Indholdsfortegnelse for May 2016 i MotorTrend

Nearly a decade ago, I traveled to Windhoek, Namibia, to evaluate a prototype of the first-generation Volkswagen Tiguan. VW’s foray into compact crossover country was cute, peppy, and displayed no problem bouncing all over the harsh Namib Desert, much like the springbok antelope that hopped around us like kids on a sugar high. Lightly camouflaged, the mule sported a 1.4-liter, twin-charged (turbocharged and supercharged) inline-four, a six-speed automatic, and a Haldex-based 4Motion all-wheel-drive system. A year later the Tiguan arrived in America as a 2009 model, albeit with a bigger, more powerful 2.0-liter turbo. It was on the small side of the compact CUV class (not exactly the best proposition when going after size-matters Yanks) and, worse yet, demanded a premium over established players from Asia and America. Unsurprisingly, sales…

Cadillac, one of the oldest and most inventive automotive marques, is at yet another intriguing juncture in its 114-year history. The brand of Leland, Murphy, and Bowen has spent the past few years obsessing over its street and track performance image. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. There was Bob Lutz’s CTS-V Challenge in 2009 and then the ATS commercial spots all about aggressive driving. Luxury customers in recent years might not have understood the hullabaloo around Cadillac’s fascination with going fast around corners, but we know a core set of buyers has been waiting for a new big Caddy. These customers are probably looking for a Cadillac like the CT6. Or are they? Perhaps they would be swayed by testing director Kim Reynolds after he circled our figure…

It’s not much of a stretch to say the horsepower wars have gotten a bit ridiculous these days, especially when it comes to big luxury sport sedans. In the early 2000s, cars such as the Audi RS 6, BMW M5, and Cadillac CTS-V made 444, 394, and 400 horsepower, respectively. Nowadays, their descendants churn out 552, 553, and 640 hp. So what are enthusiasts to do if they want a luxury sport sedan without the impending fury of 640 hp a toe away? Thankfully, a handful of other cars fill the gap—all with badges signifying some of the performance potential of the top-of-theline models but without the price tags, fuel economy penalties, or inevitable domestic squabble after you’ve gone through your third set of tires in just as many months.…

Words Motor Trend Editors ARRIVAL 2016 Subaru BRZ Emiliana Sandoval “I’m looking forward to shifting my way through L.A. this year in the delightful BRZ.” @Emiliana505 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 22/30/25 MPG BASE PRICE $28,485 PRICE AS TESTED $28,485 In October I got a surprising email from our garage gurus: Did I want to swap the automatic 2016 Nissan Maxima SR I’d just started driving for a Mazda MX-5 or Subaru BRZ, both with manual transmissions? I assumed I was being punked—was it really my lucky day? I can already hear the comments: “Y U NO CHOOZE MIATA?” Because I hang out with my 5-year-old niece on weekends, and she needs to sit in the back seat, which the Miata doesn’t have. Plus I took part in a BRZ/Miata…

“The most beautiful DB car in the history of Aston Martin.” That’s a bold call in the context of Aston Gran Turismos designed by Zagato and Callum, but design chief Marek Reichman has reason to feel proud of the DB11. It’s a looker, extravagantly proportioned and carefully tailored. “Every millimeter of this car is where we wanted it,” he says. All-new. Reichman and his colleagues at Aston Martin savor the phrase, rolling it around their palates as if they were gargling Cristal. And with good reason: The launch of an all-new Aston Martin is a rare occurrence. The car the DB11 replaces, the DB9, first appeared in 2004. And even then, the V-12 engine under the hood was a reworked version of a powerplant that debuted in the 2000 DB7…

Just 33 years after revolutionizing the car-audio listening experience with its Symphony Sound System in the 1983 Eldorado and Seville, Bose has teamed with Cadillac to advance the road-jamming art to the next level in the 2016 CT6 (page 62). That first system installed speakers in four locations, each with its own amplifier and interconnected signal processing electronics. The new Panaray system boasts 34 speakers and four amps connected by a MOST data network plus low- and high-speed local area networks. But it’s not the hardware that earns Bose column inches here; it’s the technical innovation. Let’s start with the distributed bass. Giant woofers are impractical in cars. They’re bulky, and they risk vibrating the trim. Much of Panaray’s rumble comes from two 8.2-liter acoustic wave enclosures mounted under the…

Odd Parallels I started flipping through my February 2016 issue, and I saw (I thought) a future rendition of a new Jaguar XK. Ohm’gosh, I mumbled to myself, Jaguar has decided not to can the XK series by making the 2015 model the last design to be marketed. Upon a slightly closer look I see that it’s a Mazda RX-Vision Concept (“Trend”). I’m thinking Mazda decided to step in and replace the Jaguar XK design with its own updated design of the most beautiful car in the world. You have to admit there is an uncanny resemblance between Mazda’s RX-Vision design and the Jaguar XK series. Is there some plagiarism going on here? TOM RINKACH PEORIA, ILLINOIS Well, we suppose if we squint real hard, we can kind of make…

