Civic adds Hybrid gas/electric power for 2003 model
The other day, I was listening to Minnesota Public Radio and heard a politician doing some politicking — which is what politicians do best. He was talking about how our energy problems are looking up because alternative-energy vehicles were coming, and that, in fact, “Ford has a gas/electric hybrid that should be out soon.”
It struck me that someday, we will miss Gov. Jesse Ventura’s earthiness, but possibly not until after we realize how alert we must remain to separate the facts from the doubletalk when other politicians speak. In this case, the politician, and/or his speech-writing staff, apparently were unaware that Honda and Toyota have been selling hybrid gas/electric cars in their showrooms for more than two years now, with more on the way. I’ve written about the 2-seat Honda Insight and the four-seat Toyota Prius, and how impressive they are with electric-motor boost for internal-combustion power.
For the upcoming 2003 model year, Honda has struck again. The tiny 1-liter, 3-cylinder engine that sends the Insight coupe on its way while achieving up to 70 miles per gallon is now joined by a larger brother. The new one essentially adds a cylinder, making it a 1.3-liter, 4-cylinder with what Honda calls Integrated Motor Assist System, which combines output from an electric companion motor.
That whole package is plunked under the hood of the new 2003 Civic Hybrid, which doesn’t look all that different from the 2002 Civic 4-door sedans, except for slight detail alterations.
Even when you climb inside, it’s not all that changed. Comfortably supportive seats, and all controls right about where your eye and hand naturally expect to find them. An environment of ergonomic excellence, which sometimes seems uniquely Honda. When you turn on the engine, you still have to look closely to detect a key difference, on the instrument panel.
Along with a small tachometer on the left, a larger speedometer in the middle, there is a digital readout box down below the speedometer, and a combination gauge in a circle on the right, with different readouts. The left side of that instrument houses the gas gauge, and on the right is the amount of stored battery power, while at the top is a little graph that shows where the Hybrid’s power is coming from at any given moment.
When you are cruising at, say, 42 miles per hour, the tach might read only 1,600 revs, and the gauge on the right might show that all the power is coming from the gasoline engine, with no graph notches on the battery side. But when you step on the gas hard, as you might when passing or heading onto a freeway, as the speedometer passes 37 mph, the tach might show 2,700 revs as you accelerate, and the gauge on the right shows a whole bunch of notches to indicate that the gas engine is being heavily reinforced by the electric motor.
It’s a good thing that little graph is there to indicate electric boost, because while driving, you don’t feel anything unusual.
Down below the gauge package, a digital readout also shows that your fuel economy might also be dipping down to “only” 42 miles per gallon. The EPA estimates for the new Civic Hybrid indicate 47 miles per gallon on highway trips, and 48 mpg in city driving. That’s right — slightly better fuel economy in town than on the road, which is strange.
One reason is that the Hybrid also has a continuously-variable automatic transmission, which is constantly shifting to be in the precisely programmed gear range, but feels as though it’s never shifting. The unit appears to be so efficient that it will upshift and downshift seamlessly in city driving, and might be slightly less economical when held at a constant no-shift level for freeway driving.
If you took away a cylinder, undoubtedly the Civic Hybrid would get better gas mileage, up there at 60 or better, like the Insight. But 47 or 48 is not bad, not in these days of 25 mpg in supposed economy cars, and downright astonishing next to the 11-15 mpg of trucks and SUVs. And that fourth cylinder boosts the 1.3-liter engine’s power up to 93 horsepower, which is laughably small, until you feel the added boost the electric motor contributes.
This latest gem from Honda’s engineers fits into certification as a ULEV — ultra low emissions vehicle — without compromising any of the popular features. The test car had front disc brakes, front and rear stabilizer bars, electric power assist on the rack-and-pinion steering, no scheduled tuneup for 110,000 miles, and safety features that range from front and side airbags for the front occupants, special tethers for child seats, front and rear crumple zones and side impact door beams to defend against collisions, and all sorts of more obvious but less important creature features.
For example, the climate control system has a micron air filter, the AM-FM-CD player is standard with four speakers, cruise control is also standard, as are powre windows and locks, intermittent wipers, cupholders, and various storage compartments that indicate Honda’s ergonomic forces have converted virtually every unused space into neat and imaginative little bins.
On the outside, the 14-inch wheels are of lightweight alloy, and the all-season tires are 185/70 R14 87S items, purposely 5.5 inches wide to compromise between good-handling width and good-aerodynamic narrowness. The rear spoiler, we have to think, adds to the aerodynamics, and the standard rear-window defroster has a timer to prevent you from leaving it on.
So the new Civic Hybrid is the best of all worlds, a comfortable, good-handling, efficiently swift compact sedan that will carry four adults and a lot of luggage, and is environmentally and ecologically friendly, without any adverse effects.
Indeed, the ultimate test of a good, efficient car is if it doesn’t feel like a flimsy, ultra-lightweight little thing, but offers the stability and security you might not expect until you move into the intermediate or large-car segments. And the Civic Hybrid never lets on that it’s a dazzling, high-tech unit, because it accelerates with pep, cruises with easy poise, corners with decent agility, and feels solid and secure at every seam. The sticker price sheet with the test car said the actual price was as yet undetermined, but we can be pretty sure the Civic Hybrid will come in right around $20,000, just as we can be certain that its technology is worth considerably more than that.
The heart of the matter, of course, is the technically advanced powerplant. Small or not, the 1.3-liter 4-cylinder moves right out, as well as many subcompacts with conventional engines, and when you step on the gas hard, if you didn’t know it was a hybrid, you would assume it merely had a bigger engine than you anticipated. The electronic engine management system coordinates the whole process, ingeniously using the impressive power of the electric motor almost like a supercharger to supplement the little gasoline engine.
Back in the days of the first experimental electric cars, I drove one that was eerily silent as it whooshed along. It, too, was impressive and convinced me of how surprisingly strong electric motors can be. The drawback to that first one was that you had a range of maybe 60-80 miles, after which you had to plug it in to recharge the batteries. That rendered electric cars to the realm of the ridiculous, in my mind. And that was without even considering that a groundswell movement to electric cars would require so much more electricity for recharging that powerplants would need to increase power enough to produce enough extra air pollution to negate the lowered emissions from the cars themselves.
Honda’s answer was the Insight, first, and now the Civic. What will be next, the CR-V? The Accord?
And an even better question is, when will the alleged environmentally-concerned politicians realize such high-tech wonders already are on the market.
Hyundai covers all on-and-off-road tracks with new Santa Fe
We’re all aware that Sport-Utility Vehicles continue to be a United States phenomenon — how the rest of the driven world is moving toward smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles simultaneous to our hunger for SUVs, and how our taste for SUVs seems to be expanding to embrace bigger and costlier vehicles.
Then along comes the Hyundai Santa Fe, and it throws everything out of whack.
Hyundai, a Korean manufacturer that used to stress inexpensive and comparatively inelegant cars, had proven very efficient at copying proven vehicles from other manufacturers and creating low-budget alternatives for the masses. The early Excel subcompacts were versions of outdated Mitsubishi-built Dodge Colts, for example. You could buy an Excel for the price of a 3-year-old used car, which made it sell pretty well.
But times change, and Hyundai has risen to be a solid contender with sedans like the Sonata and the XG350, and the new Tiburon sports coupe looks impressive. But it might be in the expansive SUV segment that Hyundai has come through with its most startling entry — the Santa Fe. Until January, there was no Hyundai dealership in the Northland, but Kolar Auto World up on the Miller Trunk Highway has now added the brand. Glenn Kulyk, who used to recruit hockey players to UMD and now tries to recruit Hyundai customers, said that the Santa Fe has been the top seller of the Hyundai line.
I test-drove a factory test-fleet Santa Fe for a week recently, and, being busy, I put the statistical sheet aside and just drove the thing. From the outside, several things become obvious at first blush. Hyundai sometimes overdoes it in the styling department, putting scoops and bulges all over the place, almost at random, but that might be in the company’s formative past. The Santa Fe has scoops and bulges, but they seem to be pretty much in the right places to make it stand apart as a stylish, though compact, SUV.
The front end looks contemporary and different enough to stand apart from the usual, square-front SUVs. The rear also has a flair to it, and the side indentations add a nice styling touch. If I had one major complaint it is that the front fenders rise pleasantly to a bulging silhouette, then they drop off quickly toward the headlights. It may be aerodynamic, but it also prevents the driver from having a proper glancing view of the front corners of the vehicle, which could aid parking and tight maneuvering.
The biggest surprise of the week-long test I had with the Santa Fe was that when I finally checked over the statistical sheet, I realized that it did not have 4-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. I hadn’t noticed, but the test Santa Fe had front-wheel drive only. The weather wasn’t foul enough to discern the difference, and the Santa Fe’s standard front-wheel drive not only performed smoothly, it added to my theory that a well-balanced vehicle with front-wheel drive could probably get you through the worst weather conditions, with 4-wheel drive remaining the best for extreme circumstances. It’s possible you could easily make it through an entire winter with front-wheel drive, without having a traction problem.
