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CI)arIotte
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1997
16B AUTO SHOWCASE
Lesux adds second sport
utility vehicle to line up.
See page 14B.
Passenger
air bags
expensive
By Catherine Strong
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON
Passenger-side air bags cost
almost three times as much as
driver-side air bags for every
year of life they save, a new
study released today found.
But researchers writing in
The Journal of the American
Medical Association said air
bags stiU were a good invest
ment.
“The passenger bag appears
to be a worthwhile invest
ment. But we have an ethical
obhgation to correct a problem
that we have created for chil
dren,” said lead author John
D. Graham, director of the
Harvard Center for Injury
Control at the Harvard School
of Pubhc Health.
The authors found that pas
senger-side air bags cost
$61,000 for every year of life
they save individuals, while
driver-side air bags cost
$24,000.
The researchers concluded
air bags were a worthwhile
investment compared with the
cost of other preventive health
treatments such as screening
for hypertension ($120,000 per
year of life saved) or kidney
dialysis ($30,000-$35,000).
However, air bags do not
approach the benefit from seat
belts, which provide a net cost
savings even when only half
the population uses them,
Graham said.
The authors measured air
bag cost-effectiveness with a
computer model to track a
hypothetical fleet of 10 milhon
vehicles on American roads
over 20 years. They put casu
alty figures from actual crash
es into the model along with
assessing medical and other
costs.
The analysis indicated one
child would be killed on the
passenger side for every 10
adult fives saved — similar to
the 1:7 rqtio derived from cur
rent government statistics.
The researchers said the
- ratio might become worse as
cars with front passenger air
bags are resold to owners with
less income and education
who use seat belts less.
“Imagine that we proposed a
mandatory vaccine that every
body in the country would
11 take,” Graham said. “If it
( s
: * would kill one child for every
10 adults saved, it would be
very unfikely to be approved
as an appropriate measure.”
Air bags now are required by
the federal government on all
new cars.
Passenger-side air bags are
blamed for 52 deaths, includ-
ing 49 children and infants,
' according to government sta-
- tistics. Driver-side air bags
have killed 35 adults.
The government estimates
air bags have saved. 2,620
fives, but only 332 of those
were on the passenger side.
Ready for round n
Nissan’s dandy Altima gets new duds, better ride
1998 Nissan Altima
Winfred
B.
Nissan’s Altima sedan is a car
that I would recommend to
anyone. But for some reason I
never remember it unless Tm
in it.
That’s puzzfing considering
how good a car it is. It’s stylish,
competent and affordable - the
ingredients for success.
And it is successful. Every
other sedan on the road seems
to be an Altima. Nissan has
been very happy with sales.
But it blends in with much of
what is out there.
It should be even happier in
1998. The company has
revamped its Altima, giving it a
fresh look, a more quiet engine
and a lower price.
The new look is evolutionary,
and not by accident. Nissan
found customers fiked the car,
even though it was five years
old. So an entirely new look
wasn’t needed. The wheelbase
remains unchanged, but the
body is longer, wider and taller.
It’s more aerodynamic, drop
ping from 0.34 coefficient of
drag to 0.32cd.. The trunk gets
the most dramatic treatment.
It’s more stylish and larger
with a better looking tail fight
assembly.
The interior has been
restyled as well. The instru
ment cluster is hooded, keeping
glare away. The instruments
PHOTO/NISSAN MOTORS
1998 Nissan Altima
are large, especially the
speedometer and tachometer.
Numbers are clean and large,
making them easy to see at a
glance. The clean design is
spoiled by a number of idiot
fights which make the dash
look like a Christmas tree
when the ignition is switched
on. The audio and climate con
trols are housed in a center con
sole that is used in several
other models. Dual air bags are
standard.
Extra cup and coin holders,
map pockets and cubby holes
abound, making it a snap to
store small items.
There is a touch more leg, hip
and head room, which makes
the car even more generous in
those proportions. Front seat
passengers are treated to
exceptionally comfortable front
seats which are multi-
adjustable. The rear bench is
comfortable for three, cav
ernous for two.
The Altima’s 2.4-fiter, four-
cylinder engine has been mas
saged to offer more quiet opera
tion and better low-end torque.
It still makes 150 horsepower -
one of the most powerful in its
class. That’s better than some
six-cylinders. It uses fighter
pistons, low-fHction rings and
reduced camshaft and crank
shaft fnction. It’s mated to an
easy to shift five-speed trans
mission or a fom-speed auto
matic shared with the Maxima.
The original Altima was a
pleasant driving car. This one’s
even better. The body is 20 per
cent more rigid, giving it a
more substantial feel on the
road. Bumps, dips and other
road imperfections are soaked
up with no problem. Handling
feels a bit sharper, especially
turn-ins. The steering feels as
precise as ever and the brakes
work like a charm.
