Automotive Reviews
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Back-catalog of reviews written before 2008.
2003 Chevrolet Cavalier
01023 days
When I pulled up to the curb to pick him up, my friend asked, “Didn’t you get one of your test cars this week?” Considering that I had just picked up a 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier, this didn’t seem like a good sign.
The Cavalier has been around, well, forever. Chevy’s bread-and-butter compact has been basically the same car since 1995 or so, and it shows, in both an overly familiar design and a tendency for Cavaliers to be rentacars. That’s not an entirely bad thing, however. Chevy has long made a habit of keeping cars around forever, and the result of this is usually a reliable, durable and inexpensive car with all of the bugs worked out. For 2003 the Cavalier benefits from a mild facelift and a much-needed new engine, but otherwise it’s pretty much the same Cavalier it’s always been.
The face-and-tail freshening was much needed, and modernizes the Cavalier slightly but doesn’t disguise the fact that this body is closing in on being ten years old. The new droopy-eyed face and new big bowtie logo blend nicely with the Cavalier’s domed, mid-1990s body and rounded tail. The new taillights share a round-lens appearance with the Impala for a bit of family resemblance. Our LS Sport model test car featured 16″ chrome wheels and ground effects-type side cladding, as well as fog lights and a discreet spoiler. One advantage the Cavalier does offer over some of its competitors is the availability of two- and four-door body styles.
Inside, the Cavalier has been slightly massaged. Our least favorite element has not changed: the cheap, toylike plastics used in the dash and switchgear. They work well enough, but most other compact cars feel more durable. A leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob don’t do much to spruce up the cheap feeling. The dash is straightforward, and sweeps around to a moderately high beltline. The Cavalier’s roof is low, too; with the optional sunroof, six-foot tall drivers will find their heads brushing the roof. On the plus side, the Cavalier is available with XM satellite radio. On the safety front, side airbags are standard equipment, and in the event of a crash, OnStar emergency service is also available.
Most small cars are inherently nimble, and the Cavalier is no exception. The suspension is a relatively simple MacPherson strut front with a twist beam rear axle. The LS Sport adds thicker stabilizer bars. Coupled with the large wheels, the Cavalier is reasonably smooth around town, with only a hint of harshness. When the going gets twisty, the Cavalier’s not up to hard driving, though. That’s not a bad thing; curvy backroads aren’t this car’s natural habitat anyway.
There’s good news under the hood; GM’s 140 horsepower “Ecotec” 2.2 liter four-cylinder is standard across the board. Shared with Saturn’s ION, the new engine offers quiet operation around town and adequate power on the freeway. It’s an all-aluminum engine, with twin balance shafts in the cylinder block to keep vibration and harshness down. On the freeway there’s a hint of thrashiness, but it’s nowhere near as disappointing as the Cavalier’s old four cylinders were. Five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmissions are available. We drove an automatic, and were pleased with its performance around town and on the highway.
One plus to the age of the body shell should be a relative lack of bugs to be worked out at the factory, so Cavaliers can be expected to be reliable companions. Another benefit is pricing advantages over the newer competitors. Cavalier pricing starts at a very friendly $16,625 for the LS Sport Coupe. Standard equipment includes the chrome 16″ wheels, four-wheel antilock brakes, a CD player and air conditioning. Our test car was more expensive than expected, thanks to the optional sunroof and XM radio, which pushed the cost to $18,890. For reliable, familiar entry-level transportation however, that’s not bad.
Specifications:
All specs are for the 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier LS Sport Coupe, which we tested.
Length: 182.7 in.
Width: 68.7 in.
Height: 53.0 in.
Wheelbase: 104.1 in.
Curb weight: ` 2617 lb.
Cargo space: 13.2 cu.ft.
Base price: $16,625
Price as tested: $18,890
Engine: 2.2 liter DOHC inline four-cylinder
Drivetrain: four-speed automatic, front-wheel drive
Horsepower: 140 @ 5600
Torque: 150 @ 4000
Fuel capacity: 14.1 gal.
Est. mileage: 24/33
2003 Chevrolet Avalanche
01023 days
The existence of do-all vehicles that are intended to do the work of a sedan, pickup truck, and sport-ute doesn’t come as a surprise in this age of multitasking. What’s a real surprise is that there aren’t more of them. If you’re looking for four doors and a small pickup bed and want a more carlike ride than is offered by a four-door pickup truck, you have a small choice, a medium choice, and a large choice.
Compared to the small (Subaru Baja) and medium (Ford Explorer Sport Trac) choices, this is one occasion where biggest is probably best. The Chevrolet Avalanche is the only full-size “do-all” out there, and it’s arguably the most useful of the bunch. Is it better than an actual pickup truck or SUV, though? The Avalanche’s varied capabilities make it hard to say.
Introduced in 2002, the Avalanche combines the Suburban SUV’s chassis with the open-topped cargo area of a pickup. But that’s not all. A unique feature called the MidGate extends the 5’3″ cargo bed to 8’1”, a trick that no Suburban can manage. When not in use, the bed is covered by a standard three-piece rigid tonneau that’s sturdy enough to have a picnic on.
This tough-looking truck benefits from a design reshuffle which eliminates the yards of gray cladding which formerly blanketed the sides and rear of the truck. If you like the plastic look, it’s still available as an option. With or without it, it’s a big muscular truck and it gets its share of attention with ease. The Avalanche shares the Silverado pickup’s angular front aspect and rounded taillight pods. From the side, it’s well-proportioned, thanks to high bed sides and a structural flying buttress member behind the cab. Built-in, lockable storage in the bed sides can carry as much cargo as a Toyota MR2′s tiny trunk.
The Avalanche’s interior is just like that of the Suburban, sans third-row seating. Instrumentation is comprehensive, to say the least, and the seats are the same exemplary units that do service in all of Chevy’s full-size trucks. The Avalanche has also inherited the Suburban’s passenger-comforts, with a newly available DVD entertainment system and XM satellite radio on the options list. Adjustable pedals are also offered, as in Suburban. the SUV. Unlike in a Suburban, the rear window can be removed and stowed, allowing cool flow-through ventilation on hot days or in the rain. When the MidGate is down, the Avalanche becomes a two-seater with an eight-foot cargo bed. The rear seat’s back and bottom surfaces are coated to resist damage from dirty, wet or sharp cargo, and the removable window stows safely out of the way beneath the seat. Unfortunately, visibility to the rear is truly awful, thanks to the height of the bed’s sides. Caution is advised when backing up.
Thanks to the Suburban-based suspension and body dyamics, the Avalanche has a smoother ride than the average pickup’s. Up front, an independent torsion-bar suspension feels properly “truckish” without being harsh. The solid rear axle is suppored by a five-link system which takes a lot of the harsh bouncing out of the rear end, and the Avalanche is nicely balanced.. It’s easy to drive too. Tight parking lots are the only place it’s hard to maneuver an Avalanche. Two- and four-wheel drive are offered, and the Avalanche makes a zaftig but capable off-roader. The Avalanche’s braking has been improved for 2003, and four-wheel discs are standard.
The standard powerplant for the Avalanche is Chevy’s 5.3 liter Vortec 5300 V8. 285 horsepower is more than enough to get this big truck moving. Want to work as hard as a regular pickup? Chevy also offers the Avalanche in heavy-duty format, with a 340-horse, 8.1 liter V8 and a 12,000 pound towing capacity. We drove the 5.3-equipped Avalanche, and were happy with everything except fuel consumption. It’s content at freeway speeds and never feels sluggish around town.
We blanched a little at the sticker price of our test truck, which topped $35,000. To our surprise though, most onlookers expected it to cost more, in spite of the big Chevy badge on the grille. We’d guess that the removal of the Avalanche’s grey plastic cladding has resulted in a more upscale-looking truck. To call it first in a class of one might sound like damning with faint praise, but in the case of the Avalanche it’s just a statement of fact.
Specifications:
All specs are for the 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche, which we tested.
Length: 220.8 in.
Width: 79.8 in.
Height: 74.5 in.
Wheelbase: 130 in.
Curb weight: 5437 in.
Cargo box volume: 41 cu.ft. (Midgate up)
Payload: 1363 lb.
Towing capacity: 8200 lb (12,000 lb. with 8.1 liter engine)
Engine: 5.3 liter OHV V8
Drivetrain: four-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive
Horsepower: 285 @ 5200
Torque: 325 @ 4000
Fuel capacity: 31 gal.
Est. mileage: 14/18
2004 Cadillac SRX
01023 days
Back in the Seventies, when the Cadillac DeVille was king, a few small companies made their name converting Cadillacs into station wagons. Cadillac never offered one from the factory, but the coachbuilders were always happy to whip one up for the well-heeled customer who wanted one. We were reminded of these classic conversions upon seeing the Cadillac SRX, because it looks for all the world like Hess & Eisenhardt went and built an STS wagon.
In these days of luxury SUVs however, station wagons are perfectly acceptable, so Cadillac hasn’t farmed this one out. The SRX is a factory-built vehicle, not a conversion, and looks are deceiving because this luxury crossover is more than just an STS wagon. In the spirit of Infiniti’s FX45 and Volkswagen’s Touareg, the SRX is ready to haul people, stuff or butt in luxurious comfort. Its rear-wheel drive architecture is shared with the STS and smaller CTS sedans.
Cadillac’s thin-lined styling is elegant and unmistakable. The SRX has a slick vertical headlamp stack and flush front bumper. It owes a little to the Vizon show car of 2001 also, but the SRX is more substantial than that vehicle, with broader shoulders and a more aggressive cut to the side windows. The long wheelbase and prominent hood give the SRX a much less chunky look than the average sport-ute and serve to heighten the luxury-wagon look. The rear aspect is handsome, with massive vertical taillights, dual chrome exhaust outlets and a power-operated tailgate. To enhance the sheer design, the color palette consists entirely of cool metallic colors.
The dash is almost identical to that of the CTS, and the fat wood and leather steering wheel looks familiar too. Thanks to that long wheelbase, back-seat room is fantastic. The optional third-row seats, on the other hand, are extremely cramped; if you need to seat seven on a regular basis, a bigger vehicle is probably a good idea. Both sets of seats fold flat, and the floor is staggered theater-style so all passengers get a good view out the front. The third-row seat folds electronically, but we’d still opt to leave it out and take advantage of the three-bin cargo management system Cadillac will install in its place. The optional UltraView sunroof opens up five and a half square feet of the roof to the sky over the first- and second-row seats. When the third-row seat is chosen, UltraView Plus puts glass over the rearmost seats, too. Passenger entertainment and convenience options include a rear-seat DVD system mounted in the console instead of the roof, GM’s OnStar service, and XM satellite radio.
The SRX has outstanding handling, thanks to a low center of gravity and all-aluminum suspension components. Like the Infiniti FX45, the SRX is designed more as a tall-bodied sports sedan than a truck. The suspension is fully independent, with independent short-long arms up front and a multi-link rear. Stability is enhanced by Cadillac’s Magnetic Ride Control, which uses magnetic fluid for semi-active suspension damping. It doesn’t feel anything like a sport-ute on the road. Anti-lock brakes and StabiliTrak stability control are standard equipment.
Two engines are available, a 3.6 liter V6 and a 4.6 liter V8. Both engines feature variable valve timing (VVT). The 24-valve V6 puts out 260 horsepower, and is tuned for performance. Our test SRX had the V8 under the hood. It’s a modified version of Cadillac’s well-known Northstar engine, updated for use in all-wheel drive applications. It’s rated at 320 horsepower. Engine guys will note that this same powerplant does duty in Cadillac’s XLR sports roadster. All SRXes are equipped with five-speed automatic transmissions. The SRX comes with rear- or all-wheel drive, and can tow up to 3500 pounds.
SRX pricing starts at $39.995 for a rear-drive V6 and $47,995 for the V8. It seems steep, but considering the SRX’ capabilities and its competition, even a fully loaded, $50,000 SRX might not be such a bad deal.
Specifications:
All specs are for the 2004 Cadillac SRX.
Length: 194.5 in.
Width: 72.6 in.,
Height: 67.8 in.
Wheelbase: 116.4 in.
Curb weight: 4225-4478 lb.
Towing capacity: 3500 lb.
Cargo space: 32.4 cu.ft. (seats up)/69.5 cu.ft. (seats folded)
Base price: $39,995
Engine: 3.6 liter V6 or 4.6 liter DOHC 32-valve V8
Drivetrain: five-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Horsepower: 260 @ 6500 (V6); 320 @ 6400 (V8)
Torque: 254 @ 2800 (V6); 315 @ 4400 (V8)
Fuel capacity: 20 gal.
Est. mileage: 15/20