Wheels
December 1, 2016
INSIDE
• Nissan Armada: A sleeker model • Kia Cadenza: Class and style • Toyota Yaris: Gets the job done • Buick Envision: Made in China
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Thrustcycle debuts prototype for self-balancing motorcycle PRNewswire HONOLULU — Thrustcycle Enterprises LLC plans to debut a prototype of its self-balancing electric motorcycle. With its first model scheduled for production in 2017, Thrustcycle aims to be the first company to bring a self-stabilizing gyroscopic motorcycle to market. “The GyroCycle is an energy efficient vehicle with rock solid stability,” said company President Clyde Igarashi. The core technology behind the GyroCycle has broad implications for safety and sustainability. According to Thrustcycle, its internal flywheels create a gyroscopic effect that ensures the bike will remain upright and stable both during the ride and at standstill when powered up. Because their system maintains a fixed plane in space, the vehicle will be less likely to slide under and lose traction when
going into turns because the gyroscope will maintain lateral integrity. The self-balancing function gives the rider more control and greatly increases safety. Although Thrustcycle aims be the first to bring a gyroscopic motorcycle to market, other major players are emerging. BMW recently debuted the Motorrad Vision Next 100 concept motorcycle, which features a self-balancing system said to provide stability while at a standstill as well as when in motion. According to BMW, beginners will benefit because their cycle cannot fall over, while more experienced riders will enjoy the benefits that come with the improved agility that their self-balancing system provides. While the price for the limited run in 2017 has not been finalized, Thrustcycle anticipates it will be under $20,000.
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
I
am very excited to bring you our latest edition of Wheels, the News-Miner’s first industry-specific special section, designed to highlight multiple and varied product reviews for your benefit — cars, trucks, 4WDs, motorcycles, ATVs, snowmachines, side-by-sides — and anything else we find that has wheels. We will publish Wheels every other Thursday and anticipate it becoming a much sought-after resource in all our efforts to not only find that perfect ride, but also to service and maintain it affordable. I’d love to hear from you. Let us know what you’d like us to take a look at going forward and we’ll see what we can find on it. Also, if you’d be so kind, I’d really appreciate it if you’d do me a real favor — as you visit any of these fine businesses in our section, and have a really great experience, shoot me an email or give me a call and let us know about it. I’d like to add a section over the next few weeks of just that — real folks, getting great products and services at a great value. Vince E. Parker Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Multimedia Account Manager vparker@newsminer.com 459-7516
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2017 Nissan Armada *Customer Cash offer good on select models between 10/1/16 to 12/28/16. **Rate of 3.99%, 6.99%, 9.99% or 13.99% will be assigned. Examples of monthly payments over a 36-month term at a 3.99% rate: $29.52 per $1000 financed; and at a 13.99% rate: $34.17 per $1000 financed. Program minimum amount financed is $2,500 and minimum 0%-10% down payment required. Rate and down payment based on credit approval criteria. Offer is subject to credit approval by Synchrony Bank. Offer good only in the U.S., excluding the state of Hawaii. Dealer remains responsible for complying with all local and state advertising regulations and laws. Some models shown with optional accessories. Dress properly for your ride with a helmet, eye protection, long sleeves, long pants, gloves and boots. Do not drink and ride. It is illegal and dangerous. Yamaha and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation encourage you to ride safely and respect the environment. For further information regarding the MSF course, please call 1-800-446-9227. ATV models shown are recommended for use only by riders 16 years and older. Raptor 700R recommended for experienced riders only. Yamaha reco mends that all ATV riders take an approved training course. For safety and training information, see your dealer or call the ATV Safety Institute at 1-800-887-2887. ATVs can be hazardous to operate. For your safety: Always avoid paved surfaces. Never ride on public roads. Always wear a helmet, eye protection and protective clothing. Never carry passengers. Never engage in stunt riding. Riding and alcohol/drugs don’t mix. Avoid excessive speed. And be particularly careful on difficult terrain. Professional riders/drivers depicted on closed courses. Always protect the environment and wear your seat belt, helmet, eye protection and protective clothing. Read the owner’s manual and product warning labels before operation. Model shown with optional accessories. Vehicle specifications subject to change. ©2016 Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. All rights reserved. • YamahaMotorsports.com
Thursday, December 1, 2016
A land yacht gets over its awkwardness Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
By Warren Brown SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST
I
t is back, and it is still big — a rolling testament to its name, the 2017 Nissan Armada sport-utility vehicle.
