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Payne: 2015 Vehicle of the Year: Chevy Camaro
Posted by hpayne on December 31, 2015
Were I a film reviewer, I might have gone mad by now. Consider some of the dogs that critics had tospend two hours watching in 2015 with nothing to comfort them but a bucket of popcorn. “Victor Frankenstein”? Dog. “Get Hard”? Woof woof. “Tomorrowland”? Lord, kill me now.
But I’m not a movie critic, I’m an auto critic. And that was a glorious thing to be in 2015. I drove 32 (of 40) new, 2016 model-year vehicles this year in daylight, on open roads, at full throttle. I never needed popcorn. There wasn’t a dog in the bunch. Audi TT, Cadillac ATS-V, Fiat 500X, Ford Edge, Honda Pilot, Mustang GT350 — even the new Chevy Malibu turned heads.
Sure, some were homely — the Scion iA, for example, looks like a bulldog that’s been punched in the face — but then not every movie starring Margot Robbie is an Oscar contender either (“Focus”? Woof). Like every new car this year, the affordable Scion is a complete player. Up in First Class I was admittedly seduced by the electric Tesla P90D’s “Ludicrous” acceleration, iPad console, and re-invention of the auto experience. But only 300 people can afford the thing.
No, the car of the year must be accessible as well as emotional. As in the movies, money isn’t everything. A $50 million rom-com can be just as stirring as a $500 sci-fi blockbuster. The $30,000 Mazda MX-5 Miata made me smile as wide as the dumb grin I wore emerging from the $130K Tesla.
Thus my finalists for The Detroit News 2015 Vehicle of the Year. If Miss Universe host Steve Harvey were to crown the wrong winner, no one would bat an eye. All three are deserving.
Second runner-up: Jeep Renegade
With none of the Big Three truck makers debuting a pickup, all eyes turned to SUVs where manufacturers are furiously offering new products to satisfy public demand for anything on stilts. Compact utes became the biggest non-pickup segment in Autodom (eclipsing midsize sedans) and the Honda Pilot and Kia Sorento launched formidable midsize products in the Battle for Soccer Moms. But the most intriguing new entries were in the newest market of them all: Subcompact utes.
All are rushing to put their stamp in the exploding marketplace that is luring young buyers and empty-nest oldsters alike. From the hot-hatch-in-disguise Mazda CX-3 to Fiat’s 500X cutie, the shelves are full of toys.
But the Renegade is the most intriguing with its off-road Jeep swagger and impish sense of fun.
I took it to a neighbor’s house and spent a half-hour with their kids finding the car’s 30-something hidden “Easter egg” details. Hidden gems include “X”s echoing the brand’s World War II Army gas cans, Jeep silhouettes crawling up the windshield, even an Italian-speaking spider (the Jeep is imported from Italy) hidden in the cobwebs behind the gas door. The kids bonded with the vehicle even before we had turned a wheel.
Exterior design is as cute as its details — eschewing the bigger Cherokee’s mod look for a youthful face and huge moon roof that can be removed to simulate an open-air Wrangler. On road, the Renegade is pleasant, if hardly the apex-diver the Mazda aspires to be. As the removable roof suggests, Renegade is about answering nature when she calls.
At an off-road park I experienced the 4×4’s full repertoire from shimmying down 30-degree sand dunes to roaring around unpaved roads. The Renegade is an all-season, all-wheel-drive, all-around athlete. All that personality is key to overcoming Jeep’s perpetual quality challenges that drive buyers to Hondas — including a nine-speed transmission that has haunted the brand. That tranny is key to good mileage numbers for the Renegade — an important factor in this budget-conscious class.
First runner-up: Honda Civic
If the Renegade looks to put its stamp on a new segment, the new Civic is seeking to re-establish itself as the standard in an old one. Mission accomplished.
While Honda set its sights on dominating small crossovers with its CR-V, the Civic got flabby. The 10th generation Civic telegraphed its determination to get back in shape by benchmarking to the whip-quick Audi A3. Be like Mike.
Lowering its center of gravity by an inch and widening its stance, the Civic is nimble fun. Honda has plans for a Si sport version as well as a track-pawing Type R, so the base chassis bodes well for those offspring. But the ’16 Civic is more than an athlete — it’s a class valedictorian with class-leading fuel mileage (credit Honda’s first turbocharged engine and a nifty, un-CVT like CVT tranny), console apps, and rear leg room. Yes, this baby’s got back. A back seat into which I can fold easily my 6’5” frame.
With its good looks and utility, Civic should have the midsize Accord looking nervously in its mirrors.
The winner: Chevy Camaro
I can’t see out of it. Its front door storage is useless. And I am only comfortable in the back seat if I remove my legs first. But the 2016 Camaro is addictive.
In an age where mpg-optimized, soap-bar cars all look alike, the Camaro is proof you can still own a vehicle for pure fun.
The Chevy’s exterior is a minor evolution from the previous model, but its angular air intakes and sinister headlights evoke a front-engine Lamborghini. Or something that Kylo Ren might keep in his garage.
The Camaro’s real story is under the skin where it shares a platform with the Cadillac ATS — the best-handling luxury sports coupe. Dance like a butterfly, punch like Ali. GM is leveraging its global platforms to raise all boats. Pushed by the formidable Dodge Challenger and Ford Mustang, Camaro is taking the pony car segment to new heights.
So good is the Chevy that it deserves looks as a BMW coupe fighter with a powerful V-6, turbo-4, and Corvette V-8 — something not even the ATS can offer. The Camaro benefits not only from Cadillac but from the General’s huge tech investment as well. The Camaro’s brawn is matched by tech brains with excellent 4G Wi-Fi connectivity and Apple Car Play and Android Auto ability (the latter coming in early ’16).
So what if the Camaro’s last movie cameo was in a “Tranformers: Age of Extinction” bomb. The new pony is a genuine road star.
’15 Jeep Renegade
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front or four-wheel drive, five-passenger sport ute
Price: $18,990 base ($27,355 “Omaha Orange” Latitude 4×4 as tested)
Power plant: 1.4-liter, turbo, in-line 4-cylinder; 2.4-liter, in-line 4-cyl “Tigershark”
Power: 160 horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque (turbo 4); 180 horsepower, 175 pound-feet of torque (2.4L)
Transmission: Six-speed manual (turbo 4-cyl engine only); nine-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.6 seconds — turbo 4-cyl (Motor Trend est.); 0-60 mph, 8.0 seconds — 2.4-liter 4-cyl (Motor Trend)
Weight: 3,044 pounds (4×2 turbo 4-cyl); 3,573 pounds (4×4, 2.4-liter Trailhawk edition)
Fuel economy: EPA 24 mpg city/31 mpg highway/27 mpg combined (turbo 4); EPA 21 mpg city/29 mpg highway/24 mpg combined (2.4L)
Report card
Highs: Jeep styling; As happy in the outback as on the road
Lows: Upright front end and broad C-pillar create blindspots; lumbar support-challenged seats
Overall:★★★★
’16 Honda Civic
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact sedan
Price: $19,125 ($25,535 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, inline-4 cylinder; 1.5-liter, turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 158 horsepower, 138 pound-feet of torque (2.0-liter); 174 horsepower, 162 pound-feet of torque (2.0-liter)
Transmission: 6-speed manual; Continuously variable automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.4 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 2,742 pounds base (2,899 EX-T trim as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 27 city/40 mpg highway/31 mpg (manual, 2.0-liter gas); 31 city/41 mpg highway/35 mpg (CVT, 2.0-liter gas); 31 city/42 mpg highway/35 mpg (CVT, 1.5-liter turbo)
Report card
Highs: Super-sized rear seat; Turbo-riffic
Lows: Those plasticky, rear-duct thingies; AWD option, please
Overall:★★★★
’16 Chevrolet Camaro
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger coupe
Price: $26,695($38,585 V-8 SS as tested)
Power plant: 275 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque (turbo-4); 335 horsepower, 284 pound-feet of torque (V-6); 455 horsepower, 455 pound-feet of torque (V-8)
Power: 158 horsepower, 138 pound-feet of torque (2.0-liter); 174 horsepower, 162 pound-feet of torque (2.0-liter)
Transmission: 6-speed manual; 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.9 seconds (SS V-8, Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,685 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 19 city/28 mpg highway/23 mpg (V-6, automatic); 17 city/28 mpg highway/20 mpg (6.2L V-8, auto)
Report card
Highs: Precise handling; Corvette power
Lows: Blind spot the size of Rhode Island; useless door storage
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Which sports car for Christmas?
Posted by hpayne on December 28, 2015
Making my Christmas list was tough this year, Santa. I’m not asking for too much. No exotic, $300K Lambos or McLarens. Just the usual, humble request: The best two-seater sports car under six-figures.
But this year’s choice was more difficult.
To the perennial World War struggle between Germany’s Porsche Boxster/Cayman GTS and America’s Corvette Z06 for best sub-$100,000 sports car, add a Brit: The 2016 Jaguar F-Type S Coupe. Like the 1940s battle for aerial superiority between Messerschmitt, Mustang, and Spitfire, the threesome pits superior engineering from three distinct automotive cultures.
Yet while the Porsche (knife-edge handling) and the Corvette (shock-and-awe power) conform to national stereotypes, the Englishman is decidedly at odds with the proper London gentleman.
This is not the tea-and-crumpets Jag of recent decades, but a howling, ripping good ride worthy of a James Bond car chase.
We boys love our toys, but don’t put a Jaguar F-Type on your list if you be the shy type. Under new, Indian ownership, the cat is back as a world-class performance car and Jaguar wants the whole world to know it.
Push the starter button and the Jag explodes with a growl, its supercharged V-6 pulse racing. Back off after a prolonged sprint and the F will cackle and fart under deceleration. A farting Brit? Don’t tell the queen. Granted, this coupe is no window-rattling Corvette V-8 which will wake up the neighborhood if lit off in the early AM. But when the Jag clears its throat it does make you look around to apologize. It’s all very over the top, but that’s the intent. An announcement that Jaguar means business again. Like the obnoxious roar of the Porsche 911-fighting, $103,225 F-Type R’s 550-horsepower V-8, the $96,245 S wants to pick a fight.
Dollar-for-dollar, turn-for-turn, uppercut-for-uppercut, this cat goes toe-to-toe with the segment legends. The Jag’s calling card is slinky good looks.
Its behind will stop grown men in their tracks. Like its namesake, the F’s muscular haunches are crouched, ready to strike. A tapered greenhouse is its spine. Many before it have penned the look — Chrysler Crossfire, Stingray, Mustang — but none has done it better. Jags are by definition pretty, but this carnivore is more cut, more purposeful.
Like its American rival, the Jaguar’s headlights are slit, menacing and laced with glowing LEDs. The front-engine cars share tilt-forward hoods, big hinged rear decks that could hold Santa’s bag, center-mounted pipes the size of frigate cannons and shark-like mouths.
But from smiling muzzle to rounded haunches, the Brit is more feline — more organic — than Chevy’s sharp-edged Terminator. The Jaguar’s hips are rounded, muscular — uninterrupted by the ’Vette’s cyborg inlets. And the Detroit muscle car’s hood bulge betrays the 6.2-liter monster that lies beneath.
The Brit’s interior is also strikingly like the American. Unlike the Boxster/Cayman and its long console sleeve of buttons, the Jag/’Vette maximize console space with a balanced mix of shifter, buttons and storage. Both cabins are festooned with huge OH, CRAP! handles so that passengers can hang on when the demon red-mist seizes the pilot. The Porsche’s interior, by contrast, hints at no such drama. The lines are simple, functional. Emotion is for weak, English-speaking types.
As pleasing as they are ergonomically, the Jag and ’Vette gearshifts can be maddening. The Jaguar’s eight-speed automatic unit, like the Corvette’s seven-speed manual, is compact — no long shift gates here. But that requires always pressing a button to operate, meaning you are constantly looking at the shifter to make sure you snatch FORWARD and not REVERSE lest you vault backward through traffic at 60 mph.
At least the gearbox is an appropriately named “Quickshift” wonder so addictive I routinely selected sport mode to sprint up and down Telegraph Road, squeezing off upshifts like rifle shots. The ’Vette’s seven-speed box will make even the purest motorhead question manuals. It’s too-short gates mean routine mis-shifts or, worse, buckets of neutrals.
The Vette also betrays its working-class Chevy roots with an oily interior odor and floor mats that often snagged my brake-foot heel. Still, the Jaguar makes fauxpassurprising for its lineage. Like no voice recognition system, a head-scratching oversight when you consider even a Honda Civic compact — at one third the F-Type’s price — has one. And consider the Jaguar’s gorgeous, full-length moon roof, which can’t even be cracked open for air.
The most conservatively tailored of the three, the Boxster/Cayman GTS saves its emotion for the asphalt. On the Autobahn race track outside Chicago, this mid-engine athlete put on a handling clinic. Lighter than the ’Vette by 400 pounds and 700 pounds less than the Jaguar, the Cayman’s balance (though a convertible, the Boxster GTS is just 55 pounds heavier) allows for high grip in the corners and early throttle on exit, its flat-6 mill wailing with joy.
To be sure the Jaguar is no slouch in the handling department. Part of its porkiness is due to an AWD system that delivers planted handling (and winter-time capability that would put reindeer to shame). Despite its girth, the F-Type feels much smaller than it is. Like the 325-horse Cayman S I sampled, its 380 horsepower is plenty on tight, rural Michigan roads.
That cackling sound you hear is the Z06 laughing. Just 300-something ponies?
Jaguar’s coupe offers a ride worthy of a Bond film cameo. (Photo: Henry Payne)
The Corvette’s hood bulge betrays its 6.2-liter, 650 horsepower engine, a performance league the Jag and Porsche don’t play in. (Photo: Photos by Henry Payne / The Detroit News)
With 650 horsepower, 650 pound-feet of torque, and gargantuan grip from Michelin Super Sports, the Z06 plays in a different performance league. The ’Vette will eat the Cayman and Jaguar for lunch on track, then get back in the buffet line for a McLaren or Lamborghini. If you haven’t heard, the Z06 destroyed both Euro-exotics in Car & Driver’s 2015 Lightning Lap competition.
Yet, the Z06’s supercar performance at the raceway makes it feel like a tornado in a tea pot on the street. I could explore the envelope of the 6-cylinder Cayman and F-Type on Southeast Michigan’s curvier roads, while the Z06 never felt happy unless it was on a track. Like a lion in the Detroit Zoo, the Z06 is a caged creature — a predator that dreams of returning to GM’s vast Milford proving grounds where it was raised.
