Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2006 i MotorTrend

NISSAN UNVEILED its GT-R Proto at the Tokyo motor show, a "concept" that design chief Shiro Nakamura says is 80 to 90 percent of the 2008 production model that’ll be launched at the 2007 Tokyo show. The first concept version of this global GT-R, codenamed R35, appeared at the 2001 Tokyo show. Lack of engineering resources in the face of Carlos Ghosn’s rapid turnaround of Nissan stretched its development to seven years. The R35 is the first GT-R with its own sheetmetal, and it’s the first built to accommodate left-hand-drive markets, including ours. Nissan has confirmed that North America will get the same powertrain as the rest of the world, rumored to be a twin-turbo, 450-horse, 3.7-liter V-6 (there was talk our market only would get a 4.5-liter V-8). Officially,…

TOYOTA CHIEFS ordered a last-minute redesign of the next-generation Corolla after seeing Honda’s avant-garde Civic at the Geneva show earlier this year. Insiders say senior execs were worried the new Corolla, said to resemble a scaled-up Yaris, would be seen as far too conservative. The redesign reportedly has pushed back the launch of the tenth-generation Corolla by at least six months. But it underscores Toyota’s resolve to shake off its reputation for building bland cars. Toyota executive vice president Kazuo Okamoto concedes some of Toyota’s products, including Lexus, haven’t had the desired impact on consumers because of the way these cars look. "I think our design could’ve been weak, "he said in Tokyo recently. "We didn’t have enough aggression in our design."…

back to the future You can always depend on the engineers at Lexus to approach competitive car design as if they’re solving a math equation. Could it be that on some corporate level they’ve made the mistake of thinking that “fun to drive” isn’t a question of human involvement with the car but only of achieving certain performance benchmarks? Imagine 30 years in the future, the Lexus 1S 650—with its solar-powered, fuel-cell, cold-fusion hybrid engine—is capable of 0-to-60 in 1.5 seconds with an electronically limited top speed of 305 mph, while the primary passenger plots a course to his destination safe in his sensory isolation chamber. Back in 2006, with the IS 350, Lexus created the perfect sport sedan for the digital-age consumer who loves performance but not necessarily driving.…

COULD THE LIFE form that helped give us our atmosphere now fuel our cars? A couple billion years ago, give or take, Earth had an air pollution problem that would make L.A., Mexico City, and Beijing seem as pristine as Alpine Switzerland. Then a bunch of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) evolved and started turning carbon dioxide into oxygen. This lowly slime helped provide the atmosphere required for intelligent life to flourish. Today, some of our most intelligent minds are learning how to cajole these humble algae into powering our cars. You read that right. Someday you might tank up on clean biodiesel fuel produced from oils extracted from one of five exotic algae varieties. Feed these simple organisms water, sunlight, and a stream of nasty carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, and…

IT WOULD BE easy to dismiss the new DTS as a New York livery driver’s dream. But it’s also an update for the car that led Cadillac’s renaissance six years ago, when black DTS sedans with darkly tinted windows were briefly a trend among well-heeled baby-boomers posing as characters from “The Sopranos." Now the DTS has been left behind as other Cadillac cars are rear drive again and the trucks are hip-hop video stars. But there’s some innovation in the new DTS. The styling is a solid evolution of Cadillac’s edgy look, and GM has done wonders for the interior quality and design, partly because there was no other direction to go. Fit and finish are much improved, with a decent choice of wood tones and just the right amount…

BLINK AND you’ll miss it: Chevy’s sort-of-new Impala, available with a choice of two V-6 engines or the new SS-specific 5.3-liter, 303-horsepower V-8 with fuel-saving cylinder deactivation, is almost invisible. With its complete redesign inside and out, this Chevrolet won’t offend anybody who finds himself at the rental-car counter looking for a large car—but GM should be aiming higher than lowest-common-denominator transportation. Whatever happened to the idea of a mainstream Chevy sedan with pizzazz and eye-appeal? It used to build ’em in the 1950s and 1960s, you know. The SS is a step in the right direction, but isn’t a complete answer to cars like the Charger. While it may deliver the same 0-to-60 time as a rear-drive Dodge Charger R/T, no one will notice. And it’s a lead-tipped arrow:…

“THEY’RE HEEEEYER.” We’ve got to hand it to the Koreans; this year’s trio of Hyundai cars (and one Kia) is damned impressive. With its rich interior, standout build quality, and impressive list of standard equipment, the Accent appears poised to dominate the entry-level segment once owned by Japanese automakers. The 2006 Accent comes in one moderately equipped trim and body style, the GLS sedan, starting at a mere $12,000 with few options. Standard safety equipment is far from basic and includes anti-lock brakes, six airbags, front-seatbelt pretensioners, and load limiters. While an AM/FM/CD audio system and five-speed manual are also standard, luxuries like air-conditioning, four-speed automatic, and power windows and locks with keyless remote cost extra. But not so much that ordering them will break the budget of a first-time…

