THE CARS THAT SURPRISED US IN 2017 Occasionally, we come across cars that exceed our expectations; here are a few of them:
Throughout the year, your friendly auto experts here at Driving put our butts in a lot of cars. And while we all keep open minds about performance, there are certain givens that we know to be true: Supercars are fast, pickups can haul and subcompacts are thrifty on fuel. But every so often, we come across a vehicle that has us shaking our heads in wonder.
Here are some of the ones that took us by surprise.
JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE TRACKHAWK
Sport utes weighing more than 2,400 kilograms shouldn’t be this fast. Sure, Jeep’s Grand Cherokee Trackhawk is essentially a Hellcat for the 4x4 crowd, with a 707-horsepower, supercharged 6.2-litre V-8 stuffed under the hood, but still, being pinned to the seat as the beast blasts to 100 kilometres an hour in 3.7 seconds is beyond reasonable expectations.
More to the point, 2,400-kg UVs shouldn’t be able to tackle race circuits, especially one with four kilometres of fresh tarmac, 15 turns and an elevation change of some 80 metres, which describes New Hampshire’s Club Motorsports, a private facility that just recently opened.
With way more finesse than expected, the $110,000 uber-Jeep blasted along the pit straight at about 200 km/h. As Turn One loomed, I nailed the brakes — 15.75-inch, two-piece vented rotors with six-piston calipers up front and 13.78-inch vented rotors with four-piston calipers at the back — released and then clipped the apex. The Trackhawk took the proper line like a champ and then asked for more. The other 14 turns were more of the same.
On the road, the Trackhawk is both surprisingly docile and stylistically restrained. But, as I said after the drive, this Jeep is “a 45-gallon drum of whoop-ass just waiting to be released.” Brian Harper
HONDA CIVIC TYPE R
The Honda Civic Type R was definitely the biggest surprise. Perhaps my expectations were too low, because so many auto writers suspected the Type R would not be much more than a quicker Civic Si. But 30 seconds into a drive at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, it became clear the Type R was indeed a special Honda Civic: light on its feet and able to rip up a race track just as well as performance cars costing twice as much. The bigger delight was just how much fun the Type R was to drive fast with its strong Brembo brakes, rev-matching downshifts, accurate steering and excellent handling
That Honda OK’d a car like this for production, and was able to bring it to market for $40,000, is a testament to some genuine performance blood that had been missing from Honda for a long time. Derek McNaughton
BMW M760LI XDRIVE
When given the opportunity to strafe the mountain passes of the Alps, an extended-wheelbase limousine is not the first car to come to mind with which to enjoy those harrowing hairpin corners. Four-wheel steering and air suspension, among other tidbits, help the 5,248-mmlong, 2,326-kg M760Li take corners like a smaller, lighter coupe, so much so that it was difficult holding myself in the supple-leather driver’s seat around tight bends on steep declines. With virtually no understeer, sharp, controlled swings of the rear end around corners, and brakes equally up to the task of hauling this luxury leviathan down from speed, the entire handling package was unexpected.
And if the handling was unexpected, the acceleration was downright shocking. You get that with a 600-hp V-12 nestled in between the front wheels.
And back down on the autobahn in Germany? Officially, the M760Li is listed with a 3.7-second zeroto-100 km/h time, but we were almost blowing the doors off the M2s and M6s that were accompanying us on the drive.
Who knew that a car with options such as a Champagne cooler and a perfume atomizer could be so much fun to drive? Neil Vorano
JEEP WRANGLER
I probably shouldn’t be so surprised that the newest-gen 2018 Jeep Wrangler in hard-core Rubicon guise can perform otherworldly off-road feats, but it’s hard to imagine you’re driving an “outof-the-box” production vehicle.
Despite this new Wrangler’s improved on-road civility, the 2018 Rubicon gets more ground clearance, better approach and departure angles, a tighter turning circle, new 33-inch all-terrain tires and 76 centimetres of water-fording capability. It takes a bit of prep to get the Rubicon two-door (starting at $46,345) ready for all this. First, you have to take the doors off and flip the windshield forward. OK, you don’t have to, but really, how cool is that? A button on the dash electronically disconnects the sway bars for ultimate axle articulation, and there’s still a good oldfashioned lever for engaging the Rock-Trac 4:1 transfer case with an improved 84:1 crawl ratio. Another toggle locks the front and rear differentials, and you’re good to go.
LEXUS LC 500H
The new Lexus LC 500h is good looking. It’s one of those cars that looks flat and distorted in two dimensions, and yet is all liquid and sinewy and startling in real life
When you get inside, the cockpit curves around you, the seat hugs your butt, and everything just feels spectacular.
It’s a hybrid, and its 354 horsepower is nowhere near supercar territory. And then you get in, and start it up, and hit the throttle, and holy crap. It’s fast. It’s smooth. It obeys your steering like it’s reading your mind. It’s perfectly balanced, it’s flat on the corners, it’s strong on the straightaway. Of course, it starts at $101,600, and for that it damn well should be good, but it really lives up to its promise. When I win the lottery, I’m getting one. Jil McIntosh