- Search Cartoons
- Comic Archive
-
Payne
Store
Henry Payne RSS
Articles
More-lethal Mustang Shelby GT350 debuts for ’19
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
Pontiac – The Snake is back, and it’s more poisonous than ever.
For the first time since it was unveiled for the 2015, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 gets upgraded performance for the 2019 model year. The patriarch of the Mustang family, the ferocious GT350 gets improved tires, suspension tuning and aerodynamics to improve its on-track performance and keep up with the Joneses. Make that the Chevys.
In its muscle-car war with cross-town rival Camaro, Mustang has come up shy in performance compared with Chevy’s holy trinity of 1LE, ZL1 and winged ZL1 1LE performance grades. The Camaros have consistently bested the Shelby in on-track comparison tests.
Introduced at the M1 Concourse’s Champion Motor Speedway on Monday, the 2019 GT350 aims to close that gap.
“This car brings more grip with better tires,” said Mustang Chief Engineer Carl Widmann, citing new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires developed specifically for the car. “We can integrate the (magnetic) shock tuning with the tire with the ABS brake system to really get something that’s a step forward.”
Though the GT350 makes up less than 10 percent of Mustang sales, its wicked looks and Ferrari-like, high-revving, flat-plane crank V-8 has set it apart as one of the sexiest ponies ever made.
Ford has sold them as fast as they can be made.
The GT350’s drivetrain remains unchanged for 2019: a 526-horsepower (the most from a normally aspirated Mustang ever) 5.2-liter V-8 mated to a 6-speed manual transmission. At full cry, the unique eight-holer hits an ear-rattling 8,250-rpm redline.
Schaller says the focus of the 2019 changes was on tweaking tires, springs, roll bars, magnetic shocks and a more aero-friendly rear spoiler to increase handling.
“The new Shelby flatters the novice and rewards the professional,” he quipped.
The GT350 R – a lighter, even more track-focused version of the Shelby – remains unchanged for 2019. Engineers say the tweaks to the standard GT350 bring it closer to the R-spec car.
Named after the legendary Carroll Shelby’s mod shop, the current Shelby car was the first GT350 to be manufactured in-house by Ford since 1968. How to tell the 2019 from the 2018? The rear spoiler and gray pinstripe separating the signature, dual Shelby stripes.
The price for the new car increases by about $3,000 to $61,340 ($69,325 for the R) as it gains standard options like SYNC 3 infotainment, 4G WiFi and a wrapped center console.
The updated Snake goes on sale in the first quarter of 2019.
Payne: Nissan GT-R and Lexus GX show their age
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
As we approach 2020, evolution is delivering us a new species of automobile.
Thanks to advancements in electronic and materials engineering, new cyborgs have emerged from the lab with light-speed performance capabilities outside, tranquil cabins inside: the Audi R8, Porsche 911 Turbo, Chevy Corvette ZR1, Mercedes GT AMG 63. Next to them in our garages are three-row premium SUVs sitting on car-like chassis that can haul a soccer team to practice while deftly carving country roads on the way: Mazda CX-9, Audi Q7, Acura MDX, Buick Enclave.
But dinosaurs from a decade ago still roam the Earth.
Two of these museum pieces fit neatly in my stable recently: the 2018 Nissan GT-R Track Edition supercar and Lexus GX 460. They are the perfect family couple — the Lexus a three-row daily workhorse, the GT-R a dazzling thoroughbred. Take the Lexus up north to the cabin; take the Nissan up Woodward to the M1 Concourse.
In a fast-evolving era where premium nameplates get new bones every six years, they are relative fossils. The GT-R has been around since 2009, and the truck-based Lexus since 2003. My high-class couple is determined to stay hip even as their age is showing.
Start with the GT-R, aka Godzilla, whose nickname is ready made for my prehistoric metaphor.
This beast still roars. The U.S. isn’t the only country with a muscle car tradition. The Nissan Skyline GT-R is Japan’s Mustang, a legend that dominated Japanese touring racing for decades. Thus its nickname.
Nissan put the GT-R on steroids for international export in 2008. It waded across the Pacific and came aboard U.S. shores like no monster we had seen before. It shredded roads, ate Porsches and spit out ‘Vette bones.
Back then at Car and Driver’s benchmark Lightning Lap competition — who is fastest around International Raceway’s formidable 4.1-mile track? — the new kid from Tokyo destroyed the Viper SR-10, Audi R8, Corvette Z06 and Porsche 911 GT3.
It achieved this feat with technology stolen from the future: torque-vectoring all-wheel drive, almost 500 horsepower, twin-turbo V-6 and telepathic handling. Nearly a decade later, Godzilla has been surpassed by many of its peers, but it still remains relevant as one of the most thrilling acts on the supercar stage. Credit consistent cosmetic, interior and performance upgrades.
The result is still waaaay too much money, but if Godzilla is your kind of show, this is the ticket.
At M1’s Pontiac test track, the heavy, 3,915-pound GT-R shrunk in my hands. The steering is laser-focused, the stiff chassis balance 50-50 front-to-rear. Only at the limit does the car push, but the all-wheel drive system’s massive grip means it’s easier to put down the car’s nearly 565 horses. M1 chief instructor and pro-race driver Aaron Bambach had never had a GT-R on track and he emerged beaming.
Try that on Michigan’s battered roads, and you’d better wear a mouth guard. I tried navigating the M-10 Northwest Highway Service Drive — its pocked roads look like London after the blitz — and nearly lost my teeth. Even on smooth roads it’s unhappy at low speed, bucking and whining until you turn it loose.
Driving the GT-R in NORMAL mode lessens the harshness (and the temptation to do 2.9-second zero-60 sprints since launch control can only be activated in R-mode) and allows a look around the cabin.
GT-R ergonomics have evolved nicely, its knob-drunk dash upgraded with spare controls and a tablet touchscreen. Alas, the touchscreen is slower than Heinz ketchup, doesn’t come with smartphone connectivity and hasn’t a clue what you’re saying when you activate voice command.
Frankly, I was so enamored by Godzilla’s roar — WAAAAAHHHHHRGH! — over 3,000 rpm that I didn’t need infotainment.
Alas, the Lexus GX 460 provided no such diversion to take my mind off its old age.
Built on the same body-on-frame ladder that braces the aging Toyota 4Runner, the midsize Lexus’ chassis is in the Mesozoic Age compared to similarly priced, unibody competitors like the Acura MDX and Buick Enclave.
These modern, nimble SUVs run rings around Lexusaurus which doesn’t so much drive as lumber. Happily, a good ol’-fashioned V-8 lurks under the hood providing class-leading torque and 6,500-pound towing capability (useful for when the GT-R just becomes so dang jarring to drive on Detroit’s roads you only want to tow it to Waterford Hills weekend track days).
GX’s polarizing, full-fascia, window-blind grille says Lexus all right — but it can’t match the sculpted MDX or the gorgeous Enclave. Interior aesthetics are dated, as are neglected safety systems like blind-spot assist and adaptive cruise-control that come standard on the MDX (if not, ahem, the Buick).
But the interior of the Enclave is otherwise a modern studio with Apple CarPlay and Android connectivity, roomy cargo, 9-speed tranny and easy third-row seat access that the 6-speed Lexus lacks. Even a unique feature like the Lexus rear swing gate (just like the old Buick Roadmaster wagon!) is a head-scratcher.
The swing gate is pregnant with features like a toolbox and pop-open window so you can reach into the boot without opening the gate.
But when you pull up to the curb to unload that big flat-screen TV, the swing gate opens … the wrong way. Against the curb. So you have to walk around to the traffic side of the car and unload. That works in left-side-of-the-road Japan where the GX was designed — but how many three-row SUVs are sold back home?
The GX 460 is tough and Lexus-dispensable, but it’s even been lapped by the 10-grand cheaper Toyota Highlander. The scintillating, timeless Godzilla GT-R, however, endures.
Still, when the Track Edition got thumped in Car and Driver’s 2017 Lighting Lap by both the $80,000 Corvette Grand Sport and $63,000 Chevy Camaro ZL1, some will surely ask: Why did I just pay $131,000 for a Nissan?
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2018 Nissan GT-R
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, four-passenger sports car
Price: $101,685 base ($131,605 Track Edition as tested)
Powerplant: 3.8-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6
Power: 565 horsepower, 467 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 6-speed, dual-clutch automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 2.9 seconds (Car and Driver); top speed: 195 mph
Weight: 3,915 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy: 16 city/22 highway/18 combined
Report card
Highs: Still state-of-the-art AWD handling; wicked acceleration
Lows: Heavy; needs more refinement for the price
Overall: 3 stars
2018 Lexus GX 460
Vehicle type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, 7-passenger SUV
Price: $53,450 base ($54,380 as tested)
Powerplant: 4.6-liter V-8
Power: 301 horsepower, 329 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.8 seconds (manufacturer); towing capacity: 6,500 lbs.
Weight: 5,130 pounds
Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy: 15 city/20 highway/17 combined
Report card
Highs: Lexus service and reliability; nifty rear window
Lows: Boat-like handling; dated interior
Overall: 2 stars
Why the next Corvette pace car will be mid-engine
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
Pace driver and General Motors executive Mark Reuss wasn’t the only driver to spin in Belle Isle’s tricky Turn 2 on Sunday. IndyCar’s Santino Ferrucci came out of the pits too hot later in the race and spun, damaging his open-wheel race car’s front wing.
But Reuss’ Corvette ZR1 pace car’s crash is Exhibit A as to why Chevrolet is developing an all-wheel drive, mid-engine Corvette.
More: Mark Reuss says no excuses for pace car crash
While putting 755 horsepower to the rear wheels, GM”s product boss spun the most powerful front-engine ‘Vette ever into the retaining wall, scattering debris across the track and delaying the start by a half-hour.
It could have happened to anyone. But engineers and auto analysts say Reuss’ fortunes likely would have been better in a mid-engine, all-wheel drive car. Which is one of the many reasons Chevy, as The Detroit News reported two years ago, is bringing a mid-engine Corvette to market for model-year 2020.
Reuss, who wasn’t injured, is hardly an inexperienced Sunday driver. He is a skilled, race-licensed pilot with countless hours on tracks around the world including Germany’s formidable Nürburgring. He has put the top-dog $135,000 ZR1 through its paces on tracks from GM’s challenging Milford Proving Grounds to the epic Road Atlanta Raceway.
He had done multiple practice laps around Belle Isle last week in preparation for his pace stint. No stranger to the rough, twisty street course, Reuss paced the IndyCar field two years ago aboard the ZR1’s sibling, the 650-horse Z06.
Yet, when confronted with a “green” track free of sticky rubber after a day of rain, he made the same mistake as many others – including A.J. Almendinger who infamously crashed his Penske team IndyCar in Turn 2 on Lap 1 in 2013.
Reuss was apologetic in a Facebook post after the incident: “I have paced this race in the wet, cold, hot, and calm. On Z06s, Grand Sports, and other things. Today I let down my friends, my family, Indycar, our city and my company.”
The IndyCar field behind him was sympathetic.
“The track changes surfaces there,” Scott Dixon, who finished first and fourth in the weekend doubleheader, said in an interview with The Detroit News. “There’s actually a bit of elevation change there, too, which is what typically catches people out. We had a couple (IndyCars) spin out there this weekend.”
Said Team Penske IndyCar driver Will Power: “I felt really bad for whoever was in the pace car. Where it happened is such a bad corner. It’s real easy to do.”
And even easier when it’s a 3,600-pound production car with a supercharged V-8 boat anchor up front.
As horsepower numbers have skyrocketed in recent years, supercars have gone to mid-engine, all-wheel drive configurations for better stability and better traction. In recent years the Porsche 918, Acura NSX and Lamborghini Huracan have all been introduced as all-wheel drive, mid-engine cars.
Ex-Corvette engineer Wallace says that “mid-engine cars are a more comfortable way to get close to the limit in turns.”
That benefit is important, too, for Corvette’s racing program which increasingly has to deal with more sophisticated mid-engine competitors in the IMSA Weathertech Sports Car Championship like the Ford GT and Ferrari 488. Even Porsche’s iconic rear-engine 911 race car has moved its powerplant forward of the rear axles.
“Why mid-engine (Corvette)? Because the C7 Corvette … is tapped out,” wrote Car and Driver magazine, which has closely followed the mid-engine car’s development – code-named “Emperor” – since 2014 with details and spy shots. “Adding more power to a front-engine design only accelerates the conversion of rubber into smoke at the rear. Moving the engine’s mass closer to the drive tires is the most effective means of improving Corvette acceleration and braking.”
The magazine reports that the mid-engine 2020 Corvette C8 – which has been seen roaming the streets near GM’s Milford test track – will carry the marque’s familiar push-rod V-8 (married to a quick-shifting automatic transmission) and will carry a familiar, affordable supercar entry price.
But higher-trim, $100,000-plus models, writes Car and Driver’s Dan Pund, will push hypercar performance with all-wheel drive, turbocharging and electrified options.
Options are said to include a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 driving the rear wheels and a 200-horsepower electric motor turning the fronts. Horsepower numbers over 1,000 demand– the traction and balance of mid-engine, all-wheel drive to stay on terra firma.
“With today’s horsepower numbers, every supercar is moving towards AWD and mid-engine chassis,” says Karl Brauer, an auto analyst with Kelley Blue Book, and owner of a mid-engine Ford GT and front-engine 840-horsepower Dodge Demon.
The Demon, the fastest production car ever through the quarter-mile, stirred consternation when it was launched last year with Automotive News editorializing that the rear-wheel drive coupe was so unsafe “that its registration as a road-worthy automobile should be banned.”
Brauer says the Demon has to go to extraordinary technical lengths to keep its rear tires from spinning like a bandsaw, including mechanical and electronic tricks to the suspension, transmission and engine.
When the mid-engine Corvette debuts next year, Wallace is confident that “it will be fundamentally quicker with less chance of going sideways.” But, adds the veteran GM engineer with dozens of laps around Belle Isle, “if you’re not careful through Turn 2, a mid-engine Corvette could still lose it.”
Santino Ferrucci and Mark Reuss no doubt would agree.
GM’s Reuss offers no excuses for pace car crash
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
Forgive General Motors product boss Mark Reuss if he wanted to call in sick Monday.
Reuss was the talk of Twitter when he put the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 pace car into the wall Sunday, creating IndyCar gridlock behind him, and delaying the start of the race by a half-hour while Corvette bodywork was swept off the track.
Win on Sunday, sell on Monday? Not this time. The unusual pace car crash of Corvette’s $135,000, 755-horsepower pride and joy capped off a tough weekend for Chevy that saw Honda dominate the IndyCar engine wars.
More: Why the next Corvette pace car will be mid-engine
Reuss made no excuses. Taking to Facebook, he apologized for an incident that fortunately left everyone unscathed:
“I want to thank you all for your well wishes today. I am ok. I have driven this course many many many times. I have paced this race in the wet, cold, hot, and calm. On Z06’s, Grand Sports, and other things. It is never a casual thing for me, but an honor to be asked. Today I let down my friends, my family, Indycar, our city and my company. Sorry does not describe it. I want to thank our engineers for providing me the safety I know is the best in the world.”
If it’s any consolation, the pro drivers behind him were sympathetic. Scott Dixon, who had a good view of the crash from his fifth spot on the grid, observed that the Corvette wasn’t the only car to get sideways in tricky Turn 2.
“The track changes surfaces there,” said Dixon, who eventually finished fourth. “There’s actually a bit of elevation change there, too, which is what typically catches people out. We had a couple (IndyCars) spin out there this weekend.”
It’s not the first time a pace car has had trouble, Dixon mused to The Detroit News over breakfast Monday: “I think Toronto in 2014 was the last one with Arie Luyendyk (the two-time Indy 500 winner, not his “Bachelor” star son) spinning the Honda pace car in the rain.”
IndyCar’s E85 fuels competition, if not acceptance
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
The IndyCars racing in the Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle this weekend will carry the logos of Chevrolet, Honda, Firestone and others. With 100,000 in attendance on the island and nearly 2 million more watching on TV and the Internet, these brands benefit from their association with high-performance motor racing.
One product that hasn’t benefited is E85 ethanol fuel.
Politically popular in Washington and in Midwest presidential primary states like Iowa, the corn-based kindling has been the fuel of choice in IndyCar racing since 2012. But it has failed to catch on with consumers given its higher cost and decreased fuel efficiency.
E85 – a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline that’s also known as flex-fuel – is one of a number of fuel-centered public relations moves that major racing series have made.
Despite its lack of traction with the public, E85 has helped shield IndyCar from the wrath of green groups, proved a workable fuel for racing teams and delivered competitive racing. By being politically pro-active, American racing has managed to stay a step ahead of regulators even as production vehicles have become one of the most heavily regulated industries in the U.S.
“There have always been politicians and environmental groups that decry auto racing as a waste of fuel,” says Stephen Cole Smith, a veteran racing writer with Autoweek. “E85 fuel has been great PR for IndyCar and with which to answer their critics.”
The same can’t be said for other series like Formula One and the World Endurance Championship for sports cars. They have tried to currying favor with global governments by using trendy diesel and electrified racers, only to be burned by high costs and shifting political winds.
Under domestic political pressure to make the U.S. more oil-independent during the Iraq war, the Bush Administration embraced ethanol fuel in 2005 by mandating that gasoline be mixed with 10 percent ethanol. That’s what you filled your gas tank with this week.
Chevrolet, an IndyCar sponsor, has lobbied for more ethanol alternatives, and its large pickups, SUVs and Impala sedan are all E85 capable (so-called flex-fuel vehicles). By 2012, IndyCar followed suit, embracing E85 for its new, twin-turbo V-6 engines which it continues to run today.
“Partners like Chevrolet and Honda have been very supportive,” says IndyCar spokesman Curt Cavin. “Both are comfortable with the program, and certainly everything that happens around our event at the Iowa Motor Speedway is good for ethanol. It’s the best way for us to contribute to green initiatives and be good public citizens.”
IndyCar’s embrace of ethanol a decade ago buoyed hopes that it would become the fuel of choice for consumers.
“This shows average Americans what they can do to help meet the energy challenge our country faces, and it makes the point in a way a politician never could,” Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Indiana, told The Washington Post at a celebratory, handshake ceremony with Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George. “If a race car going 220 miles an hour can be powered by 100 percent ethanol, the family car can be, too.”
Yet, ethanol fuel has failed to catch on with the public.
Today, E85 is available in around 300 gas stations in Michigan, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, while just 3 percent of stations nationwide are equipped with the fuel. Studies have shown that few Americans choose E85 fuel at the pump. Sunoco, the official E85 fuel supplier to IndyCar offers, sells E85 at some of its Michigan stations.
IndyCar’s international brother, Formula One, meanwhile, has adopted hybrid-electric powertrains as it tries to stay in step with European governments’ promotion of battery-powered vehicles. The move, however, has been expensive and has led to a stratification of the sport as only a few teams can afford to develop expensive hybrid technology.
Attendance is down and drivers lament that the sport has lost its luster. While IndyCar celebrated another gripping Indy 500 finish over Memorial Day, Formula One star Fernando Alonso lamented “the most boring race ever” at Formula One’s iconic Monaco Grand Prix the same weekend.
“(Formula One) is facing an existential crisis,” wrote Wheels.ca, one of a wave of media examining the sport’s troubles. “The dismal performance of turbo hybrids – and the tepid reception from fans – should be more than enough impetus to make the changes necessary to restore the exhilarating noise and performance motorsport fans crave.”
Formula One’s struggles come on the back of difficulties in Europe’s major sports car series, the World Endurance Championship, and its signature race, the 24 Hours of LeMans. Europe’s green demands have wreaked havoc on that sport as well as the cost of fielding a hybrid-powered team climbed into the nine figures.
Manufacturers like Audi had used the series to showcase turbo-diesel engines (which combined with batteries made for exceptionally powerful, efficient endurance engines) favored by Euro tax policy since the 1990s. But with Dieselgate and global warming concerns, the fickle political winds turned against diesel and gas engines. Audi and Porsche have dropped out of the WEC to pursue the all-electric Formula E Series.
IndyCar has benefited from this turmoil as its ethanol strategy has kept costs stable. Despite the fact that E85 is 25 percent less efficient than gas, it can still be used (with some technical tweaks) in familiar V-6 racing engines.
“Though E85 fuel can only do about 30 laps at Indy, that’s about the life of the tires as well,” says IndyCar’s Cavin. “So it works out pretty well.”
While Formula One and WEC have struggled, IndyCar is on the upswing thanks to cost-friendly engine specs and close racing. Ticket sales at the Detroit Grand Prix, for example, are up 12 percent this year.
IndyCar’s engine/fuel rules are set to run through 2021. With states like California mandating electric car sales and E85 a sliver of U.S. fuel sales, is IndyCar thinking of changing its fuel formula to whisper-quiet hybrids for 2021?
“We’ve heard no encouragement from manufacturers,” says Cavin. “Our fans like their racing fast and loud.”
2 Payne: Acura reboots with X-cellent RDX ute
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
Three years ago, Honda got sick of criticism that its cars had gone soft.
So its product team rebooted the brand with the sensational Civic compact sedan. Benchmarked to the Audi A3, for goodness sake, Civic carved its own segment benchmark with best-in-class everything. Not content with that high bar, the Hoosier-built hottie then went about spawning whiz kids like the Sport, Si and Type-Rthat sent speed junkies running — nay, sprinting — to dealerships to get their fixes.
But wait, there’s more. So no one missed the message, Honda invested in Formula One, IndyCar racing and Pirelli World Challenge to taunt its competitors on-track as well as on-road. When the new Honda Accord arrived last year, it was no longer enough to be best in mainstream sedans, the fast-back four-door’s content rivaled luxury sedans.
Jeez, we get it, Honda. You’re back. Now get ready for the Great Awakening, Part II: Acura Gets Ticked.
Like Honda, the Acura brand had lost its way in the last decade as it strayed from its fun Integra and Type-S roots. It grew ponderous. Sprouted a chrome beak that looked like it should be opening bottles rather than gracing the front of a premium vehicle. Weird.
Acura listened, put designer and F1 fanboy Jon Ikeda at the helm, and got serious.
This being the Age of Ute, Acura chose to re-introduce itself with a compact SUV. Motorhead that I am, I might have preferred the ILX sedan (Civic’s luxury sibling), but utes are where it’s at these days.
With its stylish RDX, Acura has dropped the mic.
Benchmarked to class valedictorian BMW X3, RDX lays down some impressive class bests of its own. Best-in-class horsepower (not including niche players like Porsche Macan, Jaguar F-Pace, Alfa Stelvio). Best front passenger room. Best rear passenger room. Best cargo room. Best console room.
(Pause while I take a drink of water)
Best head-up display. First-in-class 10-speed transmission. Best torque-vectoring, twin-clutch-pack, off-road-shredding all-wheel drive (not shy, Honda calls this system Super Handling All-Wheel Drive. Or SH-AWD, for short).
Dude, Acura is back.
You knew it was coming. And not just because Roger Penske’s Acura prototype racers ran the competition outta town at Mid-Ohio raceway this month (yeah, Acura is doing the racing thing just like Honda). Acura methodically laid the groundwork for its RDX resurgence with the halo Acura NSX supercar, Precision Design Concept (2016 Detroit auto show) and Precision Interior Concept (2016 LA Auto Show).
This ute’s got NSX soul.
Barreling over the roller-coaster roads of Whistler, British Columbia ski country, the RDX’s only peers are the BMW and premium-wannabe Mazda CX-5. The latter’s buzzy, 187-horse drivetrain can’t play in the luxury class, so Bimmer ‘n’ RDX walk away when the road straightens out. Credit, too, the Acura’s buttery 10-speed tranny and NSX-inspired Sport Plus mode.
Push the trigger tranny’s center button and the little ute quivers with anticipation. The steering tightens. The exhaust rasps. Floor me now!
This eagerness is especially noticeable in the A-Spec model I tested. Like cheek paint on Tom Brady, A-Spec’s black trim means it’s game-ready. It also telegraphs a future Type-S model, the earth-pawing Acura equivalent to Honda’s insane, track-ready Type-R. Don’t expect a garish Type-R rear wing — but count on a new turbo V-6 for the S to hunt down the X3’s M-performance variant.
While Acura has followed the Civic playbook, the premium class is a different animal. Here, brand rules.
BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Volvo have earned their status with decades of consistent product. In turn, customers save for decades so they can afford, say, the coveted BMW kidneys.
Having matched (and exceeded) the competition in performance, Acura will have to consistently execute its signature jewel-eye headlights, grille and dragon’s tail-lights to stir the same passion in buyers.
Until that happens, Acura has other cards to play. Like value.
Acura takes top honors in the Kelley Blue Book Cost of Ownership Awards in a premium class where customers often pay through the nose for maintenance. A loaded $48,000 RDX Advance trim is $8,000 cheaper than equivalent BMW X3 or Audi Q5. At just $38,000, the base model gets a $4,000 jump on the competition with standard — standard! — panoramic sun-roof, 19-inch wheels, 10-speed tranny and a suite of safety systems including adaptive cruise and auto braking. It’s like Fleming’s merged with Cracker Barrel and served you filet mignon with a complimentary soup, salad and two sides.
