Car Reviews

From the August 2000 issue of Car and Driver.
See that Northwest DC-10 over there? As a little joke, let’s grab that baby, tow it behind a hangar somewhere, see how long it takes ’em to notice some-thing’s wrong.”
“I don’t think so,” replied 31-year-old supertug driver William Jones.
“Come on. It’ll be funny. I promise we’ll put it back later. Probably.”
“No, really, I don’t think so.”
“Northwest has tortured me for decades. Let’s see if they have a sense of humor.”

2007 Elgin Pelican P Street Sweeper

Tested: Caterpillar D7E

10 Spectacular Specialty Reviews

“They don’t. Trust me. They don’t.” At the time, Jones and I were at Newark International Airport, seated within the surprisingly comfortable cabin of a 255- hp, 35,000-pound Douglas-Kalmar TBL-280—a so-called supertug for which Continental Airlines had just shelled out $481,898. It makes as much torque as two Corvettes and can tow any commercial air-craft except a Boeing 747. If Continental needs to tow a 747, it simply fires up one of the TBL-280’s big brothers—the 540- hp, 53,000-pound TBL-400. That one costs $667,657.
At airports around the world, conventional tugs are a dime a dozen. They push aircraft away from gates and pull planes a short distance until they’re clear of ramp traffic.
A supertug differs in five ways. First, its cockpit is enclosed—heated, air-conditioned, and electrically demisted, in fact. Second, a supertug is in radio contact with everyone—pilots, air-traffic controllers, ground controllers, safety observers, possibly even with Major Tom. Third, a supertug is as simple to drive backward as forward, because its seat and instrument panel swivel 180 degrees. Fourth, a supertug can tow a 660,000-pound Boeing 777 to Akron and back, whereas conventional tugs tend to eat their transmissions after only a few hundred yards. And finally, a supertug doesn’t attach itself to aircraft via a steel tow bar. No, sir. Instead, it firmly clasps the aircraft’s front tires, then lifts the whole nose gear right off the ground. At which point it can carry a passenger-packed DC-10 forward, backward, in circles, through a slalom, and up to a velocity of 22 mph. In a straight clean-and-jerk vertical lift, the TBL-280 can hoist 77,162 pounds. The larger TBL-400 can lift 99,209 pounds or, if it feels like it, two dozen Cadillac DeVilles.
“Course, I’d never be at max speed with a ’10’ [DC-10] or a ‘triple seven’ [Boeing 777] on my back [clasped by the supertug],” says 30-year-old Donald Thomas, who is Continental’s manager of supertug operations and a former Navy jet-fighter mechanic. “The port authority has cops out there. You could get a speeding ticket.”
Cop: “What’s your hurry, son?”
Donald: “I was rushing to catch a plane, sir.”
Cop: “Looks like you already caught one. On your bumper there, son. Isn’t that an extremely large Boeing product?”
Among domestic carriers right now, only Continental operates this $5 million fleet of British-built supertugs. But that will soon change, because supertugs save money.
“Every time you move an aircraft under its own power,” explains Thomas, “you cycle its engines, which decreases the time between tear-downs. If the plane takes 15 minutes to warm up, 20 minutes to taxi to another terminal, and 10 minutes to shut down, then that’s 45 minutes off its air life. Also, if you let, say, a 747 move itself— even if it’s only 50 yards to an adjacent gate—the fuel it’ll burn would probably pay my salary for a week.”
There are other economic persuaders at work. Aircraft that are taxiing under their own power must be steered by pilots or specially licensed mechanics, all of whom earn more than supertug drivers. And large aircraft under tow often move more rapidly than under their own power, “because we know the taxiways better than the pilots do,” says Thomas, “especially the foreign pilots who have trouble with English.”
At Newark, the supertugs act as roll-on/ roll-off flatbeds, picking up dead or idle planes and moving them anywhere on the property. This movement of aircraft is a 24-hour process, starting at 5 a.m., when Thomas arrives. “First thing we do is make sure the RONs are in place,” he says, referring to the 50 or so aircraft that “remain overnight” and are the first to depart. After that, the supertugs fetch aircraft from remote locations—those in hangars, for instance, or at U.S. Customs, where planes disgorge passengers but cannot be serviced or reloaded. Thomas tows those aircraft to a terminal a half-mile distant. And finally, the supertugs are used to move aircraft that are broken: “A failed engine, a loss of hydraulics in a steering gear, a flat tire on an active runway—we’ll tow those out of the way to get fixed.” It is usually only for the latter breakdowns that Thomas and his 50-man supertug crew tow “live craft”—airplanes full of kicking and screaming passengers.

