What would Spock drive?

Published May 07, 2013

FoxNews.com

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It’s Spock vs. Spock and four-door coupe vs. four-door coupe.

A new advertisement from Audi portrays Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto as competitive friends who apparently live to one-up each other.

After being defeated by the elder Vulcan in a game of online chess, Quinto challenges him to a round of golf, but not before they race to the club. Loser pays for lunch.

Hipper, cooler Quinto smoothly hops into an Audi S7 while Nimoy struggles to get going in his Mercedes-Benz CLS 550. Of course, the spot fails to point out that the Mazda 6 is the official advertising partner of "Star trek: Into Darkness," but it doesn't specifically mention Star Trek, either.

Who wins? Even though the commercial is for the Audi, you might be shocked to see who the victor is.

Apparently you can live long and prosper.

View the original article here

Test Drive: 2013 Ford C-Max Energi

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Even though it doesn’t necessarily look it, we’re led to believe that the 2013 Ford C-Max Energi is cool, because its name is intentionally misspelled with an “i” at the end.

Lucky for Ford, it kind of is.

The C-Max Energi is a plug-in hybrid, which is essentially a conventional hybrid with a larger battery pack installed that allows it to travel a fair distance on electricity alone. In this case, up to 21 miles per charge.

After that it works like a regular hybrid, collecting otherwise wasted energy from the gasoline engine and brakes and recycling it through an electric motor to help deliver a combined fuel economy rating of 43 mpg.

Factor in the average use cycle for an American driver and the EPA predicts that you’ll typically travel 100 miles before burning a gallon of gasoline. Unless, of course, you take a lot of long trips with no recharges along the way, then break out the calculator and have at it.

The C-Max Energi is powered by both a 141 hp 2.0-liter four cylinder and a 118 hp electric motor, which put out a combined 188 hp. More fuzzy math, I know, but that’s how these things work.

The electric motor draws its energy with a “y” from a 7.6 kilowatt-hour battery that can be recharged in two and a half hours with a 240-volt charger, or about seven hours on a standard outlet. It takes up a good portion of the cargo bay floor, like having a couple of IKEA flat packs permanently installed there.

The neat trick is that you get to control what’s propelling the car and when, at least to some extent.

Three drive modes are available: Auto EV, EV Now and EV Later. The first leaves things up to the car, which switches between pure electric and hybrid drive as it deems fit. The second locks it in EV mode and runs off the power stored in the battery pack until it is depleted, while the third does the opposite, turning off the main battery and engaging hybrid drive.

Why not just use the battery first all the time?

Well, as the specs above indicate, when it’s in EV mode the C-Max Energi has significantly less power on tap than it does in hybrid mode, so if you’re in a hurry it might leave you wanting.

That’s not to say it’s the snail it kind of resembles. If you’re foot rarely meets the floor, you’ll be quite satisfied with the EV performance. It’s pretty lively out of the blocks, and can handle highway duties just fine up to its limited, battery-powered top speed of 85 mph, all in an almost disappointing silence. No futuristic flux capacitor sounds added here.

The car is well aware of its lack of potency, and if it senses you and your four friends could use a boost on your way home from IKEA with a full load of actual flat packs, it politely offers to engage the gasoline engine, a gesture that you can accept or decline with a press of a button on the steering wheel.

Keep in mind, too, that if your primary interest is buying this car is saving gasoline, the electric drive is more efficient at low speeds, so you’ll likely go further on battery power around town. You may also want to keep some in reserve in case you get home late and need to sneak into the driveway.

There is a noticeable difference in performance when it switches to hybrid mode, and since it’s primarily relying on the gasoline engine the power delivery is less linear and much noisier. Anything more than half-throttle turns up an unpleasant moan, but keep a light foot on the pedal and the C-Max Energy is one of the most refined hybrids you’ll find.

Ford has gone out of its way to make this a very normal car. It’s based on the same platform as the Focus and Escape, and its passenger compartment is identical to the latter. In fact, the C-Max is sold overseas in non-hybrid versions, but is only available here as the Energi and a standard Hybrid that gets 47 mpg, but has no long range EV capabilities.

