Fabulous A8, real-world Avants, guard Audi’s space
[Cutlne #1: Audi A8’s lofty price tag justified by all aluminum space-frame body, all aluminum 32-valve V8.
[Cutline 2: Rich leather, burled walnut cover inside of A8; polished aluminum houses Tiptronic shifter.
[Cutline 3: Audi A6 Avant may be best-looking station wagon, but doesn’t lose sports-car feel.
[Cutline 4: A4 cargo capacity works as family hauler — with quattro all-wheel drive and 5-speed.]
Car-buyers spend time both in the real world, thinking about both the vehicle their family needs, and in fantasyland, thinking about the car of their dreams if price was no object in the pursuit of excellence. Audi has been coming up with vehicles that satisfy both sides of such scrutiny, some recent examples of which are the A8 sedan and the A4 or A6 Avant.
The basic station wagon concept seems to be a lost art among many manufacturers who have welcomed the trend toward sports-utility vehicles to reap whopping profits. The majority of customers buying truck-based SUVs would probably be better-suited to buying station wagons, and Audi has provided not one, but two exceptional wagons in the A4-based Avant, and the A6 Avant.
Moving up to the top of the scale, the A8 has a staggering sticker price, but still must be analyzed against the absolute best luxury sedans in the world, where its outstanding virtues become obvious, even against the likes of the 7-Series BMW and S-Class Mercedes.
All three of the Audi models we’re talking about here have warranty coverage of three years or 50,000 miles, during which all scheduled maintenance is done at no charge from authorized Audi dealers. While finding dealerships Up North is impossible, the Twin Cities has two, and driving to the Cities is no chore these days — especially in an Audi.
A8 4.2 QUATTRO
Audi looked at the most advanced designs before setting out with Alcoa as a partner for a 10-year project to build the all-aluminum A8 with a body both lighter and stronger than steel. It took 10 years to perfect, has 40 patents and is made with seven new grades of aircraft aluminum alloys. The finished product is a smooth, subtle, practical sedan built with classic understatement, which reeks with class and avoids any semblance of being ostentatious. The skin is beautiful, but the beauty of the A8 is more than skin-deep.
The sticker price stands at $65,000 base price, with an as-tested flag of $73,600. We might agree that no car can be worth that kind of money, although once you consider the features of the A8 you might wonder how they could all be assembled in one package, even for that price.
The A8 has a revolutionary aluminum space-frame body, strong enough to make it the first and only car in the premium luxury class to earn the maximum five-star rating for safety for both the driver and front passenger in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s new car assessment. frame is 40 percent lighter than a comparative steel body, yet has 40 percent more structural rigidity than steel unibodies. It consists of various curves and varied panels thicknesses, basically resembling the structure of a contemporary jet aircraft. It all conspires to put the structural integrity off the scale for safety, but it also has an extremely low (0.29) coefficient of drag. The alloy frame also ignores the corrosion that can plague a steel body. Two front airbags, two side airbags for front-seat occupants, and two more side airbags to protect rear passengers, the A8 passes every safety challenge.
The interior is appointed with all sorts of premium leather and burled walnut, and the instrumentation and driver controls are all simple and efficient. And the seats are firmly comfortable, with 14-way power adjustment that includes control of lumbar support, headrest and shoulder belt anchor heights.
But, again living up to or beyond the German driveability test, the A8 comes with an amazing powertrain.
The test car’s engine was the 4.2-liter, all aluminum, dual-overhead-cam, 32-valve V8 engine, which puts out 300 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs and 295 foot-pounds of torque at a mere 3,300. The big car weighs 3,900 pounds, but it feels extremely light and agile, and will zip 0-60 in 6.9 seconds. (A lower-powered 3.7-liter V8 also is available, with 230 horses and a torque rating of 235.)
A five-speed automatic transmission is standard, with the precise Tiptronic clutchless manual built in, for optional use from a separate gate on the polished, brushed aluminum shift-lever housing. Audi’s flawless quattro system — a full-time, all-wheel-drive unit that seamlessly transmits power to the wheel that can best use it for cornering or foul-weather stability — also is standard. That feature, alone, sets the Audi above its competition.
Suspension is another Audi specialty, and the four-link unit gives the steering a precise, sports-car feel.
Great attention also has been paid to creature-comforts. A Bose music system, dual-zone heat/air controls, a trip computer and an anti-theft alarm that includes interior motion sensors are all standard. On the option list, there are 17-inch polished wheels and high-performance tires, a premium leather-all-over interior package, plus both a cold weather package — with heatable front and rear seats and a heated steering wheel — and a hot-weather package that features a solar sunroof and extremely neat rear and side sunshades that rise to darken the windows without eliminating visibility.
Once again, $73,600 is too much for reasonable people to consider spending for a car. But if you had it and were willing to spend it, the Audi A8 represents what might be the uncompromising choice as the all-out best sedan on the planet.
AVANT ADVANTAGE
The A4 may be the platform from which Audi’s success (and cousin Volkswagen’s application of the Passat) sprung, and was expanded for the more spacious A6, but Audi didn’t rest on its sedan laurels, and has added two of the world’s slickest station wagons.
The A4 Avant has an overall length of 176.6 inches to the A6 Avant’s 192, and the A4’s wheelbase is 103 inches to the A6’s 108.6, and that spells out the major difference between the two — the A4 has a lot of interior room, and the A6 has more of it.
