DRIVE AS A general rule, the spor- tier a car is,the less practical it is. . This is particularly truce o small, sporty cars which often sacrifice rear seat legroom and headroom, trank space, and out- ward visibility for racy styling. One notable exception in the subcompact class is the Ford Escort GT. In addition to a generous amount of interior room and cargo space, the two-door Escort GT hatchback has nimble, well- balanced handling, a firm but comfortable ride, and a very sporty powertrain. The two-door, front-wheel- drive Escort GT is based on the most recent Mazda 323 platform, introduced in 1990, It uses a sporty Mazda-designed dual overhead cam, 16-valve 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine with 127 horsepower mated to a standard five-speed manual transmission, or optional four-speed automatic. The Escort’s body and interior were designed by Ford and the cars are built in North America, Ford, by the way, is a minority See GT page 33 _ Base price $15,795 Type two-door, five passen- ger hatchback Layout transverse front engine/front-wheel-drive Engine 1.8-litre four- cylinder, DOHC, 16 valves, electronic multi-point fuel injection Horsepower 127 @ 6,500 rpm Torque 108 @ 3,800 rpm Transmission five-speed manual (four-speed autcmatic) Curb Weight 1,112 kg/2,453 Ibs Wheelbase 2,499 mm/98.4 in. Length 4,318 mm/1!70.0 in. Width 1,694 mm/66.7 in. Height !,335 mm/52.5 in. Tires P185/60R-14 radials Cargo capacity rear seat up 490 litres/17.3 cu. ft.; rear seal down 997 litres/35.3 cu. t. Fuel Consumption City: 9.0 litres/100 km (31 mpg); Hwy: 6.8 litres/100 km (42 mpg) Warranty three years/60,000 km Inquire about the Ford Escort GT at Dave Buck Ford, 879 Marine Dr., North Van- couver, . eit EY AN TE ME YE Te SURG ees a ERP EM EDN Geel THOT GALS ALIN COA GU eta) tert transmission for a base price of $15,795. Auto Insight from bumper to bumper ~ New software package makes it ea IT APPEARS that everything is done on com- puters these days. Word processing and perform- ing calculations on computers are common, but some people now read the latest news, keep track of appointments, and even play music on computers. With pow- erful computers like the 486 series costing half as much as the slow 286 ones from a few years back, everyone is jumping on the PC bandwagon, Now, with the help of this high-tech marvel, we can even learn how an automobile works. A company called Informative Graphics, situated in Phoenix, Arizona, has introduced Auto In- sight — software designed to teach you everything and anything you've ever wanted to know about a car. This $80 program is a learning tool, reference material, and entertaining interactive toy all at once. if you thought you knew how your car functions and operates, you'll realize how much you don't know after spending some time on this extremely informative soft- ware. It explains and shows — through colorful illustrations ~ how virtually every component of a vehicle works, from the bumper to the steering wheel. Unlike some software I've used OVERDRIVE the skill and knowledge of a surgeon to master, Auto Insight for Windows is extremely easy to use and learn — thanks partly to the Windows background. With the Windows-based soft- ware, the user can manipulate the functions of the software simply by pointing and clicking with a mouse. Auto Insight's biggest strength is its ability to bring up the infor- mation on various automotive systems instantaneously; you never have to fumble through indexes or tables of contents and flip through the pages manually. All you have to do is pick a component you want to learn about, point at it with the mouse, and click. Voila, there’s the information you’re looking for. When you first start Auto In- sight for Windows, an attractive two-door sports car — which looks like a hybrid between a Civic del Sol and a Miata — pops out in front of you. Let’s just see now ... we'll select the steering wheel by clicking on it with the mouse and see what hap- pens. Right away, a detailed sketch of the steering mechanism appears on the screen, along with the names of the various compo- nents on the right. Each part of the steering system corresponds to the specific item on the right, as shown by the arrows. In this case, 14 descriptions of the steering system are shown. One more click and suddenly a half-page document shows up in front of you, explaining how this mechanism really works. Want to know more about the airbag? No problem, just one more click and you'll see a document which explains everything about an air- bag, including its history and significance. After playing around with it for a while, you come to realize that this seemingly simple software is actually very sophisticated and packed with a host of information that you may have never seen be- sy for anyone to learn about cars fore. If you transferred all the infor- mation in Auto Insight to paper, I'm sure it would easily take up a couple of two-inch thick volumes. You can also search for a specific topic. A few clicks here and there will take you directly to the system you’re looking for faster than you can say ‘‘Wow!”’ All the illustrations are well drawn, with clear lines and well-chosen color coordinates for easy viewing. The graphics can also be printed or copied to be used in a word processing soft- ware package. For some parts of the automobile, like the engine and transmission, you can even tell the software to show the moving parts of the system. In the V8 mode, for example, the cylinders move up and down to show how it works. When you think you'vé become an expert, you can check yourself by taking a test. This is neat stuff. To run Auto Insight for Win- dows, you must have a 386 or better 1BM compatible computer with a color monitor and Win- dows software. At Egghead soft- ware store, this software is selling for $20.99 (Egghead has a number of stores in Vancouver, check the phonebook). A DOS version, which does not See Motormouse page 34 PE NEWS photo Paul Mcarath THE FORD Escort GT offers a 127 horsepower, 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, four-wheel disc brakes, and standard five-speed manual ©, : ae