Actually, there might have been one other surprise that was even more stunning than the lack of 4WD, and that was the bottom line on the sticker sheet. The 2002 Santa Fe base price is around $18,000, while the test GLS had a price of $20,174 — including freight and delivery. Adding 4-wheel drive, which comes with a viscous coupling to adjust power to slippery conditions, only adds $1,500 to the sticker.
Once behind the wheel, the Santa Fe proves quick, and it handles with good agility, accelerating smoothly through the 4-speed automatic, which has a separate gate to hand shift as an auto-manual, which Hyundai calls “Shiftronic.” The optional 2.7-liter V6 is a dual-overhead-camshaft implement with four valves per cylinder, encouraging it to perform up into the higher reaches on the tachometer, with no dropoff in power, especially when you hand-shift it.
The 2.7 delivers 181 horsepower, with 177 foot-pounds of torque, with the horsepower peaking at 6,000 RPMs, and the torque at 4,000 revs. The base 2.4-liter 4-cylinder, which is also a DOHC, four-valve unit, puts out 149 horses and 156 foot-pounds. The 4-cylinder comes on the base Santa Fe, while you have to go up to the GLS or the top LX to get the 2.7 V6. The V6 has EPA fuel estimates of 19 city and 25 highway miles per gallon. I got just over 20 miles per gallon, in combined driving, but admittedly running the revs up and driving hard.
The test vehicle was the middle GLS, and it adds the AM-FM-cassette-CD player with six speakers, cruise control, rear window wiper/washer, remote keyless entry and foglights as upgrades from the base model. The LX provides more upgrades, such as traction control, antilock brakes, leather seats, automatic climate control, heated front seats, and an electrochromic rearview mirror, which dims the glare of lights from cars behind you.
Four-wheel disc brakes are standard on all Santa Fe models, highlighting attention to safety that includes steel roof-rails and side-impact door beams, along with front and rear energy-absorbing crumple zones. Accident avoidance is enhanced by independent rear suspension, which is a double wishbone design, compared to the front end’s MacPherson struts. The compact length is 177.2 inches, with a 103.1-inch wheelbase. The Santa Fe is 66 inches tall, but it rides with good stability on 16-inch alloy wheels.
The Santa Fe also has good interior accommodations, with supportive bucket seats, pleasing gauge layout, good center-dash controls of the audio system and the air/heat unit. Cupholders are securely placed in the center console, and there is a separate, oddly shaped little cavity located amid the cupholders. I had no idea what that little bin was really designed for, but I noticed that the LX has a switch unit in that receptacle for seat-heaters. Nonetheless, I found that a little supply of fast-food french fries fit perfectly in that spot and remained upright. I’m not a huge fan of fast-food french fries, but if you’ve got to eat on the run, it’s better to have the fries pointing up at you from a secure location than scattering themselves around on the console, the seats and the floor.
Power window switches are located on the door, separated from the power lock switch, and behind a curving panel that sets the door and window lock switches apart. Among more subtle but well-designed ergonomic touches include the cigarette lighter located low on the center dash plate, with a power outlet located right below it.
The rear seat is big enough to hold three, with a 60/40 design. The seats fold forward to expand the rear cargo area, which is covered with a large, flexible net that can stretch to cover and hold in place anything you might put back there. Compared to trying to imagine what it is that’s flying around back there, the net is a handy feature. The tailgate also has a neat feature, with a right-hand grip for raising the hatch, and, once open, a left-handed grip to allow you to pull it down easily.
Could it be possible that Hyundai engineers guessed that predominately right-handed people would be reaching to open the hatch with their right hand, but might have a right arm full when it came to closing the hatch, with the left hand closing grip being perfect?
Of more tangible benefit, the Santa Fe benefits from Hyundai’s remarkable warranty scheme: 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain; 5-year/60,000-mile overall vehicle; 5-year/100,000-mile anti-perforation; and 5-year/unlimited mileage roadside assistance.
[[[[[cutlines:
1/ The Hyundai Santa Fe’s sculptured lines make it stand out among SUVs, as does its price of $20,000.
2/ Clean design from the rear and contoured sides add to the sporty personality of the Santa Fe.
3/ From the driver’s seat, instruments and controls are all well laid out and ergonomically arranged.
