, improving response. Given that all-seasons have much deeper tread and that they’re not generating as much friction due to lower overall grip, expect them to have exceptional lifespans, with my Goodyear’s treadwear rating nearly tripling that of the Hankook track tire.

High-performance:

Tires like these Hankooks are designed ooey-gooey in comparison. Their rubber is optimized for warm weather performance and the trials of limit cornering, which can literally melt chunks of tire off and leave your tires looking like they’ve been shaved with a red-hot straight razor. Resultingly, this rubber compound has a significantly shorter lifespan and performs poorly in the bitter cold, usually anything below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving you with the traction of a Green Machine tricycle and its hard plastic drift wheels.

No grip. No snow traction. And probably no chance of clawing your way out of that ditch should you tempt fate. Keep a set of all-seasons on hand should you live in a place where the winters aren’t so friendly. However, nowadays, many summer tires and some 200-treadwear tires, like these Ventus RS4s, may use a higher-silica compound in their center tread blocks for improved wet performance.

Shoulders and sidewalls are usually firmer for any performance tire to reduce squirm and increase stability and steering response, but this may result in slightly harsher ride quality. In many cases, ultra-high-performance summer and track day tires are built with extra reinforcement all around, either with extra steel or nylon belts, to resist squirming that could hinder stability during hard driving.

How they drive

All-season:

Fascinating. The all-season tires can handle all seasons.

Mostly. On my 1,320-mile journey to and from Reno, Nevada, my BRZ was met with enough rain and snow showers to have easily stranded me on my previous tire setup. Expectedly, the outright dry grip was diminished, and the softer rubber lined in gashes and cuts left me with comparatively numb steering and slightly slower reflexes than the Hankooks. However, the Goodyears made good on their mission statement by maintaining what grip was available, even as temps dipped in the 40s and sometimes well below that. Rain was easily dispatched. Any slippage I got when I felt like being a jackass was controlled, linear in its progression, and easy to reign in.

On light snow and slush, the Goodyear all-seasons helped my car stay right on course, whereas my Hankook track tires or even my old Mustang’s Michelin summer tires would slip and slide with little chance of recovery. Just as advertised, the treads and sipes did their job, and although I dared not tempt fate and eclipse these 55-mile-per-hour limits, I can confidently say these all-season performance tires can save you in a pinch should proper winter tires not be available.

But seriously, if you can, buy winters or at least a more aggressive all-season with that 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol. These were good, not great. I know there are even better performance all-seasons out there, ones acclaimed for their winter handling in particular. You always get that sense there was never enough traction with the Goodyears to drive as you normally would on a warmer, dryer day, as the car sometimes wriggled about in its lane. But keep off the throttle and let the engine sit just out of its powerband, and the BRZ was A-okay.

High-performance:

Great traction for an all-season hardly scratches the surface of what a 200-treadwear performance tire can do. Instantly, the difference when swapping from the Goodyears was apparent. I lost some NVH ditching the Hankooks, which was nice, but the Hankooks could turn in quicker and bite harder in the corners. By comparison, response is ferocious. But that sheer level of grip tends to create a somewhat darty sensation that can be a bit annoying for those who aren’t used to such aggressive setups. Some of that ankle-biter demeanor may also be attributed to the car’s alignment, so I won’t pin it all on the tires.

By the way, this is just when the tires are cold. Heat them up, as you should with any good track day tire, and grip rises exponentially. Unfortunately for me, you can never get enough heat into these Hankooks on a casual canyon run, even after a few miles. And Hankook RS4s are known for requiring quite a few warm-up laps before coming up to the temps they need to be at, an allegedly common quirk of the 200-treadwear “endurance” tire. Fortunately, being an endurance tire means I can squeeze more mileage out of this rubber on the road or track, with treadwear being reportedly good enough that consumers just casually run this as their street tire and see anywhere between 14,000 to 20,000 miles out of them. Proper track time, however, will see those numbers cut down to a fraction with how much grip they can generate.

In the few times I got caught with my pants wet, the Hankook RS4s were actually commendable. You sometimes felt them shimmy about if you weren’t careful, constantly reminding you not to goose the go pedal should you not want to see how quickly you can overwhelm what little water evacuation they have. I can’t speak for other 200-treadwear rubber, but the Hankooks were doable. I can commute on them. But I sure am glad I copped the Goodyears for that very reason instead.

FAQs

Can I drive in the winter with an ultra-high-performance or an all-season tire?

All-season? You can probably get away with it. Their softer compounds, wider temp ranges, and abundance of grooves, siping, and tread allow them to better withstand cold weather and evacuate moisture than a summer tire or track day tire. Not all all-season tires are created equal, and some are better than others for this task. Do your research when shopping for specific tires and see if the one you want is viable for where you live. As for summer performance tires, don’t even try it. They’ll freeze and leave you with a useless rubber compound and not enough read to grab at ice and slush. Take it from me, the idiot, don’t even try it in light snow.

Can all-season tires replace a winter tire?

Depending on the tire, sure. If where you live doesn’t see feet of snow on a regular basis or suffer from rampant black ice on every side street, you can likely get away with an all-season in the winter. Again, do your research to see if the tires you’re interested in are as capable as you need them to be. A general good rule of thumb is to hunt for those bearing the 3-Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol to denote enhanced winter weather abilities, but even then, the best all-seasons are no match for purpose-built winter tires. If you live somewhere where the winters can get a little extreme, please consider a real winter tire. Your insurance company will probably thank you.

Can I go to the track on an all-season tire?

The better question is, who’s going to stop you? Go right on ahead. Be that silly goose. Most track day organizers don’t care as long as tires are in good condition with ample tread depth and no chunking, cording, or any other signs of damage that may prove to be a safety hazard. Just beware of your lowered grip levels and the tire’s ability to overheat under extreme stress. If your goal is to practice at-the-limit handling behavior, an all-season is probably not a bad idea as your limits will be lower, enabling you to practice managing under or oversteer without going to extreme speeds.