The car’s cabin is as quiet as
some luxury cars. There is a
pronounced absence of wind,
road and engine noise.
Traveling at 65 mph barely
raised a peep. Conversations
can be held without shouting,
even if you are listening to the
better than average-sounding
stereo system.
Any problems? One. My
Altima was finished in a sick
shade of green, which is offered
on a few other Nissans. It
needs to banished from the
color chart.
Otherwise, the Altima is as
pleasant as it was, maybe bet
ter in the driving department.
The GXE is equipped with lots
of standard stuff, including air
conditioning, four-speaker
stereo system with compact
disc player, cruise control, illu
minated entry and exit system,
60/40 split-fold down rear seat
and wood grain trim.
The price is certainly right -
$17,990, more than $1,500 less
than a comparably equipped
1997 model. That makes this
car an even bigger bargain, and
possibly a bit more memorable.
It certainly has gotten better.
Mustangs
are all in
the family
By Becky Vollmer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -
Ffifing the better part of three
acres of prime land in
Edwardsvfile is what Bemie
Harville calls his “retired Pony
farm,” where old Ford
Mustangs that have seen bet
ter days can “five out their
years in quiet seclusion.”
There are about 175 old
Ponies living there, some in
better shape than others. Time
slowly is eating away at most
of them, and what rust hasn’t
got quickly becomes wrapped
in weeds and vines.
But Harville’s Mustang
Corral, which has been around
for 17 years, isn’t the final rest
ing place for all of the
Mustangs. It’s true that the
ones out back generally are sit
ting ducks for parts hunters,
but some that fimp through
the Corral’s doors are whisked
off to Pony heaven - where
they are restored to their for
mer gloiy.
“I sometimes remember
them sitting in the showroom,
aU shiny and bright,” Harville
said while walking the
grounds under a cloudless
August sky. He said resurrect
ing the old Mustangs isn’t just
about restoring cars but more
like a second chance at
dreams.
“Say you buy a new car for
$25,000. Was that a Plymouth
or a Ford or maybe a Pontiac?’
people say All the cars look the
same today,” Harville said.
“But when a Mustang goes
by, they look,” he said. ‘“Yeah, I
had one like this,’they remem
ber.”
Convertible models are the
most popular candidates for
face lifts, Harville said. Next
come the fastback models, fol
lowed by the hardtops.
‘We’ve got ‘em fined up,” he
said.
Harville remembers being
drawn in by the “Mustang
mystique” when the car first
was introduced late in 1964.
He wasn’t interested in sports,
he said, but he needed some
thing to talk about with his
sons, Tim and Shawn. With
baseball or football out of the
question, Bemie Harville said
he focused on cars. Mustangs
in particular.
“I think later I created a
monster,” he said.
The “monster” was bom in
1980 in a three-car garage on
historic U.S. Route 66, just
down the road from the
Corral’s present spot. A photo
graph hanging prominently in
Harville’s cluttered office
shows his sons standing in
that garage, ready to tackle
the new business’first projects.
Three years later, the
HarviUes built on the present
site, over the years filling
See OLD on page 14B
South Carolina officials scratch heads over who gets BMW taxes
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -
BMW has paid 11 Upstate
counties about $500,000 in spe
cial license plate taxes, but
local officials do not know how
to distribute the money
because they do not have
addresses for the automakers’
employees.
A state law passed in July
says BMW, which has a plant
in Greer, must pay a $697 tax
for each car it provides employ
ees through an agreement sim
ilar to a lease. Of that, $677
goes to the county where the
employee fives. The state gets
the rest.
The taxes should benefit only
the employees’ home cities,
school districts and fire dis
tricts, according to Rep. Lewis
Vaughn, R-'Ihylors.
The problem is, BMW is not
required to give out employees’
addresses, and the state Public
Safety Department says it is
not responsible either.
So Spartanburg County has
$160,557 on hand, and
Treasurer Oren L. Brady HI
says his hands are tied.
With 300 tax districts county
wide, figuring out how to even
ly distribute the money could
be a nightmare. County
Administrator Roland
Windham said.
“I’m sitting here with
$229,000, and Lhave to find out
how to distribute it,” Greenville
County Auditor George
Hendrix said.
He expects a solution next
week when auditors and trea
surers from around the state
meet in Greenville for an annu
al convention. “Tm just tread
ing water until next week,” he
said.
State law does not require
BMW to supply names and
addresses to the Public Safety
Department. But the law does
require the agency to find a
way to distribute the tax
money properly.
Brady said that means get
ting the addresses.
BMW spokesman Bobby Hitt
said he met with Public Safety
officials this summer and
asked them what information
they wanted. They told him to
supply the number of license
plates issued in each county,
which he did.
BMW has met its obligations
and the coxmties must fix their
own problems, Hitt said. “Our
obligation was to pay the tax,”
FILE PHOTO
One of the BMW produced at the Greenville Plant