Evelyn Reynolds

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

Some cars tell you what they’re all about the moment you wake them up. The Mercedes-AMG GLC43 Coupe comes to life with the snarl of a happy puppy wanting to play. And what you hear is what you get: a feisty, fun-loving compact SUV that nips at your inner enthusiast. It’s always ready to romp but is never vicious.The 416-hp GLC43 Coupe is the underdog to the overdog GLC63 S E Performance Coupe plug-in hybrid, which pounds out a combined 671 horses between its gas engine and electric motor. But don’t be fooled by the 255-hp difference between these two; the GLC43 is lovable in its own right. Its M139l turbocharged four-cylinder is shared with the GLC63, and even here, the turbo four makes an impressive 416 horsepower, or 208 horsepower per liter. (In the GLC63 it belts out 469 horsepower, a mega number for such a small engine.) Both engines employ Mercedes’s Formula 1–inspired electrically assisted turbocharger, which is intended to help the turbo spin up faster, mitigating boost lag and improving throttle response at lower revs. The GLC43’s belt-driven starter-generator also adds 13 horsepower at low revs for the same purpose, though it’s not factored into the engine’s overall output. The turbo four channels its power through AMG’s nine-speed automatic, which substitutes a wet clutch for a torque converter. The standard all-wheel-drive system is rear-biased, permanently splitting torque 31 percent front, 69 percent rear.In comparison to the GLC63’s Rube Goldberg powertrain—a 4.8-kWh battery, two electric motors, and a two-speed gearbox for the rear-axle motor—the 43’s setup seems from a simpler time. But less is also more: Absent the 63’s mother lode of plug-in-hybrid hardware, the 43’s curb weight should be considerably lighter, though we haven’t been able to weigh either model. It’s far less complex to boot.This is a good parts list, but in the end, the magic comes from how the engineers meld the pieces to work together. In the GLC43, it all clicks. This sporty SUV is a happy companion in almost every situation. The playful snarl on start-up lingers in the background as a constant presence that makes even modest acceleration sound exciting, let alone rips to the 7000-rpm redline. Thankfully, the raspy exhaust note quiets down to a distant hum during interstate cruising. Still, if you like your performance cars to speak in their indoor voice, this is not the one for you. More on the AMG GLC43 CoupeThe current model’s 2.0-liter four replaced the twin-turbo 3.0-liter V-6 that resided under the GLC43’s hood through 2023. It delivers 31 more horsepower but loses 15 pound-feet of torque. We expect its 60-mph time to land around four seconds. Despite the electrified turbo and motor-generator assistance, there’s still some lag below 2500 rpm; it takes a couple of beats for the engine to gather itself up when you push deep into the throttle. This dearth of low-end torque is exacerbated off the line by the transmission’s wet clutch. It engages fluidly, but the take-up happens so slowly that moving off from a stoplight feels like driving through a vat of molasses until you’re across the intersection. From that point, the power swells and the GLC43 surges ahead like a Jack Russell chasing a squirrel. Sadly, shaving two cylinders and one liter of displacement from the GLC43 Coupe’s engine barely changes the overall fuel economy. The turbo four’s 18-mpg EPA city number is but 1 mpg better than the previous V-6’s, while its 24-mpg highway rating is unchanged. We’d wondered whether we’d like the turbocharged four-cylinder as much as the sonorous twin turbo V-6, and the answer is yes. It’s not better, though, just different. Beyond the powertrain, AMG buttresses the GLC43’s chassis with adaptive dampers and speed-dependent four-wheel steering. Summer tires, size 265/45R-20 front and 295/40R-20 rear as standard, promise ample cornering grip. The GLC43 drives cohesively, with direct steering, sharp brakes, and a taut ride that never gets harsh—even in Sport+ mode. It feels wide awake and ready to cut sharply into bends, even on the winter tires our test car was fitted with, but it settles down comfortably on the highway. It’s never boring and always playful, even on trips to the supermarket. And if you want this formulation in a more conventional SUV profile, it’s also available in the squareback GLC SUV body style. This being an AMG, the GLC43 Coupe is both well dressed and well equipped at its $71,750 base price. It uses Benz’s crisply rendered, multilayered MBUX infotainment system, which is sometimes cumbersome to navigate through. As with other AMG products, it’s easy to inflate the MSRP with all manner of goodies that don’t alter the GLC43’s core driving character. Our test car had more than $11,000 of those options: special paint, leather and carbon-fiber interior trim, a Burmester Surround Sound system, additional safety gear, black 21-inch AMG Y-spoke wheels (up from the standard 20s), dynamic engine mounts, AMG’s Track Pace performance video-and-data recorder, and more. Had they all been absent, it wouldn’t have changed how the GLC43 drives, or how we feel about it. The best cars are more than the sum of their parts, and the GLC43 manages to be exactly that. It offers a surprising and rewarding balance of capability and fun, with a side of SUV-ish practicality—a car that’s ready to play whenever you are. Kind of like a happy puppy. And everyone loves puppies, don’t they? SpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Mercedes-AMG GLC43 CoupeVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback
PRICE
Base: $71,750
ENGINE
turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port and direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 121 in3, 1991 cm3Power: 416 hp @ 6750 rpmTorque: 369 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm
TRANSMISSION
9-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 113.7 inLength: 188.7 inWidth: 75.6 inHeight: 63.1 inCargo Volume, Behind F/R: 53/19 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 4400 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 4.0 sec100 mph: 10.7 sec1/4-Mile: 11.9 secTop Speed: 155 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 21/18/24 mpgRich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 20 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and, somehow, it’s worked out. In between his two C/D postings he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM’s product-development area; and became publisher of Autoweek. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata, and he appreciates that none of his younger colleagues have yet uttered “Okay, Boomer” when he tells one of his stories about the crazy old days at C/D. More

From the October 1987 issue of Car and Driver.The Bavarian Motor Works is tuned to its market. There you are, boulevarding along in your Bimmer, its top down, sun­shine on your shoulders, listening to something suitably refined on the BMW anti-theft radio. Touch the “Band” button.No, not to receive oompah music from a Munich Bierstube, but to see orange digits reading “WB” and hear:” . . . and out 30 miles, wind west-southwest at twelve knots, visibility seven, seas four feet . . . ” It’s marine weather! The radio can pick up a third broadcast band, the set of seven channels from 162.400 to 162.550 MHz that carry local meteorological reports from the National Oceanic and Atmo­spheric Administration. What a perfect yuppiemobile. Swan­ning around town in your $31,000 con­vertible, you can keep up on the latest yachting forecasts. Everybody should own a convertible at least once in his life. However, everybody who’s wanted to own a convertible with a whirling-propeller emblem, new and factory-made, hasn’t been able to for 28 years. The last chance was the two-seat 507, made from 1956 to 1959 in very small numbers. True, the outside coach­builder Baur has been chopping the tops off 2002 and 3-series BMWs for years, but not many of them, and not for the United States. Time, said BMW, to put matters right. More 3-series Reviews From the ArchiveBMW is serious about “right.” Unlike many open cars, its convertible does not start life as a sedan. No decapitation is suf­fered. BMW builds the 325i convertible as a drophead from the Dingolfing factory floor up. Stiffening sheetmetal is added to the doorsills, the floor, and the front strut towers; the compartment behind the back seat that stores the folded top also ties into the rear spring mounts to contribute to the chassis’s stiffness. As a result of these and similar measures, the open car weighs only 160 pounds more than a comparably equipped 325is two-door. Comparably equipped is comprehen­sively equipped. The convertible, in fact, is more or less a combination of the 325i and the 325is, with some of the luxury ap­pointments of the former and some of the sportier bits of the latter. Even a partial list reads like the contents of a Christmas stocking: 168-hp, 2494 cc SOHC six-cylin­der engine; anti-lock brakes; gas-pressure shocks; alloy wheels; V-rated tires; leather upholstery; front seats with adjustable thigh support and front height; multifunc­tion computer; eight-speaker sound sys­tem; BMW’s service indicator . . .Listen. The cassette deck keeps track of how long it’s run, and every fifteen hours it beeps at you a reminder that it’s time to use the head-cleaning device. Which is supplied, gratis, in the glove box.Another thing you get for your 31 Gs is a top that is very easy to raise and lower, even though doing so is an entirely man­ual operation. The cloth roof folds away under a neat, completely flush metal cov­er, leaving the clean (if rather bricklike) beltline unbulged. One rear passenger place is lost to the top, but the two that re­main are roomy and comfortable. You can feel the convertible’s slight weight disadvantage, especially if you’ve ordered the automatic-transmission op­tion: its shift points and kickdown switches seem to make a poor marriage with the engine’s torque curve. Yes, you can manual­ly cycle the box through all four ratios, and rather briskly, too. But a four-seat convertible is by nature a lazy car; you don’t normally keep one on the balls of its feet. With the automatic, you keep think­ing, “Sweet engine, but too small.” With the manual transmission, less is lost. In C/D testing the five-speed con­vertible was only 0.3 second slower than the 325is from zero to 60, only 0.1 second and 1 mph behind in the quarter-mile, and only one foot out front at the end of a stop from 70 mph. The 131-mph top speed of the five-speed convertible was actually 3 mph higher than that of the five-speed se­dan, but the difference is well within the range of production variability. Back to the lazy mode. Simply ghosting along, not a competitive corpuscle aquiv­er in your body, is a delightful way to drive this car. Wind protection is so good even when all the windows are down (they’re electric, of course) that your hat might just stay on, if you dare wear it. The seats­, well, you could do the One Lap in these seats and love every endless hour of it. The ride is excellent under all conditions, the suspension