Three extraordinary predators for different tastes.
Corvette, the King of the Beasts. The Boxster/Cayman a cheetah cutting through a herd of sedans. And for those who tire of the more common American and German, there is the elegant Englishman.
My choice? The Boxster GTS. And in your favorite color, Santa: Red.
’15 Porsche Boxster/Cayman S or GTS
Vehicle type: Mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-passenger sports car
Price: $74,495 ($79,855 Boxster GTS/$97,890 Cayman S as tested)
Power plant: 3.4-liter, boxer 6-cylinder
Power: 330 horsepower, 273 pound-feet of torque (Boxster GTS); 325 horsepower, 272 pound-feet of torque (Boxster GTS);
Transmission: 6-speed manual (Boxster GTS); 7-speed PDK automatic (Cayman S)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.7 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 2,965 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 19 city/26 highway/22 combined (manual)
Report card
Highs: Precise handling; most affordable on the list
Lows: Won’t fit in my stocking; flimsy cup-holders for egg nog
Overall:★★★★
’16 Jaguar F-Type S AWD Coupe
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, two-passenger sports car
Price: $85,795 ($96,245 as tested)
Power plant: 3.0-liter, supercharged V-6
Power: 380 horsepower, 339 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.9 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 3,691 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy 18 city/26 highway/21 combined
Report card
Highs: AWD grip; could stare at her all day
Lows: Voice recognition, please; won’t fit down the chimney
Overall: ★★★★
’15 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, two-passenger sports car
Price: $78,000 base ($85,565 removable hardtop as tested)
Power plant: 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8
Power: 650 horsepower, 650 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Seven-speed manual (as tested); Eight-speed automatic with steering-mounted paddle shifters
Performance: 0-60 mph: 2.95 seconds with automatic; 3.2 seconds with manual (manufacturer).
Weight: 3,524 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 13 mpg city/23 mpg highway (automatic); 15 mpg city/22 mpg highway (manual as tested)
Report card
Highs: The torque of 650 reindeer; exotic supercar-slayer
Lows: Manual (shifter) labor; awesome power will get you arrested on Christmas
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Nissan Titan’s ‘ligheavy’-duty pickup
Posted by hpayne on December 19, 2015
What’s a pickup truck? F-150, RAM, or Silverado.
The three brands define that most American of segments. Together they make up over 90 percent of US pickup sales. Trying to break their grip is like trying to think of a tennis player who might win Wimbledon outside the Big Four of Djokavic, Federer, Nadal, and Murray.
Berdych? Yeah, right.
Only Toyota and Nissan have tried and the results have been as lopsided as, well, Nadal’s record on clay the last decade. Toyota’s Texas-produced Tundra sold 118,493 units in 2014. Nissan’s Mississippi-sourced Titan? Just 12,527. Or about the number the Ford F-150 produces in a week. At least Nadal will get old. But the Big 3 trucks just get better with each cycle with more engine/trim/bed combinations than a Swiss Army knife has tools.
How to compete against this juggernaut? Um, did you think about midsize pickups?
But the Japanese manufacturers have persisted in their quixotic adventure through specialization. Toyota has carved its niche as the segment’s quality leader. And now Nissan has defined a corner of the market that it thinks will give it a foothold on the Big 3’s Matterhorn: A combination light duty-heavy duty. Call it a “ligheavy.”
Nissan says it’s identified some 150,000 buyers in the massive, two-million-unit-sales segment who want either a light-duty pickup that can shoulder the chores of a heavy duty – or who own a heavy duty diesel but want a light-duty’s smaller size and maneuverability in metro areas. The Titan XD is marketed to these tweeners and its cleverness has earned it a place as finalist in the 2016 North American Truck of the Year competition (I am a juror).
The Titan backs up its beefy, light duty claims with an engine that will make truck lovers salivate: A 310-horsepower, 555 pound-feet-of-torque Cummins diesel V-8. Not a (ahem) Italian-built V-6 as in the segment’s only other diesel offering from RAM, but a V-8 like the big HD boys get. Dude.
Sitting in my driveway, the Titan XD – like any self-respecting pickup these days – looks taller than my house. And its 151-inch Crew Cab wheelbase – six inches longer than a similar F-150 – could land a small plane. It comes with nifty features like a standard sprayed bed, bed light, gooseneck trailer hitch, adjustable tie-down cleats, and the most bed storage in segment.
Will it work?
How would I know? Your speed-addled scribe needs to drag around a 20,000-pound trailer for my race cars, so a “ligheavy” tweener won’t work for me. So I brought in my pal and light-duty pickup expert – let’s call him Pickup Bob – to put the XD through its paces.
Pickup Bob was intrigued by the concept. The Titan’s diesel is not only a fuel-sipping stump-puller, but on the road, Pickup Bob was impressed by its quiet cabin. A construction boss, he spends a lot of time in his Ford F-150 and the Nissan’s ergonomics impressed him. But not as much as his Detroit metal.
The Nissan is much improved, but looks a generation behind the Detroit 3 in its looks and interior. The new F-150, for example, is a marvel of interior and exterior design from its integrated C-clamp headlights to its exquisite gauge cluster. The Titan even adopts the Ford’s clever mirror cutout for visibility but it feels like catch-up.
Given its heavy duty towing pretensions, the bed is a different story. The bed light and gooseneck are segment exclusive for those who need 12,000 towing capability. But not Pickup Bob. If he wants that kind of towing ability, the F-150’s 11,000-pound capability will do just fine, thank you very much.
He walked back to his Ford without a look back. I told you this is a merciless segment.
My female pickup pal — let’s call her Gooseneck Sally — is more promising. A weekend racer, she seems to be right out of a Nissan focus group. She wants a light duty for daily utility, but wants a heavy duty for her weekend escapes to the track. And she’s a diesel fanatic. With VW, Audi, and Porsche diesel products sidelined by Dieselgate, the Nissan is her kinda fix. You had her at “Cummins.”
With the Titan XD sticker snuggled nicely between, say, an F-150 and an F-250, the price is right. Nissan spokesman Dan Bedore says the base Titan XD Crew Cab 4×2 should start at above $40k when it hits stores late this month. A loaded 4×4 with all the toys should top out around $62k. .
Nissan has done its homework. Now it’s time to put the formula to work. I’m betting they’ll do OK. After all, Tomas Berdych may not beat any of the Big Four at Wimbledon next year. But he’ll take a set.
’16 Nissan Titan XD
Vehicle type: Front-engine, two and four-wheel drive, five-passenger pickup truck
Price: NA (est. $40,000-$62,000)
Power plant: 5.0-liter, turbocharged diesel V-8; 5.6-liter V-8 (gas)
Power: 310 horsepower, 555 pound-feet of torque (diesel); 390 horsepower, 401 pound-feet of torque (gas)
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 9.3 seconds (diesel, Car & Driver); 12,000-plus pound towing capacity
Weight: 7,360 pounds
Fuel economy: NA
Report card<EL,3>
Highs: Heavy duty strength; Stump-pulling diesel
Lows: Ho-hum styling; 7,000-pound “light truck”
Overall:★★★
Payne Q&Auto: Chevy Malibu’s stylin’ design boss
Posted by hpayne on December 8, 2015
It was love at first sight.
Chevrolet design boss John Cafaro, 60, saw the original Stingray Corvette concept car at the 1964 New York Auto Show. He was nine years old. “I wanted to go wherever that car was created. I wanted to work with those people,” he remembers.
Fifty years later and he oversees Chevy design, including the ‘Vette. His latest baby is the fast-back, 2016 Chevrolet Malibu, the best-looking ‘Bu since, well, the fast-back ’68 classic. At a time when consumers are flocking to boxier SUVs, mid-size sedans must flaunt their sex appeal. Yet the tsunami of government safety and mpg regulations is shrinking the creative envelope, forcing design homogeneity and challenging designers and engineers alike.
“Don’t put Jesse and I in the backseat together,” laughed Cafaro with his friend and Malibu Chief Engineer Jesse Ortega at a media test in California. “We might strangle each other.”
In Jesse & John’s Excellent Adventure, Jesse must assure the Malibu conforms to pedestrian collision, rollover, frontal offset, efficiency standards, etc. – even as John makes sure it turns heads like Kate Upton on a catwalk.
Improbably, their team has produced a vehicle with the profile of an Audi A7 and the fuel economy of a compact. I sat down with Jersey-born Cafaro in Palo Alto to talk Malibu, Camaros, and Russian dolls.
Q: You went to work with GM right out of school?
Cafaro: We did an art design school project at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute with GM. I got all my sketches together and they brought us out to GM to look around. I never thought I would have a shot.
I came in 1977 when GM was really changing their thinking from chrome-laden, rear-wheel drive cars to tighter, more European proportions. Cars like the Volkswagen Sirocco and guys like (Italian designer) Giorgetto Giugiaro were really recreating the car. The first car that captured that look was the 1984 Corvette that went from an exaggerated, shark-like style to a more European, cleaner car. The Cadillac Seville got it right too . . in the late ‘90s.
Q: What’s been the biggest change since you’ve been a designer?
Cafaro: The computer. I can still remember at GM when they were bringing in computers and getting the more modern, surface-development tools. But as far as the creative spirit it’s still done the same way. It’s a craft of clay, sketch, and an idea. Young designers coming out of school work on a (computer) pad and screen but they have their own style. The computer didn’t inhibit their expression, it just speeds up the process.
Q: Is car design more important than ever?
Cafaro: Design is a fashion statement. Everybody buys style whether it’s a cooking tool or a refrigerator. Cars and trucks are no different. Now the design is the differentiator because everybody’s pursuing safety and aero and rendering the same solutions. Audi, Mercedes, Cadillac all have their style. Chevrolet is starting to emerge with its own philosophy.
Q: Audis all look alike, yet each Chevy seem different. Why?
Cafaro: We don’t do a Russian doll mentality. We have a . . . family DNA, but every car has a different feel. It makes the business exciting. It inspires the designers who come to work every day trying to create something fresh and expressive and not fall into a formula.
Our basic DNA is surfacing that’s lean, yet muscular, athletic. Not excessive, not heavy. Very expressive. We look at our iconic cars like Camaro and Corvette as inspiration throughout our product line. There’s a passion that Corvette and Camaro have that our leadership expects in everything we do whether a Spark or Corvette. (Each car) in our product line is very unique. The way the Camaro engine takes in air, it requires massive amounts of cooling, so the front grille gets big, very aggressive. Whereas Malibu is more efficient so it’s sleeker, slimmer, more refined. Form follows function.
Q: You’re a collector?
Cafaro: I’ve been in and out of Corvettes. I have a 1965, right-hand drive Morgan. An old Ferrari 308 GT4. And I have an old street rod I’d been working on for 13-14 years. A ’33 roadster with a small block Chevy. That’s my Dream Cruiser. If it makes it down to Ferndale without overheating it’s a good day.
Q: And a racer?
Cafaro: I raced a Camaro Z28 in SCCA show-toon stock . . . from 1991-1994. Won the regional championship. Track record at Waterford. I got a lead foot – you got to get it out of your system somehow, not on the highway to work.
Payne: Cadillac CTS-V takes road to excess
Posted by hpayne on December 3, 2015
When I was a wee motorhead, my buddy Tommy Miller and I would draw pictures of freakish auto mutants: Formula 1 cars with eight wheels, sports car catamarans, sedans with jet engines.
You know, kind of what Cadillac has done with the Corvette-powered CTS-V.
The sterile, alphanumeric badge doesn’t convey the full insanity of this vehicle. Dodge calls its 707-horsepower Charger sedan the “Hellcat.” Shouldn’t Caddy get something appropriate like, say, “Nostradamus”? Or “Bonkers”? Or, if it must be alphanumeric, how about “ICBM”?
Chief Engineer Dave Leone and his merry band have created a track weapon that no one will ever take to the track. The V is an exercise in pure decadence. It’s a hot fudge, chocolate chip mousse cake aimed at other confections in the Decadent Café: BMW M5, Mercedes AMG S63, and the Tesla P85D. For 90 large, these sedans sport supercar performance with luxury legroom.
It’s an exercise in what’s possible, not practical. Ever wanted to find out what a four-door Corvette Z06 was like? V is your ride.
Think zero-60 in 3.6 seconds. A top speed of 200 mph. The Z06 — sharing the same LS4, pushrod, small-block V-8 — tops out at a mere 187 due to its prodigious downforce. Though in keeping with ’Vette’s Alpha Dog status, it maintains the horsepower mantle, 650 to 640.
Cough. 640 ponies in a two-ton sedan?
But this is no Charger Hellcat — Detroit’s other 200-mph rocket. The Hellcat is heaven in a straight line and hell in the twisties. V grips asphalt like a magnet. Credit a stretched version of the same Alpha platform that has made GM kin Camaro and ATS-V bona fide M3 predators: 19-inch Michelin Super Sports, magnetic shocks and extensive chassis stiffening.
My media colleagues got to take Big V out on Wisconsin’s Road America race track this July while I had knee surgery to put more lead into my accelerator leg. Over four miles of the serpentine course — including three 140-plus mph straights — you can explore the full, lurid firepower of the V.
Try this on city streets — tempting as it is — and you’ll quickly run out of real estate. Great Whites need open ocean. Cheetahs need vast grasslands. The V craves a track to stretch its legs. But if you’re thinking of tracking a Caddy, saner minds will choose the $70K ATS-V that I reviewed in May. It’s nimbler with plenty of power from the twin-turbo, 475-horsepower V6. The ATS is a scalpel, the CTS a hammer.
For all of its capability, Cadillac designers were remarkably restrained in their execution. Tommy and I might have gone further — a blower out the carbon-fiber hood, shuttered rear window shades, painted side flames.
Taking the shell of the lovely CTS, the V adds bigger front vents filled with metal mesh as if the V has escaped a maximum security prison by crashing the main gate. Shark-like gills — Z06-like — interrupt the side panels. At the business end things get more interesting. The rear fender wells look like Bruce Banner’s shirt after his Hulk transformation — too small for too big biceps. Out back four pipes warn of the beast within.
Press the detonation — er, dash — button and V awakens like it hasn’t eaten in weeks.
The Caddy cabin is familiar. Digital instrument display, stitched-leather-and-alcantara dash and interior, rimless mirror, carbon-fiber accents (not wood), heated steering wheel, hidden storage behind the CUE screen. Yes, the much-lamented CUE. The infotainment system insists on getting the job done sans dials and knobs — a driver distraction as I try to fund the right haptic touch point. Ironic since Caddy is on the cutting edge of heads-up displays so you don’t take your eyes off the road.
