LaCrosse gives GM a better Buick for broader future
When Buick introduced its new LaCrosse sedan at last yearÂ’s auto shows, the general media response was somewhere between a yawn and polite applause, before turning attention to the new Corvette, Cadillac, Chrysler, Mustang, and other hotter stuff hitting the streets for 2005.
The LaCrosse deserved better. It may not be the flashiest, fastest, or most provocative new car, but it also may be the best Buick ever built, and a car that can bring harmony to the aging generation of traditional Buick buyers and a whole new, more technically-aware younger segment.
When General Motors took the stage at the Chicago Auto Show media days this past week, the first big announcement was accompanied by a neat little ensemble of three violins and a cello, performing while the 2006 Cadillac DTS, which will replace the Deville, rolled through the curtains. Then the 2006 Buick Lucerne rolled out. As usual, Buick supported Cadillac as unobtrusively as the prerecorded drum rhythm supporting the strings. But nobody at Buick is complaining, because BuickÂ’s drums are still alive and beating.
There were other parallels at the Chicago Auto Show, which runs the next week and was typically fun even if it did not have a lot of impact introductions — the same criticism at Los Angeles and even Detroit this year. It did have a large-scale, after-hours media gathering, at which I found an older fellow on one side of me and a younger fellow on the other, with all three of us enjoying the music of a group called “Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.†It seems rare, these days, to find any musical group that can cross generations so well, and thatÂ’s where we come back to the Buick LaCrosse.
With the demise of Oldsmobile, which was clearly the lead technology singer in GM’s band, there may have been some sweaty palms at Buick, which kept loyally playing background rhythm. Buick’s array of vehicles included the Park Avenue Ultra, the Park Avenue, the LeSabre, Century and Regal – five sedans, which, when viewed from the front at 20 paces, all looked virtually identical.
The legend circulating from GM is that when Bob Lutz picked up the baton, he threw the sheet music back at Buick’s new-car designers and demanded a new song. The LaCrosse is the result, representing a new tone for Buick. Consider that by the time the current concert ends, Buick will have two cars – LaCrosse and Lucerne – replacing the whole previous band, along with trucks like the Rendezvous, Ranier and Terraza, which are such well-done versions of Chevy trucks that it’s almost like finding an Elvis impersonator who can really sing.
WeÂ’ll have to wait and see how the Lucerne is, just as weÂ’ll watch how Buick phases out the Park Avenue and LeSabre names. No question the Lucerne will be the upscale Buick, with a version of the Cadillac Northstar V8, but the LeSabre name has been the key to BuickÂ’s sustained success as the largest selling full-size sedan aspired to by several generations of people who became Buick loyalists. The increasing age of that group might be a reason why Buick would toss away such a trusty name and replace it in the lexicon with the name of a nice city in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, the LaCrosse is well on its way to establishing a nice little town in Wisconsin as a mainstay in BuickÂ’s new world, which has become computer-modern, but still can be best reached with the security of front-wheel drive.
Maybe itÂ’s not breakthrough styling, but the familiar oval grille on the Lacrosse is flanked by four separate headlights, mounted in their own contoured housings not unlike Jaguar. The available high-tech 3.6-liter V6 is a willing performer, although it is confined within BuickÂ’s QuietTuning interior. Such modern touches as remote starting, where you can use the key fob to start the car on frigid mornings, and the security of OnStar communication, and Ultrasonic beepers to aid parking and backing up.
While some have criticized the interior LaCrosse layout as dull and uninspired, I find it to be the best interior I’ve ever seen on a Buick. In fact, it’s classy in an Audi sort of way, with three round gauges outlined by brushed metal rings, as you view the readily-read analog figures through the upper half of the remote-festooned steering wheel. The center stack is also simple, and thankfully understated, with an audio system that can – believe it or not – be activated by pushing a round button, which also can be turned for more volume, if you’re remote-challenged.
The rest of the dash is covered with the obligatory plastic wood stuff, but its sort of muted into a pleasingly dull pattern that is light-years more acceptable than the high-gloss plasticky stuff that used to pass as wood. The center stack is outlined with a flat, matte-black material that I also found appealing, as it leads down to the console, which has more of the woody stuff as it encircles the automatic shift lever.
Such a layout might be criticized by some, but I donÂ’t need to be entertained by zigzagging lines, bright plastic faux metal, and swoopy ideas that pass as contemporary or artsy but can get tiresome. To me the interior should be subdued and classy, rather than distracting, and the LaCrosse works. I can only offer condolences to anyone disappointed that a Buick sedan might have an interior that DOESNÂ’T try to be an art-deco take on a 1956 Roadmaster.
The seats of the LaCrosse also are comfortable, but in a firm way. For many years, Buick led the charge of U.S. automobiles who tried to make car interiors soft as riding on a cloud, as if making the driverÂ’s seat as comfy as an overstuffed sofa was the way to go. A lot of the worldÂ’s other manufacturers apparently realized that some folks who sit on overstuffed sofas are better tuned to dozing off than confronting a long trip or a highway emergency. The LaCrosse indicates that Buick has caught on. The seats are firmly supportive, but not at all uncomfortable.
The LaCrosse handles in a contemporary fashion, too. ItÂ’s not going to win your local autocross, but it will ease through a chicane without wallowing enough to scrape the door handles on the pavement. Traction control and GMÂ’s StabiliTrak help there, as does the sport-tuned version of the four-wheel independent suspension, and 17-inch alloy wheels. Such upgrades come on the CXS model, which also has Magnasteer variable-effort rack-and-pinion steering, and four-wheel disc brakes with antilock.
If a small-town Wisconsin name can replace regal-sounding names weÂ’ve known for centuries, we also must learn a new alphabet: The CXS is the top model, with the CXL in the middle, and the CX at the base of the LaCrosse line. I suppose thatÂ’s better than naming the different models after cheeses.
The best news about the LaCrosse is under the hood. Buicks have been powered forever by pushrod V6 engines, upgraded and enhanced and even supercharged as GM sought to extract every ounce of power, reliability – and profit – out of aging pushrod designed engines. It’s true that refining the same basic engine for over 40 years can improve smoothness and durability, and the 3800 Series III V6 represents the latest in that technology. That engine is the base engine in the LaCrosse.
The newest 3800 now has 200 horsepower and 225 foot-pounds of torque, and for those long-time loyalists, that might be the properly adequate engine. GM has argued annually that its market research shows that its owners have never asked for high-tech engines, and even while the world according to Ford, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Audi, Lexus, Acura, Mercedes, Volvo, Infiniti and Chrysler has gone high-tech, GM loyalists buy whatever GM puts under the hood.
But the LaCrosse is new, so turn the page quickly to the option list, and you’ll find the 3.6-liter V6 – yes, SMALLER in displacement compared to the base 3.8-liter engine – is available. It’s the Cadillac-developed “high feature†V6, with all the goodies that have made the hottest imports prized possessions in recent years. The fact that the LaCrosse is the only non-Cadillac to get the opportunity to use the Cadillac V6 ahead of all the Chevrolet and Pontiac sedans tells you how important the LaCrosse, and Buick, are to GM. In fact, the 3800 is the base engine for the Lucerne, too, with the DOHC Northstar V8 as the high-tech option. So even the costlier Lucerne won’t get the LaCrosse’s 3.6, which, along with front-wheel drive, will be reason enough to choose the LaCrosse.
The 3.6 has dual-overhead camshafts instead of pushrods running its valvetrain, so it also has four valves per cylinder for more efficient airflow than the two-valve 3800. The 3.6 also has variable valve timing to computer-tune the valves for better air-fuel flow and more flexible performance.
While its potential is much higher, the current 3.6 has a zippy 240 horsepower – 40 more than the larger base engine. Critics, as well as pushrod loyalists, will point out that the high-tech engine has only about the same torque as the old engine, but the 3800 engine’s 230 torque-peak is at 4,000 RPMs, while the new engine reaches 225 peak foot-pounds of torque at a mere 2,000 RPMs, and holds most of it up into the power curve, where the horsepower peaks at 6,000 revs. That gives you low-end thrust from the torque and high-revving power from all those horses, and a smooth midrange transition.
Besides, among the standard features is an audio system that can play XM Satellite radio as well as AM, FM, compact discs, and whatever else you can plug in, through a 240-watt Concert Sound III system with nine speakers. So if you choose the CXS with the high-tech 3.6 V6, you at least get as many horsepower as watts of mind-blowing sound. ItÂ’s bad form to have more audio watts than horsepower, whether your preferences run to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, or Lawrence WelkÂ’s Greatest Hits. But regardless, please hold the prerecorded drum rhythm.
Acura’s 2005 RL makeover makes Legendary strides
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Remember the Acura Legend? That was HondaÂ’s breakthrough attempt as the first Japanese manufacturer to create an upscale brand, and it proved solid and durable for two versions, while Toyota came out with Lexus and Nissan with Infiniti.
Remember the Acura RL? That was the third phase for Acura’s top model, replacing the Legend 10 years ago, when it looked properly contemporary. As the RL aged, I thought that the mid-range Acura TL was preferable, even before Acura brought out an all-new and spectacular TL a year ago. On top of that, by introducing a small, quick sporty coupe named the RSX, a sporty compact sedan called the TSX, and the new TL, meant Acura showcased three ultra-high-tech cars, while the corporate flagship was left far, far behind.
The wait is over, finally, and maybe it was worth it. After driving the 2005 Acura RL at its introduction in Washington, D.C., the new RL raises AcuraÂ’s standards to unprecedented heights, and moves to the forefront of car-of-the-year consideration.
Pick something you like about new cars — styling, performance, high-tech features, comfort, gadgetry, you name it — and the RL has it covered, with just about every feature ever seen on high-end sedans, and a few that no other car can duplicate.
Acura officials list the Mercedes and Lexus as standard-bearers for pure luxury, and the BMW and Audi as luxury cars that focus on being more sporty, and they placed their corporate bullseye on the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6 as their prime target. In price, the new Cadillac STS also fits into that $50,000 bracket for sporty-luxury cars, but the STS must prove itself in that company, just as the RL hopes to do.
The sticker price is $48,900, which is a lot. But everything is standard on the RL. Everything. There are no options, unless some buyer forces an Acura dealer to glue on some aero body-trim.
Otherwise, everything is included. That wouldnÂ’t mean a lot, except that in this case, “everything†is over the top — meaning everything available on the most high-tech cars as well as a few things not available anywhere.
Masaaki Saito, chief engineer on the RL, pointed to the “taut and wide stance, and the emotional and functional style,†and said the RL is aimed at improving its status in the “mid-luxury†segment by setting standards for styling, performance and handling.
Consider the high points: A unique all-wheel-drive system; 300 horsepower out of a 3.5-liter V6 with variable valve timing and drive-by-wire technology; a stiffer, firmer chassis incorporating high-tensile steel and blow-molded aluminum that Honda engineers claim sets new safety standards; a tighter, wider, longer body that makes an impressive styling statement; paddle shifters for fingertip up- and downshifts of the six-speed automatic transmission; keyless entry and ignition operation; adaptive headlights that shine around curves as you approach them; a navigation system that can be voice-commanded to guide you to 1.7 million points of interest or an obscure address with every street in every city charted; a Bose DVD surround audio system that includes a unique noise-canceling system that eliminates ambient noise through the sound system; XM satellite radio, which includes a unique Acuralink message alert that incorporates a traffic-warning capability to send congestion alerts through the satellite audio in the 20 largest U.S. cities — including the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
How is that for standard equipment?
“Performance-oriented, with a dose of luxury,†said Mike Spencer, who manages public relations for Acura. Spencer, a former professional motorcyle road-racer, added that it sounded like rain the next day, which might prevent us from putting the RL through its paces on Summit Point Raceway in Virginia. I suggested that if he really wanted to show off the new all-wheel-drive stability, a little rain would clarify the evidence.
It rained, all right, a downpour from dawn until dark. In fact, after we drove a couple hours to Summit Point and returned to the posh Mandarin Oriental Hotel, the television news advised regional residents that because the leading edge of Hurricane Jeanne had dumped 5 inches of water in Virginia, everyone should avoid driving there. ThatÂ’s precisely where we went, and we not only drove the RLs on the road-racing circuit, they performed — including the wipers — better than anyone could have envisioned.
Acura had arranged to have us also drive a BMW 530, Audi A6 quattro and Mercedes E-Class 4-matic, and I must say all of them acquitted themselves well — most surprisingly the rear-drive BMW. But the RL was the star of the show. It felt so secure and stable in every circumstance that I decided to take a chance. As I headed into a 180-degree left turn that also headed up a slight hill, I thought IÂ’d try to break the car loose, so, I forced myself to stand on the gas entering the turn, where my head told me I should still be braking. Amazingly, the RL zipped around the turn, never hinting that the torrential downpour was even a problem.
Audi always has gotten high marks in areas where winter driving is a challenge because of its quattro all-wheel-drive system, in which all four wheels drive the car all the time. A couple of BMW and Mercedes models, as well as the new STS and Chrysler 300C, also offer all-wheel drive, but they are primarily rear-drive allowing some torque to shift to the front when the rear slips. The RL is primarily front-wheel drive, distributing increased torque to the rear when performance demands it.
Acura calls its unique system “SH-AWD,†for super-handling all-wheel drive. During normal cruising, the RL runs 70 percent of power to the front wheels and 30 percent to the rear — something front-wheel-drive advocates in snow-country will appreciate. Under hard acceleration or cornering, or when traction is threatened, the system instantly shifts up to 70 percent of torque to the rear axle — something hard-accelerating drivers will appreciate.
Then the RL truly steps out on its own. In severe cornering, the outside rear wheel turns more than the average of the front wheels, which bedevils most AWD systems, but Acura engineers fashioned a device that runs through an electromagnetic clutch to accelerate the outside rear wheel to run faster than the other three. So in a hard turn such as on the race track, when 70 percent of the torque goes to the rear, fully 100 percent of that rear torque goes to the outside rear wheel only, essentially pushing the RL around the turn as if itÂ’s on rails.
No other AWD system does that. It complements the superb suspension, and the drive trainÂ’s performance. The 3.5-liter V6 has been condensed into a shorter and narrower package, yet gains 40 horsepower to its 300-horse peak at 6,200 RPMs, with 260 foot-pounds of torque at 5,000 RPMs, all controlled by fingertip-paddle shifting. The RL body gains 33 percent in rigidity, thanks to super high-tensile steel, as opposed to normal high-tensile steel, plus aluminum hood, trunk, front fenders, front and rear sub frames and suspension components.
Inside, the car has a modern, crisp look and a great feel of luxury. The navigation screen is bigger and brighter, and while I don’t like the large knob that controls all sorts of features because it causes the necessity to divert driving attention to the navigation screen, just like the anti-intuitive BMW “iDrive,†the RL’s is easily overridden by voice command. Bark out an address, and the system’s voice immediately starts a turn-by-turn guidance to that destination. Same with a site, such as Chicago’s Soldier Field, the Minneapolis Metrodome, or Duluth’s Aerial Bridge, with the same voice soothingly directing you, backed up on the nav screen.
