Indholdsfortegnelse for March 1987 i MotorTrend

Responsibility It started with the energy-absorbing bumper. The government decided to tell automobile manufacturers how to design “safer” cars that would also be cheaper to repair after a low-speed crash. The idea appeared good enough at the time. A low-speed collision that took out a grille, two headlights, and two fenders to the tune of $300 did seem high. The do-gooders decided that an energy-absorbing bumper, built to withstand a 5-mph impact, was the solution. You could run into a fire hydrant, back into another car, or crunch a tricycle into the garage door and never worry about it. As usual, the do-gooders missed the point. The idea is not to hit things when you’re driving. Instead of making the car more like a tank to protect bad drivers, the…

NOW WE’RE GETTING SOMEWHERE Though the Dixie home of the Saturn assembly plant has hardly broken ground, actual vehicle hardware is well beyond the go/no go decision. It’s a go. And though GM brass trumpeted the Saturn division as yet another bulwark in the battle against Japan, even a casual observer will note that 1990’s Saturn products are apparently aimed at Ford/Lincoln Mercury. Shown here are the first renderings of the top-secret Saturn cars. These Duane Kuchar illustrations are drawn with confidence in the detailed accuracy of the vehicles, as they are based entirely on drawings and data obtained from a confidential source close to the Saturn project. We’ll give you the latest engineering scores, but first, a recap of the game’s first half. By its own economic standards, GM…

Some things are just too crazy not to try. As a longtime, sometime sailor, I was musing one day last summer about how interesting it would be to visit Australia as the competition for the America’s Cup got into full swing. By coincidence, three Septembers ago I’d arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, the week Australia wrested the Auld Mug from Dennis Conner and his New York Yacht Club minions. In many ways, it had been a bleak day for the locals, who based a large portion of their economy on the America’s Cup spectacle, but the scene was fascinating—the oblique strategies and tactics of the racing crews, the pretty girls, the petty bickering, the charges of rules violations—in short, it was like your typical automotive race weekend. The difference is…

Honda has risen to its currently lofty status in the U.S. through the commitment to high-quality fit and finish, combined with spirited and fuel-efficient powerplants. Until recently, Honda aimed at the traditional Japanese targets—subcompact and compact economy car buyers; but its success in those market segments, along with the monetary pressures of the dollar/yen exchange rates, prompted the Tokyo firm to begin a bold, new venture. Luxury cars bring bigger profits, and Honda felt it could compete with the Europeans in the lucrative high-content, performance market. Thus was Acura born. The first two products of Honda’s upscale division, the Integra and the Legend, were considered ideal subjects for Motor Trend’s long-term test fleet. The burning issue with all new, er, all-new cars is their reliability. And what better way to…

Cheating’s no good. If you’ve already taken a peek at the Mitsubishi Galant’s performance data, you’re in danger of missing the point. Granted, this is no road racer. But that’s no reason to turn the page, not unless you’re the kind of person who likes to see something for his money. Never mind that to pull itself from 0-60, the 2.4-liter Galant needs more than 12 sec. Never mind that its skidpad performance is a somewhat underwhelming 0.75 g. Never mind that the electronically controlled variablerate suspension is largely needless trickery. So what if, on the soft setting, the car rides like a pair of underpants in a washing machine? The point is this: Goodies per dollar, the Galant is an automobile deserving of serious consideration. Mitsubishi has piled so…

Ford of Europe, sharpening its performance image after five years in the shadows, offers two 150-mph models in its ’87 range. The RS 200 is an uncompromising 2-seater that fulfills an obligation to manufacture 200 examples of the now-defunct international rally car. The Sierra (Merkur) RS Cosworth is the forerunner of a sedan designed to dominate the World Touring Car Championship. We have driven them both. It was a quirk of FISA regulations that produced the RS 200, a model Ghia saved from sharing the pug features of the Lancia Delta, Peugeot 205, and MG Metro 6R4 Group B machines. Rally cars have traditionally been developed from road-going models, until Lancia exploited a loophole with the Stratos, and Peugeot followed through with the 205 Turbo 16. A requirement that 200…

The memory of the small basement print shop in Stockholm, where I long ago—longer than I care to remember—served my apprenticeship as a typographer, from time to time still manages to inspire thoughts of poignancy. prominently displayed on one of the walls was a framed poster. It featured three illustrations, each accompanied by a caption written in allegorical form. The first illustration showed a beautiful horse, skillfully drawn in pen and ink. The text described how long and hard the artist had worked on this masterpiece, and how, when he had finally been ready to present it to the management of the firm at whose request he had produced the design, he had done so with great pride. The second caption described how the engineering department of this firm, after…

