Bronco Off-Roadeo driving academy expands, Czinger 21C hypercar, Morgan gets a new roof
Welcome to The Manifold, our fresh daily digest of news and what’s happening in the car world.
Bronco Off-Rodeo plans to expand, offer free off-road instruction to Bronco owners
Intake: Ford is offering its Off-Roadeo experience to Bronco Sport Badlands and First Edition buyers, as well as all two- and four-door Bronco order-holders, as an opportunity to learn what their vehicles are capable of before taking delivery. The first location will open up at Horseshoe Bay, near Austin, on June 28 and offers 50 miles of trails that drivers will explore on a day-and-a-half-long course that includes hands-on instruction on how to use all the tools in the Bronco’s off-roading arsenal. Future Off-Roadeo sites include Mt. Potosi, Nevada; Moab, Utah; and an as-yet-unnamed site in the Northeast United States. Participants will be responsible for transportation to and from the Off-Rodeo, as well as their accommodations, but the hands-on teaching experience are complimentary for Bronco owners. Additional family members or prospective Bronco owners can attend for a fee.
Exhaust: Just like track-focused cars require a more rigorous skill set to drive at their potential, off-road vehicles require confidence and poise to navigate difficult terrain safely. Off-road drivers will benefit from skilled instructors in the same way that aspiring road racers do. The fact that Ford is offering up these resources for free to buyers will make the Bronco brand even stronger.
California’s hybrid Czinger 21C hypercar is production-ready
Intake: Los Angeles-based Czinger has unveiled the final production version of its wild C21 hypercar. With its dome roof, giant side scoops, and massive aerodynamic aids the C21 certainly look rapid. With its 1250 hp exceeding its 1240 kg (2728 pounds) the car follows Koenigsegg’s mighty One:1 with over one horsepower for every kilogram. Czinger achieves this feat by minimizing its mass through Artificial Intelligence-enhanced computational engineering and additive manufacturing technologies. The power comes from a 2.8-liter, flat-plane crank V-8 with twin turbos sending drive to the rear wheels via a seven-speed automated manual transmission. Two electric motors on the front wheels join the party as well. 0-62 mph is claimed to take just 1.9 seconds and 0-186 mph is achieved in 13.8 seconds. Top speed is said to be 248 mph.
Exhaust: In these days of pure EV hypercars from Rimac, Lotus, and Pininfarina it may seem a little old school to rely on internal combustion. But Czinger reckons it has future-proofed the C21 by designing it to run on a range of fuels, such as carbon-recycled methanol. Plus the engine redlines at 11,000 rpm, so what’s not to like?
Morgan’s modernization marches on
Intake: Stop the presses! Time-warp British car sports company Morgan has developed a new roof. This really is major news as the redesigned soft top no longer requires hood rail fasteners and massively improves the seal around sidescreens, making it much faster to put up and down, and hugely improving the weather protection. Other updates for the Plus Four and Plus Six for the 2022 model year include a storage locker behind the passengers, new seats, additional cabin lighting, and even two USB charging points. An optional Active Sports Exhaust system is also available so you can tone down the noise to avoid annoying the neighbors and then crank it up when you’re out on the open road.
Exhaust: Anyone who has attempted to assemble a Morgan roof in a rainstorm or tried to stay warm in winter will appreciate that a new roof design is a big deal. Hagerty’s Eric Weiner grew up in a Morgan and can contest that the struggle was real. “When it rained we had a policy of just driving faster. If you stopped to put the roof up it took so long you’d be drenched anyway so it was never worth it unless you could find a convenient underpass,” he remembers.
BMW adds i4 eDrive40 and i4 M50 to expand its all-electric lineup
Intake: Two versions of BMW’s Gran Coupe will roll out for 2022, including the first all-electric car from BMW’s M division. The rear-wheel-drive i4 eDrive40 brings 335 hp and up to 300 miles of range while the all-wheel-drive i4 M50 packs 536 hp and up to 245 miles of range. They will be priced starting at $56,395 and $66,895, respectively, and both will be available in early 2022. The battery packs, placed in the floors of the cars, give a lower center of gravity than their internal combustion counterparts while maintaining a great front/rear balance. The eDrive40 has a 45.1/54.9 weight balance, while the 255-hp motor at the front end of the M50 brings that to a more typical 48.1/51.9 balance. Both are capable of 200-kW DC fast charging that can get the batteries from 20 percent capacity to 80 percent capacity in just 30 minutes. Standard 11-kW charging will take a completely drained battery to full capacity in 7.6 hours.
Exhaust: BMW’s first electric cars that don’t look like electric cars seem to be aggressively priced to take on all comers. An all-wheel-drive, all-electric car with BMW dynamics sounds like a great recipe.
Jaguar’s F-Type goes V-8-only for 2022
Intake: Jaguar’s performance coupe is making the most of its final model years by ditching the turbo-four and six-cylinder engines in favor of a second V-8 detuned to 444 hp and available in rear-drive-only spec. That means the entry-level F-Type is now this P450 RWD, the first rear-drive, V-8-powered F-Type since the R went all-wheel-drive in 2016. With a base price hovering around $70K, it’s clearly differentiated from the 2022 top-dog F-Type R, whose calling cards remain a 575-hp supercharged V-8, standard all-wheel-drive, and a six-figure starting price.
Exhaust: Rear-drive, V-8-powered gran turismos are a rare breed these days. The P450 RWD could well be the sweet spot of the F-Type range: more affordable than the AMG GT or Lexus LC500 and more elegant than the mid-engine Corvette.
