- Search Cartoons
- Comic Archive
-
Payne
Store
Henry Payne RSS
Articles Blog
The bold, new face of Lincoln
Posted by hpayne on March 30, 2015
Lincoln just crashed the swank, 2016 New York Auto Show.
This was supposed to be the Cadillac CT6’s party, meticulously planned since the debutant’s elegant coming out at the Super Bowl. But with the quiet of a Lockheed stealth fighter and the beauty of Cinderella, the Lincoln Continental Concept stormed New York Monday with the new face of Lincoln.
Goodbye elegant bow wave, hello bold center grille. Get use to that term. Bold. Bold, bold. It’s a term that has been sorely missing in Lincoln’s lexicon. Where the wispy, waterfall, winged-grille of recent vintage has struggled to find friends, the bold new face and slab sides of the Continental are a return to American muscle. Or maybe English muscle.
The powerful lines of the big sedan harken back to prez limos – but also echo the powerful face and loins of, say, the Bentley Continental GTS. There are lots of familiar, exterior design cues here from the Acura-like, LED spider eyes to the Kia “tiger-nose” grille to the signature, horizontal, Lincoln tail. But the Continental is more than a new face. Its cutting edge rear seats (Asian executives are high-fiving right now) are 30-way, 11-bladder, reclining thrones fit for a king. Or at least The Donald.
Will this be the new direction that reignites a stale brand?
Lincoln could have totally reinvented itself as a digital-age, cutting edge, electric-maker. But Green Elon Musk beat Green Bill Ford to market with the Tesla Model S, the most exciting American luxe car in memory (it must be galling to Ford’s green scion that Musk even stole his great grandfather’s “Model T” badge language). So Lincoln has chosen to go back to the future instead. Continental resurrected – powered by 3.0-liter Ecoboost.
Ford is getting good at this stealth stuff. Remember the shocking reveal of the LeMans-bound, GT supercar at the Detroit Auto Show?
And don’t be confused by that “concept” label. One look at the finished, signature Lincoln, push-button console and this beast looks ready for the street. Expect it to roll into showrooms next year as Lincoln’s flagship sedan.
(Photo courtesy of Lincoln Motor Co.)
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Follow him on Twitter @HenryEPayne. WEB: http://www.detroitnews.com/staff/27083/henry-payne/. EMAIL: hpayne@detroitnews.com
Payne: Chevy Trax tastes better with AWD
Posted by hpayne on March 28, 2015
“Everything goes better with bacon.” Everyone has their own favorite condiment. Some folks like bacon. Others ketchup. My favorite is guacamole. Sure, it’s popular with chips. But a smear will improve just about anything from burgers to beans.
All-wheel drive is like that on autos.
Racers know that AWD is the supreme advantage — which is why it is banned in most forms of motorsport. For off-roaders, AWD is a must. Jeep swears by it. AWD gives modern supercars better grip off the line. But like guacamole, I find AWD valuable beyond its traditional places.
Everything goes better with AWD. Take the 2015 Chevy Trax I’ve been driving.
It’s one of a herd of subcompact SUVs that has carved out a new segment right before our eyes. It’s hip. It’s growing. It attracts young people to the brand. It’s . . . sooooo boring. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean “boring” as in nothing to offer. The Trax is cute. Loaded with amenities. A very practical entry-level car. But its highest purpose is affordable transportation. It only comes with a 138 horse, 1.4-liter turbo engine, for goodness sake. It has the low-end torque of a gerbil wheel. I’ve seen better 0-60 times from lawn tractors. It moves slower than the last two minutes of an NFL championship game.
And without a sporty, SS version there’s no horsepower savior on the horizon. But opt for the Trax’s affordable, $1,500, AWD option and this unsalted cracker comes to life.
Throw the Trax into a 90-degree right-hander and it rotates like a champ. Like Dumbo on skis, it slides, but stays on course. The more you do it, the more addictive it becomes. At 3,208 pounds (700 pounds lighter than a BMW X1!) the Trax is predictable, throwable — its weight never causing undue body roll despite its upright stance.
The experience heightens your senses and awakens you to the metal egg’s other idiosyncrasies.
Like storage. The Trax has more hiding places than a jewel thief. Two smart phone holders on either side of the center stack — a lidded compartment above it. Two gloveboxes like a VW Bug. Slide your hand under the passenger seat and a drawer pops out. The doors contain more bins.
If my kids were little, we’d do Easter egg hunts in the Trax.
Now play “Find the USB.” For all the storage Trax offers it only provides one USB port to recharge your phone. Where would you put it? Behind the shifter? Above the console? The upper glovebox? Bingo.
The only place the Trax doesn’t have a storage is between the seats because the Trax is so darn narrow. My long knees and tall noggin are comfortable in the front chairs, but put another tall guy next to me and it’s claustrophobic. Like airline seats that share an arm rest, you’ll be fighting for elbow room the whole trip. If you’re overweight, forget it. Mike&Molly couldn’t do their show in this car. Molly would have to sit in the back seat.
At least she wouldn’t create visibility issues. The Trax already has the worst blind sport in any small vehicle I’ve driven. The president’s energy policy doesn’t have blind sports this big. Mind the (standard) rear park-assist camera or you’ll be backing over your mailbox every two weeks.
Technology is a mixed bag. The 4G LTE Wi-Fi hot spot is brilliant. Infotainment ergonomics not so much. The touch screen is slow, the ON-OFF button is Son of Cadillac Cue. It’s so vague, I nearly broke my finger jabbing at it.
But all is forgiven when I fling the AWD bowling ball through another bend. Subcompacts were never this much fun. Remember them? Cars like the Chevy Sonic get good gas mileage. Front wheel drive. No AWD. Booooring. But add bacon and guacamole and it’s transformed. Here’s the Trax recipe: Take Chevy Sonic chassis. Jack it up. Add AWD. Call it a ute.
Bang! You’re selling 4,000 a month.
Just like the Buick Encore. Buick gets the premium crowd, but the Trax is plenty of subcompact for $4 grand less. It sports a surprising amount of rear room — even for giraffes like me — thanks to its hatchback configuration. Need storage? Flatten the front and rear seats and you can throw in a dining table.
Which we’ll need for that Final Four feast we’re planning. Pot luck style. I’ll bring the guacamole. Can someone bring 50 more horsepower for the Trax?
2015 Chevrolet Trax
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front and all-wheel drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $20,995 base ($27,405 LZ AWD as tested)
Power plant: 1.4-liter, turbo inline 4-cylinder
Power: 138 horsepower, 148 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 9.4 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,048 pounds base (3,283 AWD as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 24 mpg city/31 mpg highway/27 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: LOL AWD fun; Storage galore
Lows: Vague screen controls; Accleration of a garden snail
Overall:★★★
Payne: Jaguar XF is one cool cat
Posted by hpayne on March 26, 2015
I have a soft spot for pizza, and one of my favorite pie joints is Primo’s, a small Birmingham convenience store just around the corner from the luxe showrooms of Auto Europe and Fred Lavery Porsche-Audi. Primo’s has been in business since the Cretaceous Period, and its loyal, crusty employees have seen a world of exotics drive by their big, front window. I have come to their store in countless vehicles. I pick up my box, exchange pleasantries, head back to my ride. But a recent visit was different. The cashier couldn’t take his eyes off the Polaris White, Jaguar XF I had parked in front.
“Wow, that’s a pretty car,” he ogled. Yes it is.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. The Ford Fusion copied the Aston Martin’s grille because the Brit-mobile has the best-looking face in the business. Tesla copied the XF sedan’s profile for its Model S sedan because the Jag sets the standard for four-door beauty.
Like its animal namesake, the Jaguar’s blunt nose is the only feature on this cat that isn’t poetry in motion. Narrow headlights sweep around the front corners. Curvy, chrome, lower-air intake accents frame the face like cat whiskers. From this crouched cowl, the vehicle’s body angles upwards across muscular wheel haunches, meeting a tapered roof in one of the auto kingdom’s most admired rumps.
This column’s reader comments are often peppered with comments scolding me for reviewing 60 grand chariots afforded by the fatted few. But rolling sculptures like the XF are the industry’s artistic standard. A young architect studying Frank Lloyd Wright may not re-create Fallingwater, but he can transform neighborhoods with attractive, affordable, Prairie style housing. So too the Jag.
Its first-class taste inspires every segment. There’s the aforementioned Fusion with a fastback that is oh-so-XF-like. Or the forthcoming Chevy Malibu which GM has teased with an XF-like (or is it Audi A7-like?) silhouette. My tennis game pales compared to Pete Sampras, but my serve benefits from mimicking his classic stroke.
Seems the 2015 Jaguar XF I’ve been flying around in has done a little mimicking of its own.
Truth be told, despite Jaguar cars’ Gwyneth Paltrow-good looks, they had always left me cold. Detroit-winter cold. Back when the brand was part of the Ford stable, I felt sorry for Blue Oval execs slip-slopping through Detroit winters in their rear-wheel drive, two-ton Jag sleds. Like Gwyneth in high heels on ice, winter driving in Jaguars seemed an exercise in caution. Where’s the joy in that?
But since the English cat was freed from Ford’s zoo, the beast has thrived in the backyard of India’s Tata. Jaguar is shedding its caricature as a rolling, wood-paneled London business office — with handling to match. Jaguar introduced the snarling, V-8, all-aluminum F-Type coupe. Then the aluminum, BMW 3-series-fighting XE bowed at the Detroit Show this January. And when the 2016 XF takes center stage in New Yorknext week, it too will get an aluminum structure. The gorgeous, Ford-developed XF got the brand back on track in 2008, but it was not until 2013 that Tata green-lighted AWDfor the XF to match its midsize luxe competitors: BMW xDrive, Audi Quattro, and Mercedes 4MATIC.
A Jaguar powered by all four paws. Now that’s more like it.
The XF is a sure-footed cat in snow and dry. February threw everything at it, yet this kitty eagerly attacked the elements every day. Claw-like brakes. Instinctive all-wheel drive. Predictable steering. The big cat was as comfortable in powder as Lindsey Vonn.
The all-wheel drive system flatters the rear-wheel-drive-biased XF in the dry as well. Despite its heft, I could throw the sedan through corners, its rear tail naturally rotating into place. At stoplights, the AWD grip is a perfect mate for the ferocious 340-horse, supercharged V-6 under the hood.
Short of an electric Tesla, there isn’t a sedan on the market that will pin you to the back of your seat like the torquey, 320 pound-feet V-6. Locate the steering-mounted paddle shifters, grip the wheel and hang on for dear life as the buttery, eight-speed tranny launches the carnivore forward like it’s spied a pack of peccaries. If this Jaguar had spots they would fly off under acceleration.
But climb inside this panting predator and you feel 100 miles from its engine’s violence. Indeed, you can barely hear its throaty roar thanks to acres of sound-deadening material.
If the XF’s chassis is a trained athlete, the interior is a high-calorie buffet on a silver platter. My XF came with delicious materials including Barley leather seats, Truffle upper fascia in Soft Grain Leather, accented with Knurled Aluminum with Gloss-figured Ebony. I gained 10 pounds just looking at it.
But I’m just getting started. Look up and the ceiling is swathed in “Canvas Jaguar Suedecloth Premium Headlining.” Including the sun visors. I stroked the A-pillars like a Jaguar’s pelt. If the XF ever rolled over on its roof, I would be tempted to stay in the car, take off my shoes, and walk around on the soft ceiling barefoot.
But wait there’s more. The front windshield is heated with an extraordinary embroidery of microscopic heating wires. Push the starter button and the dash’s flush, aluminum air vents spin open, the navigation screen illuminates, and a gear selector dial rises out of the center console like a game-show button. To the moon, Mr. Bond.
Yet for all this eccentric luxury, the Jaguar’s is surprisingly practical.
Its Human Machine Interface — ergonomics to we laymen — is superb. Most luxury consoles these days require a six-week course to operate. The XF is as user-friendly as a Chrysler 200. Ample center console storage space that will actually hold (shock) a big screen iPhone 6. Intuitive climate buttons. Touch-screen infotainment system. Everything is designed to fall in your field of view from the console-centered, door unlock buttons to the heads-up display hovering over the hood.
Underneath its racy hind quarters is adequate rear passenger room and enough luggage space to store Big Ben.
Next week in the Big Apple, the 2016 XF will catch up to state-of-art electronics and aluminum structure. But its basic wardrobe will remain largely unchanged. It’s already the standard. Just ask Tesla … or your local pizza guy.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
2015 Jaguar XF
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear and all-wheel drive, five-passenger luxury sedan
Price: $52,100 base ($61,175 AWD, supercharged V-6 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbo inline-4 cylinder; 3.0-liter, supercharged V-6; 5.0-liter, supercharged V-8
Power: 240 horsepower, 251 pound-feet of torque (4-cyl); 340 horsepower, 332 pound-feet of torque (V-6); 470-550 horsepower, 424-502 pound-feet of torque (V-8)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic transmission with steering-mounted paddle shifters
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.1 seconds (V-6 AWD, manufacturer)
Weight: 3,660 pounds base (4,145 AWD as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 19 mpg city/30 mpg highway/23 mpg combined (4-cyl); EPA 17 mpg city/27 mpg highway/20 mpg combined (V-6); EPA 15 mpg city/23 mpg highway/18 mpg combined (V-8)
Report card
Highs: Simply gorgeous; intuitive controls
Lows: Small nav screen; um, seat heater buttons buried in console display? (I’m really reaching here)
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Smoothed Ford Edge
Posted by hpayne on March 19, 2015
We’ve all had that fashion hiccup we regret.
The used-car salesman mustache. The Elton John-sized sunglasses. A decade of 1970s leisure suits. I wore a pair of plaid pants in my middle-school years that haunt me to this day. Not just plaid, but too-short plaid.
“Hey, Payne, expecting a flood?” my buddies would ask of pants that showed plenty of ankle. I blushed like Michael Keaton in “Birdman” walking across Broadway in his underwear.
