Monthly Archives: November 2020

Toyota resurrects Venza as hybrid

Auto Reviews
The 2021 Toyota Venza hybrid, back after five-year absence. (Bud Wells photo)

The Venza’s back in the Toyota lineup; it’s been gone five years.

Few missed it; some didn’t know it had gone away.

When I mentioned its return to Jan, she said, “that is Toyota’s small car, right?” “No, you’re thinking of the Yaris, or maybe the Nissan Versa,” I said.

The 2021 Venza returns as a hybrid for the midsize crossover market. It’s of coupelike style; don’t call it a coupe, though, it has four doors and a rear liftgate.

It is one more step in Toyota’s continued dominance of automotive hybrids. Toyota took charge of the hybrid market 20 years ago with the Prius and hasn’t lessened its connection.

Built in a Toyota plant in Aichi, Japan, the Venza comes to the U.S. as a hybrid-only, two-row crossover with all-wheel drive. In size, it falls between the RAV4 and Highlander. Though at 105.9 inches it shares wheelbase with the RAV4 , the Venza is 6 inches longer in overall length and 400 pounds heavier.

The added weight is noticeable; it’s not so nimble and drives like a bigger, heavier vehicle than the popular RAV4.

Power combination for the AWD Venza is a 2.5-liter, 4-cylinder gas engine and three electric motor-generators – two up front and a third on the rear axle – with a lithium-ion battery pack and continuously variable transmission. Combined horsepower is 219, and off-the-line acceleration is strong.

The battery/gas power boosted the Venza’s EPA fuel estimate to 40 miles per gallon in the city and 37 on the highway. My overall average for the week was 41.3 mpg, and included two drives in to Denver, one to DIA to meet Kim Parker on her return from Atlanta and another for meeting with Ted and Shirley King at Cheddars Scratch Kitchen in Thornton.

The Venza delivers a smooth ride and very quiet interior, embellished with heated and cooled seats, wood trim and a digital rearview mirror. Drive modes are normal, eco and sport, and an EV Mode moves into all-electric power for low speeds for short distances. Regenerative braking, the cause of a spongy feel of the depressed pedal, regains some of lost electric power.

The Venza is equipped with a relatively small, 14.5-gallon fuel tank; yet, multiply that by 40 mpg and it registers a driving range of 580 miles. Its cargo space of 28.8 cubic feet behind the second row of seats falls short of both RAV4 at 33.5 and Highlander at 40.

The Venza Limited’s sticker price of $43,100 includes 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatible, heated steering wheel, head-up display, rain-sensing wipers, emergency braking, radar cruise control and lane-departure alert.

Cadillac narrows sedans to CT4, CT5

Auto Reviews, Automotive Industry
The all-new Cadillac CT4 is equipped with 2.7-liter turbo V-6 engine. (Bud Wells photos)

A fun drive it is, regarding the all-new entry-level sedan from Cadillac – the 2020 CT4, replacing the discontinued ATS in the luxury lineup.

A 310-horsepower, 2.7-liter turbocharged V-6 engine mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission boosts considerably the performance level while delivering an EPA fuel estimate of 20/28 miles per gallon.

The CT4 is the smaller of Cadillac’s two remaining sedans; the other is the CT5. They’re built in Lansing, Mich.

Production of Cadillac’s large, rear-wheel-drive sedan, the CT6, ended in January, leaving the CT5 and CT4 as the luxury maker’s only cars. Its biggest sellers are SUVs, led by the XT5.

With Jan and our daughters, Kim Parker and Kathy Allen, aboard, I headed the CT4 on a Sunday afternoon to the north through Fort Collins, then northwest on U.S. 287 to Laramie. Strong climbing capability and passing power were shown by the turboed 2.7. The relatively easy return drive padded the fuel-mileage average to a respectable 26.9 mpg.

The Cadillac’s a decent handler with good agility, a soft ride and it offers one of the more user-friendly infotainment-control settings in its class. Soft leather seats of cinnamon color are a pleaasant touch to the dark dash and headliner. It’s a crowded back seat, even to the point of ducking under the severe slope of the roofline while squeezing lower extremities into the limited foot space. The trunk is tight of space, too, at 10.7 cubic feet.

From a base price of  $37,495 for the Premium Luxury trim level, the CT4’s sticker price climbed to $49,640 with such added amenities as the 2.7 turbo, all-wheel drive, Bose surround sound with 14 speakers, adaptive cruise, automatic emergency braking, heated and ventilated seats, heated steering wheel and technology package.

The 2020 Cadillac CT5-V is 6 inches longer than the CT4.

The memory most vivid in the week in August I drove the ’20 Cadillac CT5-V begins with the push of the “V” button, which engaged the performance reactors associated with the 3.0-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 of 360 horsepower and 405 lb.-ft. of torque.

The CT5’s dimensions measure only fractionally off from those of the Mercedes-Benz E Class sedan. The Cadillac rides on a wheelbase of 116 inches, is 193.8 inches in overall length, 74.1 in width and 57.2 in height.

The smaller CT4, 6 inches shorter than the CT5, is more closely tied to the luxury compacts, including the Mercedes C class, BMW 3 series and Audi A4.

The CT5-V’s sleek, fastback look will steal some attention from the competition, though its interior lacks the appeal presented in the finishes of the German craftspersons.

The Cadillac is a good handler with precise steering, and as V-6’s go, it performs very responsively with its quick-shifting 10-speed automatic transmission. Tires are Michelin 245/40ZR19s. My overall fuel-mileage average of 20.2 fell a bit to the lower side of its EPA estimate of 17/25.

The V-series enhancement, at a cost of $9,000 and sending sticker total to $57,680, added all-wheel drive, navigation, Bose premium audio, leather seating, intellibeam headlamps, lane-keep assist with lane-departure warning and head-up display.

Stapp pins hopes on solar, hail reduction

Automotive Industry
The huge grid for solar and hail outside Stapp Interstate Toyota. (iPOWER)

With a noontime ribbon-cutting, Stapp Interstate Toyota showed off its iPOWER/VPS Solar Integrated Hail Canopies, one of the first of its kind in the country.

What a sight it is – 53,000 square feet of hail-shielding fabric and solar panels for protection from the weather while providing 100 percent of the dealership’s energy use.

Hailstorms and their pounding of automobiles through the years have been a scourge on what otherwise were pleasant solid summer sales results for dealerships in the Denver metro area, northern and northeastern Colorado.

The large coverings will protect more than 300 cars and trucks, the majority of the dealership’s vehicle inventory. Stapp Interstate Toyota operates at the I-25 Frontage Road between Frederick and Longmont.

The canopies are comprised of powder-coated steel structures, bifacial solar panels and HailShield Ultra HDPE (high-density polyethylene) mesh fabric.

Microgrid equipment permits local energy control capability; it can disconnect from traditional grid, operate autonomously and maintain more regular load demands.

At ribbon-cutting are, from left, Diane Dandeneau of iPOWER; Tim Jackson of Colorado Automobile Dealers Association; Mayor Tracie Crites of Frederick; Brion Stapp of the dealership; Jayson Crouch of Toyota Financial Services; Ben Pyle, general manager of Denver Region/Toyota Motor Sales, and Wade White, senior vice president of VPS. (iPOWER)

The launch of interest in the solar/hail protection, according to iPOWER Alliance, of Lyons, was completion of a 37,000-square-foot solar carport with advanced microgrid and load controls at Ehrlich Toyota in Greeley.

Other dealerships have expressed interest in iPOWER’s projects, said Diane Dandeneau, CEO.  “We have begun installation at Co’s BMW and Mini at the Crossroads Automotive Complex near Loveland., up the road north from Stapp’s store.

The Stapp dealership goes back almost 50 years, when Bob and Amy Stapp and son Art opened Longmont Toyota in 1974.

When Art and Debbi Stapp and sons Brion and Clint moved the growing business to its current location, the I-25 Frontage Road, it was renamed Stapp Interstate Toyota.