NHL’s new long-pass rule may help fans forget lockout
The National Hockey League not only returns to action this fall, but it could be the fastest, most wide-open NHL in the leagueÂ’s history. College hockey fans, a fervent cult unto themselves, already know what the NHL hasnÂ’t yet comprehended: Eliminating a little nuisance called the two-line pass will open the floodgates to let the best hockey players in the world fully explore their potential.
Pro hockey has used the center red line to determine how long a pass can be ever since World War II, while college hockey rules only use the center red line only for determining icing. When the NHL resumes play after taking last season off, it will do so with the college passing rule.
Traditionalists have long fought to keep the two-line passing rule, without ever knowing why, except that it was traditional. Tradition, by itself, is the worst justification for anything. But NHL old-timers have never known anything different. Whenever a team was in its own defensive zone, it could pass ahead to a teammate, but only across the nearest blue line; the pass had to be completed before that teammate reached the center red line, or else – whistle! – the dreaded two-line pass would be called to stop play for a faceoff.
In college hockey, a player pinned up against his own end boards, could fire a pass all the way to the far blue line, hitting a streaking winger with a 120-foot missile. Still, you can’t try to clear the puck from your side of the red line to the far end without it still being called icing and brought back to your end for a faceoff.
If pro hockey stalwarts have never watched a college game, they have no idea how exciting it is to see such wide-open scoring chances. Defensive zealots, and a few goaltenders, who prefer trapping defenses to forechecking and breakaways, may wake up in a cold sweat at the very thought of finding defensive players who can skate with those fast-breaking wingers, rather than merely waiting until the attackers had to slow down at the red line.
Another asset to the long-passing rule is that, even though traditionalists argue that the rule could ruin defensive concepts of the game, instead there will be some spectacular defensive plays. But the defenders will have to be extremely alert, ready to turn and go at high speed, rather than trust their usual assets – clutching, grabbing and hooking.
Nobody can calculate how many spectacular scoring chances and how many more high-speed breakaways and 2-on-1s have been forfeited by the stifling and archaic NHL rules.
The only previous chance the NHL had to adopt the non-redline rule was at the 2002 Winter Olympics. Recall that Sweden, playing a long-passing, wide-open style, would send one or even two forwards streaking up the rink, all the way across the far blue line. NHL-trained defensemen dropped back but relaxed at their own blue line, because any pass across that line would, of course, be offside. But the Swedes would then circle back to catch those 100-foot passes and finish their high-speed circles to sprint in at the unprotected goaltender.
The style confounded NHL purists. Heck, it confounded NHL players. Remember that Sweden humiliated what had been called the strongest Team Canada ever assembled with a 6-2 blowout in a preliminary round game. Canada went on to win the gold medal, but the biggest gasp of relief came when Sweden was upset by Belarus in a quarterfinal game. Otherwise, Canada would have had to beat Sweden in the semifinals, instead of the drained and satisfied Belarus, before getting past the U.S. in the final.
The point was, throughout the Olympics, the action was fast and furious – and eye-catching with its excitement. The International rules, like college, allow the long passes. All along, top NHL executives grudgingly acknowledged that the games were faster and more exciting in that wide-open style, and hints were everywhere that the NHL would reexamine its rules.
Then Canada won the gold medal, and the same NHL executives and management types puffed out their chests and said, “Well, I guess our style of play is OK after all.Ââ€
All that work, all the effort Herb Brooks had put in to distill the top U.S. National Hockey Leaguers to adapt to his hybrid, fast-breaking, puck-controlling style, were swept away. Canada rules, helped by an NHL officiating staff that called the final like a typical, clutch-and-grab NHL game, forgetting entirely about International rules. Ask Mike Modano, or Jeremy Roenick, or Brett Hull, which style they’d prefer to play – Herbie’s style, or the NHL style of the past 50 years.
Stubbornness has long been the biggest liability the NHL has had in preventing itself from achieving its own potential. For example, few observers who praise the two-line pass presence of the center red line seem to be unaware of the wonderful story about how it was put in place to begin with. During World War II, so many of the young men from Canada and the U.S. went off to war that the NHL faced a shortage of players. So it was decided to put in a red line across the middle of the rink, and declare that nobody could pass across it until they had the puck across their own blue line. That would allow some of the old and aging defensemen, who were too old to go to war, to keep playing, so that the league could keep functioning through the war years.
As a cynic who always has preferred the college game, I once wrote that the pro hockeyÂ’s biggest problem is that nobody has told the NHL that World War II ended.
If stubbornness prevailed, in the name of tradition, it took more stubbornness on both sides to cost the National Hockey League a full season of play, and also established pro hockey as an easy target for columnists throughout the United States who needed somewhere to vent any accumulated venom. Those columnists, particularly those who rarely attend hockey games anyhow, took great glee in ridiculing the NHL by calling both sides stupid, suggesting the lockout could be suicidal to the leagueÂ’s future, or, worse, saying that nobody cares anyway.
