Car Reviews

There’s never been a meaningful reason to choose any GMC pickup truck over its mechanically identical Chevrolet sibling. But that might be changing with GM’s latest generation of mid-size trucks, the GMC Canyon and Chevy Colorado, both of which are redesigned for 2023. The two are still twins underneath, but the Canyon now packages the Colorado’s best optional elements across its lineup, making it an enticing choice if you can stomach the price.Both these trucks offer fewer configurations than before, with the regular-cab and long-bed options discontinued. That means a crew cab with a shorter five-foot bed is the only combination left, and a turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four is standard across the board. But while the Chevrolet offers five trim levels and three engine-output levels, GMC has simplified things even further. Every 2023 Canyon has the 2.7-liter’s top output configuration—producing 310 horsepower and 430 pound-feet of torque—which costs extra on the Colorado and requires checking two separate boxes on most trim levels (the Chevy’s medium-output tune has the same 310 horsepower but less torque, at 391 pound-feet).Four-wheel drive is also standard across the Canyon’s trim levels, save for the base Elevation. And every Canyon features the wider front track from the Colorado’s off-road-oriented trims, in addition to all-terrain tires. This gives the truck a mean-looking stance, although the funky split headlights may be more polarizing than the Chevy’s cleaner front-end look. Along with Elevation, there’s also the rugged-looking AT4 trim and the gussied-up Denali, which has nicer interior appointments and a healthy serving of chrome trim.More on GM PickupsWhile the Colorado’s most off-road-ready ZR2 trim level was previously a Chevy exclusive, GMC now offers an equivalent: the Canyon AT4X. It has the same Multimatic spool-valve dampers, 33-inch tires, skid plates, and locking front and rear differentials. Like the ZR2, its rear dampers have been relocated outboard the frame rails and tight up against the wheels for better protection. We found it to be a highly capable 4×4 on the off-road trails GMC planned out for us, with plenty of ground clearance for larger obstacles and loads of low-end torque from the turbo four for getting unstuck. The AT4X also comes standard with all manner of off-road display screens and underbody cameras to keep you informed about your surroundings.We like how the Canyon drives on the road too. Its tight suspension tuning combines with nicely weighted steering and a firm brake pedal to give it a remarkably solid and composed feel for a body-on-frame truck as capable as this. We already liked the way the old Colorado and Canyon drove, calling the Colorado “the best-driving body-on-frame vehicle on sale today” in 2019, and this new generation ups the refinement factor further. The turbo four is a bit grainy, and by GM’s own admission it’s tuned to feel somewhat like a diesel, but we like the shove of torque and we expect it to deliver 60-mph sprint times in the low- to mid-6.0-second range. The AT4X’s only real on-road compromise is the extra noise from its chunky tires.GM hasn’t done much to improve upon the Canyon’s cramped interior; the rear seat remains tight and there aren’t many storage cubbies in the cabin. But the driving position is comfortable, and the dashboard has an appealing look with high-resolution screens for the digital gauge cluster and central infotainment display. The Denali and AT4X variants introduce quilted leather upholstery for a more upscale look, but they won’t quite be mistaken for luxury cars.Unfortunately, the high-trim Canyons do carry luxury prices, going well into the $50,000 range and even exceeding $66,000 for a loaded AT4X with the Edition 1 package. At that point we’d probably start looking at more capable full-size trucks instead. Even the lower-end Canyon models are a bit more expensive than equivalently equipped Colorados, but now when you choose the GMC you’ll know that you’re getting the best configuration of GM’s mid-size pickup platform no matter the trim.Arrow pointing downArrow pointing downSpecificationsSpecifications
2023 GMC CanyonVehicle Type: front-engine, rear- or rear/4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door pickup
PRICEBase: 2WD Elevation, $38,395; 4WD Elevation, $41,695; AT4, $45,395; Denali, $52,495; AT4X, $56,995
ENGINETurbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 166 in3, 2727 cm3Power: 310 hp @ 5600 rpmTorque: 430 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm
TRANSMISSION8-speed automatic
DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 131.4 inLength: 213.2–217.9 inWidth: 72.4 inHeight: 79.8–81.7 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 61/43 ft3Curb Weight(C/D est): 4500–5250 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)60 mph: 6.0–6.5 sec1/4-Mile: 13.0–14.0 secTop Speed: 100 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCombined/City/Highway: 18–20/17–18/20–23 mpgSenior EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More

Subaru’s Crosstrek was a hit right out of the gate in 2013. Six years into the model’s second generation in North America, its popularity continues to grow. According to Subaru, 154,142 examples of the crunchy subcompact crossover found a home in 2022, its best year ever. That’s an increase of more than 27,000 units over 2021; not bad for an aging model born from a lifted Impreza concept unveiled in 2011. To keep the product—and the profits—rolling, Subaru has ramped up the supply chain with an international approach. For the new third-gen 2024 Crosstrek, Subaru continues to build the 2.0-liter-equipped base and Premium models in Japan, while it assembles the 2.5-liter Sport, Limited, and upcoming Wilderness trim levels in Lafayette, Indiana. It’s the first time the Crosstrek has been built stateside, though Subaru notes the facility in Japan continues to build 2.5-liter models for overseas markets. The strategy increases production volume and serves as a buffer for any supply-chain difficulties or pesky sociopolitical or economic issues that might throw a wrench in their cash-printing machine. We drove a 2024 Subaru Crosstrek Premium 2.0-liter in California earlier this year. The reduced interior sound levels, improved CVT performance, and addition of wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were all signs of progress. To get a taste of what an additional half-liter of displacement can bring to the table, we joined Subaru in Woodstock, New York, and settled into a Crosstrek Sport. More on the CrosstrekThe Crosstrek’s 2.5-liter flat-four engine produces 182 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 30 horsepower and 33 pound-feet compared to the 2.0-liter. Sharp-eyed Subaristi will note an additional two pound-feet compared to the previous 2.5-liter. More significantly, peak torque now arrives at 3700 rpm, 700 lower than before. The manual transmission option is gone for 2024, but 2.5-liter cars have paddle “shifters” and a manual mode. EPA estimates come in at 26 mpg city and 33 highway; versus 2.0-liter models, the larger 2.5-liter requires a 1-mpg sacrifice in each measure. Both engines score 29 mpg in combined driving. If those numbers paint a mental picture of launching away from stoplights like a WRX, you might want to get out your cognitive eraser. Yes, the Crosstrek’s lower torque peak reduces the wait time when slicing and dicing around town in Sport mode, but steep hills and freeway on-ramps require some advance planning in the throttle department. Still, the flat-four exudes that warm, familiar, willing personality that summons a peaceful grin rather than a mischievous one. Yes, this Subaru is comparatively slow, but somehow it convinces the driver that its pokey nature is endearing rather than irritating. Part of that calmness comes from the dramatically quieter cabin and seat design, as we mentioned in our Crosstrek 2.0 Premium drive story. The updated chassis is 10 percent stiffer yet also lighter, thanks to fewer subsections and 89 feet of structural adhesive. Subaru also claims 20 percent less engine vibration makes its way to the cabin because of various updated mounts, cradles, and component cases. On the downside, the increased use of sound-deadening materials negates the weight reduction. According to Subaru’s figures, the 2024 Crosstrek Sport tips the scales at 3333 pounds, 68 more than the outgoing version. It’s a tradeoff we’d make every day of the week, as that NVH reduction makes the 2024 model a far more pleasant space to spend time. Like the 2.0 base and Premium models, 2.5-liter Crosstreks get a modified version of the WRX’s electronically assisted power steering and larger 12.4-inch front brake rotors to replace the previous car’s 11.6-inch discs. Rears increase in size to 11.2 inches from 10.8 and are now ventilated like the fronts. The parking brake is now electrically operated, which is sure to disappoint at least a few budding rally drivers. Eager to prove the Crosstrek Sport is more than just another lifted hatchback clad in plastic attitude its internals can’t back up, Subaru directed us to the nearby Plattekill Mountain ski resort. Looking every bit the set of a zany ’80s ski movie, minus the cheesy soundtrack and token stoner employee, its gracious owner was game to let us traipse across the property’s less critical bits, meaning not the main ski runs. Preceded by two days of rain, we eyed our Crosstrek Sport’s 225/55 