SOMETIMES, THE best surprises come in small packages. Kia’s recast Rio for 2006 wraps extroverted styling around straightforward yet efficient hardware, showing a marked improvement in packaging and dynamics over the car it replaces. It’s bigger in nearly every linear measure, too, save length. Expanded interior dimensions add up to six more cubic feet of room, though what the raw figures don’t tell you is the figures result in a Dr. Who Tardis-like cabin whose spaciousness exceeds expectations. The front bucket seats are comfortable and supportive, and even the back seat provides ample passenger space for the class. The dash is well dressed, with simple, pleasantly arranged controls in the center stack. Contrasting materials and touches like dual power-points convey a more upscale flavor than expected—an impression supported by the…

IN 2000, Lexus introduced the original IS—the 215-horsepower IS 300—as a Japanese alternative to the BMW 3 Series. While it never beat the BMW head to head, the first-generation IS was nonetheless a success for Lexus, establishing a sporty, compact, rear-drive car for the brand, which in turn brought younger customers into the showrooms. Fast-forward six years, and Lexus is once again trying to knock the 3 Series off its pedestal. Lexus has come equipped with the right weapons this time around. Case in point: the 306-horse IS 350, which outguns its BMW rival, the 330i, by 51 horsepower. Equipped with a standard six-speed automatic with steering wheel-mounted paddles (a six-speed manual is available only on the 204-horse IS 250) the IS 350 ripped from 0 to 60 in 5.3…

WHEN IT COMES time to introduce a new version of the best-selling roadster in history, it’s a good idea to ensure that the fresh iteration is a marked improvement over its predecessor. In that regard, Mazda has passed with flying colors with the third-generation MX-5, creating a car that’s better in every way than the one it replaces. For starters, Mazda has kept the MX-5’s weight to a minimum—the new car, at 2476 pounds, weighs roughly the same as the old, turbocharged Mazdaspeed Miata—yet has significantly upped the car’s torsional (47 percent better) and bending (22 percent) rigidity, producing a stiffer drop-top that exhibits nary a quiver over rough pavement. During our week of testing, every editor came away impressed with the MX-5’s sustained sprightliness and newfound solidity. Of course,…

YOU’VE GOT to wonder what this car would be if Edsel were still in business as a class-step between Ford and Mercury Ford Motor Company brought three entries on its CD3 midsize platform to our party (contrast that with Hyundai, which brought three all-new cars): the Fusion, the much fancier Lincoln Zephyr, and, in the middle but close to the Ford, the Milan. The Mercury looks more elegant, grown-up, and urbane than the Fusion, with a neater, better-integrated grille and with clean Euro-style LED taillamps in place of the Fusion’s Focus-like rear lamps. The Milan and Fusion share the same standard four and optional V-6, similar handling dynamics—kind of fun at the limit, but still midsize-family-car-soft—and similarly poor brakes. Standard 16-inch wheels (optional on Fusion) and optional 17-inch wheels (not…

JAPAN’S ULTIMATE geezer pleaser got even better this time around. The third-generation Avalon is more of a performer than it probably needed to be. With the addition of a 3.5-liter, 268-horsepower V-6, do you suppose people interested in this car—those who want a cushy, long-range cruiser, but can’t find a Detroit brand they trust—would ever care that it can run to 60 mph in just over six seconds? This Avalon’s better than it needed to be to maintain its current reputation. Smooth, comfortable, and quiet, the new Avalon is perfect for that 300-mile trip up the coast in the stately assured manner a Buick used to manage. But unless you live in Palm Beach, it’s probably not what you’d want to take home to impress the neighbors: It’s the stealth…

OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS had zoomed in on our 2006 Motor Trend Car of the Year winner before we’d even voted. "When you drivers passed our photo locations on the test route," said one, "depending on the car, some of you were visibly pushing harder than others. But every single time the Civic Si came toward us, no matter who was driving it, we’d hear the engine screaming at the redline, the tires yowling for grip, and then the Honda would flash by the driver grinning like Cameron Diaz on payday. We got it all on film." It’s true: At the flamboyant wheel of Honda’s brand-new bottle rocket, we dropped our professional poker faces, lost our journalistic composure. An 8000-rpm redline, a light-switch six-speed, and Terrell Owens moves will do that to…

