Reviews

From the January 1979 issue of Car and Driver.If we had a collective pinch of sense among us, we’d organize a cooperative fund and buy up all the 1979 Trans Ams we could lay our hands on, like maybe every one that comes off the line. We’d put the everyday ones in storage and sell them for a fortune a few years down the pike, and we’d drive the hell out of the WS6 cars because they run like there’s a gun-toting husband ten feet back and breathing heavy. We’d keep them forever, firing them up to vacuum the leaves of autumn into vortexes that would chase us down little-known paths of pavement through deserted woods. We’d let them slither and slew a little on the pavement sometimes, nattering with morning dew, evening showers, and midday torque, because that’s how big, heavy thrash-around cars are supposed to behave, but we’d also enjoy the fine line a WS6 can describe when a prac­ticed hand is on the wheel. We’d talk about the wonderful thing Pontiac did for us when it brought something into the world that, indeed, runs as if there were no tomorrow. Here and now, in 1979, there is no tomorrow for the big-engined Trans Am. For the 400 T/A Pontiac engine, this is the last year. The likes of the mighty Trans Am, as we’ve known it, won’t be seen from General Motors again. The engine is too big and too inefficient to make the government’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy grade for GM, and it’s out. So we’ll get misty-eyed and the value will skyrocket. Whatever replaces the WS6 will doubtless be a better car, more in step with the times. But never again will it be really, truly the same. Pontiac is playing its cards close, not telling just how many of its own 400-cubic-inch engines are on the shelf, ready to go into Trans Ams. No more will be built. The vast majority of Trans Ams in 1979 will come with tamer 403-cubic­-inch Oldsmobile engines, basic utility devices that lend low-end oomph to other basic utility devices such as Catalina and Bonneville Safari station wag­ons. That’s not much of a recommenda­tion for employment as a hauler of your automotive ashes. Trans Am Driven, Tested, and ComparedThe redlines of the two engines are the same. Other than the V-8 configura­tion, that’s about the end of the similari­ties. Pontiac finally got serious a couple of years ago about making the 400 will­ing to go around corners as fast as the chassis, adding a windage tray to the oil pan, which liked nothing better than voiding its pickup of oil in hard corners. With that problem solved, the 400’s newly gained semi-rasty camshaft, more spark advance, and improved breathing (through a single-catalyst, dual-resona­tor, no-muffler exhaust) bumped the horsepower up from 200 SAE net to 220. The Trans Am became something more than just a contender in the get­-down-and-grunt corner-exiting contest.Corners are where the WS6 option comes in. It takes over at the point where Trans Ams have always been good. Wrap a Trans Am body around the WS6 suspension and brake pieces, and you discover maybe the best-han­dling production car ever from an American manufacturer. That’s what the driver can feel all the time and what onlookers can imagine if the driver has any idea at all what the car is for and how to use it.Onlookers don’t need to imagine the looks. The budget portion allotted to engine and chassis development last year was siphoned into a nose job this year. The snoot of the car has been ex­tended still further and completely re­shaped. The strong Corvette similarity is not accidental. For the sake of styling, the quad headlights are still rectangular. The ra­diator intake has sunk beneath the lead­ing edge of the deformable front end, divided by a vertical, plowlike center molding. The horizontal grilles are inset and house the turn signals at their outer edges. The screaming-chicken­-emblazoned hood slopes forward into the drooping beak nose, and the air dam and the front tire spats have been reshaped for better integration with the schnoz. The lower lines of the psuedo front flares are nearly horizontal, and the trailing edges are less rounded, more pointed. The Bird’s tail feathers have been ruf­fled, too. The license-plate receptacle has been pressed lower, into an extrud­ed, flat-faced bumper. Looping up from the bumper is the familiar rear-deck spoiler. Separating the two is a dramatic black horizontal taillight treatment. The taillights themselves are only visible at night or under braking. Otherwise, they’re secreted beneath horizontal black lines; the gas cap is also out of sight, under a central panel. The same shaker hood scoop looms, but nobody who cares is about to confuse a new Trans Am with an old one.Although the basic shape of the Trans Am has remained the same, the new front and rear treatments garner lots of stares. The same shaker hood scoop looms up out of the hood, the same exhaust vents punctuate the front quarter panels, and the same walrus-mustache tailpipes droop below the rear quarters, but nobody who cares is about to con­fuse a new Trans Am with an old one. Pontiac has also done some work on the interior, making its fast-moving pouch more comfortable for its occu­pants. Sitting in the Trans Am is a lot like peeking out of a mama kangaroo’s front pocket. The seats are right on the floor, so you kind of scrunch way down inside next to the furry carpet, all warm and cozy from the transmission tunnel, and peer out over the top of the pouch past an inoperative hood scoop such as no ‘roo has ever had. The seats have been reworked, their padding increased and shifted around for improved lateral and lower-back support. The side bolsters could be still larger, but the seats are a considerable improvement over last year’s. They’re quite comfortable for long hours of touring and adequate for three-fourths of the serious driving you’re likely to do, but it’s when you’re hard after the final 25 percent that the solid support of Recaro- or Scheel-type driving seats would help you get the most out of the willing chassis. View PhotosHandling as you like it: understeerLarry Griffin|Car and DriverYou would probably also find your own chassis considerably more willing after a really long day if the seats re­clined. They don’t, so you’ll have to content yourself with the optional plush velour upholstery, which keeps your seat in the seat. The standard vinyl doesn’t look bad, but a quick run down through Pine Hollow will smoothly transfer your buns from one corner of the car to another no matter how snugly you’ve tugged the harness. The steering wheel is the same tilting, padded three-spoker that, when tilted too low, has hidden the important parts of the tach and speedometer in the Trans Am for years. A telescoping fea­ture would be nice, but at least the tilt usually allows a reasonable compromise in arm and leg reach. Ergonomically, the gear-shifting mo­tion is hindered by an encroaching con­sole that promises tennis elbow with ev­ery shift to the far side of the four-speed pattern. The console’s sole saving grace is that it’s narrow and deep enough to keep a couple of chocolate malteds from belching their contents all over your heel-and-toe loafers. The heel-and-toe­ing is another thing that works well. Here’s a car with the pedals set up for heel-and-toeing, a nice change from the pedal mismatch so common in all kinds of iron, both domestic and foreign. The shiny, engine-turned dash fascia confuses instrument legibility, but the layout and the selection of white-on­-black gauges are good, offering oil pressure, water temp, voltmeter, clock, speedo, and a 6000-rpm tach that’s or­ange-zoned at 4500 rpm, redlined at a comparatively low 5000. View PhotosHandling: Neutral Larry Griffin|Car and DriverThere’s an intermittent mode for the supremely efficient windshield wipers, a potent rear defogger, and, at long last, a column-mounted headlight-dimmer stalk integrated with the turn signals. The Trans Am’s back seat is still as silly as always, a fit place for neither man nor beast, unless it is a relatively small beast and one untroubled by claustrophobia. If you’re really serious about putting people back there, you’ll need a shoehorn for getting them in and a winch for getting them out. The trunk is no better than the back seat. If you sell thimbles, a small sample case may fit, but if your market is in bowling balls, try a Vespa with saddle bags. Pontiac has somehow stuffed in a best-solution-in-the-face-of-adversity Space-Saver spare, but maybe the designers should’ve knocked out the rear bulkhead, eliminated the back seat, and given us a tremendous trunk.Maybe that’s not important. If all cars did everything well, there’d be no need for arguments or road tests anymore. The Trans Am is supposed to be a run­ner, pure and simple. That’s important to us, and we’re as impractical as the next guy, so we left air conditioning off the order form. It would’ve added 108 pounds, most of it over the front wheels, and it would’ve dragged on the engine like a lifetime of tar and nicotine, three packs a day. Our WS6 runner came through gold in color, and that’s the way it drove, all sparkle and shine. The heavy-usage WS6 option puts the legs of a mara­thoner under the Trans Am’s sheetme­tal torso and V-8 lungs.View PhotosHandling: OversteerLarry Griffin|Car and DriverThe package includes the Pontiac high-output engine; eight-inch-wide, snowflake-spoked aluminum wheels, in­stead of the Trans Am’s normal sevens; special steel-belted P225/70R-15 Good­years; a 1.25-inch front anti-roll bar with plastic bushings; a 0.75-inch rear bar; stiffer rear-shackle bushings; firmer shock valving; and special steering gear. And this year, finally, the frosting on the cake is four-wheel disc brakes.Other than for its refinement, the sus­pension is thoroughly unremarkable: in­dependent, unequal-length control arms and coil springs in front; a live axle sprung by semi-elliptic leaf springs in back. The magic 400 engine uses un­leaded gas, pumped into its 8.1:1 compression-ratio combustion chambers by a single Rochester Quadrajet four-bar­rel. It makes 220 brake horsepower at 4000 rpm and a hefty 320 pound-feet of torque at 2800 rpm. It lives and breathes in the low and middle rpm ranges, disdaining high revs through the gears but capable of pulling past its recommended 5000-rpm limit to no less than 132 miles per hour at 5400 rpm. The EPA estimates that it will consume a gallon of gas every twelve miles, about what we got. It’s tennis elbow from an encroaching console, and taillights hidden from a quickly receding world. This year’s geartrain is different on one count: The final-drive ratio has been changed from 3.42:1 to 3.23. The bone­-snapping Muncie M-22 “Rock Crusher” transmission favored a few years ago has long since been dropped in favor of the smoother Borg-Warner Super T-10. The new gearing allows the car to top out 4 mph faster, and the Super T-10 with updated linkage doesn’t require a bionic arm to ram it into the next gear. The new linkage makes the drag strip all sweetness and light instead of the prelude to a visit to the chiropractor. The V-8 hustles its 3700-pound load through the quarter in 15.3 seconds at 96.6 mph. The high torque requires feathering the throttle off the line to avoid excess wheelspin, then standing on the gas when the revs begin to climb a somewhat normal curve. Third gear is good to 99 mph, so the Trans Am doesn’t want fourth until just after a quarter-mile of pavement has been in­haled. First gear is good to 50 mph, 60 coming up in 6.7 seconds. In really hard driving and on bad roads, Trans Ams (and Camaros) have always felt as if they have a big hinge at the base of the windshield. They do. The front of the car is supported by an add-on subframe that extends forward from the unit body. The mating of the two isn’t really up to the rigors of back­road bashing; it’s a culture shock for the coupe that began life as a cruiser and graduated to the big time. Herb Adams, of Pontiac racing fame, has some add­-on stiffening members that help mini­mize the problem, but without them, kick-ass romps and washboard roads turn into a motorized Chubby Checker session and general rattle-counting fest. Beyond that, it’s the land of the free and the home of the brave. The only excuse you have for not making good time is bad eyesight or the cops. A weak heart is no excuse: The car’s too stable and too forgiving for that to hold up. The four-wheel discs live up to their advanced billing in fade resistance and stopping ability, arresting your 70-mph forward progress in a mere 179 feet. The booster can have a slight feel of fighting back, of trying to outthink you, but stop you do. The new brake system is very well co­ordinated with the suspension. Braking in corners, over elevation changes, or when crossing irregularities has little ef­fect on your direction of travel, and your rate of travel can be halved or eliminated in a trice. Pedal pressure is fairly high, but with a system like this, it should be. Call them adrenaline brakes, because they work superlatively when yours is up, yet they help keep it as low as possible. Driving a Trans Am fast is nothing to get excited about. The Tran Am is easier to drive really fast than any American car has ever been. But its stability is not to be fooled with, not to be taken lightly. The fail­safe point at which it begins to come un­stuck is so high that, if something goes really wrong, the interest will com­pound very rapidly: the interest of the police, the interest of the doctors, the interest of the judge, the interest of the insurance company. The steering is quick, progressive, direct, and talkative, describing to your hands the bumps the suspension is handling better than a 3700-pound rear-leaf-sprung car has any right to.If that happens, the car won’t have done it to you, you’ll have done it to yourself. It will forgive you til hell won’t have it. It understeers slightly, its attitude firm, poised, ready to defend against the unexpected. The steering, at 2.4 turns lock-to-lock, is quick, progressive, direct, and talkative, describing to your hands the bumps the suspension is handling better than a 3700-pound rear-leaf-sprung car has any right to. The back end dances a little over the worst of it, but the bad bumps are usual­ly so visible you can drive neatly around them, crisply rearranging your line as you go. And all the while it rides well, not beating your noggin on the headlin­er, your shins on the radio, or your kid­neys on your spine. On smooth or mildly lumpy pave­ment the sensations are awesome for a street car: skating at 100 or 110, adjusting in increments with throttle and wheel, balancing, playing a slick nib­bling ragtime on the tires, calling up a reservoir of power oversteer to expel yourself from the classroom of one cor­ner to the next, always learning but nev­er left behind. If you go in too hot and lift, the tail won’t come around unless you’ve been woefully ignorant. All four tires react in coordinated patterns, free­ing you from the necessity of overseeing an unruly and domineering machine. You need only look where you want to be in a few moments’ time, and if you have taken the time to learn the car, it will have you there in very short order.That’s what a Trans Am is for. It’s a short-order specialist and it will feed a need. It would be nicer if it could carry more, if it were smaller, if it were easier to see out of, if it were less thirsty. But none of that matters. This is not the time to be practical. This car is here and now, and it will not pass this way again.SpecificationsSpecifications
1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans AmVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICEBase/As Tested: $6299/$7285Options: WS6 Package, $434; 400 T/A engine, $90; custom interior, $150; hood decal, $95; AM radio, $86; tinted glass, $64; floor mats, $25; custom seatbelts, $23; lamp group, $19.
