Evelyn Reynolds

From the September 1991 issue of Car and Driver.The world is watching this car. Let’s face it, when Magic Johnson steps out onto the hardwood, the fans expect to see a performance that no fresh­-faced rookie could hope to deliver. When Tom Clancy publishes a new thriller, folks plan on staying up late with the reading lamp on. When Mick Jagger grabs hold of the mike, you know in your heart that it’s going to be party time. And when the star in the limelight is an all-new BMW 3-series, the weight of expectations hangs heavily indeed. After all, this car has history behind it. We’re talk­ing about the descendant of the fabled 2002, the giant-killer sedan that inspired a cult of followers and put BMW on the map in the U.S. twenty years ago.HIGHS: The performance of a wing-footed god, an engine that can sing Mozart, German good looks.And don’t forget about how the upward­ly-mobiles made the previous 3-series a must-have trinket in the boom-boom 1980s. The world is watching and waiting for another reason too. Today, showrooms everywhere are bursting with wannabes—­terrific sports sedans eager for a bite of BMW’s glory. The newcomers are mostly Japanese—the Infiniti G20, the Lexus ES250, the Nissan Maxima, the Acura Vigor, to name four—and there are a few American upstarts too, like the Ford Taurus SHO and the Chevy Lumina Z34. And they’re all awfully good. The old 325i, despite constant improvements, was about to become somebody else’s lunch meat. Now for the good news: In an attempt to put some distance between itself and the wannabes, the Neiman-Marcus of sports sedans has gotten serious. No half measures this time around; BMW redesigned the 325i from bumper to bumper, in the process making it both more exciting and more practical. The all-new 325i, which went on sale here in June, has a new chassis with new rear suspension, a new and more pow­erful engine, and a sleek new four-door body (a two-door will arrive early next year) with more interior room and improved aerodynamics. About the only thing not changed is that it’s still rear-drive. Let’s start with the obvious, the parts you can see. The 325i looks good in photos, but not half as stylish as it does in person. Gone forever is the old model’s boxy shape (thank goodness), replaced by slicked-back sheetmetal that says “made in Germany” and delivers a Cd of 0.33. And we can tell you this: People look at this car—a lot.This 325i is still compact, ten inches shorter than a Honda Accord, but it is now reasonably roomy. Its wheelbase is up five inches, and the front wheels have been pushed to the far corners of the chassis, all of which opens up interior room consider­ably. The EPA’s interior-volume figures indicate about six percent more cabin space, but the improvement feels like three times that. The 325i finally qualifies as a passable four-passenger sedan; six-footers can ride in back for long distances. No 3-series has ever been as handsome inside, either. The dash and door panels are tastefully sculptured (the old model’s door trim looked like spruced-up economy-car upholstery). Still, the 325i’s cabin is typi­cally German in its approach to luxury, which is to say restrained. The plastic used on the interior panels and dash is expensive-­looking but unyielding, the seats are park-­bench firm, and there’s no carpeting on the bottom of the door panels. A Lexus ES250’s interior, hardly an example of wretched excess, looks like a New Orleans cathouse by comparison. Nor is there an abundance of labor-­saving devices at your fingertips. Power seats aren’t standard, and neither is a tilt steering wheel—though they will be avail­able later in the model run as part of a spe­cial luxury package. The driver’s window switch lacks the one-touch all-the-way-­down feature you can get in inexpensive cars like the Honda Civic. Any shortage in convenience gear will be quickly forgotten once you take the wheel. There is joy here. The first thing you notice is that the businesslike interior layout works. You can see the clearly marked gauges easily. The driving position is near perfect, and the reach to the steering wheel is just right. All of the stalks, controls, knobs, and buttons are within easy reach and are easy to see (except the electric win­dow switches, which are spread too far apart on the center console). Everything you touch in the cabin sends a single message back to your brain: “quali­ty.” Well, make that almost everything you touch. The lone exception to the cabin’s feelgood message is the glove box—which, unlike the huge storage compartments in previous Bimmers, is now a small crevice with a flimsy, ill-fitting plastic door. LOWS: The eye daggers aimed your way by those who still associate BMWs with yuppie excess.The 325i drives so well, any sort of glove-box remorse vanishes before you’ve gone a block. Once again, the overriding impression is quality—the savory hum of the machinery, the smooth-as-silk feel of the major controls, the sensory reward of sure-footed handling.The 325i is motivated by the same twin-cam 24-valve 2.5-liter in-line six as the larg­er 525i sedan—and we do mean motivated. The engine makes an impressive 189 hp at 5900 rpm. It’s a peaky motor, the kind you associate more often with sports cars, with maximum torque occurring at 4700 rpm—higher in the rev range than many engines’ horsepower peaks. Which is to say, when you want to go, you have to have about 4000 rpm on the clock or the engine feels drowsy. Keep the revs up and the 325i is a rocket: It takes only 6.9 seconds to get to 60 mph and 15.3 sec­onds to cover the quarter-mile, at which point you are hauling buns to the tune of 91 mph. Not long ago we raved about muscle cars that could go that fast. You get the proper soundtrack as stan­dard equipment, too. The 325i’s engine is a symphony of expensive-sounding whirring and humming, all muted to a whisper for your listening enjoyment. The whirring turns cat-angry when you twist the engine to the 6500-rpm redline, but it never strains. You direct the symphony with a Getrag-­built five-speed manual gearbox and a pro­gressive clutch that make seamless gear-changing as easy as switching TV channels with your remote. A four-speed automatic is available, but if you want the full measure of joy that the engine has to offer, take the five-speed. Speaking of joy, the 325i’s chassis offers plenty in that regard. It cruises com­fortably, soaking up the big swells and thumping over the tar strips. Its steering is crisp and accurate, its standard ABS brakes powerful. The 325i enjoys hustling along twisty, tree-lined roads and feels as sure­footed as a Sherpa—even when you’re cor­nering so hard the passengers are wide-eyed and rigid in their seats. It sets no new stan­dards in handling, but the standards it holds to are plenty high. More 3-series reviews from the archiveThere are, however, a couple of things the 325i should do better. It wanders too much on long, straight stretches of high­way. And it tops out at only 128 mph. The identical car sold in Europe goes 143 mph, but BMW programs the computers of cars bound for America to limit top speed. BMW says only that it’s “worried that U.S. buyers might fit replacement tires with an insufficient speed rating.” Sounds flimsy to us. We think BMW of North America is feeling the cold wind of liability litigation blowing. Understandable, perhaps, in today’s litigious climate. Whatever BMW’s reason for lopping 15 mph off the 325i’s top speed, it has done the rest of the job right. The new small Bimmer feels like fine machinery whether you’re cruising through downtown or whipping along the open road at a full gallop. It’s roomy enough for family-car use and quick enough on its feet to plaster a grin on your face when you go up-tempo on two-lanes. Its twin-cam six emits a lusty cry. And the 325i looks almost as pricey as it is. In short, it has soul. VERDICT: A sports sedan with its priorities straight. BMW has moved the target again.We also think it’s got the legs on the wannabes again. Not by all that much, maybe not for long. But for now, at least, you pay more and you get more. Come to think of it, that’s another thing we’ve learned to expect of BMWs.Expectations confirmed.SpecificationsSpecifications
1992 BMW 325iVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $28,365/$29,900Options: leather upholstery, $1100; metallic paint, $435
ENGINEDOHC 24-valve inline-6, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 152 in3, 2494 cm3Power: 189 hp @ 5900 rpmTorque: 181 lb-ft @ 4700 rpm
TRANSMISSION
5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 11.3-in vented disc/11.0-in discTires: Pirelli P600205/60HR-15
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.3 inLength: 174.5 inWidth: 66.9 inHeight: 54.8 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 47/38 ft3Trunk Volume: 15 ft3Curb Weight: 3038 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 6.9 sec1/4-Mile: 15.3 sec @ 91 mph100 mph: 19.3 sec120 mph: 33.5 secRolling Start, 5–60 mph: 8.1 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 10.1 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 10.4 secTop Speed: 128 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 178 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.80 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 22 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity/Highway: 18/26 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDDirector, Buyer’s GuideRich 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 19 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 a 1965 Corvette convertible and 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 November 2023 issue of Car and Driver.Automakers are guilty of chasing numbers. You can blame us to a certain degree, for egging them on by testing as many cars as we do. But one number that fewer and fewer automakers aspire to is the lowest price. We’re avoiding the word “cheap” because it has a negative connotation as it defines both quantitative and qualitative attributes. This gives us reason to celebrate the newly recast and redesigned Chevrolet Trax, which is simultaneously affordable and exceptional. HIGHS: Quiet when cruising, composed in corners, spacious back seat and cargo area.By our count—we include the unavoidable destination charge—there are 19 automobiles on the market today that cost less than $25,000. A bare-bones Trax is $21,495, and the Activ, tested here, represents the top of the line at $24,995. That trim opens the door to some deluxe features, including an 11.0-inch touchscreen and keyless entry and starting. The Sunroof ($895) and Driver Confidence ($795) packages, found on our test car, net wireless charging, adaptive cruise control, rear parking sensors, blind-spot monitoring, and lane-departure warning. Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto come standard, even in the base model. The cabin does feature plastics that a durometer would scratch, but pleasing switchgear compensates. Chevy got the touchpoints right—the steering wheel has a most welcome supple leather wrap, and the shifter is a lever coming out of the console, not some dial or confusing array of buttons. Pull the lever into D, and the turbocharged 1.2-liter inline-three makes it obvious that it’s got but 137 horses. Holding your foot to the floor for 8.8 seconds will take you to 60 mph. Thanks to its torque peak of 162 pound-feet occurring at 2500 rpm, the wee size of the engine goes unnoticed in typical day-to-day driving—until you need to get ahead of a semi before a merge. The 50-to-70-mph passing time is 6.4 seconds, and a 70-to-90-mph jaunt is more like 10. The gravelly growl the three emits under duress is more offensive than the 72-decibel reading at full throttle indicates. But at 70 mph, the cabin hums a 69-decibel tune you’d swear was lower still. At that speed, the engine turns about 2250 rpm, and the Trax tracks arrow straight with great on-center steering feel. Like its predecessor, however, the new Trax fell short of its EPA highway estimate (32 mpg) in our 75-mph real-world test, returning just 30 mpg. LOWS: Torpid when passing, hard-plastic interior, no all-wheel drive or manual.What you can’t get in any Trax is all-wheel drive. You have to step up to the roughly $5000-pricier Trailblazer to get that in a Chevy SUV. But a decent set of winter tires will get a Trax anywhere you want it to go. Chevy’s press release calls this new model “reimagined,” a euphemistic way of acknowledging that the previous-generation Trax needed a thorough rethink. Michael Simari|Car and DriverThe Korea-built Trax checks a lot of the boxes SUV buyers want: excellent outward visibility, strong curb appeal, tons of room. The lack of all-wheel drive eliminates the need for a floorpan hump, giving two rear-seat occupants space to spread out and three plenty of room for their Reeboks. The rear compartment isn’t filled with luxuries, omitting basics such as a center armrest and cupholders (not even molded into the door panels). Back-seat riders do get a pair of USB ports and tons of legroom—3.0 inches more than in the old Trax. The newfound space isn’t the result of some packaging marvel. The vehicle is just bigger, by a whopping 5.7 inches between the axles and 11.0 inches in total length. This also creates a larger cargo hold, up seven cubic feet to 26, for all of that active-lifestyle gear automakers imagine their customers tote around. More on the Chevy TraxWith so few cars on the market, a top-level Trax may give Ford’s entry-level offering, the Maverick pickup, a run for its money. The Ford has the edge in cargo and towing capacity—Chevy does not recommend lashing a trailer to the Trax’s bumper—but the back seat is better in the Chevy, and your cargo won’t get wet if it rains. The similarly priced Honda Civic and Volkswagen Jetta are dynamically superior to the Trax, but it isn’t a runaway. The 0.84-g effort the Trax makes on the skidpad is in the ballpark of the sedans, as is its braking distance. VERDICT: A high-value vehicle in an otherwise cheap segment.Among vehicles under $25,000, whether they’re in an SUV wrapper or not, the Trax handles well. It’ll corner at its limit without protest or excessive body roll. It won’t set any Lightning Lap records, but it feels richer and looks more expensive than it is. So don’t call the Trax cheap—it’s way too jampacked with value for that descriptor. SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Chevrolet TraxVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $24,995/$26,685Options: sunroof package (power sliding glass, manual shade, wireless charging), $895; Driver Confidence package (rear cross-traffic alert, lane-change alert with blind-zone alert, adaptive cruise control), $795
ENGINE
Turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 12-valve inline-3, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 73 in3, 1199 cm3Power: 137 hp @ 5000 rpmTorque: 162 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/torsion beamBrakes, F/R: 11.8-in vented disc/10.6-in discTires: Goodyear Assurance Finesse225/55R-18 98H M+S TPC 3179MS
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.3 inLength: 178.6 inWidth: 71.8 inHeight: 61.4 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 54/44 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 54/26 ft3Curb Weight: 3069 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 8.8 sec1/4-Mile: 16.8 sec @ 81 mph100 mph: 30.5 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.4 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 9.5 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 4.8 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 6.4 secTop Speed (C/D est): 115 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 180 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.84 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 25 mpg75-mph Highway Driving: 30 mpg75-mph Highway Range: 390 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 30/28/32 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDExecutive EditorK.C. Colwell is Car and Driver’s executive editor, who covers new cars and technology with a keen eye for automotive nonsense and with what he considers to be great car sense, which is a humblebrag. On his first day at C/D in 2004, he was given the keys to a Porsche 911 by someone who didn’t even know if he had a driver’s license. He also is one of the drivers who set fast laps at C/D’s annual Lightning Lap track test. More

From the December 1995 issue of Car and Driver.René Dreyfus, who lived with unique grace for 88 years until August 17, 1993, was one of the last of the legendary Grand Prix drivers from what is often called the Golden Age of motorsport. Ironically, at the time of his death, the race car that brought him to his adopted homeland was in the final stages of restoration in a shop tucked in the hills of western Connecticut. This massive yet oddly sensuous Maserati 8CTF served as a centerpiece in an epic that transformed Dreyfus from world-class race driver to one of the most renowned restaurateurs in New York, and finally to a living icon among racing afi­cionados (all of which is recounted in My Two Lives, the autobiography Dreyfus wrote with historian Beverly Rae Kimes a decade before his death). The elegant single-seater Maserati, chassis-number 3031, was one of three surprisingly potent GP cars built by the Maserati brothers in 1938 to contest the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union panzers under the new, downsized formula of 4.5 liters unblown, 3.0 liters supercharged. The car would go on to numerous appear­ances at the Indianapolis 500, to win the Pikes Peak hillclimb, and eventually, after meticulous restoration, to live in high pro­file as part of the vast collection of auto­motive historian Joel Finn of Roxbury, Connecticut. Now the 8CTF shrieks and wails again in vintage events across the country, as it did this past summer during a major reunion of prewar Indianapolis cars at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. Running with a nimbleness surprising for its age, it serves as a vital relic of the pin­nacles of American and European racing in an unforgettable era. In 1930, René Dreyfus surged onto the international racing scene, winning the Monaco Grand Prix as an unknown ama­teur from nearby Nice, beating hometown favorite and France’s best driver, Louis Chiron. His performances throughout the 1930s aboard Bugattis, Alfa Romeos, and Maseratis were consistently good, but his alleged Jewish background (actually, he was Catholic) prevented enlistment by the dominant Nazi-backed Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams. In early 1938, Dreyfus scored his greatest victory on the narrow streets of Pau in the foothills of the Pyrenees. He was at the wheel of an ungainly Delahaye entered by Laury Schell and Lucy O’Reilly Schell, wealthy American expatriates living in Paris and Monaco. She was the brash daughter of an Irish immigrant who had made his fortune in the New World. The pair had moved to Europe in the 1920s and immersed them­selves in the world of rallying and ama­teur sports-car racing. In 1937, after Laury had finished third in the Mille Miglia, they formed Ecurie Bleue in concert with Delahaye, a small but respected Parisian sports­-car manufacturer that had created a 4.5-liter V-12-powered car for the new Grand Prix formula. For the first race of the Grand Prix season, Mercedes-Benz came to Pau with new W154 cars for the team leader Rudi Caracciola and Hermann Lang. Auto Union did not enter, leaving Dreyfus as the only serious opponent. He deftly exploited the Delahaye’s nimbleness and better fuel mileage to win by nearly two minutes. While fellow Frenchmen were cele­brating Dreyfus’s upset, in Italy the three remaining Maserati brothers—Bindo, Ettore, and Ernesto—and their 10-man staff were completing a trio of Grand Prix machines that on paper were the equal of anything in the world. Since the death in 1932 of brother Alfieri, the acknowledged family leader, the Maseratis had established a reputation for technical brilliance and financial blundering. Their output was minuscule compared with that of rivals Alfa Romeo and Bugatti: 16 cars in 1934, 17 in 1935, a mere nine in 1936. But 1937 brought an infusion of money from the Orsi family of Modena (who would move the operation to their home turf by 1939) and