Car and Driver November 2018

THE BIG SCORE You spineless pussbags are more than eager to crucify any reader who dares question your almighty scoring system. “We can’t arbitrarily remove a category!” you bleat, batting away criticism. Now we learn you’ll mess with the system when it pleases you [“Outer Limits,” August 2018]. What’s the matter? Porsche threaten to revoke your access to cars? Achtung! The Chevy won that competition; readers know it, and you know it. Apparently, Porsche’s press-fleet manager knows it, too. —Matthew Guy Halifax, NS Pussbags? Us?—Ed. Realizing C/D had a bias toward BMW and Porsche over the years, I have gotten used to some of the stacked comparisons. However, the one-point separation of the Corvette ZR1 from the 911 GT2 RS was too much. To your credit, you openly set aside the price factor—okay. But…

WHEN IT COMES TO SEDANS, German auto executives love to talk about sportiness. Although they never specify what sport they are referring to—racquetball? buzkashi? quoits?—we know what they mean: that a car feels athletic, as a sports sedan should. It’s a concept that BMW did much to create and popularize with the 3-series (and its progenitor, the 02-series), but it’s an area in which the current 3 feels notably deficient. So although the new 3-series is bigger, lighter, and more technology-laden than its predecessor, BMW is crowing loudest about how much better it will be to drive. CHASSIS Known internally as G20, this 3-series is based on the same Cluster Architecture (a.k.a. CLAR) that underpins BMW’s larger longitudinal-engine models, with a structure that uses more aluminum and high-strength steel than the outgoing…

AN IMPENDING WAVE OF EVS from established luxury brands is about to crash ashore, and whether the vehicles are bringing Ludicrous-level performance, long driving ranges, and/or ultrafast charging capabilities, the irony isn’t lost on us that the traits that will help give them broad appeal may involve ethically suspect supply chains. The majority of EV models use permanent-magnet motors, which are smaller and more efficient than induction motors, the common alternative. But meaningful increases in motor performance will demand stronger magnets, which in turn will require more of one controversial category of ingredient: rare-earth elements. These elements—including the neodymium that’s essential for modern permanent-magnet motors—are abundant in the Earth but difficult to produce, as they must be extracted from other minerals via labor-intensive refinement processes. More than 90 percent of the…

THE QUEST TO PRODUCE an engine with a variable compression ratio, which would allow it to be optimized for fuel economy or torque depending on demand, has captivated engineers for nearly a century. Nissan has spent the past two decades bringing the first such engine into production via the force of sheer will—and some 300 patents—so we expected big things when this turbo four-cylinder finally materialized. Launched in the 2019 Infiniti QX50 [see Fleet Files, page 077], the variable-compression-ratio engine was off to a good start, improving on its V-6 predecessor by 6 mpg (30 percent) in its EPA combined rating when comparing all-wheel-drive models. But that still leaves Infiniti’s compact crossover just a single EPA combined mpg ahead of its most efficient nonhybrid peers, the Audi Q5 and the…

THE ORIGINAL SUPRA (code-named A40) was introduced to America in 1979 in order to imbue Toyota with enthusiast credibility. This was a challenge, given the marque’s reputation as a producer of chintzy yet reliable eco-noboxes and a consumer base weaned on brutal domestic muscle. Kevin Hunter is the president of Calty, Toyota’s Southern California research and design outpost, which styled the new Supra. He says the first-gen Supra aimed to be “a more sophisticated approach to the GT class” and promised owners more for their money. It was thus built around a fuel-injected straight-six engine on a stretched version of the rear-wheel-drive Celica platform and offered with options like cruise control and a sunroof. Over three successive generations, the Supra retained its straight-six rear-wheel-drive concept but became a shifting outlet for Toyota’s…

REMEMBER THE DAYS when you could scoop up a used Ferrari 330GT 2+2 for 30 grand? Neither do we. Today, even a low-end vintage Ferrari sells for hundreds of thousands. And the truly collectible cars—Ferrari 250GTs, prewar Alfas, Aston DB4 GT Zagatos—fetch millions. The average Joe, it seems, has no hope of getting into the higher levels of the game. That’s where Chris Bruno, one of the founders of Rally Rd., disagrees. Rally Rd. is a platform that gives aficionados who can’t afford high-end cars the chance to own a stake in one. The business is regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and FINRA-registered brokers oversee all transactions and vet the vehicles Rally Rd. purchases. Here’s how it works: The Rally Rd. team acquires a blue-chip (or not-so-blue-chip) classic car,…