Honda creates a basic Element for new SUV generation
If thereÂ’s a car in your familyÂ’s future, thereÂ’s a decent chance it might be a truck. And if thereÂ’s a truck in your familyÂ’s future, chances are it probably will be a sports-utility vehicle. And if thereÂ’s an SUV in your familyÂ’s future, and youÂ’re buying it during the 2003 model year, chances are it might be incredibly boxy.
Boxy trucks used to be all there was in the SUV world, then all the manufacturers tried to make their SUVs more car-like, and they were getting pretty sleek there for awhile. But for 2003, with virtually every imaginable niche already filled to overcrowding by SUVs of all sizes and shapes, there is a distinct tendency to go more for “utility†and make it useful more than sporty.
After all the trends have come, gone and come back again, there suddenly are a half-dozen or more boxy vehicles that have hit the market in the last couple of years. They come from Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki, Toyota, General Motors, Chrysler, Land Rover, Mercedes – virtually every manufacturer. For 2003, however, by far the most dramatic example of a boxy SUV with a capital “U†is the Honda Element.
The Element is a surprise, the first time you see it in person. It is remarkably tall, remarkably blunt, and pretty square from every angle. It has a rugged but stylish interior, which can be hosed out easily, if you choose, after youÂ’ve ridden your mountain bike into the rear and left it stashed, muddy but upright.
Behind that tall, bold grille there is a decidedly squarish occupant compartment, a four-foor with rear-hinged rear doors, which means when you open both the front and rear door, there is no pillar, just a very large, very tall expanse of space. That allows easy access to the rear seat, which is basically two large bucket seats that meet in the middle so that you could put three folks in there, although there is an indentation for cupholders in the middle. Still, there probably wouldnÂ’t be too much complaining. After all, the headroom is unlimited.
You can ride that aforementioned mountain bike right in upright because the rear seat is a split folding arrangement, with the capability of being fully reclined, then folded up against the outer walls and hitched up to remain there. That leaves a very large cubic capacity, one that will house just about any object, including upright bicycles, probably with the rider still in the saddle.
On top of that, the interior is designed so you can simply hose the mud out of the rear area. And the rear roof panel can tilt or be removed. Think of it as a Swiss Army Knife on wheels for its do-everything potential.
If the Element looks odd at first notice, remember that odd seems to be in these days. Typical of Honda, however, all the ergonomics are in place and the Element drives well, handles well, accelerates adequately and performs any of the multiple tasks a family-hauling wagon could be asked to do.
While just now heading for showrooms, the Element has stylishly grey plastic covering the lower grille and wrapping around to cover the fenders, same with the rear.
In reality, Honda took its immensely successful CR-V compact SUV, which is one of the better designed and hottest selling little SUVs, and they adapted it to the youth-oriented market segment that every manufacturer is now pursuing. Young buyers seem to want spacious, open vehicles with a lot of room, which allows for going snow-boarding, water-skiing, surfing, biking – whatever. The more active the better, so the vehicle that will best accommodate active people could be a big winner.
ThatÂ’s where the Element fits in. With the CR-VÂ’s advanced 2.4-liter 4-cylinder engine, worth 160 horsepower, the Element has shown the ability to run 0-60 times in 10 or 11 seconds, which wonÂ’t win many drag-races but proves fully adequate zip in traffic. The engine has adequate size, with dual-overhead-camshafts and variable valve-timing on the 16 valves.
You can get it with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and it is expected to get anywhere from 20-25 miles per gallon. You might get the lower number if you used the 1,500-pound towing maximum, although I donÂ’t picture the Element as a tow vehicle so much as a go-anywhere action wagon, with a skid plate under the front for mild off-roading.
The price was not listed on the test-vehicle, but it is anticipated at being between $16,000 – which Honda has vowed – and $21,000 fully loaded.
The test Element had a 5-speed stick, with the shift lever protruding from a small pod at the bottom of the center-dash panel. It shifted smoothly and allowed you to run up to a sporty 6,500-RPM redline.
Because the 3,200-pound Element is so tall, it seems as though it must be tippy, but the suspension holds it flat, and it is surprisingly stable in all circumstances.
