Newest ‘old’ Corvette will pace Indy 500
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. — Driving a Corvette – any Corvette – is always something special. Riding in one is nowhere near as much fun, but itÂ’s still not bad. The year 2004 will go down as a big one in Corvette history, with an entirely new Corvette coming, and you can be the judge about whether it should add an asterisk for the questionable public-relations move of the decade.
This is an exciting time for Corvette-lovers everywhere, because we are in the final months of the outgoing C5 Corvette, while preparing for its long-awaited replacement, the entirely revised and restyled C6 Corvette, which will start showing up by the end of summer. There is some controversy about the new car, because itÂ’s slightly shorter, slightly more compact, and it no longer has flip-up headlights, but shines its lights through clear lens-covers, a fact some traditionalists are having difficulty accepting.
Last week, I was able to get my test-driving paws on a 2004 ‘Vette, which is the last version of the outgoing model. But it wasn’t “just†a Corvette. It was the Z-06 version, which is the bubble-top hardtop instead of the fastback or convertible, and it has been lightened and tuned for speed and power.
In straight stock form, the CorvetteÂ’s 5.7-liter V8 churns out 350 horsepower, an impressive tally. But in Z-06 form, the badge on the sides of the car themselves indicate the specially tuned 5.7 V8 has 405 horsepower. It also will sprint from 0-60 in 4.3 seconds, and will deliver an estimated mid-20 range for miles per gallon.
Just before I got into this Corvette, I was invited to Indianapolis to take in the major announcement that Chevrolet would provide the Corvette as the pace car for the 88th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. That is a prestigious event, even in these diminished-interest times when the feud between open-wheeled race factions in the U.S. has vitally wounded the sport.
Still, the chance to get to Indianapolis in time to get an early close-up view of the all-new Corvette was impossible to resist. And that was before I realized weÂ’d meet with Chevy executives, other journalists, and some selected Corvette zealots at St. ElmoÂ’s Steak House for a fabulous steak, and the legendary shrimp cocktail with its eye-popping horseradish sauce. That, too, would have been impossible to resist. Together, it was quite a combination.
It was one of those zealots who expressed dismay at the new C6 CorvetteÂ’s lack of flip-up lights for the first time since 1963. Personally, I dislike flip-up lights whether in a Corvette or a Miata. They look good when the lights are off and theyÂ’re down flush with the bodywork, but when you turn on the lights, flip-up doors can block out 20 percent of your vision of the road ahead.
Somewhere between the shrimp and the steak, we talked a lot about the new car, and about how much plotting and planning was invested before Chevrolet decided to go with a new version of the 50-plus-year-old pushrod V8, instead of switching over to something overhead-cam-ish. Chevy decided to stick with pushrods, but it built the new engine up to full 6-liter displacement to get to 400 horsepower. My curiosity was fueled because when Oldsmobile was phased out, the Aurora Indy 500 race engine became the “Chevy Indy†engine. So a switch to a version of CadillacÂ’s high-tech NorthStar V8 with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder could easily be christened the “Corvette Indy V8.Ââ€
Out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the next morning, we met with track owner and president Tony George himself, and he and some Chevy executives pulled the shroud off the lurking pace car. Underneath, in radiant paint schemes, sat a Corvette convertible with gleaming white nose and racy red and blue stripes and stars cascading back in a form that made the thing look like it was going 150 even while parked.
There was just one problem: As I gazed upon the Corvette, with its flip-up headlights closed, I realized that closed (or open) flip-ups meant that this was NOT the all-new Corvette, but the current car – the decade-old, outgoing model, due to have production halted within a week or two of the Indy 500. It’s true, General Motors chose to use the outgoing car, rather than make an enormous splash by putting the all-new, 2005, C6 model Corvette on display for all the world to see. And for some Corvette zealots to appreciate.
I asked one public relations man about the decision to use the C5, and he assured me that it was planned, to pay tribute to the outgoing car because it has meant so much to Chevrolet. A second PR type said the same thing. So did a third. However, being unconvinced, I found a fourth public relations executive and, playing dumb, suggested to him that it seemed logical to use the new C6 car to pace the race. He said, “YouÂ’re right. We would have, but we just couldnÂ’t get enough new cars built in time.Ââ€
So much for corporate doubletalk. The selected pace car has to have a few dozen replicas for use by bigshots during the month of May leading up to the race. But while there might have been a shortage, it still seemed to me that Chevy could have put two new Corvettes on the track and let the celebrities “suffer†by driving the still-flashy outgoing car. But, what do I know?