Specifications

SPECIFICATIONS
Douglas-Kalmar TBL-280 Tugmaster
VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 1-door towbarless aircraft handling tractor
PRICE AS TESTED $481,898 (base price: $481,898)
ENGINE TYPE Deutz BF6M1013CP turbocharged and intercooled pushrod 24-valve diesel 6-in-line, iron block and head, mechanical engine-control system with direct fuel injectionDisplacement 436 in3, 7145 cm3Power 255 bhp @ 2300 rpmTorque 698 lb-ft @ 1400 rpm
TRANSMISSION 3-speed manually shifted automatic
DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 161.5 inLength: 319.0 inCurb weight: 35,000 lb
Fuel capacity: 71.3 galSteering: front-wheel, rear-wheel, 4-wheel, crabTires: Michelin X; F: 445/65R 22.5, R: 7.50R 15 XZR
MANUFACTURER’S PERFORMANCE RATINGSZero to 20 mph: slow enough not to slosh the champagneTop speed (unladen): 22 mphTop speed (towing a 140-ton aircraft): 15 mphBraking, 20-0 mph: (see “Zero to 20”)Roadholding: Oh, sure, more than 56 tons’ worthLifting capacity: 77,162 pounds
C/D-observed sex-o-meter quotient, unladen: 0.1%C/D-observed sex-o-meter quotient, towing: Air FranceConcorde with wine and meals in readiness: 92.8%

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Rock-hopper SUVs—Hummer H3, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Nissan Xterra, Toyota FJ Cruiser—on Mengel Pass, over hill, over dale, over Carl’s grave. More

From the July 2009 issue of Car and Driver.

With all the doom and gloom out there—evaporating 401k plans, exploding mortgages, pay cuts, Paula Abdul—this might seem like a bad time to buy a roadster. Two seats, flashy looks, extrovert performance, and a voracious fuel appetite are bound to anger your foreclosed neighbors faster than the Senate Finance Committee can bully you into returning your annual bonus. But if you haven’t already spent your ill-advised home-equity loan, now is the time to reward yourself with an automotive indulgence. If you are someone who still has a positive net worth, you can jump-start this knocked-down economy just by spending. And we’re here to help you make the best choice.
[editoriallinks id=’0d5f4331-8518-49ab-b7ce-11f4814bec2b’ align=’left’][/editoriallinks]

The idea was to round up a group of 50-something-thousand-dollar roadsters, but like the TARP plan, we blew through that ceiling almost immediately. The most egregious example is the Boxster S, which Porsche sent loaded with almost $20,000 worth of options—including the automaker’s new $3420 PDK dual-clutch transmission—for an overindulged as-tested price of $76,625. For 2009, the Boxster S comes with a revised 3.4-liter flat-six engine and freshened front and rear styling. It’s mostly direct injection that boosts the output 15 horsepower, for a total of 310.

Our second-most-pricey car is the new BMW Z4. The 300-hp sDrive35i starts at a not unreasonable $52,475, but a Sport package (which includes an adjustable suspension), a premium stereo, and a navigation system catapulted the sticker price to $65,345.

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To paraphrase sputtering congressman Barney Frank, there are people who, for economic circumstances, must accept the inevitability of not being able to own. In that case, you can do what we did when Chevy couldn’t find a Corvette for our test—rent one for a few days. But we had to make do with a year-old 2008 model. If you ignore the 15,000 miles on its odometer, the rental is mechanically identical to an ’09, which would cost $62,720 new.