Auto companies have their glitches too. The Ford Motor Co. is finally putting its fashionfaux pas behind it.
You remember the original Ford Fusion. The one that debuted Ford’s “three-bar” grille in 2006? Bold, chromed, and very American, tri-bar fashion looked awesome on big trucks. But just because a shaved pate on Michael Jordan looks cool doesn’t mean it’ll flatter Britney Spears.
Detroit auto critic Payne reviews the new Ford Edge. Henry Payne
The three-bar looked awkward on Ford sedans. It was variously derided as looking like a Gillette razor or braces on a teenager. Its victims included the Ford Focus, which went from one of the market’s sexiest compacts to looking like a refugee from the Island of Misfit Toys.
But most tragically, the stylish Ford Edge got stuck with it.
I’ve always admired the Edge. Birthed in 2006 for the 2007 model year, it followed the Chrysler Pacifica and Nissan Murano as pioneers of a new breed of crossover vehicle. Departing from the traditional, truck-based SUV (of which Edge’s bigger sibling Explorer was itself a pioneer) these mechanical satyrs combined truck-like utility with a car-like chassis (the Fusion/Mazda 6 chassis in the case of the Edge). The formula took America by storm and crossovers have now infiltrated every segment down to subcompacts.
The aptly named, cutting-edge Edge also wowed with an exterior that appeared chiseled from granite. Oh, but that face. Metal mouth distracted from Edge’s other, considerable assets. Mrs. Payne and I took a long look at the Edge in 2006, but we adopted the prettier Pacifica crossover instead.
The good thing about auto facial fads is that, unlike Mike Tyson’s tattoo, they can be easily erased. Mercifully, Ford’s 2010 Taurus and 2013 Fusion introduced elegant, open grilles that recognized car and truck fashion are two different things. The transformation has energized Ford’s lineup.
The ’15 Ford Edge is the last family member to get its Extreme Makeover.
Having endured a mid-cycle, 2010 refresh that actually grew its Gillette grille to Brobdingnagian proportions — you thought Jaws’ chrome teeth in “The Spy Who Loved Me” were scary? — the new Edge finally gets the face it deserves.
Edge adopts Taurus’ hexagon grille then integrates it with angled, LED headlights. How striking is the new look? It shames a similar effort by Audi on its new Q7 — though the upscale Audi’s fashion statement will cost you $20K more. The integration continues around back where Edge fuses Fusion taillights with Dodge-esque LED tube. Nice caboose. This hottie will make heads turn coming and going.
The plastic surgery comes just in time for the Edge’s debut on Europe’s runways where it is leading an invasion of new product including the Mustang. With crossovers sweeping the Continent, the Edge will make an impressive accessory in downtown London, Paris, and Berlin.
Face by Taurus, body by Adonis. The Edge’s bod is brawnier than ever. Credit Kenner-toy-designer-turned-Ford-designer Kevin George who has scalloped the dense sides of the Edge for a sexier, trimmer look.
That athletic stance complements a more toned Edge chassis, which — for all the buzz over the Edge’s exterior — is the real revelation of the new Edge. After all, Edge isn’t the cutting edge anymore.
Sure, the comely crossover continues to dominate the niche it trailblazed. The Pacifica is gone. The Toyota Venza and Honda Crosstour will soon follow. The wild Nissan Murano is JWoww of “Jersey Shore” on wheels — and just as polarizing. And sure, the Edge continues to load on cool, new tech features like kick-open hatch and parallel and perpendicular self-parking.
But self-driving isn’t for everyone. Mrs. Payne tried the self-parking feature and was freaked out when the Edge’s steering wheel started spinning about and beeping at her like it was possessed. I thought she was going to hit it with a blast of pepper spray.
Such features aren’t novel to the Edge anymore. Similarly equipped, more affordable utes now ply the streets competing for customers. Ford Escapes. Mazda CX-5s. Chevy Equinoxes. Looks and tech aren’t enough anymore. The Edge must compete in handling as well.
My wife’s pal, Mary, is right out of the Edge marketing textbook. Female. Fifty-something. An empty-nester who still wants a roomy, all-wheel-drive, mid-sized ute — but with more panache than an Explorer mom-mobile. How about an Edge? Sold.
But her ’13 Edge feels like a tank. Solid, but like a hammer. Throw it at a corner and she needs the arms of Thor. With a recipe of stiffer chassis, aluminum-multi-link suspension, and calibrated e-steering, the ’15 Edge feels lighter on its feet. Still 4,000 pounds. Still cut like the Seattle Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch. But sure-footed like him, too.
I took the two-ton beast through the winding roads of Arizona’s Mazatzal Mountains and — surprise! — had a ball. Mary would be stunned. And could cancel that barbell weightlifting class she’s signed up for. Ford complements the Edge chassis by updating its suite of engines with Ford’s latest Ecoboost powerplants — part of its Quixotic quest to meet Washington pols’ random 54.5 mpg fuel economy mandates (why not 73.333 mpg? Or an even 100?). Good luck with that. By the time Ford figures out how to make 50 mpg Edges, Washington will have mandated that vehicles be powered by wind turbines.
More significantly to buyers, the base, 2.0-liter 4-banger and 2.7-liter V-6 turbo engines offer more performance with better fuel economy. My favorite is the turbo 6 — exclusive to the Sport model — which not only gains 10 ponies over the shelved, 3.7-liter V-6, but boasts a throaty exhaust note that actually penetrates the ute’s hushed interior. Edge’s cathedral-like, engine compartment-sealed, acoustic-glassed quiet is the most significant change in an interior that otherwise largely mimics the old.
With new Edge, it’s all about style. The braces are off. The body is gym-tuned. When this Ford waltzes down the French Riviera, no one will blush.
2015 Ford Edge
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front and all-wheel drive, five-passenger sport ute
Price: $29,890 base ($46,180 AWD Sport as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbo 4-cylinder; 3.5-liter, 6-cylinder; 2.7-liter, turbo 6-cylinder
Power: 245 horsepower, 275 pound-feet of torque (turbo 4); 280 horsepower, 250 pound-feet of torque (3.5-liter V-6); 315 horsepower, 350 pound-feet of torque (turbo V-6)
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Performance: Towing capacity: 3,500 lbs, base; 0-60 mph, 6.7 seconds for Edge Sport (Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,912 pounds base (4,060 as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA (all figures AWD): 20 mpg city/28 mpg highway/23 mpg combined (2.0-liter turbo); 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway/20 mpg combined (3.5-liter V-6); 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway/20 mpg combined (2.7-liter turbo)
Report card
Highs: Chiseled good looks; The foot-kick hatch comes to Edge
Lows: Thirsty V-6 turbo; Self-park may freak you out
Overall: 4 stars
Payne: Shy Subie Legacy steps up
Posted by hpayne on March 14, 2015
I feel like a TV infomercial pitchman when I tell folks about the Subaru Legacy.
If I told you you could have an all-wheel-drive, midsize sedan with a V-6 engine and the biggest cargo room in class what would pay? $34,000? But wait, that’s not all! This car has all that and more! Heated seats, blind-spot assist, nav screen, torque vectoring! So NOW what would you pay? $36,000? But wait, there’s more! Not just FRONT heated seats, but rear heated seats, too, plus keyless entry and wood trim that you would expect in a luxury German car! So now what would pay? $38,000?
Well, folks you can have all this in the stylish new, 2015 Subaru Legacy for just $32,500! You heard me, just THIRTY-TWO FIVE!
Subarus are autodom’s bargain kings. Their fans are legion – including my Impreza-disciple wife. They make you question brand hierarchy. Why should I pay $30 grand more for an AWD, BMW 5-series when I can get the same package in a $30k Subie Legacy? Including lane-change assist and rear cross-traffic alert (this nifty innovation saved me a kick in the can when backing out of my claustrophobic, neighborhood service station). Would you pay $40 for filet mignon at Fleming’s if you could get the same steak for $20 across the street at Outback?
What’s that? Of course, presentation matters.
That Fleming’s steak will taste better if it’s drizzled in Merlot sauce in a private booth – rather than dropped on a table next to a flustered family at wit’s end with their rugrat. Like restaurants, like cars. Upscale brands ooze style and substance.
But the latest Legacy – nay, the new generation of mainstream sedans – are punching above their weight.
Consider styling. Led by the sultry Ford Fusion and Chrysler 200, midsize sedans aren’t the vanilla-mobiles of old – even sales leader Toyota Camry has gotten an extreme makeover. In the past Subaru has tried to push the style envelope with frightening results. Remember the 2006 Tribeca? It looked like a refugee from Planet Ork.
Smartly, Subie designers decided to conform the new Legacy to the latest styling trends rather than blaze new trails. The result is quite pleasant (and distinguishes the sleek sedan from its more-popular-but-homelier Outback cousin). Trendy, hexagon grille (see Ford Edge, Hyundai Santa Fe). Coupe-like roofline. Creased flanks. Hooded headlamps like a 5-Series.
Go on. Park it next to the midsize Bimmer. Years ago, you would have perished the thought. In fact you would have hidden the Legacy on the other side of the restaurant lot from Bavaria’s finest. You couldn’t bear the humiliation. Like Billy Joel dating Christie Brinkley, it violated nature’s order.
But my new ‘Ru in Ice Silver Metallic is Pygmalion’s sculpture. She belongs. The eyes are dazzling, the shoulders defined.
On the dance floor, you might notice the difference. If you’re Fred Astaire. But like driving, most people are content with the basic waltz. The Legacy’s 3.6-liter, Boxer 6 packs plenty of oomph – even when mated to a continuously variable tranny. Want to slam through the gears? Paddle shifters are at your fingertips. Unless you’re an adrenaline-guzzling, speed freak like me, you’ll likely never push the limits of a sedan chassis. And even if you do you’ll find the Legacy’s torque-vectoring, all-wheel drive system a marvel in wet or dry.
AWD is Subaru’s DNA, of course. As standard on every Subie as a kidney grille on a BMW. No one else can say that.
The interior is what separates Fleming’s from Outback. Mid-size from lux. Legacy from 5-Series. The Subaru’s instrumentation is practical, not fancy. Though not as innovative as a 200, the Legacy nevertheless learns from the best-in-class Chrysler console with intuitive knobs, large buttons and useful storage space. Most useful is a phone cubby, which, paradoxically, exposes the Legacy’s biggest weakness: Connectivity.
It’s a challenge for any automaker in the smartphone age. With giant phones like the iPhone6 and (my) Samsung Note 3, the small Legacy cubby is outdated. As is the car’s Bluetooth system (which repeatedly failed to understand my voice commands perhaps because the Legacy interior is not as quiet as competitors) and the nav system which pales next to the latest Google app. Which means I wanted to use my phone navigation . . . um, if I could fit my phone in the cubby.
Details, details. She’s still a steal.
What if I told you this stylish sedan has the best interior room in class! Just THIRTY-TWO FIVE! Order now!
2015 Subaru Legacy
Vehicle type: Front-engine, All-wheel drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $23,285 base ($32,585 Limited as tested)
Power plant: 3.6-liter, boxer 6-cylinder
Power: 256 horsepower, 247 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.4 seconds (Car & Driver est.)
Weight: 3,662 pounds (as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 20 mpg city/29 mpg highway/23 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: 21st century design; AWE-some AWD
Lows: A-pillar wind noise; poor connectivity
Overall:★★★
Payne: Cute utes: Buick Encore vs. Mercedes GLA
Posted by hpayne on March 12, 2015
Buick and Mercedes are slumming down segment for the same reason: To attract new buyers to their upscale brands. But their small ute solutions are different to suit different brand reputations.
Buick’s Encore is an affordable cutie because young buyers think Buicks are overpriced boringmobiles driven by their grandmothers to bridge games. Merc’s GLA250 is sporty eye candy because young professionals think Mercs are sleds the length of 5th Avenue driven by Park Avenue billionaires.
The result is a pair of segment-busting new toys.
These new toys come courtesy of an all-new segment that is blooming in front of our eyes: The subcompact SUV. Once upon a not very long ago, the world was split into orderly halves. Small, egg-shaped sedans were for youngsters. Big, boxy SUVs for when they got kids to haul around. But as SUVs take over the world they are poaching on small sedan territory.
The death of the sedan could mean the rebirth of Buick.
Buick has been making some pretty nifty sedans of late like the elegant LaCrosse and nimble Regal. But let’s face it. Buick has defined dog sedans for so long that consumers only see the LeBoring and Beagle. But what happens if Buick pioneered a new crossover segment?
Like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir suddenly cutting a hip-hop album. Or Shoney’s debuting a menu of Skuna Bay Salmon with roasted couscous. Buick SUV? Duuuuude. Cool.
The 2015 Encore is not only hip but easy on the hip pocket with a starting price at just $24,990. A Buick ad has cleverly captured this new direction with an embarrassed 20-something hopping into the wrong car thinking it’s her friend’s stuffy Buick. “Wow,” she exclaims when she finally finds the Encore. Yeah, it’s that different.
At 4 grand north of its engaging Chevy Trax stablemate, however, the Encore will lose some millennials to budget considerations. But with sharper styling, European vibe, and a suite-full of digital goo-gaws, the middle-aged empty nester may find the Encore irresistible.
Take Mrs. Payne’s friend, Julie, an active, post-soccer mom who could star in her own ad.
Buick was not her first premium choice. But both Cadillac and Lincoln are AWOL in the subcompact ute segment. BMW and Merc are present, but — determined to Buy American — Julie kept walking to Buick.
She was smitten with the Encore at first sight. “It’s adorable,” she says. But adorable is more than skin deep. With all-wheel drive, fold flat seats, sunroof, and nav, the Encore is bejeweled with amenities once found only in large luxe offerings. Throw in 4G LTE Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth phone capability, remote start, blind-spot assist, and she was sold. You had her at “4G LTE WiFi.”
