Motorweek; 1324

Next on motor week a new classic Porsche Speedster and an all new Ford many bad boss the Chicago Auto Show drive with us. Next. Most. TVs automotives magazine. Your host from John Davis and welcome to motor week we're glad to have you with us. The car that we all know today is the Porsche 911 has had a long and varied past from its roots and Porsches original 356 model to its own debut in the mid 1960s. There have been many variations on the most significant and sought after ones however has been the chop top roadster known as the speedster.

This 1994 model is only the third car in 40 years to wear the speedster name and it is a tough reputation to live up to. But any car based on the 1900 floor model 911 should meet even the. Demanding enthusiastic speculation. And get lots of attention especially when clothed in the striking blood red paint of our test car the color emphasizes features that set the chop top 9/11 speech apart from the regular 911 cabriolet such as the low rise but sharply right when shield and a humpback shape of a hard composite tonneau cover but extending the body color to the 17 inch alloy wheels might be too much of a good thing. Silver and black wheels are available and no extra cost. A more familiar feature to fans of modern 911 is but one that may have been traditionalist. Is this retractable rear spoiler. Yet the low profile gives the modern speedster the traditional 356 stance

the very sturdy manual Blacklock top requires a bit of muscle the bass and securely. Just like the original body can be lowered and stowed easily. This sparse two seat only cockpit configuration is also a traditional speedster feature. Unlike earlier speeches however the full range of 911 options are available. The dash is current 911 right down to the standard dual airbags but the rigid composite shell seats come from the Europe only career already has racer. They're adjustable for reach only unless you have a wrench and that a narrow range of body types. Standard 911 seats are optional. Squeeze into those tight racing seats and you are presented with a clear view of large familiar 911 analog gauges as well as the expected controls for heat and ventilation the stereo is optional as befits the Spartan speedster philosophy and not totally necessary. One can enjoy the musical sounds of Porsche's latest 3.6 liter flat 6 engine. Its current form this legendary air cooled plastic heats two hundred forty seven horsepower

and two hundred twenty eight pounds he took torque to the rear wheel. But only after it passes through our test car's five speed manual gearbox or Porsche is optional tiptronic automatic a manual combination readout £31 speed. For the 16. An impressive five point. Four seconds. Through the quarter mile and thirteen point nine seconds at 105 mph. The speedster is well-named and agile aggressive improvements to the chassis have made this 911 a remarkably capable machine. But despite an exemplary grip and feel really hard corners reminded us that this is still not a car for the faint of heart. Rear engine cars are almost always twitchy. Get the short stout chassis kept in portable body flex to a minimal. And slightly less manic driving on public roads. Showed how well the 911 speedster soaks up bombs that would upset many of us are sports cars. While track testing of the brakes produce stops from 60 averaging only 104 feet

thanks to large anti-lock equipped desk with four piston calipers those standard antilock brakes are just one safety feature that place the latest 9/11 speech firmly in the modern world. They're joined by dual air bags but seatbelt tensioners and 5 mph bumpers are also included. The speedster also meets federal 997 side impact standards. Naturally there is a price for all this but in these days of tough market competition for Porsche. Not as much as one might think. Our speaker carries a list price of sixty six thousand four hundred dollars with its installed options. Seventy one thousand seven hundred seventy six dollars will allow you to take this rarity home and if we had the dough we'd eagerly lay it down for the speedsters nostalgic combination of branded style and legendary performance and reputation. This latest Porsche speech not only lives up to the four decade old legend it expands on it and makes us look forward to the next reincarnation.

You know in the past our f y Our reporter Lisa Barrow has given us helpful tips on preventing auto theft. Now she shows us some security companies that are designing ways to keep an electronic eye on your car. We're going to have along with you don't hang up OK. For years car owners have welcomed new ways to fight AIDS and these weapons progress from steering wheel locks and auto alarms to devices like this electronic tracking system. These high tech inventions can help police find your vehicle in a matter of minutes. The Lojack auto security company developed one of the first tracking devices called Lojack retreat. They can be hidden in one of 35 places in your vehicle. Most people don't even know where they are and that makes it impractical for thieves to try to steal a car and find when a stolen vehicle report of a Lojack equipped car is entered into the police computer system.

