- Detroit Auto Show Recap: A new Mustang performance model, a bad-boy EV, and more
- Last call for EcoDiesel engine in Ram’s half-ton pickup
- 2024 Chevy Equinox EV to have a Canadian price starting around $35,000
- EPA hands out $10M in fines to U.S. diesel-truck tuning companies
- Don’t call it an SUV: Purosangue is Ferrari’s first four-door sports car ever
Welcome to our roundup of the biggest breaking stories on Driving.ca from this past week. Get caught up and ready to get on with the weekend, because it’s hard keeping pace in a digital traffic jam.
Here’s what you missed while you were away.
Detroit Auto Show Recap: A new Mustang performance model, a bad-boy EV, and more
U.S. President Joe Biden sits in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 as he tours the 2022 North American International Auto Show at Huntington Place Convention Center in Detroit, Michigan on September 14, 2022. Photo by Mandel Ngan /Getty
It’s been three years since the last North American International Auto Show took place in downtown Detroit, so fans, journalists, makers, and even the POTUS were excited to see what Motor City had to offer. The show itself wasn’t quite as glamorous or well-attended by the public or the brands as it has been in the past, but there were still some worthwhile hits and misses to check out, including the Dodge Charger Daytona SRT EV and the seventh-generation Mustang.
Ford threw a decent party to welcome the all-new pony car, inviting a “Stampede” of owners from all over to come witness the reveal. The brand even managed to pull a quick one on the ever-attentive press and drop a new performance model, the 500-horsepower Dark Horse, completely by surprise. Check that out and the other highs and lows at the Detroit Auto Show at the links above.
Last call for EcoDiesel engine in Ram’s half-ton pickup
2022 Ram 1500 Rebel EcoDiesel Photo by Stellantis
Driving has confirmed that Ram will be ceasing production of the small-displacement diesel engine in its Ram 1500 pickup trucks this January. The Stellantis maker announced the cancellation after a 10-year run, but didn’t exactly justify it. Perhaps they’ve lost interest in this part of the segment, or perhaps they’re making room in the budget and lineup for other electrified options.
“Our Ram EcoDiesel V6 engine has delighted consumers with the highest half-ton diesel torque rating and towing capability while being the first to exceed 1,000 miles of range,” said Mike Koval Jr., Ram brand CEO at Stellantis in a prepared statement. “As we quickly pivot toward an electrified future, we wanted to celebrate this last EcoDiesel milestone by offering our loyal light-duty diesel enthusiasts a final opportunity to order the truck they love.”
Bottom line: if you want one, get it while the getting’s good.
2024 Chevy Equinox EV to have a Canadian price starting around $35,000
The 2024 Equinox EV joins the Silverado EV and Blazer EV in Chevrolet’s all-electric portfolio, with styling to match its plugged-in predecessors, and an approximately $35,000 Canadian price point to make it an automatically intriguing option within the compact SUV segment.
Wheels come 19 inches as standard, with 20- and 21-inch upgrades available on the elevated LT and RS trims, respectively. The exterior shows Blazer-y lines, a full-width light bar and solid fascia, and a two-tone roof paint option available in some configurations.
Range for all standard FWD models, 1LT and up to the 3RS, has been estimated somewhere between 400 to 480 km, while power is pegged at 210 horsepower and 242 lb-ft of torque. AWD models across all trims will benefit from more power with 290 horsepower and 346 lb-ft of torque, and a range of 450 km.
EPA hands out $10M in fines to U.S. diesel-truck tuning companies
A massive plume of sooty exhaust smoke coming from a diesel pickup truck Photo by Getty
A bit of happy news for anyone who’s ever choked on a cloud of diesel fumes billowing from a truck that had been modified to churn out clouds of the nasty black stuff: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has brought the hammer down on two Michigan-based tuning companies for making, selling, and distributing diesel-emissions ‘defeat devices’. The Oakland Press reports Diesel Ops LLC and Orion Diesel LLC, both owned by the same individual, violated the Clean Air Act and were charged this past August but were notified about the illegality of their actions as early as 2013.
The owner now faces a US$455,925 civil penalty for his lack of response to inquiries, plus an additional US$1 million fine for trying to cover it up. Multiple other companies have been hit with similar legal action so far this year, bringing the fine total up to US$10M.
Don’t call it an SUV: Purosangue is Ferrari’s first four-door sports car ever
2023 Ferrari Purosangue Photo by Ferrari
Tempting as it may be to label it an SUV, the new 2023 Ferrari Purosangue is in fact the Italian automaker’s first 2+2 GT car, other than a concept designed by Enzo himself in 1980. It’s all-new from the ground up, sits on wide tires, and boasts a blistering 725 horses and 528 lb-ft from a 6.5-litre, naturally aspirated V12 mounted mid-front and tied to an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Do we have your attention yet?
The Purosangue also features four identical seats, four-wheel steering borrowed from the 812 Competizione, and no rear windshield wiper. Ferrari has obviously hit on something here, because the car has already set a record for pre-orders before any images were shared. Models will arrive in Europe in the second quarter of 2023 and in North America in Q4. European pricing has been set at 390,000 Euros (around CAD$520,000).
Keyword: News Roundup: Last call for EcoDiesel engine in Ram 1500, and a recap of the Detroit Auto Show