[Cutlines for all section photos…]
[CUTLINES FOR NEW CAR TAB: (All photo credits should read: John Gilbert, Up North Newspaper Network.)
(With overview)
1/ The Lincoln LS is a departure for Lincoln, combining sporty performance — a 5-speed manual is available — and new-age luxury.
2/ Toyota roars into big-pickup competition with the Tundra, which has a high-tech, 4.7-liter dual-overhead-cam, 32-valve V8.
3/ The Audi TT Coupe is clearly one of the new year’s standouts, with quattro available and a combination of retro and futuristic styling.
(With Ford section)
4/ Ford’s Excursion is the new king of the road as the largest sport-utility vehicle made, with engine choices up to a 6.8-liter V10 or a 7.3-liter turbocharged diesel.
5/ The F150 gets full Crew Cab treatment with four full doors making it a pickup/SUV combination.
6/ The Focus is Ford’s latest version of a quick, universally inexpensive world-car commuter.
(With Sports cars)
7/ Honda’s S2000 combines exotic engine performance with the popularity of inexpensive sports cars.
(With General Motors)
8/ Saturn adds a larger sedan — the LS — to its galaxy, featuring high-tech engines, front-wheel drive, and a sticker price remarkably close to $20,000.
9/ Chevrolet for 2000 features the “Return of the Impala,” with that popular nameplate brought back on a stylish and impressive new sedan.
(If the Saturn wagon is found)
10/ The Saturn LW is a station wagon version of the new L-series, which is a variation of an Opel Vectra with plastic body panels.
(If the Saturn wagon isn’t available)
10/ The panoramic taillight display of the Impala incorporates round lights shining through wall-to-wall red plexiglass.
(With Chrysler)
11/ The popular Dakota pickup gains a Quad Cab model for 2000, plus availability of Jeep’s high-tech 4.7-liter overhead-cam V8.
12/ Neon is redesigned for 2000 and will be just one of various Dodge models soon available in sporty “R/T” trim.
(With Japanese)
13/ Toyota brings back the Celica for 2000, with streamlined sporty lines and the usual Toyota dependability.
14/ Nissan’s all-new revision of the Maxima has a more distinctive look, an exceptional V6, and a price tag only in the mid-$20,000 range.
(On Picture Page)
15/ Acura, Honda’s upscale sibling, has improved the navigation system of its new RL, a luxury boat no less comfortable than the Queen Elizabeth II, docked behind it.
16/ Porsche doesn’t change the 911 often, but the new Carrera is the newest version of unwavering performance and has a top speed of 174.
17/ Driving the NSX can make you feel as though you could get to anyplace in the world with exotic flair, and in less than a half-hour.
18/ Nissan’s answer to the sportiest SUV questions is the Xterra, with a storage compartment on the roof-rack, and a potent 3.3-liter V6.
Familiar Impala name defines all-new Chevy sedan
[[[[[CUTLINE STUFF:
#1— From the front, the grille, covered headlights and stylish nose blend well on the 2000 Chevrolet Impala.
#2— The interior is driver and passenger friendly, with contemporary firm support.
#3— The Impala looks are most striking from the rear, but is, overall, a graceful package. ]]]]
Back in the ’50s — yes, the 1950s — we used to play a lot of kid baseball at Portman Square in Lakeside. A kid named Terry was among our pitchers, a left-hander who could only throw one pitch. No curve, no change-up, no slider, just a fastball. But because he was a lefty and threw it hard, the fastball backed up, right to left, every pitch. That made it tough to hit for right-handed hitters, because it was like an extremely fast slider or curve, and left-handed hitters had to decide whether to risk swinging at it early, or to start ducking because it was coming at ’em.
We liked his pitching, and his infectious laugh, and we also, in later years, liked it when he got hold of his parents’ car, because it was a 1958 Chevy Impala, 2-door hardtop — which meant no pillar between the front and rear side windows — and with a small-block V8 so it would go like heck. It was sandalwood, I recall, which means it was among the first cars to be of a color that couldn’t really be defined by ordinary color names.
