Monthly Archives: June 2022

Jag visits Broadmoor as 7 gain auto fame

Bonnie O’Meara congratulated A.J. Guanella at Hall of Fame dinner. (Jan Wells photos)

The 120-mile drive for Jan and me in the Jaguar F-Pace S, the one with Caraway Windsor leather seats and powered by both turbo and supercharging, was fairly impressive, yet only a prelude to the wonderful late-May event at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs – the second induction of members to the Colorado Automotive Hall of Fame.

The new Hall of Famers are Bill Barrow, Bill Crouch, A.J. Guanella, Larry H. and Gail Miller, Alfred O’Meara Sr., Leo Payne and Phil Winslow.

Brian O’Meara accepted honor for grandfather, Alfred O’Meara Sr., who founded O’Meara Ford in 1913. (Josh Gold)

The emotion of Brian O’Meara in accepting the honor for his grandfather, I thought, summed up the esteem being spread by the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. Alfred O’Meara Sr. came from Detroit to open a Denver Ford dealership in 1913.

With the Broadmoor setting, Winslow was “the hometown boy,” a Colorado Springs auto dealer for 60 years, first with Volkswagen, today with BMW. The family love for Leo Payne, who was Denver’s mega dealer before the days of mega dealers, was something to see – kids, grandkids and great-grandkids filled three tables at the dinner.

Gail Miller visits with friends prior to Hall of Fame dinner. (Jan Wells)

I’m in awe of the working lifetime devoted to Burt and Elway by my friend, A.J. Guanella, 89, and I’d not be surprised to hear he sold someone a Chevy before leaving the Broadmoor’s International Hall; Jan and I visited with Gail Miller, whose keen business acumen came to the forefront following death of Larry H. Miller; he started his auto career with Stevinson in Golden before bigtime success in Utah.

O’Meara, Miller, Barrow and Crouch were inducted posthumously. Representing Barrow, former head of the dealer association, was his wife, Merilee. Accepting for Crouch, a former Chrysler dealer in Englewood, was son Scott.

Making presentations on stage were Tim Jackson, president and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association; Todd Maul, auto hall of fame chair for CADA: Brent Wood, board chair for the dealer association, and emcee Claudia Garofalo of 9News.

Jaguar F-Pace at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. (Jan Wells)

The eight honorees bring to 59 the number of inductees into the auto hall of fame. Fifty were honored in 2021 as the inaugural class; among them was this humble writer, who has observed his 85th birthday.

As for the drive in the Jag, its 3.0-liter inline-6 and 8-speed automatic transmission were smooth and responsive, averaging 27.5 miles per gallon for the highway run; its fault fell with a difficult infotainment system.

For $73,420 out of Solihull, United Kingdom, it offered 16-way massage/heated/cooled/memory front seats, adaptive cruise, Meridian surround sound, all the normal safety and security items and rolled on 21-inch, 10-spoke dark gray wheels.

Leo Payne in center of family members attending hall of fame dinner. (Josh Gold)

Corolla adds style to hybrid mpg for Toyota

A mesh grille draws attention to front of Toyota Corolla Hybrid. (Bud Wells photos)

This country’s expected eventual move away from the internal-combustion engine got a truckload of attention with production of the 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning all-electric pickup.

Most of us aren’t yet ready to turn to fully electric for our transportation needs.

Some, though, are transitioning partway with purchase of gas/electric hybrid vehicles.

The most economically successful hybrid of the past 20 years is the Toyota Prius, which has depended upon extremely high fuel mileage to override a perceived lack in level of comfort and conventional exterior style.

By slipping a Prius power package into the third-best-selling-sedan in the country, Toyota came up with what perhaps is a far-more-appealing hybrid in the 2022 Corolla. It is available only in the LE, a lower trim level. The setup is a 121-horsepower Atkinson cycle 1.8-liter 4-cylinder gas engine, two dual permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, an electronic continuously variable transmission and, beneath the rear seat, a lithium ion battery, positioned to aid weight distribution.

The one I drove for a week was priced at a relatively low $27,191 with synthetic leather seats, cruise control, satellite radio, lane correction and automatic emergency braking.

The Corolla hybrid’s fuel usage is EPA-estimated at 53 city/52 highway miles per gallon.

It was my main source of travel last week for 350 miles, including 110 miles from Greeley to Denver and back, several other highway drives and lots of in-town stop-and-go maneuvering. The transition from gas to electric power is very smooth.

The front-wheel-drive Corolla is a fairly slow, mild performer in its default driving mode, Eco; I used its Power mode at least half of those 350 miles for increased throttle response and steering pressure.

That didn’t seem to affect its high fuel mileage, which ranged from around 56.6 mpg to 58 on the readout in the driver-information screen; I couldn’t imagine it achieving that level of mpg through all the varied drives I made, so after 322 miles, I pulled into a service station gas pump, filled the Corolla’s tank – it took 5.6 gallons for 322 miles, averaging 57.5 mpg. That is excellent.

An upgraded interior, besides the synthetic leather, includes heated front seats, power driver seat with lumbar support, leather-trimmed steering wheel, 8-inch touchscreen. Tightly positioned tiny buttons for cruise control on the steering wheel lend themselves to occasionally canceling the set speed when the intention is to increase or resume the pace.

The Corolla’s curb weight is 2,850 pounds on wheelbase of 106.3 inches and overall length of 182.3. Wheels are 15-inch, with front struts and multilink rear suspension. Trunk space is only 13 cubic feet.

The Corolla Hybrid is assembled at a Toyota plant in Aichi, Japan. The Corolla was introduced into the U.S. was back in 1968.

Kia EV6 electric excellent handler

Futuristic styling adds appeal to the 2022 Kia EV6. (Bud Wells photo)

A fairly sparkling performer, the new Kia EV6 is the sixth all-electric vehicle I’ve driven in first five months of 2022. From a nicely styled front end, the design goes somewhat wild at the rear with an overhead spoiler and bright taillights protruding along the middle of the liftgate.

The Kia EV6, like the Hyundai Ioniq5, is based on the Hyundai Motor Group’s E-GMP (electric global modular platform). The two electrics differ, though, in appearance and performance. The Kia EV6 is a standout in handling, while the Hyundai Ioniq5 makes use of softer suspension for a more-quality ride.

For instance, the Kia offers four driving modes – Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow. The power-output gap between the Eco and Sport is the most extreme, I believe, of the all-electric products I’ve driven, at least in its class. Eco, using only the rear-drive motor when called upon, is of very-limited power; Sport is highly spirited and produces full-blast handling maneuvers in fulltime use of both motors for all-wheel drive. Normal is a delightful tradeoff.

Kia offers the EV6 in three trim levels of Light, Wind and GT-Line. The model brought to me is the EV6 Wind, with all-wheel drive and 77.4 kWh battery-pack energy, dual AC synchronous permanent electric motors for combined 320 horsepower. The weight of the lithium ion polymer battery pack, stored beneath the auto’s floor, is 1,052 pounds.

The EV6 Wind AWD delivers a range of 274 miles (310 for the rear-drive version). In my fourth day with the Kia, its remaining range was at 117 miles when I stopped at Greeley Nissan for a quick recharge. Thirty minutes of charge raised the range to 224 miles. For the week, the EV6 delivered its promised range and then a few more miles. Regenerative braking accounts for some of the recovered miles to the battery; a Mobis iEB is the regen brake of the EV6.

The EV6 offers an easy-load cargo area. (Kia)2022 EV6

Featured up front inside the Kia are vegan-leather heated and ventilated seats, dual 12.3-inch displays with navigation, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, Meridian premium audio. Headroom and legroom are sufficient in the rear row, and the seats are heated. Cargo space behind the seating is 24.4 cubic feet; the seatbacks can be folded down to double that amount of room. The EV6 rides on Kumho 235/55R19 tires.

Flush door handles which pop out awkwardly when pushed are among features which drew interest in the parking lot Sunday morning as Jan and I left services at First United Methodist Church in Greeley. With the upper-end GT-Line trim, the key pod will automatically pop out the handles for use.

For the EV6 Wind, though, sticker price reached $54,110 with addition of surround-view monitor, remote smart parking assist and blind-spot view monitor. By using the key fob, the driver can step out and remotely guide the EV6 into or out from a parking spot. The EV6 is built in Hwasung, Korea.