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There are many glorified names in the wide world of motorsports, but there’s only one Schumacher. Seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher set new records, shattered them, and established an entirely new standard of dominance by the time he retired in 2012. But it’s his son on the grid now, in IndyCar, chasing his career a world away from the European racing establishment where that name carries so much weight. Welcome to America, Mick Schumacher.

Life couldn’t be more different for the 27-year-old Swiss these days as he sat for a long interview with The Drive during the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach last month. He’s now living on a ranch in rural North Texas (his family’s ranch, but still, might as well be Mars for someone from Lake Geneva) and driving an hour and a half for groceries. But even that is a minor adjustment compared to the massive shift in what he’s racing—the No. 47 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

It was just four years ago that Mick was in Formula 1, trying to make the best of driving for a dysfunctional Haas team and constantly being compared to his father. His time in the big show ended in 2022 after two hard-luck seasons, and whatever you want to say about his inconsistent performance, those circumstances were not ideal. Guy can drive; he won the F2 championship in 2020.

Still, it says a lot that Mick decided to walk away from F1, the thing he spent his life preparing for, after sitting on the sidelines in 2023 as a reserve driver for McLaren and Mercedes. You can easily see someone in his position, with his name, refusing to leave F1’s orbit and wasting prime years waiting for another shot. But Mick wanted to drive. He hopped over to the World Endurance Championship to race for Alpine in 2024 and 2025, flashing his skills with a few podiums before getting the itch to return to open-wheel cars. Different ones.

So now, he’s five races into his inaugural IndyCar season with RLL, preparing for his first Indianapolis 500, and adapting to life as a 27-year-old rookie with a lot to learn. He finished 17th in Long Beach, adding to a decent start that’d probably be easier if he didn’t break his wrist in the pileup that knocked him out of the season opener. But he’s clearly thrilled to be here, doing his own thing, and who knows where it leads? During our conversation before the race, he opened up about his new life in the US, getting ready for the 500, and what it feels like to drive out from under his father’s shadow.

Jerry Perez: This is a big change for you, not just in the type of car you’re racing, but also moving to the U.S. How are things treating you? How are you feeling?

Mick Schumacher: It’s definitely very different in many regards. But yeah, it’s been super interesting, super nice. I think, for me personally, it is also about development. On the racing side of things, obviously, it’s also a very big difference, simply working with the people here in IndyCar. It feels almost like back to the roots of go-karts, where it’s very one-on-one and very old-school. It’s been very fun, and I’m really enjoying it.

I thought maybe you had moved to Indy, but it sounds like you didn’t. Was it just easier to stay in Texas and feel more at home?

I guess so. Already back in the day, whenever I spent more than two weeks away, I was like, ‘Oh, I want to go back home, I miss my home.’ But yeah, it’s probably better to be there and have some family. I think Indy would be very foreign to me. Even though you have a lot of drivers who live out there and love it, I think I would still feel less at home than I do in Texas. Though honestly, the thing I miss most from home is the food. The closest Whole Foods Market that we shop at is like an hour and a half away, right? So it is a long drive just to go grocery shopping.

For Texans, that’s not very far; that’s just down the street.

Yeah! For me, you know, five minutes would be ideal timing. You have to drive longer than you have to be there, it feels like. It’s hard where we are out there in Texas.

The IndyCar season has an interesting cadence, per se, which is way different than what you’ve been exposed to before. What do you think of the pace?

When I looked at it the first time, I was like, ‘Well, it’s uh, a very compressed season, a very short season’ because we’re done [racing] in September. I would rather have it a bit more stretched out, probably into November, for example, because then the downtime is shorter. The one thing I love doing is racing cars, after all, but I understand why they do it, and it makes sense from their side. And for us racing drivers, it opens opportunities beyond IndyCar. For me, I opted to do only IndyCar this year because I didn’t really want to be distracted, and honestly, I was also quite happy to maybe have that break after the season. I just wanted to be sure I don’t commit to anything I’ll regret in the end. Maybe next year I’ll take a different approach, but for now, I think this has been all right.

