D: HYUNDAI GENESIS 4.6, LINCOLN MKS ACUI TL, AUDI Q5, MERCEDES GLK350 + SUS ee}POWERFUL ENOUGH T0 PULL THE ENTIRE | TRUCK INDUSTRY IN A WHOLE NEW DIRECTION._ INTRODUCING THE ALL-NEW DODGE 097 eM Despite all of its big talk and posturing, when it comes to pushing the boundaries of new technalagy and design, the truck world has been downright timid. | Butall of that just changed Introducing the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram 1500. Now available in the roomier crew most size truck ever to report for } Work on the farm, ranch, or construction site. B | Borrowing'trom the world } of Formula One racing, our Be |) HEMIV8 now has Variable Pacedon manulsctuter‘spraliminary tue $250 tb.- sooth navermect rice qual Epnsietent with coniltlons, Alusys ear your | ANEW SMARTER HEMI” ENGINE. omy esl mateset 14ctyto20highway mpa using EPA met combination of horsepower and fuel economy” in its class ‘THE NEW.STRENGTH IN FRAMES, The new, remarkably strong steel frame is fully boxed and rated at an astounding 85,000 psi tensile strength — making it the strongest frame everina Ram. AGAME-CHANGING SUSPENSION. Maybe you should sit down for Valve Timing (Wi) for better this part. Literally. Because the Pee gees new Dodge Ram's class-exclusive™ efficiency” and more rear link-coil suspension torque, resulting in better freeway merging acceleration while towing than Ford or Chevy: Combined with other advancements, it helps our S.7-liter 4 dedae-tare belt and obey tralic las parison based ap 22 SIRIUS,” tha SIRIUS dog fogo, “SIRIUS Back eat TV and yatatad mRAM. system is truly a revolution in truck comfort. It oreatly reduces friction and weight compared to’ conventional leaf springs. The advantages of this susper ion include a smoother highway ride than you get in a Ford or GMC truck without aS eer promising = payload ‘ortowing capacity, You'll also experience improved contral and more precise handling. MORE ADVANCED TRUCKNOLOGY. With uconnect web instant WiFi! everyone on board has fast Web access. For added salety end securily, the standard Electronic Stability Program has Treiler Sway Control and class- exclusive” Hill Stant Assist. The all-new Ram 1500 is also the most aerodynamic truck in its class“ and the only one with in-floor storage. Plus, you can get newavailable features like SIRIUS" Backseat 1," heated and ventilated front seats, class- exclusive" heated rear seats, and even a heated steering wheel CATCH ALL THE ACTION AT RAMCHALLENGE.COM There's much more to see at RamChallenge.com: But be forewarned. This isn’t one of those boring, click-laden Web sites. You'll'see the all-new Dodge Ram Crew 1500 conquering all kinds of extreme challenges. And crushing virtually every preconceived nation you have ahout full-size trucks Dodge. Grab life by the horns.CARandDRIVER Readers’ Experience <>) COOPERTIRES TEST DRIVE LAB We invited a group of our readers to participate in From just driving around the neighborhood to a consumer review of COOPER TIRES. We gave _ revving on the freeways, the Cooper tires exceeded participants a free full set of Cooper tires and sent expectations on both dry roads and wet. and were them out to drive in real-world conditions for 30 considered a definite upgrade over the participants’ days. The reviews were overwhelmingly favorable. _ previous tires. See What Our Readers Had To Say: limmediately noticed a big difference in First impression:Tire looks solidly built. the overall performance of my truck. My steoring was tigh to the road condi heavy rain. The tires handled the wet road conditions wonderfully with great stopping power and excellent control. | have better gas mileage on and off the highway. | am so pleased with these tires that | will be putting a set of Cooper tires on our family vehicle this year. N. Greco, driving Discoverer CTS tires ‘We really, really like them! They are quiet and handle extremely well on the open ighway, around tums, stops and starts ‘and around town. My husband says he likes them better than the tires that came with the car. ©. Fina, driving CS4 Touring tires Road noise is at a minimum in the cabin, ‘and they absorb very well even on a rough, beat-up city street. The lovel of road noise made me feel like | just upgraded from an ‘03 Toyota Camry toa Lexus E300. Tire traction is very good. It actually improved the braking performance ‘on the vehicle. The tires perform very well under high speed, steering and lano change and are very responsive. S. Szeto, driving CS4 Touring tires When I drove the truck home after they hhad put on the Cooper tires, I noticed the steering and handling was a lot better. ‘These tires are much better at handling and a lot less noisy than the tires that were previously on. | have driven several different cars and trucks over the years and you usually don’t notice that much of a difference, but with these Cooper Discoverer tires | can and do feel the difference. = G Hedlden, driving Discoverer CTS tires Go to CarandDriver.com/Cooper for more info, feedback and photos Now you can see what our readers have been talking about with your own free Cooper tires. Enter to win online at ‘CarandDriver.com/Cooper. The grand prize sweepstakes winner will recsive a set of four Cooper tires! 2.2008 ot 20pm to Sttenber 30, 2008 1186. Sune pen fo CARandDRNER com! Cooper NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Sravosatos ety prct Commences Septnbe ‘legal resderts ofthe 48 contiguous Unted States a Washington D.C, 1 years fags ad ler. To oar and fox Orc als, ist —Presenting the all-new fry bad far all-season luxury touring tire for your crossover, Pena or SUV. Advanced Response Technology Pens SST nk ala ee Reno PCH n Lk LS Renee aang posal eau RCE CR CUCU unio nS eeu Peo aha also along one. <> COOPERTIRE: FOR MORE INFORMATION G RearendEASY FASHION... IFOAM Macy‘s Se ee isonetEAR RIVER | OCT 2008 | VOL. 54, NO. 4 COVER PHOTOGRAPHY > CONTENTS ~~ HARDWARE DRIVE LINES 48 92 148 CHEVROLET LINCOLN MKS AWD ACURA TL CORVETTE ZR1 Dearborn's dreamboat was the MKR, Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. ‘Acar nobody noods hts a track nobody knows for are nobody will forget. By Aaron Robinson 56 ‘THE $25,000 QUESTION With 25 grand in your pocket and fun ‘a prime motivator, what do you go for: a modestly sporting new car or a flamboyantly exotic used one? 79 HYUNDAI GENESIS 4.6 ‘The new book of Genesis: not exactly 2 page turner, but lots of content By Tony Swan 22007 concept with an unforgettable face, warming the crowd for this near-luxury MKS, By Patrick Bedard 116 NISSAN CUBE e-4WD Nissan's Cube is boxy but good. By Michael Austin 132 2007 TOYOTA TUNDRA 4X4 DOUBLE CAB SRS 5.7L V-8 Toyota's heavy hauler provesit really canplay in the bigleaguos, By Tony Swan MORE FUN THAN ii g AN OPRAH SHOW I By Michael Austin 150 DODGE RAM 1500 Newfound refinement reveals the sheep within, By Steve Siler AUDI Q5 3.2 QUATTRO Four years behind the BMW X3 but about five years better. By Tony Quiroga 154 2010 MERCEDES-BENZ GLK350 4MATIC The market for small sport-utes continues toheatup. By Mark Gillies 156 CHEVROLET MALIBU LTZ The four-cylinder finally gets a sb-speed automatic, By Mark GillesAW ) ; bd | feo Ua Eee mea PR CNEL refrigerator-equipped; 24-mpg head-tumer.* Discover the striki CeO ecr ahs SSS ‘Optional second-row refrigerator console. **EPA-estimated 17 city/24 hwy mpg, FWD.Ld: AAG rl C/DGOES BOLLYWOOD CAREDRIVER = oct 2008 | VoL. 54, NO. 4 OCT 2008 ONE OF THE SYMPTOMS OF AN APPROACHING NERVOUS BREAKDOWN IS THE BELIEF THAT ONE'S WORK IS TERRIBLY IMPORTANT. "Bertrand Russel (1872-1670) 108 31 11 FEATURES UPFRONT COLUMNS ‘Two 612 Scagliettis roamthe Lotus produces a mid-enginedtwo-plus-two BY CSABACSERE ssuboontinontas Farrar explores a promising new market, By Aaron Robinson 126 ‘Ahuge seagoing cer carrer tips ‘over Inthe North Pacific and costs Mazda 4708 cars. By John Pearley Hutfman 142! ‘SOMETHING JUST WASN'T RIGHT After viclous stock-car crash 1n1970, Lee Roy Yarbrough's story spun downward into one of the saddest tales ever told. By Steven Cole Smith 8 ie todobattie with Porsche's finest. 38 FORDKUGA ‘A European soft-roader based on the second- eeneration Focus. 42! ‘SPORTSMOBILE A converted Dodge Sprinter proves tobea ‘mobile and livable garage. ‘ALFAROMEO MITO ‘litle car tocompete with BMW's Mini, Turbocharged engines to tha rescuol Why it willbe different this time around, 24 BY PATRICK BEDARD Un-oh, trans and buses use enerpy, too, and transit budgets are as stressedas yours. 28 BY LARRY WEBSTER Despite what Nissan claims, the GT-R is not ‘making the advertised 480 horsepower.gy ey eed [hallenge a ——" eine te Loe mea) = a en me XS a a eee Lele ea auromieerda se peu UC su LN) POI sy AC Rete P.M Sa LN a St RORain. Snow. Dry roads. The MICHELIN® Pilot® sport A/S Plus tire allows you to own the road. How? Michelin puts all three weather compounds on a single tread, which gives you best-in-class all-weather performance: Since it’s backed by a 45,000-mile manufacturer's limited warranty; you'll conquer virtually everything the weather throws at you for years to come. To find out more, visit michelinman.com/plus. ranty for details. Copyright © 2008 Michelin North ACSABA CSERE See Ne eT eae WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME AROUND. tthe Paris auto show this month, Chevrolet wi Lnveila new sedan called the Cruze, powered ‘iter turbocharged engine. Ford has been touting its uncoming EcoBoost techn ‘ogy for both cars and trucks. BMW is selling turbocharged cixes and V-8s. And Mercedes R&D boss, Thomas Weber, just announced that evary Mercedes will come with at least one turboenarged engine by the endo! 2010, I think I've seen this movie before, it was after the /ast fuel criss in the early Eighties, when turbo: charging first hit the technological big-time as an important fuel: saving technology. Ford put turbocharged fou ‘and Thunderbirds. Chrysler developed all man bochargad Chargers, Shadows, Daytonas~even minivans, Buick bulla variety of tutbo V-8s, including the memorable GNX. And let's not forget the turbocharged Saabs, Volos, and five-cylinder Audis, There were also performance turbos from Porsche, Nissan, Mi tsubisni, and Mazda. But the big promise o the turbo was efficiency: Turbocharge a small engine and get big-engine power while retain ing senall-engie fuel economy. Sounded great, but by the end of the Eighties, most of these mainstieam turbos had disappeared Wil this second turbo revolution have a diferent ending? The problems of turbocharging that put the nails into its tech ological coffin the fist time around haver't changed. When you turbocharge an engine, the increased pressure produced by force feeding extra air into it aises the temperature and pressure in the combustion chamber to the point where he engine wants io self-destruct. The easiest solution to this problem was to reduce the engine's compression ratio and bring combustion-chamber temperature and pressure back into the survivable range. This was especially true with those early turbos that didn’t even ‘employ intercooing, Another approach s torun a rcher-than-normal mbture, by add ing more fuel to the air thanis needed for combustion. As the ext fuel evaporates, it cools the combustion chamber and reduces the stresses of turbocharging. Of course. reducing the compression ratio ‘and blowing extra fuel into an enaine doesnt help efficiency. Then there's tutbo lag, which is tho gutloss rosponse you got at low rom, when the tlow of exhaust gas is insufficient to spool up the turbo. Unt! the boost came up, the engine felt as small as it actually was-even smaller, because the lowered compression ratio seciificed @ good chunk of the engine's naturally aspirated torque. The solution to this problem was to use a shorter axle retio or alower frst goar to holp the turbocharged car accolorate trom a dead stop. Unfortunately, shorter gearing doesn't help fuel economy, ether nally, those early turbos fist appeared in an era vihan electronic engine-management systems were in their infancies, The original Foid and Buick turbos used carburetors, which wer il-equiopedto deal with the pressure fuctuations and convoluted intake plumbing inherent with turbocharged engines. Ignition systems had limited bya range of authority, and knock sensors were in their early develop meni, as were variable intake- and exhaust-timing mechani ‘As a result, when gas prices relurred to mote affordable levels, ‘most automakers abendoned turbos, except forin their most power ful cars, and relied cn bigger engines to produce desirable ower. Today's turbo mantra remains unchanged-big-enaine horse power with small-engine fuel economy—tut the technology nas advanced immensely. For startars, huge progress has been made in ‘Understanding what takes placein an engine's combustion chamber, ‘Asa result, mocemn engines have much higher compression ratios than their predecessors~as high as 12.5:1~in engines that inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber rather than the intake ‘manifold, Not only do such systems provide more accurate fuel me. tering, but thanks to injection pressures of about 1500 psi~roughly 20 umes as high as portinjection pressures—they atornze the fuel ‘more thoroughly and cool the combustion chamber when it does the most good, just hefore the spark plug fre. ‘Compression ratios stil need to be reduced inturbo engines. but ‘when the turbo comes with a snitch from port direct fuel injection, the engine's compression ratio Is only teduced iractionally. Even when you add turbocharging to 2 naturally aspirated engine that already has direct fuel injection, the compression ratio might only top from 12.0:1 to 10.5:1, as in the case of the European version of BMW's 3.0-iter sies, Such a diop represents an efficiency loss, of approximately five percent-about half the deciine produced by the drop from 9.0:1 to 70:1 that was common 25 years ago. Modern knock sensors also acjust the spatk timing for each cylinder individually to achieve effective detonation control with the least compromise in power and efficiency. The latest turbochargers are also mote effective than their pre: decessors, with lower friction bearings and more-effcient turbine ‘and compressor dacigns. A tow aven have variable geometry, which ‘means they can adjust their operation to match engine rpm. As result, turbo lag at low rpm is less prevalent than it used to be. The turbo lag that remains is ameliorated by modern transn sions that have more gears-three-speed automatics and four-speed ‘manuals were the standard back then~and lockup torque convert ‘1. Such gearboxes can havo a ow goarto provide good standing, stant perfomance without compromising fuel efticiency. These improvements suggest that a second turbo revolution wil bbe more successtul than the fist. But one thing hasr't changed: Turbochargers and their necessary hardware aren't cheap. Their benefits can only be ustfied by high gas prices. oif the cost of fuel ‘plummets, 50 wil the fortunes of these modem turbo motors. 885 11CARANDDRIVER.COM rs a” FIRST DRIVES EAC R Te TUN aay Me ads Tae PCRs crue) EaeleMofelecl oT NW = clay CX seem e ers Me Eko Use eas le Vata WATCH AS WE HOT LAP THE GENERAL'S NEW SCREAMING-FAST FLAGSHIP ESI LS Selthyas cl ee sree ea CR ey nee el aio] ee eUaU Cony ‘STORY: WE ROUNDED UP SOME OF OUR FA Meu ISMN) od eis OULU IN NSX, ABMW M3, A CORVETTE 206, AN V-B E55 AMG, A TOYOTA SUPRA TURBO, BY Nee SLs Cry scene KU bac aes ls APNG Ta aOy YOUR CLOSE INSPECTION, WE'VE GOT Peers Te at) eens IMAGES AND aaron cases Poe PN ee aes te aE Da een rh RUM ean syeo 0 oe FRUGAL, AND PRACTICAL, BUT IT CAN ALSO MEAN FUN. READ THE LATEST ONS Me Tt rsa Ce ie ce a tS > FIVE FUEL-SAVING TECHNOLOGIES WEEXPLORE THE LATEST TECHNOLO- GIES THAT WILL HELP YOUR CAR MAKE THE MOST OF EVERY GALLON Ce Seen EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Csaba Coste EXECUTIVE EDITORMak Giles MANAGINGEDITOR Steve Syncs ‘ART DIRECTOR Jetty Dvovin TECHNICAL DIRECTOR Larey Wostor EDITORS AT LARGE Patrick Budrd, Joka Philirs OLD BOY RACER Teny Svan ‘TECHNICAL EDITORS Assen Robinson, Mckee Aestin ASSOCIATEEDITOR Tony Guiess (COPY CHIE Cars Wobor ASSOCIATE ART DIREGTOR Tox Cosgive ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR isle. 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Houghtin IL 1300 East coast DETROTT AUTOMOTIVE 00 West Big Bean mdevertsre Manas Manager west const ‘5670 dihire Bavlevad, Sue 1600 Caer 90038 ‘Vice Presidant, Marketing ResociataMarbetre Croatve Series Manage torn Adverting ir ra erase ern Advertsing Avoresing Merzoer termeret Manage ‘ins or Vice Presiden: & Genera Autcrmatve fobert Business Droctor lube Pacheco Production Oiecor Peedi V. adn Goody Predueton Van Oecie.Fufnent Se Sab 50d Nocth Michigan Avenue, Suke2100, (Chica. ns 60671 512-923-4800 Rehard. Bisbee Moan John 212707-5750 reir Marking Php Keon i Sle EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS Ls: ed uss wo aoe cpu asta reset eter say soles two Mar th sori Qyltersmayeesatesaéia Sel Grow Grciaion rector thenarag Droste, Nawestand Slee cholopoulos| eyThe Bad News: There are more ways to get a ticket. Speed Camera peed Trap i The Good News: We have the solution. yen Introducing the all-new PASSPORT 9500ix: the only radar and laser detector that incorporates ESCORT's patented “AutoLearn” feature and the power of the internet to keep you up to date and ticket free, Itis truly th leap forward in radar and laser protection next great Ital starts with ESCORT's class leading long range radar and laser protection. We then intearate Department CARDVRCea LE~~ ESCALADE ""# Introducing the 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid, Seamlessly combining the highest levels of performance and luxury with a responsible 2-Mode Hybrid system, and an advancement like Active Fuel Management,’ to offer the best fuel economy in its class: Resulting in a 50% increase in city fuel economy over the iconic Escalade Simply put, the Escalade Hybrid is intelligent indulgence. Coming this fall in limited availability. Life. LIBERTY. wore PURSUIT. Soe ree er ee a een yee eae Pieler mere racine tas eer mentant re riet err ne scee nN Ceierrereser Cn a foo fel ei ere eater eal"Cees Pea Cts ue eet en eos SCOR ceria CTrcuhoe Peer CUE world’s most AN re} Oreo EUAN Pte) Send $4 for catalog: ene Cc) lad ES eceaae Rend EXECUTIVE STAFF President & Chiof Executive Officer... JeckKliser Bxecative VP Chief Operating Officer... Philype Guin Exesative VP ‘General Counsel erin, Flichngw EVP/Group Publishing Directr, Men's Enthasiast Network/ Integrated Sales Marketing Nich Senier VP/ Chie Financial fice Senier VP/ Chick Technology Offer... hue Senior VP/Chiet Procurement Officer Senior VP/Consumer Marketing Manafaetaring Thomas Master Senior VE/Digitl Media, Told Ander Seniee VP/Corporate Communications \VP/HumanRazoareee Philippe Pests ‘Anne Lattimore Ju ‘Eleen F. Nallie HEMU,S. is part of Lagaedara Active, division of Lagarde SCA Geen om. (CEO, Lagarde Active. Dia Quit (CEOInternationa, Lagardére Active (Cel D'Asar Bonde SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES ‘TELEPHONE: 500-259-9464 MAIL: Garand Driver, PO, Box 529 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE = hc scr ptoncerrespoerc rchide complete Inallg ad ess Alby at bast aft neds for change 1 Yelena fo partcpaten arnt, plese cal 3 carandiver.com, ris acegisteradtrademakot ahi Meda US, In Copy 21 tol ¥ us, Altighsres Bese MDABilstein Gas Pressure Shock Absorbers ThyssenKrupp Bilstein of America SRE Aa suc) oe _ 1s STS TEs OS emcee ce DO de ee eee ee a es ee ee eee Cee ee ee ec saat ed Pee ce eed a ees eee eco cedrantoge, or cl 1 fre forthe Bisteinretaer nearest you. (=)BACKFIRES THE COLOR ORANGE A careful read of the "Retro Rewind" comparison [cover story, July 2008} of the Challenger SRTS and the Mustang Bult leads to the jdovious conclusion thal these are two very different cars. Despite its pony-car moniker, the tive-passenger, 4189 ound Challengers in realty a “relto" "68-70 Charger muscle car. How prophetic that the original concept and your test car were in bright orange. All that was missing were a par of “01's forthe doors and a Confederate flag for the roof. For quarter-mile runs, the Challenger (with atest time of 13.3 seconds) is the best there's ever been. But for sports-car coupe driving, the forte of pony cars, the Mustang shines in your test witha faster (despite smaller al-season ties) lane-change speed and a win (19 to 23) in your fun-to- dive category. Patrick Bedard could have best summed. Up the test by wating, “The Mustang is ne muscle car, any the Challenger is ne pony car Deck Lerev Taszana, CALFORNIA The cover photo~"it's 1970 Again!"=is as beautiful as it is ironic. k shons two iconic 18 258: American V-8 pony cars, the performance and sales of which were eviscerated by an «il embargo and emissions equations. Now, some 30: plus years later, they are being reintroduced at a time when the economy is challenging the very pecple to whom these cars are targeted. Perhaps the ‘most striking element inthe photo Is the lite sign that is hanging between the pumps behind the Mustang. It reads, *NO GAS’ Rosear Scaw.on Faerie, Connecnout AAs an ‘08 Bullitt owner anc a subscriber, | enjoyed your review but must point out two eros. First, the 4.6 fengine} has three valves per cylinder, ‘not two, and the “real-world price” for the Challenger is 80 lage, not ist. Okay, | pald {$2000 aver for my Bult. don't mind losing to a car costing twice what mine did, and those who paid $60K just found out that next year the Challenger gets a stick and locking differential. They should have bought a Bult Crna Francisc Lepraso, Connecreut Excuuuuse mo? We said the ‘car has two intake valves. It goes without saying that there's an exhaust vaive. Anyway, that's what Csaba says. Plus. a search of eBay suggests some Challengers may 90 for as much as $8K ‘over list, but there should soon be a vast supply-Ed. SHOGKERS About your July 08 cover blurb re the “Vision Quest" ‘comparison test: “Shocker: Guess What Beats the GT-R? The MS beat the GT-R and 911 Turbo ina C/D compara? You guys teally did give your audience the shocker. ‘Orauano, CALFORNA Second? Runner-up? Numero os? The Nissan GT-R, the ‘greatest sports car ever built inthe history of mankind? Oh, silly me, There was a BMW in 1 test. Fair enough. Ido nave to-appreciate a publication with a complete and utter bias to a single nameplate. we Manan sss $08 AvevoueRove, New Met Let me guess, You would have picked the Porsche!