4/ Under the raised tailgate, a cargo net is flexible enough and strong enough to secure even instable cargo. ]]]]]
Revised EuroVan can teach new tricks to GTI, New Beetle
While some manufacturers dazzle us with future concept cars, bristling with technology, Volkswagen just keeps on building cars with real-world technology that should carry us from here to the future.
Volkswagen is one company that has avoided the tiresome scheme of choosing names by computer selection of pleasing syllables, or various combinations of letters and numbers. Instead, Volkswagen followed the wind. The Jetta is the jetstream; the Scirocco (remember it?) was a desert wind; the Golf, of course, is named for the gulfstream, and so on. Neat concept.
Few cars are more familiar than the Volkswagen Golf, a solid, sturdy compact coupe, with surprisingly spacious room inside that square back, which differentiates it from the Jetta sedan, which has a trunk. The sporty model of the Golf is the GTI, which has firmer suspension and better power.
One of the few cars more familiar than the Golf is the New Beetle, which was reintroduced as an incurably cute retro version of the old Beetle, and now rides atop a contemporary front-wheel-drive Golf platform. Volkswagen also has been turning out compact vans ever since the Microvan, and most recently the EuroVan. Volkswagen didn’t exactly put the proverbial cart before the horse, but it has introduced something that was already out with the reintroduction of the 2002 EuroVan, now equipped with a powerplant that will dazzle sporty-car-driver wannabes, but also establishes new standards from which the newest sporty GTI will spring.
In fairly rapid succession, I was able to spend a week each test-driving the New Beetle S Turbo, a GTI, and a EuroVan.
A decade ago, Volkswagen came out with a new V6 called the VR6, with a unique “V” angle so narrow that the cylinders are staggered in alternating fashion because they would be too close if the two banks were directly opposed. Conveniently, the engine uses one cylinder head to cover both banks, which conserved space, as well as expense. The engine, with single overhead camshafts and two valves per cylinder, was the mainstay of the GTI, as well as the late, great Corrado. Finally it also was installed in the EuroVan, bringing its power up to at least adequate.
Meanwhile, Audi came out with a little sports car, the TT, with a really slick 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine, with five valves per cylinder — three intake and two exhaust — and dual overhead camshafts. A low-pressure turbocharger doesn’t create neck-snapping power, but electronically it provides full torque all the way from 2,000 to 5,000 RPMs in applications that now include the Beetle Turbo S and the GTI.
NEW BEETLE TURBO S
By changing computer chips, the 1.8 Turbo can turn out amazing amounts of power, first being tweaked up to 150 horsepower, and now up to 180, which, in the New Beetle Turbo S, guarantees the little car will move from incurably cute to near-hot-rod status. It is practically a GTI Beetle. The 180-horse version of the 1.8, and a six-speed manual transmission runs up to the redline smoothly, and still delivers 25-30 miles per gallon.
The test car was brilliant silver with color-coordinated front airdam incorporated into the body, and neat high-intensity foglights imbedded into the bodywork. It also has drilled aluminum pedals, great leather seats that encapsulate the driver, 17-inch alloy wheels, firm suspensionÂ…and a weird little noise that sounds like the hatch has come unlatched at various times.
I stopped repeatedly to make sure the hatch was closed tightly, and then I learned that the Beetle Turbo S has a speed sensitive rear spoiler, which comes out when you go at highway speed and recedes back into the bodywork when you slow down. When you slow down, it recedes with a clunk that convinces you something has come adrift, and it’s a definite nuisance.
Loaded, with electronic stabilization, antilock brakes, heated front seats, a power sunroof and premium sound system including a CD changer, the Beetle Turbo S listed for $23,950.
GTI 1.8T
The GTI was about what I anticipated, a fast, slick-handling vehicle that offered a different scope of performance. It had the same 1.8 Turbo with 180 horsepower, but instead of the Beetle Turbo S’s 6-speed manual, the GTI had a 5-speed automatic that can be operated either in “D” or by moving the shifter to a smaller, adjacent gate, for automanual Tiptronic hand-shifting.
Otherwise, all the goodies were pretty much the same, although the 17-inch wheels with their low-profile performance tires were an option up from the standard 16-inch. Other options included a luxury package, the automatic transmission, and leather seats, running the price tag up to $22,525.
Thus equipped, the GTI handled well, and while the 1.8 turbo might not be the all-out maximum power unit for the car, its high-revving flexibility make it my favorite for fun. While the Beetle goes from a cute car to a performer with the 1.8 turbo, the GTI is a rugged sporty coupe that takes on a feeling of finesse with the sophisticated 1.8, but makes a great package with it.
But, impressive as the Beetle Turbo S and GTI are, the real charmer of the trio was the EuroVan.
EUROVAN
A year ago, Volkswagen announced that its van was underpowered and overpriced. Refreshing to hear an auto industry executive make such an admission. So the company lopped about $6,000 off the price, tightened production along the way, and came up with a surprising engineering wrinkle to take care of the power thing.
Remember the VR6 narrow angle engine? Well, Volkswagen engineers fitted dual overhead cams on top of both banks, with four valves per cylinder, and the move jacked the power from 174 to 201 horsepower and from 181 to 195 foot-pounds of torque, making all the difference to run the solid but heavy EuroVan.
Low-speed traction control, anti-slip regulation and an electronic stabilization program, plus fully independent suspension, collaborate to make the van surprisingly peppy, with the ability to take corners with remarkable precision.
The EuroVan seems taller than most compact or minivans, because it is. You sit up high, and you have a high roof, which would seem to mean that the van should feel tippier. Instead, it can be hurled into tight turns with predictable steering response and come out the other end as if it thought it was a sports car.
The two front bucket seats are stable and firm, and the test vehicle was set up with two rear-facing bucket seats behind them. That is different, with a purpose. Those seats slide fore and aft and can be reclined, and they face a third-row bench seat with contours to house three more occupants. On the driver’s side wall, there is a large flat panel, and while it is securely fastened, you can pop it up and it locks into place as a nice-sized table, perfectly placed between the bench seat and the rear-facing bucket on the driver’s side.
Great for kids on a trip, to play board games, to turn a fast-food drive-through into a picnic, or to prove you don’t have to be outside to tailgate. The very large side glass makes rear occupants watch the world go by through picture windows.
EuroVan. There’s only one sliding side door, but it’s large and very accessible. At the rear, the hatch tilts up, very high and very long. The perfect small roof if you were to tailgate. Inside, a shelf is located about halfway up, for out-of-sight storage below, and covered by a thick foam pad. Turns out, the rear bench seat can be pulled forward, just as the rear-facing buckets can be tilted out of the way, and the whole thing turns into a double bed.
To complete the scenario of an impromptu camper, the EuroVan comes with a curtain that can be fastened along the inside just above the very large side and rear windows, and you can close off the outside world with ease.
The Eurovan is swift, agile and would make a fine everyday vehicle, or the perfect trip machine, or both. The powerful new VR6 can get 20 miles per gallon, or less if you decide to jackrabbit away from stoplights — which the Eurovan also is capable of doing. Base price is $27,700, and with options including a huge power glass sunroof, thoughtfully installed with a tilt feature and a screen to keep North Shore mosquitoes at bay, and heatable front bucket seats, the EuroVan MV sticker is $29,990. The table and chair set is standard.
The first application of the four-valve, dual-overhead-cam VR6 has been so impressive in the Eurovan that Volkswagen has made its next decision. Starting this summer, the hottest GTI will get significantly hotter, because Volkswagen will start installing the new multivalve VR6 to provide the GTI with a potent upgrade from the 1.8 Turbo version.
While companies from the rest of the world are bragging about what they might come out with in future cars, Volkswagen simply continues to provide impressive answers here and now.
[[[cutlines:
1/ The Volkswagen EuroVan dwarfs the GTI coupe, but the roomy van is loaded with surprisingly usable features.
2/ After all the success of the New Beetle, now there is a New Beetle Turbo S — a hot rod Beetle that goes and handles.
3/ Inside the EuroVan, high vantage points, rear-facing second-row buckets, and a pop-up table make use of the rear bench seat, which can fold into a bed. ]]]]]
Envoy XL goes to new lengths to bypass foes — and friends
Generally, when it comes to sport-utility vehicles, my feeling is that consumers should keep in mind a simple theory, that smaller and more compact is better, and that anything bigger than big enough is wasted size, space and energy-burning. But the GMC Envoy XL makes a very impressive case for being an exception – sometimes being bigger can be a good thing.
Difficult as it is to keep track of the burgeoning truck business in the U.S., the formula General Motors is using remains pretty simple: Build a truck, then build a bigger one or smaller one off that platform. It worked with the Suburban, which began life huge, and remains so, while breeding the shorter Tahoe for Chevrolet, and the companion Yukon for the GMC branch. The smaller Blazer is an entirely different vehicle, and it still remains, even while it has spun off into the thoroughly modern TrailBlazer/GMC Envoy/Oldsmobile Bravada as next-of-kin. Of course, since the last remnants of Oldsmobile will cease to exist in the coming year, a new version will come out for Buick.
We are up to something around 80 trucks on the market right now, and fully 60 of them are in the SUV category, because, Automobile magazine points out, the 3.5 million SUVs sold last year represent one-fourth of all vehicles purchased in this country. And more, many more, are on the way. The Ford Explorer continues to set a fast pace as the leading SUV seller, which means that a lot of buyers are still reasonable enough to back off from the biggest machines. The GM alternative to the Explorer is primarily the TrailBlazer/Envoy. I prefer the styling of the GMC Envoy. ItÂ’s subjective, of course, but I think the large-opening Envoy grille is more distinctively impressive, and both share the same fabulous high-tech engine.
GMÂ’s target is, as usual, Ford Motor Company. When Ford brought out its new Explorer for 2002, it pulled off a patented trick of running the rear axle through straight side frame rails, lowering the interior floor and, coupled with independent rear suspension, allowing room for a third-row bench seat without having to increase its overall length. General Motors has countered with the elongated Envoy XL (and TrailBlazer version).
In GMÂ’s logical progression from the top, the huge Suburban measures 219.3 inches in overall length, the Tahoe/Yukon 198.8 inches and the Envoy/TrailBlazer 191.6 inches. But GM lengthened the Envoy into XL form by stretching it 16 inches, both in length, to 207.6 inches, and to a 129-inch wheelbase. That makes the Envoy 9 inches longer than the larger standard Yukon, strange as that may seem, and gives it a wheelbase more than a foot longer than the larger YukonÂ’s and within an inch of the enormo Suburban. The Envoy XL also stands nearly 6 inches taller than the normal Envoy.
If youÂ’ve ever driven the Yukon (or Tahoe), you know it is a large vehicle, and it seems hard to believe that the Suburban can be that much bigger still. It is even more surprising to realize that now the more compact Envoy can be had in longer form than the Yukon/Tahoe.
The Suburban and Tahoe/Yukon share drivetrain components, and come only with V8 engines, all of which are pushrod design, without the benefit of overhead camshaft valvetrains. The Yukon/TrailBlazer is an entirely different critter, and comes with GMÂ’s outstanding new in-line 6, a dual-overhead-camshaft, 4-valve-per-cylinder design measuring 4.2 liters and turning out huge amounts of power. The horsepower peak of the 4.2 is 275, at 6,000 RPMs thanks to the DOHC revving capabilities, and 275 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 RPMs. ThatÂ’s almost exactly the same as the 4.8-liter V8 in the Tahoe/Yukon, which delivers 275 horses and a 290 torque reading, and close to the larger 5.3-liter V8Â’s output of 285 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds in the Tahoe/Yukon or Suburban.
You can, of course, go way up in the Suburban to 6-liter or 8.1-liter V8s in the Suburban to get 320 or 340 horsepower, but the question then becomes how much horsepower is adequate? The 4.2-liter V6 is an engine that GM engineers pushed by the tight-budget bean-counters by making it in-line, where the deciding factor might have been that production costs were lower because each engine requires only one cylinder head instead of the two that a V6 (or V8) would require. Whatever it took to get into the high-tech realm of overhead camshafts was worth it, because that configuration can take GM into the future, where variable valve-timing and other higher-mileage, lower-maintenance secrets can be discovered.
While the bigger V8s have EPA estimates in the 14-16 or 14-17 range, the 4.2 lists 16 city and 21 highway, and in the longer XL form it stays up there at 15/20. Running through the standard 4-speed automatic, I got 15.6 miles per gallon in mostly city driving.
Of course, the extra length (XL) allows the Envoy to embrace a large third-row bench seat, which has all the contemporary fold-down features. Take that, Explorer! But itÂ’s now over 17 inches longer in both length and wheelbase than the Explorer, which is a significant price to pay, even though the Envoy XL has a fair amount of storage space behind the third seat area.
What makes the Envoy most impressive to me is that the stretch job was done tastefully, and GMC filled the beast with creature-comforts. The regular Envoy looks just fine, but designers were able to angle the longer rear of the XL into a pleasing form. Some critics have called it awkward looking, but I think the lines flow gracefully, and I find it more attractive than the larger GM trucks. And while it definitely is a big truck, it feels more agile than its heavier big cousins, and that gem of an engine is fun to run up in revs on the tach.
Full instrumentation and large, round air vents enhance the comfortable and supportive front seats even better, and rear seat occupants will celebrate the fact that the rear-door windows roll all the way down – none of this claustrophobic two-thirds or three-fourths stuff.
Most impressive from a driver’s standpoint is that you can play with the settings easily to enforce or eliminate the intolerable automatic locks and whether the lights or horn will signal when they function. Same with whether the lights will stay on after you get out, or whether the right side or both outside mirrors – or neither – will tilt down to ease parking maneuvers when you hit reverse. Those devices make the Envoy XL more user-friendly.
The full-length steel truck frame, with 17 x 7 aluminum wheels and Bilstein shock absorbers plant the Envoy XL firmly on the ground. A heavy-duty trailer package, with 5,900-pound capacity, and automatic Auto Trac 4-wheel drive are standard, as are 4-wheel disc brakes with antilock, the OnStar navigation system, and an AM-FM-CD player with six speakers, plus remote keyless entry, rear washer-wiper, and steering-wheel controls for all sorts of these devices. The 7-passenger seating is highlighted by the 8-way driver seat with power lumbar support, and there is a rear air/heat system, and the first two rows of seats are leather.
Options on the XL test vehicle include an “SLT Professional Technology†package at $2,590, which lists rain-sensing wipers, locking differential, heated front seats, theft alarm, a Bose audio upgrade that includes a 6-CD changer, a Travelnote digital recorder, and a rear DVD player that folds down out of the ceiling and is certain to entertain the troops on long hauls.
The cost? Ah, yes, we knew it would come down to that. Base price of the Envoy XL is $35,995, and as tested the vehicle lists for $39,185.
We know that the popularity of SUVs assures the manufacturers of enormous profits, it still comes down to what you get for your money. It is a curious fact that in its quest to compete with the Explorer, GM would elongate the Envoy and TrailBlazer to overrun its own larger SUVs, but in this case, I think it works.
Ford’s GT40 centennial sports car is a hit for all generations
Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town. Maybe toddlin’ best describes the way you walk as you try to make your way from a restaurant that serves “Chicago style†deep-dish pizza to the House of Blues. But if there’s a better way to toddle around than in a new Ford GT40, offhand, I can’t imagine it.
I had occasion to drive to Chicago this past week with my two sons, and we got a chance to attend a luncheon where we were able to get an up-close and personal look at the concept version of the GT40 Ford is building for the upcoming model year. While writing an automotive column for 30-some years, one of my dreams always has been that someday it would become a family affair. My wife, Joan, is an excellent driver and IÂ’ve always asked her feedback on vehicles IÂ’ve test-driven. Our sons, Jack and Jeff, have grown to adulthood as car-fanciers; both are excellent drivers, and both have a quick wit about expressing their opinions.
On this trip, mom stayed home – somebody had to work – and the three guys hit the highway for an overnight in Chicago. We made it to Giordanno’s for the stuffed pizza, and we toddled off to walk the streets until midnight. The next morning, we attended a luncheon put on by “MAMA,†which is the Midwest Automotive Media Association, and it served as the perfect forum for Ford executives to announce that the company was combining all its specialty subcultures into a new Ford Performance Group. Interestingly, the hot competition between Ford and General Motors seems to have a “cold war†that goes well beyond the showrooms. GM announced a similar performance organization a month ago, and also displayed a 50th anniversary Corvette.
FordÂ’s counterattack for a wedge in the continuing marketing battle is to commemorate the 100th year of building cars with something truly special. Combining the Special Vehicle Team that continues to make exceptional factory hot rods under the SVT banner with Ford Racing Technology (FRT) and FordÂ’s Vehicle Personalization Group makes good sense, coordinating design ideas with racing technology and real-world driveability.
The special vehicle that will be the flag-bearer for FordÂ’s centennial year of 2003 is, of course, the GT40. ThatÂ’s the purpose-built race car Henry Ford II commanded built in the 1960s as a vehicle to carry Ford to the pinnacle of world endurance racing. Remarkably, the GT40 finished 1-2-3 at the 24 Hours of LeMans, and won three consecutive LeMans classics. For the ensuing 40 years, the GT40 has mostly been the target for skilled replica kit-builders, or to be parked in museums and fawned over by car zealots. But after building a prototype for display at auto shows in the past year, the arrival of FordÂ’s centennial year made this decision a no-brainer.
A glistening white-with-blue-racing-stripes GT40 was parked under a tent, along with a concept “49er†convertible being contemplated, a new Mach 1 Mustang just being introduced, plus Jimmy Vasser’s CART race car. Out under the bright blue sky was an assemblage of SVT vehicles, including an SVT Mustang Cobra, Lightning pickup, and the SVT Focus in both 2-door and 4-door. We examined the cars closely, listened to some speakers, ate a great lunch, discussed some technicalities with some engineers and project managers, then hit the road to beat rush-hour and start back to Minnesota.
Jack, whoÂ’s in his 30s, was asked first: Is the GT40 the best?
“Yes,†said Jack. “Because itÂ’s correct. So many cars try to be retro these days, but they donÂ’t get it right. No offense to the new Thunderbird, but it looks nothing like the original. I remember the GT40 from when I was a little kid, and itÂ’s always been one of my favorite cars. And this one looks just like the original. When somebody says ‘Ferrari,Â’ you first think about the 908 model. This is what people think about when you say ‘GT40Â’ or ‘LeMans.Â’ Ââ€
Jeff, whoÂ’s 10 years younger than Jack, was asked the same question.
“I would rank the GT40 as the top one or two cars IÂ’ve ever seen,†said Jeff. “Maybe itÂ’s the best one, and if I say it is one of the top two, I canÂ’t think of what the other one would be. But it leaves me some room for an option, just in case. I can just imagine myself pulling up somewhere in a GT40 and know itÂ’s the coolest car anyone has ever seen. ItÂ’s so sleek, and everything about it is just right.Ââ€
The two analysts showed off how low and sleek the GT40 is by standing on either side of it for a photo, towering over its 44-inch height. That is one part of the new car that is slightly different. When it was first built, the GT40 was named because it was only 40 inches tall. For real-world driving, the new one is 44 inches, and it is slightly larger in every dimension. But the redesign remained faithful to the original, and, standing alone, itÂ’s virtually impossible to detect the discrepancies.
Neil Ressler, a former Ford vice president who had retired, was brought back to be technical advisor on the GT40 project. “I retired after 33 years at Ford, and I had no thought of coming back,†said Ressler. “When they asked me to come back and be part of the performance team, I agreed before they were through asking the question. You know, there are still some of the original GT40s running around, which I think is remarkable. Even more remarkable is that weÂ’re going to resurrect it.Ââ€
Ressler admitted that there are no set rules for when the first GT40 will roll out, how much it will cost, or how many it will build in its first production year. Odd, from a business standpoint, but thatÂ’s how emotional this whole project is. The GT40 will be a low-production vehicle, with estimates of maybe 1,000 being built the first year. It will weigh 3,200 pounds, and it will have a mid-engine-mounted 5.4-liter V8 with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and a supercharger, in order to generate 500 horsepower and 500 foot-pounds of torque.
Price is anybodyÂ’s guess. It almost certainly will be over $100,000, maybe as much as $150,000 by the time dealers try to add capitalization to what is assured to be a scarce classic as soon as it hits the streets. For certain, the car will be out in time for next summerÂ’s centennial.
Neal Hannemann, the chief chassis engineer on the project, was distinctly familiar, and he has a distinct Duluth connection. He raced for the Archer Brothers team when it dominated endurance and truck racing. IÂ’ve written stories about him winning races at places like Brainerd International Raceway, in an Archer Brothers Eagle Talon, while Tommy and Bobby Archer were out on the track bump-drafting each other in the first pickup truck road races. When I saw HannemannÂ’s name, I wondered if it possibly could be the same fellow. It is.
“I drove for the Archers fro 1989-95,†Hannemann said. “I won three championships in their cars. Later on, when Tommy Archer was racing Vipers at LeMans, I was running the Dodge Viper race team over here, and I hired Bobby Archer as my teammate in 1998.Ââ€
As for his contributions to the GT40, Hannemann explained that the car has “an all-aluminum frame, all-aluminum suspension, a 6-speed transaxle, and a unique interior. WeÂ’ve used all the computer tools we can to make sure the frame is extremely stiff. The 5.4-liter engine is adapted from the engine in the SVT Lightning, which has a forged steel crankshaft. And the rods are common to the 2003 SVT Cobra engine.Ââ€
Have there been any test engines to meet those 500-horse/500-foot-pound standards?
“On the dyno,†said Hannemann. Dynamometer testing can duplicate real-world engine torque and horsepower, so it’s just a matter of building enough of the all-aluminum high-output versions of the 5.4, and getting them into the cars. Personally, I’d like to see one of those old SVT Contour V6 engines in a GT40, making it extremely light weight, and, perhaps, affordable as a “base model†for real-world folks instead of only wealthy exotic collectors. As for my two sons, they don’t care what engine it has, as long as it looks the way it does.
ToddlinÂ’, indeed!
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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