The computer automatically sends a radio signal to a Lojack tower the tower relays that signal to the stolen car activating Lojack retrieve. The stolen vehicle then sends out a cry for help to low tech equipped police vehicles within range. The center dive is my patrol vehicle and they surrounding us would be the vehicle it's been stolen would help me track it if it's in front of me or behind me. I would just follow the dots. We tested the system with this low jack you could to be a go and it only took 10 minutes for the police to track us down here. LoJack has a 95 percent recovery rate of stolen vehicles and an arrest rate five times the national average. And that success has car thieves on guard. Here in Southern California is one of low Jacks biggest competitors. Practical tele tracked. Unlike other tracking systems that transmit homing signals to police vehicles tele tracks vehicle locator unit or video you alerts a control center that maps the movement of your car. If it's been started without the key.

When the tele truck service we know exactly where the vehicles are located on a computerized map base with others it's almost like using a metal detector to look for nickels on the beach because you know that they may be out there but you don't know where the delegate system here in Southern California covers a 600 square mile radius in three seconds they can pinpoint the location of your stolen car within 100 feet. One of the best features of the system is that we can we have a whole view of the city. And in just a matter of seconds we can go in zoom in right to the exact location of the tracking systems not only help locate stolen cars but they have led police to car jackers and numerous jobs jobs. And so far the systems are available in eight states in the U.S. and cost anywhere from 600 to $900. But both Lojack and tele track hope to be tracking down stolen cars in all 50 states. International cities in the near future. Now it's time once again for Pat Gosse he's been keeping track of the latest Karkare advice.

I promise you more about tires and to do that I've come here to Union City Tennessee to the Goodyear plant and help me explain how they take raw rubber to the finished product I have when Coburn when what are we seeing in this area that the process of tire manufacturing begins here in the receiving department raw raw materials from around the world are delivered from here these materials moved Banbury with a conversion to rubber compounds actually start. In these mixers we incorporate all those raw materials into song receive in your area with certain carbon blacks received from our towers outside those materials are precisely weighed and incorporated into the mix or the mix who in this room here controls the time of the temperature of the mix it's dropped out of a process that converts it into a slab of rubber that is then taken to a machine called the wigwag which lays it down into the storage good. That red is it for the next stage of the process. We were seeing all kinds of interesting things going on. This step in the process path we're creating the reinforcing structures of the.

Steel belts of the tire are created by embedding steel cords in the rubber sheets from there those rubber sheets and then cut into the appropriate with from the mention for the specific tire. Treads as we see here are created on the scene much like the meat grinder that your mother might use to make sausage. That. Forces a rubber through to make the tread shapes for the time. This still doesn't look like a fire away. So you're right that this is the first thing. Which will result in all the pieces in the whole of the sea. That they. Things put together. Now we take this put it on the tire. Machine. Assemble the belts and the. Result is. When it. Looks like this. Here we see the green tire being transformed through pressure time and temperature into a cure yet finally looks like a real tire. Exactly but we're not finished with it yet.

Now before many quality checks on the tire they're sure the ride problem vibration problems are no longer in the product and we don't have those problems in the future. Once the tires finished those inspections were now here in the warehouse. We have Iraq with threads ready for our customers. Wayne I want to thank you so much. And that would seem like it's well the end of the story but really it isn't. You see there's a lot more to the Aqua thread story than meets the eye. This program was consumer driven. There was a lot of participation a lot of unique things that went on in the development of the aqua tad. And remember that it was all done in America and if you have a question about your car write to me if I use your letter on the air I'll send you a motor week T-shirt The address is motor week I wings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. A. Very large school is a good example of when fans were in it's 957 Lincoln premier to do a hard time. He belongs to Leonard Miller of

North Olmsted Ohio. It's in good color photos of your collector car to Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. 0 0 0 Ford cars and light trucks and dominated U.S. Top 10 sales charts in the past few years. It's rear drive minivan the Aerostar was never a head. But now there's a new star on the horizon. The Winstar front wheel drive model that may change the minivan universe for ever. That's because Ford's goal for Winstar was to combine the ruggedness of its trucks with the finesse of a front wheel drive luxury sedan were targeted on part of the minivan market. The Dodge Grand Caravan and Plymouth Grand Voyager and set out to better them and power safety interior room and features. Motivation comes from boards proven 3.8 leader 90 degree B6 standard power plant in the Lincoln Continental delivers 155 horsepower and 220

