JSwain: June 2016

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Why the Goodwood Festival of Speed Is Incredible in 20 Photos

At your typical car show, from a local Cars and Coffee event all the way up to auto shows and extravagant productions such as the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance or Lake Como, a passel of desirable vehicles are rolled in, parked, and-often-roped off. Look, but don't touch. And if you manage to glimpse one of the cars running, it's usually so that the car can either leave or be loaded onto a trailer to leave. We love looking at pretty machinery, but the car-show formula is, in general, quite boring. Ask any of your non-car-fan friends what they think of one-we bet they'd be yawning halfway through the question. The Goodwood Festival of Speed, on the other hand, is very much not boring.

Goodwood takes place on the sprawling estate of Lord March, a titled Brit. The grounds are transformed into a pseudo race circuit-with manufacturer displays, grandstands, and luxury boxes-scattered around a 1.16-mile hill-climb course that, amusingly enough, is pretty much stitched together from Lord March's driveway and a service drive that runs uphill. As you'd expect, his driveway is better than yours, consisting of five turns (some of which are multi-apex, off-camber, or both), and it runs from a relatively flat section into a progressively more inclined bit at the end. Only about 20 feet wide, the “track” is bracketed by hay bales propped against tree stumps driven into the ground; there are no catch fences, and in most places, only a five-foot pathway roped off for track marshals and photographers between the hay bales and the public viewing areas.

This might come as some surprise, but despite the environs and the priceless automobiles on hand, the Goodwood Festival of Speed is not an overtly pretentious event like, say, the Pebble Beach Concours. Sure, some of the best seats in the house are located in the pinkies-out-fancy (and assuredly expensive) Gurney Pavilion positioned at the outside of the first two turns on the hill-climb-and at the GP Club farther up the course-but for the most part, spectators with general-admission tickets aren't squeezed out of a good time. We wandered the course for three days and kept finding new vantage points to catch the action. Attendees can opt for grandstand tickets for a seat overlooking any number of great track positions. Goodwood simply places every attendee at the center of the action. Anyone, for example, can wander into the paddock and roam among classic Can-Am race cars, F1 cars, Ferraris, Ford GT40s, prewar monsters, and more. ---At the top of the hill, near the hill-climb's finish line, there's a full-blown rally stage cut into the woods where historic Group B cars-Audi Quattros, Lancia Stratoses, etc.-and more modern Subarus, Mitsubishis, and Fords tear down muddy paths sideways, ripping off bumpers, jumping, and more. At Pebble Beach, you feel like a nobody if you're hoofing it around a bunch of parked cars or without a glass of champagne between two fingers. At Goodwood, it pays to leave the luxury boxes and the tiny-dog crowd to the champagne and Ferrari salespeople and traipse through the mud to watch epic machines doing epic things.

Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Bugattis aren't the only menu selections at Goodwood, where a motley collection of vehicles runs the gamut from NASCAR stockers to Formula 1 cars to a 20,000-pound Dakar support truck. Drifting was more widely included this year, which was incredible only for the strangeness of watching “Mad” Mike Whiddett's quad-rotor Mazda RX-8 tear past Lord March's quintessentially old-money English summer house fully sideways, plumes of smoke pouring from the rear tires. Ken Block was on hand with his Gymkhana Ford Fiesta-he did plenty of donuts, too-juxtaposed against Sir Stirling Moss piloting a 300SL lightweight up the hill. A Ford Mustang Funny Car was there, too, and performed a smoky launch on the main straight before exiting (it couldn't make the tighter turns farther up the track); the largely European crowd seemed stunned when the announcers outlined how the drag racer packed more horsepower than the first 10 cars on a Formula 1 grid combined-and how the engine needed to be rebuilt after pretty much every quarter-mile run. The diverse field was completely unlike the more strictly pedigreed sort that might appear at concours, another way Goodwood avoids feeling too upper crust. In covering a NASCAR stock car as it made its way up the hill, the announcers even encouraged attendees to go to a NASCAR race and try it out. We almost tripped over our jaws at that one.

