Cars, tires make difference in serious winter driving
Â’Twas the week before Christmas, and the snow started about the same time as the second period of the hockey game, apparently. Those of us inside the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center had no idea how hard it was coming down, but it hardly caused me to hesitate. I had to drive from Duluth to Minneapolis, and the option was mine whether to go late that night, after the game, or wait and leave early the next morning.
Winter driving means different things to different areas. In Minnesota, the difference in snowfall from the Twin Cities to the Northern sectors can vary greatly, which makes for adventurous winter driving, and some perverse part of me enjoys it. I also enjoy driving at night, and driving in snowstorms is the perfect way to go beyond the superficial speed-performance-braking of the usual test-drives. You find out what kind of soul a car really has when conditions are somewhere between treacherous and trip-threatening. IÂ’ve had several impressive cars to road-test in foul weather this winter, and all of them reinforced my old theory: Get snow tires, or at least good all-season tires that work in wintertime.
When itÂ’s not my car, such driving also give me the chance to check out various brands of tires, as well as cars. I had already planned ahead, and purposely parked another test-car, a Cadillac XLR, because a two-seater sports car with tremendous power, and front-engine/rear-drive layout, seemed foolish to take with the threat of a storm. Instead, I drove a front-wheel-drive Acura 3.5 RL.
On this night, I got onto I35 heading south, and started up the hill, leading out of Duluth. It wasnÂ’t good, but I thought once getting away from Lake Superior, conditions might ease. The gathering snow had a waxy base, and the Acura felt less than totally secure as I reached the crest of the hill. I made a cell-phone call, to check on conditions in the Twin Cities, but nobody answered. Nobody answering the phone probably meant folks were out late, Christmas shopping. I could have turned around and gone home, but it might have been worse by the next morning. So I pressed on.
After about 30 miles, it was bad enough for some adrenaline-induced tingling as you concentrated on seeing ahead into the driven snow while also keeping a constant check on both shoulders, just so you could try to gauge if you were staying on the road. There was no way to go more than 40 miles per hour safely in those conditions. Later on, I wound up behind two plows going just under 40, and a couple of cars were visible behind, with all of us single file.
There is something comfortable about seeing taillights up ahead in a storm to give perspective about where you should be. The fellow behind me got comfortable enough that he decided to attempt to pass. I pulled over to the right as far as I dared, and a couple of times I got the tires chattering on the corrugated safety strip on the shoulder. The guy made it past, then he passed both snowplow trucks, as well.
That gave me a little confidence, and I also passed the two plows, increasing my speed just enough to still catch glimpses of the taillights of the guy ahead. We stayed that way for 20 miles, when suddenly, a couple of miles north of Hinckley, it looked to me as though those taillights were heading off toward the right, as if heading for an exit, where none existed. Sure enough, those taillights suddenly grew closer together, then disappeared for an instant, and then I had headlights shining at me, then taillights again. The car, front-wheel-drive and all – was spinning all the way around as it left the freeway.
I slowed down, and as I inched past, I could see the car off the road, with its front wheels hooked up almost on the edge of the shoulder. The front wheels spun, hard, but the car wasnÂ’t going to make that climb. I didnÂ’t stop, because there were more cars and the plows coming behind, and it would be impossible to guess how far to pull over safely. I did, however, call 911 on the cell-phone, and informed the highway patrol of exactly where the car had gone off.
Several times on the drive, I forced myself to sit back in the firmly bolstered bucket seat, and to relax my shoulders. There was no way to relax all over, but I had been holding my shoulders so tense that I hadnÂ’t even noticed the aches building in my neck and shoulders. I stopped twice on the trip, to clear the ice that was accumulating on the wipers, and I made it to my Twin Cities destination without further incident. I glanced at my watch, wondering how far past midnight it was, and saw it was 2 a.m. The normally two-hour trip had taken four hours.
It snowed 6-8 inches that night. The next morning, I checked the tires on the test car closely. They were Michelin Pilot HX, model MXM4 tires, undoubtedly good for long wear, and dry weather handling, and maybe even wet pavement. But their grip on packing snow was poor enough that the car felt like it was slithering, more than tracking straight ahead. I donÂ’t know what kind of tires the fellow had on the car that had spun around and off the freeway the night before, but he had more than tires as a problem by going too fast for conditions. Just because you have front-wheel drive doesn’t guarantee you from brain-fade.
