Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i MotorTrend

Although production of the Wankel rotary engine ended when the last 2012 Mazda RX-8 rolled off the assembly line, the Japanese automaker hasn’t given up development of its signature sports car engine. Mazda has been updating the engine design, first seen in the 1967 Mazda Cosmo Sport coupe, over the years but has struggled to overcome inherent issues with fuel economy and emissions. The new Mazda RX-Vision rotary sports car concept debuts the new and improved Skyactiv-R rotary engine and ends years of speculation on Mazda’s on-again, off-again RX-7 successor. Mazda hasn’t revealed full specs on the new Skyactiv-R rotary engine but has released a few details about its new RX-Vision rotary sports car concept. The concept, Mazda said in a press release, is designed to “represent a vision of…

As governments around the globe get serious about shrinking carbon footprints, they’re focusing regulatory attention on the heavy-duty road transport sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of transportation emissions. Our own EPA/NHTSA is targeting a 24 percent reduction in tractor/trailer fuel consumption between 2021 and 2027. Toward that end, Eaton Corporation devised a diesel/battery-electric hybrid drivetrain for heavy-duty trucks, which it sells primarily in Europe. Fleet testing with Coca-Cola suggests it can slash consumption by 30 percent on congested urban routes, but Coke’s 13-month fleet average savings was just 13.7 percent. Wal-Mart has tested a similar setup on Peterbilt long-haul trucks, measuring a 5-7 percent fuel savings. Recouping the $40,000-$45,000 cost of such systems is easiest for businesses that run stop-and-go routes (and qualify for tax incentives). Coke bought…

WRITE US AT 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245 Email us online at motortrend.com or send an email direct to motortrend@motortrend.com Annual Blame Assignment I’ve been a happy subscriber for a few years, and one of my favorite features is always the annual Best Driver’s Car. This year, however, I can’t help but feel like the results are inaccurate because of the DNF you gave to the Corvette Z06 (“Deliverance,” November 2015). The real trouble is I don’t know who to be upset with—you (Motor Trend) or Chevrolet. I have no idea what kind of budget the carmakers have for magazine reviews and competitions, but I’d imagine something like BDC is pretty important and all the participants want to put their best foot forward. How could Chevrolet not…

As my flight was landing in Bologna, I realized, true to form, that I had not looked into transportation from there to Maranello. Working my way through baggage claim and into the reception area, I felt a glimmer of hope when I saw a few handheld signs with names, sheepishly looking for mine. I should know better after all these years, but we ADD types rarely think ahead. Mr. Spontaneous Combustion, a dear friend calls me. As I shuffled around the reception area, something black and yellow caught my eye, and I read it aloud: “Ferrari.” A distinguished gentleman in a black suit glanced up and asked, “Rrrandy?” I nodded, relieved, and said it again: “Ferrari.” After a 30-year career in racing and cars, I still get a thrill when…

I went to Japan for the first time in 1985, to visit the 26th Tokyo Motor Show, and afer hours jostling through the jammed halls of the International Trade Fairgrounds at Harumi, Tokyo, I came away convinced I’d seen the future of the automobile. Multicam, multivalve engines; four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering; moving maps on mini screens that showed drivers where they were going: technologies you’ll find on Hondas and Hyundais today, but “Star Wars” stuff back when the Chevy Celebrity was riding high on the American new-car sales charts. Thirty years later I’m writing this in a hotel room overlooking a glitering, endlessly sprawling high-rise cityscape that at night, 37 floors up, looks like a scene from “Blade Runner.” I’ve just come back from a day at the 44th…

Put yourself in my shoes for a minute. You’re racing down Mount Teide, a 12,000-foot volcano on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, in the latest 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S. Even though you’re still up above 6,000 feet, all 414 horsepower are underfoot because of the all-new 3.0-liter, twin-turbo flat-six. At this point the road is straight, and you’re flying. Up ahead, two objects suddenly, simultaneously come into focus. The first is a giant bump on the right side of your lane. The second is an oncoming red Škoda Fabia that just whipped around the corner. At your current velocity, that bump could easily hurl you into the next lane/red Škoda. Your gut instinct is to squash the brake pedal. Hard. Hey, this particular Carrera S is tricked out with…

Prototypes of GT-R-engined sedans might be catnip for car buffs, but it doesn’t take a Warren Buffett to understand why Infiniti has pivoted to more common-folk cars with the new Q30: dinero, bucks, cold hard cash. The compact luxury segment is highly lucrative. Go ask the Audi A3 or the Mercedes-Benz CLA. And to further sweeten the deal (and make the endeavor less risky), Renault-Nissan tied up six years ago with Daimler to form the sort of automotive power couple that likely makes FCA’s Sergio Marchionne want to rip off his black crewneck sweater. With Daimler now in the picture, the Infiniti Q30’s gestation could have gone one of two ways: Either nab a chassis from Nissan (Juke or Rogue, maybe), or leverage a Benz. Wisely, Infiniti chose the latter,…

Following November’s Tokyo Motor Show, which, by the way, seemed headed back to the prominent international status it once held—heck, the Europeans had some noteworthy unveilings after a couple shows of near nothing—Toyota bused a group of media out to Fuji Speedway to sample the full electric three-wheel i-Road city car. I know what you’re thinking: An electric trike thingy with a closed cockpit at a … racetrack? I had the same thought. They’re not actually going to have us lap this car, are they? On a clear day, Mount Fuji overlooks the track like a regal king wearing a giant white fur coat, but on this morning the thick fall clouds left it completely concealed. Ready for a wake-up jolt of energy, I was eager to hit the track.…

If you’re a performance fan, it’s a great time to drive American. Cadillac builds some of the best sport sedans on the planet. Ford has brought us the Focus RS, a reborn GT, and the Raptor. The Viper ACR is among the most track-capable production cars we've seen. The Corvette Z06 tangles with cars multiple times its price. The Hellcats exist. Then there are these two. Two of America’s greatest nameplates, greatest rivals, and two of the greatest road-legal track cars. From Chevrolet, the Camaro Z/28, a car that chief engineer Al Oppenheiser designed to “beat the shit out of anything Ford can put on the road.” From Ford, the Shelby GT350R, an icon reborn and the answer to Chevrolet’s nasty challenge. They’ve fought on America’s streets, strips, and tracks…

COMPARISON: 2015 BMW X6 M VS 2015 Land Rover Range Rover Sport SVR | PERFORMANCE ISSUE Call us crazy. Or mad, insane, demented, disturbed, affected— whatever descriptor you feel best suits our diminished mental state—but we really like gigantic SUVs with way, way more power than sense. When most people hear the term SUV, their thoughts gravitate toward a vehicle Gen. Patton could have used to invade Sicily. Rough and tumble, live axles, Spartan, no frills, rudimentary, even—the exact sort of vehicle a farmer might employ as a field hand during the week then use to run the missus to church on Sunday. The four maniacs in this test are not so elemental. No, these are the kind of sport/utes Charlie Sheen would use to run his Goddesses down to…