Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2018 i MotorTrend

@Lohdown Early in the morning after the lap session for this month’s cover story (page 30), I grabbed a couple of minutes with Motor Trend staff pro driver Randy Post before he dashed to catch a flight home. Without spoiling Kim Reynolds’ excellent feature, I want to relay just a snippet of our resident racer’s thoughts on Tesla’s new Track mode feature. “An aggressive full-speed track entrance led to inconsistencies. It wouldn’t always do the same thing. I go down the straightaway, and I’m heading to a corner, I’m thinking in the back of my mind, I wonder what is going to happen. It was an uneasy feeling.” What struck me about Randy’s critique of the Model 3’s high-performance mode is that he could have been describing the recent behavior…

The McLaren 600LT is the fourth in the automaker’s Longtail series. The first was the F1 Longtail, which is currently valued at about $16 million. The next two, the 675LT and the 675LT Spyder, were each limited to 500 units, though saying that those are two distinct vehicles is something of a stretch. The 675LTs were a jump in performance over the 650S and filled out McLaren’s Super Series portfolio quite well. The 600LT accomplishes the same thing for the Sports Series, joining the 570S coupe and Spyder and the 570GT. The jump in performance between the 570S and 600LT is large, more akin to going from the Lamborghini Huracán to the Performante than, say, the Porsche 911 to the Carrera S. Power is—of course—up, rising from 562 hp to…

Oct 26 Auto Mundial, Motorsport Mundial Oct 27 LIVE! European Le Mans Series - Qualifying, Portimao, Portugal LIVE! Intercontinental GT Challenge - Practice and Qualifying, Laguna Seca 8 Hours LIVE! Michelin Le Mans Cup - Race 1, Portimao, Portugal Oct 28 LIVE! European Le Mans Series, Portimao, Portugal LIVE! Intercontinental GT Challenge, Laguna Seca 8 Hours LIVE! Michelin Le Mans Cup - Race 2, Portimao, Portugal Oct 29 ROADKILL, Ep. 77 Oct 31 Mobil 1 The Grid, Program 19 PUT UP OR SHUT UP, Ep. 11 Nov 2 Auto Mundial, Motorsport Mundial Nov 3 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Auckland Nov 4 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Auckland Nov 5 ROADKILL GARAGE, Ep. 37 Nov 7 ENGINE MASTERS, Ep. 41 Nov 8 Ferrari Challenge Europe World Final, Monza* Nov 9 Auto Mundial,…

Your first job out of college agrees with you. You just earned a sweet raise and promotion and made a solid dent in your student loan debt. It’s time to chuck that Civic, Corolla, or Golf that your nana helped you buy when you graduated and upgrade to a brand that fellow users of the managerial washrooms will respect. Your family needs are minimal, but you’re still outdoorsy (or seek to project that image, given the hours you’re putting in at the office), so you’re looking to join the stampede away from cars and into a fancy-brand small SUV. You demand easy, seamless connectivity to your devices, reasonable road-trip room for your pals and stuff, and sufficient style to swivel some heads. To this demanding millennial buyer, we suggest three…

You can open the top, bottom, or both parts of the split tailgate by pushing a button. Trivia question: Which vehicle does BMW expect to perform Olympian feats again and again? The answer lies in the cities chosen for the launch of the original vehicle in 1999 and subsequent generations in 2006 and 2013. It is the X5 midsize crossover, which BMW launched in Atlanta, home to the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was a podium moment for the brand as BMW’s first foray into SUVs. The automaker used Athens, birthplace of the Olympics, to launch the second-generation X5, and for the third generation it was Vancouver, host of the 2011 Winter Games. For the fourth generation, which arrived in in dealerships November 10, BMW reprised its international launch in Atlanta…

One of the Supra’s assistant chief engineers wondered aloud if any of the gathered journalists had driven its blood-brother BMW Z4. I alone raised my hand. “What is it like?” Masayuki Kai asked. “Different,” I said. “Different, how?” he wanted to know. Nobody in the Supra squad has driven the Z4, nor has BMW driven the future Supra. The forthcoming coupe-only Supra and convertible-only Z4 share the same hard points, wheelbase, track width, engine, transmission, differential, and tires, among other things, but they were tuned and calibrated separately. They really are automotive twins separated at birth. Toyota would not share with us any specifications of the camo-clad prototypes—not engine output, fuel consumption, dimensions, or pricing. They wanted our driving impressions alone. As all Supras have had, the newest version gets…

Traditionally, Mercedes-Benz’s attempts at building entry-luxury cars have been middling at best. The CLA, its most recent indiscretion, came with a frustrating dual-clutch transmission and a plasticky interior. But Mercedes’ suboptimal entry-luxe reputation might soon change with its A-Class sedan. Intended to be Mercedes’ newest bargain model, the A-Class sedan is a revelation in the democratization of luxury. The styling borrows heavily from the elite CLS—few straight lines or sharp corners, a short rear overhang, and slim headlights. To a lot of buyers, though, such design cues will be less important than the three-pointed star on the grille. Inside, it does a surprisingly good impression of a much more expensive car. From the dual-screen display to the multifunction steering wheel and the turbine-inspired air vents, it legitimately looks the part.…

