CarBuzz

The BMW M5's S85 V10 was the result of a series of brave decisions made feasible by a specific moment in time. In the mid-2000s, naturally-aspirated power-per-liter was a major engineering flex for high-performance engines on the world stage. By this point, automakers around the globe were pushing their combustion engines to higher speeds to deliver the sort of drama and excitement big-dollar shoppers expected.

Subaru may well be one of Japan's most important car manufacturers, but when it comes to its sales, overseas consumption is paramount. After all, the US is by far Subaru's most important market, accounting for seven in 10 of the company's sales. It's little wonder, then, that Subaru chose its US manufacturing facility to build one of its top stateside models.

For years, the three letters "CVT" – that's continuously variable transmissions – were an instant deal-breaker on the used market, synonymous with rubber-band throttle response, slipping belts, metal debris contamination, and four-figure replacement bills if your unit happened to kick the bucket outside its warranty period.

Ferrari's first-ever EV hasn't had a warm reception, at least from the broad public. Most of the gripes have to do with the looks, which generous viewers may describe as unique, while others may call it a travesty. Ferrari's old boss is certainly in the latter camp, and we can't say we're exactly fans of the look either. Ferrari may have the last laugh, though, because it's selling them without any trouble.

When we say diesel, you probably think of black smoke billowing out the top of a truck's exhaust stack, or the workhorse Cummins diesel that tows like a train. You probably don't think of sports cars and performance, but back in the 1970s, Mercedes-Benz wanted to change that. Their solution? Creating an engineering test bed that would smash speed records and prove to everyone that this fuel type was the future.

In case you haven't heard, Toyota has introduced the most hardcore hatch of the year, and it costs $64,360, not including destination. The good news is that, according to the online configurator, there's not much you can do to add to that price. The bad news is that it costs $14,000 more than a brand-new Golf R, so you can basically go out and buy the ultimate day-to-day hot hatch, and have enough money left over for a clean, used Nissan 370Z.

Kyle has written professionally across the motorsport and motoring world since graduating from Plymouth University in 2018, and has acted as the MotoGP editor for Motorsport Week and as a Features Writer for HotCars early in his career. He joined CarBuzz as a Features Correspondent in 2023. His future in the automotive world has been guaranteed since he was a kid, as he remembers rattling off the names of car brands as one of his earliest memories.

In the 1990s, Subaru and Mitsubishi engineers had a particularly challenging job ahead of them as each pressed for advancement after advancement in turbocharged engines for rally-racing performance. Many of those advances came from pushing small, turbocharged engines in cars like the WRX STI and Lancer Evolution harder than ever before, which was risky business.

It was just two months ago that Stellantis unveiled an ambitious restructuring and product plan, dubbed FaSTLAne 2030, to shore up the struggling global automaker after the departure of former CEO Carlos Tavares in December 2024. While it might have been understandable if Stellantis were to shut down certain underperforming brands, the automaker instead kept the US stable intact and pushed for efficiency improvements.

Mercedes-Benz is recalling 310,000 vehicles, including many of its most popular models. In an impressive cascade of failures, a problem with the door locks could lead to the vehicle rolling away. Yes, that seems like a stretch, but it can happen. A door that can't tell if it's open or closed can lead to some other problems, too, that are less about safety and more about convenience.