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here’s where it gets interesting. The flat-six engine (or H6, as Subaru calls it) is already a tight fit in the Tribeca’s engine bay. Since the H6 is a horizontally opposed layout, any significant increase in crankshaft stroke would result in engine-block deck-height increases that would make the engine too wide to fit in the existing structure. The problem was exacerbated by typically thrifty computer-aided engine design, which left minimal space between the engine’s cylinder bores. Subaru calculated that it could safely increase the bore size from 89.2mm to 92.0mm, but that change would have bumped the displacement to only 3191cc. Subaru needed more than that for the performance improvements it was seeking, so it came up with a novel way of increasing piston stroke without raising the cylinder deck height. The answer was an asymmetrical connecting-rod design (which looks somewhat like a lamb chop) that permits the piston to travel farther downward into the crankcase and increases the effective stroke from 80mm to 91mm. Increasing both bore and stroke has resulted in a 3.6-liter engine, a growth of 0.6 liter, with substantial gains in power and torque. The new engine produces 256 horsepower at 6000 rpm versus 250 at 6600 in the previous engine. But torque now peaks at 247 pound-feet at 4400 rpm versus 219 at 4200, and about 180 pound-feet are now available at engine speeds as low as 1200 rpm… During the engineering redesign process—which pared about 10 pounds off the engine’s weight—Subaru altered the cooling system from one where cylinders receive the coolant flow sequentially to one where separate ducts provide each cylinder with its own fresh supply. This more-equal cooling strategy allowed the engineers to advance the spark timing by one degree, yielding six pound-feet of torque in the process. The overall improvement in torque delivery permitted revisions to the transmission torque converter and shifting strategies, greatly reducing the amount of hunting and downshifting that is considered annoying by current Tribeca owners…. The larger motor is quite prolific, with increased torque all through the rev range, making squirting through the mountains south of Palm Springs, California, a brisk affair. – Car and Driver

the R8 has a delicious, tip-toe poise and a stubborn reluctance to be thrown off line. While it feels different to a 911, it shares the Porsche’s sense of a malleable, elastic limit, which you can lean on when required. That’s always been something only the boys from Stuttgart seemed to understand. Until now… half a dozen increasingly spirited laps reveal the full extent of the R8’s forgiving nature and exploitable balance… More to the point, its also tidier and more controllable than a 911 C4S is on track. – evo

In profile the Infiniti G37 and BMW 3 series coupes look oddly similar. Here’s Automobile’s take on what sets them apart from behind the wheel (it’s the classic case of balancing refinement vs. sterility).

[the G37’s] neutral chassis balance and tight body control gave us a dose of perma-grin. In fact, its body motions were better controlled than the sport-pack BMW 335i that Infiniti brought along for comparison. The G37’s limited-slip rear differential made sure it avoided the frustrating inside wheelspin that plagued the BMW, and the suspension heaved less over the big bumps strategically placed on the track. With that said, the G37 mule’s steering didn’t communicate with the driver as well as BMW’s rack, and it didn’t do nearly as good a job at filtering out unwanted vibrations. (It should be said that it is, however, a vast improvement over the old car’s steering, which transmitted as much vibration as it did road feel). The G37 didn’t feel quite as fast as the BMW, nor did its V-6 sound quite as melodic as the 335i’s twin-turbo straight six, especially in the car, where the VQ’s NVH gremlins reared their ugly little heads.

Click here for a link to a video from Car and Driver.

Scroll down on this page for a refreshingly visual discussion of cam timing and lift…

The mid eighties to mid 90s E class had 195/65R15 tires, a slop free torque converter, a bulkhead between the rear seats and trunk, a tight turning ciircle and long suspension travel. The original Q45 had sticky 215/65R16s, faultless ergonomics, a NASCAR worthy soundtrack and a firmly damped multilink front and rear suspension let you dance the car around like it was half its size and weight. The last 5 series had lots of aluminum in the suspension, comparatively baloony, high profile tires, and a variable rack – the combo made for a car that glided over bumps despite its low slung stance and sniffed corners like a Roomba.

Until Mercedes, BMW or another carmaker does the same, those cars will continue to be the standards by which I judge any sedan.

The Legacy has been around for years but buyers have rarely paid it much attention. That should change with this model… handling is exceptional. It corners with composure and gives the driver plenty of confidence thanks to high reserves of grip; what’s more, it adopts the same neutral attitude no matter how slippery the road surface. Yet such prowess does not come either at the expense of ride quality, which is smooth… [The engine] may lack a little low-down pull but [is] punchy and silky smooth at high-revs, was well as sounding ‘expensive’... Overall, the new Legacy deserves a closer look, particularly as pricing matches [fleet car] models and seriously undercuts the BMW 3 Series it is, in many ways, more than a match for. – AutoExpress

Note: the only 3 things keeping this car from greatness are 1) a 4 speed auto in 2.5i models, 2) the lack of stability control on anything but the SpecB model and 3) that the ‘07 models body’s been weakened by the inclusion of standard folding rear seats. (That’s something the engineers did away with in 2000 for safety, refinement and performance reasons – apparently the marketers insisted that’s less important than the easy sell.)

I posted some time ago that I’m expecting huge things from Hyundai’s upcoming rear-drive flagship. This could be the most obsessively engineered, biggest bang-for-the-buck sport sedan since one of my all-time favorites, the ‘91 Infiniti Q45 (you know, the one that was the purest expression of the engineers’ art – before the marketers softened it up and slapped a grill on it).

Here is an excerpt from an update by MT’s unimpeachable imported editor, Angus Mackenzie :

For a company with a reputation for fast-tracking new models at a pace that makes even the Japanese dizzy, the BH has been a long time coming-more than five years, in fact. But that doesn’t mean Hyundai has been slacking; Concept Genesis is on its second exterior (the previous design was scrapped, after the hugely expensive tooling process had been started) and third chassis setup (the rear axle was upgraded from a four-link configuration to five-link only last year)...The lower control arm is pressed steel, but all the other links are forgings. The compact coil springs are mounted separate from the shocks, which are located to the body by way of aluminum castings. The front suspension features a short/long-arm setup executed entirely in forged aluminum, with large cast-aluminum top mounts for improved precision and rigidity...Insiders claim the car’s body-in-white, rich in ultra-high-tensile steel, isn’t only lighter than that of a 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Lexus LS, but also has 12- to 14-percent-higher dynamic torsional rigidity... The V-8 drives the rear wheels via ZF’s smooth 6HP26 six-seed automatic transmission.

The clutch is snappy quick, the brakes are abrupt, the steering is darty, the ride is nasty… The quickness of the controls is fun right up to when is not. Out in the twisties the mood turns edgy, particularly when the road lurches up and down. The too-sudden brakes pitch the tail up, the steering bites ravenously into turns, the suspension abruptly unloads a corner, and the path gets uh-oh... Let’s just say the Mini is great fun if you think it is.

NOTE: Journalists so rarely take into account how the test car’s equipment changes their ‘rank’ and here there is no mention of whether the test car had the firmer suspension or not (it’s no longer standard on the S).