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    2022 Audi A3 Sedan Prepares for Battle in the U.S.

    Audi’s boss in the 1980s, Ferdinand Piëch, realigned the company to compete with Mercedes-Benz and BMW, setting in motion a close competition between the German marques. If one of the brands enters a segment, the others follow shortly. If one updates a vehicle, so do the others. The latest in this anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better strategy is the redesigned Audi A3, which follows the introduction of the second-generation Mercedes-Benz CLA and the new BMW 2-series Gran Coupe.

    2020 Audi A3 Is an Early Look at What’s to Come

    2022 Audi A3 Sedan Is Aggressively Contemporary

    We recently spent a day behind the wheel of the A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI (that’s the hatchback version), but now our attention turns to the A3 sedan, the body style that will be coming to the U.S. next year as a 2022 model. While American A3s will have a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four that makes about 200 horsepower, a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and a 48-volt hybrid system, the A3 sedan we drove came equipped with a 148-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter four-banger. It might not offer the same acceleration as the one we’ll get, but the 1.5-liter gives a clear indication of what the A3 sedan will feel like going down the road.

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    Audi

    At first glance, the new A3 Sedan comes across as an evolution of its predecessor. There are sharp creases, slight fender flares, and it looks more aggressive than before, yet the overall proportions remain very much the same. The bubble roof is a typical Audi element ever since Peter Schreyer introduced it on the A1X concept in 1991, and the horizontal taillights provide another connection to the previous A3 sedan.
    The interior is boldly futuristic, with a digital instrument panel that is available in two sizes, as well as a standard central touchscreen. The cockpit is full of creases and hard edges; the materials are soft and attractive. The central infotainment screen is similar to that on Audi’s top-level cars, but it provides feedback in sound rather than the vibrations of other Audis. An informative and well-designed head-up display is optional.

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    Audi

    The A3’s telematics systems and levels of electronic assistance are impressive. Audi’s navigation system is easy to operate and delivers precise commands. We are especially impressed by the optional matrix LED headlights and how they lay an crisp carpet of light ahead of the car.
    We found the A3 Sedan to be as well-suited to long trips as the Sportback version that we recently drove. Like the hatchback, the sedan has a comfortable seating position and relatively spacious rear seats. The four-door has a sizeable and easily accessible trunk with a low liftover height, and the rear seats can be laid flat to expand the usefulness of the cargo space.
    In Europe, the 148-hp 1.5-liter is the second smallest engine. There is a super-efficient 109-hp 1.0-liter three-cylinder positioned below. Fitted with a 48-volt hybrid system, this A3 offered a genuine “hybrid” driving experience: When you take your foot off the gas, the car will coast, the engine shuts off before the car actually comes to a halt, and restarting is a quick and vibration-free affair.

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    Audi

    What this engine offers in efficiency and silky-smooth delivery, it loses in acceleration. We won’t complain about a claimed zero-to-62-mph time of 8.4 seconds, but the small four-banger never feels particularly eager to explore its limits. Reaching the claimed top speed of 144 mph will require many miles of autobahn. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, which will be shared with the U.S.-bound 2.0-liter, changes gears quickly and unobtrusively. When Audi launches the 40 TFSI model in the U.S., it will be offered with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. We did wish for a firmer suspension on the car we drove, but it remains to be seen how the U.S. model will be tuned.
    With two AMG-fettled versions of both the CLA and A-class, as well as an M235i Gran Coupe, there will inevitably be new S3 and RS3 performance versions of the A3. While those hotter models haven’t been shown yet, we did learn that the S3 will have more than 300 horsepower and that the RS3 will likely make more than 400. Even at the economical end of the luxury segment, the competition among the German brands remains heated.

    Specifications

    Specifications
    2022 Audi A3 35 TFSI MHEV S Tronic
    VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
    BASE PRICE $31,000
    ENGINE TYPE turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement 91 in3, 1498 cm3Power 148 hp @ 6000 rpmTorque 184 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm
    TRANSMISSION 7-speed dual-clutch automatic
    DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 103.8 inLength: 177.0 inWidth: 71.5 inHeight: 56.1 inCurb weight (C/D est): 3000 lb
    PERFORMANCE (C/D EST) 60 mph: 7.7 sec1/4 mile: 16.1 secTop speed: 144 mph
    EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST) Combined/city/highway: 32/29/37 mpg

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    2021 Toyota Venza Amounts to a Fancy RAV4 Hybrid

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    Michael SimariCar and Driver

    The hybrid-only 2021 Venza is one of the best-looking new Toyotas in recent memory—or at least one of the least fussy in its design. But its good looks are one of its few strengths. Although Toyota pitches the Venza as a mid-size two-row SUV in the vein of the Chevrolet Blazer, Ford Edge, and Honda Passport, this new crossover struggles to stand apart from the company’s own compact RAV4 hybrid. Within the greater Toyota lineup, it’s easier to think of the Venza as a high-end trim level of the RAV4, rather than a separate model designed to compete with larger rivals.

    HIGHS: Attractive design, solid highway fuel economy, cool panoramic roof on Limited models.

    Unlike the previous Venza, which was a Camry-based crossover created for the United States market, this new model is plucked from Toyota’s Japanese lineup, where it’s called the Harrier. A glance at the Venza’s spec sheet reveals a number of similarities with the RAV4, as the two crossovers share a platform and most of their powertrain and dimensions. The Venza is a few inches longer, owing to its different body, but its wheelbase and width are the same as the RAV4’s.

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    Michael SimariCar and Driver

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    The supposedly bigger Venza is actually less spacious inside, and its inferior packaging makes it less practical for hauling cargo. We fit just seven carry-on suitcases behind the rear seats of the Venza—three fewer than in the RAV4 and less than half of what you can stow in a Honda Passport. Lifting things into the Venza requires a bit of extra effort as well, as its cargo floor is significantly higher off the ground than the RAV4’s, at 32.3 inches versus 27.5. The Venza’s rear-seat dimensions are nearly identical to the RAV4’s, yet sitting back there feels more confining because of the Venza’s slightly smaller windows and higher beltline.

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    Michael SimariCar and Driver

    The Venza features the same all-wheel-drive hybrid drivetrain as the RAV4 hybrid, including a 2.5-liter inline-four and two motor-generators, plus a third electric motor on the rear axle. Combined output is the same 219 horsepower. The only significant difference is that the Venza gets a lithium-ion battery pack versus the RAV4’s nickel-metal-hydride unit. However, the Venza’s more modern battery holds far less energy, 0.9 kWh versus the RAV4’s 1.6. Perhaps that’s why the Venza Limited we tested, at 7.6 seconds to 60 mph, is 0.3-second slower than the RAV4 hybrid despite weighing only 58 pounds more. Either way, a Passport is a significant 1.5 seconds quicker. In our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, the Venza’s 36 mpg trailed the RAV4 hybrid’s result by 1 mpg, although both numbers are admittedly impressive for any SUV. Still, Toyota’s smooth 3.5-liter V-6 would have helped to differentiate Venza, as would the new RAV4 Prime’s impressive plug-in-hybrid powertrain with 302 horsepower. But Toyota says it has no plans to offer other Venza variants in the U.S.

    LOWS: Slower and less practical than a RAV4 hybrid but more expensive.

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    Michael SimariCar and Driver

    While the Venza may look a bit classier than the RAV4, it offers similar levels of comfort and refinement. Its four-cylinder can sound buzzy and sends more vibrations through the steering wheel and pedals than we’d like. Wind noise is noticeable on the highway, even though the Venza’s sound measurement at a 70-mph cruise is one decibel lower than the RAV4 hybrid’s. The Venza is reasonably balanced around corners, but its comparatively slower steering and softer suspension versus the RAV4 make it feel larger and a bit lazier on the road, as well as less composed over rough pavement. Our test car’s Bridgestone Ecopia all-season tires were quick to relinquish their modest grip, with adhesion around the skidpad amounting to 0.79 g and stops from 70 mph requiring an unimpressive 179 feet.

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    Michael SimariCar and Driver

    Unfortunately, the Venza lags behind the RAV4 in additional comparisons: The Venza isn’t rated for towing, yet the RAV4 hybrid can tug up to 1750 pounds; the RAV4’s physical buttons and knobs on its center stack are easier to use than the Venza’s touch-capacitive buttons; and the Venza has fewer and smaller storage cubbies for stashing small items. Perhaps most frustrating is that Toyota charges between $3000 and $6000 more for the Venza than for equivalent RAV4 hybrid models.
    On a technical level, the Venza’s primary advantage is its panoramic electrochromic sunroof, a $1400 option exclusive to the Limited trim that can change from transparent to translucent at the touch of a button. But at our test car’s $43,045 price point, the new Venza struggles to distinguish itself both from Toyota’s own compact SUV and its numerous mid-size crossover competitors. Unless you’re smitten with the Venza’s design, the RAV4 hybrid is the more compelling buy.

    Specifications

    Specifications
    2021 Toyota Venza
    VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
    PRICE AS TESTED $43,045 (base price: $33,590)
    POWERTRAIN DOHC 16-valve Atkinson-cycle 2.5-liter inline-4, 176 hp, 163 lb-ft + 3 permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors, front: 118 hp, 149 lb-ft; rear: 54 hp, 89 lb-ft (combined output, 219 hp); 0.9-kWh lithium-ion battery pack
    TRANSMISSION continuously variable automatic
    CHASSIS Suspension (F/R): struts/multilinkBrakes (F/R): 12.0-in vented disc/11.1-in discTires: Bridgestone Ecopia H/L 422 Plus, 225/55R-19 99V M+S
    DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 105.9 inLength: 186.6 inWidth: 73.0 inHeight: 65.9 inPassenger volume: 95 ft3Cargo volume: 29 ft3Curb weight: 3879 lb
    C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 7.6 sec100 mph: 20.9 secRolling start, 5–60 mph: 7.9 secTop gear, 30–50 mph: 3.8 secTop gear, 50–70 mph: 5.2 sec1/4 mile: 15.8 sec @ 89 mphTop speed (governor limited): 118 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 179 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.79 gStanding-start accel times omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.
    C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed: 36 mpgHighway range: 520 miles
    EPA FUEL ECONOMY (MFR EST) Combined/city/highway: 39/40/37 mpg

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    2020 Alpina B3 Is a Faster and Better-Tuned M340i

    We’ll apologize up front for this being another of our occasional takes on a compelling car that the vagaries of the international auto industry deny us. That’s because although Alpina does exist in the United States—selling its B7 version of the BMW 7-series and set to launch its new XB7 SUV here soon—there are unfortunately no plans to bring any of the BMW tuner’s smaller and more affordable models to the States, such as this impressive 3-series-based B3.
    The new B3 isn’t meant to be a rival to the forthcoming M3. Alpina’s close relationship with BMW is based on the clear understanding that the company’s variants are built around a different mission from those that wear M badges. Alpinas are softer and more comfort orientated, designed more for effortless high-speed blasts on Germany’s autobahn than for shaving seconds from lap times. That focus makes for seriously multitalented vehicles, which the new Alpina B3 demonstrates wonderfully.

