The International Motor Press Association (IMPA)’s “Spring Brake” event is a chance, in warm weather, for auto journalists to drive a wide cross-section of new cars. The setting May 21 was the Camelback Resort in the Poconos, skiing in the winter and a water park in the summer. The idea was simple: Drive the cars up the mountain to the parking lot at the top, then drive them back down again. Repeat with another car. Here’s a rundown of the drives:

Mazda CX-90 Premium Plus. The Premium Plus CX-90, the top of the line, starts at $57,325. The model replaces the less-high-end CX-9. Mazda is not known for luxury cars, and the CX-90 is a conscious effort to offer a competitive three-row SUV, but it doesn’t stand out in a crowded field. Automakers were eager to get rid of the inline six (in favor of V-8s) in the mid-1950s, but it’s literally a badge of honor in this model. The 3.3-liter engine is turbocharged, with versions offering 280 or 340 horsepower. Handling was not all that agile on the mountain roads, especially with the company showing what it can do with its ever-popular Miata. Also sampled was the CX-50 Turbo Meridian Edition ($42,670) which seemed a happy compromise between utility and performance.

Honda Civic Type R. The car, resplendent in bright red, was a throwback of sorts. Few manufacturers are offering hot hatchbacks with manual transmissions these days. The Type R starts at $45,890, which is of course exorbitant for a Honda Civic, but not so bad when considering the performance. The car sure looks the part, with spoilers, hood scoops and air dams in profusion. The bright red seats wear red seatbelts and sat on red carpets, and red also shined through the wheels from the Brembo brake calipers.

The turbocharged two-liter four is a popular engine globally, and in this configuration it yields 315 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque, enough to get it to 60 in less than five seconds. And it handled beautifully through the mountain curves. Every bump is felt through the steering wheel, which is a good thing if you like your car to communicate its experiences. But speed bumps felt like mountains. The car was also kind of noisy, which might make it a bit trying as a daily commuter.

Lucid Air Pure. These EVs do everything so well, and with such performance, that it’s hard to see the added value of the traditional supercar. The Air Pure is the single-motor version, starting at $71,400—the cheapest Lucid. And yet it showed the same quality materials as the upper trims, which peak at the $250,500 Sapphire (capable of sub-two-second zero-to-60 times). The Pure, with its motor driving the rear wheels, offers an impressive 430 horsepower and 4.3-second zero-to-60 times. It’s full of thoughtful touches, such as the below-floor storage in the trunk, the 12-way power seats and the neatly integrated central screen. The 92-kilowatt-hour battery pack yields 410 miles of range. If the battery runs low, it can recoup 300 miles of range in 21 minutes at a fast charger.

The Pure felt like a smaller car on the hillclimbs. Lucid, whose funding was recently replenished with $3 billion from stock sales and the Saudi private wealth fund (which owns 60 percent of the company).

Hyundai Ioniq 5N. Consumers will pay a premium to buy the performance version of the Ioniq 5 electric car, $67,475. But the money buys access to as much as 641 horsepower. With two electric motors the baseline is just over 600 horses, but the N Grin Boost feature (activated by a big red NGB button) temporarily (up to 10 seconds) pushes that up to 641. The styling is very much from the same styling school as the Honda Type R—full of big wheels and sticky tires, with spoilers, fender flares and go-faster protrusions galore. You either love it or hate it. The cabin is more subdued than said Honda, and quite tasteful.

Acura MDX Type S SH-AWD. The three-row MDX is a bestseller for Acura, considerably outselling the two-row RDX. The Type S, starting at $68.450, is the sporty version, if that’s not a contradiction in terms when discussing a big SUV. The three-liter turbo V-6 engine produces 355 horsepower and 354 pound-feet of torque (a gain of 65 hp and 87 pound-feet over a standard MDX). The SH-AWD stands for “Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive System.” The car was nicely appointed and finished, with a nice-sounding ELS Studio sound system. Second-row passengers get useful climate settings. The mountain road was probably not the best place to test out its capabilities, but it did not resemble a sports car in any fashion.

 Genesis G70 3.3T AWD. This kind of luxury sedan is more something I can see in my garage. All the Genesis cars are impressive, and there’s no sense that there are two levels above this one—the G80 and G90. The only compromise is rear-seat legroom in this more compact car. The G70 was refreshed in 2022, and sports a 300-horsepower, turbo 2.5-liter four in base form or, as tested, a 365-horsepower 3.3-liter V-6. You’ll pay $51,700 to get into that power plant. This car seemed to have just about everything, quiet when needed, a top accelerator when that was needed. The Lexicon stereo was nice, as was the two-tone beige-and-black interior. The G70 is in BMW and Audi territory.

Ford Ranger Raptor. I’m pretty out of the demographic for this one. The only truck I’ve admired recently is the Ford Maverick (hybrid version), and the Tremor version of that one, on the stand here, was always being driven by someone else. The $57,065 Raptor is very boy racer, and hard to see as an actual work vehicle. Its twin-turbo V-8 produces 405 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque. It’s only available as a crew cab, with a smallish five-foot cargo area. The big knobby tires gave it a very rough ride, especially on acceleration, and it was noisy as all heck. But that’s what these buyers want, isn’t it? The interior was on the garish side, dominated by a big vertical 12.4-inch center screen.

Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Woodland Edition. This wasn’t actually on the Toyota stand; it’s the car I drove to the Poconos. I just wanted to put in a word. For $37,470 in the Woodland version, the owner gets a really reliable and versatile small SUV that can deliver 37 mpg overall. Great suite of safety features. The 580-mile cruising range meant we could drive it up to Boston and back without visiting a gas station, and the trip to the Poconos was similar.