automobile 2010 08
TRANSCRIPT
AUGUST 2010 AUTOMOBILEMAG.COM
563-HP M-B SLS AMG 553-HP LEXUS LFA553-HP
USA $4.99 CANADA $5.99
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*Whichever comes first. See dealer for limited warranty details. **Visit onstar.com for details and system limitations.
2010 Lexus RX FWDA Consumers Digest Best Buy: no
Powertrain Warranty: 70,000 miles/6 years*
Seating Capacity: 5
Turn-by-Turn Navigation: optional
Remote Door Unlock: not available
2010 Buick Enclave FWD A Consumers Digest Best Buy: yes
Powertrain Warranty: 100,000 miles/5 years*
Seating Capacity: 8
Turn-by-Turn Navigation: OnStar®/1 year standard** Remote Door Unlock: OnStar/1 year standard
visit buick.com
64 There’s a new sheri� in town.
54
SUPERCAR SHOOTOUT
By Georg KacherThe Lexus LFA and the Mercedes-Benz
SLS AMG represent very different
approaches to the supercar. We
compare them side-by-side during a
long day—and night—in Frankfurt.
64
BORDERLINE INSANITY
By Ezra DyerWe ride shotgun along the Mexican
border in the baddest, most capable
off-road pickup on the market: the
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.
72
SIMONA DE SILVESTRO
By Preston LernerThis Swiss-born rookie hopes to be the
fi rst female racer to make people
forget she’s not one of the boys.
78
ACURA TL SH-AWD
VS. AUDI S4
By Jason CammisaTorque vectoring, previously used only
in rally-bred sports cars, has trickled
down to these two grown-up sedans,
proving that adulthood
has never been so much fun.
90
NON SEQUITUR
Photographer Michael Alan Ross
shoots hot rods in the stark scenery of
the Bonneville Salt Flats.
96
BAD BOY PORSCHES
By Preston LernerThe quasi-underground club of Porsche
lovers, R Gruppe, demonstrates that
hot rods don’t have to pack V-8s.
insideAUGUST 2010
Automobile features
AUTOMOBILE (ISSN 0894-3583) (USPS 000-934) (GST 135274306) Vol 25 #5 is published monthly by Source Interlink Media, LLC., 261 Madison Avenue, Fifth Floor, New York, New York 10016. Periodicals postage is paid at New York, New York, and additional mailing offi ces. Subscription rates for one year: in U.S. and possessions, $19.94; in Canada, $27.94. Foreign rates on request. For subscriptions, address changes, and adjustments, write to AUTOMOBILE Magazine, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, Florida 32142–0235, or email [email protected] or call 800–289–2886 (U.S.), 386–447–6383 (international). Please include name, address, and telephone number on any inquiries. AUTOMOBILE is a trademark of Source Interlink Magazines, LLC. Copyright © 2010 by Source Interlink Magazines, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is prohibited. Manuscripts, photos, and other material submitted must be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope; AUTOMOBILE Magazine assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Printed in U.S.A. Postmaster: Send address changes to AUTOMOBILE Magazine, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, Florida 32142–0235. Canadian Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40612608. Returns to be sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2 Canada
6 Automobile | August 2010
BR
IAN
KO
NO
SK
E
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARK BRAMLEY
P R E S E N T I N G
STARTING UNDER $19,000. WELL EQUIPPED UNDER $21,600.
SuzukiAuto.com/Kizashi
While designing the all-new Kizashi, we targeted sedans such as the Audi A4® and Acura TSX.® We started by creating an Autobahn-tuned,
highly rigid chassis with available all-wheel-drive traction that delivers better road-holding grip than many premium-priced sedans.1 Next,
we provided advanced safety features that achieve 5-star ratings in all four crash categories – something that even the Volvo S40
can’t match.2 Then we added technology like standard SmartPass™ push-button ignition and an available 425-watt Rockford Fosgate
audio system. We then finished with one of the most powerful standard engines in its class.3 The result? AutoWeek said the Kizashi was
the “best handling and most composed FWD sedan we’ve driven.” The all-new Kizashi. Everything’s premium except the price.
®
®
1 Based on Edmunds.com lateral skidpad testing. Kizashi attained higher lateral force than Infiniti G37, Acura TSX and Mercedes C300 Sport.2Government star ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) New Car Assessment Program (www.safercar.gov). 3 Engine output claim based on manufacturers’ web sites as of 5/10/10. Class defined as IHS Global Insight’s® MY10 Lower Midsize segment. MSRP does not include tax, license, title or destination charges. Dealer prices may vary. Audi A4, Acura TSX, Infiniti G37, Mercedes C300, Volvo S40, Rockford Fosgate, and AutoWeek are registered trademarks. Kizashi GTS as shown $22,729. Professional driver on environmentally approved closed course. Do not attempt. Vehicle shown upon a designated off-road trail. Along with concerned conservationists everywhere, Suzuki urges you to Tread Lightly® on public and private land. Preserve your future off-roading opportunities by showing respect for the environment, local laws and the rights of others. © American Suzuki Motor Corporation 2010. Suzuki, the “S” logo and Suzuki model names are Suzuki trademarks or ®.
AutomobileMAG.COM
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ignition 12 NEWS
New mid-engine sports car from Germany; the life of Giorgetto Giugiaro; the future of car radio; Volkswagen’s venerable VR6; and budget racing.
22 BY DESIGNBy Robert CumberfordThe Porsche 918 Spyder is our kind of economy car.
24 NOISE, VIBRATION & HARSHNESS
By Jamie KitmanWill Jaguar’s new owners continue what Ford started?
26 DYER CONSEQUENCESBy Ezra DyerDoes a hybrid badge on a three-ton vehicle really make it earth-friendly?
28 LETTERSThe Corvette’s gotta have a V-8, you say.
driven 30 2011 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE
What’s old is new again.
34 2011 ASTON MARTIN V12 VANTAGE
A formula for fast.
43 2011 PORSCHE CAYENNE S HYBRID Smooth sailing.
44 2011 MINI COUNTRYMANThis one’s big.
48 2011 INFINITI QX56Keeping it real.
52 2011 FORD SHELBY GT500SVT prepares for the Camaro Z28.
upshift 102 FOUR SEASONS WRAP
Nissan GT-R: Living with a supercar proves not to be so easy.
110 FOUR SEASONS LOGBOOK
An Acura ZDX joins our fl eet and we catch up with our Audi Q5, Mazda 3, and Volkswagen GTI.
113 COLLECTIBLE CLASSICThe 1965–74 Iso Grifo is American muscle in a high-style Italian suit.
117 AUCTIONSThe Mecum Auction: Two 1960s Mercedes convertibles with Hollywood credentials cross the auction block.
122 VILE GOSSIPBy Jean JenningsHow to get a job at a car magazine. At least at this magazine.
30 44
52 34
113
22
16
AUGUST 2010
Automobile
102
departments
8 Automobile | August 2010
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BASED ON THE AVERAGE OF LEADING ECONOMY FILTERS.*
When your oil breaks down, damaging dirt and particles can threaten the life of your engine. A FRAM Extra Guard oil filter delivers advanced engine protection with specially blended glass and cellulose filter media. FRAM Extra Guard traps 95% of dirt and harmful particles, and holds them until your next recommended oil change. Don’t cut corners — go with FRAM. To learn more about advanced engine protection, go to fram.com.
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* Based on testing of models equivalent to PH8A 3387A and 6607 under ISO 4548-12 for particles > 20 microns.
Engine protection is the measure of a fi lter’s ability to not just trap dirt, but hold it for the life of the fi lter.
© 2010 Honeywell International Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. THE DIRT STOPS HERETM
E’VE REPORTED RECENTLY
that Mercedes-AMG was working on
a smaller, cheaper SLS spin-o� called
the SLV, which would share the
Gullwing’s front-engine layout. That plan
is now on the back burner. Mercedes is
still interested in a derivative of its new
halo model, but that prospect is currently
being referred to internally as SLM.
The M stands for mid-engine, as captured
in the proportions of our spy illustration.
The change in course is primarily due
to concerns about overlap within the
Mercedes lineup. “Our friends in
corporate rightly pointed out that a
front-engine sports car would have been
too close to the SL, which is an important
cash cow for the brand,” explains our
source at AMG. The performance division
considered going in the opposite direction
and building a “super SLS”—something
wilder than the defunct SLR McLaren—
but soon realized that such a concept
wouldn’t fi t the times. AMG has found
that even its elite customer base expects
more environmental and social
responsibility going forward, so the SLM will emphasize
lightness and e� ciency. But why go with a mid-engine
confi guration, which will basically require AMG to start from
scratch rather than adapting Gullwing components?
“A mid-engine car is the best way to avoid cannibalizing
sales—and to challenge rivals like the Audi R8 and the upcoming
production version of the BMW Vision E� cientDynamics coupe,”
our source answers.
In the early stages of the SLM’s gestation—kicked o� under the
leadership of Volker Mornhinweg before he left AMG to run the
Mercedes van division—engineers experimented with a twin-turbo
four-cylinder, but that option was dropped because it would have
been hard to fi nd a profi table price point. Another alternative was
simply to replace the SLS with a mid-engine coupe powered by the
latest small-displacement V-8. Again, the idea was nixed because it
didn’t provide enough incremental business. The most likely
scenario now is a 350-hp, 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 paired with two
electric motors positioned in front of the driver. To maximize
synergies, the front axle, elements of the battery pack, and the
electronics platform will be adopted from the electric-drive SLS,
which is due in 2012. The rear suspension, complete with the
seven-speed transaxle, is another signifi cant carryover item.
Expect AMG to adapt the aluminum spaceframe it developed for
the SLS, although the fi rewall will obviously move rearward.
One aspect of the SLS that defi nitely won’t trickle down is its
distinctive appearance. “We are not going to o� er a downsized
Germany’s Mid-Engine Boom
by GEORG
KACHER
IT ALL STARTS HERE
the deep dive
w
12 Automobile | August 2010
ILL
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Porsche, Volkswagen, and Audi clash over small sports cars
COULD INTERNAL POLITICS
endanger the Volkswagen
Group’s trio of mid-engine
compact sports cars—the
Porsche 356 (illustrated below),
the Audi R5, and the VW
BlueSport? VW launched the
mid-engine BlueSport concept
at the 2009 Detroit auto show.
The car was a runner, the
engineers had done much more
than their routine homework,
and, in principle, marketing had
given it a thumbs-up. Almost
eighteen months later, however,
the two-seater is still on hold.
Where is the problem? As
usual, it lies elsewhere—in
Zuffenhausen and Ingolstadt, to
be precise. Porsche doesn’t
want the next-generation
Boxster to be cannibalized by a
less expensive and potentially
more capable 356. Audi, facing
slow demand for the R8,
doesn’t see the need for a third
sports car to be positioned
between the next TT and its
mid-engine fl agship. Although
VW is quick to admit that the
BlueSport would work wonders
for its image, the brand has its
plate full coordinating the
cooperation deal with Suzuki,
preparing the next Golf, and
getting the so-called New
Small Family under way.
“Sports cars are not at the top
of our priority list,” states
chairman Martin Winterkorn.
“This applies in particular to
sports cars that require the
collaboration of Porsche, which
is not even part of the VW
Group yet.”
At Porsche, Not Invented
Here syndrome is also a major
issue. Porsche will almost
certainly lose the development
of the next Cayenne to Audi.
The Cayenne’s still-nameless,
Q5-based little brother will also
be conceived by the friendly
enemy from Ingolstadt. If it
were to base the 356 off VW’s
BlueSport, Porsche would lose
its third project in a row.
“The VW Group needs a
modular sports car structure to
stretch from the entry-level
segment to the 911 or even
beyond. And the only brand that
can credibly conceive such a
structure is Porsche,” says one
source in Zuffenhausen.
Rather than quell this
burgeoning sibling rivalry, VW
chief Ferdinand Piëch is in fact
encouraging Audi to pitch a
new platform of its own against
Porsche’s. He’s done this
before—the apparent intent is
to motivate both groups and
generate additional ideas. In
the end, however, the project
will likely land under the
Porsche umbrella.
Although the platform for
this mid-engine trio remains
somewhat up in the air, we can
speculate on how each will
evolve. Porsche will likely insist
on a fl at four in a coupe and
a roadster, but Audi could
probably live with an R8-
inspired derivative powered
by the blown 2.5-liter
fi ve-cylinder in the TT RS. VW
could then come out with a
minimalistic droptop equipped
with the “twincharged”
(supercharged and
turbocharged) 1.4-liter engine
from Europe’s Polo GTI. More
fanciful ideas include a targa,
a speedster, a turbocharged
GT4, and a lightweight
Clubsport for Porsche in
addition to an E-tron with
electric four-wheel drive, a
solar-panel roof, and adjustable
sideblades for Audi. Wishful
thinking? We’ll know more late
next year when the integration
of Porsche is complete.
Gullwing. Such a car would dilute the
attraction of the SLS, and it would
demonstrate a lack of imagination,” says a
team member on the project. AMG has
also ruled out a hardtop convertible. “It’s
not su� ciently hard-core and sporty.”
That leaves us with the following
alternatives: a coupe, a roadster, and a
hatchback. According to the AMG
grapevine, a coupe with so-called
“heron-wing” doors (they swing out and
then pivot up at a 45-degree angle) is the
likely starting point. The second SLM
model will probably be a speedster with a
cut-down windshield and a basic,
manually operated canvas top.
Dimensionally, the SLM is smaller than a
Ferrari 458 Italia. The time frame, volume,
and fi nancial calculations for the most
radical modern Benz are still i� y. The year
2015 looks like a realistic target, and if the
company can sell at least 7500 units
annually, the asking price should come
down to approximately $165,000. That’s
more than most SLs but about twenty
grand less than a base Gullwing. AM
9The number of
German mid-engine
sports cars we
might soon be able
to choose from
should these four
models, plus the
Porsche 918 Spyder
and the BMW Vision
Effi cientDynamics,
all make it to
production. That’s
up from only three
at present—the
Audi R8 and
Porsche’s Boxster
and Cayman.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 13
F YOU OFTEN FIND yourself switching aimlessly among the
hundreds of radio stations beamed to your car by AM, FM, and
satellite radio, get ready for even more choices. Lots more.
Ford announced earlier this year that, starting with the
new Fiesta, its Sync interface will work with Pandora radio’s
mobile phone application, allowing drivers to use it hands-free
via voice commands.
Some might see this as a coronation of Pandora, an Internet
radio service with 54 million subscribers, but in fact it’s an
opening of the fl oodgates for new companies and services looking
to enter the already-crowded marketplace that is your car stereo.
In addition to traditional broadcast and satellite radio, which
attract 239 million and 35 million listeners, respectively, Pandora
also faces o� against HD radio, which gives FM and AM digital
sound quality and more stations, and stored media on CDs and
MP3 players. And then there’s the fact that Pandora is only one of
many fl edgling Internet radio applications pining to cooperate
with automakers.
At one time, we might have seen automakers lining up in
alliances, as happened during the Sirius and XM showdown.
technology
Now, it’s more likely that they’ll let the contenders duke it out for
themselves.
“Going forward, we’re looking to o� er the customer as many
choices as possible,” says John Schneider, Ford’s chief
infotainment engineer. “We’ll let the market determine [what
format people listen to].”
That’s easy, because unlike satellite radio a decade ago or even
FM radio in the 1970s, there’s almost no new investment required
for an automaker to accommodate for these new services. Millions
of drivers already pay for powerful mobile devices and data plans,
and most new cars, even those as inexpensive as the Kia Forte, are
set up to connect with them via Bluetooth and USB inputs.
“It’s not a big deal for automakers to interface with our
Who will win the radio wars?
Ford is the fi rst automaker to offer control of Pandora Internet streaming audio through the radio’s head unit.
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product,” says George Lynch, who worked
at XM radio when it launched with the
aid of $50 million from General Motors
and who now serves as vice president of
automotive business development at
Pandora. “They don’t need a new chip set
in the radio or anything. It’s not costing
millions of dollars.”
The biggest development on Ford’s
next-generation Sync system is secure,
robust software that will allow mobile
applications to communicate with the car.
Ford will also maintain control by
screening third-party developers in much the same way
Apple does with applications for its iPhone. In addition to
Pandora, Ford has already partnered with Stitcher, which
aggregates talk radio and podcasts, as well as OpenBeak, a
mobile Twitter application.
Still, it’s likely that for the next few years, car stereos will be
like the Wild West, as traditional broadcasters and startups
battle for a chunk of the millions of hours of radio listening that
Americans do in the car each year. And although each format has
its own advantages (see sidebar below), there’s simply no way to
know what will come out on top fi ve or ten years in the future.
“I tell you, when I know that for sure, I’m going to leave my
job [at Ford],” Schneider says. — David Zenlea
The Contenders
AM/FMReach: 239 million listenersFirst broadcast: 1916/1937
(AM/FM)Sound quality: equivalent to
256–300 kbps* (FM)Automaker availability: All Pros: Local entertainment,
sports, and news; freeCons: Limited coverage; patchy
service in rural areas; commercials; local preachers with talk shows
SATELLITE RADIOReach: 35 million listenersFirst broadcast: 2001Sound quality: 48–128 kbps*Automaker availability: AllPros: Full coverage from New
York City to Death Valley; lots of variety; “Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour”
Cons: Pricey subscription fee; signal can be blocked by trees, underpasses, etc.; Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margaritaville
PANDORA RADIOReach: 54 million subscribersFirst broadcast: 2004Sound quality: 64–128 kbps*Automaker availability: FordPros: Near-infi nite, personalized
content; millions already own the hardware; free or very cheap
Cons: Relies on wireless networks that may soon start blocking data-intensive applications; doesn’t include the cost of a smartphone
HD RADIOReach: 3 million unitsFirst broadcast: 2003Sound quality: 128 kbps*Automaker availability: Audi,
BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Mercury, Mini, Rolls-Royce, Scion, Volkswagen, and Volvo
Pros: No subscription requiredCons: Only in some cars in
some areas
“Going forward, we’re looking to offer the customer as many choices as possible.”JOHN SCHNEIDER,
FORD
* CD bit rate: 1411.2 kilobits per second
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1959: Frustrated, he presents some drawings to Nuccio Bertone, who then assigned a trial design. “You know that design I had you do as a test? Well, I sold it to Alfa Romeo, so you’d better come to work for me.” His monthly salary increases from $129 to $225. The
drawing becomes the Alfa Romeo 2000 (later 2600),
Giugiaro’s fi rst car.
Giorgetto Giugiaro is the Car Designer of the Cen-
tury, according to 132 (relatively) young automotive
journalists back in 1999. Their grasp of automotive
history seems to have been concentrated in their
own adult lifetimes, however. Whether GG’s infl u-
ence is greater than Battista “Pinin” Farina’s or
Harley Earl’s is very much open to debate, but there
is no question that he is one of the most prolifi c de-
signers alive. “I have designed cars for every major
company but Honda, and one day I will do that,”
says the Maestro. The merging of his fi rm Italdesign
with Volkswagen (see sidebar) may signify an end
to his half century of intense activity, but he remains
a powerful and highly infl uential force in automo-
bile design. — Robert Cumberford
the MAESTRO
August 7, 1938: Born to an artistic family in Garessio, province of
Cuneo, in northern Italy. His father is a painter.
1952: Moves to Turin, enrolls in the design school of the famous
1920s caricaturist known as Golia. At an
end-of-term party, Golia’s nephew Dante Giacosa, Fiat’s chief
engineer, sees Giugiaro’s car drawings
and offers him an apprenticeship at Fiat.
1967: Leaves Ghia to start Italdesign, partnered with brilliant production engineer Aldo Mantovani.
1968–71: Both Italdesign and daughter Laura are born. Italdesign makes a splash with the dramatic Bizzarrini Manta mid-engine supercar. Within three years he adds Abarth, Suzuki, Porsche, and—superbly, with the Iguana 33/2—Alfa Romeo concept cars to his portfolio, not to mention the production Maserati Bora and Alfasud sedan. These designs grab the attention of Kurt Lotz, who has just taken over VW and knows he needs fresh products.
Abarth to Zastava, Giorgetto Giugiaro was there.
1955: Hired at the Fiat Special Vehicles Styling Center at Mirafi ori. In four years, Giugiaro’s immediate supervisor
does not present any of his projects to the chief
of the Center.
1961: Second serious production model: the
BMW 3200CS.
1962: Hitting his stride with another unique Ferrari–
Nuccio Bertone’s personal 250GT–and two production
models—the Simca 1000/1200 S coupes and
the Iso Rivolta GT 300/340.
1963: Marries Maria Teresa Serra.
1964: The Canguro, Giorgetto’s favorite Alfa. Giugiaro also designs a
one-off Ford Mustang for Automobile Quarterly.
1965: Son Fabrizio is born during the Geneva show,
where the Fiat 850 Spider was revealed.
1966: Bertone wants to hire designer Marcello Gandini.
Displeased, Giugiaro moves to Ghia, then operated by
Argentine wild man Alessandro de Tomaso. The
limited-production De Tomaso Mangusta
launches Giugiaro’s sharp-edged, origami-like
“folded paper” period.
1960: Assigned to an “Alpini” military regiment headquartered at Bra, well away from Turin. Bertone rents Giugiaro a hotel room, installs a drawing board, and keeps GG working on the design of the Alfa Romeo Giulia GT whenever he’s off duty. He also does his fi rst of three Ferrari one-offs with Carrozzeria Bertone.
profi le
16 Automobile | August 2010
1987–88: Too many projects and far too little time. Things like the Eagle Premier impress neither critics nor car buyers. Then, suddenly—as this magazine proclaimed at the time, “Giugiaro is back”—three defi nitely nonstandard, indeed exciting, Audi-powered show cars appear: Aztec, Aspid, and Asgard.
1989–1991: The Lexus GS300 and the totally unexpected Subaru SVX, a great GT car that was completely outside Subaru’s market—and thus sold poorly—reach the streets.
1995–1996: More concepts, including the Lamborghini Cala—a predecessor to the 2004 Gallardo—and one production model, the Daewoo Lanos, are added to the portfolio. Fabrizio Giugiaro is made styling director of the fi rm.
1997–1999: Italdesign becomes Italdesign-Giugiaro.
2000: Reputation wanes even as business fl ourishes with more and more body engineering projects. Word in the industry is that Italdesign would throw in Giugiaro styling free if the company got the engineering contract. Projects came to him, concept and theme included.
2003: Case in point: the Alfa Romeo Brera concept. Not knowing the origin of the project at the time, we call it “a welcome return to form for the Giugiaros and the Italdesign carrozzeria.” In fact, the styling is done mostly by Jean-Paul Oyono at Zagato.
2003: Assists on the design of the Lamborghini Gallardo.
2004–2005: The GG50, a Ferrari by and for Giugiaro, is built to celebrate his half century of car design. Italdesign also puts out the restyled Alfa 156 and the Fiat Croma and Grande Punto production cars.
2006: A second Mustang by Giugiaro, mostly by Fabrizio.
2008: The fi rm celebrates its fortieth anniversary with several concept and production cars, including the 2007 Suzuki SX4.
2010: Lamborghini Holdings, an arm of the Volkswagen Group, buys 90.1 percent of Italdesign-Giugiaro.
1985–86: So busy with production models for Hyundai, Fiat, Seat, and
Renault that there isn’t much time for concept cars, other than the
Machimoto, Oldsmobile Incas, and the VW Orbit. Oh, and Italdesign did
engineering for the Merkur XR4Ti and the Ford Escort cabriolet. Busy indeed.
1984: A growing year: the Saab 9000, its sister-under-the-skin
Lancia Thema, the Isuzu Gemini (badge engineered as the Chevrolet Spectrum, too), the Seat Ibiza, three
Lancia concepts, and one concept each on Lotus (Etna) and Ford
(Maya) platforms.
1983: The Fiat Uno debuts. It’s still in production today in Brazil and has
been one of Fiat’s greatest successes.
1981: The De Lorean DMC12, designed much earlier, and the highly
infl uential Isuzu Piazza/Impulse coupe reach production.
1980: Pens the Fiat Panda, perhaps his second-most important design. It stays in production for twenty-three
years, including variations with all-wheel drive (also engineered by Italdesign).
1978–79: Brought forth a concept car close to Guigiaro’s heart, the
Lancia Megagamma, a tall car with a small footprint. But that concept was
countered by the space-ineffi cient production BMW M1.
1973–76: Likely the peak of Giugiaro’s career in terms of volume
and quality of work, with seven production cars—VW Passat,
Scirocco, and Golf; Alfa Romeo Alfetta GT and Alfasud Sprint; Hyundai Pony;
Maserati Quattroporte; and Lotus Esprit. The Golf is, in Giugiaro’s own
opinion, his best and most important design and was a direct derivative of the De Tomaso Mangusta in surface and cutline treatments. Who knew?
1972: A summer intern named Ferdinand Piëch spends two months
learning about design from thirty-four-year-old Giugiaro. Piëch
predicts the Golf will be a failure.
1971: VW contracts Italdesign for several projects, but Rudolf Leiding,
who succeeded Lotz, immediately kills all of the designs except for the
Golf, saying, “It can’t work, but it’s too late to change it,” proving that good
luck trumps bad judgment.
1970 VW-PORSCHE TAPIROAn angular coupe body—complete with gull-wing doors—wrapped over the mechanicals of a VW-Porsche 914/6. Sold to a wealthy industrialist after two years on the auto-show circuit but was later fi rebombed by protesting workers.
1973 AUDI ASSO DI PICCHEA slick coupe built upon the pedestrian Audi 80. The Karmann-commissioned concept didn’t reach production but did inspire both the Scirocco and the Isuzu Piazza/Impulse.
1986 MACHIMOTOAn attempt to merge motorcycle and GTI long before VW tried with the 2006 GX3 concept. Up to eight occupants straddled cyclelike saddle seats; power came from the GTI’s sixteen-valve, 1.8-liter I-4.
1995 LAMBORGHINI CALAIn 1994, Italdesign was contracted to style a prototype for a smaller, more a� ordable Lamborghini. The Cala project was canceled before VW purchased the brand, but almost a decade later, Italdesign helped design the Gallardo.
1997 VOLKSWAGEN W12 SYNCROVW executives mulled a limited-production run at nearly $200,000 a pop, but the W12 Syncro—along with the W12 Roadster concept—ultimately was simply a showcase for the company’s new W-12 engine. A 600-hp version set several speed records at Nardò in 2001.
1999 BUGATTI 18/3 CHIRONItaldesign created several earlier Bugatti concepts, but the 18/3 Chiron was the fi rst commissioned after VW bought the fabled French brand. This concept evolved into the Veyron 16.4 production car.
— Evan McCausland
The ink on the nuptial license is still drying, but Volkswagen and Italdesign-Giugiaro, which announced their merger in late May, are hardly strangers. In fact, the two newlyweds have been courting one another for roughly forty years.
Volkswagen historians are keen to cite Giugiaro’s revolutionary Golf hatchback and Italdesign’s work in styling both the Scirocco and the Passat, but some light digging in the design fi rm’s archives shows the roots of the new merger run even deeper.
VW and Giugiaro tie the knot
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 17
The mighty VR6 isn’t going anywhere, but several of its iron-block compatriots in Detroit are either gone or are on their way out. The pressure to downsize powertrains and the development of high-tech sixes has spelled the end of venerable workhorses from General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler.
