Pacifica refines assets of SUV, Minivan, station wagon
At a glance, the Chrysler Pacifica could be mistaken for a sport-utility vehicle. From a different angle, it looks a lot like a minivan. From the side, itÂ’s even possible to assume itÂ’s a station wagon.
But, please, for the sake of the collective ego at Chrysler’s division of DaimlerChrysler, whatever you do – don’t call it a station wagon, because we all know station wagons became far too mundane 20 years ago. And don’t call it a minivan, because for a decade now, minivans have remained popular, but nobody promotes them, and even buyers tend to buy them without bragging about them. As for SUVs, well, don’t call the Pacifica an SUV, either, because that term has become so overused it’s certain to be the next discard in the automotive lexicon.
Chrysler prefers to call the Pacifica “an entirely new segment of premium automotive transportation called sports tourer.Ââ€
So there.
When it first was introduced, I figured the Pacifica was a crossover SUV, one of the latest trend vehicles, where a manufacturer eliminates the inherent stability problem of large SUVs by tossing aside the truck platform and mounting a wagon-like body on a car chassis to make a lower, more stable vehicle. But since itÂ’s been introduced, manufacturers have all been trying to claim sole possession of a unique market segment. Some call them SAV, for sports-activity vehicle, others have come up with similarly spun-off names, as if the name alone can create a separation from normal SUV-type vehicles.
Whatever you call the Pacifica, it started off selling slowly. It was luxurious, and solid, and also costly, coming in around $35,000. But when consumers seemed to realize the Pacifica was a pretty good competitor for such high-profile vehicles as the BMW X5, the Nissan Murano, Infiniti FX35, and assorted other midsize alternative-SUVs, its sales improved. The Pacifica is being built in the Windsor, Ontario, facility, capable of producing 100,000 a year if demand calls for it.
What the Pacifica provides is a comfortable and luxurious ride, with three rows of seats to haul six occupants – minivan style. The second and third rows of those seats fold down flat for hauling – station wagon style. The Pacifica also comes standard with all-wheel drive – just like a proper SUV.
But the Pacifica also provides a solid dose of luxury, with firmly supportive bucket seats, covered with leather from the option list, and a neat interior with a lot of features that are located in surprisingly intuitive locations. I donÂ’t mean to chip at Chrysler, but no matter how much you used to like the old Chrysler products, some of the switchgear and other interior elements had a familiar sameness, a sort of plasticky, tacky array that never seemed to go away.
The Pacifica is filled with new stuff: A neat, thick-gripped steering wheel with remote controls within thumb reach; A center stack of controls that look stylish and are comfortable to operate; A console-mounted automatic gear selector lever, with an autostick position to allow clutchless manual shifting.
Best of all, the instrument panel has a new, fresh appearance, and if you order the optional navigation system, the map comes on to fill in the inside of the arching speedometer numbers. It is unique, and it comes on with an electronic trick that makes only the red-orange tip of the speedometer needle visible as it passes over the numbers – the transparent stalk of the speedometer needle is invisible, leaving no trace or shadow to be superimposed on the navigation screen.
It is so neat that I can overlook the fact that the navigation system itself is nowhere near as sensitive to locations as many of the contemporary systems. My own private test ground for navigation systems is a familiar trip up the North Shore from Duluth, just a couple of miles on good olÂ’ Hwy. 61, being revisited before turning northward. The Pacifica nav system identifies that North Shore Drive, but when I turn, the screen makes it look like IÂ’m driving off into the wilderness.
I don’t expect my road to be identified on a world-class navigation system, but it is identified, along with tiny side roads, on what I’ve found to be the best system on the market – the Infiniti unit that also can be found in Nissan vehicles. Still, putting the screen inside the speedometer is neat, unique, and certainly easy to spot for the driver with an economy of glances away from the road ahead.
Speaking of that anonymous roadway, when I drove the Pacifica north from Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago, I couldnÂ’t help but notice how little snow there was. Same when I got to Duluth, and even as I headed out along the north shore of Lake Superior. But when I turned up my road, plowed snow piles started to appear on either side. And as I continued up the long, near two miles of incline, the snow was obviously deeper, hanging from the fir tree branches.
When I got to the top of my hill, there was a plowed ridge over two feet high. It would be a worthy challenge to shovel it, but I was alone, and it was about 11 p.m., and I decided IÂ’d wait until morning to attack it.
So, while I hadn’t needed the Pacifica’s minivan or station wagon capabilities, except to haul my usual assortment of bags and gear, it was time for it to show its best SUV personality. I turned toward the ridge of snow, backed up a bit, and…charged. With only a momentary “Whump,†the Pacifica went right through the pile, and the all-wheel drive churned merrily through the pristine snow that covered my driveway. I drove in by the house, backed up by the garage, and trudged to the house.
The next morning, I noticed all sorts of scrape marks in the snow, where the accumulated snow was deep enough that the undercarriage of the Pacifica pushed it aside as I drove through it in the middle of the previous night.
Whatever you think about this yearÂ’s harsh winter, with record snowfalls followed by record low temperatures, itÂ’s been a great year for testing the ability of various vehicles to provide faithful success in getting through the worst elements. The Pacifica passed with more than flying colors. It maintained its grace and class no matter how terrible the conditions.
The test vehicle listed for $36,060. It started with a base price of $32,300, and added $890 for leather interior, $1,595 for the navigation system with its global positioning system and its instrument cluster display, and the rest for a power rear liftgate and satellite radio.
The biggest news about the Pacifica is not the slick options, but the standard equipment. The 3.5-liter V6 is strong, with 24 valves and overhead cams, turning out 250 horsepower and 250 foot-pounds of torque. The four-speed automatic transmission seemed to complement the engineÂ’s power, four-wheel disc brakes with antilock, power adjustable pedals, load leveling and height control on the performance suspension, dual zone air conditioning, consoles both front and rear, keyless entry, 17-inch alloy wheels with all-season performance tires, foglights, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, and those fold-flat second and third row seats.
The power rear liftgate deserves special credit, too. It not only is standard, but much appreciated if youÂ’re portraying Dr. Zhivago, carrying three sacks of groceries through Siberian cold. Push the button on the key fob, and the Pacifica makes a distinct, mechanical sound, then the door pops ajar, and whirs up to its fully opened position. Load the grocery sacks, push the button again, and it closes, tightly.
I would say that allows you to jump into the pleasantly warm driverÂ’s seat, except that the test vehicle did not have seat heaters. I may be getting spoiled, but IÂ’ve driven so many test cars with seat heaters that I definitely miss them when they arenÂ’t there, and the thermometer says things such as “31 below.Ââ€
When it comes to luxury touches, aside from the comfortable seats and well-arranged controls, the Infinity sound system is a 5.1 digital surround thing, with six disc in-dash CD player, and Sirius satellite radio.
DaimlerChrysler went to extremes to make sure the Pacifica safety standards were set high. Side-curtain airbags, inflatable knee blocker, and front crash sensors complement the usual multistage front airbags. The Pacifica comes in with National Highway Traffic Safety Administration ratings of five stars for all front and side impact tests.
In the worst imaginable driving conditions, I got 20 miles per gallon in combined city-highway driving, right in the midst of the EPA estimates of 17 city, 22 highway. Those figures are right there with minivans, possibly not quite up to the most economical station wagons, and well ahead of most SUVs with all-wheel drive. So we can agree that the Pacifica may not be any of the above, but it does capture some of the best elements of all of them and combines them into a unique package.
Volvo S40 adds style, luxury, safety to compact size
LOS ANGELES, CA. — On the first leg of the media introductory drive of the Volvo S40 sedan, I drove a bit too fast into a switchback curve on a wonderfully twisty mountain road a half-hour north and east of the perpetual Los Angeles traffic snarl. Without any drama, the S40 held a perfect trajectory, parallel to the yellow line, prompting my driving partner to ask: “Does this car have all-wheel drive?Ââ€
I had to admit that I didnÂ’t know, although I suggested that the car felt so secure, traced the curves so precisely, and exhibited no torque-steer, so it must be all-wheel drive. On the other hand, I said, it felt so light and agile that it could be the standard front-wheel drive. Turns out, it was front-drive, because we were co-driving advance versions of the S40 and the all-wheel-drive version wonÂ’t be out until closer to summer. They will be 2005 models; the cars we drove were considered 2004.5 models.
That best describes how good the new S40 is, however. Similar to AudiÂ’s proven front-wheel-drive with quattro all-wheel upgrades, Volvo has achieved similar performance. Maybe the S40 with all-wheel drive will be even better, but the front-drive S40 is awfully good.
Volvo spent 75 years building cars with one stubborn objective – to be uncompromisingly safe. In quest for such safety, Volvo engineers yielded fun and sportiness along the way. It wasn’t until the last decade that Volvo came out of its boxy styling closet to streamline its sedans, and it wasn’t until last year that Volvo tried its hand at a safe compact sport-utility vehicle. The innovative rollover crashworthiness of the XC-90 SUV helped it win 2003 International Truck of the Year, and the same technology, coupled with legendary front, front-angle, and newly improved side-impact crash safety was transferred to the S60 and S80.
Last year, VolvoÂ’s long-suppressed hot-rod heart also was exposed with the S60 R. That midsize sedan, with 300 horsepower, just as much torque, and firm, all-wheel-drive performance that is as fun and stable on a race track as it is safe and comfortable on its way to a shopping mall, is a limited-edition gem. All of that figured into the design scheme for this year, when it came time to redo the compact S40.
