Tags: Audi / Bertone / Buick Cascada / Buick Velite / Driven by Howard Walker / FL / Miami / Opel / Turbocharged

‘16 BUICK CASCADA: A REAL CONVERTIBLE ASSET!

- Rabu, 27 Januari 2016 No Comments

Buick re-ignites the memory of the stunning ’04 Velite concept convertible with its new Euro-built Cascada, below. Road Test Editor Howard Walker takes one for a spin from the Key West to Miami.

Remember back at the 2004 New York Auto Show when Buick pulled the wraps off an exceedingly sexy-looking four-seat convertible called the Velite, above? At the time there were huge expectations that GM would green-light it to production of this gorgeous two-door luxury soft-top. Word was that it would be based off GM’s Zeta rear-drive platform used in the new Camaro and Aussie Holden Commodore and feature a twin-turbo 3.6-liter V-6 rated at a muscular 400-horsepower. Alas, nothing ever came of the Velite, despite Bob Lutz, GM product supremo at the time, fighting hard for it to get the go-ahead.



Now fast forward 12 years and I’m at the wheel of the spiritual successor to the fab Velite, driving from Key West along the arrow-straight A1-A to Miami in Buick’s brand new Cascada droptop. OK, it’s front-wheel-drive, and packs only half the Velite’s 400 horses. But it’s four-seat, soft-top which Buick is launching at a time when four-seat convertibles are

decidedly thin on the ground. Remember the Chrysler 200. The Toyota Solara. The Volvo C70? All deceased.

So full credit to Buick for bucking the trend and introducing this new Cascada just in time for spring - otherwise known as The Florida Convertible Season. The Cascada is essentially a re-badged version of the European Opel Cascada that GM screws together at its plant in Poland. This is one sexy-looking cruiser, with its sleek door-wedge profile, high waistline, rakish snout and killer 20-inch rims.

   

Thankfully the Cascada sticks with a canvas top instead of a complex and top-heavy folding metal hardtop. And the top works like a dream, opening or closing in a mere 17 seconds and at speeds of up to 31mph. There are no levers to pull, latches to latch; just toggle a small switch on the center console.

With the top raised, there’s barely a whistle of wind or rumble of road noise that penetrates is triple layers of cloth and industrial-grade rubber sealing. The only negative is the teeny rear window, which provides all the visibility of a mailbox slot! But top-down, the Cascada is hard to fault. You sit low down behind that ski-slope-like windshield. Raise the windows, flip-up the rear wind deflector, and there’s hardly a rustle of breeze to muss-up your ‘do’.

   

The beauty of the Buick is that unlike say a Mustang or Camaro,  it’s a proper four-seater, so family or friends can come along for the ride. OK, those rear pews are a little tight on hip-space and are probably best suited to kids. But a couple of adults will fit for a quick trip to the beach.

Inside, the entire cabin is high in luxury and quality. Sun-reflecting leather covers the seats and chunky wheel while sleek, satin-finished metal surrounds the easy-to-read instruments and shift lever. You could easily be inside an Audi.

     

Powering the new Cascada is a fuel-sipping 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-4 hooked up to a six-speed automatic. The motor cranks out an eager 200 ponies and features a cool ‘overboost’ feature that amps-up the torque from 207 pound-feet to 221 pound-feet for 10 seconds when you need an extra burst of power for passing.

   

There wasn’t much passing to be done when we tried out the new Cascada on a drive to Miami last week. Top-down on a chilly Key West morning wasn’t a problem, thanks to the standard seat heaters, heated steering wheel, and furnace-like heater.    

This is a fun car to drive, even on arrow-straight A1-A. The turbo four-banger offers oodles of smooth, refined power; the electric-assist steering has precision and is perfectly weighted; while the suspension delivers sharp, responsive handling while soaking up lumps and bumps.

But arguably the best part is the price, which kicks off at just $33,900. That buys the standard model that’s loaded to the roof with leather, pop-up roll-over bars, a terrific stereo with nav, and those good-looking 20-inch alloys. Stepping-up to the $36,990 Premium version adds active safety technology, like forward collision and lane departure warning, and conveniences like rain-sensing wipers.

OK, so the Cascada doesn’t quite have the elegance, or promise of power of the Bertone-built Velite. But it’s a Buick convertible, and a good one at that, and buyers will love it.