BUICK “FIREBALL” V-6 (GM 3800)Displacement: 3.2L–3.8LFirst application: 1962 Buick Special (the fi rst V-6-powered American production car)Last application: 2009 Buick LaCrosseMost powerful production application: 1987 Buick GNX, 276 hp, 360 lb-ft of torque (turbocharged)
FORD “COLOGNE” V-6Displacement: 1.8L–4.0LFirst application: 1968 Ford TaunusLast application: Ford Ranger (current)Most powerful production application: 2005–2007 Land Rover LR3, 216 hp, 269 lb-ft of torque
CHRYSLER OHV V-6Displacement: 3.3L–3.8LFirst applications: 1990 Chrysler Imperial, New Yorker, Town & Country; Dodge Grand Caravan, Dynasty; Plymouth Grand VoyagerLast applications: Grand Caravan/Town & Country, Jeep Wrangler, Volkswagen Routan (all current)Most powerful production application: 2010 Wrangler, 202 hp, 237 lb-ft of torque
Americans. The VR6 made its debut in the
Passat and shortly thereafter found a home
in the Corrado sport coupe. From there, it
proliferated into other VWs, including the
GTI and the Jetta.
With two valves per cylinder, the
original VR6 developed between 172 and
178 hp, depending on the application. But
it wasn’t this engine’s output that
characterized it—it was the VR6’s sound
and smoothness. Indeed, the VR6’s
refi nement matched
the best in-line sixes’.
Even though the
engine’s plastic cover
said DOHC, the
original VR6 was
functionally an
SOHC design, with
each cylinder’s valves
actuated by the same
camshaft. In 1999, a
24-valve variant was
born, also with two
camshafts in total,
but now one
operated all the
intake valves while
the other opened all the exhaust
valves. Variable valve timing was
now possible, helping broaden
the VR6’s torque curve.
All these advantages bring up
the obvious question: why have
no other makers followed VW
with VR engines? Mainly, the
tightly packed cylinder head
imposes severe compromises in
combustion-chamber and port
designs. Even within VW, the VR6 is
gradually giving ground to the
turbocharged 2.0T four-cylinder, which
produces more power and uses less fuel.
But Volkswagen insists that the VR6,
having now been increased in size to
3.6 liters and with a smaller included
cylinder angle of 10.6 degrees, will
continue to power the CC as well as the
forthcoming new Passat, Touareg, and
Porsche Cayenne. — Jason Cammisa
survivorThe six-cylinder
HE LAST PLACE ONE would expect
to fi nd devotion to a two-decade-old,
iron-block six-cylinder engine is
Volkswagen. The company has developed
a line of powerful turbocharged, direct-
injected four-cylinders, but VW remains
committed to an aging engine that defi es
easy categorization: the VR6.
We—like VW itself—have occasionally
described the VR6 as a V-6, but that’s not
strictly correct. Whereas most V-6s use
two separate
cylinder heads, the
VR6 uses a single
head. It’s not an
in-line six, though,
because the
cylinders are
staggered and
separated into
two narrowly
angled banks of
three cylinders
(15 degrees when
the engine was
fi rst introduced).
In German, as
in English, the V
indicates an angle between
two cylinder banks. Whereas
we’d call a straight six an I-6,
the Germans call it an R-6,
with R standing for
Reihenmotor. VW simply
combined the two terms,
resulting in the name VR6,
which, loosely translated,
means in-line V-6.
The benefi ts of this
staggered, narrow-angle layout are clear:
the VR6 is only marginally longer and
wider than a four-cylinder engine,
meaning that it can be mounted
transversely in small front-wheel-drive
cars without the need for a long, space-
wasting hood. Volkswagen began work on
a prototype 2.0-liter VR6 in 1978, but by
the time it entered production in 1991, the
VR6 had grown to 2.8 liters, largely to
meet the needs of power-hungry
DimensionsThe VR6 is nearly as compact as a four-cylinder, but thanks to turbocharging, the current 2.0T is more powerful and more effi cient than the VR6.
Dimensions VR6 2.0TLength, in. 19.3 17.6Width, in. 25.0 25.1Height, in. 28.1 25.1
Not sofortunate
old iron
18 Automobile | August 2010
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motorsports
Even with a $300 car,racing ain’t cheap.
OU’VE LIKELY HEARD
the Roger Penske quote
that the best way to make a
small fortune racing is to start
with a big fortune. It turns out
that Penske’s observation is true
even in racing’s scrappiest
series, the 24 Hours of LeMons.
Senior web editor Phil
Floraday’s misfi t team (read: not
bankrolled by this magazine)
bought a $300 1987 Volkswagen
Quantum Syncro wagon and
then put in more than ten times
that amount getting it ready to
race. Result? They won the
Index of E� uency (awarded to
the team whose fi nishing
position furthest exceeds judges’
expectations), turning the $5644
worth of parts, labor, and entry
fees into a check for $1501.
Only your knuckles should turnwhite.
by ROBERT
CUMBERFORD
PORSCHE918 SPYDER OUR KIND OF ECONOMY CAR.
three men has contributed something
outside the Komenda template: Lapine
the 914, the 928, and the 944; Lagaay the
Carrera GT; and Mauer the Panamera.
Mauer, despite what you see when you
look at the bloated back of the Panamera,
is a very good designer, and with the 918
Spyder he and his team have truly broken
away from the Komenda canon while still
respecting it and the variations that
followed. The headlamp openings are no
longer round or oval, the front accepts the
fact that there are radiators needing large
amounts of air, and the profi le still falls
away in a fastback manner, although the
deck is substantially fl at between the
headrest fairings. The turned-down rear
wing picks up a cue from the Lapine 959,
but the composition is totally di� erent.
It is said that future Porsche cars will
be infl uenced by the 918, and I can believe
that because the 918 itself has about twice
as many good styling ideas as it needs,
and no doubt they’ll
eventually be used—but not
all at once, as here. The
overall impression is much
more related to racing
Porsches than to past road
cars, all of which had more
monolithic forms. Here the
body profi le is defi nitely
dictated by the wheels, giving
a voluptuousness that is
made manifest in the top view showing
that the nose and sides form an almost
perfect circle. You can’t get any more
Rubenesque than that.
Porsche has already said that it would
need 1000 orders to justify building such a
high-performance hybrid and that a
production version might appear as a
coupe and/or as an open car. Three
months after the initial surprise showing,
some 900 of the faithful had made their
desire known. I’d bet there are three times
that many who will buy 918s.
T TOOK 110 YEARS for the Porsche
car company to revisit its founder’s
concept of a hybrid powertrain with an
internal-combustion engine plus
electric motors. The Porsche 918
Spyder is one of the most astonishing
concept cars ever presented, by anyone. To
claim—and be able to prove, no doubt—
that this missile can get around that
crinkly old racetrack in the Eifel
mountains faster than a Carrera GT and
provide 78-mpg fuel economy (if you
respect speed limits) is utterly amazing.
Yet, given the source, it’s much easier to
believe those claims than to question them.
The irascible Professor Porsche had
fi nally burned all his bridges to the
German motor industry by 1931 and was
forced to open his own independent
engineering design consultancy seventy-
nine years ago. Since then, there have
been only fi ve Porsche styling leaders.
Austrian Erwin Komenda shaped the
Volkswagen Beetle and its Berlin–Rome
sports derivative, the magnifi cent Cisitalia
grand prix car, and the iconic 356. He also
worked on the 911, credited to fellow
Austrian Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche,
Komenda’s successor, who was quickly
followed by Latvian-born American
Anatole Lapine, then Dutchman Harm
Lagaay, and now, for the fi rst time, a
German, Michael Mauer. Each of the last
by design
1 Yes, Ferrari was there nearly fi fty years ago, and McLaren did much the same twin-inlet design on the F1. And why not? It is perfectly logical.
2 This separate carbon-fi ber molding gives defi nition, but it is so low as to be seriously vulnerable in normal road driving.
3 Little indents for the headlamp covers provide visual structure to the front end. Contrast this with the fat forms of earlier Porsches.
4 The entire rear body is larger than the front, effectively becoming a huge scoop. Its leading edge profi le parallels the graceful door cut, while a door indent channels more air to the engine bay. Count on the exhaust coming out the back in production, though.
5 Pierced transparent wheel covers are high on decoration, null for practicality. How do you clean brake dust? It’s hard enough to get it off aluminum wheels that don’t scratch so easily.
6 Not only are these knife edges unusual for Porsche, the lines result in sharp points both behind the front wheel housing and at the outer edge of the rear cooling outlets.
7 The sharp trailing edge of the rear fender sweeps gracefully across the entire rear of the body. It’s a little surprising that there is no clearly delineated license-plate position.
8 Shades of Jaguar’s levitating shift dial. These scoops apparently rise above the surface as needed (and as shown here), rather like the rear fl aps on other Porsches.
9 Everyone must have a diffuser, functional or not. Count on this one working. Hard.
10 This is the approximate center of an almost-perfect circle circumscribing all surfaces ahead of the doors. There is a tiny point on the bumper, but not on the outlet slot . . .
11 . . . which is concentric with the perimeter of the whole.
1 2 3
22 Automobile | August 2010
12 The convex outer surface of the headrests changes abruptly to a concave descent toward the scoop indents, establishing a sharp profi le line. Again, artful and elegant.
13 This knife edge is dramatic and dynamic and would work extremely well on a coupe, too.
14 The fi xed, freestanding rear wing turns downward at the tips, recalling the integrated wing of the 959 supercar. The elliptical trailing edge is both pretty and aerodynamically effi cient.
15 Very nicely shaped headlamp covers recall Italian racers more than Volkswagen/Porsche 356 lights.
16 These crisp peaks on the fenders break sharply with Porsche surface traditions.
17 Notice the complex cutline between the center body and the tail cover. Every cutline on the body is elegantly artful, especially on the aft ends of the doors.
18 Another sharp surface change on the rear fenders gives direction and avoids the pudgy look of early Komenda designs like the 356.
5
2120 22
10
4
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
7 986
19 The circular theme in plan view is carried across the instrument panel just at the intersection of the windshield base.
20 A very science-fi ction sideview camera will have to come eventually. The technology is ready, even if the auto industry is not.
21 What?! No shift lever? Not really needed with the dual-clutch automatic gearbox. And there are paddles.
22 Beautifully coordinated curves for the body-side scoop and the door cut.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 23
BIGGER, SMALLER, BETTER.
on Detroit’s history of botched lobotomies
and assisted suicides where its foreign
wards are concerned, such as the number
GM performed on Saab. Ford’s huge
investments allowed Jaguar to modernize
its factories and engine designs while
adopting cutting-edge aluminum
architecture for its XK grand tourer and
its biggest sedan, and its control systems
also helped the marque achieve massive
quality gains, as exemplifi ed in last year’s
J. D. Power awards for dependability and
owner satisfaction among luxury brands.
The question now, of course, is
whether the new Jaguar, with its humbler
sales goals, can make a go of it on its own.
Tata’s pockets are not inconsiderable, but
the huge, albeit theoretical, synergies of a
PAG are no longer there. While a new
fi ve-year, 50,000-mile, all-maintenance-
included “platinum” warranty program
will help back up the Power surveys in
potential customers’ minds, it’s the car
that will have to close the deal. In the
near term, that’s good news, for the new
XJ showcases all of the best Jaguar
virtues—supreme speed, amazing quiet,
and big fun to drive, with sharp steering,
prodigious roadholding, and a better ride
than any of its competitors, even those
that build a lot more cars.
How could that be?
Perhaps it was the Ford money. Allied,
of course, to some serious engineering
wizardry. But, then again, as Lyons proved
way back when, there’s something about a
gambler whose very existence depends on
success that increases the odds of
succeeding. When you have to care, dare
you must. Big isn’t necessarily better. AM
IKE HIGH-STAKES GAMBLERS WITH fi nite bankrolls
and three-alarm substance-abuse habits, ruination always lies
just around the corner for small-volume carmakers like Jaguar.
Or so we have been told.
Admittedly, every roll of the dice counts for more when your
pockets are shallow, which observation has led many to
conclude that building luxury cars can only be a game for those
with high-rise billfolds. Indeed, for years we’ve been assured that
salvation for the world’s exclusive carmakers lies in becoming less
exclusive by urgent multiplication of volume—leading us to the
present moment where the ever-expanding sales targets of luxury
brands such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz (and to a lesser extent
Porsche) all but require them to crank production like General
Motors puking out full-size Chevrolets in its 1960s heyday.
It was this harsh assessment—as well as Margaret Thatcher’s
loudly declaimed free-market catechism—which saw the sale of
money-losing Jaguar to the Ford Motor Company in 1989. The
marque would go on to become part of the now-defunct Premier
Automotive Group, Ford’s well-intentioned but money-losing
agglomeration of luxury brands (with Aston Martin, Land Rover,
Lincoln, and Volvo). Lately, most of PAG’s components have been
jettisoned, lest they distract Ford—pockets no longer bottomless—
from the new Job One: keeping the namesake brand alive.
At the height of its powers, Jaguar was best known, in addition
to its reputation for legendarily spotty reliability, for delivering
amazing style and performance at comparatively reasonable
prices, with hit after hit culminating in the eternally awesome
E-type and the impossibly long-lived XJ. Penned by Sir William
Lyons, the fi rm’s founder, this four-door luxury sedan sold well
from its 1968 introduction until its mildly dull replacement—also
called XJ—arrived almost twenty years later.
Sadly, Jaguar’s unparalleled gift for groundbreaking good
looks never really made it out of the ’60s, a worrisome trend its
Dearborn caretakers never fully corrected and often
compounded. And unsurprisingly, Ford missed hitting the
ambitious sales goal—200,000 cars a year—it had set for Jaguar by
several cricket pitches and a spacious county or two.
But after I’ve spent a few hundred miles in the newest Jaguar
XJ, plus some additional time at various auto shows soaking in its
luxurious interior—at once old-world cosseting and gloriously
modern—it seems clear in retrospect that Ford’s tenure, which
o� cially ended in 2008 when Jaguar was sold along with Land
Rover to Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, was more benign than
not. The new XJ—largely developed on Ford’s dime—is not the
prettiest car we’ve ever seen, but it ain’t bad at all. And it is an
unalloyed delight to drive. Without Ford’s extreme—arguably
misguided—investment, it might not be the almost unbelievably
wonderful luxury automobile that it is.
The good that Ford did stands in clear relief when one refl ects
by JAMIE
KITMAN
noise, vibration & harshness
24 Automobile | August 2010 ILLUSTRATION BY TIM MARRS
by EZRA
DYER
HY SOCIETY
on unicorns, unless you want an earful
about horses and narwhals.
Nissan’s only hybrid is the Altima, a car
that was released with an air of resignation.
I think the press materials said, “Even
though hybrids are a waste of time, we’re
going to license this thing from Toyota just
to appease the ignorant swine of California,
who think they’re smarter than our army
of superintelligent engineers. But rest
assured, the Leaf is gonna make this Altima
look about as advanced as a ’68 Chevy
Nova.” Or something like that. Nonetheless,
the Altima Hybrid gets signifi cantly better
gas mileage than the conventional
four-banger—at least, in the city.
But what if Nissan simply put the
Altima on a diet and bequeathed it other
fuel-saving methods, like perhaps a
smaller, direct-injected engine? That
less-is-more approach might deliver
near-hybrid economy along with a zestier
drive. Consider the fuel-miser version of
the upcoming Chevy Cruze. It’s slated to
deliver 40 mpg on the highway, but the
spec sheet sounds so much cooler than a
hybrid’s. It’s got a 138-hp turbo four-
cylinder and a six-speed manual. It’s
lowered and has forged wheels and a
shutter behind the grille that opens and
closes according to speed. That’s how I
like my fuel economy—fewer CVTs, more
turbos, forged wheels, and active
aerodynamics.
BMW’s latest 7-series is another car
that provides interesting perspective on
the value of hybrids. That’s because BMW
o� ers both a V-8 hybrid model and a
six-cylinder version. The ActiveHybrid 7
and the six-cylinder 740i both manage a
20-mpg EPA combined rating. So what,
then, is the point of the hybrid?
Well, it’s faster. I had the chance to
drive both cars on the Lightning circuit at
New Jersey Motorsports Park, and the
hybrid owns the straightaways. With a
HE HYBRID AGE IS coming to an end. Or at least, a new
beginning. Soon, new hybrids will be plug-in and thus vastly
more e� cient than our current crop of machinery. And so now
is a good time to ask the question: were hybrids an important
technological stepping stone, or were they the 2000s’ equivalent
of tailfi ns—a marketing device meant to connote futurism?
I acknowledge that all hybrids are not equal. The Chevy
Malibu Hybrid, for instance, doesn’t really deserve the label.
Calling that car a hybrid is like calling a woman with Lee
Press-On Nails a cyborg.
In the past few years, just about every automaker rolled out a
hybrid powertrain, which was seen as the unquestioned ticket to
heroic fuel economy. But there was one dissenter, one loud voice
in the crowd proclaiming that hybrids are silly. And I’m
beginning to think that guy may have been right.
Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn has compared hybrids to mermaids,
saying, “If you want a fi sh, you get a woman; if you want a woman,
you get a fi sh.” Most CEOs are afraid to publicly express such
antimermaid sentiment, but not Ghosn. Don’t even get him started
dyer consequences
26 Automobile | August 2010 ILLUSTRATION BY TIM MARRS
twin-turbo V-8 and an electric motor, the
ActiveHybrid’s 455 hp crushes the 740i’s
modest 315 ponies, delivering a 0-to-60-
mph time of 4.7 seconds versus 5.8 seconds
for the six. But there’s a catch.
The ActiveHybrid 7 also weighs 451
pounds more than the 740i. You know
what else weighs 450 pounds? A gorilla. A
really big one. So the cars look identical,
but one has a gorilla hiding inside it. And
Newtonian physics says that gorillas don’t
like to change direction, no matter what
you may have seen at the ADHD gorilla
pen down at the zoo.
So in the corners, the 740i slays the
hybrid. Its tires sing while the hybrid’s
groan. The ActiveHybrid pulls ahead on
the straight, but in a standing-start lap, it
was only a second and a half quicker over
nearly two miles. And that’s on a
horsepower track, where both cars
averaged about 90 mph. If I robbed Tail of
the Dragon National Bank and needed a
getaway car, I’d choose the 740i over the
ActiveHybrid 7.
Perhaps you’ll never actually use your
7-series to run the Dragon. Likewise, how
often will you require sub-6.0-second
0-to-60-mph runs? In either car, you get
that velvety, dreadnought-limousine,
7-series driving experience, so I’d call it a
draw except that the ActiveHybrid 7 costs
a bit more. As in, $32,150 more, which
admittedly doesn’t account for the tax
credit that ActiveHybrid customers get for
being so environmentally friendly as to
buy a car that says “hybrid” on it
somewhere. Sorry, you earth-hating
seal-clubber in your nonhybrid Ford
Fiesta with the fuel-economy package
(34 mpg combined)—no credit for you.
And why don’t you just go nuke a
rainforest while you’re at it?
Indeed, it’s a strange consequence of the
hybrid mystique that we revere porky cars
with batteries while paying little attention
to vehicles that are trim and thrifty in the
fi rst place. I once drove a Chevy Tahoe
Hybrid with a General Motors engineer
riding shotgun. He told me how di� cult it
is to wring one additional mile per gallon
out of a given vehicle, which makes the
Tahoe hybrid system’s 25 percent gain seem
like a silver bullet.
But the Tahoe Hybrid is like one of
those obese people who gets kicked o�
The Biggest Loser early and never sheds as
much weight as everyone else. At the end
of the season, that guy’s managed to drop
fi fty pounds, but he’s still gigantic.
Yet that fat guy who loses some weight
gets plenty of positive reinforcement,
while there are no congratulations for the
person who kept the weight o� in the fi rst
place. That’s the case at the Chevy
dealership, where the Tahoe Hybrid is
covered with screaming green badges and
honored with a $2200 tax credit, while
the Chevy Traverse—bigger inside than
the Tahoe and rated at 23 mpg highway
with all-wheel drive—is just another SUV.
It achieves better highway mileage than
the hybrid, but because it does so in a less
fl ashy way (lighter unibody construction
and a direct-injected V-6), it doesn’t get
the same attention.
I think this dynamic is about to change.
In the near future, people who drive
Toyota Priuses and Ford Fusion Hybrids
will gravitate toward the new fl agships of
petrochemical parsimony, cars like the
Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt. With that
squeeze from above, and conventional cars
like the Cruze and the Fiesta (and the
Traverse and the 740i) pushing from
below, it’s hard to see our current brand of
hybrid fi nding much love. I don’t know
whether it’ll happen in ten years or twenty,
but the hybrid as we know it will someday
sleep with the mermaids. AM
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 27
Corvette to anything but a V-8
is like the Blues Brothers
becoming a Britney Spears
cover band.
LELAND JORDON
WASHINGTON, D.C.
OH, TOYOTA. HOW LOW
can you go? Ever since your
then Europe/Japan-only iQ
was previewed in this
esteemed periodical nearly two
years ago, I have been
champing at the bit to try one
out. But wait. Now you tell me
it’ll squeeze out fuel economy
only in the high 30s. What
happened to the two gas
engines that were supposed to
get about 50 mpg? And what
about the diesel I wanted—and
would never be able to
get—that got 60 mpg? I
suppose it’s back to the Prius.
But hold on a sec. A few pages
back you say that Lexus has a
new car coming out that pulls
50 mpg and—can it be
true?—actually looks like
something I’d want to be seen
in. CT200h, welcome to the
top of my list. Previously, I
wouldn’t have owned a Lexus if
you gave me one. I guess you
can change a demographic
with just one car.
MARK THOMAS
SARASOTA, FLORIDA
I JUST RECEIVED MY
June issue and was looking
forward to reading your Sneak
Preview feature. I turned to
the fi rst page, took one look at
the new Aston Martin
Lagonda, and promptly burned
the magazine in ritual sacrifi ce
to the memory of the 1980s
Aston Martin Lagonda. That
was a beautiful, sleek car. This
vehicle looks like a mentally
handicapped Decepticon. Who
came up with this thing? The
same guys who beat the Chevy
Volt concept with an ugly
stick? And you have the nerve
to call this “crossover”
highfalutin. It’s anything but
that. It’s ugly, will probably get
only 13 mpg, and will likely
cost well into the six fi gures
just because it’s an Aston
Martin. But I’m probably not
too far o the mark when I say
that Robert Cumberford will
love it.
JUSTIN SWARTZ
RED LION, PENNSYLVANIA
YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE
about your magazine? In
particular, why I’ll pick it up
over your rivals any day?
Because you show real cars; the
ones you can take photographs
of. If all you have to go on is a
guess, you don’t run gratuitous
speculative concept art and
pass it o as the real thing.
When I see a picture of a car in
Automobile Magazine, I
know it’s for real. Yours is the
only magazine that seems to
have the self-respect and
integrity to be up front about
when it runs “spy illustrations”
in a feature on upcoming cars,
drawing attention to what’s
real and what’s guesswork.
Small wonder it’s the place to
go when I want to see a styling
critique by Robert Cumberford
or a look at timeless successes
like Collectible Classics. Keep
Peter gets a silver-arrow streamliner model car from Schylling.
LETTER OF THE MONTH
“THE FUTURE AIN’T WHAT IT USED TO BE.” —YOGI BERRA
SNEAK PREVIEW
I JUST READ YOUR
June 2010 issue’s Sneak
Preview feature, and I believe
it is safe to say that the vast
majority of Corvette owners
will not accept a six-cylinder
engine. There are already
Camaros and Cadillacs with
supercharged V-8s (at lower
prices), and yet you say that a
V-6 for the Corvette is not o
the table. Well, guess what? A
V-6 better not be anywhere
near the table. To further
compound things, we now
learn that it will most likely be
three to four years before the
C7 Corvette is ready. This most
likely means a C7 debut in
2014, which gives the C6 an
almost ten-year run. That will
no doubt lead to a continuing
slide in Corvette sales. While
the Corvette is a niche vehicle,
it is also a moneymaker, and
GM needs to realize that
current Corvette owners will
accept nothing less than an
impressive restyle and a
kick-ass V-8. Wake up, GM, and
put the new Corvette on the
front burner.
GUS RICHTER
PLANT CITY, FLORIDA
IN YOUR SNEAK PREVIEW
issue, you quote Corvette chief
engineer Tadge Juechter as
follows: “Considering V-8
alternatives is analogous to our
move away from pop-up
headlamps . . .” No, it isn’t.
Changing headlamps is like the
Blues Brothers changing
sunglasses; changing the
On page 58 of the June issue, in your brief interview with Jamal Hameedi, you list his title as chief
nameplate engineer. This brings to mind several important questions: (1) How many engineers does
it take to engineer a nameplate? (2) How many staff members are on the nameplate engineering
team? (3) What are their specifi c job accountabilities? I mean, if his job is to engineer the SVT
nameplate, how many variations does he have to manage over their extensive product line? It’s a
good thing Ford didn’t go for the bailout. If cutbacks need to happen, just how relevant is the chief
nameplate engineer in the total scheme of the company? —Peter de Blanc via e-mail
letters
28 Automobile | August 2010
ss
up that standard; it’s
greatly appreciated.
BRIAN TIEMANN
VIA E-MAIL
CLASS ACT
I ENJOYED YOUR
article on Peter Brock
[“The Prodigy,” June]. I
fell in love with the shape
of the Daytona Coupe and
bought my fi rst one in
1964—yes, it was a slot car.
In 2007, during a midlife
crisis, I got the real thing.
Needless to say, there were
bound to be some glitches.
I fi nally found a really
good mechanic, and we
had numerous questions
and some issues that
Superformance was not
addressing. Hey, we
thought, why not call the
man responsible for this
beast? Peter Brock got the
ears of those who could
resolve my problems, and I
am now prowling the
roads getting more
thumbs-up than I could
have ever imagined. Peter
really went to bat for me in
a situation where he did
not have to, and all parties
benefi ted from his e� orts.
Hats o� to Peter Brock, a
real class act.
ARTHUR NIXON
SAYVILLE, NEW YORK
PETER BROCK WAS MY
hero when I was a teenager
dreaming of Daytona Cobra
Coupes. But when I saw
your article, I expected to
fi nd a eulogy for a brilliant
designer. You see, I had
been told that Peter Brock
died while testing a
Superformance Daytona
Coupe. I assumed this was
true, as I knew Peter was
doing development work
on a Daytona Coupe kit car
for Superformance. After
reading your article, I
Googled Peter Brock, and
there were pages of
references to “Peter Brock
crash,” “Peter Brock
Daytona Coupe crash,”
“Peter Brock death,” etc.
All were about a popular
Australian racing driver
named Peter Geo� rey
Brock. Needless to say, I am
happy to learn that my hero,
the Peter Brock of Daytona
Cobra Coupe fame, is still
alive and well. It just goes
to prove that you can’t trust
everything your friends
read on the Internet.
Thanks for a great tribute
to a legendary designer.
ANDREW CHONG
VIA E-MAIL
A RED-BLOODED
PONY CAR
YOUR WRITER, ERIC
Tingwall, stated that the
new 2011 Mustang
V-6 [“The Good War,”
June] without the
performance package was
underwhelming in power,
slow to rev, and anemic in
acceleration. Then two
pages later, we learn that it
turns the quarter mile in
13.8 seconds at 103 mph,
mere tenths of a second
slower than the 2010 V-8
car. Anemic? Hardly.
PAUL KLOBAS
EL SOBRANTE, CALIFORNIA
BURIED UNDERNEATH
all the dismissive trashing
of the Mustang’s solid rear
axle and its outgoing
engines is the truth: the
Mustang is the most
comfortable and natural
pony car, with unparalleled
visibility and a sporty
feeling of compactness.
