THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, April 19,2000 YOU WOULDN'T TRUST JUST ANYONE TO DRIVE YOUR CAR, SO WHY TRUST JUST ANY COMPANY TO INSURE IT? W ayne M cG ill 2345 ViyrcroltRd. #21, Oakville | 847-5671 A n O a kville B e a i'e r A ih 'e rtism g F ea tu re To advertise in this section call 845-3824 Fax:337-5567 Toyota Echo Efficiency can be fun I f the thought of 90 cents for a litre of gas in the heat of summer is leav ing you cold, Toyota has a way to help you chill out. Since last fall, Toyota has been mar keting the Echo, a highly fuel-efficient sedan that gets up to 50 mpg but still has enough power to squeal the tires off the line. Echo precedes Prius that goes on sale later this year. Prius is a hybrid that uses both electric and gasoline power to get better than 80 mpg. Prius, like the Insight from Honda, seems space age compared to the gasoline-sw allow ing SUVs on the road right now, but they are actually transitional sedans until true, cost effec tive fuel cells come along. W hat the Echo does is mark the direction carmakers are going to have to follow to produce vehicles that provide superior volumet ric efficiency, style and comfort and the need to pay heed to the environment, not just lip service. While larger and wider, and very much taller, the Echo is designed to fit into the slot where Tercel has lived as an anchor product for Toyota Canada. Tercel is no more. Toyota calls the 2000 Echo the "new basic car for the 21st century." A ccording to Echo chief engineer Yashuhiko Ichihashi he was told to build the best vehicle in the class with compact car interior volume for five people on a subcompact wheelbase and make it affordable for first-time buyers. Echo takes the "small and tall" trend literally to new heights in order to cre ate a capacious interior on a car with a wheelbase of just 93.3 inches. By rais ing the roofline and straightening the seat back, people naturally sit higher and (as SUV buyers have found) height inspires confidence. With the Echo, the roof is 59.1 inch es off the ground and that allows front JIM ROBINSON Road Worthy You're in the Driver's Seat a t G k n k v e n ! and rear headroom of 39.9 inches. The other payoff is in shoulder room with 52.5 inches in the front and 51.9 inches in the back seat. While sitting high, the car is very slick in the wind with a coefficient of drag of just 0.29. That shape plus a marvelous engine gives fuel efficiency ranges o f 7.0/5.5/6.3L/100 km city/highway/combined for the five-speed manual ver sion and 7.4/5.6/6.6L/100 km for the automatic city/highway/combined for the four-speed automatic. This is all thanks to Toyota's new VVT-i variable valve technology. In 1.5litre form the engine pro duces 108 hp and 105 ft/lb of torque. With the Echo weighing in at just 980 kg, it combines with the fuel rat ing to allow this car to be certified as a low-em ission vehicle (LEV) by Transport Canada. Echo even has a two-way muffler with a by-pass valve that stays closed at low speeds for qui eter operation. There are two transmissions includ ing the five-speed manual as used in the current Tercel. The other is a electroni cally controlled four-speed automatic with Uphill Shift Logic. When going up a grade, the automatic compares actual acceleration with the rate pre dicted. If the car is running out of power, it downshifts to keep the engine rpm in the peak torque band to provide a smoother climb. Front suspension is long-stroke MacPherson strut with steering rack mounted to the sub frame. The rear is a twist beam with gas shocks and coil springs low mounted to include interior space. Braking is via vented discs at front, drums at the rear. Standard tire is a Bridgestone 13-inch but 14-inch Michelins are available with option packages. W hile the Echo looks very 21st cen tury from the outside, the interior lets The Toyota Echo's large interior is made possible by a high roofline and a lot o f work put into the interior packaging. you know it for sure. Right in the top centre of the dashboard is the instru ment cluster. It contains the speedo, trip odo, fuel gauge and warning lights for things like coolant temperature. Having grown up on gauges viewed through the steering wheel, the centre cluster is something you adapt to in seconds. Better, because it is set higher, you don't have to avert your eyes as low to check your speed while driving. The centre console houses the con trols for air conditioning, audio system and digital clock. Three round knobs make heating/cooling easy to select and four round vent/exit ports on the dash flood the cabin with air movement. There are storage bins on either side of the central console, beneath the dash board for the driver and there is even a little hidden tray under the passenger seat. There are not one but two glove boxes for odds and sods plus a centre slot above the radio for your 407 transponder, assuming you are one of the few who still haven't handed it back in now that the rates are being raised. There is a large, easy-lift trunk lid and 60/40 split back seats that open up a reasonable trunk of 13.6 cu. ft. I drove both the two-door with auto matic and four-door sedan with fivespeed and was immediately impressed by the willingness of the car to get going. Credit the light weight, the wind cheating shape and the sheer cheeki ness of the entire package, but it was fun to drive this car. The view, thanks to tall windows, a proper seating position and the higher viewpoint of the road made for clear sailing without a noticeable blind spot. But what seals the deal on the Echo is price. The Echo two-door is $13,835 for the manual, $14,835 for the automatic. The four-door is $14,175 for the fivespeed, $15,175 for the automatic. There is a Style Package for the two door that raises the five-speed to $15,245, and the automatic to $16,245. It includes 14-inch Michelin tires and well covers, fender flares, colored bumpers, rear spoiler, intermittent wipers, color door handles, remote outside mirrors, bodyside cladding and CD player - is that a bargain or what? On the four-door, the Style Package raises the price of the five speed to $15,585 and the automatic is $16,585. Air conditioning is a dealer-installed extra at $1,230.1 cannot forget to men tion the quality of the paint that one would expect on a topline Lexus instead of a price-point leading sub compact. I spent a week with the auto matic four-door with the air condition ing and CD player (price as tested $17,070) and was mostly impressed that it had lots of power to spare on superhighway stretches. The amount of glass and the high roofline make you feel like you're driving in an observa tion car. It first it's a bit unreal, but after a few days, the extra eye sweep afford ed is a blessing, especially downtown fighting for parking spots. Incidentally, the tight turning circle and short length means you can zip into a spot in one pass. The Echo shows what can be done when a carmaker makes a determined effort to put everything it has into estab lishing a new benchmark. Agreeing with me are Canada's World of Wheels Magazine that gave Echo an Editor's Choice Award, and the gang at TSN's Motoring 2000 that named Echo their Car of the Year. Like you, I'm concerned about the environment and not happy with 90cent plus per litre prices. But the thought that a little cube with a twostroke canola-powered diesel is my next car is not the kind of future I want to live in. With the Echo, Toyota has reset the mark for subcompact carmakers who will have to focus their attention on the trend being set. Being efficient can be fun and Echo proves it. NO LIMIT PURCHASE FINANCING up to 48 months 2000 GRAND CHEROKEE LTD. 26K the ultimate Jeep that combines comfort in a stylish package. Fully loaded, 26K pkg., leather interior, AM/FM/cassette/CD, power sunroof, memory setting & more. SODOWN ,, » R choice $2500 DOWN S3500 00WN Hwy. City s685% *608?8, *57ff?,, KlII'l O R 1Y O N I `M ® Fuel E f f ic ie n t ' 5-Speed Manual 4-Speed Automatic 33 34 26 26 THIII't O RIT O KI Jeep 2000 GR. CHEROKEE LAREDO 26E Fully loaded, AM/FM cassette, security alarm, fog lamps, keyless entry & much more. Automatic, air, select trac, 4 wheel drive system, fog lights, alloy wheels, deep tint, and more. JEEP CHEROKEE SP0K1 26J $0D0WN $2500 DOWN $3500 DOWN SODOWN $2500DOWN $3500DOWN c h o k e *563% F A X >4861?TM `456% c S S `4 8 S & <4 1 4 % *3 8 4 % looses based on 36 months & 20,400km /yr plus freight, taxes & license. 3 T im e W in n e r E x p r e s s Lu b e 2<? m in u te s o n e is FREEi F o r O f The Toyota C anada ` P resident 's P ride A w ard harge S huttle S e r v ic e in O akville. A nd d o n 't forget the excellen t coffee! No C S e r v ic e & P arts E x te n d e d Hours M on-Fri 7 :3 0 o m - 9 :0 0 p m 2000 TJ SPORT O i f .n t F . V F N C H R Y S L E R · Hardtop 25S package, deep tint windows, fog lamps, floor mats. For Service Exceu£nce" T o y o t a S a tu rd a y 7 :3 0 a m - 6 :0 0 D r r i l l e n n i u m $ODOWN $2500 DOWN $3500 DOWN Q u a l i t y T h e N e x t M . cB *403?,, Lease bosed on 36 months & 2 0,0 00 km /yr., .10c per km for excess, plus freight, taxes & license. *323!?,, *291" o a k v i l l e <&) TOYOTA "#1 Volume Import Dealer In Oakville for 2 Consecutive Yearstn" QEW El D O C h r y s l e r D G E · J E E P 1 0 9 1 SPEERS RD., OAKVILLE 842-8400 VISIT US AT O U R W EB SITE AT www.oakvilletoyota.com SPEERS 2388 ROYAL WINDSOR DR., OAKVILLE 905 84^7575 w w w . g le i il e v e n .c o m tteaseHnanqng fromToyocaCredit Canada Inc. OAC. Otters validon new2000 modets leased/tinanoed and deM vered by 4 pm Apr. 30/2000 ttPaymenBsh(wnarebasedona36ot48-motithwakawfltase»illi stxnvn down payment or equivalent trade plus first payment, security deposit, icense. nsurance and appkcable taxes Kilometer alowance of 24.000 ton pet year. Excsss Homeles apply. Vehicles to be selectedfromstock or rooming unis. 4.8% financing example: $20,000 financed at 43% tor 48 months=S458.7&mo. wHtiaCOBof $2,021.44 and atotal obligation ol S22.021.44 tlt'999 calendar year through ToyoBCanada. S A L E S DEPARTM ENT HOURS: MON. - TH U RS 9 00 A M 9:00 P.M. FR I. 9:00 A.M. - 5:30 P.M. SAT. 9:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.