MotorWeek

Hi, I'm John Davis and this is MotorWeek !

Join us for the electric slide of the Porsche Macan... Logan McCombs sets us righty-tighty on sockets and ratchets... Greg Carloss gets the dirt on some Baja dreamers... And we'll end with drop-top deliverance in the Ferrari Roma Spider... So, come drive with us, next!

Closed Captioning provided by Maryland Public Television.

ANNOUNCER: MotorWeek : 45 years, steering you in the right direction!

MotorWeek is proudly sponsored by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper, a nationwide network of stores and shops providing major brand auto and truck parts, and service from coast to coast, and in your local community.

Learn more at AutoValue.Com and BumperToBumper.Com.

We're Tire Rack.

We test tires, then share our results.

We stock over a million tires.

We offer multiple installation options.

We do this because we believe tires matter.

JOHN: What a huge success the Macan has been for Porsche!

After joining the lineup in 2015 as the brand's second SUV, it quickly became their best-selling model and remains so today.

What's next?

Well, how about introducing an all-electric Macan as the brand's second EV?

If history is any indicator, this second will probably soon be first.

Porsche's second full battery-electric model may go by a familiar name, but this 2025 Macan Electric is not a plug-in version of the ICE Macan that's been on sale since 2015.

Rather, it's based on Audi's Q6 e-tron, rolling on Volkswagen Group's Premium Platform Electric.

Porsche upset a lot of apple carts when they entered the SUV ring.

"What heresy!"

People cried, including us!

What's next, sedans?

Turns out, it was a pretty good call, as by most accounts that 2003 Cayenne SUV not only saved the company, but has allowed them to put even more money into producing even greater 911s.

Making matters better or worse depending on how you look at it, the follow-up Macan SUV that arrived 12-years later, quickly became Porsche's best-selling model.

Which brings us to EV land.

This base Macan Electric features a single rear-mounted motor that produces 355 horsepower and 415 pound-feet of torque.

A Macan 4 and 4S, along with a GTS and even a Turbo will arrive for '26 with standard dual-motor all-wheel-drive, and ratings as high as 630 horsepower.

We're not sure all that is necessary, as this standard Macan romped off the line at our Mason Dixon test track and shot to 60 in 5.0 seconds flat.

Sport Plus with Launch Control didn't react with quite the ferocity we're used to with a Porsche PDK, but the motor pushed things along consistently the whole way down the track, finishing the quarter-mile in 13.5 seconds at 105 miles per hour.

This Macan Electric only outweighs the last Macan we tested by about 600 pounds, and while it's true the bulk of the weight is down low where you want it, this Electric wasn't quite able to deliver the same super stable Porsche feel that the Taycan pulls off so perfectly.

On the other hand, one thing you can't get in the regular Macan is rear axle steering.

It's an option here in the standard Electric and did help us hold a steady line at speed through the cones with minimal understeer or oversteer, and manageable amounts of body roll.

Braking performance was very impressive, halting all 5,000 pounds of Macan in just 90 feet.

Stops were straight, and the entire vehicle seemed to hunker down into the pavement rather than pitch forward.

Despite the completely different chassis, if you're coming from a previous Macan, or any Porsche for that matter, the look and feel to everything inside will be very familiar.

Nothing about it shouts EV, but there's certainly plenty of tech on display, including a full digital instrument panel and 10.9 inch touchscreen infotainment.

All the expected options are available, like the Sport Chrono package and the upgraded Bose surround sound, along with some new ones like, "Porsche Electric Sport Sound."

Same sporty confines we're used to in the Macan, with plenty of comfort in the front seats, but with a longer wheelbase, rear seat legroom has increased.

Rear cargo space is also up slightly to 19.1 cubic-feet, 47.6 with the rear seatbacks folded, plus, another 3.0 cubic-feet up front under the hood just like the 911.

