Auto News: New Mustang Engines, Corvette E-Ray Leak, Ferrari F50 Auction Record, & Country’s ‘Scroogiest’ Drivers Ranked By State

This last week before the big holiday is dominated by performance news. Ford revealed new powerplant options for the next-gen Mustang, and more power is most definitely on the menu. Meanwhile, Chevy ‘accidentally’ shared images of the upcoming hybrid Corvette. Named E-Ray, it will offer over 600 hp and an AWD setup. Over at RM Sotheby’s swanky Miami auction, some go-fast enthusiast helped set a new sales record by laying out a jaw-dropping $5.395M for a 1995 Ferrari F50.

Plus, GasBuddy names and shames the country’s most aggressive drivers and you might be surprised at which states dominated the list. And The Engine Block looks at a new study that claims a link between auto accidents and vaccination status reveals certain risk-taking behaviors that auto insurers could use to adjust rates.

Corvette E-Ray Hybrid Leaked

Back in April, Chevy announced its plans for an ‘electrified’ Corvette. The automaker teased the new hybrid model, dubbed E-Ray, and alluded to its all-wheel drive setup, familiar widebody styling and 600+ horsepower.

Thanks to some eagle-eyed ‘Vette fans, it appears these assumptions can all be confirmed.

Earlier this month, the new E-Ray ‘accidentally’ popped up in Chevy’s online configurator. It has since been taken down, but not before Corvette enthusiasts and bloggers snagged a few screenshots.

Details remains fuzzy, but here’s what we do know based on the leak:

• Powerful hybrid powertrain
• E-Ray badging
• All-wheel drive
• Bodywork of C8 Z06 but quad exhaust pipes of regular C8
• Three new exterior colors: Sea Wolf Gray, Riptide Blue Metallic, and Cacti Green
• Unique wheel design with carbon-fiber option available
• ZER Performance Package available
• New interior color (Artemis Green) and trim options
• “Regen on Demand” button to adjust regenerative braking
• Photos show no charge ports, meaning this likely will not be a plug-in hybrid

No word on pricing, but speculative estimates place the E-Ray somewhere in the $150,000 territory. Guess we’ll find out this summer, when the new Corvette will be available.

2024 Mustang Power Numbers

Across town, Ford revealed its own exciting performance news by dropping the official engine output numbers for the seventh-generation Mustang.

The 2024 GT model will pack an impressive 486 ponies and 418 pound-feet of torque compliments of the 5.0-liter Coyote V-8 under the hood. Ford says this new fourth-generation Coyote is its best yet, with Mustang chief engineer Ed Krenz calling it “naturally aspirated awesomeness.”

Those seeking more thrills can step up to the Dark Horse performance variant. Featuring a specially-engineered Coyote, it generates a benchmark-setting 500 hp and 418 lb.-ft. of torque to create the most powerful non-Shelby edition ever. Engine upgrades include a uniquely balanced crankshaft and forged piston connecting rods, as well as strengthened camshafts.

The automaker didn’t ignore its standard EcoBoost offering either. The all-new 2.3-liter engine produces 315 hp – the most standard power in a four- or six-cylinder Mustang ever – and thumps out 350 lb.-ft. of torque.

The all-new 2024 Mustang coupe and convertible models go on sale next summer, and will continue to be built at the Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan.

Did you know…?

Ford’s electric pickup, the F-150 Lightning, just picked up Motortrend’s 2023 Truck of the Year award. The win sets a precedent, as the F-150 Lightning is the first electric truck to win by a unanimous vote among the judges. It’s also only the second time an electric vehicle has won unanimously in the history of MotorTrend’s ‘Of The Year’ competitions.

Meet the Most Expensive Ferrari F50 – Ever

Earlier this month, RM Sotheby’s held a special “boutique” auction in South Beach, Miami. Held atop a renowned modernist parking structure, the event showcased a highly-curated selection of top-spec sports-racers and late-model supercars. There were 58 vehicles total on the menu, and a very exclusive guest list in attendance. Even RM Sotheby’s was calling the affair “chic,” which we just assumed was its default setting.

Now that the scene is set in your mind, it’s probably a little easier to understand how a tiny “capsule sale” was able to rake in over $40 million in total sales in just one night.

An impressive eight lots sold for over $1 million, but the icing on the cake was a 1995 Ferrari F50 that sold for $5.395M – the most expensive F50 ever sold at auction.

The last road car from Ferrari to sport a manual gearbox and a mid-mounted V-12, the F50 was even more exclusive than its predecessor the F40. Only 349 examples were produced, compared to the F40’s 1300.

“Those factors have been enough to keep this halo Ferrari in the spotlight for the long haul,” explain the collector car insurance experts at Hagerty. “The best F50s crossed the seven-figure mark nearly a decade ago.”

