Hummer could crush Corollas, or invade Canada
Step on the gas pedal and the Hummer H1 lurches into action, its turbodiesel engine roaring menacingly for an instant before the big beast moves, but when it moves, it does so in a forceful and dramatic manner. As you start to turn a corner, the thought persists that you might be about to crush a Corolla, because the Hummer is so big and wide, you might not see a compact car in its path.
All that is lacking is the placement of a .50 caliber machine gun on the roof. If random use of a couple of July Fourth firecrackers were legal, you could toss them out the window and the reaction would be predictable: Hide your women and children! Pull your compacts and subcompacts off the street!
IÂ’ve driven a couple of different Hummer models recently, and the timing is perfect. What could be more fitting, on Fourth of July weekend than to be driving a Hummer H2 SUT? Before you can say flying an F-16 over your neighborhood fireworks display, or sailing an aircraft carrier up the Mississippi River, the easy answer is that the only thing more fitting to drive than an H2 on July Fourth weekend would be driving the Hummer H1.
General Motors has been working with AM General to create some variations of the military Humvee for street use. The Hummer H1 is the most direct variant, but GM has also collaborated with AM General to build a couple of mellower versions, the H2 and H3. They basically consist of Chevy Tahoe platforms and engines, with Hummer bodies. Nearly as bold, almost as outrageous, but much more compatible with street traffic.
The H2 SUT I recently test-drove is the model with a small pickup-like box on the rear, which is handy for hauling stuff. The H2 Hummer is much more reasonable to drive on the streets than the hard-core H1. The Hummer H1 is close to what our country is sending to Iraq for the troops to drive over hill, over dale, and most importantly over the sand-dune trails. No, the street version of the H1 does not have armor plating, but, based on criticism about some of the vehicles weÂ’ve been sending to Iraq, that may make it more similar.
Driving any Hummer is a better method for calculating which passers-by are left-leaning and which are right-leaning than any political poll. As you cruise along, every pedestrian and passing motorist with whom you allegedly are sharing the road have one of two reactions. About half smile, wave, give you a thumbs-up for driving such an intimidating vehicle, or yell “Nice truck.†The other half frowns or looks away with some degree of scorn, as if to say, “How could anyone drive such a thing?Ââ€
That seat-of-the-pants survey excludes young males, under, say, 15, because they all love the Hummers – any Hummers – the way young kids used to play war. And there never has been such obvious over-the-top vehicles. Over-the-top works any way you’d like, because the off-road capability of the Hummer is to go anywhere, with enormous ground clearance underneath and suspension travel that would be the envy of mountain goats.
Comparing the H1 and the H2 SUT – for Sport Utility Truck – is indeed like comparing apples to oranges, but only if either apples or oranges cost well over twice as much as the other.
The Hummer H1 has a “standard vehicle price†of $139,771, and with the Off-Road Adventure Package, which includes a 12,000-pound electric winch coiled on the front (think about that), and electrically locking axles with two-piece aluminum wheels, you lift the sticker to $146,622.
In comparison, the Hummer H2 SUT lists for $52,485, and even adding the luxury series package of chromed appearance items, a step bar to reduce the high-jump quality entry, upgraded interior package, XM Satellite radio, integrated navigation system, air suspension with compressor, and a chromed roof rack and guards for the lights, you still are only at $62,735. Only.
Driving the two vehicles is even more dramatic than the price difference.
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Basically, GM figured that the macho look of the Hummer was just fine, but the vehicleÂ’s compatibility with everyday traffic was a little much. So it basically submitted the Tahoe SUV for AM General to cover with a Hummer body, and the interior is very livable and pleasant for a family. A third row seat still leaves some cargo room, and easily folds out of the way to increase it if needed.
The H2 (and H3) get GMÂ’s 6-liter V8 engine, and in the test vehicle it 316 horsepower and 360 foot-pounds of torque. It is agile and maneuverable, much like any Tahoe, which is to say much like any full-size SUV. No, it wonÂ’t win the neighborhood autocross, but it does go anywhere a standard SUV will go. Just expect to get the liberal-conservative reaction test every time you drive it.
With the ladder frame and heavy duty suspension components, plus an electronic transfer case and electrically locking rear differential, the H2 SUT is prepared for any off-road duty you might dream up. That includes going through rugged terrain on the way to some remote fishing spot. Uncharacteristic for the Hummer image, the H2 SUT also has eight-way power driverÂ’s seat, dual zone front heat/air controls, rear audio controls, a Bose premium speaker system, power sliding sunroof, and remote lock, as well as Onstar.
In other words, the Hummer H2 SUT has most of the amenities of any premium, luxury level SUV, and as such, the price of $62,735 is pretty much in line with what luxury SUV-buyers have to spend. The SUT version has a handy pickup-like box with a locking top. Unlock the top, undo the little complex rear assembly to swing the spare tire free, then open the tailgate. It’s a lot of work, but a versatile use of space.
