So, we’re tiptoeing around the speed limit on undulating roads that — if you close your eyes — you’d swear were a rollercoaster. The six-speed manual gearbox is getting a good workout. Dirt and sand makes the tarmac slippery but we’re making fast progress because the new, second-generation M2 inspires the kind of confidence the old model never really could.

Driving The New 2023 BMW M2

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The twin-turbo straight-six, a BMW icon at this point, is pulled straight from the larger M3/M4 and pumps out 453 horsepower. However, it’s the 406 lb-ft of torque you feel most on these roads as the car explodes out of corners. It’s not EV-fast, but it’s fast enough, and much more engaging to drive than even BMW’s excellent, electric i4.

It’s a bittersweet feeling, however, knowing that this is the beginning of the end for the M2. The writing is on the wall; the future is electric. The all-new model arrives for 2023, and you can expect it’ll be with us for seven years or so. After that? We’d bet the third-gen M2 will be all-electric. The head of BMW’s M division wouldn’t give a definitive answer, but he did think this car represents the end of an era. (M division is already working on its first purpose-built EV.)

What Is The All-New 2023 BMW M2?

The 2023 BMW M2 is the last hurrah for gas-burning little coupes from BMW. Cars like this — the 2002, the M3, the Z3M — made the brand what is it today. This M2 is as pure a distillation of what drivers love about BMW as you’ll find.

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It’s a car not just for BMW’s biggest fans, but for fans of cars in general. Look at the spec sheet: rear-wheel drive, a six-speed manual gearbox as a no-cost option, a limited slip differential, and a straight-six motor with not even hybrid (let alone plug-in hybrid) system in sight.

The question is whether or not the 2023 BMW M2 is a fitting goodbye to 50 years of classic combustion-engine M cars. Is it worthy?

Make up your own mind about its looks, but we love it. The proportions are perfect. The overall design is restrained. In profile it’s reminiscent of the great M3s of early ‘00s. The kidney grille is (blessedly) small. The fender flares give the car a purposeful hunkered-down look, again, reminiscent of the earliest M3.

How’s The Cabin?

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Dropping down into the driver’s seat, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how spacious it feels. Look behind you and you’ll find a pair or usable rear seats. The next-gen widescreen infotainment screen running iDrive 8 should stay fresh with its over-the-air update capability.

It’s a rare treat to press a clutch pedal and slot the notchy six-speed shifter into first. Automatic rev-matching makes it easy to drive for stick-shift novices, but veterans will appreciate that the feature can be turned off.

Okay, But What’s It Like To Drive?

The engine noise is surprisingly tame for an M car. Perhaps that’s because the whole cabin is quieter and more insulated from the outside world than before. Despite the lack of decibels, there’s no arguing with the effectiveness of BMW’s latest straight-six. Even though the M2 now weighs a porky 1,725 kg, the motor propels the car with about as much gusto as any driver could legally hope to enjoy on the road. 

(If you’re worried about weight, BMW will sell you a $13,000 option package of carbon-fibre goodies to help shave off six kilos. You may be better off going to the gym, though.)

On Arizona’s twisty (and heavily policed) backroads, the M2 never really got to shine. We only scratched the surface of its talent. What is clear is that, where the old model always felt twitchy and tail-happy, the new model is just as agile but has loads more grip front and rear. It’s not as playful, at least on the road.

The newly standard adaptive dampers offer a slightly more forgiving ride. Even the trunk space is generous too for a car in this class. Compared to, say, a Porsche 718, the BMW is downright practical. This could certainly be a driver’s only car.

Overall, the new M2 is a more mature, more usable offering. In large part, that comes from the fact it is essentially an M4 that’s been shrunk in the wash. The littlest M car borrows the suspension, platform and engine from its bigger brother.

Whether you prefer the $76,500 BMW M2 or the $87,700 BMW M4 may simply come down to your personal taste.

We left Arizona and the 2023 BMW M2 wanting more. This car needs to be driven on a racetrack, far away from the Arizona Highway Patrol, to really see what it can do. We’ll reserve judgement until then. But, first impressions are promising, and let’s just appreciate the fact BMW is giving its fans what they want. Enjoy it while you can.

The post Driving The New (And Last?) 2023 BMW M2 appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Porsche’s then-new 911 sports car hit the road in 1964, and by 1965 it was already competing in its first major race: the Monte Carlo Rally. The drivers were Porsche employees Herbert Linge and test-engineer Peter Falk.

“It’s okay if you finish last,” Huschke von Hanstein, Porsche’s racing director and press officer, told his drivers. He only wanted the 911 to finish the rally unscathed so it could be paraded up to the Prince’s Palace of Monte Carlo, where Prince Rainier and his wife Gracia Patricia, née Grace Kelly, would be watching alongside the world’s press.

A snowstorm blanketed the 1965 running of the Monte Carlo Rally, covering the Alpine roads in so much fresh powder it’s a miracle any car made it through, let alone a little roadgoing sports car like the 911. The strange rear-engine layout of the 911, which some said was a handicap, helped in these conditions, providing extra traction and plenty of lift-off oversteer to help Linge swing the car around tight corners.

Not only did the 911 finish its first rally, it didn’t come last. Linge and Falk brought the car home in fifth place, undamaged, driving past the Royal Box as planned.

