New Saabs become Sunfire ‘cousins’ under GM
SAAB EXPANDS GMÂ’S CORPORATE REACH TO SWEDEN
BY JOHN GILBERT
DULUTH, MN. — As the automotive industry becomes more worldly by the day, it still is difficult to realize how closely weÂ’re all aligned. For example, if youÂ’ve noticed the recent General Motors brands, you see Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile (disappearing though it may be), Pontiac, Chevrolet, GMC trucks – and Saab.
Saab? Yes, for most of our lifetimes, Saab has remained an impressive but eccentric Swedish line of vehicles, while the rest of the automotive world, and particularly General Motors, was striving to be mainstream. But now Saab has shifted from the anti-GM product to come under the GM corporate roof.
ItÂ’s happening all over. Volvo, the other Swedish automotive company, has joined Jaguar, Land Rover and Mazda under FordÂ’s umbrella, and, of course, the Mercedes takeover of Chrysler Corporation, forming DaimlerChrysler, started it all.
Such unification could have a major impact on the specific cars involved, for example the new Chrysler Crossfire sports car is a unique body planted on a Mercedes platform, with a Mercedes engine. And the Mazda Tribute and Ford Escape are twins with different grilles and suspensions, but sharing engines.
Saab, meanwhile, has a unique identity, and time will tell if GM allows its eccentricities to continue. For now, at least, it appears they will to some extent. I recently test-drove both the Saab 9.3 sedan and the 9.5 wagon, as well as the Pontiac Sunfire, which provided an interesting bit of contrast.
In overview, the Saab 9.3 rides on the new GM Epsilon platform, making it a longer car than it used to be, and it starts out with a version of the GM Ecotec 4-cylinder engine. The larger 9.5 Saab also has a 4-cylinder engine, with a V6, but the two arenÂ’t sharing the same engine. The 9.3 Saab has a 2.0-liter powerplant, while the 9.5Â’s base engine is a 2.3-liter, coming from Germany, where Saab has done some collaborating with GMÂ’s Opel subsidiary.
Meanwhile, while the Saabs are built in Trollhattan, Sweden, on this side of the Atlantic, Pontiac has redone the Sunfire compact into a coupe-only vehicle, aimed at what might be called the “bargain sporty†market. The Ohio-built Sunfire is powered by the same basic Ecotec, but measuring 2.2 liters in displacement.
The Sunfire doesnÂ’t seem like a likely cousin of the Saabs, but thatÂ’s where weÂ’re at in the automotive business.
Of the three, the Sunfire is the bargain, starting at $14,910, for which you get the 2.2 Ecotec engine, with its dual-overhead-camshaft design and a 5-speed stick shift. It delivers 140 horsepower that way, and the Sunfire has a new and aggressive look with the redesigned grille featuring a much more slanted catÂ’s-eye headlight arrangement.
Heavy dipping into the option bin provided mixed results. For example, a $675 option seems a bargain for an upgraded audio system with CD player and equalizer plus a glass sunroof. But the $3,050 package that includes performance suspension, 16-inch alloy wheels, dual exhausts, cruise control, an XM satellite radio, antilock brakes, a console cupholder and tilt steering wheel, also includes a 4-speed automatic transmission.
The front-wheel-drive 2.2 engine might be impressive with the stick, but the automatic is geared so that you step on the gas normally hard, and you get a building roar, followed by a smooth shift that drops you into a range with almost no torque. Even the sound is discouraging, as it goes “HMMMMMM-hmmm†and leaves you wishing for more oomph, but there is no auto-manual version, either, to let you find the right gear for the moment.
The seats had an interesting geometric-striped design, but they are incredibly soft and unsupporting. When the options run the price up to an even $20,000 on the test car, youÂ’d like to think that they might make the seats better and not reduce the power as much. You do get a rear spoiler and foglights, but the final price makes it something less of a bargain for its less-costly stick-shift brother that will probably blow by it on the way home.
The Saab 9.3 tester came with a 2.0 Ecotec, but Saab has played around with it quite a bit. Turbocharging the smaller version gets you up to 175 horsepower, and a newly available 210-horse engine is now available. The 9.3 also had an automatic, but it was an auto-manual, with clutchless manual shifting at your fingertip. Power is good, and getting it down on the road through the front-wheel-drive platform is impressive, with good power and exceptional handling agility.
