Hybrid Escape a Capitol idea in SUV world
SAINT PAUL, MN. — Some early-arriving state legislators and visitors walked right past the two compact SUVs parked near the main entrance stairs leading up to the Minnesota State Capitol, probably grumbling to themselves that the Ford Escapes, one silver and the other white, were parked illegally close by some upstart state representatives.
The new Escapes looked quite normal, although the front end has been restyled for 2005. Then Charlie Pryde, FordÂ’s government relations manager, climbed inside the first Escape and carefully backed it up onto the sidewalk. As he backed it toward its proper position, the engine died – but the Escape kept backing up! Strange…How could the thing keep moving, with the engine stopped?
The answer is simple: These were no ordinary Ford Escapes, but new-for-2005 Escape Hybrids, and on Tuesday they were making their first public appearance since being introduced six weeks earlier at the New York Auto Show. The gasoline engine hadnÂ’t died, but shut off by design to let its coordinated and properly-charged electric motor handle the rest of the backing-up duties, silently and without hesitation.
Showing off the first hybrid-technology vehicle by an American company, or the first hybrid SUV would have been worth some fanfare, but the reason for the EscapesÂ’ appearance at the Minnesota State Capitol was because Minnesota is the first state considering legislation to offer incentives for buyers of hybrid vehicles. The bipartisan bill would give hybrid buyers a sales tax exemption and other benefits for choosing vehicles that can emissions up to 90 percent and increase fuel economy by 75 percent.
Hybrid vehicles have electric motors that complement efficient gasoline engines, providing extra power when needed and being recharged by a battery pack that is kept charged by the gasoline engine. The Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid and Honda Insight are the only hybrid-powered cars currently on the market, although both Honda and Toyota are planning to expand by this fall – Honda in the Accord sedan and Toyota in the Highlander and Lexus RX-330 SUVs.
All the good ideas about hybrids have been limited to Honda and Toyota so far, but the Escape offers some new ideas. In the Honda, the small gas engine runs all the time with the electric motor coming on for supplemental power when needed; in the Toyota Prius, the gas engine runs only to support electric power, serving mostly as a generator for the first of two electric motors, with the second electric motor able to run the car on electric power only. The Insight leads the way with over 50 miles per gallon fuel economy in actual use, with the Prius and the Civic about even with their real-world figures in the 40s, although the Prius EPA estimate claims 61 miles per gallon in city driving.
The Escape differs from the Honda and Toyota systems in that it runs by gas engine, by electric motor and by both. From 0-25, power is most if not all from the electric motor; from 25-50 it is powered by a combination of the gas and electric sources; at highway cruising speed, most if not all power is from the gas engine. That’s why the fuel economy measures higher in town – 35-40 miles per gallon in city driving, and 29-31 on the highway.
While Ford developed its own technology, when it came to apply it, Ford realized Toyota’s advances in hybrid technology had led to 350 Toyota patents on various parts of the system. Ford had to license about 20 of those, particularly in coordinating the power at the transaxle, but Ford officials insist that neither technology nor technical support is being bought from Toyota. In fact, Toyota is going to license some of Ford’s 100 patents on the Escape’s system, particularly when it comes to direct injection and emission controls.
Most of the media types on the Capitol steps questioned state senator Scott Dibble and state representative Frank Hornstein – co-authors of the bipartisan legislation to help promote hybrids – and may have overlooked the significance of the two Escapes, which were parked on either side of a displayed Toyota Prius, the current 2004 car of the year.
The Escape, a popular compact SUV for several years, will add hybrid versions with production starting soon at the Kansas City plant that currently builds the Escape and the companion Mazda Tribute – the vehicle whose design led to the joint-venture Escape. Robb McKenzie, representing the United Auto Workers, said the Kansas City plant will be producing seven Escape Hybrids per hour by July 26. Production can increase to about 20,000 in its first year, Ford officials say, if demand is sufficient.
Escape HybridÂ’s gasoline engine is a high-tech gem, an Atkinson-Cycle version of the new Mazda-developed 2.3-liter four-cylinder, with dual-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The engine develops 130 horsepower by itself in hybrid application, and is supplemented by a 90-watt electric motor powered by a 330-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack developed by Sanyo.
New technology can be one thing and bottom-line examination something else, so before the ceremony on the state capitol steps, I had a chance to take a brief, 10-mile drive in one of the Escape Hybrids. First we got on the freeway, accelerating smoothly and eagerly to 60 miles per hour, with a quick burst to 70 just to test its response. The Escape Hybrid cruised easily at freeway speeds, and had instant power to pass or change lanes when necessary, as we slipped across the border from downtown St. Paul to Minneapolis.
We turned off onto city streets to check out the Escape Hybrid at stoplights, and again it performed admirably, accelerating smartly. Its performance was about what you might expect from a standard Escape V6, and the seamless transfer between gas and electric power is not noticeable.
