First major revision makes 2001 Aurora a better selection
2001 Oldsmobile Aurora
LIKES:
Entirely new for 2001, the Aurora is leaner and more compact but retains the look of the original model.
Smooth power for acceleration and cruising, even with the new and smaller 3.5-liter V6, which is the perfect alternative to the more powerful V8, and delivers excellent fuel economy.
Shorter by 6 inches than its predecessor, the Aurora is lighter and more agile, with suspension refinements giving it a sportier feel.
The standard 4.0-liter Aurora V8 and the newly-available 3.5 V6, both with dual-overhead-camshafts, makes Aurora the most-technically-advanced sedan in the General Motors stable.
Totally revised body structure improves rigidity and safety.
The leather interior is accented with walnut trim — REAL walnut, thank you.
Instrumentation and other interior amenities are well-designed and well-placed, and traces of class include understated chrome rings around the gauges.
DISLIKES:
The cost of making the heavy Aurora lighter and more compact is that rear seat headroom and legroom are best if you are under 6-feet tall, although shoulder and hip room are improved.
Steering feel seemed very light — perhaps too light at cruising speed — which may be a combination of the new size, the new suspension, and the V6 instead of the heavier V8.
With competition being fierce at the entry-luxury level, the Aurora is also a lot of money for the car at $31,240, even though breaking down the elements proves the Aurora offers a lot of car for the money.
Six years ago, Oldsmobile sales were sagging enough that factions in the General Motors hierarchy seriously considered eliminating the entire line. Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac could easily pick up the slack from the Olds brand, which had always been known as perhaps the highest of high-tech arms of GM.
Cooler heads prevailed, and GM went the other direction with Oldsmobile, going so far as to let Olds designers come up with an entirely new near-luxury sedan, called the Aurora. It was very high-tech for its day, in both design and engineering. The most advanced engine in the GM line was the Cadillac NorthStar V8, and Olds wanted it for the Aurora. Cadillac allowed Olds to use the engine, but only if it would reduce its displacement from 4.6 to 4.0 liters, assuring that Seville buyers wouldn’t find themselves blown off the road by Auroras.
No problem, as long as the new engine had the same dual-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, and it did. After six years, the evolution of the Aurora look affected new models from around GM. The new Seville, in fact, is built on the Aurora chassis, as is the new Pontiac Bonneville. At Olds, including the compact Alero, and the midsize Intrigue took on a strong family resemblance to the Aurora. In fact, the Intrigue, newly designed two years ago, looked like a replica of the Aurora, which should have been a tip.
For 2001, Olds has already introduced an all-new Aurora, and it is an impressive job of refreshing the old design and improving on it, without losing the family trademark design.
My biggest complaints with the original Aurora was that GM made it too heavy. In the days when bigger and heftier meant better to U.S. manufacturers, that might have been fine. But here was a new-wave sedan in styling, and in my opinion it could have better taken on the challenges from Lexus, Acura, BMW, Audi and Mercedes by being lighter, leaner and more agile — plus, that 4.0 V8 would have been an impressive sizzler in a sportier setting.
Wonder of wonders, the 2001 Aurora has been built on an entirely new platform and restyles, and it is lighter, leaner and more agile.
My eagerness to test-drive the new Aurora in May came from the realization that the Aurora is the basis for the Indy Racing League’s formulated engines in the Indianapolis 500, although that presumed lower-budget operation this year lowered the limits from 4.0 to 3.5 liters. That means engine builders have to use a downsized version of the 4.0 V8.
As luck would have it, the Aurora that was sent to me last week offers the newest wrinkle from Olds — the 3.5-liter V6. Now, this is no ordinary V6, but GM’s latest trick engine, building a V6 as a chip off the old block, with that block being the NorthStar V8 and the Aurora derivative. When GM allowed the 3.5 V6 to be built, it was intended to be the engine of the future, where the aging 3800 V6 and others, such as the 3.1 and 3.4, still dwelled. But when it was finished, it cost more to build and GM can continue to make the older engines inexpensively, so the 3.5 V6 was appropriated only to Oldsmobile, for use in the Intrigue.
Other GM sedans, such as the Grand Prix, Impala, and Century, got all new high-tech bodies along with the Intrigue, but only Olds got to use the new, trick engine. For 2001, the Aurora gets to use it, too.
Look, feel of luxury
There are different perceptions of luxury, and they’ve changed in recent years. When we in the U.S. thought luxury cars had to be big, soft, squishy, powerful and not economical barges, there were some who appreciated the European style of Mercedes, BMW and Audi, which was to say understated, without the heft, softness, chrome and inefficiency. Those European cars were so simple and blah, but it proved to be a lasting look and feel that grew on their owners. The garish look got old, the true class of less ostentatious cars made them look and feel better the longer you owned them.
And performance was the key, with great power coupled with handling ability that made such luxury sedans corner as well as our high-performance coupes. Better, maybe. So we’re catching up. The best U.S. luxury cars now have risen in stature to challenge those European and the top Japanese vehicles (which were first to copy the Europeans).
The 2001 Aurora will fit in very well with that appeal. One of the most impressive things about the Aurora is that it has the look of a refined luxury sedan, and the feel as you slip behind the wheel. While the exterior is six inches shorter than the original long, wedgy Aurora, the interior room seems about the same. If legroom in the rear is lessened, it is only slight, and hip and shoulder room is actually increased. Same with the trunk, which is a full cubic foot smaller, but has a low liftover design that makes it much more accessible.
