Innehållsförteckning för October 2011 från MotorTrend

MT Top 10 Online Vid Ads July is all about BMW, Lamborghini, Volkswagen, and Ford. BMW grabs first place with 1.6 million views with its MPowered Performance campaign, which launched last month and continues to grow. VW’s The Force, which debuted during the Super Bowl, manages to hang onto second place. Quality, the first of two Lamborghini campaigns on the chart, makes its debut at fourth place. Ford has two campaigns here as well. * First appearance on chart ** Back 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…

THE TYPICAL Hollywood superhero synopsis: Introduce the young man, follow his rise to greatness by overcoming adversity, then a happy ending. “Senna” isn’t your typical Hollywood movie. Ayrton Senna did not rise to greatness—he started there. When faced with a difficult situation, he ran through it with throttles wide open. And if you’re already a Senna fan, you know there was no happy ending. “Senna” is brutally honest, portraying his unwillingness to compromise and his unwavering concern for the safety of his fellow racers. It never paints him as a saint, but as the flawed hero who won fans around the world. The movie is made up almost entirely of archival footage, some shown for the first time. Voice-overs from period and modern interviews with his friends, family, and colleagues…

HAS HONDA turned a design corner? It looks that way, considering the 2012 CR-V Concept unveiled at the Orange County International Auto Show in Anaheim in September. Typical of Honda’s “concepts,” it’s a proximation of the production ’12 CR-V scheduled to go on sale about mid-December. Lose the show-car-size big wheels and you pretty much have the consumer model, which is about the same size as the outgoing model, and despite online speculation to the contrary, remains a two-row crossover/utility vehicle. The CR-V is expected to launch with a new four-cylinder engine that is more powerful and/or more efficient than the current 180-horsepower, 2.4-liter, with a six-speed replacing the five-speed automatic. Unfortunately, the CR-V won’t be ready in time for this year’s Motor Trend Sport/Utility of the Year competition. The…

IN THE FACE of 2016’s 35.5 mpg, and perhaps even 2025’s proposed 52.6 mpg, the eight-speed automatic should give enthusiasts hope for full-size rear-drive cars. Chrysler seeks double-digit-percentage fuel-efficiency improvements in adding its new ZF-based 845RE transmission to the 2012 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger. The company expects a highway EPA figure up about 3 mpg, “in the 30-mpg range,” when official testing is completed. It launches first in rear-or all-wheel-drive versions with the 3.6-liter V-6, though Hemi-powered and other longitudinal-engine models will eventually migrate to it. To date, 300/Charger V-6 buyers were unlucky early adapters saddled with the old five-speed automatic. The new eight-speed is lighter and more compact than some competitors’ six-speed automatics, Chrysler says. With a ratio spread of 7.0 in the RWD models, the tranny has…

RAY DURHAM Vehicle line executive: The two-step evolution of the model gave us more time for the Pentastar development. Engine development was happening at the same time as the interior changes, allowing the engine to be ready to go in a short amount of time. What did it take to ready the Pentastar for the off-road requirements of the Wrangler? TONY PETIT Responsible for the Wrangler and Liberty: We had to create a unique oil pan, an acoustic engine cover to reduce noise and improve appearance, optimized upper intake airflow for torque, and add equal-length downpipes to improve low-and midrange torque response. Also unique are the front-end accessory drive and highmounted rear-facing alternator for water fording. Its new pulse-width modulated 600-watt fan is 100-percent variable speed, not just high and…

CHRYSLER 300 SRT8 The 300 is the Q-ship of the SRT8 line in the same way a flamethrower is the stealthy alternate to a bazooka. There’s substantially more style to the standard car’s swagger, despite the lack of significant exterior modification during the SRT8 transformation. The 300 receives a tastefully appointed dark grille and muted gray chrome wheels. Underneath the borrowed Bentley cues lies a surprising and immensely gratifying driver’s machine. Consider that, at 4.5 seconds to 60 mph and 13.0 seconds to the quarter mile, the Chrysler matches a Camaro SS. In addition, the 300’s 25.8-second figure-eight lap time is a tenth behind a Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track and BMW 335i. Surprised? The 300 SRT8 also is a sublime handler, dynamically superior to anyperformance-mindedf iddAudi sedan, d andd possibly…

"BETTER DO IT,” I murmured to myself. I was standing in line behind two young girls, maybe 15 years old, at a 7-Eleven near my house. Motor TrendÕs long-term Chevy Volt needed somebody to retrieve it from the wintery clutches of our Detroit editors, and I’d been fantasizing about taking my daughter, Catherine, on the journey. I examined these girls’ appearance—heavy black mascara, one hand on a jutted-out hip, impatiently snapping gum. Catherine is 11. Now’s the time. The easy way to do this would be to fly to Detroit’s Metro Airport and drive straight back. But, heck, in all likelihood, we’d be the first ordinary folks to drive a Volt across America. Time to see a new USA in a new Chevrolet, to paraphrase Dinah Shore’s song—though her Chevys…

