Wheels — April 20, 2017

Wheels

April 20, 2017

INSIDE

CARS » TRUCKS » MOTORCYCLES » ATVS

• Ford Escape: More features • Dodge Demon: The need for speed • Car Talk: Tire pressure • Honda Accord: A hybrid with range

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Speed demons: Cars and SUVs get more pep in their step Tom Krisher AP AUTO WRITER

NEW YORK — Fred Croatti often drives his silver Dodge Charger Hellcat to the grocery store, turning heads as he rumbles through the parking lot with a supercharged 6.2-Liter 707-horsepower engine.

Although Croatti’s car sounds like a NASCAR racer, the retired pilot from Port Orange, Florida, isn’t looking for attention. He just loves the power.

“The visceral effect of the air, the sound,” he says. “All you’ve got to do is tickle the gas a little bit and the hairs on the back of your head stand up.”

At a time when mainstream and luxury cars look similar inside and out, buyers like Croatti are hungry for sound and speed, and car companies are happy to oblige.

Recently, Fiat Chrysler’s Dodge brand used explosions, burnouts and a small drag strip to ramp up horsepower even more. Ahead of the press days of the New York auto show, Dodge rolled out the 840-horsepower Demon Challenger, which FCA says is the fastest and most powerful production car made.

The horsepower craze isn’t limited to big cars or domestic automakers. In New York, Honda’s 306-horsepower compact Civic Type R will make its U.S. debut. Mercedes will roll out two new AMG high-performance vehicles including the AMG GLC63 Coupe with a 469-horsepower 4-Liter V-8 twin turbo engine. Both can go zeroto-60 in under four seconds. Porsche’s 911 GT3 will make its North American debut with total output of 500 horsepower.

With the exploding popularity of SUVs, the craze extends there, too.

One of the Mercedes AMGs is an SUV. Last week Chevrolet rolled out the Tahoe RST with a 420-horsepower version of the Corvette V-8 and a zeroto-60 time of 5.7 seconds, unheard of previously for a truck-based vehicle.

Not to be outdone, Fiat Chrysler on Sunday unveiled a 707-horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee, which it says is the fastest SUV ever with a zero-to-60 time of 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 180 mph.

Horsepower has risen so high that some experts are proclaiming a new “golden age of muscle cars” that far

Actor Vin Diesel speaks during the unveiling of the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon during a media preview for the New York International Auto Show April 11, 2017, in New York. AP PHOTO/JULIE JACOBSON outpace the first generation from the 1960s.

“Horsepower is actually creeping up on every single car across the board,” says Tim Kuniskis, head of FCA’s Street and Racing Technology unit, who on Tuesday introduced the Demon — along with “The Fast and the Furious” actor Vin Diesel. “A lot of it is due to the fact that we have the technology that allows you to have the power now and not have any downside” such as poor handling or reliability problems.

The Demon can go from zero to 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in only 2.3 seconds. That beats electric car maker Tesla Motors’ Model S P100D sedan, which hits 60 in 2.5 seconds.

The Demon is street legal, but it’s also made with special parts allowing it to run on a drag strip. And run it does. The car can do the quarter-mile in 9.65 seconds, hitting 140 mph.

Ordinary muscle cars cover the same distance in 11 or 12 seconds.

Back in the 1960s, muscle cars had little other than power. Drivers had to be skilled because the cars handled

and braked poorly, says Randy Dye, owner of the Dodge dealership in Daytona Beach. Croatti bought his Charger there, and has ordered a Demon from Dye. “The brakes were just a little bit better than Fred Flintstone” a cartoon character from the cave-man era who halted his car with bare feet, says Dye. The new generation has sophisticated suspensions and performance tires for better handling, and the brakes are beefed up, making the cars easier for the average person to use. “You don’t have to be a NASCAR driver or Formula One driver or Indy car driver,” Dye says. Even the base version of many cars has a lot of oomph. The base Charger with a 3.6-Liter V6 has almost 300 horsepower.

Car enthusiasts say the first golden age ended when new pollution controls were required in the early 1970s, and horsepower dropped until recently.

The Demon relies a lot on supercharging technology to get its crazy horsepower. Its air conditioner cools air entering the engine, letting the car inhale more gasoline for added power.

It can be equipped with a button on the dashboard to run on high-octane fuel for faster acceleration, and there’s an optional kit with skinny front tires for less rolling resistance in a quarter-mile drag strip race.

The cars aren’t made for gas mileage, but even the powerful Hellcat can get 22 miles per gallon on the highway, Kuniskis said.

In an era of $2.50 a gallon gas, people aren’t buying Hellcats and other powerful cars for practicality, says Kuniskis. Instead, market research shows most like to make a statement.

“Nobody is going to buy a car without a story,” he said. “If you’re going to spend $70,000 for a Hellcat, you want to be able to tell people ‘I got a Hellcat.’”