a fresh resolve to reenter Grand Prix competition. View PhotosPaul Pietsch runs third in the 1939 German Grand Prix.Bruce Craig and Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayErnesto, who was the best designer among the brothers, created the 8CTF. The name stood for eight-cylinder competition testa fissa, or “fixed head,” meaning that the valve seats and combustion chambers were integral with the cylinder block. It was a DOHC straight eight with twin Roots superchargers that produced 350 (gross) horsepower at 6300 rpm from just 3.0 liters. The chassis featured an inde­pendent front suspension (with longitu­dinal torsion bars) and quarter-elliptic leaf springs at the back. The first two cars, chassis 3030 and 3031, appeared for the Tripoli Grand Prix on the lightning-fast Mellaha circuit in May 1938. They immediately created a sensation in the hands of Count Felice Trossi and Achille Varzi. Masterpieces in cast and polished aluminum, the cars proved to be as quick as they were beau­tiful. Unfortunately, the minuscule size of the Maserati operation had forced economies in testing and development that were to haunt their entire campaign. Varzi broke his transmission on lap seven and Trossi retired with the same difficulties four laps later, after leading the Mercedes and Auto Unions and setting the fastest lap of the race. This was to establish a pattern for the cars—Trossi, on the pole at Livorno but didn’t finish; Pescara, the race lead and fastest lap before retiring.By September, a third chassis (3032) was completed for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Goffredo “Freddie” Zehender crashed, bending the car slightly, while Trossi got as high as third before being dis­qualified. View PhotosDreyfus (second from left) confers with LeBègue as Luigi Chinetti (third from right) ponders the Maserati’s lack of speed.Bruce Craig and Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayDespite their erratic performance, the 8CTFs were attractive to many Americans, who had seen four of the older V8RI single-seaters perform well in 1936–37 and believed that a modern European GP car could win at Indy. During the early spring of 1939, Cotton Henning, the chief mechanic for Chicago union boss “Umbrella Mike” Boyle, purchased chassis 3032 and a spare engine. This machine, with some modifications for the Indi­anapolis Motor Speedway, was to carry the great Wilbur Shaw to two consecutive vic­tories (1939 and ’40), with a third in 1941 prevented by a broken wire wheel.German driver Paul Pietsch reached a high-water mark with 3031 in the 1939 German GP at the Nürburgring. He led the race against the full might of the Mer­cedes-Benz and Auto Union teams, but finished third because of repeated failures of the Maserati-manufactured spark plugs. By this point, Lucy Schell, who was now running Ecurie Bleue following a highway crash that badly injured her hus­band, had tired of Delahaye’s uncompeti­tive cars. She purchased the two remaining 8CTFs: chassis 3031 and 3030. Both were entered for the Swiss Grand Prix in August, where Dreyfus soldiered home eighth in 3030 (the other car did not start). Less than a month later, on September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland. View PhotosMauri Rose put the 3031 car on the Indy pole in 1941.Bruce Craig and Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayFrance and Great Britain declared war on Germany two days later. Dreyfus, like thousands of his countrymen, enlisted and was slated for officers’ training. But once Poland fell, the German panzer advances ceased and Europe lapsed into a seven-­month hiatus that is recalled as the “phony war.” It was during this lull that Lucy Schell, widowed after her husband had been killed in a second road accident, decided to send her two Maseratis to the 1940 Indianapolis 500. Her intent was to perform well in the race and then to sell the cars, which already had a solid reputation based on Shaw’s victory the previous year. In early 1940, political strings were being pulled to give Dreyfus a 45-day fur­lough from his military duties. He would be joined by René LeBègue, a French sports-car and rally driver, who would serve as number two on the team.The crew chief for the blue-painted Ecurie Bleue “Lucy O’Reilly Schell Specials” would be Luigi Chinetti, a transplanted Italian endurance-racing driver who had set up shop in Paris in the early 1930s. Chinetti, an ardent anti­fascist, had demurred in returning to Italy to join the Army, having served in the brutal Trentino campaign of World War I. He was more than happy to make what he considered a one-way trek to America. Joining the little team on the sea voyage aboard the Italian liner Comte di Savoia was Lucy Schell’s 19-year-old son Harry, an American citizen who had been raised a Frenchman and spoke little English. In fact, none of the team was fluent and relied on Bernard Musnik, the New York-based correspondent for L’Auto, to act as inter­preter. Lucy Schell, the instigator of the entire expedition, remained in France. Dreyfus’s beloved France would never be the same, whether he returned or not. While they were at sea, Hitler’s hordes poured across the lowlands and drove the British Expeditionary Force back to the English Channel. The Ecurie Bleue con­tingent arrived in New York on May 23, and then flew to Indianapolis for practice and qualifying. The brace of 8CTFs were completely unsorted regarding suspension setting and American fuel mixtures, and too-low gear ratios limited top speed. But the French­men were greeted warmly by the Speedway establishment—especially by Shaw, who had his winning chassis 3032 per­fectly tuned for the monster track. In 1940, the fastest cars—including Shaw’s—were lapping at 127 mph. Both LeBègue and Dreyfus struggled to get past 118 mph with their hastily prepared cars. When qualifying ended, only LeBègue had squeezed into the field, in the 31st spot at 118.98 mph. Dreyfus, at 118.83 mph, was bumped by Billy Devore and Floyd Davis and relegated to second alternate starter. How and why this happened remains something of a mystery. In his autobiog­raphy, Dreyfus claims he misunderstood the qualifying procedure. He thought, as in Europe, he had been guaranteed a starting position, and thus he did not exert full effort. This may be the case, although the notion that a driver as intelligent as Dreyfus would have remained that ignorant of the rules, regardless of the lan­guage barrier, appears doubtful. (Some believe he was disheartened by Shaw’s much faster lap times, as well as those of other American drivers he felt were inferior.) No matter—Dreyfus redeemed him­self in a roundabout manner. It was decided that he, as team leader, would share the driving with LeBègue, who would start the race and run the first 250 miles. Dreyfus would take over and pre­sumably charge to a high finish. This appeared to be possible when he began to turn practice laps in LeBègue’s car at about 125 mph—perhaps overrevving the engine in the process. Then a con­necting rod broke. Dreyfus’s autobiography appears to conflict with the facts here. He states that he was driving his own car (3031), but Speedway records indicate it was LeBègue’s car (3030), and that in a des­perate last-hour thrash Chinetti transferred Dreyfus’s good engine into LeBègue’s qualified machine. They ran according to plan, with Dreyfus taking over while the car was in 10th place. His planned assault (which he believed might have carried him as high as fifth place) was halted when the final 50 laps were run under the yellow flag in a light drizzle. Wilbur Shaw won again in his Maserati, and the LeBègue-Dreyfus car motored home 10th. While the Schell team was disap­pointed with their showing, the race results paled in comparison to the critical inter­national situation. On June 17, the French sued for peace. It appeared that going home was impossible. Being unsympa­thetic to the French Vichy puppet govern­ment, Dreyfus ended up buying a restaurant in Closter, New Jersey, which he ran until December 7, 1941. The day after Pearl Harbor, he joined the United States Army and served with distinction in the European theater. View PhotosJohn Rogers and the engine from the Maserati 8CTF, the restoration he worked on for 10 years.Bruce Craig and Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayFollowing the war, he and his brother Maurice opened a restaurant called Le Gourmet in Manhattan. In late 1952, they started the famed Le Chanteclair on East 49th Street. Until the early 1980s, it was a watering spot for motorsport enthusiasts. Chinetti spent the war in Manhattan as an imported-car mechanic and “enemy alien.” He ultimately became the U.S. importer for Ferrari. LeBègue did return to France and somehow managed to smuggle a Talbot GP back to the United States for the 1941 500. (It failed to qualify. He then went into the perfume business in New York.) Harry Schell entered prep school, then returned to Monaco to be with his mother. During the 1950s he became an accomplished, if second-level, Grand Prix driver before dying in a 1960 crash at Sil­verstone, England. Following the 1940 race, Lucy Schell sold both Maseratis to former racing driver and car owner Lou Moore. With a year to tune them for oval-track racing, Moore was able to at least demonstrate the 8CTF’s potential. With Elgin Piston Pin sponsorship, the talented Mauri Rose behind the wheel, and a taller ring-and­-pinion gear, chassis 3031 gained the pole position for the 1941 Indy 500 at 128.69 mph. After the car retired with ignition trouble at 60 laps, Rose took over for Floyd Davis, who was mired mid-pack in an Offenhauser-powered car also owned by Moore, and won the race. The second former Ecurie Bleue car, 3030, was driven by Duke Nalon, who started 30th and struggled to finish 15th. When racing resumed in 1946, the Dreyfus car was sold to one R.A. Cott of the Federal Engineering Company in Detroit for driver Russ Snowberger, who started 10th at Indy and finished 12th. Louis Unser won the Pikes Peak hillclimb in the car in 1946 and 1947. By 1949, the Maserati eight-cylinder had been replaced by an Offenhauser four­-cylinder which stayed in the car until 1951. View PhotosRené LeBègue