Wednesday, 9 December 2015
2016 Lexus RX
The Lexus RX pioneered the luxury-crossover segment when it debuted in the late 1990s as the RX300, and the model has been a pillar of the Lexus brand ever since. It remains the bestselling Lexus model today. The company shifted 107,000 units last year, putting the RX well ahead of the runner-up ES sedan, of which it sold 72K. So while Lexus would like the RX to shake its somnambulant image, it is loathe to move it too far off the beam.
The just-unveiled 2016 redesign shows that inherent conflict. Chief engineer Takayuki Katsuda expressed it thusly: “Our ambition has been to make a bold and completely new statement . . . [while] staying true to the pioneering values of previous RX generations.”
Bold and New, or Staying True?
The new RX adopts the brand’s aggressive—which is not to say “beautiful”—new design language, with L-shaped lighting elements and a giant, spindle grille. The “floating” roof created by the blacked-out C-pillar is a new twist—unfortunately for Lexus, it’s one that is also seen on the new Nissan Murano.
Dimensionally, the vehicle has grown nearly five inches in length, while the wheelbase has been stretched by some two inches; width and height are within a fraction of their previous figures. The extra length results in enhanced rear-seat room, but Lexus has opted not to wedge in a third row of seats.
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Monday, 7 December 2015
Sunday, 6 December 2015
2016 Chevrolet Malibu 2.0T
The three-box Chevy sedan arrived with the new-for-1949 Chevrolets, which grew proper trunks that were flattened and pulled out from the old bustle-back Fleetlines and Master Deluxes of the streamliner era. How many of us saw Dad off to work in a Biscayne or a Bel Air, or remember the mall lots clogged with Novas and Caprices? The Chevy sedan was everyman’s car, the car you drove if you cared more about value than flash.
Malibus were once everywhere, even in Malibu, but the Japanese long ago moved the bull’s-eye for high-value conformity, and Chevrolet has struggled to hit it. Too big, too small, too boring, too unreliable; the mid-size Chevy sedan devolved into a car you would rent but never buy. Well, here is GM’s latest attempt to reverse the Malibu’s typecasting.
As with the new Chrysler 200, the 2016 Malibu attempts to strum the heartstrings with modern, swept styling. Look at its new shoulders and those tendon lines on the body sides. Muscle and sinew emerge as the light plays in interesting ways. The headlights squint menacingly, like a thug, or like a Camaro. Also like a Camaro (and all the new Cadillacs and Buicks), the Malibu’s beltline is hiked way up to make the roof seem low, leaving narrow daggers for side glass. GM never tires of that bunker-top styling, no matter what it costs in visibility.
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2016 McLaren 675LT
This is a great time to be a billionaire gearhead, no question. Manufacturers are practically tripping over each other to bring their adjective-stretching hypercars to market, complete with their four-figure power outputs and seven-digit price tags. This is a golden era for those with bottomless pockets and an urge to go very, very quickly.
But what about those who are fractionally further down the pyramid, the unlucky ones who find they can’t quite crack the 1 percent of the 1 percent? These are the guys who can’t stretch to a McLaren P1 or a Porsche 918, but who don’t want to be stuck with one of the same entry-level supercars that their lawyers and chiropractors drive. All together now: Won’t somebody think of these multimillionaires?
McLaren has, with the new 675LT. The $350,000-plus sticker is still some ways short of affordability for most of us, but it looks like an outrageous bargain next to a $1.15 million McLaren P1. Because after driving the LT both on the track and on the road we can confirm that, despite costing less than a third as much as its hybrid sibling, it’s at least 97 percent as exciting to drive flat-out.
A Rolling Example of Overcompensation
One obvious problem to start: You can’t actually buy a 675LT, at least not from McLaren. The entire global production run of 500 already has sold out, with fewer than 180 of those likely to come to the United States. And those fortunate folks will find themselves owning what we predict will be one of this season’s hottest automotive tickets.
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Brabus Rocket 900 Desert Gold Edition: An 888-hp, 885-lb-ft S-class Sedan
Difficult as it is to comprehend, some people believe the twin-turbocharged, V-12–powered Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG doesn’t have enough gristle.
We know, right? I mean, BMW refuses to build a 7-series-based M7 because it doesn’t think such a car fits their brand, yet there so many customers looking for that sort of sedan that not only can they get one from AMG (two, if you include the twin-turbo V-8 S63), but they can get an even wilder one from Brabus. The German tuning and customization house has hit the Dubai Motor Show by matching heat with heat, delivering this Rocket 900 Desert Gold Edition, which promises to fit right in with its new flagship store in the Gulf emirate.
Brabus claims the Rocket 900 Desert Gold will reach out a top speed on the naughty side of 217 mph, a feat enabled by coercing the Benz’s V-12 to deliver 888 horsepower and a John Deere-ish 1106 lb-ft of torque, although it has to be limited in practice to 885 lb-ft to prevent grenading the driveline. With that fusillade delivered exclusively to the rear wheels, we’re thinking achieving the quoted 0-to-62-mph time of 3.7 seconds will be a bit of a challenge, but the 9.1-second 0-to-120-mph time might be more easy to replicate.
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Tuesday, 1 December 2015
2016 Honda Pilot FWD
The new Honda Pilot rolls into the 2016 model year with a pricing spectrum that spans five trim levels and $16,425 from one end to the other, each step up tempting the prospective buyer with more goodies, right up to the fully loaded Elite model.
The big Honda clearly is aimed at folks whose motoring agendas include lots of hauling. It can tow—up to 5000 pounds with all-wheel drive, 3500 with front-drive. But more often than not, the payloads entail kids. We probably don’t really need to add that even though minivans are superior in almost all aspects of family hauling, Pilot prospects would rather donate their kids to science than be seen in something with those telltale sliding side doors.
There’s irony in this vehicular phobia, since the Pilot is a close cousin of Honda’s Odyssey minivan, structurally speaking. But image rules in this realm, and image is rarely rooted in rationality. Speaking of image, there are some within our walls who prefer the blockier looks of the previous generation to the slicker styling of the new. But slick is where the entire crossover segment is headed.
Our first test of the generation-three Pilot involved an Elite model, which includes everything in the vehicle’s extensive inventory of features. This time, we’re looking at one of the less expensive versions.
If you draw your budgetary line at a Pilot EX, what do you get? What do you forego? Is there a performance sacrifice? And what do you save?
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2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 Manual
Let’s get this out of the way up front: The litany of breakdowns suffered by our long-term 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 (C7) was simply appalling. Yes, we know a car is a machine made up of thousands of components, and that despite massive leaps in technology and manufacturing that make cars far more reliable today than they were just a couple of product cycles ago, things can and do go wrong. But sheesh.
Things were fine at first, starting with our coupe’s base price of $51,995, which is nearly 30 grand less than the base price of another popular way to go fast, the Porsche 911. Among the C7’s standard features are its rigid aluminum space frame and lightweight Batman bodywork that always grabs attention, even in our test car’s reserved Blade Silver Metallic. Contrasting black wheels ($495) and “carbon flash” exterior accents ($100) surely helped. The suspension still uses composite (fiberglass) transverse leaf springs, but the Stingray is altogether more high-tech and engaging to operate than before.
The C7’s interior is vastly improved from the C6’s. Nicely equipped to start, our test car also included the mid-level 2LT equipment group ($4210), which added heated and ventilated seats, a color head-up display, and other luxuries. We also opted for carbon-fiber interior trim ($995) and Chevy’s MyLink navigation ($795). The “Car and Driver” identification plaque on the console ($200) flattered our already-inflated egos. As tested, including other options to be cited shortly, the car’s price was $66,575. Little did we know how special it really was.
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Nissan IDS Concept: "Like Relaxing in a Living Room"
The Nissan IDS concept hit both themes of the 2015 Tokyo auto show, being both an autonomous car and an EV. The name stands for Intelligent Driving System, and Nissan calls its autonomous-driving setup Piloted Drive, and says it will be rolled out in two phases.
Piloted Drive 1.0 will be for single-lane driving at sub-highway speeds. Piloted Drive 1.0 will be offered first in the Japanese market, starting in 2016, before coming to China, Europe, and the United States. Piloted Drive 2.0 will add the ability to deal with highway speeds and multiple lanes, including merging and changing lanes. Introducing the IDS, CEO Carlos Ghosn said that Nissan’s automated-driving technology would be available on multiple models worldwide by 2020.
On the IDS concept, when Piloted Drive is selected, the four individual seats angle in toward the center to facilitate conversation (the floor is flat and there is no fixed center console). The steering wheel retracts, and a wide touch screen appears on the dash. The cabin is illuminated in soft light. “It’s like relaxing in a living room,” says Nissan.
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Monday, 30 November 2015
2016 Jaguar XF: Lighter in Weight and Heavier on Tech
With its redesign for 2016, the Jaguar XF follows the full-size XJ and the new XE into the house of aluminum. In addition to the attendant weight loss, the new XF also sees a major increase in its tech offerings, while its engine lineup is sharply reduced.
The switch from an all-steel structure sees the mid-size luxury-sport sedan, which first made its debut for the 2009 model year, shed considerable mass. Jaguar is quoting a 132-pound weight loss for the rear-wheel-drive model and an impressive 265-pound cut for the all-wheel-drive version. Helping matters is the fact that the car has not grown any larger. The overall package size is retained, but the car’s wheelbase grows by two inches. The wheelbase stretch yields more rear-seat room, a welcome development. However, Jaguar is claiming bumps of less than an inch in rear-seat knee- and legroom, which is less than we might have hoped.
The new styling is largely evolutionary, not surprising given that the previous car ushered in Jaguar’s current design language. Although the whole car is new, the most noticeably fresh elements might be the headlights (available as full LEDs), the taillights (which take their cue from the F-type’s), and the elongated greenhouse that now includes quarter-windows in the C-pillars.
Aston Martin Announces 2016 DB9 GT, Updates to Vantage and Rapide S
There’s something about the older Aston Martins in the company’s lineup. The Vantage GT, while outclassed on paper by the Corvette Z06 and the Jaguar F-type V8, manages to retain an analog sports-car feel that’s wholly charming in its own right. And the DB9, despite 11 years in production, remains an involving, lovely thing to drive. It is, perhaps, the most idyllically Aston Martin of all the models the company sells. However, the last example we drove was still using Volvo’s typefaces from Aston’s days as part of Ford’s Premier Automotive Group. The new DB9 GT fixes that. More importantly, it offers more power.
The 5935-cc V-12 (which AM refers to as a 6.0-liter) gets a bump from 510 to 540 horsepower. It’s still a distant cry from the Ferrari FF’s 651-horse wind-’em-up whopper or the Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG coupe’s 621-hp spine extractor, but AM V-12s have always been pleasant engines with a wonderful snarl. We will not shake a stick at these 30 new ponies. Aston claims 4.4 seconds to 60 and a 182-mph top speed. Unlike the Rapide and the Vanquish, which have moved to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, the DB9 GT still makes do with six cogs.
Inside, the GT receives Aston’s AMi II touch-screen infotainment suite, an update to the AMi system that arrived in the Vanquish. The company claims its revised menu structure makes it more user-friendly.
Outside, the revised DB9 gets a black-painted splitter and rear diffuser, black-anodized calipers, and a GT-engraved fuel-filler cap. Revised headlights and taillights round out the package. If you’d like, the new rear lamps can be fitted with carbon-fiber inserts. If that’s not enough of the wonder plastic for you, the side strakes, splitter, and diffuser can also be crafted from the stuff. And if black calipers don’t cut the Grey Poupon, Gaydon happily offers alternative colors.
Inside, the grand tourer now features “GT” badging embroidered on the seats. Coupe customers get a microsuede-wrapped steering wheel, while Volante buyers will be set up with a more traditional, leather-covered tiller.
Speaking of the wheel, Aston notes that the unit is inspired by the helm of the ripping One-77. The price for all this new finery? It starts at $202,775.
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2016 Jaguar F-type Manual and AWD
One of these days our Save the Manuals campaign will arrive at its inevitable end. Even if the ol’ stick shift wins a battle every now and then, newer, smoother, and faster transmission technology is dominating the war. We’ll be devastated to concede victory, but our work as the enthusiasts’ advocate won’t end with manual transmissions.
That’s because there’s another just cause waiting in the wings. We’d call it our Save Rear-Wheel Drive Movement. As power escalates to obscene levels, carmakers are sending torque to all four wheels to get that grunt to the ground. Going fast is great, but all-wheel-drive systems also add weight and compromise handling.
Which brings us to the 2016 Jaguar F-type coupe and convertible, cars that simultaneously fight the good fight and force all-wheel drive onto a sublime rear-drive sports car. Two years after the F-type debuted, a six-speed manual is optional with some engines while other powertrains are now mated with all-wheel drive as standard equipment.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Saturday, 28 November 2015
Bentley Bentayga
The interior can be configured to seat four or five; only the finest leather will cosset those lucky posteriors. Diesel and hybrid powertrains will be offered in the future; the Bentayga goes on sale in early 2016.
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