Renovated SSEi Bonneville tries to maintain sporty title
The Pontiac Bonneville for 2000 offers the renewal of its bold statement as the raciest high-performance sedan in the General Motors stable.
If it seems as though the Bonneville was long overdue for a makeover, it’s because the car has undergone only cosmetic changes since 1992, when it became filled with performance features that set it apart from its cousins at Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, Buick or Cadillac.
Those who liked what Pontiac had done to the Bonneville, REALLY liked it, while critics accused the car, and the GM brand, of trying to cater to boy-racer instincts, and overdid it with racy styling touches.
If you remember the Bonneville as a somewhat bulging, gimmicky sedan, you can forget it for 2000. The new Bonneville SSEi, which is the top-of-the-line high-performance version, still retains the plastic side-body cladding with its accent lines and all, and the new bumper has similar accent lines.
But for 2000, the Bonneville is all-new, riding on the same Oldsmobile Aurora platform also used by the Cadillac Seville and Buick LeSabre. The bulbous body is gone, replaced by a stark, wedgy look, angling back from a prominent chin up front. The side cladding even has a major indentation to set it off with less-trite appeal than the lengthy strakes on the previous model.
Despite criticism of the old model, I liked it for its driveability, and its very impressive interior. General Motors has often weakened the personalities of some of its cars with a dull sameness, but the Bonneville has always remained an individual, with well-bolstered seats that feature large supportive side bulges, and with instrumentation that is almost airplane-like in its bold attractiveness.
The new model does everything its predecessor did, and looks sleeker and more fit at the same time.
OLD ENGINE WORKS
Under the hood of the SSEi Bonneville breathes the same old 3800 V6 that has matured and aged over 40-some years of GM usage. It has pushrods where overhead camshafts are featured by all competitors, domestic, foreign and even within GM, if you count Oldsmobile and Cadillac.
But the GM engineers have worked and worked to make the old-style 3800 as sophisticated as a pushrod engine can be, smoothing out the friction and pushing its efficiency up near the limit. Then they put a supercharger on top of the 3800 for usage in the Bonneville. A supercharger runs off an accessory belt and blows large doses of compressed air into the intake, jacking up the available horsepower to 240 at 5,200 RPMs, while the engines strong torque is 280 foot-pounds at 3,600.
While techno-zealots can argue that GM should simply get with it and start using the more sophisticated dual-overhead-cam 3.5-liter V6 used in the Olds Intrigue and Aurora, there can be no argument that the blown 3800 produces strong acceleration and power. On top of that, I got a strong 24.9 miles per gallon in a tankful that was used for both city and freeway driving.
It costs more to build the 3.5 than it does the old pushrod 3800, so GM has no plans to supplant the 3800 with the 3.5. It will continue to offer both in all but the Olds and Cadillac sedans, and it will supercharge the fastest specialty vehicles in the lineup.
The four-speed automatic transmission is the only way you can get the car. GM hasn’t yet seen fit to provide a shifter that you can manually shift in its automatics, even though all of its serious competitors now offer the feature. With the Bonneville now challenged for superiority in its quest to be the top U.S. performance sedan, cars like Chrysler’s sporty and sophisticated 300M offer all sorts of alternatives.
But the Bonneville will run with any cars, particularly in the low-end haul up to over-freeway speeds. And its sports suspension tightens things up just enough to give it a sportier feel compared to other Pontiac models, such as the SE and SLE.
The front-wheel-drive Bonneville also can beat almost all its competition when it comes to flat out gimmicks.
VIEW FROM THE WHEEL
For drivers who don’t discriminate strictly on the height of technology, the Bonneville SSEi offers a sporty, racy feel. It starts when you first sit in the bulgy, heated driver’s seat, with the orange-lighted gauges that provide full instrumentation. In fact, the SSEi offers more than full instruments, with the brilliant heads-up display projecting the speed and certain other details on a little panel superimposed on the lower windshield.
The audio system is exceptional, easy to control and with AM-FM radio, cassette and single disc player in the dash, plus a 12-CD player in the trunk.
A power sunroof is another solid feature, as is the dual-zone climate control, with eight air-heat vents in the dash, and a computer that tells you if your fuel level is getting low, and how such details as oil life, battery and tire pressure are doing.
