From a sleek electric car to an insane muscle car with more than 800 horsepower, your MotorTrend.com favorites over the course of 2017 are all over the automotive map. A surprisingly good rear-drive Korean four-door also captivated your attention this year, as did a major update on a very large SUV that’s needed a redesign for a long time.
How many of these stories have you read? Revisit them below.
Read about popular stories from 2016 here
10. 2018 Toyota Camry Prototype Drive Review: Tectonic Shift
The 2018 Camry didn’t win its two comparisons against the also-new 2018 Honda Accord, but the Toyota still represents a huge shift from the automaker that was building bland family sedans by the hundred thousand just a few years ago. The latest version of the best-seller intrigued us enough that we created a Motor Trend exclusive package of stories on the 2018 Camry’s development.
As vehicle performance leader Yoichi Mizuno said to us: “After seven generations of Camry, our biggest challenge was to forget. This one isn’t a Camry. It’s a new car.”
9. Kia Stinger GT First Look
This has been a good year for sport-sedan fans. During 2017, we named the Alfa Romeo Giulia the 2018 Motor Trend Car of the Year, and back in January, the Kia Stinger GT made its Detroit auto show debut. The Stinger is a rear- and all-wheel-drive hatchback that initially claimed to be a threat to more expensive cars including the Audi A5 Sportback and BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe—if you’re OK not owning a car with the status of a respected luxury brand.
“Since the Stinger’s debut,” we wrote about the Stinger after driving it at 2018 Car of the Year where it was a finalist, “Kia has been pretty mouthy about how its four-door coupe would lay wurst to the brats from Audi and BMW. Does it live up the hype? Oh ja.”
8. Future Cars! 2018 and Beyond
This year’s look into the future of the automotive industry proved to be a hit. And that’s not surprising for an article that previews everything from the upcoming Ford Ranger to the fully electric Jaguar I-Pace. Read about how Jaguar recently took us for a quick ride in the I-Pace right here.
7. 2018 Volvo XC60 First Look: Not a Baby XC90
After the XC90 became the 2016 Motor Trend SUV of the Year, Volvo has been trying to build lots of momentum with its crossovers. Earlier this year, we saw—and later drove—the smaller XC60. Like the XC90, the U.S.-spec XC60 will be available with three engines including a powerful plug-in hybrid. More recently, Volvo has added the XC40 to its lineup. When the aging S60 sedan and V60 wagon aren’t for you, the XC40 is another option for those who want a Volvo with a starting price under $40,000.
6. 2018 Ford Expedition First Look: Bigger But Lighter
Finally! At last, the Ford Expedition gets a comprehensive update, with improvements all around. The Expedition made its debut in February and looked to be a bigger threat to the popular Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban. And once we drove the Ford, we were impressed. Read our 2018 Expedition First Drive right here.
5. 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon First Look: 840 hp, 770 lb-ft bat out of hell
Dodge has continued to win the hearts of enthusiasts everywhere by driving right past common sense and beyond the 707-hp Hellcat version of the Challenger to the Demon’s 808 hp and 717 lb-ft of torque of drag-strip-ready craziness. Those figures are with 91-octane gas, but if you fill up the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon with 100-plus octane race fuel, the Demon offers 840 hp and 770 lb-ft of tire-shredding “because we can” capabilities.
4. 1,000-HP 2017 Trans Am 455 Super Duty Bows in New York
Before “Remember Pontiac?” becomes “What’s Pontiac?” among younger automotive enthusiasts, a company called Trans Am Worldwide captured our attention at the New York auto show with a bold homage to the Pontiac Trans Am of the 1970s. The model we saw in New York was based on the latest Camaro and, if none of that interests you, the automaker’s claim that the car produces 1,000 hp probably will.
3. 2017 Tesla Model S P100D First Test: A New Record — 0-60 MPH in 2.28 Seconds!
Part of what distinguishes Motor Trend from lesser competitors is the fact that we regularly track-test cars, trucks, and SUVs to explore their limits. A Tesla Model S P100D we tested this year explored our limits, with a startling 0-60-mph time of 2.28 seconds with a quarter-mile performance of 10.5 seconds at 125.0 mph.
In the exclusive review, we noted that “launching a Model S P100D (weighing 5,062 with gear and driver) in full-on Ludicrous Easter-egg mode snaps your body in a manner that is utterly impossible to replicate in any other street-legal production car on normal tires and dry asphalt at a mid-$100,000 price point.”
2. 2018 Honda Accord First Look: Lower, Wider, Shorter
Before the 2018 Honda Accord rolled into dealerships or won two comparisons against the new 2018 Toyota Camry, the car made its debut in July. At the reveal event, we saw a midsize sedan with a bolder design and more rear-seat space than the already spacious last-gen model, plus it featured some of the finest-looking fake wood trim you can find anywhere.
Read the two Accord vs. Camry comparisons here:
- 2018 Honda Accord 1.5T vs. 2018 Toyota Camry 2.5
- 2018 Toyota Camry XSE V-6 vs. 2018 Honda Accord Touring 2.0T
1. Exclusive: Tesla Model 3 First Drive Review
Combine the most hyped car of 2017 with a genuine exclusive opportunity to drive the car with Tesla’s chief designer Franz von Holzhausen, and you have the most popular MotorTrend.com story of the year. By far. While Tesla continues to work through “production hell” with Model 3 production, the car recently won a comparison against the Nissan Leaf and the 2017 Motor Trend Car of the Year, the Chevrolet Bolt EV.
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