The 10-speaker DVD surround audio system is magnificent — although I remain unconvinced itÂ’s better than the TLÂ’s Panasonic ELS DVD surround — but the RLÂ’s system handles more than ear-blowing music and Bluetooth phone service. It has an active noise-cancellation system that nullifies low-grade noise intrusion, silencing the interior as well as clarifying the audio sound. And it relays traffic conditions from the Acuralink system, which bounces congestion information off a satellite and back through the XM satellite radio. The navigation system is updated by the minute, and while everything, including the XM radio, is standard on the car, even the first year subscription to the XM system is covered.
Remember the Legend? Or the previous RL? Well, after a dose of the 2005 RL, those predecessors will be distant memories.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Cadillac unveils supercharged XLR-V and STS-V
WASHINGTON, D.C. — V is for Victory, and it also stands for the newest and most high-performance Cadillacs in the exclusive brandÂ’s history. The CTS-V opened some eyes on race tracks and roadways as a hot-rod Cadillac, and now the “V†designation is coming out attached to a pair of more luxurious models – the XLR-V and the STS-V.
A too-brief opportunity to drive the new Escalade – Cadillac’s overwhelming new version of its luxury-SUV segment leader – along with the XLR-V and STS-V came in waves of media at introductions on both coasts. I attended the East Coast session, which was based in Washington, D.C., and allowed us a lot of spirited driving into the rolling hills and challenging roadways of nearby Virginia. We saw freeways, and then we saw splendid old villages, including some historic wartime settings, such as the cannons still in place on the hilltop at Manassas.
But the Escalade review will have to wait, while we attend to the XLR-V and STS-V. These long-rumored, and long-awaited variations of CadillacÂ’s sports car and midsize sedan are set off by mesh grilles and a few exterior items, but primarily by whatÂ’s within, both in the interior and under the skin mechanically. Both cars were thoroughly redone to house the new power that bristles every time you touch the gas, and the cars themselves house the extra dose of power and never lose their poise and class no matter how hard you hammer the gas.
Cadillac has been the shining light of luxury at General Motors for most of a century now, and while there have never been more luxurious vehicles wearing the Cadillac wreath, Cadillac also is poised to lead the whole corporation into the high-tech future. The XLR-V and STS-V are the strongest indications yet that Cadillac can combine technology, performance and luxury into a single vehicle. Or two single vehicles.
Both cars start with the 4.6-liter Northstar V8 engine, cut back to 4.4 liters, and then reworked internally to handle a supercharger. Now, a supercharger is a device that requires some power, in this case, about 15 horsepower-worth, and it compresses and force-feeds a blast of air into the intake to suck great quantiies of gasoline with it. The result is a huge increase in power.
As a tease, consider this: The larger STS-V sedan has a different, deeper-set version of the supercharged 4.4 with 469 horsepower and 439 foot-pounds of torque, making it the most powerful Cadillac vehicle ever built, and capable of flinging the quite-heavy sedan from 0-60 in 4.8 seconds, and a top speed electronically governed at 155 miles per hour.
The XLR, which is built on the same platform as the new Corvette, and in fact had the platform first, is lighter and smaller, so its version of the engine had to be streamlined, and “only†produces 443 horsepower and 414 foot-pounds of torque. Its size and sizzle makes it a 4.6-second screamer from 0-60, and it also has a limit of 155 mph.
The old adage, promoted most prominently by General Motors, is that “there’s no substitute for cubic inches†when it comes to developing power. Cadillac now proves that there IS a substitute for massive displacement, and it is technology. But it comes at a cost.
The STS-V starts out at $77,090, very Mercedes AMG-like, or BMW M-Class like, but it comes without a single option. The only selection a customer can make is a “sunroof delete†to eliminate the power glass sunroof, but there is no discount that accompanies it.
The XLR is even more exotic, and starts with a more expensive vehicle, so the XLR-V starts at $100,000. A nice, round number, to say the least.
General Motors has earned the status of the No. 1 automaker in the world and stubbornly held fast by depending upon low-investment/high-return products that include making dated technology work in modern times, and building large and larger truck-based vehicles that command large and larger prices. More than a decade ago, Cadillac engineers got the green light to go high-tech, while the rest of the corporation continued to try to squeeze another couple of horsepower out of technology that appeared outdated alongside the rest of the industry.
While even the Corvette stayed with pushrod design and used enormous cylinder displacement to create world-class power at moderate expense, Cadillac came up with the Northstar V8, a dual-overhead-camshaft beauty that, at 4.6 liters, was able to outrev and outrun much larger pushrod engines. Next, Cadillac came up with the 3.6-liter V6, an even more advanced dual-overhead-cam engine with variable valve-timing that is capable of being tweaked to truly stand as a world-class powerplant against the best that Japan or Germany can muster.
When Cadillac redesigned its entire line, building the CTS entry-level sedan, the XLR retractable-roof sports car, the SRX crossover SUV, and changed the name of the Seville to the STS and the DeVille to the new DTS, it inserted the brilliant 3.6 V6 as the base engine in the CTS, STS and SRX, and used its own proprietary Northstar V8 as the only engine in the XLR and DTS, and the upgrade option in the STS and SRX.
