Innehållsförteckning för August 2001 från MotorTrend

◼ BMW’s ’01Z3 M roadster and coupe get the new S54 inline-six that powers the latest M3. The 23 Ms get a five-speed manual in place of the M3’s six-speed, and the 3.2L engine is detuned to 315 hp for the two-seaters. BMW claims a 5.0-sec 0-60-mph time for both versions. Base price for the roadster is $46,635, and the coupe is $45,635, including destination. ◼ Acura confirms it will offer a six-speed manual gearbox in the ’02 CL Type-S beginning this fall. A six-speed for the TL Type-S should follow by fall of 2002. Can a manual gearbox for the next-generation Honda Accord V-6 (’03) be far behind? ◼ One engine to be offered here by 2004 in the Volkswagen SUV formerly known as Colorado (and not in the…

Right place, right time You’ve got to hand it to the Europeans. They take a wagon, beef up the suspension, add aggressive-looking body trim, tweak the engine, and the result is a big seller—the sport wagon. While BMW’s 3 Series, the Audi A4 Avant, and Mercedes-Benz’ C320 sporty five-doors are snatching upscale SUV-wary buyers, Mazda is looking to lure even younger, more cost-conscious versions of the same into its $16,815 Protegé5. Aggressive good looks are tooled into the design courtesy of an MP3 front fascia, large foglamps, side skirts, rear air dam, rear roof spoiler, and monochromatic scheme. The styling is dynamic, though reminiscent of the Mercedes C320 Sport Wagon (June ’01). Power comes from a 2.0L/130-hp (135 Ib-ft) DOHC 1-4, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox; a four-speed auto…

“Thunderbird 2002” Michael Lamm is one of autodom’s best historians. So it’s only appropriate that he chronicle the rebirth of one of America’s best-loved classics. The first half of this well-illustrated volume covers the detailed design and development of the new T-Bird, including several early style renderings, as well as CAD illustrations of the chassis and various components. Later chapters deal with Thunderbird heritage, motorsport, and a particularly interesting section on T-Bird-related auto-mobilia and collectibles. The book’s wide, horizontal layout really complements the art. Its only drawback is that the text was written too early in the car’s development process to offer driving impressions or performance numbers. Guess you’ll just have to refer to MTs July ’01 issue for that. “THUNDERBIRD 2002”by Michael Lamm. Hardbound, 12143x91/8 in, 132 pages, 178…

I’M TRULY TORN This is a tough one. A big fan of BMW’s M cars, I drool over the sinewy lines, silken powertrain, and virtually perfect suspension of the all-new (and way fast) M3. But the musclecar side of my brain loves the tire-smoking side-ways-driving roaring-exhaust persona of the incredible Z06. The tough part is that I have to choose my favorite here and now, so I’ll rationalize it like this: On a racetrack, the Vette is king. Its monster power, hulking stance, and ravenous demeanor makes the M3 and Boxster S look like fuzzy-lipped pubescents by comparison. It also stomped their gourds in acceleration, handling, road-course laps, and braking, so there! Ironically, however, my vote goes to the opposite corner when it comes to living with any of these…

SUPERCHARGE A PICKUP TRUCK? Old-timers who remember when pickups came with an industrial inline-six, three-on-the-tree, and hard rubber floormats will bristle at the thought. Ford’s SVT performance arm started it in ’99 and has since honed the blown track idea nearly to perfection with its F-150 Lightning hot rod. Now the concept has trickled down to compact trucks, a segment that would definitely benefit from a little spice and further improved performance. Nissan, which won’t have its first true full-size truck until ’04, is now using a supercharged V-6 as part of its effort to improve the image of its once dowdy Frontier. As a replacement for the Hard-body in ’97, the then-new Frontier disappointed prospective buyers with its styling, performance, and driving dynamics. Nissan saved it from oblivion with…

Remember the first time you saw the magnifying glass, the corkscrew, and the Phillip’s head swing out of a Swiss Army knife? Suddenly a two-bladed pocket knife seemed pretty plain, right? We sort of feel that way now about regular pickups after testing the new Chevrolet Avalanche. Its extra passenger and load flexibility give it a big edge over conventional pickups as well as full-size sport/utility vehicles. At the heart of Avalanche innovation is what General Motors calls the Convert-a-Cab system. Think of it as the pickup equivalent of a car’s trunk pass-through. Instead of a welded-steel bulkhead and fixed glass at the back of the cab, you get a bottom-hinged plastic gate with a pop-out window. Fold the rear 60/40 bench forward, drop that plastic midgate, as they call…