A Saab spokesman said that Saab is retaining some exclusivity, sharing only the lower block of the Ecotec engine before doing its own plumbing and refinements. And the rear suspension goes beyond the Epsilon standard with unique rear bushings and geometry to toe the wheel out when it is loaded, as the outside wheel in a turn, and to toe it in when unloaded, as when youÂ’re turning the other way. That helps the cornering feel, and both of the rear wheels toe in under hard braking, to aid stopping.
By growing, the 9.3 has good room, front and rear in the four-door sedan, with a huge trunk, and, typical of Saab, outstanding seats for comfort and support. My week with the 9.3 wasnÂ’t entirely pleasing, because the power lock gadget decided to take a vacation. The remote switch on the key fob simply wouldnÂ’t lock or unlock the doors, which left us in the unsettling position of having walked away from the car, clicking the remote lock, and returning to find it was unlocked, sitting there in a parking lot with a fair share of our worldlies. The cruise-control also was irregular.
IÂ’ll take the key on the floor for my eccentricities, but not the power locks and the cruise.
Unfortunately, the corporate decision has been to move the 9.3 decidedly upscale, where the price now ranges from a starting point of $28,000 for the base car, and a $29,995 base if you choose to move up to the 210-horsepower version. ThatÂ’s before the option list tempts you to head for the mid-$30,000 range.
The Saab 9.5 wagon is a large step up from there, although it no longer is dramatically larger than the expanded 9.3. The base price of the 9.5 wagon I tested was $39,350, and adding the touring package for Bi-Xenon headlights, rain-sensing wipers, and a rear back-up warning boosts it to $42,690.
The 2.3-liter high-output turbocharged V6 gives the 9.5 the zing of 250 horsepower, and even though it was a wagon, it came with a five-speed manual transmission. Like the 9.3, it had four-wheel disc brakes, and electronic stability program and traction control aided the front-wheel-drive stability. Again, the seats are outstanding, and are heated and power adjustable, and there are nice touches like a cooled glove box, Aero Sport leather seats, dual zone climate control, glass sunroof, an on-board computer and the slick General Motors OnStar device, with 12 months of service.
Strangely, the test car came painted up like a promotional vehicle for Salomon ski and recreational equipment, with swoopy graphics and large lettering all over it. Once again, IÂ’ll accept the key on the console compromise to try to maintain SaabÂ’s individuality, but the 9.5 test car was a classy and versatile wagon that you shouldnÂ’t be embarrassed to take out in public because of the gimmicky paint scheme.
So maybe the collaboration works. You want to spend over $40,000 for what the Saab 9.5 offers, there it is. If you can afford $30,000, the Saab 9.3 is a worthy alternative – and I even prefer it to the 9.5, because they look so similar now. And if you are determined to keep the sticker under $20,000, the Sunfire can be judiciously selected to come in at that end, with a few options.
And remember the old saying, whatÂ’s good for General Motors is good for the country. Even if that country now includes Sweden.
New E-Class lifts Mercedes to new level of high-tech sedan
When the most-expensive Mercedes S-Class is renovated, it commands attention as a truly elite upper-class sedan. When the least-expensive Mercedes C-Class is redone, it, too, captures the spotlight for providing luxury and performance at a comparative bargain price. Those two cars, plus all the Mercedes roadsters, coupes and sport-utility vehicles remain unchanged for 2003, which leaves the 2003 stage to the E-Class – the middle size sedan in the Mercedes stable.
Sure enough, the new E-Class cars are so impressive that it makes you wonder why anybody would want anything more from a sedan.
I had the chance to road-test both the E320 and the E500 sedans, and they both break new ground as well as covering it. The E320 meets every sedan-driving obligation, with a 3.2-liter V6, which puts out 221 horsepower and 232 foot-pounds of torque. It is quick, agile and runs through its impressive paces via a five-speed automatic transmission that adapts to your driving input.
Performance was swift and smooth, and it seems a bargain at $46,950 for those looking for the prestige of a luxury car with real-world function. The test car had a cell phone and a package that included Bi-Xenon headlights, a headlight washer system, a cellphone, four-zone climate control, Airmatic dual-control suspension, and Distronic cruise control.
