Innehållsförteckning för September 2018 från Car and Driver

Look, we’re as prone to wallowing in dystopian fantasies as anyone. We, too, were once mopey, nerdy teenagers immersed in doom the way a fetus is immersed in amniotic fluid. And also: “Why do I have to go to track practice today anyway, Mom? Running around in circles?! It’s futile! Gah!” But we are, for the most part, adults now, and we have seen sunlight a few times. You say the world will be a network of mind-control nodes and we will be pigs in cages on antibiotics? Sure, sure, fine, Danny Dour. Listen long enough to the relentless buzz coming out of Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C., and from various carmakers that now refer to themselves as Mobility Solution Disrupters, and you’d be convinced that we’ve already entered the…

GM hasn’t sold a dual-overhead-cam V-8 since 2011, when it stopped using the 4.6-liter Northstar. But the architecture returns in the Cadillac CT6 V-Sport, now downsized to 4.2 liters and fed by twin turbochargers housed in its vee. The direct-injection engine will be available in two outputs: the V-Sport version, producing an estimated 550 horsepower and 627 pound-feet of torque; and a detuned variant running less boost, estimated to yield 500 horsepower and 553 pound-feet. Final SAE-certified outputs are still pending for both versions, as are many details. But we do know it has a 90-degree vee angle and wet-sump lubrication, and that it uses a forged-steel crank and rods. Its twin-scroll turbos are integrated into the cast-stainless-steel exhaust manifold and use lightweight titanium-aluminide turbine wheels good to 170,000 rpm.…

Remember the aughts, when sales of the appliancelike Prius thrived amid soaring gas prices and endless endorsements from eco-conscious celebrities who’d sworn off Hummers and V-12 German sedans? Well, that picture gets fuzzy in 2018, as gas prices remain relatively low and stable and those abstaining from big-displacement vehicles have instead joined the Cult of Elon. Honda is especially bullish among automakers about soon increasing the number of hybrids it makes, yet it acknowledges that the hybrid-car formula—high mileage, low ownership costs, an aero-optimized Kamm-back shape, and styling that proclaims virtuous consumption—is starting to lose ground in the sales charts. So it’s decided to go a different path with its 2019 Insight by bypassing the stigmatized pocket-protector cues and making the primary pitch the model’s quietness, comfort, and sophisticated feature…

There are currently 13 electric vehicles on sale in America. But if you want to have any hope of making it to the summer cabin and home again on a single charge, your choices shrink to just four. And options dwindle further depending on your tolerance for beta testing a Tesla or being seen in a Chevrolet Bolt EV. Seven years after the Nissan Leaf resurrected the electric car, true competition among EVs that can cover more than 200 miles on a charge is still virtually nonexistent. That changes with the $70,495 Jaguar I-Pace arriving in dealerships this month. It signals the most direct challenge to Elon Musk’s upmarket stranglehold, with a manufacturer-estimated range of 240 miles and levels of style, luxury, and allure that have heretofore been Tesla exclusives…

It doesn’t matter if you’re a person or a corporate entity or even one of the dogs in its commercials: Chances are, Subaru is riding a better streak than you are. As this is written, it’s been outdoing itself in sales for 79 consecutive months. The last time most of us improved for more than six and a half straight years was before puberty. And now, the brand is poised to ensure that streak continues with its new three-row crossover, the Ascent. Forget the weird-looking, half-sized Tribeca the company peddled here from 2005 to 2014; the Ascent is a full-commitment, full-size three-row SUV that jumps into the segment with both feet. At 196.8 inches long, 76.0 wide, and 71.6 tall, it’s within inches of the segment’s best-selling Ford Explorer. The…

Your June 2018 article titled “Turbos Are Red Hot” explained almost every aspect of turbos currently available with the exception of sequential turbos. Will you kindly rectify this? —Andrew MacAdam, Littleton, CO A sequential arrangement typically uses two unequally sized turbochargers to optimize low-end response and top-end power. The smaller turbo spools up quickly to provide boost at low engine speeds. As rpm climb, the increasing flow of exhaust bypasses the small, restrictive turbine and spins the larger turbo fast enough to provide boost for peak power. Sequential turbocharging had its performance-car moment in the ’90s but fell out of favor due to packaging complexity and cost as manufacturers reduced turbo lag by other means, such as lighter impeller wheels, better bearings, twin-scroll and variable-geometry turbines, and twin (parallel) turbocharging.…

To the coldly rational among us, a vehicle such as the 2019 Audi Q8 is just silly. But nobody likes the coldly rational because they are invariably a drag. Take it elsewhere, Spock. The Q8 is, in the words of its maker, “the fusion of an elegant four-door luxury coupé with a large SUV, and with echoes of an Audi icon—the Ur-Quattro.” Huh. That’s sure to drive automotive taxonomists up a freakin’ wall—even those who know that Ur-Quattro refers to the original Quattro coupe from the 1980s. But take a look at the Q8 and you’ll know exactly what it is. It is a BMW X6 analogue, a less elephantine Mercedes-Benz GLE coupe, a spiritual successor to the Acura ZDX. It is a German-car fan’s Range Rover Sport. It is…