The rear door is split, with the bottom half folding down to a nice platform, while the top half tilts up and away for easy access. There is a surprising amount of space behind the rear seat, but obviously folding those seats up against the walls and out of the way greatly expands that.
From an aesthetic standpoint, I like the look of the Element. Others found it outrageous, and some didnÂ’t like it. But it stops you in your tracks, because it is unique from every angle. These days, with 80-some trucks and SUVs available, being unique is difficult to achieve these days, but Honda has done it.
Boxster S, Audi A4 Cabriolet best reasons for warm autumn
For the last few years, it seems that weÂ’ve gone right past Thanksgiving and up to Christmas, wondering and worrying about whether weÂ’re going to get even a trace of snow. Not so, this year, although despite all the cold, harsh days weÂ’ve endured, IÂ’m still assuming we might get some so-called “Native American Summer.Ââ€
My problem is that I’ve been saving up a couple of vehicles for that perfect, late fall weather – the 2003 Porsche Boxster and the all-new Audi A4 Cabrio. These beauties, both convertibles, are the perfect summertime implements, but might be even more pleasurable when it’s 60-something degrees outside, and colorful leaves are just starting to blow off the trees to form a striking contrast as they flutter through a bright blue sky.
I maintain that folks in northern climates enjoy and appreciate convertibles more than those in the stereotypical hot-weather regions like Florida, Arizona or California. In those places, convertibles are plentiful, but owners tend to leave the tops up to avoid being sizzled by the sun, while Up North, we tend to put the tops down whenever we can.
But apparently weÂ’re not going to get any appreciable convertible weather this fall. IÂ’m not giving up; IÂ’m still counting on a couple of 50-ish days here in November. But IÂ’m also not waiting any longer. WeÂ’re going to pretend that we are having that sort of weather, and we can imagine how much fun theyÂ’d be.
PORSCHE BOXSTER
“POR-shah.†The very name conveys magic. The legendary German company builds fast, strong, unrelenting sports cars, and it prides itself on always adapting its racing technology to its sports car production for the street.
While the mighty 911 Carrera owns the road of popular high-performance sports cars, Porsche introducted a new, less-expensive mid-engine sports car at the 1993 Detroit Auto Show, and 10,000 of the new Boxsters were sold before any of them reached the showroom. Production began and the car was introduced in 1997 as a 1998 model. It was named “Boxster,†partly because it used the legendary flat-opposed “boxer†engine design and partly because it was a roadster.
Moving the engine from being centered behind the rear axle to just ahead of it is enough to change the designation from rear-engine to mid-engine. The first Boxster had 201 horsepower out of 2.5 liters, with the size (2.7) and horsepower (217) increasing for 2000. In that same 2000 year, Porsche introduced a companion model, the Boxster S, with a 3.2-liter engine good for 250 horsepower.
I recall that the original Boxster was fun to drive, much the way the MGB or TR-4 was in the early days of sports cars. Fun as it was, however, you didnÂ’t realize how good the car actually was until the slight power increase proved you could take the Boxster to much more aggressive limits of handling, while the base car didnÂ’t quite have enough power to tax its very good suspension.
When those new cars came out, I had a chance to drive all the Porsche models at Texas World Speedway, and while the big all-wheel-drive Carrera was the all-out best to drive, I felt the Boxster S was second-best, ahead of the various other 911 models. My feeling was that the extra predictability of the mid-engine balance meant you could enjoy hurling the Boxster S around the tightest turns of the road course with more confidence, while the rear-engine 911s tended to want to be the tail wagging the dog.
The big news for 2003 is that the Boxster goes from 217 to 225 horsepower with 192 foot-pounds of torque, while the Boxster S goes from 250 to 258 horses and churns out 229 foot-pounds of torque, an increase of four, thanks to improvements in Variocam valve-timing control. Now, such a slight increase doesnÂ’t seem like all that much, but, typically, the Boxster also has been refined from top to bottom, or from the new glass rear window to the traction-enhancing Porsche Stability Management and navigation system.
