Car and Driver Sep-14

Sic your dogs on us at: editors@caranddriver.com or join the discussion at: backfires.caranddriver.com SHIFTLESS Dear "Save the Manuals" committee:I want to congratulate you for rising (sinking?) to a level of incompetence only previously shown in congressional attempts to cut spending. In your June comparison test issue you featured zero manual-transmission cars out of the 23 tested. While many of these don't offer the option of a manual transmission, to not choose manuals when they are optional (or even standard) just accelerates their demise. Please do a better job and actually feature manual-transmission cars whenever possible. BRUCE FUNDERBURGMADISON, ALABAMA I was excited to receive my June issue of C/D, especially after seeing it was the "Comparison Test Special," my favorite. Corvette versus Jag, cool … What's this, automatics?! Well at least there's a comparison of sporty…

One consequence of THE Great Recession and the government rescue of automakers is that many Americans watch the industry's executive compensation a little more closely than they did before. Consider us among the many. With help from Equilar, an executive-compensation and corporate-governance data firm, we looked at how much these executives at six of the world's largest automakers rake in each year. At this level, it's not as simple as drawing a paycheck every two weeks. A base salary can be a paltry $1 million or less, but stock options, performance bonuses, and other financial gravy can jack up an exec's annual gross to dizzying heights. The champion breadwinner among the domestic automakers' executives is Alan Mulally, the recently retired Ford CEO who took home what many consider a well-deserved $23 million…

SHARK TANK FRICKIN' LASERS Okay, so they're too bright for the U.S. But lasers also require very little energy to operate. HIGH-BEAM SOURCE LIGHTING INTENSITY ENERGY DRAW PER PAIR HALOGEN 162,500 cd 220 watts XENON HID 175,000 cd 140 watts LED 237,500 cd 72 watts LASER 425,000 cd 40 watts CD: candela, a unit of luminous intensity. MAXIMUM LEGAL LIGHTING INTENSITY EUROPE, JAPAN: 430,000 CD CHINA: 225,000 CD U.S.: 150,000 CD LASER DIODES EMIT BLUE LIGHT THAT IS TURNED WHITE BY A PHOSPHOR-COATED FILM. Ever since Audi began its rise from mislabeled killer to bona fide premium brand, it's had its sights on BMW. Now, the battle has turned Star Wars, and the two are sparring with lasers. In 2009, in a proverbial Biergarten meeting, BMW engineers sketched out their first ideas on laser headlights, hoping to give themselves technological bragging rights. It became an official project in 2010, and a year after that, the…

FITTED LUGGAGE NOW THAT'S A HYBRID! WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU CROSS AN OSPREY WITH A BADGER? Advanced Tactics recently announced the first successful flight test of its Black Knight Transformer, a hybrid truck/helicopter designed for military use. Four rotors on each side fold in for driving on narrow streets and can tilt forward like those on the Osprey for high-speed flight. With the ability to be piloted either onboard or remotely, the Black Knight could handle tasks currently assigned to the Osprey and Phantom Badger. It's a typical GOVERNMENT PROBLEM: You've spent billions of dollars developing an aircraft unlike any other for the express purpose of getting troops into remote areas faster than traditional helicopters can. But the result, the tilt-rotor V-22 Osprey, is so narrow that military ground vehicles can't…

PRIME CUTS PLANKING The more expensive the car, the heavier its trim. Shown here: how many ounces a square inch of each car's trim weighs. 0.07 VW PASSAT SEL $32,115* 0.18 Audi S8 $115,825 0.31 Bentley Mulsanne $310,125 *2014 price Aluminum and carbon-fiber trim pieces might be fashionable in car cabins these days, but nothing classes up the joint quite like the look of wood. Which is not to say that all lumber is created equal. To examine how automakers trim their cars with trees (or fake ones) at different price points, we collected samples from three castes of the Volkswagen Group and dropped the miter saw on them. AT CREWE, 15 CRAFTSPEOPLE WORK TO TURN RAW VENEERS INTO A COMPLETE SET OF MULSANNE TRIM. BENTLEY MULSANNE Dark-stained, 0.02-inch-thick burl walnut on solid walnut backing. Pleasingly hefty. FUN FACT Bentley typically uses…

CRATE & DOUBLE BARREL KEY: CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE SMALL-BLOCK ENGINES / CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE LS-SERIES ENGINES CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE BIG-BLOCK ENGINES / FORD RACING PUSHROD ENGINES / FORD RACING OHC ENGINES MOPAR GEN III HEMI / MOPAR GEN II HEMI / MOPAR COMPETITION V-10 / MOPAR SMALL-BLOCK MOPAR COMPETITION V-10 512 cu in, 800 hp, 695 lb-ft, 530 lb, $39,096 CHEVROLET LSX454R 454 cu in, 770 hp, 612 lb-ft, 619 lb, $24,038 CHEVROLET ZZ572/720R 572 cu in, 720 hp, 685 lb-ft, 575 lb, $17,904 CHEVROLET ZZ572/620 572 cu in, 620 hp, 650 lb-ft, 580 lb, $17,225 MOPAR 572 HEMI 572 cu in, 650 hp, 660 lb-ft, 650 lb, $18,500 MOPAR 528 HEMI 528 cu in, 640 hp, 612 lb-ft, 650 lb, $18,965 CHEVROLET LS9 376 cu in, 638 hp, 604 lb-ft, 549 lb, $26,009 FORD Z427 427 cu in, 600 hp, 550 lb-ft, 420…