That unlikely success was only the first clue Porsche had created something special with the 911. The rally-racing triumphs kept on coming.

In 1967, British driver Vic Elford won the European Rally Championship in a 911. Then in ’68 he took the 911 back to the Monte Carlo Rally and won.

Polish drivers Sobiesław Zasada and Marian Bien took the 911 even further off the beaten path in 1971, entering it in the East Africa Safari. They covered than 5,000 km through the savanna and desert scrublands of Kenya, finishing fifth. (The new 911 Dakar is available with a black-and-white decal set that pays homage to their Safari-spec 911.)

The ante was upped again in 1984, when René Metge tackled the deadly Paris-Dakar rally in a 911. His Rothmans sponsored car covered almost 10,000 km across the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Mauritania. By the time it was all said and done, of the 313 cars that started the race only 98 finished, and first among them was Metge’s 911.

His unlikely success, and that of Vic Elford, Linge, Falk, Zasada, Bien and others, proved not only could the 911 go off-road, it was faster and more reliable than its rivals when the going got rough.

The new limited-edition 911 Dakar is a fitting tribute to those drivers who established the 911s rally-racing credentials. The new machine was tested on ice and dirt tracks, desert dunes and gravel. Will some lucky owner of the new 911 Dakar be daring (perhaps foolish) enough to take one of these precious $247,200 machines off-road? We can only hope.

The post Porsche 911 Dakar: Celebrating a Heritage of Daring Drivers appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

What you’re looking at here is a 9,000 rpm, naturally-aspirated, featherweight two-seater track-day weapon that’ll leave your head spinning and ears ringing. It’ll also leave an $188,800 hole in your bank balance. (Actually, as far as Porsche prices go these days, that’s not so bad.)

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The new 718 Spyder RS takes the 718 Spyder — which, for years now, has been the purists’ sports car of choice — and cranks everything up to 11. It’s lighter, more powerful, more angry-looking and even quicker. It’s essentially a Cayman GT4 RS, without the roof. So, yes, it’ll be loud. 

The new Spyder RS is the ultimate evolution of the Porsche Boxster; 30 years ago, nobody ever imagined the friendly little Boxster cabriolet would eventually turn into a track-day monster like this.

The new drop-top is also, perhaps, an acknowledgment of the fact that Porsche’s next-generation 718 will be all-electric. And, not long after that, the gas-powered 718 will be discontinued all together. That’s why the 718 Spyder RS has a kind of last-days-of-Rome vibe.

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In truth, Porsche’s GT department probably could’ve phoned this one in and the collectors would’ve still been lining up to get one. But, Porsche’s GT department — makers of the legendary 911 GT3 — don’t know how to phone things in. They do things the hard way.

Case in point: the team developed an all-new roof just for the Spyder RS in order to ensure it was exactly as powerful Cayman GT4 RS. You see, the engine needs air-intakes positioned just so, but those air-intakes interfere with the Spyder’s folding roof mechanism. So, the GT department scrapped the roof, developing a new single-layer cloth top that provides minimal, bikini-level coverage, and added a pair of carbon-fibre air scoops to suck air into the motor. They’re positioned right next to occupants’ ears; you may want ear plugs if you’re planning a long drive.

As a result of all that meticulous work, the car’s 4.0-litre naturally-aspirated flat-six — which is pulled straight from the 911 GT3 — makes the exact same 493 horsepower and 331 lb-ft of torque as it does in the fixed-roof GT4 RS. Would anyone have noticed if the drop-top Spyder RS was down a couple of ponies? No. But, remember: Porsche’s GT division does things the hard way.

Without the roof, the Spyder RS weighs 40 kilograms less than the 718 Spyder and is five kilos lighter even than the Cayman GT4 RS. Compared to the non-RS Spyder, this car has an additional 79 hp and gets to 100 km/h half a second faster. It’ll top out at 308 km/h, instead of a paltry 300 km/h.

The new manually-operated roof is an interesting two part design, consisting of a “sun sail” and a weather deflector. As Porsche explains, “the sun sail alone can also be used as a ‘Bimini top’, thereby protecting the driver and front passenger from intense sunlight. In this case, the passenger compartment remains largely open to the side and behind the passengers.” In other words, you get the best of both worlds: open air motoring without the sunburn.

As a cherry on top, buyers can also purchase an exclusive watch from Porsche Design. It’s built in Solothurn, Switzerland, and designed to match the car with a lightweight titanium case and carbon dial.

There is, however, one compromise buyers of the RS must make. While you gain in power and exclusivity, you lose in the sublime six-speed manual that makes the regular Spyder such a delight. That’s a big sacrifice for a little extra power, sharper handling and some carbon bits. But, the RS is not a car for most drivers; it’s cat-nip for collectors and professional-level tool for diehard track rats. If that’s you, act fast.

The post 718 Spyder RS: Porsche Parks Its Most Extreme Convertible Yet appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

The Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, now in its 57^th year, is an annual pilgrimage for Jeep fans. In 2023, as ever, Jeep rolled out seven new concept vehicles, but this year four of them were electric. Clearly the American brand is looking to show diehard, old-school 4×4 fans that EVs could be a “Jeep thing” too. All you need is a little imagination.

