Motorweek; 1729

This time on motor we're open air Robespierre's from Germany American muscle on display. And one fine day to come join with us next. Mogul. TV's original automotive magazine brought to you by Castro's super clean on wheel cleaner the cleaner that releases brake dust and grime from all types of windows on contact no matter what age your car. Castrol super clean all wheel cleaner your moves to promote are weak. JOHN DAVIS. Well hello and welcome again to motor week. We're glad to have you with us. Just one everyone thought that DRob top sports car was dead and buried. Last year saw the introduction of a trio of cars all from Germany. Mercedes-Benz SLK the BMW Z3 and a Porsche Boxster. They will

revitalize the roadster market and it become a must have purchased for both serious drivers and the style conscious. We naturally wondered how these two tatic drop tops would stack up in head to head comparison. So we took to the streets and to the track to find out. Just as sport utility vehicles are today. In the 1950s and 60s the two seat rear drive roadster was the car to own. If you wanted to be considered a head of the crowd our trio of Doister dropped off display many classic roadster characteristics but are also thoroughly modern. While they all wear German badges are as individual as any Italian Stallion the most instantly recognizable of these machines has to be the Porsche Boxster the first of a new generation of Porsche sports cars. It carries quite a few first under its striking 550 Spyder inspired skin. The most critical are in the engine bay the new flat 6 engine is water cool and for the first time since the 9:14 was

cancelled in 1976 the engine is mounted ahead of the rear axle displacing 2.5 leaders and cranks out 200 horsepower and one hundred eighty one pound feet of torque mpg through a five speed manual transmission. Our choice is high speed tiptronic automatic while the whole twenty eight hundred twenty two pound package the lightest of our trio rides are typically capable MacPherson strut suspension and the rest of the Boxster offers a fine selection of modern updates such as the surprisingly roomy interiors very efficient dash and a power operated convertible top that folds neatly away beneath a flush mounted tonneau cover. It's pure Porsche with a heavy dose of modern convenience. All for a price of forty one thousand dollars. Not a 9 11 but not cheap either. But if you favor a run engine configuration then our Mercedes contender the SLK 230 may be more of a rally looking like a diminutive twin of Mercedes big SL class coupes the L K is actually based on the more compact

C-Class platform and departs further from the big ass holes. Look for the sheet to tone interior laced with vintage chrome and stainless steel as well as imitation carbon fiber which is much Beverly Hills at Stuttgart. But the clever folding steel hard top leaves no doubt about where this car was engineered and makes the SLK the only true all season convertible in our test. But size is not the biggest difference between the SLK and its larger sibling. The engine is the SLK is powered by a 2.3 liter supercharged four cylinder. This force fed for may be tiny but it comes out one hundred eighty five horsepower and two hundred pound feet of torque. But unfortunately funnels power to the rear wheels through a five speed automatic transmission. No manual is available here. As if to compensate reseeding is mounted It's three thousand thirty six pound weight. The heaviest of our trio on a sophisticated multi suspension and David trick standard features like a sophisticated Treacher control system all for a base price of thirty seven thousand nine

hundred dollars. That undercuts the more spartan portiere by a healthy three grand. Compared to its two opponents however a BMW Z3 2.8 is literally the most vehicles for the tradition a beefed up version of last year is entertaining but woefully under-powered Z3 4 cylinder model the American built 2.8 is no silver European coupe with its widened flanks hunched over low profile tires and gaping front air intake Z3 2.8 looks quite the Bruiser and backs that look up with a big 2.8 leader straight six crammed tightly under the hood. It makes one hundred eighty nine horsepower and 203 pounds for you to torque while power flow is regulated by either our cars by speed track manual transmission or an optional four speed automatic. The interior is as purposeful as the drive train. Offering drivers as business like a cockpit as that of any old M.Z. or alpha No with a dose of the modern comfort and efficiency that today's BMW buyer expect. And with the expected choices as well. Buyers may choose either a standard manual

soft top for an uphill power assembly. It always 2800 £41 placing it between the heavier Mercedes and the lighter Porsche and it suspended above the road by a front and rear trailing arm suspension. Cost. How about thirty six thousand four hundred seventy dollars. Which makes it the least expensive of our price the little trio. But while price usually influences the decision a huge part of by its performance that is the ultimate authority in the Sports Car class. With that in mind we have to track specifically the road courses in two ways. First stop was wrong generation. Easily thanks to its excellent clutch feel the Boxter posted a zero to 60 times. A second. Next up was the BMW. It ran. For 3 seconds to 60 hits in line six cylinder strong bottom end pushing it hard off the line but the surprise of the test was the Mercedes.