RDX also aims to play with the big boys with its own, unique infotainment system. This is the price of entry in luxe and it’s Acura’s biggest gamble.
BMW debuted its iDrive, remote screen controller and perfected it only after years of struggle. Cadillac and Lexus have not been so successful, their unique CUE and touchpad systems causing customers to run from their cars screaming.
Acura’s Precision Touch system won’t cause any emotional breakdowns (I think Lexus’ touchpad phobia is actually a thing) but it requires patience. To keep the driver’s attention to the road, the screen is high on the dash and operated with a remote touchpad. I found it cumbersome, my finger hopping with the vehicle in motion. In an age when automakers are trying to be an extension of smartphones (Alexa, smartphone connectivity, etc.) I prefer the phone’s tried-and-true touchscreen.
Indeed, with its unique touchpad approach, Acura loses Android Auto capability — which Honda Corp. pioneered in its vehicles — because it’s still in development for touchpads (Acura says its coming, and Apple CarPlay is available now).
It’s a reminder that every luxury-maker has its quirks. BMW’s monostable shifter vexes many buyers. The over-engineered Audi Q5 console leaves no room for cubby storage. Cadillac still hasn’t perfected CUE. And so on.
Touchpad aside, RDX ergonomics are excellent. Screen icons can be personalized like a smartphone and voice commands are direct (Example: Take me to the nearest Starbucks). The trigger tyranny opens up a cavern of sub-console space for purse/tablet/Kleenex/whatever storage.
Made right down the road in East Liberty, Ohio, the RDX is the total package, pushing Acura to the head of the class. And the tail. Check out the thoughtful, deep, three-cubby storage under the rear cargo hold. It’s right above the A-Spec’s massive twin tailpipes.
Yup. Acura is back.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2019 Acura RDX
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front- and all-wheel drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $38,325 base ($46,495 A-Spec trim and $48,395 Advance trim as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder
Power: 272 horsepower, 280 pound-feet torque
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, NA; towing, 1,500 pounds
Weight: 4,015 pounds (AWD A-Spec as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy: 21 city/27 highway/23 combined (AWD A-Spec)
Report card
Highs: Spacious, comfortable utility; a ute that’s fun to drive
Lows: MPG trails competitors; inconsistent touchpad controller
Overall: 4 stars
Payne: Jeep Cherokee grows up
Posted by Talbot Payne on June 12, 2018
We all have to grow up sometime.
Like the college grad who trades his AC/DC T-shirt and jeans for a button-down shirt and slacks on his first day at the office, the 2019 Jeep Cherokee has gone respectable.
The brand’s wild child debuted back in 2013 with a shark nose, three tiers of lights and its license plate hanging below its bum. Polite society was shocked – and couldn’t stop ogling it. The Cherokee eclipsed 200,000 in sales in 2015 and took the crown as Jeep’s best-selling vehicle. Big brother Grand Cherokee was so proud.
But as the novelty wore off, sales steadily declined to under 170,000 last year. Time for a wardrobe upgrade – but happily, not a lifestyle change.
Beneath its mature, upright seven-slot waterfall grille (just like big brother!), proper headlights (running lights and headlights under one cover) and tidy rear end (plate on tailgate, shirt tucked in), the Cherokee is still a tattooed, nature-loving four-wheeler that wants nothing more than to go off-roading.
And by off-roading, I mean navigating Detroit streets without fear.
The 2019 Cherokee arrived in my driveway after another Detroit winter from hell. Make that from the Arctic. A brutal winter and delayed spring wreaked havoc on the region’s feeble roads. One crater swallowed a wheel on a Genesis G80; my teeth barely survived a recent week in a hard-sprung Nissan GT-R.
That means you don’t have to go to Moab to appreciate the Cherokee’s ruggedness. There are stretches of pavement I try to avoid: the Lodge service drive, Mound Road, Lone Pine. I use to think wealthy neighborhoods in Oakland County were unpaved to slow folks down; now I know it’s because dirt is smoother than Michigan pavement.
But the Jeep doesn’t care. Riding on thick-sidewall tires and a unibody chassis hewn from Thor’s hammer, my Jeep Overland shrugged off bad pavement like Deadpool absorbs bullets.
I’m pretty sure the Cherokee could’ve handled the wet, gravel and sand beach I got stuck in last year in little brother Compass Trailhawk. Jeep’s trail-rated Trailhawk trim (and countless ads of Jeeps scaling cliff faces) is a temptation to take on Mother Nature. I found myself charging around the beaches of Lake Michigan in the Compass – until I decided to stop and take a picture.
The Cherokee Trailhawk, however, comes with a standard locking rear-differential borrowed from the Wrangler. My Jeep friends tell me this would have been my ticket out (that, and never stop in sand).
My Overland tester was not equipped with a locker. Which begs the question: Why pay $41,000 for a compact Jeep – over, say, the $35,000 Honda CR-V or Mazda CX5 – I tested last year if not equipped with the best 4×4 system?
The Japanese entries are equipped with all-wheel drive systems suitable for our ox-cart roads even if they don’t come with Jeep’s multiple terrain settings. Like Jeep’s optional Technology Group, they also come packaged with the latest electronics – blind-spot assist, adaptive cruise-control, automatic headlights – which shame more expensive premium sedans (looking at you, $67,000 BMW X4).
The competitors are also more nimble. The Mazda is downright sporty and the lightweight Honda shares a 1.5-liter turbo-4 and platform with the athletic Honda Accord.
Jeep boasts beefier engine numbers to complement its beefy, off-road vibe. The Cherokee debuts a premium turbo 2.0-liter with a healthy 290 pound-feet of torque (compared to Honda’s 176), but my tester sported the tried-and-true, 3.2-liter, 271-horse V-6. Nitpickers will naysay its 22 mpg (versus CRV’s 29), but only the Cherokee V-6’s 239 pound-feet of torque will tow a class-leading 4,500 pounds.
Unfortunately, it is paired with the tried-and-less-true Jeep nine-speed transmission which grumped and hiccupped through its daily chores. I’m a fan of high-ratio trannies in competitors like the nine-speed GMC Terrain, but Jeep’s effort has been trouble from the start.
“(Cherokees) have transmissions that suffer from hard shifts, odd shift points and sudden shutdowns,” reported jeepproblems.com back in 2016 – and though the new generation promises better reliability on that shutdown bugaboo, the quirky shift behavior remains.
Speaking of reliability, Jeep’s record continues to keep lemon lawyers in business.
But like quality-challenged Tesla, Jeep’s highly anticipated Cherokee will be a hit because brand matters. In the lookalike world of today’s autos, Jeep sends a message. That grille. That terrain-conquering dial. That “since 1941” World War II legacy carved into the steering wheel. The brand that invented SUVs screams authenticity.
And despite its flaws, the package screams quality. Like GMC’ s Terrain (which comes from premium truck DNA), the Jeep brand is the rare mainstream badge that gets considered alongside premium brands.
While the Cherokee’s outside is cleaned up – “We took the geekiness out of it,” designer Mark Allen likes to say – the inside has been mature since generation one.
The tidy instrument display with chrome bezels is first-class, as is the Uconnect infotainment system. Already the industry standard with easy-to-use menus, Uconnect has been updated with faster, bigger screens (even the base Latitude trims gets a 7-inch pane) and smartphone connectivity. Google Maps is far superior to any car navigation system.
Even the rear cargo space has been improved. Engineers carved out an extra 3 inches of width and more than two more cubic feet of storage. It’s good for two golf bags.
In an age when electronics are narrowing the gap between mainstream and luxury, Jeep bridges the gap with its macho vibe, powerful engines, and upscale interior. And now that it’s out of that awkward geek phase, you can take it on a date to the country club.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2019 Jeep Cherokee
Vehicle type: Front-engine, front and all-wheel drive, five-passenger SUV
Price: $25,440 base ($41,510 Overland 4×4 as tested)
Powerplant: 2.4-liter, Tigershark inline-4 cylinder; 3.2-liter Pentastar V-6; 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4
Power: 180 horsepower, 171 pound-feet torque (2.4-liter I-4); 271 horsepower, 239 pound-feet torque (V-6); 270 horsepower, 295 pound-feet torque (turbo-4)
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 6.6 seconds (Car and Driver est. for turbo-4); towing: 4,500 pounds (V-6 with Trailer Tow Package)
Weight: 3,960 pounds (V-6 4×4 as tested)
Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy (all figures for 4×2, front-wheel drive mode): 22 city/31 highway/24 combined (2.4-liter I-4); 20 city/29 highway/23 combined V-6); 23 city/31 highway/26 combined (2.0-liter turbo-4)
Report card
Highs: Classic Jeep exterior; high-class interior
Lows: Uneven 9-speed tranny; can get pricey
Overall: 3 stars
‘Alexa, start my car’: Latest app for auto revolution
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 22, 2018
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? Dude, that’s so 15 minutes ago.
Amazon’s Alexa assistant is the latest must-have vehicle app as carmakers rush to put connectivity on wheels.
Alexa offers similar conveniences for the car that Amazon Echo users have come to expect in the home. In fact, most of the dozen brands with Alexa connectivity limit its use to the home Echo device to communicate with the car: Alexa, start my car. Alexa, lock the car doors.
But Ford Motor Co. (and its luxury arm Lincoln) takes it a step further, expanding those in-home commands to in-car demands. Called “Ford + Alexa,” the feature can be used to ask for directions on the road or play music. Sample commands include:
Alexa, where is the closest barbecue restaurant?
Alexa, play my workout playlist.
Alexa, what’s on my calendar tonight?
The in-car feature can also be used to communicate with smart-home systems. Mike Severson, Ford’s marketing manager for connected vehicles and technology, says that effectively makes a round trip from home to work seamless: Users can pre-heat the interior of the car from inside the house for a commute to work, then boost the thermostat of the house from inside the car on the return journey.
“Technology is something a lot of people crave,” says Severson. “We partner with the big boys to deliver that to the customer. People are very passionate about (their apps). Technology is increasingly more important on the vehicle purchase decision.”
From Bluetooth to Wi-Fi to music apps like Pandora, automobiles have become extensions of smartphone apps. Apple CarPlay first rolled out in upscale cars like Ferrari and Mercedes in 2014, allowing smartphones to take over a vehicle’s infotainment display. The app was slow to catch on.
Amazon’s Alexa app appears to be following a similar path as CarPlay and Android Auto, spreading across the industry to more than a dozen brands and counting.
“It was creepy at first,” says Kelley Blue Book auto analyst Rebecca Lindland, a self-professed early technology adopter. “But new generations who grew up with their personal phones will expect their cars to be fully integrated with their phone and their home.”
Lindland says that as phones have become the center of the personal digital universe, car owners expect a seamless transition from home to mobility.
Infiniti even headlines the Alexa feature in a national ad campaign. “Alexa, start my Infiniti QX50,” a woman says on a commercial as she and her partner rush from the house to attend a film premiere.
Genesis, Hyundai’s luxury brand, was the first automaker to offer Alexa home-to-vehicle connectivity. It debuted in late 2016 on the Genesis G90 sedan, two years after Amazon introduced Alexa on its Echo home device. The feature is now available across the Genesis and Hyundai model lines. Downloaded as an app on a smartphone and requiring minimal setup, it comes with a number of commands such as: Alexa, ask my Genesis to start the car and set the temperature to 72 degrees.
“We’ve received good feedback from our customers who appreciate that we have the latest technology,” says Yuval Steinman, a product strategy manager for Genesis. He expects the feature to grow in popularity as it becomes more ubiquitous in homes and as competitors come to market. The Genesis and Hyundai systems, for example, are now also compatible with Alexa competitor Google Assistant.
“We find customers want a choice,” says Ford’s Severson. “They love Apple, they love Android, their Google maps. One of the key philosophies of Sync is providing choice … to customers.”
Recent news reports have highlighted 13 cases of asphyxiation resulting from cars with push-button starters not shutting off in garages. To prevent this from happening, if a car is started with the Genesis-Hyundai Alexa app, it will shut the engine down after 10 minutes if the car has not been unlocked.
Hybrid vs. hybrid: Honda Clarity and Toyota Camry
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 22, 2018
The Toyota Prius became a sales sensation after it was introduced in the U.S. in 2000, provoking media predictions that hybrid cars would soon take over the market. As it turned out, folks didn’t want hybrids — they just wanted Priuses.
With its aero shape, split-window grille, eco-console and leafy badge, it was a personal statement. It was the green preener’s car. Nickname: Pious.
But what if you didn’t want to shout your moral intentions to the world? What if you didn’t need to show off your green chic at the Academy Awards? What if you simply wanted an affordable, family hybrid with the utility of a best-selling sedan?
The Toyota Camry hybrid was your answer. It was affordable, fuel-efficient and as plain as a quart of vanilla ice cream.
