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2022 McLaren Artura, 2022 GMC Hummer EV, Aston Martin Valkyrie: This Week’s Top Photos

McLaren’s newest supercar is the Artura, and it’s a plug-in hybrid that relies on a V-6 as its internal-combustion component. Peak power is 671 hp and there’s enough battery capacity for a small electric range.

2022 Porsche 911 GT3

Another new car revealed this week was the 992-generation 911’s GT3 variant. We’re glad to report that Porsche has stuck to the proven formula of a naturally aspirated engine, lightweight construction, and an available manual transmission.

2022 Porsche 911 GT3 Touring spy shots – Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

The new 911 GT3, just like the last one, will eventually spawn a more civilized Touring variant. Our latest spy shots show the new GT3 Touring which should be coming later this year. Notice it doesn’t have the huge rear wing of the regular car.

2022 GMC Hummer EV spy shots – Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien

Another upcoming vehicle spotted testing this week was the GMC Hummer EV. The battery-electric lifestyle pickup truck is coming this fall with up to 1,000 hp and 350 miles of range, and an SUV body style is also in the works.

2022 Hyundai Kona N Line

For performance fans on a budget, Hyundai has a new Kona N Line headed shortly to showrooms. The hot crossover comes with a turbocharged engine good for 195 hp, and if that’s not enough Hyundai is preparing an even more powerful Kona N for launch later this year.

2022 Kia K8

Hyundai sister brand Kia unveiled the new K8 this week. The large sedan replaces the Cadenza (a K7 in other markets), and we won’t see it on sale locally.

Aston Martin Valkyrie

Aston Martin’s CEO this week confirmed that the Valkyrie hypercar project is not dead. He said owners can expect the first examples to be delivered by mid this year, which will be roughly two years later than originally planned.

2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo

And finally, we spent some time on the road and track with the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo. We found the sport sedan to deliver power quickly and smoothly, and have a chassis with enough road feel to satisfy.

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February 20, 2021
2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo, 2022 McLaren Artura, 2022 Porsche 911 GT3: The Week In Reverse

We drove the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo, the 2022 McLaren Artura was revealed, and the covers came off the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3. It’s the Week in Reverse, right here at Motor Authority.

We spent some time on the road and track with the 2021 Maserati Ghibli Trofeo and found that while it has subdued styling for a high-performance variant, what you can’t see adds the substance. The powertrain delivers power quickly and smoothly, while the adaptive suspension retains enough road feel to satisfy.

News broke that Stellantis has disbanded the dedicated SRT engineering group and dispersed the team throughout the larger organization. This isn’t the death of SRT, as high-performance SRT models will continue.

The 2022 McLaren Artura debuted. The latest supercar from Woking is a plug-in hybrid with a twin-turbo V-6, and it rides on the new McLaren Carbon Lightweight Architecture (MCLA). The MCLA makes the Artura the first clean-sheet McLaren in nearly a decade, and it will serve as the basis for the automaker’s future electrified models.

The 2022 GMC Hummer EV was spotted testing on public roads. Adorned with production metal but lacking the trim bits, the Hummer EV looked nearly ready to head down the production line. Seeing the prototype in the wild showed how hulking this new electric pickup truck will be when it goes on sale later this year.

Porsche pulled the cover off the 2022 Porsche 911 GT3. The latest iteration of the iconic sports car is based on the 992-generation 911. With similar weight and power as the last-generation GT3, it’s amazing the latest model can lap the Nürburgring 17 seconds quicker. The improvement is due to aerodynamics and suspension design.

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February 19, 2021
2022 Mercedes-Benz AMG SL63 Roadster spy shots: Redesigning an icon

Mercedes-Benz’s iconic SL is currently into its sixth generation, with the car’s last redesign introduced for the 2013 model year.

A new SL is coming up shortly, only this time it is being developed by the Mercedes-Benz AMG performance skunkworks and not Mercedes-Benz. A prototype has been spotted and is likely for the new SL63 variant.

The clear giveaways that this isn’t an entry-level SL are the square-shaped exhaust tips, which are normally reserved for the top variants in AMG’s lineup. The car also features additional flics for downforce on its front fascia in some of the shots, as well as a deployable rear wing.

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As for the rest of the exterior, Mercedes design chief Gordon Wagener said the new SL will take the line closer to the original 300SL, but not in a retro way. The latest tester is still heavily camouflaged, though we can still make out some of the proportions and finer details.

Under the sheet metal, the new SL will utilize a new rear-wheel-drive platform for sports cars dubbed MSA (Modular Sports Architecture), which AMG will also use for its next GT sports car, meaning we can expect a much more performance-focused SL this time around. Less weight will be key. Expect the use of lighter, more exotic materials in the construction, as well as a soft-top roof in lieu of the retractable hard-top of the past two generations.

There will likely be two variants at launch, both with mild-hybrid powertrains. One is likely to be badged an SL53. The other is the SL63 you see here.

2022 Mercedes-Benz AMG SL63 Roadster spy shots – Photo credit: S. Baldauf / SB-Medien

The SL53 is expected to pack a 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-6 and mild-hybrid system for a combined output of around 430 hp. The SL63 should feature a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8, together with a mild-hybrid system for a combined output over 600 hp.

Don’t expect a V-12 to return. Instead, we may see the SL63’s V-8 paired to a more powerful electric drive system in a model potentially dubbed the “SL73e.” A similar setup, one featuring plug-in hybrid tech, has already been previewed in concept form and is set to debut soon in AMG’s GT 4-Door Coupe. The claimed output of the concept version was 805 hp.

Look for the new SL to debut late this year or in early 2022. The car will fill in for the S-Class Coupe and S-Class Convertible which were dropped at the end of the 2020 model year. The two-door S-Class models are among seven models reportedly facing the ax as part of major cost-cutting measures at Mercedes.

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February 18, 2021