The McLaren 675LT was a quicker and more extreme version of the already rapid 650S. Likewise, the 600LT is set to become the 570S’s rope-sinewed hellion sibling. An extra 30 horsepower brings McLaren’s familiar twin-turbo 3.8-liter V-8 to 592. But other changes are even more compelling. In addition to a track-tuned suspension, McLaren gave the car an aerodynamic makeover, resulting in a huge rear diffuser that necessitates a new top-exit exhaust system. That, in turn, means the vast fixed wing needs a heat-resistant coating to withstand temperatures up to 480 degrees Fahrenheit. Peak downforce is 220 pounds at 155 mph, but McLaren is even prouder of the mass it shaved from the already svelte 570S. With every lightweight option selected, the 600LT should check in around 3000 pounds. Few buyers…

Reality often falls short of expectations. On-screen heroes become real-life villains, Tinder dates rarely look like their profile pics, and the 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross is as close in spirit to the original Mitsubishi Eclipse sports coupe as Green Eggs and Ham is to the Kama Sutra. Those expecting a successor to the quick and spunky first- or second-gen Eclipse will be sorely disappointed by the Eclipse Cross, which is essentially a wedge-shaped platformmate of the Outlander family. Starting at $24,425, the Eclipse Cross slots between the Outlander Sport and the Outlander in both price and length [see “Middle Men”]. Mitsubishi asks $28,310 for the mid-level SE trim tested here. The Eclipse Cross prioritizes on-road comfort over responsive handling. Soft springs and vague controls make it messy on twisting tarmac,…

The Toyota Corolla hatchback—which replaces the iM model for 2019—is not luxurious, and it isn’t really sporty, but it’s pretty good-looking despite its big, toothy grille. It’s a front-wheel-drive hatchback in the same vein as the Volkswagen Golf. Is our tender world still interested in a hatchback that isn’t pretending to be a crossover ute or a GTI clone? Give Toyota points for honesty. Behind the grin is the TNGA platform that underpins much of Toyota’s car lineup. It’s a flexible architecture that’s strictly conventional: Struts hold up the nose and a multilink suspension supports the tail. The 103.9-inch wheel-base is a tenth of an inch longer than a Volkswagen Golf’s, with the 169.9-inch overall length stretching 2.3 inches beyond the VW. The Corolla sedan, though, enjoys a big advantage…

Try to keep this on the down low. There’s a road about an hour and a half north of Los Angeles that is nearly empty every weekday, and it’s one of the best any of us has driven. Oh, and here’s a map and directions, but, again, let’s just keep this between us. Come on, be cool. Forest Highway 95 begins west of Frazier Park, a pine-scented hamlet perched nearly a mile high in the San Emigdio Mountains, just off Interstate 5. Drive 13 miles past Frazier Park on Cuddy Valley Road and you’ll pass right over the San Andreas Fault, where the Pacific and North America n plates stand at a détente for the moment. But the real earth shaker is ahead. There’s no Forest Highway 95 sign, so…

Someday soon, we expect a Hyundai to top its class without trading on great value as its primary attribute. This is not that day. Touting a multilink rear suspension in place of its predecessor’s torsion-beam axle, plus a nicer interior and a more muscular appearance that belies an underlying weight-loss program, the second-generation Hyundai Veloster Turbo R-Spec performs well but still substitutes a low price for the fine polish that put the Honda Civic Si and Volkswagen Golf GTI on our 10Best Cars list. Its asymmetrical three-door configuration and hyena-like stance mark the Veloster as a coupe variant of the conventional Elantra GT hatchback, analogous to the role the late VW Scirocco played in relation to the Golf. Hyundai made it a little more practical for 2019 by expanding cargo…

Itsy-bitsy crossovers are the entry-level rage. Arriving right after the Ford EcoSport and Hyundai’s Kona is the 2018 Nissan Kicks. It’s got Versa in its genes, 125 horsepower under its hood, and, when spec’d with the available two-tone paint, a bit of Shamu in its aspect. Or some Creamsicle. All North America–market Kicks come from a Nissan factory in Mexico, but this twerp’s family tree is planted in Brazil, where it’s been on sale since 2016. Nissan’s studio there did the initial styling work, with Nissan Design America in San Diego assisting and the final sheen applied in Japan. In the United States, the Kicks slots into the gap left by the departed Juke, but it’s not identical. At 169.1 inches long over a 103.1-inch wheelbase, the Kicks is 6.7…

The V60, Volvo’s newest station wagon, is in most ways a more petite and hopefully more affordable V90. Inside, it has all the studied glitz of its larger sibling: the 9.3-inch portrait-oriented touchscreen, the stitching on the dash and doors, the gorgeous wood trim with metallic accents, and the ignition switch in the center console with a knurled drive-mode selector beside it. Even Bowers & Wilkins’s trademark yellow speaker cones peer forth from behind similar semigloss metal grilles. Gothenburg’s designers gave the new wagon its sleek look by lowering its ride height and shortening its front overhang compared with the outgoing V60. The new one is larger yet appears less bloated. At 187.4 inches in length, it is 4.9 inches longer, with a 3.8-inch wheelbase stretch, and it sits 2.0…