The only compromise for the 75 percent improvement in fuel economy is limited towing capacity from 3,500 pounds to 1,000 pounds. But this is aimed at the person or family that will use its compact SUV like a station wagon, not for towing a house trailer. The weight of the battery pack remains a topic of continued revision in hybrids. In the Escape, it is located beneath the rear floor, covered by a panel and carpeting to leave the same large and flat storage area as the normal Escape.
After our short run, the navigation screen on the center stack displayed our current activity, showing how much power is coming from the gas engine or the electric motor on one screen, and indicating that our fuel economy was 35.8 miles per gallon over the last 15 minutes of use.
Handling is good, in fact it felt a bit firmer than the normal Escape. The gauge package looks normal, with the speedometer, tachometer and fuel gauge, but the small gauge at the far left of the cluster is different, showing whether the electric motor is being used for power or is being recharged.
Pricing has not been finalized yet, but Ford officials say they anticipate the Escape Hybrid price to be in the mid-$20,000 region, which will make it about the same as the normally well-equipped Escape.
Pryde noted that the Minnesota appearance by the Escape Hybrids was their first event since the New York Auto Show, which was followed by a test run of 37 straight hours, producing a high of 578 miles on one tankful of gasoline, and an average of 38 miles per gallon.
The growth of hybrid vehicles has been impressive. The Insight was first in the U.S., but it is a small, two-seater. The first Prius in the U.S. was a boxy four-door subcompact that was more mainstream. Then Honda offered the Hybrid Civic, which looks virtually identical to the high-selling standard Civic, again moving hybrids more into the mainstream. For 2004, the all new Prius is larger and dramatically restyled as a midsize car to expand the base still further.
Now the Escape will broaden the base. With SUVs notoriously poor for fuel economy, and gasoline moving up to or beyond $2 per gallon in the Midwest – and closer to $3 per gallon in California – the ability to get 30 miles per gallon in an SUV should be readily accepted. So far, the hybrid battery packs and electric motors have been amazingly durable and free of breakdowns, but it still may take incentives to lure skeptics and cautious traditionalists in for a test drive.
While eliminating the sales tax is a step that the state senate has supported and the house is debating, other positive steps for hybrid-buyers would be the ability to drive free in the fast lane if proposals for fees or tolls for a special freeway lane are adopted. There also are federal incentives for hybrid buyers, although that goes down by $500 each year from $1,500.
If Minnesota succeeds in passing the hybrid-car incentive, other states may well follow up with similar ideas. The acceptance of hybrid vehicles has grown steadily in the three or four years theyÂ’ve been out, and the Prius demand has forced Toyota to increase production and extend waiting times.
Still, while hybrid vehicles can improve emissions by up to 90 percent over conventional gasoline engines, the total registrations of 43,000 hybrids may sound impressive. But, as Pryde pointed out, “…There are 250 million vehicles on the road today, so incentives are important to giving hybrids the chance to reach a bigger share of the marketplace.Ââ€
Subaru creates a new, mainstream Legacy for 2005
Subaru has an unusual problem. The Japanese company has carved a definite niche in the U.S. automotive market by making cars known to be utilitarian and quirky, in about equal doses. As useful and flexible as its all-wheel-drive sedans and wagons have been for families concerned about durability and foul-weather performance, they also have been a little weird. Call them stylishly challenged.
For 2005, Subaru’s “problem†is that the new Legacy GT is decidedly NOT weird, quirky or eccentric. Its lines flow smoothly from front to rear, and while driving the cars at the media introduction in the Las Vegas desert region, or during a recent week-long road test, I found the Legacy GT attracted a common reaction. People frequently asked what it was, and when told it was the new Subaru Legacy GT, they expressed surprise. Some said they thought at first it might be a BMW.
Nobody, until now, has ever mentioned Subaru and BMW in the same statement. So having achieved what might be called the automotive mainstream, Subaru must now take its unique assets and prove it can swim in that more-congested mainstream.
Subaru is a subsidiary of Fuji Heavy Industries, and the first Subaru compact and subcompact cars were built road-grader tough, with a primitive ruggedness. The first Legacy came along in 1989, and Subaru attempted to make it more stylish. It evolved, and evolved, but it always was readily identifiable by its corporate quirks.
By stubbornly clinging to a couple of ideas – a flat-opposed “boxer†engine and all-wheel drive – Subaru was out there ahead of the pack in foul-weather performance. Audi also has two decades established in all-wheel drive with its quattro system, but Subaru always provided it at bargain, economy-car prices. The new one does its best to hold that line, and the manufacturer hopes it will rise beyond 90,000 in annual sales.
The current Subaru Legacy continued to do everything a Subaru should, and looked close to mainstream. For 2005, the Legacy GT has shed its cocoon and is downright handsome. Strikingly attractive, its new body has been stretched by nearly two inches in overall length, over a wheelbase that is about an inch longer, at 105.1 inches. The low front grille tapers neatly to the passenger compartment, and while it still has a large hood scoop, it is integrated stylishly into the hood now. The silhouette has a sweeping roofline contour, and the rear has a well-fashioned look that does give it a BMW-ish appearance.
