Reviews

From the February 1986 issue of Car and Driver.
The editorial “we” has shuttled between enchantment and annoyance so many times on the Corvette since its 1984 re­design that our tests read like soap-opera scripts. Is this the most advanced produc­tion car on the planet, as we once asserted, or an aluminum-and-fiberglass reincarna­tion of Judas Iscariot, as we later intimat­ed? Stay tuned for the next thrilling epi­sode as “we” neatly dodge the issue by saying, “Boy, it’s sure a lot better than it was last year.”

Corvette Chronology 1980s

1989 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible Road Test

There should be no arguing over this latest assessment, for two reasons. For 1986, after a ten-year absence, a convert­ible version will once again be available. If you like convertibles, hallelujah! If you don’t, the coupe continues as before.
The second reason to rejoice is the Bosch-derived anti-lock brake system, which is now standard on both body styles. The stopping distance from 70 mph is only 164 feet, the second shortest we’ve ever measured for a production car.
We’ll come back to this headline stuff af­ter a rundown of the news. Starting in Feb­ruary or March, both the convertible and the coupe will have aluminum cylinder heads as standard equipment. Although this change was originally intended for the start of the 1986 model run, a few design details had to be revised at the last mo­ment, resulting in a delay. The heads do more than just save 40 pounds per car, though this is no small thing in itself. They also contribute to engine efficiency, thanks to the spark plugs’ being more centrally lo­cated in the combustion chambers and to larger intake ports. And the compression ratio has been raised half a point, to 9.5:1—a typical change in the transition from iron to aluminum heads because of the faster heat transfer of aluminum.

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DICK KELLEY

Professional car thieves should have special interest in VATS, the new Vehicle Anti-Theft System, which is also standard equipment. Everyone will notice that the new ignition key has a black pellet inserted in the top of the blade just after the grooves and notches fade out. Anyone who tries to start a new Corvette without the right pellet in his key will notice a lot of cranking but not much starting. This pellet is the resistance module—Chevrolet has fifteen to choose from—and the ignition switch reads it along with the normal grooves and notches. If the key reader doesn’t like the proffered pellet, it tells the electronic control module to deactivate certain parts of the fuel system (thieves read this magazine too, so the less said about which parts, the better) for about two minutes. Therefore, a thief deter­mined to use a key instead of a tow truck might have to shuffle little black pellets for as much as a half-hour before finding the right one. And the ordinary thief, Chevro­let says, thinks anything longer than ten minutes is working overtime. So there’s a reasonable chance he’ll ignore your Cor­vette, go on down the street, and pick out a nice Porsche instead.
Said thief will be missing out on a few other 1986-model changes. An upshift id­iot light sits in the upper left corner of the tachometer. The whole instrument cluster has been slightly reangled to reduce glare. And a center-mounted brake light has been incorporated—at the top of the rear window on the coupe, at the top of the tail­light panel on the convertible.
So much for details. Now back to the headlines. The convertible, clearly a nice piece of work, is a joint venture between Chevrolet and ASC, and it entailed far more than just peeling the top off of the coupe. The car’s frame is considerably re­vised, in part by adding stiffness (including an X-brace under the cockpit floor), in part by reengineering sections of the original structure. The result is a convertible uncommonly free of creeks and groans, particularly when you consider its stiff suspension. The few aftershocks you feel in the structure when you’ve passed over a bump are of high frequency–by itself, a good indication of stiffness–and they damp out quickly. Certain trim pieces quiver and rustle for a longer time, but they do that in the coupe, too.