With steering wheel controls (check), heads up display (check) and voice recognition (check), the center console is becoming more peripheral. This is where cars are going.
The Caddy’s voice recognition system is especially noteworthy.
Driving around Hell, Michigan, to test North American Car of the Year candidates, I discovered most navigation systems couldn’t find Hell, much less navigate there. But the CUE not only recognized addresses like “Whispering Pine Lane” and “Whitewood Lake,” but also had the good sense to take me to Hell without my having to look up a specific address on my smartphone first. Thanks, V.
My tester was loaded to the gills with options including Apple Car Play (coming soon: Android Auto). The optional, adjustable Recaro seats are a marvel. Turn the side dial (thankfully, no haptic-touch here) and you can adjust lumbar, hip and side supports with the touch of a button so you’ll never be unsettled on track. Oh, right. You’re never going to take it to the track. Never mind.
This would be a great Up North summer car. Throw your luggage in the (considerable) boot and the kids in the backseat and you should arrive in Harbor Springs in, oh, about an hour averaging 120 mph. Drop the kids at the cottage and head for the tunnel of trees where you can really let the LS4 loose.
I’ll tell you what it will feel like. Yes, I was bad.
Throw it into a 90-degree right-hander and the 4,145-pound beast hunkers down, seat belt tightening in anticipation. With the shifter in SPORT or TRACK mode, the eight-speed tranny holds 2nd gear as you blast through a series of switchbacks. Just mind the torque, Bessy. The supercharged, 6.2-liter push-rod V-8 has the might of Thor’s hammer.
The engine won’t wake up every cop south of the bridge — unlike the Z06, which sounds like a B-52 bomber raid. Caddy keeps the war noises to a dull roar, the spinning supercharger always audible. It’s a luxury car, you know.
Despite its five-inch wheelbase growth over little brother ATS, CTS is surprisingly agile. Credit a huge, undercarriage bat-brace to help absorb the grip of the Michelin Pilot Super Sports — and another strap across the engine bay. For best handling I settled on SPORT mode with traction control on. As fun as it is to coax lurid slides under power, the engine’s torque will easily overwhelm the rear tires with TC turned off (frankly, I’d prefer an AWD option for a weapon this powerful — two-ton cars don’t snap back as quickly as 3,500-pound Z06s).
Like Tommy used to say, it’s fun to put jet engines in family cars. Just remember it’s still a sedan.
’16 Cadillac CTS-V
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $84,995 ($91,690 with Recaro seats as tested)
Power plant: 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8
Power: 640 horsepower, 630 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 8-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.6 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 4,145 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy 14 city/21 highway/17 combined
Report card
Highs: Planted handling; Z06 with 4 doors — need I say more?
Lows: $90K chainmail grille?; saner minds will choose an ATS-V
Overall:★★★
Viper ACR’s record-shattering tour
Posted by hpayne on December 2, 2015
“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated,” Mark Twain famously said. Slap his words on a Dodge Viper bumper sticker.
As if to snuff reports from UAW contract negotiations that the Viper program was finished, the sports coupe’s 2016 ACR performance model completed a year-long journey across 13 American race tracks this fall by setting the production car lap record at each one.
“The new Viper ACR beat everything including supercars like the Porsche 918,” said Dodge boss Tim Kuniskis, leaning against a wall-sized mural of the menacing, 645-horsepower beast at the Los Angeles Auto Show last week. “The ACR holds more track records than any other car and it’s been certified by the SCCA, which is how it should be.”
SCCA is the Sports Car Club of America, the country’s largest amateur racing club.
The ACR’s epic tour put an exclamation point on a year in which Detroit-made sports cars proved themselves to be among the world’s performance elite. This month the ACR, Mustang GT350, and Corvette Z06 were nominated for Road & Track’s Performance Car of the Year alongside the Ferrari 488 GTB (Mustang took the gold). And in September the 2015 Z06 beat out all comers — including the latest cyborgs from Lamborghini and McLaren — to capture fast time at Car & Driver’s annual Lightning Lap of Virginia International Raceway.
The ACR’s records include a staggering 1.28.65 minute circuit of one of America’s most famous tracks, Laguna Seca in California. With accomplished racer Randy Pobst aboard, “The Snake” eclipsed the previous lap record by more than a second — set by Pobst in the $900,000 Porsche 918 hybrid which costs seven-fold more than the Viper. Most of the lap records were set by SRT vehicle development engineer Chris Winkler, an accomplished SCCA champion.
Developed as the “ultimate street legal race car,” the ACR first appeared in the Viper lineup in 1999. While shattering track records, Viper has struggled to eclipse 1,000 units in annual sales. Hand-built in Detroit’s Conner Avenue Assembly Plant, the Viper’s $90,390 base price is well above cross-town rival Corvette. The ’Vette starts at just $56,395 with annual sales in 2014 of over 34,000 units.
The 2016 ACR is powered by the same 8.4-liter, V10 engine as the base Viper with an industry-leading 600 pound-feet of torque for a normally-aspirated engine. But its track steroids come from an “Extreme Aero package,” which sucks the car to the ground with technical wizardry including a dual-element carbon fiber rear wing, rear diffuser, unique hood, front splitter, and dive planes. The resulting 2,000 pounds of downforce at a top speed of 177 mph is the most of any production car made.
Add carbon ceramic Brembo brakes and massive, Kumho 14-inch rear rubber and the ACR stickers for $122,490.
The ACR is developed by Dodge’s SRT performance program, which includes 200-mph Hellcat versions of the Dodge Challenger and Charger.
“If the Hellcat is the King of the Road, then the ACR is King of the Track,” says Kuniskis.
2016 Dodge Viper ACR lap records
Laguna Seca (Salinas, California), 10/28/15
Lap Time: 1:28.65 min.
Driver: R. Pobst
Road Atlanta (Braselton, Georgia), 10/11/15
Time: 1:26.54
Driver: C. Winkler
Waterford Hills (Waterford, Michigan), 9/30/15
Time: 1:10.89
Driver: C. Winkler
Nelson Ledges (Garrettsville, Ohio), 9/21/15
Time: 1:06.21
Driver: C. Winkler
Motown Mile (Detroit, Michigan), 8/28/15
Time: 51.17 sec.
Driver: C. Winkler
GingerMan Raceway (South Haven, Michigan), 8/27/15
Time: 1:31.91
Driver: C. Winkler
Pittsburgh International Race Complex (New Alexandria, Pennsylvania), 8/18/15
Time: 58.37 sec.
Driver: C. Winkler
Grattan Raceway (Belding, Michigan), 5/19/15
Time: 1:22.09
Driver: C. Winkler
Virginia International Raceway (Alton, Virginia, Grand Course), 4/23/15
Time: 2:40.02
Driver: C. Winkler
Willow Springs Raceway (Rosamond, California), 4/2/15
Time: 1:21.24
Driver: C. Winkler
MotorSport Ranch (Cresson, Texas), 2/25/15
Time: 1:16.98
Driver: T. Kendall
Buttonwillow Raceway Park (Buttonwillow, California), 1/21/15
Time: 1:47.70
Driver: C. Winkler
Inde Motorsports Ranch (Wilcox, Arizona), 11/19/14
Time: 1:33.75
Driver: C. Winkler
Payne: Toyota Prius shows a fun side
Posted by hpayne on December 2, 2015
I’ve been to some unusual places in automobiles, but none stranger than an autocross course in a Toyota Prius. The green Prius at a demonic place of carbon revelry? Where “hypermiling” is useless and “burning rubber” celebrated?
New Prius bumper-sticker: SAVING THE PLANET ONE CONE AT A TIME.
But this isn’t Larry David’s tree-hugging, rolling Prius speed bump. This is the all-new, Generation-4, 2016 Prius based on Toyota’s TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) global platform with 60 percent more torsional rigidity and — wait for it — independent rear suspension. Yes, IRS. Just like Mustang, Prius has evolved from the stagecoach wagon days.
You don’t think Toyota knows what people say about Prius? That its nickname is “Pious”? That it looks like a turtle with wheels? That Californians give them twice as much room because their drivers are more focused on “hypermiling” at 40 mph to maximize fuel efficiency than keeping their eyes on the road?
You don’t think Toyota has read Car & Driver’s scathing 2012 Prius review? I quote:
“We wonder why a Prius can’t be as interesting to drive as a Ford C-Max. The Prius stands still, this century’s version of a 1990s-era VW Type 1 Beetle.”
Ouch.
Toyota wants to change that image so they took a herd of journalists to Los Angeles’ El Toro Marine Air Station to drive the wheels off the Prius and prove it’s more than a hybrid drivetrain on a chassis of recycled hummus. Indeed, Toyota provided us with a Gen 3 model just to prove the point. I nailed the 2015 model out of the starting gates, and it immediately panicked as if allergic to pylons. Turn the wheel and the front tires plowed straight ahead, the mulish torsion-beam rear suspension as useless as wings on a penguin.
Jump in the new Gen 4 and all is well.
No, it doesn’t have Tesla’s Ludicrous mode. No battery upgrade. No improvement in its snail-like, 9.8-second 0-60 time. Stomp on the accelerator and you could read the morning paper before it gets up to highway speed. I never got the front tires to chirp off the line, much less torque steer. But the chassis has been transformed.
Steering input is direct, connected — not merely a suggestion. The car goes where you point it instead of plowing like a 19th-century farm implement. It still understeers through corners (no VW Golf torque-vectoring here!), but the multi-link rear suspension now eagerly rotates behind you so that you don’t leave a field of scattered pylons in your wake.
My Pious lapped with a look of determination on its face thanks to CEO Aki Toyoda’s demand that every Toyota look like it’s enraged that every model before it has the sex appeal of a grapefruit. Happily, Prius is not as polarizing as the Darth Vader-masked Lexus RX. Compacts should be cute, and Gen 4 looks like an angry Pokemon. Grrrr. Let’s attack some cones.
Your carbon-spewing scribe so enjoyed autocrossing the Toyota that I asked for seconds. It was fun. The f-word has been frowned upon in the Cult of Prius, but the faithful need not be concerned. As the lack of rubber marks at the start line suggest, the Prius doesn’t sacrifice green for its new fun factor. The Pious claims (EPA numbers aren’t out yet) to up its class-leading mpg number from 50-52 mpg combined — while maintaining its zero-60 acceleration with less horsepower than before (121 vs. 134). Despite my flogging the Pokemon mercilessly around El Toro then up Orange County’s breathtaking Ortega mountain highway and back, I managed an impressive 58.1 mpg over 78 miles.
Indeed, the Prius’ greenness actually complements performance by shoving its lithium ion batteries under the seat (from the trunk), thus helping reduce its center of gravity 1 inch for better handling.
But as the all-new (once-shunned) lithium ion batteries suggest this car is about more than looks and mpg. Toyota gambled on the hybrid Prius a decade ago. Its resulting hit, however, obscured the fact that the company invested in an expensive drivetrain on a cereal-box chassis and affordable nickel hydride batteries.
Five million Prii sales later, the car has earned its keep and now leads the parade into a global platform and battery pack that will be used on siblings like Corolla. It also means Prius may finally make money.
Prius is a model for other hybrid electric brands. Looking at you, Chevy Volt.
In a straight fight it is Volt that should be worshipped by greenies, not Prius. After all, Volt sports better technology from drivetrain to interior: A 53-mile range that will get you to work and back without ever visiting Big Oil, and a dashboard that is more user and tech-friendly (think Apple Car Play and Android Auto).
But what the Prius offers is a unique personality. At $25,025 the hybrid sports unique styling at a compact price point. I particularly like the sci-fi, tomahawk-shaped rear taillights that are an upscale touch. Volt, on the other hand, starts nearly $10K north of Prius in BMW 3-series territory — yet detunes its styling to look more like a Cruze compact. Moet champagne in a Budweiser bottle.
Prius has its own interior, too, which is not as successful. Take the center console made out of toilet bowl-white plastic. Please. The awkward material clashes with an otherwise tasteful, wrap-around interior of black plastic and vinyl trim — a dated attempt at being an iPod, perhaps?
At a time when instrument displays are more driver-centric (heck, even Mini moved its Speedo in front of the driver), Prius stubbornly insists on keeping its instrument panel in the center of the dash. Misses like these mean Prius still has room for improvement, but overall it’s not a niche car anymore but a credible competitor against any compact.
Do the math. Compared to Ford’s similarly-horsed, green-preening Focus 1.0-liter Ecoboost, Prius won’t earn its $2,500 premium back in $2-a-gallon gas savings for seven years — but Toyota’s dependability and higher retention value (54 percent vs. 48 percent) help close that gap.
And while the Prius can’t hold a candle to a $25K Golf GTI ’round the pylons, at least you’ll have fun trying to keep up while nearly doubling the V-dub’s mpg on the way home.
SAVING THE PLANET ONE CONE AT A TIME. Catchy. I think I’ll get a few printed up
2016 Toyota Prius
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger hatchback
Price: $25,035 ($27,085 Prius Three and $30,000 Four Touring as tested)
Power plant: Hybrid drivetrain with 1.8-liter inline-4 cylinder and lithium-ion/or nickel-metal hydride battery-powered twin electric motors
Power: Combined 121 horsepower-95 horsepower, 105 pound-feet torque (gas engine); 1.2 kilowatt-hour nickel-metal-hydride/0.75 kWh lithium-ion battery pack
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission (CVT)
Performance: 0-60 mph, 9.8 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 3,915 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA estimated: 54 city/50 highway/52 combined; 58 city/53 highway/56 combines (Eco 2 model only)
Report card
Highs: More fun to drive; more fun to look at
Lows: White plastic console; distant instrument display
Overall:★★★
Payne, Q&Auto: Evert’s Tour de Civic
Posted by hpayne on November 23, 2015
“When I lived in Seattle I was a Category 3 racer,” says Gary Evert, chief engineer of the 2016 Honda Civic and an avid bicyclist who has competed in Tour de France-style American events. “One of my better races was Seattle-to-Portland, a 205-miler that I did in about 10 hours and finished well. That’s the thing about cycling — there is always someone better than you.”
There aren’t many manufacturers who do a better compact car than Honda.
Not only is the 10th generation Civic the best ever, it has set a new class benchmark with class-leading interior room, rear legroom, fuel economy. And it is the first car to offer both Apple Car Play and Android Auto — the much-anticipated apps that allow consumers to double their smart phones as in-car, console infotainment systems. Evert and his Redmond, Ohio team spent long hours benchmarking the Civic to Audi’s nimble A3 in order to re-establish their compact as a sporty badge.
