Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1999 i MotorTrend

BY C. VAN TUNE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF As I peeked from behind the backstage curtain at the crowd that night, I knew it would be an evening to remember. Amid the 400-plus auto industry executives, race drivers, car-loving Hollywood celebrities, and EMAP-Petersen top brass were nearly 20 people from Motor Trend’s history—past editors, art directors, road-test drivers, and photographers, many of whom hadn’t seen one another since Eisenhower was in office. This was our 50th Anniversary party, and we were going to do it right. The venue was the fabulous Petersen Automotive Museum, located just two blocks from MTs offices in Los Angeles. The first two floors of the museum had been artfully decorated for the event and highlighted by a grand assortment of past Car of the Year winners, from what’s…

FIRST LOOK At long last, Porsche has taken the wraps off its eagerly anticipated new 911 Turbo. The smattering of tech details that accompanied these first factory photos definitively put to rest any concerns about how potent the next generation of this road going legend will be. All-wheel drive like its furiously fast predecessor, the new Turbo is motivated by a 3.6-liter flat-six with absolutely stunning levels of output. The factory says this lightweight water-cooled boxer will generate 414 horsepower at a moderate 6000 rpm and 413 pound-feet of torque at a rather un-Porsche-like 2700 revs. Porsche’s clever all-wheel-drive system not only spreads the awesome tractive forces around, but also helps the overall balance of the this rear-engined terror. Many earlier Turbo models with peaky power output and a high,…

· AM GENERAL HUMMER · FORD EXCURSION LIMITED · GMC YUKON XL · JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LIMITED · LAND ROVER RANGE ROVER 4.6 HSE MERCEDES-BENZ ML430· TOYOTA LAND CRUISER Our premise for this test is simple: Today’s megadollar, leather-swathed, sport/utility vehicles are as prevalent as BMWs in Beverly Hills, but are they any good when the road turns to rocks and scorpions outnumber Starbucks a million to none? Simply put, are luxury SUVs merely tarted-up wimps or the vehicular equivalent of James Bond outfitted in his best tux? To put seven pricey sport/utes to a thorough offroad test, we decided to go to hell, literally. Against several staffers’ better judgment, we hit the trail at the height of summer and returned to the devil’s blast furnace that is Death Valley.…

It was like something from George Lucas’ supercharged imagination. Bounding over landscape as arid and magnificently desolate as Luke Skywalker’s twin-sunned home planet of Tatooine was a toweringly tall, massively long, incredibly wide vehicle. Nothing like it had been seen on this side of the galaxy. Slogging through Death Valley was a 2000 Ford Excursion, the largest sport/utility vehicle on this, or any other, planet. While Ford’s now-smaller Expedition’s family tree sprouts from the F-150 pickup, the Excursion is based on the larger Super Duty F-250. It’s 6 feet 9 inches tall and, at its big screen mirrors, is 8 feet 9 inches wide, 5 inches more than the big-backed Hummer! In traffic, you pick one lane and stay there, lest you overlook something small—like a stretched limo—in the next…

Is this a yuppie SUV? No way. Regardless of its West Coast image, the Range Rover model line of the 50-year-old Land Rover parent company has been producing exceptional off-road vehicles without compromise for more than 10 years; and this year, little has changed. That’s why the only substantive additions are driver/passenger side airbags, new Bosch engine management system (the same as BMW 7 Series sedans), new intake manifold, and dual exhaust pipes. The last three refinements boost the engine’s torque output a much-needed 15 percent over the ’98 models’ to a maximum of 300 pound-feet, good enough to tow up to 7700 pounds. That’s a lot of brie and crackers. The Range Rover certainly works well, both on—and off-road. Granted, the 4.6 HSE is not as athletic on the…

DEPRESSION-ERA MOTORING Sticks and stones are time machines. The razor-sharp stones and iron-stiff flora of Death Valley’s trails transported us back in time, back 70 years to when multiple spare tires and regular flats were an expected part of travel. In the ’30s, it took my grandmother between eight and 10 hours—due largely to unscheduled pit stops to change punctured tires—to make the 100-mile drive from her home in Memphis to her birthplace in Yalobusha County, Mississippi. On this trip, we suffered two flats: One from a stick in a Grand Cherokee sidewall and one in the ML430. Since the Mercedes has only a space-saver spare, a nick in a sidewall—which, thank God, happened within sight of the asphalt—ended its adventure early. You’d be a fool to venture off paved…

