In 1974, writer Jon Landau wrote the following prophetic sentence in Boston’s now-defunct Real Paper: "I saw rock ‘n’ roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen." Later, he became Springsteen’s manager.
Well, I have seen the future of family sedans, and its name is the 2004 Mitsubishi Galant.
To tell the truth, I wasn’t all that excited when Scott MacMillan of Specialty Transport called to offer me the first Northeastern drive in the new Galant. I’ve driven Galants before. "It’s brand new, and you’ll be the first to drive it!" he said. "Great!" I said.
But it really is great, and the wife and kids think so, too. The Galant just does everything right, and it offers a wonderfully tactile driving experience in the bargain. With the combination of interesting styling (sort of like a Nissan Maxima on steroids), high performance (from a new 230-horsepower V-6 in LS and GTS models), great handling (including traction control) and outstanding functionality (big back seat, huge trunk, lots of bins), the Galant becomes the car to beat in its class.
The Galant LS is intelligently laid out, with very comfortable seats and acceptable rear legroom, even when 6-footers are up front. Controls, similar to those in the Endeavor SUV, are intuitive and within reach.
Prices start around $19,000 for the base DE, putting the Galant in competition with the usual suspects, including the Nissan Altima, the Mazda 6, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. This is tough competition, but the Galant is definitely the sportiest of the bunch. It couples great low-end torque with 27-miles-per-gallon highway fuel economy (30 with the standard four-cylinder in the DE and ES).
Even the DE comes with air, power windows and locks, a 140-watt stereo with CD and four-wheel discs. The LS, still under $22,000, adds that peerless V-6, ABS brakes (with advanced "electronic brakeforce distribution") and traction control. The LS’ four-speed automatic also offers Sportronic manual control. The GTS adds sport suspension, leather and automatic climate control, but at $27,000 it’s a hefty jump. Go LS, I say.
Rollover rates
Still think SUVs are safe?
The rollover death rate per million registered SUVs is at least double the rate for cars, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Not convinced? For every million registered SUVs on the road in 2000, reports Keith Bradsher’s High and Mighty, there were 134 occupants killed in crashes of all types. For cars, the rate was 126 per million.
This is relevant because the federal government finally got serious with a vehicle rollover test last week. Congress mandated a rollover test after the Explorer/Firestone debacle of 2000. In a demonstration in Ohio last week, a 2000 Toyota 4Runner tipped over at the lowest test speed, but a 2003 version fared much better.
A spokesperson for Consumers Union, Douglas Love, told me, "We’re very pleased they’re implementing this testing program. There still needs to be a handling test, which hinges on how these vehicles perform at their limits."
Consumer Reports, you may recall, is before the Supreme Court after being sued by Suzuki, whose Samurai rolled over during testing in 1988.
