The 2019 Hyundai Tucson, packed to the gills!!

There are a lot of compact crossovers in the market and what they offer can differ widely. But as Bumper2Bumpertv has found the Hyundai Tucson offers a well thought out combination of technology, drive train ability and comfort in one vehicle.

Jeep Gladiator, a first look

The Jeep faithful are getting excited over the debut of the Gladiator and the brand’s return to the light duty truck segment. Bumper2Bumpertv has a first look at what it brings to the party.

2019 Mustang Bullitt

THE AUTO PAGE

By

John Heilig

•  MODEL: 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt 
• ENGINE: 5.0-liter V8  
• TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual  
• HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 480 hp @ 7,000 rpm/420 lb.-ft. @ 4,600 rpm 
• WHEELBASE: 107.1 in.  
• LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT: 188.5 x 75.4 x 54.3 in.  
• TIRES: P255/40ZR19 (F)/P275/40ZR19 (R)  
• CARGO CAPACITY: 13.5 cu. ft.  
• ECONOMY: 15 mpg city/24 mpg highway  
• FUEL TANK: 16.0 gal. 
• CURB WEIGHT: 3,850 lbs. 
• TOWING CAPACITY: Not recommended 
• COMPETITIVE CLASS: Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Nissan Z  
• STICKER: $46,595 (base) 
• BOTTOM LINE: The Ford Mustang’s latest performance iteration is the Bullitt, created and named in honor of Steve McQueen’s chase car in the movie of the same name. As such, it does offer great performance, but…

           

            They say the Ford Mustang Bullitt is a Mustang, but the only ponies on the car are on the wheel hubs. Ford also says it’s a Bullitt, and it says Bullitt all over the place. We owned a 1965 Mustang, and I miss the appearance of the ponies. I’m sure Lee Iacocca would have missed them too.

            The Bullitt is named after the Steve McQueen character who drove a Mustang through the streets of San Francisco in one of the classic movie chase scenes of all time. Under the skin, this Bullitt is probably faithful to the original, although the exteriors are different. This version is more muscular looking with a big maw of a grill (no pony) and much wider tires. It also has Brembo disc calipers at all four corners that do an excellent job of stopping the car smoothly.

            Handling is excellent. The suspension is firm, but not harsh. We drove the Bullitt on our favorite hillclimb, but I had to behave because  the road is fairly narrow and I wasn’t sure of what may have been coming the other way. 

            The real fun may be in shifting the 6-speed manual transmission. First, there is a positive clutch that won’t give you leg pains every time you push the left pedal. The shifter itself is nicely located for short shifts with a 2-inch diameter cue ball on the top with the shift pattern imprinted. Get up to sixth, and you’ll eventually have to downshift. The transmission automatically “blips” when you go down gears. It’s fun.

            Of course there’s a caveat. With the Bullitt’s wide tires and Mustang’s historic reputation for a light rear end, the Bulitt can be twitchy when the roads are wet. I had a friend following me for a  while after a rain storm and he told me later that he kept wondering why I was driving what was obviously a hot car so cautiously. 

            Front seats are comfortable with excellent side support. They are semi-automatically adjustable, with power front and back adjustment but a manual seat back angle adjustment. Rear seat legroom is sparse, much like our old ’65.

            The instrument panel is clear with a tachometer on the left and speedometer on the right. There’s a digital speedometer inside the 180 mph analog one, and a shift indicator inside the tach. Additionally, there’s an information panel in between.

            In the middle of the dash is a fairly standard infotainment screen with the usual options. I was impressed with how easy it was to program the navigation system. Additionally, there’s a good audio system and heating/cooling.

            Trunk capacity is surprisingly good. In our ’65 Mustang, cargo capacity was about as sparse as rear seat legroom, although in both the rear seat backs fold easily to create extra cargo capacity. 

            Overall, the Ford Mustang Bullitt is a fun, fast car to drive. I would have liked to see more Mustang references (like how much air flow would be reduced by a prancing pony in the grille?). Bullitts are numbered with a plaque on the dash. Our tester was MP002, for Manufacturer’s Prototype #2. I wonder what happened to #1?

(c) 2019 The Auto Page Syndicate

THE AUTO PAGE

By

John Heilig

MODEL: 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt

ENGINE: 5.0-liter V8

TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual

HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 480 hp @ 7,000 rpm/420 lb.-ft. @ 4,600 rpm

WHEELBASE: 107.1 in.

LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT: 188.5 x 75.4 x 54.3 in.

TIRES: P255/40ZR19 (F)/P275/40ZR19 (R)

CARGO CAPACITY: 13.5 cu. ft.

ECONOMY: 15 mpg city/24 mpg highway

FUEL TANK: 16.0 gal.

CURB WEIGHT: 3,850 lbs.

TOWING CAPACITY: Not recommended

COMPETITIVE CLASS: Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger, Nissan Z

STICKER: $46,595 (base)

BOTTOM LINE: The Ford Mustang’s latest performance iteration is the Bullitt, created and named in honor of Steve McQueen’s chase car in the movie of the same name. As such, it does offer great performance, but…

           

            They say the Ford Mustang Bullitt is a Mustang, but the only ponies on the car are on the wheel hubs. Ford also says it’s a Bullitt, and it says Bullitt all over the place. We owned a 1965 Mustang, and I miss the appearance of the ponies. I’m sure Lee Iacocca would have missed them too.

            The Bullitt is named after the Steve McQueen character who drove a Mustang through the streets of San Francisco in one of the classic movie chase scenes of all time. Under the skin, this Bullitt is probably faithful to the original, although the exteriors are different. This version is more muscular looking with a big maw of a grill (no pony) and much wider tires. It also has Brembo disc calipers at all four corners that do an excellent job of stopping the car smoothly.