The luxury class of cars tends to veer either toward comfort/luxury or performance/luxury, so having proven a hit with the sharply chiseled, edgy design of the whole new line, Cadillac decided to venture further into the performance-luxury market. The CTS, which is a very good car in basic form with the “high-feature†V6, was given the Corvette V8. While extremely powerful, the Corvette engine even in the new Corvette is a high-tech version of the aging pushrod, or fixed cam-in-block design, with 6 or even 7 liters of displacement.
With that powerful engine and a six-speed stick, the CTS-V has attracted a whole new and younger clientele to Cadillac showrooms. Compared to the garden-variety CTS, the CTS-V attracts buyers 9 years younger, 26-percent more college educated, and with $72,000 more in annual earnings.
That inspired the corporation to open some new doors for Cadillac’s engineers. Consider, in the scope of new-look engineering, that Cadillac product director John Howell said he is the most veteran member of Cadillac’s executive staff – and he has been at Cadillac only five and a half years. The youthful approach to luxury and performance/luxury has lifted Cadillac past Lincoln and Mercedes to where it currently resides, in third place behind only Lexus (302,895 vehicles sold) and BMW (266,200), with annual sales of 235,002.
“With success can come conservatism,†said Howell, “but not at Cadillac.Ââ€
Howell described Phase One of the “Cadillac Renaissance†as a five-year plan to renew styling, performance, new products and public perception. Phase Two starts now, and is aimed at established world-standard levels of performance and refinement. With that comes the V-Series, following up the CTS-V with the two newest cars. The CTS-V may have caught the automotive world by surprise, but the XLR-V and STS-V are aimed at taking on “the best from BMW, Mercedes or Audi,†said Howell.
Greg Prior, the chief engineer on the Northstar V8, is an overhead-cam guy who had to win a few internal battles before being allowed to develop the V engines. “We’re aware of our heritage, but we realize it doesn’;t mean a thing if you don’t follow up on it,†he said.
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In the STS-V, 90 percent of the torque plateaus from 2,500-6,100 RPMs, and in the XLR-V, the torque peak remains from 2,200-6,200. Prior gave a quick explanation of the upgrades required for the two new cars, and much of it was in engineer-eze. In summary, he declared the obvious, that these engines are far more than just a supercharger bolted on to an existing engine. New material and refinement were needed to strengthen pistons, heads, water-jacket, everything, to get ready for extreme dosages of revs, power, and heat. Built at a new facility in Wixom, Mich., the engines are built with one engine-builder doing the actual assembly of each engine.
The governed top speed of 155 is, obviously, still excessive, but the more boy-racer CTS-V has an ungoverned limit of 163 – faster, because it is more race track oriented. With considerable pride, however, the engineers admitted that if ungoverned, the STS-V had attained 170 mph, and the XLR-V had hit 173. Score another for technology, and don’t worry about getting to the shopping center before closing.
On the STS-V, the six-speed automatic transmission is a new device with a two-clutch arrangement for the rear-wheel-drive vehicles. Suspension components were all revised as well, with increased cornering and handling firmness, and quicker steering feel. All sorts of exotic parts are included on the STS-V, including antilock brakes, traction control and Stabilitrak. The transmission in the STS-V has a sport mode, which allows you to shift off to the side and tap it up or down to shift manually. It is computer controlled for quicker response, and it automatically matches revs on downshifts, and it inhibits unwanted downshifts when cornering.
Driving the STS-V is a treat, and it handles with a nimbleness and precision that sets it above the normal and competent STS, and up there with the best of the worldÂ’s luxury/performance cars. Right on, Cadillac. And the leather and wood interior is impressive as well.
Now we switch to the XLR-V, and there are a couple of new touches exclusive to that beast. It has nearly perfect 50-50 weight distribution on the front and rear axles, and, like the STS-V, it has been lowered and refined for the extra power. There had been some critics of the XLR steering for being too imprecise, so that has been attended to. The steering is much quicker, and the suspension has the electromagnetic shock absorbers that stiffen five times faster than conventional shocks. The exhaust has computer controls to open up at high revs, giving the car an unrestricted boost in sound as well.
A key feature in the XLR-V is the ability to drive it normally and impressively with the shifter in “D†for drive. But shift it into manual mode, and two amazing changes take place: the shifter responds much more quickly, and the suspension and steering both firm up for more aggressive driving.
My driving partner left it in D and we were both impressed. I switched it to the manual mode and was thoroughly impressed with the carÂ’s precision. As an experiment, I zoomed along in one deserted area, at a fairly high rate of speed, and shifted to the normal D setting. Immediately I noticed a less-precise feel to the steering, and before I really had time to calculate any suspension difference, I quickly switched back to manual.
Later, I told a Cadillac engineer that to fully appreciate the tighter steering and suspension, on that particular stretch of road in the normal D setting 90 mph was far too fast; but in the manual setting, 90 might not have been fast enough.
Toyota’s FJ Cruiser direct hit on active-life segment
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The folks at Toyota who were introducing a couple new 2007 vehicles last month expressed disappointment because the 2006 RAV4, Toyota Avalon, and Lexus GS and IS models weren’t finalists in either the 2006 Truck or Car of the Year voting.
I suggested that maybe they only need to be patient, because Toyota could be in prime position to sweep both 2007 awards, with the latest generation Camry, and the introduction of the entirely new FJ Cruiser.
The redesigned Camry is a given, and the FJ Cruiser is a lead-pipe cinch to be successful. It is the latest example of a concept vehicle the springs to life and becomes a major hit. The first utility vehicle Toyota ever built was a primitive Jeep-like vehicle in the early 1950s, first called the AK10, and the second being the BJ, which acquired the nickname Land Cruiser in 1954.That was a rugged off-road vehicle, and it led into the series of Land Cruisers that evolved to what now exists as the basic large and fully appointed SUV.
Two years ago, Toyota unveiled a wild-looking, bright blue auto show concept vehicle that looked like an artsy combination of a Jeep Wrangler and a compact Hummer, with retro leanings toward the old FJ Land Cruiser. The concept vehicle met with such wild acclaim that this weekend, at the Detroit Auto Show, the FJ Cruiser will debut as a production vehicle
Styled after the 1967 FJ40, the new FJ Cruiser is a strange conglomeration of seemingly unrelated parts that somehow come together to make an entirely pleasing and impressive looking vehicle. From the side, the shape is uneven, with large doors and then smaller, thinner rear-hinged “suicide†doors allowing easier access to the rear seat. Trust me on this, but the FJ with the optional roof rack looks twice as good as the FJ without it. Without it, the FJ looks…almost bald, and not just because they all come with a bright white roof panel.
Toyota, which hasnÂ’t missed on many opportunities to gobble up market segments on its way to inevitably pass General Motors as the worldÂ’s largest auto manufacturer, has filled the FJ with every necessary option to impress off-road types, and to appeal to off-road-wannabes who need a vehicle for all seasons but donÂ’t mind creating the image that they are free-wheeling, devil-may-care adventurers.
It doesn’t matter to Toyota if you go mountain climbing, whitewater rafting, sky-diving, mountain biking, or never do anything more adventurous than driving to the mall, you are still “qualified†to buy an FJ Cruiser. The price is expected to be “mid-$20,000†and they will conquer rugged terrain, because of a tough, fully-boxed frame, two different four-wheel-drive systems with high and low ranges and a center differential lock, and with short overhangs for good enter and exit climbing angles.
The truck-based platform gives the FJ a 180-inch length and 106-inch wheelbase, and it is powered by a 4.0-liter V6 with variable valve timing, extracting 239 horsepower at 5,200 RPMs and 278 foot-pounds of torque at 3,700 RPMs. That engine, shared with the Tacoma, 4Runner, and Tundra, and either a six-speed stick or a five-speed automatic. Its tow capacity is 5,000 pounds, and its tongue weight is 500 pounds.
The stick-shift models have full-time all-wheel drive that can be switched into high for everyday, on-road driving, high-range/low-gear for off-roading, or low-range/low-gear for ultra-slow rock climbing, up or down. For the heaviest off-road duty, you also can start the stick version without pushing in the clutch, to avoid rolling on a steep grade. A Torsen limited-slip center differential sends 40 percent of torque to the front and 60 percent to the rear in normal driving, but any slippage of the rear can shift up to 53 percent of power to the front, and slippage up front can shift up to 70 percent to the rear.
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The automatic has uphill and downhill shift logic to prevent gear hunting on uphill climbs, and will downshift to help control slow speeds when going down steep embankments. A gated shifter allows drivers to manually shift as well. The shift-on-the-fly part-time four-wheel drive system means you can set it for just rear-drive, or shift into four-wheel drive when you encounter a slippery stretch.
The ruggedness of being based on the modern Land Cruiser frame parts adds to the impressive stance and off-road performance. But the FJ also is extraordinarily appealing to normal, on-road customers, with its wild color schemes, which are repeated on the center dashboard. An optional gauge package can be mounted up on top of the dashboard, as well.
The side doors must be opened to allow opening the suicide doors, and the second row can be folded down on a 60-40 split basis to create a flat cargo floor. Seat materials are water-repellant, covered with a breathable resin for easy cleaning. Floor surfaces are covered with rubbery stuff, and an enormous subwoofer can be installed on the rear compartment wall to enhance the audio system. Rear household plug-in sockets are also available.
All of ToyotaÂ’s latest safety elements are in place, from child seats to airbags to four-wheel disc brakes with antilock and electronic brake distribution, as well as a traction control system and a systemn for detecting and offsetting slides and skids.
Toyota says the FJ will compete with the Jeep Rubicon, Nissan Xterra and the softer but similarly aimed Honda Element. Toyota expects to build 46,000 of them for 2006 calendar year sales, with 93 percent of them 4x4s.
When Toyota recently brought out the RAV4, I remarked that by making it 14 inches longer than its predecessor, mounting a V6, and adding a third row of seats, Toyota might gain new customers, but it was abandoning the “cute ute†consumers who made it a giant success.