Government Motors had
years to reintroduce a car
that was better than the
Mustang, and it didn’t
succeed.
LOU CAMP
SEDONA, ARIZONA
SPEEDVISION, R.I.P.
I JUST FINISHED
reading “Speed Screed” in
the June issue, and I’m glad
to see that I’m not the only
one who thinks Speed has
become one of the worst
channels on TV. When
Speedvision fi rst aired, it
was a revelation. You could
watch almost every type of
racing, plus things that
simply went fast. There
was Two Wheel Tuesday
(everything motorcycle),
Water Wednesday
(powerboat and sailboat
racing), and on Thursday it
covered anything to do
with fl ying, including air
racing, taking check rides
in rare aircraft, and
Oshkosh. On the weekends
you could watch every type
of racing, from SCCA to
European semitruck racing.
You always knew there
would be something
interesting to watch. Then,
seemingly overnight, it
became the NASCAR
channel. And why is it that
Barrett-Jackson is the only
auction they show—
multiple times a day? When
Speedvision was on the air,
it was one of my favorite
channels. Now I don’t even
know what channel Speed
is on. Thankfully HD
Theater has come along
and is producing some
great and diverse
motorhead programming.
MARK MORLEY
SAGINAW, MICHIGAN
I APPLAUD PRESTON
Lerner for being able to
echo my impression of
Speed without using any
four-letter words.
JESSE LAIRD
BOSSIER CITY, LOUISIANA
Write: Letters, Automobile Magazine, 120 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 E-mail: [email protected]
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C a r p e t & F a b r i cP r o t e c t i o n
2011 Jeep Grand CherokeeWhat’s old is new again.
forward progress, I cautiously feather the throttle under the
assumption that an angle this radical requires the perfect balance
of torque and grip. It does, but the reality is that the Grand
Cherokee’s traction control will sort all that out. After a few
seconds of violent bouncing, we’re back on earth, facing the
horizon and surrounded by uninterrupted beauty with a sweet
V-8 idling in front of us. This is practically unbelievable.
It’s surprising—but not impossible—that this $50,000
near-luxury truck is conquering a trail named Hell’s Revenge. It
was uncertain—but not beyond reason—that Chrysler could
survive a decade of neglect and a crippling bankruptcy. But the
shock is that while everyone else is dumping SUVs for crossovers,
MOAB, UTAH
S THE JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE in front of us
crests the slope, we take note of the slender, roof-
mounted antenna dipping out of view. It’s the last
visual indication that we’re actually in contact with the
ground as fl awless blue sky fi lls our Jeep’s windshield and we
sit motionless on an unnervingly steep slab of Utah’s beautiful
red rock. “What kind of angle does it take to fl ip this thing
over?” I ask chief engineer Phil Jansen later. He’s not sure of
the exact number, but I’m convinced that we are within a
couple degrees of fi nding out. Our 5210-pound Grand Cherokee sidesteps left as the
5.7-liter V-8 grunts to get us moving. Once we start making
30 Automobile | August 2010
Chrysler’s hopes are pegged on a bona fi de truck. Of course, there
are improvements in comfort and fuel economy, but the 2011 Jeep
Grand Cherokee is as true to its mission as when it was launched
in the segment’s heyday in 1992.
While Jeep will o� er a rear-wheel-drive variant for southern
states, most Grand Cherokees will be equipped with one of
three four-wheel-drive systems. For road-bound drivers,
Quadra-Trac I fi xes the torque split at 48 percent to the front and
52 percent to the rear wheels. Quadra-Trac II, with its two-speed
active transfer case, is the bare
minimum for any serious o� -roading.
The active part means that the torque
distribution can be varied between the
front and rear axles from 100 percent
at the rear wheels to a 50/50 split. The
two-speed portion indicates that
there’s a low-range gear for crawling
on dirt, in sand, or over rocks. The
top-spec all-wheel-drive system,
Quadra-Drive II, adds an electronically controlled limited-slip
rear-axle di� erential.
The new, optional Quadra-Lift air suspension can adjust the
vehicle’s height to one of fi ve levels. Normal ride height sets the
Grand Cherokee 8.1 inches o� the ground. Two o� -road settings
raise the ground clearance to either 9.4 or 10.7 inches. Park mode
lowers the vehicle for easier entry, and aero mode automatically
activates at speeds over 60 mph to lower the SUV for improved
fuel e� ciency.
A rotary dial on the center console controls the new
Selec-Terrain system, which is optional on four-wheel-drive
Laredo models and standard on four-wheel-drive Limited and
Overland vehicles. Selec-Terrain alters the behavior of the engine,
brakes, transmission, transfer case, stability control, and traction
control for fi ve settings (auto, snow, sport, sand/mud, and rock).
It also controls the ride height on vehicles equipped with the
air suspension.
■
The Grand Cherokee is particularly adept off-road with active four-wheel drive, air
springs, and Selec-Terrain
(controller pictured below), which adjusts
engine, chassis, and traction behavior.
The Specs // ON SALE: NowPRICE: $30,995/$32,490 (V-6/V-8)ENGINES: 3.6L V-6, 290 hp, 260 lb-ft; 5.7L V-8, 360 hp, 390 lb-ftDRIVE: Rear- or 4-wheel
Inside, we were surprised by the cabin’s exceptional
quietness, which is the result of double-pane glass and a noise-
suppressing fi rewall between the engine and the cockpit. Building
on the precedent set by the 2009 Dodge Ram, the well-executed
cabin should be a key factor in reestablishing Jeep’s claim that
this is a premium SUV. The top-trim Overland receives a stitched-
leather dash and real wood accents that could pass muster in a
Lincoln or an Infi niti. Lower trim levels might not boast the same
high-end fi nishes, but they benefi t just as much from improved
materials and upgraded switchgear. The comfort features are
top-notch as well, with standard equipment such as keyless
ignition, a power driver’s seat, and satellite radio and options
including a heated steering wheel, heated and ventilated front
seats, heated rear seats, navigation, a power liftgate, and a
panoramic sunroof.
Daimler was in control when development of the Grand
Cherokee began in 2006, so there are several common
components with the upcoming Mercedes-Benz ML. The two
vehicles share key chassis dimensions, brake packages, and
suspension geometry, among other parts, meaning the Grand
Cherokee for the fi rst time uses an independent rear suspension.
The steering is particularly Mercedes-like in its feel and action,
with evenly weighted power assist and relatively light e� ort
regardless of speed or angle. But it’s also devoid of feedback.
Happily, the Grand Cherokee has great on-center response,
confi dently reacting to slight steering changes. On pavement, the
Jeep provides acceptable, but not engaging, driving dynamics.
When fi tted with the optional air springs, the vehicle rides
comfortably, closer to sti� than soft. Rotating the Selec-Terrain
controller to sport mode allows the air springs to drop the ride
height to aero mode for a lower center of gravity. The change,
though, is subtle and does little to improve the SUV’s handling.
Cornering ability is on par with other SUVs of this size, which is
to say that the limits are fairly low and it’s di� cult to feel like
you’re fl uidly connecting curves when driving aggressively.
The standard V-6 is Chrysler’s new Pentastar engine, a
3.6-liter that’s set to replace a total of seven di� erent six-cylinders
currently used in the company’s cars, minivans, and trucks.
Compared with the Grand Cherokee’s old 3.7-liter unit, city fuel
economy is unchanged at 16 mpg, but the highway rating
increases two ticks to 23 mpg (22 mpg for four-wheel-drive
vehicles). The power gain—from 210 hp to
290 hp and a torque peak up from 235 lb-ft
to 260 lb-ft—is decidedly more impressive.
At more than a mile above sea level in the
hills surrounding Moab, we needed every
bit of power to hustle our 4850-pound V-6
Grand Cherokee, but we can’t let that
undermine the vast improvement over the
old engine in terms of power and poise.
We’re less forgiving of the fi ve-speed automatic, which su� ered
from inconsistent shift behavior.
The safe bet for passionate drivers is the familiar 5.7-liter
Hemi V-8 making 360 hp and 390 lb-ft, which will quash any
acceleration complaints (expect a more powerful SRT8 edition
within a couple years). A fi ve-speed automatic is again the only
transmission, but it’s an entirely di� erent gearbox and the
programming is better sorted. Even with the Hemi, though, the
on-road driving experience is a bit staid—like what you might
fi nd in a modern crossover.
Back on the trail, where the new Jeep was a star, we might as
well have been driving a Chevrolet Traverse from the looks we
received. Although the drivers of battle-worn Jeep CJs and
Toyota FJs feigned friendliness, you could sense a touch of
disdain about them. Were the meticulously waxed Grand
Cherokees too pristine to be here? Had we broken the rules by
turning on the ventilated seats? Whatever their beef, by simply
showing up at the end of the trail, we gave those purists no
doubts as to the capabilities of the new Grand Cherokee.
Whether buyers see that old-school approach as distinctive or
out of touch will be decided by sales, but it certainly makes for a
uniquely capable vehicle. — Eric Tingwall
■
The interior now sports more style and better materials. Top-spec Overland models (not pictured) tout a stitched-leather dashboard and real wood trim.
The Grand Cherokee fi rst arrived in 1992 and
was originally conceived as the replacement for
the Cherokee, but with Cherokee sales still
strong—and the SUV segment starting to take
off—Jeep decided to keep both vehicles in its
lineup. Larger and more comfortable than the
Cherokee and equipped with a driver’s-side air
bag and antilock brakes, the posh Grand
Cherokee was the fi rst serious competitor to
the blockbuster Ford Explorer, which had been
launched in 1990. Together, the two vehicles
fueled the SUV boom. In only its second year,
Grand Cherokee sales surpassed 200,000 units
and would eventually touch 300,000 (in 1999).
The profi t-gushing
Grand Cherokee was
also a major engine of
Chrysler’s rosy fi nancial
results in the heady
1990s, helping make the
company an attractive
takeover target for
Daimler-Benz. More
recently, sales have
returned to earth, slipping
below 100,000 in 2008 for the fi rst time since
the truck’s launch year. Although still an
important vehicle for Jeep, the Grand Cherokee
follows in the tire tracks of Jeep’s original icon,
the Wrangler. — Joe Lorio
SUV superstar Born in better days.
32 Automobile | August 2010
is no longer the brand’s best seller as it now
NÜRBURG, GERMANY
N PICTURES AND ON paper, it’s
di� cult to get really excited about
the Aston Martin V12 Vantage. Sure,
it’s gorgeous and has a beautifully
balanced V-12 under the hood, but it’s also
the fi nal homogenization of the Aston
Martin coupes: three models with the
same look, the same architecture, and
now the same engine.
Chief engineer Paul Barritt makes his
case for this car, though, and it’s enough
to pique our interest. “This is the most
edgy Aston we do,” he says. “It’s our most
driver-focused car.” And to drive that
point further, Aston has the guts to o� er
the V12 Vantage with a manual gearbox as
the only transmission.
Even with race-liveried Lexus LFAs
and Astons lapping the Nürburgring
simultaneously, our caravan of relatively
slow-moving
production
cars entertains
the beer-
swillers who
have already
erected gypsy
villages in the
surrounding woods six days before the
annual twenty-four-hour race. I have
reservations about driving such a
powerful car my fi rst time out on a track
that claims a few lives every year, but the
Vantage’s 510 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque
quickly prove to be more of a boon than a
threat on the Nordschleife. Despite its
age, the 5.9-liter V-12 pulls just as hard
whether it’s spinning at 3000 rpm or
■
The carbon-fi ber louvers on the hood are a giveaway that this Vantage has Aston Martin’s 510-hp V-12 wedged into the engine bay.
6000 rpm, so coming out of a turn in the wrong gear doesn’t
really penalize a rookie.
The extra 150 pounds added to the Vantage causes a two-
percent weight shift to the front for a still-respectable
51/49 percent split. Steering feel and response are nearly perfect,
and the nineteen-inch Pirelli PZero Corsa tires grip masterfully.
The V12’s suspension is lowered 0.6 inch, and sti� ness is
comparable to that of a sport-package-equipped V8 Vantage. The
Aston corners fl atly and confi dently, but the ride is a little harsh
for a lengthy trip. Standard carbon-ceramic disc brakes are easy
to modulate on the road and provide the stopping force they
promise. The pedal, though, doesn’t provide much feedback
when pushed fi rmly, obscuring the antilock-brake threshold.
The V-12 was such a tight fi t in the Vantage’s engine bay that
engineers had to install a shallower sump, a smaller alternator,
and a new oil-fi lter housing. Carbon-fi ber hood louvers, a
carbon-fi ber lower splitter, brake-cooling ducts in the front
fascia, larger fl ared sills, a taller spoiler, and a new rear fascia
designed to pull more air through the transmission oil cooler
di� erentiate the V12 from the V8 Vantage. Inside, there are
unique instrument-panel graphics, a new shift knob, and
carbon-fi ber door grabs.
The Vantage’s smaller size may make it more agile than the
$270,350 DBS, but it also makes for a tight fi t in the cabin. At six
feet, three inches tall, I fi nd that the seatback is forced forward
when I slide the bottom cushion rearward. I’m able to get far
enough away from the pedals but struggle to fi nd a comfortable
position between the seat, wheel, pedals, and stick. After logging
300 miles in two days, my body feels as if it’s been fl ying coach
class for twelve hours. The seats are also virtually devoid of any
lateral support, and the optional fi xed-back, lightweight seats
don’t comply with U.S. regulations.
A big engine in a small car is a formula for fast, and it holds
true here, as the V12 Vantage is the quickest car in Aston’s lineup
(aside from the radical One-77): Aston claims a 0-to-62-mph time
of 4.2 seconds, 0.1 second faster than the DBS. Considering the
$90,000 discount over the DBS, we’re starting to think that V-12
homogenization isn’t such a big deal after all. — Eric Tingwall
2011Aston Martin V12 Vantage A formula for fast.
34 Automobile | August 2010
The Specs // ON SALE: Fall 2010PRICE: $181,345ENGINE: 5.9L V-12, 510 hp, 420 lb-ftDRIVE: Rear-wheel
C h e v r o l e t S i l v e r a d o H D
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
ONLY A NINNY WOULD POUND TACKS with a sledgehammer. Se-
lecting the right tool for the job is the first step on the road to success.
When there are tough jobs to be done or serious recreation on the agenda,
picking the right truck is fundamental.
A minivan won’t haul your heavy stuff or tow a mighty trailer. And
there are times when America’s beloved workhorse, the half-ton pickup,
is too small for the task. That’s why Chevy offers a full line of heavy-duty
pickups. Since both our jobs and our vacation aspirations continue to grow,
the bow-tie brand keeps upping the ante on what a heavy-duty pickup can
do. Enter the 2011 2500HD and 3500HD, the best-dressed heavy-duty
Silverados that money can buy.
Engineering any car or truck is a bar-raising exercise. If the new de-
sign isn’t tougher, better, and more capable all around than what it’s re-
placing, there is no point to the project. So Chevy engineers assessed the
competition and polled their constituents before establishing performance
targets for the eleven 2500HD and eight 3500HD pickups that would carry
the Silverado and bow-tie badges in the 2011 model year.
Strength of character best describes what was achieved. Engineering
new frames, larger brakes, and more robust suspension systems delivered
notable gains in the categories serious truckers hold dear:
• Up to 30 percent greater towing capacity with a maximum rating
of 17,000 pounds.
• Fifth-wheel towing capacity that tops out at 21,700 pounds.
• A maximum payload of 6635 pounds.
THE RUGGED CHEVY SILVERADO HEAVY DUTY IS
• Up to 17 percent gain in gross vehicle weight ratings with the
maximum rising to 13,000 pounds.
• A maximum gross combined weight rating of 29,200 pounds.
• A front axle weight rating that has been increased by 25 percent
to 6000 pounds, enabling snowplow use with all 4WD cab styles.
Optimum use of materials helps add strength. Shaping steel with
high-pressure water—a technique called hydroforming—maximizes tough-
ness without adding excess weight. Boxing the frame rails their entire
length and increasing the cross-sectional dimensions at high-stress points
add stiffness. Greater use of high-strength steel also helps to make the new
Silverado HDs among the strongest heavy-duty pickups on the market.
STRONGER THAN DIRT.
When there are tough
jobs to be done or serious
recreation on the agenda,
picking the right truck is
fundamental.
A stout backbone is what distinguishes the
Silverado from competitors who don’t take
the Heavy Duty assignment seriously. Chevy
engineered eleven all-new, fully boxed frame
assemblies with more high-strength steel, larger
cross-sections, and greater use of hydroforming
to raise twist resistance by a factor of fi ve while
nearly doubling bending stiffness. Engine and
transmission mounts are more substantial, and
the forward part of the frame is stiffer by
125 percent. The benefi t is extra towing
capacity, vastly superior ride and handling, and
the best durability money can buy. Hydraulic
body mounts for extended and crew cab
models insulate occupants from the pain of
potholes and expansion joints. A new box-tube
frame-mounted trailer hitch supports towed
loads up to 17,000 pounds. Access holes
pre-punched in the rear areas of the frame ease
the installation of a fi fth-wheel tow hitch.
GOOD TO THE BONE
WHEN YOU HIT THE ROAD WITH A KING’S RANSOM in horse flesh
or a home mortgage’s worth of landscaping gear, the last thing you need to fret
over is whether your truck has enough stamina. Both Silverado HD power-
trains—gas and diesel—are engineered to provide the performance necessary
to tow heavy loads along with improved fuel efficiency and longevity.
The new 6.6-liter Duramax is the diesel without the smoke, rattle,
and roll that still plague some of its competitors. This diesel V-8 delivers
an astounding 765 lb-ft of torque at 1600 rpm, the most available in any
heavy-duty pickup. The 397 horsepower at 3000 rpm produced by this
turbocharged and intercooled engine is also best-in-class.
Thanks to the application of various new technologies, NOx ex-
haust emissions have been reduced by 63 percent. This diesel runs 680
miles between particulate filter regenerations, a 75 percent improvement.
Since 2000, more than a million Duramax diesel V-8s have impressed
truck owners with their durability and dependability. For improved stami-
na, the main bearing profiles are new, there’s more oil flow at low speeds,
and lubrication to the turbocharger has been increased. Soot deposits in the
exhaust gas recirculation system have been reduced with a new bypass cir-
cuit. The pistons and wrist pins have been redesigned for improved strength
and less weight.
The Duramax V-8 is now capable of running on B20 biodiesel fuel.
There’s also a new exhaust brake system that uses internal backpressure
instead of the friction brakes to smoothly slow a heavy truck/trailer com-
bination on grades.
AN ALL-NEW DIESEL V-8 AND SIX-SPEED AUTOMATIC
Since 2000, more than a
million Duramax diesel
V-8s have impressed truck
owners with their durability
and dependability.
The sturdy Allison 1000 six-speed automatic transmission that is
teamed with the Duramax V-8 continues to offer handy tap up/tap down
shifting and a tow/haul mode for reduced shift cycling. Two overdrive gears
are provided to maximize highway mileage.
The 6.0-liter Vortec gasoline V-8 has revised valve timing aimed at
providing the extra oomph needed to get the Silverado HD’s heavy loads
rolling from rest. The Hydramatic 6L90 six-speed transmission mated to
this engine has several small changes aided at improved durability.
Because Silverado HD pickups enjoy such a sturdy reputation, Chevy
is able to provide the best available warranty coverage—a five-year/100,000-
mile limited powertrain warranty plus roadside assistance and courtesy
transportation.
NEVER CRY UNCLE.
POWER PLAY
To provide heavy-duty disciples with lionhearted
performance and durability, both Silverado
HD powertrains are thoroughly upgraded. The
Duramax 6.6-liter turbo-diesel and Allison 1000
six-speed transmission combine to deliver
more power and torque, lower emissions,
quieter operation, enhanced durability, and an
11 percent increase in fuel economy. Internal
components are tougher and better lubricated
for the long haul. Fuel-injection pressure is
15 percent higher for improved combustion.
Two new features are an exhaust brake to slow
the vehicle on long grades without tapping the
brake pedal and the ability to use B20 biodiesel
fuel. To handle the greater torque produced by
the Duramax engine, the Allison 1000 six-speed
automatic has stronger internal components.
Spin losses are reduced for improved operating
effi ciency. The gasoline-fueled Vortec 6.0-liter
V-8 now has extra low-rpm torque that’s
especially noticeable when towing. The six-speed
Hydramatic transmission mated to this engine
embodies several changes aimed at increased
strength and smoother performance.
THE SHINY METAL SECURITY BLANKET.
WHEN YOU HITCH UP YOUR TOY BOX and set the navigation system
for a good-time destination, it’s good to feel secure. In the heavy-duty pickup
category, you’d like to have some assurance that safety and occupant protec-
tion, along with driver assistance are high priorities.
Chevrolet engineers came to a
similar conclusion while developing
the new Silverado heavy-duty pick-
ups. StabiliTrak electronic stability
control and trailer sway control are
standard on single-rear-wheel mod-
els. Commensurate with the larger
loads these trucks will bear, front and
rear brake rotors have been increased
to the size of pie plates—14.0 inches in
diameter. Four-wheel, four-channel
ABS is standard on single-rear-wheel
models, and dual-rear-wheel models
are equipped with a three-channel
system. And to give the brake pedal
a firm, reassuring feel, both the travel and the booster calibration have been
adjusted to suit the new HDs.
To take optimum advantage of the stronger and stiffer frames support-
ing these pickups, the steering system is all new. The steering gear, hydraulic
pump, and linkages have been reengineered for quieter operation and re-
duced effort at parking speeds.
With the intention of giving these HDs a poised ride over both good
and bad pavement, damper calibrations have been revised, the jounce bum-
pers provide extra resilience, and special hydraulic body mounts are included.
Nowhere in Chevy’s engineering book does it say that a heavy-duty pickup
has to ride like a truck.
To keep the rig from accidentally
rolling backward on grades, hill-start as-
sist is standard on all single-rear-wheel
Silverado HDs. In addition, there’s an
optional backup camera and cockpit
display for those instances when reverse
travel is intentional.
OnStar 9.0 is included—free for six
months—to maintain a communications
link to an assistance center for routing
information, emergency aid, and stolen
vehicle recovery assistance. The Sil-
verado HD’s standard XM satellite radio
and optional navigation system, mobile
WiFi, and Bluetooth connectivity are a great help, whether you’re a contractor
on a deadline or a parent bent on keeping a vacationing family entertained.
In the event of an accident, occupant protection is enhanced by the new
stronger frame. Front air bags are standard. Seat-mounted air bags and side-
curtain air bags that guard against injury during a lateral impact are a new
2500HD option.
BULLETPROOF CHASSIS
Archaic beam-type front
axles used by competitors
wouldn’t do for the best
truck in the heavy-duty
category. The Silverado
HD’s new independent
front suspension is more
rugged than ever while also
delivering vastly improved
ride and handling. With a
gross axle weight rating of up
to 6000 pounds in front, 4WD models are now eligible
for snowplow service. Forged-steel and cast-iron control
arms, beefy torsion bars, reinforced shock-absorber
attachments, and dual urethane jounce bumpers per
side are behind the Silverado HD’s suspension prowess.
At the rear, the three-inch-
wide leaf springs have a new
asymmetrical design (shorter
ahead of the axle than
behind) for improved traction
and hop control. Gross
axle weight ratings are up
across the range. Four-wheel
disc brakes with ABS are
standard equipment. Brake
rotors, wheel hubs, bearing
assemblies, and calipers are all upgraded to support
segment-leading towing and payload capabilities:
conventional towing up to 17,000 pounds, 21,700-pound
fi fth-wheel towing, and a maximum payload of 6635
pounds in the Silverado 3500HD.
Safety, occupant protection,
and driver assistance are
high priorities.
WITH MORE THAN NINETY YEARS OF TRUCK-MAKING EXPERIENCE UNDER ITS BELT, CHEVY ISN’T GOING TO TOLERATE ANY COMPROMISES NOW.
To see video of the new Silverado HD, visit WWW.AUTOMOBILEMAG.COM/SHOWCASE/CHEVROLET
WHEN CHEVY ENTERED THE TRUCK BUSINESS in 1918, its sem-
inal Model 490 rode on a passenger-car chassis with beefed-up springs.
Customers bought the cargo bodies that suited their needs from indepen-
dent suppliers. Chevy’s one-ton pickup was also introduced that year with
a 37-horsepower engine, an electric starter, full lighting equipment, and a
bow-tie badge on its radiator.
From this humble beginning, Chev-
rolet matured into the brand America
turns to when there’s hard work and play
to be accomplished . . . without spending
a fortune. The arrival of new Silverado
HD pickups for the 2011 model year af-
firms the fact that Chevy is still the go-to
source of uncompromised excellence and
innovation.
In many locales, pickup trucks are
the preferred form of family transporta-
tion. Although minivans are ideal for
trips to soccer practice or the grocery
store, they falter if asked to haul a load of
firewood or a yard of topsoil. When it’s
vacation time and boating is at the cen-
ter of family recreation, a full-size pickup truck is the only way to travel.
Heavy-duty pickups have evolved into the ultimate tool for hard work and
ambitious play.
Chevy trucks earned their dedicated following based on a reputation
for versatility, longevity, and all-around satisfaction. They enjoy excellent
resale value, the highest owner loyalty, and
a low cost of ownership. When creating a
new HD edition for introduction this year,
Chevy engineers listened to what their
constituents liked about the current mod-
els and what capabilities they would need
in the future. Then they focused attention
on upgrading the Silverado HD’s core at-
tributes. The frame, brakes, suspension,
and powertrains all benefit from scores
of fundamental improvements. Custom-
ers who may never actually see most of
this equipment will definitely appreciate
a Silverado HD that lasts and performs
beyond expectations. Delivering on that
promise is precisely what Chevy means by
no-compromise design.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
1
3
2
4
5
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
IRST AN SUV. Then a sedan.
And now a hybrid. It may be another
gut punch for purists, but Porsche’s
foray into volume products and new
segments continues with a hybrid model
for the new, second-generation Porsche
Cayenne. However, the Cayenne S Hybrid
isn’t an overweight Toyota Prius. Both the
hardware and the software feature
unique—or at least unusual—approaches
to hybrid execution. The result is that the
Porsche Cayenne doesn’t drive like any
other hybrid.
Primary propulsion for the most
e� cient Porsche SUV is the 3.0-liter
supercharged V-6 borrowed from the
Audi S4, here producing 333 hp and
324 lb-ft of torque. As in all automatic-
transmission Cayennes, power is
transmitted to all four wheels through an
eight-speed gearbox.
An electric motor
that measures 5.5
inches long sits just
ahead of the torque
converter, raising the
total output to 380
hp and 428 lb-ft.
The fi nal piece of
hybrid-specifi c
between the engine and the electric motor,
and it’s the hybrid Cayenne’s most
distinctive feature. The clutch can
decouple the V-6 from the rest of the
drivetrain, allowing the Cayenne to coast
or move under electric power without the
drag of a spinning engine.
2011Porsche CayenneS HybridSmoothsailing.
Pure electric mode is possible at low speeds and under light
throttle applications, but you’ll have to push through the kickdown
switch to get the electric motor and the gas engine operating
together, unless sport mode is activated. The Cayenne’s calling
card is a unique mode referred to as “sailing,” also described as
coasting or freewheeling. As soon as the driver removes a foot
from the accelerator, the gasoline stops fl owing and the clutch
decouples the engine from the drivetrain, allowing the Cayenne to
coast (at speeds less than 97 mph) without using gas or electricity.
Only a mile into our drive of the Cayenne S Hybrid, we were
already impressed with the powertrain. It’s the hybrid that you’d
never know is a hybrid. One trip through the eight gears, and we
were blown away by how much it felt like we were driving an SUV
with only a supercharged gasoline engine. The transitions from
electric to gas-only to electric-boost mode to sailing are barely
noticeable unless you’re looking for them. We had to rely on the
tachometer and the powertrain display to discern what the
complex powertrain was doing. We even had trouble identifying
when the hydraulic brakes began assisting the regenerative
braking system, all while staring at an analog gauge that showed
exactly when the change happened. Our chief complaint is the
slow shift times, whether the gearbox is left to shift on its own or
controlled by steering-wheel-mounted buttons.
Unfortunately, the hybrid won’t be o� ered with some of the
Cayenne’s most compelling chassis features, such as an active
antiroll bar and a trick torque-vectoring rear di� erential, so it’s not
quite as fast or as confi dent in the turns. At 4938 pounds, it’s also
the heaviest Cayenne, but it is lighter than last year’s V-8 model.
O� cial fuel-economy numbers for the hybrid Cayenne haven’t
been fi nalized, but they’re expected to come in at 20 mpg in the
city and 23 mpg on the highway. That won’t make the Cayenne a
standout, but it will slot right in the mix of large hybrid and diesel
SUVs. The hybrid’s cost premium is exactly $4000 over the V-8
Cayenne S, a price worth paying for those people who appreciate
improved fuel economy. Unless you desire the $105,775 Turbo
edition or insist on having sporty equipment like the fancy rear
di� , the hybrid model delivers the comfort, drivability, and
performance that a Porsche SUV should. — Eric Tingwall
13.0-liter supercharged V-6
2Power electronics
3AC motor
4Battery-cooling duct
5288-volt nickel-metal-
hydride battery
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 43
The Specs //
ON SALE: Fall 2010PRICE: $68,675ENGINE: 3.0L supercharged V-6/electric hybrid, 380 hp, 428 lb-ftDRIVE: 4-wheel
hardware is a dry multiplate clutch placed
VIENNA, AUSTRIA
HE COUNTRYMAN is big for
Mini—in size, certainly, but even
more so in concept. “For Mini it’s a
huge step,” says Dr. Wolfgang
Armbrecht, Mini brand manager. “Four
doors, four-wheel drive, a higher seating
position. We weren’t sure it was the right
direction.”
That’s why we’ve been seeing concept
versions of this car for the past year and a
half, to ready the public for this very
di� erent Mini. The most obvious
di� erence is its size; the Countryman
exceeds the already-stretched Clubman
by more than six inches and the standard
2011
Mini Countryman This one’s big.
hatchback by nearly a foot and a half.
It’s also four inches wider and some six
inches taller than the hardtop and rides
on a 102.2-inch wheelbase (versus
100.3 inches for the Clubman and
97.1 inches for the hatch).
The Countryman’s bigger body
houses considerably more space for
people and stu� . Four real doors
provide relatively easy access—except
for the wide sills. The rear bucket seats can comfortably
accommodate six-footers; reclining rear seatbacks are a nice
touch, but hard, molded plastic door armrests are not. Luggage
space, at 12.2/41.0 cubic feet (rear seats up/folded), betters that of
the Clubman (9.2/32.8 cubic feet) but is still less than what most
44 Automobile | August 2010
The Specs // Cooper S CountrymanPRICE: $26,500 (est.)ON SALE: Early 2011ENGINE: 1.6-liter turbocharged I-4, 184 hp, 192 lb-ftDRIVE: Front or 4-wheel
■
The Countryman’s optional navigation system can display directions inside the center-mounted speedometer.
small crossovers provide. Aside from the two-inch-higher seating
position, the driver’s environment is familiar. A new center stack
groups all the audio controls together (at last!), but it still su� ers
some odd climate controls.
The other big departure for the Countryman, of course, is its
optional four-wheel-drive system (called ALL4), which adds
about 150 pounds and is available on the Cooper S version only.
Ordinarily, it sends 100 percent of the engine’s torque to the front
wheels, but 50 percent can be diverted to the rear under
acceleration or if a wheel begins to slip.
The Countryman has updated versions of the current 1.6-liter
engines, which other Minis will get as part of their 2011 model-year
update. Variable valve timing joins direct injection for the
turbocharged Cooper S unit. Output climbs from 172 hp and
177 lb-ft of torque to 184 hp and 192 lb-ft (with overboost). The
base engine adds more muscle, too, going
from 118 to 122 hp and 114 to 118 lb-ft. Don’t
look for a full John Cooper Works version,
although we could see one eventually.
As in other Minis, a six-speed manual
transmission is standard and a six-speed
automatic is optional. The former benefi ts
from new synchronizers and a friction-
reducing coating to its shift cables for
slicker operation.
Other markets get auto stop/start and
regenerative braking, but they aren’t
coming to the U.S. because they wouldn’t
help the EPA ratings (although they would
aid real-world fuel economy, which ought
to count, too). The Countryman doesn’t
yet have o� cial EPA numbers—the car
goes on sale here early next year—but Mini
is hoping for a highway fi gure of 34 mpg.
We probably didn’t come close to that
mileage during our brief test-drive, when
we fl ogged a Cooper S Countryman
(all-wheel drive, manual, no sport package)
on a short cone course and a somewhat
longer road course—both water-slicked for
extra enjoyment. The all-wheel-drive
system fi nally puts an end to torque steer in
the Cooper S, so we welcomed it for that
reason alone. (Unfortunately, ALL4 is not
likely to fi nd its way into other Mini body
styles.) The turbocharged 1.6-liter pulls
nicely, although factory fi gures indicate
that it is, not surprisingly, slower here than
in the Clubman or the hardtop. With the
manual transmission, the front-wheel-
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 45
drive Cooper S Countryman will
get to 62 mph in 7.6 seconds
(7.9 seconds with all-wheel drive),
against 7.4 seconds for the
equivalent Clubman and 7.1 ticks
for the regular Mini. The gap grows
wider for base-engine Minis, with
the Countryman at 10.5 seconds—
about a second slower than the
Clubman and 1.4 seconds behind the hardtop.
Despite its extra height and weight, the Countryman has much
of the alert, lively demeanor of other Minis. The electrically
assisted power steering is among the best of its type and gets even
better given a bit more weighting with a push of the Sport button.
Yes, the Countryman understeers, but stabbing the brakes can kick
the tail out to aid turn-in, provided you’ve switched the stability
control into sport mode or o� completely. On the high-speed
course, we found that you can drift this Mini like a rear-wheel-
drive car—so long as your name is Jörg Weidinger. Weidinger has
the benefi t of being a Mini test engineer for chassis and
suspension—oh, and a professional racing driver who has piloted
Minis (and other cars) at the Nürburgring’s twenty-four-hour race.
The fact that you can carry big drift angles on a wet racetrack
probably won’t be a primary criterion for Countryman shoppers.
Instead, Mini’s managers say these customers are looking for more
interior and cargo space. Previously, they had to leave the Mini
brand to get it—which might have been fi ne if most of them were
marching across the street to their BMW dealer, but too many
were wandering o� to other manufacturers. Whether you think
the big Mini is a major mistake or a big idea, that’s the reason it’s
here. And once the Countryman reaches showrooms, it’s expected
that the biggest Mini will account for the second-biggest share of
the brand’s sales (after the traditional hatchback). — Joe Lorio
46 Automobile | August 2010
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LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
F YOU THOUGHT Infi niti was
going to abandon the full-size luxury
SUV segment just because most
people are segueing toward smaller,
more fuel-e� cient, less ostentatious
crossovers, think again: the smell of
money is in the air.
Ben Poore, vice president of Infi niti
Americas, explains: “The bling-bling
buyers have left the segment, leaving
families.” Rich families at that, he adds:
“Our QX buyers are the wealthiest
Infi niti customers: many pay cash,
55 percent of them have another luxury
vehicle in their garage, and a lot of them
tow boats and horse trailers. Our biggest
market,” he continues, “is Long Island,
and Dallas and Houston are also
growing.” Which leads us to conclude
that the Infi niti
QX56 is the
o� cial vehicle
of the Real
Housewives of
East Hampton,
Preston Hollow,
and River Oaks.
But those gals
still like their
bling, don’t they? Lucky for them, the
new QX56 has plenty.
Let’s start with the cabin, which is
slightly narrower than the outgoing
QX56’s because the new QX is based on
the Nissan Patrol (not sold here) rather
■
The fender vents are not pretty, but at least the one on the driver’s side actually funnels air to the big, 400-hp, 5.6-liter V-8. These twenty-two-inch wheels are optional; twentiesare standard.
than the Armada. This interior has an attention to design detail
and material fi nish that rivals Lexus and even Land Rover. The
steering wheel gets a rich helping of wood and hide, the front
seats are deserving of the most discerning derrieres, and the
center stack is framed by two stitched-leather goalposts. A center
console between the heatable second-row buckets (a second-row
bench that adds an eighth seat is a no-cost option) is big enough
to hold all the detritus that Real Children must tote, and a new
tri-zone climate-control system improves airfl ow for second- and
third-row passengers—a nod to the Middle East, where the QX56
is popular. Infi niti’s Around View Monitor, a series of cameras
that project a 360-degree view of the immediate surroundings
onto the dash, is crucial not only for Real Husbands to back up to
boat trailers but also for Real Housewives to slip into tight
parking spots when they’re late for mani/pedi appointments.
2011
Infi niti QX56 Keeping it real.
48 Automobile | August 2010
The Specs // ON SALE: AugustPRICE: $57,650/$60,750 (RWD/4WD)ENGINE: 5.6L V-8, 400 hp, 413 lb-ftDRIVE: Rear- or 4-wheel
Not that the QX56 should be a late
arrival anywhere, since its 5.6-liter
V-8—mated to a new seven-speed
automatic—is now the modern unit from
the 2011 M56 sedan rather than the old
truck engine. With this direct-injected
■
With the second- and third-row seats folded, there’s 95.1 cubic feet of cargo space. Ceiling air vents have moved to the outer edges for better airfl ow. The second-row center console is a great toy box.
In Infi niti’s new Hydraulic Body Motion
Control system, part of the $5800 deluxe
touring package, the upper chambers of
the dampers on one side of the vehicle are
cross-linked to lower chambers on the
other side, and vice versa. This creates
counteracting forces to resist body lean,
minimize roll, and reduce head toss for
rear-seat occupants, thereby curtailing
motion sickness. QX56s thus equipped
have no antiroll bars, so another benefi t is
greater wheel articulation over rough
terrain, in the unlikely event that a QX56
owner should engage low range on the
optional four-wheel-drive system and go
off-roading.
“Since the new QX56 is based on the Nissan Patrol rather than the Armada, it’s slightly narrower inside, but with 168 cubic feet of interior space, it’s hardly small.
mill under its expansive hood, the 5850-pound QX56 (down 161
pounds) can defi nitely move. The tow rating is 8500 pounds, and
EPA fuel economy now inches toward respectability, at 14 mpg
city, 20 mpg highway, and 16 mpg combined. Executive summary:
The responsive V-8, the rigid body-on-frame structure, and the
well-insulated interior are impressive. Steering that’s reasonably
precise but devoid of feedback is less so.
Perhaps the coolest feature is at once both an indulgence and
a potential lifesaver. Connect an air hose to the QX56’s standard
twenty-inch or optional twenty-two-inch tires and start pumping.
When the tire pressure approaches the correct level, the hazard
lights fl ash; when the correct pressure is reached, the horn
sounds. If the tire is overinfl ated, the system works in reverse as
you bleed out air. This is a Really Good Idea that needs to trickle
down into cars that Real People drive. — Joe DeMatio
50 Automobile | August 2010
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6
ALTON, VIRGINIA
HEVROLET HASN’T
acknowledged its existence, but
the engineers at Ford’s Special
Vehicle Team know that a
supercharged Chevrolet Camaro Z28 is on
its way. That car could be the fi rst direct
competitor to the Ford Shelby GT500, as
its closest competitors today either come
up short on horsepower (Dodge Challenger
SRT8, Camaro
SS) or fi t into
an entirely
di� erent class of
car (Chevrolet
Corvette). To
combat the
Camaro Z28
even before it
arrives, Ford has
freshened its
hottest Mustang, making it a leaner, more
powerful, and more agile muscle car.
The biggest change comes as a result
of switching from iron to aluminum for
the 5.4-liter V-8 engine block. The switch
is more dramatic, both on the spec sheet
and from behind the wheel, than you
might think. Ford claims a substantial
weight savings of 102 pounds versus the
old iron block, which clearly was carrying some unnecessary
mass. Power climbs ten ponies to 550 hp, and torque is unchanged
at 510 lb-ft. Fuel economy rises 1 mpg both in the city and on the
highway (to 15/23 mpg), which allows the GT500 to escape the
gas-guzzler tax that ensnared last year’s car.
A new $3495 performance package lowers the car 0.4 inch in
front and 0.3 inch in the rear and features springs that are some
twenty percent sti� er in front and ten percent sti� er in back. It
also includes a shorter, 3.73:1 fi nal-drive ratio; a Gurney fl ap on
the spoiler; and forged aluminum wheels measuring nineteen
inches in front and twenty inches in back. The gorgeous,
graphite-fi nish wheels are wrapped in Goodyear’s new Eagle F1
Supercar G:2 summer tires.
JU
LIA
LA
PA
LM
E
Driven
52 Automobile | August 2010
The Specs // ON SALE: NowPRICE: $49,495/$54,495 (coupe/convertible)ENGINE: 5.4L supercharged V-8, 550 hp, 510 lb-ftDRIVE: Rear-wheel
■
The switch from iron to aluminum for the engine block makes the supercharged 5.4-liter 102 pounds lighter than last year’s powerplant.
2011
Ford Shelby GT500Watch out, Camaro Z28.
We were given the opportunity to drive
the 2011 Shelby GT500 against the 2010
car back-to-back on Virginia International
Raceway’s full 3.3-mile course. It wasn’t an
apples-to-apples comparison, as the 2011
GT500s were equipped with performance
packages, an option that wasn’t o� ered in
2010. Still, the track time highlighted how
removing weight from the front end has
altered the Shelby’s character. The 2010
car is signifi cantly more sensitive to how
it’s driven. Trail brake or get on the
throttle too early, and it’s happy to wag its
tail. Take a corner too fast, and the
nose-heavy machine will plow toward the
outside of the turn. It’s certainly
manageable behavior, but it takes patience
and experience to learn exactly how to
control this snake. The 2011 car, on the
other hand, is much more neutral,
requiring more deliberate or more
ham-fi sted inputs to break its composure.
The new car also stays much more stable
and level over VIR’s esses and their
unsettling camber changes.
As with all 2011 Mustangs, the Shelby
switches from hydraulic steering assist to
an electric motor mounted on the steering
rack. The feel isn’t quite as connected
when you’re unwinding the wheel, but it’s
still a calibration that builds e� ort
naturally and communicates nuances in
the road. Most frustrating is the lack of a
telescoping column.
The engine’s power is predictably
awesome. Ford claims that 80 percent of
peak torque is available from 1750 to
6250 rpm. Despite that wide band,
changing gears is inevitable, so we’d
appreciate a lighter shift e� ort from the
six-speed manual. To publicize the engine’s
authority, Ford has switched the exhaust
system from an X-pipe to an H-pipe
confi guration, and the plumbing has
increased a quarter of an inch to a 2.8-inch
diameter. The result is a note that’s just as
raucous as before but o� ers more burbles
and snaps for a livelier personality.
The changes made by Ford’s Special
Vehicle Team are quite subtle on the spec
sheet and from outside the car. But from
the driver’s seat, they add up to a
substantial di� erence that makes the
GT500’s capabilities more accessible and
its handling more predictable. Topped
with the cherry of a more aggressive
exhaust note, the 2011 Ford Shelby GT500
is a truly meaningful enhancement. Bring
on the Z28, Chevy. — Eric Tingwall
By Georg Kacher | Photography by Mark Bramley
Despite these conceptual similarities,
the way the two cars look, sound, and drive
could hardly be more di� erent. From a
performance point of view, they are so
close that the virtual stopwatch inside
your head struggles to declare a winner,
but at the end of a long day and an even
longer night in and around Frankfurt, Ger-
many, one supercar turned out to be frac-
tionally more desirable than the other.
Even when these testosterone-laden
machines tiptoe through the narrow vil-
lage streets of the picturesque Odenwald
forest region in fourth gear, they come
close to doing serious decibel damage.
While the high-pitched voice of the Lexus
is a constant threat to tired windowpanes,
the densely packed roar of the Mercedes
puts loose plaster to a real test. Downshift
to second gear, and you’ll make cats arch
their backs and dogs bark and bristle.
The insane intonations of raw power
coming from the LFA are particularly dis-
tinct. Redlined at 9000 rpm, where the
electronic tachometer changes color from
snow white to devil red, the V-10 sounds as
shrill as a MotoGP bike or a Formula 1
racer. When the wide white wedge ap-
pears on the horizon, bystanders pull out
their mobile phones, both to freeze-frame
one of Europe’s rarest sports cars and to
capture its spine-tingling sound track. In
tunnels, other drivers inadvertently step
on their brakes when the Lexus pilot fl oors
the loud pedal, because the xenon-eyed
noiseball in their rearview mirror sounds
and looks like a UFO heralding the end of
the world.
The SLS strikes a chord more minor
than major, all bass not tenor, roaring tiger
rather than howling wolf. While the LFA
misses no opportunity to launch its shriek-
ing, high-pitched backup choir, the car
from Stuttgart loves to indulge in a simu-
lated part-throttle misfi re that blat-blats
like a highly tuned American muscle car
from the 1960s.
The transmissions fi tted to our two
warriors are far apart in both concept and
personality. Mercedes pairs its V-8 with a
seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic that
reduces power interruption during full-
throttle upshifts to virtually zero. There
are four shift patterns to choose from: C
for controlled e� ciency, S for sport, S+ for
sport plus, and M for manual. In S+, the
black box automatically blips the throttle
during downshifts, holds the gear through
fast corners, downshifts early, and upshifts
late. We tried the manual mode for the
fi rst part of the route but found no real
need to work the steering-wheel-mounted
paddles, because in S and S+, one step on
the throttle is all it takes to summon a
lower ratio. The interaction is beautifully
intuitive and sensationally speedy.
There is no doubt that the single clutch
that drives the six-speed automated man-
ual transmission is the Achilles’ heel of the
Lexus. Gearchanges are controlled via pad-
dles attached to the steering column, where
you can fi nd them even with the wheel at
full lock. There are four available shift pat-
terns: Auto, Sport, Norm, and Wet. Auto is
slow, jerky, and out of sync with the car’s
focused dynamics. Norm is exactly that—
normal—so we found ourselves driving in
Sport most of the time. To complicate mat-
ters, there’s a choice of seven di� erent shift
speeds ranging from a whiplash 0.2 second
to an almost lethargic full-second gear
swap that still can’t match the smoothness
of the Mercedes.
Nice touches include a tachometer that
changes color from black to white as soon
as you activate sport mode and paddles
with contrasting shift weights: it’s feather-
light for upshifts, but downshifts require a
high-e� ort tug. So far, so good. Unfortu-
nately, the mechanical execution isn’t in
line with the brand’s premium-quality, to-
tal-functionality image. O� -the-line clutch
engagement varies from rough on level
surfaces to wah-wah wailing on inclines.
HE LEXUS LFA AND the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG are about as di� erent in approach
and ability as a muscular sprinter is from a sinewy long-distance runner. It’s a clash of
characters along the lines of a Suzuki Hayabusa sportbike taking on a BMW K1300S, a
Moog synthesizer compared with a Steinway piano, or techno music as opposed to
Beethoven. This is a little surprising when one compares the almost identical DNA of the
two supercoupes. Both cars are front-engined; are powered by high-revving, normally
aspirated engines; feature a well-balanced transaxle layout; rely on lightweight body
structures; and make do with nonadjustable suspension and steering setups.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 55
Like the Nissan GT-R, the LFA struggles
through tight and slow uphill bends, where
torque delivery is anything but smooth.
There is a fair bit of clickety-clonk noise in-
volved, too, and the occasional whi� of
overheated friction material wafts through
the cabin. Maneuvering the Lexus is remi-
niscent of driving Ferraris with early F1
automated manual gearboxes. To switch
from drive to reverse, you must fi rst pull
both paddles to engage neutral and then
reach for a small toggle to the
left of the instrument panel to
trigger a change of direction.
Don’t rush, or you’ll have to re-
peat the sequence even if tra� c
is rapidly approaching.
The SLS boasts a small joy-
stick-type drive-by-wire gear se-
lector with a squared-o� T-han-
dle instead of a conventional
transmission lever. To engage re-
verse, push the handle forward,
pull it back to engage drive, and
hit the button marked P to lock
the wheels. Angled to the left is
the AMG Drive Unit that is also
found in the SL63 and the E63.
The keyboard contains fi ve
round buttons that control trans-
mission mode, engine start/stop, stability
control, the rear wing, and AMG (to store
your favorite settings). Last but not least,
there’s the familiar Comand system that
provides access to communication, naviga-
tion, and entertainment functions. A similar
setup can be found in the LFA.
As in other AMG cars, the SLS o� ers
performance-oriented in-dash readouts
for coolant, engine-oil, and gearbox-oil
temperatures; the stability control setting;
and the most recent lap and trip times.
Above the two large main circular gauges
are LED shift lights with one amber warn-
ing at 6900 rpm and two red dots that
come on at 7100 and 7200 rpm, but only in
manual mode.
The LFA cockpit looks and feels even
more special than the cabin of the SLS.
The starter button is conveniently placed
on the carbon-fi ber steering wheel, which
boasts a squared-o� bottom and two broad
horizontal spokes with thumb rests. The
LCD instrumentation features a large,
round rev counter, a relatively small digi-
tal speedometer, and your choice of sec-
ondary readouts. You can summon the
fuel, oil, and water gauges as well as a trip
The modern Gullwing’s somewhat cramped cabin includes lovely materials, controls for Mercedes-Benz’s fi rst dual-clutch automatic transmission, and design elements inspired by aircraft. An eleven-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system and carbon-fi ber trim are optional. ■ The SLS AMG’s top speed is 317 kph (197 mph). So how did our photographer snap a shot at 360 kph? It’s not Photoshop trickery—the speedometer needle pegs itself when you turn on the car’s ignition. ■ The wing on the trunk lid automatically raises at 75 mph or at the touch of a button. ■ The 6.2-liter V-8 is mounted almost completely behind the front axle.
56 Automobile | August 2010
computer, a lap timer, a tire-pressure mon-
itor, and more. The seats are comfortable,
supportive, and generously adjustable.
Subjectively at least, the LFA feels a lit-
tle roomier than the SLS, which combines
C-class-style switchgear with instruments
that are unique to the model, plenty of
leather, and a high level of fi t and fi nish.
The gull-wing doors are true attention
grabbers, but they’re no more practical
than the front-hinged apertures preferred
by Lexus. In both cars, a glance
in the mirror at autobahn speeds
gives you a look at an imposing
tail wing that extends automati-
cally to increase downforce and
stability. The luggage compart-
ment of the Mercedes holds a
fairly useful 6.2 cubic feet , but
Lexus doesn’t bother to quote a
number for the LFA. The LFA
tips the scales at 3460 pounds;
the heavier SLS has a curb
weight of 3573 pounds .
We aimed for Karlsruhe on
the A5 autobahn, which typi-
cally is 150-mph-plus terrain—
but not today. Road construc-
tion, speed limits, and congestion
slowed us down to 100 mph
most of the way. Only twice was there an
opportunity to knock on 150 mph, and we
never saw the LFA’s claimed 202-mph top
speed, nor the 197 mph the SLS is report-
edly capable of reaching. But having driven
both vehicles on prior occasions, I know
that the Lexus takes a little longer than the
Mercedes to reach its terminal velocity. We
can also confi rm that the Benz’s displace-
ment advantage—6.2 liters versus 4.8 li-
ters—and its 479 lb-ft of torque versus the
LFA’s 354 lb-ft give the German contender
a noticeable edge when it comes to mid-
range acceleration. This impression is re-
fl ected by the torque peaks, which occur at
a lofty 6800 rpm in the LFA and 4750 rpm
in its rival.
Without question, Lexus’s V-10 needs
to be revved much harder than the AMG
V-8 to deliver, which takes some getting
used to. Even at a yelling 6000 rpm, you’re
only two-thirds of the way to the LFA’s rev
limiter, and the inferno becomes more in-
tense with every incremental 1000 rpm.
The AMG V-8 is redlined at 7200 rpm, but
the last few hundred revs seem to do more
for your ears than for forward progress.
Although the winding roads through
Not only does the LFA’s interior feel more spacious than the SLS’s, it also looks and feels more special. If occupants, seated in their cocoonlike chairs, somehow get sick of hearing the high-strung V-10, an
optional twelve-speaker Mark Levinson stereo can fl ood the cabin with sound. ■ The LFA’s taller wing deploys at 50 mph; it can be raised with a switch, too, but only when the car is parked. ■ An LCD gauge
cluster offers drivers lots of information, but the tachometer always dominates. ■ Like the Benz’s powerplant, the Lexus V-10 utilizes dry-sump lubrication to allow it to be placed lower in the car. Despite
its two extra cylinders, the LFA’s engine displaces 23 percent fewer cubic centimeters.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 57
PRICE $183,000
ENGINE 32-valve DOHC V-8
DISPLACEMENT 6.2 liters (379 cu in)
HORSEPOWER 563 hp @ 6800 rpm
TORQUE 479 lb-ft @ 4750 rpm
TRANSMISSION 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
DRIVE Rear-wheel
STEERING Hydraulically assisted
SUSPENSION, FRONT Control arms, coil springs
SUSPENSION, REAR Control arms, coil springs
BRAKES Vented discs, ABS
TIRES Continental ContiSportContact 5P
TIRE SIZE F, R 265/35YR-19, 295/30YR-20
L x W x H 182.6 x 76.3 x 49.3 in
WHEELBASE 105.5 in
TRACK F/R 66.2/65.0 in
WEIGHT 3573 lb
EPA MILEAGE 14/20 mpg
The SLS is a powerboat for the road, a mighty mauler that evokes fond memories of a brand’s glorious past. The LFA is heart-stoppingly pretty and very nicely put together, a street racer for track days and early mornings.
ACCELERATION
0–60 mph 3.8 sec
0–100 7.7
0–110 9.1
0–120 10.6
0–130 12.4
0–140 14.5
1/4–mile 11.7 sec @
127 mph
BRAKING
70–0 mph 152 ft
CORNERING
L 0.98 g
R 1.02
SPEED IN GEARS
1 47 mph
2 73
3 98
4 124
5 155
6 190
7 197
Me
rce
de
s-B
en
z S
LS
AM
G
PRICE $375,000
ENGINE 40-valve DOHC V-10
DISPLACEMENT 4.8 liters (293 cu in)
HORSEPOWER 553 hp @ 8700 rpm
TORQUE 354 lb-ft @ 6800 rpm
TRANSMISSION 6-speed automated manual
DRIVE Rear-wheel
STEERING Electrically assisted
SUSPENSION, FRONT Control arms, coil springs
SUSPENSION, REAR Multilink, coil springs
BRAKES Carbon-ceramic vented discs, ABS
TIRES Bridgestone Potenza RE050A
TIRE SIZE F, R 265/35YR-20, 305/30YR-20
L x W x H 177.0 x 74.6 x 48.0 in
WHEELBASE 102.6 in
TRACK F/R 62.2/61.8 in
WEIGHT 3460 lb
FUEL MILEAGE 13/19 mpg (est.)