I was able to put the A4 to a supreme test, hauling a definite carload of stuff from the Twin Cities to Duluth, and I was flat amazed at how much I could slide into the spacious rear compartment. The A4 Avant’s cargo capacity is 31 cubic feet with the rear seat upright, expandable to 63.7 if you fold the rear seat down.
The A4 Avant came equipped with Audi’s high-tech 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, and a 5-speed manual transmission, proving you can have your station wagon and your sports car, too. Engine technology has gone from the conventional two-valve to the much more efficient four-valve design recently, which allows four valves to encircle the top of the cylinder with more breathing room. Audi has built the new 1.8 with five valves per cylinder — three intake and two exhaust valves — and it has worked so well Audi is expanding it to also use on the V6 and, ultimately, that aluminum V8.
Audi couples the free-breathing valvetrain with a low-pressure turbocharger that electronically measures its boost to give you full torque from barely over idle speed to over 5,000 RPMs, and it gets you up into the engine’s 150 horsepower swiftly. The Avant handles just as well as the normal A4 sedan, which is outstanding, and the 5-speed simply makes the whole package feel sportier. The test car also came with the quattro all-wheel-drive system, standard.
The test A4 Avant had a base price of $26,440, which means it’s about in the class with a lot of pretty mundane sedans. The option list shows an audio (Bose) package, an all-weather package and a sport package with upgrades in tires, wheels, suspension and a thickly padded steering wheel. That boosts the price to $30,360, still reasonable for what you get.
The A6 Avant doesn’t look as tightly compact as the A4 Avant, but it has a classy flair nonetheless. Along with more cargo capacity, the A6 version offers more luxury options and standard equipment. The test car was a stunning black with a rich, brown leather interior that was the “Advance” version of Audi’s three available interior attitudes. It also showed off the third major member of Audi’s engine family, the 2.8-liter V6. This is an iron-block workhorse that has been increased in the technology department by the addition of five-valve heads, which allows it to produce 200 horsepower.
It started at a base of $36,600, complete with quattro and the five-speed automatic and Tiptronic, and rose to $41,025 with oversized wheels, a cold-weather package that includes the heated steering wheel and seats, and packages that include a glass sunroof, auto-dimming inside and outside mirrors, memory power seats and leather interior.
Those features, and even the extra cargo capacity, may not be worth the $10,000-plus premium that puts the A6 Avant beyond the A4. Unless you want them. No question, Audi could have chosen to go for a compromise between the very good but more basic A4 Avant, or the more spacious and more luxurious A6 Avant. But Audi is riding one of the automotive world’s great hot streaks, so it made sense to offer both of them.
AUDI’S MARKETPLACE
When you think of German cars, you think of sporty with Porsche, utility with Volkswagen, and luxury with BMW and Mercedes. Meanwhile, Audi may not directly plug in to any such niche, but might do a better job of providing vehicles that cross the boundaries and provide a little bit of everything to its customers.
It was five years ago that Audi came out with the A4 sedan, the car that changed everything. It immediately shot to the top of the charts of midsize family sedans, with a surprisingly low price tag in the mid-$20,000 range, but with style, sportiness, luxury and the safety and usefulness in all conditions provided by the quattro all-wheel-drive system over and above the very good front-wheel drive format.
The A4 singlehandedly thrust Audi into the mainstream of consciousness for discerning U.S. car-buyers, and also raised it from the lower depths of resale value to the top in the U.S. marketplace in the matter of about three years. Audi hasn’t looked back, in design, technology, or efficiency. With the upscale A6 following, and the super-luxury A8 flagship, the only thing missing was an all-out sports car, and Audi recently solved that with the new TT sports car.
One of the prime characteristics of all German cars is strength and durability, and there is also a more subtle pride factor in having better technology than the competition. In Germany, where there are no speed limits on the autobahn network of freeways, cars must run strong at high speeds and be able to withstand accidents which, at unlimited speeds, can cause substantial damage. They also must last for a long time — often 150,000 to 200.000 miles, and they must get decent fuel economy, because gasoline costs over $4 or $5 a gallon.
Audi meets all those tests, and at sticker prices that set it apart from its German competitors, and, at the bottom end, challenges U.S. and Japanese rivals, considering what goes into each car. And in the case of the A8 and the A4 or A6 Avants, Audi offers things you can’t find from competitors.
Ford, GMC wage 4-door pickup battle in BIG way
In the beginning, there were cars, and then there were pickup trucks, vans, minivans, larger pickup trucks, and smaller pickup trucks. It used to be you owned a car, and you bought a truck because you needed it for work. Or else, you wanted a car, but you bought a pickup because you could get it for half the price of a car.
Trucks, trucks, trucks — they’ve taken over the automotive market segment with baffling pervasiveness. Everybody heard that the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. was a Ford pickup, and second-leading was a Chevrolet pickup. But that’s because all models of pickups were lumped together in those numbers, while the number of car variations continued to expand. But, last year, for the first time, total trucks outsold total cars in the U.S.
Where will it end?
I think we’ve just about found it.
