Innehållsförteckning för May 2014 från MotorTrend

While the new standardized SAE J2807 tow capacity rating was established in 2009, Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, and Nissan are finally prepared to implement the recently revised tow rating standard for their 2015 model year trucks. Only Toyota currently follows the standard. The entire industry is moving to the tow standard because Ford says it’ll implement the SAE J2807 rating on the 2015 F-150. Ram will join Ford and put the new standardized tow rating into effect on the 2015 Ram 1500. GM, which has long said it would implement the new standardized tow ratings on the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado and 2014 GMC Sierra once Ford and Ram did, reports it has already tested the trucks to the new SAE standard and will adjust its tow capacity numbers once its…

Early on the morning of February 12, a sinkhole estimated to be 40 feet across and 25-30 feet deep opened beneath the floor of the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and swallowed eight rare Corvettes. Museum officials were alerted when motion detectors in the Skydome area of the museum went off a little after 5:30 a.m. EST. When they arrived, they discovered the sinkhole had claimed eight cars, including six owned by the museum and two on loan from GM. No one was injured in the collapse and the museum will be closed while engineers assess the situation. The museum, which is not affiliated with GM, is raising money for repairs and will partially reopen. GM has vowed to restore all eight cars for the museum.…

The Mini made its bones by being different. Now the third-generation Cooper has arrived, and it's a car even your mother might like. Redesigned from the ground up, the Mini Cooper/S adds refinement and power. It has matured dramatically since returning to America in 2002 as a brash ball of fun. Of course, this Mini got bigger, as redesigned vehicles almost always do. It grew 4.3 inches longer, 1.7 inches wider, and 0.3 inch taller. Its wheelbase grew 1.1 inches, and its track was widened. Twelve years ago, the Mini was 143.1 inches long; now it's 151.1. While the exterior stays true to Mini’s looks, designers did add LED head- and taillamps, which include a light ring that serves as a modern-looking daytime running light. The interior, however, was transformed.…

“Mr. Quality” transformed the auto industry James David (“Dave”) Power III and his wife, Julie, started J. D. Power and Associates on their Calabasas, California, kitchen table in 1968. Prior to that—after graduating from College of the Holy Cross in 1953, serving four years on U.S. Coast Guard icebreakers in the Arctic and Antarctic, and earning an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance—Dave worked in finance and marketing positions at a variety of companies, including Ford. His vision was to research the true “voice of the customer” on brand-versus-brand, model-versus-model quality and customer satisfaction and sell those findings to automakers to help them improve. Detroit makers wouldn’t bite at first, so his first client became Toyota, which was reentering the U.S. market after a disastrous earlier…

Here’s a description of performance you’d never expect to read: In their individual fastest laps, the Camaro Z/28 often beat the GT-R and 911 Turbo through Barber Motorsports Park’s most challenging corners, while the German and the Japanese cars repeatedly out-dragged the Chevrolet down the straights. Really? Really. And those wiggly lines don’t just tell a simple story of a Z/28 shod with absurdly grippy shoes. The Camaro found its greatest time gains in the high-speed corners and the trickiest transitions—places where a car has to give you plenty of confidence to really lean on it. Take a look at Turns 9, 11, 12, and 13—these are white-knucklers. Moreover, although the steepness of their braking rates is quite similar, if you inspect the traces closely, the Z/28 also stops fractionally…

Let’s face it, Chrysler has kinda been phoning in its midsize-car entries since the original cloud cars—Cirrus, Stratus, and Breeze. This chagrined the new boss in the black sweaters, who asked his team to explain why the company offered three great entries in the miniscule large-car segment, while two crappy ones (then Sebring and Avenger) were being slaughtered by the Camry and Accord in the mighty midsize segment. The answer amounted to shrugged shoulders and finger-pointing at a Daimler organization model that gave cost-driven engineers full authority over the product with no responsibility for its sales. Marchionne’s edict: Enough phoning it in—hang up and drive. The 2011 200 was a rush patch-it-up job funded by loose change scrounged from bankruptcy courtroom couches. Whatever sales that car has garnered are testaments…

