Drive Wire: November 5, 2015

Hyundai’s Genesis badge, a hotter XC90 from Volvo, a speedy Mustang, light-up gear, and longboarding down a mountain.

byThe Drive Staff|
Drive Wire: November 5, 2015
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Hey guys, it’s Christina Thompson, and this is Drive Wire for Thursday, November 5th.

Big luxury news from Hyundai…the Korean auto manufacturer has announced a new luxury line under the Genesis badge. The new marque will stand as a totally separate brand and, Hyundai says, will feature six new models by 2020. The Genesis “wing” badge is being redesigned to represent the entire line, which will feature a naming convention of the letter “G” followed by 70, 80, 90 and so on. Details of the actual cars are sparse, but we’re told they will feature advanced driving dynamics, a hassle-free ownership experience and, of course, every bell and whistle your pampered heart desires.

Volvo may be prepping a 350-plus horsepower Polestar XC90. Reports suggest Volvo will be coating its XC90 in the famous Polestar performance Electric Blue, adding some aggressive styling and letting it loose on the suburbs of America! According to Volvo’s Niels Moller, the added power would be wrung from the XC90’s current supercharged and turbocharged four-cylinder powertrain. Moller also said “everything is possible… SUV’s are hip now, so why not?” Long live the overpowered SUV!

Ladies and gentlemen, it is your turn to get in on the drag-racing action. Ford says it is perfectly willing to sell you an 8-second Mustang right off the lot. Well… more like out of the pages of the Ford performance catalog. The Cobra Jet Mustang is the first version of Ford’s purpose-built drag racer to use the new platform, and the company says it’s capable of 8-second quarter miles. The Cobra Jet is, to oversimplify things, a Mustang GT with a chunk of its engine replaced by higher-performance parts and a huge supercharger bolted on. And purists can rejoice—it’s the only Mustang you can buy with a solid rear axle. Ford will make just fifty of them, in blue and white only.

In gear news, an LA based company called Lumenus has introduced a line of LED backpacks and outerwear that will keep you out of harm’s way on your night rides. Lumenus vests, jackets, and backpacks feature turn signals and brake lights that automatically activate based on GPS and your activity. Check out Lumenus on Kickstarter for the latest on how to light up your ride.

In today’s ridiculous video, we join the Sector 9 longboarding team as they bomb down the Donner pass at upwards of 45 miles per hour. Sure, that may seem like a reasonable speed when you’re behind the wheel of a sports car, but things get a little hairier when your wheels are only three inches wide. We love the speed, aggression, and of course, the spandex.

That’s it for today’s edition of Drive Wire. For more, be sure to come back to thedrive.com, and follow us @thedrive on all your favorite social media platforms.

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