Whenever I attend a race in Europe, people always ask me about IndyCar and how the fans can get super close to the action. I once talked to Fernand Alonso when he was racing the 500, and he had to have Indiana State Troopers escort him from the garages to the paddock bathrooms because everyone would mob him during that short walk, and he was very bothered by it. It was a distraction he wasn’t used to. Have you come to terms with this, and do you think it’s a plus or a minus?

I think the way the [IndyCar] championship is placed right now is probably a plus. I mean, I wouldn’t see why it would be a negative to let people come in and have a look at things. I think at the level that Formula 1 is at, and the popularity that it has, I think it would not be possible [to offer similar access]. I mean, we’ve seen it in different circumstances, even like in F1 races, where you would think that people would be quite reserved, they ended up being pretty on you. Here, in IndyCar, contrary to F1, I’ll still be able to make my way around, and people are pretty respectful if you tell them, ‘Hey, look, I don’t really have the time right now.’ They’ll let you go. I don’t know what Alonso’s experiences were in the 500—I haven’t done a 500 yet—so I don’t really know. It’ll be exciting to see how it goes for me there. I don’t plan to have any state troopers with me.

You say that now.

Yeah, maybe we’ll have to! We’ll see. 
If not, we always have fun! No, man, it’s been all right so far. I think it’s just different, and it’s a different approach. I still have to do my job and be in a position where I have to just deal with things like this.

Speaking of the 500, you were there as a spectator last year, and then you had your first go around. You have one more test coming up before it’s time for the big show. Have you sat down to try to process what the month of May will look like for you, your first time as an Indy 500 competitor?

Not really. I probably won’t. I think I’ll just let it come to me. But overall, I didn’t like it when I did Le Mans for the first time two years ago, and everybody was like, ‘Oh, yeah, it’s gonna be amazing, it’s gonna be like this whole crazy deal.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, all right, I’ll see how it goes.’ Honestly, I wasn’t too fussed by it. I don’t like the thought of making one race a one-event championship. Yes, the 500 is probably gonna be one of the best races ever because it’s crowded, it’s full, but in my opinion, every race should be like that because what we do is amazing, and I love racing. As a fan of the sport, I would want to support it everywhere it goes. That makes sense? I don’t ever want to be like, ‘Oh, I just want to go to the Indy 500, and that’s all.’

Has Graham or anyone else prepped you on what you should expect?

I just remember Louis [Foster] telling me that it was the scariest thing he’s ever done in his life. Oh, awesome! No, honestly, I think we’ll have a good time. Short ovals have been great. I went to Homestead, and it was a great track; it was fun, but not insane or a completely scary experience for me. In Indy, we’ll be on low downforce, so sure, that’s gonna be a first. Regarding the low-downforce package and how we’ll have to [manage] cooling there, I’m sure Graham will be great at giving me insight on all that. I’m excited to listen to him and see how he approaches that weekend.

You’re a Honda driver now. Honda is one of the biggest names in racing; if it can race, it typically dominates. What’s it been like working with HRC and the likes of David Salters?

It’s been great. I am enjoying the rivalry among the manufacturers, and being with Honda in IndyCar has been great. I feel like they really pay attention to every little detail to make sure we’re in the best place possible. Dave [Salters] has been great—he’s been pushing a lot. He used to work on dad’s car during his final season [at Ferrari], so it’s been great catching up, talking about that [era], and seeing his perspective on working in F1 and now in IndyCar. Now we cross paths here, it’s funny how sometimes these things happen.

[Author’s note: For obvious reasons, Mick has been closely guarded from questions about his father by his family and management and has declined to answer them in the past. It’s not a topic to broach lightly, but his journey is inseparable from the triumph and tragedy of Michael’s life. At this point in the conversation, I pivoted away from the usual racing fare and brought up a recent interview on Racer.com where third-generation driver Marco Andretti was asked about his experience following in the footsteps of his grandfather Mario and father Michael Andretti.