Those options ran the E320 sticker up to $56,090. But the 3.2-liter V6 was as efficient as a lot of economy cars, delivering 24.8 miles per gallon in my high-revving test week. Its EPA estimated fuel economy ranges from 19 city to 27 in strictly highway driving. It approaches being the ultimate family sedan, if you didnÂ’t know the E500 existed. Ah, but it does.
The E500 replaces the outgoing E430, supplanting the old 4.3-liter V8 with a 5.0-liter V8. Like the V6, it has three valves per cylinder, in the favored Mercedes configuration that has two intake valves and a large exhaust valve on each cylinder, operated by a chain-driven single overhead camshaft. On the V8, power rises to 302 horsepower, with 339 foot-pounds of torque. That changes the E500 in personality as well as performance, and youÂ’d just love to get one of these out on an autobahn to let it stretch its legs, even though its gas mileage drops to estimates of 16 city and 23 highway.
The cost follows, of course, with the E500 based at $54,850 and the sticker at $61,185, inclding the cell phone, a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, and a 420-watt, 12-speaker Harmon Kardon audio upgrade. There is one more option, a Panorama sunroof, which is glass instead of the standard steel, and opens virtually full-width of the roof, sliding up and over the top of the roof to approximately double the open space of the normal sunroof.
The E500 has a lot of standard features that are options on the E320, such as the four-zone climate control, and the Airmatic suspension.
Mercedes expects to sell over 210,000 vehicles this model year, and the E-Class should account for at least 25 percent of them. And if putting a variety of the most impressive electronic and computerized devices to work to augment the anticipated safe, sound luxury of the new models, the E-Class could go beyond expectations. The devices all deliver real-world benefits, too.
For example:
Airmatic Dual Control air suspension combines the benefits of sporty cornering with comfortable bump-absorption, adjusting damping rates according to how you drive and the road conditions. Two body sensors on the front suspension, a third on the rear, three accelerator sensors on the body, and a steering-angle sensor inform solenoid valves to adjust the shocks in less than five-hundredths of a second. The system automatically chooses from four damping modes: soft compression and rebound, soft rebound and hard compression, soft compression and hard rebound, and ultimate hard rebound and hard compression. If you want to override it, you can lock into three settings, from comfort to sporty.
Electronic Stability Program uses sensors for steering angle, lateral g-forces and other vehicle movements to calculate the carÂ’s intended steering path and compare it to the actual path, and when thereÂ’s a discernable differnace, it applies selective braking on one wheel to straighten it out. It also counters understeer and oversteer.
Electronic Brake System follows the Mercedes invention of antilock brakes by reacting to change brake pressure on each of the four wheels in a split second to assure maximum braking. It also brakes the outside wheel more to take advantage of weight shifting in cornering.
Adaptive transmission reads driving habits. If you like to accelerate hard, or in quick bursts, it will hold upshifts longer. If you climb hills, it will let the revs build without upshifting. If you are coming down a steep hill it downshifts to add engine braking. In winter mode, it starts you up in second gear and upshifts sooner to aid traction in snow.
Ten-way power seats for driver and front passenger can be heated, and cooled, with fans forcing cool air up through perforated leather in the seat cushion. The backrest has air-bolstered side cushions that instantly inflate on one side opposite a sharp turn to add support.
Bi-Xenon gas headlights are bright and precisely aimed, and are self-leveling, keeping the focus out of the eyes of oncoming drivers even when you hit the brakes or accelerate or overload the trunk.
Panoramic sunroof not only opens much larger, but has an optional ventilation system when closed. Three panels contain eight silicon solar cells under the wind-deflector on the leading edge of the glass sunroof. It produces enough energy to power the automatic climate control blower, so when the sun is strong enough to heat the interior, it also is strong enough to enlist the cooling system.
Distronic cruise control uses a radar sensor to set the distance behind the car ahead. It can apply partial braking to slightly slow you down if the car ahead slows, and you can adjust the following interval.
Keyless entry remotes are nothing new, but the E-Class cars take it to a new level. The transmitter inside the key signals several antennas in the car, and the signal is so strong that when you walk up to the car, if the key is in your pocket, you can unlock the door by touching one of the door handles, or the trunk lid. Once in the driver’s seat, touch a button on top of the gearshift and the car will start – with the key still in your pocket.
