Audi Q7 on target for sports-luxury on or off road
Sport utility vehicles didnÂ’t make a lot of sense to Audi a few years ago, as the German company rolled out a progression of high-tech and well-crafted sedans and sports-performance models. That was then, as they say, and this is now. Audi is unveiling the Q7, mother ship to the entire line, and a large SUV built to command a profitable alternative to keep Audi customers away from those Escalades and Denalis.
Wolfgang Hoffmann put it all in simple terms when he first introduced the Q7 to the North American media in New Jersey a few weeks ago. “SUVs make up 60 percent of the market in the U.S.,†he said. “And we didnÂ’t have one.Ââ€
Pretty simple. Large premium SUVs are often large trucks with a great variance in amenities and performance, and if Audi is looking for a proverbial home run, the Q7 touches all the bases of performance, safety, style, and versatility.
“A lot of loyal Audi customers have one or two cars, and a luxury SUV,†said Hoffmann. “Twelve to 15 percent of customers who left the Audi brand for their last purchase did it because we didnÂ’t have an SUV.Ââ€
The General Motors command of the large-SUV segment is legendary, with the Tahoe/Yukon leading to the Cadillac Escalade, which led back to the Denali, a luxury version of the Yukon for the GMC division. All are newly redone for 2006.
“There are three generations of SUVs,†said Hoffmann. “First was the two-box design, which was a truck, with a ladder-frame structure, designed to be rugged for heavy work and off-road use. Next came the crossover SUVs in the Â’90s, built on car platforms with the safety of car-like control, comfort, quality and status. Now we are about to start the third generation – performance SUVs.Ââ€
Combining size, strength, luxury, safety and off- and on-road performance takes some doing, but the Q7 calls those bets – and raises the ante with its high-technology engine. The Q7 has the latest generation of Audi’s potent 4.2-liter V8, which – along with Audi’s superb 2.0-liter four-cylinder – made the list of Ward’s top 10 engines in the world for 2006. The latest version goes to four valves per cylinder with chain-driven dual overhead camshafts, and direct injection.
Direct injection has the effect of making engines feel more powerful than their size indicates, with fuel economy expected only from much smaller displacement. The direct-injection Audi V8 makes 350 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds of torque, with 85 percent of its torque unleashed from 2,000 RPMs and on up. Despite a curb weight of 5,467 pounds, the Q7 will sprint from 0-60 in just under 7 seconds, with an electronically governed top speed of 130 mph.
A narrow-angle 3.6-liter V6 will be available later this year, with 280 horsepower and 265 foot-pounds of torque. The V6 model takes 8 seconds to reach 60, but the bigger difference is the price of the two.
The large performance/luxury class vehicles, such as the Escalade or Denali, cost $60,000 and more. The Q7 with the V8 starts at $59,900, while the same vehicle with the V6 starts at a comparative bargain $49,900. Over a thousand V8 model Q7s were presold before any advertising even started, and projections are for the Q7 to be one of AudiÂ’s best-selling models, even in its first year.
Because the V8 model was the only one available at introduction time, all of our preliminary findings are on that vehicle. Towing capacity is 5,500, or 6,000 with the towing package. The Q7Â’s handling is superb, with double-wishbone suspension on all four wheels, and settings for comfort, normal or sport, and a steering system with lower boost at higher speeds, the Q7 has the road manners of a top sporty sedan.
{IMG2}
“But,†said chief engineer Frank van Meel, “we didnÂ’t want to make a car that looked like it would do well off the road, then break your axle when you tried it.Ââ€
The optional air suspension can adjust ground clearance from 6.5 to 9.5 inches, and it is complemented by ESP, an electronic stability program that allows the driver to lock the wheels to spin all four when necessary, and adds hill descent assist, which lets you creep down steep embankments without riding the brakes. The same six-speed automatic transmission, with wide-spaced gears for on-road smoothness, can hunker down and perform when the going gets rugged, too.
One of the subtle but significant changes Audi is making is to the previous quattro standard of 50-50 torque feeding both axles. On the Q7, the standard mix is 60 percent of the torque to the rear, 40 percent to the front. That is more of what Mercedes and BMW have been advocating over the years than what Audi has steadfastly used to complement its front-wheel-drive base set-up. Interestingly, BMW and Mercedes have altered their all-wheel-drive mix to allow more power to the front at the same time Audi is moving more power to the rear in its quattro. But when the system detects any slippage, the torque split alters itself, moving up to 65 percent to the front, or up to 85 percent to the rear.
When it comes to deciding on a $60,000 vehicle, it is obvious that certain features might be pivotal. The Escalade, for example, is basically a Tahoe with all sorts of creature amenities that make it the premier prestige SUV. That well-earned title will be threatened by both the new Mercedes GL and the Audi Q7.
The Q7 has the tall, vertical grille that denotes all the new Audis, and on a large truck-like vehicle, IÂ’d say it looks better than on the cars, where itÂ’s still a bit controversial. A strong, high-strength steel frame and body are topped by a sleek roofline, which houses three rows of seats. You could house seven occupants, or two, plus enormous quantities of stuff. With seven aboard, and all seats upright, there is still 10.87 cubic feet of storage available behind the third seat. With just the third row folded flat, it jumps to 42 cubic feet, and if you fold down second and third rows, you can reach 72.5 cubic feet for storage.