It’s a good time to think back to those good times, one reason being because it is major league baseball playoff time. And another reason is because Chevrolet has, for the 2000 model year, reinvented the Impala nameplate, which it dropped a few years ago.
There was good reason for dropping the name, and the car, because it had grown over its 40-year lifespan from a sleek let’s-go-for-a-ride coupe to a 4-door sedan, and then to a big 4-door sedan, and finally to one that was so big it worked best as a taxicab, or police car, or as a huge family hauler for families that couldn’t afford a Buick Roadmaster but wished they could. That was four years ago, which is just about long enough for Impala-mourners to get on with their lives. And, Chevy hopes, to want to get on with those lives by buying a new Impala.
Such recycled nameplates are common in the auto biz, but this time Chevy may be onto something good. The 2000 Impala LS is a handsome beast, even just sitting at a curb. You might like the nose, with its near-chevron shaped grille and its aerodynamic headlights that shine through plexiglass shrouds. You might like the gracefully wavering contours as the bodywork flows back to include the passenger compartment, angling down at the rear pillar just right to inspire some comparisons to BMW’s signature roofline.
Me? I like the view of the rear best. The red taillight enclosure goes from wall-to-wall, also in a gradual, near-chevron, with two round circular taillights shining through on either side, while the outer walls of the car taper just slightly inward as they rise, making a harmonious meeting spot with the rear spoiler atop the hood. It is bold, and classy, not always an easy combination.
It’s not a huge, full-sized car, although Chevy claims it has more interior room than a Lexus LS400. That surprises me, because when I sit in the back seat, at 6-feet tall, I have good headroom, but my knees are pretty much up against the front bucket’s backrest. That’s with the backrest set for me, and I like it pretty much bolt upright. I’ve tried the rear seats of Lexus LS400s, and I recall them as being considerably more spacious.
But we quibble. The Impala shouldn’t try to compare itself with $50,000 luxury sedans, because it isn’t one of those. The test car, the top-of-the-line LS, lists for $25,415, loaded up with everything. That includes options such as leather seats, which are actually “leather accent bucket seat” (the singular is Chevy’s; don’t ask me about the passenger bucket), for $625; an electric sunroof for $700; an alarm system, information center on the ceiling and radio controls on the steering wheel for a $517 package price; 6-way power seat adjustment for the passenger, with heated elements for both front buckets at $425; and an added $223 for the audio upgrade that includes eight speakers, with in-dash cassette and CD player and speed-compensated volume.
Without those things, the car is an even-better bargain at $22,365.
STANDARD STUFF
By selecting the LS upgrade, you get the 3800 Stage II V6 engine as standard, over the 3400 V6. The 3400 has 180 horsepower, while the 3800 delivers 200 horsepower and 225 foot-pounds of torque. That engine is pretty long in the tooth, but it has been skillfully manipulated by Chevy’s tireless engineers to be powerful, smooth and as good as an engine without overhead camshafts can be. I got 25.3 miles per gallon on an all-freeway highway test drive with cruise control engaged almost the whole way.
Other standard features are a 4-speed automatic on the front-wheel-drive platform; ride and handling suspension upgrade; 4-wheel disc brakes with antilock; electronic traction control that boths stalls the power and modulates the brakes in the event of a skid; a theft-deterrent system; 16-inch wheels; foglights; dual-zone air-conditioning; power windows and locks and outside heated mirrors; a 6-way power driver’s seat, with a manual lumbar adjustment; and a pollen filter on the ventilation system.
Pretty thorough stuff for a car barely over $20,000.
The true test of success, of course, will be in whether the new Impala can attract new young buyers who had forced the abandonment of the name just a few years ago as being laughably large compared to the herd of quick, agile and efficient midsize cars, mostly from Japan, and mostly named Accord, Camry, Galant, Maxima, 626, Integra, Altima, and Subaru. They all are priced about the same, and every one of them offer high-tech, overhead-cam, multiple valve engines, the kind of advanced technology that can well attract buyers who want the latest in computers and, presumably, automotive tricks.
The Impala does have the smooth ride and good, quick handling much more like those competitive vehicles, and more like the sportiest variations of long years past than like the most recent Impalas. That’s a plus. The last cars to wear that name were good and big, and they were front-engine/rear-drive with big, powerful V8 engines.
So the new Impala is a leap forward in technology and stylish efficiency, and it shares the impressively stiff Oldsmobile Intrigue in sharing the same platform. The Intrigue, oddly enough, is the only one of GM’s midsize cars to have the benefit of using GM’s year-old 3.5-liter V6, with dual-overhead cams, four valves per cylinder and a costlier-to-build engine that would fit very nicely under the Impala’s graceful hood.
RIGHT SIZE
At an overal length of 200 inches, the new Impala is sized to be at the top of the midsize market, which is the most competitive market segment of all cars, and just under the full-size segment, which is big. The new Impala doesn’t want to be too big. Just big enough. At 3,389 pounds, it is certainly heavy enough.
The fit and finish on the test car was excellent, and the newly designed seats are the most comfortable seats I’ve ever sat on while also being in a Chevrolet. The rear bench seat is slightly raised, which is good for rear passengers to feel like they are somewhere other than in a cave, and it doesn’t interrupt the design flow because the aerodynamics that wound up at an impressive 0.31 for coefficient of drag called for the lines to rise slightly as they approached the rear.
I found the Impala LS capable of carrying out all of its objectives well. The only gripe I might have is that the sunroof is one of those two-way things, which tips up at the rear as a vent, and then the whole unit slides back. That makes a neat, aerodynamic wedge for the roof, and I favor that design to the ones that slide into the roof, and thus require a couple inches of lost headroom. However, I’m a fresh-air zealot, and when you’re cruising at highway speed on a warm autumn afternoon with the sunroof open, the wind noise is so intrusively loud that even with the upgraded audio system cranked up high you’ll have trouble understanding the words to that neat song on KUMD.
Also, when you get the power goodies on the seats, you need to be alert. Amid all those switches for moving the seat to and fro there is an extra little toggle switch in the same area, out of sight and only reachable by unseeing fingers. So if you’re thinking of adjusting the seat or maybe firming up the lumbar a bit, you might logically switch the toggle either forward or back. Do that, however, and you’ll find the electric heating element will toast your backside either medium or medium-rare.
The trunk houses 17.6 cubic feet of space, which, Chevy points out, is nearly 2 cubic feet larger than the Taurus. The handling is enhanced by front and rear stabilizer bars, which are much larger in the rear (17.2 mm to 14.0) when you take the LS over the base Impala, but are, curiously enough, smaller (30.0mm to 32.0) when you move to the LS.
Front airbags are standard for both front seats, and side airbags are standard on the LS, optional on the base model. The LS seats five, while the base model, without the front buckets and center console, seats six. The LS also has quicker steering than the base Impala.
The car is built in Oshawa, Ontario, which is OK for the “All-American” car these days, because the North American Free Trade Act makes us slow-learners in the U.S. count Canadian-built cars as domestic.
The aerodynamic styling of the Impala is not only efficient, but it brings back another resemblance to that old Coke-bottle shapeliness of years long past. Maybe it can attract new younger buyers, and maybe some older folks will want to buy one just to recapture the wonderfulness of the older Impalas. Terry, where are you now?
S2000 screams, TT dazzles, as sports cars rule
Sports-car zealots, rejoice! Again!
After a decade or so of losing such sports cars as the RX-7, Stealth, Supra, 3000GT, and being forced to find some very good high-performance sedans, or some absurdly expensive exotics as the only alternatives to the venerable Corvettes or Mazda Miatas, the return to prominence of sports cars was signalled by the introduction of the Mercedes SLK, BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxster two years ago.