Complete History of the Chevy Corvette

Chevy Corvette: A Brief History in Zero-to-60-MPH

Our subjective conclusions about chas­sis stiffness are confirmed by Corvette en­gineers, who say that the convertible is not as rigid as the coupe when the latter’s roof panel is in place, but it’s better than the coupe with the panel removed. (This con­clusion may soon have to be revised, though, because the engineers are consid­ering adding the convertible’s reinforce­ment package to the coupe.)
The convertible’s roof, and its system of stowing, continue very much in the Corvette tradition. Two toggles release the folding top from the windshield header. Unlatching two tapered pins below the rear window releases the rear attachment. Then you lift the rear of the roof to allow the rear-hinged deck panel to swing open. In effect, the trunk then swallows the top, leaving no trace of it once the deck panel is returned to its place and latched. (There is still room in the trunk for a good-sized suitcase under the folded top.)
Except for four electric latches at the rear (two to release the top and two to al­low the deck panel to open), all of the fold­ing and swinging are accomplished man­ually, but the efforts are hardly worth mentioning. Getting out of the cockpit is the hardest part.
Back on the road, you’ll find a top-down Corvette to be a mighty hospitable car­riage. When there’s no crosswind, air flows smoothly around the occupants’ heads, with no buffeting of their ears and with only modest tousling of their coiffures. New for 1986, on both the convertible and the coupe, are plastic fairings between the windshield pillars and the side mirrors; they do much to smooth out the airflow across the window openings. They are hardly things of beauty when viewed from the cockpit—you see inside them, which is rather like looking under a fender-but at least they are functionally elegant.
The swept-back form of the windshield provides a pocket of still air just behind the glass, but the gradient of air speed rises quickly as you measure back from the vi­sors. By the time you reach the headrests there is a stiff breeze, but the flow is smooth rather than turbulent and there­fore is not unpleasant.
The convertible’s only serious annoy­ance exists only when the top is up: the rear quarters are so wide that they block the view to the corners. Visibility is so bad that you have to approach crossroads per­pendicularly, no matter what angle the in­tersection, just so you can get a decent view of oncoming traffic.
Corvette engineers say there is no weight difference between the coupe and the convertible. Maybe that shouldn’t be a surprise, because the huge glass terrarium on the back of the coupe could have been traded for a lot of steel reinforcements. It could also have been traded for a small glass window in the back of the convertible top, but Chevrolet took the easy way out by using plastic film-the kind that gets foggy in a few years. Our test car weighed 3266 pounds, within a few pounds of previous coupes with similar options. In any case, we see no reason to disagree with the engi­neers: with all the additions and deletions taken together, the ’86 model, coupe or convertible, weighs virtually the same as the ’85.
Radical surgery of the type that pro­duces a convertible usually has a negative effect on ride quality. The engineers went to work to avoid any such deterioration, and the result is that the convertible has its own package of springs, bars, and shocks. The convertible’s front spring rate is 3 I 0 pounds per inch, compared with 295 for the coupe. Both have 228-pound-per-inch springs in back and 26mm tubular front anti-roll bars. The convertible’s 19mm rear bar, however, is smaller than the coupe’s, which is 20mm. (In comparison, the coupe’s Z5 l handling option has 380-pound-per-inch springs in front, 330 in back, a 30mm solid front anti-roll bar and a 22mm solid rear bar.) Shock-absorber cali­bration is different for each model.
The convertible also departs from GM’s usual 35-psi recommendation for tire pressure: its placard calls for 30 psi. This is purely a ride consideration. Corvette engineers admit that nothing bad will happen to the coupe owner with ride complaints if he deflates accordingly, though they can’t officially advise around the official recom­mendation, if you follow the logic here.
Interestingly enough, the convertible has the wide, 9.5-inch wheels of the Z5 l as standard equipment, which suggests that they have a beneficial effect on ride. Obvi­ously, they don’t hurt skidpad adhesion: at 0.85 g, this car’s performance is not signifi­cantly different from past Corvettes’.
In fact, except for the folding roof, this new Corvette continues much as before. Acceleration is about the same; top speed is down a few mph, to 144, probably be­cause of greater aerodynamic drag over the convertible top. Braking is noticeably better for one or two moderate-speed stops now that the anti-lock system is in place, but the Corvette still shows some fading tendency when the brakes are used aggressively at high speeds. We don’t think this will be particularly noticeable in typical American driving-most buyers will probably instead be enthralled by the new anti-lock system-but Chevrolet has some work to do if it expects to match the best brakes available from Porsche and other European makers.
Keen observers will notice that a new logic is operating the manual transmis­sion’s electric overdrive. Previously, one flick of the switch would lock out the over­drive forever. Now, if the engine has been off for more than ten seconds or so, the overdrive will automatically be engaged when the engine is started again. If the driver wants it out, he has to lock it out each time he starts the engine. Corvette engineers were afraid the old system would be considered a “defeat device” by the EPA; with overdrive engaged, fuel economy is improved by 2.5 mpg in the combined test, enough to escape the gas­guzzler tax.
Escaping the tax takes on new impor­tance with the convertible. Its price has not been announced at press time, but Chev­rolet spokesmen estimate a $4000-to-­$5000 increment over the coupe’s price, which means a window sticker solidly in the $30,000 range when the usual options are figured in. That’s serious bucks.
And it brings up a serious question. Could a couple of drifters with no visible means of support afford to cruise Route 66 in a Corvette convertible today, the way they did on TV two dozen years ago? May­be the question is moot, because Route 66 doesn’t exist anymore. The federal gov­ernment, figuring that Interstates handle the traffic now—and, who knows, maybe figuring there would never be another convertible Corvette—decommissioned that famous old highway a few months back, replacing the “66” signs with local route numbers.
So the Corvette convertible is returning to a changed world. The TV networks wouldn’t go with Tod and Buz anymore, either. Today’s adventurers would be Chip and Buffy, and they’d probably drive an automatic.

Specifications

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From the June 2006 issue of Car and Driver.
Driver involvement—it’s what distinguishes cars we lust after from cars that merely have impressive performance specifications. It’s what makes a Porsche Boxster so much better to drive than the quicker Corvette convertible. It’s also what gives us job security, since there’s no reliable way—other than getting behind the wheel—to predict if a new model possesses this car/driver relationship.

500-HP Face-Off: Vantage v. AMG GT v. 911 GT3

Tested: 2018 911 GT3 PDK Will Make You a Fiend

Tested: 2018 GT3 Manual Will Stir Your Soul

A high-revving naturally aspirated engine often indicates that a car’s engineers have made driver involvement a priority. Working to keep the engine screaming high in the rpm range—and being drawn into the wailing soundtrack—is almost always more rewarding than standing on the gas of a mega-torque turbo.
This thought kept bouncing around in our heads while wringing out the latest and highest-revving version of the 997 Porsche 911—the GT3.
Driving Impression
Even at idle, you know this is something special. The seats tremble from the high-strung flat-six’s lumpy idle, and a stab at the throttle yields instant response. The GT3 goads you to stand on it, and you submit. As the car screams through first gear (in less time than it takes to read this sentence), it becomes apparent that the GT3’s gearing is noticeably shorter than that of other 911s. Above about 4000 rpm the cabin fills with a robust growl as the exhaust bypass opens up. Initially, you shift by sound at about 6000 rpm, and the engine feels impressive. But then you realize that you’ve got another 2400 rpm to play with, and when you push into the upper reaches of the power band, there’s an awakening at 6000 rpm. The engine absolutely shrieks to the 8400-rpm redline. Anyone listening on the outside is treated to a fantastic race-quality wail. Your neighbors will hate you. Your neighbors’ kids will love you.

