10 Biggest News Stories of the Week: Tesla Autopilots Past Ford Bronco Raptor
There ain’t no half-steppin’ if you’re Big Daddy Kane on the mic back in ’88, but if you’re a Tesla owner on autopilot in ‘22, you can meet in the middle of available self-driving capabilities. The ever-updating electric automaker has restored the Enhanced Autopilot option for its lineup, offering a happy medium between the standard driver-assist functions of Autopilot and the full self-driving of, well, Full Self-Driving — for a commensurately medium price.
Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: Ford Maverick Gets More Mileage Than Tesla Model Y, Model 3
In one of Cars.com’s most popular news articles of the past week, we report on the return of Enhanced Autopilot after its 2019 discontinuation. Previously available on Tesla cars for an extra $5,000, Enhanced Autopilot returns with a 20% markup — though that’s still half the upfront cost of Full Self-Driving. Building on standard Autopilot’s adaptive cruise control with hands-on lane-centering steering, the upgrade adds automatic steering for other common highway maneuvers. For full details on the once-again-available Enhanced Autopilot — including what you won’t get without upgrading all the way to Full Self-Driving — follow the link below to the No. 6 article on this week’s countdown.
Navigating its way to just below our Tesla self-driving coverage is Cars.com reviewer Brian Normile’s comprehensive critique of the 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor SUV — the high-performance, amped-up off-road incarnation of the resurrected-for-2021 Bronco. The Bronco Raptor is equally at home rock crawling or desert running, while boasting improved steering feel and increased towing capacity. Despite Normile’s mostly favorable assessment, the Bronco’s exhaust note underwhelms, its extraordinary width hinders some off-road abilities … and you most likely can’t get one for 2022 even if you wanted to, as orders have already closed.
“Should you get in line for a 2023 model, then? I enjoyed my time in the Bronco Raptor so much that it has rocketed up my ‘cash out my 401(k)’ list, but I’d also want to move somewhere where I could get to use its full abilities regularly,” Normile concludes in his review. “That’s the rub with the Bronco Raptor: It lives up to the Raptor name and is so good that not using it properly feels like a real shame to me.”
To determine for yourself whether the Bronco Raptor is worth treating your retirement savings with reckless abandon or, um, relocating for, follow the link below to the No. 7 article of the week.
Beyond all that, we have headlines on the Kia EV6, Lexus LX 600 and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:
1. Which Electric Cars Are Still Eligible for the $7,500 Federal Tax Credit?
2. Should You Buy Now or Wait to Save on a Car?
3. Which 3-Row SUVs Offer Captain’s Chairs?
4. Is the Kia EV6 a Good Electric Car? 5 Pros and 3 Cons
5. 2022 Cars.com American-Made Index: Which Cars Are the Most American?
6. Tesla Brings Back Enhanced Autopilot at Half the Cost of Full Self-Driving
7. 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor Review: A Better Bronco in Nearly Every Way
8. 2022 Cars.com American-Made Index: What About the Least American Cars?
9. Which Cars Have Head-Up Displays?
10. 2022 Lexus LX 600 Review: A Flagship Needs to Be Better
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