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20 15Corvette
FordStingray
Friday, August 28, 2015
B01
SPECIAL SECTION courtesy of the SURREY NOW Your journey starts here.
Your journey starts here.
Focus ST
Drive it and you’ll wonder why it doesn’t cost more
Here though, It’s no wallflower, shouting itsit’s as good inside as out. The seats are the biggest comfortable Everything else to now tastes like styrofoam. intentions the world improvement, enough for a cruise to Bowling Seriously, one splash of ‘Vette hot sauce BY BRENDAN McALEER
brendanmcaleer@gmail.com
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Tweet: @brendan_mcaleer
and even a tuner car starts feeling like the turbocharger fell off.
Green while bolstered enough for a quick autocross session.
Add in swathes of leather, an This is GM’s flagship, the best thing they a little theit’s small for some instrument panel that doesn’t make (that isn’t a truck). Foron years beenside a @brendan_mcaleer justcar look up-to-date but is performance benchmark that many respected duties, and strapping in a rear actually – even while complaining about the seats. seat gets a bit onerous as the rear ahead of the curve, and easy to use infotainment, and Well, they’ve fixed the seats, and the entire interior. parcel shelf is tricky to remove. sized and practical you’ve got a real winner. Looking And everything else is better too. ing around children around for things to complain Apart from that, it’s a regular Even though this version of the General’s ballistic roceries. littleashatch, and that means about, a simple map-button to pull up missile should be tame, equipped it is with satellite the navigation would be nice, but really, seatsitfor a hockey navigation and an automatic folding transmission, is not. It’s Corvette now has the interior quality and a beast, a fry-your neurons machine withora room removable practice, enough to the look to match its price. ? roof and a push-button starter.
pick up three friends from the Sit in one, and you don’t even need to drive it to see why airport. Let whom The Chevrolet However, it’s stillever all is your an over boosted Corvette is all-new. it’s a $60-90,000 car. Drive it though, and you’ll wonder old-school too – and that’s a good best thing. friend ride up front. g brakes, punchy why it doesn’t cost more. likeDesign: a disgruntled The front Recaros for both driver Performance: lete More withangular seats that than ever, Chevy’s design team tookare thesome of the and passenger Did I say cruiser? I meant cruise missile. Dawdling along Mustangs. curving cues of past Corvettes most and basically threw them aggressive seats ever fitted to a
Throw the Stingray through a few corners or around a skidpad, and it’s equally wonderful, despite not having the catlike quickness available with the handling package. There are multiple modes for both traction control and driveline management, suspension and brake-based torque but you best be ginger on the vectoring give the ST a chance to really throttle if you completely defeat bite into the corner then scrabble the traction and control. In the dry, it’ll out the spin other The more theside. tires from a rest without aggressive you In are, itmake hesitation. thethe wethappier – well, just yourthe lifebigger insurance up tobill. date. getssure – and theis tire And for all that madness, the new Stingray is That’s not all. Most hot hatchbacks something of a pussycat. It’ll make distance easily, display nice safe understeer if is relatively quiet at speed (road noise splits the difference you push them a and bit hard. between the old 997 Porsche 911 the newFord, 991), and on the other hand, has will even return liveable fuel economy onengineered the highway.
