46 — North Shore News From page 45 phone jacks, and third-row headphone jacks. Two sets of headphones are included. Rear passengers can watch movies, play video games, of listen to the radio, CD, or cassette plaver. Since rear passengers use head- phones, front passengers can still listen to their stereo without disturbing passen- gers at the rear. The Venture Warner Bros. Edition mini-van is alse available with an option- al LEGO Playseat which includes a customized, sec- ond-row LEGO board and LEGO pieces. Unfortunately, the enter- tainment system is available only on the top-of-the-line Venture Warner Bros. Edition, so the price is fairly high for a family vehicle: $37,670. Kid-tested Tt wasn’t difficult for me to persuade my two adoles- cent children to help me test the Warner Bros. van’s entertainment system. Since I had to pick up my wife up at the airport, they volun- teered to be back-seat test- drivers. They sat in two of — Friday. Marsch 10, 2000 the three second row bucket seats, (which happen to be front row seating for the movie screen}, phizged their headphones into the jacks which are located on the ceiling, and adjusted their individual volume knobs. A flat, colour LCD dis- play flips down from the roof, and is visible from all five rear seats. For safety and security, the screen locks inte a roof cavity when nat in use. The VCR is up front under the dash, a position which gives the driv er con trol of what, and what does not go into the VCR (for example, fruit rollups and ice-cream sandwiches do not go into the VCR). Controls for “play,” “rewind,” “fast-forward,” and “stop” are on the VCR unit, but there’s alse: a remote control which the kids can use. The 5.6-inch colour LCD screen is big enough to enjoy the movie, but it’s relatively small as video screens go. Also, being a liquid crystal display, che image gets blurry when looked at from an angle. My daughter decided to move from the right hand seat to the centre seat for this rea- son. photo GNC KiDS in the rsar of the Chevy Venture Warner Bros. Edition will love tie entertainment package that will allow them te watch videcs with headphonss while those up front can listen to the radio, cessette or CD player. As fuck would have it, my wife’s plane was an hour late. Nortoally my teen gers would have considezed mutiny, out the movie kept them happy white we waited STENTION, ee eee Say a | JEEP OWNERS = Complete mechanical & electrical repairs om gates —- “Vyrot by factory trained technician {MPEX AUTO 11668 West 14th Street Te}: 985-6227 3 (off Pemberton Ave., entrance ai rear) : Visit our web site: www.impexaute.cam (2000 Grand Vitara Lease for $299 48/mos 0.A.C. or 2.9% no limi V6, 4 speaker arvim cass stereo, ABS, drive select 4X4, 24 hour, roadside assistance nigged ladder box frame. Power steering, power Joor locks, power windows, por y. 12.3L/100km (23mpq), highway : 9.7L/1Uaten North Van Suzuki |; 383-2088 It just. won “Best New Luxury Sedan” Victory laps available on request. Canada’s Best New Luxury Sedan comes with a class-leading 227-horsepower engine, an incredibly spacious feather and wood-tone trimmed interior and power everything - Prices start at just $39,700: including an ingenious power rear window sunshade. Own one and you’ll understand. *laxes, Erence, destination and delivery choges are extra. Deulers cre free to set indeviduel prices. 310 fourmg Model shown. —a fairly apt demonstration of the usefulness of an in- vehicle entertainment sys- tem. On the other hand, the entertainment system had the effect of making me feel inore fike a chauffeur thin a fatier. Time in the car is often an opportunity to talk with your kids in private, but this ume I felr the VCR had taken this away from us. welf- Warner Eros. van equipped In addition to the enier- tainment system, the Warner | Bros. Van includes such stan- dard features as seven-pas- senger leather bucket seats (my van had three seats in the second row and two in the third row), side airbags for frase passengers, remote keyless entry, AM/PM/CD/cassette pre- mium ster¢o, air condition- ing (optional front and rear fan controls), OnStar emer- gency assistance system, power windows, power mir- —— Technical Bata = RSIS 20 Base price Frice as tasted Freight Type Layout Engine Horsepower Torque Tires Curb weight Wheelbase Length Width Height Carus capacity Fue: consumption shevralet Venture Warner Bro. Edition $37,670 $32,835 $695 four-siooy, seven-passenger minivan transverse front engine/frant-wheel-drive 3.4-litre GEV V6 185 @ 5,206 r.o.m. 210 ib.-ft. @ 4,066 rpm. P215/70R-15 inch all-season 1,760 kg (3,880 ib.) 5,103 mim (200.9 in. ) 1,830 mr (72 in.) 1,730 mm (68.3 ii} max. 4,442 fitres (155.9 cu.ft.) City: 12.5 /100 km (23 m.p.g.} Flighway: 8.4 i/190 km (34 m.p.g.) Warranty 3,047 ram (120 in.) | three years/60,000 kin an oe rors, rear wiper/washer, anti-lock brakes, alloy wheels, and other features. Ventures can be equipped with seven or eight seats in various configurations, including second row two- person bench seat or two or three bucket seats, and third row two rear buckets or three-person bench seat. All rear seats are removeable, and third row seats will tum- ble. Second row bucket seats will fold over for easier pas- senger access to the third row seat. The Warner Bros. Edition van is an extended wheelbase | model, so it has more rear legroom and cargo room than the regular wheelbase Venture. 1 found plenty of. rear legroom and headroom for my average frame. Joterior storage compart- ments include a sliding drawer under the front pas- . senger seat, front seat purse net, front seatback map pockets, front centre console drawer, and glove box. When the Venture was fizse introduced in 1997, base models had a single, passenger side sliding rear door. For the 2000 mosdei year, ai! Ventures now have four doors. My van was equipped with an optional ($5503 power-operated right-side © sliding reac door. With the gush of a button, it can be... opened and closed from the’ See following page