—Ed, The shocker would be it a BMW olin’ win a.Ci comparo. Yall are BMW silly. Dennis Goon Lousmute, Kentucky ‘Address your correspondence to: BACKFIRES, Car nd Driver, 1589€senhower Place, Ann Arbor M4109, Ouedtcril denariment can ‘so be reached at CARandDRIVER com or editors @CARancORNER co. Alters become the property of Car and Drive, ndwereservethe ight twedtihem for enath, accuracy, andctary. “Guess What Beats the GT-R?" Haha, funny joke. See, Ithought you meant actually, you know, beats the GT-R, ike vith better acceleration, top speed, andicr lp times, What you really meant was, "Guess what we fike better than the GT-R?" Anyone who's read CID awhile knows the answer: “Uh, something with a roundel onthe nood.” JEFF GuuFoRo Kilov, TENNESSEE The Highs: In this croved, i you've cot the keys, you can't 0 wrong, The Lows: | stl can't afford any of them, The Verdict: Letting an M3 beal a GT-R and a 911 Turbo because of “hassle-free livability and... price” is tke picking Opran Wintrey over ‘Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum because she's more well-read and has more money. ‘ANonevt Fann Cavtox, Monica Uh, picking Oprah Wintrey for what?—Eo. ‘Thank you! The compar was truly a shocker and overdue! Im tited of my buddies wrining how C/D just loves BMV and Honda. This articie has all the proof to silence them! First off using “beats” was brillant! To beat means to win, objectively and decisively. And you have all the numbers! Your tests show the M3 completely dominated the cound-ovel category. Genius! We see wha drives these cars that cost over $60K, and its not those ft young duces in the commercials. So we know roise is critical to these buyers, A tone keeps arguing that the M3 came in almost a full second behind the Porsche. | just say, "Bleh, blah, biah” and point fo your comment that the M3is “not as quick” Everyono knows “not as quick’ doesn’t ean “slomes: Who cares about one second, anyway? And thanks for not making a big deel about the M3 not having the fastest top speed.2 5 HANDLING \.e: ioe cngncvoniougs ROM THE sosccor vin ‘Sotho vail hang tl sorane SAAMI. fs sons» grt) Tadon Saance. conor,oocavecs. MINDSET tsi NissarUSA.com The All-New Nissan Rogue SHIFT_passionNIDGESTONE Stig Pa ame 1 Beem cn cme tse) through September 27, 2008. Co eee Creer eet ree ere eres hae eons Ceres PASSION for EXCELLENCE BAGKTIRES MS. GOODWENCH py PIpPa GARNER People should not arve that fast. It could bbe outrignt dangerous, especially seeing hhow old those drivers are, Mario Manny Los ANGELES, CALFORVA To Tony Quiroga: I normally read C/D for car stuff, but your opering comments about indigenous people standing on the shore not seeing the Spanish arriving 500 years ago sparked an inierest, Oo you know where | can tead more about this? Joserr Greensens Wcowse. Pentstavanin In the Marvel comic | gotit trom-Tony. ‘The Nissan GT-R is surely a stout piece of i, but the exterior styling reminds me of cone of the greatest lines fo ever appear in your magazine, It was in a review of the ‘Suzuki Aerio, and went something ike this: ‘The best partis you can impress all cf your friends by telling them you bult it yourself!” Gees T Wassenaros, OC. Thanks for having the guts to tel it ike it is desoite knowing how much hate mail youll get for not picking the GT-R. I's a phenomenal “numbers car,” but the M3 provides the total package. Some guys will never getit But i's conic that in a competition where the numbers car lost. you lost your ‘numbers. On the road course, the GT-R. was 1.1 seconds quicker than the 917 Turbo, or 2.1 mph faster. So how could the Turbo beat the Bimmer by more of a margin (1.5 seconds) but only lap (0.9 moh quicker? To me, the only way that’s possible would be if they were on Dove Hatt Cauca, ALBERTA You're right Ler’s just say the test equicment pumped out the wrong numbers. The correct average speeds are 60.5 mph for the M3, 62.3 mph for the GT-R, and 61.5 mph for the 911 Turbo. And it had nothing to do with Larry Jumping ship to Popular Mechanics Eo. different courses, In your latest article, the lod gates of eecitorial falacio [sic] spill open all over the M3... You suck Dave Nanrocx Cyerrsrace Fallacio? Hun? You mean tailopian? Phallicism? Phalangeal? You mean we suffer from phagocytosis? Whatever you got something on your chin~Ed. BRIGHT FUTURE Lhwas befuddled by the ine in your Infinit F505 story Luly 2008): "The new FX holds two more beer cases with the rear seats up than before and four more with the seats folded." I sat there, on the can, thinking to myself, “How many people . driving a $60K-plus SUV are worried ‘about how many cases of beer they can hold?" figured tay would be more concerned about soceer balls and Lievens'shefuddlled golf clubs. That was letter winsuptown until tore out the NASCAR swag. stuoid sunglassesSmut si ete et PEED AcaisTa ee ous products for 30 years.” Oe ent Fee ee ee Jack Miller has been restoring fine Pree ee Scan I cored Perini ees 300SLR, His tools of choice? Th nl Leather Cleaner and Conditione vireo ee eae ee ete keen! Kozak Auto Dry Wash? from Lexol to clean and shine exterior finishes Without water. Want professional-grade results for your own fine automobile? Look for these Lexol produ Peters) Bape res nee Sete at your Oe crt) Stan Drought woes? Rosato ly cleans pone Seen Ponca te aay ee eens ee ort ea BAGKTIRES ad and read the ‘Alphabet Soup" sidebar. has the most advanced booze. 31 ve ever seen. Ths seems to be ‘a wealthy alcoholics wat dream, LDW land LOP pretty much keep the ear from Crossing into opposing traffic, even using the brakes to helo you steer. ICC and DCA keep you from tailcating that unmarked police car in front of you. IBA "vil partialy apply the brakes for you I you insist on tuying to crash’ The AFS lets you caich a glimpse of the neighbor's dog before you hitit, as you tly around thet corner at the end of your road. Tris is ether {an end to washed-up pop stars making national headiines or the solution to bad ivers with too much money and a lack ot for their surtoundings. Either way, respec it sounds ike a brighter future to me. Nice work, nti Anam Lievens Hookserr, New Haves The question, ‘Wher's the last time you saw any vehicle with talights protruding outside the bodywork?" was asked by ‘Austin in his FX50S story, The answer ‘About a minute ago when the most recent of the hundred or so Jeep Wranglers | sea every day drove by, ow Downs DexreR, Mosca Even if those vents behind the front wheels of the FXS0S added 50 horsepower each, it wouldn't make up for owning a $60,000 truckliae thing tha looks related to a Ford Focus. Infinl thinks a five-percent reduction in its worth that stigma? found The Steeting Column [Ou Secretary of Transportation reveals her ignorance ofthe auto industry” July 2008; lacking some facts. Had our astute author done a litte more research, he would have found that in 1993 thore was a program Jn which the domestic auto industry lists to develop the *supercay’ the goal to build an 80: mpg car to be developed. tested, and in ‘production by 2007, The auto companies wore promised that the CAFE standards would not bbe raised vith their agreement to fully cooperate. They did produce the prototypes. GM met the 80 mpg. while Foid and Chnysler fell a ite short at 72 mpg. However, all wore diosol hybrids. ‘With four years to go, in 1997, the auto companies were trying to ki the project, cling costs, market demand, and the was to work with se vsuallitany of excuses. Bush won in 2000, project killed new focus on hydrogen, Sad commentary: ‘At $4.20 a gallon, those 80-mpg cars ‘sure would be in demand today, But wie needed those nigh-protit-generating SUVS so the suits could contin well-deserved bonuses, fe to receive their Jon M. Hus Pare Rose, it was no secret that the "Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles” was just ‘apolitical gesture to make the Clinton administration appear to be doing omething about fuel efficiency without tually hindering the auto industry. Check out Csere’s column way back in December of 1993-Ea, Csere's column about production lead times was interesting, but his 2 weirdly narrow. He knows that “average” fuel economy has as much to do with numbers sold as t does with individual model design. anufacturers can quickty raise their CAFE rumbers by selling more small cars. In fact, CAFE numbers are skyrocketing right now, against carmakers! \wishes~people ate flocking to fuel- ctficient cars for financial reasons, and ‘dealers are running out of places to put all the unsold (high-prolt-matgin) SUVS. ‘An editorial about the elect of gas prices ‘on consumer tastes and the financial implications for the industry would be more to the point~but harcer to get al ‘worked up about (damn the politicians, darn them)). The automakers alreacy have flees of high-priced lobbyists pleading that they can put journalists in their pocket too. just for the price of a handful of wine- ‘and-dine drive junkets. (C/D is tho bost English-language car magazine, period, and | ove ever But yall sound lke freaking iaots (or shills) when you talk about polties and tartship on their behalf—nice Nobody wants to mention performance trade-offs as the easy route to better mpg. Lowering the axe ratio by, say, 10 percent could yield significant mng gains for any cer. Similarly, any car can be ‘detuned’ with software updates. Back in the 80s, BMW's ota-ongined cars used a combination of lower compression and tall gearing to deliver fuel economy. While ‘geatheads are willng to secifice mpg for acceleration, | think the public et large ‘wouldn't mind losing a hall-second in the tun to 60 mph for 2-3 mpg. Pose Bao. New York I ead your recent testing of the new ‘Chevrolet Cobalt SS [July 2008]. You writeMS. GOODWENCH sy PIPPA GARNER thatthe top speed (drag limited) is 146 mph. Two other magazines listed the top speed (crag limited) at 160 moh. Chevy's Web site lists “over 160 moh.” Why the diference? ‘Gnzoo MoBro: ‘Auer, TEXAS i seems our intrepid West Coast staff was using 2 too-short straightaway. GM tels us that the Cobalt SS needs a full two miles to get irom 146 mph to top speed~Ed. HERE COME DA JUDGE John Phitips’s colunn, “Sience is Golden, Maybe" [uly 2008] should have added, *Naybe nol.” What your legal advisors overiooked was that slence may cause you to lose your drive's license or, worse. [get you] charged with a crime. How? A states have “implied consent” laws, which requite impaited diving suspects toprovide breath samples where there is probable cause to believe they are impaired. in some states, the implied: Consent laws also requre performance of “field-sobrioty tests, winech may include recitation of the alphabet. Some states also make ita crime to refuse sobriaty testing if the person has previously refused. ‘So, when the oificer asks you if you ll tako the test and you exorcise your abllty to remain silent, twill probably be consttued as a refusal, That can bring loss of driving privileges or, worse, you may tend up with a misdemeanor rap if you have done that before. Tho Fifth Amendment right to romain silent and the right to Miranda wamings do not apply because feld-sobrety tesis and. blood-alcohol tests are not “testimonial” Miranda and the Fifth only apply to incriminating statements, not to physical acts, Romain silert, and the officer may just smile, knowing your failure to verbally assent io be tested vill nt orly result in your license being pulled. but the refusal can also be introduced in evidence to prove quit. Kant B. Grube, ‘Sewor FLonos TRAL Count JuDce SI, PeTERSAURG, FLORIDA If Fizzoner had read the column carefull, he would have seen 20-some fines detailing the bad things that can happen ‘tyou retuse to speak, including teid sobriety tests, detention at ihe scene, and this litte clincher from an Assistant US. Attarey:“[Refusal 0 speak] may be grounds for a DUI in and of tseli” So your objection is overruled. And now weil take the Fith-Ed, STOP, THIEF! I Bedard is going to use tines from Ring Lardoer="'Shut up’ she explained’=["The Spillec-Liquid Chronicles. July 2008}, he should at least give Lardner credit. Imean, it’s not like he couldn’ have cut a few lines trom a column on cup holders, tor cchrissakes, Benne Seance Font THOS, Keuciey COAL AS SAVIOR ‘You wonder why most Americans do not know that the Gormans {in 1945] ran thoir panzer divisions, etc, on gasoline and diesel made frorn coal! Siety-three years ‘ago, German scientists wth slide rules figured out how to do it. In April 1945, my father worked for Royal Dutch Petroleum and moved east with the U.S. Aimy and ‘was able to find the formula. He turned it into corporate management. Now, what do you think happened to It? Pertiaps Mr Bush knows. or maybe Mr. Cheney. thaRo ce BaseANTER Brusseus, Beau @ POLISHED PRECISION. rs Tech Gear excels in technology and endurance. Full-featured. Full-powered. The perfect balance of precision and sophistication. Featured model $299 PULSAR ‘Where substance meets style PulsarWatches. com Soho Waten Crporoton Fred MeyerPATRICK BEDARD UH-OH, TRAINS AND BUSES USE ENERGY, TOO, AND TRANSIT BUDGETS ARE AS STRESSED AS YOURS. edona is a pretty Ite town in northem Arizona vith a bad case of Santa Fe envy. To the folks who decide such things, Santa Fe, New Mexico, seems to matter. Sedona wants to ‘matiey too. Cities that matter have transit systems, So Sedona has hatched its own transit line A litte backgrouna: Everyone in pretty Itle Sedona gets thete by driving. You could fly your ‘own plane inthe alrport is right in the midale of town-cr you could endure the three-hour van shultle from the Phoenix airport. But everybody drives. The RoadRunner, pretty ite Sedona’s transit system, consists of four squared: off buses, 43 passengers each, painted like toley cars. Two. them run every day trom 9a.m.to6:30 pm. circulating between various art gales, shopping clusters, and parking lots Tothe taxpayers, he RoadFunneris justfied—with a stright face, let me add~as a way to take cars off the road. Sure, the town is full of cars driven by tourists, but having those cars parked while the visitors citculate is said, in the confident tones possible only when ther peoples’ money is on the line, to be an important benefit The benefit costs the city $8.64 per rider just to operate the buses, this for 87,876 riders over the 12 months ending in Apailof this year. Since the bus riders travel ree, pretty litle Sedora’s taxpayers are coughing up a tidy sum in hopes that, someday, their town vill matter as much as Santa Fe. Shall we put this down for what iis, one striving town’s vanity project? In this regard, Sedona appears to have measure utban var nty of company. we 'y by the amount transit systems cost above what the ders are wiling to pay. this isindeed a nation of vain cities, vera, more than three of every four dollars spent on transit comes from taxoayers, not the riders, according to a study published by the Ceto institute titled "A Desire Named Sireetcar" The New York subway system, popularly called te “electric sow- er” in my 19 years as a Manhattan cif cweller, hauls the masses and uably the most cost-efficient transit system in the country. Pas- sengers pay 58 percent of operat ing costs, The numbors drop from there, as does ridership, Around the country, San Franciseois next best al 57 percent, then Washington, D.C. at 48 percent, followed by Boston riders who pay 41 percent, 36 percent in Chicago, 31 percent in Atlenta, 26 percent in Los Angeles, and 20 percent in Denver. Think of it this way. Evory me a Los Angeli gots on the Metro Rall, he lays cut a buck and a quarter, more or less, depending on his destination, and the taxpayers kick in about three and a half bucks. Nex! time you ding your credit card for gas at $4 per gallon, imagine getting back a check from the government for almost $3 a gallon. Not gonna happen. Frequent fliers and UPS shiopers don't dsc this kind of deol either, But mass trensit exsts in that wrshtul 24 2580 world in which my happiness and yours depends upon everyone else hopping on the train or bus so we don’t have to /th commuters shying away fom $4 gas any way they can, 2008 should be the year when transit shows its stuff. And itis, only its the stuff transit advocates don't wantto talk about. Buses and trains use energy, 20. Portland, Oregon, the poster city for enlichtenes living trough publi transit is typical: its diesel costs nave risen ike everybody ese, more than 150 percent in the past year, according (0 the Energy Information Administration. Now the TiMet’s base fares rising @ quarter to two bucks. To stay out of bankrupicy, most transit systems ate increasing fares and chopping their schedules or, at least, contemplating such. Nineteen percent of bus operators have reducod service already, as have 21 percent of ral operators, accoiding to the American Transportation Association. The Cato Institute's Randal O'Toole points to commater rail as he big hole inthe fiscal bucket. He cites General Accounting O'fice figuies, saying the cost fo build a ral line can be 50 times that of starting a bus service with comparable frequency and capacity. White buses run on steets already in placa ight ral hes to construct the track system before the firs train can enter the station. Cheapie layouts that run on a level grade-thal means the trains will sop raffic as they cut acioss slieeis~cost $25 million to $50 milion ‘a mile; enhancements including tunreling and elevating boosted Seaitle's cost to $179 milion per mile. So ail systems run on borrevzed money, and bondholders must ‘be paid, mostly rom salos-tax revenues, but that stream runs shallow ow as consumers worried about their adjustable-rate mortgages im back their spending, Hence the utban itony: After years of haranguing motorists to park their cars, ransilfinds itself foo tapped out to add enough seats forthe svrelling crowd, Mass transit faces three intractable probiems. Firs, the riders never value the service enough to pay is ful cost. O'Toole, inthis ‘2008 study, quotes 2003 numbers showing that sudsiaios for anit beyond the expense covered by fares amounted to $31 billion. That ‘same year, subsides to highways less user fees paid by motorists that re diverted to nonhighvray uses such as mass transit came out to {816 blion. “Yet highways account for about 100 tes as many pas Songor-miles and infintaly more freight movement than transi: Ne second intractable problem: The lure of using other peoples ‘money-read federal funds—prompts high-cost all projects instead of buses because Washington antes up mostly for construction, rot operation The third intractable problem: Transit never stoos by the supe: ‘market to bring you and the groceries back to your driveway,Sem e OC ase hc Le a a eo Con ee cae Ca The boxer throws the powerful one-two—boxing's most feared combination. Deets Ree een re ee as NC fingers two times and watch as everyone around gets ready to move. Why COM EUR RUM c un eae hr Imes GRO a aus neo Re Ce ous PU OMe ce a ea esa Oe eur et eee Re ace Cenc oe ce ‘And we've followed it for over 40 years. Always building to it. It’s what drove us to make the MX-5 Miata, the best-selling roadster of all time, The MAZDASPEED3, one of the fastest front wheel-drive cars on the planet. And the CX-9, 2008 De ace Ue eI eS Sea a Meena ‘most refined and reimagined form Peo cu eva Al De oc Erte rs Cee enoneDeen on ce er re Coe are ee ee) Rea mSiecee tec ke ah ee POGee rms we ce re Lec Sue RGIS eee ee ene cre ee eC ee) CMa Cun is eL! ee eae Cer Crea cc i CeCe aac if it doesn’t get you talking. Zoom-Zoom. Forevet ene ei Seuss cee ee ee SaaS estuarine nse Yeon hae hn ANG ode ade nyo Season et EDU eneDESPITE WHAT NISSAN CLAIMS, THE GT-R IS NOT SN CCR CUNT Os) ai OU La t's 2 ringer” we said among ourselves as soon as the fist Nissan GT-A’s test resuls were in, Despite a power-to-weight ratio that's 20 percent worse than that ofthe similarly priced Corvetie Z06, that first GT-R outran the Z06 to 60 mph (3.3 seconds versus 3.4 for the quickest Z06 we've tested) and through the quarter-mile (11.5. 