Car and Driver January 2016

Sic your dogs on us at: editors@caranddriver.com or join the discussion at: backfires.caranddriver.com LAPLANDERS I just finished reading the Lightning Lap issue [October 2015] and was surprised that there was no Dodge SRT Hellcat present. This has got to be one of the most hyped cars in recent memory. The preface says the car was a dropout but doesn’t explain why. Having just taken delivery of a Challenger Hellcat after a 10-month wait, I’m curious what dropout means. So why no Hellcat? JIM VANN KANAB, UTAH Dodge chickened out at the last minute and pulled the Challenger Hellcat that we’d scheduled. The official line sounded something like this, “We want all track media to concentrate on the Viper ACR”—Ed. Over the years, all the car magazines have made icons of the European imports. In Lightning Lap,…

Every year we pick our 10Best cars, and every year we leave four to five times that many off the list. Usually, there is a vast gulf between the winners and the losers. But not this time. There was a thick boundary layer of excellence at this year’s base camp. Scores on my 10Best ballot only went as low as 72 out of 100. There were a lot of 90- and 92-point cars that didn’t win, cars that didn’t quite meet our guiding criteria, which is: Can we name another vehicle on the market that does what this one does but better and cheaper? If so, it’s not getting invited to the big photo shoot. What we wind up with are cars that combine astonishing dynamics with compelling value and a…

Sergio Marchionne has done the math on a merger between FCA and GM, and he says the combined entity would bring in $30 billion in revenue annually. “Thirty,” he told Automotive News. “Just think about that [expletive] number.” FIAT CHRYSLER BOSS Sergio Marchionne has made no secret of his desire to hook up with another major automaker in pursuit of massive economies of scale. When General Motors CEO Mary Barra rebuffed his initial overture, he memorably (and creepily) quipped, “I can hug you nicely, I can hug you tightly, I can hug you like a bear.” While the new Fiat 124 Spider is the product of cooperation with another automaker, it’s a far cry from whatever sort of hug Marchionne has in mind. STYLING The 124 Spider springs from a tie-up not with…

LAST YEAR WAS THE END of the line for the Mercedes-Benz M-class. There’s no more GLK, either. Soon, the GL and the SLK will likewise disappear. Oh, the vehicles will still be around, but the badges are changing as Mercedes overhauls its naming convention. G-wagen aside, its SUVs are now GLs, keyed by size to the core C-, E-, and S-classes: The GLK is the GLC, the M is the GLE, and the GL will soon be the GLS. The SLK will become the SLC. Cadillac is about to make a similar change, and many in our office still use Infiniti’s old names. “QX70? That’s the FX, right?” But automakers risk forfeiting individual models’ brand equity in such scorched-earth renaming schemes. We tallied the age of every model on the market…

AFTER A RUN OF 30 YEARS and nearly 300,000 vehicles, the Humvee has cemented its legacy as an icon of the post-Vietnam United States military. While it will continue in light-duty on-base roles, the realities of modern warfare require a new vehicle for combat missions, one that combines the versatility and agility of the Humvee with the protection offered by the heavily armored but much larger Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles also in service today. The government sure took its sweet time deciding what that vehicle will look like. The selection process, known as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, started in 2006; six different contractors and partnerships submitted proposals by ’08. After delays, allegations of unfairness, and revisions to the vehicle parameters, the Army and Marine Corps in 2012…

IMAGINE YOU’VE JUST CAUGHT the flash of red lights in your rearview mirror. As you pull over, your smartphone sends an alert, requesting permission for the police officer to view your license on a mobile device. You scan your thumb for verification, and the cop approaches. She greets you by name and, as she looks over your vehicle, sends the citation you’ve just received to your phone. You can enter your plea and pay the fine right on your device, the officer says, before heading back to her cruiser. This scenario is inching closer to reality. Last August, the Iowa Department of Transportation spent $40,000 on a pilot program to outfit 15 state employees with a “mobile driver’s license,” or mDL. This iOS app displays a virtual license with a rotatable…