Subaru’s SUS can answer SOS from SUVs
Rarely, if ever, has there been a car that seems to cry out for foul weather more than the Subaru. Any Subaru. Coming with all-wheel drive and usually a low center of gravity, Subarus are less inclined to dazzle the country club set, but they thoroughly impress folks who live where negotiating foul weather is of utmost importance.
When I test-drove a 1999 Subaru SUS, I took it to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, seeking the foulest weather in the area. The worst we found was a little drizzle.
You’ve heard of SUV, which stands for sports-utility vehicle. Subarus always have been sports-utility vehicle types, but they neglected to patent the monicker. Now that it’s trendy, Subaru wants its share of the segment to remain solid, so it’s expanding to offer an SUS — sports-utility sedan.
First, there were all sorts of spartan, basic Subarus. Then they branched out to larger — mid-size to most — Legacy sedans, available in station wagon form too. When everybody started building SUV trucks with off and on road capabilities, Subaru took its Legacy wagon, raised it up on taller, off-road-type tires, and put round foglights on the front with grids over them. They called this model the Outback, and hired the movie guy from Crocodile Dundee to conduct an ad campaign. He either escaped from or captured the bad guys because he was in a Subaru Outback in the Australian Outback, while they were in normal SUVs.
As popular as the Outbacks were, I thought they were kind of high up, kind of bouncy instead of the low-profile road-clingers I had come to expect from Subaru.
Now, for 1999, we have the Subaru Legacy SUS. Essentially, it takes the hardier look of the Outback and applies it to the Legacy, which isn’t a large departure from what the Legacy always was, and it sticks on an emblem to celebrate the 30th year of Subaru’s business in the U.S. Presto! We have the Subaru Legacy SUS, and it has a neat badge.
For everyday use, the SUS has the reliable 4-cylinder Subaru engine, displacing 2.5 liters, and with the pistons lying flat, two per side, and pumping horizontally. This horizontal-opposed layout was originally copied by Subaru from Volkswagen and Porsche, and since VW has long since gone to in-line engines, Subarus and Porsches are the only ones left that use this design.
You can find Subaru engines with six cylinders too, or turbocharged. They have fantastic power. The SUS is simply the normally-aspirated version, no turbo, but with fuel injection. It lacks the neck-snapping thrust off the line of bigger or turbo engines, but it is adequate in takeoff, and it cruises easily at highway speeds.
Again, it fits the mood of the car. Pragmatic, basic transportation, in any weather, aimed at durability. It’s a quiet engine, with power redlined at 6,500 RPMs, and the 4-speed automatic transmission shifts seamlessly. Suspension is firm but supple, and the car delivered 23 miles per gallon, while EPA estimates are 21 city, 27 highway.
The test car was black granite pearl, with slate-grey interior leather, all-wheel drive, four-channel antilock on the four-wheel disc brakes, heavy duty “raised” suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars, a two-way moonroof, and sporty tailpipes, hoodscoop and rear spoiler. The leather seats are heated, as are the outside mirrors.
You wouldn’t want to go tearing too far off the road with the SUS, because even with its slightly raised stance, it is not a truck. Or even trucklike. But since 90 percent of SUV owners don’t go off-road anyhow, except to trundle down the little road to the cabin, that shouldn’t be a problem.
You can adjust the height and lumbar of the seats, and the AM-FM-cassette-CD player also has a weather band. It also has a four-speed automatic transmission, air conditioning, with power windows, locks and mirrors, and cruise control. It also has halogen foglights — although not the big, round Outback style — and silver alloy wheels, with a gold accent.
A sticker price of $26,090 might seem high, but all of the features are standard equipment. That’s the way the SUS comes, loaded. Subarus have never had quite the level of sophistication of competitors such as, say, Honda or Toyota, or Mazda or Mitsubishi or Nissan. They have their advantage in foul-weather-worthiness, but there still are a few niggling little nuisance things that seem to be snags in the ergonomics.
For example, when the car was delivered, I noticed the parking lights stayed on. I mentioned it to the fellows dropping it off. These guys had wheeled it in from Chicago, and they were mightily annoyed that, try as they might, they couldn’t get the parking lights to go off until we contacted a dealership. There is a tiny switch, on top of the steering column, that can be rockered on to control the parking lights, independent of the light switch. Trouble is, that switch is all but invisible unless you lean forward and look over the hub of the four-spoke steering wheel. It is even less visible when rockered on, as this was.
