Cadillac, Ford, Nissan models are 2002 Car of the Year finalists
The test-drives, the evaluations, calculations and compilations are complete, and the voting for the annual North American International Car (and Truck) of the Year award is finished. The awards are due to be announced in the first week of January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
There is a chance that the winners will be a big surprise. That chance is enhanced by the fact that the three finalists in both the car and truck competition have been announced, in alphabetical order just for enhanced secrecy.
The three car of the year finalists are: Cadillac CTS, Ford Thunderbird, and Nissan Altima.
The three truck of the year finalists are: Chevrolet Avalanche, Chevrolet TrailBlazer, and Jeep Liberty.
These are the results of complex voting procedures by 50 selected automotive journalists and broadcasters from around the continent. It is my esteemed honor to be among those, which also makes it my “inside” ability to be somewhat surprised by the finalists.
But first, I must say that I found the contenders for both car and truck of the year to be the most hotly competitive in the seven or eight years I’ve been on the jury.
Last year, it was pretty easy. The Chrysler PT Cruiser was an easy winner among the cars, and the Acura MDX was the selected truck of the year. The Cruiser was a can’t-miss, although I was mildly surprised that the MDX won, even though it is an outstanding vehicle, because there were some pretty daunting challengers.
But this year, there is no overwhelming favorite in either category.
Consider the final 10 car candidates. The Cadillac CTS is an entirely new car, and the Thunderbird also is a new project with an old, familiar name. The Altima is an entirely new vehicle too, the latest version of Nissan’s bread-and-butter midsize car. However, other contenders include the Acura RSX, which is a new sports coupe that will replace the Integra and render the Honda Prelude obsolete. Mercedes has brought out a similarly all-new C-Coupe, which has fantastic technology and is a purebred Mercedes, obtainable for $25,000.
Another all-new car is the Jaguar X-Type, an under-$30,000 all-wheel-drive vehicle that is a perfect blend of Jaguar style and class and Ford production streamlining. Like the Altima, Toyota has brought out the latest generation of the Camry, which is the all new vehicle that has been the top-selling car in the U.S. for two or three years. Nissan also brought out an all-new Q45 for its upscale Infiniti group. Subaru has graced the Impreza line with a WRX hot version of a worldwide rally champion, and the WRX was another finalist.
My personal choice, however, for most points, is the new Audi A4, in a tight choice over the RSX, the C-Coupe, the X-Type, and the Altima, while I also gave vote points to the Thunderbird, CTS and Q45.
The A4 arguably has been the best overall mid-size sedan in the world for six years, with very few changes, offering both front-wheel-drive and quattro all-wheel-drive. For 2002, Audi has completely redone the A4, and its technology has gone right over the top of the scales. It has a new 3.0-liter V6, all aluminum, with 5-valves per cylinder and variable valve timing, or the spectacular 1.8-liter 4-cylinder turbo, which delivers V8-like power, V6-type versatility, and 4-cylinder-like economy. On top of that, you can get the front-drive version with a continuously variable automatic transmission that shifts continuously and seamlessly. The hottest new, however, is the Audi A4 with the CVT is actually quicker accelerating than the 6-speed manual!
But I digress.
The truck competition is even closer, I think. The Avalanche, Trailblazer and Liberty are all vehicles I have written about, and they deserve high status. However, the new Dodge Ram 1500 is possibly the most impressive pickup truck on the market in its newly redone form, with a high-tech overhead-cam 4.7 V8, extremely tight four-door cabin, and great performance. The new Ford Explorer has been completely redone, too, and it has the significant touches of having the floor lowered by 8 inches with the rear axle halfshafts ingeniously run through the side-beams of the chassis. It’s also bigger, along with having a much better stance. The Toyota Highlander is another outstanding and all-new truck, and Honda has redone the extremely popular CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle with better styling, a more potent engine and exceptional flexibility and performance.
My personal choice — in an extremely narrow split decision over the Ram, the Trailblazer and the CR-V, with some votes also going to the Explorer and Highlander — is the new Saturn VUE. This is an all-new compact sport-utility vehicle, with front-wheel-drive until it detects slippage, in which case it becomes all-wheel drive, and it has different styling, including a somewhat bizarre front end but an extremely attractive side and rear look. It also has the Saturn special composite plastic body panels, eliminating dent, chip and corrosion concerns. And, it has a continuously variable transmission, operating on a completely different theory from Audi. Every company is working on a CVT, but Audi’s is exceptional, and while the Saturn VUE version lacks the quick-accelerating performance of Audi’s, it does provide the benefit of smooth and constant upshifting without noticeable shiftpoints.
