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A New Dimension
In Passenger Vans.
Introducing EuroVan MV — it's the best-equipped of
our new mid-sized EuroVans. EuroVan MV seats
seven adults and has 28% more space behind the
front seats than Chevy Astro. Plus unique features
like rear-facing seats and a fold-out table. There's
even an optional model with a refrigerator and a pop-
top to sleep four. All this in a compact, front-wheel
drive van that's fun to drive and distinctly European.
EamrssiOrawir
FAHRVERGNOGEN
Suburban
VOLKSWAGEN
AT THE TROY
MOTOR MALL
A
Phone: (313) 649-2300
EASY TO FIND ... On Maplelawn off
Maple Rd. Between Crooks & Coolidge
DAVID ROSENMAN'S
A11110
Amila PI1RKNIASE11/11
NEW & USED CAR BROKER
Sales • Leasing • Buying
(313) 851-CARS (313) 851-2277
GREEN MACHINE page A5
a three-door hatchback
coupe and five-door hatch-
back sedan.
The Honda Civic fuel
misers include the two-
seater, open-top del Sol, a
hatchback and four-door
sedan, and the new 1993
"aero look" coupe. The
vehicles' fuel economy
ranges from a combined
33 mpg for the base car
with a four-speed auto-
matic, to 51 for the VX
hatchback. Civic offers
four enginechoices,
topped by a 1.6-liter, 16-
valve engine generating
125 horsepower.
"Of 11 Civic models, the
one that gets the greatest
raves from environmental-
ists is the new VX," says
George Ewing, general
sales manager of Tamaroff
Honda, Southfield. "Hon-
da achieves the low gas
mileage by retarding the
spark and adjusting valve
timing on the base 1.5
liter engine. For a car get-
ting this gas mileage, the
VX with a 92-horsepower
engine is really quite
spunky."
The Suzuki Swift is
essentially a Metro, avail-
able as a three-door hatch-
back or four-door sedan.
Models labeled GA or GS
have a fourth cylinder,
which ups displacement to
1.3 liters and horsepower
to 100 for the perfor-
mance-oriented Swift GT.
Combined mpg starts at
31 and goes to 48.
Next in fuel economy
rankings is Ford Festiva,
a three-door hatchback
made in Korea for Ford,
and engineed by Mazda.
Its 1.3-liter engine, from
the Mazda 323, gets a
combined mpg of 38, but
engine performance is
lively. However, its
sawed-off rear quarters
hark back to the econobox.
Next in the energy-sav-
ing category are six little
vehicles rated at a com-
bined 35 mpg:
First is the Mitsubishi
Mirage, a snappy-looking
all-new two-door coupe
and four-door sedan for
1993. Its base models are
powered by a 1.5-liter
engine that achieves 92
horses. The top-line four-
door ES and LS models
are equipped with a 1.8-
liter power pack that
delivers 113 horses.
Second is the Subaru
Justy, which kicks out 73
horsepower with its three-
cylinder, 1.2-liter engine.
Though it rates 35 mpg,
it's available with all-
wheel-drive, which lowers
fuel economy to 30 mpg
for the automatic and 31
for the manual. Justy is
offered in three and five-
door configurations. It's
the only car sold in the
USA with an electronic
continuously variable
transmission, an automat-
ic that uses stepless gear
ratio changes for smoother
driving.
Third, fourth and fifth
among the vehicles rating
35 mpg are Chrysler's fuel
economy kings. They are
triplets: Dodge Colt, Ply-
mouth Colt and Eagle
Summit. The same car
with different nameplates,
they are actually rebadged
Mitsubishi Mirages with
the same engines and
body styles.
"These are all-new mod-
els for 1993, very aerody-
namic," says Tom Zielin-
ski of Shuman Motor
Sales, which handles the
Plymouth Colt. "They are
selling much better with
the new body styling."
Sixth in the combined
35 mpg category is
Pontiac's LeMans, with
"European styling, Ger-
The gas mileage
winners are
the subcompact
models.
man engineering and
Korean craftsmanship."
There's a Value Leader
three-door Aerocoupe, SE
Aerocoupe and four-door
SE sedan, with revised
styling for 1993. Its stan-
dard 1.6 engine generates
74 horsepower,
Nine other models make
our near-miss category
with impressive combined
mpg's. They are the Ford
Escort, 34; Isuzu Stylus,
32; Mazda Protege, 32,
Mazda 323, 31; Nissan
NX, 32; Nissan Sentra, 31;
Mercury Tracer, 32;
Saturn, 31 and Hyundai
Excel, 31.
If you choose one of
these fuel misers, says
research scientist David
Cole, you save Mother
Earth's fuel resources and
al6o help reduce atmos-
pheric carbon dioxide "We
know there is carbon diox-
ide build-up in the atmos-
phere and the automobile
contributes 3 percent to 4
percent of that. It is tied
into global warming. If we
improve fuel economy, we
will reduce the auto's con-
tribution to carbon dioxide
in the atmosphere." ❑
K
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