2015 Infiniti QX60 Review: Sleek and Stylish, But So Is the Nissan Pathfinder

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2016 Mitsubishi Lancer: Improved, However Subtly

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2016 Mitsubishi Lancer: Improved, However Subtly – Official Photos and Info

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2015 Infiniti QX60 – Quick-Take Review

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2016 BMW X4 M40i Launched: Because Why Not?

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BMW’s M Performance lineup is growing, most recently with the addition of the X4 M40i, which targets the Audi SQ5 and the upcoming Mercedes-Benz GLC450 AMG. Unlike those two, however, the BMW is based on a “crossover coupe”—and based on its specs and appearance, it might well be the sportiest SUV in its size class.

Being an M Performance model, the X4 M40i has been tweaked by the company’s M GmbH performance gurus. It’s powered by an upgraded version of the X4 35i’s N55 in-line six, rated here at 355 horsepower and 343 lb-ft of torque. That’s an increase of 55 horsepower and 43 lb-ft, and it translates into a factory-estimated 0-60 mph sprint of just 4.7 seconds, down from 5.2 seconds for the 35i. Top speed is governed at 130 mph, but it can be increased to 150 mph.

The X4 M40i rolls on 245/45 front and 275/40 rear rubber on 19-inch wheels; it can also be specified with 245/40 and 275/35 tires on 20-inch wheels. The suspension has increased front camber as well as stiffer springs and antiroll bars. The steering is modified as well. All-wheel drive is standard.

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We were impressed by the performance of the regular X4 35i. And there’s a good possibility the 40i will serve as a segment benchmark when it appears in early 2016.

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2016 BMW X4 M40i Launched: Because Why Not?

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Grom Scrambler Concept Bikes: You Had Us at Knobby Tires, Honda

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Honda’s Grom, a 7/8ths-scale 125-cc motorcycle that retails for $3349, is perhaps our favorite bike in the company’s stable right now. It’s cheap, it’s slow, and, most important, it’s the perfect bike for beginners. That it looks absolutely awesome with its stripped-down, mini-sportbike countenance is a bonus. But what if you’re into something a bit more . . . scrambled? Lucky you, because Honda is bringing two specially outfitted Groms to the 2015 Tokyo auto show.

Dubbed Grom50 Scrambler Concept-One and Grom50 Scrambler Concept-Two, both are tricked out to resemble so-called “scrambler” bikes (Ducati actually sells a bike by the same name that follows the same formula), which means they have a semblance of off-road ability. Words cannot describe how badly we want Honda to actually sell these.

Although similar in concept, Scrambler Concept-One is slightly different from Scrambler Concept-Two. The first is painted silver, but retains the standard Grom’s gold-colored suspension forks, and also wears neat “3” numbering, a smattering of chrome pieces, and the aforementioned knobby off-road tires.

The Scrambler Concept-Two, on the other hand, gets a seemingly Anglo-inspired tan-and-green color scheme and more traditional centralized gauge cluster in place of the One’s off-center piece. In fact, the gauge clusters—really just neat digital tachometers with other info stuffed into its center—are special; the regular Grom has a digital unit, too, but it’s not color, and nor does it look this cool. Not only are the tachs among our favorite features of the concept bikes, they’re also different from Scrambler to Scrambler, with a sort of future-racer look adorning the One’s and a more traditional, lower-key style for the Two.

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So far, the standard Grom has been a runaway success here in the States. As with any wheeled product, however, keeping things fresh is critical, so we hope Honda is at least thinking about using these concepts as starting points for the first special-edition Groms. Honda’s U.S. motorcycle website so far only lists 2015 Grom models, which received new color schemes relative to the 2014s—these would make fine additions to the 2016 lineup! Do it, Honda!

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Shame and Degradation in Wolfsburg: The Fallout from the VW Diesel Scandal

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Has an automaker ever been knocked off its axis quite so dramatically as has happened with Volkswagen in the wake of it being caught cheating on diesel-engine emissions? The company has had its head lopped off in a single strike. And by that, we don’t just mean Martin Winterkorn, who stepped down just days after a humiliating apology in which he conceded the company’s deliberate wrongdoing while trying to dispel the assumption that he knew exactly what was going on.

While we continue to wait for the full facts about who did what, it appears that a faction within VW thought they could cheat their way to passing U.S. emissions tests with engine-management software that altered emissions during the test cycle. Who came up with the idea, who approved it, and who implemented it remains to be seen. We expect this information to be revealed soon, and the implications for those involved likely will be harsh.

The apparent disregard for the American consumer sheds a bright light on VW’s inability to understand the world’s biggest market, one in which their share is a fraction of their major competitors. Coincidentally, one of former supervisory board chief Ferdinand Piëch’s main gripes about Martin Winterkorn was the latter’s lack of a plan for the United States. It turns out that while Winterkorn may have had a plan, it wasn’t necessarily a good one.

Newly ensconced VW Group CEO Matthias Müller has a tough road ahead.

One thing is certain: VW can’t and won’t write off the U.S. and other North American markets; the company’s recent investment in production sites and new product in the region is vast and has yet to pay off. All eyes are now on North America, and one sign is putting heavyweight Winfried Vahland in charge of VW’s newly created North American Region (NAR). The role also secures him a seat on the VW brand’s board. (VW USA CEO Michael Horn will stay in his current role; after it had initially leaked that the supervisory board was looking to sack him, the American dealer body weighed in with a strong vote of confidence.)

Given its position at the center of the crisis, and its importance in terms of the bottom line, VW North America will gain more clout in Wolfsburg. Should Vahland navigate these waters as adeptly as his superiors hope, he will be perfectly positioned as a possible successor of newly appointed VW Group CEO Matthias Müller.

Meanwhile, the supervisory board has paved the way for a sweeping reorganization via an almost maniacal desire to sideline everyone who might be connected with the scandal.

Müller, the former Porsche CEO, has spent four decades within the VW Group, mostly at Audi, and he knows cars inside and out. He also enjoys the respect of both the workforce and the engineers. Importantly, he is thoroughly immersed in the Volkswagen Group’s corporate culture. In an official statement announcing the appointment of Müller, family honcho Wolfgang Porsche praised Müller’s achievements, including the 918 Spyder and the Macan; he also mentions the Le Mans win with the 919 Hybrid.

Audi, Porsche, and VW R&D heads Ulrich Hackenberg, Wolfgang Hatz, and Heinz-Jakob Neusser [left to right] have been put on temporary leave.

Porsche might have mentioned R&D chief Wolfgang Hatz in connection with the Le Mans win, but Hatz has been put on temporary leave, along with VW R&D chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser and Audi R&D boss Ulrich Hackenberg. If their leaves becomes permanent, it will signal an unprecedented bloodletting of actual “car guys” within the VW Group. And more heads will roll among the slightly lower ranks. The departure of VW’s marketing chief Christian Klingler—a Piëch man—is unrelated to the scandal; the company has simply seized the opportunity.

After his appointment, Müller has said that he aims to give each brand more autonomy in each market; on the other hand, he aims to tighten brand coordination by the Group. The specifics of these seemingly contradictory aims have yet to be revealed.

We spoke to company and industry insiders to get further insights. Here are a few observations:

• Communications are being extremely tightly controlled by headquarters; even the usually vocal dealers are reluctant to comment, and the sub-brands—including Audi, some of whose vehicles are also caught in the scandal—are keeping a low profile.

• The conspiracy theories that amount to the assertion that the EPA wants to hurt a German brand are baloney. The EPA is similarly harsh with American and Japanese carmakers, but it’s true that when they put their boot on a company’s throat, they won’t let off. VW has grossly underestimated their power and inexplicably failed to go public before the story broke, despite having ample warning.

• The involved executives need to be prepared for a legal backlash that could affect them personally and financially.

• The diesel engine will regain its footing in the market. It’s simply indispensible around the globe, and not just to comply with CO2 emissions. And it will remain strong in the U.S., too, at least in the pickup and commercial truck segments.

• Depending on the legal fallout, VW might have to kill or postpone various product plans in order to free up cash. And that would take a toll on its aspirations to cement its position as the world’s number-one automaker.

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Perhaps most important, VW’s travails will serve as a warning to carmakers who might underestimate the U.S. government’s power, and any who underestimate the importance of preemptive damage control. Ferdinand Piëch’s observation that his successor, Winterkorn, didn’t understand the American market has proven to be correct—although even Piëch wouldn’t have wanted a rushed corporate overhaul that forces the true product guys out. But did Piëch also help lay the foundation for this scandal? When he took over as VW’s CEO in 1993, his great adversary was Daniel Goeudevert, the visionary VW brand chief who promoted green technology—against the “cast-iron” engineers. Goeudevert might enjoy the unraveling of a VW that he never would have created.

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Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications Are the Next Big Thing in Auto Safety

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Ever wonder why even the latest and most sophisticated adaptive cruise-control system can’t adjust speed as smoothly or follow as closely as you can when you’re paying attention? One major reason is that adaptive cruise-control systems, as well as most other current electronic driver aids, can only see as far as the vehicles directly in front of you, behind you, or on either side. A competent driver, on the other hand, looks ahead and notices brake lights two, three, and even 10 cars ahead, and acts preemptively to ease the accelerator, in a way that smart cruise control can’t.

Technology promises to solve that problem and provide a similarly more expansive perspective on traffic. It’s called V2V, which stands for vehicle-to-vehicle communications, and it basically employs a small radio transmitter and receiver on each vehicle that broadcasts information about its location, speed, and direction to other vehicles within several hundred yards. Unlike current radar, lidar, camera, and other sensors, it can know what oncoming vehicles are doing—or even those around corners and out of sight. The idea is to use this information to help electronic safety systems work more smoothly and safely.

The hardware consists of an electronics package about as big as an Apple TV. This small box will house a radio transmitter and receiver, as well as a microcomputer. The radio operates in the 5.9-GHz band in a mode known as DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication systems). Essentially, they’re souped-up versions of the Wi-Fi systems we use with our computers, except that they’re optimized for moving vehicles with a range of up to half a mile. The systems are expected to cost around $300.

Each vehicle will have a designated ID and will be connected to an onboard GPS system that can locate the vehicle’s position within a foot or two. The V2V systems will track a vehicle’s position and broadcast it, along with speed, direction of travel, and vehicle size, at a rate of 10 times per second. At the same time, the V2V systems will be receiving this same data from the other V2V-equipped vehicles around it. This data is then sent to the onboard computers that control and operate the electronic safety systems.

It might seem that the V2V’s little computer would be overwhelmed by the task of tracking dozens of cars around it, but the system is smarter than that. “There’s a congestion algorithm that makes the system focus on the most important six or eight vehicles around you.” says Debra Bezzina, a senior program manager at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute. “The exact logic will be specific to each vehicle manufacturer.” Bezzina also explains that each manufacturer will determine how to use the data. “V2V is essentially an additional sensor that has a larger perspective than existing sensors.”

With very real concerns about electronic hacking and governmental or private tracking, security is a major priority of the V2V system. “The vehicle ID, along with the radio’s MAC address and the system’s security certificate will be changed every five minutes,” according to Jim Misener, the director of technical standards at Qualcomm Technologies, who is working with the Society of Automotive Engineers and an industry committee to develop the industry for V2V. “The system starts with 20 security certificates which are recycled over time and periodically renewed.”

“The vehicle IDs simply mark a vehicle as it is tracked by the V2V systems,” says Bezzina. “They are constantly changing and are not linked to the vehicle’s VIN or registration. And the information is not retained. There’s no reason to store data older than a few seconds.” Misener says explicitly, “The idea is to prevent trackability.”

Safety, of course, is the motivation for this technology. The reality is that the overwhelming majority of crashes are driver error of some sort—typically inattention, a failure to look around, or simply bad judgement. But as we are unlikely to embark on a national driver-training program, the hope is that electronic aids, with the help of V2V, will reduce such accidents. “NHTSA [the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration] has said that 81 percent of multi-vehicle accidents could be addressed by V2V,” says Bezzina.

A perfect example would be the ability to warn a driver proceeding towards an intersection with a green light that a car approaching on the intersecting road looks like it’s going to run the red light. None of the current safety aids would offer any help in avoiding such a dangerous T-bone crash. “V2V can also warn you about oncoming traffic you might not have noticed when you signal that’s you’re making a left turn,” says Bezzina.

