Ford vs. Ferrari, Again

Posted on by Derek Price
Cargazing
By Derek Price

While Americans are still pulling the shiny cellophane wrapper off 2024, car companies are already looking ahead to what’s next.

In Ford’s case, that means unveiling a new iteration of the timeless Mustang, and fortunately not another battery-powered one this time.

Called the Mustang GTD, Ford claims it can take on the best European sports cars with an obscenely high price tag to match, costing around $300,000. Production is expected to start late this year or early 2025.

At that price — roughly 10 times as much as a base EcoBoost Mustang — it had better beat European supercars on their home turf.

That’s exactly what Ford plans to do, targeting a sub-7-minute time around the legendary Nurburgring racetrack where the world’s most prestigious cars have been wrung out for decades.

How will it do that?

The GTD starts with something very familiar in Mustang history: raw horsepower.

 

Ford has announced the Mustang GTD, priced around $300,000, will be available late this year or early 2025. This street-legal care car is designed to take on Europe’s best sports cars.

Engineers are still tuning and refining a special 5.2-liter supercharged V8 to create the most powerful street-legal Mustang ever. They’re targeting 800 horsepower with a screaming redline of 7,500 RPM, although exact power figures aren’t released yet for this 2025-model-year supercar.

To break the 7-minute mark on the Nurburgring, the GTD needs a couple of things the Mustang isn’t historically known for: light weight and aerodynamic trickery.

On the first front, Ford already has plenty of experience from its racing division in how to shave pounds off for the track. Substantial use of carbon fiber in the body, cabin, driveshaft and other locations not only help to make it dramatically lighter than a standard Mustang but also give the GTD 50/50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles.

On the second front — aerodynamic trickery — Ford is doing things on the GTD that are banned in many forms of racing. It uses active systems and sensors to change the angle of the rear wing and open or close flaps under the front of the car to shape the air as needed. That helps to reduce drag for faster straightaways and add downforce for faster cornering, ultimately quickening its time around the ‘Ring.

At least part of its $300,000 price will be paying for all the testing Ford is doing with aerodynamic simulations on supercomputers and real-world tests at tracks such as Road Atlanta and Spa in Belgium.

Why go to all this trouble for a car that will never have mass-market appeal?

 

A hydraulic system can change the angle of the giant rear wing on the Mustang GTD, helping it go faster in straight lines and create more downforce in corners.

Part of it is bragging rights, of course, along with the warm marketing glow that can come from producing a seductive halo car like this.

Very few people can afford an 800-horsepower, street-legal race car made of carbon fiber, but it will help sell more attainable Mustangs at Ford dealers all across the American heartland.

Ford boss Jim Farley also sees its boundary-pushing creation as a model for how he wants the company to operate all the time.

“Mustang GTD represents the very best of Ford Motor Company and what our team needs to do every day,” Farley said. “This is what happens when we take what we’re good at and push the boundaries to see where the bubble stops.”

Apparently, that bubble stops somewhere in Europe, where the long Ford vs. Ferrari rivalry that has been chronicled in books and movies continues brewing in the present day.

At A Glance

Expected price: Approximately $300,000
Engine: 5.2-liter supercharged V8 (targeting 800 hp)
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch
Oiling system: Dry sump
Front suspension: Multimatic ASV dampers with unequal-length control arms
Rear suspension: Multilink, push-rod style setup with inboard-mounted ASV dampers and coil springs
Brakes: Brembo brake calipers with carbon-ceramic rotors

PREDICTED RATINGS

Style: 7
Performance: 10
Price: 2
Handling: 10
Ride: 2
Comfort: 3
Quality: 7
Overall: 8

Why buy it?
It’s a modern-day twist on the Ford vs. Ferrari storyline. Ford is creating the GTD to take on the best European sports cars on their own turf.