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On the track, of course, is where the GT3 shines. At first, we thought there was noticeable understeer through some lower-speed sweepers, but it turns out we hadn’t started trusting the massive grip of the rear tires yet. Blasting out of a corner, the GT3 has shocking traction—its 415 hp scorches the ground. If you push too hard, the tires break away predictably, and the GT3 is never scary—no amount of experimentation with jumping off the throttle could get the rear end to come around. All the cars we drove had ceramic brakes, which are absolutely fade free and provide a slop-free feel that other companies should benchmark. The short shifter is a welcome improvement, although engagement is now crisp and effort is higher. On the street, we were almost thinking it was notchy, but those thoughts vanished at the track, where the gearbox works perfectly.
Most of the cars we drove had the carbon-fiber seats, which feel like they’re bolted directly to the floor, placing the driver low in the cockpit. With stiff and aggressive leg and shoulder bolstering, they’re perfect for track work. But they wear quickly on leg and shoulder comfort during any significant street driving, making the U.S.-spec GT3’s grippy sport seats a reasonable choice.
But what’s so impressive about the GT3 is that despite a major increase in ultimate performance, it also works so much better on the street. The active dampers (PASM), while much stiffer than on standard 911s, go a long way to smoothing out imperfect roads. In normal mode, we were pleasantly surprised not to take a beating over some rough roads we encountered. But picking the extra-firm sport mode makes a dramatic difference.
At high speeds, the new variable-ratio steering dials in some sneeze room to get rid of previous darty behavior. And the GT3 kicked its habit of following pavement grooves. But don’t worry; the steering still gives excellent feedback and has an always precise feel.
Okay, so the GT3 isn’t a likely option for a daily commuter, nor is it likely to be someone’s only car. But for pure driving enthusiasts — people that probably think the 911 Turbo is an autobahn cruiser for fat-cat execs — with a six-figure track-toy budget, what a sweet choice.

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Background
The 911 GT3 is the street version of Porsche’s production-based racing cars, the GT3 Cup and RSR. This is the second version of the track-junkies’ 911 that we will get in the U.S. when it goes on sale in August, starting at $106,795. Porsche plans to sell about 800 in the U.S. the first year.
Engine
This isn’t the same engine as the 3.6-liter in more pedestrian 911s (if you believe such things exist). The GT3 shares its dry-sump engine with Porsche’s production-based racing cars—the GT3 Cup and RSR—and the Turbo. Standard 911s use a two-piece engine block split down the center line of the crankcase. On the GT3 and Turbo, it’s a four-piece unit with crankcase parts cast separately, which are then bolted to the cylinder blocks. This is a stiffer arrangement, which can handle more power, and was originally developed for racing applications.
For the 2007 GT3, Porsche sticks with the same aluminum 3.6-liter flat-six but ups the power by 35 hp to 415 at 7600 rpm, making it the most powerful naturally aspirated 911 ever. That’s also the same output as the last-gen Turbo. And the redline rises by 200 rpm to a stunning 8400, up there with the best, just 100 rpm shy of the Ferrari F430’s redline. But the GT3 makes 115.3 hp per liter—more than the Ferrari and just about anything else. Torque is up 15 pound-feet to 299 at 5500 rpm.

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These gains have come largely by lightening rotating components and making the engine breathe better. A new crankshaft design saves 1.3 pounds. Reshaped, forged pistons and 1-mm-smaller (in diameter) piston pins shave an ounce per cylinder. The titanium connecting rods also got thinner. The compression ratio is up to 12.0 from 11.7 in the previous GT3.
In the exhaust, the GT3 has new silencing flaps that, when open (above about 4000 rpm at load), reduce back pressure by eight percent compared with the old GT3. The entire exhaust system has thinner walls than before and weighs almost 20 fewer pounds.
Other updates include a slightly larger throttle body, to better feed the three-stage variable-intake manifold (the 996 GT3 had a two-stage unit), and a wider operating range for the variable intake-valve timing. It can now adjust over 52 degrees, versus 45 degrees previously.
Transmission
The six-speed manual transmission is largely the same as the previous GT3’s (including steel syncros and an oil cooler), though the second-through-sixth gear ratios have been shortened slightly. Shift throws are 22-percent shorter than those in other 911s. The limited-slip rear axle has a familiar 3.44:1 ratio but is beefed up compared with lesser 911s.

