Car Reviews

Plug-in hybrids promise to bridge the gap between internal-combustion vehicles and EVs, offering a useful amount of all-electric range along with the ability to gas up and drive straight to Topeka, just like you did in your ’68 Olds 442. That would seem an ideal combination, but seldom do the gasoline and electric sides of a PHEV play equal roles. For the most part, these are gas cars that can periodically impersonate an EV, rather than the other way around. And whether that talent is useful depends on two things: battery capacity and the size of the electric motor (or motors). As for the first part of that equation, the 2022 Kia Sorento PHEV is EPA rated at 32 miles of electric range, which might be enough to take care of your daily driving. But its electric motor makes only 90 horsepower, and therein lies the problem. The whole point of a plug-in hybrid is to use it as an EV as much as possible, but in EV mode the Sorento’s power-to-weight ratio makes a Yugo look like a Ferrari SF90 Stradale.[editoriallinks id=’6246d670-94c1-402c-b3fe-643a5c054212′ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]The Sorento’s electric motor is sandwiched between a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and a six-speed automatic transmission, with the team combining for 261 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque, a significant boost over the 227 horsepower of the non-plug-in Sorento Hybrid that we tested last year. However, the plug-in’s extra 221 pounds of battery contribute to a curb weight 395 pounds heftier than that of the hybrid—although part of that difference is attributable to the PHEV’s standard all-wheel drive and the fact that it’s only available in the higher SX trim level. (The Sorento Hybrid was front-drive only for 2021, although AWD is now available for 2022.) All that extra weight more than offsets the PHEV’s additional 34 horsepower, with the plug-in Sorento running the zero-to-60-mph metric in 7.6 seconds versus the hybrid’s 7.2 seconds. The PHEV also loses the quarter-mile sprint, clocking 15.8 seconds at 89 mph, 0.2 second and 3 mph slower than the Hybrid. It’s likely that an AWD Hybrid would post very similar numbers to the PHEV, but the point remains that you’re not buying the plug-in for performance. A Toyota RAV4 Prime this is not.[image id=’d184f8d8-217c-4672-bcaa-020f340a704f’ mediaId=’aed287c6-28c5-4b9c-ac4e-9afe073679c8′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image][pullquote align=’center’]HIGHS: 32 miles of EV range, tax credit can offset the higher MSRP, three rows of seats.[/pullquote]So then why would you pay an extra $6800 over an AWD Sorento EX Hybrid? Well, first of all because you can get most of that money back, in the form of a federal tax credit—the PHEV’s 13.8-kWh (11.8 kWh usable) battery qualifies it for a $6587 tax credit. But the other reason is because you plan to plug it in as often as you can and take advantage of the EV mode’s 79 MPGe EPA efficiency estimate. Because once the gas engine is running, the PHEV is no more efficient than the regular hybrid, and in fact a little bit worse—34 mpg EPA combined, to the hybrid’s 35 mpg. Over 600 miles of mixed driving, we averaged an underwhelming 26 MPGe.[image id=’02752263-5e50-43bb-a7ca-3505916cc2e6′ mediaId=’60a8fb74-3c82-40e9-a1e1-c6d0ac3aff03′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]To awaken the Sorento’s electric drivetrain, you typically want to force it into EV mode using the EV button on the console. Because, unlike most other PHEVs, the Sorento has a strange disdain for its own electric mode and left to its own devices, will run the gas engine even in light-throttle situations where you’d expect it to rely wholly on its electric power. With its battery charged, the Sorento often ignored its own electric capability and kept the 1.6-liter four humming. Maybe this was because most of our testing took place during cold weather—and it seemed like the only way for it to generate significant cabin heat is to run the engine—but sometimes it wasn’t that cold, and the Sorento would still hoard battery charge for no apparent reason. Other PHEVs, like the Chrysler Pacifica and Ford Escape, will try to use up their available electric range before firing up the gas engine. Which makes sense. That’s why you bought a plug-in, presumably.[pullquote align=’center’]LOWS: Worse EPA combined gas mileage than the Sorento Hybrid, underpowered in EV mode, carries lots of extra weight.[/pullquote][image id=’5f08e41a-a831-4c02-95fb-f9f6cfbf15fd’ mediaId=’1b9cbd39-cb74-4d40-ace4-0c01bafb0cca’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’6×4′][/image]The challenge, once you’ve informed the Sorento that you’d prefer electric propulsion, is that now you’ve got 90 horsepower motivating 4490 pounds of Kia. It doesn’t take much throttle to get the gas engine to assist in heaving the oars, and acceleration in EV mode is so gradual you could probably leave your morning coffee on the roof for a few miles if it needs to cool off. In practical terms, the Sorento’s EV mode is something you engage once you’ve attained your cruising speed and you plan to stay there for a while. It does help that the electric motor is upstream from the transmission and thus benefits from multiple gear ratios, but it also feels weird to have upshifts interrupt your silent electric driving, shattering the illusion that this is anything but a mutant internal-combustion vehicle. The Sorento itself is a slick product, but with so many iterations—2.5-liter naturally aspirated, 2.5-liter turbocharged, 1.6-liter turbocharged hybrid, front-drive and all-wheel-drive, 16 different trims—it’s easy to find variations that make more sense than this one, and for less money. At $49,960 as tested in SX Prestige trim, our Sorento PHEV was even more expensive than a top-of-the-line Telluride, a two-time 10Best winner. It’s nearly $8000 more than the base EV6. If those two fellow Kias represent the best of the past and the promise of the future, then the Sorento PHEV is an avatar for the muddled present—ready to plug in, but still tethered to the pumps. [vehicle type=’specpanel’ vehicle-body-style=” vehicle-make=” vehicle-model=” vehicle-model-category=” vehicle-submodel=” vehicle-year=”][/vehicle][image id=’bf222a99-967e-406f-a4d3-886f2d33b440′ mediaId=’92d1efde-585d-4307-a9aa-7ea6cad836da’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=’A car-lover’s community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences. JOIN NOW’ expand=” crop=’original’][/image]

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Automakers often invite us to drive prototype versions of future models, but we are reluctant to accept these offers. A review of an unfinished car is, necessarily, unfinished—especially as we are inevitably told that anything we don’t like is certain to be changed before the formal launch.But there was no chance we’d say no to this one, even though it’s a pre-production vehicle that won’t reach our shores for two years and a European version that’s quite a bit different from the U.S. model. Because beneath the psychedelic wrap disguise is the new Volkswagen bus we’ve been waiting for since the retirement of the Vanagon in 1991.Volkswagen dropped several hints about bringing the bus back in those intervening years, including the Microbus concept at the 2001 Detroit auto show. But it was the ID.Buzz shown at Detroit in 2017 that presaged the production version, an EV microbus that will sit on the same modular EV platform (MEB) that underpins the Volkswagen ID.4 and Audi Q4 e-tron.