ENGINESOHC V-8, iron block and headsDisplacement: 400 in3, 6550 cm3Power: 220 hp @ 4000 rpmTorque: 320 lb-ft @ 2800 rpm 
TRANSMISSION4-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 11.0-in vented disc/11.1-in  vented discTires: Goodyear Polysteel Radial225/70R-15
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 108.2 inLength: 197.1 inWidth: 73.0 inHeight: 49.3 inCurb Weight: 3700 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS30 mph: 2.9 sec60 mph: 6.7 sec1/4-Mile: 15.3 sec @ 97 mph100 mph: 16.9 secTop Speed (redline limited): 124 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 179 ft 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 12 mpg  
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

From the November 1986 issue of Car and Driver.Raising Corvettes for a living isn’t all sweetness and light—just ask the Corvette development group. Every now and again, this dedicated band of engineer-enthusiasts bumps into a problem that won’t stand aside. Like workmen everywhere, they’re always on the lookout for the tool that will break the logjam and help them get their job done. Sometimes they find it. In the case of the Corvette-chaser wagon, though, they had to build it themselves. Longtime Corvette development wiz Jim Ingle is the wagon’s keeper. Ingle is the kind of resourceful engineer the brass assign to special projects, and he can drive the wheels off of a Corvette to boot. Often as not, Ingle has the latest trick part in his briefcase, and he owns a bad-boy laugh that tells you he’s up to no good even when he’s playing dumb. More wagon weirdnessIn a carefully worded letter sent along with the white behemoth, Ingle explains that the situation was getting desperate. When the development engineers take a group of Corvettes out for a test trip, they usually bring along a support vehicle to haul spare parts, tools, and extra luggage. Such bullets as diesel-powered Suburbans, Ingle writes, “fell rapidly behind the evaluation vehicles and out of radio range on even mildly challenging curves or grades.” Not to mention on Interstates, on-ramps, off-ramps, two-lanes, downhill grades, and mountain switch­backs. The word is that these guys don’t exactly tiptoe through the tulips on evaluation runs, so the feeble chase cars of yore were a permanent thorn in the side of speedy progress. Car and DriverThe solution appeared back in 1983, when a batch of prototype Corvette L98 port-fuel-injected V-8s were installed in a few Caprices—one of them a wagon—for field testing. Here was the makings of a mother ship that could haul both parts and ass in company with 150-mph Corvettes. At the end of the engine test, the Corvette development troops skimmed the L98 Caprice wagon off the top and set to work making “additional modifications to suit our needs, whims, and desire for distinction,” notes Ingle. With the GM spare-parts bins there for the raiding, Ingle and company mixed, matched, and patched together the white whale as time and manpower allowed. The only changes to the driveline were the addition of a free-flowing dual-exhaust system and a 3.23:1 limited-slip differential. The mechanics buttressed the front suspension with a pair of Bilstein shocks and a Cadillac-limousine anti-roll bar the size of your thigh.Since a Corvette can go around corners as if hooked to a tether, any Caprice that was meant to keep up would need to learn some fancy footwork. Dance class was administered in the C-P-C development garage at GM’s Milford, Michigan, proving grounds. The mechanics buttressed the front suspension with a pair of Bilstein shocks and a Cadillac-limousine anti-roll bar the size of your thigh. The rear suspension was pumped up for action with a reworked anti-roll bar from a Caprice F41 handling package and a pair of air shocks to keep the tail from dragging once the spares were hefted on board.Two more tweaks were made to the steer-and-stop equipment before the chassis was pronounced ready. First, a quick­-ratio, high-effort steering gear from a pre-1982 Z28 was installed to improve feel and agility. And since it’s only proper that a Corvette chaser wear Corvette running shoes, a set of Vette wheels and tires (255/S0VR-16 Goodyear Eagle VR50s on 8.5-inch-wide wheels) were socked into the wheel wells. Now that the chaser had more grip and more zip than the typical sleepy Caprice wagon, improving its driving environment was a must. To keep the chase pilot from collapsing from overwork, the Caprice’s sofalike bench seat was tossed in favor of a pair of deeply pocketed Corvette sport buckets, complete with power-adjustable everything. A thick, leather-covered Corvette steering wheel added the right look and feel. The two slickest additions were the tachometer and the oil-pressure gauge, which were transplanted into the dash so neatly that they look as if they came straight from the factory. Car and DriverThe mother ship could easily be accused of looking like the world’s largest boy racer; it sure won’t be confused with anything that normally pulls Little League duty. Then again, its job is considerably more difficult. It spends winters at the GM proving grounds in Mesa, Arizona, and summers at the Milford proving grounds, attempting, Sisyphus-like, to keep up with Corvettes while loaded to the gunwales. And it looks it. “As the interior shows,” notes Ingle, “this is a working vehicle, not a show car. It has hauled toolboxes, floor jacks, chains, tires, convertible tops, and excess luggage over many miles of mountain roads.” After 35,000 hard ones, the chaser’s cabin is scruffy and its body squeaks and groans, but its spirit is still willing. Around town, the exhaust note is pure ski boat, and when you belt the throttle, the mellow bellow is enough to tum heads. And so is this car’s speed. On the run, big mamma will charge to 60 mph in a very respectable 7.2 seconds and will huff and puff all the way to 121 mph. That’s well shy of a Corvette’s terminal velocity, but it’s light-years ahead of your average diesel Suburban’s. The Corvette troops couldn’t be happier.Car and DriverAs for handling, peeling off all the chrome and slapping a Corvette nameplate on the tailgate can’t disguise the fact that the chaser is a USS Enterprise among PT boats. Still, it’s hard to believe that anything so big can be so agile—even if it does take a couple of extra tries to wedge it into a parking spot. It’s also difficult to believe that anything so big can be so much undiluted fun. No wonder the Corvette development gang relishes its latest tool. Chasing down a pack of wild Corvettes was never easier. And until you catch up, there’s always the odd Porsche to menace—eh, Mr. Ingle? SpecificationsSpecifications
1986 Chevrolet Corvette Chaser wagonVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
ENGINEpushrod V-8, iron block and heads, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 350 in3, 5733 cm3Power: 230 hp @ 4000 rpmTorque: 330 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm 
TRANSMISSION4-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/live axleBrakes, F/R: 11.9-in vented disc/11.0-in drum
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 116.0 inLength: 215.1 inWidth: 79.3 inHeight: 57.1 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 59/52 ft3Cargo Volume: 50 ft3Curb Weight: 4287 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.2 sec1/4-Mile: 15.5 sec @ 89 mph100 mph: 21.6 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 3.8 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 5.4 secTop Speed: 121 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 232 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.79 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 12 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

Toyota added the TRD Off-Road trim to the RAV4 lineup in 2019, giving this down-to-earth family crossover a chance to get a little closer to said earth with a host of dirt-friendly upgrades. The hybrid didn’t receive the same treatment, but the 2023 RAV4 Hybrid Woodland Edition seeks to span that familial gap, although it comes up short in a few key areas.Off-Road KitBefore you start dreaming about tackling Moab on the way to Meijer, it’s worth noting that the Woodland Edition isn’t a pixel-perfect adaptation of the TRD Off-Road. You don’t get the TRD’s extra half-inch of ground clearance, nor do you receive its specific all-wheel-drive system, since all hybrid RAV4s power their rear axles using a single, 54-hp electric motor without any mechanical connection to the engine.HIGHS: Looks almost as cool as the TRD Pro, a softie over potholes, still eminently practical. What you do get in the Woodland Edition is a melting pot of form and function. The TRD Off-Road lends its 18-inch bronze alloy wheels wrapped in 225/60R-18 Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail 01A all-terrain tires. The Woodland Edition also borrows the TRD’s springs, dampers, and bump stops. Otherwise, this RAV4 gets a few mild aesthetic tweaks, including a roof rack and mud flaps, as well as a 120-volt outlet in the cargo area.Marc Urbano|Car and DriverFuel-Economy HitThe RAV4 Woodland Edition, unfortunately, takes a hit to its fuel economy, which poses an existential threat, as that undercuts a major reason to buy a hybrid in the first place. But, if you want your hybrid bedecked in roof racks and higher-rolling-resistance tires, a sacrifice must be made. In our 75-mph highway fuel-economy test, the Woodland’s 32-mpg result was a full 5 mpg below that of the last RAV4 hybrid we tested and 3 mpg below its EPA estimate, which is specific to the Woodland. More on the RAV4 and How Roof Racks Affect Fuel EconomyAll-terrain tires may confer additional grip on loose surfaces, but they are generally not as strong on pavement. On our 300-foot skidpad, the RAV4 Woodland Edition managed 0.78 g, less than the 2019 RAV4 Hybrid Limited’s grippier 0.81 g.Braking and acceleration tell a slightly happier tale. It took the Woodland Edition just 179 feet to stop from 70 mph, besting the standard hybrid by three feet. Sprints end in a dead heat, with both variants requiring 7.3 seconds to reach 60 mph and 15.6 seconds to pass the quarter-mile mark. No matter the RAV4 hybrid trim you select, the powertrain remains the same, pairing a 2.5-liter inline-four with three electric motors—including the aforementioned one that motivates the rear wheels on its own, and only when additional traction is needed. The system combines for a total of 219 horsepower. Another high-water mark comes by way of interior noise. You might think that the Falken Wildpeaks would add demonstrable clamor, but nope—at 68 decibels at a 70-mph cruising speed, the Woodland Edition is actually 1 decibel quieter than the RAV4 Hybrid Limited. In more subjective experiences, you’d be hard-pressed to find a difference. The planetary transmission that blends the electric and gas propulsion and mimics a continuously variable automatic transmission does a good job hunting out the efficient segments of the rev range without adding any drone. That’s good because the engine note isn’t pleasant at any speed.Smooth RiderToyota claims that the Woodland’s TRD-specific suspension components are tuned to mitigate bumps and dips of all shapes and sizes, and that rang true in our experience. Southeast Michigan’s roads feel like glorified dirt trails most of the time, and the RAV4 Woodland sailed across them with aplomb, providing competent mitigation without feeling wishy-washy.Marc Urbano|Car and DriverIf your idea of adventuring includes towing things out in the middle of nowhere, it may behoove you to stick with a gas-powered RAV4. An unchanged powertrain means the Woodland Edition carries the same 1750-pound tow rating as the other hybrids, while the TRD Off-Road and Adventure trims can manage double the mass out back.On the positive side, no amount of beefcake doodaddery can mess with the outright practicality baked into the RAV4. Visibility is good, and all three mirrors are twice as large as they need to be. The passenger-side dashboard storage tray is a nice touch, and there’s plenty of space to dump tchotchkes under the center armrest and in the tray ahead of the gear lever. Out back, the cargo area can handle 10 carry-on suitcases behind the second row or 22 with the rear seats folded down.LOWS: Subpar fuel economy, no relief from ice-cold seats, hybrid powertrain isn’t exactly tow-friendly.Looking to crank some tunes? Rejoice in the fact that Toyota has sent its crappy old Entune infotainment software to the shadowlands. In its place is the same upgraded setup you’ll find in other new Toyota models, and it’s a vast improvement. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on the 8.0-inch touchscreen, and Google-based navigation is available. A 10.5-inch touchscreen is available on higher trims but not on the Woodland.Missing FeaturesYou know what else isn’t available on this off-road-oriented model? Heated seats. In fact, the options packaging on the RAV4 Woodland Edition is utterly confounding. The SE, which is less expensive than the $34,860 Woodland, can be optioned with packages that add heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, rain-sensing windshield wipers, a power liftgate, and a sunroof, none of which are available on the Woodland Edition, but all of which sure sound nice to have when taking a break from civilization. Maybe it’s always 75 degrees and overcast in whatever forest is closest to Toyota headquarters.Marc Urbano|Car and DriverTherein lies the rub. The 2023 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Woodland Edition is a simulacrum that offers a little pageantry but sacrifices much of the hybrid’s raison d’être. Adding variety to a lineup is good, but the Woodland Edition’s drawbacks make it hard to recommend when every other variant seems more fully baked.SpecificationsSpecifications
2023 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Woodland EditionVehicle Type: front-engine, all-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door wagon
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $34,860/$36,104 Options: running boards, $620; door-sill protector, $199; frameless HomeLink mirror, $175; door-edge guard, $150; fog-light accent trim, $100
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve Atkinson-cycle 2.5-liter inline-4, 176 hp, 163 lb-ft + 3 AC motors, 118 and 54 hp, 149 lb-ft and 89 lb-ft (combined output, 219 hp); 1.6-kWh lithium-ion battery pack

TRANSMISSION
continuously variable automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilinkBrakes, F/R: 12.0-in vented disc/11.1-in disc Tires: Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail 01A225/60R-18 100H M+S
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 105.9 inLength: 180.9 inWidth: 73.0 inHeight: 67.0 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 52/47 ft3Cargo Volume, Behind F/R: 70/38 ft3Curb Weight: 3817 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.3 sec1/4-Mile: 15.6 sec @ 90 mph100 mph: 20.4 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 7.4 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 3.8 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 5.2 secTop Speed (gov ltd): 115 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 179 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.78 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 30 mpg75-mph Highway Driving: 32 mpg75-mph Highway Range: 460 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 37/38/35 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

From the March 1984 issue of Car and Driver.The Mazda people are different. Unlike the powers that be at most car companies, they seem genuinely to like sports cars. What’s more, they like them enough to understand them. They reject the assumption that two seats, a low-slung body, and a strong engine are all it takes to make a sports car. The RX-7 certainly has these features, but it also has that all-important sports-car magic. It sings an irresistible song, begging to be revved to its redline and thrown into corners, and it communicates the joys of the sports-car experience to its driver.The first RX-7, in 1978, had the magic, but we couldn’t help wondering whether Mazda’s intentions were honorable. After all, several companies have sprung exciting new sports cars on us, only to dilute their sporting appeal in search of broader markets once their image-building potential was fully exploited. We’ve watched for such signs of degeneracy from Mazda, but as the RX-7 enters its seventh year of production, our worst fears have yet to be realized.In fact, the RX-7, in its new GSL-SE incarnation, is more sports car than ever. The SE designation heralds the arrival of a long-awaited power increase, provided by a fuel-injected, tuned-induction, six-port version of Mazda’s 13B rotary engine. With its 1.3-liter displacement and new technology, the 13B develops 135 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 133 pound-feet of torque at 2750 rpm, both healthy increases from the 101 horsepower at 6000 rpm and 107 pound-feet at 4000 rpm of the 1.1-liter 12A engine, which is still standard in other RX-7s. Moreover, although the power peaks are identical in both engines, the SE motor’s much lower torque peak represents a considerable flattening of the rotary’s traditionally peaky torque curve. Newfound thrust is present at all rpm. Many manufacturers would have exchanged some of the new engine’s performance potential for better fuel economy by harnessing it to taller gearing, but such thinking is antithetical to the mission of a serious sports car. Mazda’s powertrain engineers kept the faith, leaving the RX-7’s overall gearing essentially unchanged. Fifth gear is a bit taller, but not enough to compensate for the thirstier engine; the new SE returns 18 mpg (EPA city), while the lesser RX-7s are rated at 19. Neither figure is particularly impressive, but the SE’s penalty is modest relative to its power increase. Having chosen not to hamstring the new engine with tall gearing, Mazda wasn’t about to shortchange its potential with weaknesses in the chassis. Four-wheel disc brakes, which have been fitted to all GSLs for the past three years, are upgraded on the SE with rotors that are nearly an inch larger and vented in the rear as well as the front. In addition, a larger master cylinder and a bigger brake booster firm up the braking action. The SE’s clutch is stronger, more heat-resistant, and damped by 10 percent more force to transmit the increased torque reliably. Power steering is offered for the first time in an RX-7, as an option on the SE; the amount of assist decreases with speed. Recognizing the importance of the tire-road interface, Mazda’s chassis engineers fitted the SE with top-­class Pirelli P6 tires, in a generous 205/60VR-14 size, on wheels one inch larger in diameter than before. In addition to these SE-exclusive features, all 1984 RX-7s benefit from several improvements. The chassis mounting points for the rear axle’s lower trailing links have been dropped by 0.8 inch to provide some roll understeer in the rear suspension. New slits in the front air dam increase cooling airflow to the front brakes. Inside, the instrument cluster, the steering wheel, the heater controls, and the minor switches have all been revised, and the storage bins behind the seats now have locking lids and interior illumination. To the serious sports-car buyer these are extraneous details, mere trimmings around the main course, which in the SE’s case is its engine. The special flavor of the big rotary is not readily apparent, however, even to the sports-car gourmet, for the SE doesn’t seem drastically stronger than previous RX-7s. There is no violent kick in the back, no uncontrollable wheelspin, no primeval noises. Nor is there any of the loss in agility or the subtle increases in control efforts that so often accompany substantial power increases. The SE does cover ground quickly, though. Dialing up high speeds on the speedometer requires little effort, the car going about its brisk business with little prodding from the shifter. Top gear suffices easily for most normal driving situations. And legging the throttle through the gears to the 7000-rpm redline quickly produces license-threatening speeds. Despite weighing 110 pounds more than our last RX-7 GSL, our test SE sprinted from a standstill to 60 mph in just 7.8 seconds, 2.6 seconds quicker than the earlier car. Its quarter-mile performance of 15.9 seconds at 86 mph was 1.5 seconds and 7 mph better. It hit 100 mph more than ten seconds sooner, in 23.9 seconds. The SE’s low-rpm muscle was evidenced just as clearly, with times of 10.5 and 11.0 seconds in the 30-to-50-mph and 50-to-70-mph top-gear runs, about three seconds better in each case. Top speed climbed from 118 to 125 mph. Such performance easily puts the SE into the ranks of seriously fast cars, yet it feels hardly quicker than a good four-banger sports sedan. The reason is that Mazda’s engine engineers spread their torque out as flat as frosting on a cake. It’s an engineer’s dream that’s seldom realized: The big rotary produces very nearly the same torque at all engine speeds, so no sudden surge is felt when the torque curve peaks. This even temperament, combined with the rotary’s silky smoothness, kitchen­-blender hum, and consistent throttle response, results in a flow of power so linear that it’s deceptive. The driver need only use the gearbox to dial up the proper rpm between 1000 and 7000 for any desired thrust. Without the response glitches, holes, and rushes common in most other power curves, the SE’s engine is a model of predictability.George Lepp|Car and DriverIt’s a good thing the engine is so forgiving, because it enables you to control the chassis’s traditional penchant for hanging its tail out at the limit. When the car is first pitched into a corner at speed, the tail steps wide and then catches a grip on the pavement. The cornering response is then linear, with a noticeable bias toward oversteer that encourages tail-out driving. Total grip does benefit from such chassis balance, since the cornering effort is quite evenly divided between the front and rear tires. Indeed, with the help of the Pirellis, the SE generated an impressive 0.82 g on the skidpad, balanced on the fine edge of oversteer. This balance is easy for a driver to achieve, because the SE communicates its every move through a suspension biased more toward information than plushness. Small imperfections are absorbed surprisingly well, but medium-size bumps don’t seem to deflect the suspension at all. The new power steering also helps keep the SE pointed in the right direction: It has good feel and a much faster ratio (3.1 turns lock-­to-lock instead of 4.3) than that of previous RX-7s, although on-center precision is still lacking. The upgraded brakes are improved in every respect, with better balance, feel, and fade resistance.These characteristics may not sound like the ultimate in handling sophistication, but the SE is actually a ball to drive hard. The strong engine lets you kick the tail out at will, and the linear throttle response and the predictable chassis behavior let you hold it at any desired attitude without trauma. On wet pavement the SE can make quite a scene, lighting up its tires in the first three gears if you so desire. Entire blocks can be covered sideways. Despite the SE’s sporting orientation, it shares all the luxury