ACCELERATION
0–60 mph 3.9 sec
0–100 8.0
0–110 9.7
0–120 11.2
0–130 13.1
0–140 15.6
1/4–mile 11.8 sec @
126 mph
BRAKING
70–0 mph 154 ft
CORNERING
L 1.04 g
R 1.06
SPEED IN GEARS
1 51 mph
2 75
3 102
4 133
5 169
6 202
Le
xu
s L
FA
the Odenwald are pure bliss for commit-
ted drivers, the speed on the best bits is re-
stricted either by law or by heavy tra� c. In
this roller-coaster habitat, where tight
radii and narrow blacktop prevail, the
Lexus benefi ts from its more compact di-
mensions and lighter weight. The Mer-
cedes is not only a touch wider and a sub-
stantial 5.2 inches longer, it also has a
phallic snout that positions the driver far-
ther back in the aluminum spaceframe
cradle. In the carbon-fi ber Lexus, you sit
between the axles and are thus closer to
the front wheels, which supports the butt-
to-brain interface. The front/rear weight
distribution is almost identical: 48/52 per-
cent in the Lexus, 47/53 in the SLS.
In our tests, these two supercars are
separated by one-tenth of a second in the
0-to-60-mph sprint, where red eclipses
white by completing the task in 3.8 versus
3.9 seconds. In actuality, it’s all down to
tire wear, tire temperature, surface quality,
and launch success. Both vehicles must
shift once before they exceed the 60-mph
mark, and even after a dozen or so full-
throttle side-by-side sprints, the results
were pretty much a dead heat.
The electrically assisted power steering
of the Lexus takes 2.4 turns from lock-to-
lock, about 0.4 turn less than the hydrauli-
cally boosted rack-and-pinion device fi tted
to the Benz. The helm of the LFA feels light
and communicative, quick and responsive.
The SLS has meatier steering, with slightly
stronger self-centering action, but turn-in
is equally attentive and feedback doesn’t
deteriorate on poor tarmac or when you
wind on more lock. Both stability control
systems o� er an intermediate sport set-
ting—the Lexus setting deactivates traction
control; the Mercedes raises the interven-
tion threshold. On public roads, that’s all it
takes for a gentle nudge of power oversteer
at the exit of an open bend.
On the track, you can remove the safety
net completely, thereby clearing the stage
for tail slides lurid enough to qualify for
the next national drift challenge. In the
LFA, the steering makes the car feel light
and nimble and chuckable, but even the
heaviest right foot must fi rst get used to
the sky-high revs required to smoke the
tires. In the SLS, the balance between
steering and throttle is more natural and
better weighted. At very high velocities,
the Gullwing needs fewer corrections to
maintain a steady line, but it is more easily
irritated by long undulations and sharp ex-
pansion joints.
With some 5700 miles on the odometer
and a long weekend at the Nürburgring
Nordschleife under its belt, our preproduc-
tion Lexus felt a little loose and tired. Al-
though fi tted with standard carbon-
ceramic discs, it could have done with fresh
brake pads to smooth the grinding noises
and the rather rough response. The SLS
was also equipped with carbon-ceramic
brake rotors—optional in its case—which
decelerate the coupe about as e� ectively as
the thrust reverser of a jet engine. But it’s
not only the sheer stopping power that im-
presses, it’s also how the car copes with
split-friction turf, hot brake discs, and wet
pavement. Despite its substantial size and
weight, the SLS will actually outcorner
most other sports cars on the planet. Al-
though the numbers may tell a di� erent
story, the commendably progressive SLS
feels as though it pulls more lateral g’s than
the LFA, which is hindered by a slight front-
to-rear grip imbalance and a more brittle
suspension. On the racetrack, this is rarely
an issue. But through patchwork corners,
An academic one-tenth of a second separates the two cars in the 0-to-60-mph sprint.
60 Automobile | August 2010
the Lexus feels busier, more nervous, and
less stable. In these conditions, which can
also apply on ancient autobahn sections, a
little more compliance would probably
make a big di� erence.
The city center of Frankfurt is crammed
with towering glass cubes built by the
banks before Mr. Lehman fell ill and in-
fected his brothers. In the early hours of
the morning, the streets around the main
station were still busy with amber taxis
chasing late barfl ies, with blue-over-silver
police cars on the prowl, and with two out-
of-place supercoupes worth a combined
$560,000. We were looking for bright neon
lights, colorful cliques, and cheerful ad-
mirers for that fi nal bit of metropolitan ac-
tion. It didn’t take more than a pair of open
gull-wing doors and an impromptu V-10
concerto to draw a very mixed crowd of
scantily dressed ladies and chain-smoking
scarfaces who probably never remove
their sunglasses or their shiny jewelry.
There wasn’t an LFA customer in
sight—they were presumably in a far less
seedy part of town—because Lexus
screened all interested parties before al-
lowing them to sign a two-year lease con-
tract. When the lease expires, the lucky
500 will be allowed to purchase the vehi-
cles, a move that might delay gray-market
action but won’t prevent it. There might
be the odd drug baron or the occasional
Lolita merchant among the 500 or so SLS
clients Mercedes intends to serve this year,
but since the car is sold out globally deep
into 2011, getting one quickly will likely
cost you dearly.
Before we headed for the hotel at 4:30
in the morning, we took every opportunity
to evaluate, test, savor, sample, and then
decide. So, what would I buy if I had the
means and the choice—the 553-hp Lexus
or the 563-hp Mercedes?
The LFA is a limited-edition, high-tech
item that is heart-stoppingly pretty and
very nicely put together, a street racer for
track days and early Sunday mornings.
The SLS is a powerboat for the road, a
mighty mauler that evokes fond memories
of a brand’s glorious past, a surprisingly
practical and highly visible tool for the
dedicated driver. Both cars are honest and
straightforward, classy and competent, in-
triguing in the way they present them-
selves and perform, dynamically focused,
and deeply rewarding. The fi nal choice
could come down to personal preferences,
such as the more modern Lexus exterior
and interior or the more practical packag-
ing of the Mercedes.
But as should be the case when you
compare two such evenly matched ma-
chines, the real deciding factor hides be-
neath the skin. The Lexus LFA is let down
by its transmission, and it is, albeit to a
lesser extent, handicapped by the need to
rev its melodious engine to more atten-
tion-getting volumes than the more re-
laxed, bigger-bore V-8 . In all other depart-
ments, it’s a very close decision. I could
quite easily live with the LFA’s less com-
pliant suspension, and if this was toy num-
ber six or seven, even the screaming en-
gine wouldn’t matter that much. But the
clutch does, because it’s at odds with what
the halo car of the brand should deliver:
ultimate quality in every respect. The Mer-
cedes-Benz SLS AMG, on the other hand,
establishes a credible link to its maker’s F1
and DTM racing e� orts. And it proves,
fi fty-six years after the original Gullwing
and only weeks after the fi nal production
run of the SLR McLaren, that Mercedes
still knows how to make a supercar. AM
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 61
Photography by Brian Konoske
64 Automobile | August 2010
However, as much as I admire
Fox Racing suspension compo-
nents, fl ared fenders, and mas-
sive o� -road tires, you’ve got to
admit that the Raptor’s talents
are on the esoteric side. O� -road-
ing is a pretty niche hobby in the fi rst place (despite
what Land Rover and Jeep would have you believe),
and the F-150 SVT Raptor is designed for a specifi c
kind of o� -roading—high-speed desert-running. And
who really does that on a regular basis?
The U.S. Border Patrol, that’s who. Most of the
U.S./Mexico border is an arbitrary line across the des-
ert, and we haven’t gotten around to paving much of it.
Which means that the people tasked with patrolling
that border are basically professional o� -roaders. They
might see pavement in the morning when they leave
the house and again when they head home, but in the
interim they’re driving across dunes, hard-packed
sand, and dry riverbeds—basically prerunning the Baja
1000, 365 days a year. These people need Raptors.
Unfortunately for them, they don’t have any. Yet.
Without getting into the arcane details of government
procurement procedures, it seems that there was some
kind of a problem with the Raptor’s leather interior—
the gub’mint couldn’t buy trucks with fancy cowskins
inside, and Ford didn’t build Raptors any other way.
They got the situation resolved, and a batch of Raptors
are destined for the Border Patrol. But the Yuma
County Sheri� ’s Department is one step ahead.
Soon after the Raptor hit the street, Major Leon
Wilmot of the Yuma County SD caught a look at it
running Baja on TV. “I said, ‘We’ve got to get one of
those,’ ” Wilmot recalls. So he wrassled up some
Department of Homeland Security dollars through a
program called Operation Stonegarden and made it
happen. The Yuma sector of the U.S. Border Patrol has
six more Raptors on the way, but at the moment, the
Yuma sheri� has the only one, the baddest police truck
north of San Luis Río Colorado.
Which is actually where I fi nd myself at the mo-
ment, driving beside the longest fence you’ve ever
seen, accompanied by Wilmot and a former narcotics
o� cer named Jimmy. I’d contacted Wilmot a few
weeks before to see if I could accompany the Yuma
police Raptor on desert border patrol. In the interim,
Arizona passed a mildly controversial immigration law
that you may have heard about. So it’s an interesting
time to be on border patrol in Arizona.
Now, on any mission that includes the possibility
of shoot-outs and bandits, you’ve got to choose the
proper equipment. To that end, I paid careful attention
to my choice of vehicle. The only way I could keep up
with a Raptor, I reasoned, was with another Raptor.
So that’s what I’ve got—a 5.4-liter V-8 model in an
orange-red hue that is approximately the color of a
ost right-minded people agr� that the Ford Raptor is a sw� t ride.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 65
nuclear explosion. We won’t be sneaking
up on anybody.
Truck cred established, I was still wor-
ried that the Yuma cops would perceive
me as some kind of East Coast city slicker
who wouldn’t know a rattlesnake from a
bolo tie. So I bought a cowboy hat at a
Yuma gas station (in Yuma, you can buy
cowboy hats at gas stations), and I’ve got
my aviator sunglasses, which Jimmy ap-
provingly refers to as “cop shades.” Finally,
knowing that my hairless upper lip won’t
cut it out here, I’ve brought prosthetic as-
sistance—an array of Mustache Party–
brand fake mustaches. The Bandit model,
in particular, nicely complements my cop
shades and cowboy hat. I feel like I want to
draw on someone, shoot the gun out of his
hand, and then say, “I was justifi ed.”
Too bad the paperwork I fi lled out back
at the station explicitly prohibits civilians
from packing weapons in police cars. So I
don’t have a gun, although I did look into
getting one—a local dealer boasts that it
specializes in “politically incorrect black
guns with extended magazines.” Damn
straight. Yuma isn’t buying those new po-
litically correct guns, with their recycled
bamboo stocks and fair-trade ammo.
In any case, it appears that the Yuma
police Raptor is all set when it comes to
fi repower. I’m in the passenger seat, and
behind me is a vertical rack that holds a
semiautomatic .223 rifl e. Riding shotgun
to the rifl e: a shotgun. Perhaps more
important than both, the truck’s radio
system can summon the mighty ordnance
of the U.S. government. Apache attack
helicopter, anyone?
But in the Grand Theft Auto hijinks of
the Mexican/American border, even an
Apache might not save the day. “Before the
fence went up,” Wilmot says, “there was a
big problem with tractor theft. The farms
go right down to the border, and the
farmers leave their tractors out in the fi elds
at night.” This led to problems, because
what a tractor lacks in speed, it makes up
for with a certain unstoppability. “We had
an Apache fl y down and get right in front
of a stolen tractor that was heading for
Mexico, but he wouldn’t stop. He was
going to ram the helicopter, so they had to
let him go.” Tractor chicken? Apparently,
Mexican farm-equipment thieves take
their cues from the iconic Kevin Bacon
fi lm Footloose.
Right now, we’re close to civilization.
San Luis splits the border, with most of the
town on the Mexican side—which is a
problem, because the people on the south
side of town are not huge fans of the
Border Patrol. That’s why the trucks down
here have some extra modifi cations.
“I want to show you a War Wagon,”
Wilmot says as we cut down toward the
Colorado River. Jimmy and photographer
Brian Konoske follow in the civilian
Raptor. Wind whips the dust in thick
clouds, pasting everything with grit.
Parked in the middle of this tableau is a
Border Patrol Chevy Silverado 2500 with
metal grates and mesh over the windshield
and side glass.
“People throw things over the fence,”
explains the major. “Like rocks.”
“And dirty diapers,” says Jimmy.
“And balloons fi lled with chicken
blood,” adds the Border Patrol guy sta-
tioned here. The wind whips the sand into
my eyes, nose, and ears. A portable light
tower rests nearby, awaiting nightfall. It’s
called the Nightbuster 4000. I imagine it’s
probably a big step up from the Night-
buster 3000. Just the thing to spot those
incoming chicken-blood balloons. Maybe
later they can use it to look for Konoske’s
hat, which the wind rips o� his head and
tosses straight into Mexico, providing a
nice moment of levity for everyone.
As charming as San Luis is, we haven’t
really seen the Raptor in action yet, so I’m
itching to hit more rural terrain. We don’t
have to go far. As we head east out of town,
the fence on our right, the graded dirt road
morphs into pure desert. There are tire
tracks, but this isn’t what you’d call a road.
Nonetheless, we fall into an easy 60-mph
cruise. To our right, we can see tra� c on
Mexico’s Highway 2, just a couple hundred
yards away. We’re keeping pace, even
though we don’t have the benefi t of a road.
This is the Raptor in its element.
“With our other trucks, we’re tearing
up shocks, suspension, skid plates,” Wilmot
says. The Raptor, though, is designed
Clockwise from right: A safety beacon out in the far reaches of the desert; evidently, Mazda sedans are not ideal off-road vehicles; Wilmot breaks out the binoculars; the Raptor’s police livery.
66 Automobile | August 2010
precisely for this mission—high-speed
desert recon. In fact, deputies take an o� -
road driving class where they learn how to
take advantage of the Raptor’s o� -road
talents, preferably without destroying it.
“We call this truck the career-ender,”
Wilmot says. “You mess this thing up—
your career’s over.”
We keep heading east, deep onto the
Barry M. Goldwater Range. Wilmot’s map
of the area points out that there are a few
hazards for travelers around here. For one
thing, the average high temperature in the
summer is about 105 degrees. Also, un-
exploded warheads litter the area (a photo
on the map shows what looks like a small
missile stuck in the side of a cactus). And
there are abandoned mines, scant fresh
water, and, of course, a colorful variety of
on-the-go drug smugglers, human traf-
fi ckers, and other ne’er-do-wells. Further,
the map warns that, “If a road is impassable
because of fl ooding, mud, moon dust, or a
lawful closure, turn back.” That’s right,
moon dust. Did I mention that the main
thoroughfare through this terrain is a trail
called El Camino Del Diablo, or The
Highway of the Devil? Well, it is.
But we’re on no highway whatsoever
when we come to the burnt-out hulk of a
car sinking into a dune. Based on the shape
of the roofl ine, I guess that it’s a Dodge
Shadow, but what’s left of the engine
indicates that it’s a Mazda. Probably an old
626. I ask the major how a car got out here.
“Well, before there was a fence, people
would just drive in from Mexico,” he says.
And, if they were driving a Mazda 626
through the desert, apparently they would
not get very far.
Believe it or not, cars still manage to get
through the barrier. “They’ll park a car
carrier on the other side of the fence and
use it as a bridge to drive over the top,”
Jimmy says. That strikes me as pretty
ballsy, but it’s far from the only trick.
“They’ll come out with a welder and cut a
door into the fence, complete with hinges,”
Wilmot says. “We’ve seen them remove a
real Normandy barrier and replace it with
a Styrofoam look-alike, so they
can just move it aside whenever
they want.”
Getting past the fence on
foot is much more straightfor-
ward, but out here, the question
becomes: then what? You’re
miles and miles from anything.
This area is so remote that there
are actually safety beacons scat-
tered around the range, intended for Mex-
icans who’ve decided that it’s better to get
arrested than die of heatstroke. The bea-
cons feature a big button that you push to
alert the authorities, but even then a sign
warns that it could be an hour before any-
one shows up.
I suspect that the law would get there
sooner than that, though. As we approach
what is evidently a new area, a Border Pa-
trol truck comes roaring toward us. “We
must’ve tripped a sensor,” says Wilmot. I
ask what kind of sensor we might’ve
tripped. He doesn’t elaborate. When the
Border Patrol o� cer pulls alongside, he
gets out to scope the Raptor. “This thing’s
a mule,” he says, gesturing to his Silverado.
“It doesn’t have as much power as the
2006s we had.” I’m guessing that the older
trucks had the discontinued 8.1-liter big-
block, which put out 330 hp and, more im-
portant, 450 lb-ft of torque. The new
6.0-liter makes 360 hp but signifi cantly
less torque. Which must make a di� erence
when you’re slogging through sand dunes
Top: The Operation Stonegarden Raptor runs alongside the fence. Above: An unusual sight out on the dunes—a rearview mirror fi lled with police truck.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 67
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all day with an air-conditioned jail stuck
in the pickup bed.
Greetings concluded, we continue on
our way, again at a high rate of speed. I’ve
taken the wheel of our civilian Raptor
(probably to Jimmy’s dismay, since he
seemed to be enjoying it) and fi nd my-
self amazed at the ease with which this
thing soaks up fl inch-worthy obstacles—
you keep fl inching, but then it just glides
on its way. You start to feel invincible. And
that’s always a bad way to feel, in the long
run. Soon enough, I go too hot o� a whoop
and bottom out the skid plate with a verte-
brae-rearranging crash. When you manage
to bottom the suspension on a Raptor, you
need to take a time-out to contemplate the
law of gravity and how it applies to a
6000-pound truck, tricked-out suspension
or not. We stop for a break, and Jimmy and
the major hold court on the topic of cut-
ting sign.
“Cutting sign” is the lingo for tracking
footprints. It’s a big part of border patrol
work. The Stonegarden Raptor has LED
lights under the running boards that shine
down at an angle, illuminating footprints
in the sand. Of course, once you fi nd some
footprints, the truck also has a FLIR—For-
ward Looking Infrared—night-vision dis-
play built into the passenger-side sun visor.
(“Yo, dawg, I pimped your Department of
Homeland Security vehicle so it can see in
the dark.”) The Border Patrol trucks rou-
tinely drag tires along the fence, smooth-
ing out the sand so that any new footprints
will be instantly noticeable. Cutting sign
still sounds like an art, though. “When you
fi rst learn how to do it, the old-timers
Even where the terrain is smooth, choking sandstorms and blazing heat make the border brutal on trucks. The Raptor has held up well enough that the Yuma County Sheriff’s Department just ordered a second one.
68 Automobile | August 2010
make you take o� one of your boots,”
Jimmy says. “Then they carve your initial
in the heel, so you’ll know when you’re
tracking yourself.”
Of course, every action has a counter-
action. I say that I’d get some deer hooves
and strap them to my feet. “People strap
foam to their feet,” Wilmot says. “But you
can still track them.” Jimmy tells a tale
about a deputy who took o� his boot and
hopped from the fence o� into the desert
to prank the Border Patrol guys, who set
o� in pursuit of a one-legged illegal alien.
That sounds sort of like an urban legend,
but it’s still a funny image.
We continue, ever deeper into the des-
ert. The scrub brush and dunes give way to
low mountains, saguaro cacti, and a sprawl
of blooming fl owers. It’s quite beautiful.
This would be a great place to go camping,
except for the whole unexploded ord-
nance/bandits/heatstroke thing. We’re so
far out now that the Border Patrol trucks
we encounter are strictly diesel, because
there’s nowhere to refuel. One Border Pa-
trol Ford F-250 Power Stroke that rumbles
past has remote-reservoir Fox Racing dam-
pers on the front axle, but a Raptor it’s not.
As it heads o� over the washboard, I see
the cab shaking like an unbalanced wash-
ing machine—which, according to the map,
it’ll be doing for quite some time. We’re at
least forty miles from the nearest road.
Out here, the fence has gaps, since it
would’ve been impractical to build it over
the craggy mountains. I walk to the end
and peek around the corner, into Mexico.
“I used to wonder why they bothered with
a fence if you can walk around it,” Jimmy
says. “But it keeps out vehicles. And it fun-
nels the people on foot into certain spots,
so they’re easy to track.”
Maybe it’s hard to avoid getting caught
once you’re on U.S. soil, but the act of get-
ting across seems pretty easy—back by the
fi elds near the river, it’s about a one-
minute swim. So I’m perplexed by stories
of how Mexicans pay thousands of dol-
lars—from $1000 to $3000, according to
Wilmot—for smugglers to get them across.
“They’re not paying to get into the U.S.,”
Wilmot says. “Because the smugglers usu-
ally just bring them to the other side of the
river, rob them, then leave them to get ar-
rested. What they’re paying for is protec-
tion on the Mexican side, to cross in a par-
ticular guy’s territory.” Well, that doesn’t
sound like a great deal. “OTMs pay even
more,” he says. I ask what an OTM is.
“ ‘Other Than Mexican.’ Chinese, South
Americans, anyone else trying to get across
the border.”
To my relief, we encounter NOTA,
none of the above—at least, not as far as we
know. All we saw down by the fence were
Border Patrol trucks, but it turns out that
the smugglers have a new trick: using
cloned Border Patrol trucks to drive into
the U.S. But for that ploy to work, their
trucks would have to match the ones that
the Border Patrol actually use. Which
means that the agents in the Yuma sector
probably aren’t the only ones waiting, im-
patiently, to get behind the wheel of the
fastest truck in the desert. AM
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 69
DECADES FROM NOW, when some
clever doctoral candidate writes his or,
more likely, her dissertation about the
history of women in sports, the 2010 Indianapolis
500 may be cited as a watershed moment.
The scene was Pole Day, a week before the
race. Shortly after a disappointing qualifying
e� ort, Danica Patrick complained about her
ill-handling car during an interview broadcast
over the trackside P.A. system. Patrick is racing’s
It Girl, the most recognized face and best-known
body in IndyCar racing, thanks to her exposure
in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. Yet the
crowd responded by booing her lustily, with all
the bitterness of a jilted lover.
But that wasn’t the watershed moment. No,
that came a few minutes later when a twenty-
one-year-old Swiss rookie by the name of
Simona De Silvestro outqualifi ed Patrick for the
fi fth time in six IndyCar races this season despite
making her run in the heat of the afternoon—the
most diabolical conditions she’d ever
experienced at racing’s most daunting circuit—
and taking to the track immediately after the
previous driver had crashed during his run.
Simona De Silvestro hopes to be the fi rst
female racer to make people forget she’s
not one of the boys.
By Preston LernerPhotography by Tony Valainis
72 Automobile | August 2010
“Think about the mental toughness that requires,” her race en-
gineer Michael Cannon says. “We’d drawn a terrible qualifying
position. It was hot. Another car had just splattered against the
wall. And we’re telling her to go fl at into turn 1—230.5 mph before
turning in. Well, o� she went.” And qualifi ed solidly at 224.228
mph. “She’s bloody good,” Cannon says in the team’s garage in
Gasoline Alley, two days before the Indy 500. “I’d be very sur-
prised if she doesn’t win championships.”
De Silvestro is the anti-Danica, bubbly rather than sultry, a
tomboy rather than a sex kitten, less sizzle, more steak. Janet
Guthrie was the fi rst woman to race at Indy, back in 1977, and Lyn
Saint James carried the feminist torch during the ’80s and ’90s. In
2002, Sarah Fisher became the fi rst woman to qualify on the
pole for an IndyCar race. Then, two years ago, Patrick scored the
fi rst, and so far only, IndyCar win for a female driver. Now,
De Silvestro—the winningest female driver in Formula Atlantic
history—is poised to achieve the biggest fi rst of all: she could
become the fi rst female racer (outside of drag racing) whose
gender doesn’t matter.
This isn’t to say that De Silvestro is androgynous. Although it’s
often noted that her ears aren’t pierced, she seems like a perfectly
typical young woman who smiles a lot, laughs easily and often,
and can be girlishly silly. She shrieks when she spots a spider, and
she’s seen the chick fl ick Twilight seven times. But what sets her
apart from those who came before her is that she’s not a woman
racer who happens to be seriously quick. She’s a seriously quick
racer who happens to be a woman.
“Before I worked with her,” says her driver coach, Bob Perona,
“I thought she was just another girl race car driver. After I started
working with her, I knew she was going to be very good. But she’s
turned out to be great. She’s the whole package. She’s got the
talent. She’s got it mentally. She’s got it emotionally. I don’t think
there’s anything she can’t do in a race car.”
De Silvestro is one of those preternat-
urally gifted athletes who excel at
every sport they pick up. She won
her fi rst ski race when she was three, was a
top regional fencer at age four, and played
championship tennis not long after that.
Considering that motorsports were banned
in Switzerland in 1955, racing wouldn’t have
seemed to be in her future. But her father,
Pierluigi, was a car dealer who also did driv-
ing instruction at tracks in Italy, France, and
Germany, and his daughter was born with
racing in her DNA.
“When I was a baby, my dad says I was
quiet only when I watched Formula 1 on TV,” she says. “When I
was four, he did a go-kart demonstration, but I couldn’t reach the
pedals, so I cried the whole day. By the time I was nine or ten, I
knew that racing was what I wanted to do, and my whole life has
been about it. Driving open-wheel race cars has always been my
goal. I really never had anything else in my head.”
When she was seven, De Silvestro won the fi rst kart race she
entered—in the rain. When she was eleven, her father let her
drive his Porsche 911 GT3 at Hockenheim, sitting on a pillow, and
she got it up to 135 mph before he ordered her to slow down. At
sixteen, she graduated from karts to Italian Formula Renault. The
De Silvestros didn’t have enough money to pay for a second
season in Europe, but with the help of friends, family, and an
American sponsor, they put together a Formula BMW program in
the United States.
At seventeen, halfway through the Swiss equivalent of high
school, De Silvestro moved to Indianapolis. She didn’t know any-
body and barely spoke English. But she was already fl uent in the
language of speed. She won once, made the podium repeatedly, and
went into the last race of the season with a shot at the champion-
ship. The title eluded her, but her pace earned her a propitious
meeting with an entrepreneur by the name of Imran Safi ulla.
Safi ulla had been involved behind the scenes in open-wheel
racing for several years. But in De Silvestro, he saw a unique
opportunity to do something that had never been done before—
orchestrate the career of a female driver who wasn’t defi ned by her
gender. He became De Silvestro’s manager, big brother, benefactor,
deal broker, father fi gure, marketing maven, and moral compass.
“Racing is dominated by alpha males, and it objectifi es women,”
he says. “When you see a woman in racing, she’s usually in tight
knickers, holding an umbrella. We’re not promoting a feminist
agenda, but we’re trying to promote gender equality. Danica has
opened the door, but she’s chosen a path that, in my opinion, is
De Silvestro and her father,
Pierluigi, who perched his
daughter in his lap for a spin in a go-kart when she
was four. “The fi rst time she
drove herself,” he recalls, “I was
astonished. Her lines were
perfect. She was a natural.”
74 Automobile | August 2010
slightly easier because she’s leveraging her sensuality. Simona
won’t be doing any [innuendo-laden] commercials. If she’s selling
a road car, she won’t be lying on the fl oor in front of it in a bikini.”
That said, nobody’s going to mistake De Silvestro for Patrick.
De Silvestro is fresh-faced, disarmingly open, and delightfully
eager to please, but she looks more like an athlete than a runway
model, and there’s none of the diva in her. “She’s my same brand—
the girl next door,” says Fisher, who was the IRL’s poster child
before Patrick arrived. “She’s a really great girl, and you could take
her anywhere. She could fi ll my shoes pretty easily.”
Safi ulla insists that his goals for De Silvestro are—his words—a
vision statement rather than a sales pitch. But he’s also trying to
create a brand with broad commercial appeal. “This is a chance to
deliver merchandise to a consumer market that doesn’t have a
voice,” he says. “Of course, you can talk about this until you’re blue
in the face. But until you are standing on the podium, the credence
is not there. She has to win races.”
De Silvestro’s confi dence was shaken during her fi rst year
with Safi ulla, in the supercompetitive Atlantic series. The next
season, she won the fi rst race of the year—the same weekend that
Patrick scored her IndyCar victory—before her performance
plateaued, so Perona was brought in to unlock her innate talent.
“She was fast but inconsistent,” he recalls. “She’d come back from
a session and spew information, 1000 miles per hour in
semibroken English. But I realized that I could really push her, so
I started cracking the whip.”
Last year, De Silvestro won four races, all from the pole, and
was leading the Atlantic championship until she was punted into a
tire barrier in the season-ending race. With nothing left to prove
in Atlantics, Safi ulla arranged a test at Sebring in an Indy car
campaigned by HVM Racing. She’d never driven anything
remotely as powerful as the Dallara-Honda, but that didn’t
dissuade her from lighting up the rear tires as she left the pits for
the fi rst time. “You always have to show o� a little bit,” she explains
with a contagious laugh.
Keith Wiggins, HVM’s phlegmatic team owner, raised an
eyebrow as he watched her slither o� . But he fi gured it would take
her time to get up to speed, so he climbed into the trailer to grab a
cup of co� ee. “While I was inside,” he says, “I could hear her down
the back straight. Christ, she was on it! I had to get back out there,
as much out of concern as out of interest.”
Cannon was equally surprised. “Typically, rookies don’t start
making sense of the car until the middle of their fi rst day. But she
came in after her second outing. I think it was her thirteenth lap
in the car. She said, ‘It has some understeer. But I’d like to settle
the rear under braking fi rst.’ So we made some changes, and the
next time she came in, she said, ‘Better. Now you can fi x the
understeer.’ That’s a professional race car driver. I told Keith, ‘She
was very impressive. If we can fi nd a way to run her, I’d like to take
care of her car.’ ”
HVM is a small team whose success on the racetrack belies its
meager resources. This year, after funding for other drivers failed
to materialize, Wiggins agreed to run De Silvestro for a budget he
reckons is maybe one-sixth of what Penske Racing spends on each
of its three drivers. Because the team is running only one car,
De Silvestro can’t share data with a teammate. Also, most of the
tracks are new to her.
So what happened at her debut in Brazil? She led four laps. In
fact, her pace has been good all season, allowing her to run solidly
in mid-pack before being victimized by rookie miscues. Kansas
Speedway, her fi rst oval, was the only track where she seemed in
over her head. “She threw out the parachute the fi rst few laps,”
Perona says. Says De Silvestro: “It’s funny, because last year and the
year before, when I watched oval races on TV, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s
easy.’ Then when I got to Kansas and everybody told me it was fl at
[full throttle], and I’m like, ‘Are you sure about that? It doesn’t look
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 75
possible.’ ” She smiles. “The fi rst fi fty laps, I was so confused. But
when I passed Justin Wilson, the light bulb came on.”
Cannon was convinced that the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
played to De Silvestro’s strengths—high-speed corners and the
ability to provide high-quality feedback. She breezed through
rookie orientation and practiced well before drawing a bad
qualifying number on Pole Day. During the autograph session the
day before the race, the drivers were seated according to their grid
position, which placed De Silvestro next to Patrick. Hundreds of
fans showed up with Danica apparel and merchandise. And there
was one remarkably self-possessed thirteen-year-old girl wearing
a Simona hat and T-shirt.
“I don’t like Danica because she’s always whining,” Jessica
Hoopengardner said after snagging De Silvestro’s autograph. “I
found it fairly funny when she got booed last week. I like Simona
because she’s a good, new female driver. I think she’ll fi nish
between tenth and twentieth tomorrow.”
Out of the mouths of babes . . .
Race day is obnoxiously hot and humid. This means De Sil-
vestro will have to deal not only with brutal conditions in
the cockpit but also with a treacherously greasy racetrack.
The tension ratchets up during the interminable prerace festivi-
ties, and after getting to the grid, she fi ghts the almost irresistible
urge to go to the bathroom. It’s a relief to fi nally be strapped in the
car. Still, during the pace lap, for the fi rst time in the middle of a
full fi eld of thirty-three cars and a racetrack fi lled with fans, she’s
so nervous that her legs are shaking.
Immediately after honorary starter Jack Nicholson waves the
green fl ag, De Silvestro picks up a position. But before the fi rst lap
is over, Davey Hamilton wrecks in front of her—a taste of what’s to
come. Ten drivers will crash out of the race, and three more will
park their undrivable cars. De Silvestro struggles with an ultraloose
car that constantly threatens to end her day.
On several occasions, she dirt-tracks the car
around turn 3, and she survives half a dozen
heart-stopping moments in turn 1.
With fi fty laps to go, De Silvestro’s drink
bottle stops working. With thirty-seven laps
to go, the team goes to a fuel-conservation
strategy. De Silvestro is poised to pick up
several positions when the fi eld is frozen by
a hellacious wreck on the last lap, and she
fi nishes fourteenth, running out of fuel as
she takes the checkered fl ag. After being
towed to the pits, she has to be helped from
her car. “She did an awesome job,” Perona
says. “She deserves a raise.”
An hour later, revived with food and water, De Silvestro is still
jazzed by the experience. “It was crazy out there!” she says, her
eyes shining. With time, perhaps, her sense of wonder will
dissipate. But at the moment, she radiates her passion for racing,
and she openly expresses the sense of joy she gets from balancing
a car on the limit of adhesion.
When the race began, she says, the bu� eting was so fi erce that
her tires didn’t feel like they were touching the ground. Then her
car was wicked loose, and on one occasion, she countersteered so
violently that she ran out of steering lock. What else? She was
dehydrated. She barely avoided Vitor Meira’s wreck. Her right
foot was numb from matting the throttle for so long. Sounds like a
nightmare, right? “Oh, no,” she says, genuinely horrifi ed. “That
was the funnest thing I’ve ever done. I can’t wait to come back
next year.”
Like Saint James and Patrick in years past, De Silvestro was
named Rookie of the Year. Patrick, who’d been booed again during
the driver introductions, ran a gritty race to fi nish sixth (and ate
plenty of humble pie afterward). Nobody’s ever doubted Patrick’s
bravery or determination, and she’s always been especially good
on ovals. But nothing on her résumé—one professional race win—
suggests that she’s going to be a dominant driver in IndyCar, much
less NASCAR.
Still, no matter what trajectory Patrick’s career takes, it’s im-
possible to overestimate the adversity she had to overcome or the
impact she’s had. Thanks in part to Patrick’s success, De Silvestro
has never had to deal with the issue of gender. “For me,” she says,
“it’s always been about results.” For better or worse, she’s not a pi-
oneer. She’s just a driver with two X chromosomes, and her goal
isn’t breaking down barriers or beating the boys. It’s winning
races. And if she can win enough of them, it really won’t matter
that she’s a woman. AM
After practice on Carb Day —the Friday
before Sunday’s Indy 500—
De Silvestro sits on the pit wall
and debriefs with her race
engineer, Michael Cannon
( far left), and team owner,
Keith Wiggins (standing).
76 Automobile | August 2010
TORQUE-VECTORING HAS TRICKLED DOWN TO GROWN-UP SPORT SEDANS LIKE THE AUDI S4 AND THE ACURA TL SH-AWD, PROVING THAT ADULTHOOD HAS NEVER BEEN SO MUCH FUN.
By Jason Cammisa // Photography by Jim Fets
LIFE AFTER
EVO78 Automobile | August 2010
GROWING UP DOESN’T HAVE TO SUCK THE FUN OUT OF DRIVING. You don’t have to sell your soul—and your Mitsubishi Lancer Evo—and buy a life-sucking,
automatic-transmission, front-wheel-drive sled just because you landed a real job and
produced o� spring. These two luxury sedans appear grown up to the outside world, but when
no one is looking, the cars can bring out your inner juvenile delinquent. You probably never
thought of the Acura TL SH-AWD and the Audi S4 on the same day, much less in the same
sentence. But this duo is remarkably similar in base price, power, and weight. And signifi cantly,
they both use torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive systems to ensure that they don’t sacrifi ce one
iota of the corner-carving thrills you’ve grown to love. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands
together for the two cars that will change your perception of all-wheel-drive luxury sedans.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 79
In a tit-for-tat comparison between two cars that share the
same driveline philosophy, it quickly becomes obvious that the
Acura and the Audi are signifi cantly di� erent only in the details.
Despite riding on a wheelbase within an inch and a half of the
Audi S4’s, the Acura TL is about ten inches longer and two inches
wider. In fact, its interior is su� ciently voluminous to push the
TL into the next EPA size class. The S4’s lower beltline and bigger
windows give a better view out, though, e� ectively eliminating
any di� erence in perceived interior size. It’s only from the back
seat where the size di� erential becomes pronounced, but the
S4 still o� ers su� cient space for a young family. Although the
Acura’s trunk is also larger, its rear seats don’t fold down.
Slam one of the TL’s doors a little too hard, and you can’t help
but notice how tinny it sounds. Not so for the S4, which sounds and
feels like the proverbial bank vault. The S4’s attractive interior is
up to Audi’s typical high-quality standards, but the Acura’s cabin is
more striking, with a dashboard draped in symmetrical, sinewy
curves trimmed with black-on-silver dot-matrix-patterned alumi-
num that provides a modern ambience without the risk of glare in
sunny weather. The punctuation mark is a red metal start button,
and although the shifter is located a bit too far toward the passen-
ger side, its heavy weight and perfectly precise throws are among
the best in the business. So, too, are the turn-signal stalks. But then
there are the buttons. There are seventeen of them on the steering
wheel alone, and perhaps another eight thousand on the dash-
board. Despite being organized logically
in clusters for climate control, stereo, and
navigation functions, their sheer number
means that it takes a good bit of time to
become comfortable using them.
The S4, meanwhile, is intuitive from
the get-go. The uncluttered dash and
Multi Media Interface system are both
easy to use, and the Audi’s seats are just as
comfortable and supportive as the Acura’s (which is to say, very),
but the German seat heaters are far more powerful. Unfortunately,
Audi’s base stereo isn’t. For enjoying anything other than AM radio,
you’ll need to budget an additional $850 for the 505-watt Bang &
Olufsen sound system.
The TL SH-AWD comes standard with a 440-watt premium
surround system that is nothing short of phenomenal. You can’t,
however, get three-blink turn signals, rain-sensing wipers, or
swiveling bixenon headlights in the Acura, all curious omissions
at this price point. Acura also doesn’t o� er an equivalent of Audi’s
Drive Select, the S4’s user-selectable chassis system that custom-
izes steering boost, suspension damping, and throttle response.
We’re still not fans of Audi’s particular setup, as it seems to never
o� er the right combination of modes. The steering vacillates be-
tween being overly boosted or artifi cially heavy, sometimes in the
middle of a corner. And maddeningly, the system defaults to the
auto setting at each restart. At least the S4’s ride quality is superb
in any setting, and its electronic adjustability allows it to combine
a more supple ride than the TL’s with far better body control, two
typically contradictory assignments.
The Acura’s steering is lightning quick, with an overall ratio
nearly as fast as a Mitsubishi Evo’s, and its thick rim communi-
cates more feedback to the driver, especially at the limit, where
the Audi’s steering goes numb. If there’s one place where the
Acura could use driver-adjustability, it’s in the throttle mapping.
Several factors conspire to make the TL
frustratingly di� cult to drive smoothly
around town: First, the computer seems
to interpret one quarter of the accelerator
pedal’s travel as a request for full throttle.
And it’s slow to close the throttle as you
back o� the gas. Further complicating
matters is a clutch pedal that engages
high in its travel and over considerable
On a racetrack, the TL showed us exactly why Acura used the word “super” to
describe its Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive system.
80 Automobile | August 2010
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with four cams instead of
two, direct injection, and
of course, the silent tu-
percharger that you never
hear but, oh, my word, do
you ever feel. The power-
to-weight ratios may be
similar, but the S4 is a full
league quicker and faster
than the TL thanks to the
additional torque across the entire rev range.
The Audi’s extra thrust should have been a huge advantage at
Pittsburgh’s BeaveRun racetrack, which rewards straight-line
speed with two long straightaways—especially since, on paper, the
Acura carries no advantage in cornering or braking: the two cars
have similar weight, tire section width, and suspension designs.
The Audi’s slightly better weight distribution would, we thought,
be nixed by the Acura’s wider track. And we were right—as ex-
pected, the cars posted similar braking and cornering numbers in
standardized testing.
But on a racetrack, the TL showed us exactly why Acura used
the word “super” to describe its Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive
system. Despite its signifi cant power advantage, the Audi S4’s fast-
est lap beat the TL’s by only 0.4 second.
Although the two all-wheel-drive systems are di� erent in de-
sign (see Techtonics sidebar), they both strive to accomplish the
same thing: temporarily routing extra power to the outside rear
wheel to help rotate the car in a turn. The big di� erence here is
how these two cars are set up to handle to begin with.
The Acura is blessed with nearly perfect cornering balance, so
its rear di� erential can easily and dramatically alter the car’s han-
dling attitude. It takes a little while to build up trust in the system,
distance, making it a chal-
lenge to locate a consistent
engagement point. What’s
more, since the V-6 is so
surprisingly responsive, you
wind up leaving tra� c lights
like an amateur with way
too many revs on the tach.
Or worse, too few, resulting
in an embarrassing stall.
The TL’s willingness to rev (and stall) no doubt comes from
the particulars of its V-6. Like most cars based on a front-wheel-
drive design, the Acura’s engine is installed transversely, and a
narrow engine helps maximize both frontal crush space and inte-
rior room. To that end, Acura uses a 60-degree angle between cyl-
inder banks. This layout is well-balanced as far as V-6s go and ne-
gates the need for balance shafts. Despite its size (a robust
3.7 liters of displacement), it revs instantaneously, and the only
drawback to the low rotational inertia is slightly gritty power de-
livery. That’s a nonissue in the TL, since any coarseness is over-
shadowed by magnifi cent intake music, especially as the valve-
train switches over to the high-lift cam profi les at the fun end of
the tach. It pulls hard to its 6700-rpm redline, and the harder you
drive the TL, the better this powertrain becomes.
You won’t hear a single complaint from us about the Audi’s
driveline. Except that if “Acura TL SH-AWD 6MT” is a stupid
name for a car, then “3.0T” is a stupid badge to put on a super-
charged engine. Unless, of course, the device is called a Tuper-
charger in German. Which it’s not. Mounted longitudinally, the
3.0-liter V-6’s banks are splayed out at a 90-degree angle, and
thanks to balance shafts and counterweights, it’s as smooth as
silk. It’s also decidedly more high-tech than the Acura’s engine,
2010 ACURA TL SH-AWD
PRICE: $43,245/$44,245 (base/as tested)ENGINE: 24-valve SOHC V-6DISPLACEMENT: 3.7 liters (224 cu in)HORSEPOWER: 305 hp @ 6300 rpmTORQUE: 273 lb-ft @ 5000 rpmTRANSMISSION: 6-speed manualDRIVE: 4-wheelSTEERING: Electrically assistedSUSPENSION, FRONT: Control arms, coil springsSUSPENSION, REAR: Multilink, coil springsBRAKES F/R: Vented discs/discs, ABSTIRES: Michelin Pilot Sport PS2TIRE SIZE: 245/40YR-19 L x W x H: 195.5 x 74.0 x 57.2 inWHEELBASE: 109.3 inTRACK F/R: 63.2/63.8 inWEIGHT, DIST. F/R: 3860 lb, 58.0/42.0%EPA MILEAGE: 17/25 mpg
2010 AUDI S4
PRICE: $46,725/$54,075 (base/as tested)ENGINE: 24-valve DOHC supercharged V-6DISPLACEMENT: 3.0 liters (183 cu in)HORSEPOWER: 333 hp @ 5500 rpmTORQUE: 325 lb-ft @ 2900 rpmTRANSMISSION: 6-speed manualDRIVE: 4-wheelSTEERING: Hydraulically assistedSUSPENSION, FRONT: Control arms, coil springsSUSPENSION, REAR: Multilink, coil springsBRAKES F/R: Vented discs/discs, ABSTIRES: Pirelli Cinturato P7TIRE SIZE: 245/40YR-18 L x W x H: 185.7 x 71.9 x 55.4 inWHEELBASE: 110.7 inTRACK F/R: 61.1/60.6 inWEIGHT, DIST. F/R: 3940 lb, 55.3/44.7%EPA MILEAGE: 18/27 mpg
82 Automobile | August 2010
INTRODUCING THE NEW FIESTA
fordvehicles.com
How does the Fiesta get more miles per gallon than many
hybrids?* Two words: thoughtful engineering. The kind that
understands that giving the Fiesta a Ti-VCT engine will allow
it to squeeze every last drop. Or that a line cutting through
the taillamp will make the Fiesta more aerodynamic,
and therefore more fuel-effi cient. But these are only a few
of the many reasons the Fiesta can go farther than so many
other cars. Including all those hybrids.
IT’S A PRETTY BIG DEAL.
* EPA-estimated 29 city/40 hwy/33 combined mpg, automatic SFE vs. 2010/2011 hybrids. Fiesta SES shown. EPA-estimated 29 city/38 hwy/33 combined mpg, automatic.
The TL’s instrument panel display shows that the SH-AWD system can send 50 percent of engine torque to one rear wheel.
the car approach neutrality. You can feel the com-
puter shu� ing power around, but it’s slower to
react than the Acura’s system, so it takes patience
and smoothness to get there. Add too much power
or turn in too quickly and you’re back to drowning in a pool of
understeer. The S4 is far less bothered by midcorner bumps
or puddles than the TL, but its cornering balance changes
dramatically at very high speeds, when it transitions to over-
steer. That’s a surprise that no one likes.
The other surprise was how spectacularly undersize the
Acura’s brakes are. Even on a cool, rainy morning, one lap of
BeaveRun was su� cient to fry the brakes completely. Each
timed lap was completed only after a lengthy cool-down pe-
riod and a call to our mothers saying we made it through alive.
If it seems like neither car can pull an advantage here with-
out the other catching up, you’ve been paying attention. The
fi nal equalizer is that, comparably equipped, the Audi costs
nearly $11,500 more than the Acura. That kind of money can
buy the TL a serious brake upgrade. But the price di� erence
isn’t much of a factor here, since we’ve never actually heard of
someone cross-shopping a TL and an S4.
It’s beside the point to declare a winner or loser when
comparing two cars that fall into such di� erent hands in the
real world. As that most rabid of enthusiasts, you already have
your own prejudices and opinions based on the brands alone,
not to mention the countries from which they hail. If we could
combine the Audi’s good looks, brakes, and tupercharged V-6
with the Acura’s steering, handling, and all-wheel-drive sys-
tem, we’d have discovered luxury car nirvana for the enthusi-
ast driver. In the absence of that elusive hybrid, we walk away
from these two wolves in sheepish skins knowing that they
are absolute equals in one way: the ability to reassure us that
there is, in fact, life after Evo. AM
but you soon realize that if the car can han-
dle any amount of power in the middle of a
turn, it can handle anything the V-6 can
throw at it. There’s no reason to be scared
of the right pedal—the TL begs you to steer
it with the throttle. The more power you
add, the more neutral the TL’s cornering
balance and the faster it scrambles through
turns. Indeed, the Acura was faster than
the Audi through nearly every single cor-
ner at BeaveRun (see track map above).
The Audi’s all-wheel-drive system is
crippled by so much understeer built into
the chassis that, at very best, it will help
0.99 g @ 62 mph0.97 g @ 57 mph
PEAK SPEED ON STRAIGHT 114 mph 116 mph
PEAK SPEED ON STRAIGHT 114 mph 121 mph
1.08 g @ 55 mph1.04 g @ 54 mph
0.94 g @ 77 mph0.94 g @ 75 mph
0.95 g @ 59 mph0.92 g @ 57 mph
1.08 g @ 44 mph1.01 g @ 45 mph
BeaveRunNORTH TRACK (WET)
•ACURA RESULTS
•AUDI RESULTS
��
�
��
����
�
�
�
�
� �
BEST LAP TIME1:09.2
BEST LAP TIME1:08.8
TECHTONICS
Dueling 4WDWhile the Acura and Audi
four-wheel-drive systems
differ in hardware, their
performance goals are the
same: excellent traction
and stability on slippery
roads with rear-wheel-
drive feel and agility on dry
surfaces. Forcing the
outboard rear wheel to
turn faster during hard
cornering is the trick that
helps both of these
front-heavy sedans mimic
the steering and handling
behavior of a nicely
balanced rear-driver.
A control computer
informed by sensors
determines when the
overdrive nudge is needed.
The Audi S4’s
fi fth-generation Quattro
system ties the front and
rear axles together with a
center differential that
provides a 40/60
front/rear torque split.
A Torsen device inside the
center diff and automatic
front brake applications
limit individual wheel
slippage.
When the Acura TL’s
SH-AWD (Super-Handling
All-Wheel-Drive) system
chooses to send power
rearward, the driveshaft to
the rear wheels spins
1.7 percent faster than the
front axles. Partially
engaging both of the
rear-wheel overdrive gears
diminishes the torque
conveyed by the front
wheels. To produce a yaw
moment benefi cial to
handling, only the
outboard rear wheel’s
overdrive is engaged.
— Don Sherman
84 Automobile | August 2010
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©2010 MacNeil Automotive Products Limited
What Matters to You?Today, America needs fresh leadership to lead us as a nation out of this economic crisis. Leadershipmust come not only from our political leaders butalso from the average citizen. The exporting ofAmerican jobs is a trend that must be stopped andreversed. When I walk into my local hardware store,I typically find 85% of the goods for sale are manu-factured 7,000 miles away. Recognizable Americanbrands have been forced by shortsighted manage-ment and buyers at large national chains to buildfactories overseas just to save a lousy $.50 on a tapemeasure. To these ruthless buyers, it is all about themoney. Rarely are product quality, the political sys-tem, human rights, animal rights and environmentalcosts to the planet considered, not to mention thecost to our society of exporting not only jobs, butan entire factory!
At MacNeil Automotive, we are doing our part for the American economy and for our 300 million fellow citizens and neighbors. My philosophy is that if my neighbor doesn’t have a job, sooner orlater I won’t have a job either. For example, we usedto have our All-Weather Floor Mats manufacturedin England by a company that used antiquated, inefficient equipment. They made a decent floor mat for us, but we thought we could build a betterfloor mat for our customers using modern Americantechnology, American raw materials and skilledAmerican workers. So in 2007 we transferred all ofour floor mat manufacturing back to the UnitedStates. Today, we build the best fitting, highest quality automotive floor mats in the world, right here in America.
Our machine shop is equipped with 17 CNC machining centers including four 4 axis mills andone 5 axis mill that produce between 30 to 50 injection and thermoforming molds per month. We have one shift of highly skilled AmericanJourneymen toolmakers and apprentices, but ourmachines run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Thereis not a more efficient tool and mold making operation in the world - and guess what, it’s righthere in America.
“How about ifwe build a
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Site of MacNeil Automotive
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Bolingbrook, IL
Specialists in Original Equipment and Aftermarket Automotive Accessories
Furthermore, all of our CNC mills are manufac-
tured in Oxnard, CA by Haas. Our 1,000 ton
injection molding machines are made in Bolton,
Ontario of American and Canadian components.
Our thermoforming machinery is made in Carol
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which make up our tooling are sourced from
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make up our All-Weather Floor Mats, FloorLiners,
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tured in Tatamy PA.
At MacNeil Automotive, we are also very aware
of sustainability and our responsibility to the
environment. We are proactive in controlling waste
and recycling all of the unused raw materials from
the manufacture of our tooling and products
including: aluminum, steel, rubber, TPO, TPE,
paper and cardboard.
As you can see, we are as dedicated to designing,
developing and manufacturing the finest automo-
tive accessories for our consumer and OEM clients
as we are passionate about supporting the American
economy, preserving the American industrial infra-
structure, and keeping the “money” in our family, a
family of 300 million people from all over America.
Life is simple; be good to your fellow man, be kind
to animals and the environment, and place building
a quality product, supporting your country and your
fellow American worker before profit. And, one last
thing - let’s all do our best to balance family time
with work time as our children are the future of
America.
Sincerely,
David MacNeil
Founder/CEO
*We pay regular shipping within the 48 contiguous states, when shipped to the same address on additional sets of floor mats or a cargo liner when purchased in combination with a set of front floor mats; or additional sets of Side Window Deflectors when purchased in combination with a front set of Side Window Deflectors; or an additional ClearCover™; or
an additional PlateFrame™. WE GUARANTEE YOUR SATISFACTION. If you are not satisfied with your order, call to return your unused product within 30 days for a complete refund, less shipping & packaging. Prices subject to change without notice.
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Specialists in Original Equipment and Aftermarket Automotive Accessories
©2010 MacNeil Automotive Products Limited
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90 Automobile | August 2010
Photographer Michael Alan Ross has
been a car guy—or maybe that’s car
kid—since age four, and he has been
shooting cars since he was nine. More
recently, Ross met the owner of a 1932
Ford roadster with a land speed record
at Bonneville, and their conversation
led Ross to make his fi rst of three trips
to the salt for the annual Speed Week.
“It was like stepping onto the face of
the moon,” he says of his fi rst
experience at the Salt Flats. “To stand
in the middle of 46 square miles of salt
is a pretty amazing experience.”
The two Deuce Coupes posing on the broad
expanse of the Salt Flats are owned by Keith
Cornell (left) and Diana Branch (right).
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 91
Above: Ford fenders are borne aloft by an international caravan—three
gentlemen from Spain, England, and South Africa—evidence of
Bonneville’s worldwide appeal. At the highway rest area nearby, tourists
who have wandered onto the salt can wash their feet. Below: Something
you won’t see at Pebble Beach: a honey-bear coolant-overfl ow tank.
92 Automobile | August 2010
Above left: Salt-encrusted, this radiator-cap design appears on cars built
by the Rolling Bones Hot Rod Shop in Greenfi eld Center, New York.
Above: Rob Gibby with his roadster. Below: Richie Whalen with his hot
rod, another Rolling Bones car. The 2010 Speed Week is August 14–20.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 93
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BADBOYPORSCHES
ROLLY RESOS GLANCES IN HIS REARVIEW MIRROR AND MURMURS, MORE
ANNOYED THAN ANXIOUS, “THAT ORANGE CAR IS RIGHT ON MY ASS.”
With a deep, satisfying blip of the throttle, he downshifts from third to second and
plants his foot in what’s appropriately called the loud pedal. The rorty snarl of his barely
mu� ed fl at six crackles through the canopy of trees enveloping the picturesque, two-lane
road threading through Carmel Valley, California. But it isn’t until Resos backs out of the
throttle as he brakes for a hairpin that his vintage Porsche 911 gets really cantankerous,
backfi ring like a high-powered rifl e—bap! bap! bap!—and spitting fl ames out the tail. “Sorry
about that,” he says sheepishly as he gets back on the gas and hustles down a short chute.
“With the twin megaphones and the cracked header, you’ve got to keep your foot in it.”
Resos is a charter member of R Gruppe, the quasi-underground, semifamous car club
whose provocative devotion to hot-rodding early 911s has earned it a reputation as the bad
boy of the Porsche world. This morning’s spirited drive is part of the group’s annual Tref-
fen (German for meeting), which has brought 150 members and their performance-modi-
fi ed cars from England, Germany, Mexico, and all over the United States to the Monterey
Peninsula for a weekend of touring, tracking, tire-kicking, and bench racing. The mods run
the gamut from mild to wild, from Kent Moore’s elegantly understated ’67 (“I jazzed it up a
A quasi-underground group of Porsche lovers,
R Gruppe, proves hot rods don’t have to pack V-8s.
By Preston Lerner
Photography by James Chiang
96 Automobile | August 2010
Treffenis R Gruppe’s
annualmeeting.
—Arguably the most
exclusive, the most
polarizing, and the most
infl uential car club in the
Porsche universe.—
Limited to300
members.
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 97
little, but I like cars that are for the most part stock”) to the volup-
tuous RSR-ish hottie that Scott Longballa fashioned out of a plain-
Jane ’72 T (“I didn’t intend to go this crazy, but once I got into it, I
couldn’t stop”). Purists would sco� that there’s not a truly “authen-
tic” 911 in the bunch. Then again, is a ’32 highboy with a fl athead
Ford “authentic”?
The 911 that Resos is driving is a poster child for R Gruppe’s
mix-and-match ethos. He spotted it in 1999, buried in the back of a
used-car lot in Costa Mesa. At fi rst glance, it looked like a tired ’66
in need of plenty of TLC. But when he got closer, he saw a factory
roll bar, Recaro seats, “deep 6” Fuchs wheels, and, under the hood,
an oversize fuel tank typically found in rally cars back in the day.
Resos wasted no time buying the car, and as a collector who’s
owned as many as seven Porsches at one time, he immediately set
about bringing it back to life. But not, as you might imagine, as a
concours queen with numbers-matching components and screw
slots pointed in the same direction, like soldiers on parade.
Resos—seventy-eight-years young, with the craggy features and
bushy white mustache of a Western desperado—is a member of the
Outriders, an elite SoCal hot-rod club that dates back to 1932. So,
much to the consternation of Porsche pedants, he proceeded to turn
his car into the ultimate 911 rat rod: Rally-style driving lights. Matte-
black American Racing aluminum wheels. Fiberglass front fenders
in white gel coat. Black fi berglass hood with period Shell and Hella
decals framing a center-fi ll gas cap o� a Porsche 904. Red body with
plastic 911R door handles. R-style taillights. S-model fuel-injection
head (with the fuel-injection ports plugged) on a Weber-carbureted
’66 engine of uncertain pedigree. Zu� enhausen by way of El Mirage.
“It’s not an R. It’s not an RS. It’s not an ST,” says R Gruppe co-
founder Cris Huergas, name-checking three of the rarest and most
iconic of early 911s. “It’s a car that’s an extension of the owner, and
it embodies the image and the essence of the sports-purpose
Porsche. That’s an R Gruppe car.”
R Gruppe is arguably the most exclusive, the most polarizing,
and the most infl uential car club in the Porsche universe. A small,
invitation-only group dedicated to creatively modifi ed and thor-
oughly personal versions of “early” 911s—defi ned as long-hood cars
built before the U.S. bumper regulations enacted in 1974—R Gruppe
thumbs its nose at convention while o� ering a rough mechanical
and philosophical template for owners looking to pump up the per-
formance of their Porsches. The result is a fl eet of sweet, esoteric
cars that cherry-pick elements of crazy-expensive limited-edition
R, ST, RS, and RSR models—a ducktail here, a twin-plug motor
there—to create one-of-a-kind pieces of inspired mongrelization.
“We started with three criteria,” says R Gruppe’s other cofounder,
former Porsche (and current Ford) designer Freeman Thomas. “The
fi rst ingredient was sports purpose—cars that can be driven on the
track on weekends and on the street during the week. Second was
the SoCal hot-rod thing—if it looks right, it is right. The third ele-
ment was the Steve McQueen attitude—great taste and the cool fac-
tor. We’re not about screaming. There’s a discretion that character-
izes an R Gruppe car. It’s about delivering more than it promises.”
Although the R Gruppe mission sounds harmless enough, the
organization has become a lightning rod for haters from all four
corners of the car world. To the august Porsche Club of America,
R Gruppe is populated by a bunch of yahoos with no respect for
tradition. To the hard-core racers who dominate the Porsche Own-
ers Club, R Gruppe is full of poseurs who’d rather look fast than go
fast. To early 911 afi cionados who haven’t been invited to join the
club—membership is limited to about 300, and members are
booted if they don’t continue to measure
up to unspecifi ed standards—R Gruppe is a
gated community reserved for arrogant
snobs. To high-dollar collectors, R Gruppe
provides a prescription for replicars and
fakey-doos that cost more to build than
they’re worth on the open market.
Operating on the assumption that any
group that’s managed to o� end so many di-
verse constituencies must be doing some-
thing right, I decide to join R Gruppe for its
eleventh annual Tre� en. The weekend be-
gins on Thursday with a track day at But-
tonwillow Raceway Park, a club circuit
about two hours north of Los Angeles. In
keeping with R Gruppe’s street/track phi-
losophy, only a couple of cars are full-on
racing thoroughbreds, most notably Mike
Gagen’s wicked-fast, black-primer RSR
look-alike—a ’69 T packing a 3.6-liter en-
gine from a ’95 993-series 911 and rear tires
wide enough to bridge small rivers. But the
ambience is laid-back and low-key, unlike a
serious race weekend, and Tre� en orga-
nizer John Gray seems as happy telling me
about his 911 as he is playing hero race
driver out on the track.
“Anybody can take their car to the shop
98 Automobile | August 2010
and say, ‘I want this, this, this, and that,’
and then write a check,” he says, explain-
ing how he tricked out his metallic green
’70 with an idiosyncratic collection of parts
ranging from an S-spec engine and SC sus-
pension components to lug nuts o� a Volks-
wagen Vanagon. “Some guys will spend
years hunting down an authentic part, and
then, right next to it, they’ll hang some-
thing that they whittled in their garage.”
As I wander around the paddock, I have
a hard time zeroing in on the demograph-
ics of the group. Gray is a fi fty-seven-year-
old senior software engineer for Wells
Fargo. Gagen is a retired air-tra� c control-
ler. Ron Wolfe, who’s created a Franken-
stein he calls a 912R—a beast you won’t fi nd
in any Porsche menagerie—is a forty-one-
year-old physical therapist who slaps a
beanie on his head the instant he pulls o�
his helmet. Thorsten Klein is the e� erves-
cent young designer who recently styled
the interior of the Porsche 918. Although
his R Gruppe car is back in Germany, he’s
driving a 911S Targa owned by SoCal chap-
termeister Ray Crawford, who’s a para-
medic/fi refi ghter in downtown L.A.
As a club, R Gruppe isn’t an if-you-
build-it-they-will-come phenomenon. It’s more like the shared ob-
session that brought total strangers together in Close Encounters of
the Third Kind. For the most part, the gospel according to R Gruppe
was popularized by word of mouth. The group’s success speaks to
the strength of the hot-rodding impulse in the Porsche community,
and it’s something that’s not found, by and large, among devotees
of any other high-end marque.
These days, 911s are so expensive and well-appointed that
they’re often perceived as totems of a� uence rather than weapons
of high performance. But it’s worth remembering that Porsche was
founded as a manufacturer of nothing but sports cars, and racing
has always been part of its DNA. Virtually from the moment it de-
buted in 1963, the 911 was rallied and raced not only by the factory
but also by customers. In 1967, Porsche created a factory racer
dubbed the 911R, but only about twenty were built. So for priva-
teers who couldn’t get their hands on one, Porsche published
manuals that detailed exactly how they could modify their cars to
maximize performance. Porsche titled the books, “Information re-
garding Porsche vehicles used for sports purpose.” In America, of
course, we call this hot-rodding.
Huergas happened to have two of these sports-purpose manu-
als in his possession when he started restoring a ’69 911S that he’d
bought in 1991. “I knew the car was something special,” he recalls.
“But I didn’t want to keep it stock. I wanted something di� erent—
an S with an R fl avor that captured the essence of what it used to be
like back then. I realized that I didn’t have to play by anybody else’s
rules. Those sports-purpose manuals told me that I could do any-
thing I wanted.”
All of the R Gruppe cars—from the multicolored rat rod to the black beauty sporting Minilites rather than the usual Fuchs wheels to the Martini tribute car—deviate from stock in one or more creative ways. There were several passengers on the Treffen gathering, but most of the participants were members, such as Michael Eberhardt, Bob Imamura, and Rolly Resos (above right, from left to right).
GRUPPE!R
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 99
In 1998, Huergas’s lightweight was featured in Excellence maga-
zine. Shortly after the article appeared, he got a call from Freeman
Thomas. Thomas had grown up in Southern California as a neighbor
of Je� Zwart, who went on to become a photographer, fi lmmaker,
and racer closely associated with Porsche. (He’s also a charter mem-
ber of R Gruppe.) Zwart’s father was a hard-core 911-phile, and each
afternoon at 5 o’clock, Zwart and Thomas would pedal their Sting
Rays to an empty lot in Cypress just so they could watch a Porsche
speed by when its owner returned home from work.
Ironically, Thomas hadn’t been able to a� ord a Porsche while he
was working in Stuttgart. But since returning to the States, he’d
bought a 911E and was giving it a Huergas-style makeover. During
the course of their fi rst hours-long phone conversation, Thomas and
Huergas discovered that they were Porsche soulmates. After meet-
ing at several car shows, they realized that the existing car clubs—
PCA, the Early 911S Registry, and so on—didn’t really fi t their hot-
rod ethic. So in 1999, they created R Gruppe with twelve charter
members. The late Steve McQueen was given membership #001.
The club has no formal entrance requirements. The cars tend
to be discreet early 911s modifi ed with period-correct parts, but
this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, and there’s no shortage of backdated
chassis and look-at-me graphics. The club mantra is: “There are no
R Gruppe cars. There are R Gruppe people.” In other words,
Porsche diehards who regularly exercise their cars and attend sev-
eral events a year. Joining the brotherhood entails a lot of hanging
with other members and hoping that—like a fraternity pledge—
you’re judged to be R Gruppe material. As Thomas puts it: “There’s
just enough structure so that things don’t fall apart.”
The Tre� en, I discover, is a perfect example. The only items on
the agenda are a visit to Bruce Canepa’s killer shop/showroom/mu-
seum and a Saturday night banquet. Other than that, there are in-
formally organized drives, an impromptu visit to Mazda Raceway
Laguna Seca, casual meals, and, mostly, adult beverages and tire-
kicking in the Porsche-only parking lot of the Hyatt in Monterey.
On Friday, around midnight, I hear a couple of guys still arguing out
there in the dark over whether that’s a ’67 or a ’68 rocker panel.
During daylight hours, I ride shotgun with Chuck Miller, an
old-school hot-rodder who’s got 212,000 miles on his ’73 S with an
RS look and engine. Later, I buzz around with Bob Imamura, an-
other SoCal hot-rodder with another fast ducktail coupe, in his
case a ’70 S with a 3.0-liter engine out of an ’81 SC. Next, I buckle
into the houndstooth sport seat of Dave Eck’s reworked ’72 T,
whose subdued exterior hides a mind-boggling array of goodies—
twin-plug fl at six, RS fl ares, RSR distributor, 930 Turbo brakes, ’86
suspension bits, etc.
Still, this year’s sleeper award goes to Zvi Hirsch, a thirty-two-
year-old Miami fi refi ghter who left his ’69 E in a factory color
known as sand beige—it looks just as unprepossessing as it
Most of the action at the Treffen took place in a parking lot full of R Gruppe cars—tire-kicking, casual technical symposia, award judging, and even a little buying and selling. The cars ranged from those with striking graphics packages (left) to dedicated track-day cars (right) to a no-expense-spared RSR re-creation (middle).
GRUPPE!R
sounds—and upgraded virtually everything
else. “I wanted a car that was built the way
the factory would have done it in ’69, ’70, or
’71,” he explains. “I could buy a brand-new
GT3 right now with all the money I have in
this car. But anybody can go out and get one
of those. This is unique.”
I fi nd myself thinking about his words
as I drive back to the hotel in the new Car-
rera I’m borrowing for the weekend. It’s an
immensely capable and comfortable car,
but it’s also the 911 of more—more power,
more weight, more room, more luxury.
Even as it reaches the most exalted levels of
performance, it distances the driver from
the driving experience with sound-deaden-
ing material, power brakes and steering,
stability control, and a dual-clutch auto-
matic gearbox. It’s hard to believe that this
car was built in the same factory that pro-
duced the 1970 911S hot rod that Ray Craw-
ford drove up from San Clemente.
The moment I slide into the red-leather
Recaro Racing bucket seat of Crawford’s
black beauty and grasp the sleek Momo
Prototipo steering wheel, I realize that I’m
in a car designed for driving, not merely
conveying occupants from point A to point
B. I twist the key and the 260-hp Andial-
built engine sparks eagerly to life. The
throws of the 915 gearbox are relatively
long, but engagement is positive and instan-
taneous. The lively, unboosted steering pro-
vides unfi ltered feedback about what the
chassis is doing, and I swear that I can feel
the brake pads clamping down on the ro-
tors. The experience is viscerally mechani-
cal and tactilely satisfying in a way that
even the fi nest modern cars can’t match.
Before this Tre� en, I hadn’t been a par-
ticular fan of early 911s. Too sober, I
thought. Not enough power and a bit—dare
I say it?—boring. But hot-rodded 911s, I re-
alize, are a di� erent breed of Porsche. Two
thoughts come to mind as I ease Craw-
ford’s baby into the parking lot: First, I’m
sure glad I didn’t hurt it. Second, I really
need an R Gruppe car of my own. AM
100 Automobile | August 2010
Living with a superachiever proves not to be so easy.
four seasons wrap-up
102 Automobile | August 2010 PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN ROE
HE NISSAN GT-R IS not warm and
cuddly. Perhaps that’s to be expected of a
car that is widely known as Godzilla. The
GT-R’s fearsome legend grew during the
years it was sequestered in far-o� Japan,
but its awesome prowess came to be
known worldwide thanks to its long-
running feature role in the Gran Turismo
video game series. Finally, the GT-R’s
international stardom proved so great that
Nissan developed the sixth-generation
model for a worldwide market, including
North America.
Godzilla fi nally reached our shores in
2008. Once we tried it for ourselves, we
couldn’t help but be impressed—very
impressed. Maybe a little awestruck, even.
After all, here was a car that could outrun
Porsche’s mighty 911 Turbo and beat a 911
GT2 around the Nürburgring (where the
GT-R’s development engineers admittedly
spent a lot of time). In the somewhat less
renowned environs of southern Ohio, at
our annual Automobile of the Year testing,
the GT-R easily walked away with our top
award—in a rare unanimous decision.
Even so, as much as the GT-R blew our
minds with its unbelievable performance,
we didn’t so much embrace it as give it the
kind of arm’s-length respect one might
accord a steroidal friend given to snorting
crystal meth and brandishing
semiautomatic handguns. “You don’t have
to like it,” we concluded in our 2009
Automobile of the Year story. “You just
have to stay the hell out of its way.”
You might particularly want to stay out
of its way when its accelerator pedal is
mashed to the fl oor. The GT-R is just
devastatingly, frighteningly fast. Try 0 to
60 mph in 3.4 seconds and 0 to 100 mph in
8.0 seconds. Top speed, not that we had
much chance to explore it, is 193 mph.
That’s true supercar territory.
As in its previous three generations, the
GT-R’s motivating force is a six-cylinder
engine bolstered by two turbochargers.
The DOHC, 24-valve 3.8-liter V-6 is
handbuilt and shares no major parts with
the company’s mass-market VQ V-6. Our
2010 model’s output is a staggering 485 hp
at 6400 rpm (fi ve more ponies than the
’09-model GT-R) and 434 lb-ft of torque
(up from 430 lb-ft) at 3200 rpm.
Would that there was a better sound to
accompany the engine’s fury. One
commenter thought it sounded “like a
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 103
vacuum cleaner,” but mostly you can’t
really hear it, because it’s drowned out by
the racket from the tires and the
transmission. Whereas the engine in an
Audi R8 or a Chevrolet Corvette provides
a stimulating sound track no matter what
your speed, the lack of aural
accompaniment from the GT-R’s V-6
lends a virtual-reality quality to the car’s
quickness. Said senior Web editor Phil
Floraday: “You can rocket up to speeds
well into the triple digits and not realize
it, because there’s no drama.”
After its overachieving, boosted six,
the key component of the GT-R’s persona
is its all-wheel-drive system. The
hardware includes a rear-mounted
transaxle (housing the transmission,
torque splitter, and rear di� erential—the
di� with an electronically controlled
limited-slip device). Fully 100 percent of
the torque heads straight for the rear
wheels unless slip is detected, in which
case a maximum of 50 percent is sent to
the front. An unsung hero in the GT-R’s
ability to post such astounding
acceleration times, the all-wheel-drive
system does a terrifi c job turning the
engine’s prodigious power into forward
thrust, no matter what the road
conditions. “For a tremendously fi ne time,
experience this wild animal on wet roads,”
enthused technical editor Don Sherman,
adding: “I fi nally get the point of all-
wheel-drive propulsion systems.”
When our GT-R’s factory-fi tted
Bridgestone summer performance tires
wore out (at 17,000 miles) right on the
verge of snow season, we decided to put a
set of Pirelli Sottozero winter tires on the
car. They helped make the GT-R
incredibly sure-footed in the snow. Best of
all, though, the snow-covered roads
provided a window into the car’s
all-wheel-drive system. With some
setups, it’s impossible to guess
where the power will go, but the
GT-R’s all-wheel-drive system is
beautifully transparent. Switch o� the
stability control, and the GT-R drifts like a
rear-wheel-drive car that’s impossible to
spin. Add more throttle, and it will send
the power directly to the rear, helping
rotate the car. Stay constant on the gas
pedal, and the power gradually is sent
forward—but only enough to bring the
back end in slowly.
The third element in the powertrain
triumvirate is, of course, the transmission,
The GT-R legend was born in 1969, when Nissan created a spe-
cial, high-performance version of its range-topping Skyline
sedan. That fi rst Skyline GT-R had a DOHC 2.0-liter engine,
mated to a fi ve-speed manual transmission, that drove the rear
wheels. Output was 160 hp and 131 lb-ft of torque. A two-door
hardtop was added in 1970. The fi rst-generation GT-R, code-
named C10, racked up fi fty race wins in less than three years.
The second-generation Skyline GT-R, a.k.a. C110, used
the same powertrain as its predecessor
and was produced in a single body
style—a two-door fastback—for
just one model year, 1973. Only
197 C110s were built before rising
oil prices killed the market for high-
performance cars.
Sixteen years later, Nissan resurrected the GT-R nameplate,
but this time on a very different Skyline. Code-named R32, this
GT-R set the template with a twin-turbocharged six-cylinder
driving all four wheels. Other advanced features included four-
wheel steering and four disc brakes. The 2.6-
liter straight six produced 280
hp and 260 lb-ft of torque,
good for a 0-to- 60-mph time
as low as 4.9 seconds. The
R32 GT-R would prove far more
successful than the previous cars,
selling 43,934 copies during its six-year production run and
posting twenty-nine straight touring-car race wins.
The follow-up R33 model appeared in 1995, with essen-
tially the same mechanical layout, although an active limit-
ed-slip rear differential was offered for the fi rst time.
The 2.6-liter had a bit more torque,
and improved aerodynamics
helped the car’s top speed climb
signifi cantly. The R33 GT-R set
an unoffi cial Nürburgring lap time
of less than eight minutes.
The R34 model GT-R ran from 1999 to 2002. Although its
running gear largely remained the same, this GT-R upped the
tech factor with the introduction
of an in-dash display that
could monitor various per-
formance stats.
Five long years after
the departure of the R34,
the current GT-R (R35)
made its debut at the 2007 Tokyo
auto show. The fi rst to drop the Skyline name, this GT-R also
broke with recent tradition by switching from a straight six
to a V-6 and by ditching four-wheel steering. Engine output,
however, climbed massively (to 480 hp and
430 lb-ft of torque). The even better news
for American car enthusiasts
was that the R35 GT-R
would come to the
United States, which it
did in July 2008.
GE
NE
ALO
GY hen Nissan created a sa spepe-hen Nissan created a sa sppe-
ts range-topping Skylinets range-topping Skyline
a DOHC 2.0-liter engine, a DOHC 2.0-liter engine,
yy
e GT-R, a.k.a.e GT-R, a.k.a C110,C110, used used
cessor cessor
yy
r r
gg
high-high-
rrected the GT-R nameplate, rrected the GT-R nameplate,
yline. Code-namedyline. Code-named R32,R32, this this
in-turbocharged six-cylinder in-turbocharged six-cylinder
nced features included four-nced features included four-
wheel steering and four discwheel steering and four disc
liter straightlitl er straight
hp and 260hp and 260
good for agood for a
as low asas low as
R32 GT-R woR32 GT-R wo
successful than tsuccessful than t
selling 43,934 copies during its six-year pselling 43,934 copies during its six-year p
posting twenty nine straight touring car raceposting twenty nine straight touring car rac
, gg
ed for the fi rst time.ed for the first time.
que,que,
m 1999 to 2002. Although its m 1999 to 2002. Although its
e same, this GT-R upped the e same, this GT-R upped the
factor with the introductionfactor with the introduction
an in-dash display that an in-dash display that
uld monitor various per-uld monitor various per-
mance statsmance stats
techtech
formform
thethe
thethe
made its dmade its d
auto show. The first to drop the Skylinauto show. The first to drop the Skylin
broke with recent tradition by switchbroke with recent tradition by switch
to a V-6 and by ditching four-wheel stto a V-6 and by ditching four-wheel st
however, climbed massihowever, climbed massi
430 lb-ft of torque). The 430 lb-ft of torque). The
st of
ke a
to
nd
factofacto
of aof a
coucou
formfor
g g p ,g g p ,
p andp and
wsws
iasts iasts
RR
gg
ively (to 480 hpively (to 480 hp
even better neweven better new
four seasons wrap-up
104 Automobile | August 2010
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and here the news was less rosy. Sure, the
headline number of 0.2 second to execute
a shift is impressive and, because this is a
dual-clutch gearbox, shifting doesn’t
interrupt power delivery, so you can bang
o� upshifts or downshifts in the middle of
a curve without upsetting the chassis.
Nonetheless, we couldn’t help but think
that we’d enjoy this car so much more
with a manual transmission. Alas, a stick
shift is apparently too old-tech for the
GT-R (and likely would be lost on its
intended audience anyway) and is not
o� ered. It would, however, add an
element of driver involvement that the
GT-R could sorely use. And even the most
neophyte manual-
transmission pilot would be
smoother than this gearbox
when pulling away from a
stop. It’s also noisy and
painfully slow to engage
drive and reverse,
particularly in cold weather.
Of course, Michigan’s nasty winters
fl atter few cars, but the GT-R seemed to
su� er more than most. Not only did the
gearbox hate the cold, the suspension
couldn’t come to terms with the winter-
ravaged pavement. The comfort mode was
small comfort, as the GT-R slammed into
every pothole. Nissan apparently agrees
that, even for an extreme machine, the
GT-R’s ride is overly sti� , as the company
has retuned the rear suspension for better
ride quality in 2011 models.
Next, the chassis engineers might want
to address the tramlining. “The GT-R
takes every bump, rut, and pothole as a
direct steering input,” said associate editor
Eric Tingwall, in one of many logbook
comments on the subject. The issue is
likely made worse by the GT-R’s ultrawide
tires and hyperquick steering, although
the latter helps make the car so responsive
in turns. The steering is also very precise
at the straight-ahead position but not very
communicative.
As much as the ride wasn’t
comfortable, the cabin itself actually was.
The rear seats are small but they add a
worthwhile measure of practicality,
allowing you to wow two more passengers
with the GT-R’s performance, at least for
short rides. The dashboard is a
phantasmagoria of geek delights, its
multifunction display screen able to show
lap times, g-forces (for acceleration,
braking, and cornering), torque
distribution, turbo boost
pressure, and so on. Some of
us grumbled about this
high-tech machine’s basic
Bluetooth interface and the
lack of an auxiliary audio
input in our car, but both of
those issues have been
addressed for 2011 with the addition of an
iPod/USB input, Bluetooth streaming
audio, plus XM tra� c and weather info for
the standard nav system (along with
automatic headlights and speed-sensitive
wipers). There was nothing disappointing
about the interior’s premium materials
and high-quality fi nishes, which assistant
editor David Zenlea took as proof “that a
mainline manufacturer can craft a unique,
appealing cabin.”
While Nissan may be a mainline
manufacturer, the GT-R certainly exists at
the tippy top of its price ladder. Our
Premium model (which adds heated seats,
an eleven-speaker Bose stereo, darker-
colored wheels, and Bridgestone summer
tires to the base spec) started at $84,040
including destination. To that we added
2-door coupe2+2 passengersSteel unibody
24-valve DOHC twin-turbo V-6 3.8 liters (232 cu in)485 hp @ 6400 rpm434 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm6-speed dual-clutch automatic4-wheel
Hydraulically assisted2.4 turns36.6 ftControl arms, coil springsMultilink, coil springsVented discs, ABSBridgestone RE070R255/40YR-20, 285/35YR-20
38.1/33.5 in44.6/26.4 in54.3/50.0 in54.7/44.9 in183.1 x 74.9 x 54.0 in109.4 in62.6/63.0 in3882 lb55.2/44.8%8.8 cu ft19.5 gallons350 miles91 octane
3.4 sec8.0 sec11.6 sec @ 122 mph4.6 sec0.88 g1) 38; 2) 66; 3) 96; 4) 123; 5) 154; 6) 193 mph0.99/0.99 g149 ft1.16 g
RATING
Overview
BODY STYLE
ACCOMMODATION
CONSTRUCTION
Powertrain
ENGINE
DISPLACEMENT
HORSEPOWER
TORQUE
TRANSMISSION
DRIVE
Chassis
STEERING
LOCK-TO-LOCK
TURNING CIRCLE
SUSPENSION, FRONT
SUSPENSION, REAR
BRAKES
TIRES
TIRE SIZE F, R
Measurements
HEADROOM F/R
LEGROOM F/R
SHOULDER ROOM F/R
HIP ROOM F/R
L X W X H
WHEELBASE
TRACK F/R
WEIGHT
WEIGHT DIST. F/R
CARGO CAPACITY
FUEL CAPACITY
EST. FUEL RANGE
FUEL GRADE
Our Test Results
0–60 MPH
0–100 MPH
1/4–MILE
30–70 MPH PASSING
PEAK ACCELERATION
SPEED IN GEARS
CORNERING L/R
70–0 MPH BRAKING
PEAK BRAKING
2010 Nissan GT-R
Pros&Cons
+ Blistering performance
+ Magnetic roadholding
+ Nicely fi nished cabin
– Stiff ride
– Tire and transmission noise
– Light on driver involvement
Hold on tight to these reins. The infotainment screen can display performance data such as boost pressure and much more. Rear seats are cramped, but thrill-seekers didn’t mind.
four seasons wrap-up
106 Automobile | August 2010
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Item 47016shown
super silver paint and fl oor mats, the only
two extracost options available, bringing
the total to $87,320. For 2011, the base trim
is gone, and the Premium version’s price
has crept up to $85,060.
And yet the GT-R can slay pedigreed
European sports cars costing tens of
thousands more, so the car’s sticker price
may still be a relative bargain. However,
we found that when it comes to
maintenance, the GT-R is a much closer
kin to its supercar competitors than to
other Nissans. Oh, sure, it started out
acting very much like a Nissan, trouble-
free and inexpensive to maintain, at least
until the 18,000-mile service—the one that
requires fl uid changes for both di� erentials and the transmission,
ballooning the tab to $1900. We had also by this time used up the
brake pads (all four), which necessitated changing the rotors as
well. Total cost: $7705.94. Luckily, there was no charge to fi x the
driveline vibration that was occurring between 2200 and 2700
rpm; it was caused by an errant bearing inside the bellhousing, a
known issue with some GT-Rs. The fi x required removing the
engine and kept the car sidelined for a few weeks.
Supercar performance, though, never comes cheap. And when
it comes to going and turning and stopping, the GT-R is absolutely
a supercar—as it proved again just last month, when it set the
benchmark lap time against a Porsche 911 Carrera S, a Chevrolet
Corvette Z06, and a Lotus Evora. But what we found with the
GT-R is that in lesser situations, it’s less than thrilling. “Some cars
are fun to drive even when you’re just plodding along,” said
Zenlea. “Not the GT-R. Drive it reasonably, and it just feels big
and heavy and loud.”
There is no denying the GT-R’s abilities,
but there’s also no denying that this car is
o� -putting in many ways—the brutal ride,
the tiresome tramlining, the cacophonous
sound track, the trust-the-chips computer-
controlled demeanor. As Floraday put it,
“It’s tough to fi nd a car that’s faster than
the GT-R, but it’s very easy to fi nd cars that
are more fun and engaging to drive.” For
Godzilla’s legions of fans, such esoteric
considerations may not register, but that’s
the di� erence between experiencing this
superstar on an electronic screen—or on
a racetrack—and living with it in the
real world. — Joe Lorio
PRICES& EQUIPMENT
Base price
$84,040
Price as tested
$87,320
Trade-in value*$60,000
Standard
equipment
ABS; traction and stability control; dual-zone automatic climate control; power windows, mirrors, locks, and heated front seats; leather upholstery; navigation system; Bluetooth; keyless ignition; HID headlights; AM/FM/XM/CD eleven-speaker Bose audio system with hard drive; front, side, and side curtain air bags
Our options
Super silver paint, $3000; carpeted logo fl oor mats, $280
*Estimate based on info from
intellichoice.com
MILEAGE: 25,401
WARRANTY:
3-yr/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper5-yr/60,000-mile powertrain5-yr/60,000-mile roadside assistance5-yr/unlimited-mile corrosion
SCHEDULED
MAINTENANCE:
1393 mi: $06834 mi: $132.3814,562 mi: $103.5517,095 mi: $110.6322,872 mi: $1926.27
WARRANTY REPAIRS:
22,872 mi: Replace bellhousing unit due to bearing failure
OUT-OF-POCKET:
17,443 mi: Purchase, mount, and balance four Pirelli Winter 240 Sottozero Series II winter tires, $2024.4222,872 mi: Purchase and install new brake pads, rotors, and fl uid, $7705.94
RECALLS:
None
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
EPA city/hwy/combined 15/21/17 mpg Observed 18 mpg
COST PER MILE:
(Fuel, service, winter tires) $0.62 ($1.70 including depreciation)
RUNNING COSTS
“Anyone who stretches his budget to buy a GT-R is going to be mighty shocked by its sky-high ownership costs.” — copy editor Rusty Blackwell
It may be big, but the GT-R can run with sportbikes from its home country. Getting some extra attention during bath time. Aluminum door handles add a degree of specialness.
Our GT-R spent more than its fair share of time in the dealer’s service bay. A brake job cost more than $7700.
four seasons wrap-up
108 Automobile | August 2010
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Banging its head against a glass ceiling.
Acura ZDX
110 Automobile | August 2010
THE SPECS
Price: $56,855Engine: 3.7L V-6Power: 300 hpTorque: 270 lb-ft
four seasons logbook
fl eet update
Notes: 1128 miles “I love the modern interior and the lively V-6,” notes deputy editor Joe DeMatio.
1645 “Make sure you duck when climbing in,” warns associate web producer Evan McCausland.
s Acura approaches its twenty-fi fth year of
existence, it fi nds itself looking up at a
glass ceiling. The brand has grown well
beyond its “Honda plus” roots, and yet
it still trails competitors such as
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Lexus in
both sales and prestige.
This quandary puts quite a bit of
import behind Acura’s latest e� ort, the
ZDX. At face value, it’s merely another
take on the coupe/crossover concept that
BMW pioneered with the X6. But it’s also
the fi rst production vehicle styled
completely by Acura’s Torrance,
California, design studio, and it is blessed
with the brand’s most sumptuous interior
to date. Most shocking, the ZDX tosses
Honda’s near-religious devotion to
practicality to the wind, providing less
utility than the MDX it’s based on yet
costing several thousand dollars more. No
doubt, this is a brave new world for Acura.
To learn more about where the brand
is headed—not to mention treat our
backsides to some of the most supple
leather seats we’ve ever experienced—we
ordered a ZDX for a yearlong test. In
addition to the standard 300-hp V-6,
Super-Handling All-Wheel-Drive, and
dual moonroofs, we added the Advance
package, which comes with
magnetorheological dampers, navigation,
and that butter-soft premium leather.
Early on, we’re impressed with the ZDX’s
sport-sedan performance but are ba� ed
by its combination of SUV height and
coupelike interior space. Time will tell if
the ZDX portends a new beginning for
Acura or a dead end.
Audi Q515,044 miles “Who says the Q5 can’t haul anything? I managed to squeeze a six-foot-wide, twenty-nine-inch-tall, eighteen-inch-deep dresser into the Q5—a midcentury modern Craigslist snare,” crows copy editor Rusty Blackwell. “It was very tight, though.” To carry even more, we’ve installed a hitch to tap into the Q5’s 4400-pound towing capacity. Art director Matt Tierney put the hitch to its fi rst test in the Smoky Mountains. “The Q5 didn’t miss a beat with a couple thousand extra pounds tagging along,” he reports.
Mazda 323,853 miles After a brief stint in a Volkswagen Golf, West Coast editor Jason Cammisa fi nds himself disappointed by our Mazda. “You can’t help but notice that the 3’s interior is a full class below that of the Golf—in both material quality and presentation—and the rubbery shift action doesn’t help. The 3 also suffers from a lack of traction in the wet, but at least the soft leather steering wheel doesn’t get yanked out of your hands from torque steer as in many front-wheel-drive sport compacts.”
Volkswagen GTI16,121 miles “I’ve owned four Volkswagen GTIs in the past ten years, including a dedicated track car, so the turbocharged hot hatch isn’t a new concept to me,” asserts road test coordinator Mike Ofi ara. “Yet something about this GTI pastes a smile on my face every time I get behind the wheel. Inside, Volkswagen has improved the fi t and fi nish with a level of refi nement that creates a night-and-day contrast between this sixth-generation model and my 2006 GTI.”
■ For more Four Seasons fl eet updates, go to Automobilemag.comAugust 2010 | Automobilemag.com 111
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Audi R8 V10
Grifo has classic GT proportions, with its
passenger compartment set well rearward;
the engine is nestled far back in the
chassis, allowing for a 48/52 percent
front-to-rear weight distribution.
A delicate, push-button latch opens the
door, which clicks closed with the lightest
touch. The cabin is airy, with a
wraparound windshield and a huge
backlight. Padded leather is everywhere,
and the seatbacks cradle you. Eight round
gauges are arranged in the wood-faced
dash, and the thin steering-wheel rim is
wood as well. The dash is also graced with
a row of toggle switches, below which are
1965–74 American muscle in a high-style Italian suit.
Iso GrifoOME CARS ARE DERISIVELY said to look like refrigerators,
but the shapely Italian automobiles built by Renzo Rivolta’s
company, Iso, are actually descended from refrigerators—or, more
accurately, the refrigerator business. Iso (originally Isothermos)
made refrigerators in Italy starting in 1939. In the postwar years,
the company began building motorbikes, scooters, and then
minicars, most notably the Isetta bubble car, which was also
licensed to other manufacturers, including BMW.
The leap from the tiny Isetta to Iso’s fi rst luxurious grand-
touring car was a huge one, but Rivolta tapped some of the best
talent in the business in the early 1960s. Among them were test
driver/development engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, renowned today
for his work on the Ferrari 250TR and GTO. Bizzarrini worked
under chief engineer Pierluigi Raggi, whose team created a sti�
unibody with a control-arm front suspension, a de Dion rear axle,
coil-over Koni dampers, front and rear antiroll bars, and four disc
brakes. Campagnolo magnesium wheels or Borrani wire wheels
were used. For power, Rivolta looked to America and the
327-cubic-inch V-8 from the then-current Corvette.
Giorgetto Giugiaro, then at Bertone, designed the body for that
fi rst grand tourer, the 1963 Rivolta GT, but he was just warming
up. The follow-up car—built on a modifi ed version of the Rivolta
GT platform with a shorter wheelbase—was the achingly beautiful
Iso Grifo, which went into production in 1965.
Iso would go on to produce two more models, the Lele coupe
and the Fidia sedan, before fading from the automotive scene in
the 1970s. And while others would follow the formula of American
V-8 power and exotic European bodywork, none lived up to the
promise quite as well as the Iso Grifo.
The car’s rarity (some 400 were built over ten years) makes
seeing one today all the more striking. Low, wide, and shapely, the
collectible classic
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 113PHOTOGRAPHY BY A. J. MUELLER
sliders for heat and ventilation. There’s no A/C in this particular
example, so owner Marty Schorr presses the Ducellier power-
window switches and the door glass slowly recedes. If it did not,
we might have had to break out the special tool that came with the
car and slips into a hole in the door panel, allowing you to crank
the windows down.
“Everyone hates these window switches,” says Schorr. “They’re
French. Sometimes they work, and sometimes they don’t.”
Schorr knows the car well, not surprising given that he’s
owned it for forty-one years. “I had allotted $10,000 to buy myself
a toy,” he recalls. “A Ferrari 275GTB/4 and a Mercedes Gullwing
were two cars that I wanted. For $10,000 in 1969, you could buy
either of those in decent condition. But [after looking at a few] I
realized I didn’t know anyone to take care of them for me.”
Then Schorr, who at the time was the editor of Hi-Performance
Cars magazine, was o� ered an Iso Grifo to drive for a story. “It had
a 427 in place of the standard engine. I could not believe how fast
this thing was—and how well mannered.”
Schorr’s car came equipped with a 340-hp, 327-cubic-inch
Chevy V-8. Tall 3.07:1 gearing gave the Grifo a 150-plus-mph top
speed on the autostrada, but he was driving the car from Long
Island to his o� ce in Manhattan. Over drinks in New York, he told
Corvette chief engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov about the Grifo. “Not
to worry,” said Duntov, and shortly thereafter a 1970 370-hp,
350-cubic-inch LT1 engine arrived from Chevrolet. It was fi tted
with a di� erent camshaft, a Holley carburetor, and Edelbrock
headers and was installed at Long Island’s Motion Performance.
That same engine starts easily and idles happily under the
Above: Long, low
fastback styling is a Grifo
hallmark. Below, left to
right: French
power-window switches
can be fi nicky. Original
owner Marty Schorr
behind the wheel.
Corvette fl ags adorn
the valve covers.
Opposite page, top:
This Grifo features a
350-cubic-inch LT1 V-8
with 370 hp. Bottom left:
Bank of toggle switches
is classic 1960s GT.
Bottom right: Loop pulls
function as interior
door handles.
FIND OUT WHAT
THE
IS ALL ABOUT!
Visit us online for adeep dive into the LFA supercar, track tests
of Lexus performance models, videos, wallpapers, and more at
www.lexusFsport.com
Passion. Performance. Lexus F.
Automobile Magazine track tests show you how genuine Lexus F Sport Accessories can
enhance the performance of your IS and GS.
114 Automobile | August 2010
Grifo’s aluminum hood today. Easing the car onto the street, I am
amazed at how easy the clutch is to modulate, with short travel
and moderate e� ort. The LT1 pulls so smoothly from low revs that
you hardly need to shift, but it’s worth doing anyway just to enjoy
the positive action of the close-ratio T10 four-speed as it snick-
snicks through the gears. The unassisted steering is slow, but
there’s no slop and it’s very communicative; the wheel, though, is a
long reach away. An unfussy American powertrain and well-
engineered chassis make the Iso Grifo an Italian sophisticate that’s
easy to drive.
It may be easy to drive and easy on the eyes, but it’s not so easy
to fi nd one nowadays. Schorr found his Grifo in 1969 at a New
Jersey Chevrolet dealer who also sold Iso vehicles. It was listed as
a ’67 model (although the low serial number correctly marks it as a
’66); it was under a cover and had never been registered. The
dealer had ordered it for his wife, but when she discovered that it
had a stick shift and no air-conditioning, she said no thanks. The
window sticker was more than $14,000.
“I o� ered them $5000,” he says. “They threw me o� the lot.”
When he came back and o� ered $7500, a deal was made.
Needless to say, it’s worth considerably more now. Grifo prices
start at more than $100,000, but as an early-build car with less
than 13,000 miles and one-owner provenance, not to mention the
period-upgraded powertrain, this example would likely bring
considerably more.
Not that it’s for sale.
“My kids grew up with it being at the house,” says Schorr. “It’s
become part of the family.” — Joe Lorio
THE SPECS
STOCK ENGINES
5.4L OHV V-8, 300–365 hp,
344–360 lb-ft; 5.7L OHV
V-8, 300–350 hp, 380 lb-ft;
5.8L OHV V-8, 325 hp,
349 lb-ft; 7.0L OHV V-8,
400 hp, 460 lb-ft; 7.4L
OHV V-8, 390 hp, 500 lb-ft
TRANSMISSIONS
4- or 5-speed manual
3-speed automatic
DRIVE Rear-wheel
SUSPENSION, FRONT
Control arms, coil springs
SUSPENSION, REAR
De Dion, coil springs
BRAKES Discs
WEIGHT 3000–3300 lb
THE INFO
YEARS PRODUCED
1965–1974
NUMBER PRODUCED
400
VALUE TODAY
$120,000–$160,000
Covered-headlight
Series 2 cars (1970–74)
are worth about ten
percent more; big-block
427-engined cars and
ultrarare Targas can
reach $200,000.
WHY BUY?
Because its Giugiaro
styling brings people to
their knees, plus it has a
sophisticated chassis
and potent American V-8
performance. The last
item ensures ease of
maintenance, but be
aware that any missing
or damaged Grifo-
specifi c parts may be
impossible to fi nd.
collectible classic
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1. 1970 PONTIAC GTO JUDGE
CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT $135,150
Silver with black top over red vinyl
interior. 350-hp, 400-cubic-inch V-8;
automatic transmission. Rally II wheels.
The reported 2000-hour-plus
restoration appears to be recent. All is
excellent, no wear evident. Said to be
one of 168 WT1-optioned (Judge)
convertibles built for the 1970 model
year and one of forty-seven YZ-coded
Ram Air III automatic cars built.
Just a few years ago, this would
have sounded a bit cheap, but
American muscle cars took a hit
in value recently and are only
now climbing back up. This was
a strong price on the right car.
Sold new in Canada, it had
documentation from sources on
both sides of the border. In
today’s marketplace, only cars
with bulletproof histories will
bring big bucks. Not cheap, but a
good long-term hold.
2. 1970 PLYMOUTH ’CUDA
CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT $85,860
Black with black top over white vinyl
interior. 335-hp, 383-cubic-inch V-8;
automatic. A/C, power steering, power
top, eight-track player. Show-quality
paint, excellent trim. All shut lines are
excellent. Very clean interior is factory
correct. Claimed 13,000 original miles.
Another sign that the muscle car
marketplace is coming out of its
recent doldrums. With low miles,
air-conditioning, and great
colors, this ’Cuda is a well-sorted
cruiser in a very distinctive and
popular guise. This just might
look like a bargain in a few years.
3. 1969 CHEVROLET CAMARO Z11
INDY PACE CAR CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT $50,350
White with orange stripes and a white
top over orange vinyl and black cloth
interior. 300-hp, 350-cubic-inch V-8;
four-speed manual. Very good paint,
but a few chips have been touched up.
Most brightwork is excellent. Very
clean and correct interior. Original AM
radio. One of 3675 Indy Sport
convertibles produced.
This aging but still nice
restoration sold for a bit less
THE STORY
BEHIND THE SALE
The Hangover, a bachelor-party buddy
fi lm from 2009, features a good deal of
carnage involving hotel rooms and one
particularly treasured Mercedes-Benz
convertible. The movie required four
cars for fi lming—two of the vehicles
were in nice condition, and the other
two portrayed the Benz in various
states of disrepair.
It’s not at all unusual for a studio to
use multiple vehicles for fi lming in
different locations or, in the case of
older cars, to have a backup in the
event of a mechanical malfunction.
When the script calls for some sort of
on- or off-camera modifi cations (or
destruction), it makes sense to have a
less-than-perfect version on hand. Two
of the four Mercedes convertibles used
in The Hangover were offered at this
auction; the other two are not in good
condition and represent the aftermath
of the Vegas bachelor party.
Solidly built and handsome,
full-size Mercedes convertibles from
the 1960s and 1970s are hot items in
today’s marketplace, with demand as
steady in Europe as it is in North
America. Pristine examples of either of
these cars could bring in excess of
$100,000, and mediocre examples
bring low $40,000s or better. Both of
these cars sold at good prices, but not
much of a premium was paid for their
starring roles in the movie.
1 2 3
Indianapolis, Indiana | May 19–23, 2010 | By Dave Kinney
1965 Mercedes-Benz 220SE convertibleSOLD AT $40,280
Silver with blue top over blue M-B Tex vinyl. 124-hp,
2195-cc SOHC in-line six; automatic. Air-conditioned.
Good paint. Brightwork is mostly good, but the driver- and
passenger-window surrounds are heavily pitted. Some
faded trim, plus dry and peeling seals. Good top. Most
wood inside is good, as are the seats and carpets. This is
one of four Mercedes-Benz cabriolets used for the movie
The Hangover. Two cars from the movie were offered for
sale at this auction.
1969 Mercedes-Benz 280SE convertibleSOLD AT $53,000
Silver with blue cloth top over blue M-B Tex vinyl. 180-hp,
2778-cc SOHC in-line six; automatic. A/C. This car is nicer
cosmetically than the ’65 model. Very good paint, trim, and
top. Clean interior with very good dash, wood, and seats.
The Mecum Auctionauctions
August 2010 | Automobilemag.com 117
4
than expected—but
not by much. For
many, the ’69
Camaro is the one
to have. Subtle body
di� erences,
including more
sculptured sides
and vertical
simulated air slots
ahead of the rear
wheels, make it
stand out from
earlier models.
4. 1961 CHRYSLER
300G CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT
$111,300
Mardi Gras red with
black top over saddle
and black leather.
375-hp, 413-cubic-inch
V-8; automatic.
Swiveling seats. Power
steering, brakes,
windows, and top.
Correct Kelsey-Hayes
chrome wire wheels
with wide whitewalls.
Excellent paint. Chrome
is almost all good. Very
good seats, but the
steering wheel is
cracked and the interior
chrome is a bit
tarnished.
The Chrysler
letter-series cars
were the top-of-the-
line sporty o� erings
from Mopar. In the
late ’50s and early
’60s, they were at
their apex. The
300G’s Virgil Exner
styling is loved by
some and derided as
a jukebox on wheels
by others. With only
337 convertibles
built, they are
considered extra
collectible because
of their rarity.
This example sold
at a market-
correct price.
5. 1967 CHEVROLET
CORVETTE
CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT
$137,800
Yellow and black with
yellow hard top over
saddle vinyl interior.
400-hp, 427-cubic-inch
V-8; automatic. Options
include headrests, a
hard top, shoulder belts,
and factory aluminum
bolt-on wheels. A
professional and
well-done restoration.
Reported 31,000 miles.
The second-
generation Vette,
built from 1963 to
’67, was all about
options; you could
go from a mild-
mannered V-8 to a
screaming
big-block. This
example has plenty
of the options that
collectors look for,
thus the generous
but accurate price.
This investment-
grade Corvette will
likely bring its new
owner more
satisfaction than a
few bars of gold.
6. 1951 MERCURY
CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT
$84,800
Avon blue with blue top
over blue two-tone
leather and vinyl interior.
112-hp, 255-cubic-inch
V-8; three-speed
manual. Power top and
windows. Fully restored
with excellent paint,
brightwork, and interior.
One of 6759
’51 Mercury
convertibles. The
1949 to 1951 Merc
was a favorite of
many customizers;
few escaped some
sort of modifi cation
when they became
inexpensive used
cars in the late
1950s. This appears
to be one that didn’t
get modifi ed; as
such, it’s a rare
beast. The price
here is in line with
the expected value.
7. 1973 CHEVROLET
CAPRICE CLASSIC
CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT
$10,000
Light blue with white top
over white vinyl interior.
150-hp, 400-cubic-inch
V-8; automatic. Factory
steel wheels. Lazy
paintwork looks to be a
quick-fi x job done to a
price. Poor chrome and
trim is sun- and
age-damaged and
faded. Decent top and
seals. The dash and door
panels are poor. From
the TV series Haunted,
then used as the hero
car in the TV show Joey
(we don’t remember it,
either). One of 7339
convertibles produced.
Forget Joey
(everyone else has),
this is a convertible
that could keep you
busy for a long time
if you wanted to fi x
it up correctly. With
plenty of other,
nicer 1973 Caprice
convertibles on the
market, it makes
auctions
5
76
118 Automobile | August 2010
example of what can happen with a K&N
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This dynamometer test result is just one
little sense to do
anything more than
just drive the wheels
o� it for a couple
summers.
BEST BUY
8. 1973 CHEVROLET
EL CAMINO SS
SOLD AT $6600
Mostly red with primer
over black and brown
cloth and vinyl interior.
240-hp, 454-cubic-inch
V-8; automatic. Door
dents, hood in primer,
plenty of overspray. It
was made this way for
the TV program My
Name is Earl. The
interior appears mostly
clean. All external
badges are absent.
My Name is Earl
was a popular TV
show that lasted
more than a few
seasons, which
means it will make
it into endless
reruns. This car was
used on the set; in
some episodes, it
was part of the plot.
The factory
big-block makes it
an El Camino worth
noting; its role in
the TV series might
just make it an
investment if the
show becomes a cult
classic. Well bought.
9. 1983 FORD
MUSTANG
CONVERTIBLE
SOLD AT $3550
Dark blue with white top
over white vinyl. 175-hp,
4.9-liter V-8; automatic.
Recent paint; the top
appears new as well.
Much of the blackout
trim is faded, and the
chrome on the trunk lid
is scratched. Inside, the
dash is faded but the
seats are good and the
console appears new.
The convertible
returned to the
Mustang lineup in
1983; otherwise ’83
was not a
watershed year in
’Stang history. Just
barely creeping into
collectors’
awareness, a
Mustang of this
vintage won’t elicit
oohs and aahs on
cruise night, but at
this price, you can
ride with the top
down knowing that
you paid less than
one-third of the
rechroming cost on
the ’50s barge
parked next to you.
8
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some things can’t be replaced. don’t let unfair laws take you off the road.
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AUGUST 2010 | AUTOMOBILE 121
■
Left: Wordsmiths Eric Tingwall, Jeffrey Jablansky, and the short-but-not-that-short David Zenlea. (Tingwall is a giant.)Right: The art team, Kelly Murphy and Matt Tierney. A striking resemblance? We have no idea what you’re talking about.
RIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL. So it’s only
fi tting—as we approach the fall of 2010 and begin plans
for Automobile Magazine’s twenty-fi fth
anniversary—that we share our pride in this freshly
redesigned magazine. And although I’m loath to
advertise the company jewels, it pleases me to no end to
come to work every day and see the abundance of talent
packed into the second fl oor of 120 East Liberty.
Universities have been very, very good to us. In the spring of
2008, George Washington University sophomore Je rey Jablansky
sent us a bold e-mail asking for an internship. Deputy editor Joe
DeMatio was in D.C. by chance, checked his BlackBerry, and met
Jablansky for lunch on campus. We were lousy with intern
candidates that spring, so clearly DeMatio was just trying to
weasel a paid lunch. The coveted internship went to Eric
Tingwall, who’d just fi nished his junior year (double major in
journalism and mechanical engineering) at Michigan State.
Tingwall had already won a contest to go to the 2007 Frankfurt
motor show with Saturn to drive the Astra, which propelled him
into some writing for Edmunds.com. (Tingwall’s future has turned
out much better than Saturn’s.) We worked him like a proper slave
all summer, and upon his graduation in 2009, we snatched him out
from under a job o er from Honda R&D to be our associate editor.
Today is his one-year anniversary here. In the past month, he’s
been to the Nürburgring to test an Aston Martin V12 Vantage, to
Barber Motorsports Park for laps in the Porsche Cayenne Turbo
and Hybrid, and to Virginia International Raceway for the launch
of the Ford Shelby GT500. Not bad.
While waiting for Tingwall to fi nish school, we landed young
David Zenlea, fresh out of University of Maryland J-school and
with two years of real newspaper internships on his résumé. He
had us at: “But despite the apparent maturation, I have been
unable to shake my desire to write for an auto magazine.” We
brought him to Ann Arbor in the fall of 2008 as a writer. His
craziest assignment? Driving the new M-B SLS AMG on the old
Panamericana route in Mexico two months ago (June 2010).
Young Je rey Jablansky, you ask? The little moptop eventually
interned here so successfully (and joyfully)
last summer that he stepped out of college
and into the role of associate web editor
alongside Evan McCausland (who
published a bus freak’s reference guide to
General Motors Rapid Transit buses while
still in college). Jablansky started his job
today, curls shorn. Don’t tell the mother.
The new two-man creative team at
Automobile Magazine comes with
thirty-two years of combined magazine
design experience, none at a car book.
Creative director Kelly Murphy rides a
BMW K1200S, sports a mohawk, and
bombarded us with imaginative missives
insisting he was our man. We agreed. He
then blew us away when he went to North
Carolina and convinced Matt Tierney, his
top rival for the job, to come to Ann Arbor
and work with him as art director. Unlike
Murphy, Tierney has been reading car
magazines for thirty years—three-fourths
of his life. His childhood auto art (included
in his résumé) involved painstaking
renditions of auto ads and of cars he saw in
magazines. This issue is the beginning of a
beautiful friendship, and of another
twenty-fi ve years of design excellence.
From top to bottom, Automobile
Magazine is produced by smart, funny,
passionate people who love cars and every
way they make our lives better. We are
blessed with some of the best car magazine
executives and writers and web site
producers, as well as the most enthusiastic
of minimum-wage interns and motor
gophers. Don’t sco . Our former gophers
are now journalists, web producers,
marketing and public relations execs, and
car dealership owners and managers.
Oh. Did you notice our new column
photos? We were lucky to book the talented
New York–based photographer Peter Ross,
motor gopher in the summer of 1987. AM
vile gossip
by JEAN
JENNINGS
How to get a job at a car magazine. At least at
this magazine.
122 Automobile | August 2010
JE
AN
JE
NN
ING
S
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