Indholdsfortegnelse for July 2017 i MotorTrend

Edward Loh @EdLoh Dear Akio, Congratulations on your quest to reinvigorate the Lexus and Toyota brands with renewed passion and much needed injections of driving excitement. Since the launch of the Scion FR-S, we have greatly enjoyed the affordable, fun-to-drive approach to a sporty coupe Americans now know as the Toyota 86. We also look forward to the return of the iconic Supra. I know you can’t comment much about that, but the time is right for the return of this legend. When the Supra first made its debut, it found its niche between American muscle and expensive European sports cars. Since the Supra’s departure, both segments have made huge strides but none more significant than the Mustang and Camaro nameplates. It will be great to see how the Supra…

NEWS / OPINION / GOSSIP / STUFF It’s here. The highly anticipated Jeep entry in the Hellcat Hall of Fame. At last, active lifestyle sporty utilitarians get their own 707-hp, 645-lb-ft conveyance in which to catapult their kayaks and carabiners from the city to the country. If you can imagine Motor Trend’s sister brand Roadkill doing an engine swap of a Hellcat crate engine into a Grand Cherokee SRT8 to produce the world’s most powerful SUV, you’ve got 90 percent of the design brief for the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. Jeep claims the 2018 Trackhawk is the world’s quickest SUV. The engine is almost the same as the one powering the Challenger and Charger Hellcats, including boost pressure (11.6 psi), max air flow rate (30,000 liters per minute), and…

NEWS / OPINION / GOSSIP / STUFF Genesis has shown the face of its expanded lineup with the GV80 SUV concept—and the future borrows styling from several luxury players while still giving Hyundai’s luxury brand its own character. Genesis brand boss Manfred Fitzgerald has promised six vehicles will arrive on three new dedicated platforms by 2021; the GV80 concept is close to production and should arrive in about two years. The midsize GV80 concept is a reardrive crossover with a plug-in hydrogen fuel cell powertrain. The SUV has the diamond-mesh Genesis grille and new headlamps, which will be a signature of the brand. The goal was a clean, simple, and sculpted look, said Peter Schreyer, who leads the design of Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis. Textured and perforated surfaces give the…

FEATURE Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid VS. Toyota Prius Chevrolet Volt VS. Toyota Prius Prime Chevrolet Bolt EV VS. Hyundai Ioniq EV Honda Clarity VS. Toyota Mirai Click. My iPhone paints a glow on my face. I squint. It’s 5 a.m. At least I think it’s 5. Sleeping with my contacts in requires a few exaggerated blinks to be sure. I slowly tilt upright and prepare for a whole new kind of comparison test. While I quickly shave, likely holding the razor backward, I look in the mirror. This time it’s just you and me, buddy, and eight cars. The octet consists of the best relatively affordable representatives of today’s highefficiency and low-emissions powertrain tech. They’ll inevitably battle for supremacy. But for now, they coexist, if uneasily eyeing each other. With the…

NEWS / OPINION / GOSSIP / STUFF Millennials continue to befuddle automakers, but Toyota thinks it has them figured out with its new rugged-looking small crossover concept. Called the FT-4X, which stands for Future Toyota-Four-Wheel-Drive Crossover, this FJ40 Land Cruiser–inspired cute ute is designed to attract millennial urbanites who enjoy the occasional outdoor trip. Toyota believes it has designed a vehicle that will attract members of Gen Y who prefer what Toyota calls “casual-core” outings: brief, unplanned, casual outdoor adventures that originate in the city (as opposed to high-effort excursions). FIRST LOOK The concept was conceived at Calty Design Research in Newport Beach, California, where designers conducted months of research into what Gen buyers want. They say most millennials’ outdoor experiences revolve around the hatch or tailgate, so they designed…

NEWS / OPINION / GOSSIP / STUFF All tires are round, right? Yes, but only when viewed from the side. From straight ahead or above they’re kind of rectangular, which is why they only roll in two directions. How limiting! Wouldn’t omnidirectional, spherical tires be awesome? They’d allow slide-in parallel parking with millimeters to spare, zero-yaw lane changes, and pivotin- place U-turns. I paid scant attention when Audi teased the idea with its RSQ product placement in the 2004 future film, I, Robot. It’s called science fiction for a reason. But Goodyear has now brought successive generations of its Eagle 360 tires to two successive Geneva Motor Shows. Are spherical tires about to become a thing? Here’s Goodyear’s vision: Because there’s no place to put a Schrader valve and no…

To most car owners, they’re round and black and wear out too soon. They’re an expensive pain replaced only when the tread wears thin enough to risk a ticket from a pedantic cop. To a Bugatti Chiron owner, though, tires are the reason theirs is the fastest street-legal production car in the world. Those 1,479 ponies? The trick aerodynamics? The carefully tuned suspension and steering and brakes? All worthless without tires capable of holding together and keeping in touch with terra firma at 261 mph and beyond. The specially developed Michelins hugging the Chiron’s massive forged alloy wheels are arguably the car’s singular technical achievement. They make the big Bugatti’s raison d’être a reality. Just 15 years ago tire manufacturers scoffed when Bugatti engineers asked if they could build a…

Once in, everything you touch feels expensive. In addition to the seats, the steering wheel and the grab handles are all wrapped in stitched leather. Finished in high-gloss ebony, the push-button shifter is relocated to just below the infotainment touchscreen and is designed to look like the keys of a Steinway piano. As you settle in, stash your bag or purse in the dedicated storage space below the floating center console, and place your phone in the wireless charging tray, the Navigator recognizes your key fob and adjusts up to 80 vehicle settings—from radio presets to mirrors, pedals, and cabin temperature. Lincoln extended its Quiet Luxury philosophy to its largest vehicle. Fire up the 3.5-liter twinturbo V-6 engine, and you have six driving modes to choose from, each of which…

50 JULY 1967 PRICE: $0.50 The July 1967 issue, like in 2017, was headlined by future cars. Not only did we discuss what was coming in ’68, but our artist also sketched out our best guesses of what the next year’s hottest sheetmetal would look like. We also looked at a George Barris–built four-door Oldsmobile Toronado Limo and examined a water-filled bumper designed to improve safety in low-speed collisions. 30 JULY 1987 PRICE: $2.50 We love ’80s MT. Our July cover featured an all-out fight between the C4 Chevrolet Corvette and the Shelby AC Cobra in honor of the 25th anniversary of the first battle. The winner? Cobra by a nose. 10 JULY 2007 PRICE: $4.99 Anybody remember the Ford Interceptor? We sure do. The V-8-powered Ford concept…

Christian von Koenigsegg’s Swedish hypercars only have V-8 engines, but they produce more power—between 1,160 to 1,360 horsepower—than 12-cylinder rivals such as the Pagani Huayra, Ferrari LaFerrari, Lamborghini Centenario, and Aston Martin Valkyrie. Customers in this rarified segment still want more. More cylinders, to be precise, so expect to see a Koenigsegg with a twin-turbo V-12 soon. The 2018 Geneva show might be a good place to start looking. While on the subject of V-12s, there’s a debate raging within Lamborghini over the future of its 12-cylinder engine. Government regulations and shifting consumer tastes are threatening it with extinction. Current thinking is the V-12 won’t make it much past 2020 or 2022, but there’s no word on a replacement. A hybrid isn’t on the agenda because Lambo engineers reportedly don’t…

NEWS / OPINION / GOSSIP / STUFF As president and CEO of Volvo Cars, Håkan Samuelsson is getting the Swedish brand back on the radar by using new products and stunning design to attract consumer attention. The revival started with the XC90 (Motor Trend’s 2016 SUV of the Year), followed crisply by the S90 sedan (a finalist for our 2017 Car of the Year) and V90 wagon. Coming soon are the new midsize XC60 SUV, S60 sedan, and V60 wagon. With Volvo thriving under Chinese parent Geely, Samuelsson has big ambitions at further expanding the product line, helped by a new plant in Charleston, South Carolina, which will start production in mid-2018. How do you keep the momentum going? In the U.S. we achieved a turnaround, and our retailers now…

Three years ago, we compared an outgoing rear-drive F10-gen M5 with the Competition package against the AWD Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S. In explaining why the BMW lost, we established a wish list for the next-gen car. Senior features editor Jonny Lieberman said that although the M5 could do what the E63 could, it required more skill: “Confidence is a key factor. I was simply more confident behind the wheel of the Mercedes than I was when driving the BMW.” He found the BMW driving experience too isolated, and he begged for a simpler launch control and a less dizzying array of chassis and powertrain adjustments—none of which offered a just-right feel, especially the rock-hard steering-assist settings. Now, as M Division is wrapping up development of its sixth-generation (F90) M5, the…