For more information about the latest from Buick, please visit http://www.buick.com/cascada-luxury-convertible.html

Tags: Alec Issigonis / BMW / Brembo brakes. / Driven By Dan Scanlan / John Cooper Works MINI / Mini- Cooper / Turbocharged / Valvetronic

‘15 JOHN COOPER WORKS MINI: SIZE MATTERS!!

- Minggu, 17 Januari 2016 No Comments

This is my favorite adult go-kart, but its price, and hard suspension on some surfaces on SPORT – not as much fun, blogs Dan Scanlan.

When Alec Issigonis designed the first MINI in 1959, it was a tiny 120-inch-long coupe. Then racer and tuner John Cooper got hold of one in 1960 and made it a tiny terror on race tracks and rally courses around the world.



Fast forward millions of MINIs later, and its family has grown in variety as well as size. But despite the MINI Paceman, Countryman and Clubmans out there, the BMW-owned company hasn’t forgotten what made MINIs maxi, or who made them fun. So while the latest MINI Hardtop is five inches longer than the last generation (151.9 inches), John Cooper’s spirit and big (for its size) power remains.

·     

The MINI lineup starts with a turbocharged 134-horsepower 1.5-liter/3-cylinder (11 more than the previous 4-cylinder), then the Cooper S’s 2-liter, 189-horsepower (8 more) Four. But our John Cooper Works Hardtop has the ultimate - a turbocharged 2-liter, 228-horsepower/236 pound-feet of torque Four. The new engine gets a specially developed turbocharger integrated in the exhaust manifold, with direct injection and BMW’s fully variable VALVETRONIC valve control. That makes it the most powerful MINI, each horsepower nudging only 11.5 pounds of hot hatch around! 


The car has MID, SPORT or GREEN driving modes that vary accelerator, steering and exhaust sound as well as its six--speed automatic transmission’s shifting and suspension firmness. GREEN dampens the gas pedal input and dials back a/c; SPORT firms up suspension, increases engine response and really firms up steering and suspension.




Our 8,500-mile-old red rocket leaped off the line in SPORT with some wheelspin to 60-mph in 5.8 seconds, a tenth-second under the Cooper S we tested last year; 100-mph took just over 13. The exhaust crackled and popped on overrun as it shifted quickly, with turbo whistle on acceleration and wastegate chirrup when you back off. The paddle shifters shifted very quickly, SPORT keeping the transmission in a lower gear for faster response. The engine shuts off at stops, then fires quickly when your foot begins to inch off the brakes. It seemed to save gas – we saw an indicated 30-mpg. 


The MINI JCW gets familiar MacPherson strut front/multi-link rear suspension, but with aluminum swivel bearings plus high-strength steel axle supports and wishbones up front and more steel in back for added stiffness. The result is a firm yet fairly compliant ride over bumps in MID, and very firm with quick and decisive rebound control in the Dynamic Damper Control’s SPORT setting. Over cobblestones or speed bumps, the ride quality is super stiff with a hard edge and not fun for some folks. It’s aggravated by the very slim sidewalls – there’s about an inch between tread and outside front wheel rim when we circled our skidpad. 


That said, on that skidpad or a smooth curving road, the MINI JCW is positively eager to turn in and stay planted, go-kart agile and nimble with superb steering feel. It goes around curves like it was tied to a string. It barely leaned in a turn, hanging in quite neutrally. The front tires understeered progressively when pushed and it was easy to catch with throttle and stability control, which can be cut back or turned off. It truly was a point-and-shoot four-wheeled weapon that can be pushed, then played. I wish I’d had one when we recently tackled California Panoramic Highway northwest of San Francisco in a base MINI, and that little coupe did those winding mountain roads proud. 




An electronic locking function for the front axle differential and another system that irons out torque steer in the electromechanical power steering leaves it very direct with lots of feel. The disc brakes, with Brembo calipers up front, offered very good control and a quick bite, with quick stopping power and no fade after repeated hard use. Go ahead, just play hard and the MINI JCW has fun doing it!