But if you want military, flag-waving, jingoistic parallels, move gingerly up to the H1. The standard logo for AM General shows an H1 parked at a jaunty angle, while a black-silhouetted companion vehicle is parked behind it, with someone manning a machine gun on the roof.
The 6.5-liter Duramax V8 Turbodiesel has 205 horsepower – despite the fact sheet’s suggestion it has 300 horsepower—at 3,200 RPMs. But horses matter less than torque in a diesel, and this one spews out 440 foot-pounds of torque at only 1,800 RPMs.
The H1 got about 10 miles per gallon. I got a scare because I thought I was running low on fuel at one point, and after I filled it, for $46, I realized there is a reserve tank. Actually, there are two 30-gallon tanks for your diesel fuel. Just so you can have a chance to make it home after youÂ’ve ventured out to terrorize the neighborhood.
Getting into the H1 is no small accomplishment. I found it best to throw one leg up as if high-jumping, at a trajectory that carries your foot up and into the cockpit. Then you can find an assortment of handles and lunges that can carry the rest of your body up in there to join your leading foot. One reason it’s so high is that the H1 has a 16-inch gap between any body parts and the ground – the better to clear any and all obstacles on the way to the ol’ fishing hole. The ground clearance is enhanced by the angular undercarriage, which is not only armor-plated against rocks, but tapered to allow entering at a 72-degree approach angle and departing at a 37.5-degree angle.
Once inside, you realize that the improvements to the interior for 2004 have made a big difference, both in the quality of the materials and in the features. One thing that is no different is the incredible lack of useful room inside. This is a vehicle that measures 130 inches in length, with a track (between front wheels) of 72 inches, and yet there are only four bucket seats inside, and without any chance of increasing tdhat number. When you sit in the driverÂ’s seat, the right side front seat occupant is 40 inches away, across the high intrusion of the center console. Same in the rear. It would take a contortionist to climb from the left rear seat to the right, and the chance of the driver hopping across to the right is even less feasible.
Because some of the controls and numerous switches have been added on in an attempt to make the Hummer more civilized, they arenÂ’t all in what you would call logical, ergonomic locations. On your first turn behind the wheel, for example, you will grope for a while to find the power window switches. They are on a four-switch grouping, located at about a 45-degree angle, on the western slope of that massive center console.
When you turn the key, that roar you hear tells you that the diesel under the hood means business. It doesn’t matter what the horsepower and torque numbers say, or that the curb weight of the monster is 7,500 pounds – the equivalent of three Mazda Miatas, or two of virtually any sedans – when you stomp on the gas, the big Hummer H1 moves on out. The H2, for what it’s worth, weighs in at 6,500 pounds, so it’s not as if it is the Weight Watcher’s poster vehicle either.
But the H1 surprised me. I had driven one of the first models ever offered to the public, and it filled the highway lane so thoroughly I felt nervous wondering whether any adjustment in vector would mean I was going to cross the dotted line, or put a wheel off on the shoulder. With the latest H1, I felt quite comfortable after only a few drives.
I did learn that you have to adopt an attitude when driving the H1. You are going to get the reactions anticipated – adulation or scorn, with no stops in between – so you might as well drive it boldly and with some aggressiveness. My wife, Joan, drove it across town and said she found people cutting her off every block. When I asked her, I realized she had driven hesitantly, being overly cautious, and that gave others the spirit to cut her off.
Instead, if you drive a little bit boldly, as if you don’t really want to crush those Corollas – unless one ventures into your lane – then you’ll find people will stay out of your way. Cutting a wide swath around a corner in city traffic, I felt as though other drivers might consider pulling onto the sidewalk to give me room.
When I arrived at a ballgame a little closer to starting time than I had wanted, because of traffic congestion, I simply told my teammates: “IÂ’d have made it earlier, but it took me longer because I kept having this compelling urge to invade Canada.Ââ€
(John Gilbert writes weekly reviews of new vehicles. Reach him at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Mercedes ML350 gets new style, engine, 7-speed
There have been critics of the Mercedes M-Class SUVs, although I have never been among them. I was impressed from the start with the vehicleÂ’s versatility and flexibility, both on and off the road. That said, the M-Class has been totally remade for 2006, and the new ML350 is impressive enough to cruise well beyond the reach of any critics.
A new body that retains styling queues from the current model, plus more power from an entire shift in concept and execution in the fine art of engine-building, highlights the stretched, more stable, and more agile 2006 model. All that, plus a seven-speed automatic transmission you can shift like a Formula 1 race car, has resulted in the just-introduced M-Class sold 3,516 units in the month of June, a 58.9-percent increase over June of 2004 and helping Mercedes record the most overall June sales in its history.
The first opportunity I ever had to drive the first Mercedes M-Class vehicle was at Road America race track at Elkhart Lake, Wis. The nationÂ’s automotive journalists got the chance to ride with and then drive with various top race drivers around the four-mile road course, and then also went through a rugged off-road course specially designed to tax the vehicle.
Having driven into some of Road America’s toughest corners at speeds of 120 miles per hour, I was impressed. Later, I was more impressed while driving through terrain that resembled an enormous ice cube tray, where one wheel could pull the entire vehicle through – and looking up to see a different M speeding along on the race track. Those were among the reasons I was impressed with the first M.
Mercedes, of course, has been in the SUV business since long before the term SUV accompanied the current runaway trend for sports-utility vehicles, and the current version of those early workhorse vehicles is a large, square truck under the heading of G-Class.
The ML350 bears no resemblance to the G. While the G is probably over-qualified to run on mere roadways, the ML350 is compact, tight, quick, agile, and yet luxurious in every dimension, inside and out. The restyled body has a more flowing, shapely look, with a wedgy rise from the front, and stylish contours along the sides, meeting gracefully with the sloping rear pillar. The rear is set off by chrome dual exhausts, while the front has the distinctive Mercedes logo in the middle of the grille, and the leading edge of a front skidplate tastefully visible when looking at the front. High-power projection headlights look out through glass lenses.
In the redesign, Mercedes obviously intended to make the ML350 even better suited to its on-road chores than featuring its off-road capabilities. For example, the unitized body structure of the best crossover SUVs is deployed, rather than the more truck-oriented body-on-frame arrangement. The ML350 is a bit longer, lower and wider, with a wheelbase stretched by 3 inches, but it loses its low-range transfer case – the device that most sets hardy off-road vehicles from their on-road cousins.
But since SUV owners rarely go off the road for anything more challenging than a grass-in-the-middle dirt road to a cabin up north, the adjustment shouldn’t be a problem. Besides, it helps save a chunk of weight, bringing the new ML350 in more than 400 pounds less than its predecessor. The look is unique enough that the ML350 seems more of a “passenger module†than a mere SUV.
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Inside the unitized body, Mercedes refers to its “modular command cockpit,†where the very businesslike and attractive gauge layout has a small information screen in the midst of the gauges. The center stack features a 7-inch screen for the navigation system, or controlling everything from the audio to the air/heat adjustments.
The interior is highlighted – dominated? – by the test car’s selection of leather and bird’s-eye maple. This is classy wood, more like furniture than a sheet of veneer or plastic looks-like woodgrain. The wood on the doors, console and running up the center stack was stunning, with its many bird’s-eyes on the light maple background.
But the best part of sitting in those comfortably supportive bucket seats comes when you activate the revised mechanical stuff under the hood.
Back about a decade, Mercedes decided to revise its engines and build them with three valves atop each cylinder – two intake and one exhaust. That allowed for cutting corners on cost, because one overhead camshaft could make the whole bank of valves function. Now, however, Mercedes has decided to reach back for extra power, and it’s back to dual-overhead cams and four valves per cylinder.
The ML350 has a 3.5-liter V6 engine that produces 268 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs, and 258 foot-pounds of torque that are electronically maintained at a peak from 2,400-5,000 RPMs.
While some larger competitors are still trying to figure out how to go beyond four-speed transmissions, Mercedes has put the first U.S. application of a seven-speed automatic transmission in the ML350 – not just an ordinary seven-speed, either. This transmission came out for 2005 on the S430 and 500, E500, SL 500, and the CL500 coupe. For 2006, its use spreads to the ML.
The shift lever is on the column, not the console, and gives you three options. The lever in the middle is at “N,†from where it may be pushed up to engage reverse, in, toward the steering column, for park, or down into “D†for drive. Once you’re in drive, you simply drive, if that’s all you want to do. The transmission shifts smoothly and without any jerking, probably because with seven ratios you can pretty well be sure you’re in an appropriate range for whatever speed you’re going.
If you want more fun, and more control, there are little rectangular pads on the backside of the steering wheel, one for each hand, where reaching with your finger you can push on the outer side for the transmission to upshift, while if you push the inner side, it downshifts. Many people ignore these devices, but this one can be both useful and enjoyable.
You can start up in first, and upshift at the touch of your finger at however many revs you select. Naturally, you can run the revs up toward 6,000 before shifting if youÂ’re in a hurry, and you want to zip ahead with stronger acceleration. Coming off a freeway, you can downshift to fourth, or even third, so that the transmission doesnÂ’t have to hunt for a gear for city or residential streets.
The ML350 should be driven by anyone in the market for a $40,000 compact SUV, because thatÂ’s what the base price is — $40,525. It is easy, naturally, to load on the options from a vast array of goodies Mercedes provides. But it comes well equipped at that base price, and during my weeklong test, I got 19.5 miles per gallon in combined city/freeway driving, while I achieved 22.7 miles per gallon on a highway and freeway trip with the cruise hovering between 60-77 miles per hour.