18-inch all-season Falken tires with suspicion. Can the Crosstrek’s 8.7 inches of ground clearance, standard-but-revised all-wheel-drive system, and Deep Snow/Mud mode keep us from sinking door-handle deep in one of several strategically placed mud pits? There’s only one way to find out. With 3500 feet of total elevation, the opportunity for hilarious out-of-control downhill careening was high. Still, the Crosstrek managed to keep us off the “tragedy-for-clicks” side of the internet—for now, anyhow. Ascending the wet, rocky terrain proved relatively uneventful with the AWD system in its Deep Snow/Mud setting, which also engages hill-descent control. Things got muddy as the pitch of the descent increased. Removing our feet from the pedals and leaving the hard work to the software, the car crawled downhill at about 4 mph, alternately increasing and decreasing brake pressure with a stuttering action, occasionally adding throttle and diverting torque as needed with remarkable efficacy. Mud pits, too, presented little challenge. Our Crosstrek navigated them with dogged determination, thanks to the software sorting out the traction and wheelspin particulars. Progress proceeds at a slow and steady pace regardless of any ham-footed accelerator inputs. A second loop of the circuit at triple the speed yielded the same results with an increased odor of burning brakes and mud baking on the exhaust. Prices for the 2024 Crosstrek Sport start at $30,290. That’s the entry point for the 2.5-liter engine, and it is $4000 more than a base Crosstrek with the 2.0-liter. The Sport also includes a wireless phone charger, the All-Weather package (heated front seats, windshield, and exterior mirrors), and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shifter. A package adding a power driver’s seat, power sunroof, blind-spot detection, and rear cross-traffic alert is a steal at $1920. The $32,190 Limited includes everything on the Sport and adds leather seating, the safety package, a slightly different 18-inch wheel design, and some additional minor trim bits inside and out. Bundling a power sunroof with a Harman/Kardon audio system is an additional $1795, or $2445 with navigation added to the package. Unfortunately, no matter how much you spend, Subaru will not sell you a power front passenger seat. Will most owners ever abuse their Crosstreks as we have? Probably not. By that same token, few buyers who lay down the cash for a set of Atomic Redster skis will ever take first in a single downhill, let alone a record 53 World Cup slalom wins like Mikaela Shiffrin. But sometimes, it’s nice to know that what’s inside the box can actually deliver the goods promised by the packaging. Arrow pointing downArrow pointing downSpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Subaru Crosstrek 2.5-literVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICESport, $30,290; Limited, $32,190
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 152 in3, 2498 cm3Power: 182 hp @ 5800 rpmTorque: 178 lb-ft @ 3700 rpm
TRANSMISSION
continuously variable automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 105.1 inLength: 176.4 inWidth: 70.9 inHeight: 63.6 inPassenger Volume. F/R: 55–56/44 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 55/20 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 3450 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 7.5 sec1/4-Mile: 16.0 secTop Speed: 120 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 29/26/33 mpgOnline EditorAndrew Wendler brings decades of wrenching, writing, and editorial experience with numerous outlets to Car and Driver. A rust-belt native and tireless promoter of the region, he once won a $5 bet by walking the entire length of the elevated People Mover track that encircles downtown Detroit. More

From the June 1985 issue of Car and Driver.In case you haven’t checked in with Subaru lately, brace yourself. Respectable, reliable Subaru, the company that finished second in the J.D. Power Customer Satisfaction Index right behind Mercedes­-Benz, the company that led the rush to four-wheel-drive passenger cars, the company that has built its reputation on cars that are “in­expensive and built to stay that way,” is making a bold move. It’s going into the dream-car business.But wait a minute. Don’t let yourself slip into the Lambo-Maser-Porsche mindset. This is something else entirely. Harvey Lamm, president of Subaru of America, says it best: “A lot of people don’t want to make the compromise for that sexy dream car. They might not want a car that’s hard to get into and out of, or one you need to wear a kidney belt to ride in. We want to build civilized dream cars, gentlemen’s sports cars.” And that’s how the all-new Subaru XT coupe came to be. Well, all that and years of coaxing the home office into action. It was Lamm and his cohorts at Subaru of America who convinced Fuji Heavy Industries that it needed to build a sporting flagship for the U.S. market. For all intents and purposes, the XT was conceived in America and is being built for America. And that’s why Subaru chose America for the XT’s world debut. The XT’s mission, then, is to serve as a symbol of Subaru’s move up to a more affluent market, from rural pack horses to high-tech city slickers. “We wanted the XT,” says Lamm, “to be everything Subarus are and everything they’re not.” Come to think of it, that’s exactly what the XT is—and isn’t.More Archive Reviews and Subaru’s Visual HistoryTaking first things first, the XT is a two-plus-two sports coupe based heavily on the firm’s new line of sedans. It borrows the sedans’ port-fuel-injected, 94-horsepower, 1.8-liter, overhead-cam, horizontally opposed, all-alloy four-cylinder engine and their transaxles (your choice of five-speed manual or three-speed automatic). As with the sedans, you can opt for a 111-hp turbocharged version of the same engine. The fully independent suspension, consisting of struts and coil springs in the front and semi-trailing arms and coil springs in the rear, is also sedan-derived. Turbo models can be outfitted with part-time four-wheel drive, which is the kind not intended for dry-road use. All four-wheel-drive XTs are equipped with air springs and electronic height control.So far, the XT is pure Subaru. Techno­logically, it’s typical of everything that’s evolved at the firm in recent years, and it breaks no new ground. That means you should expect the same kind of award-win­ning reliability and above-average dealer service that have long made Subaru owners staunch believers. Once you get past the mechanical stuff, though, look out. This Subaru goes where its predecessors feared to tread. Inside and out, it’s designed to shock you out of any preconceived notions you may harbor about Subarus. The new-wave design will certainly stir up controversy. The XT’s severe wedge shape is clearly striking, different from any­thing Subaru’s done before. Then again, we haven’t heard anyone accuse it of being beautiful. From the rear it looks ungainly, thanks to sharp tapering in the rear quar­ter-window area, a longish trunk lid, and a blocky rear bumper. Following the XT down the road, one is reminded of a Victorian-era bustle. The best we can say is that from some angles­—particularly the side—it’s aggressive and pleasing. There’s no quibbling over the XT’s aerodynamics, however. This car is a four­-wheeled needle. The most slippery model in the line, the front-drive Turbo, registers a drag coefficient of only 0.29. That makes the XT the most wind-cheating car sold in America, about ten percent more slippery than the vaunted Audi 5000. As a matter of fact, the only production cars in the world with better drag coefficients are Renault’s 25 and Alpine, both of which register 0.28 in Renault’s wind tunnel.Subaru claims that there’s no real magic in the XT’s shape but admits to a lot of careful detailing. As it turns out, the firm’s secret weapon in the war against the wind was an American. When the XT’s designer, Kyuchi Akari, was studying at the Art Cen­ter College of Design in Pasadena, he stayed at the home of Alex Tremulis, a free-thinking aerodynamicist and a design­er of both cars and airplanes. (Tremulis’s diverse list of automotive accomplishments ranges from designing the slope-nosed 1961 Thunderbird to consulting on Craig Breedlove’s Spirit of America land-speed­-record cars.) “I gave Kyuchi a quick course in aerodynamics,” says Tremulis. “I just pointed out some areas to look at where there might be flow separation.” The rest, as they say, is history. The XT’s exterior is certainly radical, but it was the interior where Subaru man­agement really gave free rein to its dream­-car fantasies. Although the coupe stretches to 175 inches overall (about the length of a GM J-car), no attempt was made to carve out room for four adults; the XT is a two-­plus-two all the way. Going for the racy look meant dropping the roofline about five inches lower than that of the sedans. The front-seat passengers sit a commensu­rate amount lower, with their legs out straighter. The only nod toward practicality is the fold-down rear seatback, which re­veals a large access hole to the trunk that enables you to haul long objects. Three levels of trim are available: DL (the base model, which has no rear seatlet), GL (non-turbo, front-drive only), and GL-10 Turbo (the full-on electro-kinky model). Our 4WD Turbo test car’s interior was, well—wild, Jack. The Subaru guys really cut loose, pursuing the high-tech Holy Grail as if there were no tomorrow. From the driv­er’s seat, which