Vehicles 136

• Chevy has given the Blazer a facelift for the 2023 model year, with a new grille and LED headlights and taillights.
• The Blazer also gets a slew of new paint colors and a 10.0-inch touchscreen, up from 8.0 inches.
• The 2023 Chevy Blazer goes on sale this summer.

Earlier this year, Chevrolet announced that it will release an electric version of the Blazer in 2023. But before the crossover ditches the pump for the plug, Chevy is giving the existing Blazer a facelift for the 2023 model year, sharpening the exterior styling and modernizing the cabin with a larger touchscreen.

• The 1987 Porsche 959 Komfort shown here has a current bid of just over $1.6 million on the Bring a Trailer online auction website, with bids being taken until Monday, February 14.
  
• This 959 shows just 1300 kilometers (807 miles) on the odometer.
• The car could set a new Bring a Trailer sales price record, potentially beating a Porsche Carrera GT that sold on the site last month for $2 million.

Things are moving fast at Bring a Trailer (which, like C/D, is part of Hearst Autos). In January, the auction website had its most expensive sale ever, a Porsche Carrera GT that sold for just over $1.9 million. Then just two weeks later, another Carrera GT hit the $2 million mark. Now, there’s another car that stands a good chance of toppling that record: a 1987 Porsche 959 Komfort with just 1300 kilometers (807 miles) on its odometer. The current bid, with 10 days to go, is $1,651,959.

Even if it doesn’t set a new record, this Guards Red 959 has already doubled the price of the last 959 to appear on BaT, a silver example with 24,000 miles that failed to meet reserve at $810,000. That was five years ago, however, and 959 values certainly have risen since then.

This ultra-low-mileage example was imported into the United States in 2015 after spending time in a museum in Japan. Service in the past year includes a clutch slave cylinder, an air-conditioning recharge, and new tires. There is, however, mechanical work still to be done, as the selling dealer has disclosed that the height-adjustable feature of the suspension and the ABS brake feature are currently not functioning.

Bidders appear to be undaunted. Opportunities to purchase a Porsche 959 don’t come along often, as just 337 were built over the course of three years (1986–1988). The car was not sold in the United States when new, but it can now be imported.

The 959 was a mind-blowing supercar in its day and one of the most significant Porsches ever made. Its flat-six engine was derived from the motor that powered the 956 and 962 racing cars, and it produced 444 horsepower. Driving all four wheels, it was good for a sub-four-second zero-to-60-mph time and a top speed of 197 mph. In a period road test of the 959, C/D said, “We have just returned from West Germany, where we finally got a chance to drive the Porsche 959 on the street, and the word ‘perfect’ is difficult to avoid.” In 2020, we called the 959 one of the greatest cars of all time.

• Kia has announced the recall of more than 410,000 Forte, Sedona, and Soul vehicles to fix airbags that may not deploy in a crash.
• The recall includes the 2017–2018 Forte, the 2017 Forte Koup, and the 2017–2019 Sedona, Soul, and Soul EV.
• Kia said there have been no accidents or injuries as a result of the issue, and owners will be notified in March to bring in their vehicles for airbag replacement.
  

Kia will recall more than 410,000 of its vehicles in the U.S. to replace airbags that may not deploy in case of a crash. The problem, first spotted late last year by Kia service team members in South Korea and detailed in the NHTSA recall report, involves a faulty airbag control unit (ACU). The ACU’s cover could come into contact with other components on the circuit board and damage soldering joints, potentially leading to non-deployment of airbags in a crash. A warning sign is that the airbag warning light may come on and trigger a diagnostic code.

The vehicles recalled are 253,281 2017–2019 Kia Soul and 953 Soul EV models, with 47,690 Kia Sedona minivans from 2017–2019 and 108,693 2017–2018 Kia Forte cars also included.

Kia will send out notifications to owners starting in March.

• Photos of the 2023 Acura Integra’s interior have appeared on social media.
• The Integra was on display at the 24 Hours of Daytona race in Florida.
• The production Integra will go on sale later this year.

Whether it was intentional or not, Acura quietly revealed the interior of the 2023 Integra at the 24 Hours of Daytona race in Florida this weekend. While the Integra prototype reveal late last year didn’t include any photos or information about the new hatchback’s cabin, this car on display at the race appeared to have a production-ready cabin. User @Derphound01 sent these images to C/D via social media, and we can see that the Integra’s dashboard shares much with the Honda Civic’s.

Though there are some differences in materials and design, the honeycomb texture of the air vents and the three knobs for the climate control appear similar between the two cars. So does the tablet-style touchscreen infotainment system sticking out of the dash. The shift knob for the six-speed manual has the same metal finish as the Civic Si’s but is shaped differently.

The Integra also appears to have different seats than the Civic; in this example, the interior features a beige and black color scheme with leather upholstery. The steering wheel looks to have an “A-Spec” badge on the lower part of the rim, suggesting that the prototype shows the standard version of the Integra rather than the eventual Type S performance model.

We expect the standard Integra to share its powertrain with the Civic Si, meaning it will have a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four with around 200 horsepower. A six-speed manual will be available, but we don’t know if the Acura will offer the same continuously variable automatic transmission as the Civic or a different geared automatic. The Integra Type S is likely to use the more powerful turbo 2.0-liter inline-four from the upcoming 2023 Civic Type R.

We’ll hear more details about the production 2023 Integra later this year, as it’s set to go on sale soon, with the Integra Type S likely to follow later on.

• Chevrolet donated the first production version of the new Z06 that will roll off the line this summer, and bidders quickly decided this one would be worth owning. Before this weekend’s Barrett-Jackson auction, pundits thought it might fetch over a million dollars. Instead, it went for $3.6 million.
• That’s in part because the proceeds will go to Operation Homefront, which assists military veterans with their needs in transitioning back to civilian life in the U.S.
• The Z06, which has a 670-hp 5.5-liter V-8, will be priced starting at the more affordable price point of $90,000 when it starts reaching buyers later this year.

It was expected to sell for over a million dollars, but the first retail production 2023 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 70th Anniversary Edition ended up going for $3.6 million at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona, this weekend. That’s the auction company’s record for a car auctioned for charity, beating the first mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, which sold for $3 million in 2020 to benefit the Detroit Children’s Fund. Interestingly, the winning bidder was the same person for both Vettes: NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.

Cars like attract their fair share of attention, but there was another reason VIN #1 off the production line sold for over three times its expected value, and that’s because 100 percent of the proceeds from the sale will go to Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit organization that works “to build strong, stable, secure military families so they can thrive in the communities they have worked hard to protect.”

The parts used for the 670-hp 5.5-liter LT6 V-8 engine in this Corvette could be used in a race car, Corvette chief engineer Josh Holder told local ABC15 Arizona news station. That’s unsurprising since this is the highest-horsepower naturally aspirated production V-8 found in any production car, ever. Production on the new Z06 will start this summer and will start at around $90,000. By fetching $2.7 million more than that, it’s clear this auction was as much about the charity as the car.

Operation Homefront’s president & CEO, retired U.S. Army Brigadier General John Pray, told ABC15 that Operation Homefront has met more than 50,000 requests for assistance by spending a total of $35 million. Operation Homefront Tweeted out its thanks to Chevy for donating the vehicle, saying that “seeing the crowd so energized in support of our nation’s military and veteran families was inspiring.”

• This is the 2023 Toyota Sequoia full-size three-row SUV, and it shares many components with the 2022 Tundra pickup.
• It comes standard with the iForce MAX hybrid powertrain with a twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V-6 that produces a total of 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet of torque.
• Arriving in the summer, it’ll be available in SR5, Limited, Platinum, TRD Pro, and Capstone models starting at around $50,000.

Toyota is revamping its ancient body-on-frame offerings with technology from the modern era, including better interiors with massive touchscreens, coil-sprung rear suspensions, and more efficient powertrains. The 2022 Tundra pickup arrived first, aiming to capture a larger share of the full-size-pickup market dominated by Ford, Chevy, and Ram, and now the new 2023 Sequoia full-size SUV is here with similar upgrades. And it only comes as a hybrid.

Like the new Tundra, the Sequoia is built on Toyota’s TNGA-F platform, but it’s shorter in length compared with the full-size pickup. This platform also underpins the new global Land Cruiser and Lexus LX, but the former isn’t sold here anymore. The Sequoia now uses a solid rear axle instead of an independent setup like the previous-generation and the Chevy Tahoe, Ford Expedition, and Jeep Wagoneer. Rear air springs and adaptive dampers are available, and the off-road-oriented TRD Pro model has 2.5-inch Fox dampers with internal-bypass chambers and remote reservoirs and 33-inch Falken Wildpeak all-terrain tires.

Unlike the Tundra, which is available with a nonhybrid twin-turbocharged 3.4-liter V-6, the Sequoia comes standard with the iForce MAX hybrid setup. It has an electric motor between the twin-turbo V-6 and 10-speed automatic transmission that’s powered by a roughly 1.5-kWh nickel-metal-hydride battery pack. This combination provides 437 horsepower and 583 pound-feet of torque.

Toyota hasn’t announced fuel-economy estimates yet for the Sequoia or Tundra hybrids, but Sequoias can tow up to 9000 pounds. That’s 600 pounds more than the Chevy Tahoe’s max rating but less than the Ford Expedition’s and Jeep Wagoneer’s. To help with hauling, a towing technology package adds a trailer backup guide, and towing mirrors and a surround-view camera are available.

The Sequoia’s grille is somewhat downsized compared to the Tundra’s. It’s about 10 percent smaller than the pickup’s, since it’s not a single-frame look, but the rest of the front end is shared with the pickup, including the headlights. We think the Sequoia’s best angle is the rear three quarter view, which shows the thin taillights that complement the lights in the front. Among the exterior color choices are Lunar Rock and Supersonic Red.

Interior improvements first seen on the Tundra carry over into the Sequoia. An 8.0-inch touchscreen is standard on the SR5 model, but the large 14.0-inch touchscreen is available as an option on that trim on it and standard on the rest of the lineup. A 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster is standard, along with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability. It offers either a second-row bench or captain’s chairs, and the third-row bench seat can slide up to six inches and fold down to fit in an adjustable cargo shelf.

When it goes on sale this summer, the Sequoia will be available in SR5, Limited, Platinum, TRD Pro, and Capstone (a fully loaded, luxury model first introduced on the Tundra) models with two- or four-wheel drive available. A TRD Sport package is available on the SR5 model that adds black TRD wheels, Bilstein dampers, and other TRD accents. Newly available on the Sequoia SR5 and Limited models is a TRD off-road package, and it adds a locking rear differential, Bilstein dampers, black 18-inch TRD wheels, Multi-Terrain Select off-road drives modes, and off-road cruise control.

The 2023 Toyota Sequoia will be built alongside the Tundra at Toyota’s factory in San Antonio, Texas. Pricing is expected to start close to $50,000 and reach around $70,000 for the fully loaded Capstone model.