Somewhat surprisingly, Marco was frank about the pressure that comes with the last name, the feeling of not measuring up, and the unwanted attention it brings—which I applaud him for saying out loud. It felt like an important question to ask Mick as well, and to his credit, he answered it with grace.]

Marco was quite outspoken about how being a third-generation driver often took the fun out of racing because he always had to measure up to his father and grandfather. He always felt the pressure of the last name. Have you ever felt this way? Do you feel like racing is less enjoyable because you’re constantly compared to your father’s achievements?

No, not at all. I’m very proud of what my dad achieved, and he’s the best for good reason. He put some hard effort out there working countless nights to achieve what he did, and making sure that the car was in the best position possible. I’m just aiming to look at what he did and follow it, and make sure that what I do works for me as well. There’s never been any pressure to do exactly what he did or to try to beat him or whatever. There’s none of that just because; since an early age, my dad has always been there to support me, never to push me to do something he thought was not beneficial to me.

That’s why, a lot of the times I ended up just having a mechanic instead of my dad doing the that for me when I was in go-karts, just because he wanted to, I think, step away from it and say, ‘Yeah, I’ll support you wherever you need, but I’ll be having my fun on another racetrack while you’re doing your work and enjoying what you’re doing, and then we can come back together afterwards and have a chat about it.’ It’s never been to a point where he’s like, ‘Okay, you should do this, you should do that.’ It’s a great approach. I loved it, and if my kids ever want to do that in the future, I’d do it exactly as he did.

What do you drive back at home for your daily, daily car?

I don’t actually have a car yet.

So, how do you drive 1.5 hours to Whole Foods?

I’m using my sister’s car [laughs].

Do you have any toys you like to take out on the weekend when you’re back home in Switzerland?

Yeah. We have some nice cars that I love driving, but I don’t really take them out onto a track—I just literally drive around in them. I recently bought a drift car that is fully FIA spec. It’s an HGK E92 with an LS7 engine in it. The other stuff is just like really nice and fun cars to have, but not put too many miles on.

What’s your favorite way to spend time away from the track?

It depends on the weather conditions we have and where, I guess. Like, if I’m home in Switzerland, I’d probably take out the little motorhome—it’s a Sprinter—with my dog, and just go up in the mountains or do something away in nature. That’s always great. Here, that’s a bit more difficult. I would go golfing or do something that is pretty enjoyable for me at the moment. If I were by the coast, I’d probably go surfing.

Lastly, and just to pick your brain, what’s your take on the current drama with the F1 regulations changes, and various drivers saying it’s like Mario Kart? Any thoughts on how things have evolved since you were there?

On paper, they [FIA] always knew that something similar would happen, but F1 is known for, in my opinion, being able to have an insanely quick and good way of turning things around for the better. If you look at what we started in 2022 to where we ended in 2025 [with the previous rulebook], that was a huge change in terms of just how great the cars were by the end of that regulation set. I have no doubt that by, even later this year, they will have something in place to improve what they have at the moment.

Email the author at jerry@thedrive.com

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Opening unmarked shop doors in LA is like lifting rocks in a jungle. What are you going to find—bugs? Treasure? Somebody’s precious classic Porsche or sketchy dudes holding a séance to get some jalopy through a smog test? The Wanderwell Society, operating out of a nondescript three-bay garage in Venice, is a bit of all that. It calls itself a “DIY social club.” It’s kind of a car club, kind of a classroom, and most importantly, a great catalyst for cultivating friendships.

I’d go so far as to say that Wanderwell has figured out the ultimate and optimal execution of a modern car club. Driving with homies is fun, but you can really only chat with whoever’s sitting next to you. Cars and coffee meetups are cool, but there’s only so much standing and sipping I can handle before getting antsy.

This group is all about doing, learning, breaking down the intimidation of trying new tools, and experiencing the joy and pain of wrenching as a collective. I knew I’d like the vibe when I saw “RIGHTY TIGHTY LEFTY LOOSEY” stenciled in huge letters across the back wall. Hanging out with some members at a “welding 101” session a few weeks ago, my suspicions were confirmed: A clubhouse full of eager-to-learn DIY enthusiasts is indeed an awesome place to spend time. And clearly, I’m not the only person who thinks so.

Wanderwell just celebrated its first anniversary and is already expanding with a second garage in LA’s South Bay. When I stopped by the Venice, CA, HQ a few weeks ago, I saw tidily packed tools, the embroidered mechanic onesies of members hung on a rack, a stocked beer fridge, and a neatly organized, simple floor plan. One garage bay is a lounge area with couches and a TV, another is a detailing bay, and the middle one has a lift for real work.

It’s almost like the best possible version of “your friend with all the tools’ house.” The only rule (or, at least, the biggest one) is that you can’t leave your car on the lift overnight. That prevents any one project from hogging the bay—and keeps people on-task while their car’s on the rack.

Wanderwell got on my radar because the main man behind it, Adam Kaslikowski, was my friend with all the tools when I lived in LA myself. I actually met him through another LA-based car group, The Motoring Club (which has also expanded considerably since I joined circa 2019). Kas and I became buds as he hosted “oil change nights” in the alley-garage behind his apartment. A bunch of us would hang out, crack beers, talk shop, talk shit, and roll one vehicle after another onto a pair of wheel ramps to do oil changes and show-and-tell whatever upgrades we’d done to our rides.

I loved it so much—people came through with everything from Ferraris and Porsches to Mustangs and motorcycles, and, on a couple of occasions, that 300ZX I bought for $100 made an appearance. Every oil change night, I got a little closer to my new friends and pretty much always learned something about cars.

“It’s like oil change night every day,” Kas (as I call him) told me when he pitched his new endeavor. When I finally got to visit a few weeks ago, man, it made me miss living in Los Angeles all over again.

The Wanderwell Society solves a whole bunch of problems at once. It empowers DIY newbies to get their hands dirty with a safe space and toolset, and most importantly, social support. Because shadetree mechanic’ing is rewarding, but let’s be real, it’s also a pain in the ass and oftentimes a lot less fun than it looks on Instagram. But tinkering with friends around? Totally different experience. Even the most heartbreaking bolt head-snap is much easier to endure when you’ve got folks around to offer help and hands. Heck, even a little ribbing is more fun than swearing at steel when you’re struggling by yourself.

In addition to playing with personal projects, Kas and company also host workshops to introduce members to skills like welding. In an informal evening session, I joined a group of club members for a brief rundown on welding works conceptually followed by a few practice beads with two different types of welding tools and a “final project” of tacking a screwdriver bit to a Porsche part somebody was throwing out. (We made them into little bottle openers.)

Kas indicated that the Wanderwell Society was close to max membership months ago, and that an enthusiastic partner is already setting up another outpost. But I suspect that expansion will continue. There’s already talk of the Venice shop spilling into an adjacent office to increase the size of the social space.

I hope it does keep expanding—and not just for the sake of my friends’ fortunes. I just love this idea as a hands-on evolution of car enthusiast clubs. Not everybody’s lucky enough to have a friend with a huge garage and an ultimate set of tools, but outfits like the Wanderwell Society can make that experience accessible.

Wanderwell’s name is a nod to the motorized-adventure pioneer Aloha Wanderwell. She was a highly accomplished overlander, pilot, roadtripper, and experience-haver long before it was commonplace to do any of those things, let alone for a woman to do them. So, yeah, the club is about cars and tinkering, but it’s really about learning, growing, and exploring. And that stuff never goes out of style.

Know about any other clubs like this? I’d love to hear about them—hit me up at andrew.collins@thedrive.com.

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Every eventually great idea starts as a pitch, maybe even a risky one. Gran Turismo was no different. You’d assume Sony immediately signed off on the concept for The Real Driving Simulator, given how immediately successful it would be. But it took years, and some convincing, for the project to get off the ground. And, believe it or not, in a way it owes its roots to Mario Kart.

Serious GT fans know this story, but as the years have passed, it’s tended to fade away from public consciousness. It starts in the early ’90s with Kazunori Yamauchi, an employee at what later became Sony Computer Entertainment, but was still, at this time, a small group within Sony Music Japan publishing video games. The PlayStation didn’t exist yet and, if you know your gaming history, was originally supposed to be something entirely different. Yamauchi’s first job at Sony was making end credits for the Super Nintendo titles it was publishing, and he described it to Game Informer many years later as “slightly boring.”

When the PlayStation project was all-systems-go, circa 1993, Yamauchi was recruited to develop games for it. He had “over 100” ideas across many genres, but the one he really wanted to make was a driving sim with licensed cars. He pitched the idea to Sony bigwigs, and it fell flat. “Back then it was a radical concept and it was hard to convince executives to give it a go,” Yamauchi recounted to PlayStation Blog.

Fortunately, he wasn’t deterred. The project the execs greenlit instead was still a driving game—just a more broadly palatable, whimsical one. It was quite literally Sony’s answer to Mario Kart, with original, cartoony characters, a colorful art style, and jaunty music. Called Motor Toon Grand Prix and released about two weeks after the PlayStation itself in Japan in December 1994, it was the first game from Polys Entertainment—in the team’s own words, a “New Generation Game-Making Project.”

Motor Toon Grand Prix (1994) Sony PlayStation (PS1) Gameplay

Motor Toon Grand Prix never released in the United States, but it doesn’t contain a prohibitive amount of Japanese for those who can’t read the language, and I recommend checking it out for the simple reason that it feels great to play. The handling model is simple but weighty and favors drifting but not in a jerky or awkward way, like the first few Ridge Racer games.

The simple act of steering these zany contraptions is predictable, natural, and most importantly, fun. And it feels more grounded, in that way, compared to Super Mario Kart, or its Nintendo 64 sequel which, as of 1994, was still two years away. It’s also really clever how the vehicle models themselves morph, stretch, and lean into corners. That was a particularly inventive use of Sony’s “new-generation” 3D hardware the Polys crew was getting to grips with, and, frankly, I’m surprised more kart racers never borrowed the idea.

There’s a very good reason why Motor Toon Grand Prix is so enjoyable to play. All the while, the physics system underpinning those Tex Avery-inspired oddities, in their topsy-turvy, cotton-candy colored worlds, was being crafted to power a much more sophisticated driving experience. It was being developed, in secret, for Gran Turismo.

Those Sony execs didn’t know that Polys, Yamauchi, and specifically physics engineer Akihiko Tan (fun fact—he’s still programming Gran Turismo car behavior to this day) were laying the groundwork as far back as 1993 for the driving simulation they’d rejected. They probably had a clue by mid-1996, though, when Polys delivered a sequel, called Motor Toon Grand Prix 2. This one did make it to the West, and seeing as we never got its predecessor, it released here sans the “2.”

Motor Toon Grand Prix 2 is a very interesting game for several reasons. First, it’s immediately clear from the additional characters, more fleshed-out and detailed worlds, new graphical flourishes, deeper weapons system, and sheer quantity and quality of content that Polys learned a great deal about how to extract the most from the PlayStation hardware in the intervening year-and-a-half since its first attempt. And the game practically reminds you at every turn. The menus are visually overwhelming, with scrolling backgrounds and many spinning 3D assets, all at 60 frames per second. But it’s when you start winning some championships and earning unlockables that it becomes clear how deeply the team was experimenting with the silicon, and to what end.