The assembled automotive journalists got a chance to ride – not drive – on a couple hot laps with some selected Indy race drivers. I climbed aboard with Robbie Buhl, who did a great job of narrating the strategy drivers use on a typical lap. The 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway is not like any ordinary oval. It’s more like a long race track with four distinctly different corners. We went hard, 120 miles per hour or so, and Buhl turned down into Turn 1, up to the wall in the short chute, than down into Turn 2, remarking how the wind hits your car at that point, which can make it pretty wiggly as you go onto the back stretch.
It was a thrill, roaring into Turn 3 and Turn 4, and then zooming down the main straightaway in front of the big grandstand. The new “old†Corvette performed just fine, in its 350-horsepower form. Shortly after that, I got the new 2004 Corvette Z-06 model of the C5 for a week of hustling around cities and highways. I had to acknowledge that there is no known penalty for being in the outgoing model.
The Z-06 has Goodyear F1 tires, which may stick like crazy on dry or wet pavement, but they also transmit some loud noise. Same with the extra-light body, which seems lighter on insulation against that noise. The stiffer suspension means that you feel every highway joint-strip. But, all in all, the compromise for driving such a vehicle is that you don’t mind any of those nuisance factors, just as you don’t mind the effort required to lower yourself at a jaunty angle to climb down and into the ‘Vette.
At $50,000, the Corvette still runs with more exotic sports cars, and the Z-06 is the hottest version. With 405 horsepower will have even more than the new C6 carÂ’s standard 400 horsepower. The seats are comfortable, the steering position is good, and everything works with exciting flair. Except, that is, for the transmission.
This has been an ongoing element of disagreement between Chevrolet and me for almost a decade now. In order to get around the fuel-economy tests and/or emission tests years ago, Chevy came up with this idea to misdirect your stick shift from first to fourth if you didnÂ’t have the proper revs going. The big engine has enough torque to pull you in fourth when you should be in second, but if youÂ’re a second-gear zealot like I am, you want to be in second without having to go from first to fourth and then arm-wrestling the gear shift back up over and down to second.
You can go directly from first to second if you hammer the throttle hard in first, or if you hold your speed in first until a little tip-off “1-to-4†light on the tachometer shuts off. I like to start up moderately in first, then hit second and hammer it. If you do that in the Corvette, you’ll be in fourth. Another fellow who drove the car told me he thought it shifted perfectly, but he was surprised about how it had very little power in second. He was astounded when I told him that he was in fourth, not second.
Anyhow, the Corvette gets surprisingly good fuel economy, so itÂ’s time to ditch the skip-shift. Besides, it is a big enough nuisance that it would prevent me from buying one, even if I was a Corvette zealot, and itÂ’s about the only glitch I could find in the Corvette.
We can only assume that the new C6 Corvette will have solved that issue, but weÂ’ll have to wait until the end of summer to find out, apparently. Until then, we can be satisfied with the outgoing C5 Corvette, as the only one available in showrooms or as the Indy 500 pace car. With all the other things it has going for it, the outgoing Corvette will leave its domain as the top U.S. sports car in perfect condition for its successor.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto columns. He can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Mazda6 expands with 5-door, Sportwagon
SAN DIEGO, CA. — Artistically and performance-wise, the Mazda6 has been a personal favorite of mine since it was introduced as a late 2004 model to replace the long-running Mazda 626. After a year, Mazda is now expanding the reach of the 6 by adding a 5-door hatchback and a Sportwagon to the standard 4-door sedan.
The new versions will be available by summer, and I was eager to join the first wave of automotive journalists who got to try the whole line in the mountainous hills near Rancho Valencia, just north and west of San Diego. The power and performance of both the 5-door and the Sportwagon did nothing but reinforce my first impressions of the Mazda6 sedan, which had been more than just favorable.
The Mazda6 was my first pick a year ago for International Car of the Year, a vote that I still defend. The Nissan 350Z and the Mini Cooper came in 1-2, and they were my 2-3 picks, behind the Mazda6, which went on to win car-of-the-year awards in more than a dozen different countries, most recently in China for 2004.
