September-October 2017
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news & features September-October 2017 A Week With 2017 Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Grand Touring .....................10 A new take on the retractable hardtop. By Joe Sage Vehicle Awards Event NWAPA Drive Revolution 2017 A......................................13 Energy efficient and advanced technology vehicle awards. Performance Hillbank Motor Corporation B............................................14 Shelby, Superformance, Caterham and adrenaline under one roof. New Vehicle Launch Drive 2018 Jeep® Grand Cherokee Trackhawk C.....................16 What happens when you adapt the Hellcat engine to a luxury SUV? You get more than the sum of its parts. By Joe Sage A Week With 2017 BMW 530i Sedan ........................................................21 New Vehicle Launch Drive 2018 Kia Rio D....................................................................22 Reengineered subcompact with European roots. By Joe Sage Motorsports Phoenix Raceway: rebuild / NASCAR / IndyCar E ...........25 $178 million redevelopment update and upcoming race info. Business / Technology ChargePoint Arizona support center expansion F.........26 Electric vehicle growth gets a boost as ChargePoint opens a new driver and customer support center in Arizona. By Joe Sage A Week With 2017 Kia Niro Touring .........................................................29 A Week With 2017 Land Rover Discovery HSE Luxury..........................31 Vehicle Brand Event FCA “What’s New 2018” G................................................32 We travel to Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan for a look at everything new for next year from FCA. By Joe Sage Special Event 3rd Annual Grand Prix of Scottsdale info H....................37 New Vehicle Launch Drive 2018 Hyundai Sonata I ....................................................38 Midsize sedan lineup gets updated stem to stern. By Joe Sage A Week With 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Ti Sport......................................40 ARIZONA FLYER MAGAZINE Breitling DC-3 World Tour stops in Scottsdale J ...........43 This venerable aircraft makes a stop at the Scottsdale Airport during a round-the-world Guinness World Records attempt. Business / Technology Waymo autonomous testing with Chandler PD/FD K .....44 You’re wondering about sharing the roads with self-driving vehicles? So are police, fire and ambulances, and with the help of Chandler emergency services, systems are being perfected. New Vehicle Launch Drive 2018 Hyundai Elantra GT / Elantra GT Sport L .............46 The hot hatch segment gains another potent competitor as Hyundai moves the Elantra into this space. By Joe Sage Special Events Monterey and Pebble Beach followup M ........................48 Concours, auction and manufacturer reveal highlights. A Week With 2017 Kia Sorento SXL AWD ...............................................51 Vehicle Event 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV N ................................................53 We take this fun package to the lake, as sales start in Arizona. A Week With 2017 Volvo V90 Cross Country T6 AWD O .....................54 Revisiting the route used in the vehicle’s launch. By Joe Sage A Week With 2017 Subaru Impreza 2.0i Premium 5-Door......................57 A Week With 2017 Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring AWD..............................59 departments ■ FROM THE PUBLISHER....................................4 ■ AUTOMOTIVE NEWS UPDATE ...........................6 ■ THE INSIDE TRACK: BRIEFS & RUMORS ........60 ■ UPCOMING FEATURES ...................................62 COVER: Mazda MX-5 Miata RF Grand Touring, their new retractable hardtop convertible. START YOUR ENGINES : FROM THE PUBLISHER MAGAZINE very year, technophiles go crazy over one or two new smartphones, parsing every E rumor of a revised button for months, then standing in line to spend a few hundred PUBLISHER / EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Joe Sage bucks on the latest. The automotive industry meanwhile launches several hundred new CONTRIBUTING WRITERS / PHOTOGRAPHERS: models each year, each with tens of thousands of parts, each integrating science, tech- Becky Antioco, Kristin Barclay, Randall Bohl, Nick Calderone, Jason Fogelson, Tyson Hugie, Stephanie Jarnagan, nology, art and innovation on levels far more complex, all capable of propelling their mul- Jennifer Johnson, Christina Lawrie, Sue Mead, tiple tons and human occupants at extremely high speed. As you cautiously upgrade your JP Molnar, Vincent Nguyen, Doris Ong, Brenda Priddy, Tim and Kristin Sharp, Cathy Smith, Dave Stall, phone and hope you can downgrade the OS if it doesn’t work right, remember that on a Scott Tilley, Sherri Tilley, Jan Wagner, Kevin A Wilson moving vehicle, out in all sorts of