Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2010 i MotorTrend

FORD IS the 800-pound box of doughnuts in the precinct, having dominated U.S. and Canadian cop shops since the rear-drive Chevrolet Caprice went out of production in 1996. But with the ancient Crown Victoria-based Interceptor finally going to that “Hill Street Blues” episode in the sky at the end of next year, Ford has no rear-drive, body-on-frame sedan with which to supply police departments across North America. Rear drive is important, because that’s what police officers of all stripes say they prefer. Body-on-frame also is important because many PDs have their own frame-straighteners and can fix a Crown Vic within days after it’s been used to stop, say, a runaway Toyota Prius. The only alternatives soon will be Chevrolet’s Tahoe police special and Ford’s own Expedition. But since police departments…

MERCEDES-BENZ is reworking its coupe strategy so its two-door models are aligned with the sedans that are the backbone of the company’s portfolio. That explains the E-Class coupe, originally to be the next generation CLK, built off mostly C-Class sedan hardware, like previous CLKs. Next, the CL-Class is to be renamed S-Class coupe. Finally, there’s to be a new C-Class coupe as well. The new C-Class coupe, due March 2011, rolls on the same 108.7-inch wheelbase as the C-Class sedan and E-Class coupe and shares a lot of the same mechanicals. Styling will echo the face-lifted C-Class sedan/wagon due early next year. The interior will be similar to that of the E coupe. In terms of surface materials and build quality, the C-Class coupe is said to take a giant…

IN THE MARKET for a new car? Wish you could find out what other people paid for the model you are looking at? We have a solution for you. Motor Trend and TrueCar (www.truecar.com), the authority for new-car pricing, have teamed up to offer new-car buyers a way to get that information. Now at motortrend.com we offer a new online tool, powered by the TrueCar service, that provides the actual average prices consumers are paying in your area for almost any car of interest. Using data collected from thousands of sources, the TrueCar application is able to pinpoint precise average sale prices so buyer and dealer are able to settle on a price that makes everyone happy. By simply entering your zip code, desired make, model, and options, you can…

THE NEW 5.0 boasts cam-torque actuated variable valve timing on the intake and exhaust cams plus a long-runner single-scroll intake manifold and tubular stainless headers to optimize breathing. Speaking of the headers, Ford engineer Adam Christian fabricated them in his home workshop after supplier prototypes weren’t generating desired outputs. His manifolds bumped power and torque by six horsepower and 14 pound-feet. Moving the alternator out of the valley opened up space for the 80mm throttle body to breathe directly into the larger intake manifold. To cope with the engine’s 11:1 compression and high combustion stresses, the crank is forged steel and fully counterweighted, using forged powdered-metal connecting rods, floating wrist pins, and hypereutectic pistons cooled by oil jets. The bulkheads are also 2 mm wider and the six main bearing…

CAN A HYBRID SPORT COUPE INJECT SOME PASSION BACK INTO HONDA’S PERFORMANCE HERITAGE? HONDA’S once-proud sporting image has taken a beating lately. Its last foray into Formula 1 was a disaster, made even more embarrassing by the fact that its former team swept the championship the year after it pulled out—with Mercedes engines. The on-again, off-again NSX supercar program is now truly dead, along with the iconic S2000, both killed in favor of channeling resources toward good, clean family transport like the Fit, Civic, and CR-V So, can an unlikely hybrid sport coupe with a six-speed manual gearbox—a world first for a hybrid drivetrain—inject some passion back into Honda’s performance heritage? We’re about to find out. Meet the Honda CR-Z. The production CR-Z’s exterior is nowhere near as taut and…

THE BATTLE LINES have been redrawn. Ford and Dodge (now Ram) have been duking it out with each other in the heavy-duty (3/4- and one-ton) pickup market for what seems like forever, but in recent times Ford has been winning the biggest percentage of market share while the Ram HD has the highest all-important diesel take rate in the segment, almost 85 percent. These trucks are made for hard work and hard play. And even though sales for full-size pickups have dropped as much as 40 percent in some segments, OEs understand there will always be buyers for work trucks. And here we pit two of the latest—the all-new 2011 Ford Super Duty and the Ram 2500 HD—head to head, equipped with the all-important oil-burner. Diesel connoisseurs have been waiting…

IT’S HARD to follow a trio of silver Lexus RXs on the freeway—as I was this morning—without wondering what could be going through their drivers’ minds. However, my suggestion would be Acura’s MDX, which is particularly effective solution for awkward situations like this, as the MDX is never, ever, seen in groups of three (let alone two). Sure, the Acura’s pricier than the RX (by about eight percent, comparing AWD base versions). But for it you’re rewarded with an enormously more interesting driving experience, made better for 2010 by a fairly comprehensive sprucing. And what’s spruced most is an all-new 3.7-liter V-6 engine featuring a higher compression ratio and a bigger throttle body girded by a stronger crankshaft and connecting rods, a more rigid block, and better cooling. On paper,…

“THE BEST car Suzuki has ever built.” Every staffer who steps out of our latest long-term fleet member says the same thing. The Kizashi is head and shoulders above any previous offering from the company. Suzuki made a bold move giving this car a name that literally means “something good is coming,” so testing that claim was only natural. The car that turned up in the Motor Trend garage is a Vivid Red GTS model with a 185-horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine sending 170 pound-feet of torque through a six-speed manual transmission on its way to the front wheels. Together, they gave us a 0-to-60 time of 7.7 seconds and a quarter mile of 15.9 seconds at 86.7 mph. Included on our Kizashi was dual-zone climate control, leather on the steering…

“A FRIEND who owns the coupe version of this latest-gen M3 says each car should come with a Valentine 1 radar detector standard,” opines Ougarov. “He’s right, because that 8300-rpm redline is constantly tempting you to mash the M button, drop a couple gears, and stomp on the throttle, regardless of how far over the speed limit you’ll end up as a result. Speaking of dropping gears, the dual-clutch automatic transmission is amazing as a “manual” transmission, shifting faster than any mortal could ever hope for, but it’s not that good as an automatic. It’s sluggish at slow speeds unless you bury the throttle in the floor, and I could make no sense of its shift logic. Sometimes it would downshift, sometimes it wouldn’t. With its tendency to shift all…

AFTER TAKING our 2010 Car of the Year home for the night, Ougarov notes, “The Fusion impressed me during the commute home. Not only is the entire package put together well, but the hybrid aspect of the car is excellently executed. Transitions from gas to electric mode and vice versa are completely and utterly seamless, and with gentle-enough use of the throttle, I got the Fusion to go purely on electric power all the way to about 40 mph. In theory, around Los Angeles, it could spend a lot of time in its EV mode, given the city’s 35-mph speed limit. At the end of my traffic-filled, 15-mile commute, the car informed me that I had achieved just over 35 mpg and the funky leaf-and-branch display was full of green.…

THE SUBARU Forester does everything well. That’s the reason it was crowned our 2009 Sport Utility of the Year, and after more than a year’s service in the Motor Trend test fleet, that choice was more than reaffirmed. The Forester never sat in our garage. It was the Swiss Army knife of the MT fleet: Go anywhere, do anything, rarely a problem, and never a complaint—from the vehicle, that is. Whether loaded with photo or video gear, camping equipment, or family road trip supplies, the Forester was up to the challenge. Every SUV becomes a workhorse of sorts when in the MT test fleet, and the Forester was no exception. With its ample interior space, high clearance, and full-time AWD, it was a no-brainer to use this vehicle for support…

GENERAL Motors has given the large Cadillac XTS sedan the green light. The car will launch next year as a 2012 model. What’s the big deal? After all, this car has barely been under covers since GM emerged from bankruptcy last summer as the AWD large sedan, based on the FWD Super Epsilon platform, culminating in a “concept” reveal last January at the Detroit show. While such projects might seem natural for production to those outside the company, especially considering the age of the DTS and STS this model will replace, corporate approval always is much more arcane and conservative. While a source says GM has given the big Caddy a stamp of approval, there are probably a few more formal approvals that’ll occur before Cadillac confirms it officially. Designers…

MERCEDES will build its next-generation C-Class, set to debut as a MY2015 car, at its Tuscaloosa, Alabama, plant, as well as in Germany, China, and other sites. U.S. production will fulfill local demand, which Benz expects to rise. The 2015 model will be on an all-new platform and will use Mercedes’ multidrive concept, with gas and diesel powerplants, mild and full hybrids, plug-in hybrids, range-extender electric vehicles, full EV and fuel-cell variants. “It’s hard to predict what future demand might be” for each type of driveline, research and engineering chief Herbert Kohler explains, “so we need flexible architecture and flexible production. The platform will have space for all the necessary components, and we have designed the components so that they can be used flexibly. We can now put the fuel…

BMW plans to expand the Mini range even further when the next-generation model bows in 2013. And it plans to offer smaller engines: new 1.2- and 1.5-liter gas and diesel three-cylinders that, like the new Mini’s platform architecture, will be shared with the forthcoming sub-1 Series front-drive BMW. Even though the current Mini has just three years to run, BMW is launching three new body styles: The Mini Countryman, which debuted at Geneva in March and was seen at the New York auto show in April, will be followed next year by the Mini Coupe and the Mini Roadster in 2012. Both cars will look almost identical to the concepts of last year’s Frankfurt show. The third-generation Mini will kick off with the launch of the hatch in 2013, with…

MERCEDES AMG is downsizing the 63 V-8 in its S-Class, from 6.2 liters to 5.5, but with two turbochargers. Codenamed M 157, it was unveiled in a 2011 Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG (confusingly, it retains the 63 name), wearing the same paint color and advertising livery as the familiar red ‘71 300 SEL 6.8 AMG that first put then-independent AMG on the carguy map. S63 also will refer to the next-generation AMG CL coupe, as part of M-B’s strategy to realign its two and four-door models along vehicle family lines. One of the cars to retain the 6.2-liter 63 is the new SLS AMG. A greener version of the SLS is slated for calendar 2013, when AMG adds an all-electric version with four motors each powering a wheel and producing a…

NO MATTER how much you think you want a new, Euro-style station wagon, there’s not much demand for such vehicles in the U.S. Audi has long had the bestseller in the sub-segment, the A4 Avant. It typically accounts for 10 percent of A4 sales, or roughly 4000 per year in the U.S., a number so small its maker sells it here in one spec: 2.0-liter TFSI turbo four with quattro and a six-speed automatic with paddle-shifters. Acura has decided to adopt Audi’s North American strategy for the 2011 TSX SportWagon. Unlike the sedan, it will be available only with the 2.4-liter inline-four and Sequential SportShift five-speed automatic. No 3.5-liter V-6 and no six-speed manual options. The new BMW 5 Series Touring has 19.4 cubic feet of cargo space with the…

rollin’ in my 5.0 After a long romance with Toyota, I’m happy to be back home with American muscle. Detroit has been doing its homework, and I’m confident in what has been churning out of the car mill. The 5.0-liter Mustang featured in the latest issue brings back memories of my ‘88 Mustang 5.0 with an injection of steroids and plastic surgery. Is lusting after a car a sin? This is by far one of the more beautiful machines coming from Shelby (“Snake’s Alive,” March), as the others have seemed a little underdone in the area of cosmetics. I look forward to the aftermarket products. Well worth the two-week disagreement my GT brought on last year. Alan OkamiHonolulu, Hawaii I’m really disappointed in the Shelby GT350. Take a close look…

THESE TWO great brands have been duking it out since Ferrucio Lamborghini’s Ferrari 250s proved so fragile and crude he vowed to build a better car. Ever since the tractor-manufacturer started making Grand Touring cars, the companies—separated by only 20 miles or so—have been competitors, but today their personalities couldn’t be more different. Ferrari design and engineering is informed first and foremost by the scuderia’s motorsport heritage and experience, and its latest offering, the 458 Italia, bristles with Formula 1 tech, from its moveable aero flaps to its switch-encrusted steering wheel. Lamborghini, by contrast, has focused primarily on road cars, endowing them with extreme performance and styling. Lamborghini’s response to the new Ferrari is a slightly more aggressive-looking Gallardo that’s been lightened significantly and fortified a bit to match the…

THIS IS NOT where I want to die. Climbers or hikers end up frozen to death on mountainsides. Not people driving a smart fortwo city car. And it isn’t how I want to die either, blown off the planet by a vicious, frostbiting Arctic storm on a remote stretch of the Dempster Highway in the far north of Canada’s Yukon Territory. But a cold, lonely death is a real possibility if we don’t break through the blizzard now hammering us. We’re on Wright Pass, between Eagle Plains and Inuvik in far north Canada. Berms of snow are forming across the highway front and back. The smart fortwo has the ground clearance of a dachshund, and although the snow up here is powder dry, charging in what looks like a cross…

WE PUT ASIDE STOPWATCHES AND CALCULATORS IN FAVOR OF SOFTER DATA COLLECTED BY OUR HANDS, FEET EYES, AND EARS. THE PORSCHE WINS. The Boxster S is the very best roadster you can get for the money. Everything else you see on these pages competes for second place. Unless you’re interested in reading about the first, second, and third losers, the story ends here. Not used to seeing one of our monthly, multivehicle sagas laid out quite so succinctly, are you? Well, to be honest, neither are we. But in this contest of speed, style, and top-down dominance, it wasn’t even close. Unlike the convertibles we compared last issue (“Revenge of the Fickle” page 116), these roadsters represent the most sporting incarnations of the breed. Though they all have two seats…

presented by SEMA Show Kicks-Off Industry’s Economic Recovery Despite uncertainty in the overall economy, the 2009 SEMA Show demonstrated the resilience and determination of the specialty-equipment industry. Overall, 107,000 members of the industry attended this year’s Show, with the largest number ever coming from outside the United States. Roughly 24% of registered buyers came from outside the United States, demonstrating the increased global reach of the specialty-equipment industry and the ability of the SEMA Show to connect buyers and manufacturers across global lines.…

“SINCE THE A4 Avant is one of the most coveted vehicles of many staffers, I’ve been looking forward to finally getting some time in it,” notes photographer Julia LaPalme. “After driving it for five days, I had mixed feelings about this wagon. One of the first things I noted was the excellent visibility. Audi did a good job minimizing the visual impact of the C-and D-pillars, especially with the extra window behind the D-pillar. The cargo capacity is impressive, as, from the outside, the vehicle appears quite small. I was able to fit two 3x3-foot bounce boards in the back without having to remove the cargo cover. Further, the back seats that fold down nearly flat are a nice bonus.” While LaPalme considers both the visibility and cargo capacity plusses,…

“THE FUEL economy is stellar,” logs executive editor Edward Loh. “It rides tall (lots of clearance) and can carry a ton of gear and people, yet I saw over 25 mpg on two successive tanks (one went over 400 miles). Climbed the Conejo grade on the 101 Freeway from Camarillo up to the Newberry Park/Thousand Oaks area with four adults on board and plenty of gear. The engine droned a bit and required extra throttle, but the pedal didn’t need to be floored and car never slowed down. That, in my book, is evidence that the four-cylinder Outback is not underpowered. It does take some getting used to. Those accustomed to gobs of torque or stirring acceleration at the crack of the gas pedal will need to look elsewhere. You…

THROUGHOUT most of the 1960s, Motor Trend and Petersen Publishing Company sponsored NASCAR’s annual visit to Riverside International Raceway. It was a hoot to watch the good ol’ boys and their loud, heavy stockers slam their way through Riverside’s fast, technical road course. Dan Gurney seemed to be the perennial winner, a master road racer helped a bunch by the practiced, methodical pitwork of the famous Wood Brothers. Parade floats were a lot simpler back then, nothing like the mechanized, multistory wonders that populate today’s Rose Parade and such. This was our 1966 float entry. It’s easy to confirm that, due to the magazine cover denoting the revolutionary Oldsmobile Toronado’s win as Motor Trend’s 1966 Car of the Year. RIR was later sacrificed to make way for the construction of…

IF YOU’VE wondered where General Motors’ fuelcell efforts have gone, wonder no more because Gen2 is on the way. It began in late 2007 after GM outfitted a fleet of 119 Chevrolet Equinoxes with hydrogen fuel-cell stacks. Drivers have logged more than 1.3 million miles and some even got into accidents. Forget “oh, the humanity”…nothing blew up. “We are not abandoning our fuel-cell technologies,” proclaims Charles Freese, executive director of GM’s Global Fuel Cell Activities, in Burbank, California. “If we didn’t intend to maintain it, we would have left it with the old GM.” GM’s new Gen 2 hydrogen fuel-cell stack is being designed to fit in a four-cylinder engine bay and is some 220 pounds lighter than the Equinox stack. It uses about one third the platinum, a metal…

BESIDES adding hybrids and EVs to its lineup, Mercedes also will downsize as part of its strategy for improving its Corporate Average Fuel Economy numbers. Some or all of its next-generation family of small front-drive cars will go on sale in the U.S. The current B-Class was designed for U.S. sale (it’s sold in Canada) and was previewed as a concept at American auto shows, but currency fluctuations kept it out of the market. The new small cars, due beginning about 2013, will have a highly modular platform. Some versions will take the double-floor idea from the current generation, which results in extremely compact cars. The design also allows space under the floor to package fuel-cell systems and hydrogen tanks, or batteries for an EV version, or even a compact…

AUTOMAKERS are so sensitive about naming products that they seem to be running out of useable ideas. Once-great models regressed to lend their names to lesser products, and so we’re not likely to see a new Buick Special, Century, or Skylark any time soon. The Chrysler Sebring name seems tarnished forever. This wasn’t always the case. Ford’s new-for-1958 Edsel division lasted just two model years, plus a couple months of the ‘60 model year. The brand’s name still stands as shorthand for complete and utter failure. And yet five of Edsel’s seven model names were picked up for future products, two of them built by competitors: Citation: Edsel’s top-of-range car, built on a 124-inch wheelbase, was discontinued after the ‘58 model year. It was picked up 22 years later for…

PROBABLY no team in the history of Formula 1 spent more than Toyota—and achieved less. In 140 Grand Prix starts over eight seasons beginning in 2002, Toyota, whose budget was said to rival that of F1 superstars Ferrari and McLaren, failed to win a single race, and claimed a mere 13 podium finishes. CEO Akio Toyoda is a motorsport enthusiast—he’s personally driven a Lexus IS-F sedan and the LFA supercar in two Nurburgring 24 Hour races—but he’s not enthralled with Formula 1. The decision to exit Grand Prix racing was made on his watch. Toyoda wants Toyota’s motorsports efforts to be more grassroots, with more real impact on the company’s production car lineup. Which is why we’ll see more versions of the LFA, IS-F, and even the Auris (the European…

GENERALLY in the car biz, automakers roll out a brand-new model and then freshen it two or three years later with, among other items, a redesigned fascia, a spiffier interior, and perhaps even a new powertrain. And then another couple, three years after that face lift, the vehicle is replaced with the next generation, starting the process once again. It all happens like clockwork, really. With the Mustang, however, Ford has been punching the timecard to, well, a rather unpredictable cuckoo. Introduced in 2005, the fifth generation of Ford’s halo car replaced third and fourth gens (both utilized the Fox platform) that collectively spanned 25 years. Why squeeze in five generations when you can stretch just two, right? Suffice it to say, the 2004 Mustang was about as long in…

THE BIG NEWS, literally, for the 2011 Mustang is the resurrection of the 5.0-liter, 302-cubic-inch V-8, a 412-horsepower engine that replaces the 2010’s comparably anemic 315-horse, 4.6-liter. But the bigger deal, arguably, is the Mustang’s all-new base motor, a 3.7-liter V-6 that—thank you, Ford!—at long last puts to rest the rudimentary 4.0-liter six that dates back more than four decades. Now, if 40-plus years doesn’t sound like much, think of it this way: Engine years are like dog years. Do you think if Fido were 42, he’d be tugging very hard on the leash? Unlike the old 4.0, which for 2010 still employs a heavy iron block, an archaic two-valve/cylinder single-overhead-cam valvetrain, and a measly 210 horsepower, the new 3.7-liter is a technological tour de force. From lightweight aluminum architecture…

WHAT BEAUTIFUL MUSIC THAT V-10 HAS BEEN MAKING ALL ALONG. WOW. Here’s one of those cars that you really have to open up (in all senses of the word) to appreciate. It almost didn’t happen. Launching a car in Europe in early March means staging as far south as possible, and our Audi hosts selected the trendy Cap d’Antibe Beach Hotel on the French Riviera as its base. There are marvelous roads to be stormed in the nearby Maritime Alps, but perhaps fearing black ice and other weather woes, the programmed routes largely hugged the coast, plodding through village after 50-kilometer/hour village in cloudy and cool weather. Progress was slower than predicted, we were dog-tired, and my co-driver and I nearly bailed to head back and report to you what…

THE NEW LaCrosse is a certified hit for Buick. Sales of the new model are several times those of the car it replaced and have helped the brand battle back from the brink of obscurity. Emboldened by its recent success, Buick is trying its luck with a new four-cylinder version of the LaCrosse. The offering in question is the new CX, the base model in the line. Though this new four-cylinder variant will be available late in the 2010 model year alongside the 3.0-liter V-6 and top-shelf 3.6-liter V-6, it will replace the 3.0-liter V-6 for 2011. The powerplant chosen to take on this task is GM’s 2.4-liter EcoTec four-cylinder, which produces 182 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque. Knock around a few beads on the abacus, and you’ll find…

IT’S BEEN a while since Mitsubishi has sent us anything other than a sporty car for a long-term test. In fact, the better part of a decade has passed since the departure of our long-term 2001 Montero sport/utility. In the meantime, we’ve gone through three Lancer Evolutions and an Eclipse. But that streak has come to an end. With the number of utilitarian vehicles in our long-term fleet dropping rapidly, we quickly accepted Mitsubishi’s offer of an Outlander. Updated for 2010 with, among other changes, an Evo-derived front end, 10 extra ponies for its optional V-6, and a new GT trim at the top of the range, the second-gen makes an even more compelling case for itself in the increasingly crowded compact-crossover segment. Naturally, we opted for the king of…

LISTING THE TL’s most compelling attributes, senior editor Ron Kiino notes, “The 3.7-liter V-6 is a refined engine that sings sweetly and loves to rev. The SH-AWD system is brilliant, albeit a little heavy (the TL weighs nearly 4000 pounds), rotating the car through corners with surprising eagerness and precision. Inside, the TL’s got Bluetooth phone and audio capability, nav traffic and weather, satellite radio, Zagat restaurant guide, and, here’s the zinger, a nav system that can be operated while on the move. We all understand the dangers of a driver operating a nav while on the move, but preventing the front passenger from using the nav while on the go seems ridiculous. Many times during our weekend in San Francisco, my wife entered addresses and searched for points of…

WITH NEARLY 16,000 miles on the clock, the Insight has been an infrequent visitor to gas station and service shop, delivering 38.3 mpg and a maintenance bill of $85.33. That said, not all our editors have enjoyed the frugal ride. “The joy of driving is absent here,” states St. Antoine. “This is the first Honda I’ve driven that feels unpolished. The hybrid powertrain switches off and on at stoplights with an unpleasant throb that’s thoroughly unbecoming Honda’s usual high standards for finesse. The engine revs coarsely. On the highway, the Insight hunts in its lane and rides over road imperfections like a manhole cover. The structure sounds tinny—both via the amount of road noise entering the cabin and when you shut the doors. And the cabin is just tiny, particularly…

TRUCK TREND Web producer Melissa Spiering took the Equator out to Johnson Valley for the King of the Hammers off-road race—”in the middle of nowhere, California”—and found the Suzuki to be “fun to drive on the washed-out dirt roads. As soon as the race rigs left the starting line, spectators jumped into their vehicles and headed to the trails. I followed the line of Jeeps up into the hillsides from location to location. Although I left the steep hills to the big guys—the lifted Jeeps, Broncos, ATVs, motorcycles, and rock crawlers—the Equator took to the trails like a pro. I was really impressed that I avoided getting stuck and equally impressed as to how the truck took care of me while I ventured off the path a few times to…