On top of the normal traction control, the SSEi has GM’s new StabiliTrak skid control system that coordinates speed and braking and functions to counteract any spinning of the drive wheels to eliminate the tendency to skid.
Some of the controls go beyond the competition, others don’t measure up. The dual cupholders up front, for example, have nothing to do with driving through a slalom or being impressded with the SSEi as a hot performer. But they will house two cans of pop perfectly, yet they won’t accommodate a pair of 20-ounce cups at the same time. So stick with the cans if you’re in a Bonneville.
While the hood tapers quickly away from the driver’s vision, control of the SSEi is enhanced by the through-the-windshield heads-up instruments, and is aided by prominent foglights set into the bumper fascia in that smoothly tapered front end.
Price of the SSEi version of the Bonneville is up, up and over the $30,000 mark, with the test SSEi at a bit over $32,000, and if it seems that such a price should get you the highest level of technical sophistication, you at least can settle for a high-tech sedan makeover, with virtually everything except the engine all new. And the engine isn’t that hard to live with, when you know that the SSEi will run with the best, and is likely to outrun most of them.
Ford gives SUV-king Explorer thorough overhaul for 2002
Sure, there are Jeeps. There also are Suburbans, 4Runners, Tahoes, Pathfinders, Durangos, Land Rovers, Range Rovers and sport-utility vehicles of all shape, size and manner. But there is only one Explorer, and with it Ford has both the most popular-selling SUV in the industry, but also a pretty major challenge.
The problem is, when you have the top vehicle in an astonishingly successful segment, how do you redesign it?
Do you make subtle changes, just softening a line here or there, to maintain all the popularity built up over the years? Or do you go for a major, sweeping makeover, from the ground up, knowing that such a move might put you on the cutting edge of technology, but also might turn off some of those faithful buyers?
With the Explorer showing its age against a snarl of SUVs — which numbers 43 at present but is anticipated to hit a peak of something over 70 models in the next five years — Ford tried to reach both extremities in rebuilding the Explorer. The new vehicle is entirely new, from the ground up, and it has numerous distinguishing features, but every attempt was made at retaining a few design cues to prove that it is linked to the popularity of Explorers present and past.
The new Explorer is so new that it won’t be officially introduced to the public until January, when it also can be declared a 2002 model. Here, just as we’re bracing to view all the new 2001 vehicles, Ford unveiled the 2002 Explorer (and companion Mercury Mountaineer) at a special showing at the rotunda in the company’s suburban Detroit compound at Dearborn.
Ford’s executives proclaimed that at home, people show who they are, but on the road, they show what they want to look like. Interesting theory. Ford also proclaimed itself as the world’s most wide-spanned producer of SUVs. Explorer brand manager Ed Molchany said: “This is the 10th straight year that Explorer has had the best SUV sales (topping 400,000 annual vehicles in each of those years). We’ve got six different SUVs.”
Ford has sold 3.5 million Explorers in the past 10 years, and over 4 million if you add in the companion Mountaineers. When Ford added the Expedition as a larger SUV, it found itself tangled into the surging SUV expansion. Next came the Excursion, the largest of all SUVs, but that left a void at the smallest end, which Ford is filling this fall with the 2001 introduction of the Escape, to do battle with the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Xterra and the like.
The Escape, however, is so impressive in its sizing and utilization of space, that it appeared it might well intrude on the hallowed ground of Explorer in the eyes of customers. When I asked regional public relations director Scott Jensen about that, his response was: “But wait until you see the new Explorer.”
KEY ELEMENTS
There are several keys to the redesign. Ford took on all of them starting with: improving the style; keeping the size the same but making more of it usable; improving the powertrain; and improving the suspension for handling and agility.
Styling paid attention to every detail, stretching the outer skin around a longer wheelbase and setting off an all-new grille and frontal area with what designer Jay Mays called “crisp, sharp lines.” Wheelwell openings, lower body cladding, everything contributed to what Ford calls a “design DNA” that makes the Explorer unmistakable as an Explorer.
