Innehållsförteckning för August 2004 från MotorTrend

> AUDI TO BUILD LE MANS/RSR FOR 2007 > CADDY GOES V-CRAZY > FRANCE, ENGLAND, AND ITALY MEET IN MARANELLO > LAMBO AND THE LAW W IS FOR TOUARGE Volkswagen has begun building a small number of Touaregs with the Phaeton’s 450-horsepower W-12 engine for select customers. The automaker’s CEO, Bernd Pischetsrieder, showed a prototype at the Bahrain Grand Prix. VW plans to sell about 100 examples in the Middle East. Another 333 copies are being considered for the USA and Europe. Every customer will have to order his W-12 Touareg through VW Individual, where the car will be built to customer specifications. Price is expected to be about $118,000, and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo-fighter will have a O-to-62-mph time of less than six seconds and a top speed of…

Audi joins the growing list of companies offering premium small cars (Mini, BMW 2 Series) in the U.S., when its A3 five-door premiers here next May (see spy/photo-illustration in “News,” May 2003). Of six engines offered in the European-spec car launching this fall, we’ll get the new 2.0-liter FSI turbo V-6, rated at 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet, and a 250-horse, 236 pound-feet 3.2-liter V-6. Both engines will be offered with the cool Direct Shift Gearbox paddle-shift manual gearbox. Of course, Audi avoids words like “hatchback” and “wagon” to describe the new A3; in Europe, it’s called the A3 Sportback.…

It’s taken five years for 911 enthusiasts to learn to love water-cooled engines. But they never did get used to the current-generation Carrera’s oddly shaped headlights or the fact that the nose’s overall look was shared with the Boxster. So Stuttgart decided to stop fighting it and used the Carrera’s midlife update as an occasion to give it something more like the classic 911 face we’ve always loved. The return of round (oblong, really) headlights is among a host of revamps that accompany the appearance of the substantially remodeled 2005 Carreras. Although the basic platform and 92.5-inch wheelbase remain, every body panel save the roof is new; the Carrera will now wear the internal designation “997.” Speaking of nostalgia, a vaunted nameplate returns as well: 911S. The S designation indicated…

The sport-coupe segment is fickle. Any new kid on the block gets 15 minutes of fevered buff-book fame and then disappears from the limelight. So, in addition to the high-testosterone fire-breather model everyone writes about, most manufacturers also offer a cheap, fuelsipping, skinny-tired version to lure single females into buying about 60 percent of the production run. Scion is ash-canning that business model with the new tC. First, there’s no wuss version. All tCs get the “big” motor: the Camry’s balance-shafted DOHC 2.4-liter four, belting out 160 horsepower and 163 pound-feet of torque. It’s bolted to a close-ratio, short-geared five-speed manual (a four-speed slushbox is available for $800). The long-wheelbase (106.3 inches) chassis is adapted from the Euro Toyota Avensis and boasts a strut-front and multilink rear suspension. Four-wheel discs…

As entry-level sedans go, few can touch Ford’s Focus on the un-to-drive front, and for 2005, the fun dials are being twisted even further. Both 2.0-liter engines from last year (the 110-horsepower two-valver and the 130-horse DOHC Zetec) are replaced by a de-bored 136-horse, 2.0-liter version of the all-aluminum Mazda-designed 2.3-liter that critics have been raving about. Front and rear styling is tweaked, with a larger grille and taller front fenders (so they can be seen while parking). Tires, wheels, and front brake rotors all go up an inch in diameter this year. The interior has been revised with a more conventional-looking dash and door panels, plus supportive new seats. All the body styles remain (three- and five-door hatches, sedan, wagon), with most available in S, SE, or SES trim…