weather, it all absolutely has to work ARIZONA DRIVER MAGAZINE It’s almost hard to recall a time when the instrument panel amounted to basically a PO Box 13387, Scottsdale AZ 85267 steel plate and a keyhole. A new vehicle has all the connectivity of a smartphone built in, Advertising: 480-948-0200 www.arizonadrivermagazine.com plus an increasingly complex system of lane-keeping, autonomous braking, smart cruise ■ facebook.com/ArizonaDriverMagazine and more, with such previous breakthroughs as anti-lock brakes and rear cameras now ■ twitter.com/ArizonaDriver ■ second nature. Basic mechanicals have become exponentially more complex in the instagram.com/ArizonaDriver ARIZONA DRIVER MAGAZINE IS A MEMBER OF: quests for light weight, fuel efficiency, near-zero emissions and ever more power. Imagine IMPA ......International Motor Press Association 200 or more engine parts spinning at 6000 rpm—that’s over a million movements per MAMA....Midwest Automotive Media Association MPG .......Motor Press Guild min ute. Snap your finger. The ignition and valve assemblies in your engine go through NWAPA..Northwest Automotive Press Association their motions a staggering 400 times per second. Can your phone do this? PAPA ......Phoenix Automotive Press Association RMAP.....Rocky Mountain Automotive Press Simultaneously, the industry is hard at work on entirely new propulsion technologies— SAMA.....Southern Automotive Media Association which we visit in this issue from EVs and hybrids, to businesses and awards—and with TAWA .....Texas Auto Writers Association USFRA....Utah Salt Flats Racing Association the ongoing drive not to drive, visited in this issue as Chandler emer- USMA.....United States Motorsports Association gency services work on coexistence with autonomous vehicles. WAJ .......Western Automotive Journalists Meanwhile, classics and pure power still have their place—from PUBLISHED BIMONTHLY BY ADZONE ARIZONA LLC All contents © AdZone Arizona LLC and Arizona Driver high-performance supercars, to collector auctions and shows, to the Magazine. All rights reserved. Any scanning, down load ing and/or physical or electronic sharing of any part of this latest developments at the track, all also in this issue. publication without prior written permission of the pub lisher Enjoy the ride. constitutes theft of intellectual property. Arizona Driver Magazine, Arizona Rider Magazine, Joe Sage - Publisher/ Executive Editor Arizona Flyer Magazine and Arizona Boater Magazine Photo: Brenda Priddy are registered tradenames of AdZone Arizona LLC. 4 • September-October 2017 • ARIZONADRIVER 19 percent VAT). Market launch will start will even find its own way from the pro- equipped with mild hybrid technology—a with 163-hp X220d and 190-hp X250d duction line to its new owner,” says big step in mainstreaming hybrid technol - diesel engines, as well as a 165-hp gaso- Markus Schäfer, Member of the Divisional ogies—for a combination of refined run- line engine in select markets, all with Board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, Production ning, enhanced performance and greater 4MATIC all-wheel drive. Three trim styles and Supply Chain. The Sindelfingen plant fuel efficiency. The engineering basis is a lizer bar for improved braking and han- 48-volt electrical system, which will be 2018 Jaguar dling, and 18-inch alloy wheels with all-ter- Mercedes-Benz the primary electrical system for the first E-PACE rain tires. An upfit-ready interior features a X-Class time in the next Audi A8. The mild hybrid column shifter, center-seat delete, heavy- drive includes a watercooled 48-volt belt duty cloth front seats with slim bolsters alternator starter (BAS), complementing and anti-stab plates, vinyl rear seating and the conventional pinion starter needed heavy-duty vinyl flooring for easy cleanup. only for cold starts; and a lithium-ion bat- A high-output 240-amp alternator supports tery in the trunk as the energy accumula- on-board electrical devices. Instruments tor for the mild hybrid electric vehicle include a police-calibrated speed ometer, (MHEV), with a 10 Ah charge carrier ca - and en gine hour and idle hour meters. pac ity. The BAS benefit is clear when a Under body skid plates protect the truck driver approaches a traffic light or round- from curbs and rough terrain. A Class IV about: if the light turns green while the hitch gives 7,000-pound tow capacity. The vehicle is coming to a stop or if a gap F-150 Police Responder joins a lineup in- appears in the circle, and the driver lets cluding the Police Responder Hybrid Se - up on the brake, the engine starts imme- ▼ The new Jaguar E-PACE five-seat and tradeplates, roof rails, Con fig urable dan (the first pursuit-rated hybrid police for the interior include six seat surface is now piloting the possible use of the sys- diately and the car accelerates without com pact performance util ity follows the Dynamics, gesture-controlled