Innehållsförteckning för February 2008 från MotorTrend

■ Detroit Auto Show—Still the One Despite the current doom and gloom from the Motor City, there are a few days in January where all seems possible for the domestic automakers. Detroit’s annual North American International Auto Show is still arguably the world’s biggest automotive event of the year, and Motor Trend will cover it bigger than ever before. Our video and photo lenses will focus on the world debuts, and our MT team will bring you loads of inside information and perspective direct from the show floor. The madness begins Sunday, January 12 at motortrend.com.…

MEANWHILE, Motor Trend has learned that GM’s small rear-drive Alpha program will serve Chevrolet, not Pontiac. Alpha is designed mainly to underpin a sub-CTS-size Cadillac, crucial to the brand’s European offensive, but GM needs to build a volume car off the platform to make it pay off, and the car will be a Chevy sedan. This raises the age-old problem for General Motors: How do you ensure Alpha is a proper Cadillac and not a modern-day Cimarron? GM feels confident it can pull this off, thanks to the differentiation among Lambda models, the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook, and GMC Acadia. GM also is considering moving the 2013 Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky from Kappa to Alpha, which will include some Kappa bits, anyway. While GM found it couldn’t stretch the…

AS FORD and Dodge reveal their new full-size half-ton trucks, Toyota is showing a subcompact pickup concept at this year’s North American International Auto Show. It’s named the A-BAT (Advanced Breakthrough Aero Truck). Looking to lure urban youth drivers who need versatile transportation for myriad lifestyle activities, Toyota is banking that a crossover pickup will be the new look the sagging segment needs. Born from a unibody platform with several key truck personality traits, the A-BAT uses a strong, muscular cab-forward exterior design with many multitasking surprises in the four-foot bed and futuristic interior. This concept uses Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive and a new all-wheel-drive system, with a wheelbase two inches longer than a Highlander and an overall length right on top of the RAV4. Reaction at the show will…

THIS auto-show season has been the year of the Green, from Frankfurt to Tokyo to Los Angeles, and now Detroit. Chrysler’s North American International Auto Show cars attempted to outgreen everyone. Just as the Prowler tried to convince us Chrysler was more than K-cars, this lot is presumably supposed to distract us from Rams and V-8 300Cs that actually make the company money. CHRYSLER ECOVOYAGER Looking like it’s paying homage to the old egg-shaped minivans, the ecoVoyager is just 0.6 inch longer than a Sebring sedan, but it’s four inches taller on a 7.1-inch-longer wheelbase. Power comes from an advanced lithium-ion battery pack and a small hydrogen fuel cell as its range extender, for a 300-mile range. The one-box design has seating for four. DODGE ZEO A four-passenger, 2+2 sport…

IT’S GOT a couple new Toyota/Daihatsu engines, a faster windshield with all-new sheetmetal, and the requisite clear taillamp lenses that signal an automaker going after the youth market. It’s the 2009 Pontiac Vibe, and it’s all the car’s twin, the 2009 Toyota Matrix, is and more. You can bet your Scion accessory catalog that it performs pretty much like the Toyota. Which is to say, not terribly quick, but tossable, with controlled body roll and decent steering feedback. The 2009 Vibe also comes in a dizzying array of engine/trans/rear-suspension setups, to wit: all-wheel-drive with a 158-horse, 2.4-liter Toyota four, four-speed auto only and independent rear suspension; base with a 132-horse Daihatsu 1.8-liter and five-speed manual or four-speed auto or optional 2.4-liter engine, standard in GT, but with five-speed auto or…

GIVEN A CHOICE of cardinal compass points to explore, this Nordic-German gravitates toward “N.” I’m happiest in cooler weather, and our northernmost route traces my home-address history, from Memphis where my parents still live to my alma mater in Champaign, Illinois, my birthplace (Chicago), and passing near other Midwestern towns my family’s called home; so this adventure promises to be a nostalgiafest. But did you ever hear the old saying, “You can never go home again”? Memphis starts out great, though it’s nothing like I remember. The forlorn downtown now pulses with life as vintage warehouses are converted into chichi lofts and art galleries. A big night out on Beale Street is just the thing to launch this odyssey. First stop: the University of Illinois. After bumbling around unfamiliar one-way…

GARMIN NÜVI 760 Facing long days and a tight schedule, getting lost isn't an option. Our Malibu came standard with OnStar navigation, but we wanted on-board map instructions, time to destination, and other trip stats. We borrowed Garmin’s slim, high-function nüvi 760 ($800). A snap to program, its 4.3-inch touch-screen displays arrival time, distance to next turn, and even the local speed limit on certain freeways. It provides a handsfree Bluetooth phone connection and doubles as an MP3 or audiobook player. With 700 Mb of flash memory and an SD memory-card slot, it’s the perfect vacation companion. JVC HD RADIO Even with 130-plus stations of XM Radio content from which to choose, boredom is an ever-present danger during three or four 12-hour stretches at the wheel, so we decided to…

IT DRAWS as many stares as a Lamborghini. People stop to pose with it for photos. They give thumbs up. Kids point. But mostly, they ask, “Where can we buy one of these?” Even though smart has been sold in several global markets for a decade now, the smiling microcars are finally making their way to the U.S. market. That’s odd in a way, as the first two smart concept cars, dubbed Eco Sprinter and Eco Speedster, were born here at Mercedes-Benz’s Irvine, California, design center in 1993. The connection between them, and the production coupe and convertible that bow for 2008, is unmistakable. Many are the reasons the Mercedes-Benzowned smart brand was never brought here, but they no longer matter. The car was comprehensively remodeled for 2007, and part…

FLAVIO BRIATORE Beat Ferrari with back-to-back Formula 1 championships for Renault and Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006. Then Alonso moved to McLaren-Mercedes, and Briatore’s Renault F1 dropped to the middle-back of the pack. 2007 Rank: 20 MARK FIELDS Ford’s president for the Americas pitched a vague “Way Forward” before Mulally parachuted to the rescue. Fields rose up the ladder after getting credit for rebuilding Mazda and revitalizing the Premier Automotive Group. Presence of Mulally and Jim Farley (No. 34) has diminished Field’s influence. 2007 Rank: 22 HAU-THAI TANG Ford’s amiable, urbane director of product development for South American operations was running SVT until management kneecapped the performance division. He’s learning production operations in Brazil while Ford promotes Derrick Kusak as its Bob Lutz. We’re waiting for Tang’s return to…

WHEN TOYOTA first announced it was coming out with a full-size pickup truck to go head to head with the big boys from Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, the question arose as to whether an import could truly compete as a heavyweight. The answer is in: The new Toyota Tundra is now ready to take on any American-made pickup truck—on all levels. Superiority? Toyota is pulling no punches by introducing one of the biggest, strongest, and most capable vehicles in the segment as well as investing billions in a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in the heart of truck country—San Antonio, Texas. Significance? With Toyota looking to more than double its presence in the hotly contested half-ton marketplace, the Tundra represents one of the most highly anticipated new vehicle launches in many…

HOT ON the heels of winning Motor Trend’s 2008 Sport/Utility of the Year title, not to mention a June 2007 comparison test in which it outgunned the Acura MDX and GMC Acadia, the Mazda CX-9 has joined our long-term fleet, poised to prove it can remain a staff favorite following a year of grueling service. So far, so good, as every staff member who’s slid behind the wheel has opted for extended stays, evidenced by over 5400 miles on the odometer in less than two months of duty time. Of course, there’s little not to love with the CX-9, especially in topline Grand Touring AWD guise, as is our tester. Dressed in elegant Liquid Platinum paint, our GT AWD, with a base price of $35,250, boasts a slew of nifty…