is covered in eye-straining checked velour, the view around the cabin is heavily NASA. The area directly in front of the driver is dominated by a pair of control pods that reach out from behind the wheel. The pods’ banks of touch switches operate most of the climate-control functions, the cruise control, the ride-height override, the lights, and the wipers. The stylized soft­-vinyl steering wheel has its thick spokes set at the three- and six-o’clock positions, and a couple more cruise-control switches re­side on the wheel hub. The soft-molded shift lever looks exactly like a video-game joystick, but instead of killing aliens when you press the red button atop the lever, you engage four-wheel drive. Speaking of video games, it’s worth a trip to the dealer just to see the XT Turbo’s electronic instrument cluster, which goes way beyond the familiar readouts for speed, rpm, outside temperature, coolant temperature, and fuel level. When you twist the key, the display screen comes to life with a pictograph of a car seen from the rear, pointing down a long, flat road that disappears into the dis­tance. The “sidewalks” paralleling the “road” are actually the tach and the boost gauge. As the revs and the boost build, the sidewalks light up in a way that makes the car appear to move down the road. When the XT’s air suspension jacks itself up for extra ground clearance, the pictograph rises on its wheel as well. Once you get over the techno shock of sliding behind the wheel, you’ll notice that there’s no shortage of conventional luxury gear, either. All Turbos come with power steering, power door locks, power win­dows, cruise, A/C, a sunroof, a four-speak­er stereo, and much more. There’s even a speed alarm that trumpets your arrival at the double-nickel if you’ve activated it with its separate key. Subaru suggests that this is a good way to keep errant teenagers from exceeding the speed limit. Considering the awful racket this device makes, your kid will either (a) never get a ticket, or (b) go out and buy their own car. When you’re ready to hit the road, dial­ing yourself into a comfy driving position is simple. The seats are nicely shaped and pleasantly firm. For fine-tuning, there’s a bottom-cushion rake adjustment. The steering column tilts and telescopes, and the instrument cluster and the satellite pods move up and down in unison with the column so that everything stays in line. The driving experience, like everything else about the XT, has its high and low points. You won’t be five miles from the dealership before you discover the hard truth about the electronic instrument clus­ter. According to the sidewalk boost gauge, the turbocharger is either blowing for all it’s worth or not at all—and that just ain’t so. The sidewalk tach is just about indecipherable. Subaru’s attempt at high-tech switchgear also falls flat. We’re not saying you’ll never adapt to the control-pod setup, but in one long day of driving we didn’t make much headway. We kept scraping the edi­torial knuckle on the left pod’s support when going for the turn signals, and some of the switches felt cheap. The sliding le­vers for the heater’s fan speed and tem­perature, located on the center console be­tween the seats, are out of your line of vision. The power-window buttons are hid­den in the edge of the armrests, where they’re difficult to operate. We have mixed emotions about the XT’s powerplant as well. This engine has all the right stuff—turbocharging, port fuel injec­tion, overhead cams—but it ought to make quite a bit more power than it does. And it thrums when you press it to the redline. (The normally aspirated engine howls like a riding mower when you lead-foot it.) The flip side is that the turbo four moves the XT reasonably well. Wind sprints to 60 mph eat up only 10.3 seconds, and top speed levels off at 110 mph. Many turbo cars feel flat at low revs, but the XT has plenty of pep around town. The gear ratios seem just right, and boost lag is almost un­detectable. The turbo four also keep its voice down on the highway. Interstate travel, in fact, is one of the XT’s specialties. The driving position and the seat are comfortable for the long haul, the straight-line tracking is quite good, the ride is well controlled, and—thanks to the superior aerodynamics—wind noise is ee­rily absent. Our sound-level meter spotted the XT at just 69 dBA at 70 mph, which is bordering on luxury-car quietness. The XT’s handling isn’t bad either, as long as you don’t ask it to do stunts. Hard chargers will find that the XT gets difficult in all-out canyon-road blitzes. The adhe­sion is all used up at a depressingly low 0.70 g, which is down at the lowly­-econobox end of the grip spectrum. Looking at the XT purely as a sports coupe, it just doesn’t have the talent to run with the leaders in this class, cars like the Toyota Supra, the Mitsubishi Starion, the Honda Prelude, and the Audi Coupe GT. But when the road turns white—or ends entirely—it’s a whole new ball game. The electronically controlled air suspension raises the car an inch and a half for addi­tional ground clearance, and the XT makes you look like a hero. We have yet to find out whether the XT can do everything a Bron­co or a Blazer can, but we bet it handles it­self well enough off-road or on bad roads to satisfy most folks. So it all boils down to priorities. For the XT 4WD Turbo’s fourteen-grand asking price—or a couple thousand less—you can find a slew of better two-wheel-drive sports coupes and sedans. The Honda Prelude, for one, can drive circles around the XT on dry pavement. If you require the added dimension of all-wheel drive, however, the superb Audi 4000S Quattro, at about four grand more, is the only other sporty con­tender below $20,000. In the end, it’s a matter of your personal transportation needs. As we see it, the XT’s ability to press on regardless means that neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night will stay you from the swift comple­tion of your appointed rounds. The only thing you’ll be stuck with is being different.CounterpointMixed messages with this one. I ap­preciate the bold step Subaru’s taken here, and I rather like the avant-garde styling. So do many: it’s a real eyeball snatcher on the street. I find the cockpit design appealing, too; I’m glad to see proper ergonomics receiving so much attention these days. The turbo gives adequate power with no detectable lag, and the four-by-four option is nice to have in all sorts of situations. Although rear headroom is a joke and the spare tire is intrusive, the overall cargo capaci­ty is vast and the little “Uzi bin” under the floor of the trunk looks very useful!But. Although the styling and the side graphics say “sport coupe,” the car won’t take any leaning on at all. The suspension contrives to be both jouncy and floppy, the tires are pathetic, the understeer is truly gross, and the inside front wheel spins at the slightest provo­cation. Engaging the rear wheels semineutralizes the handling balance, but engagement and disengagement are sluggish. Oh, and the engine sounds a bit coarse.I hope they haven’t finished this car yet. —Pete LyonsSubaru executives make it clear that their XT coupe is not intended to do battle with serious sports cars. That’s good thinking, because the XT lacks the handling and the performance to do so. Unfortunately, the XT will find rough going even against those coupes whose sportiness is based more on image than on reality. The major problem is its price. For the fourteen and a half grand the XT on these pages costs, one could acquire any number of very attractive cars. For example, an Isuzu Impulse Turbo, with its designer styling, excellent power, and avant-garde interior. Or a Mustang, a Camaro, or a Daytona, each overflow­ing with sporty features. You could even save a couple thousand on a Prelude, a car with refinement and handling leagues beyond the Subaru’s.Of course, the XT’s ace in the hole is its four-wheel drive. None of its com­petitors can match that feature. For me, though, that single advantage doesn’t offset the XT’s shortcomings, especially its steep price. —Csaba CsereThey titter when I pull up to the pickup window; 5:30 in the morning, and they’re laughing at my XT. Hmmm . . . I’ll tell you one thing: oh-dark-thirty in the morning is no time to climb into this car cold. After an all-nighter at the word processor, you’ll think you’ve come to in a bad dream. Ye gods! Anybody who can make out these controls in the dark gets my vote for standing in when the captain of the Space Shuttle gets food poisoning. I cringe at the plastic of the unborn-alligator headliner, the window controls hidden in the sides of the arm­rests, and the temp and fan controls on the console. In broad daylight, though, the rest of it actually begins to make some sense (help me, doctor). The Little Thrum­mer Boy engine runs fine, though it feels like a nickel vibrator, stressing the unexpected smoothness of suspension and handling, though I haven’t four­-wheel-driven yet, so I can’t gauge that. More cars should be this much fun. I laugh when I look at it. At the pickup window they guessed it was a Pontiac. (Must have been backlash from the Grand Am.) They laughed louder as I pulled away. Were they laughing at me or with me? —Larry GriffinArrow pointing downArrow pointing downSpecificationsSpecifications
1985 Subaru XT 4WD TurboVehicle Type: front-engine, front, 4-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $13,768/$14,523 Options: alloy wheels, $480; cassette deck, $200; floor mats, $75.
