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Bond in Motion car exhibit coming to L.A.'s Petersen Automotive Museum

The Petersen Automotive Museum was already a must-see for any car enthusiast visiting Los Angeles, and it's about to get a little better should you also be a James Bond fan. Opening Sept. 25 in the museum's appropriately named Grand Salon gallery will be the "Bond in Motion" exhibit of more than 30 cars, motorcycles, boats, submarines, helicopters and scale models used during the creation of the 24 official James Bond films. The timing corresponds with the Oct. 8 release of "No Time to Die," the upcoming 60th anniversary of the first Bond movie ... and hey, the release of our "All 24 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars." Highlights include many of the most famous Bond cars, including a 1977 Lotus Esprit S1 in submarine guise from "The Spy Who Loved Me," an Aston Martin V8 from "The Living Daylights," a 1999 BMW Z8 from "The World is Not Enough," the Aston Martin DB10 specially made for "Spectre," the post-flipped Aston Martin DBS from "Casino Royale," and one of the 1964 Aston Martin DB5s from the recent movies. I visited an exhibit of the same name back in 2013 at England's sensational Beaulieu Motor Museum. Although the one in L.A. won't be as comprehensive as that, simply due to logistics, many of the same vehicles and props will be present. You can see some of the photos from that exhibit below, and should you be a James Bond fan, can appreciate that it went much further than the Aston-heavy headliners above. In fact, it was hard to see what was missing from the collection. Tickets are on sale for the opening reception Sept. 23 featuring "one-night-only photo opportunities, live entertainment, food and martinis, shaken not stirred." Considering this is Los Angeles we're talking about, it's perfectly plausible this means noteworthy cast members from past films. Prices are $60 for general admission and $199 for VIP access, which includes exclusive access to the exhibit, "007 lounge" and a curated talk, plus complimentary food and a hosted bar.  The exhibit runs until October 2022.  AMC Hornet and Mercury Cougar XR7 View 22 Photos  

BMW tops Consumer Reports 2023 Brand Report Card

Feels like we wrote about Consumer Reports' 2022 Brand Report Car and 10 Top Picks a few weeks ago, but it was last April. So the mag is back with a ranked roster of 32 brands and 10 vehicles in four categories for your debating pleasure. Starting with the brands, last year's top three were Subaru, Mazda and BMW. This year, the Munich crew climbed two spots to win the prize thanks to "Superb road test scores and solid results in CR’s reliability and owner satisfaction surveys." Subaru narrowly fell to second, maintaining its four-year run in the top three. Mini, eighth last year, jumped five spots to get the last step on the podium. The rest of the top 10 were Lexus (up one spot from last year), Honda (down one spot from last year), Toyota (up three), Genesis (up 12), Mazda (down six), Audi (down three) and Kia (up eight). The magazine and testing outfit says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CRÂ’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." Last year's top 10 had six automakers from Japan, three from Germany (giving Mini credit for England), none from the U.S. or South Korea, and five luxury brands. This year's list counts five makes from Japan, two from Germany because Porsche fell out of the top ten, two from South Korea, still none from the U.S., and four luxury brands. Buick again ranked as the best domestic, dropping to 12th after being 11th last year. The big mover was Lincoln, its 10-place jump up to 16th attributed to better reliability from the Corsair and Nautilus. Tesla's improved overall reliability saw it climb six spots to 17th. Dodge climbed one spot to 15th. Jeep got out of the penalty box in last to come second-to-last. Land Rover fell three places into the penalty spot.  CR's top 10 vehicle models The 10 Top Picks list is practically a new list. Only two holdovers made it to 2023, those being the Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride.

Consumer Reports criticizes small turbo engines for misleading performance, fuel economy claims [w/video]

Consumer Reports has taken aim at at small-displacement, forced-induction engines, saying the powerplants don't manage to deliver on automaker fuel economy claims. Manufacturers have long held that smaller, turbocharged engines pack all power of their larger displacement cousins with significantly better fuel economy, but the research organization says that despite scoring high EPA economy numbers, the engines are no better than conventional drivetrains in both categories. Jake Fisher, director of automotive testing for Consumer Reports, says the forced induction options "are often slower and less fuel efficient than larger four and six-cylinder engines."
Specifically, CR calls out the new Ford Fusion equipped with the automaker's Ecoboost 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine. The institute's researchers found the engine, which is a $795 option over the base 2.5-liter four-cylinder, fails to match competitors in acceleration and served up 25 miles per gallon in testing, putting the sedan dead last among other midsize options.
The Chevrolet Cruze, Hyundai Sonata Turbo and Ford Escape 2.0T all got dinged for the same troubles, though Consumer Reports has found the turbo 2.0-liter four-cylinder in the BMW 328i does deliver on its promises. You can check out the full press release below. You can also read the full study on the Consumer Reports site, or scroll down for a short video recap.