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Editors’ Picks March 2023 | Hot hatch galore and some great luxury SUVs

This month of Editors’ Picks sees us hand out a pair of nods to the best hot hatchbacks money can buy these days, the Honda Civic Type R and Toyota GR Corolla. You can read more about how they compare in our head-to-head comparison test, but both have their advantages, and we can highly recommend buying either of them. Then we head to Europe to recognize a couple of SUVs that just went through mid-cycle refreshes and came out on the other side just as lovable as they were before. In case you missed our previous Editors' Picks posts, hereÂ’s a quick refresher on whatÂ’s going on here. We rate all the new cars we drive with a 1-10 score. Cars that are exemplary in their respective segments get an EditorsÂ’ Pick designation. Those are the ones weÂ’d recommend to our friends, family and anybody whoÂ’s curious and asks the question. The list that youÂ’ll find below consists of every car we rated in January that earned an EditorsÂ’ Pick. 2023 Honda Civic Type R 2023 Honda Civic Type R front low View 34 Photos Quick take: The Honda Civic Type R embodies what at means to be a hot hatch. It's the best FWD car we've ever driven, and because it's a Civic, it excels with a spacious and pretty interior, too. This is the full package. Score: 8.5 What it competes with: Toyota GR Corolla, VW Golf R Pros: Sublime driving dynamics, magical shifter, gorgeous and utilitarian interior Cons: An expensive proposition, lacks basic luxuries like heated seats From the editors: Senior Editor James Riswick — "The Civic Type R is a resolutely composed performance machine that sufficiently builds upon the delightful man-machine interfaces found in the increasingly impressive trio of Civic Sport Touring, Civic Si and Acura Integra A-Spec. ItÂ’s even more fun and capable at higher speeds, yet remains just as forgiving and easy to drive. The 2023 Honda Civic Type R sure seems all grown up. Maybe itÂ’s because IÂ’m almost in my 40s, (ugh) but I see absolutely nothing wrong with this. The Type R magic is not lost." In-depth analysis: 2023 Honda Civic Type R First Drive Review: All grown up isn't so bad   2023 Toyota GR Corolla 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit front three quarter low View 39 Photos Quick take: The GR Corolla is a serious performance machine that is sure to please any enthusiast with its brilliant driving dynamics. It's only let down by a cheap-feeling and small interior that doesn't lend well to daily driver duty.

At meeting with automakers, Trump launches new attack on NAFTA

WASHINGTON — Ten American and foreign automakers went to the White House on Friday to push for a weakening of U.S. fuel efficiency standards through 2025, while President Donald Trump used the occasion to launch a fresh attack on the North American Free Trade Agreement that has benefited the companies. A draft proposal circulated by the U.S. Transportation Department would freeze fuel efficiency requirements at 2020 levels through 2026, rather than allowing them to increase as previously planned. Trump's administration is expected to formally unveil the proposal later this month or in June. "We're working on CAFE standards, environmental controls," Trump told reporters at the top of the meeting, referring to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars and light trucks in the United States. Trump said he wants automakers to build more vehicles in the United States and export more vehicles. But much of the hour-long meeting focused on NAFTA. Trump blasted the pact involving the United States, Canada and Mexico as "terrible" and noted that negotiations to make changes sought by his administration were ongoing. "NAFTA has been a horrible, horrible disaster for this country and we'll see if we can make it reasonable," Trump said. Automakers have called NAFTA a success, allowing them to integrate production throughout North America and make production competitive with Asia and Europe, and have noted the increase in auto production over the past two decades with the deal in place. They have warned that changing NAFTA too much could prompt some companies to move production out of the United States. The chief executives of General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Fiat Chrysler, along with senior U.S. executives from Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co, Honda Motor Co , BMW AG and Daimler AG met with Trump, as did the chief executives of two auto trade groups. Major automakers reiterated this week they do not support freezing fuel efficiency requirements but said they want new flexibility and rule changes to address lower gasoline prices and the shift in U.S. consumer preferences to bigger, less fuel-efficient vehicles.

Acura TLX Type S vs. BMW M340i xDrive | Sport sedan comparison test

Luxury sport sedans are still turning up on the market, and the Acura TLX Type S is one of the freshest cuts of meat in the window. It’s AcuraÂ’s big return to Type S performance models. Benchmarked against the proverbial best performance sedans of the segment, Acura is aiming to not just to compete, but to win dogfights like these. To see if the return of Type S is all itÂ’s cracked up to be, we decided to pin it up against the historical king of sport sedan shootouts: a BMW 3 Series. Specifically, the Type S is taking on the M340i xDrive, which is this AcuraÂ’s most natural competitor from Munich. Should the diehard BMW driver make the switch to Japanese performance? Does Type S do enough to lift this Acura up to best GermanyÂ’s finest? There are a lot of variables at play here, and they all make it complicated to choose a winner. The similarities between these two begin from the top of the spec sheet and go down. Both have 3.0-liter turbocharged six-cylinder engines — BMW arranges its cylinders inline, while Acura chooses a V configuration. Quick-shifting automatic transmissions are standard. BMW uses an eight-speed unit, while Acura uses a 10-speed. Both get electronically-controlled dampers, big brakes and sticky summer rubber. They each offer up usable backseat space and reasonably-sized trunks. WeÂ’d feel just as confident showing up to an important business meeting in either one as we would at a track day. ThatÂ’s the beauty of this mid-tier performance segment. After looking at their specs, it shouldn't be surprising that the M340i is the quicker of the two here. Its 382 horsepower and 368 pound-feet of torque hit noticeably harder from any speed than AcuraÂ’s 355 horses and 354 pound-feet of torque. The Acura is also carrying an extra 232 pounds of curb weight over the Bimmer, which makes the M340iÂ’s 1-second advantage in the 0-60 mph sprint make perfect sense. For the record, BMW quotes a 4.1-second time, and Acura only offers an approximate time of 5 seconds. Both estimates feel accurate. Beyond sheer acceleration, both engines offer up their own version of tingly feel-goods. BMWÂ’s inline-six is as smooth as ever as it plays its sonorous note all the way to the 7,000 rpm redline. There are few sounds in the automotive universe that surpass the glee we feel when listening to a BMW inline-six at full-chat, and that rule still applies to the M340i.