I was able to join a group of automotive columnists at Mont Tremblant, Quebec, north of Montreal, to drive the new Boxster and Boxster S on the legendary St. Jovite road-racing circuit. The new Boxster inherits the suspension of the previous S, and its extra power allows you to appreciate it. Meanwhile, the new S adds a different rear stabilizer bar to stay one step ahead, which is only fitting.
Letting both cars run up and down the steeply contoured Mont Tremblant road course, including a couple of blind hills where you experience the thrill of having to crest the hill before you see exactly where the turn goes, was the perfect place to experience everything both Boxsters have to offer. To make it worth the extra money – the S lists for $51,600 compared to the base Boxster at $42,600 – the S will go 0-60 in 5.7 seconds with a top speed of 164 miles per hour. The base car “only†goes 0-60 in 6.4 seconds with a top speed of 157.
AUDI A4 CABRIOLET
Audi has gotten downright sporty in recent years, adding such cars as the TT sports car to the sensational A4 sedan and its larger A6 and A8 brothers. It used to also make a convertible version of its entry-level sedan, but that went away in 1989 – six years before the A4 launch. Now that the A4 has clearly been established as a world-class under $30,000 sedan, and an all-new A4 just came out a year ago, Audi has reintroduced the Cabriolet.
That seems only fitting, because Audi has entered, and dominated, another level of motorsports, having just won its third straight American LeMans race series, as well as LeMans itself. The improvements that have gone into the new A4 make the Cabriolet far better than just another sedan with the top chopped off.
The improved chassis, for example, means that the A4 Cabriolet is not only a true four-place convertible, but it has structural rigidity that measures a 112-percent improvement. It sits 20 millimeters lower than the sedan on which it is based, and its clean design is highlighted by prominent wheel arches, an angular rear with dual exhausts, and polished alloy trim, setting off the upswept slope of its lines. Despite its obvious heritage, the Cabriolet shares no body panels with the A4.
Technological advancements have been among the strongpoints of Audi in recent years, and the Cabriolet benefits from several of them. Igt borrows the aluminum front wheel carrier and uprights from the A4, which came directly from the costly A8, and the same independent trapezoidal rear suspension keeps the Cabriolet going where itÂ’s aimed.
Power comes from either the upgraded 1.8-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder, with 170 horsepower and 166-foot-pounds of torque, or the new 3.0-V6, with 220 horsepower and 221 foot-pounds of torque. The V6 seems like the easy answer, because itÂ’s the only answer until February, when the electronically-controlled 4, with its great flexibility, joins the fleet. Both are front-wheel drive, which makes the Cabriolet well-suited to conquer the vagaries of even Minnesota autumns and winters, and the legendary quattro all-wheel-drive system will be introduced on next yearÂ’s Cabriolet.
Both the V6 and the 4 will come equipped with the Multitronic transmission, a continuously-variable transmission that has a serpentine belt that expands and contracts, always leaving you in precisely the right gear without ever shifting, in the conventional sense. ItÂ’s kind of an eerie feeling at first, accelerating without hearing the revs build and the shiftpoints passed with that familiar hesitation and surge. But it has the best of both, being lighter and stronger than other automatics and as quick and economical as any stick.
The A4 Cabriolet looks great with the top down, but also is impressive with the top up, a snug-fitting, well-tailored power top with glass rear window, that rises at the touch of a button to firmly lock in place in 24 seconds. ThatÂ’s the measured time of most stoplights, which means you could be secured from the next snow flurry before the light changes.
The V6 Cabriolet sells for $41,500, putting it comfortably under competing models from BMW and Mercedes, its prime competitors. When the 4-cylinder is introduced, it will be at $35,000.
The A4 Cabriolet definitely isn’t the all-out sports car the Boxster is, but it has the added convenience of a full rear seat and a trunk, and it will meet some of the same demands as any sports car for exposing you to fresh air – but also allowing you to be shielded when the chilly autumn winds are TOO fresh.
Nissan recreates a classic for the future with 2003 Z-car
Every once in a while, everyday pressures can hit a peak. It happened to me a few times, during 30-some years of writing automotive columns, with two of those occasions most memorable.
One was when the quite brilliant fellow who was my first sports editor at the Minneapolis Tribune called me aside to recommend a trouble-free, economical car for basic transportation. I suggested a Honda Civic. Then I kept my fingers crossed. He bought one, drove it 170,000 miles and proceeded to buy about four more, and I remained greatly relieved that he never had any trouble.
The other time was about in 1969, when a young woman designer of the same newspaper was about to splurge and buy her first car, and she wanted a sports car. MGBs and Triumphs were fading away, and Corvettes were too expensive as well as fairly commonplace, but she was adamant she wanted a sports car. I was aware at that time that Nissan was going to come out with a new, moderately priced sports car that seemed to me to be a certain winner. It was the 240Z, and it had a preproduction price of about $3,500. I told her to go to a Nissan dealership, sign up for the car sight-unseen, and get them to commit to that price.
She did, and by the time the car showed up, demand was such that every dealership in the country was tagging hundreds, even thousands, onto the sticker price to guarantee themselves a profit for the intensely sought Z-car. But my friend got her car at her price – possibly the only customer in the country who did so. She owned it and loved it for years, even after it grew fatter and more powerful, but less sleek, and less special. It grew to the 260Z, then the 300 ZX, and so on. Then it left this world, when sports cars became less marketable.
Flash forward now, to 2002, and the ever-expanding marketplace is filled with cars for every nook and cranny, to say nothing of niches. Sports cars have enjoyed a tremendous resurgence, led by such vehicles as the Porsche Boxster, Audi TT, BMW Z3, and the Honda S2000, and, yes, the Corvette.
The timing is right, and here comes Nissan, with an all-new 350Z as a 2003 model. Can Nissan hope to pull off another scene-stealing trick with the same car? Does lightning strike twice in the same place? After a week’s road-test, let’s just say the answer “Yes†is more likely for the former than the latter.
The new Z-car is superbly designed, well crafted, armed with incredible power, and is so slick inside that it appears more like an auto show concept car than a production vehicle. The reason the 350Z is primed to take on the sports car world all over again is the same basic premise as the first one – tremendous fun, fantastic features, and a surprisingly reasonable price tag. The new Z starts at a base of around $27,000, and loaded up with all sorts of options, it still comes in at $34,288, in the case of the test car. Adding another digit onto the price tag of 30-some years ago now becomes reasonable, when compared to the above-mentioned sports cars, some of which are about twice as spendy.
Having seen the 350Z at last winterÂ’s auto show circuit, and in countless pictures, I still was startled at how good it looked sitting there, waiting for me to hit the key-fob remote and unlock the doors. It has an abruptly-sloping nose and a more rounded-off look to the rear, but the two-seat passenger compartment is definitely jet-fighter-cockpit design, even from the outside. There is a strong resemblance to the Audi TT, that strikingly artsy sports car that is practically bubble-shaped front and rear, but while the 350Z may have borrowed from the TTÂ’s styling cues, it is much more angular from the front.
The cat-like headlight covers also are angled steeply, with a large, lower airdam opening to a low grille. Again, like the TT, the 350Z’s wheels are at the four extremities, and the skin is stretched tightly up and over, with an extremely low coefficient of drag of 0.30. The high-performance “Track†model has more airdams and lowers the number to 0.29.
However, all models of the 350Z come with the same engine, a 3.5-liter V6 that is the newest of a long-running line of V6 gems made by Nissan. This one also powers the new Altima, and the new Maxima, and the Pathfinder SUV – as well as upscale Infiniti I35, G35 and QX4 vehicles. In Z-car trim, the engine has just about every high-tech goodie an engine could have. It’s made of aluminum, with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, controlled by a continuously variable valve timing system. Pistons are molybdenum-coated for optimum strength and slipperiness, and the crankshaft and camshafts are microfinished, with the operation completely electronic, with a drive-by-wire arrangement and direct ignition.
If you need more technical stuff, the driveshaft is made of reinforced carbon-fiber, which is stronger than steel, or aluminum, for its weight. Everything is aimed at weight-reduction, much like in a race car. The power produced for the 3,290-pound 350Z also is race-car like. It churns out 287 horsepower at a 6,200-RPM peak, and it has 274 foot-pounds of torque, peaking at 4,800, but with the variable valve timing it produces close to maximum torque from idle speed on up.
