Evelyn Reynolds

From the August 1981 issue of Car and Driver.I knew that there was a new Scirocco coming to replace the coupe that has been delighting us since 1974. I knew that I would only have to wait a couple of months to try it when it was launched before the European press in the spring of this year. Nevertheless I bought one of the current models, and am not a whit sorry.If you think that means the new car is a failure, think again. When I tried it, the new Scirocco confirmed that it was better than the existing one in many re­spects, some of them quite important. It turned out to be inferior to the old one in only one respect (it is a little heavier), and then to a degree that is only percep­tible in the measurement of urban-cycle fuel consumption. It looks different from the old Scirocco, very different, but whether that makes it better or worse is a matter of opinion. As for the importance to be attached to the fact that the new car is 6.5 inches longer than before, that is an environmental matter: it depends where you want to garage or park it. No, the new Scirocco is an undoubted success—not merely because it is better in enough ways than the old one, but more because in all the things that really matter, the things that made the old Scirocco such a lovely lit­tle roadfaring tool, such a wonderful cosmetic aid, such a solace to salesmen and a comfort for accountants, the new car is just like the old one. Its character is completely the same, which means that VW will keep all its old friends while making some new ones. Engineers who fear that their work is swamped by stylists’ may take heart from this retention of the Scirocco’s identity and integrity. The bodywork of the latest model is wholly new; what preserves that admirable character must therefore be the fact that the machinery beneath is virtually unchanged. The 106-bhp version (the fuel-injected 1.6-liter with a close-ratio five-speed gear­box) now has ventilated front brake discs, but that rev-happy little wonder will continue to be withheld from Amer­ica. As for the others (including the 1.7-liter wofflebox due on parade in the U.S.A. next spring), about the only me­chanical innovation of any consequence is the availability of the wide-ratio 4+E gearbox, in which top speed is reached in fourth gear and fifth is only for low­-consumption cruising. High gearing is not the only aid to fuel economy in the new car. Aerody­namic drag has been reduced, too (it would have been commercial folly had VW not been able to claim some improvement, however trivial), bringing the Cd down from 0.42 to 0.38 while keeping the frontal area the same 18.3 square feet as before. Considering that the roof has been raised, and the air dam lowered, the tight tucking-in of the body contours has evidently been a rigorous exercise in width reduction, and that is probably why the styling of the new car has been done by VW itself in­stead of farming the job out to some­body like Giugiaro, who designed the first one, or even to Karmann, who built it and will build the new one. The real priority of the body re­shapers was to make more room, espe­cially for the heads of the hapless folk sitting in the little rear seats. There could be no significant increase in legroom, because the wheelbase had to re­main unchanged. The increase in head­room is small enough for it to be measured best in millimeters—ten above the front seats, eighteen above the rear—but in a car as closely tailored as the Scirocco those increases are significant. More indicative of the pressure that customers must have been applying is the increase in luggage capacity, up by 20 percent. The rear seatback can still be folded forward to turn the car into a two-seat grocery van or holiday tourer, but it is a pity that it was not split to allow either half to be folded in­dependently to make a nice three-seat compromise. Even more of a pity is that the miserable little 10.5-gallon fuel tank was not enlarged: once again, the reten­tion of the original wheelbase combined with safety regulations forbade any such change. At least the headlights have been improved, though they are still poor: if not as bad as the horrors im­posed on America by a heavily protected domestic industry, German headlights are still the worst to be found in Europe. Maybe German street-lighting is the best. Trying the new Scirocco gave me no opportunity to remind myself: I was taken to France to drive it, over those roads in the Maritime Alps where the cooperative nature of the local authori­ties is even more surprising than the many corners, and where everybody from Rolls-Royce to Renault finds an excuse to launch new cars (and occa­sionally even motorcycles) for press as­sessment. It is not only the roads that are tricky; the weather can be treacher­ous up in those altitudes, and on this occasion the arrival of Setright was co­incident with the arrival of the first rain for several weeks, resulting in some of the slimiest road surfaces I have ever encountered this side of a precipice. I shall skate over (if you will pardon the expression) the time when I had one of the cars sliding so comprehensively that the only way to salvation lay in negotiat­ing the oncoming roundabout in the wrong direction; that was simple driver error, and I do not think that anybody saw me do it. Elsewhere, wheelspin was something to be induced at will rather than encountered at hazard, especially with the power of that marvelous injection engine under the hood: with peak power at 6100 rpm and peak torque at 5000, and the sort of gearboxes that make it possible to stay within that re­gime throughout most of the car’s speed envelope, one can play racer more effectively in this car than in al­most any other within sight of VW prices. With the lesser carbureted en­gines, the 82-hp 1.6-liter and the 67-hp 1.5-liter, the feeling was merely of liveliness and adequacy respectively, but the breadth of their lower-tuned re­sponses was enough to match the wide ratios of the 4+E box. This five-speed­er is optional, unlike the close-ratio box in the 106-hp car; the standard equip­ment is a four-speed box in which the ratios are identical to the first four of the 4+E. The long-striding economy gear is not available at all with the smallest and feeblest of the Scirocco en­gines, the 58-hp 1.3-liter; but that little creep is not even coming to Britain, let alone America. The variations in body trimmings are less wide than before, because VW has expunged the basic N (for “Normal”) version and now starts the range with the tolerably well-equipped L. Like all the others, this has a laminated wind­shield, halogen headlights, plastic-­sheathed bumpers, and spoilers front and rear. The swankier GL gets height­-adjustable front seats, a four-spoke steering wheel, a tachometer and a digi­tal clock, and some fancy trim and exterior brightwork. The GT has slightly better headlights, an oil-temperature gauge, grippier upholstery, and a re­volting sticker inside the rear window, emblazoning the name “Scirocco” all across the bottom. Fortunately this vul­garity can be peeled away; maybe it was only put there to draw attention to the fact that the window now curves down over the rear to improve the view when parking. A slot in the rear spoiler guides air down over the glass, doing so well enough for clarity to be maintained in wet weather. This only works at open­-road speeds, so a rear wiper is still needed for clearance of accretions, but that necessity is now relegated to the options list. Are the salesmen trying to per­suade us that the airflow management of the Scirocco is now really good? Once out of the showroom and onto the road, they should not have to try very hard. The improvement is not merely of 10 percent in drag; aerodynamic lift over the tail has been reduced by 60 percent. It has taken a lot of line-soften­ing to achieve that, and the car no long­er looks as distinctive as it did; from a distance it could be mistaken for a product of the styling studio of GM, Nissan, or Toyota. That could be seen as the penalty of having the work done in house rather than giving it to an inde­pendent stylist, but with its own very good wind tunnel and a small army of aerodynamicists available it would have been a bit silly of VW to do anything else. By itself, Volkswagen is perfectly capable of producing something a lot snazzier than this mild-lined production Scirocco—something that was demon­strated by putting