Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i Car and Driver

DON’T WAIT Flipping through “The 25 Cars Worth Waiting For” [May 2019], I see vehicles that are still way in the planning stages (GMC Jimmy, Ford Mach E, and Ferrari SUV), a few pipe dreams (Toyota MR2 and Rivian R1T), and some known entities (Ferrari F8 Tributo, BMW M3/M4, and Hyundai Sonata). I’m bewildered by the exclusion of the eighth generation of America’s sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette. How the hell did that not make the list?! —Scott Rothermel Grand Ledge, MI The upcoming C8 Corvette made the list last year, and in the interest of keeping the list as fresh as possible, we don’t repeat vehicles from previous years—Ed. Fixed it for you: “The 15 Cars Worth Waiting For and 10 Utility Tractors.” —David Broudy Alpharetta, GA I thought…

FOR ALL THE NOISE about selfdriving vehicles, it’ll be years before most people ride in one, and many of today’s drivers will probably never own one. Unless you’re a farmer. With fewer pedestrians and a lot less traffic in the fields, agricultural machines will likely see a widespread consumer-level adoption of autonomy far sooner than cars. The John Deere S700-series combine is the state of the current agricultural art, and like today’s most advanced cars, it achieves Level 3 automation as defined by SAE, meaning it can operate without driver input in many circumstances but still retains traditional controls and sometimes needs a human to grab the reins. Taking pedestrians and other vehicles out of the equation makes things simpler, but there are still many variables to account for when…

It’s hard out there for a driving enthusiast on a budget. Cars in general are better engineered, more powerful, and better performing than ever, but for people with $25,000 to spend on a new car, the choices are generally between an econobox and an econobox in mini-crossover form. But there is a sliver of the market, perhaps preserved specifically to facilitate magazine spreads like this one, that can serve the frugal car fiend: hatchbacks with manual transmissions. Enthusiast-oriented hatchbacks are a healthy genre of the U.S. car market, despite their relatively narrow appeal. Even as the demand for SUVs encourages automakers to tack body cladding on to increasingly improbable vehicles, sporty hatches are hanging on. Whether it’s because carmakers recognize the innate goodness of these spirited little boxes or because…

WITH SUVS OF ALL SIZES AND TYPES OUTSELLING CORONA ON TACO TUESDAYS, IT’S EASY TO FORGET HOW RELATIVELY YOUNG SO MANY OF THEM ARE. When Mercedes launched the proto-GLE, the M-class, in 1997, SUVs were still mostly Ford Explorers and Jeep Grand Cherokees. The luxury class in particular was so infantile that the first M had a ladder frame. Twenty years later, there’s been such baffling diversification of the SUV species that all four vehicles seen here now have “coupe” siblings that are mechanically identical but intentionally less practical. It’s a style statement made into a, um, style statement. Three of these style statements are new within the last year, and the fourth is a sitting 10Best winner. The latest M-class, now known as the GLE-class, grows longer and wider,…

A sticky set of Michelin Latitude Sport 3 high-performance summer tires is a standalone option for the Explorer ST, and those with a keen eye will notice something a bit out of place: the letters “MO” on the sidewall. That stands for Mercedes Original, and it refers to a tire specially developed by Michelin in partnership with Mercedes-Benz—in this case, for the Mercedes-AMG GLE43 coupe. How did this rubber end up on a Ford? Ford Performance chief engineer Ed Krenz admits that his team decided to offer the summer-tire option late in the game to increase steering feel and precision over the ST’s standard all-seasons. When Ford reached out to Michelin to see what it could provide, the GLE43’s front tires were the only option that fit the Explorer’s 275/45R-21…

WHAT SORT OF BIZARRE world have we inherited that the biggest criticism one can levy against a Porsche is that it sacrifices practicality in the name of style? Porsches aren’t exactly paragons of practicality. But here we are, faced with this curious creature, the 2020 Porsche Cayenne coupe. We drove three different versions of the so-called SUV coupe through the towns and over the hillsides of eastern Austria trying to decide whether the Cayenne coupe, a less practical version of Porsche’s first great blasphemy, is the ultimate sacrilege—a frivolous, heavy Porsche—or if it is a partial corrective step for the sacrilege of Porsche building a semipractical, heavy SUV lo those many years ago. It would have been easier to work up righteous indignation about the vehicle if Porsche hadn’t presented…

IT’S NOT THAT WE THINK the world wants a seven-passenger Nürburgring shuttle, but we did expect the BMW X7 xDrive50i to drive like the nine-inch-longer, 2.1-inch-taller, 400-poundheavier, and $16,850-more-expensive X5 that it is. Instead, it behaves more like a lifted and softened 7-series. Wallow and roll this dramatic show just how far BMW’s North Star has drifted. This was with the standard low-grip all-season tires that can muster only 0.80 g—that’s pickup-truck territory—rather than the optional summer tires. Just like the 7-series sedan’s, the X7’s Sport mode stiffens the suspension and trims much of the excess slop, and it feels like a perfectly appropriate default setup. Underhood is all excellence, however. We found the familiar and sweet 335-hp turbocharged inline-six in the xDrive40i to be more than sufficient, but it’s…

What is the difference between engine horsepower and horsepower measured at the wheels? —Bao Duong, Encinitas, CA All the horsepower figures you see in this magazine are supplied to us by the manufacturer. Automakers measure engine output at the crankshaft. These performance statistics don’t factor in the power that’s lost to friction in the transmission, differential, and other driveline components. A chassis dynamometer is spun by the drive wheels and, consequently, its measurements include these parasitic losses. Conventional wisdom says that output at the wheels will be roughly 15 percent lower than at the crankshaft, but that’s an outdated notion. Improved bearings, lubricants, manufacturing tolerances, and computer-aided designs have reduced losses to single-digit percentages in new cars. We recently put a Toyota GR Supra on a chassis dyno. At the…

CARS SWIM IN CHEMICAL SOUP. Lubricants, coolants, refrigerants, adhesives, paints, waxes, upholstery treatments, battery acids, solvents, hydraulic fluids, and substances designed to make the interior smell like agarwood are the tip of the iceberg. The rest of the iceberg is the fuel. But short of bonging antifreeze, you’re not going to die immediately from exposure to the warehouse’s worth of chemicals bathing your car. But prolonged, careless intimacy with automotive substances can have serious health effects. One study, conducted in 2016 in Harar, Ethiopia, found increased blood pressure and significant, possibly toxic effects on blood chemistry in its test group of 30 garage workers relative to its control group of Haramaya University students and teachers. Besides indicating that a career in Ethiopian auto repair may be perilous, the study is…

2019 FORD MUSTANG SHELBY GT-S VS. WEST OZELLO TRAIL FOR $17 7, YOU CAN STAND IN LINES AT DISNE Y A LL DAY. You can cover a night in a decent hotel room or eat a plate of deconstructed fried pickles at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Or you can invest in 24 hours with the supercharged 600-plus-hp Mustang Shelby GT-S. Let’s put that last one into perspective: You can’t buy even half of a rear tire for the Shelby with $177. This veritable bargain is the mad-genius work of Sixt, Germany’s largest car-rental company and a growing player in the United States since 2011. Sixt has split 20 Shelbys among branches in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, with rates fluctuating based on demand. Sixt asked $177 per day…

PRICE AS TESTED ................................. $79,595 BASE PRICE .................................................... $75,295 VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan ENGINE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection DISPLACEMENT ............................. 176 cu in, 2891 cc POWER ........................................ 505 hp @ 6500 rpm TORQUE ................................... 443 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm TRANSMISSION .................. 8-speed automatic with manual shifting mode WHEELBASE ...................................................... 111.0 in LENGTH ............................................................. 182.8 in WIDTH .................................................................. 73.2 in HEIGHT ................................................................ 56.1 in CURB WEIGHT ................................................. 3830 lb WARRANTY 4 years/50,000 miles bumper to bumper 5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection 4 years/unlimited miles roadside assistance MODEL-YEAR CHANGES 2019: A 40/20/40 split-folding rear seatback replaces the fixed unit and a center headrest is added. Heated rear seats and an exterior carbon-fiber package are now available. CAR AND DRIVER TEST…

ONLY A FEW VEHICLES have forever changed the automotive landscape. Ford’s Model T provided affordable transportation, allowing people to go between city and rural areas more easily than before. And Toyota’s Prius put hybrids in the hands of the masses. But a case could be made that no wheeled vehicle has been more influential worldwide than the battle-proven Willys Jeep, renowned for its ruggedness, versatility, and durability. Entire shifts of history, to some extent, rest on its shoulders. Today, the original Jeep design lives on in the form of the Mahindra Roxor. The Roxor’s underpinnings date back to just after World War II when the Indian company Mahindra was granted a license from Willys to build the CJ3B. Since then, Mahindra has offered a civilian vehicle called the Thar outside…

THOUGH WE MAY NEVER FULLY UNDERSTAND this country’s appetite for rapid SUVs, there’s no denying that they’re improving. Watching the 2020 BMW X3 M corner is a little like watching BMW’s engineers impose their will on Newtonian physics—it’s not always elegant, but it’ll get your attention. And from behind the wheel, despite the BMW’s immodest height and upright driving position, we found this 473-hp SUV (503 horsepower with the Competition option) to be, well, undeniably capable. Using the same eight-speed ZF transmission and electronically controlled limited-slip rear differential as the M5, the all-wheel-drive X3 M and its sloped-roof counterpart, the mechanically identical X4 M, are capable of shuttling torque fore and aft to assist the SUV in going where it’s pointed. We drove them in rural New Jersey and New…

Eric Stoddard DESIGN MANAGER, FORD “If DeLorean existed today, it would most likely be electric, high-tech, and connected, and its proportions would have evolved alongside today’s modern supercars. For the future DeLorean, I took inspiration not only from the original DMC-12 but from many other cars of the period designed by Giugiaro, Bertone, and Pininfarina. The future DMC retains its overall wedge shape and impossibly low, wide stance. Gullwing doors are a must!” Jon Y. Ikeda BRAND OFFICER, ACURA (FORMER DESIGN GUY) “With the uncontrollable tide in the market toward SUVs… even the great John DeLorean’s brand had to make some adjustments. The iconic stainless-steel body remains, and it outdoes Tesla with a full four-door gullwing SUV. The powertrain has to be electric, and while it’s not mid-mounted—that layout doesn’t…

IT’S BEEN THREE YEARS since the Porsche Boxster and Cayman ditched their naturally aspirated flatsixes for turbocharged flat-fours. While we still have not made peace with that change, Porsche’s bean counters say customers didn’t seem to mind. Like their predecessors, 718 models find about 25,000 new owners a year globally. And with more power and torque than the last-generation cars, every variety of 718 we’ve tested reaffirms that these mid-engined masters pull harder with the turbocharged four-cylinders. Despite that, the 2020 718 Cayman GT4 and 718 Spyder confirm what corporate actuaries won’t admit: Cars this good should have equally special engines. Porsche’s GT customers—some of the most nitpicky people in the sports-car universe—demanded that the hottest Cayman and Boxster return with the engine they think the cars deserve. Porsche listened.…

ELECTRIC VEHICLES generate a lot of buzz, but for all their social cachet, battery range and long charging times remain obstacles to their success. Even a high-output fast charger replenishes a battery at a rate akin to refueling a conventional car through a drinking straw. Stations where EV owners could swap a depleted battery for a fully charged one could cut that time to less than it takes to fill up a tank and buy a Big Gulp. Tesla teased a prototype swap system in 2013 before abandoning it to concentrate on fast charging. Better Place, a Silicon Valley–based startup, engineered an automated swapper to work with the Renault Fluence, but the company went bankrupt and liquidated in 2013. Now, Chinese automaker Nio is trying to make the idea work.…

Key: Repairs Damage Maintenance Normal Wear Oil Additions March 23, 2018 481 miles: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio begins its long-term test. April 3, 2018 1353 miles: We fit Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4 winter tires ($1397). April 9, 2018 2909 miles: Dealer is unable to find reason for “service electronic throttle control” warning and check-engine light but does discover coolant leak that is fixed by tightening a hose clamp, $0 April 26, 2018 3269 miles: We reinstall Pirelli P Zero Corsa Asimmetrico 2 summer tires. May 1, 2018 4182 miles: Chasing “service electronic throttle control” message again, dealer diagnoses a faulty fuel pump and orders a replacement, $0 May 16, 2018 5040 miles: Dealer replaces fuel pump under warranty, $0 May 31, 2018 6831 miles: Tire shop replaces right-front tire due…

THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY’S constant babbling about vehicle platforms and architectures can sometimes sound like a whole lot of hairsplitting and baloney. The sixth-gen Ford Explorer arriving for 2020 is neither. It may look like a modest step forward from its predecessor, but there’s a lot going on underneath that makes this transformation more significant than it appears. Its new unibody platform with a longitudinally mounted engine and rear-wheel drive mimics the layout found in many luxury SUVs, marking the third major change to the Explorer’s construction after it went from being a body-onframe truck-based SUV for its first four generations to being a transverse-engined unibody crossover for its fifth. It was about time. The previous-gen Explorer aged less than gracefully over a life span stretching from 2011 to 2019, and…

BEFORE YOU ROLL YOUR EYES at yet another lozenge-shaped Mercedes sedan with a six-figure price, let us explain why this one is different. Until now, AMG’s four-door work has been limited to reengineering and modifying existing Mercedes-Benz vehicles, but the division has sufficiently demonstrated its commitment to the part of the Hippocratic oath about doing no harm that Mercedes is now letting the in-house speed shop design and set up dedicated models. This AMG GT 4-Door (yes, that’s its name) is such a car. There is no regular-issue, unjuiced, non-AMG version of it. All GT 4-Doors get the full tuner treatment and have all-wheel drive, electronically adjustable dampers, and sport seats. Up to 630 horsepower is available. But here we’re driving the, um, moderate one, the GT53 with the new…

The X3 M Competition’s twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six is the most powerful production BMW six-cylinder ever made. It’s also the stoutest BMW inline-six, utilizing a forged crank, connecting rods, and pistons to push its specific output beyond that of any other BMW engine. Composed of 90 percent new parts, the S58 uses a shorter stroke than the B58 engine found in the X3 M40i (355 horsepower) and M340i sedan (382 horsepower) to improve durability during sustained high-rpm operation. Two single-scroll turbochargers (the B58 uses a single twin-scroll turbo) are required to generate the airflow needed to achieve the S58’s higher output. Base versions make 17.4 psi of boost, Competition models produce 18.9 psi. Five nose-mounted heat exchangers—two engine-coolant radiators, two intercooler radiators, and an engine oil cooler—evacuate heat.…