amenities introduced in GSLs three years ago. The driver is pampered with cruise control, electric mirrors, electric windows, air conditioning, a good stereo system complete with an equalizer and a joy-stick balance-and­-fader control, and a sunroof. The comfortable driver’s seat now offers a height adjustment; leather is available as an option. The new instruments provide the necessary information in a more logical array than before, the steering wheel is a proper three-spoke unit, the visibility is panoramic, the control layout is admirably handy, and the driving position is excellent in every respect, down to a welcome dead pedal. Our only interior quibble concerns the bright surface finish of the vertical panel in the central console; a matte-black finish would be more appropriate for a car of such sporting persuasion. George Lepp|Car and DriverWith a complaint list so short, it’s clear to us that the RX-7 GSL-SE is the best and sportiest RX-7 ever offered to the American driver. At a base price of $15,095, it’s also the most expensive. That’s a full two grand more than a regular GSL, and quite a sum for a car that made its reputation on exceptional affordability; at this RX-7’s price level, there are now Supras, Starions, 300ZXs, and well-equipped V-8 Mustangs and Camaros to choose from. The GSL­-SE, however, will handily outrun every import in its price class, and it’s much smaller, nimbler, and more economical than its big-­motored American rivals. What makes the GSL-SE so good is that Mazda has kept the sports-car faith. For the money, there still isn’t a better fling-about, redline-hungry, tire-smoking sports car to be had. Technical HighlightsThe RX-7 GSL-SE’s 13B rotary engine is only 14.1 percent larger in displacement than the 12A powerplant (1308 versus 1146 cc), yet it develops 33.6 percent more power and 24.3 percent more torque. Obviously, Mazda has done more than shoehorn wider rotors into the bigger motor.Car and DriverBetter breathing accounts for the additional difference; a rotary’s output, like a piston engine’s, is limited by its airflow. Most of the improvement comes from a new intake system and port fuel injection, a combination that allows great flexibility in manifold design. The proven system of primary and secondary ports controlled by staged throttles is retained, maintaining high port velocities even at part throttle. Primary air is inducted through its own tuned passages, entering the front and rear combustion chambers through the center plate that separates the two rotors. Secondary air goes to the front rotor through the front-end plate and to the rear rotor through the rearmost end plate. In the 13B, the engineers have split the secondary flow path in two, so a total of three (one primary, two secondary) passages deliver air to each rotor. Fuel is sprayed in by one solenoid-type injector in each primary air passage. The new third ports are opened by exhaust back pressure at high rpm. Their additional area and altered timing ensure efficient full-power breathing, allowing the main ports to be optimized for low-rpm performance. Car and DriverIn addition to its three-stage porting, the intake manifold was designed to take maximum advantage of the rotary’s very strong intake pulsations (stronger than a piston engine’s, because the ports open more quickly and are not obstructed by valves). Two different pressure pulses are used to boost intake charging: The first occurs when an intake port has just dosed and the rapidly flowing intake-air column runs into a dead end; the second pulse is generated by the residual pressure escaping from the combustion chamber when an intake port first opens. Careful tuning of the dimensions and configuration of the intake manifold can harness these positive-pressure pulses to force more air into the combustion chambers; in the SE rotary, the tuning was optimized for low-speed breathing. The result is abundant torque, peaking at 2750 rpm in the 13B, far below the 4000-rpm peak of the 12A. Oil is injected into the intake-manifold plenum in conventional Mazda fashion, but the 13B receives additional apex-seal lubrication from oil injected directly into the trochoid chambers. The rotor-housing surfaces are chrome-plated, like the 12A’s, but have a harder finish and improved porosity for better oil retention, giving the 13B durability to match its muscle. —Csaba CsereKenichi Yamamoto: A talk with the stepfather of the rotary engine.”I felt a genuine surprise when I first saw a running prototype of the rotary engine in 1961. It was so compact and turning so smoothly. Like any engineer, I was impressed by the novelty, because there was so little variation in internal-combustion engines at the time. I felt a passionate desire to challenge and perfect the rotary engine.”These days, we hear a lot about the strength of the Japanese character. Kenichi Yamamoto, Mazda’s 61-year-old senior managing director in charge of advanced technology, research, and development, is a living example of what all the talk actually means: commitment to ideals, perseverance, and personal sacrifice for the greater good. Yamamoto may not be the natural father of the rotary engine, but he did act as a loving foster parent in developing Dr. Felix Wankel’s invention to the high level of refinement it enjoys today. Car and DriverLest we forget, the Wankel is this century’s only new automobile engine. The Rankine (steam), Otto cycle, and diesel engines were all patented before 1900; since then, the Wankel is the only new­comer to earn commercial success. It’s equally remarkable that both the rotary engine and Mazda have blossomed in only a quarter of a century. Felix Wankel’s engine first ran in 1957, while Mazda was struggling to regain a footing after the war by manufacturing three-wheeled trucks. The firm’s first four-wheeled vehicle wasn’t rolling until a year later, and its first automobile—a 900-pound, two-seat coupe powered by a 360 cc piston engine—didn’t go on sale until 1960.Yamamoto explains: “Mazda was a latecomer to the passenger-car field. We needed new technologies to challenge some very severe international competition. The late Tsuneji Matsuda, who was Mazda’s president during the birth of our first automobiles, had always been receptive to new ideas, and he saw the rotary engine as an advance investment in Mazda’s future. I was then an assistant manager of automobile design, and, frankly speaking, I was a bit skeptical at first about the engine’s practical potential. My experience had been exclusively with reciprocating engines. I had learned the hard way how complex the mechanical requirements of automotive engines could be.” The “hard way” is an apt description of Yamamoto’s early career. He graduated from Japan’s Imperial University (later renamed Tokyo University) in 1944, with a degree in mechanical engineering, only to be snapped up by the navy to supervise the production of kamikaze aircraft. After World War II, he returned to his hometown, Hiroshima, and found most of it leveled by the atomic bomb. Luckily, his home was spared, along with one major industrial firm: Toyo Kogyo, the company that would later build Mazda automobiles. Jobs were few and far between in Hiroshima, so Yamamoto took what he could get, a laborer’s position on Toyo Kogyo’s assembly line. He bolted together truck transmissions for a year and a half, work that was physically and mentally taxing. Finally, his technical talents were noticed, and he escaped the factory floor for a job in the engine-design department. There Yamamoto quickly filled his portfolio with one successful engine design after another. Mazda began studying the Wankel engine’s potential in 1960 and signed a technical agreement with the patent holders a year later. Believing the engine would help the firm to establish an identity quickly, president Matsuda asked Yamamoto to form a new rotary-engine division at the end of 1962. Out of admiration and respect for his president, Yamamoto pledged his support to the unproven engine. “In the beginning, we experienced lots of difficulties. Some were technical, others were not. Since we had announced to the world that we were undertaking rotary-engine development with the intention of building and selling engines, many people, both inside and outside the company, voiced strong criticism before they saw any results. Therefore, whenever the young engineers were discouraged by technical problems, they were also disappointed by outside criticism. I had to not only spur them with technical ideas, but I also had to keep their morale high and give them hope. Fortunately, Toyo Kogyo management had decided the new technology was indispensable. The challenge was difficult, and I was forced to work more than the young people in my division to stay ahead. In fact, I made a point of placing a notebook beside my pillow at night so that when any new idea dawned on me I could write it down. Almost every evening I woke up and jotted down some note; then the next day I’d call a meeting and challenge the young people with a new or better idea. If the engineers saw an enthusiastic leader, they responded with greater passion. I challenged each one to come up with at least one new idea every day, and I promised that I would do likewise.” Yamamoto also insisted that his staff learn English and use it in group discussions so that every engineer would get the most out of international technical meetings. “In the beginning, the Wankel family was made up of an international group that exchanged information. Our common competitor was not another company, but rather the piston engine. I clearly remember once when the enthusiastic president of NSU, Dr. Ing. von Heydekampf, called out to all of us to band together and create a new engine that would go down in history. While I knew there were difficulties ahead, I was deeply touched in that room of engineers from all over the world, and I felt certain the project would succeed. “As time went on, however, many of the rotary-engine proponents dropped off, and I started to feel lonely and disappointed. Nevertheless, we received many letters from engineers around the world interested in our work. We felt we were being watched. That gave us pleasure and encouragement, and we made up our minds to live up to those expectations.” In 1967, after less than five years of rotary-engine development, Mazda introduced the 110S (a.k.a. Cosmo Sports) two-seater with a 110-hp, two­-rotor powerplant. Since then, 1.3 million rotary engines have been manufactured by Toyo Kogyo. There have been ups and downs. The RX-7 is an unqualified success today, but O-ring-seal failures were common during the early Seventies, and there was a crash program after the first energy crisis to improve the rotary’s fuel efficiency. Yamamoto is now a senior member of the board of directors and as eager as ever for the rotary to prevail against stronger competition from gas and diesel piston engines. “We would like to perfect TISC [timed induction with supercharge] for production. This uses a compact compressor combined with inherent rotary­-engine characteristics to improve low­- and mid-range torque. Of course, we are also engaged in several step-by-step developments: improvements in gas seals, reduction of internal friction, and better cooling, to name three. The rotary is still quite attractive to us, because there is so much potential for improvement. An engineer can maintain his dream of finding out new things.” —Don ShermanSpecificationsSpecifications
1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL-SEVehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 3-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $15,095/$16,125Options: leather interior, $720; power steering, $310.