THE PAGANI Zonda S always was the best supercar money couldn't buy. The new Zonda F is even more so: better than ever, more money than ever (more than half a mil, ex-taxes), and even less legal than ever—at least here in the US. But it's worth your attention because it's so exquisite, so outrageous, and so damn good. And its maker vows that, by 2008, he'll use his skills to develop a car that complies with federal regulations. Just to help him on his way, Mercedes AMG supplies his V-12 engines. It's hard to imagine a higher vote of confidence than that. In Europe and most of the rest of the world, Horacio Pagani's hypercar appeared out of more or less nowhere at the turn of the millennium and…

1. MERCEDES-BENZ S-CLASS Once the epitome of conservative good taste, the S-Class has now gone flashy. There’s visual entertainment galore, but the most BMW-like feature is the Bangle butt—that extra layer of steel on top of the trunk. 2. FORD IOSIS CONCEPT This is Ford of Europe’s new design direction-thought Ford in Europe changes design direction as regularly as it changes its management, so nothing can be certain. The losis is multi-angled, multi-planed, and has more creases than John Kerry’s face. It’s Blue Oval Bangle. 3. AUDI Q7 Audi was once the bastion of anti-Bangle: simple, pure, classic, organic forms. But the Q7 sport/utility vehicle has a busy body—a Bangle hallmark. The ravenous front air intakes, including the grille, and slit eyes, also are BMW influenced. 4. CADILLAC BLS GM’s…

BEHOLD CADILLAC'S first production supercharged engine. Its official SAE-certified horsepower rating of 469 is the highest for any factory Cadillac, including all the jumbo-block SAE-gross-rated behemoths of the 1960s and early 1970s. Making power is all about getting air into cylinders. This can be done the Corvette Z06 way, using great big lungs, or by forcing air in with a blower. Cadillac reckoned the latter approach had a better chance of delivering the refinement and smooth idle demanded of a $77,090 car. Air enters through an 80mm throttle body, flows around back of the engine and into the valley, where it's sucked up into the largest production Roots blow-er going. Spinning at 21 times crank speed, the air is pressurized to 12 psi before flowing up through a Laminova intercooler…

FOR Alan Greenspan, inflation is something to be met with resistance. But for Toyota's redesigned third-generation RAV4—now available for the first time with a V-6 engine—inflation may be just the ticket. While SUV buyers are shedding mega-'utes at the horror of $120 refuelings, the RAV4's expanded new size—a whopping 14 inches in length—converts what's been a compact SUV into a flexible alternative. With the driver seat positioned for this scribe's six-foot one-inch frame, second-row knee room is still a leg-crossing 3.5 inches. Surprising too are the split rear seats that can be slid approximately 4.5 inches forward to expand rear cargo room or tilted back 25 degrees. Optionally, there's also a new hyper-compact fold-in-the floor third-row seat that's basically a kid department, though roomier than a few we've recently visited.…

IF YOU have to ask why we'd add a new Porsche 911 to our long-term fleet, you're reading the wrong magazine The 911 is a true automotive icon, a car that for millions of enthusiasts around the word defines the very essence of Porsche. Improving an icon isn't easy. Common sense tells you hanging an engine out behind the rear axle will screw up the chassis balance that's the hallmark of a great sports car. Yet when Porsche went back to the drawing board to reinvent the 911 with the 996 variant, almost 40 years of history and tradition dictated that's exactly what it had to do. Even so, with its water-cooled flat six, “fried egg” headlights, and long overhangs front and rear, the 996 was different enough to bother…

MASSIVE LOSSES, collapsing market share, make-or-break deals with the UAW, tough-guy stockholders, rumors of a management shakeup: GM’s been hogging the bad news coming out of Detroit in recent months. But there’s a quieter disaster going down in Motown: Ford. The Blue Oval’s in a bad, bad way. Its share of the U.S. market has plunged from about 24 percent to just over 18 in just five years—and that’s before sales stalled in the aftermath of Katrina and the winding back of the so-called “employee pricing” incentive programs. And its quality problems are threatening to spiral out of control: Quality-related costs increased by $500 million during the first nine months of 2005 compared with the same period the previous year. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford made the best of its…

NOW YOU can drive Motor Trend’s 2005 Car of the Year tight in your living room. Mattel’s Tyco R/C Chrysler 300C one-sixth-scale model ($99), part of the maker’s new Dropstars line, features radio-controlled steering and motion (up to 65-foot range), pulsating lights and glowing LED spinners, and built-in three-inch speakers with a connector for your MP3 player. Buy one for your kid, then hide it in your office. Available at Target, Wal-Mart, and most major toy stores. www.tycore.com.…

