Indholdsfortegnelse for May 1997 i MotorTrend

Seven Days of Mayhem Yes, it was one of those weeks that make us glad to be alive: seven days with seven of the world’s most delicious performance cars, a fabulous new state-of-the-art racing facility to tear around, our own personal television crew on hand to record the fun, and a fist full of credit cards with which to make it all happen. That’s the premise behind this month’s “High-Speed Gamble” cover story, a dream trip to internal-combustion nirvana—and you’re invited. But an event of this scale doesn’t just materialize out of thin air and racing fuel. It takes months of advance planning, scores of people working in lockstep coordination, perfect weather, before-dawn to well-after-dark work days, and more than a bit of luck. Our objective—to perform a decathlon of…

THE BEST GET BETTER WITH AGE Acura doesn’t sell many NSXs, and it could hardly be less relevant to parent Honda’s bottom line. Acura shelled out big bucks to inflate the DOHC 24-valve VTEC V-6’s displacement from 3.0 liters to 3.2 and replace the five-speed manual with a six-cogger for ’97. And that’s beyond the NSX-T removable roof model and SportShift automatic transmission introduced in ’95. Years after its summer 1990 introduction, Acura’s all-aluminum, mid-engine two-seater is still a wonder, a car whose evolution keeps plausible its claim to the title of world’s best sports car. That’s why it’s important to Honda. There are now 290 horsepower and 224 pound-feet of torque bursting from the normally aspirated, 8000-rpm-redline engine; including the extra gear, the ’97 NSX weighs a mere 4.5…

INCREDIBLY DEMANDING, EXTREMELY REWARDING, ABSOLUTELY UNFORGIVING Extreme driving with the F355 Berlinetta is like a tumultuous love j affair: After some initial sparring you come to a joyous understanding and reach the ultimate height of ecstasy. And then for no reason as far as you can tell—couldn’t be anything you’ve done—she smashes all your stereo equipment and fishing trophies. The next day she shows up at your door with roses and champagne—and, of course, you ask her in. At the limit, the F355 Berlinetta is incredibly demanding but extremely rewarding. It willingly does amazing things that would tie lesser cars (read: most everything else on earth) in knots. But it’s absolutely unforgiving of what it considers driving indiscretions, faux pas the Corvette and NSX-T would barely notice. Bystanders are bewitched…

HIGH ENERGY SHEATHED IN ELEGANT ARMOR Toyota takes cars seriously. The Camry is a serious family-hauler, the Tacoma is a serious cargo-hauler, and the Supra Turbo—well, the Supra seriously hauls ass. The Supra’s body seems melted around the cabin and mechanical elements; there’s hardly a definable line on the car. Inside, the circular instruments sit within a plain expanse of plastic, and the leather upholstery is starkly monochromatic. Any ornamentation is vulgar on this organic shape; indeed, the filigreed “Limited Edition” 15th-Anniversary-Edition logos on its front fenders are particularly cheesy. Take those off with a hair dryer and this car looks better, and more contemporary, than it did when introduced. Twin turbos abound at this contest, but the Supra puts its two compressors in a sequential line, hung alongside basically…

#1 TOP SPEED #2 WET-SURFACE MAXIMUM LATERAL G Contrary to the sunny-day image presented in sports car advertising (and owners’ fantasies), the world is at times a less-than-perfect driving environment. This can be bad news for high-horsepower cars rolling on tires designed primarily for drysurface driving. All that glorious grip and control fades significantly when the road is covered with water—or worse, ice and snow. Therefore, to evaluate our group of seven’s handling in inclement conditions, we subjected the cars to a wet-skidpad handling test. The test surface was a 200-foot-diameter pad (the same size we use for dry testing) moistened by a sheet-flow watering system that maintained a constant water depth of approximately 1/8 inch—in other words, the equivalent of a moderate rainfall. Our objective was to see just…

Dodge will make its hot-selling Ram the first full-size domestic pickup to be offered with four doors when the new Quad Cab model arrives in dealerships this fall. In addition to a rear-hinged, B-pillarless door on each side—offering easy access to its rear bench—Dodge went the extra distance for convenience and comfort by fitting a new front bench seat with the outboard shoulder belts integrated into its backrest. This modification eliminates the tangle of belts that normally hang across the entrance corridor and compromise rear access for cargo or riders. Rich Schaum, general manager of Truck Engineering, told MT he was actually surprised, when the engineering was complete, to find that the two doors only added 106 pounds to the truck’s weight. Besides an extra pair of portals, the ’98…

Ford’s engineering and design departments made the best-selling compact pickup even more appealing for ’98 with a gutsy new base engine, dual airbags, a 3.0-inch-longer cab, a stiffer frame, a short- and long-arm front suspension, and a sleeker, more aerodynamic look. The slick new appearance is provided in large measure by a dropped hoodline, a bold new grille, and fresh bumpers, headlamps, and parking lamps. Regular-cab models also get a larger rear window and more overall window glass for better visibility and a more-open interior feel. The cab stretch is further enhanced with increased seat travel, more backrest recline area, and more stowage space behind the seats. The seats have also been improved with a more attractive assortment of trim styles and more foam for better support. The Ranger has…

10 QUESTIONS WITH JOHN SCHNEIDER Hollywood stunt drivers are protective of their territory and rarely acknowledge any actor’s driving ability. But Paul Baxley, stunt coordinator throughout production of “The Dukes of Hazzard” television series, admits respect for John Schneider, the actor who portrayed Bo Duke. “John’s a pretty good driver,” explains Baxley. “He could do about 90 percent of the precision driving we had to do on the show.” It was stunt double Alan Wyatt Jr. who launched the orange “General Lee” ’69 Dodge Charger during the dangerous leaps for which the series is famed, but it was often car enthusiast Schneider himself behind the wheel for less-dangerous maneuvers. That they trust an actor to drive is the greatest compliment stunt drivers can pay. During its run on CBS from…

’97 FORD F-150 LARIAT SUPERCAB Editor-at-Large John Pearley Huffman “borrowed” the longterm F-150 for the Truck Trends tire test in our March issue, and we’ve been trying to pry away the keys ever since. Long-distance hauler Huffman has packed nearly 7000 miles on the F-150, running all over Southern California in the pursuit of modified vehicles for his columns. He reports he’s content to keep the F-150 forever, but the remaining editors are planning to use the Jaws of Life to remove him from the award-winning truck. Huffman’s size-11 lead foot has dropped fuel mileage from 17.3 to 15.6 mpg-not unexpected and still reasonable. As the odometer has been spinning like slot-machine cylinders, the extended-cab pickup has gone through scheduled 5000- and 10,000-mile services at Santa Barbara’s courteous Mel Clayton…

Dwarf cars are auto racing’s equivalent to Miniature Pinschers. Just as “Min-Pins” sincerely believe—and convincingly so!—that they’re fearsome 110-pounders rather than terrier-size replicas, a Dwarf will quickly make you forget you’re in a motorcycle-powered puppy and not a 500-horsepower big-dog stock car. Boasting upward of 150 horsepower and weighing as little as 1000 pounds, the strongest Dwarfs offer power-to-weight ratios challenging NASCAR Busch Grand National cars. Attempting to harness such a potent combination on dirt—screaming beyond 10,000 rpm in fifth gear—was more than plenty good enough to earn our respect. At our paved test track, a 125-horse Dwarf blasted zero to 60 mph in an impressive 5.1 seconds and stuck to the skidpad at an amazing 1.11 g. Dwarf cars are five-eighths-scale replicas of shorttrack stock cars from the ’40s…

’97 VETTE HITS A NERVE I’ve just finished reading your article on the new C5 Vette (Feb. ’97). One word sums it all up: Wow! Not only does it blow away the previous C4 models, but it outperforms cars twice its price. With more power available from the LSI engine in future years, no supercar will be safe from the sub-$50,000 American icon. Joseph A. Hall Vogelwegh, Germany via Motor Trend Online As an avid Mustang fan, I’d have to say I was a bit reluctant to open the February issue to see the new Corvette. Judging from its previous redesigns, I was sure not to like what I was about to see. Much to my surprise, I find myself giving the C5 Corvette two thumbs up. I must compliment…

At its launch in late summer 1990, the Acura NSX was a dazzling showcase for Honda’s technical abilities. The king of Honda’s luxury channel represented a radical departure from mainstream sedans, one that had people talking about the marque in the same breath as Porsche and Ferrari, Since then, flagging sales—only 460 NSXs were sold in the U.S. last year—have fueled rising speculation that this primo mid-engine two-seater might fade into oblivion. But if you guessed that Honda’s product planners are sharpening their executioner’s axe, you guessed wrong. According to corporate insiders in Europe and Japan, the company has decided it needs a flagship as much now as it did years ago. No matter that the Acura will likely continue to sell in relatively tiny volumes, and no matter that…

So you’d like an electric vehicle but you don’t want to shell out $33,999 for the General Motors EVI? There’s another way to go that will save you about $27,000, but you’ll have to make a few lifestyle adjustments. The vehicle is the Bombardier NEV, first introduced in Arizona last November but also for sale in California and Florida about the time you’re reading this. (These states have passed legislation allowing low-speed vehicles like the Bombardier NEV to be legally street driven; other states are expected to follow.) Like the EVI, the NEV is intended to be a household’s second or third car, a nod to the limitations of a current-day electric vehicle and, particularly in the NEV’s case, recognition that this vehicle isn’t designed to fulfill all your transportation…

EXOTIC-CAR PERFORMANCE WITH A SPORT/UTILITY PRICETAG As if anyone doesn’t know it already, the new Corvette is unfathomably good. Despite being among the least expensive cars gathered for this shootout, its 4.8-second clocking to 60 mph is as quick as the most expensive car’s and matches that Ferrari’s quarter-mile elapsed time as well. On top of that, America’s perennial sports car is now roomy, easy to get in and out of, and forgiving of almost any boneheaded input from the driver. In its 45 years of production, the Corvette has never before been so excellent in so many ways relative to its competition. It’s a colossal achievement. The essence of the Vette’s friendliness is the all-aluminum, 5.7-liter/345-horse power OHV V-8 under its hood. Peak 350 pound-foot torque production occurs at…

WHEN IT ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY HAS TO BE THERE REALLY FAST Mitsubishi’s 3000GT VR-4 isn’t a sports car. There are 3737 pounds of dense-packed, twin-turbocharged, all-wheel-driven car here. That’s about 500 pounds more than the Corvette, even though it’s just an inch longer overall. This is, more accurately, a grand touring machine. Put it on 1-15 heading to Vegas, engage the cruise control at barely subsonic speeds, and no weather condition short of a chainreaction ignition of the atmosphere will keep it from getting there. Unique in this test, the VR-4 has a transverse-mounted engine in its nose, which belies its front-drive ancestry. That engine is a 3.0-liter/320-horse-power DOHC 24-valve V-6, which gets boost from two turbos blowing through individual intercoolers. The horsepower peak comes at a relatively lofty 6000 rpm,…

Turn the key and a ragged symphony of close-coupled combustive pulses erupts from the Tremor’s dual sidepipes, lighting smiles on the faces of track-side onlookers like 1000-watt halogen bulbs. The unique instrument generating the high-voltage grins is a 4.6-liter/380-horsepower DOHC V-8. Capable of spooling up to 7000 rpm, this Ford engine is an experimental, allaluminum prototype with 40 valves. Do the math, tappethead; with a V-8, that’s five valves per cylinder. So what is the Tremor? It looks like the sleekest bright. red-metallic Ford Explorer sport/utility we’ve eyer-seGn. But traditionally, only 170-mph motojxyeles and ultra-exotic automobiles like the Ferrari F355 and F50 have carried more than four valves per cylinder. Somewhat oddly, Ford’s Advanced Powertrain Engineering department has chosen to conduct this deep-breathing exercise in a sport/utility. But isn’t it…

Rear-door pickups are popping up on industry drawing boards faster than high-level scandals in Washington. Three-door models, as offered by GM and Ford, are already passe, as Dodge is plotting to up the ante to four doors on its full-size Ram this fall (see above story), with a four-door Dakota targeted for fall 1999. But all of these use slim rear-access doors on extended-cab models. Chevy has taken the next step, with the ZL2-Plus 4, an S-10 crew-cab duallie with four regular size doors and a rear seating area designed to accommodate adults. Although the ZL2-Plus 4 is only a concept truck—now touring on the auto-show circuit—it raises some interesting questions about how far this rear-door craze will go. Although crew cabs are nothing new to full-size lineups, there are…

After a conspicuous four-year absence from the market due to the demise of the antique Ramcharger, Dodge returns to the ultra-competitive sport/utility arena this fall with an exciting Dakota-based four-door. Targeting an untapped micro-niche of the densely populated SUV spectrum, the midsize Durango combines eight-passenger seating and available big-cube V-8 power in a “compact” package. We use the term “compact” loosely, for while the Durango is positioned against small trucks such as the Chevrolet Blazer and Ford Explorer, it dwarfs most measurements of these top-sellers. At 193.2 inches long, the Durango stretches 4.7 inches past the best-selling Explorer, and it boasts a 4.4-inch wheelbase advantage. When each is equipped with four-wheel drive and the largest offered V-8 engine, the Durango stands 5.8 inches taller and weighs 361 pounds more than…

Imagine a car that could out-slalom a C5 Corvette, accelerate faster than a Ford Taurus SHO, be nearly invisible to police, achieve 33 mpg, and cost about $13,000. Sound like a future-car pipe dream that should be catalogued next to the secret engine that runs on water? Meet the Ford Escort ZX2. Designed to turn the heads of style-conscious, budget-restricted drivers, the curvaceous new Escort faces off amid the crowded two-door subcompact segment against the likes of the Dodge/Plymouth Neon Sport, Honda Civic EX, and Nissan 200SX SE-R in the battle for Gen-X dollars. “Where it carves its own unique niche is in combination of styling, fun to drive, and price. We tried to combine all three characteristics in one package,” Richard Parry-Jones, Ford vice president of the Small and…

Over the 10 years the GTO was produced, Pontiac sold more than a half million. That’s a lot of musclecars. There are few other cars made in the United States still surrounded by as much myth and endearment as the famous “Goat.” GTO clubs abound, not only in America but around the world. I’ve visited Mexico, Canada, and even Australia to speak to gatherings of GTO owners. The GTO Association of America and the Pontiac-Oakland Club International have kept the spirit of the GTO very much alive. There are plenty of people today who own (or aspire to own) a classic Goat who weren’t even alive when the last GTO rolled off the assembly line in 1974. In my position throughout the ’60s as a vice president at Pontiac’s advertising…

NEWS Unless you make your living hustling a full-size cargo van, or spend summers trailering 10,000 pounds of toys behind a mobile house, you probably won’t toe the throttle of Ford’s first V-10. Initially, the new 6.8-liter 265-horsepower SOHC Triton V-10 is available only in Ford’s hardest-working van: the Econoline E-350, a beast of serious burden (4160-pound maximum payload). The ’97 Econoline is lightly restyled but substantially reworked, with new powertrains, revised interiors (with dual airbags on people-haulers), and upgraded four-wheel or rear-wheel anti-lock brakes. The new powerplants are shared with the F-150 pickup; the 4.2-liter/200-horse-power OHV V-6 is standard in E-150s and E-250s, with the Modular 4.6-liter/215-horse and 5.4-liter/235-horse SOHC V-8s and 7.3-liter/210-horse OHV V-8 turbodiesel optional (E-350S start with the 5.4). But the big story is the V-10,…

Looking for Answers? Buff Up With Books and videos That Deliver the Goods Is your car exhibiting troublesome symptoms that you don’t know how to handle? Wary of taking your vehicle to a repair shop for fear of being overcharged? Want to know more about how your car works? Looking for ways to save money on your car’s maintenance and repair? Wondering if you’re doing a fix-it job the right way? These are common concerns among car owners and do-it-yourselfers. Knowing where to get good, reliable information is one of the keys to saving dollars and keeping your peace of mind when it comes to automotive repair and maintenance. To that end, here’s a look at several of the latest car-care books and videos that have come to our attention…

Mercedes-Benz has released the first official photos and tech specs for its new M-Class allactivity vehicle, although the groundbreaking sport/ute isn’t due in U.S. dealer showrooms until September. As expected, a fair amount of the original AAV show car’s flashiness has been toned down for the production model. Its fundamental spirit and character, however, remain intact, and M-B execs strongly affirm that this Alabama-built hybrid SUV will be the class leader in safety, technology, and value. With a sticker “starting in the mid-$30,000s,” a 180.6-inch overall length, and a 111.0-inch wheelbase, the new M-Class is aimed directly at the Ford Explorer and Jeep Grand Cherokee in size and price. Along with its passenger-car ambiance, standard features include dual airbags with supplemental side bags in the front doors, adjustable-height shoulder belts…

Contrary to all appearances, we didn’t put this event together in the high-minded pursuit of automotive evaluation. Our motive for staging this “High-Speed Gamble” was far more basic: We thought it would be fun. Turns out we were right. With Las Vegas Motor Speedway rolling out the red carpet for us at its sparkling new 1500-acre facility, we had a paved playground worthy of the greatest production-line performance field ever to turn a wheel for the greater glory of speed. With prices and cachet covering a huge range, there would be no sensible way to choose a winner. Instead, we set out to explore every corner of these machines’ formidable performance envelopes with an at-the-limit decathlon. Each car’s strengths and weaknesses would stand out in stark relief. And we’d get…

BIGGER—AND BADDER—THAN LIFE Few legends truly live up to their press. The Dodge Viper GTS, on the other hand, exceeds the hyperbole that engulfs it. This, the “civilized” version of the famous Viper RT/10 roadster, has modern conveniences such as actual door handles, roll-up windows, and an everyday driving demeanor just within the bounds of conventionality. But dip deeply into the brimming reservoir of torque under the GTS’s giant hood, and “civility” will be the last thing on your mind. The Dodge people claim a 490-pound-foot wallop out of the 8.0-liter V-10; believe them. In a car that weighs just 68 pounds more than the diminutive Porsche 911 Turbo, this torque translates into immediate, brutal—almost terrifying—throttle response. Mercifully, the GTS has a better composed, far more predictable chassis than that…

THE ATOMIC TEUTONIC SUPERCAR The Porsche 911 Turbo takes some getting used to. Make that a lot of getting used to. Not because there’s anything wrong with the car, but because there’s so much right with it. A driver has to deal with all kinds of new challenges at the Porsche’s wheel, like learning how to make the shift to second gear before the rev-limiter intervenes (it seems nobody gets it right the first time); like the smalldisplacement twin-turbo flat-six that pulls like a huge V-8 through the midrange; like despite the all-wheel drive, the need to be ready for an entertaining amount of oversteer when the throttle position is abruptly changed in a tire-sliding corner; like having the road-going civility of a pleasant passenger car, coupled with the blistering…

Picture it: seven fabulously appealing cars, and each and every day of the program, they all need to be shuttled hither and yon, often with great haste. These giant multi-state, multi-car, multitest flogs are just about the coolest thing imaginable for an enthusiast driver. Besides the requirements of measured testing (this time we came up with 10 different ways to wring the wellmuscled necks of our assembled supercars), there’s the nearly endless process of photography. Given the fact that the “High-Speed Gamble” would appear in the magazine, on our Web site (www.motortrend.com), and on TNN’s “Motor Trend TV” (check your local listings), the shutters were clicking and tape was rolling continuously. That meant onerous tasks like countless 180-mph topspeed passes in the 911 Turbo for the video crew. Any volunteers?…

There’s no denying that the seemingly unstoppable truck-market explosion will storm into the next century like rolling thunder. Ford Expeditions, Chevrolet C/K pickups, and scores of others are moving out of showrooms like free cold beer at the Indy 500, and the tap shows no signs of running dry. The reason for the success of these models? Simple: Today’s active lifestyles exploit the multiple talents of these dynamic vehicles, leaving motive force coursing to all four comers. As previewed in our exclusive inside story (Feb. ’97), Ford ripped up an Explorer and built the Tremor to stir a fuss on the auto-show circuit this year. But unlike the vast majority of these fragile showstand-princesses, the Tremor is a fully engineered runner. Here are the exclusive goods on the coolest sport/utility…