That new Cadillac XLR sports car was under a beautiful shroud of snow, looking like an artistic aerodynamic sculpture. Just to assure myself, I cleared away several inches of snow from the windshield, rear and side windows, and head and taillights. Anticipating the worst, I started it up and went for a little drive. I was amazed at how well the XLR churned through the snow-covered icy streets. Its traction-control worked well, and while I still wouldnÂ’t advise heading out for a long trip in a blizzard, the XLR was very capable and impressive.
Even more surprising, it, too, had Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires, but its stability was far better than I had anticipated with rear-drive and so much power. I couldnÂ’t say the XLR was more stable than the Acura RL, but it goes to prove that the right tires for winter can be extremely important, even though each car has its own characteristics in foul weather. A rear-drive car with the right balance and advanced traction-control can be surprisingly good, while a front-drive car with skiddish tires can be skittish, though having the weighted drive wheels being the same wheels you steer is an inherent advantage.
Still, all winter driving situations comes down to a pretty easy alternative. Christmas may be over, but our snowstorms are just reaching midseason. The ultimate holiday gift might be one of family safety and security, and nothing brings more instant security than having tires that give you firm and secure grip on even icy and snow-packed streets, roads and highways. Virtually every companyÂ’s all-out winter tires will improve your driving challenges. Aggressive tread patterns with large openings will spit out the snow and help gain traction. Probably the best-known winter tire is the Bridgestone Blizzak, which has improved its dry-weather durability, but still wear faster on dry roads.
My personal favorites are Nokians, made in Finland where having proper winter tires is a law. Their tread compound is made of elements that retain flexibility even when it gets below freezing, and the difference in all kinds of weather is dramatic. You have to hunt a little to find them, because as a smaller company, Nokian avoids the huge chain stores and prefers private outlets. In Duluth, Foreign Affairs handles them, as do various spots in the Twin Cities, notably NormÂ’s Tires in St. Paul.
Nokian tires keep their flexibility in the cold and retain amazing grip on snow and icy roads. There are several models, from year-round all-season to outright snow tires. Some have the magical name, Hakkapeliitta, stenciled almost halfway around the sidewall. Once you drive on tires like Nokians, you will actually enjoy tackling winter driving.
An alternative to snowtires is to find a tire dealer that offers Saf-Tee Siping. They can cut sipes into your tiresÂ’ tread to improve the grip of large or hard tread blocks and improve winter driving capabilities. There are numerous places in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago and other snowbelt regions that perform siping. By precise machine cutting of sipes, or slits, spaced across the tread, traction on high-performance tires can improve to the level of good all-season tires, and some all-season tires can improve to the level of snow tires. It costs generally about $10 per tire.
Whatever your choice, when it’s your car – and your family – don’t take unnecessary risks if you have to travel in wintertime. A set of good winter tires, or siping existing tires, costs a little but offers priceless safety and security, plus the relief of stiff necks and jangled nerves. It’s the ultimate gift of safety and security that you can provide for your family, and yourself.
(John Gilbert writes weekly automotive columns. Reach him by email at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
New Fords make use of Volvo, Mazda engineering
DETROIT, MI. — Ford Motor Company has come under a lot of criticism for considerable expenditures the past few years, but Ford executives justify the expenses involved in the takeovers of Volvo, Jaguar and Range Rover, and increased investment in Mazda. If the Ford folks have it figured right, those investments will start paying heavy dividends soon, such as within the coming year.
When the North American International Auto Show opens this coming week in Detroit, Ford will unveil the Five Hundred sedan and the Freestyle sport-utility vehicle – two entirely new and extremely important vehicles for the company. Ford also will continue to promote its planned upsurge for the 2005 model year with the coming Futura sedan as well as the prominent “toy department†features – the 2005 Mustang and the Ford GT. But the emphasis will be on the highest volume, mainstream cars.
It may seem that while Ford has continued to dominate the light truck/SUV market, its cars have fallen out of favor a bit, so much so that its subsidiaries, particularly Mazda, with the Mazda6, RX-8 and Mazda3, and Volvo, which is following up the huge success of the XC-90 SUV with the flair and potential of a compact S40 sedan. Those vehicles can run circles around midsize and compact sedans from Ford – as well as most other companies, foreign and domestic.
So Ford is about to unveil its big secret, which is a brilliant reinforcement of FordÂ’s claim that its future is a global one, with at least a dozen new vehicles being created to make maximum use of those exceptional vehicles already being produced by Mazda and Volvo.
