Motorweek; 2225

This time on motor when BMW turns up the heat. Knowledge brings power to the people and racing goes undercover. It's a come drive with us next. With. A little. Help in the original automotive magazine. Pep Boys were common people. That motor week my favorite one great show 30 quality minutes I show you can watch with your friends. You're getting excited no there are cars involved. Of course I am. And by. That the what are you looking for a month or so. Your host for Motor Week. John Davis. Well hello and welcome again to motor week we're glad to have you with us. The old saying Don't mess with success. Certainly does not apply to the world of

performance in sports cars rest on your laurels too long and you'll likely find your design left behind. Not to mention your sales. So that's why BMW has chosen now to replace their successful Z3 roadster with an all new edgier design. The Z4 What is this new sports car also a better Beamer. The 2003 BMW Z4 had better be if it expects to live up to the high standards established by its predecessor since its earliest days as a car maker for Varian Motor Works has produced convertibles that are classy capable and frequently possess a very unique style and the American built C4 certainly has its own look. BMW stylish Chris Bangle has taken a firm futuristic step away from the lines of this E3. While most applaud overtones of the C-8 super car the front facia the front fenders with their

diagonal crease and hockey puck side marker lights are quite controversial but most agree the sea floor is clipped the rear end is a huge improvement. That forward style is backed up with a new platform based on the latest 3 series. It's longer and wider than the Z 3 with a stretch ninety eight point two inch wheelbase. The convertible top is a lightweight aluminum magnesium frame and glass rear window with defroster power assist is optional but the best touch is that the tops hard leading edge becomes a blue cover when down south still roll bars behind the seats provide overhead protection while standard front side and the airbags protect against threats in other quarters. So for maximum protection from the weather. Owners can purchase an optional removable hardtop under the long low aluminum hoods AC. Wars powered by a brace a pool overhead cam inline six cylinder engine. Both derive from the Z tree the base 2.5 leader delivers 181 power and 175 pounds.

B the floor just bar has a larger breed leader with 225 horsepower and 214 pounds beat up for the 2.5 high comes standard with a 5 speed manual and a quick shifting 6 speed on our free will on both the 2.5 I and 3.0 or I can also be fitted with a high speed step Taanach automatic while a sequential manual will be available later this year on road performance of busy bores like the styling. A step above that of the Z3. The ride is smoother more compliant with less road noise is a much different chassis keeps body twist. And now shake to a minimum. But it's the track performance that impressed us was our six speeds before sprinted to 60 and six seconds flat three tenths of a second faster than the Z3 and ran the water mile and fourteen point seven seconds and 94 miles per hour. Our sport model includes a switch that quickens throttle response. The three liter engine is strong especially in the mid range punching the Z4 out of the borders and down the straights of George's Roebling road Raceway. The car's front

strut rear multi-lane suspension was balanced on the optional support packages. A teenage alloy wheels which more grippy Bridgestone potential run flat tire engaging the sport button also reduces blues to the electric power steering and further adds to the Z Force crisp feel and near neutral handling with just a touch of sunflower in Tigard order. Although the sport package stiffens up shocks and springs and lowers the ride height there were still more body role than we expected given the Z4 still comfortable highway ride however and live with it. Plus BMW standard Dynamic Stability Control always kept a firm check on aggressive cornering. Brakes are naturally 4 wheel disc with ABS and are larger than those of the Z3. They delivered strong solid deceleration even from triple digit track speed. Of course BMW is are just about performance. Luxury is an important part of the BMW experience and the Z4 is roomier well equipped cockpit shows an evolutionary growth from the tighter sparser

Z3. The dash also favors the Z 8 with a broad sweep of all controls laid out in a simple logical fashion. The twin binnacle gauge cluster looks perfect. The 3.0 I include a powerful armor technology to speaker CD audio system and mostly rotary climate control. Also six way power adjustable sporty leather is standard luggage space however is never close. The strong point and the sequel offers only 9 human feet in a shallow truck but that's enough room. Thirty three thousand seven hundred ninety five dollars needed to net update the fourteen point five Ah. If you want the 3.0 why it started forty thousand nine hundred forty five dollars. Highly recommended sport package. Tax on another twelve hundred dollars with a maxed out car costing nearly forty a grey with the C4 BMW has delivered a car that improves on the Z3 in almost every way its stronger faster more competent and more luxury

and it makes the once distinctive Z3 look out of date. That's quite in accomplishment and I would think the 2003 BMW Z4 is a better roadster a better sports car and a better Beamer in every way. Do antilock brakes always reduce your stopping distance in emergency situations. A new government study concludes that except on loose surfaces like sand and snow all panic stops can be shorter. Will and you are great then without. Shorter on what paper. And shorter on dry pavement. Remember ABS works best when you stop the brake pedal stay on the brake pedal and steer where you want to go. Coming up. Hanging it out. In song. When it comes to getting the most out of a car no one knows more than motor weeks guru of the gears Pat Goss. So let's see what our Lord of the pings has in store for us this week.

John big wheels are becoming more common and bigger by the day. Back in 1997 when Chevrolet first introduced the C-5 Corvette everybody was amazed at the size of the 18 inch wheels on the back of it. Well today 18 inch is commonplace. It's a matter of fact a lot of vehicles are writing round on eight teens 20s twenty to twenty fours and so on. These wheels are enormous. They look great and they can actually improve the ride and handling of the vehicle but you have to do some homework before you just go out and buy a set of wheels and tires. You have to know some things about the vehicle. You have to know the bolt pattern to the wheels and things like that but more important you need to know things like backspacing backspacing is the measurement from the inner edge of the wheel down to the back of the mounting flange.

That's very important because that's going to determine whether or not you have proper clearance as the wheel is turned from side to side. Now another important factor is offset offset is the distance from the centerline of the wheel down to the mounting flange. Now this is going to determine what the wheel actually looks like once it's installed on the car. This is going to determine whether the wheel sticks out from the fender or sits back under the fender. This is critical if you want the look that you hope to achieve get it wrong and you'll have an ugly looking car. But in addition to that you also have to make a decision on the type of material the wheels are made of. You see there are two methods of making alloy wheels these days. There are four huge wheels like this centerline over here and then there are cast wheels and a cast is what has been standard for many many years. But the forged wills offer some advantages. They are

much lighter. If you look at the scales here you'll see that the center line wheel weighs about half what this cast wheel does. Now that reduces unsprung weight and when you reduce unsprung weight you can positively affect the ride. The handling the braking sometimes even the fuel economy. So you need to do your homework to get the look that you want and to get the ride and feel that you want to do it right you'll have a good installation. If you have questions or comments write to me the address is motorway Owings Mills Maryland 2 1 1 1 7. Hi I'm Craig Singh Haas were collector car expert John appen and on the auction block today is a very interesting if little known at Thai an American hybrid. This is a 1972 interim mechanic tell you. Now this car has an interesting history as far as the different names of this vehicle right there and it's short and

colorful high production history it probably had four owners and four names. What was known as what Agrippa 600. Then it was in a Megan then briefly as a Trina and finally ended up as the tell you exactly. And it was advertised as the best of both worlds. The whole concept of the hybrid was to take a beautiful Italian design and craftsmanship in the body and combine it with a dependable American power plant. The earliest cars had Chrysler engines. Then they had to convert to Ford which Mark Donahue the chief engineer at the time did. Homeowner Moody got involved putting some Shelby like Ford engines in them and they had a tremendous variety of power plants but basically all Ford related in the power train. Now this car has the 3 0 2 to begin Ford engine automatic transmission. What do you think this will go for. Well it also has the optional chrome or Dora one mag wheels which are very nice. Beautiful paint job new interior. This is going to go for 30 to 35000 a normal driver maybe 20 to 25000.

So the performance of a cobra at about one fifth the price. OK. For most of us in North America Winter racing season pretty much means televised coverage from warmer climates and maybe some vigorous bench racing sessions but leave it up to the competitive spirits of our motor week staffers to find a venue where even the threat of inclement weather doesn't dampen their burning fires of competition. The solution of course is to move the competition indoors. Now putting a roof over a car track is impractical at best but a scaled down park track could be the perfect answer. You may dismiss karting is child's play but any pro racer worth his gnomic will tell you that it can be every bit as challenging as racing. Cars. And whether you're an MP 500 contender. Or an armchair nerd. You're guaranteed a friendly challenge and have one Boston modeled after similar tracks in Europe one Boston is no mere amusement park.