Front airdam on the E320 has 16 louvers to let in air as needed to channel cooling. A microcomputer measures coolant temperature, air conditioner pressure and road speed and determines whether it should close the louver vents, saving 3 percent of the aerodynamic coefficient of drag.
Windshield wipers are regulated by the intensity of the rain, via a sensor located on the windshield. When itÂ’s cold, and the wipers are at rest, they reside on a ledge that is heated from a duct in the dashboard to prevent them from icing up.
The steering wheel has an optional heating capability, and standard it has two large switches that can be toggled to control 50 different functions, including the audio system. If that seems too complex, you can use the backup voice control system, another option, which can work the cell phone or the audio system.
Still, driving the car doesnÂ’t conjure up thoughts of such elaborate electronic devices. The E320 and the E500 simply go where you aim them, corner with flat precision and stop on a dime, all the while housing the occupants in a safe, structurally sound vehicle that combines comfort and solid feel. My usual criticism about front engine and rear drive is that it can be a problem on ice and snow, but Mercedes continues to expand its 4Matic all-wheel-drive system, and will be offering it on the E-Class by summertime.
Otherwise, with all the neat gadgetry, my only complaint was pretty basic. The clock. A simple analog clock. Everything else was an ergonomic delight, predictable and easy to figure out despite their electronic complexity, but I never did figure out how to reset the analog clock on the instrument cluster. In fact, I zeroed the odometer three times while trying to reset the clock. And, trust me, the “voice activated†controls didn’t work, or maybe the car didn’t like the selection of phrases I uttered while trying to figure it out.
(John Gilbert writes a weekly auto column. He can be reached by e-mail at jgilbert@duluth.com.)
Late blizzard enhances test of tire-siping effectiveness
There is no place better than Duluth, with its steep hillside avenues, to test how tires work in a snowstorm. With only a little bit of planning, I happened to be driving to Duluth in the midst of last weekÂ’s ice storm and blizzard, right while I was in the process of testing the contemporary benefits of having my tires slashed.
I’m not talking vandalism here, but “siping†– the professional process of cutting tiny slits across the tread of a tire to improve its traction on ice and snow. If you’ve ever spun a tire on ice or snow, you know the terror of losing control or being unable to go where you’re going. Anyone who has experienced it would give anything to be trade those anxious moments for the confidence and ability to simply drive where others fear to tread, so to speak.
In a lot of areas, they don’t care about tires that can conquer snow and ice, and they’ve probably never heard of siping, either. But the benefits of the procedure are well-documented in cold-weather cities, whether Chicago, Minneapolis – or Duluth – where numerous tire dealers offer Saf-Tee Siping, usually for around $10 per tire.
Siping, by the way, got its name from John Sipe, who invented the technique back in the 1920s, after he had relieved his own footing for a job on the greasy floors of a slaughterhouse by cutting little slits in the soles of his shoes. When he transferred the concept to tires, his name became the standard for the little slits.
Many new tires come with sipes molded into them at the factory, and when you buy replacement tires, dealers might advise against further siping them, because too many closely spaced sipes can cause chunks of tread to come adrift. Concerns that cutting slits in the tread might cause premature wear have been alleviated by earlier tests, which proved the slits actually ventilated the tread to reduce the heat build-up that is the greatest threat of premature wear.
Tire compound technology also has improved so drastically in recent years that some very good all-season and winter tires are now on the market. Bridgestone has found great success with its Blizzak snow tires, and the newest ones are aimed at adding extended mileage to good foul-weather traction. The Finnish Nokian company makes the “Hakkapelitta,†which has a tread compound that remains flexible in the cold and still does an excellent job year-round, and is my personal favorite.
Because advancements in tire making have been so impressive, there are some cynics who think siping is old-fashioned and maybe ineffective on modern tires. But in this case, the old trick can work even better on new-technology tires. For example, larger blocks of tread are the easy way to make tires stick better on dry pavement, and hard compounds work best for high speed and long wear. But when it gets slippery out there, harder tires donÂ’t stick as well as those with more compliant tread, and larger tread blocks donÂ’t dig in and spit out accumulating snow, so a storm leaves you with free-spinning tires that defy even the most sophisticated traction-control systems on flat surfaces, to say nothing of hills. In fact, the bigger the tread blocks and the harder the compound, the more dramatic is the difference in being siped.
I got the chance to try my own comparison on siped tires, and my personal impressions reflected the findings in a recent test of winter-driving capabilities conducted on MichiganÂ’s Upper Peninsula.