ENGINE
2-rotor Wankel, electronic fuel injectionDisplacement: 80 in3, 1308 cm3Power: 135 hp @ 6000 rpmTorque: 133 lb-ft @ 2750 rpm 
TRANSMISSION
X-speed [automated] manual/[dual-clutch] automatic/continuously variable automatic/direct-drive
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/rigid axleBrakes, F/R: 9.8-in vented disc/10.1-in vented discTires: Pirelli P6205/60VR-14
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 95.3 inLength: 170.1 inWidth: 65.7 inHeight: 49.6 inPassenger Volume: 46 ft3Trunk Volume: 8 ft3Curb Weight: 2590 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.8 sec1/4-Mile: 15.9 sec @ 86 mph100 mph: 23.9 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 10.5 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 11.0 secTop Speed: 125 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 199 ftRoadholding, 200-ft Skidpad: 0.82 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 22 mpg 
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 22/18/29 mpg  
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

“Aired Down a Porsche 911” has never appeared on any bingo card we’ve ever held, and yet here we are, deflating our 911 Dakar’s tires before play commences on a massive Moroccan sand dune formation called Erg Chebbi. It’s not immediately clear how well we’ll fare in the big dunes, a visit to which normally requires a rented Toyota Land Cruiser Prado or a local camel-caravan outfitter. Thus far, we’ve been traversing desert hardpan and gaping like tourists at the odd meandering single-hump dromedary while attempting to avoid rocks and well-intended cairns hidden behind persistent hanging curtains of choking dust.Earlier, while we cruised through dusty towns that seemed to be the inspiration for Star Wars’s Tatooine, kids sometimes waved (that was a wave, wasn’t it?) as we passed by in our shiny Land Speeders. Then, at the last checkpoint before the open desert, the local constabulary stopped our three-car convoy, whereupon the lead driver was obligated to hand over . . . his Instagram handle. (The next day, on the way back, he would be required to perform . . . a launch control start.)It turns out that the Erg—a dead ringer for Southern California’s Glamis sand dunes (which played the part of Tatooine, come to think of it)—is literally the 911 Dakar’s sandbox. It makes sense, because the 911 Dakar is essentially a quarter-million-dollar dune buggy that’s based on the mighty Carrera 4 GTS instead of a Volkswagen Beetle.Like an OG dune buggy, the Dakar has a rear-mounted engine, a pan-flat floor, and broad rear tires that are proportional to the 911’s inherent rear-biased weight distribution and provide handy flotation in sand. Lightweighting measures mean that its curb weight is only some 20 pounds heavier than a Carrera 4 GTS, so even though it does weigh around 3550 pounds, it makes much less of an impression in the sand than your average SUV and undercuts a base Porsche Macan by some 600 pounds.PorscheFrom there this Porsche takes the dune-buggy format several giant steps forward on account of its wailing 473-hp twin-turbo 3.0-liter flat-six engine from the GTS. This engine’s broad torque peak of 420 pound-feet from 2300 to 5000 rpm is even more critical. In the thick of it, whenever we glanced at the tach, usually while yelling, “I can’t believe I’m doing this in a 911!” the engine was invariably grinding it out between 3000 and 4000 revs, happy as we were in mountains of dry sand.Another incongruous element in all of this is the interior, which, despite tasteful Dakar touches and trim choices, never misses a chance to remind that you’re still in a 911. The microsuede-wrapped steering wheel is one example: The wheel is in so much constant motion as you saw through the sand that the top-center hash mark seems laughably pointless. Ditto the one-piece carbon race buckets, which beat you up like a boxing opponent when you’re bouncing around out there. Pro tip: Opt instead for the (no-cost) heated leather GT Sport steering wheel and ditch the hard-shell buckets for 18-way power-adjustable heated sport seats (another no-cost option). If you hadn’t already guessed, the Carrera 4 GTS also donates its all-wheel-drive system with Porsche Traction Management and Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus. To these, the Dakar adds GTS options such as rear-wheel steering and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control system of active anti-roll bars, and the combination of all of that, plus a caravan load of software optimization, gives the added Rallye and Offroad driving modes some real teeth.As the name implies, Rallye shifts the torque bias rearward and sets up the active anti-roll bars and rear-steer systems to promote controllable rally-style oversteer on loose, gravelly surfaces. But these are adaptive systems, so they can reel things in if the pendulum swings too far. Offroad mode delivers a more even front/rear torque split, and it can relax the anti-roll bars and lock the rear differential to maintain forward progress on uneven terrain. Both modes’ baseline torque splits are more like guidelines than actual rules, as the system has the bandwidth to shunt torque anywhere from 88 percent front to 100 percent rear, depending on where the traction is.To this, the Dakar has one final ace up its sleeve: increased static ride height, plus a farther 1.2-inch suspension lift. Automatically deployed in Offroad mode and manually selectable in other modes, the system raises the Dakar’s belly from a healthy 6.3 inches of standard clearance (1.8 inches more than in the GTS) to 7.5 inches of maximum clearance. The 911’s short 96.5-inch wheelbase translates that into a respectable 19.0-degree breakover angle, which is firmly in crossover SUV territory. This proved handy in the dunes, where high-centering was never a concern.PorscheBut let’s not kid ourselves. Even with reprofiled front and rear overhangs, the Dakar’s 16.1-degree approach and 18.2-degree departure angles are too shallow for truly rocky trails. If there’s any doubt, enlist your passenger as a spotter. The standard surround-view camera can only reveal so much, and there are low-hanging turbos in the rear corners. L.A. driveways, however, should be a cinch. You won’t even need to engage the lift to clear them.The lift system employs coil springs resting atop an upgraded version of the hydraulic front-end lift that’s optional on other 911s. A similar lift mechanism is fitted at the rear, and the engineers added an accumulator and a more robust pump so the system can maintain the raised posture indefinitely so long as speed doesn’t exceed 105 mph. To further optimize the suspension for work on rough terrain, the PASM front strut and rear damper bodies are longer and rigged for more travel, and the correspondingly longer springs are softer than their roadgoing counterparts’ by some 50 percent.PorscheNone of this would matter without appropriate tires, and the Dakar’s bespoke Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain Plus knobbies do the work. With 19-inch wheels up front and 20-inchers in back, the Dakar’s wheels are each an inch smaller than the GTS’s. And the 245/45ZR-19 front and 295/40ZR-20 back tires are also about an inch taller from top to bottom, and that combo gives the rims an extra inch of protective sidewall. The enlarged air volume within allows for a lower standard pressure, and that helps the Dakar better cope with rough-textured surfaces. Air them down to 17 psi on sand, as we did, and they provide flotation and traction without digging in.On pavement, the Scorpion A/T tires are not overly noisy, and they also offer good directional stability and secure steering response. In fact, Porsche engineers were so pleased with their performance that they backed away from their original plan to offer them as an option and made them standard instead. The summer tires are the optional ones here, and rightly so. Buyers who are going to spend nearly $225K—for a car within $1800 of a GT3 RS—probably are doing so for the Dakar’s unique capabilities, and this footwear gives them the best chance to use Porsche’s ultimate dune buggy as intended. SpecificationsSpecifications
2023 Porsche 911 DakarVehicle Type: rear-engine, all-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base: $223,450
ENGINEtwin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve flat-6, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injectionDisplacement: 182 in3, 2981 cm3Power: 473 hp @ 6500 rpmTorque: 420 lb-ft @ 2300 rpm
TRANSMISSION8-speed dual-clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 96.5 inLength: 178.6 inWidth: 73.4 inHeight: 52.7 inPassenger Volume: 49 ft3Cargo Volume, Front: 5 ft3Curb Weight (C/D est): 3550 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST)
60 mph: 3.0 sec100 mph: 7.6 sec1/4-Mile: 11.4 secTop Speed: 149 mph
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
Combined/City/Highway: 18/16/20 mpg More

Cheap doesn’t mean what it used to. But with the average new car now costing well over $45,000, the 2023 Nissan Versa definitely still qualifies. It starts at $16,825 for the base S trim with a five-speed manual transmission, making it the cheapest new car you can buy in the U.S. for 2023.The Versa you see here is not that Versa. This is the loaded SR model, which looks considerably flashier and costs quite a bit more. Yet it still starts at less than $21,000 and carries a surprising amount of equipment for the price. (Remember, even a base Honda Civic is over $26,000 these days.) A refresh for 2023 improves the Versa’s looks significantly thanks to a cool new grille, reshaped headlights and taillights, and trim-specific 17-inch wheels. Our test car’s new $395 Gray Sky Pearl exterior color doesn’t hurt matters either.Andi Hedrick|Car and DriverHIGHS: Lots of features for the price, well-sorted chassis, snazzy styling.Inside, the Versa is not as low-rent as you might expect. The dashboard features some soft-touch surfaces with orange contrasting stitching, the seat fabric has red accents, and the gauge-cluster and infotainment screens are large and feature modern-enough graphics. We were pleasantly surprised to find automatic climate control, heated front seats, and a push-button start. A full cadre of driver-assistance features includes adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, and rear parking sensors. Many of these features are not available in the Versa’s only true subcompact competitor, the Kia Rio, which is similarly sized and occupies a similar price range.Despite the spruced-up interior and exterior, the front-wheel-drive Versa sedan’s underpinnings haven’t changed much since this generation was introduced for 2020. But the chassis remains perfectly satisfying for a small car like this, with good body control and a reasonably refined ride on bumpy roads. The steering is overly light and doesn’t offer much feedback, but the 2690-pound Versa feels agile, managing an impressive 0.89 g on our skidpad. It also stops from 70 mph in 173 feet, which beats the 2021 Rio hatchback we tested by 17 feet.More on Cheap CarsThe only real compromise is in the engine room, where a 122-hp 1.6-liter inline-four buzzes loudly to get the Versa up to speed. While many of today’s continuously variable automatic transmissions reduce that rubber-band sensation of delayed acceleration, the Versa’s transmission still suffers from this effect. A 9.5-second sprint to 60 mph makes it one of the slowest cars we’ve tested in recent memory. The Rio beats it to that mark by nearly a second, and the Kia’s CVT feels more responsive. We’re curious if the base Versa’s manual transmission would improve matters, but unfortunately the stick shift can’t be combined with the nicer SV and SR trim levels.The engine works so hard that we weren’t able to match the Versa’s 40-mpg EPA highway-fuel-economy estimate. We managed only 36 mpg on our real-world 75-mph loop. That’s 3 mpg below the Rio, and even many mid-size sedans beat the Versa, such as Nissan’s own Altima, which managed a 41-mpg result in our test despite its extra size, larger engine, and all-wheel drive.LOWS: Buzzy engine, lethargic CVT, disappointing real-world economy.There are many new cars that are more compelling than the Nissan Versa—they just cost a whole lot more. There’s always the argument that you get more bang for your buck from a used car than a new one, but in today’s volatile car market that’s less of a guarantee than it used to be. Sure, the Nissan is cheap, small, and slow, but it provides shoppers with the modern features and contemporary styling that make new cars appealing in the first place. The Versa simply begs the question: What does cheap mean to you?SpecificationsSpecifications
2023 Nissan Versa SRVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $20,815 /$21,470 Options: Gray Sky Pearl paint, $395; carpeted floor mats and trunk mat, $260
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injectionDisplacement: 98 in3, 1598 cm3Power: 122 hp @ 6300 rpmTorque: 114 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm
TRANSMISSION
continuously variable automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/torsion beamBrakes, F/R: 10.0-in vented disc/8.0-in drumTires: Continental ContiProContact205/50R-17 89V M+S
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 103.1 inLength: 177.0 inWidth: 68.5 inHeight: 57.7 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 54/35 ft3Trunk Volume: 15 ft3Curb Weight: 2690 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 9.5 sec1/4-Mile: 17.3 sec @ 81 mph100 mph: 32.8 secResults above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.3 sec.Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 10.4 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 5.1 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 7.1 secTop Speed (C/D est): 115 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 173 ftRoadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.89 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 28 mpg75-mph Highway Driving: 36 mpg75-mph Highway Range: 380 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 35/32/40 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

