Audi TT, Ford Focus, Lincoln LS named finalists
Before it’s time to say: “The envelope…please…” we first must open the bigger envelope, to look over the three finalists for North American Car of the Year.
The three finalists, alphabetically, are: Audi TT Coupe, Ford Focus, and Lincoln LS. It is a divergent threesome this time around, which may be appropriate for the end of the millenium. You’ve got your stunning sports car in the Audi TT, a new-technology entry level — which is to say “affordable” — compact in the Focus, and a breakthrough sedan that can be either luxurious or surprisingly sporty in the Lincoln LS.
Truck of the Year finalists are equally as spread out: Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, Nissan Xterra, and Toyota Tundra. The Dakota is a mid-size pickup that has gone beyond the jump-seat extended-cab concept to add a full rear seat with full 4-door cabin, and still has the pickup box. The Xterra is a no-compromise fun Sport-Utility Vehicle with serious off-road capabilities instead of luxury touches and a modest price tag. The Tundra is Toyota’s first attempt at a full-size pickup and it undoubtedly will challenge the Big Three of Ford F150, Chevy Silverado and Dodge Ram in the marketplace.
The votes are in, and now we all must wait three weeks for the start of the most significant U.S. auto show, the North American International Auto Show at Detroit, to see who wins the award. I am privileged to be on the jury of 48 men and women selected from among the nation’s automotive journalists to vote on the award.
The award is the top one in the country, although you may be excused for being confused about such awards. There are, after all, so many of these things, done by magazines, independent groups and virtually every organization that wants to call attention to itself. The organizing committee for the North American COY board claims there are 674 such awards in North America alone, although these guys are veteran journalists who can be excused if they dabble in occasional sarcasm about the competition.
The award started in 1994 because this small group of automotive journalists, some of whom had once worked for operations where advertising and marketing prevailed over objectivity, realized that the ad-marketing side had taken over so much of the impact of new cars that it was time for a totally objective car of the year deal. So they came up with this unique concept: By assembling a group of diverse automotive journalists, linked by an intense desire to get inside and personal with automobiles, they could compile the group’s subjective votes into an objective total.
The concept is to provide the cross-referenced benefit to consumers, rather than to advertisers or marketing wizards. Among the jurors, some may like sports cars best, some may like luxury barges, and others might prefer SUVs. But all can appreciate the best points of each category, and no matter how subjective their vote is, the overview of 48 voters comes out with validity. Last year, the winner was the Volkswagen New Beetle for cars, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee among trucks. Pretty hard to argue with those choices. And, for the first time, both were my top choices.
As it turns out, these two awards, for car and truck, are the only two in North America that are done solely by an independent group of automotive journalists. The membership has changed over the years, and there are rules to follow. The key is to first include only those cars that have been significantly redone or introduced for the new year. Simply reskinning a car or putting a different grille or interior on a vehicle doesn’t cut it.
The standards are to examine the candidates for their assets and how they might have an impact on the industry. Technical innovation, safety, attractiveness, performance, economy and pleasure are among the criteria, and in more recent years the board urged us all to stress affordability more, because we had been somewhat consumed by a trend toward costly luxury and sports cars; if money is no object our choices are easier, but we lose the real-worldliness of our selections.
We make a preliminary vote to cut the new cars down to a workable list of candidates, trying for 10, but settling this year for 14 cars and 10 trucks. We had until Dec. 10 to get our votes in, and the tricky part is you get 25 points to be awarded separately for both cars and trucks. You can give one vehicle in either category a maximum of 10 points, and you can spread out the 25 points to include as many as you want.
The tricky part is that virtually every car on the list deserves some merit, so it gets pretty tough to hand out the points. This year, more than any, there were some very worthy contenders that didn’t even get named among the final candidates, let alone the three finalists.
Here are the nominated candidates this year: Cars–Audi TT, BMW X5, Cadillac Deville, Ford Focus, Ford Taurus, Honda S2000, Jaguar S-Type, Lincoln LS, Mercedes S-Class, Nissan Maxima, Saturn L Series, Toyota Echo, Volkswagen Golf and Volvo S40/V40. Trucks–Chevrolet Suburban, Chevrolet Tahoe, Dodge Dakota Quad Cab, Ford Excursion, GMC Yukon, GMC Yukon XL, Isuzu Vehicross, Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, Nissan Xterra, Toyota Tundra.
