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Wednesday, November 22, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER D7 B e s t W h e e l s · O a k v i l l e New look Mazda Millenia provides same old satisfaction L in well with M azda's position of ooking back over the past the "sporting" Japanese carmak five years, it might seem er. The M X-6, and roarty little like M azda m issed the MX-3 with 1.8-litre V6 engine boat when it decided 10 years were roadrockets in every sense ago to kill its Amati division. o f the word, not to mention of L ike L exus to Toyota and course, the twin-turbo A cura to H onda, RX-7. Time and mass M azda had made the layoffs across North decision back then to America meant sport create A m ati. The ing was out and sur idea w as to have a vival was in among fro n t-en g ined sedan consum ers. M X-6, loaded with am enities M X -3, RX -7, 323, to com pete in w hat 929 w ere all gone. has becom e know n as M azda's tough Bthe near-luxury seg Series trucks, the m ent o f the auto bread-and-butter 626, industry. the M PV four-door Amati w as actually m inivan, and the quite far along, with M azda releasing R oadW orthy M iata were all that were left along with logos o f their "second the Millenia. channel" division to Well, this is 2000 and M azda the press. But the effects o f the has certainly changed. The 626 is econom ic slow dow n that first appeared in 1988 had m ush still around and their second gen eration M PV minivan is hot as is room ed into full recession by the Tribute com pact SUV. Miata 1991-92 and M azda decided to is still selling like crazy and cut its losses, assum ing the near M azda is poised to bring back luxury m arket would go flat. some thunder in the form o f a The only problem was w hat rotary-engined grand touring to do about the Amati sedan that machine currently seen in con was ju st about to start down the cept car form as the RX-Evolve. production line in H iroshim a. U nchanged through it all is W hat M azda did was bite the the M illenia which those smart bullet and kill their 929 flagship and replace with the M illenia, as enough to try it out, have found to provide a lot o f perform ance at the A m ati w as renam ed, and a less than expected price. offer it in tw o form s, one with an The 2001 version retains all innovative "M iller Cycle" super the attributes o f previous models. charging system that holds intake At a list price of $41,450, the valves open longer to get more only option is $400 for two lands charge in the system. o f metallic paint. A t that tim e, the M illenia fit JIM The 2001 Mazda Millenia sports freshened body panels and headlights, but retains the potent, and innovative, Miller Cycle engine. W hile the main character lines remain the same, a lot of freshening has taken place in the area o f hood, front fenders, bumper, taillights and rear end. The grille now has the five-point look and wheels have been stan dardized on 17-inch alloys with low profile tires. On the inside, M azda contin ues (and was one o f the first) with a two-tone color treatment that brightens up the cabin sig nificantly. The leather seating is com plim ented by leatherwrapped shifter for the fourspeed automatic transmission. There has been a change in the centre console that now has its own power point and storage for 10 CDs. A smart touch are four cupholders - two front, two rear. Considered one o f W ard's Automotive 10 Best engines, the four-cam V6 produces 210 hp and 210- ft/lb o f torque from 2.3litres. Suspension is multi-link strut type front and rear along with four-sensor ABS brakes on all four wheels. This is augm ent ed by Electronic Brake Force Distribution (EBFD) that pre vents locking up the wheels in panic stops. The reason there are no options is because they all come included in the list price. A few o f these items include de-powered front airbags and side air bags, heated seats, power win dows and locks, retained battery power, fully automatic climate control, 20-watt BO SE sound system with nine speakers, rear diversity antenna, cassette player and six-CD changer that is in dash. The steering wheel has the sound system controls while the seats are heated with memory settings. The M iller Cycle engine is very powerful and is made more so by the lock-up torque convert er in the transm ission. Acceleration time for 0-100 kmh is 8.1 seconds and it will do the quarter mile in 16.7 seconds while topping out at 230 kmh. Transport Canada rates the M illenia as returning 12.2L/100 km (23 mpg) city and 8.0L/100 km (35 mpg) highway. If you feather the gas pedal, you can probably reach these numbers. B ut if you're driving this car the way it can be driven, the amount of prem ium -suggested fuel you use does com e back to bite you at the fuel pump. On the highway, this is one of those front-drive cars that doesn't feel like one. The M illenia, as regular read ers will note, is my preferred ride to the annual Detroit Auto Show in January. W ith great sound, pow er, and fairly good gas mileage (on cruise), the 377-litre trunk lets m e bring back three or more boxes o f press kits as well as my own luggage. Another thing I really like is the big, round clim ate control knob at the top o f the centre con sole. Not only can you adjust in half degrees, it will also display the outside temperature. On that infamous stretch of H ighw ay 401 through Chatham, glare or black ice can catch you out, so it pays to know when the freezing point is near. About the only thing missing is the cachet o f a second channel badge. But this is an advantage for the consum er w ho w ants more room and sim ilar pow er to the much pricier second-channel, near-luxury sedans on the mar ket. For those w ho w ant great handling and looks with all the toys, the 2001 M azda M illenia has a lot going for it. Added pow er not at expense of fuel mileage (Continued from page 08) as good as the Pathfinder was, it suffered one major flaw - the motor. Much as I liked it, I've always regarded the Pathfinder as a sport ute in search of an engine. The original VG33E V6 served the company well since the Pathfinder's mid-'80s inception but the motor, despite occasional tweaks and adjustments, couldn't keep pace with the competition. Its 170 hp rating was lower than every competitor but the Ford Explorer's stock 3.0L and even that antique OHV engine outmuscled the Nissan with 25 ft-lb more torque. Nissan's VG series engine was underpowered and overworked in the Pathfinder and, frankly, I'm not too big a fan of its continued use in the Pathfinder's only slightly lighter siblings - the Frontier and Xterra. But what made the Pathfinder's power deficiency particularly frus trating was the contradictory com petence of Nissan's award-winning VQ series in the Nissan Maxima, one of the best cars of any class on the road today. Apparently, Nissan's engineers finally noticed this strange dichotomy as well, eventu ally turning to a car engine to save a truck. For 2001, the Nissan Pathfinder powers to the top of the V6 sport utility class with an all-new VQ series 3.5 L DOHC V6 engine pro ducing 250 horsepower and 240 ftlbs of torque. Wow! That's 80 horses more than the old motor, an impressive forty percent increase in power over the previous, not-so-powerful powerplant. Models with the new automatic transmission - like my test vehicle - have a slightly differ ent power curve, set up for more bottom and mid-range oomph, to the tune of 240 hp and 265 ft-lb of torque. Regardless of transmission choice, those kind of power num bers move the Pathfinder to the forefront of its class. Though it might be easy to think of the Pathfinder's new VQ35DE engine as simply a bored out ver sion of the Maxima's VQ30DE, the new engine has been re-worked to meet the specific demands of sport utility pulling power and cargo hauling capabilities. Advanced technology utilized in the new engine includes continuous valve timing control, a variable intake system, newly designed lightweight pistons and a new alu minum block that weighs in at 16 kg (35 lb) less than the previous block. Despite the improvements in power and emission levels, fuel mileage remains relatively unchanged. The Pathfinder is still as thirsty as most sport utes, listing EnerGuide ratings of 15.6 IV 11.9 IV 100km (city/hwy) with recom mended premium grade gas for best performance. Thanks to com puterized engine management, however, premium recommenda tions for most cars can be regarded as a tax on the rich and stupid. The Pathfinder's new engine completes the revisions that were first introduced mid-way through the '99 model year - revisions that included a restyled, aerodynamic front end, a new grille, front fascia, multi-parabola headlights and a refined interior. Although the nononsense, squared-off shape of the original Pathfinder has been round ed, softened and smoothed out over the years, the rugged exterior still gives the Pathfinder a tough, pur pose-built look and stance. The Nissan Pathfinder is avail able in three trim levels - XE, SE andLE. All Pathfinders come with increased content this year. Even the base XE comes well-equipped with 5-speed manual, "shift-on-thefly" part-time 4WD, air condition ing, alloy wheels, tilt steering, pri vacy glass, roof rack, cruise, power group, keyless entry, auto head lights and AM/FM/CD with cas sette and 6 speakers. The SE adds options like fog lamps, sunroof, power driver's seat and the BOSE audio system with steering wheel controls, to name just a few. Option packages boost the SE content. An "All-Mode" 4wheel drive system with four dif ferent settings, previously available only in the Pathfinder's upscale cousin - the Infiniti QX4 - comes with the SE automatic transmission package. The LE, basically an SE with all the bells and whistles, tops the model list with luxuries that include power seats, automatic climate control, side airbags, leather and wood tone trim. % Purchase Financing up to 60 months on oh onm kiooo. 8004 NEONS Many colours to choose from. Immediate delivery. MZ7JEEP TJ Hard lop, soft top, grizzly ndwols, sun$ 0 DOW N $ 3 8 2 '% * screen glass,fog lamps, 4.01 six cylinder, $ 2 5 0 0 DOW N $305°% * sentry key, CD. player and more. $ 3 5 0 0 DOW N $ 2 7 4 *% * O akville 2001 MPV DX+CONV. PKG. CASH PURCHASE PRICE 2 YEA RS R U N N IN G 2001 CHRYSLER 3 0 0 M 3.51 ¥6 253hp engine, leather seats, power $ 0 DO W N $ 5 4 0 '% * doorlocks, power windows, auto, air, $ 2 5 0 0 DOW N $ 4 6 7 *% * am/tm aissefte/CD player and more. $ 3 5 0 0 DOW N $ 4 3 8 '7 irth 200/ GRAND CHEROKEE LAREDO Fully loaded, including power windows & $ 0 down $ 5 0 3 " / * locks, tilt, cruise, cossette/CD, oir, keyless $ 2 5 0 0 DOWN $ 4 3 1 " / * entry, ABS brakes and much more. $ 3 5 0 0 DOWN $ 4 0 2 " / * 2001 JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE LTD. Fu#y loaded, power sunroof, am/fm CD stacker, keyless entry and much more. $ 0 DOWN $ 2 5 0 0 DOWN $ 3 5 0 0 DOWN $ 5 9 2 *% * $ 5 1 8 " /n * $ 4 9 1 " / it * Chrysler's new 200' warranty is simple: Basic coverage 3yrs. or 60,000tas plus 5yr. or 100,0001cm power from warranty, plus 24 fif. roadside assistance plan for 5yr or 1 00 ,0 00 b . 2QO/ DODGE GRAND CARAVAN The quietest Minivan ever. Loaded with $ 0 DOW N $ 4 7 0 " /e * safety features pluspw, p.d.l., tilt, $ 2 5 0 0 DOW N $ 3 9 2 *% * CD, cruise, duolmr and more! $ 3 5 0 0 DOW N $362% * M P V D X 2fXM RAM QUAD CAB SPORT Fully loaded, power windows & lacks, tdt, $ 0 DOT* $ 4 8 7 '% * uuise, om/fm cossette, keyless entry, $ 2 5 0 0 DO W N $ 4 1 2 '% * power driver's seot, lim ited slip differential $ 3 5 0 0 DO W N $ 3 8 2 '7 n * and much morel Ftus W in. Items!. fro * i. Im n bos* or N ,400bm /yt I t months. V A d« moy not be no tify r ilwfroled. with Convenience Package 2001 DODGE DURANGO S U \ | M ly 'o ^ U w - . P - d l; $0 down $552% * $478% * $ 4 4 8 *% * LEASE F R O M ^ 2 8 9 ^ 4 8 T M 0 N IH S *2 5 0 0 °TM $ 3 5 0 0 DOWN The place to lease or buy since 1961 -- -f cc 1 I $4,500 DOWN SEE^EALER^OR RORDSIDf fiSSISTHRCt PROGRflfll U aariin rtprdku 4 khatfm, immmt w ithym lAaiMNvrwty start fafe. ' "leese peyoenti t iqerid Sum! rotes ra n t be raebinei bee Seder for feteSl. DOUR D fflLE H FM0UT I flSH m flZ D frS U M R 9 TN M HLG GE mflZDfl L ff lO f R S H IP U lflR R fln iy C G lenleven C hrysler H R Y S L E R · D O D G E · J E E P E Royal Windsor Dr. 1 EflflDUOIt PfUKFUn 3 2 e 2388 ROYAL WINDSOR DRIVE, OAKVILLE 90S-84S-7S75 f jO a k v ill ** 1 12 29 91 1 SP FFRS S P EER S R RO OA A D M tK iib * * * 3 R iin $ * in 905 - 827-4242 Ulhere Good Seruice Is R Fact. Hot Just R Promisel