Innehållsförteckning för January 2013 från Car and Driver

Our annual 10Best runoff is democracy in action. Every editor and contributor driving at the event gets an equal vote, and no one, not even yr. hmbl. svt., gets to massage the results. So it was with no small satisfaction that I discovered that the final list of winners matched my own personal roster this year, clear evidence that everyone who voted is getting smarter. Still, there are only 10 spots. For the ones that couldn't quite ascend to the 10Best pantheon—those cars that didn't fully nail our criteria of maximal value, perfect mission fulfillment, and all-out fun—I present the Almost-Rans for 2013: AUDI S5: It may sound like sacrilege, but I prefer the new, supercharged V-6–equipped S5 to both the outgoing V-8–powered model and the just-arrived-to-the-U.S. RS5. The shrunken-engined…

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING, oversteer means that a car's rear tires are operating at a greater slip angle than the front tires, i.e., they're working harder. In real-world terms, it means the tail of the car is sliding sideways. Holding the car in this dynamic state results in a glorious drift. Failing to hold it usually ends with an inglorious spin. Controlling oversteer in a rear-drive car is all about separately regulating the lateral velocity at each end of the vehicle. Here's what's going on when your car gets going sideways. UP FRONT, the tires are still planted. To prevent a spin, the driver steers in the direction that the rear tires are sliding. This is called "turning into the slide," or countersteering. It allows the front of the car to…

If you've seen the YouTube video of a head-on crash test between a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu and a 1959 Bel Air, you know how safe modern cars are. Today, cars must pass four Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) tests mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) merely to be sold here. On top of that, NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) provides relative safety rankings on a five-star scale. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), perpetrator of the Chevy-versus-Chevy test, is funded by a group of auto insurers and rates cars as Good, Fair, Marginal, or Poor. Its newest test is a frontal impact on the left quarter of a car's nose [see illustration, lower left]. Here, we've summarized the crash tests that influence the design…

The Vatican elects a new pope about once every 10 years. Coincidentally, or not, reborn Corvettes follow the same cadence. Speculation about the next high priest of the Milford proving ground has consumed the faithful for the past few years, only intensifying in the lead-up to the car's official reveal at this year's North American International Auto Show. Now, a month before the silk comes off, we have sleuthed out all the important secrets of the seventh-generation Corvette, a.k.a. C7. Chief engineer Tadge Juechter and his team spent 2007 developing a radical mid-engined Corvette. Alas, their undisclosed discoveries, GM's bankruptcy, the melting of the polar ice cap, and other negative vibes have again moved that revolution far into the future. So C7 is an evolution of the C6 design, albeit…

This year's nine best examples of auto-show eye candy, and also the Bentley EXP 9 F. CARS FOR 2013 WINNERS AND LOSERS DATA CENTRAL CONCEPT CARS AND DESIGN DETAILS MOST PROMISING TECHNOLOGY FASHION CARS ABSURD PORSCHE OPTIONS SINS AND VIRTUES KIA TRACK'STER The Kia Soul, an econobox straight out of Toontown, came on the market and promptly ate the Scion xB and Nissan Cube's lunch. So why shouldn't a chopped, slammed, and fat-tired version perform the same feat on the Mini Cooper? That appears to be the aim of this two-toned bullfrog on wheels. It's cool enough that we're even willing to forgive the silly apostrophe in its name. PORSCHE PANAMERA SPORT TURISMO At the 2012 Paris auto show, Porsche revealed that the goiter-inspired styling of the production Panamera was…

SINS OVERLY WIDE TIRES: Now I am become Death, the destroyer of steering feel. 1 ARTIFICIAL EXHAUST NOISE: The sound you hear when BMW stops trying. 2 SWITCH OVERLOAD: A blizzard of buttons so inscrutably marked only a cryptographer can drive the machine. 3 CHEAP SHIFT PADDLES: Half-hearted plastic misery of commanding a transmission that would prefer you left it alone. 4 CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSIONS: Until CVTs, only queen bees had to deal with this many drones. 5 MEMBRANE SWITCHES: Rubber better used on tires or ribbed for your pleasure now covers electronic controls. 6 MENU-DRIVEN INTERFACES: Menus, sub-menus, subsidiary menus … changing the radio station is like ordering a la carte at IHOP. 7 SELECTABLE TRANSMISSION AND SUSPENSION SETTINGS THAT ALL FEEL THE SAME: If you can't distinguish between…

Do not buy a new Golf. Yes, we know we name it to our 10Best list for the third year in a row. Yes, the current, sixth-generation Golf is a great car. But no, no, no. You should absolutely wait for the seventh generation. We drove the version that went on sale in Europe in November, and the forthcoming 2015 Golf is indeed that much better, though it won't be here until summer 2014. It is bigger: 2.1 inches longer, 0.2 inch wider, and an inch lower. A 2.3-inch wheelbase stretch gives rear passengers fractions of an inch more legroom and—more importantly—affords you, the driver, a more relaxed seating position. So the new Golf feels roomier, but it's still right-sized. VW says it is lighter, too—potentially weighing less than 2800…

