Honda is pushing the off-road image and capability of its truck and SUV offerings more and more. Part of that is with its new TrailSport trims. Another part is apparently motorsports, as the 2022 Honda Passport is going rally racing, like other unibody SUVs that have come before it.

The Passport was developed by a group of Honda engineers at the company's Auto Development Center in Ohio, and it's driven by a pair of engineers. Modifications are mainly safety-related. The interior was gutted with a roll cage, racing seats and harnesses and fire suppression system fitted. Aluminum skid plates were added to protect the oil pan and rear differential, while plastic covers added some protection to other components such as the fuel tank. There are a couple of changes done to improve driving on the dirt. It has 31-inch Maxxis mud- or all-terrain tires depending on conditions that wrap around Braid 17-inch rally wheels. Upgraded brake pads and fluid were added along with a hydraulic hand brake. The transmission gets the oil cooler from the Passport's tow package, and the engine has a freer-flowing exhaust system. But otherwise, the powertrain and suspension are unchanged from the factory Passport.

With its smaller-than-average size, the V6-powered 2022 Toyota Highlander is a bit of niche choice among three-row SUVs. Although its limited third-row and cargo dimensions have been perfectly agreeable for Highlander buyers for multiple vehicle generations, the fact remains that the same amount of money can buy an SUV with an appreciably more spacious interior. Why wouldn't you get one those?

The 2022 Toyota Highlander Hybrid is a totally different story, however, for one extremely good reason: it gets 35 mpg combined with all-wheel drive. That's an enormous advantage over a segment, including the V6-powered Highlander, with a fuel economy range of 21-23 mpg combined. You could easily save at least $500 every year and dump less CO2 into the atmosphere while you're at it. When you consider that the only other hybrid three-row SUV is the even-smaller Kia Sorento, the Highlander's size deficiency all of a sudden is less of an issue. It's a trade-off versus a straight-up con. It also makes the Highlander Hybrid one of our top-recommended three-row SUVs.

Honda is gradually expanding the 11th-generation Civic line-up. After unveiling the sedan and hatchback variants of the perennially popular model, it announced plans to introduce the enthusiast-friendly Si on October 19, 2021, and it released a photo to give us a taste of it.

Posted on social media, the preview suggests that the Si will stand out from other members of the Civic clan with a look of its own. We spot rear lights that are darker than the standard sedan's, a reasonably large rear wing and, of course, a red "Si" emblem on the trunk lid. The image shows the sedan, and that's all we're getting; Honda no longer sells a Civic Coupe and the hatchback won't receive the Si treatment.

Acura showed us the quieter, more featured, and better handling 2022 RDX five-seater crossover in September. With the model expected to drive onto dealer lots in about two weeks, it's time for pricing. The base price for a front-wheel drive RDX goes up by $900 to $40,345 after the $1,045 destination charge. Be warned, that price is only for a Lunar Silver RDX; the four other colors possible on the base trim cost $500, and the three pearlescent hues require both the $2,650 Technology Package and the $3,000 Advance Package. MSRPs for the entire 2022 RDX range are:

As indicated on Acura's pricing sheet, adding SH-AWD to the three front-wheel-drive models requires $2,200. Fyi, the RDX configurator on Acura's web site displays the price for SH-AWD as $2,000, but the summary actually adds the correct $2,200 figure to the tally.  

Honda has launched a new brand marketing campaign in the U.S. named the ‘Origin of Determination.'

The challenges unique to the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb are many and this results in a lot of unique race cars. Take, for example, Bentley’s Continental GT3 Pikes Peak racer.

Honda today announced the latest updates to its advanced driver assistance technologies that will be facilitated by new hardware installed on its upcoming vehicles. Honda Sensing 360 promises to bring improvements and additions to its vehicles’ active safety system.

Toyota finally killed off the Lexus GS last year, after nearly 20 years of earning respect but not nearly as many yen as the Toyota City overlords had hoped. American car buyers came to prefer truck-shaped machinery during the production life of the GS, and those who wanted sedans didn't see the advantages of the rear-wheel-drive GS over the similarly-sized-but-cheaper ES. From 1993 through 2005, American Lexus shoppers could buy a new GS with the magnificent 2JZ straight-six engine, which achieved international gearhead immortality thanks to a certain movie franchise, and these cars have been very difficult for me to find during my junkyard travels. Here is a rare example of the final generation of 2JZ-equipped GS 300s, found in a Northern California boneyard last summer.

Acura introduced the 2022 RDX last month and now the company has announced pricing will start at $39,300 when it arrives at U.S. dealerships on November 2nd.

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Associate Editor Byron Hurd for the 700th installment. It's a premium-focused rundown as the two start off discussing Autoblog's long-term Acura TLX A-Spec and the Type S that is currently standing in for it, followed by some impressions of the Polestar 2 (and how it feels relative to its Volvo cousins) and a look at the 2022 Genesis G70 Launch Edition. Then, in "Spend My Money," they try to address a rather broad request for a pre-owned vehicle with only a handful of requirements.  

Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp on Friday cut its planned global output for November by as much as 15% due to ongoing chip shortages, but indicated it would ramp up production from December by sticking to its latest full-year production target.

Japan's leading carmaker said in a press release it would produce between 100,000 and 150,000 fewer vehicles in November than it had planned for a month that was meant to see a rebound in lost output.

The 2022 Lexus LX 600 has just been announced for the U.S. market in Standard, Premium, Luxury, Ultra Luxury, and F Sport trims. However, in Japan, the luxury automaker has also introduced an off-road-focused variant.

Since it's still a pretty new SUV all-around, the 2022 Toyota Highlander doesn't change much from before. It's only big update is the addition of a Bronze Edition to the Highlander Hybrid. Also, pricing has gone up a bit.

The Bronze Edition is pretty much what you'd expect: it adds bronze-colored accents all over the place. The wheels, stitching, door sills and other interior accents are all given the metallic finish. The seats themselves also feature leatherette and cloth with triangular motifs printed in the inserts. Rounding out the package are a variety of convenience features including automatic wipers, power hatchback, 1,500-watt outlets, ambient lighting, 10-way power and memory driver's seat, digital rearview mirror and puddle lights. The passenger seat gets power tilt and height adjustments, too, but this is a new standard feature on all Highlanders. Pricing for the Bronze Edition starts at $45,095 with front-wheel drive, and $46,695 with all-wheel drive.

The good news is that the Subaru WRX Sportwagon is officially back. The bad news is that it's only for the Australian market. Sadly, yearning for performance variants only available on the other side of the world is a feeling Subie enthusiasts know all too well.

Making it worse, the WRX Sportwagon is even better looking than the recently announced 2022 WRX sedan. That's because the wagon is basically a rebadged Japan-market Levorg and thus lacks the controversial polygonal plastic cladding over the sedan's wheel wells. Both are built on Subaru Global Platform that underpins every model apart from the BRZ.