124 mph versus 11.8 at 128). Even allowing for the launch advantages of all-vneel drve, the GT-R’s performance made us suspicious. It wouldn't be hard for Nissan engineers, we sutmsed, to crank up the boost ‘and thus jack up horsepower that would resultin astonishing track numbers in American car-magazine tests. The GT-R was in such demand and our alloted time with it was 90 short, however, that we dicn't have time to strap tonto a chassis dyno and measure the horsepower. We soon testedtwomore GT-Rs, and supporting ou suspicions, they wete considerably slower. GT-R No.2 was 0.6 second behind the No. 1 through the quarter, and GT-R numero tres was a disturbing 1.1 seconds siower Again, we didn't have enough time to dyno-test those cars, butt seemed clear that the frst GT-R was likely a one-of-a-kind rocket We finally got the opportunity torun aGT-R on a chassis dyno in May alter Tony Swan retuned with the ecample he used forthe One Lap of America competi: lion. The only problem with that ccar-No. 4 in our series-was that it performed about as well as the tst. Thare wero come dit ferences, as you can see in the chart below, but those can easily be chalked up to the fact that the cars were tested on different days at different tracks. Yes, we do perform a weather coection to account for much of the ambient-condition difference, but no correction is perfect. ‘Abriof primer on the Mustang chassis dyno wo used: Picture a pair of parallel, supersized roling pins mountediin the for. The car is strapped down so that the front wheels are.on ane roller and the spins these rollers, which ae attached toa device that measutes the applied force. A computer that tes into the car's diagnostic plug and reads engine rpm calculates the horsepower. This power figure is what's known as “wheel horsepower.” and it's less than the engine horsepower that’s listed in our specs because the drivetrain com ponents-tranemiscion, driveshafts, bearings, differential-all have Internal frtion that soaks up power. How much power is lost in the Journay to the road is not accurately known, but a 15-percent loss fo rear-drive carswith manual transmissions and anear 20-percent loss for four-wheel-crive cars ate good estimates. (On MotorCity Speed's Mustang dyno in Commerce Township, Michigan, GI-R No. 4 produced a peak of 415 horsepower at the viheels, Based on our 20-percent loss estimate, the engine outout was 819, or 39 norsepowar more than Nissan's stated 480, ‘So what's up? We called Nissan, and the company says the frst four cars we tested were ealy-build versions that received regulat engine-computer software up dates, which may account for the varied results we recorded. ‘We then wondered which en- gine-computer calibration was the one real-world GT-R buyers ‘would receive. Three weeks later. a fifth GT-R arrived, This one, allegedly, was a production version with the latest~and final-engine calibra tion. We took it both to the test track and MotorCity’s dyno This car performed nearly identically to the fourth car. It smoked the quarter-mile in 118 seconds at 120 mph ang produced 420 wheel horsepower, We also measured the turbo boos! pressure in both cars, and the curves (go to CARandDRIVER. com/BoostCurves to view them) were basically identical, Though we didn't get a chance to dyno-test the two slower GTRs, three ofthe fve were so close in performance that ve believe thoy accurately represent tho GT-R’s capability. Clearly, Nissan is delivering more than the advertised 480 horsepower. Andiihe most likely figure is about 520, which is yet another reason to bow to the reais on the other. The operator puts the caringearand, va the tres, best performance value since the Cowvette 208, _ WEIGHT 0-30, 0-6 o190 E ery 1[RoapTest/may'os | swe | 13 | 39 | 78 | 121 | - | 115 | 12 | Nevada Dunlop SP Sport 600 DSST 2|comparowuty'os | 390 | 13 | 36 | ao | 9 | - | 121 | 115 | Nova | Bridgestone Potenza REOZOR AFT Z[comparovauc’os | seo | 14 | 41 | 102 | eo | 256 | w= | 1m | caitoma | Bidgeciono poowa ROTOR ART 4 [one-LaP car/sEpT“08 | se | 12 | 37 | 79 | 7 | 196 | 16 | 12 | Metzen | Bigestne Pknea REOIER RFT S[mestcarrocr‘os | sz | tz | a2 [ a1 | 40 | aur | m6 | sao | Mctcon | Durlp SPSpot 7010 NSOSST 2B 258:3 ; ul af : Pee a / A r qed = Swe| EDITED BY TONY OUIROGA RAY HUTTON ENGLAND] JUERGEN ZOELLTER [GERMANY] OCT 2008 PAGE34:NOCADDYSHACK PAGE 38:KUGA,NOTCOUGAR PAGE 42: MOBILE HOME PAGE 44: ROMAN MYTHOLOGY tine? cin thisrace- Handsome ad sport-te will Motoorossrider Brian Lopes designs A Romeo promisesaretum tothe rere SI25000 fee. selonlyinEurope forthe time bare. aDodgeSprinterthatsfitforakne U.S. but Milo afterall means myth NEW: LOTUS EVORA THE EVORA HAS LANDED LOTUS PRODUCES A TOYOTA-POWERED, MID-ENGINED, TWO-PLUS-TWO SPORTS CAR THAT WILL DO BATTLE WITH PORSCHE'S FINEST. BYRAYHUTTON — The Eagle hes landed-—and itis 1 So Evoraitis, claiming tobe the only code-named M250, cated Evore mid-engined two-plus-two ave at auto shows in 2000 Lotus chose the British Motor Show in moving Lotus back into touring previous management rst completely new sports cars, a pet of the market it vac The chassis, made |: tEagle-in 117 years ago when it cropped the front-end riveted aluminum ext ipo, which has ongined Excel folded shoot olments, ic, London to presenti model-once du years. The two:p! 2.276-np, 3.-Iter V-6 Toyota engine, wil Evora development started in October extension of the Eiise’s structure, The sils ‘goon salein Europe next spring and be 2006 as par ofa five-year plan put in fare jower and nartawer than the Else's launched in the US. at the end of 2009, 12 by Mike Kimberley, the veteran and the doors deeper and wider, which The sporis car might have ke Lotus boss who retumed as CEO of the makes getting in and out. @s Lotus puts the Eagle moniker, but company, owned by Proton of Malaysia. _it, “a less athletic undertaking." The Evora nan the Eliso, and 88 31 ‘eplay of a similar project, Is 21.9 inches lon ‘organzation warned Lotus from using The‘quore Bond analyst Shelly Lombard on the news of the beleaguered automaker's stock price falling to $9.96, a 53-year low. Its whealbase is 10.9 inches greater. has room for two large. if not supersize, ‘occupants in its generously sized and well shaped front seats. Bu, inevitably there isnt much room in the back noris that area easy to get into. Although billed aS a two-plus-Iwo, the standard car will have a luggage shell there instead of kiddie seats The Toyota 2GR-FE duel VTi engine, Which has a Lotus electronic control unit as well as bespoke inlet and exhaust manifolds, sits transversely in a steet subframe. I's mated to a six-speed manual trensaxle, also sourced from Toyota but not usually attached to this engine, so t needed a Lotus-desianed clutch and flywhoel. A six-speed automatic is on the to-do lst, but US. cars will have ‘manual irensmissions The Evora ciffers from the Elise in having foiged aluminum control arms. instead of steel suspension, and i wears difierent-diameter wheels front ang rear-18-inchers up front and 19s in back, with the te job going to Yokohama. The protolype weighs 2975 pounds. Estimated performance is 0 to 60 mph in less than five seconds and a top speed of 160 moh. ‘Acar that is presented as a specialized alternative to a Porsche Cayman (and DIRT ROAD Greon plant: Toyota is planning to snitt some Prius production from Japan to the US. according to a report in the trade journal Automotive News. Stating in lete 2010, Priuses will be oult in Toyota's new plant in Blue Springs, Mississiony a facity originally bul to assombie the Toyota Highlander SUV. With paralyzing fuel prices and dwindling SUV s Toyota decided that the plant could be Used to boost production numbers of the nearly sold-out Prius, vihich will be greatly rocesigned for 2010. Even after the Mississippi plant comes online, some Prius production will main in Japan, Replanting: Volkswagen anncunced that it will buld a plant in Chattanoo Tennessee, to turn out cars for the US. ‘markot. A strong euro and a weak dollar 32 2530 priced accordingly-$65,000 is the best estimate for the US.) needs to maich the big bays in equioment and technology. {tis the only current Lotus to have power steering, The air-conditioning system has been iested at 120 degrees in the Middle East. A seven-inch multimedia screen dominates the dash and cisplays the image from the optional reversing camera. Tho Evora has airbags and ABS, and OME Dense TL a Cod meee re genera the latest generation of iDrive control tei MU ee al, 3.0-lter twin-turbo diesel Nee ke ar -mph times of 6.0 seconds and fuel economy of 23 ci the US-bound car wil have Bosch ESP electronic stability control as standard. The Evora wil be offered with a series ‘of option packages. They are designed tomake il a more complete grand toure father than a track car lke the Elise, but may include a power upgrade from the standard 276 horses ard a close-ratio ‘gearset. Plans for an Evora convertible are a fow yoars away, Seats Pe Soa ue Reece AE 439 highway.SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS GM’S EXPERIMENTAL COMPRESSION-IGNITION GAS ENGINE RUNS LIKE A DIESEL. BY AARON ROBINSON Aller more than a century leading separate ives, Rudolph Diese! and Nikolaus Otto are finally getting a place together. General Motors! experimental 2.2ulter homogenous charge compression Ignition (HCCI) engine can shift from spark ignition to diese! mode faster than you can say “auBerordenilich!” ‘The goal: stieich fuel economy from an existing engine design by up to 15 percent by adding just a few bits of hardware and somo software code, Able to bun either gasoline, ethanol 01 £85, the HCCI design ullizes direct, Injection and variable valve-timing hardware to switch from spark ignition uring acceleration and high speed to ‘compression ignition during idle and light- throttle cruising. To go diesel, the engine advances the closing of the exhaust valves so heat is trapped in the cylinder. Pressures are thus higher on the compression stroke, when the injector sprays an eveniy ietabity + cecrased appetite + vomiting \yvanse may afet your or your chilfs ality to drve or do other dangerous acini ‘Takto your doco if you o: your child has side fers tat are bothersome or do nat goavay, ‘Ths i nota. compete it of posible side ees. Ak your doctor or pharmacist for ‘more information, How shoul |store Vase? * Sore ane a Sf aca wom pate, 58 tBF (1510 9°) ‘General information about Vyranse Netiones are sometimes presorted for purposes ober than those listed ia a ecicaton Guide. Oo not use Vywanse for a condton for which ® was not ‘reserbec. Do not gle Vovarse to otter people, even if they have the same ‘condo. it may harm them and it against the an. ‘This Mecicaton Guide summaries the most important infomation about Vans. yu woul ke mote infocratn, tk with your doctor. You ean ask you ctor or ‘harmacist for information about Vyvanse that was whiten for healthcare Drotessinals. For more information about Vyvanse, please contact Shice US in. at 1-300-828-2088, ‘nat are the ingrecients in Yyvanse? ‘Active Ingredient: isdeoaretamine dmesylte Inactive Ingredients: microcysaline celuose, croscamllose sodium, and ‘magnesium sterts Te capsule stl certain gel, terum dio, and one o- mow ofthe folowing: D&C Red #28, D&C Yow #10, FDRC ive #1, FDBC Green 3 mnd FAC Red #40. This Medication Guide has been ‘aiieistration, (© 2008 Sie US In. Last Modified 202008 Lowmss rove by the U.S. Food and Drug “m ShireBACK ON BOOST HOT-ROD Ad DITCHES ITS V-8. Che —, - Anew Audi S4 wif be unveiled version of the supercharged V-6 will wiich can apportion rear-wheel torque @ his tal ai the Patis show. Based —_—_appear in the refreshed 2009 Auui AB. fiom left to ight to aid stability anc con the revised Ad architecture it will be Inthe $4, the new engine is connected handling, As in the Ad, the Quattro all ponered by anew supercharged 30: to Aud's latest twin-clutch sever-speed —_viheel-dive system will provide a 40/60 liter V-6 instesd of today’s 4.2-Iter V-8, _gesrbox; a six-speed manual will be torque spit betwreen the front and rear Inthe $4, tne new engine is expected to standard. Gradually, the new goarbox ‘axlas. Wagon fans, or “Avant heads" in produce about 330 horsepower-a tad will replace the conventional si-speed Aud jargon, willbe sad to learn that the less than the current $4’s 340 ponies—but automatic transmission in the rest of the $4 Avant wil not live on ino the new the supercharged V-6 wil praduce more Audi linaup. Other technological highlights generation, Staleside, the $4 is expected torque than the outgoing V-8, A 290-hp _include a new active rear cifferental, 0.90 on sale in late 2008. CDospite the current economic nose dive, ne nugely oxoensive Bugatti Veyron 16.4 is seling fastar than expected. To date, 230 of the expected 300 Veyrons have been sold, for 1.4 millon euros (0: $17 millon). Another Bugatti model. a fourseater, won't go into production boiare 2010, co in the meantime, Bugatti will oop sales roling by adcing a Veyron roadster, ‘dubbed the Veyron 16.4 GrandSpont To rainiain he slittness of the structure and provide rollover protection, the Avpilars become ‘even thicker than the coupe's and the air intakes ‘on top ofthe car are novr equipped with two rollover bars. Tho GrandSport comos with a clear Polycarbonate targa-style root. With its top in place, the GrandSport equals the top speed of the Veyton, a dazzling 253 mph Remove the 100i, and the two-sez diag limited toa stil impressive 229 moh. Unfortunate, there is no space in the car to stow the removable roof panel, but the roadster is equipped with an umbrela-lke fabric top. Wah the softop in piace, the max recommended top speed plunges fo a walk-B1 mpi, Only 150 GrandSperts willbe built and the price starts at 1.4 milion euros ($2.2 millon). The line starts behind current Bugatti owners as the first 50 ‘GrandSperts wil be roserved for thom, —Juergen Zoelter CARANDDRIVER COM 88 37NEW: FORD KUGA 2.0 TDCI EUROPEAN ESCAPISM A SOFT-ROADER BASED ON THE LATEST FOCUS. BY RAY HUTTON With all of Ford's woes in America, ‘you may be surprised to learn that its European operation is on a rol. Ford of Europe is 2 profitable business that offers a range of cars that are generally acclaimed as the best-handiing and most funto chive of any from a bigwolume automaker. Soon after he arrived at Ford in 2008, CEO Alan Mulally recognized the strengtn of engineering and design residing at Ford of Europe and decraed that its work should become the slandard for Ford's small cars around the world, So the US, should get versions of the popular European models just as scon as Ford can gel them modified, certilied, and into production. It can't happen a moment ioo soon: Detroit desperately needs th attractive and economical small cars. The key is the new Fiesta supermini Which will go on gale in Europe this fall and in the U.S. a year oF 60 later. In the ‘meantime, Fora of Europe has plunged into the market for crossover SUVs, cr soft roaders, ust as the tide is tuning against Urban 4x44s due to Europeans having to out $8 for a ‘gallon of gas Not sure that tne name is a help, Kuga is how it sounds, 2 vay of recycling Cougar, a Ford model designation tha was more successful in the U.S. And the SUY sector is one area that Ford hasnt been able to crack in Europe. The Explorer Was too big, and the Escape (called the ‘Maverick) had the wrong engines (no diesels) and wase’t hip enough to match the compact sport-tes from the Japanese and Kc The Kuga has the right ingredients to ‘succeed. It is based on the platform, or rathor the set of components, that makes the European Focus so good. It was faunched only with a diesel engine: 2.0rliter four-cylinder producing 13. hhorsepower-and is undeniably impressive in appearance. Itis not neatly as wild as the losis X ‘concept car that pracedad i, but ine styling, inside and out, has @ youthful flair. Design chiet Marlin Srrth says hat fashionable inspiration. rts shoes were an At 1749 inches (almost the same length as the Escape). the Kuga is bigger than any other model using the Focus underpinnings, and itis far afer—8.6 inches higher than a European Focus hatchback. It also has put on a lot of ‘weight: it's 500 pounds heavier than a diesel Focus. So tis not surprising that it lacks the eagemess that one associates, ‘with European Fords. Zero to 62 moh attives in 10.7 seconds, slow by today’s standards. Performance willbe better with the promised 197-hn, 2.-Iter gasoline vorsion, but hardly anyone in Europe wll buy that model Atleast the Kuga handies and ‘goes around comers crisply. A Haldex clutch system transfers the wagon from front-whee! crive to four-wheel drive when sipoory road conditions arise. The system works smoothly ang unobitusively. Body control is goad for 2 high-set car, andl wit its inevitably firm suspension, the ride is more comferting than you might expect. Overall, though, itis realy a better ‘rive than tne Honda CR-V and several of the myriad soft-roaders that are available al the same or a lower price. The bling styling, with its deep trapezoidal grite making a face like a sad fish, vill be the make-or-breek point forthe Kuga~and itjust might be the wrong look fr these introverted, cash-strapped, and ervironmentlly conscious times. The new Fiesta and the next Focus designed in Europe will be coming to the US. So, we would guess, will he Kuga, though not inthis fom. Expect it as the next-goneration model somotime beyond 2072, ftled with the hybrid Escape divetrain ‘YEMICLE'TYPE: iron-on, 4 ‘passenger, 6-door wagon BASEPRICE (UR): $46,000, LENGINETYPE: urbochaued end intecocled [DOHC ‘e-vahe diesel nin, ron Mock ard ‘alaminum bead, coct fuel igection lacement. Tazo a 867ce 34am @ int on 250B-R@ 20009 ‘TRANSMISSION: 6-sped manual DIMENSIONS: ‘Wheetbate: 05.9in Holgi 67310 19In 1963, the 911 showed the world how a sports car should perform. PORSCHEGood thing that some things never change. Ithas an increase of 20 hp, yet consumes less fuel and has lower CO» emissions. With Direct Fuel injection (FD, new optional Porsche Doppelkupplung (PDK) and ‘many other technologies, we've proven once again that maximum performance isa matter of efficiency ~ especialy in the word of sports cars. Mobil IPORSCHEMINITEST NEW: SPORTSMOBILE EB-31S LOPES 55 ASEMA SAVIOR A MOBILE AND LIVABLE GARAGE. BY AARON ROBINSON Pethaps you've sean our Web coverage of the shot-peened, chrome-plated, speckle-fiaked car candy on parade at the annwal Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) aftermarket parts extravagarza in Las ‘Vegas, which draws thousands toils shaw halls. What you haven you've been-is the scratching. ch biting, siting fight for seats in taxis and buses when the gitzy show closes at 5 pm. just as Las Vegas streets reach full constipation This past year we we spared from SEMA’s many fully lent Green 42 2530 PHOTOGRAPHY BY MORGAN SEGAL. reenactments, thanks to the Sportsmebile EB-318 Lopes 55, a Dodge Sprinter based AV with @ deep, 188-cubic-foot storage barn in back for bicyck motorcycles, oF in our case, a pair of 2008, Vespa GTV 2adce scooters with which to cut through tafe. Fresno, Califomia~based Sportsmobile thas been convertn to RVs since 1961 and also does a big business in 4x4 rock-crawing vans. It ‘named the Lopes 55 for Brian Lopes, the fro motocross rider and mountain: bike champion who designed i. There are dozens of potential Sportsmoble ‘configurations (check out ww. ‘sportsmobile-com), but the Lopes 66 efticienty packs in everything needed fot SEMA survival, including a sink refrigerator, bed space for four and a small ‘pull-out portable filet, which, though handy. went untested Recall that the Sprinter isa rebadged Mercedes-Benz utility van, an excellent platform for threading through dens2 trafic, thanks toils corrmanding driving position and strong 3.0-Iter, turbo-diesel V-6 (a 3S-iter gasoline V-8 is also available). Fuel economy is Euro-efficien ‘a8 wel. Though the Lopes 65 we sampled ‘weighs in at 7200 pounds, including about 1500 pounds of RV corversion, i retuned 22 mpg on aur 600-mile lreeway slog to and from Vegas. The van is rat 5000 pounds. Allthis post-apocalyptic/post-SEMA survival ablty isnt cheap: $72,668, including $5655 worth of optional ‘audio-visual equipment, Skip the sound ‘gear, and youte most of the way to the ‘$6899 Vespa, an 11.7-hp twist-n'-go ‘sweetheart which, when deployed through the Sportsmobile’s rear doors, cant be stopped by either snarled traffic or crazed Suddenly, SEMA is one of our favorite ‘events on the calendar ‘VEICLE'TYPE:tron-engne,re-he- ive, Spassenger, 5-deer truck BASEPRICE:$67010 [ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged snd itercoclod ‘DOHC 24-vale deal V6, aluminum book and heeos, det uel injection et asa gre Joractaewe) Zobke H00 gn “TRANSMISSION Sspandetonate wth mminmate sting Wresbee: 700% 2732 320: 70.0in in wa oF sieec Ce en eee a eT eT a ont hel te ee ata cee ean oe eee fosroac erences einrg Corvette Z4Z brings thie mighty Corvette to even higher standards. Sporting a six- Been ei iatce Ree an cee ene Res Sec ee eae ee ag packaged Corvette that features Hert?'s iconic yellow and black, colors that have a Bere ee eee acca Beer tC Cigar asa Oona e Wee etd Piro om ne me ae Cy PRM a fel ee roa icer TS Hertz Fun Collection’ And like all Fun Collection vehicles, it' comes’ equipped with SIRIUS Satellite Radio. To reserve the Corv Z call 1-800-654-3131 Or visit Prose Xe eR mee Tee CR ath) fore Pete ara Ta eee 1's seat of sports car history.VALVOLINE SYNPOWER OFFERS 4X BETTER WEAR PROTECTION THAN MOBIL 1. ‘SynPower is the only leading full synthetic formulated with more durable anti-wear additives that stay in oll longer. valvoline.com/synpower VALVOLINE SYNPOWER- ‘THE ULTIMATE PROTECTION AGAINST: i. ed DEPOSITS ‘Mobis. ester wacemark of fo Exxonboot ‘Corporation Fests sod on nduty stance WA wou test MINITEST NEW: ALFA ROMEO MITO ANOTHER ALFA TEASE? ITALIAN AUTOMAKER KEEPS PROMISING A RETURN TO THE U.S., BUT DON’T COUNT ON THIS MINI FIGHTER TO LEAD THE WAY. BY KC. COLWELL return are stil she bet that the MiTo, at BMW's MiA six-speed manuel gearbox driv front wheels: We sampled only the gasotne engine fon a recent run through northern tal The engine feels strong from low rom with hardly a whiff of turbo lag. Shifts are smooth despite a slightly rubbery feelin the shifter. Alfa says the turoocharged gas cat wilzio to 60 mph in eight seconds flat, though tt felt much livelier than that-think 7.3 seconds. Those numbers arent as ‘uick as a Mini Cooper 8, but Alfa has plans for adding more power. About a year fer the MiTo oes on sale this month, ‘another trim level, dusbed GTA, will debut, The GTA will nave 230 horsepower on tap by way of 2 1.7-er tubo four equipped 3 the with variable intake-valve lita clutch eutomated manual transmission, The Mio lacks an indapendent tear suspension. Designers fitted it with 2 compact torsion-beam selup to create a back seat large enough for adults~something the Mini cannot claim to offer. The Mito also has a sotter nde than the Min, but the combination ot ride compliance and a less sophisticated rear suspension means the MiTo does n ich the crisp and go-kartlike handling the Mini ‘Af Romeo has a long history of designing some of the b: ever made, and the MiTo tradition, borrowing styling elerne’ such as the head- and tallights from the company's halo supercar, the &C Competizione The intenor is better than you would expect irom a car of this ze, or a car costing less than the Mini Cooper. Minis ate roughiy $30,000 in aly; the MiTc slarts about $1500 below that. The bucket seals in iront have ample bolsters to keep the driver well-planted while ascending mountain switchbacks. The litle details, such as embroidered Alfa Romeo insignias fon the front seats, give the impression that you are driving a car in which no expense has been spared. The optional carbon tibertock dash may be hard to the touen, {tits easy on the eyes, Hopefully Alfa will get its plan in orcer so American buyers can decide for themselves if an almost affordable Italian car with al the panache of the six figure italans is right for thom. But remember: ‘Mito Is also the Italian word tor myth VERIGLE TYPE: frot-egine, ront-rteel- hve, passenge, -doohatcback BASE PRICE (ITALY): $28,584 ENGINES: turbocharged andjnteroaolod DOHC Beaver led, 153, {70 et; {urbochaged an intecooled DOHC teal tele cose ined, 18 hp, 236 bet TRANSMISSION: speed manual DIMENSIONS: Wheelbce: 959 in Width: 678 a Hei: 96.9 in Cur>weight: 2550-2700 Ib PERFORMANCE CEST, ALTER): 60.0in PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (NFRS EST): Europeanurbancycle 2-40.99 ‘erraurban: combined «——— Think About it. ——— IF THE CABIN WERE ANY QUIETER, YOU MIGHT BEGIN TO WONDER WHERE WE HID ALL THE