There is a vigorous debate over whether it is truly needed or wanted, which is why it disappeared for a year. But it has returned after many major, notable improvements. Let us assume it has a market. The original gargantuan Nissan Armada was based on the Nissan Titan full-size pickup truck, and it looked like it — a passenger van with a pickup truck body, cobbled together at a middle point for manufacturing convenience. It was big, awkward and ugly. The 2017 Armada — available in SL, SV and top Platinum trim levels — is prettier. It is based on the Infiniti QX80, and it looks like it. The exterior has an appealing streamlined consis-
tency. The interior is top-class, maybe over the top for something Nissan. But Nissan buyers might like that — an Infiniti interior for a Nissan price, which doesn’t mean it is cheap or easily affordable. This land yacht — the Platinum fourwheel-drive edition used for this column — comes with a closing price of $60,995. SV and SL editions are in the mid-$40s and upper-$50s, depending on options chosen. Still, the argument remains: Where can you comfortably live with the Armada in anybody’s city? The answer: not many places, certainly not comfortably, anyway. The seemingly always space-constrained garages in Chicago, Washington and New York City are eager to add a big SUV “acceptance” fee of $10 or more to the parking price of an Armada — new or old model. Either that, or they’ll tell you they simply don’t have the space to handle the thing. For these and other reasons, the
Armada vacated the U.S. market for a year. Its hiatus sparked a rumor that similarly giant sport-utility vehicles were dead or dying. They weren’t. They were just being forced into more sensible markets by the rise of more acceptable, city-friendly, wagon-like crossover-utility vehicles. Huge, fortresslike models such as the Armada still have a place in the nation’s suburbs, exurbs and other sprawling rural areas. Just keep them out of America’s congested cities. Writing this column inevitably trig-
5
gered thoughts of the national divide that characterized our recent presidential election. It has more to do with race or gender. It has much to do with cultural expectations. You probably won’t buy an Armada if you are a New York City resident. But if you live in a still-navigable rural area, you’re probably thinking: “Why not? My money, my right. I can buy what I want.” But drive it where, and how easily for you and everyone else? ARMADA » 8
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
For a classy ride, 2017 Kia Cadenza delivers
By Ann M. Job FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
T
he spacious Kia Cadenza becomes arguably the most stylish large, near-luxury sedan for 2017 with upgraded looks, new amenities and a smooth ride. The 2017 Cadenza also is a bit more fuel efficient than its predecessor and is rated by the federal government at 20 miles per gallon in city driving and 28 mpg on highways. And the base model’s $32,890 starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price (plus destination charge) is something of a bargain considering the standard amenities: 290-horsepower V-6, eight-speed automatic transmission, leather-covered seats, heated 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat and eight-way power-adjust-
able front-passenger seat, pushbutton start, rearview camera with guidelines, selectable drive modes, automatic dimming rearview mirror, 18-inch wheels and a trunk cargo net. By comparison, the base 2017 Toyota Avalon sedan with a standard lower-powered V-6 and smaller wheels starts at $34,115. All 2017 Cadenzas come with the best new-car warranty in the industry — 10 years or 100,000 miles for the powertrain and five years or 60,000 miles of limited vehicle coverage. Consumer Reports magazine predicts reliability for the 2017 Cadenza will be average. The Cadenza isn’t a big seller because many consumers prefer SUVs to larger sedans, though it’s about the same length as a Honda Pilot SUV. Its nicely appointed appearance inside and out drew compliments, and the test vehicle, which was the top-level Limited model, was easy to drive. Drivers don’t have to work through a
complicated menu of commands to tune the radio or set interior temperature. The 8-inch display screen in the middle of the dashboard was large and easy to read. The Cadenza seats were spacious and welcoming, given that the 45.5 inches of driver and front-passenger legroom are more than the Cadillac Escalade and rear-seat legroom of 37.2 inches is improved from last year. Trunk space of 16 cubic feet is the same as the same-class Avalon. The Cadenza’s rear seatbacks are fixed and don’t fold down, so narrow long items can slide through from the trunk to the second row of seats via a center pass through area. Steering had a rather light feel — maybe too light for those who enjoy a sporty vehicle. The 3.3-liter, double overhead cam, direct injection V-6 produces 3 less horsepower than last year’s Cadenza
engine, and peak torque is reduced by 2 foot-pounds to 253 at 5,200 rpm. But the adjustments aren’t noticeable and still allowed for good power for the nearly 3,800-pound Cadenza test vehicle. This is the first eight-speed automatic in a Kia front-wheel drive car, which helped improve the Cadenza’s fuel mileage rating by 1 mpg in city driving. Running on regular gasoline, the test Cadenza averaged the government’s 23-mpg average, which is on par with the mileage rating for many mid-size SUVs. The Cadenza was quiet inside, with little exterior noise intruding. Road bumps, even cracked pavement, were absorbed and capably managed by a compliant suspension. That let passengers in the well-crafted interior enjoy the perforated, quilted Nappa leather-covered seats and Harmon Kardon audio system with ClariFi sound enhancing technology.