Judging from what’s being unveiled in New York, it’s almost certain that the horsepower race will continue as people keep seeking more power. But it could be limited by concerns about reliability, Kuniskis said. And someday it may get too extreme. “Can the average person ever take advantage of that 700 horsepower?” he asked.

“Maybe not. But it’s there.”

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Low-tire-pressure light persists after new tire install Dear Car Talk:

I drive a 2006 Toyota RAV4. A few months ago, I got new tires. The lowtire-pressure indicator light has been on almost constantly since the new tires were put on.

I have been back to the tire shop countless times for them to turn off the indicator light.

The guys tell me there’s nothing wrong with the tires. They also check the tire pressures and say they’re fine. The light stays off until I get on a freeway, then on it goes again, and back to the shop I go.

I do know that one of the tire sensors had to be replaced on one of the rear tires when the new tires were put on. What can I do to fix this? — Patsy CT: One of your tire-pressure sensors is bad, Patsy. Each tire’s pressure sensor is housed in the valve stem.

A few minutes after you start up the car, each one communicates, wire-

lessly, with the car’s computer.

If the pressure is low, the computer makes the dashboard light go on. Or, if one of the sensors does not communicate at all, that also makes the light go on.

Since your tires’ pressure is always fine, I’m guessing one of the sensors is not working at all.

It could be that they replaced your pressure sensor with a non-factory sensor. And perhaps that after-market sensor just doesn’t communicate with your car’s computer.

Or, if they damaged one of the sensors when they changed the tires,

they easily could have damaged another one (or more than one) and not known about it at the time. But since you’ve been back 150 times, you’d think these guys at Einstein Tires would have figured it out by now.

So if you’re still on speaking terms with them, go back and ask them to scan your computer and find out exactly which sensor is not working.

If it’s the same one they replaced, ask them to replace it again, this time with a Toyota sensor. You can pay the difference in the cost of the part, and they can eat the labor.

Or, if it’s a different sensor, you can have them replace that broken sensor, and see if you can guilt them into giving you a break, because they probably damaged it when changing

the tire.

Plus, they owe you something for pain and suffering. And for diagnosing it for them.

Good luck, Patsy.

Used cars can be a great bargain, and reliable, too! Find out why by ordering Click and Clack’s pamphlet “How to Buy a Great Used Car: Secrets Only Your Mechanic Knows.”

Send $4.75 (check or money order) to Car Talk/Used Car, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803.

••• Got a question about cars? Write to Ray in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email by visiting the Car Talk website at www.cartalk.com. (c) 2017 by Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Ford gives popular Escape new touches, features for 2017 Ann M. Job FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

F

ord has raised the price of its affordable Escape for 2017, but it has given its lowest-priced SUV new styling touches, safety features and engine options that should

keep it popular with consumers.

The starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a base, two-wheeldrive 2017 Escape S is $24,645, or $650 more than the 2016 base model, which didn’t have quite as nice looking exterior and interior. Those prices include the destination charges.

The base five-seat 2017 Escape comes

with a 168-horsepower, non-turbocharged, four-cylinder engine, sixspeed automatic transmission and standard keyless remote entry, power windows, mirrors and door locks, rearview camera, seven air bags, four power points, 17-inch wheels and carpeted floor mats, among other things.

The lowest starting MSRP, including destination charge, for a 2017 Escape with all-wheel drive is $27,895. This is

an SE model with 179-horsepower, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that includes more features than the base model, including a 10-way power-adjustable driver seat, dual-zone automatic climate control and fog lamps.

The 2017 Escape is a ConsumESCAPE » 5

ESCAPE

Continued from4 er Reports recommended buy and the magazine predicts it will have above-average reliability. The federal government said the 2017 Escape earned an overall five out of five stars for occupant protection in frontal and side crash testing.

Now in its 17th model year, the Escape helped pioneer the compact SUV segment that is so popular today.

With sales of 307,069 in the U.S. last year, the Escape is Ford’s second best-selling vehicle after the Ford F-150 pickup truck, and sales have increased 6.6 percent this year.

Along with its affordability, the Escape’s pleasant looks, practicality and wide-ranging engine and option lists help make it a go-to vehicle for shoppers who want an agile SUV. The 2017 Escape has three engine options: the base, non-turbo, 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine from last year’s model; a new 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder; and a top-of-the-line 2-liter twin-scroll turbo four-cylinder that produces 245 horsepower this year, up from 240 horsepower in 2016.

Each engine can give the 2017 Escape a slightly different personality, ranging from utilitarian to sporty.

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Unfortunately, none of them put the Escape at the top of the pack in terms of fuel mileage, and none appreciably improved its federal government fuel economy ratings for 2017.

Mileage ratings this year range from 21-23 mpg in city driving, depending on the engine, and from 28-30 mpg on the highway.

The test-driven Escape SE with front-wheel drive and the mid-range

179-horsepower turbo four-cylinder engine averaged 23.9 mpg, which necessitated a fill-up after about 370 miles. There was noticeable turbo lag, too, and the engine could get noisy when pressed hard to accelerate.

The travel was comfortable, for the most part, as the interior remained rel-

atively quiet and the front seats provided good support and had decently long seat cushions.

The front seats have a generous 43.1 inches of legroom, while backseat legroom is a sufficient 37.3 inches. The back seats fold flat easily to expand cargo space to a maximum 67.8 cubic feet.

Everyone has a good 39 inches of headroom and everyone sits up a good ways from the pavement for adequate views of traffic ahead. Getting into and out of the Escape is easy, even for petite adults.

Ford revamped the interior by removing the parking brake handle in the center console area and arranging more useful storage there, including a thoughtful spot for a phone.

But there is only one USB port, and it’s at the dashboard and difficult for back-seat riders to use.

Plastic on the dashboard is more upscale than before, and the mix of cloth and vinyl on the SE seats in the test-driven vehicle was tasteful.

Ford has dropped its irksome MyFord Touch infotainment system for the latest Sync 3 system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability.

FACT SHEET

2017 Ford Escape SE FWD BASE PRICE: $23,750 for S; $25,250 for SE FWD. AS TESTED: $30,125 TYPE: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger, compact SUV. ENGINE: 1.5-liter, double overhead cam, turbocharged, EcoBoost, inline four-cylinder.

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Thursday, April 20, 2017

2017 Honda Accord Hybrid has top travel range in its class Ann M. Job FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

H

onda’s Accord Hybrid has returned for 2017 as a roomy, comfortable mid-size sedan that’s the most fuel-efficient gasoline-elec-

tric hybrid four-door car in its class.

In fact, the federal government projects the new Accord Hybrid could travel as much as 758 miles before needing a fill-up. This surprising travel range stems from the car’s 15.8-gallon gas tank and its fuel economy, which the government rates as 49 mpg in city

driving and 47 mpg on highways. Its city driving efficiency is higher because the slower speeds allow the electric motors to provide more of the propulsion power than they do at highway speeds.

The new Accord Hybrid operates with a second-generation powertrain composed of a four-cylinder engine

working with two re-engineered hybrid electric motors and a downsized lithium ion battery pack to deliver a total of 212 horsepower. This is not a plug-in hybrid car, but electricity for the electric motors is generated onboard, such as when excess energy generated when ACCORD » 7

ACCORD

Continued from 6 coasting or braking is captured and stored in the battery pack.

The starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a base 2017 Accord Hybrid is $30,480, which is only $355 more than the cost of the last Accord Hybrid, which was a 2015 model. That includes the destination charge.

The new Accord received an overall five out of five stars for occupant crash protection from the federal government.

Techies and regular drivers alike can enjoy the new Accord Hybrid as an easy-to-drive and easy-to-live-with sedan that comes well-equipped with some features that are extra on competing sedans.

For example, the base 2017 Accord Hybrid includes 10-way power-adjustable front seats, two-zone automatic climate control, push-button start, lane keep assist, forward collision warning and braking, cruise control that uses radar to maintain safe distances behind cars ahead, remote engine starting, floor mats, wood-grain dashboard trim, upgraded seat fabric and a rear vision camera with multiple angle views.

Higher trim levels of the Accord

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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Hybrid include heated seats, leather seats, moonroof and a 360-watt premium sound system, among other things.

The price of such models doesn’t go much beyond $37,000.

Unfortunately, no Accord Hybrid offers blind spot monitoring isn’t offered on any Accord Hybrid.

The new Accord Hybrid showcases how Honda engineers coaxed more power out of the gas and electric parts of the powertrain — a combined 212

horsepower. The 16.1-foot-long sedan starts from stops quietly and more quickly than expected, thanks to the 232 foot-pounds of torque it gets from the electric power system.

The zero-to-60 mph time for this car has been clocked at 6.9 seconds, which is better than the acceleration time of a

non-hybrid Accord and Toyota Camry, which both have four-cylinder engines.

The new Accord Hybrid’s 2-liter, double overhead cam, four-cylinder engine kicks in over time — sometimes not until the car is near 60 mph — unless the car is in EV Mode, which keeps it silent and moving on electric power until the lithium ion battery is depleted. When that happens, the car automatically starts the 2-liter, gas engine to continue the drive. At this point, the electric power works predominantly by mixing and matching with the gas power.

There is a Sport mode, too, for the first time in 2017 that adds more electric power assist than normal.

The Accord Hybrid rides well for a 3,200-plus-pound car, managing most bumps well. Unless the four-cylinder engine is pressed hard and gets loud, the ride is mostly quiet. But the 17-inch tires on the test-driven car reached their grip limits easily.

The new Accord Hybrid has more trunk space than the last model, measuring a decent 13.7 cubic feet. Its rear legroom and headroom are surprisingly generous, at 39.3 and 38.3 inches, respectively.

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