“Get out of the way, L.A. The Cadillac Vsport is coming up fast. Roll into a slower lane and let this twin-turbo menace through.”@MT_Floyd EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 16/24/18 MPG BASE PRICE $59,995 PRICE AS TESTED $60,990 IF YOU know Motor Trend, then you know we invest a huge amount of blood and treasure into evaluating the cars that take part in our annual Car of the Year extravaganza. But even after the exhaustive testing and selection process is over, there’s still plenty more we can learn and share with you about each winner during its year-long stay in the MT garage. And, boy, are we ready to learn more about the 2014 Cadillac CTS Vsport that just rolled up to MT HQ. At COTY, the CTS Vsport was…

“There’s an immediate difference between the MDX and RDX the second I start to drive, with the MDX feeling significantly sportier.” Service life / 5 mo/ 8508 mi Avg CO2 / 0.99 lb/mi Energy cons / 172 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $0 Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 18/27/ 21 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 19.6 MPG Shortly after the arrival of our MDX, we took it to our test facility to run our standard battery of instrumented tests. The numbers were quite interesting, especially when compared with our recently returned long-term RDX. The MDX is longer, wider, and taller than the RDX, and weighs 470 pounds more. Both use a 3.5-liter V-6 mated to a six-speed automatic, but the MDX has 17 more…

“The Obsidian Blue paint is too dark and doesn’t show off the design elements as well as Alabaster Silver or Modern Steel.”@RonKiino Service life / 11 mo/19,737 mi Avg CO2 / 0.68 lb/mi Energy cons / 118 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $209.42 (2-oil change, inspection; 1- tire rotation) Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 26/35/29 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 28.6 MPG During one of his track-test visits to Los Angeles, racer Randy Pobst borrowed the Accord Sport for a week and came away mostly impressed. “Nice car,” he noted. “The ‘Sport’ really means something. Not boring as expected. Suspension was big surprise: firm and balanced, and still rides OK. I took twisty Angeles Crest over to Palmdale—steering was a bit numb, but…

“$895 for some plastic!? When did cars get so expensive?”@MT_Shaffer Service life / 10 mo/25,939 mi Avg CO2 / 0.94 lb/mi Energy cons / 163 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $306.73 (2-oil change, inspection) Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 19/25/21 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 20.7 MPG In my last update, I ran through the laundry list of battle scars that have accumulated on our fully loaded Pathfinder Platinum Edition. I was hoping to repair everything in one fell swoop as the time to return our crossover-ish SUV draws near. Unfortunately a steep estimate from one local dealership has me holstering my credit card until I check with another dealership. I got an estimate of $300 to fix the driver-side mirror housing, and…

Unlike with the Ferrari Mondial T, the “T” doesn’t stand for “Terrible.” It stands for “Turbocharged.” For the first time since the legendary F40, a turbocharged engine has found its way under the hood of a Ferrari. The 2015 Ferrari California T was unveiled ahead of its Geneva Motor Show debut, and unlike with the Ferrari Mondial T, the “T” doesn’t stand for “Terrible.” It stands for (twin) “Turbocharged,” as the new 2015 California T packs a 552-hp turbo V-8. Smaller in displacement than the old 4.3-liter naturally aspirated V-8 it replaces, the 2015 California T’s new 3.9-liter V-8 gets a big power upgrade over the old model. The California T’s twin-turbocharged V-8 makes 552 hp and 557 lb-ft of torque, a 69-hp and 185 lb-ft of torque increase over…

The TRD Pro models split the difference among Ford’s bespoke F-150 Raptor, Jeep’s Wrangler Rubicon, and the do-it-yourself Mopar Ram Runner kit. The TRD Pro models get meaningful upgrades to improve off-road performance while not ruining driveability. They’ll look the part, too, with FJ40-inspired grilles, black wheels, and skidplates. Toyota says the TRD Pro models will go into “limited production” this year, with an “affordable” price tag. Colors include black, Super White, and Inferno (burnt orange). The Tacoma TRD Pro is the most in-your-face with a unique “TOYOTA” block-letter grille, black “TRD Pro” badging, and a front skidplate. Functional upgrades include Bilstein remote-reservoir shocks, TRD-tuned springs with 2 inches of front lift and a decreased spring rate for a smoother ride over uneven terrain, unique 16-inch bead-lock-style wheels, BFGoodrich All-Terrain…

