Mazdaspeed6 hurls turbo-AWD challenge at Evo IX
There are race cars, and there are normal production cars, and you neednÂ’t go beyond NASCAR to understand why the twain, as they say, shall never meet. NASCAR race cars are virtual-reality, purpose-built vehicles with near-identical chassis, very similar nonproduction race engines, and phony bodies designed to only faintly resemble real cars. And while we were looking the other way, a few Japanese production cars resemble race cars far more than our race cars resemble production cars.
The most recent example is the 2006 Mazdaspeed6, a superb example of how taut, fit, and fun a car can be on the street.
The Mazdaspeed6 jumps wheels-first into the segment which has been a long-standing duel between the Lancer Evolution and Subaru WRX STi – a pair of rally-bred championship cars that set new standards as their production versions spent a decade continually escalating the standards.
As luck of the road-testing draw would have it, I ended calendar year 2005 with a pair these compact rockets on back-to-back weeks – the Mazdaspeed6 and the Mitsubishi Evolution IX MR. The Evolution, or “Evo†as the car has come to be known, is not all-new, just upgraded from previous models in an attempt to remain atop the competitive spiral of pocket rockets. The Mazdaspeed6, however, is all new. They were both enjoyable, even when their performance tires wanted to spin through the ice and snow along the shores of Lake Superior. Remember, both have a lot of power, but they ARE all-wheel-drive vehicles.
MAZDASPEED6
The Mazda6 remains one of my favorite cars, a sleek family midsize sedan with sporty overtones, meaning you can have your fun and family too. The standard Mazda6 comes with either a 160-horsepower 2.3-liter four cylinder or a 220-horsepower 3.0-liter V6. Mazdaspeed is the odd name Mazda gives to its corporate hot-rodders who wear their white smocks in the no-compromise back room, and the lads have done a proper number on this car.
Reinforcing cross-members have stiffened the bodyÂ’s twisting rigidity by 50 percent, and the 2.3-liter four has been tweaked, first with direct-injection fuel feed, and then with turbocharging, to boost horsepower to a whopping 274, with 280 foot-pounds of torque. ThatÂ’s a lot of power for a front-wheel-drive sedan, so Mazda inserts the all-wheel-drive unit it uses in Japan, which can transfer up to 50-percent of power to the rear whenever necessary. IÂ’ve read tests of 0-60 at right around 6 seconds, with a top speed electronically governed at 149 miles per hour. That ought to ease you through rush-hour congestion, eh?
Inside, you nestle into well-bolstered bucket seats with leather trim, and Mazda has modified the interior to be less gimmicky and more businesslike. Black gauges with clear numerals that light up red-orange at night, and drilled aluminum foot pedals add to the sporty effect. The gearshift is a six-speed manual, with limited slip standard as well, and the high-performance, low-profile tires ride on 18-inch alloy wheels, which further enhance the cornering stability, in concert with the stiffer frame and firmer shock settings.
Tastefully added molding flares accented the look of the medium-grey test car, which still had all the comforts of the normal Mazda6, such as climate control, power windows and keyless entry, plus heated bucket seats with eight-way power adjustment. There also is a keyless start feature, although the trend toward some of these is questionable at best. ItÂ’s handy, when youÂ’re carrying stuff, to unlock the door with keyless entry, and once you climb into the driverÂ’s seat, I guess itÂ’s neat to be able to twist the key fitting to start without putting the key in it. In other words, if youÂ’ve got the key in your pocket, you donÂ’t need to use it to start the car.
Needless to say, I jumped out at one point and my wife, Joan, drove off, and fortunately I realized I still had the key in time to call cell-phone to cell-phone and bring her back before she got somewhere and shut off the car, only to find it starting-impaired.
The best thing about Mazda6 models is that they are inexpensive to buy, considering all that you get. From a $20,000 normal Mazda6, the Mazdaspeed6 is still a bargain at $29,925. The only available options included on the test car were a trunk cargo net, wheel locks, a $700 power moonroof, and a $2,000 navigation system. The nav pops up from a trap-door that opens on the top edge of the dashboard, and you can tilt the screen various ways to avoid glare. That also means you can close the nav screen and the trap door if you’d rather not be bothered. The sticker price of the test car, so equipped, was $33,325 – still not a bad price for the latest sizzling performance sedan.
It runs, and it handles, in a way befitting a company that has cast its lot with the simply phrase: “zoom, zoom.Ââ€
LANCER EVOLUTION IX MR
MitsubishiÂ’s Lancer is its stalwart but still underrated compact sedan. It wasnÂ’t until Mitsubishi outfitted the Lancer to challenge SubaruÂ’s world rally championship cars that the EvolutionÂ…uhÂ…evolved. This is Evolution IX, and while there has been considerable conjecture about Evolution X, the IX will do for now, thank you. Lancers come in ES, OZ-Rally, and whatÂ’s called the Ralliart model, the latter being a sportier upgrade of the basic Lancer. But the Evolution stands above and beyond.
The turbocharged 2.0-liter, dual overhead cam four-cylinder delivers 286 horsepower, compared to 120 horses for the basic 2.0 single cam, or the 162-horse 2.4-liter option. A six-speed stick causes the Evo to want to leap forward at the touch of the gas in any gear.
(IMG2}
Equipped with its proven rigid suspension and limited-slip both front and rear on its all-wheel-drive platform, the Evolution MR is clearly equipped for heavier duty than normal traffic might offer. A lot of us may not be planning to enter any pro rallies in the near future, but rally competition uses real roads and is therefore a lot closer to real-world driving than NASCARÂ’s latest funny cars. Forged aluminum suspension bits, Brembo disc brakes, drilled aluminum pedals, and a large, screened-in hole in the hood, where hot air escapes in waves, are all tips that this is something racy.
However, all of those indications, including the molding strips, are unessential as tip-offs, because you know at a glance it means business by the enormous rear spoiler wing that rises on huge fiberglass struts up from the trunk lid. I thought the wing was a nuisance, because it slices a swath horizontally right across the middle of the rear window when you look through the mirror. But later I realized it could be beneficial as well.
We all must share the road with careless slugs whose headlights are poorly aimed high. And with drivers of aging trucks and station wagons whose rear load goes beyond the shocksÂ’ threshold of levelness. And with rude truck/SUV drivers who blatantly disobey the law by mounting enormously oversized tires and then aim their auxiliary lights higher than their high beams. All should be ticketed, but roam free, to blind oncoming cars as well as drivers ahead via their rear-view mirrors. In the Evo, I got so I could tip my head just a bit, and blot out those maddening ill-aimed lights with the spoiler.
The 17-inch forged BBS alloy wheels, also stylishly grey, set off the Apex Silver paint job. The car’s quickness is enhanced by standard weight-saving aluminum hood, roof panel and front fenders. Genuine Recaro bucket seats are also standard. The MR option package includes the silver shift knob – which, by the way, feels remarkably ice cold in December in the Upper Midwest – as well as a turbo-boost gauge kit that fits in a three-gauge package just below the center stack. The “Zero Lift Kit†includes the rear spoiler, front airdam, and other aero touches, but together those packages only cost $1,110. The price of the Evolution IX MR starts at a steep $35,189, so the price after transportation and options is $36,894.
Some of the stripped-down characteristics of the Lancer make weight-saving sense, but the lack of cruise control did not make sense. I mean, hereÂ’s a car with a rear wing that looks like it might allow you to go airborne, and which is certain to attract the attention of any law enforcement officer who sees it, and weÂ’re unable to restrict its tendency to zoom by cruise-controlling should be a necessity.
CONCLUSIONS
Maybe the Evolution IX MR price is not too much for a car that is a blast to drive – almost literally – and will still haul the kids. The Evolution is stunningly quick, but it also is a bit harsh in everyday driving, especially if you have to skip across weather-gouged pavement. That is a tendency it shares with the Subaru WRX STi, its long-time adversary on rallies and streets. But now there’s a new challenger on the street in the Mazdaspeed6.
Both these cars are spectacular to drive, with startling acceleration and race-bred cornering quickness and precision. The Evolution is built for uncompromising performance capabilities, and the key differences might be that the Evolution is more capable for rugged use, while the Mazdaspeed6 feels more refined. If I had to pick, IÂ’d guess that the lighter Evolution was a twitch quicker in acceleration, but the Mazdaspeed6 feels more civilized in all-purpose driving. With the Mazdaspeed6 priced about $3,500 less than the Evolution, the new kid on the block is a threat.
(John Gilbert writes weekly new vehicle reviews and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Ford’s midsize ideas come together by Fusion
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — Ford Motor CompanyÂ’s hunger to regain midsize car potential, its hopes to recapture the imagination of discerning United States car-buyers, its need to gain a few style points, and even its challenge to win on NASCAR race tracks for years to come – are fused together in the form of a new 2006 sedan, named, coincidentally, the Fusion.
The stylishly shaped Fusion is powered by a 221-horsepower V6, or a 160-horse 4-cylinder, in a taut package with firmly precise handling and steering. Priced right around $20,000, it has a number of high-tech features that will impress performance drivers and tree-huggers both. Not that you have to be a “tree-hugger†to appreciate 30 miles per gallon when gasoline prices are around $3 a gallon.
Coming a year after the larger Five Hundred elicited only yawns from a styling standpoint – obscuring what may well become a large sedan with slowly increasing market power – it was important for the Fusion to be an attention-getter. It is that, with a boldly chiseled front end highlighted by artistically sculpted headlight enclosures flanking three bright, horizontal bars of grillework. It is not unlike the Cadillac CTS/STS/XLR front, at a glance. The body is a forward-leaning wedge, with side contours tapering nicely to accent an active stance. All Fusions are front-wheel drive, although all-wheel drive is coming, as is a hybrid within the next couple of years.
“It’s been a while since we’ve competed in the midsize market,†said Phil Martens, vice president in charge of engineering for Ford. That statement seemed surprising, because Ford’s Taurus dominated the midsize segment for the decade following its 1985 introduction. But, sure enough, when first the Honda Accord, then the Toyota Camry came on strong and both bypassed the Taurus in sales a decade ago, Ford decided to enlarge the Taurus.
At the time, it seemed like a reasonable idea, because Ford was going to build the more-compact Contour as an Accord-Camry fighter. When the SUV craze spread to compact reaches, Ford found that global partner Mazda was well along in creating the Tribute, so Ford arranged to use that platform for its own new Escape, and by eliminating the Contour five years ago, it could build both the Escape and Tribute in that Missouri plant. So the Contour, which had sold quite well, was gone, and the Taurus had gone upstream. If Accord, Camry, Mazda6, Altima, Jetta, Legacy, and others swarmed in to sell over 2 million midsize cars, Ford had abandoned the segment by its own call.
The Fusion rose from that vacancy, fused – to use that word again – with the impressive 2003 auto show concept car called the 427, and the artistic and technical success of the Mazda6, which was introduced four years ago. Ford displayed the Fusion at the 2005 North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, and it resembled a compact 427 concept, plunked down onto the Mazda6 platform, which is revised and stiffened by Ford. The Fusion will be built at the Hermasillo, Mexico, plant, while the Taurus, squeezed by the Five Hundred above and the Fusion below, will in fact disappear as soon as a dwindling supply for fleets and rental agencies is used up.
{IMG2}
The Fusion was introduced to the automotive media at the end of August, so we could drive enthusiastically through the mountain curves and switchbacks above Santa Monica, and the car showed the potential FordÂ’s fairly gushing officials are proclaiming for it.
We had only the upgraded SE (starting at $18,550) and top SEL (starting at $22,360), both with the 3.0 V6 and the impressive 6-speed automatic transmission – the only one available with the V6. The basic S, which starts at $17,795, has the 2.3-liter four, on which you can get a 5-speed stick or 5-speed automatic, was not at the introduction, although Ford anticipates it will account for about half of Fusion sales.
The interior is straightforward and attractive in a way that might best be described as “German, before iDrive†gadgetry created a stir. Three can fit on the fold-down 60/40 rear seat, and on the top SEL, the well-appointed front can be ordered in leather or cloth, with either piano-black or wood-grain accents. Steering and suspension are so well-coordinated that you can plant the front outside tire inches from the edge of the road and trace a perfect arc around every curve.
That is a tribute to Ford’s managerial cleverness. Instead of imposing its vehicles on its affiliates, Ford helps companies like Mazda and Volvo create world-class vehicles on their own, then brings back their expertise to improve Ford vehicles. The 2005 Five Hundred and Freestyle, for example, ride on Volvo platforms. Now the Fusion – and the coming Mercury Milan and Lincoln Zephyr companion cars – will ride on Mazda6 architecture.
“We tapped into our global partnership,†said Martens, giving at least oblique credit to Mazda’s engineers for the excellent platform and the high-tech suspension, which has short and long arms with coil-over-shocks in the front, multi-link independent rear, and stabilizer bars at both ends. Ford also stiffened the chassis by increasing torsional rigidity by 12.7 percent, and revised and strengthened the suspension components. That justified Ford’s plan to lengthen the wheelbase by more than 2 inches and widen the body by more than an inch.
In the real world, the Mazda6 is a worthy contender for the Accord or Camry, and is more sporty-fun to drive than either of them, although its interior room is tighter. By making the Fusion a bit bigger for occupants front and rear, and in the 15.8-cubic-foot trunk, the Mazda6Â’s assets are retained and expanded upon, and its few criticisms overcome.
Mazda created the 2.3-liter four as the Mazda6 base engine, and as an upgrade it uses Ford’s 3.0-liter V6, but not before adding variable-valve timing to make the Mazda6 peppier than any Ford product using that 3.0. Until now. The Fusion gets 160 horsepower at 6,500 RPMs and 150 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 revs from the same 2.3, which is so well-engineered it qualifies as a “PZEV†– partial zero emission vehicle. Ford went to school on Mazda’s engineers for its own 3.0, as well, with variable valve-timing extracting 221 horsepower at 6,250 RPMs and 205 foot-pounds of torque at 4,800.
About my only disappointment was that with the V6 you not only canÂ’t get a stick, you canÂ’t get any gate for manual control of the automatic. On mountain switchbacks, driving aggressively prompts a slight hesitation while it seeks the proper downshift, something an auto-manual could eliminate.
FordÂ’s market research had a hand in the Fusion too. Some interesting tidbits were that women either decide or influence the decision on 80 percent of all new vehicle purchases; that includes 55 percent of midsize car purchases; there are 75 million auto racing fans, and 71 percent of NASCAR fans surveyed said they make car purchases based on the impression of the car in NASCAR racing.
I find the production Fusion far better looking than the stock car racer. NASCAR race cars nowadays only hint at the exterior resemblance of production vehicles. The race cars are all front-engine/rear-drive with specially built pushrod racing V8s. You could interchange bodies and engines in a blind draw and it would no more describe a real-world advantage for Ford, Chevy or Dodge. The Fusion you drive to the race, with its overhead-cam, variably timed multi-valve engine, is more high-tech than the old-tech race engines. But if market research says racing will help sell cars, the Fusion will be there. With a number on the side.
Dodge recreates Charger as high-power 2006 icon
DURHAM, N.C. — The Dodge Charger is DaimlerChryslerÂ’s weapon of choice to challenge Ford and General Motors on the NASCAR stock car auto racing circuit. So when DaimlerChrysler assembled U.S. automotive journalists to drive the 2006 Dodge Charger at a race track near Raleigh-Durham, N.D., we assumed it would be at any of several nearby NASCAR ovals.
We should have known better. As wildly successful as NASCAR has become, loyal fans donÂ’t seem to care that the race cars are harnessed by such specific rules that all of them are virtually the same race underneath, with phony bodies, and the Taurus, Monte Carlo and Grand Prix race cars donÂ’t exist in the real world in V8, rear-drive form.
The Charger does have front-engine, rear-drive, and it does come with a V8 – a Hemi, if you will – so it’s more valid than most other stock cars on the circuit. But the Charger is definitely intended to keep DaimlerChrysler on a roll, in the real world as well as on the race tracks of the country, so the race track we drove off to was Virginia International Raceway, a slick road-racing course where we could push the new Charger to its limits, as well as our own.
We also got to drive the Charger Daytona R/T model, the highest of high-performance versions of the car. The Chargers we drove to the track and back, on some very interesting rural highways from North Carolina northward across the border and into Virginia, were both Hemi and V6 models.
DaimlerChrysler brought the Chrysler 300C and Dodge Magnum boldly into the U.S. automotive scene a year ago, and celebrated sales success that surprised even the most optimistic executives when the 300 won the North American Car of the Year award at the Detroit International Auto Show in January. Even more surprising than the 300 beating out the thoroughly redesigned Mustang and Corvette for that award was that the Dodge Magnum, which split the Chrysler-aimed votes of the jury, finished a strong fourth.
At that same auto show, Dodge showed off the 2006 Charger for the first time. It was impressive, and also surprising, because it was a large, four-door sedan. The sleek and stylish Charger coupe was one of the mainstays of the muscle car era, reaching stardom not only on professional race tracks but in the hands of road-warrior drag-racers all over the country, and gaining an ultimate pinnacle as the star attraction of the Dukes of Hazard television show, where it shared top billing with a couple of guys best remembered as “Whatsisname†next to the “General Lee†red Charger with the number on the door.
After 27 years of hibernation, the Charger is back, and DaimlerChrysler claims its styling is distinctly coupe-like, even if the car is not a coupe, but a large, four-door sedan. Built at the same Brampton, Ontario, plant in Canada as the 300 and Magnum, the Charger is available now, and it is, as advertised, more than just a sleek four-door model of the chopped-wagon-only Magnum.
When first rumors hit, I expected the Charger to look like the Magnum up front. The Magnum shares platforms with the 300, but with the crosshair grille that has become DodgeÂ’s trademark. Instead, the Charger has a hawk-like beak up front, with an overhanging hood. Dodge officials say it is leaning into the wind, but it does have a sleek drag coefficient of 0.33 as well.
The silhouette does slope back on the roofline to a notched meeting with the body behind the passenger compartment, enhancing the muscular rear wheel-wells and then hurrying back to the sheer drop at the rear. Chrysler says the round quad taillights make a bow to the 1968 Chargers, but there is no question that the car is a modern-day leap with the historic name.
When DaimlerChrysler chairman Dieter Zetsche introduced the Charger in Detroit, he said: “There is nothing retro about this car. It is what might be designed if the Charger never left the market 28 years ago. The front end sneers at you, as only a Dodge can.
Ââ€
Anyone who has driven the Magnum or 300 is aware that the chassis is a solid piece, and the suspension handles everything from rough roads to freeways (or race tracks) with precision and poise. And the power is both a bit retro and a lot modern. The Charger picks up on those attributes.
The Hemi – a modern version of the hemispherical-head V8 monsters from the 1960s – is a 5.7-liter engine that goes back to pushrods, rather than overhead camshafts. If that part is more retro than high-tech, much the way Chevy’s Corvette engine is, the Hemi moves toward up in technology with its Multi-Displacement System, which drops from eight cylinders to four whenever you’re in constant cruise mode, anywhere between 18 and 80 miles per hour, and don’t need all that power.
Step on the gas, and you’re right back to the full eight, seamlessly, and with no indication that anything has changed – except the speed by which the dotted center line on the highway is zipping past. The cylinder reduction can improve fuel economy by 20 percent, but most Charger buyers will be more interested in how much power they can exhibit.
The 5.7-liter V8 has 340 horsepower at 5,000 RPMs with a whopping 390 foot-pounds of torque peaking at 4,000 revs, and it can fling the Charger from 0-60 in a 6-second burst, whether you hand-shift the AutoStick five-speed automatic or just mash the gas pedal down with the shifter in “D.Ââ€
Another throwback to the late Â’60s Chargers is the R/T model, which adds specially tuned performance induction and exhaust systems that increase the power from 340 to 350 horses. The R/T also has performance brakes, dual exhaust pipes, an enhanced AutoStick for quicker shifts, wider 18-inch aluminum wheels with all-season Michelin touring tires, more firmly tuned suspension, and more bolstered bucket seats.
Even that isn’t the ultimate Charger, however. That will come within a month, when the Daytona R/T package, which comes with a stunning burnt-orange paint job called “Go Mango!†(get it? Go Mango!), or Top Banana, both of which have flat black graphic stripes, a rear spoiler, an advanced steering gear, more high-performance exhaust.
If THAT isnÂ’t sufficient, coming soon to a Dodge dealership near you, by late summer, will be the Charger SRT8, which enlarges the 5.7-liter Hemi to 6.1 liters, and has DodgeÂ’s Street Racing Team (SRT) wrench 425 horsepower out of it.
All fun and games, but more. The Charger can be obtained more oriented for real-world families, who will appreciate that the sleek coupe-like roofline leaves plenty of room for three adult-sized riders in the rear, and while their heads are actually under the rear glass, that backlight has heavily shaded lines at the top to prevent you from being broiled by the afternoon sun.
The Charger wonÂ’t come in the all-wheel drive version that graces the 300 or Magnum, with marketing folks determining the more high-performance aim of the car. It will, however, come loaded with the very impressive 3.5-liter V6 engine, which has plenty of power for normal usage. As a $23,995 base sedan, the SE comes with that V6 and antilock brakes, traction control, stability control, and 17-inch wheels.
Move up to the SXT, at a $25,995 base, and numerous upgrades in trim and features are included, such as leather steering wheel and shift-knob trim.
The R/T base price is $29,995, and adds the availability of the Hemi V8 and performance group seats and other features.
The Daytona model with all the flashy trim and performance tweaks starts at $32,495. And weÂ’ll just have to wait and see about the SRT8.
We found the Hemi V8 in the loaded R/T model swift and impressive on the way out to Virginia International, and the car was surprisingly good on the road-racing track. I say surprisingly, because there is never any doubt that youÂ’re in a heavy car, but the brakes harness all that power well, and the suspension swung through the tightest turns very well.
I had driven on that track before, and I must admit I got a little over-confident at one point, when I reestablished my favorite line around a tight downhill turn. When I took it the way I remembered best, it was exhilarating, because I came out of the turn with so much speed. But I carried so much speed that I went into the next hairpin right turn hot – too hot. WAY too hot. As I swung the big Charger through the turn, the thought flashed through my mind how embarrassing it was going to be when I had to explain how I slid off the track and into the grass.But it only flashed for an instant, and then the electronic stability control (ESP) provided an assist that was at least as thrilling as the previous turn, and I simply made the hairpin without more than a slight squeal from the tires.
Very impressive. You can drive the Charger hard, and harder, and even up to too hard, and, fortunately, the ESP is smarter than the driver when you overdo it.
Later, we drove back to Durham in an SXT model with the V6, and we found it possibly more surprising than the V8 versions. Yes, the Hemi models are impressive, but we pretty well anticipated they would be. We were not anticipating that the 3.5-liter V6 would be able to make the big Charger perform with adequate swiftness and performance.
Maybe the 1968 Charger could perform well in basic-engine form too, but I canÂ’t remember. But the new car will be a proper reincarnation of that old icon. Even without the General LeeÂ’s number on the door, and whatsisname behind the wheel.
(John Gilbert writes weekly reviews and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Volvo V50’s AWD conquers borders, subzero cold
QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC — We were doing some slalom testing on a frozen lake and later at a ski resort in Quebec when I found something I didnÂ’t like about the Volvo V50 station wagon. Oh, I did well when my turn came to zig-zag through the cones in serpentine fashion, but I had trouble turning the full 360-degrees for the return run.
I finished the last cone going down, and swung into a wide turn to come back. As I hit the gas pedal, the car chattered and hesitated as something called DSTC – for Dynamic Stability Traction Control – took over and limited the power it would allow to reach the four wheels. When I finally got it back into the cones, my time was pretty good, but several seconds from the best.
On my second trip, I was much faster through the cones, then I tried to circle in a much tighter turn at the far end, cranking the steering wheel hard and hitting the gas again. The V50 started to turn, but then it bogged down, hesitating almost to a standstill even though I was flooring it. The DSTC is smarter than the driver in some cases, and it sought to prevent a spinout that the driver seemed intent on causing. My time was significantly slower than my first run, because I was the victim of too much traction control.
So my new-found thing to dislike about the V50 wagon was, simply, that the traction-control system was too good!
Obviously, in real-world driving on ice and snow, that sort of thing is a tremendous advantage, which we had proved earlier, on the frozen lake. We had done other slalom tests with Volvo’s XC70 – the newly renamed wagon that used to be the V70 XC – and also ran the V50 around a plowed, prepared road-course with varying curves going both directions. We drove with the DSTC off, and then with it on. The difference was remarkable. Most impressive was how swiftly you could hurl the all-wheel-drive V50 and still maintain control, without the DSTC, after which the next lap with DSTC engaged was much easier, indeed.
I realilzed later that if IÂ’d had one more run at the later slalom, I could have tried switching off the DSTC at the end of the first run of cones, and probably induced a 360-degree spin for a faster return and overall time.
Quebec was the perfect site for the whole trip, but then Quebec City is one of the greatest cities on the continent, with its ancient buildings blending with all-new ones. We drove across the river, through a little village, and visited a chocolate shop where they make real hot chocolate and candies, at the start of our daylong drive. We also stopped to tour an ice hotel, built with rooms and corridors and an adjoining lounge and chapel, all out of ice. They thought I was serious when I asked if they had a special rate for July.
In that setting, we could fully appreciate the hardiness that always has been identified with Volvo. But Volvo is doing some extraordinary things in the automotive market these days, expanding its unequalled conscientiousness for safety, while adding heightened performance to its S60 and S80 sedans, and further benefiting from its first SUV, the XC90, which captured truck of the year for 2003.
For 2005, Volvo introduced a completely revised S40, which is its most compact sedan, and later brought out the V50, which is the wagon version of the S40. The wagon, with its slightly arched roofline, might be even better looking than the well contoured sedan. If asked how good the S40 and V50 are, I would vote that they are the best new vehicles on the market. In fact, I did vote that way. In real-world driving, in wintertime or when safety is foremost to a young family, I think the S40/V50 are the most significant new vehicles of the year, and on my ballot for North American Car of the Year, that entry earned a slight edge in points over the winning Chrysler 300, Ford Mustang, Corvette, Dodge Magnum, Acura RL and Audi A6.
The V50 is shorter in overall length, by 2 to 10 inches, and in wheelbase by 1-3 inches, compared to its prime wagon rivals, the Audi A4 Avant, Subaru Legacy and Volkswagen Passat, but it has almost the same front and rear headroom and legroom. The trick is that Volvo installed the engine crosswise, and the transverse-mount means a shorter hood than its rivals, which allows better frontal visibility, and means the overall length can be reduced without intruding on the interior.
Volvo uses four different grades of steel in the structure, putting the softest of the four where it wants the car to absorb impacts, then stronger steel up to the strongest, which protects the occupant compartment from intrusion. In addition, a steel rod runs crosswise under the seat cushions to also reinforce the strength of the seats.
The drivetrain is outstanding, with the base 2.4-liter 5-cylinder developing 168 horsepower and 170 foot-pounds of torque, and the 2.5-liter 5-cylinder with a low-pressure turbocharger providing 218 horsepower and 236 foot-pounds of torque. A very good automatic transmission is fine, but I prefer the new 6-speed stick, which can be selected in either front-wheel drive or the Haldex all-wheel drive. The AWD system sends all its power to the front wheels, but any tendency for the front wheels to slip, by turning even imperceptibly more than the rears, causes a shift in torque that can send some, the same, or all of the power to the rear.
That means the V50 is strong in protection against impacts – as strong as the larger sedans, Volvo engineers say, and undoubtedly the safest compact vehicle on the road today. It expands on the very adequate size of the S40 with the usual wagon’s versatility, and performs with good power and fuel efficiency, with a large fun-to-drive quotient, particularly with the manual transmission.
From an aesthetic standpoint, the seats are superbly comfortable and supportive, and the center stack of audio and heat-air controls is simply the best in the industry. Instead of a massive wall to house all the controls, the S40/V50 has a slender, inch-thick panel that curves delicately down to the floor, leaving extra storage room behind it.
While the safe, solid, compact and fun V50 handles every challenge usually conceded to larger vehicles, the price is right. The 2.4 front-wheel-drive version with automatic transmission starts at $25,990; and going to the 2.5 turbo engine, it goes to $27,610; moving up to the T5 all-wheel-drive model with the six-speed stick is $29,385.
The S40/V50 pair have helped Volvo attract younger customers. The median age of the V70 with front drive was 57, while going to the sportier XC70 lowers that to 52. Volvo’s XC90 sport-utility vehicle has a lower-still 45 median age. But early results are that the V50 has lowered the median age to between 35-40 – a segment all manufacturers are seeking.
After all our driving, we pulled off our fur-lined hats, unlayered, and toured the Laval Chapel, a museum that is part of Laval University. It was a church built in 1677, and expanded in 1694. A fire damaged it in 1701, but it was rebuilt, a process that was repeated after another fire did more damage in 1705. It flourished, from then up until it moved into retirement as a museum, which proved a spectacular site for dinner, complete with a live, classical music serenade.
Just in case we enjoyed ourselves too much, our flight out of Quebec the next morning was delayed several hours, and the Northwest Airlines captain said: “ItÂ’s 30 below, and we canÂ’t start our right-side engine because of the cold.Ââ€
They must not do jump-starts with DC9s.
The new Volvos, meanwhile, needed no jump-starts, and buyers are sure to be happy with the new wagons, especially driving in the Great White North. Just remember, though, if you try to spin the car out, itÂ’s far too intelligent to let you do it.
Odyssey rewrites standard for minivans for 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Roaring up a gently curving hill on the challenging road-racing track at Barber Motorsports Park, I knew enough to stay to the outside until the last possible moment, then cut across the track, accelerating through the apex of the turn while setting up for the next one, just past the crest of the hill.
It was all accomplished smoothly, with a minimum of body leaning and no squeals of protest from the tires. It would have been good in a race car, only I wasnÂ’t driving a race car. I was driving a 2005 Honda Odyssey minivan.
Nobody explained why we were pushing the new Odysseys to their limits on a road-racing circuit, because nobody in their right mind would think of driving a minivan on a race track. But itÂ’s all part of HondaÂ’s subtlety in introducing their latest attempt at maintaining superiority of a motoring segment.
We drove up hills and around the countryside, from downtown Birmingham to rural Alabama, before getting to the race track, where we drove the new Odysseys on emergency-handling areas, flooded skidpads, and the race track itself. We also drove competing vehicles in some of those tests, and some did quite well for themselves. But the Odyssey was exceptional, and while it remains the benchmark in minivans despite being five years old, the new one is improved in every area.
In overview, the new Odyssey offers a more powerful engine with electronic control that works only half the time, sometimes; a new platform that supports a lighter body that is safer and stronger with the use of high-tensile steel; smooth exterior alterations that improve aerodynamics and looks; better seats that have more room in every direction; and airbags on all sides for all three rows that complement the firmer body for top safety ratings.
“We improved the styling, performance, and utility,†said Yutaka Fujiwara, Honda’s large product leader “We wanted to make it feel like a Euro sedan.†Fujiwara specifically pointed to the BMW 7 Series as a target, and while that’s pretty lofty for a minivan, the Odyssey obviously is moving upscale, with LX, EX, EX Leather and EX Touring models ranging in base price from $25,000 for the LX, and $35,000 for the fully loaded EX-Touring.
All models get one of two versions of the 3.5-liter V6. Its 255 horsepower are up 15, and 250 foot-pounds of torque are up 8 over the existing 2004 powerplant. A 12-percent increase in fuel economy, to a highway estimate of 28 miles per gallon on regular gas, sets apart the engine with optional VCM (variable cylinder management), in which the transverse-mounted V6 electronically shuts down the front bank of cylinders. That leaves the new Odyssey to cruise on three cylinders at freeway speed for optimum mileage, seamlessly reverting back to all six when you need more power and step on the gas.
Honda engineers chose to shut off the front bank, rather than the rear, to help improve interior noise levels, a focal point in a vehicle that also offers electronic external noise-canceling technology coordinated through the 360-watt audio system.
Thick, supple leather seats make a dramatic difference to the interior. So do new instruments, and a control panel on the center-dash that includes the five-speed automatic shift lever. On the right, there are two glove compartments, one above, the other below. The optional navigation system has been vastly improved, with a three-dimensional effect and a larger, eight-inch screen and a voice-activated DVD system with, Honda says, 7 million points of interest. Restaurants, with choice of food type, lodging, shopping and other items can be found on the system, which is integrated with a back-up camera that improves rearward vision when in reverse.
The shift lever placement allows walking between front seats to tend to the kids who can be assorted around the various rear seating arrangements. A “lazy susan†storage bin of cubicles is located in the floor, between the front bucket seats and the second-row seats.
The stowable second row features two full-size captainÂ’s chairs, which slide 10 inches fore or aft, can be linked together to form a short bench, or separated by a console, or a narrower third seat if you want to expand from seven to eight occupant capacity. The second row also folds down to become a console with a storage tray. The rear seat is even improved, with a 60-40 split that can be folded flat, or tumbled into that rearward cubicle with one touch.
The DVD entertainment system above the second row of seats has a larger, nine-inch screen dropping out of the ceiling, with wireless headsets that create personal surround sound. You get 15 cupholders in the Odyssey, unless you get the Touring model, which has 17.
Underneath all that, where equipment is always subtle but not insignificant, stability in driving and riding comes from a 20 percent increase in torsional rigidity, coupled with redesigned MacPherson strut front and double wishbone rear suspension designs, sitting on larger, 16-inch wheels. Stability assist, traction control and brake assist electronically augment the stability that always has been inherent in HondaÂ’s front-wheel-drive design.
Honda introduced Odyssey back in 1995, as a tall wagon on the Accord chassis. While other automakers were attempting and failing to unseat the Dodge Caravan as the primary minivan in public focus, Honda came back by quietly presenting an all-new Odyssey as a 1999 model. With its a low-cut storage bin just inside the rear hatch, and a tumble-down third-row seat that disappeared into that bin to leave only a flat floor for hauling stuff, the Â’99 Odyssey benefited by swift, strong, fuel-efficient performance, as well as trademark comfort, quality and trouble-free driving. For the past five years, minivan manufacturers still trying to catch Chrysler minivans in sales were joined by Chrysler to also compete with OdysseyÂ’s comfort, safety, technology and clever use of space.
The Nissan Quest, Toyota Sienna, Mazda MPV, the new Ford Freestar, and the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan – just to name a half-dozen – have raised their levels considerably, and General Motors has redesigned its whole fleet of minivans. All have declared they are the best, and some actually may have caught up to, or even edged past, the Odyssey for certain features. But just when they seemed to have the current Odyssey in focus, the target has moved.
By assembling the motoring press to Birmingham, Honda gained proximity to the race track, and also could give us a tour of the Honda Manufacturing Alabama assembly plant in nearby Lincoln, Ala., where workers build the Odyssey, its 3.5-liter V6 engines, and the Pilot SUV. Coordination of construction can only improve with the OdysseyÂ’s frame, body and drivetrain all built and assembled at the same site.
U.S. manufacturers have closed some plants and built new ones in Canada and Mexico under the cloak of NAFTA (the North American Free Trade Association), while the three-year old Lincoln plant is HondaÂ’s third car assembly plant in the U.S., with a separate engine-building facility also within U.S. borders. More than 75 percent of all Hondas sold in the U.S. are built in North American plants.
Currently, 4,300 of Honda’s 14,000 North American employees work at Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, which recently added a second assembly line. The plant will increase production capacity to 300,000 vehicles annually. That means the adjacent training facility to train applicants to become possible future employees – called “associates†by all who work for Honda – will stay busy.
This is the 25th anniversary of when Honda first built motorcycles in the U.S., and the 22nd year after Honda made the Accord the first Japanese car built in this country. No parades, no overdone promotions. You had to find those facts on Page 12 of the Odyssey introduction notebook. Subtle or not, a thoroughly impressive new standard in minivans should be celebration enough.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews, and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
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