Indholdsfortegnelse for January 1995 i MotorTrend

TWIN CHARGERS FOR ’96 911 TURBO Porsche will fill out its new-generation 911 line this spring with a redesigned Turbo model. Weissach’s latest T-charged wunder- car, spied here while undergoing final testing, makes its formal debut at the upcoming Geneva motor show and arrives in the U.S. shortly thereafter as an early ’96 model. The new 911 Turbo will continue to use a 3.6-liter version of Porsche’s venerable SOHC flat-six engine. Fitted with a new twin turbocharger setup and an air-to-air intercooler, it’s expected to produce around 430 horsepower. The Turbo will carry a six-speed manual transmission and share suspension and driveline components with the recently introduced Carrera 4. As can be seen on this undisguised prototype, the 911 Turbo’s aggressive bodywork retains the Carrera 4’s prominent fender flares while…

Larry Shinoda was the principal design force behind the original Boss Mustang, so tea it’s fitting that he be a force behind its return. While you won’t be able to purchase Coletti’s monstrous Boss 10-liter, you’ll be able to climb behind the wheel of a Shinoda version in the near future. The Boss Shinoda Mustang’s exterior package, including the sweeping tape treatment, subtle rear-deck spoiler, and the bolder wheel-arch moldings (already used on Mustangs exported to Japan) is scheduled to appear in the next SVO catalog. Prices aren’t firm, but Shinoda is looking for the complete exterior adornment outfit to retail in the $1200 range. A Shinoda-design Budnik wheel set will go for about $1500. Adding a performance package (perhaps as early as this month) will upgun the Mustang in…

You just can’t keep a good car down. Following a decade of E successfully courting the affections of enthusiast drivers across America, Volkswagen abruptly turned around and put its legendary GTI through some pretty grim paces here in the U.S. After offering a rather emasculated variant for model-year ’93, the automaker dropped it altogether from the abbreviated ’94 Golf lineup. But the bad days are gone. The GTI is back for ’95, and back in a big way. Charged with replacing the slow-selling Corrado SLC, this latest iteration of the original hot hatch adds a VR6 to its formal nomenclature and a huge dollop of newfound firepower to its performance portfolio. A number of subtle styling tweaks distinguish the GTI VR6 from a standard Golf III two-door hatchback. Up front,…

DIESELING ON I just finished reading your article on the Mercedes-Benz E300 Diesel (Oct. ’94) in which Rik Paul pulls off the amazing feat of driving 840 miles on a single tank of fuel. But I have a question. Paul said he stopped and bought two gallons of diesel just in case the car ran out of fuel before reaching L.A. Isn’t it true that if you run a diesel out of fuel, you can’t simply add it to the tank and start it like a regular gasoline car? Your magazine provides great reading every month. Srinivas DantuluriOcala, Fla. In recent years, all Mercedes-Benz diesel engines have included a self-bleeding system that allows you to add fuel and restart the engine with little difficulty. Details are included in the M-B…

Buick, once again, will step into future-car territory at the 1995 North American International Auto Show this month in Detroit. The XP2000 concept car showcases GM’s take on a sedan future that may not be too far off—in fact, many of the XP2000’s electronic bells and whistles are available in the just-introduced ’95 Lincoln Continental. The rear-drive four-door displays the kind of clean, aerodynamic flair that has characterized previous Buick show cars, but its principal claim to fame is an offer of impressive interior room in a reasonably bantam package. Buick sources noted that the mid-size XP2000 is about the same length as a Regal sedan (193.7 inches), but has the wheelbase of the larger Roadmaster four-door (115.9 inches). The XP2000’s interior is supplied with eight—count ’em—eight airbags. Front passengers…

It’s as subtle as a 20-megaton bomb in a whoopee cushion. As conventional as Jeffrey Dahmer at a Kiwanis father/son picnic. And about as charming, erudite, and socially responsible as a great white shark in a bloody sea of baby harp seals. Make no mistake, the new Saleen SR is a predator of the highest order: a rapacious, wildeyed, super-Mustang, purpose-built to feed on the weaknesses of others. If you’re looking for sensible transportation, look elsewhere. The Saleen SR likes nothing better than to stamp its big steel-toed workboots into the cherubic face of “sensible.” Creator Steve Saleen’s mindset here is one of total world domination—one Corvette, Porsche, or Ferrari at a time. And with a supercharged 5.8-liter Ford V-8 that produces well over twice the horsepower of a new…

Hinting at the possible birth of an intriguing rivalry, a senior Aston Martin insider describes the new DB7 coupe as “quick as a Ferrari, but easier to drive.” His fellow directors, all recently installed by parent-company Ford, openly admit their desire to develop Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. into the British equivalent of the Maranello marque: a maker of coveted sports and GT cars that are seductively stylish, exhilaratingly fast, irresistible to 2000 or more buyers per year, and—this will be a novelty for AML—make money. For a company that sold only 135 cars world wide last year, and which lost a fistful of dollars on each, we’re talking a recovery of biblical proportion. The late Sir David Brown, the “DB” behind those first Aston coupes of the ’50s and ’60s…

