Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2000 i MotorTrend

Dodge Ram Different 800-4-A-DODGE or www.4adodge.com Dodge Ram is definitely Pf an in-your-face kind of truck. It offers the most powerful V-10 engine you can get in a full-size pickup. It was the first to make available a four-door Quad Cab™ It has the roomiest two-door Club on the market. And according to those who make it their business to know, it just also happens to? be the longest-lasting full-size pickup on the road! You got a problem with that? Based on percentage of 7/89-7/98 new pickup registrations still registered on 7/1/98. Data Source: The Polk Company. Mopar after-market accessories shown optional.…

Bigger than ever and packed with a bounty of new production cars, as well as futuristic concept vehicles, Frankfurt once again laid claim to its position as the ultimate worldwide automotive exhibition. We have brought you extended coverage of several key players in the last few issues—notably the BMW X5, Z8, and Porsche Boxster S. falow, here’s a look at the other prime players that vied for their spot in the limelight during motordom’s ultimate supershow. —Bob Nagy BUGATTI 18/3 CHIRON Volkswagen rolled out a host of high-profile hardware from the ranks of its various family members at Frankfurt. One of the most stunning concept exercises was the Bugatti 18/3 "Chiron.” Styled by Giugiaro’s ItalDesign organization and named in honor of famed Bugatti F1 driver Louis Chiron, this low-slung supercoupe…

From the day w.e decided the 2000 Car of the Year competition would reflect today’s changing automotive market and combine domestic and import cars into one international program, we knew it would be intense. Yes, the depth of the entry list would be awesome enough, But tackling 30 vehicles—ranging from the $13,000 Ford Focus to the $80,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Class and from the pure-sport Honda S2000 to the utilitarian Mazda MPV—gives the word “challenging” a whole new dimension. First, there are the daunting logistics. Just getting all the cars to the test track, putting them through their paces, and obtaining the best numbers from each vehicle—in acceleration, emergency braking, at-the-limit handling, and ultimate cornering grip—was perhaps the largest single endeavor our test crew has ever faced. Of course, with such a…

In America, the word “truck” evokes images of freedom, strength, and adventure. Many fondly call their sports/utility vehicles “trucks.” But when a German hears “truck” (“last-wagen”) he thinks of a slow, Spartan beast of burden. So it’s no surprise that BMW emphatically asserts its new X5 4.4i is nicht lastwagen; not a track. But it’s a shock that the company says this new vehicle is also nicht sport/utility vehicle, calling it instead a “sport activity vehicle.” BMW has merit in its contention. The X5 4.4i is decidedly carlike in design and demeanor, and it lacks a key attribute that distinguishes SUVs from tall station wagons: the ability to go truly off road, not just “off pavement.” Whatever class you put it in, after our rigorous and varied introductory test drive,…

While we’d wager that 99.9 percent of our readership can’t thread a cross-ice pass through traffic like Wayne Gretzky, we’re not so sure about the Great One’s credentials for winter driving (more so, say, than any other person growing up in the snowbelt). Still. Goodyear has teamed up with Gretzky to promote the performance advantages of winter tires in a new ad campaign. As part of this, Gretzky and J.O. Hunt, chief engineer for Goodyear tires, offer these 10 tips for winter driving. 1. Slow down. Wet, snowy, or icy roads offer less traction and make it harder to stop and turn. 2. Consider buying a set of winter tires. It’s best to replace all four tires with winter tires because differences in tire size and wear can negatively affect…

Four-door, personal-use pickups are one of this year’s Big Things. And it makes sense: Some people need the cabin space of a sport/utility, with the cargo box of a pickup. While three-quarter and one-ton crew cabs (those with four full front-hinged doors) have been around for decades, this new breed of four-door truck is aimed squarely at the family and recreational user. Dodge’s new Dakota Quad Cab now delivers the concept in a midsize package. The formula was simple: Razor about 13 inches out of the bed, and splice it into the passenger compartment. Wheelbase and overall length (215.1 and 131.0 inches, respectively) remain the same as those of a Dakota Club Cab with a standard 6.5-foot bed. So have no fear that this rig is too long to comfortably…

Most manufacturer’s show cars and concept vehicles are just that: “concepts” that are just for “show.” Many are barely driveable—that’s assuming they even have an engine at all. So what did we do with Toyota’s handbuilt, absolutely one-of-a-kind “Retro Cruiser” show toy? Climb bills, pound rocks, toss it through soft sand, attack ravines, then climb some more hills. What else? The Retro Cruiser was one of those things that “just happened.” It was bom of a casual conversation about a year ago between three of Toyota Motor Sales’ senior managers—Yale Gieszl, Bryan Bertgsteinsson, and Jim Press—and many-time rally and off-road race champion Rod Millen. Millen’s been racing Toyotas for years and has also built an impressive business doing vehicle development work. It was these same four guys who dreamed up…

With the ’98 GS Series, Lexus attacked BMW’s.5 Series head-on, producing sport sedans with both rocking performance and pampering luxury. It was especially significant that we honored the GS Series with the ’98 Import Car of the Year Award, since the 5 Series was the ’97 ICOY winner. What could be better than having a Lexus GS Series in our long-term test fleet? How about having two—a GS 300, with its 225-horsepower DOHC inline six, and the beyond-potent, 300-horse DOHC V-8 GS 400. Our GS 300 started with a base price of $36,800. We added power moon-roof ($1020), booming Nakamichi 260-watt audio sys-tern ($1200), six-disc in-dash CD changer ($1050), and leather seat trim ($1,710), which pushed the bottom line to $42,436, just shy of the $44,800 base price of our…

So here’s the deal: It’s Friday night and there’s a glimmering new Ferrari 360 Modena F1 that’s just been delivered to MT’S high-security subterranean garage. Hmmm. What to do, what to do? Say, how’s about a little high-speed romp? Couldn’t hurt, right? A 120-mile freeway blitz to Palm Springs, then up the infamous “Palms to Pines” mountain highway that switchbacks its way from desert floor to 7000 feet and back down again on the other side. Whew. Catch your breath, gas up, then hang a U-tum and do it all over again. With its fresh blacktop, tasty straights, delicious curves, breathtaking mountain vistas, and heartstopping drop-offs, this rural road is the perfect workout for the latest in 400-horsepower millionaire toys. Okay, so the Modena really only has 395 horsepower. Get…

WHAT’S NEXT IN SPORTS CARS, PICKUPS & SUVS? These truly are the greatest automotive times ever. Technology and modern production methods have elevated the level of the art to a point where safety, reliability, and at least relative fuel economy are pretty much a given. From here on, manufacturers can concentrate on developing more interesting—and more niche-specific—variations on basic vehicle themes, as well as to boldly stride into several as-yet uncharted design territories. On the following pages, we’ve gathered a potpourri of possibilities from the car, truck, SUV, and neo-hybrid realm. Some of these players are virtually certain to materialize in forms very much like these you see here. Others are justz advanced concepts—at least for the moment. Buick’s experimental and totally producible LaCrosse may provide an opportunity for the…

If you think of a wagon only as a “station wagón” with fake wood on the side and ocean-liner handling prowess—the ho-hum precursor to sport/utilities and minivans—you’ve got a lot to learn. Even though American manufacturers have all butabandoned wagons in lieu of the more popular sport/utes, Europeans buy thousands of them each year. Travel the streets of Europe, and you won’t see many sport/utes or minivans, Instead, you’ll come face to face with sport wagons. Fun-lovinggear-hauling, and great-handling machines that make a of sense. To test the latest players, we took five of Europe’s fine: sport wagons on a trip to some of California's tallest and most beautiful mountains. The machines: Audi A4 Avant, BMW 54 Sport, Mercedes-Benz E320, Saab 95, and Volvo V40. The road tight mountain switchbacks,…

altitude sickness in the high sierras Motor Trend road trips are typically marathon drives with little more than passing glances directed at roadside curiosities. But for this Euro wagon adventure, our most junior staff member, young, energetic (read: lives to hike) photographer John Kiewicz had mapped out a daring three-day itinerary that took us along the scenic eastern slope of California’s Sierra Nevada Mountain range. The new guy had preplanned a number of stops at points of interest, which all sounded like a fine idea, until we rolled up to the first one. A trout hatchery. Kiwi (easier to pronounce than Kiewicz) was obviously too green to know that Editor Tune is firmly opposed to fish of any type. Perhaps, it was suggested, we could chum with the contents of…

