Senior Columnist, Performance & Combustion

Hank Whitaker

Hank Whitaker learned to drive on a hill his father would not let him roll back on, and has been administering that test to the rest of the world ever since. He writes about engines and the manual gearbox at a volume the copy desk has stopped fighting. He keeps a fleece vest he refuses to wear, as evidence. On the machine that claims to feel what a clutch feels, he is available for comment, at length.

Honors

Truck Writer of the Year The Southern New Mexico Auto Press Association, 2025
Lifetime Achievement in Horsepower The Manifold Appreciation Society of Greater Akron, 2024
Defender of the Combustion Tradition The Sons of the Carburetor, Lodge No. 12, 2025
Keeper of the Flame, Ceremonial and Literal The Sons of the Carburetor, Lodge No. 12, 2025

Hank's Work

Performance & Combustion

Ram Puts a Gooseneck Box on the Power Wagon. Imprison the Engineer.

Orders are open for the 2027 Ram 2500 Power Wagon with the Cummins High-Output turbo diesel, and for the first time the Power Wagon diesel can be optioned with fifth-wheel and gooseneck preparation. The front sway bar still unbolts itself for a rock.

Performance & Combustion

Dodge Printed the Row That Embarrasses Dodge. Pension That Man.

The 2027 Charger Super Bee Launch Edition arrives with 600 horsepower, SAE-certified, and with 16-inch Brembos standard on a six-cylinder Charger for the first time. Dodge also printed a 2015 Hellcat in its own comparison table, where the older car's quarter mile is quicker.

Performance & Combustion

Suppy's Garage Took the All-Wheel Drive Out of a Charger. Bronze Them.

Dodge's answer to a customer who wants rear-wheel drive is a button. The builders of two Hemmings drift Chargers took out the hardware under it, and the 750 horsepower Dodge now claims is a figure its own release calls a conservative estimate.

Performance & Combustion

Volkswagen Has to Grow Its Own Technicians. Try Somebody for That.

A car company in Tennessee could not find enough people who could do skilled work with their hands, so it built a school and taught them itself. Twenty-seven graduated this year, and somebody should answer for why that was necessary.

Performance & Combustion

AMG Built a Car With No Engine and Recorded a Six. Canonize the Acousticians.

A drive program in the GT 53 4-Door Coupe plays an authentically reproduced combustion engine sound at the touch of a button. AMG captured that engine across 16 microphone positions on the road, and it is not in this car.

Performance & Combustion

Ram Prices the Fix for the Truck It Called Finished. Try Them.

Ram calls the Rumble Bee SRT record-setting, then announces the part that will replace the supercharger it just fitted. One signature went on the window sticker and another went on the catalogue.

Performance & Combustion

Dodge's Big Viper ACR News Is a Livery. Exile the Signers.

Dodge, LEGO and Microsoft put a LEGO Technic livery on the 2016 Viper ACR in Forza Horizon 6, and that is the announcement. One room built that engine by hand. A different room signed this.

Performance & Combustion

Genesis Aims Fake Engine Noise at the Sidewalk. Jail the Committee.

Genesis built its first high-performance car, did the hardware properly, and then did not trust it. The speakers point outward, at you, and the engine they play does not exist.

Performance & Combustion

Audi's New Flagship Has a V8. Everybody Recants Now.

Audi's first-ever SQ9 is a three-row family SUV with a twin turbo V8, a locking rear differential and wider tires at the back than at the front. Every man who read the eight-cylinder engine its last rites has some explaining to do.

Performance & Combustion

Porsche Refused, Ford Repented, Nissan Tied for First. Sentence All Three.

JD Power asked owners of new 2026 cars how they felt after 90 days. Porsche answered by standing still. Ford answered by fixing itself. Nissan's Armada and Murano tied for first in their segments. No release prints a price.

Performance & Combustion

The V8 Obituary Writers Don't Shop. Canonize Dodge.

Dodge just made the 392-cubic-inch HEMI® V-8 standard on the three-row Durango R/T for the first time, and Dodge says the Launch Edition allocation sold out in six hours. The figures are Dodge's, 475 horsepower and 8,700 pounds of towing, and there is no price, so I put no value on it.

Performance & Combustion

Ram Builds a Blown V8 in the Battery's Year. Sanctify Somebody.

Ram just printed a seven-engine Ram 1500 lineup and put a 777-horsepower supercharged HEMI® on top, then built four Rumble Bee muscle trucks and a TRX SRT while the rest of the business read the V8 its last rites. Ram calls the Rumble Bee SRT the most powerful street-performance V8 pickup ever and targets 170 mph, and the only price it prints is the Warlock's $52,865.

Performance & Combustion

Ram Builds a 777-hp Truck That Drives Itself. Give It to Olivia.

Ram calls the 2027 1500 TRX SRT the most powerful gas-powered off-road truck ever, 777 horsepower for $99,995, then made hands-free driving standard. A company built a driver's truck and volunteered to do the driving, so the loudest engine in America should go to the one colleague of mine who dreams of being chauffeured.

Performance & Combustion

Toyota Deleted the Back Seat. Canonize the Engineer.

Toyota pulled the rear seats out of its fastest Corolla and kept the clutch pedal, all to shave 66 pounds by its own preliminary math. Somebody signed that paper, and I want him canonized.

Performance & Combustion

A Road-Going V8 Revs to Ten Thousand. Convene the Court for the Committee That Chaperoned It.

Audi says its 4.0-liter V8 climbs to a motorsport 10,000 rpm on a public road, and then three electric motors and a battery turn up so it never has to sing alone. Read the charge.

Performance & Combustion

They Built 777 Horsepower by Hand for the Fourth. Give That Line a Holiday.

The first 2027 Ram 1500 TRX SRT trucks are shipping from Sterling Heights on America's 250th, and Ram calls it the most powerful gas half-ton ever built. Bolted together by union hands. This is not a product launch. It is scripture.

Performance & Combustion

Subaru Made a 670-HP BRAT. Canonize the Man Who Built It.

Subaru Motorsports USA and Vermont SportsCar took the humblest pickup ever sold and gave it 670 horsepower and 680 lb-ft, then sent it up the Goodwood hill. This is not engineering. This is grace, and grace gets a feast day.

Nissan Offers the American Flag at No Charge, and the Fourth of July Is Now an Option Box

Nissan launched a 250th Anniversary Edition Frontier: a monochromatic Stars and Stripes tailgate badge, 2,500 units, PRO-4X only, at no additional charge. Three columnists reached for the inbox at the same time.

Performance & Combustion

GMC Builds Two New V8s and the Eighth Cylinder Walks Free

GMC put two all-new naturally aspirated Small Block V8s into the 2027 Sierra 1500, in 5.7L and 6.6L, and made the big one standard at the top. The output figures are still locked in a drawer. The verdict is already in the metal.

Dodge Puts the Hellcat and the Demon on a Cargo Short

Dodge and Under Armour turn the SRT lineup into a baselayer, a cargo short, and a cleat. Three columnists rule on whether a man may wear the horsepower he did not earn.

Jaguar Crossed Out Its Own Name. One of Us Wants a Trial, the Other a Museum.

Jaguar lapped electric prototypes through Monaco, named the car, struck through its own logo, and disclosed no price, no range, and no date. Hank Whitaker calls it a homicide. Olivia Mercer calls it an overdue hospice admission. The two are no longer speaking.

Performance & Combustion

The Six-Hour Race Refuses to Die, and Nobody's Watching It Survive

Two Acuras split by hundredths on a June grid. Six hours to settle it. And you won't watch a lap.

Quick Takes: Mercedes-Benz Marks 140 Years With a Fashion Show

The brand pairs seven historic cars with seven soccer nations and a KidSuper capsule collection. The bench responds.

JD Power 2026 IQS: A Compact Kia Finishes Second in the Country

The K4 ranks second highest in initial quality across the industry, and the Rogue tops its segment for the first time.

Performance & Combustion

Split Decision: Is the Ram TRX SRT the Last Combustion Monument or the First That Drives Itself Home?

Ram opened orders on a 777-horsepower supercharged HEMI with standard hands-free driver assist. Two columnists work the same spec sheet and arrive at opposite places.

Quick Takes: Dodge and Under Armour Go to the Closet

Dodge and Under Armour launch a Hellcat-and-Demon apparel collection. The bench tries it on.

Electric & Future Technology

Split Decision: Did Jaguar Honor the 'Type' Name or Strike It Out?

Jaguar runs Type 01 prototypes through Monaco and wraps them in a strikethrough it calls a design language. Two columnists disagree on what it means.

Quick Takes: Jeep's 'Wranglers for Washington'

Jeep's patriotic sweepstakes survives to the knockout round. The bench weighs in.

Split Decision: What Does the Lexus Overtrail Video Actually Prove?

Lexus shows the GX and LX Overtrail off-road in a three-part video series. Two columnists disagree on what it proves.

Performance & Combustion

Three Pedals, Two Seats, One Point: Toyota Was Listening

Toyota deleted two seats, kept all three pedals, and built the car the soft-shoe men keep insisting nobody wants.

Performance & Combustion

The Heartbeat of America Is Back, and I Hate That It Got Me

Chevrolet dusted off a forty-year-old slogan for the country's 250th birthday. I came to scoff. I stayed to salute.

Performance & Combustion

Six Hours of The Glen Is the Last Honest Exam in This Business

Acura goes back to Watkins Glen on Sunday with two hybrid ARX-06s and a record that no software can fake. Good. The clock cannot be charmed.

Performance & Combustion

They Sent a Defender to a Knife Fight, and It Came Home Walking

Three luxury off-roaders went to a real rally raid and finished. That is the whole verdict, and it is enough.