FROM THE AUTOMAKER that gave us the sport/activity vehicle comes a minivan we aren’t supposed to call minivan. It’s known internally at BMW as LSC or Luxury Space Cruiser. It features elements of touring, SUV, and van genes, says Michael Ganal, BMW Group marketing chief. The van element is least significant, he claims—it’s not an appropriate vehicle type for BMW. The LSC will be based on the 5 Series platform because it’s built in Europe. (This differentiates it from BMW’s other new model line, the coupe SUV, which will be built in South Carolina on the Mk2 X5 platform.) It’ll be smaller and lighter than a Mercedes-Benz R-Class or Audi Q7, which are SUV-based. BMW will save weight partly from compactness and partly from use of aluminum in the body…

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HERE’S a compelling snapshot from almost two weeks of testing and evaluating the largest Car of the Year field in Motor Trend history: The moment we lined up all 28 contenders, we realized Ford had delivered us one all-new car done three ways—Ford Fusion. Mercury Milan, Lincoln Zephyr—but Hyundai had presented us with three completely different all-new cars—Accent, Sonata, and Azera And what’s more, the Koreans were better built The world has changed. It pays to check your preconceptions at the door at Car of the Year. Driving each and every new or significantly updated car launched over the past year back to back over the same stretches of road and track provides a unique opportunity to take the pulse of the global auto industry. This year, this much was…

IS IT CONCEIVABLE that BMW’s reign as king of the compact-sport-sedan hill may not be eternal9 The 3 Series has long provided a fast-moving target for wannabe competitors, but either this latest variant didn’t reach far enough out or its assailants have greatly improved their aim. Our 12 judges enjoyed throwing the 330i around our twisty 33-mile road course. Logbooks gushed with praise for the neutral handling dynamics and permissive stability-control nanny The weighty but communicative steering drew raves (our tester had the base, noncomputerized helm), as did the powerful and reassuring brakes and supportive front seats that give a welcome hug. The BMW has a tight, controlled, almost spring-loaded feel when driving. There’s nothing lazy about its steering or suspension. BMW still holds the high ground in the chassis…

AS THE successor to the lackluster, long-in-the-tooth Cavalier, the Cobalt didn’t have big shoes to fill. However, that doesn’t diminish its significance in Chevy’s lineup. With coupe and sedan body styles and four trim levels, the Cobalt is Chevy’s premier small car, the brand’s answer to such stalwarts as the Ford Focus and the Honda Civic. For this year’s Car of the Year competition, Chevy sent us the all-new SS sedan, which complements the 145-horse-power LS and LT sedans and coupes, the SS coupe, and the 205-horse SS Supercharged coupe. The lineup’s sportiest four-door, the SS sedan is motivated by a 2.4-liter, 171-horse Ecotec four-cylinder—the same engine used in the Pontiac Solstice—mated to a five-speed manual, a combo that produced respectable runs from 0 to 60 (7.1 seconds) and the…

THE NEW CHARGER draws inspiration from Dodge’s horsepower-filled history to join the Chrysler 300 in redefining the family sedan. The recipe is as rock-solid as the Mercedes E-Class-derived LX platform it rides on, with a trio of powerful engines, independent suspension, roomy interior, and dramatic styling. Starting in the mid-$20s, the base model is a great value with its 3.5-liter, 250-horsepower SOHC V-6, but our test scrutiny focused on the bang-for-the-buck enthusiast’s choice, the R/T. Clearly, the one word you need to know here is “Hemi." The brochure-friendly numbers break down to 5.7 liters and 340 horsepower, but it’s the broad torque curve and rich exhaust rumble that give the OHV engine its magic. Enhanced with the Multi-Displacement System, tills Hemi is able to manage its cylinder operation to match…

THIS NEW Hyundai flagship is so much better than its predecessor, the XG350, it can’t even wear the same nameplate. By adding about an inch to that car’s wheelbase, length, and width and almost three to its height, the interior offers true full-size accommodations. A new all-aluminum 3.8-liter V-6 replaces the iron-block 3.5, harnessing 265 horses to the reasonably light Hyundai and pulling it to 60 mph in an impressive 6.5 seconds. Underneath, the suspension description reads the same—control arms in front, multilinks in back—but changes to the geometry and tuning serve to improve the ride/handling tradeoff. No longer does Hyundai’s CEO-mobile float along atop whipped-cream dampers and marshmallow springs. It’s no BMW, and hard cornering is answered v/ith loud protests from the tires, but when driving quickly the suspension…