In addition to a fleet of late-model stock cars, the Evernham/Hawley Race Training Center also teaches in pickups from the Mechanix Wear Speed Truck Challenge. (The one I drove was the regular series ride of Clint Mears, son of four-time Indy 500 winner Rick.) The trucks have fiberglass replica bodies (Chevy S-10, Ford Ranger, Dodge Dakota, or Toyota Tacoma) on tubeframe chassis. Regardless of marque, power for all trucks comes from an over-the-parts-counter version of Chevy’s 350-cubic-inch Vortec V-8 equipped with a single, two-barre! carburetor. With a 9.1:1 compression ratio and a 6200-rpm redline, a single engine should last all season without as much as a freshening. Transmission is a race-prepped version of a two-speed GM Powerglide. With 330 horsepower pushing just 2600 pounds, the trucks had more than plenty…

Over the past nine years, I’ve run performance tests on a horde of modified cars. Many underperform their unchanged siblings in at least one test, and you’d be surprised how many can’t match a production car in any exercise. Many tuner cars that outperform their unmodified versions require Juan Montoya-level driving skill, have a cob-rough ride, puke fluids, shed parts, or catch fire. So it was with pessimism born of experience that I approached the slammed So-Cal Speed Shop Chrysler 300M with its extreme gunmetal gray over eye-popping tangerine paint. Even if these hot-rodders had made the 300M quicker in a straight line, thought I, it was sure to bound off its bumpstops and pound my spine in the handling tests. I’m pleased to admit I was wrong. The So-Cal…

Its a long way down the trail since ’95 when Mercedes-Benz committed $1.1 billion to build the M-Class, which rocked the traditional SUV segment. The unusual ‘ute concept: Fuse off-road and big-load capability with the refinement and security of a Mercedes passenger car. As conceived, the ML320 really does offer class-leading attributes using technologies like anti-lock four-wheel-discs, four-wheel-independent suspension, five-speed automatic transmission, front- and side-impact airbags, all-wheel drive, and SOHC 3.2-liter aluminum V-6. Moreover, Mercedes iced this rocky-road cake with a dazzlingly reasonable base price of $33,950. MT staffers were so amazed in the late fall of 1997, they named the ML the ’98 Truck of the Year. A few months later, MT took delivery of a silver ML320 for an up-close, longterm look. Instantly, it became an office favorite…

BUICK'S OUTRAGEOUS CIELO I was amazed when I saw the Buick Cielo drop-top—or should I say slide-top. This is definitely the sportiest Buick I’ve ever seen, and, if put into production, it could be what Buick needs to get back into the young buyers’ market. Nathan Love Charlottesville, Va. Regarding the Buick Cielo, it’s overall a really nice design. I’m not a GM man, but this car impresses me very much. It has nice lines that remind me of Buick’s designs of the past, yet in a distinctive modem fashion. Best of all, it doesn’t fall into the trap of looking like all the other stuff out there. I like cars that are instantly recognizable from the others on the road. I don’t care much for the kinky-looking windshield wraparound…

The first Car of the Year competition of the new century also proved to be the most combative ever. And for a good reason. For the first time in 25 years, the Car of the Year program combines both peptic and import cars in one supei-sbe duke-it-out. may-the-best-car-win (wherever, it’s built) confrontation. And the 2000 contest has lived upto its full promise of long days of debating and thousands of miles of test driving by our editorial staff. Coming together for this mega-test is an unpiecedented mix of vehicles from the U.S., Japan. Germany, England, Sweden, and Korea. We invited every model; that's either all-new air-significantly changed for the 2000 model year and on sale by Jan. 1.2000. There áre upper-echelon luxury cars sporting the: most cutting-edge technology on the…

With 30 contestants>we knew COY for Y2K wasn’t going to be easy. Intact, it proved the most hotly contested Car of the Year process in Motor Trend's 50-year history. Nearly every manufacturer has a new model offering for 2000; several are launching two or even three. While we laud the Lincoln LS for emerging victorious, there were many other notable competitors. We’d like to recognize two of the most significant here. Though they represent nearly polar opposites in terms of their pricing and place in the market, each displays new levels of performance in value, significance, technical innovation, feature content, safety, and quality. Let your pocketbook be your guide as to which best fits your needs. FORD FOCUS As the car business becomes more and more global, “world cars” will…

Could there possibly be a more inappropriate material for a car body than wood? It rots, it splinters, and, depending on the climate, it needs to be constantly maintained and frequently revarnished. Wood doesn't offer nearly Iln' manufacturing-convenienceof steel, and requires lots of cost-ineffective, skilled labor to install. Who wants a car that could be attacked by termites at any moment? But is there anything more beautiful? Anything that radiates more warmth or earthy elegance? What could make a car more charming than coachwork hand-hewn of rich mahogany, honey blonde bird’s-eye maple, or well-seasoned oak? Do you get it now? Apparently, so do many others, as the woody has become the latest darling among serious car collectors and hot rodders alike. The earliest pre-World War I woodies were truck-based rigs…

Well keep this simple. If you live in the snowbelt and you’re running all-season tires year ’round, you’re probably sacrificing a noticeable level of vehicle control and performance when driving on snow and ice. Yes, it’s become fashionable in the U.S. to rely on all-season tires in, well, all seasons. When winter rears its ugly head, though, even the best all-season designs won’t be able to match a quality winter tire on snow and ice. The reason is also simple. All-season tires are a compromise: You don’t expect them to deliver the same cornering potential on pavement as dedicated performance tires, and likewise, they can’t match the slippery - road traction of today’s winter tires. “The difference between an all-season tire and a snow tire,” notes Matt Edmonds, director of…

Here's a dilemma every classic car owner faces regarding tires: Keep the original narrow-tread bias-belted rubber and suffer with poor ride and handling, or modernize by installing radials and lose the authentic appearance. As owner of five restored American cars from the '60s, I’ve wrestled plenty with this problem. Fortunately, I just discovered Coker Tires’ new line of retro-look radials, offered in either wide-whitewall or redline styles. Available in sizes from P195/75R14 to P235/75R15, these tires are brand new (not recaps) and are made in America. Featuring steel and polyester construction and an all-season tread design, they’re the perfect solution for collectors who like to regularly drive their classic machines. Coker has been outfitting vintage cars with authentic-style tires since 1958, which made them the obvious source of new rubber…

When the Los Angeles Auto Show promoters decided to build a car to demonstrate the viability of aftermarket parts fitted to newer cars, they had no idea how well it would turn out. The task of building the car fell to Scott Webb, aftermarket and motorsport manager for the Los Angeles Auto Show. His starting point was a ’97 Honda Prelude powered by a DOHC V-TEC four-cylinder. His motivation was simple: Increase awareness of aftermarket parts manufacturers who display each year at the show. Webb’s main objective was to make the car handle and look better than stock. To this end, he added an Intrax ARS suspension system composed of shorter (1% inches lower than stock), higher-rate springs, and adjustable Proflex shocks. To stiffen the front end, Webb installed a…

Rebirth of an American automotive icon isn’t always the cause for celebration, but the exceptional fifth-generation Chevrolet Corvette garnered our highest accolades, earning Motor Trend’s ’98 Car of the Year award. Long in development, the new Corvette set a new sports car benchmark for performance, technology, comfort, ergonomics, storage capacity, and value. We had to order a long-termer. No, make that two. Initially offered as a coupe and convertible, we ordered one of each Corvette variant. The Torch Red coupe was our all-business. speed machine with few options added to the well-equipped $37,495 base model. Ordering a six-speed manual transmission ($815), Z51 performance handling package ($350), floormats ($25), cargo cover and net ($50), foglamps ($69), CD player ($100), obligatory California emissions ($170), and destination fee ($565), we still squeaked in…

Base price ………….1 $22,200 Price as tested …….,., $27,721 Body style …….. 3-door, 5-pass. Engine size/type …… 5, 3-liter V-8 Transmission …4-speed automatic Driveline config. ….. Front engine, rear drive O-60mphysee ………….8.2 EPA mpg, city/hwy. ……… 15/20 Total mileage ………,.. 14,558 Test mileage 2 ……..13,960 Fuel consumed, gal ……..788.5 Fuelcost ……..$888.64 Average mpg ……17.7 Additional oil/cost…..1 qt/$1.99 Routine maint…..$176.57 Additional maint …. None Previous maint. …….. $25.58 Problem areas ………. Bedliner Total operating cost. $1092.78 Operating cost/mile …….. 7.8¢ : ‘99 CHEVROLET SILVERADO LS There’s a changing of the guard this month, as we usher in the first 2000 of the Year winner, review the class of 99 at three-quarters through their 12-month evaluation, and say good-bye to the 98 champions. The ’99 Truck of the Year Silverado continues to…