Where can I buy tires?

Lots of places.

Sorry, that didn’t help. Maybe our tire buying guide will. Lots of sources exist for tire buying, both online and in-person. Tire Rack is an increasingly popular and knowledgeable source and an affiliate partner of Acceleramota, with their own in-house testing team for evaluating tires and pitting them against other tires in their classes. Goodyear is an obvious choice if you like their rubber and are also a partner of the site. They also have service centers should you want to schedule an installation. Discount Tire is a popular chain of tire stores and installers, and you can probably find a couple of them in any zip code.

Auto shows are in full swing. Manufacturers drop press release after press release. Suddenly, it seems like the car industry has almost finished healing from its ransacking at the hands of COVID and supply chain shortages, and new cars are more abundant and more alluring than ever. Affordable cars, dream cars, daily drivers, and high-performance piss missiles, oh my! It’s a fun, if polarizing, time to be a car nerd or even just a new car buyer, so let’s take a peek at some of the hottest new cars worth looking out for in the foreseeable future.

Genesis Magma lineup

Car gods, be praised! We whined, and they listened. Genesis has finally unveiled concepts for the Magma family, its future high-performance lineup in the same vein as BMW M, Mercedes AMG, Lexus F, and Audi Sport GmbH. Details of the cars are unknown, but there will be a mixed crop of EV and gasser Magma cars. First to hit the scene will be a full-production GV60 Magma EV and the limited-run G80 Magma Special.

2025 Toyota 4Runner

After a quintillion years in car years, the current-gen Toyota 4Runner will soon be the outgoing one, as Toyota teased an all-new iteration on their social media. Details are scarce other than a close-up image of the tailgate badge and the knowledge that it’ll most likely be based on the same architecture underpinning the Tacoma and Land Cruiser. Expect a 2024 reveal and a 2025 product release, as well as carryover 2.4-liter turbocharged hybrid and non-hybrid powertrains from the Taco and Land Cruiser.

Ready for a new ride? Start your search at CarGurus

2025 Porsche 911 hybrid

Unlike most of the cars here, the 911 hybrid has not been officially revealed or teased in any capacity. But it’s coming. Test mules have been spotted meandering around Europe. Their appearances have only gotten more frequent with the turn of the new year, and some claim that we should expect an official debut come summer of 2024 when the 992.2 facelift arrives for the 2025 model year. We expect a 911 Hybrid to rock a turbocharged flat-six and a small lithium-ion battery driving all four wheels and enabling some trick torque vectoring.

Kia K5 hatchback (wagon)

Just look at it. Isn’t she a beauty? An affordable wagon. Leave it to the Koreans to at least style a car in a manner that at least exudes the vibe of upscale-ness, inside and out, even if we know it’ll be built to a low price point to sell at a low price point. Expect the standard K4 sedan’s naturally-aspirated 2.0-liter four pushing 147 horsepower and 132 pound-feet through a CVT and its 1.6-liter turbocharged powertrain pushing 190 horsepower and 195 pound-feet through an eight-speed auto.

2025 Ford Mustang GTD

I know it’s probably beating a dead ‘Stang by now, but the GTD isn’t out yet! And it’s no less cool moseying around from rotating auto show pedestal to rotating auto show pedestal. For the seventeenth time, bask in its GT3 race car-inspired, soon-to-be-Nürburgring-lapping glory as Ford’s new six-figure halo car for Mustang and motorsports fans alike. Ford aims for 800 ponies out of the GT500-derived 5.2-liter supercharged V8 and a sub-seven-minute ‘Ring time.

‘Electrified’ Honda Prelude

Like the 911 Hybrid, the Prelude’s specs are all up in the air. But we know it’s coming. It has to atone for the death of the Accord and Civic coupes and the rise of the GR86/BRZ and Nissan Z. The concept shows off Michelin tires surrounding some stout Brembos, and maybe there’s even a hybridized Civic Si or Civic Type R motor under that hood.

2024 Dodge Charger

Considering Dodge’s recent moves toward electrifying its lineup, starting with the Dodge Hornet R/T, it’s no surprise that the new Charger Daytona swaps its iconic Hemi V8 for a 400-volt EV powertrain. For car enthusiasts, though, nothing quite matches the resounding charisma of an internal combustion engine. And they can still get that with the Hurricane-equipped Six Pack variant.

2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5 N

In a piece for TechRadar, Leon Poultney called the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N “the first genuinely fun EV.” And he’s not alone. While I haven’t had the chance to drive one,  in my New York Auto Show demo ride, I was blown away by how well it simulated the experience of being in a gas car—minus the carbon emissions.

2025 Ram 1500 Ramcharger

I’m no truck guy, but the powertrain Ram conceptualized for the Ramcharger is like a Chevy Volt on steroids. Although it can plug into a DC fast charger for 145 miles of all-electric road time, this isn’t a full BEV. And despite the 3.6-liter V6 under its hood, the gas engine has no mechanical connection to the wheels. Instead, two electric motors—one in the front and one in the back—propel the Ramcharger, with the help of a 70.8-kWh battery not much smaller than that of a Tesla Model Y. Only when the battery dies does the engine go to work, burning fuel to recharge the battery if the battery runs out of juice and you can’t reach a charging station.

2025 Lucid Gravity

We’re all tired of third-row SUVs. Believe me, this Mazda CX-90 review sucked the soul out of me for like two months. Still, the Lucid Gravity appears to be one of the more polished examples in its class. Fans of the genre will appreciate its soft-touch premium interior, expansive infotainment displays, and for the Tesla-averse, physical inputs where they’re needed. Best of all, the front trunk doubles as a seat for reverse tailgate parties.