MERCEDES SPORTSTER SPIED Remember the artist’s impression we brought you, last October, of the new Mercedes 560SL sports car? Here’s the car in the flesh. Running with its hard-top option and with a false nose extension between the headlights, the Merc was caught by cameras while winter testing in its native Germany. As expected, the 150-mph sportster does indeed continue the fine styling trend established by the 190/300E and W201 series cars, with a distinctive but gentle wedge shape. The car was molded under the guidance of Italian Bruno Sacco, chief of Mercedes’ own design studio. To be powered at first by a 24-valve 5.6-liter V-8, and perhaps later by a 32-valve V-8, the new 560SL is likely to be unveiled at the Frankfurt Show this September. SPORTIER STERLINGS The…

The Mercury nameplate has been around a long time. Over the years, the message given by Mercury products has been one of luxury, plush isolation from the rest of the world, and a tendency toward complacent motoring. The Mercury Marquis, sistership of the big Ford LTD, is among the last of the rear-wheel-driven luxury cars not on the wane because it sends such a message. One didn’t look to Mercury if the purchase decision centered around lower-dollar high-value cars. The luster of Mercury is in its image as a high-profile car, on the road or in the driveway. It’s at first incongruous, then, to drive the new Mercury Tracer. You should be certain of your message if the signal you’re going to send uses the Tracer as the transmitter. Folks…

Seems like everyone is in the sport/utility market these days, and, aside from trendiness feeding trendiness, it’s somewhat hard to figure. Utility vehicles are big, not particularly beautiful, designed to go off-road (but seldom do), thirsty, and certainly not inexpensive. But none of that matters because they are definitely “in.” The latest entry into this popular genre is the Pathfinder, the second product from the pens of Nissan Design International (the La Jolla, California-based group that works with Nissan Japan for the U.S. market). It’s obvious the Pathfinder and NDI’s first and NDI’s first project, the Hardbody pickup, were on the drawing board at the same time. From the B-pillar forward, the sheetmetal on both is the same, the sloping hood for less drag and the extra-wide doors for easy…

It’s interesting to see the differences between how car magazines see cars and how they’re seen by the folks who buy them. A lot of us in the car journalism business would truly like to believe we touch the beating pulse of the driving populace and that’s often true. But if by reading magazines you got the idea that the only Ford Thunderbird built was the Turbo Coupe, you’re wrong, bucko. Our owner survey of the Ford Thunderbird shows a surprising 81% of all T-Bird buyers opted for 6- or 8-cylinder powerplants, with only 19% choosing the more highly visible 4-cylinder turbo engine. Of the total number of respondents, 85.7% also decided either the 3- or 4-speed automatic transmission better suited their driving style than the 5-speed manual gearbox. As…

A big field of 13 newcomers will soon be stepping up to meet the challenge of the 1987 Motor Trend Import Car of the Year competition. This is destined to be a vintage year for the visiting team, because quality is as abundant as quantity throughout the roster of players. The widely diverse group of competitors encompasses the complete range of autodom—entry-level econocars, sport and family coupes and sedans, luxury touring machines, even the latest thing in people movers. With the title on the line, here’s a brief overview at our ICOY lineup. We’ll have complete results of the 1987 event next month. Acura Integra Introduced too late to make last year’s ICOY program, the “entry level” hatchback from Honda’s upscale Acura line is a performance-oriented sport sedan built in…

In Motor Trends data panels, you’ll find performance information gathered through the use of a fifth-wheel. This onboard computer/printer gives us all our quarter-mile speed and time figures, acceleration time breakdowns in 10-mph increments, and braking distance information through the use of a suction cup-mounted external wheel. It’s lightweight and compact, and measures out a quarter mile anywhere there’s enough pavement. It also costs around $5000. A little rich for the average backyard enthusiast. There is, however, a less expensive way you can measure the speed, distance, and lateral acceleration of your car. The Vericom VC-200 Performance Computer will, for about $400, give you the ability to generate everything from 0-60 mph to horsepower and torque figures. A simple, compact VC-200 unit mounts to the windshield with four small suction…