As of now, nobody is saying that Ford will discontinue the Taurus, that durable and trusty workhorse of the middle size sedan segment. Steve Lyons, the president of Ford Division, acknowledged that Taurus has been the company mainstay since 1985, but also that a changing marketplace means that one car canÂ’t do everything for a company any more.
“The Taurus is still a pretty good car, but itÂ’s no longer the largest-selling car in the country,†Lyons said. “Consumers have a lot more choices, and they want vehicles that are more versatile. The Five Hundred will be slightly larger than the Taurus, and a bit more expensive, while the Futura is slightly smaller than the Taurus.Ââ€
Ford executives pull no punches when they proclaim the new Five Hundred as the new flagship of Ford’s entire car operation. Make no mistake – the Five Hundred is a large sedan which will have a sister ship in the Mercury Montego, and both are based on the Volvo P2 platform, as used in the S80, Volvo’s top-level sedan. In the process, the Five Hundred acquires Volvo’s world-class safety characteristics and lightning-quick Haldex all-wheel-drive system.
The Freestyle SUV fits in right between the midsize Explorer, which continues to be the worldÂ’s top-selling SUV, and the Escape, which is FordÂ’s highly successful compact SUV. The Escape, incidentally, began life as a version of MazdaÂ’s Tribute, showing that this sort of collaboration can pay rich dividends. The Freestyle, meanwhile, is also off VolvoÂ’s platform, taking the best stability, rollover sensing and crashworthy elements from the XC-90.
The Five Hundred is a surprisingly tall vehicle, which Ford officials say will capture the high-seated asset of SUVs, as will its all-wheel drive capability. The Five Hundred is 3 inches longer than the Taurus. It will have FordÂ’s worldwide Duratec 3.0-liter V6, with 200 horsepower and a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The V6 will be built in the Cleveland plant, and be called the Duratec 30.
Occupants in the Five Hundred (and Montego) will sit 4 inches higher than in other sedans, and the cars will feature Pirelli tires on 18-inch wheels. Ford expects about 20 percent of buyers to choose all-wheel drive. The interior will feature eight cupholders, and the largest trunk on the planet. At a media preview, Ford officials pointed out that the ability to hold four full-size golf bags is the standard for what makes a trunk spacious, then they popped the trunk on a Five Hundred and extracted eight large golf bags.
The rear seat folds down flat, and with the front passenger seat also folded down, articles as long as 10 feet can slide in through the trunk and fit, from bumper to instrument panel. With the seats up and sitable, the Five Hundred measures a foot shorter than the Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis sedans, but doubles their rear legroom.
Safety is a major asset of the Five Hundred. The body structure is reinforced throughout, with frontal-impact and side-impact energy management, and pillars and cross-members designed of high-strength steel. A 35-mile-per-hour frontal crash test left a Five Hundred perfect from the A-pillar back. The reason for the car being the safest ever built by Ford was that the platform was built by Volvo, known as the worldÂ’s vanguard of safety research.
The all-wheel drive unit is the Haldex system from Volvo, a pressure-based, torque-transfer unit that operates on front-wheel drive until the slightest tendency to slip is detected. Officials say that in 50 milliseconds – about one-quarter turn of the wheel – the torque can be transferred to the rear wheels to optimize traction. Along with the six-speed, a continuously variable transmission also will be available.
Technically, while sticking with its own 3.0 V6, Ford is offering a choice of two high-tech transmissions, either a 6-speed automatic, or a continuously-variable automatic, which can adjust its ratio continuously.
The Montego is the first all-new sedan for Mercury in over 20 years, and its grille, headlights, taillights and interior differentiate it from the Five Hundred. It will share the use of the Ford Duratec 3.0 V6, with single overhead camshafts and 200 horsepower. My personal question is why Ford doesn’t go all the way, and install the higher-powered, dual-overhead-cam version of the Duratec – which is the way Mazda uses the engine in the Mazda6.
Switching to the SUV side, Explorer sales are slightly down, but the smaller Escape and the larger Expedition are up. So Ford is inserting the Freestyle right between those two. Not only does it uses the Volvo XC-90 platform, it has VolvoÂ’s rollover sensor, and it even borrowed Jan Vulcan from Volvo in Sweden to serve as chief engineer. It has stadium style seats, with the second row higher than the front, and a third row seat that can house adults or kids, flip over to face rearward, or fold flat into the floor.