Is the all-new Pontiac Bonneville a luxury sport sedan or a sporty luxury sedan? Is there a difference, and is it important? Yes and yes. On one hand, Pontiac’s newly sleek front-drive flagship can finally hold its head up in the executive garage or at the country club’s snooty valet parking squad. On the other hand, despite comfort and convenience features and a luxurious measure of interior and trunk space, the Bonneville remains an entertainingly responsive large sedan. Our testing showed tirespooling torque, powerful four-wheel discs, and firmish spring, damping, and bushing rates that make it safe to step down and blur the scenery. The Bonneville trim recipe offers hot, hotter, and hottest with SE, SLE, or SSEi, respectively. To answer the luxury versus sporty question, we selected the spicy…

In this corner, the reigning champ, arguably the best sport / luxury sedan in the world, the BMW 5 Series, winner of Motor Trend’s ’97 Import Car of the Year award. In this corner, the Asian marauder, named Motor Trend’s ’98 Import Car of the Year, the impressive Lexus GS Series. And in this comer, the new, untested challenger from America, the import-fighter from Detroit, the Lincoln LS. May the best car win. The term “import fighter” has been bandied about Detroit a lot over the last decade. The often, however, the label has been applied to models that attempt to attract import buyers in superficial ways, but under the skin are pretty much a rehash of the same old thing. Cadillac and Ford tried to capture that elusive European…

Long story short: We went to Germany to drive the prototype VW Beetle Rsi powered by a one-off turbocharged 2.8-liter V-6 engine producing 220 horsepower. It didn’t happen. We did, however, get a ride in the car with Volkswagen AG Chairman Ferdinand Piёch at the wheel on VW’s Ehra Lessien Proving Grounds near Wolfsburg. Not known for being a wimp behind the wheel, Dr. Piech’s wild ride more than demonstrated the car’s excellent acceleration, handling, and braking abilities. Piёch was guarded in his conversations about the handbuilt silver Beetle shown here. He wouldn’t confirm whether the Rsi name will be on the production car, but did say that a V-6 Beetle “will come eventually to the U.S.,” and added that it will be “priced halfway between the 911 ($70,000) and…

It really all boils down to one question: Will my vehicle start and run normally after midnight, Dec. 31, 1999. That, of course, is the magic hour when the world finally will discover just how much effect the ‘Y2K bug” has on our lives. While some may be hunkered down in theft emergency bunkers waiting for civilization as we know it to come to an end, many more will likely be singing “Auld Lang Syne” at a carefree millennium party as the 1900s pass into history. Aft they want to be assured of is when they get into theft cars to leave the party that night, will they be able to get home? For those who might’ve been living in a mineshaft or the MIR space station during the past…

In marked contrast to the decidedly real-world orientation of most of today’s concept vehicles, the advanced styling teams at all the major U.S. automakers had a pretty free hand during the “spaced-out” ’50s. Based on the exercises pictured here, the folks at Ford took full advantage of that opportunity. Launched at the Chicago Auto Show in March 1954, the radical FX-Atmos (for Future Experimental) was a purely speculative bit of whimsy that sported lever-style steering for its centrally situated driver and some beautifully crafted chrome “pedestrian spears” on its extended front fenders. One year later, the Lincoln Futura made its debut in New York City. Powered by an experimental 330-horse V-8, it was driven to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel by none other than Benson Ford, then head of the Lincoln-Mercury division.…

XTERRA XCITEMENT I’ve always relied on Motor Trend for accurate information on purchasing vehicles, but your recent sport/ute shootout comparison on the Nissan Xterra and Jeep Cherokee (August) was, in my opinion, bogus! The Nissan beats the Jeep? Have you guys gone mad? A Cherokee from the most award-winning family of off-road vehicles ever was beaten by a newbie that got spanked in every category except panic braking and ride quality? I realize you guys are probably enamored by the new kid, and that the Jeep is a little outdated, but the time-proven Jeep deserves its due. I still believe Motor Trend is the best at what it does, but I’ll be the one who stomps the Xterra at the next stoplight, the one who smirks as he passes by…

