Motorweek; 920

The. This time on Motor Week 90 we try Porsche esteemed 9/11 forever before we look at another car you can buy one of around 80 grand. The lotus a spray turbo leaks a barrel has a grand time in Las Vegas looking at new automotive products and Gregg saying hoss looks at an invention that never got to be your product. So come drive with us next. Monkey TV's automotive magazine with your host

John Davis. Hello and welcome again to motor week 90. We're glad to have you with us. Automotive commentary and analysis is nothing new. And one of the early automotive critics was the late Ken Purdy. He wrote magazine articles books and even fiction concerning cars. Here's something from Purdy's the kings of the road. Once upon a time the American people thought of the automobile as an instrument of sensuous pleasure. Once upon a time indeed it was just that and many a man still alive remembers the day many a man crossing a city street. That is a turgid river of jelly bodied clunkers too clumsy to get out of their own way remembers a day when he ripped down a country road in a canary yellow bucket seated Mercer master of all he surveys high riding able to see where he was going with the wheel in his hands that really steered the car instead of shyly suggesting that he change direction.

That was written in 1952. Part of the first paragraph in a book that celebrates the finest automobiles in the world. Cords Bugatti's Hispanics wheezes and the like the true classics. If Ken party were here today we think his opinion about mass produced cars would change and we think he'd find a few more cars to add to his list of kings of the road. Here's one such modern day machine. Porsche Carrera for an instrument of sensuous pleasure. If there ever was one. It starts with the car's body. It's a collection of curves that can turn Saturday afternoon washing and waxing into an R rated experience. Of course the body style has been around since 1963 but that's one of only a few things that's held over from the old 9 11. This Porsche Carrera 4 is a host of new and better sensations. The exhaust makes a deeper more mellow sound now. The result of a larger engine still an air cooled blast six displacement has been increased to three point six liters. Electronic engine

management system is new as well as a twin plug ignition system but the improvement does more than enrich the sound of the exhaust. Power is up to two hundred forty seven horses and that ladies and gentleman means acceleration 9 11 around 4. Quicker than. Any production for sure we've ever driven a test bar covered a quarter mile in thirteen point three seconds when the final speed of 104 mph the engine makes its power over a wide range of engine RPM which helps to get the £3000 portion of the line in a hurry as 0 to 60 time of 4.5 seconds puts the full report. Head of MI American to be a performance car. If you're wondering why there's not even a whisper of tire smoke the company. Where it launches. Your answer resides beneath the car's flush aerodynamic belly pan all four wheels are driven wheels hence the name career for center and rear differentials lock as necessary when sensors detect differences and wheel speeds that feature has the greatest advantage when the correct A4 is driven at speed and

a quarter. As we learned when we took the carcass. Band of George's Roebling road Raceway. The previous 9 11 which had its driven wheels and much of its weight at the rear could be a handful to control if the driver blundered off the throttle in a fast turn and the Corolla for the all wheel drive system nearly eliminates that possibility since engine braking effect is spread out over all four wheels instead of just the rear the tires maintaining their grip. A lot of us look at it. Which isn't to say it's impossible to put this Porsche sideways. We managed though the camera wasn't running at the time. The all wheel drive system does make the 911 layout easier and safer to drive past than it's ever been. A new coil spring suspension and power steering also go a long way towards making the Corolla for more comfortable refined and stable. Part of the credit for that goes to aerodynamic improvements which include a rear spoiler that deploys from the engine cover as the car approaches 50 mph. The Porsche files on our staff find the device

a bit undignified but concede it does maintain the traditional 9 11 silhouette while reducing rear lift at high speed. As for stopping from high speed the crew forgets. Great. Not only does abs capability make the car safer to drive but the brakes themselves seem able to withstand continued abuse from road speeds. They return short stable stop. Looking. Well. On average going 60 mph. An excellent number at first glance inside we were hard pressed to tell the difference between this car and the last 9/11 we tried but a closer look reveals airbags for both the driver and passenger but the overall dash layout is the same as before. Which means drivers unfamiliar with 911 will need the owner's manual to figure out where some switches are located. Gage faces are new though they occupy the same sometimes obscured positions on the dash. Seats are also carried over and that's unfortunate because their ability to hold the driver in place is not in keeping with the

car's ability to generate cornering forces on the driver. Sport seats are an option. Room is adequate for drivers up to six feet tall and visibility is excellent. Something that can't be said of all sports cars but the steering wheel is not adjustable. One thing we can complain less about is the heat and ventilation controls this new system lifted from the Porsche 944 is self-explanatory there. To the confused system of levers and unmarked controls and past 911. The radio still placed pretty far away from the driver but a compact disc is available. Console switches are for manual spoiler deployment and a lock to center differential. If you get stuck at the rear. Things are very tight. Seat backs are most useful when left down. This provides room for extra luggage although you will be surprised how many soft bags will fit in the front boot and other practical matters the coarser Pereira for is EPA rated at 15 city 20 to highway mileage only produce 20 mpg interior noise register at a moderate 70 decibels at 60

mph. But here's the number that hurts. The price tag of the 9 11 career or coupe is sixty nine thousand five hundred dollars Targa and cabriolet versions are available at seventy thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars and seventy seven thousand eight hundred dollars respectively. Yet cars in this lofty category have always come at a high price. And this one seems to justify its price more than most by offering an extremely high level of sensory stimulation along with an equal measure of safety. It has looks speed in handling along with great brakes solid feel and predictability. The Porsche 911 Perera for ENDA scooter blade a modern day dean of the world. Every now and again Pat will show us a handy device or new automotive product that will get an avalanche of mail from viewers who want to know where they can buy what they've seen. Clearly products that make driving or owning a car easier are in demand. The automotive

aftermarket is big business. Lisa barrow and her Apple II report will show us just how bad. It was made in a city of light glitter and slot machine. But we came here on business to see the latest products out on the automotive after market this is the 24th annual specialty equipment Market Association or seeing a show where over 1000 companies have come to exhibit their products. Let's take a look around and see what's new. Of course what caught my eye and what caught my cameraman's I was quite a bit different. Robert tell me about the wheel. This is the price when you have a flat tire. You really don't have to change your flat tire at the spot where you get it. You take these Are you trying to put in front of the tire. On top of it. And off you go to the next with the quick we'll start of

$189 and is available now at many larger automotive parts stores as well as Sharper Image. If you live in an area where you need snow chains you might want to consider this product. We so this is a spy spy to a Swiss High-Tech snow chain. And to the building almost no chain. The nice part of this is it takes only 10 seconds to put it on your tire. As soon as you have snow. And radio the way it works is this is in the trunk of your car. You hang it really clip it over your wheel like this. You take your little key. And. Lock. This. Device on you like this. And that takes 10 seconds. Space spider retails for two hundred seventy nine dollars a pair. Once we got our cameramen past this next display it was back to business. This is a new product called tire jack and it fits on your valve stem like this and let you know if your air pressure is low. Now it's just a green that means everything's OK but if you start to see the red that means you need to check the air pressure.

A package of four sells for nine ninety five. Just around the corner from tire check we stop by to take a look at these cuddly critters. This is a cute new product that won an award at this year's show it's called Buckle up buddy. And it just might make your kids a little bit happier about wearing their safety belts. You just love over and over these velcro straps. The stated goal fits right in here sells for about 1895 and you can pick one up just about anywhere. This might look like an ordinary keypad but it actually does a lot of nifty things. For example you wake up one morning it's snowing outside. The last thing you want to do is go outside and start your cold car. This will do it from inside the house. But what really makes it unique is it will also turn on your rear defroster and your air conditioner remotely from inside the house has an alarm system on it that allows you to remotely turn on the lights. And. You pick one up for about thirteen hundred ninety five dollars. If you've ever wanted to communicate a message to another car on the road and you haven't to have $200 as been then this product might be for you.

This is the express or it's a communication device that's designed for the automotive market it employs the features of a cellular styled handset telephone and a programmable reader board. It has on hundred ninety eight for stored messages that I can use for courtesy for safety or for just plain humor. It's a fun product and it's a new product. And this year seem to show there were so many products to choose from. We had a hard time deciding which products to show you. We hope you found these to be worthy of your attention and if you'll watch Raw next segment. If his brain bends for a bun is a VHS video cassette that features cars of the 50s. A trivia game for car bombs. It challenges players to identify the year make and model of 50 cars from close up views of tail lights grills ornaments and other features. This may sound easy but wait until you try it. Those who didn't live through the 50s will be at a disadvantage but they'll learn a thing or two available only by mail order. The game

cost twenty nine ninety five. PAD Goss is here to talk about an automotive problem that's over than the tail fan. It's even older than the running board. I'll let him explain that. Tires and car problems have become more complicated over the years John. But automotive overheating problems other causes and cures never really seem to change all that much. I letter from back up Brooke of Los Angeles California who has an 82 olds with an overheating problem that happens in hot weather with the air conditioner. She says she spent a thousand dollars on everything from a record radiator and new thermostat to a new air conditioning condenser and a complete tuneup and the problem still persists. Well what are we looking at there are basically two causes for engine overheating. One is insufficient airflow the other is insufficient coolant flow. All right insufficient airflow that usually shows up when the car overheat in traffic the car is moving slowly. We have to have fans to pull

air through the radiator to dissipate the heat. On the other hand out on the highway if it overheats it usually indicates insufficient coolant flow reason for that is we have plenty of air because the car is moving down the highway and the air is pushed through the radiator so the fans aren't all that important. All right. How can we differentiate between the two of them. We have a very simple quick and easy test. You take a shop cloth or a washcloth and you hold it over the radiator of the car with the car running at normal operating temperature. Jan If you would start this one please. OK. As we noticed when we started this one the rag stayed right there. If it does at the grill that means that everything is fire is the air moving portion of the car. It's working properly. If it doesn't that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. You have to go farther back. You move the cloth back to the front of the radiator or the air conditioning condenser and try

it again. If it holds there everything is good. If it doesn't then you have a problem in the air moving portion of the cooling system. What would you look at the first thing you would look at is fires air portion. Right here the fan. Now the fan will is the part that moves the air through the radiator look at it for broken or missing pieces. Make sure that they aren't bent because sometimes these fan blades will become bent and they don't move enough air. Along with that the fan clutch. Now both of these parts basically refer to rear wheel drive cars. The fan clutch. Well it determines when the car needs more air and it locks everything up so that the fan can draw a lot more air through it. If you have a rear wheel or excuse me a front wheel drive car then all of this is electrically controlled and you need to check all of the electrical components and the fan. Now what about coolant flow. First thing you check there is the thermostat a malfunctioning thermostat can cause

insufficient coolant flow start there then go on to the water pump especially if the water pump has just been replaced and you still have an overheating problem. Many cars today identical engines basically they will take what appear to be identical water pumps but inside them there may be a difference. The impellers this is what moves the coolant around the impellers may be designed to turn in different directions. Now the pumps will physically fit. No problem there. They just don't work properly. What determines the difference. The difference is whether or not the car uses a serpentine belt one of these wide ones like this or a conventional v belt. Most of them with the Serpentine belts the water pump will turn in the opposite direction so be very careful about that. Last but not least the radiator in the car. The radiator can become all clogged up we can see the tubes in this one terrible shape. We look in the tank that

we have taken off of this. We can see this big mound of crud in there. This can cause all sorts of problems doesn't let enough coolant circulate through. If it had electric fans it may not let the electric fans work properly. Make sure the radiator is in good condition. If you have a problem with your car I'd like to hear from you. If I select your letter to be used 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 and that's Motor Week Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Some of you write to tell us you wish we test more cars that are affordable. That brings up a philosophical question. What does affordable mean. After all it's kind of relative isn't it. If you make the minimum wage a used Yugo is barely affordable. If you bring home a million a year and eighty one thousand nine hundred dollar Lotus Esprit turbo AC is certainly affordable. And if you figure that a Ferrari Testarossa cost about twice as much. The lot is beginning to look like a real bargain. And if this seems like a thinly disguised

justification for us to have a good time in a fast car. You're right. Can you blame us. After all the esprit se is the fastest production Lotus ever made. And we've already secured Pocono International Raceway to test the latest and ultimate Corvette. Which will see some other time. So why not OK with our reasoning. We'd have lost in a debate with Aristotle but we're as interested as he was in the pursuit of truth that in our case being acceleration times. With all the drama of a thoroughbred springing from the starting. Lotus return of OSCE zip from zero to 60 in an amazing 4.5 seconds the quarter mile took a scant twelve point nine seconds ending at 170 miles per hour. I have to say. And quicker than the last test the run through try. The SE's breathtaking performance is the result of further improvements on the Lotus to point to leader force on their turbo charged engine.

Enter cooling is a well-known method for improving turbo engine performance and Lotus has taken that concept a step further with something they call charge cooling the intake charges cooled with liquid instead of air as in an intercooler with the charge cooler horsepower is 264 at 65 hundred RPM. But that figure rises to two hundred eighty four short bursts. The SC also gets suspension revisions front springs and calibrations have been changed and the tires and wheels have been upgraded the specially designed did Goodyear Eagles. The teams at the front six teams at the rear. The body gets its share of changes too with side skirts and more pronounced air intakes front ducts for the charge cooler and a lower front air dam. A wing at the rear completes the package and takes its toll on what little rearward visibility the esprit design has. The SC interior is about the same as the one in the esprit turbo we tested last year. By the way the standard two hundred twenty two horsepower Esprit Turbo is

still available. The only noticeable change in the SE interior is a burr Elm dash gauges are complete but taller drivers will still find some faces blocked by the steering wheel rim. And in order to make maximum use of the limited headroom you'll have to adjust the seat to a semi prone position. The driver's seat has an adjustable lumbar support and the seat belt is manual. This year's passive restraint requirement is satisfied by a driver airbag in 90 models. The standard stereo is a Sony X are 70 100 and it comes with a disguise to hide it from thieves. And despite its high performance the esprit turbo se is not a bad place for listening to a stereo chassis upgrades have helped him up a suspension. Boy we know that in past history. And engine improvements when you don't have to read quite so high for driving around town traffic. At high speed the SE is very composed and offers better grip in the turns than the esprit Turbo. Unfortunately very wet fall weather kept us from

finding out if our test car could reach its advertised 163 mph top speed. Although we tried. The quest but that knowledge gives us as good an excuse as we need to take in the spring turbo se back the Poconos this year. And our car of the week is a 1958 Austin-Healey bug eye sprite that belongs to Diana boiling of Lowell Massachusetts. If you have a candidate for car the wait send a good color photograph of the car and we'll consider it. Don't forget the self-addressed envelope and mail it all to motorways Owings Mills Maryland two one one one side. From call of the week we turn to news of the week. Here's Lisa Bello with the latest Lisa. John one of the highlights of Detroit's recent North American International Auto Show was a giant

technology exhibit by General Motors. The exhibit went so far as to bring down modern automotive assembly plant to the show. Buick duplicated portions of their riata crafts center complete with automated guided vehicles robots and the crew of United Auto Workers. The exhibit gave an enlightening view of how far the environment of the modern auto plant has evolved. Members of the press were given a chance to join the line. Most came away with a new respect for what it takes to build a car with precision. GM also use the showcase to introduce the serve three DM's corporate experimental research vehicle is actually a mid engine super car capable of zero to 60 runs of three point nine seconds. It also blends advanced materials and system technology with improved driver safety and convenience powered by a twin turbo version of the Corvette Z-R ones V8 the body and chassis are made of carbon fiber Kevlar Nomex and aluminum. The car has four wheel drive an active suspension and computer assisted steering and braking. Another GM advanced vehicle won't be as quick but it

is more of a C production. Is GM micro is it test bed for two stroke engines like the ones found on those lawn mowers. There's no oil to add to the gas compared to today's 4 stroke engines automotive two stroke engines are lighter and less complex. Engine wear and emission problems still have to be solved on two stroke designs but they could begin appearing in cars by the end of the decade John. Thanks Lisa. Henry David Thoreau wrote if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. Out on the high road advancing confidently in the direction of his dreams Craig Singh Haas has found the rose wisdom to be true. He's also found that it doesn't necessarily apply to car makers. The Chrysler Turbin car. Now when I was a kid the idea of a car

powered by a jet like engine was well it was positively right out of the space age. And while I was technically a bit misinformed I knew that someday I wanted to drive Chrysler's jet on wheels with its body by stainless steel trim jet like wine. I was mesmerized by this car of the future. And so twenty seven years after the Persian cars 1963 introduction Chrysler finally invited me to experience a boyhood dream. One man who's been involved with Chrysler's turbaned project since its inception in one thousand fifty three is George stature George was kind enough to give us the lowdown on Chrysler's three decades of turbaned development was started on the program and one day I was just like that guy. Possibly I would like to build a turban highrise and I don't know what the hell you're talking about. He says nobody else does either and then that wait for the next 28 years. Chrysler had in effect found a way of harnessing the great exhaust energy of a jet like engine by utilizing the turban effect much like that of wind on a windmill

that was very exciting because nobody had ever done this before it was it was a first. And what you're seeing here is the fourth in a series of seven generations of Indian The Indian is exceptionally small in its running characteristics so you don't have any distance going up and down you've just got to Turbo wheels rotating back it's all smooth I can stand the neck on end while my vibration free it is uphill. This generation all of vehicles or production automobiles but then we decided to build 50 for consumer evaluation and Virgil Exner designed as he had just let Ford come to Chrysler Corporation he had designed it and the car was actually built by God of Italy. That's why we referred to it as the era a lot of the styling that you see in this car was done intentionally to go along with the turban the engine of the future the jet age the tail lights and the headlights and think all the cons. And all the instrumentation and things of that nature. So there it was quietly whirring as if waiting for Alan Shepard or John

Glenn. Except this time it was me for whom. All systems are go for liftoff. And then the shock of my life. It drove just like. A car. The power in this is. About 130 horsepower. That's a. Little over 400 foot pounds of target. It's. Very heavy it's somewhere between thirty nine hundred forty one hundred pounds in weight. But it's comparable to an intermediate. One of satellite. And six five six and six back in that era with a 380 in the Bell carburetor automatic transmission. And maybe that was the problem with the turban car. Chrysler did too good a job making the turban do everything a piston engine could do in the end it just wasn't flashy enough for the United States Department of Energy who paid for much of the project to

justify continued funding. Too bad for it was a real disappointment for a dedicated group of Chrysler employees and a boy who still dreams of. Yes. A road test of a Buick riata convertible is on the agenda next. Lisa Barrow will explore some of the difficulties of getting a driver's license in Britain. Greg Singh Haas will ponder the meaning of life at a car wash that God will show us how to tow. I'm John Davis. We'll see you there. If you'd like a transcript of this program send $4 to Motor Week transcripts Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Residents of Maryland and 20 cents sales tax ask for Shell number 9 20. Motor Week is a production of Maryland Public Television.

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