The Freestyle also uses the 3.0-liter Duratec V6 with standard front-wheel-drive, and traction-control, with all-wheel-drive optional. While smaller than the Explorer, the Freestyle actually has more cargo space than the Explorer, or the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford officials are quick to point out. That space can be filled with seats, captainÂ’s chairs or bench in the second row, which tumbles forward for access to the rear, third row, which folds flat.
FordÂ’s dependence on Mazda wonÂ’t be as immediately obvious, but will start with the use of MazdaÂ’s sensational new four-cylinder, which will be installed in the 2005 Focus, and will lift it to a power level equal to the SVT special-edition Focus, while also making the car twice as environmentally clean as the ultra-low emission level standards.
After that, FordÂ’s plans are to bring out 10 automobiles based on one platform, and that platform will be the firm, safe and solid base of the Mazda6. If Ford’s influenced has helped Mazda and Volvo deliver such outstanding vehicles in the past couple of years, it’s only smart business for Ford to make use of their technology.
(Reach John Gilbert at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Chevy’s strong display paces GM’s new 2004 array
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — General Motors is making some new moves for the 2004 model year, everything from sports cars to trucks and SUVs, and it summoned automotive journalists to a series of regional displays to introduce the new fleet. Some of the new vehicles had already been introduced, such as CadillacÂ’s XLR sports car and SRX sport-utility vehicle, but many were making their media debuts before being released to dealer showrooms.
Chevrolet had the most new vehicles, with the new midsize Colorado pickup, which replaces the S-10 as well as the Malibu, Malibu Maxx, SSR sports-car-pickup specialty car, and the Aveo subcompact. The GMC truck line displayed the Canyon, its version of the Colorado, along with the Envoy XUV, which is a singular long SUV with an opening roof over its completely enclosed rear cargo area.
Cadillac had the $75,000 XLR on hand, and it had the new SRX, which had been introduced prior to the display session, but was at the site armed with the 4.6-liter Northstar V8 engine. Saturn had an Ion coupe, and the new Redline version of the VUE, its upgraded SUV, complete with a Honda V6 engine. And Buick had the Ranier, its new SUV. There was even a Saab 9-3 convertible, as that Swedish company is now a GM brand.
Here is a brief pick at some of the more significant vehicles:
• Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon – The pickups are new from the tires to the roof, with regular, extended and crew cabs, and thorough refinements throughout, and the only difference between the two is the grille, with the Chevy getting the now-trademark horizontal bar through the middle. Most impressive is the introduction of GM’s spinoff engines that make the highly successful 4.2-liter in-line six-cylinder. That engine, first put in the TrailBlazer and Envoy, is a dual-overhead-camshaft, multiple-valve engine with great power and smooth performance. For the Colorado (and Canyon), GM chopped two cylinders off and made a high-tech four-cylinder, and also reduced it by one cylinder to make a five-cylinder – both of which are in the midsize trucks. I drove the five-cylinder version of both, and found them very responsive and smooth. The trucks will come with three suspensions, including an off-road Z71, and prices start at $16,000.
• Chevrolet Malibu – The Malibu name used to adorn Chevy’s first attempt at a midsize car, back in the 1960s. It has been rejuvenated recently on some compact Chevrolet vehicles, and will be an all-new car for 2004, which Chevy officials claim can take on the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry midsize giants. That may be a bit optimistic in the fierce category that also includes the Mazda 6, Altima, Jetta and others. The car is good-looking, in a generic sort of way, with the horizontal bar grille, and inoffensive but unremarkable features otherwise. A rigid body platform and the corporate global Ecotec four-cylinder engine or a 3500 pushrod V6 are available. The interior is good, with 60-40 split rear fold-down seat. Price starts at $18,370, and GM officials say they anticipate selling 90,000 Malibu and Malibu Maxx models.
• Malibu Maxx – More than just a wagon-back version of the Malibu, the Maxx rides on a longer wheelbase and actually is more attractive, as well as more interesting, than its sedan cousin. The rear seat slides almost 7 inches forward or back, with a 60-40 split backrest. A fixed skylight above the rear seats is a nice feature, and a rear DVD entertainment system is on the rear of the center console, with two sets of infrared headphones and video game jacks, and a standard power outlet in the rear cargo area. Price is $21,600.