We’re not above picking favourites (see this year’s Best in Show pick below), but we’ve rounded up every concept from 57^th annual Easter Jeep Safari so that you can pick your own winner.

1978 Jeep Cherokee 4xe Concept

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Okay, we’re saving the best for first: this is the Jeep concept we’d put in the SHARP garage today if we could. It’s not quite a resto-mod, because underneath that vintage body lurks a Jeep Wrangler 4xe powertrain, with two electric motors, a battery pack and a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. The body is from a 1978 Jeep Cherokee, which was essentially a sportier, two-door version of the Wagoneer from back when Led Zeppelin was the biggest band in America. The vintage body has been stretched and bent to fit on this modern chassis, and it looks perfect. The plug-in hybrid powertrain gives it a little dose of eco-friendliness, and the gas engine means you don’t have to worry about trying to find a charger in the wilderness. If we were Jeep execs right now, we’d be thinking about how to put something like this in showrooms as soon as possible.

Jeep Grand Wagoneer Overland Concept

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This is one of the three non-electric concepts from this year’s Safari, but we don’t hold that against it. Under the hood is the brand’s new twin-turbo Hurricane straight-six engine, churning out a very impressive 500 hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. (Who needs a gas-guzzling V8?) Fewer stops for fuel means more time spent off-the-grid in this luxurious overlanding beast. The RedTail Overland Skyloft on the roof is about as nice as roof-tents get. Jeep even customized the Wagoneer so the rear sunroof could be used as a pass-through to the Skyloft. The rear seats have been ditched to create a Van Life paradise, with sleeping space for two. 

Jeep Wrangler Magneto 3.0 Concept

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For many years, Jeep has been refining this all-electric Wrangler concept. This year’s version is the wildest yet, looking very much like an off-road hot rod. It’s based on a 2020 Wrangler Rubicon, but features a new electric drivetrain that allows its driver to select between two power settings: 285 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque, or 650 horsepower and 900 lb-ft of torque. (900!) A new, more efficient electric motor is said to give the latest Magneto more range, but unfortunately Jeep doesn’t say exactly how far this thing could go on a charge.

Jeep Scrambler 392 Concept

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This one’s similar to the Magneto above, but it’s all-gas. Rather than eco-friendly electricity, this Scrambler shoehorns a 6.4-liter Hemi V8 engine under the hood, producing 470 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque. The concept actually started life as a four-door Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, but it pays homage to the original 1981 Jeep Scrambler (CJ-8) compact pickup. That truck never had a V8 engine, but Jeep is rewriting history here. The suspension is worth mentioning; it’s the new AccuAir air suspension kit, developed by Jeep for the Wrangler and Gladiator. It allows a truly massive range of height adjustment, from a modest 1.5-inch lift to an off-road ready 5.5 inches, adjustable via the dashboard or Bluetooth connection.

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe Concept

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The thing about this concept is that it’s purple. Technically, “chromatic magenta.” That’s it. That’s the whole concept. Maybe they just ran out of time on this one?

Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe Departure Concept

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The 4xe label denotes this as one of Jeep’s growing lineup of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). As Jeep boasts, the Wrangler 4xe is the best-selling PHEV in America. This is the kind of build your cousin who lives in the California desert might make. It’s got a lift kit (naturally) plus vintage-looking KMC wheels, gnarly 37-inch BF Goodrich tires, Bilstein remote reservoir shocks, custom flat fender flares and more lights than anyone could reasonably need.

Jeep Gladiator Rubicon Sideburn Concept

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The Gladiator is a giant — more than capable of being your go-anywhere, do-anything truck. Jeep leaned into that for the Sideburn Concept, adding a smattering of aftermarket and custom-designed accessories to create a serious tool for off-road adventures. The most interesting is the concept JPP Gladiator Sport Bar. It’s made from carbon fiber and steel, and features steps on both sides for easy access into the bed. It also features a mid-shelf with tie downs for portable storage totes. Four T-track rails on top of the Sport Bar let you throw a couple kayaks or mountain bikes up there. Looking at this thing, we’re really feeling the pull of summer. Time to get outside!

The post EV Concepts From Easter Jeep Safari: Here’s What We Love appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

As conceived by the woefully underrated French designer Paul Bracq, the original 7, with its shark-nose hood and meticulously balanced lines, made BMW a serious contender in the executive sedan space, previously dominated by the likes of Mercedes and Jaguar. Through six successive generations, the 7 Series has become a showcase for the BMW’s cutting-edge tech: the (in)famous iDrive controller, experimental hydrogen fuel, satellite navigation, and more. (The remote-control function that let Pierce Brosnan’s 007 drive the 7 Series via his cellphone in Tomorrow Never Dies was, sadly, never offered to the public.) 

Today’s all-new 7 makes its predecessors look a little stone-age. For the first time in its 46-year history, the 7 Series is going electric. The battery-powered 2023 BMW i7 sits alongside the gas-powered 760i. Both start at $147,000, so the choice is yours. 

The high-tech razzle-dazzle starts when you push a button on the door and it swings open automatically, welcoming drivers and passengers into a cocoon of luxury. The dashboard is gorgeous — uncluttered yet highly functional, with a beautiful crystalline strip of glass encircling the cabin. The crystal glows different colours, depending on which of the many “modes” the driver selects: pale blue for efficient, red for sport. You get the idea. 

The dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain propels the mighty sedan down the road effortlessly, like a strong breeze pushing a cloud across the sky. With 512 kilometres of range, there’s no need for anxiety. 

What everyone remembers most about the i7, however, isn’t its automatic doors, or even the fact it’s electric. No, it’s the screen; BMW’s gigantic 31.3-inch Theatre Screen drops down from the roof for rear-seat passengers to enjoy streaming movies on the go. Curtains black out the rear and side windows, while the Executive Lounge seat reclines deeply, letting passengers kick back through the worst of rush hour. 

The exterior design is divisive, yes — a far cry from Paul Bracq’s elegant original. But riding in the back seat of any other car, new or old, simply isn’t as fun. 

The only question, then, is gas or electric? For the best Theatre Screen viewing experience, it’s got to be the whisper-quiet i7.

Specs Engine: Dual-motor electric

Power: 536 HP

Price: $147,000

The post Cinema Electric: BMW’s i7 is Lightning-Fueled Luxury appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

GADA: Go Anywhere, Do Anything

Go-anywhere, do-anything sports cars are coming, and not a moment too soon. The fact that many city streets are becoming more pothole than road, plus the raging popularity of SUVs, means that sports cars are being forced to adapt. They’re becoming more versatile, with extra ground-clearance and more absorbent suspension. Porsche and Lamborghini kicked off the trend with the rally-inspired 911 Dakar and dirt-road-ready Huracan Sterrato. Ferrari, meanwhile, will blur the lines between sports cars and SUVs with the four-door Purosangue, due out later this year.  

Over-the-Air Upgrades 

After all the online outrage over monthly in-car subscriptions offering everything from heated seats to more horsepower — subscriptions that, in most cases, weren’t even offered in Canada — forward-thinking car companies are now finding better uses for remote, over-the-air (OTA) updates. Case in point: Polestar offers owners of certain 2022 models the option of a 68 horsepower increase through an OTA upgrade. Best of all, it’s a one-time purchase, not a subscription. Ongoing OTA upgrades like these have the potential to reduce planned obsolescence, keeping cars feeling newer for longer.  

On-Brand Charging

Major car companies are discovering it’s not enough to make a great electric car — they also need to offer a great EV charging experience (hello, Tesla). Mercedes-Benz recently decided to spend one billion euros launching its own charging network, starting with more than 400 hubs across Canada and North America. “Our customers deserve a compelling charging experience that makes electric vehicle ownership and long-distance travel effortless. We won’t take a wait-and-see approach for this to be built,” said company chairman Ola Källenius. 

New-Old Electric Vehicles

Sure, there are a lot of exciting new EVs hitting the market this year. But what if you don’t want a new EV? What if you want a vintage one? Reputable companies like Florida-based E.C.D. Automotive Design, and UK-based Everrati and Lunaz are bringing quality, craftsmanship, and reliability to increasingly popular EV conversions. “Putting the electric systems in [classic cars] you open it up to a whole new audience, like people that aren’t mechanically inclined, or who can’t maintain an old Jaguar V12 or an old Rover TDI,” says Elliot Humble, cofounder of E.C.D. Automotive Design. 

Next Generation Batteries

As far as drivers are concerned, solid-state batteries are a bit like the Holy Grail for EVs, promising more range, less weight, lower cost, faster charging, improved safety, and better long-term performance. But solid-state batteries are elusive, always just around the corner. This year, however, BMW is installing a prototype production facility for these batteries and hopes to have them in cars by the second half of the decade. Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, and some Japanese brands are working on a similar timeline, so expect to hear more about this technology soon.

The post EV Momentum and More: Automotive Trends of 2023 appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

Rochester has done work for Apple and Netflix — and maybe you saw his mural, International Friendship Through Basketball, painted as a collaboration between Aimé Leon Dore, New Balance, and NYC’s Masaryk Community Gym. His client list also includes collector cat-nip brands like Nike, Actual Source, and trading-card company Topps.

His art is ultra-specific, coming together from a particular melange of influences and cues that could belong only to him — for example, his painting of the rugs draped over a Ferrari F40.

“The addition of rugs is just another example of blending certain worlds together,” he says. “Growing up, my mom collected rugs and hung or laid them throughout the house. This, paired with posters of supercars hung all over my bedroom walls growing up — and that oftentimes rugs are sold and traded through travel and out of the back of cars — is what loosely inspired that piece.”

But the feeling his art evokes, of remembered stuff and nostalgic objects, is hyper-relatable, especially for anyone that’s ever had a case of collector-brain and geeked out over cars, t-shirts, basketball, or whatever. 

Where cars and nostalgia intersect, the results are often ugly or cringey; that Rochester’s work is so aesthetically intriguing makes it stand out. Not many artists would take the time, for example, to weave the rear-end of a Mercedes 190E Cosworth into a 50 x 60” rug or paint a loving portrait of a Subaru Baja.

“Since a young age, mainly through videogames, I developed an interest in how cars were drawn and designed,” Rochester says. “And, even more specifically, I had an obsession with body kits and how aerodynamics varied between every model, realizing just inches of an adjustment can completely change the feel and performance of a car.”

“I remember playing the first race of the video game Need for Speed: Underground in the white and red Type-R Integra with the huge spoiler; that car (though not a Type-R) ended up being the first car I ever owned.”