ENGINEturbocharged flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 109 in3, 1782 cm3Power: 111 hp @ 4800 rpmTorque: 134 lb-ft @ 2800 rpm 
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/trailing armsBrakes, F/R: 9.5-in vented disc/8.9-in discTires: Bridgestone SF-237 Steel185/70HR-13
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 97.1 inLength: 175.2 inWidth: 66.5 inHeight: 52.6 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 52/29 ft3Trunk Volume: 12 ft3Curb Weight: 2640 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS30 mph: 3.0 sec60 mph: 10.3 sec1/4-Mile: 17.4 sec @ 79 mph100 mph: 39.7 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 15.2 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 13.1 secTop Speed: 110 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 208 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.70 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 15 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMYCity/Highway: 25/30 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDDirector, Buyer’s GuideRich Ceppos has evaluated automobiles and automotive technology during a career that has encompassed 10 years at General Motors, two stints at Car and Driver totaling 19 years, and thousands of miles logged in racing cars. He was in music school when he realized what he really wanted to do in life and, somehow, it’s worked out. In between his two C/D postings he served as executive editor of Automobile Magazine; was an executive vice president at Campbell Marketing & Communications; worked in GM’s product-development area; and became publisher of Autoweek. He has raced continuously since college, held SCCA and IMSA pro racing licenses, and has competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona. He currently ministers to a 1999 Miata and a 1965 Corvette convertible and appreciates that none of his younger colleagues have yet uttered “Okay, Boomer” when he tells one of his stories about the crazy old days at C/D. More

Recently leaked spy pics forced BMW’s hand in releasing early photos of the next-generation Mini. But before that happened, we got to drive a camo-covered example—specifically, the all-electric Cooper hatchback in SE trim.Kudos to chief designer Oliver Heilmer and his team, who contemporized the brand icon in a radically reduced yet emphatically modern manner. Although the official launch is still some six months away, we can now also tell you more about the advanced technology behind this masterfully evolutionary shape. Most importantly, we were able to gather initial driving impressions in a pre-production car on an entertaining handling course and over a one-hour mountain-road loop through Salzburg and Tyrol in Austria. Although the cabin of the pre-production car is still covered with drapes of black cloth, the two major innovations—a much larger circular center touchscreen and the bar of toggle switches below it—are totally undisguised. The latter contains five elements: parking-brake button, gear selector, volume knob, on/off toggle, and Driving Experiences selector. Since there is no minder in the passenger’s seat, we leap from the default Core setting straight to Go-Kart mode. The name says it all. Go-Kart speeds up the action, reduces driver assistance to a minimum, and sharpens the feedback. Not enough drama? Deactivate dynamic stability control (DSC) and brace yourself for an ample measure of liftoff oversteer enhanced by a device known as GMV, short for yaw moment enhancer.Related StoriesThe handling course is a short track, and our hosts set up plenty of cones to slow us down, but a couple of corners are wide enough to pay homage to “the Rally Professor,” Rauno Aaltonen, who competed in a Mini Cooper S. Heavy rain and near-freezing temperatures warrant interesting grip levels, there is an entertaining angst-inducing right-left-right up-and-down corner combination to be mastered, and the guy in the JCW lead car lets it all hang out for the heck of it. Good man. Front-wheel drive is, of course, a limiting factor through the lone 180-degree bend, where the two bad choices are either too much understeer or too little traction. But as soon as the 243 pound-feet of instant torque grabs the tires, the Mini picks up speed quickly and keeps accelerating seamlessly until that blind right-hander calls for a change of direction, velocity, and balance. This is fun, and we’re still only going seven-tenths. Feeding the electric motor is a 53.0-kWh battery, which in real life needs to be recharged every 200 miles or so. No provisional EPA consumption figures are available, but tentative European estimates suggest the U.S. model will be rated considerably better than the 110 MPGe rating assigned to the current SE. That said, after 15 laps in full hooligan mode, the onboard computer dropped to 29.5 kWh of remaining charge. Never mind. The top speed, which in today’s Mini EV is restricted to 94 mph, reportedly will be increased to 125 mph in the new SE. Acceleration from zero to 62 mph is a claimed 6.7 seconds, which suggests the new one won’t be substantially quicker than the last Cooper SE, a 2020 model, we tested. But there is more grunt to come, starting with the dual-motor 313-hp All4 (including 14 additional horses summoned by an overboost function), followed by a fully electric John Cooper Works edition. Meanwhile, the Cooper SE keeps on drifting through every corner it can find with the tail-out antics actively supported by the aforementioned GMV, which is a welcome addition.On public roads, Green driving mode will be the choice only for dedicated conservationists determined to better their personal consumption and range records. The rest of us should be perfectly happy with what the mainstay Core mode offers, namely an adaptive mix of instant on-demand performance, navigation-assisted predictive driving, and long-legged cruising that can either be relaxed or energetic. In addition to the three Driving Experiences, the powertrain and steering can be locked into Comfort or Sport. As far as the stability-control system goes, the spiciness scale ranges from Sport to Sport Plus to DSC Off. Customers also can choose from four different wheel sizes and opt for a sportier suspension setting. The redesigned seats are comfortable and generously adjustable, but long-legged drivers may have a problem reaching the low-mounted toggle bar. The small optional head-up display is of the pop-up type, which limits its appeal. Although the three-spoke steering wheel is studded with buttons and multimode switches, the main user interface is the notably larger round touchscreen in the center of the dash. One can scroll through numerous menus on the hi-res main display, but vehicle speed, range, state of charge, performance, and cabin temperature are always prominently displayed. And there’s more to come, including over-the-air updates, third-party app integration, additional experience modes, on-dash projections from your private image library, a wide variety of sound and light stagings, automatic radar-trap warnings, multiple user profiles, bespoke ambiance variations, digital personalization—you name it. In addition to four different new trim levels, Mini is going to introduce at least three mood settings provisionally named Calm, Heritage, and Vivid, which are supported by 3-D technicolor orchestration. Too much marketing BS? Thankfully, the unique driving experience remains. After all, dynamics always were and still are Mini’s main forte. The new battery-powered Cooper SE is chuckable yet composed, concurrently involving and balanced, refined but never lackluster. Silence that puerile soundtrack and enjoy the trademark handling and roadholding qualities Sir Alec would be proud of.Contributing EditorAlthough I was born the only son of an ornithologist and a postal clerk, it was clear from the beginning that birdwatching and stamp collecting were not my thing. Had I known that God wanted me to grow to 6’8″, I also would have ruled out anything to do with cars, which are to blame for a couple of slipped discs, a torn ligament, and that stupid stooped posture behind the wheel. While working as a keeper in the Aberdeen Zoo, smuggling cheap cigarettes from Yugoslavia to Germany, and an embarrassing interlude with an amateur drama group also failed to yield fulfillment, driving and writing about cars became a much better option. And it still is now, many years later, as I approach my 70th birthday. I love every aspect of my job except long-haul travel on lousy airlines, and I hope it shows. More