WITH 7500 miles clocked, the Sentra recently paid a visit to Santa Monica Nissan for its second service stop. For $122.82, the dealer replaced the oil, rotated the tires, adjusted the brakes, topped all the fluids, checked and torqued all suspension components, and performed a full inspection. We also had the technicians investigate a few strange noises that had been emanating from the SE-R. An annoying creak from the rear interior shelf was due to “excessive clearance at the rear seat,” according to the dealer, and required removal of the seat and installation of some foam padding. Further, a “squishy noise” from the left front suspension was caused by “cracked bushings,” requiring replacement of the lower control-arm assembly. Both fixes were performed under warranty. ■ Months/miles in service 5/7523 ■…

AFTER AMASSING 12,000 miles on the Silverado, we decided to change the look and utility of the Chevy by installing a Leer camper shell, model number 100XQ. We also put in a BedRug bed liner to prevent any more scratches on the metal. With a lockable tailgate and rear shell door, the Chevy “says goodbye to carrying motorcycles and hello to cozy camping or safe and dry locked storage,” according to Truck Trend editor Mark Williams. He also notes the shell’s roof “is said to be strong enough to hold three or four adults, so standing on it isn’t off limits,” a practice that should come in handy for our photographers and videographers. Pros aside, there are some cons to wearing the shell. Photographer Brian Vance notes, “The shell has…

ONE THING Lincoln designers have learned is that the 1961 Continental’s grille doesn’t easily translate to modern cars and SUVs. New models need to add, at least, suicide doors and a reardrive car’s dash-to-axle ratio for the retro design to work. Witness the Lincoln MKX, on which the retro grille looks a bit plain. Ford North American design chief Peter Horbury’s solution is to go back another two decades to the 1941 Continental. A modern version of its double-wing nose works better on the 2009 MKS than the modern 1961 eggcrate did on concept versions of Lincoln’s new flagship. The production MKS’s profile also appears more cleaned up than the concept’s, although the bustle tail seems unresolved, with Lancia Theta-like taillamps. The front-drive MKS launches later this year with a…

WEEKS BEFORE its Detroit show debut, one of our spies nabbed the 2009 Ford F-150 bereft of camouflage. Look closely and you’ll see every panel is new; codenamed P415, this F-150 is more than just a facelift of Ford’s best-seller. Check the taller front hood, with a big grille that riffs off Peter Horbury’s 2006 Super Chief concept, more elegant taillights, and chiseled body side. What you can’t see is a dramatically improved interior. The on-again, off-again 6.2-liter Hurricane V-8 is still on-again, but not likely to bow with the truck. Ford also plans an SVT version and a V-6 turbodiesel. Whisper out of Dearborn is the number of trim levels has been increased to seven. With its production schedule moved up to keep up with Silverado and Tundra, the…

SALT LAKE CITY may be the last place in America you’d expect to have a rock ’n’ roll moment (the Osmonds don’t count). So it’s a surprise to spot Tommy Lee, he of Mötley Crüe and that video fame, striding through the tony Bambara Restaurant. Lee will be DJ-ing at a local club later, but we take a pass. Tomorrow is an 866-mile stint across the rangelands of Idaho and Oregon to ultra-hip, rain-soaked Seattle, following much the same route as the Oregon Trail. The Malibu flashes across big-sky landscapes that took months of toil to cross 160 years ago, cosseting us with comforts those brave pioneers could never have dreamed about, like air-conditioning to exactly the temperature we want, comfy leather seats, and Neil Young on the iPod. Out…

GIVEN THAT the all-new Impreza WRX failed to pass the first round of this year’s Car of the Year competition, it’s no secret we’re not entirely smitten with it. Sure the oomph is still there—224 horses and 0 to 60 in 5.6 seconds—and the refinement and safety improvements represent huge leaps forward, but none of that prevented our editors from finding the Subie’s styling too staid, its suspension too soft, and its fun factor too dialed back. Looking for a Legacy GT? Buy a WRX and keep the change. Still, none of us was willing to write off Subaru’s performance icon—at least not yet. Not until we’d gotten our hands on the flagship, the all-new third-generation STI, namesake of Subaru’s motorsport subsidiary, Subaru Tecnica International, and the model Subaru promised…

