Spying: BMW M6 Gran Coupe

ah, the elusive 'wheat' interior! totally gets rid of the dreariness of the usual all black. and unfortunately, with the CVT.  The Malibu CVT is actually fairly responsive, but it didn't get better mpg than the 6 speed (I had a leased  6 speed and had rented a CVT). If you can ever find a 2.0 turbo with 9 speed auto and the wheat interior with sunroof, just like this one in the blue, that would the ultimate Malibu find.  There is a very few out there! I wouldn't have changed to my TourX if this car would have offered an all wheel drive solution somewhere in the model run.

If pricing stays the same as 2025, this would probably sell well.  This is probably the 2nd fastest Toyota after the Supra which really is a BMW anyway.

Having looked a lot at the Hornet and Tonale recently (and surveying the Compass as well); it is more than welcome to bring this vehicle up in size and into the compact class.  The dated chassis is a limitation on an otherwise decent vehicle (Hornet and Tonale).  Maybe part of the like was we took a trip to Italy a few weeks ago (but we did not make it to the Tonale / Hornet factory).  We came within a stich of buying a Hornet (nicely discounted) but I balked due to the size being just a tish too small and really digging the packaging of the new Equinox. The looks are really nice in these images.  If they want this to succeed in the US, than the 2.0 motor (in whichever tune) should be the base engine.  A plug in hybrid or plain would be really good to have also. If Stellantis would get their management sht together and make better product decisions for America, it would help them a lot!!!!  That Carlos Tavares was bad news!

I haven't had much good opportunity to populate around here lately, so much to do, so little time. We added another vehicle to the fleet the other day.  What started as looking for new or slightly used ventured off into 'let's just get a bridge car' for awhile.  Something that may be useful for not just my college kid, but also a budding HS kid who will be learning to drive soon.  And, something that I may also be able to use to drive the 70 mile round trip to work each day and spell the miles from the van and TourX. Now we have to decide if we are going to get rid of the Grand Prix, which, it's probably time.   Since the motivation here was more that I saw this on the dealer lot while I was taking new Mazda test drives.  It was a good price and even with some strange body dings, it looked real good with its red color and new tires and all.  And it had a sunroof, that was the ultimate hook. Surprisingly, to me it drove really nice... seemed like everything was tight on it and low miles, for cheap.  This vintage of Malibu was never really top rated in its class at the time, but it had a lot of positives I overlooked at the time which I can appreciate more nowadays. But it was in a competitive market segment and so to improve even more, Chevy did a full redesign again of the Malibu for 2016.  I actually did lease a 2016 Malibu LT and after all this time, its interesting to see the contrasts between the two designs in the rearview mirror of time. A couple photos here shortly.          

Toyota has been late to the EV or electrical vehicle market around the world. Toyota finally launched a full lineup in China, but people have been wondering what they have in store for the rest of the world. Welcome the 2026 bZ battery electric vehicle.  The bZ starts off the 2026 model year with a higher capacity lithium-ion battery that comes in at 74.7-kWh capacity good for a manufacture-estimated range of 314 miles. Toyota then packs on the updated features as you have an industry standardized NACS charge port that allows access to the Tesla Supercharger network. Toyota goes farther by adding a Plug & Charge capability that allows this industry standard protocol to automatically identify, authenticate, and authorize at select charging networks, reducing the need for multiple mobile charging applications to one in the Toyota smartphone app. Charging goes from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes when using a DC fast charger. The 2026 bZ gets an updated instrument panel that is 14-inch in size and is an audio multimedia touchscreen with customizable ambient lighting. The interior changes continue with a much slimmer dashboard that has dual wireless chargers, soft touch materials throughout, 64-color customizable ambient lighting allowing for a premium feel through the interior. Toyota did not stop on refreshing the interior and battery pack. They increased the combined horsepower of the AWD system from 214 to 338 net hp allowing for the EV to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.9 seconds. The upgrades continue in that Toyota changes to lightweight energy-efficient eAxles that now use silicon carbide (SIC) semiconductors that contribute to the new horsepower rating of the AWD system and even the FWD system that has gone from 201 hp to 221 hp. Toyota offers both the XLE and Limited trim in FWD or AWD configurations. Last year's model had what many called a quirky style, Toyota has restyled the exterior. The front-end has new lighting and fascia designs along with color-matched overfenders that used to be black plastic only giving the bZ a sleeker look. 2026 bZ will arrive in the second half of 2025 with pricing and full details released closer to on-sale date. View full article