Reviews and editorial by the San Jose Cars Examiner

Ford F-150 Limited 4x4 Supercrew review

2019-04-09T22:54:00.003-07:00

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Trucks are the backbone of our country. I’ve never been a “truck guy”, but recognizing them for what they are is an acknowledgement and appreciation of them. How the heck does the rest of the world get by with little vans? And what do they tow their campers, boats and other recreational vehicles with?

Ford’s F-150, the bestselling vehicle in the United States, and staring price is just over $28,000. This 2019 Limited 4x4 Supercrew model starts at $67,135 and features the twin turbocharged 3.5 liter Ecoboost V-6 engine producing 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque, class leading among gas and diesel full-size pick-ups under 8,500 lbs. gross vehicle weight rating. It’s mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission and I’m writing to tell you that it sounds good, more V-8 sounding than V-6, confirmed outside the truck, and not just artificially piped into the cabin.

Performance is impressive to the point of being fun with putting the pedal to the metal. Looking at third party performance test results, Car and Driver did a 13.7 second quarter mile at 102mph, the second quickest pick-up they have ever tested, beating the Edge ST, the first SUV from Ford Performance recently reviewed. And the Raptor for that matter. Just as impressive, and equipped with the big 22” wheels with 275 series rubber, it stopped in just 168 feet. Honestly, that is spectacular for a vehicle over 5500lbs.

Despite the mileage rating of 15 city and 18 highway, the 26 gallon tank provides plenty of range, and there’s an optional 36 gallon tank. A 170 mile round trip, almost all highway, saw 18mpg with much of the time at 75-78mph during which showed 17mpg at that speed. One notable observation was the adaptive cruise control was nearly perfect. Maybe it’s due to the higher mounting point of the sensors, but it is smartly programmed, didn’t rush up on slower traffic, kept an acceptable following distance and sped up smartly when a gap opened from a car moving over.

Opening the one of the four doors reveals the automated floorboard appearing from underneath the truck which is really convenient. Just don’t walk into it shin first! When they retract, they make a satisfying and positive sound of engagement. I’d love to know what Ford did to assure their continued operation many years and miles down the road while subjected to the elements and road grime. Other automated features include remote start and tailgate release from the key fob.

Once the tailgate is opened, a center button releases a pull out and drop-down step along with the yellow tip of a rod that can be pulled out and stood upright to assist with accessing and leaving the bed of the pickup. Absolutely brilliant in its simplicity and execution.

Entering the Limited edition, you’re greeted with two tone leather covered seats and leather dash with a well thought out gauge display and easily figured out infotainment system with various display options. The navigation has a funny quirk that this and the previous Ford had. When you drive right past the front door of your destination, Home Depot of course, it still doesn’t know you’ve arrived until a little later. Thank goodness the system overall is very easy to use because if you only have a vehicle for a week, a 400+ page owner’s manual can be a significant commitment in a short amount of time. Alternatively, the Apple Car Play is works great as it always should.

A huge, wide, two level center console offers a lot of storage space, maybe enough for a laptop. The seats are immensely comfortable for the long haul, but not hauling around a turn but that’s not unexpected in a pickup truck. The seats are also heated and ventilated, the term captain’s chair immediately comes to mind due to their size, presence and comfort. Oh, they have a massage function as well! The seats don't hide the shuddery, jittery ride but despite the movement being felt in the glutes, it's still very much a luxury vehicle.

Besides the USB outlet, there is a 12 volt household style socket which the wife said is great for drying her hair on a road trip. How many Ford engineers considered that I wonder? There is also an outlet in back and a ton of legroom. Fitting your three big work crew members back there is a non-issue with the full-size rear doors. They only nitpick from the driver’s perspective is the location of the door lock and parking brake functions.

Exploring various features, the center section of the rear window is powered and offers a nice ventilation option. Or to yell at your kids playing in the bed while you’re driving…. The sprayed bed lined offers lights in the side besides the top of the cab, as well as cargo tie down mounts.

Loaded with technology and options, it is truly a luxury vehicle that happens to have full functionality. With a sharp red paint and chrome trim, it looks like it would be owned by a successful farmer, construction or manufacturing business owner, or executive of an outdoor product company. The problem with a truck is when you do truck stuff, it many times means you’re going to be busy with projects. Or in other cases, busy having fun.

Ford Edge ST review - the big sporty SUV

2019-03-29T23:37:00.001-07:00

When family members started adding more to their crew, us empty nesters noticed rear facing seats for the newbies take up a lot rear seat space, so much so it forced the front seat to be adjusted. The the conveniences of ride and cargo loading height then had the desire for more space added to the requirements. With two little ones, and a weekend trip somewhere, cargo space needed a boost beyond the personal or couple-sized SUV. Okay that’s cool, there’s lots of choices, but what if the bad-ass in you still wants some go-power?

Now this 2019 Ford Edge ST is the first SUV from Ford Performance rolled sporting more power, bigger wheels and a suite of technology for the occupants. Roomy, the big 6’3” athlete friend fit just fine in back, and a large cargo area allows for strollers, golf clubs, luggage and stuff from big hardware stores. Horsepower is up 20 to 335hp and the torque figure increases by 30 to 380 lb-ft. from the 2.7 liter twin turbocharged V-6. Loaded with the tech and comfort essential Equipment Group 401 A, a really nice, white paint color called White Platinum Metallic, it has an MSRP of $52,225. Base price is $42.355.

Add some 21” black wheels with meaty 265 width tires, black mesh grills, and red brake calipers and now you’ve got a more serious looking machine that looks like it will show its taillights to the other soccer moms and baseball dads and leave competitors in plastic and chrome merping along at quarter throttle while you activated your inner g-meter.

The stiffer suspension definitely is felt and heard on the bumps but head toss isn’t bad at all. It’s a more connected feel vs. dissociation. It’s tall and so is the seating position, very upright. The combination is definitely give more truck perception car. Outward visibility is good, but there’s a lot dashboard and sloping glass held in place by long A-pillars that widen at the bottom. With the transverse mounted engine, what the heck us under all the dashboard? Is this part of hybrid space planning? The new Explorer is back to a longitudinal mounted engine which allows for lower placement in relation due to the front drive shafts and lower hood line. However the wife felt so safe in the Edge she said if we ran into an object it would take four days to get to her. Now that is a secure feeling.

Past experience with a family owned, well-used 2007 Ford Edge SEL isn’t a comparison whatsoever. The 2019 is alien technology compared to the old one. The steering wheel has lots of controls, and has a sporty look and feel although surprisingly a bit thin in some spots of its contours. Steering feel has certain firmness for further driving confidence, but if you’re looking for that easy (yet improper) two finger effort while turning, this isn’t it.

Sport mode, a button in the center of the rotary shifter increases the engine and transmission responsiveness, and also increases the engine note but it sounds like it is from the front, hence piped in as opposed to the mufflers opening up. It was tested by Car & Driver to 60mph in 5.7 seconds and a 14.3 second quarter mile at 98mph. Not bad, quick for the street, but leave your helmet at home if you hit the dragstrip. In sport mode, a tiny virtual tachometer appears on the left side of the driver’s display and also shows what gear is engaged. In non-sport mode, the tiny bar graph tachometer next to the fuel gauge bar is nearly useless in size and it’s the same color as the fuel gauge bar.

The EPA rating is 19 city, 26 highway. In the suburban shopping jungle, some idling, and turning off the engine auto off/start, 14mpg was observed, and a trip from the ‘burbs to the city and back saw 23mpg. The auto shutoff works very smoothly and starts quite rapidly, even allowing for a “jack rabbit” start with minimal hesitation.

The seats are very comfortable, but oddly the power tilt and telescoping steering wheel doesn’t have an auto-up exit position. And the panoramic moonroof shade must be fully retracted to tilt the roof for ventilation which is annoying. If you plan on venting the car when it’s parked, get your sunroof tinted.

The Edge ST has all the parking assists you could want, including an automatic parking mode that I was too far from the parked cars to fully activate. Assuming it would need to make one turn, front first, I learned reading the manual, you need to be within three feet of parked cars, and the illustration shows that it backs the car into the perpendicular space. It also offers parallel parking assist and parallel space exit as well. Although it doesn’t have a 360 camera system, the front and rear sensors work fine, but only within a couple feet.

Quirks aside, the ST is certainly a capable SUV, fulfilling two-row family needs. Styling is properly sporty, and despite feeling tall it’s braking and cornering limits are respectively high which can translate to better emergency avoidance. It’s a very comfortable cruiser and a strong contender if you want the size and the power.

Kia K900 luxury sedan review - it is all upper crust

2019-03-20T22:34:00.001-07:00

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It’s got cooled, heated and reclining seats, digital temperature control, music and media controls, inductive phone charging, USB, 12 volt chargers and cup holders. Sounds like a typical decently equipped car, right? Well this is for the rear seat occupants. A little more evolved than just a leather armrest with cupholders. And the cupholders are forward of the control bank.

The 2019 Kia K900 Luxury is a long wheelbase, roomy, all-wheel drive, powerful luxury sedan that offers a near effortless driving experience with a full menu of technology. With an MSRP of $64,695, it’s a lot of sedan for the price. First impression of it's appearance is a stately and elegant sedan with some European influencers. The chrome touches and multi-spoke wheels speak to it's mission without any glaring faults. In fact, it's carefully crafted all around.

Where Kia struggles is perceived image. It didn’t start as a luxury brand, nor did it branch off a luxury division. The name might be too cute, just like the hamsters, and the dealership experience may not be “high end” but it’s the ride that counts. Nissan does it with the GT-R, Chevrolet does it with the Corvette, so why not with a luxury sedan? Plus, their 2011 Superbowl commercial with the How You Like Me Now song from The Heavy is awesome.

This 3.3 twin-turbo 365hp V-6 model example was a gem around town and a 300 mile road trip. With the all-wheel drive traction allowing aggressive gear ratios afforded by the 8-speed automatic transmission, acceleration for a 4700lb car is definitely quick, feeling like more power than rated. It’s only at extra legal speeds does it drop off noticeably but still more than “adequate”. The subtle sound, more like a muted domestic V-8 in a Cadillac from the 1970s or 80s than a V6 hum or wail is an artificial construct from the ASD – Active Sound Design system.

The Kia is a great long distance cruiser, with excellent seats and a quiet ride. Despite the high speed travel, traffic jams and heavy foot antics, it indicated it slightly exceeded its 21mpg combined rating. When the K900 is in Sport mode though, it would be a bit choppy on the freeway and held a lower gear for a little too long, hoping for that next stab of the throttle. When Sport mode is activated, the lateral bolsters give you a little extra squeeze. The seatbelt gives you an extra snug, more like a hug, when shifting to drive no matter the mode.

The adaptive cruise control worked well but the closest setting meant it would hit the brakes hard when a much slower vehicle was way too late to move over. Lane departure steering wheel corrections were either smooth-subtle or smooth and surprisingly strong. One intersection with a hill crest confused it a little bit. Under normal driving it was gentle reminder to stay in the center lane. The automatic engine shutoff in this $64,895 model is far less noticeable and not nearly as annoying as it is in the wife’s 2018 Audi SQ5. But still detested at brief stops when merging is about to occur like pulling out of a parking lot. Interesting about the start-stop feature, tugging on the steering wheel will not restart the engine unlike other vehicles experienced, but engaging one of the shift paddles will do so.

The K900 is about luxury and technology and there is plenty, especially with the VIP package in this Luxury sub-model example. The 12.3” gauge screen is an LCD TFT display with prominent speed and engine rpm displays that have an absolutely brilliant feature of turning into a blind spot camera view on either side of the car depending which turn signal is activated. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, it’s a fantastic feature for vehicle placement in relation to other vehicles and even curbs. It was during this time that the only non-luxury aspect of the car noticed was the feel of the control stalks wasn’t quite luxury level, but to borrow an old comparison, far from the broken wine glass stem comparison I once remember reading. The speaker grills are a beautiful laser cut pieces that go nicely with the leather, finished metal and wood surfaces.

The navigation screen is also 12.3 inches which enables map, music and climate settings at the same time. It’s a touch screen, a selection indicator allows rotary dial selection of functions and below the screen are push buttons a well. The configurable options are numerous from seat movement distance when ignition off to custom drive mode, and the drivers display displays the seat movement selected, which mode the windshield wipers are in, seat heating or cooling, etc. The seat cooling is spectacular, the fans cannot be heard, and I can only imagine how good they are on a triple digit day.

Kia’s K900 is a large, luxurious, quick sedan; full of tech, coddling the front and rear passengers, and a delight to travel in. Considering its size, equipment level, and price, it’s a serious contender in the large luxury segment. Check it out, and ask yourself, “How you like me now?”

