Envoy, by any other name, doesn’t have XUV roof

Timing is everything, they say, I just never realized “they” might be talking about the automobile business. That thought occurred to me as I spent a week road-testing a 2005 GMC Envoy XUV.

The term XUV is an attempt by General Motors to differentiate among its newest SUV and other SUVs. The Envoy is GMCÂ’s version of the Chevrolet Trailblazer, similar to the way the GMC Sierra pickup is a GMC version of the Chevy Silverado. Frankly, I think the large oval grille is more attractive than ChevyÂ’s grille opening, which has a horizontal bar across the middle on both its SUVs and pickups.

EnvoyÂ’s XUV, then, is a large midsize sport-utility vehicle with an optional 5.3-liter V8 engine making 300 horsepower and 300 foot-pounds of torque. Although it is not listed anywhere on the vehicle or its engine, the 5.3 has displacement on demand, which means that at highway cruising speed, four of the eight cylinders shut down, a move aimed at improving fuel economy.

By chance, or the luck of the draw, on the day before the GMC Envoy XUV was retrieved from my clutches, an Isuzu Ascender was delivered to me. The Ascender is a large sport-utility vehicle with an optional 5.3-liter V8 making 300 horsepower with 330 foot-pounds of torque.

Huh?

Is it another SUV, or is it Memorex? Now, Memorex might be as creative a name as “Ascender,” which I previously mentioned could be a regrettable name if someone bumped you in the rear and left a dent right next to the name, because folks behind you at a stoplight might put the inflection on the wrong syllable. But the Ascender and the Envoy are the same vehicle. Closer scrutiny shows both were even built in the same plant, in Oklahoma City.

If you’re keeping score, GM produces versions of the Trailblazer/Envoy for Buick, as the Ranier, and also for Isuzu, a loyal affiliate for years, and the new Saab 9-7 is yet another version of the same truck, on the same platform, with the same engines – a 4.2-liter in-line six or the 5.3 V8. All of them have variations in grille design, thankfully, but does the world really need five (or more) of the same truck? General Motors apparently thinks so.

That was all part of my timing for the week, but it carried further.
The Envoy XUV, with an as-tested sticker price of $41,235, has EPA fuel-economy notations of 14 miles per gallon in city driving and 19 on the highway. We drove it a lot, and we appreciated the all-wheel-drive security during a late-winter snowstorm that swept across the Twin Cities and Duluth. But at a constant cruise-control setting of 75 miles per hour – all right, we cheated just a bit on the I35 outstate limit, for scientific reasons, you understand – I got 14.9 miles per gallon as an overall average. It stayed there, all the way up to Duluth, around town, and back to the Twin Cities, except for the very end of the 300-mile trip when the computer said it rose to 15.1.

Meanwhile, the Isuzu Ascender, which has a sticker of $39,468, and the exact same figures of 14 and 19 mpg, was so near identical in every feature except the rearward opening roof. I drove it almost identically with the cruise set on the freeway, and got 14.9 miles per gallon from the Twin Cities to Duluth, around town, and then back down to the Twin Cities, when, it, too, nipped just a bit upward to 15.1 at the end of the trip.

That consistency is reassuring. Or, at least it would be if it hadn’t been for a couple of other bits we can attribute to timing, on the television news. ust before I got into the Envoy, there was an item on CNN where a bright young woman newscaster read an item about Toyota’s energetic plans to expand its capacity in current and future U.S. plants, while also planning on opening a couple more plants. The inevitability of Toyota passing General Motors as the world’s largest automotive company was suggested by GM officials during the recent auto show tour, but on this particular newscast, the woman said something to the effect that: “General Motors is fighting back to Toyota’s challenge by offering $5,000 rebates on some of its vehicles, including SUVs like the Trailblazer and Envoy.”

Rebates generally mean vehicles arenÂ’t selling quickly enough, and General Motors, for at least a decade, has focused its earnings on its trucks and SUVs, at the expense of developing its cars in some cases. So if GM is offering large rebates on one of its most popular-sized SUVs, itÂ’s hardly a show of strength in competition. But it was good PR.

The more significant bit of timing came in two other news items, both of which broke the same Wednesday that they picked up the Envoy. The first item was that the price of crude oil rose to a record $56 per barrel, meaning that the price of a gallon of regular gasoline, which has risen to the neighborhood of $2.25 in the Midwest, was destined to go higher by summertime.

No wonder the olÂ’ credit card took a $45 hit when we filled the Envoy. And, obviously, the Isuzu Ascender.

The second item that night was a feature where a Twin Cities TV crew went out to a Chevrolet dealer, and shot a panoramic view of about an acre of SUVs, sitting unsold. The dealerÂ’s representatives were upbeat, anticipating that this was just a lull that would change back to business as usual. But with all these things coinciding, it gave reason for thought.

Has the American quest for more power and larger vehicles, fed eagerly by GM and other manufacturers for the last few years, finally reached the saturation point? Are consumers reacting to escalating gas prices by creating the sudden drop-off in large SUV sales? Are items such as the limited fuel economy of most SUVs, and the rising tide of gasoline prices, something other than just “timing?”

Time, as they say, will tell.

Meanwhile, the Envoy XUV is loaded with features, not the least of which is an elongated body. I think the extra length gives the Envoy a neater proportion, and it also makes its most unique feature more interesting and useful. That is the power-vanishing rear roof that leaves the rearmost section open for hauling tall objects, in a completely compartmentalized area, separated from the first two rows of seats by a window. The tailgate either drops or swings to the side, opening to a plastic-shrouded area that not only can haul all sorts of grungy stuff if necessary, but can be hosed out afterward without spraying the seats inside. Push a button and the top slides forward until it disappears. Push it again, and it closes securely with the tailgate glass.

I like the instrumentation of the Envoy XUV, and the vents are simple to aim and adjust. It came with a heavy-duty trailer package and Bilstein shocks, plus 17-inch aluminum wheels. Rain-sensing wipers, headlight washers, an upgraded audio, running boards and adjustable pedals are options that boosted the price from $37,790 over the $40,000 plateau.

Standard inside the Envoy XUV are such features as four-wheel disc brakes with antilock, turn signal indicators on the outside mirrors, dual climate control, leather heated seats, and remote keyless entry.
The V8 is not as big as the 6.0-liter one found in the larger Tahoe/Suburban size SUVs, but it has plenty of power to launch the big Envoy, and it maintained freeway speed with ease. Speaking of speed, setting the cruise at 75 meant that we passed very few other vehicles, but got passed by, maybe, 20 vehicles, all but two of which were large SUVs.

One of the best features on the Envoy XUV is the round switch on the dash, by which you set your drive control. You can turn it to the usual two-wheel-(rear) drive high-speed, for most freeway cruising or dry-weather functioning, or you can lock in four-wheel-drive high or low, assuring that all four wheels will turn all the time, either in normal street speed or low off-road speed. But you also can choose what I mainly did, the full-time AWD setting that locks the Envoy in all-wheel drive and lets it regulate itself on how much torque should be distributed to the front or rear wheels.

By the way, at $2,000 less, the Isuzu Ascender didnÂ’t have the rear open-roof thing thatÂ’s unique to the Envoy XUV, and it lacked a few of the touches of the GMC. But the Isuzu had a power moonroof, satellite radio, a Bose audio upgrade, and OnStar. It had similar fake woodgrain trim on the dash, which was a lighter color than the fake woodgrain on the Envoy.

Two key differences were that the Envoy had a rear axle ratio of 3.42 while the Ascender was 3.73, which gives the Isuzu a little more low-end launch power for a 6,200-pound towing capacity. The second one is the Isuzu warranty, which is better than the EnvoyÂ’s at 3-year/50,000 miles, with a 7-year/75,000-mile powertrain and 6-year/100,000-mile anti-corrosion warranty.

Depending on consumer needs, those wanting the biggest Suburban/Tahoe type SUVs can still get them, and enjoy the room and power that comes at the cost of faltering gas mileage. For most, it would seem that the Envoy (and siblings) would probably be big enough and powerful enough to tow or haul almost anything. Trying out the very efficient 4.2-liter in-line six might be advisable, because that engine will get better fuel economy and still has enough power to satisfy most hauling jobs.

If you need to haul home a 10-foot tall palm tree from your neighborhood nursery, the Envoy XUV with the slide-opening roof could be the perfect vehicle. The only trouble is, once you have your palm tree home, it might be awhile before you find something else so tall that youÂ’d need that open roof.

Final Five final day gets recycled as Frozen Four semis

Big arena, great crowd, and fantastic hockey, with North Dakota facing Minnesota and Denver taking on Colorado College, in a classic menÂ’s college hockey doubleheader of legendary rivalries.

Wait a minute. That was two weeks ago, on Saturday, March 19, on the final day of the WCHA Final Five at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Center. They were highly entertaining games, with North Dakota – the fifth-place finisher in the WCHA season – taking down third-place Minnesota 4-2 in the league playoff third-place game, and Denver slipping past Colorado College 1-0 in a battle for the playoff championship between regular-season co-champions.

They were such entertaining games that the hockey gods apparently determined that they should be replayed. So the two games will be redone, at Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday, April 7 as the semifinals of the NCAA Frozen Four.

There were debates, even among the participating coaches, about how much importance there was on those WCHA playoff games. There will be no such debate at the NCAA Frozen Four. Denver (30-9-2) and Colorado College (31-8-3) meet in the 1 p.m. first game next Thursday, while Minnesota (28-14-1) and North Dakota (24-14-5) collide at 6 p.m., both Central time.

In fact, the WCHA could truly make it a sweep by winning the Hobey Baker Memorial Award as well, because Colorado College linemates Marty Sertich and Brett Sterling were named to the final three, along with Cornell goaltender David McKee, as the “Hobey Hat Trick.” The winner will be named in Columbus during the NCAA Frozen Four Friday, between the Thursday semifinals and the Saturday championship game.

Perhaps the last time all four competing coaches could be aligned in total agreement was in discussing Sertich and Sterling. Scott Owens, their coach at Colorado College, said he couldnÂ’t pick one over the other. The other three coaches, who have to stop them, instead of benefiting by them, felt the same.

“Both are extremely dynamic, and I think they’re the best two players in college hockey,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky.

“Sterling is a natural goal-scorer and the way they played against us, I’d have to choose him,” said North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol. “But Marty Sertich has had such a great year, obviously he’s very deserving too.”

Minnesota coach Don Lucia said: “If I had to choose, I’d choose to have ‘em on my team. Sterling is tough around the net and a great goal-scorer. Sertich is more of a playmaker, very quick, and they’re like a hand in a glove – they work together so well. They’re both deserving winners.”

ThatÂ’s just a peripheral attraction to the tournament, however. The main event is the all-WCHA tournament.

ItÂ’s true that getting five teams among the 16 NCAA tournament entries gave the WCHA a tremendous advantage over, say, the CCHA, which had only Michigan and Ohio State, or even Hockey East and the ECAC, which both had three teams selected. Michigan, for example, had to beat two WCHA teams to reach the Frozen Four. The Wolverines beat Wisconsin 4-1, and led Colorado College 3-0 before the Tigers rallied for four unanswered goals and a 4-3 victory. Had the four regional winners been bunched into one regional, it would have been wildly competitive, but only one would have advanced. However, the NCAA tournament committee split the WCHA teams to send them to all four regionals. All four could have failed to make it, if they werenÂ’t deserving.

“Look at how competitive this tournament was,” said Minnesota coach Lucia. “Even Mercyhurst and Bemidji State played very well, and both of our games went overtime. Colorado College had tough games with both Colgate and Michigan. So it was a very competitive tournament.”

Hakstol, in his first year behind the Fighting Sioux bench since replacing Dean Blais, echoed Lucia’s stand. “The NCAA committee did a great job of creating great regionals. Minnesota had the home-ice advantage, maybe, but they had to beat Maine and Cornell to win. Otherwise, Denver had to beat New Hampshire, and CC had to beat Michigan, basically in their backyards, and we were fortunate to get past both Boston University and Boston College, right in Boston.”

No question, the results prove the WCHA teams defeated the best teams from all the other conferences in the country. The bigger question is, will anybody outside the WCHA care about the Frozen Four? Is the fact that the Frozen Four is all from one conference good for general college hockey interest, or is it possibly a negative?

“First of all, college hockey is cyclical,” said Denver coach George Gwozdecky. “But I don’t think this is a bad thing for the Frozen Four. In fact, it might be good, because of the uniqueness.”

Colorado College coach Scott Owens agreed. “I don’t think there is a downside to it,” he said. “Actually, it’s a unique story. If it was something like a three-year trend, it could potentially be bad, but it’s never happened before.”

Hakstol said: “There’s no negative at all, in the large picture.”
At Minnesota, Lucia explained how the results proved the merits of the WCHA. His Gophers tied for third in the WCHA chase, then lost 3-0 to Colorado College and 4-2 to North Dakota to place fourth in the WCHA tournament. However, they turned around to beat both Maine, 1-0, and Cornell, 3-2, in NCAA regional battles, both of which went overtime.

“We certainly knew, at the Final Five, that getting four WCHA teams to the Frozen Four was always possible,” said Lucia. “Our league is so strong that we know if we can finish in the top half of the WCHA, we’ll be OK nationally. Look at last year, when we made it to the NCAA but got knocked out by Duluth, then Duluth got knocked out by Denver, and Denver went on to win the national title.

“One other thing is that all four of these programs have very strong commitments from their institutions.”

That commitment is indicated by the glistening arenas that house all four entries.

“Our program got into the new World Arena after playing in the biggest firetrap west of the Mississippi for 50 years,” said Owens, whose CC Tigers remain the top seed among the Frozen Foursome.

MinnesotaÂ’s Mariucci Arena, amazingly enough, is the oldest of the four, but remains one of the standards used by teams, including the Minnesota Wild, when they plan new buildings. Colorado College got its new World Arena downtown in Colorado Springs, after the legendary but long-outdated and tiny Broadmoor Arena was razed. North Dakota has the ultra-luxurious Engelstad Arena. And Denver has its new Magness Arena.

As of next week – the final week in this memorable and unique college hockey season – all four WCHA teams will leave those state-of-the-art arenas behind and try to make Ohio State’s new Schottenstein Center their home away from home. It will be the first NCAA hockey tournament to consist of all four teams from one conference. But what a conference.

New models power upgraded Anaheim auto show

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — The high price of gasoline may be guiding the automotive world to a more fuel-efficient future, but that message was scarcely seen or heard at the California International Auto Show, which became a high-performance fantasyland at the Anaheim Convention Center, appropriately located down the block from Disneyland.
The traditional Big Three of U.S. manufacturers led with the loudest roars. General Motors introduced a pair of high-performance Pontiac sedans – the GPX models of both the Bonneville and the Grand Prix – along with the new Hummer H3, which is a shrunken Hummer to accompany the Hummer and its more-mainstream H2 models. Ford, which is just now getting the redesigned 2005 Mustang to dealerships, unveiled the Saleen high-performance version of the new Mustang. And Chrysler, which has the 300C stirring up hot sales as a car of the year candidate for 2005, rolled out its SRT-8 high-performance version of the 300C as the perfect drive-in dominator.
Organizers of the California International Auto Show acknowledge that they are not in the same elite status as the Los Angeles and Detroit in January, or the later Chicago and New York shows. But the show is making large strides as a brief but significant preview of the bigger shows. Organizers have bigger things in mind, and the news and new introductions bolster their claim as being the biggest five-day show.
While the domestics made high-performance waves, other prominent introductions made this the most significant Anaheim show to date, including the 2006 Infiniti M45, which was thinly disguised as a concept car in order to delay “official” introduction until the Detroit Auto Show.
Audi showed the new, taller corporate grille of the new A6, which isnÂ’t scheduled for media introduction until the coming week. Jaguar took the wraps off its X-Type station wagon. Kia, meanwhile, introduced a new Sportage, recreating the popular but cramped SUV as a new and stylish version of the Tucson, a new compact SUV displayed nearby by Hyundai, KiaÂ’s Korean patron. Volvo, which hit truck-of-the-year paydirt with its XC-90 for the 2003 model year, presented a new V8 version of the XC-90, which wonÂ’t get its media introduction until the end of November. Honda and Toyota displayed the latest entries in their environmentally conscious duel, with Honda introducing its Hybrid Accord, while Toyota showed off its Lexus 400h, the hybrid version of the RX330 SUV.
GM vice president Bob Lutz joined his new high-performance toys on the floor of the centerÂ’s arena, and said the Bonneville GXP will be devoid of cladding but will be hot with its tweaked 4.6-liter, dual-overhead-cam North Star V8. The Grand Prix will gain a 5.2-liter pushrod V8 that can cut one bank of cylinders when cruising, or when not exercising its 5.9-second 0-60 acceleration capability.
The Ford unveiling included two specialty vehicles from Steve Saleen’s high-performance shop – a Saleen Mustang, and a Saleen Focus, which can achieve 250 horsepower with its standard-issue nitrous injection. Also unveiled was the GR-1, a concept that seems to have replaced the Shelby concept as Ford’s next potential project.
ChryslerÂ’s latest idea from its SRT (Street Racing Technology) shop is the SRT-8 model of the 300C. It has aerodynamic spoilers low on the chin and the rear, huge brakes, and the hot, 5.7-liter Hemi V8 bored out to 6.1 liters, with a forged crankshaft, sodium-filled valves and raised compression ratio conspiring to produce 425 horsepower and 420 foot-pounds of torque. It will go 0-60 in 5 seconds, cover the quarter-mile in the 13-second range, and spans 0-100-0 in about 17 seconds. The car will be available in the spring, in either a silvery-white or black.
The Kia stand was the scene for a couple of surprises. Being right in the heart of tuner-country – or Fantasyland, take your pick – a couple of little Spectras tricked out for the SEMA electronics show, which runs this week in Las Vegas. Then came the unveiling of the Sportage, which had faded from production as a tiny SUV, and now returns as an uptempo SUV that will be under $20,000 and challenges the Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4.
Kia has improved its quality by 64 percent in J.D. Power ratings over the last five years, and the new Sportage will come in either two or four wheel drive, with either a 2.0-liter four or a 2.7-liter V6, with lockup axle capabilities. Kia officials estimate up to 60 percent of sales could go to women, at a price starting at $17,000.
Volvo went to Japan and worked closely with Yamaha to build a new, narrow-angle (60-degree) V8 for the XC-90. Volvo officials say the price will be $45,395 for the XC-90 V8, which will have 311 horsepower and 325 foot-pounds of torque. The 4.4-liter V8 will take the SUV from 0-60 in a scant 6.9 seconds, while also reaching super-ultra-low-emission vehicle II standards.
The Infiniti M will be loaded with luxury and performance features, with either a 280-horsepower V6 or a 340-horse V8, an all-wheel-drive system from the FX45 or G35, plus a DVD surround audio with 14 speakers, and even heated, power-reclining rear seats.
Along with the introductions, the best evidence of the rising status of the Anaheim show is that Chrysler, the traditional leader of clever showtime gimmicks, had a bevy of attractive young women on rollerskates escort the gathered media outside the Convention Center, where a couple dozen vintage Chrysler and Dodge Hemi-engined vehicles were lined up. We were ushered into the cars, which then drove us away in a caravan to a Sonic Burger drive-in. After burgers, onion rings and Cokes were served with 1950s and Â’60s music for background, up drove the glistening silvery-white 300C SRT-8 for its introduction.
Truly, the California International Auto Show has become more than just a valid preview of the bigger shows to come.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews, and can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)

Martin bolsters WCHA connection to Team USA

SAINT PAUL, MINN. — There seems to be a dry spot in the United States National hockey talent pool, and it may have been to blame for preventing Team USA from defending its World Cup tournament championship. But nobody can blame the WCHA, which continues to contribute a steady stream of talent to represent the U.S.

The most recent example is Paul Martin, who just turned 23 years of age, and was the second-youngest player on Team USAÂ’s roster. He also was just one year away from playing defense for the University of Minnesota, and five years past helping Elk River High School remain a perennial state powerhouse.

Martin surprised all — except those in his hometown — when he stepped onto the Xcel Energy ice and played like an experienced veteran midway through the World Cup tournament. He would be first to refuse the credit, but the U.S. had faltered in losing 2-1 to Canada and 3-1 to Russia, before coach Ron Wilson shuffled his lineup and inserted Martin and four other back-up players. After that, the U.S. came back to beat Slovakia 3-1, then avenged the loss to Russia with a 5-3 victory in the quarterfinals.

Team USA lost a tight, tough 2-1 semifinal to Finland, which went on to lose a tense 3-2 title game to Canada in the final of the eight-team international World Cup tournament. But nobody questioned Martin, or several other WCHA stalwarts on the U.S. team, such as Chris Chelios, Brett Hull, Brian Rafalski, Jason Blake and Jordan Leopold.

“I’ve played a lot of games at this place,” said Martin, who helped the Gophers win successive NCAA championship in 2002 and 2003, with the 2002 tournament and the 2003 NCAA Regional both held at Xcel. “But I felt a little nervous at first, because I hadn’t played in the first two games. I definitely had some butterflies.”

Chelios, the 41-year-old Detroit defenseman and former Wisconsin star, declared this would be his last appearance on a national team. Brian Rafalski, another ex-Badger, was another New Jersey representative and standout on the USA defense. Brett Hull, the seemingly ageless sniper from Minnesota-Duluth, just left Detroit for Phoenix in the NHL and is another of Team USA’s “old guard,” players who obviously can still do the job, but are nearing the end of glowing pro careers.

The gap comes in the “middle-age” national prospects. The oldest players are almost legendary, and the young guard is well-represented by Martin, mercurial forward Blake, who is a former North Dakota star, and Leopold, who starred for Calgary’s rush to the Stanley Cup finals in the spring of 2004, two seasons after winning the Hobey Baker Award on an NCAA championship Minnesota team.

Martin, in fact, wouldn’t have even made Team USA’s final roster until a concussion knocked out Leopold, his former Gopher teammate, during World Cup exhibition play. Martin, who bypassed his senior year at Minnesota to sign a contract with the New Jersey Devils a year ago, had impressed teammates, management, fans and foes with his cool demeanor under fire and his apparently limitless “upside” in his rookie pro season.

U.S. coach Ron Wilson, a former NHL star and an All-America defenseman at Providence during his college days, wasnÂ’t sure about inserting Martin, but he threw all five of his spare players into the lineup for the Slovakia game. It only took one game for Wilson to appreciate Martin.

“I was really impressed with Paul Martin,” said Wilson, after his first game, the victory over Slovakia. “He came in the middle of camp. When Jordan Leopold went down, I asked Brian Rafalski about Paul and he had nothing but good things to say about him. They had been partners at New Jersey, so there’s some chemistry there.
“But tonight I saw why everybody’s so high on Paul Martin.”

Martin’s cool, smooth puck-handling under pressure earned him immediate and continuing duty on the penalty-killing unit. “At New Jersey, I’ve been lucky to play with defensemen like Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermeyer and Brian Rafalski,” said Martin. “But that also means I don’t kill many penalties. So I was glad to kill penalties here.”

Martin also manned the point effectively on the power play later in the tournament, notching an assist on the only goal in the 2-1 elimination loss to Finland.

When the U.S. lost the preliminary game to the Russians, Martin watched from the seats. In the quarterfinal rematch, he was on the ice and played another impressive game. He noted a difference in Team USAÂ’s play.

“The hockey is a little more open, with less clutching and grabbing than the NHL,” said Martin. “We played a lot smarter, about where we put the puck and eliminating turnovers.”

As a humble and respectful player, Martin never showed the awe he had for some of his teammates, and certainly not for any of his extremely skilled adversaries.

“I watched guys like Chelios and Brian Leetch when I was growing up,” said Martin. “And Mike Modano played for the North Stars until the team went to Dallas. His wife is from here, and our family knows her family, so I was able to get posters of him. I still have posters of Mike Modano all over my house. He doesn’t know that.”

When Finland prevailed with two third-period goals to overturn a 1-0 U.S. lead in the semifinals, Chelios, the team captain, came out to address the media. “We knew what we were up against, and we stuck to our game plan and played a good game,” Chelios shrugged. “But they played well, too. We have nothing to be embarrassed about. Everybody stuck to the system and there was no selfishness.”

Chelios disagreed with suggestions that his departure might mean an end of an era of success for the U.S., which won the World Cup in 1996 and the silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics, another team with Chelios as captain. “Aside from me, and maybe Brett (Hull), this is a young team. There are guys like Martin and others who can carry it on.”

A similar theme came from Wilson, after he paid tribute to Chelios.
“When you see how Chris Chelios operates in a dressing room, you see what he’s all about,” said Wilson. “Chris is all-inclusive. He’s not an elitist. That’s a rare quality in a modern-day athlete. He makes sure everybody is involved.

“People ask me if there’s a gap in the U.S. program after those older players, and I don’t know about the personnel other than what I’ve seen. But the U.S. won the World Junior title last winter, and not by fluke, either, so the future is bright. There might be a few jars missing in the cupboard along the way, but we’ll be replacing them soon.

“Chris has been a tremendous ambassador for USA Hockey and the NHL. So have players like Brian Leetch, Mike Modano, Bill Guerin and Keith Tkachuk. But players like Paul Martin and Scotty Gomez will carry that torch in the future, and hopefully they’ll remember some of the things they learned from some of those warriors.”

And who knows? Maybe 20 years from now, Paul Martin will still be making pinpoint passes out of the zone, and a much-younger Team USA teammate will marvel at his skill, even while moving his own play up to that levelÂ…and maybe being reluctant to tell his veteran partner that he has Paul Martin posters all over his house.

Redesigned Pathfinder charts new paths for 2005

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH. — Among the countless sport utility vehicles on the market, the Nissan Pathfinder has always been one of my favorites. Virtually all SUVs have some impressive characteristics, but for some reason, whenever IÂ’ve climbed aboard a Pathfinder since it was introduced in 1986, everything always seemed to fit.

The new 2005 model of the Pathfinder seems to fit, too, although it also seems to have grown closer to full-size than the mid-size segment it helped create. Even diehard Pathfinder fanciers may require a period of adjustment before recognizing the all-new, third-generation of NissanÂ’s original sport utility vehicle.

After driving a couple different versions of the new Pathfinder in the stunningly beautiful ruggedness of Bainbridge Island, and the urban jungle that best describes mainland SeattleÂ’s traffic patterns, there is no question that the new Pathfinder is the most impressive one ever, and projected sales should easily duplicate or improve on the vehicleÂ’s record of 900,000 sold over19 years.

A bigger body on a bigger platform, with a bigger engine and a bigger interior, including third-row seating, plus a book-full of technical advancements to help the new Pathfinder climb rugged terrain or descend cliff-like slopes, give the vehicle an active demeanor while rendering normal on-road operation no challenge at all.

Nissan has made a strong investment in the future with its “F-Alpha” platform — $2.4 billion, to be exact – and its intention is to establish a global presence, in 32 countries of North America, Europe and Asia. Despite its Japanese name, the new Pathfinder is clearly aimed at the U.S. market by one clear fact – the vehicle is assembled in NissanÂ’s Smyrna, Tennessee, plant, and its engines are made up the road at Decherd, Tennessee, where Nissan has built a new engine facility.

Such an investment is always a gamble, and among the gambles Nissan is making is that customers world wide are going to like the look of Nissan trucks, all of them, because the new Pathfinder bears a striking family resemblance to that whole family. The Titan full-size pickup came out a year ago, looking bold and aggressive with its distinctive grille with its “V” shaped diagonal bars and its abruptly contoured fenders and body panels
.
The rest of Nissan’s fleet were in the process of being redesigned or invented, and only now do we realize the strategy. In national advertisements and brochures, you can get a folder that shows the whole array of Nissan trucks coming at you – Titan, Pathfinder, Frontier, Xterra and Armada – and if they all were coming straight on so you could only see the front, you might guess that all five were the same vehicle.

Nissan executives donÂ’t disagree. They think the Titan makes such an impressive impact that they wanted the family to follow its lead. It was a natural that the Armada would, since itÂ’s on the same platform. Interestingly enough, I thought the introduction of the Armada would create a nice size difference above the Pathfinder, but the Pathfinder has grown to jump onto the same platform.
Obviously, during the PathfinderÂ’s lifespan the SUV market has ballooned, from seven nameplates in 1985 to 38 in 2005. The middle size has remained stable, with about 1.4 million annual sales for the last six years, with the big four of that segment being the Pathfinder, Ford Explorer, Chevrolet TrailBlazer and Toyota 4Runner. Nissan has a fleet of competitive SUVs now, with the entry Xterra, and the larger Armada, plus the upscale Murano.
By rebuilding the Pathfinder the way it has, obviously Nissan wants it to move up in scope, while retaining its virtues of what it calls “innovative functionality for highly active families.” To that end, it does not want to abandon off-road service, while most new SUVs are aimed predominately at staying on the road.
While it goes with exceptional power, thanks to its larger, 4.0-liter V6, and steers and handles every on-road need with the agility of a sports sedan, the Pathfinder has been engineered to be an over-achiever.
The engine, for example, went from being NissanÂ’s outstanding 3.5-liter V6 to 4.0 by increasing the stroke, but, typically of NissanÂ’s slick engine-building, it also has a modified block to better contain noise and vibration, and has variable valve timing on its dual-overhead-camshaft layout to raise power to 270 horsepower, with 291 foot-pounds of torque spread out over a broad peak range. That gives Pathfinder more power than some V8 competitors.
It also makes for a 6,000-pound towing capacity, which is better than some pickup trucks. A built-in recessed trailer hitch is standard on all models. If Nissan can bring the Pathfinder in at or about $30,000 for all its improvements, it should sell a lot of them.
Nissan wanted a stiffer chassis, but instead of hydroforming the frame rails, it used stronger and lighter high-tensile steel to accomplish the same added rigidity without adding weight. The boxed, body-on-frame construction is coupled with double-wishbone independent front and rear suspension and a new rack-and-pinion steering system, all of which improves stability and steering feel. That also allowed Nissan to make two major improvements.
First, the suspension takes up less space, making room for a third row of seats to be installed. Second, engineers capitalized on the more compact suspension layout by positioning the drivetrain, gas tank and all other necessary parts above the frame rails. That improves ground clearance to 9.2 inches, and we proved the benefits while crashing across Nissan’s off-road course on Bainbridge Island – if and when the Pathfinder bottoms out over rough terrain, the frame rails hit first. And they can handle it.
Power is controlled via a five-speed automatic transmission, and a switch can put the Pathfinder into low-range for the most-rugged terrain, where two neat new features improve driving control. First is hill-descent control, which can be switched on or off with a console switch. When itÂ’s on, if you take your foot off both the gas and the clutch while descending a dangerously steep grade, the Pathfinder automatically slows to 3.25 miles per hour. It takes great self-discipline to not step on the brake in such a circumstance, but if you step on the brake on such a steep hill, the vehicle is likely to skid on sand or gravel.
The second new device is an ingenious thing called hill-start assist. Whenever driving up an extremely steep off-road hill – or one of the steeper avenues on a winter day in Duluth – you come to a stop, and when you take your foot off the brake, you have a few anxious moments as the vehicle starts to roll backwards. But with hill-start assist, stepping on the brake prompts the Pathfinder to automatically hold its position without rolling back for two seconds – plenty of time to get your right foot onto the gas pedal.
Vehicle dynamic control lets the Pathfinder offer computer-aided assistance to all driving conditions. Four-wheel limited-slip and traction-control leave the driver with a feeling of secure command. Flip a switch and go from two-wheel drive to automatic, to four-wheel drive, to four-wheel-drive low range. The four-wheel drive system has an advanced torque-splitting system that optimizes driving power by altering the power left-to-right on each axle to shift power to the wheel with more traction.
The comfortable and spacious interior is enhanced by other features when encountering the most rugged terrain. While the Pathfinder comes in four varieties – the base XE, upgraded SE, higher performance SE Off-Road, and top LE – it will be sold in both rear-wheel and all-wheel drive versions. Nissan figures the loaded LE will account for 40 percent of sales, with the SE 30 percent, leaving an equal split of 15 percent each for the base XE and the hot-tuned SE Off-Road.
The second-row seats have a 70-30 split, fold-down capability, and the third row has 50-50 split fold-down-ability too, and both the second and third rows fold down into the floor for a flat surface. Fold down everything, and you get a 10-foot cargo length, and a maximum 37.7 cubic feet of cargo volume. Put all the seats up, and you can seat seven and still find adequate room behind the third bench, with an easily cleaned vinyl-covered cargo floor.
Nissan also projects that 80 percent of all the two-wheel-drive Pathfinders will be sold in the Southwest, while 90 percent of Pathfinders sold in Northern climates will be 4x4s, with virtually 100-percent 4×4 in snowy states like Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Some neat ideas had ulterior motives on the Pathfinder. For example, the automatic transmission stalk comes down from Park to Reverse, then drive, then 3, then 2, but you then move the stalk to the right to engage first. That seemed like a logical fail-safe idea, because most drivers would only hand-shift it to first for the toughest off-road projects. But thatÂ’s only part of the reason. The other one is that by having the shift stalk move horizontally for its last move, enough room was created for an extra cupholder.
(John Gilbert writes weekly auto reviews. He can be reached at cars@jwgilbert.com.)

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• 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:
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.