These days, Rochester drives an F80 M3, which, for anyone not versed in geeky BMW model codes, refers to the fifth generation M3 that arrived in 2015. 

“I’ve also always loved automotive stories that embrace custom/handmade craftsmanship,” he continues, name-dropping the custom Porsche 911s built by Nakai-san under the RAUH-Welt BEGRIFF (RWB) name, the meticulous Porsche 911 restomods by Singer, Alpina BMWs, and early AMG-tuned Benzes. “I feel like these nuances in automotive culture have always drawn me into those special details that I try to similarly have in my own work,” Rochester explains.

It’s strange to see cars remembered and celebrated the way Rochester does. In art and movies, automobiles are usually loaded symbols, visual stand-ins for freedom, but increasingly also commerce, climate change, or mortal danger. But cars, like a particular album or piece of clothing, can also be unique personal artifacts, nostalgic visual reminders of a place and time and a feeling, or an obsession. Rochester reminds us that these things are worth remembering, and maybe even celebrating too.

The post Jacob Rochester: Nostalgia Sparks Creativity appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

If you must know, the 2023 Rolls-Royce Cullinan starts at around $440,000 in Canada, while the moody Black Badge model goes for around $500,000. That doesn’t matter though — nobody buys a Rolls-Royce at sticker price. It’s common for customers to spend another $100,000 or $200,000 on customization. More on that below, but first, five things we learned living with the Rolls-Royce Cullinan SUV for one wonderful week in California.

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It’s an Oasis of an SUV

The Cullinan is not inexpensive, but it’s not immediately obvious to outsiders what you’re really paying for. Is it the badge? The backwards-opening rear doors? Oodles of leather and wood? The huge V12 motor? The answer is none of the above; not really, anyway. When you write a cheque for the Cullinan, or any Rolls, you’re buying a private oasis. It is an escape, a place where calm prevails over a chaotic world. In the cabin, it’s so quiet you realize how noisy the outside world really is. It’s like putting on noise-cancelling headphones in an airplane except 10 times better. The ride is pillowy, smoother than anything else, save the new Rolls-Royce Phantom. Over a week of driving the Cullinan in California, the quiet cabin and pillowy ride combined to make this SUV feel like our own personal refuge. Now it’s gone, we just want it back.

V12 Versus EV

One criticism of the Cullinan is that it’s not electric (yet). If you asked Rolls-Royce why, the company would tell you that EV technology wasn’t good enough to meet customers’ lofty expectations at the time of development. Instead, the Cullinan is powered by a Herculean twin-turbo V12. Churning out nearly 600 horsepower, it’s deliciously smooth and silent enough that some might mistake it for an EV. Piloting this monster, we reckoned it would fair quite well as an EV. The added battery weight wouldn’t be such a major issue here, and Rolls’ engineers certainly know how to make big, heavy cars ride well. We’ll be driving the brand’s first EV, the Spectre, later this year — it’s just the first taste of Rolls-Royce’s electric future.

Luxury Has No Limit

Believe it or not, the orange Cullinan you see here — complete with matching orange interior accents, Starlight headliner, piano black finishes and blacked-out exterior trim — is a relatively tame example of Rolls’ SUV. You see, this car was built by Rolls-Royce for the company’s own use. But, vehicles built by customers, for themselves, are increasingly bespoke affairs. 

“Bespoke is Rolls-Royce, and commissions were also at record levels last year, with our clients’ requests becoming ever more imaginative and technically demanding — a challenge we enthusiastically embrace,” said Torsten Müller-Ötvös, Chief Executive Officer of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. “On average, our clients are now happy to pay around half a million Euros for their unique motor car.” For those keeping track, that means the average price of a Rolls-Royce in 2022 was roughly $735,000.

Other options for the Cullinan include create-your-own “recreation modules,” custom gear boxes that slide in and out of the trunk on rails. “The entire assembly can be removed and stored separately, allowing customers to create Recreation Modules for specific hobbies and applications, from fly fishing, rock climbing, snowboarding or parascending to kite-boarding or base-jumping,” the company explains.

In Rolls-Royce Fashion, It Draws People In

On two occasions, strangers approached our slightly scruffy-looking writer after he stepped out of the Cullinan, and asked him what he did for a living. (Writing about cars seemed to be a disappointing answer for the strangers.) Even in the wealthy suburban paradise of Palm Springs, the Cullinan turned heads. If you’re hoping to fly under the radar, try the Bentley Bentayga or the new Range Rover.

The Cullinan is a Great Family Car

No, seriously. The Cullinan is ideal as a family hauler. The rear-opening doors make it easy to heave a baby seat into and out of this SUV. There’s so much space in the cabin that a folded strolled can fit in the second row, behind the front seats. And the trunk — wow — it’s surprisingly huge given that this isn’t even a three-row SUV. The split-folding tailgate opens onto a flat trunk floor that’ll hold a whole family’s luggage for an extended getaway.

How’s this for a bombshell? The Rolls-Royce Cullinan is SHARP’s best family car of 2023.

