Motorweek; 2909

Breaks convention with their latest body of work the stylish CTA sport wagon. Will do much more than just go to the market in this wagon next on motorways. Hi I'm Pat Goss preventing oil sludge this time on Goss's garage. This. Week. 70 by voting right away and we'll take to the outback courtesy of Subaru. So come drive with us next. Week TV's original automotive magazine brought to you by cars dotcom. Let's say you are looking for a car. Cars dotcom can help research locate even contact dealer cars dodge. Your host for Motor Week.

JOHN DAVIS Well hello and welcome again to motor week. We're glad to have you with us. For almost a decade Cadillac has been on a mission to change its image from mature posh to Yoro chic. Their main weapon has been the mid-size sedan while with the seat now firmly rooted as the best sports sedan ever made by an American brand. It's time for Cadillac to do what a European brand would do and build on success. This is the CTA sport wagon and it's not just a way to get groceries fast. The second generation Cadillac CTX bound for 2008 with classic European sports sedan proportions and the most pleasing rendition yet of Cadillac's angular art and science design language that language is now extended to the 2010 CGF sport wagon.

Riding on the same one hundred thirteen point four inch wheelbase the five door is in fact a third of an inch shorter overall than the four door at one hundred ninety one point three inches. The ctx is big confident grille headlights and tasteful Fender Portes carry over on change from the Cydia but the wagons chrome Graham greenhouse gives its flanks a sporty going fast standing still character that is distinct from the sedans jetting rearward into a substantial deep pillar angular vertical taillights rise above a near flush rear bumper looking remarkably like fins. The CBS board wagon grabs the pavement with low profile rubber wrapped around 17 18 or are cars 19 inch alloy wheels like the sedan the wagons interior is refined sporty and luxurious The seat has the richest interior design yet from GM the big serious motorcycle style gauges were made. As does the tilt telescoping wheel

sophisticated sit or stack controls continue to fall pleasantly the hand On-Star is standard while optional is an 8 inch nav system with 3D imaging that rises out of the center dash. Also rising to the top is the available panoramic sunroof. While BMW like leatherette upholstery is standard our car sported leather trimmed bucket's with French stitching but their thin design also made them rigid and hard. Meanwhile true to the European sport sedan and wagon formulas. Rear seat leg room is tight but raise the standard power hatch and you'll find a long flat cargo floor complete with adjustable tie down clips on rails pull up the floor panel and there's hidden storage underneath cargo space measures 25 cubic feet seats up with a cinder pass through for long skinny items folding the 60:40 rear seats feels like cavernous. Fifty three point four cubic feet. That's almost four times the sedans trunk space and new all aluminum three liter

270 horsepower direct injected V-6 replaces the CTX his previous base 3.6 leader poort fuel injected V-6 the new engine has both more power and higher fuel economy. Optional is our cars direct injected 3.6 liter V-6 with the same stout 300 for horsepower and 273 pound feet of torque as the sedan. Government fuel economy ratings for the rear drive 3.6 leaders sport wagon are 18 City 26 highway on regular gas. But all we managed was a rather disappointing nineteen point two miles per gallon and mixed driving. This is energy impact score of sixteen point three barrels of oil a year and eight point seven tonne carbon footprint match the Audi A6 Avant scores exactly. Six speed automatic with available paddle shifters is the sport wagon sold transmission all wheel drive is also an option on the wagon but ours invested all of its powers in the rear wheels with a limited slip differential.

At the track the sport wagon jogged to sixty seven point two seconds and through the quarter mile and fifteen point five seconds at 93 miles per hour a slow deliberate shift softened power delivering bitted disc brakes with ABS and brake assist reside at each corner. They groundout average stops of 112 feet from 60 to zero which is outstanding. Braking is how much sportier experience then acceleration with fine stability. But more than expected nosedive. Handling prowlers depends on your choice of three suspension setups. The softest is designated Ephie one which delivers a more traditional Cadilac ride to a significantly sportier. While the aggressive eppi 3 would load leveling is the stiffness it transmits every road ripple back to the driver but also delivers ultra sharp handling that rivals Europe's best. Pricing for the CBS record wagon starts at forty thousand six hundred fifty five dollars.

All wheel drive adds $9300 more and the bigger engine nav and sunroof and you're well over 50 grand. The 2010 Cadillac sport wagon offers great style and serious versatility yet retains all the athletic prowess of the CTA sedan. That's an impressive resume for any car of any shape and it's another step towards Cadillac emulating the best luxury sport brands from Europe. While many enthusiasts will resist any sporty car with a square back seat sport wagon really is having your sport sedan and room for a wedding cake too. Our success story of the week comes from Lambert-St. Louis international airport Lambert began experimenting with Bio-Diesel in 1987. Today they have close to 400 vehicles that run on B-22 including light duty trucks Broadway sweepers tow trucks and front loaders their aircraft rescue firefighting

units and emergency generator. Also a run on the cleaner burning fuel. This bio diesel electric hybrid bucket truck is used to change our terminal lines. The airport is also converting a majority of its gasoline powered fleet to run on natural gas. CNG station serves 35 shuttle buses and 60 airport maintenance vehicles. We are trying to educate the public through the airport and to St. Louis clean cities by the use of biofuels and. Trying to do some promotional stuff about been able to help clean up the atmosphere in the area. St. Louis there's one airport where reducing the use of petroleum fuels has been a top priority for over 20 years. It's that time again. So let's see what Pat Goss is getting all flushed about this week. John I was really shocked when I read an article in a major consumer oriented

magazine that said that certain types of preventive maintenance weren't needed especially things like flushes. Well you know one of the things that's very important toward keeping your car for a long time is to change the oil and change the oil filter and always use high quality products as is recommended in the owner's manual. But above and beyond that you take a look at this new oil in the jar right here. Well that new oil often becomes this mess of sludge that we see over here because cars frequently need more than just the average oil change See here we have a valve cover that came off of a late model automobile had less than 50000 miles on it. You see it's completely coated with sludge. It's a matter of fact our sample over here came from the same car. Well fortunately we were able to save the engine in this car for the customer but

in most cases there isn't any saving it when it gets like this. The engine is done for now. For comparison we have a valve cover off of one of our regular customers cars. This one has 280 some odd thousand miles on it and we have serviced it since Brand New. Now you notice the inside of the valve cover is virtually spotless. Just a little bit of discoloration no buildup whatsoever. Well both cars had oil changes but the one with a clean valve cover. We have done something different for it. And this is where I take issue. This is an oil flush or oiling system service. This particular machine is from B.G. products and it uses these chemicals to get rid of deposits that form in areas inside the engine were oil doesn't really circulate their oil just sits there. It congeals into sludge the sludge breaks loose. Then it blocks

various passages the blockage of the passages is what leads to this massive sludge problem. So by using a machine like this periodically 30 40 thousand miles you can double triple quadruple the life expectancy of your engine. So it is money well spent. Something that I highly recommend. And if you have a question or comment right to me the address is Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland. 2 1 1 1 7. If you're really into cars spending a warm evening at the local dragstrip is automotive heaven. Screeching tires and chili dogs beat rock bands and videogames by more than a quarter mile. But as growing populations demand more real estate. Many small strips are closing for good. So it was great news when our favorite asphalt hangout got a reprieve. And Stephen Chapnick went over the edge to celebrate. It's rare for a new dragstrip to be opened in the U.S. even more so that it dragstrip is

reopened but that's exactly what happened the 75 the driveway in Monrovia Maryland and after three years the black Colpus feeling the burn of rubber once again. Looks familiar. It probably does. That's because motile because I've been using 4:53. For. His truck for the past 29 years. In 2005 75 80 took a break from weekly competitions. But. Track founder Bill Wilson graciously allowed motor week to continue videotaping his quarter mile. We'd been lost without the old strip. In early 2009. Brother and sister team Lisa and Kevin Stanley took over the day to day operation of 75 80 with their heads up racing company. OK your brother is. Now 75 80 is better. And quicker than ever. We were trying to develop the property at first and. Things didn't work out with that. So we for one hour have an array check back up try to do something with it.

For Kevin 70 580 Dragway was a childhood home spanning his teens on the track. Coming back and running the place is almost a dream come true. Well I've been racing here since I was 16 and starting back up was great. In Lisa's case opening and managing the track was definitely a learning curve but something to look forward to. It's a lot of fun. I didn't really know much about racing. I'd say probably in February this year. Now I think I've learned Zemaitis meant at last. It didn't take long to get the go ahead to begin the rebuilding process on and around the track. With new bleachers. Printer lines. And then. Repaving the track. The. Shoe was awesome. April 2009 the grand re-opening night. We were there. And so was the rain. For. A few weeks later we came back and this time you could really hear the excitement.

