Hi, I'm John Davis and this is MotorWeek !

The stars have aligned for our Road Test of the Polestar 3... Then, we'll pull into the garage for a quick and smooth seminar on sanding... Stephanie Hart heads down the road in search of scaled-down classics... Then, we'll blast off in the out of this world McLaren 750S...

So, come drive with us, next!

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JOHN: While Polestar financially separated from Volvo in 2017, this all-electric brand still shares its platforms with its former parent.

However, while Volvo prioritizes practicality, Polestar is now more about performance.

So, let's jump in this Polestar 3 and see what this stylish Swedish treat has in store.

♪ ♪ They say, "third time is the charm."

Now, by saying that we're not at all implying that Polestar's first two efforts were less than successful, but this 2025 Polestar 3 does seem to be their most serious effort yet.

And the fact it's a small SUV certainly indicates they're aiming directly at the heart of what buyers are looking for these days.

But like many EVs, they also seem to be willing to sacrifice convenience for technology's sake, like...having to go through multiple steps on a touchscreen just to adjust the side mirrors or even open the glove box.

It makes us wonder why automakers have to go and make things so complicated.

At least here, the touchscreen is huge and very responsive.

A relatively smaller and fairly simple digital display provides info for the driver, and there are steering wheel buttons that carry out multiple functions.

It sure is a nice-looking SUV both inside and out.

The slick shape has traces of Volvo wagon heritage, but the long wheelbase, big wheels, and smooth face are clear indicators of the modern battery-powered era.

There is some resemblance to the Polestar 2 up front too, but the 3 uses a front wing to bridge the headlights and improve aerodynamics.

Ride quality is quite good, having a performance feel to it, without behaving harshly.

The only issue here is keeping speeds down to legal levels, as this thing wants to get down the road in a hurry whether you do or not.

Despite the lack of familiar switchgear inside, the interior space is nicely finished in the Swedish minimalist high style.

The front seats are terrifically comfortable, with a massage function available; and the rear seat room is quite generous.

Cargo space is a little less liberal with 21.1 cubic-feet, expanding to 49.8 with the seatbacks folded, plus, an additional 1.1 cubic-feet up in the frunk.

Our tester is the Launch Edition which includes the Pilot Pack's additional driver assist features; plus, upgraded premium features like, Bowers and Wilkins premium audio, improved sound deadening, and soft close doors; plus, Nappa Leather seating.

This 3 is available in 299 horsepower single-motor rear-wheel-drive or 489 horsepower dual-motor all-wheel-drive, and for now they all come with a 111 kilowatt hour Long Range battery for as much as 350 miles of range.

Launch Editions are all dual-motors with 620 pound-feet of torque to go along with the 489 horsepower, and a 315 mile rating.

Over a very cold early spring weekend, we used 72 percent of the battery to drive 193 miles, putting us on pace for closer to 268 miles.

250 kilowatt max DC charging will bring it back to 80 percent in just 30 minutes; and using 38 kilowatt hours of electricity per 100 miles earns the 3 a good efficiency rating.

Amazingly enough, even on the frigid surface at our Mason Dixon test track, the Polestar leapt off the line strongly with no wheelspin, shooting us to 60 in just 4.3 seconds.

It's a mostly silent experience down the track, with power continuing to pour on strongly until we hit around 80 miles per hour, when things become a bit less intense.

We finished out the quarter-mile in 13.0 seconds flat at 107 miles per hour.

A wealth of drive modes to add some aggression to the steering and suspension are available, giving you the ability to dial in the experience and feedback you're looking for.

Firm and Nimble were obvious settings for our task at hand, and indeed they delivered a great feedback for an EV and a comfortable amount of body roll through our handling course.

There was great grip through here as well, though with aggressive throttle inputs, we could even initiate some oversteer.

Braking was equally impressive, bringing us to smooth and controlled stops of just 97 feet from 60 miles per hour.

(car whooshing by) Polestar 3 pricing starts with the Single Motor at $68,900, and the Dual Motor beginning at $74,800.

More affordable options will arrive eventually.

You may have to re-think how you go about your normal driving tasks a little, but if you're willing to do that, the 2025 Polestar 3 will reward you with a fantastic performance-oriented driving experience.

One that makes every commute feel like a special outing.

♪ ♪ We talk about all different types of cars here on MotorWeek, but have you ever heard of Dwarf cars?

They're small handbuilt replicas of some of America's most recognizable classic cars.

Intrigued, our Stephanie Hart sought out the Arizona creator for a sit down and stroll through the Dwarf Car Museum and his passion.

