Can A.I. Fall in Love With Cars?

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By: Sergiu Tudose

At some point in the future, AI will inevitably build better cars than any human engineer could even dream of. But is a car supposed to be truly flawless? I’m not so sure. It also depends on what type of AI we’re dealing with. Let’s try to unpack this in a non-existential crisis type of way.

AI, or artificial intelligence, is already doing tons of things within the industry. From design to running various simulations, we’ve built machines that can work with aerodynamics faster and more accurately than we ever could. Yet, as of today, one of the things AI can’t do is care about its work.

I’ve spent my entire professional life around “machines”, and like most of my colleagues, I can easily tell when one was made by somebody who cared. From designs that move us, to emotional “trademarks” such as steering feel or weight distribution. It’s evidence that someone, somewhere, obsessed over how that one car should feel. That’s something you can’t quantify. And if you try, you usually ruin it.

Now, unless you’re madly in love with ChatGPT or Google Gemini, or whatever LLM flavor floats your boat, you’ll know for a fact that AI doesn’t feel. All it does is interpret, or train. It can somewhat “understand” the meaning of a word, or a concept, but not its "warmth" – and to love something is to appreciate its imperfections to the point where flaws become part of the identity.

It’s why some of the most lovable cars ever made are the ones that make no logical sense. Like the Alfa Romeo that breaks your heart on a weekly basis, or that manual gearbox BMW that triggers your sciatica every time you get behind the wheel. AI, on the other hand, will always try to eliminate such imperfections while optimizing everything. A perfectly rational car is a perfectly boring one, as far as I’m concerned. And I’m sure most, if not all of my peers, feel the same way.

But there’s an even deeper layer to this – the distinction between AI and ASI, or Artificial Superintelligence (yes, we're skipping right over AGI). The difference between the two is as great as the difference between an ant and a human being. ASI, if achievable (and most experts believe that it is), will understand its own existence beyond just pattern recognition.

So, when that day comes, we might meet a machine that truly understands and loves cars because of what they represent. Now, imagine a future, maybe hundreds of years from now, when intelligent machines live alongside us as partners, or perhaps fellow workers and explorers. These “beings” will need to travel too, right? But how?

Will they climb into vehicles as we do? Be it on the ground or in the air? Or will they simply transfer their consciousness from one place to another? If movement ever becomes a matter of moving data from one server to another, the concept of driving becomes obsolete and travel morphs into teleportation, for lack of a better term.

And yet, if ASI was ever to develop curiosity or even nostalgia, perhaps it would choose to move more slowly, maybe even drive when it didn’t need to. But I realize that’s sort of a stretch, to say the least.

That’s the paradox. The more advanced artificial intelligence becomes, the more human it might need to be to appreciate things like cars, motorcycles, speedboats, you name it.

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By: Alex Oagana

There's a special kind of pain in watching someone else make a success out of what you threw away. Bands feel it when the drummer they fired starts a hit solo career. Tech startups feel it when the intern they ignored sells a billion-dollar app.

In the car world, this heartbreak happens on a corporate scale - entire automakers realizing, years later, that the model they axed, the brand they offloaded, or the project they didn't believe in went on to thrive under someone else's badge.

It's a recurring theme in automotive history: brilliance trapped inside bureaucracy. Big companies love the idea of innovation, right up until it starts costing money. And when that happens, the accountants come in with scissors, cutting off projects that aren't 'core to the brand.' Yet some of those misfit cars were never bad ideas. They needed different marketing, better timing, or a bit of luck.

Take MINI, for example. In the early 2000s, BMW took over what was essentially a dead British nameplate that had been shuffled through corporate hands since the collapse of British Leyland. Rover couldn't make it profitable. BMW did. Today, the MINI is once again a global style icon - a brand that sells personality as much as cars. Meanwhile, Rover, the company that once built the original Mini, no longer exists.

Or consider Volvo. Ford owned it for years, never quite knowing what to do with the Swedish brand's earnest safety-first image. Then Geely, a Chinese automaker with a much smaller ego, stepped in, gave Volvo its independence back, and watched it flourish. Under Ford, Volvo was a sleepy Scandinavian relic. Under Geely, it became a design powerhouse with a clean design, hybrid and EV tech, and a quietly subversive coolness that sometimes outshines its German rivals.

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By: Cristian Agatie

The removal of the EV tax credit was thought to pose an existential threat to electric vehicle adoption in the US. The sentiment was even more acute because many legacy carmakers have signaled they want to scale back their EV plans way before the tax credit ended. However, many people will continue to buy EVs in the future, and the adoption rate will accelerate. Not all carmakers are on-board, but those who bet on EVs will reap the benefits.

This might explain why many appear unfazed by the new market conditions. There are still great deals on EVs, and more pop up every day. Some carmaker have adjusted to the new reality by cutting the prices of their EVs, as they tried to compensate for the loss of the tax credit. Hyundai is the best example, with the 2026 Ioniq 5 starting at $35,000. Others bet on more affordable models launching into the market, such as the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla's Model 3 and Model Y Standard.

Another reason why we continue to see very tempting offers is because carmakers anticipate slow sales into the fourth quarter. Traditionally one of the best in a year, the Q4 2025 could be flat at best. That's because the expiration date on the EV tax credit prompted many who intended to buy an EV this year to do it in the third quarter. As a result, fewer people will buy a new EV in the fourth quarter, making it a buyer's market.

We may not see lease contracts with monthly payments as low as $89 or $129 as we did in the past months, mainly because there will not be a tax credit to roll into the monthly payments. However, we 've still found out many attractive deals, with monthly payments as low as $189 in the case of the Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Ioniq 6. Both are in SE Standard Range specifications, which may not be for everyone. However, better-equipped trims are not much expensive, and other carmakers are also luring customers with attractive offers.

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By: Mircea Panait

Remember when the Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and what used to be Chrysler all offered light-duty pickup trucks with available turbo diesel oomph? Only the largest of the Detroit-based manufacturers still believes in turbo diesel muscle for said application, which brings us to the Silverado 1500.

Is the regular production order code LZ0 engine better than GM's 6.2-liter small block? Can you tow as much with the six-cylinder Duramax? Is the diesel reliable in the long run? To answer these questions, we have to dig a little deeper into the LZ0 and L87 powerplants.

We also have to understand that said turbo diesel option gives the Detroit-based company a clear advantage in the most popular truck segment of them all. Back in 2021, a Chevy official confirmed a take-up rate of 10 to 14 percent of Silverado 1500 sales.

If this rate carried over into 2024, that would mean the Silverado 1500 Duramax sold between 35,877 and 50,228 units last year in the United States. That being said, let us kick this off with an in-depth look at the 3.0-liter LZ0 Duramax inline-six turbo diesel. 

First and foremost, Duramax is a brand name that GM introduced back in 2001 with a 6.6-liter V8 dubbed LB7. The Duramax family included a massive 7.8-liter turbo inline-six engine from Isuzu, as well as a 2.8-liter turbo inline-four mill developed by Stellantis-owned VM Motori. The sixers in question powered medium-duty and mid-size pickup trucks, respectively.

At press time, Duramax branding is used for two diesels, beginning with the LZ0 inline-six lump that you can have in the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and the mechanically similar GMC Sierra 1500. The 6.6-liter V8 is exclusive to beefier trucks, beginning with the 2500-series Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra. That one bears regular production order code L5P and is produced by the DMAX subsidiary in Ohio.

Sometimes referred to as the Baby Duramax by enthusiasts, the 3.0-liter unit hails from the Flint Engine Operations complex in Michigan. Opened in 2002, this facility is also tasked with making the 1.5-liter turbo inline-four gas engine of the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain compact utility vehicles.

Prior to the introduction of the LZ0 for model year 2023, the 3.0-liter turbo diesel I6 was known as the LM2. The original came out in 2018 for the 2019 model year Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and GMC Sierra 1500, promising a hard-to-resist combination of torque, fuel economy, and towing capacity.

