Indholdsfortegnelse for April 1986 i MotorTrend

Anti-Skid Escorts Anti-lock braking is introduced to the Ford Escort model as an option that will cost no more than a sunroof. To bring safety to the masses, Ford has turned away from the expensive, electronically controlled systems and chosen the Lucas Girling mechanical “dump” system incorporated in the brake lines. This features a pair of hydro-kinetic modulator units mounted one on either side of the front-drive transmission casing, each driven from the driveshaft by a Kevlar belt. The diagonal brake lines enable the modulators to sense locking from any corner, then dump hydraulic pressure until the wheel is rotating again. The innovation was part of a facelift program, the first for the front-drive Escort model introduced in 1980. Four million sales later, and vying with the Fiat Uno and…

Although military aircraft have been musing “fly-by-wire” designs for some years, the practice is now filtering down to the automotive industry. “Flyby-wire” aircraft don't rely on cables to connect the stick to the control surfaces. Instead, potentiometers translate stick position into electrical impulses that are then fed into a computer. The computer sends these signals to hydraulic actuators to move the flaps. So it is in the BMW ZF 4 HP 22 EH 4-speed automatic transmission found in the 535i, 635CSi, 735i, and L7. Although new to us, this transmission has been available in Europe for nearly two years. The factory manuals refer to the shift lever as a 'dial"; there is no mechanical connection between the shift lever and the transmission. By trading in the mechanical coupling for its…

Maybe no one asked the question,.but the Dodge Dakota is the answer for the buyer who wants a pickup truck with less bulk than a full-size model but more room and muscle than a compact. Falling right in between the D150 full-size pickup and the compact Ram 50, the Dakota fills that gap for Dodge. This first mid-size truck entry, scheduled for introduction in October, rounds out the product line offered by Dodge trucks. Chrysler's marketing objectives are to position the Dakota as the new “just-right” medium-size pickup, to establish Dodge as the manufacturer of the most complete line of pickups, and to increase Dodge's penetration into the heart of the truck market. We'll see just how deep they penetrate in coming months. For now, we can say the Dakota…

We are the invaders, arriving through the morning mist in an assortment of vehicles, the likes of which many southern Chinese have never seen. The People's Republic declared a holiday so everyone can observe this strange, foreign procession, and the crowds turn out in unbelievable numbers. Mile after mile, the people congregate along the tree-lined highways. Children and old people emerge from paths between rice paddies, seemingly coming from nowhere. In bright green fields, ladies in straw hats watch from beside their water buffalo. Smoke curls into the sky from unattended cooking fires in distant houses, blending with a low ground fog that hangs over the marshy countryside. As the convoy moves briskly past, the people stare. The boys grin broadly and wave enthusiastically; the young girls point and giggle…

It used to be said that the most often-read words in the English language were “Close cover before striking.” Given the current vogue of toss-away lighters, though, it's a good bet the new champ is the command '"'Pay first” seén at gas pumps everywhere. Not only do we pay first, we pay a considerable piece of change for each gallon—around $1.25 in most areas of the nation. It wasn't always that way, but there's no point in dwelling on that golden age when attendants checked everything for 19.9 per gallon. What we'd like to know is what to expect in the future. Prices are up, but they are relatively stable. The question is: Will they stay that way? The oil biz is complicated, but a simple way to get a…

We've-all seen race driver Hero Hollywood making his move on the boob-tube. The scene goes something like this (with minor variations): Hero has been in a close race with two or three other cars—which are always black—for the whole race. The other drivers have no morals whatsoever, evidenced by their attempts to run Hero into the wall or off the track at every opportunity. To keep interest high, someone has also sawn almost through Herocar's front steering arm, and we're given occasional shots of it about to fracture. In the last corner of the last lap, Hero finally tires of all this and we get a closeup of him slamming the accelerator pedal all the way down, to shoot ahead of the bad guys, across the finish line—with his front…

The male ego is a fragile thing. It doesn't take much to bruise it—a woman's sneer, a child's laugh, or the shake of a father's head. And the ego has the memory of a bull elephant. You'll always remember the time you struck out with the bases loaded, got up in front of English class with your fly open, or tried to kiss a girl with a milk shake mustache hanging off your upper lip. Caught in this emotional minefield every day, one has to wonder why, when we don't have to, we court even more ego bashing. But we do. We seem to revel in laying our egos on the line and then watching them get run over by a truck. Take my recent visit to the Malibu Grand…

Bell and Stuck Lead Porsche WEC Romp It was play it again Porsche time in the 1985 World Endurance Championships. And, despite several rule changes aimed at fostering greater parity among the cast of prototype players, the international long-distance runners found themselves racing in the shadow of the mighty Stuttgart juggernaut for the fourth consecutive season. To enhance the driver safety envelope, the FIA mandated that all 1985 model prototypes comply with footbox location limits that coincide with IMSA's current centerline of the front axle spec. This gave rise to the 962C, a new and eminently worthy successor to Porsche's awesome 956 (which like other existing prototypes is being grandfathered through 1986). The sanctioning body expected its real ace in the hole to be a mandatory 15% cutback in fuel…