having been beefed just enough to carry the extra weight. The shocks damp out everything thrown at them. The steering is especially fine, light but with feel; BMW’s is one of the few power systems that cannot be “beaten” by the quickest moves. When you start to ex­ercise the steering through the curves, you find the tires and the springs take the added load in stride; and though the car doesn’t actually feel as if it wants to run hard, it retains its integrity when you insist on doing so. It also retains a feeling of res­olute refinement. For an essentially frivo­lous vehicle, it seems very serious. One passenger’s remark: “It has a big-car feel in a small-car style.” There are a few things that make you wonder. For all the factory’s pride in the ergonomics of its cockpit, you wonder why it’s adopted the too-many-buttons­-alike style for the radio controls. And why the wiper stalk is so convenient to your fin­ger tips that you wipe the windshield twice a mile whether it needs it or not. And why for your $31,000 you can’t have an adjust­able steering wheel. You expect some cowl shake over ripply pavement, of course, just as you would in any other convertible. You don’t get a lot of it in the 325, but the wheel quivers lat­erally in your hands enough to dilute some of that stone-mountain feeling you want from a premium German car. And any ragtop is going to be an actual pain to live with at times: the times you can’t get away from a tire-whining truck, the times you have to do something with belongings that you normally leave in sight on a seat, the times you come back to a dusting of green pine pollen all over everything. However, there are the other times. The soft summer-evening times, air like velvet, sun golden in the trees, lake water shimmering with joy . . . Maybe everybody should own a con­vertible sometime in his life. Maybe this is one to own all through a lifetime.SpecificationsSpecifications
1987 BMW 325i ConvertibleVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door convertible
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $31,000/$31,425
ENGINESOHC inline-6, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 152 in3, 2494 cm3Power: 168 hp @ 5800 rpm
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual 
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 101.2 inLength: 175.6 inCurb Weight: 2982 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.7 sec100 mph: 23.3 sec1/4-Mile: 15.7 sec @ 87 mphTop Speed: 131 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 185 ft 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 21 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity: 18 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

From the March/April 2025 issue of Car and Driver.We all have knocked back a pint at the local bar while mulling how to build a better car than the one in our driveway. Daydreaming about perfecting cars is universal, but Jim Ratcliffe apparently takes it more seriously than most. He’s the British billionaire who tried to buy the tooling for the Land Rover Defender (the old one, not the new one) so he could update it to meet modern regulations. When Land Rover passed, he did the costliest “Hold my beer” we’ve ever heard of and created the Ineos Grenadier.It looks familiar. From some angles, the body-on-frame Ineos is all Defender 110 (again, the old one). From others, it screams G-wagen louder than an influencer upon being asked, “What’s the first thing you’re gonna buy with all of that YouTube money?” The Grenadier has a 115.0-inch wheelbase, five seats, and, in Fieldmaster trim, two standard safari windows that can vent open or be removed, should you want to eliminate the security that glass offers while you take in Serengeti wildlife. The base version of the Grenadier starts at $73,100, less than half the starting price of a Mercedes-Benz G550 and about 10 grand more than the least costly new Defender 110.HIGHS: Dapper off-road style meets genuine off-road capability, wonderfully smooth powertrain, built like a brick outhouse.The exterior of the Fieldmaster trim we borrowed sports small graphics inspired by three flags: a Union Jack for obvious reasons, a German flag for the “engineering rigor” it claims to have, and a French flag for its assembly home in Hambach (depending on when your geography book was printed, that could be a French or a German city). Bolted between the front fenders, which will support a standing adult, is a BMW 3.0-liter inline-six connected to a ZF eight-speed automatic. The turbocharged engine is good for 281 horsepower, and the powertrain earns exceptional marks for smoothness and refinement. It’ll pull the 5901-pound SUV to 60 mph in 7.3 seconds and hit a governed 102-mph top speed. The 1993 North America–spec Defender 110 lumbered to 60 mph in 12.3 seconds on its way to a max of 89 mph. An inline-six Defender 110 (the contemporary one) finds 60 in 6.3 seconds, while the new Toyota Land Cruiser is nearly a half-second behind.More on the GrenadierStraight-line acceleration hardly defines this segment. With stubby overhangs and the departure angle of an F-22 Raptor with its afterburner lit, the Grenadier is clearly designed to excel when the pavement ends. Live axles provide the durable traction off-roaders love, and a ground clearance of over 10 inches gives the go-ahead to clomp down most any two-track. The on-road ride is neither exceptional nor brutal. A score of 517 on the ramp travel index (RTI) puts the Grenadier well below the new Land Cruiser’s 634 but above the Defender 130’s 331. Not that front and rear locking differentials would help in the RTI articulation game, but they are available as part of a $2850 Rough pack, which also includes BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires. Far less aggressive Bridgestones still sing a boisterous tarmac tune, contributing to 73 decibels in the cabin at 70 mph. Both the Land Cruiser and the Defender 130 are better here, with a comparably subdued 68 and 67 decibels. LOWS: Incessant warnings, sloppy and slow steering, noisy on the highway.The driving position faithfully channels an old Defender. You sit upright on comfortable chairs above a narrow pedal box, and a wide console separates driver and passenger. It’s a bit of a climb into the cabin, and there are no grab handles on the B-pillars to assist second-row passengers. Build quality, inside and out, gets an A+. The main instrument display, centrally located above a compass, is part of a 12.3-inch touchscreen that conveys both vehicle speed and infotainment doings. Directly in front of the driver is a three-by-11 matrix of red, yellow, green, and blue warning and indicator lights. Typically, warning lights wouldn’t get a mention, but most cars don’t beep annoyingly every time you break what the car thinks is the posted speed limit. Six keystrokes deactivate the Euro-regulation dingleberry but illuminate a bright-yellow warning icon.While silencing the speed nanny, you’ll also want to deactivate lane-keeping assist because the steering is not great. It’s slow (3.9 turns lock-to-lock) and not particularly attuned to going straight. Making matters worse is a near-total lack of self-centering, a byproduct of the suspension geometry’s lack of adequate caster angle. So, every time you make a turn, you then have to return the wheel to center. As a modern take on an old car, the Grenadier has nostalgic charm. There are only two cupholders, and they weren’t designed with Stanley or Yeti in mind. The ZF electronic shifter sits juxtaposed between a mechanical hand brake and an actual lever that reaches deep into the Grenadier’s bowels to control the two-speed transfer case. The door handles and thumb-press release are like those on a G-wagen and make a sound so special that you’ll slam the door a second time just for aural pleasure. And the bevy of switches and knobs on the instrument panel and the overhead console offer straightforward operation. However, the simple luxuries of passive entry and push-button start, which would greatly increase convenience, aren’t even options on this $82,385-as-tested SUV.VERDICT: A proper off-roader practically plucked from the past.There are a lot of peculiarities and annoyances here (e.g., 14-mpg observed fuel economy), but we know that most of these shortcomings were intended to give the Grenadier character. Ineos succeeds in delivering an off-road wagon that has the curb appeal of a classic. Cheers to the hope that this single narrow focus gins up sufficient sales so Ineos sticks around long enough to inspire another dream. SpecificationsSpecifications
2023 Ineos Grenadier FieldmasterVehicle Type: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $80,790/$82,385
ENGINEturbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 183 in3, 2998 cm3Power: 281 hp @ 4750 rpmTorque: 331 lb-ft @ 1750 rpm 
TRANSMISSION8-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: live axle/live axleBrakes, F/R: 12.4-in vented disc/12.0-in discTires: Bridgestone Dueler A/T255/70R-18 116S M+S 3PMSF 001
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 115.0 inLength: 191.2 inWidth: 76.0 inHeight: 80.7 inCurb Weight: 5901 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.3 sec1/4-Mile: 15.8 sec @ 86 mph100 mph: 24.4 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 8.0 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 3.8 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 5.3 secTop Speed (gov ltd): 102 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 194 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.62 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 14 mpg75-mph Highway Driving: 16 mpg75-mph Highway Range: 370 mi 
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 15/15/15 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDK.C. Colwell, the executive editor at Car and Driver, is a seasoned professional with a deep-rooted passion for new cars and technology. His journey into the world of automotive journalism began at an early age when his grandmother gifted him a subscription to Car and Driver for his 10th birthday. This gift sparked a lifelong love for the industry, and he read every issue between then and his first day of employment. He started his Car and Driver career as a technical assistant in the fall of 2004. In 2007, he was promoted to assistant technical editor. In addition to testing, evaluating, and writing about cars, technology, and tires, K.C. also set the production-car lap record at Virginia International Raceway for C/D’s annual Lightning Lap track test and was just the sixth person to drive the Hendrick Motorsport Garage 56 Camaro. In 2017, he took over as testing director until 2022, when was promoted to executive editor and has led the brand to be one of the top automotive magazines in the country. When he’s not thinking about cars, he likes playing hockey in the winter and golf in the summer and doing his best to pass his good car sense and love of ’90s German sedans to his daughter. He might be the only Car and Driver editor to own a Bobcat: the skidsteer, not the feline. Though, if you have a bobcat guy, reach out. K.C. resides in Chelsea, Michigan, with his family. More