2027 Rivian R3

Remember the Lancia Delta? No? Well, then you probably live in America, where the five-door Italian hatchback was never released. Nonetheless, the Rivian R3 borrows from the Delta’s design language—or at least its wider-stance Integrale variant. The R3, however, is a cute little electric crossover built on Rivian’s new compact crossover platform—one I could very much see myself in when the Tonale lease is up in a few years. Oh yeah. I said a few years since Rivian was so kind, giving us from its 2024 unveil to its speculated 2027 release to drool over it.

Growing up, I earned my learner’s permit driving my mother’s absolutely ratchet first-generation Honda Civic Hybrid. Remember that piece of boring, banal, borderline-indistinguishable, and certainly unmemorable mediocrity? Hopefully not. However, a couple of years after I stepped up to adulthood and earned my license, my mom bought a 2008 Toyota Prius. In those days, the purposefully fugly second-gen Prius served as something of a West LA status symbol but also served the fam well as a damned good car: getting superb mileage, with plenty of room for pets and gear, and over the years, proved reliable as the day is long (once we installed a cat shield to foil constant thievery, anyhow). 

But more about the old Prius later because last year—boom!—Toyota hit us with a total redesign, a radical revamp, a veritable resuscitation of the entire concept of the commuter hybrid. And now, I finally got the chance to revisit those early days of hybrid driving in a 2024 Prius Prime, the plug-in version that best suits this West LA commuter crowd.

Skip to section:

• Specs
• Design
• Pricing
• Interior and tech
• A Prius in its prime
• Conclusion

Price and specs

Toyota Prius Prime: see prices at CarGurus

Base price:	$32,975
As-tested price:	$34,434
Engine:	2.0-liter inline-four with dual electric motors
Transmission:	Single-speed + CVT
Drivetrain:	Front-wheel drive
Power:	220 horsepower combined
Torque:	139 pound-feet
Weight:	3,461 pounds (3,571 pounds as-tested)
0-60 mph:	6.7s (11.2s in full EV mode)
¼-mile:	15.1 seconds @ 94 mph (hybrid), 18.7 seconds @ 75 mph in (full EV)
Top speed:	112 mph
MPG:	50 city, 47 highway, 48 combined
Battery capacity:	13.6-kWh lithium-ion
All-electric range:	44 miles (39 miles as tested)

Prius Prime exterior design

Toyota’s advertising campaign leading up to the LA Auto Show debut of the new Prius ended up coming across as a bit funny since, even considering the svelte and futuristic styling, nobody will ever consider this common car a “black sheep.” And yet, damn if that new design doesn’t hit the nail on the head. Just look at the pics! Anyone remember the first-gen Echo twin? My, how far we’ve come.

Now, my boss here at Acceleramota has already covered the “base” (non-Prime) Prius, so go ahead and click back through his review before continuing to learn more about my time with the Prime. 

The only thing I might add, in terms of exterior styling, is that I parked the Prime next to my mother’s still-cranking, sun-faded, and bird-shit-splattered 2008 Prius just for comparison—and the new car’s roofline looked around five or six inches lower! So much so that I actually Googled the official measurements. It turns out the 2024 model rides exactly 2.8 inches shorter. Not as much as my eyeballs perceived, in fairness, but a serious statement about how stellar styling can make so much of a difference in a car’s profile and presence.

What’s hot?

– Some style, at last – Plug-in hybrid system allows for choice at a reasonable cost – Simple, stark interior – Noticeably improved aerodynamics – Vastly improved performance and handling

Prius Prime pricing breakdown 

The non-Prime that Jeric drove starts at $27,950, and adding the plug-in capabilities bumps the price up by $5,025. The Prime comes in three trim levels, with the SE at the bottom of the gradewalk sporting manually-adjustable fabric seats, an eight-inch infotainment touchscreen, a slicktop roof, and 17-inch wheels for max range. Stepping up to the XSE swaps on 19-inch wheels, which result in slightly less electric range and diminished fuel economy stats, plus a parking assist system. And the XSE Premium, topping the lineup at a $39,670 MSRP, comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen and the choice of a glass roof or an optional solar panel roof to soak up photons on sunny days.

As tested, my SE tester’s window sticker reads just about as basic as possible. Options limited to a cargo mat in the rear, door sill protectors, and wheel locks result in a $34,434 price tag—almost how I might spec my own Prius Prime. Leather or faux-leather seats might be nice for my pets and the generally filthy life I lead.

2023 Toyota Prius XLE review: a handsome hybrid that’s shockingly fun to drive

Prius Prime interior and tech

As on a non-plug-in Prius, most of the interior and tech options come standard depending on the Prime’s trim levels: both the eight-incher and the larger screen support wireless Apple CarPlay, thankfully. For Prime specifically, though, the small gauge cluster display needs to combine EV and ICE readouts. The resulting barrage of constantly shifting charge levels, range estimates, so-called “EcoScore” and “EcoZone” stats, and driver aid widgets all get lost in their own wash, to an extent.

Toggling to a simplified screen cleans up some of the mess, and really, just drive more slowly to max out the range in either HV (hybrid) or EV (fully electric) mode. Otherwise, the rest of the interior—despite a lower roofline—comes across as spacious and simple, with plenty of leg and headroom for tall drivers (even in the backseat).

And kudos to Toyota for delivering a straightforward design exactly as it should be: just a toaster that toasts toast as efficiently as possible.

It’s finally Prime Day!

A bit of battery power goes a long way

Slotted in between one of the most ridiculous press loaner schedules of my professional career—as I played car Tetris with a Ferrari 296 GTS, Porsche 911 Dakar, Bentley Continental GTC Azure, and an MV Agusta Dragster America—the Prime was arguably the most important car. And I can admit to feeling a bit of excitement before actually receiving it!

