Motorweek; 1604

A. This time on Motor Week. What's new from Chrysler for 97 a midsize be eight from Mercedes and one lamp of a big trend. So come drive with us. Now. TV's original automotive magazine. With. Your host for Motor Week John Davis. Well hello and welcome again to motor week. We're glad to have you with us. As the summer winds down the new car model year winds up and here it Motor Week we always start the new auto year with a look at what's fresh from America's big three carmakers will start this year with Chrysler

a company that's seen more than its share of ups and downs but it's now the darling of customers and critics alike and enjoying its best sales in over 20 years. So when the 1997 Chrysler is continue this trend of. Month after month Chrysler Corporation cars and trucks are setting new sales records. Given the public fancy for virtually all picture star products their success can be summed up in two words design and diversity. That certainly is the Chrysler story for 1997. After all what other big car company has the moxie to design and build anything like this car. The Plymouth This is no one off. No service on sale next spring this Tuesday. Retro roadster is sure to be a hot item. While slightly changed from the original 93 show car the prowler remains a visual delight. But this is no grow back. The prowler is one of the most groundbreaking cars ever engineered by Detroit. Virtually

all of the major body chassis and suspension components are made of aluminum. Yet most other prowler parts come directly from Chrysler sedan. That includes the auto stick transmission that mimics the manual gearbox that should be here writing corporate parts bins and is the reason the brawler price will be as low as $35000 in parts that include the LH is 214. Has Power 3.5 leader 24 Balbi 6 engine. Good for a 0 to 60 spread of 7.5 seconds inside the relatively wide cabin complete with dual airbags is a linear array of gauges with a big speedometer smack dab in the middle. Just like a proper street rod moving are not. The power takes your breath away and it's simply remarkable that it exist at all or that prowler takes up residence with Chrysler's other too exotic. The Dodge Viper r t tan roadster and new Dodge Viper GTX hatchback coupe with the fiery looks of the Cobras a Tona and 450 horses that's 35 more than the RTV 10.

The GTX provides a rush of 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds. That also happens to be whether tight real roll up windows electric door latches and even dual airbags detract from the driving thrill of the VTES not one bit. Now to diversity. Enter the new Dodge Dakota pickup if you like the full size RAM but felt there was too much truck for daily urban battles. The Dakota is the son of that neatly fits the bill. Speaking of size the new Dakota will be sold as a compact pickup although it has similar dimensions to the midsize model it replaces and the decoder will continue as the only small truck with an optional be 8 engine an expectedly class leaving cargo capacity and trailer towing ratings with both six and a half and eight foot cargo boxes. The Dakota is a serious compact truck. However most buyers will be of the personal use for rioting and more interested in his quiet highway ride and vastly improved accommodations. New door seals in a 50 percent

stiffer ladder frame do wonders in keeping auto pollution at bay inside the broad instrument panel is similar in layout to ram but with something the RAM lacks dual airbags. The majority of small truck buyers want an extended cab and in the Dakota club cabs three can ride on a split folding bench seat drive trains or carry over and include a 2.5 lieder four cylinder a 3.9 leader of the six and a 230 horsepower five point two liter V8. All but the 2.5 can be attached to a part time shift on the fly four wheel drive transfer case for best off road capabilities new 31 by 10 and a half are 15 inch tires are available. Out of Wrath. Well there's more. The all wheel drive minivan returns and long wheelbase Dodge Caravan Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country for front drive models a traction control option is new for 97. Now many of Chrysler Stabler front drive cars get minor adjustments like the auto stick shift it yourself automatic but the sparkling Sebring

convertible auto stick has already migrated from the Eagle Vision CSI to the Dodge Intrepid. Meanwhile the Mitsubishi may Dodge Avenger coupe as well as the hard top Chrysler Sebring can now be fitted with 17 inch heel. Then there is G. While the Grand Cherokee continues as the darling of the sport you'd see that there are big changes to their older model. The 97 Wrangler made its introduction in late spring and is in strong demand. Yes a return to signature round headlights helps but it's the modern updates like dual airbags and stiffer chassis and an all coiled spring suspension that have prepared this plastic for the 21st century. Finally Cherokee the design that started the compact for door sport utility grade way back in 1983 gets its first rework and 13 year old boy you may have to be a current owner to appreciate them. Their front patient is slightly rounded with wrap around bumper at the rear there's a new hat now made of steel and set a primer glass with a mini van style exterior release handle while other

body panels are mostly unchanged refurbished stamping dies mean closer tolerances and new seals reduce wind noise. However the interior of the Cherokee has been redecorated rodders seats have been borrowed from the Grand Cherokee. A new modular look dash includes cool air bags. The climate controls come from the updated Wrangler as do a clear set of gauges. The standard floor console now includes space for two cup holders and plenty of storage. You still control wheel drive with a handle as transfer cases and engine for main as before including this optional floor leader 190 horsepower inline 6 with over 2 million Cherokee sold since introduction. Look for the new Cherokee to arrive at mid-year. And it looks like 1997 will be quite a year for Chrysler with design and the versity that is the envy of the automotive world. You know keeping your wheels on the go can sometimes be a lot of work. But if you listen to

motor week's top tech man Pat Goss it gets a lot easier. OK John so you want your old car to look like a new car but you don't want to spend all of that money. Well you might want to do what we did to this 86 Jetta row now supplied us with these custom wheels for it custom wheels make an older car look much newer. Well one of the things with custom wheels is to make sure that they properly fit the car. Now right now they supplied us with these hub centric spacers. They're made out of metal. They fit into the wheel to make sure that the wheel runs true on the hub of the vehicle. Some companies will supply plastic ones like this which are perfectly acceptable especially when you don't need to space the tire out. OK. But now you have your wheels. What next. A lot of other things that you have to consider. You have to mount the tires on the wheels. That means you have to look for a repair shop that has a proper mounting

machine and that means either one it has a plastic shoe on it that won't damage the wheel or one that has metal that never touches the wheel otherwise you're going to wind up with something like this right here and metal certainly ruin a new wheel. Can spoil your whole day as a matter of fact. You got the wheel mounted. Now you need to balance them because you want a smooth ride. You need modern balancing equipment something that is capable of doing a very fine balance and make sure that the technician that they hand of coated wheel weights now coated will weights are going to keep the weights from doing damage to the finish on the wheel. Along with that you may want to have a real clean look so that you don't have weights on the outside stick on weights. Do a good job. The lug nuts and the lug bolts. Well there are special ones for most of these wheels. Many of them have a greater taper some of them have a Shane that goes into the wheel to make sure that it is properly centered on the vehicle.

Now you've got your wheels you've got the mounted you've got them properly balanced everything is going good but you have to take care of them. That's the job of the various wheel cleaners. Now some of the companies today are going for wheel cleaners that are specific for the different types of wheel so that if you have a coated wheel it gets a special cleaner as opposed to one that's non coated use the proper cleaner. Take good care of your wheels you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of them for many many years and if you have a question or a comment write to me. If I use your letter I'll send you a motor week T-shirt The address is Motor Week always Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Our car of the week of the making. Fifty three Packard Clipper go once a classic from the days when baby boomers were still babies. It's been preserved by William Robinson of the Rato

Springs Colorado. The make good color photos of your classic the motorway Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. In the early days of the automobile when any two acquaintances both owned cars you most likely had an auto race. Nowadays auto racing is a tightly controlled sophisticated huge money business. So where do you go if you still want to run what your brawn. One lap of America is the brainchild of legendary Cannonball Run organizer Brock Yates. But on like those Bonzai runs of the 70s this rally is street legal entrants are classed according to body style and performance potential. But basically if you can put tags on it it's eligible. What makes one laugh so tough is the enormity and variety of the event. Seven days 12 racetrack 16 states and forty three hundred miles make for a grueling schedule.

Enrollment for this 13th annual running numbered 94 vehicle ranging from $1000 claimers the vintage muscle car. Modern club racers and even a few factory sponsored road and we would take a shot too. Courtesy of Porsche Warper does a deal we couldn't refuse the chance for Motor Week producer Dave Scrivener to drive with 1995 winner David Murray and defend the title in a 911 Turbo. This would be the second time around for Murray and for this 9 11 since we would use exactly the same car the pick the checkered flag last year. Now with 25000 miles on its clock the first event was held on the track at Watkins Glen New York. Murray's still breathing hard from that morning he led the class again and brought our car number one home and burst. The next six days would have our stock 9 11 battling for the top spot but the score of modified machine Trans-Am are ones other Porsches Mustangs. Has. It was one their only disguised race car the most were intruder. In another

first place in rainy Michigan International Speedway coupled with a second place at Putnam park Ind. that I was firmly in the lead going into Event number four. Unfortunately Oh it cancelled our morning at Road America Wisconsin forcing an extra run at Blackhawk farms Illinois it was here that Lady Luck showed her pickle nature though and our gearbox which cup blew it forced to run both the bends without third or fourth gear. Lead evaporated in the most learn to have over a frantic drive to Chicago for repairs and an amazing two hour gearbox swap put us back in the hunt stops in Kansas and Oklahoma netted second and first place finishes and lifted our spirits as we headed with a Memphis dragstrip. Now David is the first to admit that he's no John force on the drag strip and indeed a miscue at the timing lights. Ended our day early. Alternating second in third place finishes for the final six events locked us in don't hold second place overall and it's a testament to Porsche engineering that even a wounded 911 Turbo could hold off so many

