2002 PARIS AUTO SHOW
PREVIEWED
Far from the madding
crowds of Frankfurt, Detroit, and Tokyo, Paris is the auto-show equivalent of a
breather. It’s rife with new product introductions, but against the romantic
backdrop of Paris in the fall, even the high-revving Ferraris and exotics seem a
bit more laid back. Paris is one of the most significant auto shows of the year,
and beginning Sept. 26, TCC will be covering the Paris show with daily updates
of concept and production-car launches. Today, though, we have a preview of what
we expect will be announced at Paris. It’s inside TheCarConnection.com
now:
2002 Paris Auto Show Preview (9/8/2002)
2002 Paris Show
Preview II (9/15/2002)
FORD REJOINS ZERO-PERCENT
GANG
Ford will join GM and
Chrysler in offering zero-percent on some of its 2003 models, the company said
last Friday. The financing deal will apply to only seven of its vehicles for
three-year loans; GM offers zero-percent financing on most of its vehicles
except Saabs, Saturns and Hummers. Zero-percent financing and extended
warranties helped fuel record August sales, where each of the American carmakers
reported more than a 12-percent sales gain over August 2001. Ford also is
offering zero-percent financing on many remaining 2002 vehicles to cut existing
inventories.
August Sales: Big Boost for Detroit
(9/8/2002)
FORD GIVES BUYERS A “FREE RIDE”
Ford is taking GM’s zero-percent and blending it
with programs offered by Mitsubishi to mint its new “Free Ride” campaign. The
free ride offered by Ford? No interest on new 2002 vehicle loans — and no
payments until next January. The delayed-payment plan also can be combined with
available rebates on 2002 vehicles. GM reignited the zero-percent deals earlier
this month, drawing Chrysler back into the fray and forcing Ford to offer
no-interest loans on some of its brand-new 2003 vehicles. The Free Ride program,
however, only applies to 2002 models; it stays in effect through Sept.
30.
Zero Percent a 9/11 Hero? by TCC Team (9/10/2002)
MERCEDES TO TAKE SAFETY A STEP
AHEAD
The updated ’03
Mercedes-Benz S-Class will introduce a new safety system designed to anticipate
accidents and begin the process of protecting occupants ahead of time. Dubbed
Pre-Safe, it relies on signals from various ride control sensors, such as
Electronic Stability Control, to indicate when a vehicle is out of control and
in high risk of an impact. When the threshold is crossed, Pre-Safe takes steps
such as tightening up seatbelts, adjusting the passenger seat to an optimum
position, and even closing windows and the car’s sunroof. Mercedes is pursuing a
goal of making Pre-Safe even smarter by using radar and other active technology
that would sense what is happening outside a car. That way, airbags and other
safety systems could be triggered before an accident actually occurs. Pre-Safe
will be launched on the redesigned S-Class and then rolled out on other Mercedes
models, Roland Bachmann, senior manager of safety, told TheCarConnection.com.
—TCC Team
Pre-Safe: Benz Preps For Crashes
(9/15/2002)
HYUNDAI OVERESTIMATED ITS OWN
POWER
Hyundai says that it
inadvertently misquoted horsepower for engines used in 1.3 million vehicles
built since the early 1990s. The company will offer compensation to buyers of
some 400,000 vehicles with power overstated by more than four percent. A Hyundai
spokesman told Reuters that the problems arose when horsepower quotes weren’t
revised after emissions equipment was added to the engines; the problem, the
news service reports, goes back to the 1992 model year. The compensation varies
by model year; for 1999 vehicles and those sold earlier, Hyundai will offer five
years of free roadside assistance. Owners of newer vehicles can opt for roadside
assistance for 10 years or unlimited miles; an extended bumper-to-bumper
warranty of six years or 72,000 miles; or powertrain warranty bumped to 12 years
or 120,000 miles. The same issue affects some owners of the 2001-2002 Kia
Optima, and those owners will be offered similar compensation.