Ford Racing Technology is the Blue Oval’s super sandbox. Here six engineers and a handful of purchasing, PR, and marketing folks manage to test, develop, and distribute 1100 parts, all of which are aimed at making Fords faster, better handling, and more fun. The group originated in 1983 to support teams racing Ford vehicles. That function continues today, but as the aftermarket racing parts business has burgeoned in recent years, FRT created the Ford Racing Performance Parts group to supply hardware for all Fords participating in any form of sport. Mcuiren Engineering provides technical and fabrication support in much the same way Roush Industries supports FRT’s sister organization, the Special Vehicle Team (SVT). FRT keeps three sales and support trailers on the road from February to December, visiting sport-compact meets,…

All four of our players feature similar-size cargo holds, although the Chevy offers the greatest space flexibility due to its sliding rear seat. But there are other neat tricks, too, such as the Saturn’s cargo organizer, the Hyundai’s underfloor storage area, and the Chevy’s bins that reside just above its wheelhouses and quick-picnic table. Below: If your camping excursion includes rear-seat passengers (reducing cargo space), consider searching out the most space-efficient gear possible, such as this ultracompact sleeping bag and two-person tent (courtesy of REI).…

Many petrol heads consider the 1964 Pontiac GTO to be the first real musclecar. Pontiac is hoping its latest GTO will be as successful as that original of four decades ago. The 2004 version offers plenty of adrenaline-pumping hardware (350-horsepower Corvette-sourced V-8, six-speed gearbox, tight suspension, and sporty 17-inch wheels), and its performance is solid—but there’s room for more. Answering the call for added thrust and improved grip is Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. One of the aftermarket’s best LS1/LS6 engine tuners, LPE has released a series of GTO packages that give the Goat more gallop. Although three engine packages are available, we tested LPE’s base package with “only” 450 horsepower, representing a 100-horse step up from stock. The increased power comes by way of CNC-ported cylinder heads carrying stainless-steel valves, dual…

When the Matrix went on sale in early 2002, it represented the first Toyota designed for and targeted specifically at the Gen-X and Y crowd. Unusual looks, a sporty attitude, flexible interior packaging, and a cutting-edge ad campaign surrounded its release. The big question: Would the young ’uns buy it? They did, opening the door for Toyota to launch a third brand—the also-youth-aimed Scion. After seeing and hearing the hype surrounding the Matrix, and knowing there’d be a Pontiac version, we were eager to try it on for a year to find out if it would live up to the promises. We opted for the top-of-the-line XRS, which includes the highest-output engine available: a 180-horsepower, DOHC WT-i 1.8-liter inline-four. XRS models also receive sport-tuned suspension, front air dam, rear spoiler,…

So the saying goes: If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.” Those who squint at the Dodge Viper, shrug, and say, “I don’t get it,” should just sit on their hands or buy something else. The rest of us appreciate Dodge’s outrageous musclecar for proving the company had the guts to produce what amounted to a concept vehicle for the street. A romping 8.0-liter OHV V-10 rendered in aluminum pushed 400 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque through a mandatory six-speed manual. Those rare early Vipers—only 285 were built the first season (1992)—had nothing so civilized as air-conditioning, ABS, or traction control. Not even roll-up windows or external door latches. And no one seemed to care: The Viper was raw and elemental—and hugely popular for an impractical, $50,000 extravagance.…

Let me start with some good news and then circle back to the issue of the moment. You might’ve seen us refer to the hugely capable new Racepak test gear we’ve acquired. It uses the Global Positioning System to let us instrument vehicles in a much more sophisticated and powerful way. An upcoming story will detail the operation and potential of the Racepak equipment, but, essentially, a GPS antenna and processor riding in the test car locks onto the incoming signals from several satellites and uses them to calculate its velocity, direction, and exact location on the earth, just like the NAV system in your car. By processing this information, the unit can calculate most any performance parameter you could think of: acceleration, braking, lateral g, and average speed through…