Phillip Bingham Go-karts. They’re probably not the way you remember them. Many people still regard the tiny machines as toys rather than serious racing vehicles. In truth, karts have been very serious for a long time. Even after the beginning of Can-Am racing in the late ’60s, after the appearance of vehicles like the Penske/Donohue cars powered by aluminum 430-in. Chevy V-8s, the track record at Riverside Raceway was still held by a kart. There are race circuits all over the world where karts come close to 750cc Superbike lap records. The single-geared 135cc karts can sprint on up to 100 mph. The 250cc twin-cylinder Superkarts have been known to battle five abreast around the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit in England at a 110-mph lap average. Even with humble 100cc…

Introduced in 1979, the Toyota Tercel has never set enthusiasts’ hearts afire, but it has enjoyed enormous sales success. Aimed at the entry-level buyer, with the overriding goal of generating long-term brand loyalty, the Tercel has hit its target market square on. Refined and updated in previous incarnations, the Tercel enters 1987 fully redesigned. Toyota’s calling it “More bang for the buck.” Besides the obvious external changes, which give the Tercel sharper, far less econo-looking lines, the suspension, engine, and interior also profit from Toyota’s re-think. The model lineup remains the same, with both the 3- and 5-door hatchback receiving body upgrades, and the station wagon, an ’86 body design holdover, receiving flush-fitting halogen headlights and an updated front grille. The 3-and 5-door models get a new 1.5-liter 12-valve engine…

We’re going to be ruthlessly direct about this. Renault still has its problems. Renault cars still betray their origins through Gallic idiosyncracies. Renault fans are still absent in hordes in several of France’s neighboring European markets. And, if the life-blood of commerce is finance, Renault still has countless punctured arteries to stitch up. But, with the French taxpayer as its guardian angel, and with its overmanning problems reduced by 22% in the past two years, things are slowly changing for the better at Renault. Including the cars. To see what we mean, you only have to look at the mid-size Renault Medallion sedan. Forget that the inefficient Renault Corporation badly needed the experience and the tough overview provided so briefly by industrialist Georges Besse, whose futile murder last November came…

At quick glance, the newest remake from Shelby Automobiles would be easy to overlook. Yes, it looks like the same Dodge Charger we’d all forgotten about, but, no, it’s not the same car. Shelby’s gang, (no word fits better), has transformed the already fairly quick little front-wheel driver into a very respectable and downright rapid sports sedan. You can’t get more performance anywhere for the same amount of money. Using the same technology they developed on the “world’s fastest shoebox” (the Omni GLH-S), Shelby’s group upped the inline turbocharged 4-cylinder’s horsepower to 175, an increase of 30 hp. A Shelby Automobiles-designed intake plenum takes most of the credit for the power increase. Additional engine hardware includes a larger radiator, Shelby Electronic Logic Module, bigger fuel injectors, and a larger Air…

Before we go any further, I must admit that I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart (head?) for the Buick Riviera. The first Riv was introduced when I was still in grade school, and I thought its long hood and short deck with the kickup over the rear wheels was about as pretty a sculpting of metal as I had ever seen. Gosh, I wanted one. Well, I never got one. In fact, I’ve never even had a chance to drive one, so I can’t tell you first-hand whether the reported 325 hp from its 401-cu-in. standard engine were sufficient to send its two tons fleeting down the road. I can’t tell you that it had the rich feel of real luxury. I can’t tell you that it…

Nobody spends a million dollars to lose. Not Ford, not Chevy, not Porsche. And with 17 automotive manufacturers running in last year’s edition of Sports Car Club of America’s Showroom Stock Endurance Championship, and more expected this year, you can believe the stakes are that high. What was once a who cares series is now the place to be, according to series newcomer and IMSA GTP driver, Skeeter McKitterick. In just three short years, SCCA’s newest professional series has taken off in a big way. Factory-supported teams, backing from nearly every tire manufacturer, and strong involvement by countless automotive-related hardware and aftermarket manufacturers emphasize just how quickly this sport is becoming a major factor in the racing circuit today. Still undiscovered by the public and, in most cases, even by…

On a map, Turn 2 at Nelson Ledges looks easy. It’s a 45° right, taken, well, just as fast as you can. “Fast” in the Escort Series is a relative thing. Twenty seconds is eternity for a CART pit stop. A couple minutes (driver change, one tire, fuel) is acceptable in Escort racing. Formula One is often likened to a ballet, all style, precision, men and machines operating at the limit, a symbiosis, perfection. If the Escort Series were to be compared to a choreographed event, it would have to be the chase scene from “The French Connection,” wherein Gene Hackman, pursuing baddies single-handedly, creates a used-car shortage in New York City. Racing isn’t always racing. We’re coming to Turn 2 at Nelson. Patience. Grable calls everybody “Jack,” as in,…