The length of the Explorer remains the same as the existing, and outgoing, Explorer, but the wheelbase has been lengthened 2 inches by moving the front axle 2 inches forward and shortening the front overhang, which also gives the Explorer an improved approach angle to abrupt hills when driving off-road. The tread width of the left and right wheels is 2 ½ inches wider, and the body is 2 inches wider. The underbody ground clearance is increased by 1 inch to 9 inches, and yet the Explorer has a half-inch lower step-in height. The increased size equates to 2.3 inches more shoulder width and 3.25 inches more hiproom. In addition, the roof itself is slightly swept up to increase headroom in the second and third rows of seats.
For power, Ford took the original 5.0-liter V8 and 4.0-liter V6 and added a single-overhead-camshaft to the old 4.0 several years ago, creating a far superior engine. For the new model, Ford is going to its heralded modular 4.6-liter overhead-cam V8, made of all aluminum, for its upgraded engine, while the SOHC 4.0 4-cylinder is the other available powerplant. That puts Ford into a class with the best imported SUVs in technology, and far ahead of General Motors, which doesn’t yet have a single overhead-cam engine available in any purebred GM SUV. An all-new 5-speed manual transmission and a proven and reinforced 5-speed automatic are the two Explorer transmissions.
The 4.0 has 210 horsepower and 240 foot-pounds of torque, while the 4.6 V8 delivers 240 horsepower and 280 foot-pounds of torque. The 4.6 also provides a 62-pound weight reduction over the old 5.0 V8, and has coil-on-plug ignition, which engineers say will eliminate the spark plug wires that are the major source of driveability problems. The extra power and flexibility of the 4.6 gives it a 7,300-pound towing capacity, compared to 6,800 with the 5.0.
The suspension also is a key ingredient of the new Explorer, which will debut independent rear suspension. A stiffer frame 3.5-times stiffer than the old leaf-spring/solid-axle, and has considerably less up-and-down motion with IRS compared to conventional leaf-spring. The new Explorer platform also is eight times stiffer from lateral flexing. Coil springs wrapped around shock absorbers replace torsion bars, allowing more refined tuning of the handling feel. IRS should be heavier than conventional solid-axle suspension, but Ford made a lot of components out of aluminum to improve strength and reduce weight. By fixing the suspension lower, and going to IRS, Ford has been able to greatly lower the body itself, which allows for the seeming contradiction of having lower step-in height and yet greater ground clearance.
COMFORT AND SAFETY
Other objectives Ford had for the new Explorer were improving on the safety, both from the active and passive sides, and improving the ease of operation, the customer-friendly side of things.
The stiffer platform and improved suspension allow the Explorer driver to make better use of the tighter steering feel and become an active part of the safety built into accident avoidance. In concert, Ford has improved the braking capability of the Explorer. Ford produced a chart of random competitors and showed braking distances. The existing Explorer was up there near the Pathfinder and with longer braking distance than the Jeep, Mercedes ML320 and 4Runner. The 2002 Explorer, however, will stop in 30 feet less, putting it at the top of that group.
More than that, to many customers, is the feel that goes along with greater control and agility. The Explorer is aimed at a sportier ride, maybe more fun, while the more stately Mountaineer is a bit softer and more refined. With antilock braking and an AdvancedTrak system to apply braking to a spinning wheel while also transfering torque to the other wheels, the new Explorer should be well-equipped to avoid dangerous situations.
But Ford also paid great attention to passive safety, with a new “safety canopy” side curtain. Augmenting second-generation frontal airbags and pretensioner-equipped harnesses, the canopy is a side curtain that runs from the front seat past the back of the rear seat. In the event of a side impact, the curtain drops down to protect the occupants’ heads from banging on the door or window.
Beyond that, the safety canopy is designed to also function in rollover incidents. As the vehicle tilts toward rollover, it reaches a point of no return. When that occurs, and a rollover is inevitable, the canopy opens on the sides and will remain open for a 6-second duration. Six seconds doesn’t seem very long, but it is much longer than the time it takes for an out-of-control vehicle to roll over and over three times. The canopy not only cushions the head and shoulder of occupants, but it will help keep the occupant inside the framework of the vehicle.
Perhaps most important is the crashworthiness. With frame rails and a boxed frame section running full length, protection against frontal, side and rear intrusion is reinforced. The concept also works to divert impacts around the occupant compartment. The frame rails are designed to line up with sedan frame-rails.
While the Explorer is still too new to have been tested by the government, Ford officials said that after their own 35-mile per hour barrier crashes, all four doors could still be opened.