Both the Navigator and Expedition have been updated with revised sheetmetal front and rear to dress up their dated facades, and both get fancier interior materials and new half-digital, half-analog instrument clusters lifted from Ford’s hybrid lineup. They pick up a few new features including upgraded stereos, the latest MyFord Touch and MyLincoln Touch infotainment systems, and blind-spot monitoring systems. Notably absent are features such as LED headlights, lane-keeping assist, and adaptive cruise control. Under hood, the old 5.4-liter V-8 has been replaced in both trucks by Ford’s EcoBoost twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6. Power output wasn't announced at press time for the Expedition, but it should be similar to the Navigator’s “at least 370 hp and 430 lb-ft of torque.” Both feature a six-speed automatic transmission and standard rear drive, with…

Convertibles have never sold well in the U.S., but sales are down from 2 percent of all cars sold in 2012 to just a measly 1 percent in 2013. I therefore approached the launch of BMW’s latest drop-top, the 435i Convertible, with a wary eye. As BMW spins it, the old 3 Series Convertible accounted for a “significant” part of 3 Series sales. BMW is weird with numbers. I was told the U.S.-only manual transmission option in the M5/M6 accounts for “between 10 to 50 percent” of sales. The new longer, wider, lower 4 Series Convertible retains the folding metal hardtop from the E93. BMW claims sound-absorbing materials in the roof are good for eating up 2 dB of noise. You can now raise or lower said top at speeds…

The initial idea suggested to yours truly was to line up the Mercedes-Benz CLA250 against the Volkswagen CC R-Line, but the proposal was compelling for all of two minutes. Apart from vaguely sharing body shapes and having turbocharged engines with similar outputs, the bigger, $35K, entry-level luxury question asked was, “Would anybody care?” With its big-money Super Bowl commercial, Mercedes’ hot, new people-pleaser and its alluring starting price has garnered major public attention. In contrast, the CC is perhaps the most visually attractive VW on sale, but it’s no contest when competing for market relevance. Despite dropping into customer clutches for the first time in September 2013, the CLA-Class was just 1560 units shy of besting CC sales for all of 2013 by December’s end, year for year. Of course,…

The 2015 Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class “is not a poser. This is a real SUV.” Thomas Weber, head of Group Research and Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, made that quite clear while speaking to the journalists sampling the new GLA in southern Spain. It’s a bold statement, considering the GLA will share showroom space with the iconic G-Class, which solidified its reputation as a legit off-roader long before becoming a Beverly Hills staple. So what makes for a real SUV, anyway? According to Weber, a real SUV combines style, a higher seating position, more space for cargo, and off-road capability. The GLA checks all those boxes, especially compared with its platform-mate CLA four-door sedan, which was America’s first taste of Mercedes’ new front-drive chassis. Mercedes has been happy with the CLA’s sales performance since…

“Bitter cold? Not a problem. The ATS’ remote start takes the bite out of the polar vortex.”@autocritic Service life / 4 mo/6062 mi Avg CO2 / 0.78 lb/mi Energy cons / 135 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $0 Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 21/31/24 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 25.0 MPG Cold weather is the perfect proving ground for many car features. Plastic gets hard, suspensions stiffen up, and the roads around Detroit turn into a pockmarked, slippery moon surface. The Cadillac ATS has outperformed every polar vortex Mother Nature has thrown at us. The frosted-up ATS includes all the winter features any driver needs for a quick thaw, including a remote start that’s essential for taking the chill out of a-15-degree morning.…

“EyeSight works great, as long as you’re not driving toward the sun. Ugh, frustrating.”@nate_martinez Service life / 10 mo/20,052 mi Avg CO2 / 0.76 lb/mi Energy cons / 132 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $0 (2-oil change; 1-rotate tires, inspection) Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 24/32/27 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 25.6 MPG My second Subaru Care service was just as painless as the first. At more than 15,000 miles, the technicians at Frank Subaru in San Diego replaced my 2.5-liter’s 0W-20 oil, oil filter, and oil plug gasket; checked and topped off all fluids; and rotated my freshly filled tires. That’s number two of four free services done. During my dealer visit, I shuffled through the Forester’s accessories catalog. Not a good…

“The Ram has the best ride of anything in the MT longterm fleet. Anyone who’s driven it surely agrees.”@TruckTrendAH Service life / 9 mo/19,988 mi Avg CO2 / 1.24 lb/mi Energy cons / 215 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $61.56 (oil change, tire rotation, inspection) Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 15/21/17 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 15.7 MPG I’ve spent a lot of time in the Ram, in a variety of environments, and are starting to see signs of wear and tear. I totally understood when the Copperhead paint showed hints of “desert pinstriping” after a trip to Death Valley. That’ll buff right out. And a rock chip in the windshield is almost guaranteed to show up on the drive from Los Angeles…

