Indholdsfortegnelse for February 1986 i MotorTrend

Killer Camaro Coming Reliable sources have informed us that Chevrolet will soon be dropping its port-injected 350-cu-in. supermotor into the Camaro. This engine previously has seen service only in the Corvette, where it pumps out a gigantic 230 hp and 335 lb-ft of pavement-pounding torque. When installed in the Camaro, this asphalt thumper will be equipped only with a 4-speed automatic. The Chevy powers-that-be have yet to decide whether the engine will go in the IROC-Z or in a newly created model. GM Accident Payout Last April, GM announced it would pay $10,000 to the estate of any occupant of a new GM car or light truck who suffered fatal injuries while wearing a GM seat belt. Through November 1985, GM paid the premium to 214 beneficiaries. Buick Regal Gets…

The 1985 model year was a great one for Nissan engines, with newcomers in all shapes and sizes, most of them loaded with high-performance high-tech. Latest for the treatment is the Z-car Fairlady Z/300ZX, which gets a new variant dubbed 200ZR fitted with a 180-hp (JIS net) turbocharged and intercooled 2-liter twin-cam 24-valve engine, with the cylinders inline! The real interest, however, liés deeper down, because the engine is fitted with the world’s first production ceramic turbocharger. Developed in conjunction with NGK and NTK it is only the turbine rotor made of silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramic, for high thermal strength, and, with the conventional aluminun impeller, the lightweight ceramic turbine re duces the turbocharger’s moments of inertia by 34% for a decrease in turbo lag. Nissan has beaten the ceramic…

The Taurus/Sable stablemates share a common powertrain configuration codenamed Vulcan-AXOD. Though it isn’t something off Starship Enterprise, it is an all-new powertrain. The engine (the Vulcan part) is a cast iron (block and heads) 3.0-liter 60° V-6, mated to an automatic 4-speed (the AX-OD part). It features a 9.25:1 “fastburn” combustion chamber, central sparkplug location, two valves per cylinder, tuned aluminum induction system, and Bosch hardware for the multipoint port fuel injection. The 60° V-angle was chosen to minimize vibration without the need for additional balance shafts. This engine will also be offered as an option in the Aerostar van, allowing customers to upgrade the powertrain when the expected usage demands. A lengthy Ford development project produced the AXOD transaxle, especially for the Taurus/Sable. Extensive consideration was given to underhood…

So many major changes occur X between NASCAR Grand National seasons—changes that involve drivers, team personnel, sponsors, and the sanctioning body—that fans must invest in a souvenir program just to find out who’s driving for whom and for what sponsor. A major departure from past years will be new class designations mandated by NASCAR, which may well be confusing to new and longtime fans alike. As of the ‘86 season, the Grand National Winston Cup series will be known simply as the Winston Cup series, and Late Model Sportsman will now be called Busch Grand National. Business logic (and perhaps a tinge of nostalgia) brought Richard Petty back home to his family operation, Petty Enterprises, which was closed most of last season. After driving two seasons for Mike Curb Racing…

In the fall of 1975, not quite a year after he had replaced the legend named Zora Arkus-Duntov as Chevrolet’s Corvette chief engineer, Dave McLellan was enjoying a well-deserved vacation with his wife, Glenda. They spent several days cruising through and around California’s gorgeous Yosemite National Park. In (what else?) a ‘75 Corvette. A convertible. With the top down. “It was cold,” he recalls, “and we were huddled close to the windshield with the heater on. But the three-dimensional scenery was so spectacular, no way were we going to put the top up and miss anything.” GM discontinued the Corvette convertible after 1975, but McLellan has nurtured memories of that trip ever since. And exactly 10 years later, he was able to relive the experience—with a small group of auto…

Extravagant is not the word for it. “Over the top” is nearer the mark, as Japan’s nine car makers battled it out in the halls of Harumi with some of the most advanced show cars anywhere. Practicality takes a back seat in this fantasy world, but the makers are quick to point out that all the show cars are running prototypes, and the technology is credible enough that we can expect to see it in production cars soon enough. With so much to choose from, it’s hard to pick a star, but serious car watchers were lining up to look at CUE-X on the Nissan stand. CUE-X is acronymese for “Concept for the Urban Executive,” and it signals Nissan’s realization that upmarket buyers want big, powerful sedans capable of high-speed…

