Indholdsfortegnelse for January 1997 i MotorTrend

WHAT TURNS YOUR HEAD? Ferrari red…Claudia Schiffer…a drive-by shooting. Any one of these is enough to snap most pedestrians to attention in a nanosecond. But in the surrounding locales of MT’ss Beverly Hills—adjacent offices, such occurrences are so common they hardly rate a dull glance from the half-lidded eyes of our populace. In other words, LA-LA-Land is not an easy place to impress someone with your new car. After all, this is a city where drive-by shootings only make the evening news if the star of a top-rated sitcom was behind the wheel. Because we live among this tepid nonchalance on a daily basis, it becomes a stop-the-presses event when we drive a vehicle that actually garners attention. Receiving a thumbs-up, wave, or a shout of “Awesome, dude!” is considered…

NEXT FERRARI F355 TO SPAWN LOW-BUCK SIBLING Although Ferrari remains characteristically mum on the project, our sources indicate the next-generation F355 platform will see a slightly smaller, less expensive spin-off for 2000. The upcoming F355, code-named F131 and due out in early 1999, will forsake the current tubular steel frame in favor of an aluminum monocoque structure. This skeleton will be shared with the new car, codenamed F131B. By jettisoning the current tube frame, these new mid-engine Ferraris will enjoy material gains in strength and stiffness as well as substantial relative weight savings. While the F355 will continue to be available in Spider and Berlinetta models, the F131B likely will be offered only as a lift-top coupe. The new F355 is expected to continue using Ferrari’s existing 3.5-liter 40-valve DOHC…

There was a time when emissions reduction directly translated to performance reduction. Thankfully, that time largely has passed. It isn’t easy to design engines that run cleanly, efficiently, and powerfully at the same time, but it’s a challenge that automakers continue to meet—albeit at the prodding of increasingly stringent state and federal regulations. While many important emissions-control innovations come from the auto manufacturers’ research labs, many also originate from outside suppliers such as Corning, Engelhard, Siemens, W.R. Grace, AlliedSignal, and others. It’s often from these sources that we get a glimpse of what the near future holds in the way of new emissions-reduction strategies and technologies. One interesting product in the pipeline is Corning’s PUMA (Passive Underbody Main Absorber), a system specifically designed to drastically cut cold-start tailpipe emissions. These…

Driving jthis sleek Monte Carlo Z/Sport around Detroit was like strolling on a jungle path at midnight with a raw steak in your back pocket. Eveiy prowling, octane-hungry beast on the Motor City’s mean streets wanted a piece of the Monte’s tail; Mustang GTs, hot Honda Preludes, fat-tired Pontiac Firebirds, and even Corvettes slowed and then lurked at its rear, waiting for the opportunity to jump and pounce. Then, when they couldn’t get a rise in revs out of us, they’d howl by in what we took as either heated frustration or street-cool contempt. This killer-looking version of the Monte Carlo is a project of Decoma Accessories of Troy, Michigan. The reason the Z/Sport looks so “factory” perfect is because Decoma is a large, first-rate OEM supplier to numerous automobile-assembly…

’96 AUDI A4 QUATTRO Ihe classy, pearl-white long-term Audi A4 has been highly sought after by our corporate demigods, who appreciate its sophisticated interior and exterior styling. It has proved to be a great urban commuter for navigating the traffic-choked L.A. streets with its modest size, five-speed automatic transmission, and stellar stereo. The audio and climate controls, however, have confused some first-time drivers with their similarity. One wrote, “The HVAC controls are too complicated. Even after several days in the car, I found myself stabbing at any button I could to affect some change.” The cupholders have been another common topic for logbook entries; several drivers noted that they seem like an afterthought. We continue to find plenty to rave about, such as the one-touch open/close moonroof, grin-inducing handling, and…

Our test Expedition was a top-of-the-line Eddie Bauer model equipped with every available audio option. A double-DIN, electronically tuned, AM/FM/cassette receiver with built-in CD changer controls is standard for both XLT and Eddie Bauer Expedition trim levels. The 145-watt Mach system is a $355 stand-alone option for the Eddie Bauer package and is included with the deluxe option package ($1405). The center-console-mounted six-disc CD changer is a highly recommended $475 factory-installed option, available for all Expeditions except the base XLT. During the past four years, Ford has made great strides in control-unit ergonomics, especially with the large face units available in the Explorer, Ranger, and F-Series trucks. All controls are easy to prompt and well illuminated for nighttime use. Not only is the six-disc CD changer logically located in the…