It’s not often you drive a car with a true split personality. We say we do on occasion, that a car completely changes when you press a certain button, and sometimes it’s not an exaggeration. This is one of those times. This is not a good car that gets better or a wild car that can be leashed and brought to heel. It is an all-or-nothing, love-it-or-hate-it, two-faced fanatic, and the trigger is speed. To be blunt, the Lamborghini Aventador SV is as amazing to drive fast as it is miserable to drive slow. Should you be one of the lucky 600 to have had both the means and opportunity to have purchased one, you should use your ample cash reserves to have it trailered to your favorite tracks and…

We named the sixth-gen Camaro our 2016 Car of the Year. That’s the highest praise we can give a vehicle. I remember sitting around after the vote with my fellow judges expressing the following sentiment: “Forget Mustang and Challenger. The Camaro now competes with BMW and Audi.” We proved that just days later when the new Camaro beat the Mustang GT in a Head 2 Head. “Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d write,” boss man Angus MacKenzie wrote at the time. “The Chevrolet Camaro is a better, more entertaining car to drive than a BMW 3 Series.” MacKenzie was talking about the brand-new 340i, a car that most certainly did not take home our Golden Calipers. But what if we put our new darling COTY winner up against the…

Even before the #Dieselgate fiasco, Volkswagen had a big problem: America. Born from the ashes of World War II and Hitler’s fraudulent people’s car scam, Volkswagen made a global reputation for itself in the 1950s and ’60s as a producer of quirky litle bug-shaped cars that were tough, durable, and oddly endearing. Riding a wave of social rebellion as the first baby boomers came of driving age, the Volkswagen Beetle became an American pop-culture icon: the anti-establishment automobile, an underpowered, flower-powered middle finger to Detroit’s self-obsessed excess. Even the ads, created by New York agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, broke all the rules, with taglines like “Lemon” and “Think small” and “Don’t laugh” appearing under photos of the product. One of the best ads didn’t even show the car at all.…

@MT_TheGoods The intersection of priceless and worthless knowledge Unstoppable La Gazzetta dello Sport €14.99 Straight from Italy, this Brembo collaboration celebrates 12 speeddefying, boundary-testing motorsport legends. Dino: The V6 Ferrari Brian Long Veloce Publishing • $60 The Ferrari Dino wasn’t the fastest or most powerful car Ferrari ever built, but it’s a classic all the same. Fans of Ferrari will love the 200-plus photos—and the Dino’s rich history to complement them—in this book. Ford Total Performance Martyn L. Schorr Motorbooks • $45 “Ford Total Performance” chronicles Ford’s 1961-1971 racing era and covers production vehicles, unique concepts, drag cars, and the rivalry that led to the creation of the GT40. With 348 photos and illustrations to accompany the intriguing history, it’s a must read for Ford aficionados. Red Flags Tammy…

The Internet comment boards can be an awful place, but sometimes I can’t resist looking. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen complaints about standard anti-lock brakes, traction and stability controls, performance drive modes, and quick-shifting dual-clutch gearboxes. These drivers describe their ideal supercar as having a big engine up front, a manual transmission, and no traction control or ABS. Basically, a 1992 Dodge Viper. But times change. High-performance cars are ever-more reliant on computer-controlled traction aides and driver modes, and they’re faster for it. Since its rebirth in 2010, McLaren has drawn a lot of online ire for the role electronic aids play in its vehicles, but I’m not afraid of a little divine—or computer-aided— intervention, especially in a car as capable as the new 2016 McLaren 675LT.…

“What is the point of a sleeping pill,” she asked, “if it just knocks you out?” That question might seem silly, except my grandmother didn’t want a good night’s sleep. She wanted to get a little silly. Instead she got a Lunesta—and eight hours of perfect sleep before a blaring TV, next to a bottle of wine she didn’t even have time to open. She was livid, having been robbed of a fun night thanks to a drug that skipped the journey and jumped straight to the destination. Before you judge, remember that you don’t drink alcohol for the purpose of obtaining a hangover. And no one buys a fast car to get to work earlier. They’re for fun—though these days, finding a fast car that’s also fun is as…

What’s the most underrated car on the market? You’re never going to guess, so I’m going to tell you: the Chevrolet SS with a manual transmission. The only other equally forgotten new ride is the Ford Fiesta ST, but that’s another story. (I own one; it’s awesome.) I’m not saying there aren’t lots of other fantastic cars for sale. I am saying: When’s the last time you saw a Chevy SS, let alone thought about one? But you should be thinking about the big four-door Chevy because it rocks. Holden began building the fourth-gen Zeta-platform Commodore in 2006. Then the glorious Pontiac G8, specifically the rip-snortin’ GXP variant, came to America in 2008. Bankruptcy forced GM to kill Pontiac in 2010. A shortened, two-door version of the Commodore showed up…