Critics have a point. Hockey, many agree, is followed by the most intense body of fans on the planet, but the sport is nowhere near as universally popular as baseball, football or basketball. As Bill Clinton might say, however, “It depends on your definition of universal.Ââ€
Baseball is big in the U.S., big in Central America, and big in Japan – and that’s it. In case you forget, the International Olympic Committee just dropped baseball from being an Olympic sport because of scant participation around the world. Football? The NHL tries to force it into England and Europe, but everywhere outside of the U.S., soccer is what they mean when they say football. Basketball is played some in countries that can grow 7-footers, such as Russia, or Italy, with a flurry in China, and Yugoslavia, but not much, considering it only takes five players to create a winning team.
Hockey, meanwhile, is played and played well in Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, and on a lesser scale in the Far East, and even in Great Britain and Australia. It took far less to create the gold medal upset when the old USSR beat the U.S. in Olympic basketball than it did for the U.S. collegians to conquer the USSR, Sweden, Finland, Canada and the Czechs in 1980Â’s hockey tournament.
Still, hockey is not major in many parts of the U.S., and the lack of a strong national television contract is evidence. ThatÂ’s what led to the nobody-wins lockout situation, where both sides were at fault, or neither side was at fault, depending upon your perspective.
Hockey needed to make itself more wide-open, to let the skaters and playmakers have enough room to skate, make plays, and score more goals. But the sport seemed helpless to help itself. Television revenue is what makes football successful at those colleges where it is a success. Removing television revenue, shared among conferences, reduces the number of college football programs that actually make a profit to a half dozen or so, according to nationally circulated statistics a few years ago.
No question, pro baseball, football and basketball have lucrative network contracts, and thus make more money, and can better afford the outrageous salaries players command. Hockey could never afford such salaries, but, driven by the demands of agents, some of whom also represent players in the other pro sports, caused the NHL teams to pay and pay until even the highest ticket prices couldnÂ’t assure financial stability.
Something had to be done. The owners needed a salary cap, and the players, deep down, knew it. But the players association went into negotiations saying they’d do anything – “except a salary cap.†Since a salary cap was the most pressing need, there were no serious negotiations. The lockout kept the players – and fans – out of the arenas, and things got particularly tough when, at midseason, a couple of owners whispered that they were losing less money by not playing than they’d be losing by playing the way things were.
Finally, faced with what might have been the complete eradication of pro hockey as we know it, the players association gave in. Giving back 24 percent of their salaries, and seriously limiting team and individual player salaries will make for a far more even playing surface. And there is a chance for profitability.
In the big picture, however, the best chance for a more exciting game — and the possible TV contract that could follow – is in place because of a couple of rule changes. There had been talk of not letting the goalies handle the puck(!), and of making the goals larger, like soccer goals, to allow more goals – forget about having to throw out all the old scoring records. Widening the blue lines to make the offensive zones larger is questionable, and not really necessary. Making the goaltendersÂ’ pads closer to the size configuration that the rules call for, will help to give shooters some openings, and perhaps officials will have to measure goalie pads the way they measure sticks for illegal curves.
But without question, the elimination of the two-line passing rule is the biggest attribute that NHL players and fans can look forward to. After everyone gets used to the new, high-speed game, and teams start acquiring players who can skate and pass rather than those who can lift heavy things and clutch and grab, they will look back someday and think about how archaic the old rules were. Remember hearing about the way girls basketball rules used to be in some places, where a player could only dribble two bounces, then had to pass, and a player on the defensive side of the court couldnÂ’t advance across to the offensive side? ThatÂ’s the way the old NHL rules will someday be recalled.
When you get a chance to catch the “new†NHL, on television or in person, check it out. The only remaining cynics – aside from those who donÂ’t yet realize World War II is over — are those who donÂ’t want to see guys named Modano, Naslund, Forsberg, Datsyuk, and Kariya skating at full speed to catch a 120-foot breakaway pass. Can you say: “breathtaking?†Can you say: “Where can I buy a ticket?†Can you say: “What lockout?Ââ€
Mazda5 stretches popular Mazda3 into new segment
HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA. — The strangest thing happened before the Mazda5 was officially introduced to the North American media, right adjacent to the Southern California surf. For about a month before the introduction, the cars started appearing in West Coast Mazda dealerships. More than just appearing, they started selling.
The Mazda5 will be something truly new and different in the U.S. auto market, and Mazda executives are smiling but keeping their fingers crossed at its early success. The smile is because over 700 Mazda5s were sold at the few dealers that got some in the past month without a word of advertising or promotion. The crossed fingers are because the compact Mazda3 sales have exceeded supply, and, with the Mazda5 based on a stretched Mazda3 platform, that could be a further problem.