TWO YEARS AGO, we invited a charming young 2009 Jetta TDI into our garage and quickly fell in love with its cushy interior, ample torque, and near-endless range. Today, we say hello to our returning prodigal, but as with any child returning home from college, things have changed. When the 2009 Jetta left our nest, it was a cute little blue ball of personality. What’s returned is a wiser, worldlier, and more straight-laced sedan that’s matured greatly during its two years away from home. The real-world marketplace has reshaped and reformed our little diesel from a fun-loving youth into a serious, suit-clad young adult. Its styling is blockier and carefully toes the corporate line. Its interior is cold, brutally functional, and inexpensive. It even wears a ho-hum shade of silver-gray…

THE SIGN of any good design is when it causes strong reactions, negative or positive. Our long-term ZDX certainly didn’t leave our editors on middle ground. Even a full year and 25,000 miles later, opinions are still split on whether Acura hit the nail square on the head with its swoopy crossover or whacked its thumb in a painful blunder. The seating position and forward visibility were two of the attributes universally praised in our ZDX. In contrast, the rear seats were universally despised. Associate online editor Benson Kong surmised the ZDX was designed for rear passengers no taller than 5 feet. While this fits fine with online production manager Kirill Ougarov’s assertion that we should call the ZDX a 2+2, it doesn’t jibe with the reality that it is…

JAGUAR’S new compact sport coupe is out as a concept just now, at the Frankfurt international auto show. The real thing is due at the end of 2012, a rival for Porsche’s Cayman and even the entry-level 911, as well as the BMW Z4 and Mercedes SLK. It will be sold as a coupe and convertible, and with a GT3 track-capable version from early in the program. Its body structure is based on the larger XK’s aluminum architecture. The new car is shorter than the XK and at least 200 pounds lighter, but about the same width. Although the 5.0-liter V-8 would fit, Jaguar wants to avoid cannibalizing XK sales, so the new compact sports car will use a 90-degree V-6 derived from the V-8. By offering naturally aspirated and…

CHEVROLET has confirmed the 2013 Cruze will be available with a turbodiesel four. We're betting on the new 2.0-liter common rail diesel sold in the Holden Cruze. since GM in Australia has taken the lead on Cruze development. The Holden Cruze with 2.0-liter turbodiesel and manual is rated 5.6 liters per 100 km in Australia, which translates to 42 mpg combined city and highway, equivalent of the U.S. Cruze Eco manual’s highway number with the 1.4-liter turbo gas four. General Motors' goal with the diesel Cruze is a 50-plus-mpg EPA highway number, so tuning, tires, and other equipment may be changed for the 2.0-liter turbodiesel version here. Best rating for the gas Cruze is 28/42 mpg, 33 combined, for the Eco with six-speed manual. That magic 42-mpg number has paid…

Jeep celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2011, and as we welcome the best Wrangler yet, we pay tribute to the original trail-rated truck. Though Jeep considers its birth year to be 1941, when the first military-spec Jeeps rolled off the line in Toledo, Ohio, the first Civilian Jeeps, or CJs, weren’t available until 1945. This Model CJ2A is number 26, and cost $1200 new. One of only a handful built with a column-shift“three-on-the-tree” three-speed manual transmission, this truck spends most of its time in the Chrysler collection, but it’s led a full life. Jeep acquired it from an Indiana collector who had bought it from a school district that was using it to pull parade floats. Before undergoing a full restoration, it was said to have been covered in layers…

MERCEDES WOULD HAVE you believe it practically invented the modern luxury SUV segment back in 1998 with the first-generation M-Class. That may be debatable, but the M-Class is an undisputed major sales success for the brand, selling 1.1 million units worldwide during the past 13 years. For the 2012 model year, the M-Class enters its third generation, and while revisions may appear subtle, they are aimed at keeping this luxo-ute at the top of its game. Helping to do just that are two new V-6 engines. The base engine is Mercedes’ 3.5-liter direct-injection V-6, which produces 302 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque—improvements of 13 and 6 percent over previous figures. Fuel economy is rated at 17/22 city/highway mpg, also stronger numbers than those of the outgoing model. An extra…