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The only car that kept within our 50-something ballpark was the Audi TTS. It might even have arrived under that figure, but about seven grand worth of options put the as-tested price at $55,550, and that included $3000 for the Premium Plus package (the cheapest way to get a power softtop). The TTS comes with an upgraded 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder engine making 265 horsepower. In roadster form, the TTS folds its cloth roof into the rear seating area found in the coupe version.

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Fourth Place: Chevrolet Corvette
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A dead-duck fourth-place finish would seem contrary to the Corvette’s recent history of strong finishes in our comparison tests. But removing its roof results in less structural rigidity than the newer competition has. And don’t blame it all on the thrashing this car took in its life as a rental sled, evidenced by a few rattles in the dash and squeaky brakes.
The Corvette’s stock suspension and tires deserve some blame for the lackluster 0.83 g on the skidpad. We usually test Corvettes with either the Z51 handling package or the MagnaRide adjustable suspension, and both of those come with sticky Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar run-flat tires in lieu of the longer-lasting Eagle F1 GS-2s. A slop-free steering rack drew praise, but the Vette’s handling is compromised by an abrupt limit in tire grip that left us shying away from exploring the edge of adhesion. Boasting the longest and widest overall dimensions of the group, with a wheelbase more than 10 inches longer than the Boxster’s, the Chevy felt unwieldy on California’s tight coastal roads. The suspension handles minor bumps without upset, but the residual vibrations can be felt through the whole car.
HIGHS: Glorious engine, straight-line speed, nifty head-up display.LOWS: Chassis flex, slow-reacting slushbox, rental-car interior.
Where the Corvette does impress is in a straight line. It tied for quickest in the 0-to-60-mph sprint and just ran away in the quarter-mile. That was expected, with the second-lightest curb weight and 430 horsepower—120 more than the Porsche. The small-block V-8 repeatedly surprised us with its soulful rumble and the way it makes power throughout the rev range.
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That said, this rental Vette had a slow-shifting automatic transmission that insisted on choosing high gears even in sport mode. Manual shifts provide a way to work around this problem, but they must be done well ahead of turning into a corner, lest a delayed reaction causes the gear­change to occur midway through the curve. Plus, the tall gearing in first severely limits burnout potential, and what’s a Corvette that can’t smoke its rear tires on command? Our advice is to stick with the stick shift and save $1250.
Previous comparison tests have pitted the Corvette against more expensive competition, which allowed us to forgive the cheap plastic and dated readouts of this car’s interior. But the price excuse vanishes when the Corvette is pitted against cars with similar window stickers. Our test Vette came with the $6550 3LT package, which includes a power top and a heads-up display, but at this price, we expect more than manual-reclining seats. GM has nicer interiors in lesser-priced cars, and the Corvette needs to do better. When this generation was new, we praised Chevy for improving the Vette’s cabin materials, but it still has a long way to go before it earns any unqualified compliments.
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THE VERDICT: A sledgehammer among ice picks.
As noted, this softtop is not a ZR1, and four years into its product cycle, the convertible version of one of our favorite sports cars is very noticeably aged.
2009 Chevrolet Corvette430-hp V-8, 6-speed automatic, 3300 lbTrunk volume, top up/down: 10/7 cu ftRoof down/up: 17/20 secBase/as-tested price: $54,170/$62,720C/D TEST RESULTS60 mph: 4.3 sec100 mph: 9.6 sec1/4 mile: 12.6 @ 116 mphBraking, 70­–0 mph: 171 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.83 gC/D observed fuel economy: 15 mpg
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Third Place: Audi TTS
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We fully expected the Audi’s three competitors to smoke the TTS, and they did—in a straight line. The Audi has the second-highest curb weight—180 pounds more than the Boxster S—and the lowest power output of this gang, which is a recipe for slow acceleration. All-wheel drive and a quick-shifting dual-clutch transmission make the best of the situation, but the TTS’s 0-to-60 time of 5.6 seconds (0.8 second behind the TTS coupe’s) is still well off the pace.