Mid-Engined Corvette Concept Car Yes, it's time for the latest in a long-running series of mid-engined Corvette rumors. This time around, Chevrolet is fueling the fire with its Corvette Indy, a prototype introduced at the Detroit Auto Show and designed to capitalize on Chevy's upcoming foray into CART racing. Not surprisingly, the Corvette Indy is powered by the 2650cc dual overhead cam V-8 engine that has been built for Indy car racing. The 4-valve intercooled twin turbo produces some 600 hp. Getting that power to the ground takes some doing, so Chevy engineers have specified full-time 4-wheel-drive and an active suspension that uses a microprocessor and hydraulics instead of springs, shocks, and stabilizer bars. Four-wheel steering, anti-lock brakes, a drive-by-wire system, and traction control (sort of a reverse anti-lock system)…

The Pontiac Trans Am and Dodge Daytona Turbo Z are as dissimilar as any pair of All-American Sports GTs you'll ever find cued up for action at a boulevard stop signal. Normally aspirated V-8 versus turbo charged four-banger. Low-end, out-of-the-hole torque versus high-rpm, wind-aided horsepower. Rear drive versus front drive; 4-speed automatic versus 5-speed manual transmission. They look alike. They sound alike. They perform the same basic function. But they represent the North and South Poles of current muscle car mentality. The latest in the long lineage of high-powered personal-size specialty cars. The mid-'60s Pony Car grown up. Hopefully, more civilized and refined. Like the Pony Car concept, the Trans Am and Daytona Turbo Z are not new. Both are growing long in the tooth in styling and technology, and…

Searching out the most bang for your bück is not a new idea. But delivering a lot of bang for the buck is becoming an increasingly rare commodity in a world where the bangs are regulated to a muffled whisper, and the bucks are both harder to come by and worth less when you get them. A few, though, continue to supply demand. If you're looking for a car that delivers a good portion of sporting thrill for your hard-earned greenback-performance for dollar, they say—we suggest you hop on down to your local Mitsubishi dealer, because he's got a whole showroom full of 'em: Mirage Turbo, Tredia Turbo, Starion ESI-R, to name just three. And to name a fourth, our subject, the Cordia Turbo. How much bang? We needed a…

A generation ago, there was brought forth on this continent Kan Oldsmobile performance car called the 4-4-2. Created by dropping a monster engine into an everyday family sedan, it was a rip-snorting wild animal of a car whose 400 cu in. of Rocket V-8 could catapult it from 0-60 in just 5.5 sec. While not quite as legendary as its contemporary rival, the Pontiac GTO, it was a machine that created a legion of followers who sang its praises at the hamburger stands and drive-in theaters that were the backdrop of our youth. Flash forward now 20-odd years to 1986. Mini-skirts, ducktails, and stretch pants are back in style, and, as in days of yore, performance fever is alive in the land. Each new magazine ad and television commercial touts…

The GLI embodies one of the finest combinations of practicality and performance on the road today These days, it seems the terms, “good deal” and “German touring sedan” are seldom used in the same conversation, much less the same sentence. Entry-level MercedesBenz and BMW models are commanding over $20,000, and even the low end of the Audi line generally ends up pushing—if not pulling—the $15,000 mark when fully outfitted. Happily, there is one notable exception to this ongoing dollar/D-mark dilemma: the Volkswagen VW Jetta GLI. Although its pursang character is, by necessity, compromised to a certain extent in light of its position in the real world, the GLI embodies one of the finest combinations of practicality and performance on the road today. Introduced as an all-new '85 model along with…

When we first took delivery of our '85 long-term Merkur XR4Ti, there were virtually no other bi-plane aeromobiles on the road. The “unique value” of the car was very high, and we were stopped often and questioned about the genesis of the car. Now, after 20,000 miles have been logged, there are more Merkurs to be seen—but not many. The Merkur has not been a huge sales success for L-M. It wasn't expected to be a runaway best seller, nor was it expected to receive such a lukewarm reception. Its distinctively aerodynamic styling and lofty sticker ($16,000-plus base price) conspired to repel the conservative, traditional Lincoln-Mercury buyer, and those who did venture to look at the car were put off by the initial scarce availability of such “luxury” touches as…

The mirror-slick surfaces darken as the setting desert sun disappears behind the ragged outline of a mountain ridge. I back away, giving the camera a momentary rest. Seeing the exotic Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 Sport from a distance, standing there, isolated in a harsh wilderness so far from the old-world ambiance of its homeland, I'm vividly reminded of its extraordinary history. The year is 1939. European nations talk of peace yet prepare for war. Hitler has already annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia. In April, Mussolini occupies Albania. In September, Germany invades Poland. Retaliating, England and France declare war—civilization again stands on the threshold of a world conflict. And Alfa Romeo introduces the 6C 2500 Sport. April 1945: The war is nearing its end. Hitler is holed up in his Berlin bunker.…

According to the Electronics and Instrumentation Development Group at Corvette, it takes a professional thief only 45 seconds to make off with a Vette. Automobile theft is one of the major crime problems in the U.S.; the HLDI (Highway Loss Data Institute) publishes data on human and economic losses resulting from vehicular ownership, and it points to the Corvette as one of the highest frequency-of-theft cars in the specialty and sports category. The insurance industry is quick to exploit such information—just ask any Corvette owner about insurance premiums. The reasons aren't hard to understand; a quick look at the accompanying graph indicates the magnitude of the situation. GM has not been insensitive to this problem. After all, it has a Delco-designed Universal Theft Deterrent System in place (that works off…

Who Builds the Cars? It's no big surprise that Michigan leads the country in the number of passenger cars produced, building 29%, but who would have guessed Missouri is 2nd, manufacturing 13.9% of all domestic cars. Third is Ohio with 9.8%, followed by Georgia with 7.0%, and Illinois with 6.4%. Goodbye CJ, Hello Wrangler Coming soon to a Jeep dealership near you is the Wrangler, the long-rumored replacement for. The downsized Wrangler (to be the Called the YJ in canada the traditional Jeep look with shift-on-the-fly capability. the suspension has also received a thorough going over so the new model doesn't feel as if it's constantly manueuering over railroad ties soft and hardtop models will be offered. Pontiac LeMans Returns—From Korea Chevy calls its recently introduced Toyota hybrid the Nova,…

The process of investigating a car's strengths and weaknesses is virtually identical, no matter the model in question. But the time needed to get an objective hold on the results of the research varies enormously. The Toyota MR2 and Ford Taurus are recent examples of cars that immediately made an impression; it didn't take long in either car to determine its quality. The opposite is true of the BMW 735i L7. The biggest of the Bimmers should have struck our senses hard and quickly; its touted image as “the ultimate luxury performance sedan” should have shined brightly through its staid appearance. We should have gone away from our initial drive shaking our heads, yes, this is what the German auto industry is all about. Instead, our first thoughts were to…

Cars of the bread-and-butter genre seldom receive the renown bestowed upon their feistier cousins. So it is with the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz. The Tempo is Everyman's car, but, by logical extension, it is also No Man's car: Every man might need and have a white shirt, but who cares? In the Tempo's case, maybe they should. For one thing, a Tempo is a much more relevant item, a more important car than, say, Ferrari's newest grabber. Why? Simple: More of us will drive Tempos, will go to work and come home in them, will see more places in them, and will even find romance in them, than all the Ferraris ever built. The Tempo is a reasonable automobile, built for our transportation system. The Ferrari is neither; it…

Macau! Visions rendered from a lifetime of watching B-movies. What do any of us really know about the world? Macau. What I know, as surely as if I had been there before, is that all the men look like Sydney Greenstreet, all the women like Bianca Jagger. That the atmosphere is thick with—what else?—atmosphere, a green miasma that rises from the splintered wooden floors of all the gin joints. Isn't that Dan Duryea, drunk, unshaven, his white linen suit stained with God-knows-what, passed out over there in the corner? Isn't that Alan Ladd with his back to the wall, an ill-concealed shoulder holster under his white linen suit? Didn't Merle Oberon just glide into the rickshaw out front, showing a tasteful slit in her skirt, running from ankle to hip?…

One test drive of the new Integra LS puts it all in perspective: The Acura division is Honda's party animal alter ego. There have always been two Hondas. Most people are aware of the Honda that builds Accords, Preludes, and Civics—solid, dependable, high content vehicles with a reputation for precision mechanicals, contemporary styling, and a high degree of overall refinement that makes complicated systems seem simple and friendly. Good cars for the masses and nothing too intimidating. Then there is the other Honda. The real Honda. The Honda that builds successful Formula One engines. The Honda with the worldwide reputation as a leader in high-rpm, multivalve cylinder head technology. The Honda that's serious about building high-performance adult road toys. The Honda that has done so well with its middle-of-the-road products,…

It is not inappropriate to propose that what Mazda has wrought with its new 323 was struck from the same ideological mold as Volkswagen's new-generation Golf and Honda's newest Accord. Like those two cars, the '86 323 is almost totally redesigned, new in virtually every respect. But, like the Golf and Accord, the 323 appears practically identical to its predecessor (known in the U.S. as the GLC). To continue the parallel, the Mazda goal, to produce a ''true world-class small car,” is exactly that propounded by its competitors in the mad scramble for the compact car market. It is very easy to criticize an auto manufacturer's conservatism, but the refinement of a previously successful model to meet the more sophisticated demands of current consumers is nothing but a long series…

It's amazing how much history one little car can contain, but it's certainly not impossible to believe, judging by the long, fascinating history of the car's manufacturer. Alfa Romeo's roots can be traced to a failed attempt by French car maker Darracq to establish a subsidiary of his own company in Italy. In 1909, a group of Milanese motoring enthusiasts obtained a loan to purchase the plant, located in Portello, a suburb of Milan. The new name, A.L.F.A., stood for (Societa) Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili. Its virgin effort, the brainchild of Guiseppe Merosi, appeared in 1910. Soon after, a more powerful version of this early 4-cylinder creation nearly won the Targa Floria the first time out. Right from the beginning, Alfas were endowed with the sportiness that would always characterize…