VIEWING THE ROCKIES THROUGH THE WINDOWS OF A STANDARD COMPACT IS LIKE WATCHING "TRANSFORMERS 3'' ON AN IPHONE. YOU’VE HEARD the old saying, “Nothing handles like a rental car,” right? Well, trust us when we tell you that nothing handles a summer vacation through spectacular scenery like a rented convertible. Viewing the Rocky Mountains, the red rocks of Sedona, the Chicago skyline, or the Blue Ridge Parkway through the windows of a standard compact or midsize offering is like watching “Transformers 3” on your iPhone—sober. Our apocalyptic economy has torpedoed convertible sales, slashing market share from more than 2 percent to just around 1.2 percent through the first half of 2011, but once you’ve made the rational decision to forego the monthly payment on a full-time convertible, it’s a cinch…

THE AVERAGE Volkswagen driver is far more likely to be found in a hotel suite than a tent, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a deep-seated desire to wear a vest full of off-road Scout badges. VW brought us to the Austrian Alps to pound around on dirt and gravel roads to see what the refreshed Tiguan can do. The Tiguan is more soft-roader than off-roader, but VW builds it to be an off-road-capable vehicle. The Track and Sport model, as it’s known in Europe, offers higher-cut bumpers (allowing greater approach angles), and skidplates under the drivetrain. We will continue to get the 200-horspower, 2.0-liter turbo whose low-end torque and smooth delivery make it a good choice for the smaller SUV. VW has gone to great effort to improve…

JUDGING how the staff felt about the Mitsubishi Outlander we tested last year, the reaction to the Outlander Sport’s arrival might be more "Pet Sematary" than "Lassie"—more wary than enthusiastic. In terms of style, the Outlander Sport is a near carbon copy of its presumably less-active brother, but more than a foot shorter and a few hundred pounds lighter. That leaves room for two fewer passengers, dropping from seven to five. The Sport still sits at roughly the same height and is the same width, so it drives with eerily similarity to its bigger brother. Our Labrador Black Outlander Sport has All-Wheel Control with 2WD/4WD/LOCK modes for when you want to save gas (2WD), when you want to let the vehicle sort out the traction (4WD), and LOCK for when…

AT MOTOR TREND headquarters, where there are always hot hatches and sports cars lurking about, having a big pickup can go one of two ways. One possibility is it gets totally ignored, as people choose to drive vehicles that are faster and better suited to canyon roads. The other—and what we observed to be the case with our Ram Heavy-Duty 2500—is that, because it’s one of the few vehicles in the long-term fleet ready do work at a moment’s notice, the big pickup is always busy. We first discovered the Ram’s civilized nature at the 2010 Truck of the Year testing, where the Ram won because of its impressive capability and refinement. As the TOTY winner, it earned a spot in our long-term fleet. One of the biggest improvements the…

IN MID-2012, eight years after Mercedes-Benz launched the CLS, and trailing the release of the Audi A7, BMW will finally come up with a big four-door fastback version of the 6 Series. It was previewed as the Concept Gran Coupe in Beijing in April 2010. That concept’s resemblance to the 6 Series at nose and tail is clear, and now BMW officials have told us about the production version. BMW acknowledges it’s late to the market. The company wanted to get the first of the new 6 Series generation, the cabriolet, launched in time for the Northern Hemisphere summer. The coupe is only now following, and the four-door is a year away. It will run on the 116.5-inch wheelbase of the 5 Series instead of the 112.4-inch base of the…

another kind of green I’m reading in your July ‘11 issue about the Rolls-Royce Atlantic Chrome 102EX electric car, which they’ve apparently decided to call the Phantom Experimental Electric. With an acronym like that, I’d think it would be more yellow than green. Harry VienerBurke, Virginia write us at 831 S. Douglas St. El Segundo, CA 90245 e-mail us online at motortrend.com or send an e-mail direct to motortrend@motortrend.com ■ letter of the month Well, Mr. Viener, do you have any other observations you'd like to share? Perhaps some advice on which snow to eat and which to avoid? Can you suggest any good books by I.P. Freely? Okay, enough of that. Say hello to our little friends. We're sending you "Fast Five" and "Scarface" on Blu-ray DVD so you…

“THERE’S NO DOUBT in our minds that this latest personal sporty car from Ford will sell like proverbial hotcakes.” When we’re right, we’re right. That line opened our first-ever review of the new 1965 Mustang in the May 1964 edition of Motor Trend. Here’s what else we had to say about the original ponycar: “While the Mustang definitely isn’t a sports car in its production form, there’s a pronounced strain of GT in it. Its ride and handling characteristics are completely different from the Falcon’s. Suspension is firmer, and the geometry used gives the car a good feel. We thought cars handled very well in stock trim. They lean a bit but stick well and have completely predictable behavior. Six-cylinder version is a little slow (estimated 0-60-mph time: 15-17 seconds),…