2001 Motor Trend International Design Contest Your Last Chance! Do you have an eye for design, a passion for cars, or an unbridled competitive nature? If your answer to one or all of the above is yes, then register now to compete in Motor Trend’s third annual automotive design contest. This year’s contest theme challenges amateurs, students, and professionals to take one of the auto industry’s beloved models of the past and redesign it, 2002 style. Prizes include trophies and Motor Trend subscriptions for first-, second-, and third-place winners in each category. The Amateur: 17 and Under first-place winner will receive a summer scholarship to the Academy of Art College. The Amateur: 18 and Older first-place winner will receive a trip to San Francisco in May 2002 to attend the…

WHAT’S HOT: • Awesome, fadefree Brembo brakes • greatlooking wheel/tire combo* potent canyon-carver WHAT’S NOT: • Jekyll-and-Hyde handling • no bottom-end torque • skinny-people-only seats Like the Dodge Viper, Honda’s S2000 has out-standing handling potential land high-cornering limits—but it can bite the unsuspecting or marginally talented pilot. Both cars tend to deliver an overly confidence-inspiring “I’m a hero” feel, but they also have a nasty side that rears itself only when pushed to, or past, nine-tenths. One minute, you’re feeling like a pro; the next, you’ve spun yourself into a ditch. Remember Jekyll and Hyde? Comptech took on the daunting task of trying to enhance as well as tame the S2000 with a host of its latest aftermarket parts. Recent testing of Comptech’s S2000 development vehicle proved that its wares…

Employing celebs to pitch cars is nothing new. But you’d have to wonder how much Rootes Motors had to pay the timelessly dashing Cary Grant to pose with this Sunbeam Tiger. Yes, it may look just like an Alpine, Sunbeam’s tidy, four-cylinder-powered sports car that competed with the MGB and Triumph TR4. But with a 260 g (later 289) cu-in. Ford Vf 8 underhood, MGs and £ Triumphs had best not s mess with it. Hold on: 5 Ford V-8 in an English roadster? Sort of sounds like a Cobra, right? That was no coincidence either. For it was Carroll Shelby with whom Rootes consulted when the notion of a V-8-powered Alpine first arose. 01’ Shel, and Shelby team driver Ken Miles, helped ’em shoehorn the engine in; Lord Rootes…

Between allroad and X5 Latest word on BMW’s entry-level sport/utility vehicle, the X3, is that it’s a bit different from the current crop of crossovers: Don’t think of it as a tall Audi allroad quattro-like version of the 3 Series sport wagon, one source warns. But it’s not quite a smaller, less-expensive X5, either. This computer-generated image, based on spy shots taken at a test track, indicated it’s much like the X3 we revealed in illustration form (Sept. 2000). The spy shots are of a test mule using a 3 Series wagon body on an all-wheel-drive platform. Prospects for a pickup based on the X3, as illustrated in our September story, remain hard to gauge. BMW will be watching how Lincoln and Cadillac do with the Blackwood and Escalade EXT,…

Two generals combine forces for rugged luxury domination Expectations are sky high for the arrival of the all-new ’03 Hummer H2. The SUT concept, which actor/Hummer-owner Arnold Schwarzenegger drove to its New York Auto Show debut, includes a foldable midgate (similar to the Chevy Avalanche’s) to allow full pass-through access and connection with the outdoors. A cockpit-like dash and center console with a hand-throttle-style gear lever and four-wheel-drive shifter radiate ruggedness and high-tech refinement. Based on the Chevy Tahoe four-door platform, running gear will include many lé-ton heavy-duty truck suspension and drivetrain parts, such as a standard Vortec 6.0L V-8, full-time four-wheel drive, and 17-in. wheels. Both the Vortec 8100 and the Duramax 6600 are said to fit the engine bay, though are not yet available. Options will include a…

Trust us on this: No matter what types of cars you lust after, and no matter what era you hold dear, these are the Good Old Days when it comes to serious automotive performance. And not just in an old-fashioned straight-line sense of the term: Today’s hottest rides go, handle, and stop as well as full-out SCCA Trans Am race cars of 30 years ago. Yet, they pack amazingly high levels of luxury, feature content, and electronic technology. For this test, we’ve gathered three of the best. Two are from Germany, one’s all-American, and each presents its own perspective on the sports-car theme: A two-seat mid-engine flat-six-cylinder roadster, a two-seat front-engine V-8 coupe, and a four-seat front-engine inline-six coupe. So besides gobbling up several hundred miles of great mountain roads,…

My last memory of the original Mini Cooper isn’t a good one. This foggy, embarrassing vision recalls a strange winter ritual practiced in the frigid North: ice racing on a frozen lake, and my ride was a ’66 Mini. Things were going great—until I got hit from behind, spun around, and ended up tipped over in a snowbank. The only really good thing to come out of that day was my appreciation for how much fun it was to drive a Mini. Well, at least until I crashed. From today’s perspective, it’s important to point out that, except for the name, concept, and basic shape, the new-for-’02 Mini Cooper shares nothing with the original. BMW acquired the Mini brand a few years back when it purchased the British-based Rover Group…

YOU NEED TO BE WEARING A LEATHER JACKET over a turtleneck as you slide onto the dark, charcoal leather driver’s seat of the Ford Bullitt Mustang—even if your local weather is nothing like the constant fog of San Francisco. Driving a car bearing this name requires you to look the part. Fire up the distinctly American, if now overhead-cammed, V-8, and you’ll hear the appropriately soft-spoken yet manly burble. It’s a sound befitting someone who dances to the beat of his own drum, of existential antihero Frank Bullitt—created and played by the icy cool Steve McQueen at the height of his still-cult-like powers—caught between the bad guys who wear badges and the bad guys who don’t. So you’ve bought into the car’s name, its aura, its raison d’etre, and you’re…

NISSAN MAXIMA SE $24,889-524,968 3.DL/222-HP V-6 19/26 CITY/HWY MPG Sporty and stylish, the SE variant of the Maxima melds potent power with a competent suspension and a comfy interior, making it one of the category’s best performers. Big trunk and rear legroom, too. Not quite as much fun as the Subaru WRX, but a good one to consider if you’re dealing with a mild midlife crisis. DODGE INTREPID ES $21,535-$23,230 2.7L/201-HP V-6 20/28 CITY/HWY MPG With muscular styling, V-6 power, a cavernous interior that comfortably seats five, and a huge trunk, the Intrepid is ideal for long cross-country trips. Throw in its much-improved build quality, and the Intrepid easily fulfills the needs of the discriminating family. Sporty types will want to check into the RAT version, though it’s a few…

2001 Lexus IS 300 We’d gladly give you a rundown on all the problems we’ve had with our IS—but there’s just nothing to talk about. Zip. The first scheduled service included oil and filter change, fluid check, inspection, tire rotation, and a wash job—all gratis, as part of scheduled maintenance. When focusing on the sedan side of the IS’ sport/sedan equation, the rearseat area comes up a little short, mostly in terms of legroom for taller passengers. But it’s not intended to be a GS or LS, so that’s to be expected. We’ve come to appreciate the interior’s chrome and alloy trim bits; they really keep the cabin from drowning in a sea of black plastic, though some of that plastic is a little hard to the touch. The ergonomics…

future forecast Midsize mid-priced sedans—those conservative-looking cars so many people drive because they’re roomy, comfortable and reliable—could become the hot market segment of ’02. How? Toyota and Nissan both have concentrated on injecting a great deal of style into new models each will introduce this fall. The marketing buzzword for this is “expressive,” as in “expressive styling.” This fall, an expressive new Camry challenges the hot new Altima (“News,” July ’01), and a sexier Honda Accord is set to arrive one year later as an ’03 model. Camry’s base four-cylinder gets an extra 0.2L of displacement, to 2.4L, with more horsepower than the current model’s 133. The 3.0L V-6 engine carries forth, but with an increase in horses from the current 194 to 200-plus. Toyota will recontent all Camrys for…

Post-Camaro Chevrolet needs more flavor Chevrolet is becoming a conservative car company. With Camaro rumored to be gone after ’02 and the very limited-edition SSR (on the GMT 360 platform) joining Corvette as a halo car in ’03, the bread and butter of the lineup emphasizes value over style and sexiness. Chevy’s design staff, led by ex-Chrysler stylist Bryan Nesbitt, has lots of work to do. He arrives too late to affect the next Malibu, which comes in ’03 on a short version of GM’s Epsilon global midsize platform, with more “expressive” styling than the current model. A stretched version of the Malibu arrives about a year later with a hatchback body, packaged like last year’s Traverse concept. A new bigger, bolder St 0 bows for’03 (spy photo). 1 powered…

Return of an all-American rear-drive sedan Our test drive and in-depth review of the Chrysler Super8 Hemi (June ’01) revealed that the company is more than just toying with the notion of a new rear-drive sedan platform. Now these photos prove it: You’re looking at the first test mule for the rear-drive ’04 LX (formerly LH) models, spied wearing current front-drive 300M sheetmetal. This 300M has been stretched between the front-door edge and front-wheel arch to accommodate a longitudinal engine and to give it a more powerful look. The rear wheels appear to have been moved forward. The car has four-wheel disc brakes and a short-long-arm rear suspension, with the differential attached to a subframe and swing arms and half-shafts placing the rear wheels; the front suspension appears to be…

BRITAIN’S TINY GIANT They’re often referred to as “Icon Cars": Model T, the Beetle, Corvette. And yes, the Mini. The fact that the Mini doesn’t blip most of America’s radar in no way diminishes the impact this 4x4x10-ft dynamo has made on postwar transportation and automotive culture. It’s a landmark design in every sense of the term, one that has served as cult car, race car, and even just everyday car to more than five-million people over the last 40-plus years. As the marketplace is pummeled with retro and heritage-design vehicles, it’s interesting to note that the Mini—launched in 1959-—was around long enough to become retro/heritage in its own lifetime. And unlike the New Beetle or ’02 T-Bird, for example, the new Mini doesn’t represent a reprise of an old…

ONCE IN A WHILE, A RACE TEAM ALLOWS A magazine journalist to get behind the wheel of its thoroughbred machine. Typically, damage control dictates this happen at the end of the racing season, or with last year’s car. This time, they called us in mid-season. My numbers came in, so it was off to the Streets of Willow Springs to drive Park Place Racing’s Saleen S7R. Saleen, the low-volume manufacturer named for proprietor Steve and known for its high-performance Mustangs, invited us to drive its new race car derived from the streetable, soon-to-be-released S7 supercar—and it ain’t no Mustang. The Number 5 you see here is currently holding second place (as of this writing) in the GTS class of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series, in the hands of…

It wasn’t too hard to recall my first test drive of Ford’s new-for-’57 Ranchero, as I hummed along at 85-90 mph in the Explorer Sport Trac. I was once again—-though a mere 45 years later—at the wheel of a car/truck crossover. I say car/truck, because nobody had even thought up the term sport/utility at that time. It used to be that trucks were trucks and cars were cars. You could get a fair amount of luxury equipment in a car, even back then. But a truck? Sunvisors and rearview mirrors were usually optional, and the seats felt like park benches. You may or may not have been able to get carpeting. Trucks were tools, designed for hauling racks, hay bales, and the proverbial load of manure. So imagine how nice…

You could argue this is the best car in the world. It is, after all, the highest offering from one of the great marques in car building today. And it has everything you could ask for. Quality and craftsmanship? Yup. Performance? Check. Price and exclusivity? Plenty. Comfort and convenience? Oh, boy. How about leading-edge technology-and sheer tonnage of gizmos? The CL600 is there. We’re not going to wade into all the high-tech content packed on this car (see our Feb. 2000 CL500 story for that), but the sheer bulk of the owner’s manual should tell you something: It’s actually two hardbound books, one of 381 pages and another of 240! A bit of technical trickery that does deserve special mention is Mercedes’ Active Body Control (ABC). This is a true…

1. B&B BMW E-46 EXHAUST B&B’s exhaust system for the new E-46 BMW 330i is constructed of T-304 stainless steel that won’t rust and incorporates a free-flowing muffler finished with twin 3-in.-diameter tips. B&B claims an 8-hp gain throughout the 3.0L’s entire rpm range and offers acom lifetime warranty. $695; 888/228-7435; www.bbexhaust.com. 2. PEAKE RESEARCH SCAN TOOL Is your BMW displaying a check-engine, oil-service, or inspection light? Is it having problems running, idling, or starting? The R5/FCX has the ability to run a diagnostic, display the codes, and allow you to reset the system. It’s easy to use and comes with a code-explanation booklet and instructions. $149; 800/231-6861; www.http://www.peakeresearch.com. 3. ROLL-N-LOCK BED COVER RolI-N-Lock’s one-piece bed cover easily rolls up to access a truck’s bed, yet rolls shut and locks…

THE SHOUTING WAS OVER LONG AGO. Like it or not, and for a multitude of reasons, Porsche had to develop a new 911 in order to continue producing one at all. Carrera faithful revolted over such radical notions as a water-cooled powerplant, a longer wheelbase, and more comfort. Power steering—how could it be? These philosophical issues don’t really matter anymore, because the old 911 went out of production after the ’98 model year, an all-new 911 appeared for ’99, and that was that. So we’re not here to debate. the relative merits of the newcomer versus the classic. That battle is over—or will wage forever, depending upon which side you sit. But the question remains: Is the 996-pIatformed Carrera a great sports car in its own right? Only a year…