Except for three new color choices, the 1996 Lumina looks just like the redesigned '95version. The 4-door Lumina also shares its chassis, its hardware and most of its body panels with Chevy's sportier Monte Carlo coupe, which starts at $17,225. True to its family-sedan mission, however, the Lumina is taller, for added head room, and has rear doors that stretch way back over the wheels to make getting in and out easier. Like its high-volume competitors, the Lumina breaks no new ground in styling. Its semi-jellybean shape looks as subdued as Newt Gingrich's gray flannel suit next to the new Taurus and even the 3-year-old Dodge Intrepid. But like a good suit that's comfy on the inside, the Lumina's low beltline and rear deck help drivers face the world outside, view the landscape and maneuver into tight spots without undue neck-stretching. Trim options are also suitably basic and uncomplicated. There's the base Lumina Sedan, which includes air conditioning, power locks, intermittent wipers and a raft of other accessories. Then there's the LS, which adds such key items as power windows and mirrors, antilock brakes and a cassette radio. While you can add those upgrades to base Luminas, the $18,595 LS includes them for less. It also allows you to opt for rear disc brakes instead of the standard drums, along with a 3.4-liter twin-camshaft V6 that pumps out 55 hp more than the standard pushrod engine and another 15 hp over the optional twin-cam V6 in Ford's Taurus.
Luminas are also spacious where it counts. Two wide bench seats provide more shoulder room front and rear than you'll find in any of the Lumina's competitors save for the larger Intrepid, which wins by a smidgeon up front. There's also more front headroom than the Intrepid, and more in back than all but Honda's Accord, which is far smaller nearly everywhere else. Result: Even though the Lumina isn't long on rear seat legroom, it's one of the few that can seat six adults for anywhere near the price. Sit in the driver's seat, and you face a clear, compact instrument cluster with large round gauges. You also face a sea of gray plastic, though nearly everything on it--from the high-mounted rotary climate dials to the large radio knobs and buttons--is right where it should be. An exception is the Lumina's horn, which requires both a stretch to reach and a firm push to activate. Another exception is the optional new dual temperature tabs for the driver and front passenger. Both are tougher to adjust at speed than dials. We also wonder why Luminas still lack a flash-to-pass feature for the high beams. In back, even the center -hump+ seat is reasonably comfy, thanks to the Lumina's generous headroom. Open the trunk, and you get equally generous cargo space that's within 1 cu. ft. of the full-size Dodge Intrepid's. While both the base and Lumina LS offer a new integral rear child seat, you can swap it on LS editions for a center armrest that opens a small pass-through to the trunk. Oddly enough, a fold-down split rear seat comes only on the less-utilitarian Monte Carlo. |
