Motorweek; 1822

This time on Motor Week Formula One high tech meets the street Yamaha's double barrel cruiser and classics from Pebble Beach. So come drive with us next. We. Come with Vision's original automotive magazine brought to you by Michelin the makers of the zero pressure Michelin designed to let you drive up to 50 miles at five miles per hour with out air pressure just what you expect from a. And by pep boys no matter what you drive. Pep Boys has over 27000 items in stock virtually any part for any car with all the name brands you know plus superspy staffed with agency certified technicians head boys sports tires accessories service. And by Castro's super clean O'Niel cleaner cleaner that releases brake dust and grime

from all types of wheels on contact no matter what in your car. Castrol super clean or cleaner. Your host for Motor Week. John Davis. Well hello and welcome again to motor week. We're glad to have you with us. A race car for the street is an old cliche and in fact few cars described this way have much in common with real competition machines. So leave it to the auto industry's most famous racing Merc Ferrari to finally bring cutting edge racing technology to our production car. The car is the 3:55 F1 That's F1 as in Formula 1 the world's premier racing series. What does the new US race car technology really make a better street car. Ferrari's adrenaline pumping 3:55 has always been a real handful. The driver is not well versed in the tricks and trials of big horsepower Donek.

But now this thinly disguised competition machine packs one of this decade's most interesting and innovative automotive systems tucked behind the steering wheel are our pair of levers one for up ships and one for downshifts. They control the car's electro hydraulic six speed gearbox and pedal free clutch. That same type of system first introduced to the world and Ferrari's ultra high tech Formula One race car. Though the race car doesn't offer daily driver options that includes sport low grip or slippery surfaces or even a fully automatic mode. But it's manual that matters in manual mode the Ferrari system is truly amazing. Once you get used to a few idiosyncrasies ships require just a flick about vinegar and since your hands never leave the steering wheel car control is greatly enhanced. Not having to slip a heavy touchy clutch pedal also means that hard mid-corner shifts are much less risky and it also eliminates the embarrassment of stalling and stopping traffic. But the system prefers high rpms. Ships at low speeds

tend to be harsh and clunky. Fortunately there's never a lack of those much needed Rab's because completing this super sophisticated drive train is Ferrari's 3.5 leader dual overhead cam 40 Balbi 8. It puts out a thundering 375 horses and 268 pound feet of torque pushing you back and down in your seat as you quick flick shift your way from zero to 60 and only 4.6 seconds. The quarter mile of 13 seconds at 110 miles per hour passes like an explosion. Astounding 2 is the grip offered by the unequal length wishbone suspension with the electronically controlled shocks and the ultralow profiles are rated tires on 18 inch magnesium wheels though don't expect a smooth ride since the super tight chassis and suspension are competition hard. While the massive ABS equipped disc brakes are racecars strong with superb pedal feel together it all gives you a driving experience. That's as close to an F1 car as you'll ever get on the road. And when you finally tire of thrashing up and down local roads you can simply park and watch

the masses drool over the 3:55 f ones uniquely Italian lines arguably the best looking Ferrari since the 288 Gigio the ones in Barina pen lines make most other sports cars look like mini vans and easily evokes the lusty hot blooded nature of Ferrari prancing horse trademark. But I don't think the competition level performance means no creature comforts that 3:55 f one's interior is smothered under acres of leather from the dash with its now standard dual airbags to the very firm but supportive seats which wrapped tightly around the driver and passenger holding them in place like the coils of a hungry Python and facing a big analog Speedo and Ptak as well as a digital gear shift indicator all ancillary gauges are set off to the side in true Italian Style other Dash controls consist of little more than a stereo that you'll probably never use for fear of missing the music coming from the engine bay. While the center console houses everything else climate controls light switches power mirrors as well as various

transmission controls all within easy reach inside and out is probably one of the most usable exotic sports cars that we've ever driven and in our opinion probably the closest Ferrari has yet come to a real balance between a go cart like street racers that it's mid-engine models have always been and our real everyday driver. Now our friends at Automobile magazine also love the 3:55 but felt that the F1 semi automatic transmission makes the 3:55 more race like and not less. And this exotic adventure carries a price to match price with a 3:55 app one is firmly six digits one hundred twenty nine thousand six hundred twenty five dollars. Add transportation dealer BRAF and sixty four hundred dollars in gas guzzler tax and you pay one hundred thirty seven thousand seven hundred twenty five dollars. But that gets you a rarified sports car that truly is all things to all men. It's one derived ship system makes it the closest any of us can currently get to driving one of the world's most sophisticated race cars down our favorite

road. Yet that same system also tames one of today's most demanding sports machines for traffic in city driving. The Ferrari 3:55. If one truly is a race car for the street but it's also the friendliest thoroughbred to ever gallop out of the mirror Nello state. To get the most out of ABS brakes on your car. Remember these three little words stop stay and steer stomp the brake pedal in a panic stop. Stay on the brake pedal even if it vibrates or makes noise and steer around the obstacle or danger. ABS brakes work best when you stop stay and steer. Coming up classic cars on the beach. You know today's cars are certainly not cheap. In fact a car is the second biggest purchase you'll ever make. So if you want to protect that investment you'd better listen carefully to motor week's top tech Pat Goss.