You sit high in the saddle and have a great view out of the large windows all around. The interior has a much flashier look than the body, and for $29,995 after a $3,750 federal tax credit comes equipped with a touch screen and voice activated infotainment system that doesn’t overdo the plug-in theme. There are just a couple of configurable displays to the left of the speedometer that monitor what’s going on under the hood.

Overall the C-Max Energi is a pleasant car to drive. The stiff, low rolling resistance tires can be a little crunchy at times, but it has a generally good ride and very tidy handling.

As far as its efficiency is concerned, when I picked up the car, it had a fully-charged battery and a gauge that read 21 miles of range. I made it16 miles in mixed city and highway driving in EV mode. The next time I charged it, that’s what it told me to expect. I thought there might be something wrong with the charging station, but later learned that computer recalibrates its predictions based on your driving history, so there are no surprises along the way. Honesty -- still the best policy.

There are a lot of plug-in hybrids coming on line right now, including a Ford Fusion Energi that uses the same powertrain as the C-Max. All of them work in very different ways, however, so comparing them is an apples and oranges affair.

For example, the closest competitors to the C-Max Energi are the Chevrolet Volt and the Toyota Prius Plug-in. The Volt costs $32,495 when you subtract the big $7,500 tax credit it gets because it can go 38 miles per charge, but it only seats four and gets 37 mpg after it runs out of juice. On the other hand, Toyota Prius Plug-In costs $30,295 after a $2,500 tax credit due to its smaller battery and relatively paltry 11-mile electric range, but it gets 50 mpg in hybrid mode.

Confusing, but not any more so than cross shopping similarly priced sedans and SUVs with their myriad engine options. The wrench in the works for the C-Max Energi is that the C-Max Hybrid costs just $25,995 and doesn’t come with any junk in the trunk.

Then again, unless you keep a barrel of gasoline in your garage you can’t fill it up at home, so it’s not nearly as cool, is it?

(They probably would’ve spelled it Hibrid if it were.)

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2013 Ford C-Max Energi

Base Price: $29,995 (after $3,750 federal tax credit)

Type: 5-passenger, 5-door hatchback

Powertrain: 2.0-liter 4-cylinder with 118 hp electric motor

Power: 188 hp

Transmission: CVT automatic

MPG: 108 city/92 hwy

View the original article here

Test Drive: 2013 Lincoln MKZ

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If the 2013 Lincoln MKZ is anything, it is important, perhaps the most important car of the year. The fate of an entire company could hang on its success.

After years of poor sales, the Lincoln Motor Company is on the ropes, but has been given one last chance to prove itself, and the resources to execute a full overhaul of its product lineup.

As the first all-new car of this effort, the MKZ sets the tone of what’s to come, and its performance in showrooms could be a clear indication as to whether or not the ship has been turned far enough around to keep it from following Mercury into Ford’s extensive portfolio of former brands.

Like its predecessor, the midsize four-door sedan is based on the same platform as the Ford Fusion, which itself was redesigned for 2013 and has been selling like crazy since it went on sale a few months ago.

But the MKZ has a completely different look from the Fusion. Its split-wing grille, fastback profile and Lincoln’s signature full-width tail lights creating a streamlined, vaguely nautical shape that definitely catches eyes, with a little help from a selection of unique paint colors that includes Ginger Ale, Crystal Champaign and Bordeaux Reserve. (Remember, don’t drink and drive.)

Although it appears to be a hatchback like the Audi A7, the folks at Lincoln say that would’ve cut into rear seat headroom and made it noisier inside, so they gave it a trunk instead. Luckily it’s a large one, so your luggage carrying needs should be well provided for, even if you have to rent a van for trips to the antique furniture shop.

The cabin presents a sleek and modern design, with very little wood, lots of silver trim and an abundance of touch-sensitive controls on the center stack. Gear selection is handled by buttons on the dashboard, eliminating the need for a transmission selector on the center console, which floats on a suspension bridge-inspired framework. The materials everything is made from are a little less hoity-toity than they could be, but they’re still the best you’ve seen from Lincoln in years.

It’s not the roomiest interior, a little narrow and a short on rear legroom compared to the midsize class leaders, but four average Joes and Janes should fit just fine. Vertical space can be increased by the addition of a 15.2-square-foot, single-pane retractable panoramic glass roof for $2,995. It doesn’t open all of the way, but slides so far back that it obstructs the view out of the top of the rear window, a fair trade on a lovely day.

Sync and the touch-screen, steering wheel button and voice-activated MyLincoln Touch infotainment system come standard on all MKZs, which have a starting price of $36,820. That buys you either a 45 mpg hybrid model, or one with a 240 hp turbocharged four-cylinder good for 33 mpg highway.

Both of those powertrains, two other four-cylinders and a plug-in version of the hybrid are also available in the Fusion. A 300 hp 3.7-liter V6 has been reserved for the MKZ as a $1,230 option and, along with the turbo, can be equipped with all-wheel-drive, as was my loaded to the gills test car.

The MKZ has a standard active suspension, as we’re told all future Lincolns will, with adaptive dampers that constantly adjust to the road surface and your driving style. Switching between Drive and Sport modes -- which also recalibrate steering, throttle and transmission response – there’s a noticeable difference in ride quality, from not quite floaty to firm.

For many shoppers in this segment, power still equals luxury and the V6 MKZ steps of the line with authority. The engine was cribbed from the Ford Mustang, after all. It isn’t the kind of overtly sporty, engaging car that eggs you on to drive like you did when you borrowed your dad’s Lincoln as a teenager, but it is an able performer, very sure-footed, and the engineers got the sound of the V6 just right.

More to the point of its mission, the six-cylinder MKZ is a relaxed cruiser, supremely quiet inside when you’re just tooling around and, overall, very comfortable in its skin. A long list of optional driver aids aim to make the daily grind even less of a chore. Among them are a self-parking system, front and rear collision alerts, blind spot warning, radar cruise control and a drowsy driver alert. I actually got pinged once by the last of those and was definitely spaced out at the time, so there’s something to it.

Most impressive is a lane keeping feature that monitors the road with cameras and aggressively uses the electric-assist steering to guide the car between the lines. There’s no suggestion that you should take your hands off the wheel and let it play Jeeves for you, but it works nearly that well.

None of this comes cheaply, of course, and my close to full zoot example rang up at $51,185. Even if you just look at the number and variety of vehicles currently on sale between that and the base price of the MKZ your head will very likely explode, so please don’t do that.

But, if you narrow that down to front-wheel-drive-based midsize luxury sedans, there are really just two direct competitors on price and size: the aging Acura TL and the Lexus ES, which bodes well for Lincoln. The ES may be the king of the hill, but I’ll wager that the MKZ is different enough to garner more than a few cross-shoppers. As it turns out, Lincoln’s new boss, Jim Farley, used to run Lexus, so you can bet he’s taught his sales force a few tricks.

The real problem facing Lincoln is that, aside from the V6 and panoramic roof, the Fusion offers almost everything that the MKZ does in a package that’s nearly as refined, costs about six grand less in its highest trim level, and is a looker in its own right. Considering Farley is also the head of marketing for Ford, you’d think he would’ve made sure that the mother ship gave its infirm child more of a head start in this sales race, but survival of the fittest and all that.

Regardless, the 2013 MKZ is a much better car than the one it replaces, which wasn’t half bad, but based on the predicament Lincoln is in, clearly wasn’t good enough. Is the new one?

That could be the big story next year.

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2013 Lincoln MKZ V6 AWD

Base Price: $39,940

As tested: $51,185

Type: 4-door, 5-passenger Sedan

Engine: 3.7L V6

Power: 300 hp, 277 lb-ft torque

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

MPG: 18 city/26 hwy

View the original article here

Test Drive: 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid

IT’S A TURBO!

It’s a hybrid.

Both are true, but Volkswagen would rather you keep the former in mind when you cross shop the 2013 Jetta Hybrid against other environmental do-gooders like the Toyota Prius.

The word “turbo” itself really isn’t important. Power is power, after all. But, even if it describes an increasingly common engine type these days, it still sounds cool to some people.

More to the point is the fact that the Jetta’s 1.4-liter internal combustion engine/electric motor combo develops 170hp, about 25 percent more than the Prius has.

Fuel efficiency is the trade-off, here. The Jetta Hybrid gets 45 mpg combined, the Prius 50 mpg.

But at what price that 5 mpg?

Volkswagen argues that it’s built a “real” car that offers superior performance, ride, handling and refinement compared to the Toyota and other efficiency-maximized hybrids. On those measures, it very well may have.

The engine in the VW may be small, but it’s smooth and well muffled, even with your foot to the floor. Instead of the droning you get from the CVT setups used by most hybrids, including the Prius, the Jetta uses a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic (DSG) that performs lightning fast shifts and allows the engine to rise and fall with the throttle in a more conventional manner.

That is if it’s not working in pure electric drive, which VW says it can do up to 44 mph over short distances. I actually hit 50 mph on batteries once, possibly on a slight downhill. Even with a not particularly light foot calling the shots, the Jetta often ran as an EV around town, and the transitions between modes were as seamless as those of most other hybrids I have encountered.

As with many battery-powered cars, however, the brake pedal is little jumpy as the car switches between using the resistance of the electric motor to slow down while generating electricity, and the disc brakes for quick and full stops, but it’s easy to get acclimated.

Slightly more annoying is the occasionally jarring engagement of the transmission in stop and go driving. The DSG is essentially a manual with a robot working the clutch and, every once and a while, C-3PO pops it a little. But usually, it runs like it just got out of the oil bath in Luke's garage.

Appropriately, it’s on the highway where old “turbo” really comes into its own. Its power is on par with conventional compact cars, including the five-cylinder Jetta, and never feels pokey.

Under full acceleration, with the engine and electric motor running at max, and the needle on the power gauge pinned in the “boost” zone, it’s downright lively, with a slight electric motor whine chiming in to add some futurism to the soundtrack. But the ride is where this car truly excels.

Unlike the rest of the Jetta lineup, the Hybrid uses an independent rear suspension cribbed from the sporty GLI model. This is primarily to help with the packaging of its 1.1 kWh lithium-ion battery pack -- which takes up relatively little trunk space and even leaves room for a spare tire under the floor -- but pays added benefits in the areas of comfort and handling.

The Jetta Hybrid glides over bumpy surfaces on well-damped springs, but also takes turns like a champ. Very neutral around curves, even when pushed, it puts on an impressive performance in the dynamics department, and the nicely-weighted, communicative steering doesn't feel like its attached to a video game console. This is a car that you can enjoy taking for a drive, not just a ride.

The icing is so sweet, in fact, that it’s easy to forget about the cake: fuel economy. That is the Jetta Hybrid’s primary mission, after all, so how does it do?

Although it fell short of its EPA rating in my real world testing, it hit a high of 42 mpg at an average of 42 mph on a loop that the larger 47 mpg-rated Ford Fusion Hybrid could hardly muster 40 mpg on at lower speeds.

Astute diesel fans may note that 42 mpg is the highway rating for a Jetta TDi fitted with an automatic transmission, which costs $850 less than the $25,790 hybrid. But the oil burner also has combined fuel economy of just 34 mpg.

Further complicating this internecine comparison, however, is that the Jetta Hybrid requires premium fuel, cutting into its price at the pump advantage over the diesel. Nevertheless, a typical driver should still save about $500 bucks a year filling it up.

But while VW is happy to offer its customers these alternatives, it’s surely more interested in stealing sales from the other guys, most notably that Prius, which starts at $24,995.

Against it, the Jetta definitely makes its “real” car case. It looks normal from the outside, has a spacious and straightforwardly-designed cabin, and if Fahrvergnügen is still a thing, exhibits plenty of that. What’s missing is the razzle dazzle.

Even in the fully-loaded, $31,975 example I spent a week with, a pretty run of the mill navigation system, backup camera and Bluetooth is about all of the technology on offer. Spend the same money on a Prius and, along with its “look at me saving the world” style, you can get things like radar cruise control, an automatic parking system and even a solar panel for the roof to match the one on your LEED certified home.

It’s all very neat stuff that also serves to distract you from the reality that the Prius is a boor to drive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hater. Most people could care less about that sort of thing, and the Prius offers a great package at an affordable price and is still the most fuel efficient car you can buy without a plug, which is why it single handedly outsold all of the Jetta sedans combined last year.