At first blush, the 1.16-mile hill-climb at Goodwood would seem like a piece of cake-a perfectly lackadaisical strip of road for taking easy parade laps in historic vehicles. It is anything but (as some folks may know from Gran Turismo 6, which features the Festival of Speed as an event), and while some of the cars make their way up the hill at an easy pace, most fly through at properly entertaining speeds. There's even a time-attack “shootout” on the final day, where the cars posting the hottest times over the previous two days compete for the quickest lap. At even moderate speeds, the course's lack of curbing-the pavement simply ends on either side, giving way to slick grass-and fairly curt runoff areas present a unique challenge, as does the course's utter lack of coherent camber in corners and general bumpiness. If this sounds like an unforgiving context for old race cars and modern supercars alike, you're right-it's also what makes seeing incredible cars bouncing, sliding, and occasionally spinning so mesmerizing.

England in the summer is a lot like England the rest of the year: rainy. It can rain at a moment's notice at Goodwood, but sometimes, it may only rain at one end of the hill-climb. Even if it pours over the entire course, some corners are sheltered by trees and hillside. And every time a car puts one wheel off the track, spins, or gets a little too giddy doing donuts on the main straightway, mud is strewn onto the paved surface. Track workers do their best to sweep the worst of the detritus away in between group runs, but until each run group is finished, the mud is there for the next car to discover-sometimes midcorner. (Cars are sent out in large groups, with each car spaced roughly 30 seconds apart, during which the track is considered “hot.”) This year, the paved surface also proved sensitive to rubber laid down by the drift cars, which, mixed in with the mud and dust and such, meant that every run posed different challenges to the drivers. ---We asked Mark Higgins, the driver who set the Isle of Man TT lap record for a four-wheeled vehicle in a modified WRX STI and was gunning for a hot time up the Goodwood hill, which corner he felt is the most challenging. His response? The blind left-hander after a crest just past the main footbridge (technically, Turn Three), which is easy to understeer through if you brake too late. But he reiterated that Turn Three pales in comparison to the funky, ever-shifting grip available on each run.

Yes! And that's probably one of the craziest yet most respectable aspects of the Goodwood festival. Here are cars that, when new, were built for racing or at least moving very, very quickly down a road. Today, they're hugely valuable, but the fact that their owners are willing to put them out there and expose them to risk, for the aural and visual benefit of Goodwood's roughly 150,000 attendees, is magic. (The Monterey historics at Laguna Seca, an event tied to the Pebble Beach weekend, is similar in this way.) We love that these cars are trotted out for public enjoyment, rather than squirreled away like appreciating assets. But between the track's challenges, driver error, or pure bad luck, incidents can and do happen. ---We watched the driver of a Renault Laguna touring car slam into a hay bale at high speed, completely wrecking the front end, and the 1909 “Blitzen Benz” spun coming out of the first turn, barely avoiding the hay bales. A Porsche 917 was similarly unlucky. Having been caught out on the track right as it started to rain, the nearly 600-hp Porsche had its back end wash out coming out of a turn, wagging first to the right, then to the right, then back to the left, then to the right-and just as it looked like the driver might pull out of the tank slapper, the car hurled to the left into a hay bale, punching in the left side of its nose. And the driver of the Don Law Racing Jaguar XJR120 literally drove a wheel off his ride, mowing the lawn after the front right wheel decided to explore a different racing line than the other three. It's difficult to describe the tension in watching the cars run the course. Imagine using a Rolex to hammer in a nail, or Scarlett Johansson doing Tough Mudder. It's not that either task can't be done, but you'd be hard pressed ever to witness it in person.