Although our first encounter was admittedly brief, even a short stint in the revamped 2000 Nissan Altima was sufficient to make a favorable impression. Modest styling tweaks to the front and rear fascias give the compact sedan a bit more visual character, while recontoured bucket seats plus an array of noise-abatement upgrades and side-impact airbags make the passenger compartment a more inviting place to spend time. But it’s what you don’t see that makes the biggest difference. Underhood, Nissan has given the Altima’s 2.4-liter DOHC four a slight bump in output—pony count rises from 150 to 155 and torque from 154 to 156 poundfeet—and shuffled the gear ratios in both the five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmissions. The net result is to slice a claimed 0.8 second off of the…

At the outset of our Death Valley trip, we felt the 2000 GMC Yukon XL wouldn’t be the most able 4x4 of the group. In fact, many predicted it would be the first one stuck while trying to navigate the boulder-strewn “roads.” However, by the end of the three-day desert sweatiest, the Yukon surprised us all. It managed every trail the 2000 Ford Excursion did, rubbing the top of some large rocks with its optional running boards, but otherwise emerging unscathed. For 2000, GMC has dropped the Suburban name it shared with Chevrolet and adopted the Yukon XL title for its largest sport/ute. Our test vehicle was a four-wheel-drive half-ton fitted with the new coil-spring rear suspension and AutoRide real-time damping system. It was powered by the smooth and willing…

The Mercedes-Benz M-Class is perhaps one of the least conventional and most tested sport/utilities ever to appear in Motor Trend. Least conventional because, among other things, it uses an unusual electronic four-wheel-drive system and a sport sedan-sourced V-8 engine, and is often criticized for its minivan-like looks. It’s the most tested because, since we named it Motor Trends ’98 Truck of the Year, we’ve put it up against everything from a Volvo V70 XC to a Jeep Grand Cherokee and all the others between. Each time, the V-6 ML320 or V-8 ML430 never failed to impress, earned the respect of some skeptical editors and, more often than not, turned in a winning performance. To say we like the M-Class is to understate our position, in our eyes, there was only…

While flogging seven of today’s top luxury’ SUVs in our annual Death Valley torture test, we had ample opportunity to judge the practical ground clearance exhibited by each, as we were frequently ensnared by brush, ruts, wash-outs, craggy rocks, and downright ugly terrain. Forget about breaking out a tape measure for “official” ground-clearance specs, we ran the SUVs in the field to see how they really performed over rough surfaces, often with me hanging out a window or crawling under a bumper to watch for what would scrape. Here’s how the seven compared. AM General Hummer: With the best ground clearance of all SUVs in the group, the Hummer could clear a small burro, while effortlessly fording streams laden with boulders, logs, and old prospectors. However, side-to-side clearance was another…

Although the Outback wagon remains the big gun in Subaru’s Legacy lineup, the family tree also includes a GT variant that may finally come into its own for 2000. Available as a sedan or wagon, it shares the same powertrain and all-wheel-drive system as the base L model, but a sport-tuned suspension and limited-slip differential plus bigger wheels and tires endow the GT with sufficient performance gains to merit closer inspection by mid-level enthusiasts. Inside, this sporting sedan boasts a well-finished, well-appointed, and largely well-configured passenger compartment that can carry four adults with ease and take five on shorter stints. To the Legacy’s already generous list of upline standards, the GT adds a power driver’s seat, moonroof, and keyless remote, while the Limited version we tested piles on leather upholstery,…

For the second year in a row, the rumble of vintage car racing shook Southern California at the annual Motor Trend Thunder Historic Road Races. Presented by New Dodge and sanctioned by the Vintage Automobile Racing Association (VARA), over 500 racers—ranging from vintage Ferraris, Jaguars, BMWs, and Shellby Cobras to Formula Fords, Indy Cars, historic NASCAR and Trans-Am stcokers—showed up at the sprawling Marine Corps Air Station in Tustin, California, to do battle on a 1.7-mile road course converted from an airfield. A record crowed of over 53,000 spectators showed up over the four-day event in mid-june and were treated to the kinds of roaring bumper-to-bumper, door-to-door bouts that make vintage racing such an exciting sport. In addition to the historic events, the thuder was briefly silenced by an eerily…

