Springtime and a young doctor's
fancy turns to — cars. This is the time of year
car manufacturers wait for all year and this year the
waiting has been especially tense for the American Big
Three. Lagging sales, billion dollar losses, rumours
of a sale in the case of Chrysler, possible bankruptcy
for GM, and layoffs and gigantic quarter to quarter
losses at Ford make this a make or break season.
While the headlines highlight the
grim financial news, the automakers themselves have
been busy retooling and adopting their offerings to
the new reality of high oil prices going higher. The
Japanese have had the market pretty much to themselves
for the past several years but that's changing. There
are so many new offerings from Oshawa and Detroit that,
this year especially, it's worth visiting dealerships
for all three companies before making a final choice.
And, of course, you can't overlook the Japanese or the
Germans.
Automobile Magazine picked
ten cars as 2007 all-stars (www.automobilemag.com)
and heading the list is the fully redesigned Volkswagen
GTI. Though it hardly fits the image of a physician's
car, if you enjoy the thrill of the ride then this one
is clearly worth taking for a test run. Other cars on
the list include the newly tooled BMW 3 series, the
handsome Chrysler 300 and, predictably, the very high
end Mercedes 5 class, praised for its technical advances.
When it comes to lower sticker-priced vehicles, the
only small car on the list is the Mazda 3.
ENVIRO-FRIENDLY
As far as fuel economy goes, you're on your own though
even here there are options. Hybrids save the most fuel
when they're used extensively for city driving when
the electric system kicks in. On the highway their standard
gas burning engines use as much fuel as any comparable
vehicle.
Another fuel-friendly alternative
is the diesel engine, about 12% more fuel efficient
than its gasoline-burning brethren. New technology has
greatly reduced negative emissions and car makers have
stepped up to the plate with new models. Again, the
foreign makers are in the lead with new diesel engine-fitted
cars coming from Toyota, Honda and Nissan. BMW and Volkswagen
are bringing in more diesels from Europe where the engine
has long been a standard. Of the big three, GM has the
most ambitious plans: watch for new 2008 models.
SAFETY
FEATURES
Beefed-up safety features are available on most vehicles
as an option. When it comes to safety, your money is
well spent. Here are some of the features you should
seriously consider on your next vehicle:
Air bags All cars come with
front bags. Add side bags and any others that are available.
Some cars now offer rear seat bags, for example, which
experts say provide worthwhile protection to those in
the back seat and front as well by preventing those
in the rear from slamming into the back of the front
seat and driving it forward. Only BMWs and Volvos come
equipped with a full complement of air bags as standard
equipment. Saab has a feature not found in other cars:
in a rear end accident, the head rests are automatically
raised to help reduce the effects of whiplash.
Stability and control You
want this option which allows the car's computer to
take over in what it perceives to be dangerous situations.
The automatic systems react more quickly to changes
than can a human driver. Rollover prevention is also
an option and, again, a desirable one. Safety experts
estimate that rollover is the cause of death in about
1,000 crashes a year in Canada.
All-wheel drive If you confine
your driving to downtown Toronto and Vancouver you may
not need this option, but elsewhere it's a good one
to have. It's especially effective in snow. One caveat
for drivers of four-wheel drive vehicles: Don't use
four-wheel drive in snow except to get you out if you're
stuck. All-wheel drive vehicles shift the torque between
front and rear axles depending on where it's required,
but four-wheel drive sends the same torque to both axles
and could get you into more trouble on snow and ice
than even a conventional front- or rear-wheel driven
car.
Super bright lights Yes
to this one if you do a lot of nighttime highway driving.
High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights also offer
the same illumination and are equally desirable.
Adjustable steering wheel and
pedals The safety experts give these options high
marks. They allow individual drivers to make adjustments
to keep the maximum distance between their bodies and
the steering wheel column. The greater the distance,
the safer you are in an accident.
Bluetooth If you use the
phone in the car a lot — most of your colleagues
are guilty here — go for the Bluetooth option.
With a similarly equipped phone, the car system automatically
takes over and you can dial and talk without fiddling.
Though most of us still do it from time to time, using
a conventional cell phone while driving is definitely
a no-no and will almost certainly be banned in most
jurisdictions in the next few years. Cars equipped with
Bluetooth are the alternative option.
OPTIONS
YOU DON'T NEED, BUT
Rear camera This item flashes a TV image of what's
behind you on the screen in the dashboard. Physicians
with a record of backing over bikes and into cars while
parking might like this one.
Satellite radio Long drives
across the country can be soothed with this option.
It costs about $15 a month so consider a unit that can
also be taken inside and hooked up to your stereo system.
Dial Sirius Radio 137 for CBC from coast to coast to
coast. If you balk at the dealer price, go online —
there are dozens of deals out there which include free
installation.
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PHYSICIAN LIFE
