chicagotribune.com's view

It would have been easy for Mazda to give up shortly after it introducedthe rotary-powered engine in the early `70s. Gas prices skyrocketed, fuelsupplies dried up and the rotary`s then dismal mileage seemed to spell doommore than hummmmmmmm.

Mazda went back to the drawing board and focused on conventional enginesin conventional cars and aimed the rotary powered RX-7 sports coupe at a smallniche in the market rather than at the masses. Its fortunes soared.

But Mazda still fell short of being a full-line competitor with itsfellow Japanese producers.

While Toyota had its Cressida and Nissan its Maxima, the best Mazda could come up with was the 626. Not a bad car, but not in the same league as theToyota and Nissan rivals. And while the 626 sold well, there was no car in theMazda line for owners to move up into once they outgrew the 626.

Enter the 929 four-door sedan for 1988, Mazda`s first attempt to competewith the big boys with a big car of its own, a sedan built on a 106.7-inchwheelbase, that`s 193.1 inches long overall.

The 929 is not only considerably larger than the compact 626 (101-inchwheelbase, 179 inches long), but it also is bigger than Cressida (104.5-inchwheelbase, 187.8 inches long) and Maxima (100.4-inch wheelbase, 181.5 incheslong). The new 929 is about the same size as a Ford Taurus or ChevroletCelebrity.

The 929 we test drove looks like Taurus, with its rounded aero sheetmetal. If it weren`t for Mazda`s rather dull exterior paint finishes, the 929 and Taurus would look even more alike.

With the 929, Mazda has raised the standards people will come to expectfrom it. The 929 is very roomy, comfortable and quiet. There`s lot of spacefront and rear for adults on long trips and ample trunk capacity for weeklygroceries or luggage.

A clever touch is the swing feature on the three vents in the center ofthe dash. Touch the swing button and the vents rotate to evenly distribute hotor cold air. Optional leather seats aren`t the slippery variety that senddriver or passengers sliding into or out of each turn or corner. For thesafety-conscious, rear seats are equipped with shoulder belts.

The rear-wheel-drive 929 is powered by a new 18-valve, fuel-injected 3-liter V-6 that features two intake and one exhaust valve per cylinder. The3-liter V-6 generates 158 horsepower. You can scoot away from the lightwithout lots of noise.

With the 929, you get the choice of 5-speed manual transmission orautomatic at no extra cost. The Environmental Protection Agency rating withmanual is 18 miles per gallon in the city and 24 m.p.g. on the highway. Withautomatic it`s 19 m.p.g in the city and 23 m.p.g. on the highway.

The automatic we drove was teamed with push-button settings for power,economy and hold modes, providing a choice of off-the-line performance,optimum mileage or low-speed momentum when starting out on slippery pavement. The hold mode off ers a big advantage for a rear-wheel-drive car. In hold, the transmission doesn`t start upshifting as you move from the light. One ofthe drawbacks with rear-drive is getting the tail end to hold the pavementwhen starting on snow or rain-slicked roads.

With the transmission setting on hold, we pressed the accelerator and the car moved forward without any slippage on wet roads. Once you feel traction issecure, release the hold button and the transmission starts shifting again.

The 929 has speed-sensitive power steering and fully independentsuspension.

The 929 has four-wheel disc brakes as standard and four-wheel antilockbrakes, an option that has to be purchased with the automatic suspensionsystem in an $1,800 package. (Antilock braking systems are available on the929, RX-7 and any turbocharged 626).

The car we drove had neither the antilock brakes nor the automaticsuspension. Still, the ride was smooth without being mushy, turning andcornering firm without lots of body roll.

The 929 carries a sticker most Mazda owners will be unfamiliar withunless they`ve driven an RX-7. Base price is $18,950, which includes powerbrakes and steering, air conditioning, AM-FM stereo radio and choice oftransmissions. The Cressida starts at $20,250, and the Maxima at $17,199.