2019 Lexus UX 250h F Sport review - the efficient CUV

2019-03-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

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Like them or hate them, it’s still a craze. Or you can call it a trend. No, not a trend, THE trend. Sedan sales are falling off, replaced by Crossover Utility Vehicles. Some just call them lifted station wagons, others a Cute-Ute.

Lexus cleverly added the UX 250h to its line-up to attract buyers with an upscale experience, refinement and excellent fuel economy in the CUV form factor. This stunning Ultrasonic Blue Mica example is the F Sport model. It’s for those who get really utilitarian or sporty! The infamous Lexus grill is offset by the brilliant blue, even at night under parking lot lights. One night it got a compliment on the color. That doesn’t happen with black or white cars.

When child seats for the nephews became a thing, the reality of wanting an SUV hit. Loading and unloading the kids, or installing and reinstalling their seats, the height of both the seats and installing or removing them was the big convenience. Then numerous runs to the donation center for a move was another reason and suddenly, the SUV was a must-have for the household. Convenient as heck, still nice to drive.

But the little CUVs are a dilemma. A six-foot passenger may fit in the back of the UX in a pinch, but a rear facing child seat makes the passenger front seat compromised or even uninhabitable. If the ride height is raised for that easy child seat installation and access, then the little CUV looks funny. In this you’re still sitting a little low and not easily exiting the vehicle either. On the other hand it feels more handling oriented, more tossable and less tippy.

The cargo load height may be conveniently high and there appears to be room underneath for storage but it’s the ubiquitous Styrofoam bin with cutouts for some tools. It’s also a great place for the front license plate if you’re front plate rebel. The cargo space is great for groceries and the gym bag, what else is there if you’re childless? Pets? But two sets of golf clubs may work but a bicycle could be tight after folding down the rear seats and taking off the front wheel.

A decent looking hybrid with the wheel well body cladding for the off-road look versus, say, another in the corporate family (cough cough), quite fuel efficient, rated at 40mpg city, 38mpg highway, Lexus service and ownership experience, it’s a clever offering for the market segment. Says, “I’m sporty, darn it!” even though you’re fuel frugal.

The interior got the seal of approval from the wife, liking how the seat hugs her butt, noticing even the sides of the adjustable headrests are padded. Although the knurled drive mode knob on the ride side of the driver’s dash shroud and the traction control on the left reminded her of neck posts of Frankenstein’s monster. But they did make it easy to switch modes watching the tachometer or the power indicator. The seats are truly comfortable and cradle but may be too narrow across the back if you’re a 2XL. The power steering wheel retracts at ignition off, but it doesn’t telescope very far.

Typical 4- cylinder whine or more like open up and say “aaaaaahhh” is present with any non-hyper mile driving. If you think a start stop function is extra wear, try driving this while maneuvering around slow traffic on the freeway or hills. Its constantly is revving or shutting down. But around town it a great commuter, the engine shut-off and start-up is subtle, sometimes needing a glance at the dashboard to see the EV mode light is on. It does have paddle-shifters that do provide some engine braking, and regenerative charging, and they imply 6 virtual forward gears when upshifting.

The total output of 181hp is sufficient for commuting and the highway. It’s a comfortable ride with minor road and wind noise. With a heavy foot showing over 33mpg, the efficiency is apparent, even with a 10.6 gallon tank. It drives like a front wheel driver, initially spinning the front tires with a large throttle input in the wet before the rear catches up.

The biggest gripe is the thick A & B pillars, with the right front corner of the dash being raised, making tight right-hand turns getting a bit used to in case of pedestrians. The B-pillar obstruction offset by the lane occupancy warning easily noticed in the side view mirrors.

The driver’s menu is intuitive but requires many steering wheel button presses to fully navigate. Left or right for each menu category, then down for the selections. The driver aids are configurable for on, off or sensitivity in a sub-menu. The lane keeping assist works with a subtle tug and a vibration if urgent. It begs the question, is it more active because a driver knows it’s there and becomes less diligent with lane position? Regardless it’s easily engaged, from the steering wheel, a small icon on the dash is an easily understood indicator.

Despite ignoring the four hundred plus pages of the owner’s manual and the supplementary infotainment manual, we were able to fumble our way through the functions with the haptic feedback touchpad and the buttons and dials on the handrest. It does have a logical flow. While messing around with the driver menus, I found a g-force indicator for lateral and longitudinal loads. That can be fun for data hounds, regardless of the vehicle’s limits, or lack of.

The suite of technology features is long and impressive:

The safety systems called the Lexus Safety System + 2.0, brlefly touched on here, is best summarized here:

https://www.lexus.com/documents/safety/Lexus-Safety-System-Plus-2_0-20181024.pdf

The Lexus Enform Safety Connect and Service Connect is complimentary for the first 10 (TEN!) years of ownership. That includes Automatic Collision Notification, Emergency Assistance Button (SOS), Enhanced Roadside Assistance, and Stolen Vehicle Locator.

Lexus Wi-Fi at 4GB is free for one year, Lexus Enform Remote is also free for one year, allowing smartphone, smartwatch or Amazon Alexa devices access for remote start, checking vehicle status and more.

The Scout GPS Link & MapStream compatible service is free for three years.

All this and more has an MSRP of $42,785. The combination of hybrid efficiency with the utility of a compact crossover is a cLexus comfort, technology, customer service and reliability, and distinctive styling with AWD utility. A compelling choice for those seeking these attributes.

Adam Carolla live interview about Living on the Edge

2019-02-22T20:49:00.003-08:00

Adam Carolla has worn many hats including comedian, writer, actor, director, radio personality, television host, the most downloaded Podcast and even closer to our hearts, the racing helmet of a car guy. Maybe you remember him from The Man Show, Loveline with Dr. Drew Pinsky or Crank Yankers. Car enthusiasts may be aware of his collection of classics or that he owns the largest collection of Paul Newman’s race cars (yes, the actor, philanthropist and race car driver Paul Newman), Adam really walks the walk. Or should I say races on the track.

Recently I had the honor and privilege to interview him about his representation of Castrol Edge’s Live on the Edge series. He was previewing the Chicago Auto Show and we had a few minutes to talk about his thoughts about his taste in cars, racing, electric vehicles, the Audi R8 V-10 Plus he drove in the Rain Starts Play video, and seeking exhilaration.

Check out his short video from the Castrol's Edge Live on the Edge series called “Rain Starts Play”

Castrol's Edge Live on the Edge "Rain Starts Play"

Interview is below. Graphics, editing and sound effects by composer/graphic artist Jarred Gallo:

Check out the Adam Carolla show: https://adamcarolla.com/

Porsche 911 GT2 RS brief review

2019-01-06T11:38:00.001-08:00

Porsche wowed the automotive world when the 911 based GTS RS was announced. Speculation about how they were going to top the prior generation 997 chassis GTS RS 620 horsepower was rampant. With the perceived competitors over 700hp, it turns out that is spot on, aided by distilled water spraying system to cool the intake charge temperatures. But then something else was announced; a factory effort Nurburgring time of 6:47.25 with the Weissach option equipped car. And wow, everyone was blown away, a production street car record time that was held for nearly a year, only beaten by a Lamborghini with more horsepower and active aerodynamics.

This particular model is in Yachting Blue which helps with the intention to blend in, yet is a pinnacle of road car achievement by Porsche. It’s exterior design is purposeful and very familiar, which has both positive and negative comments among the ever-opinionated internet. Is it timeless or simply derivative? No matter, despite a road car, it is stiffly sprung and the ride has that subtle high frequency jostle that stiffly sprung street cars have. However, there's no crashing, thuds or shakes. The owner says it’s not road trip worthy and "kinda loud." The exhaust button opens the flaps which can be seen kneeling behind the car, producing a more throaty sound. Personally I thought the road noise was quieter than a 997 Porsche Twin Turbo. Guess it depends on the circumstances.

Having had Dodge Viper ACR, the owner made the comparison to be similar in noise, vibration and harshness. Yet overall would compare it to the Ferrari 458 Speciale in execution, but not as road trip worthy. The seats are firm but upright and not terribly adjustable with lateral support being very purposeful. One realizes immediately they are perfect for a track day, not a multi-hour trip to the weekend getaway. However with the back seat removed, there is a surprising amount of space behind the passenger seats.

Typical Porsche quality and design is throughout the cabin. That weight saving door pull strap? It also activates the latch mechanism. This model is equipped with the optional Weissach package which includes an exposed carbon fiber roof and front lip with painted decorative stripes. Porsche logo on the exposed carbon fiber rear wing on the exterior. The interior steering wheel trim and gearshift (the dual clutch PDK is the only transmission available), and some logos. No roll bar, steel nor optional titanium is available factory installed in the US.

The chassis changes are anti-roll bars and end links in carbon fiber which saves 11.7 lbs and a magnesium wheel option which saves 25.3 lbs. These are the most significant weight savings of the Weissach package. Standard on the GT2 RS is a track oriented upgrade of suspension ball joints instead of bushings. Ride height, camber, caster, and toe are all adjustable for those wanting to optimize tire wear and streetability. Just kidding. Tire wear is really so much an issue when the MSRP is about $345,000.

So how quick is it? Giggle inducing at part throttle. This one wasn’t quite broken in yet, but a quick scan of various instrumented tests shows a 0-60 mph time of 2.5 and another test of 2.6 seconds, the best of rear-wheel drive production cars. The quarter mile time of 10.3 seconds and trap speeds from 137 to 139mph were also recorded. Although the McLaren 720S is quicker and faster, it’s definitively not on the road circuit. Hitting the on-ramps and off-ramps, it exhibited no body roll and the owner reported a prior data performance recorder lateral-g reading of 1.46. Simply outrageous! So are it’s lap records at Laguna Seca and Willow Springs, beating the factory efforts of the Viper ACR. No doubt with a pro driver it could also take the Virginia International Raceway record as well.

Regardless of specific “N2” compound tires, there's no denying the capability of a seven hundred horsepower Porsche designed with and equipped with racetrack proven equipment that laps significantly more quickly than competitors with more horsepower. Apparently there is no substitute right now unless you need to spend less or go quicker, but just in a straight line.

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering 2018 was scrumptious as always!

2018-12-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

As the automotive season winds down, it’s time to reflect on one of the most exclusive and special shows of the year. Perhaps a favorite due to the combination of variety and copious portions of gourmet food and drink combined with a positively wonderful and varied display of automobiles. From vintage to modern, sports to luxury, fun-modified to serious low volume manufacturing specialists. This year it was held on Friday, August 24th.

First mention must be the Peninsula Best of the Best winner, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57 SC Coupé Atlantic co-owned by Peter Mullin and Rob Walton. It was chosen after review of various show winners by twenty four automotive experts, designers and motoring world celebrities. A familiar design to Concours attendees, it continues to be celebrated. The best of show winner this year was a 1953 Lancia Aurelia PF200C, a red convertible of timeless design.

The fireside chat this year featured now retired race car driver Scott Pruett. After 66 wins, he’s now concentrating on his winery and life as a Lexus brand ambassador. The Fashion in the Fast Lane portion of the Fireside Chat hosted Laura Brown, editor-in-chief of Instyle Magazine and Tamara Mellon, OBE, founder of Tamara Mellon Brand and luxury women’s shoe designer.

There was a special display for Lamborghinis, featuring the Espadas and Isleros models, very rare with only 1217 Espadas produced and just a few hundred Isleros from the late 60s. Very rare indeed. Another special gathering was street and racing Lancias, the ones in racing livery, were particularly colorful and distinctive.

A more modern themed display was of Alois Ruf reunion of cars based on Porsches. Of course, the CTR Yellowbird with, at the time a mind-blowing 213mph top speed from 1987 was present. Other CTRs from the nineties and two from 2017 were also on hand, a truly special collection of greats.

The Quail benefits the following charities, Rancho Cielo, the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation, CHP 11-99, Junior ROTC and North Monterey County High School Marching Band. One of the awareness and fundraising efforts by an entrant that deserves mention is by Uncle Wally, IG handle @Wallyworldusa displaying Brian Jones’ 1965 Porsche 356 C Coupe that was part of the East West 356 Tour 2018, driven across country to fundraise for an ALS cure and treatment with Augies’ Quest. It happened to be part of over 20 356’s on display, celebrating 70 years of existence.

There are only 5000 guests so while busy, it’s not the crowded experience of trying to get a good picture at every car or turning sideways to get by. The food is spectacular as always, and seating may be challenge at times despite lots of accommodations, its well worth a wait and there’s never a rush. Conversation at a shared table with strangers is always pleasant and interesting. The champagne ran out before the end of the day, the only possible complaint.

Another absolute treat of attending The Quail are various premiers by automotive manufacturers. Polestar showed the brand new Polestar 1, Karma Automotive showcased the heavily revamped prior Fisker, the Revero. Gunther Werks showed the Sport Touring Porsche 993. A carbon body and floor pan beauty. The Chairman of Lamborghini unveiled the Aventador SVJ, the ‘Ring record holder, which happened to be next to the new Urus. Rolls Royce unveiled a custom designed Phantom for well-known collector Michael Fux. Bugatti introduced the stunning Divo and Hennessey Performance had a Venom F5 with its engine on separate display.

Other displays were wonderful to behold, and really can only be conveyed in photos and not words. The custom coachwork section, manufacturer displays and more are a site to behold. Luxury vendors from clothing to jewelry to private jet rental/charters. Leaving the show, after spending nearly 10 hours from early media preview, to regular show hours to the after-hours party, which had phenomenal acoustics for an outdoor event, that yearning was already felt, with the 3rd weekend of August not coming soon enough.

Check out the various albums from The Quail on the San Jose Cars Examiner Facebook page. Classics, Porsches, McLarens, Paganis, Lamborghinis and more!

McCalls Motorworks Revival off Monterey Car Week with objects of speed and style

2018-09-25T22:40:00.001-07:00

Monterey Car Week started a week later than usual this year and the big event kickoff is McCall’s Motorworks Revival party. Held at the Monterey Jet Center, held Wednesday the 22nd. It's like entering a magical world of high fashion, amazing vehicles and celebration of life. The complementary champagne starts as soon as you walk in on the red carpet. Suddenly the mood lifts, the demands of work fade away, and you stroll into the playground of highly engineered objects for individuals of high net worth.

Always a great show, if it rolls it’s there. From old military aircraft to private jets open for tours, helicopters (they don’t roll), a variety of motorcycles of course, the cars. Oh also trucks and SUVs, Toss in some jewelry and all the bases are covered. Comparisons are from two years ago, a conflict prevented attendance last year. This year the event was smaller in terms of the second hanger being closed. The field of vehicles was still large and varied.

This year parking for non-VIP wasn’t organized as opposed to 2016 when it was a separate lot with shuttles. So we self-parked in the large valet lot. Which was an exotic car show in itself with a Porsche Carrera GT and a Bugatti Chiron among others. The DJ/band we really like was back, their set starting later in the evening with infectious, high energy dance music and a live drummer who was a show himself. This year was supposed to feature an after-hours party off-site until 2am but was sadly cancelled a week or so before the party. I can’t imagine the hoops to jump through to get such an approval in California but hopefully they’ll have it next year!

The variety of drinks available was particularly good except the champagne ran out early. A great party needs endless champaign! Unfortunately the variety and volume of food needed improving. After all many arrive via $625 Red Carpet tickets as early as 4pm and stay until the 10pm closing.
Many great sponsors participate in the event but the fundraiser is for the California Highway Patrol’s CHP 11-99 Foundation. This year the raffle is for a Ford Mustang GT Bullitt edition.

Smaller or larger than years past, it doesn't matter. This is the must-attend party every year for the unofficial start of the Monterey Car Week.

Album link here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1550196661751706&type=1&l=809d800294

Mercedes AMG E63 S Wagon review

2018-07-19T23:13:00.001-07:00

The station wagon, once the popular choice for family hauling, faded into obscurity replaced by the minivan and now the huge popularity of the SUV. The reasons are varied, and guesses include styling, desire to drive at an eye level as if they were walking, lift-over height for cargo and child seats, improved fuel economy versus past choices, a comfortable ride, all-wheel drive, easier ingress/egress with our overly large population and more. But the wagon performs like a sedan. And Mercedes makes one that performs like a sports car.

The second most powerful car in the Mercedes AMG lineup is the 603hp E63 S wagon. Even their track monster AMG GT R is rated at 577hp. The torque from the 4.0 liter twin turbo engine is rated at 627lb ft starting at 2500rpm only bested only by the S 63 sedan with 664lb ft. Probably due to a few lines of code. This sleek wagon also has the horizontal tail light styling of the coupes instead of the sloped triangles of the sedans. The transmission is the AMG Speedshift MCT 9-speed unit. It’s a multi-clutch transmission, using a clutch pack but no torque converter. It is not related to the dual clutch transmissions that have two output shafts instead of one. The advantage of this design is quick response and ability to handle higher torque loads.

This one particular model, debadged and unchromed with the Night package looks amazing. Add the large, narrow spoke wheels with red brake calipers and it’s all business for hauling butt with cargo. There’s all this visual appeal and then the engine is started taking the entire impression impact to the next level. Holy cow this is a serious machine with a super car soundtrack. Check out the video and nervous, joyful laughter from the acceleration run…

The dichotomy continues inside. Beautiful interior appointments, the large S-class worthy dual 12.3” LCD display screens that stretch from driver to mid-dash and then the superb sport seats looking wonderfully sculpted and serious, not quite out of place in an overall utility design. You don’t expect sports car seats in a wagon, and the contrast works perfectly.

The all-wheel drive enables consistent launches, Car and Driver tested one with a 3.0 second 0-60mph and a quarter mile in 11.2 seconds at 126mph. This is a bonifide supercar in every sense of the word while being extremely practical but weighs an owner confirmed 4740lbs. All the while engine roaring, exhaust spitting and popping with in the proper driving mode selected. Hint: That mode is neither “Economy” nor “Snow/ice”.

When in Sport, the suspension is sports car firm, doesn’t crash or rattle over bumps and feels as solid as if it had a carbon tub. This one has the Rennsport body lowering kit giving it an even sleeker, aggressive look. Cornering is flat, the weight transparent to the passengers. There is also a selectable real wheel drive only drift mode. But seriously let’s just call it either dyno mode or shred your tires faster mode.

This one also has the Performance Exhaust System which is a must-hear and have, especially at cold start-up. Be sure to check out that video as well. Painted in Kona Blue Metallic contributes to a visually lower appearance. The Nut Brown and Black Nappa leather interior has a warm feel despite the wide digital display screen due to its dash integration versus an upright standalone unit that Mercedes has on other models. Recent vehicle shopping shows Mercedes offers a large selection of individual options. This one included a black headliner, seemingly rare these days and had an MSRP of 119,000.

Some nice touches include a driver’s side control ability for the passenger seat. The owner loves the acceleration which is so accessible with the all-wheel drive, and it has a 21.1 gallon fuel tank. Keep in mind there are serious performance cars with 16 gallon tanks, a significant difference. The only complaint is a desire for a more distinctive fuel gauge despite the large capacity and coolant temperature display for those that like their data.

There are amazing performance SUVs and sports cars on the market, but if seeking a driver oriented, sharp handling yet practical hauler where load or child seat access heights and ease of ingress or egress ins’t as critical, this is absolutely the ticket.

Dispelling the Demon myth - it handles

2018-06-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

Not only does it hand other cars their butts, but it can handle the curves. And makes for a nice daily driver. Despite all the online comments, the Demon actually goes around turns. Better than a non-widebody Hellcat as well.

What is a Demon? It’s an otherworldly Dodge Challenger Hellcat, possibly the world's quickest front engine, rear drive car, with a host of power increasing and drag strip use upgrades. Components are beefed up, power is increased with a larger supercharger, transmission has more aggressive ratios, it has wide body flares housing 315 width tires front and rear and a massive hood scoop. But the diabolism runs deeper than that including some production car firsts for drag strip use. A line lock is added to allow spinning the rear tires while the front brakes are activated to warm up the rears. A transbrake which holds first and second gear allows for engine power to be applied before the actual launch (think of a brake torque but in the transmission), in drag mode, the air conditioning is re-routed via an “after cooler” to reduce intake air temperature by up to 50 degrees. Cooler denser air enables more fuel for more horsepower.

The Necromancy doesn’t end there. Besides some factory weight saving measures, including smaller brakes (don’t worry, you only need one emergency stop, not track duty), the interior only comes with a driver’s seat. But for $1 you can add a leather or in this case, cloth interior seats. There’s more wizardry for another $1 buys a Demon Crate that contains a replacement engine control module that has a tune to optimize race gas for more horsepower and torque, skinny front wheels without tires for lighter weight and less rolling resistance, as well tools to complete the summoning of the dark power. Interestingly it has 57 to 85 more horsepower than the brand new Corvette ZR1 with a similar engine size and roots type supercharger.

Having the good fortune of experiencing standard Hellcats and non-supercharged Challenger V8s at the Bondurant Racing School, the Demon’s wide body and non-drag mode suspension setting is not only a very comfortable street car, but pulls some appreciable lateral g’s in the turns, surpassing many sedans. On the street, the body roll isn’t bad and the speed around turns is more than sufficient to raise hackles. It reminded me of the standard suspension Mustang GT I recently evaluated. So why is the Demon and Hellcat judged on its handling when Bentleys, S-class coupes and other four (adult) passenger, two door coupes are not? The ride is perfectly comfortable as well.

The other perception is it would be too loud. Nope, this frequently daily driven coupe is quiet at cruising and perfectly suitable for a cross country trip. It’s when the appropriately named loud pedal is brushed does it sound like a cruising muscle car with aftermarket mufflers and when all hell breaks loose, the supercharger whine also howls demonically. It’s as if the devil lost his minions. See the video for a launch example. This particular spawn from the darkest depths is no less practical than any other coupe and more than most since it fits four adults. Thanks to the drag radials with hardly any negative area, rain or snow basically forbidden. Surprisingly this one has been used for commuting to work, achieving 17mpg, which is impressive for suburban stop and go in an 808 horsepower, two-ton coupe. And much better than currently experiencing in the 707 horsepower Trackhawk.

Acceleration is hellacious, I can’t help myself, and a linear, hard pull. A couple of non-drag mode launches from a standstill displayed brutal power and classic domestic soundtrack. It was a warm, dry day and only minor traction loss occurred with a slight wiggle while screaming on the highway to hell. The owner has extensive experience in high horsepower cars and has monitored Demon quarter mile results. He states it is as quick as his McLaren 675LT. The race tune, which requires unleaded 100 octane gas, adds 32 horsepower and 53lbs ft. of torque, adds a 3-4mph again in trap speed. The owner stated the difference isn’t perceptible. Interestingly, it is still emissions compliant.

Having had a superb long term experience with a first generation SRT-8, the Bondurant Racing School loving their SRTs and Hellcats, this from Bob and his wife, the reliability should be a non-issue. This is also one of the most practical ten second quarter mile cars and at well under $100k, the least expensive and best sounding. A quick search on Autotrader shows several advertised at under MSRP. Shocking since the total production of 3,300 units ended recently. While further defending this hell child, straight line racing is the worlds most participated motorsport. Manufacturers spend tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, trying to get the best possible lap time, why are they excused when Dodge went out to get the best possible timeslip for the Demon and published it, achieving 9.65 seconds at 140mph in optimal conditions with the full prep package - slicks in the rear, skinnys up front, race gas tune and just the driver’s seat.

We all have our demons, but this one is practical, has no compromises and is hella fun to be in and drive.
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2018 Mustang GT 10 speed automatic review and test drive

2018-05-07T22:26:00.000-07:00

If you agree that profanity is sometimes acceptable among the right company, then the 2018 Mustang GT is just the ticket. It has a loud pedal enabled by a loud switch on the dashboard. This thing is rock-n- roll on wheels. After a joyful week with the 460hp V8, there’s lots of praise for this coupe.

First and foremost, the sound. The most common demonstration was the remote start and the explosion of rumbling, gurgling exhaust from the glorious naturally aspirated engine. Heard inside buildings, across parking lots, it was love at first sound pulse. Remote start just enhances the experience. How is this thing legal? I don’t care. This fairly loaded model with quite a few features not always found on much more expensive vehicles has an MSRP of $46,970.

The selectable exhaust has a quiet mode, but that just sounds stock. It can be programmed for certain hours because this will be heard in the neighborhood. The track and drag modes (more on those later) have an even deeper rumble. I questioned how much of it was piped into the cabin artificially, but it did set off an alarm. And it did hurt my ear with the window down during a wide open blast next to a solid object. Well ok it was an SUV. Ford does state it’s for off road use only. Oops. Here’s the deal, EVs will not have this, legal, barely legal or illegal.

Acceleration is strong, rushing past 80mph induces that giddy feeling that it’s unrelenting. Independent tests show the car to be a low 12 second, high teen car with the 10 speed automatic. Zero to 60mph would be in the high 3s at that point. It does have acceleration, braking and g-force measurements integrated into the user interface. Power is a little soft in low rpms but it comes on strong and progressively. Throttle response is very good.

The big question is how is the 10 speed automatic? It was nearly fantastic. Shifts were seamless during normal driving and it never hunted for the right gear. A steady cruising rpm, it held steady in the gear. In the track modes shifts are very firm and I got rubber going into second gear. With the shifter left in Sport and automatic modes, rapidly decelerating would induce rapid fire downshifts which was so cool.