IÂ’ve driven various new cars equipped with Michelin Pilot Sport tires, which are excellent for high-performance driving in dry weather but pretty scary on ice and snow. An independent testing company called Mobility Research Inc., recently ran a set of Michelin Pilot Sports through winter driving tests on its controlled course in Houghton, Mich. The Pilot Sports and Goodyear Eagle LS all-season tires were both tested against the performance of the Uniroyal Tiger Paw, the industry standard for all-season tires.
Test results showed that on medium-packed snow, over three consecutive days of repeated test runs, the unsiped Michelin Pilot Sport recorded only 35 percent of the standard all-season tireÂ’s traction; after being siped, using two different curvatures of the siping, one of the Michelins measured 93 percent of the base tireÂ’s grip and the other achieved 103 percent. With any tire achieving as much as 85 percent of the base tire given an adequate grade for winter driving, the improvement of the high-performance Michelin by siping was impressive indeed.
The Goodyear Eagle LS all-season tire also showed significant improvement. It started out at 101 percent of the base tire in unsiped form, and siping improved the Eagle LS traction to 134 percent of the Uniroyal. Any tire that measures over 110 percent of the base tire qualifies for “severe snow service†designation, and siping pushed the Goodyear well beyond that measurement.
I was able to get my hands on the very set of Michelin Pilot Sports that were tested in Houghton, and had them shipped to Foreign Affairs, a service shop and Nokian dealer at 722 East 9th Street in Duluth, where they mounted them on my own Honda Prelude for some real-world impressions. A week later, I felt like a storm-chaser when I hit Duluth just after the ice-storm, and a follow-up foot of snow, had arrived.
Having already driven, and written about, the problems of driving a rear-wheel-drive car with those Pilot Sport tires on ice, it was the opportunity to try them on our front-wheel-drive car, after they had been siped. First, I had to do some serious shoveling to get another new car with high-performance tires out of the way. Then I simply drove the Prelude through the axle-deep snow out to the highway.
I was looking for slippery circumstances, and I found an excellent variety. On snow-packed roadways the siped Michelin Pilot Sport tires were very good. Not as good as my Nokians, maybe, but as good as most all-season tires. In icy conditions with snow covering the ice, they were still pretty good – surprisingly good, if you’d experienced them before siping.
Even siping met its match when I located a stretch of Hwy. 61 just up the North Shore from Duluth where the pavement was coated with glare ice, after the 40-mile-per-hour wind blowing off Lake Superior had kept the ice free of snow. On that surface, even the siped Michelins were eager to spin, no question, although the front-wheel-drive made the spinning much more predictable than my previous experience with unsiped Pilot Sports. So I could manage a reasonably straight attitude without the panic.
It’s understandable why most tire technology ignores snow-belt requirements and aims at the more attractive – and commercially successful – market segment looking for long wear or high-performance. The same is true for new cars, which often come with the longest-wearing and best-handling tires. With siping as an alternative, you can make those slithery new-car tires work to all-season standards. Or, you can compromise to fit all-out high-performance tires on your car to improve dry-weather handling, knowing you can inexpensively sipe them to get foul-weather traction as good or better than all-season tires.
Sometimes it takes the oldest of tricks to bring the best out of new technology.
Family-friendly Hummer H2 makes an attention-getting SUV
Pulling up to an intersection on one of DuluthÂ’s steep, downtown hills, I stopped at a red light, as three high school girls walked across the street at the intersection. All three of them smiled, admiringly. One of them yelled, “Nice car!Ââ€
I was driving a Hummer H2, and if ever there was a vehicle that could attract attention, as well as shouts and comments from impressed bystanders, this is it — although calling it a “nice car†is a stretch, no matter how you try to qualify it.
When it comes to the most macho of SUVs, there really is only one. Well, two now.
By far, the king of the SUV hill is the Hummer, that all-terrain vehicle that became popular during the Desert Storm war – the first Desert Storm, back in 1991. Now there is another Desert Storm going on, and there is a new Hummer H2 on the market.
First, the first Hummer, which we might call the H1: These square-bodied, wide-standing, diesel-powered monsters could tear over the river and through the woods, or across a desert, to grandmotherÂ’s house or anywhere else you wanted to go. A company called AM General built the beasts, originally identified as “Humvees” in military set-up.
