Indholdsfortegnelse for April 2008 i MotorTrend

■ American Muscle Is Back When you’re done reading Matt Stone’s first take and gazing at photos of the Dodge Challenger, come over to motortrend.com for dozens more shots of the Dodge’s new tire-smoking monster in all its glory: motortrend.com/multimedia/photos/gallery. And in case you missed it, the Challenger was the star of the recent Chicago auto show, and we were there to snap it on the turntable. Check out more from Chicago if you missed it, along with complete coverage of the first big international show of the year, Geneva, March 4-5, here: motortrend.com/auto_shows MOTOR TREND…

THINK FORD Motor Company isn’t serious about getting the V-8s out of its mainstream cars and trucks? After making big news of how it can replace V-8s with V-6s and V-6s with fours by adding twin turbocharging and direct gas-injection, Ford announced it would offer an EcoBoost V-6 in its moneymaking F-150 by 2010. Now comes a bigger revelation: There’s a contingent at the Blue Oval pushing to install the Lincoln MKS’s EcoBoost V-6 under the Mustang’s hood. The argument is that the lighter, 3.7-liter twin-turbo, gas direct-injection V-6 will produce more horsepower than the base V-8 and weighs less. While better handling, quicker acceleration, and lower fuel consumption are upsides for the turbo, Ford is concerned the market won’t accept the engine. On the other hand, Ford will have…

AT THE PEAK of the sport/utility boom, Ford sold nearly a half million Explorers a year and ran three factory shifts to build them. Today, the Explorer struggles to sell a third of that number. With Ford going whole hog into crossovers, you’d think it was time to put the ol’ Explorer out of its misery. You might be wrong: The Explorer America, a product of North American Strategic Design chief Freeman Thomas’s studio, signals a next-gen Explorer for the early 21st century. While this concept is still a three-row SUV with off-road pretensions, it “demonstrates” a fuel-efficient powertrain lineup consisting of a 2.0-liter, 275-horsepower EcoBoost four-cylinder (EcoBoost is Ford’s soon-to-be-ubiquitous direct gas-injection turbocharged engine lineup) and a 340-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6. Ford boasts a 150-pound weight savings from switching to…

TOM CRUISE singing “I’ve Gotta Be Me” atop a rainbow-colored parade float. Maybe that would attract more attention in the streets of L.A. than did our Ignition Orange G8 GT test car. Probably not, though. A Pontiac this hot is something most Angelenos clearly weren’t prepared to see. Wide smiles and pumping upraised thumbs, animated gas-station conversations, love letters on the windshield, other motorists orbiting like subatomic electrons—for its week-long stay the G8 existed at the epicenter of a vortex of adulation and when’s-it-on-sale interest. For good reason, too. This bold new four-door—bred and built by GM’s Holden division in Australia—gets the big stuff right: sleek, aggressive proportions; front air dam with foglights standard; racy hood scoops (only for looks, alas); smart engine choices; and, most important, a rear-drive layout.…

TO DISCERN exactly what our tuners are touting, we thought it best to compare their modified works with the stock counterpart. Thus, a phone call to Ford netted us a $33,280 GT Premium, which came fitted with the familiar three-valve 300-horse V-8, Tremec five-speed manual, and 3.55:1 axle ratio. Lightest of the group by 34 pounds, the GT was also the slowest, but not by much—0 to 60 in 5.3 seconds and the quarter mile in 13.9 at 101.7 mph—trailing the quickest of the tuners by only 0.2 second. It trailed in handling, too, but again not by leaps or bounds, recording respectable results of 0.87g lateral acceleration and 25.9 seconds in the figure eight. Our stocker, loaded with a $460 interior upgrade package, $195 Sirius Satellite Radio, $575 heated…