Volkswagen

The Europe-spec prototype was only partially representative of the bus that will come to the States. It was a commercial van rather than a people hauler, with a bulkhead behind the front seats fully partitioning the cargo area; all of ours will be passenger versions. It also sat on the shorter 117.6-inch wheelbase that will be offered in Europe, while the plan is to bring only the longer-wheelbase variant to America. The U.S. version will also have a bigger battery pack than the prototype’s 77.0-kWh unit.Don’t worry, excited anticipation is still justified. The drive started at Volkswagen Group’s U.K. headquarters in Milton Keynes, an English town constructed in the 1970s on formerly green fields. It has a grid street layout designed by a Berkeley-based urban planner with roundabouts at each intersection (a very English touch). It’s a great place to learn about understeer or, in this case, the ID.Buzz’s impressive resistance to it.The ID.Buzz’s MEB architecture means that much is familiar, although the Buzz’s shape and interior dimensions prove how adaptable an architecture is when there’s no need to accommodate a bulky upright engine. The battery pack’s depth has an obvious effect on the height of the floor, but otherwise the vehicle feels impressively roomy, translating a high percentage of its 185.5-inch length into interior space. We’re told that U.S.-spec versions will all have three rows of seats.

Volkswagen

The prototype used what will be the entry-level powertrain consisting of a single electric motor driving the rear wheels—the Vanagon would be pleased that its successor stuck with the same driven wheels. Like the ID.4, it makes 201 horsepower and 229 lb-ft of torque. Volkswagen engineers say an all-wheel-drive version using a second motor to power the front axle will also be offered. Beyond basic dimensions, few details have been released, although we’re told that all versions of the ID.Buzz will have a top speed limited to 90 mph. The the short-wheelbase variant has an impressively agile turning radius of just over 35 feet.Despite the modest-for-an-EV powertrain specs, the ID.Buzz is quicker and keener than its air-cooled ancestors, stepping briskly off the line with gentle throttle inputs. It is no rocket ship; we’d guesstimate a 60-mph time under 9 seconds. Acceleration tails off as speed builds, and an exploratory run to the 90-mph limit confirmed that it takes a long time to arrive. At a 75-mph cruise, though, the ID.Buzz felt entirely happy—something nobody ever said of the Vanagon or its predecessors.

Volkswagen

While few ID.Buzz buyers will be expecting sports-car athleticism, the prototype’s chassis behaved well when pushed. Even in tight, greasy corners, there were few clues to the rear-motor, rear-drive layout, with the stability control intervening invisibly to regain lost traction. Nor was the front end quick to surrender grip, sticking determinedly to a chosen line despite the winter tires VW fitted for our drive. While the powertrain’s near silence wasn’t surprising, the continued quiet as speeds rose was unexpected. Panel vans are rarely quiet companions given their size and lack of sound insulation, but even in its cargo configuration, the ID.Buzz stayed hushed with only slight wind noise disturbing the peace during cruising. Ride quality also impressed considering the commercial-grade underpinnings, although there was a slight floatiness over bigger undulations that would probably be calmed with some payload aboard. The prototype’s 18-inch wheels, the smallest available, likely helped the ride quality. Volkswagen says sizes up to 21 inches will be offered. There isn’t much to say about the Buzz’s interior yet, as the prototype’s dashboard and door panels were largely disguised. We could see that it has the same user interface as the ID.4 with the combination of a dashboard touchscreen and a smaller display behind the steering wheel. Sadly, it also features the same highly sensitive HVAC controls, positioned so they are easy to inadvertently activate when using the central display.

Volkswagen

Yet there are many clever functions working unobtrusively. What initially felt like inconsistent regenerative braking turned out to be the ID.Buzz varying the level to adapt speed for approaching restrictions or intersections. We’re also promised that the finished car will support forthcoming Plug & Charge technology, which will allow cars to communicate directly with chargers to eliminate the need for cards or apps. We don’t have official range figures yet, but the engineering team says they would be happy with a 250-mile rating under the European WLTP testing protocol, a distance the larger battery pack should be able to deliver under the tougher EPA standard. We haven’t been given a peak charging speed either but are assured that rapid DC charging will be supported (the ID.4 supports rates of up to 125 kilowatts). The original Volkswagen bus’s hippie cred makes the new one a deserving recipient of an EV powertrain; there will never be a combustion version. VW did attempt to electrify the original, creating a one-off concept back in 1972 that fitted a Type 2 panel van with 21.6 kWh of lead-acid batteries, which filled most of the cargo area and powered a 42-hp motor. It had a top speed of 46 mph, unacceptably slow even by the lesser standards of that era. That one didn’t deserve to make production, but the ID.Buzz undoubtedly does. We’re keenly looking forward to the finished version.

A car-lover’s community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences. JOIN NOW