I got a chance to test-drive a whole group of different pickup trucks recently, and most recently I got a chance to drive a couple of monsters. One was a Ford F250, with the crew cab and a huge, 6.8-liter V10 V8 engine. The other was a GMC Sierra 2500, also with what we shall call a crew cab, powered by a large, 7.4-liter V8. Both of these beasts carry stickers of over $30,000.
These are the middleweights, on a pickup scale that goes from compact to midsize to full size half-tons, then to oversized 3/4-ton. The only things bigger are specific dump trucks or semi tractors.
These two are the 3/4-ton babies, and they are both more than full-size. In fact, they are definitely bigger than the extended-cab versions, because they’ve got two full-size rows of seats, with four full-size doors.
In the pickup truck business, the progression has been curious, but odd. First there were 2-doors, then Ford and GM raced each other to see which could be first out with a third door, opening backwards, in the manner that used to be called “suicide” doors, because they opened into the face of oncoming traffic. Both Ford and GM insisted they were smart by putting the third door on the driver’s side of the compact pickups, and on the passenger side of the full-size trucks. Reasoning was that smaller truck drivers would use that extended-cab space for storing stuff, and would prefer to open it from the driver’s side, while the bigger rear of an extended-cab full-size pickup would be more likely used for passengers, so let ’em get in curbside.
Dodge, caught without a third door, did what was exceedingly logical the next year, and put those little suicide doors on BOTH sides. Ford scrambled to come up with the equalizer a year ago, but GM has seemed unaware of all that, and is still stuck with a third-door only, and on the passenger side. You don’t realize what a nuisance that is until you’ve enjoyed the luxury of two full doors and two suicide doors, then go back to find you have to circle a Chevy or GMC to access that rear section.
Anyhow, while all that door-adding was going on, it occured to me that going to four doors on pickups. Sure enough, as was exposed at the Detroit auto show, the next trend in the ever-proliferating (and extremely profitable) truck battle is to come up with hybrid vehicles — either Sports Utility Vehicles with the third seat chopped off and replaced by a small pickup box, or a pickup truck with a full rear seat.
But before those hybrids can hit the market, Ford and GM dusted off the little-used heavyweight worker-bees — the old crew-hauling trucks, which, for decades, have had full double-cabs, with real-world room in the back, and full-size, normal-opening doors for easy access. They were primarily used for hauling work crews out to the jobs, which caused them to be named, cleverly, “crew cabs.”
That concept is what I recently drove, and by coincidence, I got one from both Ford and GMC.
Both of these are huge, with the Ford being the bigger of the two. Both of them are right at home hauling or towing enormous amounts of weighty objects. And both of them are attractive enough and so filled with creature comforts that you could take the boss and his wife out to a formal dinner and let them sit in the back of your truck. OK, not way in the back, but the back seat.
FORD F250
This big truck is called SuperDuty by Ford, and it comes equipped to do super duty. First off, the F250 fairly towers over the large F150, and I recall driving up to a stoplight and thinking how small that Ranger next to me was compared to the F250. Then I realized that the other truck wasn’t the compact Ranger, but a full-sized F150. The V10 engine also is huge, not only with 10 cylinders, but they measure 6.8 liters, or 412 cubic inches.
The engine is a single-overhead-camshaft device, part of Ford’s modular family of high-tech engines. It cranks out 275 horsepower and 410 foot-pounds of torque, which is clearly enough to tow your house around the block.
This beast weighs 6,300 pounds, and yet it looks reasonable in size because of its flowing lines. The Ford is tall, over 80 inches tall. What that means is, you walk up to it, open the door, and find that you have a long way togo and an agility drill ahead of you in order to enter. Thankfully, there is a running board, so you can get a foothold on your way to the summit, and, despite the thin air up there, you can vault into the seat.
It looks huge, but not as huge as it really is, because it is so long, with that long cab, and its full-size interior, that has all the room of the first two rows of a large SUV, such as the Navigator. It’s sort of like looking at Mount McKinley; alone, it seems enormous, but seen in the concept of an entire mountain range, it looks just a little big.
The base price of the F250 is $28,330, but when you add the light prairie tan leather interior, the 6.8-liter engine, the electronically controlled automatic 4-speed, and all the goodies, such as alloy wheels and a special 4.30 towing ratio that gives you an 8,800-pound haul rating, and 10,000-pound towing limit, the price climbs to $34,490.
It is a handsome pickup, with the new-look aerodynamics allowing the driver to have good visibility, and the seats are comfortable. The turning radius is enormous, however, so don’t even think about any u-turns on a normal street. You also want to consider long and hard before you drive past any gas stations, because pushing all that weight around takes power, and leaves you with down around 12-14 miles per gallon.
You’d have to have a working-class need for a vehicle like this, or you haul a heavyweight trailer more than just a few times a year. For example, if you had a small house trailer, this would be the rig to haul it, because you could stash the whole family in the seats-for-5.
GMC SIERRA 2500
The Sierra is identical to the new Chevrolet Silverado, except for the look from the front, where the new Sierra has a sleek, new look for 1999. The 2500 GMC model, however, sticks with the previous front end, which is attractive enough, until the corporation can catch up and make enough new fronts.
There are no overhead cams on truck motors made by GM, but this time they made up the difference with cubic inches. The huge 6.7-liter Ford V10 responds well, but the GMC engine is 7.4 liters — larger with eight cylinders than the Ford is with 10. The GMC engine is armed with pushrods and can produce large low-end power. It has 355 foot-pounds of torque, although you have to rev to 4,000 RPMs to get to that peak, while it also delivers 300 horsepower at 4,800 RPMs.
