Road Race Motorsports Fiat 500 Club Sportivo Tested: Cinquecento Gets (Slightly) Nasty

Often, with cars like the Volkswagen Beetle or Fiat 500, the curse of cuteness can be totally reversed by adding slick wheels, applying a few decals, and slamming the sucker. You don't even have to touch the engine. Fleets of first-gen Scion xBs roll around Los Angeles in just such a fashion. They might make the same 108 hp as those transporting the legions of cheerleaders who also bought xBs, but, slammed, they get props from car dudes.

We'd expect more than just paint and tape and a slam from Road Race Motorsports. Based in the L.A. suburb of Santa Fe Springs, the company earned its credibility over the past few years making hard-core Lancer Evolution parts and, more recently, suspension and engine kits to perk up various Suzuki and Hyundai models. The company's new Fiat 500 Club Sportivo does look slick, even more so when you learn why the hood and roof are matte black. Road Race owner Rob Tallini currently is restoring an old Lancia Fulvia into a tribute to the factory rally cars from the early '70s, and was inspired to finish this 500's hood and roof in similar fashion.

Besides the graphics and the wheels and the slammed Bilstein suspension, the Club Sportivo—okay, that might be a slightly silly name for a car, but then so is Golf—wears some intake and exhaust mods developed by Road Race to make it a little breezier under throttle. The result is a pseudo ricer with an Italian flare, one that goes a little quicker and turns a bit sharper than the stock floater, with substantially less sway in the corners.

Building the (Little) Beast

A mid-grade Fiat 500 Sport (the basic Pop is cheaper, the luxury Lounge more expensive) with optional automatic climate control leaves the showroom for $18,600. Under the hood, Road Race installed a cone-filter-capped, red-crackle-finish aluminum intake ($319) worth a dyno-tested 5 hp, and an "axle-back" dual-tip sport exhaust ($599) which shrinks the silencer can for a sportier rip without touching most of the stock exhaust plumbing. In concert with the intake, the dyno shows about a 9-horse gain for the breathing enhancements. Road Race also fitted a $359 timing controller that advances spark timing, and drew out another 6 or so hp.

Up about 15 hp on the stock Fiat 500's 101, the Club Sportivo creeps somewhat closer to the base 121-hp Mini Cooper, but still is not nearly as quick. A few runs through the quarter-mile with the Club Sportivo produced a best 0-to-60-mph time of 9.4 seconds, a hair fleeter than the stock Fiat 500 Sport (9.6 seconds) we recently compared against a base Mini (8.0 seconds) and significantly quicker than our newly arrived long-term Fiat 500 Sport (9.9 seconds). At 17.0 seconds through the quarter-mile at 81 mph, the Club Sportivo has between 0.3 and 0.5 second on its stock counterparts. The results may not be stunning, but neither is the price of the equipment, and the intake and exhaust confer other benefits, both aesthetic and acoustic. The extra intake snarl, especially, enlivens the 1.4-liter MultiAir's otherwise faint, kittenish growl.

Squat, Stiffen, and Stop

Road Race adhered to a strict budget underhood, but things get a little pricier in the suspension department. The more-rigid Bilstein coil-overs ($999) are paired with a Road Race rear anti-roll bar ($249) and camber-adjuster kit ($99). The car now sits about one inch lower than stock. Slotted Road Race brake rotors at all four corners ($378) are clamped by Road Race sport brake pads ($89). Stopping distances remained essentially unchanged at 175 feet.

Appearance mods include the 8.0 x 15-inch Stance Mindset wheels ($999) wearing 195/50-15 Falken Ziex ZE-912 all-season tires (about $99 apiece). The front lip spoiler ($300), small wing extension on the hatch ($199), and gold "Club Sportivo" stripe ($269) set this 500 apart without devolving into tastelessness. Road Race wouldn't quote a price for the retro flat-black hood and roof, which is a vinyl wrap, but most any wrap shop can do that job.

Bottom line: about $23,850 plus whatever you spend on black vinyl if you also wish to pay tribute to Lancia's glory days in rallying. Is it worth it? The Club Sportivo is certainly fun, ducking in and out of traffic with small-car agility enhanced by the lower center of gravity and the stiffer suspension. Whereas the stock 500 squirms and leans over before it begins to turn, this car is more lashed down, responding more immediately and with less scrub to your wheel inputs. It may not be much more powerful than a stock 500, but it certainly sounds so, which gives you more confidence threading a path up a crowded boulevard or letting go of the merge lane and joining fast-moving expressway traffic.

