Finally, KTM has announced a special edition model called the 2024 KTM 300 XC-W “HARDENDURO” for the Extreme Enduro crowd. This model comes with a range of upgrades taken directly from the KTM Hard Parts catalog. These bikes will be available at dealerships in July. Below is the official information and images from KTM:
KTM, with its long history of success in the toughest hard enduro races and the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship, has now introduced the dedicated HARDENDURO model to its outstanding 2024 KTM XC-W range.
Celebrating the most challenging hard enduro races in the world, KTM has unveiled the 2024 KTM 300 XC-W HARDENDURO, which sits at the top of the KTM Enduro model range.
Using the all-new 2024 KTM 300 XC-W as a foundation, the KTM 300 XC-W HARDENDURO has been engineered with input from top racers who take on the most extreme terrains on the planet. This ensures that the bike is the best READY TO RACE Enduro machine available, straight from the dealership.
Developed through races like Red Bull Romaniacs, Erzbergrodeo, Tennessee Knockout, and Outliers, the 2024 KTM 300 XC-W HARDENDURO is specifically designed to take on rugged terrains. It comes equipped with various special protection parts, including closed handguards, clutch slave cylinder protection, composite skid plate, and brake disc guards, making it capable of handling the most extreme racing scenarios imaginable.
In addition to a new frame, closed-cartridge suspension, refined bodywork, and industry-leading TBI technology, the 2024 KTM 300 XC-W HARDENDURO features the following additional parts:
New, model-specific graphics
Orange frame
HARDENDURO bar pad
Soft, gray ODI lock-on grips
Ribbed diamante factory seat
Map-selection switch
Factory frame protector set
Factory wheelset, featuring black D.I.D rims, black spokes, orange-anodized hubs, and orange-anodized nipples
Wrap-around handguards
Radiator fan
Orange-anodized CNC-machined triple clamps
Composite skid plate
Floating front brake disc with composite front brake disc guard
Solid rear brake disc, with safety wire and orange rear brake disc guard
Orange Supersprox stealth rear sprocket
Orange-anodized oil plug
Orange-anodized clutch slave cylinder protection
Front and rear pull straps
The brand-new 2024 KTM 300 XC-W HARDENDURO will be available at authorized KTM dealerships starting from July.
Disney is going to celebrate its 100th birthday in 2023, and to mark the occasion, it has collaborated with Vespa on a limited edition Disney Mickey Mouse Edition scooter line. This collaboration is not the first between Disney and Vespa, as Vespa scooters played a prominent role in the 2021 Disney Pixar film “Luca”. The collaboration is a combination of culture and business partnership.
The Disney Mickey Mouse Edition by Vespa will be available in a limited-edition lineup of Vespa Primavera 50cc, 125cc, and 150cc scooters in 2023. Both Vespa and Mickey Mouse are iconic symbols of Italy and Disney respectively, so this collaboration brings the two icons together in a rideable form.
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The Vespa Primavera is already known for its round mirrors, which are informally called “Mickey Mouse mirrors”. The Disney Mickey Mouse Edition by Vespa takes inspiration from Mickey’s design and clothes, with a yellow front fender resembling his shoes, black and red as the primary colors reflecting Mickey’s design, and white accents representing his gloves. The scooter also features white-on-black line drawings of Mickey and his signature debossed onto the black saddle.
Michele Colaninno, Piaggio Group’s chief executive of global strategy, product, marketing, and innovation, commented, “Today, as then, this collaboration between Vespa and Disney represents the celebration of two historic companies that have a common dream: to allow everyone to express their imagination freely.”
The pricing and availability of the Disney Mickey Mouse Edition by Vespa vary by region. The 50cc and 150cc versions will be available in the US in August 2023, with the 50cc version priced at $4,699 and the 150cc version priced at $6,049. In Canada, only the 50cc version will be available at an MSRP of $5,345. For accurate information, it is best to contact your local authorized Vespa dealer outside the US and Canada.
The BYD Dolphin, introduced in 2023, comes with standard adaptive cruise control and lane following. However, the system is not as smooth as some other options available in the market. One annoying feature of the Dolphin is its bongs and spoken message that scolds you for exceeding the speed limit, even if you actually haven’t. Unfortunately, turning off this feature can be a hassle. It would be better if there was a simple button to disable it.
Now, let’s talk about the Dolphin’s potential impact on the small EV market. Looking at its pricing, it seems that the Dolphin could be a game-changer.
The base Active model is priced at £25,490. However, we recommend avoiding it due to its torsion-beam suspension and lack of power. For an additional £1000, you can get the Boost model. The Comfort model, which comes with a larger battery, is priced at £29,490. Finally, the fully loaded Design model will set you back £30,990. Comparing to other options in this price range, such as the MG 4 EV, which has a different character, the Dolphin either offers a considerably larger size or a significantly longer range.
Speaking of range, the Dolphin impresses with its excellent range for a car of this size. In a road test of the Atto 3, we found that the efficiency indicator was overly optimistic. Therefore, we take the Dolphin’s claimed efficiency of 4.1 miles per kilowatt-hour (which translates to 249 miles of range) with skepticism. Nevertheless, achieving a comfortably doable range of 200 miles should not be a problem.
BYD aims for people to buy its cars based on style and individuality rather than just affordability. However, the current version of the Dolphin lacks the refinement in terms of multimedia, chassis, and some interior materials to truly impress. Nevertheless, its attractive pricing may make up for some of its flaws.
There is nothing more quintessentially American in the vehicle universe than the pickup truck. Most of the top-selling vehicles in America are full-sized pickups, such as the Ford F-Series, Chevy Silverado, and Ram 1500. Mid-sized pickups also make it into the top ten list. At the opposite end of the spectrum, ranking low on these lists is the compact pickup.
The Hyundai Santa Cruz seems to be positioned to attempt to change this dynamic, and in doing so, change the bigger-is-better world of American pickups. Does it have the image, features, and specs needed to accomplish this goal in the land of wide open spaces and brawny trucks? Sadly, it does not seem to have what it takes.
With the Santa Cruz, Hyundai is big game hunting in the largest segment of the American vehicle market with a pint-sized predator. We all know what will happen when a fox takes on a grizzly. The Santa Cruz is a marvel of pickup downsizing. It’s a beautiful vehicle with plenty of luxury, and cool tech, and is fun to drive.
J.D. Power even rated it as one of the most reliable pickups on the road. So what’s not to love? In almost every way, the Santa Cruz is more a car than a truck, and in that lies its difficulty in appealing to people who love trucks. Except for gas mileage, in the eyes of a truck lover, it’s one truck compromise after another.
Why Americans Love Pickup Trucks, And The Santa Cruz May Break Your Heart
Hyundai
A front 3/4 outdoor shot of a Hyundai Santa Cruz
American full-sized pickups are just as luxurious as any car but also strong, bulletproof, versatile, and durable (think Ford Tough). How can a compact pickup like the Santa Cruz compete with a huge luxury battleship that can take a beating?
There are almost as many reasons why Americans love full-sized pickups as there are different models. For many truck buyers, pickups are the Swiss Army knife of vehicles. With one truck, you can rule all the roads and carry all the loads. There is nothing a full-sized pickup can’t do except possibly find a large enough parking space close to your preferred entrance.
With a full-sized pickup, you can haul the kids and all their friends in the cab while hauling enough construction material in the bed to build them a tree house. You’ll have enough ground clearance and 4×4 power to go off-road almost anywhere, as well as make it safely home through snow-covered roads without ending up in a ditch. You could even connect a snow plow and blaze your own trail.
Hyundai
A shot of the side profile of a 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
Driving a full-sized pickup, you will not feel like a bite-sized appetizer in the land of giant trucks. If protection from wild bumpers and wilder road rage matters to the potential buyer, bigger always feels safer, whether accurate or not. When it comes to trucks in America, perception is king.
Does the Santa Cruz deliver comparable hauling capacity, off-road ability, bigger is safer perception, or have enough space for the whole gang as a full-sized pickup? Sadly, it does not. How can it compete with something almost twice its size? A stock Santa Cruz, with its slightly below-average ground clearance of 8.6 inches, is not on many lists of the best off-road trucks, while many full-sized and mid-sized pickups top those lists.
The Santa Cruz is also hurt by an impression of being underpowered compared to its larger brethren. In showrooms filled with big V-6 and V-8 pickups, the Santa Cruz’s four-cylinder engine just doesn’t provide enough perceived fire in the belly. Even the turbocharged 2.5-liter four with 281 horsepower and 311 pound-feet of torque seem weak by comparison, and this weakness appears confirmed by its towing capacity.
Compared to typical full and mid-sized American trucks, the Santa Cruz feels more like it was designed for the urban cowboy and cowgirl lifestyle than people who get their boots dirty. All this does not make it a bad vehicle, and it does not mean you can’t go off-roading with your Santa Cruz, but it does seem to put it at a serious competitive disadvantage in the eyes of the typical American truck lover. The Santa Cruz is a gorgeous, well-made piece of metal, and maybe that’s why it will break many hearts. It’s got the looks but not the coveted truck oomph.
It’s A Pickup Truck That Can’t Haul Your Cargo Or Your Friends And Family
Most people in the American truck market likely view the Santa Cruz more as a compact compromise than a full-blooded, born in the U.S.A. pickup truck. The Santa Cruz, with its limited towing capacity of 3,500 to 5,000 pounds, cannot even trailer most mid and full-sized pickups. Compared to the over 10,000 pound towing capacity of full-sized pickups, the Santa Cruz feels like it’s missing that critical towing tool that makes a pickup the Swiss Army knife of vehicles. So if you want to pull anything more than smaller travel trailers or boats, the Santa Cruz is not the best truck for the job.
When most truck lovers think of a four-door pickup, they imagine a spacious crew cab with over 40 inches of rear legroom. On paper, the dimensions of the Santa Cruz’s four-door cab sound fine, with 36.5 inches of rear legroom, but one look inside sends a different cramped message. Again, it’s a case of perception. Can four or even five adults fit inside this compact truck? In theory, yes, but it doesn’t look like they will enjoy a long ride in the back.
Hyundai
A shot of the rear seats in a 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
Rear Seating Dimensions
Headroom: 40.1 inches
Legroom: 36.5 inches
Shoulder room: 56.1 inches
Hip room: 53.5 inches
For many American truck shoppers, the Santa Cruz’s pint-size pickup bed is likely the biggest obstacle of them all to true love. One of the reasons people buy pickups is to have the option of hauling big things around in that big open pickup bed. It really doesn’t matter that most people use their pickups to haul little more than bags of groceries on a regular basis. It’s the potential that counts. Once again, it’s the Swiss Army Knife effect.
Hyundai
A shot of the bed in a 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz
Not that many years ago, the standard size of a pickup bed was eight feet. That’s changed, and long beds are now 8 feet or more, standard beds are 6.5 feet, and short beds are 5.8 feet. In this field, the Santa Cruz clocks in with only 4.3 feet of bed space. That’s half the length of a long bed. This is not a truck that’s going to be hauling larger pieces of furniture, big household appliances, construction materials, or even luggage for a family of four on a road trip. With its 27 cubic feet of cargo capacity under its included tonneau cover, this is a truck that does not even give you the enclosed cargo capacity of many compact hatchbacks.
Goldilocks, the Three Bears, and most American truck buyers would have a hard time considering the enclosed cargo capacity of the Santa Cruz anything other than ice-cold porridge. Again, none of this makes the Santa Cruz a poor choice for many people. It’s just one more thing many American truck customers will find missing from their must-have list.
This Hyundai Compact Pickup Truck Is Neither Truck Nor A Car
Could American truck lovers learn to love a pint-sized Santa Cruz? If sales figures are any indication, the answer is no. Even among compact pickup trucks, the Santa Cruz is being outsold. The Ford Maverick is arguably the closest competitor to the Santa Cruz. In 2022 Ford sold 74,370 Mavericks, while Hyundai sold 36,480 Santa Cruz pickups. In that same year, a total of 2,702,515 pickups were sold in America.
So the Santa Cruz garnered only 1.3-percent of that pickup market. By comparison, in 2022, Ford sold 653,957 F-Series pickups which equals about 24-percent of the market, while the Chevy Silverado got 19-percent and the Ram 1500 took home 17-percent of all pickup sales. In 2022, only two ICE powered pickups had lower sales figures than the Santa Cruz.
So the Santa Cruz does not appear to have what it will take to attract American truck buyers in droves. Smaller is probably not the answer for breaking into the American pickup market. In the future, long before 2035 and the phase-out of ICE, big pickup trucks in America will have to become more energy efficient, but it’s unlikely that will be accomplished with smaller engines in smaller packages like the Santa Cruz. That route simply won’t fly in the land of the freeway and home of big open spaces.
For the American pickup lover, improved energy efficiency will come from electrification that delivers even more horsepower and more fun per mile. Until then, the bottom line is that the Santa Cruz may be perceived as neither a typical pickup nor a typical car, and as neither fish nor fowl, it risks satisfying few people at the American truck-buying dinner table.
The owner of this 1972 Ford Gran Torino put it in an open garage bay 20 years ago, and it sat there ever since. Now, the folks at WD Detailing drag the forgotten personal luxury coupe out of the resting place to give the vehicle a much-needed wash.
While it was partially covered, this Gran Torino still looks rough. There’s dust and grime on the body. The interior is filthy. According to the owner, a raccoon got into the engine bay at some point and tore things up.
WD Detailing focuses on cleaning the car, but the team also makes sure the engine still turns over. It does, but the Ford needs lots of work before the powerplant gets running again.
Rather than starting by washing the body like usual, the detailers begin with the cabin this time because they plan on dyeing the carpets. The upholstery on the seats is also filthy. There’s a massive mouse nest under the rear seat.
As usual, just washing the body goes a long way toward making this Gran Torino look better. Instead of using wash mitts, the crew wipes the body with sandpaper to remove the oxidation from the paint. While unorthodox, the tactic works well here.
At the end of the cleaning process, the Gran Torino looks significantly better. There’s still some patina on the body with some chipped paint and less-than-shiny chrome. Inside, there are big holes on the driver and passenger side of the front bench. Plus, there would still need to be lots of mechanical work to make the car road-worthy.
Ford introduced the Torino name in 1968 as an upmarket subseries for the Fairlane. In 1970, the Blue Oval swapped the nomenclature by making Torino the primary model and Fairlane the submodel. For the 1972 model year, the Torino entirely took over, and the Blue Oval introduced the Gran Torino moniker.
Ford offered the ’72 Torino with an inline-six and a variety of V8s. This one has an eight-cylinder powerplant, but we can’t see enough to identify which one.
In the 1990s, there were some interesting automotive brands that are now defunct. One such brand was Eagle, which was introduced by Chrysler in 1988 as an enthusiast brand aimed at a younger customer base. The lineup mainly consisted of rebranded models from Mitsubishi, Plymouth, and Chrysler, but the brand had its own identity and charm. However, stock examples of Eagle cars are now hard to find.
Recently, the WD Detailing team discovered an original Eagle Talon TSi that had been abandoned for 12 years. The Talon TSi had a turbocharged engine and all-wheel drive. As seen in the video, the car is missing some parts, with the main issue being the lack of an engine under the hood. Finding the original turbocharged four-cylinder engine for the Talon is becoming increasingly difficult.
The specific engine in question is a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with around 195 horsepower in the all-wheel drive configuration. The front-wheel drive Talon had a slightly lower rating of 190 horsepower due to its more restrictive exhaust system. Models equipped with a four-speed manual transmission had 180 horsepower due to a different turbo setup.
The Talon was essentially a rebadged and slightly redesigned version of the Mitsubishi Eclipse, which was also sold under the Plymouth brand. While they were mechanically identical, the three coupes had their own design elements such as different bumpers, taillights, and wheels. All three cars were manufactured by DSM (a joint venture between Chrysler and Mitsubishi) at their plant in Normal, Illinois.
In its current condition, this black Eagle Talon TSi has potential, despite being far from its factory condition. Not only is it a rare turbocharged all-wheel drive model, but it also doesn’t have significant rust spots on its body. If you owned this vehicle, would you choose to restore it to its original condition or install a more powerful and modern engine? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Stephen King, the iconic horror writer, has astounded us with his imaginative and spine-chilling stories. From man-eating clowns to murderous machines, he has mastered the art of terrifying his readers. Surprisingly, one of his most famous works, “Misery,” is also one of his most grounded.
Released in 1990, “Misery” revolves around a renowned author who becomes disenchanted with his current book series and plans to kill off his main character in his upcoming manuscript. However, after a car accident, he finds himself under the care of a devoted fan, who happens to be a young woman. When she discovers his manuscript, things take a dark and twisted turn. If you have ever feared stalkers or imprisonment, “Misery” is bound to intensify those phobias. As they say, fame comes with a price.
Naked bikes in the middleweight category are incredibly versatile, especially when it comes to performance-oriented machines available in the Asian market. These bikes are small enough to easily navigate city streets while being powerful enough to provide an exhilarating ride on open roads, twisty roads, and even race tracks.
The Triumph Street Triple is a perfect example of such a versatile naked bike. It is built on the highly capable and sharp Daytona platform, making it a popular choice in Triumph’s lineup for over a decade. The 2023 version of the Street Triple takes its capabilities to a whole new level. Triumph has recently launched the 2023 Street Triple in Malaysia, with prices starting at RM59,900 (approximately $12,961 USD). For comparison, the 2023 Street Triple is priced at $9,995 USD in the United States.
The 2023 Street Triple range is divided into two versions: R and RS. The R version is more affordable but still performs impressively. It is powered by a 765cc liquid-cooled inline three-cylinder engine that produces 118 horsepower. On the other hand, the RS version stands out with its improved tuning, resulting in a maximum output of 128 horsepower. It also features a fully adjustable Showa front fork and an Ohlins rear monoshock. However, the RS model is pricier at RM73,900 (approximately $15,990 USD). In the United States, the Street Triple RS retails for $12,995 USD.
In terms of technology, Triumph has upgraded the Street Triple for 2023. Previous models lacked the comprehensive suite of technology now found in the 2023 versions. Both the Street Triple R and RS are equipped with a six-axis IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), providing advanced rider aids such as cornering ABS and lean-sensitive traction control. Multiple riding modes, including Road, Rain, Sport, and Rider, offer customizable riding experiences. The RS model even features a performance-focused Track mode.
Ever dreamt of blending the engine of one bike with the frame of another to create a high-performance masterpiece? John Murray made it a reality by combining the 2023 Honda CRF450R chassis with the powerful 2023 KTM 300SX two-stroke fuel-injected engine.
John Murray, a dirt bike enthusiast who also owns a construction company, took matters into his own hands and designed the conversion. The result was an impressive DIY build that Dirt Bike Magazine couldn’t help but take notice of.
Utilizing available resources rather than working with high-end builders in a factory garage, Murray was able to prove that thinking outside the box could lead to an exceptional outcome. Check out the up-close look at this unique creation in the video below!
Yes, there will be plenty of jokes surrounding this story. But before the toilet humor commences, let us first applaud Toyota for creating a legitimately awesome solution for folks who can’t get around as easily as most. Nobody likes using the porta-potty at public events, but imagine the difficulties for someone in a wheelchair. This Toyota Toilet solves that conundrum, and with a bit of style no less.
It all started back in 2019. The folks in Toyota’s Vision Design Division were given the unlikely task of designing a toilet, but not simply a plastic booth with a Toyota logo. The request was for a toilet that could be mobile and easily accessible to those with special needs. Wheelchair users obviously come to mind, and with outdoor toilets at temporary venues seldom user-friendly for anyone, the Japanese automaker felt obligated to go a few steps beyond the requirements.
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