MTGP2 contains three secret minigames, and they’re each pretty endearing for tech demos. The first, “Tank Combat,” is a first-person tank-versus-tank game where your only objective is to blow up your enemy before they destroy you. It runs in a window, which allowed Polys to employ both the PlayStation’s higher-resolution 640×480 mode and achieve 60 fps, a rare combination for the console. Then there’s “Submarine X,” essentially a Battleship clone that uses some other odd PS1 display settings. But it’s the third, “Motor Toon Grand Prix R,” that truly laid bare what Polys had been working toward this entire time.

This last minigame swaps the typical Motor Toon cast with two much more realistic vehicles: an open-wheel racer and a stock car. There are no weapons and no competitors. The track is a version of Toon Island, the game’s first course, except its colors are far more muted and realistic, with the world’s more fanciful qualities stripped away. The sparser visual presentation also brings the benefit of a doubled framerate compared to the regular game. And it’s set to guitar rock that wouldn’t sound out of place in an ’80s Fuji TV F1 broadcast.

As you’d suspect, the real difference is in the handling. These vehicles behave totally differently from the cartoons. The stock car spins its rear wheels when the lights turn green, struggling to get away. Its tires are rendered separately from the rest of the body, which heaves and rolls in corners. And if you’re not careful with the throttle on corner exit, you’ll spin quite easily. The F1-like racer is an even more challenging drive, with too much grip, particularly for D-pad-only steering.

Motor Toon Grand Prix R – PS1 Gameplay

“Motor Toon Grand Prix R” is flatly harder to play than Gran Turismo and, frankly, not very enjoyable. But as an artifact and a show of what Polys’ physics system was capable of with all the guardrails removed, it’s fascinating. In the Japanese version, players can unlock messages from the dev team. One of them, written by Kazunori Yamauchi and dated March 1996 teases something big.

“Now, not exactly as a reaction to the three-year-long Motor Toon project, but I’m currently working on a super-realistic racing game as my next project,” Yamauchi wrote, translated via Google. “I’m aiming to tackle the difficult task of thoroughly pursuing realism with real cars while also making it a proper functioning game. Serious racing game fans, please wait a little longer.”

Motor Toon Grand Prix appears to have sold well enough in Japan, even if its sequel didn’t reach quite the same heights outside the country. Yamauchi had proven himself capable of delivering a product people wanted to play, so when he returned to the boardroom to pitch Gran Turismo a second time—with plenty of the necessary physics work already done under the guise of a kid-friendly kart racer—the decision makers were much more receptive to the idea.

After MTGP2 was finished, Polys’ total staff of fewer than 20 people became fully focused on Gran Turismo, and gave themselves a new name: Polyphony Digital. “The program is different from Motor Toon’s,” Yamauchi told Next Generation magazine in 1996, “but we used part of it. The physics model is the same, and the person who made the physics algorithms is the same person. In fact, the Gran Turismo team started before Motor Toon 2 was released, and after that was finished, the simulation programmer and other designers joined the team.”

Before becoming president of Sony’s worldwide development studios, Shuhei Yoshida was a producer of many early PlayStation classics, including Gran Turismo. “I remember how [Yamauchi] approached coders working on 3D graphics and car physics engines who had regularly written articles in a specialized magazine, and convinced them to join his team to build his dream project,” Yoshida recalled. “He had a charm and charisma to make people believe that he and the team can accomplish an impossible-looking task at that time.”

The rest, as they say, is history—at least, more well-known history. Gran Turismo was a break out hit upon its release two days before Christmas 1997 in Japan and in May 1998 in Europe and North America, becoming the platform’s best-selling game when all was said and done. It spawned a sequel less than two years later with around four times the cars and double the tracks—a frankly unheard of avalanche of content at a time when you could usually count the number of cars in racing games with two hands.

In that Next Gen preview, months before GT1’s international release, Yamauchi relayed an almost scarily prescient vision of the future of gaming that wouldn’t come to bear for another 10 to 15 years.

“I see Gran Turismo as a racing game operating system,” he said. “If you change some of the rules, design new courses, and if you tune everything, it becomes possible to make any kind of race. For instance, in this game, only road racing is possible, but it would be possible to change it and make it rally racing. Progressively, the game will improve. I want the game to become an OS for racing games like Windows 95 is for computers.”

Got a tip? Reach out to tips@thedrive.com

Hatchback, crossover, or SUV? Whatever you might call the Kia Sportage, you can add “all-new” this year.

The Sportage has looked more like a sporty hatchback than an SUV, and the athletic look adds more muscle in the new model. The front end is taller, with bigger air intakes and a more sculpted body–like it’s been powerlifting.

ALSO SEE: 2017 Ford Escape Video Preview

Inside, the Sportage has a two-tier dash. The top level houses the gauges and the touchscreen. Below the beltline, there are big controls for climate, audio, and other secondary controls. The interior has more soft-touch surfaces, and some models get glossy black trim, stitching on the dash, and paddle shift controls.

MORE: Follow all our 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show coverage

With either of the Sportage’s four-cylinder engines, you’ll get a six-speed automatic transmission. But one of those engines has a far bigger punch. The base engine’s a 181-horsepower 2.4-liter four, but it taps out in favor of a turbocharged 2.0-liter, 241-horsepower four in the Sportage SX.

All-wheel drive with a locking center differential is an option on every Sportage trim level.

DON’T MISS: 2017 Infiniti QX30 Video Preview

Kia says a redesigned body and suspension will give the Sportage better ride and handling. The steering has been revamped for better response, and the rear suspension has been redesigned for better roadholding; the SX Turbo has its own, firmer shocks too.

There’s a little more room in this new Sportage. The wheelbase is up 1.2 inches, and overall length has grown by 1.6 inches. Rear-seat space has been improved, and so has cargo space, which adds an available hands-free power tailgate.

Kia is aiming for top crash-test scores, and the new Sportage will offer available blind-spot monitors, forward-collision warnings with automatic braking, and a rearview camera.

Finally, a new infotainment system adds new telematics features to go with standard Bluetooth audio streaming, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. They’re all smartphone-driven, and they’re free on EX and SX Sportages.

Pricing hasn’t been announced, but the new Sportage goes on sale early next year.

It seems inevitable that the first stop anyone who buys a 2017 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Recon will make after leaving the dealership is a tire shop.

It’s not because Jeep doesn’t fit its latest special edition with decent tires from the factory—32-inch BFGoodrich Mud Terrains—it’s because the automaker has tweaked its flagship off-roader so that it can fit even larger 35-inch rubber without any modifications.

DON’T MISS: Our 2017 Jeep Wrangler review

For Jeepers, that’s especially notable. The Rubicon Recon is something of a final hurrah for the current generation Jeep Wrangler, since an all-new model is due to arrive for the 2018 model year. It’s the most capable Jeep Wrangler the brand has ever offered from the factory and, frankly, it doesn’t leave as much room for aftermarket improvement as a typical Wrangler does.

To build the Rubicon Recon, Jeep started with a standard Wrangler Rubicon and upgraded its front axle with tougher components to be able to withstand the extra drivetrain stress caused by heavy 35-inch tires. Jeep also trimmed the steel rails that protect its rocker panels over rough terrain in order to accommodate the 35-inch tires. Finally, taller springs netted a half inch suspension lift.

The Rubicon Recon rids on unique 17-inch dark grey alloy wheels and features black and red styling touches outside with red interior accents inside. Jeep will offer a choice of grey or color-coordinated fender flares as an option. The Rubicon Recon will be available in seven paint shades: Black, Bright White, Billet Silver, Firecracker Red, Gobi, Rhino and Granite Crystal.

At $40,140 for the two-door and $43,940 for the four-door Unlimited, the Rubicon Recon isn’t exactly cheap—but it comes with a full warranty and is outfitted for just about any trail you might want to encounter, including the drive to the tire shop. 