“The worldwide demand (for the Mazda3) has been 40 percent greater than what we anticipated,†said Jay Amestoy, MazdaÂ’s vice president of public affairs. “The biggest issue we have is supply. We canÂ’t get enough Mazda3s. The Mazda5 is already at West Coast dealerships, and migrating east, and weÂ’re anticipating building 10,000-15,000 for the first partial year, depending on demand.Ââ€
I must admit, after looking forward to the third generation Miata, and being impressed with the Mazda6 and Mazda3, the Mazda5 snuck up on me. It is a rare vehicle that is easier to describe with words than with photos – a reversal that claims “a sentence is worth a thousand pictures.Ââ€
In photos, the Mazda5 looks sleek and well-contoured, but some might mistake it for a minivan. It is decidedly NOT a minivan. Mazda has the MPV, which is a very good minivan, and the Mazda5 is significantly smaller and more compact, resembling the whole segment of active-people-movers so popular in Europe and Japan. Such a segment hasnÂ’t hit the U.S. yet, but the Mazda5 could change that.
A Sport model starts at $17,995, with the Touring model starting at $19,500, with trim upgrades. Loading it up with virtually everything from the option bin would still leave you on the near side of $23,000.
Both the Sport and Touring models come with the Mazda3Â’s superb 2.3-liter 4-cylinder engine, with variable valve-timing extracting 157 horsepower at 6,500 RPMs, and 148 foot-pounds of torque at 3,500. Quick, responsive steering, large disc brakes (11.8-inches front, 11.9 rear), strut and multilink suspension, front and rear, respectively, and 142 cubic feet of interior space with all the seats folded down, on a platform stretched 5.5 inches longer than the Mazda3 makes the Mazda5 more of a modular people-mover than a minivan or station wagon.
We hurled a Mazda5 with a 5-speed stick shift around some twisty turns in the hills above Huntington Beach, and the vehicle is both quick and agile. It feels strong in acceleration, easy to steer and turn in traffic, and EPA estimates of 27 miles per gallon highway and 22 city should be easily attainable with the 2.3. The 4-speed automatic has a manual shift gate.
Perhaps the most unconventional thing about the Mazda5 is a new marketing plan. Aiming at youthful, active vehicle buyers, there will be no television advertising, no conventional splashy print displays that catch the attention of the usual consumer. Instead, Mazda has worked out some deals for product placement, where the stars of some new fall NBC television show might drive up in a promotion bit driving a Mazda5.
Appropriately, MazdaÂ’s introduction for the car was at the U.S. base facility for Quiksilver, a modern company that specializes in making equipment, clothing and accessories for surfers, skate-boarders and snow-boarders. Quiksilver originated in Australia, where a couple of surfers had the idea to outfit fellow-surfers with the casual stuff they prefer. It has grown into a $2-million global conglomerate.
Officials at Quiksilver agreed fully with MazdaÂ’s executives that the Mazda5 and the surfer/boarder lifestyle were a good match. Quiksilver, based in Huntington Beach, uses such mottos as “Youth is a state of mind;†or “Live the life, embrace the vibe;†or “Inspiration comes from within.Ââ€
The mindset, Mazda officials say, is similar to MazdaÂ’s own “zoom-zoom†campaign, which might show a baby playing with a tiny car as soon as he can say “zoom-zoom,†followed by a mellow voice saying: “One day theyÂ’re born, then they want to go ‘zoom-zoom.Â’Â… Luckily, some never lose that spark.Ââ€
Mazda connected with buyers of all ages – including younger, active types – with the Mazda3, which is built on the extremely strong Volvo S40 platform, thanks to both companiesÂ’ affiliation with Ford. The Mazda3 comes in either a neat 4-door sedan or a 5-door hatchback, both with seating for four – or five in a pinch – and a bit of cargo space as well. Above all, it has Mazda’s strong 2.3-liter 4-cylinder engine, which makes it sporty and fun to drive, even while fulfilling all sorts of utilitarian functions.
For those who need a little more room than the Mazda3 offers, it made perfect sense to stretch the Mazda3 platform by 5.5 inches, maintain all the safety characteristics, use the same engine and drivetrain, and adhere strictly to Mazda’s “zoom-zoom†philosophy of being fun to drive. Just like that, the Mazda5 was created as a new, different, and potential worldwide winner.
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The third row of seating means the Mazda5 will seat six, two each in first and second row bucket seats, and two more on a bench in the rear. Even those over 6-feet tall can get back there and fit. Mazda made it happen with a stepped floor, which has a 2-inch rise from the first to second, and another 2-inch rise from second to third. The seated hip points also rise in 2-inch increments. So people in the back can see over those in front of them from the tiered seats.
Sliding side doors take care of getting in and out of both the second and third rows. Some might think sliding side doors make the Mazda5 too minivan-like, but extra-wise rear doors were mandatory for third-row seat access, and conventional doors that big would mean instant crunches in parking lots. So arguably the easiest sliding doors in the industry make good sense.