It also delivered a 6.3 second time despite having the smallest engine and the only automatic gearbox. Is the Poconos. However the Porsche quickly pushed its way to the front offering better balance than any rear engine Porsche ever did. The mid engine Boxster delighted our drivers with its nimble maneuvers short. But. Concentrated in a fairly narrow band about 4000 rpm which requires plenty of shiftier work but Portia's like the shifter in years an excellent clutch feel makes it easy to keep in the power powerband and the engine running hard was delighted. To see three on the other and was all torn big 6 launching it out of corners with minimal use of the gearbox but it also received several black marks for less comfortable driving position front plow was far more pronounced thanks to its front engine configuration but it's muscular more demanding feel please. Many of our drivers have compared it to classic roadsters like the Triumph TR sic. We honestly didn't expect the luxury oriented SLK to hang in there with the

member on the racetrack. Once again the metal bands that could surprise us. It's ordered drive train lacked the outright mileage. Weight and softness is meant to produce lots of understeer but it's excellent steering feedback and rock solid stability allowed us to work the tiny Mercedes almost as hard as it's brought to your opponent. We turned the wick down a bit for driving on public road obtain similar results. Once again the Boxster was the hands down favorite for spirited driving to be this forgiving offer a relatively compliant ride and still feel like a Porsche is no small feat. But the Z3 also had its fans. It struck the ball field in brony engine or what sports cars are all about. So a tendency to hop a bit over rough surfaces slowed it in bumpy corners. The SLK once again slightly trailed the others stability was less of a factor out here since we couldn't safely maintain the same high cornering speed and the automatic transmission was clearly a liability but it's worth noting that almost all of our

drivers chose it's smooth solid ride along Highway holes. So in the end who was the winner in this admittedly very subjective comparison. Well if you've been paying attention it's probably quite obvious that our staff was borne away to a Porsche Boxster. It's remarkable handling competition great power train and striking styling all in a package that's forgiving yet offers a true Porsche feel makes it are undisputed number one. Most on its heels comes the BMW Z3 2.8 with its powerful new engine and retune suspension. The 2.8 is light years ahead of its four cylinder sibling. Now while it lacks the outright nimbleness of the Porsche its robust seal recalls that of a classic roadsters of yesterday. Lastly but only by a nose. Just a Mercedes SLK 230. So handicapped by a small motor and automatic transmission and its obvious luxury orientation. The tough little Ben still delivered a sterling performance. It may not be a true sports car but it delivers more sports car

performance than any luxury ragtop has a right to. But that's our opinion to form your own you'll have to drive one or all of these exceptional roadsters yourself. But be warned. Cars like this are addictive and after a hundreds of exciting testing Miles we didn't want to give them back. Once given up for dead. The drop top roadster class has gained a new lease on life and if car companies keep building machines like the Porsche Boxster the BMW Z3 2.8 and the Mercedes-Benz SLK 230. We predict it will be a long and happy one. Coming up on rajin New Jersey. With today's cars being as reliable as they are it's usually the little problems that drive us crazy. But motor week's top technician Pat Goss has a fix for any problem no matter what the size. So here he is with more Hendee car care

advice. John a problem like this could make your day a lot less than enjoyable. I get a lot of letters about tire repair like this one from Nancy Braidwood of Ferndale Michigan. She wants to know what's the proper way of repairing a steel belted radial tire. Is it a patch or is it a plug. Well it could be either. But more on that in just a second. First if you have a flat tire don't ever drive the car. Not even a short distance. This one was driven just a few feet and we can see the damage on the inside of a damage that isn't disclosed on the outside damage. That could mean the tire is assumed to be good but is extremely dangerous as an emergency repair to get you to the repair shop. One of the inflator sealer Anikin does a good job. You might be able to do the repair yourself with one of these plug kits. But there's one thing to remember before you pull the offending object out. Always circle it with a crayon so that you know where it came from because the rubber tends to close up and

that can lead it make it difficult to see patches. Patches may not be the best way to go with a steel belted radial simply because the offending object went all the way through the tire. So it's open on the outside as well as the inside. The patch is going to seal the tire very effectively from air leakage but the outside of the tread is still open and water can get down into the steel belts water that can damage those belts over a period of time. The absolute best way is this plug patch it has the patch on the inside the plug going through the tire. It looks like this the metal piece is used to get it through the tire then the metal is pulled off. Very effective. But it's problem is that it's expensive it requires removal of the tire and maybe your tire isn't all that expensive to warrant it. Right. What do you do. Well a plug if it's of the type that is made of a rope like substance that is self Balkanizing does an exceptionally good job and are gaining in