The GMC Sierra is very well refined, and has comfortably contoured seats, and they came with leather covers.
The new GMC had a base price of only $23,171.55, but fitting it with the options such as speed-sensitive power steering, power windows, locks and windows, air-conditioning, the six-way power seats, and others, jacks it to $30,827.55. Having driven several other Sierras, with various forms of normal cab and extended cab and all sorts of different engines, this is a very sophisticated machine.
Curiously, there was no alloy wheels, just basic truck tires and wheels. Out of six or eight GMC Sierra pickups I’ve driven, this was a simple one, and cutting out a few features can drop the sticker under $30,000. If you added in the price of the four-wheel drive and the special alloy wheels, you’d be up to about $33,000.
The GMC Sierra 2500 has a towing payload of 10,000 pounds,identical to the F250, and an 8,600-pound payload, only 200 pounds less than the Ford, although it weighs 800 pounds less than the F250.
Instrumentation is unexcelled on the GMC, although it seems there must have been somebody freaking out when he designed the cupholder. You pull down a trap door that approximates the size of the glove compartment, although this one is located right in the lower middle of the dashboard. That makes it easy to reach, but it doesn’t need to be enormous.
Interesting, but you tend to get used to things like that, although I must say that when I had a fast-food cup of pop in the little rubber housing, I thought all was well until I went around a corner and it somersaulted right out across the carpeting.
Overall, the GMC is quite easy to drive, and well-mannered in its handling and braking. To be a fair challenge, it takes some getting used to because of its size, which is so much larger than the normal “big” pickups. But everything is efficiently laid out, and easy to read.
Examining these two huge trucks makes you realize how competitive the truck business is. Both are very similar in a lot of ways, but different in the ways those two manufacturers always have been different. Mainly, though, they do the same thing in very similar fashion, and choosing one is simply a matter of preference. That’s the way car-buying should be.
And with these crew cabs, you can have your SUV, and your pickup truck as well.
GS400 adds pizzazz to lofty Lexus reputation
[Cutline info:
#1 (blue GS400) The GS400 is the newest member of the Lexus clan, and is claimed to be the fastest available 4-door sedan.
#2 (gold LS400) All signs point to the LS400 as the flagship Lexus luxury sedan.
#3 (LS400 navigation system) The LS400’s optional navigation system is complex to program, but pinpoints car location and destination.
#4 (ES300) The least-expensive Lexus, the ES300 is a thoroughly renovated upscale version of the Toyota Camry. ]
Every manufacturer claims to build quality cars, but Toyota is in the odd position of being critized because its cars are too good.
Toyota’s reputation for high technology, dependable and trouble-free operation, and long-lasting durability was enhanced when the company also retained customers who were moving upscale by fashioning an entirely separate luxury network under the Lexus nameplate. Lexus dealers aren’t plentiful across the country, although you can find a couple of them in the Twin Cities. They all emphasize treating customers with great sensitivity and care, wiping out the fast-hustle reputation car-sellers have spent so many years earning.
About the only complaints of Toyota/Lexus cars came from driving enthusiasts. I think fun is an important ingredient in driving, but some of these types started out fixing their car’s problems so regularly that they still equate hauling an MGB’s engine into the kitchen for repairs with a car having “character.” Toyota products work equally well for car-haters, so they gained a reputation for being appliance-like.
Toasters and refrigerators simply keep on working without complaints, but you also don’t hear many people praising them for being fun to operate. Test-drives in all three new Lexus models indicates that the appliance reputation may have to go.
The LS400 luxury sedan started out very good and has evolved as a classy $60,000 factory flagship. The Lexus ES300 is basically a $30,000 Toyota Camry, revised with numerous and effective feature upgrades. And the GS400? Ah, that’s the prize that should change the appliance image once and for all — a $45,000 sizzler that gives instant credibility to the claim of the fastest four-door sedan available.
GS400 ROARS
To fully appreciate the GS400, you have to realize that it is the latest stopgap between the top-end LS400 and the entry-level Lexus ES300. A year ago, both a GS300 and GS400 were introduced, with styling that makes a surprising splash in the Toyota/Lexus swimming pool. Instead of the blunt, squarish formal look of the LS400, or the sleek, sweeping lines of the ES300, the GS models have a fast-drooping nose, rushing up and over the passenger compartment and finishing in an abruptly chopped rear end. It resembles other Toyota/Lexus models in the way a NASCAR Winston Cup race car resembles a showroom sedan.
The GS300 is an excellent car with excellent handling and a steady 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine, costing about $35,000. Compared to other Toyota/Lexus models dipping one toe into the pool to test the temperature, the GS300 is a safe dive off the low board. But the GS400 is a triple-somersault off the high board.
The GS400 has the 4.0-liter V8 of the bigger LS400, but it has been tweaked with valving to spew out 300 horsepower and 310 foot-pounds of torque, 10 more on both counts than the heftier LS400. It also has a measured top speed of 149 miles per hour, which not only is BMW-like, but would be a lot of fun to drive on an autobahn.
