AUTO AQVERTISING 980-0512 AUTO CLASSIFIEDS 9286-8222 RL ESRI ULL INR SEDO ILL TENSE IID LENO LIVIA LL LN TNE PRAGA ENT LAV HALAE N27 CTT ARTY FLOM SEL ERT BA Pde Le NAR EAATE ET UCHR eM SM ARCHL MAA eA ARON SRIVAP ITAA LEED ANT EA HAPS KT ON UE WHY DO student drivers drive so slowly? Or, better still, do student drivers drive too slowly? If you are driving along, mind- ing your own business, and the car immediately in front of you has a “Student Driver” sign pasted on the. back, you probably get the urge to pass this four-wheeled turtle. But before you do this, take a moment to consider what this Apparent novice is going through: ‘He or she is learning how to drive in traffic. They've probably already learned speed control on those ” quiet side roads (where, no doubt, they've been honked at and rudely overtaken) and are now being.” instructed in the acquired skill of moving smoothly through traffic. * Student drivers, like all students, don't always get what their learn- ; ing ‘tight the first time, Did-you? .. As often as not, however, the student is traveling at exactly the speed limit, or at least an appropri- ate speed, If you find yourself right on their, bumper, check your speed. “Passing the student driver may take you over the speed | limit yourself ‘New GI SIGNALS . Everyone seems to travel slight- ly faster than the legal set limit simply because they can. After all, 58 km-h (36 m.p.h.) is practically the same as 50 km-h (31 m.p.h.), | isn’t it? Playground Zones posted as 30 km-h (18.6 m.p.h.) only ‘apply when an oncoming car has given me the old radar-trap-ahead headlight flash, right? On the other hand, we, as dri- vers, have an obligation to maintain the flow of traffic, don’t we? Well. yes, and no, Uve never seen traffic “flow” down Lonsdale Avenue, for exam- ple, There ure lights at nearly every intersection that are not synchro- nized in any way. My students and 1 often share a good laugh when I explain why we should not drive with that Army mentality; hurry up and wait, Often we are passed several times by the same car only to catch up and putter on past just after the next light changes to green. Never even touched the brake, just eased off the throttle and timed it so we could move along calmly and smoothly. Neat trick, eh? To those of you who are very patient around a student driver they thank-you very much for your courtesy. Those of you who are not, see you at the next red light. And the next and the next... Shaun Contin is the owner/oper- ator of Upper Levels Driving School. To reach Shaun for a ques- - tion or comment, call 984-8688, AC : Jimmy designed to r ide and drive more like a car From page 28 a noise in the cabin considerably. “The interior too has lost its, hard, , sharp edges, replaced by a more. esthetic. but practical design. The , quality and look of the materials has improved; the steering | wheel . _ has a much more attractive concave -. hub design; and the'controls are easier to reach and see. One excep- » . tion’>— the radio is partially : * obscured ‘by the steering wheel. . There’s a comprehensive analog instrument cluster flanked by the ©’ steréo on the centre console and an easy-to-use heater/ventilation SyS- .» tem: While most buttons and con-' «trols are backlit for easy use at. “night, ‘the. switch for the headlamps ‘is not, making it difficult to find it ot you want to tum the lights . re) “The soft cloth upholstery in my test vehicle was attractive and the front seats were very comfortable - ‘on a long test drive. A protruding . hump on the right front passenger floor takes up some foot space, but it's not uncomfortable.’ My biggest complaint with the new Jimmy is the uncomfortable rear seat. The seat cushion is too hard and it's positioned so low that the knees of a typical adult stick up . in the air. I suspect this was done to facilitate a flat rear-londing surface . when the rear seat backs are folded down. Another safety-related prob- ‘lem: with’ the rear seat is the lack of head restraints. “On the plus side, there is plenty of rear legroom and headroom. Access to the rear cargo area is by a flip-up glass hatch and @ flip- down tailgate, both of them easy to operate. Aside from its new exterior and interior design, the 1995 Jimmy now offers a standard driver's side airbag, an optional overhead con- sole, remote locking, and a spare tire that's been moved underneath the body to increase interior "cargo room. . A particularly useful new y fo2- ture is a single key that operates both the"ignitiiiy‘and the dooy*.* *,",* "2 ce ee Sr locks. Most General Motors’ prod- ucts have two keys to do those functions, an unnecessary inconve- nience in my opinion. The Jimmy retains the powerful 191 horsepower 4.3-litre pushrod V6 engine and offers a standard four-speed automatic transmission with a column shifter. The engine is smooth, quict and powerful, and shifts are very even too. It would be nice to see an electric on/off overdrive switch on the shifter to provide better performance on long, uphill grades. Front disc/rear drum brakes with a four-wheel ABS system are standard on all Jimmys. The Jimmy is a great highway cruiser. The engine loafs along at 1800 rpm at 100 km-h, and there’s very little wind noise, tire noise, or mechanical noise. Switching from two-wheei-drive to four-wheel- drive can be done on the fly and is as easy as pushing a button on the dashboard. Buttons for 2 HI, 4 Hi, and 4 LO are conveniently located on the upper dash near the driver. However, the accessibility of these buttons could be a problem if small children are in the front seat. There should be a safety cover over the buttons to prevent inadvertent activation. Jimmy's come in SL, SLS, and SLT trim levels in two and four- door models in two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive. SL four-door 4X4’s start at $24,795. My fully- equipped SLS 4X4 came to $31,500. NOT SURE WHAT TO BUY HER THIS CHRISTMAS? LET THE EXPERTISE OF DIANE AND LESLEY MAKE YOUR i CHRISTMAS SHOPPING EASIER, ON THURSDAY : A DECEMBER THE 8TH BETWEEN 6PM AND 9PM WE WILL BE SERVING gm REFRESHMENTS AND GOOD ADVICE TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS BUYING. c COME AND JOIN US ON THIS SPECIAL EVENING AND 2 By RECEIVE COMPLIMENTARY GIFT WRAPPING PLUS AN ADDITIONAL 15% OFF OUR REGULAR PRICES. Dt A N E & lL € S$ L E€ Y¥ 1# - 1778 (LITTLE WALL ST) MARINE DR. WEST VAN 922-6129 Fashions Accessories. 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