Posted in Ford

A Thorough Update

Posted on by Derek Price
Cargazing
By Derek Price

Volkswagen is an expert at making crisp, firm, fun-to-drive cars that feel like they’re built to blast down the autobahn without costing a fortune.

When does that philosophy not make sense? When you’re driving a three-row SUV the size of small bus.

Fortunately, VW eschews its typical sporty feel in its biggest, made-for-America SUV, the Atlas. This gargantuan family hauler is mercifully soft and compliant, even with 21-inch rapper wheels that can spoil the suppleness in some of its competitors.

The upside is that you can get the spunky look and feel of a Volkswagen in a massive, road-trip-friendly SUV.

The downside is that, compared to the rest of VW’s lineup, the Atlas is a bit boring. It drives with a blandness that matches its giant-box styling, almost exactly like a slew of practical, three-row SUVs it wrestles with in the marketplace.

 

The Volkswagen Atlas gets better with each update, including a thorough refresh for 2024.

Volkswagen is trying to make the Atlas stand out with a thorough update for 2024. It is so thorough, in fact, that I thought this might be an all-new design when I first climbed into the cabin and gazed at just how different and modern it looks compared to last year’s version.

Interior stylists hit a grand slam with this updated cabin. My SE-grade tester is sleek and eye-catching inside, almost a match for new Audis in terms of contemporary, tech-forward flashiness.

There’s just one problem. In their exuberance, designers picked style over substance for the Atlas’ revised button layout. Just like the new Golf, which has been widely criticized for the same problem, the refreshed Atlas has touch-sensitive buttons in place of traditional mechanical buttons and knobs.

That means the process can feel fussy if you want to do something simple, like adjust the temperature. I constantly found myself fiddling with it to get the temperature setting right because the buttons were either unresponsive, over responsive, or impossible to see at night.

 

The Atlas gets a fresh, thoroughly updated cabin this year. It has a more upscale feel, even on the base SE version priced under $38,000.

That’s right. Some important buttons aren’t backlit, which might have been borderline acceptable in 1984 but definitely not in 2024.

Aside from those user-interface oversights, the refreshed interior is spectacular. Materials and construction feel solid and expensive, despite the Atlas’ value-oriented pricing.

In addition to the heavily revamped cabin, VW also makes a major change to the Atlas’ powertrain lineup for 2024.

Gone is the old six-cylinder VR6 engine that was available as an option previously. A 2.0-liter turbocharged engine is the only one available this year, and for good reason. It’s a better choice.

The revised turbo engine makes more power than last year’s base model. With 269 horsepower, it’s impressively quick for such a hefty vehicle while still earning a 27-mpg highway rating.

Pricing starts at $37,995 for the base SE grade, which is one of the best bang-for-the-buck SUVs I’ve tested in the past year. It tops out at $52,890 for the SEL Premium R-Line model.

At A Glance

What was tested? 2024 Volkswagen Atlas SE ($37,725). Options: None. Price as tested (including $1,350 destination charge): $39,075
Wheelbase: 117.3 in.
Length: 200.7 in.
Width: 88.5 in.
Height: 70.4 in.
Engine: Turbocharged 2.0-liter four cylinder (269 hp, 273 lbs.-ft.)
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel economy: 20 city, 27 highway

RATINGS

Style: 8
Performance: 7
Price: 7
Handling: 7
Ride: 8
Comfort: 8
Quality: 6
Overall: 7

Why buy it?
A thorough update makes the Atlas feel impressively modern, especially on the inside. It has a premium feel with an affordable price for such a roomy, powerful SUV.

Posted in Volkswagen

Muddying the Waters

Posted on by Derek Price
Cargazing
By Derek Price

From what I can tell, Mazda is intentionally trying to confuse people with its newest small crossover.

It calls its creation the CX-50, not to be mixed up with the CX-5, which dealers still peddle alongside the CX-50 in the same showrooms for roughly the same price.

