MAMA Spring Rally ‘26

MAMA Spring Rally ‘26
By Steve Purdy
© Shunpiker Productions, LLC
For TheAutoChannel.com [Title Image]

Here we are again in the verdant, rural, springtime charm of east central Wisconsin where the Midwest Auto Media Association gathers for the annual Spring Rally – certainly one of the premier events for automotive journalists. The MAMA team assembles about 75 journalists with at least that many cars attended by automaker staffs allowing those of us who do this for a living to experience and evaluate all those cars all at once.

The venue is the famous Road America racing facility where we use the epic four-mile race track, multiple off-road courses through the surrounding woods, a purpose-built go-kart track for autocross competition, and miles and miles of rural backroads winding through the morainic hills.

As you might imagine, it’s also a great time to socialize among these good folks who work so hard to bring you the best information about automobiles and light trucks. It’s hard work, we agree, but someone has to do it. Highlights:

*Toyota RAV4 – The newest edition - the 6th generation since its introduction in 1996 - exhibits even more edgy, crisp styling, a plethora of upgrades, and priced from $31,900 to $48,500. The one on display during our day-one presentation at breakfast at Road America was a rich red with black top, wheels, and trim – striking, indeed. In the mid 90s it was among the first compact crossovers to come into the market and has been Toyota’s biggest seller outpacing the Camry and even knocking the Ford F150 out of the top selling vehicle honors in the U.S. a couple of times. No longer is a gas only version offered – they are all hybrids now. Good lookin’, competent in every way, and sharing the Toyota reputation for dependability, the new RAV4 is a winner.

*My best interior award goes to Infiniti’s QX65, their large, three-row crossover. It is simple, uncluttered, and functional but best of all the seats, dash and console are trimmed in a rich orange, pleated and textured leather, offering a look and feel of sport and luxury in equal measures.

*The worst user interface award goes to the raucous Mercedes-Benz E53 AMG. The steering wheel dash and center stack are way overpopulated with buttons, indicator lights, and mysterious icons, and the touch screen didn’t recognize my touch well. The driving experience was disappointing, not for lack of power because it has gobs and gobs of horsepower and torque, but it has a good three seconds of turbo lag. Put your foot in it and it has to take a slow deep breath before launching like a wild boar.

*By far my favorite driving experience of the day was the new Lucid Gravity crossover. It’s quite low slung for an SUV pretender, but the ride height is adjustable. Its charm is both in style and performance – sleek, simple and really fast. I counted a 0-to-60 time of just about 3 seconds. Our Lucid media guy says it’s 3.5 seconds. Most interesting is the adjustable regenerative braking that, when set at the maximum, acts like a one-pedal system that brings us to a full stop as quickly as we like without ever touching the brake pedal. The cockpit is among the most beautiful and functional in the luxury market with broad instrument panel and large touch screen leaning toward the driver and at the perfect level for an easy touch.

*Most surprising discovery was the new line of Dodge Chargers. Since I haven’t done product reviews in recent years I missed the news of Stellantis’ bottom-up redesign of the Charger platform in order to accommodate a BEV variant. The Challenger retired but a 2-door version of the Charger is added. Biggest news is the replacement of the honorable Hemi with – get this – an in-line six. Can you believe it? I drove the Charger before learning of all this news and I marveled at the guttural roar that sounded like the V8 noises we love and performance to match. I don’t know how the acoustic engineers manage that but certainly an award should be proffered. And the powertrain engineers get kudos for that twin turbo, 3-liter six making more horsepower and torque than the Hemi. If that’s not enough to pique your interest, I’ll report that the new Charger’s interior is designed with more aesthetic panache than anything we’ve seen from the brand since the 1960s.

*The best overall “feel” honors go to the Genesis GV80, in this reporter’s humble, but purely subjective, opinion. The brand’s largest crossover, the GV80 comes with a third-row seat, but that’s not its forte. Rather, it just satisfies the senses that go with a luxury drive.

*Most anachronistic offering by far is the Dodge Durango, in its current unibody configuration this one began in January of 2011. The body-on-frame editions began in 1998. The Durango’s basic design appears unchanged but the raucous V8’s – 2 of ‘em – are still available. Electronics, accessories, and interiors have been updated but the style, noise, and ambiance celebrate the muscle truck image. Again, kudos to the acoustic engineers.

The MAMA Spring Rally has outpaced the major motor shows as the place where journalists get the inside scoop on what’s new and cool in the business. Of course, being able to drive them all makes it way better than a static show with a press conference, and the inclusion of track time and off-road courses make it all the better.

I find it amazing and inspiring to be immersed in so many examples of the ever-evolving variety of automotive offerings. The engineering and aesthetics hold surprises every time we look.