BMW 3-Series icon reaches new dimension for 2006
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Ever since the introduction of BMWÂ’s 7-Series luxury cars and 5-Series midsize sedans, the automotive world has held its collective breath awaiting the introduction of the fifth-generation BMW 3-Series. So the arrival of the car deserves a collective sigh, both for admiration and relief.
The 2006 3-Series expands on what is arguably the world’s favorite sporty sedan and improves upon a near-perfect car in almost every way, with more power, more handling agility and more interior room. The focal point will be the car’s styling. It is both provocative and alluring, wearing the new and sometimes controversial BMW design cues, which make it admirably different from the existing 2005 3-Series, but with less startling appearance than either of its bigger brothers, the 7-Series or 5-Series – to everyone’s relief.
As evidence of its place in the modern automotive world, BMW anticipates selling 50-50 to men and women, and strengthens its hold on advancement of technology. The Â’06 models debuted in showrooms just this past weekend, with the 325i starting at $30,995, and the 330i at $36,995. Both now have the same 3.0-liter inline 6-cylinder engine, but it’s not the same award-winning 3.0 inline 6 as in the 2005 models. Different configurations of the intake and engine-management systems increase the 330i by 30 horsepower to 255, while the 325i, which used to have 274 horsepower from its 2.5-liter 6, now has 215.
Both engines have BMWÂ’s Valvetronic variable valve-timing standard, and the power is distilled through manual or automatic transmissions, both of them 6-speeds. Both cars offer optional sport packages with superbly bolstered seats, larger wheels (17-inch on the 325i, 18-inch on the 330i), and firmer suspension.
In style, the 3-Series looks more like a compact version of the midsize 5-Series than it does the current 3-Series. It has the same short-overhang at the front, with the long hood, and the flip-up tail. It also has the new-age contours grooving on the hood and along the sides.
When BMW altered the large 7-Series into a controversial new shape, I was among the masses who criticized it for going too far, with its droopy-eyelid headlights and its tacked-on bustle rear. When the 5-Series came out next, with similar cues but with the 7Â’s most objectionable elements distinctly toned down, I thought it was a beautiful compromise. When many magazine critics ripped the 5, I thought it was almost because they still disliked the 7.
The 3-Series is another step, less of a departure but clearly differentiated both from its current model and its restyled siblings. The existing 3 is near-perfect in style and will forever be beautiful, and the harshest critics may need some time to adjust to the new look. But as soon as a few new-generation 3s show up, car-folks will find themselves looking back at the predecessors and mentally noting that while beautiful, they are the “old†Beemers.
In the rush to criticize, BMW director of design Chris Bangle – an American, from Wisconsin – has been vilified. Pick up any car magazine over the last two years will jab at “Chris Bangle’s design,†but actually he did none of the actual design of any current BMW models. I praised the beauty of the 6-Series Coupe as vigorously as I spelled out my dislikes for the 7-Series sedans, and now I find out that Adrian Vanhooydonk designed both the 7 and the 6, while other designers drew up the 5 and the 3.
True, Bangle directed the work, and he is responsible for taking any heat, but a BMW board also must approve any design. According to product communications manager Dave Buchko, BMWÂ’s standard policy was that the board could not intrude on the designersÂ’ domain by suggesting specific alterations, but could only approve or disapprove the final design.
With the car ready to hit showrooms for the May 7 weekend, BMW wanted to properly introduce the new 3-Series, because it is a car – no, THE car – that best serves as the iconic link between exotic and practical in the automotive world. So it selected an exotic and mysterious location for the introduction…Pittsburgh?
Yes, Pittsburgh, and while BMWÂ’s marketing types layered us with various and assorted ways to link Pittsburgh to the 3-Series, none of them mattered alongside the most pragmatic reason: a new and readily available road-racing track located just far enough from the city for an hour and a half drive over a sequence of winding, twisting, hilly highways.
Perfect, both in fact and analogy. The 3-Series itself has always been basically pragmatic, even while reaching above and beyond the practical boundaries of most competitors’ cars, thereby inviting all sorts of lofty fantasies. That takes care of the analogy. In fact, the highways leading the 2-year-old Beaver Run race course are challenging and satisfying to cover, with abrupt hills and curves, and with the rare advantage of being not-as-all smooth. Most introductions strive for smooth roads to make the ride more impressive; BMW chose rather rough roads for the same reason – to display how the new suspension could carry the 3-Series cars with poise and grace over both normal and rough, irregular asphalt.
The new design stretches the car by 2.2 inches in length and 3 inches in width, both of which expand interior room. Increased use of high-tensile steel makes the body lighter, and yet 25 percent stiffer. Front suspension is now of double-pivot design, and the rear has a new five-link arrangement.