The third-generation MINI looks like the first – a two-box shape with wide-eyed headlights, a pert rear end and minimal overhang. There is a longer nose on the ‘15 MINI than before, while the John Cooper Works Hardtop gets some aggression added to the cute. 
Oval chrome-trimmed LED headlights flow around the front fenders’ corners, with glowing DRL light rings. John Cooper Works black stripes flank the fake hood scoop above a chrome-trimmed grill with gloss black bumper above a very aggressive lower air dam with functional intakes. A black accent runs off the air dam to become flared wheel arches framing bulging 5-spoke JCW Cup silver and black wheels wearing low-profile Dunlop SportMaxx 18-inch performance rubber. Big LED taillights frame the back hatch under a sculpted JCW roof spoiler. The car has an athletic stance with aggressive rubber peeking out of fenders front and rear, its longer face daring the world to get in its way.

MINI interiors are a bit bigger, and not as cartoonish as the first-gen versions in 2000. But they still have character – and some oddities. For example, our MINI’s door handles inside and out are lit at night, those on the interior phasing through colors before settling on green. Inside, JCW sports seats done in black with white stripes have extendable BMW-style thigh bolsters. They were very supportive and firm, with manual adjustments and lumbar. The JCW steering wheel has a fat leather-clad rim with stereo, cruise and phone buttons.




Under the center of the padded black dash top is what looks like a big gloss black digital watch with minute marks on the rim. But that’s not the huge speedometer of past MINIs. This generation moves a 160-mph speedo atop the steering column with a multi-function trip computer display on the bottom and 8,000-rpm tach on the left. That big center circle is an 8.8-inch-wide color navigation screen that also displays the AM-FM-SiriusXM audio; multimedia; smartphone/Bluetooth and contacts; MINI Connected for smartphone apps; car settings; owner’s manual; and “Driving Excitement.” That last is a power and torque display with telltales, plus engine and exterior temperature readouts and engine mode. It’s controlled by a BMW iDrive-like twist & tap controller on the center console. It’s tough to find sometimes on the move, as are its menu buttons. But voice command works well for audio and navigation. 


The big circle also has an LED light ring that pulses red when the volume knob is used, or white, red or green depending on which drive mode (MID, SPORT or GREEN) is selected. There’s also a pulsing red engine Start switch flanked by retro-looking toggle switches for the engine on/stop economy setting and traction/stability control. Ahead of the round gearshift base are a 12-volt outlet and MP3 and USB ports. The six-speaker stereo is good, not great, with distortion when cranked. A slightly longer wheelbase means one, maybe two six-footers can be squeezed in. The rear seatbacks split 60/40 to expand the tiny 8.7-cubic-feet of cargo space.

A base MINI with 3-cylinder starts at $20,700, while a Cooper S was $24,700 and our John Cooper Works version based at $30,700, with standard 6-speed manual, cruise and stability control, 17-inch alloy wheels, Brembo brakes, AM/FM stereo and driving mode selector. Our JCW added $1,500 automatic transmission with paddle shifters; $750 media package with center armrest and the Visual Boost; $750 navigation; $750 Dynamic Damper Control; $650 cold weather package with heated front seats; $100 black strips and other trim options that brought the final price to a not-so-mini $37,350. Some friends commented that that’s a lot of cash for a MINI.



For more information on the latest Minis, please visit http://www.miniusa.com/content/miniusa/en/tools/learning/build.html

Tags: AMG / ATS-V.R Twin Turbo / BMW M4 / Cadillac ATS-V coupe / CUE / Driven By Dan Scanlan / Recaro / Turbocharged

‘16 CADILLAC ATS-V: TORQUE IS KING!

- Senin, 28 Desember 2015 No Comments

The ATS-V Coupe’s aggressive looks plus a nimble chassis and powerful high-tech V-6 make it a match for BMW’s M, blogs Dan Scanlan.

The holy grail of sports coupedom is the BMW M4 – 425-horsepower and 60-mph from a standstill in 4.1 seconds, and the dance moves of a prima ballerina combined with a cheetah. And until now, maybe only Mercedes-Benz’s varied AMG products could take on the Bimmer for the golden ring of sports coupes. That was until now. Say hello to my new best friend – the ‘16 Cadillac ATS-V Coupe. It’s a compact two-door with twin-turbo 464-horse V-6 aimed right at BMW’s M4 coupe!



The base ATS has a 202-horsepower 2.5-liter Four, with a 2-liter turbocharged Four with 272-horsepower and a 335-horsepower V-6 available. But the compact Caddy king is our test coupe’s 464 horsepower and 445 pound-feet of torque through the rear wheels, below. You get a six-speed manual with rev match, no-lift shifting (keep the pedal down for full turbo boost as you change gears) and launch control. Or you can have our coupe’s eight-speed automatic transmission with paddle shift. The only issue – some second-to-first downshifts clunked.

The engine, suspension and eight-speed have four drive modes - Touring, Sport, Track or Snow/Ice. Dip deep in the throttle in Sport mode and our 5,000-mile-old V-6 growls mightily to about 6,200-rpm, spinning its rears briefly before hooking and hitting 60-mph in 4.5 seconds and 100-mph in 9.6. The on-board performance data recorder showed a quarter mile of 14.6 seconds, and 0-100-0 mph took 16 seconds.



Inside, active noise cancellation quiets down the interior, but Cadillac also funnels augmented exhaust noise inside to make the V-6 sound snarlier. Full throttle sounded like a meaty little V-8 with some V-6 snarl, and a nice overrun exhaust crackle. Sport and Track modes also blip the throttle on fast downshifts, and power is there almost anywhere across the band with no turbo peakiness. As for fuel mileage, we calculated about 15 mpg on premium.

The ATS-V’s Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires ride on the same 109.3-inch wheelbase as other ATS models. But it gets a revised multi-link double-pivot MacPherson-strut front suspension with 50-percent greater roll stiffness. The five-link rear suspension gets stronger lateral control and anti-squat geometry with stiffer bushings, higher-rate springs and a stiffer stabilizer bar. And with more bracing, there’s 25-percent greater structural stiffness.



Magnetic Ride Control’s Sport or Track settings firm up suspension and steering feel, speed up throttle and engine response and lessen traction and stability control parameters. Touring gave us the most compliant ride feel, firm but with a softer edge over bumps during quickly managed rebound. In Sport, there was a firmer edge, but it still had a nice buffer on quick rebound over bumps.

The ATS-V was a willing corner carver, with just a touch of understeer when pushed into a turn, but easy to neutralize with throttle going out. It easily stitches successive corner together, never unsettled as we jinked left, then right. The coupe stayed fairly flat and neutral on our skidpad, a subtle bit of stability control to keep the nose or tail from straying the course when we pushed. In Track mode, we could power the tail out a bit more as the transmission stayed in the gear we wanted, but Stabilitrak was still there.



Or tap the steering wheel button to disable stability and traction control and smoke them if you want to. But even then, the balanced chassis and responsive throttle plus quick steering could catch the tail. The data recorder showed 1.25 Gs in lateral grip in the skidpad in second gear.

Turn-in was immediate, the steering feel precise, direct and full of feel. Sport and Track both offered almost a manual feel that communicated very well. With 14.5-inch front brake discs with six-piston calipers and 13.3-inch-diameter rears with four-piston calipers, the ATS-V stopped flat and straight from 100-mph. Repeated simulated panic stops from 60 mph showed no fade. The ATS-V’s wedge shape is augmented with an optional carbon fiber track package that added some serious-looking downforce-generating bits that make a hell of a statement in an arresting Red Obsession Clearcoat.

Cadillac says almost every exterior panel is unique on the ATS-V, and each element has a purpose - lift reduction, enhanced cooling or reduced mass. The V-shaped nose gets a big steel mesh upper grille with thin air intake at the hood’s leading edge. There’s a wide-mouth lower intake with dark accent above. Below, a deep glossy carbon fiber splitter wraps around the edges to reduce lift at speed – and catch a driveway or curb, so be careful. Functional side vents frame the lower intake. The lightweight carbon fiber hood gets a glossy weave vent that pulls hot air out and reduces lift by channeling air through the radiator and over the car.

Halogen headlights flow along the fenders’ outer curve, while bladed LED taillights bring an upper design line to a halt. A lower door sill flares with black aero pieces. The semi-fastback raked rear window flows into a short deck with NASCAR-style near-vertical spoiler. A carbon fiber lower aero piece houses four steel exhaust tips.

 The ATS-V is an inch longer and wider and about 1.5 inches lower than the regular ATS Coupe. It lives on grippy, wide 18 x 9-inch front/18 x 9.5-inch rear Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber on 10-spoke polished alloy and gray alloy wheels with red Brembo disc brake calipers visible inside.

Step inside and you’re greeted by deep, supportive and comfortable high-back leather and suede Recaro bucket seats, 16-way-adjustable and trimmed in leather with suede inserts. The driver faces a central 200-mph speedometer, 8,000-rpm tach and gas and temperature gauges, with a center color trip computer that shows navigation, audio and fuel mileage, engine information and turbo boost. The power tilt/telescoping steering wheel gets a thick leather rim with long magnesium paddle shifters that are easy to access behind it.