FAMILIARITY (we’ve had one on our a long-term fleet for the past few months) has bred forgetfulness: We’d forgotten how good the M45 really is. One trip down the dragstrip, one lap of the cone course, and one mile up the mountain loop, and suddenly the M45 is, indeed, a standout COTY player. On paper, it may be second only to a BMW 545i as the most competent, most dynamically endowed midsize luxury sport sedan. Even with our non-Sport model, it holds corners well with 0.82 g of grip, its powerful V-8 rips through the quarter mile in just 14.1 seconds, and ample brakes stop from 60 mph in 118 feet. In anybody’s book, those are impressive numbers. We’re also happy to report that Infiniti has the good sense to…

ONE OF THE Blue Oval’s triplets in this year’s competition, the luxury-bent Zephyr is intended to cater to near-luxury shoppers who want the highrent nameplate without having to pay the premium. Starting at just under $30,000, the Zephyr is the price leader in the Lincoln portfolio, yet it’s one of the best equipped, leaving its Hermosillo, Mexico, assembly line with a standard 3.0-liter, 221-horse V-6, a six-speed automatic, 17-inch wheels, electronic throttle control, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and EBD, traction control, real-wood interior trim, electroluminescent gauge lighting, and front, side, and curtain airbags. Like its Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan brethren, the Zephyr is based on a stretched Mazda6 platform and thus boasts more than three feet of rear-passenger legroom, making the cabin an ideal place to enjoy the…

MERCEDES-BENZ used to be among the most rational of automakers. For example, the first iteration of the W124 E-Class had different-size rearview mirrors on either side of the car because the engineers figured that’s what you needed. Those guys would have a hard time figuring out an E-Class with a slammed roofline and only enough seats for four passengers. But these days, Mercedes-Benz is marketing driven, not engineering led. The CLS is all about the styling. Drop a swoopy body shell on an E-Class chassis, and, voila! watch the fashionistas stampede Mercedes showrooms waving their checkbooks. In the tradition of highly styled cars, you’ll either love or hate the way it looks. But it does command attention from those not fortunate enough to have S73K (gulp1 as-tested) to drop on…

WE’LL SAY IT up front The all new Eclipse GT is a huge improvement over the previous generation, but that’s not the only thing we’re looking for when seeking a winner. Ultimately, we were left wanting more: more control, more room, more visibility On paper, Mitsubishi’s investment is good: unique styling inside and out, more power, stiffer body, wider track, and more braking. The real-world results, however, are a mixed bag. The new 3.8-liter V-6 producing 263 horsepower motivated our GT as one of only four contestants able to reach 100 mph in the quarter mile. But all that power channeled through a front-drive, six-speed manual transmission makes the driver feel like he’s keeping two mortal enemies from a fight. Several editors noted, during hard takeoffs, the torque steer and…

VW3& JETTA has long enjoyed a loyal following among youthful hip urbanites, but that may be changing. A completely redesigned Jetta went on sale last March, and we darned it with faint praise for its comfortable, quiet ride, roomy back seat, and adroit handling, while sharply criticizing its all-new inline-five-cylinder engine for a coarse idle, moaning engine note, and leisurely 8.3-second 0-to-60-mph performance. A turbodiesel variant good for up to 46 mpg and packing 177 pound-feet of torque joined the lineup in May and a frisky 2.0-liter direct-injected turbo engine shared with the Audi A3 recently went on sale. Either of those engines would undoubtedly have won the Jetta a few more friends among our voting panel than did our 2.5 model. This car struck us as having strayed off…

EACH HANDBUILT Bugatti Veyron costs $1.25 million. Its extraordinary W-16 engine has as many cylinders and turbochargers as four Subaru WRXs—and more horsepower. The big, bad Bug accelerates quicker than a NASCAR stocker and is faster than a Formula machine, yet it's as docile as a Lexus, It's the fastest, quickest, and most expensive production road car ever sold. The Veyron is the vision of one man—retired VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech—and Bugatti won't make a dime on its entire anticipated production run of just 300 cars (50 per year max, with approximately one third of those headed to the United States). Its main mission is the ultimate brand flagship, reintroducing this storied French marque to the marketplace in more-than-fine style. Comparisons with the Ferrari Enzo, Maserati MC12, Mercedes-Benz SLR,…

THE WINDSHIELD is curved like a fishbowl. And we are the fish. Outside, hundreds of fans lining the pit wall of Italy's Mugello racetrack are elbowing for a better view of the car we're sitting in, the brand-new FXX, a supercar so rockstar excessive it makes the almighty Enzo look like a teacher's pet. I'm in the passenger seat, lungs clamped tight by a five-point racing harness, all-too aware that every onlooker is asking in Italian, “Chi? Who the hell is that?" The man on my left, though, is recognized by all: Belted into the driver's seat is Piero Lardi Ferrari, the 61-year-old son of Enzo Ferrari and current vice chairman (and 10-percent owner) of the automaker his father founded in 1947. Ferrari's fingers tap the steering wheel; he's clearly…