♪ ♪ STEPHANIE HART: Quirky is one word I'd use to describe the Dwarf Car Museum here.

These dwarf cars are absolutely precious, they are so cute.

They are about half the size of a regular vehicle; and their all street legal, and some of them have even been driven across country.

The man behind this endeavor is 84-year-old Ernie Adams.

He's been creating iconic dwarf cars for over 60 years.

It's a labor of love for Ernie who had the idea at age 15.

ERNIE ADAMS: I saw an old refrigerator laying in the weeds.

It had the top towards me, it didn't have a door on it, and it had an old tire swing laying by it; and what I saw was a miniature touring car, so 10 years later I built that car out of refrigerators.

STEPHANIE: Turning his imagination into horsepower, Ernie went on to design and build several scaled down replicas of classic cars which are now on display at the Dwarf Car Museum in the historic town of Maricopa, Arizona, about 50 miles south of Phoenix.

ERNIE: They look just like the real car inside and out and that's the fun of building them.

I make everything.

I make the door handles, all the chrome pieces and stainless, the trim pieces.

STEPHANIE: And essentially, you're self-taught?

ERNIE: Yes, definitely.

STEPHANIE: That's amazing.

ERNIE: I have had the question asked: are you teaching anybody else what you do here?

But my answer to that is, I can't teach people what I do here because I don't know what I'm doing until I do it.

STEPHANIE: You're a real creative?

ERNIE: Yes, it just comes from here to reality.

STEPHANIE: It takes 3,000 hours over a period of 3 to 5 years to build one dwarf vintage car.

Under the hood?

Toyota Corolla motors from 1972 to 1984.

How do they feel on the road when you're driving them?

ERNIE: Oh, they feel good.

A lot of times they ask me how they ride and I say they ride just like, like a Corvette, you know; but then I put my foot on that '39 Chevy and show them that it rides like a baby buggy, actually.

STEPHANIE: And Ernie, this is your favorite in the collection?

ERNIE: Yes, this is my favorite because it doesn't have any putty on it, it's all raw.

You can see the actual metal work on here.

STEPHANIE: That remarkable natural talent, even translated into a race car design.

In the 80's, Ernie opened up his own shop where he created hundreds of dwarf race cars that were sold globally.

He quickly became a celebrity in his own right, dubbed Mister Dwarf Car.

Ernie, this is my favorite in your collection.

It is so cute, adorable.

ERNIE: Well, it's kind of a favorite of mine also.

That's why I named it sweet little Sheila, after my wife.

STEPHANIE: Aww, that's sweet.

(chuckles) The one-of-a-kind dwarf cars on display here attract about 150 spectators a day to this family-run museum, and most can't wait to chat with Ernie.

GINGER ADAMS: We're so happy he has not sold one of the cars.

For example, the '49 Mercury, he wasn't offered, he had to stop the man at $450,000... STEPHANIE: Whoa.

GINGER: ...for this particular car.

STEPHANIE: That is crazy.

GINGER: Yes.

STEPHANIE: Wow.

GINGER: With him saying no to selling his cars, we still have the full collection.

STEPHANIE: And all the memories that go along with them, like cross-country road trips that include getting pulled over by the police.

ERNIE: When they get done checking your license and insurance and everything, they say, "I guess I just wanted to see the car."

STEPHANIE: I bet, I bet.

That's funny.

ERNIE: That's happened twice.

STEPHANIE: Whether, Ernie knows it or not, his adorable dwarf cars redefined the automotive landscape leaving an unforgettable legacy in the rearview mirror.

(horn beeps) I love that sound.

(Ernie laughs) ♪ ♪ JOHN: If you own a European car, you have this man to thank, "Max Hoffman: Million Dollar Middleman."

That's the name of this "Must Read" by Myles Kornblatt.

It was Max Hoffman who brought brands such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, Fiat, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche to the U.S. through his New York dealership, which quickly grew to include multiple showrooms around the city, and eventually led to nationwide distribution to a rapidly growing number of import dealerships all across the country.

But Hoffman was far more than just a salesman, helping many of those brands along the way to develop cars that he knew would be hits here in the American market.

Sanding may seem simple, but Dan Maffett is about to show us, to do it right, there's a lot more to it.

So, here's a smooth-down of sanding tips and tools on MotorWeek's "Your Drive!"

♪ ♪ DAN MAFFETT: If you've ever been down the hardware aisle, or you're auto parts store and looked at the grinders and sanders, you know, there are a lot to choose from.

Now, each one of them have a very specific purpose.

If you combine them with the right kind of grit sandpaper or attachment, they can have multiple purposes.

We have a few of those selections here, which are the most common used in my shop.

On this end, we have random orbital sanders.

Now, we like to use these for blocking a panel down very quickly or cleaning up paint after it's done, so with a pad like this you can add what they call an interface.

Makes it nice and soft, so you're not digging in to new paint.

You can use this to wet-sand orange peel like this and then buff it smooth.

Next to those, we have what we like to call die grinders.

Now, these are air-powered units that you can switch the heads in and out of.

Different types of grits, sizes, and even, polishing bits to polish metal in really tight spaces you can't get into with a traditional 7.0 or 8.0 inch head polisher.

These ones even have die grinding bits to chew out metal, hog out holes and panels for blinkers, side markers, or even vents.

Now, if you're going to strip a whole panel down to bare metal, this is the world you want to kind of live in.

They make regular right-angle grinders that you can get flap discs or even surfacing discs on it.

And these are high torque, very dangerous if you're not careful.

Then, something like this is really versatile, it's kind of a hog, but you have a giant drum sander on the top, that strips stuff down to bare metal very quickly.

That one also has various types of drums and bits that you can get on it, so you can even polish with this if you have the right accessories.

Now, if you're bodyworking a car and you need to sand down a full panel of filler or primer, or high build, these traditional sanding blocks are kind of the staple.

This is what everyone knows and loves, have them in various sizes, shapes for every kind of piece of trim.

Now, dust is a big factor with these.

So, when something this big is moving across the panel, you're going to gather a lot of dust.

So, if you're doing it yourself in your own garage, you're going to want something like this.

It's a traditional block with a mylar top, but you can hook it up to a shop vac, and it'll pull all that dust, 98 percent of the dust will come out with this, instead of on your shop floor.

Now that you've seen these in use, you have a better understanding of what they're capable of.

And you can make an educated decision for your project, and what sander you should use.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, hit us up right here, at MotorWeek .

JOHN: From revived to redesigned, were always ready for another QuickSpin!

♪ ♪ JESSICA RAY: With an all-new and more utility-like Subaru Outback on the 2026 horizon, we figured it'd be best to take the beloved 6th gen Outback "back out" for one last QuickSpin.

GREG CARLOSS: We've spent a lot of time in the smaller Crosstrek recently, so hopping into this Outback was a refreshing reminder of just how spacious and useful the family wagon can be.

The power is more than adequate, and while the around-town comfort is a bit compromised because of a rough auto stop/start feature, which you can turn off, the Outback really shines on the highway with a solid and comfortable ride.

JESSICA: Running down that list of things to love, space is abundant in the Outback.

The second row sees nearly 40 inches of legroom and shoulder room.

The 32.6 cubic-feet of rear cargo storage can be more than doubled to 75.6 with the seats down.

Cabin amenities of our Touring XT consist of an 11.6 inch tablet-style infotainment screen, heated and ventilated front seats matched by heated outboard rear seats, and a steering wheel that gets just as toasty.

Leading the charge is a 260 horsepower turbo 2.4 liter Boxer-4, more potent and a welcomed upgrade over the Outback's standard 182 horsepower 2.5 liter.

All-wheel-drive is standard regardless, as is the CVT automatic.

That transmission and that harsh auto stop/start are really our only powertrain woes.

Otherwise, this Outback is as capable and versatile as ever.

A 2025 Subaru Outback starts around $30,000, and this top-trim Touring XT in the mid-40s.

If you're not keen on the more SUV look of the next-gen model, this outgoing Outback is still well worth it.

We'll have more on the Outback, and more QuickSpins, soon!

♪ ♪ GREG: We're speeding through our second month of extended test time with this 2025 Nissan Rogue Rock Creek and have driven 2,500 miles so far, averaging 29.1 miles per gallon, which is right on its Combined rating.

In the last update we touched on the powertrain and exterior details of this off-pavement-styled Rock Creek, so time for a look inside.

The front seats have proven to be very comfortable for trips short or long, and unique Rock Creek elements, like water-repelling leatherette seat coverings, red stitching, and piano black trim, all add a rugged, upscale feel.

Speaking of upscale feel, this 2025 Mitsubishi Outlander has impressed us with its high-quality interior materials and extra amenities as part of an optional SEL Premium Package.

Unlike our last Outlander long-term, this isn't the plug-in hybrid.

Instead, it is solely driven by a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder.

All 181 horsepower is deployed by its available Super All-Wheel Control system; and while the CVT invites the occasional clunkiness, this drivetrain is pretty robust.

The refresh didn't bring any power gains to the Outlander, but we think it's just fine as-is.

Instead, the changes lie beneath the seats with the suspension got a thorough tweaking, and it has not gone unnoticed by us.

The ride is definitely more composed than it was before, but it's still comfortable.

Over 4,000 miles, we're averaging 26.9 miles per gallon of Regular, just above the 26 combined EPA rating.

We'll keep racking up the miles for update number two; but first, we'll check in on our Subaru Solterra EV on the next MotorWeek Long-Term Road Test Update!

JOHN: If you were saving up your money to purchase a McLaren 720S, bad news, McLaren doesn't make it anymore.

Good news, it's been replaced by this 750S.

Even better news, we've come to wide-open Roebling Road Raceway to find out if a higher number really means higher performance!

♪ ♪ Admittedly, we're not mathematicians around here, but we do know that when a brand like McLaren replaces a car called the 720S with one called the 750S, it usually adds up to more performance.

So, get out your calculators, time to crunch some numbers in this 2025 McLaren 750S Spider.

(car whooshing by) 710 + 30 = 740... That's the amount of increase and total horsepower that now emits from this midship mounted 4.0 liter twin-turbo V8.

It comes to life with authority and heats up its entire surroundings quickly.

Torque output is 590 pound-feet Seven: the number of gears in McLaren's Seamless Shift dual-clutch transmission.

Engine and transmission working through three powertrain modes; Comfort, Sport, and Track with unique themes for the column-mounted digital gauge display.

That lies behind a great-feeling carbon-fiber steering wheel that is gloriously free of control switchgear.

Twenty percent: is how much bigger the rear wing is, as McLaren still has some of the best active aero going, not just providing road-gripping downforce, but adjusting to reduce drag on straightaways, and it even adds stability under hard braking.

Sixty-six pounds... That's how much lighter the 750 is compared to the 720, but we had to turn this into a complex equation by getting the Spider version, whose power-folding roof assembly adds 108 pounds back.

The cabin itself is purposeful, but also way more comfortable than the usual supercar environment.

Materials are first rate, with much more than just the necessities here; including Bowers + Wilkins audio and a smoothly integrated portrait-style infotainment touchscreen.

Part of the 750S's weight loss plan includes new standard carbon-fiber racing seats.

But these "comfort seats" are a no cost option and felt superb on the street, and still locked us into a comfortably supportive position for track work.

One-tenths of a second: that's how much quicker the 750S gets to 60 according to McLaren.

But, unfortunately, we were not able to bang out any 2.7 second runs of our own as our track time at Roebling was cut short due to a rare Coastal Georgia snowstorm.

(car whooshing by) Something that numbers can't tell you is just how much fun it was on track before the white-stuff arrived.

Despite all the power coming out of that twin-turbo V8, which sounds phenomenal through the new high-mounted stainless steel exhaust system, it never overwhelms the tremendous balance of the chassis.

Gear changes are immediate, and the large steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters have a very precise feel.

McLaren claims that the 750S's suspension tuning is softer up front and firmer in the rear.

But just like the 720S, it feels light, powerful, and purposeful; with quick response to inputs, immediate power delivery, and a hyper willingness to turn into corners that takes some getting used to.

As did how far we could stretch those braking zones, the 750S urging us to dive deeper and deeper each lap.

Carbon ceramic rotors are standard, the red paint on these calipers, a bit extra.

The 750S is built on the same basic carbon monocoque structure as the 720S, but 30 percent of the parts attached are new.

The lightweight polished wheels and Belize Blue paint job of our test car definitely had us thinking surfside, and its 90s exotic aerodynamic shape just makes us want it even more.

(car whooshing by) Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 15 City, 19 Highway, and 17 Combined.

If your mental calculators aren't smoking yet, try punching in these numbers: $370,000, the 750S Spider's starting price, and then subtract $21,000 to get to the base price of the standard Coupe.

We could have just skipped all the math and simply agreed with McLaren's claim that the 2025 750S is the lightest and most powerful full- production McLaren to this point.

But, by actually breaking down the numbers, it's easy for us to clearly see how it all adds up to the best McLaren ever.

Class dismissed!

Well, that's our show, I hope you enjoyed it.

Now, for more MotorWeek , including daily news updates, podcasts, and even complete episodes, cruise on over to PBS.ORG/MOTORWEEK.

And I hope you'll join us next time when we climb into fullsize luxury that is the Lexus LX700, then rev up the electrified might of the new BMW M5.

Until then, I'm John Davis.

We'll see you right here on MotorWeek !

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