Car fanatics take over GM’s new direction for 2003 and future
It took two days for General Motors to display all of its new-for-2003 car and truck models to the North American journalists it had summoned to Ann Arbor, Mich. Splitting the two sessions, GM put on an outdoor walking buffet dinner to accompany a Bring-Your-Own-Baby car show, during which the companyÂ’s executives brought out their own private collectible vehicles.
There were enough new vehicles with new technology to fill a notebook, but the image of that collector car show remains the most riveting memory of the trip.
There was Bob Lutz, GMÂ’s new boss, puffing on a big cigar as he stood proudly next to his own 1953 Cunningham Coupe C3, while motoring journalists stopped by to talk casually to him about his passion for automotives. There were a half-dozen GM-owned historic vehicles, and 47 privately owned classics, ranging from a 1908 Oldsmobile Touring 4-Cylinder to a 1938 Buick Special Model 41 Trunkback, and on up to a 1988 Ferrari Mondial. The winning vote-getter, incidentally, was a sensational 1935 Chevrolet Master Series 2-door sedan owned by Wes Rydell, who is a major GM dealer with franchises in Grand Forks, N.D., where he lives, as well as the Twin Cities and California.
But the indelible feeling about the whole session is that the legendary General Motors bean-counters were nowhere visible, replaced by folks who obviously feel passionately about their cars. It is reassuring to know that finally, people who love cars are making decisions at the worldÂ’s largest car-making company, and there is at least a fighting chance they will also care about the cars they are building and selling.
“When Bob Lutz came in, he saw where we were taking things with our research, and heÂ’s coached us to be a lot more intuitive,†said Mark Hogan, a design engineer and one of the GM spokesmen. “He course-corrected us to use our abilities along with our market research. IÂ’ve never seen the energy, passion and focused intent in this company. And youÂ’re probably going to see much more reach in our designs under Bob Lutz. When you see concept vehicles like Solstice and Belair, theyÂ’ll sell themselves.Ââ€
It has been easy to be a critic about GM. The corporate giant, for about three decades, has backed off from technology, daring design and fun vehicle development for the sake of not disrupting the bottom line, leading to the feeling that “bean-counters†were making all the decisions, and choosing profit margin over research and development. The company’s new direction may counter that.
Here are the highlights of the 20-some new introductions:
Performance. GM is going to coordinate its high-performance concepts into one unit, although that unit intends to stay subtle, without the flash of Ford’s SVT (Special Vehicle Team) or the Mercedes AMG group. “You won’t read our name on the back of the car,†said Mark Reuss, who runs GM’s performance division. “I have 1,000 workers under me, 800 who are in architectural design and 200 who will specializse in performance, concept and show cars, high-performance operations and design. We haven’t really had all these divisions together at GM – ever.†GM intends to offer small-car, front-wheel-drive high-performance parts such as racing cylinder heads and superchargers for the Ecotec engines in the Cavalier and Sunfire, for example.
Concept cars. One easy new car is the 2003 Corvette 50th anniversary edition, which will come only in a dark, bergundy red. Otherwise, some far-out concept cars are expected to spring to life. Most notable is the Pontiac Solstice, the Chevrolet SSR and Belair, and possibly the Saturn Sky, while Cadillac will follow-up its new-generation CTS sedan with a stunning XLR hardtop/roadster convertible. I got a close-up look at the Solstice and Belair, and I drove a prototype Sky, but there were no XLRs around – until we were being bused out of the Milford Proving Grounds, and I spotted one cruising along on a test track. In a year, the GTO makes a comeback, based on the Holden Monaro from GM’s Australian branch.
Trucks. Naturally, the high profitability of trucks is one of the basic assets of all the new car optimism, but GM is hardly going to pass up the chance to expand its enormous truck outlay. Buick, which got the Rendezvous as a neat version of the controversial Pontiac Aztek for 2002, will add the Ranier, which will be a similar but slightly more luxurious sport-utility vehicle, powered by either the new high-tech in-line 6 or the new Generation III 5.3-liter V8. Also, Chevrolet will bring out the SS – a throwback to the Super Sport days of its hot-rod sporty coupes – as a specialty version of the Silverado pickup truck. Aside from also lengthening the GMC and Cadillac versions of the Chevy Tahoe into a full-fledged version of the Suburban, GM also is introducing a new Hummer H2, a much more manageable version of the militaristic all-terrain vehicle.
Technology. Cadillac and Corvette will continue to be the test-beds for new technology, from things such as OnStar, Nightvision, through-the-windshield instruments, StabiliTrak, etc. The new Corvette, for example, will have “MagneRide†suspension, which was introduced on the 2002 Cadillac Seville STS and is an electro-magnetic controlled suspension system. Imagine this: inside the struts that cushion all four wheels, instead of the usual pristine fluid, Delphi (a GM affiliate) has come up with a strut filled with fluid that has magnetic particles floating freely around inside, and the normal suspension is very comfortable and compliant. Set on “touring,†the suspension stays that way, but move the console switch to “sport,†and you get a stiffer mode, plus. A severe cornering move causes an electromagnetic coil to suddenly cause all the free-flowing particles to snap together, greatly stiffening the suspension. It acts so quickly that you don’t really feel anything, except when you corner abruptly, the 50th Anniversary Corvette feels like it has race-car suspension. It apparently acts instantaneously, meaning the right side can handle a jolt it just learned from the left side, and it certainly is faster than the driver can discern.
Engines. The old 5.0 and 5.7-liter V8s – the legendary Chevrolet “small-block†V8s – have been replaced by the 5.3, a clean-sheet design instoduced in 1999 as an iron block unit. The new one is all aluminum, and it turns out 290 horsepower. The other significant new engine is the Ecotec, which originated with GM’s German Opel division, which used it in the Astra sedan. It also will be used in the new Saab, a recent GM acquisition. The 2.2 Ecotec is a dual-overhead-camshaft, 16 valve 4-cylinder, and when it came in last year, it became the base engine in Cavalier and Sunfire, and left the 2.4-liter “Quad 4†as an option. The 2.4 has now been dropped altogether from further production, and the Ecotec takes over, supplying 140 horsepower and 150 foot-pounds of torque.
Environment. While GM continued to emphasize more power and performance with almost every introduction, the company is striving to improve its efficiency for ecological and economical reasons. I drove a full-size pickup with engineer Stephen Poulos riding shotgun, and he explained that our vehicle had a combination 5.3-liter V8 and AC induction motor, supplying 20 more horsepower from 42 lead-acid batteries, located under the rear seat. The truck had very good power, and whenever you stop for a red light, the engine stops. The fuel shuts off as soon as you decelerate, and when you take your foot off the brake to step on the gas as the light turns green, the engine restarts and youÂ’re off. Poulos says EPA estimates show 10-15 percent improvement in fuel economy, and the new engine has no alternator or starter, and the pump and power steering are done electrically by the auxiliary motor.
Interestingly enough, the new alternative-energy truck has no special markings, and no high-tech gauges. “WeÂ’re selling a truck here,†said Poulos. “We donÂ’t want to point out how many differences there are, as much as how similar it is to what everybody is used to.Ââ€
Flash, glitz and performance sells, apparently, but GM customers are wary enough about high-tech economy advances that GM wisely figures it better downplay its advances.
Car fanatics provide new direction for GM’s 2003 introductions
It took two days for General Motors to display all of its new-for-2003 car and truck models to the North American journalists it had summoned to Ann Arbor, Mich. Splitting the two sessions, GM put on an outdoor walking buffet dinner to accompany a Bring-Your-Own-Baby car show, during which the companyÂ’s executives brought out their own private collectible vehicles.
There were enough new vehicles with new technology to fill a notebook, but the image of that collector car show remains the most riveting memory of the trip.
There was Bob Lutz, GMÂ’s new boss, puffing on a big cigar as he stood proudly next to his own 1953 Cunningham Coupe C3, while motoring journalists stopped by to talk casually to him about his passion for automotives. There were a half-dozen GM-owned historic vehicles, and 47 privately owned classics, ranging from a 1908 Oldsmobile Touring 4-Cylinder to a 1938 Buick Special Model 41 Trunkback, and on up to a 1988 Ferrari Mondial. The winning vote-getter, incidentally, was a sensational 1935 Chevrolet Master Series 2-door sedan owned by Wes Rydell, who is a major GM dealer with franchises in Grand Forks, N.D., where he lives, as well as the Twin Cities and California.
But the indelible feeling about the whole session is that the legendary General Motors bean-counters were nowhere visible, replaced by folks who obviously feel passionately about their cars. It is reassuring to know that finally, people who love cars are making decisions at the worldÂ’s largest car-making company, and there is at least a fighting chance they will also care about the cars they are building and selling.
“When Bob Lutz came in, he saw where we were taking things with our research, and heÂ’s coached us to be a lot more intuitive,†said Mark Hogan, a design engineer and one of the GM spokesmen. “He course-corrected us to use our abilities along with our market research. IÂ’ve never seen the energy, passion and focused intent in this company. And youÂ’re probably going to see much more reach in our designs under Bob Lutz. When you see concept vehicles like Solstice and Belair, theyÂ’ll sell themselves.Ââ€
It has been easy to be a critic about GM. The corporate giant, for about three decades, has backed off from technology, daring design and fun vehicle development for the sake of not disrupting the bottom line, leading to the feeling that “bean-counters†were making all the decisions, and choosing profit margin over research and development. The company’s new direction may counter that.
Here are the highlights of the 20-some new introductions:
Performance. GM is going to coordinate its high-performance concepts into one unit, although that unit intends to stay subtle, without the flash of Ford’s SVT (Special Vehicle Team) or the Mercedes AMG group. “You won’t read our name on the back of the car,†said Mark Reuss, who runs GM’s performance division. “I have 1,000 workers under me, 800 who are in architectural design and 200 who will specializse in performance, concept and show cars, high-performance operations and design. We haven’t really had all these divisions together at GM – ever.†GM intends to offer small-car, front-wheel-drive high-performance parts such as racing cylinder heads and superchargers for the Ecotec engines in the Cavalier and Sunfire, for example.
Concept cars. One easy new car is the 2003 Corvette 50th anniversary edition, which will come only in a dark, bergundy red. Otherwise, some far-out concept cars are expected to spring to life. Most notable is the Pontiac Solstice, the Chevrolet SSR and Belair, and possibly the Saturn Sky, while Cadillac will follow-up its new-generation CTS sedan with a stunning XLR hardtop/roadster convertible. I got a close-up look at the Solstice and Belair, and I drove a prototype Sky, but there were no XLRs around – until we were being bused out of the Milford Proving Grounds, and I spotted one cruising along on a test track. In a year, the GTO makes a comeback, based on the Holden Monaro from GM’s Australian branch.
Trucks. Naturally, the high profitability of trucks is one of the basic assets of all the new car optimism, but GM is hardly going to pass up the chance to expand its enormous truck outlay. Buick, which got the Rendezvous as a neat version of the controversial Pontiac Aztek for 2002, will add the Ranier, which will be a similar but slightly more luxurious sport-utility vehicle, powered by either the new high-tech in-line 6 or the new Generation III 5.3-liter V8. Also, Chevrolet will bring out the SS – a throwback to the Super Sport days of its hot-rod sporty coupes – as a specialty version of the Silverado pickup truck. Aside from also lengthening the GMC and Cadillac versions of the Chevy Tahoe into a full-fledged version of the Suburban, GM also is introducing a new Hummer H2, a much more manageable version of the militaristic all-terrain vehicle.
Technology. Cadillac and Corvette will continue to be the test-beds for new technology, from things such as OnStar, Nightvision, through-the-windshield instruments, StabiliTrak, etc. The new Corvette, for example, will have “MagneRide†suspension, which was introduced on the 2002 Cadillac Seville STS and is an electro-magnetic controlled suspension system. Imagine this: inside the struts that cushion all four wheels, instead of the usual pristine fluid, Delphi (a GM affiliate) has come up with a strut filled with fluid that has magnetic particles floating freely around inside, and the normal suspension is very comfortable and compliant. Set on “touring,†the suspension stays that way, but move the console switch to “sport,†and you get a stiffer mode, plus. A severe cornering move causes an electromagnetic coil to suddenly cause all the free-flowing particles to snap together, greatly stiffening the suspension. It acts so quickly that you don’t really feel anything, except when you corner abruptly, the 50th Anniversary Corvette feels like it has race-car suspension. It apparently acts instantaneously, meaning the right side can handle a jolt it just learned from the left side, and it certainly is faster than the driver can discern.
Engines. The old 5.0 and 5.7-liter V8s – the legendary Chevrolet “small-block†V8s – have been replaced by the 5.3, a clean-sheet design instoduced in 1999 as an iron block unit. The new one is all aluminum, and it turns out 290 horsepower. The other significant new engine is the Ecotec, which originated with GM’s German Opel division, which used it in the Astra sedan. It also will be used in the new Saab, a recent GM acquisition. The 2.2 Ecotec is a dual-overhead-camshaft, 16 valve 4-cylinder, and when it came in last year, it became the base engine in Cavalier and Sunfire, and left the 2.4-liter “Quad 4†as an option. The 2.4 has now been dropped altogether from further production, and the Ecotec takes over, supplying 140 horsepower and 150 foot-pounds of torque.
Environment. While GM continued to emphasize more power and performance with almost every introduction, the company is striving to improve its efficiency for ecological and economical reasons. I drove a full-size pickup with engineer Stephen Poulos riding shotgun, and he explained that our vehicle had a combination 5.3-liter V8 and AC induction motor, supplying 20 more horsepower from 42 lead-acid batteries, located under the rear seat. The truck had very good power, and whenever you stop for a red light, the engine stops. The fuel shuts off as soon as you decelerate, and when you take your foot off the brake to step on the gas as the light turns green, the engine restarts and youÂ’re off. Poulos says EPA estimates show 10-15 percent improvement in fuel economy, and the new engine has no alternator or starter, and the pump and power steering are done electrically by the auxiliary motor.
Interestingly enough, the new alternative-energy truck has no special markings, and no high-tech gauges. “WeÂ’re selling a truck here,†said Poulos. “We donÂ’t want to point out how many differences there are, as much as how similar it is to what everybody is used to.Ââ€
Flash, glitz and performance sells, apparently, but GM customers are wary enough about high-tech economy advances that GM wisely figures it better downplay its advances.
Revised Range Rover goes over the top as luxury SUV icon
If it were possible to select the ultimate contemporary vehicle, which company would be most likely to build it: BMW, Land Rover, or Ford Motor Company?
The answer: All of the above.
The hottest contemporary phenomenon is the Sports Utility Vehicle craze, and the hottest SUV segment is the costly luxury SUV. The vehicle that started the trend long before it was a trend is the Range Rover, the standard bearer of British Land Rover, and a vehicle that may have fallen behind in some areas of technology, but never flinched in maintaining its stature.
Sure enough, just introduced as a 2003 model, the Range Rover is only the third version of that 33-year-old British classic, and it is really a Ford product, even though it was conceived, designed and built as a BMW. Got that?
The proud old British Rover outfit first built the Range Rover as the ultimate all-terrain vehicle in 1970, at a time when nobody other than the military had any use for a vehicle that could charge through any terrain with the same ease as it could handle a roadway. The project began with the United States in mind, although once that was accomplished, it didnÂ’t really start selling in the U.S. until 1986. Since then, Range Rovers have continued to be very expensive, and to sell about one-third of their annual production in the U.S.
As the flagship of Rover, the Range Rover standard for luxury SUVs has perhaps never been challenged, while unintentionally starting an amazing trend. There was a time when high-rolling California customers from Beverly Hills to Carmel sought out Range Rovers as the ultimate neighborhood one-up machine, but the movement has expanded beyond comprehension. Nowadays, luxury SUVs come from virtually every manufacturer and continue to be sought by virtually every customer who can afford to spend over $50,000 for a utility truck.
What always set Range Rovers apart, was their dedicated ability to transport anyone of substance to the country club ball without ever wavering from its overbuilt off-road image – meaning a Range Rover can haul you with class and grace to any country club, from Suburbia, USA to the wilds of Kenya.
Always heavy, stressing overdone strength and durability, and with incredible suspension travel to cleara giant boulders in the wilderness as well as cushioning on-road variances, Range Rover had some characteristics which were typically esoteric British, or a product of too much tradition and not enough technology. For most of 30 years, Range Rovers came with a derivative of an old and unspectacular General Motors V8, the aluminum one built for the original Pontiac Tempest and Buick compacts. The engine was continually upgraded to meet ever-changing demands by Rover, long after GM gave up on it.
In the past decade, after the British government took over the Rover Group in the face of economic problems, BMW was hired to supply engines for the Range Rover. GermanyÂ’s BMW then came to the rescue and purchased RoverÂ’s automotive arm, gaining Mini-Cooper in the process. The German company spent a lot of money to thoroughly upgrade the Range Rover, under guidance of Wolfgang Reitzle.
Things happened rapidly after that. While BMW designers worked on the concept for the new Range Rover, the company also was in the process of creating its own SUV, the swift, strong and very impressive BMW X5. Reitzle left BMW, and was hired by Ford in 1999 to head its new international Premier Automotive Group, which also includes Jaguar, Volvo and Lincoln. Meanwhile, before the newly designed Range Rover flagship could be brought to market, continued to be a financial drain. So BMW, with its X5 ready, decided to sell Range Rover to Ford. Ironically, while Reitzle had regained his control of Range Rover, he abruptly left Ford recently for a private industry opportunity.
All of that created a long, circuitous route for those of us in the automotive journalist segment, to be assembled in Santa Barbara, Calif., to witness the recent introduction of the 2003 Range Rover, carrying its proud British heritage well, while being designed and built by BMW, and now owned by Ford. If thatÂ’s a story of how worldly vehicles have become, an even more impressive story is how good the joint-project Range Rover actually turned out.
We drove them down the highway, around tight little twisty country roads, visited a California winery, then hurtled over primitive gravel roads, and finally onto some specially created off-road acreage, where we could go up and down prescribed courses, across ridiculously rugged terrain, then up grotesquely uneven rocky hillsides where it seemed certain the Range Rover would roll over on its side, and possibly beyond. As a driver, there is nothing quite like negotiating a steep hill, made of oversized boulders, while your vehicle lifts its left front wheel until the tire is 4 feet off the ground and the right front axle is so strong that it will support the two and a half ton vehicle, and realize that you canÂ’t even see level ground until after the thing settles back down on all fours. But you make it. And so does everybody else.
We should have known. The Range Rover’s 11-inch ground clearance, up from its predecessor’s 8.5 inches, handled everything with grace and class. Yes, it is still expensive, at $69,995 – a price certain to keep the Range Rover an elitist vehicle. It is the sum worth of the highest standard of components that make it worth that kind of sticker. While its new luxury SUV contenders are mostly intended to stay on the road, the Range Rover is overqualified once we get back on the roadways. Swift, smooth, and comfortable beyond reasonable boundaries, Range Rover’s full-time all-wheel-drive works in perfect harmony with the powertrain through a Torsen differential that splits and divides torque to supply it to the wheels that can best put it to use.
A visit to the interior of a Range Rover always has been impressive, but itÂ’s now off the scale. Buyers can choose dark walnut or lighter cherry wood paneling for trim, and you then get perfectly blended colors of leather to go with your choice. The addition of cupholders is well done, particularly when you realize it is illegal to eat or drink in a vehicle in the United Kingdom, so theyÂ’ve been added for U.S. issue only. It was easier to coordinate the flip-up glass rear window, above the dual split rear gate, and the bi-xenon headlights and companion foglights, which are set into an otherwise flat front facing almost like jewels laid out on a contemporary steel and aluminum showcase.
But the true beauty of the Range Rover is underneath that aluminum hood and front fenders, and the steel bodywork. Before even getting to the drivetrain, the new Range Rover has made an enormous change, going from the traditional body-on-frame design to a new monocoque, meaning the whole body and chassis is unified into one unit. It has produced an incomprehensible 250-percent increase in chassis stiffness, and the all-independent suspension has a double wishbone rear set-up. Rack and pinion steering was a natural addition to take advantage of the added precision control the stiffer body allows.
“We feel thereÂ’s a place for both monocoque and ladder frames,†said Steve McKnight, Range RoverÂ’s manager for North American sales. “The Freelander and Range Rover are both monocoque designs now.Ââ€
Under the hood, the power comes from BMW’s aluminum 4.4-liter, dual-overhead-camshaft V8 engine – the same powerplant that makes the BMW X5 such a gem. While the Range Rover is hefty (5,379 pounds) compared to the X5, the high-revving BMW engine delivers 282 horsepower at 5,400 RPMs and 295 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 revs. Acceleration is limited more by weight than power, but the Range Rover will cover 0-60 in about 9.1 seconds, and it has a governed top speed of 130 miles per hour. Presumably, you would want to be on the road when that occurs.
A 5-speed automatic transmission can be manually shifted. No manual transmission is offered, but the slick automanual makes it basically unneeded. Dynamic Stability Control effectively detunes the engineÂ’s power in those cases where itÂ’s important to have less power to control a skid, and the transmission has a separate gate for off-roading, which is complemented by HDC, for Hill Descent Control. Serious off-roaders know that the ability to hold a vehicle back on steep declines is at least as important as the ability to climb up steep inclines, and the high-technology HDC device works off a series of sensors to select proper gearing for hills, ice, mud, sand or whatever.
The high and low settings can be engaged at 10 miles per hour, without requiring a complete stop. You shift into neutral, then flip the switch on the right to get into low range. On top of that, the Hill Descent Control can be used up to 30 mph. And, like other serious off-road machines, the brakes are there, but the gearing is the way to go – slowly – when you have to go down a steep grade.
Bob Burns, Land RoverÂ’s national driver training instructor manager, put it simply. “We want to take the driver out of the picture as much as possible,†Burns said. “This way, you get through the terrain with the proper engine-breaking by leaving the transmission in Drive most of the time. When you have an impulse to hit the brakes, itÂ’s a good time to downshift. By being in Drive, the transmission selects the proper gear, and it might even be a higher gear, to avoid wheelspin on slippery surfaces. We have four-channel ABS (antilock brake system), yet weÂ’re saying donÂ’t use the brakes, use the HDC. The terrain-sensing software has a step-down speed, or you can make it step up by stepping on the throttle.Ââ€
With such superb off-road controls, you realize that if the Range Rover ever starts to skid in normal driving, every possible high-tech implement goes to work to provide counter-action, from the controlled limitation of power, to computerized braking control, to keep you going in a straight line.
Range Rover also has modified and improved its air-suspension system so you can dial in the setting you want from four positions. From a standard setting, an automatically engaged highway setting lowers the body ¾ of an inch to aid aerodynamics, and an access setting lowers the body an inch and a half more for ease in entering or exiting, something like the way a camel might kneel down to allow riders to disembark. The off-road setting raises the body 2 inches for better clearance over all terrain.
“Off-road capabilities are part of Range Rover,†said McKnight. “We find that off-road capabilities are very important to our customers. It gives us added breadth of capabilities. And the things that make it good off-road also make it better on the road.Ââ€
After driving the new Range Rover both on and off the roadways, we could find nothing disagreeable in that theory.
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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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