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2003 Buick LeSabre and Celebration Trim Package
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A driver, strapped securely in a leather-lined bucket with contoured bolsters supporting hips and spine, faces an instrument panel containing elegantly designed white-faced analog gauges rimmed in beads of chrome.
Peering directly through the windshield above the instrument panel, we see a display in neon-green numbers of the vehicle's speed and critical engine data projected magically on glass in the driver's line of sight.
Gripping a padded steering wheel, we turn it to match the right-angle turns at mile-length sections and the crisp rack and pinion steering mechanism -- aided by a magnetic variable-effort power boost -- complies. With engine power directed to the front wheels, LeSabre turns in deft zig and zag maneuvers that demonstrate its agility on pavement.
Step on the accelerator after rounding one of these corners and the forceful engine reacts quickly to build momentum again.
Despite large-car dimensions and the inevitable bulk, our LeSabre surges forward, thanks to inherent strength of the General Motors 3800 series 3.8-liter V6, which produces 205-hp at 5,200 rpm and 230 lb-ft of torque at 4,000 rpm.
The pushrod V6 links to a smooth and responsive automatic transaxle with electronic controls, four forward gears and the shifter lever mounted conventionally on the steering column.
Press the brake pedal and this elegant mass of metal and glass and plastic and rubber tracks an unwavering line to stop in rapid time. There are disc brakes for all four wheels and a computerized connection to anti-lock controls.
Also aboard is a complex computer-based stability control program called StabiliTrak that integrates throttle response, steering force, anti-lock brakes and input from sensors designed to detect lateral as well as linear slippage of the vehicle.
The unobtrusive equipment seems dormant under normal driving conditions, yet it will act automatically to correct potentially dangerous car movements should they occur.