I wasn’t finished enjoying my time with this right-sized pillar of the compact CUV market. “Traditional Honda engine noise rings through the cabin during heavy-throttle hammering—a noise enthusiasts will enjoy, but your wife won’t.”@BrianNVance Service Life / 14 mo / 26,978 mi Base Price / $23,525 Options / EX-L equipment ($4550: leather seats, dual-zone climate control, 7-speaker sound system), navigation ($1500) Price as Tested / $29,575 Avg Econ/CO2 / 26.5 mpg / 0.73 lb/mi Problem Areas / None Maintenance Cost / $220.66 (3-oil change, tire rotation, inspection) Normal-Wear Cost / $0 3-Year Residual Value* / $17,449 Recalls / Transmission brake-shift interlock *Automotive Lease Guide EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 23/31/26 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 26.5 MPG As I tossed the CR-V keys back to our fleet manager for the last…

In 1966, Congress passed the National Historic Preservation Act. That created the National Register of Historic Places, which puts those plaques in front of important old buildings. The National Park Service administers the program, and the register now covers more than a million properties. But what about historic cars? Enter the Historic Vehicle Association. Founded in 2009, with support from Hagerty Insurance, the HVA’s mission is “the celebration and preservation of national automotive heritage.” The HVA is America’s first organization to initiate a national agenda for automotive heritage, and it serves as the United States’ representative body for the Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens. It has quietly grown to 360,000 members. The suburban Washington, D.C.-based HVA used the Washington auto show as an occasion to announce the first vehicle to…

Co-developed with BMW, a new Toyota sports car will be a sister car to the next-generation Z4, “and drive superbly,” a Toyota source tells us. In 2013, both companies conducted a feasibility study into the car's potential and discussed topics including the type of materials to use and what powertrain to employ. The new coupe will employ the front-engine, rear-drive layout of the current Z4. But this car will be amazingly light. “This car will use the same lightweight body construction as the i3 and i8,” a source says. That means lots of carbon fiber and aluminum in a car that will incorporate basic body and chassis design by BMW. “And even with that type of construction, you can expect a sticker price around the same as that of the…

Don’t let the name fool you: The McLaren 650S is little more than a high(er)-performance version of the automaker’s 12C supercar. Though its name might be about as sexy as an Airbus’, it does hint at the serious performance this McLaren is packing. The “650” stands for the 650 metric horsepower (641 ’Murican horses) made by the McLaren’s mid-mounted 3.8-liter twin-turbo V-8, while the “S” stands simply for Sport. While that’s just a 25-hp bump over the 12C’s, the 650S’ dramatic and aerodynamically efficient bodywork promises to make the most of the 12C’s mill. With the car’s new P1-inspired nose, downforce and turn-in are improved over the 12C’s while still retaining the 12C’s 0.36 coefficient of drag. The improvement is thanks to the new front splitter that effectively wraps all…

By our count, there have been some 10 different variants of the modern Bentley Continental, with two engines and four levels of performance currently offered. Having driven three of them recently, let’s channel a plutocratic grown-up Goldilocks and assess this latest variant: the V8 S. It’s essentially a W12 Speed with 2/3s the cylinders and 11/13s the power output that barely needs 1/13th again as much time to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph and costs about 9/10ths as much. The twin-turbos blow 1.5 psi more turbo boost into the V-8 for 21 extra horses and 15 lb-ft more twist, dropping the 0-60-mph time by a claimed 0.3 second (now 4.3). EPA ratings are unchanged at 15/24 mpg (coupe), 14/24 (convertible). Suspension revisions roughly mirror the Speed’s, including a 0.4-inch-lower…

One million years. As in, if you rewound the clock to 2009, never in one million years would I believe I’d be writing a story where a Camaro would be mentioned in the same sentence as a Nissan GT-R or a Porsche 911 Turbo S. I clearly remember the first time I drove a GT-R in anger because I ran into a pack of two Ferrari F430s, a 355 Spyder, a BMW M6, and a Dodge Viper in the canyons above Los Angeles. After a few miles, it became clear exactly who was driving the dominant supercar. (Hint: Me!) Likewise, I’ll always remember the first time I got behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 Turbo S, because every time I looked down, the speedometer claimed I was going 114…

