This means the Equinox will be a "crossover SUV"-probably larger and more powerful than its Tracker predecessor but built without Suzuki's part-time 4WD system. The current Vue is available with either front- or all-wheel drive. AWD is achieved via a transfer case ahead of the rear axle that can send torque to the rear wheels when the fronts start to slip.
Power for the Vue comes from either a 2.2L 143hp four-banger or a 3.0L 181hp V-6. Whether those engines will be used in the Equinox is unclear, since GM just unveiled a new generation of Vortec inline engines. One of those might find its way into the 'Nox engine bay.
This Just In...
*DaimlerChrysler just opened a $37.5-million wind tunnel near its Auburn Hills, Michigan, Technology Center. The 31,000-square-foot Aero-Acoustic Wind Tunnel facility can accommodate fullsize vehicles (weighing up to 10,000 pounds) and will be used to assess aerodynamic designs and analyze wind noise characteristics. The tunnel will also be used for race vehicle development.
*Edmunds.com, a leading auto and truck information and sales Web site, has announced its Used Car Best Bets, a list of vehicles that will "likely provide dependable and safe service for years to come," says the site. Among the stuff we care about, Edmunds picks the '94-'00 Ford F-150 as the best large pickup; '95-2000 Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series as the best small pickup; '99-'00 Nissan Pathfinder as the best SUV; and '97-'00 Honda CR-V as the best mini-SUV. Point your browser to www.edmunds.com/reviews/bestbet/articles/index.html to find out why Edmunds chose those particular trucks.
*Lincoln is mercifully pulling the plug on the ill-conceived Blackwood luxury pickup truck. A single color (black), no 4WD option, and a "bed" barely big enough to hold a couple of suitcases just didn't appeal to buyers. Wonder why? Lincoln intended to build 18,000 Blackwoods in the '02 and '03 model years, but the actual production number will be somewhat shy of that. Lincoln had sold just over 700 of the trucks through the middle of this year.
*2003 may be the last year Chevy sells the Suzuki-based Tracker. AutoWeek reports that Tracker will be replaced by the Equinox, which is based on the same platform as the Saturn Vue, for 2004.
New Rollover Ratings Announced
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recently finished a new batch of rollover ratings for '02 and '03 vehicles. What a shock-the 4x4s on the list did not fare well.
For those of you who haven't kept up with the government's doings, this rollover resistance rating is not based on any sort of actual test but rather on a mathematical formula that compares a vehicle's track width with its center of gravity. That's why it comes as no surprise that 4x4s, even in bone-stock form, rank poorly compared with any sort of ground-hugging sedan or wagon.
The glass-half-full side of this story is the fact that one (yay!) of the 4x4s tested, Toyota's Sequoia, achieved a mid-range rating of "3." The other four-bys on the list-Chevy Avalanche, Ford Explorer Sport and F-150 SuperCrew, and Land Rover Discovery II-earned a dismal "2." Well, that's still better than "1."
New Jeep Logo
Just in case you missed it, the folks at DaimlerChrysler have created a logo for the Jeep brand and revived the '80s "Only in a Jeep" tagline.
The logo-depicting a Wrangler's front grille, headlights, and windshield-is a first for the brand. Jeep trivia buffs will already know that the tagline was used from 1984 to 1989 and bridged the change of ownership from AMC to Chrysler.
What brought on the change? Maybe someone took at look at Jeep's lineup and decided that the old line-"Jeep. There's Only One"-didn't work for a brand with three distinct models and several different versions thereof. "Jeep. There's Only Six. Or Seven."