From the March 1984 issue of Car and Driver.With the Celebrity Eurosport, Chevrolet puts some teeth into its attempts to get younger car buyers into Chevrolet sedans. A fully equipped Eurosport—we cannot bring ourselves to say “Celebrity” any more than we have to—comes within a few ergs of equaling the performance and dy­namic refinement of a Pontiac 6000STE. Unfortunately, the prospective buyer will need the wisdom of Solomon and the pa­tience of Job to lead a Chevrolet salesper­son through the endless maze of a General Motors order form in order to get all the right pieces. Even if that prospective buyer pulls it off, his Eurosport won’t have the STE’s four-wheel disc brakes, electronical­ly controlled automatic leveling feature, ta­chometer, or erotica-zotica Tokyo-by­-night instrument panel—but it won’t cost him quite as much, either.The reason for the difficulty in obtaining a properly equipped Eurosport is rooted in Chevrolet’s marketing approach. Chevro­let has been very badly wounded by GM’s pricing policies. Buick, Olds, and Pontiac share most of the car lines that Chevrolet has to sell, and corporate policy has dictat­ed that they be priced right on top of poor old Chevy. Thus the various Buicks, Olds, and Pontiacs offer the lure of more presti­gious names at very small differences in price. Chevrolet’s most recent manage­ment team has sought to rectify this, in the case of the Eurosport, by making the Eurosport option little more than blackout trim and special shock absorbers, springs, anti-sway bars, bushings, and steering ra­tio, leaving it to the buyer to get the appro­priate engine, wheels, tires, et cetera, as in­dividual options. Thus one can own a Celebrity called Eurosport for as little as $8216, which will be nothing but a Celebri­ty with special trim and an upgraded sus­pension, or he or she can work his or her way through the salesman’s indifference and the wildly complicated order form to get a car like our test car, which had a stick­er price of $12,044. If there are a dozen salesmen in America’s Chevrolet dealer­ships who understand how to do this, barred rock hens lay dark-green perfume bottles and sing light opera. Pontiac makes it easier by including most of the right stuff in the basic STE specification. The bottom line on the window sticker of our latest 6000STE came to $14,437. It must have been painful for Chevrolet’s engineers to watch the growing success of the Pontiac STE over the past eighteen months, knowing that they had a car just like it that they couldn’t seem to get out of conference. We were invited to drive the Chevrolet sports-sedan prototype that ulti­mately became the Eurosport within days of Pontiac’s press introduction of the STE, and we loved the car. It was obvious that the engineers loved it too, but equally obvi­ous that their management wasn’t going to let any sports version fly. Those were dif­ferent times. Now, with Chevrolet’s owner body growing older daily, and performance once again the automotive watchword in Detroit, the appropriateness of the new Eurosport could no longer be denied. Bet­ter eighteen months late than never, we al­ways say. If you were an STE owner, and you were blindfolded and bundled into a new Eurosport, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. The sound, the feel, all the sen­sory inputs are the same. There are slim margins of difference in performance num­bers, but they would elude all but the most sensitive seat of the pants. Ba­sically, the Pontiac is faster on acceleration and the Chevy has a tad more top speed, but that’s this time. Next time it could be different. There are correspondingly mi­nor differences in shocks, springs, bush­ings, and the like, but these are so macro-­lens fine as to be insignificant. The engine that powers the Eurosport­ and the STE, as well as some others­, comes straight from the old Chevrolet Citation X-11, virtually unchanged. It fea­tures such startling innovations as a cast-­iron block and cast-iron cylinder heads. Have the Japanese and the Europeans complicated their engines with overhead cams and electronic fuel injection and tur­bochargers? None of that decadent frou­frou for us Americans, no sir; the Eurosport breathes through a Rochester two-barrel carburetor, and the mixture flows from carburetor to manifold unvexed by any little whirling rotors or impellers. Pushrods operate the valves. Hand the av­erage Japanese engineer twelve pushrods and he’ll think you’re asking him to set the table. What’s most amusing about all this antique hardware is the fact that it works as well as most of the fancy overseas stuff. When we hop into a car and fire it up, what we really want is a little entertainment as it struggles to overcome inertia and centrifu­gal force. Horsepower and torque are what provide the giggles, not technology. And the horsepower and torque delivered by the Eurosport’s 2.8-liter 60-degree V-6—130 horsepower at 5400 rpm, and 145 pounds-feet of torque at 2400—propel it down the road in a manner that’s virtually indistinguishable from what you get with more complicated imported machinery. Ingolstadt, please note. Aaron Kiley|Car and DriverThe Eurosport is absolutely solid on the road. The body is tight, isolation from inte­rior and exterior noise is good, and the seats are comfortable—even though they lack the sophisticated adjustments available to the STE driver. The relationship between the steering-wheel rim and the places where the front tires contact the pavement is perfect. The car cuts into cor­ners as well as any front-wheel-drive in our experience, and once in, it sticks like epoxy. It is flat, predictable, and apparently with­out vice, an enormously reassuring car to drive in the enthusiast’s normal six- or sev­en-tenths range of operation. Further­more, it’s almost as good when taken right to the limit—in this case 0.79 g, which is enough side force to slide you right out the door on the other side, if you’re not prop­erly buckled in. Worth noting: for all the emphasis on skidpad numbers as a means of quantifying dynamic performance, it’s important to understand that what’s even more important is how the car behaves within your own range of performance re­quirements. There are cars—Chevrolet has built a couple of them—that generate very high skidpad numbers, yet become al­most unmanageable at 70 mph on a typical country road. Compared, for instance, with a Z51 Corvette or last year’s Z28, the Eurosport sedan is an absolute joy to whip through the hills on a ripply stretch of two-lane blacktop. It should come as joy­ous glad tidings to enthusiasts everywhere to learn that one of the men who contribut­ed so much to the Eurosport’s good man­ners and structural integrity is now assigned to the Corvette. Midst all this praise, we have to say that Chevrolet could have done a nicer job on the Eurosport’s instrument panel. We know costs had to be kept down to give the car its price advantage, and we don’t feel that its dash needs to recreate the emper­or’s fireworks, a la Corvette and STE, but a selection of round black dials with black faces and white numbers, a la Volvo, would have been far superior to the under-infor­mative row of rectangles that confronts the driver of the Eurosport. Detroit’s designers have outsmarted themselves with stuff like this for years. There is no need to reinvent the instrument panel for every new model that comes along. A full set of legible instruments, copied directly, if need be, from some really good example like the Volvo, would be just fine with most of the people in most target markets. No tachometer in­deed. Humph! While on the subject of the instrument panel, we must single out for special atten­tion the excellent Delco AM/FM/cassette sound system contained therein. This sys­tem, option RPO UU6, costs a mere $505. It is probably superior to the sound sys­tems in most people’s homes, and unlike so much of the stuff coming out of Japan these days, it can actually be operated while the car is traveling at 70 miles per hour and the kids have just emptied a jar of maple syrup onto your Old English sheepdog in the back seat. Volume is controlled with a twist knob, as is tuning. One can switch from AM to FM by simply pressing on the tuning knob, and the electronic readout is very helpful when the driver is trying to dial up his favorite classical-music station while si­multaneously steering between the ditches and swatting the two preschoolers, who are now stuck to old dog Tray. Chevrolet’s reputation for bulletproof reliability has slipped some in the past few years of EPA numbers at any price, and the problem first encountered after energy cri­ses one and two still show up in today’s alto­gether more likable cars. We wanted to make a direct comparison between the Celebrity Eurosport and the Pontiac 6000STE, but by the time our STE arrived our Eurosport was only running on five cyl­inders, so the direct comparison misfired (sorry). This particular car was a prototype rushed through Chevrolet engineering pri­or to the start of production just for our testing. We do appreciate the favor but still feel that if Chevrolet is ever to regain its dominance of the U.S. car market, some­thing will have to be done to restore its levels of reliability. The Celebrity Eurosport is a delightful car in every re­spect, a bargain STE, if you will, and a car that anybody could enjoy owning. But only Audis, Mercedes-Benzes, and Volkswagens are supposed to run on five cylinders. CounterpointChevrolet’s big front-drive family se­dan started life in the hole with a dumb name, funky styling, and a very boring assortment of powertrains. Would you like to wheeze around town on four lifeless cylinders or six? Gas or diesel, sir? Then, with a little help from car critics and the engineers at Pontiac, Chevy realized that something was missing. The potent H.O. V-6 was brought to bear, and a four-speed manual was made available (but not, unfortunately, with the most powerful engine). Finally, a low-flash styling-and-trim theme was tooled up around a new “Eurosport” nameplate. Chevrolet kept the price low by making everything but the roof optional, and voila a fine car had sprung from mediocre beginnings.What we have here is a very attractive alternative to the 6000STE original. The Pontiac is the classier ride, thanks to one of Detroit’s most generous stan­dard-equipment lists, but the Celebrity Eurosport is the more remarkable value. A little creative option checking at order time will build a $10,000 Chevrolet capable of matching moves with the $14,000 Pontiac. When the Eurosport gets the rest of the equipment it desperately needs—a tachometer, a decent speedometer, supportive bucket seats, and a five-speed transmission option—it will be ready for foes with even higher price tags. —Don Sherman”Celebrity Eurosport.” Ugh. Ridicu­lous names stand out like engines running on all but one cylinder. A name like this suggests that Chevrolet is running on less than one cylinder. This so-called “Celebrity Eurosport” is, if not a fine car, at least undeserving of such deni­gration. It’s too serious to be called “Celebrity,” and too good to be labeled “Eurosport.” Such tags are signs of a company that sets its sights too low. Today, every car company should boast at least one model that represents the very best of what that company sees in the fu­ture. The “Celebrity Eurosport” drives better than any other A-car except the 6000STE, so it is as welcome as a hot romance after a chilly spell, but the great tingle has yet to be felt. A car held down by bean counters cannot compete with the superlative likes of the Audi 5000, that stunning steel-glass-and-aluminum carving based on the best instincts of fine thinkers. The “Celebrity Eurosport” should compete. Freed from the bean counters, it could compete. For now, it maybe should have been dubbed “Halfway House.” —Larry GriffinThis Chevy impresses me as a truly American sedan. It’s an easy car—laid back, low effort, and quick to make friends. In just a couple of miles, you’ll trust it enough to run with it. All Celeb­ritys ought to be stamped out this way.Unfortunately, as so often happens at GM these days, some wires seem to have gotten crossed between the executive suite and the assembly line. For one thing, this car’s got the wrong name. The Europeans would never build a big sporting sedan without a tachometer, or with a bench seat as flat as Nebraska, or­ with tacky terry-cloth upholstery, or with an anemic four-cylinder as the standard engine. Chevy’s cut-rate, building-block approach misses the point, and I don’t think Chevrolet will snare the kinds of buyers it expects with the Eurosport. Those folks are out looking at a lot of other imported sedans—and probably at the Pontiac 6000STE—because those cars are soup-to-nuts packages for discerning car buyers. No, I think Chevrolet would do better to name this car for just what it is: “Amerisport.” —Rich CepposSpecificationsSpecifications
1984 Chevrolet Celebrity EurosportVehicle Type: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $7890/$12,044 (est.)Options: air conditioning, $730; Delco AM/FM-stereo, radio/cassette, $505; automatic transmission, $425; H.O. V-6 engine, $400 (est.); aluminum wheels, $306; Eurosport equipment package, $226; custom cloth bench seats, $179; cruise control, $175; power door locks, $175; custom two-tone paint, $148; rear-window defogger, $140; tilt steering wheel, $110; tinted glass, $110; power brakes, $100; twin sport mirrors, $91; reclining front seatbacks, $90; gauge package, $64; P195/70R-14 tires, $28.
ENGINEpushrod V-6, iron block and headsDisplacement: 173 in3, 2837 cm3Power: 130 hp @ 5400 rpmTorque: 145 lb-ft @ 2400 rpm 
TRANSMISSION3-speed automatic
CHASSISSuspension, F/R: struts/torsion beamBrakes, F/R: 10.2-in vented disc/8.9-in drumTires: Goodyear Eagle GTP195/70R-14
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 104.9 inLength: 188.3 inWidth: 69.3 inHeight: 53.9 inPassenger Volume, F/R: 53/45 ft3Trunk Volume: 16 ft3Curb Weight: 2960 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 10.6 sec1/4-Mile: 17.6 sec @ 79 mph100 mph: 43.1 secTop Gear, 30–50 mph: 4.3 secTop Gear, 50–70 mph: 7.0 secTop Speed: 112 mphBraking, 70–0 mph: 197 ftRoadholding, 282-ft Skidpad: 0.79 g 
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 17 mpg
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 25/21/33 mpg 
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More

From the April 1965 issue of Car and Driver.No contest. This is the Porsche to end all Porsches—or, rather, to start a whole new generation of Porsches. Porsche’s new 911 model is unquestionably the finest Porsche ever built. More than that, it’s one of the best Gran Turismo cars in the world, certainly among the top three or four. Porsche enthusiasts used to insist that the 356 model was as nearly-perfect an automobile as had ever been designed, an immutable classic that couldn’t be im­proved upon. Oh, no? Put a familiar 356 up alongside a 911. Only yesterday, the 356 seemed ahead of its time. Today you realize its time has passed; the 356 leaves you utterly unimpressed and you can’t keep your eyes off the 911. The 911 is a superior car in every respect…the stuff legends are made of. Let it be understood at the outset that the 911 does not replace the 356, according to the factory. In the catalog, it replaces the fussy, little-appreciated Carrera 2 while the 356C (ex-Super) and 356SC (ex-Super 95) still roll off the assembly lines at about their normal rate. However, we can’t believe that Porsche will con­tinue making two entirely different cars, side-by-side, beyond the immediately foreseeable future. And let it also be understood that the 911 is not readily available. The first six month’s production is completely sold out and there’s a line of expectant owners going halfway around almost every Porsche agency in the country. Overview The 911—so-called because it is the 911th design project since Porsche opened its doors in 1931—is also the first all-Porsche Porsche. The 356 was the first car to carry the Porsche name, although when it was con­ceived in 1948 it was little more than a souped-up, special-bodied version of an earlier Porsche design, the Volkswagen. The 911, while true to the 356’s basic configuration, is an entirely new and different car. The engine is again air-cooled, again hung out behind the rear axle, but it’s a single-overhead-cam six-cylinder whereas the 356 was a pushrod four-cylinder (and the Carrera a four-cam four-cylinder). The new body is far more handsome—the work of old Professor Porsche’s grandson, Ferry, Jr. The 9ll’s 5-speed gear­box, already in service in Porsche’s 904 GT racing car, is probably the new car’s best single feature. Even the suspension is new, though tried-and-true torsion bars are retained as the springing medium. Related StoriesThe 911, or 901 as it then was, was introduced at the 1963 Frankfurt Auto Show. It was very much a prototype and its debut may have been premature. More than a year was to pass before it went into pro­duction, during which time the model number was changed (to indicate that it was a later model than the Frankfurt car and also because Peugeot reportedly had a lock on three-digit model numbers with zero in the middle), the price estimate dropped, the performance estimate rose, and a demand built up that the current four-a-day supply won’t be able to satisfy for some time to come. The 901/911 was not the “best” car Porsche could have made. Porsche could have put the storied flat­-eight engine into production, bored out to, say, 2.5 liters and tuned up to 240 horsepower. That would have put the 901/911 into the Ferrari-Corvette-Jaguar performance bracket. It also would have raised the price considerably, and Porsche was understandably nervous about entering the No-Man’s-Land market for $9000 GT cars. On price alone, it would have been beyond the reach of anybody but the Very Rich, and the V.R. are noted for such capricious perversity as preferring a $14,000 car to a $9000 car simply because it costs $5000 more. The four-cam flat-eight also would have had the same kind of maintenance and reliability problems the Carrera engine had; problems that are hopefully nonexistent in the 9ll’s SOHC six-cylinder. Considering what the Stuttgart design office has turned out in the past, Porsche could have come out with a supercharged six-liter 550-hp V-16 GT car to sell for $30,000 and not lose a drag race to anybody but Don Garlits, but their production facilities are hardly geared for that sort of thing, and it would be getting pretty far away from the Porsche image, wouldn’t it? In fact, Porsche had a full four-seater on the drawing boards at one point, but Ferry Porsche felt that his company’s business was not selling super­-duper sedans or ultra-ultra sports/racing cars but optimum-priced, optimum-size, optimum-performance Gran Turismo cars, which is exactly what the 911 is. At $6490 POE East Coast (or $5275 FOB Stuttgart), the 911 isn’t what you’d call cheap—no Porsche ever was—but then, quality never is. Porsche’s kind of quality cannot be had for less, viz. Ferrari 330GT ($14,000) or Mercedes-Benz 230SL ($8000). It’s of more than ordinary interest that the 911 costs a whop­ping thousand dollars less than the Carrera 2 it re­places. A Porsche is either worth it to the prospective buyer or it isn’t; he can’t justify the price tag by the way the body tucks under at the rear or by the way the steering wheel fits in his hands or the way the engine settles in for a drive through a rain-filled afternoon. But let’s see what he gets for his money. Body The 9ll’s eye-catching body is distinctive—slimmer, trimmer, yet obviously Porsche. While not as revolu­tionary as the original 356 design was in its day, the 9ll’s shape is far less controversial and slightly more aerodynamic. Though the frontal area has grown, a lower drag coefficient (0.38 vs 0.398) allows it to reach a top speed of 130 mph with only 148 hp. It ought to weather the years without looking dated. Compared to the cur­rent 356 body, the 911 is five inches longer (on a four-­inch longer wheelbase), three inches narrower (on a one-inch wider track), and just about the same height. The body structure is still unitized, built up of in­numerable, complicated steel stampings welded to­gether (with the exception of the front fenders which are now bolted on for easier repair of minor accidents). The glass area and luggage space have been increased by 58 percent and 186 percent respectively, and the turning circle is a bit tighter. The fully trimmed (with cocoa mats) trunk will hold enough for a week’s vacation for two; additional space is available in the rear seat area. The trunk and engine lids can be opened to any angle and held by counter-springs and telescopic dampers—­a nice touch. These lids, as well as the doors, are larger than the old Porsche’s, making access to the innards much less awkward. The gas filler cap nestles under a trap door in the left fender, and the engine lid release is hidden away in the left door post. The generous expanse of glass area does wonders for rearward vision; all-around visibility is comparable to a normal front-engined car. The bumpers are well­-integrated with the body, though provide barely ade­quate protection from those who park by ear. The standard appointments are lush and extensive: two heater/defrosters, padded sunvisors with vanity mir­ror, map and courtesy lights, 3-speed windshield wipers, 4-nozzle windshield washers, chrome wheels, belted tires, two fog lamps, a back-up light, and a beau­tiful wood-rim steering wheel. About the only options we’d like are seat belts (for which massive, forged eye­ bolts are provided), a radio, and a fender mirror. Fitted luggage and factory-installed air-conditioning will be available shortly, we’re told.Interior The ads tell you a Porsche is “fun” to drive. Fun? A Mini-Minor is fun to drive because it can’t be seri­ous; everything about it is incongruous—it defies all known laws of nature…and marketing…and gets away with it. The Porsche—any Porsche—is no fun at all; Germans aren’t much given to frivolity. Porsches are designed by drivers, for drivers, to be driven very matter-of-factly from Point A to Point B in maximum comfort, speed, and safety. Form soberly follows func­tion, and the cockpit of a Porsche is laid out to achieve just that end. The controls and instruments are effi­ciently positioned, and this economy of effort and mo­tion is why Porsches aren’t tiring to drive. But fun? Porsches are for driving. As befits a driver’s car, the controls are superb. The steering wheel is a special joy; the shallow “X” of the black anodized spokes provides perfect thumbrests without obscuring any of the unusually comprehensive instrumentation. The reach to the wheel is just right, and all the secondary controls are operated by stalks on either side of the wheel. The driver can signal for turns; flash, raise, and dip the headlights; and operate the windshield wipers and washers, all without moving his hands from the wheel. The gearshift lever has less travel than the 356’s, is smoother, and requires no more effort. The pedals are beautifully positioned for long-distance touring or fancy heel-and-toe footwork; there’s even room to rest the left foot between the clutch and the front wheel arch. The seats have the wondrously-comfortable Reutter reclining mechanisms, and are softly sprung and up­holstered in cloth with leather edges. They will adjust to fit anybody under seven feet and 300 pounds. Head-­and hip-room are similarly commodious; shoulder room is about the same as in the 356. The rear seats are a different matter. Though the 911 is occasionally described as a 2+2, the space back there is very cramped. It can hold an adult-sitting sideways with head bent forward—or a child, but neither for very long. It is more properly a luggage area, and for that purpose, the seat backs fold down to form a shelf for a couple of fair-sized suitcases. The dashboard is a magnificent edifice. The instru­mentation is complete even to an oil level gauge (no messy mucking about with a dipstick for the 911 owner). Directly in front of the driver is a huge, 270° electrical tachometer. To its left are gauges for oil and fuel levels, oil pressure and temperatures, and sundry warning lights. On the right are a speedometer, odometer, a clock, and a few more colorfully flashing lights. About the only thing we didn’t like about the dash was the strip of teak running full-width below the instruments. The Porsche people are extremely proud of it, it’s supposed to look elegant. It looks as if someone said, “Let’s put a strip of teak here; it’ll look elegant.” It doesn’t. If we owned a 911 (dare we dream…?), we’d paint it flat black to match the rest of the leatherette-covered dash. The normal heater, which draws heat from the en­gine, is supplemented by a gasoline-powered device hidden away under the floor of the trunk compartment. The normal heater, controlled by a small lever just forward of the gearshift, has outlets ahead of each door (which can be closed—or adjusted—by sliding covers), at the base of the windshield, and at the rear window. The auxiliary heater, primarily a defroster, draws air from a grille behind the front seats and pro­vides instant heat. It exudes a faint odor of gasoline but is only used in slow traffic or until the engine warms up. A variable-speed fan circulates air from either heater. Draft-free ventilation with the windows rolled up is possible at any time of year; fresh air is picked up from the high-pressure area ahead of the