in lift-off oversteer into their little
in lift-off into their little It’s wonderful, all the oversteer best of the old and the new hooligan. Pop off the accelerator combined together. Sell your kids and buy a Night Race sharply Blue one with themid-corner, stick-shift. and the back end comes around like its on casters. This
Features: on the Sea-to-Sky behind your usual oblivious rental RV, out the window. This new Stingray is all sharp cuts and behaviour feels tamed compared to the mainstream car. The side-bolstering is lane opened up. I judged the gap, figured a brief passing acts overseas, but Chevy’s MyLink system anchors the infotainment for pointy bits, an arrowhead chipped from obsidian. first editions of the ST, but is still present and was big enough, the Corvette, and is simple and easy to use, with nice huge, to the point that someiteveryday users walked on the accelerator. tting used to these. still something youbuttons. won’t find elsewhere. I think it looks great apart from the very front end: big touchscreen It includes the Siri system to might actually find it a tad uncomfortable. If you think “Mustang,” Under the Corvette’s long hood, a bomb went off. there’s something just a bit too frog-like about that control compatible phones. hitevery the twisty bits,ofthough, they’re wonderful, youcar isn’t some Overall, usable hatchback grille. is The all-aluminum 6.2Lkeeping LT1 V8 in this high- it’s a faster and more thrilling driving experience straight-across However, other facet this firmly strapped in place. than morefigures buttoned-down Germanic Fuel the economy for the automatic-equipped thing is a masterpiece, from the quad-exhaust trumpets strung, rev-needy turbine. It feels like it was built by the you get from ‘Vette are set atradar 8.1L/100kms on the highway, andseat competition. Fly under the in the latter, or by the out back to the historic-inspired side-badge to the vents people who produced the B-17 Flying Fortress and Indy 500 MyFord Touch continues to improve, but can still be cus RS currently 14.6L/100kms in the city.choice. If you’re driving it quickly on a in the hood that let out wavy heat in the cool air. of this thing: it’s your winners and Bonneville Salt Flat racers. It feels like ityour was pants in considered to be the Achilles’ heel of the Focus. Screen ng power output lonely road, it’ll burn far more fuel, but will easily match engineered by hot rodders and computer scientists alike, and This particular tester is spec’d as a something of a cruiser, fonts are small, and a bit of awhen reach while on the move. at the regular Features:the highway mileage on the way there. you poke it with a stick it wakes up in a hurry. fitted with staggered, split-spoke 19” and 20” alloys front
does it work as an
However, voice commands work far better than on the
The optional go-faster and back, without having the Z51 performance package. this year, the Corvette gets a new eight-speed Green stripes Light: from Ford add a hundred system’s original rollout, andFor while the learning curve is a If it were my ‘Vette, I’d be spending money on the go-fast horsepower each proven fact. comfortable seats and greatly automatic transmission with paddle-shifters that’s the Power!; great styling; steep, system with familiarity. stuff and leaving the shiny bitsbit on the table.the Still, even theworks well equal of that found in the Jaguar F-Type. But heck, you improved fit and finish; all around performance Besides that, the ST is very well equipped standard, with most-basic Corvette looks the business. could hook that V8 up to a Conestoga wagon and it’d Performance: d news for the ST Stop Sign: the only real options being navigation and a package make the thing scoot. Environment: A handfulclimate in the wet; limitedand storage with targa roof off; Under the Focus’ new hood is the familiar 2.0L he Focus recently containing dual-zone control a 10-speaker 455hp comes snarling out almost immediately, with a But then, did. The problem seating position still a little high turbocharged engine, punching out 252hp and 270lb-ft ew front endthey andpretty much always audio upgrade. The latter is as punchy as the ST’s torque peak of 470lb-ft rocketing you forward. The nose with the Corvette for the last several decades hasn’t of torque. Much more than what’s offered from‘Vette rivals at you dust offturbocharged hts now include engine, but subtracts trunk space with a rearThe Checkered Flag: lifts in pure old-school fashion, everyone been the looks or the performance, but the way the VW or Honda, the ST’s straight-line performance is strong, andinterior a power bulge A full modernized and updated take on the Corvette, all mounted in sight, and then you look down at the speedometer and subwoofer. was always a bit of a let-down. Step inside and punctuated by more than a hint torque steer scrabble. without losing the car’s rowdy soul. applyof the brakes quickly. Holy Dinah: it’s a ‘Vette all right. you could see where the cost-cutting came from.
Official fuel economy figures for the ST are quite good at 7129358 As a highway car, the no-shift passing response is very re pretty tame – the 7.3L/100kms on the highway, and 10.2L/100kms in the good. Lots of low-end torque means you can just leave the nteel machine. city. Observed real-world economy is really going to depend T ASand just let your left foot gear ng its intentions toDonation manual-only shifter in top L on how often you ignore the upshift indicator and just floor CE the 18” alloys and With Each Car Sold or make HANfrom C get you up to speed. Road noise mborghini-ish centreit, but the ST can handle a gentle commute without being your own donation in store performance tires is less intrusive ENDSthan in a Subaru WRX. s. too painful at the pump. 1 3 G U A However, the ST doesn’t really wake up until the road gets ng. On the negative 1-888-854-2634 Green Light: twisty. The advantage of having a dedicated European ng. That centrewww.peacearchtoyota.com #30377 Characterful, engagingDealer drive; usable passenger and cargo performance arm for decades that Ford’s hatchback See is Main Ad On Pg 3 who would wish to 3174 KING GEORGE BLV, SURREY space; grippy seats offerings have been fighting off a much larger competitive arket offerings look segment than we experience in North America. Here, we
$200
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