pound feet of torque. That's seven fewer horses but seven pound feet more than grand caravan's optional three point eight leader B6 and when Starr delivers over 90 percent of its torque at a very low fifteen hundred RPM giving it more off the line. So all transmission for the Windstar is a strength and core speed to electronically controlled overdrive automatically Winstar delivers more standard safety features than any other front wheel drive minivan to starting with dual airbags side impact protection that meets 997 federal standards and 5 mph bumpers front and rear Plus both Winstar trim level G L and L X received Standard Poor wheel antilock brakes. Abs are still optional on Grand Caravan and Grand Voyager. Ford calls the Winstar is to box styling theme their bobsled approach. The result is a sleek good looking shape. That is the most aerodynamic of all minivans achieving a low point three five coefficient of drag only slightly more than the Mustang the Winstar chassis is also

longer and wider than the Mopar of a Benz. All of this translates into slightly more overall cargo room than the competition. 144 cubic feet and most head leg shoulder and hip measurements are also best in class. When Star has a very driver oriented instrument panel similar to the Lincoln Mark 8 an analog gauge package with tack ometer is standard but electronic dash is optional on elex grade when stars in the middle buyers can choose these optional captains chairs in place of the standard to place bench seat both seat backs fold completely flat at all when stars get this easily accessible third bin seat wide enough for three adults. It not only folds but slides forward a full seven inches giving a large twenty three point eight cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat. Despite its spaciousness Winstar has sedan like handling that's every bit as good as the smaller Mercury Villager Nissan Quest when and with it turning diameter three feet shorter than the Chrysler benchmarks Winstar is surprisingly easy to park and

maneuver. All of them forge entry into the front wheel drive minivan market. Is it revolutionary. There's no rear left hand door and no traction control. The Winstar does give Chrysler its first serious people mover opponent. And the battle is only beginning here with even more on upcoming new models as Lisa barrow and all of the latest motor an. Acura is bigger sports sedan has never been a big success in the U.S. despite its reasonable cost. This week we take our first look at the all new 995 vaguer which bears a definite resemblance to Honda as 94 accord and will share some of the accord suspension pieces. But the new bigger will get the tech basics power to Magid sports sedan styling along with increased interior space. The public never warmed to vigorous five cylinder engine and limited rear seat room. Acura is so anxious to clear out its current inventory that 94 bigger should be available at fire sale prices between now and the new Biggers debut next January or February.

And that's it for this week's Motor News. Last month we brought you reports on the Detroit and Los Angeles auto shows. They're the ones that attract most of the manufacturers attention here in the U.S. but the auto show that attracts the most spectators is in Chicago. Let's see what brings over a million paying customers a year to this windy city extravaganza.

West review days at the Chicago Auto Show usually involve a good deal of pandemonium. And this year was no exception. We arrived at McCormick Place to find the show floor mobbed not with cars but with workers setting up displays blowing out carpet and wheeling in vehicle. So it was no easy feat to spot the gems of this year's show amidst the packing crate and confusion. The big news from Chicago is a big car from Toyota called Avalon but its available column chip there and sitting for six Avalon's Camry base platform and front drive B6 is seen by most as a replacement for the class of 0 0 Avalon is the largest Japanese brand car yet sold here. It's more American than you might think. Most of Avalon was designed in the US and all units will be assembled and Kentucky. As for American brands Todd following up on the popularity of the biker GTX unveiled here last

year now brings us the RAM beat ts a Piper engine pick up that just could be the ultimate holer. Not quite as flashy but nonetheless impressive as Chevrolets latest color a 1995 compact blazer deliveries start in late summer Oldsmobile will make its way to a couple of months longer before they introduce the new bravado this robotic concept does give us a strong clue as to how the new old may look when it hits the streets next fall. No mystery surrounds the looks of Mercury's new entry for 1995. The mystique will fill the void left by the soon to depart Topaz. It's mechanically almost identical to the European Ford Mondeo engine choices include this two leader four or a two and a half liter modular V-6. We also got our first look at the 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse and its kissing cousin the eagle talon aggressive styling and revised engines should draw plenty of attention to this latest generation of diamond star sports coupes.

Hyundai is aiming squarely at Generation X with its accents show car shown here for the first time. It's a thinly disguised teaser for the next excels of compact. Mazda has added some luxury touches to the Miata to commemorate the fifth anniversary of its debut here in 1909. This is him edition Miata will be available if only if you see it here. I'm playing catch up with the marrow sibling the Pontiac Firebird finally lost its top. We should see plenty of these f body convertible soaking up the rays this summer at the 25th anniversary edition will be a bit. Where are the hits of the show. We turned our attention to the hits of the show room as we presented our one thousand ninety four Motor Week drivers Choice Awards in Chicago for the very first time the best cars in 14 categories were recognized. Look there are winners here next week. But for now we're out of time and out of breath after catching wind of all the new models on display at the 1994 Chicago Auto Show.