• Chevy SSR—Chevrolet claims the SSR has graced 21 magazine covers and attracted 10,000 requests, which might be because two or three years as a car-show star have almost made its introduction something beyond “long-awaited.†The sedan-like front end opens to a pickup-box rear, much like the El Camino of the 1960s, and the roof over the two-seat occupant compartment rolls back and disappears, making it a convertible pickup-car. The SSR feels solid and a bit hefty, and with good reason. Instead of being mounted on a sedan or sports-car platform, it is planted on the TrailBlazer SUV platform. The unique roadster draws nothing but stares on the road, and it is powered by a 5,300 pushrod V8 engine made of aluminum and putting out 300 horsepower and 331 foot-pounds of torque. Price is $41,370, and the list for long-term road-tests is as long as the list of media folks present.
• Cadillac CTS – The chiseled look of the CTS is familiar by now, but Cadillac has revised the car for 2004 to be powered by an all-new “high-feature†V6 that is shared for this year only by the SRX and the Buick Rendezvoous. It has 255 horsepower from variable valve-timing, and makes the CTS a true sports sedan. A Corvette V8 version will be following after the first of the year, but drivers who try the front-engine/rear-drive car with the hot new high-tech V6 might not bother waiting.
• GMC Envoy XUV – The Envoy may be getting rewarded for its loyal years of second-class treatment alongside the Chevy TrailBlazer, and while both were given stretched versions a year ago, only the Envoy gets the opening rear roof treatment. The front two rows of seats are strictly out of the extended SUV, but the rear cargo area is encased in composite material, including a midgate power-glass window that can be closed to seal off the rear area. The roof rolls at the touch of the key fob and disappears to leave the entire rear area open to the sky. You can visualize four people riding home while hauling a tall treefrom a nursery, sticking up through the open roof. So well-sealed is the rear compartment, that you can hose it out for cleaning, with one-way drains that are guaranteed not to clog, according to GM officials. The tailgate either drops down or swings open from left-to-right. A V8 is available, but the aforementioned 4.2-liter in-line six is both the base and an excellent engine for the Envoy. Price is $31,240.
• The Aveo, in either sedan or wagon-back form, is a new subcompact that Chevy officials claim will take on the best little cars, such as the Kia Rio or Hyundai Accent. If it looks the part of taking on those Korean-built minis, that’s appropriate because Chevrolet bought out Daewoo, a Korean company that had created Italian-designed cars. The rebadged Daewoo is the Aveo (pronounced Ah-VAY-oh), with a 16-valve Ecotec engine that shows 103 horsepower and 105 foot-pounds of torque. The Aveo starts at $9,995, with the upgraded LS starting at $12,500.
• Buick Ranier – The Rendezvous brought more – and younger – buyers to Buick showrooms last year, and the Ranier gives Buick a second SUV. This one is a refaced version of the TrailBlazer, and comes with either the 4200 in-line six or the optional 5300 V8. The Ranier is the only one of the corporate short-wheelbase SUVs to get the V8, but the six has 275 horsepower, almost as much as the V8’s 290. A stiffened body, and considerable attention to reducing road noise makes the Ranier a distinctive midsize SUV. A spacious interior with Buick-quiet ambience and on-demand all-wheel drive should make it a popular attraction at $35,295.
All of the new GM products will be worth longer evaluations on the road, and there was no Pontiac GTO available at the San Antonio session. Short trips in the XLR with the roof down, and the SRX with the enormous sunroof slid back and the Northstar V8 doing its thing, reinforce the attractiveness of both vehicles as the highest echelon of General Motors for 2004.
Mazda3 runstogether compact size, feature upgrades
Despite the flurry of extremely worthy candidates for 2004 Car of the Year, some of us on the voting jury may have realized this past week that we may be missing the best new vehicle. The reality check
came after Wednesday’s first hands-on media exposure to the Mazda3 – the all-new compact car that replaces the Protégé.
Mazda seems intent on running numbers into letters, and a cynic might
suggest that a Mazda3 must be about half of a Mazda6. That, in itself, would be impressive, but the Mazda3 actually takes the compact category to a new peak of proficiency, and it would just as soon take a winding road to get there.
The Mazda3 comes in either a sleek four-door sedan or a five-door wagon, with the two aimed at different targets, both filled with features and a choice of two engines, starting at sticker prices under $14,000 for the sedan and under $17,000 for the squareback.
“We like to think of ourselves as taking the ‘Road Less Traveled,’ ” said Jay Amestoy, Mazda’s vice president for public and government affairs, when introducing the car at a makeshift parking-lot site on the University of Michigan campus. “For Mazda to succeed, we have to do things differently, and be far more clever.”
The Mazda3 is about as clever as a compact can get, although Mazda didn’t submit it for Car of the Year consideration, even though it is a 2004 model-year car, and will reach showrooms by the end of November. Mazda didn’t want to dilute the chances of the RX-8, or to duplicate last year, when the Mazda6 was delayed reaching media test-fleets, so it pretty well got overlooked by the jury of the nation’s
top selected automotive journalists.
Actually, I voted for the Mazda6 first last year, followed by the
Mini-Cooper, Nissan 350Z and Infiniti G35. My 2-3-4 picks wound up 1-2-3,but my No. 1 choice was justified when the Mazda6 gained car-of-the-year status in a dozen different countries, and piled up numerous other technical awards elsewhere before finding belated success in the U.S.
At the compact level, meanwhile, the Protégé has been very competitive against the best – Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus and Nissan Sentra. Still, a brief trial
run in both models of the Mazda3 indicate that by taking distinct cues from the RX-8 and the Mazda6, the Mazda3 sets new standards of sportiness, sophistication, and upscale features for the compact market.
Compact buyers always have been willing to compromise, accepting obvious cutbacks in rear-seat and trunk room, and knowing that lucrative features of larger and costlier sedans wouldn’t be available. Those include structural strength and safety; four-wheel disc brakes; high performance power, handling and braking; interior amenities; navigation systems; alloy wheels; even tire-pressure monitors.
The Mazda3 includes some of those features standard and the rest within a lengthy option list, which includes a navigation system with a pop-up screen atop the nicely textured dash, leather seats, alloy wheels in 15, 16 or 17-inch diameter, and even the Xenon high-intensity discharge headlights generally available only on premium luxury cars. Overdoing the option list to get all the airbags and audio items could jack the four-door price from $13,680 up to around $18,000, or take the five-door from $16,405 up to $23,000.
But even in base form, the Mazda3 meets the company’s objectives for stylish design, technically advanced driving dynamics, and quality craftsmanship inside and out. All Mazda3 models, for example, come with four-wheel disc brakes – no compromising or “decontenting,” as some of Mazda’s top competitors cloak it.
Mazda benefits by its worldly alliance with Ford Motor Company, which also owns Volvo. “This is the most successful collaboration so far,” said Robert Davis, senior vice president of marketing and product development for Mazda. “The Mazda3 is built on a shared platform that also is being used by the new Volvo S40 and the European Ford Focus. In the shared engineering, Mazda was responsible for the powertrains, Volvo for the chassis structure and safety, and the suspension came from Ford of Europe.”
From there, each manufacturer designed and built unique features into the cars. The Mazda3 is by far the most adventurous in styling, from the Mazda6/RX-8 look of the grille on back.
Mazda took its exceptional new 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine, designed and built as the base powerplant for the larger Mazda6 a year ago, and spun off a 2.0-liter version by shortening the stroke. The 2.0 is the base engine for the Mazda3 “i” model, and is quick and lively in the 2,700-pound car with 148 horsepower and 135 foot-pounds of torque. The 2.3 is available as an option, and is the only engine in the five-door. It boosts levels to 160 horsepower and 150 foot-pounds.
The aluminum engines both have chain-driven dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, and using a chain means there is no worry about changing a timing belt. Horsepower peaks at 6,500 RPMs, which is also the redline for maximum revs, conservative though that may be. The larger 2.3 has variable valve-timing. A five-speed manual transmission with pleasantly wide ratios, and an option is a four-speed automatic with a manual-shift gate.
The Mazda3 is 2.9 inches longer than the outgoing Protégé, with a wheelbase of almost an inch longer, and 2.2 inches taller and 2.0 inches wider. That translates to more interior room in both versions, except in front legroom, which is compensated for by a slightly raised seat position, which have a higher hip-point and therefore legs are slightly more vertical from the knees down, so a 0.3-inch decrease in legroom equates to more room. Besides, there is almost a full inch increase in rear legroom.
Chief designer Hideki Suzuki created the Mazda3 with careful integration of the interior and exterior. He has worked both at the California design studio and at Mazda’s home in Hiroshima, Japan. His English is pretty good,and he has mastered such phrases as the stress on “the emotion of motion” of Mazda’s corporate objectives, involving an attitude both “athletic and energetic,” featuring the “unexpected details” such as the head and taillights and even the door handles, enhancing “greater function and practicality” than a buyer might anticipate from a compact, as well as the promise of “agile movement” from “muscular form.”