past contenders. In the final tally the bowser beat us by just five point six seconds and coming troubles of their own to do so. And despite all the hardships only eight hours failed to go the distance. The one lap story is not just about who finished first though it's about the 69 Plymouth Valiant that finished sixth. It's also about the thousands of dollars raised for charity and the spirit of competition and cooperation found throughout the field. For many of the drivers the one lap is their summer vacation. Indeed the one lap of America is the ultimate summer road trip and provided us with memories to last a lifetime or at least until next year. The cars that participated in one lap of America took a real beating. So you wouldn't necessarily want to buy one of them you. But if a used car is what you want. Lisa Belkin help you find a winner. It's a Nissan Maxima was

motor week's pick for Best Import sedan and our 1995 drivers Choice Awards. It was also one of our most troublefree cars in our long term test fleet. Those are just two reasons why the 1995 Nissan Maxima would make a good used car by this redesigned Maxima for 95 features for more rounded styling and glowing lines than previous Maximus. Riding overall performance were also greatly improved. The SE model we tested came with firmer shocks and rear springs along with your thin front suspension bushings for crisper handling response and despite a good deal of push and rolling corners. The Maxima stayed composed and was easy to control under the hood. All models are powered by an aluminum three liter V-6 that delivered One Hundred Ninety four's power and 205 pound feet of torque. The engine is flawless and we have called it the best B6 in the world. We manage an excellent quarter mile time of fifteen point five seconds ending at 92 mph and a 0 to 60 time of a brief seven seconds. All Maximus get the wheel disk brakes anti-lock

brakes are optional ABS equipped se average the stopping distance of 134 feet from 60 mph. Gas mileage is rated at 22 city and 27 highway in real world driving we manage 24 mpg. Inside the user friendly cockpit feature center stack controls within easy reach. Only the models have gauges the colors. The seats provide good support and seat belts are now height adjustable. There's the expected driver side airbag and one for the front passenger rear seat passengers have plenty of leg and head room a giant armrest and this convenient pass through to the Y deep trunk. And there's more good news. Pat Goss notes there are no significant service bulletins or recalls. Prices for the 95 Maxima range from eighteen thousand one hundred dollars for the GMC model to about twenty one thousand for a top drawer JLE. Our choice would be the se the sportiest model priced around $1200. We consider the 95 Nissan Maxima a great value and so we highly regarded as an

excellent used car choice. When we tested the latest E-Class sedan from Mercedes-Benz last year we noted that Mercedes engineers had clearly gone above and beyond the call of duty in designing it. But as much as we loved our six cylinder E3 20 test car we love the idea of an eight cylinder model even more. Well now it's here in the form of the 420. Is there such a thing as second sight. Sure. In fact with this Mercedes-Benz Ford It's more like love is lovelier the second time around. For now there is a part driving under the hood. Cars from Mill your own aluminum dual overhead cam 30 to bow or point to leader being it pumps out a very healthy 275 horsepower and two hundred ninety five pound feet of torque which is seamlessly pull to the rear wheels by a new five speed automatic

transmission. Also standard is Mercedes abs or automatic control and all speed traction control system the modulators brakes and toward to maintain stability. Why put the traction control turned on and driving for maximum performance. We pushed the 30 800 pound or 20 from 0 to 60 and a swift seven point three second ride we were even more impressed with this midsize sedan disbalance behavior around the twists and turns of Pocono international raceways road course credit the wider track run double wishbone suspension and all around finally to the springs of the new E-Class. Exclusive to the E for 20 sport. Our 17 inch am Shimano block alloy bearing Z rated 45 series High Performance Michelin pilot Essex rubber. Other AMG crafted additions include the sport's deeper front air dam with neatly Integrated Bar glass sides courts to accentuate the Corrs ground hugging stance and matching rear apron o shared with Mercedes yet to reach the U.S. E-15 a

high performance in am. Inside the court is the classy well thought out interior so characteristic of the understated luxury that is Mercedes-Benz plus all E-Class models have standard door mounted side air bags for driver and front passenger. And while hardly cheap this BHP class still represents value compared to its predecessor the 1974 20s base price dropped twenty six hundred dollars according 9900. And that's for a much improved vehicle this work package adds thirty nine hundred dollars bringing the sticker to fifty three thousand eight hundred. Those prices are very competitive with the Lexus LS 400. BMW 540 Jaguar X Day 6 and even Cadillac Seville making the Porsche 20 a much bigger force in the middleweight luxury car market and we think will make it love at every sight for 20 owners.

You know one of Craig's greatest adventures ever was when he drove an almost stock Ford pickup truck and the dust and heat of the Baja 1000 rally to say that the Bob beat him up a bit would be an understatement. Well now Craig's gone to the other extreme. Alaska they call it the last great American wilderness. There is an unforgettable beauty to this monumental land. But there is also a haunting sense of desolation an eerie feeling of being alone. A constant awareness that you need other human beings in this harsh punishing landscape. I guess what it's hard for most people imagine is how large the state is. We just passed the sign back there that said next services two hundred forty seven miles. We had come to Alaska to drive the 400 mile Dalton Highway

stretching from FAIR banks to the Arctic oilfields approved obey six of us had gathered to test two vehicles on a lonely road that forges through three different ecological regions. The sub Alpine forests of Alaska's interior the treacherous mountains of the Brooks Range and the desolate tundra of the Arctic coastal plain are vehicles of choice were to 1995 Ford Explorers equipped with the new set it and forget it control track four wheel drive system and our previous road test we had found this package to be nearly transparent when delivering on demand traction to the axle that needs it. The question was how would this excellent all round sport utility vehicle pulled up to the extreme demands of the Arctic north. So when we reach call for you know maybe 45 Kasra you're 40. But when we get to cold water after cold but we can have an average beat I'm sure at 48 49 miles an hour OK.

Billy Edwards a veteran promoter of automotive adventures had carefully organized this trip and he made it clear this would be no easy drive. You cannot take a trip like this lightly. You've got to be prepared for the worst case scenario which is the vehicles are working. So we've got extra clothing we've got things to try to repair the vehicles tools etc. there's not a lot of facilities up here let's put it that way. There wasn't much of anything out there on our first day of driving except snow and moose. About the only other humans we saw were truckers like Darryl Jennings who makes his living on this unpredictable road. Any words of advice for guys like us. Well. It's kind of tough to do when you don't know the road. The state's pretty much on top of it if they know the tracks are stuck out there they'll get to you as soon as as soon as I get equipment through the weather. You know once again it's never out there and it

doesn't take too long to bestir and get to you. With that in mind we continued on. Past sunset and into the night. Our destination the Arctic acres in located in cold foot Alaska so named because the less adventurous usually get cold feet at this point and head back south. We awoke to news that an avalanche had just buried the road at agone pass. So with our route north blocked we trudged over to the wisemen trading company where we spent the morning talking about snow and dogs and the last of dogs a real important specially good big snows and a lot of highway and a lot of kind of snow machines can do it all. We rely on dogs to get us out. Sometimes it can be a main form of transportation. They're bonding with a wall. And they all have name drop. Basically all three of them.

As the morning were one Joe went off to feed his dogs and we headed back out on to the don't know highway. With the snowfall from the night before it was a glimmering desolate sight to behold. My first impression and I'm really taken by the magnificent landscape in its really stark beauty. You could even say it's haunting and it only got more snow as we reached proved there's something about the Arctic Ocean that feels like you've come to the end of the earth. Take another step and you'll fall off the edge. There aren't many who ever ventured this far north where the minus 70 degree wind chill seeps into your very bones and the image of the arctic circle remains frozen in your memory for a long long time to come. If you're mad about American cars then Jerrold pushed bonkers wheels in motion will be a nice addition to your library.

Covering all 100 years of the US auto industry wheels in motion looks at both the cars of America and the man who made them 160 pages hardly allows enough detail to present a definitive history. But the inclusion of many lesser known car makers and wealth of wood makes it a good if far to plea agreement. Be sure to join us next week for more motorways. Well see what's new from Ford for 1997 and make our first outing in the redesigned Honda Prelude. I'm John Davis. We'll see you then. To order a video cassette of this program call 1 800 4 2 2 0 0 6 4. Or send twenty nine ninety five plus 495 shipping and handling to motor week. Post Office Box 5 5 7 4 2 Indianapolis Indiana 4 6 2 0 5. Two motors from the Motor Week home video collection or current best episodes of the motor week

television series. Call 1 800 4 2 2 0 6 4 0 to order a catalog send a self-addressed stamped envelope to this address. Hello I'm John Davis. On the next edition of motor week we'll show you all that's new order 1997 and make our first outing in the redesigned Honda preludes. Craig seeing how it hits the high road to attend a birthday party for the American people are all packed dog shows us new tools for your favorite mechanic. Plus we'll have all the

latest Motor News. So don't you miss the next motorway.