Innehållsförteckning för June 2003 från MotorTrend

motortrend.com Celebrate Speed Online Join the editors at motortrend.com for a behind-the-scenes look at this month’s exclusive top-speed-and-more cover story (you can also choose wallpaper of your favorite tarmac champion for your desktop). Ever wonder what it’s like to sell your car at a venue like the Barrett-Jackson Classic Car Auction? Hold Senior Photographer John Kiewicz’ hand as he sells his prized LT1-powered ’67 Camaro RS convertible. Then climb aboard as commanders David Newhardt and Jeff Bartlett do a tour of duty on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, taking a “first drive” with 4.5 mobile acres of sovereign American territory. Other fresh content includes a first-drive report on the ’04 Pontiac Grand Prix, Geneva Motor Show coverage, game reviews, and a whole lot more. trucktrend.com Truck & Sport/Utility Shopping…

Looking for Land Rover-style sport/utility at Hyundai Santa Fe prices? A Miami-based importer of the Romanian-Brazilian ARO 24 figures plenty of Americans want such an animal. The Romanian-designed Brazilian-built truck, renamed Cross Lander 244, looks like an extra in a late-Cold War James Bond movie. It features an International Harvester-sourced 2.8-liter turbodiesel four coupled to a five-speed manual. Making 124 horsepower and 262 Ib-ft, the barn-door aerodynamics SUV is good for a 90-mph top speed. It has a 5799-pound towing capacity (with trailer brakes), however. Price will be $17,995 without air-conditioning or carpeting (it’s a hose-it-out, rubber floormat kind of truck). A Safari Edition, with snorkel, brush guard, and winch will run in the low-$20s. Cross Lander has signed 44 dealers so far out of a goal of 50 and…

Toyota overtook Chevrolet in new-car sales for the first time in the U.S. last year. That was old news to Californians, where Chevy lost the race in cars to Honda and Toyota more than a decade ago. Chevrolet’s archrival, Ford, has fared better in the Golden State, only losing the title as number-one purveyor of cars within the past five years. The Ford brand is still clearly California’s leader in light-truck sales, easily outselling Chevrolet and Toyota. However, in 2002, Toyota sold three times as many cars as Chevy and 50 percent more than Ford. Because of Toyota’s combined strength in cars and trucks, it easily took second place in total volume, just behind Ford (Division) and well ahead of Chevy. If trends continue, Toyota soon could be the number-one-overall…

Sources say the new BMW 5 will have a more handsome, less-severe bustle to its tail, versus the 7 Series. An estate version appears to have a rakish roofline, so it’s likely less capacious than the new Mercedes E-Class wagon. The 5 Series sedan (shown) launches in Europe this fall, and the wagon follows early next year, as an ’04. The V-10-powered M5 is scheduled for ’05. The 5 Series will ride on a new platform that converges with the 7 Series platform.…

American cars are primarily front drive, Dieter Zetsche told us when he took the helm of Chrysler Group a couple years ago. Was he toying with us, or was his vision skewed by 20 years of K-cars and their offspring? Chrysler now leads the march back to big rear-drive cars, noting that even Snowbelt customers can enjoy them with traction control and modern tire technology. The first modern rear-drive American family sedan (no, Ford Crown Vic doesn’t count) is the Chrysler 300C. Its 5.7-liter Hemi is the same V-8 first seen in the Dodge Ram Heavy Duty, tuned to 340 horsepower and 390 Ib-ft. Leading this engine is a face inspired by the ’98 Chrysler Chronos concept. Besides dumping the LH’s cab-forward design, the 300C replaces its soft-soap look…

Audi launches its most powerful TT in Europe this summer, and it comes to the U.S. in the fall. The heart of this coupe and roadster variant is a compact 250-horsepower DOHC V-6. This maximum-strength VR6 takes up about as much space as an inline-four, but continuously adjustable cams and a variable intake manifold help it pump out enough torque to convince us a gutsy six-banger is on the job. Making sure the extra go gets to the road is the company’s famous quattro all-wheel-drive system and a fresh stroke in transmission design, called the DSG (Direct-Shift Gearbox). It combines the dynamic and efficiency advantages of a six-speed manual with the lazy-cruise benefits of an automatic. This unique three-shaft transmission essentially functions as two gearboxes working in tandem with…