We admit to being so smitten by Subaru's first-ever rear-drive performance coupe, the BRZ, that we haven't paid much attention to the carmaker's organically grown, high-fiber, AWD wagons and crossover SUVs of late. It isn't that we don't have the occasional need for something suitably demure to take the golden retrievers to a quilters convention or haul a Victorian-era ottoman to an installment of Antiques Roadshow. It's just that the relationship has grown so cozy and familiar that we've begun to take each other, you know, for granted. Well, lace up your L.L.Bean Storm Chasers, because Subaru is introducing a new, fourth-generation Forester early this year as a 2014 model. Casual observers may not immediately notice what appears to be a nip here and a tuck there, but the Forester…

FIRST CAME RETRO CARS; now wheel companies are mining the past for legendary designs, too. Though these new rims may look just like their ancestors, they've grown in size over the years, just as cars have. We chose four retro wheels and put them on what we deemed to be their modern automotive counterparts. The guy in these photos actually is from the '70s. —tony quiroga Fuchs FP.1 PORSCHE 911 CARRERA S From 1966 until 1989, Porsche offered Fuchs wheels on the 911. Forged and light, the five-spoke Fuchs became as much a part of the 911's look as the whale-tail spoiler. Now the Fuchs Performance Group manufactures classic-look wheels for 2005–2013 911s. The FP.1 is available now in 19-inch sizes; a 20-inch fitment is coming this spring. FUCHS FP.1…

Sic your dogs on us at: editors@CARandDRIVER.com or join the discussion at: backfires.caranddriver.com Hey, is that Zach Galifianakis driving the BMW on the October cover? ["Camaro ZL1 Beats M6!"] Now I know that comparo was a joke! CARLO DE CICCO CALEDON, ONTARIO It's not Galifianakis; that's our very own one-man wolf pack and technical editor, K.C. Colwell, sporting a coiffure named "The Flow"—Ed. Stick a BMW, Audi, or Porsche badge on any American car, double the price, and you will give it rave reviews. Your final reviews do not support your facts in many cases. You must have an overwhelming circulation surplus in Europe compared with the United States. R. MALVICINI NEWINGTON, CONNECTICUT And yet a Chevrolet-badged Camaro beat a BMW M6—Ed. Ha ha! The October…

> A SURVEY OF FUEL PRICES AROUND THE WORLD. IN SPITE OF INCREASING DOMESTIC OIL PRODUCTION, four-dollar-per-gallon gasoline remains an on-again/off-again reality in the United States. That's because oil and gas are global commodities, and the U.S. market isn't as insular as we might like. The prices we pay, however, still stand out as cheap. Most of our global neighbors see fuel prices at the pump so high that even the most bumptious Texas oilman would blush. We've assembled the costs of a gallon of the most popular juice in every country we could—be it leaded crud in Ghana, sugar-derived ethanol in Brazil, or near avgas in Bahrain—based on the most recent data available. Check out some of the pricing highs and lows on the dimensional map below. And no,…

As you read this, Lincoln should be launching its Max Wolff–designed 2013 MKZ, accompanied by much chanting of the marketing slogans "Reimagined" and "Now it gets interesting." Yeah, well, unless it isn't and doesn't. Which is what will happen if, in this context, "interesting" is merely what ensues when your spouse dons mauve flamenco tights and a pince-nez to disguise his credible but otherwise workaday origins—in this case, the MKZ's origins as a Ford Fusion, with the remainder of the brand deriving from a Taurus, a Flex, an Edge, and an Expedition, all smeared with costly mascara. Costly? Oh, my, yes. Consider the millions expended on the launch of a new Fusion, then tally the additional millions to selectively extirpate the Fusion name in order to relaunch it as a…

These vehicles are greatness made tangible, and the majority of them cost less than the average new car. All this affordable excellence has put us in a generous mood, so we've also compiled supporting 10Best lists that look back at the year that was. Enjoy. THE NOMINEES NOMINEES CONSIST OF ALL-NEW CARS, 2012 10BEST WINNERS, CARS THAT WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE 2012 COMPETITION, AND THOSE WITH SIGNIFICANT UPDATES. ALL CARS MUST FALL UNDER OUR BASE-PRICE CAP OF $80,000 AND BE ON SALE IN JANUARY 2013. Acura ILX • Audi Allroad • Audi A6/A7 • Audi A6 2.0T* • Audi A8 TDI* • Audi A8 3.0T • Audi RS5 • Audi S5 • Audi S6/S7 • BMW ActiveHybrid 3* • BMW ActiveHybrid 5 • BMW X1 • BMW 135is* •…

