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After a week in one of the most enjoyable vehicles he’s driven this year, Host Jack Nerad concluded that the 2023 Subaru WRX performance sedan might be the best performance bargain in the land right now. If it’s not, it comes very close. The current WRX is based on a stiff chassis that contributes to its all-around handling. Its standard all-wheel-drive gives it a very connected feel, no matter the conditions. And its turbocharged engine provides enough go-power to keep things interesting.
Whether he was shuttling his daughter to a Taylor Swift concert or blasting through canyon roads, Nerad discovered the WRX to be a willing and able companion. Yes, it does a few mildly annoying things, but with the amount of goodness it provides for less than $45K, we can live with them.
In the other half of this week’s road test segment, Co-host Chris Teague got to have his way with the all-new Dodge Hornet R/T+. The top-of-the-line Hornet, based on the Alfa Tonale, shows a definite European influence. You would, too, if you were born in Naples, Italy. One of the many things we learn in Chris’s road test is how his manly 6-foot frame fits into its compact SUV cabin. Oh, and then there’s handling and performance that put it at the pinnacle of the new Dodge Hornet lineup.
In the news this week, a top BMW executive says the company is meeting its global targets for electric vehicles. But at the same time, he said it isn’t yet time to abandon internal combustion engine cars.
General Motors execs might be feeling the same way this week. GM is betting on EVs big time, but right now, it’s having trouble building them, as one of its top managers admitted recently. We’ll tell you why and what that means coming up.
And the next time you see someone pulled over for speeding, the policeman writing the ticket might be driving a Tesla. We’ll tell you about the move to Tesla police cars in this episode.
Many of us would like to know what the highest quality vehicles in America are, and this week’s special guest can tell us. Frank Hanley is senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power, and he’s in charge of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study that measures vehicle quality. Are cars getting better or worse? He’ll have surprising answers coming up.
America on the Road is brought to you by Driving Today.com, Mercury Insurance, YourTestDriver.com, and EMLandsea.com , the publisher of Nerad’s latest book, Dance in the Dark, which is available HERE on Amazon.com