It's a real year round motor sports facility harboring adults the action and adrenaline A. Wheel to wheel racing in a safe easy to learn format. F1 Boston is the brainchild and consuming passion of developer and racer RJ Valentine. What we've done here with the GO CATS is literally taken all of the things that he has and real modest What understeer oversteer drifting threshold braking taxing all those disciplines. Kind of like. When. We came together. The facility located just south of Boston consist of two separate indoor tracks which can be linked together by an outdoor connector. Also one side is a full service restaurant and lounge store billiard hall and conference facilities for up to a thousand people. The several different ways to do it but the two basic ones are rain arrive and drive to shop with a friend or a date or whatever the case might be. Our corporate traffic cop are tracking the most 70 percent of what we do here since opening in June a few thousand thousands of corporate clients of race through here and more than

600 local party converts have joined have one's weekly racing league. There's also an instructional youth league for drivers aged seven to 17. No matter how they get here they keep coming back for more. We came. Across a group. Of 13 of us much smaller. He gets each other by once here so we'll get down here. Here we get to go play some pool. National Guard has something the December time want to go you know. Going to crash on the wall every corner to do OK. The cards are German made in USA 6 and I am horsepower Honda engine with this interminable blocks. Set up a. Good for about 30 MPH on these type circuits. The wheels are a closed to avoid messy tangle up when the track is encircled by a modular energy absorbing barrier system. A good driver can complete a lap in just 20 seconds but they may be the busiest 20 seconds you'll ever see. Then. Those neck braces and helmets are just for show.

I think it will be fine but I think that there is a great man with the right timing and scoring is handled by at one's own computerized system. The scoreboard is updated after each lap giving overall position and lap time. Also just like so-called real racing corner workers observe the action throw caution flags and even assess stop and go penalties for overly aggressive tactics. All it is a sea time. The whole story about the more you drive the better you get. And it's basically listening to instruction. It's a tax and it's slow and fast out. Let the cat go and watch the golf. And eventually unless you're. Completely out of it. You can check it out. So sometimes the name of the. Horse when it's all over. No race would be complete without the checkered flag and a little swaggering in pit lane. Fast or slow. Rookie. Or pro. A trip to have one. Boston is a surefire way to. Beat those offseason racing blues.

With Nissan ready to introduce its first full size pickup truck and even Honda preparing to get in on the American craving for pickups. You might think domestic brands would be panicking but spend some time in the latest dodge ram quad cab and you realize how tough it's going to be for the newcomers are long term 2002 Quad Cab four by four as L.T. chose generations of experience of being a truck fit for work and play with six passenger interior y bills with a big SUV unruliness while the six and a half foot cargo bag can still carry pulling clothes with the tailgate down forto seventy five hundred pounds. We've been driving our ramp for seven months and it's quickly managed nearly 15000 miles. My truck is powered by a responsive 240 horsepower 1.7 leader overhead can be a cold weather and longer idling is taking a toll on fuel economy. Down four tenths to fourteen point one mpg still acceptable given just how big and capable this ram really is the front end vibration he noted.

War. Was cured by having tires rebalance. So folks are resilient. Ride an impressively quick handling that attracted us to the RAM in the first place that's been restored as trees lost their leaves last fall the reception of our actions satellite Alpine stereo Crutchfield electronics installed for us got even better. Although you will lose reception in state trade still it's great to drive long distances without having to constantly channel search winter on the East Coast this year is the coldest and wettest in a decade. Not great weather for a sports car. Still our Nissan 350 Z seldom sits idle in less than two months mileage has climbed to 30 100 despite the climate we're enjoying all of it's 287 horsepower Plus the reasonable twenty point one miles per gallon economy. Our touring models traction control and electronic stability systems did allow us to get around in snow when necessary but with these 545 series tires it's more like sledding than driving. So with this car at our

disposal we can certainly be excused for hoping for a. Very early spring. We'll catch up with a new gas in our garage that's more adaptable to winter. This 2003 Toyota runner our next motor week long term road test update. Now last check in were Jennifer for an update on what's new in the auto industry and all the latest Motor News. Since the Firestone tire recall carmakers are playing it safer when it comes to what you're writing on. That's why GM is saying no to dealer sales of most aftermarket wheels. With more and more consumer sprucing up their cars and trucks with custom in large wheeled sets it's natural for new car dealers to offer expensive aftermarket rims. But GM is warning dealers that it does not support those sales. According to GM changing the wheel size can have an adverse impact on vehicle handling and safety. Therefore General Motors has made it official that the installation of non factory aftermarket wheels will

void some warranties and that GM will not defend liability suits that involved those wheels. GM will also not include the value of wheels and other aftermarket accessories in the residual value of leased vehicles which could substantially raise monthly payments although little safety data exist supporting these new policies. GM has received some support from the insurance. Institute for Highway Safety which opposes the installation of larger wheels on sport utility vehicles. But many dealers feel the reason for this policy is to promote aftermarket accessories which are only supplied by GM. General Motors is denying these claims saying that the only issue here is safety and that's it for this week's Motor News. It's not a new formula. Thirty years ago the folks at Chrysler took a lightweight plane jane taxi cab of a car and shoehorn the latest in big V8 Racing Technology under the hood. The result was the Hemi Roadrunner and a legend was born. But can the same formula have a yeoman platform made it a

high performance power produce another speed legend in today's front drive four cylinder world. With. That front wheel drive platform comes from the Dodge Neon while the power comes from a 2.4 leader Turbo. The result is the 2003 Dodge Neon SRT board. The SRT force certainly doesn't look like any other neon on the street with an aggressive Viper inspired front end. It's one tough looking neon. And in keeping with its customized sport compact theme the functioning hood scoop can be mated to an aftermarket forced air intake continuing down the side you'll find sculpted cell extensions and outback of course no sport compact hot rod would be complete without a huge rear wing. The entire rear face has been redesigned looking very special with the dual three and a half inch hips attached to an exhaust system without mufflers. Making a sweet final statement. Inside it's more stock neon which is a roomy

practical on a budget with a few extra goodies thrown in. Those extras include the leather wraps carbon fiber look steering wheel and shifter boot aluminum shift knob and well integrated auto meter boost gauge for monitoring real time turbo activity other gauges or resurfaced with a smart metallic finish. They look great and are easy to see both day and night but the highlight of the interior on the high bolstered biker inspired bucket seats. They are by far the best seats we've ever experienced and a bargain car. Once you crawl over the five bolsters they hold you tighter during fasc ordering than anything short of a 5 point harness. Out on the road the ride is firm but not nearly as on yielding as most factory performance and tuner cars we've driven lately. The SRT 4 is light nimble and ready to be pushed hard but it's January and the roads near our Maryland studios are not exactly ideal for sporty driving so we decided to head south the Roebling road Raceway near Savannah Georgia to get the

SRT for a proper ringing out on the trip down the neon surprised us with an excellent long distance ride. The only thing we would ask for is some height adjustment for the seats. Other than that 10 hours flew by quicker than in any other small car we can think up. After slapping on fresh sticky 17 inch 50 series a Michelin pilot sport rubber it was track time. Be. Out on the track in the Dodge Neon SRT before we found even more surprises with the fully upgraded suspension and brakes. The SRT bore behaves like no other neon we've ever driven which is saying a lot considering the very competent neon ACR we tested a few years back compared to the ACR. This is 44 is a lot tighter and of course has got to more what's under the hood. That's where you'll find the BT turbos and or cool 2.4 leader turbo charge for

the 250 North Tower at 245 pound feet of torque it provides just the right amount of home for our truck work. And we work on the SRT form. Hard throwing clumsily into a quarter any Wilma understeer just like most other front wheel drive contacts. Take the approach a little easier. Allow the turbo to wind up midway and you can rock it off the porters. Oh so nicely steering response could be a little quicker but the chassis is quite responsive and provides good feedback to the driver. There's a lot less body roll than we expected to this neon stays pretty flat for a straight biased car on straight line runs the car launching with little hesitation Although even in Savannah the tarmac was damp and cold. The 2.4 revs freely and there is minimal turbo lag power bills in a linear manner with a big hit right before the ramp limiter kicks in at about 6000 RPM when tires hooked up properly. Zero to 60 times were impressive.

I'm watching six seconds flat with a quarter mile averaging fourteen point nine seconds and ninety nine miles per hour. That makes the knee on the second fastest Dutch available second that isn't only to the Viper which has got a few more cylinders under the hood and takes a few more zeros in the bank account to award. Someone doesn't take you aboard the SRT for. All that comes pretty much as you see it without any options. And base price is nineteen thousand nine hundred ninety five dollars and. That's a lot of bang for the buck and easily the most performance car you can get for under 20 grand. But will all this power and performance turn the 2003 Dodge Neon has 44 into a legend. Well we doubt it but it will turn heads and turn some more compact tuners back to their computer screens and it shows competition in the sport compacts segment is getting hot and serious and that makes the SRT for a clear winner. I hope you'll join us next week for more motor we will test these latest

Silverado pickup and our drivers choice midsize SUV winter that has Sorrento. I'm John Davis. We'll see that. To learn more about Motor Week TV's original automotive magazine visit PBS online at PBS dot org. Or America Online keyword PBS. To order a video cassette of this program call 1 800 age 7 3 6 1 5 4. Motor Week has been brought to you by Pep Boys. We're gonna be able. It's over. That's entertainment. That's better than the smell of new tires. I agree. And Same time next week. You got it. And invite. Me. What are you looking for. They Motors.

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