When we left the highway and started bombing down back roads, however, the TTS not only kept up with the others, it did so with relative ease. The way the engine responds willingly above 5000 rpm belies its on-paper performance, but the Audi’s real advantage is its handling. Second-best skidpad and braking figures—0.93 g and 160 feet from 70 mph—only tell part of the story. Surprisingly neutral handling and brakes that refuse to fade make the TTS both fast and forgiving. Even in sport mode, the magnetic shocks offer the best combination of ride and handling: always firm and never harsh. That said, the car’s short wheelbase means it occasionally bobs over some stretches of wavy highway concrete.
Our other complaint is the transmission’s slow response from rest. Press the gas, wait for the clutch to engage, and then wait for the turbo to spool up. The process leaves plenty of time to contemplate your mortality while attempting to pull out into traffic. And there are no aural delights to be found in the subdued engine note, unless you find the occasional psshh from the turbo-blowoff valve particularly appealing.
The TTS is comfortable, with a spacious cabin, the largest trunk with the top down (the Porsche’s greater cargo volume is split between two compartments), and a power wind blocker. But the windowsills and the dashboard feel like they’re at neck level. You sit in the TTS as if in a bathtub, though large side mirrors aid in outward visibility. And a note to Audi designers: We don’t all drink Red Bull, so please allow both cup holders to accommodate a 20-ounce soda bottle.
The power deficit in the TTS will be answered by the 340-hp TT RS (as yet, an uncertain import here) and its significant price premium. After driving the TTS, we’re not sure much improvement is necessary.
2009 Audi TTS265-hp inline-4, 6-speed automatic, 3400 lbTrunk volume, top up/down: 9/9 cu ftRoof down/up: 10/12 secBase/as-tested price: $48,325/$55,550C/D TEST RESULTS60 mph: 5.6 sec100 mph: 14.5 sec1/4 mile: 14.2 @ 99 mphBraking, 70­–0 mph: 160 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.93 gC/D observed fuel economy: 16 mpg
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Second Place: BMW Z4
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It’s hard to stop looking at the Z4. It’s a pretty car, and the mixture of creases and curves resolves pleasingly with the roof in place or folded down. The BMW has the only folding hardtop in the group and, as a result, the quietest cabin. The penalty is extra curb weight—it’s the heaviest, at 3520 pounds—and a cargo hold that is mostly used up by the stowed top. The heft is compensated for by BMW’s familiar 300-hp, twin-turbo inline-six, and just like the 1- and 3-series cars, the Z4 offers right-now responsiveness. It also tied the Porsche for the best observed fuel economy over our 550-mile test, equaling its EPA city rating of 17 mpg. Its smooth-shifting manual transmission testifies to why we will always love changing gears with three limbs, even if the procedure isn’t as idiot-proof as with the dual-clutch boxes in the Audi and the Porsche.
HIGHS: Gorgeous styling inside and out, twin-turbo six continues to impress.LOWS: Vague steering and odd suspension tuning are more suited to semi-relaxed driving.
The BMW’s smart exterior looks are matched inside, especially with the $2050 Ivory White Extended Leather package. Surfaces that are not leather are finished in high-quality plastics. Even the high-resolution, widescreen LCD for the navigation system gives off high-end vibes. BMW’s latest iDrive controller comes bundled with the nav package; non-nav versions have a storage bin in place of the LCD. The cosseting cabin comes at a price: $2500 for the Premium package (includes power seats), another $500 for heated seats, $2000 for premium sound, and $1900 for the Sport package.
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The Sport package adds high-performance tires, sport seats, and the M adaptive suspension, which varies the shock absorbers among three settings. Unfortunately, it doesn’t add enough sport to the Z4. In the most comfortable setting, “normal,” the Z4 rides like it has taffy for dampers. Highway cruising is supremely comfortable, but cornering requires the stiffer “sport” or “sport plus” modes. In any situation, the Z4 has an abundance of body roll, and the steering supplements its artificial weight with a lack of feedback. In tight corners, the Z4 starts to understeer before the front end finally bites, requiring a steering correction. On curvier roads, the Z4 takes more effort to drive as quickly as the Audi and the Porsche but returns less enjoyment. This car’s electric parking brake shows BMW’s true intentions here. Our beloved “hand-brake revectoring” is simply not in the game plan. There’s plenty of luxury, but we found ourselves wishing for a little more sport.
[image id=’582b7160-5df4-4e13-90f5-47018b79fe2d’ mediaId=’a3912811-8f28-4fc0-9cb4-12d852c521b8′ align=’center’ size=’medium’ share=’false’ caption=” expand=” crop=’original’][/image]
THE VERDICT: A luxury convertible with sporting pretensions.