There was a brief period of time when many people thought the EV revolution meant we’d be stuck with a future full of slow, uninspiring cars. If anything, the current march toward electrification has proven the opposite: Through the process of shoving a bunch of electrons through a wire like a Tokyo subway stuffer, humanity is sending 9000-pound affronts to God to 60 mph as quickly as some supercars. But now that everyone can do it, what makes a vehicle with impressive performance stats stand out?That’s the question that Mercedes-AMG and others are figuring out. The 2023 AMG EQE isn’t Fast Mercedes’s first crack at an answer, and it’s far from the last. At its core, it retains AMG’s mantra of shoving lots of power into otherwise “normal” cars. But beyond that, it feels like it’s still hunting for that unique angle that’ll help these fast, low-center-of-gravity EVs stand out from all the other fast, low-center-of-gravity EVs.To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, we’ll start with the AMG EQE’s known knowns. A pair of motors produces 617 horsepower and 701 pound-feet of torque, rising to 677 and 738, respectively, when using the standard Dynamic Plus package’s brief overboost function. With at least 70 percent in the battery (more on that later), we reached 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, 0.4 second quicker than the manufacturer’s estimate. The quarter-mile mark came and went in 11.2 seconds at 119 mph. Passing maneuvers are impressive too—30 to 50 mph required a scant 1.3 seconds, and 50 to 70 only took 1.7. Not bad for a car that weighs 5547 pounds.HIGHS: Blistering performance, pricing undercuts gas equivalents, decent efficiency for modern muscle.Of course, that weight comes back to bite. Even with the free-of-charge optional Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect tires (265 section width up front, 295 out back) and honkin’ brakes (16.3 inches front, 14.9 rear), the AMG needed 168 feet to stop from 70 mph and 339 feet from 100 mph. That is not ideal for a performance car; hell, the 520-pound-heavier BMW i7 xDrive60 we tested managed to do a better job by nine and 21 feet, respectively. Three intermediary stages of brake regeneration are on offer—none, some, and more—while true one-pedal driving is locked behind an Intelligent regen mode that varies regen and physical braking based on proximity to traffic, which can be tricky to predict and thus doesn’t instill a whole lot of trust; neither does the brake pedal in general, which moves in tune with regen strength, leading to inconsistent feel at various speeds and rates of deceleration.More on the EQE SedanThe AMG EQE is a sufficiently deft handler for its mass. It achieved a solid 0.92 g on our 300-foot skidpad, exhibiting some mild understeer on its way ’round. In more real-world scenarios, we appreciate just how planted the EQE feels at all times. Standard rear-axle steering, which can turn up to 3.6 degrees, adds more precision to the AMG’s cornering, but the car still feels more like a speedo-smashing hammer than a delicate lateral-g scalpel. The adaptive air springs offer three different levels of stiffness (Comfort, Sport, and Sport+), but we feel less of a difference between these modes than we do in comparable gas models; even at its most rigid, there’s still an underlying hint of softness to the whole show. Hanging out under the floor is a battery with 90.6 kWh of usable capacity. Mercedes estimates total range at 225 miles, and the automaker’s EV estimates are usually pretty accurate. It didn’t come as a surprise, then, that our 75-mph highway test yielded a range of 230 miles. That’s 30 miles less than we achieved in the vastly less powerful EQE350 4Matic.Thankfully, if you had a little too much fun rearranging your organs with your right foot, changing vehicle modes can help you squeak out the juice needed to reach the next charger. The AMG EQE’s full output is only available in the powertrain’s Sport+ mode; Sport limits the motors to 90 percent, Comfort reduces it further to 80 percent, and Slippery pegs the car at half power. As with any electric powertrain, the maximum output also decreases as the battery loses charge; the EQE will keep track of your missing horsepower on the digital cluster’s power gauge, which conveniently marks the “redline” as it lowers. When it comes time to charge, the AMG will accept up to 170 kW on a DC fast-charger, refilling from 10 percent to 80 in 32 minutes, according to Mercedes. On to the more polarizing stuff. Maybe you like the ovoid styling, maybe you don’t. You can’t deny that our EQE’s specific 20-inch wheels are imposing, though, and the Panamericana-style front grille is the easiest way to spot the AMG at a distance. The interior is barely any different from the more pedestrian EQE, save for some Affalterbach-themed bits. The dash-spanning 56.0-inch Hyperscreen is absent from our car, but we don’t miss it; the wood trim that replaces it looks and feels nice, and it doesn’t accumulate fingerprint oils at a depressing rate. Wireless smartphone mirroring is standard no matter what, and that’s what most people care about anyway.LOWS: None of the EV sounds are particularly good, looks like a wet egg, feels like AMG is still finding its footing in new era.As equipped, our EQE includes two sound profiles, the default profile and the Performance one that comes with Dynamic Plus. If you like futuristic wub-wub noises, have at it. But to our ears, the default mode sounds like added wind noise, while Performance generates something closer to added tire noise. Each profile has three different levels of loudness, ranging from “you can barely hear it” to “somehow, the Germans engineered drone into an EV.” We say turn it all off and listen to the actual tires.The AMG EQE before us rings in at $110,150, a small bump over its $108,050 base price, thanks to a $250 110-volt charging cable, the $750 Night package that blacks out the exterior trim, and the $1100 Acoustic Comfort package that aims to mitigate interior noise. Strangely enough, this number is a bit of a bargain, considering the soon-to-be-discontinued AMG E63 S 4Matic+ starts a few thousand bucks higher. Despite that sense of throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, there’s one hell of a performance car comprising the underlying current of the 2023 Mercedes-AMG EQE. It’s mighty quick, it can make a lot of noise, and it’s fun to chuck around without being a discombobulated mess in daily driving.Being offered an overwhelming amount of driver choice is a bit of an existential issue for AMG, and it’s only deepened as electrification takes hold. In addition to the four standard vehicle modes, an Individual mode lets you choose among four powertrain settings, three suspension settings, and three e-noise volumes—36 distinct combinations. And this is in addition to the myriad screen layouts, ambient lighting scenes, brake-regeneration strengths, you name it. How can an AMG vehicle have a distinct feeling if you get into five different EQEs and they all feel vastly different from one another?Perhaps it’s in this glut of choice where AMG’s future lies. Let Affalterbach set the meter, but it’s up to each driver to fill in the specific notes. For the time being, as everyone finds their footing in this burgeoning era, that’ll do.Arrow pointing downArrow pointing downSpecificationsSpecifications
Mercedes-AMG EQE 4Matic+Vehicle Type: front- and mid-motor, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $108,050/$110,150Options: Acoustic Comfort package, $1100; AMG Night package, $750; 110V charging cable, $250
POWERTRAIN
Front Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous ACMid Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous ACCombined Power: 677 hpCombined Torque: 738 lb-ftBattery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 90.6 kWhOnboard Charger: 9.6 kWPeak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 170 kWTransmissions: direct-drive
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: multilink/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 16.3-in vented disc/14.9-in vented disc Tires: Pirelli P Zero PZ4 Elect PNCSF: 265/40ZR-20 104W MO1R: 295/35ZR-20 105W MO1
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 122.8 inLength: 196.9 inWidth: 75.0 inHeight: 58.8 inPassenger Volume: 104 ft3Trunk Volume: 15 ft3Curb Weight: 5547 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 2.8 sec100 mph: 7.4 sec1/4-Mile: 11.2 sec @ 119 mph130 mph: 14.3 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 3.1 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 1.3 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 1.7 secTop Speed (gov ltd): 146 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 168 ftBraking, 100–0 mph: 339 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.92 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY AND CHARGING
