The EPA hasn’t tested the 2020 330e yet, but the 330i gets 36 highway, 26 city.

It’s a wonderful video, but it’s odd that Chris Harris claims there were three made. From what I’ve read only two were actually produced of the three planned. The first was crashed by the head of the German Labor Front and was rebodied using the shell intended for the third car, which was then never built. The second…

Tatra went both directions. The 1936 T97 also had a flat-four and was probably a direct inspiration for the KdF-wagen. Most people don’t recall that Tatra was a full-line automaker before the war, and had been making air-cooled boxer engines for many years. Most of them were mounted in front of the driver. They also…

There’s also the BMW 2-series; the back seat can’t be much different in size. But, yeah, it’s a one of the last of it’s kind. I guess you could include the Mini Cooper as well.

That’s okay, because the cute 4-seat vert you want anyway is the BMW 2-series. That will probably be cancelled soon, too. The convertible market has been shrinking steadily for years. The only convertible SUV that seems to work so far is the Wrangler. The Cascada is basically a modern Sebring, but it doesn’t sell very…

Versa is very very bad, but it also belongs to the super-cheap subcompact set (think Accent, Mirage, Fiesta, Sonic, Spark, etc.). The Dart is long dead and the Focus and Cruze will soon follow.

Yes on this. When Ford swooped in, they found a company with horrendous quality. I mean, just abysmal, worse than almost any other car company. The assembly tech was 20 years behind and the company had only two cars: the putrid XJ40 version of the XJ, and the very old XJ-S. The global recession caused such losses that…

Bugatti occupies a special market space shared with the likes of Pagani, Koenigsegg and a few other brands that basically churn out bespoke vehicles. I don’t see an overlap with the Bentayga and Urus, which are meant to sell in the thousands. There’s the electric angle as well.

Yeah, I was talking about the ‘60s A/C Cobra. Since 0-100-0 is basically a 1/8-mile test for this kind of car, you’d want to test with slicks or near-slicks and a short final drive. It would make a big difference for an older car that would only need a couple of gear changes to get to 100 mph.

I’ve often wondered if final drive ratios may have played a part. The “standard” car would have had a 3.54:1 final drive, but a 4.11 set was also available. That would have had some effects on acceleration and top speed.

Modern-day Audi is thanks to Volkswagen, which revived the Audi name after acquiring Auto Union from Daimler-Benz in 1964. Ironically, it was VW, a champion of air-cooled engines, that modernized Auto Union cars, ditching the two-strokes.

C/D got 4.9 with one Type R, then 5.2 with another. MT got 5.2 and 5.0 in separate tests. I’m not sure who’s getting the 5.7 figure, but a manual trans and FWD will definitely lead to variability in times. The rolling start figures might even favor the lighter Civic.

Oops, sorry, that’s the hp figure... it’s a 170-kW motor. And apparently the Soul will continue to be a CARB-state-only option. As for the MINI, I assume it will be available nationwide like the i3, but I don’t know for sure.

I think the OP is referring to Mazda’s marketing, which has been traditionally been focused on performance:

That’s actually the most realistic explanation I’ve heard. I’m sure BMW is thinking ahead to the next generation of premium small SUVs and positioning is part of the strategy.

Mini might have to charge that little just to keep the SE from overlapping the longer-range options, as well as its own Countryman PHEV. I don’t know what the new Kia Soul EV will be priced at, but considering that’s going to have the best of both worlds—200 kW motor, 64 kWh battery—the value prop for the Mini will…

The term “premium” is a little squishy when it comes to Mini these days. What’s premium is the exterior style and driving dynamics, I suppose. Everything else is a la carte.

The handling benefits of a low-mounted battery play right into the Mini’s character, and I really like the idea of a fun, attractive EV with a little more range than what you get from a 500e.

Edonis - A styling flop for sure! And maybe sales, too. I have no idea if any actually exist.

I was wondering about TWR connection. Apparently, TWR and Jaguar had a joint subsidiary, Jaguar Sport, which handled the production of both this car and the XJ220. They were both built at the Bloxham factory. Jag Sport disappeared when Ford bought Jaguar in 1994, but TWR obviously continued its winning with Porsches.