Built at the Flat Rock, Mich., plant, the Mazda6 is a tightly built, precise-handling car that exceeds MazdaÂ’s aim of creating the sportiest midsize sedan in the industry. “WeÂ’re not going to try to out-Toyota Toyota, or out-Honda Honda, but we want to stay pure to our Mazda roots,†said Robert Davis, senior vice president in charge of marketing and product development. “Our overall driving philosophy is to put the soul of a sports car into every car we build.Ââ€
Davis was trying to define the trademark catch-phrase zoom-zoom. “It means the emotion of motion,†Davis added. “Having fun driving a car.Ââ€
Mazda is clearly at the top of its game with every vehicle in its current lineup. The newest Mazda3 is a jewel among compact sedans; the Miata is the clear leader in low-priced sports roadsters; the RX-8 was my pick as 2004 Car of the Year (it came in runner-up to the Toyota Prius) and is an innovative gem of sports car technology; the Tribute is an excellent small SUV, an original Mazda idea incorporated into partnership with FordÂ’s Escape; and the MPV has completed a transformation into arguably the most stylish minivan, shorter than most but somehow managing similar interior space and features and still exhibiting the fun-to-drive thing.
But the Mazda6 is the companyÂ’s bread-and-butter car, because it jumps into the middle of the most competitive car segment against such heavyweights as the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy, Volkswagen Jetta, Pontiac Grand Am, Dodge Stratus, and the Chevrolet Malibu. The Mazda6 stands on its sleek styling, wedging back from either a color-keyed or silver grille depending on whether you buy the sport package, to be the best looking car in the class, in subjective terms.
For the fun-to-drive quotient, I donÂ’t think it is subjective, but straight, hard-core fact. The Mazda6 zaps around an autocross course with the same ease it displays on winding mountain roads, always maintaining a flat posture no matter how hard you go into the turn. And that goes for either the V6 or 4-cylinder. The V6 has more power, being FordÂ’s 3.0-liter Duratec reworked by MazdaÂ’s engineers for 220 horsepower and 192 foot-pounds of torque. The 4-cylinder is an exceptional new 2.3-liter engine from Mazda that is armed with chain-driven dual-overhead camshafts, and variable valve timing on the 16 valves, producing 160 horsepower and 155 foot-pounds of torque.
The Mazda6 platform will be appearing at Ford dealerships near you in the next few years, as the underpinning for eight or ten new Ford sedans – which indicates how good the design is. The 2.3-liter engine will be appearing in the new Ford Focus and without alteration will become the cleanest engine in Ford’s lineup – an indication of how good the powerplant is.
Frankly, I prefer the 4-cylinder version, because itÂ’s quick, responsive and runs up to 6,500 revs without the hint of hesitation or flat spots. Both come with a slick-shifting 5-speed manual, with the four offering a 4-speed automatic and the V6 a 5-speed auto. ThatÂ’s all old business with the Mazda6 sedan, reinforced by the stylish new 5-door and Sportwagon.
The 5-door has a high-rising rear hatch, which has five-point attachment when closed to make it a stressed safety member to improve rigidity. When you open the hatch you get 22 cubic feet of storage space, and if you fold down the 60-40 rear seat, that increases to 58 cubic feet, improving by 50 percent the capacity of the sedan.
The Sportwagon, named to allow Mazda to avoid the mundane term “station wagon,†has 33 cubic feet of storage space behind the rear seat, and over 60 cubic feet with the rear seat folded down. The wagon has a roll-up cargo net behind the rear seat, and one of those familiar roll-out covers for whatever you have behind the seats, but instead of becoming a nuisance with the seat folded down, the same device locks into the top of the seat and the cargo net can be pulled up to hitch to the ceiling. Just the thing in case you’re carrying alligators back there and don’t want them nibbling on the driver’s ear.
A sedan with the 4-cylinder starts with a base price of $18,896, and the V6 model has a base price of $21,525. The new 5-door has a base price of $20,795 with the 4, and $22,895 with the V6. The Sportwagon, which comes only with the V6, starts at $22,225. All three vehicles have the same wheelbase, at 105.3 inches, with the Sportwagon having an inch more overall length than the 186.8-inch sedan and 5-door.