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

From the March 1986 issue of Car and Driver.Mercedes-Benz is back in the hot-rod business. After a few years of abstention due to the energy crisis, the emissions onslaught, and the belief that the United States suffered from an irreversible ennui that had drained its interest in fast cars, the Benz boys are hot. They are bowling into 1986 with five models capable of well over 130 mph, including this tough little 190.How times change. Mercedes-Benz of North America has spent lots of everything trying to castigate publicly and castrate bureaucratically the gray marketeers that made a killing by importing and, after a fashion, federalizing the parent company’s high-performance European models. Finally, though, the strategy has shifted in the beat-’em-and-join-’em direction. Now that hot cars are inarguably on the comeback, MBNA has decided to bring its light out from under a bushel. The smallest luminance beamed over by Stuttgart is one of its brightest, the 190E 2.3-16. Only 1880 of these mini-marauders are aimed at us. Based on the pleasant but vapid 190E, the 2.3-16 wears the same four doors, but grows a dozen body pieces of fiberglass-reinforced polyurethane, many new suspension pieces, four sport seats, four bigger disc brakes, four squat 55-series tires, five more tightly spaced gears (four in the automatic), and cylinders fed and purged by the free-breathing efficiency of sixteen valves.[image id=’a38b3af6-0794-4ea8-9968-745996dde4f4′ mediaId=’64b31b50-7801-45a3-b9b7-c827dede7dd9′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’18×11′][/image]This wee hot rod is equally appropriate for outrage in the outback or popping up at the opera. We took a pass on culture and belted into the tufted hills of backwater Ohio. Zooted up in an air dam, fender and rocker extensions, a rear winglet, and fifteen millimeters of lowered ride height, we added insult to outrage by styling and profiling every burg we hit. But the burghers loved it. Despite the subtlety of its cosmetics, this four-door catches appraising eyes in the act. Nobody mistakes it for a gussied-up K-car.Naughty as the baby Benz looks in its Friday-night-fights trunks, the power play is in the engine bay. The 2.3-liter, twin-­cam, sixteen-valve four-cylinder is rated at 167 horsepower, up 46 hp from the single-­cam eight-valve. Bosch KE-Jetronic fuel injection feeds the fires, and the sophisticated valvetrain improves breathing efficiency by 25 percent, according to Mercedes. The factory also claims that the greater rigidity required in the more complex cylinder head increases its manufacturing time by a factor of ten. As is usually the case, this design positions the spark plugs in the center of pent-roof combustion chambers for optimum combustion and a naturally high resistance to detonation. Mercedes has made the most of this advantage with a high compression ratio of 9.7:1, although premium fuel is recommended.[editoriallinks id=’b56756f5-4a2c-4cbd-9a80-1f415b58b8da’ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]Except for the 18-mpg thirst for super unleaded rated by the EPA and confirmed in our own hard driving, the engine’s high-rise revs come free. Judged by either the fifth wheel or the seat of your pants, the 2.3-16 is very quick. It springs from zero to 60 in only 7.3 seconds. The quarter-mile burns into history in 15.8 seconds with a trap speed of 88 mph. The aero aids cut front lift by 45 percent, rear by 40 percent. Swept along by the 0.34 drag coefficient, one point better than the regular 190’s, top speed rises to a stable 134 mph.Cruising down a deserted road at a loping 80 mph, the engine sets up an easy howl. This is a great come-on for your foot, but doesn’t help your ear gauge the gap from shift to shift. As in other sixteen-valvers, the rev rush is free of stress, so shifting by ear is difficult. Once you’re used to the feeling of freewheeling around the tach, it’s not bad, but the first few trips to peak performance may fall prey to a harsh, 6500-rpm ignition cutout that strangles the cry at the redline with little warning.At Mercedes, more engine begets better chassis. At 0.80 g on the skidpad, the 2.3-16 is the hardest-cornering stock Benz we have tested, ranking well up among today’s finest sedans. Firmer spring and shock rates, larger anti-roll bars, and automatic rear hydropneumatic load leveling give the 190’s all-independent suspension new resolve. Upsized 7.0-by-15-inch wheels wear 205/55VR-15 Pirelli P6s. (Today’s basic 190E wears 6.0-by-15s and 185/65s, which are bigger than the gear worn by the original 190E for our November 1983 test. That little mincer managed only 0.70 g on the skidpad. It also turned in a woeful 241 feet on the 70-to-0 brake test, which the 2.3-16’s standard ABS system has cut by almost a third—but we’re ahead of the story.)[image id=’32ec07c8-c385-4eb3-a861-5a48fbcf7aea’ mediaId=’dd59676c-4384-4018-9d33-939022e5d43d’ align=’left’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]The 16’s suspension reacts softly in tight corners. It wants you to baby it, giving the weight a chance to settle each time you shift from straight-ahead travel. Bigger anti-roll bars would probably hurt the ride over one-wheel bumps, but they’d probably also help plant the tires better.Driven in unfamiliar territory on tumultuous roads, the 2.3-16 shows two ranges of response. Understeer is modest at low speeds. At high speeds, the nose feels more reluctant to turn, and at first it can trick you into dialing in only about 80 percent of the steering you need. You run wide, then fix it with a bigger sweep of the wheel. A few mutters later, you discover that a squeeze of the throttle quickly coerces tighter cornering and reduces steering angle. Second-gear corners can be taken slightly tail-out with a purposeful poke of the quicksilver throttle. In the wet, there’s enough poke to spin the car, but it’s just as easy to squirt the proper amount of juice to the back wheels. As with many German rear-drivers, lift-throttle oversteer is also noticeable. It’s handy at times, annoying at others. All in all, this is not a film-at­-eleven car. It expects you to get in there and do your share.Dispatched to America’s version of the autobahns, the Merc settles down nicely over 75 mph. When the landscape unfolds, the 2.3-16 becomes a low-flying Bunsen burner to be used for turning time into distance by holding speed’s feet to the fire.[image id=’e15b0865-0ed4-463e-abba-b0ab45d40223′ mediaId=’c593c761-5c00-4eb4-b084-46914769fa6c’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]You can tell this is the small Mercedes­-Benz just by sitting in it. Six-footers aren’t outraged by its infringements on personal freedoms, but they are not thrilled by its snug rear seat, either. Picky about your driving position? You may have trouble fitting in quickly because of the wide range of choices you can power yourself through. Luckily, the seat-shaped buttons are a snap to use. Touch each part the way you want your seat to go—another button buzzes the headrests up and down—then punch the final combination into the memory. If you’re bundled up in a Nanook-of-the­-North parka instead of cooling off in Buford-of-Bermuda shorts, a second setting is easily saved.Deeply sculptured leather sport seats promise support for active users. Even the back seat provides deep bolsters. Unfortunately, M-B offers no cloth in its class-conscious performers; in the hard-driving mode, some of our svelte staff members found themselves sliding from bolster to bolster and wishing for suede or cloth inserts for better adhesion.An upholstered knee bar under the dash forms part of the 190’s Supplemental Restraint System (see Technical Highlights). You may not notice the bar until you heel and toe, whereupon you brush your shin. The pedals themselves are fine, making downshifting a second-nature breeze. Upshifting is less smooth, because the clutch action is lumpy and there’s a dunk at the end of the engagement very much reminiscent of the little jolt that BMWs have emitted for years. Although M-B says this five-­speed is its own, European 2.3-16s originally bore Getrag units, and this one has the same vague feel. It is also saddled with the old “GT” shift pattern, with first gear to the left of the main H. Though we prefer the more conventional pattern, this transmission is certainly light to the touch, thanks to the shifter’s spring loading. Still, we wonder whether the automatic might be a better intermediary between the power and the pavement.[image id=’9f3490fe-9a42-4ccd-b632-77f32057991c’ mediaId=’f63bf7e5-eca2-464e-9927-92e20d8c57c0′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’18×11′][/image]The rest of the interior is sophisticated and tightly packed with good ergonomics. If the console’s wood is an anachronism, at least it wears a rich shine. An electronic AM/FM-stereo/cassette system puts out decent sound but bakes tapes to medium well. The head unit ties into an all-knowing anti-theft system: if the system is armed when somebody gives your stereo a covetous tug, the unit realizes something is fishy and scrambles its chip, going to lunch forever. The array of occasionally confusing climate-control symbols takes a little learning, but the end result is set-and-forget comfort. Low on the console, a digital stopwatch ticks off journeys, and the faces of small volt and oil-temp gauges attempt to echo the wonderful legibility of the big, stark white-on-black analog gauges housed in the dashboard. lt’s all tight, and it shows few faults.Comes the rain, though, and another sort of fault opens up with the sky: the P6s have trouble coping with copious moisture. Standing water aquaplanes them right into a thrill ride you wouldn’t give a nickel for.ABS can’t save you from aquaplaning, but what it does for braking is sensational. In effect, it creates perfect front-to-rear brake balance. In the dry, the pedal pulses with the usual ABS thumps when it’s hammered down at 70 mph, and the car stops ruthlessly short in 171 feet.[image id=’18216842-61ac-4e41-857f-3473d96f43da’ mediaId=’a426779f-87e5-47bb-b7f8-26b034e02676′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’18×11′][/image]In the tumbled hills of Ohio, the ABS saved our hides twice. A warning sign had been washed out by days of downpours; we popped over a rain-swept crest, expecting a straight, only to find a sharply plunging hook. With no more than a quick pounce into the ABS and a couple of quick swipes with the wheel, the 190 squeegeed onto the right side of the road like a giant plumber’s helper. Later, we came winging around a blind, fallaway corner on damp, patchy pavement, and found a big buck standing squarely across the center line. He scrambled on the slippery asphalt and vaulted the guardrail. By then, we’d stopped a good 40 feet short of where he’d stood, coming to a complete halt only because curiosity demanded to know the margin of safety.This is some little $35,000 hot rod. Even so, faced with ever more astute challengers, Mercedes has covered its performance bets by building its own competition for the 2.3-16. The slick new mid-sized 300E sedan is a tempting alternative. It costs a thousand dollars less than this wee scrapper, and it could well be the better car for most buyers. With relatively few 2.3-16s being imported by the factory, the natural­ selection process to follow will be fascinating indeed.[image id=’fea8163f-e132-443a-92ff-6467611b3878′ mediaId=’daef9dbb-ef6e-4bff-b8cc-cf924901af49′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image] Technical HighlightsThe car industry, the federal government, and the consumer crybabies have been kicking the air bag around for the better part or a decade now, and the controversy may still be years away from its final resolution. One carmaker, however, does not intend to wait for the outcome. Starting with the 1986 model year, every Mercedes-Benz sold in North America will be fitted with an air bag on the driver’s side.Mercedes already has extensive experience with air-bag technology. Inflatable restraints have been optional on various European Mercedes since 1980, and on certain American models since 1984. In total, more than 90,000 Mercedes cars have been equipped with air bags.[editoriallinks id=’deea9cd6-3d9a-4b42-bff6-04a8aae3c4ff’ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]The 190’s air bag is mounted unobtrusively in the steering-wheel hub, and there is nothing particularly new or unusual about its operation. A sensor mounted in the front of the transmission tunnel is triggered by a forward deceleration roughly equivalent to a 12-mph collision into a rigid barrier. When so activated, the sensor signals a detonator that ignites a charge of sodium azide. The rapid chemical reaction that follows produces the large volume of nearly pure nitrogen gas needed to inflate the neoprene-coated nylon bag.The entire process takes a mere 0.03 second, thus restraining the driver before his momentum moves him very far forward. As the driver hits the air bag, he forces its gaseous contents through lots around its sides, dissipating the kinetic energy of his forward motion. Within 0.10 second after inflation, the air bag is fully deflated. For about $1200, the air bag can be recharged and reinstalled for further use—provided, of course, that there is something left of the car.Although air bags offer excellent protection in frontal collisions, they do little or nothing to restrain passengers in rollovers, side impacts, and multiple collisions. In such accidents, conventional seatbelts are far more effective, and Mercedes-Benz has taken a major step to make them even more beneficial: the same sensor that triggers the air bag also activates a small powder charge that removes the slack from both front belt by turning their takeup reels. This tightening lessens both the chance that injuries will be suffered and the severity of those that do occur.Mercedes quite properly regards air bags as only supplementary restraints and advises drivers not to neglect their seatbelts. Still, the company recognizes that many drivers will undoubtedly depend solely on their air bags. To provide extra protection for such drivers, Mercedes designers have installed a cushioned knee bolster under the left half of the 190’s dash. In an accident, the bolster helps to restrain the driver’s lower body and keeps him from submarining under the air bag.According to Mercedes, there have been no malfunctions in any of its air­bag systems thus far—an enviable reliability record. However, if its air bags encourage drivers to neglect their seatbelts, then the overall worth of the system becomes dubious. It will therefore take a few years and a few hundred thousand air-bag-equipped cars in the hands of the public before we can say with any confidence whether Mercedes’ bold answer to the air-bag debate is truly the right one. —Csaba Csere