BOOKS. As quiet as the BMW 750i and Mercedes S550! Its true: it may just remind you of a library. That's how quict it is inside the Genesis, Hyundai's first luxury car. Thanks to things like intelligent whisper valves that select an alternate exhaust at low speeds to reduce noise, the silence inside is rivals even such touchstones of than most libraries. Case in point: in take you from 's faster than And the 17-speaker Lexicon” 7.1 surround sound system,’ shared only with the Rolls-Royce Phantom, means your abin may not stay quiet all that long. > CONTINUED at HyundaiGenesisIntroducing the 375 horsepower Genesis. EQ HYUNDAIPREVIEW CHEVROLET CORVETTE ZR1SUPER CHARGER BY AARON ROBINSON Just past the curve in which @ Bruce McLaren bought it, and right before the corner where Niki Lauda had his face burned off, we realize the truth: General Motors rust still be mad about our review of the 1980 Olds Omega Brougham. The company is trying to kill us, Back in 2004, GM rolled the last steaming elod of asphalt onto its Mil ford Road Course (MRC), a 2.9-mile handling circuit at the company’s proving grounds an hour northwest of Detroit. The “Lutzring.” as employ: ‘ees have dubbed it in honor of GM's meat-eating vice-chairman, Robert Lut, plunges 135 feet from hilltop to trough and was piecod together like bathroom plumbing from some ofthe more treacherous corners in motor- A CAR NOBODY NEEDS HITS A TRACK NOBODY KNOWS FOR A RIDE NOBODY WILL FORGET. PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD PRINCE sports. The 20 elbows, kinks, and lind whoop-de-dos are crowned by the 45 degree banked “Toilet Bowl,” which resembles the Nirburgring’s Karussell and which has already had its guardrails replaced at least twice. Only 160f GM's266,000employeesare permitted to drive the MRC, Naturally, a maneating track you've never seen before is just the place you want to be in 2 638-hp Cor- verte you've never driven before Speaking of Corvettes, our Febru _ary2008cover story on the naw super ‘charged ZR1 all but supplied you with blueprints to build your own. Hoping to squoeze the slavering media like ripe kumguats for more ink, GM in- Vited us tothe Lutzring fora briePhalt day nibble of the $105,000 ZR1 beforePREVIEW ‘thefullfeastoftesting commences this fall. Obviously, the gambit worked. ‘The track's nefarious reputation not- withstanding, the ZR1 is just the alumi numeframe, carbon-fiber-paneled, bals: ‘worl floored Corvette Z06-withafterburn- ers, right? Which means it will be alittle vaguein the teeringandabitfloppy atthe apex but basically fun and, above al, safe. ‘Turn up the A/C, tune in the XM, and let the electronics make us hernes on a track where something like 263,984 people dare not tread. Certainly, the ZR1's cockpit has the fa: miliar Bat Cave atmosphere of theregular Corvette, except for themanifold-pressure gauige where the voltage moter normally lives, That, and the earbon-fiber hoods vwindow, which lets you watch the engine twitch in rhythm to the gas pedal. So far, so what? ‘Then, while exiting the pits on our first Jap, theZRYs6.2Aiter 50 253. (CHEVROLET CORVETTE ZR L89V-8 suddenly cracked the heavens with feral wolfeall. Theaccelerative g’srolied ‘nto uslike the breakors ofa Category Five, and breathing became strangely diiMicult Uh-oh. ‘Tur One of the Lutzring starts as a ong, seemingly predictablesweeper. Then it kinks inward, then jerks straight, then suddenly cramps in again before lurching upa blindhill that death-drops thecar into a ditch. After that you're tossed over an- other blind crest with a negative camber pitched to slide the Corvette sideways into next Christmas, Assumingthe car doesn't go airborne. In the ensuing Toilet Bowl, there were ‘safety cones—which we scattered, ingest. ing some and dragging others to the next turn, which looked suspiciously like the STORM WINDOW You need 638 horsepower like you need a hole in your hood. Raising the ZRI’s hoodline just one inch over the 206's, the ultracompact air-to-water intercooler (above) can drop inlet-air temps by 140 degrees. Chrome wheels (below) cost $2000.VALVOLINE SYNPOWER OFFERS 4X BETTER WEAR PROTECTION THAN MOBILI. Bara EBS) !) There's a new standard in protection. Independent lab testing shows that SynPower provides ‘4X better wear protection than Mobil 1. SynPower is the only leading full synthetic formulated with more durable anti-wear additives that stay in oil longer. valvoline.com/synpower VALVOLINE SYNPOWER-THE ULTIMATE PROTECTION AGAINST: t=. ee?) =k eid Mobi 1 i rogiteedtadomarkct ne ExxonVveb Corporation Rests based standard Sequence VA waa tetPREVIEW patch that claimed Jimmy Clark. Thenour went for the handholds when we floored it first lap got ualier. There were screams. (okay, maybe it was just us) Heres what welearned:"The ZRLisabout Exactly 170 pounds heavier than the assultablefora Lutzring virgins analco- 26—most recently, 3180 pouncls on our holfucled Funny Car isfordriver’sed. —_scale—the ZR1, GM claims, will knock Wealsolearned that the RI's mufflers big, hairy 10ths off the 505-hp Z08'st aresmaller and theirflaps slamopenear- GMalso says the 21 will rip 060 m lier than a Z06's, waking the dead from 10 100 mph in 7.0 secon Milfordto Sleetmute. And the LS'saccel- through the quarter mile in 113 erative violence will be terrifying to any- at 131 mph, I'l go 205 mph and pull 1.05, ine Who hasn't saddled up a Tomahawk gona skidpad. cruise missile, Many passengers willsim- Wedon’t doubt it, Uh-uh, No si ply freak out. Bvenengineerswho'vedone Vague? Floppy? Here, too, the 2R1 thousands ofmiles in ZRis stiffened upand s to stride past the 06. To help suck FLEET SEATS ‘Avvalet key Ala the original 2R1 was considered and rejected. So were sportier buckets, which ‘would have raquired expensiva new crash tests, The 3ZR. package (pictured) includes a Jeather-wrapped dash, a power telescoping steering column, side airbags, and a navigation system. 52 2530 ‘CARANDORVER.COMup the steering flex, engineers replaced an aluminum steering-column shaft with stiffer steel link, a change for all'09 Cor vettes. Thermareailso ZRI-speeificbushing changes in the suspension, 2s wellasa new variable-ratio steering rack that enlivens, the response. But perhaps themost credit for the Z's fbistier helm should go to the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 run-flats. In comparative tire tests during the ZR1's development. GM engineers say they were “blown away” by the Michelins. We felt a breeze, too. The ZRY's steering still doesn't have the leannoss or data-bt flow of a Porsche 917s, but placing and holding the nose where it's needed is easier and takes less guessworkand prayer. Tall twitch ismore controllable, and the Brembo carbon- ceramic rotors (5.5inches front. 15.0rear) andmonoblock calipers have the familiar, progressive bite of iron brakes without much danger of fade or shimmy. (Ona pizza-pocked public road, the ZRL rumbles morequietly on its wider tires and shows less body heavingand impact crash than the 208, An early “Attaboy!” seems in order for the Magnetic Selective Ride Control, the system of fastas-electrons variable shock absorbers that costs $1995 ton the base Corveite, is not available on the 206, and comesstandard on ZR1s. One cool nuance: On hard launches, the com: puter turnsrearrebourx tozero to hold the back end down for better traction. Yet, fip as we might, we couldn't tel much differ ence between the ZU sport and touring settings, ‘The double-plate clutch is light, just an ndetectable few ounces stiffer than the 20's, CM confirms. Rolloutsand upshifts happen with doughy smoothness. long throttle pedal puts the Hulk trigger toward the back, so you ean eruise Taaily in the 2R1 through town returning perhaps 20 upg. (GM boasts that the ZR isthe thrift est 600-hp car on the market, so back off, Greenpeace!) All this Ferrari-stomping power and Z06-shaming refinement comes in two basic flavors, order code 1ZR for $105,000 (including the $1700 gas-guzzler levy) and (CHEVROLET CORVETTE ZR1 the 32R for $10,000 more. The latter adds a Bose sound system, navigation, and a leather dash wrap. Chrome whools ($2000), lextra-cost paint ($3000 $750) and Corvette museum delivery ($490) are the anly other options. a year if the current worm-eaten market will take them, 3M figures itcan build 180Ncopies dered what a $100,000 Corvette would be like, You have theanswer. [only they had thought up a similar trick for the Omega Brougham, Oops. ° ‘VEMICLE TYPE: font-engn, ret whoo, 2 passenger 3-dor batonback ‘BASE PRICE: $105,000 [ENGINE TYPE: supercharged ad ntercoied pushrod ‘evave Ve akeninum lak at neds, por uel, eplacorent ++ng4:378 cy in 816228 ower SAEneti «Bite @ S000 Torque SAE net) 04 if 9800 rm ‘TRANSMISSION. 5p narual ensioNs: \Whoolbsc: 1057 in Length: 76.2 Wty 75:9 in Hedght 40.0 in Cur weight 3350 b ERTORMANGECMPR’SEST): 2eroto60 moh 84500 Zeroto00mph 70300 ‘Standing Yom Tidsee @ 131 mph Topspeed ragimited. eee DOT ‘PROJECTED TUEL ECONOMY (MFRSEST): EK a M4 Erni an 88h 53A TRUE LUXURY VEHICLE DOESN’T GUZZLE, but rather SIPS POLITELY. ici r0gem = at Qovehicles th Presenting thr outstanding fuel economy. Start with the Buick LaCrosse, which boasts better highway gas mileage than the Lexus ES 350° Then the Buick Enclave, which maintains better highway fuel efficiency than any 8-passenger SUV.” And the Buiek Lucerne, with highway fuel economy superior to the Mercedes B350! Three beautiful vehicles crafted for both luxury and ¢ aft of modern luxury lenge the notion that you have to sacrifice luxury for e realities of the modern road. This is our craft. The A DRIVE BEAUTIFUL buick.com } puroxuvcnane ox, 2 \ oxen Me ane (25) Inieltigent Luury Sedan Lemus ES 350 EPR-es 27 meg. _**Based! on EPA-est. 24 mpe hay. (FWD), Excuces oer GM vehicles. IMercades E350 EPR-est 24 mg hwy. {62008 GN Cer, AI rights reserved. Bek Buick ago® Dive Beautiful Enclave® GM® Larosee® LucerneMOST FUN FOR $25K THE $25,000 QUESTION WITH 25 GRAND IN YOUR POCKET AND FUN A PRIME MOTIVATOR, WHAT DO YOU GO FOR: A MODESTLY SPORTING NEW CAR OR AFLAMBOYANTLY EXOTIC USED ONE? PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY 56. 535Given 25 grand to spend on a car that's fm to drive, what would you buy? Would you take the saie road and got anew ear such asa Mazda MX-5 Miata or 1 Volkswagen GTI, which come with the security ofa warranty? Or are youa risk ker willing togo after something special that might be adecade oldandhaveserious wear issues and plenty of miles, maybe a used Acura NSX? Iv’sadilemma that will beargued noist forever, but we're here tostlek oucolles tive nacks out in hopes of providing some answers. We've gathered nine cars—two are new and seven are used~ that can be purchased for about $25,000, ‘The cars were chosen by the staff for a lot of personal reasons, including per- formance, style, and relative practicality. Several are cars that we have long lusted after but most of us never eould have at forded when they were new. Used-car prices fluctuate all over the place, sowe relied on the Kelley Blue Book 1993-2007 Used Car and Truck Guide—us: {ng the estimated prices for cars in good condition that are sold between private parties—as well us the used-car Web site AutoTrader.com, We don't own a used-car lot, so we had toborrow cars from owners, Weasked the owners to meet usat GingerMan Racoway South Haven, Michigan, fora free-for-all day of driving. Weeycled through the cars, driving both on the recetraeic and public roads around it. Since all of the used cars wore in varied condition—the 1999 Mer- cedes E55 AMG we borrowed had almost 200,000 miles on it—we didn’tratethem by our ritual rules that govern comparison tests, In the pages that follow, we recount What the ears fltlikeand what items buy: cers should bewary of Wealsoratethe used cars in three categorles—operating costs, curb appeal, and fun to drive So which one is the most fun? Which ‘one would we buy? That dependson whom you ask 88 57‘The owners of the used cars in our fun fleet posed in the June sunshine at Michigan's GingerMan Raceway. Those smiling may not yet be aware of what we plan to do with their cars on the test track, Note that not al are smiling, AGER I THE ONLY TWO WITH WARRANTIES. For enthusiasts on a limited budget, a new VW GTI or Mazda MX-6 is tough to beat. In addition to being wonderfully entertaining, the five-door GTI featured here is a remarkably well-rounded car. Fold the rear seats, and it's a pint-sized minivan. Jump on 58 2530 the interstate, and it tracks as straight as its German heritage suggests it should. Most importantly, it’s as fun to drive ast is practical, with an eager turbo engine, a good gearbox, and a frisky chassis. If you can only have one car, the GTI is close to perfect, The MX-5 Miata, on the other hand, exists purely for the joy of driving, Sure, it has a reasonable trunk-and pricier models can be had with a folding hardtop—but at its core, the Miata is a driver's car. It's wonderfully balanced, with an engine that's willing but not overpowering, a gearbox that’s one of the best in the business, and handling that makes running an errand an enjoyable experience. There are certainly faster cars, but few are as satisfying. —Larry Webster1991-94 ACURA NSX INEXPENSIVE? RELIABLE? AN OXYMORONIC MID-ENGINED EXOTIC. Asa testament to just hhow far Honda pushed the envelope with its 1901 Acura NSX, compare it with the most sophisticated machinery of today. That fist NSY's 3.0- liter V-6 made 270 horsepower end tevved gloriously toits 8000-1pm redline. Almost 18 years later, BMW's crect- injection 3.0-Iter (in the Euro-only 330i) makes 268 horsepower The NSX's lightwesoht aluminum sheetmetal surfounds a fascinating 3000-pound wedge that Sill looks fresh today ¢! you don't count the tiny 18- and 16-inch wheels). Combined with fst-rate comfort and ergonomics, and a docile, aluminum-intenswve unequal length control-arm suspension, i's easy to see how the NSK uickly won ourhearts as well 28 8 distinguished viclory over a Porsche 911, a Corvette ZR-1, and a Forran 248ts in a 1990 comparison test. Having purchased this Fotrula Red example new amusingly vites “keN SaX") of Evanson. linc is quite famitar vith nis 78,000-mile car as he's exercised itto the tune of 13,000 on-track miles, The car has held up wet, mostly needing replacement of such predictable items as wom brake pads (25 front sets, rears thus fan) and chewed-up ties, although his NSX sutfered a rare catastrophic engine failure caused by a broken hharmonic-balancer pulley thet led to a jump of the timing belt ‘Sax replaced tho engine with 2 $4500 used one, which was the cheapest fix We all were impressed at how solid and modern his NSX fall. Sure, there were a fow squeaks and rattles, butt ridos forgivingly, is quiet, and stil feels structurally sound. Sas cat does have some ‘minor scuffs in the interior and noticeable wear on the seat bolsters, which is common, The manual steering ig just as alive as we remembered, ts on-track poise is phenomenal, and the five-speed manual's in December 1980. it’s safe short, precise throws are stil to say Ken Sax (which he ‘a benchmark. Sure, a 0-to QUOTES FROM THE PAST: THE NC “The fist mic-ergined supercar that desrit ect ike 2 perale volaiot” —paTaicksEDARO, aucusT 1800 “The rch guys in Bev ils wil be buying NSXs for ther oozes. Lucy flozies” PATRICK BEDARD, SEPTEMEER. 1990 MOST FUN FOR S25K 60:moh time of 5.2 seconds dosn't qualify as blazing ‘anymore, but the tlexibie engine absolutely walls above 6000 rpm. We nominate it 2s the besi-sounding V-6 ever From 1994 until it was discontinued in 2006, the NSX's price ballooned from $60,800 to $89,765, even though it evolved very litle. A OPERATING COST: Ey targa model was adced fct'85: CURB APPEAL: 2.290-tp,32-ierV-6 anda area amare sivspeed manuel were new for 97;and tho NSK gotatved- SEUN TO DRIVE: headlight face tit for 2002. The a7-and-newer cars st Tech 194 ACURA NSK $40,000 ta $50,000, white VERILETTPE nit endie, the 91-94 models have held _rearaeel-dive, passenger. steady in the range of $25,000 oor coupe to $35,000 for lmost 10 years. BASEPRICE 980; $60,500 By exotic-car standards, [EWCINE: DOHC 24-vane 304het NSX ownership is painless, V-6, 270 hp, 210 bt but there are a number of “TRANSMISSION §-peed ms known problem ateas—a Sacre faulty transmission snap Wear Bi ert 1724 fing and fragile power ‘Width: 7130 Hele 46.0 al window regulators on "91 Corb woiehe: 30201 an emrodcs. 26 welt ess ahistoy of rapid tie weer | ART So do your homework fs! erotos0nph Be esoecialy wary ofthe Zero. 07a senvice history. as many Standing lovermie examples havent emle . #.0e0 @ 1229 ‘kept up with recommended: eae 169 re maintenance suchas tming- | ag sot Dottreplacement. Fortunately," S00edmabpad..... O86 wercsapiimecomhouses _uRonnDAY (CORRE: a strong andknowiedgeabie —_EPhalyf ‘owners’ community and is highway driving... 16/22 mpg bursting vith information. The NSX was truly an exotic tured everydey tienaly. I's ‘no wonder owners of thase inexpensive. high-mileage cars ‘are so enthusiastic, ‘Dave VanderWerp SAVE T Hy eer Pere ieMOST FUNTOR S25K 2002-06 BMW M3 PURE SIX APPEAL. I's hard to believe, but Horst Reinhardk's £46 series BMW MS has nearly 67000 miles on its wiinkle-free body. Except for some road rash on the wheels and front bumper, and a bit of wear on thediivers seatand afew ot _bearings~but all of those ‘back seat, and a sensibly sed the interior panels, thecarhe engines were replaced by the trunk, Plus i's new enough bought in May 2003 looks new. factory Our local BMW dealer that it has 2 full array of safety ‘You'd be lucky indeed to find in Ann Arbor sald that ihevear fealures, vith aitbags and UGtahaeiie) oleimadeace | asivcnnhedane Poems Wl lcm onmincil ech alidprs || OPcRarinccosts. Sarai Har DSO es Vike Soe! eM A cartel ree crear oe ct ee es oe eee cdtewtriestercu’ eas Whletionamet 3 fevedatutfonbatembs | CURB APPEAL: $25,000 target price. is a magnificent machine, ‘elail for about $150 each, with pn. 2 Reinhardt bought the the previous £46 models, fronts going for about $200, FUN TO DRIVE: carnewandilsoriymacr —stasiaaclcal ardneaty — Repecerert OEM celahte er Siorstercteiecids | sseisuiholiahe and | conetee rest) exh and a navigation system, le paernecatinee Rehardtrotes that there “are «2002 BMWM3 There's no sunroot,endthe accessible to more people. now lots of aftermarket bits arneLa TYP on ening Malsielcowingbe seas Parormarce ssvorg-back aval, tom toay pana ‘ie he. ere ibaa ethane Ricca aevesstoet Vneears aa Gals a , VR Performance, a tuning 60-mph times in the range of rotors.” bearable A hed business that specializes in 4.5 to 4.8 seconds—and the. We suggest looking for E46 ecu eas a-ther fhoos car eoroftiog NsM3. ininoascoyindor ong le MG on tsec-ou Web ciee j with Eibach springs that ere oth willing and sonorous. On and trying the BMW Car Club TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual tim tOpmeetsuteran owas teas inerse.” ceAnwrea Grlommecog). BREN, HockantmidedaCS-ise’ Wn bom Seances; On re vidros ol Reverie a5 cabontberreaiwlance, onlhesteeltsienedand, MB,youtlbe geting one hel RSE ATSE MAO. Gekeiadtoiecdn sejeheni lignes fa caiuemehey redct ae Gos they ecto dae iy Wan Ges grosses mba Reinhardt has racked up ect taee bad acu ton00 tacks on UOTESTRONTHEPAST: THE 5 ————s Ze Ooh M6 see fis M3 Gul says the cere 50 “The engine isan etsolute gem. It hurtles the Ma Berea sat 53inph sturdy that he has basically down the road with an urgency that now rivals the world's bls Site Nusop just changed brake pads and best sports cars.” -LARRY WEBSTER, DECEMBER 2000 ‘Top speed oe aerate ca eer ete. hagh teal problem areas are rear “ifyou want ful-edged high-performance sporis-car Bee ree criss ee eS capabitias nan everyday see package fr four dus, ostedatpa..... 089 Pee a the IM3 is @ terrific choice.” —CSABA CSERE, MARCH 2003 ‘TUBLECONOMY (CURRENT): Fee Eah case Bere prtiers wih bet Second IS aes ates PSTN DCH ey peer Fowerrrmerererrins peered etree $410 fora factory Peers trseanercre etic enn)Dreher gates is Cate ‘GRAND-AM ROLEXSPORTS CAR SERIES. Prem ay eee2001-04 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 POWER FOR THE PEOPLE. Inthe speed-per- pals like mad to 6500 rpm dallar column, the 206 The shifter in this example is 8, just as it did when particularly light and direct }02 model such better nan we remembered. as the one we rounded up The chassis delivers a good ran 010 60 mph in four ride and loads of grip and is so seconds flat and hit 100 in _precictable that the car can be less than 10 seconds Mark ——_drven in hooligan mode-the Benson's car felt every ounce tal sliding out-or smooth and as strong as the orignal tidy, Finaly, the Z06 has great ‘Spectacular one of our brakes and a firm pedal, test crew wroie, “This car stil On the other hand, all feels tight and very strong, the things we've never lke! We all marveled al hownew about the Corveite also were this car fel—th just 21,000 present. The flimsy seats stil miles it vas almost new, Stil, feel woefully nadequate, and ‘we have found that it acar the plain, biack plastic dash Is going to develop 2 severe reminded us how far the latest cease of the rattles, # usually ‘arvette interior has come, happens during the frst 20. Those are minor quibbles, grand on the odometer. Tris though, and shoulde’ car was simply shake-free. We detract from a relatively easy algo couldr't find a blemish on ovmership experience. it-The only problem—and this, “In torms of maintenance is an uncommon one-wes 2 and relabilly, 206s aren't joer-side window that h ifferent than a 1.go clown, says Jason Haines Allthe things we salute in of the Corvette turing house aConette were present. For Lingenfelter Performance starters, the 408-np, §.7-Iter _Enginoorng. The enginos aro V-8 is impressively flexible, bulletproot, and most of the supplies snappy throttle running gear is robust. AS response just off idle yet sill always, potential ovners need QUOTES FROM THE PAST: THE 25 “Just try to match this car's visceral rush for the same money. No [expletive deleted] way" TONY SWAN, AUGUST 2000 “There's more performance avaiable than anyone but the gifted or highly siled can take advantage ot. yet the 208 ssl comfortable and quiet enough that your quest wont require brbes to ride along” LARRY WEBSTER, DECEMBER 200 62 2530 fo watch out for excessive abuse. Ii the transmission is hard to get in gear, or fit pops ‘out of gear under acceleration, a repair ill of several grand on follows. Inspect the lower front air dam because it ducts ar into the radiator it's damaged. the engine ‘may have overheated. Anotner potential trouble spot is the boattery-if it ever leaks, the acid usually eats the engine's computer. Benson has had lust one problem: A faulty bbody-control module (which pporforms a vatioty of functions including traction cortro}) cost him $600 to repiace, The 208 seems to goad mary owners into taking pert in track days-once that bug hits, owners lear that going fast can cost manoy. Brake o'ots ate affordable at about {$100 each, buta set of pads ‘uns twice thal, And tres are very pricey: Four of the original Goodyears run mote than 2 (grand. Atleast ownars are loss likely to crash their cherished 206s if they can remember 1o.use the excellent stabilty- control system, standard on all of them. The trst-year models are usualy a good bit cheaper because they had 20 fewer horsepower (385) than the (02-04 models, But either way, its a helluva way to go fast on the cheap, Lamy Webster OPERATING COSTS: EEE CURB APPEAL: FUN TO DRIVE: 2002 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 ‘VEHICLE T¥PEsfront-onging, Teatnheal-erwe, 2piesenger, 2dporcoupe BASEPRICE oom: $50,884 ENGINE: pushrod 16-rale§.7iter V8 405, 400 bet "TRANSMISSION: 6-s0d mara DIMENSIONS: Whoebse 108 5 angen: 1797 in Wh: 73.8 in Hetght 47.7 n Curowolgh: 3181 Ib crest ResuLrs (OecENEER 200; 2eroto6O mph 40300 2eroto 00 moh 12sec Zeroto 80m 1eBsec Street start.