This one qualifies as a FLUV; Fast Luxury Utility Vehicle. People love to upgrade the Navigator, and Beverly Hills Motoring has been doing a first rate job since the big sport/utility first hit the market. Things got better—and faster—when Lincoln introduced the 300-horse DOHC Intech V-8 for ’99. It proved the ideal platform for BHM’s Navigator Special Edition, a well-conceived, nicely assembled topline sport/utility. BHM hit all the targets with the SE: a substantial performance increase both in terms of acceleration and handling, a handsome exterior treatment, plus lots of luxury and entertainment inside. The 5.4-liter V-8 gets a Kenne Bell twin-screw supercharger, revised engine management hardware, and a stainless-steel dual exhaust system. The result is more than 400 horsepower and musclecar-impressive torque, even at low rpm (just check out…

Test pilots and race drivers have few higher accolades than to be elected to conduct the initial test of a brand-new design. So, I was honored to be the first to turn a serious lap in one of 20 special GM Motorsport-issued Speedvision World Challenge GT C5-Rs, even if it was a Multi-Car Accident of Fate—not the Grand Plan—that bestowed the distinction. In addition to the expected uneasiness, there was envy in the eyes of the owner and builders when it was acknowledged that circumstances dictated that I be the first to really give the gas to this new $100,000 baby. While buckling in, I treated the moment with the respect and appreciation it deserved, which I assessed as slightly more than a Papal installation, though being so reverent wouldn’t…

TO DEBUT IN 2002.We’re clearly entering a golden age of multipurpose vehicles, and the bounty is about to get even richer. This handsome and highly utile offering will likely roll into Chrysler dealerships for the ’02 model year. Developed under the project name CS, it will most probably wear the name “Citadel” when it comes to market. This past January, DaimlerChrysler showed a similar, but slightly sleeker-looking one-off of the same name at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Extremely well-received by those in attendance, it was powered by an experimental propulsion system that featured a 3.5-liter V-6 driving the rear wheels and a 70-horsepower electric motor that powered the front wheels. The handsome concept also featured an electrically powered gate and sliding doors and was described by…

Here’s an early look at Volkswagen’s most revolutionary future product yet. This long-rumored competitor to the likes of the M-B S-Class and BMW 7 Series successfully continues its development process and should be on the road within three years. As this computer-enhanced photo shows, the new fast-lane four-door blends a number of current corporate styling cues with a handful of unique touches to set it apart from other garden-variety VWs. Its more aggressive, higher-tone visual presence notwithstanding, the biggest differentiator for this potentially market-shaking newcomer is found underhood, where VW’s unique W-12 engine resides. Configured in three banks of four cylinders, the radical 5.6-1 iter all-alloy powerhouse will crank out in excess of 420 horses and should make this high-rolling four-door a performance match for any other luxury liner on…

I’m an actor, so I’m a sucker for things like this: The Hummer has to be one of the most impressive and unique-looking vehicies in the world. Unfortunately, what you see is not what you get. I’ll happily concede that, militarily, the vehicle is probably perfectly suited to its various search-and-destroy tasks. But in the real (read civilian) world, it’s a pain in the butt and doesn’t do anything special enough to make up for it. It’s noisy and awkward on the highway, pretty much tops out at 75 mph, and requires real care when lane changing. City driving is stressful because of its enormous width (just barely contained within a lane), parking in close quarters (that’s everywhere) is such a challenge you’ll soon just start heading for the outer…

Go to any shopping center this weekend and count the sport/utilities in the lot. Know how many ever go any further “off-road” than driving over a curb? Less than five percent. Despite the manly brush guards and Kilimanjaro-conquering image, most SUVs slog through life as Mommy’s “mall-terrain” vehicle. So, even though plenty of new Jeep Grand Cherokees never tackle anything more challenging than a speed bump, to fully appreciate this excellent SUV, you have to really use it like a serious off-roader. Go up scary hills, snick through narrow hollers, plod through soft riverbeds, even experience a flash flood or two. Then as a reward, go play in the mud. We did all that and more on this torture-test trip, and were continually impressed with the overall abilities of this…

When you buy a Land Cruiser, you sign into a colorful heritage that extends back 49 years to when Toyota first debuted its rugged, go-anywhere answer to the American Jeep and British Land Rover. Like those legendary 4x4s, early Land Cruisers were the trailblazers of the world’s wilds, places like Borneo, the Kalahari, or anywhere primitive roads—or lack thereof—stopped conventional vehicles dead in their tracks. Fast forward to the eve of the new millennium, and the “Cruiser” is still going strong, although, other than the nameplate, today’s version bears little resemblance to that small, boxy, utilitarian, tinbox-on-four-driven-wheels predecessor. The 2000 Land Cruiser stands as one of the truly elite sport/utilities in a world that now expects much more from an SUV than simply taming a jungle. In addition to its…

Porsche’s Boxster has always been a favorite, one of the best of the new-era roadsters introduced a few years ago. But that enthusiasm has always had a wish list attached: “I wish it had more torque.” “I wish it had a six-speed.” “I wish the interior weren’t so plasticky.” After putting the 2000 Boxster S through its paces, we can tell you that now, it does, it does, and it isn’t. And more. It’s as if Porsche had our personal Boxster Wish List in hand when brewing up the hardware that makes the standard Boxster into an S model, of which about 33 percent of overall production will be. At the heart of the upgrade is a displacement increase from 2.5 to 3.2 liters—a significant bump from a company that…

“Heritage” design is one of today’s In Things: car companies rummage through their past for hits and then patterning new models after them. The hope is that the glow of halcyon days-gone—by will translate to enhanced brand image and increased sales. Not a bad thing; it worked for VW’s New Beetle. Chevrolet’s Monte Carlo was due for an update and got a dose of its own heritage in the process. Now sharing platforms with Pontiac’s Grand Prix and the also-new Impala sedan, among others, the Monte comes in two flavors: standard LS and sportier SS. The latter packs GM’s venerable 3.8-liter V-6, putting 200 horsepower to the front wheels via a four-speed automatic transaxle. Chevy’s added a few twists to the chassis to make sure it doesn’t twist: engine bay…

PERFORMANCE TEST When Lexus said it was considering the production of a sporty version of the already sporty GS 400, we had a simple response: What took you so long? What sits before you (if you can call sliding sideways, smoking the rear tires, sitting) is the prototype for what many of us have begged for—the Lexus GS 400 L Sport. The product of Lexus Special Markets Manager Marc Giammona, the L Sport may be Lexus’ answer to the popular and very successful BMW M cars. The purpose of the car, Giammona says, is to “take exhilaration to the next level. The production GS 400 has been hailed for its power and is perfect for many sport luxury buyers. The GS L Sport is designed to reward the driver who…

In the market for a new truck or full-size van? Then you’ve come to the right place. The following comprehensive listing spotlights all the players who populate today’s ever-expanding truck and van scene. It’s a realm where tough-working Ford Super Dutys and Chevrolet C/Ks mingle with fun-loving Nissan Frontiers and stylish GMC Savanas. As you’ll quickly discover, the once-gaping chasm that separated rough-and-ready toughness from people-pampering luxury continues to narrow with a vengeance as we approach the new millennium. A word of explanation about the accompanying tabular data. Along with key powertrain and safety elements, we’ve included estimated prices, curb weights, brake types, and fuel-economy numbers for the vehicles. All are derived from the best manufacturer-supplied information available at press time. The pricing data covers the entry-level model to the…

Sometimes, a name just sticks. Though Mitsubishi calls its radical sport/utility/crossover vehicle the SSU, it picked up the nickname “Mad Max” early on in the design phase. While SSU is certainly a harmless enough acronym, it’s just not as cool, nor perhaps as descriptive, as Mad Max. You’ve got to admit it: the mean Mitsu certainly looks the part. Max’s theme, like so many TV shows and ad campaigns these days, is “extreme sports”—the idea being a wild rig to haul five people and all their stuff to any outdoor event, anywhere, through any terrain. That means minivan space with sport/utility capability. Mitsubishi’s Southern California-based Mitsubishi Motors R&D design studio team, led by Michael Desmond, insisted on some serious performance, and also that the SSU be a driveable vehicle, not…

’99 BMW 328i “Behold, my wheels!” announces the opulently equipped 328i that has recently joined our stable. Indeed, the attractively styled sedan wears 17x8.0-inch alloys that reveal indulgence in the $1350 sport package. The option group brings sport suspension, seats, and steering wheel to the rolling Oktoberfest. Standard equipment includes all manner of power features, anti-lock disc brakes, front side and head airbags, anti-theft system, keyless remote, memory functions, automatic climate control, etc. Even still, the options fist was too much temptation for the MT staff. Silver metallic paint ($475), black leather upholstery ($1450), rear side airbags ($385), fold-down rear seats ($575), and power moon-roof ($1050) got us in deep without even touching the fun stuff. In addition to the recommended sport package, we upgraded to the Harmon-Kardon audio system…