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Wednesday, May 3, 2000 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C3 B e s t W h e e l s O a k v i l l e Nissan Sentra ready to compete (Continued from page C2) should be sticking more to the speed limits. Also part of the drive, was in the GXE which will probably be a good 40-50 per cent of sales. This car is targeted at those eyeing Corolla, Cavalier, Focus, and Protege. With its Maxima-like looks, one expects size-relative performance and the GXE was quite up to the task. I don't remember the interior of the last Sentra I drove (a 1998) as being anything but a lifeless mix of slate and gray plastics and cloth. While the GXE also continues in the gray-vein it is looking much more mod em, especially the centre stack console for radio and heat/air controls. The seats, always a Nissan high point, were support ive and comfy even for someone of my girth. The GXE also adds niceties like a cargo net and light in the trunk, heated outside mirrors (a Canadian must) and rear cup holders. The arena Sentra has entered is the most hotly contested in Canada. According to Nissan marketing director Ian Forsyth, 206,000 compact cars were sold in Canada last year representing 17.4 per cent of the entire market in 1999. So you see why Nissan has brought Sentra back - if you are left out here you will be left behind. But Nissan doesn't see this as a game of catch up, put an exercise in reasserting itself. S p rin g T u n e -U p Special O il C h a n g e Included BMW strives to create a vehicle that's as at home carving pylons as it is bashing though snow drifts By Malcolm Gunn S P E C IA L TO T H E BEAVER If you have a n e w s tip o r s to ry id e a , c a ll th e O a k v ille B eaver at 8 4 5 -3 8 2 4 . u $79.95 (Parts Extra) 4) Q . CO Drivers k n o w real Volkswagen service makes a real difference. Your Volkswagen is one sophisticated autom obile. W e have the latest high-tecn diagnostic tools to keep your Volkswagen perform ing like new. V o lk s w a g e n s Love Real V o lk s w a g e n Parts & Service. Keepin' it real. V O L K S W A G E N PARTS & SERVICE w o a> O a k v ille V o lk s w a g e n 5 5 7 K e rr S tre e t, O a k v ille (9 0 5 ) 8 4 4 -3 2 8 5 Plus tax where applicable. Please present coupon at lime of writeup, n d to be combined with other offers. Not redeemable (or advertised specials, previous purchases, or cash, expires June 30. 2000. Question: When is an SUV not an SUV? Well, according to BMW, the all-new X5 is, in reality, an SAV, which stands for Sport Activity Vehicle. The BMW-invented SAV catego ry probably has more to do with marketing than anything else. But for this German producer of exquis ite, high-performance road machin ery, any move to create a vehicle like the X5 that's at home on or off the beaten track is a step in com pletely uncharted territory. Regardless of how you catego rize the X5, BMW is acknowledg ing the phenomenal growth in the broad sport utility vehicle category, which today accounts for one in every six new vehicles sold in North America. And the luxury SUV market, which includes products for the pampered such as the Lexus RX300 and LX470, Land Rover Discovery and Range Rover, Lincoln Navigator, Cadillac Escalade, plus a host of others, is gaining strength at an equally fast clip. The X5 is constructed at BMW's Spartanburg, S.C. factory, which is already home to its Z3 series of sporty two-seaters. The wagon-shaped X5 may be similar in wheelbase and other key dimensions to the luxury 5 Series sedan, but it's considerably taller, not to mention significantly heavier (about 500 kilograms). Although technically classed as a truck, the X5 has not been devel oped for heavy off-road use, but rather, to deliver performance-ori ented driving on a wide variety of road surfaces. The X5's sheetmetal sits atop a rigidly-designed unit body instead of the traditional truck-like ladder frame, and the drive system is of the all-wheel variety instead of the more traditional two-speed transfer case. The X 5's centre differential splits the front/rear torque on a 38/62 (per cent) basis during normal conditions, but can send 100 per cent of the power to the front or rear wheels if slippage is detected. Powering the X5 is a 4.4-liter DOHC V8 with variable valve tim ing that produces 282 horsepower. This 32-valve motor is the same one used in the 5 Series sedan, and puts out identical power. BMW claims that the X5 will reach 60 mph from i 2000 BMW X5 * Four-door all-wheel drive SUV. * 4.4-litre DOHC V8 producing 282 horse power. * Five-speed automatic transmission. * Exceptional performance sets a new stan dard for SUVs. * FuB complement of luxury, as well as advanced technical and safety features. * Spacious interior offers lots o f room for people and cargo. * Towing capacity rivals almost anything on the road. * Base price: $70,000 a standing start in 7.5 seconds, a very decent number for most cars, but outstanding for a vehicle approaching a hefty 2,270 kilo grams with a high centre of gravity. Your only transmission choice on the X5 is a ZF-built five-speed auto matic. Towing is a no-sweat deal with the X5, which is rated to haul up to 2,700 kilograms. The X5 combines its potent power with state-of-the-art luxury and high-tech wizardry, such as sta bility and hill descent control, liq uid-cooled alternator, self-leveling rear air springs and optional rainsensing windshield wipers to high light just a few. Order the available sport pack age and the feature list grows to include a more firmly-tuned suspen sion,eight-way powered front seats, special interior headliner, fenderfilling 19-inch alloy wheels with performance-rated rubber and a spe cial titanium-coloured grille The X5 also includes front seat head protection and side-impact airbags with rear-seat side-impact airbags optional. The X5 is one safe and secure piece of rapid transportation that's ready to tackle just about anything at anytime. It may not be some skid-plated go-anywhere mountain climber, but it is a highly-refined, highly-skilled, all-purpose trekker for those who crave at least as much sport as utili ty in their SUV (oops, SAV). 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