With Julie’s 24/7 job demands, the rolling, Wi-Fi hot spot allows her to work from anywhere, anytime when she and her husband are on the road. Had she considered a Chevy Trax? Yes, but the Encore is more sophisticated. A Chevy Sonic (which shares the Encore’s platform)? She’s never heard of it (did I mention sedans are dead?).
Out the door, Julie will pay just $32,000 for her loaded Encore — the price at which the 2015 Mercedes GLA250 enters the fray.
The Merc earns its higher price tag with typical Teutonic swagger.
This is the hottest looking ute in the segment. While not as seductive as its sedan sibling, the S-Class-inspired CLA250, the GLA (in Merc alphabet soup, C is for sedan, G is for SUV. Got it?) is as sporty-looking as utes come. By comparison, it makes the boxy GLK — Mercedes’ bigger, compact ute entry — look as sexy as a shoebox.
What distinguishes the GLA beyond the signature, tri-star grille is a squashed greenhouse. This ute looks like it was formed in a giant Panini maker. Or as the bastard love child of a GLK and Hyundai Veloster. The result is a chopped ute with attitude. Indeed, the GLA’s low, bullet-like shape contradicts the norm of high-riding utes with commanding visibility.
This Panini is loaded with meat. Two liters of 208-horsepower, turbocharged schnitzel to be exact.
The AWD GLA will leave the 138-horse, 1.4-liter Encore choking on dust. Opt for the GLA’s $49k, AMG45 sport version — with its insane, 355-hp power plant — and you’ll be picking Buick Regals out of your teeth.
But if handling and horsepower aren’t on your subcompact shopping list — then the GLA’s sticker price is hard to swallow. A fully-loaded GLA will top the charts at $45,000 yet feel cheap next to the $32K Encore’s richer amenities.
American manufacturers make more livable consoles than their German counterparts. Despite elegant touches like wood accents and pin-wheel climate vents, the Merc’s knob-controlled, tacked-on console screen will drive you mad to operate.
Interestingly, Buick has mimicked the Mercedes rotary dial to appear more European. I cringed when I first saw it. But in placing the dial in the middle of the dash (not out of sight by the armrest) surrounded by complementary buttons, the Buick system avoids the worst aspects of the German system. Encore instrumentation is intuitive and safe.
And — despite its gerbil-driven power plant — the Encore is more fun than expected thanks to AWD. Adorable the Encore may be, but it doesn’t mind getting dirty. I whipped it hard on California mountain roads this winter. Dirt trails. Motor bike country. The Encore had a ball. What’s more, JD Power has awarded it Mercedes-like reliability with a 2014 Best-in-Class Initial Quality Study rating.
Like spam vs. steak, the little Yank starts at the opposite end of the brand respectability scale from Merc. But its price point and utility demand recognition.The Encore has a hit on its hands because it has exploited a void in the market: The affordable, premium small SUV.
The Mercedes is sexy, sporty. But its price pushes it into competition with not just the BMW X1 but also the Audi Q3 and Lincoln MKC. At the mainstream end of the sub ute segment, the Chevy Trax has its own mirrors full of the Honda HR-V, Mazda CX3 and Jeep Renegade.
The Enclave stands alone, straddling the bridge between luxe and bargain.
America craves small utes and the Encore and GLA are talented entrees on a new menu. Heck, Buick could even learn a new recipe from the talented German. How about a sporty, 200-plus horsepower version of the Encore?
2015 Buick Encore
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front or all-wheel drive, five-passenger sport ute
Price: $24,990 base ($32,595 AWD as tested)
Power plant: 1.4-liter, turbocharged, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 138 horsepower, 148 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 10.0 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,358 pounds (AWD)
Fuel economy: EPA 23 mpg city/30 mpg highway/26 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: Loaded with tech; not your grandma’s Buick
Lows: Narrow interior; glacial acceleration
Overall:★★★
Payne: Porsche Cayenne a rhino in Ballet Slippers
Posted by hpayne on March 5, 2015
You know you’re not in a normal SUV when you have six — count ’em, six — grab handles in the cockpit. In layman’s terms: “Oh, crap! handles.” You usually find them in the shot-gun seat of powerful sports cars (the new Corvette Stingray has two) for those moments when the driver pushes the envelope and the surprised passenger’s instincts are to scream — “Oh, crap!” — and grab for something to hold on to. Rollercoasters are festooned with grab handles.
But why are they in a midsize, four-door family ute? Because it’s a 2015 Porsche Cayenne S.
You’ll need them, believe me. Because at some point while you’re cruising down the road in your comfy, luxe ute — Mom dozing off in front and the kids playing smartphone games in back — Dad is going to be possessed with the Ghost of Racing Legends Past that haunt every Porsche. He’ll be overcome with the desire to test the limits of the Teutonic handling and horsepower that lurks beneath.
And there is plenty beneath the Cayenne S. A twin-turbo V-6 with 420-horsepower and bless-my-soul 406 pound-feet of torque. Sport mode-damped suspension. Sophisticated sub-frame. Torque-vectoring, electronic center diff. All-wheel drive grip.
Here comes an ess curve. The ghost seizes Dad. His eyes glaze red. His chest swells. Shirt buttons pop. Hair grows like ivy up his forearms. He grips the wheel. Floors the throttle. RHAAAWWWRRRRGHH! Goes the V-6. And the great Cayenne surges like Ndamukong Suh seeing an unprotected quarterback.
Oh, craaaaaaaaap!
The family grabs for all six handles. Inexplicably, even the driver gets two (lest the steering wheel snaps off in Dad’s Hulk-sized hands, I can only suppose). I have witnessed this possession. A good friend — a brilliant, law-abiding Lansing economist — emails me audio files revving his Cayenne in his garage.
The Porsche ute is pure automotive brilliance.
For 2015 Porsche Cayenne engines have been upgraded and optimized to consume less fuel than their immediate predecessors while offering improved performance. Max Ortiz
It represents a manufacturer executing its brand to perfection. Marketing 101 listen up. Porsche built a racing dynasty that ruled the Earth from the 1960s-90s. The Porsche 907, 908 (which I still race), 935, 962. The alpha male of them all, the Porsche 917, won everything in sight, becoming so dominant that sports car racing had to change the rules to give everyone else a chance. Porsche translated that racing expertise to the best production sport cars on the street: 911, Cayman, Boxster.
Then Porsche took that special sauce and mixed it with family vehicles — the Cayenne and Macan SUVs and Panamera sedan — that collectively make more money than God. In the last decade, a once 15,000-a-year sports car manufacturer has seen salestriple riding sales of $70,000 SUVs in a U.S. market that craves crossovers.
The Cayenne is the best-selling Porsche. Ever. It defines luxury SUV performance. Its little brother Macan — introduced last year — will surely surpass it in sales. Porsche made so much dough in the last decade that it made a run at buying its parent
Volkswagen, for goodness sake. With Macan sales, Porsche might buy Rhode Island.
But the Cayenne isn’t just a show horse (though most will only drive it as such). The Cayenne lineup has been upgraded — base V-6, turbodiesel V-6, S, S E-hybrid, and Turbo — in a mid-production cycle refresh, adopting the same chassis steroids found in elite GTS and Turbo models.
For those who think utes lack personality, the Cayenne S begs to differ.
Sure, the S has sacrificed its V-8’s throaty roar to the green police for a more fuel-efficient, twin-turbo V-6. But there is no sacrifice in performance as the V-6 gains 20 horsepower and more low-end torque. Step on it out of a stoplight and zero-60 goes by in just 5.2 seconds. Oh, craaaaap!
This 4,600-pound beast is a rhino in ballet slippers. I tested it in the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego. On the same serpentine roads I conquered with the hot hatch VW Golf R just a month before. Surely these roads would humble the Porsche SUV. How could 21/2 tons of ute navigate evil switchbacks and diving hairpins? By defying the laws of physics apparently.
Like a hot hatch on stilts, the Cayenne attacked the twisties. Credit the torque-vectoring AWD system which transfers grip wherever it’s needed, allowing me to rotate the rhino with confidence. Superb electronics and an eight-speed tranny helped control the beast’s girth, minimizing body roll and allowing early application of the turbo’s awesome power to leap from turn to turn.
All-wheel drive. Don’t leave home without it.
Aesthetically too, the Cayenne is true to its roots. Though that’s not always a good thing. The Cayenne slavishly follows the 911’s timeless, tear-drop shape making it look like a jacked-up 911 prepared for a Ford Field monster truck rally. Raked body lines — the Cadillac SRX or BMW X6 come to mind — would give the body a more crouched look. For 2015, Porsche did make changes — a widened hood line here, spread tail pipes there — to give the appearance of a wider stance. It works.
The interior changes little. It’s handsome. Athletic. Multi-gauge, 911-like instruments with dedicated navi-map display. Button-assisted touchscreen. The 175-mph top speed tac. Yeah, it’s a Porsche all right. A multitude of button functions spill down the long, narrow center console like tattoos down LeBron James’ arm. They are space eaters (where can I store a phone?) but, in keeping with the sporty brand, they are at your fingertips. No searching through touch-screen menus to find performance essentials.
Porsche even eschews a push button starter. Turn the key just like the legends of old.
For all of the testosterone, what surprises about the Cayenne is its utility. At 6-foot-5-inches I can sit behind myself in a rear seat that shames Delta coach class. This isn’t your typical, Porsche dark back-seat hole but a pleasant, airy space with cupped seats, headroom and available, full-cabin sunroof. Want to load up cross-country skis or a couple of snowmobiles for a day at the state park? The 60-40 rear seats fold flat, and the rhino will haul up to 7,700 pounds.
Snowmobiles? Fun, no doubt. But I’ll take the warmth of the Cayenne cabin with heated, leather seats and a twisty rural road. Hold on to those oh, crap! handles, kids.
2015 Porsche Cayenne S
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-passenger sport ute
Price: $59,295 base ($94,550 as tested)
Power plant: 3.6-liter, twin turbo 6-cylinder
Power: 420 horsepower, 406 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.2 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 4,579 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 17 mpg city/24 mpg highway/20 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: The standard for SUV performance; Twin turbos
Lows: 911 design language loses something in ute translation; V-8 withdrawal
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Q&Auto with the fastest man on earth
Posted by hpayne on February 28, 2015
Over the next month, Carpenter will work furiously to prepare two team cars (each car requires a budget of at least $6 million). As a driver he trains daily. In between he promotes IndyCar. Like hosting a pre-screening of the movie “Focus” —starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and IndyCars — in Detroit this week. I sat down with the affable, soft-spoken oval-track master to talk speed, Super Bowls, and Suburbans.
Q: What’s it like to be the fastest man on earth?
Carpenter: It’s a lot of fun. Speeds like that are what focused me on motorsports, especially Indy. I’ve been the fastest the last two years and now I’d like to get to the track record (Ed. note: The track qualifying record is 237 mph set back in 1996 by Arie Luyendyk under different car rules).
Q: What’s constant, 230-plus mph like?
Carpenter: The first lap feels really good at that speed. But we take out a lot of down-force (wing angle) to run at that speed and that’s tough on the tires. We wear through a set in four laps — by lap four the tires are really sliding around. We’re right on the limit of adhesion. What has gotten us on pole is the ability to run 230 consistently over four laps.
Q: You’ve joined forces with Sarah Fisher?
Carpenter: We talked about it in the past. We had each been trying to grow (to two car teams), but it’s a challenge — a lot of money to raise. So now we’re Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing, operating as a two-car team. I’ll be driving ovals. And Luca Filippi will be driving the street courses.
Q: Your sponsors?
Carpenter: On the No. 20 car it’s Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka who’s been with me full-time for four years. On No. 67 car Hartman Oil is the primary sponsor. Our engines are Chevy. Sarah hired me in 2011 for her team when she retired. Dollar General was sponsoring that car and didn’t want the confusion of Fuzzy’s on their cars because they weren’t selling any alcohol.
Q: TUDOR and NASCAR do their “Super Bowls” early in the year. You do yours — the Indianapolis 500 — over Memorial Day. Is that a good idea?
Carpenter: I like the way we’re set up. A lot of Indy is about tradition. It’s the focal point of our season and it’s been Memorial Day weekend forever.
Q: Detroit comes right after Indy. How important is it?
Carpenter: Detroit is the only doubleheader (Saturday and Sunday races) on the schedule which makes it important. You can make a lot of points. It’s hard coming (after Indy) because there’s one team that’s really happy and everyone else is licking their wounds. So everyone shows up in Detroit a little hung over in one way or another.
Q: Formula 1 costs have gone into the stratosphere after pressure from manufacturers to go to hybrid power plants. Do you feel pressure from manufacturers?
Carpenter: A bit. Chevy left (in 2004) and came back because IndyCar went to a smaller displacement, twin turbo, direct injection fueling. The formula is more in line with what they are building for production cars. They pull engineers from the production side and get them involved in racing to see our approach to problem solving.
Q:You leave the high speeds at the track. Still driving a Chevy Suburban at home?
Carpenter: Just got my new one a couple weeks ago. I’ve got three kids so I’m always dropping somebody off.
Payne: Honda CR-V vies for No. 1 best-seller
Posted by hpayne on February 26, 2015
We Americans don’t like station wagons or hatchbacks. But jack ’em up, stick high chairs inside, and change their name to “sport utility vehicles,” and we’ll buy them faster than Garth Brooks concert tickets.
The station wagon is dead, long live the station wagon. Once a popular hatchback version of the common sedan, the wagon has risen from the ashes as a full-blown class of its own: The SUV. So popular have wagons — er, utes — become that sedans are now the endangered species. Go figure.
The compact Honda CR-V sport ute is Exhibit A in this turn of events.
Don’t be surprised if you wake up some morning soon to find that the CR-V has outsold the Toyota Camry sedan as the best-selling non-pickup in America. Surprise! It just did.December 2014 sales: CR-V 32,369, Camry, 31,618. Camry still won for the year, but … when and if the CR-V passes it, it will only confirm a long trend. SUVs — can we call ’em SWIDs (Station Wagons In Drag)? — outsold sedans for the first time in 2014 and now share the same clothing racks as sedans from SMALL (Honda HR-V vs. Honda Fit) to XL (Ford Explorer vs. Ford Taurus).