Knowing the 5-door and Sportwagon share the sedanÂ’s potent performance and superb suspension, I awaited the chance to drive all three on the lengthy autocross course Mazda set up at Qualcomm Stadium. I got the first turn with a sedan, but much to my surprise, the carÂ’s tires screeched and howled in protest and the suspension felt softer than I recalled as I flung it through the turns. I came in after one of my scheduled three laps and asked how much air was in the tires. Ron Schramm, the top-ranked suspension guy on the premises said all tires were set at 32 pounds.
Schramm admitted that if these were his cars, he would have about 38 pounds in the tires, but 32 made them all equal. So I went back out and took out a half-dozen cones in the name of equality. The 5-door wasnÂ’t much better, but I had to wait for a longer line to try the Sportwagon, which had an automatic transmission. By the time I got into it, the car had probably made 20 runs of three laps each. Much to my surprise, while setting the manual-hold automatic in second gear, the wagon zipped around the turns with more stability than the sedans.
“I will bet any amount there is more air in the wagon tires,†I said to Schramm. He assured me they were all the same, although repeated runs might have increased the air pressure. When he checked, the air pressure was over 39 pounds in the wagon tires. I then made a second run in the sedan, and it felt much better, and when we checked, its tires had hardened to 41 pounds of air pressure. We were both right, he for insisting he put 32 pounds in, and I for claiming the wagon had significantly more air pressure than 32. We both learned something, too – that the air pressure increases so much from heat, we could only imagine what a long trip in July might do. And, that if we were making timed runs, we’d want to jack up the air pressure to capitalize on that great suspension.
The on-track stuff wasnÂ’t enough. Mazda PR-types also sent out kits for a pine-wood derby race for staff and media, with no rules. Against some pretty elaborate designs, I named my son, Jack, crew-chief for the project, and he loaded up our black beast with enough weights taped heavily to the underside to be a gravity-aided threat.
Unfortunately, when I prepared for the first heat, the 6-lane track had interior rails to keep the cars in line instead of outside rails we had anticipated, so the low-slung carÂ’s underside sat high enough on the rails that none of the four wheels touched the track. I peeled and pried all the weights off the bottom and retaped them to the top, but in its second heat a wheel flew off. The black beast stopped halfway, but the wheel rolled so swiftly it overtook the other five contenders and reached the electronic finish lights first. My declaration of victory fell on deaf ears, however, and the night, overall, didnÂ’t get any better. But thatÂ’s OK. IÂ’ll concede zoom-zoom design to Mazda.
(John Gilbert writes weekly automotive columns. He can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Colorado takes Chevy to new midsize pickup level
After a lot of years of road-testing new cars and writing about everything thatÂ’s new and coming in the industry, I thought I was too calloused for any new surprises. When sport-utility vehicles, and then trucks, took over the market domination in recent years, even outselling cars, I thought there was nothing more that could catch me unaware.
The level of competition shown by truck-builders has been a surprise, and so is the new-for-2004 Chevrolet Colorado. This is the mid-size pickup truck that replaces the long-running and durable S-10, and it is designed to face the competition from the aging Ford Ranger, the Dodge Dakota, the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier. For good measure, Dodge just introduced a Dakota replacement for 2005, and Nissan also is coming up with a new Frontier for 2005 that resembles the hot, new Titan full-size truck.
These trucks are all getting bigger and better, following up the full-size pickups from Ford, Chevrolet, Dodge, Nissan and Toyota have grown and advanced to carry the large load of the truck takeover.
In case you doubt that itÂ’s a takeover, Ford sold more than twice as many total trucks as cars in 2003, almost three times as many. General Motors also sold well over twice as many trucks as cars. Toyota sold almost as many trucks as cars for the last model year, when Toyota sold more cars than either Chevrolet or Ford branded cars.
Truck buyers are a loyal lot, which is what forced the Japanese challengers to build truly exceptional vehicles in order to penetrate the Chevy guys, the Ford folks, or the Dodge devotees. That, in turn, forced the U.S. companies to improve their lot in an attempt to hold the truck market share that is so vital to their profit-making.
Flash back a couple of years, to when I first drove the Toyota Tundra just after its introduction. I was extolling its virtues to a friend and truck owner, when he asked me how much it was. I told him it cost just over $31,000, and he blew up, saying that was why Ford or Chevy types would never buy the Toyota, it was far too expensive. I told him that I had driven eight or ten new full-sized pickups the previous year, and all of them were over $30,000, except one stripped-down truck, stickered at $29,000-plus.
