32 - Herth St.sre Mews — Friday, March 31, 2000 openroad Bonneville’s new platform stronger, safer Fron previous page In addition, the Bonneville’s new body struc- ture is substantially stronger and safer. According to GM, the Bonneville’s new plar- form offers 2 27% invrease in bending (front to back) stiff- ness and a 67% increase in torsiona! (side-to-side) rigidi- ty. For the driver and passen- gers, this translates into a more solid, vibration- free tide, greater crash safety, and improved handling. Bold interior The 2000 Bonneville has a completely redesigned inte- rior and some additional fea- tures on some models, including dual-zone climate control, programmable memory settings, and a head-up display. The head-up display (standard on SSEi models) 15 a bright-green/blue LCD- type display projected onto the windshield just beiow the driver's line of sight. It shows km/h using numbers, turn signal indicator arrows, radio stations, high beams, and low fuel warning. The height of the display can be adjusted within about an inch, and the brightness can be also be adjusted. If desired, it can be turned off. © The "advantage of a head- up display is that the driver doesn’t have to look down at the instruments, and refocus his/her eyes when looking up at the road a " Personaliy, I find it distract- ing to have numbers flashing in! Font of me while I’m dri- nthe Bonneville’s driver- oriented instrument pane! - includes a full set of ana- logue instruments: speedometer, tachometer, oil pressure gauge, volrmeter, coolant temperature, and tire inflation ‘monitor. Supercharged SSEi models have a boost gauge instead of a volemeter. NEWS photo Cindy Goodmen THE 2060 Bonneville has a completely sedesigned inte- The new dash sweeps around down to the fioor console, and includes large, protruding buttons and dials and no less than eight round air vents. It’s not an elegant design, but controls are easy to use, and is fully backlit in red at night: The ignition keyhole has been moved from the steering column to the dashboard where it’s eas- ier to see. A Vehicle Systems Monitor watches over tire pressures and fluid levels and displays “door ajar” and other advisories. Secondary radio controls on the steer- ing whecl allow the driver to adjust radio volume and sta- tion settings without taking their hands off the wheel or eyes from the road. The Bonneville has a long list of lighting, climate con- trol, driver’s seat position, 7 and radio settings that are memory-programmable to accommodate the individual preferences of two different drivers. Raised front seats allow rear passengers more foot- room under the front seats, but the rear three-person MORREY SATURN » Annual Company Car Change Over Sale 1999 Saturn SLI 4 door, automatic, full factory warranty. “#99G96 _ _ tor with a dash that sweeps into the centre console. bench seat is shaped into two bucket-type seats which I found a little too deep. “Catcher’s mitt” front seats An important new safety feature is the front “catcher’s mitt” bucket seats with self- igning head restraints. Similar to Saab’s front seats, these seats bend ina crash bringing the head restraint closer to the head of the front passengers, thereby helping to alleviate whiplash. Another new safety fea- ture is StabiliTrak, an anti- skid system that automatical- ly brakes individual wheels to control lateral skids during sudden manoeuvres on slip- pery surfaces. StabiliTrak is standard on the top-of-the- line Bonneville SSEi and optional on other models. As before, Bonneville’s have four wheel disc brakes, but for 2000 they are lar, and more powerful. In a di- tion, SLE and SSEi models now have larger, standard 17-inch alloy wheels and H- rated performance radials. In addition to dual front airbags, side airbags are now standard on base (SE) mod- els as well as SLE and SSEi models. Familiar powertrain The Bonneville’s power- train choices remain the 2000 Pontiac Bonneville Yaw Rate Sersor VWiheet Speud Sensor Lateial Acceien rater Steuring Angie ABSTCS Cantrotiae Stabilitrak Control Chassis itustrstion supplied _STABILITRAK is an anti-skid systern that automatically brakes individual wheels to control fateral skids during sudden manoeuvres on slippery surfaces. same as before : a standard 205-horsepower 3.8-litre pushrod V6 engine, and on SSEi models, a supercharged 240-horsepuveer version of this engine. According to GM, the Bonneville has more stan- dard “punch” than any of its key competitors. The base engine generates 205 horse- power at 5,200 r.p.m. and 230 ft.-Ib. of torque at 4,000 r.p.m., and a four- speed automatic transmission is standard. The super. charged version offers 240 horsepower at 5,200 r.p.m. and 280 ft.-Ib. of torque ata relatively low 3,600 r.p.m. This engine is mated to a heavy-duty version of the same four-speed automatic transmission. GM’s 3.8-litre V6 has been around for more than a decade, and has been refined over the years. Though it’s not a high-revving, overhead cam engine like many power- ing the Bonneville’s com- petitors, it has the advantage of low-end torque, inherent smoothness, and proven reli- ability. - My test vehicle was an Technical Data Base price (SE) Price as tesied (SSEi) ... four-door, five-passenger full-size sedan transverse front engine/front-wheel-drive sone 3.8-litre OHV V6, supercharged Transmission ........sesscssesevse - 240 @ 5,200 rp.m. 280 ft-lb. @ 3,600 rp.m. seneeee dOUF-SPOEd automatic "4,885 mm (74.2 in.) 71,423 mm (56.0 in.) esessene 510 Btres (18.0 cu. ft.) City: 13.5 1/100 km (21 m.p.g.) ..Highway: 8.0 1/100 km (35 m.p.g.} SSEi with the supercharged engine. This engine in par- ticular, has terrific respon- siveness at lower revs, allow- ing quick starts, effortless assing, and safe high-speed ane ¢ anges. Though it has a lot of torque, there’s not much torque-steer during hard acceleration. At cruising speeds, this engine just loafs along at just 1,800 r.p.ni. in top Bear, barely making a sound. Highway cruising is ‘quict and pleasant. Fuel consumption is fairly " heavy though, particularly you have an aggressive dri- ving style. Transport ‘Canada’s most optimistic inileage figures are 13.5 litres per 100 kilometres (21 -p.g.) in the city, and §.0 litres per 100 kilometres on the highway. With the widest track in its class, wide low-profile tires, and an independent suspension, the Bonneville handles well for a 1,690-kg (3,715-tb.) front-wheel-drive sedan. Understandably, it feels rather heavy, and the Magnasteer speed-sensitive variable-assist steering is not very sensitive, but the - Bonneville corners flat at high-speed with minimal nose-dive under braking and offers generally favourable vehicle dynamics. It’s no BMV, but nei- ther’s the price. Three trim levels: SE, SLE, SSEi For 2000, the Bonneville is offered in three trim lev- els: SE, SLE, and SSEi. The mid-range SSE trim has been discontinued. Base SE models start at $30,740, up from $29,000 in 1999. 2000 SE. models however include more stan- dard equipment, as men- tioned avove. Standard SE features include the 3.8-litre © V6 and four-speed automatic transmission, P225/60R-16 . inch tires, variable ratio power steering, four wheel disc brakes with ABS, autu- matic levelling suspension, . battery run-dewn protec- tion, and engine block heater. Standard SE interior fea- . tures are floor console and shifter with two cupholders, and power point, « AM/FM/casserte, with’ four speakers, air conditioning, . il instrumeniation, cloth. 45/45 bucket seats, over- head console with power points , power central door locks, tilt stcering wheel, power mirrors, front and: side airbags, and rear child ~ locks and tether anchors.” Bonneville SLE models :: start at-$35,685, a jump : from $29, 780 last year, but ; again, 5 much better equipped .- for 200 . In addition to the fea- tures found on the SE, the’ SLE adds larger P235/55HR-17 inch radials and 17-inch muliti-lace alloy * wheels, sport-tuned suspen: sion, dual exhausts, rear spoiler, extra side body: : cladding, and a miore aggres- sive bumper with the fog -- lamps relocated towards the centre of the bumper. Standard SLE interior upgrades include AM/EM/CD player with =» steering wheel controls and ‘= six speakers, dual-zone aiito- * matic climate control, - remote keyless entry, six-way “ power front seats, leather- -..- wrapped steering wheel:- pollen filters, heated outside: mirrors, tip computer, com- pass, oil life monitor, and: retained accessory powel.” - Top-of-zhe-line SSEi models are $41,995, up: from $36,685. Addit i standard equipment the supercharged 3.8-litr V6 and heavy-duty four- speed automatic transmis- sion, all-speed traction con- trol, * StabiliTrak anti-skid sys- tem, AM/FM/CD /aito reverse cassette. with Bose t-speaker sound system, feather upholstery and cight- way power front seats with . two memory settings, mag- netic speed-sensitive vari. able-assist stecring, head-u display, and a coadside enier-__ _ gency kit with a tre inflation device. More information about; the Bonneville can be found | ; at . ee eS oo