When the 50-year-old University of Washington grad needed to get away, he had his bikes.
“Because I think about cars all the time, my escape is riding road bikes,” he says. “I have a collection of 11 or 12 the last time I counted.” At the Civic’s media test outside Ann Arbor this October I sat down with Evert to talk Civic, CVTs, and cycling.
Q: Who makes the best bike?
Evert: There are a lot of good ones right now. Some of the American bikes like Cannondale, Trek, Specialized.
Q: Ohio is flat as a board. Where’s an avid cyclist go?
Evert: There are a lot of good rural roads in Ohio. Raymond is beautiful — there’s actually a little ski area that makes great climbing right near work. I used to race competitively and am getting back into it.
Q: Is amateur racing as cut-throat as depicted in the classic cycling movie, “Breaking Away”?
Evert: No. I really enjoy being in that atmosphere. Everyone’s out there to enjoy themselves. I have a great group of guys I race with. Level 1 is pro, 2 is Olympic, 3 is top amateur. In the United States Cycling Federation … we’re similar to Tour de France pro racing where we get into tight packs because the aerodynamics are better. We’re doing a lot of drafting.
Q: The Civic has changed dramatically over 10 generations. What’s different this time?
Evert: One of the strengths of Honda is that for each new Civic we have a new team. For this Civic we wanted to get back to that sporty DNA we’ve been known for. Better dynamics, lower seating position, sporty styling. We completely redid the packaging beginning with the hip point. Then we lowered the engine, the floor, the suspension. Move the rear seat back. Gives it a more athletic stance, but at the same time increases head room.
Q: Has bringing the Honda Fit to market allowed you to grow the Civic?
Evert: Fit gave us the opportunity with the Civic to be a little bit more sporty — and a bit larger. It was an opportunity because we didn’t have to cover too much of the market with the Civic.
Q: Was it your goal that the Civic be roomiest in class?
Evert: Absolutely. The Europeans aren’t known for the most efficient packaging and that is something that Honda is known for. We are by far the best in class in interior and trunk volume. And best in class fuel economy and acceleration. We’re 1.5 seconds faster 0-60 than competitors like Corolla.
Q: The Civic sports Honda’s first production turbocharged engine. Why now?
Evert: We wanted to be sporty and also meet Honda’s philosophy of great fuel economy. So the turbo was out of necessity.
Q: You’re going to sell more variants of Civic than ever?
Evert: We’ve had two different Civics — one for North America, another for Europe. We wanted (the 10th generation) to be sold globally so we developed the coupe and four-door in North America, then a five-door variation in Japan — and sporty derivations like the Si and Type R. There are nine facilities around the world that will be able to make the Civic. Cars sold here will be made in either the U.S. or Canada.
Q: CVT trannies don’t have a sporty reputation. Why is yours so peppy, so smooth compared to competitors?
Evert: We develop our engines and transmissions in house. So we can develop our algorithms internally. We have the ability to tune the CVT to match it with the engine. The torque converter gets you into power train more quickly. We have the ability to tune it so it feels like you’re shifting.
Henry Payne picks the best of LA Auto Show
Posted by hpayne on November 23, 2015
Unlike the compact Cobo Center, LA’s convention center puts its displays in two halls on opposite ends of the planet, meaning I had to schlep miles to see all 26 debuts. My dogs are barking. California offers a driver’s bounty of stunning natural views and wide-open spaces (once you get out of LA’s 24/7 traffic jam), meaning customers want everything from green statements to speed skates. It’s not uncommon to see a Prius and a Porsche in the same garage.
Here are The Detroit News’ picks as the most significant vehicles in show.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
“If emotion were a car, it would be an Alfa Romeo,” Alfa CEO Reid Bigland said in his introduction of the compact sedan. You’d be dead not to feel a stirring in the loins when you see this blood red, twin-turbo, 505-horsepower sexpot. Quadrifoglio is not shy about its intentions. It’s determined to make you forget all about that BMW M-whatchamacallit. The all-wheel drive performance model is the most powerful thoroughbred in the compact luxury class and the fastest sedan ever around Germany’s legendary Nurburgring race track. Not just a little faster. Giulia obliterated the lap record held by a Porsche Panemera S, for goodness sake, a six-figure cyborg not even in its class. Priced around $70,000, however, the Q won’t exactly be price accessible to most buyers. Which is why the base model’s also-class leading 276-horsepower turbo four still makes us smile.
Ford Escape
The Escape is part of an SUV revolution reshaping the face of automobiles. Compact crossovers have overtaken midsize sedans as the autodom’s biggest-volume segment – and the hot-selling Escape, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV-4 have led it there. Yet while the Honda and Toyota are reliable appliances in the Japanese mold, the technology-laden Escape is evidence of the blur between luxury and mainstream brands. Indeed, while Lincoln stunned L.A. with a gorgeous, new face on its MKZ, the Escape debuted its own chrome kisser. The makeover means Escape rivals cousin Lincoln MKC in looks while offering handling and a suite of engine choices that embarrasses Japanese rivals. With an improved, roomier console (the biggest knock against the old mule), the Blue Oval continues as a pioneer on the crossover frontier.
Mazda CX-9
Speaking of blurs, the Mazda’s zoom-zoom midsize crossover may be the most handsome sight in its segment. Luxury or mainstream. Audi Q5, the object in your mirror may be closer than it appears. The 9’s pleasing exterior sheet metal comes with European-like handling and interior layout. And despite a single engine offering, Mazda’s first turbo promises plenty of low-end torque to go with its typically impressive SKYACTIVE fuel efficiency. What’s more, the Mazda comes with three rows of seats – mandatory for the mainstream segment but scorned by similarly sized Audi and Bimmers. So, if it’s European flavor you want – but without having to sacrifice family practicalities and a year’s income, the Mazda is in your sweet spot.
Fiat 124 Spider
Oh, joy. Already spoiled by Mazda’s best-ever MX-5 Miata in 2015, we get a sequel with the 2017 “Fiata” – the MX-5-based return of the Fiat 124 Spider. Where the original Miata was a retro-homage to the Lotus Elan, the new Fiat is a throwback to the 1966 Spider that Yanks embraced – it sold 75 percent of the 200,000 models produced through 1985. The new model bears an uncanny resemblance to the original (a copy of which was nailed to the wall on the Fiat stand). Fiat’s heritage is more cruiser than Mazda track rat, so the 124 will be 100 pounds heavier and likely less stiff than MX-5. Still, Fiata will have more power than its Japanese partner thanks to the same 160-horsepower, 1.4-liter turbo found in the bratty Fiat 500 Abarth. And with Japanese engineering as its foundation, customers are assured that this Fiat stands for Fix-It-Again-Tokyo.
Cadillac XT5
Cadillac’s ferocious V-series sedans have served notice that GM’s luxury brand is serious about taking on the German titans at luxury’s pinnacle. Now the all-new XT5 (formerly SRX) brings the same commitment to SUVs where Caddy has been product-poor. The XT5 goes on a 300-pound diet making it the lightest entry in segment – a full 650 pounds below a Mercedes GLE – that will pay dividends in handling and fuel efficiency. Perhaps more important to frustrated soccer moms who have taken to banging the CUE infotainment system with both fists, the new system is reportedly three times faster — and with more emphasis on touchscreen functions than haptic sliders (Bang! Bang! Bang!).
Payne: Camaro SS is new Alpha dog
Posted by hpayne on November 19, 2015
We’ve all been waiting for this one. I got my first, tantalizing taste of the all-new, 2016 Camaro at Belle Isle in May, Chevy’s counter to the all-new, 2015 Ford Mustang. It’s always been thus. Over the Muscle Car War’s five decades, Mustang has traditionally made the first move — just as it launched the first salvo in 1965. The latest Mustang is the best ever. Three engine choices, edgy styling, independent rear suspension. Now comes Camaro’s answer. Three engines, edgy styling, independent rear susp … oh. Camaro’s been there. Done that.
For its handling trick this time, Chevy has gone to DEFCON 4.
It’s brought in a platform from GM’s luxury performance division, Cadillac. Not just any platform, but the alpha-dog Alpha bones that gird the sublime Cadillac ATS — the best-handling weapon in luxury. Seems a bit unfair, really. Ford doesn’t have Cadillacs and Corvettes laying around the shop from which to borrow technology.
Driving Generation 5 and the much-lighter Gen 6 Camaros back-to-back on Belle Isle’s IndyCar course, the difference was instantly apparent. But that was a V-6. How goes the Chevy SS with the pony-car’s signature V-8? The big boat anchor up front? I talked with legendary Chevy mod-guru, Ken Lingenfelter before I went to test the SS from Albuquerque to Phoenix.
“Call me when it’s over,” he said anxiously. “I want to know how it goes.”
Well, Ken, Gen 6 doesn’t disappoint. Gen 5 was no slouch, but the Alpha platform was designed to compete with BMW and Mercedes, for goodness sake. You know this is the best-handling pony ever from the first turn of the wheel. The electronic steering feels connected to the asphalt as if by a magnet.
The twisted Arizona mountain roads to Payson east of Phoenix are a long way from Woodward Avenue’s drag strip — and the days when pony cars were just straight-line muscle. Whether rotating through 120-degree hairpins or blitzing rocky passes, the big coupe felt much smaller than its 3,685-pound girth.
My hands moved in small increments. No sawing at the wheel. No sudden corrections. The car goes right where you point it, and the result is a much quicker — and safer — car. Where the Mustang (and previous Camaros) are a ball to drive, you feel them working hard. The Camaro’s handling is effortless.
Don’t get me wrong, the Chevy is no ATS — but its DNA is there.
As is the Corvette’s. The SS’s LT1 engine is the same 455-horse stump-puller found in the C7 — complete with rowdy, dual-mode exhaust system (unfortunately, the bulky manual trannies feel the same too). Squeeze the throttle and it will effortlessly eclipse triple digits. Both cars are the work of gifted designer Tom Peters. Both are sculpted with hard edges as if cut with a chisel. Both share design elements: Roof “Mohawk,” deeply scalloped sides, horizontal LED daytime running lights.
Standard on my Bright Yellow, $38,585 SS, the LEDs are sinister. Coupled with the narrowed front grille and enlarged lower intakes, the Camaro has effectively evolved from the wildly successful, ’60s throwback of 2010 to a modern, halo design for downstream Chevy sedans. With its narrow greenhouse, huge blind spots, massive wheels, and brooding cowl, this is an uncompromised concept car brought to life.
“We’ve amplified its proportions,” says the soft-spoken Peters, mobbed by Camaro groupies at the Albuquerque intro. “Like the T-shirt on a muscular physique.”
Want to know what a front-engine Lamborghini would look like? This is it.
Much has been made of the Camaro’s gun turret-narrow windows. But the Peters’ team boldly emphasized art — letting the car’s digital, driver-assist technology handle the blind spots.
Want to see out the back? Buy a Mustang. Want to look like you hijacked a car from a sci-fi movie set? Buy the Camaro. That said, the Mustang’s extreme makeover has been flying off the shelves as existing owners traded in their old ponies for the fresher styling. The Mustang’s gorgeous, less-severe looks should wear better over time. If you want a V-6 cruiser, Mustang gets the nod. If it’s performance you want, the Camaro V-8 will walk all over the Ford — and kick sand in the face of the odd Bimmer as well.
Existing Camaro owners unmoved by Gen 6’s sports car handling (“Who pulls Gs in the Dream Cruise traffic jam, man?”) may not feel the urgency given its evolutionary, not revolutionary, styling (though blessedly, the fake side shark gills have disappeared).
They should think again.
Chassis aside, the most dramatic change to the new Camaro is its interior. This is one muscular smart phone. GM has been on the cutting edge of in-car technology and the Camaro is a digital leap over its rival. For our western journey, the SS came without a nav system. No sweat. My wife just mated her iPhone to Apple Car Play and we were in business. She also worked on her iPad thanks to the car’s standard 4G WiFi. In remote western New Mexico, we called OnStar ($300-a-year subscription) for directions and restaurants.
Muscle cars are just for guys? Mrs. Payne lounged comfortably in the quiet, connected passenger seat — only protesting when I explored the car’s .98 G-load capabilities with mountain cliffs just feet away.
The dashboard is a big leap over Gen 5 as well, though its spare design leaves little room for storing anything beyond two cups. The instrument cluster is a fully digital display stuffed with useful information, and the aviator-style climate controls anchoring the console are the coolest things this side of an Audi TT.
With its sophisticated chassis, Lambo styling (look up the Urus), and interior controls, the SS is a worthy alternative to rear-drive luxury coupes like the BMW M4 and ATS-V — but for $30K less. On my way into Phoenix I stopped by the famed Bundurant School of High Performance Driving where the boys informed me Bondurant is divorcing Chevy for Dodge school cars. A pity that. As much as students will enjoy Hellcat power, it can’t touch the Camaro’s nimbleness around the cones. And not just the SS. At over 30-mpg freeway and just 3,338 pounds – a staggering 390 pounds lighter than Gen-5 V-6 — a coming turbo-4 will make Gen 6 a serious autocross contender.
But that’s for another time. For now we revel in the battle of V-8s. Camaro has answered Mustang. Mustang has unleashed its 8,000-RPM Shelby GT350 monster.
What say you to that, Camaro Z28? The anticipation builds again.
2016 Chevy Camaro
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-passenger coupe
Price: $26,695($38,585 SS as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder; 3.6-liter V-6; 6.2-liter V-8
Power: 275 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque (turbo-4); 335 horsepower, 284 pound-feet of torque (V-6); 455 horsepower, 455 pound-feet of torque (V-8)
Transmission: 6-speed manual; 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.9 seconds (SS V-8, Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,685 pounds
Fuel economy: NA
Report card
Highs: Precise handling; Corvette power
Lows: Blind spot the size of Rhode Island; useless door storage
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop goes to the max
Posted by hpayne on November 16, 2015
I was about eight years old when I had one of my first track hot laps aboard Mr. Coleman’s (when you’re eight, none of your Dad’s friends have first names) late 1960s-model Mini Cooper.
Mr. Coleman was a paraplegic club racer who had engineered a custom shifter that not only changed gears, but included hand-operated buttons for braking and acceleration. Despite his disability, Coleman and his Mini made a quick, competitive team. Sitting in the passenger’s seat of the wee Cooper was an unforgettable experience. Coleman operating the stalk like an Arabian swordsman. The 1275-cc engine bawling in my ears. The flying shoebox hurtling around the track defying physics.