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

[vehicle type=’adtag’ vehicle-body-style=’sedan’ vehicle-make=’audi’ vehicle-model=’audi_a8′ vehicle-model-category=’full-size-luxury-cars’ vehicle-submodel=’audi_a8_audi-a8_2022′ vehicle-year=’2022′][/vehicle]The Audi A8 and its S8 sibling are entering their final stage with a facelift of the fourth-generation model, internally called B5. Basically, Audi went through the motions of a mid-cycle facelift with changes as minor as they can be. The big news, literally, is the massive front grille, proving wrong everyone who (understandably) thought it wasn’t possible to graft a bigger front opening onto a luxury sedan than Audi had managed pre-facelift.Clearly designed to humble the bloated kidneys of BMW’s 7-series and the oversized spindle on the Lexus LS, the elevated snout of the new A8 has no functional advantages, so it’s purely a matter of taste. The same goes for the relatively minor changes in the rear, where the taillights are now visually broken up by a new segmentation of the LED units. The A8 now comes standard with the S line package, and the S8 is differentiated by its specific grille texture, four visible tailpipes, and aluminum-trimmed side mirrors. [image id=’901fd5bb-2707-4184-937e-9c1c234faa5e’ mediaId=’ff610a0e-8d1b-4529-ae82-f702972266f8′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’6×4′][/image][editoriallinks id=’abd15f42-2ce0-447f-9ab6-1027ea8ac81b’ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]The real news for this final A8 is the advent of a Horch version, designed to take on the Mercedes-Maybach S-Class. It comes with a number of unique luxury features and a slightly stretched wheelbase, but it will be sold in China only. We got a chance to sample the German-market A8 60 TFSI and the S8 in their homeland. In the United States, however, the A8 will be sold exclusively as the A8 L 55 TFSI powered by a turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 with 335 horsepower and 369 pound-feet rather than the 60 TFSI’s 453-hp 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8. In either market, the S8 gets a higher-output version of that V-8 with 563 horsepower and 590 pound-feet. [image id=’250a5b09-fdbf-4076-bd51-4d5b18b68575′ mediaId=’eac35219-2d2f-40a3-beba-44678a19f417′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]The A8 is a pleasant, quiet, and fast autobahn cruiser, but it can play along when you want to hustle on twisty roads as well. The air suspension stiffens, the steering becomes slightly firmer, and the limits of adhesion prove to be high enough that you can dice with VW GTIs all day. The A8 cockpit is virtually unchanged from the pre-facelift version, which is no bad thing. And, unlike before, you can now select a futuristic bar-graph instrumentation that was previously only available in the S8. [vehicle type=’adtag’ vehicle-body-style=’sedan’ vehicle-make=’audi’ vehicle-model=’audi_s8′ vehicle-model-category=’full-size-luxury-cars’ vehicle-submodel=’audi_s8_audi-s8_2022′ vehicle-year=’2022′][/vehicle]Stepping from the A8 into the S8 is a most pleasant upgrade. The V-8’s pleasant growl leaves no doubt as to the nature of the powerplant lurking behind that behemoth of a grille, and its performance is impressive whether driving at around-town speeds or at autobahn velocities that North American owners are unlikely to experience on a regular basis. The S8’s chassis features a sport-tuned version of the A8’s adaptive suspension, a Sport rear differential, and all-wheel steering. This is a very comfortable car with high performance limits but is still more luxury car than sports car. It’s a far cry from the ultra-precise and stiff RS6 Avant and RS7 models, which can tangle with supercars. [image id=’be68367f-fbe7-4b8a-995b-823be94f3ba8′ mediaId=’2dfef5a0-7610-4c2c-9e8b-1c2bb56d85b7′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’6×4′][/image]One model that falls by the wayside in the U.S. is the V-6 plug-in hybrid. Sales of the portly hybrid were so abysmal that Audi dropped it from the order menu in North America. We won’t miss the plug-in hybrid, but the torquey and efficient diesel, which still accounts for about half of the A8’s sales in Europe, is another story. A W-12 biturbo was also in the works but was killed off at the last minute because, according to Audi, “it doesn’t fit the times.”[editoriallinks id=’b2fcea00-9f36-4902-ad34-e184159a4cf2′ align=’center’][/editoriallinks]We might soon be lamenting the end of the gasoline engine in the A8 as well. The successor of this model, previewed by the 2021 Audi Grandsphere concept, will be a fully electric luxury sedan. The A8 as we know it—designed by Ferdinand Piëch to take on the top BMW and Mercedes-Benz offerings and once the sportiest luxury sedan of them all—will be no more. That’s probably why Audi has kept the changes to the current model to a minimum. The A8 now falls behind the Mercedes-Benz S-class in key areas and stands potentially to be overshadowed by the upcoming new BMW 7-series as well. Brand loyalists get their last chance to purchase a gasoline-powered luxury sedan, but the brand is now executing its U-turn toward fully electric mobility. While its chrome-filled mouth is bigger than ever, the Audi A8 has never spoken more softly.[vehicle type=’specpanel’ vehicle-body-style=” vehicle-make=” vehicle-model=” vehicle-model-category=” vehicle-submodel=” vehicle-year=”][/vehicle]