Both the second and third rows fold down flat, leaving a 5-foot-3 cargo length behind the front buckets. Enough for the kid to take a nap, if not an adult. But perfect for a surfboard or skateboard equipment.
A couple with two youngsters could fold down the right-side seats in the second and third rows, load up the surfboards or snowboards or skateboards, and take off for a contemporary family weekend, all fitting comfortably in a vehicle that also will make a great commuter.
Mitsubishi adds Raider, enchants with Evolution IX
PORTLAND, OR. — The scenery along the Columbia River was spectacular from the Mitsubishi Raider pickup trucks we were driving during the mid-August North American media introduction of the 2006 Mitsubishi fleet, but the best was yet to come. The scenery at Portland International Raceway wasnÂ’t as spectacular, but driving the new Lancer Evolution IX at the track was mind-blowing.
Mitsubishi officials gushed with enthusiasm about their new products, particularly because the companyÂ’s financial scare of a year ago made an abrupt upturn with the early introduction of the new Eclipse, a stylishly bulgy sports coupe. “We seem to have turned a corner, thanks to the success of the Eclipse,†said Dave Schembri, executive vice president of Mitsubishi Motors North America. “Eclipse sales have nearly doubled what we had expected, and l;uckily our Normal, Ill., plant is flexible enough that we can increase production.Ââ€
A lot of hyperbole followed, including the boast that Mitsubishi ranked No. 1 in a market research study of which Japanese company was most-recognized. Mitsubishi officials claim thatÂ’s because other companies are disguising their Japanese heritage at a time when people perceive Japanese products as high-tech and well-made. Frankly, I donÂ’t think companies such as Mazda and Honda are hiding their heritage, itÂ’s just that millions of Americans might recognize MitsubishiÂ’s name from its exceptional lines of television and electronics, which other Japanese car companies donÂ’t produce.
Regardless, Mitsubishi may have lost out on some financing from DaimlerChrysler in the past year, but their connection with Chrysler continues to flourish – obviously. Mitsubishi has a long history of producing cars such as the Colt, Stealth, Champ, Conquest, Expo, Talon and Laser, and it produced a couple of decades of outstanding 3.0-liter V6 engines to bolster the runaway success of Chrysler Corporation’s minivans. And DaimlerChrysler is currently negotiating to buy more Mitsubishi engines.
But here’s a twist. One of the vehicles Mitsubishi made for Chrysler was the Montero, which was rebadged as the Dodge Raider SUV. It’s been a while since that was built, so now Dodge is producing its hot new Dakota pickup for Mitsubishi – as the Raider. It is Mitsubishi’s return to the pickup game for the first time since the old Mighty Max.
After a lengthy description of the Raider’s assets, I innocently asked whether, aside from the exterior and interior, there were any engine, drivetrain or suspension alterations from the Dakota, and Mike Evanoff, manager of product strategy, said, “No.†He later added that Mitsubishi was comfortable that the styling of the Raider, done in the Cypress studios in California, was sufficient to differentiate it from the Dakota, even while it is built alongside the Dakota in the Warren, Mich., plant.
“The Dakota is more of a working truck, while the Raider is aimed at being more of a sporty truck,†he said. And the dramatic, clearly Mitsubishi sweep of the front end of the truck will be its clear attraction. Chrysler, naturally, also supplies the two engines, a 3.7-liter V6 with 210 horsepower and 235 foot-pounds of torque, and either a 6-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, and a 4.7-liter V8 with 230 horses and 290 foot-pounds of torque, peaking at only 3,600 RPMs, through a 5-speed automatic, and with a 6,500-pound tow capacity. Either an extended cab or full 4-door double-cab style, in LS, DuroCross, or XLS trim levels, and in either 2-wheel or 4-wheel drive, the Raider can be had with either a 6.4-foot bed, or a 5.3-foot bed with the double cab.
The Raider – available in late September starting below $20,000 for base models — follows the Eclipse as the second of six corporate makeover vehicles in a two-year stretch. The Eclipse Spyder (convertible) will be next, then the Outlander SUV, then the compact Lancer sedan, and finally the Evolution X will follow. So many companies are using alph-numeric designations these days, and most of them use “X†in some fashion, but in the case of the Evolution, the “X†is strictly a Roman numeral.
And, indeed, “X†marks the spot for the Lancer Evolution. Always a tidy and efficient compact, the Lancer took a stride toward performance fun with the Evolution back in 2003, while also making a bold stride in professional rally racing with a high-performance specialty version using all-wheel-drive, turbocharged power. As those models evolved, they became more powerful and also more user-friendly.
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The Evo VIII last year boasted 276 horsepower and 0-60 times of 4.6 seconds in Road & Track magazineÂ’s tests, with an electronically limited top speed of 155 miles per hour. For the Evo IX in 2006, Mitsubishi completely reworked the engine, strengthening the block and components, and put its MIVEC variable valve-timing scheme to work, and the superb little 2.0-liter 4-cylinder, with its dual overhead camshafts and 4-valve-per-cylinder heads was hiked to 286 horsepower at 6,500 RPMs, with torque increased to 289 foot-pounds at 3,500 RPMs.
We can only imagine what the Evolution X will be like two years from now in its all-new, 10th iteration, but for 2006, the ninth version – the Evolution IX – will more than suffice. The RS and IX models share the body-lightening tricks, such as an aluminum roof and a hollow rear spoiler, with the top-of-the-line MR (Mitsubishi Racing) model. The RS and IX come with a 5-speed stick shift, while the MR has a 6-speed.
Obviously, the car has improved quickness, and while we donÂ’t have an actual number yet, putting the Evo IX through its paces on both a tightly coned autocross course, and around the Portland International road-racing course, proved the carÂ’s fantastic stability, suspension, and steering control, all of which complement the tremendous power and the all-wheel drive system, which has an active center differential to distribute torque, and a front limited-slip differential to further regulate the power split.
All the assembled journalists got two turns at the autocross. I enjoy those, and usually do pretty well in them, and I thought I had accomplished pretty near the Evo IXÂ’s maximum, with a 48-second run on my tire-screeching second try around the circuit. Anything more, I thought, might be considered abuse. Later, we learned that a couple of journalists who race regularly stayed on the course for 20 or so turns and, while thrashing the car through some tire-lifting runs through the turns, recorded a 42-second time. Astounding.
By then, I was on the road course, where the Evo IX showed exemplary manners, particularly the true Recaro sport bucket seats with perfect bolstering and also a slightly gritty material in the center to keep your butt from moving to port or starboard while you are aiming full-speed ahead. I hit 120 mph on two different spots for several laps in succession, and only occasional stabs at the great brakes was necessary before hurtling around the tightest turns by using the gas pedal and modulating the traction.
There are some other true compact rockets out there these days, with the Subaru WRX STi most notable as the EvoÂ’s top competitor, but interior refinements make the car greatly adaptable to real-world driving, too. Evolutions will reach showrooms by early October, with prices starting at $29,000. The full-boat MR model at $36,000.
Deep down, I still favor little engines that over-achieve to engines that depend on mere largeness to supply power, and while the Eclipse continues to attract great attention, it performs because of a larger 2.4-liter 4-cylinder and a larger 3.8-liter V6. The Evolution, of course, puts it away with a 2.0 in turbo, all-wheel-drive form – which was the way the original Eclipse came. Won’t that drivetrain fit in the new Eclipse? Hiroshi Fujii, an engineer who is also the manager of the ongoing Evolution project, preferred to discuss the vehicle through an interpreter. But he understood that question, and just smiled, broadly.
The 2.4 is in the Eclipse because that car is on the larger Galant platform, while the Evolution is a more compact car, and Mr. Fujii-San explained that the 2.0 is a different engine family – thereby successfully dodging the question. I asked if it was near the limit of its potential, and he just smiled again. He, of course, is in charge of the still-secret and unseen Evo X. But for the next couple of years, the Evo IX will suffice. It is about as much fun as you can have in a compact 4-door sedan with race-track capabilities, real-world pleasures, and even budgetary considerations.
Mercedes SL500 can create its own one-car parade
As I drove up to the tidy little baseball field at Loretto, a small town out Hwy. 55 west of Minneapolis, more than a few of my fellow-players were concerned. They were impressed that my weekly test-drive vehicle was the Mercedes SL500, but I also was supposed to be hauling all of our baseball gear — the bats, balls, catcher’s equipment, and the helmets.
Super-sleek as the SL500 is, particularly with the top down, this was the North Star Senior Baseball League’s tournament, and how could all that equipment fit into what had to be a tiny little trunk?
It did.
Pulling all that carefully-placed baseball stuff out from under the form-fitting shield that keeps the receded top from whatever is in the trunk was a surprise, although not the biggest surprise of tournament weekend. That would came when our team, the Shoreview SeaFoam Hawks, duplicated its total regular-season victory total in a fantastic 3-1 weekend to capture the Class C championship of the over-35, real-baseball league.
After the games, and after the requisite hours of munching on barbecued ribs and burgers at the Loretto concession stand, I will submit that there wasn’t a better way to execute a one-vehicle ceremonial parade than by cruising back in Hwy. 55 in that Mercedes SL500.
In the ever-escalating world of creating the most spectacular and unique vehicles for uncompromising buyers, nothing matches the Berman rivalry between Mercedes and BMW. Both build very good cars from entry level and on up through mid-luxury to luxury vehicles that are, I like to say, extremely expensive – and probably worth it. Just how high the contemporary battle has risen might come in the form of the Mercedes SL500.
This is an exquisite coupe, or an exquisite roadster, with the gracefully formed hardtop folding up and disappearing in its own receptacle in a 16-second time span. Fast, smooth and powerful to drive, and always eye-catching to observe, the SL500 is a magnificent piece of machinery that is perfect for doing battle with BMWÂ’s latest 645 coupe/roadster.
As usual, the numbers are meaningful in the Mercedes name. The 500 stands for the 5-liter V8 engine, which has a chain-driven overhead camshaft on either bank, operating three valves per cylinder – two intake and one exhaust. In this form, the V8 puts out 303 horsepower at 5,600 RPMs with a redline of 6,000, and 339 foot-pounds of torque, which ride that peak from 2,700-4,250 RPMs. Mercedes claims the car will go 0-60 in 6.1 seconds, but fuel economy is rated at 16 city and 23 highway miles per gallon.
It is entirely possible that in the future, the same V8 might wear dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder, because Mercedes has just realigned its potent V6 from three to four valves.
But for the 2005 model year, the three-valve setup is just fine, particularly because Mercedes put its new 7-speed automatic transmission in the car. ThatÂ’s the way I received the test car, and while hand-shifting it is fun, observing it automatically downshifting by sometimes skipping two or even three gears is a fascinating study in technology. The power is extracted so readily from the engine it includes two coils and two sparkplugs on each cylinder, part of the Mercedes 2.8 engine-control system.
While I am readily aware that most people are looking for cars that sell for less than $30,000 – less than $20,000, if possible anymore – I also realize that it’s worthwhile for normal folks to comprehend the upper echelon of automotive refinement. With that in mind, I humbly submit that the Mercedes SL500 test vehicle had a sticker price of $91,920.
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Thankfully, that includes destination expenses.
Incredibly, that is the least expensive, and most minimal, form of the SL-Class Mercedes. If you want to go off the far side of the earth for performance, and well over the $100,000 plateau in sticker shock, you have the following options:
• The SL55 AMG expands the 4,966 cc. SL500 V8 to 5,439, with a belt-driven supercharger that blasts power up to 493 horsepower and 516 foot-pounds of torque.
• The SL600 is more of a good thing, with a 5,513 cc. V12 engine, and twin turbochargers, to push out 493 horsepower and 590 foot-pounds of torque.
• The SL65 AMG takes the V12 to a new 6-liter limit, with displacement stretched to 5,980 cc., and delivery of 604 horsepower and a mind-numbing 738 foot-pounds of torque.
So, in a way, I was driving the economy-minded SL without the impact of the AMG high-performance arm of Mercedes, and without supercharging, turbocharging, or the V12.
The best part is that the SL500 shares the same dimensions of178.5 inches in length, 100.8 inches of wheelbase, 71.5 inches of width and 51 inches in height. In addition, it is 300-408 pounds less in weight, at 4,065, and has a far better weight distribution on the front and rear axles, with only 35 more pounds on the front axle than on the rear drive wheels, while the higher-performers have from 100-400 more pounds up front.
Of greater significance to any buyer, the SL500 shares many other vital components with its costlier brethren. Among those is ESP, the electronic stability program that combines brake application to a single wheel, and throttle intervention to straighten out a car that is starting to skid. The Mercedes ASR traction control system uses rear brakes and throttle to control wheelspin, as well.
Suspension is also shared, with four-link front and five-link rear that both use active electro-hydraulic systems with load-dependent spring rates, gas-charged shocks, and level control devices to assure stability in the most severe swerves or cornering.
Inside the car, the head, leg, shoulder, and hip room is all identical to the costlier cars, which is to say very good and lavishly appointed.
Shift into park and pull the console switch and the top unhooks itself from the top of the windshield and starts to go back, as the windows go down and the built-in padded rollbar folds back and down. The rear hatch kinks open, then the top folds itself down and disappears, with the cover relatching smoothly, and then the rollobar rises into place again.
To make sure you have enough room to stow stuff in the trunk, there is a panel between the lowered roof and the trunk, and if it is unlatched, the top will not go down. At 16 seconds, the top-lowering exercise takes 16 seconds, which means it is easily accomplished at any stoplight. Not only does it give you the necessary freedom that only open-top, fresh-air driving can provide, but it also will dazzle those fellow-drivers in cars on all sides of you.
Other standard features include dual-zone climate control with dust and pollen filters, wood and aluminum trim, heated seats that are multi-adjustable, auto-dimming rear-view mirrors, including the outside mirrors, a Bose surround sound system with a DVD navigation screen, Sirius satellite radio, xenon headlights, and a one-key system, which means if you have the key, you donÂ’t need to us it for all its normal tasks.
For power and panache, the SL500 is an overachiever, and nobody needs to know that itÂ’s really the “bargain†SL. And not a bad way to go to the ballpark, whether it’s the Metrodome, or the dusty little field in Loretto.
New Civic reaches from 50-mpg Hybrid to hot Si coupe
The 2006 Honda Civic has been improved so drastically that Honda could have had four separate introductions. The new Civic sets a new standard for hybrid vehicles, improves on every aspect of its stature among compact sedans, steps out boldly to make the coupe a new and different stand-alone model. And, for good measure, the Si coupe is a model that is just about as much fun as $20,000 can buy.
All four models – the Civic Hybrid, the Civic sedan, the Civic coupe, and the Si – deserve their own full evaluations, and we can provide them as the coming year unfolds. For now, though, brief road-tests in all four means they must share the spotlight as they are unveiled in dealer showrooms. The sedan and coupe will be on sale by mid-September, the Hybrid will make it by October 5, and the Si will show up on December 1.
Pricing will range from $14,500 for a basic DX, up to a high of $21,500 for a Civic Hybrid, which adds the gas-electric powerplant to the fully loaded EX features. The Si will be held to a price of under $20,000 – which doesn’t rule out $19,999, if you get my drift. Whatever, it will be a bargain for fun-seeking drivers.
Honda has come a long way since 1973, when it brought in the first Civic – a quite-primitive little hatchback that seemed to acquire rust as readily as miles. Improvement was continually refined into the car until 1979, when a second-generation Civic (1980-83) was an astounding improvement. The third (1984-87) and fourth (1988-91) generations were solid and impressive.
My favorite was the fifth generation (1992-95) when variable valve-timing pushed the Civic to technical heights. It reached and maintained enormous sales heights through sixth (1996-2000) and seventh (2001-2005) generations. Altogether, 7 million of the 16 million Civics sold globally have been in the United States, where it easily maintains a standard as the leading U.S. compact, but is the third-best-selling among all cars, behind only the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.
But the threat of contemporary marketing has changed. The rise of SUVs and larger vehicles has meant potential decline for the compact segment, although such predictions don’t take into account the reality of $3-plus for a gallon of gasoline. My guess is that while industry trends often change slowly, high-cost gasoline could almost instantly inspire even irresponsible gas-guzzler buyers to change plans and seek grown-up and sophisticated compacts that can deliver 30 – or even 50-plus – miles per gallon.
While the Civic has become an icon among compacts, new and higher-tech rivals, such as the Mazda3, have emerged to raise the bar of quality with a fun-to-drive accent for the $16,000 range. All of which puts considerable pressure on the introduction of the new, eighth-generation Civic.
Honda’s four-pronged response starts with new platforms and bodies for all four models, and they ride on a new platform that is 35 percent stiffer in body torsion rigidity, and benefit from Honda’s ACE body structure, for the Advanced Compatibility Engineering safety concept devised since the last Civic generation. All models also have standard front, front side, and side-curtain airbags, standard 4-channel antilock brakes with electronic brake distribution, and restyled interiors with improved seat bolstering, and a unique, two-tier instrument panel. Usually, I’m not a big fan of digital instruments because they lack the perspective you get from seeing a needle point out a number and inform you of how far you have to go to the next number. But in the new Civic, a large tachometer is centered in the main instrument cluster, and a narrow housing above the steering wheel give you a digital speedometer reading – easily seen with either peripheral vision or just a slight glance that leaves the road ahead still in your peripheral view.
Starting with the standard DX, LX and EX Civics, the new coupe and sedan are now separate vehicles, to the point that they even ride on different wheelbase platforms, with the sedan growing over 3 inches to 106.3 while the coupe wheelbase is 2 inches shorter. The sedan is 1.4 inches longer than the 2005 sedan, at 176.8, while the coupe is slightly shorter that the previous coupe, at 174.8 inches of overall length. Both have entirely new shapes, with sleeker front ends and low, sweeping windshields, angled at a steeper slope on the coupe, and they share no body panels. The coupe was designed separately, at HondaÂ’s U.S. base in Marysville, Ohio. Both the new sedan and coupe share a new 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine, with the familiar single-overhead camshaft and three valves per cylinder, and the latest i-VTEC variable valve-timing ingeniously extracting optimum power and minimal emissions. It offers 140 horsepower at 6,300 RPMs and 128 foot-pounds of torque at 4,300 RPMs, all while meeting ultra-low emission, bin-2 levels in all 50 states. A new compact 5-speed automatic is optional above the 5-speed manual.
Driving both cars on rural Chicago highways, performance felt good, comfort levels were high, and the increase in size with the accompanying decrease in overhang transforms the style, and translates into a roomier feel to the interior.
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But the specialty Civics command the spotlight. In its ongoing battle with Toyota for hybrid supremacy to combine a gas engine with an electric motor, Honda beat Toyota to showrooms with the Insight, and after Toyota countered with the first Prius, Honda installed the hybrid system in the Civic, as the first mainstream car with hybrid power. Toyota won car of the year with the restyled 2004 Prius, and both companies went for higher power for the 2005 model year, Honda with the Accord and Toyota with the companion Lexus 400h and Toyota Highlander.
For 2006, Honda unveils its fourth generation IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) with significant improvements to both its tiny 1.3-liter gasoline engine, and its latest battery-pack/electric motor, on which Honda worked with Panasonic on a dedicated and exclusive system. Numbers are less significant than performance, as the gas engine has a meager-sounding 93 horsepower, an increase of 9 percent, but it also increases overall efficiency with an all-cylinder deactivation that lets the car run on electric power only during steady-state cruising, while improving the engineÂ’s electrical regeneration by 1.7 times.
The 158-volt battery pack has 27 percent more power, can recharge 14 percent faster, and has been reduced in size by 12 percent. Its power transfer means the electric motor adds 20 horsepower, an increase of 46 percent, and shows a 30-percent increase in torque, hitting a 76-foot-pound peak from 0-1,160 RPMs. That creates combined gas-electric power of 110 horsepower (an increase of 17) at 6,000 RPMs, and 123 foot-pounds of torque (an increase of 18) that peaks from a range of 1,000-2,500 RPMs.
The electric motor also functions as an electric generator in HondaÂ’s IMA scheme, so it is attached directly to the gas-engine crankshaft. The pumping action of the gas-engine pistons can create resistance during deceleration, from the usual engine-braking. In the previous Civic Hybrid, three cylinders could be deactivated, leaving only the fourth to offer resistance, so deactivating all four in some circumstances eliminates even that moderate resistance, improving fuel economy by broadening the use of electric power, and also improving regenerative capability by 170 percent compared to the 2005.
Honda trusts its gas engine to be the basis of its IMA system, supplemented by electric power, while the Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive uses its gas engine primarily to generate power to make its electric motors the primary drive system. Toyota has sent a few public-relations zingers at Honda by declaring its system “full hybrid,†and distinguishing it from Honda’s “mild hybrid,†for being unable to run on electricity alone. The new Prius advertised much higher fuel economy than the Civic Hybrid, even though real-world driving – and my private tests – differed from EPA estimates. I got 48 miles per gallon with the previous Civic Hybrid, matching its EPA estimate, and 40 with the Prius, which advertises an EPA 60 mpg in town, and 51 on the highway. Toyota claims that the car runs on electricity more in cities, where cleaner running is more important.
Now, Honda is firing back. The new Civic Hybrid shows 50 miles-per-gallon estimates for both city driving and highway driving by the EPA, which makes it the first vehicle to average more than 50 mpg overall. In the Civic technical notebook, which is about as thick as the Chicago phone book, this nugget is included: “Some hybrid systems built by other manufacturers actually provide higher city fuel economy than highway – a feature that benefits only those who live in dense urban areas with heavy stop and go traffic. City drivers also tend to put fewer annual miles on their vehicles, which minimizes the return on investment for a hybrid powertrain.Ââ€
Honda goes on to claim that in “real world†driving, the Civic will get better actual fuel economy than the Prius at all different speed ranges, and overall. The best thing about that rivalry is that the clear winners are the consumers. For all the technical stuff, the Civic Hybrid feels swift and agile in normal driving, and the Hybrid’s standard CVT (continuously variable transmission) feels smooth and seamless in acceleration and cruising. I drove 25 miles, mainly stepping on it to test the power and maintain 65-70 miles per hour on a freeway. After we stopped, and the engine had idled for a couple of minutes, a Honda guy pushed a button that showed I got 48 miles per gallon on that stretch.
If the Hybrid boosts the new Civic to technological stardom, the new Civic Si goes over the top on fun. The Si is CivicÂ’s high-performance outlet, with a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder with chain-driven dual overhead cams and the i-VTEC variable valve timing and racetrack-ready 197 horsepower at 7,880 RPMs, with 139 foot-pounds of torque at 6,200 revs. A 30-percent improvement in roll stiffness, aided by a reinforced rear cross-member, and revised suspension make the Si handle as well as it runs.
We had the chance to run the Si hard at the Autobahn Country Club near Chicago, and after about 20 laps, I was convinced. The Si’s standard 6-speed manual transmission benefits from close ratios through fifth, and a higher sixth, for optimum cruising economy, and it comes standard with traction-control on its front-wheel-drive transaxle. Perfect for negotiating winter driving, although that wasn’t on our minds as we hit 100 mph at two or three spots on the road course. I appreciated the new instrumentation, particularly the little warning light up by the digital speed readout that blinks when you’re nearing the 8,000-RPM redline. After a few laps – and a few times bouncing off the rev-limiter – I learned to trust the blinking light as a demand to shift.
Honda officials estimate that the compact segment will decline over the next few years, but I disagree. Honda, of course, won’t mind if I’m right on this one, and the Civic alone could cause the segment to expand – especially if they can keep the price of the Civic Hybrid under $22,000, the price of the Si under $20,000, and maintain status as the target for every competitor.
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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