Innehållsförteckning för May 2011 från MotorTrend

This month’s chart reflects the online automotive video ad tra c for the month of February and dramatically demonstrates not only buzz-creating power of the Super Bowl, but the replay value of the Web. VW’s cute “The Force” campaign took top position, generating more than 15 million views in just three days, over Chrysler’s dramatic “Imported from Detroit” spot. You’ll recognize the rest. * First appearance on chart Source: Visible Measures (www.visiblemeasures.com) The Motor Trend Top 10 Online Video Auto Ads Chart focuses on brand-driven viral video ads that appear on online video sharing destinations. Each campaign is measured on a True Reach basis, which includes viewership of brand-syndicated video clips and viewer-driven social video placements.…

GM has given the green light to the GMC Granite, a 2010 North American International Auto Show concept, for production. Our well-placed source says it will be built with the suicide-style rear passenger doors. Best guess is model-year 2013 or ’14, with production beginning no earlier than late 2012. The production model will be built on GM’s C-segment Delta platform that underpins the Chevrolet Volt and Cruze, Buick Verano, Opel/Vauxhall Astra, and Chevy Orlando. The Orlando is the compact multipurpose vehicle that GM has rejected for the U.S. market. It will be sold in Europe, Asia, and Canada, and will share its floorpan with the Granite. We don’t know whether the production Granite will have a fixed B-pillar or whether it will open wide, as does the lame-duck Honda Element.…

WITH unrest in the Middle East prompting predictions of $4-5/gallon gas in the U.S., buyers will be looking for that 40-mpg number, and automotive marketers will try to deliver it. Of course, electric cars, plug-in extended range electrics, and many diesels and hybrids easily crest the magic number. If you’re looking for 40 mpg without expensive electrification or clean diesel technology, your choices are few, although they are growing. Before you dash off that letter, yes, we know the Honda CRX peaked in the 1987 model year at 42/51 mpg among two generations of HF models, and the 1994-’95 Civic VX was rated 39/50 mpg. Both did so without standard air-conditioning, power windows, or stiff body structures and weight-adding safety equipment required of modern cars. (The Environmental Protection Agency numbers…

where do you read motor trend? E-mail digital photo(s) of you and Motor Trend to: motortrend@gmail.com or mail them to: Motor Trend, c/o Mail, Readers on Location, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245. NOT FORGOTTEN—Mel Pollack, Lt. Col. USAF, Retired, visits the Hoa Lo Prison (“Hanoi Hilton”) in Vietnam. “As a young Air Force fighter pilot, I was shot down over North Vietnam in 1967 on my 78th combat mission,” said Pollack. “I spent almost six years as a POW here.”…

CALIFORNIA SPECIAL. GT. Mach. These are not just names of Mustangs. These are the names of Mustangs that got two chances at life. There was only one Mustang that Ford had yet to recreate—the baddest of all, the Boss. That is, until now. Meet the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302, the best, most well-rounded Mustang ever. What exactly did Ford do to get such great performance? Lots. Engineers started with a standard 5.0-liter engine, but instead of just throwing a supercharger on it, Ford kept this engine au natural and made it a free-flowing, high-revving screamer with a new “runners-in-the-box” plenum/velocity stack combination. Ford used revised camshafts with a more aggressive grind, and CNC machined the intake, exhaust ports, and combustion chambers of the aluminum heads. All internal components are…

FORD’S newfound ability to make Mustangs handle well, from the base V-6 to the 550-horsepower Shelby GT500, has pushed Chevrolet to do more than drop a 550-plus-horsepower, supercharged 6.2-liter LSA V-8 into the Camaro, stiffen the shocks, and slap on fat tires to make the 2012 ZL1. The ZL1’s LSA is identical to the CTS-v’s. It adds the Corvette Z06’s dual-mode exhaust, so horsepower will be a few single digits off the CTS-v’s 556. It’s the second Camaro (after the new convertible) to get a front shock-tower brace. The ZL1’s brace is shaped to fit over the supercharger and under the functional carbon-fiber hood air extractor. The LSA also will use deck plate honing, a machining process that employs aluminum plates clamped to the block to simulate the cylinder heads…

