Monthly Archives: December 2019

Benz GLB, Supra, Telluride, Gladiator

New in showrooms is the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLB250.  (Bud Wells photos)

My best drive of 2019 was during daylight hours, Christmas Eve, to Johnstown, on to southwest Denver’s Ken Caryl, back north to Windsor and on into Greeley aboard the new entry 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLB250 4Matic compact SUV.

Highlights were Christmas stops at Dale and Sandy Wells, Kurt and Tammy Wells, Brent and Tina Wells, Kathy and Bill Allen and finally, Kim Parker, who accompanied us to Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Greeley.

The little Benz was impressive in the 170-mile run with its turbocharged 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine, 8-speed automatic dual-clutch transmission, all-wheel drive, 27.7-miles-per-gallon fuel average, and so well-equipped for a sticker price of $51,216. That seems near-bargain, considering this level of performance and luxury from a German automaker.

The B is more rugged-looking than the sleeker GLA and GLC. The interior quietness is remarkable, it has one of the most finely designed instrument panels in its market. Its liftgate opens so high, 80 inches, that more than half of prospective GLB buyers won’t be able to reach it (of course, they may use the button on the key pod).

It went on sale just this final month of 2019, will be a contender for car of year honors in 2020.

My favorites among the new vehicles I’ve driven this year are the Jeep Gladiator, Kia Telluride and Toyota GR Supra.

New in showrooms is the 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLB250.  (Bud Wells photos)

Car of Year – The ’20 Supra, with a supporting role from the boys from BMW, returned this year after a hiatus of more than 20 years. The two-seater coupe, beautifully styled, is powered by a turbocharged inline-6-cylinder engine borrowed from BMW, as Toyota no longer produces inline blocks. It’s an outstanding handler.

Truck of the year is the Jeep Gladiator.

Truck of Year – The ’20 Gladiator offering of ruggedness, roominess, offroad capability and open-top fun is unmatched by any other pickup. Among features are coil springs all around, forward-facing camera and 8-speed automatic transmission with manual-shift mode. The sturdy-looking Gladiator returns Jeep to the compact/midsize pickup wars after an absence of 27 years.

The Kia Telluride is chosen SUV of the year.

SUV of Year – The three-row Kia Telluride, largest model ever offered by the Korean company, has stylish exterior, comfortable interior with decent cargo space, strong performance from its V-6 engine and is well-equipped including the latest safety features. It is built in West Point, Ga.

Other mentions as the year comes to a close:

Priciest – Topping the sticker lists at $134,315 was the special mountain-climbing Mercedes-Benz G550, built in Graz, Austria, priced just three bills above the BMW M850i xDrive at $131,395. The Germans prevail in this category; last year it was the Mercedes S450 sedan as costliest and the BMW M5 sport sedan runnerup.

Cheapest ‑ $19,140 for the 2020 Nissan Versa SV four-door, which showed up a bit longer in overall length and equipped with automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-departure warning, Nissan Connect featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus SiriusXM satellite radio.

Gas hogs – Poorest fuel mileage results for all my drives during the year was 13.2 mpg by a 2019 Toyota Tundra with 5.7-liter V-8 and 6-speed automatic transmission. Two others that fell in the 14s were the Ram 2500 Tradesman Crew Cab with 6.4 Hemi V-8 at 14.4 mpg and Toyota Land Cruiser with 5.7 V-8 at 14.6.

Highest MPG – A 2020 Nissan Versa ,with 1.6-liter engine, posted an average of  37.8 miles per gallon, the highest of the year, other than the hybrids and all-electrics. Among other upper averages were 34.8 by a Toyota Corolla, 33.9 by Honda Civic, 32.4 by Nissan Kicks and 31.5 by Nissan Altima.

Jan’s favorite – The new Mercedes mentioned at the top of this column.

Best greeting – Happy New Year!

Christmas greetings fly from Jeep

The Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk is powered by a turbocharged, 4-cylinder engine. (Bud Wells photos)

I shout “Merry Christmas” to all my readers Dec. 25, 2019, from the open window of the 2020 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk.

With its red tow hooks out front in place of Rudolph’s nose, the Cherokee serves very adequately as a modern-day Santa’s sleigh.

The Cherokee’s 25.8 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats can handle the greetings and gifts being delivered. An extra-long list to be filled might require use of a Honda CR-V, which has 50 percent more cargo space than the Cherokee, or a bigger Jeep, such as the Grand Cherokee.

The 2020 Jeep Cherokee is in its seventh model year since its resurrection after the original Cherokee was discontinued in 2002.

It is a strong competitor in the compact SUV/crossover field, against the Honda, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester, Ford Escape, Chevy Equinox and many others.

The Cherokee provided for my testing was equipped with a 270-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter, 4-cylinder engine, 9-speed automatic transmission and Active Drive II four-wheel-drive technology, which includes low range and terrain selection for auto, snow, sport and sand/mud.

Overall fuel mileage for the Jeep, including lots of in-town stop-and-go for Christmas shopping, was 22.2 miles per gallon. Its EPA estimate is 20/26.