The post 5 Things We Learned About the Rolls-Royce Cullinan appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

2024 Mercedes-Benz AMG EQE SUV

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2024 Mercedes-Benz AMG EQE SUV

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All of which is to explain why you could be forgiven for not immediately recognizing what we have pictured here is, in fact, an all-new electric SUV from Mercedes. This is the mid-size 2023 EQE SUV and the high-performance 2024 AMG EQE SUV, not to be confused with the EQE sedan, or the larger EQS SUV, or the EQS sedan, or AMG versions of any of the above.

To our eyes at least, the EQE SUV might just be the most well-proportioned of the bunch. The wheels are really pushed to the corners, giving it a slightly more athletic vibe.

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What Are the Specs and Charging Speed of the EQE SUV?

In Canada, the non-AMG model will be available in two flavours, the 350 4Matic and the 500 4Matic, pushing out 288 and 402 horsepower respectively.

If that’s not enough for you, AMG is cooking up a version with 677 hp and 738 lb-ft of torque. Incredibly, AMG claims this beast is “track-ready.” It’s certainly not the first car we’d imagine taking to a track day, but hey, we’ll give it a shot Mercedes! The AMG model is distinguished by a black AMG grille, hot-stamped vertical chrome struts, an AMG front splitter and a unique set of 22-inch rims. Despite the fact it’s an EV, the AMG model will sound different too thanks to a series of designer “engine” noises bundled into the AMG Sound Experience. (It’s the next-best thing to the roar of AMG’s old V8 engines.)

We don’t have official driving range figures at the time of writing, but, in our experience with Mercedes’ many EQ cars and SUVs, their EPA range ratings tend to be slightly conservative.

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DC fast charging is of course present and accounted for too. While 170 kW charging isn’t the fastest, it’s enough that a quick 15 or 30 minute stop will provide a meaningful amount of added range. Besides, there are still only a handful of public EV chargers out there capable of delivering more than 170 kW. (That’s certainly part of the reason Mercedes-Benz is building its own, public electric-vehicle charging network right here in Canada. Across North America, the network will include more than 400 hubs, with more than 2,500 high-power plugs online by 2027. And, Mercedes drivers will get priority access and reservations.)

As for tech, Benz has got drivers covered. The new SUVs have air suspension, rear-wheel steering, over-the-air software updates and pretty much every other technology in the known automotive universe.

How Much Does the EQE SUV Cost in Canada?

At the moment, pricing has yet to be announced, but we do know how much the similar EQE sedan will cost. For reference, the EQE 350 sedan starts at $85,600 in Canada, while the EQE 500 sedan is $95,000. We expect the SUV will likely be priced slightly higher.

If the SUV lineup is anything like the sedan, the step up to the 500 will get you leather upholstery as standard, and the option of having the dashboard replaced by Mercedes’ wall-to-wall Hyperscreen display, in addition to the added performance. Both the sedans and the SUVs will have 4Matic all-wheel drive, but the SUV also gets an Offroad driving mode that’ll help it tackle some light gravel roads on those weekends you head into the country.

We’re expecting to see the 2023 EQE SUV in dealership showrooms this year, while the 2024 AMG EQE SUV should arrive late this year or early next. If you don’t want to wait, read our review of the high-performance Mercedes-AMG EQE sedan right here.

Learn more about the new 2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV here.

The post The New Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV Might Be Its Best Yet appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

This particular Battista, one of 150, carries a price tag of 2.9 million euros ($4.3 million CAD, roughly) and is the first example built for a Canadian customer. Grand Touring Automobiles, the exclusive retailer of Automobili Pininfarina in Canada, threw a small invite-only event to celebrate the car’s arrival.

All-Electric Pininfarina Battista Lands at Toronto’s Grand Touring Automobiles

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All-Electric Pininfarina Battista Lands at Toronto’s Grand Touring Automobiles

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Perched high above the city, on the top-floor of Grand Touring’s glass-box Toronto showroom, the dazzling Battista looked more like an art piece than something meant to mix with traffic on the streets below.

Walking up to the car you’ll notice it emits a strange, deep, other-worldly hum. A dial on the driver’s door can alter the tone according to the five (very Italian) drive modes: Calma, Pura, Energica, Furiosa and Carattere. Crank it up to Furiosa and you’ll understand the name is very apt. This is one loud electric car.

Record-Breaking Speed

For those unfamiliar with the Battista, the headline performance figures are staggering: four independent electric motors; 120 kWh battery; nearly 1,900 horsepower; 1,697 lb-ft of torque; 0-100 km/h in a world-record breaking 1.86 seconds; 0-200 in an uncomfortably-rapid 4.75 seconds; and a quarter-mile in a scarcely believable 8.55 seconds.

Ex-F1 driver Nick Heidfeld helped refine the handling, while the car itself was co-developed by Rimac. It shares much with the Rimac Nevera — except, of course, that the Battista was designed by Pininfarina, the most famous of all the great Italian coachbuilders.

Building The First Canadian Battista

The Canadian owner of this Battista wished to remain anonymous, but the CEO of Grand Touring, Paul Cummings, explained that the owner first saw the Battista at its unveiling at the 2019 Geneva auto show.

“This customer has been working with us on this probably for about 20 months now,” Cummings said. “He is truly a motorhead, a petrol guy. … He wanted to be at the forefront, but he wasn’t sure if electrification was it. But, eventually, it was his own homework that brought him [to the Battista].”

The options and choices on the Battista are nearly infinite, explained Paolo Dellachà, CEO of Automobili Pininfarina, who had come from the company’s headquarters in Cambiano, Italy, to Toronto to present this car.

“We want to make our customers feel special,” said Dellachà, an engineer who arrived at Pininfarina after holding top jobs at Ferrari. “I think that there is no limit to imagination. It’s a limited production car, yes, but each single one of them will be bespoke. There are, of course, endless possibility just in terms of colours and materials, but still: we are Pininfarina. Pininfarina has been making one-offs [for decades] so we can go up to the level of a one-off if a client wants it,” he explained.

This first Battista in Canada is finished in finished in Verde Piemonte, with the optional Furiosa Pack in exposed carbon tinted in black with a fine pinstripe in Verde Piemonte. Look closely and you’ll see exterior elements in brushed anodised aluminium. The Prezioso wheels are finished in ceramic polished gloss, in contrast to the black brake calipers.

Swing open one of the gullwing doors and you’ll see a pair of GT seats, finished in luxury black leather with contrast stitching to match the Verde Piemonte exterior. The centre console and door inserts are finished in matching colours with Triangolo quilted stitching.

A Bright Future for Pininfarina

Of course, Dellachà wouldn’t say what will come next from Pininfarina. Production of the Battista only began last year, and it will take a long time to hand-make all 150 examples. But, you can be sure that, if all goes according to plan, this won’t be a one-car brand.

After being bought by India’s Mahinda group in 2015, the Italian company has the cash to finally make good on the dream of its founder.

“We named the car Battista for a reason,” Dellachà explains. “The founder of Pininfarina, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, was actually the one who dreamt of making a car with his name and the Pininfarina logo in the centre. But, he became, in a way, a victim of his own success, and he continued to design cars for all the others.”

Indeed, Pininfarina is still best known for the gorgeous bodies it designed and built for Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, Honda, Maserati and so many other brands.

“I will say, Pininfarina will be always about respecting the tradition and the heritage, which is a lot about envisioning the future and then making it real, anticipating what actually could be and therefore being an example for others to follow,” Dellachà said. “That’s what creates an icon.”

The post Canada’s First Pininfarina Battista Lands at Toronto’s Grand Touring Automobiles appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

ECD caught our attention (and seemingly the attention of the entire Internet) last year when the company launched a Tesla-powered Land Rover Defender. But, as we learned after speaking to two of the company’s founders — Scott Wallace and Elliot Humble — Tesla-powered Defenders are just the tip of iceberg. Electric conversions are just one item on a vast menu of tasty restomods they offer to clients.

Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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For background, the company was founded by three U.K. expats — Scott Wallace and brothers Tom and Elliot Humble — and today it has a full-time staff of over 70 people, most of whom work out of the main 100,000 square foot facility in central Florida. Production is ramping up to roughly 100 vehicles per year, and to date they’ve sold nearly 500 trucks. It’s not all just old Defenders either. ECD also does classic Range Rover retromods, and now Jaguar E-Types as well, with a fourth, secretive model line in the works as well.

Why make an all-electric, Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defender?

Scott Wallace: The market’s asking for it. There’s quite a lot happening with electrification right now. But, for us, it was just a natural thing to do. Let’s be clear: we’re not an electric-car business. The electric drivetrain is another option for our customers, and our aim is to give people as many choices as possible, whether you want an LT4 Camaro V8 with 600 horsepower or you want a diesel, or an electric.

Elliot Humble: As well, electrification sort of opened the door to a whole market of people that would never have had a classic car before for the fear of maintaining and running them. You open them up to a whole new audience: people who aren’t mechanically inclined, or can’t maintain an old Jaguar V12 or an old Rover TDI. You don’t need to know how to maintain an EV because an electric motor is so simple. As long as you charge it up, it’s going to run.

How does all the hype around EVs, and classic EV conversions, play into this? We’re seeing lots of new players jumping into this space.

Scott: The hype is part of the problem. The challenge for the industry, the rest of the industry, is going to be all the headaches of finding a sustainable vendor base, a good vendor base, building a skill base, and then on top of all that, treat EV conversions right and give them the love they need. It’s a major project. Don’t say you’re doing electric conversion if you haven’t been through any of the headache and pain we’ve been through in figuring out how to get it right.

How many customers choose to go the electric route with their restomods?

Scott: I reckon it’s about one in five are electric. We don’t push customers one way or another, or market one over the other. We market the model, the ECD Defender, and then a range of options from our à la carte menu.

Why go with Tesla parts for the conversion?

Elliot: Tesla, they’re the name, aren’t they? So it seemed logical to work with Electric Class Cars in the UK, and go with their Tesla-based EV kits that were tried and tested. The motors were good, the batteries were good. But, as always, we’re looking to improve and make it better.

What’s the next step then; what improvements are you working on for the next-gen electric Defenders and Jags?

Elliot: One thing that we are including on our next Land Rover electric build, and every build going forwards, is the option to have a selectable four- or two-wheel drive system. Land Rovers don’t come with that option from the factory. But, since we’re finding that, for the most part, customers are driving on the road, we wanted to disconnect the front wheels and effectively halve the load on the motor. That way you get more driving range.

Scott: We’ve got over 200 miles [322 kilometres] of range and we’re about to get better.

What about recharging?