on show at the launch an experimental body with such flaring and dammings, such swellings and spoilings, as made the most sporting of the production cars look like a suburban shopping cart. Shod with 195/50VR-15 tires on seven-inch rims, it could have been a showpiece; but the VW engineer in charge of it let me have a drive, dur­ing which no doubt was left in my mind that it was truly a go-piece. More Volkswagen Reviews From the ArchiveVW took no credit for the amplifica­tion of power that made this special such a goer. An independent tuning firm, Oettinger, had done the engine work, including a twin-cam, sixteen­-valve cylinder head and some quite elaborate intake and exhaust manifold­ing. The upshot of all this was 130 bhp at 7200 rpm, and there is no question of VW ever attempting to make the kit itself; VW just bought it from Oettinger to see what it was like (as you could, if you were rich) and to compare it with its own experimental engines. Volkswagen did it justice with its work on the car: uprated spring and dampers (by Koni, instead of the usual Bilsteins) gave it a very positive feel, and the tires did the same—though on the slippery, wet roads they could not always deliver the grip they promised, making me wonder whether these NCT Goodyears were re­ally as good as the super-tacky P7s al­ready homologated for the Scirocco, however good they may be as rivals for the P6. It was great fun, though, the en­gine screaming up its scale with the ut­most alacrity and all the good-tempered smoothness of the regular GTI. Even with the production suspension, involv­ing anti-sway bars front and rear, the GTI Scirocco is a quite exceptionally agile and controllable machine; on fif­teen-inch P7s on the homologated 5.5-inch rims it is even better; and if this experimental car with its wider wheels and tauter suspension is any indication of what VW might have in store for the future, the new Scirocco is already more than welcome. For American Scirocco addicts with a hankering for more refinement, the fu­ture is already on the roads and in the showrooms of Europe. The most marked difference in the new car from the old one, looks apart, is its quietness. There used to be a resonance that made the old car boomy at anything over 70 mph; that has been ironed out of the new car. What with wind noise being virtually eliminated, conventional rain gutters having been removed (and re­placed by shallow grooves in the roof) in the cause of drag reduction, the Sci­rocco is very much kinder to the ears than ever it was. I felt that the brakes were better too, but I may have been led astray in this judgment by my familiarity with the brake of right-hand-drive ver­sions, where the linkage between pedal and booster is rather nasty and sloppy. One increase that is definite is in glass area, greater by 20 percent. I am not convinced that one sees any more, or any better, for there is now an awkward blind spot right behind the B-post. There is also an increase in weight, but it is so slight as to be appreciable only in a fractionally poorer urban-cycle mpg figure. At higher speeds the car drinks less fuel because it disturbs less air; for the same reason it goes slightly faster flat-out, reaching as much as 118 mph in the 106-hp GTI or GLI. What the performance of the American version will be cannot yet be forecast accurately; but assuming retention of the familiar 79-hp 1.7-liter engine, there should be a couple of miles per hour more at the top end than at present, and no other significant difference. An automatic transmission will be available (as it is in Europe on the 67- and 82-hp cars), and there will be sealed-beam head­lights to ensure that you do not travel too fast at night. The new Scirocco is scheduled for U.S. introduction early in 1982, they told me; do not feel too badly treated, for even in nearer England we shall not see it until October. The Scirocco ac­counts for 4 percent of the total VW sales, and 1.3 percent of the German market must be kept happy before the combined forces of Wolfsburg and Osnabrück (home of Karmann) can at­tend to the likes of us. That is why I bought a 1980 model.SpecificationsSpecifications
1982 Volkswagen SciroccoVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 3-door hatchback
PRICE
Base (Germany): $7450–$10,150
ENGINE
Inline-4, iron block and aluminum headDisplacement: 78 in3, 1270 cm3; power: 58 hp @ 5600 rpmDisplacement: 89 in3, 1460 cm3; power: 67 hp @ 5600 rpmDisplacement: 97 in3, 1590 cm3; power: 82 hp @ 5600 rpm; 106 hp @ 6100 rpm 
TRANSMISSION4- or 5-speed manual, 3-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 94.5 inLength: 159.4 inCurb Weight (C/D est): 1850–1950 lb  More

From the September 1981 issue of Car and Driver.Few new cars have tiptoed into the marketplace with less fanfare than the 1981 Dodge Challenger. You didn’t see the new Challenger buzzing across your TV screen, or hear about it on the ra­dio, or find it in very many magazine ads. That’s because all the Detroit-style hoopla that Lee A. Iacocca and his New Chrysler Corporation could stir up last fall was directed at launching the all-­important K-cars.What Chrysler didn’t bother trumpet­ing was that the Challenger was thor­oughly refurbished for 1981. Every piece of sheetmetal aft of the front fend­ers—the floorpan, the doors, the roof, the rear quarter-panels, the trunk lid, and the tail section—is fresh, 0.6 inch has been spliced into the wheelbase, and three inches have been snipped out of the overall length.Such major surgery is rare for cars as new as the Challenger and its twin, the Plymouth Sapporo—both of which were rolled fresh off the Mitsubishi cargo ship in 1978. At this point in the pro­gram the designers generally dole out new grilles or redone taillights, not new bodies. So we felt the new Challenger deserved our attention. As you no doubt know, the previous Challenger was Chrysler’s first assault on the Toyota Celica–Datsun 200-SX–Mazda 626 sporty-sedan market. While these cars have never been the favorites of hard-core drivers, they are nonethe­less what a lot of folks think sports se­dans ought to be: good-looking, rela­tively efficient automobiles that let you get involved in the process of driving. They’re pleasant rather than aggressive, but far more fun than your everyday Im­pala. The old Challenger fit that descrip­tion to a tee. Its particular bent was a dose of Cordoba-style luxury and a standard-equipment list that rivaled an Accord’s. But in spite of all this—and strong reviews from the press—Dodge has been selling only one Challenger for every ten Celicas that go out the doors of Toyota dealers. If Mitsubishi was looking to perform an image remake on the Challenger to help its prospects, it certainly went about it in an odd fashion. It takes a keen eye to tell a new Challenger from an old one. The designers were appar­ently so intent on maintaining the new car’s family resemblance that they es­sentially re-created the old car. The sweep of the sheetmetal was barely al­tered in the process, and even such styl­ing details as the rear-quarter-window gills and the creased-at-the-ends rear glass have been retained. So close is the resemblance, in fact, that it takes a side-by-side comparison to see the new car’s differences: a new roof, more glass, a more horizontal rear deck, and a crisper, trimmer look to the body sides.Functionally, the revisions are all in the right direction. The flatter rear deck increases luggage capacity by over one cubic foot. And the extra 0.6 inch of wheelbase, coupled with relocated rear coil springs and floorpan changes, opens up three more inches of rear leg­room. The rear seat is now adult-rated for short trips, if not day-long cross­-country jaunts. If the designers didn’t make any radi­cal changes, they at least didn’t hurt the Challenger’s come-drive-me good looks. Inside, too, this year’s Challenger is easily more appealing than before. The Cordoba look—with its vast acres of plaid cloth—has given way to simple, European-inspired furnishings. The seats in our red-and-silver test car were stitched in a handsome dove-gray fab­ric. Matching fabric inserts were sewn into the doors. A new dash compresses all of the instruments—which include a speedometer, a tach, and gauges for oil pressure, coolant temperature, amps, and fuel level—into a neat cluster di­rectly in front of the driver. Chrome is used sparingly. The stick shift and the parking-brake lever are now