Audio-only version:

Download MP3

*PROGRAMMING NOTE: Starting March 5, 2015, Autoline After Hours will begin broadcasting at its new time, 3PM ET/12PM PT/20:00 GMT*

UP FOR DISCUSSION:
- Why are impressions of the Honda HR-V embargoed for TWO months?
- J.D. Power‘s and Consumer Reports‘ “Best” Cars are totally different. What gives?

SPECIAL GUESTS: Jamie Allison, Ford Racing and Dave Pericak, Director, Ford Performance
- What’s behind Ford’s big push into racing and performance?

All that and much more with John McElroy, Autoline.tv and Gary Vasilash, Automotive Design & Production.

Thanks to our sponsor who makes Autoline After Hours possible: Bridgestone

Subscribe to the free podcast version of Autoline After Hours:

Thanks to our partners and friends AutoFieldGuide.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding AAH!

Audio-only version:

Download MP3

*PROGRAMMING NOTE: Starting March 5, 2015, Autoline After Hours will begin broadcasting at its new time, 3PM ET/12PM PT/20:00 GMT*

UP FOR DISCUSSION:
- What is Apple up to?
- NASCAR becomes the WWE of motor racing.
- Can station wagons make a comeback?

SPECIAL GUEST: Oliver Schmidt, VW
- Where do automakers need to place their powertrain bets?

All that and much more with John McElroy, Autoline.tv; Gary Vasilash, Automotive Design & Production; Dave Zoia, WardsAuto.com.

Thanks to our sponsors who make Autoline After Hours possible: Bridgestone and Henkel

Subscribe to the free podcast version of Autoline After Hours:

Thanks to our partners and friends AutoFieldGuide.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding AAH!

Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: Seamus McElroy
Manufacturer: Tata
Make: Land Rover
Model: Discovery Sport
Type: SUV
Competitors: Audi Q5, BMW X3, Volvo XC60
Price: Base = $37,995, Top = $46,495
Made in: Halewood, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Drivetrain: 2.0L 4-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine w/direct injection mated to a 9-speed automatic transmission
EPA Ratings: 20MPG city/26 highway/22MPG combined

Final Impression:
Land Rover had a successful 2014 with sales increasing 9% globally compared to the year before. And with the all-new Discovery Sport going on sale this year, the company believes its success will continue.

We just got the chance to drive the new SUV in Iceland and here are our impressions. In addition to driving the vehicle in typical situations, like on the highway and in the city, we also got to drive it on snowy and icy roads. And as you would expect from a Land Rover, the Discovery Sport was up to the task in those less than ideal road conditions. But we did benefit from using studded tires. And for those who need a vehicle for more than just normal driving, there’s four driving modes to choose from. One for regular driving, one for snow and gravel, another for mud and the last one helps the Discovery Sport perform in the sand.

continue reading »

Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: John McElroy
Manufacturer: VW AG
Make: Bentley
Model: Flying Spur
Type: 4-door sedan
Competitors: Rolls-Royce Ghost
Price: Base MSRP $195,100. Price as tested $253,865
Made in: Crewe, England
Drivetrain: 4.0 L V8 wtih 8-speed automatic transmission and AWD
EPA Ratings: 14 mpg city/24 highway/17 combined

Final Impression:
I have a hard time getting myself to simply call the Flying Spur “a car.” A vehicle of this magnitude and heritage is more appropriately referred to as a “motor car.” It offers a comforting blend of traditional features and nostalgic trappings, fully modernized for the present day.

And talk about presence. More than 17 feet long, over 7 feet wide and nearly 5 feet tall, its sheer size alone will turn heads. Add to that its classic proportions and it’s safe to say this car has few peers on the road today.

Thanks to a self-leveling air suspension and continuous damping control the ‘Spur seems to breezily float down the bumpiest roads. But there’s nothing like 120 inches of wheelbase and more than 5,300 pounds of mass to make any car ride smoothly. Even if it just had steel springs and hydraulic shocks it would ride well

continue reading »

Audio-only version:

Download MP3

*PROGRAMMING NOTE: Starting March 5, 2015, Autoline After Hours will begin broadcasting at its new time, 3PM ET/12PM PT/20:00 GMT*

UP FOR DISCUSSION:
- We nominate ourselves to the GM Board
- Life Beyond Fuel Cells

SPECIAL GUEST: Chris Reed, Overseas Chief Vehicle Engineer, Nissan Murano
- Murano gets a sexy makeover inside and out

All that and much more with John McElroy, Autoline.tv; Gary Vasilash, Automotive Design & Production; Joann Mueller, Forbes.

Thanks to our sponsors who make Autoline After Hours possible: Bridgestone and Henkel

Subscribe to the free podcast version of Autoline After Hours:

Thanks to our partners and friends AutoFieldGuide.com and WardsAuto.com for embedding AAH!

by John McElroy

Nissan LMP 1 (left) and Nismo Global Motorsport Director Darren Cox (right)

I managed to snag a telephone interview with Darren Cox, the Global Motorsport Director at Nismo, about the Ben Bowlby-designed Nissan LMP 1 which will race at this year’s 24 Hour of Le Mans.

Cox said that Nissan is doing this car because it wants to associate itself with breakthrough engineering. It wants to make a big statement about its innovative capabilities and is using motor racing to make that statement. This ties in with Nissan building advanced production vehicles such as the Leaf and GTR. And it shows that Nissan’s involvement in motor racing is very comprehensive, with its GT Academy helping to identify young driving talent all around the world.

Surprisingly, the LMP 1 is being developed in Indianapolis. “The racing infrastructure around Indy is as good as it is in the UK or in Cologne,” Cox says. This program is being developed very quickly and they were able to round up a group of highly-talented Indy guys who essentially had a lot of off-season free time on their hands between October and April. Even so, despite the LMP 1 effort being based in the US, “This is a global project backed by Carlos Ghosn, it’s a NISMO project.” He notes that in addition to the Americans there are 25 engineers from Japan and a sprinkling of Brits, including Mr. Cox himself.

continue reading »

Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: John McElroy
Manufacturer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Make: Toyota
Model: Prius
Type: Sedan
Competitors: Ford C-Max, Honda Insight
Price: Base MSRP $28,435; price as tested $36,564
Made in: Tsutsumi, Japan
Drivetrain: 1.8-Liter 4-cylinder, with permanent magnet synchronous motor, nickel-metal hydride battery, and CVT
EPA Ratings: 51 mpg city/48 highway/50 combined

Final Impression:
Driving this car made me not like it. And the longer I drove it the worse it got. That took me by surprise. I had very much looked forward to my drive in a Prius, which I hadn’t tested in years.

Now before you think me a hybrid-hating hard-core car enthusiast, my prior impressions of this generation Prius sedan were always very good. I have friends and family who own Prius’ and love them. My expectations going into this test drive was of getting into the world’s best-selling hybrid honed better by years of Toyota kaizening. Well let me tell you.

continue reading »

Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: Chip Drake
Manufacturer: Volkswagen
Make: Golf
Model: R
Type: Performance Compact Car
Competitors: BMW M235i, Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG, Ford Focus ST, Audi S3
Price: Golf R w/ DSG gearbox: $36, 595; Golf R w/ DCC & Navigation: $39,090
Made in: Wolfsburg Assembly Plant, Wolfsburg, Germany
Drivetrain: EA 888 2.0-liter turbocharged, direct-injection four cylinder engine w/ 292 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque in U.S. form
EPA Ratings: EPA highway rating of 30mpgs

Final Impression:
When an automaker puts the “halo car” stamp on one of its products, it usually carries a heavenly or angelic imprimatur with it. Well, not the 2015 Volkwagen Golf R; this little guy is all devil…but in a good way.

I’m sure you all know the R. It’s a part of that German Royal Family — the Golf — which was just crowned “Car of the Year” by a number of journalists, analysts and reviewers though not specifically part of that coronation. That’s because it didn’t land in the U.S. until this month.

The R has a history steeped in racing. Born back in 1981, it didn’t make it the U.S. until 2004 with the R32. That car sold about 5,000 units which essentially remains the allocation for America today; one that always seem to sell out.

continue reading »

Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: John McElroy
Manufacturer: BMW
Make: M
Model: X6 M
Type: 4-door SUV
Competitors: Mercedes-Benz GL63 AMG, Audi SQ5
Price: $103,050 w/destination
Made in: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Drivetrain: 4.4 L Twin-turbo V8, AWD, 8-speed Steptronic
EPA Ratings: N.A.

Final Impression:
What a beast! Who would’ve ever thought that a 2.3 ton SUV could be transformed into a high-performance machine? At the same time you have to wonder why any hard-core enthusiast would ever be attracted to a big, four-door SUV? Leave it to the engineers at BMW’s M division to bend the rules of physics trying to answer both these questions.

It starts with a regular production X6, a kissing cousin to the X5, distinguished mainly by its fastback roof line. That leads BMW to call this a Sports Activity Vehicle coupe, even though everyone else in the world will classify this as an SUV.

Then the M engineers work their magic. They drop in a 4.4 L twin turbo V8 that cranks out 575 hp and 550 pound feet of torque. They push that power through an eight speed Steptronic and an all wheel drive system that provides infinite torque bias for the ultimate traction. And they manage to get that bulk to jump from 0 to 100 km an hour in only 4.2 seconds.

continue reading »

Seat Time is a chance for us to share our impressions of vehicles being tested in the Autoline Garage and at media previews from around the globe.

Reviewer: Chip Drake
Manufacturer: FCA
Make: Jeep
Model: Renegade
Type: Small SUV
Competitors: KIA Soul, Scion xB, Nissan Juke, Chevy Trax
Price: $17,995 (Sport FWD base), $21, 295 (Latitude FWD base), $24,795 (Limited FWD base), $25,995 (Trailhawk base) add another $2,000 for 4×4 option save for Trailhawk where it is standard.
Made in: Melfi Assembly Plant, Melfi, Italy
Drivetrain: 1.4-Liter Turbocharged Multiair I-4; 2.4-Liter Multair2 Tigershark
EPA Ratings: Estimated 30 mpgs Highway

Final Impression:
It looks like a Jeep; It drives like a Jeep; It even goes offroading like a Jeep. But can a vehicle built in Italy be a real Jeep? Well, if it’s the new small SUV Renegade the answer is a resounding yes! The vehicle was actually designed by the Jeep team in the U.S. despite the fact it’s built in Sergio Marcionne’s homeland and shares the same architecture of the new Fiat 500X (called “small-wide 4×4″). But one look at the Renegade and it screams Jeep. You can see that in the traditional grill handed down from its bigger brothers the Cherokee and Grand and the boxy look to the exterior design. But more on that later.

continue reading »