John seems like everybody wants more power and performance from their vehicles but at the same time they don't want to lose any fuel economy and they don't want to lose any durability or reliability. Plus they have to always be concerned about the ever tightening emissions laws. Well we found a solution it's supercharging see superchargers while they meet all of these demands and they apply the least amount of stress to the engine. While we've taken on a project here on two vastly different vehicles the first one mine 98 F-150 NASCAR pickup truck is completely stock as you see it with a lowered suspension. Roush exhaust and some mild engine recalibration to give it what I feel are respectable power and handling. I think of it as a Mustang with a really big trunk. But more power is always welcome in my garage. So the folks at tech engineering have provided us with their four point six liter

cord supercharger kit. To establish a baseline for our project. We visited the tuning who were generous in letting us use their Dinon for before and after testing. Here's a word of caution. Unless you have a lot of automotive experience and access to many many tools like we had in my shop this is not a do it yourself operation. The actual installation took us well over the claimed 8 hours but a lot of that time was spent studying the instructions. There were some tricky parts to the job like tapping into the oil pan for oil return line and routing all of the vacuum hoses and wiring away from hot or sharp engine parts. For the most part though this installation went smoothly. Everything fit where it should and made for a clean looking package when all was said and done tallying up the numbers are measured to horsepower jump from one. To. 30. And Cork when. 39. All the way up.

Read. Or. To. Remember these numbers are measured at the rear wheels where the power hits the pavement acceleration times drop significantly maybe over two. Seconds from zero to 60 in quarter mile time. But the part I like is the effortless way it accelerates around town. No turbo lag or won't be idle. Now I do have to run premium gas but my fuel economy stay just about the same. It's right there around 18 miles to the gallon. There was no effect on emissions. I do have some noise at idle but. Well that's part of supercharging kit cost about thirty seven hundred dollars. You add that to the price of the vehicle that comes in around 27000. That's not bad for the kind of performance that I'm getting out of this vehicle for our next project. We're going to breathe new life into a tired family hauler. Until then 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. Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Car of the week is pure automotive Americano. It's a 1934 Buick series 40 sedan and it belongs to Mr. Gordon Likert of wasters town Maryland. It's a beautiful reminder of the days of straight eight engines and running boards. Now if you have a special car like this one American or foreign. We'd love to see it. Submit at least two good color photos to motorway. Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. You know plenty of people consider themselves to be auto enthusiasts but there's a lot more to it than simply slapping a new set of wheels on an old Fiero. Lisa Barrow. She's a true auto enthusiast and when she wants to look at Great cars the parking lot of the local auto parts store simply won't do. So she goes to the beach.

In Pebble Beach to have her lover not likely get in these easy to understand why. Because here on the famed 18th fairway Olajide have a beef. Some of the most exquisite automobiles on the planet. On the lawn all the way down the 18th fairway you'll see these 175 glittering examples of automotive history. It's the only day of the year they close the 18th fairway and golf is no longer King and cars are set out on this felt like surface like jewels along the coastline. It's really something to see. One hundred and fifty thousand of the world's most affluent and best dressed spectators turned out for the fourth annual Pebble Beach Concord d'Elegance. Among this year's tributes the Belgian built Minerva and Portia's 50th anniversary direct from the Portia museum in Stuttgart Germany where a number of legendary racecars and Jerry Seinfeld treated us to his private collection with the last air cooled 11. Perhaps the

best part of the Pebble Beach conquerer is that car admirers are free to get up close to all the vehicles on display as well as mingle with the lucky people that own these magnificent machines. It's 1933 Chrysler Imperial. It's a band body. They were made for three years and this particular model 33 they made less than 40 and it's very sought after car. The car is a 1938 Bugatti type 57 s with coursework by Corsica by the makers. It was delivered to a guy named Colonel Giles in England who was the first president and founder of the Mugari owners club and his brother designed the coach work and he had it fitted with the alligator interior that the chassis 1930 Cadillac V-6 team roadster custom body by Fleetwood which was at a factory in a house company but it is a custom considered a custom body to particular car very unique and Cadillac lines because this was the

