Autos Plus

autos plus

Sunday october 6 2013

Section

s e a r c h b u y s e l l l e a s e t r a d e cumberlink.com/autos

We’re so confident in our low Everyday Pricing, We’ll BEaT any other Chevy Dealer’s written offer by $250! Must be bona-fide written offer on in stock vehicles.

’14 Silverado

’14 Impala lS

Double cab lT 4 x 4 Lease FOR ONlY

STK# 140151

’14 Cruze lS Lease FOR ONllY

*

268

’13 Volt

’14 Equinox lS

$

Lease FOR ONlY

165

$

STK# 140220

359 5000 OFF!

$

Lease FOR ONlY

OR Take OveR

299

$

*

STK# 140014

*

STK# 140218

Lease FOR ONlY

STK# 140117 FWD

219

$

*

STK# 130732

*

*$3,000 due at signing / 36 month lease / 12K mi/yr *For Well Qualified leasees - Sales Tax not Included.

let Us Show You How a Business Elite Dealer Can Benefit You and Your Business!

’12 Chevy Silverado 2500 #665292 $30,999

’10 Chevy Malibu LT #1305241 $11,999

’12 Volkswagen GTI #1305576 $21,999

’01 Chevy Corvette Z06 #1309611 $21,999

’12 Chevy Captiva Sport #665285 $24,499

’11 Chevy Equinox LT #665303 $22,499

’09 Saturn Outlook XR #1307291 $18,499

’11 Lincoln MKX #1400891 $30,999

’11 Buick LaCrosse CXS #665300 $26,999

’08 Chrysler Aspen LTD #1305962 $17,999

New ‘13 3500 Silverado 4WD Dump Truck ’10 Dodge Avenger R/T #6652862 $11,999

’12 Ford Focus SEL #6652611 $17,499

* Rebates are subject to change without prior notice. Not all customers will qualify for all applicable rebates and incentives.

6445 Carlisle Pike Mechanicsburg

’04 Chevy Monte Carlo #1401011 $9,999

’11 Honda CRV EXL #1306492 $22,999

’10 Chevy Equinox LS #665298 $19,999

See Our Entire Inventory at:

#130178, Sale Price

35,610

$

Not all customers eligible for this pricing. Come in for details.

* Taxes, Tags and Transfer Fees additional. You may choose Rebates OR new car financing as low as 0% up to 72 mos. on select models with financing approval.

766-0284 800-427-4505

autos plus

Sunday october 6 2013

Section

s e a r c h b u y s e l l l e a s e t r a d e cumberlink.com/autos

We’re so confident in our low Everyday Pricing, We’ll BEaT any other Chevy Dealer’s written offer by $250! Must be bona-fide written offer on in stock vehicles.

’14 Silverado

’14 Impala lS

Double cab lT 4 x 4 Lease FOR ONlY

STK# 140151

’14 Cruze lS Lease FOR ONllY

*

268

’13 Volt

’14 Equinox lS

$

Lease FOR ONlY

165

$

STK# 140220

359 5000 OFF!

$

Lease FOR ONlY

OR Take OveR

299

$

*

STK# 140014

*

STK# 140218

Lease FOR ONlY

STK# 140117 FWD

219

$

*

STK# 130732

*

*$3,000 due at signing / 36 month lease / 12K mi/yr *For Well Qualified leasees - Sales Tax not Included.

let Us Show You How a Business Elite Dealer Can Benefit You and Your Business!

’12 Chevy Silverado 2500 #665292 $30,999

’10 Chevy Malibu LT #1305241 $11,999

’12 Volkswagen GTI #1305576 $21,999

’01 Chevy Corvette Z06 #1309611 $21,999

’12 Chevy Captiva Sport #665285 $24,499

’11 Chevy Equinox LT #665303 $22,499

’09 Saturn Outlook XR #1307291 $18,499

’11 Lincoln MKX #1400891 $30,999

’11 Buick LaCrosse CXS #665300 $26,999

’08 Chrysler Aspen LTD #1305962 $17,999

New ‘13 3500 Silverado 4WD Dump Truck ’10 Dodge Avenger R/T #6652862 $11,999

’12 Ford Focus SEL #6652611 $17,499

* Rebates are subject to change without prior notice. Not all customers will qualify for all applicable rebates and incentives.

6445 Carlisle Pike Mechanicsburg

’04 Chevy Monte Carlo #1401011 $9,999

’11 Honda CRV EXL #1306492 $22,999

’10 Chevy Equinox LS #665298 $19,999

See Our Entire Inventory at:

#130178, Sale Price

35,610

$

Not all customers eligible for this pricing. Come in for details.

* Taxes, Tags and Transfer Fees additional. You may choose Rebates OR new car financing as low as 0% up to 72 mos. on select models with financing approval.

