Familia driving agility, ride comfort

To enhance driving pleasure, the perennial attraction of cars in general, the new Familia is equipped with an engine that both increases output and boasts fuel efficiency along with a newly developed automatic transmission that greatly increases shifting smoothness. In addition, the suspension system was developed to balance driving stability and comfort. Vibration and noise have also been reduced.

driving agility, ride comfort

(1) Engine
Four types of gasoline engine are available, along with one diesel model. The 1.5-liter engine is equipped with the newly developed S-VT mechanism. It continuously varies the open-close timing of the air intake valves to produce the optimum valve timing under all driving conditions, from stop-and-go city driving to high-speed expressway driving. As a result, output and torque are increased while fuel consumption, CO2, and NOx emissions are all reduced.

Engine type	Type FP-DE 1.8-liter DOHC	Type ZL-VE 1.5-liter DOHC [S-VT]	Type ZL-DE 1.5-liter DOHC	Type B3-ME 1.3-liter SOHC	Type RF 2.0-liter Diesel
Max. power (ps/rpm JIS net)	135/6,200	130/7,000	110/6,000	85/6,000	70/4,650
Max. torque (kg-m/rpm JIS net)	16.5/4,500	14.4/4,000	14.0/4,000	11.2/4,000	13.2/2,500
Fuel required	Unleaded premium				Light oil

(2) Transaxle
Two types of four-speed electronically controlled automatic transaxle (4EC-AT) as well as two 5-speed manual transaxle are available. The smoothness of shifting gears on front-wheel-drive vehicles has been greatly enhanced by the newly developed 4EC-AT automatic transaxle. It is equipped with such functions as Feedback Control and Learning Control, which provide the class top level quality of shift.

(3) 4-wheel-drive system
The R-4 version of the S-wagon, which is equipped with a 1.8-liter engine, features a full-time, viscous LSD equipped 4-wheel-drive system. The S-4 version of the S-wagon, which is equipped with a 1.5-liter engine, and the LS sedan have a rotary blade coupling type real-time 4-wheel-drive system in which the front wheels are normally used for drive but drive transfers also to the rear wheels if the rotation rates of the front and rear wheels diverge.

(4) Body
The body of the new Familia boasts improved rigidity overall as well as better local rigidity at the suspension mounting points. This makes it possible to extract the full performance capability of the suspension while reducing vibration and noise for a more comfortable ride.

(5) Chassis
The height of the suspension's front and rear roll centers has been optimized for improved cornering precision, enhanced stability when driving in a straight line, and better steering responsiveness. Also, on the four-wheel- drive models, newly developed dampers with low-velocity control valves help maintain operating stability when negotiating winding roads and absorb input from the road surface for a more comfortable ride.

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