Forty-five years later and Minis still have outsized personalities.
Sitting in my driveway is the 2015 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop, the heir apparent to Mr. Coleman’s rabid Cooper S. It’s a milk carton of quirky fun. Which will be good news to fans of the rebellious brand because the demands of modernity are forcing Mini ever more mainstream.
How mainstream? The third generation Mini is based on a BMW platform.
You read that right. The Brit brat has been co-opted by the German establishment. Parts of the American South may still wave the Confederate flag, but the Mini-BMW alliance is proof of European unification. The Mini-BMW produced its first rug rat in 2000, but in its third generation Mini now shares the same skeleton as the BMW 2-series.
The result is a bigger, more comfortable rebel that all but obliterates its Mini-ness. This evolution is a full foot-and-a-half longer than the ‘60s icon. BMW understands brand management, however, and has loaded its Brit dish with plenty of fruit and nuts. Throw in a torquey, 228-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter engine and the JCW is born – the ultimate throwback Mini.
First, some badge housecleaning. In the beginning, there was just Mini. Then its go-kart handling caught the attention of John Cooper, renowned English racing designer. The Mini Cooper was born – a rabies-infected variant of the original terrier that promptly terrier-rized the racing world, winning the Monte Carlo Rally three years running. Thus Coleman’s Cooper S. Thus the Cooper’s continued popularity in vintage car racing circles (that I inhabit) featuring old Coopers still barking at the heels of proper MG Midgets and Triumphs Spitfires that must tire of shoeboxes in their mirrors.
In the 21st century Cooper is a reference to the base, three-cylinder model and its sportier, 189-horse S variation. “John Cooper Works” now carries the banner of bonkers Mini performance. Confused? Me too.
But the key point is that the spirit of John Cooper lives on in Cooper Works.
And despite its more bloated appearance, JCW is more playful than ever. Indeed, BMW’s new chassis and interior has helped iron out some of Mini’s less endearing qualities. Like torque steer.
Gen 1 and 2 had loads of it, complicating the already difficult tasks of delivering heaps of horsepower to a front-wheel-drive car. In the new JCW, I’m happy to say, torque-steer under hard-acceleration is all-but eliminated. But stomp the pedal and you’ll hang on for dear life. The turbo, 2-liter is ferocious.
Like Mini’s mascot, the bulldog (dealer showrooms shelves are full of adorable stuffed dogs). Or King Kong in a Minion’s body.
Yeah, the JCW is still adorable with its big goggle eyes and impish mouth. But where the original Minis (go to Europe and you’ll still trip over the tiny things on city curbs) were dead ringers for Minions, the new Mini’s face is longer, more swept – like a mask stretched over the larger BMW skeleton underneath. Credit European pedestrian impact regs. The front body overhang is considerable, adding to a long hood that makes it look more Golf-like than shoebox.
But when I trolled through the neighborhood, the kids still cheered for the car that looks like a comic book character. Bulging eyeballs. Rebel Green paint. Racing stripes. Twin, center-mounted exhaust pipes. A rear deck spoiler the size of a surfboard.
Pile the kiddies inside and it gets even more comical. With primary instrumentation behind the steering wheel where it belongs (in a rare, regrettable ’60s throwback, the last gen Mini had the speedo in middle of the dash), the Frisbee-sized console is a veritable disco ball of entertainment. Choose SPORT mode, for example, and the Frisbee’s rim lights up red while a cartoon Mini takes over the display with cartoon bubbles over its head thinking about rocket ships and go-karts. “Let’s Motor Hard!” says cartoon Mini. I’m not making this up.
But here’s the thing.
Your cartoonist/scribe may be a sucker for cartoon bubbles, but the $41,800 Minion JCW is going to need all its eyelash-batting charm to justify its 10-grand sticker price inflation over bigger hot hatches in the toy department like the Ford Focus ST, VW Golf GTI, or Subaru WRX. Heck, with the money you save buying the snarling, 252-horsepower Focus ST I recently tested for $29,475, you could also find a used Ford Fiesta ST (the JCW’s suit size is more Fiesta than Focus).
ST torque steer got you down? The 2015 North America Car of the Year GTI’s conservative styling pales next to the Cooper pinball machine, but the chiseled V-Dub will beat the pricier Brit in nearly every measure: 0-60 mph, handling, comfort, rear seat room. The kids may love Mini – but they are the only ones who will want to climb over the front seats and into its cramped rear quarters. The GTI even comes with four five-door hatch option (that only Cooper S can match).
Even the insane, 305-horse, all-wheel-drive, Subaru WRX STI is a $38.5K discount bargain compared to JCW. So as much as I am thrilled to see another pocket rocket on the toy shelf, the JCW is for a special few who covet that special Mini sauce. An empty-nester who fell in love with the Coopers of the 1960s, perhaps. Or a 20-something just back from Oxford, England where he discovered Mini roots in the original Morris Garage. Or a racing fan who just watched a JCW battle Audi A3s and BMWs for second place at Road Atlanta in the Continual SportsCar Challenge.
The flying shoebox lives! Somewhere Mr. Coleman is smiling.
2015 Mini John Cooper Works Hardtop
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, four-passenger compact
Price: $31,450 ($41,800 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Power: 228 horsepower, 236 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 2,864 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 23 city/31 mpg highway/26 mpg
Report card
Highs: Mini personality; turbo-riffic
Lows: Rear seats fit for grade schoolers; turbocharged price tag
Overall:★★★
Payne: The Ludicrous Tesla Model S P90D
Posted by hpayne on November 9, 2015
For two decades Cadillac and Lincoln have struggled to catch up with the Teutonic Threesome of BMW, Mercedes, and BMW. With its first sedan, Tesla has not only caught the Germans, it has forced them to respond with their own e-vehicles. The top-of-the-line, Model S P90D I drove this fall has BMW good looks, Mercedes room, Audi-like AWD — with the performance of a Porsche 911 Turbo thrown in for good measure.
Oh, yeah. And it’s Made in America in Fremont, California.
Tesla’s secret is that it went back to the automotive drawing board. Built a new car from the ground up. Where Detroit manufacturers tweaked existing gas-engine platforms to create electric vehicles, Tesla re-imagined the automobile as an electronic product. An iAuto for the iPhone age. As Teslaphiles like to say: “Elon Musk didn’t set out to make the best luxury electric car, he set out to make the best car.”
The Cadillac ELR is a luxe plug-in built on GM’s compact Delta II platform. A Chevy Volt in a tux. The Model S is an all-new chassis built for floor-mounted lithium-ion batteries, passenger seating for up to seven, and the acceleration of a Lamborghini Murciélago.
Before we go any further, dear readers, let’s address the elephant in the room: Tesla is a wedge issue.
Whenever I write about Musk’s company, the comments section erupts in hand-to-hand combat about Tesla’s, um, cozy ties to Washington. Fashionably green, Tesla scored $465 million in taxpayer loans and $7,500 in subsidies for each of its wealthy customers. You didn’t volunteer to fund Musk’s startup with a Kickstarter contribution and a promise of some Model S swag. It came out of your tax bill. Tesla even compromised Consumer Reports, which got so drunk on green Kool-Aid it gave the Model S a super-perfect grade of 103 even as Tesla flunked Reliability 101. Huh?
Politics, politics, politics. Musk would be wise to separate car and state. If it had earned its stripes the hard way like Ford’s Model T, the Model S would get more respect.
Because let’s face it, Musk-haters, the S is one of the best cars ever made.
Take my $139,700 P90D, a performance upgrade of the Model S in the spirit of BMW’s M or Audi’s S badges. After piloting one for a day, you don’t want to drive anything else. It’s like returning to your old flip phone after the first time you used an iPhone. Ho hum.
But of course, you say, any car that costs north of $100K is gold. The gorgeous Audi S7, roomy, Merc S-class, techy BMW i8, ferocious Porsche 911 Turbo. But the thing about the Model S — like the smartphone — is it does everything well. It’s gorgeous, palatial, high-tech, and blindingly quick. It’s a S7-S-Class-i811 Turbo. What other car on the planet can pick up a family of five and luggage at Detroit Metro — then snap off a three second 0-60 time at the first stoplight? Gas-free?
You’ll want to warn the family first, though.
Unlike gas engine 0-60 sprints, the Tesla strikes quietly, violently. Prep a BMW M3 sedan in launch mode requires a checklist before releasing the brake and storming off. It’s exhilarating, loud, and a one-way ticket to the local sheriff’s office.
Not the stealthy P90D. Just stomp the gas — er, pedal. Like the base, rear-motor-driven P70, the e-acceleration is instant. Twice as instant. With another motor driving the front wheels and 20 more kWh in the battery pack, the P90D develops a shocking, 1.1 forward G-loads on its way to 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds. I feel a brief sensation of light-headedness.
They call it, appropriately, “Ludicrous” mode.
I sought out a surgeon friend to explain my dizziness. My race car will build up a neck-taxing 2.2 side-Gs in a long sweeper, but what is an instant 1.1 forward-Gs doin’ to my noggin,’ doc? He explained my inner ear momentarily loses balance due to the sudden thrust. Good to know.
I invited Sean Maloney of Grosse Pointe — owner of a 2013 Model S P60 — to the P90D drag races. With theme park ride-like efficiency, we repeatedly stomped dizzying acceleration times. It was Cedar Point in Detroit. Sean also demonstrated the S’s physics-defying athleticism.
On top of the already porky Model S, the P90D’s extra motor and battery brings the scales to 4,950 pounds. That’s the same weight as a Ford F-50 pickup. Yet unlike the F150 – or anything else for that matter — Tesla’s design puts all its weight in the floor giving it the same center-of-gravity as a 2,465-pound, Scion FR-S.
Sean and I drove the Model S around I-94 cloverleafs like a sports car. That’s not the way he commutes to Dearborn each morning, of course.
If driven with discipline, the S overcomes an electric car’s inherent range anxiety. Tesla boasts 240 miles for the base Model S (270 for the P90D), but Maloney conservatively stays within a 160-mile radius — enough to get him to Lansing and back.
But push the envelope and the e-generation will bite. A Chicago friend pointed his Model S towards St. Louis at 80 mph on the freeway and soon feared he wouldn’t make the first, Tesla-provided supercharging station along the way. Achieving 240-mile range means driving 65.
For all its performance bravado, the P90D doesn’t have to be flogged to be enjoyed. Inside the hushed cabin, the 17-inch — 17-inch! — iPad console is a technical wonder featuring the latest Nvidia graphics chip that renders your route in glorious, Google Earth detail. Just as importantly, Tesla’s digital instrument cluster displays the nav route in addition to mph, range, and music station, so you never have to take your eyes off the road.
The Model S has its flaws. Like losing $4,000 per car. And it’s expensive, has limited range, and is reliability-challenged. Owners don’t seem to sweat the reliability given the absurdly low operating costs. Consider a Savannah, Georgia pal who has put 15,276 miles on his S over two years while recharging during Georgia Power’s off-peak rate of 1.3 cents/kWh. That’s a total re-fueling cost of just $65.85. Or the price of gassing up a Porsche Panamera. Once.
My iAuto had not yet downloaded the latest 7.0 software upgrade to enable autonomous driving. So I won’t regale you with efforts to drive hands-free. I prefer hands-on, thank you very much. Cloverleaf rim-shots. Zero-60 bursts.
Like owner Mahoney says: “It never gets old.”
2015 Tesla Model S P90D
Vehicle type: Electric, all-wheel-drive, five- or seven-passenger sports sedan
Price: $105,670 base ($139,700 as tested)
Power plant: 90 kWh lithium-ion battery
Power: 762 horsepower; front motor: AC induction, 221 hp, 243 pound-feet; rear: AC induction, 470 hp, 443 pound-feet
Transmission: One-speed direct drive
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.8 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 4,950 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 84 mpg city/88 mpg highway MPe (Car & Driver est.)
Report card
Highs: Game-changing performance; iPad console
Lows: Range anxiety; plastic grille thingy
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Pinto-powered, Lola 90 track-assault vehicle
Posted by hpayne on October 31, 2015
What do you get when you combine a 1973 Ford Pinto motor and a 1,100-pound, 1988 aluminum monocoque chassis? One of the most rewarding racing experiences in America.
And a neck like a wet noodle.
When your speed-addled scribe isn’t flogging production sedans and sports cars, I get my jollies racing an ‘88 Lola 90 on some of this country’s greatest race tracks. With my season finale looming at Circuit of the Americas — an epic Formula One track just outside of Austin, Texas — next week, I thought it would be a good time to “review” this popular, durable, affordable sports racer.
First, a quick primer on so-called S2000 racing.
Developed in the 1980s for SCCA (Sports Car Club of America, the U.S.’s largest, most competitive, amateur racing club), S2000 racers like my Lola are essentially formula cars with fenders. Formula Ford (or Formula Renault or Formula Mazda depending on the spec motor used) and S2000 have long been both an entree into racing for young drivers with professional ambitions – and an affordable way for motor-heads like me to get our weekend track fix. As a result, fields feature a wide band of ages. Indeed, racing is a Payne family affair ranging from my two 20-something sons to their grizzled, 53-year-old father.
After its SCCA heyday in the ’80s and ’90s, S2000 racing has migrated to vintage racing clubs like SVRA (Sportscar Vintage Racing Association) where entries are a healthy 20-40 cars.
I race a handful of tracks a year from Virginia International Raceway to Watkins Glen (New York) to COTA – part of a record list of U.S. venues that we amateurs share with pro racing organizations like NASCAR, Formula One and IndyCar.
My English-bred Lola is one of a number of chassis built for S2000 by manufacturers including Swift, Carbir, March, Royale, Tiga and Van Diemen. All of them conform to strict rules in order to keep development costs down – including using a largely stock, overhead-cam, carburated Pinto motor wedded to a four-speed, Hewland racing gearbox.
With just 150 horsepower, the high-strung, 2.0-liter mill would seem weak milk for the race track. Until you consider it only has to propel an 1,100-pound frame with carbon-fiber bodywork.
That’s a 7:1 power-to-weight ratio that bests a Corvette C7 or Porsche Cayman GTS.
The Lola can reach 150 mph with my tookus riding just two-inches off the ground. But the real revelation of the 90 is its ferocious cornering grip on 7 and 9 inch-wide (front-to-rear), Avon racing slicks.
This thing is an overgrown go-kart making neck-straining, 2.2 G-loads in the twisties. No wonder the pros spend hours in the gym. After a few laps around Watkins Glen’s mighty sweepers and I’m reclining my head against the (small) headrest for (brief) relief in the (all-too-short) straightaways. My kingdom for a neck massage!