Too excited, maybe, because I promptly ruined the all-electric range without even realizing it by driving straight out to the Valley in full EV mode. A big whoops but a nice lesson on figuring out the toggles and switchgear before blasting through traffic in a plug-in hybrid (while thinking that Toyota had finally solved the hybrid drone sound the whole time). But luckily, I always snag a pic of the odometer when I first get into a press car so I can report my stats and figures for that inaugural drive.

In all, I used 68% of the reported battery capacity to drive 21 entirely unaware all-electric miles. That falls right in line with the claimed EV range of 44 miles, and even better, over the course of that jaunt, the overall combined EV and ICE range actually went up by three miles.

Next, I used the supplied charge cable (housed beneath the rear cargo deck) to plug into a standard 120-volt garage outlet for almost exactly three hours. In that time, the Prime added 33% charge—again, just about spot on for the onboard computer’s prediction of a nine-hour window to fully charge up the petite 13.6-kWh lithium-ion battery. Then I drove 11 more miles in hybrid mode and checked in again to discover that doing so used zero additional percent of battery charge. 

I spent the rest of my time in the Prime trying to max out the hybrid and EV range, but I also pushed a little harder just for fun. More official testing might skew the results, presumably, but so far, Toyota’s engineering seems pretty perfect. Especially considering the typical use case, when commuters might do most of their daily driving in full EV mode and top off the battery at home every night. For longer road trips—after remembering to remember to switch into HV mode—driving over 500 miles per 10.6-gallon tank shouldn’t even require too much hypermiling diligence.

Lower, sleeker, faster, stronger

On the 405 freeway, always a true test of suspension dynamics, the Prime’s lower and tighter suspension definitely produces a bit more rollicking than a second-gen Prius. But then again, in town or on a winding road, the new setup makes most driving much more fun: peppy and quick, with a 220-horsepower combined rating, and the torque delivery is almost full-EV-like given that an electric motor modulates the ICE engine’s power on the way to the e-CVT system. I missed a bit of the hybrid glide path ride quality of earlier Priuses, but I would definitely take those 99 additional ponies versus the previous gen and even some slight torque steer in trade.

Equally as important, this generation seems to include more sound insulation to reduce hybrid drone and wind/tire noise—though speaking of wind, the exterior redesign also finally solves the sailing phenomenon of the second-gen on long highway bends, which was always a truly sketchy sensation.

In terms of nits to pick, the typically frustrating Toyota driver aids still chime and ding incessantly. The fact that the Prime also defaults to EV mode, rather than sticking in hybrid mode after a power cycle, requires a bit more attention than I expected. And relatively slow charging rates limited by the onboard 3.5-kW charger, without Level 3 capability, means that, for example, anyone who does space out and forget to switch into HV mode can’t rectify their mistake particularly quickly.

What’s not?

– Still a hint of hybrid drone – Automatically reverts to full EV mode instead of hybrid – Digital gauges are still small and in a silly location – Naggy driver aid chimes – Slow charging rates, no Level 3

New Toyotas: see prices at CarGurus

Have we reached peak Prius?

Toyota openly wants to stick with hybrids as much as possible in the foreseeable future and only plans to build EVs reluctantly. Much of the argument makes sense since minimizing the use of lithium and other rare earth minerals while maximizing the use case of each individual vehicle will serve both customers and the environment best. Prime stands as a testament to that commitment (as does, considering perhaps a contrapositive, the peculiar Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra situation).

But if government regulations don’t snap back to reality—oh, there goes (the Lucid) Gravity—then Prius may need to go full electric in the near future, as well. All of which means that there’s a solid chance this little blue car might just be peak Prius Prime, the final form of one of the most important and influential automobiles in world history—no exaggeration, truly, despite my obvious penchant for obscene hyperbole.

And this Prime indisputably takes a major leap forward, even if the tech does so slightly less. When a fourth-gen plug-in Prius drops a good chunk below $30,000 on the used market in the next couple of years, even a rear-drive sports car and four-wheel-drive rally racing fanatic such as myself might be tempted. And that is, truly, the greatest compliment I can give.

I don’t think it needs much introduction. Hawaii is a vibrant state unlike any other in the U.S. and made famous by gorgeous vistas, a bustling tourist industry, and some of the most interesting and passionate locals who embrace the Aloha State’s culture. Anyone who grew up with Lilo & Stitch can at least infer that. However, Hawaii’s car culture is not what we think of when we also envision its glistening beaches and rolling green hills. It probably comes as a surprise that Hawaii even has one, given how compact the islands are and how physically isolated the state is from the American mainland. But it exists. And all-star photographer, Larry Chen, has some words to say and an illustrious fleet of outlandish modified cars to show off.

Shop sports cars nearby: see prices at CarGurus

Larry Chen helps showcase Hawaii’s finest

On the surface, there’s not much to explain. Larry Chen hosted a car meet in conjunction with Canon and a group of locals while Larry was around for PhotoCon. Resultingly, a bunch of locals showed up with an unexpectedly eclectic display of Hawaii’s finest modified cars. And no, it’s not just lifted 4Runners or a “brand-new 2003 Toyota Tacoma (cherry, brah).”

A modified Volkswagen Bug on chrome steelies. Lowrider trucks. Drift cars and VIP builds slammed on their balls (you see that slammed cars are especially the vibe in Hawaii). In a state where the fastest speed limit is 60 miles per hour, and Japan and California sit thousands of miles to the right or left of you, there is zero logical reason for there to be a Liberty Walk Audi R8 or even that lovely, very Urban Outlaw-esque Porsche 911 SC. I’m guessing the most sensibly built car there was the Subaru SVX lowered on WRX wheels at Slammedenuff.

But you know what? Let ’em have it. Let ’em have it all. For all that works against the local car scene, they deserve the kingdom they’ve built.

Why Hawaiian car culture matters

Hawaii is not a car enthusiast’s haven. Yet, slowly, through glamorous photos ripped straight out of brochures and bits and pieces of pop culture, it has been heavily romanticized as such, arousing bucket-list trips in peoples’ heads of supercar grand tours around the island or highway races from beach to beach. Right. That’s not real. Or at least it’d be difficult to do so.

Tight, confusing roads that change from highway to suburban side streets in the blink of an eye don’t make for very exciting driving roads. What picturesque backroads do exist are heavily touristed-out, not very technical for the touge-minded, or just gravel, meaning all those rental Jeeps on Turo aren’t just for show. And speed limits are low. Remember that 60-mile-per-hour freeway speed limit because that’s as fast as it gets. Racetracks are also uncommon, with what few exist always under threat of closure; however, recent news points to a more hopeful future for local motorsports fans, especially on the island of O’ahu.

I know. Test Drive Unlimited lied to us.

Despite these strangulations, a loud and proud pocket of car culture prevails, much akin to Hong Kong or Singapore, which Larry also highlighted for facing similar geographic challenges. Thankfully, Hawaii, like much of America, has a comparatively lax approach to the legality of modified vehicles versus other corners of the globe, meaning you can have cartoonishly wild stuff like these drift cars or lowrider builds on the archipelago without risk of being impounded for merely existing. Just pass inspection… Which I doubt some of these cars do, anyway.

At a quick glance, it’s a unique melting pot of cultures, too. Look at one build, and you’d think you’re at a weekend car show in Oakland or South L.A. Turn your head, and suddenly you’re at the Daikoku PA or Tokyo Auto Salon with more trees. Maybe there’s a glimpse of 1950s Americana at the same venue. Hawaiian car culture seemingly takes the best aspects of West Coast and Asian car cultures and reels them into a central location, both culturally and geographically, making Hawaii a unique halfway house for car enthusiasts traveling between the two realms.

And it should be known that this isn’t the first round of internet personalities exposing Hawaiian car culture. Larry states that this is only his fifth time visiting the islands, and a quick moseying through YouTube also reveals other outlets highlighting Hawaii as both a cultural hotspot and a driving destination despite its restrictive roadways. Top Gear magazine recently reviewed the S650-generation Mustang GT in Hawaii where they attended a local car meet and viewed an autocross event. Several years back, David Patterson, a.k.a. “ThatDudeInBlue,” did a series of car reviews and a mini-documentary highlighting the struggles and ingenuity of blue-collar Hawaiian enthusiasts in the wake of losing a local race track.

Shop classic cars nearby: see prices at CarGurus

Sending our respects from the mainland

So yeah. Hawaiian car culture exists and is very much a banger. Or at least I think it is, and maybe you should, too. It’s a respectful gathering of some of the most welcoming enthusiasts representing various snippets of subcultures from across the Pacific blended together. It doesn’t have the easiest time existing. But its participants are happy, authentic folk with incredible cars showcasing the most creative ideas, and the internet owes content creators like Uncle Larry, Top Gear, and Patterson a thanks for bringing their triumphs to light.

So, from the Nevadan desert, I say aloha to our companions halfway across the ocean. Never stop building, never stop dreaming, and never stop driving. Our Test Drive Unlimited dreams lie within you.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when Gabe hit me up, saying some sunglasses company was interested in sending us stuff to sample. Us? Sunglasses? But then I thought about it. Most humans wear sunglasses every day on our silly little commutes to shield our feeble eyes from that dastardly ball of gas in the sky. Glare, whiteout reflecting off snow, clouds, and stupid Altimas, or direct sunshine funneled straight into your eyes all spell potential health hazards and an impending car accident. I’m no superhuman. I wear sunglasses on the road, too, and so do many of you, probably. So why not give these trinkets a shot? After all, sunglasses aren’t just for adding glitz to some snarky fashion freak’s aesthetic, right?

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Price and specs

Thanks to Tifosi Optics, a fine producer of budget-friendly sports sunglasses, I had the opportunity to sample two styles of frames with two styles of lenses over the past couple of weeks during my normal-ass routine. Both had different feels and would certainly appeal to different tastes, but one thing they have in common is a stellar price point. When I titled them as “Budget Shades,” I meant it.

A quick bit of online window shopping showed me that their aviator-style glasses range from anywhere between $35 and $59, depending on the exact lens and frame. Their Rayban Wayfarer-esque shades bounce between $30 and $55. It’s not as cheap as something on a stand at the mall, but it vastly undercuts the likes of Oakley and Rayban. Expectedly, non-polarized lenses will save you tens of dollars, while polarized lenses, like my two testers, occupy the upper echelon of Tifosi’s price range. All sunglasses are sold with a lifetime warranty, and spare parts are available on select models, including the aviators. And should you need it, you can get Tifosi glasses with prescription lenses, as well.

As for typical Acceleramota specs, let’s see. 0-60 mph? Some day. Quarter-mile? I don’t know, however fast you can jog. Displacement? I’m guessing less than two liters. No turbos, superchargers, or hybrid batteries, obviously.

What’s hot?

– Impressive glare protection comparable to more expensive brands – Little-to-no slide or bounce – Versatile lenses provide great vision, even in dimmer settings – Lifetime warranty and replacement parts available – Prescriptions available

Tifosi Shwae

Tifosi Optic’s Shwae aviators are about what I expected for an affordable aviator. It rocked a far sturdier build and better lenses than your typical mall booth or airport convenience store sunglasses, albeit to say it had a sturdier build is to say it can still feel a little frail in your hands at times. Aviators are aviators, and you’re often left worrying about being a clutz and damaging the thin frame. Still, it sits great on your face and almost never slides off your nose, and the black polarized lens does a fantastic job of filtering our sun glare without inhibiting your vision much at all, even on overcast days and dim mornings or evenings. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s comparable to more expensive brands.