CARS FOR 2013 WINNERS AND LOSERS DATA CENTRAL CONCEPT CARS AND DESIGN DETAILS MOST PROMISING TECHNOLOGY FASHION CARS ABSURD PORSCHE OPTIONS SINS AND VIRTUES SUPER PLASTICS Now that carbon-fiber composites are gaining ground, suppliers are investigating other hybrid materials capable of improving collision performance and saving weight. BASF, Bekaert, and Voestalpine are collaborating on thermoplastics fortified with steel cord. Bumper beams, body members, and interior trim made of injection-molded, steel-reinforced plastic combine excellent energy-absorption and structural-integrity characteristics with low manufacturing complexity and cost. Some clever carmaker will surely add the chrome or faux woodgrain finishing touch. RANGE-ANXIETY RELIEF Fear of running out of juice on the road can be a deal-killer for prospective electric-car buyers. Improved charging infrastructure will help to relieve range anxiety, but electric cars could also benefit…

THOSE OF US WHO LIKE CARS propelled by closely spaced, tiny explosions don't easily warm up to electric power. It's not just our troglodytic affection for an urgently revving engine, a crisp redline shift, and the earthy whiff of gasoline. The reality is that most electric cars simply haven't been very good. Optimized for high mileage ratings, current electric cars are small and slow. Even worse, none has sufficient range to be truly useful, unless your duty cycle consists of driving no farther than the nearest grocery store. It's no surprise that electric cars are selling like stale cowpies. Then along comes the Tesla Model S from Elon Musk, he of PayPal and SpaceX, to change our perceptions about cars powered by electrons. For example, in one day, our photographer…

The prevailing criticism of the McLaren 12C is that it is antiseptic compared with its chief rival, the Ferrari 458 Italia. Few cars can match the charisma of that mid-engined prancing horse, but to dismiss the McLaren as boring is to confuse perfectionism with a lack of character. It's more that efficient perfectionism is McLaren's character. There's nothing wrong with that. Just ask Apple, another company known for its obsessive-compulsive designs. In a way, the 12C Spider is like another iteration of the iPhone. The appearance and functionality are largely the same, but the new model's features make it a bit more desirable and, of course, more expensive. It's $26,350 pricier than the coupe, to be exact, but the extra dough does buy more car—a claimed 88 pounds more. The…

In the game of U.S. luxury-car sales, Jaguar isn't even on the sidelines. It's behind the bench, next to the water cooler, and maybe lying down because it ate something funny. Frankly, the brand gets its butt kicked over here, moving just 5 percent of what either BMW or Mercedes sells and doing only 10 percent of Audi's volume. Jaguar—the entire brand—is outsold by both the Porsche Cayenne and Lexus's CT200h hybrid hatchback. (The CT200h, people—you probably forgot that car even exists.) While the Germans would have to completely cease operations for, oh, a decade before Jaguar could close that sales gap, this model year brings a major revamp of the British brand's portfolio that should help. As part of its plan to catch up, Jag says it will introduce…

C/D: You're on your way to a vintage race at Lime Rock, where some of your old cars will be competing. Are you surprised that vintage racing has become so popular? SM: I'm glad to see the cars out there—they are worth so much more money and are in so much better condition now than when they were new. A Maserati when it came out of the factory was in nowhere near as good a condition as it is after someone has spent years restoring it. The thing that concerns me is that people have to realize those cars were dangerous at the time, and they're not going to be less dangerous now, you know? C/D: We have a Formula 1 race in Texas, and may or may not have…

Midway through 2010, Ford shed Volvo, the last lingering vestige of its Premier Automotive Group (PAG). Having once encompassed Aston Martin, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, and Volvo, PAG finally sank completely beneath the waves with the sale of the Swedish safety king to Chinese automaker Geely. Ford is still dragging Lincoln around, but it parted out the foreign makes at tremendous loss. What PAG cost during its nine-year run only Ford knows—and many erstwhile executives would no doubt like to forget. Things aren't looking much better for the former PAG brands under their current owners: JAGUAR/LAND ROVER ACQUIRED: (JAGUAR) 1990, $2.4 BILLION; (LAND ROVER) 2000, $2.8 BILLION PURGED: 2008, $2.3 BILLION BUYER: MUMBAI-BASED TATA MOTORS PROGNOSIS Ford's attempt to integrate only the retail operations of Land Rover and Jaguar utterly…

NEW AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY usually debuts on an expensive flagship model, then passes down to lowlier members of the lineup as costs spread over greater volumes. But the trickle-down effect is not always consistent or predictable. Here we track stability control—mandated as standard equipment on all 2012 model-year vehicles sold in the U.S., but commonplace for a decade—and other safety features from their debuts in high-end luxury models to their arrival in everyday cars. How everyday? Our definition: those available at or below $30,282, the current average new-car transaction price. —MICHAEL AUSTIN ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL 2001 Mercedes-Benz S430, $73,600 OPTION PRICE: $2800 Debuting in mid-2000 for the 2001 model year, Mercedes-Benz's radar-based system came to market a few months before the laser-based system in the Lexus LS430. LANE-DEPARTURE WARNING 2006 Infiniti…

