Executive Vehicles
Tony Scotti
The Cadillac DTS-L
Cadillac has added eight extra inches of rear-seat room. They hope to draw more interest from the corporate community. You can get more info at; http://www.autosite.com/content/shared/articles/templates/index.cfm/article_id_int/2361
Lincoln Town Car L Series
The vehicle comes with seating for six and a wheelbase that’s six inches longer than other Town Car models. The L series is the grand dad of all the slightly stretched vehicles. You can get more info at; http://www.lincoln.com/towncar/models.asp
Chrysler and Accubuilt 300 Six-Inch Stretch
Chrysler is also getting into the act with an, Executive Series 300. It is a six-inch stretch, which supplies an extra six inches of extra legroom. You can get the vehicle with a Hemi V8. The vehicle has a safety cage that got a five stars safety rating for frontal crashes. You can get more info at; http://www.leftlanenews.com/dcx-announces-2007-chrysler-300-long-wheelbase.html
Mercedes S550
For those that don’t have to worry about ‘Buy American” and money there is the Mercedes S550 The S550 has a 5.5-liter V8 engine with 382 horsepower. It has about every safety and luxury feature you can imagine, including a Night View Assist infrared night vision system, and a rear-parking camera. http://www.mbusa.com/models/main.do?modelCode=S550V
SUV Blind Spots
With the increase in the use of SUV’s as executive vehicles comes a new and growing problem - bigger blind spots when backing. These blind spots for sedans, minivans, SUVs, and pickups range from 12-35 feet. According to Consumer Reports measurements some vehicles (The 2006 Jeep Commander Limited) had blind spot of 69 feet with a short driver.
Consumer Reports measures the blind spots on vehicles using both short and tall drivers. Here is what they found.
- Sedans: 12 feet to 24 feet
- Minivans: 15 feet to 26 feet
- Sport Utility Vehicles: 13 feet to 29 feet
- Pickup trucks: 23 feet to 35 feet
With some of these large pickups, the blind zone can be longer than the driveway.
If your company is using a SUV as executive transportation consider installing a back up camera, this is a short list of companies that sell aftermarket backing up cameras.
Tire Pressures
Test done by the National Traffic and Safety Administration show that one in three cars are being driven with at least one significantly under-inflated tire, as a Security Driver you have to manage tire pressures.
Under inflated tires is a major safety concern, for more info on tires go to http://securitydriver.com/aic/stories/article-116.html