The rigors of modern motoring extend beyond the normal wear and tear of tires and driveline. Operating a car in an urban environment, of which Los Angeles is a hyperbolic example, is something like mechanical Darwinism. Only the strong survive and all that scientific stuff. The urbanmobile of the ‘80s faces innumerable dangers, from out-of control shopping carts to felonious assault, and sad to say our Audi 4000 Quattro long-termer has been a sorry victim. Although the 4000 avoided the almost ubiquitous Thief of Blaupunkt, that rascal who preys mainly on German car radios, it was defenseless against those roaming hordes of parking-lot commandos that attack bumpers, quarter panels, and doors with gleeful abandon. Scrapes, dings, craters, and chipped paint characterized our white sedan’s exterior after 25,000 miles, showing why…

NASCAR’S Winston Cup series has never found itself wanting for made-to-order close finishes. But the comeback saga of Darrell Waltrip against what appeared to be an invincible Bill Elliott has to stand as one monumental achievement, even among the ranks of the Good Ol’ Boys. Following his million-dollar win in the Southern 500 at Darlington, Elliott found himself with a single-season record 10 superspeedway wins, and a 206-point cushion in the points race with just eight events remaining on the schedule. But Awesome Bill saw his hopes for a first Winston Cup championship fall by the wayside during the home stretch. Little by little, Waltrip whittled away at Elliott’s advantage. Although the Coors-Melling Thunderbird remained fastest on the longer circuits, Waltrip’s inherent superiority on the shorter tracks, coupled with the…

Francophiles in Europe are looking forward to the debut of the Renault 21 at the Geneva auto salon, replacing the unloved 18 model. Renault decided to buck the trend to fastbacks with a more traditional notchback, featuring a massive trunk and asymmetric fold down of the rear seats. Though completely orthodox in design, the 21 is carefully profiled to have a drag coefficient of 0.29, achieved with a typical Europe an high tail, sloping nose design, and “autoclave” doors that wrap over at the top. Unusually, the design includes 1.7-liter engines (76 and 90 hp) mounted transversely, or 2.0-liter gasoline (120 hp) and 2.1-liter diesels mounted inline, ahead of the front wheels Audi-style. Four and 5-speed manual transmissions are offered. Even more curious, the longitudinally mounted power units reduce the…

Down the block is a woman who lives in the shadows, glimpsed only during some odd halflight hour of the morning or evening, small satchel in hand, bustling to some vague purpose. I knew she watched me by the rustle of her curtains as I’d pull in my driveway, and my glances in her direction were turning from friendly invitation to furtive unease. But, no problem. My neighborhood has its share of people who came to California to get away from it all, including reality. You get used to it. That all changed with the 911 Turbo. The car has a way of effecting change—altering perceptions, stimulating into bloom usually wilted glands, reaching deep into the pleasure centers of the brain, coaxing hermits from their caves, shaking daydreamers from their…

What we have to say here are a few words about the current version of the Ford Escort GT. Now wait. Don’t turn the page quite yet, because the important qualifier in the preceding sentence is “current.” That means, 1986 model. Forget what Ford has tried to pawn off on you in the past as an Escort GT. We’re asking you to wait just a couple minutes because we know, as well as you, that “GT” hung on the end of Ford Escort would have meant, in the past: a bright paint job, tach, and sport mirrors. We, and you, have been led down the rosy red GT path before—not just by Ford, admittedly—and, quite frankly, we, and we suspect you, are just flat bored and tired of it. Because,…

The annual Busch Clash, something of a gold-plated pole dash, is a fitting start for the Stock car segment of Speed Weeks at Daytona Speedway. The 50-mile sprint around the 2.5-mile tri-oval is fast and furious, richly rewarding in its select field, and a national television spectacular that pumps adrenaline into the veins of its fans and participants. Established in 1979, the Clash is an outgrowth of the Busch Pole Award program, which pays each Grand National (Winston Cup) pole winner $1,500 and the champion $25,000. “Realizing that race car fans distinctly remember two things about a Stock car race—the fastest qualifier and the winner—Busch started a program to reward the pole winner,” explains Joe Corcoran, senior product manager of Busch Beer. “The quick success of the pole program led…

Do we have an automotive assortment for you. Coming in next month’s Import Car of the Year competition is a veritible Whitman’s Sampler of automotive offerings—eight cars with eight distinct personalities that range from the newest model of the world’s premier luxury line to the modest offspring of a firm whose roots dwell in far-off Transylvania. There are sports cars, economy cars, Eurosedans, and even a 4-wheel-drive model. There’s a sexy Swedish number and several lovely imports from Japan. In all, it’s an automotive enthusiast’s delight with a number of delectable confections to choose from. Rules of the Game One of the reasons this year’s field is so exciting is that the cars are all new. There are no warmed-over, facelifted factors in this frolic. We’re talking fresh off the…

A well-known adage proclaims that the third time is the .charm. That truism is a perfect nutshell description of the Nissan 200SX. The first generation, which bore a Datsun designation, was a modest performer with a uniquely alien appearance. The second possessed much tidier styling, but remained well down on the FTD scale. The most recent transformation took place for model year 1984. While retaining the classic front engine/rear drive configuration, it yielded the best looking—and thanks to the addition of a Turbo model—the best performing 200SX ever. The model mix for this survey was decidedly skewed in favor of performance, with 54.7% of the sample respondents opting for the 120-hp turbocharged powerplant instead of the 102-hp electronically fuel-injected base engine. Transmission choice also reflected that preference, with 5-speed manuals…

It seems as though I have always had that picture in the back of my mind—that picture of a car with an outlandishly long hood, an impossibly low windshield, and wheels so enormous that when I looked at the car from the side the fenders loomed as tall as the hood. But it was never clear to me where I had first seen the picture. Nor was I sure of the marque. Not until I came across a photograph of the Bucciali—a daydreamer’s dream first shown at the Paris Salon in the late ‘20s—did I see something similar to that splendid machine in my picture. But it was not the exact image. Then I discovered a photograph that matched perfectly. “Daimler Double Six,” the caption read. Later I found another…

NASCAR Winston Cup For the seventh consecutive season, the question of who would wear the Winston Cup crown remained undecided following the penultimate event of the 28-race NASCAR Grand National series. Although the phenomenal Bill Elliott continued to rewrite the record books in his Coors-Melling T-Bird by sweeping to an unprecedented 11th superspeedway victory in a single season, primary adversary Darrell Waltrip finished a strong 3rd in Junior Johnson’s Budweiser Chevy Monte Carlo and retained a 20-point margin in the overall driver standings after the Atlanta Journal 500. The door remains open for Elliott as the GN gang journeys to Riverside for the finale. But even though the then unhearalded redhead from Dawsonville, Georgia won his first Winston Cup race at the Riverside season-ender in 1983, Waltrip is always tough…

The long-awaited C28 model, now officially called the 309, was finally unveiled in France. The PSA Group has confirmed it will be badged a Peugeot in all markets, including England where it will also be produced. This spells the eventual demise of the Talbot name. For the British it’s the end of a line of cars that has included Hillman, Sunbeam, and Humber names within the prewar Rootes Group, taken over by Chrysler in the ‘60s, then the PSA Group in 1978. The Talbot name survives for now only on the Samba and Horizon models. The Peugeot 309 is a mid-size hatchback with a choice of four Peugeot engines mounted transversely and driving the front wheels. A diesel will soon be added. Production has been set at 1000 per day…

Years ago, many predicted the demise of rear-engine cars due to pollution control requirements. Frontengine cars simply had more room between the engine and tailpipe in which to stuff pollution-control equipment. And although the VW Beetle finally succumbed, the 911 never did. In 1980, however, even Porsche had to regroup, pulling the 930—now designated the 911 Turbo—off the market in America. Breakthroughs in both exhaust treatment and fuel-mixture control equipment, plus the demand in the marketplace, have brought it back. One of the reasons the 911 Turbo is able to pass the emissions tests is the three-way catalytic converter. This is similar to the traditional oxidation cata-, lytic converter, with rhodium added to reduce oxides of nitrogen (NOx) 6080%. The Turbo also carries a computer-controlled air pump to inject atmospheric…