sculptured from soft vinyl. Slipping behind the wheel puts you in the same no-nonsense frame of mind as a BMW 320i does, but the Challenger is far from Teutonically austere. The stan­dard-equipment list includes power steering, power brakes, full instrumen­tation, a digital clock, a tilt steering col­umn, reclining buckets with a lumbar support for the driver, an AM/FM-stereo system with four speakers, dual electric outside mirrors, remote releases for the trunk lid and the fuel-filler door, and more. The options list includes four-wheel discs, alloy wheels, and a six­-speaker stereo—all of which our car had. In typical Asian fashion, it’s all carefully finished and fitted together as tightly as a jigsaw puzzle. After this sort of aesthetic buildup, we couldn’t help but have high hopes for the revitalized Challenger. But the hard truth is that it just can’t deliver the high level of functional satisfaction its form promises. This isn’t to say the Challenger is a bad car. Actually, it’s quite pleasant to drive, rock solid, and the equal of the competition. But it still lacks the spark that lights an enthusi­ast’s fire. For one thing, the Challenger isn’t very efficient. Hiding under the taut skin is the overweight body structure of the old Challenger—a car that was on the porky side when it was introduced four model years ago. The new car, at 2780 pounds, is heavier than just about anything its size, and it’s within a couple hundred pounds of a Mustang V-8—a car that is significantly larger inside and out. Pulling so much weight around takes its toll on fuel economy. The Challeng­er’s standard 105-hp, 2.6-liter Silent Shaft four-cylinder—the same engine that powered the last-generation Chal­lenger—works hard enough on the EPA city cycle to deliver only 20 mpg. And the 22 mpg we recorded in real-world driving is only average these days. The Challenger does redeem itself some when you lean hard on the throt­tle. Though the engine starts to grunt above 5000 rpm, it still has enough gumption to haul the Challenger to 60 mph in a brisk 11.7 seconds, and keeps on pulling up to a flat-out 103 mph.While it performs decently, the Silent Shaft four is more impressive in two other ways. First, it is quite torquey, and offers the midrange punch you’d expect of a larger V-6. Second, it’s one of the smoothest and quietest four-cylinder engines—a fact especially noticeable at highway speeds. (As its name may re­mind you, the Silent Shaft is blessed with a pair of balance shafts that rotate at twice crankshaft speed, thereby quell­ing much of the shake, rattle, and roll produced by big fours.) More Dodge Reviews From the ArchiveHighway cruising, in fact, is the Chal­lenger’s forte. With the road flowing under you at 80 mph, wind and engine noise are commendably hushed and the suspension is happy in its work. Things are not so harmonious when the road turns twisty. The Challenger’s underpinnings—MacPherson struts in front and a rigid axle located by four trailing links and suspended by coil springs in the rear—are tuned more for easy commuting than for hard driving. The compliant suspension gets a little rubbery in the knees when you try to hurry through corners, and the power steering is flat numb and all too easily upset by broken macadam—the single biggest deterrent to happy motoring in the whole car. This is about how we recall the older Challenger. So for all the changes Mit­subishi has made, there’s been precious little progress—and that leaves us on the fence about the new Challenger. It’s still an easy car to like, but a tough one to love. Either way, we think it deserves better than to languish in the backwater of the sporty-car market. SpecificationsSpecifications
1981 Dodge ChallengerVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 2-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $7672/$8867Options: air conditioning, $620; road-wheel package, $351; AM/FM-stereo radio/cassette, $185; trunk decor group, $39
ENGINESOHC inline-4, iron block and aluminum headDisplacement: 156 in3, 2555 cm3Power: 105 hp @ 5000 rpmTorque: 139 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/rigid axle, trailing linksBrakes, F/R: 9.9-in disc/9.6-in discTires: B.F. Goodrich195/70R-14
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 99.6 inLength: 180.0 inWidth: 65.9 inHeight: 52.8 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 45/35 ft3Trunk Volume: 9 ft3Curb Weight: 2780 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 11.7 sec1/4-Mile: 18.2 sec @ 75 mph100 mph: 52.0 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 11.8 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 13.5 secTop Speed: 103 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 208 ftRoadholding, 282-ft Skidpad: 0.69 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 22 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 23/20/30 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDRich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 20 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and, somehow, it’s worked out. In between his two C/D postings he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM’s product-development area; and became publisher of Autoweek. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata, and he appreciates that none of his younger colleagues have yet uttered “Okay, Boomer” when he tells one of his stories about the crazy old days at C/D. More

From the September/October issue of Car and Driver.The Mercedes-AMG GT isn’t on its own branch of the family tree anymore. Moving away from its beginnings as a stand-alone sports car, the second-generation GT now shares most of its underpinnings with the SL-class convertible. It’s grown in nearly every dimension, and while it’s still a blast, it delivers a different experience.The old GT practically shrink-wrapped itself around the driver, but this German has been hitting the bierwurst between generations. The second-gen GT is 6.7 inches longer, 1.8 inches wider, and 2.6 inches taller than its forebear. It’s also 546 pounds heavier than the previous generation’s base model, weighing in at 4245 pounds. A significant side benefit to this embiggening, though, is space. The interior feels far less compact, and there’s now enough cabin area for an optional Porsche 911–style rear seat that won’t accommodate any headed horsemen. It makes a pretty good parcel shelf, though. The GT’s cargo hold grows from 10 to 11 cubic feet, further expanding to 24 cubes with the optional no-cost folding rear seat.HIGHS: Hoot-and-a-half performance, devilish good looks, four driven wheels.Some of the weight gain also comes from the GT’s most polarizing update for 2024: all-wheel drive. Though never offered in the first-gen GT, it’s now standard, as is rear-axle steering. The twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8 living under the hood makes the same 577 horsepower and 590 pound-feet of torque as in the SL63 convertible, and it uses the same nine-speed automatic transmission as well. Unsurprisingly, adding all-wheel-drive traction makes the new GT quite the performer. We recorded a 2.7-second sprint to 60 mph, 0.3 second quicker than the 60-pound-heavier SL63. The century mark arrives in 6.8 seconds, and the quarter-mile in 10.9 seconds at 125 mph. While the GT63’s newfound quickness comes from an all-wheel-drive launch, the additional mass is on full display when accelerating from 5 to 60 mph, a move that requires 3.9 seconds. Once you get used to the accelerator, which does its best impression of a spring-loaded brick where the spring is also made of brick, power delivery is tricky but possible to dole out in increments. There’s a barely tamed attitude here—get a smidge too aggressive with the pedal, and you’ll smack the headrest as the V-8 unleashes itself.LOWS: Larger and heavier than before, slow transmission, four driven wheels.The steering is also on the heavy side, and the suspension rides a fine line between firm and harsh in every mode, but the only true dynamic miss we found is the nine-speed automatic. Shifts can be both harsh in the most aggressive setting and more sluggish than we expect from a sports car.The GT63 is agile when the going gets lateral. We averaged 1.06 g’s on the skidpad, a 0.02-g improvement over the SL63 and identical to the final first-gen GT we tested. That doesn’t mean it feels like the old model, though. The old GT had a rear-weight bias, but now the front-to-rear weight balance is flipped, with 54 percent of the mass up front. And feeling the front end pull when leaving a corner is a new experience.More on the AMG GTThe new AMG GT lacks the raucous rear-drive sports-car nature of the old one, but with newfound cabin space and some welcome tech upgrades, the second-generation car is far more livable as a daily driver than its predecessor. Does it feel like an SL with a roof? Yes. But that doesn’t make it less of an AMG GT; it’s just a different AMG GT. VERDICT: A change of pace that we could get used to.SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Mercedes-AMG GT63 CoupeVehicle Type: front-engine, rear/all-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door hatchback