With heated and cooled seats, heated steering wheel, full sunroof, and a safety package of full-speed forward collision warning, lane-departure correction, adaptive cruise and automatic high beams the sticker price climbed to $45,425.

Jan and I drove the Cherokee 100 miles northeast to Sterling to visit my sister, Norma Wagner, in her recuperation at Devonshire Acres from a fall and broken hip. Christmas cheer awaited us in the smiling faces of Norma and her husband, Dave Wagner Jr.

An original version of the Jeep Cherokee was this 1991 model.

Norma and I enjoy a memory from 75 years ago of our childhood at the pretty little town of Wray. I’ve told it before, let me tell it once more, very briefly.

It was a Sunday afternoon in the fall of the year when Dale Wells, our dad the Ford dealer at Wray, took a call at home from a fellow apparently having truck problems. Mom, Norma and I joined Dad on a drive to the garage, during which Dad mentioned, “I think he may be Santa Claus.” Sure enough, the man had long hair and a long white beard and in the back of his big Ford cattle truck were a number of reindeer. While Dad repaired the truck’s cooling system, the old gent walked over and talked with Norma and me and invited us over to the truck for a close look at the reindeer. With the truck running cooler, he left Wray on U.S. 385 heading north (as in North Pole).

Merry Christmas.

S209 is rare addition to Subaru

Only a couple hundred models of the Subaru S209 will be sold. (Bud Wells photos)

Raise the hood – the sight is stunning.

Most noticeable atop the small block are cold-air intake tubes finished in red, along with a large turbocharger, a flat intercooler water spray system for lowering boost temps, fuel pump, fittings here and there for flexible lines running all directions.

It’s as though some ambitious engineer of Rube Goldberg intent pulled it all together from a parts bin in his garage.

Taking a serious look, it is what’s possible when Japanese engineers go to extremes in boosting a flat-4 boxer engine.

The packed underhood in the STI S209.

In this case, it is the 2019 Subaru STI S209 with a 2.5-liter turboed boxer engine producing 341 horsepower and 330 lb.-ft. of torque tied to a 6-speed manual transmission and all-wheel drive.

Though built in Kiryu, Japan, the entire production fleet – 209 cars – will be sold in the U.S. They’ve only recently gone on sale.

For a bit of testing, Subaru sent one my way. It overlapped my week with the 2020 Toyota GR Supra. What a prized pair they are.

Aimed at high-performance, the S209 is based on the WRX STI Nurburgring Challenge race car which won the SP3T class at the grueling 2019 24 Hours of Nurburgring.

The sticker price to own one of the S209s is $64,880; that’s the most expensive new Subaru ever. Only two colors are available – world rally blue pearl with satin gray wheels or crystal white pearl with satin gold wheels.

I drove a blue one. It runs 0-to-60 in around 5 seconds; stopping power is drawn from Brembo performance brakes. Its stiff, short-throw shifter makes for very precise shifts.

The four-door sedan rides on Dunlop 265/35R19 summer performance tires. A high-riding wing sits 9 inches above the rear deck.

The interior features Recaro design front seats and a flat-bottom ultrasuede-wrapped steering wheel with silver stitching. Also, a 7-inch, high-resolution touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Bluetooth.

The most powerful Subaru model ever, it was developed by Subaru Tecnica International, the car company’s wholly-owned performance division.

Power is delivered to all four wheels by Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel-drive system, which includes new front and rear limited-slip differentials and driver-managed center differential.

“What makes STI unique is its philosophy,” said Subaru STI president Yoshio Hirakawa. “What’s behind the wheel is as important as what’s under the hood. STI vehicles provide speed with performance and enjoyment. For STI, the S model represents our highest level of technical performance; it is our halo model.”

Fenders have been widened by almost 2 inches over the standard WRX STI and the S209’s track has been widened by a half-inch. Springs are stiffer and adding more rigidity to the body is a flexible front strut tower bar.

Ram, Chevy, Ford diesels hit 30-mpg

A flame red finish emphasizes the 2020 Ram EcoDiesel pickup. (Bud Wells photo)

Light-duty turbodiesels have arrived and the U.S. light-duty pickup market has never been more inviting.

Imagine: 30 miles per gallon on a highway drive with a half-ton pickup – experience it with the ’20-model Chevy Silverado, GMC Sierra, Ram 1500 and Ford F-150.

The U.S. truck market is perhaps the ultimate in product delivery meeting consumer expectations regarding quality and capability.

Shuttled up north to me was the 2020 Ram 1500 Tradesman QuadCab EcoDiesel, which will challenge turbodiesels from Chevy, GMC and Ford for leadership in new-generation, high-fuel-mileage truck travel.

The Ram’s 3.0-liter, turbodiesel V-6 engine is built in Italy. (FCA)

All three power sources are 3.0-liter, 6-cylinder turbodiesel engines – the Ram EcoDiesel and Ford PowerStroke are V-6s and Chevy/GMC uses a DuraMax inline-6. Power outputs are very close.

GM’s Silverado and Sierra generate most horsepower, 277, ahead of the Ram’s 260 and Ford’s 250. Most torque is developed by the Ram at 480 lb.-ft., followed by Chevy/GMC at 460 and the F-150 at 440.

The GM and Ford diesels are mated to 10-speed automatics, the Ram to an 8-speed automatic. The Silverado/Sierra EPA ratings for a two-wheel-drive pickup of 33 on the highway, 23 in town and 27 combined averaged 1-mpg ahead of Ram’s two-wheel-drive truck at 32 highway, 22 city and 26 combined. Ford reached 30-miles-per-gallon average highway with its two-wheeler, 22 city and 25 combined.

With its 480-torque rating and a bit more immediate grunt from its 8-speed over the competitors’ 10-speed, Ram claims “best-tow” honors of up to 12,560 pounds with proper configuration.

The upgraded turbodiesel comes to the Ram Tradesman model at a $3,300 premium, raising sticker price to $41,885 for the basic truck. The diesel option will be available on all trim levels of the 2020 Ram. The QuadCab, which aided access with a grab handle on the driver side, has cloth seats and a small, 5-inch multimedia screen.

Good stopping power is a reassuring feature of the Tradesman, with its relatively large 14.9-inch front rotors and 14.8s at the rear. Diesel clatter is virtually gone these days; the Ram is of very quiet interior and provides a nice, smooth ride with coil springs at all four corners.

The range of fuel mileage I observed with the Ram was from a low of 22.3 to a high of 26.9. That included some driving time in the strong winds of last weekend.

Manual-shift-mode buttons for upshifting and downshifting are placed, somewhat inconveniently for use instantaneously, near the center post inside the steering wheel.

While the Ram Tradesman truck is built in Sterling Heights, Mich., the third-generation turbodiesel engine is manufactured in Ferrara, Italy, in a Fiat Chrysler Automobiles factory.

Toyota Supra has shimmer of Bimmer

2020 Toyota GR Supra returns to U.S. after more than 20-year absence. (Bud Wells photo)

The  Toyota GR Supra has returned; its hiatus of more than 20 years has ended.

The 2020 two-seater coupe, beautifully styled in renaissance red finish, showed up from Japan, and is powered by a turbocharged inline-6-cylinder engine, compliments of the boys from Bavarian Motor Works in Germany.

Earlier generations of the Supra have been powered by straight-6’s; Toyota, though, no longer produces the inline blocks, so its planners turned to a 3.0-liter inline similar to that which has been used in the BMW Z4.

The 2020 model becomes the fifth-generation Supra.

Twenty-six years ago last June, I drove the 1993 Supra Turbo when it arrived in Denver in 4th-generation form with a 320-horsepower, straight-6. Of it, I wrote, “This dynamo will get you from Franktown to Castle Rock in about five blinks.” It was extremely powerful for its day, and was the first Toyota product equipped with airbags for both driver and front-seat passenger.

Toyota turned to BMW for use of inline-6-cylinder engine. (Toyota)

This year’s Supra is enhanced with a smooth-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission with paddles tied to the 335-horsepower (365 lb.-ft. of torque) engine, which is intercooled. Downshifts are quick and smooth, and, in sport mode, the rear-drive sports car will sprint 0-to-60 in close to 4 seconds.

Not only do the Supra and Z4 share engine similarities, they’re assembled along like chassis lines in Graz, Austria, with identical wheelbase measurements. The Supra has a bit more sleekness in its appearance.

The Toyota is an outstanding handler, and it exhaust burble is appreciated. Officials of the company said upgraded steering and suspension dampening is noticeable on twisting, hilly roadways.

Leather and carbon fiber elements lend the Supra interior a near-luxury feel. It’s not flawless, though, as the small coupe is of limited visibility and its cupholders are positioned awkwardly behind the driver’s right elbow. To drive it, though, is to take the extra precautions for vision and awareness and to forget all about the tall, bold drink.

Pricewise, the ’20 Supra’s sticker total is $56,220, including an optional Driver Assist package of radar cruise control, blind-spot monitor, rear cross-traffic alert, parking sensors with emergency-braking function. Among highlights of standard equipment are Brembo brakes with red calipers, active rear sport differential, automatic high beams, rain-sensing wipers, full-color head-up display, 12-speaker JBL audio and 8.8-inch touchscreen with navigation.

Specifications for the new Supra are 97.2-inch wheelbase, 172.3-inch overall length, a relatively low height of barely over 50 inches, curb weight of 3,397 pounds, EPA fuel-mileage estimate of 24/31 (my overall average was 26.1).

Some competitive sports cars are Porsche Boxster and Cayman, Chevy Corvette, Lexus LC, Audi TT, Jaguar F-Type, Nissan GT-R, Mercedes SLC-Class and Alfa Romeo 4C.

A brief timeline for the Supra: 1979 Celica Supra  introduced; 1982 second-generation with 2.8 DOHC; 1986 third-generation Supra with 3.0-liter engine; 1987 turbo added; 1993 fourth-generation introduced; 1997 15th anniversary model; 1999 Supra sales stop in U.S.