’94 CADILLAC DEVILLE CONCOURS Our Concours continues to please—as well as transport—the masses. It’s already passed the 16,000-mile mark and still has some months left to go here at MT. This one may reach 30K before we surrender it unwillingly. Service expenses are a consideration when purchasing a vehicle, and the Cadillac’s costly $336.47 15,000-mile checkup was an eye-opener. Maintenance performed included an oil change, a transmission-fluid change, tire rotation and balance, and brake service. The biggest problem we’ve had involves the door locks, which work only half the time. The driver’s door sometimes won’t lock or unlock, either with or without the remote, and the alarm is activated when we fiddle with it too much. This problem supposedly was fixed at the last service, but it has resurfaced. A…

’94 PARIS AUTO SHOW: MAD ABOUT MINIVANS The biannual meeting of automakers in the French capital had a reasonably upbeat feel, a marked departure from the character of the last gathering here. While the European industry in general continues to show modest signs of recovery, luxury makers were practically ecstatic about the strong gains being made in the top sector. As usual, show attendees were treated to a diverse selection of offerings, from environment-friendly urban commuters to pure exotics to one-off concept cars. But the single most visible class of vehicle at this year’s salon was the minivan. It appears these multipurpose haulers are on the verge of a European sales boom that could well rival the phenomenal success they’ve enjoyed in the U.S. Here’s an overview of the best…

Stand aside, the Boss is back. Now that the assembly lines are herding hordes of Mustangs into the mainstream, O.J. “John” Coletti is ready for some serious horseplay. Coletti’s business card reads Manager, Special Vehicle Engineering, Car Product Development, Ford Motor Company. What his title doesn’t acknowledge is that Coletti is the Mustang’s godfather. Whenever evil forces threaten Ford’s affordable, V-8-engined, rear-drive specialty model, Coletti gallops in on his high horse to save the day. When times are right and Mustangs are rollicking, this O.J. beams like Old Sol at high noon. Coletti’s troops convened at 7:30 one fine Michigan morning to exercise what has to be one of the most potent stud horses ever sired within’Ford stables: a ’94 Cobra prototype shot with a megadose of hormones. Under its…

Today, focus groups determine everything from a prosecutors’ hemline to foreign policy. Automakers, especially domestic companies, put great faith in these market-research sessions. Also called consumer clinics, they’re good at helping manufacturers regain touch with exactly what their buyers want. Yet they give little hint on how to take the lead. Focus groups wouldn’t have spawned personal computers, Federal Express, cellular telephones, or the Daytona International Speedway. Although an excellent, necessary tool, such groups aren’t, as some companies treat them, the modern equivalent of voices from burning bushes. The ’95 Lincoln Continental, very much the product of such research, is a solid, well-built, comfortable luxury car. It offers pretty much every feature buyers expect—and then some—at a competitive price. The more we drove it, the more we liked it, and…

Yes, Ferrari still builds the 512, the car with the legendary side-strakes carved into its flanks and the amazing flat-12 engine. But amid all the excitement surrounding the automaker’s newest vehicles—the 456 GT and the F355—the old 512 TR (aka, Testarossa) was all but lost in the shuffle. This minor problem is rectified with the introduction of the F512 M. The “M” in the model designation stands for “modified,” which neatly summarizes what Ferrari has done with the car. A broad assortment of changes improves and civilizes the 512 while leaving its position secure as the most demanding (and, some might say, the most pleasing) vehicle in the current Ferrari line. Between them, the 456 and 355 enjoy a variety of advances, such as electronically controlled suspension and five-valve-per-cylinder technology.…

Everyone from Humpy Wheeler to Mother Teresa knows about Carroll Shelby. The man who created the Cobras and specially modified Mustangs of the ’60s is more than just a car builder. He’s a builder of legends. The symbiosis created by those first Ford-powered British hybrids and the iron-willed men who drove them was staggering. Shelby sold what he raced, and he raced to win. Corvettes, Porsches, and even Ferraris fell victim to the venomous bite of the 289- and 427-powered Cobras. In a grand manner that becomes more clear with each passing year, Carroll Shelby was responsible for launching the musclecar era into full-red-line orbit. He built and sold the most brutal production cars available on our streets and brought honor to American drivers in races all across Europe. His…

FACTORY NEWS A PEEK AT THE 32-VALVE MUSTANG COBRA Starting next year, Ford will equip Mustangs with its 4.6-liter Modular V-8: an SOHC version for the Mustang GT and a DOHC screamer for the limited-production SVT Cobra. Using incriminatingly unpublishable spy photos as a guide, MT’s ace artist Duane Kuchar has drawn details of the ’96 Mustang Cobra 32-valve Modular engine installation. The Cobra’s DOHC engine features a new one-piece, common-plenum intake manifold unlike the Lincoln Mark Vlll’s (the engine’s only current home) individual runners—one for each of the 16 intake valves, with one intake runner per cylinder closed at low rpm for better off-idle responsiveness. A variation of that variable-runner scheme will continue on the Cobra, but the fuel-injection system’s throttle body will be routed on the right side,…