AUTO ADVERTISING AUTO CLASSIFIED % O8G- PARLE BL EE NTI 980-0541 be 2 tee he Sunday, December 11, 1994 — North Shore News - 47 Ha bbe Soi MSIE a lionda unve is car-like van Greg Wilson AUTOMCTION * AFTER A long wait, : \Honda’s new minivan is | : finally here and should be in “dealer showrooms about . Christnias time. Honda is “the last ‘of the: ‘major auto-. “mobile: manufacturers to introduce 1 aminivan. ©: The new Odyséey i is based ona “Stretched Accord sedan platform - and is considerably more car-like than other minivans. For example, the Odyssey is narrower than other. : minivans and has four convention- ‘al 'swing-out doors rather than two front doors and one rear sliding , side door.) “The Odyssey is more likely to ‘appeal te car buyers looking for’ “space and utility.than truck buyers . ‘looking for'a comfortable interior,” -. explained Jim Miller, Senior Vice . President of Honda Canada Inc. *. Currently, at'least half of all “minivans are based on truck plat- ~. forms, Miller believes. that minivan. . buyers ‘want a car-like vehicle with ithe versatility of.a van rather than | “a van that has been made more “ Carelikes\-° “You can plot it on’a chart: the . mote car features they (manufac- "_-turers) offered, the more share of -the market minivans devoured, ” "hie “Said. " Honda i isn’t t the fi rst carmaker to offer a four-door minivan, Both . . Dodge and Eagle offered the seven - passenger, four-door Colt/Vista Wagon (built by Mitsubishi) in the. late.1980s, and Nissan offered a seven-passenger version of the “' “Axxess for a.couple of years. Both of these vehicles were smaller than the new. Odyssey. » ‘The Odyssey’s fotir convention- al swing-out type doors allow easy entry and exit from both sides of “the vehicle, and they:have roll- ‘:down windows, something most . . mini-vans don’t have. Sliding side doors offer a larger opening, but they are more difficult to open and: ’ close, particularly for children. ”’ That’s important for minivan own-' ers, because most have young chil- - dren. Honda expects 80% of Odyssey drivers to be women, lyp- ically those who drop and pickup kids from school, hockey games, piano lessons and so forth, The most interesting aspect of the Ouyssey is its seating arrange- ments, The six-passenger model has two front captain’s chairs, two center captain's chairs, and a two- person rear bench. The seven pas- senger model offers a three-person center split bench seat instead of captain's chairs. In the six passenger model, passengers can walk through the center aisle to the third rear seat feom the front, or enter through the rear side door by folding down the center seat back. The centre captain's chairs are easy to remove and are surprisingly lightweight, unlike most minivan seats. The two-person rear bench seat is quite ingenious. It folds over and disappears underneath the ‘floor, creating a flat cargo surface. That means you can can take the - rear seat with you when hauling ‘cargo rather than having to leave it at home. The rear bench seat can also be turned around to face backwards, and with the rear hatch open, pas- sengers can use this two-person seat for spectator events or pic- nics. ‘Unlike other minivans however, the Odyssey’s cargo bay won't fit’ - a 4X8 sheet of plywood between _ the wheel-wells. The Odyssey is powered by the Accord’s standard 2.2-litre four- cylinder engine with a little more horsepower (140), but unlike most other. minivans, a six-cylinder ‘engine is not offered. In a preview test-drive, I found that the Odyssey offered adequate power ‘for around-town use (where most of these vehicles will be driven), '- but could use some extra power on uphill sections of the freeway. The © Odyssey is 242 kilograms (533 Ibs.) heavier than an Accord, The Odyssey offers a standard ’ four-speed automatic transmission which performs very well consid- “ering the small engine and the size and weight of the Odyssey. The « transmission has Honda’s “Grade Logic”, a computer program that adjusts shifting points according to - engine load, speed and type of grade. It could use an on/off over- - drive switch though, to keep the ‘sransmission in third gear when climbing hills. | “The Odyssey’s sticker price is estimated to be about $28,000, a price which Honda claims is on par with similarly equipped Mazda MPVs, Toyota Previas, and Nissan - Quests. Odysseys come fully-equipped, including dual airbags, power win- dows and door locks, automatic transmission, air-conditioning, pre- *. mium AM/FM stereo, and six or seven passenger seating. I'll be doing a full test-drive _Feport on the Odyssey j in January, Photo submitted “THE NEW Odyssey is based ona stretched Accord sedan plat- form and is considerably more car-like than other minivans. Mazda 323 Zack Spencer STREET TEST WITH THE introduction of _ the new 323, Mazda has a fun, smooth to drive little car wrapped in a different body. When it came time for the Mazda rep to pull the new 323 out for my Strect Test, I stood there only knowing what I had seen from grainy press photos — smooth °. flowing lines from front to back of this small hatchback. What | hadn't seen was the back of the car. Well, out the 323 rolled and I sit tell you the rear is the most controversial angle, At first glance the buck looks awkward. The rear hatch is very high, much like European hatch-backs. The roof line is also high, looking almost bubble-like and gives an overall impression of being tep heavy, Looking backward through the rear-view mirror is a different story. What the driver sees from the rear mirror is the hatch window, a hori- zontal bar that holds the rear wiper and a lower section of glass. And while, this unconventional design works fine for taller drivers, shorter drivers may find the hori- zontal bar and rear wiper an obsta- cle. The 323 comes with a fat gear shifter and a thick steering wheel. These small touches go a long way to making this entry-level car fee! more up-scale. The new 323 is available in two trim packages: the GS and the upgraded LS models. Our Street Test Mazda came with GS trim | including a standard 1.5-litre DOHC engine and five-speed raan- ual transmission. This zippy little power plant loves to rev high and " churns out 92 horsepower, which. isn’t a lot, but I must say this com: | pact car never felt like it needed - more power. If you feel 92 horse- acute number power just isn't enough, then a 1.8- litre engine can be purchased in the LS trim. | haven't had a spin in this version but with 122 horsepower this little car should fly. With regards to comparative salety features, however, the 323 falls short. While most domestic and other import manufacturers include airbags as standard equip- ment Mazda doesn’t deliver — airbags are not standard equipment. 1 took the new 323 up to Cypress Bow! for this season’s first day of skiing. I wish I had the larg- er tires available on the LS model for the twisty bits, but I can say the 1.5-litre powerplant was more than enough to tackle the steep stretches. After a few hours on the slopes, the windows were well misted, and stayed that way due to the weak _ defroster, (I did have a secondary defogger, but my friend Sharon's arm got tired.) Some people might think the back of the car is a real bummer, but after a week of driving the 323 around, its appearance grew on me. So apait from the weak defog- ger and lack of standard air-bags, ! think this 323 is a cute number. ; Zack Spencer can be heard on Z-95 and seen on DCTV’ 's Street Test. “fm ee tet aa ant a ee 1994 TOYOTA CELICA.. LIFTBACK - 5 SPEED FROM $1 9, 995 1994 TOVOTA TERCEL ~ 4 DOOR - AUTOMATIC: 1994 TOYOTA CAMRY POWER WINDOWS ” POWER Locks