Italy’s Pininfarina is the designer, and the Quattroporte supplies the underpinnings for the next-generation Maserati Coupe Cabrio, which replaces both the current Coupe and the Spyder, set to bow as a 2006 model. Its unveiling is scheduled for the September 2005 Frankfurt International Auto Show. With Pininfarina replacing ItalDesign, which penned the first car, the new Maser reportedly will sport longer, lower, and wider lines, with less girth in the middle of the body. Today’s car is on an exclusive platform, so switching to a modified Quattroporte will help amortize costs. The Coupe Cabrio will have a folding metal hardtop, like those of Mercedes-Benz’s SL and SLK models. The excellent 385-horsepower, 4.2-liter V-8 could get more bore or stroke (to 4.3 or 4.4 liters), which should be good for…

Porsche can brag that its sales are up more than any other brand so far this year, thanks to the Cayenne. However, its portion of the overall market is so small that its market-share gain was minuscule. Nissan had the most impressive market-share gain, more than one percent, which is about the same share that Ford division lost. Overall, Ford still enjoys the largest market share, although its lead over Chevrolet has diminished. Toyota keeps gaining market share for a strong third-place showing, ahead of a slipping Dodge. Honda brings up fifth position in overall market share (6.9 percent), although it was down slightly (-0.4 percent) compared with last year. Changes in Market Share Market-share percentages and percent-point changes are for January to April 2004 versus January to April 2003.…

LOOKS TESTS DRIVES We’ve been anxiously awaiting our first test of the 2005 Lotus Elise. All the worldwide hullabaloo surrounding this car (available elsewhere since 1996!) worried us that the Elise we Americans would receive might not live up to its billing at the test track. We’ve never been so happy to report (now and in “First Drive,’ July) that the Elise has arrived, unmolested, and that every word written or uttered regarding this car is true. It’s no secret that the key to its exceptional abilities is its use of lightweight materials. That being the case, one might think the 1979-pound Elise has all the comforts of a go-kart. Not so. Our $40,780 Elise (stereo and air-conditioning are standard) came with the $1350 Touring option (full…

Since its intro for 2003, the Hummer H2 has wowed the weekend GI Joe and Jane set with its battlefield DNA and three-day-pass demeanor. While this brute is most often sighted prowling streets, freeways, and cruise nights rather than venturing into the wilds it’s built to tame, its take-no-prisoners posture is undeniable. One kink in the armor has been the H2 SUV’s limited cargo capacity. The inside-mounted spare tire was part of the problem, and a new H2 variant is the cure: Move the spare outside, take the roof off the cargo area, and—bam! The H2 sport/utility truck, or SUT. Its factory swing-out tire carrier reportedly will be an option for the SUV as well. Combining the comfort of a sport/utility with the cargo moxie of a pickup isn’t a…

Let’s face facts: Planet Earth has only so much fossil fuel available, and at some point, we’ll exhaust our supply. Currently, and for the foreseeable future, vehicles employing hybrid powertrains are an outstanding solution. Toyota and Honda have made hay with hybrids, and Ford now joins the game with the market’s first gas/electric-powered compact SUV. The Escape Hybrid is a “full” hybrid, meaning the powertrain can move the vehicle under gas-only, electric-only, or combined power, depending upon conditions. This design yields increased mileage over a “mild” hybrid, which always employs the gas engine when moving. The Escape Hybrid is powered by a 2.3-liter, DOHC, four-cylinder Atkinson cycle engine, which gives up some low-end torque—about four percent—in the name of improved efficiency. This minimal loss of torque is compensated for by…

Hyundai plans to be one of the world’s five largest automakers by 2010, up “from seventh. Part of its strategy is a bigger, “aspirational” 2006 Santa Fe that makes room in the lineup for the new, smaller Tucson. The Elantra-based crossover is just 170.3 inches long, with a crude 140-horse iron-block 2.0-liter 1-4 or a 173-horse, 2.7-liter aluminum-block V-6, both with continuously variable valve timing and front- or all-wheel drive (which Hyundai calls torque-on-demand AWD). Either comes with a four-speed automatic, and a five-speed manual is available with the four. The preproduction V-6s we drove were tight and well built, with a crowd-pleasing list of standard features. Plastics remain among the cheapest in the business, however, and the leather seats might as well be vinyl. As for the dynamics, we…

