From page AZ

they can be burning hor.
~ Can you tell P'm not a big
fan of leather seats?

The overall appearance of
the Regal GS is restrained
luxury. The centre dash is
finished in a glare-tree
matte-black finish, with sub-
tle wood trim on the doors
and lower console. GM is
paying more attention to
ergonomics because the
round instruments —

‘including a tachometer —
are large and easy to see, the
“centre stereo buttons are
easy to access as are the
heating and ventilation con-
trols, and the large interior
door handles are easy to
grab. I’m not sure why the
dual-zone climate control
has a digital setting for the
driver's temperature, and a

- colour-coded temperature
bar for the front passenger's
temperature setting — but it
works. .

The standard Driver
Information Centre offers
bright green LCD readouts

- for average fuel economy,
_ instant fuel economy, dn- .
ving range, oil life, and

more like a V8

engine boost gauge —
although I often wonder
how often people actually
use these features.

A big, traditional
pull/push knob for the
headlights is situated on the
dash to the left of the steer-
ing wheel, and one control
stalk operates wipers, wash-
ers and cruise control.

A deep, covered storage
bin just ahead of the shift
lever includes a lighter and
ashtray, and just behind the
shift lever are two cuphold-
ers that flip out of the con-
sole. An armrest/storage bin
with slots for CDs, cassettes
and coins sits between the
two front seats. I liked the
way all storage compart-
ments and cupholders are
covered — open storage
bins look unfinished and
tend to get cluttered..

The three-person rear
seat has a centre folding
armrest which has two ‘buile-
in cupholders and juice box
holders. There are also stor-
age pockets on the back of
the front seat, and a couple

of coat hangers over the rear.
. doors.

There are four three-

“front engine/front-wheel-drive

: Engine.......

ssoetsusesssssneneeedO Hite, OHV, supercharged V6

HOPSEPOWER 1..:0...-sscsarsssssnssescssesseossesseen 240 @ 5,200 rpm.
TOP QUE.iccsessescssesrnsssomuensensinenn O00 MAb, @ 3,600 rp.m.
TRANSMISSION ...oeseseeninesorerseseoneen FOUF-Speed automatic

* Trunk capacity.
= Fuel consumption.

1,610 kg (3,545 Ib.)
2.769 m (109 in.)
984 m (196.2 in.)

1.846 m (727 in.)
“1.438 m (56.6 in.)

“We etem have syaciats

System Service
(see

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reece

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ee fed,

point seatbelts tor outboard
passengers, and a rear lap-
belt for the centre rear pas-
senger. .

The Regal’s huge, 16.7
cubic feet trunk is deep and
wide, and can be enlarged
by folding down the rear
seatbacks.

Driving impressions

With 240 horsepower at
5,200 r.p.m. and 320 ft.-Ib.
of torque at 3,600 r.p.m.,
the supercharged 3.8-litre,
V6 engine has the get-up-

“and-go of a V8 engine.

When prodded, the Regal
GS will lurch off the line,
and if the all-speed traction
control isn’t switched on,
it’s easy to spin the front
tires. There aren’t too many
front-wheel-drive cars with
this kind of power — if
you're used to putting your
foot to the floor and waiting
for things to happen, you'll
have to exercise more
restraint in the Regal.

Though it’s powerful and
has a supercharger (an
engine-driven compressor
which forces more air into
the pistons), the Regal GS is
surprisingly quiet.
Superchargers commonly
make a mechanical whining
sound, but this one can only
be heard dimly under hard
acceleration. At cruising
speeds, the engine is very
quiet, doing only about
1,500 r.p.m. at 100 km/h in
fourth gear.

Fuel consumption is not
one of this engine’s strong

See A Regal page 21

navicennt

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Friday, December 29, 2000 —- North Shore News - 19

opened:

OSL ag Se RAPT Se he PTE ANTE at he tA a ARETE

News photo Mike Wakefictd

THE centre dash is finished in a glare-free matte-black finish, with subtie wood .
trim on the doors and lower console. ;

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