The transmission is a slick, short-throw six-speed. You reach it easily from the very neat interior, with its plush but supportive leather bucket seats, and an instrument cluster that is both well-designed and useful without being distracting by some of the current bells-and-whistles gadgetry. The whole cluster stands away from the dash in its own self-contained pod. The look of leather and brushed aluminum adds to the all-business, no-gimmick approach.
With front engine and rear drive, the 350Z needs help in the case of foul weather – as in winter – and it gets it, in the form of well-designed multi-link suspension, which holds the Z taut and firm in all circumstances, and huge Brembo racing brakes, which can haul the car down to nothing in short order. The Z still is a bit nose-heavy, at a 53/47 ratio, but it is designed to be just about exactly 50/50 when you accelerate with a driver on board and the weight shifting rearward.
It also has LSD (limited-slip differential), plus EBD (electronic brake-force distribution), and VDC (vehicle dynamic control), which reduces torque and increases braking if it senses a skid. ThatÂ’s all designed to keep the Z heading straight ahead when the road gets slippery. However, to the surprise of nobody, a fair warning must be issued that if it snows or ice develops, the huge, low-profile, high-performance tires (225-45×18 in front and 245-45×18 at the rear) would rather go sideways than straight ahead if youÂ’re not extremely delicate on the power.
The usual contemporary goodies, like heated seats, climate control and a Bose six-CD audio system with seven speakers, are standard, and safety is enhanced by dual-stage airbags with optional side airbags and head-curtain airbags to complement the extremely rigid chassis with its crumple-zone front and rear design.
Great speed, quickness and exceptional handling agility put the 350Z right into the performance region of the Corvette or Boxster, and while it may be a second slower in a quarter mile, it also is so exhilarating to drive that you wonÂ’t be checking any stopwatches for validation. It also gets 20 miles per gallon city and 26 highway, by EPA estimates.
The Z is back. And it is perfectly suited to project what might have been if the original 240Z had stayed on its original course for 32 years and plunged ahead to the latest technology. Drive one, if you can find one. And if greedy dealers tack on a price hike, it will complete the cycle from the original.
Matrix, Vibe provide a bit of everything for 2003 car-buyers
Vibe, Matrix twins are crossover vehicles from every angle
BY JOHN GILBERT
The battle to attract consumers has caused automakers to strive to fill all sorts of niches in the marketplace. Buyers can go for a van, an SUV, a pickup, an extended-cab pickup, a full crew cab, or they might swing to the car side and select a station wagon, a sporty sedan or a sports car. A niche for almost every taste.
Beyond niches, manufacturers now are creating vehicles that fall in between some of those niches, mostly called “crossover†vehicles.
But what should a car-buyer do if the idea of crossing over is so tempting that one of each niche looks appealing?
There is an answer, for 2003. The ultimate crossover vehicle – or, more accurately vehicles – are the unlikely twins named Pontiac Vibe and the Toyota Matrix.
ItÂ’s not as though General Motors canÂ’t create and produce enough vehicles, but every once in awhile it makes sense to work a joint-venture with someone else to get precisely the right vehicle for a certain situation. A few years ago, GM worked out an arrangement with Toyota on a new plant in Fremont, Calif., called the NUMMI plant. Toyota built Corolla compact sedans there, and General Motors got a version of that car, called the Geo Prizm.
At that same NUMMI plant, another joint venture is not only a vehicle for the times, but possibly a vehicle that is one jump ahead of its time. It is the Toyota Matrix, or, if it wears the Pontiac shield, it is the Pontiac Vibe.
Toyota starts with the basic Corolla chassis, and mounts it with a unique body, which is a little tall and a bit boxy, as if trying to compete with ChryslerÂ’s PT Cruiser. But the boxiness goes away when the neatly sculptured roofline slopes down to a sporty rear hatch. It is a four door wagon of some sort, but the sporty flair continues with the sculpted lines carved into the sides, which come to the front and to a pointy nose.
From the sides and the rear, the Matrix and Vibe might appear to be identical twins. And even from the inside, where the vehicle has a couple of the neatest features ever devised on a vehicle.
Back outside, though, the noses are distinctly different, with the Matrix having an aggressively styled façade with a lower screened grille flanked by low-slung outer foglights. The Vibe is no less aggressive, but in a Pontiac sort of way, which is to say the nose is a pointy, slanted-toward-the-middle look that can be traced to the Firebird, Grand Prix, Grand Am, and even – you should pardon the expression – the much criticized Aztek.
Favoring one over the other is purely subjective, but the Matrix and Vibe have a lot more to offer than just pretty faces and a sporty flair to the exterior.
To start with, you get three choices of powertrains, perhaps the most well-diversified choices ever offered in a first-year vehicle.
The secret is that all three choices come down to one engine, the strong little 1.8-liter Toyota four-cylinder. It is definitely on the high-tech side, with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and variable valve-timing. From there, the choices vary considerably, although they remain identical in both vehicles.
The base front-wheel-drive Vibe and Matrix both have the 130-horsepower version of the engine. In 130-horse form, it offers front-wheel-drive, and either a 5-speed stick or 4-speed automatic.
Next up, a buyer can get all-wheel-drive, but the pull of the engine through all four wheels lowers its power output to 123 horsepower. I tested both the Vibe and the Matrix with that AWD arrangement, and with the automatic. Although the vehicle weighs only 2,750 pounds, it was gasping for air when we tried to drive it briskly up steep hills. The all-wheel-drive system kicks in only when slippage orders it to, but 123 horses still isnÂ’t a lot of power.
Flat-landers, though, would find acceleration fully adequate, and the Matrix/Vibe both hold the road at cruising speed very well, while delivering EPA estimates of 26 miles per gallon in city and 31 in highway driving. That sort of eliminates the worst liability of most SUVs.
The Matrix/Vibe would be a viable choice with those two variations, coming as they do with sticker prices of right around $20,000. The Matrix was $20,416, and the Vibe – armed with a $1,600 DVD based navigation system – at $23,025.
But wait, as they say, thereÂ’s more!
Sure enough, there is a third variation. Buyers also can choose a Matrix XRS or Vibe GT model. Yes, not only does the Vibe or Matrix fit the role of all-weather people hauler and niche-blurring crossover, thereÂ’s also a hot-rod version.
I was able to spend a week with the Vibe GT, and while it begins life with the same 1.8-liter engine, the GT version sees that Corolla engine after Yamaha has played around with it. The Yamaha version is the same 1.8 that powers the Toyota Celica, a high-revving sports-coupe screamer. In GT or XRS form, the horsepower goes from 123 to 180, and nobody will complain about it running out of steam on any hill, or any high-performance challenge. Yet the hot version still has EPA mileage figures of 25 city and 30 highway.
As equipped, the test Vibe GT came with a 6-speed manual transmission, with the shift lever jutting out from the center dash panel just like the docile automatics in the basic models. It also has 4-wheel disc brakes with antilock, and a sport-tuned suspension that keeps the wider tires planted firmly on the road. But with the trick engine and options like power locks with remote, a moonroof, and a 200-watt premium audio system, the Vibe GT sticker was only $21,000. ThatÂ’s even less expensive than either of the AWD versions, without the performance equipment.
Some of the best features about the Matrix and Vibe are inside. The bucket seats are firm and supportive, and the silver-ringed instruments are all well laid out, with bright orange numbers and indicators on a dark charcoal background. Very Pontiac-like, although common to both vehicles.
Clearly, such an unusual vehicle needed to have some special items, some trendy things that can attract younger buyers who want to be able to do more than just drive and ride around. The Matrix/Vibe takes care of that objective.
The front passenger bucket seat, at the flip of a switch, folds forward, and locks in that position, leaving a contoured back exposed as a neat table with a lip all around it. That makes it perfect for inside tailgating, or even for someone who might want to pull out a laptop and check rap out a message, or check for e-mails – or write a column, for that matter. All that is required is to figure out how to reach it conveniently from the other seats.
On a trip, however, it would be easy to imagine a fast-food stop which could be turned into a real indoor picnic. It would be ideal for that, with the possible exception of the person who happened to be sitting in that seat at the time.
However, the absolute best of the new and unusual little contemporary features is located just below the air/heat and audio controls, and just ahead of the shift lever on the lower center dash panel. It is a small powerpoint, which isnÂ’t all that unusual these days, because every car has those adaptor-plug-in outlets for cell-phone or other electrical charging.
Ah, but this one does NOT require an adaptor. Pull down a tiny, hinged trap door and a simple, two-prong electrical outlet, household style, with 115 volts, is revealed. So yes, you can plug in anything you’d like – a computer, a blender, a coffee-maker, a television set, a toaster, a vacuum cleaner – you name it. After all these years of trying to remember to bring along the right adaptor cord to recharge your cell-phone or camcorder, now you don’t need a special cord.
I predict that this household plug-in feature will sweep through the industry, now that logic, and some designer/engineer, has finally caused it to happen. Thanks, Toyota! Or Pontiac. Both vehicles have it, although Pontiac has capitalized on it better than most.
There is one story of a Pontiac dealer in Troy, Mich., which suffered a power failure one day. The manager went out and started up a Vibe, ran an extension cord to it, and ran a lamp, two calculators and two typewriters off it all day. Who needs a portable generator?
The rear seats fold down to enhance stowage room, and those back seat spots have great headroom because of the square-back roofline.
The storage bins and gadgetry make either the Matrix or Vibe fill the requirements most people would have for a van or station wagon or compact SUV. It also handles like a sporty vehicle. And with the hot engine and 6-speed, it can offer every bit as much performance as the closet hot-rodder could dream of.
New Suburban carries everything, and adds agility for 2003
One way to conduct a road test of a new vehicle is to take an overnight trip. Drive somewhere, live with the vehicle a little, stay overnight, then return. That’s exactly what my wife, Joan, and I decided to do recently, driving from Duluth in Northern Minnesota to Minneapolis. We both usually travel light, but this time, we had a problem. We traveled heavy. We knew the weather could be changeable in October – especially this October – so, should we take these shoes or those boots? This jacket or that windbreaker? The heavy sweater over there or the golf shirt? And what if we want to dress up a little?
Actually, the problem we had was that we made simple decisions in every case: We took everything!
The “problem†was enabled because we were road-testing a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban, which, as far as overdoing things is strictly over the top. There was no problem finding enough storage space. We had enough room to take one of everything, and we probably could have taken every possession we owned in every closet in the house, if we had concentrated. Needless to say, we used only a few of the numerous things we took, and we realized that if we owned a Suburban, we would never make a decision on what to bring along.
Sometimes staying pretty much the same isn’t such a bad idea. The entire automotive world seems to be whirling to fill every imaginable niche, while the Chevrolet Suburban just keeps on truckin.’ The oldest and most successful of enclosed-rear trucks, the Suburban has been in a class of its own for decades ago, long before the term “sport-utility vehicle†was ever uttered. The Suburban has fought off all challengers of whatever size and remains the vehicle of choice for those who want their SUV large, powerful, roomy and capable of towing just about anything.
Ford attempted to compete with the Suburban by first coming out with the Expedition, and Lincoln Navigator, and then with the enormous Excursion, which did manage to be longer than the Suburban, but never could dent the SuburbanÂ’s dominance, and is now headed for extinction.
With a length of 219 inches, a width of 79 inches and a weight of 5,590 pounds, the Suburban is a full 20 inches longer than the Tahoe, which was spun off from the Suburban years ago to satisfy customers who thought the Suburban was simply too big. It is big. It can be called enormous, but Chevrolet sold 154,782 of them in 2001, and running sales figures for 2002 show an increase of 5.8 percent. Customer loyalty remains over 50 percent, which is pretty amazing for a vehicle that now costs between $38,000 and $50,000-something.
The test vehicle was a Suburban 2500, built at the Arlington, Texas, plant, while Suburbans are also assembled at Janesville, Wis., and Silas, Mexico. It is significant that this one came from Texas, because in its first couple of decades of service, Texans bought more Suburbans than anyone, because it always has been the ideal heavy-duty hauler for hauling horses or any size trailer from the ranch. The test vehicle, which only had two-wheel drive, had a trailer towing package, various convenience option groupings, and listed for $47,468, off a base price of $37,853.
The Suburban was freshened up in 2000, and probably will go another four years before it gets a thorough restyling, but Chevrolet has made some significant changes for 2003. Several of the changes deal with the criticism that the Suburban is too big – a valid complaint, because it is so big that it is cumbersome to steer and manipulate in citified traffic. Enter Quadrasteer.
The availability of Quadrasteer, the new four-wheel-steering concept developed by General Motors, takes care of the agility problem. A normal Suburban takes up 44.5 feet when it tries to make a full U-turn; with Quadrasteer, the same Suburban with Quadrasteer completes a circle in only 35.2 feet – over 9 feet less! That’s more than a full lane-width, and it makes the Suburban feel much more manageable.
Quadrasteer works at low speed so that when you turn the steering wheel hard to the left, for example, the rear wheels turn a bit toward the right via a sophisticated steer-by-wire system. They donÂ’t turn as sharply as the front, but they turn enough to make the rear end swing almost as if the whole vehicle were pivoting. As speed increases, the opposite angle of the rear-wheelsÂ’ turning is reduced, until it gets to 0.000 at 20 miles per hour. From there on up, the rear wheels turn slightly in the same direction as the front wheels, which aids stability in freeway-speed lane-changing maneuvers.
The best and most notable function is when turning corners on downtown streets, where the device is impressive; or for parking, when it is a tremendous benefit; and if you ever had to make a U-turn, itÂ’s suddenly easy.
Four-wheel disc brakes with antilock are standard, as is a dual-stage front passenger airbag. Choosing Quadrasteer adds $4,495 to the $37,853 base price for the 4×2 version of the Suburban. You can also spend $1,335 on a package that gains all sorts of audio upgrades, including a CD player and Bose speakers. The Autoride system is another $925. StabiliTrak, which was developed by Cadillac, is optional and has advanced to a four-channel system for 2003. If anything causes a Suburban to stray from where the driver is aiming, StabiliTrak takes over, applying or reducing the throttle or braking in reaction to sensors on each wheel to reduce the tendency to spin. Traction control, limited slip differential, and side airbags for both front occupants are other optional features.
The test Suburban had a 6.0-liter V8, with 320 horsepower and 360 foot-pounds of torque. The EPA fuel-economy estimate projects 14 miles per gallon in city driving and 18 on the highway. Consumers also can select a base 5.3-liter V8 with 285 horsepower, or an 8.1-liter V8 with 340 horsepower.
The familiar squarish look of the Suburban remains, but the interior has been upgraded considerably. First, the third-row seat bench has been enlarged, allowing full, eight-occupant seating. And that still leaves room for a large storage area behind the third bench. Naturally, the backrests of the second and third seats folds down to stretch to 77 cubic feet of room. You get three-zone climate control standard, and you can choose a rear DVD system. A 34-function information monitoring system will tell you everything that might be amiss, or you can easily program in your choice of whether you want the horn to honk or the lights to flash when you hit the remote lock switch. And the pedals can be adjusted up to 3 inches to suit individual drivers.
My favorite feature on the interior is the decision Chevrolet made to install a new steering wheel in the Suburban, and in the spinoff vehicles such as Tahoe, Yukon, Escalade and all. For years, those big GM SUVs have had a deeply dished – and extremely plain – steering wheel, and nobody seemed to notice that when various remote switches for audio controls were installed, a driver couldn’t reach the remote switches without taking a hand off the wheel, unless he or she had fingers that were 8 inches long. The new steering wheel design is attractively contemporary, much less dished, and all the remote devices are eminently reachable.
After all these years, it would seem that Suburban might not need many enhancements to attract new customers. But finding out that the 2003 can turn in a slick radius, and at the spin of a neat new steering wheel could convince some skeptics, as well.
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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