IN THE BEGINNING, there was Eldo versus Mark III and IV a recurring battle of personal luxobarges referred to as ‘King of the Hill” by Motor Trend in the 1970s. As the years went by, Lincoln departed Ford's Premier Automotive Group, and General Motors announced its intention to remake Cadillac the "standard of the world.” Other European brands have more sporting intentions, but none owns the fast German autobahns more than Mercedes's torque-rich AMG machines, the CLS55 being one of its newest—and sexiest. Its AMG-built 5.4-liter V-8 mit kompressor is good for 469 horsepower and a pavement-pounding 516 pound-feet of torque that pushes 4307 pounds of steel, aluminum, plastic, leather, and suede. BUT CADILLAC is fighting back with its own 469 horses, complements of its new GM Performance Division-engineered Northstar…

THE MERCEDES-BENZ IS A DARING EXPERIMENT THAT RESULTS IN A PREMIUM VEHICLE THAT COULD CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE EXAMINE THEIR NEEDS THIS IS A CASE of the smiths versus the Joneses. For the Joneses, the ideal vehicle carries a ton of groceries, hauls friends to the nearest mountain-bike trail, totes the kid and five of his teammates to weekly practice, and perhaps ushers the boss and his wife to dinner and a show. The Joneses need a modern minivan, the most reasoned, well-conceived, and best all-around family vehicle on the planet. The Smiths, on the other hand, are far more demanding—and better financed. They want the same convenience, plus the all-weather flexibility and confidence of all-wheel drive as well as a high-tech V-8 with over 300 horsepower nestled behind a…

GM’S self-declared Excitement Division has been trying to find its pulse lately. Although the Firebird is gone and the Northstar-powered Bonneville GXP tanked, the new V-8-fortified Grand Prix is interesting, and the 400-horse GTO remains a Motor Trend favorite. For 2006, the G6 has begat a coupe, and it retains the sedan's 112.3-inch wheel-base in the name of more-than-occasional rear-seat head and legroom. The G6 is available with the workaday 201-horse, 3.5-liter V-6 or a beefier 3.9-liter version good for 240 horsepower in GTP trim. The latter includes handsome 18-inch rolling stock, sportier suspension tuning, standard StabiliTrak, and the choice of a boring four-speed automatic or a more involving six-speed manual. Hydraulic power steering replaces the numbish electric steering on standard G6s. It all adds up to an attractive, pleasantly…

■ Dimensions: At 164.6 inches overall, the Shooting Brake is nearly half a foot longer than the current TT coupe. It’s slightly narrower (72.4 inches) and barely taller, at 53.1 inches. ■ Hood: The 2S0-horsepower, 3.2-liter V-6 carries on and is the Shooting Brake concept’s engine. In the next TT, the 200-horse FSI turbo four replaces the old 225-horse 1.8T. Again, the next TT will share the A3NW Golf platform. ■ Nose: Hope you like Audi’s signature single-frame radiator grille by now because the TT gets it next, though happy to say without the giant vertical bars. ■ Headlamps: LED low beams are described as an open pinecone; high beams are blossom-shaped. ■ Under nose: An aluminum diffuser guides airflow beneath the car. ■ Under car: MacPherson struts up front,…

BUGATTI’S NEXT model will be a million-dollar sedan. Having relaunched the brand with the Veyron, a car that’ll never make money, Bugatti’s plan is to defray the immense cost of developing the W-16 engine, seven-speed DSG transmission, and all-wheel-drive system by reusing them in a front-engine platform. Bugatti chairman Thomas Bscher says the new car will use a structure of mixed materials—aluminum and carbon composites. The Veyron has steel end frames, a carbon tub, and part-aluminum skin. Once Bugatti designs a new platform, it can spawn sedan, coupe, and convertible bodies. The aerodynamics will be much easier to arrange because top speed will be limitedT.he turbos will be smaller for better engine response, reducing horsepower to about 950. To meet LEV2 requirements, the engine will switch to direct gasoline injection.…

SAAB’S 9-7x sport/utility has a new lease on life, but not because it captures the Swedish automaker’s character so well. The Saab 9-6x (the 9-7x’s would-be replacement), based on the Subaru B9 Tribeca and, until now scheduled for early 2007, is dead because General Motors has sold its 20-percent equity stake in Fuji Heavy Industries. GM ended its “strategic alliance” with Subaru’s parent company to “refocus its efforts and resources” with its other Asian partners, Daewoo, Suzuki, and Isuzu. Translation: Building the Saab 9-6x with the Subie’s horizontally opposed six doesn’t fit in with GM’s new global manufacturing rationalization. So the 9-6x is out, at least until GM can find another donor platform for the long-awaited Saab crossover. Saab gave MT hell for describing the 9-6x as “Tribeca-based”—Saab said it…