Behind the wheel, though, is best. The bucket seats are supportive and comfortable, coated with leather. The steering wheel feels good in your hands, and you look at the gauges and you see they are tastefully circled by slim chrome rings, including the tachometer, which redlines at 6,500 RPMs. A readout panel on the top edge of the center dashboard is for the computer, which provides fuel economy, gallons used, oil pressure, remaining life span of the oil before the next change, and elapsed time for trip settings. By being at the top of the dash, it is quickly read with minimal glances away from the road.
In the middle of the center dash panel is the air-heat controls, which are neat. I’m not sure I like the tiny little icons for where the airflow should be directed, although I got used to turning the knob to light up the appropriate one after only a few tries. The audio controls are low on that center dash, and it is an impressive system, with CD player and cassette in addition to AM-FM radio. It is open to debate which sets of controls should be located where; those that put the radio above the heat-air say that drivers tune the audio system much more often than they change air-heat settings.
Among the most impressive touches to set the Aurora apart from the mundane is a lot of wood trim, on the doors, console and center dash area. It is, however, real walnut — very impressive in this era of phony plastic wood. I’m one of those purists who insists that if you’re going to put wood accents in my car, it had better be real wood, no matter how real the plastic looks.
Step on the gas
When I noticed on the delivery sheet that the test Aurora had the V6, I was disappointed, because I had planned to compare the street version 4.0 V8 with the Indy Car race engine. However, past experiences with the 3.5-liter V6 should have allayed my feeling. And if that didn’t, stepping on the gas and zipping through a tankful of fuel certainly did.
The 4.0 V8 has an impressive 250 horsepower at 5,600 RPMs, and 260 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400. The 3.5 V6, though, has an equally impressive 215 horsepower at 5,600 revs, and 234 foot-pounds of torque at 4,400. With coil-at-plug ignition and extended-life sparkplugs, the engines won’t need anything but oil and oil filter changes for 100,000 miles.
The engine uses a log of aluminum and magnesium to both lighten and strengthen vital parts, and the 4.0 V8 got the same treatment for 2001. In V8 form, the 2001 Aurora is 165 pounds lighter than the 2000 model; with the 3.5 V6, the Aurora is 285 pounds lighter than the previous, V8-only model.
The bottom line, after all the technical stuff is laid out about the better structural rigidity, lighter-but-stronger chassis, revised suspension, and lighter high-output engines, is that the Aurora will accelerate and handle with surprising agility. The V6 version’s advantage in weight makes it much sportier than the old model, although I think Olds should moderate the Magnasteer’s speed-sensitive steering feel to take away some of the light-as-a-feather twitchiness as speed increases.
Gas mileage was good, and I thought at first it might be exceptional, because the tank is big enough that I got over 385 miles. A nice feature is that it takes regular gas, and while the EPA fuel economy estimates are 19 city and 28 highway, I got 21 in town, 25.5 on the freeway and a conglomerate 24.8 for a tankful that was used in combination.
Front and side airbags protect front occupants, four-wheel disc brakes with antilock help more, and the four-wheel independent suspension has automatic load-leveling. The 16-inch wheels undoubtedly contribute to the good handling manners, and there is a tire inflation monitor that alerts you if any tire gets low.
The first Aurora was very good, and I think the 2001 represents an impressive first upgrade. It would be even better if a manual transmission were offered instead of the mandatory 4-speed automatic. But, hey, this is GM we’re talking about. We’ll settle for the 2001 Aurora as is, and hope that it leads the way for other GM sedans.
‘S4’ performance package turns Audi A4 into silken rocket
2000 AUDI S4
LIKES:
“S” stands for “screamer” with 2.7 twin-turbo V6 inserted into popular A4.
Audi’s trademark quattro all-wheel-drive system enhances performance with all-weather sizzle.
Subtlety is key, as the heart of a wolf roars without disfiguring the sheepskin coat.
Sudden power distributed by 6-speed manual or standard 5-speed Tiptronic.
Unique seats, instruments provide perfect finishing touch to S4 revisions.
Special wheels, tires, suspension set S4 apart from all other Audis — and competitors’ sedans.
Tiny little “S4” badges on grille and rear decklid, plus serious headlights and foglights are only external tip that this is something special.
Warranty covers all maintenance for first three years or 50,000 miles.
DISLIKES:
Price is stiff, at $40,000, but that may be reasonable for absolute pinnacle of sports sedans.
Rear seat room is adequate, but not roomy for passengers 6-feet or taller.
High-performance tires stick to wet or dry pavement, but would be scary on ice, so you’ll need to have top winter tires as well.
My first exposure to the 2000 model year Audi S4 was out in California, at a close-off roadway on the grounds of Laguna Seca race track near Monterey. My driving partner and I were tipped off by an Audi guy to take the car down and back on this curvy road for the best test of this particular car.
After sitting in the passenger seat on the short burst outbound, I got behind the wheel for the brief return. I hit the gas and we launched, with exhilarating swiftness. I hit second and ran the S4 up to its redline. I snapped the 6-speed manual shifter into third, and glanced at the tach as it neared redline. When the needle got there, I also stole a glance at the speedometer. It said 130 miles per hour. And we were in third gear, with a 6-speed!