It sold modestly compared to the Prius, but it was part of Toyota’s strategy to leverage the halo status of the Prius and hybridize everything in its lineup from sedans to sport utilities to Lexus premium vehicles. Other brands followed the Camry hybrid — notably the Ford Fusion Hybrid and plug-in Energi, and Honda Accord Hybrid — with only moderate success compared to their gas-only counterparts.
But here comes Honda with a new strategy. Determined to electrify its entire lineup just like Toyota (Honda says two-thirds of vehicles it sells in 2030 globally will be electrified), Toyota’s Japanese rival has introduced its own green-geek halo: the plug-in hybrid Clarity.
Aero shape, split rear window, funky console, leafy badging. And it’s aimed, not at the Prius, but at the plain-vanilla Camry Hybrid.
In fact the Camry and Clarity in my driveway are as closely matched as Ali vs. Frazier: They’re the meat of the U.S. sedan market at $37,000 (before incentives — more on that later) with similar dimensions, leather interior, heated seats, automatic headlights, automatic braking and blind-spot assist.
Oh, it’s on.
First impressions favor the handsome Camry. No, that’s not a misprint. The eight-generation sedan is a quantum leap from the last wallflower. Remade from the ground up, it is visually sleek with sculpted rocker panels and strong rear shoulders. Unlike its sporty, mascara-caked XSE V-6 stablemate whose face deserves an episode on “Botched,” my XLE hybrid tastefully presents Camry’s new look with subtle, chrome grille lines artfully echoed in the headlamp LED signature.
The Clarity is no boat — especially with 17-kWh of battery lowering its center of gravity — but neither is it an Accord. The Accord is a handling sensation (North American Car of the Year, take a bow), eclipsing even the improved Camry. The Clarity is built on its own separate platform to handle multiple model trims from plug-in to EV to the expensive California-only hydrogen chariot. Want all-wheel drive? Move up to an SUV.
Honda hopes you’ll warm up to the Clarity’s unique styling. The front end (particularly in white) is a dead ringer for a “Star Wars” stormtrooper, its jewel-eye LED headlights surrounded by a black mask. Aft of the mask the Clarity geeks out with a long front overhang (complete with aerodynamic front-wheel air curtains), partially covered rear tire-wells, and aforementioned Prius-like dual rear window.
The split window aids visibility to overcome the Honda’s tall, roomy rear trunk. Cargo space is cavernous compared to the hydrogen car I tested a year ago (no hydrogen fuel tank, natch). The Camry, too, has gained trunk space over its predecessor thanks to cleverly packaging the battery under the seat instead of the trunk. Alas, neither car is a hatchback, meaning that — despite lay-flat second-row seats — the pass-through opening is too narrow to be bicycle-friendly.
Covet a hatchback sedan? Ditch your green ambitions and buy a Buick Regal or Kia Stinger for the same price.
Both cars sport distinctive interiors, with the Camry once again getting my nod for most user-friendly. As with all new Camrys, the console’s unique “Z-dash” offers helpful knobs for volume, storage space and easy shifter.
Clarity goes nerd with an Acura-borrowed trigger shifter bridging cavernous sub-console space (great for purse storage). A knob-less infotainment screen will annoy in the middle of a white suede dash (now, that will dirty easily!), though some will find Camry’s lack of smartphone app connectivity less forgivable.
Grin and bear the Clarity’s styling. Learn the trigger shifter. Because the Clarity’s real sci-fi payoff comes with the drivetrain.
The Camry’s camel-like 611-mile range may get you to Chicago and back on a single tank of fuel. But with its 17.4-kWh battery’s 40-plus mile range, Honda’s plug-in will make you a stranger to the cashier at your local gas station.
I never visited a pump during my week-long date with the Clarity. After a round-trip 65-mile airport run, I dipped into the gas engine briefly, then recharged at home on a pathetic, 4-miles-per-hour-charging, 110-volt wall plug. Still, that was enough to get back to full-charge overnight.
The driveline is optimized for efficiency, so stoplight burnouts are brief (despite its bigger battery, the Clarity barely beats the Camry Hybrid zero-60 in 7.6 seconds versus 7.9). The gas engine will even come to the rescue over 50 mph to keep the battery from over-exerting itself.
The Honda also has a clever, steering wheel-mounted, regen paddle like the Chevy Volt plug-in to recharge the battery under braking. In Ecomode (Sport mode is also available, but lord knows why, given the Clarity’s conservative nature) and generous use of regen paddle, I managed 55 miles on a single charge — out-performing the system’s advertised 41 mpg.
Clarity offers other useful Easter eggs like the HRV button which switches the system exclusively to the gas engine on long 80-mph highway trips to preserve the battery for when you want it around town. All of this information can be watched on the Clarity’s colorful, digital instrument display.
Geeky stuff, but useful.
Oh, and there’s a geek sweetener. Only the Honda comes with a $7,500 EV tax subsidy. Which means its bottom line sinks below $30,000. That’s a greenback bargain that any green will understand.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-1 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2018 Toyota Camry Hybrid
|
VEHICLE TYPE |
FRONT-ENGINE, FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER SEDAN |
|
Price |
$28,695 base ($37,363 Hybrid XLE as tested) |
|
Power plant |
2.5-liter, inline 4-cylinder with 1.6-kWh nickel metal-hydride battery and AC motor-assist |
|
Power |
208 total system horsepower |
|
Transmission |
Continuously variable transmission (CVT) |
|
Performance |
0-60 mph, 7.9 seconds (Car and Driver); range: 611 miles |
|
Weight |
3,571 pounds (as tested) |
|
Fuel economy |
EPA fuel economy: 44 city/47 highway/46 combined |
Report card
Highs: Nice duds, Camry; 600-plus mile range
Lows: Toyota hybrids don’t get tax breaks; wish it had a hatchback
Overall:★★★
2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in
|
VEHICLE TYPE |
FRONT-ENGINE, FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER SEDAN |
|
Price |
$34,290 base ($37,490 Touring trim as tested) |
|
Power plant |
17-kWh nickel metal-hydride battery and AC motor with 1.5-liter, inline 4-cylinder assist |
|
Power |
212 total system horsepower |
|
Transmission |
Single speed |
|
Performance |
0-60 mph, 7.6 seconds (Car and Driver); Range: 340 miles (47 EV only) |
|
Weight |
4,059 pounds |
|
Fuel economy |
EPA fuel economy: 110 MPGe (combined electric/gas); 42 mph gas only |
Report card
Highs: Good EV range for a big car; trunk space
Lows: Geeky styling; wish it had a hatchback
Overall:★★★
Cadillac breaks old assumptions with racing program
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 11, 2018
For Cadillac, 2018 may be the Year of the SUV — but it’s also the Year of Performance.
GM’s luxury brand is playing catch-up to SUV-rich BMW, Mercedes and Audi with the first of three new crossovers to be introduced by 2021. But even as Cadillac announced this week the cancellation of its ATS sedan — billed as its BMW 3-series fighter — it also made clear that its goal to be the American alternative to the Teutonic threesome is about more than five-door family-haulers.
Despite the revamping of its sedan lineup and dismissal of product architect and CEO Johan de Nysschen, Cadillac says it has its pedal-to-the-metal on a long-term strategy promoting the brand’s athleticism.
Cadillac is accelerating its performance programs as it goes wheel-to-wheel against some of the world’s greatest track marques. The premium automaker has a new halo CT6 V-Sport sedan, new ad campaign and special Championship Edition V-series cars to celebrate the brand’s historic world endurance racing championship in 2017.
“We have an overall product ladder to continue filling out,” said Matt Russell, Cadillac’s marketing manager for racing and its V-series performance-car lineup. “But I want to make a clear statement that we are — particularly in the effect we get from motorsports and building sporty cars — committed to the sport-luxe compact car business.”
Continued Russell: “We may be entering a period of generation change for those models — particularly for the ATS sedan — but we are not walking away from those segments. Racing is an accelerant for conversation for our compact and midsize performance cars.”
As if to punctuate the point, Cadillac race driver Jordan Taylor campaigned the IMSA 2017 Championship Edition CTS-V across Michigan this week, leading up to the home team’s defense of its IMSA Weathertech Sportscar win here last year.
CTS is a poster child for how closely Cadillac’s engineers work with their racing programs. V-series development programs have translated racing technology to the street with features like traction-assisting Performance Traction Management.
Only 200 Championship Edition vehicles — encompassing the CTS-V, the ATS-V sedan and ATS-V coupe — have been made for sale in the U.S., Canada and Middle East. They are distinguished by special graphics including an outline of the sleek, IMSA DPi racing prototype that won last year’s championship.
And while the ATS-V Championship Edition represents the last hurrah for the small sedan, expect more performance cars like the 550-horsepower, twin-turbo V-8 CT6 V-Sport unveiled at this year’s New York Auto Show.
Race-driver and Cadillac ambassador Taylor left Belle Isle in the Championship Edition CTS-V for Grand Rapids on Monday afternoon to wow dealers and customers. Cadillac says the racing program has attracted new customers and younger people. Twenty-somethings come out to see Taylor, 26, sign autographs in the “Cadillac Corral” at races like Detroit.
“There are a lot of similarities between the race car and street car,” says Taylor who arrived in Detroit fresh from a fifth-place showing Sunday at the the IMSA Weathertech series’ stop at Mid-Ohio race track. “They have the same wheel design, same push-rod V-8 and same rear camera mirror.”
The race car and CTS-V share center stage — alongside the new XT4 crossover and Super Cruise self-driving technology — in the new Cadillac ad campaign, “The Future is Here.” The DPi V.R racer and the CTS-V roar across the screen on a race track accompanied by blaring rock music.
Russell says the emphasis on racing is part of a conscious decision by GM to break the Cadillac mold.
“When you’re 116 years old, there are certain elements of your brand and product that are established,” he says. “People know we can do comfortable. So where do we stretch our legs? We demonstrate that we have engineers that compete with all other engineers when it comes to safety, connectivity and racing.”
Taylor and steed will return to Belle Isle June 1-3 for Detroit Grand Prix weekend. Acura, Mazda and Nissan have all joined the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar prototype class with similar winged 600-horsepower beasts. Troy-based Team Penske manages the Acura team that won its first race at Mid-Ohio. The series also features production-based GT cars from BMW, Audi, Lexus, Ford, Ferrari and Porsche. Chevrolet is a GT competitor but will miss Detroit as it ships its Corvette racers across the pond to June’s 24 Hours of LeMans.
Cadillac cut its teeth in GT racing back in 2004 before taking the leap to prototype racing last year.
“We had won so much on the GT front with the V-series, you can’t allow it to become old news that you are good at something,” says Russell of the brand’s successful move to the DPi format last year. “It’s a way to keep ourselves relevant using racing as that stimulant for our street car business.”
Taylor finds his new CTS-V Championship Series plenty stimulating. Indeed, the supercharged, 6.2-liter V’s 650 horsepower actually exceeds that in his race car (competition rules limit power to 600 ponies).
“It’s funny driving my street car around and lighting up the tires by accident, and then getting in the race car with so much (aerodynamic) down-force you don’t feel like you’re going anywhere sometimes,” Taylor said. “It’s awesome to see Cadillac developing this side of the brand again and using racing to develop it.”
Late to the SUV party, a safari-ready Rolls-Royce
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 10, 2018
Ford is eliminating its sedan lineup, Porsche sells three times as many crossovers as sports cars and Ferrari is making a sport utility.
But for the ultimate proof that we are now an SUV world, look no further than Rolls-Royce’s first-ever SUV, the Cullinan.
Named after the planet’s largest diamond that currently resides in the British Crown Jewels, the $325,000 Cullinan was unveiled by the English carmaker Thursday as a 2019 model. The Cullinan shares elements with Rolls’ flagship sedan, the $417,825 Phantom that wowed Detroit Auto Show with its North American debut in January. Weighing in at a Ford pickup-like 5,864 pounds, the all-wheel drive land yacht comes with the expected luxury appointments that have made Rolls-Royce the standard for luxury: rear-seat refrigerator, drinks cabinet, V-12 power, smooth air suspension.
But the Cullinan SUV promises another dimension: off-road capability. Offering what it calls the world’s first “three-box” SUV, Rolls separates the cabin into three distinct compartments by placing a partition of glass between the rear seats and the luggage compartment. Not given to understatement, Rolls says the ute has been “tested to destruction all over the planet” so that its occupants can reach far-flung safaris “at the end of the earth.”
Once passengers get there, Rolls has equipped the cargo bay with a “Recreation Module” – a motorized stowage-bay that packs your favorite recreational items: polo accessories, fly-fishing gear or whatever flips your switch.
“The label ‘SUV’ is now applied to anything with a two-box silhouette, and the least suggestion of going off tarmac,” said Rolls Chairman Peter Schwarzenbauer. “We envisioned an authentic, three-box high-bodied all-terrain car with a convention-challenging design and absolute capability that would satisfy the adventurous urges of our clients.”
With a 130-inch wheelbase and 85-inch width, the two-row, aluminum-unibody Cullinan is the same size as a three-row, truck-based Lincoln Navigator. The high-riding Rolls uses its air suspension to kneel to its passengers, lowering itself 1.5 inches closer to the ground for better access. Whereas other premium SUVs like the Lamborghini Urus – which debuted at the 2018 Detroit Show – have had to compromise signature features like scissor doors for the five-door ute layout, Rolls offers the full Monty. The Cullinan features the first “suicide doors” on an SUV (Rolls prefers the term “coach doors”) which open wide like cabinet doors.
Inside, the Cullinan is swathed in Old World luxury that’s complemented by state-of-the-art electronics courtesy of Rolls’ parent company BMW, with which the Cullinan shares many infotainment system features. The huge dash screen can be controlled both by touch and by a remote console rotary dial.
The controls are familiar to the Phantom flagship, though the SUV will not get the sedan’s “gallery” feature that allows owners to personalize the dash with, say, an image of their favorite Van Gogh painting.
Rolls says the Cullinan’s calling-card is “effortless, everywhere,” and its one-mode drive button promises that. Unlike Jeeps and Land Rovers, which offer multiple off-road modes from SNOW to SAND, the Rolls simply offers a large OFF ROAD button on the console. Press it, and the Rolls promises that it will adapt to any condition.
“We knew we had to offer our clients what they couldn’t find in the SUV market,” says Rolls CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös. “They do not accept limitations or compromises in their lives. They are the new pioneers, and for them it’s about their sense of adventure and daring in how they live their experiences. This approach to life demands a motor car that can go anywhere in ultimate luxury and style – Rolls-Royce style. Hence Cullinan.”
Small cars: Detroit 3 pull back, foreign rivals all-in
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 9, 2018
Detroit carmakers and their foreign counterparts are taking different roads when it comes to small cars.
Ford is parking its sedan lineup, including the entry-level Fiesta and Focus compacts, as the carmaker follows the market-shift to SUVs. Only the Mustang and a Focus-based crossover will remain. Fiat Chrysler killed its mid-size Chrysler 200 and compact Dodge Dart two years ago. And Chevrolet is expected to thin its compact offerings from three to two by dismissing the Sonic subcompact.
Their Asian and German competitors, in contrast, see small cars as ways to introduce younger buyers to the brands. They are doubling down on compact passenger cars while also expanding their SUV lineups. The dueling strategies are not just apparent in product but also in plant location as Asian makers invest in U.S. plants that build sedans.
Take Subaru, for example.
Following Subaru’s strategy of jacking up a compact car (the Impreza) and calling it a crossover (the Crosstrek), Ford next year will introduce the Focus Active crossover that’s based on the discontinued Focus compact. But while Ford will import the Active from China and discontinue Focus production here, Subaru has moved production of its all-new Impreza compact to Indiana to free up production capacity in Japan to build the Crosstrek. Honda also builds it all-new compact Civic in the Hoosier state.
“Compacts are gateway cars to our brand,” says Peter Tenn, Subaru’s planning manager for passenger cars. “We want to keep people for life. We want to get people early in the buying process who might eventually buy SUVs like our new three-row Ascent. We take a long-term view that we want to sell folks on our total portfolio.”
New for the 2017 model year, the Impreza joins the Civic, Toyota Corolla, Hyundai Elantra and Volkswagen Jetta as clean-sheet new products for the U.S. market. Their introduction hasn’t slowed investment in SUVs where Toyota (RAV4), Nissan (Rogue) and Honda (CR-V) are the three best-selling SUVs in America.
Ford’s canceled Focus was introduced for the European market in April but will not be sold here. When it debuts next year, the Focus Active will chase the Crosstrek — new this year — and VW Golf Alltrack in the compact crossover market.
Ford’s absence from the small-car segment puts a Japanese stranglehold on a 2.6 million-vehicle market it first entered 40 years ago with small sedans such as the Civic and Corolla. The only remaining mainstream entry-level compact sedans offered by U.S. brands are the Chevrolet Cruze and Spark.
“Detroit automakers have never really had their heart in small cars,” says Auto Trends Consulting’s Joe Phillippi, a veteran Wall Street auto analyst. “They only had to focus on them after the 1973 oil crisis. Compact cars get swept over by the enormous profits they make on big trucks and SUVs.”
When Ford’s Focus exits the Michigan Assembly Plant later this year, Japanese manufacturers will dominate mainstream small-car production in the U.S. (Chevy’s Cruze and Hyundai’s Elantra are the two exceptions.)
“Honda has a philosophy of building cars in the markets we serve,” says Morel. “We build a lot of our cars across all segments in North America, and we intend to continue that. The proportion of Honda products made in the U.S. for the U.S is very, very high. Honda is second only to Ford in using domestically sourced parts — 65 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. were also made here.”
The Civic is the best-selling retail car in America with 377,286 sold here in 2017. Honda built 146,580 of those Civics at its plant in Greensburg, Indiana, employing 2,500 workers. Subaru produced 117,000 Imprezas last year in Lafayette, Indiana, employing 5,600.
Though it is exiting the sedan market, Ford says it is still committed to affordable vehicles.
“Affordability is really always a part of our brand promise,” Ford president of global markets Jim Farley told The News last month. “The price point that’s affordable to most Americans is still important. Our ambition is to grow (our lineup) and hit all the price points. The only thing that’s changing is how they’re going to look.”
But without the $15,080 Ford Fiesta and $17,650 Focus sedan, Ford will not have a vehicle in the market for less than $20,000. Ford’s entry-level SUV, the Ecosport, starts at $20,990 including destination fee. SUVs generally sell at a premium over comparable sedans. Subaru’s higher-riding Crosstrek, for example, is $2,500 more expensive than the virtually identical Impreza.
Honda also sells a $21,000 sport utility, the HR-V, but Morel still sees opportunity for sub-$20,000 cars such as the $17,085 Fit subcompact and $19,835 Civic.
“If you look at overall price distribution of the marketplace, you see a significant portion of volume under $20,000,” he says. “In fact, when you look at age comparisons, younger buyers disproportionately buy cars instead of SUVs. So if we abandoned that part of the market, it would put us at a disadvantage.”
Auto analyst Phillippi is concerned that Ford’s decision is being driven by Wall Street and not its product portfolio.
“The pressure for maximum return on investment has driven Detroit’s automakers’ business decisions,” says Phillippi. “You have to eliminate the losers … and Detroit can’t quite seem to come up with a consistent portfolio of small vehicles.”
Since Honda introduced the Civic to the U.S. in 1975, Ford has gone through three compact nameplates: the Pinto, Escort and Focus.
“Honda is built on conservative values doing things in the long run,” says Morel. “Part of that are that Civic and Accord are long-standing brand names. They are tremendous assets to the company, and we take pride that they have been successful for a long period of time.”
Subaru’s Tenn says that Subaru’s sedan lineup, which includes the midsize Legacy, are also an insurance policy against higher gas prices.
“Economy cars are easier to sell to customers with higher gas prices,” he says, contradicting an industry meme that SUV fuel economy has caught up with cars. “(SUV fuel efficiency) is closer, but it’s easier to get better fuel economy with a sedan.”
Payne: Stealthy Ford F-150 diesel is tech-tastic
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 3, 2018
In Broomfield County, home to Colorado’s “Creative Corridor” 30 minutes north of Denver, the disparate forces of high-tech office parks, traditional oil and gas development, and farmland collide like oil paint on a Jackson Pollock canvas. The result is a dynamic co-existence of cultures in one of the fastest-growing communities in America. It’s Washtenaw County on steroids.
Appropriately, Ford chose Broomfield for its media debut of the 2018 F-150 Power Stroke Diesel pickup — a tech-tastic, old-world oil-burner built for the open spaces of rural America.
It’s the Blue Oval’s first diesel in the light-duty segment, expanding on its years as the stump-pulling, steroid-fed heavy-duty champ. But this is a kinder, gentler light-duty.
Start with the technology. It will unite families and save marriages.
The Power Stroke was my first opportunity to drive the F-150 since its 2017 mid-cycle refresh that brought even more innovation to this oversized Swiss Army Knife. There is 10-device 4G Wi-Fi and smartphone app connectivity and automatic braking. But most notable is Pro Trailer Backup Assist. Married couples of the word, rejoice.
How many unions have been strained when Spouse A tries to line up the trailer with Spouse B at the wheel? Nerves are rubbed raw as the driver tries to align trailer with boat. A miss there. A jack-knife here.
Just turn the wheel to the left. No, the other left! No, right, now left …
Dang it, just start over!
All the while dozens of boaters look on at the town idiots, ridiculing, correcting … and dreading their own moment in the backup spotlight.
The autonomous wonder is similar to self-parking (first seen on the Escape SUV) — a whizzbang feature also optioned on the F-150. Get them both. Trailer backup-assist comes with the tow package for $995.
These are must-buys because diesel trucks are aimed at people who tow. A lot.
I’m thinking about my buddies, Chris and Tom, who have contracted the Airstream bug. Nature nuts, they want to see the country — Yellowstone! Georgian Bay! The Grand Canyon! — up close. No hotels. No restaurants. Just man, nature, campfire … and a diesel truck.
Diesel? The scourge of VW? Isn’t diesel dead? What outdoorsman would invade the Outback with a smoke-belching, old-world dinosaur?
Well, Phoenix-saurus has risen from the ashes because customers love it. It’s powerful, fuel-efficient … and clean. Credit technology again.
Contrary to popular perceptions of diesel as dirty clatter-traps (right there with other perceptions like “toads cause warts” and “broken mirrors mean seven years bad luck”), modern common-rail-injection diesel cleaning-fluid scrubbed diesels are quiet workhorses.
Last year, sales of diesel trucks nearly matched the combined sales of hybrids, plug-ins and electric cars: 537,000 diesels to 553,000 battery-mobiles.
Oil-burning giants like the Ford F-450 and Silverado 3500 and Ram 3500 in the heavy-duty segment have long clashed like robots in “Pacific Rim: Uprising.” Sporting sick specs like F-550’s 935 pound-feet of torque, these behemoths throw around 30,000-pound trailer rigs like matchsticks.
But the light-duty Power Stroke is hardly Heavy-Duty Jr. Where the 6.7-liter big brother is the ripped clean-and-jerk towing champion of the world, the F-150 diesel is happy with efficient refinement.
With its low 1,750-rpm peak torque and 10-speed transmission, my 3.0-liter diesel effortlessly towed a 3-ton trailer. It delivered power more smoothly and predictably than the higher-strung, twin-turbo V-6. It’s the V-6, not diesel, that boasts best-in-class 13,300-pound towing capacity. The Power Stroke is content with 11,400 pounds of capacity. If you want to pull a house, let Ford show you the heavy-duty aisle.
Through the Rocky Mountain foothills, the 3.0-liter Power Stroke was whisper-quiet. So quiet that if I did a blindfold test (not recommended at 60 mph), I couldn’t tell it was a diesel without reading the 4,500-red line tachometer. Even under the cane, the Power Stroke sounds like a gas V-6. Contrast that to my old 2003 Ram 2500 that sounds like a cement mixer.
Quieting the diesel beast ain’t cheap. The Power Stroke up-charge is $4,000 on the Lariat (versus the 3.5-liter, twin-turbo V-6’s $1,600), and diesel cleaning fluid refills will set you back $24 every 7,000 miles. So Ford only offers the diesel to individual buyers on premium trims — Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum — a space where customers likely own other pricey toys like Airstreams and horses.
The payback, I tell Airstream Tom, is in convenience rather than recouping lower fuel costs.
The diesel gets about 20 percent better fuel economy than the twin-turbo V-6, which translates to about 400 miles of range at 15 mpg highway (trucker rule of thumb: towing a 6,000-pound trailer cuts gas mileage in half. The Power Stroke’s EPA rating is 30 mpg). The V-6 will stop every 310 miles — or worse, given turbo’s notorious thirst under load.
Diesel means fewer stops on your way to Shangri La, U.S.A.
Speaking of paradise, my $63,435 Lariat interior was a luxury suite. Only luxe sedans rival Detroit trucks for premium cabins. Heck, with the Airstream, the whole family can fit easily in the palatial SuperCrew cab. Take a $70,000 King Ranch Power Stroke up north and its interior will rival nearby yachts.
The light-duty Power Stroke takes aim at the Ram 1500 diesel. Ford has thrown down the gauntlet with its record-setting 30 mpg highway, besting Ram’s 27. Chevy and GMC have their own diesels suiting up in the locker room for 2019. Ram, too, will counter with its own upgraded, 2019 diesel.
I got a preview of Ram’s upscale platform when I test drove the 2019 gas model last month. It sees the F-150’s tech and counters with a Tesla-like tablet interior display and a digital rotary shift knob opening more console space. Oh, yeah? Ford’s console knob will autonomously back up its trailer. Game on (if you’ve got $50,000 to play).
Premium sedans once introduced new technology. Now big, bold, diesel pickups are the new canvas for tech innovation.
2018 Ford F-150 Power Stroke Diesel
|
VEHICLE TYPE |
FRONT-ENGINE, REAR- AND FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER PICKUP |
|
Price |
$46,410 base ($63,435 4WD Lariat and $70,360 4WD King Ranch as tested) |
|
Power plant |
3.0-liter, turbo diesel V-6 |
|
Power |
250 horsepower, 440 pound-feet of torque |
|
Transmission |
10-speed automatic |
|
Performance |
0-60 mph, 7.2 seconds (Car and Driver est); towing capacity: 11,400 pounds; payload: 2,020 pounds |
|
Weight |
5,077-5,335 pounds (diesel adds 350-pounds to comparable gas-powered trucks) |
|
Fuel economy |
EPA fuel economy: 22 city/30 highway/25 combined (4×2); 20 city/25 highway/22 combined (4×4) |
Report card
Highs: Diesel fuel economy; self-driving towing, parking features
Lows: Diesel $3,000-$4,000 premium; diesel does not out-tow cheaper, twin-turbo V-6
Overall:★★★
Roush unleashes the beast in the Ford Super Duty F-250
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 3, 2018
In China, 2018 is the Year of the Dog. In the United States, it’s the Year of the Truck.
With U.S. pickup sales totaling more than 2.8 million last year, automakers are beefing up lineups with new trucks. At January’s Detroit auto show, the Detroit Three debuted an all-new Ford Ranger, all-new Chevy Silverado, all-new Ram 1500 and first-ever Ford F-150 diesel.
Not to be left out, renowned Ford mod-shop Roush Performance is introducing the first Roush Super Duty F-250.
The ferocious-looking truck, outfitted with giant 35-inch bead-locked off-road tires and a blacked-out grille, will make grown men whimper.
The heavy-duty Roush F-250 follows in the footsteps of the Livonia-based company’s lineup of three modified light-duty F-150 pickups which run from the wardrobe-enhanced Roush F-150 to the high-horsepower Roush Nitemare. Roush also makes a modified version of the off-road F-150 Raptor beast.
An aftermarket performance parts shop, Roush has a unique arrangement with the Dearborn automaker where its upgraded vehicles are sold to customers through Ford dealers. Founder Jack Roush’s long history of success in auto racing — from IMSA Ford Mustangs to providing V-8 engines to NASCAR teams — has helped elevate Roush to one of the most recognizable mod brands in the United States.
Roush-badged Mustangs and F-150 pickups swagger across American roads with fearsome fascias and rib-rattling exhaust notes. Roush’s signature vehicle has long been the Mustang pony car, which Roush brought to market in 1995.
The latest version, birthed in 2016, features a menu of mods which dial up the performance volume — from hood stripes to high-horsepower engine tweaks. The supercharged, 670-horsepower Stage 3 Mustang is Roush’s signature.
But the pull of big F-series pickups, which sold almost 900,000 units in 2017 alone, has proved irresistible. F-series pickups are sold in five configurations from base XL to luxurious King Ranch, plus the 450-horsepower Raptor. Since 2001, Roush has added to that stable with F-150 modifications to compete in a market that includes competitor off-road pickup trims like the Ram Rebel and coming Chevy Silverado Trailboss.
The Roush F-250 Super Duty resembles Roush’s entry-level F-150 and F-150 FC models with its Roush-stamped black grille, flared fenders, upgraded suspension, black hood and off-road tires.
A throaty dual exhaust makes the Roush instantly identifiable from the rear. Customers can use a vehicle configurator to pick additional options like body color and Roush badging, then take delivery of the pickup at one of 200 dealers around the world.
“Roush’s entry into the Super Duty market is a game-changer for drivers who crave an aggressive, no-compromise look,” said Roush Performance sales chief Taylor Bloor. “The 2018 Roush Super Duty F-250 looks incredibly intimidating with an off-road stance and isn’t afraid to get dirty. It’s reliable, functional and just plain cool.”
Unlike Roush’s F-150 Nitemare edition — or the Stage 3 Mustang — Roush doesn’t touch the Super Duty’s V-8 or Power Stroke diesel engines, both of which are available in the Roush wrap. The 6.7-liter Power Stroke puts out an eye-popping 925 pound-feet of torque and is the industry standard in towing and payload. Like any other Ford product, the Roush comes with full drive-train warranties and an additional 3 year/36,000 mile guarantee for the Roush extras.
With its muscled stance and raised suspension, the Roush F-250 is wider (4-6 inches) and taller (by 2 inches to 82.5) than the stock truck.
Now on sale, the Roush F-250 package starts at $13,880. Added configurations top out at over $15,000. Ford’s V-8 powered F-250 starts at about $52,000 and the diesel at about $65,000 before Roush modifications.
Payne review: Flamboyant Lexus LS 500 lives large
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 3, 2018
In 1989, “The Simpsons” debuted on television, the Tigers were mired in a rebuilding year and the fall of the Berlin Wall promised the end of the Cold War. Thirty years later, and the Simpsons are still America’s family, the Tigers are again reinventing themselves and Russian relations are colder than a Michigan spring.
But before you think we’re in a “Groundhog Day” movie loop, gaze upon the all-new Lexus LS 500 sedan. This is not your father’s LS.
The year 1989 was also notable, of course, for the debut of the LS 500 — at the Detroit auto show — as Lexus’ flagship. True to Japanese stereotype, the LS was a cheaper knock-off of the luxury segment’s state-of-the-art Mercedes S-Class. Same upright grille with rectangular, encased headlights. Same long, slab sides. Same gray rocker panels, same rectangular taillights, same leather-wrapped interior.
Toyota’s premium brand built its reputation on bulletproof reliability, slavish customer service and wallet-friendly pricing. Design was an afterthought.
Not anymore.
Once again using Motown’s show as its backdrop, Lexus’ all-new, fifth-gen LS hit the stage in January like Bette Midler belting out “Hello, Dolly!” This Lexus had brass, sass and a personality all its own. And like any Broadway diva, the result is a polarizing talent that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
My 2018 tester arrived in the driveway with a cowcatcher grille bigger than a steam locomotive.
The spindle grille has become Lexus signature. It graces everything from the enormous mask on the RX ute (a face only Darth Vader could love) to the artful sculpture on the racy Lexus LC 500 sports coupe. The LS’s sci-fi grille is somewhere in between — neither pretty nor hideous. Flanked by “Z” headlights, it is a galaxy away from the Mercedes’ classic facial bone structure.
“It’s a handsome car except for the grille,” said a friend. “The grille’s ugly, but the back is nice,” another friend said of the derriere’s bold, horizontal lines interrupted only by a chrome drip (another Lexus signature) at the corner taillights.
Indeed, the Lexus is a bit of a split personality, like Tommy Lee in a tuxedo. Elegantly radical.
In between its “ugly” face and “nice” tush are a coupe-roofed, rear-wheel-drive-proportioned sedan draped over a 123-inch (a foot longer than the 1989 model) wheelbase. In contrast with the RX which demands an opinion from every angle, the rocker panels and door handles are conservatively conventional.
But then Lexus goes too far with a touch-pad operated infotainment screen that will drive you bonkers. Mrs. Payne nearly took a tire iron to the mouse-controlled display of the Lexus GS on a recent journey to West Virginia so, naturally, Lexus made the LS controls even more diabolical.
Trying to navigate the haptic touchpad while traveling is like moving target practice. To make matters worse, Lexus buries features in the screen like heated seats that most automakers locate on the console. The LS console is a sleek piece of uncluttered art — at least until frustrated passengers start gouging it with blunt objects.
My wife tried adjusting her heated seats with the touch pad while I drove and soon threw her hands up in frustration. Naturally, the Lexus features an advanced safety system — no doubt to help drivers distracted by the maddening touchpad — that has its own issues. Like other Level 2 systems, “Safety System Plus” triangulates adaptive cruise-control, lane-keep assist and blind-spot assist to create a cocoon of self-driving comfort on freeways. Until it doesn’t.
Like Tesla’s Autopilot, SS+ will simply stop working when it can’t make out road lines or center itself in the lane. That means you have to be alert, lest the system takes a coffee break. It’s a toy, not a tool.
Happily, there is the back seat for when the front gets too stressful. In fact, I would recommend going everywhere with two couples to gain the full LS experience. Touchpad driving you batty? Time to switch with the rear passengers!
Equip your LS with the $12,270 luxury package and you won’t regret it. In addition to the aforementioned, 28-way front thrones, you get reclining, 18-way heated rear sofa chairs with power window shades, a seven-inch touchscreen controller (Hooray, no touchpad!) and Ultrasuede liner.
My chocolate Ultrasuede door liner looked like it had been applied with a cake knife, its sugary material shaped with scalloped swirls. I gained 10 pounds just looking at it.
The touchscreen controller not only heats and reclines your own seat, but moves the front passenger seat forward for extra space (oops, still got room up there?) and controls the front radio (“CNN? I’ll switch to Fox News, thank you very much!”). Opt for the $1,000 panoramic roof and you can also control how much sun you get. Aaaah, that’s the life.
The Adaptive Variable Suspension also makes for a carpeted ride back there, electronically adapting to Detroit’s worst roads. On a double date, our chauffeured friends paused from licking the chocolate suede to notice how uncommonly smooth was the drive down the pothole-pocked Lodge service drive.
Naturally, the Lexus also has split driving personalities.
Determined to match its hair-raising design with goosebump-raising performance, the all-new architecture is lower, lighter and more nimble. Give the big bull’s right horn (sprouting from the cockpit cowl) a twist and you are in Sport Plus mode: springs-stiffened, 10-speed tranny optimized, growling 3.5-liter twin-turbo V-6 at the ready.
Open the throttle gates and the 4,938-pound heifer is on the loose, its 442 pound-feet of V-6 torque stampeding across the landscape.
It’s not a the V-8 roar of old — hey, its’ not 1989 anymore. But it has personality, just like the rest of this big, ugly, handsome, relaxing, maddening Japanese land yacht. The new Lexus is still cheaper than a Mercedes, still leads five-year cost-of-ownership listsand still speaks geek. But it’s never boring.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-1 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2019 Lexus LS 500
|
VEHICLE TYPE |
FRONT-ENGINE, REAR AND ALL-WHEEL DRIVE, FOUR- OR FIVE-PASSENGER LUXURY SEDAN |
|
Price |
$75,995 base ($103,635 AWD with luxury package as tested) |
|
Power plant |
3.5-liter, twin-turbo V-6 |
|
Power |
416 horsepower, 442 pound-feet of torque |
|
Transmission |
10-speed automatic |
|
Performance |
0-60 mph, 4.6 seconds (mfr.); top speed: 136 mph (electronically limited) |
|
Weight |
4,751 pounds (5,093 pounds as tested) |
|
Fuel economy |
EPA fuel economy: 19 city/29 highway/23 combined (RWD); 18 city/27 highway/21 combined (AWD) |
Report card
Highs: Unique design; palatial back seat
Lows: Maddening remote touch-pad screen controller; clunky auto downshifts at low speed
Overall:★★★
Payne: Yankee-fied VW Jetta goes big, stays nimble
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 19, 2018
We Americans are getting so fat that the compact 2019 VW Jetta is bigger than Volkswagen’s 2004 mid-size Passat. And don’t even ask how big the new Passat has become (hint — New Yorkers are using them as apartments).
The all-new, Mark 7 Jetta has more headroom, shoulder-room, belly-room, and leg room than its predecessor. But, I am happy to report, it has lost none of its spunk.
Indeed, despite its girth, the nattering of government mpg nannies, and Americans’ demand for a rolling arcade of electronic gizmos (guilty as charged), the Jetta has not lost its athleticism.
Credit its stiff, new, MQB chassis and a fearsome squadron of competitors that have also upped their game, and — WHUMP! Didn’t see that railroad crossing in Middle-of-Nowhere, North Carolina coming.
Despite my flogging the Jetta at high speed along a hilly country road outside Durham, the V-dub’s new, torsion-beam, rear suspension was barely ruffled by the uneven crossing. A V-dub without an independent rear suspension? Gott in Himmel! Happily, my 6’5” head — and that of my tall driving partner, Seyth Miersma — didn’t pogo-stick into the roof.
Indy-rear compacts are an elite club of which Jetta was once a part (Jetta’s sportier cousin VW Golf is still a member as is the Honda Civic). But in the ferociously competitive, $19,000-$26,000 compact segment every bolt counts and IRS is a luxury. Even the forthcoming, zoom-zoom Mazda 3 will succumb to the cheaper beam to cut costs.
Used to be VW thought it was enough to wave around IRS and German engineering and then have Yanks swoon at their feet in homage. Such arrogance led to woeful sales — and to Dieselgate. Humbled, it is now Volkswagen’s turn to grovel at the feet of us Yanks — and they are doing a fine job of it.
VW these days is talking with a very American accent. A southern, Tennessee drawl.
Ignore the cocktail party talk of an electric future, saving the planet, blah, blah, blah. Herr Volkswagen is leaving the party in a 3.6-liter, gas-powered Atlas SUV. Built in Chattanooga. And he wants to build a two-row Atlas and an Atlas pickup too, ya’ll.
The same XL theme carries over to VW’s compacts. Wolfsburg doesn’t even bother sending us its Pop and Polo subcompacts because they know they’d sit on the shelves like a Hillary Clinton campaign tome. Instead, they made a better, bigger, cheaper Jetta. Yes, cheaper (see axing that expensive, multi-link, IRS rear suspension).
Suddenly, über-engineered VW is a value brand in America, the only country where Jetta will be sold.
The volume SE model comes equipped with best-in-class, transferable, bumper-to-bumper warranty of 6 years/72K miles, smartphone app connectivity and blindspot assist, which — at $23,005 — is on par with compact peers.
Take the comparable Mazda 3 Touring — one of my favorite value models — and Jetta goes toe-to-toe on blind spot-assist, torque and handling. The Mazda jumps ahead with sexier looks and auto-headlights (something some luxe brands don’t offer) — only to see the VW claw back with a bigger, quieter interior and smooth-shifting eight-speed tranny (also shaming some premium entries).
Ultimately, cars in this segment must be judged against King Civic, which set a new bar in 2016 for fuel economy, handling, rear legroom and techno-smarts. Jetta doesn’t flinch from the challenge, nearly matching the best-selling, benchmark Honda in all respects.
But it also separates itself in two crucial respects: powertrain and looks. Under the hood, the 1.4-liter turbo-4 never starves for power with a stump-pulling, 183-pound feet of torque compared to the Civic’s 153.
As for curb appeal, the mascara-smeared, boomerang-taillight Civic looks like something on its way to a Mötley Crüe concert. Conservative Jetta can be taken home to mother with its nicely creased flanks and groomed front end. Brahms, anyone?
Actually, the V-dub secretly likes to rock out. Jetta brought Beat reps to its media debut, who had designed an audio system for (upper trim SEL) Jetta in collaboration with rapper and Eminem producer Dr. Dre. That’s right, Dr. Dre rappin’ in a Jetta.
Jetta is a fully Yankee-fied product in other ways, too. It’s made in Mexico just like The Donald’s suits. Its redesigned console sports plenty of cubby space for fries, smartphones and other daily necessities. Its big grille is a dead ringer for a Dodge Charger right down to the C-shaped LED running lights.
The V-dub even adopts the American habit of non-functional design cues tacked on just for show. Think fake engine ports. Or fake hood scoops. The Jetta’s contribution to the wardrobe malfunction club is rear, “floating” dual chrome exhaust tips. Except that there are no exhaust pipes behind them (the actual pipe is hidden behind the left fender). They are, ahem, just for show.
Exhaust tip bling also perfectly illustrates the difference between Jetta and its kissing cousin, Golf.
VW is unusual in splitting its compact models by body style: Jetta sedan and Golf hatch. Other auto models (Civic, Focus, Cruze) are content to change their wardrobe while maintaining the same badge. Readers of this column know I’m a hot hatch hooligan and prefer the Golf GTI to just about everything on the market.
I fit VW’s demographic stereotype perfectly. The $27K GTI embodies the Golf spirit with a different engine (turbocharged 2.0-liter) and accounts for some 50 percent of sales reaching well above 30 grand.
The Jetta, meanwhile, is marketed toward a more budget-conscious, more interior-oriented customer (an IRS-equipped GLI model sharing the GTI engine comes later). So the $20K S and SE models are the volume sellers with top, $27K-trim, SEL and SEL Premium trims getting exclusive touches like 10-inch digital instrument display, moonroof and heated rear seats.
The Jetta-Golf personality split is even evident in Jetta’s “sporty” trim, the R-Line. For just $23,845 its brooding black grille and racy wheels appear ready to rumble. But look closer and R-Line is not available with paddle shifters, or a manual transmission, or even a SPORT drive mode.
That autocross-friendly, limited-slip diff is a tech orphan.
But the Jetta lineup should find plenty of homes. Wolfsburg finally gets it and has produced a sculpted, roomy, techy Teuton aimed squarely at the heart of the American market. Or perhaps I should say, squarely at our big, fat behinds.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-1 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2019 Volkswagen Jetta
|
VEHICLE TYPE |
FRONT-ENGINE, FRONT-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER COMPACT SEDAN |
|
Price |
$19,395 base ($23,845 R-Line and $27,795 SEL Premium as tested) |
|
Power plant |
1.4-liter, turbocharged inline-4 |
|
Power |
147 horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque |
|
Transmission |
6-speed manual; 8-speed automatic |
|
Performance |
0-60 mph, 8.0 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed: 127 mph |
|
Weight |
2,970 pounds as tested |
|
Fuel economy |
EPA fuel economy: 30 city/40 highway/34 combined (automatic as tested) |
Report card
Highs: Nimble handling with peppy turbo; roomy interior
Lows: Fake, floating exhaust tips; volume knob mute, please?
Overall:★★★
Automakers push Congress for higher fuel standards
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 19, 2018
Two weeks after winning a victory against aggressive federal fuel economy rules aimed at speeding adoption of electrified vehicles, the U.S. auto industry went to Capitol Hill last week to press Congress for a national fuel octane standard that would help increase the efficiency of the internal combustion engine.
With consumers resistant to expensive, battery-powered cars and gas prices low, automakers say they will have to meet federal mpg standards in coming decades with advances in the gas engine.
Key to that progress, they say, is higher octane fuel — about 91-octane compared to today’s 87-octane pump standard — which will deliver 3-percent-better fuel economy for an estimated 3-percent increase in cost. The standard is referred to by its international metric, 95 RON, which translates to U.S. 91-octane.
“We got a very good reception in Washington,” General Motors Co.’s vice president for global propulsion, Dan Nicholson, told The Detroit News on 910 AM Radio Saturday, one day after a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee that included representatives of Detroit’s Big Three and members of the fuel industry.
“The status quo is untenable,” said Nicholson, who first announced the pro-95 coalition on behalf of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (USCAR) at the SAE World Congress last week. “Fuels and engines are a system together, so 95 RON is important. Better fuel means you can go back and redesign engines for better fuel efficiency.”
Higher octane makes gas more stable under ignition compression — commonly known as knock — which can damage internal engine components. A higher, 91-octane (95 RON) standard would allow engineers to design engines to a higher compression ratio — perhaps to 15:1 over today’s average of 10:1 — and gain more mpg while not sacrificing performance.
“America deserves at least as good a fuel as Europe has,” Nicholson told the SAE panel last week. “It will have customer value if it’s done correctly. We’ve studied it and we know that it’s cost-effective.”
The federal government, too, set ambitious goals of 54.5 average fuel economy by 2025, in part to encourage automakers to shift toward battery power. But consumers mostly have not followed, and — encouraged by automakers — the Trump administration has agreed to review federal mpg demands, even as Washington will continue dictating efficiency goals.
In Washington, Nicholson represented the USCAR coalition of automakers that includes Ford Motor Co.’s David Filipe, vice president for powertrain engineering, and Bob Lee, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV’s chief for global powertrain coordination. Also there were representatives from the fuel industry — ethanol fuel interests, refiners, and fuel retailers — which has long resisted higher octane standards because of their added costs.
The panel was a rare show of auto-oil industry brotherhood. Higher octane fuel typically fetches higher prices at the pump. Standard 87-octane fuel currently averages $2.71, with premium fuels another 50 cents above that at $3.23 a gallon.
Nicholson said that the high cost of premium fuel today, however, is misleading since it is “sold as a niche product.” If 91-octane were adopted as the national standard, the price increase would not be significant while delivering consumers better mpg in return.
“(The 95 RON standard) is the most effective way we can improve fuel economy — which is why we are fighting for it,” Nicholson told The News.
But David Cole, chairman emeritus of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, says it might not be that simple.
“One of the things that is really uncertain is the economics of this whole effort,” Cole said. “You could achieve a better fuel economy, but whether it’s going to be enough with the cost increase of the fuel is a question. The economics as projected through the consumer is a really big deal.”
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Illinois, on the House panel Friday, called the effort to change to 95 RON a “major undertaking.”
“For one thing, we must deal with the proverbial chicken and egg conundrum — we can’t expect refiners and gas stations to invest in a new fuel unless they know that cars will be manufactured that will run on it, and automakers don’t want to commit to the new engines until they know that the fuel will be widely available,” he said. “Significant investment dollars and a great many jobs may be at stake.”
Nicholson said efforts to increase fuel efficiency by re-engineering gas engines — such as Nissan Motor Co.’s introduction this year of a variable-compression engines in its Altima sedan — are much more expensive solutions than simply raising compression levels in synch with higher-octane fuels.
“If we’re going to move forward with keeping internal combustion engines viable then we have to have improved fuels,” said Nicholson, until such time as the consumer market embraces electrification. Battery-powered cars have been dogged by high costs, a spotty charging infrastructure and fears of more limited range.
“The internal combustion engine is not dead yet, and it’s very important as we march towards zero emissions that we make significant improvement in the efficiency of internal combustion engines,” Nicholson said. “We’re now in peaceful coexistence with electrification. We’re working on both. There’s no reason not to work on both.”
Former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, who is not part of the auto-oil consortium, said the timing is right for a 91-octane standard given the low cost of fuel and continued demand for gas engines.
“Right now electric cars make no common sense,” he said. “They need federal subsidies to be sold. Everything about them is artificially stimulated under the assumption we are running out of oil. But we’re not going to run out of oil.”
Nicholson said that the House Energy committee, chaired by Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon, was encouraging of the idea but that key details would still need to worked out. He said California, which currently only allows 91-grade premium fuel, would need to sign on to the national standard. And the standard would have to be phased in over time.
GM exec: Detroit area’s ‘talent deficit’ cost it Amazon
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 13, 2018
Detroit – Citing a missed chance at Amazon’s second headquarters as a dashboard warning light, General Motors Co. product chief Mark Reuss told the Society of Automotive Engineers World Congress here Thursday that the autonomous vehicle revolution will also bypass Detroit unless the region addresses its “talent deficit.”
“Look, it’s no secret why we couldn’t even make the final 20 cities on the list for Amazon’s potential second headquarters site,” said Reuss in a passionate keynote speech in Cobo Center. “It wasn’t because of a lack of mass transit, although that is important. It wasn’t because of a lack of cultural opportunities, or because of the weather. . . . It came down to a simple talent deficit.”
“Much of the future of the automotive industry is going to be determined and developed, right here,” he continued. “But only if we can develop, attract and acquire the engineering talent to do so.”
Saying that a historic shift to electrified, autonomous transportation is “all really happening,” Reuss outlined the challenge of educating more engineers as a national imperative. Currently, he said, the United States suffers labor shortages in every science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) field. In just two years the U.S. will face a shortfall of a half-million engineers, he said.
But Reuss focused his address here at home where Motor City automakers are investing billions in a sci-fi future — GM alone is in the middle of a $1-billion, 2,600-job expansion of its Warren Tech Center. He said anyone with a stake in Metro Detroit’s signature industry needs to focus on education.
“By my count, that’s just about everybody,” he said. “We have to meet or beat the talent levels in Silicon Valley and other technology hubs around the world.”
He didn’t spare SAE and industry business leaders. “I worry that we miss a lot of opportunities to really assume a leadership position,” he emphasized. “This industry is changing – fast.”
His stark diagnosis of Detroit’s failure to make Amazon’s Final 20 echoed, in part, what many regional leaders have said were the two major reasons — the other being a lack of mass-transit — that the region missed out on Amazon’s promise of 50,000 jobs and $5 billion investment.
Reuss’ comments contradict another prominent tech player in the region, Dan Gilbert, chairman and founder of Quicken Loans.
In a letter this January to the 60-member bid committee addressing Amazon’s decision, Gilbert dismissed concerns over talent and cited Detroit’s negative image as “the elephant in the room.”
“Old, negative reputations do not die easily. I believe this is the single largest obstacle that we face,” Gilbert wrote. “Outstanding state-of-the-art videos, well-packaged and eye-catching proposals, complex and generous tax incentives and highly compelling and improving metrics cannot nor will not overcome the strong negative connotations that the Detroit brand still needs to conquer.”
“Our analysis found that Detroit is clearly hurting in a couple of areas,” the Lansing-based economist said. “Though I think mass transportation did hurt us with Amazon, the difficulty of educating our people hurts us every single day with every single employer.”
Despite the Amazon setback — and the warnings of giants like GM — Anderson says that many in the region refuse to accept reality.
“We’ve been criticized for saying this repeatedly,” he said. “But we consistently have shown a serious problem with K-12 education. It’s a fundamental problem that has not been remedied.”
In his speech, Reuss cited the efforts of GM and SAE in building regional educational opportunities as a good start.
A World In Motion, an SAE-organized, teacher-administered program that has brought hands-on STEM activities to K-8 students over the last decade, will receive $600,000 this year to support 1,800 volunteers. He singled out a Detroit college student, Brittany Agee, the first person in her family to attend college. She benefited from the “GM Student Core” program where company engineers mentor underprivileged kids.
“We need more Brittanys,” said Reuss. “We all need to ask how our companies can help do that.”
One of the auto industry’s greatest future concerns are self-driving systems’ vulnerability to hackers. To address this threat, Reuss said, GM and SAE have created a new program for 2018, “Cybersecurity Challenge,” designed to teach middle-schoolers how to protect the Internet’s architecture from cyber attacks.
“This is something (students) hear about all the time — whether it is companies being hacked, or individuals — it’s in the news a lot,” said Reuss.
Payne: Stress-free, thrill-free Toyota RAV4
Posted by Talbot Payne on April 5, 2018
The best-selling book on Amazon for much of the year has been “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos,” by Jordan Peterson. The title is self-explanatory. It’s a 12-step guide to stress-free living.
Chapter titles include: “Rule 3: Make friends with people who want the best from you” and “Rule 8: Tell the truth — or, at least, don’t lie” and “Rule 12: Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.”
Psychologist Peterson might have added Rule 13: Buy a Toyota.
Toyota has kept auto buyers off the shrink couch for decades. The brand has been synonymous with chaos-free reliability as it scooped up award after dependability award.
It’s no wonder, then, that the Toyota RAV4 in my driveway is the best-selling non-pickup in the United States. A staggering 407,594 were sold last year.
As Americans have crossed over to crossovers, compact SUVs have become the equivalent of the midsize family sedan. True to its brand, RAV4 has a trophy case full of reliability awards including a 9.3 (out of 10) reliability rating from Kelley Blue Book, IHS Automotive longest-lasting vehicle plaudits, and so on.
The RAV4 is the nanny of autos. It’s always there to pick you up after school, always there to carry your stuff, always nag-nag-nagging you when you want to have fun.
OK, so I am not your typical automotive appliance buyer. I’m a little rebellious when it comes to driving.
Give me a hot hatch or a sports car. Or the all-wheel drive hatchback Audi TT S sports car that I recently raved about, because I can take it to the track in the summer and do four-wheel drifting on snowy county roads in winter. I tried that last maneuver and the RAV4 looked at me with arms crossed, shaking its head.
I tried anyway. I turned off the traction control and … well, I eventually turned off the traction control after looking everywhere in the cabin for the button. It’s a tiiiiiny little button northeast of the radio screen next to three other tiny buttons indicating whether all passengers are belted in.
Who puts it there? An SUV determined to get Insurance Institute for Highway Safety top safety ratings, I guess.
But one push of the button didn’t do it. Unlike every other car I’ve ever driven, the “traction-control off” light on the dash changed little in the car’s performance. Under throttle through some Oakland County twisties the power was suddenly cut back as if the nanny systems were still engaged.
Indeed, the nannies are so intrusive in the RAV4 that the car nearly stalls in a straight line — much less under g-loads — if the electronics detect tire slip. On Detroit’s snowbound roads, this often made for tortoise-like stoplight getaways as RAV4 refused to allocate power to the wheels while two lanes of traffic streamed by on either side of me.
To turn off traction control altogether, the “traction-control” button must be held down for five seconds.
Mrs. Payne would approve. She has no taste for my all-wheel-drive drifting shenanigans. And she is no doubt joined by the 100 percent of the appliance buyers who have made RAV4 their top sales pick. If you want to drift a best-seller, then buy the Nissan Rogue — No. 2 in sales to RAV4 by a mere 3,000 units — which sports a nimbler chassis than the Toyota and requires one push of its (easily located) traction-control button.
Conservatism is the RAV4’s default mode.
The Toyota doesn’t offer the electronic gee-gaws that other competitors do like self-park assist (Ford Escape); or automatic high-beams (Mazda CX5); or fold-flat front seat (Chevy Equinox); or kick-open rear hatch (Ford and Honda CR-V); or Apple CarPlay and Android Auto app connectivity like just about everybody.
Perhaps most glaring was a lack of heated seats in my $32,714 model. Nearby in my driveway were a $27,000 VW Passat (leather seats) and all-wheel drive Subaru Impreza wagon (cloth seats like the RAV4) which were both equipped to warm up a cold tush on a cold day. Heated seats are one of my wife’s No. 1 priorities.
The interior is roomy with workable ergonomics, though the old-fashioned gated shifter seems oh-so 15 years ago.
The staid interior contradicts first impressions, as I find the RAV5 one of the more interesting mainstream utes to look at — especially the new-for-2018 Adventure model that I drove. When you’ve got 400,000-plus units flooding American roads every year, it’s nice to have a little variety and the Adventure delivers.
It features a flat-black hood a la Camaro 1LE, more aggressive wheel-well cladding and blacked-out headlights that make the RAV4’s signature, thin, wraparound grille look even more like the X-Men’s Cyclops.
The Adventure model is supposed to appeal to Toyota appliance buyers with a little Jeep ruggedness in their blood (hey, now my off-road antics don’t seem so crazy after all, hon!). The inside is festooned with thick, rubber mats with an “Adventure” logo on them. The chassis gets big 18-inch blacked-out wheels, more ride-height, and engine radiator and transmission upgrades to more than double RAV4’s towing capacity to 3,500 pounds.
Nice, though in keeping with Toyota’s conservative nature, it’s still well off a Jeep Cherokee V-6’s 4,500-pound rating.
When I wasn’t begging for less nanny and more power on slushy roads, the RAV4’s ride was surprisingly quiet given its non-turbo, 176-horse four-banger engine. A similar mill in a Mazda CX-5, for example, can get shouty — credit the Toyota’s very smooth, six-speed tranny which also helps return a respectable 25 mpg.
Last week in New York, Toyota unveiled an all-new fifth-generation RAV4 with a remake that will address many of the shortcomings mentioned above, from standard features to clunky shift-gate to more horsepower (though its awkward new face made me nostalgic for Cyclops). Based on the same wider, lower, stiffer platform that rejuvenated the Camry sedan in 2017, the new RAV4 goes on sale next winter.
In the meantime, I have to sit back and applaud a five-year-old car that continues to soar to new sales heights. Who needs a redesign when you’re an antidote for chaos?
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch “Car Radio with Henry Payne” from noon-1 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.
2018 Toyota RAV4
|
VEHICLE TYPE |
FRONT-ENGINE, FRONT AND ALL-WHEEL DRIVE, FIVE-PASSENGER SUV |
|
Price |
$25,505 base ($32,714 RAV4 Adventure as tested) |
|
Power plant |
2.5-liter inline-4 |
|
Power |
176 horsepower, 172 pound-feet of torque |
|
Transmission |
6-speed automatic |
|
Performance |
0-60 mph, 8.5 seconds (Car and Driver); towing: 3,500 pounds |
|
Weight |
3,605 pounds as tested |
|
Fuel economy |
EPA fuel economy: 22 city/28 highway/25 combined (AWD Adventure as tested) |
Report card
Highs: Rugged Adventure trim; quiet interior
Lows: Nagging nanny safety systems; missing features
Overall:★★★
Payne: 10 must-see vehicles at NY auto show
Posted by Talbot Payne on March 30, 2018
New York – The Big Apple’s Auto Show is a different animal than its Detroit counterpart. If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere – and a lot of people have. Almost a quarter of Gotham vehicle registrations are for luxury models. That’s nearly double the national average. As a result, luxury-automakers target New York for product reveals.
Yet, this year New York showed surprising bandwidth with introductions of volume mainstream vehicles like the Toyota RAV4 compact SUV and the Nissan Altima midsize sedan. Detroit will always host Big Three truck intros, but Motown’s lux-makers are eager to make it here (so much so that Cadillac has made the Empire City its home), so Cadillac and Lincoln brought their A games. The variety extended to robot cars and battery-powered rocket ships.
Herewith, in no particular order, the 10 must-see vehicles in New York:
A throwback to fanciful show concepts of old, the Essentia imagines an electric 2+2 coupe for the semi-autonomous future. A Formula One-style keel nose sits under a transparent hood, revealing inboard springs and aerodynamic tunnels for increased down-force. The digital cockpit straddles a center-line battery pack so that passengers sit low to the ground. Naturally, the concept gets butterfly doors, but my favorite details are the thin LED front running lights. There are no projector lamps to be found, because self-driving cars won’t need headlamps to see.
Displayed in the show’s exotica bullpen next to $2 million Lamborghinis and Bugattis, the Croation start-up’s second model manages to stand out. Determined to be the fastest EV ever, the hypercar with four electric motors generates jaw-dropping numbers from its 120-kWh powerpack: 1,914 horsepower, 1,696 pound-feet of torque, 230 mph top speed and a zero-60 spirit in just 1.85 seconds. That’s faster than the new Tesla Roadster. Determined to be the EV benchmark, the C_Two will soon take a shot at the Nurburgring lap record.
Across the aisle from Rimac’s expensive nest is the $25,000 Forester, Subaru’s second-best selling vehicle and marvel of affordability. Based on Subaru’s all-new global platform, the all-wheel drive Forester has more room and more standard features. My highlight is the rear tailgate opening which grows 5 inches wider – enough to swallow a golf bag sideways. All this goodness is wrapped is a more handsome wardrobe than the last-gen cardboard box.
Think of it as the baby Navigator. The three-row Aviator concept replaces the unloved MKT with dramatic looks, sumptuous interior and signature 30-way Lincoln seats. But the big ute is more than a pretty face. It’s is built on a rear-drive platform which Lincoln says allows a longer hood design as well as better grip for towing.
Forget your growly V-8 Jags of old with hoods longer than your driveway. The I-Pace SUV takes aim at the Tesla Model X with a meaty 90 kWh battery that boasts 240 miles of range and lots of torque. With batteries in the basement, the Brit EV features nimble handling and room for five adults. But will customers want a Jaguar without the growl?
You read that right – a Volkswagen pickup. The German automaker is determined to connect with us Yanks and what better way than an all-American truck? The Tanoak concept would be built off the same unibody bones as the three-row Atlas SUV, making it the third ute-based midsize pickup after the Honda Ridgeline and coming Hyundai Santa Cruz. The Tanoak’s rugged design looks nearly production-ready and its large dimensions are competitive with the GMC Canyon. The bed should be big enough to fit your old VW Rabbit, too.
This subcompact ute begins Cadillac’s comeback in the SUV segment. Aimed at the BMW X1 and Audi Q3, XT4 follows sister XT5’s strategy of offering large dimensions for the segment. Like big brother Escalade, the XT4 sports dramatic, vertical tail-lamps taller than the Fox Theater marquee. Unlike its siblings, the new ute adds buttons to the CUE infotainment system’s unloved touchscreen.
The next-generation Altima is the latest Japanese sedan to try to keep cars relevant in ute nation. The Altima follows the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry with dramatic styling that SUVs like – well, the Nissan Rogue – can’t touch. Roomy Altima also offers all-wheel drive for the first time for better ute-like utility as well as a pioneering variable-compression turbo-4.
The SUV performance arms race continues. Maserati’s family SUV gets a 590-horsepower Ferrari-assembled twin-turbo V-8 to best the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio’s (say that 10 times fast) 505 horsepower and the Jaguar F-Pace SVR’s 550. So you can go zero-60 in just 3.7 seconds while coddled by red leather seats with Wagner playing over the 17-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system. Be warned, though. The 707-horse Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is quicker.
It’s hard to ignore a remake of the best-selling non-pickup in America. The RAV4 gains capability on the Toyota’s new TNGA platform, but that doesn’t make it any prettier. The ute is homelier than ever. Happily, an interior decorator was hired for upgrades inside, bringing the RAV4 into the 21st century. Determined to give its loyal customers more model differentiation, a new Adventure trim brings the rugged (better) looks of the Tacoma pickup.
