Driveway - Driveway - December 20, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Richmond Review · Page 29

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REVIEW drivewayBC.ca |

Welcome to the driver’s seat

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Santa looking to swap outdated ride for super economy sleigh NORTH POLE - Driveway can exclusively reveal that Santa Claus has been visiting local dealerships kicking tires—ahem, rails—in his search for a new ride.

Ever conscious of the increasing cost of gas and effect his multi-million-kilometre Christmas flight has on the environment, Santa seems to have opted for 2014 Ford Transit Connect Wagon for his next sleigh.

The wagon promises a fuel economy of 7.84 L/100 kms fuel economy,which means the sleigh will be kinder to the environment than his current means of transporting gifts to the world’s children.

As an added benefit, the EcoBoost engine – which is finely tuned for high-speed performance – would offer speeds much faster than Santa ever travelled in his former 36-hoofpowered sleigh. The expected upgrade comes as a record number of children earn spots on the “nice” list, increasing the payload weight of his bag of gifts beyond the normal tow rating of his nine-reindeer team.

Santa told me that changing his mode of transportation will not compromise his ability to remain true to his mission.

“My goal is and always has been

giving presents to good the nine reindeer look girls and boys, and a new forward to some time sleigh will make that off. Every year, the process more effective,” flying animals travel he says. “Let’s face it, 200,194,557 kms and every year there are more they’d like some time to children who earn presrest, he says, explaining ents. Things are simply there are still splinters getting out of control, embedded in his hoofs and my old sleigh just from a particular wooden My goal is and isn’t going to be able to roof in northern BC. always has been hack it much longer. With “You really can’t beat giving presents to the new sleigh, I will be this new sleigh,” says able to travel faster and good girls and boys, Goddard. “It offers carry more toys.” and a new sleigh will outstanding fuel econFord engineers develomy without sacrificing oped the Transit Connect make that process power. It even offers more effective.

Wagon sleigh concept an electric windshield weeks after hearing of defroster, making short Santa Santa’s dilemma during work of icy windshields cold weather testing in in wintry conditions. So, the North Pole. if there’s a foggy Christmas Eve, we “This is a winning situation for all,” won’t need a red-nosed reindeer to says Darren Goddard, chief engineer guide Santa around the world.” for Ford Transit Connect Wagon. “The Some extras appear to have swung increased efficiency means added time Santa in the direction of the Transit for Santa to enjoy milk and cookies at Connect. SYNC with MyFord Touch stops. His new ride will offer 100 cubic offers a touch screen display with feet of cargo space and versatility to navigation so Santa can easily find haul up to 2,000 pounds, which Santa all the good children, even in more will need.” remote areas.

Reindeer spokesperson Dasher says The child observation mirror would

‘‘

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welcome to the driver’s seat.

to advertise in this weekly feature call today at 604.247.3704

’’

allow him to keep a close eye on his gifts in the second and third row.

From its 60/40 three-passenger second-row bench seat through fold-flat second- and third-row seating with third-row independent fore-and-aft sliding capability, the wagon quickly adapts to accommodate multiple combinations of elves and presents.

The MyKey programmable ignition key restricts maximum speed should a mischievous elf get behind the wheel while Claus is down a chimney leaving gifts.

With eight cupholders, Claus and his elves would have plenty of space to take along a few glasses of milk as they continue through their busy night.

Rain-sensing wipers would keep Claus on the move, as there’s always a chance he’ll encounter nasty weather.

“As always, we are busy making toys and checking long lists,” says Santa.

“That said, Merry Christmas to all!”

Of course, Mrs. Claus will have the final say on this purchase because, as any dealership owner will tell you, women make the final decision in 80 per cent of new vehicle purchases.

Keep your eyes peeled Tuesday night to see if Santa got his Christmas wish.

Question OF THE WEEK: Santa is looking for a new ride.

Which new vehicle would you like him to deliver to you?

?

QUESTION OF THE WEEK!

Go to drivewayBC.ca to submit your answer.

Safety Tip: If you’re travelling across our province to spend time with family this holiday season, be realistic about travel times and check out the road conditions via DriveBC.ca ahead of time so you can prepare yourself and your vehicle for any challenging weather you may encounter.

Find more online at

drivewayBC.ca

keith.morgan@drivewaybc.ca

Look for more driveway features and information online at

drivewayBC.ca

Page 30 · Richmond Review

Friday, December 20, 2013

DON’T PAY FOR ONE YEAR

ʈ

Plus

2013

$ UP TO 3,000

ELANTRA

Limited model shown

DON’T PAY FOR

ONE YEAR

ʈ

2,500

UP TO $ HOLIDAY PRICE ADJUSTMENTSΩ

ACCENT 5 DR

2013

0

HOLIDAY PRICE ADJUSTMENTS

Ω

(AMOUNT SHOWN ON THE 2013 GENESIS 5.0L GDI R-SPEC) 2013

%

†

FINANCING FOR

UP TO 48 MONTHS

SONATA

Limited model shown

DON’T PAY FOR

ONE YEAR

ʈ

2,500

UP TO $ HOLIDAY PRICE ADJUSTMENTSΩ 2013

SANTA FE SPORT

ON SELECT 2013 MODELS

HURRY IN

GLS model shown

DON’T PAY FOR

ONE YEAR

ʈ

UP TO $750 HOLIDAY

OFFER

ENDS ND JAN 2

PRICE ADJUSTMENTS

Ω

5-year/100,000 km Comprehensive Limited Warranty†† 5-year/100,000 km Powertrain Warranty 5-year/100,000 km Emission Warranty

Limited model shown

DON’T PAY FOR

ONE YEAR

ʈ

750

UP TO $ HOLIDAY PRICE ADJUSTMENTSΩ

HyundaiCanada.com

TM The Hyundai names, logos, product names, feature names, images and slogans are trademarks owned by Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. ʕPrice of models shown: 2013 Elantra Limited/Accent 5 Door GLS 6-Speed Manual/Sonata Limited/Santa Fe Sport 2.0T Limited AWD are $24,849/$19,249/$30,649/$40,259.

Prices include Delivery and Destination charges of $1,550/$1,550/$1,650/$1,760. Registration, insurance, PPSA, fees, levies, charges, license fees and all applicable taxes are excluded. Delivery and Destination charge includes freight, P.D.E., dealer admin fees and a full tank of gas. †Finance offers available O.A.C. from Hyundai Financial Services. Financing example: 2013 Elantra L 6-Speed Manual for $14,999 (includes $2,500 in price adjustments) at 0% per annum equals $145 bi-weekly for 48 months for a total obligation of $14,999. $0 down payment required (without 12 month payment deferral). Cash price is $14,999.

Cost of Borrowing is $0. Example price includes Delivery and Destination of $1,550. Registration, insurance, PPSA, fees, levies, charges, license fees and all applicable taxes are excluded. Delivery and Destination charge includes freight, P.D.E., dealer admin fees and a full tank of gas. ΩPrice adjustments are calculated against the vehicle’s starting price. Price adjustments of up to $2,500/$2,500/$750/$750/$3,000 available on 2013 Elantra L 6-Speed Manual/Sonata SE Auto/Accent 5 Door L 6-Speed Manual/Santa Fe Sport 2.0T Limited AWD/ Genesis 5.0L GDI R-Spec. Price adjustments applied before taxes. Offer cannot be combined or used in conjunction with any other available offers. Offer is non-transferable and cannot be assigned. No vehicle trade-in required. ʈ0 payments (payment deferral) for up to 12 months is available on all remaining new in-stock 2013 Hyundai models. Payment deferral offer applies only to purchase finance offers on approved credit. Payments for purchase finance offers are paid in arrears. If 12-month payment deferral is selected, the original term of the contract will be extended by 11 months for monthly finance contracts. Hyundai Auto Canada Corp. will pay the interest of the deferral for the first 11 months of the monthly finance contract. After this period, interest will start to accrue and the purchaser will pay the principal and interest monthly over the remaining term of the contract. A minimum down payment in the amount of 10% of the purchase price is required. †ΩʈʕOffers available for a limited time, and subject to change or cancellation without notice. See dealer for complete details. Dealer may sell for less. Inventory is limited. ††Hyundai’s Comprehensive Limited Warranty coverage covers most vehicle components against defects in workmanship under normal use and maintenance conditions.

OpenRoad Hyundai OpenRoad Hyundai Smallwood PAPER13171 TO INSERT DEALERPlace TAG HERE 13171 SmallwoodRichmond, Place, 604-606-9033 Richmond, 604-606-9033 D#28516

Friday, December 20, 2013

Richmond Review · Page 31

driveway

Readers voice the pros and cons of increasing posted speed limits

by Keith Morgan Driveway readers have the final word on the posted speed limit poll, conducted in partnership with Insights West.

In that survey it was revealed that 37 per cent of those polled believe a higher than 100 km/h limit should be posted on our major highways. The provincial government current review of speed limits has already prompted much public discussion, much of which seemed to support the hiking of limits. With that in mind, we were surprised that the poll showed that 55 percent believed speed limits should be left alone.

Here’s further reaction posted online by readers.

For an increase in limits: Kmac: Excessive speed, texting and using a cell phone

The 2014 GMC Acadia Denali.

Acadia Denali is full-size luxury audio input jack, Bluetooth streaming audio, hands free calling, and a rear The 2014 GMC Acadia seat entertainment system.