at the Indianapolis 500 is 1940.Bruce Craig and Indianapolis Motor SpeedwayIts final outing at Indy came in 1953, with its original engine back in place. Now 15 years old, the veteran machine failed to qualify (as it had since 1950) and drifted into limbo. The car’s recovery began when English Maserati enthusiast and collector Cameron Millar purchased 3031 and began its restoration and active vintage racing career in the 1970s.In 1982, Millar sold the Maserati to Joel Finn, who ranks among the world’s top vintage-car collectors, historians, and racers. He and his chief restorer, John Rogers, began a laborious 10-year project to bring the old car back to its former glory. It required all of Rogers’s prodi­gious talent as a machinist and fabricator. The engine was in particularly rough shape. The complex blower drive on the lower Roots supercharger was bent and seized. New valve guides had to be machined and set in the fixed head by employing a special jig and working with a mirror inserted through the exhaust ports. New bearings, rods, pistons, tappets, and valves had to be installed. Massive restora­tion of the body, which had been modified over the years, was required. Rogers had just completed refurbishing Finn’s rare Mercedes-Benz 154/163 Grand Prix car when he set to work on the Maserati. He found amazing contrasts between the two contemporary machines. “The Mercedes was big, tough, almost crudely military,” he recalls. “But the Maserati was like a sculpture. The alu­minum was cast as if it was going to a car show rather than a race. The fabrication, considering the time that it was built and the size of the Maserati operation, was beyond belief.” While Finn and Rogers were toiling to restore chassis 3031, another top-rank col­lector, Bob Rubin, was completing the second Schell car, chassis 3030. The restoration was done by Chris Leydon of Lehaska, Pennsylvania. Each owner attempted to replicate the cars during dif­ferent periods; Finn painted 3031 in the red livery of the Maserati brothers as the car last ran for the factory at the 1939 German Grand Prix. Rubin and Leydon dressed 3030 in the Ecurie Bleue colors, as it appeared at Indianapolis one year later.The Shaw car (3032), is a centerpiece of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum’s collection. The Finn and Rubin cars were brought to the Milwaukee Mile this past summer for a reunion of prewar Indi­anapolis cars. There they electrified the gath­ering with the unearthly screech of their super­charged straight eights. The memory of the great machines and their extraordinary journey to America has once again been revived. More

While at dinner one evening during the media drives for the 2024 Range Rover Velar, the server informed us the chef had prepared a special dessert: popcorn soufflé. I believe one should try things if they sound interesting, no matter what they’re called. Dubious marketing occasionally hides mastery. The server brought the dessert, its delicate white cap poking out of the traditional French soufflé dish. I tasted a spoonful of cake and the creamy pink sauce inside that bore bits of popcorn like amber in some florid tar. I wasn’t prepared for the medley of flavors. It wasn’t bad, and I’m glad I tried it, but I didn’t have any more. It was a unique, perplexing confection, much like the Range Rover Velar.Let’s work backward with the SUV, starting with the confection. Look at the Velar, Range Rover’s first public entry into what it terms “reductionism.” We’ve called the car fetching, tailored, fine-looking, and dripping with curb appeal. It is without doubt more artfully modeled than its competitors, deftly nodding to its brand’s aspirational flagship. In fact, the Velar might be better proportioned than the Range Rover it encourages its buyers to yearn for. Tweaks for 2024For the new year, the Velar makes many of the same changes wrought upon the 2024 Range Rover Evoque. A new grille sits between slender pixel headlights, the 268 LEDs in each headlight adjusting their illumination to shine all available light on the road, not into the eyes of oncoming drivers. In back, reshaped LED taillight signatures sit above a new rear bumper and redrawn diffuser insert that eliminates openings for the exhaust finishers. The exterior color palette makes way for Metallic Varesine Blue and Premium Metallic Zadar Grey. Darker trim pieces provide increased contrast, and new wheel designs come in new finishes.The 2021 Velar introduced the dished steering wheel and palm shifter the Evoque just received for 2024, so cabin changes are even more reductive. The main change is the new 11.4-inch curved touchscreen replacing the previous dual screens, and the eradication of every knob and button. On the infotainment display, three ever-present shortcut menus line the sides and the bottom, doing their part to keep 80 percent of functions within two taps of the home screen.Leather interiors are offered in the new hues Cloud, Deep Garnet, and Raven Blue. Those who find hides distasteful can select a fabric substitute. Available only in Cloud Gray for the U.S. market, the wool blend on the seat uppers and door cards gets paired with a new ultrafiber polyurethane in more trafficked areas like seat bolsters and the steering wheel. Trim pieces come in either Shadow Gray Ash Veneer, dark anodized aluminum, or light anodized aluminum.Serenity takes a step up with new active noise-cancellation programming. Lastly, the Cabin Air Purification Plus option integrates a carbon-dioxide sensor to deter driver fatigue. As we said of the Evoque, this is a sensational-looking cabin, sure to appeal to shoppers who ogle homes fashioned from acres of blond wood, glass, and a T-square.Driving the 2024 VelarWhich brings us to the perplexing: The Velar is uninteresting to drive, its dynamics as reserved as its interior design. Powertrains carry over unchanged, the base Velar S and the Dynamic SE fitted standard with a turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder known as the P250, making 247 horsepower and 269 pound-feet of torque. The Dynamic SE can be optioned with a turbocharged and supercharged 3.0-liter inline-six supplemented by a 48-volt mild hybrid system, known as the P400 and producing 395 horsepower and 405 pound-feet. That’s the version we drove.Both engines are paired with an excellent ZF eight-speed automatic, but in the case of the P400 V-6 the powertrain engineers were able to improve the transmission’s refinement by using more of the mild-hybrid system’s electric torque to fill in gaps during shifts. Around town, you’d need a millimeter wave radar to detect the swapping of cogs. We’ve previously tested the P250 drivetrain (back in 2018), which took 7.2 seconds to hit 60 mph compared to Range Rover’s claimed time of 7.1 seconds. With the P400, the automaker claims a 60-mph time of 5.2 seconds. Adequate if true, but still 1.4 seconds behind our tested time for the Porsche Macan S and 1.1 behind the BMW X3 M40i. The also-luxury-focused Genesis GV70 3.5T is only 0.3 second ahead of the more powerful Velar, but the Genesis is markedly more involving to drive. The Velar’s steering feel, tendency to understeer, and quietude on the go were similar to what we experienced in the Evoque, and the brake pedal feel was just as spongy. However, the Velar’s ride on the standard steel springs was firmer and less pliant than the Evoque’s. Range Rover says that, against its rivals, the three pillars guiding the Velar’s development were: design leadership, the greatest refinement, and the most off-road capability. It succeeds at all of them. Note that none of these are concerned with performance or visceral reactions.Furthermore, because the Evoque and Velar use the same cabin design separated by roughly three inches of width and legroom, there’s no additional drama or sense of occasion in the Velar, which costs at least $10,000 more than its compact sibling. The Velar’s cargo hold, however, is much more commodious.Related storiesNone of this matters much, at least not in the U.S. and not for the moment. First, the Velar sells in paltry numbers here, 5283 units through the end of September 2023—compared to 21,290 units for the Porsche Macan over the same span. Range Rover’s volume sellers on our landmass are its two most expensive vehicles—we’re told that the No. 1 global market for the full-size Range Rover is the New York metro area, followed by L.A. at No. 2, and there’s a nine-month wait for the full-size flagship. Jaguar Land Rover reported its order backlog at the end of Q2 2024 financial year numbered 168,000 units, with the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Land Rover Defender comprising 77 percent of that number. Second, and most importantly, the Velar is unlike anything else in the compact-luxury-SUV segment. It looks like art and is priced as such, ranging from $62,775 to $86,070 before options. Its medley of features makes it about as unique as popcorn soufflé. SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Land Rover Range Rover VelarVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICEBase: Velar P250 S, $62,775; P250 Dynamic SE, $64,875; P400 Dynamic SE, $71,875; P400 Dynamic HSE, $86,070
ENGINES
P250: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 247 hp, 269 lb-ftP400: turbocharged, supercharged, and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter inline-6, 395 hp, 405 lb-ft
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 113.1 inLength: 188.9 inWidth: 76.0 inHeight: 66.3 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 51/45 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 60/30 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 4150-4450 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 5.2-7.0 sec1/4-Mile: 13.8-15.7 secTop Speed: 135-155 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 21-23/19-22/25-26 mpg More