YOU CAN’T TELL BY LOOKING at it, but the Jeep Wrangler has undergone a transformation. The iconic shape remains—seven-slot grille, round headlights, short wheelbase, soft or hard top—but Jeep has made huge improvements to the off-roader for 2012. Jeep invited us to drive the 2012 Wrangler on the Rubicon, one of the hardest 4x4 trails around, used almost exclusively by modified vehicles. We also got to drive on the two-lane asphalt roads that wind around Lake Tahoe. Consider this the second part of a major overhaul to the Wrangler and four-door Wrangler Unlimited. Part one happened for the 2011 model year, when the JK (the current generation’s code name) received a new interior, plus, on the Sahara, a body-color hard top and fender flares. The hard top is of the…

IS THE 2012 Toyota Camry new and special enough to vanquish the Hyundai Sonata? Is the SE model a poor man’s sport sedan? Is Toyota’s rebound in J.D. Power & Associates’ initial quality rankings, and the company’s vindication over specious unintended acceleration claims, enough to warrant purchase consideration? Do you experience headaches, dizziness, or nausea when driven swiftly in a sports car? If you’ve answered, “Well, heck, yes!” to any of these questions, get ready for a quiz in which we determine whether you’d notice an all-new seventh-generation model if it used your driveway for a U-turn. Here are some study materials: Camrys traditionally run two cycles on one platform, and this is Act II of the current architecture. Same wheelbase, and about the same overall length. The engines are…

DO YOU derive pleasure from living in the city, with its hustle and fast-paced lifestyle? If so, Scion has a car for you. The Toyota iQ is not a new car, but this Scion version technically is. Designed to adapt to densely populated cityscapes, the iQ does everything small, in a big way. It’s slightly bigger than a Smart Fortwo but still a runt next to a Camry, and that brings inherent packaging dilemmas. It’s not just the challenge of stuffing four seats for 3.5 people within a wheelbase shorter than a Lotus Elise’s (78.7 versus 90.6 inches); there must also be room for an engine, ancillaries, and suspension (front MacPherson strut and rear torsion beam); an interior to trim; and empty space for cargo. Only expert engineering with the…

WHEN THIS GENERATION of Ford’s F-150 was introduced for the 2009 model year, it was impressive enough to win Motor TrendÕs Truck of the Year honors. That was despite its one big downside: an aging lineup of engines, all three of which were V-8s. They included a two-valve, 248-horsepower, 294-pound-foot, 4.6-liter V-8; another 4.6-liter V-8 with three valves per cylinder that put out 292 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque; and a 5.4-liter V-8 offering 310 horsepower and 365 pound-feet. Making things worse, the two-valve was backed by a four-speed automatic, and fuel economy wasn’t good enough. Many clues pointed to the same conclusion: It was time for new engines. Fast-forward two model years, and all three V-8s have been swept aside for two V-6s and two V-8s, all with…

CALL IT WHAT you will: blasphemy, a sign of the times, a smart business move. For Lotus, it’s simply reality. In markets like North America and Asia, the brand was turning away a large number of customers who said they’d be happy to buy an Evora, if only it had an automatic transmission. No more. Arriving in late 2011 as a 2012 model, the Evora IPS will be the first self-shifting Lotus in more than two decades. Like its 3.5-liter V-6, the Evora’s six-speed automatic is lifted from the Toyota Camry and modified by Lotus. Now controlled by Lotus’ actuation system and computer, the pedestrian Camry transmission takes on a whole new persona. The result is a completely different experience. The torque converter locks above 20 mph and stays that…

THE MORE I drive the QX56, the more I can’t help but think of it as an exercise in excess. Gasoline is not inexpensive (especially the premium fuel our V-8-powered behemoth devours a gallon of every 15 miles), and it gets a man to thinking whether he really needs a nearly 3-ton, 400-horsepower SUV for the daily commute. Of course, once your foot is firmly planted on accelerator and the floodgates open on that 5.6-liter engine, the answer is unwaveringly“yes, he does.” The QX might be among the largest production vehicles on the road, it might have been designed by a drunken anime cartoonist, and it might be completely unnecessary for any sort of rational commute. But you don’t buy a vehicle like this out of rationality; you buy it…

THE MORE things change, the more frequently Volkswagen launches a new Beetle. The original Type 1 stayed in production for 65 years. The New Beetle, introduced in 1998, soldiered on for 11 years. Now, after a one-year gap, the Bug returns. But let’s back up. In 1956, we compared the then-18-year-old Beetle with the four-year-old (refreshed) Renault 4 CV. Aside from their relatively similar, diminutive sizes, both cars shared a rearengine layout and low power. How low? A Chevy Bel Air with the base small-block made 162 horses in 1956. The Renault made 28 to the Bug’s 36. The French car’s top speed was 63 mph. The autobahn-bred German could hit 68 mph. The numbers really are worth repeating. The Renault weighed 1340 pounds to the “porkier” VeeDub’s 1600. The…