Leaps and Conclusions

The downside is a head-bobbling ride from the Bilsteins, which are particularly prone to evil on such a short wheelbase. Hit an abrupt, ramp-like bridge joint on a freeway overpass, and the car leaps. Good thing there's a lot of headroom, or you might sustain a concussion. Such trade-offs are accepted by slammers as the price of fashion.

The forthcoming Abarth will supply some of the cool cunning of the Club Sportivo, augmented by more red-meat horsepower. A Mini Cooper S would give you as much handling and more power for the price, but not everybody wants yet another Mini. And anyway, that's tangential to the point of the Club Sportivo, which is to show everything in Road Race's catalog for the Fiat 500 all on one vehicle. If you don't need the full meal, just order a few of the side dishes and you'll be happy. As in Italy itself, there's nothing bad on this menu.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 3-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $23,850 (base price: $23,850)

ENGINE TYPE: SOHC 16-valve inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection

Displacement: 83 cu in, 1368 cc
Power: 120 hp @ 6500 rpm
Torque: 102 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 90.6 in
Length: 139.6 in
Width: 64.1 in Height: 58.8 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 2400 lbC/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 9.4 sec
Zero to 80 mph: 16.8 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 17.0 @ 81 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 175 ft

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2013 BMW M5 Tested: 3.7 to 60, 12 Flat in the Quarter

Building factory hot rods must be a good business.

Practically every automaker has an R or a GT or a V or an S or a Spec-Something-or-Other sexing up its catalog. But nobody commits to the job with the fervor of BMW’s M division GmbH. Granted, the gulf between track and street that opened up years ago means that BMW’s speed shop no longer puts motorsport specials on the road with detuned race engines. But that doesn’t mean new M’s are nothing more than Big Macs with barbecue sauce.

Okay, maybe the 1-series M sort of is.

But take the example of the new 560-hp “M TwinPower Turbo” M5—Bimmer-nerd code: F10—that goes on sale in the U.S. late next summer as a 2013 model.

In the F10 M5, you get: a unique engine [see sidebar]; a unique, reinforced and re-ratio’d, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission; and a unique, electronic limited-slip differential with a unique aluminum horse-collar mount for added rigidity. There’s a unique suspension with forged aluminum components and nary a part number shared with any other BMW; a unique variable-ratio steering gear with hydraulic instead of electric boost as in other 5s; unique, iron-and-aluminum brake rotors clamped by unique radial-mount, monoblock front calipers housing six asymmetrically sized pistons per wheel; and a unique front crossmember, stiffened and attached by two additional bolts because somebody thought that was important. A unique rear-suspension cradle is rigidly mounted to the unibody to eliminate the weight and flex of rubber bushings, unique stiffening rods and shear plates underneath serve as extra bracing, and the car runs enough special software to land it on an asteroid.

You may scoff upon learning the M5’s price, expected to fall near $92,000. To that prodigious sum we say: How can BMW possibly sell a couple thousand copies per year so cheaply? What does the dedicated tooling cost, anyway? How much is it to change 10 things about an engine, including the induction system and compression ratio, and then recertify it? It’s a lot of Big Macs. Maybe not as many Big Macs as creating a bespoke V-10, as in the previous E60, but a lot.

The new M5 will assuredly be profitable. But whether it is spectacular or merely great—many people would put a 4300-pound luxury sedan that hits 60 mph in 3.7 seconds firmly in the former category—it’s definitely no parts-bin badge job.

Speaking of acceleration numbers, we have them, stolen on a quiet side road in southern Spain while nobody was looking except some ducks and possibly a Chinese spy satellite. It took a while to master the new M5’s picayune order of button pushing and lever pulling to activate the launch control (example: Step on the brake but not too hard, hold the shift lever forward but not for too long).

Launch control automatically dumps the clutch at about 3000 rpm and upshifts for you. When we finally did it right, the quarter-mile went down in 12 seconds flat at 122 mph. In another 6.3 seconds, the car was passing 150 mph. It pulls nearly 1.0 g braking from 70 to 0 in 165 feet. A skidpad figure will have to wait until we can get a car to test in the U.S.

Compared with an E60 M5 equipped with an automated manual transmission, the F10 is a half-second quicker both to 60 mph and through the quarter-mile, and 2.4 seconds quicker to 150 mph. The braking distance is seven feet longer, but then, the F10 is about 200 pounds heavier. Will the larding up of our favorite vehicles ever stop?

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED (est): $97,000 (base price: $92,000)

ENGINE TYPE: twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 32-valve V-8, aluminum block and heads, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 268 cu in, 4395 cc
Power: 560 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 502 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 116.7 in
Length: 193.3 in
Width: 74.4 in Height: 57.3 in
Curb weight: 4300 lb

C/DTEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 3.7 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 8.3 sec
Zero to 150 mph: 18.3 sec
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 4.6 sec
¼-mile: 12.0 sec @ 122 mph
Top speed (governer limited): 155–190 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 165 ft

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA fuel economy, city driving: 17/22 mpg

TEST NOTES: Launch control is difficult to engage: DSC off, manual shift to “S3” setting, step on brake lightly, hold gear selector forward—but not too long or it drops out—and floor it.

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2012 Honda CR-V Tested: Less Ugly, Feels Slow

Compact crossovers are a little like toothbrushes. They perform a necessary function, but they’re rarely exciting. Everybody needs a toothbrush, though, and toothbrush manufacturers want to outsell their competitors, so we have wear-indicating bristles, flexible split heads, integrated tongue-and-cheek scrapers, and the like.

Accordingly, much of Honda’s technical presentation on the new CR-V focused on the next-gen mini-ute’s new features, including standard stuff like two info screens, a rearview camera, Bluetooth, and a function that reads incoming text messages from paired phones—assuming said phone is from a short list of BlackBerrys or a Droid X, as those are the only devices with which the CR-V can currently communicate. Meanwhile, lesser points like the powertrain and the basic construction of the chassis were only mentioned in passing. Makes sense: Once Colgate nails down the perfect handle cross-section, head shape, and bristle feel, it’s probably going to keep making that same toothbrush. Honda was pretty happy with the outgoing CR-V—and its sales numbers indicated that buyers were, too—so the new CR-V is a lot like the old one.

Hello, Again. You Should Have Brought a Friend. Maybe a Turbo.

The spec-sheet familiarity begins with the only available engine. It’s the same dual-overhead-cam 2.4-liter inline-four, but it now boasts a 5.4-percent reduction in internal friction and a more efficient alternator. These slight changes increase output to 185 hp and 163 lb-ft, bumps of five and two. It’s worth noting that the power peak occurs at 7000 rpm, and the automatic transmission shifts about 300 or so rpm before that. Unless you’re going to lock your CR-V in first around town, don’t expect to feel those extra fillies. You won’t hear them quite as much as before, either, although Honda still has the most pleasing soundtrack in the tiny-truck business. It’s louder than we would expect most crossover buyers to want, but it obviously isn’t deterring many—the CR-V is the perennial bestseller in its segment.

Behind that only slightly updated engine is an only slightly updated transmission. Against a market that is swelling with six-speed automatics—not to mention the nine-speed ZF unit on its way for front-drive applications—Honda is sticking with the CR-V’s fiver. Lower-friction internals and lower-viscosity transmission fluid boost efficiency, and a wider ratio spread nudges the CR-V’s fuel-economy ratings up. Front-drivers see their mileage increase from 21/28 city/highway to 23/31; all-wheel-drive models go from 21/27 to 22/30.

The Snow Falls and Molasses Wins

The downside is that the CR-V remains among the slowest in its class. The Honda’s ratios make it feel even slower than its predecessor—in first gear, redline resides north of 40 mph; in second, it’s hiding in the 80-mph range—but when we got the new CR-V to the test track, it actually clicked off the 0-to-60 run in two fewer tenths, or 8.5 seconds. We’ve recently logged about half a dozen complaints about the ratio spread in Chrysler’s rear-drive five-speed—we would like Honda to note that this unit is imminently being replaced with an eight-cogger—because of its ludicrous gearing.

Although few people floor it off the line during their morning commute (more people should try it; they’d be amazed how much more time they have in a day if they don’t drive like they’re dead or waiting to be), there are real-world drawbacks to dog-slow crossovers. Run up on a surprisingly slow truck on the freeway, and you’d better have a long opening behind you in the left lane. When you pop out to pass and give the CR-V the boot, it’s going to need a lot of time to get up to speed. Accelerating from 50 to 70 mph takes 5.6 seconds, while the combined time for 30–50 and 50–70 runs is more than 10 seconds. Should you floor it at much more than 60 mph, the trans only drops into third, stranding you around 3500 rpm. At that speed, it feels like you only need two digits to quantify the 2.4-liter’s torque output. Drivers behind you are likely to display two digits of their own. For even greater sluggishness, Honda fits all 2012 CR-Vs with an “econ” button that dulls throttle response and widens the acceptable window of variation for the cruise and climate controls.

In response to criticism for sticking with the five-speed, Honda’s answer was along the lines of, “Our five is damn good. The customers wanted efficiency gains—we gave them efficiency gains.” We appreciate the philosophy of extracting greater efficiencies from existing hardware before creating all-new systems, but clinging to the five-speed seems kind of lazy.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front- or 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon

ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $23,000

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection

Displacement: 144 cu in, 2354 cc
Power: 185 hp @ 7000 rpm
Torque: 163 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 5-speed automatic

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 103.1 in
Length: 178.3 in
Width: 71.6 in
Height: 64.7 in (FWD), 65.1 in (AWD)
Curb weight (C/D est): 3500 lbC/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 8.5 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 24.7 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 9.3 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 4.8 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 5.9 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.6 sec @ 85 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 118 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 175 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad*: 0.77 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 22-23/30-31 mpg
*Stability-control-inhibited

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2012 Honda Civic Si Sedan Tested: 0 to 60 in 6.1 Seconds

The Honda Civic is now in its ninth generation; the Si, its seventh. The Si sedan, however, is in just its second. With almost two extra inches of length and wheelbase, but only 38 additional pounds (2902 vs. 2864), the Si sedan is very faithful to the coupe experience. Both feature a 2.4-liter four-cylinder pumping out 201 hp and 170 lb-ft of torque. In both cars, that engine is mated to a delightful, short-throw shifter that we could row all day long.

And row we did. Since peak horsepower doesn’t arrive until the 7000-rpm redline, we found ourselves constantly winding out the engine. Pushing a highly stressed four-cylinder to a screaming redline is the point of choosing the Si in the first place. At least there is some low-end torque, unlike Si models of yore. Whereas its predecessor’s 2.0-liter made only 139 lb-ft at a sky-high 6000 rpm—before screaming all the way to 8000 rpm—the new Si’s 2.4-liter inline-four makes 170 lb-ft at a much more accessible 4400 rpm, but tops out a far-less-thrilling 1000 rpm lower.

Farewell rpm, Hello Speed

It seems to be a fair trade-off: At 6.1 seconds, it’s quicker than the five-door VW GTI to 60, and beats the old Si sedan by more than half a second. The Si coupe, too, lands in the losers column with its 6.3-second sprint. The quarter-mile flashes by in 14.7 seconds at 97 mph, neck and neck with the GTI. Those numbers are surprisingly good considering the relative paucity of torque, and they make us wonder what the Si could do if, like most if its competitors—including the GTI, MazdaSpeed 3, and Subaru WRX—it had a turbocharger.

Hot-shoeing is a sure-footed affair, thanks to a limited-slip differential and virtually no torque steer. The Civic circles the skidpad at 0.88 g, compared with a best of 0.93 for the GTI. As for fuel economy (this is a budget-minded car, after all), the EPA promises 22 mpg in the city and 31 on the highway. We achieved 23 mpg in a pretty even mix of city and highway driving.

Mature and Practical Exuberance

If opting for the Si allows you to have more fun than you would in a lesser Civic, opting for the Si sedan allows you to do so without the compromises of the coupe—specifically, its small, difficult-to-access rear seat and narrow trunk aperture. Besides offering easier rear-seat ingress/egress, the sedan’s 1.9-inch stretch in wheelbase and 1.5-inch-higher roof afford rear passengers nearly two more inches of headroom, 5.4 inches of extra legroom, 1.1 inches more shoulder room, and enough space for a third seatbelt. Cargo volume is up by almost a cube, to 12.5 cubic feet, and a wider trunk opening makes it more accessible.

The sedan’s interior features the same red stitching and race-car-style shift lights as the coupe’s. Unfortunately, our gripes about overwrought displays and awful materials in the two-door apply here too. But then there’s price: At a base price of $23,175 ($24,675 with navi), it costs nearly $1500 less than the cheapest Speed 3 and undercuts the GTI five-door by about $2000. In this class, money matters, and in that regard, the Honda has a compelling case.

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan

PRICE AS TESTED: $24,675 (base price: $23,175)

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, port fuel injection

Displacement: 144 cu in, 2354 cc
Power: 201 hp @ 7000 rpm
Torque: 170 lb-ft @ 4400 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 105.1 in
Length: 177.3 in
Width: 69.0 in Height: 56.5 in
Curb weight: 2902 lbC/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 6.1 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 15.7 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 6.4 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 8.8 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 8.4 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.7 sec @ 97 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 136 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 170 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.88 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA city/highway driving: 22/31 mpg
C/D observed: 23 mpg

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Joyous shifter, tidy body control, usable and accessible rear quarters.

Cacophonous road noise, could use more torque, even less sexy than the coupe.

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