“We lost our way,†said product planner Toshio Masuda, explaining the motive behind the new car. “We asked ourselves, ‘Who are we?Â’ In 1995 we were credited with the worldÂ’s first sport-utility wagon, and weÂ’ve always kept our commitment to symmetric all-wheel drive engineering and value for our customers. For 2005, this model has sensuous performance, intelligent value, and design and quality built in, without making any sacrifice or compromise.Ââ€
The other thing that happened in recent years was the popularity in the U.S. of sport-utility vehicles of all sizes. The huge ones stand alone, but midsize and compact SUVs stress useful roominess and the great attribute of all-wheel drive for foul weather driving. Their popularity has proven that the market came back to where Subaru always has been. All that remained for Subaru to become fully capable of capitalizing was a complete overhaul in the styling department.
With both the sleek four-door sedan and the companion station wagon – which Subaru prefers to call a sport-utility wagon – the fourth-generation Legacy has the all-wheel-drive segment covered, with various levels of power and all-wheel-drive systems available. The revised shape has extremely low coefficient of drag figures, with the sedan 0.28 and the wagon 0.31, thanks to a lowered center of gravity, and optional 17-inch wheels with low-profile tires enhance the GT model’s handling.
Subarus always have been tough, but the new Legacy improves its safety with the stronger body and a design that deflects impacts to the perimeter, with 39 percent of the structure using high-tensile steel protecting the occupants. Resistance to bending is improved 14 percent, torsional rigidity is 5 percent better.
The base 2.5-liter four-cylinder has 168 horsepower and 166 foot-pounds of torque – fully adequate for most everyday family purposes. The Legacy GT adds dual overhead camshafts instead of the single overhead-cam of the base engine, and an intercooled turbocharger boosts horsepower to 250 at 5,600 RPMs, and 250 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 RPMs.
To get 250 horses out of 2.5 liters, Subaru has deployed all the high-tech tricks, with lighter yet stronger components and variable valve-timing. The stiffer body structure is lightened with selected aluminum body components, such as the hood, and aluminum parts to the refined suspension to help it stick to the road. The Legacy GT stays flat and performs very well, whether on normal roadways, or on the road course at Las Vegas Speedway – where even a rude and overbearing driving instructor’s constant barking failed to inhibit appreciation of the car’s high-speed performance.
The Legacy GT offers both a five-speed manual – a six-speed stick would be even better – or a five-speed automatic transmission. The automatic has a manual control gate for the shift lever, or can be controlled by buttons designed into the custom Momo steering wheel. It is pretty foolproof, too, because if you use the button on the steering wheel to downshift, for example, the system will take over to upshift automatically when you get back to normal cruising, effectively excusing you for being distracted by the volume of the 120-watt audio system.
Engage the sport setting on the automatic and shift points are held to higher RPMs. It is an adaptive system, which detects aggressive driving, downshifting more promptly when you lift off the throttle in hard cornering, where a conventional automatic might upshift and then need to hunt for a better gear when you get back on the gas.
The three all-wheel drive systems have distinctly different features. The base Legacy with a four-speed automatic has an electronically varied transfer clutch that actively controls power distribution to where traction is best for driving conditions.
The Legacy GT has two different systems. With manual transmission, a viscous-coupling method locks the center differential and distributes power 50-50 to front and rear, with slippage at any wheel redistributing the dosage of power to the wheels with better traction. The Legacy GT with automatic has variable torque distribution, a system with a planetary center differential and electronically variable hydraulic clutch to send 55 percent of the power to the rear wheels in normal use, but also with the ability to shift power when traction varies.
Naturally, adding power and performance, as well as all sorts of interior refinements, costs something, but Subaru hasnÂ’t forgotten its roots. The base Legacy 2.5 is a substantial bargain, priced at $20,995 for the sedan and $21,995 for the wagon. Add $1,000 for the automatic transmission, and moving upscale to the more-refined, but still-normally-aspirated 2.5 Limited hikes the price to $24,445 sedan or $25,645 wagon. The sportier and more potent Legacy 2.5 GT with the turbo engineÂ’s power and other refinements boosts the price to $28,495 for the sedan and $29,695 for the wagon.
Both the GT and basic Legacy deserve scrutiny, just donÂ’t walk into a Subaru showroom and expect to identify the new Legacy GT by some odd or quirky design. Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, thatÂ’s one part of SubaruÂ’s tradition that the company wonÂ’t mind discarding.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews. He can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Get a car, get a horse…but mainly, get a life
My favorite plot of land in the world is a five-acre chunk of the hilltop on Lakewood Road, a couple miles up the North Shore of Lake Superior from Duluth. When IÂ’m test-driving a new car, I am always surprised how much the engine has to work to climb the long, gradual hill, which rises so abruptly to the top that it makes the earlier slope seem level. Equally amazing is how easy it is to sail back down, with that rapidly approaching vista of the big lake ahead.
I always drive down the full two miles without touching the gas pedal, just to prove that things will keep rolling, faster and faster, until I have to get on the brakes to stop for the Interstate 35. IÂ’m sure we could keep going until we ended with a splash. On the long haul up, however, you either get a good run or you need to downshift a manual transmission, while a carÂ’s automatic transmission downshifts itself to improve its torque for the deceptively steep finishing rise.
In the whirlwind world of automotive test drives, the benefits of spending a week at a time with the worldÂ’s newest and flashiest cars are obvious. Sometimes you have to affect an attitude befitting the car youÂ’re driving, if itÂ’s a Porsche, for example. Or a Cadillac, or Lexus, or BMW, when you might hesitate to climb out if youÂ’re wearing your scruffiest jeans. But whether I drive a $12,000 subcompact or a $100,000 luxury sedan or sports car, itÂ’s easy to stay humble, because IÂ’ve never forgotten how my fascination with cars began.
On my fifth birthday, my family moved from downtown Duluth to an old house on that Lakewood Road hilltop. We had a spectacular view of Lake Superior to the south and east through a heavily wooded five-acre plot. My dad was disabled with a lung removed from working in the steel plants during World War II, and my mom worked to buy groceries, first at the animal hospital owned by her veterinarian brother, Jack McKay, and later at St. LukeÂ’s Hospital, where my dad died when I was in high school.
My sister, Patt, and I grew up on that hilltop, although we had far different likes and dislikes, and far different opinions. Her opinions usually prevailed, because she was a couple of years older than I, and along with being more impulsive and extroverted, she also was bigger and stronger, and didnÂ’t hesitate to demonstrate the benefits of her physical advantage in disputes with her more introspective twerp of a brother.
Among our disagreements was Lake Superior, which I always felt a kinship with, needing frequent visits to this day, as if it were a family member. Patt didn’t need it and ultimately bought property on a flat piece of land in Esko, well out of view – and chill – of the big lake.
As a young kid, I was fascinated by all shape, size and manner of cars, and wanted to learn how to drive them more than how to fix their engines. Patt, meanwhile, had little time for cars because she was equally fascinated with horses. She got a horse when she was a teenager, and she named it Copper Khan Prince. Pretty lofty name for a nice-looking horse, one that befouled our five acres with attempts to fertilize a lawn I thought better suited for the one-kid baseball or football games I had invented.
By age 10, I could name every baseball batting order in both the National and American Leagues, and also every car, at a glance. We owned a green 1946 Dodge, which had replaced a grayish-white 1941 Plymouth as the family car. Later we got a black, 1951 DeSoto. All of these were well-used when we got them, but fantastic and new to us.
So enamored with cars was I that I would walk out to the road, which was gravel then, and stare down almost the full two miles to the lake. About every half hour or so, a car would appear as a tiny speck, Â’way down the road, and I would fix my gaze on that car, challenging myself to see how close it had to get before I could identify it. I got so I could name that Chevy, or whatever, from almost a mile away.
I used to always suggest that with cars, you only had to “feed†them when you used them, unlike horses, which were slower, messier, and you had to feed them whether you rode them or not. My sister scoffed, and probably smacked me if it suited her, and she went off riding her horse, while I never did, and never asked to.
What I did do, from age 10 or 11 on, was play summer baseball in the Lakeside area of Duluth. Usually, my mom would drop me off at 7 a.m. at Portman Square, with a bag lunch, as she went to work at the hospital, and sheÂ’d pick me up at 5:30 p.m. on her way home. Once in a while, after IÂ’d reached age 12, IÂ’d ride my bicycle the six miles to the playground instead.
The first two miles were fantastic, because I could make that Schwinn fly down the Lakewood hill. I could coast so fast that I was afraid to pedal because any more speed and IÂ’d be out of control. If only IÂ’d had a speedometer. It was more work riding in on the Old North Shore road, but not bad. Coming back home, however, was another matter. When IÂ’d first turn up the Lakewood Road, the first hill was so steep IÂ’d have to get off the bike and push it. Then I could ride for most of a mile. But then came that long, slow-sloping hill that was simply impossible to scale, and IÂ’d end up straining with every muscle, standing up in the pedals and pumping until the bike would come to a virtual standstill. Then IÂ’d hop off and push that balloon-tire, non-shifting bike the last half-mile.
On one memorable day when I had ridden my bike to the playground, it started to rain as I started heading homeward. I figured the faster I pedaled, the less wet I would get, which proved faulty when I was drenched after about a block. The raindrops felt like needles hitting my face, but I kept going, pretty miserable by the time I got to the Old North Shore road.
Finally, I got to the Lakewood Road, and as I turned northward, I realized how much more miserable it could get. Alternately pushing and riding the bike, and soaked to the bone, I wondered if I would ever make it as I strained to peek between the raindrops at the road ahead. Then I saw an unusual form approaching. It wasnÂ’t a car, or a motorcycle, or a bike. Unbelievably, it was Patt, riding along on Copper.
I must have looked pathetic, like the original drowned rat, and now, obviously to taunt and torment me, Patt had ridden her horse down to meet me. But she didn’t taunt me. She just dismounted and said “Here,†and thrust the reins into my hand. Then she wrenched the bicycle away from me, jumped on it, and took off, pedaling like crazy, heading up the hill.
I had no choice. I got on the horse, somehow, and I couldnÂ’t believe the luxurious feeling of sitting there, tall in the saddle, hanging onto the reins and wholly content to let Copper walk at a shuffle-stepping pace. I didnÂ’t care how long it was going to take, or that Patt was disappearing into the haze and rain ahead. But Copper did care. His mistress was getting away, so he bolted. I held on for dear life, pulling on the reins with absolutely no effect on his determination to catch up. Suddenly I knew how it must feel to ride in the Kentucky Derby. Or the Belmont, because itÂ’s longer.
We caught Patt, and mercifully Copper agreed to slow to a walk. We walked along the last half-mile together – me on the horse, and Patt pushing the Schwinn. I think that was the first time that I ever thought there was a chance that Patt might actually care about her nuisance of a little brother.
In later years, she raised four kids in her Esko home, and my wife, Joan, and I wound up in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where our sons, Jack and Jeff, grew up. We drove to Duluth almost weekly, and on those occasions when we saw Patt, I think she always thought journalists made a lot of money, because of the flashy new cars IÂ’d be driving. She always had her horses, and dogs, and cats, and absolutely no interest in replacing her 11-year-old Toyota pickup with 140,000 miles.
Patt had worked for over 20 years at St. MaryÂ’s Hospital, where she was universally called Patt, with two Ts. Both she and my mom were named Mary, and because my sisterÂ’s middle name was Patterson, after my momÂ’s motherÂ’s maiden name, calling her Patt was the best way to identify the right one.
All of those memories came rushing back to me last Saturday, when I returned to that favorite piece of real estate on top of the hill on Lakewood Road. The road is paved now, and cars come by more frequently, as you look down from the top of the hill. I gazed through the newly budding trees to see the bluer-than-blue lake under the light blue sky, recalling how fast things have flown by, from those childhood days with my dad, my mom, and my big sister.
Now IÂ’m the only one left, because last Saturday was the first day of my life without my big sister.
Mary (Patt) Forest was stolen from this world far, far too early, by a cruel and particularly vicious form of cancer that was never detected until three weeks ago. We don’t know the significance of some new “miracle†drugs she had recently been taking to relieve the rheumatoid arthritis that bothered her, but a couple months ago she came down with symptoms of the flu, with chills and a fever.
The conditions worsened until one of her best friends coaxed her to go back to “her†hospital for a thorough examination. She did that on Monday, May 10th. Blood tests led to more tests, which divulged a shocking and fast-moving cancer that had invaded some of her organs. The doctor said he was astonished at how suddenly the cancer hit, and how extensive it had spread in such a short time. I’d heard that same assessment almost four decades ago, when Paul Forest, Patt’s husband and the love of her life, died before he reached 30, leaving Patt to raise four kids alone.
She was all alone in the hospital two weeks ago, too, when she told the doctor to go ahead with a heavy hit of chemotherapy. It knocked her out, and by the time her son, Len, and daughter, Gail, came from their California homes, and sons John and James, and her little brother and his wife, reached her bedside, she was unable to talk or regain consciousness while her body fought hard.
On May 15, which had always been a festive day when we were kids, PattÂ’s 64th birthday arrived as she lay there. Funny thing about this life: You spend the first 40 years thinking how old 60 is, then you suddenly realize how young 60 is, if youÂ’re healthy. Or even if youÂ’re flat on your back, wheezing on a respirator. On Friday, May 21st, PattÂ’s kids decided to move her to the St. MaryÂ’s hospice unit, where she would get no more medical treatment. Remarkably, she started breathing on her own when removed from the respirator. Just as remarkably, her kidneys showed signs of functioning when taken off dialysis. But only for a few hours. With her four kids at her side that gloomy Friday afternoon, she simply stopped breathing.
Len and his wife, Niki, and Gail, John and James, and Joan and I, are trying to make sense of it all. I keep thinking of the unfairness, that itÂ’s a bad dream, and IÂ’ll wake up to find my big sister able to talk to me, to argue with me, or even to smack me around a little. Patt and I were never as close as we both would have liked. Different lifestyles, different lives. We got closer when my mom died, a year and a half ago, at age 99, and we were both pretty sure weÂ’d live that long, and get closer to each other.
Instead, I am left to drive this weekÂ’s flashy new car down the Lakewood Road hill. If you step on the gas you may not notice how swiftly it will to roll along, but if you donÂ’t touch the gas, you can take a little longer to appreciate how fast you go, even coasting. Just like life itself, I guess. But I will never forget how tough the climb is going the other way, and how sometimes, whether youÂ’re in a neat car, or on a horse, you can give someone a lift by proving how much you care.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews. He can be reached by e-mail at cars@jwgilbert.com..)
BMW 645 dazzles as star of ‘Return of the Coupe’
The BMW 645i convertible jumped instantly at my urging to dash up the pit lane and onto the straightaway at Road America. We accelerated quickly until I hit the brakes to swerve through a 90-degree right turn, and it exhibited similar manners on the downhill turn leading onto the gently curving straight where we got up to 125 miles per hour before slowing for the 90-degree left at the bottom of the hill. Same with the Carousel sweeper, and rising out of Canada Corner.
