1979 Chevrolet Corvette Base Coupe 2-door 5.7l on 2040-cars

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Best car infotainment systems: From UConnect to MBUX, these are our favorites

Declaring one infotainment system the best over any other is an inherently subjective matter. You can look at quantitative testing for things like input response time and various screen load times, but ask a room full of people that have tried all car infotainment systems what their favorite is, and you’re likely to get a lot of different responses. For the most part, the various infotainment systems available all share a similar purpose. They aim to help the driver get where they're going with navigation, play their favorite tunes via all sorts of media playback options and allow folks to stay connected with others via phone connectivity. Of course, most go way beyond the basics these days and offer features like streaming services, in-car performance data and much more. Unique features are aplenty when you start diving through menus, but how they go about their most important tasks vary widely. Some of our editors prefer systems that are exclusively touch-based and chock full of boundary-pushing features. Others may prefer a back-to-basics non-touch system that is navigable via a scroll wheel. You can compare it to the phone operating system wars. Just like some prefer Android phones over iPhones, we all have our own opinions for what makes up the best infotainment interface. All that said, our combined experience tells us that a number of infotainment systems are at least better than the rest. WeÂ’ve narrowed it down to five total systems in their own subcategories that stand out to us. Read on below to see our picks, and feel free to make your own arguments in the comments. Best infotainment overall: UConnect 5, various Stellantis products Ram 1500 Uconnect Infotainment System Review If thereÂ’s one infotainment system that all of us agree is excellent, itÂ’s UConnect. It has numerous qualities that make it great, but above all else, UConnect is simple and straightforward to use. Ease of operation is one of the most (if not the single most) vital parts of any infotainment system interface. If youÂ’re expected to be able to tap away on a touchscreen while driving and still pay attention to the road, a complex infotainment system is going to remove your attention from the number one task at hand: driving. UConnect uses a simple interface that puts all of your key functions in a clearly-represented row on the bottom of the screen. Tap any of them, and it instantly pulls up that menu.

Anti-purist 1963 Ferrari GTE sports hot rod Chevy V8

I remember reading a story around the time Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift came out. It focused on one of the star cars of that film, a 1967 Ford Mustang fastback that started the film as a shell, and in a pinch, was transformed into a modified masterpiece, complete with the RB26DETT engine from a Nissan Skyline GT-R (which started the film under the hood of an S15 Silvia). There was a genuine (and in our minds, absurd) fear in the article that taking a piece of classic American iron and fitting a twin-turbocharged JDM engine would result in some awful trend in the classic car community. If you thought a GT-R-powered classic Mustang was sacrilege, though, this car will probably make you vomit. For the rest of us, it's a neat piece of engineering. Shown above is a 1963 Ferrari 250 GTE, and yes, that's a 302-cubic-inch, small-block Chevrolet V8 under the hood. On top of that, it uses the six-speed manual transmission from a Viper, a nine-inch Ford rear end, and Mitsubishi-sourced paint. So yeah, it's a FrankenFerrari. Check out Road Heads' interview with this custom GTE's owner, which is followed by a brief test drive. And of course, head into Comments afterwards, and let us know what you think. Is this Yankee-powered 250 GTE blasphemous or badass?

2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV output jumps to 754 hp and 785 lb-ft

A couple of days ago, GMC unleashed its 2024 Sierra EV Denali Edition 1 pickup, the luxury truck division's version of the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV. As has been the case between Chevy and GMC for decades, GMC designers worked to put ample visual difference between the two pickups that share the similar underpinnings. Unlike what's been the historical case, GMC announced output figures for the Sierra EV well above those for the Silverado. Preliminary estimates for the battery-electric Sierra with the dual-motor powertrain are 754 horsepower and 785 pound-feet of torque. Chevy revealed the 2024 Silverado EV in January with 664 hp and 785 lb-ft in RST trim. We're not sure what happened after the GMC debut, but the Bowtie has updated the Silverado's output to match the GMC with 754 hp and 785 lb-ft. Chevy truck communications spokesperson Sean Szymkowski submitted a statement to various outlets explaining, "As we prepare for production of the Silverado EV, our engineering team has further refined the estimated performance specs for the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV RST First Edition. GM now estimates horsepower to be up to 754 and torque up to an estimated 785 lb-ft when Wide Open Watts mode is engaged." It's possible Chevrolet did so in order to forestall backlash about the disparity, or it's possible the automaker already planned to do so after the GMC dropped. On the ICE side, buyers have got used to powertrain parity, the Silverado and Sierra offering the same engines with the same outputs even with pricing about $3,600 apart on the respective top trims. No matter how the decision was made, the benefits redound to Silverado EV buyers. By the way, the "Wide Open Watts" reference refers to the driving mode required to extract these peak power figures. In the GMC Sierra EV, this is called Max Power Mode. We're still looking for clarity on the output figures in everyday driving modes, we believe those will be the same 510 hp and 615 lb-ft that's the maximum in the lower trim Silverado EV Work Truck.    With a year to wait before the Silverado RST EV reaches reservation holders, and with the Chevrolet Work Truck providing real-world feedback before the RST arrives, don't be surprised at more tweaks made to both the Silverado and Sierra EVs before they hit the market. Related video: GMC reveals the all-electric 2024 Sierra EV