A better name would be the Befuddle or the Confound. And its name — which implies its replacement will eventually move the decimal again to create the CX-500, followed someday by names that use scientific notation — is only part of the confusion.

For some background, Mazda has spent decades building cars chiefly around one goal: being fun to drive. They’re reliable, sure, and a good value, but the thing that really sets Mazdas apart from the pack is the way they feel to people who love driving.

That’s why I’ve long recommended buyers make their first stop at the Mazda store when they want something both emotionally rewarding and logical, sort of like a BMW that doesn’t break so often. It’s also why I continue to spend a small fortune maintaining and restoring my first-generation Miata, the best car ever made.

 

The Meridian Edition is designed for people who want to take their Mazda CX-50 off-roading. It comes with all-terrain tires, hood graphics and the ability to add outdoor accessories.

Instead of doubling down on its horse-and-rider “Jinba-ittai” philosophy, though, Mazda is positioning the CX-50 is as something ‘Mericans will take off-roading. It uses phrases such as “rugged and capable” and “active lifestyles” to, I suppose, sway Jeep people into the Mazda fold.
I’m not sure that’s going to work, though. It’s the equivalent of Jeep releasing a sports car they tested at Fuji Speedway and hoping we Miata people will jump ship.

That’s how I find myself in the highly improbable position of testing a Mazda that looks like a Hot Wheels safari truck, complete with paint the color of Sahara sand and a giant roof rack on top.

My tester is called the CX-50 Meridian Edition, and it comes with 18-inch all-terrain tires and flashy graphics on the hood. You also can fit it with a long list of outdoor accessories, including a giant roof platform ($899) that can attach bikes, kayaks, skis and surfboards but also adds hurricane-like wind noise at highway speed.

Other options for the rooftop include a tent for camping ($1,899), an attachment to carry a bike ($310), cargo box ($750), kayak carrier ($350), luggage basket ($500), ski carrier ($350) and surfboard carrier ($200).

The Meridian Edition’s chunky all-terrain tires offer great traction on dirt but, not surprisingly, come at the expense of on-pavement handling. They make the CX-50’s firm, sporty suspension feel even firmer and add a bit of road noise, which isn’t an unusual tradeoff in an off-road vehicle.

 

A 10.3-inch touchscreen in the CX-50 has good visibility but is easiest to operate from Mazda’s rotary selector on the center console.

Its interior looks and feels spectacular, especially on high-end trim levels with their premium materials and pretty stitching.

A 10.3-inch screen is mounted in the perfect place for safety and easy visibility, up high on the center of the dash. It can operate by touch when using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but I found it easier to use Mazda’s rotary selector down low, where the driver’s hand naturally rests.

The base engine makes 187 horsepower, which is in line with most of its slow competitors and is designed for good fuel efficiency ratings of 24 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway.

My tester came with the upgraded turbocharged engine that makes an ample 256 horsepower while somewhat miraculously only knocking 1 mpg off the base car’s fuel economy.

Pricing for the 2024 Muddle — I’m sorry, CX-50 — starts at $30,300, or $1,000 more than its similarly sized CX-5 cousin. The more powerful Turbo version starts at $38,000, while the Turbo Premium Plus tops the lineup at $43,300.

At A Glance

What was tested? 2024 Mazda CX-50 Turbo Meridian Edition ($40,800). Options: Premium paint ($450), apex package ($1,235). Price as tested (including $1,375 destination charge): $43,860
Wheelbase: 110.8 in.
Length: 185.8 in.
Width: 75.6 in.
Height: 63.9 in.
Engine: 2.5-liter turbocharged four cylinder (256 hp, 320 lbs.-ft.)
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel economy: 23 city, 29 highway

RATINGS

Style: 9
Performance: 5
Price: 6
Handling: 5
Ride: 4
Comfort: 4
Quality: 8
Overall: 6

Why buy it?

The CX-50 is designed for people who want Mazda’s sporty driving characteristics with a bit more off-road capability.

Posted in Mazda

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