NEWS Chevrolet has introduced its second prototype for a proposed SS version of its popular Tahoe sport/utility. So far there still isn’t official word from GM’s largest marketing division as to whether this factory-built sport truck will be for sale to the public; however, circumstances, competition, and insider rumors all indicate that the Tahoe SS will be casting its shadow across dealer showrooms sometime in the ’98 model year. In concept, the latest Tahoe SS remains very close to the original prototype shown at the 1995 SEMA automotive trade show. Revisions have been made to add luxury to the interior (including a new Bose stereo system), the “ground effects” bodywork has been revised, and the big 17-inch wheels have been restyled, but the truck is still a two-wheel-drive, four-door Tahoe.…

PROWLERS AND FRUIT CAKES Thank you for the great article “The Prowler Meets Its Match” (Oct. ’96). It wasn’t the purple Plymouth Prowler that caught my eye, nor was it the bright screaming-yellow Boyd Coddington ’33/’93 Ford roadster. It was that beautiful plain black, wonderfully understated Doane Spencer ’32 Ford “highboy.” That car has a lot of memories for me; my dad is the late Doane Spencer. It’s nice to see that his influence is still contributing to the design of beautiful cars. My father lived long enough to know that the ’32 Ford highboy was going to be restored, but he didn’t live to see its completion. You might be interested to know that my dad sold the ’32 in 1958 to a friend of his, Lynn Wineland, for…

Recently, the folks from Pontiac called with an invitation to visit the Big Sky State. Our mission: experience first-hand the all-new Trans Sport minivan, particularly its distinctive Montana variant. Pontiac believes this high-profile option package will be fitted to nearly 65 percent of all ’97 Trans Sports sold in the U.S. After two days of touring the Glacier National Park area, we deemed the Montana-spec people mover a most agreeable sightseeing sidekick. Pontiac intended the Montana package to bridge the gap between a conventional minivan and a traditional sport/utility, specifically aiming it at younger, more active buyers who still require maximum versatility but find the average minivan a bit too plebeian for their tastes. Available in either three-door standard wheelbase or optional four-door (on long-wheelbase models), the $989 option group…

Two thousand years ago, the Romans raced chariots and hauled, things with oh cars. Toady, sports cars languish on dealer lots iifrd vanish from manufacturers—catalogs, while hot-selling trucks get ever more powerful engines and have their own NASCAR race series. Unlike Rome, America races its OX carts̬and likes them fast. Gathered at Motor Trend’s; test venue were seven examples of the modern, go-fast OX carts: pickup trucks and sport/utilities treated to the subtle tweaks and blatant transmogrifications for which America’s aftermarket tuners are notorious. All are certified street legal (or on their way there), and each is impressive in its own right. There are literally hundreds of ways to make a truck go quicker than its manufacture ever intended, but supercharcging is the most strightforward and is guaranteed effective. five…

Throttle to the floor and four-cam V-8 at full song, the nasty black BMW’s speedometer needle swept past 155 mph as the tach became buried in the red zone. That’s fifth gear, with one more to go, boys. Ahead, the vast German autobahn stretched out in front of me like an unfurling asphalt ribbon to dementia. Speed is as addictive as any drug, and the craving for more, stronger doses soon becomes impossible to resist. I’m as busy as hell right about now, however, with one hand on the wheel and the other balancing a camera. Click…flash… and there’s our lead photo—a spooky exercise of looking through a wide-angle lens while traveling the length of an 18-wheeler in the blink of an eye. Should something go awry, it would be…

Real adventures require one thing: a bold, true frontier. It’s the difference between riding “Star Tours” at Disneyland and actually strapping yourself atop a rocket and being hurled into space, or the difference between watching a movie about the western pioneers and actually covering the continent in a Conestoga. Today, driving is rarely an adventure. Short of crashing, not much bad can happen. Run out of gas? Walk a block to the Shell station. Flat tire? Call AAA. Blow a head gasket? Use the 50,000-mile warranty. All that is thrown out the window, however, with GM’s brilliant EVI electric car now available for purchase (well, for lease) by Mr. and Mrs. America. But just how user-friendly is this brave new world of clean-green transportation? Will you and your friends soon…

