Black Enterprise 1998 Spring Auto Guide: our pick for the best vehicles this season.

In the 1990s, the Auto Market has remained on a pretty even keel. Trucks keep growing as a percentage of the overall market, while sales remain steady and strong. As 1998 begins, there is only the first hint of weakness in the growth of the sport-utility segment. But a bevy of new products and extremely bountiful profit margins will keep this arena moving for years to come. Increased competition may lead to better deals for consumers, but that situation is just starting to appear on the horizon.

Domestic versus import wars remain active. But the battles are changing. Most of the cars that Toyota, Honda and Nissan sell here are now built in the U.S. BMW and Mercedes-Benz operate factories in the U.S. heartland, while domestic nameplates are being built in Mexico. Currency fluctuations have seen values rise for import brands. European makers are adding sales faster than brands from any other continent. Even Volkswagen is seeing significant growth and is poised for a more energetic comeback into the American mainstream.

Car design itself changing. Smaller niche markets are becoming more interesting and continue to diversity the market. But when new shapes like the Ford Taurus flounder badly, all manufacturers become wary of challenging convention in mass market segments. It gets harder to make a statement without losing some practical or financial aspect of the equation. Then again, it has always taken either more risk or more money to stand out--and that's not changing.

Volkswagen Beetle 

Will Nostalgia sell? Volkswagen is betting that "the Bug" will. When the new Beetle arrives this spring, it will have only its styling in common with the car that once epitomized affordable driving in America. Rather than the crude air-cooled rear-engine machine of the past, the new version is a thoroughly modern car. And it's still cute!

The times--and inflation--have pushed the starting price upward from its $4,000 range in the '70s to $15,700. For this, you'll get the basic underpinnings of a Golf, including a 115-horsepower four-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive. You can also buy a frugal 90-horsepower diesel version now or one with a more powerful 150-horsepower engine later in the year. Rather than performance, the new Beetle will be marketed on sentimental fashion, complete with a bud vase.

From the familiar fender bulges to its round-house roof line, the Beetle aims to please the visual senses. There is simply no part of this car that isn't adorable. Yet it's also more sensible than most two-door compacts, with a roomy luggage compartment and comfortable seating for four. Handling is responsive, with a firm suspension and large fender-filling tires. Its most endearing feature, however, is that this will be the cheapest, most practical car, guaranteed to turn heads on the road.

Chrysler Town & Country

Chrysler has set the pace in the minivan business since 1983. While others are working to catch up--and may offer better choices in some ways--Chrysler remains the innovator. So far, this is the only company committed to the idea of a luxury minivan. To accentuate the point, the company is bringing out the 1999 Town & Country early in an even more luxurious form.

Designed to be a step up from the LXi, the Town & Country Limited should also set new records for minivan pricing. The LXi is already $32,465 before options are added, so expect the price to hit the mid-$30,000 range with the Limited.

Exterior features for the new made include spoked chrome 16-inch wheels and chrome door handles, body color cladding and body color roof rack, and distinctive badging. Interior features available only on the Limited include upgraded leather seats in a taupe color, a new rear bench seat design with a fold-down center arm rest, higher seat backs and integrated head restraints, steering wheel radio controls, dual zone temperature control and 18-ounce carpeting and mats for a quieter, softer feel to the interior. Mechanically, the Limited remains the same as the standard Town & Country.

Lexus RX 300

If you like the fashion statement of an SUV, but would just hate to give up that smooth, comfortable ride and easy handling of your luxury sedan, Lexus has the answer. Call this the ES300 "Power Wagon," if you will. It has all the pleasant ride characteristics of the most popular Lexus sedan, yet the aggressive styling and roomy utilitarian interior add function. A modified V-6 is so silky smooth, you'll be surprised how fast it gets you up to speed. Those are 220 extremely polite horses.

Don't want to climb into a truck? The RX300 is just a bit taller than a passenger car, making entry and exit even easier. Although the suspension may not look that remarkable an paper, Lexus also realized that people rarely drive on paper. It handles pavement just fine, making bumps disappear and taking advantage of its passenger-car-type credentials to tame curves as well.

For $31,550, you get a basic front-wheel-drive model, while another $1,400 adds full-time all-wheel drive. Figure around $35,000 if you load it up. This isn't a rough and tumble SUV ready to follow the LX470 or even a Jeep off-road. But when it comes to handling foul and fair weather with courteous manners, the RX300 reigns as a new champion of comfort among SUVs.

Volkswagen Passat 

As recently as a year ago, many experts would have scoffed at the idea of a Volkswagen that was ready to compete head-to-head with the best midsize sedans from Toyota and Honda. But the Possat is earning believers. It has all the practical features of ample room for people and cargo. The ride quality is soft and comfortable. There are plenty of gadgets and luxury accouterments to amuse and entertain.

A good start, yes. Then pile on one of the most powerful and pleasing four-cylinder engines on the market, handling and ride control that show just how the Germans earned their automotive reputation, and a price aimed directly of the heart of the market. Starting at $21,250, the Possat is already well equipped. The base engine in many ways works better than the optional V-6, so there's no need to reach toward the upper end of the Passat's price range.

Styling is distinctive without being weird. It's different, yet still quite sensible. Thoughtful features abound--from the rubber strip on the door to prevent curb-side scratches to one-touch up-or-clown front windows. This shares much of its underpinnings with its sibling, the Audi A4, trading in just a bit of sport and style in favor of more room and function.

Mazda Miata

How can you trump the impact the original Miata had on the market when it arrived more than a decade ago? Well, you can't. But Mazda's smart enough not to mess with success. Rather than transform the vehicle frequently acclaimed as "the most fun you can buy in a car per dollar," they simply made a few improvements.

In fact, there are far more improvements than are readily visible. The engine is more powerful and the chassis stiffened. Pop-up headlamps are replaced by exposed oval lamps. There is a bit more curve to give the car a slightly more masculine and aggressive look. The trunk is roomier, and the convertible top, now with a glass rear window, is even easier to operate. And it's hard to believe, but Mazda took the best-shifting manual transmission on the market and made it better.

Best of all, this is the only roadster on the market starting at less than $20,000. In fact, by the time you pay for your first oil change, it's the only one under $30,000. This keeps the Miata's reputation absolutely infact as the most affordable smile-maker you can by on four wheels.

Honda Passport 

Although this is built by Isuzu (where it's sold as the Rodeo), people are happier owning a Honda, judging by satisfaction surveys. For 1998, the revised. A facelift is accompanied by new rack-and-pinion steering and a softer, more comfortable ride. Four-wheel-drive models (an now be transferred into and out of four-wheel-drive while in motion. (This still remains a part-time system, not for use on dry pavement.)

More power from the standard V-6 engine makes this a rather quick sport-utility vehicle. There are now 205 horses under hood, ready to do your bidding more smoothly than before. This Passport is quiet enough to substitute for a car. However, despite its height, there's not much head room for rear seat passengers.

If an off-road adventure is on your agenda, the Passport is more capable of taking you there. But, for a starting price of $23,095 that can surpass $30,000 when loaded, the Passport may not he the best bargain

Ford Crown Victoria 

It's the lost of a breed. Except for the Crown Vic and its sibling, the Mercury Grand Marquis, the full-size rear-drive family car is gone, a part of American history. There are still plenty of rear-drive luxury cars, but the only one left of this bulk is Lincoln's Town (or, a chrome-laden caricature of domestic sedans of the post.

Meanwhile, the Crown Vic lives on largely as a result of its demand for police and taxi cob duties. Those folks go through transmissions frequently, and if you've comparison shopped front- versus rear-drive transmissions, you'll understand why.

As the lost bastion of this design, it still offers up good interior room, albeit not as efficiently as front-drive competitors. The V-8 is plenty powerful and if you've got a big trailer to haul, this will do the job better than anything that isn't called a truck. Prices start at $21,540 before piling on options that can raise the ante several thousand. The 1998 model was delayed while ford re-thought the vehicle, then gave it a slight facelift, new grille and rear suspension. Still, if you buy your cars by the pound, this is one of the best deals around.

Mercury Cougar 

After a brief demise, the Cougar is returning for 1999. This time it's like no Cougar that has gone before. There is no V-8. Rear-wheel drive is gone. It's a much smaller vehicle, with many of its underpinnings designed overseas. And it's no longer related to a Ford Thunderbird. (That car is taking a long hiatus and returning in a much changed form).

We know what it's not, but what is Cougar? You wouldn't know from the styling, but it could be called a Mercury Mystique coupe. It shares its engines and suspension with that car. You can choose a 125-horsepower four-cylinder or 170-horsepower V-6. Although the Mystique has not had much success as a sedan, perhaps its sporty nature will find better luck as a two-door.

Styling is very wedge-shaped, with plenty of edges and creases--something like a Mitsubishi Eclipse. In terms of pricing, the Cougar competes with the Eclipse. Prices haven't been announced, but they start at under $20,000, and reach beyond with options aplenty.

Nissan Frontier 

New compact pickup trucks don't come along too often, so when Nissan revamps its truck, it's big news. Not only is the truck mostly new, the name is too. The Frontier is a turnaround for Nissan, putting its truck back into the mainstream after the failed styling experiment of the Hardbody.

Under the hood of the Frontier is a heavily revised four-cylinder engine. This double overhead cam 2.4-liter power plant puts out a very smooth and quiet 143 horsepower. That's as much as you'll find in the base engine of any compact truck. For now, however, you won't be able to upgrade that power plant. The V-6 is temporarily unavailable, due for a return next fall.

Meanwhile, you can have a choice of manual or automatic transmission, rear- or part-time four-wheel drive, and standard or King Cab. At its most basic, you get a stripped-down truck for a measly $12,480. There isn't much luxury, but it's still plenty peppy with a beefy frame, decent ride comfort and roomy bed, all ready to work. The top of the line King Cab SE four-wheel drive will set you back $21,480, but it's got all the luxuries, including keyless remote entry and four-brakes.

Oldsmobile Alero 

Oldsmobile keeps trying to put itself into a position to be thought of as competition to Honda and Nissan. Gradually, the GM Division is dropping its larger traditional cars and bringing in more sporty alternatives. The Alero is bringing up the lowest price range. This is replacing the Achieva, a car that never had much success. Prices, which start at $18,000 and move up to $22,000, are lower than last year's model and start off below the 1998 Achieva's $18,340.

The oddest thing about the Alero is that it will compete in virtually the same segment as the Oldsmobile Cutlass, which also starts out at about the same price level. The two cars share much of the same underpinnings. The Alero is a bit smaller and will offer more variation. You can get either a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine or a 3.4-liter V-6. The only transmission will be a four-speed automatic. Both a two-door coupe and four-door sedan will be offered, each in one of three trim levels. Features like four-wheel anti-lock disc brakes and traction control are standard on all models.

Pontiac Grand Am 

This is the Pontiac version of the same car that Oldsmobile will sell as the Alero. There are two very prominent differences, however. First, the Grand Am has much more flamboyant styling, which is intended to appeal to a different sort of buyer. And second, there seem to be more of those buyers out there because the Grand Am has a history of greater sales success.

Although styling retains the same basic theme, the 1999 Grand Am is a bit shorter than before, but with a wheelbase increase of 3.6 inches. It's also wider and taller. The rear leg room increased, while the front leg room is reduced by an inch.

Engine choices are the 150-horsepower four-cylinder or the 170-horsepower V-6. Both come only with an automatic transmission. Unlike the Alero, the Grand Am does not get four-wheel disc brakes. But it will also start at a significantly lower price than the Alero. The 1998 Grand Am cost from $16,395 to around $20,000.

As before, there will be a choice of two trim levels, SE and GT, and two body styles, coupe and sedan.

Porsche 911

Porsche calls this the first all-new 911 in 34 years. Of course, you wouldn't know by looking at it. That traditional slant-nose, rear engine and very familiar shape remain very much intact. Porsche has simply smoothed the edges a bit.

Powering the 911 is still a familiar 3.4-liter horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine. Big news for Porsche fans is the switch to water-cooling. This will make the engine a bit quieter while enabling Porsche to meet vehicle emissions standards.

This new 911 is larger. Wheelbase is up by 3.2 inches, overall length by 6.8 inches and width by 1.2 inches. Although height remains the same, the car Is squeezed a bit by increasing ground clearance nearly an inch.

With the move from two to four valves per cylinder and a horsepower increase by 14 to 296, performance is also improved. Prices are increased only mildly, starting at $65,795. Of course, with dozens of pricey options (e.g., footwell lights for $747 or dark maple dashboard wood for a whopping $5,279!), the numbers can increase quickly.

BMW M Roadster 

BMW likes to take an idea and expand upon it. When the Z3 first arrived, it was an entertaining--if somewhat slow--sports car. That changed last year when the Z3 2.8 was introduced with a pretty potent inline-6, producing 190 happy horsepower.

Still, BMW is caught behind the performance levels of the Porsche Boxster, particularly with a more powerful Porsche on the way. So, add the M Roadster. This takes the 240-horsepower 3.2-liter inline-6 from the rather thrilling M3, and pours it under the hood of Z3. Imagine 0 to 60 mph in about 5.2 seconds!

For your $42,200, you get a power top, leather-lined interior and a particularly sporty suspension setup. The seats are a bit more flamboyant in styling, while designed to hold you in place better. Even the three-spoke steering wheel is special for the M Roadster.

This will be the Z3 you see burning rubber at will. Since you can't get traction control on this model, it's even more of a fair weather friend. But when the sun shines, what a pal!

Lexus LX 470

There is a new ultimate sport-utility vehicle on the market. The Lexus LX470 goes the former LX450 more than one better. An all-new suspension system makes this one plush-riding SUV. Yet it still has the credentials of a truly solid truck.

A new V-8 engine is derived from the LS400 sedan, but built with even greater toughness. This is the only power plant of its type to ever go in an SUV. And the front independent suspension softens the ride while improving handling on any road--paved or dirt. If there is a sacrifice to be made, it's that front and rear locking differentials are no longer available. If you don't know why you'd need them, chances are you don't.

This all-new vehicle gains separation from its sibling, the Toyota Land Cruiser, by adding more luxury than ever. For a price in the $50,000 range, you get more room and comfort than any other SUV in the class. Seating for eight and a standard equipment list that keeps going almost forever (in-dash six-CD changer, 250-watt stereo, buttery leather and automatic everything, just to start) make this the champion of trux-ury.

Toyota Land Cruiser

An entirely new Land Cruiser adds luxury and versatility to the marketplace. Already one of the roughest and toughest SUVs in the dirt, its on-road performance has left something to be desired. For 1998, however, that all changes. Start with a 230-horsepower 32-valve V-8 engine that pumps out a massive 320 foot-pounds of torque. A stiffer chassis eliminates shake, and the new independent front suspension gives this brute the road manners of a ballerina.

You can still get an optional locking center and rear differential system for outstanding ability in the dirt. However, the front locker is no longer available, mildly reducing off-road ability from incredible to merely best in its class. Technology shows in such features as a new type of ABS that takes into account the roughness of the road and tilt angle of the vehicle.

With extra luxury standard, prices will rise a few thousand to $46,370 plus options. But this large SUV can amaze in a number of ways. One small example: Despite bounding over rocks and launching over high-speed dips and humps, it's impossible to get the CD player to skip a beat.

Mercedes E430

Within Mercedes-Benz, the E-Class is becoming almost a separate franchise. First, there was a basic six-cylinder sedan. Then a diesel model. This year, they've added a station wagon and an all-wheel-drive sedan and wagon. Now comes the new top of the line, the E430 with a 275-horsepower V-8.

Unique to Mercedes-Benz, this engine produces a constant amount of torque, 295-foot-pounds from 3,000 to 4,400 rpm. This makes the E430 not just fast, but a particularly easy car to drive. Add a five-speed automatic transmission that uses a computer to adapt to the driver's style, and you end up with a drivetrain that can read your mind and get you where you want to go. Fast.

With prices starting at $51,195, this performance doesn't come cheap. But it does include plenty of luxury. Still, you can spend thousands more on options such as an electronic stability program ($990), Xenon headlamps, ($960), heated front seats ($595), power moon roof ($1,110) and others.

Somewhere between the tout handling of a BMW 5 Series and the plush ride of a Lexus LS400, the E430 presents both power and classic comfort.