NOTHING ELSE looks like it. So futuristic, so angular, so aggressive is Lamborghini’s newest raging bull that it almost defies description. The otherworldly Reventon is named after a particularly feisty fighting bull, and with just 20 production cars to be made (11 coming to the U.S.), it’ll be Lamborghini’s most exclusive road car ever. Other “mosts” include price ($1.4-plus million at current exchange rates) and speed (210-plus mph). The main inspiration for this most arresting of automotive shapes is the F-22 Raptor. This is no surprise: Manfred Fitzgerald, Lamborghini’s director of brand and design and the man who has carefully guided the company’s resurgence over the past decade, visited a European NATO base with his design team, just to soak up the jet-fighter vibe. “We had a good contact with…

presented by The 2007 SEMA Show–Bigger and Better Than Ever Hot, new, never-before-seen specialty-equipment products, celebrity sightings, tricked-out show vehicles representing every niche market imaginable (and unimaginable), OEM new vehicle world debuts and 2.1 million square feet of indoor and outdoor must-see exhibits–it’s just another day at the 2007 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you were among the few that missed the 2007 Show, make sure that you mark your calendar for the 2008 SEMA Show, November 4-7, 2008 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.…

“MINE’S BIGGER” moves the metal in the heavy-duty pickup world, so every detail of the restyled and revamped 2008 Ford Super Duty trucks has been tailored to enhance the impression of size. The Super Chief concept vehicle that presaged it was inspired by and named after a locomotive, and the hardware backs the image. An all-new F-450 model—the industry’s first factory-available Class-4 pickup—boasts class-leading payload and towing capacities of three and 12 tons, respectively. The F-450 rides atop a completely unique frame with special rear leaf springs and a wide-track, coil-sprung, leading-arm beam or live front axle that boasts the tightest turning radius in its class. The rest of the Super Duty lineup also gets major frame revisions like front rails that dip seven inches in front to meet the…

BACK IN 1964, Chevrolet introduced the Malibu name on the Chevelle, a coupe and sedan that filled the gap between the full-size Chevy and the smaller Chevy II of the time. Measuring 193.9 inches long and weighing 3060 pounds, the $2635 body-on-frame Chevelle Malibu SS, powered by a 220-horse V-8, achieved 0 to 60 in 9.7 seconds and the quarter mile in 17.4 at 80 mph. No dragstrip diva, the Malibu was nonetheless a solid family car, especially when it came to cruising the blacktop of the red, white, and blue. See the USA in your Chevrolet? Heck, Dinah Shore would’ve gladly jumped into the driver’s seat. Today, though, the Malibu’s original big and thirsty V-8, body-on-frame construction, and live rear axle are all history, replaced with clean and efficient…

THE WRANGLER has managed to record 15 mpg over its nearly 10,000-mile stay with us, a figure that supports the EPA’s revised 2008 fuel-economy ratings for the Jeep (14/18 city/highway versus 2007’s 16/19), but also a number that places it dead even with the gas mileage of our long-term Jaguar XKR. Considering that the Jag is a high-tech, sleek sports car and the Wrangler is an old-school sport/utility that cuts through the wind like an open parachute, this fact is impressive. Unimpressive, though, are the Jeep’s headrests that copy editor Jim Dryden thinks are “made of concrete.” Perhaps all that rock-climbing has gone straight to the Jeep’s headrests. Of course, there are other interior bits that’ve baffled editors. Truck Trend art director Thomas Voehringer opines, “The solitary button mounted in…