WE ARE WITNESSING THE END OF AN ERA. Even as the new Challenger and Camaro prepare for launch, they’ll take flight like the last of the dodos. These large, heavy, big-cube, high-horse musclecars as we know and lust after them are unlikely to be replaced by similar vehicles. That’s because the life cycle of their replacements will extend to or beyond 2020, the year by which the Energy Bill of 2007 mandates that the overall fleet average fuel economy for cars and light trucks must tally 35 mpg. Tens of thousands of 15-mpg playthings just won’t be part of that plan. Already we’ve seen GM cancel its replacement for the Northstar V-8 and Ford de-emphasizing V-8s in all its future product discussions. But will the party be over? Let’s have…

TWO DECADES ago, one couldn’t utter the words “front-wheel drive” and “sport coupe” without generating a few snickers from the auto snobs. There was some justification for these chuckles. Back then, coupes like the one Honda built on the Accord platform were simply line extenders—two-door variants of monster-selling family sedans. Sure, with an added wing, upsized 15-inch alloys, and a five-speed manual transmission, they appeared a bit sportier. But with a maximum of only 120 horsepower available from the “big-block” 2.0-liter four-cylinder, the Honda Accord Coupe was clearly more poseur than racer. A peppy alternative to the family sedan? Absolutely. But a real sport coupe? Never in a million years. Well, make that 20. The 2008 Honda Accord Coupe is a now bona-fide sport coupe, with the specs to back…

“ARE WE really car guys?” queries editor-in-chief MacKenzie, referring to the automatic transmission in the long-term Cooper S. After all, a slushbox in a Mini borders on being sacrilegious. “I was prepared to hate this thing,” he notes, prior to a weeklong stint behind the wheel. “But then I drove it.” Like most editors, MacKenzie was shocked at how the Getrag automatic did little if anything to diminish the Mini’s fun-to-drive factor. “The six-speed auto is a gem—it just surfs the ton of torque pumped out by the turbo four. And you always seem to be in precisely the right gear. The powertrain, combined with the sharp steering and kartlike handling, means you can blast away from the lights, nip and tuck through the peak-hour traffic, and scoot around corners,…

“I DROVE the Wrangler through the mud and record snowfall of the Sierra,” says photographer Brian Vance, who recorded 2000 miles in the Jeep during a roundtrip from Los Angeles to Reno via Sacramento. Confronted with six to eight feet of snow from a hefty January storm, Vance says, “I couldn’t have picked a better vehicle with which to be caught in this blizzard—awesome traction in the deep, deep snow, and engaging/disengaging four-wheel drive is super easy.” But while the Jeep can make you dream of a white Christmas, it gave Vance nightmares when he was back on dry roads: “The Wrangler’s weaknesses stand out like a sore thumb as soon as you get it back in the lower elevations and drive it for any distance over 50 miles. It…

“BIGGUS TRUCKUS!” exclaims copy chief Jacqueline Manfredi, who piloted the Chevy Silverado for a long weekend. “But fun,” she adds, noting that on a freeway drive down to Long Beach the Silverado was able to “impart a sense of safety and height, and forward and side visibility from that perch is excellent.” Moreover, Manfredi appreciates “the great big chevron turn indicator lights in the sideview mirrors and the legible instrumentation,” but doesn’t “get the audio controls” and finds the storage unit between the front seats to be “a pain,” as “it folds up and back out of the way, but then the cupholders are gone.” ■ Months/miles in service 12/16,845 ■ Avg econ/CO2 13.9 mpg/1.40 lb/mi ■ Unresolved problems None ■ Maintenance cost $381.06 (oil change/tire rotation/brake inspection/throttle body and…

PERHAPS Mark Gerisch had an affinity for saws or guillotines while growing up because as an adult, Gerisch, the man behind Genaddi Design Group of Green Bay, Wisconsin, likes rippingo the roofs of expensive American musclecars. Two years ago, he scalped a Ford GT and came away with a GTX, a roadster version of the hardtop-only supercar, not to mention a nicely done, modern interpretation of the Le Mans race car. We drove one and were impressed by the ingenuity and execution of its design (April). So when Gerisch informed us he had a new topless toy, a Z convertible, aka Genaddi G-SPT, we were eager to see if it would be as stirring as the GTX. Why a drop-top Z? “The premise for doing the Z convertible,” says Gerisch,…

THE CHEAPENING—ahem, popularization—of Lincoln is working. Migrating to mostly Volvo-based front-drive platforms and targeting Buick instead of Cadillac pricing has grown sales and lowered the age of the brand’s buyers. So it’s inevitable that Lincoln would get an upmarket Ford Flex, the MKT, due 2009. If things keep going this way, Mercury’s death may be inevitable. Ford has worked hard to differentiate the MKT from the Flex. The MKT certainly looks different from its cheaper sibling, but not in a totally good way. The problem is Peter Horbury’s design team has attempted to jam design cues taken from rounded 1940s vehicles onto the Flex’s relentlessly boxy form. Like the MKS, the MKT has the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6, rated 415 horses and 400 pound-feet and capable of running on E85…

GMC DENALI XT is a concept that asks: What if GM’s truck division got a unibody pickup with a midgate, on the Zeta platform, with a 4.9-liter flex-fuel V-8 hybrid? ACURA RL looks to reverse slow sales with new sheetmetal, a next-generation VTEC 300 horse, 3.7-liter V-6, and more rear-drive bias for its SH-AWD. CHEVROLET TRAVERSE is the Bow-tie division’s 2009 version of the Lambda crossover, with tall Malibu styling and a direct gas-injection 3.6-liter V-6.…

bullitt-proof guess It isn’t often you get to see the exact car one has had a relationship with pictured in a magazine more than 30 years later (“In the Name of the Father”). In 1973-1974, I worked as a CHP officer out of the Santa Barbara office. While on patrol traveling southbound on U.S. 101 about 15 miles north of Goleta, I observed this car on the right shoulder, hood up and steam coming from the engine. The driver said it was formerly Steve McQueen’s car and he was driving it to L.A. This was before cell-phones, so I offered to give him a ride, but, perhaps because of his story about the car, I decided to run a driver’s license check. The information came back, in radio code, relating…

SORRY FORD, Your by-default reign over the American musclecar party is about to come to an end. This is clear the instant we climb aboard a final engineering prototype of the Challenger SRT8, fire its 425-horse Hemi V-8, and plant our right foot hard to the mat. The engine screams to over 6000 rpm, the rectangular exhaust outlets bellow, and the Big Bad Dodge’s husky butt fishtails in response, just like the good old days. Better, in fact. The Mustang has been the only pony in the show for a while now, ever since Chevy lamentably flushed the Camaro at the end of the 2002 model year. Chrysler has been absent much longer; Gerald Ford was president when (pre-Daimler) Chrysler produced its last rear-drive Challengers and Barracudas. But the waiting…

MY, HOW the badges lie. To anyone else on the road, this black Holden Commodore is a regular HSV GTS, the 6.0-liter V-8 sport sedan built by GM’s Australian hotshop, Holden Special Vehicles. With its 20-inch wheels, big brakes, and tied-down suspension, the HSV GTS pretty much previews the forthcoming 425-horse Pontiac G8 GXP. Under the hood, though, is the secret—a 7.0-liter, 505-horse LS7V-8 lifted straight out of the Corvette Z06. Yep, it just about bolts right in. And it’s taken an outsider to do the operation many Aussie musclecar enthusiasts have been waiting for GM to perform. The work has been done by Corsa Specialized Vehicles in Melbourne, Australia, a tuner with no small amount of experience in turning out some wicked Commodore-based projectiles over the last 15 years…

ROUSH STAGE 2 SALEEN S281-3V SHELBY GT-C TO ANSWER these burning questions, our friends at K&N Engineering, Inc., lent us their dual side-by-side in-ground dynamometer setup. We performed three passes in all four cars, each time in third gear. Expecting roughly a 15-percent loss due to drivetrain inefficiencies, let’s see which tuner is practicing horseplay. TORQUE AT REAR WHEELS HORSEPOWER AT REAR WHEELS STOCK MUSTANG GT CLAIMED: 300 hp @5750 rpm, 320 lb-ft @4500 rpm DYNO TESTED: 262 hp @5545 rpm, 285 lb-ft @4170 rpm VERDICT: Horsepower (+7) and torque (+13) rate higher than expected. LEGIT. ROUSH STAGE 2 CLAIMED: 300 hp @5750 rpm, 320 lb-ft @4500 rpm DYNO TESTED: 261 hp @5815 rpm, 286 lb-ft @4140 rpm VERDICT: Horsepower (+6) and torque (+14) rate higher than expected. LEGIT. SALEEN…

WITH THE PRICE of crude oil hovering around $100 per barrel, auto analysts are once again questioning the continued existence of the large sport/utility. And why not? These big rigs, some of which can haul nine passengers and tow 10,000 pounds, tout large-displacement V-8s and three-ton curb weights. While that can equate to a full load of family, friends, and gear, as well as a fishing boat in the rearview, it also means fuel economy in the low-teens and fill-ups that exceed $80. No wonder minivans are alive and crossovers are kicking. But while some of these so-called experts are ready to bury the full-size sport/ute six feet under, we’re not ready to grab shovels—at least not until the Smiths and Joneses of America stop saturating parking lots with theses…

THE ECLIPSE FINISHED third in our comparison and is clearly showing signs of age, but good news is rising from the east. Mitsubishi calls it Concept-RA and presented it at the Detroit show in January. From the looks of things, Mitsubishi is returning to the turbocharged four-cylinder, all-wheel-drive formula that established the original Eclipse’s credibility. But this isn’t merely a retro redux; Mitsubishi has stuffed the RA’s fierce, cab-forward chassis with legitimate high-tech hardware. Take the 2.2-liter engine: Though it’s 200 cc smaller than the current Eclipse’s four-cylinder, it uses the latest direction-injection, diesel technology and a new variable diffuser, variable geometry turbocharger to make 201 horsepower and a whopping 310 pound-feet of torque. Then there’s the RA’s Super All-Wheel Control system; though it’s similar to the system on the…

WHILE THE Mini and Sentra receive honors for fuel efficiency, the Jaguar, we’re sad to say, takes the title of fuel deficient. As Mark Williams notes, “With a range that hovers around 220 miles despite an 18.8-gallon tank and a thirsty engine—15.1 mpg is akin to a 5000-pound full-size SUV—you’ll be visiting the gas station often.” Still, seeing that all of our enthusiastic editors have heartbeats and right feet, the XKR’s miles have nonetheless been accruing like snow in Tahoe. With 10,000 miles on the odometer, the XKR, in need of its first scheduled maintenance, paid a visit to Jaguar of Thousand Oaks. That enterprise performed an oil change and inspection free of charge, as Jaguar covers the first required maintenance within the first year of ownership or 12,500 miles.…

WILLIAMS TOOK the Rondo on a roundtrip run from Los Angeles to San Francisco to “load up a soon-to-be college grad with all her clean clothes (stored in a 33-gallon garbage bag), a newly built book shelf, athletic gear, a full backpack, stereo equipment, and two suitcases.” Essentially a mini minivan, the Rondo allowed Williams and his crew to utilize “every inch of the flat rear cargo area with all four seats in back folded flat, while still giving us plenty of good visibility out all the rear windows.” Although it’s adept at hauling a variety of gear, the Kia is less proficient at transporting a full load of adults: “We drove over to a restaurant with seven passengers, and the engine and suspension felt tapped out—it’s clearly not made…

FOR 2006, all Evos got a revised version of the 2.0-liter turbocharged intercooled four-cylinder that now has MIVEC variable valve timing and puts down 286 horsepower and 289 pound-feet of torque. Both numbers were up a bit from the previous-generation Evo VIII that had 271 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. The differences between our MR SE and the rest of the Evo line are significant. The interior gets aluminum/carbon-fiber handbrake grip, aluminum shift knob, and a boost gauge kit that displays boost, voltage, and oil pressure. Exterior changes include BBS forged alloy wheels, (reducing unsprung weight), inverted Bilstein shocks, HID headlamps, and color-matched vortex generators on the roof. Opting for the zero-lift aero kit also gives you a rear spoiler wickerbill, underbody air dam, and front brake air guides.…

IT WAS THE HIT of the Detroit auto show—arguably the most beautifully tailored, best-looking American car since legendary GM design chief Bill Mitchell’s 1963 Buick Riviera or 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado—and it’s slated for production by mid-2009. Even better, the 2010 Cadillac CTS coupe you’ll be able to buy will be almost identical to the car you see here. On the production CTS coupe all the sheetmetal ahead of the A-pillar is identical to that of the COTY-winning CTS sedan, which means a slightly different hood. The doors will get conventional handles, there will be a B-pillar hidden behind the side glass, and the corners of the rear bumpers will be pulled out slightly to create the offsets required for low-speed crash regulations. The wheels will be regular CTS items. But…

GM LEFT drawings of a proposed Mini Cooper-fighter in a design studio room where journalists got a preview of the work being done on the production Chevrolet Volt. The drawings illustrated what appeared to be a BMW Mini copy, a two-box, three-door hatchback design with a conventional, vertical B-pillar. Both were illustrated in green with a white top, and one drawing showed what looks like a lift-off roof panel between the A-and B-pillars. It had a large, egg-crate grille and Chevy bowties. The other was a profile view of a light-blue car with a white top, its B-pillar raked, like that of a Chevy Nomad wagon. The car, if GM goes forth with the project, will not be a Chevrolet. To make a profit for GM, it would probably have…

TOYOTA will present two dedicated hybrid models at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit; one a Toyota and the other a Lexus. It’s no surprise the Toyota will be the Mark III Prius. It’s the Lexus that will be the shocker: a lifestyle wagonlike vehicle based on the Prius platform and drivetrain. Meanwhile, the Toyota A-BAT is just a concept for now, but the truck is being evaluated as a potential addition to extend the architecture and powertrain plans for the next-generation Prius platform.…

FERRARI president Luca di Montezemolo declared in 1993, with utter conviction, that “Ferrari will never, never, never build more than 3500 cars a year.” His position was understandable: Ferrari built a record 4595 cars in 1991 to meet the seemingly insatiable demand for the red cars. Then, as a reaction to the Asian meltdown and a global tightening of money, demand virtually disappeared. Ferrari built just 2289 in 1993. But times, the economy, and markets change. For 2007, Maranello was on target to dispatch 6500 cars—11 percent more than in 2005—to the 212 Ferrari dealerships in 52 markets. Now Ferrari secretly plans to raise production 40 percent by the time a new assembly line (under construction inside the increasing cramped Maranello complex) is at capacity. The new two-story facility is…

BY DESIGN Of the four original sketches that foretold what Dodge’s new-for-1970 musclecar would look like, this one most resembles the final design. TRANS AM RACER Sam Posey and others ran Challengers in the SCCA Trans Am series. It was also a highly successful quarter-miler. INDY PACE CAR Dodge’s new musclecar paced the Indy 500 in 1971. Convertible body style was popular, but most were coupes. Note aftermarket wheels, lack of R/T, Hemi, or 440 ID. T/A Trans Am model emphasized balanced handling, powered by a high-winding 340-cid V-8 with triple two-barrel carbs. Plymouth’s similar version was called AAR ’Cuda, honoring Dan Gurney. VANISHING POINT The Dodge Challenger’s biggest movie role was as Kowalski’s ride in the cult classic, “Vanishing Point.” SO LONG, HEMIS, BIG-BLOCKS By the original Challenger’s final…

IN 2007, the Ford Motor Company moved 134,626 Mustangs, pulverizing the sales numbers of other rear-drive American sport coupes—the Chevy Corvette, the Pontiac GTO, and the Dodge Viper—which tallied sales of just 33,685, 4200, and 435, respectively. Suffice it to say, the Mustang has been a huge hit for the Blue Oval—in the public eye—and to the competition. The downside to the ’Stang’s copious sales, though, is anonymity. Save for a few different wheel styles, the occasional rear wing, some stripes, and optional foglamps, every one of Ford’s 134,000-plus ponies looks decidedly similar. Now if you’re a Mustang maniac, the thought of seeing your pride and joy galloping around every street corner does little to boost the ego, much less quash buyer’s remorse. Luckily, there are myriad tuners out there…

U.S. AUTO BUYERS are used to downsizing. It came in the mid-1970s after the first oil shock, and it’s back again right now with the shift from SUVs to crossovers. But in Europe it’s pretty much an alien concept. For decades they’ve run a simple size escalator. Every model gets slightly bigger with each successive generation. That way, every buyer, on replacing his car with the same nameplate, progresses through life in a series of bigger, richer, pricier automobiles. Then after about three generations, there’s room to slot in a fresh one at the bottom. So behold the BMW 1 Series, a car that kind of does the job of (deep breath) the 3 Series before the 3 Series before today’s 3 Series. BMW product planners are a careful lot.…

WE KNEW our 2008 Motor Trend Truck of the Year was going to be special. Not only did we have a strong field of all-new, bigger, and more competitive full-size pickup trucks, but we also had the much-anticipated, full-size Toyota Tundra. And, as is our policy with all our Motor Trend trophy winners, we invited the Toyota to show us what it’s made of over the long haul as one of our long-term-fleet participants. We decided on a heart-of-the-market Tundra Double Cab 4x4 Limited with the 5.7-liter V-8 (rated at 381 horses and 401 pound-feet) and the 6.5-foot bed. This model starts at $39,235, but we added a few more options, not the least of which was the heavy-duty cold kit that features a larger cold-cranking-amp battery, HD starter, some…

AFTER a few days with the SE-R, Voehringer felt lukewarm on the exterior design. “The new slab-sided, snub-nosed styling speaks more to the econobox aesthetic than to the fun and sporty or the good-looking and hip.” He was favorable, if skeptical, of the SE-R’s sporty intentions. “Previous SE-Rs were a handful to drive—aggressive tip-in, too much torque steer, squealing tires—but this is a purring kitten. While not notably sporty, it can still be spirited, and the smoothness of the ride on well-manicured roads is impressive.” And on rough roads? “Hit a bump or expansion joint, however, and the dream is shattered. Oy, like a roller coaster it sounds—bang, bump, thud!” ■ Months/miles in service 7/9845 ■ Avg econ/CO2 22.8 mpg/0.85 lb/mi ■ Unresolved problems None ■ Maintenance cost $149.99 (2…

“MY RECENT run with the LS has truly been a ‘Tale of Two Cities,’” says video producer Mike Suggett, who took the Lexus on a long trek north, up the 101 to beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea. “The 460’s incredibly smooth ride, air-tight cabin, and faultless Mark Levinson sound system were the perfect complement for the long freeway stretches and gentle winding roads.” And those sumptuous seats “made me feel more relaxed than I’ve felt after a five-plus hour road trip—ever!” Upon returning to the asphalt jungle of Los Angeles, though, the downside of all this quiet luxury and smoothness was apparent to Suggett. “When dodging in and out of traffic, the LS 460’s relatively loose steering and softened suspension made me feel detached from the road. While admirable on rough patches of…

AS SEEN in our cover story, the original Challenger was versatile: Musclecar, road racer, and Indy pacer were but three of its guises. Along with its E-Body sister, the Plymouth Barracuda, the Big Bad Dodge played major roles in the evolution of drag racing in the early 1970s. Super Stock was still popular, as was a new class called Pro Stock. Funny Cars had defined themselves and were huge crowd-pleasers, with their “flopper” - style bodies and 150-yard-long prerun burnouts. Challengers ran all three categories. “Dandy” Dick Landy was a consummate Mopar door-slammer driver of the day and a force to be reckoned with at any NHRA or AHRA event. A big guy, Landy was always seen chomping on a cigar. This photo of Landy aboard his S/S Challenger was…