Not every comparison has a clear winner and loser. When driver engagement and other factors are virtually even, it’s down to intangibles like mission fulfillment to determine which vehicle best represents its future owners’ needs. Even then, as is the case with subcompact SUVs like the 2024 Hyundai Kona and 2024 Subaru Crosstrek, mere hairs can span the gap between first and second place. Their intended audiences might be radically different, but both of these cars are quite good at doing what they set out to.The Kona nameplate turns seven years old, while Crosstreks have littered REI parking lots for more than a decade. Each enters a new generation for 2024, with the Hyundai becoming bigger and more visually extroverted and the Subaru adding cladding and getting more refined. To compare models from both lineups with the mightiest engine and the closest base prices, we gathered a Crosstrek Limited and Kona N Line. The Hyundai cost $34,145 because of two-tone paint and floor mats, while the Subaru’s $35,030 as-tested price was inflated by $2840 worth of extra-cost paint and a package containing sunroof, stereo, and navigation add-ons. 2nd Place: Hyundai Kona N LineMore than any other small ute, the redesigned Hyundai Kona looks like it fell out of a Ridley Scott fever dream. The outgoing generation was boldly styled, but the new one goes even further—some of us called it good-looking; others said it looks goofy. The N Line guise is purely superficial, mainly replacing the gray fender surrounds with body-colored pieces and adopting an angrier mug.HIGHS: Sci-fi-movie styling, airy interior with a big back seat, smart storage features.LOWS: Sci-fi-movie styling, extra size sacrifices driving verve, fuel economy takes a hit.VERDICT: The new Kona is a better people mover—physically, but not emotionally.The new Kona is up to 6.6 inches longer overall, and its wheelbase has been stretched 2.3 inches. It now closely mirrors the Crosstrek’s dimensions, but the slightly taller Kona has better interior packaging that makes it feel more spacious, and the back seat is now roomy enough to be considered Uber-grade. Along with superior passenger space, its dash looks more Space Age than the Subie’s, which still has analog gauges. Along with the Hyundai’s slick dual displays and physical switchgear, we admire the cabin’s many clever features, like the dashboard storage shelf and the shapeshifting center console.Sadly, the Kona’s growth spurt sapped some of its on-road charm. Blame the extra mass and longer wheelbase for its reduced nimbleness. At least it remains a dutiful—albeit comparatively dull—driving partner. Despite 19-inch wheels and narrow sidewalls, the Kona’s taut ride limits body roll without letting too many bumps reach our backsides. The thin-rimmed steering wheel is quick to respond, which is nice when darting around town but darty at highway speeds.The N Line packs a carryover turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four making 190 horsepower, but it now bolts to a conventional eight-speed automatic transmission that fixes the clunkiness of the old seven-speed dual-clutch unit. Throwing an extra 200 pounds of curb weight into the equation, the 2024 Kona 1.6T AWD takes 7.5 seconds to hit 60 mph, nearly one second slower than a 2018 example we tested. The new Kona’s powertrain still feels sprightly thanks to eager throttle tip-in, and it outraces the 2.5L Crosstrek in every acceleration metric, but it’s still a bit of a downer to see acceleration take a hit.While the Kona beat its 29-mpg-highway EPA estimate during our 75-mph real-world test, its 31-mpg result trails both its predecessor by 1 mpg and the Crosstrek by 4 mpg. The Hyundai’s combined rating also drops from 29 to 26 mpg for this new generation. Ouch.Sure, the new Kona has lots of stretch-out space, but so do other subcompact SUVs like the Chevy Trax and VW Taos. Plus, despite packing more cargo volume than before, the Hyundai held the same seven carry-on suitcases behind its rear seats as the Crosstrek. Fold their seatbacks, and we fit two more suitcases in the Subaru (22 total) than the Kona. More on the KonaBesides a bigger back seat, the Hyundai’s peppier performance and prettier interior are its only advantages over the Crosstrek. It might look like a spaceship, bit the Kona now feels more appliance-like, satisfying most people but truly exciting very few—especially at the pump.1st Place: Subaru Crosstrek LimitedThe third-generation Subaru Crosstrek’s styling will invite little conversation. We needed a double take to recognize the new version, but a closer inspection revealed more prominent fenders and a tougher face atop the same 8.7 inches of ground clearance. Subie fans will find it comfortingly familiar, while newcomers can better distinguish it from the Impreza hatchback.HIGHS: All-day comfortable, great fuel economy, a lifestyle accessory that’s a useful tool too.LOWS: Far from speedy, shoddier interior fit and finish, archaic infotainment graphics.VERDICT: The Crosstrek checks all the important boxes without compromising its personality.Interior fit and finish falls short of the Kona’s quality, but the Subaru’s mix of materials makes it otherwise feel less drab. A portrait-style touchscreen takes center stage, but the brand’s infotainment graphics look 10 years old. Thankfully, you can largely avoid that with the now-standard wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The rear seat isn’t a penalty box, but it’s not nearly as roomy as the Kona’s. More importantly, the Crosstrek’s front seats feel forever comfortable. They’re cushier and more supportive than the previous-gen ‘Trek’s—not to mention the current Kona’s—and Subaru now bolts the seat rails to the frame, which is claimed to reduce head toss and fatigue. Consider us awake and appeased.The Crosstrek’s driving demeanor is relaxed, but the low seating position and snappy steering give a rally-car vibe—albeit a woefully underpowered one. Its softly sprung suspension reinforces that sensation and smoothes rough terrain under our tester’s 18-inch all-season tires. Subaru also stiffened the new Crosstrek’s structure to reduce NVH, and its increased refinement is obvious whether executing highway passes or traversing washboard roads. The Limited’s 182-hp 2.5-liter flat-four is the larger of the Crosstrek’s two available engines. It pairs with a continuously variable automatic transmission and standard all-wheel drive. Drama-free but far from speedy, the Subie gets to 60 mph in 8.1 seconds and crosses the quarter-mile in 16.3 ticks at 88 mph. While the Crosstrek’s four-pot has little urgency, a lower torque peak helps it feel responsive enough to keep pace with highway traffic, and engine sounds don’t drone into the cabin.More on the CrosstrekThe Crosstrek is more impressive when it’s time to fuel up. Not only is its EPA combined estimate 3 mpg higher than the Kona’s, but its real-world results are even better. The Subaru beat the feds’ highway rating by 2 mpg, averaging 35 mpg on our 75-mph highway fuel-economy loop. As for the Subie’s range advantage, it’s even better than our 75-mph results suggest because its 16.6-gallon tank holds 3.4 gallons more than the Kona’s.Both the Crosstrek and Kona are well suited for their missions. This new Kona’s backsliding in fuel economy and driving vim diminish its position as an efficient commuter with character. The Crosstrek is no quicker, but it can carry more cargo, it’s more economical, and it’ll take Subaru owners down any road, paved or otherwise, in greater comfort. It wins this close contest by giving its buyers more of what matters.SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Subaru Crosstrek LimitedVehicle Type: front-engine all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $32,190/$35,030Options: Option package 33 (Power moonroof, Subaru Starlink 11.6-inch Multimedia Navigation system, Harman/Kardon Surround Sound 10-speaker audio), $2445; Alpine Green paint, $395
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 152 in3, 2498 cm3Power: 182 hp @ 5800 rpmTorque: 178 lb-ft @ 3700 rpm
TRANSMISSION
continuously variable automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 12.4-in vented disc/11.2-in vented discTires: Falken Ziex ZE001A A/S225/55R-18 98V M+S
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 105.1 inLength: 176.4 inWidth: 70.9 inHeight: 63.0 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 55/44 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 55/20 ft3Curb Weight: 3412 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 8.1 sec1/4-Mile: 16.3 sec @ 88 mph100 mph: 21.9 sec120 mph: 39.9 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 8.8 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 4.7 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 5.9 secTop Speed (mfr est): 129 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 172 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.81 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 23 mpg75-mph Highway Driving: 35 mpg75-mph Highway Range: 580 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 29/26/33 mpg

Specifications
2024 Hyundai Kona N Line AWDVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $33,485/$34,145Options: Ultimate Red metallic paint w/ Black roof, $450; carpeted floor mats, $210
ENGINE
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 98 in3, 1598 cm3Power: 190 hp @ 6000 rpmTorque: 195 lb-ft @ 1700 rpm
TRANSMISSION
8-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 12.0-in vented disc/11.2-in discTires: Kumho Majesty 9 Solus TA91235/45R-19 99V M+S Extra Load
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 104.7 inLength: 172.6 inWidth: 71.9 inHeight: 63.6 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 52/47 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 64/26 ft3Curb Weight: 3450 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.5 sec1/4-Mile: 15.8 sec @ 89 mph100 mph: 21.1 sec120 mph: 42.1 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 8.1 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 4.0 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 4.9 secTop Speed (C/D est): 124 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 172 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.82 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 22 mpg75-mph Highway Driving: 31 mpg75-mph Highway Range: 400 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 26/24/29 mpg