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    Alpina

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    Alpina’s status as BMW’s officially sanctioned tuner means it basically gets to play Lego with the manufacturer’s componentry. The B3 uses the all-wheel-drive system, mechanical limited-slip rear differential, and eight-speed automatic transmission from the M340i xDrive model but adds a beefier torque converter to better cope with the output of the S58 twin-turbo 3.0-liter straight-six that the B3 shares with the X3 M and X4 M SUVs. For Alpina duty, the six gains smaller, low-inertia turbocharger compressors, redesigned intake and exhaust systems, and a retuned computer. Its 456 horsepower slots it slightly below the 473 or 503 horses of the M models, but the B3 produces a stout 516 pound-feet of torque versus the M tune’s 442 pound-feet. The B3 should be able to clear 60 mph in about 3.5 seconds, and top speed is an unrestricted 186 mph for the wagon and 188 mph for the sedan.

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    Alpina

    The B3’s engine pulls without lag—or indeed much in the way of apparent effort—generating significant speed with the accelerator pedal only halfway through its long travel. Pushed harder, the g forces increase and the sounds it makes get angrier, but the engine’s linearity and broad midrange muscle is in marked contrast to the top-end fireworks of most M cars. The last-generation B3 was less powerful yet struggled for grip in its standard rear-drive form, but the new car just sticks, even when accelerating hard from a stop. While understeer can be found in tighter bends, the front end’s push is minimal and is usually successfully countered by the all-wheel-drive system.
    Even more impressive is the B3’s chassis. It employs new Eibach springs but keeps the adaptive dampers from the M340i, which have been reprogrammed to give a broader spread between Comfort and Sport modes. Even with the dampers in their firmest setting, there was no harshness to the car’s ride over the (admittedly few) rough patches we could find on our test route through the German countryside. There was also no sense of float or excessive body roll in Comfort mode. That includes during hard acceleration, which, despite the softer springs, seemed to produce less squat than is typical in punchy BMWs. The steering feels better weighted as well, with a more natural loading of cornering forces than in the M340i.

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    Alpina

    We drove both sedan and Touring wagon versions of the B3 on the road and can say there’s minimal dynamic difference between them. The wagon’s open cargo area allows slightly more noise inside, although its cabin is still impressively quiet at cruising speeds. Its responses to control inputs aren’t quite as keen as the sedan’s—Alpina says it weighs 176 pounds more—but with no Touring version planned for the new M3, the long-roof B3 will be the quickest factory-approved version of the current 3-series wagon.
    Beyond some discreet Alpina branding, including the company’s badge on the steering wheel in place of the BMW roundel, the B3’s interior is predictably similar to that of a well-specified 3-series. The standard steering wheel features Alpina’s traditional small buttons on the back of the spokes for manual gear selection, but you can opt for more functional machined aluminum paddles instead. Externally, the B3 is similarly understated, especially for buyers who resist Alpina’s optional pinstriping. Beyond the Alpina-branded front splitter—which harks back to when the company competed in the European Touring Car Championship—the B3 shouts remarkably little for being as quick as it is.

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    Alpina

    On the demanding Bilster Berg racetrack, an exclusive members’ club built on the site of a former British army munitions depot, the B3 felt impressively quick for a luxury performance car. Its suspension retains tight control of the car’s body motions and reveals a playful side that comes in part from the all-wheel-drive system’s rearward torque bias. Chuck it through a tight corner, and the combination of the more aggressive Sport Plus drive mode and the stability control’s Sport setting allows a liberal amount of slip from the back end. The next M3 will undoubtedly be even quicker and more extreme on the track, but the softer-edged B3 is no slouch.
    In terms of global reach, Alpina remains a boutique shop. With production limited to about 2000 cars a year in total, CEO Andreas Bovensiepen admits it’s not possible to financially justify the considerable costs of certifying its less-expensive models for sale in the U.S. Less expensive in this case means a starting price the equivalent of $91,000. Still, it’s a shame. What the new B3 gives up in outright performance it more than makes up for in refinement and exclusivity. Sadly, we’ll have to continue to appreciate it from afar.

    Specifications

    Specifications
    2020 Alpina B3
    VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan or wagon
    BASE PRICE (GERMANY) $91,000
    ENGINE TYPE twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve inline-6, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement 183 in3, 2993 cm3Power 456 hp @ 7000 rpmTorque 516 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
    TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic
    DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 112.2 inLength: 185.8 inWidth: 71.9 inHeight: 56.6–56.7 inPassenger volume: 95 ft3Trunk volume: 17–18 ft3Curb weight (C/D est): 4150–4300 lb
    PERFORMANCE (C/D EST) 60 mph: 3.4–3.5 sec100 mph: 9.0–9.1 sec1/4 mile: 11.9–12.0 secTop speed (mfr’s claim): 186–188 mph
    EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST) Combined/city/highway: 18/15/23 mpg

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    Tested: 1977 Ferrari 308 GTB Bucks Tradition In the Best Ways

    From the March 1977 issue of Car and Driver.
    Here is a car that’s going to make the purists grind their teeth. The thing says Ferrari all over it, prancing horses everywhere you look. You can see six of those noble little Ferrari trademarks right from the driver’s seat and that is without even craning your neck. Walk around the outside, and you’ll see more—front, back and both sides—proclaiming for all the world that this is the latest message to the faithful from El Commendatore.

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    But the purists, bless their over-informed hearts, know perfectly well that this little thigh-high sweetie officially called Ferrari 308 GTB is nothing but a social-climbing Dino. Look underneath if you don’t believe it. The engine is the same all-aluminum, sidewinder V-8 bolted to the same five-speed manual transmission that you’ll find in the Dino 308 GT4. The suspension pieces are identical too. And so are the wheels. What’s old Enzo trying to pull here anyway, sticking his rampant horses to a bogus Ferrari?

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    It must be hell being a purist—fogs the mind and blocks the vision. You can’t see the truth for the facts. Now, to be completely correct, this new Ferrari shares virtually all of its major mechanicals with the Dino 308 GT 4. And it has a V-8, not one of the glorious V-12s, with belts instead of chains driving the four camshafts. So there is none of the old clatter, nothing to cock an ear to two blocks away. As a final indictment, the body is made of—can it really be true?—fiberglass. Like a Corvette. Or a boat. If you’re the sort who weighs the merits of an automobile by the specifications printed on the back of brochures, you’re going to conclude that the EPA and the DOT and the old rocking chair have taken a firm grip of Mr. Ferrari, and he is easing himself into retirement on the strength of past accomplishments.

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    And that, in one short paragraph, is why it is so dangerous to judge a car by the ancestry of its parts. Because this latest Ferrari is a remarkable machine, a truly happy collection of ideas and components that really work well together. Visually, it’s a first-round knockout, just the right blend of old Pininfarina Curvaceous and Modern Wedge. The fenders swoop with undisguised joy while the nose droops in the best aerodynamic tradition. And there are enough slots, scoops, and vents to satisfy those who want the Functional Look. In red, the effect is stunning. Ferrari’s red seems to get more intense each year: The test car made fire trucks look pale. It also made fire trucks with all of their chrome fitments look frivolous. The Ferrari is trimmed entirely in black-bumpers, taillight surrounds, door handles, everything. Which makes the red even redder.
    If you are going to spend big money for a car, $28,780 in this case, it’s just assumed that the car will have visual flare in proportion to its price. But with rare exceptions—the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso and the GTO 64, to name two, and these are more than 10 years old—Ferraris generally have had frumpy styling. So even at first glance, this new GTB is a radical departure from the norm. But then this car goes against the Ferrari tradition in a number of ways. It would appear that its designers approached the problem of a mid-engine GT coupe with an open mind. And as a result, the GTB is one of the most logical, comfortable and easy-to-drive mid­engine cars ever built.

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    If you think back a bit, you will observe that although mid-engine cars have been the dominant theme in racing for about 15 years, the concept has not fared well on the road. Usually, designers got the proportions wrong. DeTomaso’s efforts, the Mangusta and the Pantera, are prime examples. He tried to have a V-8 engine between the wheels and at the same time maintain a wheel­base typical of front-engine cars (both the Pantera and the Corvette measured 98 inches). The result was a short cockpit with little legroom and vertical seats positioned very close to the floor. Calling this a torture chamber would be a rather severe description, but you get the idea. Another source of discomfort was the combined effect of the steeply raked windshield and the short roof. The top of the glass was right over your forehead, and all of the sun’s energy beamed right in full force on your lap. It was like sitting in a Radarange.

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    With the GTB, Ferrari has handled all of these dimensions very nicely. The wheelbase is even shorter than that of the Pantera—only 92 inches—but the transverse engine mounted just forward of the rear wheels is a very compact arrangement, and it does not intrude on cockpit space. So the GTB’s interior dimensions are much more generous than a Pantera’s. Your legs must angle slightly toward the center of the car to clear the arches for the front wheel, but this is less bothersome than in, say, a Porsche 911. And although the windshield angles back severely, it starts from a cowl that is well forward and finishes accordingly, leaving plenty of roof for shade. Overall, the GTB is a very compact car. It’s just over a foot shorter than a Corvette and strictly a two-seater. Baggage space provides about the same volume as in a Corvette, but the shapes of the compartments in the two cars are different enough to make you use different bags. All of the Ferrari’s luggage space is rear­ward of the engine, and it runs the full width of the car. You get to it by lifting the engine lid and then unzipping a vinyl tonneau cover. The space is modest, but at least one golf bag should fit, for those of you who accept or reject cars on that basis. But regardless of what you like to carry along on your travels, if it won’t fit in this trunk, chances are it won’t go anywhere. The front compartment is entirely filled with the spare tire and brake cylinders, and there is barely enough room behind the seats for this magazine. All that’s left is a pocket in each door and a locking compartment between the seats.
    But if the GTB is obviously not a pack horse, it still has practical aspects that may have escaped your first notice. The fiberglass body should be easier to repair after a crunch than limited-production steel body panels. Chances are that some enterprising shop will make a mold from which replacement body sections could be lifted for the cost of dune-buggy bodies. Considering the brand name we’re dealing with here, the markup might be a bit higher, but the net should still be less than factory-fresh equivalents from across the sea. Fiberglass is really quite a logical body material for this sort of machine. Manufacturing costs for a short run of cars should be less than with steel, and the finished product won’t rust. It’s also fairly dent resistant as well. A light hit on fiberglass may scratch the paint, but the body is resilient enough to resume its former shape with no permanent damage.