PROOF THAT fast cars can actually save lives, the Evo recently rescued Voehringer from extinction. “I was cruising along the freeway in sixth gear—the tach showing 3100 rpm, the speedo 80-plus mph—when I had to escape a Porsche Cayenne swapping lanes at 100 mph with two jet-skis in tow. Without a downshift, the car broke triple digits before I could break a sweat. This is a car that sleeps with one eye open. Granted, the ratio for sixth gear is 0.693:1, which does more for motivation than conservation, but it’s an Evo—here’s to motivation!” At 15,000 miles, we took the Evo to Todey Mitsubishi in Ventura, which changed the Mobil 1 oil, rotated the tires, replaced the engine air filter, and changed the A/C filter, all for $213.26 ■ Months/miles…

CUTE AND FUN to drive is a tantalizing combo, and thus executive editor Matt Stone has been unable to resist the allure of the Mini. “I loved our previous long-term Mini, and I think I like this one even more. As much as I’m a hard-core stick-and-clutch guy, this automatic is really good—you get standard drive, Sport drive, paddles, and a manumatic shift lever. Plus, automatics get along well with turbocharged engines if the shift-mapping and engine management is done right, which this one is.” It wasn’t all smiles, though, for Stone. “Too bad the switchgear for the HVAC system is a case of function follows form—it all looks trick, but the tiny, poorly lit rocker switches are made of slippery plastic and a pain to use, and the steering…

OUR 2006 KIA Sedona arrived at MT’s door having big, H-logoed shoes to fill. With the recently departed and well-regarded 2005 Honda Odyssey still fresh in the minds of our staffers, new-guy Sedona suffered early on from numerous comparisons: “It walks like an Odyssey, it talks like an Odyssey, but it doesn’t exactly taste like an Odyssey.” “Offers all the function to those who don’t want any driving fun. And the ‘fun’ I’m talking about is the type that can be had in an Odyssey.” “The tranny isn’t as refined, the engine isn’t as smooth, powerful, or quiet. The Sedona has more body creak than the Honda, and I’ve noticed the creaking is becoming more pronounced as the miles pour on.” So if the Honda was clearly more charismatic, how…

THE BLOGS have been dribbling with excitement in the past few weeks over a story we broke on these pages a couple months back: Pontiac will have station wagon and “ute” versions of the G8 sedan on sale here next fall. An insider has confirmed the news, weeks after our item on it appeared in the December issue. Based on the just-released Zeta-based wagon and ute versions of the Holden Commodore, both will share the same frontend graphic as the G8 sedan. The decision to offer the ute as a Pontiac rather than a GMC—which GM was considering at one point—means no need to retool a new front clip and put it through crash tests. The G8 ST, based on the long-wheelbase (118.5 inches) Holden Commodore ute, is a modern-day…

MINI’S NEW crossover SUV makes its first official appearance in 2009, part of a BMW crossover offensive that begins with the X6 due this year. The Mini is second, and in 2010, BMW will launch the X1, based on the new-to-the U.S. 1 Series. An all-new X3 is due in 2011. The X3 will grow in size and will be built in Spartanburg, South Carolina. This doesn’t count the 2010 5 Series-based Progressive Activity Sedan (pictured), a kind of X6 with low aspect-ratio body. The Mini will be about 158 inches in overall length, smaller than current microcrossovers like the Suzuki SX4. A designer tells Motor Trend his team worked up a proposal three years ago for a 165-inch-long Mini SUV, but BMW management says no Mini should be more…

YOU’RE LOOKING at Land Rover’s next big thing. The LRZ concept making its debut at the Detroit show is small, sporty, and designed to be as luxurious as any Landie. It could go on sale in three years or so for more money than the 10-inch-longer LR2/Discovery. It’s Land Rover’s Mini Cooper or Audi TT says design director Gerry McGovern, showing off his first concept since leaving Lincoln. With a sports-car-fast windshield, low, sloping roofline, and wheels pushed out to the four corners, it looks longer than it is in the vacuum of a single-car studio showing. Note how the shoulderline rises faster than the beltline. The C-pillars have see-through openings leading into a rather squat rear window. These cues combine with traditional Land Rover exterior design elements; hexagonal grille,…

letter of the month pipe dream The authorities have been less than supportive of my hobby of piloting my Mazda3 hatchback down Route 295 like a guided missile, and my latest summons has led me to conclude that my need for speed has outgrown the bounds of local roads and highways. We’re often asked at a certain age, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Those who volunteer to be engineers, accountants, and doctors receive praise and appropriate schooling to guide them to such careers. Others who speak of being rock stars, stuntmen, and race-car drivers get a placating pat on the head, a sideways glance, and encouragement toward a more practical and orthodox career. I’ve been wandering through occupational limbo for years, but I’ve never considered…

ASKED THE question, “Why do a ZR1?” Corvette Vehicle Line executive Tom Wallace shoots back, “Because we can. We have the technology inside General Motors to do a car that can go up against any supercar from around the world,” he continues, punctuating the thought with this threat: “I can’t wait to take on any Porsche with this car, and we’re going to be right in there with the Ferrari [599s] and Lamborghini [Murciélagos].” Whoa, ease off the Red Bull, Tom. This is a just a souped-up C6 Corvette, right? Or did you slip a mid-engine V-12 in without the blogosphere noticing? An hour with chief engineer Tadge Juechter reveals that this is indeed a Z06 upgraded with the best tech in GM’s arsenal. A ZR1 was never part of…

CHEVY’S NEW MALIBU is a hit with auto-scribblers. We insiders are all a-quiver over its sleek and spare styling, engine and transmission stats, posh interior trim, and all the other attributes that Chevy’s P.R. machine has PowerPointed at us. But how’s it going to connect with regular folks who don’t live in Detroit or L.A.? Does this one really have what it takes to lure a once-bitten and twice-shy buying public? To find out, we’ll climb aboard this latest media darling and get out of our element. To "see the USA in [our] Chevrolet." The world has changed a lot since Dinah Shore first warbled that lyric into living rooms on NBC’s “The Dinah Shore Chevy Show” in the late 1950s. Chevy and its domestic rivals took their collective eye…

“MUY BONITO, señor.” Moments ago I handed the claim ticket to the parking valet in that famed Spanish-speaking hub—New York City’s Times Square—and now he’s delivering the keys and gushing about my very pretty car. “It’s the new Chevy Malibu,” I say as several businessmen also waiting outside the Paramount Hotel edge in for a look. “Buenismo,” the valet nods. And there you have it: The 2008 Malibu is a hit on Broadway. I love driving in Manhattan. The cliché says New York drivers are rude, but they’re actually like Marine Corps drill instructors: tough yet fair. Aggressive moves are expected—appreciated, even—but if you’re not up to the challenge, you’ll be eaten alive. Thus begins my morning departure from the Big Apple, the torquey V-6 booming out police-chase sounds as…

SCENE ONE. Sendai Raceway, two hours north of Tokyo on the Bullet Train. Sendai is the only public racing circuit where Nissan tested its new GT-R. Apart from the Nürburgring in Germany—around which it’s the world’s fastest production car (only the limited-build Porsche Carrera GT laps faster, says Nissan). Sendai is like a mini ’Ring: fast and undulating and full of sweeping corners and heart-in-mouth turns. It’s a roller-coaster raceway. “We didn’t test on any other public racetrack because most are too easy,” says chief engineer Kazutoshi Mizuno, ex-head of Nissan’s sports-car racing program. Press the red start button on the center console, and the 3.8-liter V-6 burbles awake, slightly muted by its twin turbos. It’s a new engine, not a steroidal version of the familiar VQ family of V-6s.…