2003 Hyundai Tiburon by John Pearley Huffman
(2/25/2002)
CADILLAC RECALLING DEVILLE
The 2000-2002 Cadillac DeVille is being recalled
for front seatbelt problems, GM said on Tuesday. About 280,000 DeVilles from
those model years will be brought back after testing revealed the car’s
seatbelts may not tighten enough before a crash. Neither GM nor the National
Highway Traffic Safety Administration has logged any complaints about the
problem, which affects cars built between May 1999 and May 2002, some 269,000 of
which have been sold in the U.S.
Escalade XS-500: The Most Powerful SUV?
2002 Cadillac Escalade XS-500
2002 Cadillac Escalade XS-500
Consider a supercharged 500-hp, 150-mph Cadillac Escalade that can blast from zero to 60 in 6.6 seconds, brake like a BMW and pull .88Gs on a skid pad, according to its builder, Dyno Proven Products of Mamaroneck, N.Y. Consider that it’s available (or could be soon) at a Cadillac dealership near you, complete with a four-year/50,000-mile warranty.
About 200 XS-500 Escalades have been sold in the past year at prices ranging from $80,000 to $100,000, depending on additional options. The XS-500 package – which includes a zero-maintenance, noise-free “CoolCharger” system with high-flow air intake and dual “cat-back” exhausts, plus special engine control software, re-engineered suspension, oversize braking system, speed-rated tires and custom wheels — adds about $30,000 to the MSRP.
“The XS-500 is the most powerful SUV on any planet,” says Jack Doherty, President of Dimmitt Cadillac in Clearwater, Fla. “You can’t buy any other SUV that delivers the XS-500’s levels of performance, ride, handling, braking and luxury.”
“We can’t keep an XS-500 demo on the floor,” adds Ragnar Pettersson, President of Bellevue Cadillac of Bellevue, Wash., and Valley Cadillac in Olympia, Wash. “It’s the four-year/50,000-mile warranty that closes the deal.”
The supplemental warranty “mirrors” the original GM factory coverage and will pick up any service not covered by it. Says DPP President Peter Bayer, “Working with Ace Ltd., one of the country’s largest and most respected warranty insurers, we have developed a program that allows new-car dealers to sell ultimate performance vehicles with the same warranty coverage as stock vehicles. We had to document reliability and durability before Ace would even consider writing warranty insurance, and they are now so enthused about our product line that they are offering optional seven-year, 100,000-mile extended coverage.”
According to DPP, extensive programming of the proprietary PCM (power control module) “maps” the correct air-fuel ratio, ignition advance curve and transmission shift points to the unique requirements of the supercharged engine. And, because it uses a CNC-machined A-365 aerospace aluminum housing and ceramic bearings, the CoolCharger requires no oil lubrication or intercooler. That means no oil lines connecting to the engine and no potential for oil contamination, heat buildup or heat transfer to the air supply caused by typical 200-250-degree oil temperatures.
The XS-500 package is exclusive to the AWD Escalade, which in stock form delivers 345 hp from its 6.0-liter Vortec V-8 engine. A similar XS-425 treatment is available on the 5.3-liter 2WD Escalade, boosting its output to 425 hp from the original 285. DPP also markets a full line of bolt-on, warranty-compliant upgrades, including CoolCharger Systems, for 2000-2002 Chevrolet and GMC full-size SUVs and light-duty pickups.
Systems are also available for pre-2000 5.7-liter V-8 GM models as well as Ford Motor Company SUVs and pickups. And one (tentatively called “450 Nitro Express”) is being developed for GM’s new Hummer H2.
Cadillac dealers offering XS-425 and XS-500 Escalades so far are mostly in western, northeastern, and southeastern states, plus a few in the Midwest, but DPP says dealers are calling every day for info and more will continue to sign on.
So if a humongous chrome Cadillac grille suddenly looms in your mirrors on your favorite sporty-car road one day soon, consider just letting it go and moving on with your life. —Gary Witzenburg
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