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Chassis
The GT3 is based on the 911 Carrera 4’s mechanicals, but it wears the Carrera 2’s narrow sheetmetal, and instead of all-wheel-drive hardware up front, Porsche mounts a larger, 23.8-gallon fuel tank (a 0.3-gallon increase). The new GT3 benefits from an eight-percent increase in torsional rigidity over the previous car. Bending stiffness is up 40 percent.
For the first time, the GT3 has Porsche’s active shocks—called Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM)—which have worked wonders on 997 911s and 987 Boxsters to date. PASM offers two choices: a sport setting geared toward track use and a normal mode for the street. The GT3’s suspension is a stiffer version of the strut front and multilink rear arrangement from other 911s. Its anti-roll bars are more substantial as well as adjustable — five-way in front and three-way in back. Both the front and rear suspensions are height adjustable.
No additional weight increase came from the 19-inch (one inch larger) alloy wheels. They’re 8.5 inches wide up front and 12.0 inches wide in back. Wrapped around them are GT3-specific Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires in the same size as on 4S models — 235/35 front, 305/30 rear. But these tires have precious little tread, so driving in the rain is done at your own risk. And with a tread-wear rating of 80, which is less than half that of a typical high-performance street-car tire, these tires will ensure that they’ll know the sound of your voice at Tire Rack.
Also new to the GT3 is a full-function traction-control system similar to that on the Carrera GT. The system applies individual brakes to keep the rear wheels spinning at the same rate but will cut engine power if both wheels are slipping excessively. There’s a sport button that raises the thresholds slightly (that same button alters the engine mapping for a little more midrange), as well as an off switch that fully disables the system. But the system doesn’t have stability control like other 911s, so driver skill is required.

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The 13.8-inch front vented-and-cross-drilled discs (0.8 inch larger than those on the 911 S) are the same size as the previous GT3’s. The rears are also cross-drilled and vented, but they now measure 13.8 inches, up 0.8 inch over the old car. Larger Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes (PCCB) are optional (15.0 inches front, 13.8 inches rear) and save 44 pounds over the standard steel setup. This is a larger version of PCCB—a size shared with 911 Turbo—but the internal venting design of the discs came from Cup-car development.
Like other 997 911s, the GT3’s steering ratio is variable, which is intended to increase high-speed stability. Thankfully, it remains constant until you really crank the wheel, at which point it speeds up — but this only comes into play in low-speed maneuvers; if you’re cranking the wheel far enough to invoke the faster ratio at high speeds, you have worse problems than the variable steering ratio!
Exterior
The GT3 is even more extroverted than before and looks outrageous on the road. It sits 1.2 inches lower than a base 911 and has an extremely low front fascia with gaping air intakes that insure proper brake and radiator cooling. There’s also an air outlet in front of the trunklid, which reduces front lift by forcing the air passing the central radiator up and over the car. The telltale bi-level rear wing remains, and the top portion is adjustable. Another striking difference is the center-exit rear exhaust pipes, which mimic the race car’s — a first for the street version.
But looks can be deceiving: Despite all the spoilers and bodywork, Porsche engineers have reduced the GT3’s drag coefficient by 0.01 to 0.29 (same as a 911 S).
Porsche says the GT3 weighs the same as a base rear-drive 911, or 3250 pounds. That’s up about 30 over the last model despite some 44 pounds saved with aluminum doors and trunklid as well as a plastic rear engine cover.

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Interior
The GT3’s interior looks much the same as that of other 997s, which is to say significantly more upscale than before. The GT3 adds an Alcantara-covered steering wheel, shifter, parking-brake lever, and door accents. The gauges have yellow needles and markings (à la Carrera GT) as well as a GT3 logo. Grippy and heavily bolstered Alcantara-lined sport seats are standard. The race-car-like, 23-pound carbon-fiber buckets from the Carrera GT are optional but not in the U.S. And due to the 997’s Porsche Communication Management (PCM) central command screen, there’s no center-console delete option as on previous GT3s. As with all “GT” model 911s, there’s no back seat. Another option U.S. buyers can’t get is the no-cost Clubsport package, which adds a roll cage bolted in the rear, a six-point harness for the driver’s seat, and a fire extinguisher. And of course, there are numerous leather and carbon-fiber trim upgrade options as on any Porsche.
Performance
Porsche predicts an identical 0-to-60-mph time for the new GT3 — we got 4.0 seconds with the old car—but it should shave a couple tenths off the quarter-mile time (think 12 flat), as well as raise top speed 3 mph to 193 (at 8000 rpm in sixth gear).
Skidpad grip should also be higher than the 1.03 g we measured in the last car due to the more-aggressive, softer tires. And we expect that braking from 70 mph should improve 15 or so feet to about 150.
Porsche says that during development the 911 GT3 997 recorded a 7:47 lap around the benchmark Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. But engineers say the time with the final setup should drop into the 7:42-to-7:45 range. That’s about 10 seconds better than the old car and also a few seconds quicker than the 997 Turbo. We’re sure Porsche would be pleased if the GT3 matches the Corvette Z06’s 7:42 lap time, but it’s still a ways off its big-brother Carrera GT’s 7:32 pace.

Specifications

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Well, the company did it. Audi managed to make the second-generation TT as stunning to look at as the last. Even after we saw the 2008 TT in pictures, far before we ever saw it in metal, we doubted that it was really good-looking—it had to be trick photography, right? A sequel can’t be as good as the original, can it? Sure it can, and here’s proof. Thankfully, the latest TT is more than a smokin’ body—it’s now an honest-to-Nuvolari sports car, too. (One of the first-gen car’s greatest feats was remaining a favorite of enthusiasts—in spite of its less-than-stellar dynamics—almost solely on account of its staggeringly beautiful design. Yeah, we’re that shallow.)