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Ever since its 2006 introduction, the Porsche Cayman has maintained a respectful distance from the 911, its performance a calculated exercise in sandbagging. Its mid-engine chassis always felt like it could easily handle another 100 horsepower or more—and it surely would have, except for model hierarchies and the need to stay in its lane. But over the years, Porsche gradually bestowed increasingly serious capability upon the Cayman (and Boxster) without hurting 911 sales in the slightest. The company eventually decided that the 911 is immune from fratricide, thus opening the door for the new 718 Cayman GT4 RS, a machine that sets out to answer the question, What if the 911 GT3 were mid-engined? It’ll be a few more weeks before we can get behind the wheel ourselves, but Porsche invited us on a very fast ridealong to find out what happens when a Cayman gets a 493-hp engine transplant.

Caymans are usually more about handling poise than skull-crushing acceleration, but the 718 GT4 RS is a real beast, significantly faster than the well-established 718 GT4. The GT4 RS is powered by a naturally aspirated 4.0-liter flat-six taken straight from the 911 GT3 but turned around 180 degrees. It makes 493 horsepower at 8400 rpm, up from the regular GT4’s 414 horsepower. Maximum torque is 331 lb-ft, delivered at 6250 rpm, and the engine screams all the way to its 9000-rpm redline.
Unlike the GT4, the GT4 RS model doesn’t come with a manual transmission—a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is the sole option. There are technical reasons for that, since Porsche claims it doesn’t have a manual gearbox compatible with the Cayman that can handle this much torque, but this is also a philosophical matter. For RS models, speed takes precedence over all else, and PDK gives you quicker lap times. It’s too bad the RS doesn’t offer clutch pedal, but the PDK does let you select gears with paddle shifters or the console shifter, which looks like a manual shift lever. And its shift logic follows your natural movement during hard driving—pull to upshift, push to downshift.Porsche says that on the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife, the GT4 RS beats the GT4 by 23.6 seconds, an incredible gap. The quicker time is a result of the extra horsepower working in concert with track-optimized chassis settings, aerodynamic tweaks, and stickier tires. The RS rides 1.2 inches lower than a standard Cayman, the underbody and rear diffuser are modified, and there is a new front spoiler lip with side blades. With the spoilers adjusted to their track settings, downforce improves by 25 percent over the GT4.
The result of all of these changes is extraordinary, even when experienced from the passenger’s seat. The free-breathing 4.0-liter inhales through individual throttle bodies and reacts with a hard-edged immediacy that’s rare in a world of turbocharged sports cars. The fierce soundtrack hits a lot of different notes over the engine’s extensive rev range. It’s loud too—the engine sits right behind the cabin, and you can literally feel it. Where other Caymans have small rear side windows, the GT4 RS has air intakes right up by your ears. With electrification seeming inevitable, future models of this ilk will have difficulty matching the visceral sensory overload delivered by the GT4 RS—or its claimed 3227-pound curb weight.Upshifts and downshifts are punctuated by the appropriate exhaust crackle, and Porsche’s claimed performance numbers should satisfy every enthusiast. Porsche says the sprint to 60 mph takes just 3.2 seconds and the quarter-mile arrives in 11.3—we think it’ll go quicker. The top speed is a claimed 196 mph. All of those figures are markedly better than the regular GT4’s.
The engine, while unbelievably responsive and powerful, doesn’t seem to overburden the chassis—our driver was able to flick the car around on snowy surfaces with remarkable ease. The 718’s steer-it-with-the-accelerator balance doesn’t appear to be compromised by the RS’s extra horsepower. The GT4 RS is also said to be lighter than a GT4 with PDK, and diets tend to have salutary effects on handling as well.Extensive use of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic no doubt helped get the weight down. The GT4 RS’s hood, front fenders, seats, and rear wing all are constructed of the lightweight material. Some of that glorious carbon weave becomes visible when the $13,250 Weissach package is spec’d. That package also allows customers to replace the standard 20-inch forged aluminum wheels with forged magnesium wheels for an extra $15,640. As for visual cues, the Weissach package brings flared air-intake scoops in that rear-side-window spot, whereas non-Weissach cars have intakes flush with the body.
While the GT4 RS ought to be plenty happy on a racetrack, customers who want an actual turnkey race car can opt for the 718 GT4 RS Clubsport model, which starts at $229,000. Among other changes, the Clubsport trades its carbon-fiber bodywork for panels made of a natural flax-based fiber composite that’s treated with new resins. Porsche says the Clubsport pieces are virtually as lightweight as carbon fiber but far more environmentally friendly. The GT4 RS retails for an estimated $144,350, which seems almost a bargain given its performance and potential collectibility. But being able to afford one doesn’t mean you’ll get it any time soon: The production run isn’t limited, but the waiting time is already around two years. If you were early, you could get one as soon as July, which is when U.S. deliveries start. Whatever the wait, our initial ride indicates it’ll be worth it. Short of the Carrera GT, this car might qualify as the most purist mid-engine Porsche of all time.