This tale requires one of those “don’t try this on the highway” disclaimers, which, of course, is valid. If you’re not on an autobahn or a race course, you don’t want to be running any car to those speeds. It does, however, make you wonder exactly how fast an S4 might go in German trim on an uncongested autobahn.
For the entire decade of the 1990s, Audi was in “comeback” mode, striving to recover its integrity, to say nothing of its profit-margin, after damaging — and eventually disproven — publicity on national network television about unintended acceleration.
Here we are in a new decade, to say nothing of a new century, and Audi, its comeback completed, is setting out to establish itself in “performance” mode with an assortment of healthy helpings of “intended” acceleration.
One of those examples is that this weekend, Audi has a couple of cars entered in the 24 Hours of LeMans, and it would not be surprising to see the German marque go the distance and win the overall title among the world’s most performance-oriented manufacturers.
Another of those examples is the recent booming success of the introduction of the TT Coupe and Roadster, Audi’s first serious attempt at building a world-class sports car.
But one of the most dazzling bits of evidence of Audi’s performance swing is the far more subtle, but most impressive, sports packages applied to its mainstream sedans.
I had the chance recently to test drive an Audi S4 for a week, and let’s just say a week was not enough. It was enough to realize the performance capabilities of the S4; heck, 15 minutes was enough to verify that. But driving an S4 for a week makes you desperate to keep on driving it.
At $40,000, the S4 climbs into some pretty select company among the world’s sports sedans. But in some ways it climbs right past them to occupy the top rung. Yes, if you were going to pick one car to best meet every possible requirement of a performance-oriented buyer — from scalding hot acceleration, lightning-quick handling, all-wheel-drive security, extremely safe construction, comfortably supportive seats, room for a family, and subtle beauty to the design — then the S4 may stand alone.
Len Hunt, the vice president of Audi of America, mentioned how the A4 sedan had turned Audi around when it was introduced in 1995. As an economical midsize car that sells for $26,000 to $30,000, depending on options, the A4 singlehandedly got Audi in the U.S. back on the affordable/high-tech fast track that it was on all over the rest of the world, and its success has caused Audi to go from the worst resale in the U.S. in 1991 to perhaps the best resale value right now.
“The A4 is our guiding star,” said Hunt. “And the S4 is our ‘silken rocket.’ ”
MEETING CHALLENGE
Auto magazine readers are well-aware that outfits such as “Car and Driver” ranked the Audi A4 as the No. 1 sedan under $30,000, beating the usual favorite, the BMW 3-series, and all the rest. In its May issue, Car and Driver ranked the best sedans under $40,000, and the Audi A6 with the 2.7-liter twin-turbo V6 was ranked No. 1, ahead of the BMW 528, the Lexus GS300, the Jaguar S-type, Lincoln LS V8, Oldsmobile Aurora V8, and the Saab 9.5 Aero and Volvo S80 turbo.
Pretty bold evidence of Audi’s emergence at the top of the mainstream sporty-sedan segments.
The S4, however, stands above and beyond. Auto magazines also like to do special features on aftermarket hot-rod treatment applied to standard cars, but the beauty of the S4 is that it proves nobody can tweak a factory car better than the factory that built it.
A discerning performance-car buyer wants certain things. Sure, it must accelerate well, but it also must stop and swerve either way with precision, and it must be comfortable enough for everyday driving, from mundane traffic congestion to freeway cruising, but it also must possess suspension firmness that allows the car to be hurled around tight corners and maintain a flat, stable attitude.
The A4 is the perfect platform to start with. Audi then stuffs the 2.7 V6 under the hood. Now the 2.7 is a slightly revised version of the standard 2.8-liter V6, which was a sturdy, durable powerplant made hotter when Audi put five valves above each cylinder (three intake, two exhaust). By tweaking it to 2.7 liters of displacement, the dual-overhead cams run those 30 valves into specially revised combustion chambers with adjustable intake valve timing. On top of that, Audi engineers hook up two small turbochargers, rather than one large one, so they spin faster, eliminating lag.
The engine turns out 250 horsepower at 5,800 RPMs and 258 foot-pounds of torque in a constant from 1,850-3,600 RPMs. The bottom line to all that is 0-60 times of 5.9 seconds, which would be exceptional for a lightweight 2-seater sports car, but it’s well beyond that for a 3,593-pound sedan. That is heavy for a midsize sedan, but not for one with all-wheel drive.
The 6-speed is a no-cost option on the S4, while the standard transmission is the Porsche-designed Tiptronic, which allows you to drive in “Drive” or can be shifted manually, without a clutch. Audi’s incredible quattro system of all-wheel drive, which seamlessly can adjust torque feed to one axle if it detects the tendency to slip at the other.
Cornering is accomplished with revised four-link front suspension and double-wishbone rear, with many of the key components and all ball joints all made of aluminum on the S4. There also are twin-tube, gas-filled shocks and coil springs in front, and stabilizer bars both front and rear. The result is the feeling of absolute precision, and that without harshness the S4 wants to stay level no matter how you fling it around a turn.
NICE TOUCHES
At a base price of $37,900, the S4 is about $10,000 more than the standard A4, but it would be difficult to prove the enhancements aren’t worthwhile. There is a sport-package seat system with nappa leather that has a suede insert where some occupants wearing shorts might otherwise complain about sticking to leather in hot weather. A 10-way power unit adjusts the driver and passenger seats.
A stained bird’s-eye maple wood trim sets off the interior, which features backlighted red gauges, and specific direct and indirect lighting allows you to see other controls and where your feet are going on entry or exit. An 8-speaker, 80-watt sound system can be upgraded to a 150-watt Bose system, with a 6-disc player. Heated seats, a glass sunroof, automatic dimming interior and exterior mirrors, a HomeLink computer system augmenting a six-function trip computer also shows pictograms of doors, windows, temperature, radio frequency and other vital functions.
Safety features include the cage construction plus front and side airbags and special sideguard curtain airbags for further protection against side impacts.
Outside, the S4 has Xenon gas-discharge headlights that have a fantastic pattern of focused light, and an auto-leveling system to keep the low beams low enough to not bother oncoming drivers. Projection-lens foglights also do a great job of lighting up the low and wide areas. As usual, Audi has a rear foglight, too, which intensifies on one side to help following traffic see you sooner in fog or snowstorms.
The antilock brake system has front and rear differential locks and rear brake pressure regulation. Audi also took the larger brakes off the luxury A8 sedan, which gives ventilated twin-piston calipers on 12.6-inch discs in front, and 10.1-inch discs at the rear. So the S4 goes like a scalded cat, turns on the proverbial dime, and stops with smooth and surprising suddenness.
What more could you want? This is a car that promises everything — and then delivers.
[[[CUTLINES:
1/ The Audi S4 looks remarkably like the standard A4 sedan, except for the special wheels.
2/ Xenon gas-discharge headlights have self-leveling feature and are complemented by projector-beam foglights.
3/ The special headlights, and the tiny “S4” badge on the grille indicate that this is the S4.
4/ From the rear, the S4 maintains the A4 look, with only the S4 badge and the dual exhausts distinguishing the upgrade.
5/ As it rests, the S4 doesn’t betray its twin-turbocharged engine and sub-6-second 0-60 capabilities.
Piranha concept car displays great seats, better harnesses
[[[[[[[[cutlines:
1/ The Pontiac Piranha is one of numerous concept cars being shown by manufacturers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Auto Show, which runs through this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
2/ The slim-line bucket seats of the Pontiac Piranha concept car are a woven fabric, and they also exhibit 4-point safety harnesses that would be a world-class addition to any car.
3/ The 2001 Dodge Stratus is displayed at the Minneapolis show — the only show of its kind in Minnesota. It is powered by Chrysler’s over-achieving 2.7-liter V6. ]]]]]]]]]]
Auto show season is in full swing these days. The huge shows at Detroit, Los Angeles and Chicago already have been held, and the other huge U.S. show, the New York show, is still to come. But right now, this weekend, there is stilla good chance for Up North auto zealots to get to the Minneapolis Convention Center for the Minneapolis-St. Paul auto show.
Granted it’s not as large as those big ones, and it’s true that the Twin Cities show is more dealer-dominated than factory run, but there are a whole lot of neat factory cars and concept vehicles at this year’s show — more than any I can remember previously, and this is the 27th annual show put on by the Twin Cities dealers.
Spending a few hours kicking tires at an auto show is as close as most consumers can get to what test-driving auto columnists are raving about throughout the year.
If you happen to have a chance to get to the Twin Cities for the show, it runs through this weekend, with hours 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday.
In case you can’t, here are a couple of specialty highlights I noticed at the current show.
PIRANHA SEATS
Among an impressive array of concept cars sprinkled around the huge auditorium, one of the neatest is the Pontiac Piranha. It’s an impressive enough car, a wedgy, sleek little coupe, and there is also an accompanying cutaway model of it that shows the interior.
That includes four of the neatest car seats I’ve ever seen, and there is a working model also cordoned off from the customers, but which shows how impressive the design is.
There are several things to note about that seat. It used to be that a few companies made impressive seats while others made soft and squishy seats that bigger, heftier cars seemed to use most, and they insulated you from the feeling of being in a car, or of driving that car. As seats got better, they got to be more supportive, more form-fitting, and not as thick. Amazingly, when you want to build a firm and supportive — and safer — seat, you don’t need to make it with a foot-thick cushion and a 6-inch-thick backrest.
But the Piranha seat goes to the wall with that concept. It is a woven fabric seat, looking like nylon mesh, and that’s it. Obviously, it must be made of pretty strong stuff, if it is designed to hold a 200-plus pounder twice a day every day. We are going to accept Pontiac’s word that the seats work, that they won’t break down or get flimsy, and that they will retain their ability to support and contain the driver and riders over the lifetime of the car.
But let’s move to another area that I find extremely significant. The Piranha seats have a new, 4-point harness system.
Pardon me while I applaud.
Ever since lap belts were replaced by the 3-point lap-and-shoulder belt arrangement, I have asked why auto makers refuse to go to 4-point harnesses. The answer always has been that it’s difficult enough to get people to clasp the 3-point units on, and they’d never put on a 4-point belt.
But a few years ago, I discovered an after-market harness made by the German Schroth company. It used to make harnesses for race cars, but long since branched out to create the units to clip into regular street cars. I hooked them into my personal car, and it was simple. You bolt them onto the rear-seat anchors, then string the straps up and over the front seat backrest, where they come down fitting flush to the front of the backrests. Those straps then fasten to two belts coming out from either side of the front seat. Those lap belts fit through slots.
Now let’s consider the difference. How many times do you reach down along the left side, groping for the belt, and then the buckle itself, then you pull it up and over your front side and try to find the receptacle on the short end of the inside part of the other lap belt anchor. If you’re lucky enough to find it on first grope, you have a fighting chance of plugging it in efficiently.
In the Schroth unit I’m talking about, you climb into the seat, and you slip both arms under the two belts, with no more effort than if you were slipping into a vest with 3-foot long arm holes. Then you simply reach down and grasp two equal-length belts, and clip them together right about at belt-buckle location.
So much for the earlier criticism. Putting on the 4-point harness is actually easier than putting on the conventional 3-point harness, any day.
Ease of operation, however, is only a small part of this equation. The big key is safety. A 3-point harness is pretty safe, but a 4-point harness keeps you straight and secure in your bucket seat in the event of a frontal or rear or rollover accident.
Auto racers use 4-point harnesses, and then they go one step beyond that, with an anti-submarine belt that comes up and fastens to the bottom of the clasp to REALLY hold you firmly in place. But we aren’t all that worried about submarining down under the steering wheel in a street or highway fender-bender, at least not with the regularity of hitting a cement wall at 180 miles per hour, like they do in racing.
Still, consider those CART racers who might slide up and hit a concrete wall at 180 or even 200 miles per hour. Then they leap out and ask where their backup car is. Uninjured.
That’s the kind of safety we deserve in our autos on the streets. They don’t put airbags in race cars, because they don’t need them. The 4-point harness is more than adequate, and renders airbags as pretty much superfluous. As our accident statistics grimly point out, airbags may save some lives, but we aren’t all that sure how many, because a 3-point harness might have saved them anyway, and a 4-point harness almost surely would have saved them. Meanwhile, airbags have simply killed or injured many car occupants, either from the force of the inflation or the fact that the occupant was short and either bent over or got hit because the bag lined up poorly with their height.
The point of all this is that auto manufacturers trumpet their safety as a big selling point these days, but remember, none of them would have installed airbags if the government hadn’t forced them to bolster their “passive restraint” systems. That means we are trying to throw an air-pillow in front of those car-riders incapable or unwilling to fasten their harnesses. We feel we have to protect those who don’t want to protect themselves — it’s the American way.
So car makers have put airbags in front of us, and now they’re adding them to the sides, and in the backrests, and all over to protect and cushion car occupants from impacts.
The fact remains, I’d like to see us mandate 4-point harnesses, first and foremost. No telling how many lives they’d save. And the Pontiac Piranha concept car shows off exactly what I’m talking about.
Different companies, of course, are more serious about concept cars. Chrysler, for example, turned concepts to real-world in the cases of the Dodge Viper, Dodge Intrepid, Plymouth Prowler, and now the PT Cruiser. Audi made the TT coupe and roadster come to life as almost unchanged real cars. General Motors has a large array of concept cars at the show, including the stunning new Chevy SSR. The Pontiac Aztek is another that supposedly is going to be built.
But the Piranha? We have no idea if that is just an attention-grabber, or if the GM bean-counters will ever let it be built. Whether it is ever built or not, I’d love to see Pontiac, and the rest of GM, and the rest of the automotive world, adopt the concept of those 4-point safety harnesses.
OTHER NEW STUFF
Among other eye-catchers at the Twin Cities show:
Check out the Dodge Stratus. That may not seem so earth-shaking, but if you’re not looking for it, you might go right on past, thinking it was an Intrepid from the rear. The new Stratus is the yet-to-be-introduced 2001 car, and it bears a striking resemblance to a downsized Intrepid from the rear. The nose, however, is distinctly different, and a bit bulbous. The big news, however, makes the new Stratus my leading candidate for sleeper of the year, because it will be powered by the slick 2.7-liter Chrysler V6 engine, a dual-overhead-camshaft gem with chain-driven cams, instead of belts. It’s a precise, powerful engine, and while it is good enough to make the large Intrepid and Concorde fly, imagine what it will do with a 5-speed or AutoStick in the lighter, more compact Stratus.
While you’re at the Dodge location, follow the crowd over to the Chrysler position at the next patch, where people will constantly be surrounding the PT Cruiser. Sit in it, move the seats, fold them down, pop them out, and note all the features, for a car that is unique and will cost from $16,000-$20,000. That’s my candidate for 2001 Car of the Year, without even seeing the competition yet.
Ford is showing the new Explorer SportTrac, and the F150 Super Crew. Both are two-thirds SUV and one-third pickup truck box. Interesting. Ford also is displaying the new Escape, compact SUV that makes more sense than the jumbo versions. Note, too, the all-new Taurus, and the various models of the Focus, this year’s International Car of the Year.
Check out the Audi TT, then go through the Toyota section, where the new Celica reigns, and where the all-new MR-2 is showcased. Don’t overlook the Solara, a coupe version of the Camry. Same at the Honda place, but see if you don’t agree with me that the Accord Coupe looks racier — especially from the rear — than the Prelude. Check out the Civic Si, also, and then let your eyes pop as you check out both the affordable S2000 sports car, and the unaffordable NSX. There’s more, too, like the Jaguar S-Type sedan, the new Oldsmobile Aurora — and note how similar the Intrigue is to the old Aurora — and check the sleek new Volvo V40, and then the Saab 9-3 Viggen..
In the midst of the SUV craze, don’t look past the venerable minivans as the most reasonable means of transportation if you’ve got a family. There are all the usual candidates, but look closest at the Honda Odyssey, for all its features, and notice the new Mazda MPV, entirely changed from the old box into a competitive minivan now.
And, take one last stroll to compare how many highly-efficient, fuel-sipping products you can buy. The Focus and the Toyota Echo are the primary candidates among the mainstream vehicles, but the star of the show on that count is the Honda Insight — the already-available $20,000 car with both a 1-liter gasoline engine and an auxilliary electric motor, which kicks in for power when you step on the gas, but otherwise disengages and is recharged by the gas engine.
But those are just some of the highlights. Get to the show, and you’ll have your own.
TT Roadster completes Audi’s world-class sports car entry
[[[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ As a spectacular view, the just-introduced Audi TT Roadster challenged the sunset-colored Bell Rock near Sedona, Arizona.
2/ The TT Roadster looks good with top up or down, and only subtleties like twin exhaust tubes differentiates the 225-horsepower version from the 180 base car.
3/ The brushed-matte finish of the aluminum interior accents is set off by the optional, thicker, amber-red leather with baseball-glove stitching.
4/ The TT Roadster has a distinct, Bauhaus-look in silhouette, with Arizona’s Courthouse Butte in the background. ]]]]]]]
Sports cars are supposed to make emotional impacts on their drivers, their passengers, and on other people who see you coming, or passing by. The Audi TT Roadster fills that bill.
I was convinced while test-driving a silver TT Roadster at the car’s introduction in the mountainous area around Phoenix, by two bits of conclusive evidence. The first was that even slathered with sunscreen against the 95-degree heat, it was apparent my wrists, forearms, neck and cheeks were being fried a lobster-colored crimson. But I wasn’t about to stop or put the top up.
The second bit of evidence came when a fellow-motoring-journalist and I pulled up to a stoplight in suburban Scottsdale and we were second in a line of three TTs. A well-tanned and very attractive woman driving a black, SL500 Mercedes roadster — with the top up — stopped in the next lane. We looked over and she asked: “How long has that car been out, and how much is it?” We explained it was just being introduced and that she could buy four of them for the price of her $135,000 Mercedes. Then we zapped away to leave her behind at the stoplight.
Audi had established itself as the competitive equals of fellow-German auto-makers BMW and Mercedes by the time it introduced its stunning new TT sports car last May. The TT, which stands for “Tourist Trophy,” was an immediate hit, but it was only a preliminary move. Last week Audi introduced the TT Roadster — a convertible version of the year-old TT Coupe — and simultaneously introduced a 225-horsepower version of both TTs as an option to the very adequate 180-horsepower TTs.
“We wanted a ‘hero car,’ a brand-defining car, and we got that with the TT,” said Len Hunt, corporate vice president and Audi of America spokesman at the roadster’s unveiling in Phoenix last week. “The launch of the TT was not just the launch of a sports car, it was the launch of a new tradition at Audi.”
The TT was a styling hit, with its advanced-retro look and high-tech features, when it came out as a 180-horsepower, front-wheel-drive coupe last May, jumping right into battle with the Porsche Boxster, Mercedes SLK, BMW Z3 in the affordable/high-performance sports-car category, which is to say stronger than a Mazda Miata, and not as overpowering as a Corvette or Porsche 911. For Up North sports-car zealots, the TT holds the extra allure of front-wheel drive.
In October, Audi added the quattro version — Audi’s phenomenal, performance-oriented all-wheel-drive system with its copyrighted lower-case “q” designation. The car fulfilled Audi’s objectives, stated by Hunt as having advanced technology, a striking design, strong performance, all while being capable of evoking strong emotion. Incidentally, the quattro version is an even stronger candidate for year-round functionality Up North.
The roadster will be available in dealerships as of the end of this month, to complete the variety of TTs. The TT Coupe with 180 horsepower and front-wheel-drive is $31,200; TT Coupe with 225 horsepower and quattro — $36,100; TT Roadster with 180 horse FWD — $33,200; and TT Roadster with 225 horses and quattro — $38,900.
Those prices include standard leather interior, with an amazing baseball-glove-stitched orange leather option on the quattros. The 180-horsepower version has 16-inch wheels, while the 225 gets standard 17-inch wheels; the 180 gets a 5-speed manual, the 225 has a 6-speed; the 180 has a single exhaust, the 225 has dual exhaust; the 180 has an easy-to-operate manual fold-down top, the 225 a standard power top. Both cars come with an improvement on one of the most impressive warranties in the business — the 3-year all-maintenance-paid warranty has been increased to 4-year, 50,000 miles, with all periodic maintenance done free.
ROADSTER ON ROAD
Taking the top off any car generally guarantees you of cowl-shake, the tendency of the body’s natural flexing to be displayed by wagging itself just a bit, most notably at the cowl area just aft of the windshield. The TT Roadster, however, is free of that vibration.
“The Roadster is not an after-thought,” said Marc Trahan, Audi’s production manager. “The Roadster was established from the start with the Coupe, and they were developed in parallel.”
That allowed Audi’s engineers to design reinforced strength into the Roadster. The door sill beams are 30 percent thicker, the sills themselves 20 percent thicker, there is an aluminum cross-member positioned just behind the seats to reinforce the whole structure, and to anchor the twin brushed-matte aluminum rollbars, which are as functional as they are stylish. Sturdier joints between the pillars and the floor assembly are further modifications meet standards from vibration analysis. The windshield frame pillars have high-strength steel inserts for added reinforcement.
“With the windshield pillars and the rollbars, the Roadster has the same level of rollover intrusion protection as the Coupe,” said Trahan, who added that even the soft top was designed with four cross-struts instead of three to eliminate any chance of wind-buffeting at high speeds with the top up.
The most evident result of all that is the complete absence of any cowl-shake or vibration. But the safety enhancements are also impressive, with that structural rigidity coupled with the TT’s 4-wheel disc brakes, an advanced antilock system, electronic brake-force distribution, electronic differential lock, full-time traction control (on the 180-horsepower versions), and a stability program that becomes available next month.
The body steel is galvanized on both sides to eliminate concern about corrosion, as well.
PERFORMANCE POWER
The same engine powers both versions of the TT. It is comparatively tiny, at 1.8 liters (actually 1,781 cc.) of displacement out of four cylinders. It is as technically advanced as any standard production engine, which allows it to feel much stronger than your basic four-banger.
It has dual overhead camshafts, with five valves per cylinder — three intake and two exhaust valves — and with a low-pressure turbocharger pumping extra life into all those valves. Displacement is measured by combining the total cylinder bore and piston stroke. The TT engine, also available in the A4 sedans and in some of Audi’s cousin, Volkswagen, has 180 horsepower that peaks at 5,500 RPMs, and 173 foot-pounds. A key to performance is what RPM point at which the torque peaks, but a marvel of the collaboration between the electronic management system and the turbo is that the maximum torque is attained at a mere 1,950 RPMs, and it remains at that peak until 4,700 RPMs.
It is little short of miraculous that Audi’s engineers took that same engine and tweaked it up to 225 horses at 5,900 revs, and increased the torque to 207 foot-pounds over a span from 2,200-5,500 RPMs. That range means that other engines may have more power at their peak, but the Audi engine gets to its peak just above idle speed and stays there until you’ve revved up toward the 6,700-RPM redline, where the horsepower peak takes over anyway.
“This is not just a computer-chip-tuned modification,” said Trahan. “The 225-horsepower engine has new pistons, a different compression ratio, different cylinder heads, different intake and exhaust manifolds, a bigger turbocharger, and two intercoolers instead of one for the turbo. The only other roadsters with all-wheel drive are the Lamborghini Diablo and the Porsche Carrera 4, both of which are far more expensive.”
With all that power, the difference between the two models in driving is interesting. The 180-horse version goes 0-60 in a quick 8-second burst, with a top speed electronically limited at 130 mph in North America. The 225-horse version quattro does 0-60 in only 6.7 seconds and has a top end of 143 mph.
When you drive the two, the 180 feels very responsive, and actually seemed quicker up to 4,000 RPMs, undoubtedly because it weighs 3,131 pounds, compared to the quattro’s 3,473. The added weight makes the 225-horse quattro feel always stable, but not as quick until that midrange, with the extra power taking firm command from 4,000-on-up.
After the brief introductory test of both Roadsters, I got the chance stay on after the introduction to spend a few days taking the 180-horsepower Roadster north to Sedona, where it was 20 degrees cooler, then winding northward on a spectacular drive through Oak Creek Canyon, and later to the Grand Canyon. We got 27 miles per gallon overall, and 32.9 mpg on strictly freeway driving, which was very impressive.
Based on preliminary feelings, the 180-horse Roadster is a superb-handling sports car capable of challenging the best of the competition, while the 225-horse version sticks to the road absolutely as if on rails, and has the power to beat most of its rivals. And, as if just for sports-car fans Up North, either version should be awesome on snow and ice.
GM unveils 2002 Bravada surprise with high-tech in-line 6
[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ Ron Kociba stood proudly next to the 2002 Bravada introduced at the New York International Auto Show this past week with “his baby” under the hood — an all-new, dual-overhead-cam, multi-valve, in-line 6-cylinder engine with variable valve timing.
2/ The 2002 Bravada is all-new, from the frame, brakes, suspension, interior and engine. ]]]]]]
NEW YORK, N.Y.—It seemed like nothing more than a normal introduction, when General Motors chose to introduce four “all-new” trucks at the New York International Auto Show.
The executives and marketing folks took the stage and rolled them out. First, there was the new GMC Denali. Same as the Blazer, really. Then came the Denali XL, the longer version, same as the Chevy Suburban. Third out was a new Sierra pickup truck.
And then it happened. Next came a 2002 model year version of the Oldsmobile Bravada, a vehicle that once neared extinction until benevolent folks at GM decided to salvage it and give it another chance, with a new look reminscent of the Olds family two-vent front seen on the Aurora, Intrigue and even Alero.
But this Bravada is all-new from the ground up, the platform, the frame, the body, the interior, the suspension, and the engine. Especially the engine.
“This is a once-in-a-career opportunity,” said Ron Kociba, the engineer in charge of creating the all-new in-line 6-cylinder engine, “to develop a totally new engine in a totally new truck, to be built in a totally new plant in Flint.”
More on that later. First, a little background.
The automotive world is taking some exciting new turns these days, and a lot of those turns are toward high-technology developments. It costs a little to research and develop the high-tech refinements to engines, but Honda, Toyota, BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, Mazda, Nissan, Saab — you name ’em, they’ve forged on ahead, spending good money to develop advanced technology, knowing that it would bring payback in the coming years.
Trailing, but at least headed the right direction, have been Chrysler Corporation and Ford Motor Company. And General Motors? Well, with a high-skilled and plentiful crew of engineers, GM stubbornly avoided keeping up. There were a few applications of technology, such as when Cadillac went to the Northstar engine, with its dual-overhead camshaft V8, with four valves per cylinder. A smaller application of that engine was allowed to go to Oldsmobile for the Aurora, and then GM built a new 3.5-liter V6 to be built off it as well, but it, too, only goes to Oldsmobile for the Intrigue and this year as the base engine in the Aurora.
Otherwise, GM automobiles and trucks had the old-fashioned, but inexpensive, system of pushrods actuating the valvetrain from down in the block. So if you got a new car, with fancy styling, like the Grand Prix or Bonneville or Impala or Monte Carlo, you got a 39-year-old engine with pushrods — even while cars from Ford, Chrysler and every import manufacturer were well beyond merely using overhead cams, and had advanced on to multiple valves and variable valve timing.
That’s why it was so exciting to see the Bravada roll out, batting cleanup in the four-truck introduction by General Motors during the press preview days of the New York Auto Show.
ALL-NEW PLATFORM
The Bravada rides on an all-new platform. Its overall length is 10 inches longer than its predecessor, five inches wider, and five inches taller, with a wheelbase six inches greater. That extra size allows for 83 cubic feet of cargo room, up nine.
The frame has eight structural cross-members instead of the six on the previous vehicle. That adds greatly to the stiffness of the body, to say nothing of the safety and handling. All-new suspension includes a double-A-arm front and a rear arrangement with five-link geometry and air bladders electronically controlled to raise, lower and maintain a level stance regardless of road condition. Larger brakes, with discs on all four wheels, and 17-inch wheels (8 inches wide), also help the handling.
But let’s not kid ourselves. The breakthrough with the Bravada is the engine. It is in-line, replacing the hardy V6 engines so common in GM applications. Both block and cylinder head are made of cast aluminum, using the “lost-foam” technique used in the Saturn engine program, where a perfect outline of the engine is done in styrofoam, then molten aluminum is poured in, vaporizing the styrofoam and leaving aluminum in its place with precision.
Its cylinders displace 4.2 liters, with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, and with a variable valve-timing, which allows the camshafts to adjust, overlapping when power is needed but backing off for a smooth idle.
Final figures aren’t certain, but the engine will develop 250 horsepower, and something over 250 foot-pounds of torque. Torque, remember, is the low-end pulling power needed more by trucks than cars, but needed for hard-charging starts, towing or not. As for the in-line arrangement, consider that BMW and Toyota still build exceptionally strong and smooth in-line 6s.
This is the first time GM has put an in-line 6 in a truck, the first time it has used overhead camshafts in a truck, the first time it has used multiple valves in a truck, and the first time it has used variable valve timing in a truck.
Question is, how did Kociba and his staff convince the bottom-line constables that they could limbo under the cost-effective bar and build such a progressive engine?
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Kociba has been with General Motors for 32 years. He worked on the 3800 V6, which began life in 1961 — think about that, in this computer age — and advanced its potential with supercharged treatment. Next he got to run the 3.5-liter V6 engine, the high-tech Intrigue engine, which was the perfect launching pad to send him onward and upward when he was given a clean sheet to build the Bravada 4.2.
“We had the opportunity to build it from scratch,” Kociba said. “We had to meet several objectives. It had to be reliable, durable, affordable, and it had to have improved fuel economy and performance.”
But why an in-line engine, in this world of V6s?
“The cost of doing this on a V-type engine is prohibitive,” he said. “Think of where we’re coming from. With an in-line engine, we only have one cylinder head and one head gasket.”
Right. When Kociba says “affordable” as one key objective, he may have meant affordable to the bean-counters as much as to the customers.
“It’s all aluminum, the block and the cylinder head, with pressed-in iron liners in the cylinders,” he explained. “With the overhead cams, we could go to four valves on each cylinder, and variable valve timing on the exhaust, to give us a more aggressive cam profile.”
It not only worked, it worked so well that the new engine requires no external hang-on emission-control devices. Improved economy, emissions and power all were exponents of the slick styling. Which, of course, was why I’d long been critical of GM’s reluctance to go to such designs a decade or two before this, when the rest of the automotive world was heading that direction. I mean, if GM is the biggest U.S. car-maker, it should be a technological leader we can be proud of.
Added efficiency and durability was also gained by eliminating sparkplug wires, so separate coils at each sparkplug are used. Kociba, who simply couldn’t stop smiling as he discussed his new baby, added that the one advantage of being late to the overhead-cam, multi-valve, variable-valve-timing party, is that he was able to examine a whole world of advanced engines and pick what he wanted.
“We’re really proud of the applications we chose by picking the technology we could produce and still keep it affordable,” Kociba said.
And, of course, the future is now unlimited. This engine will go on and power midsize pickups, I would guess, and who knows what all? And the technique could certainly be applied to other engines. I’m guessing Kociba might end up in charge of redoing a few venerable old V8s in coming years.
“GM can do anything it sets its mind on,” he said.
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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