I ruminated over this phenomenon with marketing guru Jim Morrison of Jeep, the
company that birthed the car-based SUV. In Europe, theorizes Professor Morrison, the station wagon is still the family choice because the daily, no-speed limit Autobahn commute is done at the average speed of the Daytona 500. Performance is at a premium. In the 70 mpg U.S.? Not so much. Which means Euros want a wagon’s low center of gravity, while Americans want to sit up high so they can see what neighboring drivers are texting on their iPhones.
No doubt. But Europe is also experiencing its own SUV revolution — witness Morrison making the subcompact Jeep Renegade in Italy for European consumption. Yes, the Continent has the ute bug. Sure, the Euros will drive smaller SUVs (the Renegade could fit in the center arm rest of a Chevy Tahoe) given their wallet-flattening $8-a-gallon petrol prices, but they’re human too. And humans like sitting up high.
Why? Sport Ute 101, Chapter 1: The H-Point.
In industry speak, the H-point is the height of your hips off the ground. Humans like to sit with their hips no higher than their knees (look at that armchair you’re in). Sedans are unnatural, people. No one understands this better than Honda, a company once known for quirky fun-mobiles like CR-Xs and S2000s — but that now makes payroll by selling everycars to everyman.
The CR-V was the first compact SUV in the business and is Exhibit A in how Honda creates customers for life.
The 2015 in my driveway is the fourth generation of CR-V, following its segment-busting intro in 1997. The CR-V hit the market G-SPOT: A roomy, all-wheel-drive, family friendly recipe still small enough to maneuver in tight urban canyons. Marinate in legendary Honda reliability and the vehicle was crack for the middle-class.
The CR-V cuts a wide demographic swath: Soccer moms, young urban dwellers, arthritic boomers who can’t get out of a sedan without calling 911. And when the lease was up, why risk another brand when the CR-V is so doggone reliable?
The formula is being tested, however, as competitors have gained in durability and surpassed the shoebox-shaped CR-V in sex appeal. In its ambition to become a sales volume leader (Honda is the retail sales leader in a remarkable four of the six segments in which it competes), Honda forgot the fun factor somewhere back at that rest stop near Sandusky.
It’s as if Kid Rock began playing Brahms. Frisky Honda had gone nerd.
Ford filled the vacuum with ST hot hatches and creative Escape utes. The AWD Escape was a pair of Air Jordan high-tops to the CR-V shoebox. So just three years after its 2012 do-over, CR-V designers got a 5 a.m. reveille. Honda calls it “the most significant mid-model cycle redesign in the CR-V’s 17-year history.”
It shows. The makeover begins with a Kia Optima-like wraparound grille and headlamps. Ol’ four eyes used to look as homely as a pimply teen. Now the chrome, bezel-wrapped specs look like something out of the X-Men’s Cyclops catalogue. The ute’s chin mirrors the bezel line — giving the CR-V an aggressive, bullet-like nose with plenty of curb clearance. In back CR-V takes a page from the cool hatch crowd with tapered C-pillar glass. Damn the rear-quarter visibility. That’s what blind spot assist is for (“Engage the deflector shield, Scotty!” The CR-V is wrapped in high-tech safety systems).
Inside, the exterior cues translate nicely to a flowing dash converging in a narrow, center-shifter exclamation point. Function follows form, and the dash curves opens plenty of space for this tall passenger’s knobby knees.
Unfortunately, the CR-V’s instruments team didn’t get the wake-up call.
Instrumentation feels a generation behind interiors in the Escape, Chevy Equinox (or Camry sedan for that matter). The seat-heater buttons look glued on. You need a magnifying glass to see the telematics-control buttons. And Honda insists on a second dash screen that contains … the time and date?
Typical of Honda there are driver-friendly touches like multi-shelf door storage, console dishes for smartphones, and sliding cup holders. But Escape still feels a step ahead. Its rear seats fold flush for optimum storage — for, say, that 20-something’s first flat-screen TV. CR-V seats stubbornly refuse to flatten. And once you’ve used the Escape’s “foot kick” rear hatch opener there’s no going back.
The Ford is pushing CR-V for best-selling ute in America. That’s a good thing. Look out, Camry, you may have eight sets of tire marks over your hood.
Navigating Metro Detroit in 2 feet of snow, I could count off the CR-V advantages over a Camry or Honda Accord sedan. Sure-footed AWD. Better passenger access. More head room. More hatchback utility. Comparable fuel economy. And perhaps most significantly to this longtime sedan snob: A tight CR-V chassis. Despite its higher center of gravity, body roll wasn’t intrusive until I pushed the envelope. And envelope-pushing benefits the CR-V’s all-wheel drive.
Warning to sedans: The SUV in your mirror is closer than it appears.
2015 Honda CR-V
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front and all-wheel drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $24,325 base ($33,600 Touring AWD as tested)
Power plant: 2.4-liter, direct-injection, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 185 horsepower, 181 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Continuously variable transmission
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.5 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,358 pounds, base (3,624 AWD as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA 26 mpg city/33 mpg highway/28 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: Stylish new design; AWD winter warrior
Lows: Dated ergonomic switches; rear seats won’t flatten
Overall:★★★
Payne: Ford F-150, Swiss Army truck
Posted by hpayne on February 21, 2015
I get this pickup truck thing.
As a lad I played with Hot Wheels and built go karts while other kids played with Swiss Army knives and crafted tree forts. We boys never really grow up. So now I play with sports cars. Those other kids? They drive oversize tools called pickups. Call ’em Swiss Army trucks. They can do anything.
Take the new, 2015 Ford F-150.
In America’s perennial, ferocious Truck Wars, the light duty F is the latest, greatest, best-selling example of the most versatile tool on earth. Like its Chevy Silverado and RAM 1500 competitors, it’ll ply a stream with a load of mulch in the morning, then comfortably chauffeur the family to evening dinner. The F-150’s a big, lovable, aluminum-skinned Labrador retriever. Man’s best friend.
These days Ford is rolling out fun F-150 accessories faster than Kim Kardashian can take selfies. Which is a welcome relief because the introduction of the F-150 a year ago was soooo deadly serious. When the F-150 was announced at the 2014 Detroit Auto Show, it promised to “preserve the world for generations to come” in the words of Chairman Bill Ford. Global warming was roasting polar bears and gas prices were headed to $10 a gallon. The Ford pickup was made of aluminum, we were told, to prevent the ocean from lapping at our doorstep. Everyone was so dang grim.
But then gas prices tanked and winter temperatures got so cold that polar bears are wearing long underwear. All of which is good news for Ford because they can go back to selling Swiss Army trucks and their cool tools.
I’ve already told you about the F-150’s side mirrors which can pool light on the ground like a theater usher, illuminate the landscape with spotlights, cover your blind-spot, and tie a bow tie (just kidding about that last one). The backseat will fit a boy’s basketball team — or it can be folded flat for a space bigger than Beyonce’s walk-in closet.
But with Detroit under 2 feet of powder this week, Ford’s happy elves showed off the truck’s snow plowing and snowmobiling capabilities.
“We know our customers better than they know themselves,” smiled Brandt Coultas, F-150 Consumer Marketing Manager. Snow plowing has always been the domain of heavy duty pickups like Ford’s F-450, not light duty. Heavy duties have more brawn, more ground clearance, more stump-pulling, diesel-fired torque. But Coultas’ team heard their customers pining for the same capability in light duties.
Ford listened and engineered the F-150 from the ground up to take the rigors of plowing.
The Ford F150 equipped with BOSS Snow Plow clears a parking lot in Dearborn.
We sports car guys are obsessive about this sort of thing, too. When Chevy designed the new Corvette C7, they listened to their customers — from Dream Cruisers to race teams — who said they wanted a no-compromise car. So Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter & Co. engineered the C7 to be stiff and aerodynamic. Want a convertible?Voila! Chop the top — no re-enforcement needed. Want to race at LeMans? Behold! Downforce galore.
For my Swiss Army truck adventure, I brought along my neighbor Bob Gulyas, a construction company owner and certified pickup guy. Ford brought the BOSS plow team. With the plow-ready F-150, BOSS just wired up a 430-pound blade and we were good to go. No extra alternator to run the power steering. No suspension changes. No cab limitations.
We had a ball pushing snow around the Adoba Hotel parking lot at Fairlane Mall in a 4×4 V-8. So much fun that I wanted to call in the F-150 owners’ club. Remember the 100 lucky Mustang clubbers invited to Ford Proving Grounds last Dream Cruise to witness the new pony’s line-lock, burnout feature? They went bonkers like kids at a Stanley Cup final.
Now imagine 100 F-150 owners lined up door-handle-to-door-handle to plow the Fairlane lot. But I digress.
Neighbor Bob marinates in F-150 every day, but was still blown away by the pickup’s new tools: Plow option, 360-degree camera, 170-degree SuperCab doors, rear-camera hitch assist, and so on. “The technology is incredible,” he said.
But what if you prefer to play in powder than plow it? Say, in a 4×4 Can-Am Renegadeall-terrain vehicle? Swiss Army Truck will help, natch.
Lightweight, aluminum loading ramps that store on the truck bed sides are available (just screw them into the removable BoxLink cleats. Genius) so they don’t bang around under the ATV. Slide them into tailgate plate, back down the Can-Am, and you’re pounding powder like a motorized lynx.
Will the F-150 save the planet? Nope. But it’ll help you conquer it. The world is your backyard and Swiss Army truck has the tools to explore every inch. I wonder if that bed will fit my sports car?
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
2015 Ford F-150 with “plow prep,” spotlight mirrors, BoxLink ramps, trailer hitch, and lord-knows-what-else
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, five-passenger pickup truck
Price: $26,615 base ($51,270 as tested, $4,600 BOSS plow (est) not included)
Power plant: 5.0-liter V-8
Power: 385 horsepower, 387 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Performance: Towing capacity (4×4): 11,100 pounds
Weight: 4,871pounds
Fuel economy: EPA mpg: 15 city/22 highway/18 combined
Report card
Highs: Plow prep option just $50; Will do everything but tie your shoes
Lows: Can’t sprout wings and fly
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Is bargain Scion FR-S the Porsche 944 reborn?
Posted by hpayne on February 19, 2015
Oh, it’s good to be in my 20s again. Auburn hair. Lightning-quick reflexes. Eyes like a hawk.
Or maybe it’s just this Scion FR-S I’m driving. Dude, it’s dope.
Not since my first sports car 25 years ago — Porsche’s legendary 944 — has a thrifty thoroughbred felt so good in my hands. “Affordable sports car,” after all, is usually an oxymoron.
But for the durable, adorable Mazda Miata roadster (25 years old this year), examples of the breed rarely survive the business bean counters.
I grew up at the track, the oil-stained son of a Porsche race jockey. But on the street, Porsches were exotics — megabuck 911 playthings for middle-aged moguls. Until the 944 broke the mold. Long before Mercedes (CLA 250) and Audi (A3) crafted down-market sedans to lure younger demographics, Stuttgart hatched a $20K, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2 sports car that set young motorheads’ hair on fire.
At a base price of $22,000 in 1982, the 944 was a bargain. And with sexy styling, torquey four-banger, and balanced handling, it was to die for. “The most seductive combination of economy and performance money can buy,” in the words of motorhead bible Road & Track.
Henry Payne and the Scion FRS
Fresh out of college in 1984, I drove the 944 for the first time. Where my college mates celebrated graduation by traveling to Europe to sip wine and chase French skirts, I rented a 944 (the Euro lot equivalent of a Mustang) with my old man and terrorized Germany. We hit the car’s top speed of 134 mph on the Autobahn. We bought laps at the epic Nurburgring (a must for every gearhead’s bucket list). We chased Mercs.
I was smitten. Six years and a many saved paychecks later, I had my own, used, 1987 Porsche (a 924S, the 944’s streamlined, lightweight option). We did everything together from long trips to track days. As well-behaved as the 944 chassis was on track it was also practical around town with a hatchback and rear seats big enough for little Paynes.
But Porsche would not make the 944 forever.
Margins were small and capital investments high. “When it came time to upgrade, it just wasn’t worth the money,” says Kelly Blue Book managing editor Matt DeLorenzo, former editor of Road & Track. The last 944 rolled off the line in 1991 and the segment withered with it. Its more-powerful 968 sequel exited in 1995. The rotary-powered Mazda RX7 — a 944 copycat — died a decade later. Nissan’s Z got porky and pricey. The Miata’s cuter than quick. Darkness enveloped the Earth.
In 2013, the FR-S rose from the ashes. Courtesy of Toyota’s youthful Scion brand. The budget bullet was back.
Shades of 944, Scion’s skin is aggressive yet timeless. Eschewing boy toy wings or flared fenders, the fastback design is purposeful, not showy. Inside the cockpit, FR-S transports pilot back to the 944’s low-slung, driver-centric layout. With its long snout and rear seats, even beanpoles like yours truly fit comfortably under the squat roof (I need a giant shoe horn to get in the wee Miata).
Scion controls are light years beyond the 944, courtesy of 21st-century strides in digital audio. Scion comes with 6-inch LCD touchscreen, Bluetooth, USB connectivity, nav, apps, Pioneer AM/FM/CD, woofer, and a partridge in a pear tree. It’s a veritable rolling opera house compared to my old Porsche and its radio and tape deck (Look it up, kids. You’ll find one in the Smithsonian).
In truth the only audio I need in the Scion is the exhaust note.
Light the wick with the push-button starter and the FR-S comes to life like a kicked wolverine. HAWRAWRP! It’ll make your tail tingle. You want a quiet car? Buy a Camry. The FR-S is loaded for bear.
At the other end of this deranged growl is a 200-horse, 2.0-liter Boxer engine. The compact power-plant is the perfect complement to the crouched Scion chassis (its center of gravity is lower than a Porsche Cayman).
With cost in mind, Scion co-developed the FR-S with Subaru (thus the twin Subaru BRZ), just as Porsche co-produced its bargain sports car with Volkswagen. But Porsche’s first take, the 924, was a disaster. Porsche delivered the styling goods, but VW delivered, well, a VW drivetrain. Duh. The result was, in order: 1) the little engine that couldn’t, 2) ridicule from Porschephiles, 3) an extreme makeover called the 944.
Toyota made no such mistake. The Scion chassis and Subaru drivetrain connect like Matt Stafford and Calvin Johnson. The FR-S Boxer engine is a rarity — a non-turbo that spits 100 horsepower-per-liter.
Even in January on Seven Mile’s Washtenaw County twisties, the Scion thrills.
While modern sports cars have put on weight (haven’t we all?), the 2,770-pound FR-S weighs less than its 2,900-pound, 158-horsepower Porsche forebear (and the same as my 924S version). More remarkably, the FR-S — at $25,670 — is barely more expensive than the 944 three decades ago.
With a quarter century of materials and suspension advancements, the Scion is noticeably stiffer than the Porsche. It cuts through corners like a knife through capellini. I pine only for the optional manual transmission (though the auto tranny’s rev-matching tries hard to make me forget).
Following Payne tradition, I too have a hot-shoe, young college grad. He too lusts for bargain speed. He too is eying the FR-S. But here’s the thing: He has more choices than I did a generation ago.
So when he joined me for a taste of Scion, we took along a Honda Civic SI coupe as well. With its own high-revving, 200-horse, 2.0-liter chainsaw, the nimble, identically-priced SI represents a pocket rocket breed that didn’t exist three decades ago. And while the front-wheel driver can’t match the RWD FR-S’s athleticism, it holds its own while also holding more cargo.
Tough neighborhood. Though he’ll miss the FR-S on track days, my son might find the fun SI — or the VW GTI, or the Subaru WRX, or the Ford Fiesta/Focus ST — delivers more utility 24/7. If the FR-S wore the iconic Porsche badge? That might change the dynamic. The 944 undeniably benefited from the family crest. Scion lacks LeMans trophies on its mantle.
For over a decade Porsche thrilled the entry segment with 4-cylinder variations of the 944 including the 924S, 944S, Turbo, and 968 (I eventually stuffed a 3.0-liter, 240-horse 968 mill into my featherweight 924S for the ultimate 4-banger Porsche). Fingers crossed that the FR-S hangs around.
Because this budget-friendly, asphalt-chewing coupe is, like, the fountain of youth.
2015 Scion FR-S
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, four-passenger sports car
Price: $25,670 base ($29,742 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, dual-overhead cam Boxer 4-cylinder
Power: 200 horsepower, 151 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: six-speed automatic or six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.0 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 2,770 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 25 mpg city/34 mpg highway/28 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: A tossable treat; throaty boxer
Lows: Rugrat-sized rear seats; turbo option, please?
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Brawny, brainy Chrysler 300
Posted by hpayne on February 12, 2015
Everyone remembers their first 300.
Mine was at Newark airport in 2005. The everyman Rolls — slab-sides, egg-crate grille, broad shoulders — was taking autodom by storm. In an age of soap-bar sedans, the Chrysler 300 stood out like Hulk Hogan at a tennis tournament. Eager to get my hands on the big beast, I booked the “full-size” car from a rental company.
I drove up to the arrivals curb to pick up Mrs. Payne and our luggage. “Good lord,” said my wife, shooting me the have-you-lost-your-mind look. “How much did this thing cost?”
That’s 300. Dunhill threads at a Kmart price. I could have driven it up to Buckingham Palace’s gates and they would have waved me through. If Corvette is the All-American, affordable supercar, then 300 is All-American, discount luxury.
Though the 300 badge had been around since 1955, the reborn, rear-wheel sedan was an instant American icon. Looking like it had just rolled off the set of “Sin City,” the big palooka was gangsta chic. It displaced the Caddy Escalade as the bling choice of rappers. “What I gotta do to get that brand new 300 up outta you?” said one famous rapper on Chrysler’s West Coast office voice mail. “This is Snoop Dogg. Preach!”
The second generation 300 rolled out with more tailored sophistication. The egg-crate grille gave way to a smaller, sculpted face. The first generation’s exterior swagger was extended to the interior with standard leather seats and a gym-toned suspension.
The refreshed, 2015 S model in my driveway solidifies 300 as the most mainstream car on the street. With loud, redline suit and 20-inch wheels, it’s dressed for the red carpet.
For a bargain $41,000 — less than half the price of a similarly-sized BMW 7-series or Audi A8 — my 300 combines head-turning looks with muscle-car power. The 300 is the third ’15 model update on Chrysler’s LX platform following the Dodge Challenger and Charger.
I am not enamored with full-sized car chassis. Whether the Chevy Impala, Toyota Avalon or Chrysler LX triplets, they feel big, top-heavy. Weighing more than the Pentagon, they are barely more nimble than the midsize crossovers that are slowly hunting them to extinction (though their high seating position is a nice compromise between SUV and low-slung luxe sedan).
But what they lack in handling, the triplets make up for in attitude. Squeezed by roomy midsize sedans and the SUV juggernaut (300 sales are just one-third of what they were a decade ago), the Auburn Hills threesome have amped up the personality. Looks? Horsepower? Hips? These plus-sized sexpots got it in spades.
Most full-size sedans are nice rides for a date at the movies. The tire-shredding Dodge Charger wants to drag on Woodward. The 300 aches to be valeted at Fleming’s for a seven-course steak dinner.
This is not a shy automobile. The 300 bears an unmistakable resemblance to the current Bentley Mulsanne.
Keeping up with the Mercs, the 2011 model bore horizontal, chrome grille stripes. The new model adopts the trendy, “chain-link” grille made fashionable by the Mulsanne and Jaguar XJ. Fashion trends aren’t for everyone, and I’m not a fan of the chain link look any more than I’m into skinny Euro-pants.
But credit Chrysler for a clever riff on the style. Look closer and the grille texture is more than cross-hatched metal — it’s a weave of winglets echoing the winged Chrysler logo that floats in the middle of the big maw (supersized 32 percent as a nod to the 2005 original). Out back, 300’s upright, scalloped rear quarter-panels are right out of the Bentley catalog.
One of the most recognizable brands on the market, the 300 could be its own franchise — the Mini Cooper of big sedans. Think a 300 small crossover, or Escalade-challenging 300 ute, or big 300 roadster. But the 300 is Chrysler family.
That shared DNA makes the 300 surprisingly practical for all of its 5th Avenue eccentricities.
Little brother 200 is an ergonomic wonder with an interior fussed over for maximum driver convenience. Ditto 300. Its center console is a vertical design masterpiece. Best-in-class UConnect touchscreen. Essential climate dials. A simple, rotary shifter (with Sport mode, yum) that allows room for a smart phone holder. Maximum use of space, minimum fuss. All wrapped in soft-touch vinyl and carbon fiber accents. A classic, analog clock is cherry on the cake.
I drove the 300S back-to-back with a gorgeous, similar-size, $100K Audi A8. It also has an analog clock. But the Audi console is a maze of knobs, buttons, and shift stalks. It makes your eyes cross after the simple 300 system. Valedictorian, full-size luxe meets top-of-the-class, full-size luxe wannabe.
Impress me some more, 300.
With laminated glass, the 300 matches the A8’s tomb-quiet interior. Both sport smooth, 8-speed trannys by ZF. Both score high in Consumer Reports (Audi 91 score, 300, 82). Drivetrain warranty? Chrysler: 5 years/100,000 miles. Audi: 4 years/50,000. Stomp on the S’s 368-horsepower, hemi V-8 and the big rocket wants to go to the moon — just like the 435-horse, twin-turbo A8. Want inlaid wood like the Audi? The 300C Platinum’s got it. Phone connectivity? Check. Blind-spot assist? Check.
Only the chassis betrays different breeding. Fling the 4,500-pound, AWD Audi into a 90-degree corner and it’s a locomotive on rails. Chassis settles, tires bite, all four corners stay on the same page.
The less-sophisticated, RWD 300S is like a rodeo bronco. Big tail swishes, rear hoofs stamp, you feel the 4,200-pound beast shift under your saddle. But what’s this? My bronco comes with electronic stability control? I’ve experienced this system before on the insane, 700-horsepower Hellcat and it. Is. Remarkable.
If ESC keeps the Hellcat from killing you, it makes the 300 eminently controllable. But there’s more. And this is where it really gets good, dear reader. Because the zoot-suit, ticket-me-red, nail-gargling 300S can also be had as a sinister, black, all-wheel drive stealth-mobile just like the Audi. For less.
Trade the $3,000 V-8 option for the 300-horsepower V-6 with $2,500 all-wheel-drive (AWD is only paired with the 6). Good grunt. Better handling. Better snowmobile (30 percent of 300 sales are AWD). With black leather inside and “Phantom Black” outside (like the Rolls Phantom, yes?) and you see only the “C” LED running lights coming, and the red-LED-tubed taillights going.
Is there a more affordable, powerful, fashionable, usable, AWD, roomy sedan on the market? Drive this baby up to the curb and my wife will happily slip in. If Snoop Dogg doesn’t jump in first.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
2015 Chrysler 300
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear and all-wheel drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $32,390 base ($41,580 300S as tested)
Power plant: 3.6-liter, dual-overhead cam V-6; 5.7-liter Hemi V-8
Power: 292 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque (3.6-liter, base V-6); 300 horsepower, 264 pound-feet of torque (3.6-liter, V-6 in 300S); 363 horsepower, 394 pound-feet of torque (5.7-liter V-8)
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.5 seconds (Motor Trend estimate, V-8)
Weight: 4,029 pounds (V-6 RWD); 4,326 pounds (V-8 AWD)
Fuel economy: EPA 19 mpg city/31 mpg highway/23 mpg combined (V-6); 16 mpg city/25 mpg highway/19 mpg combined (V-8)
Report card
Highs: The bargain Bentley; Ward’s 10 Best interior
Lows: Bold styling not for everyone; bring back the SRT
Overall:★★★
Payne: Can Caddy’s comely coupe cope in winter?
Posted by hpayne on February 7, 2015
he last time the 2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe and I met it was August in northern Connecticut. We had a ball. The BMW-fighter romped through the countryside, its balanced chassis a trained athlete. We were Rogers and Astaire in “Swing Time.” Julianne Hough and (name your celebrity du jour here) in Dancing with the Stars. Partners in synch on an asphalt dance floor.
What a difference six months and 70 degrees make.
With snow falling and the mercury plunging to single-digits in early January, dancing was the farthest thing from my mind. The ATS parked in my downtown parking garage was A) my refuge from the arctic weather, and B) my snowmobile home. Where I compared the comely coupe last summer to a sure-footed Labrador locked on a fox’s scent, this time I needed it to be a St. Bernard in an Alpine blizzard: Could it keep me alive?
When I reached the parking garage, my extremities were numb. It was so cold outside that Gary Peters was burning his Sierra Club membership card for warmth. Polar bears were sleeping on heat grates. Asphalt had turned to ice-phalt.
At the car door I dared not remove my thick gloves. No problem, ATS sensed the fob in my pocket and opened with a squeeze of the handle button. Nice. No need to remove the key to start the engine either thanks to push button start. But the cabin was an icebox (Dummy. With time, I’d learn to use remote start to heat ‘er up). Fortunately the Cadillac passes my wife’s first auto rule: “If it doesn’t have heated seats and a heated steering wheel, I’m not interested.”
She’s interested in the ATS. Thanks to heating coils, steering wheels and seats come to boil much quicker than air circulation systems. Ain’t the 21st century grand? I immediately pressed the steering heater button, then reached for the seat heater button on the console.
Ahem. Let me say here that I have been a fan of Cadillac’s CUE system. Its flush surfaces and dial-free, haptic feedback controls are elegant and modern – a welcome departure from Caddy’s stodgy, conservative past. But haptic controls read the heat from your fingers – which is a problem when your digits are colder than a penguin’s arse.
I pressed hard on the console’s haptic-thingy and brought the seat to simmer – but the process of firing up the radio and hapt-o-selecting AM 950 for traffic updates looked like a more daunting task. Not to worry, the hi-tech Caddy has more redundant communication systems than a nuclear-class submarine has redundant missile launch protocols.
In fact, my hands needed never leave the toasty steering wheel. Which is nice since at this point I was gripping it hard in order to prevent gangrene from setting in. Not only can the wheel buttons operate the Bluetooth phone connection (“Honey, can I get you anything on the way home? A parka? Ticket to Jamaica?”), they command every radio function. What’s more, the station list appears in the instrument panel, meaning I can keep my eyes straight ahead on a snowy night when Detroiters’ driving skills are no better than, say, your average shellfish.
I mean, seriously people?
On my way home I encountered 1) a car parked in the left lane shoulder (a problem since there is no shoulder on the Lodge’s left lane), 2) a chronic tailgater, and 3) countless macho pickup trucks driving as if they were on the last lap of the Indy 500.
Thankfully, my ATS came equipped with all-wheel drive and all-season tires so that I could navigate this wintry “Mad Max” landscape with confidence. By the time I reached Oakland County’s surface streets, traffic had thinned, my body temperature had warmed, and I could push the car’s abilities. The ATS’s AWD system is superb, allowing controlled four-wheel drifts. My wife owns an AWD Subaru Impreza (Second auto rule: “Cars must come equipped with all-wheel drive”) which is quite good, but the Caddy – befitting its higher price – is better, with tighter stability control.
I stopped in an empty school lot to do some donuts with the traction control off (don’t tell Mrs. Payne) before arriving home – the AWD system gripping like polar bear claws through my neighborhood’s unplowed streets.
So went the weekend. With its “Black Raven” paint coat covered in salt and snow, I never noticed the ATS’s chiseled beauty. With my eyes fixed on the road, I ignored the sumptuous, stitched leather dash. To me the measure of a luxury car is more than sport and comfort. All of those details will be there come summer when ATS and I can dance once again.
In the meantime, this St. Bernard got me home warm and in one piece.
2015 Cadillac ATS Coupe
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear or all-wheel drive, four-passenger coupe
Price: $38,990 base ($51,345 AWD, turbo-4 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder
Power: 272 horsepower, 295 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.6 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 3,418 pounds (RWD)
Fuel economy: EPA 20 mpg city/28 mpg highway/23 combined
Report card
Highs: State-of-the-art instrumentation; Bear claw, AWD grip
Lows: Clumsy CUE; Snow boots a tight fit in rear seat
Overall:★★★
Payne: Car of Year Golf R encore
Posted by hpayne on February 5, 2015
The sleeper R is for the speed jockey who doesn’t need a muscle shirt to show off his pecs.
How did the VW Golf respond to winning the 2015 North American Car of the Year at the Detroit Auto Show?
By rolling out the new Golf R two weeks later: The biggest, baddest, fastest Golf ever.
It’s like Pixar bettering “Toy Story” with “Toy Story 2.” Like Verlander following a five-hit gem with a shutout. Like Apple introducing a new iPhone 6, then eclipsing it with a big screen iPhone 6 Plus.
The R is for those who don’t think the sensational Golf GTI is enough.
The GTI, of course, is what we North American Car of the Year jurists really mean when we say Golf was the best new car to hit U.S. roads last year. The $25K GTI is no boy toy indulgence, but an affordable, practical pocket rocket that makes up a full 50 percent of U.S. Golf sales. And for good reason. The GTI’s performance is legendary. Wolfsburg’s wizards conjured a front-wheel-drive chassis that rotates like a rear-wheel-driver thanks to an ingenious limited-slip front differential. Driving this fun box is a 210-horsepower, turbo 2.0-liter with a staggering 258 pound-feet of torque. Unleash this puppy on tight roads and it’s more fun than a Platinum Pass at Cedar Point.
With hatchback utility and a refined interior worthy of coaches priced 10 grand higher, the GTI is gift enough for the fun-starved compact car buyer. But like Corvette’s insane Z06, the gonzo Golf R takes GTI to another level.
Is R short for ‘roids? This hormone-fed hot hatch squeezes another 82 horses (292 total) and 280 pound feet of torque out of the same four-cylinders that motivate the GTI. Then it connects this bag of bobcats to the road with a torque-vectoring, all-wheel drive system that grips like a locomotive on rails.
But when I asked Hans Stuck — the legendary German race ace who assisted VW on Golf R development — what he likes best about the R, he replied with a wry grin: “Iss zee brakes.”
Zee man doesn’t lie. On paper, the oversized 13.4-inch front and 12.2-inch rear rotors available only on GTI’s Autobahn Performance Package come standard on the R. On road, stomping the brake pedal feels like someone chucked a boat anchor out the hatch. I took the R out on the twisty Route 78 in the Cuyamaca Mountains east of San Diego. Flinging the R over the gnarly, knotted road took me back to Hell, Michigan’s exquisite Route 32 loop where I last enjoyed Audi’s 2015 Audi A3 — my favorite handling car on last year’s Car of the Year short list.
That’s no coincidence.
Volkswagen owns Audi and the Golf R and A3 dine at the same family dinner table. Same MQB platform. Same AWD system. Same engine block. The A3 shares the GTI’s eager engine while its sister hot rod, the S3, shares the R’s 292-horse rocket. Which is to say, the Golf R is the Audi S3 in sheep’s clothing. Good grief, no wonder this thing has more moves than Derrick Rose.
VW lists the $37,415, base Golf R’s competitors as the $35,290 Subaru WRX STI, $44,025 BMW M235i, and $48,375 Mercedes GLA45 AMG. Obviously, the $42K S3 belongs on that list as well. And the forthcoming Ford Focus RS. That’s rare air.
What makes the R stand out in such company is that it doesn’t stand out.
If I’m an alpha male with 40,000 quid to throw around I want to enter I-696 like I own it. With a gaudy hood scoop and rear wing that looks like it was torn off a World War I biplane, Subaru’s STI comes down the on-ramp like Rickenbacker diving out of the sun. The Focus RS (can’t wait) appears in the rear-view mirror with a maw like a Great White at dinner time. The Audi S3? It wears its four rings on its massive grille like Usain Bolt wears his chest-full of gold medals. The M and the AMG are a Bimmer and a Merc. Say no more. You can smell the expensive cologne.
The R, on the other hand, is the sleeper of the bunch. From a distance it doesn’t look much different than the base Golf. Hmm. … Air-gulping lower gills seem oddly large. The wicked glow of LED running lights. But by the time you’ve digested this information the thing is by you with a bark like a hyena. Hawp! Only then do you see the signature, quad tailpipes receding in the distance. What the hell was that?!
The R, then, is for the speed jockey who doesn’t need a muscle shirt to show off his toned body. The predator who likes to sneak up on his prey. The practical Tasmanian Devil.
I covet the Audi S3, but would happily buy an R — and not because it would save me five grand and a hat-full of speeding tickets (“Don’t tell me, officer. The big Audi grille tip you off again?”). Both all-wheel-drivers would taunt a Detroit blizzard — but the five-door hatchback (a first for R which in previous generations has only been offered as a three-door) is much more utilitarian than the low-roof, cramped rear quarters of the S3 sedan. And VW’s intuitive, touchscreen console will save you the daily torture of the Audi’s rotary dial.
Audi, however, could teach VW a thing or two about marketing.
While the mother ship’s luxury brand has seen rapid growth in the U.S. market, V-dub has stalled. Indeed, Audi’s 182,010 in sales is roughly half VW sales — despite the former being a niche luxury automaker. That’s shocking underperformance for Volkswagen’s signature nameplate.
Did VW miss the boat on SUVs? Are VWs over-engineered for the U.S. market? Do hatchbacks only sell on crossovers? A combination of the above. Witness Audi leading in the shark-eat-shark luxe segment with bold styling, pricing, and segment-busting SUVs. While Audi wowed the compact SUV market with the entry-level Q3, for example, VW is MIA in a fast-growing subcompact segment featuring the Honda HR-V, Mazda CR3, and Chevy Trax.
Ex-Audi communications chief John Schilling has come across the aisle to help solve the mystery. And VW’s invested billions in a new Tennessee plant to churn out crossovers. In the meantime, we can thank them for the Golf. And the Golf GTI. And the Golf R.
Like Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” movie trilogy, each sequel gets better than the last. So will Golf stand pat with the R? Not likely. VW teased a 400-horsepower Golf R400 concept last spring. Please?
2015 Volkswagen Golf R
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, five-passenger compact hatchback
Price: $37,415 base ($39,910 as tested)
Power plant: 2.0-liter, turbo, inline 4-cylinder
Power: 292 horsepower, 280 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: six-speed DSG automatic or six-speed manual
Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.9 seconds (auto); 155 mph top speed (manufacturer)
Weight: 3,340 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 23 mpg city/30 mpg highway/26 mpg combined
Report card
Highs: AWD all-weather performer; stealth fighter
Lows: Worth the premium over superb GTI?; bigger European console screen, please
Overall:★★★★
Payne: Q&Auto with Big Nasty’s creator
Posted by hpayne on January 31, 2015
They call the ferocious, 650-horsepower 2015 Corvette Z06 “Big Nasty.” But its chief engineer is anything but.
Tadge Juechter is a soft-spoken, wiry, passionate motorhead who grew up coveting Porsches. As just the fifth Corvette chief engineer, he now leads a brand that exists to eat Porsches for lunch. Inside and out, the plush, powerful Z06 is the most capable ‘Vette yet.
In winning the Daytona 24 Hours GT-LeMans class last month, the Z06’s racing variant — the Corvette C7.R — left Porsche and a field of other supercars in its dust. The stock $98,000 Z06 made jaws drop when it lapped VIR racetrack quicker than the $900,000 Porsche 918 hybrid. Mention these accomplishments to Juechter and he beams. He designed this weapon from the ground up to cruise the street and conquer the track. The now 57-year old is the kid who grew up down your block inventing crazy stuff in his dad’s garage.
“I was born to engineer things,” he says.
I sat down with Juechter at Nevada’s Spring Mountain Raceway to talk Big Nasty, the future of V-8s, and grocery shopping.
Q: You like to drive your creations?
A: Oh, yeah. I’m still looking for keys where I can get them. Now that I’m on the Corvette team I used Corvettes for everything from track day to daily driver to going to the grocery store. My wife had a horse and we’d go to the feed store and buy 300 pounds of feed. The guy would come out with the handcart stacked up to here and he’d say: “Where’s your pickup?” I’d say, “No, it’s the Corvette over there.” And I’d open up the hatch and say: “That’s where it’s going.”
Q: You have mechanical and aerospace engineering degrees and a Stanford MBA. Why cars?
A: Since I was a kid I was interested in inventing things I could interact with mechanically. I was building go-karts and bicycles with suspensions. I didn’t like remote control. I always wanted to be in the middle of it. There is no greater career path for someone interested in that than the auto industry. Maybe I could have invented jet engines, but I’m not going to be flying F16s around.
Q: The base Corvette C7 Stingray was built with racing in mind wasn’t it?
A: Stiffness improvement and aluminum is the best way to do that. So this time we elected to do a ground-up build using technologies that weren’t even available the last time around. Things like hollow castings and high pressure die castings.
Same thing’s true on the (C7.R) race car. They wanted stiffer, stiffer, stiffer … so that’s how we engineered it. (They) put the roll cage on to make it stiffer yet, and the drivers got out in the car and they could tell from the first lap that the car felt more confident.
Q: The Z06 numbers are staggering. Zero-60 in 2.9 seconds. Sixty-0 braking in under 100 feet. Cornering loads of 1.2 Gs. Yet the Z06 has a front-mounted, push-rod engine and transverse composite springs — technology a lot of people would call antiquated. How do you do it?
A: (There) are two fundamentally different engineering approaches. We’ve been refining the small block since the ’50s, and you put that much engineering over that much time refining a fundamental concept and you can squeeze a lot out of it. The small block V-8 engine is a miracle of engineering. Because it’s so compact you can locate it well back in the car for 50-50 weight distribution. It makes our car extremely easy to drive.
Q: V-8s are becoming an emissions challenge. What is their future?
A: Our customers are in love with the V-8. But many governments give us a displacement penalty because in their mind it’s correlated to fuel economy. So you get these upside-down situations where — even though we get better fuel economy than our competitors — we pay a higher tax or higher registration fees. My opinion is you stack based on what you want. Then you let the industry decide what the optimum technology is to get there. But that’s not what (governments) are doing. They are choosing winners and losers. So that pressure is going to continue to grow.
Q: Is there a turbo V-6 in Corvette’s future?
A: We didn’t look long at a turbo-6 because we couldn’t meet anywhere near our performance goals. And we can’t (have) a car that’s slower than the previous generation. People would just keep their old cars. We looked at turbo-8s, (but) we went to supercharging because we wanted the immediate throttle response. Even though turbos have come a long way, the turbo lag is still there.
Payne: Jeep Renegade, Chevy Trax crowd pleasers
Posted by hpayne on January 29, 2015
From the torrid Cadillac CTS-V to the lovely Lincoln MKC to the elegant Chrysler 200, Detroit automakers have done yeoman’s work catching up to competitors in segments where they had been left for dead. Great sedans. Great performance. But great isn’t enough. To rule a segment requires invention. That good ol’ American pioneering instinct.
Could Green Ford have jump-started Lincoln if had been first to develop an electric rocket like the Tesla Model S? What if Chevy had beaten the Toyota Prius to market with the Volt? What if Corvette had leveraged its legendary name — like Porsche — to build a lineup of affordable, earth-scorching Corvette crossovers? Woulda’ coulda’ shoulda’.
So put your hands together for the Jeep Renegade and Chevy Trax, the Lewis and Clark of subcompact SUVs.
The pair map a new road at a time when Americans are hungry for crossovers. Not just hungry, starved. We can’t get enough of them. Sedan and station wagon sales have flattened as manufacturers have flooded the market with midsize and compact utes. SUVs aren’t just family haulers anymore. They are car-based, all-wheel-drive commuters. Jeep Grand Cherokees. Toyota RAV4s. Mercedes Benz GLAs.
Paleontologists may one day unearth sedanosaurus bones.
In truth the station wagon variant of sedans never died — it just went into a Witness Protection Program. Changed its name. Put on lifts. Came back as a crossover. Good timing for Detroit.
A Jeep sedan is an oxymoron. And Americans only trust Chevys with V-8 or SUV in their name. So make Jeep and Chevy subcompact utes and Americans will be beating down the dealer doors to get at ’em.
Jeep marketing guru Jim Morrison (no, he never fronted for the Doors) predicts the already booming segment will explode from 200,000 to 300,000 units in a few years. He’s not alone.
“The segment is growing on buyer interest in SUVs, as well as the impressive level of technology and features available,” says Stephanie Brinley, senior analyst with HIS Automotive. “We will see the higher percentage growth this year.”
Until this year, browsing the subcompact market was like shopping the subculture boutiques of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. It was full of strange styles. Nissan’s cockamamie Cube. Hamster-chic Kia Souls. Wall-eyed Nissan Jukes.
I recently drove a Juke — its headlights on top of its hood like the eyeballs of a mechanized frog — with a yellow exterior and red interior. If you like to wear ketchup and mustard, this is your vehicle.
But with the entrance of Chevy, Jeep, Mazda (CX3) and Honda (HR-V), everything’s changed. It’s like they opened a giant mall on Haight Street anchored by Macy’s, Brooks Brothers, the Limited and Banana Republic. Goodbye subculture, hello establishment.
And like big box retail, these automakers offer wildly different products drawing from their well-worn brand DNA.
Take Chevy and Jeep, the Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic of autos.
Jeep invented the SUV in the 1980s and continues to set the trend as crossover fashion sweeps the globe. In 2014 Jeep sales ballooned 44 percent, the brand eclipsed the 1 million sales mark worldwide — and is poised to go even higher with the globally-marketed Renegade.
Should Americans worry that Jeep has lost its roots by making Renegade in Melfi, Italy on a Fiat 500X platform (Fiat’s own entry in the subcompact market)? Fuhgeddaboudit. This pasta dish is as American as a Pizza Hut pie with stuffed cheese crust. Like Jeep Jr. trying on Grandpa Jeep’s WW2 uniform, the little guy is an adorable chip off the old block.
“The Renegade is true to the brand,” says Morrison. “It’s defined by the Wrangler delivering open air freedom.”
Wrangler, of course, is the iconic, everyman Jeep coveted by generations of youth. If the Grand Cherokee redefined Jeep as a refined, unibody family hauler, the open-top Wrangler is still old school warrior. Sure, the refined Renegade ditches the Wrangler’s antique body-on-frame and loud-as-nails interior.
But right down to the available olive drab “Commando” paint job, the Renegade wants to get up at the bugle call with Wrangler and eat some dust.
Four-wheel drive, upright windshield, straight-up-seven-slot grille, flat roof, trademark “X”-marks in the rear taillights taken from original military Jeep gas cans. Heck, the instrument panel even features the splash of a paintball gun.
The Chevy Trax, by contrast, is all urban cool. If you never soiled it through a muddy stream it wouldn’t resent you in the least.
Like Renegade, Trax is also aimed at the first-time youth buyer (note its hip spelling). Its interior may bear the marks of the subcompact Sonic sedan with which it shares a platform, but the hatchback is Son of Honda Fit. The front passenger seat, for instance, folds flat like the middle chairs so you can throw a surfboard inside. But Trax also wants to appeal to a wider demographic: Empty nesters, oldsters, Dinks (couples without kids).
Renegade’s interior and exterior — air vents shaped like Pixar’s Wall-E robot, removable roof panels, orange and black trim inspired by base jumper suits (I’m not making this up) — scream Gen Y. But Trax’s softer, more conventional, lines won’t scare off seniors. Or females.
If you wear a baseball cap to work, the Renegade calls like a siren. If you’re a pretty siren who needs a vehicle for tight downtown parking spots, Trax X’s the box.
Manufacturer introductions of the two vehicles say it all.
I flogged a 180-horse Renegade from San Jose, California to the Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area (a kind of Waterford Raceway for off-roading) where the Renegade was as happy as a pig in slop. We played in the mud, bounced off rocks, charged down insane 45-degrees slopes (standing O for the engineers’ Hill-descent Control).
My 138-horsepower Trax 4-banger never left San Diego. We had a nice quiet date along palm tree-lined beaches and urban byways. While the Renegade’s 4×4 claws (set ’em to Snow, Sand, Mud or Rock) will climb Mount Rushmore, the Trax’s more modest AWD system strives only to get you through a Detroit blizzard (though both have Wi-Fi hot spots giving you connectivity from anywhere). That modesty pays dividends in dry conditions. The Trax is no ‘Vette, but it’s noticeably nimbler than the Wrangler-esque Renegade.
Bottom line? These are fantastic, fuel-efficient, $20K products for a new segment. Mazda’s CX-3 will woo the performance crowd. Honda’s HR-V the reliability nerds. But the Chevy Trax brings GM’s formidable ute reputation in a small package. And Jeep just found a whole new hill to conquer.
That ol’ Detroit pioneering spirit is back.
2015 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 (turbo 4)
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: NA
Report card
Highs: Best-in-class cargo room; as happy in the outback as on the road
Lows: Upright front end and broad C-pillar create blindspots; lumbar support-challenged seats
Overall:***
2015 Chevrolet Trax
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front and all-wheel drive, five-passenger sport ute
Price: $20,995 base ($28,305 AWD LTZ as tested)
Power plant: 1.4-liter, turbo inline 4-cylinder
Power: 138 horsepower, 148 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 9.0 seconds (Motor Trend)
Weight: 2,805 pounds (FWD); 3,208 pounds (AWD)
Fuel economy: EPA 26 mpg city/34 mpg highway/29 combined
Report card
Highs: Best-in-class fuel economy; clever interior package
Lows: Another engine option, please?; tastier-but-still-vanilla exterior
Overall:***
Payne: Toyota Camry or Ford GT?
Posted by hpayne on January 24, 2015
“I want something that doesn’t break down,” said the lady in the red sweater when I asked her what she coveted on the Detroit Auto Show floor.
“Oh,” I replied, rather expecting the answer to be the drop-dead gorgeous, Holy-Mother-of-Pearl Ford GT supercar that had been a one-car mob scene since the doors opened to the public.
“My husband’s Toyota Camry has 293,000 thousand miles on it and has never had a problem,” she continued indignantly. So who’s counting? She is. “My Chrysler minivan has 150,000 and it’s in the shop. Again.”
Another Camry customer is born.
Red’s answer is proof that auto shows aren’t just fashion runways. They are also giant showrooms for folks who are in the market. They come to ogle the supermodels. The latest designer trends. Flying buttresses on the GT! Twelve LED headlights in the NSX! But then visitors will track down the cars that fit their lifestyle. Compare them. Try them on.
This year Ford’s stand leads with strength. Literally. The place has so much muscle it practically reeked of testosterone. Ford’s supercar was the biggest bodybuilder in a gym full of big biceps showing off the Dearborn automaker’s new performance division. Mustang GT350 R. F-150 SVT Raptor. Like Hulk Hogan at a pro wrestling autograph signing, the athletes were mobbed by adoring groupies.
Ford can do performance in its sleep. The history of the Ford GT alone will bring competitors to their knees. Winner of LeMans in 1966. And then in 1967, 1968, and 1969. Fifty years later, a new, 600 plus-horsepower GT that sounds like Godzilla gargling razor blades has its sights set on further French conquests.
At the Toyota stand, the Japanese automaker also wants to flex its new muscles. The Lexus RC F GT3 racing concept is the luxury brand’s first venture into serious GT racing. But its oiled pecs were largely ignored by showgoers. The FS-1, a delicious sports car on a Lazy Susan, got more respect. But performance cred is earned. Let us know when you win LeMans, boys.
But front and center in the Toyota display was a bank of Camrys. They welcomed visitors like . . . like what?
A beautiful hostess at a downtown restaurant? Naw. Despite the midsize sedan’s much-ballyhooed facelift this year, it’s hardly a head-turner.
A geriatric greeter at Wal-Mart? Nope. The Camry may be plain on the outside, but its hybrid technology is cutting edge.
A row of shiny TVs at Costco? Bingo.
The Camry is a pleasant, colorful, affordable appliance. That never breaks down.
Camry can do reliability in its sleep. It sets the tone for a smart brand that attracts people who need transportation. Like Red. Let the motorheads (guilty as charged) daydream about Ford GTs. Most folks want something that gets them from A to B without detours to the shop. Americans are a friendly tribe, but we don’t want to know our mechanic on a first name basis.
For all of its performance cred, Ford covets Toyota’s reliability rep. The Blue Oval’s jaw-dropping performance and styling (Ford’s Aston – er, Fusion – is George Clooney next to the Camry’s Steve Carell) draw customers to showrooms. But reliability is what keeps them coming back. Ford boasts slinky supercars that can fly at 200 mph for 24 hours, but Toyota excels at vanilla sedans you can flog 200,000 miles for 24 years.
On a flight back from Denver last year, a rental fleet manager told me a consistent complaint of customers is Ford’s original Sync infotainment system. Its moods drove them batty. Ford fixed the problems with Sync 2.0. But it has to earn customers back that it lost to Toyota.
During auto show media week I was driving a new, $33k, 2015 Camry. Like my kitchen toaster, it did its job with relentless normalcy.
Its console was the right balance of touchscreen and dials. Its hi-tech safety features watched over me like an angel. Its roomy seats fit all sizes. Its four-banger engine ran like a top. And its Lassie-like reliability makes you forgive its shortcomings. The low-mounted seat heater dials you have to blindly fiddle with to get right. The cruise control stalk that hides behind the steering wheel begging to be confused with the turn signal. The hard chrome console bezel that chews at my leg.
Someday, Toyota will blitz LeMans and Ford will rule Consumer Reports. Until then, we’ll drive our sexless Camrys to the auto show to ogle Ford GT beefcake.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
2017 Ford GT
Vehicle type: Mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-passenger sports car
Price: $150,000 est.
Power plant: 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V-6
Power: 600-plus horsepower, 500-plus pound-feet of torque
Transmission: seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, sub-3 seconds (no doubt)
Weight: TBA (expect a lightweight with carbon-fiber tub)
Fuel economy: TBA (and honestly, does it matter?)
Report card
Highs: Porn for autobuffs; Classic GT40 styling for the 21st c.
Lows: Might get you thrown jail
Overall:★★★★
2015 Toyota Camry
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, five-passenger sports car
Price: $23,795 base ($33,448 as tested)
Power plant: 2.5-liter DOHC 4-cylinder
Power: 178 horsepower, 170 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.9 seconds (Car & Driver)
Weight: 3,240 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 25 city/35 highway/28 combined
Report card
Highs: Bone reliable; Confy interior proportions
Lows: Styling a cure for insomnia; Center console can chaffe long legs
Overall:★★★
Payne: Z06 Corvette is an awesome blend of power and poise
Posted by hpayne on January 22, 2015
The Z06 makes 350 pounds of down force. Paired with an all-new aluminum chassis and 12-inch Michelin gummies, the Z06 is a big, tail-wagging, mountain of power. But with stick.
On the limit of grip — the 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8 howling like Cerberus in my ears — I modulate the Corvette ZO6’s throttle across the uphill, Turn 2 sweeper at Spring Mountain. But the hungry beast wants more. More throttle?
Payne, it seems to say, don’t you know I am the most capable production car in existence? That your pals at Car & Driver have recorded my 1.19 lateral G-forces higher than a Porsche 918 hybrid? Higher than a Nissan GTR?
I oblige with every passing lap. Which means that at 6,400 RPM I snatch fourth gear — 122 mph — at the top of the hill going into Turn 3, a 180-degree
downhill right-hander. BRAAAAKES! I stomp on the binders at the way-too-late marker and giant Brembo calipers seize 15.5-inch carbon-ceramic front rotors with the force of a Rottweiler on a postman’s leg. The coupe slows like it hit an invisible wall. My chest strains against the seat belt. My eyeballs bulge from their sockets. But the Z wants more. Brake later? Are you mad?
Fool, don’t you know that I can brake with any exotic car on the planet? A heart-stopping 128 feet from 70-0 mph? Better than a Porsche Turbo? Or a Ferrari 458?
And so it goes lap after lap trying to find the limits of this extraordinary, $78,000-plus super car. Exhilarating. Addicting. But how is this possible?
After all, we’re comparing the Corvette to the most technologically advanced weapons on the planet. Cars with carbon-fiber tubs. All-wheel-drive. Overhead-cam, turbocharged, made-with-Unobtanium, flux-capaciter cyborgs sent here by Skynet from 25 years into the future.
I mean, the Z06 still has its engine in the front like a truck, for goodness sake. And it uses antique push rods. And leaf springs (yeah, I know, Chevy calls ’em “tranverse-mounted, composite springs” but every motorhead knows they’re leafs). The thing should be retired to the Smithsonian.
Well, hold the retirement party. The 2015 Corvette Z06 is the real deal.
Credit an engineering team lead by Tadge Juechter who has Pratt & Miller’s Doug Louth, chief engineer of Corvette’s racing program, on speed dial. The seventh-generation, $53,995 base Corvette C7 Stingray was conceived with the Z06 performance package and LeMans racing in mind. Would Juechter & Co. have use
more exotic suspension geometries and engine tweaks if it had twice the budget? Who knows? Who cares?
Squeezing every ounce of nutrition out of a front-engine, push-rod, transverse spring recipe it has perfected over three generations of car, Juechter’s geniuses then cooked their big sirloin steak with the best spices from Brembo and Michelin tires. The result? An affordable, freakishly-capable megabot with the performance of cars costing five times as much.
Consider: The Z06 lapped the epic, 4.1-mile Virginia International this year in 2.41.3 seconds. That’s quicker than the record 2.43.1 lap laid down by a $875,000 Porsche 918 at Car & Driver’s legendary Lightening Lap competition last year.
But the Z06 is more than quick. It’s comfortably quick. I was skeptical that this was possible. After all, I’ve driven Vette-zilla.
Vette-zilla was the 2007 ZR1, the last generation, C6-based Z06 on ‘roids. The most capable Corvette ever produced. With a 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8, 638 horsepower and all the tricks from the Brembo and Michelin magicians’ hats, the $110,000 ZR1 could run with the exotics. But it would wear you out in the process.
Like riding a bull through Pamplona, Vette-zilla roared and stomped and threatened to throw you through the window. It sweated 20 pounds out of you — but sweet speed was your reward. The ’15 Z06 tames Vette-zilla’s moods. Smooths its raw edges. And goes quicker. Nearly five seconds a lap quicker in GM’s VIR test.
On Spring Mountain Raceway I feel it instantly. The Z06 not only doesn’t generate as much lift as the squirrely ZR1, it makes 350 pounds of down force. Paired with an all-new aluminum chassis and 12-inch Michelin gummies, the Z06 is still a big, tail-wagging, mountain of power. But with stick.
“The difference from the ZR1 is that when you turn it in to a corner, it plants,” says ex-IndyCar driver Richie Hearn, who flogs Vettes at Spring Mountain’s Ron Fellows Driver’s School for a living,
That nimbleness has turned the old Detroit vs. Europe formula on it head.
“Detroit once made the drag queens,” says Juechter. “Europe the cornering kings.” Now, with hybrid-torque and all-wheel drive, Euro-sports like the 887-horsepower Porsche 918 stomp the big ‘Vette from 0-60. But without the weight of batteries and electric motors, the Z06 is lighter — easier to toss across apexes.