According to RM Sotheby’s, this particular F50 was No. 8 of 349 and had just two owners. Like many top-dollar auction sellers, it appears this model was rarely ever truly enjoyed – with just 625 miles clocked on the odometer over its 27 years.

Here’s hoping the new owner takes it for a spin now and again. (Though at that price tag, it’s doubtful.)

U.S Cities with ‘Scroogiest’ Holiday Drivers

After examining millions of drives during 2022’s Thanksgiving holiday weekend, GasBuddy thinks it has a lock on which U.S. cities harbor the most aggressive drivers. The company used data from its optional, opt-in “Drives Feature” in the GasBuddy app and tracked drivers in the top 50 metropolitan areas by population as defined by the United States Census Bureau. It defined aggressive driving habits as “quick acceleration, hard braking, and speeding.”

According to the survey, the following cities are squarely on the naughty list for being up to 54% more aggressive than the average driver:

• Tucson, AZ
• Jacksonville, FL
• Nashville, TN
• Orlando, FL
• Birmingham, AL
• Richmond, VA
• Oklahoma City, OK
• Tampa-St. Petersburg, FL
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Memphis, TN

With three cities on the list, Florida takes home the award as the most aggressive driving state overall. A few expected names – like Detroit and St. Louis – actually fell off the list this year.

Don’t worry, they generated a nice list too. Did your city make the cut?

• Portland, OR
• Cincinnati, OH
• Seattle, WA
• Las Vegas, NV
• Rochester, NY
• Providence, RI
• Minneapolis, MN
• Cleveland, OH
• Columbus, OH
• Buffalo, NY

The complete city rankings can be found here.

IIHS Adjusts Safety Crash Test

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) just updated its longest-running test to address an alarming gap between front and rear seat safety.

Introduced in 1995, the “moderate overlap front evaluation” helped spur automakers’ engineering efforts and make vehicles safer now than ever before. Unfortunately, backseat riders haven’t benefitted from the same advancements.

Drivers in most vehicles today are nearly 50% less likely to be killed in a frontal crash than they were 25 years ago, according to IIHS President David Harkey. But data shows rear seat passengers have a 46% greater risk of fatal injury than front-row passengers – a gap the institute felt necessary to address.

So, researchers updated the test to study backseat safety. Of 15 small SUVs, only the 2023 Ford Escape and 2021-2023 Volvo XC40 performed well enough to earn ‘good’ ratings. The Toyota RAV4 earned an ‘acceptable’ mark, and the Audi Q3, Nissan Rogue and Subaru Forester all rated ‘marginal’. The remaining nine rated ‘poor’.

Learn more about the test – and where your vehicle ranks – HERE.

New Traffic Study Makes Waves

As if folks didn’t have enough to argue about these days, a new traffic study published in The American Journal of Medicine has lit up online comment sections across the internet.

Researchers in Canada set out to study whether COVID vaccination was associated with the risks of a traffic crash. They theorized that “individual adults who tend to resist public health recommendations [like a COVID vaccine] might also neglect basic road safety guidelines.”

Based on the results, they believe to be correct in their assumptions.

How did the study work?

Researchers evaluated the encrypted accident reports and vaccination status of 11 million+ drivers in Ontario, Canada from 2021. Of these adult drivers, 16% were unvaccinated.

According to researchers’ calculations – which you can learn more about here – the unvaccinated group was 72% more likely to be involved in a severe traffic crash than those drivers who received a vaccine. (A severe crash was defined as a situation in which at least one person involved in the accident had to be transported to the hospital).

What does the study mean?

Based on the analysis, researchers concluded that skipping the shot is a sign of risky behavior which extends to performance behind the wheel. Put another way: they believe to have found a correlation between vaccination status and auto accidents.

They equate the level of increased risk to be on par with those drivers who struggle with sleep apnea, and say it is high enough to exceed “the safety gains from modern automobile engineering advances and also imposes risks on other road users.”

Researchers noted that such risks might “justify changes to driver insurance policies in the future” – a little nugget that media outlets have really run with in the past week.

We encourage readers to remember:

• The factors that most determine auto insurance rates include the cost of the car and how expensive repairs would be, the type of coverage you’re purchasing, and your current driving record. Other important factors are your zip code, age, and credit score.

• It’s highly improbable that an auto insurer would risk alienating potential customers by demanding vaccine records. A much more likely scenario is one in which people who voluntarily submit their vaccination status could qualify for a discount. This is similar to how folks can allow an app to track their driving habits for money off their premium.

• Lastly, insurance rates are going up in 2023 for everyone. This is largely due to inflation, higher driving rates, and an overall nationwide increase in traffic accidents.

The Engine Block is your one-stop source for any and all auto industry news. Keep an eye on our weekly round-up of enthusiast coverage, product reviews, vehicle spotlights, auto show/expo features, and more. Be sure to check back Friday and meet the new 2023 Jeep lineup.