The resurgence continues with some spectacular entries for 2000. The two most eye-popping are the Honda S2000 and the Audi TT.
The Honda S2000 is 2-seat testimony to all the racing/performance technology that Honda has been developing in recent years, and which has been displayed on cars such as the Acura NSX. But that’s a true exotic, up there around $85,000, to compete with all-out sports machines like the Porsche, or even Ferrari or Lamborghini.
For the real world, the S2000 is a clean, businesslike roadster costing only about $30,000. That puts it right there with the base Z3, and well under the Z3 “M” model, or the Boxster or SLK. And it performs with, or outperforms, all of them. The S2000 has a tiny, 2-liter, 4-cylinder engine, with dual overhead cams and technical tricks like variable valve-timing that lets it put out 240 horsepower at 8,300 RPMs. That is 120 horsepower per liter — absolutely the new standard for normally-aspirated motors. The tachometer red-line is an eye-popping — and eardrum-piercing — 9,000 RPMs. At 2,780 pounds, all that power served up through a 6-speed manual will reach a top speed of 147 miles per hour. That, we’re told, is with the top up; with the top down, it’ll only do 135.
The other new candidate for instant sports car stardom is Audi’s TT. The unusually rounded, visually stunning sports car combines some retro trends with some far-out, futuristic touches. Like the S2000, the TT can be obtained for right around $30,000 in basic form, but unlike the S2000, the TT can deliver performance varieties from mellow to sizzling.
The TT’s a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder, tweaked with the technical advantages of 5 valves per cylinder and a low-pressure turbocharger, sends 180 horsepower through front-wheel drive. You can also get a stronger 225-horsepower version, and Audi’s superb quattro all-wheel-drive system.
About the time Audi exhausts initial demand for its unique little TT, it will bring out a convertible to add to the stylish coupe. But even that way, fully loaded, it’s under $40,000.
Maybe true sports car zealots could consider the screaming S2000 as a racy summer car, and the Audi TT quattro for sporty driving year round — icy streets and all.
Maxima, Xterra lead Nissan hopes for 2000
[CUTLINE STUFF;
#1— The Maxima has been redesigned completely for a Year 2000 power-trip to try to recapture market share as Nissan’s flagship.
#2— Nissan’s Xterra is a rugged, active-lifestyle approach to an SUV market spreading to extremes of being too luxurious or too car-like.
#3— The rear of the Maxima shows an attempt to recapture the lost stylishness from which recent versions have strayed.
The new Nissan Maxima could be the hope of the future if Nissan is going to bounce back from recent, and current, financial problems. And if that restyled sedan can’t carry the load alone for the technically advanced company, the new, bold and brash Xterra is there to offer strong support.
There is more, much more, to come on Nissan’s horizon, but the Maxima and Xterra are two good indications of advancements for model year 2000.
One of the main problems of being a cutting-edge manufacturer in the current automotive world is that when you get infinitely close to being precisely where you want to be, how do you improve to stay at that cutting edge?
At Nissan, everything seemed right on as we turned into the 1990s. The 300ZX was a state-of-the-art sports car, the Maxima had evolved into one of the most stylish and best-performing “luxury-sports sedans” this side of Germany, the Stanza was about to be replaced by a very stylish new car called the Altima, the Sentra was exceedingly plain but workable small economy car, and the Pathfinder was as good as sport-utility vehicles could get, while the Quest was an instant-hit as a minivan. Meantime, in keeping up with Japanese rivals at Honda, which had the Acura division, and Toyota, which was coming out with the Lexus, Nissan came out with the Infiniti line of luxury cars.
When it came time to update the stable of models, economic upheavals in Japan and ever-increasing competition forced Nissan to make some moves. The Pathfinder got updated and improved, but attempts to make the same improvements on other products met with mixed reviews.
From my standpoint, the Maxima redesign transformed it from a beautiful and stylish car to a plain-looking sedan just as the second-generation Altima went away from its distinctive look to become not only just as generic, but strikingly similar in plainness to the Maxima. Even the basic Sentra took on the same look, which homogenized the whole line.
Except for the 300ZX, which was eliminated altogether. The Infiniti line got the same crunching, with the alphabet-soup Q45 becoming less distinctive, the J30 and I30 looking more like the revised Q, and the plain-but-potent G20 eliminated.
This is not to say that my feelings were correct, but while the Maxima continued to sell pretty well, other sales plummeted. Nissan, second only to Toyota in total production in Japan, went into serious decline. Renault, making better and better cars in France and a major European player even if its vehicles no longer are available in the U.S., bought into Nissan, gaining 37 percent ownership last March.
With redesigns such as the Maxima and the Xterra already hitting the showrooms, as well as the new Frontier Crew Cab pickup, and soon-to-follow Sentra, Altima and a resurrected Z-Car, there are big plans to recapture lost market share. Meantime, however, the news hit this week that Renault-aided revision of Nissan will cut its car lines by 50 percent, and close four of its seven Japanese manufacturing plants.
Such belt-tightening did wonders for German manufacturers several years ago, and consumers can only hope it improves the breed at Nissan equally well. The Maxima and Xterra are indications that Nissan at least has found the road back.
MAXIMA GLE
Nobody ever has questioned the durability, reliability and technical excellence of Nissan engines, dating back to when they were called Datsun instead of Nissan in the U.S. When the company made a 3.0-liter V6, it was world-class, and it served the Maxima, the 300ZX and the Pathfinder with equal efficiency. Then Nissan improved on the original with an all-new, thinner-walled, more high-tech V6.
All new Maxima models have that strong, 3.0 V6 with dual-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, upgraded again for 2000 to develop 222 horsepower — an increase of 32 over the very-good 190 horses of last year. Torque is up to 217 foot-pounds.
Such significant power upgrades are housed in a much more stylish body, with the grille opening larger, and the headlights tapered out from the grille, over color-keyed bumper. The rear is also much improved, with the taillight treatment integrated into the curvature of the body panel. To my eye, the new Maxima doesn’t match the uniqueness of the decade-old Maxima that was called a “4-door sports car,” but it is a vast improvement on the generic, lost-identity scheme of more recent versions.
The whole new body is far stiffer, with virtually every component changed from the ’99 model. The result is just a tiny bit longer, wider, taller and with a 2-inch longer wheelbase. Newly strengthened and reinforced cross-members and pillers give the Maxima 30 percent better torsional rigidity. That, coupled with standard stabilizer bars front and rear, and standard 16-inch wheels, makes the Maxima handle with firmness to match the potency of that repowered engine. There are tendencies of torque-steer, which don’t bother me at all. I don’t mind being reminded that I’m applying enough power to pay extra attention to the steering, and I attribute it to the new power peak.
The interior is comfortable and supportive, and makes the Maxima GLE a great choice for a trip.
If there is a tendency toward sporty precision in the performance of the Maxima, that is an asset. A further asset is that the test car came with a very efficient 4-speed automatic transmission, but it is refreshing to note that the Maxima also can be bought with that same powerful engine and a 5-speed manual.
That definitely puts it up there with the best-equipped German sports sedans, as well as the sportiest models of Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Mitsubishi Galant, Mazda 626, and Subaru Legacy GT, and leaves the sportier U.S. sedans behind as clutchless.
While the Accord and Camry rose to the top in U.S. sedan popularity, Nissan challenged them on two fronts, with the 4-cylinder Altima at one end and the V6 Maxima at the other. To do that, the Maxima has to stay reasonable in sticker price, and it has done that. The test car — with the V6, automatic, 4-wheel disc brakes and antilock, foglights, leather seats with 8-way driver and 4-way passenger power, air-conditioning and temperature control, cruise, power windows, locks, mirrors,keyless entry and security system, remote trunk, fuel door and hood releases, dual airbags, three-point harnesses for five occupants, steel side safety beams, and an exceptional Bose 7-speaker audio system with cassette and CD — totaled $26,848 on the sticker.
