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MAMA Spring Outing 2003
By Larry Carley, copyright 2003The Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA) holds an event called the "MAMA Spring Collection" for automotive journalists to test drive new cars, trucks and SUVs, This year's event was held in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin at the Road America race track.
MAMA arranged for us to drive various vehicles to the track from Chicago. My ride was the new BMW Z4 sports coupe. I got the car the day before I had to leave for the event, so drove it around town some to get familiar with it before I left on the 160 mile road trip to Road America. When I pulled into our local Burger King, a woman at the drive-thru lane practically fell out of the window and yelled, "I love your car!" at the top of her lungs. Wow, talk about a chick magnet. Too bad she was about 50 years old and obviously a VERY lonely woman.
The BMW Z4 is a very slick-looking car, but so was the previous model. The car handles great and has plenty of zip, but on a long ride the stiff suspension gets rather tiring. I thought I was going to need a kidney transplant by the time I arrived at Road America.
On the track, the BMW Z4 was really in its environment. It didn't complain a bit, until one of the other journalists who took a turn behind the wheel over-revved the engine in the slalom course. The engine started making a nasty ticking sound so the BMW was sent home on a trailer.
MAMA had plenty of cars for us to play with at the two-day track and off-road driving event. The line-up included a wide selection of vehicles from Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. I don't have the space to talk about them all, so I'll share with you my favorites.
My favorite cars on the track were the 1994 Corvette Z06 Commemorative Editon, the Porsche Boxter S, and the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO. You expect great performance and handling from Corvettes and Porsches, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. But what realy surprised me was the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO. This car is turbocharged and comes on like gang busters. It doesn't look like much but wow does it perform! I'd highly recommend it to anyone (minus the oversized rear wing) who wants to buy a lot of driving bang for the buck. I think most of the other journalists who were there came away with the same impression. It was definitely the "Belle of the Ball."
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The Mitsubishi Lancer EVO turbo makes you feel like you're in the movie "The Fast and the Furious".
I had four favorite vehicles for the scenic highway portion of the driving event. The first three were all Jaguars. Nothing beats the ride and feel of a Jag. The X-Type with the V6, the S-Type with the V8 and the two-seat XK8 are a real pleasure to drive. The Jags all ride great, handle great and have plenty of power for passing almost anything on the road. If I were in the market to buy a new luxury car, a Jag would be my first choice.
My other favorite was the vehicle I drove home from the event, a BMW X5 SUV. I usually don't like SUVs because most are too big, too clunky, too-tippy, too bouncy, and burn too much gas. But the BMW Z5 certainly changed my impression of luxury SUVs. It was very comfortable, stable and smooth, and got reasonably good fuel economy on the trip home. My wife and kids were also very impressed with it. I liked it better than the Lexus RX330 SUV. Base price for the BMW Z5 is around $40,000 with the V6, around $50,000 with the V8, and around $60,000 with a super high performance V8.
Nothing beats the ride of a Jaguar, or the looks of this XK8.
Another vehicle that I really enjoyed was the Infinity G35. This car has it all, great looks, nice ride and handling, luxury and plenty of power. The two-door is roomy enough, but if I were buying one I'd probably get the slightly larger four-door.
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I don't have a photo here but the Mini Cooper S was my pick for the autocross event. The Mini sticks to the road like a go-cart, is seriously cute and surprisingly roomy inside. I wonder if Mr. Bean has traded in his only Mini for the new one yet?
Another vehicle that really stood out from the crowd was this "California Special" Mustang. The two-tone paint job really set it off. I've always been a Mustang man, so I was anxious to take it out on the track. But it was a "show only" car, so all I could do was take it on the scenic drive. I found out why they didn't want anybody to take this car on the race track. It was seriously short on power. The exhaust had a throaty growl but the engine felt like it was only getting about a quarter throttle when I floored it. Even so, I thought this car was a real head-turner.
Road America also has an area for off-roading. The SUVs, trucks and other vehicles with fulltime all-wheel drive were divided into three categories depending on their off-road abilities. At the top of the "A" list were the Hummer H2 and Jeep Wrangler Rubicon.
The first vehicle I drove off-road was the Hummer H2. With the press of a button the rather large side mirrors folded in and we were off. This thing can climb almost any hill and transverse almost any obstacle. The same goes for the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. The most thrilling part of the course was one rather steep hill that made me feel like I was cresting the top of the Screaming Eagle roller coaster at Six Flags. I felt as if my vehicle was going to tumble down the hill end over end. Actually, it was mostly a controlled slide but it got the heart pumping.
Some of the "B" and "C" vehicles did pretty well on the offroad courses, too, including the BMW X5. The BMW has a downhill control button that uses the ABS system to keep the vehicle straight and stable when descending really steep hills. Most of the "B" and "C" vehicles were restricted to less challenging terrain on the offroad course so we wouldn't damage them. Several of the new "pseudo-SUV/car/station wagon" models with fulltime all-wheel drive got hung up in one part of the course that was especially rough. They also didn't have the ground clearance to handle some of the larger obstacles. But hey, what do you want from a vehicle that is essentially a station wagon with big wheels and all-wheel drive? Unless the kids are playing soccer in the backwoods of Kentucky, soccer moms don't need all-wheel drive -- nor do most other people in my opinion. Hybrid-electric vehicles make the most environmental and economic sense in urban areas. Unfortunately, there weren't any for us to drive at this event. Maybe in the fall.
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