Like any sports car, the 90 achieves its nimble handling by managing aerodynamics, weight, and balance.
The car’s skin is flat – Germans call it a “flounder” shape – in order to speed air across the body. No wings are permitted. I bought my steed from Colorado’s Mark Mercer, a three-time SCCA champion, who added “side fences” to increase stability in high-speed turns by preventing air from washing over the sides.
Remove the car’s lightweight skin and the chassis construction is similar to a mid-engine formula car with 50-50 front-to-rear weight distribution. For better center of gravity, shocks and springs are located in the center fuselage just above the pedal box. No frunks here.
Speaking of pedals, I have to trade in my size 15 shoes for narrow, size 11 racing boots just so I can get my flippers down the narrow foot well. Normal-sized humans – like my 6’1” son – sit in body-conforming seats so as not to move with the violent g-loads. But 6’5” freaks like me sit on the floor — stuffed between riveted panels in the spartan cockpit. To prevent side movement, my shoulders are contained by a shoulder brace.
Driving the 90 is a blast, once its idiosyncrasies are learned. Upshifts are lightening quick and clutchless — since maintaining momentum is paramount with a small-displacement engine. Though not as stiff as state-of-the-art, carbon-fiber racing tubs (the skeleton of Indycars and now super-sports cars like Ferraris), the flex-less chassis pushes the envelope of grip – then quickly lets go when the limit is reached.
Perhaps my favorite Lola attribute is its open cockpit. Wearing a full Nomex suit, helmet, balaclava and gloves leaves me a puddle of sweat – so the natural air conditioning is a blessing.
I’ll need plenty of air on COTA’s 20-turn, 3.4-mile roller-coaster next week.
1988 Lola 90
Vehicle type: Mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, race car
Price: $30,000-45,000
Power plant: 2.0-liter, overhead-can, dry-sump, inline-4 cylinder
Power: 150 horsepower, 135 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 4-speed manual Hewland Mk. 9
Performance: 0-60 mph (NA)
Weight: 1,100 pounds (1,335 minimum racing weight with driver)
Fuel economy: 12 mpg (est.)
Report card
Highs: Neck-snappping cornering Gs; Won’t break the bank to race
Lows: Neck pain; Cockpit made for midgets
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Audi Halloween trea-TT
Posted by hpayne on October 30, 2015
Have I got a Halloween demon for you. Dressed in a devil’s-red suit. Two-hundred-and-twenty turbocharged horsepower. Jack-o-lantern grin.
And I went all the way to Hell and back to bring it to you.
The 2016 Audi TT is tastier than a cherry red candy apple, and contains more treats than a six-year-old’s trick-or-treat bag. The TT is the third prong in VW’s trident of compact, all-wheel-drive weapons. There’s the best-of-entry-luxe 2015 Audi A3 starting at $33,795. The 2016 king-of-the-hot-hatches VW Golf R ($35,650) that I flogged earlier this year. And now the re-baked TT at $43,825.
Find one of these torque-vectoring missiles on your doorstep and you’ll itch to go straight to Hell. Hell, Michigan, that is, where the roads turn from Detroit Mile grids to snaking curves and blind brows — and performance cars can really strut their stuff.
With the TT, however, you linger before opening the door just to ogle its comely figure.
Built on the same MQB platform as the A3 and Golf R, the TT got the looks in the family. The conservative A3 and sleeper R sail under the radar, whereas the TT attracts attention like Elizabeth Hurley at PTA bake sale. So perfectly proportioned is the front-engine TT — so dazzling is its fastback profile — that you might think it a mid-engine sports car like a Porsche Cayman or Alfa Romeo 4C, two greyhounds priced $10K over the Audi. But then you climb in and notice there is a back seat. Sort of.
I didn’t even try to fit back there for fear I would never get out. My wife — a foot shorter than I am at 5’5” — tried it and looked like Wilt Chamberlain in a doll house. Once in, her neck bent like a desk lamp to get under the raked ceiling. WARNING: YOU HAVE TO BE THIS SHORT TO GET ON THIS RIDE.
For this reason, the rear seat-less TT convertible may be the more practical choice — and its roll-bar hoops are da bomb. Still, no silhouette can compare to the iconic TT coupe. I can now say iconic because it was at first a bees’ nest of trouble for Audi. Seems the designers neglected Bernoulli’s principle. Or maybe just ignored it in pursuit of their perfect shape. I imagine the conversation went like this:
Designer: Our TT design is symmetrically rounded front to rear. Brilliant, ja?
Engineer: Nein. Two words: Bernoulli’s principle. The shape will create low pressure above the body and it will lift like an airplane at high speeds.
Designer (murmuring under his breath): Stupid engineers, what do they know about beauty?
Ignore the engineers at your peril. When the first generation hit the German Autobahn in 1999, the TT became unstable at speeds over 100 mph (yeah, they drive that fast), as its rear end began to lift off the ground. Multiple crashes later, TT designers succumbed (damn those know-it-all engineers!) and added a rear spoiler lip for stability. Problem solved.
Still, TT’s curved, pillowy shape gave it a reputation as a chick car. Guys only like Ferrari-like curves with silhouettes like Christie Brinkley in a Tahitian sunset. Otherwise they pine for sharp edges that remind them of swords and spears and stuff. So with is third generation TT, Audi added creases and sharp edges everywhere.
And a big, howling mouth.
Actually, the TT’s mouth was always agape but it was hidden behind Audi’s Olympian rings. For 2016 the rings have been moved to the hood, and as a result the TT grille now looks like the mask from the movie “Scream.” It’s the jack-o-lantern from Hell.
Which is where I drove the Audi. With my long-suffering wife and her already stiff neck in tow. She quickly warmed to the task, however, because the quilted, bolstered front seats of the TT are a glorious place to be.
Audi has combined the center console infotainment screen with the driver instrument panel to create a futuristic, cockpit experience. Housed in a binnacle shaped like Wall-E’s goggles, the huge, 12.3-inch display gives the pilot everything he needs so he never has to look away from the road. The steering wheel is a multi-function unit with cruise control buttons and audio controls — but Audi takes it to another level with a compact unit on the left spoke that allows the driver to toggle, page, and reconfigure the screen for navigation, engine performance, and radio settings. It’s a brilliant piece of engineering.
The lack of console screen simplifies the center console to essential climate controls, dynamic drive buttons, storage and gear selecting. Intriguingly, the Audi rotary dial survives, keeping Mrs. Payne in mind so that she can still adjust the radio, nav inputs, etc. (the TT isn’t so wide that passengers can’t view the instrument screen).
The three, round, aviator-style HVAC controls (not unlike those found in Mercs or Camaros) are lovely to look at and just as functional. Turn them to control airflow. Push their centers to adjust temperature. Additional, singular units anchor either end of the ash so driver and passenger can separately control their cabin climates.
The road to Hell was paved with good cruising, but once there, the TT begged to misbehave.
I mercifully dropped my wife off at the local cafe, switched the Audi into DYNAMIC mode, and let it rip up Patterson Lake Road. For many cars SPORT mode is a gimmick. Piped-in sound. Or a brattier exhaust note. Not the TT. It’s DYNAMIC mode has bite. The tac jumps 1500 revs as the electronics select the next-lowest-gear for more torque, bias grip to the rear tires, and quicken downshifts with a rev-matching bark.
The TT’s sharpened exterior matches the cutting-edge MQB chassis underneath, meaning the Audi dices corners like a knife. Wider and longer by an inch, the TT still sports a throwable short-wheel base with the security of AWD grip — the DYNAMIC mode holding the car in gear through corners so you can punch it on exit.
The TT isn’t perfect. An inconsistent nav system, for example, that can’t find Hell, Michigan. And while DYNAMIC mode is a blast, the TT can sound sick — the crankshaft laboring — when AUTO mode keeps the revs too low to save fuel at low city speeds. But with its futuristic interior, wicked styling, and knife-edge handling, my loaded, Tango Red Metallic, $51K TT finds a sweet spot between the $40K Golf R and $60K Porsche Cayman.
2016 Audi TT
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, four-passenger sports car
Price: $43,825 ($50,600 coupe as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Power: 220 horsepower, 258 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.3 seconds (coupe – manufacturer); 5.6 seconds (roadster)
Weight: 3,186 pounds (coupe); 3,384 (roadster)
Fuel economy: EPA 23 city/30 mpg highway/26 mpg
Report card
Highs: Sharp styling; driver-centric instrument display
Lows: Rear-seats workable only if legs and
Payne: Honda Civic raises the bar
Posted by hpayne on October 25, 2015
I think I speak for all Honda pocket-rocket owners when I say that — as a lead-footed, rev-it-’til-it-screams owner of the punchy, 100-horsepower-per-liter 2006 Civic SI — I think Honda should launch the all-new Civic with the Type R performance version. Anticipation for the rabid super-Civic has reached such a fever pitch that we fans are gnawing through our bed blankets. Have a little mercy, please, Honda.
But as product cadence dictates, Honda is releasing its volume-selling Civic sedan first. It’s hard to be mad.
Already the retail sales segment leader for the 500th year in a row, the 10th-generation Civic sedan is simply the best thing the compact sedan segment has ever seen. How good?
This car has the most interior room, biggest backseat, best fuel economy, best center console, most interior room, most (well, almost) horsepower, and is the first car in Autodom to offer both Apple Car Play and Android Auto (my Car Play-starved wife is already halfway to the dealership as I write this — she’ll be disappointed that it’s not on dealer lots until November). Oh, yes, and the Civic has its handling mojo back too, meaning it’s a challenger for best-handling car in segment.
Have a little mercy on the competition, please, Honda.
If there is a flaw in the Civic juggernaut, it’s styling and all-wheel-drive. Or the lack of it. Want four-clawed security in Michigan blizzards? Buy a Subaru Impreza. Civic will refer you to its crossover sibling, CR-V.
As for styling, Civic redefined compact good looks two generations ago with a futuristic, bullet-shaped bod. From raked windshield to sculpted tail, the eighth-gen’s slippery shape and economy of line looked like it has been penned by a German master. Son of Audi? With time, alas, it became misshapen and the new Civic is more traditional with an upright windshield and fat butt.
As a consequence it takes on a more familiar family look and is harder to distinguish from big brother Accord — much less compete with class lookers like the Mazda 3 and Ford Focus.
With its conventional lines, the Civic adopts a flashier wardrobe. It’s a mix of the good, bad, and ugly of current Japanese fashion. The good: Chrome, wrap-around front grille and headlights borrowed from Cyclops’ X-Men eyewear. The bad: Nissan-wannabe, rear boomerang taillights. The ugly: Stuck-on, Mr. Potatohead, plastic rear ducts a laLexus RC350.
In a fleet of media testers in Dexter, I was eager to get around other Civics to spare my eyes those plastic ducts. Fortunately, overtaking isn’t a problem because this Honda isquick.
Stung by media criticism that the ninth-gen was a drunken bucket of lard (we exaggerated a bit), Honda engineers got mad. “We’re returning Civic to its roots as a fun-to-drive car,” admits Honda Product Planner Jenny Gilger.
Her team benchmarked the Civic to European performance sedans like the Audi 3. Ambitious little bugger. While I love any compact sedan for its throwable short-wheel base, Civic takes handling up a rung. Reducing the center of gravity — engine and seats are an inch lower — Civic is planted and intuitive. Over Dexter’s serpentine roads, the FWD Civic may not have been an A3 all-wheel-driver (ahem, another AWD hint, Civic) but it gained my confidence with every tire-squalling turn of the wheel.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Not content with agility, Civic also packs a punch with Honda’s first turbocharged engine. Civic restores Honda’s reputation as an engine company. And none too soon as Ford has been on a roll with its Godzilla-in-a-can, 1.0-liter Ecoboost entry-level engine for the Ford Focus. Civic’s turbo is its premium mill, and — like Ecoboost — does a lot with a little.
With just 1.5-liters, the “Earth Dreams” engine (Ecoboost, Earth Dreams … jeez, what’s next: “Brawny Treehugger”?) is wired on turbo caffeine. Nail the throttle and it jumps like a scalded cat. And unlike my 2006, 2.0-liter V-TEC terrier, it betrays little torque steer. The torque comes on like a fever at 1,800 RPM making it a blast to drive with 174 horsepower — a whopping 31 more than the outgoing 2.0-liter.
Honda loves feeding red meat to its motorhead base — but the biggest Civic advance over last-gen (and everyone else in class) is the interior.
I crossed swords in parking lot autocrosses with the wee Honda Civic CR-X hatch in the ’80s in my compact VW Rabbit (now Golf) GTI. A lot has changed in 30 years. While the Golf has grown slightly from a 97-inch wheelbase to 103, the once-diminutive Civic has ballooned from 90 inches to 106! Haven’t seen a growth spurt like that since Shaq O’Neal in high school.
Most cars have grown, of course, but the Civic’s spurt was spurred by the introduction of the roomy Honda Fit subcompact in 2007 (now the Golf’s natural competitor).
The ’16 Civic may not be Audi’s equal in the handling department, but it’s pole-vaulted it in size. The Civic is the roomiest compact car — luxury or mainstream — that I have tried on with 6-foot-5-inch frame and size 15 shoes. I can “sit behind myself” in the rear seat with ease. Knees forward, head upright. Try that in a Mazda 3. Ouch.
I dig the console too. Credit the diminished windshield in the tenth-gen which forced interior designers to rethink the space. Where the ’15’s console looked like a library of stacked shelves, the ’16 is smartly laid out with a digital instrument panel and flush, iPad-like infotainment screen.
Upon entering Civic I immediately synched my Samsung to Android Auto (which requires a little more patience than Apple Car Play), then stashed my phone under the console. Yes, under. Like those clever sub-trays in the Lincoln MKC and MKZ. Honda’s versatile center console includes sliding cup-holders on top — and a deeper one for Big Gulp drinks that will enrage soft-drink despot Michael Bloomberg.
From Pilot SUV to Civic, give Honda interior designers a blue ribbon. From losers to winners in one generation.
Civic is such an all-around athlete, its omissions are curious. Winter warriors (like Mrs. Payne) will stick with their AWD Subarus no matter how loud the Apple Car Play sirens sing. As for me, I’ll keep patiently waiting for the SI and Type R performance variations.
I love big back seats — but the driver’s seat is where I live.
Vehicle specs.
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact sedan
Price: $19,474 ($25,535 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, inline-4 cylinder; 1.5-liter, turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 158 horsepower, 138 pound-feet of torque (2.0-liter); 174 horsepower, 162 pound-feet of torque (2.0-liter)
Transmission: 6-speed manual; Continuously variable automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.4 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 2,742 pounds base (2,899 EX-T trim as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 27 city/40 mpg highway/31 mpg (manual, 2.0-liter gas); 31 city/41 mpg highway/35 mpg (CVT, 2.0-liter gas); 31 city/42 mpg highway/35 mpg (CVT, 1.5-liter turbo)
Report card
Highs: Super-sized rear seat; Turbo-riffic
Lows: Those plasticky, rear-duct thingies; AWD option, please
Overall:★★★★
Payne: High-tech Chevy Volt’s lower profile
Posted by hpayne on October 10, 2015
I love car niche wars.
Pickup wars, sports-car stand-offs, pony-car clashes. They are the automotive equivalent of division sports rivalries: Big Ten football, NBA East, AL Central.
Lock the owners of a Ford F-150, RAM 1500, and Chevy Silverado in a room together and they may not come out alive. Invite the proud owners of a Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911 and Dodge Viper over for dinner and feel the temperature drop 20 degrees. Ask a bar-full of Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro and Dodge Challenger drivers which is king and watch the stools fly. Typical niche owner conversation:
“Mustangs suck!”
“Camaros are pieces of junk!”
“My grandmother’s walker corners faster than a Challenger!”
In the last decade a new niche scuffle has broken out in Autodom: The Green Wars featuring the Toyota Prius, Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt.
Fans of these battery-powered gizmos, however, are a different lot. Contrary to the testosterone-fueled, brawling niches I’m used to, these folks are more likely to share wine and hummus while complimenting each other on saving the planet. Typical green niche owner conversation:
“Can I go for a ride in your Volt?”
“My first car was a Prius, too!”
“Al Gore autographed my Leaf!”
Car manufacturers are horrified at this civility. Especially in a market where the Prius family outsells Volt and Leaf combined nearly 5-to-1. Time to take the gloves off. Or at least the mittens. With the all-new 2016 Chevy Volt, General Motors is coming out swinging with an ad campaign featuring real folks dissing the competition.
The campaign rightly touts the lithium-ion powered, plug-in Volt as the highest-tech, most practical green solution on the lot. Want a nickel-metal hydride-powered, gas-sucking Prius hybrid? Chevy scoffs that you must still listen to CDs and correspond by fax. Want a pure electric, 83-mile range Leaf? Hello, range anxiety.
Chevy’s bold campaign finally explains to the public the Volt difference. An admitted late-comer to the green battlefield, GM had a lot of ground to make up on Prius — so its Volt solution was necessarily brilliant: An EV with range-extending gas engine.
Despite enormous expectations and the blessing of electric-car-skeptic, car-guy-legend Bob Lutz, however, the Volt hit the ground plodding. Its car shell was a miscalculation at a time when the market was crossing to crossovers. What’s more, its styling caused an epidemic of yawns, the cabin-splitting battery limited seating to four, and it stickered at $40,000.
Cough. A $40K Chevy compact?
But an extended drive through Marin County north of San (AKA Greenville) Francisco in the Gen-two Volt is a reminder of plug-ins’ ingenuity. With its T-shaped battery driving twin-motors up front, my torque-y, silver-metallic Volt took off up California Route 1 on full electric power like a Leaf or Tesla.
Unlike other EVs, however, I didn’t sweat the trip’s mileage or check if there was a supercharger en route. Whenever my 18.4-kilowatt-hour battery ran out of charge, the 1.5-liter gas engine — er, range extender — would kick in ensuring another 240 miles and Big Oil’s limitless infrastructure should I need more gas.
Green meets practical. Is “greenical” a word?
Wait, Payne, you’re thinking, you did the iconic, curvy, Route 1 in an electric appliance? On purpose? Sure, at 3,543 pounds the Cruze-based Volt is no 3,100-pound VW GTI (the last compact I flogged on Route 1). But like the porky Tesla, the Volt’s battery is on the floor, making it surprisingly nimble for its girth.
Fifty-four miles into the trip, the gasoline engine took over with such stealth that I had to check the instrument panel to be sure. Wrapped in a cocoon-quiet interior, the plug-in is nearly as silent in gas mode as in electric. On the downhill, interstate grade back to Golden Gate Bridge, I played with the regenerative paddle behind the steering wheel, preserving brakes while also charging electrons.
I have two quibbles: It’s still not a crossover, and it looks like a Cruze.
On the former, GM Chief Engineer of EVs Pam Fletcher says the forthcoming Chevy Bolt will satisfy the ride-high itch. I like the idea that an EV will be in the new, sub-compact crossover market, but isn’t the compact crossover market the hottest thing this side of bacon? And won’t the Bolt suffer from the same range anxiety that makes the Volt convulse in derisive laughter?
I asked Steve Majoros, GM’s marketing guru, about quibble two. You should know that Majoros is an irresistible force of nature. The guy could sell a bicycle to a fish. So when he told me that exhaustive customer research has shown that “we’re past the point where electric cars need to make a statement,” and customers “just want a car that’s less look-at-me and more just-drives-well”… well, he almost had me convinced.
Almost.
Because I’ve never met a niche car that didn’t need to make a statement. Since man invented the wheel, muscle-car owners want muscly fenders, sports car guys want sporty curves … and now greens want cool tech pods. iPhone-sleek package, iPhone-user-friendly guts.
Gen-two gets it half right. Inside, Volt’s e-drivetrain marries Chevy’s e-savvy console to produce a tech-topia: 4G WiFi, Apple CarPlay, voice recognition. Steve Jobs would have approved.
But the exterior looks like Jobs outsourced the iPhone to, well, Chevy.
Chevy does vanilla. Like Toyota, like Hyundai. In a Sausalito parking lot of Corollas and Elantras, Volt blended right in. On the other hand, GM does great niche. Camaro. Corvette. The, um, Caddy ELR version of the Volt. Imagine if Volt had done an ELR wedge! I’m told there was a showdown over which fork to take. Vanilla won.
I parked next to a Prius. The owner didn’t give the Cruze — er, Volt — a second look until I told him it was the new Volt. “Oh, nice,” he said. “I’d consider one but they are way too expensive.”
That’s another reason to make the Volt look more expensive: It’s expensive. The base model starts at $33,995 — nearly $10K above Prius. Buy the “Premier” trim and you’re pushing the $40K club where bejeweled BMWs and Audis preen. Grab that $7,500 federal subsidy because it won’t last forever.
Prius, meanwhile, has gone the opposite direction with its look-at-me 2016 makeover. Maybe their marketing is telling them something different. Or maybe it’s the result of CEO Aki Toyoda stalking the halls with a one-way ticket to the North Pole if anyone makes another vanilla Toyota.
Whatever. It will stoke debate. Competition. Niche warfare. C’mon, Volt owners, altogether now:
“Prius sucks!”
2016 Chevrolet Volt
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger hatchback electric vehicle
Price: $33,400 ($33,995 as tested)
Power plant: 18.4 kWh, lithium ion battery driving two electric, AC motors plus 1.5-liter, dual-overhead-cam, inline-4 cylinder
Power: 149 horsepower, 294 pound-feet of torque (in electric mode); 101 horsepower (gas engine mode)
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.4 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 3,543 pounds (six-speed automatic as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 106 MPGe (combined electric/gas); 43 city/42 mpg highway/42 mpg (gas engine only)
Report card
Highs: Console tech-topia; Regen paddle
Lows: Looks like a Cruze; Priced like a BMW
Overall:★★★
Payne: Acura ILX dissed by Honda?
Posted by hpayne on October 10, 2015
If the new, 2016 Honda Civic is benchmarked to luxury performance sedans like the Audi A3, then what’s left for the Civic-based Acura ILX? It’s as if Pei Wei announced it’s serving the same ingredients as upscale P.F. Chang’s. Or Hampton Inn did bellboys like posh Hilton.
Why would anyone pay luxury prices if mainstream brands offered the same goodness?
It’s a non-issue for exclusive automakers like BMW and Mercedes. But for luxe siblings in large corporate families, the answer is crucial. What justifies a luxury brand’s higher price if it shares DNA with a mainstream badge? Why Cadillac over Chevy? Why Lexus not Toyota? Audi over VW? Acura not Honda?
Indeed, to re-establish its luxe cred, Cadillac divorced itself from the rest of GM so it could craft elite, rear-wheel-drive platforms like the Alpha-chassis. It’s for first-class compact sedans like the Caddy ATS. Chevy Cruze? You’re back in front-wheel-drive, Delta-platform coach class, fella. Pull the curtain, please.
Lexus (obsessively good dealer service) and Audi (styling, all-wheel-drive performance) have successfully established their brands.
Acura not so much. Exhibit A: The new 2016 ILX.
With a reworked fascia, Acura’s signature Jewel Eye LED headlights, and eight-speed auto tranny, the ILX took a bow earlier this year … and was promptly drowned out by parent Honda’s New York Auto Show announcement that an all-new, all-star, all-wonderful 2016 Civic was coming. Not just a Civic sedan, but a first-ever five-door Civic wagon, SI performance model, and (drum roll, please) the rocking’, sockin’ Civic Type R. Standing O!
ILX who?
Pity the little Acura for its heart is in the right place. It dares to enter the compact luxe arena against names like the Mercedes CLA250, BMW 2-series and Audi A3 with a lot of standard value for under $30k: sunroof, push-button start, 17-inch wheels, audio connectivity, etc. And it’s prettier than Civic – not that that helps much.
Because the CLA is Angelina Jolie on four wheels and the A3 is Brad Pitt. And they just get sexier. Both cars option all-wheel-drive and sensational, AMG and S3 performance models with higher-horsepower turbo engines. The ILX is a match for the Germans in base, FWD mode, but equip the CLA and A3 with AWD and they not only will dance pirouettes around the ILX (I’m still grinning from flogging the A3 through Hell, Michigan, last year), but they will pulverize snow drifts in Michigan winters.
The ILX’s free-revving, 2.4-liter, 201-horse four-banger is the same engine that motivates the Civic SI – but then Honda starves the ILX of other engine options while the new Civic Type R is promised a two-point-oh-my-goodness-liter, turbocharged mill worthy of a reported 300 horsepower. Mommy, why did Santa leave more presents in Civic’s stocking?
Even as ILX gives new Civic design hints, it will have to suffer through the next model year(s) on the old Civic platform while the Honda preens on the aforementioned, benchmarked-to-A3 global platform. Mommy, was it something I said? That means my $35,810 ILX tester will have less chassis capability, less rear seat space and … an inferior console compared to cousin Honda priced maybe $8,000 cheaper.
Yup, the new Civic ditches Acura’s antiquated multi-screens for a single, iPad-like touch screen. Even Merc should take a hint from its attractive layout.
Load up CLA and A3 with AWD, navigation and driver-assist features and they start to bump the $40 grand ceiling. Opportunity for my similarly equipped (AWD aside) ILX then, yes?
Er, well …
The thing is Acura is not alone as an entry-luxe price leader. The sleek, $28k Buick Regal is there too – and with Teutonic upgrades like AWD and a 259-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo that will have ILX knocking on Honda’s door in the middle of the night wanting to know when the #@!!** that Type-R, 300-horse motor will be ready. Not only is Acura dissed by the uppity Civic – but also by the larger Accord sedan. For the same price as my Acura tester the Accord comes with leather seats, navigation, a palatial back seat, and a 278 horsepower, ILX-eating, V6 engine. Holidays around the Honda dinner table must be tense.
Adding insult to injury, Accord has also borrowed Acura’s Jewel Eye headlights. Add the BMW-like, LED taillights and, well, can I take the Honda to the prom instead, mom?
What to do? Acura’s forthcoming NSX halo supercar shows the way. All-wheel-drive, twin-turbos. Apply that formula to the whole lineup and we’re talkin’ blown, AWD ILXs.
So even if the Acura isn’t as pretty as the rest of the class, it will never get bullied.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com and Twitter @HenryEPayne. View all his work at HenryPayne.com.
2016 Acura ILX
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger performance sedan
Price: $28,820 base ($35,810 as tested)
Power plant: 2.4-liter, dual-overhead-cam, inline-4 cylinder
Power: 201 horsepower, 180 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Eight-speed, dual-clutch automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.6 seconds (Car and Driver)
Weight: 3,134 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 25 mpg city/36 mpg highway/29 combined
Report card
Highs: Nimble handling; Snazzy LED headlights
Lows: Sits on old Civic chassis while Accord steals its headlights; AWD turbo, please?
Overall:★★
Payne: Papal Fiat 500L vs. Presidential Chevy Suburban
Posted by hpayne on October 10, 2015
When Pope Francis arrived at the White House in a Fiat 500L station wagon last month, media reports buzzed about his humble, fuel-sipping, little ride. Well … maybe “little” when compared to the giant, Secret Service Chevy Suburbans that usually ferry Washington dignitaries. Or the custom-built, gas-guzzling Cadillac limo — Secret Service code-name “The Beast” — that President Obama tools around in (when he’s not in one of two, presidential-sealed Suburbans).
Or maybe the pope’s Vatican team went out and found the biggest Italian car sold in the States.
As prominent members of the Save the Polar Bear Club, the pope and the president might prefer, say, a battery-powered Fiat 500e subcompact (EPA rating: 116 MPGe) and a plug-in electric Chevy Volt sedan (EPA rating: 106 MPGe). But circumstances demand the opposite.
Our leaders, it turns out, are no different than the rest of us when it comes to selecting their transportation in cheap-gas, big-avenue America: They prioritize practicality and comfort (and if they can wave the flag of a domestic brand, all the better).
I drove a 500L and a Chevy Suburban side-by-side for a week to gain the perspective of pope and prez (or at least their chauffeur) — and the vehicles they are endorsing for America.
Two feet longer and a half-foot taller than a Fiat 500, the L (for Large, introduced in 2013) got the free-advertising gift of a lifetime: A papal ride before a TV audience of millions.
Truth be told, Fiat dealers would probably have preferred the pope in the all-new, 2016 Fiat 500X small ute which promises more success for the beleaguered brand — even though it’s marginally smaller than the Large. We Yanks are ga-ga for crossovers.
Still, the pope’s visit has given the tepid-selling L a shot in the arm. Kelley Blue Book’s website recorded a 50 percent spike in searches for Fiat and the 500L after the pope’s visit. “We’ve been inundated with calls,” Kathy Finn, brand manager for Fiat Chrysler, told Bloomberg News. “Customers are calling surprised at how spacious the car is.”
Francis isn’t the first headliner to endorse the 500L (remember P. Diddy’s desert mirage ad?), proving products aren’t sold on celebrity alone. Still, the 500L is worth a drive. Like its competitors in the Multi-Purpose Vehicle (FCA’s preferred name —anything but “station wagon”) segment, the L is a different animal.
Take its upright, toaster shape.
While the 500L bears Fiat’s familiar, baby-cute face (is that a pacifier stuck in its grille?), the body behind it is less Fiat 500 and more Chrysler Town & Country. Honey, I shrunk the minivan!
The massive greenhouse has more glass than Notre Dame. And unlike the Paris cathedral’s stained panes, you can see right through the Large, making for excellent driver visibility — and views of waving popes. Fiat even added windows on the corner A- and C-pillars for better visibility. Include the optional moonroof on my tester and the pope has an unobstructed view of heaven from the backseat.
Speaking of rear seats, the L has plenty of room for this 6’5” ex-basketball player, much less the 5’9” Francis. They’ll tumble or fold flat, too, opening up the already ample 23 cubic feet of trunk volume. And the L comes with an excellent Beats stereo system — in case the pontiff wants to chill to some Diddy.
From a distance, both the Suburban and 500L look like shoeboxes. And that’s about the only thing they share.
“Hey, Mark Wahlberg. Shut up!” yells an annoyed theater-goer trying to get the attention of Amy Schumer’s noisy, muscular boyfriend in “Trainwreck.”
“‘Mark Wahlberg?’” the boyfriend shouts back. “I look like Mark Wahlberg ate Mark Wahlberg.”
That’s the Suburban. If the 500L is a supersized 500, the Chevy’s rear hatch looks like it could swallow it in one bite. Where the L let’s the sunshine in, the Silverado truck-based Suburban’s interior is cavernous, with dark-tinted rear windows and out-of-sight back corners. President Obama could sit in the second row bucket seats, the pope comfortable in the third row bench behind — and there would still be room for their luggage in the 40 cubic feet of rear cargo space.
The Suburban LTZ I drove is nearly as luxurious as its cousin, the Cadillac Escalade. Heated and air-conditioned leather seats, flip down movie screen, sun roof, 4G LTE Wi-Fi — even cool toys like Apple Car Play. Even before the Secret Service installs bulletproof glass the Suburban is loaded with safety systems like pre-collision automatic braking, blind-spot alert, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, 360-degree radar, and anti-aircraft missiles (just kidding about that last one). I managed to park in absurdly tight spaces thanks to the 360-view. Take this bad boy to Rome’s tight streets and it would be still be able to maneuver.
And if you gotta’ run from the bad guys?
Both vehicles are surprisingly nimble for their girth. While the Holy Father might have needed a barf bag if he were aboard, I had a blast flogging the balanced L through Oakland County — only betrayed by a wee 1.4-liter turbo engine that’s not up to the task of the 3,200-pound MPV. The Suburban, meanwhile, is a revelation.
Just shy of three tons, the LTZ is an elephant in ballet slippers. With coil-over springs front and rear and Magnetic Ride Control shocks, it glides along, taking corners with surprising confidence. On dark, slick Pontiac Trail one Saturday night, the Chevy was sure-footed as I chauffeured Mrs. Payne to a wedding reception. Nail the throttle out of a corner with 4WD churning and the 5.3-liter V-8 pulled like a farm ox. Catch me if you can, ISIS.
The Fiat puts the Chevy in its rear view mirror when it comes to fuel economy (duh): 25 mpg to 18. Still, the Suburban has a green safety net: It can run on good ol’ American-made, corn ethanol. When I was a reporter in Washington a couple of presidents ago, I asked if the Secret Service filled the Suburbans’ tanks with ethanol. My inquiry was met with, um, suspicion. Awkward. I swear I was followed for the next month.
Still, the president might insist on it. It would give him a hole card should the pope ever claim that he has the greener ride.
2016 Fiat 500L
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger station wagon
Price: $20,800 ($26,895 as tested)
Power plant: 1.4-liter, 16-valve, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Power: 160 horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed manual; six-speed, twin-clutch; six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 8.9 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,254 pounds (six-speed automatic as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 22 mpg city/30 mpg highway/25 mpg combined (FWD manual)
Report card
Highs: Excellent visibility; lotsa’ personality
Lows: Peaky turbo engine; third row, please?
Overall:★★★
Payne Q&Auto: EV-pioneer Farah talks Volt 2.0
Posted by hpayne on October 5, 2015
If the classic, 1970s Chevrolet TV ad were recast for the 21st century, it might go like this: “Baseball, berries, crunchy granola, and Chevrolet Volt.” So pervasive is the stereotype of Chevy’s green plug-in that the “Father of the Volt” himself, Bob Lutz, once joked to Stephen Colbert that it would attract “a lot of very nice, no-makeup, environmentalist women.”
“A little crunchier,” joined in Colbert.
Yet, the “Government Motors” car once derided by Republican candidate Herman Cainas “Obama’s baby” is hardly the product of sandal-wearing, anti-car hippies. Indeed, Lutz and Chief Engineer Andrew Farah are unabashed motor heads who cut their teeth on fast cars and fossil fuels.
As its founding fathers suggest, the peppy, high-tech Volt is more than meets the eye.
Four years after the electric vehicle’s launch, the tire-smoking, MIG-flying Lutz has moved on, but the formidable Farah remains. Their off-spring has evolved from apolitically-charged “moon shot” to a second-generation Chevy mainstay. If Corvette is a supercar for the masses, then the 2016 Volt is an EV for the average buyer. It is the pinnacle of the 55-year-old Farah’s career as one of the nation’s foremost EV innovators — a logical marriage of his U-of-M-honed computer engineering degree and his childhood passion for tinkering with go-karts.
I sat down with the 30-year GM veteran at Volt 2.0’s launch in Sausalito, California, to talk electrics, EV-1, and farms.
Q: What was your first car?
Farah: 1976 Chevrolet Blazer K5, four-wheel-drive with a 400-cubic inch small block and a 400 Turbo-Hydromatic 3-speed transmission and a two-speed gear case.
Q: Spoken like a true motor-head.
Farah: Well, I took it apart a number of times to fix … my own damage. I really enjoy cars. As a kid I had a number of go-karts, snowmobiles, motorcycles. I had the greatest advantage: My grandmother had a farm (Ed. note: in Davidson, Michigan). And on a farm you have a lot of space and everything needs fixing.
Q: Did you want to be an engineer when you went to University of Michigan?
Farah: When I first got to college I was a physics major. Then I figured out that getting a job might be a little difficult so I went to my next favorite thing which was … computer programming. So I’m actually a computer engineer by training, and my masters is in electrical science for the application of computers — specifically embedded systems like microcontrollers and engines, transmissions, batteries. I used to hate the question: “Hey, I want a computer — which one should I buy?” And I’d say: “What are you going to do with it?” “I don’t know.” I’d say: “Don’t buy one.” This was all before networking. What has really cracked that market open is the getting and sharing of data — specially embedded systems like the ability to network in the car which has opened up great, new possibilities. So I am really doing what I set out to do.
Q: The first-generation Volt introduced an advanced computer-driven powertrain, but now you are the intersection for other digital applications like 4G WiFi and Apple CarPlay.
Farah: A pipeline to the car. It’s like I said, PCs were nothing until you had connectivity to other PCs. Now that the car can share data with X, it’s going to open up some additional things I’m sure.
Q: Before Volt you worked on the ill-fated EV1?
Farah: EV-1 was a great car for what it was. It was a two-seater, had limited range, was a bit eclectic looking, and people either loved it or hated it. The first generation Volt had a sort of moon shot mentality: We’re going to take everything we know about electrification and move it to the next step, The Gen 2 refines all that . . . and expands it into a mainstream vehicle.
Q: Will the plug-in move beyond the Volt just as Toyota has put hybrid in all its vehicles? Or will Volt always be a singular GM model?
Farah: I definitely see the technology moving into other parts of the GM/Chevy family, specifically the Malibu hybrid. That only makes sense.
Q: What’s next?
Farah: Electrification still has a long way to go. But there are other areas important in the industry (as we) move to a more urban society. The concepts of car-sharing, automated driving, others sources of energy. . . . I want to continue to be on that cutting edge.
Payne: An MKX as elegant as Lincoln
Posted by hpayne on October 2, 2015
Imagine if Abe Lincoln had had the opportunity to drive in his namesake, the Lincoln MKX sport ute.
At 6-foot-4, our 16th president would have slipped easily into the passenger seat of the two-row SUV as a Secret Service agent drove him down Pennsylvania Avenue on Inauguration Day. With the “Panoramic Vista Roof” open, Abe’s stove-pipe hat would have stuck out like, well, a stove pipe. On occasion, he might have stood on the seat and emerged from the roof waving a long arm to the madding crowds.
Far from the awkward-looking Lincoln MKT large SUV or the last-generation, prison-bar-grille MKX, the ’16 mid-size MKX is the most elegant ute in its class. Dead last in U.S. luxury market sales, Lincoln is showing signs of life. Following in the tire-treads of its smaller MKC stablemate, the X’s design is noble. With the bars turned pleasingly horizontal, its signature, double-grille spreads like the wings of a bald eagle.
I lived for 13 years in the nation’s capital, and the stately Lincoln would have been at home on its grand boulevards, the picture of class. No doubt, if 19th-century Abe had encountered an MKX he would have reacted like he had seen a UFO.
Returning from a trip to Chicago on a Saturday night, I descended on an I-94 interchange service center outside Kalamazoo like an alien spaceship in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” An MKX SUV UFO, if you please. The X’s 12 LED headlights and distinctive, tubular LED running lights — front and rear — are so sci-fi a group of locals hanging out on the curb might have expected aliens to emerge from inside. They got Mrs. Payne and me instead.
“What did you do just then?” one local exclaimed pointing at the front of our spaceship.
He had seen the Lincoln star logo rise up and a small camera emerge as I inched forward into the parking space. I had actuated the front camera (which has its own washer, natch) with a console button so I could dock closely to the curb without hitting it. Gather ’round, my earthly pals, there’s more. They crowded around the driver’s door like kids who had just been invited into an airliner cockpit for the first time. The button-festooned MKX interior was a century-removed from the old Ford F150 pickups and compact cars in the parking lot. I demonstrated how the forward lens — combined with two under the mirrors and one aft — give the driver a bird’s eye view of the vehicle in order to place it exactly in a parking space.
If the Lincoln had gull-wing doors like inventor “Doc” Brown’s DeLorean in “Back to the Future” (or the Tesla Model X introduced this week) the scene would have been perfect.
But the MKX doesn’t have gull-wings. Nor does it have 5,000 horsepower like an SRT Jeep Grand Cherokee. Or 11-inch rear tires like the BMW X5 M. Or an F-Sport badge like the Lexus RX. Now that SUVs ride on car chassis, manufacturers are keen to load them with testosterone to grab headlines and quicken the pulses of auto show crowds.
The MKX doesn’t care about any of that stuff. “Quiet luxury” is its mantra. Indeed, the latest Matthew McConaughey ads are notable for the hunky Hollywood star never uttering a sound — much less the vehicle.
For all of the MKX’s gadgetry, though, its Kalamazoo fans — or President Abe — would have quickly been at ease behind the wheel. Its 22-way adjustable leather seats fit like thrones — including a massage if one so desires. Dial in a 20-minute back rub, turn on the optional Revel audio system and some soothing music and you might be carried away into a sauna-like coma.
Until the beeping begins.
MKX may be a rolling Barcalounger, but it’s also obsessively concerned about your safety. Stray toward your lane lines and the steering wheel vibrates. Approach a curb and the car beeps hysterically. Rush the car in front too quickly and lights flash like you’re in a disco. What a nag. But then I spoke with a nurse friend in Chicago whose No. 1 concern was vehicle safety. When I told her she’d be more secure inside an MKX than the Crown Jewels, she was sold. If I paid 50 grand for something this elegant, I’d want a Brinks security system too.
Smart shoppers will note that the Lincoln is built on the same bones as the all-new, 2015 Ford Edge that I reviewed in March, which can be had for 10 grand less and is itself no slouch in the gizmo department. Similar 3.5-liter V-6 and 2.7 twin-turbo V-6 (though the MKX gets more horses). Same moon roof, same driver assist systems, same liftgate-kick feature, same self-parking assist. Oh, was that handy around Chicago where cars are stuffed into parallel parking spaces like grocery-shelf soup cans.
But the Edge-in-a-tuxedo Lincoln is a bargain itself compared to the luxury competition.
Only the Volvo XC90 — 10-large more expensive than the MKX — can compete with the Lincoln’s thoughtful, graceful interior design. While Lincoln has long used buttons for its transmissions, the arrangement — coupled with a touchscreen infotainment system — seems suited to the 21st century digital age. The center console sweeps between the seats unbroken by shelves or gear knobs that clutter. Need to store an iPad or handbag? Ample storage lies underneath where hydraulic cables once ran.
Lincoln has been in the wilderness so long, I’d forgotten what it stood for. “Quiet luxury” is a good place to start alongside price-competitive, sales-leading Lexus RX, which has gone Ted Nugent-loud with its radical, Darth Vader grille. Acura’s MDX will remain the SUV of choice for those who need three rows. And Audi will gain the sporty crowd.
Let Tesla’s Model X and Audi’s Q7 fight for the $80,000 eclectic electric buyer. Lincoln needs a practical SUV in the meat of the market that can build a solid base. Lincoln the pol would get that. And in my week-long drive from Chicago to Kalamazoo to Detroit, the $40-60K MKX spaceship earned plenty of supporters.
2016 Lincoln MKX
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- or all-wheel-drive, five-passenger sport ute
Price: $38,995 ($61,760 as tested)
Power plant: 3.7-liter, 24-valve V-6; 2.7-liter, twin-turbocharged V6
Power: 303 horsepower, 278 pound-feet of torque (3.7-liter); 335 horsepower, 380 pound-feet of torque (turbo)
Transmission: Six-speed automatic transmission
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0-6.7 seconds (Car & Driver estimate)
Weight: 4,447 pounds (AWD turbo as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 16 mpg city/23 mpg highway/19 mpg combined (3.7-liter AWD); EPA 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway/19 mpg combined (turbo AWD)
Report card
Highs: Best console in class; hi-tech gizmos
Lows: Similar Ford Edge is 10 grand cheaper; third row, please?
Overall:★★★★