If I had one bone to pick, it’d be that the “scratch-resistant” polycarbonate lenses aren’t scratchproof. Interestingly, they went through less abuse than the other pair I was given, yet they seemed to scuff easier despite being made of the same lens material. Weird.

So far, it’s proven to be a solid pair of driving glasses that will be an invaluable aid once the brutal Nevadan summer rolls around to roast eyeballs left and right. And I mean, look at it. You’ll be safer on the roads and look fly at the same time—unless you don’t like aviators, in which case, I say stop being lame.

Tifosi Shwae sunglasses: See it at Amazon

Tifosi Smirk

Although I was more excited about receiving the Shwae aviators, it was these Smirk Wayfarer-ish glasses that actually left me the most smitten. The acrylic frame was tough enough to withstand my clumsy self dropping a few, okay, several times, yet flexible enough not to crack when finagled into my Subaru BRZ’s terrible strap-type sunglass holder. I received a brown “Honey” frame color, one of several available, that goes well with many outfits, and the brown polarized lens proved to be the most versatile, easily making short work of glare while still being bright enough to forget they’re even on your face, cloudy or sunny. There are also small rubber pads on the nose piece to keep it from sliding off your face, which is a thoughtful touch when other Wayfarer-style glasses are straight-up plastic.

For the price (a few dollars cheaper than the comparable Shwae, mind you), I’m impressed. I originally thought it wasn’t my style, but it easily became my new favorite pair.

Tifosi Smirk sunglasses: See it at Amazon

What’s not?

– “Scratch resistant” doesn’t mean scratch proof – Aviator frame feels easier to bend or damage – Polarized lenses (expectedly) cost more

Not bad. Not bad at all.

Sunglasses weren’t really something I put much thought into as a driver, despite how often I use them. If I receive a pair as a gift, that’s cool. Or if I forget to bring a pair on a press trip, well, that’s okay; the airport sells a bunch for ten bucks a pop. But genuinely well-made, high-quality sunglasses with quality lenses are not to be slept on, and I’ve learned companies like Tifosi exist to deliver them to the masses at agreeable prices. The Shwae and Smirk are such examples and have proven we don’t have to settle for less because better options are too expensive. Let’s not short ourselves because we’ll never know when glare will come to send us into the back of a semi-truck or sail us off the race track or into a crowd of pedestrians holding kittens and bunnies or whatever else we find valuable that we’d prefer not to hit.

Shoutout to Tifosi Optics for the opportunity, and good job on a pair of commendable products. Keep it up.

The BMW M3 has been synonymous with performance since its inception in the 1980s. It was born from the company’s need to homologate a new car for Group A touring car racing. It went on to be the most successful touring car in history and has gone on for six generations over the past thirty-six years. And even though BMW has made changes along the way, it mostly stuck to the same formula that made it so successful. As much as I’d like to sit and ramble about the different generations, for the purposes of this article, I’ll be focusing on the fourth-generation BMW E92 M3. It could be said that it was the peak of M3 production, a type of car that BMW simply can’t make today because of regulations. And I think they knew then they built it, a kind of swan song, paying homage to all the M3s that came before it. But let’s dive in and see if it’s worth snagging that E92 M3 for sale from your friendly neighborhood car-buying sites.

Skip to section:

• Specs
• Review round-up
• Driving/ownership impressions
• Conclusion

used BMW E92 M3: see prices at CarGurus

Prices and specs

The majority of fourth-generation M3s sold were well-optioned. So, a lot of cars are going to have leather seats, iDrive with navigation, and other fancy luxury items you might find in the mid-aughts, like heated seats and those cool power folding mirrors. Remember, it’s an older car, so there is no CarPlay or Android Auto without aftermarket modification. Electronic damping control (EDC) was also common. The coupes came standard with a carbon fiber roof unless they were ordered with a sunroof. In 2010, BMW released the Competition Package. It featured a 10mm lower ride height, a different set of parameters for the electronic damping control, and a set of wheels specific to the Competition Package. 

New prices (2008 to 2013):	$56,500 to $62,845
Approximate used prices:	$25,000 to $45,000
Engines choices:	4.0-liter DOHC V8
Transmission choices:	6-speed manual, 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
Drivetrain choices:	Rear-wheel drive
Power:	414 horsepower
Torque:	295 pound-feet
Weight:	3,704 pounds
0-to-60 mph:	4.3 to 4.7 seconds
1/4-mile:	12.6 seconds
MPG:	14 city, 20 highway, 16 combined
Fuel capacity:	16.6 gallons

The V8 engine, dubbed S65, was based on the S85 V10 used in the 2004 to 2010 E60 M5, with minor changes to improve reliability and reduce weight. It spewed out 414 horsepower at a dizzyingly high 8,400 rpm and 295 pound-feet of torque at a still-kind-of-high 3,900 rpm. It also weighed 33 pounds less than the inline-six it replaced. It has eight individual throttle bodies controlled by two electronic actuators with a massive air plenum perched atop and a set of equal-length, four-to-one headers for the exhaust. You could have the car with your choice of either a six-speed manual transmission or BMW’s then-new seven-speed DCT, which were both equipped with a transmission cooler. A limited-slip differential was standard, christened “M variable differential lock.” 

The price of a used M3 from this generation has been on the rise lately, even before it made Hargety’s Bull Market list this year. Depending on condition, mileage, maintenance records, and options, they can run anywhere from $25,000 to $45,000. Generally, cars with fewer options demand a higher price, especially “single hump” cars without navigation, referring to the dashboard construction. The lack-of-a-sunroof “slick top” will also cost you extra, especially for E90 sedans. And if you’re the kind of person who wants a unique color, that’s also going to add a few dollars to the price. But if you don’t mind cars that have 100,000 miles or more and are a common color, a well-maintained example will set you back $25,000 to $30,000 in today’s market. 

Oh yeah. There were technically three members of the E9x family. There is the popular E92 coupe and the far less common and arguably less sought-after E93 Cabrio and E90 sedan.

What’s hot?

– Bonkers V8 engine  – Balanced chassis  – Rewarding drive – Resilient on and off the track – Shockingly versatile for everyday use – Abundant aftermarket support

Review round-up

I’ve always been a fan of history, and taking a look back to see what the professional opinion havers (auto journalists) and consumers thought of the M3 was entertaining. Unbeknownst to me, the car was met with extremely high praise from everyone who reviewed it—finding only a handful of small issues. Fuel economy, which I can attest to, is nothing to write home about. The addicting sounds bellowing from the engine certainly don’t help keep your foot off the throttle.

“Our M3 was a sedate and luxurious sedan as well as a supremely rewarding driving machine. Docile in inclement weather and smooth enough to transport your grandparents (if you can resist temptation), the M3 was equally primed for backcountry road-smash mode, where it would fire every synapse in your brain related to driving pleasure. And then you’d find the M Drive button, which holds your preferred throttle, traction, and damping settings. With one press, everything somehow managed to get better. This is the M3’s genius. There are faster cars, yes, and there are a few that are more rewarding to drive. But of those, we challenge you to find one that combines speed, thrill, and daily driving duties as deftly as the M3.”

Carlos Lago, Motor Trend 2009 BMW M3 verdict

“With the M3’s many buttons, you can make of it what you want: loafing commuter, track animal, high-speed touring express. But no matter how you set it, the M3 astounds. There’s more front-end grip than most people have the guts to exploit, the steering wheel able to carve perfectly elliptical arcs up a winding road at foolish speeds. Where the 911 battles each corner, sometimes in a nerve-jangling sine wave of alternating grip and push, the M3 is dead calm.”

Aaron Robinson, Car and Driver 2009 Porsche 911 Vs. 2009 BMW M3

“Not exactly a lightweight at an estimated 3650 lb., needs more than just a carbon-fiber roof panel to be race ready — although from the performance numbers and driver’s seat it would be hard to tell the M3 is heavy. It feels light and agile. Getting the car to its limits feels smooth and progressive. Few cars combine this level of performance with such docile behavior.”

Shaun Bailey, Road and Track 2008 BMW M3 road test

“A car has got to be pretty spectacular to win over the curmudgeons here at 1585 Eisenhower Place, especially when familiarity sets in over the course of 40,000 miles. But our Sparkling Graphite Metallic M3 did indeed win us over. For less than $70,000, the M3 bolts from a standstill to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds and turns the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds at 113 mph. It pulls an exceptional 0.96 g on the skidpad, stops in 147 feet from 70 mph, and reaches a governor-restricted 161 mph. On a racetrack or a back road, it’s a beautifully balanced and hugely entertaining machine.”

Mark Gilles, Car and Driver 2008 M3 long-term wrap up

“I am a proud owner of a BMW M3 and I enjoy driving my vehicle whenever I have the chance. Starting off with the exterior of the M3. My M3 is white, and I absolutely love looking at it from a distance and also when I walk away… kinda creeps some people off, haha. Moving on to the interior cabin. Very nice black leather with the signature BMW stitching on the steering wheel. The navigation systems could use some work. First-time users such as myself would have a difficult time unless you are technology savvy. This is my first BMW, and I am very impressed with the styling, detail of the vehicle, and the way it drives. It truly is the ultimate driving machine. The description of my driving experience isn’t included in my review simply because you have to drive it to experience it yourself. Go test drive an M3 now what are you waiting for!?”

Consumer review of a 2013 M3 Kelley Blue Book

“I purchased this car used in August of 2014 with 16,000 original miles. I have owned a 2004 M3 and a 2008 M3. This is by far one of the most exciting cars to drive that I have ever owned. The car is bulletproof. This is the last naturally aspirated V-8 made on the M3 platform. BMW changing (in my opinion) back to the straight six-cylinder was a huge mistake. This car is a 13-point Dinan-equipped car. Nothing but positive comments about the looks, engine sounds, and overall styling. Do yourself a favor if you are considering this car… Just drive one. Not cheap to maintain or fix, but worth every penny!”

Consumer review of a 2009 M3 Kelley Blue Book

“Handles great, love the engine sound and performance. Spent a lot of time in the shop, though. Dual-clutch broke, navigation broke, blue tooth broke, passenger seat controls broke, rear differential fluid needed to be replaced, etc. My nav has been broken for almost a year and says, ‘please wait,’ indefinitely every time I try to use it. The service deparment claims that their tests show that it is working fine! Not worth the hassle in my opinion.”

Consumer review of a 2011 M3 Kelley Blue Book

“Meets all expectations . Sporty and classy. Definitely a head turner. I receive compliments from total strangers. People are still impressed with the retractable roof. I feel this car is undervalued. Purchased used for 30k with only 40k miles. Great price. I will get years out of this car. Very impressed with the handling and pick-up.”

Consumer review of a 2013 M3 Kelley Blue Book

The other slap on the wrist was the early and somewhat clunky iDrive unit in the  2008 models. This was replaced in 2009 when the car underwent one of BMW’s famous LCI (facelift) updates, making the system much more user-friendly. Even the average consumer gave the car stellar reviews. They loved it for its style, performance, and overall usability for a sedan that keeps up with outright sports cars. However, as I’m sure you could see in a couple of those consumer reviews, there were reports of this German car doing stereotypical German car things. No one is perfect, I suppose.