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $178,750/$211,810Options: AMG High Performance ceramic composite braking system, $8950; AMG Carbon Fiber package (carbon-fiber front splitter, sill inserts, rear diffuser trim, side mirrors, and window trim, $5300; 21-inch AMG forged split-spoke black wheels, $3300; AMG Performance seats with additional adjustability, $3200; AMG carbon-fiber interior trim, $2850; fixed panorama roof, $2100; Driver Assistance package (Pre-Safe Plus, active speed limit assist, route-based speed adaptation, adaptive cruise control with steering and stop-and-go assist, automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, active brake assist with turning and cross-traffic function, active lane-change assist), $1950; front-axle lift system, $1800; black microfiber headliner, $1600; AMG Night package (dark-tinted grille, black badges, band black chrome tailpipes), $550; AMG Performance steering wheel in nappa leather/microfiber, $500; Magic Vision Control, $350; load compartment package, $300; dashcam, $200; AMG fuel cap, $110
ENGINEtwin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve 4.0-liter V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 243 in3, 3982 cm3Power: 577 hp @ 6500 rpmTorque: 590 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm 
TRANSMISSION9-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: multilink/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 16.5-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic disc/14.2-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic discTires: Michelin Pilot Sport S5F: 295/30ZR-21 (102Y) Extra Load MO1R: HL305/30ZR-21 (107Y) Extra Load MO1
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.3 inLength: 186.1 inWidth: 78.1 inHeight: 53.3 inTrunk Volume: 11 ft3Curb Weight: 4245 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 2.7 sec100 mph: 6.8 sec1/4-Mile: 10.9 sec @ 125 mph130 mph: 11.9 sec150 mph: 17.0 sec170 mph: 25.4 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 3.9 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.2 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 2.8 secTop Speed (mfr claim): 196 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 153 ftBraking, 100–0 mph: 299 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.06 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 14 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 16/13/20 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDCars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree. More

From the August 1987 issue of Car and Driver.The new 325is is the first genuinely sporting BMW to reach our shores since the 2002tii went out of production in 1975. In the intervening years, BMW has sent a long procession of beautifully built subcompact sedans our way, along with a fine fleet of larger touring cars, but none of them has moved with the spirit of the original 2002.Three members of the Car and Driver staff have owned 2002s at one time or an­other. In its day, the now-legendary Bimmer was a sports sedan without equal. It was faster than most sports cars in its price range, yet it was practical enough to offer four seats and a spacious trunk. It cost about as much as a mainstream Chev­rolet or Ford of its time, yet it was built so solidly and assembled with such care that it could bear comparison with the world’s most expensive cars. Best of all, the 2002 loved to run. And the harder it was run, the better it felt. This last quality has not been shared by the 2002’s successors. Much of the prob­lem has been a sheer lack of go power. In our test of a 2002 in 1970, we measured a quarter-mile time of 17.1 seconds and a top speed of 111 mph. The 2002tii we tested in 1972 was even faster, sprinting through the quarter in 16.8 seconds and topping out at 115 mph. After that, no small BMW sold in America was able to better either car’s performance until the 1984 introduction of the six-cylinder 325e (now called the 325). Meanwhile, quick and much cheaper sportsters, like the Volkswagen GTI, were popping up all over the globe. Even the 325e and its descendants, though reasonably quick, fall short of the 2002’s spirit. The culprit is their indolent prime mover, which delivers a minimum of both rpm and excitement. The suffix in the original 325e’s designation stood for “eta,” a concept of conserving fuel by re­stricting an engine’s operating range. The eta engine is indeed fuel-efficient, but it has done little to satisfy BMW fans who crave hyperactive, rev-happy engines. BMW’s performance decline has been particularly galling to American enthusi­asts, because Europeans have been able to buy 3-series BMWs with a high-revving, potent version of the eta six since 1978. BMW cited America’s lower speed limits, strict emissions regulations, and emphasis on fuel efficiency as the reasons for not bothering to export its hottest engines. Many BMW buyers didn’t complain, though, because the small BMW had be­come the first rung on the ladder of high-status German cars. Image-conscious yuppies stood in line for 3-series Bimmers. BMW responded by emphasiz­ing luxury over performance and sold more 3-series cars at higher prices than ever before. It was a good time for BMW, but that was no consolation for enthusi­asts of the 2002 stripe. Finally, in the mid-1980s, salvation appeared—in the form, paradoxically, of strict German exhaust-emissions regula­tions. When it became clear that German cars sold for local consumption would have to be fitted with catalytic converters, just like their American counterparts, BMW and the other German carmakers suddenly got serious about making pow­erful engines run cleanly. And once the good engines were purified, it was no longer such a major undertaking to send them to our shores. Thus we now have the 325is, fitted with as sweet an engine as BMW has ever built. Although part of the same M60 family as the eta engine, the new motor is oriented as strongly toward high performance as its sibling is toward parsimonious propul­sion. The i and eta engines share the same 84mm bore, but the new mill’s 75mm stroke is 6mm shorter. Although that re­sults in a smaller displacement, down from 2693 to 2494cc, the i more than makes up for this deficiency by revving 1500 rpm higher. The elevated engine speed of the i en­gine was made possible by a complete re­tuning. The i’s camshaft is more radical than the eta’s, its valves and ports are larg­er, and its intake and exhaust runners are shorter and larger in diameter. These changes raise the i’s power and torque peaks above tractor-engine levels. As a result, the i motor develops a sparkling 168 hp at 5800 rpm and 164 pound-feel of torque at 4300. The comparable eta fig­ures are 121 hp at 4250 rpm and 170 pound-feet at 3250. To make the best use of the more frenetic power curve, the i drivetrain is fitted with a 3.73 limited-slip differential instead of the eta’s 3.25 open final-drive. With nearly 40 percent more power, the new motor rejuvenates the small Bimmer. The 325is scoots from 0 to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds and sprints through the quarter­-mile in 15.6 seconds at 88 mph. Top speed is a solid 128 mph. The 325es we tested last year needed 8.6 seconds to reach 60 mph, ran the quarter-mile in 16.4 seconds at 82 mph, and broke for lunch at 120. Not only is the 325is more energetic when wound out, but it’s also more willing at low rpm, thanks to its revised gearing. In top gear, our test car accelerated from 30 to 50 mph in 10.9 seconds and from 50 to 70 mph in 12.0 seconds. Last year’s 325es took more than two seconds longer in both tests. The new car’s only relative shortfall is its