The GS400’s looks are not unattractive. It has a mean and hungry demeanor, to say nothing of a very impressive 0.29 coefficient of drag. The test vehicle was enhanced by being painted “Spectra Blue Mica,” which is P.R.-speak for a distinctive, penetrating blue color that is a bit darker than royal but brighter than navy. It gets my vote as the best car color of the year.
The electronic five-speed automatic transmission seems a letdown, particularly if Lexus expects the GS400 to challenge the hottest German sedans, but the car comes through on that count, too. There are two little oval buttons located on the steering wheel shafts, identical left and right, just next to where your thumbs rest while gripping the wheel. There are similar buttons on the backside of the steering wheel, where you can’t even see them.
They are shift buttons, just like on Formula 1 race cars. You can take off, then use your fingertips to upshift by pushing either button on the back of the wheel, or you can use either thumb to downshift one gear at a time by pushing the buttons on the front. When I first drove a GS400, I assumed they were audio control buttons, and the word “Down” on the buttons meant you could turn down the volume. Coincidentally, when I accelerated hard with that car at first, I apparently gripped the wheel extra hard as the revs built, and wondered why the car upshifted again and again so soon.
It was worth a chuckle, and then a lot of fun, after I realized that those logically-placed buttons I had squeezed were there for upshifting. Being front-engine with rear-drive, the GS400 would be a handful in slippery circumstances, even with high-tech traction control, but it unquestionably is a handful of fun in the dry.
The GS400 handles well, thanks to four-wheel independent, double-wishbone suspension with gas shocks, and speed-progressive rack-and-pinion steering. And the discs on all four wheels stop the 16-inch wheels and their high-performance tires swiftly.
Typically, the car has all the latest safety stuff — dual front airbags, front seat-housed side-impact airbags, and pretensioning harnesses with force limiters. The leather seats with genuine walnut dash trim and dual-zone climate control with automatic recirculation and smog and air filters, plus a seven-speaker audio system with 215 watts, may seem more in the luxury line than the sporty image the car generates, but they are standard. So is the power tilt and telescoping steering wheel that tilts away when you enter or exit.
The test car jumped from a base price of $45,505 to $49,146 because of the added in-dash six-disc CD player, the one-touch sunroof, heated front seats, and high-intensity discharge headlights.
LS400 CLASS
The top-of-the-line LS400 is, like the GS400, front-engine/rear-drive, and it weighs 200 pounds more, at 3,890 pounds, to house the extra room inside. It also is 196.7 inches long (compared to the GS400’s 189), and a 0-60 time of 6.6 seconds (in Automobile magazine’s trial run) compared to a 6-flat by the GS400.
The car was good when it came out, and has been refined, cautiously, since then. The biggest trouble is the fluctuation of the Japanese yen. When it came out, the LS400 was a bargain-priced copy of a Mercedes; now that the Germans have tightened up their production and lowered prices, the LS400 is now plenty costly by comparison.
One impressive new feature is the optional navigation system package, which costs $5,405, including an in-dash CD player, sunroof, heated seats and gas-discharge headlights, in addition to a computerized navigation system.
The navigation system has a dash-mounted video screen, which can summon up destinations by address or intersection, and displays your whereabouts on that screen, which you can zoom in or out for size perspective. It worked very well, although I must say that setting it was much more complex than necessary. It was complex enough that you should pull off the road to input your destination, and it informs you of how dangerous it is to take your eye off the road — every time you start up.
The LS400 has all the safety and handling features of the GS400, and it had them first, of course. Having the same engine is responsible for the swift performance, although the engine is tuned to be a subdued-sounding thing that purrs, while the same powerplant is tuned to sound like the monster is can be in the GS400.
ES300 FEATURES
When I first drove the current version of the ES300, it was within a couple of weeks of my first test-drive of the then-newly designed Toyota Camry. In talking to some factory folks, I was informed of the hundred-and-some upgrades done to the seats, the instruments, the engine and transmission, the instrument panel, and virtually everything else on the ES300.
I was a bit dismayed at the $32,000 price tag back then. But two weeks later, when I got the new Camry, all I could think about were the numerous enhancements made for ES300 form, and when the Camry’s sticker was $28,000, it seemed that the ES300 was truly a bargain.
Years pass. Now you can get a loaded Camry up to $30,000, and the test-car ES300 base price was a mere $30,905. In test form, it had risen to $36,412, because of the leather trim, memory driver’s seat settings, a six-disc changer in the dash, a power sunroof, heated front seats and vehicle skid control.
In silhouette, the ES300 is the same as the Camry, which I find very pleasant to look at, and a vast improvement over the previous Camry styling, which looked like different committees had done each segment.
The 3.0-liter V6 has dual overhead cams and continuously variable valve timing, with a four-speed electronically controlled automatic transmission with traction control. With all the safety devices of its more costly brethren, the ES300 also has genuine walnut interior trim and electroluminescent (Toyota’s term) instrumentation.
With all three Lexus models, the traditional dependability is built in, and must be well-appreciated by its owners. The GS400 helps toss aside that old cloak of dullness, and it reeks with character, even if you’ll never need to overhaul that engine in your kitchen.
Eclipse, Sunfire offer two views of open sky
You walk out of work, enjoying the bright sunshine, and you climb into your car. Let’s say your car is a sporty coupe, such as a new Pontiac Sunfire, or a new Mitsubishi Eclipse. You climb in, turn the ignition key until it starts up, buckle up your shoulder harness, and take off.