BMWÂ’s unique Active Steering, which also stirred controversy on the 5-Series, is adapted as an option for the lighter 3. It is carefully designed to enhance, rather than intrude on, driving instincts. Some claim it does too much for the driver. I think it is one of the more significant improvements in decades for both safety and performance handling. The system allows a quick-steering feel of maximum response and agility at low speeds, but firms up for razor-sharp adjustments at higher speeds.
Racing is fun, but in real-world driving, loss of control is often the result of over-correcting after an emergency swerve – in other words, swerving to miss something but turning too far, because of over-boosted power steering or over-boosted adrenaline, and then having to counter-steer abruptly to correct the first move – sometimes worsening the whole situation. Having compared the 5’s system with and without Active Steering, and now running the 3 on autocross courses, slaloms, and at high speeds on the race track, I’m convinced it enhances a driver’s ability at the outer limits by virtually eliminating the need for steering correction. With Active Steering, the car reacts so precisely that you needn’t correct, so naturally you don’t over-correct.
The Dynamic Stability Control also is very technical and impressive. You can set it for total control, or shut it off if you feel the need to use the throttle to swing the rear out a little, or you can set it for a third setting that gives you some, but not total, skid control. We tried all three settings on the controlled autocross course, outlined by cones. If it had been a practical joke, it was a good one.
The starter told me I had the system switched on fully for my first autocross run. I said IÂ’d prefer to run first with it off, then add some, then full control, but he said as long as it was on full, to try it that way.
I made one turn to the left, then went hard into the purposely placed sand in the second turn, to the right. I skidded sideways through the sand, taking out about a half-dozen cones and winding up off the track. Later, the fellow still thought everything was on, but was overruled by another official, who said the system indeed was fully off, instead. Next run, with it on full, the car refused to skid in the same sand as it zapped around the same corner.
For more high-tech stuff, consider the active cruise control, with radar-controlled intervals to maintain a preset gap behind the car ahead, and active xenon headlights that throw some light around corners as you start to turn into them. Various other cars have those features, but few have the 3’s hill-holding feature, which, with the stick shift, means you stop on a steep incline with one foot on the clutch and the other on the brake, and when you step off the brake to hit the gas, the brake holds for three seconds, giving you time to get on the gas and ease off the clutch without rolling backwards.
The dreaded, overly technical “iDrive†system is an option, but only if you get the navigation system, so you can avoid it and settle for simple, ergonomically sound knobs and buttons.
The added size of the car is not significant, but it might prod fans of the current fourth-generation 3-Series to hustle out and buy one of the remaining 2005s. The new car’s enlargment may be a clever plan to make room for future importing of the smaller BMW 1-Series. WeÂ’ll have to wait and see.
If I have one complaint, it is the usual snow-belt driver concern that rear-wheel drive is less effective on ice and snow than front-wheel drive, traction-controls notwithstanding. But in the debate over FWD and RWD, we certainly can applaud the BMW 3-Series, with its 50-50 weight distribution on the front and rear axles, for simply being the best rear-wheel-drive sedan on the planet. It has been that for a decade or two, and virtually every car-maker, admittedly or secretly, chooses the 3-Series as its new-design benchmark for handling. The competition hasn’t caught up yet, and judging by the first drives of the 2006 3-Series, the gap may be widening.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews, and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Detroit Auto Show offers feast of gourmet appetizers
DETROIT, MI. — Auto show time for an automotive journalist is a lot like a food fanatic looking over the menu at a gourmet restaurant. We havenÂ’t eaten anything here yet, but there are a lot of delectable candidates for upcoming meals.
The Detroit International Auto Show, which runs through Sunday, January 23, didn’t really have a main entree – no single vehicle that grabbed attention as best in show. But 20 very good menu choices can make a better gourmet menu than one with one special and the rest not-so-special.
The North American Car and Truck of the Year awards were issued at the Detroit show, with the Chrysler 300 beating out the Mustang for top car, and the Ford Hybrid Escape beating the Land Rover LR-3 for top truck. But after that hard news appetizer, it was time for the main courses at the Detroit show. So with the Los Angeles and Detroit shows tempting us, and the Chicago and New York shows still to come on the major U.S. tour, here is a menu of 20 automotive delicacies that I am anxious to taste – make that test – in the coming months:
* Acura RD-X: Compact SUV is a smaller MD-X with the Acura RL sedanÂ’s superb all-wheel-drive system, a sporty exterior, and sensational interior, it will be produced for 2006.
