 The Autoweek Dispatch: Ford's new Bronco Finally Launches and a Pair of NASCAR Legends Launch a Race Series The Bronco dominates this week's news. BY WES RAYNAL There's so much Bronco product news to report we almost forgot how impressive the actual launch was -- almost. Here's what's happening in the car world: QUOTE OF THE WEEK "I think the point of any car build, whether it's what we're doing now with Tesla, or what we did in the past with a variety of platforms, is you have to understand the DNA of what the car is you're working with and then find a way to bring out the maximum version of itself. And if you do that, I think you always win." — Ben Schaffer, who runs tuning companies Bulletproof Automotive and Unplugged Performance, telling Autoweek his philosophy behind how he tunes cars.
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK You've no doubt seen more than a few Broncos lately but did you catch any of the launch activities Monday? If you didn't, you missed an impressive unveiling. Here's how it broke down: Three custom 3-minute films aired on ABC, ESPN and National Geographic, in each network's first commercial break in the 8:00 p.m. hour. One film featured country music singer Kip Moore and ran during "CMA Best of Fest," another ran on SportsCenter featuring climber Brooke Raboutou, and the third ran on National Geographic's channel during "National Parks: Yosemite" featuring Academy Award-winning director, cinematographer, photographer and professional climber Jimmy Chin. Chin directed all three films. If you've never seen his work, it's amazing. Check some out at jimmychin.com. It was an enormous undertaking and we became curious about how -- and why -- Ford pulled off the effort. So we reached out to Matt Vandyke, Ford's director of marketing, to get a behind-the-scenes look. Who better to tell it? "We were supposed to start in March," Vandyke told Autoweek. "We wanted everything done in spring." Vandyke said the original plan was to show it at the Detroit show in June. "The outdoor venue, spread out over a big area, with all the people mingling and being able to get up close and see the trucks – we thought it would be perfect." We all know what happened next. We want to see it and touch it too – and drive it. We'll be able to get in the Bronco Sport before year's end and Bronco next year. Looking forward to it.
CAR NEWS AND NOTES The 2021 Bronco's basic nuts and bolts looks like this: We get two- and four-door, Ranger-based Bronco models, and the smaller C2-platformed (Escape, Lincoln Corsair) Bronco Sport. The two-door Bronco is a bargain, starting at just $29,995. Bronco Sports come with an eight-speed automatic, regardless of whether the buyer chooses a 1.5-liter EcoBoost engine making 181 hp and 190 lb-ft, or the optional 2.0-liter delivering 245 hp and 270 lb-ft. The Bronco has a seven-speed manual standard with a crawl gear, paired only with Ford's 2.3-liter EcoBoost turbo four making 270 hp and 310 lb-ft. A ten-speed automatic is optional there, but standard when buyers choose the 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6 (310 hp and 400 lb-ft). There's oodles more information on our site here, here and here. BMW is not moving as many M8 Coupes and Convertibles as it thought it would and the company confirmed it would not bring any more to the U.S. "at this time." BMW Blog is reporting that apparently "at this time" means we won't get any M8s for 2021. The four-door M8 Gran Coupe can still be ordered and optioned. Car sales in general are down of course and SUV/crossover sales are rising, and sporty cars have been hit hard in 2020, down 20% percent from last year. Speaking of sporty cars here's one we can't wait to drive: Porsche revealed the non-S 911 Turbo with 572 hp, or 68 hp less than the S and the same hp as the last-gen S. Used in conjunction with the eight-speed PDK dual-clutch transmission and all-wheel-drive, 60 mph is just 2.7 seconds away from rest, 2.8 seconds if you select the cabriolet. Top speed is 198 mph. Base price comes to $172,150 for the coupe and $184,950 for the cabriolet. Nissan took the wraps off the production Ariya, looking just like the concept unveiled last fall at the Tokyo show. The electric crossover uses Leaf underpinnings while offering a taller and more spacious interior designed to appeal to crossover buyers. The Ariya comes in single- or dual-motor flavors, with the front-wheel-drive version set to offer 215 hp and 221 lb-ft and the dual-motor version serving up a heady 389 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque — muscle car territory not long ago. Arguably more impressive is the 300-mile range on a single charge calculated on the EPA cycle. The car is slated to go on sale here in 2021.
RACING LINES Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III is returning to the NHRA battle for this weekend's Lucas Oil Summernationals at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. Tasca, 44, missed the E3 Spark Plugs Nationals at Indianapolis a week ago after COVID-19 hit him hard. "It was quite a thing to go through," Tasca told Autoweek. "I pray that no one has to go through anything like I went through. It's real scary. This virus is real. It's out there and there's really no rhyme or reason why it affects some worse than others." Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham are forming a new motorsports endeavor called Superstar Racing Xperience, a six-race championship taking place on short tracks, dirt tracks and perhaps a road course. The plan is to feature legendary drivers across a variety of disciplines. Evernham and Stewart have secured a live television deal for summer 2021 on CBS and CBS All Access. The drivers are going to compete in a car Evernham is designing for the series. He envisions a car where driver talent is emphasized more than aerodynamics. Stewart and Evernham maintain the SRX is not a NASCAR competitor but dang, to us the series looks like a veritable love letter to fans disillusioned by NASCAR's low horsepower, high downforce intermediate track racing. Should be interesting to watch!
WHAT WE'RE DRIVING Jake Lingeman is tooling around in the 2020 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, with updates including new standard tech equipment and a new touch screen. Alfa also added new driver safety features—and upgraded the materials inside. The 2.9-liter twin-turbo V6 remains unchanged, cranking out 505 hp and 443 lb-ft. Robin Warner is spending time in Cadillac's new CT4 V. Its 2.7-liter turbo four produces 325 hp and 380 lb-ft. While those numbers are lower than Cadillac Vs of old Warner thinks the CT4 V still proves plenty capable in a variety of circumstances. He also thinks it looks good and is comfortable. "It's a proper Cadillac and one that offers more value than we've seen in a while," Warner says.
MOSTLY ODDS, SOME ENDS Warner also got some wheel time in an '84 VW GTI, lucky dog. By today's standards it's slow and noisy and just a ton of fun, "more fun with 90 horsepower than I've had in any car in a while," he says. Still haven't had enough Bronco this week? Check out our gallery of vintage Broncos that were auctioned this year on Bring a Trailer. Some went for big bucks!
LISTEN UP The 118th Autoweek Podcast has plenty of Bronco and racing talk to keep you entertained. Wesley Wren, Jake Lingeman and Wes Raynal open the show discussing all things Bronco. Then Mike Pryson and Matt Weaver hop on to talk about the NASCAR All-Star race, Cole Custer's win at the Quaker State 400, Tony Stewart's SRX series and the Styrian GP. Music: Well, at least I'm not vaping by Summerbruise. Tune in here, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever podcasts are played.. WHAT'S AHEAD As always we're on the job this weekend keeping a close eye and reporting on automakers' and sanctioning bodies' latest happenings. We'll continually update the site of course -- you'll know what's happening when we do. Check back often! Thanks for reading Autoweek and please stay safe.
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