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Pag* 4 NORTHWEST HERALD Section C Friday, July 19. IMS Chevrolet mixes best of two worlds By the Editors of Consumer Reports If you like to buy "A mer i can , " y o u might be more inclin­ ed to check out cars from Chevrolet rather t han t hose f rom Toyota. But once in a Chev y dea l e r ' s showroom, you might be surprised to learn that one of their new cars is more Japanese than American. The new Chevrolet Sprint is built in Japan by Suzuki, it's sold p r ima r i l y i n n ine Western states. About t h e o n ly t h in g " Amer i can" t ha t , .you'll find on a Sprint is the Chevrolet name and i t s bow- t i e trademark on the grille. The auto engineers f r o m Consumer Reports' magazine tested the front-wheel- drive Sprint recently. It's a very small car that's shorter, nar­ rower and lighter than t h e C h e v r o l e t Chevette. The S p r in t i s powered by a unique 1- liter, 3-cylinder engine and rolls along on miniature, 12-inch wheels. In city driving, it delivered 37 miles- per-gallon; in ex­ pressway driving, a phenomena] 59 mpg. One point of concern with a car as small as the Sprint is safety. The National Highway Traffic Safety Ad­ ministration has not performed crash tests on the new Japanese Chevrolet, but the auto engineers say you don't need tests to figure out that, in a crash, passengers in the smallest car on the road are at greater risk than passengers of most other cars. Nevertheless, if an accident can be avoid­ ed, the Sprint certainly ha s a n exce l l en t chance of doing so. The auto engineers found it to be an agile car that handled as well as any sports car they have tested. Its brakes are excellent. It's especially well suited for city driving -- for weaving through traffic and parking in tight spaces. But the SpHnt's worst feature is its ride, which can be punishing. The Sprint's base Price -- slightly more than $5,000 -- puts it among the least expen­ sive new cars. Adding such options as air conditioning, rear- window washer and wiper, electric rear- window de f ro s t e r , t i n t ed g l a s s and stereo-radio would br­ ing the list price to about $6,500. Because the Sprint is new this model year, there is not enough data upon which to predict its reliability. Consumer Reports' auto engineers add that because Suzuki has never sold a passenger car in this country, they haven't a clue as to the poten­ tial reliability of the new Sprint. A l t h o u g h t h e Chevrolet Sprints are only supposed to be ava i l ab le in n ine Wes te rn s t a t e s , dealers from other areas have managed to bootleg the cars to sell • at a premium • in their own areas. However, Consumer R e p o r t s ' a u t o engineers, say that you might have pro­ blems if you don't have a dealer in your area. The auto engineers ordered a Sprint from a California dealer last year, and had it ship­ ped to Connecticut: The i r ca r a r r ived without some of the op­ tions they'd ordered, and without a spare tire and wheel. It also arrived with a bill of sale made out for the wrong car, so the vehi­ c l e cou ldn ' t be registered. It took nearly four months of phone calls and letters to obtain the correct bill of sale and a certificate of buy an original- union's evaluation of 461, Radio City Sta- "Good bets in used origin. And so far, the equipment spare tire. used cars, send $1 for tion, New York, NY cars.") auto engineers still (For a special each copy to CON- 10019. Be sure to ask riKcwwita haven't been able to reprint of Consumers SUMERS, P.O. Box for the reprint on iMisnmnmsuMi Car producers reserve space for '86 Chicago Auto Show " A u t o m o b i l e manufacturers and distributors reserved more than 430,000 square feet of floor space for the 1986 Chicago Auto Show at t he annua l space draw," according to Show Chairman John Mathias. The entire upper level was immediately subscribed including the mall area. More than three-quarters of the lower level was also reserved. Special­ ty vehicles, small car lines and allied ex­ hibits are expected to contract the remain­ ing space in the next few weeks. Both floors of the mammoth Mc- Cormick Place with 675.000 square feet of floor space will be us­ ed for the show. More t han 100 automobile executives and dealers attended the traditional lun­ cheon meeting in the Drake Hotel hosted by t h e C h i c a g o Au to mo b i l e T rade Association (CATA), sponsors of the show since 1935. The draw­ ing was conducted by Robert J. Foley, CATA p r e s iden t ; John Mathias, 1986 show chairman, and Ross E. K e l s e y , s h o w manager. According to Foley, "The 1985 Chicago Auto Show, in spite of inclement weather, d r ew a whopp ing 978,483 attendees. Since the show, car s a l e s have r i s en s t e ad i l y i n t he Chicagoland market. The executives in at- t endance a t t he mee t i ng a r e en ­ thusiastic about stag­ ing an even bigger and better show in 1986." The manufacturers' representatives drew space based on the 1984 U.S. registrations with figures supplied by R.L. Polk & Co. D r a w i n g f o r passenger car exhibit space for auto manufc- turers were executives f rom Acu r a , A l f a Romeo , A mer i can Motors, Audi, Avanti, BMW, Bertone, Bitter, Bu i ck , Cad i l l a c , Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Excalibur. • • * - • You and Your Car Tips from the V Mobil Auto Tech Group J Those 710-horsepower race cars get two miles per gallon. No one's boasting about MPG of a lO wheeled 50-foot California luxury limo--com­ plete with a 12-foot outdoor swimming pool in back (no diving; it's 3 feet deep). On the other hand, a carton-fiber three-wheeler got a record 3,803 MPG in England; en­ gine capacity's only 15 cubic centimeters, so it's not as handy as your 2.2-liter (2,200- cc) sedan for rolling around to the supermarket Hertz says the cost of driv- Gasoline glamour ing a new compact rose to 45.67 cents a mile in 1984. That counts everything (price, insurance, etc.), including gasoline--which cost less than the year before. Today's gasoline is a good buy for other reasons, tob; it's an engineered product that gives top performance in pro­ pelling your car. Besides, a modern gasoline like Mobil Super Unleaded includes de­ tergents that inhibit carbure­ tor dirt And high octane rat­ ing fights engine knock. By the way, the octane num­ ber you see on the pump is an average of (1) "motor" octane and (2) "research" octane, each determined in lab tests prescribed by scientific socie­ ties. It's thought that this average best represents re­ quirements of cars in gen­ eral--and it's the road octane index discussed in your car owner's manual. CAR CARE O . u d j i H N E R Car woes hit vacationers More t han 5 .3 million families had their weekend or vaca­ t i on d r i v in g i n t e r ­ rupted last year by car troubles, according to a survey.. Too often, improper or insufficient vehicle maintenance before heading off for some recreational motoring m a y p r o d u c e undesirable delays. In the survey, 6.2 percent of more than 3,3O0€air owners ques­ tioned Said their vaca­ tions were cut short or i m p e d e d b y mechanical failures enroute. Projecting this figure arrives at the 5.3 million families whose planned relaxa­ tion was converted to stress. The message may be even more important to vehicle owners in 1985. The study by Champion Spark Plug Company discovered that 28 percent of those interviewed plan in­ creased recreational driving this year. "These statistics in­ dicate that the prudent car owner should in­ vest in a tune-up and o t h e r r e g u l a r maintenance prior to s e t t i ng ou t o n a lengthy trip," said D av id Wa lke r , t h e company's director of automotive technical services. "Cars should b e m a i n t a i n e d r e g u l a r l y , a n d scheduling this care just before vacations is wise." The survey provided some clues to why mechanical failures occur on vacattbn trips. Only 47 percent of the respondents said they regularly have engine tune-ups prior to leaving on extended journeys. Even though 92 percent indicated they check the oil before leaving, one out of five fail to check s a f e ty i t ems l i k e brakes, lights, and wipers, and one out of three do not check cooling systems before departing. Ferrari, Ford, Honda, Hyunda i , I suzu , J agua r , L inco ln , Lotus, Maserati, Maz­ da, Mercedes-Bent, Mercury, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Oldsmobile, Peugeot, Pininfarina, Plymouth, Pontiac, Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Saab, Subaru, Toyota, Vo lkswagen and Volvo. Space for commer­ cial and recreational vehicles was con­ tracted by Chevrolet, Dodge, Ford, GMC, Jeep, Mazda, Nissan, Plymouth, Toyota and Volkswagen. Ross E. Kelsey an­ nounced that the 1986 Chicago Auto Show will be held February 8-16. Recalls held for reasons While automotive recalls have been a rich source for jokes, they are carried out for serious reasons. That's certainly clear as far as safety- related recalls, those made to correct defi­ ciencies in vehicle parts or systems that could cause an acci­ dent. I n c onduc t i ng r ec a l l s , manu fac ­ turers notify known owners by mail. The important word is "known." O n e g r o u p o f owners, those who ha ve pu rchased privately imported Eur ope a n - ve r s i on cars, cannot rely on being notified if there are recalls involving their cars. The reason is that such vehicles a r e i m p o r t e d separately and in­ dependently from the f ac to ry - au tho r i zed sales and service net­ work. Sometimes call­ ed "gray market" automobiles, these are European version cars that weren't designed for operation in the United States. Those who import them must modify them in an at­ tempt to bring them up to U.S. safety and emissions standards. These cars would be shown in the factory r eco r d s a s be ing operated in Europe, not in the U.S., so they would not normally be included in a recall campaign. F u r t h e r c o m ' plicating the job of tracking down the owners of these cars is that they usually have gone through several companies and buyers before ending up in so­ meone's driveway. 815455-4330 HOWS: Matt-frit* Sat.S-S, CtoMdSw. t *• IN. 31 0m Stock North #f Rt. lit CRYSTALLAKE CLEARANCE SALE We've Got Too Many Used Cars-So We're Making Great Deals to Make More Room! Save on these Specialty Cars! «4 HONDA ACCORD, 4 Dr., Air, S Spd., Loaded, Like Now e VOLVO TURBO, 4Dr„ Auto. 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