Observed: 65 MPGe75-mph Highway Driving: 77 MPGe75-mph Highway Range: 230 miEPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 74/74/73 MPGeRange: 225 miSenior EditorCars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree. More

From the July 1982 issue of Car and Driver.Pity Detroit’s poor carmakers. First America burns them at the stake for not responding quickly enough to the needs of a changing world with space- and fuel-efficient cars, so they dutifully slash and burn through their product lineups. Then, at the first sign of dollar-a-gallon gas, every 52-year-old from Mammoth Falls to Miami Beach wants to buy a rolling living room again. You can bet that Chevy is breathing heavy relief-type sighs that it didn’t go through with plans to jettison its full-sized B-car plat­form. Pity poor Pontiac: it did.Chevy had originally planned to re­place the aging, rear-drive Caprice/Im­pala with a smaller, front-wheel-drive model this coming fall. That car, said by Chevy insiders to be the best-looking B­-car ever, has been shelved—perhaps permanently. Instead, Chevy will keep building the Caprice as we know it until 1985. The reason? Dealers can’t get enough of them. In the past year, sales of the Caprice/Impala have jumped from 7 percent to 15 percent of Chevy’s total. It’s the third most popular Chevy, behind the Citation and Chevette. More significantly, in the first three months of 1982, when it was neither rebated nor advertised, the Caprice/Impala outsold Chevy’s brand-new, heavily rebated front-drive Celebrity by almost three to one. Unofficially, Chevy hoped to sell 100,000 Caprice/Impalas this year; but if demand continues at the current rate, it will have to adjust plant schedules to turn out 175,000 of them. So instead of bidding farewell to the Caprice, we find ourselves taking a fresh look at it for the first time since it was downsized in the 1977 model year. If you think today’s Caprice is a battleship at 3900 pounds (with options) and 212 inches in length, consider its pre-1977 dimensions: a 121.5-inch wheelbase, a 222.7-inch total length, and a tubby, 4350-pound curb weight. Engine op­tions for the 1976 Caprice started with a 165-hp, 350-cubic-inch V-8. There was nowhere to go but down. As Bedard once put it, “This growth business can’t go on or we’ll be driving Fruehauf-sized sedans by the turn of the century.”When the Caprice was cut down to its current size in 1977, the wheelbase was shortened by five and a half inches and another five inches was pruned from the front and rear sheetmetal. That year, Chevy claimed a 700-pound weight loss for the base Caprice. As small as it seemed to us back in ’77, the Caprice is one of the biggest cars we’ve laid hands on in months. Driving it, just getting in behind the wheel, brings back memories. It re­minded us of summer vacations when we were children. We could almost hear Dad saying, “If you kids don’t settle down back there, we’re turning this car around and going home!”Big it may be; a klutz it is not. Our Caprice’s physical coordination was its most valuable and redeeming quality. But a physically coordinated Caprice is by special order only, under “F41” on the options list. At $49 (and $159 for the required P225/70R-15 tires), the F41 suspension ranks along with the 26-cent White Castle hamburger and the six-dollar case of Drewrys beer as one of America’s best buys. For your minimal investment, you get a host of beefed-up suspension pieces: front and rear anti-­sway bars tuned for a greater than nor­mal degree of roll stiffness, shocks with extra damping, stiffer front and rear spring rates, and more substantial sus­pension bushings. One of the benefits of the Caprice’s body-on-frame construction is more lat­itude for refined suspension tuning, but getting the job done right is another story. Engineer Jack Turner did the original development work on the 1977 F41 Caprice, and when Chevy went to higher-pressure tires for fuel economy in 1980 (35 psi versus 26 psi), suspension whiz Fred Schaafsma (of 1982 Camaro fame) did the rework. The Ca­price will sail regally down the inter­state at any speed you choose and main­tain almost equal aplomb on Michigan’s winter-ravaged county roads. Don’t leave the dealership without F41. The steering system is as good as the suspension. Its response to driver input is surprisingly precise and linear for such a big car—you turn, she turns. Sim­ple. Satisfying. And best of all, it works in concert with the suspension. When loads build up in tight cornering or over rippled asphalt, the car still works. This is one big American car that you can push without watching the steering response dissolve into understeer. On the skidpad, we measured a sticky 0.75 g, but we also noticed the first signs of in­adequate rear-axle location at the limit of adhesion. Heading clockwise around the circle, there’s a tendency for rear wheelspin and the axle wrenches a bit in its four trailing links. We doubt that the average Caprice owner will ever push the car to that point, however.The base Caprice comes with a 3.8-liter V-6 engine, but you can choose one of three V-8s instead: a 4.4-liter (not available in California, and planned for elimination in 1983), a 5.0-liter with a four-barrel carburetor, or an Oldsmo­bile-built 5.7-liter diesel. The Caprice wagon has the 4.4-liter as the base powerplant. We went straight for the biggest gas burner, the 5.0-liter, blowing off fuel economy in exchange for fun. In the long run, this two-ton sled is better off with the added horsepower than with the extra two miles per gallon the V-6 would bring it. The 5.0-liter engine also comes with a four-speed automatic overdrive transmission and a lockup torque converter as standard equipment. The up and down shifts of the four-speed are crisp, but they happen too frequently when driving between 30 and 50 mph. Manually downshifting to third gear around town clears up that annoyance. You can also feel the torque converter kicking in and out of action, but it’s only noticeable rather than irri­tating as in our recent Eldorado test car (C/D, April). The only really sore spots of the Ca­price are found inside the cabin. The seats are the absolute pits. They’re thin, flat, and set too low to the floor for comfortably working the pedals. The upper cushion is angled too far back and offers no lateral support other than the restraining nap of its velour cover­ing. The lower cushion stops uncom­fortably at mid-thigh. The flat-black dash has four large, easy-to-read dials rimmed in Day-Glo orange pinstriping. It’s a shame to see this crisp, bold design wasted on a set of optional gauges that includes nothing for your money but a temp gauge, a trip odometer, and a fuel-economy gauge, which operates on intake-manifold vac­uum. The last of these spent most of its time in our hands pegged on the “mini­mum” side of the scale. Car manufacturers tend to dismiss our criticisms of their luxury cars for be­ing what they call not pertinent to the type of person who would buy a car like the Caprice. But who would complain about getting some real information from the instrument panel? And who would complain about a seat that held you securely in front of the controls and didn’t compress your spine after twenty minutes? There’s got to be a happy me­dium between a Recaro and a couch, though probably not in this car’s ex­tended future. A more daring management team at Chevy could have made a down-home version of a Mercedes from the Caprice; the ride and handling are that good. But a more conservative inner voice was heard, and Chevy decided basically to rest on its 1977 laurels. Granted, that effort was right for its time. It was not only good enough to become America’s most popular car that year, but also sound enough to stay on Chevy’s future product-planning schedule at a time when the market is flooded with space­-efficient, high-mileage, high-quality, front-wheel-drive sedans. Dick Kelley|Car and DriverDad isn’t buying high-tech. He’s buying a Caprice because, with twelve cubic feet more cabin space than the Celebri­ty, it gives him more room to move around in. He gets a trunk in which he can lie down flat. He’s buying a Caprice because it’s nicely carpeted and swathed in velour and chrome. The body doesn’t squeak, and nothing rattles.Mostly, Dad’s picking Caprice be­cause the price is right and its reputa­tion is golden. It has more of that all­-American abuse-the-damn-thing-and-­it’ll-still-run aura than any other car in