The power locks are another novelty. Many cars have a remote lock switch on the key fob. The SUS had power locks, but no remote. OK. So you turn the key and all four doors lock or unlock, right? Wrong. Turn the key and the driver’s door locks, but the rest don’t. So you have to remember to lock the other three doors with the inside switch before you get out and lock the driver’s door. Same when you go to unlock it. You unlock the driver’s door, then must get in to unlock the other three with the power switch.
The power lock switch on the driver’s door is a rocker switch, but you rock it up to lock it, and down to unlock — the opposite of what manual switches and most power switches do. It’s not a big problem, and you’d undoubtedly get used to it, but a key-fob remote would be a wonderful option.
Then there’s the cupholder. On the center panel of the dash, the heat/air controls are at the top, with the stereo controls in the middle, and the disc slot right down there. Push another button and cupholders zip out and unfold, so you put your coffee cup or pop can in there and everything is fine. Until you decide to eject the disc, and Lyle Lovett slides out only part way before smacking into the cup or can. Meanwhile, if you want to adjust the heater, you have to reach up and over and behind the top of the cup/can to slide the switch.
Those are ergonomic, attention-to-detail things that always have set Subaru apart from Honda-Toyota-Mitsubishi-Nissan-Mazda, who seem to lead the world in making those features easy to operate. On the other hand, Subaru’s 4-spoke steering wheel is very good, with the spokes positioned so you can lock your thumbs comfortably around the upper bars if you want.
The foglights cut a usable, wide swath up front; the glass roof is so heavily shaded it’s tough to see the stars but it’s great for blocking out bright sun. The seat heaters come in two levels, slow sizzle and instant broil for frying your buns.
And, as a much appreciated touch, when you go to reach for the power window switch or the door lock, or the door handle, you are pleasantly surprised to realize you can see it. Then you realize you can see the switches because there is a little, tiny floodlight shining precisely on those switches.
All in all, the Subaru SUS has a lot to offer, and if the price is too high and the features are beyond what you want, you could always back off to the more basic Legacy.
Whichever Subaru you consider, try to time your test drive to a day with a sleet storm or blizzard. Because Subarus crave foul weather, Subaru drivers must find themselves smiling when the forecast is gloomy.
Honda’s Accord among top U.S.-built cars
1999 HONDA ACCORD EX
Likes: Tight body, excellent fit and finish, responsive engine, spacious trunk and overall coordination of parts and driver as one.
Dislikes: Honda needs to realize that Up North, we need tires that stick better on ice and snow than the stock Michelin MXV4s.
Bottom line: Base price $20,900; as tested $21,315.
It’s 1999. Do you know where your “American” car is made?
Two or three decades ago, it was easy. If it was made by General Motors, Ford, Chrysler or American Motors — remember American Motors? — it was American. Otherwise it was “foreign.” From Germany, or Sweden, or, most likely, Japan.
Nowadays, your Camaro is made in Quebec, your Chrysler minivan in Ontario, and your Ford Escort in Mexico. And the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord are the top two cars sold in the U.S., both having beaten out the Ford Taurus. Toyota pulled off a startling reversal of tradition and closed 1998 with a batch of sales incentives to win the prestige of being No. 1.
Without that move, the Accord, all new for ’98, probably would have been No. 1. As it is, the Accord — made in Maryville, Ohio — is the No. 1 car built in the U.S. and sold for export. Yup, they’re building Accords in Ohio to ship back for sale in Japan.
I recently had the chance to test drive a new 1999 Honda Accord 4-door EX model, and it provided a near-flawless missile with which to get through the worst blizzard of the winter, and over-achieved from virtually every standpoint. As an EX, it came loaded with all sorts of option-type details as standard equipment, with a sticker price of $21,315.
When I first got into this black beauty, it greeted me with firmly supportive seats, and an immediate impression of ergonomic excellence: All the controls and gadgets fell easily to hand with logic and efficiency. Visibility is excellent, whether looking down the steeply sloped nose at the road ahead, or out the sides or rear.
Driving impressions were, in a word, impressive. From the start, picking the car up in Chicago at the height of a snow-over-ice storm, I found the acceleration quick and responsive. It made me assume that the car was armed with the new V6 from Honda. Turns out, I was wrong. It had the 2.3-liter single-overhead-camshaft 4-cylinder, with four valves per cylinder and the VTEC (variable valve timing and control) system.
That allows the system to extract optimum power from a comparatively small engine, making it feel like it has the power of a V6, yet still delivering the economy of a four-cylinder. The EPA estimates are 25 miles per gallon city, 31 freeway, and I got 29 on one freeway trip and 26 driving steadily into the face of a storm on another.