introduction of their run for the multi cylinder race. It's a 16 cylinder as you'll note if you look later at the details of construction that's rather unique in its appearance. In addition to the cars you'll be able to see some examples of automotive art automotive fine. Our society has a display sponsored by Lincoln. And they show first time artworks only they haven't been displayed at any other show prior. This is a 1939 Delahaye. It's set in. That's about it. It's a beautiful car. My favorite time actually and it matches the back side of the censorious lines of this century. This is. 23 automotive art is displayed there works from around the world a number of awards were given out. But this year's overall winner was Tom Fritz paintings entitled The writers in the a 32 Ford my boy with the 50 mercury

and they're in the heat of battle the last hours of the day and what intrigues me about this particular painting is the lighting and the warm light and the time of day. I'm painting primarily the emotions of peace not necessarily the actual iron the emotion behind it but some glory stuff from automotive fine art to fine automobiles no Pebble Beach Concord would be complete without an appearance by Jay Leno. Are you showing anything. No no no. Maybe next year I've got another Duesenberg I'm lot. The wrath of the Indians. Oh yeah done that later today how about. What is the first word here have a charity here. Do you know what the cars are. I think it's the Chrysler 300. I think a Porsche and a Mercedes I'm not sure I just said it applied on the money. I'm not sure I have to thing. Just remember to get 13:27. OK I'll keep that in mind.

If I were. Wrapping up the festivities later that day Jerry Seinfeld joined Jay and raffled off the Chrysler 300 m a Porsche 911 Carrera and a Mercedes Benz. OK 320 which helped raise $400000 for local charities. Numerous awards were bestowed upon the many outstanding entrants at this year's conquerer But best of show went to John Mozart of Palo Alto California for his stunning 1938 who got fifty 57. SC people come here from all over the world. And these are their treasures. They were. A lifetime on display and very proud and. Like to show off and. Travel and it's just a. Very very special event to be played. This week we welcome one of the most dramatically styled sport groups ever to our long term fleet. The 1999 Mercury Cougar. For its first U.S. production car to fully embrace the sharp edges and radical curves of new edge euro styling the now

front wheel drive cougar is a standout in any crowded parking lot. And on the street to a combination of 2.5 leader Draytek V-6 slick five speed manual gearshift bad tires and fully independent suspension makes the cougar a smooth street performer that easily outlaws the sporty pretensions of most small groups. After less than two months and only 6800 miles with us we have only good things to report on this patch reliability economy of twenty point two miles per gallon of regular fuel is great for each class. We found lots to light inside the cougar too including a driver's cockpit with Trip Computer top notch safety with seat mounted side impact airbags and even a usable back seat. Although those with bad back should stay up front. We'll check back in on the cougar soon to see if it still Sport Coupe near perfect. Next week we'll see how winter is treating our Mazda Miata on the next motor with long term road test update. And now for the newest cars coming down the pike we turn to Lisa Delaney for all the

latest Motor News. If you're one of an increasing number of frustrated car drivers tired of craning your neck around those tall or larger vehicles in front of you. We've got some bad news. Things aren't going to get better anytime soon. That's because last year nearly seven and a half million Americans purchased light trucks. A category that includes both pickups and SUV. Most of which are larger than your car leading the way in total sales for the 17th year in a row. Was Ford's F-series pickup. General Motors also posted its best ever light truck sales despite dealing with labor strikes that shut down plants for two months last summer. European imports also boomed fueled in part by new Beatlemania. Volkswagen saw its best sales year in over a decade. While Mercedes and BMW also posted record years resale success is due to its hot selling M-L series BMW is hoping to cash in on some of that success as well. When it introduces its new X5 sports activity vehicle later this year. But an SUV in the

lineup is no guarantee of sales. Landrover saw its sales drop 10 percent due in part to the discontinuation of the Defender 90 and some buyers waiting for the new Discovery series to. Nissan. Also had an off year with the decline in sales of fifteen point eight percent. They are hoping that new products like this frontier base Xterra SUV will give prospective buyers good reason to give Nissan products a closer look. But it's not all about trucks and SUV is the best selling car for the second year in a row. Was the Toyota Camry and that's it for this week's Motor News sense since American style motorcycles. Otherwise known as cruisers. Once again became popular. The world's motorcycle companies have produced a dizzying array of machines that are long low and loud. Now the latest to join the cruise or party is a new machine from Yamaha called the Roadstar. But in a market already glutted with cruiser style bikes a new arrival had better have something special to offer. So we threw a leg