CRISIS? What crisis? Even though the price of gas has crashed through the $3-a-gallon barrier and looks hellbent on nailing $4 a gallon before the year is out, even though the sub-prime mortgage fiasco has trashed the home market and sent the nervous nellies on Wall Street into a tailspin, and even though the greenback is now worth about as much as Monopoly money, America still loves a pickup truck. Although down 12 percent on 2005, pickup truck sales seemed to be running at close to 2006 levels. That still means some 230,000 Americans drove a brand-new pickup off the dealer’s lot every month last year. To put it another way, pickup trucks alone accounted for one in every five new vehicles sold across the U.S. That’s big business, especially…

NEW LOOKS and interior refinements make the all-new GMC Sierra Heavy Dutys serious contenders for our Truck of the Year competition—and they feature the most powerful diesels in this class. All HDs come standard with a 6.0-liter gasoline V-8 putting out 353 horsepower and 373 pound-feet of torque mated to a Hydra-Matic 6L90 six-speed automatic. The 6L90 has a 6.04:1 overall ratio spread with two overdrive gears helping the HD’s performance and fuel economy, but the cleaner, more powerful Duramax 6.6-liter turbodiesel engine is the real story. With the biggest numbers in the field, the Duramax puts out 365 horsepower and a massive 660 pound-feet of torque. A new particle-trap system helps provide a 90-percent reduction in exhaust particulates and a 50-percent reduction in NOX to meet the new mandates…

DID TOYOTA send Corolla designers back to the drawing board when it saw our 2006 Car of the Year, the Honda Civic? Toyota says no, the story we’ve reported for two years isn’t true. Sources say otherwise, that designers tore up an earlier design to make the 7/8ths-scale Camry look edgier. Yes, well, six years is a long time between new Corollas. Toyota counters it’s not that long, because it’s selling nearly 400,000 a year even as the car ages. Whatever you believe, the 2009 Corolla is what you’d expect from Toyota: good news if you need only a highly refined economy car with unimpeachable reliability; not such good news if you were anticipating an avant-garde challenge to the Civic. And it’s not sporty, even in sporting iterations. Moderate understeer…

EDITOR in chief Angus MacKenzie piloted the LS to the SEMA show in Las Vegas and left the Lexus “in two minds about this car.” While he loved the “terrific sound from the Mark Levinson system” and “the impressive 23 mpg during the brisk road trip,” he nevertheless felt lukewarm about most everything else. “The styling is a huge improvement over the previous two generations, but the front end sags and the wheels are too small—it’s like seeing a guy in a Paul Smith suit wearing KMart shoes; the eight-speed auto hunts noticeably between ratios in power mode; the suspension is too soft and floaty; and the steering lacks feel, making it difficult to place the car accurately in corners.” At 15,000 miles, the LS went in for its third…

WITH THE JAG’S break-in period—4975 miles—at last logged, we finally got the opportunity to stretch its legs at the test track. While not as quick as the XKR we tested during the 2007 Car of the Year competition—that cat ran 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds and the quarter mile in 12.8 at 110.9 mph—our long-termer was nonetheless right on its tail, recording 4.7 and 13.2 at 109.0, respectively. About 1000 miles later, the Jag alerted senior editor Ron Kiino via the instrument panel’s center readout that the key fob’s battery was low. Not wanting to have to take it to the dealer, Kiino opted for the owner’s manual first, hoping there was an easy fix he could perform at home. Sure enough, all it needed was a common CR2032…

BELOW subcompact cars and minicars live microcars. They’re the ones that squirt through traffic and can park in places too small even for a Mini or 2CV. There’ve been many different brands over time—they were most prolific in the 1950s—but the model more often associated with the microcar phenom is the Isetta. It was designed in the early part of that decade and originally built and marketed by Iso, the Italian refrigeration-equipment company that built the Grifo, Rivolta, and other Iso luxury GTs in the 1960s and early 1970s. BMW licensed the Isetta design, reengineered it to accept its own one-cylinder powerplant, and launched it into the marketplace in 1955. Performance was a relative issue; what do you expect with only 10 horsepower aboard? There was but one door, that…