The warnings provided by the system would be determined by each vehicle manufacturer, just as they are today. They would include audible or verbal warnings, various lights or visual warnings in the instrument cluster or projected on the windshield, or vibration of the steering wheel or seat.

NHTSA has been encouraging the development of V2V for years, but has yet to impose a mandate for its introduction. That’s expected in 2016, and the experts are guessing that NHTSA will require a gradual introduction of V2V devices beginning in the 2020 time frame.

There also will be aftermarket versions of V2V, although they might have less performance. “Without a GPS antenna on the roof, it’s hard to get the half-meter accuracy that V2V needs,” says Misener. And Bezzina says that aftermarket version might only transmit data without receiving any. But if drivers perceive value in the systems, they could become as common as the aftermarket nav systems stuck to so many windshields.

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At some point, V2V will be followed by the introduction of V2I, which stands for vehicle-to-infrastructure communications. This will use the same hardware and communications standards to allow vehicles to communicate with smart traffic signals, roadway sensors to signal slippery conditions or heavy traffic, pedestrians in intersections, and more.

Originally, V2I was intended to be introduced simultaneously with V2V, but NHTSA lacks the authority to force state, federal, and urban highway departments to do much of anything. But once V2V achieves some penetration in the national fleet, the pressure will develop to bring along the infrastructure portion. After all, who wouldn’t like to drive home on a lightly trafficked night and encounter nothing but green lights?

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2016 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Tested: One Fancy Forester

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Ford Recalls 319,000 Cars, Mostly Windstar Minivans for Rusting Axles

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Ford is recalling 319,302 cars in the U.S. for rusting axles, fuel leaks, transmission defects, and cruise-control problems, the automaker announced.

Owners of 1998-2003 Windstar minivans already know their rear axles can rust and snap in half. Ford recalled more than half a million between 2010 and 2012 to install “reinforcement brackets,” some of which were poorly installed and would not support the axle in the event of a sudden fracture. This time, it’s recalling 283,413 of those Windstars—likely all that are still running since the original recalls—to replace the axles on cars that had bad brackets. If the brackets look good, Ford won’t replace the axle even though it’s prone to breakage; it will only give owners an “incentive to replace their rear axle at a reduced cost.”

Since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration permits manufacturers to limit corrosion-related recalls to specific regions, only Windstars that were or are currently registered in 23 states and the District of Columbia are eligible, even though the problem affects all Windstars. At least 891 owners have logged complaints with NHTSA and Ford, which had to oversee several vehicle buybacks. At least one death is attributed to the defect.

Somewhat less serious is a radar sensor problem on 2015 F-150 pickups. On 33,481 trucks equipped with adaptive cruise control, the sensors may decide to slow the vehicle or flash collision warnings when there is nothing in the lane ahead. According to Ford, big shiny trucks—such as the polished metal on large tractor trailers—can trip the sensors. Ford knows of at least one crash and no injuries related to the problem. Dealers will update the software.

Fuel tank leaks affect a small group of five models. On 2016 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans, the fuel tank may crack during a crash due to poor manufacturing. Dealers will replace the tanks on all 658 cars in the U.S. On 2015 Taurus, Lincoln MKS and 2016 Explorer models, the attachment bolts for the fuel tank may loosen and cause a leak. Dealers will tighten these bolts on 203 vehicles. No accidents or injuries have been reported for either issue.

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Certain remanufactured transmissions installed in 57 previous-gen Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs can cause the vehicles to roll away. Faulty bolts attaching the shift lever to the transmission could cause the vehicle to come out of gear. Dealers will tighten that bolt on these 2001-2008 models. Faulty shift lever brackets can do a similar injustice on 1477 brand-new Ford F-53 and F-59 truck chassis from the 2016 model year. Dealers will replace the bracket and adjust the shift cable so drivers can’t select reverse without pressing the brake.

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Subaru Forester 2.0XT – Instrumented Test

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Honda Reveals Production-Ready FCV Fuel-Cell Vehicle

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Presaged by two concept cars, the imaginatively named FCEV Concept and the FCV Concept, Honda’s new hydrogen-fuel-cell sedan has now been shown in production form, ahead of its in-the-flesh debut at the Tokyo auto show.

Still (tentatively) called the FCV, the hydrogen-powered Honda’s appearance hasn’t strayed far from the FCV Concept (below) that the company rolled out last January at Detroit.

Honda FCV Concept, from Detroit 2015.

The real car—the red one—has a less exotic front end, with a more traditional grille. It also sprouts door handles (very practical), an arc-shaped piece of chrome that follows the roofline, and redesigned front fender vents. The greenhouse takes on more of a Crosstour-like shape, which is a little unfortunate.

Honda FCEV Concept, the first in the series.

Honda says the production car will offer a cruising range of more than 435 miles. That’s up from the 300 miles Honda was talking at the time of the FCV Concept. The company also boasts that it was able to package all the powertrain components outside of the passenger compartment, allowing the FCV to seat five.

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Further details are scarce. Will the FCV be available for lease only, like the FCX Clarity was? Or will buyers be able to purchase one, as they can with the fuel-cell-powered Toyota Mirai? Hopefully, we’ll learn more once the FCV makes its official debut at Tokyo and before it arrives on our shores in 2016.

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Selfish Whims: We Go For a Ride in Google’s Self-Driving Car

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The self-driving car is a proposition too enticing for society at large to ignore. Lotus Seven enthusiast and new CEO of Google’s self-driving-car project John Krafcik sees it as the way forward, citing the need to sell on safety. But Krafcik didn’t say much else at the presentation following our ride in the tech giant’s autonomous vehicle, leaving it to the folks who’d been working on the program since it began in 2009. In his own words, “You don’t have to listen to me talk hardly at all.”

Built by Roush in Livonia, Michigan, Google’s wee nugget of a thing reminds us more of college-student-proof furniture than an actual vehicle, right down to the teal plastic accents in the interior. They’re a nigh-exact color match to the trim at UC Santa Cruz’s College Eight circa 1993, a throwback to the era before Google existed, when tech-savvy students were using text-based browsers and UCSC’s Infoslug gopher to wiggle their way around the internet. When the World Wide Web was just another thing you could log onto. When Larry Page and Sergey Brin were still Stanford undergrads.

Twenty-odd years later, this hat-shaped thing rolls up to us in the rooftop parking lot of one of Google’s Mountain View, California buildings. The coupe-length door opens via a pillar-mounted handle. The sheer size of the portal makes ingress a breeze. Once inside, we’re greeted with an expansive, slightly distorted view via a flexible, pedestrian-impact-friendly windshield. The whole thing feels a bit like a Renault Twizy re-imagined as a side-by-side.

Where the steering wheel, dash, and pedals would be, there’s simply a bin with a screen mounted over it, showing an approximation of what the car sees, largely gleaned from its laser-scanning sensors. On the center console, there’s an emergency-stop switch, shrouded by a clear plastic cover, controls for seat heaters, some buttons featuring people wearing headsets that the Google folks wouldn’t explain, and a black, backlit button proclaiming, “GO.”

We mashed “GO,” the car responded with a brief countdown, and off we went around the parking lot, whirring like a tiny BART train—at speeds below 25 mph. As such, any estimated skidpad numbers, 0-60 figures, and other performance prognostications are rendered wholly baseless, so we won’t make them. What was interesting and frankly impressive was exactly how surefooted the system felt. Mercedes-Benz’s Distronic Plus with Steering Assist, perhaps the best self-driving system on sale today, feels positively primitive, tentative, and sketchy compared to the authority with which GumNut the Koala Car goes about its business.

A man on a bicycle with a Rastafarian paint scheme shoots out from nowhere and the smartypants runabout slows its roll smoothly and surely, system unfazed by the two-wheeled miscreant. Its behavior is the result of 1.2 million miles traveled by the company’s autonomous fleet, a group of vehicles that continues to amass about 15,000 miles’ worth of data every week. And while your average C/D reader may log more miles than that over the course of a year, Joe Schmuck Commuter very likely doesn’t. The company points out that over the life of the program so far, it has amassed 90 years’ worth of driving experience. And unlike a 106-year-old driver, its servers’ reaction times are only getting faster.

Our recent ride in Mercedes’s F015 Luxury in Motion concept left us suspicious that a nearby blacked-out Sprinter hid a pack of Swabians huddled over a console, controlling the car’s movements. If there was a cadre of Google-ites joysticking this wheeled Pikachu to and fro, we’d be surprised. We’re pretty sure little GumNut was acting pretty much on its own, save its mandate to follow a pre-planned route with defined start and stop points.

Before our ride in the prototype, we went for a spin on city streets in one of Google’s Lexus RX development vehicles. The ‘utes are piloted by two-person teams, with one manning the controls and the other observing what the car “sees” on a laptop. And if the Lexus wasn’t quite as smooth as the Koalamobile, it was also faced with more demanding tasks, navigating neighborhoods, intersections, and other vehicles—vehicles driven by erratic, imperfect humans.

Part of the reason Google’s machines are so good—beyond the miles logged—is that they’re running on roads the company has mapped in great detail. Beyond the simple routes available in your phone’s Google Maps app, the highways and byways around the Bay Area have been intimately recorded, with information about curbs, islands, and even the road’s crown made available to the car, allowing it to predict a course, then modify it as it receives input from the sensor suite. In addition to GPS, the cars also feature an inertial navigation system with gyroscopes and accelerometers like you’d find in a plane or a submarine, allowing the car to pinpoint its location in concrete jungles and in tunnels, where GPS signals can be notoriously unreliable.

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So is this little widget of an automatic automobile the future? Yes and no. It’s patently silly to think that self-driving vehicles aren’t the way forward. The potential societal benefits are too great. If nothing else, insurance companies hate to pay out, and autonomous vehicles have the potential to remove human fallibility from the equation. It’s a fool’s errand to believe that that Big Insurance won’t squeeze wallets and Washington to keep your hands off the tiller. Meanwhile, Google has gone on record that it doesn’t want to be in the car business; we’d expect the company to fall into the Tier I supplier realm, designing systems for automakers to install in their own vehicles.

The overarching question about all this is when, and for that, nobody has a definitive answer, although the Self-Driving Car Project’s director, Chris Urmson, says he’d like to see it on the roads in four years, so his now-twelve-year-old son doesn’t have to get a driver’s license when he turns sixteen. We’d be lying if that statement didn’t make our hearts sink.

Certainly, Google’s tech makes the mildly autonomous systems on sale today seem patently rudimentary in function. But we do have one request: Whatever the brave (or pusillanimous) autonomous future holds for us, might we spec it with less teal Tupperware, please?

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2016 Tesla Model X Debuts: Tesla’s EV Crossover Finally Spreads Its Wings

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2016 Tesla Model X: Tesla’s Electric Crossover Finally Spreads Its Wings – Official Photos and Info

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Mazda Teases Sports Car Concept: Not a Miata, Hopefully Rotary-Powered

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Okay, as much as Mazda’s announcement that it is showing off a mysterious “sports car concept” at the Tokyo auto show desperately cries out for someone, anyone to label the car the next RX-7, there’s no evidence to support that. Sure, the shadowy picture certainly appears to show a car that’s larger than the MX-5 Miata, and its taillights could echo those of the third-generation RX-7. But that’s only speculation.

Or maybe it’s not.

Mazda’s own CEO seemed to indicate no work on a rotary-powered sports car was underway last year, but maybe things have changed, and just look at the concept! It’s long, low, and has the potential to be impossibly gorgeous. From our limited perspective, the mystery show car resembles the result of a tryst between the Maserati Alfieri and the Miata. But that’s not necessarily a surprise, as every vehicle Mazda’s designers have turned out in the past three years has been attractive.

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What’s perhaps less obvious is that Mazda continues to work on the rotary engine, toiling away on the smooth-running, high-revving, pistonless powerplant design to make it return decent fuel economy and emissions. Has the company’s notoriously clever engineers finally figured out a way? Could this stunning concept car be the vessel to carry the rotary into the 21st century? Will we ever stop speculating about the RX-7’s resurrection? The answers to these questions may come as soon as the 2015 Tokyo show next month.

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