Motorweek; 1512 PTV

This time on motorway crushing new crop of minuscule mudslinger and new regional do you drive without. TV's Automobile magazine. Your host for about a week. John Davis. Hello and welcome again to motor week. Glad to have you with us. When boy's latest Mustang arrived in 1994 it was hailed for its stylish new looks and refined character. But some fans were better really disappointed at the horsepower deficit relative to its main competitors the Chevy Camaro and Pontiac Firebird.

Well these fans quickly made their feelings known. And Ford has listened. The result is a 96 Mustang with serious horsepower that's ready to strike. And their name is Cobra but unlike previous versions of the latest Mustang to wear that hallowed name the French special forces limited edition 1996 Cobra finally packs real firepower. Flip open the hood and you'll find a whole new arsenal. Ford's home aluminum 4.6 leader 32 valve double overhead cam modular V8 finally replaces the venerable pushrod quiet leader that propelled a generation of pony car. It puts the Mustang Cobra neck and neck with its top General Motors competitor by pumping out no less than 305 horsepower and 300 pound feet of torque and with us move 0 to 60 time of 5.5 seconds as well as a quarter mile run of 14 seconds at one hundred two miles per hour. But Ford owners back on

the front row of the stoplight Grand Prix channeling all that power to the rear wheels. It's a not cheap but solid borgwarner key 45 five speed manual transmission. Don't even ask for an automatic like anyone but all this low down torque to play with Everwood. And the playtime doesn't end when the road gets twisty the 4.6 V8 required a new front suspension carrier that prompted SBT to even further rework the cobra suspension geometry while you can still steer by throttle this box chassis is far less tail heavy now and actually a pleasure to drive in the wet. Unique variable rate springs and a new power steering system helped give the 96 cobra a more solid European feel. I make it the sweetest handling phony car yet. A set of sticky 45 series B.F. Goodridge tires mounted on 17 a tabloid wheels aid in this newfound persuasion braking is all massive anti lock with this. That's not the Cobra from 60 in an average of one hundred one thousand feet

under hood is a new hydraulically boosted brake master cylinder. Still we would like a firmer pedal feel and less nose dive. But we can hold the brakes high speed performance swing many performance cars off the track however and their drive ability quickly nosedive. But that's happily not the case with the latest program. The right is firm but never jarring it soaks up big bumps and potholes yet retains its composure at all times. A claim that the last generation the Mustang. Mate and the 4.6 leader V8 is also more flexible than the old pushrod unit with a smoother clutch and more refined longer look at how we're deliberate. We can however fault the fact that for all it's a probability the cobra looks a little different from it's much more common sibling. Granted there are nice round fog lights in the front facia when the air intakes on the hood and plenty of badges as well as those spiffy wheels. But our favorite styling feature the return to vertical tail light lenses is shared by all 96 Mustang

Cobras inside is also pretty much straight Mustang but that's nothing to complain about since it's the best cockpit in the American pony car class. The wraparound dash with its dual airbags large clear gauges and handy easy to use controls is top notch. While the support of bucket seats fit everyone on our staff rear seat room remains cooped tight. Normal for the pony car class though the ten point nine cubic foot truck is about 20 percent smaller than a Camaro or firepower. The price however is right in line with the cobra's GM rivals the base COBRA runs twenty four thousand eight hundred ten dollars and in its only option package which includes leather at a premium sound system plus destination and delivery charges and the final total is twenty six thousand six hundred forty five dollars in the world of high performance. That's quite a bargain. And even though only about 700 SVT approved for dealers will be able to sell Cobras. It's still clearly a good idea. The folks at the Auto Week obviously

agree. They wrote that with the cobra. There will now be Mustangs on a par with the best GM has to offer at a comparable price. And that's a step in the right direction. Automobile magazine was even more enthusiastic saying this is the Mustang we've been waiting for and the one Chevrolet Camaro Z 28 drivers will love to hate. So if you thought that the new Mustangs lackluster early showing meant that the pony car wars were over think again 96 Mustang Cobra is proof that Ford has not abandoned its loyal pony car fan and a warning to Camaro and Firebird owners that the next time they hit the streets it better be with a snake bite kit in the glove box. What. Keeping your car looking good and working right is not easy. Unless you know a top notch mechanic like Motor Week sour patch costs.