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    To be sure, fiberglass brings its own problems. You don’t have to ride one block in the GTB to know its body materiaI. There is a sort of dull clunking sound, a sensation you feel as much as hear, whenever you hit bumps. This Ferrari, all Corvettes, and some Lotuses have it. There is nothing annoying about it. It’s just there. And in our minds, a fair trade for the rust resistance.
    When you mention fiberglass, people usually conjure up visions of fenders rippling like mill ponds. This isn’t the case with the GTB. We inspected the body surfaces quite carefully and found them to be generally within the range of what you’d expect of steel cars. Interestingly, the Ferrari’s front deck lid is made of aluminum, and the surface finish of it is no smoother and no rougher than the glass nosepiece surrounding it.
    Although the GTB’s entire body, with the exception of the front lid, is made of fiberglass, the construction of the car itself is not much different than metal-­bodied Ferraris. All of them use a frame welded from simple brackets and steel tubing that’s usually rectangular. The tubes are always sprayed black, and you can always see rust around the welds, even on new cars. This is typical of all the Italian exotic cars, and if the sight of rust blemishing your handwrought frame makes you nervous, it might be best if you didn’t look so close.

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    Certainly the GTB offers other visual attractions. The interior is done up in the Michelin Man style now coming into vogue with the Italian coachbuilders. Most surfaces in the cockpit are covered with huge pillowy rolls of vinyl. Pininfarina gave the padded-cell look to the Lancia Beta Scorpion first, and now it has done a variation on the theme for Ferrari. The effect is altogether different than what the world has come to expect of cars, particularly sports cars. There is no wood, no engine-turned aluminum, no black crackle to act as background for dozens of gauges, levers, and knobs. Instead, the dash, doors, roof and seats all seem to run together in a padded cocoon of vinyl. There is but one interruption. Directly before the driver, right where he would hope it would be, is the instrument cluster. All the dials are round. The tachometer shows a 7700-rpm redline. The speedometer reads to 180 mph. The stylists have fancied up the markings a bit more than they should have for maximum legibility, but the message is by no means lost. Curiously, the cluster ended up too small for all the dials, so two—the clock and the oil temperature—are tucked away below the dash on the left, half buried by the voluptuous padding.
    The controls you must reach for either sprout from the steering column or are located on the console. In Italian cars, reaching for the steering wheel tends to be an Olympic-level task. At first glance, the GTB looks as difficult as they come. The wheel angles forward at the top in that awkward way. But then when you slip into the seat, you find the steering is more manageable than you anticipated. The reach is reasonable, and the low steering effort, one of the delightful aspects of a mid-engine car, makes minimal demands. Parking requires some exertion, but you’ll never be discouraged from any maneuver on the road.

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    In fact, there is very little about the GTB that is discouraging. Sports cars and GT cars traditionally have been specialized machines, and frequently you were asked to make major sacrifices in comfort or convenience just to have the look of speed and, if you were lucky, the performance to match. But the GTB is wonderfully accommodating. It has plenty of room inside for two adults. Your head won’t rub the molded, one-piece headliner, and you won’t have to tuck your elbows in your belt loops. The seats are exceptionally good. They are finished in leather, very firm and deeply contoured. They give you the feeling that you’ll be well taken care of, come what may, even if that means 500 miles in one afternoon. And the combination lap-and-­shoulder belts fit comfortably, something that couldn’t be said of their equivalent in the Dino 308 GT 4.
    Oh, the Advantage of Owning a Ferrari Dealership
    You might think that the Ferrari dealers of this nation would be stumbling over themselves to lend this magazine a test car. They are not. The only one to step up to its solemn duty was International Motorcars Corporation, which also happens to be the newest Ferrari dealership in the country. But don’t think that International Motorcars came through because it was too green to know any better. Instead, the reason had to do with geography-because the newest Ferrari store just happens to be located smack in the heart of Jackson, Mississippi, and business is done differently in that part of the country.
    As you would expect, there is not a surfeit of Ferraris in Mississippi. Until just recently, the exact count was seven. And four of these were owned by two men from Jackson: Charlie Kemp, better known for his exploits in road racing, and Sam Scott, a lawyer of no modest skill. Together they started International Motorcars, not to populate the state with more Ferraris but as a way to get dealer tags for their own cars. In Mississippi, the license plates for a Ferrari run about $300 per car per year, but as a dealership, they can get all they want for the lump sum of $160. Scott drew up the papers, and they were in business.
    The idea of actually becoming a Ferrari store came later. “To be honest, we just thought it would be a neat thing to do,” Scott says. “But we didn’t know if we could qualify. When we called the importer, they had heard of Kemp through racing and said they would consider us.”

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    Don HunterCar and Driver

    After a few months of negotiations, the deal went through. International Motorcars bought $2000 worth of genuine Ferrari parts and a pair of new cars and hung its sign out in front of a remodeled Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in downtown Jackson, a location that is within an exhaust-shriek of the state capitol.
    Having a Ferrari store and actually selling Ferraris are two different matters. Kemp and Scott had no way to know if they could move cars. But they soon discovered that the Ferrari business, although it may move in strange ways, definitely moves. Scott remembers the first car they sold. “A kid arrived out front in a taxi with an airplane ticket in his hand. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans with holes in the knees. Turned out he was from New Orleans and had seen our ad in the Times-Picayune. We had a used 275 GTS on the floor. He walked around the car twice—didn’t even sit in it—and said he’d take it. The price was $14,500, and he gave us a check for $8000 to hold it.”
    That was last July. Since then business has been well above expectations. They’ve sold 11 cars, six of them new ones. And poised on the showroom floor right now is one brilliant-red Ferrari 308 GTB certain to become a much sought after collector’s item. It is the Car and Driver test car. If you tell Charlie Kemp that you are a regular reader, he might even make you a deal. —Patrick Bedard

    Specifications

    SPECIFICATIONS
    1977 Ferrari 308GTB
    VEHICLE TYPEmid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe 
    PRICE AS TESTED (1977)$28,780 (base price: $28,780)
    ENGINE TYPE DOHC 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, 4×2-bbl Weber 40DCNF carburetorDisplacement 179 in3, 2927 cm3Power 240 hp @ 6600 rpmTorque 195 lb-ft @ 5000 rpm
    TRANSMISSION 5-speed manual
    CHASSIS Suspension (F/R): control arms/control armsBrakes (F/R): 10.6-in vented disc/10.9-in vented discTires: Michelin XWX, 205/70VR-14
    DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 92.1 inLength: 172.4 inWidth: 67.7 in Height: 44.1 inCurb weight: 3110 lb
    C/D TEST RESULTS60 mph: 7.9 sec100 mph: 21.1 sec1/4 mile: 16.0 sec @ 89 mphTop speed (C/D est): 140 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 220 ft

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    2021 Mercedes-AMG GLA45 Is Wild

    AMG wasted no time getting its hands on Mercedes’s smallest crossover, the new GLA. Compared to the 221-hp GLA250, the AMG GLA45 seems to be cut from entirely different cloth. There is an intermediate AMG GLA35 with at 302 horsepower, but the range-topping GLA45, with its 382-hp M139 engine, is the focus of this review.
    This same engine can be found in the GLA’s platform-mate, the CLA45. AMG extracts the 382 horsepower from a mere 2.0 liters of displacement. Force-fed by a single twin-scroll turbocharger, peak power comes at 6500 rpm, while maximum torque—354 pound-feet—is on tap from 4750 to 5000 rpm. Compared to the 302-hp GLA35, the 45’s cylinder head is completely different; its intake and exhaust ports are opposite to that of the GLA35. The turbo now occupies the real estate near the firewall, and the intake plenum sits out front. This setup optimizes airflow to feed this engine’s voracious appetite for oxygen and to better serve the powertrain’s cooling requirements.

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    Mercedes-AMG

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    If you think that a single large turbo is a recipe for turbo lag, the GLA45 may dissuade you of that notion. Mated to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic, the engine is so responsive that it largely resembles a naturally aspirated unit, except there’s great power at low rpm. Ripping through the gears, the GLA45 will charge to 60 mph in a conservative claim of 4.3 seconds—a 2018 GLA45 did the deed in 3.9—and the rush continues up to its terminal velocity, a claimed 155 mph. Even in quieter settings, the engine remains somewhat raspy and aggressive.
    Our GLA45 came with the AMG Dynamic Plus package that offers six driving modes that adapt the suspension, throttle-pedal feedback, sound, shift strategy, front-to-rear torque distribution, steering assist, and the permissiveness of the stability control. Switch to the Master setting, and the GLA45 will allow you to coax the crossover into an easily controllable drift. The Dynamic Plus package also includes adaptive dampers and larger front brake rotors clamped by six-piston calibers instead of four-pot binders.

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    Mercedes-AMG

    The Dynamic Plus package highlights and helps optimize the GLA45’s chassis hardware. Stiffened and fitted with body reinforcements, the AMG version has a tauter suspension with struts up front and multilink in the rear. The steering is ultra sharp and direct while the body control is firm and tight. It feels at the ready, attentively waiting for any driver input to translate into rapid moves. The variable torque split between the front and rear axles is controlled by an electronically controlled clutch pack, and a torque-vectoring rear differential distributes power between the rear wheels.
    The same interior that looks so clean and simple in the GLA250 is transformed by AMG with a somewhat-sportier steering wheel, firm and supportive performance seats, grippy microfiber elements, standard red stitching, and red seatbelts. The 10.3-inch instrument cluster features an AMG-specific Supersport gauge cluster that looks great, although it is not more informative than the regular gauges, which can still be selected.