What’s wrong with that picture?
Just one thing. You forgot that before you drive off, you were supposed to flip a switch and turn a handle and wait a couple of seconds while the top goes up, back and down — freeing you of all your more mundane earthly responsibilities for the moment, and letting your hair flutter in the open air, against that all-blue sky.
Convertibles: If there were more of ’em, we could get by with a lot fewer analysts and counselors in this world.
And yes, you can get such mainstream, normal sporty coupes as the Eclipse or the Sunfire in convertible form, which proves you don’t have to spend over $40,000 to get a convertible, but you can have the best of both worlds for $20,000 or $30,000.
When you think of convertibles, you often think of them with the top down, in southern scenarios, with palm trees waving in the background, maybe along the Gulf Coast. You often don’t think of convertibles Up North, where the weather is is simply unsuitable for half the year, and, at best, changeable for the other half.
Both of those stereotypes are inaccurate, however.
First, whenever I’ve been in those southern areas, people spend most of their time trying to get out of the sun, either into air-conditioned apartments, hotels or shopping centers, or into cars with the air cranked up — or into convertibles with the tops up!
Second, while we northerners may grumble now and then when we get those 50 or 60 degree days in what is supposed to be midsummer, but then along comes one of those days like last Tuesday or Wednesday, mid-70s, bright sun, stunning blue sky, no clouds — absolutely perfect. When we get days like that, we tend to do everything in our power to capitalize.
Because of those realities, I believe northern folks enjoy and appreciate convertibles more than southern types.
In the past two weeks, I got a chance to drive both the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GS-T convertible, and the Pontiac Sunfire GT convertible, and both serve their clientele in different, but effective, fashion. Both have some similarities, such as in safety equipment, where both have airbags and side-impact braces.
MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE
Mitsubishi’s Eclipse always has been personal sporty coupe that outperforms many sports cars but has the manners of a more docile coupe when the need arises. Mitsubishi used to share the Eclipse with Plymouth as the Laser, and with Chrysler as the Eagle Talon, but even though Chrysler dropped its versions, Mitsubishi still assembles Eclipses for itself as an American car in Normal, Ill.
The Eclipse is front-wheel drive, with the option of all-wheel drive, and you can make it perform tricks with only the basic four-cylinder engine by choosing the turbocharged version.
The test car was the GS-T version, with the turbocharged 2.0-liter Mitsubishi engine, with dual-overhead-camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and the turbo, to make the 2.0 feel like 4.0 liters.
Sleek and slippery as the shape of the Eclipse is, the car takes on a completely different personality when you take the top off. On the Eclipse, all you need do is make sure the power is on, the car is in neutral and the emergency brake is on, then you hit the dash switch and in about five seconds, the top is down and stashed behind the back seat, just ahead of the trunk.
There is some shakiness, typical of cars converted to convertible duty. It is heavy, because it takes reinforcement to replace the structural solidity the roof contributes to the coupe frame, but it doesn’t interrupt the Eclipse’s great stability and hard-nosed cornering attributes.
The 1999 Eclipse Spyder GS-T is the last one before Mitsubishi thoroughly restyles the Eclipse, going to a larger car with a larger V6 engine; no more high-revving four, no more turbocharger. Instead of scaring off customers, this time losing such a mini-classic might cause a rush to get the current model.
The test car came in a color called Sundance Plum Pearl, a rich, dark reddish-purple. It lists for $26,960, with an as-delivered sticker of $27,395, but before deciding that’s too expensive, consider that the car comes completely loaded.
Standard equipment includes the convertible top, turbo engine, four-wheel intedpendent suspension, four-wheel disc brakes with antilock, front and rear stabilizer bars, galvanized steel body panels, air-conditioning, security system integrated on the keyless entry system, cruise, power door locks, windows and mirrors, leather seats with 6-way adjustable driver’s seat, adjustable steering column, Infinity premium audio with eight speakers and a separate amp for the radio, tapeand disc players, 16-inch chrome-plated alloy wheels with locks, and 205/55 V-rated tires, rear window defroster, halogen headlights and foglights.
It’s also got a Homelink transmitter computer built-in.
With all the technical and performance stuff, the Eclipe still delivered 29 miles per gallon.
As for complaints, the 5-speed shifter was a bit balky, but that could be because of the newness of the car. The other thing is that while the trunk is deep and spacious, it is rounded off to meet the stylish tail, which means you can haul your set of golf clubs — but only in the back seat. They simply won’t fit in the trunk.
PONTIAC SUNFIRE
The Sunfire is Pontiac’s version of the Chevrolet Cavalier, which is an entry-level car that is a cut below the Eclipse in sophistication, and therefore is a comparative bargain at a sticker of $21,850, which includes $180 for a sport interior package that includes seat side support and lumbar adjustment and seatback pockets on the cloth seats.
I was prepared to kiss off the Sunfire as a pretender in the sporty-car convertible niche, but the more I drove the car, the more impressive it was.
It had susprising power, even with a four-speed automatic that tended to surge when it shifted, but the power came through because the car had a 2.4-liter twin-cam engine with 16 valves. That’s big, for a four-cylinder, and despite General Motors’ reluctance to switch its mainstream engines over to overhead camshafts, engines such as this one should show the General the benefits of overhead cams. It also should show that with more refinement it could become as smooth and quiet as the Mitsubishi gem.
Along with all the power, the Sunfire delivered over 32 miles per gallon on one tankful, and averaged 29.7 altogether in combined city/freeway driving.
The top on the bright red Sunfire was also easy to operate. You grasp a handgrip on the center-top of the windshield, push a thumb button and rotate the grip downward, then pull it back and the roof goes away. When you want to raise it, you grab the grip the same way, and push forward on it, and the top comes up. Simple.
For the price, the Sunfire GT offers a lot, including antilock brakes, like the Eclipse, but with rear-wheel drums complementing the front discs, instead of discs all around. It has cast aluminum wheels with 195/65 15-inch tires. The handling was good, although not as all-out sporty feeling as the Eclipse.
Air-conditioning, power locks with remote switchwork, power windows and mirrors, and a Delco stereo radio with compact disc player and an equalizer add to the pleasure of driving.
It also has the typical shakiness that comes with turning a coupe into a convertible, but it is not obtrusive, and is an easily acceptable trade for the sheer enjoyment of open-air driving. The rear deck spoiler adds to the sporty appearance of the Sunfire, which falls into place well in Pontiac’s lineup.
With each GM branch trying to establish its own niche, Pontiac seems far ahead of the pack, with the Bonneville solid among big sedans, the Grand Prix one of the most stylish big cars either in sedan or coupe mode, the Grand Am as an impressive compact, and now the Sunfire falling in as the bottom rung — but a very impressive car for an entry level weapon.
BMW 740, 540 and 323 all stand as instant classics
[cutline stuff:
The BMW 323, redesigned a year ago, has adequate room and exceptional performance.
Clear headlight lenses give the BMW 540 a distinct hawk-like look.
The flagship 740 BMW provides an enormous rear seat and trunk.
(for the accent shots…)
Optional Xenon gas-discharge headlights light up the night with bright precision.
The simplest cupholders of the 323 hold any size cup firmly in place better than more elaborate devices in the 540 or 740. ]
“Beemers,” they call them, a catch-phrase to denote any vehicle made by BMW. That includes the 3-Series sedan and coupe, the 5-Series sedan, the 7-Series sedan, and, more recently, the Z-3 sports cars.
At Bavarian Motor Works, it seems that every model turned out is a classic on its way to being identified. As luck would have it, I recently had the chance to test-drive the 323 entry-level sedan, a 540 Touring sedan, and a 740i Sport sedan. Let’s clear up one thing right away. BMWs are loaded with technical advancements and always combine luxury appointments with spectacular fun-to-drive characteristics, but they are expensive. The 3-Series is BMW’s lowest-priced, ranging from $26,000 on up to the test car’s $30,000. The 540 costs about $54,000, and the 740 about $63,000. All are front-engine/rear-drive, which makes them a handful in Up North winter conditions, even though they are designed to be extremely close to 50-50 weight distribution, front and rear, and have a highly advanced traction-control system.
BMW’s formula goes by body style and engine displacement, with the first of the three letters denoting the body size and the second and third numbers denoting the engine displacement. Simple. No birds, beasts or fish, or computer-selected word inventions for its models.
740 means luxury
You can get a 7-Series BMW either as a 750, with a 5.0-liter V12, or as a 740, with a 4.4-liter (but formerly 4.0) V8. The V8 is plenty, because it comes with four valves per cylinder, pumped by dual overhead-camshafts on each bank, and all choreographed by BMW’s variable valve timing technology. Those four cams and 32 valves responded well to the 5-speed automatic Steptronic transmission, which adapts its shiftpoints to the way you drive it, and which can be shifted manually if you choose.
The 740 Sport has larger 18-inch wheels and tires and firmer suspension, and specially firmed up seats that are adjustable 18 different ways. With memory settings, it is about as comfortable as you can get in a car, and there’s room for a small convention in the rear seat. The test car had light grey leather interior with its real-wood walnut trim on the console and dash.
It would be the car any sane person might choose if he or she could pick any car in which to drive, or ride, cross-country in style, comfort, and with a sporty flair. I got 24 miles per gallon on mostly highway driving, and the always responsive V8 whipped the big sedan around like a lightweight, although it weighs 4,255 pounds. That engine delivers 282 horsepower at 5,400 RPMs, and 324 foot-pounds of torque at 3,700 revs. The V12 offers 326 horses and 361 foot-pounds, but the difference isn’t noticeable, unless you can feel the difference between 6.9 seconds for the V8 to go 0-60, compared to the V12’s 6.6 seconds.
The 740 is most recognizable by its extended rear end, where most of its longer, 196.2-inch length adds to the rear-seat room and trunk space.
There are useful little doors and pockets throughout the interior, and the test car steering wheel had remote audio on the left and cruise controls on the right.
The test car’s base price of $62,400 rose $2,600 with the Sport package, and, even though I got 24 miles per gallon, it had to assess a $1,700 “gas guzzler” fee, which seems pretty silly as legislation goes in this era of 11-miles-per-gallon SUVs. The sticker total was $67,270.
540 Sport is potent
Moving down in size, the 5-Series sedan is 3,748 pounds and 188 inches long, but the 540 gets the same dynamite 4.4-liter, four-cam, 32-valve V8. That allows it to reduce the 0-60 time to 5.8 seconds with the six-speed manual, which has a top speed electronically limited to 155 mph.
The silvery 540 had rich, dark grey leather inside, and more real wood, and the Sport suspension was the perfect complement to the sophisticated hot-rod engine and the stick shift for providing an all-out sporty feel.
The strong engine and the weight of the sedan, coupled with a heavy clutch, made the car occasionally a handful to run up swiftly through the gears. It was always breathtaking, if not always easily mellow.
With more than adequate room in the rear seat, the 540 sets a pretty high standard, and at the price difference, it may be difficult to justify an extra $10,000 or more to get the longer 7-Series, because other than the all-out aura of luxury, the 5-Series offers plenty of everything.
Style wise, the 5-Series also was just redesigned two years ago, with the sleek nose taking on a more hawk-like appearance with the eyelid covers on the headlights.
And the headlights on the 540 test car were the $500 optional Xenon gas-discharge units, which are absolutely the best headlights I’ve ever seen on a car. The light cast is a truer-light blueish hue that makes the foglights appear yellowish. The headlights look almost like gunsights, and they shine with an amazing cutoff that shows brilliant light up to a precise, optically cut horizontal line that leaves total darkness above.
That makes it great for oncoming cars, because the intensity of the light cuts off at about the grille and doesn’t shine in driver’s eyes. Problem is, the blueish light is so stunning that oncoming drivers tend to stare at the BMW headlights, then later complain that they’re too bright.
BMW 323i
The 323 cheats a little on the engine formula, because it has a 2.3-liter engine, but BMW had a “325” model years ago, and used “323” to give the car a new name.
Used to be, the base sedan got the 1.8-liter four-cylinder, but for 1999, BMW decided to go to the 2.5-liter in-line six. Since the 328 has the 2.8-liter in-line six, the move up from the 1.8 to the 2.5 in the 323 was a significant upgrade.
The 2.5 has dual overhead camshafts and 24 valves — four per cylinder on the straight six — with the same variable valve timing. In fact, if you didn’t know there was a 328, the 323 would be plenty hot-performing for anybody’s taste. It is now made with an aluminum block, another upgrade that reduces the weight of the powerplant by 51 pounds, and it delivers 170 horsepower at 5,500 RPMs and 181 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500.
Because BMW never has overlooked the importance of fun in the equation, it offers a manual transmission in its sedans. The test 323 was such a dark green that it almost looked black, with parchment-color leatherette interior — felt like real leather, but wasn’t.
It also had a 5-speed manual transmission that shifted smoothly and had an easy, positive feel. It was quick, agile and delivered 29.5 miles per gallon, no matter how hard I drove it or how consistently high I revved it. At 3,100 pounds, and with an overall length of 174.5 inches, the 323 doesn’t need as much power to zoom from 0-60, achieving it in 7.1 seconds. Rear seat room is not as vast as its two bigger siblings, but it still is adequate for 6-footers.
The 323 has sensational seats, with every form-fitting bulge you could hope for, including a little pull-out front pad under your knees. It felt every bit as comfortable as the 540 seats, and firmer and with better lateral support than the big 740, for my taste.
And there was one other amazing feature — the cupholders. Now, cupholders are alien to German car-makers, simply because when you’re cruising along at 135 miles per hour on the autobahns, you are so focused that you don’t even think about cupholders. So they are for U.S. market cars, specifically. In the 740, and in the 540, there were neat little pop-out or fold-out devices to hold cups or pop cans, and they worked…OK, but no better.
In the 323, there were two simple little indentations in the center console, with four spring-loaded little clips inside each of them. Whatever size coffee mug or pop cup or can you had, it plunked firmly down into those receptacles and was held precisely in place. The more expensive cars had much more elaborate cupholders, but none of them worked as efficiently as the 323’s, once again proving one of BMW’s most-basic concepts — simple is best.
Once again, BMW has done such a phenomenal job with its lowest-priced sedan, that at a base of $26,400 boosted to $30,545 — and with the same phenomenal seats and Xenon headlights as the 540 — there is no question that the 323 represents a tremendous bargain for any car, and particularly for a BMW.
The people’s choices
At the time I drove the three cars, BMW had a special charity promotion going, where it would match the number of media-test-miles with dollars of corporate donations. The charities did well by me, because it was difficult to NOT drive the BMWs during their assigned weeks.
While buyers would have to go as far as the Twin Cities to find BMW dealerships, that’s not a problem for enthusiasts, which include car-fanatic magazines.
Two of the more prestigious of automotive magazines, Automobile and Car and Driver, rank the 10-best cars in the world in various categories. Car and Driver conducts a readers’ survey, and for the best midsize luxury sedan it picked the 3-Series BMW; for the best sports sedan, it picked the BMW 540 Sport; for the best large luxury sedan, C&D readers picked the 7-Series BMW; and for the best coupe, the choice was the BMW Z3.
Automobile’s list of 10 didn’t go by such specific categories, more going for selections that disregarded size, and it included the 3-Series BMW, the 5-Series BMW and the Z3’s “M” coupe among its picks.
Hardly seems fair. To have three or four selections among the top 10 didn’t leave much room for all the other manufacturers in the world. But that’s simply how good BMWs are. They are, at every level of size and/or price, the standard of driving enthusiasts.
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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