§-60rmph. 47sec Standing Yorle,... 124 sae @ 116 mph Topepecd pokey odeeh |e sare ah aaa Sonne cg gusnonemsn ane re yaaa anes Peete emery one ota $1500 repate bil rere siteImagine what we could do in your home if we designed a sound system precisely for your room. That's exactly what we do with every Bose® automotive system. Rather than just coming home with a new sound system, what if a team of Bose engineers arrived instead? Imagine world-class expets in acoustics, electronics, physics and ather disciplines focusing their scien- tific speciatties on tailoring the system specifically for your room. The acoustic effect of nearly every aspect would be measured and ana- lyzed: the height of the ceiling, the position of the chairs, the plushness of a couch cushion. They would examine details you might not even think of such as how the size and placement of a rug can affect the sound, 2008 ave Corporation. €.005718 With this information, a sound system could be engineered to com- peensate for many factors in your listening space, and actually use them to enhance the system's performance, Think of how music would sound with that degree of precision and customization. While you may only be able to imagine that in your home, you can hear it for real in every vehicle with Bose sound, A team of specialists works on each automobile model to reveal the unique sonic profile of the cabin. Bose.com/automotive Then, everything is strategically selected, placed and custor-tuned It's an approach we developed, and it distinguishes Bose performance from conventional automotive sound systems So whether you prefer 2 luxury sedan, sports coupe, SUV or truck, we invite you to enjoy a listening experience you ‘may never have imagined possible To find a vehicle with Bose sound, visit our website. To make sure the system is from the most respected name in sound, look for our logo inside the automobile VOI Ss - ~ Betler Sound through researchsMOST FUN FOR S25K OPERATING COSTS: aS) CURB APPEAL: FUN TO DRIVE: aes 2005 DODGE RAM SAT1O meu rae tentang Tourwea-arve,2-srerge, Zavaro BASEPRICE 2006) $45795, 2004-06 DODGERAMSRT10 Bite“ MORE FUN THAN A MOONSHINER’S HOUSE PARTY. eaves 61 aed DIMENStONS, Isit safe to assume that many puling atrailer though mph in our originaltest-but aba AOA, car owners who lend ——_-Cadge says not to tow with the the cluich travels more than Heights 74.4in Curb weigh: 31391 auto writers their personal SRT10),and morethan afew LeBron, and the shifts are vehicles to hammer mercilessly with the throtle mashed flat ___ weeks long, The shifter and (feomeaavaccy: on a track probably don't and an opponent screaming to knob could stand in for the bat ZerotoGO meh 49sec coddle teircers themselves? tedinein the adccentlane. and bal ala Thureday nignt Zao Roh tase While swapping stores one Despite its working Ife, this softball league. The brakes Feros night at dinner, we asked ostucktoelsemaikabyy were grabby attist but went — SHRM Daniel Palacino, oner ofthe solid, The inerioris clean and soft on us ater about 15 laps, cr 13.6 96 @ 105m Rem SRT10 shown here, how nell preserved, and the heavily likely duc othe Ram's 5100- | Betae WO ONtph no BET far he'd seen the needle on his bolstered XXL Viper seats are pound curb weight. each speedometer go. siilfim and supportive. The he steering ic twitchy, but _—_-SOD-diskidpad.... 1800 “About a buck and a Bed isamess fom the tucks the STO moves suring AUR ENGM CURRENTS quarter” he deadpanned, dally labors, but the sheotmetal wel for its size, dotauts itr Chit eng“ got plenty eunbemhed orn undesioe hard Hct... 00 of other cars to screw around ——_Palacino's only problem was cornering, but poke the gas a We laughed, butPalacino 20,000 mies that was covered nicely controllable oversteer cere ‘was serious. He's a carpenter. under warranty. No one wring From such a high throne, i Ce rome Ayear ago, he walkod intoa on internet forums reported —_tea's like youre riding a slightly Dodge dealership planning to this problem, and none of the sedated rodeo bull buy afourdocrfourwheel three dealers we spoke with ur frst encounter with drive Hemi-powered Ram had encountered it beiore. the Viper-hearted Ram rer reyes to haul lumber and tow Fis Asmuch esalumberyard polarized ouroffice the way Eu aa trailer but left driving an SRTIO may not be the natural nabitat only something this utterly rotors Pickup with 13,000 miles. on ofthis 500-hp exotic Ram, —_—_bizarte could, but this timo itforwhich hed paid $27,700. nether is a racetrack. I's fast in logbook was filed with nothing it's ridiculous and you feel a He's puton anotier 30.000 asiraight ine-we recorded 0 but praise, Despite being so bil foolish, Bt i's shameless, miles since then, most while 0 60 mphin 49 seconds and out of place on aroad course, giddy fun all he same hauling too's and lumber the quertermie in 136 at 105 the SRT1O won us overwith its In our original road tes : sheer ridiculousness, straight John Phiflos wrote: “Im valing QUOTESFROMTHE PAST: THERAMSRT10 mem 9 icct ang tho giornus iaceant iho concont ot “The shit lever, which is roughly the size ofthe ate John Hoknes's ... trumpet ot the big V-10. I's 183-mph not-od truck tne [You've been warned, YatesEa), rallles under hard acceleration Ike the automotive equivalent of day | see it carrying 2 load a pom star's vibrator.” -BROCK YATES, FEBRUARY 2004 ing at your hillbilly cousin's of drywall to a job site, you a wedding when you give @ know?" “Fuel mileage? With highest sill ess than $2 per gallon and ——_rearty rebel yell and join in The time has come, John. OPEC on the ropes, who the hell cares?” ~BROCK YATES, 13ID the square dance. You know Jered Gall 64 250 ‘CARANDORVER.COMAll Status, no quo. ee ieee eee ee eu ee DEE orca re Ce details and the world’s firstAround View Monitor: The all-new InfinitiFX. Itllputsome distance between you and “more of the same'” Defining the performance crossover, Redefining luxury, To learn more, visit Infiniti.com or your local Infiniti Retailer, UTX AL INFINITI.1999-2002 0-40-60-mph times ranging from 4.910 5.5 seconds, and ish’s well-vromn veteran MERCEDES-BENZ ‘cok evoybtos quer Tne E55 AMG \V-B doesrit deliver quite the same slecgehammero-the- sternum punch as do today’s ONE HELL OF A STEALTH FIGHTER. §— vs atsas-they curently nave (One hundred and eighty three thousand, That's how many miles have been rolled up on the odometer of the 1999 E55 AMG curently owned by Bryan English, English has driven the hell out of the big Benz, accruing all but 16,000 of those miles since purchasing the car in 2003. His EBS feels extremely tight and isin exceptional condition despite the high mileage, a testament to how well English takes care of his fide as well as to the Germans who built it, Squeaks and rattles are nonexistent, and the Mercedes dealers and independent specialists wove spoken with characterize the W210 E55 as bulletproot Stil, bulletproof engineering combined with attentive maintenance couldn't keep every problem at bay. Enalish ‘was forced to replaca the transmission in ate 2006, costing him $6500 (a Mercedes dealer we spoke with suggested $5660 should ‘eet the job done). More rocont sorvices resuted in replacament of 2 ball joint, a few bushings, and the cam and crank sensors, and we're {old to expect bifs totaling near $1000 for that kind of work. Unlike most of the cars 66 253. at least 74 more pound-feet on this list, the E56 is meant _of torque-but tne E65 does ‘more for screaming along ‘share their ability to pull ice the autobahn than for tioping offlaps at the local raceway, actually gets stronger as you and it wasnt very happy at near the top end. The five GingerMan. especially so speed automatic (no menual because it wore all-season _—was offered) is as smooth and ties, stock-spec brake pads, _siken in operation as any of and the original shocks. But i's Mercedes’ modein gearboxes, not as f the AMG handles like The W210 E55 AMG may a bucket of pudding. be the ullimate Q-ship: it The steering is dead a perfect combination of accurate and provides more performance, ide, luxury, and fool than a handsy high: low-key looks, The closost schooler; i's the sort of you'll come today isto visit communication thats rare ‘a Mercedes dealership and in most cars made a mere dive away in a brand-new £63 decade latet. The ride is firn AMG, but at nearly $90,000, but never harsh, and there's _ it's almost 20 grand more than ‘Ro inclination toward dive, what the E55 coet when nove ‘squat, of roll The real superstar Covorod wrth flares and vents, Isn't the fantastic chassis, he E63 isn't inconspicuous, though-it's the 5.4-Iter V-8, either. Pick up a well-cared-for a masterpiece of a motor that the other hand, and pumps out $49 horsepower you'll get 80 percent of the car ‘and 991 pound-feet of torque, for one-quarter of the money. Hammer tho throttieand That's ong heck of a discount you realize in a hurry that for what we once called “the the E55 can gat down. Our ——_—best E-class ever original testing resulted in ~Erik Johnson QUOTES FROM THE PAST: THE ESS ANC “This is an extraordinary vehicle, versatile beyond our wildest expectations, and as rewarding asthe best drivers’ cars around? BARRY WELD, MARC 1000 “Five minutes behind the whee, and have @ new favaite Mercedes. The £55 may very wel be the ulate in undrsiated executive transport.” -STEVEN COLE SMITH, 11D, OPERATING COSTS: EE] CURB APPEAL: at FUN TO DRIVE: 2s 1999 MERCEDES BENZ E55 AMG. [VEHICLE TYPE: fonk-engir. rea wbeel-éve, passenger coor sedan BASEPRICE|999):$71,717 ENGI 90 24nNe 64a Vee abt [TRANSYASSIOS-speed autre nvensions; tenet 6S 4 Mh: 7083 eta: 567m Curb weight: 3705 b ‘cmTesT RESULTS (MARC999- Zeroto60 mph 4900 Zerot0 00 mph ‘ni sec Zeroto 30 mph 224 se Street stort,6-60mph.... 5.1 00 ng Neral... 198 ee @ 105 mph Tgovernorlinitad) 158 mph Brakeng,70-0mph is6tt Reacholdng, ‘300-F-askidped...... 0889 FUTL EcONOMY (CURRENT? EPhety, ‘ighurayerving 15/21 mpg py a Toy ye :d Raye eins peers tte Franc een emery rere seein re)1989-94 PORSCHE 911 IT’S AS11. ENOUGH SAID. © A oscre nectesione on ths list. Admitiedty, 2 first-generation 986 Boxster might be more fun ona track, but the almost mystical allure of an air-cooled fat-six overcame the pull of 2 water- cooled modernist We tapped Viciorymotorcars (wwwvictorymotorears com) of Houston, Texas, a purveyor of used Porsches, for a 964 model of 1989-94 vintage. They kindly agreed to extend tous a 1990 Carrera 4 with £84,000 mies on the odometer Salesman Jason Flete! came along to look after the car because it had already been sold, for $25,500, which didnt stop one of our crew from spinning it For the record, examples of the last generation of air-cooled 911s-993s—sell for well over $25,000. Victory specializes in air cooled Porsches, seling about 40 of them per month. The flagging dollar, weak against foreign currencies, is a big help to Viclory’s sales, as 25 el shipped overseas, mainly to Europe, while five go to Canada and the remaining 10 are sold in the US, With any old Porsche, the cost of keeping it on the road isa very real fear, thougn some weer tems are not startingly expensive. A set of Porsche brake pads (which works for the front or reat) costs about $135, and rotors, good for any corner, run $155 apiece. The original Brogestone tires are ne longer made, but a foplacement set of Potenza RE-OIRs is less than $500. Everything else gets expensive ina hury. A catalytic converter touchas tuttion-payment tertory at $1800, and Porsche et mechanics charge at least @ hundred bucks an hour There are a few genetic problems associated with the otherwise indestructible powertrain of the 964. The valve covers came painted from the factory. Ths paint eventually chips off, and the seal between the head and valve cover weakens, causing a leak. The repair (femoving and sandbiasting the cover cosis about a grand. Anather common failure is the anti-lock brake pump. When this goes, find $2000. \Whon wo first drove thos cars neatly wo decades ago, rear-drive 964s hit 60 mph in MOST FUN FOR S25K less than five seconds, a feat stil respectable by today’s standards. Cosmeticaly, the 18-year-old 911 was showing — lis age. The headliner was sagging, the switchgear showed signs of repeated use, the poner-miror button was ‘missing, and the paint was, as they say, “Good from far but fa rom good” Stil. the 911°s signs of age couid not diminish the driving enjoyment Compared with today’s 19118, tho steoring fools noavy ‘and deliberate. The awkward floo-hinged pedals take some diver adjustment especially or smooth heel- and:toe downshifts. The hhandling is less than sharp. But wnen the air-cooled 3.6. Iter boxer engine is roaring, all of the car's fauits—dynami cosmetic, ergonomic~are simply drowned out by the urgent sound of the engine ‘anda feel that can only be provided by an old Porsche. OPERATING COST: The appeal of a 91 SoS Ss ‘goes deeper han the bas GURB APPEAL: Connection between man and machine. Because it's one of the most iconic sports cars of © SEUN TO DRIVE: alltime, there is acertain evel Eas of celebrity associated with +1990 PORSCHE 911 owning @ 911, something that's CARRERAS dificult to equal in any other car purchase. Still don't buy ‘one without a good service history or at least a thorough inspection by a mechanic. =KE Colwell ‘VERIOLE TYPE: ear-engine, 4 haste, 2e2-passenger, Z-door coupe ‘BASEPRICE 0980): $69 00 ENGINE; SOHC 24-vave 3 6-er fia 8, 247,228 bt ‘TRANSMISSION: 5-speed manual, QUOTES FROM THE PAST: THE 9] DIMEN, “Those who make do with Corvettes and IROC-Zs and Mustang GIs wil grumble that their cars sell for Wheelbase: 884 in Leng 1573 in far lass then this starm trooper, but thet won't keep them from scrambling to try to passit on the road. ihees pape 9201" Face-os wont lst long: I's Cro-Magnon hardware against rocket science.’ -LARRY GREFIN, AUGUST 1959 copTesT RESULTS auCUST 9 “if| were king, issue every warm blooded car enthusiast a 911 Cater 4 so that he could Zeroto Bmp ses Zerote Omph 1305 voerience uvarnshied automotive tuth every de. What o FIDH CEPPOS, BI. Zerote 130 mph Be Bee @ 102mab js rh on Utrtdashidpad..0889 UsLpconow coRRENT Eka tem ne 14/2090 pA ET Ney Lely een geet Eire creat eri‘MOST FUNTOR $25K 1994-98 TOYOTA SUPRA TURBO VIRGIN TERRITORY. What you seehere is owned by Jeremy Feler of asroreasarockstar Carmel. Inciana. He's a 33- groupie who's also avirgin: a year-old feld clinical engineer Toyota Supia Tutbo in original for CVX, a company thal condition, Rarer sil: Toyoia__prociuces medical equipment. cars, owing fois odd collection Supra Turbo that’s had multiple He bought the carjust three of tres-Yokohama A520s font, owners. Meny-mast?-ofthe weeks before our derby, Piel PEOOs rea, wel worn force-fed Supras ftom the'94~ andi came to GingerMfan_at bath ends. Nevertheless, 98 cranave been swbjecied a8 aque, including a we were impres sad wth the tothe tender mercies o! mismatched set of al-season Toyete's sollityro squeaks tuners professional and note tes. ortatles-and with its benign so-prfessionel who have “Thaven't dane enything to ride and handing. Braking wes tweaked up the boost ofthe it" he said “Yet” ust s0°s0, mite by the tres sequentaltvin urboo edna Faller‘ound the Suprain and etock pads, which began the.cars 30-Kterstraighi-six Chicago and palo $33,000 to stink and face after just a well beyond the stock max fort Ho said ha researcred couple lps. Anda reluctant 0f 11.6 psi fequenty tothe others, some below out Upshito sith gear mares thieshold of meow $2500 target, but popped an alherwse sricksnick Inivoducedin 1993asa forthe Chicago carbeceuse transmission. 1904 model,the Supe Turbo twas in onainal conation— But the turbos assorted OPERATING cOsTS: Was rated at 320 norsepower clean free of ust and denis, themselves decsively above and 215 pound-leet of torque. well pieserved within, and 4000 rpm, yielding a grattying Iwas prety hot stuf forthe urfoUehed under the hood, rush, though there were a CURB APPEAL: day, capable of 0to 80 mph ‘The car had just move than couple of fesiers who expected anywhere fiom 46 to 52 {0,000 mies on the odometer, alitte more punch FUN TO DRIVE: seconds. But with a bese accumulated by three This lat reaction may be price over $40,000, twas clo previous oumers in locations due in part to experionces, expensive, and Toyota sold ranging from New Jersey to with Supres boostec to double ‘1994 TOYOTA SUPRA TURBO only 8511 fourth-gen Supras Washington stata before Feller stook outout. Ente Tyr font nga iseapuligihedagete saGiiore tobaan Fe eee Spaced. 22 perc endothe 1998 mode year. We couldn't ive the Supra aso onns a 1909 Boss 429 f This 1994 example is as hard as some of the other Mustang, a'68 Shelby GT350 Oe een, 2 S ; a indore ed QUOTES FROM THEPAST:THESUPRA TURBO mmm Cola lot cane, panei —_neoe4 DOM: sre 9.3. Inine-5 320 tp, S15 tt “Taka care with the throttie if you've switched off the traction control, make the Supra his daily driver ps sesecton6-speed merual Imorudent pressure from your right foot wil Kek the tall uti and intends to make increased ‘a hurry” ~LARRY GRIFFIN, SEPTEMBER 1999 Power one ct his fist prices: | (reece i004 in ‘Nothing racical"he said eee TT With 71.3 “The Supra Turbo isthe quiet, mature one—the designated diver “Not ike allthose guys who oo Helgi 0.in Curb weet: 420 Bb surrounded by party animals. can run withthe big boys, butt 161 1000 horsepower. cdesn't advertise i” -STEVEN COLESMTH, AUGUST 1907 adjust tke te get avout 409 OT ay horsepower, whichis veryeasy SEER! shai lodoin these cams Uh.400 ok aatiOreh Se the rear wheels, that is” om ae Streetcars o0imph 29:00 > =Tony Swan® — Sueving ” peel ae @ 16 woh re SS one 2 ES eden onh teh ine add Reacheidn, . SoD seped......095¢ UrL soonomy cumRevn Brew Tighwoy erg... 15122 pp eave eaued cee ey peat ee eeeeoree te rary Perit EM een oto arte2009 CHEVROLET Beverse Crossover LeaderEull-Featured TRAVERSE IS NEWLY ARRIVED in Chevrolet showrooms in 15 Lana 172 tir evel; a tree ote front-whee!cive as Sferdaid and an l-nhel-dve option for secure winter rving Liens, al Traverse mods wear is singular sting, Feandsomely lage, Tavers'smusciar nes shar ther good loos with Chevrolet muct-prased Mau sedan, yeton a Tae a FLO aL a ,| economy.” www.chevrolet.com aeROAD TEST NEW COVER, FAMILIAR TEXT BEHOLD THE NEW BOOK OF GENESIS: NOT EXACTLY A PAGE TURNER, BUT IT DOES HAVE LOTS OF CONTENT. BY TONY SWAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY AARON KILEY ERATE MP) a relied A ENC UM DAVE GaN Bo tS 4,9 ‘THE HIGHS | THELOWS Plenty of smooth V-8 power, smooth | Haven't--seen-you-before styling, ant interior, | mulish understeer, numb steering. tranny, smooth ride, e THE VERDICT Apposh new luxo cruiser ate friendly price; thrill seekers, seek elsewhere. with the optional and a lot of people CARANODRIVER COM 885 79ROADTEST {in tho Hyundai organization think their new car measures up pretty well against sporting stalwarts from BMW, Mercede and Audi, A clue to their convietion ean be seen in the Genesis promotional lit erature, which is sprinkled with “sports sedan” references, ‘There's no question that, in general, \dai's davelopment team checked the Jnthoxes for theirambitious leap tothis high-stakes, high-profit game. However, this isn't really a huge surprise because. after all, they had a seript, written by ‘Toyota for the development of the 1988 Lexus LS400. So the formula is ono that's now familiar: respectable performance, de: cent quality, and lots of features wrapped in attractive sheetmetal at an even more attractive price. 