chicagotribune.com's view

Think of the Pontiac 6000 STE as an insurance policy.

The STE, which bowed a few years ago as the ultimate luxury/performance model in the midsize Pontiac 6000 series, is offered only as a four-wheel- drive luxury/performance sedan for 1989.

With four-wheel drive, unless the snow is up to the door handles, you can hop into the STE and get where you need to go.

But 4WD also has changed the car`s character. The emphasis now is more on luxury, less on performance. Perhaps it wasn`t intentional, but that`s how it turned out.

The 4WD STE is powered by GM`s new 3.1-liter V-6 engine, which develops 140 horsepower, or about 20 h.p. less than GM`s 3.3-liter V-6 engine. The V-6 would be a welcome substitution under the hood when the roads are dry providing you have an underground gas tank in your back yard.

On dry roads with the 3.1, the lighted squares in the fuel gauge grow dim rather quickly thanks to the added weight of the 4WD hardware. The fuel economy rating is 19 m.p.g. city, 23 m.p.g. highway, which seems mighty generous of the EPA.

The 3.1 is a bit slow off the line. Once up to cruising there`s no problem, but getting there sometimes seems laborious. The STE only comes with a 3-speed automatic, no 4-speed, which certainly doesn`t help.

The STE doesn`t handle like an Audi Quattro, either. While the Audi with 4WD is loose and limber, the STE at times feels cumbersome, despite fully independent front and rear suspension and electronic ride control.

Maybe it was psychological. The STE has cast aluminum wheels, body- colored bumpers, aero moldings, rear deck lid spoiler, body-colored mirrors and fog lamps. The car looks like a miniature version of the Bonneville SSE. Perhaps we expected it to act like one.

What you have to accept with the 4WD STE is the fact it`s meant as a four-wheel-drive sedan alternative to a utility vehicle.

Not only does the STE offer full-time 4WD, it also has antilock brakes as standard, a combination akin to wearing belt and suspenders for that extra measure of protection.

We had to rely on both the 4WD and the antilocks while test-driving the STE. When the snow started piling high and others took to the shovels just to clear the way to the street, we only had to clean off the windows, turn the key, and head to the store. The STE made its own pathway down the pavement.

Maybe the 3.1 falls a few horses short, and maybe you swing a bit wide in a turn, but when the roads are filled with snow, performance takes on a new meaning: You can move when others are stationary; you can follow a straight line when others are swaying back and forth; and you can stop when others are sliding past the sign and through the intersection.

We drove the STE to Michigan when ice was on the pavement here and snow was on the roadway from Indiana to the Detroit city limits. Snow plows were busy dropping s alt and sand to provide traction, but cars and trucks whose drivers acted as if the roadway was clean and clear lined the ditches along Int. Hwy. 94.

The STE never even wavered. Perhaps it doesn`t get off the line quickly, and perhaps you have to put up with wide swings in tight turns. But despite the shortcomings, it only takes one winter storm to appreciate the car.

As for the antilock brakes, we found ourselves on the Ohio Street bridge in Chicago in the early morning hours. The surface was slick. Suddenly the car ahead decided to pause and gape at a mini-van that just had its left front fender autographed by a 4-doorsedan.

No other lane was open to avoid the car ahead so we hit the brakes. They pulsated quickly. The STE stopped in a straight line about a whisker`s length from the bumper of the car ahead. Without antilock, we have to assume the gaper ahead would have had us for a traveling companion that morning.

The STE was designed for sn w-caked and rain-soaked highways and not for off-roading. The body was raised a fraction of an inch to accommodate the 4WD hardware, but there isn`t sufficient clearance to take on sandy beaches or rolling countryside.

If you find you`ve pulled over onto a soft shoulder, however, and the wheels have started to sink, a button located behind the gear shift lever in the center console will lock the center differential to help get you out by ensuring drive power to at least one front and one rear wheel.

Standard equipment also includes air conditioning, power brakes and steering, AM-FM stereo with cassette and digital clock, leather-wrapped tilt steering wheel, power windows/door locks, cruise control, Goodyear Eagle GT+4 all-season 15-inch tires, and power driver`s seat with lumbar support that uses an inflatable bladder to puff up the seat.

Two other noteworthy points: The orange backlighting on all the instrumental panel and radio controls may overwhelm you. It looks like the control system for the space shuttle. The radio alone has more buttons than the neighborhood tailor. The STE also has a set of radio controls in the steering wheel for ease of use. Nice, if only there was an on/off switch.

The STE is priced at$23,049, which is considerably more than many 4WD utility vehicles.

Only 1,500 to 2,000 4WD STEs will be built and sold for the 1989 model year starting this month. At least that many doctors who need to guarantee travel regardless of weather will take care of the `89 allotment.

Pontiac said it expects to offer 4WD in a passenger car in the 1990 model year, too. We suspect that the4WD sedan will be called STE but that it will be a 4WD STE version of the new W-body 4-door Grand Prix sedan rather than of the current A-body 6000. Pontiac will keep offering the A-body 6000 even after it starts marketing its new 4-door Grand Prix sedan for `90, but the 4WD feature is better suited in a new Grand Prix than the dated 6000.

The 4-door Grand Prix will come out this fall as a `90 model. The 4WD version will follow it by a few months and, like the current STE, will be a limited production number.

>> 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE 4WD Wheelbase: 104.9 inches Length: 188.8 inches Engine 3.1 liter, 140 h.p. V-6 Transmission: 3 speed automatic Fuel economy:19 m.p.g.city/23 m.p.g. highway Base price: $23,049 Strong point: Traction Weak point: Mileage >>