Ezra Dyer’s 2024 Automotive Year in Review

This year I took 6481 photos, most of them of cars.

I’m lying, of course: most of them were of dogs, closely followed by my family and strange spiders I was trying to identify.

But there were lots of cars. Just today I’ve taken two photos of cars: a Range Rover Evoque convertible parked with the top down and a silver Subaru WRX that looked quite fetching. Going through my photo roll is an exercise in reliving automotive adventures—and misadventures. Not all of this made it into a column or review, so please enjoy this potpourri of explication about 10 highlights of the year including my speeding ticket, a concept-car drive that went awry, and a test car that was tempting enough to send me to the dealership.

More of C/D’s Year in Review

In Praise of Soul Red

I love when mainstream cars offer exotic paint options, and a Soul Red Crystal Metallic Mazda 3 is the epitome of a regular car with million-dollar paint. I drove one back in January, and besides the overall goodness of the 3 (especially in Turbo guise), that bottomless red paint tells the world that you don’t have to buy a Porsche to dress your car in a rare shade. Soul Red is a $595 option, but I’d consider it mandatory.

The Automatic Supra Is Still Good



We’re all glad that Toyota decided to offer a manual transmission in the Supra (leading BMW to follow suit in the Z4), but the automatic Supra is still a fine way to burn a set of rear tires. In fact, it might be better at that particular game—and what’s the point of a Supra if not gratuitous burnouts?

I Got a Speeding Ticket in a VW Atlas Cross Sport




I posit that the Volkswagen Cross Sport’s slinky shape might’ve contributed to my only speeding ticket of the year—an alleged 80 mph in a 60-mph zone. That’s because, to fit the detritus of a weekend ski trip to the North Carolina mountains, I had to use my hitch-mount cargo carrier for overflow items like skis and a cooler. And I knew how that heightened the yuppie-scum image I projected to the Statie who pulled me over, in a way that a standard packed-up SUV wouldn’t. So I got a ticket, but when he told me I was going 80 mph, I thought there was no way I’d seen 80 on the speedometer. Long story short, I went to court, blamed the car, and got the ticket reduced to a vehicle defect citation. Which still worked out to $250, but okaky. Other than that, I did enjoy the Atlas, but I’d go for the big-box SUV variant, myself.

I Drove the Cybertruck



My bold prediction here: Tesla will repackage the good stuff underneath the Cybertruck in a shape that that doesn’t immediately alienate 95 percent of the populace. Because it is fun to drive, even if nobody cares that it has a 48-volt windshield wiper motor.

The Video You Didn’t See: Acura TLX Type S



So, I shot a video on the Acura TLX Type S, explaining how it’s the grownup sibling of the bratty Integra Type S—the car you grow into when you want a little more refinement and all-wheel drive. I recruited my friend Tim, who owns an Integra Type S, to compare the cars side by side. It all went great, and the TLX went on its way, only for me to later discover that there was a problem with the camera and the video looked wonky. You know what that sounds like? An excuse to drive the TLX Type S again in 2025.

The Infiniti QX50 Can Tow, But You’ll Need a Long Hitch



The Infiniti QX50 is rated to tow 3000 pounds, so I figured I’d give that VC-Turbo engine a workout and tow my utility trailer with some ATVs. But when I went to install my universal straight hitch, I discovered that the QX50 receiver is buried so far under the rear end, the hitch ball interferes with the bumper before you can even get the pin in. Now, a drop hitch would maybe help here, but the receiver is already so close to the ground, I was worried a drop hitch might kiss the pavement on bumps. The solution would seem to be a really long hitch, which is something I don’t own because I’ve never encountered this situation. Maybe this is Infiniti’s way of saying you should just stick to the bike rack.

The Other Story That Went Sideways: The Mercedes C111



During Pebble Beach/Monterey Car Week, I got a rare chance to drive a rotary-powered Mercedes C111 concept car at the Salinas airport. But there was a time crunch, so I only got a few passes that day. However, there was a plan to spend a whole day driving the C111 on public roads—in North Carolina, no less. Mercedes had a classic drive planned for the mountains around Asheville in the fall, but Hurricane Helene had other plans, devastating Western North Carolina a couple days before the drive was scheduled. The car is now back in Germany, and I might still reunite with it, but in the meantime I can tell you that a 345-hp naturally aspirated four-rotor Wankel gullwing Mercedes represents an alternative reality that I wish came to fruition—the C111 pulls hard and smooth, sort of a like a posh mutant Mazda RX-7. But Benz couldn’t tame the rotary’s reliability challenges, and the C111 test bed ultimately proved that V-8s were the way to go for performance and long-term durability. This car is now my white—er, orange—whale, and I’ll keep pursuing another drive. Hopefully Benz reschedules its North Carolina classic rally, because Asheville is ready for a do-over, and so am I.

Best Worst Seat: A Removable Eighth Seat



The really decked-out versions of the Kia Carnival have second-row seats with power leg rests. But if you want maximum utility, you want the Carnival with the removable middle seat in the second row—leave it at home and you’ve got captain’s chairs, or click it into place for eight-passenger minibus mode. It’s not the most comfortable seat in the house, but when you need it, you’re glad it’s there. My only challenge was that I’m smart enough to remove the seat but not quite bright enough to reinstall it. I tried to shoot a quick video demonstrating the procedure for removing and reinstalling the seat, and removing it took 30 seconds but getting it latched back into place required nine minutes—the seat also slides fore and aft, and I somehow got the rails out of position side to side. But I bet that if I owned a Carnival, I’d probably get that routine at least 50 percent quicker and with 80 percent less swearing.

Badge Engineering Done Right: The Acura ZDX



The Acura ZDX is the finest Honda-GM SUV collab since the Saturn Vue Red Line. I think it’s the best-looking of the Ultium-platform SUVs, with one caveat: I’d be Plasti-Dipping that brightwork along the roofline before I even got home from the dealer. But 499 horsepower, cush air suspension and yellow-painted Brembo brakes make for an appealing package—nicer than a Blazer but sportier than a Lyriq. All it needs is the hearse-delete option.

I Bought a WRX



At the end of last year, I drove the new Subaru WRX TR in Sicily. Then I drove a TR here, and then I tested a WRX tS. All this WRX’ing got under my skin, because before Subaru’s tS even left my driveway, it was joined by an Ice Silver Metallic 2024 WRX Premium—manual transmission, of course. It’s awesome and I love it and I’m sure I’ll be writing more about it, but for now I’ll just say that if you’re reading this at the end of the year, then Subaru still has 0.9 percent financing for 48 months on 2024 WRXs. And if you want one as cheap as you can get it, the no-frills base model is still available for 2024. Now, WRX community, can someone please tell me where you get the body-color fender flares?



Ezra Dyer is a Car and Driver senior editor and columnist. He’s now based in North Carolina but still remembers how to turn right. He owns a 2009 GEM e4 and once drove 206 mph. Those facts are mutually exclusive.