CARS ARE BACK! Tech Preview of the 2005 Domestics

Motor, Nov 2004 by Weissler, Paul

After a multiyear infatuation with SUVs, the domestic automakers have 'rediscovered' the automobile. Our annual report covers several all-new models that have resulted from this new marketing direction.

Ford is calling 2005 the Year of the Car, and is introducing brand-new cars and carlike "crossover" vehicles. But it's not alone, as General Motors and the Chrysler Group also are focusing on the passenger car for 2005.

At Ford, the new Mustang gets the most head-turning looks, of course, but the new Ford 500 and Mercury Montego sedans, and the Freestyle "almost SUV," are a higher volume group. At Chrysler, the in-your-face 300 and Dodge Magnum wagon are getting plenty of attention. And GM has several significant new cars-the compact Chevrolet Cobalt (which replaces the Cavalier), Pontiac G6 (replacing the Grand Am), Buick LaCrosse (replacing the Regal and Century), Cadillac STS (replacing the Seville) and the Corvette, which is irreplaceable.

Let's delve further into it and see what the three domestic camps are offering for 2005.

Ford

The Ford 500 and its sister Mercury Montego clearly are cars, but what's the Freestyle? The North American Car of die Year jury placed it in the truck/SUV category (it has suspension modifications to increase ride height and a wagon-type body with three-row seating), but it's technically very close to the 500. So we'll save the truck report for the real trucks and less carlike SUVs, and cover the Freestyle and similar vehicles here.

The 500/Montego/Freestyle is built on a Volvo S80 platform with a Ford Duratec V6 engine and a ZF-designed CVT (continuously variable transmission). But if the buyer has a thing against CVTs, there's a six-speed automatic made by Aisin (which is also used by Toyota) that's a no-cost alternative on front-drive versions of the 500/Montego.

The engine is the 3.0L Duratec V6. It develops just 203 hp and 207 ft.-lbs. of torque, which may seem like marginal power. However, combined with the CVT-which provides a tall overall gear ratio for decent acceleration-the 500/Montego does 0 to 60 in just about eight seconds, which matches the new Chrysler 300 with a 3.5L V6. Why didn't Ford just make the 3.0 Duratec bigger? It couldn't. The engine was enlarged from 2.5L and 3.0 is as big as it could go. There's a new V6, starting at 3.5L and presumably going to over 4.0, that will be out soon and eventually will go into tliese cars. Other Ford V6s, such as die 4.OL single OHC in the Ranger and Mustang, are cast-iron, two-valve units that produce no more power and are just not suitable and too heavy for the transverse mounting.

Even the Duratec wasn't an easy installation in the new powertrain compartment. Ford had to relocate the water pump to the rear, and direct-drive it-which means no pulley and beltoff the back of the camshaft.

The Ford/ZF CVT uses a chain, and is a design somewhat similar to that used by Audi. This contrasts with the steel-link belt used by most other makers, including Nissan and Honda, and that was used by GM until this year. The AWD system is the Haldex design also used in the Volvo XC90, except for minor calibration differences. An electronically controlled hydraulic pumping system applies a multidisc clutch to respond to slippage in as little as 1/7; of a wheel turn.

The new Mustang chassis is really new-no more reworking of the 27-year-old Fox platform. Its chassis is somewhat akin to the one for the Lincoln LS/Thunderbird platform, but unlike the independent-suspension reardrive LS/Thunderbird, Mustang continues with a solid rear axle. The base engine is the 4.0L single OHC V6, a twovalve overhead-cam 60° engine that develops 210 hp and 240 ft.-lbs. of torque, heavily reworked to make the move from the F-150 to a car. It's a quantum improvement over the 3.9L 90° pushrod V6 previously used, which developed 190 hp and 220 ft.-lbs. of torque. Twothirds of Mustangs are V6-equipped.

However, the muscle comes from a three-valve version of the 4.6L SOHC V8, which produces 300 hp-same as the 5.4 V8. The three-valve head design, adapted from the 5.4L V8 in the F-150, also has variable valve timing, charge motion valves in the intake manifold and uses the ultra-thin (9/16-in. hex) spark plugs.

If Ford can produce 300 hp with the same systems in the 4.6 V8, you may wonder why it didn't get more horsepower with the larger displacement 5.4 V8. The reason is that the 5.4 V8 produces the 300 hp at 5000 rpm and 365 ft.-lbs. of torque at 3750 rpm. The highstrung 4.6 V8 develops its 300 horses at 5750 rpm, and 320 ft.-lbs. of torque at 4500 rpm.

The Mustang has an advanced design MacPherson strut front suspension that uses a reverse L-shaped lower control arm. The lightweight steel design weighs about the same as cast aluminum. The reverse L-shape isolates the control bushings. It puts the shorter leg at the front, where a firm bushing is used for lateral stability, and the longer leg at the rear, where a softer (hydraulic) bushing both absorbs road vibration and controls chassis fore & aft movements.