But don’t be fooled into thinking the ‘Vette is a tinny lightweight. At 3,524 pounds it is actually heavier than the last generation Z06 and ZR1. Wider and longer, the new car is stuffed with luxurious interior materials, media infotainment, four airbags, and a video Performance Data Recorder to play back the fun bits. They’ll be plenty.
With its race-breeding, you buy the Z06 over the base Stingray for weekends at the track (“You’re going to Waterford Raceway again this Saturday, hon?”). But the other days of the week, the Z06 is a luxury chariot. Unlike the single-minded, Z06/ZR1 hammers of yore, new Z06 owners (they went on sale in November, get in line) can have their cake and eat it too.
The Z06 is available in an automatic and a convertible with no compromise in performance. The convertible gains no weight over the coupe. The automatic loses no speed. Indeed, relates Juechter, when pro-drivers tested the Z06 at Road Atlanta last fall, they recorded faster times in the eight-speed automatic vs. the seven-speed manual.
“I got to admit it,” says Indy racer Hearn after cranking off a lap that had me gripping the door handles, “I prefer the automatic to the paddles.”
GM product guru Mark Reuss nicknamed the Z06 “Big Nasty” for its fearsome capabilities, but the bandwidth of this beast is astonishing.
Cruise to church with your best gal in its sumptuous, leather seats and dual climate control on Sunday morning. Wake cemeteries with 3,000-RPM thunderclaps through lake country on Sunday afternoon. Supercars are supposed to come with super sticker prices. My Torch Red (or is it ticket-me-red?) Z06 with Z07 performance package and competition seats still goes out the door for less than six-figures. Less is more with the Z06.
OK, Payne, enough talk. I’m getting cold. Let’s hit the track and find a coupla more seconds.
Glad to serve, Big Nasty.
2015 Corvette Z06
Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-passenger sports car
Price: $78,995 base ($97,595 as tested)
Power plant: 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8
Power: 650 horsepower, 650 pound-feet of torque
Transmission: seven-speed manual or eight-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.9 seconds (manufacturer)
Weight: 3,524 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA 15 mpg city/22 mpg highway (manual); 13 mpg city/23 mpg highway (auto)
Report card
Highs: Ferocious low-end power; Gotta-have-it good looks
Lows: Multi-gate, seven-speed manual gearbox takes some adjustment; fuzz magnet
Overall:★★★★
Henry Payne’s guide to the Detroit auto show
Posted by hpayne on January 17, 2015
You don’t have to walk far into Cobo Center to find my Car of the Show. The gorgeous, blood red, plug-in, battery-powered, twin-turbo, jewel-eyed, platinum-priced, fuel-efficient, high-performance, low drag, shrieking supercar Acura NSX.
The long-awaited NSX is a one-car smorgasbord of every hot feature on the floor — with the exception of a pickup bed. And like nearly every reveal at this year’s show it will only appeal to a few.
During media week, the NSX was a celebrity magnet. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld (reportedly he and fellow funnyman/car fanatic Jay Leno have dibs on the first two copies), rapper Ludacris, and every auto executive in town came by to ogle the $150K-plus exotic beauty. They are also the rare few who can afford it.
The 2015 Detroit Auto Show is a showman’s show boasting 50 eye-catching reveals. But it’s a dramatic departure from 2014’s circus that showcased major volume segment reveals like the Ford F-150, Chrysler 200, and Honda Fit. Key luxury debuts abounded, including the Lincoln MKC, Hyundai Genesis, and Acura TLX.
Last year, Cobo was big box retail. This year it’s an oversized boutique. With the U.S. market back to glorious, pre-recession, 17-million-in-sales-a-year growth, manufacturers are slicing and dicing the market with specialty models. That means performance models. Off-road models. Hybrid models. Anything to keep showrooms packed as automakers try to tease that last dollar out of your wallet.
This fracturing of the field means that fights are popping up all over the floor like sword duels in a “Hobbit” battle scene. Over here are Tesla and Chevy battling it out for the first 200-mile electric car. Over yonder a skirmish for best small pickup. Me? I’m a sucker for affordable sports cars. Here are the highlights:
Henry Payne’s take on 2015 NAIAS sports cars
Henry Payne’s take on 2015 NAIAS small, midsize and green cars
Henry Payne’s take on 2015 NAIAS luxury cars
Henry Payne’s take on 2015 NAIAS SUVs
Henry Payne’s take on 2015 NAIAS concepts
Henry Payne’s take on 2015 NAIAS trucks
Raptor vs. Rebel
In this corner of Cobo, the earth-pawing Ford Raptor. And in that corner the boffo, red-on-black Ram Rebel. Sounds like a WWE bout, huh? The names are intentionally intimidating. These are trucks with attitude. But the bout is a mismatch. The F-150’s evil twin, Raptor is an off-road assault vehicle suitable to run the legendary Baja 1000. With a seriously upgraded chassis and suspension, this monster might eat the trees that Ford has placed around the pickup’s exhibit. In contrast, the Rebel is an aggressive trim upgrade. Blacked-out grille, dual exhaust, and huge, knobby tires give it menace. But inside, this tough truck is a softie. Red-stitched vinyl interior, 8.4-inch UConnect console screen, and a clever media holder for your phone/tablet.
The Raptor/Rebel bruise brothers are evidence that there are the Big Three truck makers — and everyone else. Over in the Nissan stand, an all-new, full-sized Titan is everything you want in a truck. But the F-150’s Raptor variant alone sold more copies than Titan last year.
The 200-milers
Tesla’s Elon Musk has thrown down the gauntlet on making an affordable, $30K electric car. General Motors just picked it up. Expensive electrics like the Tesla Model S and Cadillac ELR are tech wonders, but rare. The Big Game in battery power has always been the challenge of building an affordable EV. The Ford Model T revolutionized motoring because once millions of Americans could afford cars, gas infrastructure followed. So will recharging infrastructure follow the 30-grand EV? If anyone can make the car.
Musk claims his promised, 200-mile-range, Model E (Model E like Model T, get it?) will be the silver bullet. Chevy’s 200-miler Bolt concept may beat him to it. The Bolt — smartly executed as a trendy, small crossover — stepped all over the Chevy Volt 2.0’s introduction this year. Don’t pity the Volt. The redesign has all the sex appeal of a loaf of bread. Or a Corolla.
Hybrid supercars
The aforementioned NSX is the latest entry in a new class: The plug-in hybrid electric supercar. The $900,000 Porsche 918 launched the trend with neck-snapping, 2.2-second, 0-60 time. But $1 million cars belong in museums, not on roads. The $138K BMW i8 — so beautiful it even shames other Bimmers on the stand — brought that price into more conventional, Porsche 911 Turbo-like orbit. The NSX follows. Electric motors benefit supercars in two ways. They add instant acceleration to lightweight chassis. And they turn the front wheels, transforming mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive athletes into AWD cruise missiles that can turn on a dime. Or (ahem) even negotiate a Detroit snow storm.
While we’re drooling over supercars, note the show-stopping Ford GT is not a plug-in. It’s a conventional, twin-turbo V6. Which means it’s headed for LeMans GT racing to slay Ferrari. High five.
Dashboard revolution
Thanks to digital technology, I get blind-spot alerts, automatic braking before I punt the car in front of me. . . I can even drive hands-free with lane-keep assist (which freaks out Mrs. Payne). But the digital revolution is also transforming the center console. Tesla’s “floating iPad” console is as cool as its 200-mile range. Over at the Lincoln stand, the all-new MKX eliminates the cumbersome gearshift stalk with a push-button tranny next to an infotainment screen angled helpfully toward the driver. Ditto the Chrysler 200.
And now for something completely different: The new Audi TT fuses console and instrument screens into one display for better heads-up driving. Thank a super-smart nvidia (Intel is sooo 15 minutes ago) chip — the same brain that runs your kids’ awesome video games.
Megatrend
For all the micro-segments on Cobo’s floor, there is one over-arching megatrend: SUVs are taking over the world. Like the 19th-century stagecoach, we homo sapiens like riding high in our 21st-century vehicles. Some cars go to extraordinary lengths to be SUVs. Check out the Volvo S60 Cross Country, which takes its flowing, coupe-like sedan shell and jacks it 2.5-inches in the air to be labeled a crossover. Or the Mercedes GLE63. Looks kinda like a Subaru Outback (who knew Subie was a fashion leader?).
But maybe the most haunting proof that everything will ultimately turn into a crossover is the Hyundai Santa Cruz concept. It’s a pickup. The height of a compact SUV. With car-like, unibody construction.
Wild. Put a 550-horsepower plug-in-hybrid drivetrain in it and I bet Leno will snap it up in a minute. Enjoy the show.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.
Five must-sees
Dodge simulator: The Detroit show’s first full-car simulator. Take the family for a wild ride in a Charger Hemi.
Acura NSX: You’ll be hypnotized by this supercar’s 12 jewel-eye headlights. If its 550 plug-in electric horsepower doesn’t already have you a trance.
Mini Superleggera. What you get when you cross a British boy toy with an Italian supercar designer.
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor. Looks like a mechanized Jurassic Park reptile. Just don’t put your hands inside the cage.
Alfa Romeo 4C Spider. Turbocharged, sports-car fun. In a drop-top. With the most gorgeous models in the show.
Payne: Top 10 new cars at the Detroit Auto Show
Posted by hpayne on January 17, 2015
It’s cold. Really cold. But instead of taking refuge in a dark theater to watch an Oscar nominee, Cobo Hall offers something better: A dazzling, mega-watt, toy wonderland called the North American International Auto Show. Inside are spectacular sets, beautiful models in black dresses, and 750 of the world’s shiniest, best rides. Fifty-five of them are all new machines pushing the limits of horsepower, molded sheet metal, and digital doo-hickeys. These beauties aren’t just transportation, they are art on wheels.
Hollywood has its Top Eight Best Movies. Here are my Top Ten best new vehicles.
1. Acura NSX
The second coming of Acura’s supercar has been foretold since a 2012 concept. Could it live up the hype? Could it live up to the legacy of the Ayton Senna-endorsed original? This raked, jewel-eyed weapon got speeding tickets just standing still on its Cobo stand. Every detail is sharp, purposeful. Hood vents speed air from the front openings, sucking the car to the ground. The NSX joins the nearby BMW i8 as a new kind of supercar that can slink silently through town on electric power, then assault the countryside when the electric-assist-twin-turbo-V6 motor kicks in.
2. Alfa Romeo 4C Spider
If the NSX has a flaw, its design looks clinical. Cold. Not the Alfa. There’s something about Italian design that exudes sensuality. Warmth. (Or maybe it’s just the drop-dead gorgeous models on the Alfa stand.) Thanks to the stiff, carbon-fiber tub, the $60k, drop top Spider is just 22 pounds heavier than its coupe cousin. Store the soft top in the 4C’s lunch-sized boot. Opt for the removable hard top and store it in the passenger seat (which means the model can’t come with you, alas).
3. Chevy Bolt
Tesla’s swaggering CEO, Elon Musk, showed up in Detroit during media preview week without his Model 3, the long-promised, $35K, 200-mile range electric car. A pity, because Chevy beat him to it. What’s more, the crossover Bolt (lousy name, why didn’t they call it the Gamechanger?) scored a two-fer. It also eclipses its sister Chevy Volt which debuts its second-gen nearby.
4. Toyota Tacoma
The Empire strikes back. Last year Chevy stormed the Detroit Auto Show with Colorado and Canyon pickups in an attempt to take back the small(er) pickup segment. This year, reigning class king Tacoma answers. It’s remade for the first time since 2006 with a new skin, new 3.5-liter V-6, and updated electronics. Smaller than the GM twins — Toyota bets its customers want a truck that fits in a parking space.
5. Ford GT
The more things change, they more they stay the same. While BMW and Acura showcase new hybrid supercars, the Ford GT is a conventional throwback. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Henry the Deuce’s LeMans win over Enzo Ferrari, the GT signals a 2016 LeMans GTE-class entry — complete with fire-breathing, class-legal V-6 twin-turbo. The exterior is a thoroughly modern re-imagination of the legendary GT-40. Ford has built plenty of green hybrids. This monster has its sights on red Italian sports cars.
6. Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
The six-figure GT is for extreme, on-road driving. The $45K Raptor is for extreme off-roading. Named after the lithe, lizard-skinned, big-clawed dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, the desert-mocking, earth-pawing, shrubbery-chewing F-150 version is twice as big and twice as mean. With upgraded chassis and suspension, the Raptor does share one thing with the GT: A howling, twin-turbo V-6.
7. Mini Superleggera
What’s with the sports car in the Mini shoebox store? The Superleggera is the love-child of England’s Mini Cooper and Italy’s Touring Superleggera coach-maker. Powered by an electric motor, the two-seater concept features such design flourishes as a Jaguar D-Type-style fin and Union Jacks embedded in the tail-lights.
8. Mercedes-Benz F015 autonomous vehicle
The luxury answer to Google’s self-driving toaster. With rotating chairs wrapped in Nappa leather, the walnut-trimmed F015 is a rolling lounge. If the regulators someday OK autonomous vehicles, this is how the beautiful people will arrive at the Charity Preview.
9. Mazda CX-3
Big and bold dominated this year’s reveals, masking a fundamental shift in the industry: SUVs are challenging sedans in every segment. The CX-3 — along with the Honda HR-V and Chevy Trax — is the first of wave of sub-compact utes. The pretty CX-3 boasts Mazda’s trademark stylish design and sporty handling.
10. Cadillac ATS-V and CTS-V
The V twins take on the formidable performance divisions of BMW M and Merc AMG. The graceful CTS-V shares the Corvette Z06’s earth-shaking, supercharged, 6.2-liter power plant. Top speed? 200 mph. But the nimble ATS coupe will be Caddy’s rep on the race track.