Car and Driver

NAME GAME Your first name tells where you are and your last name what you are, but your middle name only perplexes [“Lightning Lap 16,” February/March 2023]. So, Virginia Raceway, what makes you International? —Al B. Wise Bethesda, MD Flights to Canada—Ed. C-SUITE M4 Having tiptoed through conversations with my wife about the need to replace my E92 M3 with an M4 CSL, I was hoping every effort would be put into its best VIR lap. No way to plan for the bolt. Bolts are flat on the end and are used with nuts exclusively. Did you mean screw? [Check out the photo evidence, Hernandez—Ed.] But the helmet hitting the seat was accounted for since the headrest pad is removable for helmet clearance. As a commoner, my research should be less extensive than the experts’,…

I found Greg Pajo’s lead photo of the four-level stack strangely intriguing, with its nice ramp curves still unsullied by HOV lanes [“10Best Trucks and SUVs”]. I originally figured it was from the UAW Freeway in nearby Flint, but its top ramps were too straight. So, after checking all over the country, I finally figured out it was taken looking southeast at the U.S. 183 and MoPac Expressway interchange in Austin. Thanks for the nerdy puzzle hunt! —Kelley Cook, Bloomfield Hills, MI Cook’s ability to outdo Google Maps and spy balloons is good enough to win a Winnebago-branded water bottle with matching cups. Please drink responsibly—Ed.…

There’s a 7.3-liter V-8 hidden under the doghouse, and at full whack, its snare-drum-tumbling-in-a-cement-mixer soundtrack calls up memories of school buses. I’m climbing a mild grade through Arizona, not in a Blue Bird or a Thomas, but in a Ford E-350 chassis-cab dually, and the engine trying out for the drum line is Ford’s heavy-duty truck V-8. And the doghouse? That’s what people in the van world call the protruding engine cover that doubles as part of the dashboard. Another cross-country drive, my third in nine months, this time at the wheel of a rented 16-foot box truck filled with my Los Angeles life. Hanging off the back is a car carrier with my soon-to-be wife’s 2015 Ford Escape. At 65 mph, the E-series pack mule needs constant minding to keep…

→ When Maserati unveiled its handsome second-generation GranTurismo coupe, our initial response was a bit muted, even muddled. “Is that new?” we asked of the lovely but familiar design. This sense of confoundment grew when we discovered that the automaker would offer this exact vehicle—a long-hood, short-deck GT with a conventional profile—in two disparate powertrain configurations. Buyers can tour grandly in a coupe with a twin-turbo V-6 internal-combustion engine (ICE) or in a battery-electric vehicle (BEV), but you might not guess from the outside that the insides are different. Maserati design head Klaus Busse says a desire to maintain the traditional design and dynamic sensibilities for which the trident brand is known dictated this move. “We can keep the low silhouette of the car because we’re not putting anything under the…

FLUSHED Mercedes once touted its door handles as a safety feature that allowed rescuers to pull open doors more easily. Apparently, it has decided first responders can manage with the modern version found on the S-class. The new handle tucks itself inside the door when locked and pops out for access. The G-class, on the other hand, uses essentially the same button-handle combo it’s had for more than three decades. → It’s time for another episode of They Can, but Should They? Today we’re pointing our questions at the entry point to the automobile, the door handle. That is if we can find it. These days drivers might use buttons, levers, pull tabs, touch-activated pads, proximity sensors, or even facial recognition to open a door. Aerodynamic and drag-reducing requirements have brought the automotive…

→ Break out your American-flag shirt and grab your passport, because NASCAR is headed to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The crossover isn’t as strange as it might seem. American sports-car teams have long been vying for glory on the Mulsanne Straight at the famed endurance race, but NASCAR has only been to Le Mans once before. Each year, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) welcomes a team to Le Mans to participate in the Garage 56 program, an exhibition class created in 2012 to encourage technical innovation. Past G56 racers have run on alternative fuels or featured cockpits equipped for disabled drivers, with two teams from the latter category being the only G56 entries to have ever finished the race. For 2023, the ACO invited NASCAR to…