Motor Trend - March 2016

8/19/2019 Motor Trend - March 2016

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MOT ORTR N D MARCH 2016 MOTORTREND.COM

E X C L U S I V

E

X

U

S

L

500

O R I G I N S T O R Y

FAST FASTER FASTEST FULL RACE LAMBOS

FIRST TEST AUDI Q7 FIRST DRIVE MAZDA CX-9


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U n m a t c h e d P r e c is io n w it h D ir e c t io n a l A r r o w s

WNE

P O W E R P R E C IS IO N 3 6 0 ° P R O T E C T IO N O W E R P R E C IS IO N 3 6 0 ° P ROTE C T IO N

© 2015 ESCORT Inc. 5440 West Chester Road West Chester OH 45069 Departm ent:MTREND

F R ON T

E S C O RT M A X 3 6 0 s h o w n w it h E S C O RT L IV E )

S ID E S ID E

R E A R

3 6 0 ° D ir e c t io n a l A le r t A r r o w s

6 0 ° D ir e c t io n a l A le r t A r r o w s

D ua l-an ten na d etectio n rap id ly scan s

surro un d ing threats.E xp erien ce

u ltim ate in te llig e n ce b y in stan tly

kno w ing the d irectio n o f the sou rce.

D ua l-an ten na d etectio n rap id ly scan s

surro un d ing threats.E xp erien ce

u ltim ate in te llig e n ce b y in stan tly

kno w ing the d irectio n o f the sou rce.

4

D e f e n d e r ™ D a t a b a s e

R ea l-tim e reso u rce to alert d rive rs to

speed cam eras,red -lig ht cam eras,

spe ed trap s and o the r risks

D e f e n d e r ™ D a t a b a s e

R ea l-tim e reso u rce to alert d rive rs to

speed cam eras,red -lig ht cam eras,

spe ed trap s and o the r risks

E S C O RT L iv e

E S C O R T L iv e A p p le v e ra g e s

crow d -sou rced alerts and

ticke t p ro tec tio n

E S C O RT L iv e

E S C O R T L iv e A p p le v e ra g e s

crow d -sou rced alerts and

ticke t p ro tec tio n

E x t r e m e R a n g e

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A u t o L e a r n Te c h n o lo g y

G P S loca tion -b ased techn olog y

id en ti es an d lo ck s o u t false

alerts as y o u d rive

A u t o L e a r n Te c h n o lo g y

G P S loca tion -b ased techn olog y

id en ti es an d lo ck s o u t false

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M O TO R T R E N D IS S N 0 0 2 7 - 2 0 9 4 ) M a r c h 2 0 1 6 , V o l. 6 8 , No . 3 . Pub lished m onthly by TEN :The E nthusiastN etw ork,LLC,261 M adison Ave.,6th Floor,New York,N Y 10016-2303.Co pyright© 2016 b y TE N :The E nthusiastN etw ork M agazines,LLC;

Allrights reserved.Periodicals Postage Paid a tN ew York,NY,and atad ditionalm ailing o ces.S U B S C R IP T IO NS : U.S.and U.S.Possessions $ 18 for 12 issues.Cana da $ 30 p eryear and internationalorders $4 2 pe ryear(including surface m ail

postage).Paym entin advance,U.S.funds only.P O S T MA S T E R: Send allUAA to CFS.(See DM M 707.4.12.5);NO N -PO STA L AN D M ILITAR Y FACILITIES:send ad dress corrections to: M O TO R T R E N D ,P.O .Box 420 235,Palm Coast,FL 32142-0235.

March 2 16

EST 1949 VOL. 68, NO. 3

36 MOMENT OF INERTIA 2018 LEXU S LC 500 The relentless pursuitof perform ance.Ron K iino

48 BULL SESSION20 15 Lam borghiniH uracán

LP 610-4 LP 62 0-2 Sup er Trofeo and G T3

1 791 hp of raging Italian aw esom eness.Randy P obst

54 RIDING BAREBACK 20 16 Lam borghiniHuracán LP 580-2 Taking the all-w heel-drive saddle

offthe H uracán m akes ita better sports car.Chris W alton

58 CROSSROAD OF CONTEMPT20 16 Toyota P rius

H as a path finally b een cleared for

a coolPrius? Benson K ong

64 MEET THE HOT IRON2017 AudiQ 7

Audibrings the right car atthe right tim e to the right

m arket. onny Lieberm an

72 METAPHORICALLY MINI

2016 M iniClubm an

Com pact com petitor gets bigger

m ore w orthy of the “prem ium ”label.Chris Clonts

78 CROWN PRINCE 20 16 Toyota R AV 4 H yb rid A hybrid m odelw illhelp the RAV4 oust its sedan

co usin as Toyota’s sales king. Christian Seab augh

88 TOSSING CAUTION TO THE WIND Volvo W TC C P olestar S6 0 400 hp FW D and

off-throttle anti-lag.W hatcould go w rong? Randy obst

94 THREE ROWS AND A BABY TURBO 20 16 M azda C X-9 P rototype Mazd a’s latest victim

of engine dow nsizing has the clever engineering

need ed to m ake ita w inner. ason Cam m isa

C O V E R P H O T O WILLIAM WALKER

TESTS DRIVES

O

V

E

R

S

T

O

R

Y


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D E P A R T M E N T S F E A T U R E S

o n t n t s

ARRIVAL Kia S edona S XU P DATES Ch evrolet C orvette

S tingray C hevrolet Tahoe LT H ond a CR -V Touring AW D

M ercedes-B enz CL A2 50 4M atic N issan M axim a SR

VERDICTS B M W M 3 H onda Accord H ybrid Touring

10 LOHDOW N Edw ard Loh

1 TREND

1 INTAK E This m on th’s hot m etal.

2 NEW COMER 20 17 M ercedes-Ben z GL S -C lass

26 W E S AY W ords from our editors.

26 THE K IINOTE R on K iino

28 TECHNOLOG U E Frank M arkus

30 DETOU R G ear info.32 THEY S AY INTERVIEW Don Sw earingen

Execu tive V ice P reside nt M itsub ishiM otors N orth A m erica

3 Y OU R S AY O ur read ers talk b ack.

122 THE B IG P ICTU RE ngus M acKen zie

8 MOTORTREND COM MARCH 2 16

We packed up our

BMWM3 and sent

it hom e but not

before rendering

our verdict.

MOTOR TREND OnDEMAND IS NOW LIVE FO R M O R E T H A N 1 0 00 H O U R S O F O R IG IN A L A U T O M O T IV E program m ing live m otorsports and an extensive historicalarchive head to w w w .m otortrendo nd em and.co m .

30


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MOTOR TREND

Editorial

Editor-in-C hiefEdw ard Loh @ EdLoh

Executive Editor

Ron Kiino@ RonKiino

Editor at Large

Angus MacKenzie@ Angus_M ack

Senior Features Editor Jason Cam m isa @ jasoncamm isa

Senior Features Editor Jonny Lieberm an @ MT_Loverm an

European EditorPaul Horrell

Associate Editor Scott Evans @ MT_Evans

Associate Editor Benson Kong

Associate EditorChristian Seabaugh @ C_Seabaugh

M anager,VisualAssets Brian Vance @ BrianNVance

Photography Asset Editor W illiam W alker @ MT_dubdub

Associate Photo Editor Robin Trajano

M anaging Editor

Rusty Kurtz

Copy C hief Emiliana Sandoval @ Emiliana505

Senior Copy Editor

Kathleen Clonts

Copy Editor Jesse Bishop @ thejessebishop

Copy Editor Kara Snow

TechnicalTechnicalDirector Frank Markus @ MT_Markus

Testing Director Kim Reynolds @ MT_Reynolds

Road TestEditorChris W alton

Associate Road TestEditor

Nate M artinez @ Nate_Martinez

ArtCreative Director Alan M uir

M anaging Art Director M ike Royer @ MT_Royer

Senior Art Director Andy Mock

Associate Art DirectorTom Donchez

ManufacturingProduction Operations

VP,M anufacturing & Ad Operations Greg Parnell

Senior Director,Ad Operations Pauline Atw ood

Archivist Thom as Voehringer

ContributorsCorrespondents

John Carey, M ike Connor,

Gavin Green, Jeremy Hart,

Ben Oliver, Randy Pobst, Gary W itzenburg

Photographers

W esley Allison, M ark Bramley,

Brian Brantley, Daniel Byrne, Jim Frenak,

Evan Klein, Jessica W alker

Artists Steve Hew ett, Paul Laguette, David Kiss

Motor Trend OnlineDigitalDirectorChris Clonts @ CClonts

Senior Production Editor

Zach Gale @ ZachGale

Associate O nline Editors Erick Ayapana @ Erkayapana,

Carol Ngo, Alex Nishim oto @ MT_NishiM otor, Kelly Pleskot,

M egan Stewart, Jason Udy @ MT_JasonUdy

Associate Online Editors,In-M arket Buyer’s Guide

Austin Lott, Stefan Ogbac

Video Producer Cory Lutz

Motor Trend TelevisionVP /Executive Producer Mike Suggett

Creative Director Levi Rugg

Post Production S upervisor /

Director of SpecialProgram m ing Duane Sempson

Producer Brenda De Guzman

W riters /Hosts /Producers Mike Finnegan, Jessi Lang

Directors /Directors of Photography Corey Denom y,

Clint Stringfellow, M ike W ilson

Editors /Directors of Photography Bradford Alicea,

Cyrus Cam bridge, Anthony Esposito,

Kenneth Thom pson, Corey Ulrich

Motor Trend Auto Show sVP,GeneralM anager Steve Freem an

Motor Trend Certified Vehi lesFor more information, please contact us at,

Info@ M otortrendcerti ed.com

Edward Loh @EdLoh

The Lohdown

0 M O T O R T R E N D . C O M M A R C H 2 0 16

B eho ld the A ll N ew

m otortrend omIt’s not just speed we’re targeting but effi-

ciency, too, so we took a long, hard look at how

visitors use the site and then redesigned the

entire experience to decrease load times and

redundant clicks. Our homepage features new

dynamic, modular templates that prioritize

what you need to know right now. During

a major auto show, the homepage switches

to a multiwindow format best suited for the

constant flow of new car debuts. For a signature

feature such as our Best Driver’s Car competi-

tion, we have a special in-your-face layout that

spreads the action across your screen.

And that’s no matter what device you choose,

as we’ve optimized our new site for mobile. The

new motortrend.com is fast, flexible,

and dynamic; no matter how you

browse. Be it from your Dell desktop,

Samsung Galaxy tablet, or iPhone ,

the experience will be the best it

possibly can be.

If you’re shopping for a new ride,

you’ll find our car-buying tools have

also been vastly improved. We’vecut away underperforming pages, condensed

the good stuff, and added more than new

vehicle write-ups in a format that keeps the

most current and useful information at the top

of the page. We also streamlined the naviga-

tion. Wherever you are on the site, should the

mood to shop strike you, our new marketplace

is only a click away.

Same goes for the latest fuel economy

information. Our industry-exclusive Real MPG

calculator now has its own tab in our main

navigation bar. It gives you direct access to real-

world fuel economy data on hundreds of cars,

trucks, and SUVs.

Whew, sounds purty slick, right? But

perhaps you’re a bit suspicious, because unlike

all the new cars, trucks, and SUVs we review

in these pages, we definitely have a proud and

vested interest in our website. Well, don’t just

take my word for it—please check out

motortrend.com, kick the tires, and take it for a

spin. I know you’re going love it.Q

Since you’ve opted for the analog

version of Motor Trend, you

might not be a regular visitor to

motortrend.com. If you haven’t

been in a while, please grab your favorite

Web-enabled device and take us for a spin.

You should notice immediately that the site

looks very different thanks to a top-down

overhaul of its design and functionality.

The sheet met—er, pixels are totally new

and sculpted with familiar cues lifted fromthese pages. We updated the font package

(to include Oswald and Open Sans, if you’re

a design head) for a more contemporary

look and better legibility. And because we

know a huge reason people

come to motortrend.com is for

our award-winning pictures, we

made our photos bigger, better,

and quicker to load with a clever

new gallery format.

Same goes for all the slick

video we’re famous for; we rede-

signed where and how you viewvideos on the site with the help of the same

company that supports our new on-demand

video channel (motortrendondemand.com).

Speed was another target for improvement,

so we made significant upgrades under the

hood, as well. We jettisoned the proprietary

software that was the foundation of motor-

trend.com from the beginning and brought

on the open-source horsepower and flexibility

of the WordPress platform. We even switched

to a new server company, one better suited to

handle the speed and growth we are after.

CompletelyRedesignedfor the 2016Model Year


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To capture moments few have witnessed,

you must venture where few have gone.

The road to get there may be more

challenging, but the rewards are worth it

for those willing to brave the journey.

CHASE DOW N Y OU R PASSION.

NEVER HAL W AY.


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In the fall and winter, the sun is lower in the sk y so it rises and sets at peak traveleriods. D uring the early morning andfternoon rush hours many driv ers fi ndhemselves temporari ly bli nded whil eriving directly into the glare of the sun.

eadly accidents are regularly caused byuch bli nding glare with danger arisingrom reflected light off another vehicler snowy and icy pavement. Y et, motoriststruggle on despite being bl inded by theun’s glare that can cause countlessccidents every year.

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ome ordinary sunglasses can obscure yourision by exposing your eyes to harmfulV rays, blue l ight, and refl ective glare.hey can also darken useful v ision-enhanc-

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T R E N D 3 .16N E W S /O P IN IO N /G O S S IP /S T U F F

14 M O T O R T R E N D C O M MARC H 2016

INTAKE P14

THIS MO N TH’S H OT METAL

WE SAY P26

W OR DS FROM OUR EDITOR S

DETOUR P3

GEAR AN D H ISTORY

S W E D E A P P E A L T h e S 9 0 s u b t l y

e v o l v e s t h e X C 9 0 ’s s t u n n i n g i n t e r i o r

a n d d o e s n ’t s k im p o n t h e a m e n i t i e s .

F IR S T L O O K

H ot on the heels of

the long-aw aited

XC crossover

becom ing our

SU V of the Year, Volvo

has revealed the equally long-

aw aited replacem ent for its S

flagship sedan, now dubbed S.

Built on Volvo’s new Scalable

Product Architecture (SPA),

w hich also underpins the XC,

the new S’s design is

heavily influenced by Volvo’s

Concept Coupe.

The base S T’s .-liter,

N w Volvo S90 eve led

turbocharged I- w ill m ake

“around hp,” according

to Volvo U.S. president Lex

Kerssem akers. That’s about w hat

the turbo-four is good for in the

sm aller S T Drive-E. The S

T and S T pow ertrains w illm im ic those in the related XC,

m eaning T buyers can expect

the supercharged and turbo-

charged, .-liter I- to m ake

hp and lb-ft of torque,

and the hybrid T w ill m ake

hp and lb-ft of torque and

offer about m iles of EV range.

All Ss are available in front-

and all-w heel drive, w ith the

exception of the S T , w hichis all-w heel drive only. An eight-

speed autom atic is standard

across the board. The T w ill

likely bethe volum e

engine. Thanks to the V W

scandal, diesel engines are off

the table for the U .S. m arket.

W hen the first Volvo

S arrives in the U .S. in June

or July, it’ll be priced slightly

higher than the S it replaces

(, to start) but low er than

the XC (, to start),

w hich serves as a flagship for

the com pany. Volvo is launching

the S in T and T form s w ith

the m idlevel M om entum and

loaded Inscription trim s. The

S Kinetic base m odel w ill

join the lineup along w ith the

T engine in the second year of

production. For the first m odel

year, all U.S.-spec Ss w ill have

the optional rear air suspen sion

instead of the standard trans-

verse rear leaf spring.