766-0284 800-427-4505

Autos Plus

E2 • The Sentinel

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Chevy Cruze success story continues

In 2011, Chevrolet launched the compact Cruze to replace the Chevy Cobalt and Suzuki Forenza in the GM lineup. Cruze has been a success story ever since, quickly becoming and remaining Chevrolet’s bestselling passenger car around the world. Cruze combines upscale amenities, quietness, safety features, infotainment and roominess that are generally expected from a larger sedan, while focusing on the efficiency and value expected from a compact car. For 2013, Chevrolet adds standard infotainment and safety technologies including Chevrolet MyLink with Bluetooth streaming audio for music and select phones; voice recognition for phone, music and radio; Pandora and Stitcher smartphone compatibility and Gracenote (playlist and album art) capability. The LTZ trim I tested also has color-touch AM/FM stereo with CD player and MP3 playback capability and a seven-inchdiagonal color touch-screen display. Cruze is available in LS, 1LT, 2LT and LTZ models, as well as a gas-sipping Eco model that, when equipped with a manual transmission, achieves an EPA-estimated 42 mpg highway, making it the most fuel-efficient, gasoline-powered non-hybrid car in America.

Sporty look and safety construction

The four-door, 5-passenger front-engine transaxle; front-wheel-drive compact car is constructed at Chevrolet’s Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant with a steel body frame integral (unibody) that has front and rear crumple zones; galvanized steel front fenders, hood, roof, door panels, one-piece bodyside outer panel and thermal plastic olefin bumper fascias. Created to look sporty rather than economical, Cruze features Chevrolet’s

By Mike Blake

global signature face — a two-tier grille with the gold bowtie logo. An arching roofline connects a steeply raked windshield and fastsloping rear pillars that provide a sporty, coupe-like proportion. Prominent head lamp housings wrap around the corners and sweep upward into the fenders and hood and its short rear deck is typically found on sport coupes. Wheels are planted at the corners with minimal front and rear overhangs, which make the vehicle appear longer. Adhering to compact parameters, Cruze specs in at 181.0 inches long, 70.7 inches wide and 58.1 inches high on a 105.7-inch wheelbase and weighs in with a curbweight of 3155 lbs.

Turbocharged engine provides power The Cruze can power up with either a 1.8-liter I-4 engine that is rated at 138hp and 125 lbs.-ft. of torque with an EPA estimate of 22/35 for the automatic, or an Ecotec 1.4-liter I-4 turbo engine with variable valve timing that puts out 138hp and 148 lbs-ft of torque and is EPA estimated at 26/39. My Cruze LTZ test model was outfitted with the 1.4liter I-4 turbo and in mixeduse tests I achieved an average of 32.4 mpg. With a six-speed automatic transmission, Cruze is not a track car, but it is dependable and steady. It accelerates slowly, but smoothly in all ranges as shown in a 9.3-second dash from zero to 60mph and a quarter-mile run in 17.2 seconds. On the highway, accelerat ing at speed shows a

bit of hesitation, but passing and uphill moves are accomplished with confidence and evenness. Cruze shows stability and assurance in steering maneuvers, with understeer noticeable only in the quickest s-curve and auto-cross situations from its rackmounted electric power steering. StabiliTrak electronic stability control with traction control, rollover mitigation and anti-lock brakes are standard, and its MacPherson strut front suspension and technically advanced Z-link rear deliver a balanced ride.

Soft-touch interior materials Cruze’s interior twincockpit motif is matched with high-quality interior materials and solid fit and finish. Grained, soft-touch components and low-gloss trim panels provide a level of quality unexpected in this segment. The instrument panel features richly detailed instruments backlit with light-emitting diode (LED) technology. The integrated center stack houses the infotainment display, climate controls and radio controls, and blends harmoniously with the instrument panel. The cabin seats five with front headroom of 39.3 inches and rear headroom of 37.9 inches. First row legroom is 42.3 inches with 35.4 for second row passengers and shoulder room comes in at 54.7 and 53.9. Cruze offers more standard safety features than any vehicle in its class, with 10 standard air bags including front airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, front- and rear-seatmounted side airbags and two-row side curtain airbags, and it has received an overall perfect five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Built into its safety system are a rigid high-strength steel safety cage, front passenger seat

Submitted photos

The 2013 Cruze features additional technology, such as Chevrolet MyLink with Bluetooth streaming and voice recognition.

occupant sensing system and rollover sensing and protection system, collapsible pedal assembly to help protect against lower-extremity injuries, and Chevrolet’s Onstar system. The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze is available in four trims in both manual and automatic configuration, plus an ECO version, starting at $17,940 including $810 for Destination and Freight, for the LS, and moving to the 1LT at $19,370 including Des-

tination; ECO Manual at $20,490 including Destination, the 2LT at $21,850 including D&F and the LTZ that I tested, with a base of $24,360 including Destination and Freight. The RS package added $595 for sporty bumpers, lower body moldings and a rear spoiler. Chevrolet MyLink Radio with Navigation added $795; a Premium Pioneer 9-speaker sound system added $445; a power sliding sunroof added $900, and

an enhanced safety system with Rear Park Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Side Blind Zone Alert added $790 for a sticker price of $27,885. Visit www.CarlisleEvents. com for more on the automotive hobby. Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He’s been a “car guy” since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years.

