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Automotive Industry

Cars Worth Noting - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries, Sept, 1999 by Cheryl Jensen, Norman Martin, Michael Scarlett

2000 Fiat Punto

Funny thing about small cars; they don't always match your preconceived ideas about them. The geniuses that design these little rides seem to be configuring for a teeny-tiny group of humans unknown in the United States. Put a couple of people inside, and it's all knees, elbows and grunts. That's why the Punto is so amazing. It's small, but doesn't feel small. Test drives in Northern Italy proved quiet and comfortable.

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How'd they do it? First, Fiat engineers concentrated on attacking every conceivable NVH issue possible. Next, they went about pulling every technology they could find and throwing it on the Punto. This is a B-class car with electric steering and satellite navigation; with once-rare (for Europe) options such as air conditioning, electric windows and keyless entry with remote. The airy interior is clean and contemporary. The electric steering, the most impressive of the Punto's attributes, responded to my slightest inputs with precision.

The Punto can apparently be all things to all people. The price ranges from

$9,800 to $24,000. And talk about selection: the car comes in 23 versions, with two body styles and five engine combinations. Of course, the engines seem underpowered to a torque-happy American, but when you rev 'em, they work as intended.

Fiat, which turned 100 years old this summer, is banking heavily on the success of its restyled hatchback. The Punto is a small wonder and should prove a solid investment for both Fiat and its European buyers.

-- Norman Martin

2000 VW Lupo TDI

Bragging to America about a diesel-engined minicar designed to do 78.5 mpg is like trying to sell air conditioning in Lapland. The U.S. doesn't really need the Volkswagen Lupo 3L TDI. But VW Group fuhrer, Ferdinand Piech, says you do and will, whoever you are.

To guarantee high mileage, the Lupo's press launch was held in heavily speed-limited, ecology-crazed, fiat Sweden But that doesn't mean plenty of solid engineering didn't go into the car. In fact, it uses an impressive all-aluminum 1.03L, 3-cylinder turbodiesel, designed to shut off three seconds after coming to a stop. The transmission is actually a manual, cobbled into an automatic. It's designed to short-shift for economy. The Lupo also freewheels on coastdown, with the engine off. Additionally, the car uses lots of aluminum and magnesium, boasts a 0.29 Cd and rides on low-rolling-resistance fires. It's largely hand-built, at 50 units per day.

Unfortunately, VW's automatic-clutch manual doesn't shift smoothly. And low resistance to rolling friction is German for low resistance to slipping. As a result, we jerked and understeered excessively over 65 miles of quiet, clinical Swedish countryside as fast as we dared. The laptop bolted to the mink floor said we averaged 40 mph at 70.8 mpg. Maximum restraint after lunch kept fuel consumption for 34 mph at a calculated 97.3 mpg!

The quietness and smoothness of the Lupo's baby diesel and the reliable stop-start we can live with. If you want handling, save your 26,900 DM ($14,627) as down payment on that Porsche.

-- Michael Scarlett

2000 Ford Excursion

Ford's new Excursion sport-utility makes an easy target for environmentalists who object to the gas guzzlin', air pollutin' ways of sport-utes, and from auto writers who wonder why any vehicle has to be bigger than a Chevy Suburban.

But people who need to carry lots of people and stuff will find the Excursion has a lot going for it: seating for eight or nine, 48 cubic feet of space behind the third-row seats, extra-wide second-row side doors for better access to the third row; and a payload capacity of up to 1 ton The Excursion can also tow loads ranging from 6,200 pounds (the 4x2 with the base 5.4L V-8), to 10,000 pounds (with the 6.8L gasoline V-10 or 7.3L V-8 diesel). Those big engines are fed by a 44-gallon fuel tank.

Excursion's Super Duty F-Series platform has been softened to make the ride more civilized. Consequently, owners probably will have one criticism: The steering feels disconnected, which does not impart confidence when the road gets twisty.

Ford has so far been able to blunt environmentalist criticism, as it has certified the engines to medium-duty truck emission standards. And don't expect the world to be filled with Excursions. Ford claims it is simply trying to take 50,000 units away from General Motors, which last year sold more than 150,000 Suburbans. These are people with a boating-or-horsetrailering lifestyle who need the pulling power of a Super Duty or want more interior space than they can get with the Expedition.

Base prices range from $34,135 to $40,880.

-- Cheryl Jensen

Automotive Industry

Cars Worth Noting - Statistical Data Included

Automotive Industries, Sept, 1999 by Cheryl Jensen, Norman Martin, Michael Scarlett

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