L O O K O U T U n l i k e i t s c o m p e t i t o r s ’

s y s t e m s , V o l v o ’s c o l l i s i o n m i t i g a t i o n

c a n i d e n t i f y s o m e l a r g e a n i m a l s i n

a d d i t io n t o p e o p l e a n d c a r s .


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Y O U R S A Y P 3 4

READERS TALK ACKT H E Y S A Y P 3 2 IN T E R V IE W

D O N S W E A R IN G E N , EVP, MITSU ISHI

An updated version ofVolvo’sPilotAssistsem i-auton om ous

tech w illbe standard on Ss here

in the States. Un like the older

version ofPilotAssistcurrently

found on the XC,the new er

version can function atspeeds up

to m ph as opposed to m ph,

and itno lon ger needs a car in

frontto follow ,as itw illread lane

m arkers on the road. XC bu yers

w ho feellike they’re m issing ou t

on the sem i-self-driving good-

ness w illbe able to upgrade their

vehicles ata later date.With the United States and

China expected to be the S’s

largestm arkets,w e can expect

a lon g-w heelbase variantofthe

new Volvo sedan in the near

future. Th e SL,as it’lllikely be

called,w illbe the biggesta Volvo

w illget. The com pany has no

plans to build an S-Class rival.

Th e S’s m ain rival,for w hatit’s

w orth,is the AudiA.

Although Kerssem akers says

he w on ’texclude it,he doesn’t

feelthe S is the rightcar to get

the Polestar treatm entin the U.S.

An upcom ing S R-Design is

likely the sportiestvariantofthe

new Volvo sedan w e’llget.

There is som ething to get

excited abou t:w agon s. The

Volvo V,w hich has yetto be

revealed,is allbu tguaranteed

for the U.S. The Volvo V w ill

be show n in March,likely atthe

New York show .

The V w illalso spaw n a

lifted version by the end of ,

dubbed the V Cross Country.

Officially there’s no confirm a-

tion from Volvo HQ thatthe

V w illcom e to the U.S.,but

Kerssem akers said thathe has

every intention ofbringing both

to Am erica. C hristi n Se b ug h

The2017S90’sdesignisheavilyinfluencedbyVolvo’sConceptCoupe

I can’t afford tohave a car fail ”


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TH E B O D Y O F A C R O S S O V E R .

TH E H E A R T O F A C O U P E .W hen you com bine the sporty aspects ofa cou pe and the versatility ofan SU V,

you geta crossover thatfeels at hom e everyw here. The Inf initiQ X50’s 325 horsepo w er V6

engine provides 267 lb ftoftorque, giving you the pow er you w antata m om ent’s notice.

Join us atInfinitiUSA.com /Q X50


17/122

The Infinit i Q X 5 0


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N E W S / O P IN IO N / G O S S IP / S T U F F

3.16 T R E N D

18 M O T O R T R E N D C O M /MARCH 2 16

VOLKSW AGEN Like

Porsche,VW sold

only one V-6 diesel.

In t a k e

“Volkswagen AGwishes to emphasizethatno software hasbeen installed in the3.0-literV-6 dieselpowerunits to alteremissions.…”

olksw agen Scandal W orsens

as V- DieselEngines Are Im plicatedVolksw agen’s situation has taken

another turn forthe w orse as the

com pan y h as adm itted its .-liter

TD I V- engine also em ploys an

em ission s cheating device.The ad m ission

cam e daysafterVolksw agen issued an

explicitdenialofE PA allegation s thatthe V-

diesels are also cheating on em ission s.

Th e adm ission adds another ,

vehicles to the total,a num ber . tim es

largerthan the EPA had alleged.Th e original

com plaintfingered , vehiclesfrom

the and m odelyears,as w ell

asan unknow n num berof m odels.

Volksw agen adm itted , addition al

vehiclesfrom the to m odelyears

also em ployed cheatsoftw are.

In response to the initialallegation,

Volksw agen pu ta stop -sale on allaffected

new and used Audi,Porsche,and Volksw agen

cars and SU Vs.Th e stop-sale hasbeen

extended to include every dieselV- vehicle

since .Th ese includ e the A udiA ,A,

A ,Q ,and Q ;the Porsche Cayenn e;and the

Volksw agen Touareg.According to the N otice ofViolation of

the Clean A irActissued by the EPA ,vehicles

equ ipped w ith the .-literTD I V- en gine

em itup to nine tim esthe nitrogen oxide

allow ed by law .

Volksw agen initially den ied the allegation s.

“Volksw agen AG w ishesto em ph asize that

no softw are has been installed in the -liter

V dieselpow eru nits to alterem ission s

characteristicsin a forbidden m anner,”the

autom akersaid in a statem ent.

Follow ing the adm ission ,Audiofficials

clarified to A utom otive N ew s thatthe veh icles

con tained “auxiliary em ission s con trol

softw are”thatis legalin Eu rope bu tw asnot

disclosed to U.S.regulators.As w ith the fou r-

cylinder engine,the softw are detects an em is-

sion s testin progressan d enables “tem pera-

ture con dition ing”m ode,w hich turns on

the em ission s system .In norm aldrivin g,the

em ission s system is deactivated.A udiofficials

told Reu tersthe fix w ould likely be a relatively

in expen sive softw are upd ate.Atpresstim e,

a fix h ad been proposed to regulatorsbutn ot

pu blicly ann ou nced.

A fix forthe ch eating four-cylinderdiesel

m od els had been su bm itted to California’s A ir

Resources Bo ard forreview ,butdetails had

notbeen ann ou nced pu blicly atpress tim e.

Th e new ly revealed cheating could add u p

to . billion in addition alfines to the poten-tial billion in fines Volksw agen is already

facing in the U .S.

Th e scand alhas also claim ed the careerof

U lrich H ackenberg,the A ud iboard m em ber

respon sible fortechn icaldevelop m entan d

the driving force beh ind Volksw agen

G rou p’s m odularveh icle platform s,

w hich u nderpin nearly allofthe

grou p’s new vehicles.H ackenberg w as

also behind the grou p’s pu sh tow ard

electrification.H e officially retired

in D ecem berafterreportedly being

suspend ed in Septem ber.N ine total

executiveshave been suspen ded so far.

Th e com pany no testhatthe cars

don ’tp ose a safety risk for drivers.

Volksw agen h assetaside an addition al

billion euros to fix the problem and is in

con tactw ith regulatory agen cies discussing

solution s to the problem .

N ew ly m inted Volksw agen chairm an H ans

D ieterPoetsch,speaking ata presscon fer-

ence,cited three causesfor the

dieselscan dal:a toleran ce

forbreaking the rules

in som e parts ofthe

com pan y,individu alfailures,and flaw ed

processes.

ScottEv ns

Ulr ich

Hackenber g


19/122

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20 MOTORTREND.COM MA RC H 2 16

Int a k e

Genesis vehicles will have an

alphanumeric naming conven-

tion based on the letter “G”

followed by a two-digit numeral.

Hyundai revealed that the first

three vehicles will be the G,

G, and G.

The G will be the current

Hyundai Equus flagship replace-

ment (dubbed EQ in Korea)

and is due this year as a

model-year vehicle. The current

Genesis sedan will be renamed

G for the model year and

will be followed by the G, an

entry-level luxury sports sedan.

Names of the other vehicles

were not released but include a

midsize luxury SUV based on the

G and a smaller near-luxury

CUV based on the G.

Rounding out the sextet will be

a G-based sports coupe, essen-

tially the next-generation Genesis

coupe. Hyundai representativesconfirmed that the Genesis

Coupe will be dropped from the

Hyundai line as it goes upmarket

in the Genesis brand.