The Macan Electric's profile and silhouette are consistent with Porsche utility vehicles of the past, but there's a much smoother face, and more attention paid to aerodynamics throughout.

The biggest departure comes in back with the rear taking on more of a hatchback shape with larger back glass that sits at a more relaxed angle.

The three-dimensional taillight assembly flows coast to coast across the back, with an active spoiler just above it.

The standard Macan Electric comes with a 100 kilowatt hour Performance Battery Plus, with rating of 315 miles, which seems just about right as we were on pace for 325 miles in our driving loop.

Two-hundred-seventy kilowatt fast charging will get the battery to 80 percent in just over 20 minutes, and using 34 kilowatt hours of electricity per 100 miles, it earns a good efficiency rating.

Pricing for the base Macan Electric starts at $77,295.

While, we weren't quite as blown away by the 2025 Macan Electric SUV as we were by Porsche's Taycan family of electric sports cars, it's still a remarkable EV effort.

And, ultimately, we're confident, it will be a much more important vehicle for the brand.

So, after spending two weeks putting one through its paces, there is no mistaking the Macan EV for anything but a Porsche with a capital "P."

As tough as it is for young adults to break into the automotive industry, there are quite a few points of entry.

Going to college to study engineering, design, or even journalism are all avenues that can lead to automotive jobs.

But this week our "Over the Edge" guy Greg Carloss shows us a much more exciting, albeit rigorous path.

GREG CARLOSS: We're at Budd's Creek Motorsports Park in southern Maryland and at the risk of being TMI, I am absolutely drenched in sweat.

Could be the humidity or the heat of competition, because this is Baja SAE where college students from around the country and beyond put not just their engineering skills, but their teamwork skills to the ultimate test.

So, let's go check it out!

DAMON ANDRING: Baja SAE is a student engineering competition.

Uh, We have schools from all around the country that, uh, build, design, uh, off-road 4-wheel-drive vehicles.

Um... And the goal is to become better engineers, is the biggest thing.

GREG: Each year, SAE International holds three Baja events around the U.S.

Upon registration in October, teams must purchase a Rehlko 429cc gas engine.

From there, it's entirely on the students to design and build a competition-ready vehicle that they will eventually beat the crap out of.

DAMON: We have a pretty extensive rulebook that they have to follow in the build of their car.

Um...we have the ability for them to ask questions throughout the year to our techs.

GREG: And many of the techs are Baja SAE alumni giving back to the program that launched their careers.

JASON ROUNDS: I started with Baja back in '97 as a student.

Ah, I competed for four years.

Uh, after I graduated from RIT, I moved on to Honda.

I worked for Honda and then took over, uh, the technical inspection.

So, we're looking for compliance to the rules.

And we're also looking to make sure that safety-- that the cars are going to be able to go out there, compete for four hours and make sure we have a safe event.

GREG: For some teams, just passing tech is a challenge.

SAMONE CULLUM: So, this is Davidson's first time at competition, actually.

We are a liberal arts institution.

We are not an engineering school.

Um, so, it's actually a whole bunch of physicists running around and trying to make, um, our very first Baja car.

Unfortunately, we ran into some technical difficulties this year, um, and we weren't able to bring a cart to competition, but we still really wanted to learn.

GREG: Tennessee Tech has been competing since 1977, and with 12 victories, they know what it takes to cross the finish line.

OWEN MASSEY: It really comes down to having a good management and leadership structure to where there are tasks and responsibilities that are delegated out to where everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing.

And you just check in with them and make sure that everything gets taken care of.

DAMON: So, we have an acceleration event.

We have a maneuverability event, a hill climb event, and then the suspension and traction, which is behind us, um, all culminating tomorrow in a four-hour endurance race, which is wheel to wheel racing every car on a mile track.

GREG: As you can imagine, accidents happen and things break.

But these young men and women can fix just about anything.

Still, it always helps to have someone with experience looking out for you.