It urges you to go to power early in a corner’s exit, but toe in too deep and you're in for heavy front-end push. Twenty-seven days after the dust seled on our entry-luxe rodeo, an Audi A3 2.0T turned up on our doorstep. Chiseled into a sedan (a model first) specifically to invade the all-important U.S. and Chinese markets, it’s positioned as the CLA250’s most direct opponent. Opening reaction: What a cutesy lile car! It’s about 91 percent the size of an A4 by the exterior dimensions. The A3’s stubby outline and truncated rear end give it an endearing “Oh, how precious” vibe. Checking the others’ specs, the A3 is shortest in length (by far) and height (by 0.6 inch), and it's the same width as the narrowest-in-test CLA250. The…

For a vegetarian in the land of bullfighting, eating can be a challenge. I found a restaurant called Shangri-La in the southern Spanish town of Merida, but it was closed on Mondays, and parking was tough, and I don’t speak Spanish, and how did it get so late? This being my first trip as a real, live journalist—to drive BMW M3 DTM and Z4 GT3 race cars, no less—I expected BMW would not appreciate me rolling in half an hour late. Traffic on Spanish autovias (freeways) showed surprisingly cooperative lane discipline (keep right!), holding to the posted limit of about 75 mph, except for the random 100-mph guy every few minutes. That happened consistently, so I waited for the next high flier and made him our front door for the…

Even though the 2015 Silverado (and Sierra) HD now has very different styling from the trucks in the previous generation, GM opted not to change the powertrain. The ¾- and 1-ton pickups continue to use either a 360-hp, 6.0-liter gas V-8 or a 397-hp, 6.6-liter Duramax turbodiesel V-8, each backed by a different six-speed automatic. The HD models were all-new under the skin for 2011, when they received a new Duramax and a fully boxed frame with high-strength steel. The 2015 pickups reflect the rest of the transition to the new generation of HD trucks. But there's more to the new exterior than just its looks. It's an entirely new body, made with generous amounts of high-strength steel—2/3 of the cab is made of it. The new body is stiffer,…

“As a long-distance tourer, the Gran Coupe ranks up there with the best of them.”@RoryJurnecka Service life / 12 mo/ 16,023 mi Avg CO2 / 1.12 lb/mi Energy cons / 195 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $0 (oil change, inspection) Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 17/25/19 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 17.3 MPG With Angus MacKenzie’s recent removal to our new Range Rover long-termer, and the departure of my Subaru BRZ, I was given custody of our 650i Gran Coupe for the duration of its stay. On previous back-to-back Los Angeles to Las Vegas and L.A. to Sedona, Arizona, trips, the 650i proved itself as a great grand-touring car. With effortless speed, good freeway comfort, and enough amenities to send Thoreau into spastic…

“I’m not normally an SUV guy, but I do like not having to pull myself up when I get out.”@MT_Royer Service life / 6 mo/10,784 mi Avg CO2 / 0.75 lb/mi Energy cons / 130 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $191.15 (change oil, rotate tires, inspection) Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 24/29/26 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 26.0 MPG Let’s take a look around the Outlander’s cabin, skipping the entertainment center console, which is an update unto itself. Something I’ve noticed while driving the Outlander for a few months is how comfortable I feel getting in and out of it. In a lot of smaller vehicles it’s a challenge to fall into, then climb out of, the driver’s seat. That would be a…

“Sometimes, beauty is skin deep. Sometimes it’s on the inside. The Lexus IS falls in the latter category.”@MT_Evans Service life / 1 mo/2134 mi Avg CO2 / 0.90 lb/mi Energy cons / 157 kW-hrs/100 mi Unresolved problems / None Maintenance cost / $0 Normal-wear cost / $0 EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON: 19/28/22 MPG AVERAGE FUEL ECON 18.5 MPG As previously mentioned, we’re sampling three types of Lexus IS during our year-long experience. The first one—the IS 250—has been exchanged for car number two: the IS 350. Fortunately their interiors are largely similar. I love the LFA-inspired horizontal motif in the dash and how each passenger has his or her own form-fitting space without feeling claustrophobic. Part of this is a low beltline that doesn’t make the car feel like…