The winners will be announced on Monday, January 10, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. As of now, only one person knows the winners, and that is the vice chairman of the outfit that is contracted to compile the votes.
My votes were spread out among these cars: The Audi TT, Honda S2000, Volvo S40, Ford Focus, Lincoln LS, Mercedes S-Class, and the BMW X5.
We’ll deal with the trucks next week, but my votes went to the Toyota Tundra, Nissan Xterra, Dodge Quad Cab, Nissan Frontier Crew Cab, and Ford Excursion.
My reasoning in the car competition was a difficult blend. The Audi TT is spectacular from every standpoint, and is reasonably priced as well; the Honda S2000 with its incredible 9,000-RPM redline engine and great look and feel, as well as price, made it worthy despite its strict sports-car aim; the Volvo S40 looks, operates and feels like a $35,000 car but is amazingly priced at more like $25,000; the Focus is a high-tech economy car that also is fun to drive for under $13,000; the LS breaks away from Lincoln’s image of plush, luxury cars to add technology and the flair of European sports sedans; the Mercedes is priced very high, from $70,000-$90,000, but it may be that the most impressive car in the world requires a money-is-no-object analysis; the BMW X5 is that company’s made-in-the-USA attempt at an SUV.
Here’s a closer look at the three finalists.
AUDI TT
Audi has made tremendous strides in the last decade, coming back from the point where it almost withdrew its cars from the U.S. The A4 is a sedan that turned the German company around, and it hasn’t stopped coming up with higher and higher technology at reasonable prices, and with traditiona German style and durability.
The TT, however, went from a far-out concept car to reality in three years, and it is the focal point to show that this strong, staunch German company can, indeed, produce a pleasurable car that maintains all of its company traditions while going back for a retro version of race cars from decades past. There is nothing current about the TT, it is rather an amazing blend of retro and futuristic, and it starts at $30,000.
It comes with a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine, with five valves per cylinder, dual overhead camshafts and a low-pressure turbocharger that gives it full torque at barely above idle RPMs and maintains it well beyond normal shift points. It was first available as front-wheel drive, then Audi’s fabulous quattro system of all-wheel drive was added, and the next upgrade will be to offer a roadster (convertible) and a 225-horsepower engine.
The key, however, is its visual appeal. Inside, all sorts of brushed aluminum items come in geometric shapes, such as cylinders and circles. The seats are excellent, and the instrumentation is all well placed, plus it comes on with a stunning blue glow at night. From the outside, the TT is amazing. You can look at it from any angle — I particularly like the view from the rear — and it stops you in your tracks. If you like the look, it rivets your attention, but even if you find the look odd, you simply cannot stop looking at it.
LINCOLN LS
Lincoln’s always have had this floaty, traditional U.S. bigger-is-better so softer-is-better ride, and they have tended to be barge-like. For 2000, Lincoln has caught us by surprise with the LS sedan, because it is much more like European touring sedans, with taut, firm suspension, firmly supportive seats, and firm-enough suspension so that you can corner and steer with precision instead of wallow.
The tightness of the body adds to the classiness rather than detracting from it. Nobody would say a BMW sedan lacks luxurious class, and the LS is a reasonably priced ($34,690) challenger for that style of driving.
The LS is a product of Ford’s takeover of Jaguar, and the LS shares the platform and engines with the new Jaguar sedan. That means it gets the U.S.-built Duratec V6, which is surprisingly peppy in such a large sedan, or it gets the Jaguar-designed 3.9-liter V8, with 252 horsepower. Both are dual-overhead cam engines with four valves per cylinder.
Most startling, is that the LS comes with either the normal or sports package. The sports package has firmed suspension, which helps quicken the steering for sporty driving, and you can get the car with a 5-speed manual transmission. A Lincoln with a stick!
Impressed as I was with the LS handling when I drove the V6 with the manual shift, I was disappointed at first when I drove the fully loaded V8 without the sports package. However, it appears to be clever marketing by Lincoln. It means the car appeals to both the traditional luxury-seeker who wants a softer, spongier ride, and to the contemporary younger businessman who wants his luxury in a form that also can be driven hard and with enjoyment.
The styling is equally a departure for Lincoln, and the LS is priced over $10,000 under its Jaguar counterpart.
FORD FOCUS
This car could well win the award, because it is an attempt to rein in the high cost of driving a car these days. With a base price down near $10,000, the entry-level Focus will range from around $11,000 in modest form to around $13,000 in the sportiest trim.
I had the chance to drive both, starting with the basic 4-door (5-door, if you count the hatchback), to the sporty 3-door in bright red with alloy wheels. That’s the one that would look good with a ribbon and a bow this morning, and it’s almost compact enough to fit under your Christmas tree.
The sedan handled well and was impressive, much in the way the new Toyota Echo is, as a new-generation affordable car. They are pleasant breaks from all the monster SUVs and trucks that seem to fill the roadways these days, and they may get us back to efficient, inexpensive, front-wheel-drive driving and owning. In fact, pickup, SUV and van owners should have a car like this as their alternative vehicle.
Both Focus models come with Ford’s Zetec 4-cylinder engine, but in two forms. The Focus 4-door came with the 115-horsepower single-overhead cam version, and it had adequate pep and power, even with its automatic transmission.
The little red Focus was the prize, however. It had the upgraded 130-horse version of the Zetec, with dual-overhead cams. It was much more fun to drive, undoubtedly aided by the larger wheels with more aggressive tires. With the instrumentation, comfort and other interior amenities all in place, the Focus fits its niche well — which is slightly larger than the Escort and slightly smaller than the Contour.
The Escort and Contour are still around, but are about to be phased out in the U.S., with the Focus being sold worldwide and replacing both in the U.S. market. Sleek as it looks, the Focus is a little taller than you realize, which gives it excellent interior headroom, and signals a new dimension in form-follows-function design, where the form looks as good as the function functions.
The TT, Focus and LS all would be worthy winners. My vote total gave the award to the Audi TT, but my guess at this point is that the winner might well be the Focus. Now we just have to wait until Jan. 10 to find out.
Detroit auto show proves future is already here
[Photos of just-introduced vehicles Ford Escape, Mazda RX-Evolv concept are on the website, filed by me…check “VIEW PDF” to find them.]
DETROIT, MICH. — Everything from 100-plus miles-per-gallon to gas-guzzling race cars, from environmentally-friendly commuter subcompacts to stretched-out luxury cars, and from retro-styled dazzlers to visionary cars of the future — take your pick at the Detroit International Auto Show, and if you don’t find it, look in the next booth.
The first two days of the media-week preliminary to the biggest U.S. auto show have been a constant stream of press conferences with most manufacturers unveiling secret or carefully disguised new vehicles for maximum impact.
A walk through Tuesday’s whirlwind introductions started at 7:30 a.m. and included:
* Dodge introduced its Intrepid R/S NASCAR race car for the Winston Cup, and said that the United Auto Workers would be its partner in the racing venture, which also includes Dodge’s 2,900 dealers as partners. Team owner Ray Evernham unveiled the red race car, which, of course, will be a front-engine/rear-drive vehicle with a pushrod V8 engine — none of which are available on the production front-drive, V6-powered Intrepid, but that conforms to NASCAR rules.
* Porsche unveiled its turbocharged 911 model in North America, with a 420-horsepower, 3.6-liter engine capable of a top speed of 189 miles per hour. At the same time, Porsche also gave North Americans their first look at the Boxster S, the higher-performance model of the moderately-priced sports car, which sparked a 25.5 percent increase in Porsche sales for 1999.
* Acura unveiled its CL coupe, but it was only a preliminary for the MD-X vehicle, a concept Sport Utility Vehicle that will find its way into production in time for fall introduction. “It is no secret that we’re showing up late to the SUV party,” said Richard Colliver, sales vice president for American Honda. “So we better be prepared.” He said that a production vehicle will be displayed in April at the New York Auto Show.
* Audi showed a stretched version of its top-line luxury sedan, the A8L, and an open-top roadster version of the TT sports car, which was runner-up to the Ford Focus in the Car of the Year voting announced Monday morning.
* Ford displayed its new Escape, an SUV smaller than the Explorer, which is smaller than its Expedition, which is smaller than its Excursion. The vehicle will be built in the Kansas City plant, which used to build Contours. “A lot of journalists have said the new SUV would be on the Contour platform, or some other existing platform,” said Keith Takasawa, program engineer for the vehicle. “But this is all new from the ground up. It has a unibody design, which we could make very rigid for safety and for ride and handling. It’s shorter than an Xterra, and within a fraction of an inch from the Honda CRV, and it’s 16.5 inches shorter than the 4-door Explorer. It will be at dealerships by July, and can be had with either the Zetec 4-cylinder or Duratech V6, both of which have optional all-whel drive.
* Jaguar, now a division of Ford, brought out its F-Type sports car, a smaller and more compact vehicle than the XK-8. The car was identified as a concept, and Ford officials said that auto show reaction to the car would be monitored before production start was announced.
* General Motors put three alternative-energy vehicles on the stage. A functional diesel-electric hybrid called the Precept was introduced in two versions, the second of which has a hydrogen “fuel stack” similar to fuel-cell systems being experimented with by various manufacturers. The diesel-electric has 80-miler-per-gallon projections, with the fuel-stack version figured at 108 mpg. The Triax, and the G-90 experimental alternative-energy vehicles also were shown, and GM vice chairman Harry Pearce said he believed the Precept could be produced in a working model by the end of the year.
* Mitsubishi, long a leader in alternative-energy vehicles and far-out concept vehicles, showed its 2001 Spyder convertible version of the new Eclipse, and also displayed the 2001 Montero SUV with an entirely renovated style. While the stage was flanked with Mitsubishi’s two most recent concept vehicles, the SST sports coupe and the SSU all-wheel-drive SUV, Mitsubishi’s chief U.S. operating officer Pierre Gagnon also raised the curtain on an all-new concept vehicle, a slick SSS sedan, which has some SUV characteristics. Despite its sleek lines, the rear of the SSS can be configured to carry two mountain bikes, upright, inside.
* DaimlerChrysler, which unveiled its all-new redesigned minivans on Monday, came back with what has become an “old reliable” winner Tuesday, showing three different versions of the spectacular PT Cruiser mini-wagon, which will be produced and hitting the showrooms by summertime. The popular eye-catchers are compact on the outside but amazingly roomy inside, and they will come in three forms — the PT Cruiser, the sportier GT Cruiser, and the Panel Cruiser, a new side-paneled version. Engines will range up to a 200-horsepower turbocharged 4-cylinder, and the biggest news is that the Cruisers will wear price tags from a base $16,000 to a fully-loaded Limited Edition at $19,995.
* Nissan took the wraps off its new Sentra compact sedans, which are designed exclusively for the North American market, and showed off its 2001 Pathfinder, with an enlarged 3.5-liter V6.
* Lexus brought out its new top-of-the-line luxury sedan, the LS430, which will replace the LS400. Its new engine will propel the big sedan from 0-60 in 6.2 seconds, and its shape has been streamlined to a coefficient of drag of 0.25 — lowest of any production sedan in the world.
* Mazda’s press conference was in Ford’s corporate facility, fooling some journalists who aren’t used to all of Ford’s affiliates being brought under the parental umbrella. But the press conference was worth the hunt, because a new concept sports car hybrid called the RX-EVOLV was introduced as the belated replacement for the RX-7. It will be powered by a rotary engine producing 280 horsepower and has a one-piece engine-transmission unit. The big surprise is that the vehicle has its wheels out at the corners for optimum interior room, and while it is no bigger than the last RX-7 2-seater, this one has rear-opening back doors, making it a 4-door sports car.
* Suzuki, which made a big hit with the compact SUV Grand Vitara last year, introduced a new elongated version of that vehicle, with three rows of seats.
The major thrust of the show continues to be overtures by every manufacturer about the next low-emission, high-mileage vehicle being projected. Honda and Toyota, however, are the only companies that currently have such vehicles in production, Honda with the Insight and Toyota with the Prius. Honda almost casually had on display a new pair of concept vehicles, the FCX fuel-cell-powered sedan, and the Spocket sports car.
Ford had its huge demonstration of electric, fuel-cell and hybrid vehicles on Monday, including the announcement that such vehicles will be identified by the “TH!NK” designation — with an exclamation point instead of the “I” in the middle, aimed, obviously, at driving editors crazy. General Motors followed on Tuesday, claiming it would be the world’s leader in efficient alternative-energy vehicles, but also unveiling new big-engined trucks in the Avalanche and the Pontiac Aztek SUV. Chrysler — now DaimlerChrysler — pushed the improvements of the new minivan, plus new concepts called the Jeep Varsity and a 300M convertible.
Other big news at the show was Volkswagen’s introduction of a concept vehicle that is an almost-pickup truck with four doors, called the AAC, for Advanced Activity Concept, powered by a V10 engine.
Big Three trucks offer substance and show biz
DETROIT, MICH. — Flair and show-biz dominated the North American International Auto Show, but there is plenty of substance on display at the most significant car show on the continent.
General Motors went beyond any previous boundaries in entertaining the media during this past week’s press introduction of what will be shown to the public for the next week, and Ford competed eagerly with GM as the two provided enormous displays with stages for introductory shows. Still, Chrysler tried to steal the show with cleverly devised introductions instead of the huge, private venues.
However, amid all the earnest talk about alternative energy vehicles and improved emissions and fuel efficiency, the emphasis of the U.S. “Big Three” clearly was focused on trucks.
General Motors opened with a volley on stage that featured the unveiling of the new Chevrolet Avalanche pickup and the Pontiac Aztek in a simultaneous presentation that featured dozens of young adults, leaping and cheering on stage at the very mention of a new vehicle. The blatant phoniness of the cheerleader-like reception couldn’t conceal the fact that these could be significant vehicles for GM, nonetheless.
For one thing, while Chrysler brought out concept cars that turned into the reality of the Viper, Prowler and now the PT Cruiser, and other companies have done the same, GM has become known for designing far-out concept cars that are only aimed at attracting attention, and are followed by no intention of ever building them. The Aztek and the Avalanche, however, could change that.
The Avalanche is a vehicle that can change from a pickup truck to a sport utility vehicle and back again. It is Chevy’s response to the current trend to 4-door pickup trucks, which Dodge, Ford and Nissan already have in showrooms. Chevrolet executives say they intend to sell 100,000 Avalanches in a full production year, after they go on sale in 2001. Prices are expected to be around $30,000, and the vehicle is seen as a compromise between a full-size Silverado pickup and a big Suburban SUV.
The Aztek resembles a concept vehicle GM put out a couple of years back. Its nose resembles a Pontiac Montana van, and its rear tapers off like a station wagon that tried to turn into a hatchback. The Aztek is aimed at selling in the mid-$20,000 region and Pontiac executives say they could go on sale in California this summer and be nationally distributed in time for next fall as a 2001 model. The Aztek will be powered by the 3.4-liter V6, with optional all-wheel drive.
Chrysler has gained fame for its innovative introductory shows, and didn’t disappoint when it came time to bring out the newly redesigned minivan fleet. The importance of the Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country is unmistakable, and 607,000 of the minivans were sold worldwide during 1999. Introduced in 1984, with the Chrysler model following in 1990, the trio has commanded 40 percent of the market segment, and outsells its closest competitor by 2-to-1.
Jim Holden, president of DaimlerChrysler, spoke about how much better the revised version is, assuring the changes will keep the company ahead of the competition and also give customers more than what they expect with such additions are a power rear liftgate, dual power sliding doors with manual override, a pop-up cargo organizer to stow such things as grocery bags in the rear, and 230 horsepower from the big 3.5-liter overhead-cam V6. With that, two of the minivans came hurtling through the sky, bursting through the upper levels of the stage and then descending on wires from the rafters to land on the stage.
The truck market certainly didn’t leave Ford behind. Already the industry leader with the F150 pickup, Ford showed off the 4-door Super Crew version of that vehicle and displayed the new Equator concept vehicle, which is a 4-door SUV-like thing with a short pickup box at the rear. Of more real-world interest, however, is the new Escape, Ford’s long-awaited compact SUV.
Speculation was that the Escape would be built on the Contour platform, since it will be built at the same Kansas City plant where the Contour was previously built. Other rumors were that it would be based on the Mazda 626 platform, because of Ford’s alliance with Mazda. But Keith Takasawa was understandably defensive about such reports, because he is the platform engineer for the Escape program.
“We looked at various platforms, because it would be cheaper and take less time to share one that already exists,” said Takasawa. “But this is all-new, from the ground up. It has a unibody, which gives it a very rigid platform, and which can be felt in the ride and handling. It also allows us to package the vehicle more efficiently, with a lower step-in height.”
The Escape is 16.5 inches shorter than a 4-door Explorer, and is aimed at competing with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Nissan Xterra. It is shorter than the Xterra — which was named North American International Truck of the Year at the show on Monday — and is about the same size as a CR-V but with more interior room. It will use the Zetec 4-cylinder with a 5-speed manual, or an optional 3.0-liter Duratec V6 with 200 horsepower, both with optional 4-wheel drive. Those engines began life in the late Contour, leading to that part of the speculation, and Ford will allow Mazda to sell a rebadged version of the Escape, which led to the other half of the incorrect assumption.
“The base version will get 28 miles per gallon, and the V6 4×4 will get 24 miles per gallon,” said Takasawa. “And it will be at dealerships by July.”
Other new trucks at the show were displayed by Toyota, with a new Sequoia positioned between the 4Runner and Land Cruiser, and either concepts or ready-to-produce vehicles from Suzuki, the XL6; from Hyundai, the Santa Fe; from Isuzu, the VX-4; from Mitsubishi, the Montero; from Dodge, with the MAXX; and from Jeep, with the Varsity.
The trend toward trucks continues onward and upward.
Letting old car go is stark contrast to new car dazzle
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Among the spectacular vehicles at Detroit’s International Auto Show were the Chevrolet SS-R concept (top); the futuristic Mitsubishi SSS concept sedan; the Honda Spocket convertible all-wheel-drive sports car/pickup concept; and the Pininfarina alternative energy prototype that looks more like a golf cart than a car.
The 1986 GTI can only be described as white, rusty and dented, but it earned a place in the family for being dependable and safe under extreme circumstances.
The timing was just coincidence, but the contrast was striking. The excitement-filled days of witnessing the eye-popping vehicles of the future at press preview days at the Detroit International Auto Show came in the same week as I got the call. The time had come to get rid of the old car.
I went from being amazed at vehicles from virtually every manufacturer, such as the Chevrolet concept car that is sort of like a futuristic version of the old Nomad, a 2-door with a pickup-like box. And Mitsubishi came out with several new cars and a spectacular new concept sedan called the SSS. Another star attraction was the Honda Spocket — for “S” Pocket, I guess — which can be changed from sports car to pickup and which has a front-drive motor and two small electric motors to drive each rear wheel. The farthest-out was a prototype designed by Pininfarina, looked a lot like a golf cart that you could simply steer from the 18th hole and head on home.
With those and other such flashy machines fillling my brain, it was pretty stark contrast to come home and see the old, familiar 1986 Volkswagen GTI in the drivewayl, mostly white, but with generous splotches of yellowish rust on both sides, the front and rear, and the roof. It was a tired, spent old beast, but it had won a place in our family’s history back when it performed younger than its odometer’s 160,000 miles, and provided safe and dependable transportation for our younger son, Jeff.
We got it several years ago, with close to 100,000 miles on it, as a high school graduation surprise. Jeff had no idea it was coming, and I had found it on a dealership’s used-car lot in Bloomington. I checked it out. It had been driven a lot of miles, but they were highway miles, by a fellow who was a pilot and drove it between Minnesota and California numerous times. It was clean, with a strong motor (but not the hotter 16-valve version), great black leather seats, a sunroof, foglights, a 5-speed and the safety and durability I knew was built in on VW’s Golf body.
Because it was white, and Jeff was graduating from Mounds View High School with its green and white colors, I brought the car home and parked it in a quiet cul-de-sac a block away, out of sight. On the morning of his graduation, I went out early and drove the car around, parking it in our short driveway, behind our car and next to the sort of test-drive vehicle that made our driveway resemble a revolving door of different new vehicles every week. My wife, Joan, wrapped a wide, green ribbon around the car and tied it in a neat bow on top.
Jeff got up late, as was his custom on non-school days, and we were at the kitchen table reading the paper. I asked Jeff if he’d mind going out and moving one of the cars for easier access, and he said OK. We knew what was coming. He let out a shriek and his smile went from ear-to-ear with disbelief. He loved that car, and they had a great and trusting relationship. When he went off to college at Bemidji State, we weren’t worried about his transportation, even though he lived out of town with some other fellows.
We got a call from Jeff, who is a wonderfully thoughtful young man, and he braced us by opening with the statement: “I’ve got some really bad news.” My heart stopped, as my brain rapidly sifted through the mental files of all the things that could be so disastrous. Turns out, he had used up the money in his checking account on rent and groceries. I laughed. And then I told Jeff we knew we would have to subsidize his college expenses, so don’t be scaring the wits out of his parents by saying anything is “bad news.”
The next day he called, and said we shouldn’t worry, so I relaxed a little. He said he had injured a knee in hockey tryouts, and would need arthroscopic surgery immediately. We thought that was pretty bad news, but he got upset that we were over-reacting and insisted he wanted to have the surgery done himself, without his parents around. So we stayed home and suffered, staying in phone contact to know he was fine, except for the cast and crutches, which would preclude him from operating the clutch in his car. He worked out a deal with his roommate to drive both of them to school in Jeff’s GTI.
Two days after that, Jeff called again. This time he opened by saying there was nothing seriously wrong, and that we didn’t need to worry. I sat down, with a sigh. My son was just calling to talk. Great. Then he told me his roommate had lost control of the GTI on a twisty road going to school, and the car had gone off the road, rolling down a 10-foot bank and wound up upside down in the ditch, where it remained all day.
“Jeff,” I said, in shock, “THAT’S REALLY BAD NEWS!”
Anyhow, he and a group of friends went out, rolled the GTI back upright and had it towed into town, where a fellow didn’t believe it had been rolled, because while it was seriously dented left, top and right, none of the windows even broke. More remarkably, they crawled out of the car uninjured. In town, they drained and refilled the fluids, and Jeff drove home for Thanksgiving. That was a few years ago. By summertime, the crank-open sunroof even started to work again.
Jeff’s in his final semester now, and he’s got a different, newer car that has worked well. But for the last couple of years, the GTI has been sitting in our driveway, taking up space and being unused. We all know it had to go, and I sold it once, but the young guy who bought it said he had the engine tested and there wasn’t a lot of compression in one cylinder. I refunded his money and took the car back. And I have to say I felt warm and comfortable having that car, which had protected Jeff and served valiantly, back in the driveway. Once in a while Jeff would drive it around the neighborhood, and remark about how much he loved it. But it had to go.
I finally acted, just before December, the year 1999 and the millennium ended, and agreed to sell the car to the American Lung Association. I don’t know if they fix it up, or what, but we get a tax write-off for fair market value. I got it running, drove it around a little, and then left it, ready to go.
Then I was off to Detroit, where the wonders of the present and future car world were dazzling. When I got home, there was a message saying that the Lung Association folks would be picking up the car the next morning. I made sure it was cleaned out, got it started right up, and cleared the snow off it. Then I drove it up and down the street before parking it there and leaving the keys in the ashtray, just in case I had to go somewhere before they arrived to pick it up. I also shot a few photos of it, just for old time’s sake.
I returned to the computer to tap out a story, and a couple of hours later I went to the door and peeked out. It was gone. I was sure they’d come to the door, and I could walk out and give the car a special sendoff. But no. They found the keys, started it, and were gone. I surprised by the wave of sadness, emptiness, that consumed me. I called Jeff and told him it was gone. It felt good to share the sadness. We both agreed we’d like to park it off near the woods at the Duluth place, just to keep it. Maybe we could have turned it into a planter.
But I’ll never forget the casual glance out to where the car had been parked, and the surprise to see it was gone. I’m not ashamed to admit I felt thankful enough to even love that little car. Maybe some day, 20 years from now, somebody will feel the same way about a Chevy SS-R, or a Mitsubishi SSS, or a Honda Spocket, or a Pininfarina mini. I hope so.
New X5 is BMW version of the ultimate on-or-off road vehicle
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Driving the BMW X5 is like bringing a concept vehicle to life as a highly sophisticated SUV; picture a 540 sedan with 19-inch wheels.
The interior of the X5 greatly resembles the finest BMW sedans for its classy and understated refinement.
Auto show concept trucks included, from the top, the Jeep Varsity, the Acura MDX, the Dodge MAXX, and the Ford Equator. Some may be built, some are just fantasy wagons. The BMW X5 began life this way, and, a year later, is on the road. ]]]]]]]]
The lingering impression of numerous concept vehicles at the Detroit International Auto Show remains, but we can only wonder if some of them will reach reality. For me, it led to an intriguing flashback in the Sports-Utility Vehicle segment. A year ago, the BMW X5 was introduced at just such auto shows, and some cynics may have thought it was far-fetched to even consider such a vehicle from BMW.
This year, the Jeep Varsity was a stunning concept vehicle on display at Detroit. So was the Acura MDX, a new SUV that will be the first full-sized one built by Honda. And the Dodge MAXX was a combined SUV-pickup type, as was the new Ford Equator — 4-door SUVs with small rear pickup boxes. We can be sure the Acura will be showing up in showrooms; we can only hope concepts such as the Jeep, Equator and MAXX will find their way into production.
As impressive as all of those and many other new concept-SUVs were at Detroit, the best example of optimism for production of such vehicles takes us back out on the road. Just before Christmas, I got a chance to test drive the new and amazing BMW X5, which is that German company’s first attempt at an SUV, and it’s built in the U.S., at BMW’s Spartanburg, S.C., plant. Actually, BMW refers to its X5 as an SAV, not an SUV, with SAV standing for Sports-Activity Vehicle. For BMW to venture into the territory of off-road vehicles shows just how deep our current nation’s passion for SUVs has become. BMW always has made sedans, coupes and more recently sports cars that are famous for smooth, high-performing capabilities. And here they are, with a truck, and one which leaped to life from what appeared to be a concept-vehicle beginning.
Naturally, the X5 isn’t very trucklike. It looks ferocious, but my first impression was that it looked like a 540 sedan on steroids. Imagine a beefed-up 540 sedan on 19-inch wheels, and you’re halfway there.
Climbing aboard the X5 gives you the same feeling of awe that you get from getting into a fully loaded BMW sedan, from the silvery-blue-grey leather seats to the woodgrain trim tastefully outlining the shift lever on the console. The steering wheel, with various thumb controls for audio and cruise control, plus the instrumentation, and the air and audio controls on the center dash panel all are very similar to the 540 sedan.
And when you turn on the key, the kick is also very similar.
That’s because the X5 comes loaded with the same 4.4-liter V8 that powers the hottest 540 or 740 sedans to speeds of well over 150 miles per hour on the German autobahns. In the X5, it is controlled with an electronic governor at 128 mph, but the X5 will get up to 100 with a suddenness that will make you forget you’re up high in a so-called truck.
The dual-overhead camshaft (with chains, not belts, driving the cams), 32-valve V8 is a gem, with variable timing of the intake valves. Despite the comparatively small size — compare the 4.4 liters to Ford’s 4.6 or 5.4 liter V8s, or GM’s 5.7-liter V8 — the BMW engine has 282 horsepower and a massive 324 foot-pounds of torque. So even though the X5 is hefty, at 4,850 pounds, that potent engine flings it from 0-60 in 7.5 seconds. Picture THAT sort of performance capability as you’re hurtling down the little road with a ridge of grass growing between tire lanes, hauling the fishing boat up to the lake cabin!
The transmission is a 5-speed automatic, which can be hand-shifted in the Steptronic mode of clutchless manuals. The suspension has an automatic load-leveling device, and one of the neatest touches, if a bit spooky, is that when you first get in at night and turn on the headlights, you get a little “zip-ziiiiiip” sequence when the thing levels, and the headlights wind up staying precisely aimed with their high-intensity cutoff.
For all its weight and high center of gravity, the X5 feels like the most stable SUV — or SAV — you’ll ever drive. The Mercedes M-Class SUV, which obviously is a primary target area for the BMW folks, also handles extremely well in all sorts of high-performance conditions, but does the job off the road as well. The X5 can be had with sports suspension, which is firmer, and while it will pull 6,000 pounds on a trailer, it does its chores with swift grace under pressure.
As for the truck description, the X5 has unibody construction instead of body-on-frame as most SUVs or light trucks have. BMW’s aim, quite logically, is at a market segment that enjoys the macho feel of a bigger, bolder vehicle but with little or no intention of truly going off-road. To be BMW, though, meant meeting those off-road requirements, just in case, but mostly it’s a fine, but expensive, on-road cruiser, aimed at being the safest, most sure-footed vehicle of its kind. Side and head airbags and optional rear side airbags leave occupants surrounded by air cushions and keeps intact BMW’s reputation of being at the forefront of safety development.
The engine’s massive punch of torque starts out being split 38-percent front/62-percent rear when you’re driving normally, in dry conditions. When the conditions threaten wheelspin, the computerized control system applies a brake lightly to stabilize the trajectory. Working in concert, the most sophisticated antilock brake system, traction control and stability management keep the X5 plowing through the most foul situations.
The biggest drawback to the X5 is its price, which is dangerously close to $50,000. The absolute base is $49,970, and while it comes so loaded you won’t need to consider many options, it would be impossible to add any option and stay below $50-large. However, the target of making the X5 extremely quiet, extremely stiff to enhance handling, extremely powerful, and extremely safe — all have been met.
The X5 doesn’t have a low-range locking range of gears, but it has a unique control switch to allow you to descend slowly in in control on the steepest of grades. Those who don’t run off-road may assume that the low-gear lockup is vital for climbing the steepest grades, but those who are experienced at off-road running know that the most important reason for such settings is going down steep hills, where you’d fry the brakes if you couldn’t get the gears to keep you running slow but in control. Mostly, however, the X5 is built to run swiftly, not slowly.
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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