80 253. By’ HYUNDAI GENESIS 4.6 That last to Hyund: pricing has beon the key 's remarkable progress since it made its first appearance in the US. market in 1985 with the Excel, which was loosely related to the Mitsubishi Mirage and also sold as the Mitsubishi Precis. With a 0-10.60. mph time of 16.3 soconds, ‘our test crew called the Excel “faster than speeding molasses,” [C/D, March 1986). But thanks tolower Korean labor costs, Hyun- ai wasable to price the Excel considerably below competing small cars. Tho Genesis, obviously, shares only a brand name with that primitive ‘808 E¥- cel, but the marketing theory is similar. Pricing for this new luxe four-door starts at $33,000, including the $750 destination charge. That's for the 29¢-hp.3.8diter V6 n. The 975-hp,4.6-iter VBadds$5000 POSH PARITY Hyundai's interior design team did its homework in daveloping the new car's cockpit. Materials and appearance ‘measure up to the best in this class. tothe base price—858.62 per pony. Not all that much, really, when you consider the ars with V-8power that Hyundai seeks to usurp. The base price for a BMW 5501 is ‘$59,625, and the least expensive 5-series, the 52a, starts at 845, Others: Audi A6 4.2, from $57,075: In: finitiM5, trom $51,065; Lexus GS460, fromCal re ra) Ma Pe a Fr — ts On ca Tr GHT Caras paipacamaadl Lcueuaae ool (Ca ree part ean rrr)ROAD TEST $53,785; Mercedes E560, from $50,575. (We should add that with the exception of the Genosis, these are 2008 prices.) Here's what you get for your 38-grand base price. In addition to the V.8 and Z8 sixspeed automatic (the 3.8liter V6 is mated to an Aisin B600 six-speed auto) theluxury inventory includesa power tilt/ slide sunroof; two-tone leather upholstery and upper dash, stylishly stitched; tastef ‘wood trim; heated power front seats; speaker sound system: electroluminescent instruments; Bluetooth hands-free phone connectivity: dual-zone automatic elimate control; memory presets for seat position and steering column (power adjustable for rake and reach); a power rear sunshade: and cruise eontrel (Hyundai will add an adaptive feature later) Our test car had the only option group offered, the $4000 ‘Technology package rspeaker audio with an in-dash sixDVD HYUNDAI GENESIS 46 changer, XMsetellite radio, an Drive-style control that's actually user friendly, anav system, HID headlamps, abaekup warning ‘camera, driver's seat cooling, and front and rear parkassist sensors You get the idea—lots of the goodies you'd expect of a luxury car, in a hand- somely executed interior. Makethat hand. someand exceptionally roomy. Thisisa big cear by the standards of the class to which Digger than any of its target competitors, with interior volume that’s ‘more consistent with car’ one size up the scale, Lots of trunk. too—16 cubic feet. Hyundai has taken pains to make sure the Genesis is as quiet as itis roomy—an- ‘other page from the Lexus playbook. At 2 TO-mph cruise, the needle on our sound meter once quivered just below 69 dB, but ‘we wound up with an average of 70—good but not exceptional. Noise suppression is, fine, of eourse, buthow silent should it bo? ft aspires ‘We think a little basso profundo in the ex haust note would enhance the driving ex perionce. To which well return shortly. Exterior design is obviously eritical toa company attempting to invade the prestige ranks, and here again it looks a ‘though Hyundai has followed the Lex script. Created to invade German turf, the original LS400was.ashameless Mercedes dorivativethat worked. The Genesis can be perceived us derivative, too, but pinpoint: ing the origin of the derivations provokes debate. Mercedes? BMW? Lexus? The 8: class-style grille is eye-catching, and the short front overhang suggestsathleticism, but the overall loo le generic, Wemen gestion of athloti- ism, and that's what itis:a visual sugges. tion quickly tempered by dynamicrealities when the road acquires curvesand kinks. As we noted in our August preview test, Hyundal didn't skimp on the suspension, ‘which employs multilink hardware fore and aft um componentry But it didn’t take long on some of our f vorite back roads to convince us that the decisions made by the chassis engineer 3m the area of spring rates and damping ‘could benefit fram alittle revision. Maybe more than a litte, ‘On smooth tre creamy and quiet. Buton these hack roads, contoured and crinkled by Michigan win: ters, it was not difficult to use up all of the suspension travel, yielding hard bumps and episodes of head toss, Grip from the all-season Dunlop SP with alum y stretches, the rideisROAD TEST Sport tires (295)60-18) was so-so at 0.88 and braking performance was decent at 170 fect from 70 mph. But the Genesis absolutely refuses to be hurried through corners, exhibiting understeer that starts at resolute and progresses ifthe pilot per sists with the throttle. This reluctance also colors the car’s transient response, aggravated by variable-assist, powerrack- and-pinion steering that confuses effort with feel. ‘The ackroad contrast between the Genesis and a BMW 5281 we borrowed to put the new Hyundai in perspective was revelatory, BMW dofines the luxury. sports-sedan realm, and assessed by the s2ais standard of response and balance, it sa fraternity to which the Genesis does not yet belong [see “How Does the Genesis 4.6 Stack Up?” on page 861 But competing as a luxury eruiser, the Genesis rates well. Besides quict opera: ‘Hon, ahandsome and roomy interior, and. easant freeway rida, chere’sthe seductive thrust ofits V.8 engine, code-named Tau Sophisticated suspension and all-new rear-drive platform notwithstanding, the DOHC32valveall-aluminum Tau V8isthe ‘most significantengineering achievement connected with the Genesis, breaks no HYUNDAI GENESIS 46 new ground—continuously variable valve timingand duallength intakerunnersare not uncommon today-—but Hyundai man- ages to extract more horsepower per liter than competing V-8s and insists it's okay jorsepower to use unk burning premium, 268 on regular Puel economy is alsoa strongsuit, with the EPA projecting 17 mpg city, 25 on the highway. Our test average was 19 mpg. We also give high marks to the ZF six- speed automatic for smooth operation, although there are a couple of demerits. It lacks the paddle shiftersthat are derisuew for sports sedans today, and it will upshift ‘on its own in sport mode. A bigger prob: Jom with the transmission in our test ear was premature upshifting, well below the car's6750rpm redline, regardlessofdriver input. This held the Genesis back in ac- celeration runs, where it took six seconds toreach 60 mph and clocked the quarter mille in 14.5 seconds at 101 mph. Our Au ‘gust proviow test, conducted at Hyund proving grounds in Korea, yielded 0 to 60 in 56 seconds and the quarter in M1 at 103mph, Hyundai techs tried reflashing the transmission’s computer but to no avail, 80 We put this down as @ preproduction anomaly and expect showroomready cars to perform very much like our preview: test car ‘Though we have reservations about this new car's membership in the pre: miumsports-sedan club, Hyundai has otherwise done everything right, includ: ing impressive fit and finish. Given the company’s short history—the Korean industrial conglomerate didn't even have ‘an automotive division until 1967-—it'san amazing achievement. Hyundai has obviously come a very Jong way ina remarkably short time, The ‘question is whether the Genesis, like the VW Phaeton, will bea case of coming too far too soon. The company chose to avoid thomassive investment required for asec: ond marketing channel, 1a Lexus, and regardless of its achievements in terms of engineering and quality, we think i's safe to say—call us erazy—that Hyundai doesn't have quite the same brand eachet ‘as BMW. Value, the cornerstone of Hyun- dai’s phenomenal growth, is important to all buyers, but how big a factor will it be ina prestige market? Bigenough? Youcan bet that many Hyunilai execs are asking these same questions.ROAD TEST HOW DOES THE GENESIS 4.6 STACK UP? BY CSABA CSERE SPORTWISE: VERSUS THE BMW 528i With rear-dive, thoroughly modern fourviheel independent suspension. ¢ sophisticated six-speed automatic, and a gutsy 375-np V8, the Genesis has the makings of European sports sedan, To see wheter ites the moja, we put it up against the BMW 52, the German sedan closest io itn price The Genesis effortiessly oulponers the 526i, but its performance superionty ends thete, The Hyundais stopping distances are longer, and cornering grip is way down, ore importantly the EMW moves with 2 taut and responsive sureness thatthe Genesis anit match. The Hyunda’s steering feels syn- thetic, with abrupt changes in effort that are only vaguely related to what the car is doing, and t transmits more kickback than is justified by the muted communication ‘The Genesis's suspension is fimn over small bumps, but this doesnt translate into {good body control when the going gets quick. Stl. Jange bumps dont throw it of course, The engine delvers all of the thrust you can use, but kickiown shifts could be quicker. ‘Though faling short of the BMW's spot Ing stander, the Genesis is better on fasi back roads than the cust Lewis L8460 and way better than the loosey-goosey Toyota Avalon, ‘PRICE AS TESTED: $54,025 (base: $45,425) ‘POWERTRAIN: DOHC 24-ralveSO-itar Din, 20.200 6d nee ‘wit manumat Weber 1 Lena ‘Wt 727 in Heth 87 Garb wel: 3736 6 LUXURYWISE: VERSUS THE LEXUS LS460 When the Lesus L$400 appeared in 1989, it challenged the luxury order with more opulence, refinement, and reliabil ity-though less diving exhlaration—at a much lower price. Does this Hyundai do the same to the now-esteblished Loxus? Its 2 ough challenge because this four ‘gen LS is as smoath and siky as any car on the planet. I lides down the road in hushed serenity, wth only a feraway hum fromits pow: cetain and almost complete immunity to pave- ‘meant imperfections that vex other cars, The Genesis's powertrain is almost 2s re- fined as the one in the LS460, bul you can sense a litte graininess that's not present in the Lens. The seme goes for the Hyunda’s ‘suspension, which doesnt titer bumps as et facively as that of the big Lexus. Inside, the Lexus is superbly finished and oll laid out, The Genesis cant maich the ‘ality of the more expensive ca’s mateias, but it does have a rich look, there's a logical layout ofthe controls, and the 528i and Avalon [ust don't compare in this area, Given that i costs 40 percent less than the Lexus, the Genesis is detintely in the hhuntas long as the buyer doesrit care about the badge on the trunk, ‘PRICE AS TESTED: $75,774 (base: $03,005) POWERTRAIN: DOHC 2-lve46-tter V8 380,367 Ist; 8-sped autora with ‘manumate siting Aeebese 10in Lene: 1900 Wi TB ege 5311 Curb weight ECONOMY WISE: VERSUS THE AVALON XLS In our tatest comparison of large family sedans {*$30,000 Family Sedans’ July ‘2008. we found thatthe best combination of ‘space, comfort uty, and value was delivered by the Avalon. Now, the Genesis provides 2 Y-8 for only afew grand more than the cost of a loaded Avalon, and the V-8 Genesis almost maiches the Avalon's price Judged by sheer carrying capacity, the two cars are a wash-with the Avalon having a larger back seat and the Genasis leading in ftont-seat and trunk space. But both cars are very roomy, with bigger back seats than the S460 and more space everywhere than the telatvely cramped 528 Not suprisingly. aven its low price, the ‘Avalon’sintoror i the least fancy ofthis group. ‘The design and materials are clean and taste ful, butithardly conveys 2 rich impression, The Genesis’ finish looks to be a class above in bboth regards. Nor can the Avalon match the refined road manners of the other admitied'y mote expensive cars ‘With is frontrve layout, spacious cabin, > ‘PRICE AS TESTED: $6,268 (base: $32,285) POWERTRANS- DOHC 24-3518, 268% Abst bpmed aonate wh ananatehitag DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 11.0 in Lenth:197.2in Wadi 728 n Height 68-5in (Curb welt 606 1 86 255:pontiaciscar.com “FOR RELATIVELY MODEST BUCKS YOU GET er We ee PROOF THAT CAR IS ALIVE AND WELL. THE FIRST-EVER G8 GT. V-8 POWER WITH V-6 FUEL EFFICIENCY. Everything about the G8 is a powerful reminder of what makes this car CAR. it's sleek. Rear-wheel drive. And fast. With 2 5.3-second 0-69, it’s faster than a BMW 550i. Yet it’s not so quick to use up the gas. Active Fuel Management TOSS Neen Cees i ac ee ee ecm a than the 550i or a V-6 powered Infiniti M35: Fuel efficient, and the most PO eR a Rc cee See ee en ee ee mete ce eee ce eeeROAD TEST HYUNDAI GENESIS 4.6 Price (as72st=0) $42,000 ‘Base: $38,000 oie type: on-ongine, rer-ahoo-dive,5-passenger, -door sedan Ogos Tecnology paclage (consists of 17-speakor stra, navigation system 6-0VD Changer, AU aca, satlt ad, multimedia contol, HID hoadighs, ear backup camer, front and ear paling sonar and coded crv set), §4000 Standard power indows, seats, cks, and suvoot;ranote locking: cute cons Snitoe-ong ong vaoo Ayn Lote; Fl, eet td 0/000" ‘hanger aury input jak and USB input; 17 speakers Fucl Capacity | 203¢4 x MPG era |p ‘ary HWY _ORSERUED 7 2) 19 INTERIOR ‘RESTRAINT SYSTENS Frost manual point lis: diver and passenger DIMENSIONS WEIGHT: Car: 4068 b Por horspawer: 0.318 TOWING CAPAGITY: Db 88 25. saben and cossmember ody mates wold steel and slminum stampings STEERING Rack-an-pnion with variable etic power asist Sterne“ Tarnlocke rat 571 tore ‘SUSPENSION Fromtsnd, 2 tera fnks and 2 agonal inks per sie col pings, ctl ba Fear: in 2 agora! ns, 2 ber rks an 1 te ‘ceti ink po cal Sings; ntl ber Taras ele eeearhs 36. WHEELS.TIRES Wheel statype: 703 1Binieast turin Tes: Dunop SP Sport 000M, PLSS/S0R-BGTV Mss Spare: high-pressure compact, BRAKES yeas with vacuum power Trae Conel ‘ash aniebot conti and) YES. a0 lactone pac asist Det eS Stab Conta FiWOxt2in | RILAKOSin yes oo venied dis disc MP 20 50 rants: 6 sxe 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 Tap ea,30-0:3.1c0¢ Tepe SOE = at paral lc DISTRIBUTION: Font 5 eRe 466% ew: S51 <=) er mons’ bls, sid nd cut sitece waxiw McRaCIAN RMN DITATY ==) SEAT aDJUSToENTS eo row ean alt seatback ene, bight rer iy ont nd oa heap, br Spa RrARStATs Foldng Sott Bess Tron * aS P =o mio BEE ond MEASUREMENTS (io temas Mead Lag Sha roost St 3H EE wae 3738619 trek Waban 16Bin sain sa Feo Rear Tak VOLUNE S7cuft _49euit 16 cuft Rensedeeial Neg SEEM Chentsyui contusion with a tbarsete | NN) ENGINE DRIVETRAIN V8 akerinum block nd heads Borex stroke: 2.62 9.435, 950 x870nm = 5H PER. =) spaconen: 22 cin, 4627ce GRU C12, eae “ramen 6-speed automate wih manumatc siting Fisbitveratic 39:1 S) Conoressionrah: 1041 1 fair [oo 40. (6750 0) Faldalworysystom: porinjection W|2a4 [re | remoh 6750rmm) \akopoa: chat-rven double overhest ane, alves por cynderanob | M_| 1.82164 ___[ tom (6750p) | intake and exkaus-ave inirg Ww [isa _[aie _[17rmph (675000) Poweriskevt: 75tho @ €5000m — “yaar | 207 | 188i 350 on) Torun Ene: 588 B-@ 3800 pn zi Loan vi [ns [350 | 158m9a(22500m) ‘The Genesis will probebly go quicker once Hyundai figures ut why the tranny shifts well short of tho ower peak. SOUnD ta) B Eee (0.832 UUNDERSTEER mooerate || 44 EXCESSIVE ine WEATHER Tonporatr:77F Humid: 49% Barons aress or ODOMETER TIRE INFLATION St CC 170 ft riven: eeN IT'S MORE THAN JUST OIL. IT'S LIQUID ENGINEERING, Castroland you begin to understand why, compared to the SL63 AMG, anything else is just a supercar. MBUSA.comMercedes-Benz MMM AATSROAD TEST DEARBORN DOES ITS DREAMBOAT IT WAS THE MKR, A 2007 CONCEPT WITH AN ee ELE FACE, WARMING THE CROWD FOR THIS NEAR-LUXURY BY PATRICK BEDARD PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM DREW‘Toyyour listof things that will never hhappen, you can add one more: The hot-blooded pilotes ofthis staff will never rank this new Lincoln above a BMW, any BMW, in a comparison test. But the Su- preme Court is not the only enclave of di- vided opinions; the contrarians among us think Ford bas something going on here. Consider the driver's office, BMW and Benz, not to mention Honda and Acura designers—and Jaguar, too, now that we think of it—could learn much from a few hours in this Lincoln. The wide-screen dash display is so bright and legible you could read it with patches on both eyes. ‘And the driver interface—the buttons or knobs or joysticks or what the Ultimate DrivingMachine alls [Drive (ifor infuria- tion?)—seems to explain itself at a glance here. The MKS combines a touch screen with just the right number of hard but- tons and, even better, knobs. They're all positioned high where you can see them, ‘on the center stack in a remarkably sim- ple array, angled just right for easy use. Strong, white, sans-serif characters on dark backgrounds encourage info to leap {nto your mind, whether from the sereen or the dials ofthe cluster. Nothing blanks ‘out when you put on your polarized sun- lasses, either. Fat your hearts out, Benz. and BMW drivers. Better still, Lincoln designers had the Jess-is- more good sense to stand back and let function take the starring role. No au- rora borealis shimmering in the dials or ceolor-of-the-day lighting in the cup hold- cers. Just leaping info. In the category of ergonomics, the MKS earns maximum points. ‘And those of us with long memories love the lavish chrome cabin detailing, the jewelry, a reminder of The American Way halfa century back when our glitter- ing Detroiters were the envy of the world. Itwas never done then with the high level of quality evident here. ‘The MKS makes Lincotn a three-car familyas itslots under the AARP-avorite ‘Town Car and over the dressed-up Ford Fusion dba. the MKZ. With abase price of ‘$98,465, ranging to $48,836 for a full-dress all: wheel-driver, the MKS has the comfort ‘andstyleto keep up with the better-dressed Cf the Joneses, though it's iffy on the pres- tige. Lincoln has been a low-luster brand for years—dallying with Blackwood and LINCOLN MKS AWD ‘THE HIGHS Classy textures inside blinged up with chroma jewelry, superlogbe dash display, easy-to-use navigation THE LOWS Michelin 20-inchers add steering quirks, Mary J. Blige buzzes the trim, being seen behind that grille. THE VERDICT Maybe Fords in the dumps, but this new Lincoln grabs some high ground,ROAD TEST Mark "trucks while theears went yawn for yawn with Buick. this new middle child to punch toe-to-toe with aBMWS5-seriesora Lexus GS, Wisely Lincoln pickeda lightor price class, safaly ander the roughly $45,000starting point of the other two. Asapuncher, MKSheritage couldn't be more dubious, builtas itis on Taurus (née Ford Five Hundred) bones,a commodious family hauler, sure, but a bread pudding of. thing to drive. Borrowing cop phras. ‘ing, could such lineage possibly produce a sedan of interest to enthusiasts? Well, no, not to the pilofes. The 8iter Duratec V6 is willing. and the six-speed automaticis adopt, but you can expoct just somuch from 275 horsepower shouldering against a 4315-pound burden, With nary a chirp from the test car's four driven wheels, it sauntered to 60 mph in 7. onds and ambled on through the quarter in 157 seconds at 90 mph. 94 2530 so nobedy expects LINCOLN MKS AWD The brakes have a linear pedal feel that’s reassuringon theroad, lesssoat th track where the 188-foot stopping distance from 70 mph is about typical fora fullsize people haulor Our test ear wears the double-upsized 20-inch bling-finish alloys with245/48R-20 Michelin Primacy all-season rubber (18- inchers are standard equipment wrapped in 235/359), but these are for eye grabbing. ‘more than road grabbing, ag you can see by the s0-s0 08 gorarip on theskidpad. The stability control limits thofunst that point. Such low-profile tires react quickly to the steering, insome maneuvers bit quicker than the chassis or the driver expects. So, ‘occasionally, your steering input bites off mare of a heading change than intended, requiring a hasty unsteer to correet. ‘Usually, we complain of torque steer in frontairive cars, but allavheel drive, an $1890 upgrade included on our test ear. is an effective work around, ‘STEVE SPENCE It takes time to bulld a ear, so! know Lincoln didn't suddenly walk away from its desultory history of bamlike SUVs and old-fashioned Town Cars to turn out this ‘exceptional German-style sedan, but it sure feels Ike an overnight revolution. Looks it, oo. Big inside, ‘especially laterally, there's real loury here, a very smooth and quist ride, good V-8 power (though ‘we drove it solo), exceptional finish (tasteful chrome and brushed aluminum), and elegant but serious driving seats and AWD. Just one uncomfortable thought: Has the revolution come too late? K.C. COLWELL The MKS gets a merit badge in arts and crafts for aesthetic appeal. but | can't get comfortable init, and this car's goal is luxurious ‘comfort. A claustrophobic fooling from the high beltine and forward- canted headrest contribute to the majority of my discomfort. itis too bad because this car's spacious ‘cabin and 19 cubic feet of cargo ‘space could make it a resounding highvray cruiser. However, the ‘runk’s small opening would not even accept a 80-quart cooler. What good is a huge trunk if a ‘cooler cant even fit in it?The unprecedented Va CoaRe Ls ele came RANA Tene a ee ee ie Seen eg a eu ua eee De a eee ee ee eC rae ne es ea ee this by continually adjusting valve timing and lift for quicker response and a broader torque curve. Maximizing every ounce of power the gasoline has to offer, Delivering a more noticeable connection Se een eee Oe ue ce The new 330-hp, 3.7-liter Infiniti G Sedan. INFINITI ene re aaa96 ROAD TEST ‘To the pilotes, this Lincoln holds the road but never hugs it like a Bimmer. It ocen't have the taut chassts muscles that, distinguish those few sporting machines from the masses. So top marks are out the MKS has game. ‘The engine’s song hits the right notes as the chrome tach needle swings upward toward the 6500-rpm honest-to-Allah red: Jine. Ford, you may remember, has been shunning redlines for years as ifall ofthe Dbeancounters sang “No way" a cappella, but the MKS is a come-from-way-behind effort. To break through the ennui blanket ing the brand, this one has to excal, We see it 2s a “reach” car, holding the price of a well-equipped sample cleanly below 40 large but reaching for shoppers in theclass above. How highcan it reach? We'vebeen measuring oursample against some tall yardsticks, With the Lincoln name, you'd expect a smooth ride. itasealm and unperturbed as im'an R-class Benz? Call ita tie, we've decided, until we can do a side-by-side matchup. Is the cabin as quiet? The ears say yes. Does interior quality match that of a Lexus GS? To our very great surprisoand delight, It does. The textures and sheens of thedash top, windowsills, and door panels, of the question. ¥ LINCOLN MKS AWD look Guecirich. The Scottish leather ofthe seats has the essential drape and supple: ness that lets it deform around your shape with no pressure spots, The mirror-finish jewelry is, of course, molded plastic, but thediesare excellent, nolding surfaces that don't waver when you shift your eye posi- tion, We scrutinized knobs and handle particularly the interior doorrelease levers, for traces of mold-parting lines. Detroit has been falling this test for years, leaving sharp lines that your fingers feel and your mind interprets as Kmart qual ity, Wefound none.’The MKS is tomorrow's Lincoln, not yesterday's. It’snot TownCarbulks, either: I'smore ‘Taurussized, hardly a surprise given the underpinnings, nearly Mentica! in width, ‘and just more than two inches longer: The Buick Lucerne fits this template, too. Inte- rrior room isa few percentage pointssmall- cr than in tho Taurus but still aenerous, a oungecar forfive with expansive space for three across in back ona bench shapedand stuffed for allay hospitality. With cubic feet of trunk space, the luggage capacity is exceptionally large, although, again, some ‘whatsmaller than in the Taurus. There'sa ski opening behind the center armrest in back to accommodate your longest fly rod In front, the c een the buckets sole be js topped with side-by-side armrests, and they're on separate sliders so each front ‘ovcupant can find a sweet spot, ‘One leg of our test drive included the bright part of a July day in Phoenix, 111 degrees on the local news, MKS standard: ‘equipment includes front seats with perfo- rated eather andblow-through chilled air. Yes! For those who only wish they were ‘Sunbelt dwallers, both thefronts and rears are heated, Want to talk to your ear and -geLaresponse?Ford's Syne voice-activation system is baked into all MKSs, as isan ex terior keypadat thedriver’s door pillar. I nearly invisible against the surroundi black of the roof pillar until it feels your hand The numbers light up instantly. Another breakthrough: Ford's “Easy Fuel” trick eliminates the gas cap; just pop the door and poke the nozzle into the ‘gas hole, Trust us, this feature is superbly satisfying, like discovering you needn't wear socks. ‘The pilotes remain unmoved, but the moderately affluent Mr. and Mrs. Every: ody Else will find an intuitive sort of comfort and convenience here that they ‘can enjoy without taking a college course ‘on the owner's manual. The MKS feels very much like the dawn ofa new Ameri: EMBRACING CHROME Proof that Lincoln's affair with chrome has limits—the engine, black as Batman's cape. Could someone please straighten up that S?CATCH THE 2009 LANCER FAMILY. Cue ena IU eee DOCU aa ne Re STANDARD ALL-WHEEL DRIVE TRACTION, OUR NEWEST ADDITION T' a ae PMA eo oh Ur Ae LeU Gan Leo AC MITSUBISHI Oe sa eR ee ee ee syROAI DTEST LINCOLN MKS AWD body rossmembers ey ater: wolded stl stampings STEERING Rack-an-pnin with hetaulc power assist Steen Tarasoeke | Tarning ercle ati 70:1 wooses3 car-t-eurb: 29,7 f¢ SUSPENSION Frown st cated bya contr arco sigs, antl ber Far: contol am, tang tn, 1fe-conto i dtl pete; ca png; WHEELS.TIRES Whee state: 020 ican aavinum Tes: Micon Primacy MKU 225/85R-20 SV MS Spar:high-prssure compact BRAKES yeas with vacuum power Trae Conel assist aniebot conti and) YES." 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F606 Rae 22% vw sco $=) Rear: manual 3-peint bolts, curtain airbags Width: 75.9 in ‘Drag area: Cd (0.34) x frontalarea (278 sq ft) =9.5 sq ft ;re) SEAT ADJUSTMENTS: —=— t= fron font sett ne, ont be ethane sane eanstars feng ie - i] 616n Ground MEASUREMENTS (o cnaee te ta 1 een owt — ———_——— nr 8) Se Front Wiebane TI 8 man tar Fok YOLUNE SGcuft _49euit ‘9 ou ft Rear tracke 65.1in Uongtic 2061 in Gp oi crsictan wi terval] [EN ENE Sauna “amsnission B-sped autonatic wih manent siting Fhl-dive ctx 99951 “Aewhel-tn ston fl tina with automatic cearando engagement and open font and rear differentials oe 4g 154 35 mph 6500 pn) 1 _[2a7_|a5 55 mph (6500 opm [ud [132 [66 mph 6800 om) W fat fa7a 112 moh (6500 0m) vv [ion [aaa [157 moh 6600 pm) ve [ore [928 [197 mph 50pm) Totally boring to test ‘The brake pedal never ets firm-it's always mushy and goes to the floor. As with most Fords, the stability control can't be shut off completely WEATHER Tosperetr: 87 F Hum: 55% Baronet ares oc) ODOMETER TIRE INFLATION BRAKING petacet 70-0 MPH P Fy pyre 188 ft preserves S2psi 2 98 2530 ‘CARANDORVER.COMwet faaae “V1 is born of my personal passion for Situation Awareness. | want to know / all the threats, as far away as possible.” “This is the only unit that can track radar and laser in 360 degrees...~ —ropitarscience, Ari 005 ‘When Valentine One finds radar or What others laser, red arrow points toward the ‘source. Ahead? Behind? Off to the say about V1 side? V1 tells you instantly. Other mater mesa detectors? They all go “beep” and detector provides the best, most _‘leave you guessing, just lke in the ‘conpretonsive, most useful and Severties. Sivation Ignorance, in least annoying alerts.” other words. 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EW faciai nye S/7z.0¢ EW Lavesie 4-1 AE W Loon bnumcor YYOHOWMA wuancoox Onamoox GOODSTIEAR mer==e RadielRover ATT Geolandar HTS 3 mor Tera Grappler discounttiredirect.com DISCOUNT {TIRE DIRECT] COU KE ELL ee eySPORTAFTER A VICIOUS STOCK-CAR CRASH IN 1970, LEE ROY YARBROUGH'S STORY ‘SPUN DOWNWARD INTO ONE OF THE SADDEST TALES EVER TOLD. BY STEVEN COLE SMITH na Thursday evening in February 1980, Minnie Yarbrough and her son, Lee Roy, were watching television in the little house on Plymouth Road in Jacksonville, Florida, when Lee Roy said, “Mother, hate to do this to you. ‘What do you mean?” Minnie said to her son. And Lee Roy showed her what he meant. He reached around her neck, and with both hands, he began to strangle her. A nephew heard his aunt's screams, rushed into the room, and tried to pull Lee Roy away but couldn't. So he grabbed a full jelly jar from the kitchen and clocked Lee Roy over the head. Even so, Lee Roy had enough left in him to fight the first police officer who arrived a few minutes later ‘That night, Lee Roy Yarbrough, at 41, became the first and thus far only Daytona 500 winner to be charged with firstde- reeattempted murder for trying tokillhis 65-year-old mother plus assault on a police officer, both felonies. ‘Many thought it was the beginning of the ond for the only racer to be unanimously voted Driver of the Year, bracketed between Mark Donohue and l Unser, But Lee Roy Yarbrough had been slipping intoz dark place for nearly a decade, though few outside NASCAR knew it. In February, Daytona International Speedway heldabig celebration for the S0th anniversary of the Daytona S00, with all 24 living winners of the race showing up. Very little was said about Lee Roy who had positively dominated the track. and the sport. in 1969, Next February, when theanniversary ofhis win arrives—not only at the Daytona 500 but in the Sportsman race there the day before and later that July in the Firecracker 400—fans who remember Yarbrough shouldn't expect much ofa formal mention of him then, either. No one at NASCAR likes sad stories, and they don't come much sadder than this one. But when he was on top, no driver was considered more fearless or more focused. “Leo Roy ad just one speed wide open,” says Richard Petty, “Hedidn’tfigurenothin, didn't plan nothin, just ran flat-out lap after lap. And if he could get by arbrough, ‘with it, he was up front. If he didn’t, he was inthe pits. He put everything into that one strategy—full speed ahead.” Broad shouldered and handsome, slicked back hair, a dim pled chin, big sideburns, and improbably white teeth, Lee Roy ‘was loved by the eamora, No one looked better in the victory photos with the inevitable blond trophy gixl beside him, Self confident to the point orbeing cocky, Lee Roy was guarded and professional with the media, but outside thespotlight, he wasa hard-partying friend to those he liked, includinghis crew. One recalls that following a NASCAR win in South Carolina, "Lee Roy bought a Lincoln Town Car—one of those huge ones, like the funeral homes have.” He pilod his erew into the Lincoln, and they visited every whorehouse in town. “It's all on me, fellas,” Yarbrough said. And he was good enough for other series to request his presence. He drove a Ford G7A in the first Can-Am race at Road Atlanta, competingagainst sports-car superstars Denny ‘Hulme, Bob Bondurant, and Vie Elford. He raced in the Trans ‘Am Series, with drivers Mark Donohue, Peter Revson, and Parnelli Jones, RICHARD PETTY SAYS, ‘LEE ROY HAD JUST ONE SPEED=WIDE OPEN. HE PUT EVERYTHING INTO THAT ONE STRATEGY=FULL SPEED AHEAD. ‘Yarbrough wasn unlikely presencein thepitsfor sports-ear races. Judy Stropus, the lead scorer for Bud Moore's Mercury Cougar Trans:Am team that Yarbrough drove for, suspects he “thought of us as prim, proper, and prissy. And I suspect we ‘may have considered him acountry bumpkin. Buthecertainly could drive. ‘Three times he raced in the Indianapolis 500, and he was, going for fourth when during practice he crashed one of Dan. Gurney's Eagles, damaging the car too severely to continue, Gurney raced against Yarbrough several times in Indy cars and stock cars bofore hiring him to drive in the 1971 India napolis 500, ‘Lee Roy came to race,” Gurney says, “Back then—and T 855 143‘SPORT suspect it still goes on now—when you get 1a bunch of race-car drivers in the same room, they try hard to establish a sort of ‘unspoken pecking order. It was meant to intimidate. You wanted togive theimpr sion that if you and T were going into the same corner side by side, that you should probably be the one to back off “And Lee Roy was very good at that. Very good.” nnie Lee Rey Yarbrough was born in Jacksonville on September 17,1936. One of six children, he grew up in the part of town called Westside, a blue-collar neigh: borhood where, on Saturday night, the sound of the local dirt track just up the road beckoned. Rven before he was old enough to drive, Lee Roy began working ona 1824 Ford, dropping Chryslerengine into it, and was soon terrorizing the local police on public roads. Finally, at 19, he entored 2 race at Jacksonville Speedway Park and won it. From then on, there was no doubt what Lee Roy, who had dropped ut of publicschool years before, would do with the rest of his life, Cars were a passion, When he wasn't ‘nanging around Tommy Moon's neighbor hood garage, he was working on his cars in the front yard, where helpers included neighborhood kids who watched through the fence as he raced at the Jacksonville track. One of those neighbor kids intend. ed to follow Lee Roy's footsteps into auto racing and would tell his friends that, he would someday be 2s famous as Yar: Drough. He was correct, but it was to be ina different ffeld: Ronnie Van Zant was the founder and lead singer for the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, He was just 29 when he and two members of the band died in a plane crash in 1977 “There was always racing around the hose,” recalls Yarbrough’s youngersister, Evelyn Motel. OnceLeeRoy began working his way up the racing ladder, driverssuch as Richard Petty and Ned Jarrett would stop by the house for Minnie Yarbrough’s chicken dinners when they were in town racing, Yarbrough broke into NASCAR in the modified class, winning 83 races in three years beforefinally gottinghis Hirst Grand National start—that's what theSprint Cup series is now—in Avlanta in October of 1980, when he was 22. He qualified 18th, but after blowing a tire and crashing, he finished 33rd, one spot ahead of Glenn “Fireball” Roberts. It wasn’t until 1984 ‘hatte began to get some competitive rides, winning his first rave at Savannah, Geor- tgla—only 11 other ears showed up—and another on a dirt track in Greenville, South Carolina. He managed to enter 34 races in 1964, but NASCAR ran 62 Grand 14d 255. ‘Yarbrough was well-known for swinging a wrench long before he got into his first big-time stock-car ride in October 1960 at Atlanta. He was just 22. ‘National races that year; so even a couple cf wins at smaller dirt tracks still did not raise Lee Roy's stock, But he nonetheless finished 15th inthe points, one spot behind ‘SJuntor Johnson; several years later those ‘wo would pair for the best season in either man’s career: In fact, Johnson helped get Yarbrough ‘one of his earliest competitive rides, driv ing for Ray Fox, who built Johnson's Day- tona 500-winning Chevrolet in 1960, “We ‘went up to Hickory Speedway in North Carolina,” says Olin Hopes, later a erew= ‘man for Fox on Yarbrough's car, “and we tookaar for Junior andone for Ray,” who ‘was still driving thon. Loe Roy was there, sand he put ona show. “Afterwards, Junior ne up to Ray and said, ‘Hire that boy He's a driver Fox and Yarbrough had moderate suc- ‘cess, but the pait is, perhaps, best known for a publicity stunt that took place in February 1965 at Daytona International ‘Spoodway. Dodige, in one of many manufac- turer disputes with NASCAR, had pulled ‘out of racing but supplied Fox with a 1965 Coronet and told him and Lee Roy to take itto Daytonaand sota closed course speed record. Fox supercharged the Hemi V-8and added fuel injection and a bag of drag-rac- ing tricks, Including a big alr scoop anda hunkered-down body. With close to 1000 horsepower, Lee Roy spun the rear tires practically all the way around the dusty track, then went on to reportedly clock 240, mph onastraightaway. They settledfor an official speed of 181.81 mph, arecord. They ‘could have gone faster, but Lee Roy heartt sound be didn't like from the frontend of the car—a click-cick-elick—anal he pitted. It was a big bolt imbedded in the tread of the right-front Firestone: The frontpage photo of the Daytona Beach Evening News ‘tho noxt day showod the dimpled, smiling Lee Roy, pointing at the bolt still lodged in the tire. Lee Roy began to get offers to drive better and better cars, and finally the call ‘came in late 1967: Car owner Junior John: son, by then retired fromdriving, thought hecould do better than his current driver Darel Dieringer, and gave Yarbrough a shot. ‘Things did not go particularly well that year: The team missed the important National 500 at Charlotte when, during practice, the onboard fire extinguisher ‘went off, blinding Lee Roy, who crashed ‘thocar, totaling it. The 1968 season Wasn't much better: They ran 26 of the 49 races that season, with two victories, though Lee Roy finished second at both Daytona raves. "Then came 1969, and everything clicked, ‘Lee Roy, then 30, had experience and ma- turity, and more than a year to come to an understanding with his equally mer- curial, opinionated crew chief, Herb Nab. ‘The team entered 30 of the 54 races, wonseven, with 21 top-10finishes. LeRoy was the first driver to win NASCAR's “Triple Crown’-the Daytona 300, the Firecracker 400, nd the Southern500 at Darlington.In 1985, Bill Blliott won that year’s version of the Triple Crown and earned a record $1 million for it. Yarbrough's total purse for 1969: $193,211 ‘Thon in 1970, the wheels started tocome off the Johnson/Yarbrough juggernaut, fn part because sponsorship and factory support was waning. Yarbrough ran just 18 races. with one Jone win at Charlotte, and only then because most ofthe topears hhad crashed. In 1971, Lee Roy ran only six races, none after that May practice crash. at Indianapolis in Dan Gurney’s Eagle In 1972, Lee Roy attempted a comeback, driving mostly for journeyman privateer Bill Seifert, but something was wrong, He entered 18 racesand managed five top five fishes, but four times Yarbrough needed 2 reliof driver to complete the race. He was periodically Iate for races, or Just didn’t show up at all. At the Nashville 400 in Tennessee on August 27, he qualified 18th, then on the pace lap fell to the back, pulled into pit lane, drove to the garage, and walked away. He finished 28th of 28 cars, completed zero laps, and the official reason for retiring from the race: “Quit” By then, no one bothered to ask why—it was just Lee Roy. A month later, Lee Roy Qualified 16th in Seifert’s Ford at the Old Dominion 500 at Martinsville, Virginia, and crashed! on lap 108. Itwas hislast race. Four races remained in the Season, and Seifert used four different drivers, PROFILE: LEE ROY YARBROUGH Lee Roy showed upat Daytona for Speed Weels in 1973, a ghost. No one would take chance on him, It was, as far as anyone Knows, the last time Lee Roy Yarbrough owas at aNASCAR track. Ata4, his career was over. Exactly what went wrong is @ matter of substantial speculation. Undeniably, his problems started in April 1970, when he crashed hard during a tire test at the old Texas World Speedway. When close friend and fellow driver Cale Yarborough visited Lee Roy in the hospial, he could tellsomething wasn't right. Several weeks later, Cale, a pilot like Yarbrough—who was one of the first NASCAR drivers to pllot his own plane—offered to fly Leo Roy to the race in Rockingham because ‘eknew Yarbrough had nobusiness in any cockpit, While Lee Roy looked fine,he was different: distant, unresponsive, andon the racatrack, less aggressive. The following Week, Lee Roy could not remember flying home. ‘Those close to Lee Roy knew something .vas wrong, bat he denied itand continued trying to find rides. Then came the hard crash at Indianapolis, and things just got inn Hunter, director of public relations for NASCAR, knew Yarbrough since the beginning. During one of Lee Roy's last trips to Daytona, Hunter volunteered to pick him up at the airport curb, Hunter clreed the lot three times before he even recognized his old friend: The black hair brad turned gray; his always trim physique hhad gone to seed. And then Yarbrough failed torecognize Hunter: Toward theend, “He didn't know where ho was,” Hunter ‘said, “felt so sorry for him.” ‘Junior.Johnson, who considers Lee Roy probably the best driver he ever had, was determined to find out what was wrong. “Hecouldremember everything from 1970 back, nothing forward,” Johnson says. "And it seemed like it just happened al. at once. You'd go to dinner with him, and they'd put a plate of food in front of him, and he'd just sit and look at it until you said, ‘Lee Roy, eat. ‘Then he'd pick up his knife and fork.” ‘Thare was no question Lee Roy was drinking morethan he should, but Evelyn, his sister, insists that “Tnever saw him drunk, Not once.” There were painkillers, and maybe they contributed to Lee Roy's aradually increasing dementia. ‘There was also the question of the tick bite. During a camping trip in 1971, Yar- brough wasreportedly bitten by atick and developed Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In 1969, Yarbrough drove in 30 races and won seven of them. Above, he accents the purse with his wife, Gloria, at right. 885 145SPORT ‘That's the story that many NASCAR old timers have chosen to believe, though Johnson is not convinced. “He claimed he gotbitby aspideror atick.Idon't know. Tknow, he wasn't never the same again. James Hylton, at 73, oneof a handful of stillactive drivers who raced against Lee Roy, blames “that doggone tick. The Rocky Mountain spotted fover ‘weated, its a mental thing, and it'll drive you Insane. They gave Lee Roy so much ‘medication when they finally did treat it that iteventually¢ deteriorated to the point where he was un- manageable, Theman did not deserve that Lee Roy was one of tho good ones. Ray Fox, one of Lee Roy's fi 1s, is 92, And he thinks he knows what happened to him. “Racing happened to Lee Roy. Just too many crashes, And they sent him off the oop ond. After 1973, Lee Roy's dectine continued. Iteost him hismarriage tohis wife, Gloria, and later in hisTife, he couldn't remember his two children, Lee Roy Glenn and Ni cole, “Sometimes,” sayshis sister, Evelyn, “held just break down and start erving, It was so sad.” Lee Roy often wandered the Wostside streets, having long since lost his driver's Hoense, and periodically the NASCAR community would get Lee Roy getting into brawls, living with one relative, then another, as he beeame used hisdeath, Hejust artsof 146 2530 PROFILE: LEE ROY YARBROUGH harrler and harder to handle, But mostly they forgot about Lee Roy. ‘Then came February 13, 1980, when ‘Lee Roy tried to kill Minnie, his mother Tt was the eve of the qualifying races for the Daytona 500, and while that addssome irony, there's no evidence Lee Roy had any idea. By then, he had been in and out of ‘mental hospitals: Junior Johnson figures hhespent $250,000 sending Lee Roy to hosp tals, but hecontinued to sipaway. Doctors wosed his problem as “chronic brain ‘a generic term that meant the en, i 1 in North Carolina for evaluation, But there was nothing they could do. Bill Baird, NASCAR chaplain, told United Press International in September 1880, ‘Even in their wildest hopes, the doctors said there was not even a one-in-a-million shot of helping him. He's helpless in the most acute sense ofthe word. He tried togo back home to Jacksonville tolive with Evelyn and her family, but by November, it was too much for everyone concerned, and Lee Roy was committed to nearby Macclenny Hospital. And that didn't know what was wrong, either: ‘A month after the incident with his, ‘mother, Lee Roy was committed to a men- talhospital after the judgeheard testimony that Yarbrough had “demonstrated violent tendencies, memory lapses, and irrational concduct since 1977.” Fivemonthslater, Lee Roy was found not guilty of attompted murder by reason of insanity. He left the courtroom, arm in arm with Minnie, and told reporters:“Tlove my mother: Hove a mother just as much as you love yours.” He wwas released to the custody of Bvelvn, his sister, to beshipped offtoa mental hos- is where he died on December 7, 1984. Lee Roy had suffered a seizure, and fell and hit his head. He was 46. He was buried at Pooria Cemetery, next tohis mother, Min: nie, whodieda year earlier, and his father Lonnie. His gravestone asa bigurn next toit that says NASCAR, and it is usually filled with flowers, There are visitors but not many, His sister, Evelyn, prefers to remember horbig brother's sense ofhumorand hislove for hisfamily. “I wish hehad been able todie withsome dignity,” shesaid."But guess we ‘wish that for everyone we love.”BREAKTHROUGH PROGRAM! NutriSystem® Advanced™ Easier. Healthier. Our best ever! Now with more crave-busting power to tackle that hunger. You'll eat great, feel full, AND lose weig! nutrisystem’ror MEN “Results notfypicl dvs are remunerated. ‘Weight lost ot a prior Netilytem® program. Cn Nae, yu fag Select Our Advanced 28-Day Auto-Delivery Program And You Can Get An Additional jj Please use promo code MN Bh totes goad on Auo-Deivry ocr oly. Fe shigging to Continental us ‘iy. Ome additonal ee week of fod wil be nuded with each of you fst thee deliveries Wit Asto-Delvery, you are automaticaly charged W cpped your 28 Day program one ever wees nes you cnce ou corel Auto Dever at any ine by cally 1-800327-THING. Hower fll {he ofer you must stay on Auto-Deivery for at last te consecutve Bl 2e-0ay program deliveries to receive all thee free weeks of food. Oth If restrictions appy Call or see website for details. Cannot be combined 2 ir or cure dscurt or of Lint one flr pr cstres 2 ee148 2530 DRIVE LINES bo ACURA TL AS ALWAYS, BEAUTY LIES IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER. AND SO DOES UGLY. BY MICHAEL AUSTIN. Let's just get this out of the way. Yes, the beaky nose on the nev Acura TL looks odd. Maybe i's ust the shock of an look; maybe it really is weitd-Looking. Well need mote time to gaze critically upon ibe: fore we decide. We can, however. testify hat