Motorweek; 1408

This time on motorways. What's new would order 95 child safety the right way. At a restaurant top from books why get so come drive with us next. TV's ultimate magazine. Your host for Motor Week. And welcome again to motor week. We're glad to have you with us. And the last couple of weeks we've shown you what's new for the 95 model year from two of America's big three auto makers. Well this final week we'll look at the company that actually created modern automobile manufacturing. Ford 1995 is a pivotal year for Ford as it tries to once again

reinvent itself with both new models and new strategies of global appeal. Cord maker of the top selling car Taurus and the top selling truck F-Series is undergoing changes that could make it the first truly global car maker. And if that means there are more cars in store like the 1995 Ford Contour and Mercury mistake the car world really would revolve around Dearborn. Call it a world car global car or simply a US version of that successful European Ford Mondeo. The contour and mystique are the first cars of largely European design to be built here by one of Detroit's big three and they're almost the same here as over there Ford says 90 percent of the contour mystique parts that you. Can't see are identical. But where there are changes and styling and suspension tuning. American tastes dominate. Or it definitely is pushing new ground with contour styling with a rounded Hood an oval grill that reminds many of the front of a jet

engine and it all flows back to a city council with shape and in dimensions closely matches the Honda Accord. The rear also has minimal overhang ending with tail lamps that favor Ford's Mazda partner. The Mercury Mystique has front styling that is more conservative with a raised semblance to the Topaz it replaces but that is where any similarity this jewel has to the past in open the door and the interior of all contour Mystiques is airy. Lots of laughs. With fabrics and an instrument panel that would look right at home in a BMW. There are some differences in overall Dash 8 between contour and mystique. The placement of major controls is the same which is to say up close and practical as on the dual airbag. Contour and mystique also offer a micron air filter in the ventilation system to catch most dust and pollen up the purse for this compact family car class. The all new power trains are also global. Both the European designed 125 horsepower two liter 16 Balfour and the

Dearborn engineered 170 horsepower 2.5 liter 24 of Albi 6 will be made in North America. The American designed automatic transmission chip so smoothly you might think this is a Lexus but the 5 speed manual definitely is European with white positive throws and even a lockout ring for reverse. Another first for this class is an optional all speed traction control system. The suspension is all independent constructs a broad and a multi link set up not unlike the Taurus in the rear. However on the contour and mystique some passive rear wheel steering has been dialed in for better stability with contour and mystique. Ford has done much more than just put another compact car design on the road. This is a genuine competitor to the best of the imports and one that once driven will be instantly appreciated. And we also think Lincoln fanciers will appreciate what's coming soon under the continental label. The chassis is new with a front wheel drive for the first time when it bounced this winter.

It will also give us even more clues to Ford's future. Since the canniest chassis is also the basis for next year's Taurus ports other big 95 news is about their biggest cars. All three. The Ford Crown Victoria the Mercury Grand Marquis and a Lincoln Towncar all get genteel refinements outside and a major updating inside. All share a new wind instrument panel that is tasteful with good looking good tone. The Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis door panels have everything from remote controls for the trunk and gas door to Mercedes-Benz style power C control. Obviously the Lincoln Town Car goes full tilt on new features like crystalline clear lens headlights outside and on the inside. Crews radioing climate controls on the steering wheel plus some features we've never seen on a Ford product before. These buttons on the sun visor can control your garage door opener. While this light switch varies the amount of power steering boost available it seems some older buyers think variable effort power steering requires too much effort.

Load effort is lowered too however with these big cars getting a trunk with a lower wider lip. The Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis We drove had the optional touring suspension that trades a little and ride quality priest apprising handling and they made us quickly understand why police departments use them for pursuit vehicles. But the public is pursuing a lot of poor trucks to 1095 changes to most lines aren't you. However the Windstar minivan was all new last spring and is still billing initial order. The best selling F series gets a total remake soon so there's little new here. Meanwhile segment leading Explorer gets a new face a new front suspension and a new interior with dual airbags. Shortly after the first of the year. Much of that interior walls will be shared with a compact Ranger pickup that includes a driver side airbag. So from Mustang to market a Ford Motor Company is boys to continue to set class sales records in 1995 with some of the most refined vehicles available anywhere in the world.

No two weeks Pat Goss is an expert on just about every facet of car care. And this week he's got some very handy advice on keeping your car in your own hands. John one of the big challenges is to get that car of your dreams today and if you're lucky enough to do it well there's an even bigger challenge and that is keeping your car in your driveway. Auto theft is on the increase everywhere in the country. That means that anybody that really wants to keep their automobile should be considering some type of alarm system. Now if your car didn't have one you might want to consider one of the aftermarket alarms. There are all kinds of them in all price ranges. They started out from about $40 in the wind up from there. Now these alarms have a number of different features. The basic ones don't do a whole lot

but they can get much more sophisticated. You could be looking at something like we have here which is a full featured system. This has things like a proximity sensor. It has a motion detector it has a discriminator. This is going to determine whether or not somebody is near the car if they're trying to break the window or anything like that. In addition to that it has a full function remote feature. And all of these better systems well they all tie into the starting system of the car so that the starter is interlock so that you can't hotwire the car. Now there's one big thing you have to be careful of. Whether you're doing the installation yourself or whether you're paying somebody to install this alarm system you want to be absolutely sure that you know exactly what you're doing. See if you hook up just one way or wrong your car's computer could be history. These guys are very sophisticated today and they don't tolerate mistakes. So be real careful about that now. Over the years factory installed alarm

systems have been considered to be real garbage. Well that's not the case anymore. Here's one for instance this is the General Motors passkey system. Now it has this brain and of course there's going to be some wires and everything to go with it. But here is the interesting part of it. In the ignition lock cylinder. There is a receptor in there and the key has a resistor built into it that resistor has a particular value. If you try to start the car with out that resistor in there this system blocks out the fuel system on the car. The ignition system. And it makes it so the starter won't even crank. How it really works we tried it on my Corvette earlier and it wouldn't start when we used a wrong ignition key. Now what I would recommend if you're buying a new car. By all means order the factory alarm system and if you want more features augment it with some aftermarket features and this will help keep your car in your driveway. 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 Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Our Extra large car of the week is in 1041 Cadillac Fleetwood limousine. It belongs to Raymond Miller of Dearborn Michigan. If you have a special car that's extra large extra small or somewhere in between to make good color photos to Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Safety is one of the most important selling points of new cars. But if you're a parent you should remember that most safety restraint systems like the airbags on this car are designed for adults. Protecting small children takes special attention and equipment. The proper use of which is now explained by Lisa Barrow. Is there.

A man in the family car can be a fun and enjoyable experience. Half the adventure of going somewhere is getting there but sadly a seemingly innocent drive in a car can quickly turned to tragedy. Children are in safely and correctly buckled in. I think one of the things that we have a problem with is people don't understand what forces are like to just give you some example. The 30 mph crash if you're not restrained you're going to hit whatever object you hit with the same force as if you dropped out of a third floor window headfirst. Fortunately the use of child safety seats is on the increase but a bigger concern to safety experts is that they are not being used correctly. It's very important that your child is using the proper seat for infants the baby must ride in the rear facing position in an infant seat or convertible seat until she is twenty pounds or 1 year old. The harnesses should be adjure below the shoulders and be tight enough so that you can put only the plot of your hand between the harness and the child's body. For children 20 to 40 pounds they can move up to a convertible seat. The seat is used in

a forward facing position with the shoulder straps at or above the shoulders in the highest slot. According to the manufacturer's instructions for older children 40 to 60 lbs. Safety experts strongly urge the use of a booster seat. Since most often the seat belt alone does not properly fit the child. As an added plus more and more carmakers are offering buildin booster seats as options. The safest location where any child is the middle of the rear seat. Once you have the safety seat installed it's very important to secure it properly. It must be tight and not move from side to side in order to do that you may need to use a standard locking clip or one that's heavy duty. Check your vehicle owner's manual to find out which one you need to use. Some seatbelts cannot be used at all and new ones will have to be installed. Your local car dealer can help you out there. Never use a rear facing safety seat in the front with the passenger side airbag. The airbag can cause serious injury to the child. Pickup trucks with club cams can also

present a problem. The bench about seating position is oftentimes too narrow to accommodate the base of a child safety seat a child safety seat must sit on a bench and not have more than maybe an inch of it hanging off the front and many times three to five inches of a child safety seat hanging off the bench of a pickup truck. So what we recommend is that the consumer call the manufacturer of their pickup truck and find out if there is any modification that can be made to allow for the child safety seat to be accommodated. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind the safety seat should have a label certifying that it meets federal motor vehicle safety standards whenever a safety seat is involved in a crash it must be replaced. Fill out and send in your safety seats registration card so that you'll be notified of any safety recalls and read both the safety seat manual and vehicle owner's manual. Every day brings new babies and many of the new parents have never given much thought to using safety seats until now. Children are precious gifts and they depend on us for

protection. So take a few extra minutes to be certain you're using the child correctly and keep that fun outing with the youngsters not only enjoyable but safe too. I now hear of more later this week we have our first driving impressions of Honda's long awaited B6 powered accord but it will take sharp eyes to spot the accord the 6s exterior differences such as its chrome trim around the grill discreet B6 badge and almost three more inches of overall length. But under this gas supported hood lies a dual overhead cam 24 valve 2.7 leader B6 producing 170 works power. It's largely the same engine that powered the first generation Acura Legend variable induction gives a good bottom end kick and all those movements we loved in the legend. Zero to 60 times under 8 seconds vs. about nine and a half or cylinder models. Unfortunately you can't equip a B6 accord with the 5 speed manual. It does receive

some suspension tuning which improves handling though it's not yet a sward sedan. But Honda has transformed the Accord from a yeoman family car into a premium entry. And we think Honda will price it accordingly at about twenty four thousand dollars some $2000 more than a fully equipped four cylinder and that's it for this week's Motor News. Hi I'm Craig Singh Haas and this week's Roadside America finds us in Oxnard California and the Museum of transportation and wildlife open by appointment only. The collection was founded by publisher Otis Chandler. Not only does the collection contain some of the rarest and nicest examples of muscle cars have reduced by Detroit but there's also one of the most interesting and diverse collections of motorcycles that I've ever seen. All of the convertible is in today's marketplace from the tiny Mazda Miata to the awesome SL 600 Mercedes Benz. I have one thing in

common They're designed to attract people who want to be noticed. Well this new generation of Volkswagen Cabrio is just entered the get noticed sweepstakes and the Question of the hour is well let's. It should because even if judged on looks alone the pope's wagon Cabrio is a real winner. It's so cute we can hardly stand it but its beauty is more than sheetmetal DEET. The new Cabrio. That's shorthand for camporee ole as a body 20 percent stiffer than its predecessor. It's also lower and wider. All help both ride quality and handling. Based on the latest generation VW of all three it shares the same rounded weight styling. True to tradition the Cabrio body is custom built for BW by Carmen. The 6 layer atop a span pit and provides good insulation from temperature extremes. The Cabrio also has much smaller blind spots than most other convertible. Plus the rear

window is glass with a built in to prosper. The super simple top down operation begins by releasing two latches and then manually folding the top back into place. Once down it's much lower than the top on the old cabriolet especially once you snap the soft boot over the folded top which also improves rear visibility and along with a slimmer roll bar gives the new Cabrio a snappier profile Cabrio power come from Volkswagen single overhead cam two liter four cylinder. That's standard in the Golf and. He had a. Good 115 horsepower and one hundred twenty two pound feet of torque which gave higher test Cabrio ample snap during normal cruising and a quite acceptable ten point five seconds 0 to 60 time. The engine was smooth and very willing but with 200 pounds added weight compared to a bomb through the door. We were not surprised at the leisurely quarter mile time of eighteen point seven seconds at 74 mph then any faster and you might

not get noticed. We certainly noticed the Camry I was five speed manual transmission throws are of moderate length but engagement is neat with a positive clutch which is just how the Kerio handled our slalom course even keeping all four tires in contact with the pavement unlike the other. We passed the emergency lane change maneuver was equally an eventful. There is little tendency for oversteer So changes in direction are controlled and accurate brakes or front disc rear drums with a standard if you like system. The combination of all the Cabrio from 60 and a reasonable one hundred twenty nine foot average distance. Leaving the cabriolet footprints are 14 and 60 series tires mounted on the smart looking 7 spoke alloy wheels. It doesn't take much gasoline to keep them rolling either for EPA ratings or 23 city and 30 highway. We averaged an even better 33 mpg back our test car did have the optional leather interior giving it a luxury look and feel not normally associated

with VW. Total interior spaces increased 11 percent over the old cabriolet. Most everything else is shared with the new go free including clear analog gauges and dual airbags although the passengers displaces the glovebox the supported bucket seats feature of the W's unique variety of manual adjustments. Thanks to the roll bar front seat belts are height adjustable. The rear bench seat will accommodate two thin adults in reasonable comfort holding the seat back provides a cargo pass through and nearly doubles the seven point eight cubic feet of trunk space. And the Volkswagen Kerio remains a reasonably priced way to grab attention. Nineteen thousand nine hundred seventy five dollars to start with are almost fully loaded car at twenty two thousand eight hundred sixty dollars. It said that half the payoff of driving any convertible is being seen in it. But we think owning a 1995 olds wagon Cabrio would be reward enough.

Once again it's time for our road test by request and the car that many of you have asked for. Fits into the increasingly rare high performance sports car arena. Now the definition of high performance changes so rapidly these days that it's hard for one car design to remain competitive for very long. But the Mitsubishi 3000 has continuous upgrades have kept the entire 3000 GTA lineup fit and the three thousand four of them all. As the high performance flagship of the Mitsubishi line the three thousand four has received many accolades from the Motor Week staff since its 1990 debut. Substantial changes both inside and out for 94 keep our compliments flowing. The most obvious alteration is a new front in the original retractable headlamps replaced by masked light projector beam assemblies and a more aerodynamic who would revise their intakes and smoother side applique

a soft in the 3000 body but the new 17 inch alloy wheels are a very aggressive optional prone Benish However it's a bit too boy racer for our taste. But any race or young or old would be thrilled to get behind an engine like this be our force Green leader 20 or bogey 6 now makes three hundred twenty fourth power and 315 pound feet of torque with a substantial increase in Prato response. Zero to 60 time degrees using morning Lee with nearly a whole song in the world. Point knowing what a mile roars by in thirteen point five seconds and 103 miles per hour. Now that serious acceleration help to body extra gear from the PR fours nougat drag six speed manual transmission. Now our test car's Lincolns wasn't had not but rows were short and accurate. Braking distances were no shorter than before but larger brake disc and new rear calipers gave our average 113 foot stops a smoother more solid meal than those of last year's 3000 GTI and hard laps around George's Roebling road

Raceway showed that the brake fade which had lagged our previous track test at the three thousand eight was now a thing of the past. That newfound stability extends to the handling this year's cars quicker more nimble than before. Effort required for the VR for standard Horwill steering is still a bit too light but turning remains fast with our car killing more firmly planted in mid corner. Teachers like to be our horse active aerodynamics which automatically adjusts rather than rear spoilers for maximum downforce look like gimmicks on paper but the package clearly works more credit however it's probably due to the standard all wheel drive and sophisticated electronically controlled suspension which easily sucked up the biggest bumps on the track you had on the street. Even with the VR boards adjustable suspension on its promise setting the ride was never jarring. Many high performance competitors can't make such a claim or offer the level of luxury and appointments available in the VR for it's a superb cockpit and it's

safer this year thanks to the addition of standard dual airbags. It's also as roomy as many small sedan with revised trim and comfortable leather covered seating that offers a wide range of adjustments and instruments are split between the main pod and center dash but all are large and clear. The now CFC free climate controls pictograph is still as confusing as before but it's switchgear is efficient at forty thousand nine hundred dollars the VR Force base price is also healthy. Without it options I test car totaled out at forty two thousand five hundred twelve dollars. Not cheap but again typical of the breed. And it does buy one of the most sophisticated cars on the road. Good day and a very safe one as well. The 3000 GTV are for has dual airbags antilock brakes all wheel drive and 5 mph bumpers all standard and that's just icing on the cake for this world class ultra high performance sports. The design of the Mitsubishi 3000 GTV are for that similar dodge

stealth RG turbo relative. Is in the end the closest one can approach show car features and exclusivity of outspending six figures for a market niche that's becoming more ferociously competitive with each passing year. The odds of this Mitsubishi's continued success are great. Well believe it or not it's new calendar time again. One of our favorites is always Hemmings Motor News is amazing variety of aesthetically abandoned autos and photos large and small it shows thirty two cars and trucks from the pains of the 60s and various states of disrepair parked in junk yards or forest in fields also listed are the dates of many collector car events and milestones in automotive history such as Preston Tucker's birthday or when Corvette production began. It's available from Hemmings Bennington Vermont. Be sure to join us next week for more on motor week when we'll put Mitsubishi sharp new

eclipse Sport Coupe to the test as well as Volvo slightly softer 960 sedan that God will show us how easy it is the properly fix chipped paint while Craig saying Oz does what Greg loves best. Plus why have all the latest Motor News. I'm John Davis. We'll see that. 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. That expanded version of motor weeks in Jaguar the roar of the cat is available

on video cassette. It examines past present and future Jaguar models. To use your credit card call 1 800 4 2 2 0 0 6 4 4 cent 1995 plus $4 and shipping two motor week home video post office box 6 8 6 1 8 Indianapolis Indiana 4 6 2 6 8. Hello I'm John Davis. On the next edition of motorway quirkiness Mitsubishi

sharp new eclipse work too. And Volvo slightly softer 960 family so they in. Fact God shows us how easy it is to properly fix paint chips while gracing ours does what he loves best. Race cars. Plus we'll have all the latest Motor News. So don't you miss the next motorways.