The rumble on startup from the Dodge Challenger Hemi 6.4 is a wonderful sound, one which just might soothe the unrest in a car guy’s mind these summer days.

I enjoyed the resonance of the pipes over and over again while driving the 2022 Challenger R/T Scat Pack Widebody Hemi 392 V-8 with orange stripe.

The Hemi delivers an excess of performance – 485 horsepower/475 lb.-ft. of torque – while mated to an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, rear-wheel drive, 20-inch-by-11-inch wheels with Pirelli 305/35ZR20 P Zero tires, Brembo performance brakes with orange calipers.

Instant high-rev paddle-shifts in sport mode and a standard launch control are added drive highlights.

The unrest factor, generally speaking, is the current rush toward electric automobiles, and, specifically, to the realization that the famed Hemi engine will make its final run in 2023.

Stellantis officials, including Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis, have indicated that by 2024 the company’s only combustion engine, transitional into the electric era, will be a turbocharged 3.0-liter, inline-6-cylinder with possibility of 400 to 500 horsepower.

Discontinuance of the Hemi V-8 will allow a rise in the Stellantis’ fleet fuel economy, which presently is lowest among U.S. automakers.

The Dodge Challenger Scat Pack Hemi 392 EPA estimate is 15 city, 24 highway, 18 combined mpg; my overall average was 19.6.

The Challenger, with wheelbase of 116.2 inches and overall length of 197.9 inches, shares the same platform as Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300, and scales in at curb weight of 4,275 pounds. That is around 500 pounds heavier than Mustang and Camaro, which leaves the Ford and Chevy more nimble in handling.

A sales edge for the Challenger, though, is the fact it offers a V-6-powered model with all-wheel drive, a popular option in areas of severe winters, such as Colorado. Neither the Mustang or Camaro offer AWD. The Challenger outsold both Mustang and Camaro in 2021.

Very comfortable, bolstered front bucket seats lend the Challenger a decent ride; legroom is tight in the rear seat, though the trunk is a spacious 16 cubic feet.

The Challenger, built at Brampton, Ontario, Canada, carried a sticker price of $63,500. The R/T Scat Pack Widebody enhancements added $5,995 to the base price of $44,155. The automatic transmission cost another $1,595 and Uconnect navigation and Harman Kardon surround tacked on $2,790. Fender flares, adaptive damping and competition suspension are part of the Widebody package.

The Chrysler Corp.’s initial Hemi engine was a 331-cubic-inch Chrysler Firepower V-8 in 1951, and the Hemi was a feature for the launch of the Chrysler 300 in 1955. Race driver Richard Petty in 1964 won his first Daytona 500 in Hemi-powered Plymouth and later earned his first grand national championship.

An all-new hybrid model, the 2023 Kia Sportage, was provided for our drive to North Platte, Neb., and back.

Wheelbase and overall length have been stretched in the Sportage for ’23; noticeable improvements are the vast amount of legroom in the rear-seating area and the ample cargo space, which has increased from 30 cubic feet to almost 40.

Though the Sportage has been around since 1995, the ’23 Kia Sportage Hybrid EX All-Wheel Drive is its first gas/electric offering.

Performance comes from a 227-horsepower, turbocharged 1.6-liter, 4-cylinder engine, an electric motor and 6-speed automatic transmission. Drive modes of Eco (Normal), Sport, Smart and Snow are provided. Off-the-line acceleration is about average and passing power is enough for comfortable highway travel.

A son, Brent Wells and wife Tina, of Windsor, joined Jan and me for the drive to North Platte for Larry P. Smith funeral services on Wednesday, June 29, at First United Methodist Church. For 36 years Smith taught math and physics at Mid Plains Community College in North Platte. The eulogy was delivered by another son, Kurt Wells, who is married to Smith’s daughter, Tammy. Patsy, Smith’s wife of 66 years, survives, along with son Steve and his wife, Lori, and Tammy and Kurt. At Grand Island, Neb., High School in 1953, Smith played on an undefeated state championship football team, which several years ago was inducted into the Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame.

The Kia’s expanded cargo space very capably handled all our luggage and other traveling items. A compact SUV, the Sportage’s overall length is 183.5 inches, an increase of 7 inches. Wheelbase is up to 108.5 inches from 105.1.

In 555 miles of travel to North Platte and back, the Sportage Hybrid averaged 29.4 miles per gallon, somewhat below the EPA estimate of 38 in town and 38 on the highway. Affecting the mpg was the fact much of the trip was on Interstate highways, with average speed of 75 to 80 miles per hour, and windy conditions were encountered off and on. Following the return from Nebraska, about 60 miles of in-town drives averaged 36 mpg.

Base price for the sporty-looking Sportage Hybrid EX is just over $32,000, including synthetic leather upholstery, heated front seats and steering wheel, a 12.3-inch touchscreen for navigation, remote start, lane-keeping assist, forward-collision-avoidance assist, blind-spot collision-avoidance assist. A $1,500 optional package of panoramic sunroof, hands-free liftgate and LED interior lighting raised sticker price to $33,860.

A cheaper trim level is the Sportage Hybrid LX, more expensive is the SX Prestige. The Sportage Hybrid is built in Gwangju, Korea. Some competitive models of the Kia are hybrid versions of Hyundai Tucson, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4. Legroom in the rear-seating area and the large cargo space with a low liftover height for ease of loading and unloading.

The third all-electric vehicle in six weeks came my way in April in the form of the BMW i4 M50 all-wheel drive, a coupe-styled four-door hatchback. It is the first electric car developed by BMW’s M performance division.

The i4 M50 is a synchronous dual-motor “gran coupe,” with a motor at each axle with combined 536 horsepower and 586 lb.-ft. of torque. A liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack of 81.5 kWh provides a projected driving range of 200 to 225 miles. Transmission is single-speed, direct-drive.

Two other recent electric tests were with the Ford Mustang Mach-e GT and the Mercedes-Benz EQS450.

On a Sunday, after church, Jan and I drove the BMW west into the mountains and enjoyed four hours of highway straightaways, narrow rural roadways, hill climbs and descents, short sprints, corners and bumper-to-bumper slowdowns at Estes Park.

Center of gravity for the low-slung, relatively heavy i4 is 1.3 inches lower than for the 3 series sedan. It’s a road-hugger with agility. Handling has been the long-term forte for the Bimmers, dating back to the “oh two” models of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

And the power, oh, my gosh, off the line is near the quickest and twisting those uphill switchbacks is done in full-bore low, and beautifully loud, yes, characteristic engine roar in sport mode has been added with guidance of German film score composer/Academy Award winner Hans Zimmer (hired by BMW in 1919 to create sounds for electric concepts). Those 16-inch brake discs inside the 20-inch wheels lend some feeling of security.

Predicted range in the BMW’s battery had topped out at 202 miles as we began our Sunday drive. On return to our garage at home, we’d driven 100 miles and the battery pack had 50 percent of its energy remaining, a favorable performance for the i4. Though it used excess in the climb-dominated first couple of hours of the trip, the return was filled with descent which moved energy use into the frugal column. Most of drive was split between comfort and sport plus use, though on return I occasionally enabled Eco Pro for more regeneration of energy and controlled speed.

The i4’s handles are flush with the door sheet metal and easily slip off fingertips as they’re lifted upward for opening. Legroom in the four-door hatchback is tight in the rear-seating area. An audio upgrade for the BMW electric is the 16-speaker Harman Kardon surround sound system.

The BMW i4 electric competes against Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-e GT and other midsizer EVs. While the Tesla is slightly longer in wheelbase, 113.2 inches to 112.4, the BMW is almost 4 inches longer in overall length, 188.5 to 184.8.

Price of the BMW i4 M50 climbed from a base of $65,900 to $77,070 sticker with the following options:

High-performance M tech $2,500, driver assistance $1,700, HUD curved display $1,000, adaptive LED with laserlight $1,000, heated seats/steering wheel/lumbar support $950, parking assistant and active park-distance control $700, mineral white metallic paint $550.

BMW also offers a single-motor i4 eDrive40 of lesser power and more range.

Nissan communications executive Steve Parrett handed me the keys to “the new Z” only a few minutes after I had seated myself very comfortably inside the old Boulderado Hotel one morning in May.

A quick exit got me into the driver’s seat of the beautiful passion red 2023 Nissan Z Performance sport coupe, where the comfort level also was pleasurable, though one look at the instrumentation, shifter and pedals and, considering its rear-wheel-drive configuration, promised some side antics.

The 400-horsepower, twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 engine and 9-speed automatic transmission got me very quickly out of Boulder for photo op, then back into town and over to Canyon Boulevard and some miles up and back in Boulder Canyon. The canyon drive from Boulder to Nederland is 17 miles of twists and turns and downshift-inducing rises in the narrow roadway.

The Z was smooth and powerful and quick-shifting, though a bit rough on downshifts in manual mode.

Accompanying me on the test-drives about the Boulder area was Paul Shippey, owner and president of Automotive Media Solutions (AMS). Under direction of Shippey and his general manager, David Polley, AMS distributes new models to journalists such as me from 22 manufacturers, everything from an A-Class Mercedes to the Z car from Nissan.

You can’t yet buy a new Z; its release date has been delayed to sometime this summer. When you can make the purchase, here is what you’ll pay:

$41,015 is base price for the cheaper Nissan Z Coupe Sport; $51,015 is beginning price for the Z Coupe Performance model, the one I drove, and $54,015 for a special Z Coupe Proto Spec edition. All three trim levels are available with 6-speed manual or 9-speed automatic transmission to go with the twin-turbo V-6.

Adding illuminated kick plates, two-tone paint and floor mats to the Z that I drove raised its sticker price to $53,610. Included among its standard items are 9-inch touchscreen with navigation and voice recognition, Bose audio, SiriusXM satellite radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

I remember those “kind of loose, spindly shifters” in the early 240Zs from the ‘70s. Nissan (known as Datsun at the start) continued use of alphanumeric names through the 370Z until its end in 2020. The new one will be simply called “Z.” Its 9-speed automatic replaces a 7-speed of the 370Z.

The 370Z competed against the Mazda Miata and Toyota 86; the new Z will challenge the Toyota Supra head-on. The Supra uses a BMW-built, inline-6-cylinder of 382 horsepower with an 8-speed automatic.

At 172.4 inches, the Z is 5 inches longer than its predecessor, though its wheelbase remains the same at 100.4 inches. Trunk volume is only 7 cubic feet. Curb weight is 3,550 pounds.