In my personal vote, I have a somewhat sliding system of rating style, performance, economy, overall feel and technology. I admit that I weigh more heavily on technology, because new features require the gamble of courage along with the brilliance of futuristic engineering. While the Audi and the VUE might rank highest high-tech as well as in overall cohesiveness of all its high-tech parts, the finalists also are armed with technology.
The Cadillac CTS, for example, is a futuristic design on top of the new General Motors Sigma platform. It shows that after the Cimarron and the Catera, which was based on a GM German Opel platform, Caddy has gotten it right. The compact Cadillac starts at under $30,000, and it is a strong performer with a new 3.2-liter V6, boasting dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. It runs strong and straight, handles with firm precision, and has tremendous room and trunk space. Think of it as a rear-wheel-drive Seville.
The Thunderbird is a neat little roadster, with a bolt-on hardtop if you don’t want just the convertible top. It has a great engine, the Jaguar-built 3.9-liter V8 used also in the Lincoln LS, although it also has only an automatic without even an auto-manual feature. The Thunderbird is a traffic-stopper, a real eye-catcher, also with rear-wheel drive. But it costs $40,000 to start with, and no matter how appealing it is, it still seems to be something of a bauble, a Christmas toy rather than a hard-core transportation vessel.
The Altima is almost overwhelming in its alteration from past versions. It gets a V6 for the first time, and it’s a 3.5-liter V6, with tremendous power. It also has been lengthened and increased in every dimension. In the past, the Altima was a snub-nosed, more compact challenger for the Accord and Camry, with a 4-cylinder only, while the bigger Maxima carried Nissan’s colors into battle with the V6. The Altima is good enough from every angle to deserve this status, and it only can beg the question about what Nissan plans to do with the Maxima.
On the truck side, the Avalanche is an enormously long Chevy pickup with full four doors, and a full pickup box, and with an intriguing little device that raises the rear window and lowers the rear wall, allowing you to have hauling space from the front bucket seats all the way to the tailgate. Personally, I don’t want to share my interior with the stuff I’d put in a pickup box, but that’s just me. The Avalanche is covered with plastic cladding, and it is massively designed.
The TrailBlazer is a gem. The all-new version of the Blazer, the TrailBlazer is smaller than the enormo SUVs from Chevy, the Tahoe and Suburban. It also has the high-tech new 4.2-liter in-line 6-cylinder engine, with tremendous power and performance. This, to me, is the cinch winner of the category, and was tied as top challenger to the VUE in my distribution of voting points.
The Liberty is fun and exciting as the replacement for the basic Cherokee, although I also found it taller and with a shorter wheelbase, which makes it bouncy and feeling instable in some circumstances. Everything works, however, and Jeeps are popular, and always have been.
The most significant thing about this year’s finalists, in my opinion, is simple. September 11, 2001, changed all our lives, and has fanned the flames of patriotism in all walks of life. I tried not to let that affect my objectivity in voting. It is perhaps just coincidence that all three truck finalists — the Avalanche, TrailBlazer and Liberty — and two of the three car finalists — the Cadillac CTS and the Thunderbird — are from traditional U.S. manufacturers. Only the Altima is the product of a foreign company, although some of the other most spectacular new products also came from foreign companies.
Maybe it’s just coincidence, and the Altima will be the car of the year. But maybe not, also. My guess is the Cadillac CTS, because it is more reasonably priced and more of an everyday car than the Thunderbird.
I also figure that there probably was more of a divergent array of votes spread among the candidates this year then ever before. That’s what makes the world go ’round, and the automotive world as well.
Totally redesigned Nissan Altima wins Car of the Year award
A couple of decades or so ago, Nissan built a car called the Stanza. It was a new vehicle in a new niche in the automotive industry, falling in the large gap between big, oversized U.S. sedans and the tiny little econoboxes being imported here.
That niche has now been taken over and dominated by cars like the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Ford Taurus, Pontiac Grand Am, Volkswagen Jetta, Mazda 626, and a dozen or so others. They can call them compact, or intermediate, or midsize.
While Nissan’s Stanza remained a good and dependable vehicle, it seemed that the car almost got squeezed out by the more public-relations savvy opponents. So Nissan retrenched, and revised the Stanza into the Altima. While the Accord and Camry were running away in popularity, Nissan tried to outflank them with the more expensive Maxima, armed with a V6 engine and a lot of amenities, just above them in price, and the new Altima, with its strong 4-cylinder, just below them in the price structure.
Now it is 2002, and Nissan has pulled out all the stops. The new Altima is entirely new from top to bottom, and it not only has a V6 but a bigger V6 than either Accord or Camry, and it is larger, seeming to crowd into the Maxima territory. Overall, it is extremely impressive.
So impressive, it was just named the North American International Car of the Year at the Detroit International Auto Show.
The Altima beat out some impressive opponents, compiling a total of 267 voting points from a jury of 49 automotive journalists — including this one — to outrank the Cadillac CTS, which had 203 points as runner-up, and the Ford Thunderbird, which had 160 points to finish third.
The Chevrolet TrailBlazer, which I wrote about recently, won Truck of the Year, with 217 points, to lead the Chevrolet Avalanche (206) and the Jeep Liberty (162).
For the Altima, it was a breakthrough to gain the support of the cynical autowriters, and it joins pretty exclusive company by winning the only car of the year award not done by a specific publication that might weigh its choice against advertising revenue.
In the years since the prestigious award has been presented, the winners have been: Mercedes C-Class 1994; Chrysler Cirrus 1995; Chrysler Minivans 1996; Mercedes CLK roadster 1997; Chevrolet Corvette 1998; Volkswagen New Beetle 1999; Ford Focus 2000; and Chrysler PT Cruiser 2001.
The new Altima has a 3.5-liter V6, with dual-overhead camshafts and 24 valves, with continuously variable valve-timing, all calibrated to produce 240 horsepower. A 4-speed automatic transmission handles the power well, and the car handles very well, with stabilizer bars front and rear and multilink independent rear suspension. The SE model I test-drove had performance suspension tuning.
With the longer body, there is a lot of room inside, and the outside looks of the Altima have a forward slant, with the slope of the rear deck giving it a racy look. That upturned tail also aids aerodynamics, which is impressive from an engineering standpoint, and truck space, which is impressive when you’re going on a trip.
Nissan also went to some pains to set apart the interior with distinctive touches. The instruments are housed in cylindrical tunnels, but they slope to the driver and are neat, rather than intrusive. The center dash slopes away, much like the new Camry, but the difference is the Camry put the radio controls up on top, which makes it a reach for the driver, while the Altima puts two air vents up high, then the Bose audio system — radio and 6-speaker CD player — next, so all the dials are easily reached.
Nissan tried a little too hard when it came to the audio system itself, making the radio needlessly complex, with A, B and C preset groupings that might let you interact AM and FM station settings.
Below the audio controls are the heat-air switches, which are three rotating knobs for fan, temperature and direction of airflow.
The front end has an aero lok, with flush-mounted halogen headlights and foglights, and in-glass antenna, and the rear has neatly styled taillights and that aforementioned stylishly tapered flip.
Other features of the SE include remote keyless entry and power windows with express-down feature on the ddriver and passenger doors. Dual cupholders front and rear, variable intermittent wipers, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, 60-40 fold-down rear seat, 8-way power driver’s seat with manual lumbar support, cruise control, air-conditioning, speed-sensitive volume control for the audio system, dual front airbags, side beams in the body, front and rear crumple zones for safety, and a vehicle security system.
The steering wheel itself needs an instruction manual. Along with the cruise control settings on the right, there are audio controls on the left, with a button to access the navigation system as well.
As for options, the antilock brake system on the 4-wheel discs is an option, and comes with side airbags and front and rear head-curtain airbags. The Bose audio upgrade is optional, as is a power glass sunroof, the rear spoiler, traction control, and xenon headlights.
When it came to the voting, I voted for the Audi A4 as the top car, but all of us on the jury got 25 points to spread out through as many candidates as we thought deserved them. I gave some voting points to the Altima, because it is impressive, although not as many as to the A4, the Acura RSX coupe, the Mercedes C-Coupe, and the Jaguar X-Type.
That in no way diminishes the Altima’s excellence in my view. The only drawbacks to the new Altima are that in seeking to make it more powerful, the big 3.5-liter engine gets a range of 19-26 miles per gallon, which was not as economical as the A4, or the RSX, and no better than the supercharged Mercedes or the Jag. Also, in making it bigger and better in every way, the Altima SE now lists for a base price of $23,149, and as tested it ran up to $27,462.
A couple of years ago, you could get an Altima with a good 4-cylinder for under $20,000. Now, the new car is better in every way, but when you get up to $27,000, you’ve moved into the price range of the A4, RSX, C-Coupe and X-type. Very good company, indeed, for a very good new car. Congratulations.
Cadillac gets early jump in high-tech luxury with 2003 CTS
Ever since the production of the NorthStar V8 engine, Cadillac has moved to, and defended the position of, the technology leader of General Motors.
Forget Chevy, or Pontiac, or even specialty things like the Corvette; the NorthStar V8, with its dual overhead camshaft, 32-valve design, spent the better part of a decade as the only evidence contrary to the notion that bean-counters would forever doom GM customers to aging or ancient motors. Along with that engine, Cadillac also redesigned the Seville, making it a true contemporary Caddy to tackle the many high-tech imports on the market.
Other attempts to expand the Cadillac line have been less successful. A sports car named Allante was neat, but didn’t sell. A small car called the Cimarron was a thinly disguised twin to the compact of other GM branches, and didn’t sell. The Catera came out as the “Caddy that zigs,” but when it came to sales, the rebadged version of a German-GM Opel “zagged” where it should have zigged, and didn’t sell.
For this year, however, Cadillac has struck it rich, it appears. It has come out with a new model, which now has been declared a 2003 model, called the CTS. That may mean that the folks at Cadillac are fresh out of viable nicknames, or collections of rational syllables that might sound impressive. But whatever they’re calling it, the CTS is the real deal.
Not only was it the runner-up to the Nissan Altima as North American Car of the Year — which was interesting, particularly since it was close to being a 2003 model winning the 2002 car of the year prize — but it meets all the requirements of a world-class sporty sedan for performance, technology and unique styling, but also for moderate price. The CTS starts with a base of $29,995, and lists for a reasonable $34,000 more realistically.
That puts the CTS in the midst of the near-luxury bracket, with the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series and 5-Series, Mercedes C-Class, Infiniti I35, several Lexuses, the top-rung Acuras, plus assorted Volvos, Lincolns and the best Chrysler. Performance-wise, the CTS fits in there too.
Let’s start with the only negative I can perceive about the car. It has front engine, rear drive. That is not a major drawback, unless you’re a mainstream driver, whose mainstream consists of driving in the snow belt during the winter. Most winters, we should say, because this winter has been so meek that slipping, spinning and skidding have been scarce, and the only time you seem to see a plow truck is when they’re zooming up and down the freeways, awaiting some storm that has been erroneously predicted to be oncoming.
While anyone who has driven both knows that front-wheel-drive has many inherent benefits for snow, ice and hills, the rest of the country doesn’t care.
Styling is impressive. At first, I thought it was a little too much. The front is tall and sort of stacked in the way that a lot of concept cars seem to be, and I wasn’t sure I cared for it. However, as the week passed, it grew more attractive to me. The angled grille and the tall headlight cover leads directly to a wedgy flow of lines angling along the sides. From the side, the CTS has a very impressive slant, and the rear deck is tall, housing a huge trunk, and leaving a stylish canvas for designers to play with. They did well, with tall and distinctive taillights, angling back to a vertical point at the midpoint of the trunk, topped by a neat little horizontal bar that tapers off the top edge as a high brake light.
If it looks good from the outside, it feels good from the inside, too, with leather seats and a wood shift knob. The CTS can be had with a manual transmission, although the test car I had used the 5-speed automatic. That connects to a 3.2-liter V6 engine, with dual overhead camshafts and 24 valves, which turns out 220 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs and 218 foot-pounds of torque at only 3,400 RPMs.
Cadillac claims 0-60 acceleration times of 7 seconds. That seems quick, but there is no question the car is adequately swift in off-the-line performance, as well as cruising or high-speed passing punch.
The CTS can be had with traction control and the StabiliTrak skid control device on the sport package.
While having a sporty and moderately-priced vehicle is a huge advantage for Cadillac, with a price point right in there with the top Bonnevilles and other GM top-line sedans, having a classy feel is every bit as important. The CTS delivers there, with a uniquely styled steering wheel, loaded with remote buttons for operating the audio system, and, on the lower part, cruise control.
The instruments are neatly styled with italic figures and easy to read gauges, and the audio system includes an in-dash CD player.
Comfortable bucket seats and a roomy rear seat add to the motoring pleasure of the CTS, which means Cadillac engineers also did a job under the skin. The platform is GM’s new “Sigma” layout, wich has independent suspension front and rear, with the components isolated in separate little cradles. That helps prevent the shocks from reaching the interior, and it also makes the CTS feel like it has natural stability, rather than a beefed-up, artificially enhanced shock system.
The front suspension has an extra-firm setting to prevent front “dive,” which is the deep-bowing dip that many U.S. cars, and particularly soft luxury cars, used to be unable to avoid. Hit the big 4-wheel disc brakes hard in the CTS and it simply stops, fast and firm, and without bobbing its front bumper.
Driving the CTS for a week, the car attracted many curious onlookers. Some thought the styling was over the edge, but most were impressed at the futuristic look. It does look like a concept car come to life, and for both General Motors and Cadillac, having a car suddenly considered on the cutting edge of high-tech is a major benefit.
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
[[[[cutlines:
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.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports