24 - North Shore News — Friday, August 4, 2000

~

openroad

From page 23

Both engines have a “limp-
home” mode, which allows
the engine to run without
coolant to get you to the safe-
ty of a service station.

A four-speed automatic
transmission is standard equip-

Agent with both engines, but
unlike some of its competitors,
the Aurora doesn’t offer a
manual shifting mode or a
conventional manual transmis-
sion.

Attractive interior
The Aurora’s attractive five-
passenger interior is a very
pleasant environment for com-
fortable, stress-free travelling.
Luxury features like leather
upholstery, heated seats, real
burl walnut wood-trim, auto-
matic clirnate control, and a
good AM/FM /cassette /single
disc CD sound system are all
standard, although a CD
changer is optional. The fit
and finish in this car is very
good for a domestic luxury
car. :
The front bucket seats are
very comfortable and include
. eight-way power adjustment,
‘two-level heaters, and new
“standard side airbags built invo
the seats. The front three-
> point seatbelts are also inte-
grated into the seats — they
move with the seats when |
adjusted, and are more com-
” fortable to wear...”
glare fe centre console has has a 4
. ee matte grey finish an
_ ts oriented towards the driver
.— it has large knobs and but-
tons which are very easy to ”

-: operate. A trip computer offers -
"usefull information such as the

~~ day, date, and time, instant
*. fuel economy and average fuel
a economy. The standard auto-

- -umatic climate control has easy-_”

to-operate round dials, and |
there’s a temperature reading
for inside and outside of the

mt car. V8 models offer separate:

-- @iperature controls for driver
* and gel

ee Meath covered floor .
shift lever falls easily to hand,

‘and looks very attractive with _

‘its oval, chrome-ringed border
- Set against burl wainut. ‘The
-. round instruments, including a
. tachometer, have subtle. -
“chrome rings too, and are easy
+ to read. ° |
~ Like many Eu tuxu- |
: ry ‘cars, the Aurora’s headlight
<-” switch is on the left stalk :
+.” (rather than on the dash) and
”.. the wipers are on the right

©”. stalk, VB models offer standard :

» moisture-sensitive automatic
wipers which increase speed
depending on how hard itis
~ raining! I found this feature -
oo. rather i irritating, because of its
: “unpredictabili
a "The Aurora's ignition key is
_-son the dashboard to the right
.° “of the steering wheel where it
is easier to see than conven-
tional column-mounted igni-
tions: Remote keyless entry is -
standard, and a personalization
‘feature allows functions such

Conon J-4
{AUTOMOTIVE!
“Lubes Oil & Filter: H |

lS

988-2239" °--"'T
110 Fal Love, North Vancouver :

Po Sa ENTREES CRM ES CEO AM ANON SME TT

Technica! Data: 2081 Oldsmetite Aurora V6

Base PFiCe: ......ceseccsessssseecerneeen

Type: ....

sosusecsanensstrenenmateesseuses $39,035
four-door, five-passenger mid-sized sedan

.. transverse front engine/front-wheel-drive
...3.S-litre V6, DOHC, 24 valves

215 h.p. @ 5,500 r.p.m.
..220 ft-ib. @ 4,460 rp.m.
four-speed automatic

Tires: ........ P225/60HR16 Goodyear Eagle RSA all-season

Curb weight: ...

as the radio and heater to be
programmed for each individ-
ual driver.

The steering wheel spokes
include redundant buttons for
fan speed, temperature setting,
radio volume, seek and pro-
gram Funct ions. Cruise control
is operated by a separate sm:
stalk on the nght of the steer-
ing wheel. All the door-
mounted power window and

ex mirror buttons are
it so you can find them at
night.

Between the driver and
passenger seats is a dual-level
armrest/storage bin, and a
couple of flip-our. cupholders,

.: The Aurora’s $ roomy rear

y

1,670 kg (3,682 ib.)
.2,850 mm (112.2 in.)
9,062 mm (199.3. in.)
— 1,852 mm { 72.9 in.)
1,440 mm (56,7 in.)

bench seat will seat three

ple, and there is a centre fold-
down armrest with a covered
stozage bin and nvo pull-out
cupholders. However, when
folded up, the centre armrest
protrudes enough to make it
uncomfortable for the centre
rear nger. A pass-throu:
behind the centre rear pie
is great for skis and ski poles,
but like most luxury cars, the
Aurora doesn’t offer fold-
down rear seatbacks.

The Aurora has four out-
board three-point seatbelts,
but the centre rear passenger
has a lap belt only.

Driving impressions

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B

Pre etna

[ found the 200] Aurora
to be a very quiet, comtort-
able, classy automobile. My
test car, a V6 model, was
slightly noisier than a V8
model [ tested earlier, but nei-
ther of them could be consid-
ered noisy. Acceleration with
the V6 engine seemed almost
as good as the V8 engine from
a standing start, but the V8
has the edge in power and
smoothness at higher revs.
Both engines are great high-
way cruisers: at a steady 100
km-h, the docile V6 engine
does only 1,900 r.p.m. in
fourth gear. Note: V6 engines
use regular fuel, but V8
engines use premium gas. I
found the standard four-speed
automatic transmission in my
test car to be a very smooth’
shifter, well matched to the V6
engine.

The Aurora is built on the
same front-wheel-drive plat-
form as the Cadillac Seville,
Pontiac Bonneville and Buick
LeSabre, and offers a consider-
ably stiffer body than the pre-
vious Aurora. With a : fully
independent suspension (front

MacPherson struts and rear
semi-trailing arms), a self-level-
ling rear suspension, and stan-
dard P225/60 HR-16 inch
tires (P235/55 HR-17 inch
on V8 models), the Aurora
soaks up road undulations und
bumps with case, and glides
along the highway with very
linle wind noise or engine
Noise to spoil the ride.

Handling is surprisingly
good: body roll is minimal,
and dive and pitch when brak-
ing and accelerating are not
excessive. Four-wheel disc
brakes with ABS are standard
equipment. But as a mid-sized,
front-wheel-drive car weighing
1,670 kg, it feels somewhat
heavy when pushed to its lim-
its. I found the steering feel to
be heavier than I liked at cer-
tain speeds. Auroras have
GMs Magnasteer speed-sensi-
tive rack-and-pinion power
steering which uses a magnetic
field to increase and decrease
steering effort.

Outward visibility is gener-
ally quite good, but the rear
deck is a bit high when back-
ing up. I didn’t like the dri-

ver's sun visor: when flipped
down, it’s too low and cannot
be easily adjusted. .

Auroras are available with
traction control — when the
front wheels slip, engine power
is reduced and the front brakes
are applied momentarily to

in traction. In addition,

new for 2001 is Precision
Control System, an anti-skid
system that works automatical-
ly if the driver loses control of
the car on a slippery surface.
By selective braking at individ-
ual wheels, PCS helps the car
regain stability and traction
without driver intervention.
Traction control and PCS are
standard on the V8 Aurora
and optional on the V6 model.

Base price now $39,035

Aurora V6 models now
start at $39,035 while V8
Auroras are priced at $45,575.
Previous Aurora models start-
ed at about $46,000.

Competitors for the Aurora
include the Lincoln LS, Acura
TL, Chrysler 300M, Lexus
ES300, BMW 3-: Series, Infiniti
130 and Nissan Maxima.

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E “No Limit” Purchase Financing at 1.3% APR is offered for up to 24 months only: Other financing rates avaiable tor up to 60
A months. Lease payment based on 48 month term at $259/month with $1.650 down payment.Total tease obligation $14,081.
Annual lease rate 3 9% with 90,000 km mileage allowance 8 cents/km for excess futeage). First month's payment and $3200