Quick Spin

Somehow, the Lexus LC is in the back half of a decade in production. Debuting in 2016 at the Detroit auto show, the LC500 helped give something similar to the legendary Lexus LFA to the masses – well, the masses that could afford a spendy-but-more-affordable grand tourer. Powered by either a 5.0-liter V8 or a 3.5-liter V6-based hybrid system, the Lexus LC 500 can offer a growing exhaust note or the more demure world of a fuel-sipping hybrid grand tourer. In LC 500h hybrid trim, the 3.5-liter works with a CVT and electric motors to make 354 hp of total system output and, according to Lexus, only suffers a 0.3-second penalty in a sprint to 60 mph. For 2024, the team at Lexus overhauled the LC 500’s interior and replaced the old touchpad-based media system with a more modern touchscreen-based media system. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2024 Lexus LC 500h. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the ’24 Lexus LC500h and highlights some of its new features. Later, Wren takes you along for a live drive review of this hybrid grand tourer. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the Lexus LC 500, the changes, and where it sits in the greater world of luxury sports cars. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2024 Lexus LC 500h special.

Mazda launched its fourth generation, or ND as MX-5 fans would call it, almost a decade ago. Shaving weight from its NC-generation predecessor, this MX-5 excelled at what Miatas do best: be fun. Along the way, Miata squeezed more power and moved the redline of its 2.0-liter I4. The most recent group of upgrades usher in the ND3-era, or the third update for the ND-generation, and brings along some interesting hardware. While the powertrain is unchanged, Mazda stuffed a new limited-slip differential at the rear of Club models. The company also revised the steering system to increase steering feel even further with a new steering rack. Mazda also revamped its media system, which now features an 8.8-inch touchscreen. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the 2024 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a tour of the ’24 Mazda Miata that highlights some of the new features and explains what it’s like to live with. Later, Wren will take you along for a live drive review of the updated MX-5. Adding to the show, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the latest Mazda MX-5, how the changes affect Mazda’s beloved sports car, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the 2024 Mazda MX-5 RF special.

Genesis rolled out its G70 sedan onto the road all the way back in 2017, for the 2018 model year. While the G90 helped kick the Genesis brand off, the G70’s launch was a big part of the brand’s expansion down market. This smaller sedan fights with the likes of luxury heavyweights like the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, and more. This Genesis also shared a platform with Kia’s Stinger, which went out of production after 2023. Genesis gave the G70 a substantial styling update in 2022 to bring it in line with the rest of the Genesis portfolio, but also added a more powerful 2.5-liter turbocharged I4 as the base powertrain, which replaces the outgoing 2.0-liter mill. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2024 Genesis G70 and puts it through its paces. Wren guides you around the G70 highlights some of his favorite features, and explains what this Genesis sedan feels like in the real world. Later in the show, Wren takes you along for a live drive review. Joining these segments, Autoweek’s Patrick Carone joins the show to discuss his experiences with the G70, the competitive set, and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the G70 special.

The Hyundai Elantra has come a long way since its early ’90s inception. Over the last three decades, Hyundai’s Elantra has evolved and stayed with the ebbs and flows of automotive trends. This seventh-generation Elantra might have brought the Elantra N into the fold, but there’s more to this compact sedan than just its torque-steering stablemate. Elantra also offers its base non-N model with either a 2.0-liter or 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. However, there’s also a hybrid variant of the Elantra. The Elantra Hybrid blends a 1.6-liter Atkinson cycle four-cylinder with an electric motor in the search for better fuel economy. This I4 only makes 104 hp and 109 lb-ft of torque, but it gets a boost from an electric motor that cranks total system power to 134 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, hosts Wesley Wren and Patrick Carone both spend time with the 2024 Hyundai Elantra Hybrid and put it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the ’24 Elantra highlights some of its features and shows off what it’s like to live with. Wren also takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Carone about the Elantra, the changing automotive landscape, and the evolving role of hybrids in the United States. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes this Elantra Hybrid special.

The Volkswagen Atlas joined the VW roster for 2018 and gave the company the ever-important mid-size SUV. Expanding on the Atlas, Volkswagen added the Cross Sport variant of its MQB-based crossover, which put the company’s hat in the ring of the crossover coupe argument. After five years on the road, Volkswagen overhauled both versions of the Atlas. While these updates do come with some interesting new hardware, there is one downside for some: Volkswagen ditched the VR6. That means powering every Atlas Cross Sport is the 2.0-liter EA888 Evo 4 mill, which shoves 269 hp and 273 lb-ft of torque through an eight-speed transmission. 

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2024 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you along on a guided tour of the ’24 Atlas Cross Sport and highlights some of his favorite features before taking you along on a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the Atlas Cross Sport, crossover coupes, and more. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the Atlas Cross Sport Special

The 2025 Mazda CX-70 was an unseen surprise, but it follows trends seen across automakers: take your large three-row crossover, shake up the styling, and ditch a row of seats. Effectively a two-row version of Mazda’s CX-90, the CX-70 sports the same wheelbase as its higher-seating-capacity stablemate but does shake up exterior dimensions. Of course, the biggest separating factor between the two is the available seat count. The CX-70 also sports revised styling to help differentiate the models further, but Mazda shied away from a hyper-aggressive coupe styling direction and kept plenty of space in the cargo area for your groceries and gear. Powering the CX-70 is either the turbocharged 3.3-liter I6 or the plug-in hybrid powertrain that blends a 2.5-liter I4 with a hybrid system.

On this episode of Quick Spin, Autoweek’s Natalie Neff hops behind the wheel of the 2025 Mazda CX-70 and puts it through its paces. Neff takes you along for a live drive review of the CX-70 after putting it through the rigors of a family road trip. Joining this segment, Neff chats with host Wesley Wren about the Mazda CX-70, her struggles with the PHEV powertrain, and the differences between this two-row crossover and its three-row counterpart. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes the 2025 Mazda CX-70 special.

Toyota’s long-running Corolla entered its 12th generation in 2018. With its 12th iteration, Toyota also rolled out a hybrid powertrain underneath the Corolla’s skin, though that might have been overshadowed by the more raucous GR Corolla. Still, this ’24 Corolla Hybrid packs a 1.8-liter I4 that works with a hybrid system to send 138 hp to the front wheels. This less-potent hybrid also makes its way to the bottom rung of Toyota’s hybrid lineup, where it sits below a $25,000 starting price.

On this episode of Quick Spin, host Wesley Wren hops behind the 2024 Toyota Corolla hybrid and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the Corolla hybrid and highlights some of his favorite features. Later, Wren takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the ’24 Toyota Corolla hybrid, the changing landscape of low-priced vehicles, and how this Corolla hybrid stacks up against the latest Toyota Prius. Closing the show, the pair break down what makes this Corolla special.

The 2024 Honda Passport Trailsport adds a dash of rugged machismo to Honda’s two-row people mover. Powered by a 3.5-liter V6 that sends 280 hp through a nine-speed transmission, this all-wheel-drive Trailsport has enough oomph to handle tasks. Evolving the third-gen Passport is the Trailsport package, which adds all-terrain tires, revised suspension tuning, and Honda’s i-VVTM4 torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system. This Honda rides the wave of crossover popularity and adds a healthy dose of adventure-ready hardware. 

On the other side of the automotive spectrum, the once-thriving mid-size sedan segment is thinning. Hyundai’s Sonata is seeing a similar reflection with its sales a fraction of its early 2010s peak. That said, this eighth-generation Sonata features a 1.6-liter turbocharged I4 that sends 180 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque through the front wheels by way of an eight-speed automatic transmission. 

On this episode of Talking Cars with the Boss, Wesley Wren chats with Natalie Neff about two vehicles that couldn’t be further apart in reality but are sitting close on the sales charts. The pair talk about their experiences with these vehicles, the changing automotive landscape, and the proliferation of adventure-focused crossovers. Closing the show, the pair decide which one they’d add to their driveway.  

Mazda launched its CX-30 during a tumultuous time in the automotive industry. Mazda’s CX-30 crossover launched at the end of 2019 and helped Mazda compete with the growing demand for compact crossovers. Borrowing a powertrain and driveline from its Mazda3 means that this CX-30 packs a 2.5-liter I4 under the hood. Adding more oomph to the mix, Mazda also slapped a turbocharger on this 2.5-liter on the aptly named Turbo models. This turbocharged compact crossover sends 250 hp and 320 lb-ft of torque through a six-speed automatic and into an all-wheel-drive system.

On this episode of Quick Spin, your host Wesley Wren hops behind the wheel of the 2024 Mazda CX-30 turbo and puts it through its paces. Wren takes you on a guided tour of the CX-30 highlights its features and explains how it feels in person. Wren also takes you along for a live drive review. Adding to these segments, Wren chats with Autoweek’s Patrick Carone about the Mazda CX-30’s launch, the state of hatchbacks in the marketplace, and more. Closing the show, the pair breaks down what makes the CX-30 special.

Volvos XC90 might be getting long in the tooth, with its current generation debuting almost a decade ago, but its plug-in hybrid Recharge variant leans into the current electrified discussion. This potent PHEV takes the reserved styling of the family-hauling XC90 and stuffs the Volvo plug-in hybrid powertrain under the skin. This system blends a turbocharged 2.0-liter I4 with electric motors to send a combined 455 hp and 523 lb-ft of torque to the wheels. 

On the newer end of the spectrum, the smaller Genesis GV60 eschews the gasoline engine and relies solely on electric motors for motivation. This battery-electric crossover packs a 77.4 kWh battery to feed two motors in the Performance AWD trim. This all-wheel-drive performance trim sends 429 hp, or 483 hp in boost mode, to all four wheels. The downside to this power is that this BEV can only travel 235 miles per charge, per Genesis. 

On this episode of Talking Cars with the Boss, Wesley Wren, and Natalie Neff talk about these modern people movers. Natalie Neff talks about her time with this battery-electric Genesis and this plug-in hybrid Volvo. The pair talk about the benefits and drawbacks of each powertrain. The pair also discuss which one of these machines they’d throw onto their driveway.