fuel economy: it delivers 18 and 23 mpg on the EPA city and highway tests, versus 21 and 28 mpg for the 325es. The trade-off seems reasonable to us. Even more important than the little Bimmer’s dramatically improved performance is the enthusiasm with which the new motor goes about its business. This engine loves to rev. It would twist the tachometer needle off the scale if a rev limit­er didn’t cut in at about 6400 rpm, and it makes delicious sounds on the way up. The engine’s song is a delicately varying harmony of whirs and whines and hums, with never a shrill or discordant note. It’s the sound of a purebred machine, ready for any challenge you hand it.The i engine is also standard in the more luxury-oriented 325i four-door (which costs the same as the 325is) and in the 325i convertible. Rounding out the lineup are two- and four-door models equipped with the eta motor, both desig­nated simply 325. Coming soon is the hot­test of them all, the limited-edition M3, powered by a sixteen-valve, 192-hp, 2.3-liter four. Aside from the i engine, the 325is’s run­ning gear is much the same as that of other 3-series Bimmers. Its suspension consists of struts in front and semi-trailing arms in the rear, with coil springs and gas shocks all around and anti-roll bars at both ends. All 3-series models have four-wheel disc brakes, vented in front, and Bosch anti­lock control. Even the 195/65R-14 tire size is standard. The s model does get stiffer springs and shocks than its siblings (and last year’s 325es), along with V-rated tires and 6.5-inch rather than 6.0-inch rims. It also has a front air dam, a lip spoil­er on its trunk lid, and more supportive seats than the other 3-series models.We found the s chassis perfectly capa­ble of dealing with the i engine’s stout out­put. The stiffer suspension has raised the 3-series’ adhesion limit from 0.79 to 0.81 g, while enhancing its stability. And the brakes are strong enough to produce 184-foot stops from 70 mph without any fade. The 325is won’t outrun any Corvettes on canyon roads, but it’s an impressive and satisfying handler.The 325is is also reassuringly sure­footed in most circumstances. Its supple ride keeps all four wheels solidly planted on rough and smooth pavement alike. And its stiff structure lets you maintain your speed over any surface without wor­rying that the body is about to shake itself apart. Indeed, this Bimmer’s only real shortcoming as a high-speed tourer is a lack of lumbar support in the front seatbacks. Otherwise, its solidity and com­petence are most rewarding. More BMW 3-series Reviews From the ArchiveAs well they should be, considering the $27,475 sticker price of this small sedan. BMWs have never been lowball cars, but the 325is costs more than twice as much (adjusted for inflation) as the 2002 did in its day. The main cause of the price escala­tion seems to be the heavy load of stan­dard luxury equipment in the new car. Back in 1968, when the 2002 was intro­duced, one had to pay extra for power-­assisted brakes or radial tires, let alone a sunroof or a radio. Such items as power windows, power steering, and central locking were not even offered. In contrast, today’s 325is has a list of standard luxuries long enough to please a Cadillac steerer: power windows, power steering, a power sunroof, automatic temperature control, cruise control, an eight-speaker stereo, a trip computer, central locking, power mir­rors, and leather upholstery. The only available options are metallic paint and an automatic transmission. As decadent as it may seem, such equip­ment is essential for top-rank cars these days. It would be hard to sell a BMW with wind-up windows and manual locks when Volkswagen Golfs offer central locking and many Chevrolet Cavaliers have power windows. No matter how good the basics of a car, today’s market demands certain amenities. For a while, BMW was concentrating harder on those amenities than on performance, forsaking its 2002 past for a yuppie future. Now the Bavarian Motor Works has changed course once again. With cars like the 325is, the M5, the M6, and the upcoming M3, BMW is returning to its roots as a maker of premium perfor­mance sedans. For car enthusiasts, this may be the best news of the year.CounterpointsIf I could sing like the engine in the new BMW 325is, I’d pack Carnegie Hall for weeks. Silky, sexy, and aggressive, this new motor sings a siren’s song that should seduce all but the most bitter enthusiast back into the BMW fold.We’ve waited a long time for a BMW like this. The other 3-series cars are good, competent machines, but this!—­this is a car for back-road flogging and apex chopping. You’ll find yourself beg­ging for corners just so you can listen to the engine as you blip down through the five-speed box. Running back up through the gears is even sweeter: each trip to the redline is an experience in magical aural overload. This sonic sensation isn’t cheap, of course, but that’s never stopped BMW mavens in the past. At least now when you plunk down the big bucks for a little Bimmer, you’re going to get a mover. And one humdinger of a singer, too. —Arthur St. AntoineNow that the promise of the 3-series BMW has been fulfilled with the addi­tion of a proper engine, I hereby nomi­nate it for permanent status in the car enthusiast’s hall of fame. The shape, the size, and the overall scope of this car are so satisfyingly right that it deserves to be remembered with the all-time all-stars of the car cosmos: the ’55 Chevys, the Porsche 911s, the Datsun 240Zs. It’s a pity that the maturation of this car has taken so long, but the results are well worth the wait. Those of you who feared that the world was going whole-hog to front drive now have more evidence of why that system is not always optimal for a performance car. You guide the nose of the 325i with the steering wheel, and the tail with delicate and timely adjustments of the throttle. This takes more skill and sensitivity than driving a garden-variety Toyota Celica, but you get a genuine sense of satisfaction from doing it right. Fold in the torquey, 168-horsepower engine, anti-lock brakes, and the at-your-service interior and you’ve got a road-entertainment pack­age worth every cent of its $27,475 sticker price. —Don Sherman What are the three smoothest things you have ever felt in one place at one time? Not any three things, but three designed to work together. Taken alone, each might not be the smoothest of its type, but together they must add up to something incomparable. Whatever your three, BMW can beat them with the clutch, the shifter, and the engine in the 325is. When it comes to creating parts that come together to put a machine into motion and to sustain its flow in the most blissful fashion, no­body does it better. This drivetrain is smoother than Rosanna Arquette. The engine is almost too smooth. You hardly notice the speed it gives. But any excess of smoothness is a small price to pay, considering that BMW is building real sports sedans again. We’ll soon receive one of these little jewels as a long-term test car. Heck, I may run up the 30,000 miles in 30 days. Counting the magical M6, this makes twice in one month that I have fallen head over heels for a newly enlivened BMW. I am torn between the two. I feel so fickle. But so good. But probably not as good as Rosanna Arquette. —Larry GriffinSpecificationsSpecifications
1987 BMW 325isVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 2-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $27,475/$27,475
ENGINESOHC 12-valve inline-6, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 152 in3, 2494 cm3Power: 168 hp @ 5800 rpmTorque: 164 lb-ft @ 4300 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/semi-trailing armBrakes, F/R: 10.2-in vented disc/10.2-in discTires: Pirelli P6195/65VR-14
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 101.2 inLength: 175.6 inWidth: 64.8 inHeight: 54.3 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 45/37 ft3Trunk Volume: 13 ft3Curb Weight: 2823 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.4 sec1/4-Mile: 15.6 sec @ 88 mph100 mph: 22.2 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 10.9 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 12.0 secTop Speed: 128 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 184 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.81 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 21 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity/Highway: 18/23 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDCsaba Csere joined Car and Driver in 1980 and never really left. After serving as Technical Editor and Director, he was Editor-in-Chief from 1993 until his retirement from active duty in 2008. He continues to dabble in automotive journalism and WRL racing, as well as ministering to his 1965 Jaguar E-type, 2017 Porsche 911, 2009 Mercedes SL550, 2013 Porsche Cayenne S, and four motorcycles—when not skiing or hiking near his home in Colorado.  More

The only real sacrifice the 2024 Audi Q8 and SQ8 require comes by way of the pocketbook. Audi’s range-topping coupelike luxury SUVs are barely different from the Q7 and SQ7 they’re derived from. The third row gets cast aside in favor of a full-time five-seat layout with a more sharply raked rear end, and the result barely moves the needle.Aside from some very small differences in packaging and suspension tuning, these fraternal quadruplets offer largely the same driving experience—a good one, thankfully—making price and aesthetic preference the primary differentiators.Not Too Many ChangesWhereas Audi refreshed the Q7 and SQ7 for the 2025 model year, the Q8 and its hopped-up SQ8 sibling received their own glow-up for 2024. (The 2025 Q8 and SQ8 are forthcoming, and changes are limited to new appearance packages and very minor equipment shuffles.) The 2024 Q8 and SQ8 picked up new headlights and taillights in addition to other small styling tweaks, and certain models gained the ability to choose among several headlamp lighting signatures.Inside, changes are barely noticeable. As with the Q7, the Q8 gets some new upholstery and trim choices. The MMI infotainment has also been updated with third-party app integration, and new paid themes give buyers the chance to spend $13 on a main-screen wallpaper that pairs with different ambient lighting motifs. That’s about it. No need to reinvent the wheel. It’s a straightforward cabin, if a little heavy on piano-black trim and a little light on stowage cubbies.Driving the Q8Given the mild on-paper differences between the Q7 and Q8, it’s no surprise that our on-road experiences with the two are barely different. Our fully loaded Q8 Prestige model carried the same adaptive air springs found on the Q7 Prestige, and we found similar results over some surprisingly engaging Utah back roads. In Comfort mode, the air springs do a commendable job keeping the ride as soft as possible, while switching to Dynamic stiffened everything up and permitted some surprisingly agile antics for what is ostensibly not a performance model.Any small stiffness discrepancies between models likely comes down to differing wheel sizes. The Q7 we drove rode on its optional 21-inch alloys (19s are standard, and 20s are also available), while the Q8’s optional wheels measure 22 inches. We imagine that with the Q8 on 21s, the two ride nearly identically. Honestly, the primary difference we noted between the Q7 and Q8 was rear visibility; there’s a little less daylight coming through the Q8’s coupelike rear end. Even so, we had no issues with rearward sightlines, like we do in other automakers’ SUV “coupes” with more aggressively sloped rear ends. The roof doesn’t eat into rear headroom either; we sat just as comfortably in the Q8’s second row as we did in the Q7’s.The Q8 positions itself as a more premium offering than the Q7. The Q7’s base 45 powertrain, starring a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, isn’t even offered on the Q8. Instead, all Q8s use the 55 powertrain: a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 producing 335 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, which route to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Given their curb-weight delta of approximately zero, both the Q7 55 and the Q8 55 are estimated by their maker to reach 60 mph in 5.5 seconds, a number we expect to beat handily when we get one or both in Michigan for instrumented testing.Driving the SQ8If 335 horsepower isn’t enough, look instead to the SQ8. Picking up two extra cylinders and one more turbocharger, the SQ8’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V-8 produces 500 horsepower and 568 lb-ft. Here again, the factory-stated 60-mph estimate matches that of the SQ7, at 4.0 seconds, a figure that feels a little poky to us. Based on our time blasting through Uinta National Forest in Utah, we figure the real result is somewhere in the mid-three-second range.There is absolutely no shortage of hustle in the SQ8. Even with Comfort mode activated and the engine and transmission set to their most chill, the SQ8 offers ample motivation across the rev range. The four-liter’s exhaust doesn’t have any fancy loud-mode valving, but its delightful note still makes its way into the cabin, even as the thick dual-pane acoustic glass tries its best to keep the outside out. Swapping to the Dynamic drive mode in the SQ8 changes the vehicle’s character in more ways than in the Q8. That’s because the SQ8 is privy to the S Sport package, an upgrade that adds two key components. Active roll stabilization augments the traditional anti-roll-bar setup with an electric motor, changing roll stiffness as conditions dictate to provide flatter handling. A sport rear differential better metes out torque from left to right, aiding lateral grip and boosting confidence when rocketing out of a corner. But even in the SQ8’s most aggressive setting, the air springs and adaptive dampers kept the ride surprisingly comfortable—when we weren’t hurling into corners like we were trying to escape Armageddon.Once again, we noticed a very small ride discrepancy between the SQ8 and the longroof SQ7. And once again, it likely comes down to tires. The SQ7 doesn’t offer wheels larger than 22s (and ours was on 21s), while our SQ8 rode on optional 23s. Our SQ8 also wore summer tires, which are standard on the 23-inch wheels and optional on the 22s. While the SQ7’s all-seasons did still provide plenty of grip, their limits were lower, and they began to howl much earlier than the summer rubber did.Making Sense of the QuartetDespite all the similarities on paper, the Q7 and Q8 prices aren’t that comparable. Ignoring the Q7 45’s smaller engine and lower $61,795 base price, it’s clear that the Q8’s sharper style demands a blood sacrifice. A 2025 Q7 55 Premium starts at $67,095, but a 2024 Q8 55 Premium will ask $74,895. That structure extends to the faster variants too. A base SQ7 will set you back $92,095, while the SQ8 ratchets that up to $97,795.But if you’re fine with paying a little extra to ditch the third row and pick up a slightly more unique silhouette, the equal blending of comfort and performance in the Audi Q8 and SQ8 will not disappoint.SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Audi Q8 and SQ8Vehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base: Q8 55 Premium, $74,895; Q8 55 Premium Plus, $78,995; Q8 55 Prestige, $82,995; SQ8 Premium Plus, $97,795; SQ8 Prestige, $104,795
ENGINES
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6, 335 hp, 369 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve 4.0-liter V-8, 500 hp, 568 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 117.9 inLength: 196.6 inWidth: 78.5 inHeight: 67.2 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 53/52 ft3Cargo Volume, behind F/R: 61/31 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 5500–6000 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.6–5.2 sec100 mph: 9.5–11.0 sec1/4-Mile: 12.2–14.0 secTop Speed: 130–155 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 17–19/15–17/21–23 mpgCars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree. More

If you’re on the hunt for a German luxury SUV that seats more than five, the Audi Q7 makes quite the compelling offer. Fellow full-time three-rows such as the BMW X7 and Mercedes-Benz GLS-class are a fair bit larger and carry price tags some $20,000 higher. The Q7’s footprint and price tag align more closely with the Mercedes GLE-class, which only offers an optional third row of seats. (The BMW X5 no longer offers a third row at all.) Speed freaks will undoubtedly look toward the uppers-gobbling SQ7, which positions itself between the GLE’s two hopped-up AMG powertrains in terms of both power and price. For 2025, Audi has given both the Q7 and SQ7 a mild refresh in hopes of boosting the SUV’s appeal. There’s a bit more tech, and a bit more style, but the underlying points remain the same: The Q7 and SQ7 offer a solid value with the driving dynamics to match.Incremental ChangesSince the Q7 and SQ7 are only refreshed for 2025, the changes aren’t very prominent. The most obvious update can be seen at a distance: A new front fascia offers reshaped headlights and larger air intakes, while a reworked rear end updates the taillights and ditches the old fake tailpipe outlets in favor of honest-to-goodness functional ones. SQ7 buyers get an extra available lighting trick—folks can swap between four different daytime-running-light signatures for a little extra personalization. Otherwise, you get the usual mid-cycle addition of new wheel designs and paint colors.The interior changes are even more minor. There are new upholstery and trim options, and the MMI infotainment software now offers built-in support for popular third-party apps including Spotify and Amazon Music. The infotainment software offers Audi Themes as well, pairing specific ambient-light combinations with unique center-screen wallpaper—we’ll leave it up to you to determine whether $13 (for starters) is an appropriate cost for a single JPEG.Driving the Q7The Q7’s base 45 powertrain utilizes a 261-hp turbocharged four-cylinder, but our time was spent in the peppier 55 variant, which wields a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 making 335 horsepower and 369 pound-feet of torque. It’s factory-estimated at 5.5 seconds to 60 mph, but in our test of a mechanically identical 2020 model, it managed five seconds flat. There’s enough get-up-and-go for the average family, which will come in handy when the vehicle is filled to the brim with kids and sports equipment. The Q7 55 and SQ7 can tow up to 7700 pounds, too, same as the GLE-class, although the Q7 45 is limited to just 4400. The Q7 55’s six-pot doesn’t exactly make dulcet tones, but our car was equipped with optional dual-pane acoustic glass on the first two rows, which did an impressive job of keeping the trio of wind, road, and engine noise at bay. Combined with the Prestige trim’s comfort-oriented air-spring suspension, we journeyed the mountainous back roads of Utah in smooth near-silence—and that’s with the optional 21-inch wheels underfoot; sticking with the base 19s or the Premium Plus trim’s 20s should make for even smoother cruising.Serenity isn’t the only driving feel on offer, though. Swapping modes from Comfort to Dynamic, the Q7 55 does a reasonable impression of a sportier thing. The suspension and steering firm up, body motions are better kept in check, and the eight-speed transmission does a much better job of holding gears and keeping the engine in the powerband. But it never really becomes uncomfortable; even after completing the twistiest bits of our drive route, we left everything in Dynamic and found barely any detriment in ride quality. This is some gourmet air-spring tuning.Sliding into the Q7 feels like saying hello to an old friend. Even after some mild tweaks, the interior is very much a known quantity. The center touchscreen and the climate panel below are easy to learn and use at a glance, while the Virtual Cockpit gauge display remains as versatile and informative as ever. The standard vinyl dash topper doesn’t exactly feel premium, though, and we do not like the relative lack of front-row storage—aside from the door cubbies, there’s a wallet-sized tray ahead of the center armrest, a small depression within, and not much else.The third row might be standard, but it’s tight for adults; your author is six feet tall, and while his hair only lightly grazed the headliner, his knees were nearly up against his chest. Keep those seats for children, animals, or short trips. If you don’t need ’em, they’ll fold down with the press of a button. The second-row bench offers a unique 35/30/35 split, and that lets Audi offer five LATCH points across the rear two rows. That’s a lot of child seats.Driving the SQ7Our fully loaded Prestige-trim Q7 55 pushed the $61,795 base price north of $80,000 with options. But why stop there? For an additional $10,000 or so, you can step up to the SQ7, which brings more cylinders, more power, and a whole lot more fun into the equation.The SQ7 still has an eight-speed automatic transmission and standard all-wheel drive, but under the hood lies a much angrier twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8, which produces a solid 500 horsepower and 568 pound-feet of torque. The sandbaggers in Ingolstadt reckon a 60-mph sprint of four seconds flat, but again looking back to a mechanically identical 2020 model, we recorded a blistering 3.5-second run. Even with the dual-pane acoustic glass, there’s no getting around that V-8’s song, especially at wide-open throttle, and that is plenty fine by us.The roads snaking through Utah’s Uinta National Forest aren’t as tight as those we experienced in the Q7, replacing hairpins with loads of fast sweepers, but no matter the radius of the curve, the SQ7 eats it for lunch and asks for seconds. Its sport-tuned air-spring suspension offers Q7-adjacent cushion in Comfort, but there’s even less body motion in Dynamic. Some of that comes from our test car’s optional S Sport Package, which adds a sportier rear differential and a trick anti-roll-bar setup that uses an electric motor to change roll stiffness on the fly. But the whole kit and caboodle jells together so well that all you’ll focus on is how much speed you’re about to carry into the next hairpin.Even with Pirelli Scorpion all-season tires wrapped around 21-inch alloy wheels (summer tires are available on the optional 22s), there was plenty of grip on offer, and the all-seasons were very good at communicating their stress levels before things got squirrelly. But you might need to turn down the radio to hear them wailing because of how well insulated the cabin is. Summing It UpAudi’s always kind of occupied an interesting spot in the Teutonic triumvirate. Mercedes-Benz usually offers the cushiest, most outright opulent offerings, while BMW has chosen to focus more on all-the-time driver-centric performance. Audi takes a slightly different approach with its Vorsprung durch Technik (“progress through technology”) tagline. And yet, because of its age, the Q7 lacks some of the more advanced tech found in its competitors; there’s no “Hey, Audi” voice assistant lurking in the background, no over-the-air update capability, and its suite of standard driver-assistance features is as generic as any other. No AR, no AI. But if flashiness isn’t your forte and you don’t want to pilot a four-wheeled TikTok app, the 2025 Audi Q7 and SQ7 execute the basics with just as much competence as their fellow compatriots. They’re just a bit more low-key about it. SpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Audi Q7 and SQ7Vehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base: Q7 45 Premium, $61,795; Q7 45 Premium Plus, $65,595; Q7 55 Premium, $67,095; Q7 55 Premium Plus, $70,895; Q7 55 Prestige, $79,195; SQ7 Premium Plus, $92,095; SQ7 Prestige, $98,195
ENGINES
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 261 hp, 273 lb-ft; turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6, 335 hp, 369 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve 4.0-liter V-8, 500 hp, 568 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 117.9–118.0 inLength: 199.6 inWidth: 77.5 inHeight: 68.4–68.5 inPassenger Volume, F/M/R: 57/51/30 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/M/R: 68/35/14 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 5000–5300 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.5–6.2 sec100 mph: 9.1–12.2 sec1/4-Mile: 12.0–14.6 secTop Speed: 130–155 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 17–22/15–20/21–26 mpgCars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree. More

.css-zcoxvl{font-size:1.1875rem;line-height:1.6;font-family:Charter,Charter-roboto,Charter-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-zcoxvl{width:100%;}}.css-zcoxvl em{font-style:italic;font-family:Charter,Charter-styleitalic-roboto,Charter-styleitalic-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;}.css-zcoxvl strong{font-family:Charter,Charter-weightbold-roboto,Charter-weightbold-local,Georgia,Times,Serif;font-weight:bold;}.css-tzn2l6{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#ffffff;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;word-break:break-word;display:inline-block;font-weight:700;background-color:#1C5f8B;width:auto;font-family:Interstate,Interstate-upcase-roboto,Interstate-upcase-local,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;border:0.0625rem solid white;font-size:0.70028rem;line-height:1;text-align:center;white-space:normal;border-radius:0.25rem;letter-spacing:0.045rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-tzn2l6{padding:0.6rem 1rem 0.6rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-tzn2l6{font-size:0.75rem;line-height:1;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-tzn2l6{padding:0.75rem 0.9375rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-tzn2l6{padding:0.75rem 0.9375rem;}}.css-tzn2l6:hover{color:#ffffff;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:#000000;border:0.0625rem solid white;}.css-tzn2l6:focus-visible{outline-color:#000000;}read the full review The 2025 .css-168zq96{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#1C5f8B;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;word-break:break-word;font-weight:bold;}.css-168zq96:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}Genesis GV80 Coupe is a sportier, sloped-roof version of the GV80 mid-size luxury SUV. The base model comes with the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 from the standard SUV, but the Coupe adds the G90’s e-Supercharger at the top of the lineup. More

Even parked in front of the ritzy Four Seasons Hotel in Minneapolis, the row of 2025 Genesis GV80 Coupes drew attention. Passersby and wealthy patrons alike turned their heads to admire the sporty and elegant fastback design. For a luxury brand with only about a decade under its belt that’s looking to take customers from the likes of BMW, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz, building cachet is a need, not a want. That’s not to say that looks alone are enough—they may bring people to the showroom, but they’re unlikely to create a customer on their own. The GV80 Coupe is a sportier take on the standard GV80 SUV—a strong starting point given that the latter is our top pick in the class. The Coupe’s roofline has a more aggressive slope ending in a large duckbill spoiler. The crest-shaped grille makes its way to the new model, as do the twin-line headlights that have become part of the brand’s signature look. One peek inside confirms that Genesis doesn’t take quality lightly, with special care clearly paid to fitment and to the materials chosen. And as we’ve come to expect from Genesis, the new Coupe is stuffed to the gills with premium materials and amenities.The GV80 Coupe shares many of its dimensions with the regular SUV. The wheelbases match at 116.3 inches. Overall width doesn’t change, but the overall length increases by an inch, now measuring 195.5 inches, while the overall height drops 0.2 inch to 67.3. Despite the sloping roofline, back-seat headroom will be fine for anyone who doesn’t have an NBA contract, as the fastback design sacrifices less than an inch of room. The more aggressive shape did, however, cause Genesis to ditch the optional third row, but the cramped space was never really suitable for adults anyway. Genesis positions the GV80 Coupe as the sporty option, and so it foregoes the regular SUV’s four-cylinder base engine. Instead, the 375-hp twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 that’s optional on the GV80 SUV comes standard on the Coupe. The Coupe’s exclusive step-up powertrain option features the same twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 but with an electrically driven supercharger to help spool up the snails. That’s the version we drove, and it churns out 409 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. On top of the additional power, the supercharged model returns marginally better fuel economy, earning 18 mpg city and 22 mpg highway estimates from the EPA compared to 16 mpg city and 22 mpg highway for the base V-6. The extra oomph is an additional $5800, as the supercharged model starts at $87,100 versus $81,300 for the standard mill.Even with its stout optional engine, the GV80 Coupe is a better luxury utility vehicle than it is a sport utility vehicle. Acceleration from a stop is smooth and effortless, and gearchanges from the eight-speed automatic transmission are nearly imperceptible unless you’re looking for them. All-wheel drive comes standard, and with the artificial engine noises switched off, the V-6 hums along without ever raising its voice. For a luxury vehicle, the powertrain is a success. But motivating a high-performance SUV that wants to contend with the likes of the BMW X5 M60i or the Porsche Cayenne S is a different matter. We’ll have to wait to get the GV80 Coupe to our test track for official figures, but the Genesis G90 sedan (which weighs about the same) delivered a 60-mph time of 5.1 seconds. Hustling our GV80 Coupe through the farmland surrounding Minnesota’s Twin Cities, we were a bit disappointed by the GV80 Coupe’s lack of athleticism. The e-Supercharger model has an exclusive Sport+ mode that holds gears for longer, makes the stability control more forgiving, and adds weight to the steering. But even in Sport+, the car’s chassis dynamics can’t match the enthusiasm of the robust engine. Body roll was instantly noticeable on turn-in, and steering feedback was more muted than we’d hoped for. No matter the drive mode, however, the ride is hushed, with noise from the wind, tires, and outside traffic muted by additional soundproofing materials and a standard active noise-cancelling system. And despite rolling on 22-inch wheels (the base car comes with 20s), the electronically controlled dampers effectively swallowed up all but the very worst of Minnesota’s potholes.The cabin is where the GV80 Coupe really shines. Surfaces are covered with an elegant mixture of leather, wood, metal, carbon fiber, and microsuede. The front seats are comfortable and supportive, with the integrated massage function gently kicking on mid-drive to fix our posture. The high point of the interior is the seamless 27.0-inch OLED touchscreen spanning about two-thirds of the dash. The system responds instantly to touch inputs, but there’s also a rotary dial conveniently located on the center console as an alternative. While it hadn’t been activated in our sample model, the new system supports wireless versions of both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which will be included in a free over-the-air-update. Related StoriesAs a rolling sculpture that turns heads and invites potential customers to the brand, the GV80 Coupe hits the mark. The exterior looks premium without coming off as gauche. Invite a Cayenne or X5 driver to sit inside, and they’re likely to be impressed. As a high-performance luxury SUV, though, the GV80 Coupe is more of a mixed bag. While it maintains the impressive quality and compelling luxury of the standard SUV, the Coupe struggles to elevate itself to the level of truly sporty.SpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Genesis GV80 CoupeVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback
PRICE
Base: 3.5T AWD, $81,300; 3.5T e-SC AWD, $87,100
ENGINES
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.5-liter V-6, 375 hp, 391 lb-ft; supercharged, twin-turbocharged, and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.5-liter V-6, 409 hp, 405 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 116.3 inLength: 195.5 inWidth: 77.8 inHeight: 67.3 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 59/49 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 62/30 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 5000–5200 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 5.1–5.3 sec100 mph: 13.1–13.8 sec1/4-Mile: 13.6–13.9 secTop Speed: 150 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY 
Combined/City/Highway: 19–20/16–18/22 mpgJack Fitzgerald’s love for cars stems from his as yet unshakable addiction to Formula 1. After a brief stint as a detailer for a local dealership group in college, he knew he needed a more permanent way to drive all the new cars he couldn’t afford and decided to pursue a career in auto writing. By hounding his college professors at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he was able to travel Wisconsin seeking out stories in the auto world before landing his dream job at Car and Driver. His new goal is to delay the inevitable demise of his 2010 Volkswagen Golf. More