But this year, I’d pick the Jetta Hybrid. For keeping things interesting, it’s definitely worth the 5 mpg.

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2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid

Base Price: $25,790

As Tested: $31,975

Type: 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

Powertrain: 1.4L turbocharged 4-cylinder/electric motor combo

Power: 170 hp, 184 lb-ft torque

Transmission: 7-speed automatic

MPG: 42 city/48 hwy

View the original article here

Test Drive: 2013 Honda Civic Sedan

Using time travel to solve problems is a recurring theme in science fiction.

Journey to the past, eliminate the source of the problem and, as long as you don’t step on a bug or marry your mother while you’re there, problem solved.

The folks at Honda must have a subscription to Syfy, because they appear to have tapped into the space-time continuum to fix the much criticized ninth-generation Civic. Just one thing: They did it in reverse, taking a trip into the not-so-distant future to find the solution.

When the 2012 Civic was introduced, it was met with a collective yawn from many reviewers who said it wasn’t that much better than the car it replaced, even as its compact competitors moved the bar forward, catching up if not surpassing the class leader in many areas. Consumer Reports even took the drastic step of removing it from its list of recommended cars to drive the point home. That had to hurt.

Perhaps surprisingly, Honda honorably admitted that it cut a few corners in the development of the car, not expecting other automakers to bring their A game during a historic downturn in the industry. But, instead of sucking it up and waiting the traditional three years before giving the Civic a mid-cycle refresh, Honda accelerated the development of the planned 2015 overhaul, getting the job done in just 18 months and the car into showrooms for the 2013 model year.

The focus of the work was on improving refinement, one of the major gripes heard about the 2012 model. In my own review of that car I noted “a fair bit of wind and road noise,” and that it “doesn’t feel very plush inside,” with an abundance of hard plastic not helping the situation.

Well, some extra stuffing behind the dashboard, floor and rear deck, along with thicker, laminated front glass has quelled much of the ruckus, while soft materials, shiny silver trim and improved upholstery have brought the cabin closer to what passes for snuff these days. Honda even went a little further and added standard Pandora integration, Bluetooth, text message reader and a backup camera across the lineup.

The powertrain is the same as the old car’s, but there wasn’t too much whining going on about it. The 140 hp 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine carries over largely intact, as does the very unfuturistic choice of five-speed manual or automatic transmissions (hybrid, natural gas-powered and high performance Si models are also available.)

Nevertheless, the automatic is still good for up to 39 mph highway, or 41 mpg in the high mileage HF model, both solidly near the top of the class. That’s despite the fact that the Civic put on a few extra pounds in its transformation, requiring the addition of slightly bigger brakes to compensate. The suspension has also been beefed up and returned to improve ride and handling, which hits a very happy medium between comfort and responsiveness.

As icing on the cake, Honda updated the front and rear ends, giving them a more upscale look inspired by the all-new 2013 Accord. You wouldn’t want your friends to think you were driving the “bad” Civic, now would you?

The result of all of the changes is yet another in a long line of no-complaints cars from Honda. Exciting? No, but competent to a fault. My only continued nitpick is that the front seat still doesn’t go back far enough for my liking, even though there’s plenty of room behind it. Anyone under 6-foot,1-inch tall likely won’t agree.

The previously available stripped $16,355 DX trim level has been discontinued due to lack of interest, but the base price of the now entry-level Civic LX has only increased $160 to $18,755 for the coupe and $18,955 for the sedan, which certainly doesn’t reflect the true cost of the upgrades made to the car.

Funny thing is, while all of the squeaky wheels were going on about the 2012 Civic, Honda was moving them like hotcakes. It was by far the best-selling compact in the U.S. last year, with 317,909 finding their way into driveways near you.

If I were Honda, I’d watch my back. One of the other car companies may send someone back from the future to keep it from traveling to the future to bring this Civic back to the present, or something like that.

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2013 Honda Civic Sedan

Base Price: $18,955

As tested: $24,555

Type: 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

Engine: 1.8L inline-4-cylinder

Power: 140 hp, 128 lb-ft torque

Transmission: 5-speed automatic

MPG: 28 city/39 hwy

View the original article here