1998 AUTO REVIEW
HONDA
Will H onda regain its position as ‘K ingofthe Hill’
am ong carmakers? D on’t be surprised if sales o f the
com pletely redesigned H onda Accord surge to the
top ol the U.S. sales charts next year, recapturing the
title held by Accord from 1989 to 1991 as America’s
best-selling passenger car. By paying attention to de
tails, H onda is able to offer the ’98 Accord at last
years prices, even though the car is bigger, quieter
and more luxurious. T he top-of-the-line Accord EX
V6 model now is available with wood trim , the first
tim e ever for a H onda brand car. A brand-new 3.0-
liter V6 engine is available and H onda made some
major improvements in the four-cvlinder engines, as
well.
Honda Accord
NISSAN
Look for the new Frontier compact pickup truck,
restyled Altima sedan and freshened Sentra small car.
Thanks to a long-standing relationship between
Nissan and Ford, who share engineering and design
technologies, the Frontier is based on the same plat
form as the Ford Ranger. Still, Nissan’s truck has a
better integrated grill and four-cylinders pum ping
143 horsepower under the hood. Nissan has made
numerous improvements on the Altima sedan, which
it will feature in an ethnic advertising campaign to
be launched in Decem ber in conjunction with its
sponsorship o fa T V special on the Thelonius Monk
Institute o f Jazz. I he Sentra gets a new grill, head
lights, bum pers and tail lights, and adds another
trim level, theSE.
Nissan Frontier
MITSUBISHI
O nly m inor changes are in store for the 1998
line- up. T he M ontero sport-utility vehicle is now
available in one model, with options sold in separate
packages. T he Mirage small car, redesigned in 1997,
gets m inor changes in equipm ent packages. T he
G alant ES is now offered with a five-speed trans
mission and anti-lock brakes are now standard on
the upscale Diamante.
TOYOTA
Have the Japanese finally cracked the code? For
more than a decade, Asian autom akers have fever
ishly tried to figure out the formula for a successful
minivan. But so far, products like the Toyota Previa
have had little more than a cult following. T hat could
change with the Previa replacement, Toyota’s new
Sienna. It is being billed as “the Canary o f minivans,”
since it shares the same platform as the best-selling
sedan, although Sienna’s wheelbase is stretched to
114 inches. Also, the full-size Avalon sedan gets a
new look for '98 with a restyled front and rear end,
and the Corolla is completely updated. Toyota's Lexus
luxury division gets a redesigned GS 300 and a new
C S400, and a more powerful LS 400 and SC 400.
Toyota Sienna
AFRICAN AMEWCANSON WHEELS 23