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The insurance industry-funded IIHS said Friday that the redesigned 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe crossover SUV earned its Top Safety Pick+ award when equipped with optional LED headlights. The headlights are standard on the Santa Fe Limited and Ultimate trim levels. Other Santa Fe trims—SE and SEL—have halogen headlights that the IIHS rated...

A legal challenge to Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs’ controversial £200m St Michael’s redevelopment project in Manchester city centre has been rejected, paving the way for construction to begin.

Quick Stats: Matt Iseman, comic/host/MD “American Ninja Warrior”
Daily Driver: 2008 Acura MDX (Matt’s rating: 8 on a scale of 1 to 10)
Favorite road trip: The American West
Car he learned to drive in: Oldsmobile 98
First car bought: 2008 Acura MDX

Since American Ninja Warrior host and comic Matt Iseman bought his 2008 Acura MDX, he’s been nothing but pleased with it. Although he’s had an eye out for other cars, nothing else has met this medical doctor’s criteria for a daily driver.

“I test-drove a lot of things when I was looking at [the MDX]—the Audi Q7, the Mercedes, the BMW X5. The thing I liked about the Acura—it was one of the best-handling SUVs. It handled like a car, which in L.A., as much driving as we do, I wanted something that handled well that didn’t feel big and boat-ish. As far as tech. I think the Acura is ahead of the curve, nailing it.”

When Iseman was growing up, his dad got one of the first Acuras that came out. That was when Iseman’s appreciation for the brand started, although he admits it’s not the flashiest one out there.

“As I looked at the cars financially, value-wise, we’re talking $20,000 less than what you’d have to pay for the Audi, BMW, or Mercedes,” he says. “So price-wise it was a great deal. There’s still nothing 10 years in that really grabs me that would make me give this car up.”

Iseman lives vicariously through his dad when it comes to cars, so he doesn’t miss out. “My dad was the car fiend. He had the BMW 2002 and then a 3.0CSi, which was his baby. He loved this Beemer but just had issues with it,” Iseman says. “He went to a Datsun 310 GX—we called it the Silver Streak—and then he got the first two-door Acura, I think it was the Legend.”

His dad has also owned a Porsche Cayenne and a Lexus SC400. “The Cayenne I kind of enjoyed,” says Iseman, “but the thing you heard about Porsche in terms of maintenance and the cost of maintenance was prohibitive. The Acura’s been much more reasonable,” he says.

Iseman calls his Acura an “unbelievably reliable car.” Even 10 years in, he’s had very few issues with it. “I keep it clean: I wash it once a week, which is my big indulgence with the car,” Iseman says.

Iseman inherited several cars from his folks, so the Acura is the first car he bought for himself. At that point, although Iseman is a medical doctor, he was making money from doing standup comedy. He also hosted TV shows like Clean House and Sports Soup (the sports version of The Soup), which landed him his current gig at American Ninja Warrior. Iseman often shares about his rheumatoid arthritis and cancer battle with fans, and although he doesn’t practice medicine, he keeps his medical license current.

Car he learned to drive in

Iseman’s dad taught him to drive in Denver, where he grew up. Iseman often drove the whole family to get in more practice, and his older brother wasn’t much help. “I think my mom at that time had an Oldsmobile 98, this big boat of a car that I might’ve taken the driver’s test in,” Iseman says. “I was 15 and a half, I had the learner’s permit, and we’re turning. It was a double turn lane and I didn’t realize it, and I turned into the inside lane and cut somebody off. I was panicking, and my dad’s like, ‘All right, you’re in the wrong lane’ (imitating his dad’s voice), and my brother’s like, ‘Come on! You cut somebody off!’”

He recalls that time as one of those stressful moments of learning to drive. “You don’t need that pressure coming from the back seat, from your brother who thinks he’s better than you at everything, or how you nearly took out the entire family and another family because you didn’t quite understand the principle of a double turn lane,” Iseman says. “My brother was the one who ratcheted up the intensity of driving. But I’ve grown up playing video games. I was an athlete, I had decent hand-eye dexterity. I think the biggest thing as we learned that really did take a while was just trying to be responsible.”

Photo courtesy Matt Iseman

It came time to be especially responsible when he turned 16 and inherited his grandmother’s 1973 Chevy Nova. His dad flew him out to Nebraska, where Iseman’s grandparents lived, to pick it up.

“This thing was pea green with a white top. When I got it, it must’ve been 1987. It had 9,000 miles on it, so I essentially got a brand-new ’73 Chevy Nova that had a 350-horsepower V-8 engine in it. I remember the drive back from Nebraska, which is all freeway, just getting the sense that, ‘Man, this 350 can really go!’” Iseman says, laughing. “You’re 16 years old and you’re in what is essentially an American muscle car. The thing I learned is the brakes were terrible and it didn’t handle very well. And a 16-year-old kid in a V-8 350 is going to make some bad decisions.”

Photo credit: Brittany Berggren

There were numerous dents and bent axles and things that Iseman had to cover up with creative storytelling for his parents. The Nova was the car for a lot of “firsts” for Iseman, including his first kiss in a car and first date.

“The Nova was there for it all. My dad grew up in Nebraska and he loved hot rods, tricking cars out. He loved going fast, but this was stuff we found out later. My dad’s a doctor. I felt my dad was a very responsible guy—he was trying to teach us how to be responsible drivers. And the reason, despite having numerous accidents, he told me later, ‘Listen, I would’ve been hypocritical for coming after you,’” Iseman says, with a laugh.

One time Iseman bent the axle showing off to friends. He tried a movie stunt 180 turn and hit a curb. “My dad’s like, ‘What happened?’ ‘A dog ran out in the middle of the road,’” Iseman recalls. “My mom’s like, ‘Oh, was the dog OK?’ ‘Yeah, the dog’s fine, the car’s a little damaged.’ My mom walks out of the room, my dad looks at me and he goes, ‘Don’t bullshit a bullshitter. I’m letting you get away with this one, but you better slow down.’ I’m like, ‘Point taken, Dad!’”

It was time to retire the Nova when Iseman headed to medical school at Columbia University in the heart of New York City. “My parents realized, ‘We should get rid of this car while we have the chance,’” Iseman says, with a laugh. “They didn’t enjoy driving it the same way I did.”

His parents found a mechanic who worked at a garage a few miles from the Iseman house. “When I’d come home, periodically I’d see the car at this garage, and it’s like seeing your ex-girlfriend—you just hope she’s happy,” Iseman laughs. “I’ve got the photos, I’ve still got the license plate. The license plate’s sitting up in my room at home where my parents live. So I still have the memories.”

Photo courtesy Matt Iseman

The car Iseman drove out to Los Angeles 19 years ago, armed with his medical degree to pursue what has now become a solid career in entertainment, was a white 1989 Ford Bronco. His mom had horses, so she moved up to a Chevy Suburban and handed the Bronco down to her son.

“So, I’m driving in L.A. in a white Ford Bronco, which of course is a pretty iconic car in L.A. I came out here to be a comedian, and I thought, how perfect is it to enter L.A. in that car?” Iseman says. “The reason I ended up getting rid of that car and buying the Acura is because I was driving it on Interstate 10 and the front wheel came off.”

Iseman had had some work done on the Bronco and his mechanic hadn’t tightened the lug nuts.

“I’m going 60, I watch the wheel go off, the axle is now grinding on the 10, and I see the wheel swing through three lanes of traffic, hit the center median, and the momentum carries it into oncoming traffic,” Iseman recalls. “I’m now sitting there going, ‘This wheel is going to kill somebody; I can end up responsible.’ Fortunately it just sideswiped a VW Bug and nobody was injured, but for a second I had that horrible feeling of something awful is going to happen and somehow I’ll be responsible. At that point, I knew the Bronco was gone, and I ended up getting the Acura.”

Favorite road trip

“The best road trip I ever did was in the middle of med school. I had two weeks and left from Denver and just drove all throughout the Southwestern U.S. I hit Moab, Bryce, Zion, hit all the national parks, Grand Canyon, ended up going to Las Vegas for the very first time,” Iseman says.

He drove down to San Diego, then up to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast Highway and back to Denver.

“The best way to see America is from a car. I’ve traveled around the world, and you sometimes forget we have the most beautiful terrain right here in America,” Iseman says.

Just getting in a car and driving can be a tonic for life. “We’re so busy now and we spend so much time focusing in short attention spans. It’s great to just be in a car and have a 10-hour drive ahead of you and just be out on the open road,” Iseman says. “I feel like it clears your brain, and this trip was just seeing some of the great sites, seeing America.”

Photo courtesy NBCUniversal

He also met friends all along the way, like his med school roommate who joined him for a couple of days on the stretch from San Francisco to Denver.

“It was one of those great road trips that you can do in your 20s that I’m so glad I got to do. It’s still one of the greatest trips I’ve ever done,” Iseman says. “All the parks I did myself—I had my bike at the same time. I would just ride through Moab and ride through these parks. My parents let me use the Bronco for the road trip. I just loved it—there’s something special about seeing America in a car.”

American Ninja Warrior and American Ninja Warrior Junior

For those who watched the season finale of American Ninja Warrior last week and are already hankering for more, you’ll get your chance next month in the form of a new spin-off show.

American Ninja Warrior is so successful, American Ninja Warrior Junior premieres Oct. 13 on Universal Kids and will feature kids aged 9 to 14.

“The coolest thing about American Ninja Warrior has been seeing that this has gone from a show to more than a show, more than a sport, to a community,” Iseman says. “This thing is now truly worldwide, or certainly throughout all of America. And doing a kids’ version now, especially for someone who’s involved in health care as a doctor, and who’s had health issues, it’s great to see the positive impact this show has, because so many of the people who come on the show, for them it’s not about hitting a buzzer.”

Photo courtesy NBCUniversal

Iseman says for many contestants, it’s about the obstacles they overcame in their life, such as a man whose child was born with a congenital nephrotic syndrome but got a kidney from someone watching the show who wanted to see if they were a match. When the child’s father returned to the show for the national finals, he wore a shirt asking for a kidney donation for another child, to try to pay it forward.

“It’s amazing to be a part of a show that not only has incredible athletic feats, but more important, has these incredible stories and actually has a real-life impact. As someone who thought my life was going to be spent helping people as a doctor, you end up doing something that’s a little more self-centered in entertainment. It’s nice to be part of something that you know makes a difference and that gets people healthy and that can help share these stories that give people hope and actually make a difference in their lives. So it’s been really awesome to be a part of Ninja Warrior.”

Although a million dollars are at stake on the show, Iseman says they’ve only given it away once. “For most of them, there’s nothing—it’s just sharing their stories and competing.”

READ MORE CELEBRITY DRIVES HERE:

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• Grammy-Winning Singer-Songwriter Darius Rucker
• ‘Lucky Dog’ Host Brandon McMillan

The post Celebrity Drive: Matt Iseman of “American Ninja Warrior” appeared first on Motor Trend.

The Ram 1500 Rebel has a refined interior. The black and red color theme befits the truck’s name, and we love the comfortable cloth and vinyl seats and the rotary shifter, among other things. But now Ram is offering Rebel buyers more technology and upgraded materials as part of a new special edition.

The Rebel 12 adds features you can’t find on the standard model, including leather seats. A large 12.0-inch touchscreen replaces the 5-inch and 8.4-inch units offered on the regular Rebel. Along with the bigger touchscreen comes Ram’s fourth-generation Uconnect system with improved processing power, multi-touch gestures, split-screen capability, and sharper graphics.

The special edition also gets a Harman Kardon sound system with 19 speakers, a 900-watt surround-sound amplifier, 10-inch subwoofer, and noise cancellation technology. Like many other interior components on the Rebel, the speaker grilles are framed in red.

The Rebel 12 is available in all the same powertrain configurations as the regular model. That means it will offer a 3.6-liter V-6 eTorque mild hybrid engine, a 5.7-liter V-8 eTorque, and a 5.7-liter V-8 without eTorque. Those who opt for the special edition also get the same colors and cab options as the standard Rebel.

The 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel 12 goes on sale in the fourth quarter of this year, with prices starting at $48,685.

Source: FCA

The post 2019 Ram 1500 Rebel 12 Adds a Dose of Refinement appeared first on Motor Trend.

Tesla’s Model 3 three electric car, the company’s newest and arguably most important model, achieved a perfect 5-star crash test rating from the federal government’s NHTSA. The compact electric vehicle received top marks in front driver and passenger protection, front and rear side impact, and rollover tests, making it the latest...

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Maurizio Reggiani has been involved in the creation of some of the world’s most iconic supersports cars. From leading engine development for Maserati in the 1980s, to developing the engine for the Bugatti EB 110, Reggiani then moved to Lamborghini in 1998—where he has been the lead engineer for the Murciélago, Aventador, and Huracán. He has been CTO since 2006 and has supervised Lamborghini’s design studio since 2011. At the unveiling of the Aventador SVJ, Reggiani spoke with Motor Trend.

Where do you go after Aventador SVJ? Nearly 800 horsepower, all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, active aero, special tires, light weighting—what else is left?

When you make a masterpiece, you can say, “Wow,” but then you wonder how you can make the model that much better. When you see the SVJ do a 6:44.97 lap of the Nürburgring, you think, what is the next one? The dream is to do something that will surprise, to do more. If you don’t have this kind of thinking, you can never have a Lamborghini.

What other technologies are you evolving?

We are working on [active aero system] ALA 2.0 because we can improve it with feedback from the user. The important principle of having rear-wheel steering with the SVJ with active aero is that you are able to give it more agility; the rear wheel is more direct in torque transfer to the street. We have created a new brain, called LDVA, which is how a test driver thinks a driver should use the car. It works like [soccer wizard] Lionel Messi, who is able to escape the defender because his brain doesn’t need to think; he knows where he needs to go, while the defender needs time to think, and by then Messi is past him. We put a good driver in the simulator where we can test 3, 4, 5 percent torque vectoring and see the behavioral change. Or what happens if active aero is off in the front but on in the rear. And all this needs to be instinctive for the car. That is the step forward of SVJ from Performante. When you look at the YouTube video of the Nordschleife, with us side by side with the Porsche, and you see where they take advantage on the straight and where we gain in the curves, it is amazing. You can have a car with 2,000 horsepower, but it’ll be like standing on soap. You’ll just be spinning.

Will the next Lamborghini supercar have hybrid power?

Maybe we have hybrid boost for turbo-like performance. When I have a tank of energy, I want to use what is best for homologation. Once you fulfill that requirement, the additional energy can be used for performance. We have the anima selector, for Strada, Sport, and Corsa driving modes. So in Strada, we never use the energy as a boost. In Sport, we use the electric power in the rear axle with electronic torque vectoring to have more control. And in Corsa, we send the electric boost to the wheel that can best transfer the torque at any speed.

Will there ever be a time when Lamborghini doesn’t sell a car with a V-12? Can Lamborghini be Lamborghini without V-12s?

The next generation of Lamborghini, the successor to the Aventador, will be V-12 naturally aspirated. We can add a hybrid or plug-in to respect all the rules of fuel consumption and emissions.

The Urus is the first regular production Lamborghini with forced induction. Will we see more Lambos with turbos?

Urus was born with a turbo for one reason: If you want to move a car weighing 2.2 tons on every surface, even if it’s gravel or sand, you need an engine that provides huge torque at 1,500 rpm. Only a turbo can provide this. The decision of using a turbo was based on the mission of the car. Supersports cars don’t have this kind of mission. With engineering, the specification of the product decides—the best practice. Same with the transmission. The Urus has a torque converter that is more smooth for an SUV that does more city driving, and yet it’s still able to have a stiff upshift with the hammer in your back. But we wouldn’t do a torque converter in the Aventador successor.

What else can we expect from the Aventador’s replacement? Still a V-12? Still a single-clutch transmission? More carbon fiber?

Carbon fiber will be one of the most important points to compensate for the weight generated from the auxiliary energy system. We need to use it more intensively and smarter. What is important is to see what are the possible criticisms of the Aventador—the clutch is one. We can see if a double clutch is available. In Strada, maybe [shifting] could be softer. But in Corsa, when you change gears, you need to have that hammer in your back, so the clutch cannot be too soft or smooth. The goal is to be stiff.

What do you think the Aventador’s legacy will be? In hindsight, is there anything you would have done differently?

I think back in 2009, the only change is to put 2 cm more roof to have better ergonomics for tall people like Americans. But in looking at the evolution of the car from 2011 to 2018, the car has continued to grow and be new. The engineering allows us to [evolve] the car and put in more behavior and handling. From a design perspective, it’s still so sexy, everyone still turns and looks. This car was expected to sell 4,000 copies, and we’ve sold more than 8,000. It surprised us.

Do you see a fourth vehicle in the Lamborghini product line?

Part of the strategy of the company is to stabilize the company. We need to make one [product cycle] where the volume of Urus stays constant, rather than a peak and a drop. The big job is to make an average volume of production, to guarantee we have stability inside the company for workload and the security of our employees. Having volume go up and down is a disaster. A fourth product is part of our vision, but before we turn the key, we need to show we can continue to grow. That’s the challenge for the next year. The Urus has been a big success, and it’s sexy, but we need to ensure in two years’ time we have the same volumes in the worldwide market. We cannot be Icarus and fly too close to the sun.

The 2008 Lamborghini Estoque concept

So which new product areas are you eyeing?

When we did Urus, we were consistent with our history, in which the Espada was a real four-seater. If you also look at our history, we had a proper 2+2, which was the Islero.

In 2010, all the talk at Lamborghini was weight-to-power. Is that still the case?

Weight-to-power ratio is more important than ever. Every customer can perceive 10 kilograms less weight, but only a few people can perceive 10 horsepower more. So carbon fiber will be a key factor for the future. But from the customer’s point of view, you sell horsepower.

How do regulations fit in?

In a short time we must have an anti-particulate filter, and we must reduce the sound of the car—and no customer wants to accept less horsepower. In what way can we compensate to comply with the APF and better sound emissions, and yet make the car sexier than ever before? That is fundamental for the future.

How is leadership of Lamborghini different under Domenicali than it was under longtime boss Winkelmann?

Both are like brothers. I recognize their responsibility to steer the company. I have been lucky to have met them. Both have allowed me to generate these products. It’s a dream for every engineer. If there isn’t trust, there is a problem. When I can describe results to them in active suspension or active aero, you cannot touch it, but we need to spend money on it. So you need to have that trust. And it has meant this great evolution in the supersports car.

The Huracán Performante just won Best Driver’s Car. How does that make you feel?

It’s about the organization, how we can put all the performance systems together to make it work like a body, where it’s instinctive, and you don’t have to think. We have this marvelous muscle of the engine, and we’ve made it really athletic in its ability to push the ground with active aero like no other car in the world. It’s like, if you play soccer, if you could change your cleats continuously when the field is wet, or soft, or hard. And you never notice this spontaneous grip.

The post Lamborghini R & D Chief on Aventador SVJ, Hybrids, and BDC Win appeared first on Motor Trend.

London & Scottish Investments (L&SI) has unveiled plans for a 57,000 sq ft retail park on the derelict Nestle dog food factory site in Barrhead, near Glasgow.

The Southbank Centre has put underused storage space beneath Waterloo Bridge on the market for £10m, citing its potential for a leisure-led redevelopment.

The 2019 Ford Super Duty heavy-duty pickup truck family runs the gamut from bare-boned work trucks to luxurious versions with swanky interiors and generously applied tech features. Redesigned in 2017, the Super Duty shares some styling elements with the lighter-duty Ford F-150. Both are aluminum-intensive, but the Super Duty has more steel in its...

Inhabit has been granted planning approval for its 590,000 sq ft redevelopment of the historic Broadford Works site in Aberdeen city centre.

Housing association L&Q is set to scrap fixed-term tenancies (FTTs) and instead offer lifetime tenancies for all residents, it has announced.

Eight years isn’t a long time, but it’s long enough to forget. The World’s Greatest Drag Race has become such a normal part of what we do at Motor Trend that it’s hard to remember when we didn’t undertake the rather loony quarter-mile experiment of launching 12 sports and supercars simultaneously down a runway.

Now that the drag race is a given around here, we’re too busy looking forward to look back. The question is not whether we’ll do a race this year; it’s what we’ll do differently this time. Some would argue a new crop of cars is enough, but we know we can do more to boost the excitement factor.

Easter eggs in past drag races have varied. In the second race, the Subaru BRZ, which was going to come in dead last no matter what, did a donut across the finish line. In the fifth, I jumped the start in the Miata (and still lost). The next year, we added in a Dodge Charger Hellcat. Last year, it was the Miata that got the boot in favor of the quickest car we’d ever tested, the Tesla Model S P100D Ludicrous.

If you need a refresher or just a good binge-watching Saturday afternoon, you can find all seven previous drag races on MotorTrend.com/bdc.

This year, we were once again the guests of our outstanding hosts at Vandenberg Air Force Base, home of the cleanest, most race-ready airfield in the world (no hats on the flight line, please). You’ve already seen the pictures and know we had a special guest. Once again, the Miata was excused in favor of something with a bit more horsepower—the old-fashioned, gas-guzzling kind. Meet the 1320.

Formally known as the Dodge Challenger R/T Scat Pack 1320, this 485-hp bracket racer’s dream stole all the Demon’s drag racing goodies, including a transmission brake, line lock, heavy-duty axle shafts, and drag-special damper and traction control programming. On the way out, the 1320 ditched its rear and front passenger seats and swiped a set of Nexen street-legal drag tires.

The 1320 will need every last advantage, as it’s lined up against some of the top supercars on the planet—each equipped with barely street-legal tires, launch control, and even more horsepower. Our quarter-mile times provide a hint of the finish, but if you want to really experience WGDR 8, you’ve got to watch the full video.

Watch World’s Greatest Drag Race 8 right here!

Bonus Race! The half mile, double or nothing

Some years, World’s Greatest Drag Race is a blowout. Others, it’s a nail-biter. Last year was the latter; by the end of the quarter mile, the Ferrari, Porsche, and McLaren were running down the Tesla and would’ve beat it if the race were a bit longer. This year, we’re not playing “what if” bench racing games.  It’s time to see who’s a quarter-mile star and who has real legs. To find out, we added a standing half mile and brought some special guests. To find out who’s there and who wins, you gotta subscribe to Motor Trend OnDemand.

The post World’s Greatest Drag Race 8: Who Wins? Lambo, McLaren, Porsche, ZR1, or a Surprise Guest? appeared first on Motor Trend.

The Crown Estate’s head office at St James’s Market has become the first office in Europe to achieve a WELL Platinum certification.

The Crown Estate’s head office at St James’s Market has become the first office in Europe to achieve a WELL Platinum certification.

GCP Student has raised £38.1m ahead of its share placing later this month, falling short of its £55m target.

Many car shoppers don’t realize just how much damage floodwaters do to a vehicle. That represents a problem—not just to the owner of a car or truck that falls victim to a catastrophic flood, but to prospective buyers unaware of the vehicle’s history. The risk of flooded vehicles on the market affects everyone looking for a used...

Deka Immobilien, the investment arm of Dekabank Deutsche Girozentrale, has bought the Verde office building in London Victoria.

Japan’s £1trn Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) has awarded its first global real estate mandate to CBRE Global Investment Partners.

When Motor Trend started Best Driver’s Car back in 2007 (when it was known briefly as “Best Handling Car”), only one car in the field offered more than 500 horsepower—the 505-hp Chevrolet Corvette Z06, which we characterized as a “fire breather.”

Lord only knows what our 2007 staff would have made of an SUV showing up with just as many ponies under the hood, as we had this year with the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Or that, in just over a decade, Chevy engineers would create a ’Vette with an apocalyptic 755 horsepower.

In fact, 500 horsepower has nearly become the cost of entry into BDC these days. Seven of our entrants this year blasted past that barrier, and we could have added a couple more to the field were it not for things like “the value equation” (Civic Type R), “the surprise quotient” (Kia Stinger GT), and “staying true to our handling roots” (Mazda Miata).

Even the midpack cars approaching the five-century horsepower number are tremendous. The Audi TT RS has a 2.5-liter inline-five that pours out a gargling, snarling 400 horsepower. Consider the circa 2007 Porsche GT3 (winner of our debut Best Handling Car contest) barely exceeded that number—and we called it “a race car for the street.”

How far we have come, indeed.

Of course, all that power means nothing if you can’t get it to the pavement. Advancements in transmission technology and durability, not to mention tire stickiness, mean quarter-mile times have plummeted.

This marks the eighth year that we have conducted the World’s Greatest Drag Race. The winner of WGDR No. 1 was the 2012 Nissan GT-R, which turned in an 11.2-second quarter mile at 121.8 mph. Pretty impressive, right? If we were to run that year’s Godzilla against the collective WGDR pack, it would finish 22nd.

How quick is progress? The top three WGDR finishers this year all smoked last year’s winning Tesla Model S P100D Ludicrous. Just as we’d caught our collective breath thinking Elon had cracked the quick-acceleration code with batteries and motor-generators, the internal combustion boys have come roaring back.

But it’s more than just raw power. Suspension and traction technology improvements allow for handling performance that would have blown the minds of our 2007 judges.

Our 2007 winner of “max lateral g” was the Porsche Cayman S, which handled a respectable 1.001 g load that we described as “impeccably balanced.” Consider that this year a Ford Mustang and a Honda Civic Type R either matched or beat that skidpad number (granted, the testing was done on different surfaces, but still).

But let’s look at the extremes, too. If the Cayman’s winning 1.00 g was considered impressive in 2007, consider that five cars easily bested that score this year, topped by the Porsche GT2 RS’ face-warping 1.17 lateral g rating. If 1.00 g pulls hard at your innards, 1.17 flings them into next week.

To think, 2007 wasn’t that long ago. Sure, the intervening recession has made it harder to recall that era, but remember the average car on the road today was made in that year. It’s not like we’re showing grainy black-and-white movies here.

So does that make the 2018 field light-years better than what was around a decade ago? To some technically minded folks, the answer is a definitive yes. But there also exist many drivers for whom a particular generation of 911 delights them—be it a 1973 RS 2.7, a 1987 911 Carrera with a G50 manual, or that 10-year-old GT3 whose 415 horsepower is “just right.” Is the current GT2 RS’ outrageous 691 hp too much? Ask me in another decade.

More by Mark Rechtin:

• The Evolution and Rise of the SUV
• The Sedan Is Not Dead
• Enzo and the Damsels
• Does CAD Software Dream of Electric Cars?
• The Changing Business Model of Auto Shows

The post A Decade’s Progress – Reference Mark appeared first on Motor Trend.