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Interview With David Champion of 'Consumer Reports'

Aired March 11, 2003 - 14:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With gas prices hitting near record levels, you may be looking closer at fuel economy with your next set of wheels.
Well, what are the best choices in 2003? To find out, we turn to "Consumer Reports'" David Champion. He has the list from the magazine's 50th anniversary edition, so congratulations on that, and I imagine that this is a very popular issue, right?

DAVID CHAMPION, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Oh, it is. It's our biggest issue of the year, and we have more information in it than we've ever had before.

COLLINS: So let's go ahead because we talked already a little bit about this fuel economy. SUVs, as you know, have come under fire recently because many people say they are not fuel efficient. We know they take more gas. Tell us about what the best buy is, at least in that department.

CHAMPION: In mid-sized SUVs, our top pick is the Honda Pilot. It's got three rows of seats, seats eight people. It's a very nice to drive car. It's not the old sort of truck-base that is good for going off road, but it's good for sort of snowy conditions and dirt roads. And it actually gets 19 miles per gallon overall in our testing, so from the SUV point of view, it's about the same as a midsize sedan.

COLLINS: Can you tell us anything about some of these improvements that are being made to SUVs, though, with respect to fuel economy?

CHAMPION: Well, a lot of the SUVs are going away from the old truck-based ones which were based on pickup trucks, and they're now based on a sort of modern car sort of platform, and this makes them lighter. It makes them ride better, and from the testing that we've done at the "Consumer Reports" test track, we have actually seen that they produce better fuel economy numbers than the big old heavy ones.

COLLINS: All right. Let's go ahead and move on now to the best bets under $25,000. A lot of people, I'm sure, waiting to hear their bang for the buck. What did you pick in this category?

CHAMPION: The best four cylinder family sedan is the Honda Accord. It is new for 2003. The new 2.4 engine is very peppy. It is almost as good as the V-6, gets very good gas mileage. It's roomy, and it has more of a driver's flair than the previous Accord.

COLLINS: How about mileage champs? CHAMPION: In mileage champs -- we've tested all the gas-electric hybrids. The best one is the Honda Insight. It has a gas engine, electric motor, and then a transmission, and we managed 51 miles per gallon. But it's not a very useful car in everyday driving, and our top pick in green driving, which is one of our categories, is the Honda Civic Hybrid, and that takes the same sort of technology, the engine, the electric motor, and then the transmission. We managed 36 miles per gallon overall.

COLLINS: I've just got a golf cart at home. I wonder if that might not be on that list at some point. All right. Tell us also, as we mentioned, the price of gasoline going up, and people really being concerned about that. If they were to go out and buy a car today, what would be their best buy with respect to money and fuel efficiency both?

CHAMPION: Well, if you are looking for fuel efficiency, a small car is probably your best bet, and in that category, it would be the Honda Civic, the standard Honda Civic. It has a 1.7 liter engine. It's a very nice car to drive. It is fairly roomy inside for a small car. Road noise is a little high, but reliability has been excellent.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. "Consumer Reports'" David Champion. Thank you so much for being with us today.

CHAMPION: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired March 11, 2003 - 14:39   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: With gas prices hitting near record levels, you may be looking closer at fuel economy with your next set of wheels.
Well, what are the best choices in 2003? To find out, we turn to "Consumer Reports'" David Champion. He has the list from the magazine's 50th anniversary edition, so congratulations on that, and I imagine that this is a very popular issue, right?

DAVID CHAMPION, "CONSUMER REPORTS": Oh, it is. It's our biggest issue of the year, and we have more information in it than we've ever had before.

COLLINS: So let's go ahead because we talked already a little bit about this fuel economy. SUVs, as you know, have come under fire recently because many people say they are not fuel efficient. We know they take more gas. Tell us about what the best buy is, at least in that department.

CHAMPION: In mid-sized SUVs, our top pick is the Honda Pilot. It's got three rows of seats, seats eight people. It's a very nice to drive car. It's not the old sort of truck-base that is good for going off road, but it's good for sort of snowy conditions and dirt roads. And it actually gets 19 miles per gallon overall in our testing, so from the SUV point of view, it's about the same as a midsize sedan.

COLLINS: Can you tell us anything about some of these improvements that are being made to SUVs, though, with respect to fuel economy?

CHAMPION: Well, a lot of the SUVs are going away from the old truck-based ones which were based on pickup trucks, and they're now based on a sort of modern car sort of platform, and this makes them lighter. It makes them ride better, and from the testing that we've done at the "Consumer Reports" test track, we have actually seen that they produce better fuel economy numbers than the big old heavy ones.

COLLINS: All right. Let's go ahead and move on now to the best bets under $25,000. A lot of people, I'm sure, waiting to hear their bang for the buck. What did you pick in this category?

CHAMPION: The best four cylinder family sedan is the Honda Accord. It is new for 2003. The new 2.4 engine is very peppy. It is almost as good as the V-6, gets very good gas mileage. It's roomy, and it has more of a driver's flair than the previous Accord.

COLLINS: How about mileage champs? CHAMPION: In mileage champs -- we've tested all the gas-electric hybrids. The best one is the Honda Insight. It has a gas engine, electric motor, and then a transmission, and we managed 51 miles per gallon. But it's not a very useful car in everyday driving, and our top pick in green driving, which is one of our categories, is the Honda Civic Hybrid, and that takes the same sort of technology, the engine, the electric motor, and then the transmission. We managed 36 miles per gallon overall.

COLLINS: I've just got a golf cart at home. I wonder if that might not be on that list at some point. All right. Tell us also, as we mentioned, the price of gasoline going up, and people really being concerned about that. If they were to go out and buy a car today, what would be their best buy with respect to money and fuel efficiency both?

CHAMPION: Well, if you are looking for fuel efficiency, a small car is probably your best bet, and in that category, it would be the Honda Civic, the standard Honda Civic. It has a 1.7 liter engine. It's a very nice car to drive. It is fairly roomy inside for a small car. Road noise is a little high, but reliability has been excellent.

COLLINS: All right. Very good. "Consumer Reports'" David Champion. Thank you so much for being with us today.

CHAMPION: Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com