Skip to main content

Honda and Chevy celebrate at Daytona, while Ford goes home empty-handed

In 1966, a Ford GT40 won the Daytona 24 Hours, a prelude to the car’s legendary victory over Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Five decades later, Ford hoped to commemorate that win with a command performance from its all-new GT, but that didn’t happen.

The production-based GTs and Ford’s Daytona Prototypes were defeated at the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona. The overall win and Prototype class victory went to a Ligier-Honda JSP2, while the GTLM class win that the Ford GT was angling for went to arch-rival Chevrolet and its Corvette C7.R.

Recommended Videos

While the Prototype cars are the ones in contention for the overall win, all eyes were on the two production-based classes (GTLM and GTD) this year because they encompassed a swarm of new cars. In addition to the Ford GT, the GTLM also saw the launch of the Ferrari 488 GTE and BMW’s new M6 racer. BMW aimed for a class win to kick off the celebration of its 100th anniversary, but both newcomers were left in the wake of the veteran Corvettes and Porsche 911s, which spent most of the race dueling each other.

The red-white-and-blue Ford GTs certainly looked good on the track, but they were plagued with mechanical issues. Less than an hour into the race, the number 67 car developed an electrical problem that left it stuck in sixth gear. Problems continued for both cars, keeping them out of contention. The Corvettes, meanwhile, crossed the finish line side by side, with the number 4 car taking first in class by just 0.034 second.

While Ford was on the offensive in GTLM, it was on the defensive in Prototype. Its Daytona Prototype (which uses a similar 3.5-liter turbocharged EcoBoost V6 to the production GT) won last year, but wouldn’t earn a repeat victory. Instead, Honda marked its first Daytona win with a car built by French firm Ligier, and powered by a new HR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engine. The engine is based on a V6 used in Honda production cars, and even uses the factory-stock oil filter.

In GTD, the brand-new Lamborghini Huracán GT3 looked fast, but ultimately fell to corporate cousin Audi’s second-generation R8 LMS, which made its North American racing debut at Daytona. The race gets the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season off to an exciting start, with teams now looking to the 12 Hours of Sebring in March. Meanwhile, Ford still has plenty of time to sort out the GT’s reliability issues before the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.

Stephen Edelstein
Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…
I drove 500 miles with Android Automotive, here’s why every car needs it
Google News on Android Automotive on the Chevy Equinox 2025

The worlds of smartphones and cars have long been colliding, as Google and Apple have prioritized building new experiences with CarPlay and Android Auto, respectively, even as carmakers have continued to develop their own infotainment experiences. 

Despite the success of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, both platforms have key issues, namely that they run on top of the car’s operating system, which means they lack the tight integration that yields the best experience and rely on your phone for certain functions. To address these issues, both companies have also been developing operating systems that can power cars.

Read more
Uber partners with May Mobility to bring thousands of autonomous vehicles to U.S. streets
uber may mobility av rides partnership

The self-driving race is shifting into high gear, and Uber just added more horsepower. In a new multi-year partnership, Uber and autonomous vehicle (AV) company May Mobility will begin rolling out driverless rides in Arlington, Texas by the end of 2025—with thousands more vehicles planned across the U.S. in the coming years.
Uber has already taken serious steps towards making autonomous ride-hailing a mainstream option. The company already works with Waymo, whose robotaxis are live in multiple cities, and now it’s welcoming May Mobility’s hybrid-electric Toyota Sienna vans to its platform. The vehicles will launch with safety drivers at first but are expected to go fully autonomous as deployments mature.
May Mobility isn’t new to this game. Backed by Toyota, BMW, and other major players, it’s been running AV services in geofenced areas since 2021. Its AI-powered Multi-Policy Decision Making (MPDM) tech allows it to react quickly and safely to unpredictable real-world conditions—something that’s helped it earn trust in city partnerships across the U.S. and Japan.
This expansion into ride-hailing is part of a broader industry trend. Waymo, widely seen as the current AV frontrunner, continues scaling its service in cities like Phoenix and Austin. Tesla, meanwhile, is preparing to launch its first robotaxis in Austin this June, with a small fleet of Model Ys powered by its camera-based Full Self-Driving (FSD) system. While Tesla aims for affordability and scale, Waymo and May are focused on safety-first deployments using sensor-rich systems, including lidar—a tech stack regulators have so far favored.
Beyond ride-hailing, the idea of personally owned self-driving cars is also gaining traction. Waymo and Toyota recently announced they’re exploring how to bring full autonomy to private vehicles, a move that could eventually bring robotaxi tech right into your garage.
With big names like Uber, Tesla, Waymo, and now May Mobility in the mix, the ride-hailing industry is evolving fast—and the road ahead looks increasingly driver-optional.

Read more
The Ioniq 5 is once again eligible for the $7,500 tax credit
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5

After a brief and confusing absence, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 is once again eligible for the full $7,500 federal tax credit — and this time, it's sticking around (at least for now). So, what happened? Let’s unpack the ride.

The Ioniq 5, a sleek and tech-savvy electric crossover, initially made headlines not just for its design, but for being built at Hyundai’s brand-new Metaplant in Georgia. That domestic assembly qualified it for the EV tax credit under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which requires vehicles to be made in North America with batteries sourced from trade-friendly countries. But early in 2025, the Ioniq 5 vanished from the list. Why? Likely due to its battery packs, which were then still being sourced from SK On’s Hungarian facility.

Read more