A direct rival to Ram's 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 and the Ford 3.0-liter Power Stroke V6, the 3.0-liter Duramax I6 was developed from the start with light-duty trucks in mind. Also found in GM's truck-based sport utility vehicles, the sixer is matched to a 10-speed automatic developed as part of a joint venture between General Motors and the Ford Motor Company.

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By: Mircea Panait

Munich-based SSR Performance is developing a turbocharged 911 GT3 RS at Germany's most famous racetrack. Most likely a bi-turbo performance kit with the kind of muscle that exceeds the already ludicrous peak output figures of the 911 GT2 RS, the yet-unnamed model features a completely new rear end.  

SSR Performance had to modify a lot of things in order to accommodate said turbochargers, and furthermore, remember that forced induction has different cooling requirements. Aero wheels front and rear also need to be highlighted, along with a new rear aerodynamic diffuser and more aero wizardry for the front bumper.

Reminiscent of the previous 911 GT2 RS in terms of sound, the 911 GT3 RS-based thriller is also certain to feature a variety of chassis and suspension upgrades. We can also imagine upgraded brake pads and brake lines, which are utmost necessary for extended track duties. With the current GT3 RS making 518 free-breathing horsepower as opposed to 690 turbocharged ponies for the limited-edition GT2 RS, it appears that over 700 mechanical horsepower are on the menu.

Porsche has also been a little busy as of late, testing a yet-unconfirmed variant of the 911. Be it the base Turbo, the much-rumored Touring package for the Turbo, or a special edition à la the Sport Classic, the Zuffenhausen-based automaker will offer the newcomer in both coupe and cabriolet flavors.

The barely camouflaged prototypes our spy photographers have caught so far feature closed-off side air intakes and clean rear ends dominated by an active spoiler. Equipped with centerlock wheels from the newly facelifted Turbo S, the Touring-like specification has also been spotted with both exhaust variations of the 2026 model year 911 Turbo S.

Given these similarities, a hybrid boxer is the most obvious candidate for suck-squeeze-bang-blow duties. Believed to slot between the single-turbo 911 Carrera 4 GTS and twin-turbo 911 Turbo S, the mysterious variant should go live in the first half of 2026.

Our final entry is yet another Porsche, and it's quite a bit heavier than its rear-engined cousins. Next year, the Cayenne Turbo GT will receive a mid-cycle refresh with a suite of performance-oriented updates. From a modified front bumper with a more prominent lip to a modified spoiler out back with a higher lip, there is no denying that aero gains will help the Cayenne Turbo GT lap the Nordschleife faster than ever before.

The series-production internal combustion sport utility vehicle to beat is the RS Q8 Performance from Audi Sport, whose MLB Evo underpinnings and EA825-series V8 are shared with the most powerful internal combustion-only variant of the Cayenne. With Frank Stippler behind the wheel, the Audi Sport model clocked 7 minutes and 36 seconds at the Green Hell.

Back in June 2021, on the 20,832-meter layout of the German circuit, Porsche's weapon of choice managed 7 minutes and 38 seconds with Lars Kern driving. At the time, the Cayenne Turbo GT was the fastest production sport utility vehicle on the Nurburgring.

By: Bogdan Popa

Changes in the Android Auto world often happen overnight, and the same thing happened this week when users noticed that the taskbar widgets were no longer available. Many people believed this was Google's approach moving forward, but it was later revealed that it was only a bug that was already under investigation. As always, no timing information has been shared, so you'd better not hold your breath for a fix.

Meanwhile, Google also shipped a new Android Auto build, bringing us a step closer to the highly anticipated launch of Gemini. It turns out this is one of the last updates for Android 8 devices, so if you're still using the app on this old OS version, it's time to consider getting a new phone.

The struggle continues in the CarPlay world after the release of iOS 26. This time, the CarPlay experience is plagued by rendering issues, causing artifacts and sudden disconnects. Users often blame poor cables for such problems, so some CarPlay drivers ended up getting new cords. This didn't fix their problems.

General Motors is also working on big news for Apple users. The General will soon add digital car key support to several new models, allowing drivers to unlock the doors and start the engines of their vehicles right from their iPhones or Apple Watches. An official announcement is not available yet.

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