            Handling is excellent. The suspension is firm, but not harsh. We drove the Bullitt on our favorite hillclimb, but I had to behave because  the road is fairly narrow and I wasn’t sure of what may have been coming the other way. 

            The real fun may be in shifting the 6-speed manual transmission. First, there is a positive clutch that won’t give you leg pains every time you push the left pedal. The shifter itself is nicely located for short shifts with a 2-inch diameter cue ball on the top with the shift pattern imprinted. Get up to sixth, and you’ll eventually have to downshift. The transmission automatically “blips” when you go down gears. It’s fun.

            Of course there’s a caveat. With the Bullitt’s wide tires and Mustang’s historic reputation for a light rear end, the Bulitt can be twitchy when the roads are wet. I had a friend following me for a  while after a rain storm and he told me later that he kept wondering why I was driving what was obviously a hot car so cautiously. 

            Front seats are comfortable with excellent side support. They are semi-automatically adjustable, with power front and back adjustment but a manual seat back angle adjustment. Rear seat legroom is sparse, much like our old ’65.

            The instrument panel is clear with a tachometer on the left and speedometer on the right. There’s a digital speedometer inside the 180 mph analog one, and a shift indicator inside the tach. Additionally, there’s an information panel in between.

            In the middle of the dash is a fairly standard infotainment screen with the usual options. I was impressed with how easy it was to program the navigation system. Additionally, there’s a good audio system and heating/cooling.

            Trunk capacity is surprisingly good. In our ’65 Mustang, cargo capacity was about as sparse as rear seat legroom, although in both the rear seat backs fold easily to create extra cargo capacity. 

            Overall, the Ford Mustang Bullitt is a fun, fast car to drive. I would have liked to see more Mustang references (like how much air flow would be reduced by a prancing pony in the grille?). Bullitts are numbered with a plaque on the dash. Our tester was MP002, for Manufacturer’s Prototype #2. I wonder what happened to #1?

(c) 2019 The Auto Page Syndicate

Mazda3 Sedan, a good product getting better.

There is a sweet spot in the automotive universe of a compact car offering good fuel economy with current technology. Bumper2Bumpertv thinks the Mazda3 may have hit the target.

2019 Buick Enclave Avenir

THE AUTO PAGE

BY

John Heilig

• MODEL: 2019 Buick Enclave Avenir AWD
• ENGINE: 3.6-liter V6 
• TRANSMISSION: 9-speed automatic  
• HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 310 hp @ 6,800 rpm/266 lb.-ft. @ 2,800 rpm 
• WHEELBASE: 120.9 in.
• LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT: 204.3 x 78.8 x 69.9 in. 
• TIRES: P255/55R20 
• CARGO CAPACITY: 23.6/58/97.6 cu. ft. (all rows up/3rd row down/2nd and 3rd rows down)  
• ECONOMY: 17 mpg city/25 mpg highway/13.9 mpg test 
• FUEL TANK CAPACITY: 21.7 gal. 
• CURB WEIGHT: 4,685 lbs. 
• TOWING CAPACITY: 5,000 lbs. 
• COMPETITIVE CLASS: Ford Expedition, Infiniti QX80, Lexus LX 
• STICKER: $56,450 (includes $1,195 delivery, $650 options) 
• BOTTOM LINE: Despite its size, the three-row Buick Enclave is a sweet vehicle, doing almost everything you ask it to do with elegance.

            I don’t know if you can call a three-row sport utility sweet, but the Buick Enclave comes closest to that definition. Maybe it’s the color of my hair that makes me lean toward Buicks, or maybe it’s the Enclave itself.

            Enclave is the largest of Buick’s three SUV lineup. As such, it’s a very good people and cargo carrier. So often we have to make compromises with our vehicles. With the Enclave, few compromises are necessary. Okay, there’s that business of raising or lowering the third row when more than four passengers need a ride (or when inquisitive grandchildren have to check everything). I’ll admit the Enclave isn’t completely perfect. There’s that thing with the heated or ventilated seats that seems to automatically turn on when you sit down. Really, this is usually a pleasant surprise, because the Enclave knows whether to make it heat or cool.

            Under the hood is GM’s venerable 3.6-liter V6 that, at 310 horsepower, provides more than enough power for the Enclave. The engine powers all four wheels through a smooth 9-speed automatic. I had some issues, good ones, with the shifter that required some thought before simply banging it into gear. The pattern is different, but not impossible, much like BMW’s recent shift patterns.

            There’s a clear instrument panel with a large centrally mounted analog/digital speedometer. Fuel, water and battery voltage gauges are off to the right and the tachometer is off to the left. There’s a nice infotainment screen with the usual functions.

            Interior storage consists of a large, practical center console/arm rest with an insert to add to its practicality. 

            The Enclave has nice interior styling. Whoever is in charge of GM’s internal styling is doing a great job with all the brands. 

            Front seats are comfortable, but with minimal side support. The second row captain’s chair offer good legroom. Between them is a center aisle that is great for third row access. Both second row seats also have fold-down arm rests.

            Third row seats have a power fold from the cargo area. There’s still very good cargo capacity even with the third row seats up. For example, my golf bag fit in there easily. Also, there’s an additional three cubic feet of cargo capacity under the floor. 

            Overall, the Buick Enclave is a solid three-row sport utility that has features that appeal, of course, to senior citizens, but also has the seating capacity for young families.

(c) 2019 The Auto Page Syndicate