The four-door and five-door have completely different shapes and all
different body panels, with the four-door expected to attract buyers who prefer a touch of sophistication, prestige, and maybe even elegance, while the five-door is intended for the more aggressive, athletic and advanced-utility buyer. Suzuki said that he was striving for a tasteful fusion of “sporty excitement and comfort.”
A standard of compacts is fuel economy, and the Mazda3 hit EPA marks of 35 highway/28 city for the 2.0, and 32 city/25 highway for the 2.3, while achieving such low emissions that Davis said that in California, “the Mazda3 exhaust is cleaner than the air taken in.”
Safety starts with the redoubtable Volvo structural design, which has a strengthened unibody that is 40 percent more rigid to flexing, and is augmented by Mazda’s structural design to disperse force of impact three ways, down and around the passenger compartment. Antilock brakes and six airbags are available, while softer, rounded interior features, a rear structure to limit intrusion, and whiplash-countering seatbacks are standard, and Davis said in-house tests make Mazda confident the Mazda3 will attain the highest five-star awards in government crash-tests.
Davis bristles at questions about demographics discovered through market research. “We don’t do demographics, we do psyche-graphics, because we’re concerned more with lifestyle than age of our customers,” said Davis. “Our buyers like a little fun in their driving, they enjoy driving, and they might be more youthful and active.” He acknowledged the versatility of the Mazda3, but added, “Our buyers may be looking for enjoyment rather than
utility.”
Mazda overall is slightly down in U.S. sales for 2003, but company officials say that’s because Mazda moved away from fleet sales, which made up as much as 15 percent of their sales, and they anticipate a 3-4-percent increase overall by the time 2003 ends. They would like to increase by a modest 5 percent for the 2004 model year, which would be between 290,000 and 300,000 vehicles.
Of that total, the Mazda3 is anticipated to account for25-30 percent, or about 70,000 cars. About 40 percent will be the five-door, which comes only as the “S” model, with the larger engine. As for packages, 20 percent of the total should be the basic “i” model, and 30 percent the “S” upgrade, with the sport package, and the rest will be somewhere in between.
Maybe Mazda is the victim of its own cleverness. They could have withheld the Mazda3 for introduction for another two months, declared it a 2005 model, and immediately become the front-runner for next year’s Car of the Year.
Mavericks start shocks UMD women, WCHA, NCAA
Jeff Vizenor found himself in a new and unusual position this week. He was being interviewed by telephone, and he had to excuse himself because it was time to go to practice. He did so, but falteringly, and for good reason. ItÂ’s the first time Vizenor, in his third year as head womenÂ’s hockey coach at Minnesota State-Mankato, has ever been threatened with being late for practice by anything resembling media attention.
The Mavericks not only havenÂ’t ever been a womenÂ’s hockey power, they have never before appeared on the radar screen of the media.
But that all changed two weeks ago, when Minnesota State-Mankato stunned three-time defending NCAA champion Minnesota-Duluth – the nation’s No. 1 ranked women’s team going into this season – 3-2 for an opening-night victory that was the biggest upset in school history, then the Mavs claimed a 4-3 second-game triumph that completed the most shocking sweep in the four years of the WCHA-Women’s competition.
Vizenor insists he was not surprised by the opening-game outcome, which sent shock waves all around the WCHA.“The way our team had practiced, I thought, ‘Wow, this is different,’ †said Vizenor.
“I was confident in Game 1. I really felt this was our chance, our turn. The reporter who covers our team said he couldnÂ’t come to FridayÂ’s game, and I told him he might really miss something. He didnÂ’t come, but he came Saturday.Ââ€
The sweep knocked UMD off the No. 1 perch, and it also elevated Mankato into the national rankings for the first time ever. The Mavericks came off their cloud last weekend, beating North Dakota – a team that will enter the WCHA next season – for 5-2 and 3-2 victories.
A year ago at this time, Mankato was 0-4 and had scored four goals; this year they are 4-0 and have scored 15 goals. That means Minnesota State-Mankato takes a 4-0 season record and the No. 9 rank in the nation to Bemidji this weekend, where the Mavericks could, conceivably, become 6-0.
“I donÂ’t think weÂ’ll be over-confident,†said Vizenor, mentioning another concept heretofore unheard of at the Minnesota River Valley school. “We watched tape on Bemidji, and theyÂ’re a team similar to us, so IÂ’m expecting it will be a good WCHA matchup. WeÂ’ve matched up with them well over the years.Ââ€
However, the Mavericks are obviously not the team they’ve been “over the years.†In Vizenor’s first season at Mankato, the team doubled its victories. Last year, in his second season, they doubled them again, to finish 10-21-3. This is his third year, and the first time the Mavericks have ever been over the .500 mark, let alone 4-0 and ranked nationally.