Buff carbon fiber weave sweeps around the cabin. Dashboard center lives an eight-inch touchscreen for navigation, audio, climate control and telephone, part of CUE (Cadillac User Experience). When on, the navigation screen stays blissfully clear of buttons. But move your hand close and proximity sensors activate four main system “buttons” on top, and secondary ones on the bottom. Touch controls for volume, dual-zone temperature, fan speed, defrost and seat heaters live under the screen and work fairly well. Each touch is rewarded by a “thump” of haptic feedback. Voice command also worked well. What still doesn’t is the touch control to close the center dash panel that motors up to reveal a USB port and a smartphone inductive charging plate. I would tap and tap, and the door wouldn’t close.



The 10-speaker AM/FM/SiriusXM Bose surround sound system was powerful and free of distortion. It can pair entertainment and information data from up to 10 Bluetooth-enabled devices, with two USB slots, an MP3 input and SD card slot under the center armrest. The back seat is tough to get to past front seatbacks that don’t flip all the way and leave a shoulder belt to step over, the form-fitting seats offering minimal adult head and leg room. The seat backs split and fold to expand the narrow trunk, where the battery lives for weight balance.



What about that Performance Data Recorder? Slip an SD memory card into a slot in the small glove box, and a camera mounted behind the rear-view mirror captures on-board video with data overlays of speed, gear position, rpm, lateral G-loads, throttle and turbo boost, even 0 to 60 mph, 0 to 100 mph, quarter-mile and 0-100-0 times. It can record racetrack lap times. Pop out the card and watch your "hot laps" anywhere, or on the screen when parked. A 32 GB card promised 787 minutes recording time.

A base ‘16 Cadillac ATS Coupe with the 3-liter turbo four starts at $37,995, while our ATS-V with 464-horsepower twin turbo V-6 starts at $62,665 with lots listed above standard. Our test coupe’s $6,195 track performance package added a carbon fiber Aero package with front splitter, rear diffuser, tall tail spoiler and black rocker extensions as well as lightweight battery with floor mats, tire pump and sealant deleted. The Recaros were $2,300; eight-speed automatic was $2,000; navigation with Bose surround sound and a 110-volt plug another $1,085; $995 red metallic paint; $900 alloy wheels; $595 for red brake calipers; and $305 to replace the deleted tire sealant, pump and floor mats. Final price - $78,035 with destination.



For more information about Cadillac’s world challenging V-Series models, please visit http://www.cadillac.com/v-series.html

Tags: Cayenne / Driven By Dan Scanlan / Porsche / SUVs / Turbocharged / Twin-Turbos

‘14 PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO S: SCALDING HOT!

- Selasa, 09 September 2014 No Comments

‘Let’s get trucking,” blogs Dan Scanlan after spending some seat time in Porsche’s hottest SUV.

When Porsche entered the luxury sports utility vehicle market in 2002 with the Porsche Cayenne, Porschefiles were horrified that Stuttgart was selling a truck! Well, when a truck has a twin-turbo 550 horsepower V-8 plus sports sedan handling, and 18,507 of the company’s total 42,323 sales in 2013 were Cayennes, the market has spoken. Some say the success of the Cayenne and the four-door Panamera sports sedan (5,421 sold in 2013) translates into profits that can be used to make cars like the 911 Turbo and radical 918 Spyder exotic. Sounds like a good business case to me!     

The Cayenne is available with a 300 horsepower V-6 and 380-horsepower hybrid, and three 4.8-liter V-8s - 400-horsepower, a 500-horsepopwer twin-turbo and the twin-turbo 550-horsepower V-8 with max torque of 553 pound-feet in our tester.

Our 4,784 pound test car roared to 60 mph in 5 seconds and 100-mph in 10.2 seconds – crazy fast for a SUV. Launch was instant, all wheels grabbing, with quad exhaust pipes generating a mellow bellow. Under maximum launch conditions, it’ll sprint to 60-mph in 4.5 seconds, pulling an indicated 1.1 G’s on the g-force meter. That’s faster than a ‘14 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. The eight-speed Tiptronic S automatic transmission isn’t a dual-clutch PDK like a 911, but shifted cleanly and quickly in “Sport” mode and staying in Fourth we were ready to tap down a gear or two for passing. Used with restraint, our tester average 21 mpg.