Setting the cruise, incidentally, is my biggest complaint about the ML350. The cruise has been on a stalk jutting out of the left side of the steering column on Mercedes vehicles for so long, that the German company is not likely to yield in its stubborn determination to keep it there. Sure, it gets in the way of the turn signal, so the turn signal is rotated downward, as if coming out at 8 oÂ’clock, while the smaller cruise stalk is at about 9:30. The turn stalk is positioned perfectly to be obscured by the steering wheel column itself, while the cruise stalk remains in clear view. So, of course, the driver tends to hit the cruise switch about 70 percent of the time when he or she wants to signal a turn.
Beyond that, the four-sided cruise stalk has clearly spelled-out places on which way to push it for activating it, deactivating it, accelerating, decelerating, or perhaps how to slice bread. It has everything you could want – except for a readily identifiable direction to set the speed. Which is its fundamental purpose. Every time I tried to set the speed, I would pull, push, raise and lower the stalk, until it finally would catch at some speed with 10-15 mph of where I wanted it, then I would accelerate or decelerate to get to my desired speed. This was all just a petty nuisance, until, on a lightly traveled two-lane highway, I tried three times to set the cruise by hitting “accel,†and the highway patrolman coming toward me wasn’t what you’d call sympathetic to my experimental clicking to accelerate for scientific/mechanical purposes.
Fortunately, I was driving the ML350, and not the ML500, which costs about $10,000 more, with a 5.0-liter V8 and 302 horsepower with 339 foot-pounds of torque. I suppose if you have to tow a heavy trailer, or you can’t resist the temptatation to stay active in the who’s-got-the-baddest-SUV-on-the-block competition, you might spend the extra dough on the V8. Personally, I can’t imagine needing more power than the ML350, and the price makes it a bargain.
(John Gilbert writes weekly reviews, and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Reincarnated GTO adds some spice to muscle image
There are not a lot of technical breakthroughs on the Pontiac GTO. It’s basically a Monaro two-door coupe, with a Corvette engine and transmission, built by General Motors’ Holden affiliate in Australia, and presented as the reincarnation of the car made famous by the Pontiac GTOs of the 1960s.
Performance makes the GTO’s world turn, but there aren’t many places this side of a race track to stretch such a performance car to its proper limits. Trying it on the highway means you probably will – and should – end up attracting an escort with flashing lights on the roof.
By luck, during my week-long test drive of a bright red GTO, I got invited to attend a session of the nationwide Bridgestone emergency handling and wet-traction comparison tests, conducted for Bridgestone dealers at the National Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Blaine. That facility is normally overrun by soccer or hockey players of all sizes, ages and nationalities, but we convened separately, in the parking lot.
The circuitous route my test GTO took to get to Blaine is nothing compared to the revival of the GTO itself. Around the rest of the world, the term “GTO” means “gran turismo omolagato” – or, grand touring, homologated.It means the car was designed as a grand-touring sporty car, with enough of them built to rise above concept or prototype status to be homologated as a production car.
But in the U.S. of A., the term GTO is savored by performance-car fanciers for the mid-1960s high-performance car. Pontiac took a two-door version of its Tempest intermediate back then, stripped it of the usual costly creature comforts, then stuffed a big 389 V8 under the hood, beefed up the suspension, wheels and tires, and sent them out the door at a bargain price. Young people didn’t have a lot of disposable income in those days – in fact, nobody ever uttered the term “disposable income” because none of it was disposable. But everybody wanted hot cars, at bargain prices.
The whole genre took off and became the core of the late 1960s muscle-car era that overlapped into the 1970s, lasting until the first power-choking emission-control laws ruined the drivability of U.S. cars, dropping them a decade behind the more sophisticated imports. Some still haven’t completely recovered from the technological deficit.
If timing is everything, the powerful new GTO probably is ill-timed for the sudden rise in gasoline prices, and emphasis on fuel-efficiency. But auto builders work three or four years into the future, and when GM vice president Bob Lutz came on board, he knew that the corporation needed the infusion of new and youthful products. Holden, owned by GM, was making a midsize two-door in Australia and stuffing Corvette motors inside. So Lutz brought that car in a year ago, renaming it the GTO.
The first one met with something resembling indifference. Being fast and powerful didn’t mean it could get away with being boring in design. The look resembled a late entry in a kid’s soap-carving class, where the least amount of sculpting could make the project deadline. It was smooth and sleek, which was not all that different from the first GTOs, if a complete departure from more recent Firebirds, Bonnevilles and Grand Prix models that had been criticized for too many add-on scoops, flares and vents.