Nine of the Mavs 15 goals have been scored by an impressive first line, with Melanie Salatino with 6 goals and 1 assist, Devon Nichols 1 goal and 5 assists, and Kate Hainrich 2 goals, 3 assists. Salatino scored four goals in the sweep against North Dakota, when the team played less effectively, but still managed to win, Vizenor said. In the four games, four freshmen have contributed goals, with Shera Vis scoring twice, and Autumn Conway, Alycia Wilson and Cara Hendry 1 each.
But if there is to be a watershed weekend in Mankato women’s hockey history, it clearly was the opening set against UMD. Vizenor said he and his players gained confidence they could spring their first-ever victory over the nation’s most successful women’s program. Mankato had lost 2-0 at the end of the season two years ago in their closest call against the Bulldogs. “But we had Shari Vogt in goal, and the shots were something like 50-15,†Vizenor said.
This time, UMD came without its lost graduation class that included world-class stars Maria Rooth, Hanne Sikio, Erika Holst and several other four-year regulars, as well as coach Shannon Miller. The UMD coach had been smacked with a controversial one-game suspension for improperly contacting a member of the opposing team at the league playoffs in Grand Forks last year, when she allegedly knocked on the wrong door in the teamÂ’s motel late at night. Miller went recruiting, and didnÂ’t come to Mankato for either game, leaving things up to long-time assistant Stacy Wilson and rookie assistant Ira Turunen.
In addition, star players Caroline Ouellette and Krista McArthur were off playing for the Canadian National team, leaving the Bulldogs further short. But nevertheless, history and tradition were still solidly on UMDÂ’s side.
“They were missing some key players, and I have great respect for what Shannon has done as coach,†Vizenor said. “This year, they’ve got a young team, and maybe it was the first time they’ve been in that situation, where they had 10 or11 new kids playing, and in the same boat as our freshmen. Maybe they had growing pains like they’ve never experienced before. Up and down the lineup, we probably had more of a veteran lineup than they did.
“I think, as the week leading up to the series moved on, we were confident they would be games – that we could compete,†Vizenor said. “We believed we could win. For two days, we stayed so well within the game-plan, and everybody did exactly what we asked them to do.Ââ€
The secret formula?
“We worked to keep the puck to the outside, and to try to smother anything that came to the middle. We wanted to stay out of the penalty box, and shut down Jenny Potter as much as possible. We put a defensive pair, sophomore Amber Sharrat and freshman Richelle St. Croix, out against her.Ââ€
Vizenor credited his assistant coaches, Ruth Ann Kragh and Dan Lichterman, for vital roles in the sweep over UMD. “Being at home, we got the matchups we wanted, and my assistants are responsible for seeing that we get the right lines out at the right time, and they did a great job of making sure we matched up,†he said.
“The shots werenÂ’t bad the first game. We gained power and strength as game went on, and once we won the first game, we knew theyÂ’d be focused to come back after us and they shot from everywhere. The second game, we were a little more nervous. But the confidence grew for us, and the best stat of all was that we only trailed for a total of 1:20 the whole series. That was Friday night, when they scored about three minutes in. Then we scored, and we were either tied or winning the rest of the way. We were 5-for-17 on the power play for the two games, and that helped.Ââ€
Hainrich scored both her goals in the second game, giving that line five of the team’s seven goals in the series, while Vogt held the fortress in goal – earning league defensive player of the week honors – and the Mavericks struck again.
“I guess some people might say the games could have been the biggest upsets in the leagueÂ’s history,†Vizenor allowed. “But the gaps continue to close. There are more players around who will be good players, and maybe there arenÂ’t as many Maria Rooths, or Jenny Potters or Caroline Ouellettes out there. The WCHA has been blessed with incredible players, but the gap is closing.Ââ€
And if Minnesota State-Mankato is responsible for closing a major part of that gap, Vizenor is not about to translate that, or the team’s 4-0 record, or its No. 9 ranking, into a favorite’s role against Bemidji State – a team that was shut out twice by UMD last weekend.
“WeÂ’re still going in as underdog,†Vizenor said. “…WeÂ’ve made up some new rankings this week.Ââ€
(John Gilbert has covered the WomenÂ’s WCHA since its inception. He can be contacted by e-mail at sports@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.
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