The Turbo S has an active suspension and active all-wheel-drive, plus Dynamic Chassis Control to get rid of body roll in corners. There’s also variable torque distribution to the rear wheels and an electronically controlled rear differential lock. On asphalt, it boasted amazing grip in turns and was really fun to drive. Throw it into a turn and the Cayenne just grabs on and handles the curve with a neutral attitude. Its torque vectoring system brakes the inside rear wheel to also help in a turn.



Its air suspension offers three settings. “Comfort” is perfect for highway touring and off-road. It handled a poorly paved interstate stretch with no harshness. “Normal” is fine around town. “Sport” is what you want when you are hustling two tons of German SUV around – tightly controlled, stiff enough, but it doesn’t beat you up on less-than-perfect roads. The “Sport” suspension setting also hunkers the Cayenne down to 7.2-inches ground clearance. But flip the transmission setting to “Off-Road,” and the Cayenne rises up for 9.5 inches of ground clearance.

Back on the road, the air-spring suspension’s active anti-roll system means the Cayenne Turbo S doesn’t lean much. It doesn’t look like it’s working hard on the skidpad. It just hung on, a touch of understeer if you really pushed it. In almost any turn at speeds that would make a regular SUV cringe, the two-ton Cayenne tracked like it was glued to the road, hydraulic rotary actuators on the axles counteracting body roll. We stitched turns quickly and smoothly with no drama, the digital g-meter indicating we pulled 1-G on our skid pad. We found the power steering extremely accurate and nicely weighted. The ceramic disc brakes were precise in pedal feel with zero fade even after four hard hits from 60 mph.

For 2014, Cayenne still lives with a 2011 redesign and wide low crosshatch grille with a long and sharp 911-style nose. Under the grille there’s a black skid plate. Designers have done a decent job of bringing some 911 styling cues into the hood and fender flow. The fenders have gentle flat-edged flares that frame 21-inch 911 Turbo II wheels and wearing fairly low-profile P295/35R21-inch Michelin performance rubber. The roofline is low and ends with a long spoiler over a tinted window, with huge LED taillights and twin dual-outlet exhaust pipes in a black lower fascia with tow hitch. It certainly isn’t as pretty as a 911, but it looks cool when it’s hunkered down in highway suspension mode. It’s too bad the Turbo S ends its run this year.

You step over carbon fiber doorsills with illuminated “Cayenne Turbo S” logos, and then slide over the sculpted lower side bolsters and into form-fitting perforated leather bucket seats with 18-way power adjustment plus three memory presets each. They held us in comfortably on the skidpad as well as on a six-hour road trip. We were surrounded by leather with aluminum accents and carbon fiber on the dash, doors and console.

As would be expected, the Cayenne is fitted with a complete gauge package with an 8,000-rpm tach with digital speedometer. An analog 190-mph speedometer is on the left. There’s also a color LCD trip computer screen with navigation, audio, performance info (turbo boost and g-forces), even trip mileage and timing. Framing the gauges is a thick-rimmed black stitched leather steering wheel with big paddle shifters. The dash center hosts a large Porsche Communication Management touchscreen with an AM-FM-CD-SiriusXM Burmester sound system that’s powerful enough to rattle windows.



The main console is packed with 33 buttons to adjust suspension, engine, heated/cooled seats, climate control, four-wheel-drive and height, stability and hill descent control, even a gas-saving engine shut-off at stoplights. It’s slathered in carbon fiber and framed in red leather grab handles. A long moonroof stretches past the rear seat passengers. Underfoot, you’ll find alloy-faced pedals. The Sport Chrono Package includes a stopwatch and stores performance data, including lap times or transverse and longitudinal acceleration values and displays it all on the PCM main screen.

Back seat room is generous, with a rear climate control system and outboard heated seas. Under the power tailgate, which doesn’t open high enough to clear my head, there’s decent storage space with a divider that slides on alloy strips. The rear seats split 40/20/40; the raked rear window intrudes on some box cargo capacity.

Our test 2014 Turbo S has a base MSRP of $146,000 and with all options tallied up, hit approximately $161,000. It’s the do-everything, go-anywhere Porsche that showcases the best of what Porsche is known for. I want it!



For more information about the latest Porsche vehicles, please visit http://www.porsche.com/