Evelyn Reynolds

From the October 1987 issue of Car and Driver.He held his hands outstretched in a can­-you-believe-this pose, and then broke down laughing. “It’s so red,” he said, cir­cling the Eurosport VR and giggling some more. “So . . . so red.” Matt Smith, our 22- year-old road warrior, has washed and gassed more exotic machinery than most enthusiasts will lay hands on in their life­times, but nothing had ever reduced him to babbling before. He pulled open the VR’s front door. “Gawd, “he howled, “the carpeting. It’s so, um . . . red!”We’re pleased to report that Matt is re­covering nicely, but there is no arguing with his observations. If the Eurosport VR accomplishes nothing else, it has already advanced the state of the art of red paint jobs by five years. Porsche, Alfa, and the blood-reddest of them all—Ferrari—have nothing on this Chevy. We happened to have red versions of the 911, the Milano, and the Mondial in our lot at the same time as the VR, and we can tell you that they don’t measure up. There is some­thing about splashing standard Camaro red paint—that’s all it is—across such a big canvas that just boggles the senses. We don’t understand it, either. What we are sure of is that this new Chevrolet delivers a bunch more Euro style and a ton more celebrity. The Euro influence is as unmistakable as an AMG Mercedes. AMG pioneered the flared­-and-spoilered monochrome formula in the early eighties, and the look still turns heads. For the most part, the Celebrity gets the look right, though the mock–Star-Fleet exhaust ports in the rear bumper are a bit much, and the bold “Chevrolet” let­tering across the hood would gross out most European supersedan customers. But this is America. Drive a pulsating­-red VR through Anytown, U.S.A., and you’ll understand how it feels to be a ce­lebrity. You couldn’t draw more attention to yourself if you strolled down the main drag with Madonna. The publicity-shy buyer can limit the amount of rubbernecking by opting out of the high-visibility zoot suit for a white, black, or silver paint job, but he’ll still get a car with a show-business past. The VR, you see, was born on an auto-show turntable. Add a pair of black covers to the headlights of a white VR and you ‘re looking at the spitting image of the Celebrity RS concept car, which made the rounds of the auto-show circuit for several years. Envisioned as Chevrolet’s answer to AMG-style cruise missiles, the RS featured a massaged 3.3-liter all-alloy V-6, hunky 16-inch-diameter wheels and tires, a special suspension, and revised instruments. More Reviews From the ArchiveThe idea of producing the RS finally took root about eighteen months ago, when the division’s sales department sud­denly decided that the RS’s wrapper would sell. The final piece of the puzzle clicked into place when AutoStyle Cars, an aggressive specialty-car maker, offered to build a limited run of RS-inspired Celebri­tys. The first production VRs trickled out of the factory late last spring. About 1500 copies—some of them wagons—will be on the road by the end of this year. This is no simple makeover. In the transformation to VR trim, a garden-vari­ety Eurosport receives a blanked-off grille, a new one-piece urethane front bumper with an integral air dam and a bottom-breather air intake, rocker-panel skirts, lower-door trim pieces, a new ure­thane rear bumper, and a rear spoiler. The new exterior pieces and the stock Eurosport alloy wheels are all painted body color. If you think the exterior treatment stretches the bounds of good taste, wait until you see the cabin. Inside, the VR has been reworked to match the Celebrity RS show car as closely as possible. The upholstery and the carpeting are all-new. The seats and the door panels are covered in thick gray velour and trimmed with red piping. Black leather thigh bolsters adorn the seats’ lower cushions, and large swatches of black vinyl are sewn onto the upper halves of the door panels and onto the rear of the front seatbacks. Just to make sure you don’t fall asleep at the wheel, the floors of all Eurosport VRs, no matter what the exterior color, are cov­ered in carpeting so red it would embar­rass a Commie. The new decor may be wild, but it at least delivers one badly needed functional improvement: better seats. Starting with the stock Eurosport front buckets, Auto­Style cuts and reshapes the seat cushions for better support and improved lateral restraint. The flat rear bench seat is recon­toured, too, to accommodate two passen­gers more comfortably than before. (Three can still fit if necessary.) The seat­ing revisions are so effective and so sim­ple, we wonder why Chevrolet didn’t make them long ago. Unfortunately, this mother lode of inte­rior and exterior cosmetic revisions is all she wrote. In translating the Celebrity RS into a production machine—”produc­tionizing,” the marketing types call it—all of the difficult and expensive improve­ments promised by the show car were edited out. No all-alloy V-6. No meaty tires. No miracle suspension. Our test car didn’t even have a tach. (A pitiful LED rev counter is optional.) The hard truth is that the Celebrity VR looks like an AMG, but it still drives like a Chevrolet. Mechanically, the VR is no dif­ferent from any off-the-rack Eurosport. Don’t get us wrong. The Eurosport is a nice piece, and our test car drove sweetly. Its optional 125-hp, fuel-injected, 2.8-liter V-6 was always on its toes, as its 9.0-second 0-to-60 time and 118-mph top speed indicate. The Getrag-designed five­-speed manual gearbox shifted effortlessly. The ride was reasonably supple, and the steering was acceptably accurate. Our VR’s overall behavior was plenty ade­quate for a family sedan.If this were a road test of a standard Eurosport, we’d conclude by encouraging Chevrolet to add a usable tach and im­prove the speedometer’s graphics—and we’d be done with it. But this isn’t just any Celebrity Eurosport. This is the Star Wars Eurosport, the expensive Eurosport: the VR option alone costs a cool $3550. You can’t help suffering elevated expectations when a car looks like this one—and that sets the Eurosport VR up for a fall. Flash alone might satisfy some people, but we want at least an equal helping of substance.CounterpointsI wore rose-colored sunglasses when I drove the hot Celebrity, so I had no trouble seeing through its redness dur­ing my search for innermost goodness. What I saw was a very sensibly sized Chevrolet; a car with a very modern and appropriate powertrain; an automobile that—in black, white, or silver—would be admired in most neighborhoods.I also saw a golden opportunity that was less than fully exploited. Farming the VR project out to an independent contractor gave Chevy another model to put on the road, but one that is less than it should be in two respects: it isn’t complete, and the final package is not an irresistible value. If Chevrolet kept all the members of the Celebrity family in-house, it could easily make a VR with proper instruments, the latest chassis tweaks, a touch more horsepower, and a more attractive price tag. The era of niche marketing appears to be here to stay, but the sooner the big guys get comfortable with serving the multifacet­ed needs of their customers on their regular assembly lines, the better off we’ll be. —Don Sherman “VR” must stand for “Very Red.” Not only is the VR’s exterior blinding, but a sea of equally red carpet floods into view when you open the door. The problem with this Las Vegas styling is that it attracts too much attention from the wrong kind of people: the police. And even the guy in the red Corvette will look you over at a stoplight. But when the light turns green, he’ll