C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDSenior EditorEric Stafford’s automobile addiction began before he could walk, and it has fueled his passion to write news, reviews, and more for Car and Driver since 2016. His aspiration growing up was to become a millionaire with a Jay Leno–like car collection. Apparently, getting rich is harder than social-media influencers make it seem, so he avoided financial success entirely to become an automotive journalist and drive new cars for a living. After earning a journalism degree at Central Michigan University and working at a daily newspaper, the years of basically burning money on failed project cars and lemon-flavored jalopies finally paid off when Car and Driver hired him. His garage currently includes a 2010 Acura RDX, a manual ’97 Chevy Camaro Z/28, and a ’90 Honda CRX Si. More

It’s tough enough when inflation and feature creep give us $40,000 Priuses and $80,000 pickups. But before we spray champagne praise all over the Ferrari 296GTS convertible—ooh, see how that Blu Corsa paint sparkles!—a sober drip must ping off a $500,300 as-driven price, from a base of $371,139. That base figure represents a $28,934 premium over the 296GTB coupe—a sum that repays itself the minute one retracts the roof panel on a sunny autumn day or moonlit night, as we did in New York’s Hudson Valley. But Ferrari is also asking nearly $45,000 more for its plug-in-hybrid V-6 convertible than its F8 Spider predecessor. You know, the supercar with the mid-engine V-8 that’s been Ferrari’s stock-in-trade since the 1975 308 GTB. After nearly a half-century, Ferrari’s V-8 bloodline has been broken. Yet instead of baying for blood, like Porsche 993 airheads, Ferrari fans are largely taking it in stride, or even celebrating the 296. Why? It doesn’t hurt that the Ferrari is gorgeous. Coupe or convertible, the 296 design seems certain to stand the test of time. Ferrari designers say their goal was authentic Italian forms, a silhouette that appears drawn with a single pencil stroke. A compact greenhouse sits low, bobbing in impossibly wavy fenders. Compact dimensions and a 1.9-inch-shorter wheelbase (versus recent mid-engine models) amplify the simplified charm in an era of relentless bloat. There’s nothing extraneous, no overcompensating wings or South Beach jewelry, or even stark color contrasts between body and trim to interrupt the flow.Then there’s the magic of electrification, which turns the V-6 Ferrari into an 819-hp superhero that even a plug-in skeptic might find hard to lob kryptonite at. Recall that the 296GTB coupe is the quickest rear-drive car C/D has ever tested, sprinting into record books with a 2.4-second blast to 60 mph and an insane 9.7-second quarter-mile at 150 mph. Beyond objective speed, Ferrari insists it can measure driving “fun” via five discrete factors, including steering response, engine sound, and brake feel. Using those metrics as goalposts, Ferrari designed the 296 to objectively be its most fun-to-drive model. After the top’s 14.0-second opening ceremony near Bear Mountain, the six-cylinder fanfare begins, set to the symmetrical firing order of a naturally aspirated Ferrari V-12. Easing through opening curves, we’ve got an unbroken connection between our noggins, a pair of whooshing 180,000-rpm turbos, and a patented “hot tube” exhaust resonator that channels the engine’s emotion into the cabin. Maintaining the coupe’s thrilling sound when the top is raised, including a wicked trebly register as the engine ascends to 8500 rpm, required redesigning the engine bay. Pro tip from a Ferrari technician: Lowering the rear glass and raising side windows further concentrates the delightfully layered sound.Flavio Manzoni and his design department took an entirely new company approach to chopping the GTB’s roof to deliver an appreciably better GTS convertible. The folding hardtop splits into two sections above the B-pillar that fold flush over the V-6, assuring proper thermal dissipation and a smooth roof appearance. The loss of the coupe’s engine-under-glass setup is the only trade-off, although the redesigned deck still makes room for a smaller tinted viewing window.An alluring tonneau cover design mimics the aerodynamic and cooling behavior of the coupe, including zero loss of downforce when the roof is lowered. The GTS can surge to a 205-mph top speed with roof up or down. The coupe’s bravura flying buttresses are still here but with sculptural extensions that smartly house the fuel filler and charging port for the lithium-ion battery. Cozied into a classic Kamm tail, inspired by the 1963 250LM, an active rear spoiler switches up the function of previous Ferrari aero tails. It rises to boost downforce rather than ease drag, adding 220 pounds of wind heft to the rear axle. Ferrari says the fancy-folding top adds 154 pounds to the 296GTB, that when equipped with lightweight Assetto Fiorano package weighed 3532 pounds on our scales. Ferrari also claims the GTS is 50 percent stiffer than the F8 Spider. Flying through colonnades of trees, the open roof amplifies every piney smell, streak of sun, and chirp from the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires. As for top-down turbulence, it’s not Dorothy-in-Kansas level, but there is buffeting as speeds climb toward triple digits. The cabin is a fantasy perch, from the instrument cluster’s starfighter-style structural supports to an expanded passenger display screen. Like the coupe, the GTS adopts the digital interface concept first seen in the SF90. The design is striking, but the infotainment system is a stubborn collection of haptic steering-wheel controls managed exclusively through the instrument cluster. On this model, optional carbon-fiber racing seats look like Picasso sculptures. Manually adjusting the backrests via a stiff crank and a fumbling rearward reach recalls an old VW. An analog high point is the lovely cloisonné key fob, enameled in Italian flag colors and a prancing cavallino, that snugs into a console holder. But the steering wheel’s haptic startup switch has all the drama of an ATM touchpad. With its efficient hot-vee twin-turbo layout, the V-6 makes 654 horsepower, threatening the 670-hp output of a Corvette Z06’s 5.5-liter V-8 that has nearly double the displacement. By itself, that might be enough. But consider the V-6 as 654 Trojan horses, with another 164 electric horses ready to spring a surprise attack. They’re housed in an axial-flux AC motor between the engine and the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. A tag-team 819 horsepower sets a new record for specific output in a production convertible. A clutch allows decoupling in hybrid operation or all-electric driving for an EPA-estimated seven miles at speeds up to 83 mph. The electric motor fills any gaps with a peak 232 pound-feet of torque, and it’s also responsible for starting the V-6. Ferrari warns us that, though the 296 is a plug-in hybrid and not an electric vehicle, you can run out of electricity as well as premium unleaded. Leave the 296 in Hybrid mode for too long, and it may drain its battery low enough—especially if you’re sitting with power and accessories on—to resist a restart. The easy solution is to drive in Performance mode, one step below the maximum Qualify setting. Performance mode can fully recharge the small battery on the fly in 20 minutes or less. Speed the process by finding excuses to hammer the Herculean brakes to slurp up regenerative juice through the rear wheels. The brake-by-wire system is simply the best in the electrified game. You can stand on them like you’re coming down the Mulsanne, yet they work just as well in city traffic. And the electrically assisted steering brews up that signature Ferrari blend of lightness and clarity.The power feels, well, naturally unnatural. On Route 9W, a mini Highway 1 that clings to bluffs overlooking the Hudson River, the Ferrari blitzes a downhill chicane on the descent into West Point. Magnetorheological dampers ably suppresses pavement jitters, but the Bumpy Road setting still works best for compliance on virtually any public road. More on the Ferrari 296The Ferrari’s greatest trick is feeling serene at superhuman speeds, yet fully engaging for mortal pilots of any skill level. A pert wheelbase and epic rear-drive force might spell trouble, but the Ferrari never threatens to overwhelm its rear tires or pirouette under high-g lateral loads. Nor does it feel like it’s nannying or withholding max power. That’s a testament to a raft of F1-based chassis and powertrain tech. Driven hard, the GTS kept emitting strange little “whoops” in lower gears that we don’t recall hearing on another sports car: It’s the sound of wheelspin being stopped almost before it starts. Some may think that a six-cylinder model must be some “son of” Ferrari, akin to the Dino GT named for Enzo’s tragic scion. As it turned out, the 296 is more like the little brother who finally beats big brother in a game of one-on-one. Once that happens, baby bro will never lose again. Even in this Italian realm, the writing on the industry wall needs no translation. Like turbocharging before it, if your sports car isn’t electrified—in whatever form—in the next five years, it won’t stand a chance against the high-energy squirts. SpecificationsSpecifications
2023 Ferrari 296GTS Vehicle Type: mid-engine, mid-motor, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE
Base: $371,139
POWERTRAIN
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter V-6, 654 hp, 546 lb-ft + AC motor, 164 hp, 232 lb-ft (combined output: 819 hp, 546 lb-ft; 4.9-kWh lithium-ion battery pack [C/D est])Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 102.4 inLength: 179.7 inWidth: 77.1 inHeight: 46.9 inCurb Weight (C/D est): 3700 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 2.5 sec100 mph: 4.8 sec1/4-Mile: 9.8 secTop Speed: 205 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 18/15/21 mpgCombined Gasoline + Electricity: 47 MPGeEV Range: 7 mi More

From the December 1993 issue of Car and Driver.On first touch, this looked like one of those fantasies that might have been better left unfulfilled. You know how some experiences just don’t play as well in real time as they did in your imagination? Like winning the lottery or taking Michelle Pfeiffer to dinner, driving as legendary a car as a Daytona Spyder would almost have to be a letdown, considering the wildly inflated expectations going in. We had rounded up a 1973 365GTS/4 to serve as a historic touchstone in exam­ining Ferrari’s new 348 Spider, and for the first mile we weren’t sure it would live up to its reputation. The steering managed to be both loose and heavy, the car nosed into bends lazily on its tall, bagel-shaped tires, the shifter gating was vague, and the six Weber carburetors had the V-12 stumbling and staggering below 3000 rpm. HIGHS: The new 348 Spider has sex appeal, a clever top, great steering and brakes.”Well, it’s a period piece,” we thought charitably. But gradually something happened as we herded the bellowing beast over Ange­les Crest Highway high above L.A. The thing came alive. And we took root in it. Car and driver came to an understanding, like a hand and a new fielder’s glove. Barely thinking about it, we took to working just the bottom half of the sharply angled steering wheel, passing the rim from hand to hand. We learned to hold the throttle just so for starting and to coax the revs past three grand before rolling open all those Weber butterflies. We eventually had a mental map of the wide-gated shift pattern. And our corner-entry rhythm attuned itself to the Daytona’s deliberate, dead-predictable manners.Like every Ferrari we’ve driven, the Daytona came into its own as it went faster. As speed and cornering intensity increased, the car worked better and felt sweeter—the steering more alive, the chassis more nimble, the revs picking up cleanly. You could interpret this to mean a Ferrari is tuned for rapid running. But maybe the car just needs to know you’re serious before it decides to cooperate. What does this have to do with the 1994 348 Spider? Everything. Because Ferrari tradition both graces and burdens every product of the little Maranello factory. While a 1990 Ferrari must respect mod­ern standards of comfort, build quality, and driving ease and meet mandates for crashworthiness and emissions, it also must remain true to a flavor and a feel estab­lished in simpler days. Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, new chairman and chief executive officer of Ferrari SpA, put the dilemma succinctly: “I want Ferraris to be cars of the future, but with a long tradition.” Results have been mixed. The prevailing criticism—voiced as recently as our March 1993 test of a 348tb coupe—tend to be that the per­formance does not live up to the promise of the stratospheric price and that such bothersome eccentricities as stiff shift-lever movement through the traditional chromed gate are simply not worth the trouble. Through a combination, perhaps, of mechanical upgrades and closer-tolerance assembly, our fly-yellow 348 Spider was a much nicer, less idiosyncratic machine than the black 348tb we drove in March. Lighter to the touch yet more stable at sweaty-palm speeds, the Spider asked us to put up with much less. So we could better enjoy what it had to offer.Which includes, now, open-air motor­ing. The new convertible top is cleverly engineered, it looks good up or down, and it operates with a simple one-latch-and­-one-lever process that can be managed from the driver’s seat if you contort a bit. Wind buffeting in the open cockpit is quite tolerable. With the top up, wind noise does not seriously compete with that symphonic engine note until past 100 mph. At any speed approaching the car’s maximum of 154, wind roar does become deafening. For that reason, as well as struc­tural-rigidity concerns, we prefer solid-­roof bodies for really fast cars. (We’re hoping the Viper GTS sees production.) Yet for a choptop revision to an existing coupe design, the new 348 Spider is uncommonly successful. There is just the merest whiff of body flex over really bad bumps in fast turns, and this impressive rigidity comes with no weight penalty we can detect. Our Spider weighed 3290 pounds, compared with the 348tb’s 3292. LOWS: It’s no quicker than cars costing a third as much, shifter is a bit stiff.Various spec changes, introduced on 1993’s 348 Serie Speciale right after our test of the 348tb, are carried over to the Spi­der. Less restrictive muffling raises engine output from 300 hp at 7000 rpm to 310 at 7200, and slightly shorter overall gearing gives the engine a little more leverage (the transfer-gear ratio between the longitudi­nal engine and the transverse gearbox is lowered from 1.09:1 to 1.22:1). The fat Pirelli P Zero tires are set nearly two inches farther apart in back, and this track increase, plus some fiddling of suspension settings, may explain our Spider’s improved stability. The car’s performance is plenty strong: 5.3 seconds to 60 mph, 13.8 to 100, 14.0 seconds at 101 mph in the quarter-mile. But you will be disappointed if you need it to outrun certain cars that cost vastly less than its $131,090—a Corvette ZR1 or a Viper, for instance. And there are some quirks. The shifter is stiff, and in our car the lever scraped on the gate, making one-­two and three-four shifts go chi-kee-chank. But a familiar hand can live with it, and the action improves as miles accumulate. The motorized passive belts are also a nuisance, but an airbag would probably ruin the trademark three-spoke steering wheel with prancing-horse horn button. (Bags are promised for the American-market 456GT next year, and we’re curious to see how they’ll be done.) Beyond that, the 348 Spider needs no special allowances. The seats are firmly supportive and comfy enough, interior trimwork is clean and straight, and clam­bering in and out of the low, wide cockpit is not unduly challenging. There is even remarkably good outward visibility for a mid-engine design (though the inside mir­ror can block the driver’s view in a fast right-hander). By all these mundane mea­sures of refinement, the 348 scores well and represents vast improvement on its 308/328 forebears. More to the point, the car is loads of fun to drive. Stiff, low, and lively, the Spi­der feels crisp and sharply maneuverable on back roads yet quite compliant on the freeway and around town. Steering is mar­velously tight and positive. Routine course corrections are more a matter of pressure at the leather-covered rim than actual wheel movement. In the mountains, the car pivots around its centralized, mid-engine mass and snaps in and out of turns adroitly. Gentle, protective understeer is the prevailing cornering attitude, and though you can feel terminal oversteer out there waiting, you really need to be on a racetrack to explore that transition. The limit is high enough and the dividing line thin enough to make tail-swinging antics fool­hardy on public roads. Wherever you drive it, you have a friend in the 348’s spectacular brakes. They’re strong, firm at the pedal, and easily modulated. More Ferrari Reviews From the ArchiveThat 3405cc V-8 shrieking away behind your shoulder delivers smoothly building power and clean response, with­out a spit or stutter. And it happily uses all of the available 7500 rpm. At an indi­cated—if optimistic—60 mph, you can pick your revs and racket, depending on the output you want: 2900 rpm in fifth, 3800 in fourth, 5050 in third, or 7400 in second. Engine noise is a key part of the Ferrari presence, and even though the 348 lacks the harrowing banshee wail of the Daytona’s pipes, its busy, mechanized intensity makes the point. The eye-frying droptop 348 attracts attention like a high-rise fire. And that’s just one trait it shares with the twenty-year­-old Daytona. As different as the Spider and Spyder are—cylinder count, engine loca­tion, exhaust howl, weight and balance, tire and suspension technology, comput­erization, ergonomics, and so on—there is a thread of heredity running through them. The Pininfarina curves. The high-strung engine sounds. The steering that livens with speed. The gate-guided shifters that reward a practiced touch. VERDICT: A fine exotic that strikes that precarious balance between refinement and character.In the end, both of “our Ferraris”—the new Spider and the veteran Spyder­—enchanted us. Driving them did not fail to live up to the billing, despite our tall expec­tations. Would a lottery jackpot and sup­per with Ms. Pfeiffer do as well? Maybe. But “my check” and “my treat” still won’t resonate the way “my Ferrari” does.Daytona Spyder the Archetypal Ferrari Street RacerThe new 348 Spider represents the first two-seat Ferrari convertible since the 365GTS/4 Daytona Spyder of the early Seventies (the Mondial Cabriolet is a two­-plus-two). We wanted a Daytona along for perspective when we drove the new car, and Cris Vandagriff at Ferrari of Beverly Hills graciously arranged this beautiful, original, 25,000-mile 1973 customer car for us. The last of the front-engined Ferrari sports cars, the big, noisy, V-12-pow­ered Daytona holds a special place in the Ferrari pantheon. Nowhere is the Ferrari heritage—a torch the new car must carry—so vividly embodied.The Daytona’s journey to the U.S. was a difficult one. The federal government ruled that it wasn’t clean enough at the tailpipes. Its covered headlamps also ran afoul of U.S. laws and almost forced the Italian carbuilder to install shockingly ugly quad headlamps on the Daytona’s sleek snout.But by 1971, Ferrari had cooked up a U.S.-specification Daytona that was soothing to the eyes (its headlamps were covered) and acceptable to government pipe-sniffers (a sacrifice of about 10 hp). The detuning hardly muzzled the 4.4-liter V-12. Car and Driver tested a well-restored Daytona couple in April 1984 and found it could sprint through the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds at 108 mph. The GTB/4 originally stickered at $19,500 with the Spyder selling at a $6000 premium.The Daytona competed in touring-car races with fair success, but one of its more famous exploits came at the hands of C/D’s ever-game Brock Yates. In 1971, teamed with Dan Gurney, Brock whipped a Daytona coupe across these United States—from Manhattan’s Red Ball garage to the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California—in 35 hours and 54 minutes to win the second Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash. Over 2876 miles, they averaged 80 miles per hour, got 12.2 miles per gallon, and showed vastly greater style per mile than any other competitor.Is It ‘Spyder’ or ‘Spider’?We wondered why Ferrari changed the spelling of “Spyder” to “Spider” for the new 348 roadster, but even people connected with the Italian automaker couldn’t provide an answer.In the process, someone here asked, “Why would anyone call a car a spider anyway?” Good question.In the 1700s, the phrase “spider phaeton” described a lightweight, horsedrawn passenger carriage with a folding fabric top to keep out the elements. The wheels were spindly, and in some other upscale, enclosed models the rear wheels arched almost to the carriage’s roofline. this presumably reminded passersby of spiders, whose legs often rise high above the insect’s body.So what’s that got to do with a two-seat roadster? Who knows? Expanding the use of the term “spider” to cars is said to have begun in the Thirties in Italy, where rough two-seat competition racers were called spiders. So the word must be English, since the Italian word for spider isn’t spider—it’s ragno. Italian automakers Cisitalia and Siata used the term to describe some of their cars, and in 1953 Siata switched to the “Spyder” spelling for unannounced reasons. This is confusing because the Italian language traditionally does not use the letter “y.” Maybe it just looks less repellent with a “y.”Meanwhile, Porsche in 1954 was about to export a zoomy race car which was stuck with this mouthful designation: “Type 550/1500RS.” American importer Max Hoffman politely suggested instead the simple name of “Spyder.”And that’s where the word comes from. We think. Maybe. SpecificationsSpecifications
1993 Ferrari 348 SpiderVehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $131,090/$131,090
ENGINEDOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 208 in3, 3405 cm3Power: 310 hp @ 7200 rpmTorque: 229 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/control armsBrakes, F/R: 11.8-in vented disc/12.0-in vented discTires: Pirelli P ZeroF: 215/50ZR-17R: 255/45ZR-17
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 96.5 inLength: 166.5 inWidth: 74.6 inHeight: 46.1 inPassenger Volume: 47 ft3Trunk Volume: 7 ft3Curb Weight: 3290 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 5.3 sec100 mph: 13.8 sec1/4-Mile: 14.0 sec @ 101 mph130 mph: 27.2 sec140 mph: 36.1 secRolling Start, 5–60 mph: 5.9 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 7.6 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 7.1 secTop Speed (redline ltd): 154 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 169 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.91 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 17 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity/Highway: 13/18 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

As Stanford University’s Rob Kapilow explains, British art critic Richard Wollheim in 1965 “coined the term ‘minimal art’ to describe art that reduced its materials and forms to fundamentals.” The phrase became the catchall “minimalism,” which became—and remains—a vital ethos of Western design and culture. You can hear it in composer John Cage’s “4:33,” which puts a pianist at a piano for four minutes and 33 seconds of silence. You can sit in it with Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair or anywhere at Ikea. You can sleep and shower in it, in modern hotel rooms that make Sphinxian riddles of turning off the lights and turning on the water. And you can drive it if you buy a Range Rover. Evoque’s Exterior DesignThe British SUV maker prefers the term “reductive” design to minimalism. The 2024 Range Rover Evoque shows the result is the same no matter the term—better execution than in that boutique hotel, albeit just as stingy with switches and buttons.Applied to the Evoque’s exterior, reductive is a warning to expect changes that need a jeweler’s loupe to identify. The grille swaps the previous hexagonal mesh for artful dashed lines, the Evoque now expressing the family genes as passed down by the paternoster Range Rover. On either side of the grille, slimmer adaptive headlights match the units used on the Velar. Each lamp houses four small lighting units, each unit housing 67 LEDs that can alter their light pattern so as not to blind drivers ahead. Arroios Grey, Corinthian Bronze, and Tribeca Blue join the exterior paint menu, Corinthian Bronze also available as a contrasting roof color alongside Narvik Black. Evoque’s Minimalist InteriorReductive design makes its real stand inside. In our review of the baby Range Rover from 2022, we wrote, “The Evoque’s interior mirrors the clean design of its exterior, which is unfortunate because that means most of the knobs and buttons were banished in favor of touchscreens and capacitive switches.” For 2024, touchscreen is now singular, the former infotainment and HVAC displays absorbed into an 11.4-inch unit higher up on the instrument panel. And the buttons and knobs? Mortal enemies of the reductive, erased as thoroughly as Leia’s Alderaan.Now that a single screen needs to lift the weight of two, there are two speed-dial menus along the sides of the 11.4-inch display and a quick menu for climate controls at the bottom. As before, Range Rover says approximately 80 percent of functions are within two taps of the home screen, but this really is a new smartphone interface: not exactly intuitive, easy enough to find what you want after pecking and swiping a bit, hiding heaps of shortcuts and functionality you’ll never unlock unless you read the owner’s manual. And, let’s be honest, you probably won’t.Even phones have buttons for volume, though. In the Evoque, the volume slider is on the right-side-screen menu farthest from the driver, a suboptimal controller in a suboptimal location. Of course, the driver is meant to use the capacitive switches on the new steering wheel. At least the new wheel is a pretty piece of work—three muscular, dished spokes replacing the utilitarian button pods and twin spars on the old tiller.Eliminating the bottom screen on the center console liberates space for a standard wireless phone charger and cubby. Below that, where once sat Range Rover’s version of a Hurst pistol-grip shifter on a large metallic plinth, designers downsized the gear selector to snug into a palm and nestled it into the gently ramped trim. Behind it, two larger, equally sized cupholders replace the asymmetric holders. Muted color palettes are an ancillary trend riding minimalism’s coattails of late—prosaic, inoffensive hues turning homes into greige boxes and children’s playsets into earth-tone Bauhaus mazes. The Evoque is attuned to the zeitgeist. Trim pieces come either in Shadow Gray Ash Veneer, dark anodized aluminum, or light anodized aluminum. The brightest available hue in the cabin is a light gray called Cloud, and even that is contrasted with Ebony.Driving the EvoqueThe reductive scythe took a swipe at the engine and trim choices too. Our market gets only the P250 powertrain, a turbocharged 2.0-liter Ingenium four-cylinder making 246 horsepower and mating to a nine-speed automatic. The pruned lineup counts only the S and Dynamic SE, as the HST and R-Dynamic variants have been dismissed, and with their departure goes the available 296-hp engine. Carryover front struts and a multilink rear axle connect the body to the wheels; front-biased all-wheel drive comes standard.Since the mechanicals haven’t changed, neither have our feelings about driving the Evoque: The enthusiasm here is more for fashion than handling. The turbo four has enough heart to survive the test of French highway on-ramps, which are so inexplicably short they require equal amounts of guts and timing to merge without catastrophe. When unstressed, the transmission executes shifts smooth enough to make gelato jealous. Even on the 20-inch wheels our sample Evoque wore, calm composure defines the on-road ride. Prodding the gearbox into sudden acceleration, however, means waiting for it to downshift from the tall fuel-economy-focused ratios and then for the turbo to hit the necessary rpm. Attempts at spirited driving, down the French secondary roads along our drive route, prove the automaker’s urban-focused mission for the Evoque. The vehicle’s propensity to understeer, and its accurate, indifferent steering were about what you’d expect for a two-ton urban crossover. The mushy, long-travel brake pedal, however, bled our confidence.The paradox of that squishy brake-pedal response is that it’s perfect for off-roading, and dirt work is the Evoque’s other defining feature after its fashion-runway styling. If challenged by competitors such as the Volvo XC40 or BMW X1 to race to the top of a snaking mountain pass, the Evoque would do best ignoring the road and driving straight up the hill.Related StoriesFrankly, that would be an instructive race, indicative of the Evoque’s refusal to engage in traditional competition with its segment rivals. With its unmistakable looks; its new interior that might not be out of place in the Tate Modern; the fact that its MSRP, starting at about $10,000 higher than rivals, buys less interior and cargo space; its subpar fuel economy; and its wildly overachieving off-road capabilities, the Evoque stands alone. Which, for a confirmed minimalist, surely would be its preference—it’s less crowded that way.SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Land Rover Range Rover EvoqueVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICEBase: Core S, $51,075; Dynamic SE, $56,075
ENGINE
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 122 in3, 1997 cm3Power: 246 hp @ 5500 rpmTorque: 269 lb-ft @ 1300 rpm
TRANSMISSION
9-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 105.6 inLength: 172.1 inWidth: 75.0 inHeight: 64.9 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 51/42 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 51/22 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 4350 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 7.1 sec1/4-Mile: 15.5 secTop Speed: 143 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 22/20/27 mpg More