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Show f | | | | | | | Porsche Nissan Titan is out for piece of truck market Continued from Page | higher level. Nothing reads the well as a Porsche, and the GT3 hu ont like it loves it (unlike the Cobra). The steering feels more responsive than a similar unit on the new F-150, ~ By Paul Lienert «= The Detroit News and not overly assisted; the 4x4 models require a little more muscle to park and have a pretty wide turning radius. = mountain. We're piloting a prototype = 2004 Nissan Titan Crew Cab pickup, ~and carefully picking our way up a ‘Srutted, rocky one-lanetrail, with half “a dozen big trucks scattered behind “«us and onlya single scout vehicle eva Nissan Xterra ahead = About a thousand feet from the v summit, we halt for a pit stop and “phota op. We're not the first ones up “here. spot bear droppings andsev“eral bullet casingslittering the trail. ~ Far below, the view of emerald- «green Lidn’s Bay is matchless. Here ~in the pine-forested foothills of the = Coast Mountains on a crisp, spar™kling morning in late June, | wonder “how much sympathy| can elicit from “my wife back in Detroit when | ~egrouse about the punishing trek “we've just made through the Cana- e» dian wilderness. = It’s still too early to judge whether “Nissan can come up with a high*quality cabin in its new Titan, which “goes into regular production in midOctober at the company’s new $2.4-ebillion assembly complex in Canton, “= Miss. But our sojourn up the moun“tain, and a 100-mile drive up the “coast from Vancouver, provide con- “vincing evidencethat this new Japa“nese contender should have little eetrouble challenging Detroit’s long- -«time stranglehold on the full-size -pickup market Nissan’s goals are modest enough. ~The company wants to sell 100,000 ‘Titans a year about one-tenth the “target Ford Motor Co. has Part of the grip comes from advan Michelin Pilot Sport tires made cially for the GT3. Michelin ou most Porsches — and the new Se; Human Transporter. The GT3’s clutch and sixmanual gearbox are both easy to with short, tight action and ge derived from the 911 Turbo. The architecture for all of powertrain components is a modi version of the 911 Carrera 4—. and GT3 adapts the Carrera 4’s body aerodynamics, not looks. Two of GT3’s nicer design components are enormousspoiler and bulging, 18-i light alloy wheels. The front end features three scoops, and Porschehas tunedthe n to lift up aslittle as possible. Ot rear-engined Porsches have beastly lifting problems, but they improving with features like the GT. excellent stability management gram. The GT3also hasstiffer panels than those of the Carrera 4 — resulting in 25 percent more torsiofjal stability. F Still, the car is light enough so he you sometimes have to be aggressive to keepit on the road. Ifyou want mére poise, you will appreciate the fowrwheel-drive on the forthcoming, 420 horsepower, $128,000 Tu Cabriolet. ® Ultimately, though, the GT3’s pérformance and exterior are hardly crude. Theinterior, on the other had, could learn some manners. * The GT3’s weight-consciousnéss mandates a stripper interior, featuring only two leather sport seats, and nohe in the rear — just two unsighfly with slightly better feedback from the road. Steering effort is moderate, VANCOUVER, British Columbia | Joe DeMatio, an editor at Auto ” =mobile magazine, and | are playing | follow-the-leader up the side of a | | August 22, 2003 H-2 AUTOMOTIVE Adyertising bythe Newspaper Agency Corporation See supplement cael produced again Sr Pe ae The Titan offers one of the most powerful enginesin the full-size segment, andit will go toe to toe with the new F-150 in terms of roominess and towing capacity. establishedfor its F-series pickup. outstanding acceleration and good When the 2004 Titan hits showrooms in December, it will offer one of the most powerful engines in the full-size segment, and it will go toe to throttle response, with no discernible toe with the new F-150in terms of roominess and towing capacity. The Titan won’t be offered in a two-door model. The only body styles are a four-door King Cab anda full Crew Cab. The extended-cab version has a 6-and-a-half-foot bed, while the Crew Cab has a 5-and-ahalf-foot bed. Trim levels start with a base XE and progress through the mid-level SE to a top-of-the-line LE. The only available engine in the Titan for model year 2004 is a new twin-cam 5.6-liter V-8 that will deliver 305 horsepower and 379 pounds-feet of torque better than Ford’s revised 5.4-liter V-8. The Nissan engine is mated to a fivespeed automatic transmission. In our informal testing in the prototype Titan, the V-8 delivered lag. There was surprisingly little evidence of coarsenessat this stage of development. The engine has strong low-end torque and a reasonably flat torque curve, pulling strongly to 4,000 rpm. The truck has also been tuned to deliver a pleasantly throaty exhaust note. We had no final Environmental Protection Agency numbers, but Nissan antici- pates best-in-class fuel economy — 16 mpgin the city and 20 mpg on the highway for 4x2 models and 15 in the city, 19 on the highway for 4x4 models. Nissan engineers have chosen a familiar chassis arrangement. Double wishbones and coil-over shocks in front, with a solid axle, leaf springs and shocks in the rear. The Titan has four-wheel disc brakes, plus variable-assist power rack-andpinion steering. Buyers can choose from 17- or 18-inch tires. The Titan corners well and feels slightly more nimble than the F-150, which maybe a functionofits lighter weight. Body roll is noticeable in tight corners, but should be acceptable to most pickup owners. The truck feels poised during lane changes, but begins to lose its composure in sudden high-speed maneuvers, such as accident avoidance. The ride is quite comfortable over smooth pavement, more choppy on rough pavement and off-road. We encountered no maneuverability problems on the steep, uphill off-road course, which was mostly dirt and gravel. Safety was a priority in designing the new Titan. Seat-mountedside air bags(front seat only) are optional on all models, as well as roof-mounted side air curtains. Standard threepoint belts are provided forall three rear occupants. Anti-lock brakes are standard. Traction control and vehicle dynamic control (VDC) are optional. A tire-pressure monitor is standard. Nissan did not provide any test vehicles with a front bench seat. The front bucket seats on the prototypes, both cloth and leather, were com- fortable and supportive, although the cloth buckets on the SE could use more lumbar support. The rear bench seat in the King Cab model felt thin and under-padded, while the more comfortable rear bench seat in the Crew Cab felt thicker and more shelves wherethe seats used to be. © supportive. Ofcourse, the speed freaks who i gobble up the few hundred..GTBs available each year are people who skip the cupholder section of car reviews, Not that you shouldn’t scru- Click tinize a $99,900 car — andthatprice doesn’t include added expenses like Continued from Page | even worse, when the tank is near full, liquid gasolme could leak out onto the ground. And then someone flicking a cigarette butt under the car could Calise a disaster. “Ray: So you've got to fess up. To save as much face as possible, I’d stop by and ask themif they've noticed any gasoline fumes in the car. When they say, “No, why?” tell them what happenedandthat yeufixed it, but now you’re having secondthoughts about howto best repair it. ae ae Tom: Then you can look at it and “hmmm” and “gee-whiz,” andsay, “You know, youreally ought to have someone take out the tank and repair it with epoxy, just to be safe.” Ray: And then you’ll come offlike a concerned hero, instead of a weaselly screw-up! Tom: The tank needs to be emptied and removed, and then repaired with a two-part epoxy patch. It’s the samestuff they use to fix boats, so you knowit'll hold forever. And since it involves draining the Cl — wm Soa = oo ca = -_ oe Ray: The real question is, who paysfor it? I’d say if they paid you for the carpet repair, then you’re on the hook, Dan. But if you did it for free, as a favor, then they took a chance by having an amateurdoit, and they’ ll have to bite the bullet and fix the tank. Tom: But look on the bright side: If they end up paying, Dan, word will quickly get around the neighborhood that youtried to blow up their car, and you'll soon have your Saturday afternoons back! The Salt LakeTribune DESERET ween Morning News inches), and a $1,300 gas guzzlertax. No, you’re paying for speed here. In fact, the GT3 is a better value for performance than the more expensive Turbo Cabriolet. Even if the new Turbo convertible has turbo-charging and more horsepower, the lighter GT3 gets more horsepowerper pound. It’s already on sale, so if you afford it, God bless you. : www-.sic-classifieds.com How To Place Classified Ads Call 237-2000 or 1-800-662-9186 Reunions, adoptions, legal notices, eventtickets and special notices can all be foundin this section. Pg. 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NACis not responsible for errors thi Sas first day the ad runs. Claims for adjustments must be made within 30 days. NAC reserves the right to edit, prop- erly classify, cancel or decline any ad. Cancellations: You will receive a “kill” num- ber when cancelling an ad. No allowanceswill be made without this number. ase LL LELERES z af 1m? gasoline, it’s not something you want to do yourself. the ceramic brakes, black leather ($2,920), lowered seats ($705 for 0.4 |