I drove an original Hummer several years ago, and while it was most difficult to keep the wheels between the lines that designate your highway lane, youÂ’d step on the gas, and after a brief delay, the thing would roar and take off. All that was lacking was a gun emplacement, maybe a .50-caliber machine gun, and you could have gone off to war yourself.
In the decade that passed between our decisions to send the military over to help Middle Eastern countries decide what to do with their governments, if not their oil, sport-utility vehicles have pretty much taken over the marketplace for automotive vehicles in the United States. For a while, they got bigger and bolder and more powerful, then they went the other way, getting lighter and more agile and more efficient, and now they seem to be conquering the middle of the road, trying to meet every niche.
About four years ago, General Motors bought out the Hummer name from AM General, and they started conspiring. GM apparently decided that its supply of Suburbans, Tahoes, Yukons, TrailBlazers, Denalis, Escalades, Azteks, Rendezvouses (Rendezvouses?) and Raniers, are not sufficient, so it has gone macho on us again. This time, in collaboration with AM General, General Motors is sending engines and drivetrains from vehicles like the Suburban/Tahoe full-size SUVs, and AM General inserts them between the square, Hummer-like body on top and the rugged undercarriage below.
The result is a vehicle that looks the same as that all-terrain military monster, but actually is quite manageable in all highway situations, or, at least those highway situations that any large SUVs can handle.
The H2 has a three-piece ladder frame, which holds its body up high – ’way up high. You can hop into the driver or passenger seats, but it’s easier if you’re pretty agile. It requires a leap, and the handgrips that are mounted vertically on the pillars front and middle would be more helpful if they were horizontal on the upper door sill. But the handgrips and a light hop get you up and inside.
Once inside, you can forget the heavy-metal gridwork that covers the chrome grille and the headlights, and the taillights too, for that matter. And you might forget the square body and the macho, military look. Because inside, the interior features are comfortable, with leather bucket seats for five, and a foldable jump seat in the rear for a sixth. Instruments and controls are all decidedly user-friendly, from the thick, L-shaped floor-mounted shift lever to the AM-FM-6-CD Bose audio system, to the steering wheel, which is comfortably thick and also contains eight different remote controls at assorted locations.
The 6-liter V8 is that done and redone GM piece, still with pushrods instead of overhead camshafts, but also with 316 horsepower and 360 foot-pounds of torque. It is a thirsty combination, and pulling all that heft around drops your fuel economy to 10 miles per gallon. I got 9.8 on one tankful. But the H2 goes, powerfully and swiftly, pretty much wherever you want it to go.
Pull up to a four-lane highway, where you’re always surprised and amazed that approaching traffic hugs the outside lane so that you can’t pull onto the highway, and you suddenly find that people are pulling over to the inside lane – way over, to give you all the room you might need. Or want.
The original Hummer H1 has a 6.5-liter turbodiesel, with only 195 horsepower, but with 430 foot-pounds of torque. That one is brutish and outrageously appointed for highway use, and it costs anywhere from $106,000 to $120,000. The H2 is like the citified cousin of the H1, with the great seats, white-backed gauges and an aluminum roof-rack, and it costs exactly half of that. The sticker on the test vehicle was $52,870, with a starting base price of just under $49,000.
For the base price, you get the heavy-duty goods. That includes 8,600-pound gross vehicle weight rating, 315/70 by 17-inch wheels mounted with BF Goodrich All-Terrain TA tires, which have a gauge to let you know if they are deflating enough to be reinflated — a task that can be done with a little spigot located just inside the rear hatch. Dual front airbags are there, although you wonder what a little car might look like if you ran into, or over, one. Four-wheel disc brakes, OnStar communication system, 8-way power seats up front with heated seats front and rear, a big power sunroof, dual climate-control settings, rear audio controls, map pockets and the 9-speaker audio system again make you forget about the triple-sealed doors, the front winch, the Class III trailer hitch, and the other macho items.
An aluminum roof rack, chrome door handles and mirror caps, the CD-playing audio upgrade and tubular assist steps, which I never pulled out, needing the workout afforded by high-jumping into the cabin. The storage area behind the second-row fold-down seats is interesting, too. There is a full-size spare mounted vertically back there, with a carpet-like cover, but it takes up a whole bunch of room. That leaves room for only one third-row jump seat, but if you needed it, youÂ’d probably like it.