If you’re in Chicago, the Rubicon Recon will be on display at the Chicago Auto Show through February 20, 2017. 

Small is big again. The 2018 Nissan Kicks broke cover Wednesday at the 2017 Los Angeles auto show as the automaker’s smallest crossover in the lineup, an entry to replace the aged and outgoing Nissan Juke.

Like the Juke, the Kicks offers plenty of outre style, albeit with a different approach. The Kicks was designed at the automaker’s South American studio and has been on sale around the world since 2016. It makes its way to the States to slot in at the smallest end of Nissan’s SUV lineup that includes Rogue Sport, Rogue, Murano, Pathfinder, and Armada.

The Kicks will arrive in dealerships in June. Pricing hasn’t yet been announced.

MORE: Read our preview of the 2018 Nissan Kicks

The U.S. version of the Kicks will come from Nissan’s facility in Mexico equipped only with front-wheel drive and an automatic transmission—all-wheel drive isn’t on the menu for now—a signal that the new crossover is meant for mostly urban duty.

The Kicks largely skips the frog-like look from the Juke, but the new crossover is still striking in its own ways. The Kicks takes Nissan’s “floating roofline” and V-shaped grille and adds a rising belt line that kicks up toward the rear roof pillar. A handful of options dress up (or dress down) the exterior including 16-inch steel wheels on base versions or an available rear roof spoiler.

Inside, four passengers can climb aboard but with roughly three fewer inches head-to-toe than the Rogue Sport we expect that space may be cramped in the rear for bigger adults. A raft of standard active safety features on the Kicks will keep pace with competitors like the Honda HR-V and Toyota CH-R. Standard on all Kicks trim levels are automatic emergency braking, automatic headlights, and Bluetooth connectivity. A 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility are standard on SV trims and higher. Blind-spot monitors and a surround-view camera system are optional.

A small 1.6-liter inline-4 that makes 125 horsepower is the only engine available in the Kicks. The relatively low power may mean that Nissan has abandoned the sportier ideas that the Juke once had in favor of affordability and efficiency first. Same goes for the front-strut, twist-beam rear axle suspension combo that may speak to the Kicks’ priorities of frugality above fun.

Although fuel-economy estimates aren’t official, Nissan says it should manage about 33 mpg combined when it goes on sale next year.

For more from the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show, head to our dedicated hub.

Small is big again.

The new 2018 Nissan Kicks is here, and it’ll be the new small crossover for a massively growing number of buyers.

And let’s get one thing out of the way first: The Nissan Kicks isn’t much of an SUV at all—not that it matters anymore.

The Kicks effectively replaces the Juke and comes to us from south of the border. Well, really south.

MORE: Read our preview of the 2018 Nissan Kicks

The Kicks comes from Brazil, where it’s been on sale since 2016—but hey, it’s new to us. The Kicks here is focused is on affordability and efficiency—although we don’t have hard numbers for either right now. We do know that it’s powered by a 1.6-liter inline-4 that makes a relatively meager 125 horsepower, but it should hit 33 mpg combined. It comes with an automatic transmission and is front-wheel drive only—no all-wheel drive here.

The lack of all-wheel drive is because the Kicks is likely bound to live its life between the parking meters, in cities, like the Juke.

And like the Juke, the Kicks steps out there style-wise, but without the frog-eyed look. Its floating roof is on trend for now, and the Kicks has its own version of the Nissan grille with an abbreviated look. The interior is decidedly for younger buyers, but lacks the kitsch of some of its rivals.

The interior sports a 7.0-inch touchscreen in most models, with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility. There are a few creature comforts, but unfortunately Nissan makes things like heated seats a top-tier option.

DON’T MISS: Crossover shoo-in: 2018 Nissan Kicks compact SUV comes to US

There’s good news: Every model comes with more than 25 cubic feet of cargo room, which is near the top of its class.

We’ll know more when the Kicks goes on sale in June.

For more coverage from the L.A. Auto Show, check out our dedicated hub.