Elliot: The next thing that we’re trialing — it’s already working on a test mule — is DC fast charge. I went to SEMA last year [the big automotive aftermarket show in Las Vegas] just to find some more EV options, more kits, but almost nobody was offering fast charging in the aftermarket. We only we came across one company that had DC fast charge working. It’s a bit of a game changer for us. The ability to be running the truck and then to charge it back up to 90 per cent within about 50 minutes — it’s a pretty big deal.

Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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Interview: Restomod powerhouse ECD on their Tesla-powered vintage Land Rover Defenders

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Have you sold many restomods and EV conversions in Canada yet?

Scott: We do have clients in Canada already. But we’ve just expanded our outreach and marketing to Canada quite aggressively actually. Our marketing plans this year are for the UAE and Canada.

Elliot: The nice thing about Canada is your import rules for cars are a bit more lax than in the US. You can import cars that are 15 years old, where it’s 25 in the US. So, for any of our Canadian customers, you can have classic car that’s 10 years newer than the US customers can get.

And where would Canadian customers get their ECD restomod serviced?

Scott: We have three options for that. The first option is that you can go to a dealership we recommend and we support, that we train. We have a network of them. And if that’s a few hundred miles away from you, then we’ll take care of getting it picked up and delivered. Option two is that we send a technician to you — we had a customer ring up in the morning and by the afternoon a technician was in Boston fixing it. And the third option is we will bring it back to the facility here in Florida. We have our own shipping company as well, so that’s really easy to do.

Okay, I’m sold! If I phone up tomorrow, how much is an ECD Defender going to cost me?

Scott: Right now the average price is about US$280,000 but the base contracts are about US$225,000. That difference is upgrades, personalization and customization. That price also includes us sourcing classic Defenders and Range Rovers in the UK and bringing them over.

The post Interview: Restomod Powerhouse ECD on Their Tesla-Powered Defender EVs appeared first on Sharp Magazine.

The Genesis GV80 Coupe Concept was unveiled in New York, at Genesis House in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district earlier this month.

“It emphasizes the duality of the Genesis brand by showcasing the antagonistic character that lives within the Athletic and Elegance parameters of Genesis’ design philosophy,” said Luc Donckerwolke, the group’s chief creative officer.

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What does that mean exactly? Great question. It seems Genesis wants to get sporty and develop an edge. This new concept is a step towards that goal.

Like so many other automakers before them, Genesis took one of its SUVs — in this case the large and luxurious GV80 — and chopped the roofline to create an SUV that looks vaguely like a coupe. Hence: GV80 Coupe.

What’s amazing here though is just how well Genesis pulls off the trendy fastback SUV look. It’s not exactly a new idea, but the GV80 Coupe has got to be one of our favourite examples of the genre. (That’s saying something, because there are a lot of these things out there now.) The brand’s design language really works with this newfound edge. Check out that perfect ducktail spoiler and the lights that streak around the vehicle making it look fast even when it’s standing still. The hunkered-down stance over those massive alloys strikes that “antagonistic” tone Donckerwolke was talking about.

The best little exterior details are those subtle new vents on the front bumper; it’s racecar stuff but somehow it works here. As Genesis explain: “Cooling is optimized by four slots within the bumper that reduce shadowed thermal flow.” Understood? Great, moving on.

Let’s Talk About That Cabin

Four carbon-fibre bucket seats with a racetrack-ready roll-cage is, admittedly, not the most practical setup for an SUV, but we’re here for it. It just looks cool, especially because the seat backs are painted in the same Magma colour as the exterior, and there’s a matching Magma racing helmet. The rest of the cabin materials are on point too, with black Nappa and suede leather with plaid double stitching, orange piping and carbon fiber.

Hearts, Not Minds

“Over the past seven years, we have added more lifestyle-oriented models to the portfolio, such as our GV80 and GV70 SUVs. Now we are pushing the envelope with more emotional cars that elevate Genesis’ performance and dynamic attributes,” Donckerwolke said. He admitted that, in the beginning, Genesis was a luxury sedan brand. It launched with a core lineup of four-doors: the G70, G80 and G90. Now, it’s time for the brand to move beyond that.

The great luxury brands, the ones that seem to have a magnetic pull, are the brands that offer products that provoke an emotion response. You see it, and you’ve got to have it.

Previously, Genesis has managed to do that with the X Speedium Coupe Concept — a shooting brake coupe/wagon hybrid that we love — unveiled last year in New York. Sadly, it has (so far) remained just a concept. Same goes for the original Genesis X Concept and last winter’s Genesis X Convertible, although there are rumours the latter could make it into production.

The all-electric Genesis GV60 is a unique, original design but it doesn’t tug at our heart strings like those concepts do. There’s also the new Electrified GV70, which is sure to be popular.

If it goes into production, however, the GV80 Coupe Concept would be the first production model to finally bring some real emotional pull to the Genesis lineup.

“It is a statement of intent for more emotional, performance-oriented models and a preview of Genesis’ future programs,” the company wrote in a statement. “The GV80 Coupe Concept confirms Genesis’ commitment and ambitions to deliver innovative luxury products with bold, emotional resonance.”

Reading between the lines, we’d say there’s a pretty good chance the GV80 Coupe makes it into showrooms eventually.

The post Introducing the Hottest New SUV From Genesis appeared first on Sharp Magazine.