So what’s the deal with the Ferrari 12Cilindri “manual” gearbox?

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By: Alex Oagana

Believe it or not, the long-rumored Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale now exists, it is real, and it comes with a clutch pedal and a gear lever that can be moved through a metallic open metal gate with all the mechanical clicks and physical resistance that an open gated manual has always demanded from a driver. Perhaps equally important, its transmission is paired with a 6.5-liter naturally aspirated V12 in a front-midship position that can rev to a stratospheric 9,500 rpm, and delivers 830 PS (819 HP) and 678 Nm (500 lb-ft) of torque to the rear wheels.

In theory, this is the perfect recipe of Ferrari according to Il Commendatore’s own principles. Its production will be limited strictly to 1,499 examples, with that number harking back to the displacement of the first-ever Ferrari twelve-cylinder that Enzo built in a Maranello shed in 1947. Speaking of the past, the last Ferrari that came with a clutch pedal and that gorgeous, gated manual happened way back in 2012, when the California could still be optioned with such a contraption, albeit allegedly between only between 3 and 5 cars such exist.

The last V12-powered Ferrari with a manual transmission ended production earlier that same year, with the 599 GTB Fiorano being remembered as the last true example of its breed, and it was also a direct predecessor of the 12Cilindri. All Ferrari cars unveiled since then have been sending their power to the rear or all four wheels without requiring their drivers to press a clutch pedal. Everything, from the 458 through the 488, F8, the SF90 or the 296 and even the Purosangue or the 12 Cilindri has had its powerplant paired with a dual-clutch automatic transmission.

The clutch pedal is back with the 12Cilindri Manuale, but there is a huge twist, as it is normal with most modern Ferraris. You see, the limited-edition model doesn’t exact actually sport a manual transmission, at least not in the traditional sense. It uses what Ferrari calls “Manual By-Wire” system, which is actually paired with the standard 12Cilindri’s 8-speed dual-clutch gearbox sitting in a transaxle layout at the rear axle.

The model’s gear lever, the clutch pedal and the open gate are a separate electro-mechanical interface that simply detects what the driver is requesting through various sensors, converts them digitally and transmits them via a by-wire system to the DCT’s control unit. In short, nothing in the center console or the clutch pedal is physically connected to anything in the dual-clutch transmission. 

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Cristian Agatie

Three years after its "roof is on fire" moment, Volkswagen hasn't yet come to terms with its diminished position on a market dominated by Chinese carmakers. The company just reported the biggest sales slump in four years, with deliveries falling 8.6% globally in the second quarter. Even though Volkswagen reported sales increases in Europe and North America, China was a total disaster, with sales tumbling 36.6% in the quarter. 

This disaster has not come out of nowhere. It is the result of years of neglect and arrogance, but also of delaying a long-overdue restructuring. Back in 2022, Herbert Diess lost his job when he proposed cutting tens of thousands of jobs and pivoting to electric vehicles. Four years later, the situation is worse, and Volkswagen Group's management team is contemplating a 100,000-job cut to achieve a similar result. 

Volkswagen is not alone in these struggles. All German carmakers reported dramatic sales drops in China in 2026. Mercedes-Benz saw a 30% drop in the second quarter, with a 28% decline in the first half. BMW saw a similar sales slump in the first quarter, but only 20.4% in the first half. This shows that all major German carmakers are in deep trouble in China, which happens to be their most important market.

Where does this leave Volkswagen and its extensive portfolio of car brands? The results are obvious, and they explain why CEO Oliver Blume considered it appropriate to present his restructuring plan to the company's Supervisory Board. The roof was on fire in 2023, but now the whole house is burning. The problem is that no one is prepared to flood the house with water to put out the fire. 

For about a month, rumors showed that Oliver Blume and his management team prepared a massive restructuring plan. This involved cutting 100,000 jobs and closing four factories in Germany. Days before the plan was even discussed internally, the unions organized protests. On Thursday, Volkswagen Group's Supervisory Board met to analyze and vote on the restructuring plan put forth by Blume's team. It didn't go well. 

At the end of the day, Volkswagen announced cutting the model lineup by 50% across its many brands, including Audi, Bentley, Cupra, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, and commercial vehicles. This comes with a reduction in output capacity by one million vehicles from the current 10 million. 

However, an official statement following the Supervisory Board meeting did not mention factory closures or job cuts at all. A Reuters report shows that there was no omission: the original plan was simply blocked by Volkswagen's union. Just like Herbert Diess before him, Oliver Blume is held hostage by Volkswagen's powerful unions. Diess was sacked when he clashed with the unions, and a similar fate awaits Blume, no matter how favorably he was seen in 2022 when he took the reins of Volkswagen Group.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Sergiu Tudose

Lewis Hamilton, or Sir Lewis Hamilton, is the most decorated driver in Formula 1 history, having won seven drivers’ titles to go with his 106 total race wins, 104 pole positions, and 206 podium finishes. So, what on Earth am I even talking about?

This man has defeated the likes of Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, and Valtteri Bottas while using the same machine. His head-to-head record with Russell is a toss-up, but I’m inclined to lean in favor of the seven-time world champion. I’m not unreasonable.

Look, don’t take out your pitchforks just yet, let me clarify a few things. I’m not asking if Lewis Hamilton is a great driver. He obviously is. My question is whether we’ve ever actually seen him do that thing that separates the greatest drivers from those that are merely elite.

When I think about all-time great Formula 1 drivers, I don’t just think about championships, because those can be heavily influenced by the type of car you drive. I think about the performance, yes, but then I also consider those drivers that can make a bad car look good. Or a mediocre car look great.

That’s how we know that Max Verstappen is an all-time great talent, because you can put him in anything, and he’ll do something that’ll surprise you. When it comes to Hamilton’s resume, I can’t help but do the Mr. Spock eyebrow raise.

Again, look at Max. Before Red Bull built him a title-winning car, he was dragging Toro Rossos into the points in races where they had no business being there. Then there’s Leclerc, who was doing more of the same, only for Sauber. And what about Michael Schumacher’s Benetton years? There’s no way that car was anywhere near as fast as the Williams (back in the day).

But Lewis? They put him in a championship-caliber McLaren in his rookie season in 2007. He nearly won the whole thing. I can appreciate his talent as much as the next guy, but I would have liked to see him struggle in a less competitive car at first. Don’t you guys gauge young drivers the same way, or is it just me? Anyway, after McLaren, he arrived at Mercedes just as they were about to become the most dominant team in Formula 1 history.

Now he’s at Ferrari. We’ve never seen him in a back-marker team. Heck, we’ve never even seen him in a midfield team. And I know for a fact I’ve never seen him will an underfunded car into Q3 on pure talent alone. This is not his fault, of course. But I think it does leave us with a fascinating blind spot as far as he’s concerned.

We simply do not know what Lewis Hamilton looks like in a bad Formula 1 car, and I don’t want to hear how bad Mercedes were a few years back, or how Ferrari struggled last year. Both teams were still consistently scoring points with a top 3 or top 4 car.

I don’t mean to diminish any of his accomplishments, but I also can’t ignore the fact that in both 2007 and 2008, Mclaren were extremely fast. Even in 2021, when Red Bull finally caught Mercedes, Hamilton still had a title-winning car on his hands. So, how much of his legend comes from “looksmaxxing” great cars? Pretty much all of it, right?

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Elena Luchian

Slate promised you a cheap truck, and this is what you are getting. Unless you start checking some option boxes around the configurator or start with the Fastback SUV body style right from the get-go. So here it is, offering the unpainted truck in colors, and you have Crayola to thank for it.

Slate Auto does not have a paint shop at its factory in Warsaw, northern Indiana. So, every single truck leaves the factory in a single, unpainted gray composite finish. It is one way of saving manufacturing costs. However, the automaker is ready to offer various customization options, and the Crayola wraps are one way of going home with a bright-colored vehicle.

It is Crayola’s first time getting involved in the auto industry. Based on the partnership, Slate will offer crayon-inspired vehicle wraps for its upcoming electric truck and SUV. The so-called “starter packs” kick off at $1,549.99 on top of the price of the vehicle.

Each kit includes a full vehicle wrap, matching serpentine-stripe decals, a color-coordinated key fob cap, and a custom snap-on ashboard called a "Slatelt." Five vibrant colors wearing the Crayola badge are available.

Customers can choose from Cerulan, which is a classic bright blue, Dandelion, which is a vibrant yellow, Fern, a shade of green, Jersey Tomato, a bold red-orange hue, and last but not least, Razzmatazz, a striking vivid pink. Regardless of the choice, one thing is for sure: buyers won't be able to fly under the radar in their Crayola-wrapped EVs.

The lack of an actual painting procedure helps Slate Auto keep pricing as low as possible. And this is not the only thing missing on the list of features that all vehicles out there roll off the production line with.

The Slate, be it a Pickup Truck, a Fasback SUV, or a Squareback SUV, drives through the factory gate with crank windows, so you have to roll them down and up manually, and no screen, which gives you the freedom (or the inconvenience) of using the navigation of your phone and playing music on it.

Underneath the funky appearance, Slate Auto planted a 65-kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, which stores enough energy to make the EV drive as far as 205 miles before it needs to be plugged in again.

For the full article, please continue reading on our site.

By: Mircea Panait

Toyota and Gazoo Racing have been quite busy this past week, testing a yet-unconfirmed version of the GR GT at the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Potentially called RS, the mysterious new model has been spotted benchmarking against a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Otherwise put, a sub-7-minute bruiser is under development.

Porsche won't break into a cold sweat over this greenhorn, but at its core, the GR GT RS is a different animal from the Neunelfer. Beyond the front-engine design and the V8 muscle, Toyota and Gazoo Racing have developed the road car from the GT3 endurance racer, making the standard GR GT an inherently capable machine.

Gifted with more extreme aerodynamic trickery, the RS may not even be a performance specification of the GR GT. Instead, another possibility would be a Track pack for the GR GT, similarly to how Porsche allows customers to option the 911 GT3 RS with the Weissach package. Whatever it may be, the Japanese rival sure looks aggressive.

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BMW decided on a different philosophy for the all-new iX4, which replaces the internal combustion X4 in the Bavarian automaker's lineup. Spied with less camouflage over its front and rear lighting units, the full-electric sport utility vehicle shows the very same lighting signatures as the more practical iX3. From the A-pillars forward, you can barely tell them apart.

Its more rakish windshield, along with the curvaceous roofline that kicks down behind the B-pillars, make the iX4 the cooler sibling. Out back, the more expensive Neue Klasse sport utility vehicle drops the iX3's roof-mounted spoiler in favor of a much smaller unit on the liftgate. Based on the wheels and tires of this prototype, we may be looking at the M60 xDrive.Referred to as NA7 by its maker, the iX4 will also be available in 50 xDrive and 40 xDrive flavors. Later on, the ZA7 will introduce proper M power in the form of a quad-motor setup with ludicrous torque for good measure. Both the NA7 and the ZA7 will be produced exclusively in Hungary.

While on the subject of coupe-SUV models from BMW, the rendering artist known as Uygar Spots came up with a realistic take on the next-generation X6. Borrowing the front end from the iX5 while combining both iX3 and iX5 elements out back, the rendered G66 certainly makes a statement.

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BMW also wants to make a statement with the series-production model, which is expected to debut no later than early 2028 because production is purportedly scheduled to start in April 2028. As with the current G06, the Spartanburg plant in the United States of America will serve as the home of the first-ever X6 with electric options featuring gen-six cells.

While it may be too soon to make a guess whether a fuel-cell powertrain is planned as well, there is no mistaking that customers will be presented with multiple dual-motor electric choices. The iX6 range will supposedly kick off with the 50 xDrive and the 60 xDrive, with the latter delivering 570 horsepower and 593 pound-feet (804 Newton-meters) in the iX5.

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Although the aforementioned rendering is bound to materialize into a production model, the Bentley Flying Spur Shooting Brake from Nikita Chuicko is nothing more than wishful thinking. On second thought, only someone with ridiculously deep pockets can convince Bentley and the Mulliner division to create a family-sized grand tourer in this vein.

Maintaining a sleek roofline that creates muscular shoulder lines, the shooting brake makeover should be viewed as the more elegant alternative to the high-riding Bentayga. Its more aggressive stance and the utility of the liftgate differentiate this design study from the Panamera-derived Flying Spur, which is an incredibly good choice in the ultra-lux sedan segment.

The market for ultra-luxury longroofs, however, is practically nonexistent outside of niche collector and enthusiast circles. Worse still for shooting brake fans, remember that not even Porsche could make its business case work for the family-oriented versions of the Panamera and the Taycan.

By: Bogdan Popa

It’s been a rough week for Android users. First, Google shipped a botched Android Auto update that seems to cause issues for everybody.

Most people battle random disconnects and crashes with Android Auto wireless, but the most recent problems include audio stutter and skipping.

Diehard Android users who dropped Google’s stock operating system and went for GrapheneOS ended up being unable to use Volkswagen’s apps on their phones. The reason is as odd as it is ridiculous: GrapheneOS is no longer supported due to security reasons. GrapheneOS’ main selling point is the security it offers. Meanwhile, Volkswagen’s apps continue to support Android 10.

If you use Google Earth Pro on your desktop, you’d better save the installer somewhere safe. Google will remove the download links next year, as the company is planning the transition to the web and mobile apps. Security updates and bug fixes will continue to be released, but no new features are planned.

It was good while it lasted, so here’s another Google product getting the axe.

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