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Toyota Yaris isn’t flashy, but it gets the job done By Warren Brown SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST
I am not a socialist who believes everyone should drive small, unadorned economy cars. I am a realist who understands that most of us cannot comfortably afford automobiles marketed as luxury or
high-performance machines. Also increasingly evident is that our national and global environments cannot forever support bigger, faster, high-horsepower automobiles. That is reality, which in no way means I am against driving or the pursuit of the “fun to drive.” I am in and out of hundreds of cars
and trucks annually - products priced at myriad levels, from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, to several million dollars in some cases. The experience is revealing: Regardless of price, all cars get stuck in traffic jams; and there are always traffic jams somewhere. “Prestige” does not help you move
any faster. Nothing is more humbling than being stuck behind a Hyundai Elantra in an Aston Martin on the Pacific Coast Highway, or shuffling behind a Volkswagen Beetle in a high-performance Porsche on a London street or some segment of the YARIS » 8
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
YARIS
Continued from 7 Washington area’s Beltway. No law enforcement officer anywhere ever served me a traffic citation with the words: “Wow! That’s a prestigious car!” Speeding from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 4.5 seconds impresses some automotive journalists or other proudly self-avowed “gearheads.” But try doing that in a quiet neighborhood - especially with a loud exhaust note - on a late night or early morning. How to make friends and influence people? That is definitely not the way. Do I like luxury and high-performance cars? Yes. BAut rapid technological advances, available in what we once called “economy” cars, makes some luxury metal seem vapidly foolish; and a super-high-horsepower car on an otherwise calm local street seems particularly out of place. High-performance on a racetrack or other designated space is fine, assuming you have the money or are lucky enough to get an invitation to share that venue. All of this helps to explain the many Toyota, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Honda, Chrysler, Volkswagen, Fiat, Hyundai and Kia vehicles you see in daily traffic on the Beltway and worldwide. They are vehicles that make sense, cars and trucks that real people really can afford.
Reality: I regretted having to return the 2017 compact Toyota Yaris LE hatchback I drove last week. It was such a worry-free drive. Fast? Not particularly. Equipped with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine, it stubbornly moved from 0 to 60 miles per hour in nearly 10 seconds. But it was a solid, reliable, reasonably safe and comfortable little car that could be parked almost anywhere and that got me and mine everywhere we wanted to go without necessitating a stop by bankruptcy court. And there was this about the Yaris:
Toyota is to be congratulated for standardizing advanced electronic safety items through its Safety Sense package. That gives the motorist needed items such as forward-collision and lane-departure warning systems. I like this. I will look for this in all vehicles regardless of price or performance boasting. Bottom line: Prestige vastly is overrated. Think safety, need, cost when buying a car. Impressing a neighbor will not impress your credit rating, doctor or police officer. Ride, acceleration and handling: This is a get-about car that serves that
ARMADA
Continued from 5 There is no urban reverence for rides as large as the Armada. It can carry eight passengers; it can even do that job comfortably for those in the rear three seats. But how often do most of us carry eight people? The Armada Platinum can be equipped to tow up to 8,500 pounds, a task facilitated by its robust 5.6-liter V-8 gasoline engine (390 horsepower, 394 pound-feet of torque). The thing is thirsty, drinking a combined 16 miles per gallon of regular grade fuel in city-highway driving. But the engine is super-smooth and there remains a market for it, especially in those rural markets many of us chose to ignore in the last election.
Nuts & Bolts
2017 Nissan Armada Bottom line: It is a big ride for people who have big expectations for how to use and where to park it. Ride, acceleration and handling: It is smooth and maneuverable on rural highways, and it is frustrating to deal with in congested city traffic. It is fast enough
entering highways. Just keep in mind that you are taking up more road space than most other noncommercial motorists. Head-turning quotient: You can’t miss it. Body style/layout: The aptly named Armada is a front-engine, truly full-sized sport-utility vehicle based on a truck chassis. It is available with rearwheel or four-wheel-drive. There are three trim levels — base-grade SV, mid-grade SL and top-grade
purpose well. It’s not a racer and does not move like one. Head-turning quotient: It’s not about that. Most heads will miss it and you won’t care. Body style and layout: It is a front engine, front-wheel-drive compact car available with two or four doors, manual or automatic transmission, or hatchback or sedan format. There are three trim levels - L, LE and SE. Engine/transmission: It comes with a 1.5-liter, 16-valve four-cylinder gasoline engine with variable valve timing. A five-speed manual transmission is standard. An antiquated four-speed automatic is optional. Hint: Buy the much more enjoyable manual transmission. Capacities: Seating is for five people. Cargo capacity is 15.3 cubic feet with all seats in place. The fuel tank holds 11.1 gallons of regular grade gasoline. Mileage: I averaged 34 miles per gallon on the highway. Safety: Standard equipment includes ventilated front disc and rear drum brakes; four-wheel anti-lock brake system; Safety Sense package; stability and traction control; pre-collision safety system; and side and head air bags. Pricing: The 2017 Toyota Yaris LE with automatic transmission starts at $18,000 with a dealer’s invoice price of $17,278. Price as tested is $19,104 including $239 in options and an $865 factory-to-dealer shipment charge.
Platinum. Engine/transmission: It comes with a 5.6-liter 32-valve V-8 gasoline engine with variable-valve timing (390-horsepower, 394 pound-feet of torque). The engine is linked to a seven-speed automatic transmission. Capacities: Seating is for up to eight people. Cargo capacity with all seats in place is 16.5 cubic feet. Maximum cargo space is 95.4 cubic feet. The Armada can be equipped to tow up to 8,500 pounds. The fuel tank holds 26 gallons of regular-grade gasoline. Real-world mileage: I averaged 15 miles per gallon in combined city-highway driving. Safety: Standard equipment includes front and rear ventilated disc brakes; four-wheel anti-lock braking; emergency braking assistance; stability and traction control; auto delay off headlamps; side and head air bags. A full suite of advanced electronic safety devices is available. Buy it. Pricing: The 2017 Nissan Armada four-wheeldrive Platinum starts at $59,900. There is a factory-to-dealer shipment charge of $995. There appears to be lots of bargaining room on this one. Depending on options, you can pay as low as $60,985 or as high as $62,445.
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
The Tesla shock: global gasoline demand has all but peaked By Javier Blas and Laura Blewitt BLOOMBERG
After fueling the 20th century automobile culture that reshaped cities and defined modern life, gasoline has had its day. The International Energy Agency forecasts that global gasoline consumption has all but peaked as more efficient cars and the advent of electric vehicles from new players such as Tesla Motors halt demand growth in the next 25 years. That shift will have profound consequences for the oil-refining industry because gasoline accounts for one in four barrels consumed worldwide. “Electric cars are happening,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in an interview in London, adding that their number will rise from little more than 1 million last year to more than 150 million by 2040. The cresting of gasoline demand shows how rapidly the oil landscape is changing, casting a shadow over an industry that commonly forecasts decades of growth ahead. Royal Dutch
Shell, the world’s second-biggest energy company by market value, shocked rivals this month when a senior executive said overall oil demand could peak in as little as five years. The IEA doesn’t share Shell’s pessimism. While the agency anticipates a gasoline peak, it still forecasts overall oil demand growing for several decades because of higher consumption of diesel, fuel oil and jet fuel by the shipping, trucking, aviation and petrochemical industries. For Philip Verleger, president of the consultant PKVerleger in Colorado and a veteran oil-market analyst, the IEA’s outlook is one of the more optimistic outcomes for the global industry. “Refiners across the globe can only hope that this forecast turns out to be right -- because all the indications are today that consumption is going to begin dropping not in 2030, but probably in 2020,” said Verleger. “It’s the best news a dying patient can hope to get.” The projections are part of the analysis the Paris-based IEA did for its “World Energy Outlook 2016” flagship
report. The agency forecast that gasoline demand will drop to 22.8 million barrels a day by 2020 from 23 million barrels a day last year. By 2030, consumption will rebound slightly, reaching a peak of 23.1 million barrels a day, before falling again toward 2040. The forecast is more pessimistic than the one released a year ago, when the IEA saw robust demand growth from now until 2030. Higher gasoline and oil prices could help to cut demand growth. Over the last two years, as gasoline prices plunged, consumers have bought larger gas-guzzling cars, particularly in the U.S., denting efforts to improve milesper-gallon fuel economy. If prices rise, consumers are likely to opt again for more efficient cars. Gasoline has been the world’s choice to power automobiles. From the 1950s onward, when Henry Ford’s dream that every middle-class American could own a car became reality, gas stations sprung up next to drive-through restaurants and strip malls and transformed the landscape of America and economies
across the globe. Now, however, car companies — most obviously Tesla, but also incumbents such as General Motors, BMW and Nissan — are putting their money, and reputations, behind electric vehicles. With technology improving — especially for batteries — prices are falling. Global gasoline demand grew by nearly 20 percent between 1990 and 2015 despite competition from diesel in Europe, where the fuel benefited from tax breaks. In the next 25 years, gasoline consumption will drop 0.2 percent, according to the new IEA calculations. While the number of passenger vehicles will double to 2 billion by 2040, “the amount of oil we use for cars will be lower than today,” Birol said. The biggest victim is likely to be refiners, which have spent billions of dollars over the last two decades to maximize gasoline output at the expense of other fuels. Birol said the changes in fuel-demand growth over the next 25 years will have “major implications” for the industry, which probably will have to re-tool their plants.
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
VW goes on American SUV, E-Car offensive By Christoph Rauwald BLOOMBERG
Volkswagen is going on the offensive in North America, challenging the likes of General Motors and Ford with a wave of new sport utility vehicles and battery-powered cars. VW’s namesake marque will expand its range of SUVs and sedans and start making electric autos in North America in 2021 in a bid to “evolve from a niche supplier” into a successful mainstream carmaker in the region, the company said on Tuesday. “We will be significantly stepping up our activities in the USA,” VW brand chief Herbert Diess said. “Our goals are high and our strategy is very ambitious.” Even before the diesel scandal, Volkswagen struggled to extend its dominance in Europe and China to the U.S., misreading American tastes for large, affordable cars. VW’s rollout of SUVs that appeal to American consumers
came late and the company was slow to follow up a bigger, cheaper version of the Passat sedan with other models. The VW brand’s market share in the U.S. is less than 2 percent compared with about 14 percent for Toyota and 17 percent for General Motors, according to Bloomberg Intelligence data. The North American push is part of a sweeping overhaul to improve the group’s operating margin, increase sales of electric cars and create a new mobility division that focuses on ride-sharing and self-driving technologies. Expenses for new initiatives are growing, even as the company faces at least 18.2 billion euros in fines and repairs tied to the diesel scandal. To help cover those costs, VW’s main brand reached a landmark agreement with workers last week, to cut as many as 30,000 jobs worldwide and slash 3.7 billion euros of costs. The division aims to more than triple its profit margin to 6 percent by 2025 and sell 1 million battery-powered cars
25%
globally per year by then. The annual investment budget will remain stable at about 4.5 billion euros, and its electric-car transition will be funded in part by cutting more than 2.5 billion euros of costs by scrapping underperforming conventional models. Volkswagen shares rose 0.6 percent to 120.85 euros at 12:20 a.m. in Frankfurt trading, bringing the loss since the emissions cheating was revealed in September of last year to about 25 percent. VW’s main marque, which accounts for nearly half of the group’s sales, was already struggling with bloated production costs and convoluted management before the diesel scandal came to light. Burdened by its free-spending
past, productivity at VW is 30 percent below its peers and the carmaker spent 60 percent more per vehicle than Toyota Motor Corp. over the past three years, Exane BNP Paribas estimates. North American production of electric cars will start in 2021. VW currently assembles the Jetta sedan, the Golf hatchback and the Beetle in a factory in Puebla, Mexico. Its only factory in the U.S. is in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Globally, Volkswagen plans to sell as many as 3 million electric vehicles per year across all its divisions. “Over the next few years, Volkswagen will change radically. Very few things will stay as they are,” Diess said. “The electric car will become the strategic core of the VW brand.”
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
America’s first Chinese-built SUV is a Buick Envision
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By Ann M. Job
FOR THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
B
uick adds a third SUV this year with the compact Envision, a competent and nicely equipped five-seater that is the first SUV to be built in China and sold in the United States.
The 2017 Envision’s 15.3-foot length and starting retail price of just under $35,000 put it between Buick’s two other SUVs — the small Encore and the larger Enclave — and into the thick of the U.S. and Chinese SUV markets. The design and engineering was done in America. The Envision earned an overall five out of five stars for occupant protection in crash testing by the U.S. government, though the frontal crash test rating was four out of five stars. Those are the same ratings as the 2017 Audi Q5 SUV, which Buick officials say is a key competitor. The base, front-wheel drive Envision comes with a lot of standard equipment for its $34,990 manufacturer’s suggested retail price plus destination charge — starting with a 192-horsepower, non-turbo, four-cylinder engine. It also comes with 10 air bags, keyless entry, heated and power-adjustable driver and front seats, rear vision camera, rear park assist, hands-free rear liftgate, Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, 8-inch touchscreen display, remote garage door opener, push-button start, fog lamps and dual-zone climate control. The lowest starting retail price for a 2017 Envision with all-wheel drive is $38,645, and that includes a 252-horsepower, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine. All Envisions use a six-speed automatic transmission. Visually, the five-door Envision doesn’t stand out: Exterior styling is bland but pleasant, and the overall shape is like that of other SUVs. The interior is pleasant, too, with cloth seats in the base models and Preferred trim levels and leather seats reserved for upper models. The Envision seats, however, don’t provide much side support and there was less thigh support than expected, even in the $44,000-plus test Premium model. The Envision test vehicle, which had 19-inch tires, had a compliant ride that still let through a number of mild road
vibrations. The ride wasn’t firm like some European SUVs, but it wasn’t totally refined, either. Envisions with the turbo engine get a HiPer Strut front suspension that retards torque steer, or that tugging of the steering wheel to one side or the other, at startup acceleration. Inside, passengers sit up a good bit above the pavement. The interior overall felt open and airy, even without a sunroof, and the tops of the side doors didn’t come up so high that passengers would feel hemmed in. The test vehicle’s leather-covered seats looked nice but didn’t have the supple feel of a higher-end luxury car. Gauges and controls were easy to understand, particularly if a driver is familiar with the interiors of other Buicks. One odd item, though, is the placement on the dashboard of a small analog clock within inches of another digital clock in the touchscreen display. The clocks weren’t automatically synchronized, so one could be minutes behind the other. Plus, who needs two clocks? The test Envision’s uplevel engine — a 2-liter, double overhead cam, turbocharged and direct-injected four-cylinder — worked strongly and without hesitation to power the 4,000-pound vehicle. There was no noticeable turbo lag, and the car felt peppy and responsive. Peak torque is 260 foot-pounds at 2,000 rpm. But aggressive driving dragged down fuel mileage to an average 20.6 miles per gallon, meaning total travel range was 356 miles. The federal government’s ratings are 20/26 mpg for an
average of 22 mpg for the all-wheel drive Envision. Thankfully, regular gasoline is fine, even with the turbo engine. Rear seat headroom and legroom of 38.5 inches and 37.5 inches, respectively, is commendable for a compact SUV. Maximum cargo space is 57.3 cubic feet,
and towing capacity is 1,500 pounds. There has been one U.S. safety recall of the Envisions involving incorrect weight information on a label that might cause an owner to overload the vehicle and create an unstable driving situation.
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Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Thursday, December 1, 2016
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