Details on how Genesis vehi-

cles will be marketed, sold, and

serviced were sparse. Hyundai

officials demurred when asked

whether Genesis vehicles would

be sold alongside Hyundai

vehicles in existing Hyundai

stores or in standalone Genesis

dealerships. Reps did confirm

the G flagship will

be available through the

Hyundai dealers that agreed to

a special covenant that allows

them to sell the current Equus.

To help establish the Genesis

brand’s new design identity,

Hyundai Motor Group presi-

dent and chief design officer

Peter Schreyer announced the

hiring of Luc Donckerwolke,

former head of design at

Bentley and Lamborghini.

Though he will not offi-

cially start until mid- ,

Donckerwolke has been tasked

with styling the Genesis brand

within Hyundai’s newly created

Prestige Design Division and

has been named head of the

Hyundai Motor Design Center.

Edw ard Loh

Hyundai Motor

Company has

announced it is

turning its Genesis

line into a standalone global

luxury brand.

The company is targeting

“new luxury, echo-boomer”

customers with six new

Genesis vehicles globally by

. Hyundai spokespeople

confirmed all six vehicles will be

available in the U.S. by .

Hyundai is aiming at tradi-

tional European luxury brands

with Genesis and plans to build

all of its vehicles on rear-wheel-

drive platforms. The latter is

a distinct departure from the

approach taken by current

Japanese and U.S. luxury brands.

The Genesis brand will also have

its own unique design language,

a distinct winged emblem based

on the current Genesis logo, anda separate naming convention to

differentiate it from Hyundai.

H y u n d a i R e l a u n c h e s G e n e s i s

as Independent Brand

BOSS Luc Donckerw olke w ill

take over for Peter Schreyer

The U.S. Departm entofTransportation has announced prop osed changes

forthe NationalHighw ay Traffic Safety Ad m inistration’s -StarSafety

Rating s. Am ong the revisions are new tests thatevaluate advanced safety

tech and p edestrian p rotection,as w ellas m ore hum anlike crash d um m ies

thatw illprovide m ore accurate data. A decision on w hetherto im plem ent

the changes w illbe m ade by the end of .

Currently,the -StarSafety Ratings system ,also called the New Car

Assessm entProgram ,aw ards stars based on how w ell

a vehicle protects occup ants in three crash tests. The

program also includes a checklistofrecom m ended

technology features,including rearview cam eras

and lane departure and forw ard collision w arning

system s. Underthe new program ,such advanced

safety features w ould be evaluated and assigned a

starrating thatw ould contribute to a vehicle’s overall

rating . Anotherproposed testw ould evaluate how w ella carprotects a

pedestrian from head,leg,and pelvic injuries.

The Insurance Institute forHighw ay Safety (IIHS)introduced the sm all

overlap frontcrash testto its evaluations in ,and the NHTSA w ants

to add a testthatevaluates perform ance in anothertype ofcollision

that,according to NHTSA d ocum ents,“continues to resultin deaths andserious injuries desp ite the use ofseatbelts,airbag s,and the crash-

w orthy structures oflate-m odelvehicles.”Thatd eadly accidenttype is

N H T S A P r o p o s e s C hanges to ating S ystemthe frontaloblique crash,w hich invo lves a carhitting anotherobjectatan

angle. Like the sm alloverlap crash,the frontaloblique crash is dangerous

because the energy isn’tdistributed evenly through a car’s frontcrash

structure,increasing the risk ofdeform ation in the cabin.

NHTSA also w ants to im prove its fullfrontalbarriercrash testto better

considerrearseatoccupants. To collectm ore accurate data,NHTSA

w ants betterdum m ies. The updated dum m ies include the Testdevice for

Hum an OccupantRestraint(THOR),w hich delivers

m ore data on restraintsystem s,and WorldSID,a

dum m y specifically developed forside im pacttests.

“NHTSA’s -StarSafety Ratings have setthe bar

on safety since itbegan in ,and today w e

are raising thatbar,”U.S. Transportation Secretary

Anthony Foxx said in a release. “The changes provide

m ore and betterinform ation to new -vehicle shoppers

thatw illhelp accelerate the technology innovations thatsaves lives.”

In addition to the changes,the Departm entofTransportation also

w ants NHTSA to have the ability to up date its testing procedures m ore

quickly to keep up w ith new safety technolog ies. Underthe new system ,

half-stars w ould be issued forthe firsttim e to m ore precisely portray

vehicle safety perform ance.The new system is expected to be in place by m odelyear . You

can view the fullproposalatsafercar.gov.Alex N ishim oto


21/122

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22 MOTORTREND.COM /MARCH 2 16

MT CONFIDENT IAL

M IK E C O N N O R

In ta ke

F A S T A c t t o F i x R o a d s , Boost NHTSA billion highw ay billsigned in Decem ber

by PresidentBarack Obam a w illinjectsom e m uch-

needed TLC into Am erica’s crum bling highw ay

infrastructure. Otherp rovisions in the billw illraise

the NationalHighw ay Traffic Safety Adm inistration’s

bud get triple the m axim um m anufacturerfine forsafety

violations keep defective rentalcars offthe roads and

even give a b oo stto kitcarm anufacturers.

The five-yearm easure,called the Fixing Am erica’s

Surface Transportation (FAST)Act,w ould be the first

long-term highw ay plan in years. Roughly

billion w illbe spenton roads,bridges,and m ass-

transitprojects. The b illalso raises NHTSA’s budget

fordefectinvestigations from m illion a yearto

m illion,butonly afterthe ag ency carries

outthe reform s recom m end ed by the

Transportation Dep artm ent’s inspector

generalin its extrem ely criticalreportof

the NHTSA released lastsum m er. NHTSAhas vow ed to m ake the chang es by June.

Also includ ed in the FAST Act’s ,

pages is a provision forraising the m axim um fine for

safety violations to m illion,triple the currentm ax

of m illion. Italso rew ards em ployees w ho report

potentially dangerous safety violations,and ifthe viola-

tion leads to a financialpenalty forthe autom akeror

sup plier,the w histleblow ercould getup to percent

ofthe fines collected . Autom akers w illbe req uired to

keep safety data for years,as op posed to five years

currently,and need to provide partnum bers fordefec-

tive parts involved in a recallto NHTSA. Dealers are

no w required to inform custom ers ofopen recalls,and

states w illreceive funds so they can notify ow ners w ho

renew theirvehicle registration thata recallis due. That

m ove is intended to betterinform used carbuyers,

w ho have been d ifficultforautom akers to

track dow n in the past.

In a w in forkitcarm akers,they’llnow

be allow ed to sellcom plete cars rather

than kits,though theircars w illstillhave tocom ply w ith fed eralem issions reg ulations.

A lex N ishim oto,Scott Evans

A ltho ugh the M e r c e d e s - A M G

G T S w as recently nam ed

ou r B est D river’s C ar the

team from A ffalterbach

isn’tres ting o n its laurels.

A h otter version ca lled the

A M G G T R , is in the w orks

an d it’s expe cted to be eve n

m ore po tent than the S .It’s

unknow n w hether N i s s a n

w illraise a stink ab ou tA M G

using tho se three letters but

the A M G G T R w illbe the next

high-pe rform ance va rian t

ofM ercedes’new sp orts

car.A side from gob s m ore

po w er m assive rear tiresfou r-w he elsteering and

active aerod ynam ics loo k for

the first-ev er e l e c t r o n i c a l l y

a d ju s t a b l e M u l t i m a t i c D S S V

s h o c k s . W hatitw on’thave:

electric m otors.W e exp ect

itto a rrive tow ard the en d o f

20 16… B een hearing w hispers

ofa s u p e r c h a r g e d V i p e r ?

Th ey ’re true but it’s no t the

car you think itis.P rep are

yourself for the V i p e r A D R ,

D odge’s answ erto the C O PO

Cam aro and Ford M ustang

C ob raJet.A D R stand s for

A m erican D rag Rac ing and

un like the o the r tw o it’llbe

stree tlegal.N oton ly tha t but

it’llalso be a 9-seco nd c ar.

O ur sou rces say it’llpum p

ou ta Hellcat-sham ing 9 0 0

h p a n d 8 0 0 l b -f t . Putting

the pow erd ow n w illbe

the first-ever au tom atic

tran sm ission in a V iper a

hea vy-duty unitd esigne d

pu rely for drag racing… O n

a less track-foc use d no te

the n e w B e n t l e y B e n t a y g a

w illeven tua lly get a V -6

m od elafter the tw in-turbo

V-8 an d h yb rid m od els hit

the m arket.Itw illlikely use

the A ud iS4 ’s 350 -hp /36 9-

lb-ftturbo un it.A diese lw as

un de r co nside ration until

parentcom pany Volksw agen

screw ed that up but itco uld

stillturn up in E urop e.A lso

on the d oc ket:a f a s t b a c k

“ c o u p e ” m o d e l to c ash in o n

the p opu larity of the B M W

X6 and M ercedes-B enz G LE

Coupe.M ay the cargodsforgive them all.

Thanks to the popu -

larity ofthe M cLaren

LT,the sports car

m akeris introducing

a new m odelin the LT range:

the drop-top LT Spider.The

caris virtually iden ticalto the

cou pe save fora three-piece

retractable roofan d uniqu e color

and w heeloption s.Like the

coup e,the M cLaren LT Spider

is lim ited to just copies.

Th e LT Spideruses a

revised version ofM cLaren’s

tw in-turbo,.-literV- to

produ ce the sam e devilish

hp and lb-ftoftorque as

the coupe.Thatengine m akes

the extra pow erthanks to n ew ,

m ore efficientturbochargers,

revised cylinderheads an d

exhaustm anifolds,light-

w eightcon necting rods,a new

cam shaft,and a high-flow fuel

system ,am ong otheru pgrades.

The traction -con trolsystem

lim its torque to lb-ftin first

gearto m inim ize w heelslip andim prove acceleration .Th e result

is a M cLaren-estim ated - tim e

of. secon ds,just. secon d

slow erthan the coupe.The

claim ed w eightincrease from the

retractable top is pounds.

Although it’s heavierthan

its fixed-roofsibling,the LT

Spideris still pou nds lighter

than the S Spider.That’s

thanks to its generou s use of

carbon fiber,w hich can be fou nd

in the fron tbum per,side skirts,

rearfenders,reardeck,diffuser,

Lon gtailairbrake,and m ore.O f

course The caru ses the sam e

carbon -fiberm onocoque foundin allnon-P M cLaren m odels.

Th e LT Spiderhas the

op tion ofan exclusive Solis exte-

rior paintcolor(pictured)an d

com es standard w ith -spoke,

-inch forged alloy w heels

w rapped in PirelliP Zero Trofeo

R tires developed specifically for

the Lon gtail.Tw o otherw heel

op tions are available,including

a new -spoke design an d the

five-spoke w heels thatdebuted

on the coupe.The -poun d air-

condition ing system has been

rem oved bu tcan be installed as a

no-costoption .

The lim ited-productionM cLaren LT Spiderarrives in

the U.S.in sum m er and w ill

be priced at, .

A lex N ishim oto

The 6 75LT Spider arrives in the sum m er and is already sold out

M c L a r e n 6 7 5 L T Spider Debuts


23/122

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In t a k e

NEW S OP INION G OS S IP S TU FF

N w om r“There is nothing more youcould want or need in an SUV,”

our former road test editor Scott

Mortara said about the outgoing

Mercedes-Benz GL when it won our

Sport/Utility of the Year award. But is there

room for improvement?

The renamed Mercedes-Benz GLS

receives a retuned air suspension, a new nine-

speed automatic, an -inch COMAND screen,

and a redesigned interior. The midrange

GLS —other models include the GLSd,

GLS , and range-topping AMG GLS—has

hp, more hp than its predecessor.

Drivers can select up to six modes, including

Comfort, Slippery, Sport, Individual, Off-Road,

and Off-Road for further customization.

Other than these changes, the GLS is a

conservative update. Sure, you’ll find vestiges

of the GL, including the numerical pad and the

hodgepodge of buttons cluttering the center

console. But with the GLalready leading the

competition in U.S. sales, perhaps Mercedes

didn’t need to make any huge changes. More

buyers in our market choose the GLthan the

Infiniti QX, Audi Q, and even the standard

wheelbase Cadillac Escalade.

To see if the GLS retains its former charms,Mercedes challenged us to drive the GLS,

the GLS ’s Euro equivalent, in the Austrian

Alps. Slippery mode dulls throttle response

on wet surfaces, reducing ESC intervention

but making passing more difficult. Once

you kick things up to Sport mode, the GLS

immediately jumps into action to unleash a

marvelous amount of power. In either driving

mode, however, the GLS suffers from light,

detached steering feel. It feels confident insnow. If you drive too exuberantly in Comfort

mode in the white stuff, the electronic

2017 Mercedes BenzGLS-Class

nannies quickly come to the rescue while still

allowing you to have a little fun.

Mercedes has long called its full-size

utility offering “the S-Class among SUVs.”We

wouldn’t object to the statement, but we’d

add to it. Not only does it have a quiet cabin

and highly composed ride, but it has alsofurther proven its cred off the beaten path.

K e l l y P l e s k o t

S P E C IF IC A T IO N S 2 0 1 7 M e r c e d e s B e n z G L S 5 5 0 B a s e P r i c e $94,000 (est)V e h i c l e L a y o u t Front-eng ine,AW D,7-pass,4-door SU VE n g i n e 4.7L/449-hp/516-lb-ft tw in-turbo D O H C 32-valve V-8 T r a n s m i s s i o n 9-speed autom atic C u r b W e i g h t 5,400 lb (est)W h e e l b a s e 121.1 in

L x W x H 202.0 X 76.1 X 72.8 in 0 -6 0 M P H 5.0 sec ( Test)E P A C i t y / H w y /C o m b F u e l E c o n 14/19/16 m pg (est)E n e r g y C o n s , C i t y / H w y 241/177

kW -hrs/100 m iles (est)C O 2 E m i s s i o n s , C o m b 1.22 lb/m ile (est)O n S a l e i n U .S . Currently

HO LDING STEADY D espite som e tw eaks,theGLS-Class’interior and dash stillfeeldated.

TheGLSrepresents prettyconserv tiveupd teoftheGL.

2 4 M O T O R T R E N D C O M M A R C H 2 016


25/122


26/122


Ron iino

T H E K IIN O T E

Atthe BestDriver’s Car

com petition ,the Turbo S pu t

dow n a sizzling lap tim e of: .,

m aking itthe second-quickest

Porsche w e’ve ever run atMazda Racew ay

Laguna Seca,rightafter the ridiculou s

-horsepow er Spyder (:.). Well,

m ake thatthe third-quickestPorsche.

Four days postthis pastThanksgiving

on a chilly and cloudy day in Monterey,

California,our pro racer Randy Pobstlapped

an UltravioletGT RS around MRLS in just

:.. That’s . secon ds quicker than the

Turbo S. (Looks like the forecastshould’ve

been for purple rain.)Surprised? We w ere.

Sure,the GT RS is the m osttrack-focused

to date,butthe Turbo S is no slouch,

either. Moreover,the Turbo S is rated at

horsepow er and lb-ft(the new ’

gets bum ped to hp)and had all-w heel

drive and optionalDunlop SportMaxx Race

rubber from the standard GT. Should ithave

been m ore than . seconds slow er than

the -horsepow er,-lb-ftrear-drive RS,

w hich,granted,w eighs about poundsless buthas the sam e carbon-ceram ic brakes

and slightly w ider and possibly stickier

Michelin PilotSportCup tires? To the data.

Approaching Turn ,the m ore pow erful

Turbo S holds a slightlead,registering a

top speed of. m ph versus the RS’..