You can lock the 4-wheel drive into high or low ranges, if the full-time system isnÂ’t adequate for your off-road plans. And make no mistake, the H2 is equipped to go off the road, even with its comfortable interior appointments. Its traction-control and height control and switches to compensate for extra loads hauled or trailered work well on the road, or off.
Powerful driving lights are mounted on the front, although I found they werenÂ’t adjusted very well. I tried tipping and turning them, and I could move the powerful beams all over the place, but I never got them close to being useful complements to the standard headlights.
The H2 is not a toy version of the H1, however, and the creature-comforts shouldnÂ’t mislead. It actually is taller, at 77.8 inches, and longer, at 189.8 inches, than the H1. It also is 4 inches taller and 2 inches wider than the Tahoe, although its 189.8-inch overall length is nine inches shorter than the Tahoe.
Funny, I always thought the Tahoe was pretty macho. Until now.
(John Gilbert writes a weekly auto column. He can be reached by e-mail at jgilbert@duluth.com.)
Pilot, improved CR-V bolster Honda’s expanding SUV list
The long-standing battle for supremacy in sedan-building has seen Honda and Toyota climb to the top echelon, but Toyota long has held supremacy if you add trucks into the mix, with the Land Cruiser, 4Runner, Lexus GX and RX models, RAV4, and Highlander filling every SUV niche, and the Tacoma and Tundra taking on the best pickup trucks.
Honda, however, is rallying to catch up in the SUV market. The CR-V has been a big hit in the compact segment, and the Acura MDX has made similar inroads in the upscale midsize SUV category. For 2003, Honda added the Element, a quirky, active-crowd CR-V spinoff that has also been a big hit, and its SUVs have proven as reliable and efficient as its cars.
Almost unnoticed amid the outpouring of new vehicles, Honda quietly introduced the Pilot to the mix.
Having already reported at length on the Element, I recently had the opportunity to road-test both the Pilot and the 2003 CR-V, which offer some similarities as a cross-reference to where Honda stands in the SUV business.
HONDA CR-V
When it came out, the CR-V was a bit light on power but filled with outstanding creature-features. My favorite is the floor platform at the rear, behind the second row seats. ItÂ’s handy to be able to lift the platform and have a hidden storage area underneath, but itÂ’s flat brilliant to put folding legs under that platform, and have it be instantly transformable to a picnic table. The hit of tailgating parties everywhere.
More than that, the drivetrain of the CR-V was brilliantly devised, too. Four-wheel drive is the mainstay of the SUV business, but 4WD does take away from fuel economy and is not necessary for most normal driving chores. So Honda equipped the CR-V with a power distribution system that features front-wheel drive all the time, but the ability to redistribute power to the rear axle whenever the tendency to spin signals that all-wheel-drive might be an asset.
The new CR-V has improved tremendously by the upgrade of the 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine to 160 horsepower, with 162 foot-pounds of torque. ThatÂ’s not a lot of power, but the CR-V isnÂ’t a hefty vehicle, and the power is not only adequate, it eliminates the accusation that the original was a little under-powered. The engine has HondaÂ’s VTEC variable-valve-timing system that adjusts valve timing to the requirements of the moment, with dual overhead camshafts operating 4 valves per cylinder. It will tow only 1,500 pounds, which isnÂ’t bad for a light SUV, weighing 3,201 pounds.
The 4-speed automatic has grade logic control to adjust to your style of driving for shiftpoints. MacPherson strut front suspension and double-wishbone rear makes the CR-V handle well, and front and rear stabilizer bars make it handle even better. Disc brakes on all four wheels take care of stopping efficiently, with antilock brakes, side-impact door beams, and designed-in front and rear crumple zones all enhancing safety.
Air conditioning with an air filtration system, an audio system with cassette and 6-CD changer, driver’s seat height adjustments, a power moonroof, rear privacy glass – all are other standard features of the EX top-of-the-line model I tested. Another of the neat CR-V features is a fold-up center “console,†which is just a tray that can hold papers, maps or other such light stuff. When not needed, you can fold it, and it goes from being firmly in place to firmly locking down vertically, against the passenger bucket seat. That allows you to walk between the seats to tend to kids in the rear.