But taking all of the contours away might have been too much fixing for a questionable problem. So for 2005, the GTO hood adds twin air scoops. The scoops are functional, we’re informed, and if you open the hood, sure enough, you will see the openings from the vents, although it isn’t so much channeled into any elaborate ram-air intake system as it is a supply of cool air to wash over the completely shrouded engine. Also, a lower slab on the rear now houses dual exhausts, which also join with the flared lower side sills to give the car a dose of aggressiveness.
My test car – like all GTOs – came at a base price of $32,295, with an as-tested sticker, including destination, of $33,690. There aren’t a lot of options, but a lot is standard, including the 6.0-liter, LS2 Corvette engine, a giant V8 with 400 horsepower that will whisk the 3,790-pound car from 0-60 in 5.0 seconds, and will run the quarter mile in 13.5 seconds, at 107.1 miles per hour. Top speed is reported at 159 mph, electronically restricted.
Handling is pretty good, although perhaps not the car’s strong suit, because of its weight. It is plenty agile, for a reborn muscle car, but it might not want to challenge a Mustang GT around tight road-race turns.
Enter the Bridgestone/Firestone comparison test, which is concluding a 28-stop tour of North American cities, letting the sales force experience the handling of the new tires, while sponsoring and accompanying the fantastic, and free, teenage driving lessons from the nonprofit Driver’s Edge campaign. I drove the bright red GTO test car out to Blaine, and parked it behind the tent used to background about 50 salespeople from tire dealers that sell Bridgestone tires, among others.
Bridgestone has made a new Turanza EL400 tire, which we drove on the cone-lined, watered-down, autocross course in identical Chevrolet Impalas, half of which were equipped with Michelin Harmony tires. The Turanza has an inner core of even stickier tread, which provides good traction when the tire gets worn to that point. We also drove Toyota 4Runners, with Bridgestone’s latest Dueler H/L Alenza SUV tires, while half of them had Michelin’s Cross-Terrain tires.
The group of tire dealers voted that the vehicles with the Bridgestones handled better around the tight, twisting turns of the flooded autocross course. The Turanza Impala got a 5.5 grade compared to the Impala Harmony’s 3.5, and the Dueler-equipped 4Runner got a 5.4 to the Michelin 4Runner’s 3.3 grade. However, I must say that the Michelins were quite good, breaking away a bit quicker, but in a very predictable manner. Still, there was no question the new Bridgestone technology works for a better road-sticking concept in the wet.
Once that was completed, the final event was a team relay, with seven drivers on each of seven teams. We each would drive one hot lap, starting and stopping at a specified spot, and with each group’s instructor driving the final turn. Each driver had to make a complete stops, unbuckle the seat belt, jump out, run across a line, and tag the next driver.
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Rolled out for the test was, if you can believe it, a bright red Pontiac GTO. At first, I thought it was my test car, but it had a Firestone logo on it, and a four-speed automatic, instead of my car’s six-speed stick. Firestone is now owned by Bridgestone, and the GTO comes equipped with Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval tires – another name out of the ’60s. These are impressive, water-channeling, low-profile radials, so we set off to competitively test their wet-track traction.
Amazingly, nobody knocked over any cones. Everybody drove quickly and quite well, and the competition was close. Autocrosses are always major fun, as well as educational about the car, the tires and your driving skill, all at once. I also noted that with the traction-control switched off, the car probably would have gone broadsliding through the cones; but with the traction-control on, it stayed in place.However, if you waited until the apex of the turn to hit the gas, then hit it hard, the traction device would refuse to supply all the power and bog the car for a second or two. So I did my braking early, started accelerating just before the apex, then hit it less abruptly, and the power came on as summoned.
Our team didn’t win, and didn’t finish second. One hotshot on the winning team recorded a 32.61-second lap, best of the whole group. I got a chance to see the overall scores later, and was pleased to note that my time, 32.71 seconds, was second overall, ahead of the third-place 32.86.
Those other folks could return to their dealerships to provide first-hand information about how the Bridgestones and Firestones handled the wet autocross course. I came away impressed with the tires, but also with an extra appreciation for the GTO. It is not just an overpowered coupe, but a proper muscle car for the road, and it can handle itself very well in tight, twisty maneuvers, even on wet pavement.
(John Gilbert writes weekly new car reviews and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Honda’s S2000 stays ahead of sports car mainstream
A good friend of mine spent a lot of years and one long-since-passed marriage buying generically practical cars that were dull and uninteresting. Then he discovered two-seaters, and heÂ’s driven small roadsters for well over a decade now. His budgetary priorities dictate the cars must be used, rather than new, but he was due again, he told me a couple months ago, and he wondered what I might recommend.
I told him I had several in mind, but before he made any decision, I had just spotted a four-year-old Honda S2000 in a newspaper want ad, and that he owed it to himself to find one and take it for a test drive. He protested that I was probably trying to get him into some exotic, 200-mile-per-hour burner, and he just wanted something that would handle well and provide that wind-in-your-hair freedom. It didnÂ’t matter if it was a racy car, but I knew that, because his two-seaters have included a Pontiac Fiero and a Honda del Sol.
I repeated that it was true that the Honda S2000 would run away and hide from many sports cars, but it wasn’t required, in order to provide pleasure. Yes, it has an exceptional engine, and yes, it has a six-speed stick shift, but it truly is a car he could drive for10 years and find levels of sports-car enjoyment that he – and most car owners – don’t know exist, without ever breaking the speed limit. Just find one and drive it, I told him, then go off and buy whatever you want, knowing that you have experienced a benchmark for comparison as the ultimate handling car.
My friend moved across town shortly after that conversation, and I misplaced the scrap of paper, on which I had written his new unlisted number. So I was unable to find him a couple weeks ago when I got my test-driving paws on a new 2005 Honda S2000 for a week. Too bad, because I really wanted to show it to him before he made a decision.
The test car was “Rio Yellow Pearl†– an almost iridescent yellow with lots of metallic highlights glistening through. Like finding another old friend, the new S2000 proved it might still be the best-handling car I’ve ever driven, even though the new S2000 is a bit different from the original I drove five years ago. That one was pretty edgy, with a 2-liter 4-cylinder tweaked to turn out 240 horsepower, and a stock redline of 9,000 RPMs. At the time, I wrote that “maybe only dogs can hear 9,000 RPMs†because of the shrillness as the little engine gleefully went from alto to soprano. That was one of its unmatched features, like having your own Formula 1 race car to drive on the street. It also handled with astounding flatness and precision, and its quick-reacting steering was riveted in my memory.
A year or so ago, Honda decided the S2000 should be backed off just a bit. The 2.2-liter 4-cylinder engine was reduced from 9,000 to an 8,000-RPM redline, while horsepower remained at 240, while the torque was raised just a bit. HondaÂ’s reasoning was that more torque and fewer revs might lure more mainstream buyers to the S2000, if they didnÂ’t have to run the revs up so high. I disagreed, but Honda didnÂ’t ask me. My feeling was that 9,000 revs was a unique and uncompromising feature, so why compromise?
At $33,000, the new S2000 costs a bit more than a Mazda Miata, which bristles with low-to-mid-$20,000 fun, but it canÂ’t hope to run with the higher-strung S2000. On the other hand, a Porsche Boxster, BMW Z4, or Corvette have considerably more power, and about the same performance, but youÂ’d have to pay $50,000 for a Boxster, Z4, or Corvette. A Corvette has twice as much power, but its engine is almost three times larger than the S2000; a Boxster S has a few more horses, but a full liter more displacement; and a Z4 has less power despite almost a full liter more displacement. Motor TrendÂ’s published statistics show acceleration, handling stability and slalom speeds are nearly identical for the S2000, Z4 and Boxster S.
The all-aluminum, shark-nosed S2000 is light and lean, and with Formula 1-type double wishbone suspension on all four corners, augmented with stabilizer bars at both front and rear, its handling is so good that it turns on the proverbial dime. One time, driving at 30 on a deserted street, my passenger said, “Oh, you should have turned there.†I turned, instantly and without touching the brake, and we made the turn, flat and perfectly stable. After that, I found pleasure driving up to unpopulated 90-degree corners and simply making the turn while accelerating from 30 to 40, instead of touching the brakes.
Much of the time I had with the S2000 was spent setting a personal record for the number of rides I gave to friends, neighbors, and friends of theirs I didnÂ’t even know. True, I would run through the close-ratio gears, taking off quickly in first, running it up to the 8,000 redline in second perhaps, then coasting a bit. It dashes forward with great suddenness, but still, the most impressive demonstration was to show how flat and stable the car stayed while making practiced but abrupt 90-degree turns.
Some of my criticisms about the car proved unfounded. For instance, I was disappointed the S2000 didn’t have foglights – right up until the first night, when I flipped on the Xenon gas-discharge headlights, which lit up the night, with a stark cutoff that was like a line between total darkness and brilliant light. Never mind the lack of foglights.
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As a two-seater, there is no rear seat. There also is precious little trunkspace – enough for a weekend trip, but if you bring luggage you might want to leave the golf bags at home. There aren’t a lot of little storage bins for the two occupants, either. But the ergonomics work, with neat little flippers protruding from the dash for no-look increases or decreases to radio volume and air-conditioning/heat fan.
My biggest remaining criticism is the gearbox. The action of flinging the short-throw, perfectly balanced shifter through its six gears is scintillating, no quarrel there. But the close-ratio arrangement of the gears means you must shift as soon as youÂ’ve shifted, without any gap to enjoy letting the revs build a bit. At 70-mph or so cruising speed on a freeway, you are turning about 3,500 revs. That is no strain for an engine that will go to 8,000, but wider-ratio gears would let you spend a few moments longer in each gear, and if you could cruise at 2,000 RPMs at 70, youÂ’d probably get 30miles per gallon instead of 25.
Of course, HondaÂ’s Formula 1 and Indy car technology were originally inserted into the S2000Â’s 16-valve, dual-overhead-camshaft engine, most notable the VTEC variable valve timing. The clean-burning engine meets EPA Tier-2, Bin-9 emission standards, with 105,000 miles suggested between tune-ups. The roof fits snugly, and goes up and down at the touch of a button. You unlatch it, hit the button, and it engulfs its all-glass rear window and folds itself down behind the seats in a flash. Large disc brakes and surrounding airbags join the rigid construction to provide maximum safety, although the carÂ’s superb handling is probably its best safety feature.
The test car listed at $33,665, including $515 for shipping, and no charge for a full tank of gas – the only thing not standard on the sticker sheet.
I put the top down every time I drove, and I cheated by turning on the air-conditioning at foot-level when I was in thick traffic and it was 90-something outside. The hot, fun-filled week passed too swiftly, and I realized how much I had enjoyed the car when, a week later, I was driving down Hwy. 280, the Minnesota highway that separates Minneapolis from St. Paul, and I spotted a silver S2000 up ahead, cruising in its top-down splendor.
It was one of the older S2000s, the edgier ones, with the 9,000-RPM redline. I maneuvered up through congested traffic to get alongside, and to my surprise, the driver was my friend – the sports-car nut who had been reluctant to even think about the S2000. I hollered to him, and he glanced over, smiled broadly, and yelled two sentences. First, he said, “This is the greatest car I’ve ever driven,†and second, he asked: “Can I cut in front of you for the next exit?†I said sure. He swerved neatly in front of me, and he was gone.
I really like that car.
Lexus adds sportiness with new 2006 GS300, GS430
The folks at Lexus, who have been raised from Toyota – with “raised†the operative word here, as the company’s upscale brand – have always produced sound, substantial vehicles, comfortably secure and dependable, and quiet as vaults. The new GS midrange models represent something of an expansion.
Both the GS300 and the GS430 should enhance the Lexus reputation, but both are aiming at different segments in the marketplace, and have distinctly different personalities. They share the same new and longer platform and the same style, which is a sleek, sweeping silhouette that looks much sportier than what we have come to expect from Lexus.
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The cars fit into the Lexus scheme above the very good ES sedan level and the super-luxury LS level, not as sporty as the blunt and racy IS sedans, but definitely taking a swipe outside the upscale luxury category and more at the sport-luxury segment. The biggest difference between the GS 300 and 430 is that the 300 has the 3.0-liter V6 with 245 horsepower, and the 430 has the 4.3-liter V8, with 300 horsepower.
From the start, when Honda spun off Acura, then Toyota begat Lexus and Nissan started Infiniti, my theory is that the Japanese companies had captivated the United States auto-buying world by offering something extra. Arguably, instead of trying to duplicate American cars for American buyers, they would try to emulate the best German cars and sell them for considerably less to a U.S. market that was craving higher-quality cars for reasonable prices.
If that theory holds true, then it appeared Lexus set its sights on Mercedes, while Infiniti seemed to go after BMW – the sportier of the two luxury-road-car German giants. If you extend it, then Audi and Acura might have a link as the more cost-efficient combination of sportiness, luxury, and technology.
As years passed, Lexus has done a good job of duplicating fine Mercedes road-car comfort, style, and performance, and, in fact, went beyond the Germans in the sound-deadening silence of their cars. All of a sudden, a year ago, Mercedes showed off a sweeping, coupe-shaped four-door S-Class sedan on the auto show circuit, and this year theyÂ’ve introduced that provocative shape on the new CRS.
Hot on the heels of that introduction, Lexus has brought out a pair of very coupe-shaped four-door sedans in the GS300 and GS430.
The new models come just as Toyota seems to be trying to adjust its image. At recent media introductions, ToyotaÂ’s trained speakers have issued numerous statements claiming that the new models will stress passion and emotional impact. There is no question that these cars fit the claim, but it is interesting to observe a company that has gone the luxury route realize that it may also want to branch into sports-luxury.
No one will question ToyotaÂ’s technology. By dabbling in Formula 1 and Indy Car racing in recent years, Toyota is following the high-tech lead that lifted Honda (and Acura) to exalted levels of performance technology. In the process, some very impressive work has been done in the engine compartment, and not just on the bigger powerplant. As is often the case, the smaller V6 has a lot to offer, and buyers shouldnÂ’t just flock in and ask for the V8 upgrade.
For one thing, both cars follow the current performance-car trend of having front engine with rear-wheel drive. That may confound some Minnesotans who would rather have front-wheel drive when they negotiate winter, but the GS300 that I test drove had the optional all-wheel drive, which is not available on the V8 model.
With 245 horsepower and 230 foot-pounds of torque, the GS300 is plenty quick from 0-60, with MotorTrend showing it at 7.2 seconds. ThatÂ’s not all-out sports-sedan quick, but it certainly feels swift enough when youÂ’re driving it. The GS300Â’s all-wheel drive system runs normally at 30 percent front/70 percent rear drive, with torque transferring to make it 50/50 whenever the system detects wheelspin.
The V6 has continuous variable valve-timing, and direct injection – something Audi has debuted on both its 3.2 V6 and 2.0 four-cylinder. The plan is to control and direct the air-fuel mixture directly into each combustion chamber, rather than into a runner that deposits equal doses to all cylinders. By injecting directly, the fuel can be more closely monitored for pressure and temperature, and engineers have been able to lift the compression ratio from 10.5-to-1, to 11.5-to-1, and still register an EPA highway fuel economy rating of 30.
At 245 horses, the new engine raises the ante from the 220 horsepower of the inline six in the 2005 GS300, while torque is up by 10 foot-pounds, to 230. Obviously, Lexus could have gone for more power in the GS, because it has the 3.3-liter V6 and a new 3.5-liter V6 in its expanding arsenal. But apparently Lexus wanted to leave room for the more powerful GS430, as well as the new, more powerful LS models coming.
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Real-world drivers, especially Lexus veterans, will find the V6 more than adequate. As far as interior amenities are concerned, both cars leave little to be desired in the creature-comfort category. Both blend upscale leather and rich wood, plus some metal accents. The darker wood, leather, and grainy dashboard covering added a classy touch, and you can choose light or dark motifs.
The navigation system is good, although not as impressive as some I’ve tested. Same with the Mark Levinson sound system – very good, and one of the best. One very impressive part of both cars is the tiny rear-view video lens affixed in the rear indentation for the license plate. Shift into reverse and the nav screen instantly switches to a wide-angle view of what is behind you. In glorious color.
The cars both have keyless entry, with the ability to walk up to the car and have it unlock itself because you have the key in your pocket or purse. Once inside, you also can start the vehicle by pushing a button – in other words, if you have the key, you needn’t use the key.
Both cars also run through the same smooth, six-speed automatic transmission. Drivers can shift for themselves, although itÂ’s not as likely as in some cars, because of the luxury feel of the car.
The GS430, with the LS430Â’s potent V8, has 300 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds of torque, and you can feel the heavier weight shift rearward when you stomp on the gas. It will run 0-60 in about 6-seconds flat, easily outsprinting the GS300. Like the V6, the V8 is a dual-overhead-camshaft, four-valve-per-cylinder unit with ToyotaÂ’s VVT-I, which means variable valve-timing with intelligence. It makes your engine computer-perfect in the duration of valve opening and closing for optimum response to whatever input your right foot implies.
The V8 model also has larger wheels, and more of a high-performance feel supplied by slightly stiffer suspension components. An extremely sophisticated electronic Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management — or VDIM, if you can stand one more catchy acronym — uses three sensors to read everything from acceleration, deceleration, brake force, and steering angle, and adjusts everything for you. One of the more impressive traits is that at slower speeds, it quickens the steering considerably, knocking off about a half-turn of steering-wheel required to turn on a tighter arc.
So the GS300 and the GS430 both are impressive, in different ways. The V8 will attract some who want more oomph, while the V6 will be plenty for normal drivers, and easily preferred by those who want the security of all-wheel drive.
The GS430 has a base sticker price of $51,125, but as-tested, the car I drove was $58,734. ThatÂ’s pretty stiff, although itÂ’s right there in the heart of Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5-Series territory. The GS300 has a more-reasonable base price of $45,500, but as-tested, with all-wheel drive, it was over $52,000.
The GS twins are worthy additions to the Lexus fleet, particularly in looks and interior features. The performance is certainly adequate, but there are more than just Mercedes and BMW out there, these days. There is the Audi A6, with either a strong V8 or V6, and there are the new Infiniti twins – the M35 and M45. They parallel the size and target market of the GS cars, but with significant power upgrades for both. And don’t overlook Acura, which has the very sporty TL sedan with a stick shift available, and the new RL with more power and all-wheel drive for about the same price as the GS300. And the Cadillac STS is also in the running, with its hot V8 and a very strong V6.
With so many strong and stylish candidates, the consumers win. A year ago, the buyer who wants a definite dose of sportiness with luxury might have looked only at those competitors, without considering a Lexus. For 2006, the GS300 and GS430 lift Lexus into that battleground, and consumers can decide how much sportiness they’d like in a comfortably secure Lexus.
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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