Motor Trend World Challenge....test drives!
06-03-01, 10:10 PM
#1
Moderator - Electronics Forum
Thread Starter
Hi guys!
Just had a chance to test drive quite a few cars. This was an event sponsored by Cadillac and Motor Trend. Of course, Motor Trend had to "plug" Cadillac and it's cars, but after the demo it was all fun!
Arlington Park in Illinois is where the event took place. HUGE parking lot for all of the horse racing fans and this was converted over to a 4 course driving test. Rules...you MUST wear a seatbelt and that any reckless driving will be reprimanded. This meant hitting too many cones or out of control skids, etc. The tracks had lots of high and low speed turns so you could really push the car. Some of the turns are so sharp that you literally had to almost stop the car in order to get control of the vehicle.
First up. BMW 540i automatic. After getting clearance from the track coordinator I immediately tromped on the throttle. Very good pickup and accelleration but as soon as I hit the first corner...woah...this thing handled PRECISELY. Steering feedback was excellent and so was the handling. Very taught suspension and little body roll. Excellent. Even through the very tight turns this car let you know exactly where you are. I didn't like the control arrangement though...lots of little tiny buttons and switches. Suspension was awesome though! The pedal/fly by wire system had to be improved though. About twice the delay that was present in the LS430.
Lincoln LS. What a piece of crap! Underpowered and the steering felt very overboosted. Almost no feedback through the wheel and it was like driving an old Buick. This was supposed to be a sporty car?!?! Yeesh.
Lexus LS430. INCREDIBLE. Very very very quiet with the buttery smooth 4.3 liter 290hp engine. Even with the sunroof open this car made almost NO noise. Even road noise has a hard time getting in. Pedal response was BETTER than the 540i and almost as fast in terms of accelleration. I expected a mushy and heavy body roll from the LS430 but NO. Handled quite well, a very close 2nd to the 540i! Steering feedback was quite good and everything melded together like a car was supposed to feel like. (IMO, of course!) Of all the cars on the track, this was my favorite. As soon as I got out of the car I suggested to 3 young ladies to drive the car. Their reaction was like "but...it's a Lexus". So, they hopped in and took a test run. The first young lady...as soon as she pulled up 10 feet into the track I could see a HUGE grin on her face. About 2 minutes later, she got out of the car, hopped up and down and said "I LOVE THAT CAR!!!!"
I didn't stick around to see the other ladies test drivng but I'm sure the response was similar.
Mercedes S430. Why did I even bother?!?!? Heavy body roll, accelleration was quite a bit slower than the Lexus LS430. Steering felt vague. At times I thought I was going to hit a cone (or series of cones) due to the vague feedback. Blech.
Cadillac Catera. This was on a time lap test so I figured why not. You get two laps and that's it. Average time was 22.5 seconds for the course. If you beat 20.3 seconds (by a Motor Trend editor) then you get a Tshirt. First lap....big mistake. I tried to torque/brake the car, only to have it launch, squeal and kick in the traction control. This cost me BIG TIME. 26.6 seconds for the first lap due to the traction control shutting EVERYTIHING down. As soon as I pulled up you could see storm clouds above my head! I asked the lady if there was any way to defeat the traction control and she said no. Oh well. Time for the second lap. No brake torque, just a outright simple launch. Went throught the cones a bit faster and the end result was a 22.1 second time. Average. There were 3 people who beat me but two of them were cheating. You had to be at a FULL STOP before starting the course. These 2 were already at 10 to 15mph before tripping the start sequence. Then there was a 40+ year old lady who got 21.5 seconds on the track but she hit a couple of cones. So much for hand eye coordination!
Then it was time to go home. I was heading out to the parking lot and I saw one of the guys that was test driving. He said "you're right...the Lexus LS430 is the BEST car out on that lot!" My Dad asked if he was going to buy one and he said yes.
Chalk another one up for Lexus. And at a Cadillac sponsored event!
Percy
Glad to be back in my modded GS400.
ZERO cones hit in the drive!
Just had a chance to test drive quite a few cars. This was an event sponsored by Cadillac and Motor Trend. Of course, Motor Trend had to "plug" Cadillac and it's cars, but after the demo it was all fun!
Arlington Park in Illinois is where the event took place. HUGE parking lot for all of the horse racing fans and this was converted over to a 4 course driving test. Rules...you MUST wear a seatbelt and that any reckless driving will be reprimanded. This meant hitting too many cones or out of control skids, etc. The tracks had lots of high and low speed turns so you could really push the car. Some of the turns are so sharp that you literally had to almost stop the car in order to get control of the vehicle.
First up. BMW 540i automatic. After getting clearance from the track coordinator I immediately tromped on the throttle. Very good pickup and accelleration but as soon as I hit the first corner...woah...this thing handled PRECISELY. Steering feedback was excellent and so was the handling. Very taught suspension and little body roll. Excellent. Even through the very tight turns this car let you know exactly where you are. I didn't like the control arrangement though...lots of little tiny buttons and switches. Suspension was awesome though! The pedal/fly by wire system had to be improved though. About twice the delay that was present in the LS430.
Lincoln LS. What a piece of crap! Underpowered and the steering felt very overboosted. Almost no feedback through the wheel and it was like driving an old Buick. This was supposed to be a sporty car?!?! Yeesh.
Lexus LS430. INCREDIBLE. Very very very quiet with the buttery smooth 4.3 liter 290hp engine. Even with the sunroof open this car made almost NO noise. Even road noise has a hard time getting in. Pedal response was BETTER than the 540i and almost as fast in terms of accelleration. I expected a mushy and heavy body roll from the LS430 but NO. Handled quite well, a very close 2nd to the 540i! Steering feedback was quite good and everything melded together like a car was supposed to feel like. (IMO, of course!) Of all the cars on the track, this was my favorite. As soon as I got out of the car I suggested to 3 young ladies to drive the car. Their reaction was like "but...it's a Lexus". So, they hopped in and took a test run. The first young lady...as soon as she pulled up 10 feet into the track I could see a HUGE grin on her face. About 2 minutes later, she got out of the car, hopped up and down and said "I LOVE THAT CAR!!!!"
I didn't stick around to see the other ladies test drivng but I'm sure the response was similar.Mercedes S430. Why did I even bother?!?!? Heavy body roll, accelleration was quite a bit slower than the Lexus LS430. Steering felt vague. At times I thought I was going to hit a cone (or series of cones) due to the vague feedback. Blech.
Cadillac Catera. This was on a time lap test so I figured why not. You get two laps and that's it. Average time was 22.5 seconds for the course. If you beat 20.3 seconds (by a Motor Trend editor) then you get a Tshirt. First lap....big mistake. I tried to torque/brake the car, only to have it launch, squeal and kick in the traction control. This cost me BIG TIME. 26.6 seconds for the first lap due to the traction control shutting EVERYTIHING down. As soon as I pulled up you could see storm clouds above my head! I asked the lady if there was any way to defeat the traction control and she said no. Oh well. Time for the second lap. No brake torque, just a outright simple launch. Went throught the cones a bit faster and the end result was a 22.1 second time. Average.
There were 3 people who beat me but two of them were cheating. You had to be at a FULL STOP before starting the course. These 2 were already at 10 to 15mph before tripping the start sequence. Then there was a 40+ year old lady who got 21.5 seconds on the track but she hit a couple of cones. So much for hand eye coordination!Then it was time to go home. I was heading out to the parking lot and I saw one of the guys that was test driving. He said "you're right...the Lexus LS430 is the BEST car out on that lot!" My Dad asked if he was going to buy one and he said yes.
Chalk another one up for Lexus. And at a Cadillac sponsored event!
Percy
Glad to be back in my modded GS400.
ZERO cones hit in the drive!
Last edited by Percy; 06-03-01 at 10:17 PM.
06-04-01, 06:29 AM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Really surprised they were pushing a Catera... the Seville STS would do better, especially against an LS430, what were they thinking?
I've been to 3 of those types of events now - they're great!
I've been to 3 of those types of events now - they're great!
No Q?
06-04-01, 07:32 AM
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
GM Truck event
I went to a similar event in Tempe, AZ a few weeks ago sponsored by GM. It was a truck challenge and had 3 different courses: 1) dually towing course (skipped this one), 2) slalom course, and 3) off-road course.
My friend and I went through the off-road course first. We drove a Toyota Tundra v-8, GMC Yukon, and the Ford Expedition. The GMC did hold up the best in the course, especially on the offset dirt mound, where the Toyota and Ford hopelessly spun their 2 wheels (in 4wd mode only 2 wheels drive these trucks) but the GMC crawled right through because it had a locking rear differential. Pretty cool (and it made me really happy because I have one of these in my Tahoe and I didn't even know it!).
The slalom course was pretty cool too. They had a Lexus RX300, Olds Bravada (new), Toyota Highlander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chevy Trailblazer, and a few others. We drove the Olds through the track and it was really stable -- I was utterly surprised! The older model was a total piece of crap compared to this truck. The new 270HP I-6 really accelerated fast too! I couldn't believe this was a GM product (except for the typical cheapo radio controls).
Sorry, folks, but the Lexus RX300 just didn't even come close to the Olds that we drove. It was certainly a little more posh but didn't handle or accelerate nearly as fast as the Olds. I am a huge Lexus fan but am also a die-hard "a truck should be a truck" kind of person. I really don't like trucks that are built on a car platform, especially since I use my Tahoe for tuck duty - towing a boat. The Olds at least had a truck frame and could tow and haul a lot. The Lexus is just a fancy minivan without the minivan utility.
In my opinion, Lexus should stick to building cars as I think they build the best around...hence the reason for my GS purchase. But this is just my opinion.
Anyway, does anybody know if the Motor Trend challenge will travel to the Phoenix area? It sounds like a lot of fun! I'm just surprised that Caddy is attempting to compare the Catera to the BMW and Lexus. It doesn't even sound like a fair comparison...unless they were to bring over the Opel that the Catera is based on over from Europe and stop detuning the car for the USA. Supposedly the European Opel is a screamer.
Thx...Doug
My friend and I went through the off-road course first. We drove a Toyota Tundra v-8, GMC Yukon, and the Ford Expedition. The GMC did hold up the best in the course, especially on the offset dirt mound, where the Toyota and Ford hopelessly spun their 2 wheels (in 4wd mode only 2 wheels drive these trucks) but the GMC crawled right through because it had a locking rear differential. Pretty cool (and it made me really happy because I have one of these in my Tahoe and I didn't even know it!).
The slalom course was pretty cool too. They had a Lexus RX300, Olds Bravada (new), Toyota Highlander, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chevy Trailblazer, and a few others. We drove the Olds through the track and it was really stable -- I was utterly surprised! The older model was a total piece of crap compared to this truck. The new 270HP I-6 really accelerated fast too! I couldn't believe this was a GM product (except for the typical cheapo radio controls).
Sorry, folks, but the Lexus RX300 just didn't even come close to the Olds that we drove. It was certainly a little more posh but didn't handle or accelerate nearly as fast as the Olds. I am a huge Lexus fan but am also a die-hard "a truck should be a truck" kind of person. I really don't like trucks that are built on a car platform, especially since I use my Tahoe for tuck duty - towing a boat. The Olds at least had a truck frame and could tow and haul a lot. The Lexus is just a fancy minivan without the minivan utility.
In my opinion, Lexus should stick to building cars as I think they build the best around...hence the reason for my GS purchase. But this is just my opinion.
Anyway, does anybody know if the Motor Trend challenge will travel to the Phoenix area? It sounds like a lot of fun! I'm just surprised that Caddy is attempting to compare the Catera to the BMW and Lexus. It doesn't even sound like a fair comparison...unless they were to bring over the Opel that the Catera is based on over from Europe and stop detuning the car for the USA. Supposedly the European Opel is a screamer.
Thx...Doug
06-04-01, 04:41 PM
#5
Moderator - Electronics Forum
Thread Starter
Sorry, no Phoenix AZ location. They're going to Cleveland, Philadelphia, Washington DC, New York, Indianapolis and St. Louis.
Percy
Percy
06-04-01, 07:03 PM
#7
Forum Administrator
iTrader: (2)
MT Drive In Charlotte
I did the same drive in Charlotte about six months ago sponsored by MT and Cadillac.
They had it in the parking lot of the Hornet's Colliseum and set up three courses with three cars each.
First course was straight line accelleration w/ one sharp turn and some sand for braking. Think the cars were Lincoln LS (the lower end one), BMW 528 auto and some Caddy.
Second course was handling. Think the cars were the Catera, and two others which escape me.
Third course was the big boys, Lexus LS400 (yes, the 430 was just out and they didn't have it), Mercedes S430 and some big Caddy. Mostly handling, but had a wet stop in it.
Best part of it was the drivers that came along. Most of them taught at various driving schools and/or raced professionally. Had fun chatting with them - they'd seen me (GS400) my girlfriend (NSX) and a buddy (BMW) all drive up at the same time and new we would be a fun group. Once we got to know them, they let us trash the cars a bit more than usual.
Percy - the must have started running out of shirts lately, they gave each of us a nice embroidered MT golf shirt.
Fun time, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Looked it up on the MT website, here's some info:
_________________________________
This is not your ordinary test drive. It's a chance to compare the top-of-the-line models, side by side.
To get more information on this exciting opportunity, call our Test Drive Hotline toll-free at 800/MTR-TREND (800/687-8736). Or to register for a test drive near you, call 866/TEST-DRV (866-837-8378).
May 31 - June 3
Chicago Area
Arlington Park
Arlington Heights, Illinois
June 7-10
The I-X Center
Cleveland, Ohio
June 14-17
Philadelphia Park
Bensalem, Pennsylvania
June 21-24
Washington, D.C. Area
FedEx Field
Landover, Maryland
July 12-15
Belmont Park
Elmont, New York
July 19-22
Indianapolis, Indiana
July 26-29
The Family Arena
St. Charles, Missouri
August 2-5
Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers, New York
____________________________________
Maybe Mo can take the Swift GS sc out for the one in MD ? : )
They had it in the parking lot of the Hornet's Colliseum and set up three courses with three cars each.
First course was straight line accelleration w/ one sharp turn and some sand for braking. Think the cars were Lincoln LS (the lower end one), BMW 528 auto and some Caddy.
Second course was handling. Think the cars were the Catera, and two others which escape me.
Third course was the big boys, Lexus LS400 (yes, the 430 was just out and they didn't have it), Mercedes S430 and some big Caddy. Mostly handling, but had a wet stop in it.
Best part of it was the drivers that came along. Most of them taught at various driving schools and/or raced professionally. Had fun chatting with them - they'd seen me (GS400) my girlfriend (NSX) and a buddy (BMW) all drive up at the same time and new we would be a fun group. Once we got to know them, they let us trash the cars a bit more than usual.
Percy - the must have started running out of shirts lately, they gave each of us a nice embroidered MT golf shirt.
Fun time, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Looked it up on the MT website, here's some info:
_________________________________
This is not your ordinary test drive. It's a chance to compare the top-of-the-line models, side by side.
To get more information on this exciting opportunity, call our Test Drive Hotline toll-free at 800/MTR-TREND (800/687-8736). Or to register for a test drive near you, call 866/TEST-DRV (866-837-8378).
May 31 - June 3
Chicago Area
Arlington Park
Arlington Heights, Illinois
June 7-10
The I-X Center
Cleveland, Ohio
June 14-17
Philadelphia Park
Bensalem, Pennsylvania
June 21-24
Washington, D.C. Area
FedEx Field
Landover, Maryland
July 12-15
Belmont Park
Elmont, New York
July 19-22
Indianapolis, Indiana
July 26-29
The Family Arena
St. Charles, Missouri
August 2-5
Yonkers Raceway
Yonkers, New York
____________________________________
Maybe Mo can take the Swift GS sc out for the one in MD ? : )
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06-04-01, 08:09 PM
#8
Moderator - Electronics Forum
Thread Starter
DaveGS4,
No golf shirts or T-shirts here...just thick sweatshirts with the MotorTrend/Cadillac logo on it. Surprisingly, it was only 50 degrees on the day I test drove. This is what you get for June in Chicago. Next thing you know it'll probably snow in July and have a 60 degree day on Christmas.
(The latter has happened in 1983...64 degrees!)
Percy
No golf shirts or T-shirts here...just thick sweatshirts with the MotorTrend/Cadillac logo on it. Surprisingly, it was only 50 degrees on the day I test drove. This is what you get for June in Chicago. Next thing you know it'll probably snow in July and have a 60 degree day on Christmas.
(The latter has happened in 1983...64 degrees!)Percy
06-04-01, 08:27 PM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Re: GM Truck event
Originally posted by dgangi
... Sorry, folks, but the Lexus RX300 just didn't even come close to the Olds that we drove. ... The Lexus is just a fancy minivan without the minivan utility.
... Sorry, folks, but the Lexus RX300 just didn't even come close to the Olds that we drove. ... The Lexus is just a fancy minivan without the minivan utility.
So you're in a minority I'd say!
As for Olds, GM's announced the death of the division, just as Olds apparently had a pace car for and the winner of, the Indy 500... what a crazy company.
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