Cars are grouped into various run groups and, when called, queue up in the paddock area and file out onto the track near the start line. They then rev, do burnouts, or execute small drifts to the amusement of the crowd as they make their way the wrong way down the course to the start line, where they turn around, queue up again, and are sent on up the hill in short intervals. When the cars reach the top, they pass through a slowdown area before gathering near the Drivers' Club-a hangout for the drivers where fans can solicit autographs, high-fives, kisses, whatever-before parading back down the course toward the paddock. Again, some drivers will perform juvenile but amazing stunts along the way (imagine leaving a Cars and Coffee event, minus the crashing Ford Mustangs). This might be the only place where you'll see such widely varied automobiles as a Ferrari FXX K, a Rolls-Royce Wraith, and an old McLaren Formula 1 car rip burnouts for no particular reason at all.

This is another one of Goodwood's more magical properties-that you can stand inches from the metal on display as it streams in from the hill-climb to be parked in the paddock.

The scene essentially is this: A typical crowd will be ogling the cars that aren't currently running up the hill when the cars fresh off a climb return. A marshal simply shouts at everyone to clear a path, and the cars pour in right next to you. While snapping a photo of the #68 Ford GT that raced at Le Mans this year, a Ferrari 550LM race car nearly rolled over this author's foot as it was being pushed, engine off, into a parking spot. As unreal as that near miss was, you really do have to keep an eye out, because some of the more finicky race cars don't particularly like to be idled or to crawl around at low speed. It's best to get out of the way when, say, Mario Andretti's #50 Ferrari Can-Am race car comes blaring into the paddock.

Each run group will go up the hill at least twice per day for all three days of Goodwood, and this year there were nearly 30 such groups. This is particularly useful for those who only come for one day, but it also presents a special opportunity for those who stick it out for all three days, as it allows one to wander the course without missing any of the action. Did a group run while you were off checking out one of the static displays? No worries; you can catch it the next go-around-possibly even from a new vantage point at a different part of the course.

We kid, since every car, truck, and motorcycle on hand at Goodwood was incredible, but the festival does designate a few special groups each year. For 2016, those included collections celebrating BMW's centenary and F1 driver James Hunt. Several of Hunt's race cars were there, including this #11 McLaren Formula 1 racer. BMW was the featured marque, earning the privilege of displaying three of its cars atop the Goodwood sculpture-the large, spiky white thing you probably noticed in earlier slides.

Oh, yeah, there also are bundles of classic motorcycles on hand at the FoS.

Goodwood isn't exactly the infield at Daytona, but it's a pretty decent party. There are plenty of food stands and bar stands serving up appropriately greasy foods and refreshingly cold beer. If you insist on being classy, we did see several joints serving wine, and there was even a “Seafood and Champagne” vendor. But grab a pint, find a spot along the hay bales, and soak in the automotive nirvana.

As entrancing as the main Goodwood hill-climb is, there's more than just a finish line at the top. Make the trek up the hill (or hitch a ride in a wagon dragged by a tractor), and you're rewarded by a complete forest rally stage.

Just as in real rallies, it's easy to get entirely too close to the action. A series of pathways snake through the forest to get you up close and personal with the bevy of historic rally cars that pass through. Between the rally course and the main portion of the hill-climb, there's also an off-road exhibition area where wild 4x4s jump, climb, and otherwise show off their dirt-tackling prowess.

Unlike the paved paddocks at the bottom of the hill-climb, the rally paddock is basically an open, muddy field where cars are parked outside. A car-park-type roof structure runs around the perimeter, but there's no pavement in sight. Next to several Audi Quattros sat a pair of period Audi Sport support vans, and there was an entire row of World Rally Blue Subaru Impreza racers. If you grew up playing Colin McRae rally video games and idolizing turbocharged, all-wheel-drive pocket rockets, this is Mecca. There was even a Colin McRae Ford Focus on hand.

