Rome or Bust: We flog the new Lotus Evora from England to Rome and back.
For as long as most folks at Lotus Cars in Hethel, England, can remember, most everyone has eaten lunch in the office, worked eight-and-a-half hours Monday through Thursday, and then taken off the rest of the day at noon on Friday.
Keep Reading: 2010 Lotus Evora – Road Test
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The special-edition Mini that talks to you: It isn’t annoying, but it also isn’t cheap.
What Is It?
It’s a special-edition Mini. While that in and of itself isn’t particularly noteworthy—Mini churns out a new variant, like, every ten minutes—the Mini Camden talks to you in reaction to driver inputs. But more on that in a second.
Available solely on 2010 Mini Cooper and Cooper S three-doors and named for a tony North London neighborhood, the $5000 Camden pack consists of one of three metallic paint colors, sport seats covered in special leather and cloth upholstery, dynamic traction control (DTC), hood graphics and a rally-style grille badge, a rear spoiler, xenon headlights, an upgraded Harman/Kardon audio system, floor mats, special interior trim, 17-inch wheels, and fog lights. Oh, plus the talking thing, which Mini calls Mission Control.
Keep Reading: 2010 Mini Cooper 50 Camden Edition – Quick Spin
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Plus-Size Models: Testing the performance effects of upsizing wheels and tires.
The aesthetic appeal of larger wheels and tires is undeniable, but what about the alleged performance benefits? In general, larger wheels are heavier, and additional weight hinders performance. To examine the effects of installing larger wheels and tires, also known as “plus-sizing,” we tested five wheel-and-tire combinations—ranging from 15 to 19 inches—on a 2010 Volkswagen Golf and got a good sense of what is gained and lost in the process.
The plus-size concept basically works like this: As the wheel gets larger in diameter, the size of the tire’s sidewall must shrink to maintain the tire’s overall diameter. Keeping the overall tire diameter roughly the same is crucial to keeping the gearing the same and the speedometer accurate, as well as for making sure the wheels and tires fit within the fenders. But larger-diameter wheels and tires are often available only in enlarged widths as well. For more information on plus-sizing and details on what will and won’t fit your car, call the folks at Tire Rack (800-981-3782) or visit tirerack.com.
Our test employed nearly identical Goodyear Eagle GT ultra-high-performance all-season tires in all five sizes, inflated to manufacturer-recommended pressures. We say that the tires were nearly the same because the 15-, 16-, and 17-inchers have a lower speed rating (V, or a top speed up to 149 mph) than the 18- and 19-inch tires’ W-rating (up to 168 mph). This, however, was as close as we could get to testing the same tire in every size. We used the stock steel wheels for the 15-inch test and went to the aftermarket for the larger wheels, as most owners would do. The aftermarket wheel we chose was a cast-aluminum ASA GT1, which is available in 16- to 19-inch sizes on the Golf. It’s obvious from the test that as wheels and tires grow in size, they also grow in weight.
Keep Reading: Effects of Upsized Wheels and Tires Tested – Tech Dept.
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This Equus is Hyundai’s new $50K-plus luxury flagship, and is not to be confused with Equus the play.
Hyundai’s luxurious Equus was confirmed as coming here all the way back in August, but it’s taken until now, and the New York auto show, for hard details on the U.S.-market car to emerge. First launched in 1999, the Equus nameplate has always been affixed to Hyundai’s most luxurious model. Unlike its predecessors, the current Equus, which has been on sale in Korea since 2009, is rear-wheel drive. Built on a stretched version of the rear-drive platform under the Genesis sedan, Hyundai imagines (perhaps foolishly) that its new Equus has the chops to take on luxury sedans like the Lexus LS460 and Mercedes-Benz S550.
Keep Reading: 2011 Hyundai Equus – Official U.S. Photos and Info
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The GX’s genus is dying out—just like the woolly mammoth.
The traditional body-on-frame SUV isn’t extinct yet, butit is an endangered species. Just as the car world did in the ’70s and ’80s, the SUV universe is rapidly switching to lighter, unibody underpinnings. Among automakers, only Toyota/Lexus is introducing or redesigning a body-on-frame SUV this year, namely the Lexus GX460 and its platform-mate, the Toyota 4Runner. Old-style SUVs are looking increasingly like woolly mammoths.
Keep Reading: 2010 Lexus GX460 – Short Take Road Test
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Following McLaren Automotive’s grand opening yesterday, the company has released more details on its upcoming supercar, the MP4-12C, and the preliminary numbers look quite promising.
Utilizing the launch-control function of its dual-clutch, seven-speed gearbox (there’s no three-pedal manual available), McLaren claims the car is capable of a 0-to-60-mph time of under 3 seconds and a 0–124 time of under 10 seconds. Those acceleration numbers would make the 600-horsepower 12C quicker than the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (3.4 seconds), the Ferrari 430 Scuderia (3.5), the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 (3.2), and possibly the new Porsche 911 Turbo (2.9). We haven’t tested the new 562-horsepower Ferrari 458 Italia, but our estimate for that car is a 3.3-second run to 60.
Although McLaren wasn’t ready to release the curb weight of the new car (or the kerb weight, for that matter), it did reveal that the dry weight—weight without any fluids—of the lightest version will come in at 2860 pounds. McLaren’s number leads us to expect a curb weight of around 3200 pounds, making it roughly 200 pounds lighter than the less-powerful 458 Italia.
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We welcome a stacked—$30K in options!—all-weather BMW limo to our fleet.
Date: March 2010
Current Mileage/Months in Fleet: 6046/3 months
Average Fuel Economy/Range: 16 mpg/347 Miles
Service: $0
Normal Wear: $0
Repair: $0
As soon as the redesigned 7-series hit the ground as a 2009 model, we knew we wanted to subject one to a 40,000-mile long-term test. But we decided to wait for BMW to introduce its xDrive all-wheel-drive system on the big sedan before starting our affair, which allowed us to take delivery of our long-term 2010 BMW 750Li xDrive right in the middle of a cold and snowy Michigan winter.
Keep Reading: 2010 BMW 750Li xDrive – Long-Term Road Test Intro
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It’s not every day that a new car company comes into existence. But that’s exactly what McLaren announced today. We’d already been made aware of the details of its first car, the MP4-12C, but McLaren Automotive hadn’t officially been launched.
Ron Dennis, F1 legend and executive chairman of McLaren Automotive, introduced the new company and said that it is aimed directly at the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches of the world. Why now? And why form a car company after 44 years of being a Formula 1 constructor?
“Since the formation of McLaren in 1966, 106 F1 teams have come and gone. Only Ferrari and McLaren have been in F1 continuously since then. It became clear that staying an F1 team is not enough. The company needed to be broadened,” Dennis said.
The broadening will include a new production facility due in the spring of 2011, variants of the 12C, and even two more vehicles are planned. When questioned about what these models might be, Dennis promises that the McLarens will be mid-engine two seaters.
An as-yet-unannounced new partner is to purchase 48 percent of McLaren, and with that influx of cash, the company will be able to move forward with its planned new models.
McLaren’s MP4-12C goes on sale at eight U.S. dealers in June of 2011 with a price that we estimate will be around $200,000.
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