Ten ultra machines. Five miles of track. One foot flat to the floor “How fast?” The question is as old as the automobile itself. The answer depends on your criteria: 0-60, the quarter mile, road-course lap times, or, the ultimate bench-racing fantasy number, top speed. Ascertaining a car’s flat-out max isn’t easy. Factors insignificant at 60, 80, or even 100 mph—the soundness of a car’s hardware and the driver’s software, aerodynamics, road surface, even local wildlife, for example—can become downright grave as you reach for 200. Dusting off the lower-right quadrants of speedometers has been a Motor Trend staple for more than 30 years. Given all the hot, new hardware already here or arriving shortly in our market, it was again time to round ’em up and head for the…

As if the previous Viper weren’t raucous enough, a maximum-strength version—the SRT-10—is now available for 2003. Although some pieces carry over, much of the new asp is a clean-sheet redesign. The SRT-l0’s foundation employs a heavily revised racing-style chassis replete with fully independent suspension at each comer paired with gargantuan 18x10/19x13-inch forged alloy wheels. A new aluminum space frame increases stiffness over the previous Viper for improved handling and decreased noise/vibration/harshness. The wheelbase has been extended 2.6 inches, yet in overall length, the SRT-10 is 1.1 inches shorter than the RT/10. On the outside, the bodywork is new and edgy. Stealth-Fighter-like panels look to have come straight from Lockheed Martin’s Skunkworks, and the extensive use of carbon fiber and composite panels helps reduce overall vehicle weight by 100 pounds. The…

Jaguar’s XK8 made its first public appearance as a convertible at the New York auto show in 1996. It debuted to enormous media and public enthusiasm for its classic, some might say retro, E-Type visual character. The XK in drop-top or coupe form is easily one of the world’s most luxurious sports cars in terms of interior fitment, luscious materials, and supple ride quality. It’s also one of the more exclusive, with only about 35,000 units produced for North America since the car’s introduction. Jaguarists who prize catapult-like power and orbit-distorting torque above stellar design or even agility were rewarded in 1999 by the XKR supercharged variant. With the enormous additional thrust produced by the Eaton Roots-type supercharger, in combination with the then-4.0-liter V-8, the steel cat was truly unleashed.…

Unless you’re a rally fan or into Sony PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, you may not be familiar with the Lancer Evolution (EVO) series of cars. Mitsubishi launched its first version, the Lancer Evolution I, in October 1992 to satisfy homologation requirements for the Federation Internationale de 1’ Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship series. Over the last 11 years, Mitsubishi has evolved this potent and highly sought series of seven cars for markets other than our own, but that’s about to change. Since the U.S. has no previous heritage with the EVO, ours will be called the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, not Evo VIII (as used overseas). Whatever the name, the Evolution we’re getting is the real deal. U.S.-spec versions will have the same 4G63 1-4 DOHC engine with a heart-pounding 271 horsepower…

The streets of America, as it turns out, are an equal-opportunity playground. Show up with the right look and hardware that says you mean business and very cool things are possible. Nearly a half-century ago, it’s doubtful General Motors could’ve anticipated the long-running popularity of its ’55-’57 Chevy or Ford Motor Company its ’65-’70 Mustang. But the public embraced these mass-produced fountains of youth, and an aftermarket-parts industry grew up around them. The same thing happened with Honda Civics and Accords in the ’80s and ’90s: Simple, fun-to-drive, volume-manufactured econoboxes that with a few bolt-on enhancements started the sport-compact-car movement. Now other car companies are keeping an eye on the youth market and attempting to tap into that magic, as well. We’re talking about factory tuner cars, offering an integrated…