Driving and ownership impressions

The commute

Working as an automotive technician has given me the opportunity to drive a plethora of different cars, including different generations of M3. But it wasn’t until I bought my own 2009 E92 M3 two years ago that I really got to know what it was like to own one. 

As a daily driver, I found it better than expected. Plenty of useable space for dogs, kids, groceries, or whatever homeowner crap I bought from Home Depot. It deals with my twenty-mile commute without a problem. With the suspension set in comfort mode, it soaked up most of the cracks, divots, and expansion joints that pepper the 57 and 91 freeways. Everything about the interior was well thought out. The controls are intuitive and have a solid feel to them. The seats, even with the obvious bolstering, are comfortable on long trips. Of course, it’s helpful that they have adjustable bolsters and power lumbar support.

If it weren’t for the outdated iDrive system, you wouldn’t think you were sitting in a car that debuted in 2008. However, despite its inability to link to a newer iPhone, the infotainment system still does the job. You just have to plug into the auxiliary port if you want to stream from your phone unless it’s a 2011, and then you can just stream using Bluetooth. Even the cup holders provide a perfectly adequate place to put your morning coffee. And by adequate, I mean I’ve never inadvertently spilled anything. Plus, on those rare mornings when the freeway is wide open, you can get to work really fast. Really fast.

While the M3 functions just fine as a commuter, there are better cars for that, which is why it’s been replaced with a Nissan Leaf. This car was purchased for two reasons: Explore the vast and wonderful canyons and backroads of Southern California and turn laps at the track. 

In the canyons and at the track

This car is the last of the old guard. An M3 powered by a high-strung naturally aspirated engine backed by a manual transmission. Driving it over the undulating ribbons of asphalt cutting through the mountains behind Los Angeles is one of the rare events everyone needs to experience.

The V8 fills your ears with the abundant sound of induction and exhaust as you push into third gear headed toward a fast-approaching corner. The talkative hydraulic power steering lets you know what the front end is up to as you turn in after a dab of braking. You can feel the tires grabbing hold of the asphalt, and even mid-corner adjustments are effortless. The brakes are responsive without being overly grabby, and you’ll be hard-pressed to overheat them on the street. The whole car feels composed and, despite its weight, agile. Visceral sensations abound, even at what one might call reasonable speeds in a canyon setting. It’s part of what makes the car so special. You don’t need to push it to enjoy it. The character that comes from the drivetrain makes the car feel alive regardless of your pace. 

In my mind, having a car like an M3 and not taking it to the track doesn’t make much sense. So, I took mine to the track as often as I could. As impressive as the car was in the canyons, it was even better on track. After a simple change to high-temperature brake pads and fluid, even with an amateur driver like myself behind the wheel, the car filled me with enough confidence to attack every corner with the ferocity of an angry badger. The chassis is balanced enough so that even when I overcooked a corner, there’s only a touch of understeer that was easily overcome. Heel-toe downshifts were handled easily, thanks to the on-point pedal spacing.

Even with 148,000 miles on the original suspension, it still held things together in the corners. Of course, with the weight of the car, there was some body roll when I pitched the car into a turn. The engine pulls and then pulls some more, and then it bounces off the rev limiter because I forgot to shift. But even after a day at the track, having pushed the car as close to its limits as I could, everything held together with no overheating, no brake fade, no matter how hard I sent it. 

Keeping it running

 Maintenance and repairs are the one thing everyone fears when they’re considering buying a used high-performance German car, so this section is a must. And I’m going to be straight with you here: it’s not the easiest car to work on, and parts certainly aren’t the cheapest. And yes, the rod bearings should be replaced. Mine certainly were. It’s a classic “better safe than sorry” situation because if you do spin a bearing, it takes down the whole engine. Mind you, the cost of a new engine outweighs the cost of replacing the rod bearings by a vast number of dollars.  

That being said, I haven’t experienced any world-ending failures. Repairs have consisted of replacing gaskets to take care of oil leaks and replacing service items like spark plugs, drive belts, and air filters. Standard old car affairs. The most shocking bill came when I had to replace the brake rotors. Those massive 14-inch front and rear two-piece rotors were far from cheap. The parts cost me well over $1,000, including pads and fluid. And when it comes time for an oil change, don’t think you can just grab engine oil at any run-of-the-mill parts store. The S65 V8 uses a special 10W-60 synthetic oil that you either have to order from your chosen online European parts supplier or the dealership.

The good news is that just about anyone handy with a wrench will have no trouble taking care of one of these cars in their own garage. After all, it is based on an everyday 3-Series. Just set aside some extra time when dealing with the engine bay, as it’s a bit cramped. And if you’re into modifying your car, the aftermarket support is phenomenal. Whether it’s improving the suspension, the endless search for more power, or cosmetic changes you’re after. You better believe it exists. 

What’s not?

– Atrocious fuel mileage – High cost of maintenance  – Low front end likes to scrape on everything  – Be wary of throttle body actuators and rod bearings in high-mile cars – Older platform means no CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity without mods

pre-owned BMW: see prices at CarGurus

Should you buy a used E92 M3?

The 2008 to 2013 BMW E92 M3 is not for the faint of heart. So that question really depends on what you’re after in a car. If you’re looking for something that gets great gas mileage, is cheap to maintain, and will simply function as a large, wheeled appliance, then no, you absolutely shouldn’t buy one. However, if you want a car that stirs your soul every time you get behind the wheel and you don’t mind putting up with the extra cost and effort to keep it going, then yes, you absolutely should. But you’d better hurry because they’ve already started to catch the eyes of collectors, and you don’t want to get priced out of the market.