If you're like most people it only takes one trip to the auto show to get you to start thinking about buying that new car. But whether your car is new or old it's always a good idea to keep it in tip top condition. The best way to do that we turn once again to Motor Week Karkare guru Pat Goss. John recently I did one of my segments about how to properly wash the exterior of a car. Well that led to lots of mail saying well what about the interior. Well let's give that a shot this time. Now first you need to get rid of all of the big junction all the hamburger wrappers and everything that I've collected over the last year in the car all of that goes. Then you vacuum the inside. Well that may mean that after you're through vacuuming you may find some grease spots or stains on the carpeting. The absolute best way to do it if you can get it into the car is one of the professional home type of carpet cleaners. But look at this you may

not be able to use it in most of the modern cars. So what do you do. You go to an auto accessory store and you buy a product that's designed specifically for cleaning automobile carpets. Now this may be dry or it may be foam. And if you have a real stain spot what you'll do is spray it on following the directions. Then use a scrub brush on the spots that are stained scrub it in real good and that'll get rid of the stain. Most times you'll have to vacuum it up but me sure that you don't use your household vacuum to do it. You want to use a shop vacuum so that you don't damage anything. Then you're going to clean the vinyl areas inside the car. Well what most people do is they use household detergents. Well these are great in the house but they are lousy in the car. Don't do it back to the auto parts store. Buy an appropriate type of cleaner for the vinyl inside the car and if you have textured vinyl use your scrub brush again. This will get down into the pores of the vinyl and make it look great. Dry it with a soft

cloth. Let it sit for several hours so that all of the moisture dissipates. Then use an appropriate type of protectant that keeps the vinyl soft. Don't use this on the dash because many times it makes the Danks too shiny and you get glare in the windshield. Then the plastic the covers the instruments. Well you can get yourself into a lot of trouble with some of these cleaners cleaning that plastic so go to an audio store where they sell high fives and so on and buy a cleaner that's designed for the plastic covers on audio equipment. Works real well on the instrument covers. Clean the windows cleaning the windows a regular glass cleaner works well more if you mix vinegar in water about two tablespoons of vinegar in a normal spray bottle of water does a great job but this does all of the big areas what about some of the areas where things are real tough to get to cotton swabs do a great job. You can dip those into the cleaners or in some

cases you may want to use rubbing alcohol. You can get into all those little cracks and crevices that way. For the things that aren't quite that tight. Save your old toothbrushes tooth brush does a great job for cleaning around ashtrays and all sorts of tight places on the car. If your car has a leather interior don't use the vinyl products on leather seats. Use a product that is designed specifically for leather to clean it and condition it. This will keep the leather looking great throughout the life of the car. Now many times the car may smell bad. One thing you can do is to put dryer sheets you know the fabric softeners in the sheets. Put those under the seats of the car or you can take baking soda. Take two boxes of baking soda take a pencil and punch several holes in the side of the box then lay two boxes of baking soda under the seats of the car makes the car smell great. In short order and this'll make the car worth a lot more money when it comes time to trade it or sell it because a good looking car

is much easier to sell and if you have a question about cleaning your car or anything else about the car. If you write to me and I use your letter on the air I'll send you a motor week T-shirt. The address is Motor Week always Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. That's Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Straight from the original drawings filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office comes patent poster companies collection of great inventions. They include computer enhanced plans for items as diverse as the rock colored jukebox and the Polaroid land camera. But it was the drawing of the Porsche 911 that made this collection come to life for us. The posters are available framed around frame and 9 by 12 or 18 by 24 inch sizes. Be sure to join us next week we'll announce the winners of our annual drivers Choice Awards. I'm John David.

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 $4 shipping and handling to this address. An expanded version of motor week's How to buy a car is now available on video

cassette. The tape includes information about selecting a new or used car and negotiating and financing your purchase. It also highlights the newest domestic and imported cars for 1994 to use your credit card call 1 800 4 2 2 0 0 6 4. Or send twenty to ninety five plus $4 shipping to this address. Oh I'm John Davis. On the next edition of motor week we'll announce the winners of our annual

drivers Choice Awards. And Dr. Ford's latest subcompact car the diminutive aspire that DOS demystifies how motor oil are traded. Well Lisa Vero shows us the fun and rules of heart racing school. Plus we'll have all the latest Motor News. Don't you miss the next motorway.