So we're able to pull out of their trailers on their own. Some needed a little help but it was the key turning booths that got Davray. The actually what got me hooked in the drag race and back when I was in high school I came up here the buddies you know the Al-Jafari street cars and the track wasn't as great back then but it is awesome with the crowds of people and just the cards. For others 75 80 means a lot more than just a place to race. I've been here since I was a kid since I was 14 so this is this place is. Great. In other words Bill welcome and all the family that used to run it. To help raise me you know. I don't know where I'd been without his dragstrip. I've been 75 naves since 1973. Can't describe it. It's an adrenaline rush man is out of this world you know. Because you get back in the 70s and come up just about every Wednesday night something like that like you can't beat.

The real winners at the renewed 75 80 are the fans weekend after weekend they come out to enjoy the fun and some serious drag racing. Well we didn't think it would ever reopen but I mean we're glad that it is because we all come out and run our cards it's close to home and. Have a ball. Whether it's racing motorcycles cars trucks whatever. Nothing bites like this truck does the first 60 feet is just awesome I can hang the wheels in there higher than anywhere else. For downhome racing action there's nothing like the local dragstrip are 75 80 is bad. Part of the fallout of last year's high gas prices is that Americans are once again considering more fuel efficient smaller than full size pickup trucks as multipurpose personal use vehicles. So the timing of the mid-sized 2009 Suzuki equator was just about perfect. Our extended cab 6 foot 1 inch cargo box is sturdy enough for over 1200 pounds of cargo or the equator can tell a sixty five hundred pounds of trailer. That's when equipped

with our trucks $261 power cord leader V-6 and 5 speed automatic transmission. This Nissan power train is ready and willing and after 10 months and over 14000 miles. Gas mileage is still improving standing at 18 miles per gallon of regular. Staff. Comments praise the simple and direct cabin in control layout and the comfortable seat. While on road some drivers find the steering almost too responsive it makes off road maneuvering Obree and today's cost conscious world. Bitesize pickups make perfect sense and the Suzuki equator is one not to be overlooked. It's hard to overlook the soul from it's cute and boxy exterior to it's cool and trendy interior compact urban crossover is turning heads and making waves. It has quickly become a weekend favorite at our office. Easy to park yet capable of carrying up to five or more cargo than you'd think. It still also doesn't have to stop a gas pump

as often as the typical family crossover. Fuel economy from its one hundred forty two horsepower two liter four cylinder four speed automatic combo stands at a reasonable 25 miles per gallon of regular. The smaller 1.6 liter engine does about 10 percent better after only four weeks in twenty eight hundred miles. We don't expect problems and there aren't any. So for now this Solar's bringing us smiles. Mile after mile will count time and mileage for the Honda Fit and Nissan Cube on our next motor week long term road test update. Next up Jessica choccy with all the latest news keeping American highway safe is a full time job and for most law enforcement officers their car is key to assuring that safety. For decades Chevrolet was synonymous with high powered rear wheel drive police cruisers. But the last Chevrolet Caprice fit for such duty retired in 1996 leaving the job of manning the roadways mostly to cross town rivals from Ford and dogs.

But for 2011 the Caprice police patrol vehicle or Poo-Poo will be ready to return to the booth albeit with a slightly foreign accent. This modern full sized sedan will be imported from GM Australia's Holden division using the same rear drive chassis design adapted to the Pontiac G8 and Chevrolet Camaro. The Capri's PPV will offer both V8 power an extra large backseat as well as an array of specialized equipment and features not available to civilians. The Chevrolet Caprice PPV was developed specifically for police duty using advice from law enforcement agencies to develop a superior vehicle and. With such a long history of police cruisers. Chevy hopes its newest patrol car. Will prove to be a popular and effective crime fighting tool in another area of re-assurance carmaker Valvo is trying to stay ahead of the curve. An electric car safety the Swedish manufacturer is conducting a wide ranging investigation of possible safety scenarios for cars with hybrid electric and

pure electric powered trains through a computer modeling real time crash testing and Baldos massive safety database. Is looking at everything from how large battery packs might endanger occupants in a collision to how added battery weight might affect the car's ability to absorb crash energy. The results of Valvo safety research will directly impact future models such as an already announced plug in diesel electric hybrid due in 2012. And that's it for this week's news. It was 1996 when Subaru decided to combine station wagon garage ability with outdoorsy utility The Legacy Outback became known as the world's first sport utility wagon and helped launch a whole new category of vehicles called crossovers. Since that time mainstream crossovers have saturated the market but the Outback has retained its unique and sporty Wygant appeal. Not to mention a growing fan base.

For 2010 Subaru Outback enters its fourth generation and undergoes a full redesign. While legacy is no longer part of its name the outback still shares its new platform with the sedan five doors wider taller yet a hair shorter than before wheelbase gains almost three inches to one hundred seven point nine yielding a larger interior. And the new Outback isn't just stouter it's more rugged looking while also taking cues from the new legacy. The front end starts with the more upright grille flanked by expressive looking Hawkeye headlamps on profile Skop resistant lower rocker moldings and body cladding further convey the outbacks enhanced capability but this is no poser with 16 and optionals 17 inch

wheels. Ground clearance is up to eight point seven inches. Giving it more Off-Road potential than many crossover rivals. Up top our standard roof rails with crossbars that swing into position only when needed. A segment first that helps minimize wind noise. The body color deep pillars help emphasize the new section tail lights and give the back a more traditional rugged look than before. Hands down this is the roominess outback cabin today. It's also decidedly more upscale like legacy. The dash is comprised of a variety of dissimilar shapes well-drawn lines and metallic trim controls are laid out in a smart easy to use manner. Ditto the standard electronic parking brake with Hill Holder the first among non luxury crossovers. And with green motoring in mind there's even a gauge for monitoring fuel economy. Seats are nicely contoured and padded for a high level of comfort. Our test 2.5 I limited had leather trim 10 way power adjusters for the driver

as well as seat tilt telescoping steering wheel with Cruise is now standard. Level tester also came with Bluetooth tools on climate control and a 441 Harmon cardan audio system other available high end amenities include voice activated navigation a rear view camera and a power moonroof spacious rear seat makes ample room for three and offers a new recline feature. The 60:40 fold and excellent versatility to the outbacks abundant cargo space room behind the second row swells from thirty four point three cubic feet to seventy one point three with seats folded down. That's a gain of six cubes over last year and more than a Jeep Grand Cherokee. Up here of all wheel drive Boxer power trains are also shared with the new legacy. Standard is a revised 2.5 leaders single cam four cylinder with active valve lift outputting a square 170 horsepower and 170 pound feet of torque.

It pairs to either a six speed manual or a CVT automatic 3.6 or as the trifectas 3.6 liter six cylinder power plant. This one sends 256 horses and 200 £47 feet through a five speed automatic. Our 2.5 CVT generated government fuel economy ratings of 22 City 29 highway on regular gas. We achieved the expected twenty four point seven and real world driving the energy impact scores a modest fourteen point three barrels of oil consumed per year while its carbon footprint measures a tiny 7.7 annual tonnes of CO2. The downside to this environmental awareness is the long ten point one seconds needed to get to 60 miles per hour. The quarter mile was equally painful at seventeen point eight seconds at seventy nine miles per hour. You can feel the boxer's torque but the CVT acts like a fire blanket. The Outback sports a new double wishbone rear suspension and stability and traction control are now standard across the board.

Still handling is also no strong suit. Softly Sprong there's very little feedback through the chassis. Steering is numb and lazy and the high center of gravity results in lots of sway and body roll. The Outbacks breaks are 4 wheel disc with ABS and new brake assist stops. Average So longish 133 feet from 60 to zero. There was good stability but the outback still stops like a much larger vehicle. Fortunately what the outback lacks in track performance it more than makes up for with a smooth comfortable ride. It's nice and cushy for long road trips and extended commutes. Price wise the new Outback begins at twenty three thousand six hundred ninety dollars for the base 2.5 on the 3.6 are starts at twenty eight thousand six hundred ninety dollars. The 2010 Subaru Outback returns with a boulder Alvar's show more utility like practicality and plenty of interior refinement. It's not much of a driver's car but it's ideal for a family

car and an outdoor lifestyle. And in mid 20s fuel economy and the outback becomes an excellent alternative to the conventional crossover and the main reason we believe that Outbacks popularity is bound to keep growing. I hope you'll join us here next week for more. When will race down the strip in SLB super to. We try for a new group. I'm John Davis. We'll see you then. To learn more about motor TV's original automotive magazine visit PBS or. To order a DVD of this program called 1 800 8 7 3 6 1 5 4. Motorway has been brought to you by cars dotcom. Let's say you are looking for a car. Dot com can help research OK even contact a dealer. Dotcom.

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