Occupant pleasantness is further enhanced by great attention to wind noise and road noise. Ford has not only gone to excess in trying to control such noises, but technicians have gone on to tune some noise into the sound of the engines as they accelerate, again tilting toward making the Explorer more sporty-sounding. There is a 25-percent reduction in wind noise at 80 mph, and the more rigid frame, rubber body mounts and microcellular construction inside the pillars, plus laminated dash material, makes road noise also significantly reduced.
Cupholders, a pen-holder, easier to operate hanger hooks on the rear hand-grips, more logical power lock switches, and adjustable pedals as well as the tilt and telescoping steering wheel aid the driving experience. And a 30-degree angled outer door hand grip is both easier to operate and ring and fingernail safe.
If it seems Ford hasn’t overlooked any detail, it proves what a company can do when it is on top of an ever-expanding pile of competitive SUVs, and intends to maintain that position.
[[[[[CUTLINES:
1/ Ford unveiled a completely rebuilt Explorer, for production this fall and introduction in January as a 2002 model.
2/ Two-stage frontal airbags and pretensioned harnesses are supplemented by a safety-canopy side airbag curtain for side impacts and rollover protection.
3/ The interior of the Explorer also has been completely redone for improved ergonomics and occupant comfort.
4/ The underside of the new Explorer shows how streamlined the new independent rear suspension fits with the platform to allow a lower body that also has greater ground clearance.
Corvette’s new Z06 counters challenge of Dodge Viper
Auto racing fans can come in a variety of ages, shapes, sizes and genders. They can be the kind of Formula 1 purists who have their dream come true with the return of that exotic series to the U.S. with this weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis, or they can prefer the alphabet-soup of CART, IRL, NASCAR, NHRA, or dirt-track modifieds or motorcycles. But all automotive enthusiasts have one thing in common: the love of fast cars.
When it comes to the absolutes of fast cars for street and highway use, the U.S. does right well, with the standard Corvette dominating the scene, but a more recent challenger in the Dodge Viper for heavy-duty high-performance. Sure, there are exotics in the hot-car field, too, such as any Porsche, or such over-the-top, six-figure machines such as Ferrari or Lamborghini. But the Corvette has long been the dominant performance-sports car sold in the U.S., although there is no question that Chevrolet and General Motors have felt the venom of the Viper, which has dominated world-class endurance races at places like LeMans and Sebring for the past three years.
Dominating on the race tracks of the world is one thing, bolstering corporate pride and all, but dominating the bragging rights on the street is even more important, as it translates to sales and ultimate corporate profitability. While the Corvette remains the overwhelming street-racer-of-choice for U.S. buyers, the Viper, armed with a huge, 8-liter V10 engine and incredible gobs of horsepower and torque, runs away and hides from the Corvette in all-out performance.
For 2001, Chevrolet has counter-attacked. Taking the very good and very refined Corvette, which comes in coupe, convertible and hardtop styles, Chevrolet picked off the hardtop, which is the lightest of the three, and scoured out every bit of weight possible, then stuffed a more potent V8 under that plastic hood. The engine upgrades are matched with specific suspension and steering refinements, and the result is the Z06.
The introduction of the Z06 corresponds with the return of a factory Corvette racing program for LeMans and other endurance races, and while extremely competitive, they haven’t yet beaten the Vipers.
So what could be better timing than U.S. Grand Prix weekend to examine the top two U.S. street screamers — the Dodge Viper RT/10, and the new-for-2001 Chevrolet Corvette Z06?
CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06
It was back in 1963 that Corvette’s first chief engineer, Zora Arkus-Duntov, decided to add an ultimate model to the mainstream Corvette line, and he called it the Z06 racing package. That, incidentally, was my favorite Corvette ever. Otherwise, Corvettes didn’t vary too far from the mainstream of being fast, strong and sporty, but with an eye toward being manageable for the masses. It became THE sports car for Americans, although it got fatter and heftier with the years.
In 1990, Chevrolet decided to silence the critics of its outmoded pushrod engine by building the ZR-1 model — an all-out high-performer with a special, dual-overhead-camshaft V8 with incredible power. It was the most potent Corvette ever, but because Chevrolet wasn’t into overhead-cam motors, it had to go to Lotus for design expertise, and have GM’s Mercury Marine subsidiary build the engines. Needless to say, it was costly. Twice as expensive as the normal Corvette. And it went away because it was unaffordable.