* Ford Fusion: Good-looking midsize sedan Ford is plunking onto a lengthened Mazda6 platform, with weather-beating front-wheel drive. MercuryÂ’s Milan will be a corporate twin.
* Volkswagen Jetta: Fifth-generation Jetta is all-new, stretching from compact into midsize with a more potent 5-cylinder engine and a 6-speed automatic, for under $20,000.
* Mazda MX Crossport: Who needs sedan-SUV crossovers with a sports car-SUV crossover coming? Compact, tight, sporty but also roomy, the Crossport is a concept that we need.
* Audi A3: The A3 has been a big hit for years in Europe, and the redesigned new one is coming to the U.S. A compact four door hatchback, it lends Audi class to small-car segment.
* Chevrolet HHR: Seen in Los Angeles, conspicuously absent in Detroit, it turns out there is only one HHR, and Chevy went Hollywood with this retro compact based on the 1949 Suburban.
* Honda Ridgerunner: Honda vowed it would never make a truck, but here it is, a Honda four-door pickup truck with a unique in-bed trunk and all sorts of innovations, with a futuristic look.
* Saturn Sky: The Sky is the limit as a Saturn drop-top roadster, based on the coming Pontiac Solstice. It should regenerate interest in the comeback of GMÂ’s forgotten brand.
* Hyundai Sonata: Recent improvements brought the Sonata up to solid stature, and the all-new rebuild is taking aim at outdoing the Accord and Camry with great value at a bargain price.
* Mercedes M-Class: The first thorough overhaul of the potent off-road-capable Mercedes SUV, and the company is hoping this one will silence critics who lost interest in its predecessor.
* Dodge Charger: The Chrysler 300 won Car of the Year, and its Dodge Magnum wagon brother came in fourth. Now the Magnum gets a sedan sibling, which carries Dodge into Nascar.
* Mitsubishi Eclipse: As its earlier success faded, last yearÂ’s concept Eclipse was a stunning success, triggering an all-new sporty coupe that brings the concept car to life.
* Lincoln Zephyr: Ford resurrects another worthy old name, but nothing is retro about this contemporary sedan, a luxury take on the Mercury Milan, with all-wheel drive to come.
* Infiniti M35/45: The refined midsize Infiniti puts either the solid V6 or the Q45Â’s V8 into a solid challenger making a solid run at the growing sports sedan segment.
* Audi A4: The sedan that raised Audi from serious trouble a decade ago is entirely renovated as a 2006 model, with the new corporate grille, with high-tech stuff like direct-injection power.
* Range Rover Sport: A sporty model to wedge in between the new LR-3 and the big Range Rover, the Sport has a unique grille and a more-unique supercharged V8.
* Subaru B9 Tribeca: Coming this spring, the B9 sports the new grille reflecting SubaruÂ’s aircraft heritage, with sporty, 250-horsepower, all-wheel-drive flexibility and a flashy interior.
* Jaguar Advanced Lightweight Coupe: They may be running out of names, but this sleek sports coupe is intended to foretell the styling direction Jaguar will make on its new models.
* Mercedes Smart: A whole fleet of tiny-but-tough Smart congestion-beaters are popular in Europe’s big cities, and it’s small enough to be a golf cart. The “fortwo†model comes to the U.S.
* Jeep Hurricane: This one may never be built, but with two 335-horse HEMI V8s, one on each axle, and wheels that can angle to pivot in a circle, itÂ’s a fantasy we can hope comes to life.
The list excludes some very impressive concept vehicles, especially sports cars like the Chrysler Firepower, Ford Shelby GR-1, and Lexus LF-A, but there is no indication they will actually become production vehicles. Still, auto show time is a good time to sample the whole menu, and let your imagination run as wild as the car-designers do.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews. Contact him at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Acura RDX adds sporty leadership to SUV future
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. — When the next major trend in United States car-buying arises, the Acura RDX might lead the way while other automakers can only follow. At least Honda hopes so, and a preliminary drive of the new 2007 RDX reinforces the companyÂ’s optimism, having cleverly combined the attributes of a sports sedan and a compact sport-utility vehicle into a stylish design bristling with cutting-edge technology.
Honda started its upscale Acura branch 20 years ago. The midsize MDX has been AcuraÂ’s only SUV, complementing the entry level RSX sports coupe, TSX compact sports sedan, superb TL, and luxurious RL. The RDX, which first enthralled onlookers as a concept vehicle at the 2002 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, hits showrooms in August.
By then, summer vacations may not have helped heal the large SUV market, which has been stunted by $3 gasoline prices, sending buyers to switch to smaller crossover car-based SUVs in such numbers that compact crossover SUVs are virtually certain to zoom right past large SUVs this calendar year. Honda’s market research predicts the premium crossover segment will expand five times – 500 percent – in the next five years, and tenfold beyond its current size in the next 10 years.
Manager of product planning William Walton said it’s part of a trend of “neo-urbanism,†which includes people migrating back from the suburbs to the cities for cultural and entertainment reasons, and with space at a premium in new condos and lofts, and also in parking openings. The ensuing dilemma is that traditional SUV buyers give up sportiness, while sports sedans lack utility and foul-weather capabilities of SUVs.
The RDX offers the solution of combining the best attributes of both, having borrowed and refined the best features from the rest of the Acura fleet.
For example: The platform and engine from the hot-performing RSX coupe and TSX sports sedan is jolted to 240 horsepower and 260 foot-pounds of torque by an ingenious variable-flow turbocharger. The RLÂ’s revolutionary SH-AWD system is adapted for the RDX. Inside, the RDX has utility roots of the larger MDX, and offers the latest version of the unique Panasonic ELS DVD-surround audio system from the TL, which has been my choice as the best audio system ever placed in a vehicle.
The RDX is better, with added speakers in the rear doors making a total of 10, dispersing the 410 watts through six channels, in professional sound-engineer Elliot Scheiner’s newest try. Crank up the power on the DVD-surround version of “Money for Nothing†by Dire Straits, and you feel as though Mark Knopfler might be sitting on the dashboard, playing his guitar.
Such a feature can make any trip fly by, and the RDX, which is being built entirely in Ohio, can do some flying on its own accord, if you can pardon the expression. The whole package is built under HondaÂ’s ultra-safety guidelines to attain best-in-class crash-test ratings. It will be priced at about $32,000 base, and up to $37,000 if you add the Technical Package goodies.
The RDX is more agile than most SUVs, whether zipping through traffic in downtown San Francisco, or carving precise arcs around the hilly switchbacks going north of the Golden Gate Bridge along the coast and then inland to wine country. It definitely lives up to the planned image of a sports-sedan in SUV form, and it is obviously not built as a three-row-seater, or a tow vehicle, although it will tow up to 1,500 pounds.
The assets of being light but still safe are mostly felt in agility and power, but decent fuel-efficiency, with EPA estimates of 19 city, 24 highway, and the ability to meet Level II ultra-low emission standards, are other advantages. The only disadvantage is if a tradition-minded buyer still clings to the idea that the number of cylinders is more important than the performance.
U.S. buyers traditionally insist on a V8 or V6 engine, but Honda solves that with a 4-cylinder that uses technology and sophistication to out-perform V6es. Vice president of corporate planning Dan Bonawitz noted a major shift currently going on, with V6 sales remaining fairly constant, but a large decrease in V8 sales accompanied by a large increase in 4s. Most likely, most V8 buyers downsized to V6es, and about as many V6 buyers downsized to 4s.
Still, if it seems like a magic trick to make a 4 that offers best-in-class acceleration and fuel economy, the magician is chief engineer Koichi Fujimori. The $50,000 Acura RL has plenty of torque with its 3.5-liter V6, but the RDX’s 260 foot-pounds tops the RL output with a 2.3-liter 4-cylinder. This engine is the latest version of Honda’s “K Series†of 4-cylinders. Koichi Fujimori laughed and denied that the “K†was for his first name.
Through an interpreter, Fujimori gave evidence of Honda’s “unfair†advantage. During an innovative and creative career, Fujimori has worked 20 years on Honda’s superb 4s, such as the over-achieving Civic, Prelude, Accord, S2000, RSX and TSX. And he’s far from finished.
“My goal is to make the K-Series 4 replace the V6,†Fujimori said. “The 2.0-liter 4 in the RSX [and TSX, and the new Civic Si] is very good, and conventional thinking is to increase displacement for more power. But we asked if that was the proper evolution path. We have a lot of cars with bigger V6 engines, but our goal is to replace them with smaller 4s that can maintain the same performance.Ââ€
That makes him my idol. My favorite engines always have been small-displacement over-achievers. Our family’s 1994 Honda Prelude has a 7,500-RPM redline, and I remember how impressed I was at the first S2000 with its redline RPM limit of 9,000. The new Civic Si has an 8,000 redline. Such capabilities got their start from Honda’s Formula 1 racing technology, but the main reason they work so well on production cars is Fujimori, who presides over “500 to 1,000†other engineers, he said.
“Among engine engineers, others say IÂ’m an oddball,†said Fujimori, which prompted a chuckle from the Japanese interpreter. “We have what we call our ‘MM Concept,Â’ which means ‘Man Maximum, Mechanism Minimum.Â’ Ââ€
Typically, an engineer seeking power would try to improve his engine, then bolt on a turbocharger. Fujimori knows that his engines are so fine, so extremely sophisticated, that it might be a better idea to refine the already excellent Mitsubishi turbocharger. Turbos capture exhaust flow, and channel it to spin a compressor, which spins faster and faster until it has the force to blow a more forceful air-fuel charge back into the engine intake. Step on the gas abruptly in a turbo engine, and there might be a lag, because at low speeds, less exhaust flow spins the turbo more slowly, so the arrival of engine power must wait for the turbo to “spool up†to adequate spin rate.
As the first production turbocharged engine Honda has made for the U.S., the RDX uses an ingenious variable airflow system to keep the turbo spinning faster, even at low engine speed. Airflow to the turbo is channelged through a smaller path at low RPMs, and being squeezed through a smaller opening causes the flow’s speed to increase, so the turbo spins faster, thus maintaining “spooled up†pressure even at lower engine RPMs, and virtually eliminating turbo lag.
Honda engines have used variable valve-timing technology for superior performance for about the same 20 years that Fujimori has worked for the company. But coordinating the innovative variable turbo with the latest i-VTEC 4 is a feat that should be credited to FujimoriÂ’s fine hand.
Oddball, indeed!
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A five-speed automatic works well, and can be manually shifted by steering wheel paddles. Those little thumb switches are showing up more and more, but the RDX has a unique feature. In “S†sport setting, you shift manually, but you can be in “D†for drive, and override the automatic with a left-thumb downshift, say to pass, or go down a grade, and the transmission responds instantly, then reverts back to drive.
Merge all those features with the SH-AWD system, which sends a portion of the engineÂ’s torque from the front to rear axle, apportioned for either slippery driving or the weight shift of hard acceleration. Up to 70 percent of the power can shift to the rear axle, and 100 percent of that torque can go to the outside wheel in hard cornering, which effectively pushes the RDX around the turn. ItÂ’s seamless, of course. All you know is you track around the curve as if you were on rails.
In the RL sedan, a variable extra gear can make the outside rear wheel spin faster than the inside, while in the RDX it is it fixed to spin 1.7 percent faster, eliminating the weight and complexity of the extra gear.
The active-lifestyle plan of the RDX may soon make large-SUV owners realize they donÂ’t need girth, heft, and poor fuel-economy to have an SUV. True enough, HondaÂ’s high-tech cars kept its market share growing, and if Honda missed the lucrative large-SUV glut of recent years, the market may now be coming back to Honda.
The RDX body is rigid, with high-strength steel used strategically for maximum stiffness, aiding handling and safety. The rear frame is built in a wave shape for optimum controlled crumple zones in impacts. Any such force is distributed up through the “A†pillar or down through the rocker panels, rather than to the interior.
The instrument panel and interior is well-planned and stylish. You can put two bikes into the rear if you fold the back seats down, or you can haul three friends with ease to a club across town, or a cruise to the north woods. Everything is creature-friendly. And then thereÂ’s that sound system.
I told Mr. Fujimori that his engine was silent – the quietest I had heard. He seemed disappointed. Then I admitted that it only seemed silent because my partner and I kept the ELS audio cranked up so high we couldn’t hear any engine sound.
Domestics raise power to face clever imports at Detroit show
DETROIT, MI. — Chrysler Group is known for its “show biz†schemes at new-product introductions, and it certainly didnÂ’t disappoint during media previewing the Detroit International Auto Show. Bristling with pride after winning the Chrysler 300 won the 2005 North American Car of the Year award, had three directions to go and charged down all three to display the Chrysler Firepower sports car, the new Dodge Charger, and a wild, two-HEMI Jeep Hurricane.
Ford introduced some impressive real-world cars, but stressed its gleaming silver Shelby GR-1 Concept. General Motors introduced the Z-06 high-powered, or higher-powered, model of its new C6 Corvette, and a supercharged Cadillac SVT-V aimed at luxury-high-performance.
Power, more power and supercharged power are the norm from testosterone-driven dream cars that dominate most of the pedestals, and stand diametrically opposed to the clean-burning, high-mileage models tucked around corners at other displays. If that twain shall ever meet, it probably wonÂ’t be at the Detroit International Auto Show.
The top U.S. auto extravaganza runs through Sunday, January 23, making Cobo Hall the site that stresses extremes during media preview days. Something old, something new, some realistic, some far too fanciful to ever happen, some worthy of “Car of the Year†and others wishing they could be – and even some officially declared “missing†– that’s the news from Detroit.
American hunger for excessive muscle made it predictable that the domestic Big Three – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler Group – all promoted racy, high-powered specialty vehicles, while the top Asian manufacturers and European brands aimed more at environmentally-friendly new cars. Is there a trend there?
First, let’s look at the flash of the domestics. General Motors brought out its top corporate spokesmen to talk about future technology with hybrid vehicles and hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles. GM and Chrysler are working together to “advance†the state of hybrid technology, GM reported, while it experiments on hybrid power for a bus fleet. At the show, GM’s Sequel fuel-cell vehicle, and Graphyte SUV, are both concepts only, and GM’s alternative energy plans are all for future products. That made for unfortunate timing, last Sunday, because it immediately followed the disclosure that Ford, GM’s top rival, had just won the Truck of the Year with the Escape Hybrid, an impressive use of alternative technology already out there on the street attracting rave reviews.
The Z-06 Corvette is, chief engineer Tom Stephens said, “the fastest production car we’ve ever made.†With 500 horsepower and 475 foot-pounds of torque from a hand-built pushrod V8, it will go 0-60 in “under†four seconds, with a top speed of 190 miles per hour plus. Look for it as a dominant theme of high-performance magazines everywhere, although real rush-hour rushers won’t have the same access to race tracks or autobahns.
The Cadillac STS, like the Corvette, was completely redone for 2005. Unlike the Corvette, the STS has the 4.6-liter Northstar V8 with multiple valves and dual-overhead-camshaft sophistication. For 2006, a reduced size version of the high-tech Northstar V8 gets a supercharger boost to 440 horsepower and 430 foot-pounds of torque to turn the STS into the STS-V.
GM vice president Bob Lutz drove out in the STS-V, and was refreshing in this era of electronic-script-reading introductions by extemporaneously describing the cars, and about his task of preparing a potential successor for himself. With that, Lutz introduced “Bob,†who got out of the passenger seat of the same STS-V, wearing an identical suit, with similar white hair, and mimicking all of LutzÂ’s gestures. It was a good laugh – Bob Lutz and “Mini-Me.Ââ€
Lutz talked about GM’s great heritage, and added a chillingly incisive statement. “You know what all that tradition means in the marketplace?†Lutz said. “Not a darn thing. It doesn’t mean squat.†He said that GM had to keep working hard, every day, to stay atop the marketing battle, and he was later quoted saying it might be inevitable that Toyota will someday pass GM as the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer.
Later, at GM’s third press conference of the three media days, Saturn introduced its new Sky roadster, and Aura sedan – a pair of vehicles that may lack the over-$50,000/over-400-horsepower panache of the Z-06 or STS-V, but could be significant real-world participants.
Ford had its sports car and concept vehicles ranging from the Fairlane SUV to the SYN wagon that resembles a compact armored car with a vault-like tailgate with a rear window that is actually a huge flat-screen LCD video monitor to provide rear-view images – or movie viewing. But Ford’s most impressive items were introduction of the new Ford Fusion, an attractively sleek midsize sedan that starts with a stretched Mazda6 platform, and the 2006 Lincoln Zephyr sedan and Mercury Meta One concept.
Mary Ann Wright, chief engineer of the Escape Hybrid, complimented “some of the brightest and most passionate engineers I’ve ever worked with,†as she accepted the Truck of the Year award, and added that she considered it the “truck of the century.†She also said Ford would install similar hybrid systems in the Mazda Tribute and four other Ford and Mercury vehicles in the next couple of years, which will thrust Ford right up there with Honda and Toyota at the forefront of hybrid technology.
When it comes to auto-show-biz, however, nobody touches Chrysler. The Firepower, with its Viper-chassis and Hemi V8, is a visual hit and more reasonable as a future product than last yearÂ’s show-stopping ME-Four-Twelve. Also, the Jeep Gladiator was a neat pickup.
Chrysler Group CEO Dieter Zetsche said: “One of the best things about working for Chrysler Group is that you can build what you imagine.Ââ€
With that, he introduced an imagination-blowing Jeep Hurricane. This spindly-looking creation has Hemi power, with two monster V8s, one on the front axle and one on the rear. Each engine has 335 horsepower and 370 foot-pounds of torque, so the Hurricane has 670 and 740 power totals. In case anyone doubts that it is the most agile off-road vehicle ever built, consider that the four wheels can turn in at both ends, allowing the Hurricane to have a “zero†turning radius, because it will pivot around its own axis. Undoubtedly, it would pivot fast with all that power. Maybe it should have been the Tornado, instead of the Hurricane.
In the fast-moving video introducing the Hurricane, Chrysler came up with a clever bit. At one point, the vehicle and the camera flashed past a bus stop bench, on which sat two men wearing full Detroit Red Wings uniforms, skates, helmets and all. They were holding a sign that said, “Will skate for food.†Great play on the NHL lockout season.
But ChryslerÂ’s most clever bit was still to come. Dieter Zetsche said Dodge was returning to Nascar racing with its to-be-introduced Dodge Charger, a notched sedan off the Magnum wagon. With that, a fully lettered red Charger race car rumbled onto the stage. After the introduction, Zetzche said that a race car is only good with a strong production car behind it, and the curtains parted and a pit crew ran out, changing tires and scurrying around to do all sorts of things. Suddenly, a small crane started lifting, the Charger. The race car was just a shell over the actual car, so as it was lifted, the actual Dodge Charger sedan remained center stage.
“There is nothing retro about this car,†Zetsche said. “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€
As for the missing-in-action element, I liked the Chevrolet HHR more than a lot of other media types I talked to. The HHR resembles a compact and modern version of the original bulging-fender 1949 Suburban, powered by a couple of four-cylinder engines. I saw it, introduced in the flesh (metal?), at the Los Angeles Auto Show four days before DetroitÂ’s opening.
I wondered why it wasnÂ’t at the Detroit showÂ’s media days, and I was informed that there is only one HHR currently in existence. So, even though Cobo Hall is virtually in the shadows of GM headquarters at the Renaissance Center, only three blocks upstream, GM chose to place the only HHR at the Los Angeles show. Near Hollywood. ThatÂ’s show biz.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews. Contact him at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Jeep Commander rises beyond Cherokee territory
Writing about new cars for more than three decades has generated a fiar number of questions from readers, and discussing new cars on WCCO radio with Charlie Boone at 7 oÂ’clock every Saturday morning has generated hundreds of new contacts by email. One of the better questions was: Will the new Jeep Grand Cherokee have a third-row of seating?
I couldn’t be certain, because the trend seems to be to introduce a model and then introduce various spinoff versions, and with the Grand Cherokee being all-new a year ago, it might take some time for word to come down from Mercedes, to Chrysler, to Jeep, and then to get applied. My hunch wasnÂ’t bad. I was wrong about a new version on the Grand Cherokee, but I was right about JeepÂ’s intention to add a third-row seating arrangement. But instead of merely squeezing ianother row of seats into the cargo hold of a Grand Cherokee, Jeep went over the top.
The 2006 Jeep Commander is an entirely new vehicle that takes fully into account the demands of traditional Jeep buyers, but also expands into that segment that insists on seven-passenger, three-row seating. With SUVs expanded beyond a million and, optimistically maybe, headed for two million, and 50 percent of prospective buyers wanting a third-row of seats, it would be foolish to overlook that gang.
Big, bold, and perfectly suited to taking large numbers of people on their appointed rounds with startling, Hemi quickness, the Commander meets or exceeds any on-road requirements anybody could have for a large SUV, and previous testing at the vehicleÂ’s introduction indicates that off-road ventures are easily acoomplished.
Entirely new, from stem to stern, the Commander sits on the same platform and wheelbase of the new Grand Cherokee, but itÂ’s two inches longer, and considerably larger, in every dimension. Parked next to a Grand Cherokee, the Commander is taller, which helps house the seats of Jeep’s first three-row-seat vehicle. If Jeep wanted to simply build a three-row-seat SUV, I think it may have overshot its aim; the Commander will take on a lot of luxury SUVs, costing much more.
The look is striking, if not ultramodern, which also is by design. The Commander makes an attempt to recapture the image of the old Jeep Grand Wagoneer from decades past. That was a squarish, but luxurious, sport-utility vehicle that was very popular, although my personal opinion of it was that it seemed like a lot of spare parts somehow fastened together – and not always solidly.
Instead of a steeply-raked windshield, the Commander has a blocky but readily identifiable grille and front end, and from the side it has wheelwell openings outlined with bulletproof molding, which has neat little allen-screw-looking indentations that seem intent on convincing bystanders that somebody took their new vehicle to an after-market shop to be reinforced. Actually, the illusion is a counter-illusion, because the flares are replaceable.
The test vehicle is “Trail Rated,†which is Jeepspeak that means you could go crashing and careening off-road, through the underbrush, and where roads may not necessarily lead. The inherent ruggedness is countered by the Commander’s luxury appointments. The $42,225 as-tested sticker might be an indicator, although I was surprised it was that low, with a $38,205 base price, because I’ve driven a lot of over-$40,000 SUVs recently.
On snow or ice, or congested traffic, the Commander I test drove was smooth and very managable, but always potentially overpowering. ThatÂ’s because it has a Hemi. Yup, just like the commercial might say. that thing has a Hemi in it. The 5.7-liter hemispherical-head V8 churns out 330 horsepower at 5,000 RPMs and 375 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 RPMs.
So even though the Commander weighs in at 5,169 pounds, it can accelerate with sports-sedan quickness, and carries itself extremely well. It handles with what my wife, Joan, called sports-car-like precision, considerably better than most other large SUVs weÂ’ve driven, in her view.
As impressive as the Hemi power is, the Commander also benefits from the cylinder-deactivation system that effectively cuts out half the cylinders at cruising speed, moving it up from gas-hungry to reasonable in fuel efficiency. WeÂ’re talking a vehicle that would be impressive if it got 14 miles per gallon, and improving it to the 17-18 neighborhood.
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Opening the door reveals more luxury than you might be prepared for. The test truck was jet black, which was more stunning as we encountered a couple of midweek snowstorms hit. Inside, what is called “Saddle Brown Yuma Leather†greets you from all the seats, and with three rows-worth, that’s a lot of seats, arranged in what they call stadium seating. Movie theaters do it, putting the seats on risers so everyone can easily see over the bushy-haired giant sitting a row ahead. In the Commander, occupants in the second row can see over the front row, and third-row sitters can see over the second row. The taller body means more side glass, and a more, uh, commanding view.
The roof is stepped, so itÂ’s higher to accommodate the rear seat, although the step itself is physically obscured by the well-positioned roof rack. The seating and all the appointments are nothing if not totally luxurious. The rearmost row of seats fold down independently, making a flat carpeted stowage surface. ThatÂ’s a good idea, too, because while everybodyÂ’s market research says that SUV buyers are adamant about wanting a third-row seat, it is even more dramatic in pointing out how rarely those third-row seats are used to sit in.
The second row is used frequently, though, and on the Commander the stock formation is a 40/20/40 split that can fold up to separate the outer seats if youÂ’re hauling four instead of five. Or seven. If there are only two of you, and a lot of stuff to haul, you can fold both the second and third rows down flat into the floor. On a trip, you could probably find room to sleep back there, which would mean SUVs have finally figured out how to capture some of the best assets of vans.
“Instead of thinking outside the box,†said Jeep spokesman Don Renkert, “we made a better box.Ââ€
I don’t like fake wood trim, but the woodgrain inside the Commander, which I’m sure is “genuine simulated wood,” is as attractive as any I’ve seen. The instrument panel is well laid out, as are center stack controls, right on down to the console, which has the shift lever for the five-speed automatic transmission, and a little grasp-handle if you want to lock the beast into low range to creep down some steep off-road decline.
An oversized sunroof fits because of the straight-up walls, and can be augmented by fixed-window skylights over the rear, which further brightens the luxury concept.
Going through the snow is a breeze, no matter which type of four-wheel drive you choose. Jeep has enough systems to satisfy the most demanding buyer, with QuadraTrac, QuadraTrac II, Quadra-Drive II, and then thereÂ’s the two-wheel rear-drive version.
You get the Hemi, and you get the Quadra-Drive II, which has electronically controlled shifting of torque to assure that the wheel with the most traction gets the most power. It even can send 100 percent of available power to just one wheel, and when youÂ’re talking Hemi power, you obviously can still get where you intend to go with one wheel doing the work.
Side-curtain airbags shield all three rows, augmenting the normal airbag-equipped safety stuff, which starts from structural safety with solid rear frame rails designed to take off-road boulder hits, which pretty much mean anything on the road should be easy.
The rear end has a solid-axle build with five-link suspension, again designed to handle the most rugged use. All Commanders get that treatment, whether you choose the 3.7-liter V6, the 4.7-liter V8, or the 5.7-liter Hemi. If you choose the top Limited model, the base is $38,205, and it drops off to $36,280 for the Limited, $29,985 for the basic 4×4, and $27,985 for the 4×2.
Impressive as the Commander Limited 4×4 Hemi is for charging through snow, ice, traffic congestion, to say nothing of dry pavement, it seems to me that anyone who would buy such a vehicle would want the 4×4. I mentioned that to Michael Berube, one of the Jeep officials at the CommanderÂ’s launch.
“Twenty-five percent of Jeep buyers buy them in 4×2 form,†Berube insisted. “But thatÂ’s in the sunbelt. In the snow belt, especially in places like Minnesota, 4x2s are bought byÂ…almost zero percent.Ââ€
Sanity, as they say, prevails. Sometimes.
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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