Indholdsfortegnelse for June 2017 i MotorTrend

“My basic belief as a businessman is that trade is something good and is a win-win for almost everybody involved.Ó” Interview Daimler is on a roll. The company finished 2016 with record sales, record revenues, and record profits. It couldn’t build its high-performance AMG models fast enough to meet demand, shipments of Mercedes-Benz vans grew stronger, and the Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team won its third world championship in a row, this time with a German driver, Nico Rosberg, at the wheel. Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche ought to be feeling pretty good right now. The only problem is what happened elsewhere in 2016. In Europe, Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has jeopardized access to one of Daimler’s most important markets, and President Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric on global trade threatens…

ALFA ROMEO GIULIA QUADRIFOGLIO AS TESTED $85,745 BMW M3 AS TESTED $88,095 CADILLAC ATS-V SEDAN AS TESTED $73,570 MERCEDESAMG C63 S AS TESTED $89,035 Compared to the scads of high-volume entry-level sport sedans—you know, the ones on the preceding pages with the highly publicized lease deals—there are but a few high-dollar, high-horsepower variants. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio, the BMW M3 Competition package, the Cadillac ATS-V, and the Mercedes-AMG C63 S are all designed to make children out of restrained adults. They provide near-supercar performance yet carry four people and their stuff with ease. These cars have an extreme impact on both a driver’s heart rate and pocketbook, not to mention the public’s perception of the base models that spawn these high-end variants. These are the imagemakers— the cars that…

Think “Jeep,” and the iconic mug of the Wrangler likely pops into your mind, but as much as the Wrangler might be the face of the brand, it doesn’t pay all the bills. That honor belongs to the crossovers: the Cherokee, the Renegade, and the Patriot/Compass twins. With the compact CUV market expected to grow 20 percent globally by 2020, Jeep paid special attention to its newest entry, the redesigned 2017 Compass. Replacing the outgoing Compass and the Patriot, the 2017 Compass is in FCA-speak a “4.4-meter vehicle,” a globally relevant size that fits squarely between the Renegade and Cherokee. Built on a stretched version of the Renegade’s small-wide 4x4 architecture, the Compass comes with one engine option, three transmission choices, and two drivetrains choices for North America. FCA’s Tigershark…

CHEVROLET COLORADO Z71 DURAMAX MAZDA CX-3 AWD DODGE CHARGER SRT HELLCAT MINI COOPER S CLUBMAN ALL4 UPDATE ARRIVAL DODGE DURANGO GT NISSAN TITAN XD PRO-4X DIESEL HONDA CIVIC TOURING SUBARU LEGACY SPORT ARRIVAL UPDATE HONDA HR-V EX SUBARU OUTBACK 2.5i HONDA PILOT AWD ELITE TOYOTA MIRAI UPDATE UPDATE KIA SPORTAGE EX AWD VOLKSWAGEN GOLF SPORTWAGEN 1.8T LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER SPORT HSE TD6 VOLVO XC90 AWD ARRIVAL 2017 Dodge Durango GT William Walker “My new long-term 2016 Dodge Durango GT has no idea what it is in for over the next year. We’ll see how well it holds up.” EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 19/26/21 MPG BASE PRICE $38,590 PRICE AS TESTED $42,775 It…

AUTO SHOW SPECIAL Mercedes- AMG GT Concept AMG’s first 50th birthday present to itself is a new super sedan designed to complement the GT sports car and further take the fight to Porsche. Built on the E-Class’ platform, AMG says it’s 90 percent production ready. The flagship model features AMG’s new EQ Power+ hybrid drivetrain, which pairs its 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 with a rear-mounted electric motor and torque-vectoring all-wheel drive. Combined output is nearly 800 hp and promises 0–62 mph in less than 3.0 seconds. Base and S variants will ditch the electric motor and produce roughly 500 hp and 600-plus hp, respectively, from the same V-8 with improved turbos. Expect a production version, likely called GT 4, next year. Infiniti Q60 Project Black S Concept It’s been a long…

The intensity of trust is based on feeling special and receiving personalized treatment. “Trust me.” There might be no two words in the English language more emotionally freighted. Reciprocating this vow entails an intimate contract of honesty, liability, and concession. When given, received, and honored, trust leads to unbounded loyalty. When the bond is broken, it often leads to the incineration of the relationship. But what does it mean to trust those with whom you do business? Buying and owning a car is often seen as a straightforward transaction. You give money, you get sheetmetal, and you hope it doesn’t break down. You trust that the automaker’s factory had a good day and that your car will provide you years of trouble-free reliability. Trust goes much deeper than that.…