The 5-speed manual transmission was a treat. It shifts with sports-car precision, and also helps to extract maximum power from the engine, which undoubtedly would have been adequate but doggy with an automatic. The majority of folks want automatics nowadays, but the efficiency, winter-driveability and sheer fun of the 5-speed sets the Accord apart. Just try, for example, to find a 5-speed manual on a Taurus or Lumina.
A year or two ago, Honda gave in to the demands of critics who said Toyota and Nissan, among others, had V6 power. Honda installed an optional V6, but before you choose it, you should drive the VTEC four. More than likely, it’s all you need and then some — particularly with its easy running up to the 6,300-RPM redline.
Honda, with its championship motorsports history in Formula 1 and CART Champ cars, has superb double-wishbone suspension front and rear, with stabilizer bars front and rear as well. Four-wheel disc brakes with antilock are standard, as are driver and passenger airbags, a secutiry system with keyless engtry and a theft-deterrent immobilizer; AM-FM-CD player with six speakers and 80 watts; a micron air filter on the air-conditioning; power locks, windows and driver seat support.
The EX model is top of the line, so it also provides a glass tilt and slide sunroof, and alloy wheels mounted with Michelin MXV4 tires, all standard.
My only complaint, in fact, deals with those tires. Michelin may be unexcelled at making long-lasting, good-handling tires, but do it they use a hard compound, and among the cars I test drive, I find that even the all-season varieties of Michelins tends to slip and slide. That’s a fact of the usual compromise for long wear or sticky traction — only very few production tires can bridge that compromise.
In stormy weather, on ice and snow, I never had a problem getting anywhere with the Accord EX, but often I would have to anticipate that it would spin a few revolutions before getting underway, and I would leave extra room for slowdown when I had to turn or stop.
WHAT IS AN AMERICAN CAR?
The current global automotive scene is a vast departure from the days of 20 or 30 years ago. Back then, we were all proud and protective, and we wanted to buy American cars. In fact, we wanted to so bad, that some buttons were made up that said, simply, “Buy American.”
But along the way, the U.S. automakers were diddling us consumers. They were building stuff that wasn’t great, didn’t have outstanding fit and finish, and didn’t come close to the ever-advancing technology of some of those “foreign” cars. Tolerances were sloppy, and gas mileage was lousy.
When it became obvious that a whole new generation of auto buyers were choosing less-expensive but higher-tech cars from Honda, Toyota and others, something had to be done. Ford contracted with Mazda to build some of its lower-priced economy cars; Chrysler did the same with Mitsubishi; and General Motors did the same with Toyota, Suzuki and Isuzu.
In a way, it was clever, because the U.S. big three was able to sell very good but not-very-profitable economy cars through their arrangements, to meet new laws on emissions and fuel economy. In another way, it was trouble, because the U.S. companies could avoid the need to build good little economy cars on their own and use their import cousins to meet the standards.
Meanwhile, the U.S. companies got the government to threaten the imports with tariffs to eliminate the competition with the U.S. companies. Keeping them out of the country would help the domestics, and letting them in only when their prices had to be jacked up for taxes would be even better, because it would allow U.S. companies to increase the price of their cars.
On the other hand, the U.S. companies coaxed the government to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, supposedly to allow us to help poor little Mexico’s third-world economy, and also open the trade doors to Canada, freeing up the trade back and forth at both borders, unhindered by traditional import rules enough so cars from both would be declared “domestic” instead of “import.”
The reality of those two moves has been interesting to observe. Japanese companies, as well as BMW and Mercedes from Germany, beat the tariff idea by coming to the U.S. and building assembly and manufacturing plants. Surprisingly, the technology and design of those cars was duplicated by the U.S. plants.
Meanwhile, U.S. companies built automotive assembly plants in Mexico, where workers earn a paltry amount compared to the U.S. labor force, and others in Canada, where a Canadian dollar is worth about 65 cents against the U.S. dollar. In recent years, for example, GM has either sold off or closed down something like 18 or 20 U.S. plants, eliminating a lot of costly jobs for U.S. workers, because it’s cheaper to build vehicles in Canada or Mexico.
An item on public radio the other day assessed the first five years of NAFTA, and indicated that the U.S. had a substantial surplus in trade with Mexico in 1993, but now we have a $15 billion deficit in trade with Mexico, and we have an $18 billion deficit with Canada. Data indicates that the Mexican workers are more productive working in the streamlined U.S. plants than they were before, but they still make 90 cents per hour or less! That means they can’t afford to buy the cars they are building for U.S. companies, which can bring them back into the U.S. and sell them at even more substantial profits than before.
Fortunately for all of us, U.S. companies have improved their products drastically. They had to, or they’d have been out of business, as Honda Accords and Civics, and Toyota Camry models shot to the top of the list of sales, challenging the best Taurus could do for Ford, or Cavalier for Chevrolet. We should thank the imports for forcing U.S. car makers to get with it.