“Randy’s just gone off Turn 2,” the walkie-talkie barks. I look up from my laptop. What happened? Our Jaguar I-Pace is most definitely in the wrong place and has come to a stop amid drifting dust. Today is just getting weirder and weirder—Randy Franklin Pobst never goes off a racetrack. For all the tire marks that spaghetti away from the Streets of Willow’s racing line and loopily disappear at its broken edges, they’re never the graffiti of our resident championship racing driver. Randy is a model of consistency. A walkie-talkie hisses for a moment, and then … “The Jag suddenly put on its emergency brakes and sent me off the track.” Wait, what? The Motor Trend testing staffers eyeball each other. For the past two hours, Randy had been chasing…

Do you ever wonder where this is all going to end? More power, bigger wings, better aero, fatter tires. Remember when the ’90s Porsche 911 Turbo and Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 hit 400 horsepower? We thought we were all going to die. Yet now we’re close to doubling that. What hath the demon seed of technology wrought? With such existential theorizing in mind, we present the ever-rising top of the upward spiral: the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 with ZTK package and the 2018 Porsche GT2 RS Weissach Edition. As a result of my long racing career and introduction to the inner workings of Porsche Motorsport when I had a factory contract, plus my 10 seasons of track testing with Motor Trend, I have followed firsthand with interest and wonder the twists…

Lexus wants us to read “Urban eXplorer” into its new UX nomenclature, but the target audience of mostly younger, web-savvy folks sees User eXperience when they read those letters. UX in that context refers broadly to a customer’s overall interaction with a product or company, with the point of contact—or user interface (UI)—being an especially crucial element. Unfortunately, one of the main elements of the Lexus UX’s UI, the infotainment touchpad, has a lousy user experience. Naming the vehicle thus is a little like if VW had called its last Jetta TDI the Black Cloud Edition. It’s a shame because otherwise this new entry-level crossover has a lot going for it. Size-wise it’s interestingly positioned a half-step smaller than its NX sibling but a half-step larger inside and out than…

No, this isn’t Russian doll design—the 2019 Santa Fe is not just a Kona that’s been scaled up to a bigger segment. Hyundai’s redesigned midsize crossover has unique styling cues, including high-mounted LED daytime running lights and low-mounted headlight clusters, a grille with a pattern that mimics chain mail armor, and a chrome strip that runs the width of the entire front fascia. Its upright greenhouse gives it more presence and glass area for better visibility. Powertrains carry over with slight improvements: The base 2.4-liter I-4 has 185 hp and 178 lb-ft of torque, and on the Limited and Ultimate grades, you can opt for a 2.0-liter turbo-four with 235 hp and 260 lb-ft. Both engines use an eight-speed automatic and now come with electrically actuated continuously variable valve timing…

The Vanishing Paint Challenger is back on the road with an upgraded suspension, and it’s ready to dominate the autocross. Freiburger and Dulcich rekindled their love for the VP Challenger on ROADKILL GARAGE Episodes 34 and 36, and now they are putting it to the ultimate Roadkill road trip test. They’ve entered the Tire Rack Solo Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska, a mere 1,600 miles away. Is there any better way to break in a new build? Freiburger and Dulcich hit the road, camp under the stars, shoot off fireworks and make typical roadside repairs in their most fun road trip yet. Will they make it in time to compete in the ultimate Game of Cones? And can they keep it running well enough to hang with national competitors?…

When Audi introduced the first-generation Q3 in 2011, it wasn’t destined for the U.S. market. But America’s insatiable appetite for small sport utes—and anything with a four-ring badge—prompted Audi to bring a version here in 2014. Already an aging product by then, the Q3 nonetheless plugged the hole in Audi’s U.S. lineup, even if competitor offerings were stronger. This time around, Audi is better prepared to meet small-crossover demand at the global level. The new model is a ground-up redesign—and it shows. Audi’s signature octagonal grille dominates the front end and is flanked by a pair of LED headlights that slant inward. The body is also shapelier, with more prominent shoulders, Audi “Quattro blisters,” and a raked rear liftgate that ditches the previous model’s clamshell design. The switch to VW…

Rumor has it that the traditional four-door sedan is in the throes of a prolonged death spiral, squeezed into irrelevance by crossovers on one end and EVs on the other. But apparently Genesis hasn’t gotten the memo. Although its own SUV offerings are right around the corner, the 2019 G70 comes ready to stake a claim in the still-breathing compact sport luxury sedan market on its own terms. It’s a risky yet necessary gamble on the part of Genesis, which launched about three years ago as a stand-alone luxury brand for parent company Hyundai. With the G70, Genesis is aiming straight for the middle of a crowded pool filled with German and Japanese competition. The G70 looks to stand out by straddling the lines between athleticism, refinement, and elegance. As…