The line for the omelet bar at any auto-media breakfast almost always includes a few published authors. Many of my colleagues in the press have tried their hand at writing books about cars, car companies, car culture, or car people. As we butter our crumpets, they often encourage me to do the same, but with the sort of mock, over-amplified enthusiasm that says: "Writing a book is wonderful!" but means: "Writing a book is about as wonderful as liver cancer!" Author. It's a romantic and imposing title to staple to your name. It marks you as an established expert, a scholar. Nobody dares argue with the person who "wrote the book." They don't make movies about car magazine editors, but they do about authors—alone in some shoreline cabin as the…

CARS FOR 2013 WINNERS AND LOSERS DATA CENTRAL CONCEPT CARS AND DESIGN DETAILS MOST PROMISING TECHNOLOGY FASHION CARS ABSURD PORSCHE OPTIONS SINS AND VIRTUES WINNERS: Quotes from people who didn't necessarily want to be quoted this year include: "The loony right has its jaws sunk into the Volt with all the stupid determination of a terrier who has locked his teeth into the mailman's butt. And with the same result: painful, but without any useful purpose." So sputtered former GM vice chairman Bob Lutz, who makes our list of quotable quotes for something like the 23rd year running. "For a long time we all believed that the world was flat because it's counterintuitive to think that it's round. Or spheroid. Or whatever." That was Ben Bowlby, designer of the DeltaWing,…

CARS FOR 2013 WINNERS AND LOSERS DATA CENTRAL CONCEPT CARS AND DESIGN DETAILS MOST PROMISING TECHNOLOGY FASHION CARS ABSURD PORSCHE OPTIONS SINS AND VIRTUES 1. 1974–75 OLEG CASSINI AMC MATADOR This designer version of Car and Driver's Best Styled Car of 1974 had copper-colored trim and copper buttons on black fabric seats courtesy of the luxuriantly mustachioed Oleg Cassini. Hey, it was the '70s. 2. 1978–85 GUCCI CADILLAC SEVILLE Through the years, Gucci has been involved in a number of automotive monkeyshines, including the AMC Hornet Sportabout and, most recently, Fiat's 500 Gucci. The Seville was not an officially sanctioned Cadillac project; designer touches included the Gucci interlocking-G design on the vinyl roof and interior. The GG hood ornament, wheel emblems, and other trim pieces were plated in 24-karat gold.…

THIS MONTH 2015 VW Golf // McLaren 12C Spider // Fiat 500 Turbo // 2014 Subaru Forester // Jaguar XJ 3.0 // BMW X1 xDrive28i So what you really want to know is how it feels to drive a Range Rover with nobody in it. Compared with the outgoing Range Rover, that's how this new one should feel: empty, unladen. By building what it describes as the world's first SUV with an all-aluminum unibody, Land Rover has cut a claimed 700 pounds from its flagship; that's the mass of five average-size Europeans or 4.1 Americans. Can you feel the difference? Definitely. This new model is a milestone in industry efforts to arrest the death-spiral of ever-increasing weight, complexity, and consumption that has afflicted the SUV more than most. Automakers' hands…

Last year, Aston Martin looked at its $194,000 DB9 and $281,000 DBS and decided it was neglecting a customer—it may have been only one—in between. Along came the $212,000 Virage, with 50 percent of the DBS's extra power for 21 percent of its premium. Fiat finds itself in a similar predicament with the white space between its $16,700 entry-level 500—autodom's Most Likely to Be Painted Pink even before you consider the 101 horsepower—and the snarly 500 Abarth, $22,700 with 160 horses. Lacking a bank of French words previously trademarked as car names, Fiat calls its Virage the 500 Turbo. At $20,200, the 135-hp 500 Turbo tends toward the Abarth end of the scale in output, price, and appearance. Its nose will fool people into thinking you've got Abarth money (seven-star…

It's been on sale in Europe for three years already, meaning the X1 is not new. And this repackaging of 3-series bits into yet another small crossover doesn't break any new ground. It does, however, leave us longing for things increasingly missing from the land of the Roundel. Like a manual transmission. Or the sense that this car was conceived to deliver a singular driving experience. The X1 drives like a 3-series, and by that we mean similar but not identical to. Its suspension is athletic and the steering is passable, yet still too numb. The car feels solid and resolute, though a 3822-pound curb weight has us pining for the smaller, lighter 1-series hatchback that BMW won't sell here. Thanks to its higher roofline, the five-door X1 offers more…