Updated Buick LaCrosse is a peaceful riding sedan By Ann M. Job Associated Press Buick’s largest sedan, the LaCrosse, is a quiet and peaceful riding car with a spacious interior that is updated for 2014 with new seats, styling and luxury appointments. The 2014 LaCrosse also has flashier exterior styling than its 2013 predecessor — from a bigger waterfalltype grille and long, shiny, silver strip on the trunk — and offers new radar- and camera-based safety features. Among them: Cross-traffic alert that can briefly vibrate the driver’s seat cushion if an oncoming car is detected while the driver is backing up out of a parking space. It’s difficult to ignore this car-to-human communication, and it’s more effective than merely adding another beeping sound or warning light to a car’s interior. Plus, with 40.5 inches of legroom in the back seat, the LaCrosse is ready to carry passengers. Some sedans don’t have this much legroom in the front seats. Starting retail price of the LaCrosse is up but competitive, and that’s before taking into consideration Buick’s free regular maintenance on the car. All 2014 LaCrosses come with two years/24,000 miles of free, regular scheduled maintenance, which includes oil and filter changes, tire rotations and multi-point inspections. Starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $34,060 for a base, 2014 LaCrosse with front-wheel drive. At this price, buyers get to choose between the 182horsepower four cylinder with eAssist hybrid technology, which delivers the LaCrosse’s top fuel economy numbers, or the more powerful, 304-horsepower,

direct injection, gasoline V-6 with no eAssist. The V-6 engine is a no-extracost offering in the base LaCrosse, and each engine comes with a six-speed automatic transmission. In contrast, the starting MSRP, including destination charge, for a 2014 Lincoln MKZ sedan is $37,085, and this front-wheel drive model has a 240-horsepower, turbocharged four cylinder. The 2014 MKZ with V-6 has a starting retail price of $38,315. Another competitor, the 2014 Lexus ES, has a starting MSRP, including destination charge, of $37,280 with 268-horsepower V-6 and six-speed automatic. Note that the base ES includes a power moonroof. The base LaCrosse does not. The lowest starting retail price for a 2014 LaCrosse with all-wheel drive is $39,140 and includes the V-6. All-wheel drive is not available with the LaCrosse four-cylinder engine. This price is below the $40,205 starting retail price for a 2014 MKZ with V-6 and all-wheel drive. But Lincoln also offers an all-wheel drive, 2014 MKZ with turbo four cylinder with a starting retail price of $38,975. Slotting in the lineup atop the Buick Verano compact sedan and the mid-size Regal, the LaCrosse is nearly 7 inches longer from bumper to bumper than the Regal and nearly an inch taller. Most of the extra length goes for the generous LaCrosse back-seat legroom. In fact, the smaller Regal has a larger trunk than the LaCrosse. Maximum trunk capacity is 13.3 cubic feet in the LaCrosse vs. the Regal’s 14.2 cubic feet. The Lexus ES and Lincoln MKZ also offer more trunk room. But the 2014 LaCrosse has rear seatbacks that fold down, nearly flat, in two sections. This pro-

vides additional cargo room, especially for long items. The two LaCrosse powerplants are largely carried over from last year. The test LaCrosse had the 3.6-liter V-6 that delivered power smoothly in regular driving. Passengers, cocooned in a Buick QuietTuning interior and talking in normal conversational tones, rarely noticed engine sounds. In pedal-to-the-metal acceleration — during passing on highways, for example — there was just a bit of a wait and then the power came on steadily. Peak torque is 264 foot-pounds at 5,300 rpm. Even with highway passing demands and hilly terrain, the test car averaged 23.9 miles per gallon in driving that was 70 percent on highways. The federal government’s fuel economy numbers for this model are 18 mpg in city driving and 28 mpg on highways for a combined 21 mpg. Only regular unleaded gas is needed. With V-6, the LaCrosse has an 18-gallon fuel tank, so the range of the tester was 430 miles. With the 2.4-liter four cylinder with eAssist technology that stops the engine automatically at idle to save fuel, the LaCrosse’s top fuel mileage is 25/36 mpg. The ride in the test LaCrosse wasn’t just quiet and relatively agile. It was stable and compliant, with the MacPherson strut front suspension and rear H-arm suspension configuration keeping most road bumps away from passengers. Speeds can be deceptive in this comfortable riding car. What felt like 60 miles per hour on the highway was actually 75-plus mph. This was a good reason to use the optional head-up display in the test LaCrosse. It projected the vehicle’s speed in large, digital numbers onto the windshield

Associated Press

This undated image made available by General Motors shows the 2014 Buick LaCrosse.

Fact sheet 2014 Buick LaCrosse Premium II

luxury sedan.

pounds.

TYPE: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, fivepassenger, mid-size,

ENGINE: 3.6-liter, double BUILT AT: Fairfax, Kan. overhead cam, direct injection V-6 with VVT. OPTIONS: Driver confiMILEAGE: 18 mpg (city), dence package I (blind zone 28 mpg (highway). alert, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure alert, headTOP SPEED: NA. up display, forward colliLENGTH: 197 inches. sion alert) $2,125; oversized power moonroof $1,195. WHEELBASE: 111.7 inches. DESTINATION CHARGE: $925. CURB WEIGHT: 3,896

ahead of the driver, allowing a close watch on speeds. The LaCrosse’s easy-toread, white gauges allowed for customization, too, and the navigation system allowed the front-seat passenger to input destinations as the car traveled. Many other navigation systems allow destination inputs only when a vehicle is stopped. The LaCrosse’s tastefully crafted interior has a low top of the dashboard, giving an airy feel.

Front-seat interior lamps, in particular, give more light than what’s found in many other cars. It’s as if the LaCrosse’s interior comes alive with light at night when the interior lighting goes on when doors open. A thin line of ice-blue, light-emitting diode lighting that runs along the front of the dashboard is eye-catching and soothing at night. Too bad this arc of light doesn’t extend to the doors. The test car’s trunk had

BASE PRICE: $33,135 for base FWD model; $35,210 for FWD and leather group; $38,215 for AWD; $38,810 with premium group I; $39,355 with premium group II. PRICE AS TESTED: $43,600.

no hooks or latches on which to attach bags and other items. New, optional safety features include lane change alert, blind spot warning and adaptive cruise control that can automatically adjust vehicle speed as the LaCrosse comes upon cars in front. Only frontal crash test results are available from the federal government, and the 2014 LaCrosse earned five out of five stars for passenger protection.

Autos Plus

E2 • The Sentinel

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Chevy Cruze success story continues

In 2011, Chevrolet launched the compact Cruze to replace the Chevy Cobalt and Suzuki Forenza in the GM lineup. Cruze has been a success story ever since, quickly becoming and remaining Chevrolet’s bestselling passenger car around the world. Cruze combines upscale amenities, quietness, safety features, infotainment and roominess that are generally expected from a larger sedan, while focusing on the efficiency and value expected from a compact car. For 2013, Chevrolet adds standard infotainment and safety technologies including Chevrolet MyLink with Bluetooth streaming audio for music and select phones; voice recognition for phone, music and radio; Pandora and Stitcher smartphone compatibility and Gracenote (playlist and album art) capability. The LTZ trim I tested also has color-touch AM/FM stereo with CD player and MP3 playback capability and a seven-inchdiagonal color touch-screen display. Cruze is available in LS, 1LT, 2LT and LTZ models, as well as a gas-sipping Eco model that, when equipped with a manual transmission, achieves an EPA-estimated 42 mpg highway, making it the most fuel-efficient, gasoline-powered non-hybrid car in America.

Sporty look and safety construction

The four-door, 5-passenger front-engine transaxle; front-wheel-drive compact car is constructed at Chevrolet’s Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant with a steel body frame integral (unibody) that has front and rear crumple zones; galvanized steel front fenders, hood, roof, door panels, one-piece bodyside outer panel and thermal plastic olefin bumper fascias. Created to look sporty rather than economical, Cruze features Chevrolet’s

By Mike Blake

global signature face — a two-tier grille with the gold bowtie logo. An arching roofline connects a steeply raked windshield and fastsloping rear pillars that provide a sporty, coupe-like proportion. Prominent head lamp housings wrap around the corners and sweep upward into the fenders and hood and its short rear deck is typically found on sport coupes. Wheels are planted at the corners with minimal front and rear overhangs, which make the vehicle appear longer. Adhering to compact parameters, Cruze specs in at 181.0 inches long, 70.7 inches wide and 58.1 inches high on a 105.7-inch wheelbase and weighs in with a curbweight of 3155 lbs.

Turbocharged engine provides power The Cruze can power up with either a 1.8-liter I-4 engine that is rated at 138hp and 125 lbs.-ft. of torque with an EPA estimate of 22/35 for the automatic, or an Ecotec 1.4-liter I-4 turbo engine with variable valve timing that puts out 138hp and 148 lbs-ft of torque and is EPA estimated at 26/39. My Cruze LTZ test model was outfitted with the 1.4liter I-4 turbo and in mixeduse tests I achieved an average of 32.4 mpg. With a six-speed automatic transmission, Cruze is not a track car, but it is dependable and steady. It accelerates slowly, but smoothly in all ranges as shown in a 9.3-second dash from zero to 60mph and a quarter-mile run in 17.2 seconds. On the highway, accelerat ing at speed shows a

bit of hesitation, but passing and uphill moves are accomplished with confidence and evenness. Cruze shows stability and assurance in steering maneuvers, with understeer noticeable only in the quickest s-curve and auto-cross situations from its rackmounted electric power steering. StabiliTrak electronic stability control with traction control, rollover mitigation and anti-lock brakes are standard, and its MacPherson strut front suspension and technically advanced Z-link rear deliver a balanced ride.

Soft-touch interior materials Cruze’s interior twincockpit motif is matched with high-quality interior materials and solid fit and finish. Grained, soft-touch components and low-gloss trim panels provide a level of quality unexpected in this segment. The instrument panel features richly detailed instruments backlit with light-emitting diode (LED) technology. The integrated center stack houses the infotainment display, climate controls and radio controls, and blends harmoniously with the instrument panel. The cabin seats five with front headroom of 39.3 inches and rear headroom of 37.9 inches. First row legroom is 42.3 inches with 35.4 for second row passengers and shoulder room comes in at 54.7 and 53.9. Cruze offers more standard safety features than any vehicle in its class, with 10 standard air bags including front airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, front- and rear-seatmounted side airbags and two-row side curtain airbags, and it has received an overall perfect five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Built into its safety system are a rigid high-strength steel safety cage, front passenger seat

Submitted photos

The 2013 Cruze features additional technology, such as Chevrolet MyLink with Bluetooth streaming and voice recognition.

occupant sensing system and rollover sensing and protection system, collapsible pedal assembly to help protect against lower-extremity injuries, and Chevrolet’s Onstar system. The 2013 Chevrolet Cruze is available in four trims in both manual and automatic configuration, plus an ECO version, starting at $17,940 including $810 for Destination and Freight, for the LS, and moving to the 1LT at $19,370 including Des-

tination; ECO Manual at $20,490 including Destination, the 2LT at $21,850 including D&F and the LTZ that I tested, with a base of $24,360 including Destination and Freight. The RS package added $595 for sporty bumpers, lower body moldings and a rear spoiler. Chevrolet MyLink Radio with Navigation added $795; a Premium Pioneer 9-speaker sound system added $445; a power sliding sunroof added $900, and

an enhanced safety system with Rear Park Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Alert and Side Blind Zone Alert added $790 for a sticker price of $27,885. Visit www.CarlisleEvents. com for more on the automotive hobby. Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He’s been a “car guy” since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years.

Updated Buick LaCrosse is a peaceful riding sedan By Ann M. Job Associated Press Buick’s largest sedan, the LaCrosse, is a quiet and peaceful riding car with a spacious interior that is updated for 2014 with new seats, styling and luxury appointments. The 2014 LaCrosse also has flashier exterior styling than its 2013 predecessor — from a bigger waterfalltype grille and long, shiny, silver strip on the trunk — and offers new radar- and camera-based safety features. Among them: Cross-traffic alert that can briefly vibrate the driver’s seat cushion if an oncoming car is detected while the driver is backing up out of a parking space. It’s difficult to ignore this car-to-human communication, and it’s more effective than merely adding another beeping sound or warning light to a car’s interior. Plus, with 40.5 inches of legroom in the back seat, the LaCrosse is ready to carry passengers. Some sedans don’t have this much legroom in the front seats. Starting retail price of the LaCrosse is up but competitive, and that’s before taking into consideration Buick’s free regular maintenance on the car. All 2014 LaCrosses come with two years/24,000 miles of free, regular scheduled maintenance, which includes oil and filter changes, tire rotations and multi-point inspections. Starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $34,060 for a base, 2014 LaCrosse with front-wheel drive. At this price, buyers get to choose between the 182horsepower four cylinder with eAssist hybrid technology, which delivers the LaCrosse’s top fuel economy numbers, or the more powerful, 304-horsepower,

direct injection, gasoline V-6 with no eAssist. The V-6 engine is a no-extracost offering in the base LaCrosse, and each engine comes with a six-speed automatic transmission. In contrast, the starting MSRP, including destination charge, for a 2014 Lincoln MKZ sedan is $37,085, and this front-wheel drive model has a 240-horsepower, turbocharged four cylinder. The 2014 MKZ with V-6 has a starting retail price of $38,315. Another competitor, the 2014 Lexus ES, has a starting MSRP, including destination charge, of $37,280 with 268-horsepower V-6 and six-speed automatic. Note that the base ES includes a power moonroof. The base LaCrosse does not. The lowest starting retail price for a 2014 LaCrosse with all-wheel drive is $39,140 and includes the V-6. All-wheel drive is not available with the LaCrosse four-cylinder engine. This price is below the $40,205 starting retail price for a 2014 MKZ with V-6 and all-wheel drive. But Lincoln also offers an all-wheel drive, 2014 MKZ with turbo four cylinder with a starting retail price of $38,975. Slotting in the lineup atop the Buick Verano compact sedan and the mid-size Regal, the LaCrosse is nearly 7 inches longer from bumper to bumper than the Regal and nearly an inch taller. Most of the extra length goes for the generous LaCrosse back-seat legroom. In fact, the smaller Regal has a larger trunk than the LaCrosse. Maximum trunk capacity is 13.3 cubic feet in the LaCrosse vs. the Regal’s 14.2 cubic feet. The Lexus ES and Lincoln MKZ also offer more trunk room. But the 2014 LaCrosse has rear seatbacks that fold down, nearly flat, in two sections. This pro-

vides additional cargo room, especially for long items. The two LaCrosse powerplants are largely carried over from last year. The test LaCrosse had the 3.6-liter V-6 that delivered power smoothly in regular driving. Passengers, cocooned in a Buick QuietTuning interior and talking in normal conversational tones, rarely noticed engine sounds. In pedal-to-the-metal acceleration — during passing on highways, for example — there was just a bit of a wait and then the power came on steadily. Peak torque is 264 foot-pounds at 5,300 rpm. Even with highway passing demands and hilly terrain, the test car averaged 23.9 miles per gallon in driving that was 70 percent on highways. The federal government’s fuel economy numbers for this model are 18 mpg in city driving and 28 mpg on highways for a combined 21 mpg. Only regular unleaded gas is needed. With V-6, the LaCrosse has an 18-gallon fuel tank, so the range of the tester was 430 miles. With the 2.4-liter four cylinder with eAssist technology that stops the engine automatically at idle to save fuel, the LaCrosse’s top fuel mileage is 25/36 mpg. The ride in the test LaCrosse wasn’t just quiet and relatively agile. It was stable and compliant, with the MacPherson strut front suspension and rear H-arm suspension configuration keeping most road bumps away from passengers. Speeds can be deceptive in this comfortable riding car. What felt like 60 miles per hour on the highway was actually 75-plus mph. This was a good reason to use the optional head-up display in the test LaCrosse. It projected the vehicle’s speed in large, digital numbers onto the windshield

Associated Press

This undated image made available by General Motors shows the 2014 Buick LaCrosse.

Fact sheet 2014 Buick LaCrosse Premium II

luxury sedan.

pounds.

TYPE: Front-engine, front-wheel drive, fivepassenger, mid-size,

ENGINE: 3.6-liter, double BUILT AT: Fairfax, Kan. overhead cam, direct injection V-6 with VVT. OPTIONS: Driver confiMILEAGE: 18 mpg (city), dence package I (blind zone 28 mpg (highway). alert, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure alert, headTOP SPEED: NA. up display, forward colliLENGTH: 197 inches. sion alert) $2,125; oversized power moonroof $1,195. WHEELBASE: 111.7 inches. DESTINATION CHARGE: $925. CURB WEIGHT: 3,896

ahead of the driver, allowing a close watch on speeds. The LaCrosse’s easy-toread, white gauges allowed for customization, too, and the navigation system allowed the front-seat passenger to input destinations as the car traveled. Many other navigation systems allow destination inputs only when a vehicle is stopped. The LaCrosse’s tastefully crafted interior has a low top of the dashboard, giving an airy feel.

Front-seat interior lamps, in particular, give more light than what’s found in many other cars. It’s as if the LaCrosse’s interior comes alive with light at night when the interior lighting goes on when doors open. A thin line of ice-blue, light-emitting diode lighting that runs along the front of the dashboard is eye-catching and soothing at night. Too bad this arc of light doesn’t extend to the doors. The test car’s trunk had

BASE PRICE: $33,135 for base FWD model; $35,210 for FWD and leather group; $38,215 for AWD; $38,810 with premium group I; $39,355 with premium group II. PRICE AS TESTED: $43,600.

no hooks or latches on which to attach bags and other items. New, optional safety features include lane change alert, blind spot warning and adaptive cruise control that can automatically adjust vehicle speed as the LaCrosse comes upon cars in front. Only frontal crash test results are available from the federal government, and the 2014 LaCrosse earned five out of five stars for passenger protection.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Autos Plus

The Sentinel • E3

AFTER THE AUCTION

Associated Press file photo

A Tesla Model S drives outside the Tesla factory in Fremont, Calif.

Car fire a big test for Tesla By Bill Vlasic New York Times News Service

Associated Press

Potential bidders check out a 1958 Chevrolet Cameo pickup during a Sept. 27 preview for an auction of vintage cars and trucks from the former Lambrecht Chevrolet dealership in Pierce, Neb.

Nebraska pickup to be preserved, dirt and all By Peter Salter Lincoln Journal Star Nebraska’s most famous pickup — the rare 1958 Chevrolet Cameo that sold for six figures Saturday — is headed east, to a freshly built, climate-controlled time capsule in southern New Hampshire. The poster child of last weekend’s $3 million Lambrecht Chevrolet auction will join 64 other original and mostly American autos, all of them low-mileage tributes to automotive history. And it will take its decades of Pierce County grime with it. “I’m not going to take any dirt off that car. It’s going to be just like it lived its life,” said Steve Ames, who paid $140,000 for the turquoise half-ton. “All the other cars are gorgeous, but this is going to be the way the nation saw it.” A m e s, wh o m a d e h i s

money selling parts for Pontiac muscle cars, has been gathering his collection since 1990. His fleet includes a 1963 Buick with 900 miles, a ’48 Oldsmobile with 700, a ’56 Mercury with 5,000, a “gorgeous” ’56 Studebaker with 2,800 and a pair of Lamborghinis. They span seven decades and boast multiple manufacturers, but all are original and untouched, he said. And all have fewer than 10,000 miles. The 55-year-old Cameo, with just 1.3 miles on its odometer, will have the fewest. It was one of the 500 cars and pickups collected by Ray Lambrecht, who ran Lambrecht Chevrolet on Pierce’s West Main Street from 1946 to 1996. Although most Lambrecht cars were used — tradeins he parked at his farm — the Cameo was among the 50 new models the Chevy dealer set aside. And one

of the few lucky ones that spent all of its life indoors, protected from decades of Nebraska weather, vandals and thieves. Ames — and an estimated 15,000 other people — found his way to Lambrecht’s farm Saturday for the first two days of bidding. The 71-year-old had a short list of candidates. The Cameo. A 1963 Impala. A ‘65 Chevy, mostly because of the 396 under its hood. “I put all my eggs in one basket and went after the Cameo,” he said. “That’s a decision you have to make: Do you want to go after more than one, or do you go after the best?” With the History Channel filming, bidding on the pickup started at $50,000 and almost immediately hit $100,000. The crowd applauded when Ames secured it for $140,000. His was the highest bid of the weekend, although the ‘63 Impala he’d looked at

reached nearly $100,000. Altogether, the auction generated an estimated $3 million, based on sales figures in its online catalog. The auctioneer does not release total sales figures. The Cameo will spend the rest of the week in northeast Nebraska before a transport crew hauls it to Ames’ gleaming new, 22,000-square-foot building, where he also stores his collection of 25 limitedproduction muscle cars. He and his wife, Joan, intend to form a self-perpetuating trust to fund the long-term care of the cars. And they plan to offer limited public tours of their collection — to show the future what automakers of the past could do. “It’s going to be a history lesson in how our forefathers were able to build these cars,” he said. “And produce some darn good stuff.”

Ford C-Max Hybrid owners get rebate The automaker is mailing checks due to a lowered fuel economy rating By Jaclyn Trop New York Times News Service

DETROIT — Ford Motor Co. has started mailing checks to owners of the CMax Hybrid to compensate them after lowering its fuel economy rating. In August, Ford cut the 2013 C-Max Hybrid’s rating to 43 mpg in city and highway driving from 47 mpg. The announcement was made as the Environmental Protection Agency said it was re-evaluating the testing process for hybrids and electric vehicles in response to cus-

by the software upgrades or fuel economy revision. Any 2013 C-Max Hybrids made after July incorporate the software upgrades and come with stickers labeling the car’s fuel economy as 43 mpg. Ford said it was also upgrading the 2014 model, which goes on sale this fall. Ford declined to say how much the rebates will cost, but the payout will vary from about $10 million to $17 million, depending on the mix of owned and leased cars. Analysts said the C-Max Hybrid’s revised fuel economy was unlikely to significantly affect the car’s residual value. Last year, Hyundai and Kia restated the mileage of 900,000 vehicles from 2010 through 2012 with minimal impact on resale values.

tomer complaints that they were not achieving the fuel economy advertised on the auto stickers. Ford said it previously used its Fusion Hybrid as a standard measurement for the fuel economy of all of its hybrids but will now test and label the C-Max Hybrid separately. “Hybrids can be subjected to a lot of different driving conditions — climate, s p e e d , a i r- co n d i t i o n ing and heat usage — and all these things affect the fuel-economy of hybrids more than conventional vehicles,” Todd Nissen, a spokesman, said. C-Max Hybrid buyers will receive $550, while people who lease will get $325. The voluntary rebate is intended to reimburse drivers for the extra money they will spend on gas be-

yond what they had been led to expect. The checks are being mailed in batches to 32,000 through mid-October. “Even though the current label was generated in accordance with applicable regulations, Ford has voluntarily chosen to relabel 2013 C-Max Hybrid vehicles to better reflect the performance of the vehicle,” C.J. O’Donnell, Ford’s group marketing manager for electrification, wrote in the letter to customers. Ford announced in July, a month before it relabeled the C-Max Hybrid’s fuel economy, that drivers of C-Max, Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ hybrids could return to their dealers for software upgrades to improve fuel economy. The automaker’s plug-in hybrids were not affected

“precisely elegant surfacing of the instrument panel and door areas.” The Escalade, which can seat up to eight, also has a new interior that differs from GM’s other large SUVs, which also have been redesigned for the 2015 model year. Cadillac, which introduced its new XTS and ATS sedans last year, also is launching an all-new 2014 CTS this fall, while the plug-in ELR coupe also will start production this year. A fresh ATS compact coupe is set to follow, and Cadillac has promised

many more products will be ary. Those who already own coming to market over the a Hyundai financed through next few years. the company won’t have to make payments until they Hyundai to defer go back to work. Hyundai won a lot of good payments for publicity four years ago federal workers when it offered U.S. cusCOSTA MESA, Calif. — tomers who lost their jobs Hyundai is offering to de- the chance to return their fer new-car payments for new cars for a refund. The 800,000 workers who have Hyundai Assurance program been furloughed due to the boosted sales at a low point partial U.S. government in the economic downturn. The automaker says the shutdown. The company says work- program for government ers who buy or lease cars workers helps them at a time this month won’t have to they need it most. make payments until JanuAssociated Press

Autos briefs GM shows sneak peek of 2015 Cadillac Escalade interior

General Motors Co. on Tuesday gave Cadillac fans a sneak peek at the interior of its new 2015 Cadillac Escalade, which it will reveal this week in New York City. GM and Cadillac said the new Escalade SUV will be more luxurious and features an all-new, bold and modern interior full of advanced technology. The automaker said the design includes handcrafted elements and

DETROIT — It’s an automaker’s worst nightmare: graphic video footage of one of its cars engulfed in flames after an accident. In the case of Tesla Motors, the fire that destroyed a Model S electric car Tuesday is a stunning reality check for a company that has garnered almost unanimous praise for its batterypowered vehicles. The fire, on a highway exit in Kent, Wash., poses a serious challenge for Tesla and, at the same time, prompts new questions about the safety of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars. Investors have already punished Tesla’s high-flying stock. The company’s shares fell sharply for a second straight day Thursday after video of the Model S fire was featured prominently on websites. The shares, which have nearly quadrupled in the past year as Tesla’s fortunes soared, closed at $173.31, about 10 percent off the high it reached earlier in the week. But the larger issue will be how Tesla handles the intense scrutiny from the fire, including a likely investigation by federal regulators. “Tesla was a success story where everything was going their way,” said Karl Brauer, an analyst with the auto-research firm Kelley Blue Book. “The question now is, how do they deal with this adversity?” Tesla has said the Model S in Washington hit a “large metallic object” that damaged one of the modules in its liquid-cooled battery pack, which is on the underside of the vehicle. The company has yet to say whether it is considering changes to the car to prevent similar accidents. And it may be some time before the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration weighs in on whether the Model S will be investigated. Because of the government shutdown, there was no response Thursday from the agency, a part of the Transportation Department. Car fires often prompt safety investigations, like the inquiry two years ago when battery fires broke out in Chevrolet Volts after crash tests by federal regulators. Battery experts said that the Tesla fire was bound to generate new questions about the stability of lithium-ion batteries in an automotive collision. The batteries are prized in many advanced products for their high power and long life, but they have been a consistent source of problems across industries. This year, regulators grounded Boeing’s fleet of 787 Dreamliners after the batteries caught fire, and laptop computers and cellphones using the batteries have ignited when they became overheated or damaged. “This is why you can’t just take cellphone batteries and string them together under the hood,” said Donald R. Sadoway, a professor of materials chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Cars are subject to different uses and abuses.” The Tesla battery pack is

configured as a long, flat slab on the bottom of the car, beneath the passenger compartment and protected by reinforced metal. Ralph J. Brodd, a battery consultant in Henderson, Nev., said the case shielding the battery might not have been strong enough to keep the impact from causing a short circuit. “If you have an accident that jars the battery or maybe deforms it a bit, the wiring could go, and then you would have a short,” he said. The video of the Tesla fire — which was shot by someone in a car passing the accident scene — showed the front of the vehicle in flames. According to the Kent Fire Department incident report, the fire appeared to be concentrated in the car’s engine compartment. Initial attempts to douse the fire were unsuccessful. “The fire appeared to be extinguished, then reignited underneath the vehicle,” the report said. Firefighters had to use a jack to turn the Model S on its side, and then cut a hole in the car to apply water to the burning battery. Analysts said the seemingly routine nature of the accident made the fiery aftermath all the more frightening. “It’s a relatively innocuous occurrence to hit something in the road,” Brauer said. “But in this case there’s a fire, and a fire that’s difficult to put out.” The Model S has received high safety ratings in government crash tests, and independent automotive publications have praised the car for its performance and safety features. Tesla’s founder, the software entrepreneur Elon Musk, has often called the Model S the safest car on the road. But for now, the Washington accident has pierced that perception. A Tesla spokeswoman, Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, did not comment Thursday on whether Musk would publicly address the fire. The person named as the driver of the car in the Fire Department report did not return telephone calls Thursday. It is not known whether Tesla will replace the vehicle. Tesla is preparing to increase production of the Model S and to introduce other electric cars. Auto experts say it is critical that the company tackle the fire issue head-on — first by working with regulators to determine a cause, and then by developing changes to the car to prevent it from happening again. “You have to respond openly and honestly with t h e p u b l i c , a n d wo rk through this with NHTSA,” said Jason Vines, an industry consultant who was head of communications at Ford Motor Co. when its Explorer SUVs equipped with Firestone tires became prone to disastrous rollovers. Vines said the Tesla fire was likely to generate more doubts about the performance of electric vehicles, which have been slow to catch on with American consumers. “This could be another stake in the heart of electric vehicles,” he said. “It is inevitable that some people are going to say they are just not ready to go on the road.”