The Volvo wagon has become a symbol of something. Exactly what is open to conjecture. The Volvo people would like to see it as a inique combination of Utilitarian Chic and Mercedes Alternative. They may just have something there. Far too many Volvo wagon owners (for Volvo’s peace of mind) see it as an alternative to owning a car, as in, “Yes, Charles and I would really prefer the train but with his scull and all those skis and bicycles …And they may just have something there, too. Gentrified neighborhoods and country weekenders abound with somber-hued Volvo wagons of indeterminate age that receive as much care and affection as the wheelbarrow used to haul the fertilizer. And what did you think brought the fertilizer to the barrow in the first…

There’s a strange ritual that exists in various chi-chi areas of this country. It takes place every evening in places like Palm Beach, Newport, and Beverly Hills. While some of us are searching for the meaning of life, the highest truth, or a good pastrami sandwich, others are involved in the quest for the Ultimate Parking Place. Their mission in life is to see their car ensconced in valet spot No. 1 at the swankiest eatery in town, the spot where everyone can see just how rich, tasteful, and discerning they are. It doesn’t make much sense to us who frequent the drive-thru at In-and-Out Burger, but to those poor folk who labor under the burden of excessive wealth, the problem is very real. How do you impress your fellow…

Talk about your peaks and valleys. In 1970, Volkswagen sold 565,000 cars in the U.S. All Beetles. That was 7% of the total U.S. car market. By 1983, the bloom was off the eidelweiss. The Japanese had a stranglehold on the small-car market, and after a decade of falling sales, VW hit its all-time low of 170,000 units. Now VW seems headed for another peak. Sales climbed back up to 225,000 in 1985, and that’s more by far than Saab, BMW, and Mercedes combined. But nothing like the old days. Peaks and valleys. At one point in Fuel Crunch II, VW held the hot hand. The diesel Rabbit was in such demand drivers would cruise the freeways until they found a transporter carrying the little oil burners and trail it…

This is not the de facto standard magazine tire test. Most such tests compare various brands of tires in different areas of performance and, after much deliberation and soul searching, declare a winner. While such information is certainly useful, we feel it equally important to determine what the tire buyer actually gets for his performance-tire dollar. The sometime unasked question: Does it cost an arm and a leg for increased tire performance? Car owners are constantly assailed by the performance-tire image: Performance vehicles drive around on their steam-roller tires, tire companies extol the virtues of their latest technology for faster/safer/longer-life tires; and even family sedans seem to grow wider and lower-profile tires every year. But as a potential buyer faces the bewildering array of available performance tires, he may harbor…

It was wonderful. Just wonderful. Nothing but rain and fog. Adding up to nothing less than your basic terminal dose of gloom. Heckuva day to go racing. It hadn’t been anything else since leaving the Tokyo hotel earlier in the morning. And now Fuji, the mountain, wasn’t even visible from Fuji, the racetrack. Which in turn we could only barely make out from its own paddock. Of our itchy little American invasion of Japanese racing not one of us had ever even seen Fuji before, and we hadn’t seen much of it yet. The next day, Friday, was the opening of official practice and all of our allegedly figured plans for a correctly paced weekend were quickly drowning in an increasing rainstorm and fogbank. Wonderful. But, hey! It was easy,…

It was the same old pilgrimage to the east. But somehow Mecca seemed a lot nicer place this time around. Amatuer racing Mecca, that is, aka the SCCA national runoffs. For the past 16 years Road Atlanta has played host to the Sports Car Club of America’s annual showdown, known for most of that time as the Champion Spark Plug Road Racing Classic. This year, after a dozen seasons under the CSPRRC banner, sponsorship was taken over by Valvoline and the VRRC was born. However, a far more significant change also occurred prior to the 1985 event. Ownership of the rolling north Georgia circuit passed from the Whittingtons to another set of brothers, Art and Al Leon, Dallas-based businessmen and regulars in the IMSA Camel GTP wars. In the few…