UNSOLICITED FASHION CRITIQUE OF THE MONTH: “Where did you find this long-haired freak?” WRITE US AT 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245 Email us online at motortrend.com or send an email direct to motortrend@motortrend.com READERSON LOCATION Longtime subscriber BOB ANTON of Montgomery Village, Maryland, wishes his rides would last as long as the 900-year-old temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. So do we, Bob. So do we. Electrification In your February magazine you refer to all EVs that are not Bolts or Teslas as irrelevant (“High Voltage”). I beg to differ. My wife and I (both retired) live in a small town north of Dayton, Ohio, and recently purchased a used 2015 Nissan Leaf SV in like-new condition for $15,000. We use it as a daily driver, and…

CRISIS The TNGA platform represents a wonderful advancement for Toyota’s vehicle dynamics. You can tell just by looking at it. The C-HR was supposed to be a Scion, right up until Toyota put the “youth” brand out of its misery. It’s still a kid a heart, though, completely unsure of what it wants to be when it grows up. Start with the name. C-HR stands for “Coupe-High Rider,” and it’s neither. The body side is styled to make it look like a coupe, with all the associated packaging drawbacks. The designers attempted to hide the rear door handles up near the roofline for a cool effect—but the location is inconvenient, especially for the children of the hip millennial families Toyota hopes will buy this thing. The kids won’t be able…

Picture a rowdy, rambunctious teenager who’s grown up to become a pleasant young adult. That’s the 2017 Mini Cooper Countryman. The redesigned Countryman is bigger and better mannered than the model it replaces and better groomed inside and out. The cheeky edge that’s core to the Mini brand is still there, but it’s less forced. The biggest, most versatile Mini in history, the 2017 Countryman feels more comfortable in its own skin. The new Countryman launched in the U.S. in March with the 134-hp 1.5-liter three-cylinder Cooper and 189-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder Cooper S models, each available with front-drive or Mini’s All4 all-wheel drive and the choice of a six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmission. Prices start at $26,950 for the base Cooper Countryman and stretch to $31,950 for the Cooper…

Up to 12 percent of adults could suffer from motion sickness in driverless cars. Practically every recent auto show has organized a concurrent autonomy/mobility conference where panelists drone on about sensor fusion, V2X communications, 5G networking, etc. These same auto shows feature concepts boldly predicting the future of Level 5 driverless transportation—employing some combination of front seats that swivel to face backward, windows that go opaque for privacy, and/or giant video screens that obscure the windows. “Not so fast!” say human factors engineers. Build cars like that, and they’ll need to come equipped with barf bags. A 2015 University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute report suggests that if passengers stop looking out the windows, 6 to 12 percent of adults will likely suffer moderate to severe motion sickness, also…

COVER STORY COMPACT LUXURY SPORT SEDANS Alfa Romeo Giulia......................................$43,940 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro ................................$48,725 Cadillac ATS 2.0T ....................................... $45,930 Jaguar XE 25t (Prestige) ....................... $50,458 Lexus IS 200t F Sport ..............................$45,885 Mercedes-Benz C300 (Sport) ...........$44,580 When Everything’s Equal Who Still Makes the Best Compact Luxury Sport Sedan? Let’s be honest. The compact luxury sedan is an irrational car. It’s the size of a Honda Civic but costs twice as much. But every year, about a halfmillion Americans are willing to pay a substantial premium for the experience of owning, driving, and of course being seen in one of these premium cars. So think of this not as a Big Test but instead as a Big Picture Test, where the judges turn into bit actors, spending even more time than usual…

when you purchase a set of four (4). Card is issued by The Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. The NBA identifications are the intellectual property of NBA Properties, Inc. © 2017 NBA Properties, Inc. Official Tire of the NBA Since its 2012 debut, the Mazda CX-5 has been praised for its inspiring steering and confident handling, peppy and efficient four-cylinder engine, engaging exterior, and handsome interior designs. Even at the end of its first generation, the CX-5 continued to win comparisons such as our Big Test of 2016–2017 small crossovers. Three easy-to-navigate trim levels and short options lists have made buying decisions simple, so it’s no wonder it has surpassed the Mazda3 as the company’s best-seller at more than 112,000 units. For 2017,…

Land Rover builds go-anywhere beasts that can traverse great distances in luxuriant opulence. Most never need this extreme capability, but it’s good to know it can handle heavy sport when called upon. Showing an ability to persevere through snow, sleet, hail, and rain while battling high winds and steep sand dunes, our redesigned 2017 Discovery snaked through Utah canyons and Arizona desert. And although Land Rover had plotted this course to highlight the Disco’s strengths, its PR minders had no idea Mother Nature would supply such a meteorological onslaught. Seriously, the Postal Service would have stayed home But the Disco danced through the test. No winches, sand ladders, or other assists proved necessary during a two-day drive of almost 500 miles on- and off-road. A few months ago Motor Trend…