Chevrolet has done remarkable things to the Corvette and to its aging 5.7-liter pushrod V8 in the last few years, however. The C5 is the fifth-generation Corvette, with stunning looks and the most accommodating interior, plus an all-aluminum revision to the engine that extracted more power and revs. It was enough to allow Corvette to maintain its U.S. hold, in the face of a flock of new sports cars from Porsche, Mercedes, Audi and Honda. But there was that darn Viper, finishing 1-2-3 at LeMans.
So now it’s 2001, and Chevrolet has done Corvette’s tradition proud with the new Z06 — picking off the name of its first corporate hot-rod ‘Vette. In my opinion, it’s the best Corvette ever, or, to a stubborn type, at least since the ’63 coupe.
A whole batch of subtle refinements, including better cylinder heads, improved combustion properties through intake and exhaust alterations, plus stronger camshaft settings to improve valve lift and overlap, which required stronger pistons and valve springs, and even a new, lightweight titanium exhaust system. Altogether, the engine gains its own notation, LS6, and deservedly so. The basic 5.7 aluminum Corvette V8 turned out 345 horsepower last year; the Z06 engine spews out 385 horses and 385 foot-pounds of torque, which are increases of 40 horsepower and 35 foot-pounds of torque over last year.
All Corvettes have been fun to drive, but not until the Z06 have I realized the shortcomings of others. For example, I always thought Corvettes steered pretty well, but the new heavier steering in the Z06 was perfectly matched to my instincts, and made me realize that all others had been too light and twitchy. The heavier input required to turn the Z06 means less oversteer and less twitchiness.
Acceleration is spectacular. Taller gearing allows 0-60 times of 4.0-seconds, and I have read tests that have run the Z06 up to nearly 170 miles per hour. Not advisable on real-world freeways, of course.
All that performance leads to two amazing facts. First, because you can’t get all the creature-comforts of the standard Corvette, the Z06 base price is $46,855, with an as-tested sticker of $47,675 — cheaper than some Corvette models loaded with options but without the Z06 package. Second, the EPA fuel estimates are 19 city, 28 highway, which seemed far-fetched until I registered 21 miles per gallon on combined city-freeway driving, and a computer-calculated 26 miles per gallon on 100 miles of sustained freeway travel. Not slow freeway travel, I should add.
When you buy the Z06, you get unique alloy wheels that house larger tires (265/40 17-inch in front, 295/35 18-inch rear), and suspension camber settings for improved cornering stability, along with thicker stabilizer bars front and rear, stiffer rear springs and altered shock settings all around. The brakes live up to the rest of the upgrades, and the Z06 stops with amazing suddenness, same as the way it goes and turns.
Everything on the Z06 has been compromised for weight-saving. Personally, when I rank the three Corvette body styles, I like the coupe and convertible 1-2, with the hardtop a distant No. 3. The rounded, more bubble-shape hardtop seems to not fit in as well with the pleasing flow of the soft-wedge lines of the Corvette. But that’s just personal opinion. The fact is, the hardtop is the lightest version. For 2001, you can’t get the hardtop on any model except the Z06, and you can’t get the Z06 in any style except the hardtop.
Driver’s power-seat movement is limited to fore and aft, with other adjustments manual, to save weight. There is no spare tire in the Z06, replaced by an aerosol can of stuff to stop leaks and a reinflation device. And you can only get the 6-speed manual, no automatic, both for all-out performance and to save weight. The 6-speed still has that annoying skip-shift feature that goes from first to fourth at certain revs, but you can learn to get from first to second without ever engaging it with a little concentration. At 3,126 pounds, the Z06 is over 100 pounds less than other Corvette models, and it pays benefits in acceleration and handling.
The exterior changes are subtle. The thin-spoke alloy wheels are unique to the car. The usual vent just behind the rear wheel-well is still there, but another small vent has been added, just ahead of the rear wheel-well, to cool the rear brakes. Other than that, there is a small, silver emblem on the flanks emblazoned with “Z06.” Subtle or not, Corvette types can spot it from 100 feet. I was sitting at a stoplight and a fellow walked across in the crosswalk. He gave me a smile and a thumbs-up, then he turned again as he reached the far curb. “That one of those new ones?” he yelled. I nodded, and he gave us another thumbs-up.
The seats are comfortable and supportive, and the gauges are neatly laid out in a cluster of 3D overlays, including a tachometer that redlines at 6,500 — higher by 500 revs than the normal Corvette, and about as high as any pushrod engine can scream. That engine sound is rich, and when you decelerate, the exhaust sound burbling back through those titanium mufflers and out the four exhaust tubes is melodious enough to make all but the hardest of hard-core Harley riders appreciate the difference between “exhaust note” and “noise.”
On the freeway, you are the king. On past road-tests, I’ve noticed the tendency of many drivers, mostly in trucks and SUVs, tend to try to run with you or crowd you or otherwise show disdain when you’re in a BMW or Honda sports car. But everybody respects a Corvette, especially a bright red one. When you do have to make a move, however, you do it with slick precision, thanks to the always-abundant power, the steering precision and the compliant but firm suspension.
Not all of the Corvette’s mainstream refinements have been excluded, naturally. A superb Bose audio system brought out sounds from instruments I hadn’t realized were on some familiar CDs. And the lack of a spare made for decent trunk space, and you can reach back from the two seats to stash or reach stuff stored back there.
Corvette’s active handling feature, which coordinates computerized power with braking to help stabilize the car if a driver goes into a turn too aggressively. You can hold the switch down for five seconds to deactivate the device and go into “Competition Mode,” as in the case of an experienced driver who might want to induce a bit of wheelspin for autocross competition.
Criticism? With all the expertise and effort to make the pushrod engine so strong and responsive, it would still make more sense to me for Chevrolet to give in and build an overhead-cam engine for the ‘Vette. Engineers say overhead cams would make the engine taller, and it wouldn’t fit under that sweetly sloped hood. Hmmm. Seems that the old ZR-1 hood also was sleek, and it fit. Still, pushrods and all, Chevrolet was able to summon up all the tradition from its 40-something smallblock V8 to create a futuristic package, at an out-of-this-world price. They sold almost 30,000 Corvettes last model year, and the Z06 should take Chevrolet up and over that mark in the next year.
(cutlines for corvette-viper columns…)
Photos by John Gilbert, Up North Newspaper Network
[corvette z06Â…]
1/ A German cruise ship might swiftly cruise Lake Superior, but not as swiftly as the 2001 Corvette Z06 cruises on land.
2/ One of over 100 ceremonial Snoopy statues in St. Paul seemed elated to see the new Corvette Z06.
3/ The Z06 engine produces 385 horsepower and 385 foot-pounds of torque to the new Corvette model.
4/ Only a small badge, rear-brake air scoop and special alloy wheels differentiate the Z06 from other Corvettes.
[viper rt/10Â…]
1/ Every contour of Dodge’s Viper RT/10 indicates it is an exotic and powerful way to sail the freeways.
2/ A Viper meets with open-armed approval of the Minnesota Wild’s Snoopy, part of St. Paul’s tribute to the late Peanuts cartoonist Charles Schulz.
3/ The monstrous 8-liter V10 in the Viper produces 450 horsepower and 495 foot-pounds of torque for the industry’s best powre-to-weight ratio.
4/ As the sun sets, the Viper’s lights add an almost eerie quality to the powerful roadster.
Civic Si is a budget sporty coupe bargain, but not for 2001
The annual new-model changeover is always an interesting time in the auto world, but the changes aren’t always for the best for everybody. Honda is going to bring out a totally redesigned Civic for 2001, and it undoubtedly will be improved in many ways. But one of the changes is that there will no longer be a Civic Si for 2001.
Honda may be unexcelled when it comes to tacking advanced technology on its vehicles, but the last time they changed Civic models was in 1995, and one of the “improvements” was to make the hood less streamlined, and to eliminate four-wheel disc brakes on the top EX model. To me, that was a way of cost-cutting that was unbecoming a technology leader.
During the model run just ended, Honda became aware that a whole bunch of youthful hot-rodders, starting on the West Coast, were taking Civics and fiddling with high-performance computer chips, modifying the suspension, and adding neat wheels and ultra-low-profile tires and building hod-rod versions for street use. Finally, Honda responded and brought out the “Si” model, which, of course, means “Yes!” in Spanish.
The “Yes!” is appropriate, whether you’re responding to the speed, the cornering, the stopping or the price tag of the Si — which is $17,545, fully equipped.
When I had a chance to test-drive the 2000 Si model, it was as impressive as anticipated, and it was natural to assume it would be better, somehow, in 2001. I never anticipated that it would be eliminated.
For 2000, the Si model takes the basic Honda 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine and turns it into a screamer with engineering borrowed from Formula 1 and CART racing success. The all-aluminum engine adds dual-overhead camshafts instead of single overhead cam, plus revised VTEC (variable valve-timing) to allow more intake and thus more power-making potential. The basic Civic engine has 106 horsepower, and is upgraded to 127 in standard Civic VTEC form, while the Si version is boosted to a whopping 160-horsepower, with 111-foot-pounds of torque.
The horsepower peaks at 7,600 RPMs, and the torque peaks at 7,000 revs — meaning both peak levels are attained at a tachometer reading higher than the 6,500 redline of the 2001 Corvette Z06. But fear not, because the Si tachometer redline is at 8,000 RPMs.
The 5-speed manual shifter holds onto those revs and applies the power properly to the street through front-wheel drive, and the handling and brakes also are suitable for boasting.
The handling comes from independent, double-wishbone suspension has coil springs that are 25 percent stiffer than the EX, with a larger front stabilizer bar. Gas-charged struts all around with Honda’s progressive valve damping rates keep the Si flatter and more stable no matter how enthusiastically you want to hurl it around corners. A support bar across the strut towers further aids rigidity.
The Si is set off by its front spoiler, side sills and subtle graphics, and the special wheels are 15 inches in diameter, and they conceal four-wheel disc brakes that are both larger and more proficient at stopping the little coupe.
Inside, the Si has the usual air-conditioning, plus a moonroof with a tilt feature, and power windows, door locks and outside mirrors, with keyless remote, cruise control and intermittent wipers. It is set apart from its siblings by a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, amber instrument lights and special graphics, plus two-tone seat fabric. An AM-FM-CD player also is standard.
Like all Civics, the Si earned a four-star rating in government crash tests, and while the Si is a small portion of overall Civic sales, the line is the top-selling marquee in the compact segment.
Driving the Si is a lot of fun, but it is just enough distance from perfect for us to anticipate the next version. The five-speed does its job very well, but it needs either better ratios or a sixth gear. The problem is the close-ratio transmission extracts maximum power all the way up through the gears, but when you go to cruise on a freeway trip, you find yourself running at 4,000 RPMs at cruising speed.
Now, 4,000 revs isn’t bad when you have a limit of 8,000, but different gearing or sixth gear could leave you at 2,500 revs or so, and mean that the jewel of an engine would be loafing instead of working even halfway to the limit. As it is, you can get up to the EPA estimate of 31 miles per gallon on the highway (26 city) if you can avoid the temptation to redline it in first and second, but altered gearing could put you closer to 40.
Preliminary word on the new 2001 model Civic is that the platform has been stiffened considerably, but that the double-wishbone suspension is gone, as is the Si model. Perhaps the stiffer chassis negates the need for the race-bred double-wishbones, but, once again, it doesn’t seem progressive for a technology leader.
Undoubtedly the 2001 will be a big seller, and full of worthy features, but if you want as much fun as $17,000 can buy, you’ll need the Si model. And for that, you’ll have to chase down a 2000 model.
[[[[[CUTLINES:
(Â…aztekÂ…)
1/ The “unusual” look of the Pontiac Aztek can be overcome by clever interior features and a moderate $25,000 sticker price.
2/ A tall, multi-decked grille makes the Aztek seem taller than it is, and soft suspension makes it comfortable but less stable in cornering.
3/ Inside, the seat upholstery has a dizzying pattern, but Pontiac-style instruments, an advanced heads-up display and a removable console/cooler are welcome features.
4/ Available in a camping package, the Aztek can be purchased with a tent appendage that turns the vehicle into a hybrid mini-motorhome.
(Â…Honda Civic SiÂ…)
1/ The Si model will disappear from the revised Civic line for 2001, at least temporarily.
2/ Special wheels, suspension, and a high-revving VTEC 4-cylinder makes the Civic Si a budget sports-coupe.
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:
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