John this time we're going to talk about fixes for wheels. Remember that steering wheel with a beautiful leather covering on it LOOKS SO GOOD felt so good when the car was new. Well time has taken its toll. What do you do. Well one thing you could do of course is you could go out and buy one of these fuzzy monsters that well they could be dangerous when you're involved in serious driving situations. Well what I did is I went to mid America Corvette and they have an exchange program where you order a replacement wheel it's recovered. They send it to you then you take your old one off send it back to them and you have a new wheel at a very good price. Remember steering wheels are expensive and these services are available for other cars not just Corvettes. Some of the things that you can do if you don't want to do that here's a very inexpensive vinyl steering wheel cover. It's OK. It's about all you can say for it if you're into do it yourself and you don't mind putting some time and effort into it. Here is a

real leather cover. This comes with the threading the needle and everything to install it on your steering wheel and you can get some really professional looking results. If you take your time and do it right here is something that really doesn't work that well anymore for most cars and that is a replacement steering wheel. Reason is very simple. They have complex apparatus in the steering wheels on lots of cars today where the cruise control is mounted in the steering wheel remote radio controls airbags all of that making these wheels next to impossible for most modern cars. In addition to steering wheels though another thing that is always getting in trouble are gorgeous alloy wheels. You know we all try to have cars that look good. And one way to do that is to buy the new car with alloy wheels on it but sooner or later a pothole or a curb or an accident is going to take its toll on that wheel. Well once it does you can buy a new one of course and these wheels can range anywhere from two hundred

fifty up to seven or eight hundred dollars per wheel. So what could you do as an alternative. Well we went to a professional wheel straightening shop and that's something that you can do. Seek out a professional shop where they have the tools the equipment and the knowledge and they can actually restore one of these wheels to look just like brand new. They can straighten them. They can re weld broken pieces they can refinish them they can polish them anything at all that is necessary and the average cost 75 to 85 dollars per wheel. That's a significant savings. But ask the questions to make sure that they'll guarantee the safety of the wheel before you get involved. If you have a question or a comment write to me. If I select your letter I'm going to send you a motor week T-shirt. The address is motorway points Mills Maryland. Two one one. When.

The week is a real head turner it's a nine hundred fifty three Chevrolet Bel Air convertible that belongs to John rompin of New Berlin Wisconsin. If you have an open air classic you'd like to show off so many good color photos to Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. America's history is closely tied to the automobile from Henry Ford to the Indy 500. But it wasn't just family cruisers and race cars that made America's name in the automotive world. Some of our most famous cars were actually built for a time when the pleasures of motoring were the last thing on people's minds. This week high road reporter Craig Singh hoss meets up with a man who remembers those difficult times and who preserves the machines that held our world together. Why when they first arrive on the eve of World War 2 they were known as Blitz bugs beetle bugs and leaping Lena's. But they soon became near and dear to the hearts of allied

service personnel as the immortal sheik from El Alamein the now Iceland Evo Jima wherever the Allies went so did the G8. One World War Two Army veteran who has kept his close ties to the once ubiquitous Jeep his publisher Chet Rousey an avid collector of U.S. Army transportation equipment. Chad is the proud owner of this restored army jeep. We're sitting in a 1940 Ford and this is the type of vehicle that George Patton once said that won the war in Europe. Is this pretty typical of what the average G.I. had in war to this this basic this vehicle was restored to the standards of which they came from the factory. This is weighs about twenty five hundred pounds. It had speeds to 60 miles an hour although most of them wouldn't go that fast. Of course if the Germans were shooting at you it wasn't too difficult the unreformed heard

them in and get them home. It's a very narrow vehicle its wheelbase is only about 48 inches and it only had about a six foot overall length between its wheels. Of course it was used off road most of the time and it was a very versatile vehicle then because it had four wheel drive and you could literally go to any place except mud that were a bigger vehicle would suit you. There's a saying that says that the sun never sets on the I mean Jeep and that's probably true today as it was in World War 2 because they had wide distribution in the Pacific as well as in North Africa and Italy and North Europe and there were some 750000 of these made and they were made by both Willis and Ford a little bantam had built some of the prototypes they did not build any production type in jeeps anyway. They were all build on one standard and parts from Ford could fit on wellies and vice versa.

Hitler completely underestimated our ability to build quantities of them and we built a quality that would withstand a lot of wear and tear. And we build them in such huge numbers if one were destroyed we merely replaced it with another one axis in players just completely underestimated America's ability to do this. They couldn't believe that the civilian population of America would get together and build this kind of thing. And you know the stories of Rosie the Riveter are very true. We just put forth a great civilian effort in World War 2 and well those of us that were over there in battle thought we were winning the war and the war was actually won on the whole to break production. Now back to the present and the future. Here's Lisa barrel with all the latest Motor

News. This week we're in Las Vegas in search of new products for your car. And we found them here the same as the world's largest automotive aftermarket extravaganza. This is the Jack Rabbit which neatly combines a hydraulic floor jack into stands into one package. The hydraulic arm lifts the first jack stand of the recommended lift point and locks it. Hold the jack out the second stand falls into place and you're ready to lift again. The jack rabbit from safety Jack sells for three hundred forty nine dollars. New from acquirers is a service moving bar called clean and smooth. This new clay bar technology amazingly takes up atop the surface contaminants like this over spray that you see here. Cleanin smooth sells for $12. Air bags or hot items this deal these days so winner International is designed the air bag and steering wheel shield that works with the glove. It sells for $30 and the folks at Kodiak have created an automatic folding step for easy access to your store utility vehicle. The Kodiak Sidewinder sells for $300.