In the manual mode double tapping the paddles due to so many ratios worked best. The only objections were a slow reaction to selecting second if while sustaining first at part throttle. Also when manually shifting near redline it was easy to hit the limiter. Otherwise this transmission was a joy. Eight miles per hour is about 2000rpm and eight-five mph is 2150rpm and about 25mpg with this 3:15 final drive ratio model. The manual recommends shifting into 10^th at 60mph for optimum fuel economy.

With all this powertrain fun, I missed two turns and nearly a third driving back from the office while giggling the entire time having so much fun with the response and feedback. The suspension is firm yet compliant, and very comfortable. For street use, and spirted on-ramp duty, it was excellent. Despite the old joke about spin-outs and danger to pedestrians, the rear end grip accelerating out of turns with the 255 width rear tires was surprisingly good.

If you don’t have a heavy foot, it’s an excellent commuter. Despite the tall hood and the side mirrors being a little small, visibility is excellent along with a good and functional interior layout unlike the Camaro. The rear back-up camera view is so wide it borders on epic. While cruising, the adaptive cruise control worked extremely well, less intrusive than others recently sampled. The selectable gauge display can show air/fuel ratio, axle oil temp, boost/vacuum, cylinder head temp, inlet air temp, oil pressure, oil temp and transmission oil temp.

With the Premium package, leather seats that are both heated and cooled are standard. They really form to the body mid-back but seem to be lacking at shoulder blade and higher level. Although some higher speed turns didn’t reveal any shortcomings in function. The headrest is tilt adjustable as well. There are other clever touches like a dedicated rear seat access lever behind each seat, and a magnetic button holds the seatbelt strap in place so it’s easier to grab and better than a button.

The engine oi change interval is up to 10,000 miles, with 5w-20. However, 5w-30 is recommended for track duty, with instructions to change back to 5w-20 after. Extreme duty can bring the oil change interval down to 3,000 miles but the interval for track duty (with the viscosity switch) seems to be 7,000 miles. Keep in mind, this is a large engine physically and it takes 10 quarts of oil. You’ve got to pay to play.

The Ford Sync 3 infotainment system works well, the user interface pretty easy to figure out, not even needing to check the manual on how to operate it. Apple Car Play starts right up and supposedly Waze will be included with it soon. Although the volume only went up to 30, the Shaker subwoofer in the trunk would shake the rear window and the lower front speakers blow the hairs on your lower legs, if you’re equipped like that.

It’s a dichotomy of refinements, features and unrefinements. The side window up and down action shakes the long heavy doors, you can subtly feel the vehicle shake as well. The pony image projected on the ground by the side view mirrors is fun, but generated extreme reactions, for and against. There’s a large console behind the rear mirror, only noticed from the outside. Maybe oversized but if it included the auto dimming headlights function, it worked great. The brake pedal feels a little wooden but modulates perfectly. The steering column release is on the right side, shouldn’t they always be in center under the column?

There’s something about domestic performance cars. Not sure if it is the tall, flat hoods combined with heavy engines sitting over or near the front wheels, but Ford did a great job with this one and the soundtrack speaks volumes. The exterior styling, especially the rear, is simply brilliant and it’s the best-selling sports coupe globally. I guess you could say, all things considered, it is world class.

2018 Volkswagen Golf R review - the refined hooligan

2018-03-11T20:01:00.000-07:00

This car is a bad influence on me. Sits low, handling is light, responsive and tossable. It’s quick, has excellent lateral support, smooth shifter, torquey, great visibility….why the heck are these other cars in my way? Accelerate, zig right, zag left, accelerate again, oops too fast. No matter, into a neutral all-wheel drift, recover while accelerating. That’s five or six cars dispatched already. Speed limit barely exceeded, I still need to show better judgement…

The 2018 Volkswagen R 6-speed manual offers the involving driving experience that makes you yearn for a track day while offering a smorgasbord of configurable settings, logical ergonomics and what must be best-in-class interior refinement.

Featuring a rumbly 292 horsepower turbocharged 4 cylinder, the torque is immediate and the acceleration satisfying. Reportedly rated at 22 mpg city and 31 highway, solid numbers for a performance car. The manual transmission 0-60mph time is said to be 5.2 seconds. The manual doesn’t have that jerk-your-head-back engagement going into second gear or third gear at wide open throttle, too many all-wheel drive drivetrain components. Maybe its the dampening, or both. Sixty miles power is reached at the top of second gear. A steady 80mph is about 3000rpm in 6th gear and while perhaps not ideal for fuel economy, downshifting isn’t necessary for getting around the ever present dawdling Prius, er, I mean other vehicles.

Refinement is prevalent throughout. When the clutch is fully engaged at idle, the vehicle can move at a crawl versus a herky-jerky lunging threatening to stall. Activating the electronic parking brake elicits an audible response from the rear of the car, as does the selection of reverse when the backup camera is actuated from its hiding space behind the rear emblem. Normal function sounds behind the driver other than the exhaust are rare and fun.

There’s a few quirks. When using Waze while in Apple Car Play mode, the audible directions switch the audio source from radio to phone but that seemed to sort itself out from my fumbling around with controls. The height of the steering column shaft absolutely must be raised, longer inseam drivers will hit their left knee against it while trying to have the steering wheel angled more parallel to the driver, and it makes ingress and egress difficult with the right knee even when its at the top of the arc. Pushing the manually adjusted wheel in makes it worse, because that brings the steering wheel rim lower still! If you’re a traveling salesperson, this might get bothersome.

The exterior has no chrome and a subtle blackout treatment and looks really sharp despite the basic hatchback design. Inside, the refinement is at a premium level. For example the wide and deep door pockets are lined with a carpet-like texture which keeps items from rattling around such as modern sunglasses that don’t seem to fit in any overhead sunglass compartment on the market. Despite the contoured fit of the seats, the upper back feels unsupported but leaning your head back meets the padded headrest nicely. It also seems rather rare to have a black headliner these days, a welcome change but this example was missing a sunroof. Once everything is adjusted, outward visibility excellent.

Thanks to the positive action shifter and light clutch feel, driving in commuter traffic is as effortless as a manual transmission car could be. The low end torque and maneuverability allow for easy placement and changing lanes as opposed to waiting for the revs to climb for power. Steering is quick, roughly 3 turns lock-to-lock but the turning radius is the give away that the engine is transverse mounted, a slight but noticeably greater than some larger, rear-drive only vehicles.

The multi driving mode selection has cool graphics along with a custom setting offering an array of configurations from chassis control, steering effort, engine sound, lighting, climate control, etc. When reaching for the navigation screen setting, the submenu pops up, a clever touch, pun intended.

This is really a magnificent daily driver which can be a practical economy car yet with plenty of power. And add just a button push and you’re a throttle position away from being an eager track rat with sharp styling cues yet still blending in to the daily commute without screaming, “Here I am!” for attention.

See the entire picture album on my Facebook page: San Jose Cars Examiner
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Tech in the Spec: 2018 Acura TLX A-Spec review

2018-01-18T23:09:00.000-08:00

In the “Near Premium” market segment, the players are all the names we’ve heard of, see every day, and are essentially the well-equipped yet entry level models of the luxury brands. Acura’s TLX offers a 2.4 liter 4-cylinder, but this A-Spec example is a 3.5 liter naturally aspirated V-6 producing 290hp and this very well equipped Tech Package examples has an MSRP of $45,750. The A-Spec trim level brings some exterior styling cues such as the distinctive grill, 19” wheels and suggestive 4” exhaust tips. Inside, the A-Spec-only red light accent stripes are a very neat detail that adds to the ambiance, especially at night.

Producing an extremely smooth 290 horsepower, downshifting several gears below 9^th produced no discernible increase in vibration despite a big leap in engine rpm. What it lacks in sheer grunt it makes up for with an always welcome yet refined V-8 sound track despite lacking two cylinders. The throttle dependent rumble can help sell this car to the driver, yet isn’t an attention getting (or craving) head turner. A long travel pedal is needed to illicit downshifts, it makes for a great daily driver before even activating the numerous technology features.

While on the subject of the powertrain, one aspect must be brought up. The Super Handling All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) absolutely spoils the driver in the rain, at green lights and even when turning. On wet roads the launch from a stop enabled by the SH-AWD will widen your eyes. Ever try flooring a car while turning and not crashing or spinning out? This thing lets you do it, one handed, easily. Thanks to the torque vectoring rear differential, overdriven by 2.7%, it absolutely spoils the driver with its capabilities and easily builds confidence. It’s quite a gem.

Four driving modes, Eco, Normal, Sport and Sport Plus control the engine and transmission, throttle input, and more. The ride is definitely on the side of luxury, more so than expected even in the A-Spec suspension trim. Handling is extremely predictable and the tires will squeal at a limit high enough to get in trouble and gap 99% of people behind you on the on-ramp.

Even though it is a sluggish downshift response to the right foot, the 9 speed automatic is responsive with the steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. With the all-wheel drive, Acura could take advantage of the many ratios and give it much more aggressive gearing for quicker acceleration so it’s more evenly matched with some of its 6 cylinder, turbocharged competitors. But on the upper end, an 85mph cruise speed only turns a spectacularly low 1850rpm. In perspective, a diesel BMW 335d would turn 2200rpm. Great for highway fuel economy, rated at 29mpg but acceleration is non-existent if you are in the manual gear selection mode. Otherwise it simply downshifts. Could you imagine manually shifting 9 speeds in a commuter? You’d be skipping gears constantly, not reaching peak efficiency and acceleration not at the vehicle’s potential.

Multiple technical features can help a driver become either better, safer, lazier, or depending upon the mood, alternate at will. The suite of driver aids and warning systems is called AcuraWatch. Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) will activate the brakes in case of an imminent collision and the Forward Collision Warning (FCW) flashes “BRAKE” in orange letters between the gauges when the approach distance and speed exceeds the programmed threshold.

The Low Speed Follow (LSF), with Active Cruise Control (ACC) is a nice convenience can be quite useful in bumper to bumper traffic. The only issue is despite setting the closest distance, it leaves a large enough gap for another driver to easily move in. It doesn’t let up on the throttle due to brake lights, but rather distance and the brake application is sudden, so you start to wonder if you’re irritating the driver behind you or if the driver in front is smooth on the throttle.

Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) reads the road surface and makes subtle adjustments in the steering wheel to keep the vehicle centered, a driving aid that reacts before the driver at times. Letting go of the wheel in a curve is not a good idea. And while activated, if it senses hands off the wheel for too long, it will flash a warning. What was liked the most is the Lane Departure Warning (LDW) which will flash when a car is too close for a lane change. Very helpful at highway speeds in the dark when moving around slower traffic.

The climate control system also links the seat ventilation and heating which is a great touch and the functions can be adjusted on the display screen. The seats are so comfortable, and so easy to get in and out, the Alcantara objection of being too grippy is totally dismissed in this case. The wife loved the spaciousness and how quiet it was.

There are a few quirks like the tall, wide sill, especially with the sportier lower body cladding. The rear view camera has a very wide angle but is a bit granular in image quality, especially when it rains. Speaking of rain, careful opening he trunk so you don’t spill water on the contents.

The TLX A-Spec is a solid luxury and technology contender in the market segment, an excellent daily driver, multi-state tourer, has enough grunt to get past slower traffic and makes pleasing sounds while doing it with refinement and tasteful, sporty styling touches. Add another fifty to one hundred horsepower and this would be a standout.

Kia Forte5 SX review

2018-01-03T21:25:00.002-08:00

What if I told you a very European looking 5 door hatchback with sporty styling, dual exhaust outlets, a rear diffuser, manual transmission and lots of features didn’t come from a U.S. or Germany based manufacturer? Would your next guess be a 2017 Kia Forte5 SX that is a very well equipped hatch with an MSRP of $27,000.

First impression is it looked very much like many of the refined hatchbacks seen in Italy in September during a two week vacation. The rich gray color compliments the black grill treatment and wheels and. A thin red horizontal line across the front clip makes a sporty yet soft statement and ties in the red stitching in the interior. The sloped rear window which is a staple with hatchbacks and keeps the station wagon look from creeping into your head.

Besides making a four door hatchback as sharply styled as possible and still have mass appeal, the interior has very well designed seats with red trim tying in the front styling cue. Surprisingly the seats are both ventilated and heated and were perfect during a roughly 300 mile round trip one day. In addition, dual zone climate control, navigation, satellite radio, moonroof, power entry and exit seat, and the Kia UVO infotainment and telematics service which also includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

The center dash display shows the tach and speedometer along with a multi-window display of the trip odometer, navigation, entertainment, and settings. Counting four cupholders, plus forward console storage is quite good but then it was pointed out the center armrest compartment will hold more water bottles because it’s so deep. Not bad! Granted the interior can always be spruced up with materials and styling elements but from a refinement, layout and functionality standpoint it is excellent.

Peeking around, the pedals and foot rest are all metal with rubber pads and look serious and full of intent. The hatch space offers 60/40 split fold down rear seats, the “60” properly on the passenger side and they lay flat, cargo tie-down loops, a board that hides the child seat anchors, flaps on either side for flat storage and two layers of segmented storage underneath.

The 201 horsepower engines provided plenty of power around town and on the highway. Not even realizing it’s turbocharged due to virtually no lag, once rolling in first gear, going wide open throttle will squeal the tires. It does have the common 4 cylinder audible hum, but a slightly tuned exhaust note would be welcome.

The EPA highway rating is a disappointing 29mpg, and judging how early upshifts are suggested on the driver’s display along with “taching out” at 3600 rpm while cruising at 85mph, maybe taller 5th and 6th gears could be utilized for better highway mileage. Hopefully Kia can address this and get the EPA rating into the 30s unless I’m missing something from the equation.

Everyday driving is enjoyable, the ride is comfortable but the steering provides no feedback. Perhaps most would consider this luxurious refinement, but the enthusiast wants to know what’s going on with the front tires. Shifter throws are short and so is the clutch travel with light effort. This car contributes to the “save the manuals” mantra, its that easy. The flat bottom steering wheel, called, “Very Formula One-ish” in one of our “FactsandFigure” videos, is actually pretty nice because it acts like a lever when turned and lets you know it’s position by feel. Never had that kind of time with one before to appreciate it.

Pushing the limits on an onramp reveal the very toss able feel of a lighter car and the scrubbing sound of the tires approaching their limits at a cornering speed higher than anyone witnesses in traffic, and the 225 width tires on 18” wheels do a good job of holding the road. I’d be curious to see instrumented test numbers.

For only $27,000 MSRP, one starts making comparisons. A top-of-the-line Infiniti Q50 that is double the price doesn’t offer power folding mirrors or cooled seats. Kia does pack a lot of value into the car. From the road trip, hauling charity drop-offs and overall utility, this is a great car. Perfect for a comfortable commute, a first time buyer, a practical family car and more.

Check out the all the pictures on the San Jose Cars Examiner Facebook page. Special thanks to The Drive Shop for providing the vehicle. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1298982410206467.1073741934.378354382269279&type=1&l=abbb84f8cf

Porsche Macan GTS review

2017-10-24T22:50:00.000-07:00

He’s been in and out of sports cars for nearly a half century. Now the car trips are usually shorter duration, invariably hauling something, the vehicle sitting in parking public parking lots for minutes or hours. A nice sport car gets attention, sometimes too much, having being keyed by some entitled tool full of wealth bias. And it scrapes the front on so many driveways. This 2017 Porsche Macan GTS is easy to get in and out of, it blends in, kind of, in the current landscape of utility vehicles. It hauls loads and butt. It offers easy cargo access and for those hauling infants and toddlers, easy access to car seats. Yet it’s also the old man’s sports car. Big 21” wheels and tires with Porsche tuned suspension and handling will embarrass or hang with numerous performance cars existing today in any handling or braking metric. Could this be the best all-around vehicle on the road? The crossover, essentially a raised station wagon, is a do-it-all vehicle.

The Macan GTS is powered by a twin turbo V-6 that produces 360 horsepower and 369 lbs feet of torque channeled through the Porsche dual clutch transmission (PDK). Coupled with torque vectoring all-wheel drive, Car and Driver tested it to a 13.0 second quarter mile at 105mph. Despite the 4492lb weight, it posted a spectacular breaking distance of 157 feet from 70mph. Granted the weight has an effect on the mileage rating of 17mpg city and 23mpg highway. The packaging is impressive, allowing for a 19.8 gallon fuel tank for less fill-ups, very convenient.

The acceleration has a nice mechanical, kind of a spinning sound, very refined with snappy upshifts. Typical of Porsche, the handling is confidence inspiring and feels like a taller sports car but without the expected slop of a high ground clearance SUV/CUV. The ride is very comfortable with the air suspension dampers and not hampered by the 21” wheels with 265/45 tires in the front and 295/35 tires in the rear along with Porsche Active Suspension Management which lowers the ride height 10mm versus the standard Macan.

There are nice touches typical of Porsche, even with a lot of buttons surrounding the shifter. This example has the sport chrono package, heated front and rear seats, panoramic sunroof and keyless entry and drive. Having had a series of Porsches, the most recent a 2015 Cayman GTS previously reviewed, one of the surprises is the perfect Bluetooth acoustics and voice command system. Equating it to an acoustic enclosure, the noise cancellation and transmission is said to be spectacular.

The navigation screen also has a cool touch to zoom in or out feature but it does leave fingerprints. And navigation summary provided on the 3^rd gauge directly in front of the driver is very convenient. Also the home screen in the main display is configurable with the desired information, such as music, time/date, recent calls, navigation, etc. There is a rear parking camera and forward proximity sensors to aid in parking. The infotainment system is very well thought out but including Apple Car Play would be the next step feature wise.

The cargo capacity is good with the rear seats up, but not great. Two people headed to the golf course means taking a larger SUV or folding down the three-sectional rear seats. However looking underneath the cover reveals a temporary spare. However the orange colored wheel is probably to entice you to get it replaced or fixed immediately.

The exterior is well styled, the red calipers a nice touch behind the turbo-style wheels. A close look at the front grill reveals the louvered opening that open and closes for the cooling efficiency of the radiator. Further inspection along the nicely aggressive front clip shows other cooling radiators. Porsche had headlight styling down to a science and interestingly the hood is somewhat of a clamshell with openings for the headlights and integrated vents that direct intake are to the air boxes, creating a seal with the hood. Very clever and the entire set-up actual makes it one of the few SUV/CUVs that show well. Yes, I mean at a car show.

It’s not perfect, but it’s close for overall utility, sport and practicality. The fuel efficiency isn’t great, the rating is 17 mpg city and 23 highway and the effortless acceleration will trend that downard. Doing build on the Porsche configurator, a power tilt and telescoping steering wheel didn’t seem to be available, but the owner has no issues with it, not needing to use it for ingress and egress.

If your use cycle is frequent loading and unloading or even children in car seats, but want something compact versus overly large for around-town use and frequent parking lot visits, a crossover utility vehicle is a great choice. But when the cargo is unloaded, or dropped off at daycare, what’s wrong with having a decent handling driver with 13 or even 12 second quarter mile capability? It’s about having the best of both worlds. Add the capability, engineering and performance of a Porsche, it’s tough to beat a Macan GTS, although there are a couple of higher horsepower models of 400hp and 440hp each...

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Adventurous driving on the roads of Italy

2017-09-29T19:07:00.001-07:00

When you think of driving in Italy, what comes to mind? Ferrari’s and Lamborghini’s in the left lane, scooters and Ducatis in the right lane and little hatchbacks in the middle lanes? The reality is a bunch of hatchbacks zipping around and scooters zig zagging around the cars. Nevermind the bullet trains which are a superb method of covering multi-hundred mile distances at 185mph.

Recently I had the great fortune of taking a two week vacation in Italy with my wife, also known as Pretty Navigator, aka "Figure" of "Facts and Figure". I was able to observe and participate in a style rarely seen in the states among the general driving public and even considered controversial or road rage worthy. I guess some of us simply are European or Italian style drivers.

A smaller rental car is recommended simply due to the very tight streets and parking in the cities. All the cars are left hand drive and small diesel hatchbacks are numerous with models from Fiat, Peugeot, Skoda, Smart, Citroen, Alfa Romeo and more familiar brands like Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen. There are hardly any pickup trucks but you do see small and midsize SUVs and small vans. Because of the recommended smaller vehicle size, I recommend medium sized and smaller luggage so that it can all be concealed in the back hatch when the car is parked and hidden away from prying eyes.

Opt for the full insurance coverage. After five years of vehicle ownership with either backup sensors or cameras, not having them in an unfamiliar vehicle, in a foreign land with very confined spaces can be nerve-wracking at best and expensive at worst. The way oncoming traffic is so close in the narrow streets, one wonders why more mirrors aren't missing and body panels aren't scraped up. Also get GPS unless you’re going to use your cell phone. More on that later.

Our vehicle was a Fiat 500L diesel, 5 speed manual which was adequate for around town and not so much on the Autostrada. However power isn't exactly common among compact diesel hatchbacks. For instance, second gear was too tall to climb the steep hills at low speed with any kind of load in the vehicle. Even after downshifting, you sit and patiently wait for speed to increase. The contrast to driving a large, powerful car in our open spaces is very stark. Such as when merging, it’s a series of full throttle applications in first through third gears.

The cities have a very large population of scooters zipping around, cutting lanes, passing over the double lines and on the right side even on two lanes road. They ride with the abandon of a motorcycle club pack run but without the common destination and not quite as loud, and no music. No one gets mad, and I exclaimed, "Whoa!" frequently as passes, cutting lanes and squeezing in was witnessed regularly, including around city busses.

Watch for scooters everywhere, you’ll get passed on the left at any time. You don’t hear loud music, or revving motors, but horns is another matter. Renting a Vespa scooter in Sorrento was a blast. Funny story; even after years of owning an 800lb Harley, I had to learn the technique of the center stand, making sure I was pressing down on the stand so I didn’t keep trying to muscle up the scooter just pulling on the handlebars. It was YouTube worthy, I’m sure.

The Autostrada is where it really gets interesting. Bring Euros in $2 and less denominations the tollbooths unless you get the Telepass device. If you don’t have the pass, you collect a paper ticket at the automated dispenser and when exiting the Autostrada, a manned booth or automated payment collector will accept your money. Credit cards don't appear to be an option but it does have a coin counter. And the automated systems even say, “Arrivederci!” We don't get jack in the US. The highest speed limit observed was 110kph, or roughly 68mph. Despite signs of electronic speed monitoring and spotting camera boxes, many travel much faster than indicated. Here's where it gets fun and proper though: Slower traffic, move your ass over, period. There were countless examples of much faster traffic tailgating a slower vehicle in the left lane only to see the road boulder immediately move over. And the same courtesy is extended to you. The big rigs all keep right, have three rear axles and seem shorter and lower than their US counterparts with bodywork closing the gap around the wheels.

There is a significant disparity in speeds among various vehicles. A flashing signal along the onramp for merging vehicles is a welcome reminder. Driving through smaller towns and transition roads means lots of roundabouts. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to the layout, but GPS is key. With GPS, if you don't opt for the rental company unit, be sure to pay for the data package of your cell phone service provider. Bring a USB cable (or cigarette charger) to keep the phone charged due to the constant GPS data flow. When navigating make sure you're signed into your chosen navigation tool account so your search history and parked car locators are both active. Handy when figuring out which train station you're parked at or wandering the city. Finally, tunnels can cause signal delays so make sure you always know the next turn. Missing one can mean some convoluted redirection and multiple roundabouts.

Diesel near the airport was roughly $6.75 gallon but it's advertised in liters. Also there are two grades of diesel, the base is sufficient for rentals. The Autostrada is clean, well maintained and clearly marked with directions. There are numerous SOS emergency call centers and marked places to pull over. The countryside is particularly scenic, reminiscent of Highways 17, 280 going up the peninsula and the Napa/Sonoma area especially. Interestingly in some stretches there are tall Plexiglas fences to help block wind gusts while still preserving the scenic views. The lanes seem a little narrower and staying between the dotted lines seems to be optional sometimes.

Tunnels are numerous and extremely well maintained and lit. The longer ones have exhaust fans as well. Car spotting isn't remarkable, being spoiled in San Jose. A Ferrari F430 was seen in Rome, a Ferrari California in Sorrento, and right-hand drive 488 GTB Spider and 458 Spider also but those two were in the country from the UK for the Ferrari 70^th anniversary celebration. Porsches are a bit more numerous. Hardly anyone plays their music too loud and thankfully bumper stickers haven't taken off in popularity.

You’re better off if you know how to drive a manual since they are very common there. Regarding the GPS, either it’s my inability to comprehend Italian, but the streets have long Italian names and the verbal GPS announcements are quite length and for me, never seem to match the name of the street and yet took us where we needed to be. But the street signs will have multiple destinations stacked in a column, which is more confusing. And one last thing, make sure you have the proper address and region in case the city or town has a similar name. How Americans got around Italy when driving before GPS must have made for some interesting “discussions”, frequently wrinkled maps and many repeat trips around the roundabouts. Arrivederci!

Some random car pics from various places in Italy:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1219118094859566.1073741928.378354382269279&type=1&l=6857116f03

The Quail A Motorsports Gathering 2017

2017-08-31T22:34:00.002-07:00

The 15^th annual The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering was held on Friday, August 18^th this year, of course held at The Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel, California. Always spectacular, there were some exceptional displays that contributed to another memorable experience for the limit of 5,000 attendees.

First, the Best of the Best Award for 2016 was earned by a stunning 1954 Maserati A6GCS/53 Berlinetta by Pinin Farinia. It won Best in Show at last year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este and beat seven other contestants after being selected from a panel of twenty-four notable members of the automotive world including leaders of automotive companies, design, collections, famous race car drivers, etc.

The displays were wonderful, Koenigsegg had an unprecedented ten vehicles on display which made for some fantastic photo opportunities and a chance to finally compare the different models side by side. Floyd Mayweather’s was one of them. AMG had an actual engine builder assembling their twin turbo V-8 for all to watch. On the other side of the wall was the powertrain and suspension of the AMG Project One.

Pagani again had their impressive display and this time the Huayra BC, Huayra Roadster and the Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta. Pulling myself away from the Italian craftsmen to the Porsche display where the new 700 horsepower 911 GT2 RS was featured. Of course the 911 GT3 and 911 Turbo S Exclusive Series. Conspicuously absent was the Bugatti Chiron and the Ferrari 812 Superfast although both can be expected next year. And yes, there were Veyrons and F12tdfs and a Porsche 959. The infamous Rimac was also there, and speaking to the first owner in the US was an interesting conversation about Electric Vehicles.

There were so many notable displays such as Singer, BMW, Bentley, Acura and their introduction of the Acura ARX-05 DPi race car, Lamborghinis with a Huracan Performante, Rolls Royce and more. I really enjoyed studying the McLaren 720S up close. The cuisine was exquisite as always with menus from Beverly Hills, Carmel Valley, China, Italy and France. Additionally, California Caviar, Louis Roederer Champagne, Hog Island Oysters, Dolce Spazio Gelato are welcome returns.

It’s important to remember that besides the views, the people watching, the food and drink, the Bonhams auction entry and celebrity/VIP sightings and interviews, the charities supported deserve recognition. The Rancho Cielo Youth Campus, Naval Postgraduate School Foundation, the California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation receive contributions as does the Junior Reserve Training Corps.

The only critique I could make is that too many of the 250 or so cars were parked too close together, making photo opportunities difficult. Traffic is always an issue so the total number of tickets has probably reached the max. Perhaps a bus system should be incorporated like at Pebble Beach.

However I recommend arriving before the 10am start and check out the guest drive cars which this year were the Acura NSX and Lamborghini Huracan. Also check out the Porsche building which has their latest models on display, branded goods for sale, etc. Walking the parking lots, which is a show in itself, is also an option and a judging slip was even offered!

One very clever difference this year was keeping the event open with DJs on either end of the show and the drinks flowing at the bars. Talk about THE place to be before the private parties start! It was announced it was done to alleviate traffic which is very true. It also would keep people from leaving for the “other” show that afternoon and evening in downtown Monterey. I broke the cardinal rule of not to leave one good party to check out another event taking place. It wasn’t comparable, I won’t do that again. So arrive early, have a beverage, walk a lot so you develop an appetite for at least two meals and plan on making a great day out of it. I already can’t wait to go again and see what surprises will be there next year.

Be sure to check out over one hundred photos from the 2017 Quail here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1186960024742040.1073741920.378354382269279&type=1&l=d356df3783

McLaren 675 LT Spider review - manic limits

2017-07-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Last year when the Powerball lottery hit one billion dollars, I sat down that night and spec’d out a dream car online. It just happened to be a McLaren 675LT Spider in the same blue color as the one I was able to review. There’s something about a Spider, in this case a hardtop convertible that has a strong appeal even when you have to protect yourself from the sun. This one is truly two cars in one, and as I discovered, more than just because of looks or catching a breeze.

This 675LT Spider is the owner’s fourth McLaren. He had good experiences with the 12C’s he owned and his P1 that I reviewed is somewhat famous, especially among Motor Trend readers. Being a fan of carbon tub (passenger compartment) convertibles, partly because the minor weight penalty for the roof coming off, the 675 LT is still a track oriented machine, said more so than their Ferrari 458 Speciale. Comparing to the 12C, which the 675 LT is an evolution of, the engine, engine tuning, transmission, and braking are all noticeably different and improved.

Also inevitable is a comparison to the wild McLaren P1. Leagues quicker with 903hp with better throttle response due to the hybrid system, the lighter 675 LT has a quicker turn-in and more grip. Of course the question of weight comes up. The owner’s experience is McLaren’s stated weights are spot-on, his P1 weighing 3300lbs, giving him no reason to doubt the 3,016 lbs stated by McLaren for the 675 LT Spider. This is a very light car by modern standards, especially combined with the output of the 3.8 liter twin turbo V-8 of 666hp. To put that into performance numbers, what has been reported in the quarter mile is low-mid 10s in the mid-upper 130mph range. Put it another way, if the NHRA observed it exceeding 135mph, McLaren could request a letter from the NHRA that that the observed vehicle was banned unless a safety cage was installed….

Acceleration is manic with a rush towards redline that makes your stomach go light and nearly instantly exceeds the speed limit with a mechanical roar properly placed behind you. A hard acceleration upshift cracks like a gunshot. The lateral grip available approaches the “No way!” internal meter in incredulity, the fully bolstered seat keeping occupants in place. The hydraulically controlled suspension has hardly any body roll and braking is just ridiculous, requiring checking for traffic behind you before hammering the pedal for a non-nose dive, torso-leaves-the-seat extreme deceleration.

The suspension, in all McLarens, widely considered superbly riding with the hydraulic system replacing the anti-roll bars. In the 3^rd mode, called track, is incredibly stiff. We hit some visible bumps and they were definitely felt, but not heard at all. No crash, creak, thunk, nothing. It was weird and amazing not hearing the vehicle reaction, only feeling it.

Entering the car, a button under the edge of the door engages the scissor lift opening very smoothly. It’s not a wide opening so enter butt first, then swing in the legs with knees bent. Pulling down the door requires very even effort from the top to bottom, an obvious attention to detail and superior design. The seat is very snug yet instead of feeling pinched, you settle and seemingly mold to it. It’s another example of one that I never adjusted once sitting in it, whether in height, back angle, bottom angle, etc.

In one of the videos during the top opening/closing process, the hardtop can observed storing neatly into a carpet lined box behind the passenger compartment in front of the engine bay. Driving with the top down at highway speeds was extremely pleasant, wearing a brimmed hat wasn’t an issue. The rear window also goes down, and the owner says this allows for more engine noise in the cabin when the top is up, which can be a treat.

It’s a different vehicle with the top up. The tire and road noise, thwacks from the pavement and gravel hitting the wheel wells are all heard. With the top down none of that is heard as if it all goes away. The hardtop may be the ultimate track weapon and seeing one with a roof scoop was way cool, but the Spider has got to be so much better off the track and more variety in experience provided.

Front trunk space is quite impressive, more than enough for a weekend. The owner said he likes the sound system and that it’s quite good. Another improvement reported versus past models is the infotainment system works much better than past units.

Negatives that I observed are few and far between. Getting in and out is rather difficult. And the engine cover/hood isn’t easily removed and doesn’t have an option to simply press or pull a release and lift it open. Those were my observations but the first wouldn’t stop me and the second is just to show it off. Despite all his track time, the lack of a limited slip differential has never been a problem. It’s not driven in inclement weather, uneven surface transitions are taken slowly and with the front axle lift system activated so slippage there isn’t noticed. Maybe exiting turn 11 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca might exploit the open differential but a mid-engine weight distribution and wide, extremely sticky tires also make up for an open differential When I asked the owner what negatives there were, he had an uncharacteristically long pause, which was the answer right there. This car is spectacular.

McLaren has brought to market a blazingly quick, extremely light super sports machine that is a borderline hypercar yet lighter and more powerful than both the Ford GT and Ferrari 488 GTB. With an MSRP of $372,600, versus the supposedly quicker lapping Ford GT, it is lighter, makes more power, probably was easier to obtain, and is a convertible that isn’t too cramped for two occupants. The styling is stunning with the top down and surprisingly the owner doesn’t have any photos with the top up, nor did I take any. Yet with the top down, it is a very livable hyper-exotic car with looks and performance to match. Now the even more powerful McLaren 720S has hit the market, presenting still another choice. And I still play the lottery.

The complete picture album is on my San Jose Cars Examiner Facebook page:

The Dodge Demon is not banned and other facts

2017-07-13T21:24:00.001-07:00

It’s time to straighten out the misconceptions, ignorance and fake news about the Dodge Demon. Dodge conducted an extensive marketing campaign to introduce the Dodge Challenger based Demon. There was much speculation but the bottom line is it is the quickest production car ever made, only potentially beaten by the all-wheel drive Bugatti Chiron. Further furor struck when Dodge announced the NHRA letter this Demon was banned from their tracks because it was too quick and too fast without a roll cage. Notice the letter stated “this vehicle”. There is no blanket ban on the Dodge Demon at NHRA member tracks.

There are no letters about the Veyron, La Ferrari, Porsche 918 and McLaren P1? That’s because despite their potential to exceed the NHRA 2008 model year production car limit of a 135mph trap speed or 10.0 second ET, those numbers have to be exceeded and witnessed at an NHRA member track first before the singular, observed vehicle is banned. And not a blanket ban. Not every driver of those cars will exceed those limits and who’s to say they can’t back off in order to stay eligible? Happens all the time with other built cars.

Let’s look at the demonic numbers. The pump gas, emissions legal horsepower rating is 808hp and 717 lbs ft torque. With the optional 100 octane race gas tune Engine Control Unit (ECU), those levels go up to 838hp and 770 lbs ft torque. The race gas tune does not void the powertrain warranty of 5 years or 60,000 miles either. This optional ECU equipped Demon ran a 9.65 ET at 140mph quarter mile with a 2.3 second 0-60mph time, all NHRA certified. It also has a production car record wheelie distance of 2.92 feet per Guinness World Records. However Motor Trend reported the new Porsche 911 Turbo S also lifts its front wheels.

The stock tires are Nitto drag radials (DRs), 315/40/18s, front and rear. Of course they are not recommended for temperatures below 15 degrees but that is the case with virtually every summer tire designed for maximum fair weather grip as opposed rain, snow, etc. While many scoff at the choice of DRs, there are plenty of users on the internet that report using them during track days on road circuits with the appropriately raised air pressure. Surprise! Dodge reports a 60-0 braking distance of a world class 97 feet as well.

This is not just a supercharger pulley swapped Hellcat. It has a larger supercharger, upgraded connecting rods, pistons, and valvetrain as part of 25 upgraded engine components. It also has a higher stall torque converter, more aggressive final drive ratio and twin dual-stage fuel pumps. The only transmission, an 8 speed automatic, has been strengthened along with an upgraded drive shaft, rear axle and larger half shafts. There is also equipment specific to drag racing such as a Line Lock which allows the rear tires to spin with the front brakes engaged in order to warm them up for more traction off the line. The Mustang GT was the first production car with this feature.

There are some production car firsts. One is a transbrake that engages first gear and second gear simultaneously to allow the engine to build supercharger boost for more power during the launch. Aftermarket transbrakes engage first and reverse, but in case of a failure of first gear, the Demon won't suddenly go backwards. A clever step in avoiding potential liability. An "After cooler" uses air conditioning coolant in a chiller system to drop the intake air temperature up to 45 degrees to make sure the engine produces optimum power, more consistently, and offset the power robbing effect of hot weather. It also helps cool the engine after a run as well. There is a torque reserve system that builds supercharger boost in preparation for a hard launch with the transbrake.

The front shocks are designed to allow for front end lift under acceleration for better weight transfer to the rear while the rear shocks have firm compression and damping for optimized rear traction. The traction control is also optimized for acceleration and stability control kicks in if the vehicle is no longer traveling straight, further shutting down the jokes about being wrecked immediately leaving Cars and Coffee events.

There are equipment packages available with the Demon which has an MSRP of $84,995 by itself. You can add air conditioning and a radio. Otherwise two speakers are standard, required for seatbelt and key in the ignition chimes. However the two most discussed options cost $1 each. The first one is passenger and rear seats. The second one is a tool crate that includes the aforementioned ECU, skinny front wheels but not the tires, a floor jack and electric impact wrench for removing and installing the wheels. It also includes a tire pressure gauge, fender cover and a tool bag, most of which supplied by Snap-On.

The Challenger platform, while large and heavy, is still relevant today. Can you think of another coupe with room for four that has, say, six hundred horsepower or more than weighs less? What about under $100k? What Dodge has done is for the history books. There has never been a car like the Demon, and in the age of hybrids, environmental concerns, electrification, and more; there will probably never be anything like it again that is street legal. Well done Dodge, you’ve created a modern legend.

For an even more in-depth summary of the equipment levels and features, check out this link:

http://www.newson6.com/story/35127512/2018-dodge-challenger-srt-demon-pulls-the-wheels

Photos courtesy of FCA US media:

BMW M760LI xDrive quick review

2017-07-10T22:01:00.001-07:00

2017 BMW M760LI XDRIVE – LUXURY ON OVER-DRIVE

Originally published on the new performance oriented website, Fuelcurve.com: https://fuelcurve.com/2017-bmw-m760li-xdrive-luxury-over-drive-review/

Seeing a factory matte finish BMW raises the eyebrows. Strolling nonchalantly toward it, spotting the V-12 emblem puts a pause in your pace. Then reading the back emblem and seeing “M760i” denoting BMW’s 601hp technological tour-de-force definitely raises both eyebrows. Who knew a 2017 model year V-12, twin turbo sedan was available anywhere for nearly $172,000.

This is a CEO car. It’s for the business owner who, nicely put, gives zero cares about what anyone thinks about his or her 16mpg highway Q-ship. They worked hard, employ many, and get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. Or maybe wants something that is extremely modern, smooth and quiet and not care where the charging station may or may not be.

Start-up and driving is like any other car in the basic sense. But extra attention is given to the passengers both front and rear. Like it’s a perfect host or hostess for wheeled travel. Maybe that would be a coastess? The rear passengers share a center tablet and there are display screens behind each front seat. Each passenger can set their own seat adjustments in the rear as well.

BMW’s flagship is a first-class experience matching the turbine-like power plant under the hood. Calling it a motor or engine is just too mundane. Acceleration is swift, it leaps when need be and effortlessly closes gaps in traffic with a slight provocation of the foot. Turn-in can be surprisingly quick when manhandling the steering wheel. With the all-wheel drive, traction is never really an issue despite the V-12s best attempt to smoke the tires. Of course it’s heavy, but BMW’s new Carbon Core technology resulted in a massive 285lb weight reduction from the previous 7-series. Granted, adding four cylinders puts some weight right back, but you don't argue with a V-12. Nuff said.

Of course the suspension has adjustments but even in the comfort setting it couldn’t iron out some of the bumps on a backroad, but they were minimized greatly. Regardless, the sheer insulation and isolation is instantly apparent. As soon as we turned onto the main road my wife immediately looked at me and said, “This is a really nice car!” With particular emphasis on the “really” part.

It’s the technology that demands time to get familiar with the car, reading the manual, and spending hours learning it but the payoff is priceless. The gesture control seems to work in front of the steering wheel. Perhaps doing so unintuitively, performing gestures in front of the infotainment screen just made me look inept. But in describing this car, inept is not a word that comes to mind, ever.

Be sure to check out the new performance enthusiast website Fuelcurve.com where this article was first published: https://fuelcurve.com/2017-bmw-m760li-xdrive-luxury-over-drive-review/

The Absurdity of Fastrak and the HOV lanes

2017-07-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

The state of California continues with the ridiculous HOV or High Occupancy Vehicle lanes that are intended for Electric Vehicles, hybrids with limited issue permission stickers, motorcycles and multiple occupant vehicles. As you can guess, eventually these lanes won’t move any quicker than other full access lanes. That’s how stupid they are. They are so poorly thought out that there are multiple scenarios that the system can be foiled.

Of course, not everyone can use these lanes which I covered in a previous article here: http://cartruthblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/abolish-wasteful-and-unfair-hov-lanes.html so they are patently unfair. Now in the infinite wisdom of CalTrans and others, the Fastrak was introduced in order to charge a fee for solo riders who want to use the lanes. This meant adding sensors to detect vehicles but still no cameras for reading license plates. Of course cameras came next along with a revised Fastrak that has a switch to indicate how many passengers are in the vehicle. Now imagine the infrastructure needed to support all this.

The cameras cannot see occupants such as children behind the front seats, especially in vehicles with tinted or covered windows. Lighting and windshield angles with reflections can come into play as well. Will cameras with those abilities come next? How will they be monitored? There’s talk that sensors will be incorporated to somehow detect how many occupants are really in the vehicles. When will this madness ever stop? Until then the poorly conceived notion of the HOV lane, the Fastrak and lanes monitored with license readers can be cheated in multiple scenarios.

Finally, how silly to have to manipulate a essentially a cell phone sized object to adjust for the number of occupants, or keeping it covered in its ESD bag so the sensors can't pick it up. And keeping it glued or velcro'd on our dashboard? That's absurd. Here's another problem about the Fastrak system. A couple lines of code can easily determine the speed traveled between the sensors. And finally, if tolls must be collected, it should be in every lane, the same amount, for everyone and done by a bar code sticker on the windshield or by license plate.

Below are the numerous situation that can be encountered and bluffed. Lie at your own risk.

Solo or Multiple occupants, no vehicle sensor, no license plate reader. Example: San Tomas Expressway:
No Charge

Solo occupant, vehicle sensors but no license plate reader. Example, 680 Southbound, Sunol to San Jose
1. No FasTrak – No Charge
2. FasTrak covered – No Charge
3. FastTrak displayed – disputes charged claiming passenger(s) in vehicle – Account Credited

Solo driver on a license reader equipped road. Example: 580 Eastbound, Pleasanton to Livermore
4. FaskTrak displayed, disputes charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle - Account Credited
5. FasTrak covered, disputes charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle – Account Credited

Solo driver with FasTrak Flex on a license reader equipped road. Example: 580 Eastbound, Pleasanton to Livermore
6. FastTrak Flex set to 2-4 people – No charge
7. FastTrak Flex set to 1 person - disputes charge claiming passengers in vehicle – Account Credited
8. FastTrak Flex covered – charged, dispute charge claiming passengers in vehicle – Account Credited

Multiple Occupants with vehicle sensors, no license reader:
9. No FasTrak – No Charge
10. FasTrak covered – No Charge
11. FasTrak displayed – charge is invalid, disputes charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle - Account Credited

Multiple Occupants with FasTrak and license reader equipped road:
12. No FasTrak – dispute charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle – No Charge
13. FasTrak covered – dispute charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle - No Charge
14. FasTrak displayed – dispute charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle – No Charge

Multiple Occupants with FasTrak Flex and license reader equipped road:
15. FastTrak Flex set to correct setting – No Charge
16. FasTrak Flex set to incorrect setting – dispute charge claiming 3 passengers in vehicle – No Charge
17. FasTrak covered – dispute charge claiming passenger(s) in vehicle – No Charge

It’s been said, and a Google search indicates that an HOV lane violation is not a moving violation and doesn’t add points on a license in California. They key is to contest the ticket in court, if the officer isn’t there to testify, conventional wisdom says to plead not guilty and no witness present means the ticket will be tossed. If the officer is present, I would ask for forgiveness and a reduced fine. It’s a travesty that a texting ticket is less than a carpool violation ticket. The travesty of the existence HOV lanes and the Fastrak system also needs to be fixed. As in abolished.

Do you really think putting more vehicles in fewer lanes is a good idea? Don't be absurd.

Mazda Miata MX-5 Grand Touring review

2017-05-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

Introduced in 1989, the Mazda Miata went on to become the bestselling convertible in history. And particularly because of the Miata, the most raced brand in the world. Now recently into the fourth generation, the Mazda MX-5 Miata dropped a couple major things from the previous generation like horsepower and weight. A surprising 12 horsepower and a shocking 150 pounds trimmed away to a total of 2,324 pounds in an age where weight gain is the norm, including on vehicles much larger and at least one thousand to two thousand pounds heavier.

Truly the modern quintessential “driver’s car”, this 2017 Grand Touring model with the 6 speed manual transmission is extremely light, very nimble, rear drive, quick enough for many. As stated earlier on social media, it’s not about guys, it’s not about girls, it’s about having fun. Because it’s a convertible and quite small, some call it a girl’s car. But seriously, the complete antithesis of this car, something like a Dodge Charger Daytona, is a total dude’s car. Does a gender moniker even matter, especially as the most raced car in the world?

Mazda utilizes several philosophies in their vehicle design and construction. SKYACTIV is the effort to reduce weight while improving safety and efficiency. Their Jinba Ittai process is to elevate the driving experience. This was done by redesigning the cockpit and ergonomics for a more driver centric experience and better fit. KODO theme is the Soul of Motion with a long hood, short overhangs, large wheels pushed to the far corners, and looks good with the top or down. Not many convertibles can make that last claim.

The suspension is tuned spectacularly. Bumps that upset larger cars are easily absorbed with far less drama and rebound. An emergency swerving maneuver from a wayward driver is a simple, routine process without drama. Low speed turns can generate serious lateral g-forces if desired by simply yanking on the wheel. A higher speed sweeper gives superb haptic feedback through the steering wheel without any feel of mechanical assist. The shifter has great movement into every gear, just a bit of engine vibration when in third gear. The upshift indicator gives surprisingly early suggestions which undoubtedly contributes to its 26 city, 33 highway rating.

Very easy to launch from a dig, it has enough power for around town driving. This Grand Touring model equipped with the manual transmission would get rubber going into second gear. At 80mph in 6^th gear which is about 3200rpm, it will pull satisfactory to close gaps or get around slower traffic without downshifting. But it’s a noisy 80mph so this no long distance commuter for the highway. Some refinement in the engine for a more sophisticated feel would be also be welcome. The only performance aspect that is lacking from the car is power. It meets every other criteria of a driver’s car except for traction management, another 50hp would be very welcome. The only other feature that would be welcome is rev-match downshifting just for the convenience and joy of precision and consistency.

The convertible top has one center latch, folds back with one hand and a press downward secures it flat. Absolutely brilliant. It’s a wonderful feeling leaving the gym, putting the top down, and shifting your way home. Putting it back up is equally simple, just make sure the latch is in the proper position to prevent scratching the exterior of the latch housing. There’s no backup camera, you don’t need one with the top down. If the top is up, the backup sensor works great to make up for the rear three-quarter blind spot from the folding roof.

Yes it’s small, interior storage is limited, about the same as the front passenger space storage capacity as the new Camaro reviewed earlier. The center console will hold two iPhone 6 stacked on top of each other. Behind your right elbow is two cup holders, a difficult proposition to use. You can put two phones in a small cubby in front of the gearshift but hard acceleration will eject at least one of them unless wedged with a wallet. No container in the passenger compartment will hold a curved sunglass case.

The trunk however is surprisingly roomy and deeper than expected. Plenty of room for groceries or for two people on a weekend getaway. If you’re going to drive that long, the upper part of the door is body colored painted metal, nothing special yet far more comfortable than many luxury cars with padded and much fancier designs. A notch created by the intersection of the transmission tunnel and center dash is a nice fit for the right knee when cruising. The infotainment systems works well, although a bit quirky with button pushing redundancy. Despite that, the lane departure warning, navigation, and other features all worked very well. Bose speakers in the headrests add to the listening experience to offset the high speed wind noise.

A classic view of the curving front fenders channels sports cars of the past with excellent forward visibility as well as the side. You don’t feel claustrophobic and size really isn’t a concern until another vehicle fades towards your lane, or decides to pull up too close to the back bumper. Oddly there is the sensation of sitting up a bit high but that went away very quickly. Seats are very comfortable and supportive for performance maneuvering although a bit tight across the upper back if you’re an extra-large.

Stopping at O’Reilly Auto Parts to pick up some light bulbs for the nephew-hauler, the clerk, a fellow enthusiast, asked about the Miata and what year it was. The gentlemen behind me piped in his Club Sport edition was the one to own. Between over one million sold as of last year and an estimated 5,000 raced globally, finding a fellow owner or fan can happen on any given day, anywhere.

Well-equipped at $31,325, what other convertible is as efficient and dedicated to the experience? While on the seventy-five mile round trip commute, and when passing Porsches in traffic, I wondered if they were having as much fun. Every drive is either an adventure or memorable experience. Not many soft top automobiles that can be driven daily can make that claim and none that are as efficient.

Kia Cadenza Limited SXL review

2017-05-22T21:55:00.001-07:00

When thinking of a roomy luxury car for a suggested retail price of $45,000 what comes to mind? Think of some legitimate four or five passenger luxury cars, are any of them in that price range? One look at the interior of the Kia Cadenza which was redesigned for the 2017 model year is convincing enough. It’s a luxurious, roomy, front wheel drive sedan with a suite of computer driving aids making for a quiet and comfortable luxury car. This Kia makes a strong case in the segment. This particular loaded Limited SXL model styling is crisp, elegant with a touch of chrome and likely timelessness in the era of the modern sedan. If the name doesn’t carry the panache like Lexus did, the vehicle itself will be considered a gem, if an obscure one right now.

Equipped with the white Napa quilted leather seats, one feels guilty wearing old jeans and sitting in it. The dash layout is logical, clean and probably best described as elegant. A cute greeting ditty plays when entering the car, then a pretty slick graphical system check is displayed as if preparing for takeoff. A quiet driver with great outward visibility, it’s a very pleasant driver although more shelf for the elbow on the top of the door would be appreciated. Yet such an uncouth driving position is unbecoming in this elegant tourer.

Quite capable on the high speed sweepers, it has a composed feel of proper suspension tuning and a long(ish) 112.4” wheelbase to straddle the bell curve between sport and bouncy old-school luxury. It’s the tighter turns where you feel the front wheel drive push with subdued tire squeal. Of course that is beyond the intended demographic driving profile. Keep up that behavior and you’re simply betraying the message of the classy exterior chrome accents.

Multiple driving modes are offered and response in the Sport driving mode is noticeably sharp and will immediately spin the tires from a stop despite the classy pretentions. The only other drawback is a slight whine is heard while it continuously holds a lower gear in Sport. Comfort mode offers easy throttle response for driving in traffic, also very well executed with hardware and code. Smart mode is a decent compromise of both but Eco mode kills throttle response and one taste of that lag earned an immediate ban from further use. Despite frequent full throttle usage and over-the-speed-limit cruising speeds, 25 mpg was observed, falling right between the 20 city and 28 highway ratings.

Using all the configurable electronics is fun customization of the features, done on the center driver’s screen. The Surround View Monitor provides a 360 degree view of the vehicle when parking. A close-up view is also selectable for the front, side and rear. It even has a Rear Cross Traffic Alert in case of a passing object when backing out of space or driveway. The heads-up displays just enough information and it is both height and intensity adjustable, even working with polarized sunglasses. A night the LED headlights could be mistaken for brights from the driver’s perspective for the first few trips after dark.

On the 76 mile round-trip drive to the office and back, the Advanced Smart Cruise Control is great for relatively steady speeds. Despite the adjustable following distance, the closest setting was the ideal one as a “two one-thousand” count. Some more tweaking is needed when a large speed differential of the vehicle in front causes a sudden slowdown versus a gentle fade. It’s a little slow to react when a car moves out of the lane but when it does clear, the acceleration is brisk. The programming is logical, the closest setting is much different at 85mph than it is a 35mph, thankfully. In slow traffic when coming to a stop, it becomes necessary to reapply the throttle and the display says as much. Fading over to the lane divider activates the lane departure warning as well as the blind spot warning. Both are effective and not particularly jarring and thankfully not embarrassing if you’re talking on the integrated Bluetooth and the warning(s) beep.

Stopping at Black Heart Racing’s fabrication shop to discuss a custom tool I needed, the 360 degree cameras were a blessing in the confined parking area of multiple businesses, trucks, etc. The owner Lloyd, a hot-rodder, fabricator and artist I had arrived in a Lexus, which is high praise indeed.

With the weather now getting hot, the air conditioning blows very cold and the ventilated seats are a great luxury, not too cold and very quiet although a higher setting would be welcome for even quicker cool downs. It also has a switch to do it manually. Other little thoughtful touches noticed are shifting into reverse automatically lowers the rear sunshade lowers and silently comes back up after shifting to drive. Locking the vehicle with the remote automatically and silently folds the side mirrors and unfold upon approach. The refinement level is top notch.

A few lacking features that have been out for year in other marques does seem a little odd. Parked car ventilation scheduling isn’t offered. Along the same thinking, holding the unlock button on the key fob does not lower the windows. The moon roof shade doesn’t seem to be able to be moved independently of the moon roof tilt or slide function. It’s either open or closed but the panoramic roof is going to the rear is a nice touch. These are all likely programmable since the hardware is already present.

Regardless of what is lacking, whether a few random features, cylinder count or where the drive wheels are, the Cadenza Limited SXL is impressively equipped. The Kia name may not be synonymous with luxury like the long established brands, yet, but the Cadenza is a strong argument for a roomy, very well equipped luxury sedan that makes driving an enjoyable, efficient and effortless endeavor.

Sixth generation Camaro V6 review

2017-04-09T16:04:00.001-07:00

Chevrolet updated the chassis of the Camaro for 2016 with the new Alpha platform and by all accounts the approximately 250 to 300lb weight reduction was a huge improvement. Despite having a brilliant chassis and three powerful engine choices, the interior and outward visibility hardly improved at all. I wanted to like this car, I really did. It has some really good aspects but overall it’s only good for going in a straight line, not reverse or backing up out of any parking space, on public roads or modified into a track-only car. You decide if the interior justifies a $29,000 MSRP. The 2017 model is essentially the same.

The 335hp V-6 is a great engine, responsive, sounds good and with the quick shifting 8 speed automatic, the car is capable of mid-high 13 second quarter mile ETs. It feels every bit as quick as the numbers suggest. It has no appreciable dead spots and has an excellent pull. The 8 speed auto is finicky on the highway though, downshifting at the slightest provocation when closing a gap. Undoubtedly a result of the tall gearing to achieve its impressive highway rating of 28mpg. With a heavy foot, mixed suburban and highway driving, 21mpg was indicated in the readout which was reasonable.

When in the manual mode, upshifts only occur when manually selected. Seems reasonable. But if you hit the rev limiter, it’s a long, race-losing delay before it responds to the manually selected upshift. Unfortunately you cannot manually select with the paddle as an override when the shifter is in “D” when sitting at a light to first gear or second for slippery surface. And further, if in D, and you’re manually shifting once rolling, it won’t automatically upshift at redline which it should. A software update could potentially fix this.

The ride is very well controlled, slightly bumpy over the surprisingly lousy roads in Northern California. The firm suspension controls body motions extremely well with a very solid structure. Transitioning into a turn at speed doesn’t generate the expected body roll of a domestic product. Its target was BMW and it hit it, hands down. Granted this was the base suspension, wheels and tires. The highly acclaimed 1LE suspension would have to be experienced to comment. Road and wind noise is nicely subdued as well. It could make for a great road car except for some glaring faults and odd design decisions that never should have made production.

Complaining about the rear seat room would be silly in a smaller sized front engine coupe whose engine bay eventually contains a 650hp supercharged V8 in the top model, let alone a 3.6 liter V-6 and a decent trunk. Speaking of which, the trunk in the 5^th generation was a joke. This one is deep and goes all the way to the fold down rear seats. It is oddly proportioned though, more on that later.

Another surprise is the fuel tank holds over 16 gallons. It doesn’t say in the manual, but looking at a road test it indicated 19 gallons, which is really nice considering the Mustang and BMW 3-series have 16 gallon tanks. Also, it doesn’t have a filler cap, a nice touch.

But I can’t recommend this car to drive daily nor weekends. Stop reading if you don’t want to learn its long list of interior design and user shortcomings that are inexcusable in their totality in a modern vehicle, let alone the top of the line model whose MSRP is over $61,000 or this one that is $28,000 plus. It does have some great styling lines sitting on top of a tall body. The taillights are changed with this generation to a more traditional look, more integrated and less “Transformerish”. Walking up to the car, you notice how low the roofline is which translates to some compromises.

Here we go so hang on. Getting in you might hit your head against the roof because it curves downward like the Dodge Challenger on the sides. Closing the door, you sink into the seat to where your glutes seems pinched front to rear. Later as you drive, if you’re broad shouldered, you can feel the seat pressing on your rear deltoids.

Sitting low and looking left through ten inches of vertical side glass, you can’t see the wheels of the car next to you or the parking curb unless you crane your neck and then you might hit your head on the interior roofline. The door has the tiniest storage cubbyhole that may not even be suitable for a pen. You need a deformed left T-rex arm to activate the window and mirror controls too. Forget putting your arm on the window sill while driving, it would mean your forearm would be up near your ear.

Looking forward, the left bubble for the gauges obscures part of the hood and fender. The hood does slope down nicely but you don’t really know where the right tire might be. The airbag warning on the sun visor is almost as large as the small visor itself. The thick, flat bottomed steering wheel feels as good as any but at the 3 and 9 o’clock positions, the paddles are mounted too close to the steering wheel leaving too little room for the fingers. It also obscures one-third of the tachometer and speedometer and despite the controls that work and feel well for the radio, display and cruise control, the icons are so tiny they are difficult to see and unlit, a big miss. The right shift paddle and windshield wiper stalk completely obscure the start button and the little ridge under it makes it more difficult to find by feel.

The entertainment system works extremely well, and the Apple Car Play starts immediately upon plugging in the phone. For some reason the screen is tilted downward which makes absolutely no sense. The controls have a quality feel to them and the electronics are well integrated from the user interface to the lighting. It has a lateral and acceleration/braking g-force display as part of the menu showing fuel economy, reminders for turns signals and more. Even the remote itself is nice and feels like a quality piece.

Aim the large ventilation vent carefully or you’ll heat or cool your hand on the gearshift or your right thigh. The only place to put your phone is in one of the cup holders in the center console. There is hardly a place for your right elbow on the narrow center console cubbyhole lid. And your elbow ends up above your head when you open the long door to access the two USB ports and an itty, bitty storage hole. I’m not even sure if the silly Fastrak toll transmitter will fit. Sunglasses only fit in the glove box, period. Same with a radar detector.

The rear visibility makes a back-up camera an absolute requirement, and luckily it’s equipped with one. A reminder again of the downward sloped screen. There is no looking back to change lanes, it’s a useless attempt. Only the side mirrors are suitable. The rear end is so high and the rear visibility so bad, if a vehicle is following you at a standard distance, you can’t tell what make or model it is by looking in the small rear view mirror. Who the hell approved this interior for production?

The trunk is a vast improvement versus the 5^th generation but the depth of the opening is only 12 inches. What that means is your laptop or gym bag has to be turned sideways in order to load it. The opening width is 35” which is rather narrow. However, these are trade-offs that are a big improvement from previous years. Despite the trunk not having much of a lip to lift it, nor an interior handle to close it, it closes with superb precision and dampening.

The arch rival Mustang is clearly a better choice for day-to-day driving and livability. It’s like a domestic that went to finishing school in Europe and came back modernized and improved. The Camaro is like a European car that visited the US in the 1980s and picked up some really bad habits and ideas. The Camaro is the definition of a great powertrain and suspension desperately needing a vastly improved interior design and ergonomics. Some don’t care or dig the weirdness, but if where you spend time driving matters to you, there are other choices but they just won’t be as brilliant in the curves in the V-6 price range.

Photo album here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1065640306874013.1073741903.378354382269279&type=1&l=77ff94e431

Flawed octane rating testing by Consumer Reports

2017-03-26T21:53:00.002-07:00

Recently Consumer Reports published a piece how premium grade gasoline may not be needed for vehicles due to manufacturer recommendation versus a requirement. The article has several flaws and omits some key factors. One aspect is the testing used two vehicles that had recommendations for premium grade gasoline but not a requirement. The recommendations are usually only for performance, but the testing was lacking in a variety of situations.

It was suggested that if the feel and the sound of the engine indicates knocking, it’s a good idea to use gas with higher octane. Feel and sound are not good indicators of knocking or pinging. It is more serious when it is audible but using the human ear as a guide is deeply flawed. A data logger for the knock sensor and reading how the engine fuel mixture reacts is the only way to determine if the octane is causing knock. Knock is detrimental, audible knock is very bad.

Consumer Reports claimed the power difference using premium versus regular grade gas was measured with a zero to sixty mile per hour timed acceleration test. A 0-60mph time is a very poor comparison of horsepower. It is too launch dependent and only runs through the first two gears typically. A more powerful car may have a more difficult and therefore slower launch due to managing traction. This confounds the data even though it makes up the time once rolling. There are two reliable ways to measure horsepower without removing the engine; a chassis dynamometer and full throttle acceleration from a roll at a given speed and gear selected. The testers cannot feel a few more or less horsepower either. Not many people are able to accurately.

The article never mentioned mid-grade fuel nor the premium octane rating ranges. 91 octane is prevalent in California but 92 and 93 octane is available in other areas. Are factory stock vehicles tuned for 91 or 93? The difference can be significant. Are any production cars tuned for 93 versus 91? In powerful cars, especially with forced induction, just what would the difference be? An estimate is it can be a ten to thirty horsepower difference.

The last sentence hinting at reliability is irresponsible. It is implying a vehicle requiring premium is less reliable. Yet a performance engine is highly engineered with extra robust components. Also a first tier gas supplier may have a superior formulation in its premium grade. For instance Shell's V-Power Nitro+ has seven times the government mandated additive package that is proven to reduce valve deposits, corrosion and cause less wear versus other brands. That would imply superior reliability.

It should be noted that the testing didn't vary atmospheric conditions and temperatures. Nor take into account the summer versus winter grade of gasoline. Engine output varies significantly based on intake air temperature also called altitude density. It also should be disclosed that vehicles with forced induction tend to require premium fuel, and not simply recommended unless specifically noted. Especially when the engine is tuned for performance rather than economy.

Measuring performance differences demand proper instrumented testing and procedures. It also requires disclosure of testing conditions and more than a cherry picked facts and tests.

Link to Consumer Reports article:

http://www.consumerreports.org/fuel-economy/why-you-might-not-actually-need-premium-gas/