Chevy’s fleet. And with a base price of $8827, it can be loaded with every luxu­ry, convenience, and performance op­tion encouraged by the dealer and still ring out cheaper than a smaller, compa­rably equipped Celebrity. American car buyers are too fickle for this big-car craze to last forever. When the price of gas resumes its ascent, look for today’s front-drive A-cars to come into their own. If that doesn’t happen for a while, Chevy at least has one good big car to fall back on. CounterpointIf you’d like to know what America’s carmakers have been up to for the past eighty or so years, you owe it to yourself to test-drive an F41-equipped Caprice—or any Caprice, for that matter.These days, it’s fashionable to think that our automakers are incapable of building good cars. Certainly, they’ve been feeling their way with small cars, but to believe they’re technologically bankrupt is to sell them far short.A ride in the Caprice put this all into perspective for me. Most Europeans and Japanese drivers would marvel at this car’s velvety ride. And at its library quietness and automatic transmission, as well as its ultra-efficient climate-control system. With the F41 package, it moves with an assurance that approaches that of the cost-no-object brands. Sure, the decor is tacky—and there’s an energy shortage under the hood too. Still, it’s easy to understand why George and Irma America made the downsized Caprice the largest-selling model three times in the past six seasons: it’s a fine piece of work. It also makes me all the more confident that our boys on the front lines will keep gaining ground on the imports. —Rich CepposThe Chevy Caprice is America’s Mercedes 380SEL. It’s big and heavy by today’s standards, but great fun to drive. If it’s a true dual-purpose machine you’re after—a mild-mannered family hauler for the weekends, a cut-and-thruster for daily carpooling—look no further. Just make sure you sign up for two critical ingredients: the (gasoline) V-8 engine and the F41 suspension.Unfortunately, Chevrolet is letting the Impala/Caprice go to seed in its autumn years. The revitalization that took place in 1980 may have looked good in the wind tunnel, but it bloated the trim, chiseled look this car was born with. And the seats and instrument panel seem more disappointing every year. J-cars were born with decent seats, and GM’s human-factors experts have toiled diligently over Camaro and Firebird orthopedics, but Chevy’s finest has been left to live out its days without so much as a backrest-angle adjuster. Instead of useful instrumentation, we’re given a vacuum gauge that wags its needle scoldingly with every tickle of the gas pedal. There’s no denying the Caprice is elderly, but its Chevrolet management deserves some of the blame for letting it get old before its time. —Don ShermanI’ve always had a big soft spot for these cars, and this Caprice has just made it bigger and softer. I love it. I think it’s America’s finest example of Big Car. The Caprice is the very essence of the fussless, imperturbable container that soaks up endless stretches of these Unites States as if they were all scaled on Rhode Island lines and set on West Texas topography. Even knowing General Motors’ penchant for doing the right thing at about the right time, the pleasures of these cars were a surprise when they first came out and they remain a puzzle today. Who can explain why some cars simply come together with a unity of purpose that escapes 0thers entirely?I will not try to tell you that this Caprice is the game equal of a big Mercedes-Benz, and yet I want you to know that it has much of the same feel in its ability to hustle without ever hurrying. Yes, the big Chevy could use better seats and steering and doubled horsepower, but it will soon roll off the line for the last time and I will go off muttering. GM, after all, could have gotten it altogether wrong and I’d have had a big blank space in my heart where the Great Caprice has set aside a permanent soft spot for retirement. —Larry GriffinArrow pointing downArrow pointing downSpecificationsSpecifications
1982 Chevrolet Caprice ClassicVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 6-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $8827/$12,260Options: air conditioning, $695; power windows, $240; cloth interior with split bench seat, $195; automatic transmission, $172; P225/70R-15 radial tires, $159; power door locks, $152; two-tone paint, $141; rear-window defogger, $125; tinted glass, $102; limited-slip differential, $80; 5.0-liter V-8, $70; instrument package, $64; sport suspension, $49; intermittent wipers, $47; other options, $1142.
ENGINEpushrod V-8, iron block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 305 in3, 5001 cm3Power: 145 hp @ 4000 rpmTorque: 240 lb-ft @ 1600 rpm 
TRANSMISSION4-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/trailing armsBrakes, F/R: 11.0-in vented disc/9.5-in drumTires: Goodyear Custom Polysteel Radial225/70R-15
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 116.0 inLength: 212.2 inWidth: 75.3 inHeight: 56.4 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 58/52 ft3Trunk Volume: 21 ft3Curb Weight: 3900 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS30 mph: 4.4 sec60 mph: 12.6 sec1/4-Mile: 18.9 sec @ 74 mph90 mph: 36.2 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 5.2 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 8.2 secTop Speed: 104 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 212 ftRoadholding, 282-ft Skidpad: 0.75 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 14 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 21/17/28 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

The city car is dead. While never particularly popular in the U.S., cars like the original Mini, the Fiat 500, and the Smart were successful all over the globe. But aggressive safety rules and electrification have made them bigger and heavier: The latest Smart is almost 170 inches long and weighs over 4000 pounds.Now there is a new player in the market, focused on Europe, but with a few orders already placed from the U.S.: the Microlino, a thoroughly modern take on BMW’s famous Isetta. That midcentury bubble car had entirely disappeared from European roads by the 1970s, but its design—you enter through the front—continues to bring a smile to the face of anyone who happens upon one. Fewer than 90 inches long and powered by a wheezing two-stroke engine, the Isetta is hopelessly unsafe and outdated. But Swiss inventor Wim Ouboter saw the opportunity to reimagine it as an electric car—or, rather, a quadricycle, because it would hardly be able to conform to the regulatory standards that an automobile must meet.Micro Mobility SystemsThe industry has toyed with reinventing city cars as quadricycles for over a decade. At the 2011 Frankfurt auto show, Audi launched the Urban Concept, VW showed the NILS, and Opel the Rak-e; Renault had earlier shown its Twizy. All were electric and designed as L7e “heavy quadricycles”—and, with the exception of the Twizy, all of them were subsequently buried. But with regular cars becoming so big and expensive, Stellantis recently joined the game with the Citroën Ami and Opel Rocks-e, both of which are only available as smaller L6e “light quadricycle” models. They are easy to park and practical, but too slow for a lot of city traffic and not allowed on motorways.The Microlino aims to pick up where premium concepts like the NILS and the Rak-e left off. With a length of 99.2 inches and a width of 58.0 inches, it’s slightly smaller than the Smart Fortwo the States first got in 2008. But the Microlino is a different animal. While the Smart was a sturdy and safe car, capable of reaching nearly 100 mph and subjected to rigorous crash tests, the Microlino is just a quadricycle; regulation is far more lenient. The Microlino brings a lot of sophistication in the realm of styling. Made of steel and aluminum, it perfectly translates the motif of the original Isetta into the modern age. The proportions are captured accurately, the surface treatment is clean, and details such as LED lighting are decidedly futuristic. The front door opens with an electric switch, is pulled closed with a strap, and locked electrically. Once inside, there is room for driver and passenger, snug but not cramped. Above your head, there’s a fabric top; perfectly executed by supplier Magna CTS, it is one of the best-engineered and highest-quality parts of this vehicle. The trunk is surprisingly large at 8.1 cubic feet.Micro Mobility SystemsThe cockpit looks good too. There’s a conventional key, gears are selected by turning a knob, small screens indicate speed, and a touch bar on the front door allows you to select climate-control functions. But the steering wheel is a curiosity: a generic three-spoke unit without an airbag, it does not reflect the exterior’s higher level of sophistication. More importantly, Microlino representatives aren’t keen to talk about passive safety and when they do, they emphasize “compatibility.” But shouldn’t a car protect its owner first?The car’s lack of sophistication extends to unexpected areas, such as the noisy windshield wiper and the half-windows that need to be pulled open. There is no stability-control system. And thus, the impression emerges that the Microlino, most certainly, is not a real car. Once you stop, you need to yank the parking brake; the transmission lacks Park.And if you thought EVs are about silence, think again. The Microlino whirs and sings noticeably, right from the beginning and up to its 56-mph top speed. Thank heavens the semi trucks are limited to 54 mph in Europe; we can merge and, ever so slowly, move away from them. Acceleration is decent up to 30 mph, but beyond that, it becomes a bit of an imposition. Ride quality isn’t great, as the vehicle’s suspension bucks and bounces violently.The Microlino offers three available battery sizes: 6.0 kWh, 10.5 kWh, and 14.0 kWh, with the corresponding stated range of 59 miles, 109 miles, and 143 miles, respectively. But those numbers conform to the wildly optimistic European test cycle and should be taken with a huge grain of salt; in the U.S., those would equate to EPA range figures of roughly 50, 90, and 120 miles, respectively. Once depleted, Microlino’s battery pack has no fast-charging capability, so you need to plan for a three- or four-hour stop to recharge. Noise, vibration, harshness, and range are all sore topics for the Microlino. But the main obstacle may be the price. In Europe, the initial model comes in at a whopping $25,000, with upmarket equipment but only the mid-size battery. Prices will drop by a few thousand with fewer accoutrements.Micro Mobility SystemsThe Microlino is cute, nimble, and practical around town. But truthfully, it can’t hold a candle to any real car, including an old Smart. It’s a charming toy, but at this price point, it is no answer to the mobility needs of most people.Car and driverCar and driver Lettermark logoContributing EditorJens Meiners has covered the auto industry since 1996 and written for Car and Driver for much of that time. He is a juror on the World Car of the Year and International Engine of the Year and founder of German Car of the Year. Jens splits his time between New York and Nuremberg, where he keeps a growing collection of historic cars. More

The 2024 Chevy Trax is one of the few new cars in recent memory that is significantly cheaper than the model it replaces. Starting at $21,495, the new Trax costs $1400 less than the outgoing 2022 model and now serves as Chevy’s entry-level vehicle. In fact, it’s the cheapest vehicle General Motors sells in the U.S. Even fully loaded, the new Trax comes in under $27,000. We hate to say it, but that’s cheap by today’s new-car standards.This reimagining of the Trax from a middling subcompact crossover into a value-focused price leader is similar to what Nissan did a few years ago when it replaced the Juke with the Kicks. This category of cheapo-utes, which also includes the Kia Soul and Hyundai Venue, prioritizes interior space and feature content over typical SUV traits such as optional all-wheel drive and rugged styling (if you want those things, Chevy will happily sell you a Trailblazer). They all start in the low-$20,000 range and come standard with front-wheel drive and Apple CarPlay. This is the new face of basic transportation.More on GM CrossoversBetter Inside and OutMeasured by that yardstick, the new Trax looks like a success. Significantly longer, lower, and wider than the old, awkwardly tall Trax, the nicely proportioned new model has an almost wagonoid look about it. The base LS model looks pedestrian with its hubcaps and lack of bright trim, but the LT, RS, and Activ trim levels are relatively stylish thanks to nice wheels, interestingly shaped headlights and taillights, and distinctive grille trim up front. Several bright paint colors are available too.ChevroletThe Trax’s stretched-out shape also pays dividends inside, as rear legroom and cargo space are significantly increased thanks to the drastically longer wheelbase and wider track. Chevrolet also managed to package a flat floor in the rear, making the middle seat habitable for shorter trips. This could be a popular choice for Uber drivers. Analog gauges and an 8.0-inch touchscreen are standard, but the optional digital gauge cluster and 11.0-inch central screen give the Trax a good amount of display real estate for a vehicle in this class.We’re not too down on the Trax’s cheap-feeling interior materials given the low price point. The plastics are hard and scratchy, but the crucial areas—the dashtop, the door panels, and the upholstery—at least have some interesting textures to keep them from looking too bargain-basement. The driving position is low and carlike, a welcome change from the chairlike seating arrangements in many of the Trax’s taller competitors, including Chevy’s own Trailblazer.Driving Experience Fits the BillThe 2024 Trax drives like an economy car, too, which isn’t a bad thing. The ride and handling balance is tuned appropriately—softly sprung enough to be comfortable on rougher roads while still offering enough damping to keep body roll in check when pushed. The steering’s lack of on-center feel is a letdown, though, and we would’ve preferred a quicker ratio for a small, relatively lightweight vehicle (3000-ish pounds, according to Chevy). If you think the RS trim offers any sort of dynamic upgrade, think again, as it’s mechanically identical to the others save for 18-inch (1RS) or 19-inch wheels (2RS).The only powertrain is a turbocharged 1.2-liter inline-three with a six-speed automatic transmission. Its 137 horsepower is meager, but the 162 pound-feet of torque comes on low in the rev range, and the Trax has enough power to get out of its own way. The three-cylinder has a distinctive warble, and turbo lag is minimal. The only real issue is the sluggish transmission, which doesn’t downshift as promptly as we’d like. That said, we’d still take it over a CVT any day. Fuel economy is rated at 30 mpg combined, which is not as good as compact cars like the Honda Civic but about on par for a crossover this size.It feels like we’re getting less and less for our hard-earned cash lately, which makes a legitimately inexpensive new car an increasingly appealing proposition. The Trax isn’t particularly engaging or refined, but its attractive pricing lowers expectations to the point where we can appreciate what it does offer: a generously sized interior, impressive feature content, and good looks. Chevy expects the Trax to become its third-bestselling model behind the Silverado and Equinox, and we don’t see any reason to doubt that. With better-equipped trims coming in under $25,000, it’s clear that the Trax’s low price is its top selling point—and nearly everyone can agree that value has universal appeal.Arrow pointing downArrow pointing downSpecificationsSpecifications
2024 Chevrolet TraxVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
LS: $21,495; 1RS, $23,195; LT, $23,395; 2RS, $24,995; Activ, $24,995
ENGINE
Turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 12-valve inline-3, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 73 in3, 1193 cm3Power: 137 hp @ 5000 rpmTorque: 162 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 106.3 inLength: 178.6 inWidth: 71.7 inHeight: 61.4 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 53/45 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 54/26 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 3000-3100 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 8.8 sec1/4-Mile: 16.5 secTop Speed: 115 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 30/28/32 mpgSenior EditorDespite being raised on a steady diet of base-model Hondas and Toyotas—or perhaps because of it—Joey Capparella nonetheless cultivated an obsession for the automotive industry throughout his childhood in Nashville, Tennessee. He found a way to write about cars for the school newspaper during his college years at Rice University, which eventually led him to move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, for his first professional auto-writing gig at Automobile Magazine. He has been part of the Car and Driver team since 2016 and now lives in New York City.   More