2009 BMW Z4 sDrive35i300-hp inline-6, 6-speed manual, 3520 lbRoof down/up: 22/20 secTrunk volume, top up/down: 11/6 cu ftBase/as-tested price: $52,475/$65,345C/D TEST RESULTS60 mph: 4.8 sec100 mph: 11.7 sec1/4 mile: 13.5 @ 106 mphBraking, 70­–0 mph: 161 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.83 gC/D observed fuel economy: 17 mpg
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First Place: Porsche Boxster
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Evidence of why Porsche is the world’s most profitable automaker can be found in this Boxster S’s sticker. Piled onto the $57,495 base price—highest in this test—is an outlandish list of options that translates into pure gravy for Porsche. Luxury items that are usually standard elsewhere at this high base price include bixenon headlights for $1560, power seats for $1550, heated seats for $500, and automatic climate control for $550. Considering these price tags, the $190 heated steering wheel seems a bargain. Performance parts alone on our test car total $6960: $3420 for the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, $1990 for the dynamic shocks, and $1550 for 19-inch wheels and tires. But the floor mats cost just $90, and, surprisingly, the paint is a no-charge item.
HIGHS: God’s own steering response, glorious engine note, excellent transmission.LOWS: Infuriating steering-wheel shift buttons, track-stiff ride, ridiculous option pricing.
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We simply cannot resist the Boxster S, hurtful prices and all, because it’s a benchmark for responsive handling. The chassis reacts so directly to steering inputs that it makes its competitors seem plodding. Give the wheel a twitch, and the Porsche will move a 10th of an inch closer to the apex. Best-in-test braking (155 feet from 70 mph) and skidpad grip (0.94 g) back up subjective impressions.
The engine is equally responsive, revving freely up to the 7400-rpm redline. With the help of launch control and shorter gearing in the first few ratios (compared with the previous six-speed manual), the Boxster S clobbers 60 mph in 4.3 seconds, equaling the Corvette’s run and bettering by 0.6 second the quickest manual Boxster S we’ve tested. Stomp the throttle at launch, or even from a slow roll, and the revs jump to about 5000 rpm while the transmission slips the clutch. The result is instant power without any wheel hop or excessive tire spin.
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Price is not our only gripe. The transmission is controlled by a highly annoying pair of buttons on the steering wheel. Push the front of either button to upshift and pull the backside to downshift instead of the more natural left-upshift, right-downshift paddles in other cars. The Corvette uses a similar scheme, but the Porsche’s buttons are clunkier. Also, the ride is stiff enough to make the car buck over rough surfaces, and that’s in the more comfortable of the two suspension settings. A couple of drivers in our group thought the seats too stiff as well, and the bolsters too narrow.
THE VERDICT: So inherently good that we’re willing to justify paying through the nose for one.
But none of us would argue that the Boxster S is not absolutely thrilling to drive, even at a price that would leave us in need of a federal bailout.
2009 Porsche Boxster S310-hp flat-6, 7-speed automatic, 3220 lbRoof down/up: 12/12 secTrunk volume, top up/down: 10/10 cu ftBase/as-tested price: $57,495/$76,625C/D TEST RESULTS60 mph: 4.3 sec100 mph: 10.7 sec1/4 mile: 12.9 @ 109 mphBraking, 70­–0 mph: 155 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.94 gC/D observed fuel economy: 17 mpg
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The new 2021 Kia Sorento hybrid doesn’t make a big deal of itself, despite being the first electrically assisted version of Kia’s mid-size crossover. It’s got a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mated to a six-speed automatic transmission, and it drives like you’d expect—except that the little four feels like it has about 25 percent more displacement than it actually does. In fact, the Sorento hybrid’s combined output—227 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque—nearly matches that of the 2020 Volkswagen GTI. Like a GTI, the front-wheel-drive-only Sorento torments its front tires with torque. Unlike the compact GTI, though, it has three rows of seats and an EPA combined estimate of 37 mpg. Thus concludes our references to the Volkswagen GTI, but we hope the comparisons helped you subliminally internalize the idea that the Sorento hybrid is actually kind of fun.
To get the Sorento hybrid’s 227 horses out of a 1.6-liter turbo-four, you’d generally have to boost the bejesus out of it. Kia didn’t do that. But it did pair the engine with a sizable electric motor and a 1.5-kWh lithium battery that enables some neat tricks. Such as producing an abundance of torque off the line and sailing along at highway speeds with the engine off. And yes, achieving solid fuel-economy ratings of 39 mpg in the city and 35 on the highway.

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Kia

2021 Kia Sorento Satisfies High Expectations

2021 Kia Sorento Has New X-Line, Hybrid Models

Kia’s highly specific spec sheet lists the 1.6-liter as making 177.2 horsepower and 195.4 pound-feet of torque from 1500 to 4500 rpm. The electric motor generates a claimed 60.1 horses and 194.7 pound-feet from zero up to 1600 revs. Notice that those two torque figures are both almost the same and happen at low revs, which helps explain why the hybrid’s low-end grunt feels diesel-like in strength. It’s simply a smooth, prodigious shove that’s out of proportion to the gas engine’s displacement.
The 1.6 does sometimes lug at low rpm, particularly when climbing grades, as the transmission holds a tall gear and leans on the electric motor for help. But that’s a common hybrid trait. As dealership sales reps like to say: They all do that. And, as we tend we say: At least it’s not a CVT (continuously variable automatic transmission). Should you desire a lower gear from the Sorento hybrid’s conventional automatic, there are paddle shifters on the back of the steering wheel.

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Kia

The Sorento hybrid offers no dedicated electric-only mode, but nonetheless it relies on electric power surprisingly often and at high speeds. Light on the throttle, downhill, you’ll see the green EV indicator light come on at 80 mph. While its relatively tiny battery means you won’t ever go far on electricity alone, this Sorento is good at seamlessly juggling its propulsion options without calling attention to the machinations happening beyond the firewall.
Priced at $34,760 to start for the base S trim, the hybrid costs $1700 more than a non-hybrid Sorento S, which employs a 191-hp naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder and an eight-speed automatic. That model is only rated for 26 mpg combined, and the EPA figures that over five years, the hybrid will save you $1750 in fuel. Your mileage may vary, of course, but you’ll notice that those estimated savings neatly erase the hybrid’s price premium. It looks as if a half-decade is your financial break-even point, if that’s a motivating factor. But the hybrid also is the significantly more powerful option, and that’s a worthy upgrade on its own. Just don’t expect it to outpace the nonhybrid Sorento’s optional 281-hp 2.5-liter turbo-four that we’ve already driven.

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Kia

In terms of drawbacks, the Sorento hybrid has a couple. It’s only available as a front-driver, so if all-wheel drive is nonnegotiable you’ll need to look elsewhere—or wait for the upcoming plug-in hybrid variant that drives all four of its wheels with a combined 261 horses and a significantly larger battery. The hybrid also shouldn’t be your pick if you expect to tow much with it, as its 2000-pound tow rating lags behind the nonhybrid models’ 3500-pound max. But if neither of those factors is an issue, you may as well spring for the hybrid over the standard Sorento. Think of it as a five-year investment in free horsepower.

Specifications

Specifications
2021 Kia Sorento Hybrid
VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 6-passenger, 4-door wagon
BASE PRICE S, $34,760; EX, $37,760
POWERTRAIN turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter inline-4, 177 hp, 195 lb-ft; permanent-magnet synchronous AC motor, 60 hp, 195 lb-ft; combined output, 227 hp, 258 lb-ft; 1.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack
TRANSMISSION 6-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 110.8 inLength: 189.4 inWidth: 74.8 inHeight: 66.7 inPassenger volume: 143 ft3Cargo volume: 13 ft3Curb weight (C/D est): 4000–4100 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST) 60 mph: 7.9 sec100 mph: 17.4 sec1/4 mile: 16.2 secTop speed: 120 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/city/highway: 37/39/35 mpg

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