MARTY GORDON: So, I'm the Faculty Advisor for the RIT team.

I've been doing this 30 years.

I like to make sure that the students know I'm their advisor, not their supervisor.

So, it's really a student-run team.

And I always say, I...I offer suggestions, you make decisions.

DAMON: The students are doing everything on the cars.

It is a true engineering challenge.

And it's not just the engineering, it's the team management, the time management, the communication, right?

It's those skills that the real world demands.

And when it's chaos, you know, someone has to take charge, someone has to give direction, someone has to be working.

So-- and our teams are very, very good at that.

Some of our sponsors say that when they see Baja SAE on a resume that, you know, that's, someone they give a very, very good look to.

GREG: 2026 marks Baja SAE's 50th anniversary and they'll be celebrating throughout the year, as will the team from Cornell University, who took home the top prize here at Budds Creek.

DAMON: Anyone that hasn't seen Baja, once they see it the for the first time in person, they're looking for when our next event is going to be.

I love listening to the kids cheer when they finish an event.

Um... Just...it's the best.

JOHN: We've read more than our fair share of Porsche books over the years, but none quite like "Porsche Decades" by Jay Gilotti.

This "Must Read" does a chronological walkthrough of Porsche history going all the way back to 1875; highlighting not just the brand's major automotive accomplishments, but mixing in plenty of family history along with many of the projects they've been involved with outside the sports car world.

It would be the perfect textbook for your continuing Porsche education or a great gift for the Porsche fan in your life.

JOHN: The right tool for the right job.

A good set of sockets and ratchets can be just that.

Well, Logan McCombs knows the basics on MotorWeek's "Your Drive."

(car engine starts up) LOGAN MCCOMBS: One of the most handy tools to have when working on your car is a good set of sockets.

These allow you to grip onto fasteners once, then tighten or loosen them just by moving the handle back and forth, and not re-applying it to over and over again, like with regular wrenches.

But not all sockets or ratchets are created equal, and here's what you need to know.

Regular sockets are typically made of a chrome vanadium steel.

This is a strong form of steel, but it can also be brittle.

Just like with wrenches, you'll see sockets with six or twelve points of contact.

Six points offer a more secure grip on fasteners and are best for higher-torque applications, while a 12-point sockets gives you more versatility, but it may be more likely to round off the corners of a nut due to its shallow grip.

Impact sockets have a thicker sidewall for durability, and you'll typically notice that they're black, and that's how you know it's an impact socket.

They're made of a molybdenum steel, which is actually a "softer" metal that will twist and deform slightly to absorb the impact, rather than break like regular sockets might.

When it comes to ratchets, one big consideration is the number of "teeth" they have.

If you look here, I have the sprocket from inside a ratchet, and that click that you hear is the paws passing by each tooth.

So, the greater the number of teeth, the more precise the movement can be, so you can work in tighter areas and it makes it a bit easier on your hands.

This ratchet here has 90 teeth, so it just needs four degrees of swing to engage the next tooth.

For comparison, a ratchet with 32 teeth needs 11 degrees of motion.

That's a pretty big difference.

Now, having a good variety of sockets and ratchet handles will make any job around the house or garage a lot easier.

If you have any questions or comments, reach out to us, right here at MotorWeek .

PAT GOSS: We're also looking forward to the soft-top that Maxton Components is designing for the car.

The tonneau cover is okay, but it doesn't keep much heat inside on really cold days.

This is a fair-weather car for flexible people.

If you stand much more than six feet tall, you may have trouble getting comfortable behind the wheel.

The Rollerskate isn't what we'd call "refined" either, but it's the raw simplicity of the little car that makes it so much fun.

It reminds us that driving used to be an adventure, a game of driver and metal against the elements.

Given a sunny day, and empty road and a friend to go along for the ride, the adventure is well worth the effort we've put into our Maxton Rollerskate.

JOHN: The printing presses may have slowed but the news cycle hasn't.

Here's Stephanie Hart with this week's MotorNews!

STEPHANIE HART: Our first bit of big news is from Kia, and the redesigned 2027 Telluride, kicking off a new generation for their highly successful 3-row utility.

The 2nd gen Telluride is 2.0 inches longer than the outgoing model, riding on a 3.0 inch longer wheelbase.

These dimensions really show off the new styling, which follows the trend of "bold and boxy."

What we're seeing is the returning X-Pro model, which we expect to be even more primed for off-road runabouts.

We also saw plenty happening at the just-concluded SEMA, the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas.

Ford brought out two truck-based builds.

The Maverick 300T bolts up a larger turbocharger, ramping up the 2.0 liter turbo-4 to 300 horsepower.

Other parts include a larger intercooler, a cat-back exhaust and a lowered suspension done Lobo style.

A production version of this package is planned for 2026.

An F-150 Raptor R was also present, complete with a 3.0 liter Whipple supercharger attached to its 5.2 liter V8, boosting the R up to 900 horsepower.

Not to be out done by its crosstown rivals, Ram brought out "The Dude" Ram 1500.

Exaggerated ground effects, side exhaust, custom decals and more make it stand out as strong as its HEMI V8.

Meanwhile, a Charger SIXPACK, dressed to the nines in Mopar parts, represented Dodge's muscle car future.

The Stryker Purple paint masks some of the carbon fiber body work, but it just lets the Brass Monkey wheels and orange brake calipers stand out even more.

There's a lot of great news in the world of performance as of late.

You can keep up with all of it by following us online.

And that's it for this week's MotorNews.

GREG CARLOSS: Our 2025 Kia Carnival has had a busy fall, using its 242 hybrid-enabled horsepower to tote us around near and far to the tune of 6,400 miles since our last update, bringing the 10-month total to an impressive 21,000.

So, not a lot of downtime for this family hauler, and that includes sitting at the dealership; the only stops there have been for scheduled maintenance, as we've had no other issues that needed attention.

We always seem to be finding new features to appreciate in our Carnival, like the passenger view Cabin Camera, which allows you to monitor happenings in the back seats right on the infotainment screen.

Driving around town, the Carnival's hybrid system works well as one cohesive unit, which includes a 6-speed transmission.

Now, with that in mind, you might think the steering wheel paddles are for shifting, but they're actually for controlling regenerative braking which, if you dial in more of and you're going downhill, it's kind of like down shifting.

It's not a feature you have to use, but if you're someone who likes to take a more active role in driving, it can certainly help you feel more engaged.

Fuel economy has been holding fairly steady these days at 31.7 miles per gallon, which is in range but still a little below the government's combined rating of 33.

We'll see how our Mitsubishi Outlander has been rating with our drivers on the next MotorWeek Long-Term Road Test Update!

JOHN: The early 2020s were an interesting time by all accounts, so you can be forgiven if you missed the arrival of Ferrari's Roma grand touring coupe.

It took quite a few years for things to get back to normal, and also a few years for a spider version of the Roma to arrive.

Well, it's never too late for seat time in a Ferrari!

So, join us as we get caught up in Ferrari's latest droptop stunner!

This 2025 Ferrari Roma Spider is the latest in a long line of open-air grand touring machines from a brand most people associate with racing and exotic performance hardware.

And naming it after the grand city of Rome is not only an indicator of this car's importance to the brand; but considering it's based on the Portofino, it's also sort of a transition from a relaxed Riviera mindset to a focus on modern design, yet with a strong sense of history.

While at times Italian Spider could be loosely translated to "awkward to use top," no such problems here with this modern power operated soft-top assembly, just 13.5 seconds of smooth folding and stowing.

Unique fabric was used to ensure that it not only looks great, but provides the necessary protection from the elements.

And of course, when up, it blends in perfectly with the Roma's gorgeously swoopy body panels.

