2011 BMW Z4 sDrive35is - First Drive Review

More horsepower doesn’t always mean better.

BY JON YANCA
June 2010

BMW has long made machines that embody its “Ultimate Driving Machine” motto, but some of its more recent products have been more emblematic of the company’s other, softer, and less focused tagline, “Joy.” For example, instead of a thrilling, satisfying roadster, the Z4 is a boulevardier more likely to be parked among a sea of beige luxury SUVs at the country club than spotted hustling over mountain passes. Given the brilliance of nearly every other BMW, the unfocused handling of what should be one of the company’s sportiest cars is even more of a bummer.

The clues are there in the folding hardtop, the electric handbrake, the light steering, and so on—the Z4 isn’t aimed toward enthusiast drivers. So what’s up with this sDrive35is model? It’s ostensibly the Z4 for those who want an Ultimate Driving Machine, so why throw more thrust—35 hp in this case—at a car that already has plenty and not fix the disappointing chassis? To charge more, of course, for what amounts to little more than some standardized options and what an aftermarket tuner could do with an ECU reflash.

Pump Up the Boost

It’s no coincidence that BMW announced its new 335is in the same time frame as it did the Z4 sDrive35is. That 3-series model and this Z4 are powered by an uprated and upgraded version of the sweet N54 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged inline-six. The N54 was good for 300 hp and 300 lb-ft in its previous, more ordinary applications, but all the “aye-ess” cars receive software that cranks up the turbo boost, for a total output in the Z4 of 335 hp at 5900 rpm and 332 lb-ft of torque from 1500 to 4500 rpm. Mash your right foot to the floor and a computer-controlled overboost function will provide a seven-second gust of 37 additional lb-ft of torque. If the engine computer is satisfied with turbo temperatures and other vital signs, the incremental torque boost can be accessed over and over again under wide-open throttle. The 335is makes 320 hp, down 15 from the Z4is because of more restrictive airflow, and the 3er also gets an upgraded cooling system with an additional radiator and cooling ducts; this modification isn’t found on the roadster because BMW admits it doesn’t expect many owners to track their Z4s. The new seven-speed dual-clutch automated manual (abbreviated DCT by BMW) is the only transmission offered on the Z4 sDrive35is.

The Cost of “is”

The Z4is starts at $61,925, some $7600 more than a Z4 sDrive35i with DCT. Part of that premium goes toward the engine upgrades, but the car also includes the M Sport package ($3500 on the 35i) that adds 18-inch wheels (19s are a further option), an adaptive M suspension, sport seats, a thicker M steering wheel, a body kit, and an increased top-speed limit of 155 mph. Moreover, Z4is buyers get a magnificent-sounding and specially tuned exhaust that sings a raspy tune best experienced with the top down, of course. A body-colored rear diffuser with sculpted exhaust surrounds and silver-colored mirror caps are unique to the Z4is.

Inside, the gussying-up includes gray-faced gauges with “sDrive35is” logos, an anthracite-colored headliner for the folding hardtop, M door-sill badges, and “Aluminum Carbon” trim. Oh, and we can’t leave out the floor mats with colored piping and embroidered lettering.

Comparatively, spending almost $62K on a roadster also will get you the absolutely fantastic Porsche Boxster S equipped with a PDK automated-manual transmission. Another option is the Audi TTS roadster, and going that route means more than $12K stays in your pocket. Both cars—the Porsche in particular—offer sharper handling and are more rewarding to drive at the limit than any Z4.

Bad Behavior

In our previous experiences with the latest Z4, we’ve been impressed with its silhouette, fantastic power delivery, and smooth ride. We aren’t so keen on the disconnected feel and middling dynamics, and, unfortunately, this sDrive35is is no different. When pushing the Z4is in the manner for which you assume it’s been designed, the suspension feels lazy and unenthusiastic, even in the most aggressive Sport setting. Initial turn-in feels sharp, but head for the apex and you’ll quickly experience a heavy dose of understeer. Meanwhile, the rear end is still catching up to your inputs, finally settling after an unnerving sway. It actually feels a bit like driving a bus or other long-wheelbase vehicle, where it takes time for what’s happening up front to reach the rear suspension. Needless to say, this behavior isn’t something that inspires much confidence in corners.

The electrically assisted steering feels diluted when compared to that of other BMWs, and although the DCT shifts ratios in the blink of an eye, the regular Z4’s extremely awkward, steering-wheel-mounted push/pull shifters remain in the Z4is. When asked why the paddles weren’t changed to the more intuitive “pull right for upshift, pull left for downshift” setup seen in the 335is, BMW product specialists had no answer. Could it be that buyers of this car wouldn’t use them anyway, so adding them in would hurt the Z4is’s profit margin?

The added power makes for blistering straight-line speed, and should shave 0.4 second from the 4.8-second 0-to-60-mph sprint of the Z4sDrive35i with DCT. But the extra quickness does little to alter the car’s laid-back personality, and given its history of building harmonious, satisfying drivers’ cars, BMW of all companies should have known this wasn’t the way to transform the Z4. Sure the exhaust is rowdier, but there’s little substance to the “s” suffix here. BMW seemingly wants to increase its output of pricier special editions, à la Porsche—we just wish this one started with a better foundation.

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2010 Volkswagen Scirocco R - First Drive Review

VW teases us with a race-inspired Scirocco.

BY MANFRED JERZEMBEK AND JENS MEINERS
December 2009

Born into the oil crisis of the early 1970s and based on the compact Volkswagen Golf platform, the first-generation Scirocco was an efficient and sporty answer to the many domestic two-door coupes in the U.S. VW followed it up with a slightly bigger, second-gen car—as well as the Corrado, the Scirocco’s spiritual successor. But the company’s sports-car ambitions ultimately died with the Corrado in the 1990s.

However, the Scirocco is back—in Europe. VW doesn’t believe the U.S. market can support both the new car and the GTI (which is mechanically similar) without one cannibalizing the sales of the other. However, we can’t help feeling deprived of one of the hottest hot hatches on the market: the 265-hp Scirocco R, which we recently had a chance to put through its paces in the mountains near Nice, France.

Turbo Hotness

We like the sleek, unusual shape of the Scirocco—essentially, it’s a two-door “shooting brake” in the tradition of the Volvo 1800ES and Reliant Scimitar—the basic architecture of which is shared with the Golf, as well as the Audi A3, TT, and several other Volkswagen Group cars. VW fitted the 265-hp, direct-injected, 2.0-liter turbo four from the Audi S3 in the still-front-wheel-drive R model, which was inspired by the GT24 Nürburgring race car. “We could have made it even more powerful, but we wanted to achieve affordability,” says VW spokesman Martin Hube. In fact, the Scirocco R is the least expensive of the Volkswagen brand’s “R” models, which include the 270-hp, all-wheel-drive Golf R, as well as the European-market Passat R36 and Touareg R50. (The Seat Leon Cupra R, which is mechanically similar to the Scirocco R, undercuts the VW by about $5K in Europe.)