A car-lover’s community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences. JOIN NOW

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Mercedes-Benz is all in on electrification, says CEO Ola Källenius. And to prove it’s serious about this, the automaker is unleashing a flurry of fully electric vehicles, the latest being the new EQE. The EQE is sized like the venerable E-class and thus positioned right in the heart of the brand’s portfolio. The EQE hasn’t yet gone on sale in Europe and won’t arrive in the U.S. until later this year, but we were able to experience this newest Mercedes-Benz EV, albeit from the passenger’s seat.The vehicle, an EQE 350 with the AMG styling package, was entirely undisguised. Clearly a sibling of the larger EQS sedan, it stands on the same fully electric platform, dubbed EVA2, but its wide stance and shorter wheelbase (122.9 inches versus 126.4) create better proportions. Unlike the EQS, the EQE doesn’t need to hide excessive size and height—the overall length is 196.6 inches, almost 10 inches shorter than the EQS. One drawback of the shorter body: Aerodynamics are not quite as slippery.

Mercedes-Benz

The bright white car we rode in was fitted with EQ-specific 20-inch wheels and had the panoramic roof that will be standard in the U.S. The flush door handles present themselves upon approach (although entry-level versions in Europe will have conventional door handles). With its advanced intelligent lighting system and wide rear light bar, the EQE looks positively futuristic at night. The interior does as well, and here you find significant overlap with the EQS—in fact, the entire dashboard and center console are identical. That includes the optional Hyperscreen, a 56-inch glass surface that stretches almost the entire width of the cockpit. It houses three screens giving the impression of a single large screen. The EQE feels slightly less spacious than the EQS up front, although this is still a large cockpit. Entry-level versions of the EQE also get simpler seats.

Mercedes-Benz

The size difference between the two cars is a bit more visible in the rear, though the EQE offers plenty of legroom and headroom. In fact, the roominess is virtually on the level of the China-only long-wheelbase E-class, which is why Mercedes-Benz decided the EQE doesn’t need a stretched version. This car offers spaciousness similar to that of the Tesla Model S and is far roomier than the Model 3. The engineers made one compromise to achieve sufficient rear headroom: Unlike the hatchback EQS, the EQE does not have a liftgate (so no hinges intrude into the passenger compartment). Instead, there’s a conventional trunk. Mercedes says there will be several versions of the EQE, including AMG derivatives. We experienced the one that will launch first: The EQE 350, which has a rear-mounted motor that makes 288 horsepower and 391 lb-ft of torque and is tuned to achieve especially long range. Final data is still pending, but we’re guessing its EPA-estimated range will be around 300 miles. Given the EQE’s considerable heft—it should weigh around 5000 pounds—we neither expected nor experienced any miracles in terms of straight-line performance. But the car still charges forward with urgency, until acceleration trails off at speeds well beyond the legal limit in most countries. There is a single-speed transmission, as in every electric Mercedes-Benz, and top speed is limited to a claimed 130 mph. We expect AMG models to go faster.

Mercedes-Benz

Fitted with the available air springs and rear-axle steering, the car seemed agile—at least from the passenger’s seat. On tight roads, it should be more fun to drive than the capable but positively huge EQS. It’s also around 500 pounds lighter, even though the EQE has a higher steel content (around 60 percent versus 40 percent for the EQS). The EQE’s weight distribution is claimed to be near 50-50.We liked the absolute quietness in the EQE. If that silence is too much for you, there’s several artificially designed sounds that reflect both throttle input and regeneration, which can be adjusted from coasting to strong regen. Beyond that, the EQE allows the driver to manipulate additional parameters with Comfort, Sport, Eco, and Individual modes. One quirk of the user interface is the optional heated steering wheel; devoid of a button, it can be activated by voice command or preselected for certain climate scenarios.The brand’s early efforts at EVs (in Europe) were somewhat lacking: The EQC shows its GLC roots all too obviously, and we found the EQA to fall woefully short of the GLA’s dynamic capabilities. While we must reserve final judgment until we get behind the wheel, the EQE presents itself as a convincing, comprehensive EV. Mercedes-Benz has leaped forward; now let’s see how it will perform in the market. Pricing has yet to be announced, but we expect it to be similar to the BMW i4 and comfortably below the Porsche Taycan.

Specifications

Specifications
2023 Mercedes-Benz EQE 350Vehicle Type: rear-motor, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Estimated Base: $70,000
POWERTRAIN
Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC, 288 hp, 391 lb-ft Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 90.6 kWhOnboard Charger: 11.0 or 22.0 kWTransmission: direct-drive
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 196.6 inLength: 122.9 inHeight: 59.5 inCurb Weight (C/D est): 5000 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 5.5 sec1/4-Mile: 14.5 secTop Speed: 130 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 97/97/97 MPGeRange: 300 mi

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Ever-greater numbers of drivers want to ride up high and surround themselves with excess sheetmetal. And yet, as enthusiasts know, lower, smaller automobiles are inherently more responsive and rewarding. A good example of that truism is the latest Audi S3. Audi’s smallest and least expensive S model, the S3 skipped the 2021 model year but returns for 2022 boasting more power, sharper looks, and a reworked cabin.In contrast to the creeping gigantism of today’s fleet, the shrink-to-fit S3 feels tidy and maneuverable—it’s just over an inch longer and less than an inch taller and wider than before. The size and packaging remind us of the well-regarded B5-generation Audi S4—which back in the Y2K era vanquished the BMW M3, the Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG, and the Saab 9-3 Viggen in a comparison test. [image id=’c774eda0-a7bd-4d78-b240-7025ffddfede’ mediaId=’f4944da2-5dfd-4d11-abd5-4d0d237c3b9b’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’6×4′][/image][editoriallinks id=’7f24573e-6b17-4df2-8f53-9ce8425443cc’ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]Today, the S3 runs with the BMW M235i Gran Coupe, the Mercedes-AMG CLA35 (the A35 has been dropped), and the Cadillac CT4-V. The last time we gathered that crew together, the Audi wasn’t available, and the Cadillac ran away with a victory. But the Caddy has a built-in advantage with its longitudinal engine and rear-wheel-drive architecture. The S3 is more closely matched with the BMW and Mercedes offerings.[pullquote align=’center’]HIGHS: Sharply dressed, energetic acceleration, compliant ride.[/pullquote]We’re fans of the S3’s well-proportioned styling, which stands in contrast to Mercedes and BMW’s slightly awkwardly small sports sedans. Credit, perhaps, Audi’s long experience designing for front-wheel-drive platforms (the S3 rides on the VW Group’s MQB architecture). The Audi’s new look is edgier with boxed fender blisters that are a nod to the original Audi Quattro coupe, 18- or 19-inch wheels, and a widened hex-shaped grille.[image id=’8eeaebe1-108f-4c9c-b114-00cd22294f93′ mediaId=’1906260b-03b0-4b6b-a895-dcea945f10c0′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]Despite being the least expensive Audi to wear an S badge, the S3 is plenty quick. The model now wrings 306 horsepower from its turbocharged 2.0-liter four, an 18-hp improvement over the last S3 and more than 50 percent better than the A3. And 295 pound-feet of torque are on tap from 3000 rpm, another hefty increase over the A3, which has 221. Thus fortified, the S3 rips to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds (down from 4.5 previously). It also dispatches the quarter-mile in 12.9 seconds at 108 mph. Those numbers put the S3 in a virtual dead heat with the BMW, Mercedes, and Cadillac. All-wheel drive is standard here, which helps put the power down and keep torque steer at bay. Once again, the engine mates with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, and it delivers snappy shifts and smooth, lurch-free engagement at low speeds. In Dynamic mode, the engine emits a characterful exhaust note quite unlike the typical bleating of a direct-injected four. This comes courtesy of a “soundaktor,” a firewall-mounted speaker that amplifies the engine’s sound.[image id=’6472b0f5-e618-4c9b-a823-90f1b297d3c5′ mediaId=’f4ac220c-2ac2-428c-972b-113a91d954a7′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image] [pullquote align=’center’]LOWS: Snug rear seat, infotainment annoyances, pales next to the VW Golf R.[/pullquote]The more powerful 2.0-liter also notches better EPA numbers than its predecessor: 23/32 mpg city/highway (matching the segment-leading M235i), up from 22/29 mpg. And in our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, the S3 hit the mark, returning 32 mpg. Yet another bonus afforded by compact sports sedans.The S3 comes standard with a sport suspension that has a 0.6-inch-lower ride height than the A3. Our test car added adaptive dampers, part of the $1100 S Sport package. They make for a wide performance band, stiffening up significantly in Dynamic mode and delivering impressive compliance in Comfort. Even on the larger, 19-inch wheels wrapped with low-profile Bridgestone Potenza S005 summer tires, ride quality is far better than the flinty ride found in the BMW and Mercedes offerings—and marginally better than the S3’s platform-mate, the Volkswagen Golf R. [image id=’6ec3d50f-bb4f-463f-9043-52f97c886302′ mediaId=’6f71b328-6422-4dc7-9cc9-33799e55fe6b’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]Ah, but the Golf R adds a torque-vectoring rear differential that helps it achieve remarkable balance when cornering—the S3 is missing that trick rear hardware and understeers resolutely at the track. Still, it hangs on for 0.96 g of grip, and driven briskly on public roads, the S3 is responsive and rewarding. Steering effort levels are acceptable no matter the drive mode: neither too heavy in Dynamic nor too light in Comfort. Although not particularly tactile, the helm is reassuringly progressive, and its precision imparts confidence that we found much welcome when passing lane-weaving dawdlers on New York’s narrow and winding Taconic Parkway. The S3 also is fitted with larger brake rotors that hauled the car down from 70 mph in a tidy 151 feet.The driving position is excellent, and the S3’s high-back bucket seats do a good job of holding you in place without being confining, although the headrests are not adjustable. In back, it’s a fairly snug fit, although a six-footer can squeeze in behind a similar-size driver. [image id=’0d722bdd-470e-4fa0-bc13-a69ed2702087′ mediaId=’4712e178-e43d-4c7d-b910-8b6584fa0bd4′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]The new S3 interior has lots of gloss-black trim and a fair bit of hard plastic—the visual panache comes from the aggressively angular design theme and the multiple screens. We like the highly configurable 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, part of the Technology package (a 10.3-inch display is standard). The 10.1-inch central touchscreen is not only larger than the old car’s but is now integrated into the dash rather than propped atop it like a billboard. The home screen can show three functions at once, which is great, but the interaction has some annoyances. The volume knob has been replaced by a console-mounted, iPod-style inset wheel (which also skips tracks). And the lack of a tuning knob has us longing for the old car’s rotary controller. After gorging itself at the options buffet, our test car’s $46,895 base price swelled to $56,840. That starting figure, though, is about the same as a Golf R. The VW is more powerful, sharper handling, and offers a manual. Maybe, though, you prefer the S3’s upscale styling, superior ride, and less awful driver interface. Either way, good(-driving) things come in small packages.[vehicle type=’specpanel’ vehicle-body-style=” vehicle-make=” vehicle-model=” vehicle-model-category=” vehicle-submodel=” vehicle-year=”][/vehicle][image id=’bf222a99-967e-406f-a4d3-886f2d33b440′ mediaId=’e40fe974-c1a3-4658-973b-dcd5e6fa8c7b’ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=’A car-lover’s community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences. JOIN NOW’ expand=” crop=’original’][/image]

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

My custom Land Rover Defender 110 softtop is Geyser Blue, a Subaru color. Although its bones are at least 25 years old, it is effectively an entirely new vehicle. It has Barbour plaid inserts on its six seats (three rows of two, all forward facing), Brembo brakes, and two Hella auxiliary lights flanking the winch on the front bumper. I went with steel coils instead of the optional air springs in the name of simplicity and reliability. Under the hood: batteries, because my Defender is Tesla powered, with one battery pack up front and one in the rear feeding a 450-hp electric motor that spins the factory four-wheel-drive system. I’m not really second-guessing any of my choices on the build, except maybe the Brembos—getting the big brakes meant I had to go with 18-inch wheels, and I think Defenders look better on 16-inch wheels with some more sidewall on the tire. I skipped most of the body armor (bull bars, even guards for the door handles) because if I scratch it up and wear it out, I’ll just bring it back to E.C.D. Automotive Design and start planning a new one. My Defender only cost about $300,000, so if I get on the wrong side of high tide on Nobadeer Beach on Nantucket, I’ll make like Eazy-E—throw it in the gutter and go buy another.It’s easy to imagine life as a carefree billionaire, because E.C.D.—the artist previously known as East Coast Defenders—led me through the design process in much the same way they would with a client, presenting the endless litany of choices that would result, 14 to 16 months later, in an exquisitely perfect one-of-one Defender. We may have skipped around a bit in the E.C.D. design book, which runs more than 100 pages. We definitely skipped the part at the end where money changes hands, starting the clock on a Defender that’s unlike anything that ever rolled off the line at Solihull.

Fortunately for me, I can still find out how my vision translates to reality, because E.C.D. just finished one much like it, right down to the Subaru-inspired color—in this case, Cool Gray Khaki, a hue you probably associate with the Crosstrek. So I paid a visit to the E.C.D. factory in Kissimmee, Florida, to find out what happens when you shove Tesla guts into a British farm implement.That’s not a slander against Defenders—any given E.C.D. truck may have spent its most recent years plugging through the mud on a farm outside of Eglwyswrw, Wales, before being snatched up by E.C.D.’s U.K. vehicle-sourcing outpost and sent across the Atlantic. Each finished E.C.D. Defender is usually the product of two donor vehicles: an at least 25-year-old one that can be imported whole and a later-model truck with the updated interior prized by the kind of people who buy Defenders that start at $209,000. Ironically, it’s the newer trucks that get preemptively destroyed overseas, their choice dashboards sent along to join an import-eligible chassis in Florida. And in the case of the electric models, there’s also a Tesla involved. Electric Classic Cars in the U.K. handles that side of the logistics, sourcing and adapting a Tesla Model S P100D powertrain—divvying up the battery pack and adding its own controllers and software.
At E.C.D.’s 40,000-square-foot facility, I meet Scott Wallace, a co-founder of the company along with fellow Brits Tom and Elliot Humble. As the company grew in recent years, it bought up space in adjacent properties, but the ad hoc expansion wasn’t ideal for an outfit that’s now producing one truck every five days. Thus, E.C.D. is about to move into a 100,000-square-foot building of its own design, right down the street, with plans to build a truck every four days. If that doesn’t sound like a blistering pace, you need to understand the level of fanatical perfectionism that goes into each vehicle. “Getting to 95 percent perfection is easy,” says Wallace. “It’s that last 5 percent that’s hard.” I wonder how many North American–specification Defenders were ever 95 percent perfect on their best day.At any time during an E.C.D. build, any technician can flag a problem to be remedied. Software tracks the progress of each truck and who’s signed off on each detail. There are three quality-control stops along the build process, and the company puts a thousand shakedown miles on each truck. If a truck needs to be pulled aside to address some thorny issue, there’s a bay for that and time built into the schedule. And every staff member is encouraged to suggest any means to improve the finished product. For instance, Hector Lopez, the head of the paint department, informed E.C.D. that Spies Hecker clear-coat looks better than PPG’s product, a contentious assertion since E.C.D. had a contract with PPG to use its paint start to finish. A blind comparison ensued, with PPG conceding that, yeah, that Spies Hecker clear-coat is mighty nice, and go ahead and use it.
All this attention to detail allows E.C.D. to offer a warranty that is, essentially, all-encompassing as long as you own the truck. If you have a problem, you call, and they get it fixed, even if it’s not really their fault. Wallace says that solving individual problems can sometimes seem like a bad business decision—flying a tech somewhere to fix an issue that maybe could have been solved locally or over the phone—but results in an extremely loyal customer base. There are repeat customers who sell their Defenders back to E.C.D. and commission a new one every few years. Because, hey, seeing your dream truck come to life is a big part of the fun. Then the used truck gets sold to someone who’s maybe never owned an E.C.D. Defender but gets hooked and decides to spec out a new one, and the process repeats. There’s one particular Defender that E.C.D. has sold eight times. So far.In the sales office—its walls adorned with leather samples, steering wheels, gauge packages of varying designs—I meet John Price, sales and design lead, and co-founder Elliot Humble. A rendering of my Defender is up on a TV screen so that we can all admire my good taste and restraint. But what if, I ask Price, a customer wants something less than good taste, like yellow paint with a red grille, the ol’ mustard and ketchup? “Our role is to build whatever the customer asks for,” he says. “Of course, we could advisea different direction.” There are limits, of course. I ask what they’d say if I wanted an independent front suspension, and Humble replies, “Well, that’s not a Defender though, is it?” All right, I’m getting on my Gulfstream G650 and getting out of here. Nobody says no to the founder of Ezrariffic Industries. But first I’ll drive Project Britton, the electric Defender 110 parked outside next to its evil twin, a black E.C.D. Defender 90 powered by a GM-sourced supercharged LT4 V-8. Unless you’re keen enough to notice the absence of an exhaust pipe, the 110 offers no clues that it’s now electric—the Tesla motor sitting beneath the floor about where you’d expect a shift lever to sprout. Inside, there’s a major clue: The analog tachometer reads to 12,000 rpm, a speed that would cause the internals of a Rover V-8 to exit through the hood.
This truck, while it looks flawless, is only past the first quality-control check and still has some tuning to be done, most notably in the power delivery, which can elicit some juddering and vibration if meandering about in the middle of the accelerator’s travel. But once you’re moving, it’s a stoic Anglo-American tank, the air springs smothering the road and the steering tracking better than any original Defender ever did. There’s a whine from the gearing that mates the Tesla motor to the Land Rover transfer case, but in low-load—think cruising—all you hear is the noise of the wind and tires. And even that’s subdued, thanks to thick layers of sound insulation beneath the carpeting lush enough for a Bentley. The doors seal so well that you have to close them with authority to ensure they latch. “Normally, Defender door seals are all collapsed,” Wallace says after my first failed attempt to gently close the driver’s-side door. If you’re accustomed to Defenders that are on a continuum of shattered decay, you’ll need to adjust your expectations upward. Way upward. Especially regarding acceleration. I also drove the LT4-powered Defender 90, for science, and the Tesla-powered 110 feels close. E.C.D. claims a 5.0-second 60-mph time, and that’s entirely believable. At one point, I have to blast across an intersection with four lanes of traffic, and as I cross the crown of the road midway through, at maybe 40 mph, Project Britton is pulling hard enough to briefly spin the front tires on the wet pavement. E.C.D. estimates range at around 200 miles, and while I can’t verify that, a half-hour spent researching maximum acceleration only knocked about 10 percent off the charge. Besides, how many miles of roads are there on Nantucket, anyway?
There are a few drawbacks. For one thing, you can’t use a Tesla Supercharger—just regular Level 2 charging, which means you’d need longer than overnight to replenish roughly 100 kilowatt-hours of batteries. And, since the rear batteries go under the floor, you lose some flexibility with your third-row seating arrangements. (E.C.D. can do two forward-facing seats or something like the setup in this truck, which features a rear-facing leather-and-wood tailgating lounge.) Oh, and going electric adds about $90,000 to the price, but I have a feeling that’s not a huge deterrent to this demographic. With E.C.D.’s new facility more than doubling the space it has now, you’d think there might be room to tackle some new projects. Like, what’s the car equivalent of a Defender—iconic, British, relatively abundant yet worthy of a 2200-hour restoration? “The Jaguar E-Type,” Wallace says. “We have some plans for that.”

A car-lover’s community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences. JOIN NOW

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More