Denali is truly a full-size If you’re excited about crossover vehicle. cup holders then hold on That’s right, an eight-pasto yourself, this vehicle has senger crossover that is big twelve. I know because enough to haul eight adults I had to clean each one. and still have room to store Twelve in an eight-seater, your gear.

At first, I was go figure.

Saturday is my usual run a little sceptical The Acadia comes around day; picking up standard with driver and things, dropping off people, about this vehicle front passenger airbags, some of whom I don’t know but . . . after the seat mounted side impact but someone in my family first few kilometres, bags and side curtain air has volunteered me to drive bags. Traction control and them anyway. You know the I found it to be a very comfortable stability control with roll kind of day, the one that stability control are also finds me buying things that and a fun to drive standard. we don’t need but can’t live vehicle.

Forward collision alert, without, returning things lane departure warning, that apparently we can Ian Harwood rear cross traffic alert, live without, and providing and side blind zone alert hourly updates to my wife are some of the latest technologies that on what I have accomplished thus far. have gone into this vehicle.

Hectic and stressful.

Power: Well, this particular Saturday I had the The 3.6 Litre V6 engine puts out 288 Acadia Denali and with a few hours drivhorsepower @ 6,300 rpm with 270 ft ing this vehicle I was actually relaxed. pounds of torque. The transmission is a Luxurious seating and a premium Bose 6-speed automatic that can be shifted stereo system with steering wheel into manual mode. controls that drowned out all the chatPump frequency: 13.3/ 8.8 L/100 km ter from the back seats. It also came in (City/ Highway) handy for when they tried to include me Warranty support: Basic 3 year/ 60,000 in the conversation; with a simple push km of the volume button I could yell back Power-train 5 year/ 160,000 km “sorry, I can’t hear you”.

Roadside assistance 5 year/ 160,000 All three rows receive the same level km of luxury. French stitching on all of the At first, I was a little sceptical about leather seats with a choice of colors, this vehicle but after the first few kiloEbony or Cocoa Dune. metres, I changed my mind and found The second row seats are a SmartSlide it to be a very comfortable and a fun to flat-folding 60/40 split bench while drive vehicle. Although there is lots of the third row is a 60/40 split bench room inside it does not give the impresthat folds flat as well. The third row is sion of a big SUV, and it manoeuvres surprisingly comfortable and enough leg quite well. With the latest technologies room for adults. added, I found it easy to use and very The steering wheel is leather wrapped useful. Shoulder checks are something I with mahogany wood grain trim; it also do by habit, but with the side blind zone features a tilt and telescopic steering alert feature it is like having someone column. The centre of the dash is the else take a second look, which is comlocation for the colour touch Radio/ Navigation screen with IntelliLink. A 165 forting.

Sticker price: $57,695 mm (6.5”) colour touch screen display, ian.harwood@drivewaybc.ca AM/FM stereo with CD player, auxiliary

by Ian Harwood

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’’

while driving, driver in attention and driving too fast for the road &/or weather conditions kills. The minimal increase in the speed limits you suggest make sense 28speedster: Here we are in the 21st century driving at the same or lower speed limits than we did with cars in the 1950s with bias ply tires on two-lane highways. New cars, tires, roads are engineered for much higher speeds.

Comments against an increase: Dwsolber: Some drivers have trouble driving safely at current posted speeds. Increasing the speed limits will only increase risk to all road users.

Dick: Do not increase speed, what the heck is the hurry?

99 out of 100 already go way faster than the posted speed.

Page 32 · Richmond Review

Friday, December 20, 2013

driveway

Mitsubishi Mirage is designed to deliver

by Zack Spencer

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Mitsubishi has introduced a threecylinder fuel saving car at the smallest end of the market.

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Zack Spencer

2014 Mitsubishi Mirage Even though we have high fuel prices in Canada, the trend is away from small fuel-efficient cars to larger vehicles.

Subcompact and even compact sales are down but sales of small SUVs and even mid-sized vehicles are up. There are a couple of things at play here. The first is the stronger (not so much in the last two months) Canadian dollar over the last several years has allowed carmakers to jam more content into their cars and often the retail price has dropped too.

The second is that vehicles are becoming more fuel efficient, so buying a slightly bigger car isn’t much of a hardship.

With this as a backdrop, it is interesting to see that Mitsubishi has introduced a three-cylinder fuel saving car at the smallest end of the market.

Looks The Mirage is sold in two trim levels; the base starts at $12,498 and comes pretty sparsely equipped. It’s a small car with a little price tag. The much bigger Nissan Versa is cheaper at $11,898 and has buckets more power. The car that most people will choose is the Mirage SE with many more goodies but the price jumps dramatically to $15,398 and with the automatic transmission it lands at $16,598. At this price, there are plenty of options in the subcompact class. Styling is not what I would car eye-catching. Cars like the Ford Fiesta or the Kia Rio have much more appeal and features for similar money to this SE Mirage.

Inside On the plus side, the Mirage SE does come nicely equipped. The front driver’s seat has adjustment and both front seats have very good seat heaters that bring your backside up to the appropriate temperature in short order. The centre cluster is nicely finished and it

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2014 MIRAGE MIRAGE ES STARTING AT

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GET A LOT FOR A LITTLE! 64 MPG, 4.4 L/100 KM HIGHWAY DRIVING† 7-AIRBAG SAFETY SYSTEM STANDARD 10 YEAR/160,000 KM POWERTRAIN LTD WARRANTY**

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features Bluetooth with streaming audio. There is an auxiliary jack but no USB jack to charge your phone.

The back seat is small and the rear cargo area is what one might expect from a little car. But this vehicle does not live in a vacuum.

The Kia Rio, with more features, like satellite radio, is only a $1,000 more and is way up on space and horseThe Lowdown power. The Nissan Versa Note is Power: 1.2L 3-cylinder massive in comparison and for with 74hp $1,700 more has push button start and even a backup camera. Fill-up: 5.3L/4.4L/100km (city/ So yes, the Mirage is nicely highway) equipped and has a good price Sticker price: but there are other options out $12,498-$15,398 there that are as good if not better.

Drive What this little car was designed to do is deliver impressive fuel economy. This is achieved by placing a 3-cylinder engine under the hood and matching it to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a continuously variable transmission (CVT). With just 74hp, this car is way down on power compared to the rest of the subcompact set, even the Fiat 500 has 101hp and the Nissan Versa has 109hp. This combination of small packaging and small engine deliver a rating of 5.3L/100km in the city and 4.4L on the highway. In my mostly city driving I was achieving 7L/100km. The problem with such a small engine is that t often needs to be pushed hard to accelerate and pass other traffic.

The engine and CVT are loud, especially when the car is cold. The steering is very light for easy maneuverability but at higher speeds it feels too vague. This car is happy cruising because the engine settles down to a lower RPM and the noise level drops. Ask this car to perform and it’s an experience filled with noise and vibration.

Verdict With a very low starting price and potentially good fuel economy the basic Mirage has a place for a buyer who wants a basic runabout that sips gas but if the trend away from small cars is any indication, that will be a small number. zack@drivewaybc.ca

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YEAR 160,000 KM

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Best backed cars in the world*

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Excludes Lancer Evolution and Lancer Ralliart

§ AWC standard on RVR SE AWC and GT. S-AWC standard on Outlander GT.^Limited-time offer available on select new 2013 and 2014 vehicles purchased through participating dealers to qualified retail customers until January 2, 2013. $1,500/$1,000/$1,000/$750/$750/ $500 MasterCard card available on all 2013 and 2014 Outlander/Lancer Evolution/RVR/Lancer/Lancer Sportback/Mirage models. $750 MasterCard card available on all 2012 and 2013 i-MiEV models. Offers are subject to change without notice. Some conditions apply. See dealer for details. MasterCard cards are issued by Peoples Trust Company pursuant to a license by MasterCard International Incorporated. ® MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International Incorporated. No payments for 90 days is available on select new 2013 and 2014 models financed through Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada or Scotiabank subvented financing programs on approved credit through participating dealers to qualified retail customers until January 2, 2014. Leases are excluded from the No payments for 90 days offer. Offer only applicable to monthly, weekly or bi-weekly payments. Interest charges (if any) will not accrue during the first 60 days after purchaser signs contract for a participating vehicle. After the first 60 days, interest (if any) starts to accrue and the purchaser will repay principal and interest (if any) monthly over the term of the contract. Some amounts may be due upon signing. See participating retailers or visit mitsubishi-motors.ca for complete details. † Highway and city ratings for non-hybrid sub-compacts based on Natural Resources Canada test requirements: Mirage highway 4.4 L/100 km (64 mpg) and 5.3 L/100 km (53 mpg) in the city for CVT-equipped models. * Best backed claim does not cover Lancer Evolution, Lancer Ralliart or i-MiEV. ® MITSUBISHI MOTORS, BEST BACKED CARS IN THE WORLD are trade-marks of Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. and are used under license. ** Whichever comes first. Regular maintenance not included. See dealer or mitsubishi-motors.ca for warranty terms, restrictions and details. Not all customers will qualify.

NEWTYPE RICHMOND MITSUBISHI 9200 Bridgeport Road (across from Costco)

604-231-9200 newtypemitsubishi.com

Sales: Mon - Thur 9:00 am - 8 pm; Fri - Sat 9:00 am - 6:00 pm; Sun Noon - 5:00 pm Service and Parts: Mon - Fri 8:30 am - 5:00 pm; Sat 9:00 am - 5:00 pm

TRISTAR COLLISION #160-12440 Vulcan Way, Richmond (604) 821-1133 Just behind the Richmond Home Depot