The previous car was about 50-50 shared development with Mitsubishi, and it did its job, proving that Volvo could make an entry-level car, priced in the mid-$20,000 range, and not compromise the safety ideals being promoted by the midsize S60 and luxury S80 models. If the old S40 style was soap-carving smooth, it was Ivory in being unobtrusive, and it didnÂ’t do much to lower VolvoÂ’s average buyer age from 49.
The new S40 is a masterstroke of combining cutting-edge Volvo safety, new-found Volvo sportiness, and new levels of features packed into a lighter, more compact, and far more stylish vehicle. It also proves the benefits of mutual engineering exchanges with other Ford subsidiaries. Ford of EuropeÂ’s suspension experts, and MazdaÂ’s advanced engineering had shared in platform development, which also was used for the new Mazda3.
The S40 wound up with a platform 68 percent stiffer against flexing while measuring 2.2 inches shorter and with a 3-inch longer wheelbase than the outgoing S40. ItÂ’s also 2.1 inches wider, which allows increases in every interior dimension. Volvo designers topped that platform with a stunningly attractive car, making the S40 look like a slightly stubbier and sportier version of its S60 big brother. Using the S60, S80 and XC-90 technology, the S40 attained the same crashworthiness, despite being smaller and lighter.
Computer-designed layering of four different grades of steel, with ultra-strength boron steel in the bumper, side pillar and door cross-beams, and the next-best extra-high steel reinforcing other areas surrounding the passenger compartment, the S40 is designed to withstand impacts by cushioning, diverting, or preventing penetration as the intrusion nears the occupant compartment. Airbags, side curtains and self-tensioning harnesses are coordinated with the system, as is the standard traction control to inhibit spinning and the optional skid control that helps avoid what could become a spinout.
For power, both engines are five-cylinder, with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and variable valve timing. The base S40 comes with a 168 horsepower 2.4-liter, normally-aspirated 5-cylinder engine, with an optional 2.5-liter turbocharged 5 available. The T5 measures 2,521 cc. displacement to the 2,435 cc. of the 2.4, the difference being the T5Â’s 3.67-inch stroke to 3.54 for the 2.4. The all-wheel-drive S40 will have the T5 engine, which is the same one that powers the S60, S80 and XC-90. With 218 horsepower and 236 foot-pounds of torque, the T5 has more than enough to hurl the 3,100-pound S40 around, especially with the same 6-speed manual transmission from the S60 R.
Base price of the S40 is $24,190 with the non-turbo 2.4-liter engine and 5-speed automatic, and $26,990 for the T5 with the same automatic, with both prices representing slight decreases from similarly equipped 2004 models.
I drove both the T5 with a 6-speed and the 2.4 with a 5-speed manual. No question, the nonturbo 2.4 was “good†where the T5 was “hot,†but in normal commuting, the 2.4 would be easily adequate. Tests show 0-60 times range from 7.7 seconds with the 2.4 stick and 8.4 with the automatic, compared to the quicker 6.3 seconds with the T5 stick and 6.7 with the automatic. Fuel economy ranges from 24 city to 32 highway for the 2.4, and 22-30 for the T5.
Five is an odd number for an engineÂ’s cylinders, but they make sense, because they approach the power of an in-line 6, while eliminating the harmonic vibrations of a 4-cylinder. Both Volvo S40 engines are built in the Skovde, Sweden, plant, where they were refined for the S40, with grouped and rerouted tubes and streamlined attached accessories designed to carve 7.8 inches off the enginesÂ’ width to ease their transverse fit above the front axle. Safety engineers ran computerized frontal crash-tests of the S40 without the engines mounted, then placed the engines into the open space between crumpled front end and untouched bulkhead.
Independent suspension at all four wheels includes a rear multilink setup that allows some side-to-side flexing that has almost the same effect as four-wheel steering by leaning to maintain contact where a more rigid system might tend to lose traction, and aiding both safety and sporty handling.
While the new car proves the benefits of contemporary styling and the new-found fun of the escapist hot-rod engineers, it leaps to new heights from the usual comfortable but uninspired interiors. The S40 eliminates a nagging shortcoming of past radios, with their complex and unintuitive push and turn knobs without preset pushbuttons, and created a really neat new idea in the process. The new audio system is good, and gets better with an upgrade to a 13-speaker, 445-watt surround system.
Bigger news is the control panel for upper audio and lower heat-air systems. Volvo calls it, simply, the “centre stack,†but it is unlike anything else in the industry, with switches located on a curving, vertical panel that is about a half-inch thick, dropping gracefully from the center-dashboard to the floor. There is open space behind the panel, with a stowage area reachable in the pass-through from both the driver and passenger seats.
That slim and high-tech panel can be ordered in brushed aluminum, faux woodgrain, a coated plastic, or in a dark-tint see-through plastic called ice aqua. The weird old knob system is replaced by a button to differentiate from AM to FM to CD or phone, and a keypad that has three rows of three numbers, same as a phone keypad, so you can program stations 1-9 accordingly. You actually could reach over and hit the third button on the top row to change stations without taking your eyes off the road.
Reaction to the new interior was so unanimous that Volvo is certain to implement in other models. The sooner the better.
Volvo plans to build 70,000 S40s at its modern Ghent, Belgium, plant, with 28,000 of them heading for the U.S. A new ad campaign is aimed at buyers from age 25 up, hoping to lower the demographics from 49 to the 30-35 age group. The carÂ’s features, performance, and amazingly low price make it a strong candidate against perceived rivals such as the Acura TSX, Audi A4, Volkswagen Passat and Jetta, and even such mainstream giants as the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. Volvo product strategy manager Anders Robertson pointed out that the S40 is 3.2 inches shorter than the A4, but has more interior room for head and legroom in every dimension; it is 7.5 inches shorter than the TSX, but has similar interior room; and it is within an inch of the PassatÂ’s every interior dimension, even though it is 10 inches shorter overall.
With fold-down rear seats expanding the trunk from a length of 38.4 to 68.7 inches, and a towing capacity of 3,300 pounds, the S40 seems ready for anything. Various packages can enhance the sportiness of the car, including everything from wheel size and suspension settings to exterior cosmetic add-ons, or luxury, with leather interior and a power moonroof. But the beauty of the S40 is that it is that in base form, it still meets VolvoÂ’s safety standards while offering a fresh new look plus premium-car features for entry-level prices.
Besides, driving aggressively through a tight turn further amplifies the S40’s character – even if it’s so precise you can’t tell whether it’s front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. And it won’t be long, I’ll bet, before we see an S40 R.
(John Gilbert can be reached by email at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Chevy, Ford icons duel at Detroit Auto Show
DETROIT, MI. — Amid all the spectacle and ceremony of new-car introductions at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, it was fascinating to observe a little bit of ancillary dueling between those two lovable giants, Chevrolet and Ford. Both have declared that they are going after the recapturing of domestic car market share with the same zeal theyÂ’ve been devoting to trucks in recent years.
That remains to be seen, because trucks remain such an enormously profitable part of the domestic scene, but it might indicate that Chevy and Ford have come so close to exhausting their ideas for filling every truck niche that they are turning now to the car market they had almost seemed to grant to Asian and European competitors.
At any rate, both Chevy and Ford are turning back to their oldest and most familiar icons to spearhead their refocused objective of cars – Chevy with an all-new, sixth-generation Corvette, and Ford with the previously introduced Mustang. Ford is going so far as to declare 2004 the “Year of the Car.Ââ€
There were dozens of flashy new introductions at the three-day barrage of media days preceding the North American International Auto Show at DetroitÂ’s Cobo Hall. Toyota, which passed Chevrolet to become the largest-selling car nameplate in the U.S. for 2003, captured the North American Car of the Year award with the innovative Prius, its hybrid gasoline-electric sedan now midsized for 2004. Ford won Truck of the Year with the latest generation F150 pickup.
Then the fun began.
During the next couple of days, Honda introduced a new SUT – sport-utility truck – and admitted that after years of saying Honda would never build a truck, here it was, a Honda truck. It is a full four-door crew-cab type vehicle, with a pickup box at the rear. Very impressive. Honda also showed off a sleek sports car that will be the next Acura NSX, and can be powered by hybrid gas-electric motors.
Toyota – which now has overtaken Chevrolet as the leading car-marquee in sales in the U.S. – introduced several concept vehicles, with the most prominent the FTX, a slick, full-size pickup truck with four doors, and the capability of having hybrid power. Mitsubishi and Subaru joined Toyota and Honda in showing off hybrid vehicles and stressing concern and reaction to environmental issues.
So while Chevy and Ford had declared their aim at cars, Honda and Toyota made big news with trucks.
While Chevrolet and Ford were unveiling newest versions of their old icons, ChryslerÂ’s branch of DaimlerChrysler maintained its tradition of dazzling the assembled media with some fanciful concepts for the future. After showing the new and yet-to-be-released Chrysler 300 sedan and Dodge Magnum wagon, both large, rear-wheel-drivers, as well as a new Dodge Slingshot sports car, a convertible version of the just-introduced Chrysler Crossfire, and new Jeep Rescue and Treo vehicles, Chrysler rolled out a spectacular new sports car concept.
It was called the ME Four-Twelve, and it was a solid candidate as the most sensational new car at the show – duplicating the splash the corporation made a year ago with the bizarre Tomahawk, a V10 motorcycle-like concept vehicle.
A Mercedes-developed 6.0-liter V12, and four turbochargers turn out 850 horsepower and 850 foot-pounds of torque, to push the ME Four-Twelve from 0-60 in 2.9 seconds, 0-100 in 6.2 seconds, and through the standing-start quarter-mile in 10.6 seconds, hitting 142 miles per hour. Top speed is estimated at 248 miles per hour. An elaborate Ricardo double-clutch 7-speed automatic transmission shifts at 200-millisecond intervals to assure what Chrysler gingerly refers to as “uninterrupted torque†to the rear wheels.
That sounds far too outrageous to be true, but Chrysler executives stressed that the car was a prototype, and not a concept car, which means that this is the first of what will be production, whereas a concept car might just be for show. General Motors and Ford held brief displays during the day Sunday, but you could tell they were keeping some secrets.
The most delectable drama was still to come, on Sunday night. Ford had hinted at the introduction of something sporty, and rumor had it that Carroll Shelby would be returning to FordÂ’s fold. So the logical assumption was that Ford, in a 7:30 p.m. Sunday night dinner ceremony at the Cobo Hall Auditorium, would probably roll out a new Mustang-based Cobra, perhaps with the personal blessing of Shelby, the creator of the original Shelby Cobra 40-some years ago.
With that, Chevrolet scheduled a gala media dinner at the historic Detroit Opera House, for 6:30 p.m. – an hour earlier than Ford’s thing – to introduce the sixth-generation Corvette. It had been shown off in pictures and hyperbole as a beautiful new addition to the 50-year history of America’s premier sports car, but it was assumed to be bigger news than “just†a version of the already-shown Mustang, so the large majority of media types headed for the Opera House.
I was among those, and saw the new Corvette, properly impressive because itÂ’s several inches shorter and significantly lighter than its predecessor, and has glass-encased headlights instead of the pop-up lights for the first time since 1962. The latest version of the old-tech pushrod V8 engine has been expanded to 6 liters, and all the latest high-tech components accompany it. The result is 400 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque, with a 6,500-RPM redline.
Numerous reporters, columnists and television stations ran off well-armed, stressing the Corvette was ChevyÂ’s big news, and showing off the footage from earlier in the day of the Mustang as FordÂ’s counter.
After the unveiling of the Corvette, I high-tailed it back to Cobo Hall through a snowstorm to try to catch part of the Ford function. Ford backed up their term “trilogy†with a concept dinner with three appetizers, three salad things, and three mini-entrees. With that, Ford rolled out its new Ford GT onto the left of the platform, stunning in silver. Next, on the other end of the center platform, the new Mustang was driven out, in the matching dark silver with white racing stripe over the nose.
Suddenly, the best-kept secret in decades made its grand entrance – a startling and all-new two-seat sports car rolled up onto the middle of the platform. The driver was William Ford, scion to the empire, and the passenger was Carroll Shelby hisself – still the performance meister as he reaches age 81. The car is a concept only, at this point, but it is called the Shelby Cobra Concept, and it wore the same silver paint.
It was stark in design, with a 6.4-liter V10 engine with dual-overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and 605 horsepower with 501 foot-pounds of torque, without any supercharging or turbocharging. “Forty years ago, I came here, a broken-down ex-race driver, and said, ‘Mr. Ford, IÂ’d like to become part of your family,Â’ †Shelby said. “Now, 40 years later, here I am again.Ââ€
Richard Hutting, the car’s designer, told of showing the car to Shelby at Irwindale Raceway in California, when Shelby immediately tore off at something around 100 mph into Turn 1 of the half-mile banked oval. The Shelby fulfills Ford’s new “power trilogy†with the GT and the Mustang, and the surprise new entry meets Shelby’s uncompromising performance demands by having no air-conditioning, no radio, and no cupholders.
Bill Ford said that he owns an original Shelby Cobra and wants one of the new ones, which, he added, could become a production car “if we get the same response as we got with the GT.Ââ€
The media present showed just how sufficient that acclaim will be by completely ignoring the beautifully sculptured new Mustang, and the splendidly exotic Ford GT to crowd around the new car. I fell into step with Shelby as he walked off the platform, and he smiled widely and said, “Can you believe everybody is looking at that car and not at this one?Ââ€
It was fabulous theater, and the irony remained of the Chevrolet folks over at the Detroit Opera House, with the majority of the media, toasting the superb new and much-anticipated Corvette, completely unaware that back at good-olÂ’ Cobo Hall, a car that could turn out to be an enormous Corvette-fighter was being introduced as the biggest surprise at the nationÂ’s biggest auto show.
(John Gilbert can be contacted at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
New Fords make use of Volvo, Mazda engineering
DETROIT, MI. — Ford Motor Company has come under a lot of criticism for considerable expenditures the past few years, but Ford executives justify the expenses involved in the takeovers of Volvo, Jaguar and Range Rover, and increased investment in Mazda. If the Ford folks have it figured right, those investments will start paying heavy dividends soon, such as within the coming year.
When the North American International Auto Show opens this coming week in Detroit, Ford will unveil the Five Hundred sedan and the Freestyle sport-utility vehicle – two entirely new and extremely important vehicles for the company. Ford also will continue to promote its planned upsurge for the 2005 model year with the coming Futura sedan as well as the prominent “toy department†features – the 2005 Mustang and the Ford GT. But the emphasis will be on the highest volume, mainstream cars.
It may seem that while Ford has continued to dominate the light truck/SUV market, its cars have fallen out of favor a bit, so much so that its subsidiaries, particularly Mazda, with the Mazda6, RX-8 and Mazda3, and Volvo, which is following up the huge success of the XC-90 SUV with the flair and potential of a compact S40 sedan. Those vehicles can run circles around midsize and compact sedans from Ford – as well as most other companies, foreign and domestic.
So Ford is about to unveil its big secret, which is a brilliant reinforcement of FordÂ’s claim that its future is a global one, with at least a dozen new vehicles being created to make maximum use of those exceptional vehicles already being produced by Mazda and Volvo.
As of now, nobody is saying that Ford will discontinue the Taurus, that durable and trusty workhorse of the middle size sedan segment. Steve Lyons, the president of Ford Division, acknowledged that Taurus has been the company mainstay since 1985, but also that a changing marketplace means that one car canÂ’t do everything for a company any more.
“The Taurus is still a pretty good car, but itÂ’s no longer the largest-selling car in the country,†Lyons said. “Consumers have a lot more choices, and they want vehicles that are more versatile. The Five Hundred will be slightly larger than the Taurus, and a bit more expensive, while the Futura is slightly smaller than the Taurus.Ââ€
Ford executives pull no punches when they proclaim the new Five Hundred as the new flagship of Ford’s entire car operation. Make no mistake – the Five Hundred is a large sedan which will have a sister ship in the Mercury Montego, and both are based on the Volvo P2 platform, as used in the S80, Volvo’s top-level sedan. In the process, the Five Hundred acquires Volvo’s world-class safety characteristics and lightning-quick Haldex all-wheel-drive system.
The Freestyle SUV fits in right between the midsize Explorer, which continues to be the worldÂ’s top-selling SUV, and the Escape, which is FordÂ’s highly successful compact SUV. The Escape, incidentally, began life as a version of MazdaÂ’s Tribute, showing that this sort of collaboration can pay rich dividends. The Freestyle, meanwhile, is also off VolvoÂ’s platform, taking the best stability, rollover sensing and crashworthy elements from the XC-90.
The Five Hundred is a surprisingly tall vehicle, which Ford officials say will capture the high-seated asset of SUVs, as will its all-wheel drive capability. The Five Hundred is 3 inches longer than the Taurus. It will have FordÂ’s worldwide Duratec 3.0-liter V6, with 200 horsepower and a six-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive. The V6 will be built in the Cleveland plant, and be called the Duratec 30.
Occupants in the Five Hundred (and Montego) will sit 4 inches higher than in other sedans, and the cars will feature Pirelli tires on 18-inch wheels. Ford expects about 20 percent of buyers to choose all-wheel drive. The interior will feature eight cupholders, and the largest trunk on the planet. At a media preview, Ford officials pointed out that the ability to hold four full-size golf bags is the standard for what makes a trunk spacious, then they popped the trunk on a Five Hundred and extracted eight large golf bags.
The rear seat folds down flat, and with the front passenger seat also folded down, articles as long as 10 feet can slide in through the trunk and fit, from bumper to instrument panel. With the seats up and sitable, the Five Hundred measures a foot shorter than the Crown Victoria/Grand Marquis sedans, but doubles their rear legroom.
Safety is a major asset of the Five Hundred. The body structure is reinforced throughout, with frontal-impact and side-impact energy management, and pillars and cross-members designed of high-strength steel. A 35-mile-per-hour frontal crash test left a Five Hundred perfect from the A-pillar back. The reason for the car being the safest ever built by Ford was that the platform was built by Volvo, known as the worldÂ’s vanguard of safety research.
The all-wheel drive unit is the Haldex system from Volvo, a pressure-based, torque-transfer unit that operates on front-wheel drive until the slightest tendency to slip is detected. Officials say that in 50 milliseconds – about one-quarter turn of the wheel – the torque can be transferred to the rear wheels to optimize traction. Along with the six-speed, a continuously variable transmission also will be available.
Technically, while sticking with its own 3.0 V6, Ford is offering a choice of two high-tech transmissions, either a 6-speed automatic, or a continuously-variable automatic, which can adjust its ratio continuously.
The Montego is the first all-new sedan for Mercury in over 20 years, and its grille, headlights, taillights and interior differentiate it from the Five Hundred. It will share the use of the Ford Duratec 3.0 V6, with single overhead camshafts and 200 horsepower. My personal question is why Ford doesn’t go all the way, and install the higher-powered, dual-overhead-cam version of the Duratec – which is the way Mazda uses the engine in the Mazda6.
Switching to the SUV side, Explorer sales are slightly down, but the smaller Escape and the larger Expedition are up. So Ford is inserting the Freestyle right between those two. Not only does it uses the Volvo XC-90 platform, it has VolvoÂ’s rollover sensor, and it even borrowed Jan Vulcan from Volvo in Sweden to serve as chief engineer. It has stadium style seats, with the second row higher than the front, and a third row seat that can house adults or kids, flip over to face rearward, or fold flat into the floor.
The Freestyle also uses the 3.0-liter Duratec V6 with standard front-wheel-drive, and traction-control, with all-wheel-drive optional. While smaller than the Explorer, the Freestyle actually has more cargo space than the Explorer, or the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford officials are quick to point out. That space can be filled with seats, captainÂ’s chairs or bench in the second row, which tumbles forward for access to the rear, third row, which folds flat.
FordÂ’s dependence on Mazda wonÂ’t be as immediately obvious, but will start with the use of MazdaÂ’s sensational new four-cylinder, which will be installed in the 2005 Focus, and will lift it to a power level equal to the SVT special-edition Focus, while also making the car twice as environmentally clean as the ultra-low emission level standards.
After that, FordÂ’s plans are to bring out 10 automobiles based on one platform, and that platform will be the firm, safe and solid base of the Mazda6. If Ford’s influenced has helped Mazda and Volvo deliver such outstanding vehicles in the past couple of years, it’s only smart business for Ford to make use of their technology.
(Reach John Gilbert at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
Cars, tires make difference in serious winter driving
Â’Twas the week before Christmas, and the snow started about the same time as the second period of the hockey game, apparently. Those of us inside the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center had no idea how hard it was coming down, but it hardly caused me to hesitate. I had to drive from Duluth to Minneapolis, and the option was mine whether to go late that night, after the game, or wait and leave early the next morning.
Winter driving means different things to different areas. In Minnesota, the difference in snowfall from the Twin Cities to the Northern sectors can vary greatly, which makes for adventurous winter driving, and some perverse part of me enjoys it. I also enjoy driving at night, and driving in snowstorms is the perfect way to go beyond the superficial speed-performance-braking of the usual test-drives. You find out what kind of soul a car really has when conditions are somewhere between treacherous and trip-threatening. IÂ’ve had several impressive cars to road-test in foul weather this winter, and all of them reinforced my old theory: Get snow tires, or at least good all-season tires that work in wintertime.
When itÂ’s not my car, such driving also give me the chance to check out various brands of tires, as well as cars. I had already planned ahead, and purposely parked another test-car, a Cadillac XLR, because a two-seater sports car with tremendous power, and front-engine/rear-drive layout, seemed foolish to take with the threat of a storm. Instead, I drove a front-wheel-drive Acura 3.5 RL.
On this night, I got onto I35 heading south, and started up the hill, leading out of Duluth. It wasnÂ’t good, but I thought once getting away from Lake Superior, conditions might ease. The gathering snow had a waxy base, and the Acura felt less than totally secure as I reached the crest of the hill. I made a cell-phone call, to check on conditions in the Twin Cities, but nobody answered. Nobody answering the phone probably meant folks were out late, Christmas shopping. I could have turned around and gone home, but it might have been worse by the next morning. So I pressed on.
After about 30 miles, it was bad enough for some adrenaline-induced tingling as you concentrated on seeing ahead into the driven snow while also keeping a constant check on both shoulders, just so you could try to gauge if you were staying on the road. There was no way to go more than 40 miles per hour safely in those conditions. Later on, I wound up behind two plows going just under 40, and a couple of cars were visible behind, with all of us single file.
There is something comfortable about seeing taillights up ahead in a storm to give perspective about where you should be. The fellow behind me got comfortable enough that he decided to attempt to pass. I pulled over to the right as far as I dared, and a couple of times I got the tires chattering on the corrugated safety strip on the shoulder. The guy made it past, then he passed both snowplow trucks, as well.
That gave me a little confidence, and I also passed the two plows, increasing my speed just enough to still catch glimpses of the taillights of the guy ahead. We stayed that way for 20 miles, when suddenly, a couple of miles north of Hinckley, it looked to me as though those taillights were heading off toward the right, as if heading for an exit, where none existed. Sure enough, those taillights suddenly grew closer together, then disappeared for an instant, and then I had headlights shining at me, then taillights again. The car, front-wheel-drive and all – was spinning all the way around as it left the freeway.
I slowed down, and as I inched past, I could see the car off the road, with its front wheels hooked up almost on the edge of the shoulder. The front wheels spun, hard, but the car wasnÂ’t going to make that climb. I didnÂ’t stop, because there were more cars and the plows coming behind, and it would be impossible to guess how far to pull over safely. I did, however, call 911 on the cell-phone, and informed the highway patrol of exactly where the car had gone off.
Several times on the drive, I forced myself to sit back in the firmly bolstered bucket seat, and to relax my shoulders. There was no way to relax all over, but I had been holding my shoulders so tense that I hadnÂ’t even noticed the aches building in my neck and shoulders. I stopped twice on the trip, to clear the ice that was accumulating on the wipers, and I made it to my Twin Cities destination without further incident. I glanced at my watch, wondering how far past midnight it was, and saw it was 2 a.m. The normally two-hour trip had taken four hours.
It snowed 6-8 inches that night. The next morning, I checked the tires on the test car closely. They were Michelin Pilot HX, model MXM4 tires, undoubtedly good for long wear, and dry weather handling, and maybe even wet pavement. But their grip on packing snow was poor enough that the car felt like it was slithering, more than tracking straight ahead. I donÂ’t know what kind of tires the fellow had on the car that had spun around and off the freeway the night before, but he had more than tires as a problem by going too fast for conditions. Just because you have front-wheel drive doesn’t guarantee you from brain-fade.
That new Cadillac XLR sports car was under a beautiful shroud of snow, looking like an artistic aerodynamic sculpture. Just to assure myself, I cleared away several inches of snow from the windshield, rear and side windows, and head and taillights. Anticipating the worst, I started it up and went for a little drive. I was amazed at how well the XLR churned through the snow-covered icy streets. Its traction-control worked well, and while I still wouldnÂ’t advise heading out for a long trip in a blizzard, the XLR was very capable and impressive.
Even more surprising, it, too, had Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 tires, but its stability was far better than I had anticipated with rear-drive and so much power. I couldnÂ’t say the XLR was more stable than the Acura RL, but it goes to prove that the right tires for winter can be extremely important, even though each car has its own characteristics in foul weather. A rear-drive car with the right balance and advanced traction-control can be surprisingly good, while a front-drive car with skiddish tires can be skittish, though having the weighted drive wheels being the same wheels you steer is an inherent advantage.
Still, all winter driving situations comes down to a pretty easy alternative. Christmas may be over, but our snowstorms are just reaching midseason. The ultimate holiday gift might be one of family safety and security, and nothing brings more instant security than having tires that give you firm and secure grip on even icy and snow-packed streets, roads and highways. Virtually every companyÂ’s all-out winter tires will improve your driving challenges. Aggressive tread patterns with large openings will spit out the snow and help gain traction. Probably the best-known winter tire is the Bridgestone Blizzak, which has improved its dry-weather durability, but still wear faster on dry roads.
My personal favorites are Nokians, made in Finland where having proper winter tires is a law. Their tread compound is made of elements that retain flexibility even when it gets below freezing, and the difference in all kinds of weather is dramatic. You have to hunt a little to find them, because as a smaller company, Nokian avoids the huge chain stores and prefers private outlets. In Duluth, Foreign Affairs handles them, as do various spots in the Twin Cities, notably NormÂ’s Tires in St. Paul.
Nokian tires keep their flexibility in the cold and retain amazing grip on snow and icy roads. There are several models, from year-round all-season to outright snow tires. Some have the magical name, Hakkapeliitta, stenciled almost halfway around the sidewall. Once you drive on tires like Nokians, you will actually enjoy tackling winter driving.
An alternative to snowtires is to find a tire dealer that offers Saf-Tee Siping. They can cut sipes into your tiresÂ’ tread to improve the grip of large or hard tread blocks and improve winter driving capabilities. There are numerous places in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Chicago and other snowbelt regions that perform siping. By precise machine cutting of sipes, or slits, spaced across the tread, traction on high-performance tires can improve to the level of good all-season tires, and some all-season tires can improve to the level of snow tires. It costs generally about $10 per tire.
Whatever your choice, when it’s your car – and your family – don’t take unnecessary risks if you have to travel in wintertime. A set of good winter tires, or siping existing tires, costs a little but offers priceless safety and security, plus the relief of stiff necks and jangled nerves. It’s the ultimate gift of safety and security that you can provide for your family, and yourself.
(John Gilbert writes weekly automotive columns. Reach him by email at cars@jwgilbert.com.)
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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