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There's an Android Auto update that will be rolling out this summer, and it brings a number of small but meaningful changes to the interface.

Starting with the more basic added functions, Google's announcement says you'll now be able to personalize the launch screen directly from your phone. We're not sure how deep this personalization goes quite yet, but it's sure to take things beyond the current ability of hiding some apps and changing the order of others. You'll also be allowed to manually set dark mode if you'd like to use it 100% of the time.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The 2022 Honda Civic is the latest generation of a car that's been around for decades, and that now enters its 11th generation. Like all those that came before, the idea is simple: an affordable, practical car should not just be endured, but enjoyed, and while some updates have been revolutionary for the Civic, each has brought, at the very least, some refinement. For the 11th iteration, Honda brings simple, thoughtful revisions to an already solid foundation without introducing any apparent setbacks.

The new model's exterior design is cleaned up a bit, but not in any sort of major divergence from the styling of the Civic it replaces. Honda has tweaked the proportions subtly — 1.4 additional inches in wheelbase, a rear track 0.5 inches wider, A-pillars moved about 2 inches rearward, fender height lowered an inch, a rear beltline lowered by 1.2 inches — that make the Civic look longer and more muscular. The glasshouse is taller, and rests atop a more horizontal beltline that makes the cabin look more inviting from the outside. Straighter character lines and fewer unnecessary accents tidy up the exterior, including door handle lock cylinders now hidden from view.

In case you hadn't noticed, there's a resurgence of interesting new car-based pickup trucks about to hit the market. The Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz are set to join the Honda Ridgeline to offer unique takes on the softer, more manageable truck formula. But history is actually full of carlike pickups, from the old Ford Ranchero and Chevy El Camino to the less widely remembered Dodge Rampage. Of course there have been others, but the one we're going to hone in on in this article is the Subaru Baja.

The Baja was Subaru's second foray into the truck market here in America, following the classic Brat (which is worth its own article for another time). Whereas the Brat had vestigial seats mounted right in the truck bed, the Baja was a much more refined design that shared most of its mechanical bits with the Legacy and Outback.

Toyota continued its excruciatingly slow-drip tease of the 2022 Tundra Tuesday by releasing an image of the new half-ton's engine cover, confirming rumors of the new "iForce MAX" engine designation that were prompted by a trademark filing discovered in 2020. To call Toyota's accompanying information "sparse" would be drastically overselling it, but it adds yet another brick to our meager foundation of Tundra news. 

We know next to nothing about the new engine apart from what Toyota has told us, but rumors have suggested for a while that Toyota is working on a new turbocharged and electrified six-cylinder to replace the range-topping 5.7L V8. We now know that a 3.5-liter gasoline V6 with 415 horsepower and 480 pound-feet of torque will power the new Toyota Land Cruiser, with which the Tundra should share at least some of its underlying architecture. While we can't say for certain, it seems unlikely they they'd develop two six-cylinder engines simultaneously for what are ultimately similar packages and applications. The smart money would be on the Land Cruiser's V6, but we won't know for certain until Toyota sees fit to give us a proper briefing on the new Tundra.

Over the weekend, the Honda Ridgeline captured its fourth consecutive class win at the legendary Baja 500 off-road race. It was actually the fifth such win for the Honda team in the past six years.

As expected, the heavily modified competition rig doesn't have much in common with the Ridgeline truck that you can buy at your local Honda showroom. The chassis is a custom built tube frame with custom composite body panels draped over it. However, one commonality is the engine, a version of the Honda 3.5-liter V6 that comes in the stock Ridgeline.

After a light teaser last week, Subaru has revealed the 2022 Ascent Onyx Edition in all its glory. The new trim level for Subaru's three-row crossover lands smack dab in the middle of the grade hierarchy – above Base and Premium, but below Limited and Touring – and comes with a slew of compelling options as standard.

Visually the Ascent Onyx features, as the name implies, several blacked out exterior bits in keeping with its name. There's black-finished versions of its 20-inch Y-spoke wheels, black badging, a black surround for its front grille, and the chrome blades in the fog lamp bezels are now – can you guess? – black.

Following a teaser last week, Subaru has introduced the 2022 Ascent Onyx Edition.

Launched in 2018, the fifth-generation Subaru Forester received a round of visual updates and a handful of other improvements in its home country of Japan. These changes will likely find their way to the American-spec model.

Subaru's mid-cycle revisions are normally minor, but the Forester swims against the current. Its front end gains a grille that's taller and wider than the current model's, sharper-looking headlights, and a redesigned lower bumper. These changes give the Forester a more SUV-like design, according to the firm, and reading between the lines suggest there's a more rugged Wilderness-badged variant right around the corner. New-look alloy wheels are on the list of changes, too, and there might be more out back, but photos of the rear end haven't been released.

A man, left, believed to be Michael Taylor, is escorted by Japanese officers after arriving at Narita airport in March 2021 following his extradition from the US. (Getty Images)

When Aston Martin formally announced the Cygnet city car at the Geneva Motor Show back in 2010, plenty of people thought the company had lost the plot.

It’s been two years since the Toyota Supra’s return, but even now after the release of the new A91-CF Edition, some people still aren’t sold on its styling. That begs the question: how do you make a car more palatable to fans of its previous generation? The answer is plain and simple: make it look more like it.

The Lexus NX is one of the more recent additions to the Lexus lineup, having made its debut for the 2015 model year. In that time, it's only received a couple of facelifts. Now, the small crossover is getting its first full redesign in the form of the 2022 Lexus NX. And while it may look evolutionary, it offers a load of new and welcome features.

The new NX is now built on the TNGA-K platform, which also underpins the Toyota RAV4 and Camry and the Lexus ES among other small to midsize models. Lexus says it's structurally more rigid and offers a lower center of gravity. Fitted to this platform is a plethora of powertrains. The NX 250 gets a naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder making 203 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. It's available with front- or all-wheel drive. The NX 350h hybrid gets the same engine but with a couple of electric motors. That gives it all-wheel drive as well as 239 horsepower. The regular NX 350 gets a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder making 275 horsepower and 317 pound-feet of torque, plus all-wheel drive. Topping the range is the NX 450h+ with the RAV4 Prime's 2.5-liter four-cylinder and larger electric motors making 302 horsepower. It's also only available with all-wheel drive and has a 36-mile electric range. The non-hybrid powertrains now come with an eight-speed automatic, but the hybrids continue to use CVTs.

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by News Editor Joel Stocksdale. This week they cover the hottest car news, particularly the 2022 Ford Maverick, plus the new Toyota Land Cruiser and Kia Sportage. They also discuss cars they've driven (the Kia Rio and Porsche Panamera Turbo S E-Hybrid) and a car one of them rode in (the new Toyota GR 86). Finally, they reach into the mailbag and help a listener with a fairly complex and open-ended car buying decision. 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..

There's a lot to like about our Acura TLX A-Spec's interior. In particular, I love the vivid red leather upholstery, the satisfying drive mode selector, and the loads of space inside. What I'm not so in love with is the actual design of the front seats.

They look great and are quite shapely with the undulating black faux suede inserts and leather piping separating the aforementioned red leather panels. But they're underwhelming when they're under you. My biggest complaint is that the seat bottom is extremely short, and the adjustment for angle is a bit limited. As such, my thighs lack support, and on a long trip, this can become quite uncomfortable. The Acura is far from the only car I've experienced with this issue, but with our car priced over $45,000, it's surprising there isn't more adjustment, or some sort of seat base extender common in sportier cars (most notably BMW).