My friend was astounded, but then he hadnÂ’t bought a new full-size pickup for about four years, which was the amount of time it took for pickups to take the cue from SUVs and boost sticker prices up to somewhere over the rainbow.
Now, flash-forward to last week, when I got a chance to drive the new Chevy Colorado. I had driven one very briefly at an all-model GM introduction in Texas last fall, and General Motors put a lot of work into revising this truck, which has a sister ship in the GMC Canyon. The frame is more than twice as stiff as the old one, which is partly due to new technology and partly explained by how many years itÂ’s been since Chevy redid the S-10.
The test Colorado was the LS Crew Cab, which means four full doors and a full rear seat that can house more than small children in bolt-upright posture. It has typical GM interior amenities, which means everything works fine, with a good audio system and comfortable enough seats, with lumbar support on the front buckets.
I particularly like the styling, which is contemporary and a definite step up from what we shall call “old-square†pickup styling to a modernized look with smoothly rounded corners, and a front end that copies from the full-size Chevy Silverado’s horizontally split grille and angular headlights.
As any parent knows, your kids can offer you a perspective that often contrasts with your findings. It’s that way with my older son, Jack, a car purveyor since birth by familiarity if not by choice. He rode with me and drove the Colorado a bit and was less impressed than I was, although he later warmed up to the Colorado. “At first,†he said, “I thought it was a little Cavalier-like.†By that he meant less than rock-solid. Chevrolet’s ad campaign continues to insist its big trucks are (cue Bob Seger’s music) “Like a Rock,†but Jack figured the Colorado was not exactly a chip off the old rock.
On the other hand, I thought it handled well, if not spectacular, and I like the new in-line five-cylinder engine, a powerplant that might shock some purists. Chevrolet built an in-line six a few years ago, to power the then-new TrailBlazer. An engineer I asked explained that they chose an in-line six instead of a V6 because of building cost – it takes two heads to be machined for a V-anything, and only one for an in-line. That engine has exceptional power, and has all the high-tech goodies, such as dual overhead camshafts, multiple valves and variable valve-timing, that the older conventional V8s lack.
So for the Colorado, Chevy lopped the end piston off the in-line six and made an in-line five, while for a base four-cylinder it lopped off the end two cylinders. The five measures a large 3.5 liters, and develops 220 horsepower with 225 foot-pounds of torque. ThatÂ’s more than enough to let you launch and sail the truck on its appointed tasks, or to pull fairly large things along behind.
After Jack came around to be more impressed with the Colorado, he said as much, and then he asked me how much it was. Since I often donÂ’t dig out the sticker price until IÂ’m writing about a vehicle, I scavenged around for the statistical sheet and said: “ItÂ’s $29,820.Ââ€
ThatÂ’s where the surprise hit. IÂ’m not sure which of us was more startled by the number, but we both recoiled. Say it slowly: Twenty-nine thousand, eight hundred and 20 dollars. Chevrolet can boast that the Canyon is “under†$30,000, but itÂ’s only a couple tankfuls of gas away from $30,000. Base price for the Colorado in 4×4 fashion is $24,080, and the test truck added $1,000 for the neat engine, $1,095 for a four-speed automatic transmission, and $1,495 for a package that included heated leather seats with power adjusters, and $695 for OnStar navigation and mobile valet service, plus $325 for XM Satellite radio.
Standard equipment has a four-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual transmission. I would like to test the system to see if you could get the neat five-cylinder with a stick. Front disc brakes and rear drums are standard, and, apparently the only brakes available. Dual-stage airbags, antilock brakes, a locking two-position tailgate, air conditioning, a driver information center, six-speaker audio with CD player, cruise control, and a 60-40 rear seat for inside hauling, also are all standard. The vehicle also has standard suspension and side curtain airbags.
So all in all, it is a pretty complete and competent truck. It undoubtedly will impress Chevy zealots for its significant improvements and features, and its good looks and new name might acquire some new customers.
And IÂ’m not saying the price is unconscionable. Maybe it shouldnÂ’t even be shocking. ItÂ’s just that I hadnÂ’t driven a midsize truck for over a year, and for some reason, even though SUVs and full-size pickups has risen in price to $30,000, $40,000 and beyond, I simply hadnÂ’t realized that midsize trucks had crept up to fill the void left behind by the old $30,000 full-size trucks.