In between group runs up the hill, spectators are treated to trick motorcycle shows, trick car shows, and even two-wheeled runs up the course from Terry Grant. If that last name sounds familiar, it's because Grant was the driver who teetered a Nissan Juke up the hill at Goodwood a few years ago to much fanfare. This year, he repeated the stunt with a Jaguar F-Pace and even had a guy jump out and

Opposite the hill-climb's focal point, the wacky sculpture parked in front of Lord March's mansion-or one of his mansions, at least-and across the track is a large field in which manufacturers have set up a mini auto show. Automakers build temporary structures and platforms to park their sportiest rides on, with representatives on hand to answer questions, just as you'd find at the Detroit auto show or the like. While it feels a bit like the manufacturers are trying to glom on to the event for marketing purposes (they are), their participation leads to special collections of cars (see the BMW centenary), and most brought along classic vehicles for display. Chevrolet had a second-generation Corvette and a 1967 Camaro, Mazda brought a 9100-mile first-generation MX-5 Miata, and BMW had a flotilla of old M cars.

Despite the ease with which you can get fairly close to the cars of Goodwood, the layout isn't hugely conducive to bolstering your Instagram page or capturing neat videos. The hay bales get in the way of most photos unless you're NBA tall, and the crowds in the paddocks make close-up still photography difficult. There is free on-site Wi-Fi, and the Goodwood organization aggressively pushes the #FoS hashtag, but for all its tech-friendliness, the event doesn't need to be. Goodwood is best experienced in person, not through your iPhone's camera app or a GoPro stuck atop a selfie stick. Words can't describe standing feet away from a V-10 F1 car as it screams by, a wave of heat and displaced air wafting over you; or meeting and talking shop with the cars' owners while they change a tire or tweak a suspension; or seeing automotive greats new and old stroll past, racing suits tied at the waist, enjoying Goodwood as much as you are. It's an orgy of automotive enthusiasm dropped into the English countryside, and even your car-agnostic friends and family will be awed.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Report: Certain Owners in VW Diesel Scandal Could Get Up to $10,000 to Trade Their Cars In

CARS.COM - Tuesday represents a pivotal day in the Volkswagen Group's ongoing negotiations with regulators over an outcome to its ongoing diesel scandal, but a Bloomberg News report today suggests the automaker may have to spend more than $15 billion to settle lawsuits, pay EPA fines and develop clean-emissions technology. Citing two unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations, Bloomberg reports that car owners will get roughly two-thirds of the total in the form of compensation that covers the pre-scandal value of their diesel (TDI) vehicles plus as much as $10,000 each.

Negotiators arrived at the latter figure through estimates of how much it would take to get about 85 percent of affected diesel owners to trade their cars in, according to Bloomberg. Those are big increases over news reports last week that indicated the total might be around $10 billion for the automaker with individual compensations topping out around $7,000. A VW spokeswoman declined Cars.com's request for comment on today's report.

The scandal affects nearly 600,000 diesel vehicles in the U.S. from Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche in the 2009 to 2016 model years. (All three brands are under the Volkswagen Group.) We'll report more Tuesday, when a court-mandated filing by regulators and plaintiff groups should give more specifics on the initial buyback agreement announced April 21. Reuters has reported that Tuesday's announcement will address diesel four-cylinder vehicles but not some 80,000 diesel V-6 cars involved in the scandal.

Check back Tuesday; filings are due at noon Pacific time.

2017 Ford Escape 1.5L EcoBoost Tested: A Big Seller Made Better

-The vehicular landscape outside Car and Driver's home office, located as we are in the heart of Detroit Three nation, can provide a skewed view of what's selling in America. Lincolns are as thick on the ground as Benzes-thicker, in some locales-and employee lease deals saturate the market with whatever domestic vehicles aren't selling elsewhere in the country. In at least one respect, though, a quick glance around Metro Detroit streets provides an accurate reflection of vehicle popularity: The Ford Escape is everywhere. READ MORE ››

Older Drivers Amenable to Safety Tech If It'll Keep Them on the Road

CARS.COM - Older drivers oftentimes are stereotyped as being slow to adapt - or even downright resistant - to new technologies. In some cases, like with self-driving cars, there's evidence to support that. But the picture changes quite a bit when mature motorists consider advanced driver-assist and safety features as a means of prolonging their time behind the wheel.

A new study by investment and insurance company The Hartford and the MIT AgeLab showed that more than three-quarters of drivers who are older than 50 and plan to purchase a new car within the next two years intend to seek out advanced safety technology. That's a big leap of faith in features compared with the 32 percent of older drivers who bought a car in the past year and reported having actively sought out safety tech.

Among respondents in the market for driver-assist and safety technology, 87 percent are interested in blind spot warning, 85 percent in crash mitigation systems, 79 percent in lane departure warning and 78 percent in adaptive headlights. Their rationale? If it extends their ability to drive additional years or removes existing limitations already on their driving.

A full 75 percent of the more than 2,000 drivers surveyed from across the U.S. felt new safety technologies can improve their longevity behind the wheel. More than a quarter said they believe these features will compensate for driving difficulties they have. Meanwhile, among those who currently limit their driving in certain situations, half said they'd be more willing to drive on the highway with a crash mitigation system; 41 percent would drive long distances more with adaptive cruise control; and 39 percent would drive at night more with adaptive headlights.

And on the divisive topic of autonomous cars, mature drivers would consider purchasing one if:

It was proven to be as safe as driving themselves, with 56 percent reporting so.
Their health prevented them from driving (48 percent).
It helped them stay connected to friends and family if they could no longer drive (27 percent).

"With the changes in vehicle technology over the last five years, it's critical for drivers to stay updated and informed," said Kyle Rakow, vice president and national director of AARP Driver Safety, in a statement.

To facilitate this, AARP has partnered with The Hartford on a three-year expansion of an existing driver safety program focusing on vehicle-technology education for older drivers. The Hartford also offers a discount to older drivers whose cars have certain safety technologies.

2019 Chevrolet Corvette C8: The Mid-Engined Beast Spied Testing!

-What It Is: Even casual readers of this publication are no doubt aware of our particular multi-decade obsession with GM finally pulling the trigger and mounting the Corvette's engine behind the driver and passenger, where God, Ferry Porsche, and Zora Arkus-Duntov intended it to be. First spied by us 18 months ago cosplaying as a DTM-grade Holden Ute, Chevy's mid-engined mules have seemingly taken on a more conventional, disguised-supercar wardrobe. READ MORE ››

Friday, June 24, 2016

Working the Middle: 2016 Nissan Altima 2.5 Automatic Test

-No doubt about it-if you think the roads and parking lots are filling up with tall, view-blocking crossovers and SUVs, your eyes aren't deceiving you. The four-door mid-size sedan, once the dominant form of family transport, has lost favor. Call it a sedan recession. READ MORE ››

Volkswagen Adds Rugged Alltrack, Nixes Jetta Hybrid for 2017

CARS.COM - Volkswagen is dropping its only hybrid and adding a more rugged-looking, all-wheel-drive Alltrack version of its Golf wagon as it otherwise makes mostly minor tweaks to its lineup for 2017.

Related: 2016 Volkswagen Beetle Review

Gone is the Jetta Hybrid sedan after a three-year run. It won praise for its driving manners (it was fun to drive, and not just for a hybrid), technology and 42/48/44 mpg city/highway/combined mileage ratings. But it never was more than a splinter of Jetta sales - in part, perhaps, because VW offered it only in the top SEL Premium trim with a relatively hefty starting price of $31,940 including a destination charge. A base gasoline 2016 Jetta starts at $18,500 with destination.

The Alltrack model adds a more SUV-like look to the regular Golf SportWagen with body cladding, its own bumpers and grille, 17- or 18-inch wheels and about an inch more ground clearance. The main mechanical difference is a version of VW's 4Motion all-wheel drive with an Off-Road Mode for at least light off-the-pavement duty that includes a hill descent control and off-road information, such as steering angle, on the display screen. Interior upgrades include aluminum pedal covers, doorsills with Alltrack badging, ambient lighting and a special Alltrack brown color option for the standard leatherette upholstery. Pricing is still to be announced for the new model.

The 4Motion all-wheel-drive system will be newly optional for 2017 on the SportWagen, as well, on the S trim.

Other changes to the lineup for 2017 include new special editions for the Beetle (see the review here) including a Dune Convertible model in addition to the current coupe, a revived Beetle Classic value trim and a limited-edition #PinkBeetle coupe and convertible in Fresh Fuchsia Metallic with pink-trimmed interior that should stand out. All Beetle coupes get front and rear bumpers that mimic the R-Line trim.

For Golf GTI fans there is a new four-door Sport trim with a Performance Package - 10 more horsepower, bigger brakes, torque-sensing limited-slip differential and new 18-inch aluminum wheels.

In other changes, the CC loses its Trend, R-Line 2.0T and V6 Executive trims. Golf, Touareg and Tiguan have revised trims and get value-oriented Wolfsburg Editions.

And for several models driver safety and assistance technology, such as forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking, is newly offered on lower-priced trims.

The 2017 lineup changes are almost like treading water as VW deals with settling its diesel emissions scandal, with reportedly billions in penalties and owner compensation to come and major damage to its reputation as the scandal drags on without resolution. The brand's sales are down more than 13 percent so far this year.

2016 Ford Flex 3.5L EcoBoost AWD Tested: Yes, Please, May We Have Another?

-It seems like only yesterday that we first extolled the cool-parent virtues of the Ford Flex, but the wagon/crossover box-of-all-trades hit the market as a 2009 model. Neither a high-riding wannabe SUV nor a traditional car-height station wagon, the Flex still offers distinctive, unabashedly squared-off style and a useful, reconfigurable three-row cabin. We like it, and always have, but Ford doesn't sell many of them, and the model's future is uncertain. With its days potentially numbered, we thought it wise to check back in on our favorite pseudo wagon while we had the chance. READ MORE ››

Redesigned Jeep Wrangler, Compass and Patriot Replacement Coming Soon

CARS.COM - For a trio of aging Jeep SUVs, replacements are finally near. A Jeep executive told the Detroit News this week that the brand will unveil a replacement for the Compass and Patriot in September, as well as debut a redesigned Wrangler in the first half of 2017.

We reported the replacements more than two years ago, but this week's comments add more specifics on timing. Mike Manley, who heads up the Jeep brand, spoke to reporters at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' proving grounds in Chelsea, Mich., this week. (Jeep is an FCA brand.) Manley said Jeep would unveil a single SUV, which replaces both the Patriot and Compass, at a factory in Brazil in the fall. That plant, as well as facilities in China and Mexico, reportedly will build the SUV.

Jeep targets a U.S. debut for the SUV, the name of which is decided but still unknown, at the 2016 Los Angeles Auto Show in November with an on-sale date sometime thereafter. That's later than what we reported previously, but Manley disputed the notion of any setbacks.

"There's been no delay in terms of our production cadence that we expected," he told the Detroit News.

Manley also said Jeep will take the wraps off the next-generation Wrangler in the first half of 2017; Todd Goyer, head of Jeep communications, said it would likely go on sale in early 2018. A Wrangler-based pickup truck will also come in 2018, solidifying what our editors at PickupTrucks.com reported earlier this year.

Goyer confirmed the vehicles and dates to Cars.com.

Through May 2016, Wrangler sales - which include the four-door Wrangler Unlimited - are down 3.6 percent. But Patriot sales are up 4.3 percent through May, and Compass sales have increased 72 percent. Much of the latter may have stemmed from sky-high deals: Incentives on the Compass average $4,631 per vehicle so far in 2016, up $772 versus the year-ago period, according to Autodata.

The Patriot is also heavy on deals, but FCA seldom discounts the Wrangler; incentives in 2016 have averaged just $424 per car. With a new Wrangler in the wings, will shoppers see new rebates and financing offers on the outgoing SUV? You'll have to wait and see.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

FCA Moves Transmission Recall Up "Several Months"

CARS.COM - Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is moving up an April 22 recall of vehicles with controversial electronic gear selectors to mitigate situations where drivers think their car is in Park, and get out, when it still isn't.