You’re looking for the perfect Father’s Day present. Or perhaps you’d like to reward that special someone who actually stopped reading Motor Trend long enough to make it to graduation. Hey, you’ve come to the right place. Gathered here are some great gifts, hand-selected by your MT pals and guaranteed to please car-crazy dads and grads alike. Oh, and if that lucky dad or grad happens to be you, here’s a subtle but effective technique: Cut out the photo of your favorite item, tape it to your nose, and walk around asking, “Do I have something on my face?” Major Motion Pictures You can’t buy an original Van Gogh. But you can buy an original Jesse Alexander photograph—which, for fans of auto-racing art, is pretty much the same thing. Alexander’s…

“The SUV with the soul of a sports car” is how Mazda introduced the all-new Tribute to distinguish it from Ford’s fraternal twin, the Escape. While both competed in our 2001 Sport/Utility of the Year event, we were pleased to find more than a handful of positive, unique traits in the Mazda that weren’t found in the Ford. We took delivery a Galaxy Blue metallic over gray ES V-6 model with all-wheel drive to see how well it lived up to our favorable first impression, as well as Mazda’s claim. Base-model 2WD/four-cylinder Tribute DXs were priced from the mid-teens; however, even our top-of-the-line AWD V-6 came in fairly priced at $23,025—roughly the cost of some smaller mini-utes available only with overworked inline-four engines. Standard equipment on an ES V-6 already…

As you can see from this July 1973 cover, we’ve done this “foot to the floor, what’ll she do?” thing before. The first time, however, was at the worst time. Horsepower ratings were dropping, gas prices were rising, cars sprouted heavy 5-mph bumpers, and performance was a politically incorrect dirty word. In spite of that, we did it: six cars, all American, all with four seats, V-8 engines, and all but one with three-speed automatic transmissions. The Flat-Out American Classic took place at the late-but-absolutely great Ontario Motor Speedway and rated a mere four black-and-white pages in this issue of the magazine. The “big number”—quotes dutifully earned—was put up by a 455-cube Super-Duty Firebird: a not-so-rousing 124.30 mph. And it went down from there. A 440-powered Charger was the only…

NOTABLE QUOTABLE Chevrolet Super Sport Concept, March 2003 “SS has a new meaning: Simply Stunning. The Chevrnlet SS concept sedan is a breath of fresh air for GM. To quote the elders, ‘If you build it, they will come.9”Ryan Trimble Glen Head, New York Chevrolet SS Concept Just when you think GM’s design team is adrift without a compass (Pontiac Aztek and Chevrolet Avalanche), they come out with the Chevrolet Super Sport Concept. What a beautiful and sexy-looking car. Here’s hoping Chevy will build it and not some overweight, underpowered version. If it does, I’m first in line. Russell WoodsMcKinney, Texas Correct me if I’m wrong: Is Chevrolet using Mazda for its design inspiration? First, I thought it was just a coincidence with the C5 Corvette. Can you say third-generation…

From hybrids to fuel cells, more clean, efficient cars and trucks are on the way to help curb our dependence on OPEC. That doesn’t mean the end of SUVs— even Saab is getting into the act. The most interesting stuff this month comes from ever-neutral Switzerland and the Geneva motor show. Sub-Sigma General Motors is almost certainly ready to launch a new rear-drive platform within the next few years, which would undercut the premium Sigma (Cadillac) chassis architecture. Latest intelligence indicates the new design will be a replacement for the Holden Commodore/Monaro (Pontiac GTO) to come out of GM’s Aussie studios around 2005. It would underpin a next-generation GTO, designed with its own specific sheetmetal for North America, and a new V-8-powered Chevrolet—probably a production four-door coupe based on the…

Jaguar will sink its claws into Trans-Am racing this summer as it releases a track-ready version of its DOHC AJ-V8 engine to replace the Ford OHV 5.0-liter that privateers have campaigned. Rocketsports Racing, the leading XKR-bodied race car builder, is developing the 4.5-liter/650-horsepower engine. Revving to more than 9000 rpm, the enlarged and fortified AJ-V8 is expected to push the carbon-fiber and Kevlar-bodied XKR 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, run the quarter mile in 10.8 seconds at 135 mph, and reach 180 mph top speed. Jaguar earned a Trans-Am championship in 2001, but that was by privateers using the Ford engine. This year, Jag hopes its XJ-V8 leads the way to its first manufacturer’s championship with a Jag engine since 1978 (although it won’t replace the Ford engine until August).…

Geneva’s 73rd Salon International de I’Auto has hosted the debut of many of the world’s great cars. But seldom have so many of them been relevant to the North American marketplace. The count is usually five or six; this year, at least a dozen new concepts and production models impact what we’ll eventually see or drive over here. Besides OEM reveals by Lamborghini, Porsche, Ferrari (“First,” April 2003), Mercedes-Benz, and Saab, to name a few, the boutique design and production houses use Geneva to strut their always-interesting stuff: Pininfarina, Italdesign, Bertone, and others. If there was any star of the show, it was Audi, which showed a new A3 (coming here), a dazzling concept car called Nuvolari (said to portend a future luxocoupe model), and, indirectly, the Lamborghini Gallardo, as…

Cadillac hopes its CTS-V will be to the BMW M5 what the Z06 is to the 911: a worthy competitor for much less money and a critical success, even in Europe. It takes on BMW with good old-fashioned, rumbling pushrod V-8 power—400 horses from a 5.7-liter aluminum-block Vette-sourced LS-6. Upgrades include a standard six-speed manual (no automatic), P245/45WR18 run-flat tires around six-lug aluminum wheels, and four-piston Brembo brakes with vented 14-inch rotors in front and 14.4-inch rotors and four-piston calipers in the rear. The stability system has four driver-select modes in the V, including a track performance setting (Z06 again). It has thicker front/rear anti-roll bars, and spring rates are up 27 percent. Exterior enhancements are subtle, like the Z06 and M5, with a new front fascia featuring integrated…

If the Dodge Viper plays its torque with Wagnerian bombast and the Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG is a Bach fugue, then the new 590-lb-ft-packing twin-turbo V-12 SL600 is Beethoven’s Ninth. Music appreciation helps sort differences between the image and feel of the AMG and the SL600 (differences between the Benzes and the Viper are as obvious as they sound). Like the Ninth, the SL600 lets you sit back and enjoy soothing harmony or you can crank it up for immense flourishes. It makes power similar to the SL55, but the less-expensive AMG is the track car and the V-12 is the one you want for autobahn runs. Mercedes estimates either SL will do 0-60 in 4.5 seconds (we got a 4.39 with the SL55). The Active Body Control-equipped SL600 is…

He’s got cracking wit, one of those brill British accents—and a heavy right foot. Justin Bell has been at it for better than a dozen years, with most of his success coming at the wheels of big-bore sports cars. Highlights include his driving on the 1997 FIA GT2-championship winning Viper team and scoring a GT2 class win at the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, also in a factory-entered Viper. He’s since joined the Pratt & Miller Corvette C5-R effort. Bell divides the rest of his time between the SCCA Trans-Am series (where he won the Rookie of the Year award in 2001), occasional stabs at NASCAR, and his pet project, the Justin Bell GT Motorsports Experience driving school. “It’s a fantasy camp, really; we create an environment where it’s…

Ferrari made its name with front-engine V-12 sports/GT cars. True, the midship-V-8 series has become superb, and Scuderia Ferrari’s racing efforts have counted for something. But the signature Ferrari has been a fast, elegant, express-tourer with a silky 12-cylinder engine under a great, long hood, from the original road versions of the 166 in 1948 through the storied line of Superfast, Superamerica, GTO, Lusso (prettiest ever!), 275GTB (no, prettier still!), and Daytona. That makes the 575M Maranello the current heir to the grandest Ferrari tradition. First appearing in 1996 as the 550, this car blended history and tradition with thoroughly modem technology and shattering performance. A 5474cc V-12 tuned for 485 horsepower could shove the hefty (almost 3800 pounds) GT to 60 mph in just 4.2 seconds and claw on…

Lamborghini has been doing it for nearly more than 40 years: creating extreme, mid-engine sports cars that populate the automotive dreams of teenagers the world over. First it was the Countach. Then the Diablo. And now, the Murciélago. Though clearly a spiritual descendant of the first two, the Murciélago comes from a new Lamborghini, owned by Volkswagen, overseen by Audi, and intent on building high-quality-yet-outrageous machinery that can, and will, be driven instead of just fawned over. Most of the body is crafted of carbon fiber, except for the steel roof and those requisite front-hinged scissor doors, and said coachwork surrounds a space-frame chassis. Motive force comes in the form of an all-alloy 6.2-liter DOHC V-12 powerhouse good for 571 horsepower, the highest output rating in this contest. The engine…

Although not a well-known car company, tiny Mosler Automotive in Riviera Beach, Florida, has been building potent, lightweight, terrifically ugly performance cars since the mid-’80s. Warren Mosler started out assembling wedgy, doorstop-looking cars (called Consuliers) powered by turbocharged Chrysler inline-fours. In the plus column, these were stunning performers in handling, braking, and acceleration. But their kit-car appearance, ride harshness, noise, and overall fit and finish were, well, kit-car like. Some things have changed, and some things have remained the same. The latest, far more attractive, fast-lane missile from Mr. Mosler and Rod Trenne (a former GM designer and the “T” in MT) is the MT900. And the red-hottest version of this mostly carbon-fiber (1980 pounds dry) two-seater is the MT900 Photon powered by a tweaked Chevrolet Z06 350-cube LS6 small-block…

What the heck is this, and what does it all mean? It’s the Figure Eight, our new Motor Trend Total Performance test. Drive a car around the course (about 1730 feet total) as fast as it’ll go without hitting the cones or spinning out of control. The car that makes the fastest lap and, in the process, accumulates the highest average g-loads in all directions is the winner. If only it were that simple. First, some clarification on test methodology and interpretation of the data and results. The friendly folks at Racepak Competition Systems (949/709-5555) agreed to demonstrate their latest data-acquisition equipment that utilizes GPS technology to chart location, course, and velocity of a vehicle, sometimes called telemetry. Once this information is determined, the possibilities for total track mapping are…

2003 Mitsubishi Outlander vs. 2003 Subaru Forester Snow. It’s an atmospheric anomaly in Los Angeles and something our So Cal-based editors see little of. Yet, for every reader who actually takes his sport/utility to the desert for some heavy-duty rock crawling, there are dozens who routinely drive on snow, slush, mud, or wet roads. That’s why manufacturers are placing more emphasis on offering full-time all-wheel-drive systems. While some SUVs may not have the low-range transfer case required for heavy trailwork, AWD adds traction that helps them go a few more places, potentially increasing the safety margin of doing so, whatever the weather. With apologies to Audi, an ever-growing number of today’s newest sport/utilities and crossovers are about all-roading, as opposed to off-roading. Two new, affordable players in this growing subset…

Here’s a new twist on an old saying: “Race on Sunday, street on Monday.” Prodrive, the English company with a sterling reputation for building winning race cars (including its World Rally Championship-winning Subaru WRX rally cars and the super vicious ALMS Ferrari 550 Maranello), has come up with a line of performance parts to transform the WRX into an even more potent player. One such collection comes together as the PRO 400 WRX. Prodrive employs subtle yet effective power mods aimed at getting the standard 227-horsepower WRX to perform more like the upcoming 300-horse STi. An increased-flow intercooler Y-pipe, specially calibrated ECU, a high-flow catalytic converter, and mandrel-bent stainless-steel high-flow exhaust system team to produce 69 more dyno-proven ponies. You don’t need to be an MIT grad to understand how…

“Everything You Know Is Wrong” was the title of a Firesign Theater comedy album back in the 70s. Now, the title applies to Saab. Reports of a Saab crossover/utility, based on the Theta (Saturn Vue) unibody platform, were wrong. That project never got the green light—and it occurred between two canceled Saab SUV projects: one based on the Pontiac Aztek/Buick Rendezvous platform, the other based on the rear-drive Sigma (Cadillac SRX, CTS) platform. None of it matters now: General Motors management has approved a Saab sport/utility based on its GMT360 platform, which underpins Chevy TrailBlazer, GMC Envoy, Oldsmobile Bravada, Buick Rainier, and Isuzu Ascender. That’s a lot of sheetmetal to differentiate from. But the Saab GMT360 (97?) apparently assumes the Ascender, and the rest of the Isuzu lineup will disappear…

The second-generation SLK promises to be more expressive and curvaceous than the first model, which has been around since the ’98 model year. With most of its disguise stripped off, the new SLK looks like a combo of baby SL and baby SLR. (It whets our appetite for the SLR, which is delayed from its fall 2003 intro). The new SLK debuts at Geneva in 2004, with introduction here by the Summer 2004 convertible buying season. The new car gains about four inches in overall length and wheelbase, with most of that going to the interior, and the roof folds less intrusively into the trunk. New direct-injection gas V-6 and V-8 engines will be featured, although the supercharged 1.8-liter I-4 will continue to anchor the low end of its price…

Ford Motor Co. is more of a truck company than a car company, which is why its first hybrid-powered production vehicle will be an SUV. The Ford Escape Hybrid will be no 60-mpg Hoilywood darling with a cramped rear seat: It’ll look exactly like a garden-variety V-6 Escape and will get 30-35 mpg in the city and about 35 mpg EPA on the highway. The Escape will be a full hybrid, with a 300-volt battery pack, electric motor, and 2.3-liter I-4 engine in a hybrid system with stop/start idling, regenerative braking, and electric launch to about 30 mph. You can order 2WD or AWD, with an automatic transmission only. The Escape Hybrid meets truck Super-Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle IV standards, Ford says. Fleet sales begin before the end of the…

First, the original 227-horsepower WRX. Then, the 271-horse Mitsubishi Evolution. Now, Subaru ups the ante in the compact-sedan wars again—with the 300-horsepower WRX STi. Don’t confuse it with the 2.0-liter/286-horse STi sold in Europe since 2002; the car received substantial remodeling on its way to our shores and will be sold here as an ’04 model. All Imprezas get a facial from the front doors forward. The more handsome and aggressive look comes courtesy of Peter Stevens, who (among other things) designed the McLaren Formula One supercar. The new front fascia shuttles air to the brakes, and the massive basket-handle rear wing provides effective downforce. In order to deliver the torque levels American buyers demand, the STi’s flat-four (now designated E525) goes from 2.0 to 2.5 liters and…

With as much grace as ever, and notable increases in both space and pace, the all-new seventh-generation XJ is a significant leap forward. Not that you’d notice on first blush, because the appearance and overall bearing of the new car are consistent with its forebears. But park the ’03 model alongside, and the larger size of the new model is obvious. For ’04, the XJ grows some 2.6 inches in length, 2.4 inches in width, and, most significant, 4.3 inches in height. This gives full-size adults breathing space in the second row. Trunk space is noticeably deeper and 30 percent larger overall. Yet the longer, taller, wider XJ doesn’t add tonnage in search of opulence. Thanks to an aluminum body and chassis structure, as well as aluminum-intensive engine, transmission,…

A new 5 Series is on the horizon, but that doesn’t mean we’re done enjoying the current one. Our 1997 Import Car of the Year winner, and the basis for the almighty M5, has been continuously updated throughout its production career, even as this platform nears retirement. The Sport package—cheap at $4100—is the key to making the 540i a legitimate, less costly alternative to the M5 and, in fact, the only one if you want or need an automatic transmission. Choosing the Sport pack gets you seriously handsome 18-inch M-spec wheels and high-performance rubber, power front sport seats, an M-sport steering wheel, firmer dampers and suspension settings, a numerically higher rear-axle ratio, glossy black trim in place of some chrome, and a subtle aero kit. Take your choice between a…

If you read our special Corvette issue (April 2003), you know that, here at Motor Trend, we love Corvettes and consider the ’03 Z06 the best Corvette to date. Why? Because it’s exotic-car fast and allows you to run with all the big boys from Europe at a fraction of their exotic-car prices. And, while we wish Chevy would build the Z06 using the sexier glass-hatch coupe body, we still love it for its unmistakable, all-American “I’m a badass” attitude. The ’03 Z06 is basically carryover from ’02, but collectors will note the new 50th-Anniversary exterior badges. Checking the Z06 option at one of this country’s 3774 Corvette dealers (Lamborghini has 14) gets you the same-size 5.7-liter Chevy small-block V-8 as in a base Corvette. But more compression, a higher-lift…

It wasn’t long ago that Ford’s Special Vehicle Team was the only factory-sponsored high-performance group around. Now. General Motors is developing its own Performance Division, DaimlerChrysler is ramping up its Performance Vehicle Operations, and several import companies also are developing performance-parts divisions. The idea is that these high-performance vehicles, available for sale through dealerships all across the country, will feed the growing numbers of enhanced-power-hungry customers. John Coletti, chief engineer for Ford SVT, says, “It’s about time they joined the party.” Ford’s original idea in 1993 was simple: Create an in-house group that dedicates itself to power and performance. Under Coletti’s leadership, SVT has recently finished its 10th year of operation with over 100,000 high-performance vehicles sold, which includes the fastest pickup (the SVT Lightning), one of the quickest sport…

Think Arnold Schwarzenegger in an Armani tuxedo. A confident head-turner, with a hint of the formidable muscle underneath the beautiful tailoring. That’s the CL55 AMG. The CL500 Coupe on which it’s based is no slouch to begin with. A 5.0-liter/302-horsepower/339 Ib-ft V-8 moves the two-ton pillarless hardtop with ease. The naturally aspirated ’02 CL55 engine delivered a 50-horsepower bonus over that. But the ’03 AMG version kicks things up almost 200 notches. The addition of an intercooled screw-type supercharger and a slightly longer stroke results in 5.5 liters, 493 horsepower, and 516 Ib-ft of torque. Compare those numbers to your ultimate American or German production sports car. This is serious pavement-buckling, addictive-sound-like-you’ve-never-heard-before kind of performance—all from a bank-vault-solid premium luxury coupe. Mercy. All this brawn is reined in by sophisticated…

If the party’s theme was sleek and sexy cars on a high-speed racetrack, why did we invite a pickup truck to the dance? Simply because the F-150 SVT Lightning is far from your typical pickup. With other manufacturers developing their own performance teams, more powerful sport trucks will begin to compete with what’s been the undisputed heavyweight champ. Already, the Dodge Ram SRT-10 is due next year, and a more powerful Gen II Silverado SS is slated to appear not much longer after that. As one of the first projects for the Special Vehicle Team (formed in 1993) at Ford, the Lightning now uses a supercharged 5.4-liter V-8, making 380 horsepower (with a two-valve SOHC head), inside a regular cab, shortbed pickup body. Big horsepower and not much weight make…

In Yucca, Arizona, the temperature can easily reach 120 degrees in the summer. Rainfall averages just over six inches per year. The landscape consists of sand, dust, salt, and other assorted lunar materials. Sounds like a great place to play with cars, no? Yes, especially if you’re trying to break them. Ford’s APG is an amazing place, to say the least. And big: 3840 acres, encompassing more than 40 miles of road (and off-road) surfaces. It operates 24/7 and is equipped to handle all manner of evaluation testing and certification—especially those involving hot weather. Just name a nasty environ: potholes the size of Rhode Island, cobblestones, salt baths, mud, a sand wash—and APG has it or can create it. There are unlabeled mechanic shops, dynos, a fuel-analysis lab, even a…

2003 DODGE RAM 2500 HD During our 2003 Truck of the Year competition, one pickup stood above the rest in the looks-and-cojones department: the Dodge Ram Heavy Duty. Giving the HD the Golden Calipers meant we got to take one home for a year. On the order form, we checked off the 4x4 Quad Cab SLT model, with Graphite Metallic paint and Slate Gray interior. Oh, yeah, gotta have the 5.7-liter Hemi. Then we added the Laramie 26H-preferred package (power leather seats, power pedals, electric shift-on-the-fly transfer case, Infinity sound system, skidplates, and a whole lot more) for $4375 and the Sport appearance group (a lot of body-color accents) for $195. Side airbags cost $490, front seat heaters $140, a five-speed 5-45RFE automatic tranny $1170, 4.10:1 axle ratio $50, limited-slip…