The Colorado undoubtedly will do a noble job of carrying on where the S-10 left off. It is good looking, strong, filled with features, and provides adequate comfort and utility, particularly in crew cab form. But if you go shopping for trucks because you remember when midsize pickups cost only about half as much as cars, forget it.
{John Gilbert writes weekly auto columns and can be contacted at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Compact X3 proves less can be more in BMW World
As the automobile business expands to overflow every possible niche in the marketplace, there are hundreds of impressive vehicles out there. But it seems that the more there are, the more evident it becomes that weÂ’re living in a “BMW World.Ââ€
Any time any company wants to build an all-new vehicle, it selects certain vehicles to use as benchmarks. Invariably, competitors go to the BMW 3-Series for near-perfect handling, or to the sportier M3 if seeking all-out performance handling. If itÂ’s a larger sedan, then competitors might choose the larger BMW 5-Series, and for roomy luxury, the benchmark becomes the BMW 7-Series. It even spills over to sport-utility vehicles, where so many worthy vehicles already live, but the BMW X5 is held in the highest regard for style and performance.
So how does BMW compete with itself? Good question. And a question that crossed my mind when I heard BMW was coming out with a new X3 – a more compact SUV than the X5. I was unable to attend the introduction of the X3, and since that time I’ve read several reviews and criticisms of the X3. But I recently got my hands on one for a week-long test drive, and I fail to see what the critics found to criticize.
From my viewpoint, BMW has expanded its empire again, and anyone designing or redesigning a compact SUV has a new benchmark.
This “Baby Beemer†is built on the 3-Series sedan platform, making it a crossover by the strictest definition of the term – a truck-like vehicle built on a lower, car-based chassis. It is ludicrous to call the X3 a truck, but it does cross over from being a sedan-like vehicle built higher to afford more ground clearance and taller for more interior headroom. Or, think of it as a rugged off-road vehicle refined enough to bring you back in from the Baja in late afternoon, where you could hose it off and draw raves when you pull up that night at a country club function.
You can probably get the base 2.5 X3 for close to $30,000, although the test vehicle was the 3.0 version, which means it came armed with the fantastic BMW 3.0-liter in-line six. Nothing wrong with the 2.5, but the 3.0 is a fabulous engine, smooth as silk with power available at any rev-level, through BMWÂ’s Double-VANOS variable valve timing. The horsepower peak is 225 with a torque-peak of 214 foot-pounds, up from 184 and 175 with the smaller engine. The base price of the X3 with the 3.0 is $36,300, and the test vehicle had enough options to boost it to $42,170. Some of the options could be deleted, but donÂ’t ask me to pick one that doesnÂ’t enhance the driving experience. And, as usual, there are two truisms about BMW products: 1. They are expensive; and 2. They are worth every penny.
The test vehicle also was equipped with BMWÂ’s smooth six-speed manual transmission, which was cheating, really, because it made the X3 come to life with a fun-to-drive quotient that rivals the top 3-Series sedans. You sit high enough to never forget youÂ’re in an SUV, but an SUV that performs like a completely stable sports sedan.
If there is a compromise, it is that the suspension is definitely firm, which I like, and which amplifies the assets of the very supportive bucket seats. Some may find it too firm, bordering on harshness on potholed roads, but itÂ’s a compromise I accept for the flat and stable cornering attitude.
IÂ’ve always admired the X5 design, with a grille that looks just like the sedans used to, but I think the X3 might be even neater, with a more individualized, if more compact, look. The rear also has a sleeker, more refined look, I think, and the way the roofline tapers down at the rear while the lower body line under the side windows kicks up at the rear, gives the X3 a nicely packaged appearance.
Other features of that stellar drivetrain include BMW’s new “xDrive†all-wheel drive system, which divides power with a 60-percent bias toward the rear, but slippage can be countered by the system’s shift of anything up to 100 percent torque to either the front or rear. The system is so sophisticated that it doesn’t just read tire slippage, but also evaluates steering wheel force, gear selection, gas pedal and road conditions before providing the percentage of power most beneficial to getting you around a corner or through a blizzard.