over Yamaha's latest star to find out just how well it will handle the road ahead. But there's one thing we were sure of before we even fired up the engine the Yamaha Roadstar will turn a lot of heads where ever it goes. An impression that was quickly confirmed when we attended the road stars national press introduction in scenic northern California. There in the able hands of Yamaha's crew bike riders from across the country got to ride Yamaha's newest cruiser on some of the best roads in America. But as we said before the chrome Laden road star doesn't have to move to attract attention since it's one of the most handsome motorcycles that we've seen in years from any angle. The look is pure Americana with big glowing fenders. Hefty chrome headlight shell a sculptured 5.3 gallon gas tank and wide bullhorn style bars. But the big news in Yamaha's latest Cruzer is in some ways a departure from the company's leading edge tradition.

The engine is a massive car sized 16:00 to s.c air cooled pushrod V-twin the biggest in its class. Ninety eight cubic inches of retro technology that's balanced by modern features like four valves cylinder heads and ceramic composite cylinder liners. It's fed by a single 40 millimeter Maconie carburetor and spits out its exhaust through a pair of artillery psi shotgun style fights low in Cruzer power reaches the rear wheel through a super clean Harley-Davidson style belt drive up first for a Japanese brand cruiser and that low wind power is there in abundance. Yamaha claims a massive 99 pound feet of torque which leaves the Roadstar away from a stop with stop pulling these peak torque arrives at only 2250 revolutions with a rope limiter kicking it around 4400 RPM but all without the jarring vibration of some homegrown V-twins it's neither too much nor too little and allows the Roadstar to meander along even the twisty

byways without the rider having to dance on the gear shift. But if you want to you'll find the gearbox to be crisp and precise. One of Yamaha's best ever to keep it all rolling down the road. Yamaha installed a set of shrouded 43 millimeter forks up front. And a hardtail style swing arm with a cleverly hidden preload adjustable shock outback all riding on stylish 16 inch wire spoke wheels. This gives the Roadstar a comfortable ride even over bumpy pavement while still staying tight enough to deliver sharp low effort handling. In fact the Roadstar turns much more quickly than a heavy 677 pound bike with a sixty six point three inch wheel base normally should. Making it easy for enthusiastic riders to touch the billboard down in fast corners. Brakes are a hefty 200 98 millimeter dual disk with two piston calipers up front and a single disk in the rear. They're pretty powerful but require a strong lever squeeze to get the best out of them. And we found the rear brake to be more sensitive than we like.

It's a package that encourages you to ride. And thanks to a roomy upright riding position you can easily empty the gas tank without having to stop at a chiropractors office. We do however wish with a tank mounted Gade cluster was easier to read at speed. But we must admit that it's huge Speedo fuel gauge and digital clock and odometer are very straightforward. The wider seat is wide and very well padded but the rear pad wall better than most still requires an understanding passenger with some padding of their own. Serious travelers will prefer the Silverado edition that features an adjustable windscreen saddlebags and a more touring oriented seat. Either way you get a stunning motorcycle that impresses us with its looks performance and superior build quality and rolls out of the showroom door for a very competitive ten thousand four hundred ninety nine dollars choose the Silverado and the price rises to eleven thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars. In either version the Yamaha Roadstar is a wonderfully retro ride with just enough modern technology to smooth out the rough

edges and with its massive new Naanee a cubic inch V-twin It's now the biggest dog on the block. That alone sets it apart from the rest of the overcrowded cruiser segment but it's the Roadstar near perfect balance of American character and Japanese efficiency that could make it the new king of the Cruzer road. And I hope you'll join us for the next motorway. Well will test drive Isuzu radical new Be a sport utility vehicle and Volvo was top of the line as 80 luxury sedan Braggs us gets down in a go cart. While Pat Goss tells us more about superchargers. Plus we'll have another long term road test update and all the latest Motor News. I'm John Davis. We'll see you there. To learn more about motor TV's original automotive magazine. Visit us PBS online at the Internet address on your screen. Motor Week has been brought to you by Michelin. The makers of the zero pressure Michelin.

Designed to drive 250 miles at 55 miles per hour. Our air pressure. Is. Just what you expect. From the show. And by. Boys no matter what you drive petaloid says over 27000 items in stock virtually any part for any car with all the new brands you know plus service be staffed with A.S.C. certified technicians. Parts tires accessories service. And by Castrol super clean air cleaner. Cleaner that releases brake dust and grime from all types of wheels on contact no matter what age your car has strong super clinging and all wheel cleaner to order a video cassette of this program. Call 1 800 4 2 0 0 0 6 4. Or since 1995 plus for shipping and handling to this address. Is