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    Mercedes-AMG

    AMG seems to think that owners might take their GLA45 to a track. For those select few, there’s a Track Pace program that serves as a personal instructor, allowing the driver to record their favorite racetracks. Take it on the track, and the system feeds data into the instrument cluster or the head-up display to help improve lap times.
    What we don’t like about the GLA45 is common to all GLAs. We’re still fighting with the imprecise touchpad that operates the infotainment system, and even the GLA45 has a decidedly un-sporty column-mounted shifter. There’s also the matter of the GLA45 S, which isn’t available in the United States. At 415 horsepower, 369 pound-feet, and capable of 168 mph, it ladles out the power even more generously. But even without the S treatment, we can’t think of another crossover this size that’s more fun.

    Specifications

    Specifications
    2021 Mercedes-AMG GLA45
    VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback
    BASE PRICE (C/D EST) $55,000
    ENGINE TYPE turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port and direct fuel injectionDisplacement 122 in3, 1991 cm3Power 382 hp @ 6500 rpmTorque 354 lb-ft @ 4750 rpm
    TRANSMISSION 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
    DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 107.4 inLength: 174.6 inWidth: 72.8 inHeight: 62.5 inCurb weight (C/D est): 3600 lb
    PERFORMANCE (C/D EST) 60 mph: 3.9 sec100 mph: 9.7 sec1/4 mile: 12.4 secTop speed: 155 mph
    EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST) Combined/city/highway: 25/23/29 mpg

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    1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen Sparked a Revolution

    From the December 1986 issue of Car and Driver.
    One century and a few zillion miles by automobile later, the thrill of self-propulsion hasn’t diminished an iota. We know this is an absolute fact now that we’ve had the rare pleasure of driving a replica of the original automobile, described by Carl Benz in his 1886 patent.

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    The startup ritual is a trip in itself. White gas and water are added to the appropriate brass reservoirs behind the seat. The engine oilers are topped off with 30-weight. The carburetor is adjusted with a knurled knob located just under the seat. The ignition is switched on, and the trembler coil sounds for all the world like a modern-day key buzzer. Exposed crankshaft journals are lubricated with a squirt or two of oil, and the cylinder is primed with a fuel-air mix by giving the massive horizontal flywheel a few swings back and forth. Finally, the big wheel is spun rapidly, until the Benz engine fumph-fumph-sneeze-fumphs to life.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    The commotion that follows is vintage hurdy-gurdy: ringing gears, occasional small-caliber pops, frantic shaking, and the steady throb of primeval power. A mist of oil spray and partly burned fuel forms over the machinery, and the 0.88-hp three­-wheeler is ready to ride.
    The climb aboard is awkward but not as big a chore as mounting a horse. The small leather bench is reasonably comfortable, and the weight of a human on top of it damps some of the wild vibration. Managing the controls is child’s play. There is no throttle to worry about, because the engine runs virtually flat out all the time. Where you expect to find a steering wheel, there is a delicate tiller with a pointer attached to it: aim the pointer left and you go left, right and you turn right. Benz was clearly onto something here. A hand lever to the left of the seat takes care of everything else: you pull it back to apply power to the rear wheels, push it forward for neutral, and shove it farther forward to brake.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    The fumph-fumphs are fewer and further between as the engine shoulders the load. Gradually it settles into a strained but steady cadence; with each piston stroke, you feel as if a soft battering ram were thumping your solar plexus. When your hair wafts up and off your forehead in the breeze, you know you’re flat out.
    The term “acceleration” doesn’t quite fit a Benz in the act of forward motion. It gathers speed like a fog bank cresting a hill. Any kid on foot could beat it in a race.
    The Benz’s chassis dynamics are identical to those you’d experience while riding a kitchen stool propped on top of a wheel­chair. From your precarious perch, the wide eyes of the assembled masses blur by at knee level. Your eyes show no terror, though, because the inner ear acts as a gyrostabilizer, quickly settling your qualms and automatically applying the requisite body English while slowing or turning. Hard braking, full-power cornering, and breathless blasts of oil-spitting speed soon become comfortable maneuvers.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    It isn’t long before the hardworking Benz needs a break. As the engine boils off its supply of cooling water and the friction drive begins to warm and stretch the leather transmission belt, there is noticeably less power to play with. On our gradually sloping test strip, the three-wheeler demonstrates a distinct preference for the down direction. With the grade in our favor, we can easily exceed 10 mph (clocked by the photo car’s speedometer), but outside assistance is necessary on the uphill leg. Two tireless Mercedes-Benz technicians, Ernst Thiel and Hermann Stehling, supply people power from behind and keep a close watch over the machinery.
    Apprentices at the Mercedes-Benz factory constructed this replica of the original Benz Patentwagen and 32 other historic recreations for this year’s anniversary-of­-the-automobile celebration. Eleven duplicates each of Gottlieb Daimler’s 1885 motor bicycle, his 1886 four-wheel motor carriage, and Benz’s three-wheeler were crafted in loving detail to give visitors to museums and expositions around the globe an opportunity to study these forebear of the modem automobile.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    Interestingly enough, the three-wheel replicas deviate significantly from the patent drawings registered by Carl Benz on January 29, 1886. The notable discrepancies are in the layout of the frame, the steering linkage, the seat design, the fuel ­tank location, and the type of radiator. There is no evidence of brakes in the original patent drawings, either, though they were mentioned in Benz’s written disclosure. What the replicas do mimic is the oldest Benz trike still in existence, an artifact owned by the Deutsches Museum in Munich. Some historians mark it as the one true original, but the number of discrepancies between it and Benz’s drawings support the theory that it’s a slightly later development of his Patentwagen. Given the disagreement on how to spell Benz’s first name (both “Carl” and “Karl” are widely used), it’s easy to see how the historical record can lapse now and then.
    No archivists were on hand to document the birth of the automobile, because no one—not even the inventors—had an inkling of its ramifications. Carl Benz was an engine developer and dreamer who enjoyed little commercial success either before or for quite some time after receiving his patent. The epic document was modestly titled Vehicle with Gas-driven Engine. His specific patent claims were only two: a driver-adjustable fuel-air mixing device and the use of a shift lever both to move a drive belt and to actuate brakes.
    Griffith Borgeson, a former C/D contributor and current European editor of Automobile Quarterly (AQ), brings the details of the patent to light in a recent AQ commemorative to Mercedes-Benz. He goes on to list a significant number of inventions that were ready and waiting on the shelf when Benz built the Patentwagen. Rubber tires, wire wheels, ball bearings, roller chain, rack-and-pinion steering, differential drive gearing, lightweight steel frames—and even fully engineered and commercially available two-seat velocipedes—all were in existence in the early 1880s, according to Borgeson’s research.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    It’s clear that Benz didn’t create the first automobile lock, stock, and cylinder barrel from scratch. What he did do was combine three crucial elements—an engine with adequate power, a lightweight chassis, and petroleum-based fuel—in such a way that a patent could be issued and systematic development carried out.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    Several years of tinkering with two-­stroke engines lay behind Benz’s invention. Convinced that automobility would be possible if a reasonable power-to-­weight ratio could be achieved, he dreamed of building a vehicle that “runs under its own power like a locomotive, but not on tracks, but like a wagon simply on any street.” Four-stroke engines patented by Nikolaus Otto in 1877 led the way. They achieved a phenomenal 100 horsepower (for stationary use) by 1880, and tens of thousands of the engines themselves and licenses to build them were sold around the world. Other manufacturers, envious of Otto’s technology, waged a legal battle to break his hold on it; meanwhile, Carl Benz spent his time experimenting in secret. In the fall of 1884 he began work on a four-stroke, benzine-burning engine. It was running well enough by the following year to propel a three-wheeler around his courtyard. Confident that he had something to boast about and that Otto’s claim to the four-stroke engine would soon be broken, Benz filed for a patent. Ironically, it was issued only one day before the German supreme court ruled against Otto.
    The Benz three-wheeler is a fascinating mix of short-lived features and ideas that have stood the test of time. It rides on only three wheels because Benz hadn’t yet devised a way to steer a four-wheeler. (He found one in 1893.) The flywheel is positioned horizontally because Benz believed that the inertia of a heavy mass spinning vertically would make steering difficult. Benz’s engine wasn’t as powerful or as fast-running as others of the time, but it incorporated several prophetic details: positive intake- and exhaust-valve actuation, a float-controlled and exhaust-heated carburetor, and an ignition system comprising a spark plug, a battery, a coil, and breaker points.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    One of the weakest aspects of the three­-wheeler was its cooling system. A water jacket around the cylinder barrel was fed by a gallon reservoir located above. Circulation was supposed to take place by the thermosiphon method (steam rising to the reservoir and recondensing), but the system was practically a total-loss design and had to be replenished every mile or so.
    Bertha Benz gave Carl two sons, three daughters, and a road test. In 1888, tired of her husband’s incessant tinkering and lack of commercial success, she decided that a convincing demonstration might help get the automobile business rolling. Without Carl’s knowledge, Bertha took her sons and a developmental three­-wheeler on the first-ever cross-country automobile trip, to her mother’s home some 60 miles away. There were problems en route—climbing hills—but the trip was completed by nightfall.

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    George LeppCar and Driver

    What followed this first recorded unauthorized use of an automobile was the first user-inspired improvement of an automobile. Upon returning home, Benz’s sons, Eugen and Richard, complained loudly about all of the uphill pushing they had had to do on their journey. Carl responded by adding a lower gear to his design.
    Carl Benz’s family was there when he needed them, but it’s easy to understand why so many others found his three-­wheeler a poor substitute for the horse. It was, after all, slower, less aesthetically pleasing, and a good deal less reliable. In the intervening century, however, horses have gotten no faster. Their pollution problem is yet to be solved. They have utterly resisted development.
    Cars, on the other hand, started getting better when Bertha decided to teach Carl Benz a lesson in marketing. And they have never stopped.

    Specifications

    SPECIFICATIONS
    1886 Benz Patent Motorwagen
    VEHICLE TYPEmid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger progenitor
    ENGINE TYPEsingle-cylinder, iron block and head, 1×1-bbl carburetor Displacement58 in3, 954 cm3Power0.88 hp @ 400 rpmTRANSMISSION1-speed direct drive
    DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 57.1 inLength: 99.5 inWidth: 57.0 in Height: 57.1 inCurb weight: 600 lb
    PERFORMANCETop speed: 10 mph

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    Tested: 2020 BMW M8 Competition Rockets into Absurdity

    View Photos

    Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

    Q: How much “too much” is enough?A: More.
    The Hulk when Abomination finally succumbs. Patrick Bateman splatting his ax into Paul Allen. Marshawn Lynch powering into the end zone after punching his way through another defensive line. That cathartic moment after you’ve let the beast inside run wild, and you look back at what you’ve wrought, and you see that it is good. That’s how we imagine BMW’s engineers feel lately.

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    Even the regular 8-series can be had with up to 523 horses, 23 more than the E60 M5 that first stopped the general public in its tracks back in 2005. Five hundred horsepower? From a V-10? Wait. Back up. BMW made a V-10? And it revved to what? Back up further. Five hundred twenty-three horsepower is more than double the output of the 1988 E28, the car that first forged the M5 legend. But now, 523 is available in a regular BMW—well, technically it’s an M Performance model, but that’s just marketing malarkey.

    HIGHS: Good God, the power. And its ease of use.

    It sounds crazy, we know. But if 523 horsepower is crazy, then 600 is believing that porcelain doll propped up in the spare bedroom is Mother, and 617 is the happiness you feel when she hands you a plate of fresh cookies. But you aren’t hallucinating, and those really are your choices with the new M8: 600 horsepower from a twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V-8 or 617 in the M8 Competition.
    Hankering for a taste of the madness? (Hint: Yes, you are.) Set it to Sport mode, make sure the transmission is in its most aggressive setting, and Hulk-smash the brake first and then the gas. A notice flashes in the IP that launch control is engaged, and when you release the brake, the M8 smashes you back. It blasts through 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds and clears the quarter-mile in 10.7 at 129 mph. Just 15 seconds from stopped, it’s at nearly 150 mph. How’s this for an unexpected comparison? The M8 is quicker to 60 mph than a 710-hp Ferrari 488 Pista. With its tidier frontal area and significant power-to-weight advantage, the traction-on-launch-limited rear-drive Ferrari takes the lead by 100 mph, but that’s crazy performance from anything, especially something 16 feet long and weighing more than two tons. Goes to show how a car can leverage all-wheel drive to benefit acceleration.

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    Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

    You’ll likely need the carbon-ceramic brake rotors because every time you crack the whip, you’re going to be adding 15, 20, even 40 mph. The left pedal will get a lot of use hauling this much mass back down to responsible cornering speeds. On a tight road, there’s no finding your rhythm if you so much as touch the gas. It’s all eye-widening acceleration followed by panic braking. Good thing the Pirelli P Zero PZ4s cling to the skidpad at 1.03 g’s. With those tires and 15.7-inch rotors up front and 15.0s in the rear, the M8 sheds brake heat like Rambo does water. At the test track, its 70-mph panic stop required just 146 feet.

    LOWS: Looks so much like a Mustang; weighs so much more than one.

    The M8’s electrically assisted steering offers both variable assist and a variable-ratio rack. It’s not the most communicative, but it is awesomely immediate off-center, helping the car feel smaller than it is. To really feel the M8 contract around you, turn all the aids off, switch all the various powertrain and chassis settings to their most extreme modes, and cut the power to the front axle. The car takes its set in a corner, and a little prod of the gas only makes the outside-front tire squeal louder. But a big prod wags the tail nice and easy, and a puppy-dog spirit emerges and begs you to steer with the rear.

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    Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

    The big M8 isn’t quite as comfortable hanging it out as its predecessor, the M6, was, with less seamless transitions between a proper line and “woo-hoo!” The reluctance to indulge might be the fault of the extra weight over the nose, or maybe it’s the reduced tire stagger—the M6 wore 265s up front and 295s out back, while the M8 has 275s under the nose and 285s in the rear. Or maybe it’s the fact that the M8 is designed to be, and optimized for, all-wheel drive. But that playfulness is present, and regardless of why it’s diminished, it is a welcome (and unsurprising) discovery.

    BMW will paint your M8 Java Green Metallic for $5500, but we’d put that money toward keeping a ticket-fixing attorney on retainer.

    The 8-series designation returns for this generation—BMW having shelved it back in 1997—in an effort to reinvent prestige higher than the number 6 provides. But like the last generation of the 6-series, the 8 shares much of its architecture with the 5-series sedan. The M8 is actually 1.2 inches shorter than its M6 predecessor, a skosh wider, and a metric smidge lower.
    Mostly, though, it looks smaller because of the svelte new shaping. A sharp bone line runs along the door, vast concave scallops below it drawing visual tonnage from the profile. Similar suck-it-in-and-hold-it styling deflates the shapes along the hood and in the rear. Long, thin headlights with an aggressive squint flank an enlarged grille and gaping intakes in the lower fascia and only enhance the shrinking effect. But the car still carries visual heft. If the phrase “Big M8” doesn’t make you giggle, take a minute to Google it. You’re welcome.

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    Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

    But inside, the M8 is not so huge. The back seat isn’t as laughable as, say, the Aston Martin DB11’s, but being second funniest isn’t a good thing here. Even up front, the M8 wears passengers out. On our 2000-mile campaign against the mayflies of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we did a lot of fidgeting and would have stopped to stretch more than we did, but we prefer those bugs pulverized against the front fascia rather than tangled in our hair and buzzing down our backs. And the transmission tunnel forces an extreme pedal offset, which led to serious knee and ankle aches. Even so, the engine seems like it should maybe be pushed back farther still, considering the M8 carries 55.0 percent of its 4251 pounds over the nose.
    As the sportier version of an already obscenely powerful and heavy car, the M8 awkwardly straddles the line between the GT and sports-car worlds. It’s a little stiffer than the M850i but not quite as comfortable, and it isn’t as consistently excellent at balancing its two priorities. BMW’s new variable brake feel is a good example of this. In classic first-gen-innovation form, it’s not all that great in either of its two settings. It’s squishy in Comfort mode and less squishy but still unnatural in Sport. History has taught us that we will gripe about this for a couple years and then BMW will improve it and it’ll be fine. Right now, it’s not quite fine.

    The M Driver’s package raises top speed from 155 to 189 mph, but not to worry; it comes with a day of perform­ance-driving school.

    Even though the M8 is capable of lunatic shenanigans, we’re not sure it deserves such a wild color. It’s called Java Green Metallic, and there’s about a hectare of it here. That name makes no sense until you see it. It is caffeine for your eyeballs. Although maybe Drinking Ten 5-Hour Energys to Get Fifty Continuous Hours of Energy Green would have been more appropriate. A guy in an orange Mustang laughed at us. So did a kid with the sides and back of his head shaved and the mop on top bleached blond. We can’t say we blame them.

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    Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

    The M8 coupe starts at $134,995. The base price for an M8 Competition is $147,995. The car we tested is about as expensive as you can make an M8—or any BMW other than a fully loaded M760i. The custom paint cost $5500; the ceramic brakes, $8150. Carbon-fiber exterior trim adds $5400 to the bottom line, the 16-speaker Bowers & Wilkins stereo accounts for $3400, and the active safety stuff that we switched off immediately every single time we turned on the car, $2800. It might not seem worth $2500 to raise your top-speed limiter from 155 to 189 mph, but trust us when we say the time will probably come when, on an empty freeway, you mat the throttle and are surprised to see a number greater than 155 in the head-up display. To help prepare you for this moment, that option also scores you a day at a BMW high-performance driving school.
    Yes, our car’s $175,745 price seems crazy, but what’s crazier is that this is one of the cheapest ways to get into the 10s in the quarter-mile. That the M5 Competition will do it for some $60,000 less and includes an extra set of doors makes this M8 seem almost sane.

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    Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

    Counterpoint
    Typically when launching a vehicle, you’ll notice some engine wailing, torque-converter stalling, and adrenaline-building drama leading up to the event. The M8 Competition is different. With the driveline preloaded and the reactor out front snarling at a launch-control-determined 2800 rpm, the M8 blasts off without a chirp of the tire, shifting twice before 60 mph. Need 170 mph in 22.0 seconds? Easy. Please spare me the Java Green hue. Acceleration this unassuming deserves something more subtle. —David Beard

    Specifications

    Specifications
    2020 BMW M8 Competition
    VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, rear/all-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
    PRICE AS TESTED $175,745 (base price: $147,995)
    ENGINE TYPE twin-turbocharged and intercooled V-8, aluminum block and headsDisplacement 268 in3, 4395 cm3Power 617 hp @ 6000 rpmTorque 553 lb-ft @ 1800 rpm
    TRANSMISSION 8-speed automatic
    CHASSIS Suspension (F/R): multilink/multilinkBrakes (F/R): 15.7-in vented, cross-drilled, carbon-ceramic disc/15.0-in vented, cross-drilled carbon-ceramic discTires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4; F: 275/35ZR-20 102Y ★ R: 285/35ZR-20 104Y ★
    DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 111.3 inLength: 191.8 inWidth: 75.1 inHeight: 53.6 inPassenger volume: 81 ft3Trunk volume: 15 ft3Curb weight: 4251 lb
    C/D TEST RESULTS 60 mph: 2.5 sec100 mph: 6.3 sec150 mph: 15.5 sec170 mph: 22.0 secRolling start, 5–60 mph: 3.5 secTop gear, 30–50 mph: 2.3 secTop gear, 50–70 mph: 2.4 sec1/4 mile: 10.7 sec @ 129 mphTop speed (mfr’s claim): 189 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 146 ftBraking, 100–0 mph: 288 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 1.03 gStanding-start accel times omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.
    C/D FUEL ECONOMY Observed: 15 mpg
    EPA FUEL ECONOMY Combined/city/highway: 22/19/26 mpg More

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    Tested: 1978 Porsche 928 Changes the Sports Car Game

    From the June 1977 issue of Car and Driver.
    Davis: We drove the cars on Saturday morning. Stepping out into the courtyard at the Mas d’Artigny, high above Nice, we could peer out through the gate to the parking lot and see a whole bouquet of gleaming Porsche 928s awaiting our pleasure. Sun shining, temperature about 45 degrees Fahrenheit, a perfect day to drive the most spectacular production car to come along in ten years.

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    Most of the cars arrayed before us were white, but there were just enough reds and dark metallic blues (like our cover car) to provide contrast and dramatize the stunning effect of the white ones. I’d already climbed all over the car they’d had on display the night before in the hotel conference room, but sitting in that navy-and-olive-checkered seat, knowing that I was about to fire it up and drive it away, put my old adrenal glands on full red alert. There doesn’t seem to be anything ordinary or commonplace on the whole car.
    The instrument panel is adjustable in concert with the steering column. Release the flat latch on the column’s underside and the whole steering wheel/instrument cluster can be raised or lowered to suit your demands. Since the height adjustment precludes an adjustment for reach, the pedals can be moved. All this, plus the range of seat adjustment, makes it almost impossible to be uncomfortable in the 928.
    As I sat there fiddling with the controls and waiting for Yates to join me, 928 project engineer Helmut Flegl squatted at my elbow and said, “Put it in first.” I swung the lever over to the left and pushed it straight ahead. “Put it in first,” he said again. So I came back to neutral, reflected for a moment, then put it back where I’d had it in the first place. “That’s second, put it in first!” Oh god, I haven’t even started the engine and I’ve already made a fool of myself. First in the all-­new Porsche five-speed manual is down and to the left, in the same plane as reverse. This makes it possible for the gears most often used to lie in the conventional H-pattern we all know and love. It makes perfect sense, once you’re told where first is. A Mercedes-Benz three­-speed automatic built to Porsche specifications will be offered as an alternative, though none was available for us to try out at the introduction.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    We were to drive a 108-mile loop that took us from our hotel at Vence, west through the hills overlooking the French Riviera to Grasse, thence to Draguignan and back to home base via the Auto­route. The first leg was mine, and Yates immediately began to get carsick. We tried to deal with the problem via the vents, but the ventilating system just wasn’t up to the job, so we were forced to make the whole run with the windows cracked open. Yates’s malady was traced to the unpleasant smell of under­coating that seemed to permeate our car. The inability of the ventilation system to deal with it was unforgivable. Any American car, any BMW 320i would have kept the air inside fresh and odor­-free.
    We began our drive by getting lost. After screaming past the same bemused villagers from several different directions, we spotted a sign for Grasse and we were on our way. The flexibility of the car’s all-aluminum V-8 is remarkable, and we found that three gears would be quite ample to transmit all that power under any circumstance. The five-speed box is really a cosmetic device in this car, so willing is the engine. The 928 is the most stable and reassuring Porsche I have ever driven. Coming off a rough corner in any intermediate gear, at any point in the mid-rev range, you just open the throttle and the sensation is like that of dialing up a rheostat. More and more and faster and faster, change up, the process repeats itself, and so on until the trees are all blurred and the kilometer stones seem to be coming by every ten seconds. The car never hints that this awesome display of advanced vehicle dynamics is anything out of the ordinary. A driver’s car, unquestionably, but a very civilized touring car at the same time. Yates says that the 928 is the fulfillment of an old enthusiast’s dream—the sports-racing car tamed tor use on the street—and he’s right.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    Setright: The Dynamics of the Idea. The late Dr. Ferdinand Porsche pursued, as a car designer, a retrogressive career. He began as the first protagonist of front-wheel drive, when working for Lohner. He proceeded, or perhaps receded, by designing for Mercedes-Benz some front-engine, rear-wheel-drive cars of some historical and considerable aesthetic importance. Finally he made his name inseparably linked with cars whose rear wheels were driven by engines immediately in front of, or behind, them. In the Grand Prix racing cars he proposed for Auto Union, the otiose weight of a propeller shaft and its infringement upon the ideal location of the driver (and hence upon either the frontal area or the transmission efficiency of the car) combined with the superior traction given by the greater load on the rear tires of the inherently tail-heavy car to give it a theoretical advantage in performance over the then-more conventional rivals, although the solecisms of his independent suspension made that advantage always difficult and often impossible to realize in practice. In the people’s car that he created for the KdF (Kraft durch Freude: Strength through Joy) movement, superior traction again constituted an attraction of driving in mountainous or agricultural country, and this combined with the advantages of mechanical simplicity and unrivaled manufacturing economy to make the tail-engine Volkswagen a similarly persuasive design. After the fall of Hitler (a customer whom he accorded surprisingly scant respect), the remembered glamour of the Auto Union and the revived availability of useful components from Volkswagen offered another persuasive combination, which led to a series of rear-engine sporting cars that have borne the name of Porsche with increasing distinction through all the years that have followed. No such arguments, neither the exigencies of racing nor the constraints of humble circumstances, could prevail upon his successors in title when they conceived the 928 as a materially new answer to a notionally old question.
    In a car weighing 3200 pounds, a modest length of Cardan shaft is not an insupportable burden. In a car putting 1.2 square feet of tractive rubber firmly in contact with the road, there is no need to pile a quarter of a ton of engine on top of them to amplify a grip that is already sufficient. In a car whose occupants, sit­ting side by side, may be presumed to require more elbow and shoulder room than they need at pelvic level, the separation of their seat cushions by a drive­shaft tunnel has no effect upon the frontal area of the car, nor much effect on the sociability of its passengers.
    On the contrary, the 928 has been made as a dynamic dumbbell, with its major masses disposed at its extremities to give it a high polar moment of inertia. The effect of this has been exaggerated by an admittedly deliberate attempt to keep the wheelbase short, an attempt so successful that the overall length of the car is 78-percent greater than the length of the wheelbase. Porsche may come in time to regret this piling of Tedium upon Ossian, for it has an unnecessarily cramping effect upon the room in the posterior seats: It would have done little behavioral harm and much spatial good had the whole apparatus been stretched by a few inches inserted between the axles. The car is only fourteen feet, eight inches long, the same as a Lotus Elite; if it grew another four inches it would still be a foot shorter than a Jaguar XJ-S. However that may be, it seems that Porsche recognized that it was going to build a car with uncommonly good responses and that, if an ordinary driver’s capabilities were not to be unreasonably strained, it would be advisable to exploit a fairly high polar moment to mollify the twitchiness that they would otherwise have expected.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    A high polar moment of inertia is not altogether a good thing. Its advantages have been sought in the yawing plane where it makes no small contribution to directional stability. All too frequently overlooked (remember the MGC?) is its effect in the pitching plane, where the high-pitch frequency and small-pitch amplitude of a rear-engine or mid-engine car (or indeed any other with a low polar moment of inertia) is altogether preferable. Yet if these two pitch factors can be separated, the picture may be changed: A low-pitch frequency can be more restful, provided that the pitch amplitude is not suffered to grow correspondingly larger as it would if uncorrected. The means of correction are a commonplace of modern suspension design: By geometrical artifices that resist tail-squat in acceleration and nose­dive in braking, the detrimental habits of a short-wheelbase car with a high polar moment of inertia can be eradicated, leaving the advantages unobscured.
    Even more important than the polar moments of such a car is the position of its center of gravity, which in the 928 is located ideally at mid-wheelbase. The weight distribution of a rear-engine car is inimical to that first-class adhesion for the front wheels that is particularly important in a fast car. This would be most apparent when the car was in the acceleration mode, when the opposition of its great tractive effort at the rear wheels and the inertia of the car’s mass acting through its center of gravity would produce a transfer of load onto the rear wheels and off those at the front. This transfer is sufficient in a front-engine but well-balanced car such as the 928 to insure an adequate coefficient of friction between the rear tires and the road so as to permit full-power acceleration without wheelspin. It would be a mistake to suppose that its needs are extravagant: Capable of accelerating from standstill to 62 mph at an average rate of 0.42 g, the 928 will not exceed a peak instanta­neous rate of 0.77 g in bottom gear.
    The value of weight transfer on the front tires is greater in braking, where again the adhesion between the tires and the road increases in proportion to the vertical load on the tires. Even when the car is merely in the overrun condition, this forward load transfer is significant, though its magnitude is naturally less; but the concatenation of Pirelli P7 tires, anti-dive suspension, and beautifully judged balance makes it feasible that on a suitable surface a rate of retardation of 1.2 g might be reached, and this may informatively be compared with the rate of acceleration already quoted.
    There is a further disadvantage common to tail-heavy cars that the balance and morphology of the 928 naturally combat. In a well-streamlined car (and it is inconceivable that Porsche should produce any other), the aerodynamic center of pressure moves forward as the speed increases: Should it move ahead of the center of gravity, the car becomes directionally unstable. There are sundry body-shaping tricks that can serve in mitigation, but most of them look ugly or increase drag if not both.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    Davis: As Yates began to feel better with the windows open and I became accustomed to the 928, we began to hurry. The power steering is a Porsche design, using a special Bosch pump, and its boost eases off as the speed increases. It is about as good as any power-assisted steering we have ever driven. The car behaves itself even when driven by an over-enthusiastic editor/publisher fresh from America’s polite traffic and boring speed limits. Only once did it stumble, and then I couldn’t get it to repeat its mistake. Yates got out to take some pictures, and I was manfully tossing around the selected corner, lifting abruptly as I got past his position on the roadside. Once, not quite off the corner, I lifted my foot and the tail jumped to the outside quite abruptly; exactly the sort of behavior the Weissach axle (see Mr. Setright below) is supposed to prevent.
    Setright: The Suspension and Steering. The more I examine the 928 specifications, the more I see the car as a commercial version of the jewelescent Pagaso Z103 that preceded it by twenty years. Alas, commercial is almost always a pejorative term, and in this case its use may be unfair. Yet we must remember the firm’s reason, after years of building low-polar-moment cars in the tradition of the Grand Prix Auto Union P-­Wagen, for suddenly turning out a high­ polar-moment job in the idiom of that racer’s rival, the GP Mercedes-Benz: “We have done so because we cannot find 15,000 customers named Bernd Rosemeyer!” In other words, it is better for Porsche to perform a volte face in the showroom than for a customer to do one on the road.
    Nor would it find so many ready to pay dearly for something as severe as the Pegaso. If anything distinguishes the modern sporting car from the old-fashioned sort (and on the evidence of these two cars, there cannot be much), it must be the compliance that is built into the modern one to insulate it and its occupants from the lively tattoo of the tires beating on the road surface. Today’s radial is a snare drum, from which every flam and paradiddle is transmitted to the car’s structure through the most direct route, which is the suspension linkage. Some resilience is necessary in its joints if the vibrations are to be mollified; in particular, the Pirelli P7 needs longitudinal compliance to soften the exceptional longitudinal stiffness of its belts. This degree of freedom is built into the lower wishbone pivots at front and rear.
    Porsche sought American advice on the translation of the 928 specifications into English and got into a terrible mess when it came to the suspension. Somehow the company was tricked into talk of trailing arms, but the reality is double wishbones—and if you dislike the term, would you be any happier with the kinematic engineers’ “four-bar linkage”? It might mean more than Porsche’s new term for its rear suspension, called the Weissach axle.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    Weissach is the place where they have a test track, and there is no axle. There is just a four-bar linkage, but the lower bar is wishbone-shaped and pivots about a diagonal axis on elastic bushes. These suffer axial compression when the wheels are driving the car; on the overrun, they extend themselves again and thus give the rear wheels a measure of toe-out. It happens in lots of cars, especially in the 911: Lift-off oversteer has become the handling hazard supreme. A study of cornering accidents revealed that most of the cars involved ended their gyrations inside the corner: Each driver thought he was going too fast and naturally lifted his foot from the accelerator pedal, producing a sharp nosing into the corner that only made his predicament seem more acute. In the 928, the cure is another degree of freedom in the front pivot of the rear bottom wishbone: As movement in one (induced by variations in tractive or braking thrust) tends to toe the wheel outwards, similarly induced movement in the other toes it commensurately inwards. The result is as near to neutrality or insensitivity to throttle as is possible in a short-wheelbase car with a great potential for longitudinal load transfer. The transfer might be more remarked were it not for the anti-dive geometry of the front suspension and the anti-squat at the rear. In both cases it is of the inertial type, which does not interfere so much with steering geometry—and in the 928 it would be bad otherwise. The negative scrub radius of the steering demands that castor be reduced to a minimum, because its jacking effect as the wheel is turned is aggravated by the king-pin inclination, instead of being reduced by it as in conventional steering geometry. Porsche has been unable to cram the entire length of the kingpost inside the wheel, so it has to be tilted rather steeply to give the negative offset it sought. Even so, the jacking effect is likely to be considerable: Unwinding lock when going slowly in the 928 would be hard work without the ZF power steering.
    Davis: At the halfway point, coffee was laid on by the Porsche people in a little bistro near St. Cezaire. I was rushing along at a great rate, charging through one downhill second-gear corner after another, when suddenly there was old Karl E. Ludvigsen, sitting, drinking his coffee right where I seemed to be headed, about a hundred meters straight ahead. It was the coffee stop. Yates shouted, I went for first gear and braked quite sharpishly into the parking lot past Ludvigsen, who watched coolly over the edge of his expresso cup. As we disembarked, he ambled down and allowed as how ours was the most spectacular arrival so far.
    Looking at the test cars in the parking lot, perched on the edge of a deep gorge complete with a mountain stream rushing below at full chat, we couldn’t help being impressed with the “rightness” of the design. The absence of wheel flares and spoilers is especially welcome. The night before, designer Tony Lapine had said, “One of the nicest things about a completely new design is the fact that we can do it right. Spoilers and wheel flares simply show that the engine and suspension have become faster than the shape. The 911 Turbo has to look the way it does, but the 928 can be clean—at least until it starts going faster.” To prove his point, the 928 is only fractionally less efficient in aerodynamic terms than the winged and spoilered Turbo.
    To prove the flexibility of the engine, Yates managed to exit the parking lot in third gear, mentioning that he thought it was an extraordinarily long first. I waited until I was sure the fancy double-plate clutch would hold before commenting. The undercoating smell got to me a bit too, but like an enthusiastic traveling dog, I breathed deeply at the open window and kept myself well. Yates thought the clutch was spongy and slow in response. I hadn’t noticed it, but the suggestion has been made that this could be related either to its two-plate construction or the great mass of drive shaft with which it must deal.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    When we struck the Autoroute below Draguignan, Yates went mad and laid it on 230 kph for about twenty miles. Now, one must bear in mind that the Auto­route, though wide, is not straight, and on that particular day they were allowing other people to drive upon it—God knows why. We smoked past car after car, a sort of parade of European tourists going by in reverse, a film run backwards. I maintained some semblance of courage by doing a running parody of French CB, if there was any: “‘Ay Beavair, een zat Deux Cheveau four-wheeler, what’s you ‘andle, come back? You got eet copy of me zair, Beavair? Zees eez zee Ugly American, headed for zat Nice-town. ‘Ow she look ovair you shoulder, keed?” Yates didn’t even notice my forced jollity. He just blew off everybody in southern France.
    Setright: The Engine. Six years have passed since Mr. Jackson of Petrol Injection Ltd., realizing the shortcomings of all fuel-injection systems including his own Tecalemit-Jackson apparatus, created a new one in which a pair of butterflies in series created a constant-depression metering chamber so that at long last the mass air flow could be directly measured instead of being indirectly (and inaccurately) inferred. Thereafter, an impressively short interval was allowed to pass by Bosch before it produced its own clumsier but equally efficacious version. Since that time, the Bosch K-Jetronic injection system has been an enormous success, and it comes as no surprise to find Bosch dominating the scene in the engine compartment of the new P-Wagen. Very modern and European it makes it look; but let us look back a few more years.
    Sixteen years, at least, have passed since Chrysler devised a formula where­with to calculate the length of intake ducts that would insure the greatest amplification of the engine’s volumetric efficiency at the desired speed for maximum torque. The length of each of the eight ram pipes feeding the Porsche 928’s inlet ports accords with that formula, to set the peak of the torque curve at 3600 rpm, when it renders 267.6 foot­-pounds, corresponding to a brake mean­ effective pressure of 149 pounds per square inch.
    European and American engineering are blended well in the 928 motor, surely the nearest thing yet seen to a mid-Atlantic engine. It is a 90-degree V-8 with a two-plane crankshaft, zero-lash hydraulic tappets and parallel valves arranged in line to open into cuneiform combustion chambers allowing a modest inlet ­valve area approaching nineteen percent of the piston area. Mostly Michigan, so far, but each row of valves is surmounted by an overhead camshaft, driven by a toothed nylon belt (the longest yet), and the heads are clamped down by long shear-relieved resilient studs seated at the bottoms of the cylinders. Aping a current European fad, the entire engine from heads to sump is a stacked­-up sandwich of light-alloy die castings, the cylinder block being of the open-­deck style that always makes for good coolant flow but sometimes creates sealing problems. The Western influence shows in the material of the block: It is the high-silicon Reynolds 930 alloy that permits the relief-etched bores to be unlined, given suitably coated pistons.
    Another fashion enjoying some currency among European engine-men is for the crankcase to be split along the plane of the main bearings’ axis, the nether half taking the form of a ladder or crate embodying all the main bearing caps. The idea is to improve the rigidity of the crankshaft’s support, but it is a poor way of holding the base of the block in shape. Chrysler’s system of deep skirts embracing caps that are bolted up and across but not through (a vital distinction seldom appreciated in Europe) has more to commend it, but Porsche (probably for production convenience) has chosen the latter and suffered for it: An oil-pressure relief gallery had to be introduced before the thing would remain weep-free, despite the miracle-of-modern-science plastic gasket that alone was thought capable of perfectly sealing the joint. Es irrt der Mensch so lang er streht (Man errs so long as he strives): Goethe must have known a thing or two about engineering.

