Quick Spin

The once full compact truck space was filled with any number of budget-friendly small trucks that would handle the arduous task of hauling landscaping pieces from your local home store, or moving a Go-Kart has disappeared. Those small trucks either grew into the mid-size trucks we know today or fell into the footnotes of history, like the rotary-powered Mazda REPU. The folks at Hyundai jumped back into the underserviced space with the crossover-based Hyundai Santa Cruz. Riding on the same N3 platform as the similarly named Sante Fe, this Santa Cruz pickup essentially gives you the comfort and convenience of a modern crossover, with a separated, external four-foot cargo space – or bed, for the truck enthusiasts. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 Santa Cruz and highlights some of its updates and some of his favorite features. Later, Wren takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy about the Santa Cruz, the competitive set, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz so special.

Nissan’s small pickup might be one of the brand’s most interesting machines that doesn’t carry the GT-R badge. Once dubbed Hardbody, the small Nissan pickup has duked it out with giants in the small-to-midsize truck world for almost half a century. The latest iteration joined the Frontier’s history books in 2022 as the D41-generation pickup. This truck replaced the long-running-if-not-old D22-generation rig, which ran from 2007 to 2021. This new truck significantly updated the Frontier, but it kept the 3.8-liter V6 mill that joined the truck in 2020. This 3.8-liter V6 is good for 310 hp and 281 lb-ft of torque. That power travels through a nine-speed automatic before hitting the rear axle, or the four-wheel-drive system. For ’25, Nissan updated the interior with a larger infotainment screen, increased towing capacity, and slightly revised styling. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Nissan Frontier and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a guided tour of the Frontier and highlights some of his favorite features and changes. Later, Murphy takes you along for a live drive review. Joining these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the 2025 Nissan Frontier, the competition, and the world of midsize trucks. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Nissan Frontier special.

Formerly the Infiniti JX, the QX60 sits below the company’s flagship body-on-frame SUV but gives shoppers the ever-important three-row option. Entering its second generation in 2022, the QX60 launched with the venerable 3.5-liter V6, or VQ35 in Nissan’s engine lingo. However, for 2025 Infiniti is moving its three-row people mover away from one of its staple powertrains and is moving it toward the brand’s future. Under the hood of every 2025 Infiniti QX60 is the company’s 2.0-liter, variable-compression turbocharged four-cylinder. The variable compression engine made its debut in the 2019 QX50 but has finally made its way into the company’s larger QX60. This engine sends 268 hp and 286 lb-ft of torque through a nine-speed transmission.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Infiniti QX60 and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a guided tour of the QX60 and highlights some of his favorite features before taking you on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the QX60, Infiniti as a whole, and the three-row crossover space. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Infiniti QX60 special. 

Mazda’s numerically named hatchback might be a vestige of its former naming conventions, but it still echoes Mazda’s modern direction. This fourth-generation Mazda 3 made its way to roadways for the 2019 model year, which, historically, puts it close to the end of the line. Despite not having a Mazdaspeed version for hopped-up hatchback enthusiasts to add to their respective stables, this fourth-gen Mazda 3 does pack plenty of power under the hood. The base-model Mazda 3’s naturally aspirated 2.5-liter mill sends 191 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque through either a six-speed automatic or a six-speed manual transmission. That’s not bad, of course, but Mazda also offers the Mazda 3 with the turbocharged 2.5-liter engine that shoves 250 hp, on 93 octane fuel, and 310 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed automatic transmission. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the turbocharged Mazda 3 hatchback and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the 2025 Mazda 3 before taking you on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Patrick Carone about the Mazda 3’s position in the marketplace, the competition, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 Mazda Mazda 3 special. 

The Maserati MC20 Cielo joins the quickly growing line of Maserati’s supercar variants. As the name suggests, the MC20 Cielo drops the top on the MC20 and gives you the open sky. Even though the MC20 is the spiritual successor to the V8-powered MC12, the ’25 MC20 Cielo, and the rest of the MC20 lineup, opts for a turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 that throws 621 hp and 538 lb-ft of torque through an eight-speed automatic transmission before throwing that power to the rear wheels.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Mark Vaughn hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Maserati MC20 Cielo and puts it through its paces. Vaughn takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 MC20 Cielo and highlights some of his favorite features. Later in the show, Vaughn takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Vaughn chats with host Wesley Wren about the ’25 Maserati MC20 Cielo, where it stacks up among the competition and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the ’25 Maserati MC20 Cielo special.

The VW Bus, in its many forms, has become one of the most recognizable vehicles in the company’s history. Sure, it might be second to the VW Beetle, but even that might be a close race. While the bus has been out of production for decades for use in the U.S. market, the folks at VW showed off a battery-electric concept in 2016 dubbed BUDD-e. Of course, wiser heads prevailed, and the concept van was updated and given a new name in 2017: ID. Buzz. Of course, it would be a while before the ID. Buzz hit U.S. shores, but a successor to the VW Bus is finally showing up on U.S. streets. The ’25 VW ID. Buzz rides on the brand’s MEB platform and packs a 91-kWh battery pack under its floor. That battery feeds a 282 hp rear motor or a 335 hp dual-motor powertrain.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Mark Vaughn hops behind the wheel of the 2025 VW ID Buzz and puts it through its paces. Vaughn takes you on a guided tour of the ID. Buzz to highlight some of his favorite features. Later, Vaughn takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Vaughn chats with host Wesley Wren about the ’25 ID. Buzz, minivans as a whole, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2025 VW ID. Buzz special.

Nissan’s Armada sailed into the Japanese automaker’s fleet in 2003. This body-on-frame SUV has become a staple in the Nissan lineup and gave the United States a taste of Nissan’s off-road chops. While the Nissan Armada spent two generations with a V8 under its hood, the third-generation Armada showed its face last year with two fewer cylinders and a pair of turbocharges. The third-gen Nissan Armada sticks with body-on-frame construction,  but has pivoted to a 3.5-liter turbocharged V6 under the hood. The new engine might not have as many cylinders, but it does crank the output up to 425 hp and 516 lb-ft of torque. That’s a 25 hp and 103 lb-ft of torque bump over the outgoing V8, for what it's worth. That V6 sends its power through a nine-speed automatic transmission to the rear wheels or a four-wheel-drive system.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the ’25 Nissan Armada and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a guided tour of the 2025 Nissan Armada and highlights some of his favorite features. Later, Murphy takes you on a live drive review of this third-generation Armada. Joining these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the Nissan Armada, the state of large SUVs in the marketplace, and more. The two briefly discuss the Honda and Nissan Merger talks breaking down. Closing the show, the pair broke down what makes the ’25 Nissan Armada special.

The Lexus UX might not have the flash of halo products like the LC or LFA, but it fills an ever-important role for the brand: an entry point. While it launched in 2018 with a series of variants, the ’25 UX boils down to just one model – the 2025 Lexus UX 300h. This change comes from the pivot to a new powertrain. This updated powertrain features the company’s fifth-generation hybrid system, which pairs a 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline-burning engine with an eCVT. This combination is good for a combined 196 hp 15 hp over the outgoing UX250h. Even with the extra oomph, the UX300h also bests the outgoing model in city fuel economy, which rises to 45 mpg city. The two models share the same mixed driving fuel numbers.

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Lexus UX300h and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 Lexus UX 300h and highlights some of the UX’s features. Later in the show, Wren takes you on a live drive review of the ’25 Lexus UX 300h. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the world of small crossovers, the updates to the Lexus UX, and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what’s special about the UX 300h.

With the team at Mercedes-AMG putting the V12-powered S65 out to pasture a handful of years ago, the highest-performance S-Class has become the 4.0-liter-powered S63. This latest iteration in the long line of hopped-up S-Class machines blends the aforementioned 4.0-liter with an electric motor at the rear axle. Powering this 188 hp electric motor is a 13.1kWh battery pack that can be recharged. According to Mercedes-AMG, this plug-in hybrid system was derived from the hybrid system that powers the brand’s Formula 1 machine. Of course, that electric motor at the rear works with the 604 hp and 664 lb-ft of torque from the internal combustion engine and gives the latest S63 a staggering 791 hp and 1,055 lb-ft of torque – not bad for a luxury cruiser. According to Mercedes-AMG, this combination is good enough to rocket this 5,831-pound car to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Mark Vaughn hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Mercedes-AMG S63 and puts it through its paces. Vaughn gives you a guided tour of the S63 and highlights some of his favorite features and some of its accouterment. Later in the show, Vaughn takes you along for a live drive review of this S-Class. Adding to these segments, Vaughn chats with host Wesley Wren about the S63, the competitive set, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes this 2025 Mercedes-AMG S63 special.

The Nissan Kicks might have started its life in South America, where it debuted at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, but it made its way to the U.S. only a year later. This Kicks filled the void left by the polarizing Juke’s U.S. departure from the small crossover space, which is only becoming more popular and competitive. The Kicks gave Nissan a new, competitively priced small crossover to help sway entry-level shoppers to its dealer. Well, the Kicks was popular enough to warrant a second generation, which gave the Kicks bolder styling and more power. Now stuffed under the hood of the Nissan Kicks is a 2.0-liter that sends 141 hp and 140 lb-ft of torque through a CVT to the front wheels, or through the optional all-wheel-drive system.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek executive editor Tom Murphy hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Nissan Kicks and puts it through its paces. Murphy takes you on a guided tour of the ’25 Kicks where he highlights some of his favorite features and the new features that join the second-generation machine. Later, Murphy takes you on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Murphy chats with host Wesley Wren about the 2025 Kicks, how it's standing up against the competitive set on the sales chart, and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the ’25 Nissan Kicks special.