IT’S ALL ABOUT trusting the process; suspending judgment until each contender has been carefully scrutinized, fully performance tested, and then driven back to back over the same piece of road. Only then can Car of the Year be decided. It’s a tough process—and not just for the cars: There are a lot of early mornings and late nights, discussion and argument, and a coffee and bagels. But, most of all, there’s a lot of driving. Each judge logged hundreds of miles over our test loops. Nearly a week’s worth of track testing gave judges the baseline data to work with during their walk-around appraisals and initial drives. But it was the short but devilish handling course, devised by road-test editor Chris Walton, that enabled the judges to qualitatively explore the…

BUICK’S ROLE in the new General Motors brandscape is to build quiet, luxurious, smooth-riding cars of the sort that Lexus specialized in before it mounted its current assault on BMW’s driving machines. The Lucerne, which replaces the LeSabre and Park Avenue in Buick stores, attempts to sell LS 430 spaciousness at the price of a loaded ES 330. The Lucerne and Cadillac’s revamped DTS share an enlarged and strengthened platform that dates to the original Olds Aurora, which was deemed a paragon of structural rigidity in its day. To quiet the Lucerne, considerable engineering effort was invested in eliminating noises at their source (by revising the accessory drive, induction box, side mirrors, etc.), keeping noises out (laminated dash panels and side glass, wheelhouse liners) and hushing the sounds that get…

WITH PRICING starting well below $20,000 and funky retro styling, the HHR is precisely the sort of small car GM’s mainstream brand needs. Yes, Chrysler was here five years ago with the PT Cruiser, but the HHR’s early sales success suggests there’s room for more cars with character at this end of the market. Interior versatility is the HHR’s strong suit. Rear and front-passenger seats fold flat to create a large deck; seats removed, its 63.1 cubic feet of cargo volume is more than in the PT’s. But, typically GM can’t quite keep the good stuff coming: Seats don’t provide enough support; interior plastics aren’t as viable as those in compact Korean and Japanese cars; window switches aren’t placed in an intuitive location. And just as the exterior design is…

WITH A COMPLETE restyle for 2006 and Toyota in its crosshairs, Hyundai has brought a faster, better-looking Sonata to American shores. Powered by a 3.3-liter V-6 and five-speed automatic, with six standard airbags and a ton of standard equipment for its $23,495 as-tested price, the Sonata deserves attention. Hyundai has gotten aggressive, providing a car that’s jam-packed with value and is a decent drive. The smooth engine produced a good amount of thrust for the size and weight of the car, but some felt the transmission was too slow to shift. Steering response was competitive for the midsize marketplace, and on twisty, winding roads, the Sonata proved nimble, though electronic stability-control intervention came too quickly. The sedan’s exterior is attractive, if a bit generic, and makes the Sonata another in…

THE LEXUS GS 300/430, completely redesigned for 2006, is in pursuit of the BMW 5 Series’s benchmark balance of sport and luxury, but doesn’t quite reach it. Our GS 430 had 300 horsepower and a quick, responsive six-speed sequential-shift automatic, both of which would suggest sport-sedan entertainment. Not so. This is a car that feels like it’s not sure how to properly straddle the sport/luxury fence. Along with the big power and quick-shifting transmission, the new Lexus has a poised chassis and a well-engineered suspension, yet the car doesn’t allow the driver to utilize them. Default settings in place, it doesn’t take all that much to make the safety systems "correct” enthusiastic driving. A button allows you to turn off the traction control, but the system automatically reengages above 30…

SOMETIMES you can slice the pie too thin. When the all-new R-Class showed up on our doorstep, we had high hopes. This was supposed to be a new class of vehicle—one with the traction abilities of an SUV, the versatility of a luxury wagon, and the performance of a sport sedan. With an all-new platform (stretched and modified from the M-Class and coming G-Class SUVs), the R-Class is really the first vehicle to explore the uncharted territory of the luxury-minivan segment. The luxury part is easy to see once you sit inside and push the high-tech start button on the dash, touch the electronic shifter stalk to “D," and paddle through the world’s first seven-speed Touch Shift automatic. All R-Class models are three-row six-seaters, come with all-wheel drive, and offer…