Obvious features include a choice of burl walnut, olive ash, or Japanese tamo for real wood interior trim, plus a back-up camera system, four-zone climate control, and an optional panoramic sunroof that is a three-section picture window to the sky. Adaptive cruise control lets you maintain a set interval behind the vehicle ahead, and will slow you to a complete stop if need be. Braking Guard uses a radar warning system to send a signal if the vehicle ahead brakes harder than your braking attempt, and if need be, it adds brake force. Adaptive lights also shine around corners ahead, and a radar-guided parking system gives you a rear video readout on the navigation screen, with different color grid lines to help guide you to safe and accurate backing up and parallel parking.
Some other companies have some of those same features, but one that I think is unprecedented is the Q7 side-warning detector, which uses radar to note an overtaking vehicle, and if it moves into the vehicleÂ’s blind spot, a panel of LEDs on the side mirror light up as a warning to the driver.
Externally, Audi calls the Q7 styling “coupe-like,†and boasts of dynamics that adapt well to both on-road and off-road use, and “multifunctionality.†I think that means it can handle various functions, but Hoffmann stretched function to what I claim is an 18-letter journalistic record with “multifunctionality.†The ability of a vehicle to have functions has led to adding “functionality†to the automotive PR lexicon. Hoffmann also referred to Audi’s “DNA,†another of the auto PR-speak buzzwords.
Every journalist I know cringes when “DNA†is used to link models, whether or not a connection exists. Precious few, if any, auto PR types even know that Deoxyribonucleic acid is the structure of molecules forming two lines, whose paths intertwine in a double-helix to bond two complementary components, thus forming the chemical basis for linking heredity. Hoffmann used DNA to prove the same company that makes the A3, A4, A6, A8 and TT sports car is now making a do-everything SUV.
Director of marketing Stephen Berkov said: “We need some reasons why SUVs are still OK. We think the Q7 proves that performance can be efficient, safety can be exhilarating, design can be beautiful, and functionality can be elegant.Ââ€
For Audi, thatÂ’s not a badÂ…uhÂ…DNA. But the Germans made a major concession to build the Q7 primarily for the U.S. market by installing six cupholders and four more water bottle holders. “We put in six cupholders,†said Hoffmann. “That was always a battle with the engineers. They said, ‘What are these Americans DOING in their cars?Â’”
Mercedes museum honors history of superb, swift cars
STUTTGART, GERMANY — Breezing along on the German autobahn, my codriver in the passenger seat said he thought the new Mercedes-Benz E-Class station wagon I was driving had a diesel engine. I didnÂ’t think so. This vehicle was an E-320, so I thought it might be the new Mercede direct-injection gasoline V6.
I’m a strong advocate for diesel technology advancing into the United States as soon as we can get our fuel cleaned up in October, and I know the best European diesel-powered cars betray none of the obnoxious traits – smelly, smoky, loud clattering sound, and an oily lack of power – of diesels as American drivers recall them. My codriver, Tony, is a good friend from Vancouver. No language problem, because we share a love of great cars and the game of hockey. As we continued our friendly discussion, neither too sure, I tried a few smooth passing moves to see if I could detect any hesitations, or any telltale puffs of smoke from the exhaust. There were none.
At one point, where the autobahn had no posted speed limit, I pulled into the left lane of the three lanes, passed a slower vehicle, and kept on a-going. The speedometer rose, reaching 180, 190, and 200. Of course, we were in Germany, so the carÂ’s speedometer was in kilometers, not miles. But still, 200 of them are quite a few. I kept easing onward, with nothing but clear roadway ahead. At 220 kilometers per hour, I asked Tony to take a picture of the speedometer, because I was too occupied to look at it.
At the equivalent of 142 miles per hour, the E-320 was smooth as silk, and had a lot more in reserve. We stopped at the small town of Wolnzach, north of Munich, to change vehicles. As we walked around behind the station wagon, Tony pointed out that the emblem on the rear end said “CDI.†Sure enough, it was a turbocharged V6 diesel.
Furthermore, it is the new “BLUETEC†diesel that will become prominent in the U.S. within the next year, as our diesel fuel gets cleaned up to reasonable standards. It has only 165 horsepower, but a whopping 388 foot-pounds of torque, occurring from 1,600-2,800 RPMs.
I was reluctant to get out of the “Estate†– Germany’s term for station wagon – but U.S. buyers are strangely reluctant to buy station wagons, so duty pressed me to drive some of the gathered sedans. That comes under the heading of “tough job, but somebody has to do it,†because the gathered sedans were all world-class standouts – the new E-Class sedan, plus the high-powered AMG version of the E, and, several super-sleek CLS sedans, including its incredible AMG high-performance model.
While external design changes are only subtle in the four-year mid-term refreshening of the seven-year E-Class cycle – confined mostly to the adaptive headlights, side mirrors and taillights – there are also a number of technical revisions in the 2007 E-550. One of the major upgrades is in design of the standard 5-liter V8, which goes from three valves with single overhead camshafts to four valves with dual overhead cams on the E-550. The new engine delivers 382 horsepower and 391 foot-pounds of torque, and is evidence why other drivers stay out of the left lane on the autobahns.
ItÂ’s hard to imagine anyone wanting or needing more power than that, but turn to the AMG model of the E-Class. The E63 AMG is the same sedan after thorough reworking by the in-house hot-rodders of AMG. The E63 number signifies a nearly 6.3-liter V8 that replaces the 5-liter, and boosts power to 507 horsepower and 465 foot-pounds of torque. It will run from 0-100 kilometers (about 62 miles per hour) in a mere 4.5 seconds, through a specially reinforced seven-speed automatic, which is manually shiftable.
Mercedes has put simpler tabs above the steering wheel arms on both sides to facilitate upshifts and downshifts, having thankfully done away with the toggle switch controls on the backside of the steering wheel. They always made me uneasy because you could upshift or downshift with either hand, and I always imagined that as you upshifted with your right hand while squeezing your left hand just a bit you could inadvertently downshift, simultaneously. With the new larger and more obvious paddles, you upshift with the right hand and downshift with the left. Easy. And fun.
The entire trip was special, because I had never driven the CLS before, so it was introduction time for that car, too. It is the sleekest sedan ever built by any company, and is referred to as the “four-door coupe†in Germany.
It seems to me, the ideal thing in the world of automotive journalists would be to mandate that all road tests be conducted on the German autobahns. Other than a race track – a long, long racetrack – or maybe a private, open expanse of highway in Montana or Nevada, there is no place to let such a prized vehicle as these Mercedes stallions run at full gallop. As far as I could judge from the brief driving experiences, both the E-Class and the CLS could drive right on back to Stuttgart and park themselves in the sparkling new Mercedes-Benz Museum.
Before we drOve any of the cars, we spent two fascinating days with the priceless and historic vehicles stored at the old museum at the Mercedes plant, and the cream of the crop, strategically placed throughout the magnificent new museum, scheduled to open May 19. From a sensory perspective, it was too much to digest in a mere four days. The museum is a priceless work of art as a facility alone, to say nothing of the 160 or 170 vehicles on display – the fruit of a prolific company that can claim to have built the world’s first automobiles, dating back to 1883.
The history is riveting. The old museum was in the middle of the Mercedes-Benz plant, not suitable for properly displaying the pride of 125 years of building some of the world’s greatest motorcars. So in 2000, Mercedes executives went forward with plans to build the new facility. In January of 2002, they hired an architectural firm from Holland to design it, and without question, there is no other building like it in the world. Construction started in March of 2003, with May 19, 2006 as a target for completion – just before Stuttgart plays host to World Cup soccer quarterfinals in a stunning new domed stadium, which is located adjacent to the museum.
Ben van Berkel, chief architect of the Dutch firm, designed a double helix – essentially an unending line that traces three continuous double circles that ultimately meet – with the three circles to mimic the three-pointed star of the Mercedes logo. The three-pointed star, incidentally, was conceived out of the company’s ambition to develop internal combustion engines to revolutionize travel on land, sea and air.
{IMG2}
The exterior of the building is a wonderfully blended structure of huge glass panes, with steel exterior and concrete interior pillars. The steel represents the structure of the vehicles, and the concrete pays tribute to the highways and bridges those vehicles have traveled. There is not a single wall in the structure that is straight – everything curves for a purpose, either horizontally or vertically, from the seven levels that start from the top. The museum consumes 16,500 square meters, rising adjacent to the autobahn that leads down around the circular path into the city of Stuttgart, located in the valley below. As you drive into the city, it appears you might drive right into the Museum itself.
The Guggenheim Museum has similar spiral design, but nothing else has the double helix layout that always offers visitors the opportunity to look outside at the city, the soccer stadium, and mostly the autobahn, passing below, or inside, down to the atrium.
Elevators take visitors to the top, then the two separate tours travel downward through seven separate legend rooms, and five different collection rooms, each defining different eras of advancement. Four mechanized hooks in the center ceiling can lift vehicles to the various levels, placed through openings that are then closed to the artfully sloped inner walls. Passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, motorsports vehicles, aircraft engines, safety developments – everything is there, with a complete library where each of the eras can be more thoroughly researched.
The attention to detail includes sounds. As visitors rise on the interior elevators, they hear different sounds of automotives, until, at the very top, they hear the clip-clop sound of horses hooves. Visitors can take one of two separate tours, starting with the earliest vehicles at the top, and leading down along displays and vehicles in a breathtaking trip through time. The structure is so stiff, there are no interior pillars. As you continue downward, you can look to the inside and see each upcoming display from a different perspective, and you can step off the walkway for close-up examination of any of those displays.
The plan was to create the feeling that the entire facility is one long and continuing room, with no doors. Van Berkel described the constant view of displays from the walkways as merging into an “almost kaleidoscopic†sensation. Explanations are offered via headphones in eight languages at every level, with videos, memorabilia, and attention to detail, with the two pathways ultimately meeting at the motorsports display, which covers 120 years of racing.
Even the name Mercedes-Benz is fascinating. The three key players were Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Daimler and Maybach collaborated out of a facility in Cannstatt, and built their first car as a motorized horse carriage, with three wheels. Benz started out in Mannheim, and went a different direction, patenting his first car in 1886. Daimler-Maybach became one company, while Benz competed with them from 60 miles away, and never got to know his rivals.
In 1893, Benz built the “Vis-a-vis†car, and in 1894, Daimler added a fourth wheel to his vehicle in 1889, solving a steering problem with the three-wheeler, and created the “Velo,†which sold through 1901. When Daimler motorized a boat, he claimed it was electrically powered, because he feared people would be apprehensive of the dangers of the explosions of internal combustion power.
In 1899, Daimler built the Phoenix race car, and Emil Jellinek dominated auto races. It was Jellinek who asked to have the name of his daughter, Mercedes, added to the company. It wasnÂ’t until after both companies converted to World War I production for German vehicles, when they faced the economic crisis of the depression, that they decided to merge in order to survive.
The rest, as they say, is history. The company also made vehicles for World War II, which is still a subject of massive guilt under Adolph HitlerÂ’s Nazi control. But the significance of technical improvement continued, as the company realized aircraft lost power at higher altitudes, and invented supercharging their engines, using compressed air intake to overcome the problem.
After the war, the company struggled to continue, but after the May 8, 1945, capitulation to the Allied forces, it stayed in business doing maintenance work on occupying force vehicles. It wasnÂ’t until the 1950s that Mercedes-Benz could afford to build motorcars again.
Officials say that the facility will not be used for selling cars, although a magnificent nearby structure houses the most modern of dealership displays, and anyone buying a car will get invited to visit the museum.
To qualify for entry, a vehicle must be out of production for 25 years. So as we cruised the autobahn in the new E-Class, and in the CLS 63 AMG monsters, we realized they wouldnÂ’t yet qualify for inclusion. But their time will come. They are simply the latest example of a company that installs its pride in technology, quality, luxury, and safety into every vehicle. That pride also makes the museum come alive, as todayÂ’s vehicles zip past, outside on the autobahn.
Gilbert, Badger veterans top BC for NCAA puck title
MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Defenseman Tom Gilbert put the finishing touch on a spectacular season for both the Wisconsin Badgers as a team, and his own outstanding four years of college hockey in the most memorable way possible Saturday night, moving up to score a goal midway through the third period to beat Boston College 2-1 and claim the NCAA hockey championship before 17,758 mostly red-clad fans at Bradley Center.
It was a homestate triumph all the way for the Badgers, who first had to drive a couple hours northeast to win the Midwest Regional at Green Bay, before driving an hour east from Madison to Milwaukee for the Frozen Four. Typically, the victory was secured by Gilbert and the Badger defensemen, and, of course, goaltender Brian Elliott, with a team defense easily as responsible for the success as the goal-scorers. And a little luck didn’t hurt, as a late, desperation shot by Boston College’s Peter Harrold clanked off the pipe, and didn’t go in, as the final seconds elapsed.
It took all that to win the big NCAA Frozen Four plaque as the Badgers finished a 30-10-3 season with a 9-1 surge for the schoolÂ’s sixth NCAA title, creating a magical sweep, after Wisconsin also won the women’s NCAA hockey title. Boston College finished 26-13-3.
Previous Wisconsin titles came under Badger Bob Johnson in 1973, Â’77, and Â’81, with Jeff Sauer taking the Badgers to the 1983 and 1990 crowns. This is the first one for Mike Eaves, who is in his fourth year. Eaves was a star player on the 1977 title team, and he recalled the euphoria of winning as a player, compared to his measured enjoyment as a winning coach.
“As a player, you have such an emotional investment in the game,†said Eaves. “In Â’77, from the time we won the game until I got to the locker room, I donÂ’t remember anything that happened. As a coach, it was fun to…hug each one of those guys, and look each of them in the eye, and say, ‘job well done.Â’ Ââ€
After all the talk about fantastic freshmen throughout the tournament, the Badgers relied on their veterans, as junior Robbie Earl scored to tie the game 1-1 in the second period on a pass from senior captain Adam Burish. Joe Pavelski – a key veteran although only a sophomore – assisted on both goals, and won a tournament-high 20 faceoffs in the game, while losing 12.
All three linemates had three points in the tournament, But Pavelski, who won a tournament-high 20 faceoffs while losing 12 in the title game, and set up both Badger goals, was the only member of the line that failed to make the all-tournament team, which listed Earl, Burish and BC’s Chris Collins as forwards, Gilbert and BC’s Brett Motherwell as defensemen, and Elliott as goaltender.
Earl was selected most outstanding player of the tournament, but it had to be a close call. Media voters tend to go with goal-scorers, and Earl had three, although his second goal in the 5-2 semifinal victory over Maine was an empty-netter, and it’s doubtful the Badgers would have won the title without the slick feeds of Pavelski and Burish, as well as Earl’s goals.
For Gilbert, another of the five seniors on the team, his 12th goal came at a most opportune time. The Badgers were carrying play, but had to fight to gain the 1-1 tie until midway through the third period.
Manning the right point on the Badger power play, Gilbert moved in, cruising unnoticed up the slot, as Pavelski held the puck near the end boards on the left side. Pavelski saw him coming but didn’t tip off his play before sending a perfect pass out to the slot. Gilbert caught the pass, with an instant of room to coil up and pick a spot, then he snapped a 25-foot wrist shot just inside the left post at 9:32.
“ItÂ’s a play weÂ’ve worked on all week, with either me coming in, or Robbie Earl on the backside,†said Gilbert. “IÂ’m an offensive defenseman, and I like to be the fourth guy in on the attack. IÂ’ve got to give credit to Joe Pavelski, though. He was looking at Robbie, and he gave a no-look pass to me. I just knew that shot was going in.Ââ€
The big crowd erupted, and stayed on a high through the last 10 minutes, but it was a tough way for BCÂ’s sophomore goaltender Cory Schneider to end his run. Wisconsin outshot Boston College 39-22 for the game, while Schneider kicked aside 37 of those Badger shots to give his team every chance to win.
“I think Wisconsin is the best team we have played this year, over 60 minutes,†said Boston College coach Jerry York. “Cory Schneider kept us in the game. He was terrific. Wisconsin really has an excellent hockey team. There were a lot of comments in our locker room and from our players about how well-coached, how talented, their players are, and how well they played tonight.
“I thought our club got just what we wanted – we got to the third period in a very tough environment to play in, and with 10 or 12 minutes left in the game, itÂ’s 1-1 for the national championship. They capitalize on their power play, we didnÂ’t capitalize on ours. That was the difference.Ââ€
Befitting the obvious importance of the game, Boston College and Wisconsin sparred like wary heavyweights from the start, intent upon not betraying any critical weaknesses. Wisconsin had a 17-9 edge in shots in the first period, but the first round of the goaltending duel went to Schneider, who stopped all 19 Badger missiles.
The Eagles, meanwhile, got one past Elliott at 9:01 of the opening session. Dan Bertram, the busiest guy in the rink in the first period with three penalties and an assist, got the assist by burrowing in on the forecheck and prying the puck free on the right end boards, then jerking a pass out to the slot. Pat Gannon, a fourth-line sophomore center, was closing in and smacked a backhander that eluded Elliott and caught the upper right corner of the net.
“When the pass came out from behind the net, I got my stick on it,†said Elliott. “It got through, and somehow their guy got off a backhand, up high. It was a really good goal.Ââ€
Getting any manner of puck past Elliott in the last 10 games. Coming into the final game, Elliott had gone 8-1 in his last nine games, with an amazing 0.81 goals-against average, and an equally incredible .967 save percentage. So giving up one goal in the final actually raised his goals-against mark.
He had little chance on the Gannon goal, but he atoned for it anyway by blanking the Eagles through a much more even second period, and all the way to the finish.
{IMG2}
Meanwhile, Wisconsin rewarded the large and loyal crowd by getting the equalilzer on EarlÂ’s goal at 1:17. Earl was upended by a big bodycheck as he rushed toward the BC end. He got up slowly, and limped a couple steps heading for the bench. When he spotted his linemates attacking deep up the right boards, though, Earl had an instanteous recovery that would have made the Mayo Clinic proud. Earl quit limping and broke for the net, arriving at the crease just in time to convert BurishÂ’s pass, an instant before Earl was dumped into the cage himself.
“I was going to the bench,†said Earl. “Then we got a turnover, and Joe Pavelski went the other way. So I went to the net, and Adam made a great pass.Ââ€
The goal tied the game and gave Earl the team goal-scoring title. EarlÂ’s 24th goal of the season led Pavelski’s 23 and Burish’s 22. Pavelski leads Wisconsin in scoring with 23-33–56, to Earl’s 24-26–50, while Burish (9-23–32) edged Gilbert (12-19–31) for third.
The emotional victory was well documented by the Badgers in the aftermath.
“This is the best feeling, the best university, the best group of guys, and the best coaching staff,†said Gilbert, who is from Bloomington, MN.
Elliott attributed his strong finish – nine goals-against in Wisconsin’s last 10 games – to the team’s spiritual leaders.
“ItÂ’s been a testament to how great our seniors have been,†said Elliott, a 6-foot-3 junior. “When I came here, they were only sophomoresÂ…TheyÂ’ll be my brothers for life.Ââ€
BMW 650i makes you try to live up to ‘cool’ image
MILWAUKEE, WIS. — Among the good reasons to be driving a BMW 650i from Minneapolis to Milwaukee a couple weeks back was that the national collegiate hockey tournament was going on there at the time. Another is that there was so much construction going on downtown that the sheer beauty of the car stood out even more dramatically against the rugged geometric bits of rubble where buildings once stood.
Another good reason is that it gave me time to get to know the “Nav Lady” voice, and learn to coexist with the outrageous iDrive control system on the console that she was trying to interpret for me. But perhaps the best reason of all was to be able to spend a full five hours behind the wheel of a BMW 650 with no interruptions. Just me, and one of the worldÂ’s great cars, collaborating while switching the Sirius satellite radio back and forth from the comedy stations to Margaritaville, with various stops between them.
When it comes to engineering excellence, any BMW vehicle deserves scrutiny. When it comes to styling, some BMWs run the gamut from exotic to controversial. But when it comes to sheer, stunning beauty, the BMW 650i leaves no room for controversy.
There are Mercedes and Cadillac competitors on the market now for the 6-Series coupe and convertible, and they are excellent in their own way, and meet specific objectives known best to each company. But the BMW 645i is sleek and classy, and also fierce-looking and aggressive. And it is loaded up for power to put either extreme on display.
The BMW 7-Series sedans drew criticism for the tacky, add-on look of the trunklid and its spoiler. The 5-Series midsize sedans did it much better, and the 7s have been altered by now. But the 6-Series came out later, and got it right from the start, at the 645i. With a rear end that looks built for speed in a smooth swath wrapping from side to side and encompassing the taillights, that sleek silhouette, and a front end that looks like a little like a crazed raptor about to pounce on the rest of traffic as if it were nothing more than a collection of wayward rodents.
One of my favorite touches is the outer ring around the quad headlights, which glow as the parking lights, and left me finding all sorts of reasons to turn on my parking lights.
The 650i might throw you off for a bit. I kept calling it a 645, because that’s what it used to be. It also used to be that every digit in a BMW’s numerical name meant something – the 530 was a 5-Series sedan with a 3.0-liter six-cylinder engine, for example. Well, the 645 has moved up to become the 650i, and the V8 engine displacement is measured at 4.8 liters. For some reason, BMW chose to round it off to 50, rather than stay precise with a 648.
The engine has dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, with BMWÂ’s Double Vanos variable valve-timing. The smooth-running V8 delivers 360 horsepower at 6,300 RPMs, and 360 foot-pounds of torque at 3,400 RPMs. ThatÂ’s enough oomph to cover 0-60 sprints in about 5.3 seconds, which is not bad for a 3,814-pound vehicle.
That weight, incidentally, is a surprise, because its look and its feel indicate light and lean, rather than hefty. ItÂ’s possible that having a six-speed manual transmission further added to the light-on-your-wheels feeling, but the car was pretty much a pleasure to drive in every moment of the trip down and back on I94.
With a coefficient of drag of a mere 0.30, the wind-cheating 650i attained 22-24 miles per gallon, although the EPA estimates are only 16 city and 22 highway.
Naturally, the technology and exotic image are costly. Base price is $72,495, with sport suspension and the six-speed stick, and such subtle upgrades as aluminum front end structure, hood and doors. Add in Active Roll Stabilization, 18-inch wheels, active cruise, heads-up display, the audio upgrade with satellite radio,and you’re up to $76,695, and you could go higher with the splendid active steering option.
Cruising along the freeway, a couple of the newest features on the feature-laden car made the trip more pleasurable. A heads-up display allows you to keep track of your speed, other vitals, and an arrow indicating any upcoming turns you might need to prepare for, all transposed unobtrusively on the windshield. ItÂ’s easy to look right past it, or through it, but itÂ’s also simple to train your consciousness to pay attention to your speed and other important items.
Naturally, I never advocate speeding, but sometimes on a freeway trip it might be safer to blend with the traffic flow, even if it’s a tad over the limit. I found a nice rhythm at 75 miles per hour for certain stretches, letting the car’s active cruise control maintain a preset interval. I tried several different intervals, and all worked very well – slowing the car when a slower car was directly ahead in order to maintain the increasing speed to reestablish the proper interval summoned.
The iDrive is brought to life by a knob on the console. You tip it in any of four directions and you engage navigation, audio, climate-control and information, refining it with subsequent clicks to operate everything. The readouts come onto the navigation screen. You also can induce a voice-control system, whereby a pleasant feminine voice gives you little tips about upcoming turns necessary to reach your pre-established destination.
John Drewitz, an old friend in the auto biz who sells BMWs and Mercedes products at Sears Imports in Wayzata, has prompted me often enough that the iDrive is to be considered a tool to be programmed, rather than a nuisance to be resisted – and/or detested. So I thought I’d coexist, and overlook the fact that you have to continue to glance at the navigation screen repeatedly whenever you wanted to change radio stations. I found that if you programmed it right, you could then switch to your preset favorites by merely rocking a switch on the steering wheel. And the pleasing and soothing voice of the Nav Lady prodded me if I was going to miss a turn.
There is one odd thing about BMWs. ItÂ’s not that you feel superior driving one, but there seems to be a prevailing attitude among other drivers that you must be a smug son of a gun because you have such a fine car. So you find other drivers speeding up, maybe stealing a glance at your ride, and then acting almost rude, as if they are achieving something by getting ahead of a Beemer. So you have to take on a bit of an attitude yourself. You may not be better than those in the other cars, but the BMW may make you a better driver, so youÂ’d better pay attention.
With everything in place, I cruised in on 94 to reach Milwaukee, and a few signs tipped me off to impending difficulties. Road construction ahead, the signs said. I wasnÂ’t worried, although I had left just barely enough time to cruise on in and get to Bradley Center for the drop of the first semifinal puck. Once I got to Milwaukee, however, I had more reason to be concerned.
It appears that the kind of nuisance road construction I’m used to in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area was not in force. What was in force was an all-out assault on every exit that might allow you to get off I94 anywhere remotely close to downtown Milwaukee. The Nav Lady said, “Take the next exit.†Hmmmm, the next exit was also closed. “…Take the next exit,’ the Nav Lady said again, and then again, and again. If I wasn’t sure, I thought I detected some frustration, if not impatience, from that sweet computerized voice.
{IMG2}
But there was nothing I could do. The Nav Lady was giving me good advice, but the only vehicle I could think of that could take the “next exit†was a helicopter, and I didn’t have one handy. Pretty soon, I was through town, past the tall buildings near Lake Michigan, and heading north, as if I was headed for Sheboygan, or Green Bay.
Finally, amid the gathering rubble, I found an exit, and veered off the freeway. As soon as I got up to the stop sign, the Nav Lady got busy saving me. “Take the first left,†she said, and as I did, she added, hastilyÂ…Ââ€prepare to take the next left turn.Ââ€
Soon I was headed back down a quite messy street that was something of a frontage road that led to 6th Street, and on the navigation screen, I could see a group of buildings that included Bradley Center. I kept heading toward it, and when I got close, I pulled over and parked, locking up the car and walking six blocks to the arena.
Good game, too, although North Dakota lost to Boston College 6-5, and I wanted the Fighting Sioux to win. Two days later, Wisconsin beat Boston College 2-1 for the NCAA title. I had predicted beforehand that Wisconsin would win both the menÂ’s and womenÂ’s NCAA titles, and that final made my hunch look prophetic.
I gave a friend a ride further downtown to catch a quick and late dinner on the night between games, and later dropped him at his hotel. The next day he mentioned that the group of cool-looking folks inside waited until I was driving away, then went, “Wow! Did you see that BMW?’†It is that special, although passers-by prefer to withhold such impressions if you might witness them. As a driver, I am reminded of Gene Wilder in the movie Silver Streak, where he blackens his face and tries to strut with his buddy, Richard Pryor, but has a bit of a problem walking cool. Naturally, he overplays his part to hilarity, but in a way, you have to drive cool in a BMW.
Sunday morning, time to hit I94 westbound, cruising effortlessly. Of course, I wasnÂ’t alone. The Nav Lady was with me, and she was the perfect companion. She didnÂ’t ever complain about my choice of satellite radio music or humor, as I cruise-controlled my way across Wisconsin. The miles melted away, and I was sure to drive cool, all the way. In a BMW 650i, it would be impossible to NOT drive cool.
Honda Fit fits into fittingly tight spots befitting a small car
SANTA MONICA, CALIF. — It seems as though Honda has filled every available automotive niche, so the question is, when it brings out a new compact car, where in the world will it fit? Right there. In fact, it fits so well, that the new compact Honda is being called “Fit.Ââ€
To demonstrate how tight an area the Fit will fit through, HondaÂ’s marketing folks created a unique little test at the carÂ’s introduction in Santa Monica. They put a pair of vertical posts up, let the media types drive to a starting line about 20 yards away, then signal how close to put the posts, with the idea we could still fit the Fit through the gap. Think of it as something of a vertical limbo dance for a car.
I waved them close, then closer, because in my experience, drivers generally can squeeze through a tighter opening than they think. I was right. I positioned the posts closer than I thought was possible, and I still fit the Fit between them, without scraping any paint off the side mirrors. Others came closer.
Nobody, however, beat my first-try parallel parking attempt, where I purposely oversteered my attempt to park between extremely close pylons, trying to compensate for the carÂ’s compactness, and I made a perfect park, an inch from the curb, on my first try. “Fit” may be an odd name, but Honda obviously is hoping if the Fit fits, people will choose it as most fitting.
Next came a small, tight, pylon-lined course, which the Honda folks insisted was a not an all-out performance autocross, but just an agility drill, with a stop, and a back-up part, before the quick-stop finish. I went through it well, but conservatively, and though I didnÂ’t beat later drivers who ran it with tire-screaming aggressiveness as if it were an all-out autocross, I came away impressed with the FitÂ’s quickness and agility.
Prior to all that lunchtime fun and frolic, I already had been impressed with the FitÂ’s performance zipping around and through the twisty hillsides of the mountain range inland from Santa Monica. Along the way, the thought occurred to me that when U.S. automakers and critics criticize imports, they are missing a serious point with Hondas, among others.
When Honda builds a new vehicle, critics and competitors can line up and nitpick all they want, but one thing remains unassailable: Honda vehicles tend to be a complete package, with the total far exceeding the mere sum of its parts. The Fit is a perfect example, because it is a 5-door hatchback with a futuristic cab-forward design, with an interior that is remarkably versatile, and with performance that lifts it from utilitarian to fun.
Ingenious design makes the interior versatile in a Swiss Army knife sort of a way. Flipping and folding second-row seats can create a tall mode, long mode and lounge mode. In tall mode, the surprisingly low floor can house a bicycle; in long mode, folding the right side front seat and second row seats makes a 7-foot flat storage surface; in lounge mode, reclining the front buckets can turn the Fit into a great place for two weary occupants to grab rest-area naps.
A 1.5-liter engine with multiple valves and VTEC variable valve-timing has a posted 109 horsepower at 5,800 RPMs, and 105 foot-pounds of torque at 4,800, with EPA gas mileage estimates of 33 city, 38 highway. You can choose a five-speed manual or a five-speed automatic, and the automatic comes with paddles on the back of the steering wheel for fingertip manual shifts. How very sports-car like, for something more resembling a mini-minivan.
Speaking of critics, General Motors is on a marketing campaign to insist its cars are every bit as good, or better, than comparable imports that are perceived to be better, and that itÂ’s the fault of the media for not creating the proper image for GM cars. Amazingly, IÂ’ve recently read a couple of syndicated columns where the creators shamelessly repeat or rephrase exactly that sentiment. A General Motors official recently informed me that the new Malibu is every bit as good if not better than cars like the Honda Accord. I stopped him right there.
The Malibu, and the Pontiac G6, are very good, possibly the best of a new breed of GM cars. They have tightness, good handling, decent performance, are priced about right, and they have almost all the important features. Almost. But when comparing cars, the last I checked, the engines are part of it. Therefore, hallucination is a prerequisite for anyone who declares them equal to or better than the new Accord, or Camry, for that matter.
Unquestioned engine technology is a major part of Honda’s allure. Honda had multiple valve engines with variable valve timing – technology transferred directly from Ayrton Senna’s superb Formula 1-winning Honda engines – on the entry level Civic back in 1991. That’s 15 years ago. By the mid-1990s, Honda’s VTEC system expanded to all of Honda’s engines. When Honda makes a new and improved engine, it discontinues its obsolete engines, so all its fours and V6es stay on the world’s cutting edge of technology.
At GM, the Malibu (and G6) don’t get to use the superb and high-tech Cadillac V6, and are saddled instead with the newest version of aging pushrod technology, which is cheaper to produce. When it comes to compacts, Chevy now sells the Aveo, which is built in South Korea’s Daewoo factory, which General Motors recently purchased. So GM loyalists continue to push “buy American†philosophy, and GM is pushing a good – but far from great – Korean import as its subcompact.
Meanwhile, Honda won 2006 North American Car of the Year honors with the completely redone Civic. Fantastic car, from every standpoint. In my tests, I got 37-42 miles per gallon with the Civic EX sedan, with an automatic transmission. Over the years, the Accord has grown, and the Civic has grown commensurately, and the previously subcompact Civic is now larger than the 1985 Accord was.
{IMG2}
Still, as gasoline heads inexorably back toward $3 per gallon, U.S. consumers might finally be ready to follow the lead of savvy buyers in Europe and Japan, and go smaller. If a car can be built structurally safe enough, then smaller, lighter, more agile and more fuel-efficient makes a lot of sense. Toyota is doing it with the Yaris, which is smaller than the Corolla, adjacent to the Scion fleet, and Nissan is doing it with the Versa, which is smaller than the new Sentra. The Mazda5 is a compact van/wagon version of the Mazda3.
If small is going to be large in our immediate automotive future, Honda, as usual, steps to the front of the class with the Fit. The Fit is 19.2 inches shorter and 2.8 inches wider than the 2006 Civic – but it is 18 inches LONGER, 7 inches WIDER and 7 inches TALLER than the first Civic was, back in 1973.
The engine has a sophisticated technique of deactivating one intake valve at low RPMs to create a swirl of more rapid combustion, and that valve is reactivated at mid- to high-RPM use for stronger power.
The five-speed stick has closer-ratio gears from 1-4, with a wider gap to fifth, for improved freeway cruising at lower RPMs for better fuel economy. The five-speed automatic has wider gear ratios, which is a welcome idea to reduce the need for frequent shifting. The paddle operation can be done with the transmission in D, in which case it goes back to normal automatic service by itself, or in full manual mode.
The FitÂ’s front suspension is an independent MacPherson Strut system, similar to the Civic, with the rear switched from multilink to a torsion beam, which allowed lowering the floor by 3 inches. Another key feature is that the fuel tank is moved forward, resting amidship, under the front seats, which used to be a vacant area. That allowed the rear floor to be lowered, 7 inches lower than in a Scion, for example. Passenger room is about the same as the larger Civic, and the cargo area expands from 20.6 to 41.9 cubic feet when you fold the rear seat down.
Honda used the new Ridgeline pickup – 2006 North American Truck of the Year – for overload crash-tests with the Fit. The body structure is made of 36 percent high-tensile steel, and with standard side and side-curtain airbags complementing the front bags, Honda claims top crash-test ratings front and rear side for the Fit.
Prices are between $13,500 and $15,000, in either base or Sport form. The Sport gets bigger (15-inch) alloy wheels, and underbody panel, foglights, paddle shifters, and a better audio system – essentially $2,400 in upgrades for a difference in price of $1,400.
Any car-buyer interested in quick and agile performance, great fuel economy, surprisingly good safety, active-lifestyle versatility inside, and low-price sophistication, will find that the FitÂ…fits.
About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
Click here for sports