There's plenty to see if this year's stay my show for more see my news check out motorway online on Gaga serves automotive In other news. Jaguar introduces long wheelbase versions of eight year old X-Day sedan for 1996 Jaguars X-Day 12 and this band and sedan will ride exclusively on a limo like one hundred seventeen point nine inch wheelbase almost a five inch extension and all of it behind the B pillar. That stretch translates into point five inches of additional rear leg room and combined with a slightly more ground groove half an inch more headroom front and rear. By Jaguar fans will know the new models longer rear doors but probably not the increase in window glass thickness from four to five millimeters. That helps make these longest Jaguars ever even more quiet inside. As we discovered while driving them over the highways and byways of rural Wisconsin. Despite their lengthy long wheelbase Jaguars weigh only forty eight pounds more than 1995 smaller models. And they remain a joy to drive. Look for a full road test of

one early next year and that's it for this week's motoring. When selling cars you have to know your customers whether they want large or small plane or luxury s and most importantly how much money they have. These days most sport utility vehicles are purchased by families who demand the safety of their go anywhere capabilities and who can afford the rising prices. But what if your customers are younger and not so well heeled. Well then you produce an affordable four by four. And if you're a Suzuki who started the whole trend in many sport utes in the first place you get even more creative. And there's no doubt that the Suzuki x 90 is quite a creation to you or to this is your t Tom cool. Right. Virgin is also available so he calls the xx 90 plus 40

utility vehicle and says they designed it with the express of American youth market in mind based on the two door sidekick the x 90 rides on the same short eighty six point six inch wheelbase with overall link the test over 12 feet. There's a generous six and a half inches of ground clearance for those off road excursions that might require it. Indeed we found b x 90 mini Utes coil spring suspension very capable on trail both at our home turf and in the northern Cascade foothills in Washington state. The x 90 has a non shipped on the fly part time 4 wheel drive system that does include automatic locking Khalid's and a two speed transfer case engagement is easy with this console mounted shifter and a light signals when four wheel drive is engaged. The x 900 engine is also shared with the sidekick an aluminum block single overhead cam 16 about 1.6 liter poor. It pumps out 95 horsepower and 98 pound feet of torque. Surprisingly we found it very peppy and responsive in

everyday driving and at the track. Where our dark twenty five hundred pounds might be. From 0 to 60 and along about ten point. Second. Quarter mile was accomplished in seventeen point seven seconds ending at 76 mph. Our delivery is through a somewhat bulky long throw five speed manual shifter a four speed automatic is optional only on four wheel drive x 90. In our slalom exercise. The x 90 handled far better than we expected from such a short wheelbase maybe it's not right or wrong. Why would you worry with the brakes to the standard for Will and the lock system halted the x 90 from 60 I think that's great average distance of 100 feet albeit with a fair amount of nosedive. Yaks 90s cabin is surprisingly roomy except in shoulder room but there's barely enough space behind the seats for a briefcase. Dual airbags are standard notable and any sport utility besides offering welcome visual relief. The

cloth covered bucket seats provide a good support especially on the side bolstering the seating position is high to getting excellent visibility. See the adjustments are basic and there is no tilt wheel option but height adjustable seat belt power windows and power door locks are among the many standard features. So is this alpine stereo cassette unit. It sounds great but the buttons are miniscule. On the other hand the full size vent controls are snap to use and the T-tops are just as easy to remove. They have their own storage bag that secures to the spare tire in the trunk which has a sports car size 8.4 cubic feet of cargo space. There's barely enough to squeeze in border weeks complement of luggage. The mini ute Suzuki x 90 is also kind to your budget into will drive prices start at thirteen thousand eight hundred eighty nine dollars. Who will drive it fifteen thousand three hundred eighty nine dollars which was also our test vehicle sticker at that price. The x 90 should appeal to younger buyers who want to small fun 90s kind of sporty cars.

What you really want is wanting a portable second car with the added bonus of four wheel drive. Suzuki hopes to attract them all with the excitement of the extremely creative x 90. Since their introduction in 1968 Jaguars x to a series of vans have personified four wheeled luxury. But like the company that built them the x rays have had their share of ups and downs for 1995 however there was a new extra day at as this week's road test by request shows us it's a car that looks to the past for inspiration and to the resources of Jaguars current owner Ford for the future for Jaguar. Things are definitely looking up. Hand up is definitely where Jaguar is headed and production quality customer satisfaction and sales of 995 line up including the likes of this super charged X Jr. sedan that's good news should continue.

The x Jr. is the first super charged Jag in the company's 72 year history is the performance model among the four sedan range and the most scarce accounting for only 3 percent of total x J production. Jaguar chain some 100 internal parts of last year's Four leader dual overhead cam 24 valve inline 6. Only after this beefing up they add an intercooler super charger. The resulting three hundred twenty two horsepower and three hundred seventy eight pound feet of torque provide what Jaguar calls we find powered Jaguar head. US buyers in mind in picking super charging over turbo charging super charging provides more gutsy off the line throttle response. Something we Yanks thinker for most and we put it to good use at our home town Test Track where a rush of low end torque. Pushed our 4200 down XDR from zero to 60 in just seven seconds flat and our hefty can't leap through the quarter mile and fifteen point two seconds finishing at an impressive

95 mph. Extremely smooth power delivery is ensured by speed automatic transmission traction control is standard despite its weight. JR sped through our slalom course like a far trimmer feline. The speed sensitive steering especially tuned for the X Jr. as is the double wishbone in cool spring. All independent suspension lots of credit for the X JR superb handling prowess must go to the sticky Perelli. He 0 tires this 45 series rubber is on 17 inch sports styled diamond polished alloy wheels exclusive to the X Jr.. And geometry helps maintain extra composure and harsh maneuvers including emergency braking within it. Lance Tevis ABS system our car stopped from 60 in a short one hundred twelve feet on average. But there's nothing average about the new Jag inside or out. The classic styling borrows heavily from the series three sedans of the early 1980s

headlights are again round and their contours tunnel into the fenders. The screen pattern grille is the extra yards alone real frame bumpers and side moldings are body colored and the door mirrors are redesigned the classic Jaguar hood ornament. Officially known as the leaper returns on American X days as a $200 option. Jaguar interiors exude old world luxury and like the rest of the car has been thoroughly updated rather than completely redesign the shallow grain Conneally leather feel softer. The one piece molded carpeting improve sound deadening the extra yards wood trim is a grey stained maple. Other X days get burled walnut the XDR steering wheel mixes both wood and the other dual airbags are standard but only X produced after January will also have been in that glove box. The supportive Well bolstered bucket seats have the same anti-submarine in feature as Fords contour world car the driver faces a full complement of analog

gauges a digital odometer and enough warning lights to start a video arcade. Power seat controls have been repositioned for easier access. There's a three position memory that also adjusts the tilt and telescoping steering column. The 240 watt sound system has both cassette and CD capability which here has been enlarged and simplified. Ditto the new heating and air conditioning system which now has much improved airflow and the digital control panel three adults can fit on the contoured rear bench seat but not when the huge armrest is down. Overall we'd like a tad more leg room trunk spaces also smallish at eleven point one cubic feet but it's wide flat and left over is extremely low. Jaguar prices aren't low but then no premium luxury cars it is a super charged extra day or less for $65000. Even since the average annual income of Jaguar owners is over $200000 such a sticker shouldn't be too shocking for their

money they'll be getting the most sophisticated luxurious and well liable Jaguar yet. Indeed the legend of the big parrot is alive and well and thanks to a judicious infusion by Ford It has all of its nine lives left. And a lot of automotive buying guides arrive in our office every year but the 1996 new car report is more than just prices and specs. This takes off down volume which covers both U.S. and Canadian car markets. That's a year's worth of auto reviews between its cover accompanied by glossy color pictures. These reviews are short and to the point with few punches Bowl. In addition to over 150 car reviews there's also a comparison test and even a section on show car. Be sure to join us next week for more on motor week and a test of the latest from Earth 80s band the E-Class sedan.

I'm John Davis wealthier than. To order a video cassette of this program call 1 800 4 2 2 0 0 6 4 percent twenty nine ninety five plus for ninety five 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 cover the best episodes of the motor week television series 1 800 4 2 2 0 6 4 0 to order a catalog send a self-addressed stamped envelope to this address. A.

Hello I'm John Davis on the next edition of motor week we'll test the latest from Mercedes Benz their E-Class today and Miles this family hauler the MPV minivan. Lisa Barrow introduces us to the real men of the Secret Service while Pat got explains the whys of routine making it. Then we'll see how the Chevy S-10 blazer and GMC F-15 Jimmy breakers used to be a cult. So don't you miss the next motor week.