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    Ken Osburn/Brock YatesCar and Driver

    So did Ts’ai-ken t’an, the Taoist who wrote: “The stillness in stillness is not the real stillness. Only when there is stillness in movement can the spiritual rhythm appear.” We may scarcely doubt that he was referring to the balancing of the inertia forces in an engine: When the pistons assume a momentary stillness at top or bottom of the stroke, primary inertia forces reach their maxima but are easily counterweighted by a two-plane V-8 crankshaft, whereas the secondary forces due to connecting-rod angularity reach their greatest values at about mid ­stroke, when piston acceleration is fiercest. The problem can be eased by making the rods as long as possible (if they were infinitely long, the problem would disappear), but long rods make a V-8 both tall and wide. Porsche makes the con rods of the 928 a little shorter than the conventional length between centers, which is twice the stroke: At 1.92 times, they result in the piston acceleration at maximum safe engine speed (6300 rpm) reaching 70,980 feet per second. Thus the wrist pin is burdened twice each revolution by a piston that bears on it with 2204 times its own static weight. The pin looks as though it can stand it, as it should—such loadings are about average for a modern engine. The rods themselves, though, are rather special, being made by sintering die-compacted steel powder, followed by a coining to improve the mechanical properties. It is a good process, resulting in rods that are lighter than forgings and stronger than castings.
    A sensitive driver will never put them to the 2204-g test. With maximum power (240 horses) rendered at 5250 rpm and 133 pounds per square inch bmep, and with the gearbox ratios so closely and evenly spaced, there is little point in revving the 928 beyond 5700 or even 5500 rpm, and even less to be gained if the option of an automatic transmission is exercised. Even without the benefits of hydrokinetic conversion, the engine’s full-throttle torque exceeds 81 percent of maximum all the way from 5600 down to 1500 rpm. Would it be mischievous to point out that the shape of its torque curve is very much like that of the old Chrysler Ramcharger?
    Davis: After our drive, we had lunch with Tony Lapine and probably bored him with our boyish enthusiasm. Lapine is one of the good guys. I knew him in Detroit in 1953, when he was laboring at GM Styling and sports cars were slow. Funny that somebody who was just one of the guys around Detroit over twenty years ago would be sitting here with us in Nice, about to become no-fooling-honest-to-gosh famous when the 928 hits the streets.
    After lunch I took a nap. When I awoke it was getting dark, and all the other guys had taken a bus to Monaco and then to dinner at some Mexican restaurant. I wandered into the bar and found one of the Porsche people who graciously suggested that I have dinner with his party instead. As it turned out, his party included Dr. Ernst Fuhrmann, the head man at Porsche, and my trip was made.
    Dr. Fuhrmann is a feisty little gent, deceptively dove gray in color. His suit, his hair, his eyes all suggest a monochrome until he begins to speak. As he warms up, he begins to shift into the translucent grays and blues of an industrial diamond-flashing, sparkling, by turns ironic and comic. A very stimulating and entertaining dinner companion.
    After the formalities were over and the first bottle of wine was two-thirds gone, he asked, “Why do Americans buy Porsches? They can’t drive them as they are meant to be driven.” I answered that even under America’s Victorian speed laws, a Porsche was still a rewarding car to drive, that Americans treasured its mechanical sophistication and respected its potential, even though they might never experience its performance at the absolute limit.

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    He then said, “It’s not surprising that a car that is designed to be good at 230 kph would be good at 100. It would be very surprising if cars designed to be good at 100 kph could be good at 230. Our cars are not as they are because we are better engineers than General Motors. Our cars are as they are because Germany has no speed limits. If I was running General Motors or Ford, my cars would probably seem just as dumb as Estes’s or Ford’s. I run a small company with very few customers, and it is easy for me to look smart—only my risks are proportionately greater.”
    He warmed to his subject as we wrecked a perfect sea bass and ordered red wine for the cheese. “I design cars for a thousand people or so. I don’t have to design cars for everybody. At Daimler­-Benz or General Motors, I would have to listen to this one or that one: ‘The car is too small; it is too big; old people won’t like it; it must have four doors.’ I am in an enviable position. If I don’t like it, it won’t get built.”
    “One man can design a car. A small group of men can design a car. But a large group of men will always design gray mice. I promise you that anyone who has owned a Turbo or a 928 for one year will never forget it. On the other hand, a man who has owned a gray mouse—no matter how good it is—will look back twenty years later and say to his wife, ‘What was that car we had? It was a very good one, but I can’t remember the name.’ ”
    I asked Dr. Fuhrmann about Tony Lapine. He thought about my question for a moment, then grinned wickedly and said, “He is, of course, crazy. But that is my problem. One does not expect to ride a fine, spirited horse without some trouble. He is not your average citizen; he is one of the best and that will make anyone unusual.”
    This was the transition point. After reflecting on Tony Lapine for a moment, he was led to comment on the kind of company Porsche is. “We can bring a new design to market two years faster than Daimler-Benz. We can act out of simple conviction in a way that the giants cannot. For instance, we committed 200 million Deutschmarks to the 928 project in 1974—against annual sales of only 600 million. In 1974, mind you, when nobody would give you a penny for the future of the sports car. There was an energy crisis, a recession, and most of the people running car companies had—I don’t know how to say this nicely in English—uh, brown in their underwear. But we went ahead. We couldn’t look back.”
    “The 928 is not ‘the car of the year.’ It’s a car for the Eighties, a car for the decade. We think it’s the car of the future. The 911 is the end-product of twenty years’ development. The 928 is only the beginning of a new era.”

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    “In the old days, we developed our cars the hard way. We had no test track, no fancy instruments. We used the public roads and our own asses. Now we are much more sophisticated, with the most comprehensive facilities for research and development. But when it’s time to make the decisions, we still have to drive the cars and trust our asses. There is no other way. How it feels is more important than what the instruments tell you.”
    “You know Zora Arkus-Duntov? He was very helpful to us in our early development. He drove for us at Le Mans, in the 1100cc class, and in those days our cars suffered from instability. He told us what was wrong. Not how to fix it, but at least what he knew the problem was. Years later, General Motors sent a Corvette Sting Ray, one of the first ones, over here for Auto Motor und Sport to test, and they said it was undrivable. Arkus-Duntov flew over to see what was wrong, and they all went to Hockenheim and ran on the short circuit there. Duntov drove the Corvette, and one of their editors drove an NSU Sport Prinz, about 1000cc, and they lapped him in fifteen laps. They couldn’t tell him what was wrong, you see, but they did point out that his car had a problem. Maybe he learned something from that.”
    Now we left the dinner table and went to the bar, where I had a Williams pear brandy and he had a scotch. Swirling the scotch and its ice cubes, he said, “Speed is what automobiles are all about. If it wasn’t so, we would walk. The government cannot legislate a value on speed, or any limitation of it. They cannot set our priorities for us…they don’t know how fast I want to go or how soon I must be where I’m going. Speed has little to do with energy conservation. The United States has speed limits, and it wastes more gasoline than Germany uses. Is that fair? No. Speed is what it’s all about.”
    Setright: The Transmission and Driveline. Given the generous torque and the characteristic K-Jetronic flexibility of the 928, it makes sense for top gear to be direct-drive, that being the quietest and least consumptive. If it had no other virtue, the arrangement would at least preserve us from lots of ill-defined talk about whether a geared-up ratio actually constituted an overdrive; instead we can content ourselves with the knowledge that the highest gear of the 928 is a fairly long-striding one, such that at the 143 mph declared by Porsche to be conservative maximum speed, the crankshaft is turning 5400 revolutions to the minute. The four lower ratios are all indirect and are beautifully close, getting closer with every succeeding upward change. Without exceeding 5500 rpm, that gives 40, 59, 80 and 108 mph for the indirect gears, all of them naturally Porsche-synchronized and selected by a double-rod linkage contrived to isolate the shift lever from vibrations.
    The whole cog cluster is in a liberally finned casing integrated with the final drive, on the end of a tubular beam rigidly fixed to the barrel-housing at the back of the engine. Through this tube passes a multi-piece drive shaft supported in a couple of bearings to prevent whirling of its slender and torsionally flexible wheel. Its dimensions (the shaft is less than an inch in diameter) are governed not only by the torque it has to transmit, though that in itself is significant: The maximum torque multiplication is in bottom gear, by a factor of 3.601, and were the gearbox bolted to the back of the engine, the shaft would have to be sturdy enough to cope with 964 pound-feet of torque. Instead, the shaft never has to transmit more than the engine supplies, so it can be as surprisingly slender as it is. All that needs to be determined is the clutch location, and this is something that has provoked argument ever since these polarized transmissions first came into use.
    When the clutch is disengaged to permit a gear change, the driven plate rotates with the gearbox input shaft, adding its rotational inertia to the other rotating masses that have to be accelerated or braked by the synchromesh. The more power the clutch has to transmit, the greater its diameter tends to be, and its rotational inertia increases as the square of that diameter; so Porsche has done the sensible and expensive thing that follows as a matter of course in motorcycles and racing cars, increasing the number of clutch plates and thus their frictional area while allowing their diameter and rotational inertia to be minimized. So far, the thinking is sound, and, if the clutch were at the tail of the drive shaft, that shaft could be made larger in diameter, perhaps as a thin-walled tube, reducing its whirling tendencies, increasing its strength and stiffness (notably in torsion), and fitting it admirably to share with the clutch driving-plates some of the duties of the engine flywheel, enabling that customarily burdensome component to be made just a little less substantial.
    Instead, Porsche has put its nice new clutch on the back of the flywheel, right behind the engine, just where you would expect to find it in a more humdrum car. The result is that, when the clutch is disengaged, not only its driven plates but also the entire length of the drive-shaft assembly is added to the rotating masses whose inertia must be overcome by the long-suffering synchromesh mechanism. To minimize this rotational inertia, the shaft has to be made as slender as possible, and in the process acquires a flexibility in torsion that may be thought undesirable. Not only does it make the driveline feel rather elastic, it also strengthens the possibility of resonant torsional vibrations passing through that slender shaft. Perhaps we need not worry unduly: Porsche’s designers may have nodded when drafting the layout, but they must have done their subsequent sums well enough to insure that torsional oscillations never become intrusive or dangerous. Why else do you suppose that the driveline is an assembly of short shafts, rather than one long one?
    Davis: Soon you’ll be able to buy a Porsche with a 4.5-liter aluminum V-8 engine in the front. It will be nearly as fast as the Turbo, ten times easier to drive and a lot less trouble to own. It will cost you almost $25,000, but if you can afford it, it will be the car of which you’ve always dreamed. Furthermore, it will make you the envy of every red-blooded adult male in the civilized world.
    About once every ten years, some car comes along that forces the automotive community to re-examine all of its preconceptions and conventional wisdom. The Porsche 928 is exactly that kind of automotive phenomenon. It will blow your mind, knock your socks off, toss your hat in the creek. If some Philistine should suggest that you could buy a pretty nice mobile home for the same money, stick your fingers into his nose and rip it off his face. For ten years or more Motor Trend and Road & Track have been bilking gullible citizens into purchasing magazines with “The All­ New Mid-Engine Corvette for 1968-70-75-80-85” (choose one). When this Porsche hits the street, an all-new mid­-engine Corvette will look at least a day late and a dollar short.
    Porsche purists are already muttering that the 928 is not a “real” Porsche. They are, of course, entitled to their opinions, but they are also, of course, wrong. The 928 is an almost poetic reaffirmation of Porsche’s bedrock understanding and appreciation of the fundamental automotive verities. It is a sensational car. Its technology is such that it could have been a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz—and either firm would be delighted to have it, thank you—but only Porsche conceived it and had the courage to bring it to market. In 1974 with annual sales of $240 million, with the energy crisis and its speed limits and predictions of gloom and doom all around, Porsche committed $80 million to the realization of a totally new high-performance sports car, a super-car that would put everybody back to Square One over­night. Brave guys.
    Cars like the Mercedes-Benz 450SLC and the Chevrolet Corvette suddenly look very obsolete indeed. The BMW 630CSi instantly becomes a bit more ordinary than its specifications and performance originally led us to believe. This is a new car. Not a rehash, not a copy of somebody else’s successful theme, not a refined agglomeration of sedan components, this new Porsche is as fresh and exciting as the first Porsche 1300 Super I drove in 1953, and it will have the same dramatic effect on the enthusiast world’s notions and perceptions. It will be controversial, but it will become the standard by which other sports cars are judged for at least the next decade.

    Specifications

    Specifications
    1978 Porsche 928
    VEHICLE TYPE front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
    PRICE AS TESTED (C/D EST) $23,000
    ENGINE TYPE SOHC 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement 273 in3, 4474 cm3Power 240 hp @ 5250 rpmTorque 268 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm
    TRANSMISSION 5-speed manual
    CHASSIS Suspension (F/R): control arms/control armsBrakes (F/R): vented disc/vented discTires: Pirelli P7, 225/50VR-16
    DIMENSIONS Wheelbase: 98.4 inLength: 175.0 inWidth: 72.3 inHeight: 51.7 inCurb weight: 3197 lb
    PERFORMANCE (FACTORY DATA) 62 mph: 6.8 sec100 mph: 13.5 secTop speed (mfr’s est): 140 mph

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