The overall look is more elegant than aggressive with the long hood and short rear deck silhouette used for most high-end GT cars.

Technically, two rear seats remain in place, though a much more practical function is the fold up wind deflector that is now integrated into them.

But, it's what's under the hood that truly lights our fire around here, and nestled just behind the Roma's front wheels is Ferrari's twin-turbo 3.9 liter V8, outputting 612 horsepower and 561 pound-feet of torque; both numbers same as the Portofino, and likewise, it powers strictly the rear wheels through an 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

While, we started out testing cars in 1981, it wasn't until our 4th season that we were able to live out our Ferrari fantasies when we crashed one of the East Coast's biggest Ferrari parties at the Prancing Horse Farm.

And the following year, we got our first chance to put a Ferrari 328 to the test.

We called it one of the most stable machines on the road today, and the ultimate in automotive craftsmanship.

Most of the same can be said about every Ferarri we've driven since.

The Roma's vehicle dynamics system features comfort, sport, and race settings, along with a wet mode and an ESC off position on the steering wheel-mounted dial.

And it makes a huge difference which setting you have dialed up, as Ferrari has created quite a relaxed and easy to drive cruiser when in the Comfort mode.

You really have to flip over to Sport or Race for it to come alive; although, it sounds fantastic no matter which mode you're in.

Steering is quick, and the Roma strikes a great balance of being very responsive to inputs without feeling hyper.

Ferrari claims a 3.4 second 0-60 time, but we'd say that's a bit conservative.

Standard carbon fiber brakes are at the ready to whoa things down in a hurry.

The Roma features what is definitely the most modern Ferrari interior we've tested, with a big tablet-style center screen and wireless smartphone connectivity, plus, an available in-dash screen strictly for the passenger.

Unfortunately, modern these days also means touch-sensitive steering wheel controls which we could do without.

Both driver and passenger have great sits to sit in, but are also highly confined to their own space.

If you plan on actually touring with this grand tourer, the good news is there's 9.0 cubic-feet of trunk space, and even a small pass through.

But, the storage shelf for the top eats up a lot of the space, and is fixed in place, so it stays there whether the top is up or down.

For early spring or fall getaways, this available fire breathing neck warmer can easily extend your top down drive time.

Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 17 city, 22 highway, and 19 combined.

We averaged 19 miles per gallon of Premium.

That's only slightly below average for the Energy Impact Score, consuming 15.7 Barrels of Oil Yearly, with 7.7 Tons of CO2 Emissions.

Officially, the Roma Spider starts at $279,965, but with options, our tester came in just over $400,000.

Further bad news, as Ferrari ramps up Spider production, they'll be discontinuing the Coupe version of the Roma.

That's how confident they are that this 2025 Ferrari Roma Spider soft top will be able to fulfill their fans grand touring needs.

And considering it made all of our drive time feel like a holiday, we have to agree.

Well, that's our show, I hope you enjoyed it.

Now, for more MotorWeek , including daily news updates, podcasts, and even complete episodes, cruise on over to PBS.ORG/MOTORWEEK.

And I hope you'll join us next time when we spend time with our favorite Audi road rocket, the RS3, and take a luxury lap in the Mercedes-Benz GLC 350e.

Until then, I'm John Davis.

We'll see you right here on MotorWeek !

ANNOUNCER: To learn more about MotorWeek , Television's Original Automotive Magazine, visit... The MotorWeek App which includes our latest reviews and feature stories is now available for mobile devices.

MotorWeek is proudly sponsored by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper, a nationwide network of stores and shops providing major brand auto and truck parts, and service from coast to coast, and in your local community.

Learn more at AutoValue.Com and BumperToBumper.Com.

We're Tire Rack.

We test tires, then share our results.

We stock over a million tires.

We offer multiple installation options.

We do this because we believe tires matter.

This program was produced by Maryland Public Television, which is solely responsible for its content.

(engine revving) You're watching PBS.