The ability to alter the interior to various configurations also helps the utility of the vehicle, and while itÂ’s not necessarily designed to go off-roading, it does have a steeply angled underside that provides extra front clearance. ThatÂ’s one benefit of the redesign and fine-tuning of the style, which now looks much better then the original boxy look.
It also handles well in any weather, and a trip from Chicago to Duluth was no problem, turning treacherous sounding lake-effect snowstorms into no problem. The CR-V also delivered 25 miles per gallon on the road. The EX costs $23,000, and came with no options – everything, including the secure feeling in all weather – was standard. The base model starts at under $20,000, and still offers the same drivetrain.
The CR-V is so good, that it reinforces why the new Element works so well, because despite being taller and boxier, the Element is a unique body fastened to the CR-VÂ’s proven platform and powerplant.
HONDA PILOT
HondaÂ’s creativity is always interesting to observe. The Acura MDX has challenged ToyotaÂ’s Lexus RX300 for supremacy in the midsize SUV class, and while Toyota generally makes its SUVs available in both Lexus and Toyota form, Honda picked up on that and remade the MDX into a Honda, giving us the Pilot.
In a way, it could be considered a slightly less-stylish MDX, but it also could be looked upon as an enlarged CR-V. It certainly resembles the CR-V in styling more than it does the more angular MDX, even if it performs up to potent MDX standards.
The test Pilot – that has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? – also was an EX, meaning top-of-the-line, and came with 240 horsepower out of the single overhead-cam V6, measuring 3.5 liters. It also has 242 foot-pounds of torque, giving the Pilot tremendous power, and it has the similar all-wheel-drive-on-demand feature of the CR-V and MDX. I got 19.5 miles per gallon in mostly city and some highway driving, which is less than I expected, but probably a tribute to how much fun it was to step on the gas and get that variable-valve-timing to respond with pizzazz.
The drivetrain is also livelier because the automatic is a 5-speed, rather than 4. And the handling is very good, thanks to MacPherson strut fronts, multilink rear, and front and rear stabilizer bars. Stopping is enhanced by an antilock system that also has electronic brake distribution to maximize the potential of the 4-wheel discs. Stability is further aided by 18-inch alloy wheels with all-season tires.
While the exterior design might be nicknamed “MDX Squared,†the Pilot will appeal to more than just math students. It is loaded with neat features, including a satellite navigation system, and an audio system with AM-FM-cassette-CD augmented by a rear DVD player and separate headphones for rear-seat occupants. The 7-speaker audio has a subwoofer, and remote controls for the system are on the steering wheel.
The second row of fold-down seats also leads to a third row, which might be best described as bench jumpseats. The third row disappears into the rear floor for a flat platform, a trick Honda initiated with its Odyssey van, and carries through on the Pilot. The climate-control system is synchronized front and rear, with the micron air filter.
Grey leather front bucket seats have 8-way power with lumbar support up front. Airbags front and side bolster the safety features, and the Pilot got top marks in government crash tests.
The 240 horsepower, and particularly the 242 torque reading, mean that the Pilot can tow a 3,500-pound trailer, which is a ton – literally – more than the CR-V, but curiously 800 pounds less than its costlier Acura MDX counterpart. At 4,400 pounds, the Pilot also is heavier than the CR-V by over 1,000 pounds, but its power upgrade sends it 0-60 in only about 8.5 seconds.
All of those upgrades in style and features has a price, although a modest one by todayÂ’s SUV standards. The Pilot I test-drove had a sticker of $32,980 for the EX model, on which everything is standard, while the base model starts at $27,360.
It is HondaÂ’s clever concoction of features that enhances the Pilot, including subtle little things like a net on the backs of the front seats for storing maps, etc., and grocery hooks in the rear, so you can use elastic cargo tie-downs to keep stuff from sliding around.
The Pilot is assembled at a plant in Alliston, Ontario, and has 70 percent U.S. parts, with the engine built in the U.S. and the transmission being among the 15 percent Japanese components, compared to the test CR-V, which was built in Japan, with 65 percent Japanese content.
The Pilot fits right in with the best mid-size SUVs, at less expense, and is a significant upgrade from the CR-V. It also helps Honda achieve a stepping stone, where sedan buyers can move into inexpensive SUVs at the $20,000 level, and now they can move upscale if they need more room and still be at the $30,000 range.
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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