popularity a lot of the tire professionals except these. Now one thing to be careful of always make sure that the repair is in the tread never over here on the sidewall. Don't want to repair the sidewall of a tire. And remember that a plug or a patch in a tire might make it unsafe for extremely high speed operation. So be careful on that. And if you have a question or a comment write to me if I select your letter I'm going to send you a week T-shirt that address Motor Week. Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. 6. Funky little car of the week is a 16 hundred pound ninety horsepower Volkswagen based electric commuter car. It's owned by Bill Bishop Rick of Salem Oregon. Now if you have a car that's both fun and environmentally friendly We'd love to hear about it. Zimet at least two good color photos and a description of the car

to motor week. Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. A few weeks ago Craig Singh Haas journeyed out to California to meet today's new breed of turbocharge will drive hot rodders. And after watching these lightning fast import based rockets are old school Detroit iron man was suitably impressed. But it takes more than a fast quarter mile time to convert an old V8 rear drive warrior like Cragg. So no sooner than he got back to the east coast and he headed up to New Jersey to revel and pushrods and big block and get a fix of good ole American muscle. On. An. Old American cars never die. They just move to New

Jersey. Here we are at Wheaton village in Millville New Jersey for the 8th Annual American We'll show. And what a show it is held at one of the premier craft centers in southern New Jersey. The show features over four hundred cars and trucks built right here in the good old USA. The reason we named this the American We'll show was that if it wasn't really for the American made vehicles where we're at today automotive wise wouldn't really happen. We put the emphasis on American because we feel that this country really deserves a great deal of credit and respect for what it's done for the automotive world in general. And you have cars that run the gamut from the very old to grow relatively contemporary vehicles. So we. Try to cover all the bases there and the emphasis is placed on fun. And then competition because we think that that's what really makes the event what it is. The location was scoped out prior to the make sure that it has the ambiance

that we want for like a nostalgic feel. And again this brings that something special to an event. We just didn't want to stage it on some cold car lot. And. Finally in Millville is anything but home. This community of our sins was originally founded around the blast furnaces and kilns of the TC glass factory. Today. Glassblowers an artist of many disciplines practiced their craft. At the village. Meanwhile the shady tree lined lanes of the village are a perfect venue for a car show as car owners prepped for the various awards and trophies. One of the best things about being a semi-celebrity side for little kids asking for autographs is that I get to be an honorary judge and give out my very own Craig ha spirit of bruising award now picking one winner amongst all these great vehicles is on tall order.

We're taking the beautiful cars here. What a fantastic place. Like the one they really kind of got me a tremendous combination of the old and the new. New technology with fuel injection technology was styling and Flathead engine go to Charles Graaff 1933 for three window crew. The. Spirit cruising a word a thank you kind sir. It is a gorgeous gorgeous car Thank you. This show has two big things going for it. Number one is the variety of cars. Is there something here for everybody to see. And also you can get a more accurate setting to go into this area here as long as I can remember and there's always something happening on a Friday Saturday or Sunday. Peruses of all types and it's a great heritage in this area. And if you're a Motorhead. The thing that you want to keep the momentum of the car hobby going you want the

children to appreciate as they get older. Well we appreciate now and carry it on so that there's an American We'll show number ninety five many many years down the line. 1997 was a great year for the Honda CRV from nonexistent to sixty six thousand seven hundred fifty two sales in 12 months is not bad for a low volume imported compact sport utility vehicle that entered the market. Not even sure if there was one. We have had more questions about how we liked the CRV than any other vehicle in recent memory. Well we like it just fine. With fifteen thousand five hundred miles driven in eight months it's clear that the CRV spends a lot of time around town. Indeed city dwellers love having an all wheel drive vehicle they can easily parallel park plus a twenty two point five miles per gallon. It's cheaper to operate than bigger SUV but the CRB is not a sport in name only.

You still have sixty seven point two cubic feet of cargo space enough for just about any weekend activities for most of the 17 years. Motor Week has been testing cars and trucks. Our official crew vehicle has been none other than the king of sport. It's a Chevrolet Suburban. Our latest burb with Shibe venerable 5.7 leaders small block V-8 has performed with Mama support after seven months in just over 12000 miles. Mileage has adds up to thirteen point nine per gallon. Great for a four by four issue beat on long trips we appreciate it's great ride. Useful instrument panel with extra power points and sturdy cup holders and how the climate control keeps all of the 18 plus feet of suburban environment comfortable no matter what the weather. Next week it's the Dodge Dakota pickup truck and Mercedes-Benz SLK roadster on motor weeks long term road test update. Now we turn from the long term veterans to the New Kids on the automotive Block. Here's Lisa

Bero with all the latest motor news having just celebrated its 100 birthday. Also B-ble is kicking off its second century of production by introducing the all new 1999 Alero replacing the tepid Zelena chiva offered in both civilian and Koob configurations. The Alero is aimed directly at would be employed buyers. The Alero comes in an attractive package that incorporates many of the exterior styling cues of the Aurora and intrigue. The interior is roomy and practical and our pre-production test reflected the extra effort made to produce a quiet rattle free atmosphere. Two power plants will be available a base 2.4 liter overhead and four cylinder rated at 150 horsepower and a 3.40 or V-6 that produces 170 horsepower be made into a smooth automatic transmission and are carried by an ultra rigid body structure and stret type four wheel independent suspension. Together they offer a ride that sperm but comfortable handling that is tight and nimble.

Look at the Alero to hit showrooms late this summer or early fall and for an estimated 18 to 21 thousand dollars the Alero comes with a long list of standard features which includes 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS traction control and a theft deterrent system. And that's it for this week's news. There are few tastier automotive dishes than America's premier pony car. The Ford Mustang the recipe a rear wheel drive at a big throaty V8 is absolutely intoxicating. So what happens when you have in a few more horses and perhaps a dollop of extra haggling. Well you get a car like this one like Kenny Brown 289 or ask Cobra. Mr Brown has been cooking with Dearborn's favorite thoroughbred for 11 years. And from the looks of his latest work this master automotive chef has the recipe just right. Morrisette any good book knows a recipe is only as good as its ingredients and

chef Brown is a symbol of the best. His stock with a 289 arest is 140 full bodied Ford Mustang Cobra. The top of Ford's pony car line for one that has already received the full Kenny Brown Cobra s treatment which features a supercharger for the board V8 race quality suspension strengthened chassis and high performance wheels and tires labeled on top is Kinney's new 289 arest package part of which is slightly punched out supercharges 2.7 V8 But now this place is you guessed it. Two hundred eighty nine cubic inches in addition to a bore at 8 eight big wise go racing pistons. The engine is balanced and blueprinted gets new rings and bearings and improved lubrication system and ceramic coated exhaust headers and makes us see 113 genuine rear wheel horsepower 358 pound feet of torque which launches at 60 miles per hour and only 4.4 seconds or almost a full second faster than stuck.

And we top 137 on that front straight at Roebling road Raceway. So this puppy is fast and we don't mean just in a straight line. The 289 package also includes Kinney's level for suspension upgrade. This entails a complete rebuild of the underpinnings with new springs Koni shocks and struts altered rear geometry with a Panhard rod and new front points all supported by 17 inch cords line alloy wheels wearing extra wide Firestone tires. They can't afford a whole box chassis the feel of a purpose built race car. Especially up front with a Mustang pooper. Sometimes the back is replaced with a more solidly planted feel though the stock steering still needs a little work and at the rear where the 289 store will still light up the rear tires in third gear corner. This is a car that demands respect. The massive power output. Extraordinary level of grip require a high level of both skill and commitment. Braking however just needs a gentle touch and the massive Brembo deerskin calipers

yank the 289 down from triple digits means with eye popping. Now normally cars with this much pure tractability are all but undrivable on the street. But the Kinny Brown 289 surprised us with ride quality almost equal to that of the stock Mustang Cobra. Accommodations were also up to par with the interior retaining all of the standard cars efficiency and features but adding lots of slick carbon trim on the dash and doors serial number black and if desired available recall Proracing see the entire 289 as Cobra package is available through participating Ford dealers. Or you can ship your current car to Kinney's Indianapolis Indiana workshop for the conversion. If you buy that complete car the price starts with a 1998 Ford Mustang Cobra for twenty seven thousand one hundred ninety five dollars. The required Cobra package adds another fifteen thousand seven hundred fifty dollars while the full 289 arest treatment is about $17000 on top of that for a total bill of approximately $60000 depending on

options. Too much for the average working hot rod are but less than a well-healed or would pay for many foreign exotics they can't beat the 289 performance. Kenny Brown 289 or as COBRA is a special dish with a discriminating automotive gourmet. It's a recipe that's been simmering on the ground stove for a long time and it's finally done. Be warned it's out. I hope you'll join us next week for more motorway. We'll test a car that made us smile long before we ever drove in 1999 Volkswagen Beetle and savor the open air thrills a BMW powered convertible least of all the Mongolian trail and this year's Camel Trophy rally ball past us helped your car find its way home and then stay there. I'm John Davis. We'll see you then. Motor Week has been brought to you by Castro's super clean all wheel cleaner. The cleaner that releases brake dust and road grime from old types of wheels on contact

no matter what age your car. Castrol super clean all wheel cleaner to order a video cassette of this program call 1 800 4 2 2 0 0 6 4. Or since 1995 plus 495 shipping and handling to motorway. Post Office Box 5 5 7 4 2 Indianapolis Indiana 4 6 2 0 0 5. 6. This is PBS