itlooks betterin the flesh than in photographs and that the rest fhe TL's angular, modern shape is assuredly handsome, especially in the pointed shape of tha trunk. And while it ‘might look odg, the cars grille carties a familial resemblance to the resto! the Acura ineup, Puns aside, the TL stands out as the face of the brand, tspeerheaded AAcuta’s salos rosurgenee in the late “90s and remains Acura's bestselling car. The success of previous TLs centered on two aspects: a Powerful V-6 engine and lots of standard equioment. The new TL ‘predictably sticks to that playbook but adds another page with the addition of optional al-wheel dive. The standard TUs V-S gets a ‘isplacement enhancement trom 3.2 Ike's to 3.5; poner is up 22 horsepower to 280, and torque grows by 21 pound-feet to 254. Both numbersare, however, slightly overthan the ‘output of the 3.5-iter in the old TL Type-S. The al-vihecl-drve TL, dubbed SH-AWD and ‘equipped with the same rear-wheel torque: spitting system found in the ROX and MDX, comes with 2 3.7-iter engine rated at 30 horseponer and 275 pound-feet of torque Its basicaly the same powertrain as in the updated RL [C/D, Seplember 2008], with variable intake- and exhaust-valve timing and it all on a single cam. Both TL engines aro mated to a five-speed autornatc, whi seams outdated in a segment where sicand seven speeds are common, Visually, the SH: AWD models dflereniiated by the fun: front brake ducts next to the fog la exhaust tis at the rear, and 18- or 19-inc! ‘wheels and tires. ‘As Botore, the TL is based on the Ac- ‘cord, although this one doesr't share any major dimersiars with the Honda, Exterior ‘dimensions are al bigger than the outgoing model's, with length growing aful sixinches. to 195.3. The bigger size doesnt translate direct tote itoror, though. The front seats sighty smaller, whlethe rear seat is atl bigger (legioomis up 1.3 inches), Trunk space is bigger by ust less then one cubic foot AAs for the rest of the Acura playbook, the TL stil boasts an Impressive amount of ea mant. The Technology package, an option box that 70 petcent of TL buyers are expected to tick adds to @ long list of standards keyless entry and igntion, a 10: os, fourspecttic ane routing for multlane highways, andan industy-first Doppler radar weather map feature The insides share a familar look with other Acuras, but the mutitunction controller knob and the bevy of buttons that surround it'seam less confusing and cluttered than In the RDX. Material qualities are first-rate, and this car feels far more upscale than the previous one did Driving the TL back-to-back with its ore docessor makes it clear that major improve: ‘ments nave been made, with one exception. Body motions are better controlled, road.and \ind noise have been all but eliminated, the brakes feel solid, and the TL comers with a more level attitude than its compliant ride would suggest. Torque steer, long a TL draw. bback, Is far beiter managed. On the other hhand, steering fee! has lost the plot. The new TLuses electronic power assis, as opposed totheoldy raul unit. k's more precise on center, but the old car's steering was better weighted and offered much more feel te about 250 pounds of added weight, 32-percent-stifer springs, and in creased damping force, the SH-AWD rides better than the standard TL, The engine note is slight throatier, and the ha responsive, too. thanks in part to optional inch tres shod with Michelin Pilot Sort P32 tires, Salesnise, this is Acuras mostimportant car, and even with prices holding steady (Gtarting at about $35,000 and moving up to $42,000 for a loaded SH-AWD), it's pos sible that potential buyers could be turned off by its tunny face. Which is a shame, because everywhere else (except for the steering), the TL Is the most focused and arin Acur’s lineup, best executed ‘VEHICLE TYPE: fron, fon: or 4- Whee-dve, S-pabsenge, 4-door sedan [ESTIMATED BASEPRICE: $35,000 FRONTS SOMC He Ser 2 fp, 25d bf SOHC 24-valve 3 iter V0, 305, Wp bet ‘TRANSMISSION: 53206 atomati with ‘manumate ving DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 109: in Length 195: in Wie 740 in Height 972 (Curb weight 3750-4000 b ERFOANANCE(C/DEST}: Zerote60rph 81-83 soo Standing mle 46-140 500 ‘Topspeed(governrlinitodl 15 mph ‘PROJECTED FUELECONOMY (MFRSEST> Eker 1718 m0 ving EPAnighwaydrving 24-28 m8) Take The G-Ticket Ride! Magna Charger’s A Eee ee 460 RWHP ¢ 440ft. lbs. RWTQ Easy Bolt-On Installation - No Modifications Unique Bypass Valve — No Supercharger Drag for Normal Driving Intercooled for Increased Power Extremely Efficient - Power on Demand Truck & SUV Models Are Perfect For Tawing - Gobs of Torque When You Need It! f { LOSUTOWETTUT OtT ee Oo eae °05-'08 Mustang w/4.6L, 3V........+115hp! ‘08 Pontiac G8. +135hp! '04-'06 Pontiac GTO. +135hp! “02-08 Calla CTS-V.oe.o enn. #190%D! "06-08 Trailblazer $$........n.n.4 135HD ‘04-07 Ford F-150 3V... +120np/ "03-08 H2 Hummer, +130%p! 08 H3 Alpha, +115hp! '99-'06 Escalade. +135hp! '99-'08 GM 1500 & 2500 Truck/SUWs..+135hp! magnachargerc EST a Tac it)150 | DODGE RAM 1500 NEWFOUND REFINEMENT REVEALS THE SHEEP WITHIN. BY STEVE SILER Ityouire lookin’ for amanly ride, it gets no manlier than the Dodge Ram. And for 2009, Dodge steps up the macho with bossy new sheetmetal and amore powerful Hemi V-8. But during a brie! preview spin we discovered that the Fam 1500 also has been tamed by heaps of refinement, That's right, refinement. Acomplete inte- ‘ior overhaul brings sophisticated gauges, soft-touch materials, and plonty of bright work to the cabin, A new crew-cab mode! was added to supplement the shorter Quad) Cab mode! offering a rear seat witha proper seatback angle as well as standard in-floor storage bins. As such, even the base Rem is ro torture chamber, and the Laramie has as, ‘uch top-stitched, chrome-cipped dress: ‘ness as the now dead Lincoln Mark LT, Of course, a pickup’s primary job is to carry, not codule. Storage spaces abound: ‘under the rear seats; in the doors, the cen- ter console, and the dual glove boxes; an within the new drainable, lockable “RamBox" bins in the bed walls, Should you ever end up using the bed itself, you may put the new coil-spring rear ‘Susponcion io the test only tofind tat Dooge Indeed did its homeviork here: Payload ca: pacity [s retained, but ride quality is vastly impzoved. Theres sil some steering-wheel shimmy over rough patches. but next to the Ram's competitorsexamples of each were brought alona for brie! comparison drives: its the lamb of the group, 60 to speak, Undomood, improved breathing helps talge the 5.7-ter Hemi V-8's output to 390, horsepower (from 345) and 407 pound- feet of torque (rom 375), Thus equipped, it accelerates forcefully and pulls race or boat trailers easly. Meanwhile, cyinder deact: vation allows the Homi fuel economy to match that of the mid-level 310-np, 47-Iter Y-B and come within 10 percento! ihe base 215-hp, 37elier V-6. Certain, this isnt an easy time to launch afull-sze pickup. Butthe way Dodge spins, to.soll trucks in this markot, i's best to have the freshest one around. Put that way, we suppose the 2009 Ram is right on time. ‘VEIGLE'TYPE:roat-egie, ra oF fear /ésnhool-dve, 3 orb-passenger, Poreecerpeyp [BSTIMATED BASE PRICE: $23500 ENGINES: SOHC 12-vlve 87-ter V0, 215hp, 235 bt; SOW TE-vae47-ter V8, 310 hp, $30 lb pushrod tB-ale Stet 1.8, 330 p, 407 Bet "TRANSMISSIONS: 4 ‘speed automatic wt E-speed manual DIMENSIONS: ‘Whoelbace: 20.0-140.0 in Leng 2000- 229.0 in Wath: 704m Height: 133-7480 (Curb weight: 950-5750 B PIRPORNANGE (CEST. 5.7LITER 3) Zerote 6Omph Bee utonate, mania shitig, Zeroto 100 mph 2d sec Standing'rnle tay sec ‘Tepspeod(goverer imitoc), "108 mph ‘PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (MFR'SEST): Any din EISmEg EPAhihway dr 18-20.mp9AUDI Q5 3.2 QUATTRO IT MAY HAVE LAGGED FOUR YEARS BEHIND THE BMW X3, BUT IT’S ABOUT FIVE YEARS BETTER. BY TONY QUIROGA Drinkin’ Mate™ Hangovor Defense maintains bal in your body when you have one or more drinks. ach tablet contains 1000mg of patented Gu- ‘ounces of water and drnk either before, during or immediately after ‘rinking atcchol enjoy your morning driveDRIVE LINES 6 engine Sharing these shock ed Just hapy the highw center of g adjustable suspension is a super compro: Optional equipn s Audi Drive mise between comfort and body contrat Although the option is expected to cost a Seer aed easier to.keep yourcar clean.AUDI O5 3.2 QUATTRO whopping $2000, Audi Drive Select. espe: cially with the variable-ratio steering feature, gives the Qs a daftness and carlke feelthat is laxgely missing in other small SUVs, Also missing in competing camps is the S's designer sheetmetal. Sculpted in- house ty Audi, the Q5 has elements of the Ad as wrell as the AS, The exterior design is muscular, free of foulrou, and when the vehicle is equipped with the optional 20-inch wheels, is remarkably sporty for something 651 inches tall. Inside, the Q5 again shows itis essentially an Ad,as the dashboard and instruments are nearly identical. Between the front seats is Aud’s third-generation MM multifunction controller, wich works much lke the current version. Navigation-equipped ‘meodels no longer use DVD: based maps and directions. In the place of the DVD-based system is a 40-gigabyte hard dive that has enough space to store navigation informa: tion ang more than 1000 MPS music files. Passenger space is on par with that of the Ad, We wish the front seats would tit rearward a bit more and offer more thigh support, butthe diving position i stil com- mendable. Back-seat occupants vill find a split folding bench that moves foreard or backward to increase legroom: thara is also 2 reclining backrest Bul one piece has gone missing: the Ad's fuel-efficient 211-hp, 2.0-Iter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes more toraue than the V-6 does, We were able to sample a (Q5.with ne 20-Iter (hat engine is, of course, avalable in Europe), and subjectively it felt every bit as quick as the V-6. Audi claims O-fo-62-mph limes of 6.7 seconds for the V-6 and 72 seconds for the four, which we think is conservative, The smaller engine may be offered sometime in 2010, Mean: vinile, the 3.2-ter OS goas on sale in March starting at about $38,000. [VERICLE TYPE: fon-angn,4-whookae, S5-passongr, §-door wagon [ESTIMATEDBASEPRIGE: $26,000 [ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-rave V9, aluminum Dock ar heads, ect ft ject se Bee nih Saas foooetemt Aenean Fa TRAD sen er ena ee anne an : Sages CAR=DRIVER! RADIO ' Inptd by CAR ord DBNER, the CAR ond OR fade dow btags the pogoso ho woke ge he pubcaton te. Tho sow is hod by om ARC. C38, CNN, FOX, NBC ant SPEED Chearl Here are justo few of the aulomolive and racing personalities that have been featured on the show * Chip Foose * Billy F. Gibbons. Tim Alen + Kasay Kahne # Roy Everham * Jesse Jomes. Jay leno + Jock Roush * Seve Saleen * Caroll Shelby.» Tony Stowext Currenly he program can be heord in nearly 100 morkes via * Fado America Nebwork * XM Satelite R + Broadcas!Fom Potion Asomehve Musou Listenin We ct RadioAmerca.oig every Satuday fom & 10.am PST, or chack hai website foro ston reat you, To haar dips tom our racio archives, downlaod cur reg pedeas at CarordDiia:com. CAR and DRIVER Radio... fling the passion! ORIGINAL Car and Driver Soft Cotton Blend Ringer Tee Deparment +O Rox 1757 NewportBeaehyCh 92658) Tocider by phone: 800-914-5656 (toll ree) ors49-610-0472 Fave 999-722-61142010 MERCEDES-BENZ GLK350 4MATIC THE MARKET FOR LUXURIOUS SMALL SPORT-UTES CONTINUES TO HEAT UP. BY MARK GILLIES Sy Standing out trom the malaise that's @D aiticied the new-car matket, com: pact crossover SUVS are hot sellers, So for Mercedes-Benz and iis dealers, waiting Until January for the upcoming GLK to go on sale must be agonizing. Going directly into battle with the BIVWV X3, the Acura RDX, the Land Rover LR2, and the pending Audi 5, the GLK will be priced similaly,start- ing in the mid-$30,000 bracket. Expect a fully equipped version to sell for well above $40,000. There will be one modelo start with, pow ered by the company’s 3.5-liter V-6 engine that makos 268 norsepower and 258 pounc: feet of torque. The engine drives through a seven-speed automatic tansmission to all fourwheels. A slightly cheaper rear-cive ver sion will appear lator. In the future, Mercedes may sella diesel modal in the U.S, too, The GLK shares much ofits running gear with the C-elass sedan, which meansil has a stru-type front suspension with lower control ‘arms and a muting arrangement out back. ‘Uniquely, the GLK has a now type of shock, co-developed with Sachs, which uses a by- pass piston to absorb large amplitude mo- tions. The torque split in the al-wheel-crive systems fixed at 55/45 percent font to rear, ‘although the ABS can individually brake any wheel that’s spinning to aid traction. Toweng capacity is rated at 3500 pounds The GLK certainly looks the part, with butch exterior styling that's enhanced by standarchissue 19-inch wheels and tires. Twerty-inch rims are partof an appearance ‘package that also includes aluminum root rails. Inside, the blocky dosign looks very Eightios—and a lot ike a G-class but with ‘much higher-quality materials. The baby Berz truck has plenty of leg and headroom, plus 23 cubic fest of cargo room with the rear seats up and 55 cubic foot with them folded, Standard equipment Is fainy lavish, wth cua-zone climate control, eight-nay poner front seats, an eight-spea: er sound system, Bluetooth connectivity, a vast panoramic sunroof, and a multifunction, leather-wrapped steering wheel. There are plenty o options to, including a hard-drive based nav system, a rear-seat DVD enter tainment system, leather seating, a power litgate, and heated front seats ‘Although Mercedes was proud to dem: onstrate the GLK's off-oad prowess, most ‘owners likely won't go mud plugging in them. The vehicle's on-road demeanor is actually more significant, It dives like, well, a tater anc heavier C-class. I's quite fast for a 4050-pound cute ute, with Mercedes claiming a 0-t0-80-mph time of 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 143 mph, Body controls pretty aood, andthe GLK ‘can be hustled ina soitited fashion through the twisties, even if both the steering ang brakes are a tad Fight. The tide is generally ‘yell controled, but we experienced notice able head toss over some patches of bumpy pavement, The main point in the GLK's favor is that it provides plenty of space and utity, al though it gets just average fuel economy for its class, estimated by Mercedes at 18 mpg on the EPA city eycle, 22 on the high: ‘way. All around. this is a very solid package. Mercedes won't talk sales volumes, but we suspect the GLK360 wont disappoint the beancountets in Stuttgart ‘YEHICLE'TYPE:fron-ongin, ‘passenger 5-door wagon [ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $36,000 ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-ave V8, aninun tock nd Rees, por ful injerion Displacomont 213 euin, 24080 268 op @ 6000 rpm 28h RE 2009 ‘TRANSMISSION: 7spoed automatic with ‘manumatesiftng DIMENSIONS: ‘Whoolbase: 08.5in Lengte 178339 ‘Width 743 in Height 66.90, (Curb weleht: 405016 PERFORMANCE (NPR'S EST) Zerore60mph. ‘Top speed(arag ited) aoe de,Win Both Cars and Help Deserving Kids (om BOM aC awa) eee BOR: (o) to a Restored 1967 427/435 HP Corvette Dr eee eas ee Nae ed Pama icuru ar agar) Pietee eM acu Cee Ee etc ku ner eta tht ae Win This Pair of Rare “427” Corvettes-Tax Free! Valued at over a quarter of’a million dollars: Degree en ec RUC ee i Gerd PTO cu ae Lae oy em A running out! 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"TO ORDER: 800-914-5656 or PAX 949-722-6114 ‘ONLINE: SHOPCARANDDRIVER.COM {gs oe=s DRIVELINES CHEVROLET MALIBU LTZ WHAT'S NEW: The four-cylinder Malibu ‘was previously available only with a four speed automatic, which we felt comoro: mised its performance in the most recent ‘comparison test of four-cylinder mid-size sedans, Now the four-cylinder car gets the same sbespead that’s available with the V-8, including manual paddle shifters. R's welcome upgrade for both fuel-conscious ‘consumers and driving enthusiasts. $0 IS IT BETTER? Tho sb-spood doos three things. timproves the four-cylinder's fuel consumption marginally from an EPA city/nighway rang of 22/30 mpg to 22/32 mpg. It helps sheve 0.7 second off the 0-to: 60-mph time, 2.7 off the 0 to 100, and 0.4 off the quarter-mile. And using the manual mode and the paddles, t's a sportier drive. Weld be sure to get it because it makes the four-cylinder Malicu a much batier car to di WHAT'S THE COST? The si-speedis a ‘$695 option on the $22,295 Maliou 1LT but ig standard on the $24,495 LT and $26,670 LIZ modes. —Mark Gites POWERTRAM DOHC 16-rve 24:teriatne-, 168tp, 169-6 speed automatic (C/DTEST RESULTS:Zeto to 6Ormph:85 se¢ Standing Yel: 17sec © 64 ph T-to-O- mph braking 17011 300+tta skadpod:082 9e shine and protection. the ultim eee Ret oe eC) Barren Teer eg call 888-D-TAIL-ME (382-4563). Jit FLTC [EU Winners Choice of: 2008 Fall Benefit Car Raffle BMW M3 Coupe + BMWZ43.0iRoadster « BMWX6 xDrive3.5i + or $40,000! ‘BM x6 xOrive3 St How to Enters entry form, complete anc mal wth your Check oF cree cad for ita ASD. Compote rate ls aeaalble upon equa or onthe ADD website and purchase with 2 ImBgOAlt to S0OP MEST + Make ite 24 nour day trornlasaine ar ‘onus Drawings every ‘Tuesday and Friday beginning Friday, August 15th through ‘Tuesday, October 28th. 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How does 5027 My fishing buddy dives a the next time you want acar car enthusiast to lend us his pounds of gasoline buring in Cadilac that gives readout fromthe same manufacturer? vehicle. We occasionally get en exothermic manner produc of remaining useful oii in David M.Savu “ringer” cars, or vehicles percentages. He claims the car Ishpeming, Michigan that perform suspiciously weight in CO, and stil provide analyzes the oll Sounds fishy Ie Ishpeming the Flathead _better than they should enough power? Ed Walker tome. think i's 2n hour meter word for “Asks a lot of or have fit and finish that, Valdosta, Georgia (as on aterm vactor), What's questions”? Automakers seems extraordinary, but You're forgetting th oxygen the deal? Paul Huston provide new cars for when that's the case, we try in carbon dioxide, which Biko, Georcia testing to small private tomention ourskepticism- comes from the air the H your buddy's Cadillachad distributors (Page One Auto, sce Patrick Bedard’s April _ engine aucks through the tallting, t would really be torexample, on the West. column for more on that. _intake. The anewer, which fishy. Get it? Anyway, you're Coast) across the country Lest youthink every press- Kafka cribbed from www. basically right. Cars with oll- who then dole them aut to _ fleet ear is hand-built to fueleconomy gov/teg/co2. life monitoring don't analyze magazines and other media. _ exacting specifications, shtml, is that gasoline is, the oil to check how much it So, we don't deal directly though, we occasionally get about 87 percent carbon has degraded. Instead, they with Rick Wagoner at GM cars like our long-term 1992 _by weight. So, a gallon of monitor engine use. It's more or Alan Mulally at Ford Mercury Tracer LTS, which gasoline has about §.5 complex than an hour meter, but rather with delightful —_arrived at our office with pounds of carbon. The ‘though, which just keeps public-relations people, who mismatched seats. atomic weight of carbon ‘tack of the engine's running nonetheless on occasion Is 12; the atomic weight develop hives after reading of oxygen is 16. With two alitist criticism of their With all the telk about carbon- oxygen atoms, CO, weighs other conditions that will companies’ products. And, dioxide emissions, | cecided 3.7 times more than carbon affect oll life such as engine yes, they can make acquiring <0 take 2 ook at my ituck (07 _om Its own, and the 5.5 load, cold starts, speed, future test cars something Chevy Colorado). |'ve averaged pounds of carbon in a 6.3- and temperature. So, in of apisserif they'rereally 18 8 mpg aver 14,996 miles. pound gallon of gas make ‘theory, the oiblife monitor steamed. Inthose cases, According lo the EPA Web site, 20.4 pounds of CO,, will request more frequent orwhenacarwewant to this means | have produced oil changes forhard driving review isn’t in the test fleet, _aoproximately 16,000 pounds ‘than for highway cruising. we comb the rental-car (of CO... bumed 798 gallons ot Why don't diesels nod spark fleets or seek outa private gasoline weighing 63 pounds plugs? And please don't say ‘omplession, Please. Ihave offen wondered how you ‘Andrew Harold Eichers obtain new vehicles for testing, Via the interwebs Do you go into a dealership ——- Sorry Andy: compression, ‘and haggle? Do you deal —=4 drreetly with ye you pay cash? Do you even buy the cars? Do you send in an anonymous sho buy off the lot so what you get is not a “nnger’? Do you hav hotlines to the division hoads? And how do you get rid of he yee compression, compression. Compressing a gas (the a fuel mixture in an engine) raises its temperature Compression that is high enough will raise the temperature to the fuel's auto-ignition point, at which the dlesel fuel ignites as it's rer and Now HEAPER “Tyas! : “DRINK DONT DRI cars after you finish wringing Injected into the engine’s them out? Special deals to the ‘combustion chamber without editors? Finally. i you write a the aid of a spark plug. Car and Driver (SSN 0008502) (USPS 504700, Octeber 2008, vere 51 issue 4, i published menthly | Publications Mail Agreement Number byHlachettoitpaecht Media US. [ne 1533 Broadway, Now York, New York 100i. Peridicals ps 10052054 Canadian Registration paid at New York, New York 10b01 and ct addtional mailing fics, Asthorized periodicals postage by | Nuanber 126010200RTO001: Return the Post Ofce Deparsment, Ottane, Ca ch: POSTMASTER: Senitadere=x undeliverable Canadian addresses to anges to Car and Driver .0, Dex 6290, Boulder, Colorado M022 2806 106-397-497 fox 903-0047G44: LO, Bow $09, RPO West Beaver Creel fustorerservice carandvercom, ‘wehave no te pesalsevitn alert usthat yur magssee Suadelieraie, ‘Rihuwond Mil Ontario LAB RS Canada receive a corrected adress within one yea ‘aranddrivera@neodata com. THA 2550 ‘CARANDORIVER.COMThe world’s finest automobiles have two Wn aid common: sophisticated style and Continental cl ae Top manufacturers select Continental tires above OTIC HNO NO eee 1 ‘@aitinentalS @ TIRE