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Grip, Balance, Go, and Stop
Turn the TT into a corner, and you’ll discover three things: There are huge amounts of grip (0.93 g); the TT Quattro feels more balanced than the front-drive TT, even with a similar 59.4/40.6 front-to-rear weight distribution; and Audi still has trouble figuring out how to tune truly communicative steering. The 2008 TT’s steering is pretty good, but because its speed-sensitive, variable-assist system is always just a step or two ahead with the boost, the feel through the supercool flat-bottom steering wheel is always a tad too light, and it’s hard to discern what the front wheels are up to. The TT’s brakes offer good response and stopped the TT from 70 mph in a mere 159 feet.
Our example was fitted with the $1400 optional two-mode magnetic shocks, similar to those found in the Chevy Corvette and Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano. Sport mode doesn’t spoil the ride, and there’s a noticeable uptick in body control when it’s selected. We’re kind of old-school and like a bit of body lean into corners, though, so we kept it mostly switched off with little penalty to handling.

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The TT rides on the same platform as the Volkswagen Rabbit, Jetta, and GTI, as well as Audi’s own A3 hatchback. Our test car was equipped with a 250-hp, 3.2-liter naturally aspirated V-6 and a smooth six-speed manual transmission, but the base engine is the VW Group’s awesome 2.0-liter turbo four mated to a six-speed, dual-clutch automated manual (the dual-clutch box is an option for V-6 TTs, and a traditional six-speed manual will be available on 2.0Ts after launch). The V-6 is happy to rev right to its 6600-rpm redline, and with three-quarters of peak torque available from 1000 rpm, there’s grunt for the taking all over the tach. It sounds fantastic, too—an ominous, meaty howl underlaid by a thousand sledgehammers striking home—so naturally, we took every opportunity to rip down through the gears just to hear it at full throat.

Specifications

SPECIFICATIONS
2008 Audi TT 3.2 Quattro
VEHICLE TYPE Front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE AS TESTED $48,075 (base price: $42,275)
ENGINE TYPE DOHC 24-valve V-6, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 195 in3, 3189 cm3Power (SAE net): 250 bhp @ 6300 rpmTorque (SAE net): 236 lb-ft @ 2500 rpm
TRANSMISSION:6-speed manual
DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 97.2 in inLength: 164.5 inWidth: 72.5 inHeight: 53.2 inCurb weight: 3255 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS Zero to 60 mph: 6.1 secZero to 100 mph: 15.4 secZero to 130 mph: 31.2 secStreet start, 5-60 mph: 6.6 secStanding ¼-mile: 14.5 sec @ 97 mphTop speed (governor limited): 131 mphBraking, 70-0 mph: 159 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.93 g
FUEL ECONOMYEPA city/highway driving: 17/24 mpg
*Stability-control-inhibited.

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From the January 2004 issue of Car and Driver.
Attention, Wall Street: The latest economic forecast comes from Munich, and this one definitely points up. BMW, a company with a finger firmly on the pulse of the cash-endowed classes, is launching a two-door flagship that runs about 70 large. Surely this is the work of optimists.

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The 645Ci arrives as a large two-plus-two coupe hosting four adults in a luxurious and spacious cabin wired with technology up the yin-yang. Features both optional and standard include active anti-roll bars, variable-ratio steering, left-and-right-swiveling xenon headlamps, and an iDrive computer console with a porkpie superknob. By the time the 645Ci slinks into U.S. showrooms this March, the Werke will be ready with a cabriolet version. A bull market can’t be far behind.
The latest opus from BMW design chief Chris Bangle and his gang of icon busters sits astride a shortened version of the new 5-series chassis. The 325 horses emanate from the 4.4-liter DOHC 32-valve V-8 and are routed rearward via a ZF Type G six-speed manual, a ZF 6 HP 26 six-speed automatic, or BMW’s sequential manual gearbox (SMG), a no-clutch-pedal six-speed with paddle-operated shifting.
The suspension is straight 5-series: a strut braced by two spindly aluminum links in front and beefy cast-aluminum lower control arms in back assisted by a pair of lateral links on each side, all mounted to a tubular aluminum crossmember. BMW loves its steel coils; air springs, variable-rate shocks, and other suspension electrotrickery are for others. The 645’s one optional undercarriage fandangle is front and rear hydraulic variable-rate anti-roll bars that help keep the body flat in corners.

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Coupes die or thrive by their styling, and the 645Ci is yet another complex BMW shape that is more cerebral than emotional. The cab-backward body is the off-the-steroids production version of the gull-wing Z9 GT concept car from the 1999 Frankfurt auto show. Family ties to the big 745i sedan lurk in the oversize grille kidneys, the smoothly groomed flanks, the single thin swage line along the side, and the boxy trunklid. The latter juts out from the deep 13-cubic-foot trunk like the Rock of Gibraltar, which is not far from the southern Spanish town of Málaga, where the 645 was unveiled to automotive writers.
This one screaming feature is set amid fascinating details all but invisible in print. For example, the border between the hood and front fenders is a complicated sculpture of inward and outward creases that slash down the nose to define the glowering headlights. The side character line starts on the thermoplastic front fender, streaks across the aluminum door skin, and fades away into the steel rear quarter-panel, all the while maintaining perfect shape uniformity despite three completely diverse materials.

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Bangle, who credits BMW’s California-based DesignworksUSA president Adrian van Hooydonk with the exterior shape, admits the 645’s charm may be lost on people who only see it in magazines. “We’ve decided we can’t figure out how to design a car that looks good in pictures,” he says with a shrug. The 645 would look much better without its thick black B-pillars, especially since the Mercedes CLK and CL coupes swoop down the avenue as pillarless hardtops.
Bangle answers: “Of course, doing a car without a B-pillar is attractive to designers, but I work for a performance-engineering company, and they want that sucker to be stiff.”
And so it is. Flung at reckless speeds up the winding roads of Andalusia, the 645Ci is serenely stable and solid. It pounces on corners, tracks flat through the apexes, and devours the straights with a burly snarl from the V-8. It laps up freeway kilometers at triple-digit speeds, the suspension digesting ripples and dips so thoroughly that the body remains almost inert. All the driver has to do is aim the 645 and it goes there. Fast.
This was our first opportunity to stroke BMW’s new free-revving, throttleless V-8 with a manual. The stick is fingertip light, and the power gushes in one smooth surge through the flywheel. Sadly, two huge mufflers overdampen the V-8 sound show from the twin polished tailpipes.

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BMW expects the 645 six-speed to reach 60 mph in about 5.5 seconds. We have no reason to doubt that. Opt for the automatic, and the shifts—both up and down—are quick and slick. Skip the jerky SMG unless you’re a sadomasochist.
The Werke plans to announce final pricing closer to the 645Ci’s on-sale date, but spokesmen say the base price will fall somewhere just north of the 745i’s base of $69,195. That’s heavy money—about $16,500 more than a Mercedes CLK500—but BMW’s big coupes have always attracted big spenders. The last 840Ci we tested bent an AmEx by $82,312, and that was in October 1996.
By comparison, the 645Ci is more powerful by 43 horsepower, it is less weighty by as much as 350 pounds, and it should be quicker to 60 mph by at least a second depending on which transmission you choose. The styling or the iDrive may not fill everyone’s teacup, but lighter, faster, and cheaper is a trend we can all appreciate.

Specifications

SPECIFICATIONS
2004 BMW 645Ci
VEHICLE TYPE Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
ESTIMATED BASE PRICE $70,000
ENGINE TYPE DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 268 cu in, 4398ccPower (SAE net): 325 bhp @ 6100 rpmTorque (SAE net): 330 lb-ft @ 3600 rpm
TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual, 6-speed manual with automated shifting and clutch, 6-speed automatic with manumatic shifting
DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 108.4 inLength: 190.2 inWidth: 73.0 inHeight: 54.1 inCurb weight: 3800 lb
PERFORMANCE RATINGS (MFR’S EST)Zero to 60 mph: 5.5-5.7 sec
FUEL ECONOMYEPA city driving: 17-18 mpgEPA highway driving: 24-26 mpg

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The BMW 3-series is without question one of our favorite cars, reigning on our yearly 10Best Cars list for the past 16 years. The current and much-praised, fifth-generation E90 version is no doubt the best, and is among the most rewarding cars to drive at any price. For 2008, and to no one’s surprise, BMW is adding a convertible version, just as the company has for the past 20 years.

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But, this is BMW’s first foray into the expanding, hardtop-convertible parade. Other notable features are a much-improved, rapid-shifting six-speed automatic; special reflective leather to keep the seats cool (up to 30 degrees cooler than conventional leather) when the top is down; and, of course, the spectacular 300-hp twin-turbo inline-six that was introduced in last year’s 335i coupe. In the U.S., the convertible will be offered as the aforementioned 300-hp 335i—the model we got an early drive in—as well as a 230-hp 328i when it goes on-sale at the end of March. Pricing isn’t yet finalized, but the convertible premium will likely not change much from the outgoing model’s, so expect to pay about $7000 more than comparable coupes; roughly $43,000 for the 328i and $48,000 for the 335i.
Changes from convertible to coupe in 23 seconds
Hardtop convertibles offer numerous advantages over their soft-top competitors, including coupe-like quietness and excellent visibility when the top is up. BMW reports that the rear side windows have grown 30 percent in the new 3-series convertible, while overall visibility is up 38 percent. To our eyes, visibility out of the convertible is essentially equivalent to that of the coupe.

View Photos

Looks-wise, you probably won’t spot the new convertible by its 3-series-coupe-like front-end, but rather from the rear, where the coupe’s flowing roofline is replaced by a distinct line where the convertible’s roof meets the trunk.
BMW’s new top is a three-piece unit and, at the push of a center-console button or the key fob, stacks the front panel on top of the center panel, then the rear panel on top of both of those before disappearing into the trunk in 22 seconds. It takes a second longer to reverse the process, which is about seven seconds quicker than its closest competitor, the Volvo C70.

View Photos

The downside of folding hardtops is that they’re heavy and that the top can hog most of the trunk space when down. In the 3-series’ case, the top itself adds 300 pounds, while the extra chassis reinforcements pack on another 150, so expect a 335i convertible to weigh about 4000 pounds. To BMW’s credit, however, the convertible retains a 50-50 weight distribution and is claimed to have 50-percent stiffer torsional rigidity than the previous 3-series convertible. From the driver’s seat, we can tell you that the new 3-series is among the stiffest in its class, with almost no perceptible quivers felt through either the seat or steering wheel.

View Photos

The convertible’s 12-cubic-foot trunk is actually one cube larger than the coupe’s, but shrinks to 7 with the top down; still leaving usable space beneath the panels. That also compares favorably with the Volvo C70’s 13 cubic feet top-up and 6 top-down. However, the Volvo has a nifty loading feature that electronically motors the roof panels out of the way for easier access to the trunk space with the top down. On the BMW, that feature is optional (part of the $500 Comfort Access, which also includes keyless unlocking/locking and starting) and doesn’t work as well as there’s no button (instead you must click the key fob twice), and even then doesn’t make loading as easy as the Volvo does. However, the 3-series has a folding rear seat and a 16-inch-wide trunk pass through to accommodate the must-have set of golf clubs under the folded roof.
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Porsche returns some things that were lost. It’s shaped with some old curves, blatting exhaust, sharper controls, and is a lot more fun. More

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From the November 2003 issue of Car and Driver.
Before we delve into the new Morgan Aero 8 roadster, let’s get something, uh, prominent out of the way first. The nose. It’s a unique-looking snout with a deeply recessed grille and a pair of pontoon fenders that are capped with flush-mounted, offset headlights. To some, “unique” doesn’t do it justice-it’s been likened to a cross-eyed Pekinese, or a frog drawn by the Merry Pranksters.

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However you see it, the Aero 8 is the first entirely new car the little company in England has introduced in 50 years. Its previous model, the Plus 8, appeared in 1968, and it was little more than a lengthened version of the Plus 4, which had its debut in 1950. Although the Plus 8 has been regularly updated, it has remained about as modern as a VW Beetle, but customers nonetheless endured six-month waiting lists and a $65,000 price to snag one of the 200 Plus 8s produced each year, of which maybe 50 trickled into the U.S.
If there were no crash or emissions regulations, Morgan probably would have continued on with the Plus 8 for eternity. But these regulations got tougher with each passing decade, and the grim reaper finally had his eyes firmly locked on the Plus 8.
Imagine the dilemma at Morgan’s Malvern Link headquarters: Precisely how do you make a new car without turning off the loyal cadre of customers who are attracted to the classic, creaky British roadster that is the Plus 8?
So you try designing a new, modern car that retains the old, classic look of the Morgan. The task fell to Charles Morgan, grandson of the company’s founder, H.M.S. Morgan. The chassis emerged from a Plus 8 race car that Charles had built in the mid-1990s. In 1995, Christopher Lawrence (“The Mad Monk of Malvern Link,” June 1999), a 61-year-old race engineer, vehicle designer, and fabricator, joined Morgan to help turn that chassis-and body-into the Aero 8.

Highs: Light weight yields excellent performance; precise, easily controllable chassis; strong brakes; looks like nothing else on the road.

In 2000, a completed Aero 8 made its debut at the Geneva auto show and soon after went on sale in Europe. Since then, the company has reportedly invested $1 million to certify the car for the U.S. Interestingly, the company’s chairman, Peter Morgan, was once quoted as saying the firm could “lose [the U.S. market] tomorrow and never notice.” Obviously, that statement is no longer operative, and Morgan would indeed be grateful for U.S. buyers, whose purchases could recoup the cost of developing the new car.
The first Aero 8s should arrive next spring at a price of about $95,000. We got an early drive and test courtesy of Morgan’s East Coast agent, Cantab Motors. The blue car you see here is the sixth Aero 8 built and served as a prototype and test mule. Although its interior and trim bits are crude and unfinished, mechanically, it’s the real deal.
Morgan has never built its own powertrains. The 4.4-liter V-8 and six-speed manual transmission are from BMW. Plucked from the 540i, the DOHC aluminum V-8 produces 282 horsepower at 5400 rpm and 324 pound-feet at 3600 rpm.
The engine is mounted well behind the front axle for good weight distribution, and from the appearance of the tightly fitted frame rails, it looks as though the car were designed around the motor. The frame is an interesting combination of rectangular aluminum tubes that are reinforced with bonded and riveted aluminum panels. The skin is also made from aluminum.
The Aero 8 is a small car. It’s only 6.5 inches longer than a Mazda Miata. Its wheelbase, however, is 10.4 inches longer, so the Morgan doesn’t have that little-roadster look to it. Say what you will about the nose, but the guy’s got the eye. The Aero is without a doubt a Morgan, and although it appears to have the aerodynamics of a barn door, the drag coefficient is a poor but not horrendous 0.39 (the slippery Corvette has a much better figure of 0.29).
We’ve seen other aluminum cars with only small weight savings, but the Aero 8 is decidedly a featherweight. With a full tank of fuel, it weighs only 2476 pounds, which is about 50 pounds more than the four-cylinder Miata and 700 pounds less than the 405-hp, $52,000 Corvette Z06 (not to mention about 1300 pounds less than the 540i sedan the engine was designed for).
The Z06 has the power-to-weight advantage (7.8 pounds per horsepower versus 8.8 for the Morgan) and is quicker, but not by much. The Morgan scampered to 60 mph in only 4.2 seconds and through the quarter in 12.7 seconds at 110 mph. The Vette can hit 60 in 4.0 seconds and does the quarter in 12.4 seconds at 116 mph.
There are plenty of high-dollar sports cars the Morgan can dust off, including the Porsche 911 and Mercedes-Benz SL500, and some-such as the $119,000 Porsche 911 Turbo-that would direct the Morgan to the weeds. But the main point is the Morgan can suck you into the seat in any gear. It’s a pleasure to row through the six-speed box, the shift lever is well placed, and the clutch takeup is smooth.
Like a Dodge Viper, which rockets forward regardless of the gear it’s in, the Aero is joyously responsive. Left in sixth gear, this Morgan needs 5.4 seconds to go from 30 to 50 mph and 5.7 seconds to leap from 50 to 70 mph. Those are extremely good times, better than the Corvette’s at 9.5 and 9.4 seconds, respectively.
Part of the credit goes to the low-geared rear end (3.08:1) and a sixth gear that isn’t as tall as the Vette’s, but the big reason is that the engine doesn’t have much mass to pull around. We did our testing at Summit Point Raceway in Summit Point, West Virginia, and after using the straightaway for our acceleration testing, we did some hot laps to see just how sporting this Englishman with the German heart is.

Lows: Goofy-looking nose; manual top operation; getting in and out makes you look dorky or, worse, burns you.

That’s where we learned that downshifting is not required to keep the Aero 8 cooking. The V-8, as we’ve reported before, is creamy smooth and redlines at only 6100 rpm. The engine feels underworked and effortlessly whips the car around. After a few laps we found it was just as quick to skip downshifts and let the flexible engine do its work.
The chassis felt extremely strong and is completely up to modern stiffness standards. Bumps or road irregularities did not send the steering column shaking, and the cowl stayed put. That stiffness lends an alacrity and precision to the performance that we had not expected.
We got on the track thinking we’d do five laps for the photographer and get a feeling for the car’s handling balance. But five grew to 10, then to 15, then 20. The Aero 8 rocked out there.
The word that kept coming to mind: modern. The Aero 8 suspension uses unequal-length control-arm geometry at all corners and imparts amazing trackside grip and confidence. The low-profile tires are mounted on trick center-bolt magnesium wheels.
It’s an interesting setup because there are no anti-roll bars, which most other sports cars in production today have. Perhaps it is Morgan’s desire to be different, but the suspension delivers fantastically lively handling and loads of grip (0.96 g). We never expected to feel so comfortable sliding the car through corners and probing the limits of adhesion on the unfamiliar track.
We shouldn’t forget how the brakes and steering contribute to the good vibes. The front brakes use 13.0-inch rotors and four-piston calipers; the rears have 12.0-inch rotors and two-piston calipers. These are big brakes that would be suitable for a much heavier car. On the lightweight Morgan, we didn’t experience any fade. Anti-lock control is not available, but the firm pedal offers excellent feedback and is easy to modulate. We measured 178 feet to stop from 70 mph. (The Corvette Z06, with anti-lock brakes, stops in 160 feet.)
The steering uses variable power assist that is a little lacking in the feedback department, but it has no slop and firms up nicely as cornering forces build. Production cars feature a tilting and telescoping steering column not on our prototype, which had a steering wheel that about rubbed against the top of our thighs and made getting in somewhat undignified. The pedals are offset to the left in a small footwell that doesn’t have enough room for a dead pedal. The brake and gas pedals are too far apart for easy heel-and-toe maneuvers. There was plenty of legroom, though, and even with the seat moved all the way rearward, the seatback was still reclined at a comfortable angle. It’s intimate inside, with only six or so inches separating the shoulders of pilot and co-pilot.
There’s solid wood trim at the base of the upright windshield that continues onto the tops of the tall doors. That handsome trim and the view over the long elegant hood impart a vintage feel that was completely at odds with the Aero’s strong, modern performance and sharp handling. We were recalibrating ourselves over the entire drive, trying to rectify that old-time look with the modern chassis dynamics.
That recalibration continued on public roads. Admittedly, in Virginia and West Virginia, we never encountered the kind of crater-laden surfaces that we love to hate here in Michigan, but the bumps we did hit were soaked up just fine.
We did not detect any harshness filtering through the chassis, and despite the lack of anti-roll bars, there wasn’t a lot of lean in the corners. The prototype exhaust pipes that drooped below the rear suspension on their way to the dual rear outlets hit the road a few times, but production models have a system with more clearance.
Heat from the exhaust was one of our biggest gripes. The catalytic converters reside underneath the fenders and at a point next to the doors. These fenders look like running boards but are about eight inches wide and won’t support any weight. They make for wide sills that you have to hurdle while getting in and out. You end up looking dorky as you maneuver awkwardly to get out without cooking your calves on the fenders.

The Verdict: A surprisingly modern—and fast—performance car from the last purveyors of the wooden British roadster.

The prototype only had the removable hardtop, so we didn’t experience the manual softtop. Reports we’ve read from British car magazines suggest it’s far from perfect and not weather tight.
A convertible top that must be raised and lowered by hand is tough to accept in a $95,000 car. Still, the Aero 8’s combination of vintage looks, excellent performance, and rarity–only 50 or so will make their way here in 2004–makes it undeniably cool. Which is good, because this new Morgan may not see any changes for another 50 years.

Specifications

SPECIFICATIONS
2004 Morgan Aero 8 Roadster
VEHICLE TYPEFront-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door roadster
ESTIMATED PRICE AS TESTED $95,000
ENGINE TYPE DOHC aluminum 4.4-liter V-8, aluminum block and heads, port injectionDisplacement: 268 cu in, 4398ccPower (SAE net): 282 bhp @ 5400 rpmTorque (SAE net): 324 lb-ft @ 3600 rpmRedline: 6100 rpm
TRANSMISSION 6-speed manual
DIMENSIONSWheelbase: 99.6 inLength: 162.2 inWidth: 69.7 inHeight: 47.2 inCurb weight: 2476 lb
C/D-TEST RESULTS Zero to 60 mph: 4.2 secZero to 100 mph: 10.4 secStreet start, 5-60 mph: 4.8 secStanding ¼-mile: 12.7 sec @ 110 mphTop speed (drag limited, est ): 155 mphBraking, 70-0 mph: 178 ftRoadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.96 g
PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMYEPA city driving: 15 mpgEPA highway driving: 31 mpg

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