NEWS Rumors about an independent rear suspension (IRS) for Ford’s Mustang have been around for almost a decade, but nothing substantive has been shown until now. At the SCCA World Challenge road race in Watkins Glen, New York, this September, Steve Saleen premiered a production-based Mustang equipped with a Ford-designed IRS underneath it and drove the car to victory. The IRS system was developed inside Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering unit under the leadership of Manager John Coletti and is based on a top-secret design by the Advanced Vehicle Team. “Last year, Saleen was so close,” explains Coletti, “but they were missing one crucial element to put them on top, and I believe the new independent rear suspension developed by Ford will prove to be the final piece of the puzzle.”…

There was something for virtually everyone, even history buffs, at the recent Mondiale de l’Automobile. Complementing a formidable roster of new production and concept machines was a comprehensive display of James Bond movie vehicles, as well as a retrospective of the 1946 Paris Auto Salon. Maintaining their longstanding precedent, French manufacturers dominated the display space at this biennial Gallic gathering. Despite the de facto “home-field advantage,” the enthusiastic crowds that daily packed the Porte de Versailles exhibition center were treated to a show with plenty of international flavor. Here are the highlights. MERCEDES-BENZ F200 IMAGINATION No steering wheel, even no pedals, but a crowd-pleaser nonetheless: The Mercedes F200 Imagination is a bold one-off that embodies some near-future styling cues and several longer-range technologies that will be part of future M-B…

Since many of the highway and auto safety features we benefit from today came straight from the racetrack, it pays to take notice of the next generation of safety innovations being developed by John Fitch, inventor of the familiar sand-filled barriers that cushion bridge abutments nationwide. A race driver for 18 years and former GT champion of the Mille Miglia, Fitch turned his attention to track safety design after the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at the San Marino course in Italy. His company, Fitch Inertial Barriers, has produced three practical and relatively inexpensive energy-absorbing barriers and a driver-safety capsule to enhance driver protection for road-racing courses, such as Formula One, but they can also be adapted for American road courses, oval tracks, dragstrips, and, eventually, highways. The…

Malibu is a golden model name that resonates powerfully in the memories of not only Motor Trend staff members but also millions of people nationwide. As 1960s rug rats, many of us rode on the back seats of rear-drive Malibu models, scribbling pictures of Rat Fink or playing license-plate poker. Later as teens, many of us owned a used version of this ubiquitous GM born in ’64 as the uplevel version of the all-new Chevelle line. That year’s offerings were designed (as were all Malibus yet to come) as honest, high-value, youthful transportation, with a wide range of options to fulfill the varied lifestyles of its customers. Fourteen years have passed since the last Malibu was produced, but now a new version continues in its predecessor’s well-known tradition of providing…

The Ford Taurus, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry are the feudal lords of the automotive world, the shoguns of the sales charts, the WWF wrestlers of the year-end tallies. Every year each scraps tooth-and-nail to finish at the top of the heap—as the number-one best-selling car in America. Typically, it’s been the Taurus and Accord in a fierce two-horse race for number one, while the Camry has finished third for four of the last five years. But the times, as they say, are a-changin’. The introduction of the all-new fourth-generation Camry has set the automotive industry abuzz. Not only is the new car incrementally better than the previous version but, backed by an intensive costtrimming campaign, Toyota has been able to slash the suggested retail prices. That’s the type of…

For those burdened by the gray hairs, migraines, and ulcers that seem to accompany success, the Lexus LS 400 may be the best medicine a doctor could recommend. Available in convenient over-the-counter form since introduced at the tail end of 1994 as a ’95 model, the second-generation LS 400 surpassed its giant-toppling predecessor by offering improved power, increased luxury, and expanded interior space. Building on the strong foundation of the original LS 400, Lexus sought to make the new model more of a driver’s car without sacrificing the all-important virtue of pure hedonistic luxury. Choosing to retain the same exterior dimensions as the first-generation LS 400, Lexus engineers stretched the wheelbase from 110.8 to 112.2 inches to enhance the driving character and increase rear legroom within that body envelope. While…

Topping the good news about the ’97 Toyota Supra (dubbed the “Limited Edition 15th Anniversary” in honor of the first stand-alone Supra model): The Supra Turbo is still available. Despite the recent deaths of the Mazda RX-7 and Nissan 300ZX, Toyota thinks the sports-car segment will rebound and that the market is profitable enough to allow the company to reduce sticker prices by slashing profit margins and reducing build variations; Supra prices are down roughly $10,000 across the board. The $38,600 estimated price of an automatic-equipped ’97 Supra Turbo matches the ’96 price of a naturally aspirated Supra, with the unblown ’97 plummeting to $29,500. Other than the choice of four-speed automatic or six-speed manual (the return of which is more good news), there will be no options offered for…