The move comes three days after "Star Trek" actor Anton Yelchin died after being pinned to a mailbox pillar by his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a vehicle covered under the April recall, which involves the 2014-15 Grand Cherokee SUVs, and 2012-14 Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 sedans. All vehicles in question are equipped with electronic shift levers that spring back to the same position after being shifted. It's important to note, however, that Yelchin's death is still under investigation and has yet to be linked to the Jeep's shifter.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reportedly has been told of 300 rollaway incidents, 117 crashes and 28 injuries from Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs.

FCA told Cars.com it began to accelerate the April 22 recall in May, moving it up "several months" from the originally anticipated service date. The automaker says it began notifying dealers last week about the software updates required for the fix.

The fix combines warnings "with a transmission-shift strategy to automatically prevent a vehicle from moving, under certain circumstances, even if the driver fails to select 'Park,' " FCA said in a statement.

Eric Mayne, a spokesman for the automaker, elaborated on the shift strategy, noting that after the fix, the car will shift itself into Park if you open the door and don't have it in Park.

"Suffice to say that if you try to get out of the vehicle and it's not in Park, it will go into Park," Mayne told Cars.com.

The recall affects 811,586 cars, and the software "is meant for vehicles equipped with 3.6L and 5.7L engines, which account for a majority of those subject to this campaign." The automaker says it will begin notifying owners of service availability Friday.

2016 BMW 740i Long-Term Test Intro: Setting Sail for 40,000 Miles in BMW's Flagship

-After 120,000 miles divided among a 2012 BMW 328i sedan, a 2014 BMW 328d xDrive wagon, and a 2015 BMW M3, we're ready for a respite from the sixth-generation 3-series. Each one of those recent long-termers left us cold: too disconnected, too expensive, or too flinty, but most of all, just short of totally satisfying. BMW's quest to adapt the 3-series for mass-market appeal has watered down our decades-long love for the car that once combined control, practicality, and fun like no other. READ MORE ››

Viper Discontinued After 2017; Special Editions Commemorate 25-Year Run

CARS.COM - The last model year of Dodge's fire-breathing Viper supercar as we know it today will be 2017. Dodge is sunsetting the 645-horsepower sports coupe with five special editions to commemorate 25 years of production.

Like the fictional Hydra organization of the Marvel universe, cut off one of the Viper's heads and more shall take its place - five more in the Viper's case. The limited-edition quintet is a throwback to Viper's history, featuring commemorative paint schemes mirroring some of the most recognizable Vipers from motor sports and former special editions. That's right: The Viper is going out with special editions of its own prior special editions.

All limited editions wear unique door sill decals and have a serialized instrument panel, customer name above the door and car cover that matches the exterior paint. Let's run through what makes the five packages unique:

Viper 1:28 Edition ACR (American Club Racer)

The ACR is the epitome of the Viper's street-legal racecar status with a massive wing and numerous aerodynamic enhancements holding it to the road at high speeds. The ACR set a number of single-lap records at various racetracks, including Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, Calif., where it took 1 minute and 28 seconds to lap. As many as 28 of the black-and-red ACR will be produced.

Viper GTS-R Commemorative Edition ACR

The GTS-R wears perhaps the most iconic Viper motorsports paint scheme of white with blue stripes, paying tribute to the winning Viper team that took home the 1997 FIA GT2 Championship. In 1998, Dodge produced 100 street-going versions called the Viper GTS-R GT2 Championship Edition, and there will be as many as 100 of the 2017 version produced as well.

Viper VoooDoo II Edition ACR

Sticking with the ACR base like the 1:28 and GTS-R, the VoooDoo II wears black exterior paint and a graphite metallic stripe with a red outline, mimicking the 2010 special edition of the same name. As many as 31 units are planned for production, matching the production number of the 2010 model.

Viper Snakeskin Edition GTC

Unlike the original Snakeskin edition that was an ACR, its rebirth for the Viper's 2017 death is as the tamer GTC (a customized GT) with signature bright green exterior and snakeskin-patterned stripe. As many as 25 will be produced; 31 of the original were made in 2010.

Commemorative dealer editions

Dodge's highest-volume Viper dealers get their own special editions, available exclusively through Tomball Dodge of Tomball, Texas, and Roanoke Dodge of Roanoke, Ill. The ACR models will be clad in red, white and blue with a white body, blue center stripe and red driver stripe. The automaker will produce as many as 33.

Dodge wasn't commenting on why the Viper is being discontinued, but knocking $15,000 off its asking price for 2015 and sales each month numbering in the 10s haven't been good signs for the hand-built supercar and the small team in Detroit who assemble it. The Viper's quarter-century run has produced some 30,000 cars since 1992, and customers can order the final five special editions starting Friday.

Pricing for the 2017 Viper starts at $92,990 for the base SRT model and $123,890 for the ACR, including a $2,495 destination charge and $2,600 gas guzzler tax - so these special editions aren't coming cheap, as most of them are based on the ACR. Dodge provided four of the five special-edition Vipers' pricing and at the top of the list is the GTS-R at $145,340, followed by the 1:28 at $143,890, VoooDoo II at $141,190 and non-ACR-based Snakeskin GTC at $118,890.

Editor's note: This story was updated on June 22 to include pricing figures for the 2017 Viper and special editions.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

What Are the Best and Worst States for Teen Drivers?

CARS.COM - Summertime and the livin' is ... dangerous for teen drivers.

Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and summer is the riskiest three-month period for teen driving deaths, averaging about 250 per month, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Injury rates are about 100 times that; teens and young adults ages 15 to 24 are 14 percent of the population, but they account for more than twice that percentage of the costs for motor vehicle injuries.

Most at risk for fatalities, says the CDC: males (twice the rate of females), teens with other teens in the car, and teens in their first few months of having a license.

A study out today adds another one to that list: living in South Dakota. That's the worst state for teen drivers, based on a new study from financial advice company WalletHub.

The state scored the lowest in WalletHub's rating of best and worst states for teen drivers. The study ranks the states on safety data (from fatalities to miles driven and impaired driving violations), economic data (from traffic fines to insurance and repair costs) and driving laws (including strictness of graduated licensing and traffic laws).

Joining South Dakota in the bottom 10 are (from next worst) Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Missouri, Idaho, Wisconsin, Maine and Mississippi.

The best states, meanwhile, are led by New York. It is followed by Oregon, Illinois, Delaware,
Hawaii, Massachusetts, Washington, Louisiana, Rhode Island and California.

Find your state on the full list here.

Regardless of where you live, what can parents do to help protect their teen driver? The biggest single risk is inexperience, and the CDC recommends that parents provide at least 30 to 50 hours of supervised practice over at least six months, with a variety of roads, times and traffic.

Some state laws build this much supervision in with graduated licensing, some are more lenient, but all new drivers need it -- including older teens who get a late start and may not be covered by the graduated license age rules.

"Experience is the key, not necessarily the age," said Kathy Bernstein, senior manager for Teen Driving Initiatives at the National Safety Council, commenting for the rating. "Studies have shown that after the last recession, some teens, particularly those in urban areas, delayed getting a license until they were older - 18, 19 and, in some cases, their early twenties. They also found that despite the delay, the initial crash risk remained, although it did drop more quickly with age."

Among other CDC recommendations for parents to lessen known risks for teen drivers:

Limit the number of teen passengers to zero or one for at least six months.
Keep your teen off the road after 9 or 10 p.m. for at least the six months.
Require seat belt use.
Ban distractions, including phone calls, texting, eating, fiddling with the stereo.
Don't let them drive when they are tired.
Remind them to follow the speed limit, adjust speed for conditions and maintain distance for a sudden stop.
Emphasize alcohol and drug risks. That first includes being a good role model: Never drink and drive.

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