Fast SUVs used to be the laughing stock of the enthusiast world, vehicles deemed silly and pointless, but they’ve been a hot topic for well over a decade now. The first BMW X5 M launched in 2010, a time when a performance-oriented family hauler meant tradeoffs galore for a mediocre outcome, but the vehicle has undergone a serious transformation over time, its 4.4-liter V8 now good for 617 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque, its chassis and suspension and accompanying tech readying for battle. I (happily) spent a week (to my surprise, thanks guys!) with the 2024 X5 M Competition and fell in lov ..read more

If you were thinking of getting a daily driver that you could also take to the track, I’m sure for most of you reading this, an EV isn’t part of that discussion. Hyundai wants to change the conversation, though, and thus the automaker has cooked up an EV for the enthusiast. At least, that’s the goal here with the Ioniq 5 N. Is it ready to battle it out for lap times, then battle it out in traffic come Monday morning? The answer is… absolutely. [Disclaimer: Hyundai put me up in a hotel near Laguna Seca and gave me food. I didn’t fly to this event, though, instead, I drove a different EV there ..read more

The last time the world saw an all-new Toyota 4Runner was only a few months into President Obama’s first term. Obviously a lot has transpired since then, but the 5th generation 4Runner endured from 2009 through 2024 largely unchanged short of trim, tech, suspension, and appearance changes; at its core, the truck remained very much the same, for better and worse. And now, finally, Toyota has dropped the all new 6th generation of its storied SUV, with deliveries starting in the fall of 2024. We’re big fans of the Toyota 4Runner (and Toyota 4x4s in general) here at Hooniverse. Chris Tracy owned ..read more

The Defender 130 was initially the JLR truck that piqued my interest the least. That’s because the 110 is the perfect size for me personally. I don’t need or want a three-row SUV, but more cargo room is a nice thing to have. So, the arrival of the D130 in Outbound spec has caught my attention. For this one, JLR ditches that third row. They also put window blanks where the far back glass would be, and then they actually toss on proper tires. The Defender 130 Outbound wears all-terrains, which is what any Defender should be wearing. Now, if JLR will just allow you to spec one of these with the ..read more

Retro is all the rage, perhaps now more than ever. The new Mustang has 1980s Fox Body gauges, the new Land Cruiser harkens back to its ancestors, the new Nissan Z has 300zx-influenced taillights, and so on. Given the strong sense of nostalgia in the automotive community as of late, it’s unsurprising that Nissan draped a retro-tastic appearance package over its Frontier mid-size pickup. It succeeded in making the Hardbody Edition look like the past, but in many ways the truck also feels, drives, and behaves like one from a bygone era. What’s new is old again A few years back we trekked to New H ..read more

Sometimes, in this business, you see a model name come across your desk and think, “Meh, I already had that.” In this case I just reviewed the 2024 Lexus TX 350 a few months ago. However, this TX 500h F Sport Performance Luxury is a different thing altogether. Well, I mean, it’s the same, but different. Don’t worry, we’ll get into the details and spend some extra time talking about how the more powerful top-spec TX feels out on the road. So, without further delay, it’s time to find out how the Lexus Texas (I’m leaning into it this time) does on a week of daily driver duties. 2024 Lexus TX 500 ..read more

The Overland market is huge and growing at the moment. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on a dollar figure, but it’s estimated that around 30-40 million people are into the trend worldwide. Kamil and I spent the weekend with some other journalist types at Overland East a few years ago, and it was a good time. Now, there is a big-time Overland of America event happening in Oklahoma in September. Honda has been hip to all this for some time, that last trip we did, they loaned us a few Honda Passports that got dirty on the trails before the Overland event. I’ve been driving the latest 2024 ve ..read more

Remember auto shows? The big auto shows like Detroit, L.A., Chicago? Perhaps Geneva or Munich? Yeah, in the last six years or so they got greatly reduced. I blame the speed of the media, instant access to news, lazy auto journalists, and cheap auto makers. And that killed the attendance, too. But the shows still go on and today is day 1 of of the two press days. Our coverage of the shows has never been great. It was usually a photo dump of the stuff we saw walking around the show floor, being served fancy lattes by automakers. The good news is that the lattes are still here, just fewer of them ..read more

In the studio pictures I shared in my original post about this new to me Lexus GX 470, this beast of a machine looked impressive. But things are not always what they seem. No matter what the seller may say, there will always be some additional issues with a car that is over two decades old. This Lexus was the first vehicle I bought unseen. I delegated the inspection work to a friend of mine in Atlanta. He knows what to look for, he was my PPI. I looked for vehicles in Atlanta because I gave up looking for Jeep Wranglers, Toyota 4Runners and Tacomas, and Lexus GXs in the northeast – they were a ..read more

It’s been over a decade since Dodge has had a compact SUV in its lineup. The Dodge Nitro left showrooms in 2012, leaving a hole in the smol-SUV segment. Dodge is part of Stellantis, which means they have access to the FCA Small Wide LWB 4×4 platform. It has been the basis for the Jeep Commander (2022+), Jeep Renegade, Fiat 500X, Alfa Romeo Tonale, and even the Brazilian Ram Rampage and Fiat Toro small trucks. Well, the Dodge Hornet is now available and I spent a week in a top-spec 2023 GT Plus AWD to see what’s what. 2023 Dodge Hornet Overview Another bit of Dodge trivia, the Hornet is the fi ..read more