Whitby Free Pros, e. Wc*sday, Deoember 22,1993. Page 19 More cab space nrestyled Sonoma ByGlen Konorowski 0f ail the new amaller pickups introduced in the last year, it's General Motors Sonoma/i1O models that strike me as the beat looking f the group. GM has done its homework b creating a truck that looksgod but a truck that is also func- tional. I was lucky te spend a week- end driv'ing a Chevy S10 exten- ded cab four-wheel-drive version of the new truck. At firat glance, one will note that the major differences in looks of the GMC Sonoma and the Chevy S10 are the grill and headlights. As of yet I haven't decided which one I like better. For the 1994 model year GM designers decided te totally restyle the body of the pickup while keeping the drivetrain basically thee sarne. I have to agree with this approach, as it was only the styling that really showed the age of the older Sonoma and Siô models. As you might suspect, the truck is only slightly bigger than its predecessor. Weight is up te about 150 pounds (68 kilograms) which is probably due to upgrades in safety features. A unique design feature of the truck is the cab. To increase space, the regular cab was exten- ded slightly at box height behind the door. It malces a world of difference to interior space. It allows better adjustrnent to the seats, while adding slightly more spaoe for storage behind the seats. Inside you wiIl find a very rnodern-looking dash, unlike anything frorn past trucks. A large centre section of the dash seerna to dominate the look. Here you find most of the vents, sound system and heating and cooling controls. While the other truck-malcers lean toward a car-like dash, GM has decided to go their own way. Only time will tell how well it is accepted by the public. I wasn't immeciately taken by the dash, but I did find it to be easy to read and vel'y functional. AS for seating up front, the bucket seats on my 910 were top notch, with plenty of lower back support which I like. The rear folding seats are for aduit occa- sional use only, while my kids found them j us t right. There will b. three choices of engines for the new model. The bas e egine will be a 2.2 litre mn-lime four-cylinder adapted from the Cava lier. But the real excitement cornes from the two 1994 GMC Sonoma choices of 4.3 litre VGa offered. The base V6 gets 165 horsepower and 235 pound/feet of torqkue. The optional V6 gets a whoppîng 195 horsepower and 260 pound/ feet of torque, the engine I had on my test vrehicle. Thîs sturnp puller was smooth and strong, an improvement over older modela some might be used te. Believe me, there is reallyr not that much this engine can t do when it cornes te, pulling as compared te the 5.7 litre V8. Transmission choices are either a four-speed autornatie or a five-speed manual transmis- sion on ail models'and engines. My test truck had the four-speed automatie. Like aIl GM units, it worked perfectly, up-shifting and down-shifing properly. My only littie complaint about the truck was the lack of good tie-down spots in the box area. I should mention that most manu- facturers are guilty of this. With any truck this littie problemn can be cured with the addition of extra cleats for. lashing loads down. Overail I really liked this truck, as GM has done a fine job of improving an already good truck. In fact the Automobile- Journaliats Association of Canada, of which I ama a mem- ber, voted the S-10/Sonoma the best new truck of 1994. Integra favoured among used cars ................... .......... ................. ... ............................. .. .. ............................. .................................... ...... ............... ............. ..... ............................. ..... .............................. .. ............................. ............................. ..................... ....... .......................... .......... The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) recently awar- ded the OAA Used Car Perfor- mnance Award for 1994 te Honda Canada Inc. for its Integra model from .1990 te, 1992. Almoat 95 peor cent of Integra owners said if they could go back in tirne they would buy the car agin.More than 93 per cent sithey wwere «very satisfied» with the car. It is the firat time Integra has won the award. The Honda Pro- lude won in 1986, for model years 1983-85. The Toyota Carnry, last year's winner, was chosen second-best performer. Third was the Honda Accord, fourth the Subara Legacy, fifth the Buick Century sixth the Buick LeSabre, seventh the Toyota Corolla, eighth the Oldamobile Delta 88/88 Royale, ninth the Mazda 323/Protege and lOth the Oldsmobile Ninety- Eight. Most wanted car is flot a car For the firat time ever, the car Canacians want most te, purchase next is not a car -- it is a mini-van, according to the Canadian Automobile Associa- tion's Autepinion '94 Annual. Ini CAA's annual nation-wide vehicle durability survey, Canadians were asked what model car they planned te, buy next. With more than 200 modela to choose from, the Dodge Caravan/ Plymouth Voyageur/ Town and Country edged out last year's most wanted, the Honda Accord. The top 10 most wanted list is dominated by Ford (four modela), Chrysler, Honda and Toyota (two modela each). The most wanted Fewer res~pond to Toyota food drive This year's Christmas food and tey drive at Whitby Toyota was mot as successful as last yeax>s. "I'm a little disappointed. We filled a 4-Runner last year,» said office manager Carol McCrodam. "The response was not the sanie as last year.» But McCrodan says more businesses and organizations are holding toy and/or food drives, 50 contributers have more drop-off locations, and more items are collected for the needy. include: Dodge Caravan, Honda Accord, Toyota Carnry, Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable, Toyota Corolla, Ford Ltd. Crown Victoria, Honda Civic, Chrysler Sth Avenue, Ford Tempo, Ford Bronco. According OAA president Mfichael McNeil, 'The results of this survey clearly show how Canadians are changing their view of what a car is. The trend we saw last year continues, and that is te more domestic vehicles, with emphasis on space and price."t OAA has been pressing the federal governimemt to extend automobile safety standards te al light trucks and vans, because an increasing nunuber of Canadian faxilies are boing transported in these.vehicbes. The results of this survey indicate that the need te act on CAA's recommendation is as strong as ever. Detailed results of CAXs 27,778 respondent, amnual vehicle durability survey is available in CANs Autopi nn94 Annual car buying guide Autopinion '94 is Canada's only complet. car buying guide for buyers of both new and used cars. In addition te, resulta of the CAA survey, regular features include specifications and safety features of all new modela cf cars, light trucks and vans, recall notices, fuel censumption ratings, feature articles and many useful tips for car buyers. By Glen Konorowski Having aproblem seeing out of your vehicle?ý Today's aero-shaped cars play havoc when it cornes to seeing what is around when you are drivimg. Aute-niakers are getting botter, by installing parabolic passenger side exterior mirrors, but, unfortunatoly, they are mot always enough. Over the years, accessory mak- ers have been trying to contend with this problemi of visibility by designing ail kinds of different shaped and rnulti-angled mir- rors. One of rny favourite>s was the Wink Mirror that appeared in the lat. sixties. It was a series of angled mirrors that mounted across the top of the windshield. It worked well, but interfered with the sun visor which was a serious drawback. No one has since corne up with a design that suits everyone's needs. A Canadian cornpany that wor- ked on the problern for years is Lanechangor frorn Quebec. Their first product was the Lane- changer I which was a stick-on curved mirror placed.above the regular interior rear-view mirror. This unit worked well but some- times the double-sidedf glue hold- ing the Lianechanger te the mir- ror would corne boose. To remedy this problem, the Lanechanger people carne out with the Lanechanger IL. This is a complete rearview mirror and Be wary Ot ' wet Ine'y According te automotive specialists at General Motors, the worst winter driving condition for Canadians is net snow -- it's 'wet ice,' which provides the least amount of traction. Wet ice occurs whem it's freezing (at or near 0 degrees C) and freezing ramn begins te faîl. Compounding the problem is that wet ice looks like rain and can suddemly turn roads int.o skating rinks with little warning. Regardless of the weather conditions -- glare ice or blowing snow -- slways drive with extra caution in winter. Keep your speed down and drive as smoothly as possible. Sudden acceleration, hard braking or quick turning can ail lead te tires losing what little traction they have, resulting in a vehicle spinning eut of control. The problem with vehicle speed in winter is the increased distance required for stopping. Braking must. be gentle on slippery roads te avoid "locking up" the wheels, which reduces steerimg control. Even vehicles with anti-bock brakes will requîre substantially longer stopping Lanechanger built fite one. The mirror quality of the La£nechanger is rnuch botter on this unit. The Lanechanger II mounts directly te the stock mount on the windshield. If a vehicle doesn't have a windshield bracket, Lanechanger supplies one for gun on the windshield (glue mot included in the kit). Like the original Lanechanger, the Lanechanger II takes some getting used te (instructions warn you of this). I mounted this unit te the interior of a fulI-size Chevy extended cab pickup. Given the size of this vehicle the Lanechanger II did in fact give me a much btter view of what was bohind me. In my own K-Car there is no right side exterior rearview mir- ror. When the Lanechanger II was added I found visibility became much botter. I really didn't have te do as many leK shoulder checks. distances on slippery surfaces than on dry pavement. Be alert for icy areas on an otherwise clear road. These can appear in shady areas where the suin can't reach, around clurnps of trees, bohind buildings, under bridges or on overpasses. Slow down whenever approaching these potential hazard areas. The GM specialists offer this lest bit of winter driving advice: if you find yourself spinning on an icy surface, do not brake. Put the vehicle in neutral and use counter-steering methods te, keep the vehicle straight. The PERFECT GIFT for cold weatherahead! (e REMOTE CONTROL ____ e AUTO STARTER 2 hanM oo mpact rernote *Will start car Up to 300ft away M&& K O T1T* l m .:1150 CHAMPLAIN CRT. dl