AFTER ALL the industry hype, unabashed television promotions, the promises spoken and unspoken that this is the car that would prove once and for all GM knows where it needs to go to remain competitive, our impression fell somewhat short after living with the little guy for several weeks. At first sight, the Solstice is a stunner. With echoes of the swoopy Jaguar D-Type, the aggressive stance of a Lotus Elise, and the personal involvement of Bob Lutz himself, the Solstice makes big promises. The exterior design and its intended mission are among the most daring to come out of General Motors since Ed Cole’s Corvair shocked the industry in 1959. On paper, the Solstice makes the numbers it should as a two-seat sports car. but isn’t overly rewarding getting…

THE ALL-NEW Passat entered this year’s contest with some of the strongest credentials in the field—a 3.6-liter, 280-horse V-6, a six-speed automatic, 0 to 60 in under six seconds, and a quarter-mile trap speed of over 100 mph. For a family sedan, the Passat possesses the goods of a musclecar. Yet despite its robust qualifications, the Passat failed to make it to the second round of 10. So what gives? All of the Passat’s spanking power seems to have supplanted the refinement that made its predecessor such an engaging car. For instance, corralling the new car’s 280 ponies through the front tires, especially during acceleration testing, proved to be a frustrating exercise in moderation. As a result, maybe a Passat 2.0 would have fared better, especially since its seamless and…

GERMANY’S AUTOBAHNS aren't like the wilds of Montana were in those reasonable and prudent days. Speeds are regulated to 120 kph (about 72 mph) around many interchanges, and slower traffic frequently blocks the passing lane, so the best 'bahn burners are those that can build and shed big speeds quickly and repeatedly. Mercedes showed its home-court advantage in most of our high-speed tests, though Cadillac boasts slightly quieter cruising.…

THE PREMIUM luxury-car buyer is a lucky one, with so many posh and polished models fighting for their annual bonus, For carmakers, though, it’s tough turt: BMW has freshened the 7 Series to solid reviews, the Audi A8 is a topline player, and the soon-to-be-updated Lexus LS 430 remains a strong seller. Add to this an all-new version of this segment's flagship, the all-important Mercedes-Benz S-Class. Even though Jaguar's XJ lineup is entering just its third model year, it can't dawdle on the existing, and hasn't. The 2006 XJ roster has been updated, and capped with a ne plus ultra model called the Portfolio. You still can choose between short- and long-wheelbase platforms, the latter about five inches longer between the wheels, with all that space ending up in the…

YOU'D think replacing the Echo would be one of the easier roles a new model could be assigned. When it was introduced in 2000, the Toyota's Roger Rabbit styling pigeonholed it the class clown of the model year, and no amount of affordability could unspill the milk. But the two Yaris models replacing it—a chic three-door liftback and a trendy sedan—still have a tough mission, even at a sub-$18,000 base price. And that's to demonstrate that the Japanese automotive powerhouse can compete with South Korea (and soon China) in building blue-light-special entry-level vehicles. Inside, both cars are unusually spacious for their diminutive scale and continue the Echo and Prius's tradition of the gauge cluster in the middle of the dash, Its symmetrical design certainly smells like cost saving, but Toyota…

2005 ACURA RL Total Mileage 7969 THE RL’S outward imagery is quick, thrusting, BMW-sporty. But with comfy seats, soft-ish ride, and subdued V-6, it feels more like a cruiser. An old man’s car, says one editor's wife, Ouch. But we like the seamless SHAWD system for almost making you forget you're driving a four-door family hauler built around front-drive architecture The adaptive headlight system malfunctioned one evening, but the nav screen allowed us access to a function that verbally described how to fix the problem. The car's smarter than the dealer, who reported a powerless power-point with a sticking lid as “normal.” We replaced a blown fuse ourselves; the lid still sticks. ■ Average fuel econ 21.5 mpg ■ Problem areas None ■ Maintenance cost $0 ■ Normal wear cost…

WOULDN’T YOU know it? Shortly after our millennium silver Prius was mothballed from the MT long-term fleet and mailed back to Toyota, the fuel-sipping lozenge became eligible for California's carpool lanes, sans passengers. For the second time, the Prius is the envy of steaming commuters. First was its hummingbird-appetite for petroleum—and now there's an exemption to prowl our gridlock’s car-pool short cuts without passengers. Would our 50-mile commuters love to see old VIN number JTDKB20U040009448 back in MTs stable? Yet what originally earned this ultimate case of vehicular anorexia entry into our long-term pool wasn't just its attractive habit of giving gas stations the finger. It was the car's breathtaking technology:a perhaps once-in-a-generation leap in powertrain thinking that earned it Motor Trend's 2004 Car of the Year trophy—as well as…