Nissan’s popular compact pickup gets a comprehensive makeover for the upcoming model year. The seventh-generation mini-hauler will continue to be built at the firm’s Smyrna, Tennessee, facility, which has already produced over 1.5 million trucks for American consumers since 1983. While it may not qualify as being a true “clean sheet” exercise, Nissan insiders confirm that the ’98 edition truck is considerably more sophisticated than the current offer ing. The redesigned interior features upgraded appointments, and dual airbags become standard issue. New sheetmetal gives it a tidier overall appearance, and structural upgrades coupled with a variety of chassis tweaks combine to decrease noise and vibration while enhancing ride comfort. The new Nissan pickup will be offered in both standard and King Cab configurations base, XE, and SE trim levels; and…

ROAD TEST For all the glitz and glamour of the high-end luxury sedans, the real activity in the upscale marketplace is among the “mainstream luxury” machines, which combine cushy amenities with modest pricetags. We favor the “mainstream luxury” moniker over the “near luxury” or “entrylevel luxury” terms commonly bandied about, simply because the mainstream luxury terminology describes this group of cars based on what they are, instead of how near they are to something else. But regardless of what you call them, the segment is most accurately described by price—the one language everybody understands. In the $29,000 to $40,000 range, you’ll find the topselling models: appealing entries from a wide range of manufacturers. And for ’97, there are three new/reengineered entries (from Cadillac, Lexus, and Mitsubishi) that beg your close…

One would think that Motor Trend’s most popular long-term vehicle would be something exotic, something fast, or something expensive. Not so. To our amazement, everyone seemed to want or need the four-door Chevrolet Tahoe LT, and for a variety of reasons. When versatility was the name of the game, the Tahoe fit the bill on so many occasions that it would be easier to pry the keys for the beloved long-term Porsche Carrera 4 out of Editor C. Van Tune’s steely grip than it was to find the Tahoe open for a weekend. The Tahoe regularly has been called upon to taxi a large group of staffers Jo lunch, tow go-karts to weekend speed sessions, carry eager skiers to Lake Tahoe and Utah, carry test gear to the track, tow…

Honda Prelude REPORT CARD A B C D F Since its inception in 1979, the Prelude has stood atop Honda’s U.S. offerings as the performance flagship. It has always represented Honda’s dedication to cutting-edge technology. With the introduction of the fifth generation in 1997, Honda has extended this concept to a new Acoustic Feedback Sound System audio package, which is standard on both the base Prelude and the high-tech high-performance Type SH version. Starting up front, located in the center of the instrument panel, is the new AM/FM/CD receiver. Completely conventional in appearance, it is a traditional DIN-size (7x2-inch fascia) unit that, without the Honda badging, easily could be mistaken for an aftermarket unit. The front panel is dominated by an amber-hued display for the tuner and control functions along…

Range Rovers are many things: capable, handsome, elegant, expensive, and British. What they aren’t is quick. A Range Rover 4.0 SE weighs a beefeater-thick 4960 pounds and has only a 4.0-liter 190-horsepower OHV V-8 to push its heft through the air. That truck’s 11.7-second 0-60-mph clocking makes it more than a full second slower than competitors like the Lexus LX 450 and Mitsubishi Montero SR. If any vehicle could benefit from a supercharger, it would be the Range Rover. Rick Rimmer has carved a niche for himself by building supercharger kits for the Range Rover, using the relentlessly popular Eaton Roots-style belt-driven blower common on GM 3800 V-6s, the new Mercedes SLK roadster’s four, and the Jaguar XJR’s inline-six. Rimmer uses a 62-cubic-inch version of this usually quiet blower, which…

NEWS Hitting the Ruf Some tuning firms are so well known and so well respected that the emergence of a new model from them is almost the equivalent of a new model from a large manufacturer. Such is the case with Germany’s Ruf, whose variations of Porsche models consistently have been nothing less than stunning. The latest ripper to emerge from Rufs shops is the CTR 2, based on the 911 Carrera in about the same way Buckingham Palace is based on thatch huts. Ruf starts with a basic Porsche 993 shell, adds an integrated rollcage within the structure, removes the rain gutters, and welds the quarter panels to the roofs skin. On that base Ruf hangs a composite front spoiler, rear bumper, rocker panels, and decklid with an integrated…