Some marketing types were concerned that customers would prefer a V-6 engine for cylinder-count bragging rights, but VW CEO Martin Winterkorn’s engine-downsizing strategy seems to be right on target. The Scirocco R’s turbo serves up 17 psi of boost, which makes available the engine’s 258 lb-ft of torque from 2500 to 5000 rpm. VW claims 62 mph comes in six seconds flat, and top speed is governed at 155 mph. The R gets an impressive 29 mpg in the combined European cycle with the available Direct Shift Gearbox. Stefan Ellrott, development chief at Volkswagen Individual, says he had the engineers tune the R’s soundtrack—“not too high-pitched, not too dark”—and the result is impressive. This four-banger sounds so sporty and powerful that we never wished for an extra couple of cylinders.

Although a six-speed manual transmission is standard, most buyers will opt for VW’s six-speed DSG automated manual. We’ve driven it in numerous VW and Audi vehicles, and despite being less fine-tuned than Porsche’s seven-speed PDK, it’s one of the best dual-clutch gearboxes available. We do, however, applaud VW for still offering a proper manual.

Front Drive = Less Weight

The front wheels cope with that much power and torque surprisingly well. Torque steer is minimal, and the R’s electronic front differential keeps the car from leaping into the shrubbery on corner exit without hindering steering accuracy. Of course, a rear-biased all-wheel-drive system would be more fun, but that adds weight, cost, and additional drivetrain losses.

The Scirocco R is claimed to be more than 200 pounds lighter than the all-wheel-drive Golf R. The Scirocco R’s chassis also is up to the task of taming the 2.0T’s power. The disc brakes—13.6 inches in front, 12.2 inches at the rear—are hefty and effective. The super-sensitive electromechanical power steering weights up nicely with a push of the sport button on the console and offers good feedback—there is little of the artificial feel often associated with electric power steering. The GTI’s flat-bottom steering wheel is a nice touch, too.

Visually Arresting

Eighteen-inch wheels are standard, but the 19-inch Talladega wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza rubber look better and offer impressive grip. Other design cues that differentiate the R from lesser Sciroccos include oversize air intakes, LED daytime running lights, darkened taillights, wide rocker panels, and two chrome exhaust pipes framing a black diffuser. Also featured are angular but supportive sport seats and blue needles on the instrumentation—a trademark of VW’s R models—as well as brushed-aluminum trim and pedals and headrests embroidered with the “R” logo.

Unfortunately for VW, some of the Scirocco R’s closest competitors come from within the VW Group: namely, the Golf R and the Audi TTS, both of which sport all-wheel drive. But the Scirocco R is the least expensive—about 10 percent less than the Golf R, or about 25 percent more than the GTI. It’s also the most brutal of the bunch, but it’s sure to bring many smiles to its driver’s face. It did to ours. We’d now like to file another complaint with VW about the decision not to bring it here.

2011 BMW 335is Coupe - First Drive Review

2011 BMW 335is Coupe - First Drive Review
Minding the gap—between the 335i and the M3, that is.

BY TONY QUIROGA
January 2010

To fill the gap in the 3-series lineup between the 300-hp 335i and 414-hp M3, BMW is introducing the 2011 335is coupe and convertible. We were unaware that said gap needed to be filled, but we’re told that the 335i is seen in the U.S. as just an ordinary 3-series, and as such, there’s room for something more exotic than a 335i but less outlandish than an M3. Now that we’ve been given the chance to drive the 335is coupe, we’re coming around to accepting this whole gap idea.

More Power and a Body Kit and . . .

Conceptually similar to the 330i Performance package model that was available as part of the previous-generation 3-series lineup, the 335is doesn’t go so far as to threaten the M3’s supremacy, but it definitely ups the sportiness quotient. To that end, the 335is gets 320 hp and 332 lb-ft torque from the twin-turbo 3.0-liter inline-six engine, and an overboost function allows for seven-second blasts of 370 lb-ft of torque. Unlike the regular-grade 2011 335i, the 335is sticks with the older twin-turbo engine for the simple reason that BMW engineers had more experience tuning it. This same engine can also be found in the Z4 sDrive35is that was introduced at this month’s Detroit auto show. In the Z4, the engine makes 335 hp; a more restrictive intake on the 3-series accounts for the 15-hp difference.

To make the 335is a track-worthy vehicle, BMW upgrades the cooling system with an additional radiator and beefs up the engine mounts. Inside are standard sport seats, steel pedals, an M Sport steering wheel, and textured aluminum trim. Between the seats sits the familiar six-speed manual, but it’s modified here to have shorter throws. For those who prefer not to shift for themselves, BMW is offering its seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The DCT system is identical to the one in the M3 and comes with steering-wheel-mounted paddle-type shifters.

Exterior styling builds on that of the 3-series’ 2011 freshening and adds an aggressive M Sport body kit. The kit has a more aggressive front fascia that ditches the coupe’s fog lamps in the interest of increased cooling capacity; the 335is convertible keeps its fog lamps. (And just to confuse you, we posted photos of preproduction coupes with fog lights; the decision to ditch them apparently came after these cars were built.) A new rear bumper incorporates a diffuser-style piece, and the twin exhaust pipes are finished in matte black. New gray-painted, split-five-spoke wheels are the only change to the chassis, despite the extra power—there are no tweaks or modifications to the suspension or brakes.

Same Poise, Even Better Soundtrack

Immediately on starting the engine, one detects a more noticeable hum from the new exhaust system. Less-restrictive mufflers snarl menacingly and only get angrier once the throttle is matted and the revs rise. As we’ve seen with other applications of the twin-turbo six, power is delivered with the immediacy of a large-displacement, naturally aspirated engine. The extra horsepower bestowed on the 335is isn’t exactly massive, but the car will still quickly shrink a straightaway, and it rockets into triple-digit speeds as if towed by a Boeing 747. Indeed, a few laps around Portugal’s Estoril racetrack revealed this car to be exactly what’s suggested by the spec sheet: a powerful 3-series with a fantastic soundtrack. As one might expect from the carry-over chassis, the balance, the predictability, and the unflappable poise that make the 3-series one of our favorite cars are all there in spades.

The 335is doesn’t exactly threaten the M3 performance-wise, and with a starting price of $50,525, the 335is coupe costs $8750 less than an M3 coupe. But compared with the M3 sedan, the 335is coupe saves only $5750; faced with that choice, we’d pony up for the four-door M3. Convertible versions of the 335is start at $59,075, or $8850 less than the M3 convertible. The 335is convertible will arrive in April; coupe buyers will have to wait until June. And don’t go looking for the 335is at dealerships outside North America; for once, BMW is building something just for us.

2010 Volkswagen Golf R - First Drive Review

The most spectacular Golf of all is fantastic but pricey. Will we get the chance to buy one?

BY JENS MEINERS
January 2010

Volkswagen sure knows how to please. The new, sixth-generation Golf is one of the better compact cars, a great-handling hatchback that’s comfortable, too. And we think the sportiest Golf, the 200-hp GTI, is even better—witness its inclusion on our 2010 10Best Cars list. (The previous GTI, based on the Golf V, made the 10Best roster the three years before that.) Now Wolfsburg is adding the Golf R, an all-wheel-drive variant that is the fastest, most powerful, and most expensive Golf ever.

If you follow the logic of previous über-Golf naming schemes, this Golf R should be called the R20; its predecessors were both called R32 on account of their 3.2-liter V-6 powerplants. But Volkswagen has recently announced that it will be starting a special R performance division, akin to Audi’s Quattro subsidiary and BMW’s M division, so expect all super-VWs to carry the single-letter badge going forward.

More from Less

Compared with the two R32 models, the new car loses two cylinders but is up 30 hp, being powered by a 270-horse, 2.0-liter turbocharged four, with maximum boost cranked up to 17 psi. In the new Golf R, all 270 hp arrives at 6000 rpm; maximum torque is 258 lb-ft, available from 2500 to 5000 rpm. Two gearboxes are available in Europe, including a slick-shifting six-speed manual and the six-speed dual-clutch automated manual, or DSG. The last R32 offered in the U.S. was DSG-only, and there’s no word from VW as to whether that strategy would change.

In real-world driving, the Golf R is supremely competent. Okay, that’s an understatement, as acceleration in the lower three gears is vicious: the 0-to-62-mph sprint is conquered in a claimed 5.7 seconds, 0.6 second quicker than the time posted by a 2010 GTI in a recent comparo. The R’s DSG, with its seamless shifts, shaves another 0.2 second, despite its additional 50-ish pounds and parasitic power losses from the hydraulic clutches. At higher and admittedly superlegal velocities, the R bites a bit less but pulls well up to its 155-mph governor—a symbolic sign of modesty, since the car theoretically could squeeze out an additional 5 mph. So the Golf R is a quick car, but if you are acquainted with real sports cars, you won’t be overwhelmed. More specifically, it definitely feels quicker than the front-drive, 200-hp GTI, but it’s not in another league.

You might expect that the R and GTI would share an engine, only differing in tune, but you’d be mistaken. The GTI’s Audi-developed EA888 2.0-liter turbo four is not yet sturdy enough to handle the power and torque required for the Golf R, so the burlier model keeps the older, VW-developed EA113 engine. It’s the same as that found in the Audi S3, the Golf R’s twin brother, which is fine with us—the EA113 does everything right. Fuel consumption drops sharply compared with that of the old Golf R32. It is rated at 28 mpg in the European cycle, and to see mileage drop below 20 mpg, you’ll need to become pretty, uh, conspicuous to local constabulary. We saw 19 mpg from the most recent R32 in a comparison test of performance compacts.

Although the Golf R’s drinking habits are far more mature than we expected, the sound of the Golf R is decidedly adolescent. This engine makes the right noises at the right time. We liked the silky 3.2-liter VR6 in the R32, but this four is so sweet we didn’t miss those couple of pistons for a minute.

Very Capable, but No Club Racer

The Golf R’s handling is more neutral than the GTI’s, but just slightly, as the GTI’s XDS electronic differential does a fairly good job of minimizing the handicap of front-wheel drive. But even the Golf R can’t entirely mask the front-drive roots of its chassis. If you want to drift it, you need to be aware that 100 percent of the power goes to the front wheels under normal driving, and the shift of power to the rear wheels takes a moment. Yes, VW has upgraded the all-wheel-drive system versus that used by the R32. It now works with an electrical pump and can shift almost 100 percent of the power to the rear wheels. The system reacts electronically to changing conditions, and it is quicker than the old setup. Despite that, we found it necessary several times to use the vehicle’s inertia to initiate a drift.

What’s more, the stability-control system can’t be switched off entirely. There is an off position that lets you hang out the tail considerably, but you will inevitably reach a point where the system kicks in, even if you don’t touch the brakes. VW disabled the system completely on some cars for our benefit, but the customer won’t be able to do so. The Golf R thus isn’t a pure sports machine; for further evidence, consider that the DSG upshifts automatically at redline in manual mode. We think it would be more appropriate to let the engine hit the rev limiter instead of second-guessing the driver’s shifting strategy.

Upscale and Well Mannered

The Golf R’s dual personality is again emphasized by the optional DCC electronic chassis. The DCC’s comfort setting softens the chassis and lightens the electromechanical power steering. The normal setting is middle of the road, neither harsh nor soft. Sport is what enthusiasts crave, delivering stiffer damping and sharper steering reflexes. VW says it anticipates that Golf R buyers will be far more mature than GTI buyers, desiring a comfortable long-distance cruiser that they can still take to the track every once in a while. For them, the DCC makes sense. But we’ll take it hard-core, thanks.

At a claimed 3350 to 3400 pounds, the Golf R is a heavy compact; the last six-speed-manual GTI we weighed rang in at 3180 pounds. Given that, we find the lighter, front-drive GTI and the 265-hp Scirocco R to be more tossable. Lightweight components, such as aluminum or carbon-fiber panels, were considered for the Golf R but were ultimately dismissed to keep costs under control.

Instead of exotic materials, customers get R-exclusive styling elements, including twin central exhaust tips and lots of glossy black trim inside and out. The 18- or 19-inch Talladega-design wheels are one of the R’s trademarks; they look a lot like the rollers used on the Audi RS 6. The taillights are now dual L-shaped LED units, a styling element that has already trickled down to the European-market GTI and will become standard on all Golfs. There are no fog lights; VW says it needed the room to fulfill the cooling needs of the engine and transmission. (Do we sense a trend? The same reason was given for the omission of fog lamps on the 2011 BMW 335is.)

Upscale Price

At €36,400 (the equivalent of $50,790) in Germany, the Golf R is nearly $14,000 more expensive than the GTI. If it came to the U.S., the premium would likely be about ten grand above the GTI’s $24,215 base price. But will it make the transatlantic voyage? It was basically a done deal last year, but VW remains undecided at this point. Although we crave the Golf R’s presence on U.S. shores, and we have to say that the car is damn good, its superiority may come at a price that few will be willing to pay. So we understand VW’s hesitation—wait, what are we saying? Bring the Golf R here now.

The Toyota Sienna has been the automotive equivalent of Wonder Bread: satisfying, but also squishy and bland, a product purchased for the sake of the

2011 BMW 5-series / 535i - Second Drive
Honey, I Shrunk the Seven: The sixth 5-series is almost a 7.

BY TONY QUIROGA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHARLIE MAGEE
February 2010

Before the controversial and oft-derided 7-series stormed onto the scene in 2001, the design of BMW’s flagship dictated the look of the rest of the sedans in the lineup. The 7’s design would trickle down to the smaller sedans with only a few alterations. The main difference was the size: Buyers could opt for small (3-series), medium (5-series), or large (7-series) versions of what looked like the same car. Some criticized this strategy and accused the brand of merely offering “sausages of different lengths,” another way of saying BMW’s design lacked variation and adequate differentiation between models. But when the 5-series and 3-series that followed the 2002 7-series were unveiled, it was a relief to see that, aside from a few 7-series cues, they’d been spared the paunchiness of the overwrought 7. The smaller the car, the less controversial its styling, which seemed to signal an end to the strategy of “sausages of different lengths.”

Now that BMW has launched a redesigned 7-series (for 2009) and a new, sixth-generation 5-series, it’s clear that the ­variable-length sausages are back. We’re envisioning someone at BMW headquarters saying, “Pull out zee shrink ray, Claus, it’s time to make zee 5er.” Indeed, the design presentation of the new 5-series largely consisted of BMW’s chief designer, Adrian van Hooydonk, pointing out the minor design differences between the 5 and the 7 in what seemed like an attempt to convince us that he does not, in fact, possess a shrink ray.

Making the 5-series a smaller 7-series is fine by us. Unlike the 5-series that preceded it, the new car’s styling is more conservative and elegant, more like the E39 5-series built from 1997 to 2003. The interior design is barely different from the new 7’s, and the plastics and leather feel, smell, and look like the materials used in the big sedan. Our 535i test car cruised the freeways around Lisbon, Portugal, with the poise, supple ride, and silent solidity of a 750i—not surprising considering that the 5-series’ platform and chassis are closely related to those of the bigger car.

As in the 7-series, the 5-series’ suspension has, for the first time, ditched front struts for a multilink setup. The rear wheels are managed by a new five-link independent suspension design borrowed from the 7-series. All of the electronic handling aids of the 7-series are offered on the 5-series as well. In the U.S., opting for the estimated $3500 Sport package yields “driving dynamics control,” which allows for a choice of four preselected settings (comfort, normal, sport, and sport plus) for throttle sensitivity, steering effort, shock stiffness, and transmission shift points. The automatically adjusting shocks are part of the Sport-package deal, as are active anti-roll bars that adjust to manage body roll. Sport-package models will also get a larger wheel-and-summer-tire package—standard versions get 18-by-8.0-inch wheels with 245/45R-18 all-season tires.

Our European-spec 535i didn’t have the U.S.-spec Sport package but was equipped with all of the computerized handling gizmos that would come in that package, plus “integral active steering,” which includes four-wheel steering. With or without active steering, all 5-series cars now have electrically assisted rack-and-pinion setups. BMW’s active-steering system changes the steering ratio according to vehicle speed and how far the driver turns the wheel, its goal being to reduce the amount the driver has to crank at the helm. What it does on the road is make the steering feel eerily fast on turn-in and often twitchy in midcorner as it doles out varying ratios despite a constant steering-angle input from the driver. Fortunately, active steering is a stand-alone option and therefore avoidable. For comparison purposes, we drove a car without that feature and found the steering predictable, although the effort from the new electric assist in either guise is a tad light for our tastes.

The 535i poses along Portugal’s scenic Estoril Coast.

One disadvantage of  being closely related to the 7-series shows up in the claimed curb weight—nearly 4100 pounds for a 535i and 4400 for a 550i automatic. Despite the use of aluminum in the doors, hood, trunk, and front fenders, the new 535i is 400 pounds heavier than its predecessor (according to BMW’s numbers). On our scales, however, a current-generation 535i manual weighed in at nearly 3900 pounds, so we’ll have to do a full road test to ascertain the severity of the 5’s weight gain. Overall length is up by two inches, and the wheelbase is now 116.9 inches long, an increase of 3.2 inches. The car might be a little bigger outside, but interior space is nearly unchanged. Even with the added bulk, the 5-series contentedly sluiced through the tight corners of the Estoril racetrack near Lisbon with the nimbleness of a lighter car.

Two models, the six-cylinder 535i and the V-8 550i, will be offered when the 5-series goes on sale here in June. We expect a small price increase over the 2010 models, with the 535i likely to start at about $54,000 and the 550i commanding at least $62,000. Early in 2011, a naturally aspirated 240-hp, 3.0-liter 528i will join the lineup, and at that time all-wheel drive will be added as an option for all three models.

Until the next M5 shows up sometime in 2011, the most powerful 5-series will be the twin-turbocharged 400-hp, 4.4-liter V-8 550i. Borrowed from the 750i, the twin-turbo V-8 makes 40 more horsepower than its naturally aspirated 4.8-liter V-8 predecessor. BMW estimates a 0-to-60-mph time of 5.0 seconds for both the six-speed-manual and eight-speed-automatic versions of the 550i, which is likely conservative.

Strangely, BMW calls its new single-turbo six-cylinder the TwinPower Turbo.

Powering the 535i is a new single-turbo inline-six that replaces last year’s twin-turbo six. Cleaner burning than the twin-turbo engine, the single-turbo six displaces 3.0 liters and puts out 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. Through the use of Valvetronic variable valve lift, as well as variable valve timing and a twin-scroll turbocharger, BMW claims its new engine is more responsive than before and points to its 1200-rpm torque peak, 200 rpm lower than the twin-turbo’s. We couldn’t detect any turbo lag. There’s also no turbo whine, just the subtle snarl of the inline-six that grows less subtle as the engine approaches its 7000-rpm redline. BMW again estimates identical 0-to-60 times for automatic and manual versions, which should be in the low- to mid-fives.

Although a six-speed manual will be available, all of the test vehicles came bearing the ZF eight-speed automatic transmission, which, when equipped with the Sport package, adds paddle shifters mounted on the steering wheel. Benefiting acceleration and fuel economy is the eight-speed’s wider spread of ratios (first gear is shorter, eighth gear is taller) compared with the previous six-speed auto’s. We did notice that first gear is so short-lived that the transmission seems to stumble the one-to-two shift.

Should the driver stumble, the 5-series’ many safety systems are at the ready. In addition to stability and traction control, available safety equipment includes lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, night vision with pedestrian detection, radar-based automatic cruise control with collision warning and automatic braking, and auto-adjusting high-beams. Other optional niceties include automatic parallel parking, in which the car steers itself into a spot (Ford has a similar system on the 2010 Lincoln MKT), and a number of external cameras that provide the driver with a 360-degree view of the vehicle’s surroundings.

The great 5-series cars of the past have offered almost as much luxury as the 7-series but at a more manageable and sportier size. This latest iteration may have gained some weight, but it has also gained in refinement. And, despite the added mass, the sporty dynamics that have made the 5-series the sports car of its segment remain intact. BMW is back to selling its sausages in differing lengths, but damn if they aren’t tasty.

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $54,000–$62,000

ENGINES: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.0-liter inline-6, 300 hp, 300 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve 4.4-liter V-8, 400 hp, 450 lb-ft

TRANSMISSIONS: 8-speed automatic with manumatic shifting, 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 116.9 in Length: 193.1 in
Width: 73.2 in Height: 57.6 in
Curb weight: 4100–4400 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 4.8–5.4 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 12.0–13.2 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.4–14.0 sec
Top speed (governor limited): 130–150 mph

PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 16–17/23–26 mpg

2011 Toyota Sienna - Second Drive

A sporty minivan? From Toyota? What's next—a Pulitzer for Palin?

BY TONY QUIROGA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID DEWHURST AND THE MANUFACTURER
March 2010

The Toyota Sienna has been the automotive equivalent of  Wonder Bread: satisfying, but also squishy and bland, a product purchased for the sake of the kids.

So we weren’t expecting much at the recent launch of the new model—that is, until we learned that Toyota put a former go-kart racer in charge of the 2011 Sienna. While Kazuo Mori, the project’s chief engineer, still dreams of designing sports cars, for the past 17 years he’s been all about Toyota vans. With the third-generation Sienna, he seized the moment to put style and performance above bland refinement.

First there was chassis tuning. The front strut suspension and rear torsion-beam axle remain, but a comprehensive retuning cuts out the flabby softness of the previous model. With roll dramatically reduced, firmer damping keeps the body under closer watch. A new electric power-steering system requires greater effort and now has some semblance of feel. Not enough? Toyota has a new SE trim level that offers an even firmer chassis, larger wheels, retuned power steering, and a body kit.

A body kit probably would have looked ridiculous on the last Sienna, a vehicle we have characterized as “rolling anonymity.” And although the new Sienna retains the mommy-knows-best one-box minivan shape, the design is more striking than before. Slab sides give way to a defined shoulder line and bulging front fenders. The front end seems to have been inspired by Toyota’s F3R minivan concept from 2006. We might go so far as to call the Sienna the best-looking minivan extant.

Inside, the interior is similarly modernized. The look is Venza-like, as are materials and textures that are perfectly acceptable as long as you don’t start touching them—then they feel a bit cheap. As one would expect of a minivan, storage space abounds: two glove boxes, massive door pockets, at least three more cup holders than there are seats, and even a place on the floor for your purse (or your wife’s). A 60/40 split third-row bench collapses easily into the floor, but the second row doesn’t do a disappearing act. Top-of-the-line Limited models and all-wheel-drive XLEs get manually adjustable “recliner-style” second-row seats with footrests.

A 266-hp, 3.5-liter V-6 remains available on all five trim levels (base, LE, SE, XLE, and Limited), but a six-speed automatic is new and improves fuel economy to 18 mpg city and 24 highway, an increase of 1 mpg on both cycles. For those willing to sacrifice some acceleration, Toyota now offers the segment’s only four-cylinder option, a 187-hp 2.7-liter that’s also mated to a six-speed automatic and delivers 19 mpg city and 26 highway. Prices are held to previous levels: Base models open at $25,060, and loaded AWD versions surge into the mid-$40,000s

We find it a bit odd that Toyota’s minivan is the one vehicle in the carmaker’s lineup that doesn’t trade athletic responses for refined sogginess. None of Toyota’s vehicles is the sportiest among its competitors, except the Sienna. Well, you’ve got to start somewhere.

2011 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible - First Drive Review

2011 Maserati GranTurismo Convertible - First Drive Review

The Italian antidote to the German same-olds.

BY EDDIE ALTERMAN
March 2010

We’d like to be able to tell you that the new Maser­ati GranTurismo convertible is great with the top up or down, but we can only confirm the former. Our test drive, originating in Rome, coincided with the heaviest snowstorm that city has seen since 1986. We sat in our hotel, looking out at the flakes accumulating on the Fiat Cinquecentos and Smart Fortwos that crammed themselves onto both sides of the black-pavered streets like impacted molars. Maserati’s PR chief paced nervously. He knows the destruction journalists are capable of  in dry weather, and there was no way he was letting us out in his $139,700 droptops on Pirelli summer tires in that kind of meteoro­logical dandruff.

So we waited, and waited some more, until the snow stopped and we could make a break for it, shooting out of Rome down the E80 autostrada in a 220-km/h (137-mph) convoy.

Outfitted as a one-powertrain model, the GranTurismo convertible is blessed with the top-hole GranTurismo S automatic coupe’s 433-hp, 4.7-liter V-8 and ZF six-speed manumatic. It also maintains its sibling’s great lines. Maser­ati traded the elegant sweep of the GT’s C-pillars for the trim greenhouse of an Aston or a Bentley, and the softtop—available in six colors, weighing just 143 pounds in all, and retracting in 20 seconds—is a three-layer job that steals just two inches of rear headroom from the coupe and leaves enough room in the trunk for at least one golf bag.

The GT convertible has the longest wheelbase in a class that ranges from the Mercedes-Benz SL and BMW 6-series to the Bentley Continental GTC. Maserati engineers didn’t even have to change the ­rear-seatback angle to accommodate 62.5-percentile humans—a rarity in a segment whose cars force their unfortunate rear-seat passengers into the straitjacketed position popularized by Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs.

In the absence of a roof, Maserati ­reinforced the A-pillar inners and trussed the floor with an aero-optimized aluminum undertray, a ’70s Formula 1 touch we can’t help but admire. Static stiffness still can’t match the coupe’s, but dynamic bending is just as good, according to the company.

We did notice some shuddering through the steering column on the rough old Roman roads and some side-to-side creaking of the body over sunken SPQR manhole covers. But on the E80, the car felt solidly overbuilt, tracking true through corners with beautifully weighted steering, its powerful pump giving instant feedback in high-speed lane-change maneuvers. The engine’s torque delivery is very smooth, and throttle response gets gutsier with speed to keep the engine reactive at lower revs. Think of the throttle-response curve as S-shaped.

There’s a sport button on the dash that condenses throttle mapping, stiffens the suspension, and opens a bypass valve in the exhaust system above 3000 rpm. We had to kill sport mode at high speeds because the high-frequency drone was too grating. But hearing this open Italian exhaust caroming off the tunnel that runs under the Vatican is the closest this writer has come to a religious experience.

We made it down to the coast for a quick charge up and down a hill, but we kept the top up because it was still drizzling. The road’s lowered coefficient of friction invited all sorts of throttle-guided cornering, during which something incredible happened: The chassis reacted before its electronics did. The Maser’s long wheelbase makes the car easy to catch, as does steering that stays sensitive as the car loses traction. But the A-pillars, as thick as a sprinter’s thighs, make it almost impossible to execute tight left-hand turns with any confidence.

That said, this top-up experience with the GranTurismo convertible reminded us why  we like the coupe so much. Both cars are lively and fluid—big, comfy GTs that mask their size with direct controls and tons of power. We would happily fly back to Rome and do the whole thing again, this time with the top down.

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door convertible

BASE PRICE: $139,700

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 286 cu in, 4691 cc
Power (SAE net): 433 bhp @ 7600 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 361 lb-ft @ 4750 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manumatic shifting

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 115.8 in Length: 192.2 in
Width: 75.4 in Height: 54.3 in
Curb weight: 4600 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 4.9 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 13.5 sec
Top speed (drag limited): 176 mph

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 11/18 mpg

2010 Hennessey HPE700 Chevrolet Camaro - First Drive Review

Hennessey’s hell-raisin’ Camaro is at once civilized and sinister.

BY STEVE SILER
March 2010

Of course, most of what we cover here at Car and Driver involves OEM vehicles rather than aftermarket specials. But we can always find room for stuff like the wicked wheels that roll out of Hennessey Performance Engineering of Sealy, Texas, stuff like the 2010 HPE700 Camaro.

This is the super-Chevy that GM hasn’t (yet) built: a new Camaro SS with the supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 heart of the Corvette ZR1. As we’ve long known and find to be the case yet again with the HPE700, Hennessey’s creations are way more than back-alley chop jobs. So when we were offered to drive the HPE700 Camaro on the roads around Hennessey’s outpost in Lake Forest, California, we jumped at the chance.

Promises Made, Promises Kept

In fact, we were overdue. The better part of a year has passed since the HPE700 was first announced, and when we last wrote about it, the car was little more than computer-generated renderings and big promises. Now that many of the 24 HPE700s Hennessey has planned for 2010 have been built, it appears those big promises have been kept, and some even surpassed.

The juiciest promise of them all was that of big, big power under the hood. The aforementioned 6.2-liter LS9 V-8 makes 638 hp and 604 lb-ft in the ZR1, so it’s ridiculously powerful to begin with. But Hennessey, being a tuner shop first and last, couldn’t leave well enough alone. Most significant among Hennessey’s enhancements was boosting the potency of the LS9’s supercharger to about 15 psi versus the stock 10.5 psi. A new intake system and stainless-steel headers are fitted, too. Otherwise, most of the ZR1 engine bits are retained, as are the Camaro SS’s stock exhaust system and its Tremec six-speed manual transmission (the HPE700’s sole transmission offering). To that, HPE adds its own upgraded clutch, flywheel, shifter, and shift knob.

Surprisingly little alteration was required to fit the new engine, since the Camaro SS’s 6.2-liter V-8 is dimensionally close to the LS9. Certain plumbing components had to find new routes, but precious few fabrications were necessary. The centerpiece of the engine compartment remains the LS9‘s trademark blue-and-silver engine cover, but a sexy carbon-fiber intake assembly designed by Hennessey is sure to garner some supplemental oohs and aahs once the hood is popped for show and tell.

Twist the key, however, and it becomes immediately clear that there are differences between the HPE700 and the ZR1. This HPE700 is L-O-U-D—closer in volume to a space shuttle launch at Cape Canaveral than the full-tilt howl of a muscle car. The boost in power over the LS9 is similarly huge. Hennessey claims a monstrous 725 hp at 6400 rpm and 741 lb-ft of torque at 3200 rpm for its tuned LS9. These figures trump its previous estimates of 705 hp and 717 lb-ft, which, frankly, we would probably have been fine with. But, hey, why hold back at this point? Furthermore, the company claims that dyno tests verify that some 691 hp and 661 lb-ft of torque of that make it to the rear wheels at 6000 and 4700 rpm, respectively. In any case, Hennessey’s LS9 is an entirely beastlier powerplant than that of the ZR1.

A Big, Brash, Loud, Thirsty Hoot

Idling out of Hennessey’s facilities and onto the minivan-ridden streets of Orange County—ever mindful of the expensive (and gorgeous!) carbon-fiber front splitter hovering mere centimeters from the ground—we savored the HPE700’s ready-to-go demeanor. Although there was no untoward bucking as we negotiated parking-lot speed humps, the smooth, low-rev rumble made it clear there was copious power waiting to be unleashed. What wasn’t clear is at what point that power would outstrip the car’s ability to contain it.

So we cautiously eased deeper and deeper into the throttle leaving every stoplight and were rewarded each time with more and more accelerative force and ever-higher volumes of that inebriating exhaust sound that wailed with all the restraint of Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet stocker. People held their ears as we roared past, and cars ahead could hear and see us from behind as we barreled toward them. We don’t think we broke any windows in nearby homes or storefronts, but if we did, we sincerely apologize. (And send the repair bill to Sealy, Texas, please.)

And, yes, we found that at a certain point, those 20-inch rear wheels and their expensive 305/30-series Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 tires will indeed break loose, but not as early as one might expect. Be judicious, learn this car’s limits, and within a few attempts, it rewards you with buckets and buckets of face-peeling acceleration. Hennessey claims the HPE700 hits 60 mph in 3.5 seconds and covers the quarter-mile in 11.3 at 126 mph. Those numbers are easily believable, if not conservative; this car is faaaast. (A stock SS manual we tested hit 60 in 4.8 seconds and legged a quarter-mile in 13 seconds at 111 mph.)

Now, with so much torque ever ready to unglue the rear end, the steering wheel becomes—how shall we say this?—less necessary for the purposes of rotating the vehicle around turns. Tail-out antics are ultra-fun and easily controlled. Much credit goes to HPE’s suspension modifications, which snap the car down via adjustable KW coil-overs and upgraded front and rear anti-roll bars. The HPE700’s steering remains as light and precise as that of the stock Camaro SS, in spite of the HPE’s wider, 20-inch front wheels with 275/35-series rubber. Aside from some noticeable fidgetiness at triple digits, the HPE700 felt as comfortable as any factory Camaro we’ve sampled, and its low-speed ride quality is quite hospitable.

Yet we remained in a constant state of disbelief at the suspension’s ability to allow so much driver control over all that power. Maximum grip is 1.01 g, according to Hennessey, and the arresting power of the huge six-piston front and four-piston rear Brembo brakes is stupendous (and certainly reassuring). As for fuel economy, we didn’t measure it in our limited time, but we seemed to go through fuel at the pace of about a quarter-tank every half-hour. Yeah, this thing is a hoot. A big, brash, loud, thirsty hoot.

More Menacing Than the ZR1

So we learned that this dragon can be tamed. But you wouldn’t know it by looking. Indeed, to some of us, the muscle-bound, chiseled-faced HPE700 looks more sinister than the bright-eyed ZR1 Corvette to which much of its visual mods pay homage. Specific ZR1-isms include its full skirt of unpainted carbon-fiber aero extensions; lacy, thin-spoked racing wheels; and in the case of this particular example, the ZR1’s “launch” color scheme: Cyber Gray metallic paint with blue accents, the latter coming in the form of hockey-stick fender stripes and matching brake calipers. Initial renderings had also shown a cool ZR1-like plastic window in the hood to display the supercharger assembly, but according to Hennessey, the engine’s lower mounting point in the Camaro’s engine bay made it hard to see through the aperture, so the idea was scrapped. We doubt anyone will really miss that, however, as the HPE700 hardly needs any help making a statement.

The cabin remains largely stock, which is okay, since the Camaro’s interior isn’t totally terrible. However, materials that are merely questionable at the $25,000 level suddenly seem very low rent at the $120,000 asking price for this car, even with the carbon-fiber trim pieces Hennessey adds for good measure. Then again, the sounds that fill said cabin are not reproducible by anything at this price, including the ZR1. So we can deal with the occasional hard plastic bit and so-so leather upholstery.

Indeed, the Hennessey HPE700 is a special automobile that delivers an unforgettable performance experience, along with the sort of curbside amperage normally reserved for Porsche GT2s, Lamborghini Murciélagos, and Nissan GT-Rs. As a complete package with more than a sentimental connection to the fastest Corvette in history, this beast stands head-and-shoulders above HPE’s other superhero Camaros and, for some, perhaps even above the living legend that inspired it.

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe

BASE PRICE: $119,500

ENGINE TYPE: supercharged and intercooled pushrod 16-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 376 cu in, 6162 cc
Power (SAE net): 725 bhp @ 6400 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 741 lb-ft @ 3200 rpm

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 112.3 in Length: 190.4 in
Width: 75.5 in Height: 54.2 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 3950 lb

PERFORMANCE (MFR’S EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 3.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 11.3 sec @ 126 mph

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: not available

Ferrari 599XX - First Drive Review

Adult rated, for sure. Ferrari's 720-hp gentleman's racer makes no sense. Except it will make the author and 29 rich guys go ecstatic. Which makes perfect sense.

BY JOHN PHILLIPS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM SALT
March 2010

Strange things happen in Maranello. When Fiat flew us to Italy to showcase its technology in 1988, for instance, the company’s CFO personally set up a Ferrari factory tour for us. When we arrived, the guard at the gate said, “So sorry. If only we had known you were coming.” Then, when we were promised a drive in the first Enzo on Ferrari’s Fiorano test track, well, sorry again, because the factory’s F1 team had already booked the joint.

And now I was to be the second journalist in the world to drive the 599XX—an extreme 720-hp track-only iteration of the surpassingly gorgeous 599GTB Fiorano—except six inches of snow had muffled the Italian town the night before. As press officer Matteo Torre said of the now-invisible circuit, “She is only good for, how you say, the cross-country skis.”

Signor Torre, however (who, as far as I could tell, never stopped running or answering his cell phone for 72 hours), had ambitiously initiated Plan B. “I am having already renting of the Vallelunga, four hours south,” he explained, rubbing his hands like Ernst Blofeld. What’s more, he’d also already shipped two 599XXs there. “Vallelunga, she is the terrible fast track,” he added. “Much fun. But also many of the, uh, crashes enorme.” Then he noticed the look on my face. “Oh, no, Mister John. Not so much of our Ferraris is crashing.”

If ever there has existed a meaner, sleeker, dragon slayer of a GT racer, well, neither Ecclestone, Mosley, Lauren, nor Leno has clapped eyes on the thing.

Except for the roof and windshield, not much of the 599XX is cannibalized from the all-aluminum 599GTB Fiorano. All four fenders, for instance, feature F1-like aero “fences,” vertical panels behind which air is scooped out from each wheel well. To relieve heat and pressure, the hood likewise features nearly as many holes as Augusta. The winglets on the C-pillars—resembling Alfred E. Neuman’s ears—funnel air inward, forcing it to slide down the Lexan backlight, then along the ducktail trunklid, and finally over the carbon-fiber blade spoiler. And then there’s the huge underbody fairing and rear diffuser, whose center section is air permeable. Two electric fans mounted inside the trunk suck air through that permeable panel and then vent it through the holes previously occupied by taillights. The air is discarded in individual huffs and puffs (like a subwoofer stomping out rap music), which, we are told, detaches the wake from the rear of the car. This is apparently a good thing, according to the F1 engineers who designed it—along with the winglets—during hundreds of trial-and-error hours in Ferrari’s own wind tunnel. The fans automatically quit sucking underbody air at 155 mph, a speed that suggests the car is traveling in a straight line and thus needs no extra downforce. Speaking of which, all of this aero chicanery creates 617 pounds of downforce at 124 mph and 1389 pounds at 186 mph. For what started as a street car, that’s a bunch.

The cockpit is similarly all business, stripped to bare metal and encased in a roll cage. The dash is a piece of carbon fiber with a single LCD pod replacing all gauges, and LEDs embedded in the top of the steering wheel—as on the regular 599—warn of the approaching 9000-rpm redline. The side windows are Lexan; the doors feel as if they weigh 13 ounces; and the back seat is replaced with a tangle of Aeroquip hoses and what might be the black box from an Airbus A300.

By race-car standards, visibility is superb in all directions, helped in part by skinny, elongated side-view mirrors that jut out like individual Martian antennae. The cockpit offers one lone—and unlikely—vestige of civility: It’s air conditioned.

As a result of all that carbon fiber, not to mention the myriad luxo accouterments that have been returned to the parts bin, the 599XX is about 600 pounds lighter than a 3953-pound 599GTB Fiorano you’d see idling down Rodeo Drive.

The 6.0-liter V-12 makes 720 horsepower and 506 pound-feet of torque, besting the 599GTB’s output by 108 prancing horses and 58 pound-feet. Some of that newfound power accrues from upping the redline—9000 rpm instead of 8400—made possible through extra balancing, blueprinting, and sedulous massaging. There’s a new higher-flow carbon-fiber intake manifold, for instance; the pistons are graphite-coated; the cam lobes are polished to a Bulgari-quality fare-thee-well; mechanical tappets replace the hydraulic-istas; there’s a custom exhaust; and the crankshaft throws have a new aerodynamic profile.

The 599XX’s power-to-weight ratio is 4.7 pounds per horsepower, versus, say, the Bugatti Veyron’s 4.5. With telemetry as a witness, Ferrari test driver Raffaele De Simone spirited a 599XX to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 2.9 seconds—without launch control. But here’s maybe the coolest thing about the V-12: Ferrari warrants it for 5000 kilometers (3107 miles), “which should be good for two years’ worth of racing,” says chief vehicle engineer Nicola Porciani. A racing engine with a warranty. Is that a first? Because of noise regs at some tracks, the exhaust is fitted with silencers. Sadly, they impose a somewhat blatty V-8 note rather than the expected V-12 Bates Motel shriek.

Twin fans in the trunk (above) evacuate air from the huge underbody diffuser panel. Lead engineer Nicola Porciani (below) explains to the author that he should have worn a Nomex tie.

The gargantuan carbon-ceramic brakes are cooled by F1-derived “wheel donuts” that vent unwanted BTUs away from the rotors through slots around the wheels’ center-locking nuts. Automatic pneumatic jacks are part of the deal; the shocks can be toggled to three settings to suit the relative roughness of any given track; and the vital task of selecting gears is managed exclusively via paddles behind the steering wheel. Left paddle for downshifts, right paddle for upshifts. Hold the downshift paddle an extra half-second or so and you’ll automatically get multiple downshifts. It takes a little practice.

The 720 horsepower is a swell perk, but the dirty little secret to the 599XX’s boggling speed is its console-mounted “manettino,” which, translated loosely means “little handle.” It’s a rotary knob with nine positions, each of which alters the stability control’s level of aggression. Turn the manettino to position one, and there’s zero stability control, zero traction control. Turn it to nine, and the car is nearly uncrashable.

I started at position six, then later dialed down to five. Even at those mid-level settings, the stability control—in this case, managed by brakes only—makes you look like Felipe Massa. (You’d have looked like Michael Schumacher just months ago, but Mikey has since been relieved of his Ferrari get-in-for-free badge.) It took me a while to learn Vallelunga, and I’d occasionally enter a turn from the wrong side, causing me to rudely  yank the wheel to cross the track in a desperate search for an apex. In any other car, I’d have spun more times than the first Sputnik. But with Ferrari’s stability control, you feel only the first millisecond of an ungainly lurch, then the car miraculously marches with military discipline in whatever direction you’ve assigned, all of this as drama-free as a fifth-grade stage play.

Then, once you’re within sight of any apex, just mat the throttle, letting the traction control sort things out. That, in turn, launches you trebuchet-style to the next turn, which arrives so rapidly that you’ll have trouble remembering which way it goes, too. But that’s not a problem because you can just stomp the brakes exactly as hard as you are panicked—ABS now takes over—and the deceleration is so instantaneous and violent that I occasionally found myself entering 50-mph turns at 20 mph.

The nine-position stability-control dial can be adjusted easily at speed. Above it is a switch to select three shock settings—soft, medium, and hard. Onboard pneumatic jacks are part of the deal.

Click the manettino to positions three or four, and the decreased stability control allows you to rotate the tail a tad, which helps to point the car into corners. I expected this to be scary, but the 599XX’s steering is as light and accurate as an Audi A4’s, and no car in my experience has ever felt as perfectly balanced and agile. Unless you intentionally provoke the rear tires, this Ferrari is as neutral as Switzerland but with a better sense of humor.

For 35 years, I’ve driven and written about hundreds of fast cars. The only car I’ve driven that’s as quick as the 599XX was Greg Moore’s Indy car, and it was a wholly evil, nervous, uncooperative bastard that I spun because it was perpetually on knife’s edge.

“We were pleased that this car turned out to be far more drivable than the Enzo FXX,” says test driver De Simone. That is no boast. What makes the 599XX astoundingly fast is that it’s so well behaved and so forgiving of its driver’s ham-fisted miscues.

At “terrible” Vallelunga, the Ferrari drivers had no reference lap times. But at Fiorano, the 599XX repeatedly logged 76-second laps—identical to what an Enzo FXX can turn—and proved 10.5 seconds quicker than a street-legal 599GTB. Mi piace. In case you’re wondering, a Formula 1 car circulates Fiorano in 56 seconds.

And so, what does one do with a 720-hp Ferrari that cannot legally be driven beyond your driveway? Glad you asked. Actually, we’re not glad you asked because the answer is murky. But here’s Ferrari’s somewhat suspicious side of the story: A maximum of 29 of these cars will be built, with 20 already spoken for, so act quickly. The owners will then enter their cars in any or all of 18 track events worldwide—the two American events are at Homestead in Florida and Miller Motorsports Park in Utah. Funny thing is, the cars don’t race each other. No trophy. No winner. No champagne. Instead, they race the clock, and each driver’s goal is to shave seconds off his personal lap times as the weekend progresses. To that end, the owner may want to leave the passenger seat installed so that a factory test driver/engineer can ride along and comment on the pilote’s, uh, methods. Alternately, the owner can simply download his car’s telemetry and present it to the aforesaid factory reps, allowing the traces to be analyzed.

“The goal is for us to learn about our cars’ behavior under extreme conditions,” asserts Ferrari’s Porciani. Oh, really? You actually expect us to believe that a gentleman driver who operates a hedge fund during the day is going to tell Ferrari SpA something that its entire F1 team, its world-class test drivers, and its battalion of engineers don’t already know? Puh-leeze.

In any event, each 599XX costs 1.1 million euros ($1.5 million as this was written), and you can pay extra to have Ferrari store and maintain your car, or you can park it in your own garage and change the oil yourself. What’s more, Ferrari doesn’t care if you race the car in one-off events, such as the endurance races at, say, Thunderhill or Nelson Ledges, where the car, with its universally illegal active aero and ultra-high-tech stability control, doesn’t have to conform to any particular class rules.

I traveled to Maranello having already violated the first ethical canon espoused in Journalism 101. That is, I’d already decided to skewer the 599XX on the grounds that it is as irrelevant as a diamond-studded dog collar, that no organized race series would condone it, and that it existed mostly to lighten the Gucci wallets of look-at-me collectors who’d never find use for any gear beyond third and wouldn’t know the name of the nearest road course anyway.

I apologize. After I drove the 599XX in anger, my preconceived notions vanished. By 5 p.m., I had made this calculation: If I paid Ferrari, say, $399 per month at zero APR, I could own a 599XX in as little as 3759 months. And here’s the best part. According to the average life expectancy in America, I’ll only need the car for 252 months. After that, Ferrari can have it back. I’ll even wax it and replace the air freshener. Well, maybe my wife will.

Specifications

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 1- or 2-passenger, 2-door coupe

BASE PRICE: $1,500,000

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection

Displacement: 366 cu in, 5999 cc
Power (SAE net): 720 bhp @ 9000 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 506 lb-ft @ 6500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automated manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 108.3 in Length: 188.5 in
Width: 77.6 in Height: 50.5 in
Curb weight: 3350 lb

PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 2.9 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 10.8 sec
Top speed (redline limited): 196 mph