Finishing a one-lap run at high but manageable speeds around the four-mile road course at Elkhart Lake provided convincing evidence of what I had assumed a week earlier – that the new BMW 645 would perform a lot like it looks, which is spectacular.
I had gotten the chance to drive a 645Ci coupe for a week on normal highways, and the car proved to be a fantastic addition to the German companyÂ’s stellar array of vehicles. The oft-criticized 7-Series sedan remains at the top, with the stylishly modified 5-Series in the middle, and the yet-to-be-restyled 3-Series at the entry level. In and around those stalwarts, which have established themselves as the standards of comparison in each segment, BMW has fitted a two-seat sports car, the Z4, which replaced the neat Z3 a year ago, and it has taken a giant step off the road with first the X5 sport-utility vehicle and this year the X3, a compact SUV that is a superb performer.
So the 645 is perfect as the previously missing link, bringing BMW back to the historic 2800 and 3.0 coupes of the 1960s and to the recently discontinued 850 coupe of just a few years ago. In fact, in the late 1960s, a BMW 2800Cs coupe was offered to me by a Minnesota BMW dealer and began my transformation from driving tips to a road-test column format. I still have fond memories of that beauty.
The 645 fits in as the sporty coupe for 5-Series or even 7-Series buyers. It comes with the 4.4-liter V8 with every high-tech device for valvetrain and intake system – dual overhead camshafts with BMW’s Double-Vanos variable valve timing – and with BMW’s Sport Package with Active Steering, a system so precise it virtually eliminates the need for correction even when you swerve.
It was a pure joy to drive, despite the presence of the “i-Drive†control knob on the console, which is pushed different directions to engage heat-air, audio, navigation and car performance, but which also is counter-intuitive to use without taking your eyes off the road to view the readout screen. Fortunately, BMW also has a voice-command system that can override the i-Drive.
Otherwise, the coupe is sleek and stunning to the eye, and totally engaging from behind the wheel, shifting that six-speed manual through its paces. The paces include strong low-end power because the torque peaks at 330 foot-pounds at only 3,600 RPMs, sending you sailing up to a 325 horsepower peak at 6,100 RPMs.
Typically, when you drive a great car like the$70,000-$80,000 BMW 645, you wish you could be on an autobahn with unlimited speed limits. Or at least a race track. ThatÂ’s where the Midwest Auto Media Association came to the timely rescue, with its annual Spring Collection at Road America, just outside Elkhart Lake.
Getting a hundred or so automotive journalists to agree on anything comes under the same mathematical probability as herding cats. But agreement is not required for them to all want to come “home to MAMA.†Especially when that home leaves its home base in Chicago and sets up camp at the beautiful Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake. That sets the stage for two days at nearby Road America, the most beautiful road-course in North America, with its undulating hills and more than a dozen curves of varying difficulty as they cut through the tree-lined hills.
As a member of that MAMA organization, I looked forward to getting acquainted or reacquainted with as many of the 60 or so new vehicles provided by almost every manufacturer to run – reasonably – on the high-speed road-racing course, then the next day on a tightly-coned autocross course, and a rugged off-road challenge.
I was able to drive the new Pontiac GTO, the existing Corvette Z-06, Pontiac Bonneville V8, Acura TL, Audi S4 Cabrio and TT coupe, Chrysler Crossfire Roadster, Infiniti G35X, Honda S2000, Mini-Cooper S, Mitsubishi Evo RS, Subaru WRX STi, Subaru Legacy GT, Volkswagen Golf R-32, Saturn Ion Red Line, Volvo S40, Mazda6, Mazda3 and Mazda RX-8, and supplementing those with off-road sorties in the Hummer H1, Land Rover Freelander, Volkswagen Touareg, and Isuzu Ascender.
There were dozens of other available cars that I simply couldnÂ’t get to, either because they were being driven by other MAMAÂ’s boys (or girls), or because we flat ran out of time. There were various Mercedes, Dodge, Jaguar, Kia, Nissan, Porsche, Saab and Suzuki machines there, too, and IÂ’m sure there were another couple of vehicles IÂ’m overlooking among those I tried out. But the first one of the 24 vehicles I ran to was the BMW 645 convertible.
Driving a car capable of such exquisite performance is a mystery to those who think driving should be confined to 55 miles per hour and such exorbitant potential is ridiculous. The point is, having a vehicle capable of such excessive power is exhilarating, even though you shouldnÂ’t be using it to its maximum on normal roadways.
There also is something special about learning the true capabilities of the machine and yourself. In circumstances such as the MAMA event at Road America, you are out there alone, at something like a one-minute interval, so you can stay comfortably within limits of good sense, but you can also push yourself and the car to limits youÂ’d never seek on highways.
True, while the 645 goes 0-to-60 in about 5 seconds, and rushes swiftly to its electronically-governed 155 mph maximum, there were other cars available that performed in the 645’s class. The Corvette, with a huge, six-liter pushrod V8 stubbornly proving that enormous displacement can compete with competitors’ higher-technology, might have had a faster top speed going into that downhill 90-degree left known as Turn 5, for example. Other high-powered cars could run with it as well. And some of the smaller and more economical vehicles, such as the Mini, the S40, the RX-8, the Mitsubishi Evo and the R-32 were surprisingly swift over the whole lap – lacking the outright top speed capabilities but much quicker to brake and to handle.
As for the BMW 645, speed was only a part of the picture; it performed every possible chore, from sophisticated and high-tech power, to ultra-sophisticated handling and braking, and to a stable overall feeling of supremacy. And it looks so darn good all the while.
It seems, in fact, that BMW is practically left to compete against itself nowadays. Virtually every other company that wants to build sporty or high-performing sedans uses some BMW model for its performance benchmark. Mercedes and Audi remain the closest competitors to their fellow-German BMWs, but I keep suspecting that they probably evaluate every move BMW makes, while BMW engineers might be looking only at their own products, and their Formula 1 racing experiences, when upgrading their vehicles. It isnÂ’t arrogance, just fact. BMW is unyielding in its demand to enhance every facet of the driving experience, and the 645 is just the latest example.
While the BMW 645 convertible looks lean and taut with the top up, and looks even better after the top is folded back and stowed at the touch of a button, I have to say that I prefer the lines and the look of the coupe. The price is high, but the BMW 645 coupe might well be the most beautiful vehicle available right now. If so, that means the 645 convertible couldnÂ’t be any better than, say, second in the most-beautiful car standings. On any roadway, or race track.
(John Gilbert can be reached by e-mail at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Toyota trusts its youth movement to new Scion models
CHICAGO, IL. — Anyone who pretends to predict what the under-25 generation wants, is asking for trouble. Furthermore, any company that thinks it can build canÂ’t-miss items those Generation-Y young folks will demand is generally compounding the error. Toyota is going at the project differently, by accepting the unconventional and unpredictable Gen-Y tendencies, and coming out with an entire new car line to try to attract them.
The result is the Scion, an entirely new branch of Toyota, similar to the high-end Lexus brand, but with every compromise aimed at being appreciated by young, urban customers. City kids with an attitude, and enough money to get the things they demand.
ToyotaÂ’s hope is to claim to a large share of that elusive Generation-Y horde, born after 1980, which just happens to be the looming as the largest car-buying segment in about a decade or so. The Scion xA and xB went on sale exclusively in California last June, and in February of this year those two cars started also filtering to other areas in East Coast, South and Southeast regions of the U.S.
If Toyota is still trying to figure out what its youngest offspring is all about, the Upper Midwest is about to find out. In June, the xA and xB will become available in the Midwest, just about the time Toyota adds a sleek and powerful sporty coupe – the tC – to the hatchback sedan xA and the weird but striking square wagon-thing xB. Once the trio is out and available to the whole country, Toyota estimates it may reach 100,000 units annually.
Toyota offers three objectives — style, versatility and surprise – to a Generation-Y group that has three distinct traits of its own – being information-rich, time-sensitive, and technology-sharp. DonÂ’t look for any ads that show a Scion up on a mountaintop with a snowboard strapped to the roof, however. Despite some success of attracting adventuresome young folks to take their SUVs into the wild, Toyota is aiming Scion at urban buyers. These are inner-city cars, meant for commuting with style and efficiency, and without any options, but with high-tech fun available for countless dealer-installed and warranty-protected accessories.
The focus has been on creating high-tech substance at bargain-lot prices, so the plan is to sell the xA for a base price of $12,480 and the xB for a base of $13,680. A four-speed automatic transmission adds $1,200, and then comes the elaborate and mind-boggling accessory list. These are not strictly options, but things like massive subwoofer audio systems, suspension and wheel alterations, engine modifications like superchargers, and all manner of flared body panels and colorful items to personalize each car. Many of these are after-market products built in conjunction with Toyota to keep the warranty in place.
Another key to ScionÂ’s success is that the prices are fixed. No-haggle bargaining is a virtue for both the cars and the accessories, and Farley explained that a dealer can set a price for a Scion and certain accessories, but whatever price a dealer offers to any customer must be available to all.
Scions will be similar to Lexus, the highly successful luxury arm of Toyota, only Scion models will be sold in qualified Toyota dealerships instead of having their own facilities. Of 1,200 Toyota dealers, 700-800 will sell Scions by June. There are some stand-alone Scion dealerships, as well.
ScionÂ’s early success spans the entire market, not just the youthful buyers, which is something IÂ’ve witnessed personally. I walked through the Minneapolis Auto Show with a wealthy businessman a month ago, and he marveled at the great expanse of new products before us. Marveling is one thing, stopping absolutely still in amazement is something else, and that is what my friend did when he first spotted the Scion xB in the Toyota display. This is a man who just bought himself a BMW 745 sedan, and also bought a BMW 530 sedan for his manager at the same time.
James Farley, Toyota vice president and corporate manager in charge of its new Scion division, told of another fellow, so wealthy he bought a $1 million motorhome to cruise the U.S. “He was going to buy a Bentley to tow behind the motorhome,†Farley said. “But he bought a Scion instead.Ââ€
At a different end of the spectrum, Gen-Y types up to and including Britney Spears also bought Scion. Farley canÂ’t explain all the reasons behind the appeal of the ScionÂ’s tiny, first-born twins, the xA and xB. Maybe itÂ’s appropriate that their names are backwards, with the small letter first and the capital letter second, because they could be on the verge of turning the auto market upside down.
A group of Midwestern Auto Media Association writers gathered in Chicago this week to get a close look at the xA and xB. I had time to take the square little xB for a quick dash around the parking lot. I stress “little,†because when you first approach the xB you are amazed at how compact it is. Once inside, however, you are equally amazed at how roomy the little beast is. And when you start the engine and pop the clutch to engage the 5-speed manual transmission, you find evidence of how such a tight and lightweight car can be propelled in sporty-car fashion by a high-tech but tiny 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine.
It helps that the 1.5-liter engine has variable valve timing on its high-tech, multiple-valve layout. It is basically the same engine used in the hybrid Prius, only in the Scions it is turned loose on its own to show how swift 108 horsepower and 105 foot-pounds of torque can be. ThatÂ’s not overwhelming power, but altering the computer chip, or adding turbos or superchargers can boost the power to tire-screeching levels.
Older drivers might see the youthful generation as irreverent types who take nice little Honda Civics and other economy hatchbacks, then totally alter them. Such items as huge alloy wheels with rubber-band-thin tires, giant soup-can size tailpipes on crackling-loud exhaust systems, suspension alterations to lower the vehicle to ground-scraping extremes, all with trick light arrangements and super-tuned engines for cat-quick power turn cheap used cars to a new generation of hot rods. It is that group that Scion is trying to attract, and Farley recounted some of the fascinating elements of that pursuit.
“It’s problematic to stereotype a generation, but we tried to aim at what we thought was important to younger drivers,†said Farley. “Younger people don’t buy SUVs. And a lot of the things that older drivers consider important mean nothing to Gen-Y buyers. For example, when we asked them to rank their preferences for engines, the order came out: 1. turbocharged 4-cylinders, 2. Supercharged 4-cylinders, 3. Diesels…the V6 that has traditionally been considered so important to older buyers ranked way down the list.
“That makes sense, because these are ‘tuner kids,’ who want to get a cheap car and then fix it up with after-market parts. So you can take a 4-cylinder and change computer chips, or find turbochargers and superchargers, and make them go fast. They defy conventional ideas. Engineers say you can’t put 17-inch wheels on a certain car, then we find out kids already are putting 20-inch wheels on them.
“The tuner kids the car industry used to try to ignore are going to be ScionÂ’s most important customers,†added Farley, who has some of the most offbeat market research ever accumulated. “Twenty-five percent of our buyers carry a change of clothes in the car, and they are likely to take a nap in their cars after work, change clothes, and go somewhere.Ââ€
Not that Toyota had everything gauged perfectly. “No one thought the xB would sell nearly as well as the xA, for example, but the xB has outsold the xA two to one,†said Farley. “The typical Toyota has maybe 15 available accessories,†Farley said. “On Scion, we have 45 accessories. WeÂ’ve gone to some after-market companies and told them we like what theyÂ’re making, but weÂ’d like to work with them to improve the quality, and weÂ’ll distribute it, too.Ââ€
By keeping the cars tight and simple, Scion has attracted the tuner kids by also offering those key aftermarket parts with factory blessing, which also means the warranty is not voided.
From the introduction in California last June, Toyota sold 18,898 Scions through December 31. From January 1 until March 31, Toyota sold another 11,161. Of those first 22,059 Scions sold, 66 percent were xB, and 34 percent xA. With all car companies striving to lower the average age of their customers, the Jeep Wrangler had the youngest average age at 39, with the Nissan Xterra at 40, and the rest somewhat higher. Early returns peg the average Scion buyer at age 35. Of the Scions sold in California, 49 percent were to those under 35, and 57 percent of buyers were male, defying the small car demographics showing a majority bought by females.
An even bigger statistic to Toyota is that 75 percent of Scion buyers were buying their first Toyota product. Farley recounts other impressive statistics: A full 60-percent of Scion buyers come to the dealership with internet printouts, because the Scion.com website allows you to create exactly your own Scion. Almost all the accessories are dealer-installed, so swapping and upgrading are simple.
“The creativity of these tuners is amazing, and the Scion is so easy to accessorize,†said Farley. “We think of Scion as a laboratory, and we want to learn from the buyers to help form our youth strategy. Dealers make single-digit profit margin on small cars, but they can make 40 percent profit on accessories.Ââ€
Obviously, the future is what matters most to Scion. “Only 5 percent of new cars were bought by Gen-Y young folks in 2001, but that number will rise to 25 percent by 2010 and 40 percent by 2020,†said Farley. “WeÂ’re already working on the next xB, which may be entirely different. WeÂ’re not looking at evolutionary products, so it may even have a different name.Ââ€
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews. He can be reached 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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