leave you in his dust without trying.When worked hard, the Eurosport VR performs reasonably well in a straight line. Its acceleration times are similar to those of an Integra LS, and not far short of a Beretta GT’s. It has enough torque at highway cruising speeds that shifting out of fifth isn’t nec­essary for simple passing. Its handling is predictable even when cornering hard. But the VR just doesn’t have enough lateral grip, and its brakes need better modulation and balance. And for a car with such sporting pretensions, the omission of a tachometer is nothing short of absurd. Perhaps that contradic­tion best sums up the VR: overdone styling with underdone stuffing. —Nicholas Bissoon-DathLet’s say you’ve just picked up your brand-new Lamborghini Countach. It’s what you’ve always wanted, but your neighbor just down Rolling Dough Lane has one exactly like it. Hey, you’ve already spent more than $100,000, so what’s another five thou for a distinctive rear wing? Sure, throw it on. At the upper end of the price spec­trum, paying such sums for added dis­tinction is easy. What’s the difference between $120,000 and $125,000? But when you’re talking about a mid-priced sedan, paying $3550 for added flair seems extravagant. Relatively speaking, that’s like spending $30,000 for a paint job on a Countach. But if you want a racy-looking Celeb­rity Eurosport, it’s going to cost you. No, the VR package won’t bring you any increase in performance. And you won’t notice any improvement in handling. Aside from better seats, about all you’ll get for your $3550 is a lot of attention. One thing is clear: “VR” doesn’t stand for “Very Rational.” —Arthur St. Antoine SpecificationsSpecifications
1997 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport VRVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $10,690/$17,751Options: VR conversion, $3550; air conditioning. $775; 2.8-liter V-6 engine, $610; AM/FM-stereo radio/cassette, $329; powerwindows, $285; Eurosport equipment, $240; power locks, $195; cruise control, $175; rear defroster, $145; aluminum wheels, $143; tilt steering, $125; tinted glass, $120; P195/70R-14 tires, $90; gauge package, $64; miscellaneous options, $215
ENGINEpushrod V-6, iron block and aluminum heads, port injectionDisplacement: 173 in3, 2837 cm3Power: 125 hp @ 4500 rpmTorque: 160 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/trailing armsBrakes, F/R: 10.1-in vented disc/8.9-in drumTires: Goodyear Eagle GTP195/70R-14
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 104.9 inLength: 188.3 inWidth: 69.3 inHeight: 54.1 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 53/45 ft3Trunk Volume: 16 ft3Curb Weight: 2986 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 9.0 sec100 mph: 30.3 sec1/4-Mile: 16.6 sec @ 82 mphTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 12.6 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 13.8 secTop Speed: 118 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 211 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.74 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMYObserved: 17 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity/Highway: 19/27 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

“Everything else is a derivation,” Enzo Ferrari once said of his original V-12. Eighty years ago, Il Commendatore and Gioacchino Colombo conceived the first Ferrari V-12 engine and in 1947 put the 125 Spyder Corsa on the road. Today, the 2025 12Cilindri Spider harks back to Ferrari’s grand-touring roots and its front-engine, V-12 soul. The 12Cilindri Spider is a first-quarter opening salvo in what’s shaping up to be a pivotal year in the brand’s storied history. The company will introduce six products, including its first EV in October. Meanwhile, F1 fans count the days until the Australian Grand Prix for a glimpse of Lewis Hamilton in the Scuderia Ferrari paddock. Hamilton, like Enzo, has effortless cool, an attitude that makes modern Ferrari feel distinct from the competition. Getting EmotionalArriving on the precipice of an expanded electrified portfolio, the 12Cilindri Spider features a naturally aspirated front-mounted 6.5-liter V-12 engine that is an internal-combustion coda to Ferrari engine lore and a delicious guilty pleasure. The operatic engine note, experienced unfiltered in the open air, is the Spider’s reason for being. For the Ferraristi, driving is a provocative sensory experience. For the 12Cilindri Spider, creating that experience was the assignment. “I’m getting emotional,” said Ferrari designer Andrea Militello, only half-joking. Militello is head of sport design projects for Ferrari and participated in a panel discussion with his engineering and product planning colleagues the night before our coastal drive. Militello explained how the engineers, designers, and test drivers work side by side. “The final design of the car, it transmits something that we can’t describe with words” he said. “It’s something that happens in the guts.” The 12Cilindri Spider’s look references the 1969 365GTS/4, the famed Daytona Spider styled by Leonardo Fioravanti of Pininfarina. You can see the classic proportions in the long, clamshell-shaped hood and the set-back cabin. The modern car’s contours and surfaces are tucked and shaped in sympathy with the front end and carefully frame the large 21-inch wheels. The A-pillars are swept back dramatically, and flying buttresses fade from the headrests into the rear decklid. Driving La Dolce VitaThe Spider is meant to be savored outside in the elements, and so we traveled to Cascais, Portugal, for our drive. There, we found a half-dozen Spiders in Verde Toscana, a gemstone green hue that sparkled in the sunshine. For this car, Ferrari says it started with the “gentleman driver” in mind. What that driver is looking for in a Ferrari is defined by Raffaele de Simone, Ferrari’s chief development driver, who was there to walk us through the ins and outs of the driving setup. De Simone paused to listen as we brought the 12Cilindri Spider engine to life with a tap of the haptic button on the center of the steering wheel. He let the sonic drama sink in. “Bellissimo! It sounds like music,” he said. De Simone recommended the 1600-watt Burmester audio system’s Live setting (others include Pure, Comfort, and 3D Surround) as an accompaniment to the V-12’s engine note. Live produces a full-on concert experience in the way the sound is distributed through the speakers. It’s one of the more impressive systems we’ve tried, balancing the audio sound with the engine note even with the top down.Act one of the 12Cilindri Spider opera was underway as we warmed up the tires on Portuguese coastal roads that were made for King Luís I of Portugal’s court in the 19th century. For the unfiltered experience, we turned off the ADAS with the touch-sensitive button. The haptic-touch buttons and sliders are a bit fussy but became more intuitive over eight hours of driving. The 10.3-inch center infotainment screen and 8.8-inch passenger’s display are low-key compared to the Purosangue’s more digitally based cockpit.A violent windstorm had left the pavement sand-swept, and the 12Cilindri’s little wiggles in the turns were a thrilling reminder of its rear-wheel drive and V-12 power in action. Soon the roads opened up, and we pursued the engine’s delightful 9500-rpm crescendo. We cycled through high notes, trying out the various driving modes, reveling in the palpable feedback of 819 horsepower as the eight-speed dual-clutch transmission worked its silky magic. Top down, the Spider magnified the V-12’s glory. On public roads, we never saw the claimed 211-mph top speed—same as the coupe’s—but 60 mph comes quickly at an estimated 2.8 seconds, and the four tailpipes served as trumpets for those we left in the dust. On-the-money steering and confidence-inspiring carbon-ceramic brakes checked boxes on a GT-car wish list. The suspension’s magnetorheological dampers produced a smooth ride on bumpy concrete, a welcome bonus. The neck-level heat vents and the retractable center window between the headrests kept the cabin serene and let us settle in to focus on the driving dynamics. In third and fourth gear, Ferrari now does electronic torque shaping, like it’s done previously on turbocharged models, to keep the rising crescendo of power linear, a move the company claims doesn’t slow acceleration. Later, we closed the retractable hardtop, a quick 14-second maneuver—raising or lowering the roof can be done when the car is in motion at speeds up to 28 mph, a fun party trick to deploy with the touch of a center switch. Top up or down, 12Cilindri Spider satisfies all five senses.SpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Ferrari 12Cilindri SpiderVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE
Base (C/D est): $510,000
ENGINEDOHC 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 396 in3, 6496 cm3Power: 819 hp @ 9250 rpmTorque: 500 lb-ft @ 7250 rpm 
TRANSMISSION8-speed dual-clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.3 inLength: 186.3 inWidth: 79.0 inHeight: 50.9 inCurb Weight (C/D est): 4050 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 2.8 sec100 mph: 5.8 sec1/4-Mile: 10.5 secTop Speed: 211 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)Combined/City/Highway: 14/12/16 mpg More

The term “flagship” usually conjures images of an elegant sedan or a flashy full-size SUV. But things are a bit different over at Mitsubishi. The Japanese automaker considers the Outlander—a compact SUV that competes in one of the most mainstream segments there is—to be its flagship. We can see why Mitsu might say this when you compare the Outlander to the other vehicles the Japanese automaker sells in our market.Last redesigned for 2022, the Outlander is the only car in Mitsubishi’s current stable that can be considered remotely competitive within its segment. It’s a decent-looking crossover inside and out, and it also offers a relatively advanced plug-in-hybrid powertrain with more electric range than many of its rivals. The Outlander is also Mitsubishi’s bestseller, which explains why the company is boasting about all the small changes it made for 2025’s mid-cycle refresh.Little has changed underneath. The Outlander remains on the same platform as the Nissan Rogue and, in base form, still uses a dated Nissan four-cylinder engine paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission. But the update does include freshened front- and rear-end styling, additional standard features, suspension tweaks, more sound-deadening material, and two new audio systems from Yamaha with up to 12 speakers and 1650 watts of power. It’s worth noting that these changes will only appear on gas-fed 2025 Outlanders; the PHEV will get the same updates for the 2026 model year.More on the OutlanderSay what you will about the Outlander’s polarizing face, but the look is distinctive. The extra chrome trim and nice 20-inch wheels found on most trims (ES models get 18s) make the Mitsu look more upscale than a Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V. We drove one of the upper-trim models, an SEL, with the Premium package and thought the cabin’s plushness was a good match for its aspirational sheetmetal. Soft-touch dashboard materials, quilted leather upholstery, and knurled switchgear make this interior a pleasant place to spend time. The Yamaha stereo’s new speakers add an extra dash of visual interest. Even with our limited seat time, we’d rate the Outlander’s accommodations near the top of the compact-SUV class.The Outlander has one other cabin trick up its sleeve: a standard third row. Since the Volkswagen Tiguan is dropping its third-row option for 2025, the Outlander will become the only compact SUV that can seat seven. But even Mitsubishi admits that the wayback is meant for “occasional use” (translation: It’s only for kids, and even then, only in a pinch). Thankfully, the second-row seat is plenty comfortable for adults, and it slides fore and aft to offer various cargo configurations.The Outlander’s middle-of-the-road driving demeanor continues to jibe well with its comfy interior. Driven at a reasonable pace, we found it quiet and refined by this segment’s standards. We couldn’t really notice the various changes to the dampers, spring rates, and bushings, but the additional sound-deadening appeared to be doing its job. As before, the Mitsu is no handling maestro; its mushy brake pedal and vague steering don’t engender confidence when pushed to more aggressive speeds on twisty roads. . . . Not that you’ll be gathering much speed to begin with. While the Outlander’s Nissan Rogue sibling has adopted a turbocharged three-cylinder with variable-compression-ratio tech, the Mitsubishi chugs along with a carryover naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four making 181 horsepower. That isn’t much in an SUV of this size, and the engine has to work hard to get the Outlander moving.The 2025 Outlander’s pricing is reasonable on the lower end, starting at just over $31,000, but it’s tough to justify the higher-end models that stretch well into the $40,000 range. Sure, the Mitsu does give you a solid amount of equipment for the money, but at that price point we’d spring for competitors that offer far more powerful engine options, like the Mazda CX-50. The changes made to the 2025 Outlander don’t thrust it to the top of its class, but at the same time, it’s far from our least favorite compact SUV. It’s more refined and pleasant than you might expect a Mitsubishi to be, and its solid midpack performance is made more appealing if you need a third row of seats but don’t want to step up to a mid-size SUV.SpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Mitsubishi OutlanderVehicle Type: front-engine, front- or all-wheel-drive, 7-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base: ES FWD, $31,535; ES S-AWC, $33,335; SE FWD, $34,285; SE S-AWC, $36,085; SEL FWD, $38,885; SEL S-AWC, $40,685; Platinum S-AWC, $45,035
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 152 in3, 2488 cm3Power: 181 hp @ 6000 rpmTorque: 181 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm
TRANSMISSION
continuously variable automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.5 inLength: 185.8 inWidth: 74.7 inHeight: 68.8 inPassenger Volume, F/M/R: 54/48/18 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/M/R: 64/31/11 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 3850 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 8.2 sec1/4-Mile: 16.3 secTop Speed: 120 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY 
Combined/City/Highway: 26–27/24–31/24–30 mpgDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

From the October 1987 issue of Car and Driver.The heat of public opinion burns like a laser, and no company understands that better than Audi. Who would have pre­dicted that this proud carmaker would fall from grace with a John De Lorean-like thud? Who would have guessed that Audi’s hard-earned reputation for techno­logical innovation would be skewered by the likes of “60 Minutes”? Is truth not stranger than fiction when a company that has produced such world-beating sedans as the 5000CS Turbo Quattro and the Coupe GT is ridiculed in America’s bed­rooms by Johnny Carson?We published the findings of our inves­tigation into unintended acceleration last June (“Audi Agonistes”) and went public with our feelings about our long-term 5000CS Turbo Quattro the following month. From those stories, you know that we’re not ready to write Audi off by any means. The public is still holding its breath, however: Audi sales are off about 38 percent so far this year. Nevertheless, Audi is prepared to hun­ker down for the long haul. “We plan to be in the U.S. market forever,” says prod­uct-strategy manager Bob Sharp. Con­cerning Audi’s current problems, Sharp is philosophical: “We look at this as dues paying. You just take your lumps.” Sharp and his colleagues do not expect to restore Audi’s tarnished image to its previous luster overnight. “It’s going to take some time,” Sharp admits, “maybe longer than some people would like to think.” Two well-publicized programs aimed at shoring up the 5000’s reputa­tion—and at moving some units—have been in place for most of this year. First, Audi has recalled all 1978–’86 automatic-transmission 5000s for the installation of shifter-interlock devices. The interlock prevents shifting out of park unless the driver’s foot is planted firmly on the brake pedal. (The devices are factory-installed in new 5000s.) Second, Audi has been of­fering an eye-popping buyer-incentive plan: Current 5000 owners are entitled to $5000 discounts on new 5000s. This cost­ly program is working relatively well and seems to be keeping Audi’s dealer net­work afloat until better times arrive. More on the Audi 5000 From the ArchiveThey may be here soon. This fall, Audi will replace the 4000 line with handsome, all-new models called by their German names: the 80 and 90. The 5000 line, after a minor face lift and a thorough interior redo in mid-1988, will assume its German monikers as well: 100 for the normally as­pirated 5000s and 200 for the Turbos. Audi hopes that the new names and the shifter interlocks will help the public for­get. Only time will tell. Another part of the long-term plan is the new 5000S Quattro. Audi offers full­-time four-wheel drive on virtually all of its European models and intends to spread the faith in the U.S. as well. Until now, the only big Audi available with 4wd was the leather-lined, turbocharged 5000CS Tur­bo Quattro—the upper-crust model with the $32,430 price tag. Blessing the base 5000S sedan with Quattro tiger paws brings the cost of all-wheel driving down by more than twenty percent. Even so, we’re still talking major grickles­—$25,400, to be exact. Any way you slice it, that’s a ton of money—but if you appreciate fine motor­cars, the 5000S Quattro’s tariff is almost reasonable. As you might expect, this car is thoroughly equipped, sharing most of its basic hardware with its more powerful brother. What you don’t get in the 5000S Quattro is the 162-hp five-cylinder turbo; in its place is a spunky 130-hp, 2.3-liter, normally aspirated five. The second major deletion is the Turbo’s leather upholstery. Other Turbo luxuries—like heated, power-operated front sport buckets—are also absent, but they’re hardly critical to driving happiness. In fact, driving joy is what this car con­tinues to be all about—only now the joy­ousness unfolds a little more sedately than before. Once again, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The 5000S Quattro turns in no test-track perfor­mance numbers that hint at its inner har­mony or at its sure, confident responses to your commands. But when you couple its superb road manners to the slippery-road advantages of 4wd, the safety margin of its anti-lock brakes, its spaciousness, its com­fort, and its rust-resistant galvanized body, a different picture emerges. Any company that can craft a car as deli­cious as this one surely deserves another chance.SpecificationsSpecifications
1987 Audi 5000S QuattroVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $25,400/$27,930
ENGINESOHC inline-5, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 141 in3, 2309 cm3Power: 130 hp @ 5600 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual 
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 105.8 inLength: 192.7 inCurb Weight: 3253 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 9.7 sec100 mph: 31.4 sec1/4-Mile: 17.0 sec @ 81 mphTop Speed: 121 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 193 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.75 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 20 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity: 18 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

Despite all of the various Porsche 911 permutations running around—and there are a lot of them—the base model 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera (code name: 992.2) is all the Porsche you’re likely to need. It has plenty of speed and loads of refinement in the most affordable 911 package Porsche offers. Bigger Turbos, Even Though It’s Not the TurboThe engine in the base 911 Carrera is a 3.0-liter flat-six with twin turbochargers. (The capital-T Turbo moniker has long since morphed from merely indicating the presence of turbocharging, instead becoming synonymous for bloody fast—thus the application of the badge to the Taycan Turbo and the Macan Turbo Electric.) For 2025, the 992.2 generation of the 911 Carrera utilizes the larger turbochargers of the previous-gen 911 GTS, with the turbine wheels upsized from 45 to 48 mm and the compressor wheels jacked up from 49 to 55 mm. It also uses the larger intercooler from the Porsche 911 Turbo. You don’t see any of this from the outside, but the new 2025 911 Carrera base engine now makes 388 horsepower instead of last year’s 379. If that doesn’t sound like a lot to you, then you need to school yourself at the track.When you do, the run to 60 mph takes just 3.1 seconds. Keep your foot in it, and 100 mph comes in 7.8 seconds on the way to a quarter-mile that’s history in 11.4 seconds at 121 mph. These numbers are all a tenth better than the 379-hp 2020 edition we tested, which is identical to the outgoing 2024 model. The advantage grows the faster you go, with 130 mph coming in 13.5 seconds (0.5 second sooner) and 150 mph arriving in just 19.6 seconds (0.9 second quicker). This machine has top end for days, in other words. It’s a base car, but these are hardly base-car numbers. It’s worth noting that all of this was measured on California’s sorry-ass 91-octane gasoline. The prior car’s numbers were made with the Midwest’s 93-octane juice.HIGHS: Stupendous acceleration, laser-sharp steering, outstanding range and fuel economy.Back it down to sane speeds in Sport mode, and you have all the power and responsiveness you need to win the cut and thrust of daily driving. You can rip around with the optional sport exhaust system ($2960) engaged, which no longer pops like a juvenile delinquent. Likewise, you can dial up Normal mode and fade into the background, doing a credible job of “Who, me?”—especially if your car is painted Slate Grey Neo, as ours was. This is all due to the masterful performance of Porsche’s eight-speed dual-clutch transmission, which is the only choice in the base 911. If you want a manual, you must step up to the 911 Carrera T and pay $13,900 more.Fuel economy isn’t necessarily a huge purchase consideration, but it’s impressive nonetheless. This year it is up by 1 mpg, rising from 20 mpg combined (18 city/24 highway) to 21 mpg (18 city/25 highway) despite the extra power. The old car did far better than that in our 75-mph highway test, however, netting an amazing 33 mpg. By all rights this car should do even better when we get the chance to re-run that test. Even if it hits the same 33-mpg figure as before, the extended range 22.1-gallon fuel tank ($230) could enable an insane highway range of 720 miles.Chassis TweaksThe steering, of course, is perfection. No matter the mode, you get stellar responsiveness and oodles of feedback, straight from the road to your fingertips. This car turns in with a directness that is virtually unmatched, and recent changes to the damper programming have removed the last bit of patter from the front end. The car no longer seems to skim the surface, instead digging in and carving a fractionally neater line. The result can be seen on the skidpad, where grip has edged up from 1.08 to 1.09 g’s. Not a big change, but this is otherworldly territory for a base car.LOWS: Price is creeping up every year, no manual with the base car, we’re not yet sold on that digital dash.Overall ride comfort is also calmed a bit. The same damper tweaks that improved the steering also help the ride. The change helps equalize the difference between rebound and compression, which means the two don’t fight each other as much. As a result, it flattens out the response to bumps without actually changing the overall softness or firmness of the suspension. This is most noticeable over broken concrete surfaces, which seem to have less of a deleterious effect on the smoothness of the ride. This is especially surprising because our test car wore the optional 20- and 21-inch wheel setup ($3820) with reduced sidewall depth versus the standard 19s and 20s.The Inside StoryOf course, our test car’s adaptive 18-way sport seats also helped the comfort quotient. That’s not to say they’re strictly necessary, because they’re not. The standard seats are some of the best going. Still, it is nice to be able to tweak them just so and save your preferences with the memory setting, although the privilege costs $3830 for the 18-way jobs. Maybe we would have appreciated the $2320 14-way seats just as much. But the biggest change to the 911’s seating package has to be the status of the flip-up rear seat. For the first time in a base Carrera, it’s a no-cost option. Our sample was equipped with said option, so we’ll still have to imagine what no seat would be like, but at least you now have the choice between a 2+2 or a mere two-seater.Those seats were trimmed with two-tone leather that are less bland than the standard black interior. The Slate Grey/Chalk treatment was a $4960 option, but it really breathed life into an otherwise stark environment. There’s still a lot of piano black around the shifter, but now Porsche has sculpted the area to make it look less like something’s missing. We’re happy that the HVAC controls haven’t changed from the 992.1 because, well, they really work.More on the 911 CarreraThe biggest change to the interior is the deletion of the fixed central mechanical tachometer. Pour one out for this former feature, as the newest Carrera instead has a 12.6-inch curved screen with all relevant gauges depicted digitally. Yes, one of your choices is a central tach surrounded by gauges as before, but you can just as easily wipe this away and replace it with navigation or one of several customizable gauge displays. On balance, we guess it works out fine because you can end up with the same sort of information if you wish, but we can’t help but roll our eyes at the general digitization of the display.One of things to watch out for is the base price, which has edged up to $122,095. For reference, the base price of a 992.1 was $116,050 last year and just $98,750 when it came out for 2020. With more than $26,000 in options—including those mentioned above, plus $2400 for the Sport Chrono package and $5240 for the Premium package—our test car came in at $148,515. That seems like a big ask, but on the other hand, the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera punches well above its weight.VERDICT: All the 911 you need, which is good because the pricing of the other cars in the lineup is getting insane.SpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Porsche 911 CarreraVehicle Type: rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $122,095/$148,515Options: Premium package (lane change assist, surround view w/active parking support, ventilated front seats, ionizer, passenger footwell storage net), $5240; Slate Grey/Chalk leather interior, $4960; 18-way adaptive sport seats w/memory, $3830; 20- and 21-inch Carrera Exclusive Design wheels, $3820; Slate Grey Neo paint, $2980; sport exhaust system with silver tailpipes, $2960; Sport Chrono package, $2400; 22.1-gal extended range fuel tank, $230; rear seats, $0
ENGINE
twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 182 in3, 2981 cm3Power: 388 hp @ 6500 rpmTorque: 331 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm
TRANSMISSION
8-speed dual-clutch automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 13.8-in vented, cross-drilled, disc/13.8-in vented, cross-drilled, discTires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4F: 245/35ZR-20 (91Y) NA1R: 305/30ZR-21 (100Y) NA1
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 96.5 inLength: 178.8 inWidth: 72.9 inHeight: 51.1 inFront Trunk Volume: 5 ft3Curb Weight: 3472 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 3.1 sec100 mph: 7.8 sec1/4-Mile: 11.4 sec @ 121 mph130 mph: 13.5 sec150 mph: 19.6 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 4.2 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 2.4 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 3.1 secTop Speed (mfr’s claim): 183 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 138 ftBraking, 100–0 mph: 275 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.09 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 22 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 21/18/25 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDDan Edmunds was born into the world of automobiles, but not how you might think. His father was a retired racing driver who opened Autoresearch, a race-car-building shop, where Dan cut his teeth as a metal fabricator. Engineering school followed, then SCCA Showroom Stock racing, and that combination landed him suspension development jobs at two different automakers. His writing career began when he was picked up by Edmunds.com (no relation) to build a testing department. More

From the February 1980 issue of Car and Driver.We refuse to discuss the looks of this car. It’s ugly as sin. Sorry, that just slipped out. This inbred styling fault has nothing whatso­ever to do with the turbocharged engine that lies beneath the hood, but if you think we can put up with the Monte Carlo’s looks long enough to find utterly redeeming truth and beauty in its mechanical specifications, you’re in for a big disappointment. What possesses Chevrolet to do such things?In our styling summation, which we de­clare with admirable brevity, we simply quote a succinct counterpoint prepared by our Mr. Patrick Bedard two years ago, upon the introduction of the downsized Monte Carlo. To wit: “‘For every man who drives one, thousands have to look at it, and no car could ever perform brilliantly enough to make that sacrifice worthwhile. Chevrolet has indeed let loose a blight upon the landscape. It is possible, of course, that Chevrolet has no say in the matter. Mr. William Mitchell was for years GM’s custodian of style, and when he left his legacy, this steaming pile, on the doorstep of Chevrolet, the division may have been obligated to take it in …. I can think of only one other explanation, and it is even more appalling. What if Chevrolet really likes the looks of this car?There is a new, tastefully restrained hump asymmetrically located on the hood. It pro­vides clearance for the all-important turbo­charger. Chevrolet has pirated the turbo mo­tor from Buick. It is the same V-6 that came originally to life for the Riviera and the Cen­tury, and carries within it crankshaft throws arranged to provide even-firing combustion, unlike V-6s whose power pulses produce en­gine shake in certain rev ranges. As installed in the Monte Carlo, this modern engine ex­hibits no V-6 shortcomings. It provides ade­quate performance, but welding the gas ped­al to the floor never turns out more than mild exhilaration. The turbo V-6 is only re­quired, in the eyes of Chevrolet (and Buick), to substitute for the small-displacement V-8s that are following their bigger brothers into mechanical oblivion. That it does.Cold starts are no problem, but cold accel­eration brings a mild case of the croup, wherein the motor stops murmuring for a moment as the throttle is opened from idle. This disappears when operating tempera­tures reach normal. The Buick-developed Turbo Control Center—the much-lauded detonation sensor and automatic timing ad­juster that retard timing just as detonation begins—sits on top of the fan shroud, well forward of the high temperatures produced by the turbo itself. At full throttle a mild pulsing is felt. The retarding feature is at work, forestalling detonation, feeling a little like a minor misfire. In spite of Buick’s handy-dandy creation, we encountered slight pinging, which Buick says is usual, under all­-out acceleration. Steady highway throttle set­tings also brought steady pre-ignition at times. Normal driving brought smooth and refined, but middling, performance.More Monte Carlo Reviews From the ArchiveThe turbo Monte Carlo is quite taken with the idea of whispering down the road at quite heady speeds. Its quietness is eerie. It con­tributes to a strange detachment, the driver somehow filtered aside from the world, his relationship with reality altered, as if a series of fun-house mirrors were his only communi­cation with reality. The suspension and steer­ing are surprisingly capable, and braced by the expected linearity of Chevrolet’s con­trols, but it takes some time to discover this basic goodness, so thickly is it swathed by the driver’s isolation. Turning into corners is ac­complished with less drama than most do­mestic cars exhibit, and stopping is accom­plished with genuine poise. Alas, the seats are no help at all. They are split benches and deserve every excoriation that can be heaped upon them. They offer no support to anything but your butt. No lateral support, no back support. To top it off, ours were upholstered in a velour wrapping that finished off the ultimate monotony, an eye-­boggling, interior-wide color scheme of continuous-tone Kermit Green. Like the spindly Muppet, Chevy’s interior packagers are vaguely out of control, aspiring (and unfortu­nately appealing) only to the Miss Piggys of the marketplace. Confused about their audi­ence, the product planners have furnished a complete instrument layout, only to sur­round it with enough petrochemical wood to surface a large coffee table. There may be a decent, if slightly obese, car under there somewhere, but damned if we want to find it. SpecificationsSpecifications
1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo TurboVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As-Tested: $6163/$9243
ENGINEturbocharged V-6, iron block and headsDisplacement: 231 in3, 3785 cm3Power: 170 hp @ 4000 rpm 
TRANSMISSION3-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 108.1 inLength: 200.0 inCurb Weight (C/D est): 3440 lb 
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined: 17 mpg More

Since its debut for the 2022 model year, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 has become a Car and Driver darling. In that time, it’s racked up EV of the Year, 10Best, and Editors’ Choice wins, all bolstered by handsomely edgy styling, satisfying performance, fast-charging capability, a practical and spacious cabin, and competitive range estimates. Now, four years in, Hyundai has updated the Ioniq 5 for the 2025 model year, keeping one of our favorite EVs at the top of its game.This mid-cycle refresh brings mild styling tweaks front and rear, new wheel designs, a revised center console, upgraded infotainment with wireless support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and an updated steering wheel with handy lights that indicate the battery’s state of charge. Mercifully, Hyundai has also added a rear windshield wiper to the Ioniq 5 this year, something we wish our long-term 2023 model had. Two different battery packs are still offered, but both are now slightly larger. The Standard Range pack grows from 58.0 to 63.0 kilowatt-hours, and the Long Range version is now an 84.0-kWh battery versus last year’s 77.4-kWh capacity. Range is up across the lineup as well, with the biggest boost coming for the dual-motor all-wheel-drive SE and SEL models, which are now estimated to deliver 290 miles per charge, a 30-mile increase over 2024 equivalents. The model with the most range is still the rear-wheel-drive single-motor variant with the Long Range battery, estimated to deliver as much as 318 miles per charge. Juicing the battery now requires an NACS connection. Popularized by Tesla, the new charging standard is being adopted industry-wide, and the Ioniq 5 is the first electric Hyundai to offer the port as standard. To ease the transition to NACS, all 2025 Ioniq 5s will come with a CCS adapter, which is still needed to charge at most non-Tesla charging stations. (That’s the plug you find at your average DC fast-charger.)Latest Info on Hyundai’s Ioniq LineupWe drove a loaded Limited model across a variety of Southern California microclimates, starting in the sunny desert town of Palm Springs, stopping for a coffee in Idyllwild, and eventually landing at a mile-high mountain village in the San Bernardino National Forest. The cliffside roads leading up to Idyllwild are twisty, but the Ioniq 5’s stable handling and torquey electric motors made quick, fun work of the ascent. The Ioniq 5’s suspension has been reworked and is slightly firmer than before, but steering feel remains duller than we prefer.But mild year-over-year tweaks weren’t the only reasons we trekked to California. In fact, there’s a whole new trim ready to put this electric SUV into an equally new environment: the dirt.Off-Roading in the Hyundai Ioniq 5 XRTAfter coffee, we headed back down the mountain to an off-road playground on the San Andreas Fault. There, we sampled the rugged-looking XRT trim. New for 2025, the Ioniq 5 XRT features a 0.9-inch suspension lift, all-terrain tires on steelie-inspired 18-inch wheels, and trim-specific front and rear fascias wearing a subtle pixelated camouflage pattern.The all-wheel-drive-only XRT’s approach and departure angles have been improved compared to other Ioniq 5 models: 19.8 degrees for approach and 30.0 degrees for departure versus 17.5 and 25.4 degrees, respectively, for other models. Functional, red-painted recovery hooks add an extra element of ruggedness to the XRT’s front end, and three terrain-specific driving modes—Snow, Mud, and Sand—can be selected via a button on the steering wheel’s lower spoke.The sandy trails at the off-road park were dotted with bowling-ball-sized rocks, sagebrush scrub, and shallow gullies, all of which the Ioniq 5 XRT handled just fine. We had fun whipping it around in Sport mode, kicking up enough dirt that we could finally test out that new rear wiper. (It’s everything we’ve hoped for.)Of course, higher heels and beefier bumpers alone don’t make a proper rock-crawling expert. For those adventures, you’ll have to consider a Rivian R1S or perhaps a Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid. The Hyundai doesn’t have an adjustable air suspension or a locking differential system—but then again, the XRT doesn’t cost $80,000 either. Instead, its $56,875 asking price makes it a direct competitor to the Ford Mustang Mach-E Rally or perhaps an EV alternative to something like a Subaru Outback. On the road, the XRT’s extra suspension travel, new suspension tune, and taller tire sidewalls offered a more compliant ride than the Limited we drove earlier in the day, but otherwise the car delivered the same satisfying experience on pavement as the rest of the Ioniq 5 lineup. We also noticed that the dirt-friendly trim didn’t feel quite as quick as its siblings, but the difference was marginal, and we’re excited to get the full breakdown on performance deltas when we get the new models in for testing. Driving range is estimated at only 259 miles per charge for the XRT, though, down from 269 in the Limited AWD.What we’re seeing here is Hyundai covering all of its bases. From the price-leader SE to the posh Limited, and from the rugged XRT to the rowdy Ioniq 5 N, this particular lineup of electric crossovers works so well because its foundation is strong. The updates endowed on the 2025 model are minor, but they’re still impactful, and they should keep this EV plenty relevant going forward.SpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Hyundai Ioniq 5Vehicle Type: rear- or front- and rear-motor, rear- or all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base: SE Standard Range, $43,975; SE RWD, $48,025; SEL RWD, $50,975; SE AWD, $51,525; SEL AWD $54,475; Limited RWD, $55,675; XRT AWD, $56,875; Limited AWD, $59,575
POWERTRAIN (RWD)
Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC, 168 or 225 hp, 258 lb-ftBattery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 63.0 or 84.0 kWhOnboard Charger: 10.9 kWPeak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 350 kWTransmission: direct-drive
POWERTRAIN (AWD)
Front Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC, 99 hpRear Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC, 221 hpCombined Power: 320 hpCombined Torque: 446 lb-ftBattery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 84.0 kWhOnboard Charger: 10.9 kWPeak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 350 kWTransmissions, F/R: direct-drive
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 118.1 inLength: 183.3 inWidth: 74.4 inHeight: 63.0–64.0 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 54–55/49–51 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 59/26 ft3Front Trunk Volume: 1 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 4150–4850 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 4.3–6.5 sec100 mph: 12.0–14.8 sec1/4-Mile: 13.0–15.8 secTop Speed: 117 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 94–115/103–131/85–100 MPGeRange: 245–318 miDrew Dorian is a lifelong car enthusiast who has also held a wide variety of consumer-focused positions throughout his career, ranging from financial counselor to auto salesperson. He has dreamed of becoming a Car and Driver editor since he was 11 years old—a dream that was realized when he joined the staff in April 2016. He’s a born-and-raised Michigander and learned to drive on a 1988 Pontiac Grand Am. His automotive interests run the gamut from convertibles and camper vans to sports cars and luxury SUVs.       More

From the October 1987 issue of Car and Driver.When you’re hot, you’re hot, and Ponti­ac is General Motors’ hottest division. Its sales grew from a dismal total of 483,149 cars in 1982, at the nadir of the last reces­sion, to 841,441 last year. In the 1987 sea­son, it’s running neck and neck with Olds­mobile for the number-two sales spot among GM’s five divisions. That’s up from a distant fourth place five years ago. Clearly, the excitement builders are doing something right.We think the most critical element in Pontiac’s recovery has been its commit­ment to producing a line of cars that are attractive, entertaining, and international in flavor. World-class cars are the ones that grab the attention of today’s most sought-after buyers, the affluent young urban professionals. Other GM divisions have made overtures toward this market, but only Pontiac has been motivated by a sense of urgency. For one thing. the division’s feeble sales performance in the ear­ly years of the decade virtually forced it to adopt a back-to-square-one attitude. For another, with a customer base heading to­ward extinction, Pontiac saw little per­centage in continuing to cater to its tradi­tional buyers. Pontiac first showed its new direction in 1983 with the original American-built Eurosedan, the 6000STE. The next year it introduced the Fiero, which despite its sports/commuter split personality was and is a very sexy-looking two-seater. These two image builders helped Pontiac get rolling, but its pace didn’t really quick­en until its geriatric models were superseded by modern designs in the interna­tional idiom. The Grand Am replaced the Phoenix, the Bonneville succeeded the Parisienne, the LeMans retired the 1000, and Pontiac’s image improved dramatical­ly each time. To no enthusiast’s surprise, so did its sales. The latest reincarnated Pontiac is the 1988 Grand Prix, the replacement for the antediluvian personal-luxury two-door of the same name. The old Grand Prix, in­troduced for the 1978 model year, was one of the General’s first downsized cars, but it was never what you would call a modern design. Born with rear drive, body-on-frame construction, and ba­roque styling, it was soon hopelessly out­dated. And from the beginning, it was a major departure from the original Grand Prix premise: sporty accommodations for four in a stylish and luxurious package. The Grand Prix grew even dumpier in its old age—an ignominious fate for an auto­mobile named in honor of the world’s pre­mier race series. The new model, scheduled to go on sale after the first of the year, should go far to reestablish the Grand Prix at the lead­ing edge of distinctive transportation. The 1988 edition is sleek and streamlined, as just about every new car is these days, yet it doesn’t have that generic slickster look. To be sure, it has a low nose, a high tail, and a rakish greenhouse, but it also has several well-defined styling cues that give it a unique appearance. Perhaps the most striking is its prominent grille. Together with nearly flush plastic headlights, this below-the-bumper snout gives the Grand Prix an instantly recognizable face. Skirt panels on all four sides help distinguish the car as well, and its fastback roofline stands in sharp contrast with recent Gen­eral Motors practice. Without question, the new Grand Prix is GM’s most exotic­-looking large sedan, a clear break with the corporation’s bland, look-alike cars of the mid-eighties. In addition to looking great, the Grand Prix is a wiz in the wind tunnel. According to Pontiac, the base model has a drag coef­ficient of 0.287, the lowest figure for a production car of any manufacturer that GM has ever tested in its wind tunnel. Even the deeper-spoilered and wider-­tired SE version breaks the magic 0.30 barrier. That’s proof positive that excel­lent aerodynamics can be combined with fresh styling. Inside the new Grand Prix is a similar blend of contemporary form and func­tion. Sweeping surfaces combine with in­teresting shapes, textures, and contrast­ing colors. Bright-metal trim and fake wood are nowhere to be found. The dash­board slopes down from the base of the windshield, providing a feeling of spa­ciousness. Most of the dash is relatively uncluttered, too, because all the instru­ments are grouped in a binnacle in front of the driver. More Pontiac Reviews from the ArchiveThe top-of-the-line Grand Prix SE is equipped with an unusual mix of tradi­tional and newfangled instruments. The tachometer and the oil-pressure, voltage, and coolant-temperature gauges use me­chanical needles, while the digital speed­ometer, the bar-type fuel gauge, and the odometer are electronic displays. Al­though we prefer tachometers with more than 90 degrees of sweep, this hybrid lay­out works surprisingly well. Flanking the instruments of all Grand Prix models are two colorful pods of switches. The group on the left controls the lights, the group on the right the wip­ers. Two stalks could probably manage these functions more efficiently, but the switch pods are both attractive and easy to use. Just as important, their novel design is another demonstration of Pontiac’s will­ingness to forge ahead and its ability to make new ideas work. Another interesting interior feature is the trip computer in the Grand Prix’s cen­ter console. In addition to the usual fuel­-economy and mileage functions, it incor­porates an eye-catching compass: the outline of a car on a road is surrounded by compass headings that automatically ad­just as the direction of travel changes. Al­though the display is mounted low, it’s large enough to be read at a glance. The compact radio and climate-control panels sit at the bottom of the dashboard, just above the trip computer. Small push buttons control almost all the func­tions of both systems, but they are marked clearly and are spaced far enough apart for easy operation. Various shapes and colors help to highlight the most impor­tant functions. Entertaining design details are nice, but what really matters is the driver’s relationship to the primary controls. Fortunately, ergonomic detailing is one of the Grand Prix’s strongest suits. The shifter is well placed and light to the touch. The rim of the four-spoke, leather-covered steering wheel is carefully shaped in the normal hand locations. And the front seats pro­vide a superb blend of plush comfort and solid support. Both buckets offer an impressive array of adjustments: for upper­ side-bolster position, headrest tilt, lumbar support (in three different segments), and individual support for each thigh. This last feature is particularly useful on long trips, when your clutch leg gets a long rest but your accelerator foot is on permanent duty. The controls for all of these adjust­ments are within easy reach on the center console. Unfortunately, the power switch­es for the normal fore-and-aft and height adjustments are mounted on the sides of the seats; there is barely enough room be­tween the seats and the door panels to squeeze one’s hand in. Despite the Grand Prix’s sporty orienta­tion, passengers need not worry about be­ing sentenced to the back seat. Two comfortable buckets are provided in the rear, along with more headroom than the fast­back roofline suggests. Even the legroom, aided by roomy footwells under the front seats, is satisfactory. Four adults can enjoy an evening on the town in the Grand Prix without fighting over who gets stuck in the back seat. They can even look forward to high-­speed cross-country jaunts, because the Grand Prix drives as well as it accommo­dates. Underneath its slippery skin lies the General’s new GM10 platform. Pontiac shares this front-wheel-drive, 107.6-inch-wheelbase chassis with the 1988 Buick Re­gal and Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. (Chevrolet will also have a GM10 model, but it’s not expected until early 1989.) The only available engine in the GM10 models is Chevrolet’s 130-hp, 2.8-liter V-6, mounted transversely and coupled to either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transaxle. (Buick offers only the automatic.) The suspension consists of struts at all four corners, coil springs in front, and a transverse fiberglass leaf spring in the rear; in addition, the SE is fit­ted with anti-roll bars at both ends. Four­-wheel disc brakes, vented in front, are standard equipment. Regrettably, anti­lock control is not offered. Pontiac engineers have massaged the GM10 chassis to produce a good combi­nation of ride and handling. Our test car was an early-prototype SE model, fitted with 215/65R-15 Goodyear Eagle GT+4 tires. Although it gave up its grip on the skidpad at a middling 0.76 g, it was easy to control at its limit, and it rolled down the road in a very stable yet responsive fash­ion. It tracked straight and true and pro­vided good steering feel both on center and in turns. Aside from its mediocre adhesion, our test car’s only handling weakness was a trace of torque steer. Although Pontiac’s engineers haven’t finally determined the Grand Prix’s shock-­absorber calibrations, we found our pro­totype’s ride generally satisfying. Our SE absorbed most bumps with an admirable combination of resilience and control, though at high speeds it floated a bit more than we like over large undulations. Sharp-edged bumps and expansion joints evoked loud thumps from the suspension, but the impacts themselves did not feel very strong. Neither problem was a major annoyance, and we’re hopeful that the production models will prove better. Our most serious reservation about the Grand Prix is that it lacks power. The little V-6 is simply not strong enough to moti­vate 3297 pounds with any alacrity. Even when the excellent Muncie-Getrag five­-speed is stirred to maximum effect, the Grand Prix needs 9.5 seconds to reach 60 mph and nearly seventeen seconds to cov­er the standing quarter-mile. Those fig­ures are hardly disgraceful, but for a car that looks like a road rocket at the curb, they’re not good enough. This car de­serves more engine.Despite the power shortage, we expect that many buyers will find the Grand Prix to their liking. Its price remains to be an­nounced, but an SE equipped like our test car will probably carry a sticker of about $17,000. That puts the Grand Prix in the same ballpark with loaded Ford Thunder­birds, Chrysler LeBaron two-doors, and, presumably, the other GM10 models. None of these cars is a pushover, but looks count for so much in this class that the Grand Prix should be an instant show­room success. It should also have little trouble pleasing its drivers. And such an artful combination of form and function should help keep Pontiac on track as GM’s hottest division.SpecificationsSpecifications
1988 Pontiac Grand Prix SEVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICEAs Tested: $17,000 (est)
ENGINEpushrod V-6, iron block and aluminum heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 173 in3, 2837 cm3Power: 130 hp @ 4800 rpmTorque: 160 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: strut/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 10.5-in vented disc/10.0-in discTires: Goodyear Eagle GT+4P215/65R-15
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 107.6 inLength: 194.1 inWidth: 71.0 inHeight: 53.3 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 53/42 ft3Trunk Volume: 15 ft3Curb Weight: 3297 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 9.5 sec1/4-Mile: 16.8 sec @ 82 mph100 mph: 32.3 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 15.3 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 15.3 secTop Speed: 119 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 210 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.76 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 19 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity/Highway: 19/30 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