XTERRA
Even those contributing to the sport-utility vehicle craze in the U.S. must be amazed at the extent of the SUV segment. It started with working trucks, then expanded in every direction, including overtuffed luxury vehicles, smaller and lighter mini-SUVs, and gussied-up worker SUVs so that you can hardly tell the active wilderness-challengers from the passive and posh luxury go-to-the-mall wagons.
Nissan claims to have made a move in the direction of real-use SUVs. With the Pathfinder, and a fancier Infiniti version of the Pathfinder, Nissan seemed to have a good handle on things. But with Honda’s CR-V and Toyota’s RAV4 selling like popcorn, and the smaller Jeeps and Isuzu Rodeo also doing well, Nissan brought out the Xterra.
Calling it “a toolbox for your life,” the Xterra tries to go the other direction from overdone creature-comforts. The impressive new Frontier pickup platform was used, and the Xterra was plunked down on it, with the truck’s ruggedness more important than the softness of the sedan-based competitors. Instead of a leather interior and fancy wood-grain trim, you get skid-plates underneath and functional, go-anywhere styling and ruggedness, complete with a lightweight competition-mountain-bike quality aluminum roof-rack that holds a removable gear basket for grungy stuff. If you’ve been kayaking, or whatever, and you’ve got wet stuff or gear coated with Park Point sand, toss it in the roof basket instead of messing up the interior.
It also has tie-down hooks and clips virtually everywhere you look, and right where you need them, including an interior bike rack if you don’t want to put the bikes on the roof-rack. There are fold-down seatbacks and removable seat cushions to aid in storage, plus firm suspension, running-board pipes with steps flattened into them, and a bulge on the tailgate that houses a complete first-aid kit for those potential mountain-bike or in-line roller skating abrasions.
Being able to remove the rear seat cushions allows you to flatten the floor, but when the cushions and backrests are in place, the Xterra takes on stadium seating — raised a couple inches above the level of the front seats so rear occupants can see out the front. The roof has a little raised area to accommodate rear-seat heads, as well.
The basic Xterra comes with a 2.4-liter engine, with dual overhead cams and 143 horsepower, with 154 foot-pounds of torque. This would probably be adequate for just a couple people and gear, and it lists for under $20,000, if you can find one like that. The test vehicle I drove was a more likely best-seller, even at $25,000, because it comes with a 3.3-liter V6 that produces 170 horsepower and 200 foot-pounds of torque, and 4-wheel drive. A full 90-percent of the V6 torque comes in at 1,500 RPMs, barely above idle. Towing capacity is 3,500 pounds with either the stick-shift 4-cylinder or V6, or 5,000 pounds with the V6 and automatic.
Some may find the Xterra too extreme-looking, but let’s wait a second — SUVs are almost all pretty extreme looking, so that should be an asset. The antilock brake system is a full, 4-wheel thing, and it has a g-sensor that can tell whether you are braking on pavement, gravel, ice or snow, and it automatically pumps the brakes proportionately less on skiddish surfaces.
You want more evidence of the “xtreme” planning of the Xtreme? The audio system has large push-buttons, bigger and easier to use than most. And Nissan claims it took the best, toughest denim jeans and mounted them on a mechanical arm, which would grind the abrasive denim into the seat fabric to simulate 10 years of hard use.
The fabric came out fine. No word on the Levi’s.
All-new, larger Saturn provides new horizon
[[[[CUTLINE STUFF:
#1— For the 2000 model year, Saturn introduces the L-series, a larger, mid-size sedan aimed at competing with the Camry-Accord-Taurus segment leaders.
#2— The L-series Saturn sedan has spacious seating front and rear and an enormous trunk capacity, plus front-wheel drive.
#3— Complementing the Saturn LS sedan is an LW station wagon, sharing both the new 4-cylinder and V6 dual-overhead-camshaft engines. ]]]]]]
When word first trickled out that Saturn was going to double its marketing plan by adding an entirely new and larger vehicle, I must admit I was skeptical.
Saturn’s big thing, since its inception at the start of this decade, was to have a special building procedure to build a special car at Spring Hill, Tenn., and then sell and service that almost-communal car through special no-haggle pricing. The whole concept worked well, and the Saturn S-series, after spectacular introduction and despite seemingly reluctant upgrading, has evolved into a very good compact competitor with a coupe, sedan and wagon.
The new sidekick vehicle, word was, would be a rebadged Opel, much the way the Catera is for Cadillac. However, now that the Saturn LS (sedan) and LW (wagon) are being built, and I’ve had the chance to test-drive them, my initial suspicions and skepticism about a Saturn corporate sellout have been eradicated.
The new cars may have a basis with General Motors’ outstanding German Opel technology, but the new L-series has its own personality, with unique dimensions and a pair of high-tech engines, covered with traditional Saturn polymer body panels, and all assembled at a dedicated plant in Wilmington, Del.
When I first drove the LS sedan, it impressed me with its performance. This car had leather seats, a 3.0-liter dual-overhead-camshaft V6, and all the creature comforts you could want. It also had surprisingly good room in the front bucket seats and the rear bench, and a trunk that could easily contain a couple-weeks-worth of luggage for a family of four. Or five. With an overall length of 190 inches — compared to the smaller S-series 178 inches for the sedan — the sedan has a class-leading 18 cubic feet of luggage space.
There was, however, no price sticker with the car. When curious people asked me how much it was, I said I didn’t know, but since it was aimed at being a larger and more expensive car than the basic Saturn S-series, I guessed it might cost in the mid-$20,000 range, with the loaded version even up near $30,000. I was wrong. The pricing came out after I drove the car, and the base price of the Saturn L-series sedan is around $18,000, with the V6 version at $20,575.
The L-series wagon I test-drove was a more basic version, with the 4-cylinder engine — also with dual-overhead-cams — and cloth seats, and that starts at $19,275.
Saturn again is offering “a la carte” options on the L-series, so with leather and power seats, a power sunroof, 15-inch alloy wheels, an upgraded audio system with CD player, a rear spoiler, foglights and traction control, you can increase the price of either version by $4,000. If you upgrade your purchase from the LS1 basic sedan to the LS2, the base price goes from $18,000 to $20,575, but you get the V6, automatic, 15-inch alloys, upgraded CD and cassette audio, and foglights all standard.
In any way, shape or trim level, the new Saturn L-series sedan and wagon comes with front-wheel drive, which should be made to order for Up North winter driving, and the pricing comes in at a reasonable level for the competition.
L-SERIES OUTLOOK
Saturn remains the rebellious inside crew at GM that got its start by believing — insisting — that GM could compete with the best compact imports and got the chance to be a separate, isolated brand within GM. The Saturn operating group listened to ideas and suggestions from its loyal customers, many of whom were ready, after several years and maybe multiple years of Saturn ownership, to move up to a somewhat larger car.
The original Saturn buyers had forced expansion to 300 dealerships nationwide, and had purchased two million Saturns. Over 70 percent of Saturn buyers said they would have bought an imported car if Saturn hadn’t been available. The same will undoubtedly hold for the L-series — which stands for “larger” according to Saturn.
The highly successful Opel sedans were not very successful in primitive form, 30 years ago, when they were sold in the U.S. They have, however, evolved to being very successful in Europe and through the rest of the world, and in many ways Opel technology has gone beyond GM’s stubborn reluctance to go to overhead-cam engine design, for example.
The Saturn L gets two high-tech engines that might make some of the more established GM brands envious. The 2.2-liter 4-cylinder is all-new and Saturn-exclusive, with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and twin balance shafts to eliminate vibration and ensure smoother operation. It turns out a credible 137 horsepower at 5,800 RPMs and 147 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400 RPMs. That engine is standard on the LS and LS1 sedans with either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, and is standard on the LW1 wagon with the automatic.
The 4-cylinder follows the original Saturn design of “lost-foam” casting. The casting for the engine block actually is made out of styrofoam. When boiling hot aluminum is poured onto the foam, the styrofoam vaporizes and is replaced by aluminum, which, when it cools and hardens, becomes the engine block while the styrofoam is gone in a puff of smoke — the ultimate in environmentally friendly engineering.
The 3.0-liter V6 also has dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, and delivers 182 horses at 5,600 RPMs, with 190 foot-pounds of torque at 3,600 revs. The V6 is a 54-degree angle “V” to maximize compactness. It is built in Ellesmere Port, England.
Both engines were enjoyable to drive, revving freely and smoothly, and accelerating in Saturn style — swift and efficient, without any race-car overtones, but with good fuel economy of 24-32 city-highway for the 4-cylinder, and 20-26 estimated for the V6.
The performance of both lived up to factory claims for 0-60 acceleration of 9.5-seconds for the 4-cylinder and 8.2 for the V6.
SAFETY AND SECURITY
Another tendency of Saturn’s interest in listening to its controlled-number customers is in the safety end of technology. Safety has consistently ranked at the top of Saturn-owners’ surveys in their reasons for selecting Saturns. The original S-series sedans, coupes and wagons have attained 5-star government ratings in crash testing, and the L-series aimed at achieving the same.
Both the sedan and wagon start out with crumple zones front and rear to help absorb the energy of any impact. A front crash “limiter” cross-member adds to the front-end torsion resistance and stiffness of the chassis. A specially designed joint in the rear reacts to the force of a high-speed rear impact, and reinforcements are designed into the floor beams to aid in side impact collisions.
The L-series follows the S-series lead in being designed as a steel modified-space frame, surrounding occupants with the structural benefits of an overall monocoque (one-piece) body with steel ribbing for reinforcement.
In crashes, occupant safety is foremost, but once that is attained, the cost of repair becomes a major issue. All Saturns have benefitted from the polymer panel bodies, which resist scratches, and eliminate dents and dings. A crashworthy benefit of those plastic panels is that in the event of a collision, a panel can be removed, and repaired or replaced, without affecting the rest of the body or compromising the structural rigidity of the vehicle.
Antilock brakes, driver and front passenger airbags with reduced-force to try to lessen the chance of airbag-induced injury, are standard. Three-point seat harnesses are also standard on the four outer seats, naturally, and top-tether child-seat attachments are located at all three rear seat positions.
The antilock brake system has speed sensors on all four wheels with an electronic control unit that also is used in the full-function traction control. While antilock brakes allow the driver to maintain steering control and eliminate brake lockup, the traction-control device turns the system around to engage the brakes while also reducing power, reading the tendency to skid by supplying the power to the wheel with more traction.
One helpful thing for drivers on icy conditions is that a light blinks from the dash to warn that the conditions are such that the reduced-power system has been engaged. One of the less-driver-friendly characteristic of some traction-control systems is that they are so smooth that the driver might not realize slippery conditions have been encountered.
The new Saturns also are equipped for safety from driver brain-fade: An anti-lockout system prevents doors from locking if the key is still in the ignition.
Another outstanding feature is an oil-monitoring system that reads the car’s motor oil, which can vary greatly among different drivers and conditions, and it can detect when the end of the oil’s useful lifespan is approaching. At that time, a “change oil” light comes on for 15 seconds after starting the car, signalling the driver to change oil soon.
Other maintenance is scheduled at 100,000 mile intervals. And, based on the initial test-drives, it would appear that there might be a lot of satisfied Saturn L-series buyers who will get to that point and beyond.
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.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports