Saturday, March 25, 2000BY ALAN VONDERHAAR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dear Al:
Thanks a lot for your great review of the PT Cruiser. (March 18 review) Now I have to find a dealer who won't gouge me wish me luck in California and rework my budget, because I GOTTA HAVE ONE!
Before I leap, though, I wonder if you can clear up a couple of points.
Will they have a turbocharged version? Will they come out with all-wheel drive? And why don't they offer it with a wild yellow paint job, like the New Beetle has?
Julie E.
San Francisco
Dear Julie:
Yours is typical of a large number of letters and emails I've gotten since that preview test went out on the wire, buttressing my belief that DaimlerChrysler might just have a phe-nom here.
To answer your queries in chiastic order:
There WILL be a yellow paint job, Chrysler officials affirmed for me on the record. They will probably start offering that option this summer, but that could slip, I'm guessing, because for the first year supplies will be so tight and the car in such demand that they could probably sell 'em in puce.
This is not just an American car; it's being produced in a right-hand-drive version, too, and will be exported to more than 40 markets. They will likely add a third shift to the already-busy Toluca, mexico plant to meet demand, but there's still a limit on how many they can crank out.
I couldn't even get any Chrysler folks to admit on background that there will be a turbo version, but I'd bet the farm on that maybe next year, just as VW waited a year to put a blower on the New Beetle.
All-wheel drive, DaimlerChrysler designer Brian Nesbitt told me, would require some fairly extensive chassis modifications, but since the PT was originally shown as AWD, it is, he said, an appealing notion.
Here again, my take is that they won't do that until the primary demand is satisfied from a cost-benefit standpoint, they don't need to for a while.
Dear Al:
When I'm cruising at 65 mph in my '99 Ford Crown Victoria, it downshifts at the slightest incline. The dealer tried it and said it was normal. He said it was just the torque converter disengaging. Is that true? Will it cause excess wear? I'm ready to trade it in.
J.E.G.
Oakdale, Conn.
Dear J.E.G.:
The dealer is right. "Lock-up" torque converters save fuel, but they can drive you nuts. The heart of the matter is overall gearing is made too high in a quest for better EPA mileage scores.
GM products are worse than Fords, I think. If you do trade, be sure to do a thorough road test. Wear should not be an issue.
Alan Vonderhaar welcomes email at avonderhaar@enquirer.com and snail mail c/o The Cincinnati Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati OH 45202.
