Volkswagen improves upon GTI, Beetle winners with 1.8 turbo
[[[[cutlines: (first, the green gemÂ…)
1/ The GTI started the whole “pocket-rocket” concept of a compact little car that can be fast, fun and safe, on a budget.
2/ With the 1.8-Turbo four-cylinder, the GTI approaches the all-out performance of the V6 but with better economy.
3/ Although the hatchback style conceals it well, the GTI has a surprisingly large trunk.
(Â…and for the black Beetle)
1/ The “New” Beetle is pretty commonplace now, but it still retains the timeless appeal.
2/ Unlike its predecessor, the 2001 Beetle rides on the new Golf platform, with front-wheel drive.
3/ The arching body shape offers unique aerodynamics — and also a lot of front headroom.
4/ The Beetle instrument panel is compact, including a tiny tachometer inset at the left.
5/ A spacious interior that is both ergonomic and efficient greets Beetle occupants.
6/ Under the folding rear hatch panel, the Beetle also offers surprisingly generous storage. ]]]]]]
The New Beetle as a hot rod? The rejuvenated GTI as both an economy car and a street sizzler?
Both premises are true, and both were demonstrated to me in recent weeks when I got the chance to road test both the 2001 Beetle 1.8T and the 2001 GTI.
Anyone who has been on this planet for more than 30 years remembers the Volkswagen Beetle — the OLD Beetle, that is. You have to say that, in referring to the original, because the New Beetle has been out long enough to not only outstrip the “New” phrase, but also to render the original in need of definition.
Similarly, anyone who remembers the VW Rabbit of a couple decades back recalls how a specially-prepared version of that little hatchback became the “GTI,” and wrote new rules about how a little subcompact could become a potent, fun-to-drive machine.
When the Beetle disappeared from the U.S., the GTI stayed around, when the Rabbit gave way to the Golf and moved into a new generation. Since the mid-1990s, the Golf has gotten better and better, and in 1999, it was time to come out with an entirely new platform for the very good and very dependable Golf.
That was when Volkswagen pulled a clever marketing coup. It reintroduced the New Beetle, modernizing and streamlining the arching Beetle shape, and plunking it down onto the platform meant for the new Golf.
The idea was creative, but it paid off in ways even Volkswagen couldn’t have anticipated. Because the previous Golf was a solid and substantial little thing, it always had excellent safety records. So, naturally, the new Golf would improve on those impressive characteristics. When the New Beetle was introduced, it had good, front-wheel-drive performance, strong acceleration, and the best crash-test results of any small car ever tested.
A year later, in 2000, the new Golf came out as scheduled, and it, too, has exceptional crash-test results.
The Beetle and Golf shared the same 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, a strong, workhorse of an engine. You also could get the turbodiesel, which got over 40 miles per gallon.
German automakers have been on a roll in recent years. Mercedes, BMW and Porsche all have maintained their standards, and even improved upon them by making better cars with tightened manufacturing techniques that allowed them to lower prices. Audi charged into the mix with greatly improved cars in the mid-1990s, particularly with the advent of the A4 sedan.
So Volkswagen’s ability to reclaim the territory once capitulated to various Japanese economy-car-builders shouldn’t have come as a big surprise. Volkswagen did compromise the excellence of the once-proud GTI, however, by offering trim-only versions of the car without the commensurate upgrade in performance. So there are a bunch of bargain-GTIs out there, with fancy wheels and GTI emblems but with no upgrades to the engine or suspension.
All the while, VW did offer a serious upgrade to the GTI line, with a top-end version that had a 2.8-liter V6 engine. It was an absolute screamer, with good reason.
But the most intriguing spinoff to all this German technology was the emerging evidence of the relationship between Audi and Volkswagen, brothers under the sheetmetal. One of the most significant engineering tricks Audi pulled off was in building a comparatively small 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, and installing five valves per cylinder, where four are high-tech, and two are outdated.
The Audi 1.8T has three intake and two exhaust valves on each cylinder, run via dual overhead camshafts. Because it is small in displacement, and Audi wanted it to perform in cars of varying sizes, it hooked it up to a turbocharger, but it is a low-pressure turbo, so it spins fast and does its job without the usual lag-and-lurch familiar to normal turbo engine operators.
The technology goes beyond that, however, because Audi linked it all to a sophisticated electronic engine-management system, which magically coordinates its maximum 150 foot-pounds of torque with its maximum 150 horsepower. Instead of a torque curve, the full torque is coaxed to life at just about 2,000 RPMs, and it is held in a flat plateau all the way up to about 5,000 RPMs, which thrusts you right into the middle of the horsepower curve.
So you don’t have an overwhelming abundance of power, but what you have you get at just above idle speed.
All this Audi talk would be misplaced, except that Volkswagen has gotten the 1.8T from Audi, and while it is an impressive engine in the larger Passat and midsize Jetta, you can now get that engine in the GTI, and you also can get it in the Beetle.
GTI GLS 1.8T
Like it or not, that’s the official name of the new GTI, as Volkswagen strives to separate its hottest model from the mainstream. It’s foolish, of course, because the Golf is a solid, reliable little hatchback coupe, and VW simply redoes all the power and handling characteristics of the Golf, gives it a sportier interior, and you have the GTI.
The test car was a sparkling emerald green, which Volkswagen calls “green rave pearl,” and which is about as attention-grabbing as green can be when painted on a car.
The highlights of the car are obvious. There is the engine, which can get 30 miles per gallon on the highway, if you can stay out of the hard-accelerating pleasure. It also can get 25 miles per gallon in town, no matter how you drive it.
No, the GTI 1.8T doesn’t have the all-out, low-end charge of big U.S. V6 or V8 engines, but it might be the perfect compromise. You can get on it hard enough to sqeal the tires on takeoff, and ride the surge as the turbo boost comes up, or you can take it easy, drive in a more mellow attitude, and get the kind of fuel economy tiny car owners will envy.
Besides, if some bozo in a hot rod wants to challenge you to a race, you can simply look at him dryly and say: “Do you want to race up to 120? Or FROM 120 up?”
Gets ’em every time.
The sport suspension lets the GTI corner hard, staying flat and stable all the way. The 5-speed manual shifter lets you run through the gears swiftly and smoothly.
Complementing all the power and stiff handling, there is a track-correcting independent torsion beam rear suspension, and the GTI has ASR (anti-slip regulation) and EDL (electronic differential lock) in an all-out effort to make sure the thing goes in a straight line, even when you might be careless about it.
The test GTI had the standard 15-inch wheels replaced by optional 17-inch allow wheels and extremely low-profile, high-performance tires, which was another method of amplifying the cornering capabilities of the car.
Still, impressive as all those items are, there are some other things that may have the best staying power when it comes to making the GTI a family car.
For example, a small, squared-back hatchback doesn’t look like it should have much rear seat room, and certainly no trunk space. But the GTI has enormous trunk space, augmented by fold-down rear seats, if need be, and a little shelf that sits above whatever you’re stowing. The rearseat room, however, is always a surprise. Put a 6-footer back there, via the easy and wide flip-forward passenger side bucket seat, and he’ll remark about how much headroom there is. A small concave channel running crosswise just ahead of the rear window adds an inch or so of rear headroom.
Foglights integrated behind the headlight lenses helps with night driving, and the front buckets are height adjustable as well as the usual fore, aft and tilt controls. Power windows, locks, hatch, and remote keyless entry are other nice touches.
For 2001, the GTI’s already strong safety gets improved with the addition of side airbags to the usual frontal bags. There is a glass sunroof, and a full-size spare tire.
The test car also had what is called a leather package, which includes the steering wheel with remote cruise and audio controls, and the Monsoon sound system, which upgrades the stock 8-speaker system to thundering power.
Driving the GTI remains its strong suit, and the feel of fun you get from driving one is boosted by the sticker sheet, which shows the base GTI costs $19,275, and with those classy options the total price is only $21,800.
BEETLE 1.8T
The biggest asset owned by the Beetle isÂ…it’s so darn cute. It remains an attention-grabbing, eye-catcher. And that’s certainly not bad, for openers, in this era when thousands are spent on cars, trucks and all sorts of transportation devices as status symbols.
The Beetle, in base form, accomplishes all that those who would spend $65,000 are seeking, and for $18,000. We, of course, are talking about a loaded Beetle in our test-drive form.
The car came in jet black, with the aforementioned 1.8-turbo engine under the hood, and high-performing tires on alloy wheels, with some suspension tweaks. If we didn’t know better, we might assume this was a GTI-model Beetle.
At one intersection, I realized a construction thing in the block ahead was forcing a merge into the left lane. I gambled that maybe I could beat the guy next to me, so I ran the revs up just a bit, and, when the light changed, I hammered the Beetle. It screeched the tires, all the way across the intersection. I merged cleanly.
Because it’s the same drivetrain as the GTI, the Beetle 1.8T can be driven hard, for fun, or easy, for great economy.
Inside, the Beetle remains a charmer. The neat little instrument cluster houses a speedometer and fuel gauge, and has a tiny little tachometer tucked into the lower left. Yes, I would like to see a more prominent tach, especially when that 1.8 wants to rev so high and so swiftly, but at least there is one.
About the time you have had enough of being impressed with the gauges, the sun sets, and you turn on the headlights and are startled to see the instruments come to life in an almost iridescent blue. Very neat. So is the tiny bud vase located just to the right of the instruments.
Open the rear hatch, and there is a surprising amount of storage space behind the rear seats. Yes, this car would work as a family car for a small or young family, and it works fantastically for a growing or grown family, where somebody is sane enough to want a compact car for basic, 30-mile-per-gallon commuting.
It is very stable on the road at freeway speeds anywhere up to 80. It was always pretty stable, but the sporty suspension and the lower-profile tires give the 2001 version of the Beetle a better, more stable stance in all circumstances.
The headroom is remarkable. You could be 6-foot-3 and wearing a sombrero and still fit comfortably in the bucket seats. The rear seats are cramped, only because the roofline tapers swiftly down and back.
So a lack of rear seat headroom is a valid criticism, but again we must concede something to Volkswagen’s engineers. If the Beetle is an exceptional personal car, but too confining for a family, you can always move up to the Golf or GTI, or even to the Jetta or Passat.
Good car, natural mountain scenery make perfect vacation trip
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1/ Like a thoroughbred finally allowed to run free, the trusty ol’ Honda Prelude relaxed atop Independence Pass in Colorado.
2/ Dramatic skies signalled a mountain rainstorm sweeping in at Colorado Springs.
3/ An antelope seemed to be gazing at the sunset on a rolling hillside in Wyoming.
4/ The same antelope took off at full gallop.
5/ Only the vaguaries of the roadmap prevented experiencing this Wyoming thunderstorm.
6/ As a thunderstorm rolled over the eastern Wyoming prairie, it engulfed its own rainbow.
There are all sorts of attractions in various parts of the U.S. designed to lure tourists, but it’s become our family tradition to avoid them and to appreciate the wonders of nature. The natural and dramatic beauty of the North Shore, for example, can brighten your outlook after a week like we’ve just endured, with the tragic happenings in New York and Washington, D.C.
For our family, it also holds true that when we go on longer trips, we follow the same scheme. That includes avoiding the plastic-fantastic, mechanical marvels of Disneyworld, for example, in favor of splashing through the edges of the Everglades to observe alligators and exotic birds.
But a week ago, the timing was right for one of our favorite destinations. If you like to drive, you must enjoy driving vacation trips. And if you like driving trips, then you certainly would love to drive in the Rocky Mountains. The problem with living in Minnesota and wanting to drive in the Rockies is that you have to get there. And to get to Colorado, or Wyoming, you have to drive across Iowa, Nebraska or South Dakota. Which means lots of hours of pretty dull highway scenery in order to get to the spectacular stuff.
As an automotive writer who test-drives new cars on a pretty steady basis, my driving trips have been done in a variety of vehicles, ranging from a BMW 740 to a Ford Escape to an Infiniti Q45 to a Cadillac Seville, or a Dodge Intrepid. Not a bad array. But this time, our trip popped up on short notice, and had to start over Labor Day weekend.
The plan was particularly appealing, because it would allow us to get to Colorado Springs in time to watch Herb Brooks assemble the candidates for the 2002 U.S. Olympic hockey team. Since I was fortunate enough to watch Brooks put the 1980 team together, and then cover that team all the way through its miracle on ice at Lake Placid, I felt some tangential patriotic duty to try to make a similar connection. Besides, that would put us in proximity to do a little Rocky Mountain driving. Beyond that, we figured we could go all the way through the mountains and into Utah, then swing up to Salt Lake City, where we had never visited but would keep with that Olympian theme, amid the vast preparations that city is making for playing host to the Winter Olympics in February.
When word came that it would be a problem getting a new test-drive vehicle for that span, because of new-model-year changeover and the Labor Day weekend, we had a unique idea. We’d drive our own car! Because of all my test-drives over the last seven years, the family Honda Prelude has never made a trip of any substantial length. So this would be a great chance to give it an opportunity to perform the way we anticipated, when we bought it.
But first there were a few things to adjust. For one, the original equipment battery had faltered, so we bought a new battery and had it installed two months ago. Trouble was, the elaborate theft-prevention system worked TOO well. The audio system, impressive as it is with AM-FM-cassette-CD player and a huge subwoofer, has a theft-proof device, and if you happen to disconnect and reconnect the battery, the radio quits working.
There is a code number that allows you to reprogram the radio, but we bought the car with 4,000 miles on it, and we never got that card, or that number. So it took $75 at a Honda dealership to get the blasted thing reprogramed. That did two things — it allowed us to play the radio and an assortment of CDs, and it prevented us from realizing that since getting the radio reprogramed, the lighter didn’t work. Being nonsmokers, that wasn’t a problem; being heavy users of cell-phones and fans of radar-detection devices while driving across long prairies, we couldn’t use the auxilliary charging power.
Oh well. We’d take the music and go for it.
With a 2.2-liter four-cylinder engine, the Prelude has the benefit of Honda’s VTEC system for variable valve-timing, which means precious few tuneups. We’ve done one, since 1994. And while it has the reputation of being a personal luxury coupe, the Prelude has spectacular skid-pad numbers to indicate its superlative handling characteristics.
So we were off. The car’s performance was outstanding, and the trip was thoroughly enjoyable, with some intriguing sidelights, always punctuated by our fuel stops. The Prelude drinks premium fuel, so the advertised numbers at gas stations can be misleading, when premium can cost up to 20 cents more per gallon than the advertised regular. We stopped in Owatonna, and got 25.0 miles per gallon.
Heading down I-35, we headed west on I-80 at Des Moines, stopping next in Omaha, where we got 26.0 miles per gallon. Picking at random, we decided to stop in Lincoln overnight, only to learn that not only were there a few lingering Nebraska football fans in the area, but the Nebraska State Fair was going on. We found a place, talked the proprietor down a little in price, then found the only room he had left was a suite, but he’d give it to us for the same price.
Next morning, we continued west, looking for a likely breakfast stop. We spotted a gigantic coffee pot as a restaurant sign, and pulled in. “Does that big coffee pot mean you have great coffee?” I asked the waitress. She chuckled and said, “No, it means you get a lot of coffee.”
She was right on both counts. We could have a lot of it, and it wasn’t good.
Before leaving Nebraska, we stopped again for gas, and got 25.3 mpg. Finally, we reached Colorado, which means switching off onto I-76 for a long stretch in eastern Colorado before you get your first long-awaited glimpse of the mountains. The jaunt down I-25 from Denver to Colorado Springs is pretty much all residential nowadays, but we arrived and checked in to an inexpensive motel after 1,177.4 miles, getting 28 miles per gallon on that tankful.
The hockey was interesting, as Brooks installed some European east-west breakouts on the primarily north-south playing NHL prospects for the Olympic team. We checked the oil level, and found it pretty foul, and a bit low. Checking around the yellow pages, we called several places that would do a fast oil change. My intention was to find someplace that used Amsoil, because I’ve become a firm believer in synthetic oil, and this stuff is the best. Besides, it was developed right here in Superior. I couldn’t find one, however, and settled for a place called “Grease Monkey,” which used Castrol Syn-Tech, my second choice.
A highlight of the days in Colorado Springs, however, was watching a storm come sweeping out of the mountains, right off the pass adjacent to Pike’s Peak. While it rained hard in the mountains, we only got about five minutes of a shower downtown. That made our timing perfect. We left the next morning, right after the storm, and headed west, taking a shortcut through to Buena Vista on Hwy. 24, and than taking Hwy. 82 into Aspen. That turned out to be the only bad part of the trip (aside from the coffee in Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota), because road construction and rush-hour caused us to waste an hour and a half trying to get through the small town of Aspen and on to Glenwood Springs, where we filled up again (27.0 mpg) as we reconnected with I-70.
Then we were off again, westbound into Utah, which turned out to be more varied and spectacular for scenery than I anticipated. We left the almost desert-like plains and mesas to turn northwesterly on Hwy. 6 at Green River, and the terrain changed with us, turning into mountains on either side of the road as we headed north. Just before Provo, we refilled the tank, at 27.8 miles per gallon, although we missed the stunning scenery between Provo and Salt Lake City because it was already too dark. We blamed Aspen.
Salt Lake City was very impressive, both as a city and as a prospective Winter Olympic venue. As for the Great Salt Lake, well, I find that freshwater lakes are Superior, if you know what I mean. We had a good time, found a spectacular Brazilian restaurant, and too soon it was time to head home.
We got onto I-80 headed east last Saturday morning, and drove up into the mountains of northern Utah, crossing over into Wyoming before we stopped for a quick breakfast in Evanston, where our fuel fill showed 29.1 mpg. The improvement, I figured, might be due to the oil change. Or to having the wind at our backs.
The mountain scenery in western Wyoming changes from Utah or Colorado, and even from other parts of Wyoming. But when we realized that staying on I-80 would bring us back south into Nebraska, via Cheyenne, we decided to take an alternative route, north at Rawlins on Hwy. 789, then bearing east on Hwy. 220 into Casper, north on I-25 to Edgerton, and then east on Hwy. 387 and 450 and finally 16 through Custer and into Rapid City.
Although we were still half full, we decided to fill up on fuel at Rawlins, and when I set the filler nozzle on automatic and walked away, another customer told me that gas was pouring out on the concrete. Sure enough, two or three gallons of overflow fouled up my mileage reading, to say nothing of requiring a heavy rinse job to make the driveway safe.
As we scaled a few more mountains and raced across the nearly deserted plains, I must admit we went over the speed limit a couple of times. In eastern Wyoming, we saw a spectacular cloud formation and figured we were driving into a heavy thunderstorm or possibly more-severe weather. The roadways curved this way and that, however, and we continued to circle the thunderhead, driving on rain-soaked roads but never actually getting rained on.
We stayed overnight in Rapid City, getting our perfunctory look at the beauty of the Black Hills Sunday morning, and filling up with fuel — we had covered 377 miles on 11.7 gallons for a surprising 32.3 miles per gallon. We had gone through mountains, on twisting roads, and quite swiftly on that tankful, yet it was the best we achieved on the whole trip.
Passing the badlands, and Wall Drug (see Disneyland, above), we headed east on I-90 to Sioux Falls, where our next fuel fill showed 27.0. We continued on I-90 to Albert Lea, then turned north on I-35. One more tankful (26.8 mpg) in the Twin Cities, and we were back in Duluth.
It was a whirlwind trip, and it cleared our heads as well as the Prelude’s long-awaited chance to make a long trip. Driving trips, at a good pace, with a great car, and with a little break in the weather, can be the perfect therapy to energize you to get back to work.
Escalade, ML500 and QX4 are three answers to luxury SUV quest
A few years ago, when vans and pickup trucks gave way to sport-utility vehicles, then SUVs expanded to include any and all shapes, sizes and manufacturers, we all might have wondered what it was all coming to, even if we had an idea how we got there.
Now it’s the 2002 model year, and we can take a look at the state of the art of luxury SUVs — those vehicles that have been festooned with dozens of extra little features to put them above and beyond the normal, run-of-the-mill $30,000-type SUVs. These are not to be confused with compact SUVs, which come in from $20,000-$25,000. No, these are the high-buck beasts, and they can be found being built by any self-respecting manufacturer which has already explored (exploited?) all manner of normalcy in the SUV biz.
Three good examples of luxury SUVs can be obtained from all different parts of our once-green globe.
From the U.S.A., we’ve got the Cadillac Escalade, which deserves the Cadillac grille and logo, designating the difference between the Escalade and the more mainstream Tahoe and/or Suburban.
From Japan, a good example is the Infiniti QX4, which is the mainstream Nissan Pathfinder bolstered by different sheetmetal and creature features.
And from Germany, Mercedes Benz sends us the ML500, which is an exercise in taking the first Mercedes all-terrain vehicle with an enlarged, 5-liter V8.
The penalty for buying a luxury SUV, of course, is the initial outlay of cash. With car manufacturers’ profit margins getting slimmer and slimmer on cars, they are more than compensating for any loss by making whopping profits on trucks. And no trucks are more profitable than luxury SUVs.
The QX4, which comes through Nissan’s upscale Infiniti stores, costs $38,215 in the form I drove it, which is moderate, actually, in the class of luxury SUVs. Base price was $35,550.
The Mercedes ML500 has a base price of $44,950, and as tested it listed for $49,385.
And the Cadillac Escalade had a base of $50,285, and a sticker total of $52,535.
CADILLAC ESCALADE
The General Motors big boats had the large SUV world to themselves with the Suburban, which dates back to the days when big “panel-truck” buyers needed such beasts for work, and bought them for that purpose. The Tahoe and GMC versions such as the Yukon spun off from the Suburban, and by the time the SUV craze hit a peak, it also spun upward, to include the Escalade.
To give the Escalade a proper amount of distinction, it gets a big, unique grille on the outside, and so many little feature touches inside that you could get completely lost trying to figure out exactly which button is to control what feature. If you wanted to drive the Escalade at night, and you had more patience than I, you could do a careful scan of every tiny little light that designates every tiny little switch, and you could get the number up into the 70s or 80s.
Very impressive. And, needlessly complicated. The trouble with taking an established older vehicle and upscaling it comprehensively is that you veer farther and farther away from sound ergonomics. For example, somebody decided to add a switch that electrically could cause the outside mirrors to fold in flush to the body. So the switch is placed arbitrarily down ahead of the driver’s left knee on the lower dash panel. Maybe you would want to use a switch like that, and if so, maybe you could find it. But remember it instinctively? Hardly.
But GM has done a great job of updating and keeping the big SUVs contemporary. The Escalade claims to be the most powerful SUV, with a 6.0-liter V8 engine that may be old-school in pushrod design, but it churns out 345 horsepower. You may recall a recent editorial I read somewhere, which claimed that it was unfair to try to force laws of increased fuel economy, because it would cause auto manufacturers to stop building larger, more profitable vehicles, with adequate power. The Escalade has “adequate power,” even if you need to haul a boat roughly the size of the Queen Mary.
Leather seating with Zebrano wood trim set off the interior, 10-way power front seats with heated cushions, heated outboard seats in the second row, and removable third row seats, with split fold-down and stowable folding ability are nice features. A Bose premium audio system with 6-disc and cassette players, and controls on the steering wheel with separate rear controls and earphones add another classy feature. GM’s OnStar system of guidance and positioning is also standard.
Naturally there is all-wheel drive, with an automatic torque-splitting system, a four-speed automatic transmission, road-sensing suspension with automatic leveling, and the Escalade also has traction control, 4-wheel disc brakes, towing package with the harness already installed, front and side front airbags, and an Ultrasonic rear system to beep and warn you when you’re backing up and getting closer to another object.
The above features all are standard, with the only options being a $1,550 power glass sunroof.
The huge Escalade handles well, goes with power, and if you can get around fuel economy of barely 10-13 (EPA estimates claim 12 city and 15 highway), and you need enormous room and want overwhelming power, the Escalade could be the vehicle of your dreams.
INFINITI QX4
The Nissan Pathfinder always has been among my favorite SUVs, so when Nissan went upscale with the QX4 for its Infiniti branch, it had to be similarly impressive. While comparatively inexpensive in this company — costing about $14,000 less than the Escalade — it has about all the power and luxury touches you might want.
The engine is Nissan’s heralded, high-tech V6 engine, measuring 3.5 liters and putting out 240 horsepower through dual-overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The 4-speed automatic and all-mode 4-wheel-drive work smoothly, and the lighter and far more agile QX4 still has a 5,000-pound towing capacity.
The liftgate has a glass hatch, with blackened privacy glass on the five rear windows. Integrated step rails suggest you might really use the roof rack, and the 3-spoke alloy wheels are stylish departures even for luxury SUVs, and they house large 16-inch wheels — same as the much bigger Escalade. Xenon headlights give off brilliant, bluish light, and foglights do an excellent job of lighting the shoulders. The QX4 also has power, heated side mirrors, and the driver and front passenger have cut glass windows with ultraviolet shielding.
Bird’s-eye maple wood trim is the real thing, and the leather on the seats and steering wheel is nice. The auto air conditioning has microfiltration, and the audio system is a Bose 150-watt device with 6 speakers, and an in-dash 6-disc player along with cassette fill the thing with sound. A homelink universal transceiver is also standard. For safety, the QX4 has pipe-style side door guard beams, and the body has front and side airbags, with active head restraints, and the keyless entry system also triggers a security system, with a vehicle immobilizer system.
Options on the test vehicle include a premium package, with 17-inch alloy wheels, genuine wood on the steering wheel, memory seat on the driver’s power seat, and audio controls (along with standard cruise) on the steering wheel, plus a power glass sunroof that tilts and opens, and a towing package.
Being lighter and more agile, the QX4 feels quicker and more responsive than the big Escalade, or most other large SUVs, and it still delivers close to the EPA max of 15 miles per gallon city, 18 highway.
MERCEDES ML500
Mercedes had a winner when it decided to go SUVing, when it brought out the ML320, with a 3.2-liter V6. At introductory time, I drove one of them around the Road America race track at Elkhart Lake, Wis., and hit 110 miles per hour going into 90-degree corners, then zooming around the turns with ease. I observed a professional race driver hitting 120 in the same spots. There are not many other SUVs that I would trust at those speeds.
A few years have passed, and competitors have upped the ante of power, so Mercedes has responded predicatbly. Not only more power, but 288 exquisite horsepower at 5,600 RPMs and 325 foot-pounds of torque at a mere 2,700 RPMs, staying constant until 4,250 revs, from a jewel-like 5-liter V8, with single overhead cam and three valves per cylinder.
A 5-speed automatic transmission has driver-adaptive touch shifting, a 2-speed transfer case that definitely will hold the vehicle in check down the steepest off-road grade, and 4-wheel traction control. Independent suspension with front and rear double A-arms and swaybars make the ML500 one of the most sophisticated SUVs ever built, with torsion-bar springs, rear coild springs, gas-pressure dampers, and 17-inch wheels, standard.
Burl walnut is the Mercedes wood trim of choice, and the leather is lsupple and plush on the heated front seats, with their 8-way power settings. A Homelink device with global positioning system, and all the cupholders you’d want, plus four front and rear 12-volt power outlets and a trip computer, with CD and phone wiring in place help make your travel pleasurable.
Dual-stage airbags, front and side, with side windowbags and 3-point harness anchors in all seating positions, make you feel secure inside the fully boxed steel frame, with its reinforced body cage and front and rear crumple zones. The ML500 has gotten top grades in crash tests.
Options on the test vehicle included a memory feature for the power front seats and a glass sunroof with power rear quarter windows, plus a Bose audio system with CD changer, runs the price right up to the $50,000 barrier. EPA figures estimate 14 miles per gallon city, 17 highway.
Of the three, the Escalade is the giant, big-family hauler, while the Mercedes is the sporty-luxury extreme, and the QX4 is something of a compromise between the other two. They all have the ability to handle snow, sleet and slippery hillsides, and they could transport any family anywhere with style and class.
World-class Passat and Jetta miss final list for car of the year
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1/ The 2002 Volkswagen Jetta, left, showed off its compact lines alongside the larger, sleeker and more expensive Passat; from the nose, the Passat (left) is smoothed where the Jetta is grooved. The Jetta stands out in silhouette, while the Passat’s longer, sleeker lines cover its greater rear seatroom. ]]]]]]]
It’s that time of year again, in the automotive business. Must be something like when they give the finalists for the Academy Awards, or the Emmy or Grammy competition, but where cars and trucks are concerned, this is the time that the jury empowered to vote for the International Car of the Year award must narrow down the list from all the qualified vehicles down to a workable final 10.
I’ve been honored to be on that jury for most of the past decade, and it’s a responsibility you can’t take lightly. The rules are simple, with the only candidates those that are all new or significantly enough changed to be considered new. There are something like 50 automotive journalists who vote, with the winner named in January, at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
Here, listed alphabetically, are the 10 automobile finalists: Acura RSX, Audi A4, Cadillac CTS, Ford Thunderbird, Jaguar X-Type, Mercedes C-Class coupe, Nissan Altima, Subaru Impreza, and Toyota Camry.
Among the trucks, the finalists are: Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevy TrailBlazer, Dodge Ram, Ford Explorer, Honda CR-V, Jeep Liberty, Land Rover Freelander, Saturn VUE, and Toyota Highlander.
These are all worthy candidates, and I think more than in any year in the past half-dozen, it’s wide-open. There have been years when cars such as the New Beetle or the Chrysler PT Cruiser were can’t-miss predictions.
As we get into test drives of the finalists, they will make it into column evaluations, but first, let’s look at the very impressive list of those that DIDN’T make the finalist group.
Among the cars that were nominated but didn’t make it are the BMW M3, Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Sonata, Kia Sedona van, the Lexus ES300, Lexus SC430 sports car, Mazda Protégé, Mitusbishi Lancer, Nissan Sentra SE-R, and the Volkswagen Passat.
Trucks that missed were the GMC Envoy, Buick Rendezvous, Isuzu Axiom, Lincoln Blackwood, Mercury Mountaineer, Oldsmobile Bravada and Suzuki XL-7.
Some tough ones to exclude, in my opinion. The trucks weren’t so bad, because the Envoy and Bravada share mechanical stuff with the TrailBlazer, so they’re represented. Same with the Mountaineer, which is represented by the Explorer.
But I had a terrible time with the cars. I suggested expanding the list beyond the normal 10, because there were so many good candidates this year. The Lexus ES300 is impressive, but it does share platform and parts with the Camry. The Lexus SC430, however, is a pretty special sports car, but costly, which might have caused it to be voted out. The M3, Protégé, Lancer and Sentra SE-R and Civic Si are sporty new models of vehicles that came out a year ago.
But the one that was perhaps the biggest oversight was the Volkswagen Passat, which was totally redone shortly after the first of the year, and was listed as a 2001 1/5 model. For 2002, it doesn’t get redone again, but it does get the Audi developed V6, measuring 2.8-liters, with five valves per cylinder, variable intake and valve timing, and it pumps out 190 horsepower in the Passat, which raises it up to be a top challenger as a family sedan.
True, you can get it loaded up with options, as the test car was, and run the price sticker up to $30,000, but if you shave off enough options you also can lower it to about $28,750 for the top of the line GLX model.
That gives the Passat, which has smooth and flowing aerodynamic lines, tremendous power, and its improved suspension and front-wheel-drive with traction control and anti-slip regulation, the ability to zip right up to cruising speed, and hold it easily on the freeway.
What goes without saying is that the new Passat is also loaded with safety equipment, earning it the rating as the best vehicle at withstanding damage in crash testing in the family sedan category.
Similarly, the new 2002 Volkswagen Jetta wasn’t even a candidate for car of the year, because it came out a year ago. But the change from 2001 is significant. The test car I drove had the 1.8-liter 4-cylinder from Audi, with five-valve technology, variable valve timing, and a low-pressure turbocharger. Changing the electronic engine management chip has become a huge element at Audi and Volkswagen, and the latest trick from the engineers is to increase the horsepower in the new Jetta from 150 to 180 horsepower.
The silver test car I drove had a 5-speed manual shifter, and when you started up, and made a right turn, then stood on it, the Jetta would squeal the tires.
Like the Passat, which has a much roomier rear seat and trunk, the Jetta was declared the safest compact sedan in crash tests. It feels strong and substantial, and it has 17-inch wheels that increase the stability and cornering of the Jetta. With leather seats and a sunroof and a hiked up stereo system, the price can run up to $23,000. But that’s an outstanding price, considering what you get.
No, the Jetta wasn’t revised enough to have a shot at being a candidate, but the new one runs away from the 2001 model.
Late in the 2001 model run, I wrote about the new GTI and Beetle, both of which had the same 1.8 4-cylinder engine. Both performed well, but the 2002 model is on another plateau because of its upgraded power. That little 1.8 is a jewel, performing like a much bigger engine when you hit the gas, but also capable of giving you 26 miles per gallon even when your combined city and highway driving is done with a heavy foot.
Another thing you might notice from the car of the year list is that the Cadillac CTS, which starts with a rebadging of a European Opel model, and the Thunderbird are the only two of the 10 finalists built by a domestic U.S. company. It’s better with the trucks, where six of the finalists are domestics.
That doesn’t mean anything more than the fact that GM, Ford and Chrysler were pretty busy last year turning out new models, and they are understandably lighter in renovated models for 2002. Criteria are tough, though, and if the Volkswagen Passat or Jetta didn’t make the list of finalists, they may not be new enough or revised enough for this year. But there’s no question about it, the Passat and Jetta are among the world’s premier family sedans.
New Saturn SUV gives GM technological ‘VUE’ from the top
[[[[cutlines:
1/ The 2002 Saturn VUE, the first General Motors compact SUV, ranges from $18,000-$23,000..
2/ Well designed, with polymer body panels, the VUE is front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive.
3/ Spacious VUE interior adapts to haul people and/or long objects in comfort and style.
4/ A continuously variable automatic transmission joins 5-speed manual and automatic. ]]]]]
When General Motors started up its Saturn branch, it was sort of a catch-all for any of those rebellious sorts within the corporation who dared to think that GM could indeed compete with the best compact imports from Japan and Germany. Then the rebels went out and proved they were right. Now it’s a different decade, and GM is sending Saturn out there once again to take on the world — the world of compact Sport-Utility Vehicles.
Saturn is just now introducing the VUE, which is pronounced “view” and not spelled out, thank you. The VUE was first displayed at the auto show circuit last year, and it was a major hit among the media and show-goers. It is smaller than the mainstream SUVs such as the Chevrolet TrailBlazer, and aimed at competing directly with the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Jeep Liberty, Suzuki Grand Vitara, Nissan Xterra, and Mazda Tribute, and any other compact SUVs that are out there.
I had a chance to make a quick trip to Greenville, South Carolina, for the introduction of the VUE, and the vehicle held a lot of surprises. The General Motors staff — you could probably find them VUE-finders — displayed the vehicles and turned loose the nation’s auto media in them, then announced we were prohibited from writing about actual driving reflections until Dec. 1. They said the embargo was so the automotive magazines could have equal chance to write about the introduction. The reality, of course, is that the automotive magazines will include their reviews in their December issues, which will be on newsstands early in November.
Whatever, we can discuss a lot of things about the VUE without talking about how it drives (swiftly and smoothly), or how it handles (with excellent stability), or how much fuel economy it has (24-28 miles per gallon), and save all those things for December. Wink-wink.
There are several breakthrough elements to the VUE, and here they are in a nutshell:
Price is right — The base VUE (the VUE from the bottom?) starts at $16,835, and options can run up to a maximum of $23,085, making it far more reasonably priced than virtually all its competitors. Base units are 4-cylinder, 5-speed manual, front-wheel-drive only; costlier ones add all-wheel-drive and either a 5-speed automatic or the new VTi transmission.
Size is great — The long-wheelbase design aids stability, while the car-based platform allows low entry level, and fully adjustable seats to either ride five or have up to 63.5 cubic feet of cargo, and the Saturn staple of polymer plastic body panels eliminates chipping and corrosion as a problem..
Technology advances — Start with two major high-tech items: First, a continuously variable automatic transmission that constantly increases or decreases the gearing seamlessly, without jerking between different gears; second an electronic power-steering unit that provides full boost for parking maneuvers and goes away when steering lightness is unnecessary at higher speeds.
The all-wheel-drive system is not revolutionary, but it might be totally logical and economical, especially for snow-belt customers.
The engines available in the VUE come from the Saturn L, which is the larger sedan added to the compact original a couple of year ago. That car ran engines based on GM’s European connections, which include Opel and now Saab. Long criticized for a lack of high-tech, overhead-camshaft engines because of their higher production costs, GM has made a good move to make the so-called Ecotec 2.2-liter 4-cylinder come into wider use throughout the different brands.
That’s the basic Saturn L engine, and it is the base engine for the VUE as well, as GM’s first truly global engine, because it is being built by modular design in various locations around the world, including the U.S. It has dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, turning out 143 horsepower and 152 foot-pounds of torque, and is used in both the base front-wheel drive and the all-wheel drive applications.
The 2.2 with the 5-speed stick is the one that comes in at $16,835, a price incomprehensible to SUV shoppers who have been looking at price tags that start in the 20s. The 4-cylinder with the continuously variable automatic transmission is $17,775, and adding all-wheel-drive to the mix runs it up to $19,370.
Moving upscale, the Saturn L’s 3.0-liter V6, also a dual-overhead cam, 4-valve per cylinder engine, comes in the all-wheel-drive top-shelf VUE, with a 5-speed automatic, for $23,085. The 3-liter V6 has 181 horsepoer and 195 foot-pounds of torque.
The all-wheel drive system runs front-drive all the time, and when the fronts slip, a viscous coupling transmits as much power as necessary to the rear wheels. Slick, and economical, and in most cases, the front-wheel-drive would probably be all you’d need to negotiate all but the most serious icy situations.
The big news is the transmission. First, a 5-speed manual is good, and if you’re going to an automatic, especially with a smaller engine, having a 5-speed automatic is a big benefit. But the Saturn VUE gets to be first to display the continuously-variable automatic as a third choice for transmissions. It is called VTi, which first was made up to mean “variable transmission with intelligence.” Marketing types decided to drop the “intelligence,” but kept the “i” in the nickname anyway.
There are different types of variable transmissions, which all manufacturers are striving to perfect these days. Audi has a new one, which works on a pull-belt system. The Saturn VUE works on a push-belt plan, with a snake-like steel belt, comprised of 472 small, flat elements, which are forced on their way around two pulleys. The VUE belt is always being compressed, with one element being pushed by the element behind it, and as speed increases, so does the pressure on the belt, and as it widens, the first pulley is forced to widen. The best way to visualize this is to consider a 10-speed (now, 21-speed) bicycle, which shifts by transferring the chain to a bigger gear.
The question remains (at least until December 1, or whenever a monthly magazine violates that date) whether the VUE with the VTi will have enough low-end punch for power-crazed SUV drivers, but we can only assume that it will be extremely smooth, without the hunting and downshifting of automatics on smaller engines in other vehicles.
That holds great promise for lightweight towing, as well. One of the toughest things on smaller engines is the hunting and shifting of automatics when pulling a load, especially on hills. With the VTi, going up a hill, even with a trailer, means your RPMs go up, but there is no clunky up- and downshifting.
The size, workmanship and unique features are sure to make the VUE a big hit. The strut suspension with stabilizer bars front and rear, and coil springs at all four independently sprung corners will make the VUE handle with stability (we assume), and there is a traction-control system that uses a torque-reduction system to balance power from side to side, for use with front-wheel-drive only.
For a company under fire for not keeping up with the high-tech competitors, GM has been led to the forefront by its Saturn branch, and the big surprise of the continously-variable transmission and other technical gems on the VUE is only exceeded by the fact that the Saturn VUE offers all these goodies in a good-looking SUV package, for an extremely attractive price.
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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