THE GENEVA auto salon unveilings of the Subaru Boxer-Architecture sports car and the Toyota FT-86 II say a lot about the relationship between the two Japanese automakers. Subaru displayed a new boxer four with its driveshaft heading to the rear wheels, and a strut front and control-arm rear suspension under clear a Plexiglas bodyshell with amorphous sport coupe styling. With very short front and rear overhangs, the Subaru sports car has a long wheelbase, 101.2 inches, given its overall length of about 165.5 inches. Width is 69.7 inches and its 50.0-inch height means it stands 1 inch taller than a Miata and 1.3 inches shorter than a Cayman. For comparison, the Miata is 157.3 inches long on a 91.7 inch wheelbase and the Cayman stretches 172.3 inches long on a…

LOCALS’ HEADS SWIVEL in unison as our caravan of entry-level luxury vehicles rolls through the streets of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. Dozens of automotive journalists in reworked Mercedes C-Classes wind through the narrow streets like the German Secret Service on holiday. The island is filled with tiny Peugeots and Seats, so even the smallest of the Mercedes sedan family suddenly looks like a land yacht navigating among the brightly painted stucco buildings and thatch umbrellas. Mercedes has chosen Tenerife to preview the 2012 Mercedes C-Class and SLK so that we can drive in every environment you can imagine, and probably even some you can’t. Journalists get pretty jaded about exotic locations, but this one is borderline insane. Rainforest, desert, beaches, even a 12,000-foot volcano are all located…

AFTER 10 MINUTES behind the wheel of the 2012 Infiniti M35h, one thing becomes crystal clear: Infiniti engineers must despise hybrids. Rocketing up the twisting, hilly side streets of West Hollywood, this thing sure doesn’t feel like the next-door science teacher’s hybrid. It’s got gobs of rich, torquey power, and an audible growl from the twin chrome exhaust tips that sit out back. It even handles well and drives—dare we say it?—almost like a sport sedan. So what gives? The M35h is Infiniti’s first foray into hybrid waters, and it’s obvious the brand wants to do things differently. Slotting into Infiniti’s flagship M series lineup between the entry-level, six-cylinder M37 and the range-topping, V-8-powered M56, the M hybrid gives buyers more power than the former and better fuel economy than…

IF YOU have to ask whether the new Aston Martin Virage is really worth roughly 30 grand more than the near identical-looking DB9, here’s a tip: Don’t ask Ulrich Bez. The mercurial German who’s headed Aston since 2000 has little time for those who have trouble appreciating the subtle nuances that define each model in the company’s 14-car lineup, all of which, apart from the stubby Toyota iQ-based Cygnet, look remarkably similar. “Our cars look like Aston Martins,” he says defiantly. “If you don’t like the look, buy another car.” It is possible to appreciate how different this car is from the DB9 and DBS models that bracket it in price, power, and performance. But in today’s ADD-addled world, you can’t help but wonder whether anyone will notice. To all…

Why fuel-e cient vehicles will help America’s national security “FOR ONCE THE AUTO INDUSTRY ISN’T GOING TO BE TASKED WITH MOST OF THE HEAVY LIFTING ON REDUCING AMERICA’S DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.” PURE COINCIDENCE, powerful symbolism: The day the Deepwater Horizon plunged into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Navy tested an F/A-18 Hornet fighter powered by bio-fuel. What’s this? America’s armed forces turning into tree-hugging eco-weenies? Not exactly. This flight wasn’t about saving the planet. It was about America’s national security. Navy secretary Ray Mabus says America relies too much on fossil fuels, and that from the military’s standpoint it makes strategic and tactical sense to reduce this dependence. “We would not allow [other] countries to build our ships or our aircraft, yet we are willing to give them…

FORD management credits the company’s Microsoft-based Sync system for its post-2008 success as much as it does any particular car or truck in the Ford lineup. Since the voice-activated infotainment and mobile phone-control system was launched at about the same time as the stopgap 2008 Ford Focus, it has become a lucrative option on Fiestas and Tauruses (and standard on some Lincolns). Since then, the automaker has added MyFord and MyLincoln systems that utilize voice activation to control everything from navigation and the radio to heating/air-conditioning/ventilation and your mobile phone. Consumer Reports criticized the 2011 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX systems in its annual new-car issue, though, prompting Ford global marketing, sales, and service chief Jim Farley to introduce an extended dealership experience. The idea, Farley explained at the Chicago…

SINCE its debut, BMW’s Mini has captured the original’s style, while skimping a bit on the Alec Issigonis-designed original in one area. The modern Mini doesn’t have the same big interior to small exterior ratio of the 1959 model. The Mini Rocketman concept dazzles with such high-tech gadgetry as a steering wheel trackball and center speedometer with high-resolution 3D graphics, paper interior trim strips backlit by LED-powered fiber optics, a clear glass illuminated roof with braces that recreate the Union Jack look, and an unidentified powertrain with a claimed 78.4-mpg average fuel efficiency. (The next Cooper will be available with three- and four-cylinder engines.) Its carbon-fiber space-frame reveals the construction material in the front end, around the two doors, and in the interior. Its two-piece hatch door is hinged at…

1969 was a magical time to be a Mustang lover. There was a racy, exciting new body style that year, with performance options aplenty on the order sheet. Ford president “Bunkie” Knudsen wanted to take the Mustang road racing with a factory designed and engineered model. Knudsen poached designer Larry Shinoda away from GM and put him to work designing a special look and graphics package for the Mustang that would become Knudsen’s Trans-Am racer. Ford’s plebeian 302 V-8 became the basis of the project; free-breathing pushrod heads from the architecturally similar 351 Cleveland V-8 were adapted for the 302 block. This Boss 302 engine, rated at 290 in both horsepower and pound-feet, revved high and hard. The Boss 302 got unique suspension tuning, and this track-bound pony came with…

THE PHRASE “once in a blue moon” refers to the rare occurrence of two full moons in a single month, but colloquially it means something that happens very infrequently. In actuality, blue moons occur on average once every two-and-a-half years, whereas new flagship Lamborghinis come along only once a decade—if you’re lucky. The 12-year Chinese Zodiac might be a more apt metaphor, but the ancient Chinese obviously did not consult with the Italians, because there is no Year of the Bull (suspiciously, though, there is a Year of the Horse). Officially, 2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, but Lamborghini would beg to differ. For the first time in a decade, there is an all-new V-12-powered Lamborghini supercar, and its name is Aventador. Appropriately, the name comes from a famous…

IF YOU’RE GETTING a touch of déjà vu, forgive yourself. Audi, it seems, is hewing harder than ever to the Germanic dictate, “one sausage, three lengths.” I don’t mean to say there’s a thing wrong with the A6, just that the new car does seem like a big A4 and/or a small A8. But the A6 looks noticeably more conservative than the A8. When asked about this, Audi says if you want extroverted wild style, feel free to buy an A7, the automaker’s first foray into profitable and grammatically nonsensical “four-door coupe” territory. Still, there’s something handsome about Audi’s middle child, even though it just doesn’t look very new. There’s a strong similarity to the outgoing, sixth-generation A6. The 2012 A6 is 0.4 inch taller, longer, and wider than…

“OH, BOY,” testing director Kim Reynolds said upon seeing it. “It looks like some weird mechanical mutant,” a friend mentioned. “There’s something oddly charming about the CrossCabriolet,” noted senior editor Jonny Lieberman. “Nissan might just be onto something here…” This multifaceted, range-topping Murano is an attention-getter devised to fill a void you never knew existed, and that marketers hope to successfully tap. Wait, this thing occupies a segment with actual buyers? Nissan believes it does. CrossCabriolet customers will likely call California, Texas, and Florida home; be predominantly female, well-educated, and 40 to 45 years old; and make roughly $125,000 annually. They’ll need that money because losing a metal top adds $7220 to the Murano LE AWD’s base price, making the CrossCabriolet the most expensive trim in the lineup. Product gurus…

“NOW less ugly!” isn’t much of a selling point, but revised styling really is the most significant change on the Acura TL. Refreshed for the 2012 model year, the new TL marks Acura’s 25th year in the United States. There’s not much to celebrate for the brand this year aside from the 2012 TL and the negligible volume of the TSX wagon. That’s okay, because Acura expects TL sales to jump 20 percent this year on the greater efficiency, quieter cabin, and updated styling. A downscaled front grille is now complemented by dark headlights and a revised front fascia. No one will confuse the TL for a rear-drive luxury sedan, but the front overhang has been reduced by one inch. Acura tells us that about three-quarters of all TL buyers…

IF YOU’VE ever heaped a forkful of well-made coq au vin into your mouth, you already understand what I’m about to tell you. Coq au vin, or, in English, “rooster in wine,” is a simple dish of basic, if not ignoble ingredients: one tough old rooster, some fatty bacon, mushrooms, an onion (perhaps), and a bottle of mediocre table wine. Again, nothing special; all things you have lying around. But prepared the right way, the quite ordinary becomes the extraordinary. In that vein, allow me to introduce our newest long-termer, the 2011 Acura TSX Sport Wagon. Like the French peasant staple, on paper our new long-term TSX Wagon doesn’t have much going for it. First, of course, it’s a station wagon, a style of motorized conveyance so dreaded that (A)…

HOW TIMES change. It wasn’t long ago that the consensus of the esteemed experts in our business was that America was no longer able to build an affordable, well-constructed sedan. Lengthy editorial columns were devoted to the problem, all pretty much saying we’d abandoned what was perhaps the seminal product of the 20th century, the thing that made Ike’s Interstate highway system make sense, and together, modern America. The skillset had been quietly sold off, subcontracted, outsourced, lost somewhere in the paperwork while Detroit refocused on more important things, like rebate schemes. Cradling their heads in their hands, my knowing colleagues lamented, “Why can’t this country build a Camry or an Accord?” Well, it turns out they’re right. We can’t build a Camry or an Accord. No, to everyone’s surprise,…

PORSCHE will launch a cascade of new models over the next two years. The new 911, codenamed 991, is on a new platform with a lot of aluminum that will be shared with the Boxster/Cayman family. It’s difficult and slow to build the new platform alongside the old one at Zuffenhausen, the main factory. The company’s production people want to get all the old models out of the way as soon as possible. The current Turbo has but a year to run before being replaced by a new model. Performance will rise because of some 100 pounds of weight loss. A wider front track and longer wheelbase, which coincidentally games 2016 U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards based on “footprint” and is visible in spy shots of the 991-series Carrera,…

GENERAL Motors’ plans regarding the new Cadillac hierarchy have changed yet again. When we last left you on this issue, Cadillac was working on switching the CTS to the new Alpha rear-drive platform, which will underpin the next Chevrolet Camaro, with less aluminum in its chassis and suspension, and the Cadillac 3 Series-fighter, codenamed ATS. The thinking was that the ATS better fits within the size category that can still find some coupe sales, and that with a more formal roofline, the ATS coupe can accommodate a convertible version without tearing up rear quarter-panels and trunk. The next CTS was to be sedan-only. Since its launch, the current Sigma-based CTS coupe has become a success in rebuilding Cadillac’s image for bold, ground-breaking design as much as showroom sales. So Cadillac…

BMW has announced the name and the date of its two all-new alternative-powertrain high-tech carbon-bodied cars. The plug-in diesel-electric AWD supercar, based on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept, will reach dealers as the i8. The artist formerly known as the Mega City Vehicle, a pure-electric city car, will be called i3. Both will be launched in 2013. The i8 name was predictable: It will be a top-line car, the pinnacle of BMW’s brand of technology, performance, and frugality. It will be expensive, too: You can get similar performance, though not economy, in an M3 for a fraction of the price. The name i3 for the smaller car is a surprise. Is this little bubble ready for comparison with the 3 Series? Even though the i3 is small, it is space-efficient, has…

monster mash A truck trend I don’t like is the “make ’em all look like monster trucks” mindset. I agree that 4x4s should be taller for extra ground clearance, but today you can’t distinguish a 2x4 from a 4x4 by height. You have to climb up into either one like an 18-wheeler. For casual haulers like myself, it used to be so handy to be able to just lay something over in the bed for hauling and later reach over the side of the bed to retrieve it. You can forget that today. Now you have to use a ladder to access the bed. In fact, that was Ford’s answer to the problem. Instead of dropping the truck back down to a reasonable height, Ford built a ladder into the…

FERRUCCIO LAMBORGHINI didn’t set out to build wedge-shaped ballistic missiles, but they’ve defined his company for more than 35 years. What began with a radical Bertone-designed concept at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show has become the definitive formula for flagship Lamborghinis to this day: two seats, wedge-shaped body, mid-mounted V-12 engine, and atom-splitting performance. As the Aventador picks up the torch, here’s a look back at the cars that made Lamborghini what it is today. COUNTACH One of only a few Lamborghinis not to be named for a famous fighting bull, the Countach’s appellation comes from an Italian expression of surprise generally referring to a beautiful woman. Its chiseled, geometric design shocked a world that was just starting to move away from round, flowing vehicle designs, and it set the…

IN HIS DANISH-TINGED English, Henrik Fisker was thinking big as he cut into his steak. “America needs a true premium car to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Cadillac hasn’t done it. And that car must be environmentally responsible, too—and it should come from California.” His glance around the dinner table was greeted with approving nods. His knife continued its cutting. Though wary of that knife, I had to ask. “So explain to me why that’s you and not Tesla?” (Fisker and Tesla have already tussled in court). Then I cringed. Henrik Fisker, however, hasn’t gotten to where he is by taking the bait from the likes of me. “The difference is that our car has no range anxiety. It can travel 50 miles as an electric vehicle, and another 250…

What Matters to You? Today, America needs fresh leadership to lead us as a nation out of this economic crisis. Leadership must come not only from our political leaders but also from the average citizen. The exporting of American jobs is a trend that must be stopped and reversed. When I walk into my local hardware store, I typically find 85% of the goods for sale are manufactured 7,000 miles away. Recognizable American brands have been forced by shortsighted management and buyers at large national chains to build factories overseas just to save a lousy $.50 on a tape measure. To these ruthless buyers, it is all about the money. Rarely are product quality, the political system, human rights, animal rights and environmental costs to the planet considered, not to…

WHAT IS AN SUV? This might seem the absolute worst question for a six-way SUV comparison test to pose in the opening paragraph, but here we are. But could it be that this is the absolute best question to be asking in the year 2011? If it were 1998, one could simply answer, “Jeep Cherokee,” and get back to buying shares of pets.com for $190 each. Forty years ago, you’d say, “International Scout,” and finish installing the lake pipes on your van. But today? Today the Scout and Cherokee are long dead (RIP), and the Nissan Juke and Murano CrossCabriolet technically qualify as SUVs. There are two possible answers. The first is that an SUV is a vehicle short on compromises and high on versatility. Of course, it will get…

CHRISTIAN Bale just got an Oscar for shedding 40 pounds. What does the Cayman R get for dropping 121? The R-specific 3.4-liter flat-six has been reworked for 10 more horsepower (330) compared to the Boxster Spyder, with torque staying at 273 pound-feet. The new transmission—should you opt for Porsche’s seven-speed PDK dual-clutch solution—shifts faster. I drove both the PDK and manual on slick, gorgeously twisted roads in Mallorca, Spain, and each one is absolutely superlative. The suspension has been heavily revised and the entire car’s been lowered by 0.8 inch. Porsche claims the CG has been demoted by 0.9 inch, while front-end lift is down by 15 percent, whereas rear lift is lessened by a whopping 40 percent. These changes result in a much more stable vehicle, an amazing accomplishment…

ONE OF the things that’s been the biggest surprise about the Ram is that it’s very easy to live with. Associate online editor Scott Evans sums up city life in the HD: “I took the Ram for a weekend recently and continue to be surprised by how liveable it actually is in Los Angeles. Yeah, it’s big, but it’s easy to see out of and to drive, so I find it doesn’t take long to adjust to. I love being able to pass on the freeway with ease, thanks to all that turbodiesel torque. Unladen, this thing is downright quick for such a massive vehicle.” Associate online editor Zach Gale was impressed with the truck’s good looks and cabin features: “I never tired of the Ram HD’s styling. Nothing in…

IF YOU’RE talking full-size, full-framed sport/utlilities for 1971, it was the International TravelAll, the Chevy Suburban, and the Jeep Wagoneer. In 1971, there was no such thing as an Escalade, because Cadillac didn’t make trucks or SUVs. Nor was there a Navigator; ditto Lincoln. Denali was just a mountain, not a GMC truck. Range Rover? Official U.S. sales didn’t begin until 1987. Armada or QX56? Nothing but strange, unknown concepts. And plain old normal consumers could still buy a passenger-spec International from a company known for serious trucks. Its TravelAll was as square as an industrial meat locker, about as tough, and a darned effective tool for hauling people and stuff, all while towing a sizeable boat or trailer. The 1971-’72 Suburban was a good-looking piece, available with a variety…