The corporate world isn’t always the best role model. Some of us are still smoldering from the idea of fat-cat Enron and WorldCom executives helping themselves to millions of dollars in stockholder and employee cash while merrily adding to their inventory of beachside mansions, flagship luxury machines, and ocean-going yachts. But America Inc. is the game a lot of us play fair and square. And when we’ve clawed our way to a certain level on the corporate ladder, it’s only fitting that we should reward ourselves with a more fulfilling driving experience. For a lot of people and for a lot of years, the BMW 5 Series has been a benchmark of what a midsize luxury sports sedan should be. Apparently, the planners at Cadillac feel the same way. The…

Fuel cells are expensive, hard to start in sub-zero weather, and susceptible to fuel contamination, so why not just burn the hydrogen instead? That’s the thinking at BMW, Mazda, and elsewhere, at least for the near term. Hydrogen is highly flammable and will burn at concentrations ranging from four to 74 percent, producing some oxides of nitrogen (NO,) but only trace amounts of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbon emissions (from burning the oil film off the cylinder walls). Hydrogen burns clean, but not to zero-emissions standards. BMW and Mazda believe dual-fuel gas/H, engines could be marketable while the hydrogen infrastructure is under development. BMW began experimenting with hydrogen engines in 1978 and has built demonstration fleets of hydrogen V-12-powered 750hL sedans and, more recently, a 4.4-liter V-8 745h. Mazda has shown…

In Jules Verne’s 1874 book “The Mysterious Island,” a character states: “Yes, my friends, I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which constitute it, used singly or together, will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light, of an intensity of which coal is not capable.” One hundred and thirty years later, Verne’s vision no longer seems so fanciful. Politicians and many of their constituents have embraced the hydrogen economy, and our research community has fanned out to patiently untie the numerous knots impeding the technology’s progress (supported by enough funding to give them really strong fingers). Yet the stakes are high and consequences grave if our modern disciples of Verne are wrong. You—or certainly your children—will live through the descent of…

Time was when “sunroof” generally meant one thing: a small piece of a car’s metal roof cut out and opened up for fresh air. Things got fancy when the “moonroof” came along, with that panel made of glass. Some were cheap-o pop-up roofs that flipped open to a vent position and could, with some fiddling, be removed entirely. Big spenders got sun/moonroofs that retracted into the roof—but still almost always with a manual crank. The same effect as a convertible? Hardly. But some sun is better than none. How times have changed. Today, automakers see the rooftop window as an unexplored frontier of creativity, and they’ve begun to show us some truly enlightening ways to let the light and/or air in from above. Even backseat passengers have been liberated from…

Eldorado. Cyclone. Orleans. Seville. All names of Cadillac dream machines or production models of the 1950s. The Seville moniker went away at the dawn of the 1960s, only to return in 1976 on a trim, handsome, midsize luxury sedan. Cadillac’s newest midsize luxury sedan (tested in this issue) puts that nameplate to rest again, as it’s badged simply “STS” and nothing more. Another Caddy great from 1953 is this Le Mans concept, named of course for the 24-hour race in France in which Cadillacs competed in 1950. The Le Mans was smaller, lighter, and sportier than other Wreath-and-Crestmobiles of the day. Interestingly, as a fiberglass two-seater, it predated the current XLR roadster’s production introduction by exactly 50 years. COVERAGE: OCTOBER 1996 What is it about Lamborghinis that inspires strange matchups?…

If you like thrill rides, hang on. The twin pincers of dwindling energy and worries about global warming are propelling a roller coaster of turbulent technical upheaval in the auto industry (see fuel-cells feature, page 98). Where this ride stops, nobody knows. I recently attended a symposium on battery, hybrid, and fuel-cell vehicles in Long Beach, California, where I was startled to learn that the world’s oil production will possibly peak—not run out, but peak—within the next quarter-century. When you consider India’s and China’s rising thirst for oil, it’s frighteningly easy to predict fuel prices jolting sky high. Indeed, according to Dr. Joseph Romm, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Center for Energy & Climate Solutions, by 2050 these two nations could be consuming as much oil as the…

Just in time for its middle-age crisis, the 40-year-old Mustang is poised for all-new sheetmetal and underpinnings. Ford celebrated the history of the car during a huge gathering at Nashville Motor Speedway. More than 3500 1964 to 2004 Ford Mustangs—stock, customized, and race-prepped—were registered for the weekend-long event. One side of the raceway’s outer grandstand featured 1965-1973 models, while the other side featured the Fox-platform cars. There was even a ghetto for the 1974-1978 Mustang II.…

It seemed reasonable that the subjects of Scandinavian design and Swedish furniture would come up when talking with Lars Erik Lundin. He’s vice president and general manager of Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center (VMCC), the company’s Southern California design studio. But the point he wanted to make about IKEA Group, Sweden’s wildly successful home-furnishings maker, concerned the management philosophy of founder and president Anders Dahlvig. “He asks that every employee break at least two company rules every day,” says Lundin, who likes that shake-things-up attitude. Lundin brings a similar style to his running of Volvo’s creative workshop in Camarillo. Does Ford know about this? A bunch of the designers at VMCC ride motorcycles, and anyone who does so understands how the lane-sharing opportunities of narrow vehicles rewrite the rules of…

Everyone knows that the Crossfire stems from the previous-generation Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster. And everyone knows that what was Team Viper got folded into Chrysler’s Performance Vehicle Operations group. What you may not know is that PVO has since been renamed SRT (Street Racing and Technology) for consistency with the products it creates. That includes the (Neon) SRT-4, Viper and Ram SRT-10, and now an amped-up version of the Crossfire called SRT-6, which employs the supercharged V-6 out of the old SLK32 AMG. Had enough alphabet soup yet? Thought so. The Crossfire is the first Chrysler to get the SRT treatment; all the rest are Dodges, although at least one more Chrysler and a Jeep are under development or consideration. Four areas received attention in the name of higher all-around performance,…

If it’s all over between you and the sport/utility craze, Subaru can bring you down easy with he 2005 Outback. First- and second-gen Outbacks were pumped up with two-tone cladding and Cherokee-esque raised-white-letter tires, but the all-new Outback won’t remind you one bit of any big old truck: It looks like a 2005 Legacy with 2.8 inches more ground clearance and subtle overfenders, a beefier front bumper, and foglamps. Tires are blackwall only. Trim options still include dark-beige bumpers and lower-side body trim, but the automaker is fond of showing off the Outback in all white or all black, positioning it as more a Zen rally car best suited for serious loose-gravel sideways driving. Subaru calls it a “new urban crossover,’ and there’s some meat to this descriptor. The 2005…

We interrupt our usual carefully considered journalism to bring you this special report. For the next few pages, we shall depart from our regular format of informing car-savvy readers on how various vehicles rank against similarly priced and configured competition using meticulous scientific performance data backed by reasoned subjective impressions gleaned from 250-plus staff-years of sampling all things automotive. Frankly, after 250 years, we were ready for a vacation. So what we have here is a daydream brought to life. It’s everyone’s happy-hour hallucination: What if you had a pile of money to blow on a go-fast four-wheeled toy? Damn the practical considerations, full dream ahead! Is it smarter to buy off the rack and write a single check for a ready-made supercar—the kind that swivels heads and gets parked…

Now that the National Do Not Call list has freed our evenings and weekends from the unpleasantness of telemarketing solicitations, we have more time to attend to personal issues that don’t involve 12 easy payments. When it comes to driving, it doesn’t get any more personal than taking a top-down spin in a two-seat roadster. Roadsters put it all together: you in the car, the car on the road, the road on the surface of a planet. Escape from the gravitational pull of the towering SUVs crowding your space, and a panorama of sights, sounds, and smells unfolds as celestial bodies (and police helicopters) hover above. Though some two-seaters indulge in the relentless pursuit of luxury, we’ll say that the joy of driving a sports car should be as basic…

We examine the facts behind the hype of the power source that helped carry men to the moon and may, many believe, soon doom the internal-combustion engine to the scrapheap of history. You’ve probably seen the anchorman for your local TV news deliver the same breathless teaser: “Imagine buying a car that runs on an infinitely available supply of cheap fuel and emits nothing but drinking water from its tailpipe. How hydrogen-burning fuel-cell vehicles are going to revolutionize driving as we know it—film at eleven.” For sure, the promise of fuel cells makes for tantalizing copy. No wonder, then, that fuel cells have suddenly become the Holy Grail of the 21st century. Their proponents—including President George W. Bush, Democratic challenger John Kerry, top automakers, environmentalists, and vast numbers of ordinary…

A hydrogen-fuel-cell car is basically a battery-electric vehicle that’s getting its electrical energy by other means. It’s not surprising, then, that FC vehicles and battery-electrics share a lot of similarities in driving feel—particularly under acceleration. Punch the accelerator pedal in an FC, and you’re awash in the whirs and howls of an electric motor driving reduction-gear teeth, with none of the stepped shifts we’ve all grown accustomed to with conventional transmissions (the high-rpm capability of electric motors renders them unnecessary). However, because a fuel-cell stack’s electrical output intrinsically lags behind your right foot’s request for acceleration, FC vehicles usually require some type of supplemental energy reservoir to fill the gap. Most commonly, this is via an advanced battery type such as nickel-metal hydride. But in Honda’s FCX fuel-cell prototype (a…

Looking for a sport/utility small enough to thread through parking lots without nasty scraping sounds, yet big enough to haul everybody off for a camping trip without pressing them into sardines? And enough pluck to pick through 8 a.m. traffic, too? Who do you think you are? Goldilocks? Actually, there’s a corner of the sprawling population of SUVs that might be, well, just right after all. It includes the facelifted 2005 Ford Escape XLT Sport 4WD with a V-6, a steady player that’s just what its exterior design purports it to be—a steel and glass incarnation of a sprightly mountain goat; the aging but value-intense Hyundai Santa Fe 4WD GLS, rejuvenated by a new 3.5-liter V-6; and Saturn’s VUE AWD Red Line, itself renewed via a newfor-2004 trim and suspension…

MOTORTREND RADIO Listen up Each Saturday and Sunday the Talk Radio Network takes you inside the automotive industry to bring the pages of Motor Trend straight to your radio. Host Bob Long brings you interviews with Motor Trend editors eager to share their professional opinions on all the latest cars, trucks, and sport/utilities. Tune into Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 144 to catch the next broadcast, or visit motortrend.com for a list of all our AM and FM affiliates. MOTORTREND.COM Behind the wheel High-speed thrills continue online as motortrend.com showcases additional photos of the Lamborghini Gallardo, along with wallpaper to light up your desktop. The all-new, high-tech Cadillac STS luxury sedan also shines in the digital spotlight with its own detailed photo gallery. To round out the vehicle selection, we invite…

2003 MINI COOPER S This car has demonstrated that, depending upon the users and their needs, size does in fact matter. Logbook comments such as, “After a few months, I finally had a real-world transport need where the Mini’s size was an issue: simply transporting the baby and his stroller. I had to fold the front passenger seat forward to allow him to sit behind in the car seat. Had to do the same with the driver front seat for the stroller to fit, even with the rear seat folded flat.” The same editor noted, “I really don’t need a bigger car as long as there’s a family-size machine in the driveway.” He added, “With 98 percent of my driving being solo commuting, I’ve come to enjoy the virtues of…