Even though Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Isuzu and others have built plants in the U.S., a few older stalwarts remain, thinking it’s unpatriotic to buy something with a foreign nameplate. The U.S. automakers don’t trumpet the “buy American” theme anymore, but they take glee in having the very customers they’ve fooled shout it out on their behalf.
Some will claim that some of those Japanese plants in the U.S. don’t have the unions of the U.S. plants, but the counter argument is that they treat their workers so well, there hasn’t been any clamor for unionizing protection.
And when it comes to patriotism, stop and think. Which is more patriotic, to buy a Camaro built in Quebec, or to buy a Honda Accord made by American workers in Maryville, Ohio, while GM lays off thousands of workers and closes U.S. plants?
New Intrigue gets new, state-of-the-art V6
1999 OLDMOBILE INTRIGUE GL (3.5)
Likes: Smooth, high-revving and high-tech dual-overhead-cam V6; the look and feel and most of the features make it a bargain alternative to the Aurora.
Dislikes: Take the daytime running lights — please! At 3,434 pounds, it could be a little lighter, which would make it even quicker and more agile.
Bottom line: Base price $22,575; as tested $25, 885.
For much of the past decade, rumors have been flying that General Motors would, as part of cost-cutting procedures, close down its Oldsmobile branch. A test-drive in the new Olds Intrigue GL, with the new 3.5-liter V6, would indicate that rumors of Olds’ demise have been greatly exaggerated.
For even longer than that, I have been criticizing General Motors for failing to keep up with the latest technology, choosing to continually upgrade and tweak outdated engines so they can keep getting around the laws and add to corporate profitability by failing to spend research and development money.
But the new 1999 Intrigue means I’m going to have to find something new to criticize.
For 40 years, GM has built a 5.7-liter V8 that has powered the Corvette, plus virtually every big corporation sedans and pickup trucks and SUVs.
The 3.8-liter V6 is nearly as old, and GM engineers have done a remarkable of rebuilding and renovating that motor, into incarnations as the 3800 and the 3800 Stage II. Those engines are as highly developed as conventional pushrod engines can be. They are quite powerful, and quite durable, and could be found in mid to large sedans, including the Buick Park Avenue and Pontiac Bonneville as well as the Olds products.
The problem was, competitors all had gone into the future, building overhead-camshaft engines that more efficiently operate the valves than conventional engines, which have the camshaft in the block, operating the valves by a more complex and less efficient system of pushrods.
Cadillac came up with a futuristic dual-overhead-cam V8 for its Seville, and to help buoy Oldsmobile, a version of that V8 — diminished from 4.6 to 4.0 liters — was given to Olds when it introduced the Aurora. It is that 4.0 engine that is the basis for the Olds Indy Racing League engine that powers virtually all the cars.
Meanwhile, corporate headquarters is well on its way to burgeoning Oldsmobile’s status. The Achieva is gone, replaced by the Alero. And the Cutlass is gone, replaced in 1998 by the Intrique.
At its introduction, the Intrigue was an impressive piece. Sleek and aerodynamic, it has pleasing, flowing lines with a low grille and a properly aerodynamic tip on the trunk. The new Pontiac Grand Prix, and the Buick Century and LeSabre also have been redone.
Trouble was, all of them came out a year ago with the tried and true — or is it old and dated? — 3800 V6. Nothing wrong with that engine, but it was like everything else in the car was brand new and ultramodern, but the engine was 30-something years old.
This is the computer age, when computer buyers want the latest thing, and won’t even settle for one-year outdated sale stuff in order to hold out for the futuristic stuff. Why should they be willing to settle for aging motors in their cars?
Finally, after several years of development, GM was ready to introduce an all-new V6, a 3.5-liter derivative of the 4.0 DOHC V6. It was almost as though they lopped off the end two pistons from the V8 to get the new V6.
I have waited patiently for a chance to test that engine, and it has been over a year. It turns out that GM has decided that Oldsmobile will be the only division in GM that will be able to utilize the slick, new 3.5-liter V6.
The first Intrigue I test drove had the 3800, then I got an assortment of Olds, Pontiac and Chevy products, but no new 3.5 in sight. Finally, I got my hands on a glistening black Intrigue GL with the new engine. It more than lived up to its billing, providing swift, high-revving flexibility with very good power.
ENGINE TRICKS
Since the valves are on top of each cylinder, pumping them open and shut by the most efficient possible method allows higher RPMs and therefore more power to be extracted. The crankshaft spins in the bottom of the block, with the pistons connected to lobes on the crank. By positioning the camshafts above the valves, then spinning the cams by a belt, they have more direct action on the valves and can make them open and shut much more rapidly and efficiently.
That’s why racing engines have overhead cams, to develop optimum power from a given engine size.
When Olds engineers were forced to downsize the 4.6 Northstar V8 to 4.0 for the Aurora, they learned a lot of tricks that they applied to the new 3.5 — which used to go by the nickname “Shortstar.”
First, the block is made of aluminum, in two pieces, allowing it to be lighter and stronger than cast iron, with the two-piece construction stronger still. Cylinder heads also are cast aluminum. Accessories are direct mounted, instead of stuck on, here and there, with various belt drives necessary to operate them. Instead of single overhead camshafts on each bank of pistons, the Intrigue 3.5 engine has dual cams, one for intake and one for exhaust, on each bank. And instead of running the cams via a belt from the crankshaft, this engine uses a chain to run the cams, eliminating the concern of belt wear and breakage.
The engine control module combines a new, upgraded 4-speed automatic front-wheel-drive transaxle, with over 70 percent of its components beefed up for quieter, stronger performance and more precise shiftpoints.
All in all, this new 3.5-liter V6 develops 215 horsepower at 5,600 RPMs, and 230 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400 RPMs. Now, 3.5 liters is comparatively large in a midsize class where most V6 engines range from 2.5-3.2 liters, but if you’re going to be bigger, you’d best have more power. And the 3.5 delivers, with surging acceleration and sustained, smooth power up through the shiftpoints to as fast as you want to go. Some critics have said it doesn’t seem any quicker than the old 3800, but the advanced technology and smaller size make the 3.5 a prize.
I got 24.7 miles per gallon, although the EPA estimates show 19 city and 27 highway. My driving was mostly highway, but then I confess to running the revs up, just because it felt so good and sounded even better.
CREATURE FEATURES
The Intrigue GL features include good seats, a nice-feeling, thicker steering wheel wrapped in leather, independent suspension with stabilizer bars front and rear, upgraded along with what is called “Autobahn package” tires and brakes. Four-wheel disc brakes with antilock, power door locks, a theft-deterrent system, 16-inch wheels, 6-way power seats, dual-zone air conditioning with rear ducts for air and heat, cruise control, power windows and power outdoor locks. Foglights, power fuel door and trunk releases and a split folding rear seat is standard, too.
A base price of $22,575. That isn’t all that cheap, but the option bin prices are truly bargains.
You could live without leather seats, at $995, but they are nice. A Bose AM-FM-cassette-and-single-CD dash unit, with eight speakers and a rear shelf amplifier, is worth $500, and a 12-disc, trunk-mounted CD changer is another $460. Not outrageous, if you take your tunes seriously. Full-function traction control is $145, and an air-filtration system is a mere $25.
The best bargain of all, however, is the 3.5-liter twin cam engine, at $395. That runs the sticker to $25,885.
It is interesting that, as good as the 3800 Stage II V6 is, you have to pay a premium for a smaller 3.5 engine, but it’s a small price to pay for the costlier technical advancements.
Besides, if you’re paying over $20,000 for a state-of-the-art car — which the Intrigue certainly is — then you’ve got to be eager to fit it with a state-of-the-art engine.
There are some nits we could pick. The high-speed, H-rated tires were more aimed at performance than snow and ice traction, and they tended to spin in those conditions before biting. They were very good in dry and wet situations, but Up North here, we get more than merely wet and dry.
And I don’t care what anybody says, I absolutely despise “daytime running lights.” These things come on, at only slightly less than full-power, every time you start your car. In theory, it’s a safety measure, because it makes you more visible to oncoming traffic. In fact, however, I find my own routine upset by these nuisances.
For example, I get in a car and start the engine, then I put on the shoulder harness, then I turn on the headlights. Maybe that’s a subconscious way to give the engine a moment to warm up, and maybe it’s a precaution against turning on accessories before starting the car in cold weather. Whatever, it’s just the way I do it.
But with daytime running lights (DRL) already on, I tend to not turn on the headlights. You can see just fine with the DRL glow, so your mind tells you there’s no need to turn on lights that are already on. One problem: When you don’t turn on headlights, you don’t get taillights with the daytime running lights — a genuine danger, at night, and especially in foul weather.
One other thing. Sometimes you might leave the family inside shopping, and you come out to listen to the end of the hockey game, or some KUMD music, so of course you start the car so as not to run down the battery. Do that, and the daytime running lights come on, and car after car stops, assming you’re about to pull out of the parking place. You know, sometimes it’s just peaceful and nice to sit there with your lights off. And with DRL, you can’t.
Those are small things, but needless nuisances nonetheless, on a car that is otherwise a strong alternative to some of the best domestic cars, such as the Intrepid or Concorde, and to many of the imports, such as Camry, Accord, Galant or 626.
Intrigue’s antilock brakes work as designed
Driving experiences come where they may, and you accept the input wherever you find it. I am still, for example, uncertain about the overall benefit of antilock brakes.
While test-driving the Oldsmobile Intrigue, I was driving up 21st Av. E. in Duluth, and waiting behind a red Dodge Stratus to turn left onto the one-way 3rd St. The Stratus turned left, I had to wait for a couple of cars coming south on 21st to clear, then I turned left.
Ahead about a block I could see the Stratus. With cars parked in the right parking lane, the Stratus was going quite slowly in the right driving lane, so I cruised up the left lane. I was driving between 25 and 30 mph for a few blocks, and I noticed the Stratus was going slower and slower. Assuming the Stratus occupants were looking for an address, perhaps, I closed in to pass.
By then we were nearing the intersection of 16th Av. E., but it was no problem. I was about 25 feet behind the Stratus, about to pass it on the left, when suddenly the Stratus started to turn left, without signalling, attempting to turn south on 16th Av. E., right in front of me.
It was about 35 degrees out, so the street was wet, but not slippery. I immediately hit the brakes, hard. Having driven hundreds of cars with and without antilock, I immediately could detect the chattering as the Intrigue’s antilock braking engaged.
Now, one of my complaints about antilock brakes is that if you learned to drive in Duluth, as I did, you learn quickly the importance of pumping your brakes as you seek the best possible angle of escape, but with antilock, pumping can get you out of phase with the electronic antilock pumping procedure.
With antilock, you stand on the brake hard and let the antilock do the pumping. The advangtage is that you can still steer the car with antilock, because your brakes are prevented from reaching lockup, instead coming infinitely close without actually locking.
However, the stopping distance with antilock is not necessarily shorter than the old method of locking up the brakes, without antilock. Sometimes, locking ’em up and screeching may stop you in a shorter actual distance.
In that flash, as my view forward was consumed with the broad side of the Stratus, which continued to turn left in front of me, I was impressed that I was able to resist my urge to pump the brakes, and I stood on the pedal, experiencing the antilock chatter.
I also was aware that while my one hand hammered the steering wheel hub, hoping to hit the horn but hearing nothing, that one of the problems of driving different cars all the time is that the horn-honking varies and you don’t realize the difference instinctively.
As the Intrigue rapidly decelerated under full antilock, my next instinct also was pretty good, because I swerved and tried to turn sharply left, as if I could make the turn onto 16th in my attempt to miss the Stratus. I almost made it.
At the last instant, the fellow driving the Stratus spotted me out his left window, and as I ended up around the corner, he ended up almost around the corner, up against the snowbank, and I felt the slight nudge of my right front tapping his left front.
I was angry, as I hopped out. He was astonished. He blurted out that they were looking for a parking place so they could visit his wife’s brother, on 3rd St., and as he slowed almost to a complete stop, he said his wife spotted the end parking place open on 16th Av.
“I looked in the mirror, but I didn’t see you,” he said, explaining why he hadn’t signalled.
“Trust me,” I said, “I was there.”
Apparently he looked at his inside mirror when I was already approaching to pass and could only be seen in his left outside mirror.
Miraculously, neither car was even dented, just slightly scraped, above my right front wheelwell and above his left front wheelwell.
I was impressed with the action of the Intrigue’s antilock brakes, because they worked the way they were designed, to prevent lockup, to stop quickly, and to still allow me to steer. Had I not tried, and nearly made, the left turn down the hill onto 16th Av., I would have struck the Stratus broadside, right about in the driver’s door. Who knows the extent of his injuries in such a case?
The only haunting thing that leaves that memory with an asterisk is that, without antilock brakes, I would have locked up the Intrigue’s brakes, and maybe I would have slewed sideways on 3rd St., but maybe, also, I might have stopped short of contact. There’s no way to know for sure, and I’m not willing to duplicate the test circumstances.
I did wonder about the other driver. One thing about Duluth drivers is that they are usually extremely cautious, and it seemed unusual for a Duluth driver to make such an excursion, which required being unaware that someone was also using the street, that a left turn signal was appropriate, and that checking all mirrors would be a good idea. Turns out the driver wasn’t a Duluth driver; he was from the Twin Cities. Just visiting our hillside in wintertime weather. We both learned something.
Lexus RX300, Amigo, Grand Vitara SUV alternatives
When it comes to Sport-Utility Vehicles (SUV), there are projections that the supply is fast-approaching the cutoff point of demand, but that would be difficult to prove when you’re out on the road, observing what seems to be a never-ending stream of what now numbers over 40 varieties of SUVs.
Sales figures indicate that about 17 percent of vehicles purchased in the U.S. are SUVs, which means the segment has about doubled in the past five years. The alternative/compromise to minivan/pickup trucks makes some sense here in the Up North region, where the all-wheel-drive or 4-wheel-drive capabilities makes hills or country terrain in winter no problem.
Manufacturers and dealers, of course, love the SUV craze, because they can make enormous profits on each vehicle — profit margins in the thousands compared to the intense car market, where profits are often in the hundreds, if sales don’t make it closer to break-even.
You can spend from $18,000 to $50,000 for these SUVs, and it seems that we’re past the point where every manufacturer wants to build one; nowadays every manufacturer is trying to build several in order to plug into marketplace niches both real and projected.
Impressive as the SUV segment is, some of the more recent spinoff vehicles are not only interesting, but in some ways might be better-suited to what SUV buyers are looking for.
Consider the Lexus RX300, at one end of the spectrum. Anything with the Lexus name means luxury, as would befit a whole branch dedicated to upper-level Toyota products, and the RX300 fits well, with a sticker of about $40,000. The Isuzu Amigo is a shortened, fun little vehicle that’s a spinoff of the normal-sized Rodeo, and it does its particular job well for arou nd $25,000. And at the bottom end of the price scale is the Suzuki Grand Vitara, a compact but pretty amazing SUV that can be had, loaded, for $20,000.
LEXUS RX300
In recent balloting for truck of the year, I would have voted for the RX300 as the best new SUV on the market. Unfortunately, those conducting the voting established a policy that to be a truck, a vehicle had to have off-road capabilities, so the RX300 was designated among the cars. True, the RX300 does not have a low-range lock for going up or down off-road hilly terrain, but Toyota is smart enough to realize that 97 percent or so of buyers of these vehicles never will venture off the highways and roadways.
Besides, Toyota already has Land Cruisers and 4-Runners for such all-out, off-road purposes, and makes a version of the Land Cruiser for Lexus. At first, I thought the RX300 was merely a rebadged 4-Runner. But it caught me completely by surprise at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Auto Show last March, and I knew in a flash it was something different.
Toyota also makes the Camry sedan and its Lexus spinoff ES300, and it took that platform as the basis for the RX300, then built onto it a sleek, futuristic body, with space-age projector headlights and an other-worldly look that is instantly appealing.
The RX300 gets an upgraded version of the very strong Toyota 3.0-liter V6, with dual-overhead-camshafts and four valves per cylinder, tweaked by variable valve timing. The result is 220-horsepower output, stronger than the same engine delivers in cars, and it comes with permanent all-wheel drive, so you don’t need a switch. The system decides how much sharing the four wheels need to do with the available power for optimum traction, and a viscous-coupling adjusts torque between the front and rear axles on demand.
All of that mechanical stuff is done smoothly, and you may never have to know how much power is going where, or how slippery it would feel without the system working. It still achieves EPA fuel-economy estimates of 19 city and 22 highway, and anytime an SUV can top the 20 mark, we’re ahead of the game.
Inside, you are wrapped in creature comforts, and driving is far superior to the hardier SUVs because while you’re slightly higher than the cars, you feel much more in tune with the road, and therefore far more in control.
Looks-wise, the RX300 is not unlike the extremely popular Mercedes M320, and while the base $33,000 sticker is steep, it comes crammed with goodies at that price.
For example, the test vehicle had a snow-mode switch on its 4-speed automatic transmission to allow you to start up in a higher gear to avoid wheelspin. The four-wheel independent suspension and power rack-and-pinion steering make it handle with greater agility than its bulkier competitors, and acceleration is definitely car-like.
The climate control has rear ducts, and seating is comfortable for four adults, with a lot of cargo area behind the rear seat, and the 190-watt, seven-speaker audio system can blow you out of the thing. Adjustable power seats with lumbar support, and safety features such as dual front and seat-mounted side airbags, and an energy-dispersing crumple-zone design with side door beams adds to the secure feeling.
In the driver’s seat, you’ll like the “Optitron” instrumentation, and the genuine walnut wood accent panels implanted here and there. I always say, give me real wood or keep your phony vinyl woodgrain in the supply room.
That also sets apart the RX300 with a few key options, such as the leather seats that are heated electrically, the in-dash 6-disc changer, and the power moonroof, which I always thought was a sunroof, but Toyota must intend it for nightime use. A rear limited slip differential also is optional, and the options on the test vehicle boosted the sticker to $39,111.
For its size, with 7.7 inches of ground clearance and towing capacity of 3,500 pounds, the RX300 takes most of the best attributes of full-fledged SUVs and incorporates them into a classy, luxurious, but also very useful and user-friendly vehicle.
ISUZU AMIGO
The Rodeo always has represented a bargain on the SUV market, and its quality is such that Honda takes the Rodeo and re badges it to sell as the Passport — another indication of how good it is. Isuzu builds tough trucks, and the Passport adds an upgraded 3.2-liter V6 with dual overhead-cams and 24 valves to put it in competition with normal size SUVs costing considerably more.
Isuzu also has brought back the Amigo, which began life as a fun, shortened alternative to Rodeo. I had a chance to test-drive both the convertible and hardtop versions of the Amigo.
While Up North winters render the convertible soft-top pretty useless for six months of each year, it would work as the avant-garde beach-boy (or girl) vehicle in the summer. It starts at a base price of $19,350, and goes up to $24,005 if you load it up. The convertible top actually goes down over the rear seats and limited cargo area only, leaving the front two buckets under a hardtop and rollbar arrangement. Sort of a rumble-seat approach to SUVing.
The hardtop version has the unique design of two sunroofs in that enclosed roof, which is fiberglass where the soft-top is soft, and it ranges from $20,250 base to $24,435 loaded with optional air-conditioning, power windows, locks, cruise, audio upgrade with 6-disc dash CD player,limited slip differential and alloy wheels.
Light and agile, and more than a foot shorter than the Rodeo, the Amigo has that same Rodeo engine available, giving it the thrust of 205 horsepower, and a towing capability of 4,500 pounds. Fuel economy ranges from 18-21
It has a 7.9-inch ground clearance, with its 16-inch alloy wheels, but this is based on the rugged, all-terrain platform that is more trucklike than the car-based SUVS. This baby will go off-road, and, more importantly, is an absolute joy to drive around after Up North blizzards.
SUZUKI GRAND VITARA
We had a few misidentifications while driving the new Grand Vitara. As a joke, I called it the “Viagra” instead of the Vitara, and it became known as that to the family. Maybe it’s appropriate, because the Grand Vitara is a young-at-heart vehicle, light and inexpensive, as a contender with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and various Subaru Outbacks.
And the Vitara has the added potency (there’s that Viagra influence again) of a V6 engine. Granted, it’s a tiny V6 at only 2.5 liters, but it does the job, particularly with its four-door, four-wheel-drive total weight of only 3,197 pounds. It has 155 horsepower, which isn’t overwhelming, but is more than adequate.
While the Grand Vitara — 4-cylinder models are merely Vitaras — stays on the same wheelbase as the Sidekick/Tracker of past years, its overall length has grown, almost four full inches, which translates to a much roomier feel inside.
Suzuki also, we should point out, deserves high marks for the good looks of the new Grand Vitara, which leaps like a butterfly out of the old simple-but-spartan Tracker coccoon.
The Grand Vitara is Suzuki’s effort to go onward and upward from the Samurai and later bigger and more stable Sidekick it used to make. Those were tough little SUVs that were so lacking in creature-comforts that they were unfairly criticized, even though they more than fulfilled their objectives.
Suzuki portioned off the Sidekicks to General Motors, which sold them as Geo Trackers. With the Grand Vitara replacing the Sidekick, GM has quit using the Geo name and now calls those partnership vehicles by Chevy surnames. This time, however, Suzuki was smart enough to give Chevy only those Grand Vitaras with the 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine,.
The optional 2.5 V6 is a gem, benefitting by Suzuki’s long history of strong, over-achieving motorcycle engine building. The Tracker/Sidekick/Samurai engines were strong little things, too, but Suzuki was aiming at all-out economy and settled for minimal power with those. The 2.5 horsepower peak is at 6,500 RPMs and its 160-foot-pounds of torque peaks at 4,000 RPMs. It likes to run up in the revs, even though it sounds buzzy as it rises to redline. But the 24 valves run easily off a two-stage timing chain, instead of a belt, adding to the durability that can be anticipated from Suzuki.
Amazingly, the Grand Vitara has 8-inch ground clearance, although its towing capacity is only 1,500 pounds. That’s enough to haul a boat trailer, certainly, although we can assume folks wouldn’t single it out as a tow vehicle. No, the real-world aim of the Grand Vitara is to be an inexpensive alternative for those who would like the ability to barrel through the snow and get to the mall without regard for weather problems.
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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