Now, I have a new suspicion: Toyota abandoned the cute-ute segment only for a few months, and now it is refilling it with a “cuter-uter” that slots in smaller than the new RAV4, and should be a sellout.
Honda rides innovative Ridgeline into pickup battle
LA JOLLA, CALIF. — After truck sales zoomed into the stratosphere, it seemed that every possible configuration of pickup trucks had been created — from small to medium to humungous, from long-bed to short-bed to covered-bed, and from regular-cab to extended-cab to crew-cab. Not so fast, there, pardner. ThereÂ’s still room for one more, and Honda, of all people, is the one filling that slot.
The Honda Ridgeline pickup will hit showrooms in about a month, and Honda aims to sell about 50,000 of them this year year, while hoping to double that in future years. Honda officials readily admit that after insisting for a decade that they’d never build an actual pickup truck, now they are saying, “Here’s our truck.†The shifting marketplace and the increasing profits from trucks are more than enough motivation for a corporate mind-change. But Honda hasn’t missed on many of its ideas so far, always creating clever vehicles with the highest technology, build quality and clean efficiency, and the Ridgeline seems to be another direct hit.
Honda gave itself quite a task, aiming for a pickup truck that can do it all, with full-size interior and all sorts of appointments, yet a compact exterior, for maneuverability and convenience, and the ability of competing – if not beating – the more powerful and larger trucks on the market. The Ridgeline is a full-four-door pickup, with styling that is daring and bold enough to defy the conservative look of Accords and Civics, as well as the aerodynamically astute look of Acura RSX, TSX, TL, RL and MD-X models.
For power, Honda always has taken on the argument of enlarging displacement by using superior technology, but tweaking the 3.5-liter V6 to be able to run with the numerous V8 and larger V6 engines of competitors and still be clean for emissions, was a big task.
Meanwhile, recognizing that virtually all trucks are compromises, with some being better off-road, others better on-road, some with suspensions designed for full loads, and others for light-load comfort, the Ridgeline aims to combine all those assets. It is designed with both a fully cross-membered frame and a unibody, fused cleverly into a tight package that is both superbly comfortable loaded and unloaded, while hauling a half-ton of cargo or towing a 5,000-pound trailer. The bed is all-composite, and itÂ’s ingeniously designed with a trunk under the bedÂ’s floor.
The people buying trucks will be the ultimate jury, but the gathered automotive media were pretty unanimous in being impressed at the introduction of the vehicle at a resort and ranch in the La Jolla, California, area near San Diego. (Those of us who are hardy Midwesterners might wonder where this place, pronounced “La Hoya,†is located, and hopefully we all figured out that it’s the Spanish pronunciation of La Jolla.)
Anyhow, cynics asked how Honda could possibly compete with full-size pickups with huge V8s, using that slick little V6 that has variations powering the Acura MD-X luxury SUV and RL luxury sedan. Honda officials didn’t make any outrageous boasts, and they insisted their intention is not to replace the F150 – Ford’s benchmark full-size pickup – but that we should wait until the demonstration drives to see for ourselves.
Honda had a Ford F150 available, with a 5.4-liter Triton V8, and hooked it up to a 5,000-pound trailer next to a Ridgeline with an identical trailer. Nobody was surprised that the F150 out-drag-raced the Ridgeline, but everyone was surprised at how slight the margin was. And the last remaining critics were silenced when the same two vehicles were run through a slalom course, where, typically, the trailer felt like it was wagging the dog a bit with the big pickup, yet the Ridgeline performed with sports sedan stability and agility.
Earlier, we visited Vessels Ranch, where thoroughbreds and quarterhorses are bred and raised, and where an off-road course was carved into the hillsides, through sandy gulches and small streams. The Ridgeline breezed through it.
The 3.5-liter V6 turns out 255 horsepower at 5,750 RPMs, and 252 foot-pounds of torque at 4,500 RPMs, and preliminary estimates are for 21 miles per gallon highway and 16 city. It is the first pickup truck with an engine that meets Level II of the ULEV (ultra low emission vehicle) and Bin 5 pollution standards. Its five-speed automatic is reinforced, and is coupled with HondaÂ’s VTM-4 all-wheel drive, a system that runs front-wheel-drive until load or slippage calls for torque shift to the rear, then calculates and shifts up to 70 percent of the torque to the rear. For extreme conditions, you can lock the rear axle so that all four wheels churn together.
Honda says it spotted an opening in the crowded truck segment for an all-new and different type of pickup. Under cross-examination, though, Honda officials admit that if they hadnÂ’t found a self-styled niche, they would have still built a pickup, maybe a better Tacoma, or something similar. Instead, they claim to be filling a niche that their market research says is there.
Dan Bonawitz, Honda’s vice president of planning and logistics, said that with all its SUVs, Honda would sell 500,000 trucks in 2004, after having none to sell in 1994. Light truck sales account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales, and that is expected to rise to 58 percent, while car sales are expected to drop to 42-46 percent. Bonawitz also explained that among the 3-million total pickups, conventional 2-door models decreased 8.6 percent in the past year, while 4-door models have increased 9.5 percent, and “new variations†of cab design have increased 40.8 percent.
“Eighteen percent of all Honda owners also own pickups, and almost 25 percent of CR-V owners also have pickups,†Bonawitz said. “Until now, Honda owners have had no choice but to go outside of Honda to buy a pickup.Ââ€
Extensive market research went into the clean-sheet design of the Ridgeline. Among both Honda owners and potential pickup buyers, the research showed a strong interest in what they wanted in a pickup, and the priorities were family needs, commuting, hauling kids and kidsÂ’ stuff, hauling home-improvement products. They also denoted a weakness of current pickups as the inability to securely store things, poor fuel efficiency, and limited interior comfort, particularly for five or six occupants.
“So we wanted to create our own benchmark,†said Gary Flint, Honda’s large project leader. “We had to retain our core values of safety for everyone, being environmentally responsible, offer outstanding value, quality reliability, and be fun to drive. We also wanted a strong image, the ability to haul a lot of cargo, all-wheel drive, good driving position, storage, and with a focus on family needs. Plus, from our sedans, we had to have comfort, refinement, ergonomics, and good fuel economy.
“We also wanted to make the Ridgeline maneuverable, able to carry at least five passengers, and be kid-friendly, while still being fun, durable, capable of running off-road, and of hauling dirty cargo. So we created a recipe, offering a new approach for active families.Ââ€
The result is a truck that is 207 inches long – 1.5 inches shorter than an F150, but with greater interior room. Large rear-seat knee room and seatback angle that is the same as the front buckets are standard, with the capability of storing 2.6 cubic feet under the rear seat, and to flip up the bottom cushion in all or part of a 60/40 split. A mountain bike will easily fit, upright, back there, meaning you don’t have to worry about it getting ripped off when you put it in the bed and stop at a store or restaurant.
The pickup bed is truly a work of art. The composite design took a battering without being marred from a front-end loader dumping 600 pounds of boulders into the bed as we watched. Grooves in the floor of the bed are designed so that owners of 3.4 million Honda motorcycles will find the tires fit perfectly. At 49 inches wide (the F150 is 50 inches), a 4×8-foot sheet of plywood rides flat in the 5-foot bed, which goes to 6.5 feet with the tailgate down.
The tailgate itself is a work of art. It opens by folding down, and 300 pounds of weight can rest on it without a problem, and it also will open to the side, which is perfect for allowing easy access to whatever you want to load or unload.
The primary feature of the bed, however, is the trunk. At a touch, the rear floor section will tilt up, revealing an 8.5-cubic-foot trunkspace. It is large enough to store extra large duffel bags, three full sets of golf clubs, a stroller, or a 72-quart cooler, and you can get a divider and cargo hooks as well. The best part is that the trunk lid/bed floor is completely sealed, so you could haul a load of dirt in the bed, and none of it would get into the trunk. The crowning touch is that you could simply fill the whole trunk with ice, and when you pull up to a picnic or camping site, or to tailgate, pop the trunk and you have the perfect cooler. A drain plug is also standard. Also, when you lock the doors, the trunk locks as well. A temporary spare also is stashed in the trunk, although a full-size one will fit there.
In design, Honda knew that a unibody was best for body rigidity and safety, but a body on frame is best for towing and cargo. So even though it took 93 percent new and exclusive parts, an integrated frame with boxed frame rails and seven cross-members of high-strength steel was designed and fastened to a unibody structure. The finished Ridgeline is 2.5 times stiffer in bending rigidity and 20 times stiffer in torsional rigidity than “other midsize pickups,†Honda says. The bed is sheet-molded composite, so it won’t corrode or suffer “ding†damage, and it has three cross-members under it.
An independent rear suspension tracks well and aids handling and comfort. Rubber isolation points on the subframe help to quiet vibrations. The suspension system designed for the Pilot SUV has been reinforced totally, measuring a 30-percent increase in strength, and the result is lateral response g-forces and slalom speeds far better than the F150, Titan, Tundra or Colorado pickups.
Driving position is excellent, as is the switchgear, except for the headlight switch. I donÂ’t like the turn-knob on the left side of the dash for headlights, when every vehicle on the planet seems to have pull-push switches, or twisting the end of the directional-light stalk, to operate the lights. WeÂ’re nitpicking, here, however. Along with antilock brakes on the four-wheel discs, the Ridgeline has electronic brake distribution, and brake assist for emergency stops, as well as traction control and vehicle stability control, and a full complement of airbags and curtains, and it earns five-star crash-test ratings, with special attention to crash compatibility to make smaller vehicles and even pedestrians safer in collisions.
The Ridgeline has passenger-car-level interior noise, with a navigation screen, audio upgrades that include rear-seat DVD screen and wireless headphones, and it starts out well-equipped with standard features in base RT level, at $28,000, while an RTS that adds alloy wheels and a six-CD audio, and the top of the line RTL adds heated leather seats with a base price of $32,000.
Whether Honda is accurate in its assessment of what it calls this available niche in a “morphing†truck market, the Ridgeline seems certain to be a sellout.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews, and you can reach him at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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