W hale ales Com paring Laguna laps

in the 9 Turbo S and GT3 RSButas they enter the long,sw eeping Turn

,the RS closes the gap. Atthe firstapex of

the turn,the RS outgrips the Turbo S (. g

versus .),creating an -footadvantage.

Butthe Turbo S m anages to carry m ore

speed through the turn (m inim um of.

m ph versus the GT’s .)and catches the

RS atthe exit. That’s the lasttim e the Turbo S

w ould ever be close.

Outof and tow ard Turn ,Pobstis able

to accelerate earlier and harder in the RS,

posting a speed of. m ph,noticeablyfaster than the Turbo S’.. By the m idpoint

betw een Turns and ,the RS is already

feetahead. Com ing into Turn ,the RS

has nearly doubled its lead— now to

feet— thanks to a better exitoutof and a

speedier blastdow n the straight(. m ph

versus .). Around Turn ,the RS once

again outgrips the Tu rbo S (. g versus

.),extending its lead another feetby the

m idpointto . From Turns through ,w e

see a sim ilar dynam ic,w ith the RS’data line

resem bling a V and the Turbo S’a U,show ing

thatthe RS exhibits very little m id-cornersteady-state cruising com pared to the Turbo

S— justbrake,turn,and go. “The RS is rather

loose and requires im m ediate pow er to help

stabilize the rear,” Pobstsays. “Braking and

acceleration are separated. The Turbo S is

better balanced and m ore com fortable to

lean on m id-corner,so itcan blend braking

and acceleration m ore.”

A big lat-g advantage through Turn (.

g versus .)helps the RS launch outof

the corner earlier and w ith m ore oom ph.

Despite heading uph illtow ard Turn ,the

com paratively torque-deficientnaturally

aspirated RS ups its lead to feetover the

Turbo S. Dow n the infam ous Corkscrew,

the RS stom ps the Turbo S,testing director

Kim Reynolds says w hen itposts a cornering

speed m ore than m ph faster (. versus.). The stom ping continues through

Turns and — each a high-speed,high-g

endeavor— w here the RS is able to accelerate

soon er,corner harder,and justgo faster. The

stats for the lastcorner,the sharp leftTurn

,show the cars behaving sim ilarly w ith

negligible separation in lateralacceleration

and cornering speeds,butthe RS is so far

ahead thatitreaches the finish line som e

feetand . seconds before the Turbo S.

“The RS is very track-oriented and

feels it,” Pobstsays. “Light,quick,and

responsive. The Turbo S is very capable ontrack,butit’s m ore street-oriented— softer

suspension,m ore body roll,a lotm ore

m ass— and feels like it. The speed difference

com es from significantly greater agility of

the RS,though the better-balanced AWD

Turbo S w as far easier to drive atthe lim it.”

1:35.62

1:33.29

2 14 T U R B O S

2 16 G T3 R S

Th

e R

S

st

om

p

ed

th

e

Tu

rbo

S

b

y2

3

3 s

ec

o

nd

s a

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2 6 M O T O R T R E N D .C O M / M A R C H 2 0 1 6


27/122


28/122

F rank M arkus

TECHNOLO E

NEW S OP INION G OS S IP S TU FF

I recently gotto experience

the n ew Ben tley ofSUVs— the

Bentayga— a spectacularveh icle

in term s ofperform ance,

panache,and price.Especially price.The

pricescharged are alm ostu nfathom able for

m iddle-class-percenters like m e.Take

on ly the paint,for exam ple.There are seven

“free”colors,butthose are app arently so

hu m drum thatofthe vehicleson h and for

m edia drives, spo rted h ues from Bentley’s

“extended range,”the p ricesforw hich run

from , to ,.A nd this paintpretty

m uch justsits there and shines— itdoesn’t

even flop to fourdifferentcolors like that

M ystichrom e stuffon a M ustang C obra.

A few w eeksearlieratthe SEM A show ,

Ch evy show ed offthe K rypton Cam aro

con ceptthatfeatured Lu m iLorelectrolum i-

nescentpaint.Yes,paintthat,in addition to

coloring the carand shining,lights up.N ow

that’s a paintjob w orthy ofitsfive-figure price

tag.Electrolum inescentpanels w ere patented

by G E in ,and Sylvania h elped EL instru-

m entlighting m ake its autom otive debuton m odelChryslerproducts (G oogle

“A straD om e dash”).Th e science involves

radiative recom bination ,orspon taneou s

em ission oflight,w herein a phosph orescent

m aterialem its lightph oton s w hen exposed

to an electricalcu rrent.Variou s m aterials

em ittheirp hoton s atdifferentcolor w ave-

lengths— dope zinc sulfide w ith copper for

greenish light,dope itw ith m anganese foran

orange-red color.

D arkside Scien tific LLC’s m agic in devel-

oping Lum iLorw asfiguring ou ta proper

ePaintB ecause at,m etallic,

nd pe rlescent re for Ludditesinsulating prim erto allow the paintto be

energized w hen ap plied on a m etalsurface

and adapting a m ethod ofd elivering the

ph osph orescentm aterialsin an en viron -

m entally friendly,aqu eou s-based polym er

solution thatcan be sprayed u sing standard

high-volum e,low -pressure paintspraying

equipm ent.N early an y illum ination color

can be ach ieved by starting w ith w hite,green,

blue,blue-green,orange,ora few other

custom ph osph orescentsource m aterials

then top -coating them w ith a clear-coat

tinted to subtractunw anted color frequ en-

cies.Currentdraw is m inim al— illum inating

rou ghly , square inches on the Krypton

Cam aro draw s w atts at volts.(A n au xil-

iary battery w ith a boo stconverter,inverter

and otherelectron icsthen produ ces-volt

AC current.)R eplicating this look on you r

Cam aro w ould cost, .

Ifpaintcan con vertelectron s into light,

can italso do the reverse?W ell,notthe sam e

paint,butN anoFlex Pow erC orporation is

develop ing a solarphotovoltaic paintthat

w ill.Itditches the m ore com m on inorganic

silicon or gallium -arsenide photovoltaic

chem istry for a new organic (carbon-based)

sem icondu ctorchem istry.Th is setup can be

applied extrem ely thin and can be virtually

clearforuse even as a w indow film .

The con ceptinvolves tw o u ltra-thin

vapor-deposited)organ ic layerssand-

w iched betw een a m etallic cathode and an

indium -tin -oxide anod e.W hen ph oton s

from sun lighth itthe top electron do n or

layer,they form excitons,a pecu liarstate

w here an electron and an electron hole are

tem po rarily boun d to one another.Atthe

interface betw een this do nor layeran d an

equally thin accep torlayer,the electron

and the hole partcom pan y,and this release

gen erates an electricalcurren t.A s w ith the

Lum iLor paint,an insulating prim erm ust

be u sed overm etalparts.Produ ction plans

have yetto be an nou nced,so it’s unclear

how the price w illcom pare w ith the above

glow paintorthe m erely super-glossy five-

figu re Ben tley Pearlescen tVolcan ic Black.D on ’texpectto p ow eryou rE V w ith its

pain tjob,bu ta typicalcom pactcarcoated

in N anoFlex solarp aintshould be able

to pow erits clim ate-con trolsystem and

trickle-charge its battery pack on a sunny

day.O ne thing’s for sure— unlessthis

solarpaintcosts a lotlessthan the Ben tley

or Lu m iLorstuff,I’d feelm ighty guilty

parking in the shad e or in a garage. Q

The Krypton Camaro

concept’s paint job is

worthy of its ve-

gure price tag.

ILLUMINATIAllthose bow ties light up in various

shades from w hite to gree n thanks to D arkside

Scientific’s electr olum inescent Lum iLor paint,applied

w ith standard spraye rs ove r an insulating prim er.

2 8 M O T O R T R E N D . C O M /MARCH 20 6


29/122

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3 .16 T R N D

T h e y a y

o n S w e a r in g e n

Mitsubishi has gotten a lot of

flak from enthusiasts in the

past few years. The automaker

made its name selling perfor-

mance cars and tough, rugged pickup trucks,

but product lagged and sales fell. Two years

of percent sales increases have Mitsubishi

back in the game, though. We asked executive

VP Don Swearingen to tell us what happened.

You guys have had a surprisingam ou nt of success w ith the M irage.

When we first launched, it was interesting

because the true buff books just killed it

because it wasn’t the Evo. What we found is

that a clear, simple message to our consumers

—starting price of ,, mpg highway,

and one of the best warranties in the industry—

resonated with a lot of people. We fit into a

niche that wasn’t being filled.

H ave you found the low -cost,value-

oriented end o f the m arket underserved ?

Clearly it is in a segment that a lot of compa-nies have left behind because a lot just can’t

give the features that these customers are

looking for in a vehicle at that price range.

We’ve been able to do it, and now we’re

adding Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Is the M irage sedan stillhappening ?

The Mirage sedan, we will [launch] in

the U.S. in April at the New York auto show,

and it will be for sale within a month or two

afterward. It’s going to be called the Mirage

G in the U.S.

W hat do es G 4 stand for?Damn good question. To be honest with you,

they have all different names all over the

world, like Attrage, and for us, building name

awareness on that name would be very, very

difficult. So in one market they call it the

Mirage G, and you know something? That

just sticks with you a little easier.

D o affordable cars such as the M irage

signalw here M itsub ishiis headed ?

Well, we are more of a niche player. Clearly we

have to be very strategic about what we bring

to the U.S. I can’t afford to have a car fail. Weare spending our time doing more research

about what consumers need and want in their

car, and we’re trying to deliver on that.

about our next CUV now. We’re talking that

we’ll take the Outlander and move it a little

up, and I mean up in size, so it will become

a little wider, a little longer, and then we’ll

bring another car in between the Outlander

Sport and the Outlander.

Is M itsubishiin a p osition to com pete in

the overallm arketplace,or w illit stick

only to segm en ts it’llbe ab le to com pete

strongly in?What you’re going to see out of Mitsubishi

in the future is that we understand we

only play in a few segments, but whatever

segments we’re going to play in, we’re going

to be there. We want to make sure we’re

giving customers what they need. I think

most customers clearly are looking for reli-

able transportation with the features that

make that ride comfortable and enjoyable

for them, and they’d like to do it at a reason-

able price, and our goal is to deliver that.

A re there holes in segm ents that youthink yo u can fill?

Yeah, that’s where that other CUV is coming

in. Clearly we’re going to look at a family of

CUVs, and then of course hybrid technology.

Plug-in hybrid is the drivetrain we’re going

with in other parts of the world, and in

March we will be introducing the [produc-

tion] Outlander in a plug-in hybrid.

W here do es that leave the Lancer

Evolution?

I think you’ll see performance move more to

CUV; I think you’ll see a blend of combus-

tion engine and electric. It’s a new direction.

M itsubishiis know n g lobally for its

pickup s and vans,such as the L200

picku p and D elica van.W illany of these

veh icles m ake their w ay to the U .S.?

A pickup truck is the one that’s requested

the most. With all the diesel issues going

around, we’re getting fewer requests for it,

but clearly we would love to bring it in. We

have an issue with the chicken tax here, and

of course we don’t have enough volume to

have a plant here in the U.S. build it. [The

U.S. is] starting to look at removing [the tax].So once that happens, my goal is to do every-

thing I can to get it to the U.S.

C hristian S eab augh

W hat are your dealers asking for next?

We’re seeing the greatest success in CUV.

When we decided to move most of our focus

about three years ago to CUV, it was before

the transition really happened. Number one

markets were sedans. Now that the CUV has

moved to the largest segment, I think the

dealers are seeing that our company had the

vision. And they’re huge, growing segments

here in the U.S.

D o you see M itsubishibecom ing acom pany that only builds crossovers

in the future?

I see it more focused on CUV. We’re talking

Mitsubishi sold20,253 Mirages throughNovember 2015.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, M ITS U B IS H IM O TO R S N O R TH A M ER IC A

MygoalistodoeverythingI cantoget aMitsubishipickup

truck]totheU.S.”

Int rvi w

3 2 M O T O R T R N D .C O M MARCH 2 16


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A nd sweet, too. B ecause winning the 2016 Moto r Tren U V o f the Y ear®

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W R IT E U S A T

831 S. Douglas S t.ElS egundo , CA 902 5

E m ai l us online at m otortrend .comor sen d an em aildirect tom otortrend @ m otortrend.com

You Again Again

E njoyed your Head Head article in theDecem ber issue (“You Again”). L ooking

at the picture on page , it looks like the

driver in the Ford M ustang weighs about

pounds more than the Chevrolet Cam aro

driver. If you would have switched drivers,

there would have onl y been about a -poun d

difference in the weight. W ouldn’t this

have made a difference in the perform ance

numbers?

L A R R Y V A N E M E L E N

D O U G L A S V IL L E G E O R G I A

That’s not very nice; our driver prefers being

called husky. And no, swapping bodies would

have made zero difference because the real testdriver for both cars was the same. We promise

we don’t use photo staffers for ballast.—Ed.

I have tried hard but am stil l un able to

find any M ustang G T anywhere near

, . I have loaded every option I could

find and still can’t get past K. M y local

dealer wil l sell m e a loaded one for less than

, . That’s grand under your stated

price. W hat gives?

J O H N S I O U S S A T

C H IN O V A L L E Y A R IZ O N A

We may have different definitions of “loaded”because our , GT Premium test car

was LOADED:Triple Yellow paint with extra

black roof; GT Performance package; Enhanced

Security package; adaptive cruise control;

navigation; and Recaro leather buckets—none of

which factored into the decision.—Ed.

PollClosedJust got the latest issue (Decem ber )

and saw the “Techn ologue” article by Frank

M arkus about the new U .S. military SU V

needin g a nickname. If history is any in dica-

tion ( Jeep and H um m er), the guys are just

going to sim pli fy the existin g abbreviation

in to a sim ple word, which will probably end

up somethi ng like Jolly T. It just doesn’t look

very jolly to m e, though. L ooks like some-

thi ng the producers of the “Transform ers”

series would com e up with . A hood and

fenders from a s G M C , a cab f rom

“M ad M ax,” and whatever else they needed to

fini sh it off.

A N D R E W J B R E Z IN S K I

M A D I S O N A L A B A M A

Jolt is a popular reader submission for Oshkosh’s

JLTV. So it’s come down to this for the menacing

new vehicle’s nickname:Jolt or Jolly T?—Ed.

Agree to Agree?I purchased your Decem ber issue of

Motor Trend and was reading page (“From

Aston with L ove: James Bond’s DB ”). Your

article says there were eight DB s m ade

for the new Bond m ovie, “Spectre.” But the

December i ssue of Automobile says there

were m ade. Now the q uestion is, who is

correct?

A L A N W I L S O N

V I A T H E I N T E R N E T

We’ll leave it to our Autom obile buddies todefend their honor, but only eight DBs were

Gone NotForgotten “The Arsenal of Democracy” (Decem ber

). A great insight, particularly for

those not fami liar with W orld W ar II

and the enorm ous contribution th e U .S.

m ade to the war effort that stil l pales

against the , or so U .S. combat

and other deaths and more than ,

service personnel wounded.

One figure missing from the

summ ary chart on page was the

L iberty and Victory M erchant M arine

naval cargo ship program: , and ships built, respectively. Developed and

built to replace those transport ships

lost to G erman U -boats and to ship the

m assive supply needs to Britain and

the Soviet U ni on, shipyards bui lt the

L iberty ships and six shipyards buil t the

Victory ships.

R I C H A R D T A Y L O R

D A L L A S T E X A S

We’re still in awe of the billion rounds of

ammunition produced.—Ed.

LETTER OF T E MONT

fabbed up for making the movie. Two additional

cars (to make )served as promotional proppieces but didn’t make an appearance on screen.

So to answer the question … we both are?—Ed.

ArsenalofCorrections“The Arsenal of Democracy” (December )

is a fascin ating read. H owever, the sidebar

about the first nuclear weapons contains

some in accuracies. The bombs didn’t contain

uranium hexafluori de gas; they contained

solid enriched uranium - and plutonium .

Naturally occurring uraniu m - needed to

be concentrated into bom b-grade material.

This was done in buildi ng K- located in Oak

Ridge, Tennessee. The m ill ion-sq uare-footbuilding contained the uranium hexafluoride

(th e corrosive gas) that traveled through pipes

and plates with hol es in them to in creasingly

enrich natural urani um by separating the

isotopes. That process is kn own as gaseous

diffu sion. The bom bs themselves were

assem bled in L os Alamos, New M exico. As

I un derstand it, additional nuclear m ate-

rial including plutoni um was produced in

reactors at the Hanford facility near Richland,

W ashin gton. Although I don’t have specific

information about the chrome tubing

m anufactured for the gaseous diffusion plantin Oak Ridge, it does make sense that they

would have been asked to contribute their

expertise in m etal coating and m anufac-

turi ng to help end the war. A vast num ber of

scient ists and engin eers were recruited from

m any different indu stries to participate in

the M anhattan Project at many sites aroun d

the coun try.

F R A N K O R I E N T E R

R O C H E S T E R N E W Y O R K

Your article “The Arsenal of Democracy”

was very interesting, but it contained an

error. Although the W illow Run plant did

have a hard right, i t was located enti rely

in W ashtenaw County, not W ayne County.

L egend has it th at Ford wanted it enti rely

in W ashtenaw to avoid paying the higher

W ayne County taxes. I rem embered reading

thi s years ago in a biography of the Fords but

could not find the book. However, W iki pedia

validated my memory.

T O M R E I N E H R

M A N H A T T A N B E A C H C A L IF O R N IA

It’s a com m on m isconception that many

people and publications seem to getwrong. In your Decem ber article “The

Arsenal of Democracy,” you state that “the

mi litary selected the W illys-Overland M B

Y o u r a y ...RE DERS’THO UGH TS O N P ST ISSUES

3 4 M O T O R T R E N D C O M M AR C H 0 16


35/122

as i ts primary vehi cle.” The jeep was not

designed by W il ly s but in fact was designedby the B antam M otor C ompany i n B utler,

P ennsyl vania. B antam did not have the

production capabil iti es for the U .S . govern-

ment, and that is why F ord and W il lys got the

production contracts.

ERNARD CHRIS TENS EN

BUTLER PENNSY LVANIA

U pon receiving the D ecember issue of

M otorTrend, I was gratif ied to see the article

“The A rsenal of D emocracy” recounting the

pivotal contribution of the U ni ted States

automotive industry in the A ll ied victory i n

W orld W ar II. M y passion for cars from early

childhood led to my developing an equal

passion for Second W orld W ar history, culmi -

natin g in my majoring in hi story i n college.

It’s great to see your magazi ne tell ing how the

U .S . auto industry and its mass-production

might helped secure the defeat of the A x is

P owers in thi s terrible conf li ct. It pains me

then to have to point out that the caption

for the photograph on page is incorrect.

The caption states that the picture show s

an M tank bein g loaded onto a flatcar at

the C adil lac plant. W hi le C adil lac did buil d

the M C haffee li ght tank , the tank in thepicture— as well as the others li ned up to the

left— is actually the M P ershing heavy tank .

Thi s would mak e the picture from C hrysler’s

D etroit Tank A rsenal. O r more li k ely, as these

P ershings are fi tted w ith earli er pattern

track s, from the G eneral M otors F isher Tank

D iv ision’s G rand B lanc A rsenal. B oth factories

built the M heavy tank , with G rand B lanc

startin g fi rst. Just a friendl y correction offered

from a man who i s both a gearhead and a

treadhead.

S TEVEN J. FOX

MERIDEN CONNECTICUT

O n page , the photo caption notes that the

automak ers had shi fted to war production

by February , and the sign on the B uick

call s for total vi ctory. A lthough U .S . i ndustry

was preparing i tself and making weapons

for B ritain before the U .S . entered the war,

in February , the U .S . was not yetat

war;the Japanese attack on P earl H arbor was

in D ecember .Thus, I thin k you meant to

READERSON LOCATIONROCK YO W e ll, t h i s lo ok s lik e a n e x c it ing

jo b , if w e d o s a y s o ou r s e lv e s . H e r e ,

t. C ol. M at th ew M uh a, c o m m a n d e r of t h e

5 3 r d W e a t h e r R e c onna i s s a nc e S q u a d ron,

g e t s s na p p e d w h ile o n d u t y . W h a t

s h e n a nig a n s a r e h is H u r r ic a ne H u nt e r s u p

to ? “ F l y ing t h r ou g h H u r ric a ne J oa q u in,

t h e s t rong e s t h u r ric a ne of 2 0 1 5 to d a t e ,”

h e w r it e s u s . T h r illing

O R IG I N S T O R Y

D e s ig n e d b y B a n t a m

M o t o r C o m p a n y

t h e n m a n u f a c t u r e d

b y F o r d a n d W illy s .

say the shift to war production was complete

by February .

K EITH DOLAN

BROOKLYN NY

W e’re a bitem barrassed atthispoint.M ore than

that,w e’re thankfulthatourreadersw ere able to

help usgetit belatedly)right.— Ed.


36/122

C O V E R S TO R Y 2 0 18 L ex us L C 5 0 0

I N E R M

O M E N T O

I R S T L O O K

3 M O T O R T R E N D .C O M A R C H 2 0 16


37/122

W o r d s Ron iino

P h o t o g r a p h s W illiam W alker THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT O PER ORMANCE

T I

M AR C H 0 16 / M O T O R T R E N D C O M 3 7


38/122

For A k io Toyoda, president and

C E O of Toyota M otor C orporation,

the genesis of the L exus L C

grand touring coupe came

in A ugust , during the Pebble B each

C oncours d’E legance. A s he strolled the

famous golf li nk s where hundreds of classic

cars from such storied automak ers as B ugatti ,

F errari, Jaguar, M ercedes-B enz, and Porschedotted the perfectly manicured th green

l ik e precious jewels strewn on a bil l iards

table, inspiration hi t hi m. B ut what struck

hi m wasn’t anything he saw (although as a car

buff, surely he was impressed wi th the jaw-

dropping array of F errari G TO s); no, the

inspiration came from what he didn ’t see. O r

rather couldn ’t even picture. N ot. O ne. Lex us.

Then and there, Toyoda-s took the reins

of hi s lux ury brand. Lexus, just a couple

decades old and a huge sales success in the

U .S ., needed a jolt. A revolution. A paradigm

shift. It was time for Lex us to bui ld cars asdesirable and dynamic as they were reli able

and q ui et. C ars with eq ual parts sex appeal and

spine-tingling performance— eye-catching to

gaze upon and, j ust as important, eye-opening

to drive. Luck i ly, the man needed to lead the

charge was standing right next to h im.

Ap ril20 2K oji S ato, chief engineer

of the L C project, look ed at

the prototype cobbled from

a G S sedan and smil ed. H e

had just put i t through i ts

paces at Toyota’s H igashi-

F uji Technical C enter

proving grounds and k new hi s team wasonto something special. E ight months prior,

he had been at Pebble B each for the launch

of the fourth-generation G S , a car for which

he also served as chief engineer. B ut rather

than celebrate the G S ’ debut, his mind had

become overwhelmed w ith the spontaneous

and monumental di rective his boss had just

handed him. A nd li ttle did S ato know at the

time, but the L C ’s platform would serve as the

basis for L exus’ nex t generation of premium

rear-wheel-drive products.

The F rank enstein G S had had its body

cut and sewn— front tires pu

Motor Trend - March 2016

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