Four-wheel disc brakes, Dynamic Stability Control keeps you going straight and Hill Descent Control can allow the X3 to creep down a steep grade with engine-control stealth while you don’t even touch a pedal. Adaptive brakelights, which come on at the touch of the pedal, but come on with extra intensity in a panic stop – to offer welcome warning to trailing vehicles – are other safety touches. Airbag systems front, rear and side also are standard, as are rain-sensing windshield wipers. Foglights and brushed aluminum finish to interior trim also are standard.
The option list was tilted by the Premium Package, which includes a panorama glass moonroof, which is so long that it serves both the front buckets and the second-row seat, plus leather upholstery, an automatic-dim rearview mirror, upgraded interior touches, and improved lumbar support control – which the BMW sticker price sheet calls “lumber support,†presumably having more to do with the translation from German to English than to the vehicle’s capability of hauling boards. A navigation system, privacy glass and the titanium silver metallic paint are other options.
The interesting thing about the X3 is that I never thought the X5 was too big, because it certainly lacks the bulk and heft of larger SUVs. The X3 measures 600 pounds less than the X5, and about four inches shorter, which isnÂ’t a huge difference, but it pretty well equates with the difference between the exceptional 5-Series sedan and the exceptional 3-Series sedan.
Like hot-fudge sundaes and filet mignon steaks, there is no such thing as a bad BMW. The X3 just means weÂ’ve discovered a new continent in BMWÂ’s World.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto columns and can be contacted at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Volvo’s humanitarianism goes beyond cars
When the Volvo XC-90 won the 2003 International Truck of the Year award, Volvo’s first venture into the realm of sport-utility vehicles was heralded worldwide for being one of the safest – if not the safest – of the world’s vehicles.
Having the opportunity recently to road-test both the XC-90 and the lower-slung, more conventional Volvo XC-70 Cross Country station wagon, the similarities and differences of the two vehicles makes them worthy alternatives for those seeking people-haulers and/or utility vehicles. The XC-70 is low and lean and agile, while the XC-90 is taller, roomier, if less-lean and less-sleek.
However, the overriding theme when driving either of them, or any Volvo, for that matter, is how the Swedish company has continued to follow its own path of seeming to genuinely care about people – far beyond the simple matter of profit-making and exploitation that can usually be associated with automakers. Call it comprehensive conscientiousness.
Volvo insists that its cars will always care about people and families and their safety first and foremost, and the incredible safety characteristics such as: the strength of steel used to surround the passenger compartment; the purposeful seats that are both the most comfortable and supportive in the industry and the safest when put to the stress of accident tests; the safety testing that goes far beyond frontal, front corner and side impact to also include rollover survivability; the emergence of vehicles that are not only the safest in a rollover but the least likely to roll over.
But Volvo has now gone well beyond the call of duty, or commerce. The cars are fantastic, but the humanitarian reach of Volvo is truly remarkable. A fellow named Soren Johansson, one of a number of public relations people at Volvo who go beyond the call of being friendly, helpful, courteous and all those other things that sound a lot like the Boy Scout creed, came up with something called Volvo for Life Awards. It was an idea that would identify otherwise unidentifiable “hometown heroes,†who committed various acts of kindness simply for the sake of helping people.
Johansson suggested it to Volvo executives, and they told him to go for it. So Johansson veered away from the promotion and marketing of the latest and most impressive fleet of Volvo cars to develop a concept that would allow people to nominate everyday people, living normal, everyday lives, but who happen to have made outstanding and unselfish attempts to help their fellow-humans. ItÂ’s a national event, and anyone can nominate anyone for the award. The winner wonÂ’t get rich, but gets a charitable donation from funds raised by Volvo and other major corporations to the foundation of his or her choice.
The program was launched in 2001, timed with the 75th anniversary of Volvo as an automotive company, and over 5,000 of such true-to-life heroes have been identified so far. The only thing that connects Volvo cars to the plan is that there had to be some reasonable way to gather the nominations and evaluate them. Anyone can get on the website volvoforlifeawards.com.
But Johansson wasnÂ’t satisfied. He also thought it would make sense to regionalize the awards, and Matt Malfitano, Volvo of AmericaÂ’s vice president, volunteered to take it on, and selected Minnesota as the site for a first attempt at a state award. Then he took the handoff from Johansson and bolted for the end zone. The football analogy works, because Johansson, since coming to the U.S. from Sweden, has become a diehard Green Bay Packer fanatic, stopping just short of wearing a cheddar wedge on his thoughtful brow.
To nominate a state hero, Minnesotans could get on their own website, www.mn-volvoforlifeawards.com.
As a cynic who has come by cynicism honestly, over 35 years of closely scrutinizing the automotive world – as well as the wide world of sports – I must say that I listened to the idea, and I nodded in agreement that yes, it sounds great. It sounded like a good promotion, maybe better than anything I’d heard from any auto company, but a sales promotion, nonetheless, where a guy with a sales form might be lurking nearby.
On Wednesday night, however, my cynicism was washed away. Fred Haberman, who owns a small, Minneapolis-based public relations firm that does some work with Volvo, worked with Johansson, Malfitano and obviously numerous others and pulled together a fantastic dinner at the Le Meridien hotel in Minneapolis, newly built across First Avenue from Target Center. They brought in the top 10 candidates for Hometown Heroes of Minnesota, and then they named the final three from a surprisingly large list of nominees. “We expected maybe a few dozen, and we got nearly 200,†said Johansson.
The nominees for the Minnesota Volvo for life Awards are automatically included in the national program, which has 2,768 candidates nationwide. A national winner will be chosen at Times Square Studios in New York on April 7.
The three finalists selected all were impressive, and all were women. There was Sy Vang Mouacheupau of St. Paul, a Hmong refugee who had defied Hmong tradition to start Asian Women United House of Peace, a shelter for Asian women suffering from domestic violence and other problems. She was presented with an award for a $10,000 donation. “All my life, IÂ’ve been told Japanese cars are the best,†Sy Vang said. “But now I know Volvos must be up there, too.Ââ€
Linda Jemison, also from St. Paul, was once a homeless person living from shelter to shelter, and once she got her life together, she started the Ethel Gordon Community Care Center, named after her late mother, and aimed at helping women straighten out their lives, a place, she said, “not where you come to live, but a place you come to change.†She was first runner-up, and received a $15,000 charitable award.
The winner was Margaret Yeboah, 48, whose story cries out for someone to turn into a screenplay. She came to Minneapolis from a small village in Ghana, where she grew up without schools, running water, toilets, or any conveniences of the modern world. An elementary physical education teacher at Lucy Craft Laney at Cleveland Park Community School in Minneapolis, Yeboah has been known to buy clothes and shoes for her students, and offer them financial incentives to help them go on to college. She is the single mother of two, now grown, and she has adopted three more. A Minnesotan for 22 years, Yeboah started several years ago sending money home to Amponsakrom, Ghana, an African village near her hometown of Swedru.
Yeboah has refinanced her home three times, taken out loans and sought donations, and the her donations have led to the building of 20 classrooms, three school buses, a medical clinic and a vocational school, as well as the acquisition of books, uniforms, six generators, a well to replace the disease-ridden surface water the village had been using, as well as money for school lunches. She also had helped in the purchase of over 200 acres of land, on which people can learn to farm and become self-sufficient. That doesnÂ’t count the purchase of 1,000 pairs of reading glasses, clothes and medicine.
In her spare time, Yeboah writes gymnastic routines, dances and plays for her Minneapolis students, and she has taken them to sing, dance and perform at nursing homes.
“My mother used to tell me that when you cook something good and eat it, people might say, ‘That was good,Â’ †said Yeboah. “And you feel like a fool if they didnÂ’t have anything to eat. But if you share what you have, and then they say, ‘That was good,Â’ then it means something. If there is any way to help people, I will spend my last penny. I had faith that someone, somewhere, would help with this project. I just didnÂ’t know when. This is America.Ââ€
When she realized she had won a $25,000 donation, Yeboah said: “This is shocking. What Volvo is doing is like seed planting. You put the seed in, it gets bigger, and everyone can eat. Just like Johnny Appletree. God bless Volvo.Ââ€
So here we have a Swedish car company finding and giving credit to an amazing and heroic Minnesota woman who is almost singlehandedly changing the lives of hundreds of people in her native Ghana. When you read the next story about corporate greed, or a sports figure getting millions of dollars a year to hit a ball or pass a football or shoot a puck or basketball, pause a moment and put things in perspective. There is more to life when it comes to selecting a hero.
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.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports