September 2016

September 18, 2016: We're taking a brief break, and will be back on October 7 with a new issue.

September 9, 2016: It’s almost three weeks prior to the Paris Motor Show, and Audi felt the need to pull the wraps off its latest A5/S5 Sportback, a model that has not been offered in the U.S., before its show debut. The real question about this car for U.S. buyers is not whether this body style will be sold here, but which, if any, of the diesel engines will be offered? Hint: It will be the most powerful one. Not content to let Audi steal the limelight, Lexus leaked a photo of its UX Concept that will debut at Paris. We dig up information on the vehicle the production UX will be based on to give you an idea of what the 2017 production UX will be like. And, even though they will not be at Paris, Chevy and GMC released information about the changes made to the 2017 Colorado and Canyon. They include an eight-speed automatic, off-road package and, for the Canyon, a Denali trim level.  Elsewhere, 2016 is the 40^th anniversary of Audi’s five-cylinder engine, an engine that helped the company to the World Rally Championship title and competed in IMSA, before disappearing and then reappearing in its production lineup. Dodge introduces the heritage-inspired color palette for its 2017 models, complete with graphics. The Virtual Collection looks at a pair of exquisite and important Cunningham C3s, and a potentially authentic Mercury Cougar Trans Am racer. Ansible Motion, a U.K.-based driving simulator maker, uses its technology to help prevent a problem with autonomous cars no one is talking about — motion sickness. And the editor recalls an occasion on which he went to England to drive one high-tech research vehicle, and nearly uncovered information about another that was years ahead of its time.

August 2016

August 26, 2016: Just when we think we have the Editor at Large figured out, he does something different. This week’s Virtual Collection is not a group of cars, but a group of people. Race drivers, to be more precise, that he met during his career, including Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Dale Earnhardt and Bill Alsup. But the one driver who both fascinated and confounded him the most was the meteoric Tim Richmond. It’s a fascinating account of the psyche of a potential superstar by a man who looks suspiciously like the infamous Ted Bennett. Last weekend, the folks at Lister introduced a new continuation model at Pebble Beach, the Stirling Moss edition. Based on the car Moss drove at Silverstone in 1958, the $1.0 million magnesium-bodied racer is limited to a total of 10 copies. Elsewhere, recent events gave us the opportunity to drive Toyota’s Tundra, Nissan’s mid-duty Titan XD and the new half-ton Titan. The Tundra is comfortable, the Titan XD is LARGE, and the half-ton Titan is surprisingly good. Just how good will have to wait for a longer test, but the initial prognosis is very promising. We did spend quality time with Audi’s S6 quattro, A3 quattro and the VW Golf R, however. The S6 is an incredibly quick and luxurious sport sedan, the A3 is an upscale sedan version of the exemplary VW Golf, and the Golf R is – in this group – the performance bargain of the decade. Finally, we take a look at Infiniti’s production-ready variable compression ration turbocharged four-cylinder engine — literally. Rather than waste words describing the concept, set to debut at the Paris Motor Show, we have reprinted the graphic Infiniti sent out to explain the system, hoping for a more detailed explanation of the concept to become available at that time.

 

August 12, 2016: BMW introduced its latest 7 Series model, a hybrid. But this isn’t just any hybrid, it’s powered by a four-cylinder with twin-turbos and an electric motor integrated into its eight-speed automatic transmission. You have to wonder how buyers in this league will respond to having such a small engine under the hood. Continuing with the German/electric theme, Audi announced a new active shock absorber concept that brings back lever-arm dampers. Only these units are connected to electric motors that harvest energy from wheel movement, and use it to control the suspension’s damping rate. Stretching the electric thread to the breaking point, Actev Motors has an electric go kart with all the features helicopter parents could want for their pampered offspring, at a reasonable price. Chevy, meanwhile, set pricing for both the Camaro ZL1 and the 1LE package, but will it be enough to revive the Camaro’s softening sales? The Editor at Large liked his quartet of cars in the last Virtual Collection that he decided to stick with that theme. Instead of Ford GT40s, he’s found a flock of Dan Gurney’s Indy Eagles that would complement any collector’s garage. One of those cars introduced a new take on ground effect aerodynamics that was used on the DeltaWing, as well as Nissan’s BladeGlider concept. That 1+2-seat electric sports car was thought to be scrapped, but Nissan has produced a new version of the car that it is using at the Rio Olympics. And while we didn’t get invited to Brazil, we did make it to Flat Rock, MI to drive BFGoodrich’s latest all-season performance tires. Almost as surprising, BAC, makers of the Mono single-seat track car, is moving beyond carbon fiber to the use of graphene. This light, strong material is currently used on the Mono’s rear fender, but could spread to other areas of the vehicle. Finally, TMB Art Metal is offering cufflinks made from the metal of an actual Bugatti Veyron road wheel, proving that material recycling has its artistic uses.

Page Not Found Alerts

Some of you may have noticed that the links provided in some newer articles do not point back to the older story anymore. This is an unintended consequence of altering the headers to make room for Virtual Collection. Eventually we hope to search out these links and modify them, but -- in the interim -- should you come across a broken link to a previous story, follow these simple steps. If, for example, you click on the embedded link for the 2012 feature Alphabet Soup Agonistes in another story, you are likely to get a "Page Not Found" alert containing the offending URL. Change the section of the URL that says "analysis-opinion" to "analysis", and you will be taken to the story. Or you can use the website search function to search for "alphabet soup agonistes", and it will take you to a search page containing that item. We apologize for any inconvenience these changes may have caused.

July 2016

July 29, 2016: The week opened with Nissan introducing the Titan Single Cab, an entry-level version of its full-size pickup that puts it in the fleet/commercial use segment. Though the true entry-level buyer will havePatrick Ernzen © 2016 to wait until the V6-powered version becomes available next year. Audi also showed a new model, the 2017 A4 allroad quattro. If you know anything about Audi, you already know this means this is an A4-based, high-riding station wagon with all-wheel drive and unique trim, which makes it the un-crossover. Morgan, on the other hand, announced a partnership with Selfridges to sell a very limited-edition all-electric three-wheeler. And we discovered two cars up for auction that aren’t Virtual Collection material, but are interesting nonetheless. The cars that did make it into the collection, however, have something in common: they’re all Ford GT40s. The week continued with a review of VW’s Beetle Dune that is not much more than a trim package, looked into why more and more young Brits are putting off learning how to drive, and investigated a new motorsport/performance turbocharger from Owen Developments. But the highlight is the week was a film from Carfection on the men and women involved in the DeLorean project. This group — including former Group Lotus CEO and friend Mike Kimberley — tell a tale different from what you think you know about John Z’s stainless steel GT car. It’s well worth a watch.

July 15, 2016: The keen-eyed among you will notice that the section banner has a new addition, Virtual Collection, and that the other section headings have been modified or moved to reflect changes that have taken place in terms of staff, topics and focus. This week’s Virtual Collection looks at the BMW 3,0 CSL and the 1935 Miller-Ford; a front-drive racer that brought together Harry Miller, Preston Tucker and Henry Ford in pursuit of Indy 500 glory. Red Bull Racing’s Adrian Newey has had plenty of glory on the race track, but F1’s restrictive regulations have left him a bit restless. How better to deal with that restlessness than to design a hypercar to be built by Aston Martin? The imaginatively named AM-RB 001 goes on sale in 2018. If you can’t wait that long, there’s always the drop top version of Ferrari’s LaFerrari supercar. Except that you’ll have to wait for one to hit the auction houses as the allotment has been pre-sold before the car’s official launch. On the technology front, Voyomotive introduced an app and module combination that gives vehicles built since 1996 two-factor authentication for greater theft resistance. Ford and Kuka place a collaborative robot in the Ford’s Cologne, Germany, assembly facility. Opel/Vauxhall add an advanced lighting unit that could make its way to your Buick dealer. And Renault and its U.K. advertising agency use cameras and a vehicle registration database to send personalized messages to target customers. Elsewhere, the folks at WalletHub rate the best and worst U.S. cities for drivers. We drive BMW’s 650i, a large rear-drive 2+2 coupe that is many things to many people, but is it true to what made BMW what it is today? And Audi’s latest TT steps out from behind its “hairdresser’s car” image to create a surprisingly complete and beautiful German luxury/performance coupe.

July 1, 2016: We open the month with a new feature, The Virtual Collection. Compiled by Editor at Large William G. Sawyer (Innovation and the Death of Innocence, Why I Love the Mitty, Never Eat Hamburgers in Manhattan), it’s a look at some of the more interesting race and road cars up for sale, and what made them that way. Next, we look at some potential future classics. First up is the 2017 Ford GT Heritage Edition. Nothing says, “Take me to Barrett Jackson,” quite like a limited edition six-figure Le Mans winner lookalike built by Ford. For the less financially well-endowed there’s the road-going version of the Mercedes-AMG GT3, the AMG GT R. Painted “AMG Green Hell Mango” and sporting a toothy vertical bar grille, it’s sure to make the short list.  And, finally, the long shot of this group is the Arrinera Hussarya GT, a supercar designed and built in Poland, but powered by a 6.2-liter Chevy V8. Almost as rare, but pushing the aerodynamic boundaries for track day specials, is the Elemental Rp1, which produces hundreds of pounds of downforce through the use of a Formula 1-inspired underbody. Like the AMG, it’s perfect for the Nurburgring. If the idea of traversing that fearsome track intrigues, but you’d rather let an expert do the driving. Jaguar has just the thing for you, the Jaguar Co-Pilot Nordschleife program. Don’t for get your Dramamine. On a more serious note, we delve into the proposed settlement between the U.S. government and VW, and see what consumers could get, and what it might cost. One car that won’t be affected by this accommodation is the 2017 Porsche Panamera. Bristling with technology, the new car is one thing the old one wasn’t: good looking. We also drive Toyota’s RAV4 Limited, a well-equipped small crossover that trades dullness for style. Then we delve into why the Mazda3, like the brand itself, isn’t more popular, and Buick drivers had better cover their ears.