wind­shield, controlled by a lever on the dash, and exhausted through the headliner material and out nearly-invisible slots just above the rear window. The handbrake is between the front seats, whence it migrated from under the 356’s dash. The doors and dash abound with armrests, grab handles, door pulls, push-button door openers and locks, map pockets, a cigarette lighter, an ashtray, and a lockable glove box. Engine Details The 911’s engine is Porsche’s first at­tempt at a six-cylinder; the two extra cylinders were added for smoother, less-highly-stressed oper­ation. The prototype we drove at the factory had twin exhausts and sounded uncomfortably like a Cor­vair. The production cars have a single exhaust and a sound all their own. It’s rated at 148 SAE horsepower. The engine idles somewhat uncer­tainly at 800 rpm but is smooth as a turbine from 1000 rpm on up to the 6800 rpm redline. It revs quickly and freely, like a competition engine with a light flywheel. Around town, the 911 can be driven in first and third (up to 93 mph) alone; on the highway, it will pull from 2000 rpm in fifth. Sixty mph is less than 3000 rpm (100 mph is only 4900 rpm), making turnpike cruising relatively quiet and effortless on the engine. During the 911’s gestation period, a lot of attention was given to the carburetion, but it still isn’t perfect. The 911 has six individual single­-throat Solex PIs, “floatless” car­buretors in which the fuel level is maintained in a separate reservoir and recirculated by a second fuel pump (mechanical, like the primary pump). All this is supposed to elim­inate flat spots, hesitation, and the like. Not quite—they’re still sorting it out in Stuttgart. After meticulous adjustment by Wolfgang Rietzel, Porsche of America’s service repre­sentative, one of our otherwise-­stock test cars clocked 0–60 mph in 6.8 seconds—substantially better than the average 911 fresh off the showroom floor. Hopefully, the prob­lem will be solved in Germany and not require tedious fine-tuning at local Porsche agencies. On the plus side, the new Solexes are injection­-like in their freedom from varia­tions due to lateral or vertical ac­celerations. The crankcase is composed of two light-alloy castings bolted together on the crank centerline. The crank itself is a beautifully counter­weighted forging running in eight main bearings (the “usual” seven plus one outboard of the accessory drive gears), the first time Porsche has put a main bearing on either side of each rod journal.The distributor, fan, valve train, alternator, and oil pumps are driven from the rear of the crankshaft. Dry sump lubrication (a la Carrera) is employed, with two whole gallons of oil circulated, by a scavenger and a pressure pump, through a thermo­statically-controlled oil cooler and full-flow filter. The overhead valves are driven by a pair of chains (one per cylinder bank; each tensioned hydraulically) via short rocker arms. The rockers allow the valves to be disposed at an angle to each other rather than in-line. Six individual cylinder heads are clamped between the cylinder bar­rels and camshaft housings. The fully-machined combustion cham­bers are hemispherical with fairly large valves (1.54-inch intake, 1.50 inch exhaust). The ports look restrict­ed for 333 cc displacement per cylin­der, the valve timing and lifts are conservative and the compression ratio is only 9: 1, indicating that Porsche is holding quite a bit in re­serve. We would estimate that 180 horsepower is within reach, either by the factory for a super street ma­chine or by individuals for amateur racing in the SCCA’s class D Pro­duction. The upper limit for GT racing, either in a lightweight 911 or the six-cylinder versions of the 904 must be in excess of 200 horses. The barrels have alloy cooling fins and shrunk-in “Biral” (a spe­cial cast iron) liners. The bore and stroke, at 3.15 x 2.60 inches (80 x 66 mm) are fashionably oversquare, with a ratio of .825 (vs. .895 for the pushrod engines and .804 for the 2.0 liter four-cam engine). The pistons are sharply domed with healthy valve recesses. The axial fan is fiberglass, sur­rounds the alternator, and is driven from the crank by a V-belt. Single ignition is used in conjunction with 12-volt electrics, replacing the old 6-volt system. Porsche has indi­cated its confidence in the new en­gine by extending the warranty from six months/6000 miles to a full year and/or 10,000 miles.Transmission and Clutch As mentioned, the five-speed, all­-synchro gearbox is the 911’s best single feature. Actually, the torque and flexibility of this engine are such that a three-speed would suffice, but it was Porsche’s aim to be much more than merely sufficient. There is, in effect, a gear for every occa­sion: one for starting, one for cruis­ing, and three for passing. It is to Porsche’s everlasting credit that it didn’t make first gear superfluous by having second an alternative start­ing gear—you must start in first, and it’s a pretty long gear at that. In fact, 6800 rpm through the gears gives 44, 65, 93, 118, and 138 mph. All the gears are indirect, with the famous—and flawless—Porsche servo-ring synchromesh. Fourth and fifth gear are actually overdrives, but pulling power is not lost as the upper three ratios are close in an already close-ratio gearbox. Operating the shift lever is con­fusing at first. First gear is to the left and back, with the other four gears in the normal H-pattern. Re­verse is to the left and forward, but to go from first to second, you just push forward—toward reverse—not forward and right. You half expect it to go into reverse, but it won’t—scout’s honor. Everything else is a piece of cake (the linkage is not as remote as other Porsches’), in­cluding changing down to first gear for those mountain-pass hairpins. Clutch diameter is up to 8.5 inches, and the mechanism should prove more robust than older Porsche clutches. Steering, Suspension, and Brakes Porsche is also trying rack-and­-pinion steering in a production car for the first time on the 911. It’s fast, precise, incredibly direct, and—like the carburetion—a little late in being perfected. The prototype we drove was subject to torque steer, i.e., changing the throttle position would change the car’s direction. This had been eliminated on the pro­duction car, but a new bug had cropped up: The steering felt too direct, like a racing Ferrari—you could feel every ripple in the road. Revised front-end parts are coming through on the latest cars, but it’s almost impossible to make a rack­-and-pinion system completely free of kickback. Doubtless, Porsche will work out an honorable compromise between damping action and road feel that will satisfy most customers. Incidentally, the steering column contains two U-joints, not to clear any obstacle (the steering box is on the car’s centerline), but so that it will collapse toward the dash in case of a crash, a good safety measure.The 911’s suspension is a depar­ture for Porsche. A damper strut system is used at the front with longitudinal torsion bars. This lay­out takes much less trunk space than the transverse bars of the 356. It also improves control and reduces roll (by raising the front roll cen­ter), and has the odd effect of bank­ing the wheels into a turn, like a motorcycle rider. To avoid oversteer, a link-type rear suspension with semi-trailing arms (and transverse torsion bars) was adopted. There is very little camber change on jounce and rebound, so the cornering power is not as variable on an undulating surface as the 356. Koni telescopic shocks are fitted all around, but no “camber compensator” is used, as the new suspension makes it unneces­sary. Body roll is moderate, pitch and harshness seem well under con­trol, and the ride is surprisingly soft. In all, it’s a great improvement over the 356 suspension. The 911 uses 15-inch wheels. A 14-inch wheel would be more aes­thetically pleasing (and add to the available interior room) but would have restricted brake size, so we’re not complaining. We will complain about the wheel width, however. The rims are only 4.5 inches wide­—what’s happened to all that racing experience? Porsche does have 5.0 x 15 and 5.5 x 15 wheels (from the 904) that will fit; substituting these wheels would yield greater corner­ing power (and less tire wear) at the penalty of a slightly stiffer ride. We recommend them, and also the ZF­-made, U.S.-design limited-slip dif­ferential—if you can get them.The brakes are virtually the same as the four-wheel discs of the 356C. In the 1965 Car and Driver Year­book we said: “There’s nothing like four-wheel discs…that halfway business with discs at the front and drums at the rear doesn’t even come close. In an emergency, good brakes are probably the single most im­portant factor in avoiding an acci­dent.” The Porsche’s brakes are without peer; smooth, positive, un­affected by water, and absolutely fade-free. PerformanceThe performance figures on the specifications page speak for them­selves, but while we’re on the sub­ject of quotes, David Phipps, our European Editor, had this to say about the 911’s handling: “Both di­rectional stability and cornering are far better than they have any right to be in a car which has the engine in the extreme rear. In corners, you can forget all the things you have been told about the sudden, vicious oversteer of rear-engine cars. The 911’s handling characteristics are basically neutral, progressing to slight understeer. It takes a ham­-fisted clot to upset the back end in the dry, and even in the wet you will only get the tail out by using lots of revs in the lower gears.” The 911 performs better than any previous street Porsche, including the two-liter Carrera. It’s kind of a pocket battleship: What it can’t out­-accelerate it can out-handle, and what it can’t out-handle it can out­-accelerate. There probably aren’t five comparable sports/touring cars in the whole spectrum that could lap a road course faster than the 911. And—back to the pocket battleship analogy—those that could probably would fall by the wayside long before the Porsche expired. The best gas mileage we could re­cord flat-out on the Autobahn was 24 mpg, but oil consumption was minimal. The oil change interval is up to 3000 miles, and the number of grease fittings has been reduced to zero. There are no other surprises in the 911 for any driver familiar with Porsches. The fan noise and growl of an air-cooled engine are typically Porsche. Getting in and out—despite the wider doors—still requires a supple spine, and so on. What Porsche has wrought in the 911 is a worthy replacement for all the models that preceded it. Race breeding and engineering refinement ooze from the 911’s every pore. The whole package, especially the powertrain, is designed to be more reliable and less difficult to service, thus all the better suited to the factory’s concept of the Porsche as a sealed machine for ground transportation. Although the 911 costs a lot less than the Carrera—and a lot more than the current C and SC—it’s worth the price of all the old Porsches put together. Most importantly, the 911’s appeal should be considerably wider than the earlier models—which, in truth, you had to be some­thing of a nut to own. Any­body who ever felt a flicker of desire for a Porsche before will be pas­sionately stirred about the 911.SpecificationsSpecifications
1965 Porsche 911Vehicle Type: mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2+2-passenger, coupe
PRICEAs Tested: $6490
ENGINESOHC inline-6, aluminum blockDisplacement: 122 in3, 1991 cm3Power: 148 hp @ 6100 rpmTorque: 140 lb-ft @ 4200 rpm
TRANSMISSION5-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/semi-trailing armsBrakes, F/R: 10.8-in disc/11.3-in discTires: Dunlop SP
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 87.1 inLength: 164.0 inWidth: 63.4 inHeight: 51.9 inCurb Weight: 2376 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 7.0 sec1/4-Mile: 15.6 sec @ 90 mph100 mph: 20.0 secTop speed: 130 mph
FUEL ECONOMYEPA city/highway: 16/24 mpg
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED More