Orlando Sentinel's view

Last week I drove 180 miles through the winding country roads of northern Central Florida while taking turns behind the wheel of the new Chevrolet Lumina and Monte Carlo and the cars Chevy says will be their main competition.

After a careful comparison, I feel I can predict that Chevrolet will have solid hits with its new mid-size family sedan and luxury-sports coupe. Initially, however, the1995 Lumina-Monte Carlo may not be a home run, but they’ll certainly move Chevrolet into scoring position.

I feel that both cars – which are mechanically identical – are just one minor improvement away from giving Chevrolet a real shot at competing for the top spot in the mid-size market. All that both cars need are better front seats.

Both available engines – the 160-horsepower 3.1-liter V-6 and the 210-horsepower 24-valve 3.4-liter V-6 – felt great, delivering superbly refined performance and fuel economy many four-cylinder imports can match but not beat. I can’t recall driving any car with a smoother automatic transmission. The gearbox in the Lumina and Monte Carlo provides seamless shifts. You can’t even feel the downshift from fourth to third when you are cruising at highway speeds and you floor the accelerator to pass.

Balance and finesse probably best describe the overall driving and handling characteristics of both cars.

The four-wheel independent suspension in the Lumina sedan takes the sharp edge off most bumps while still delivering a very capable and athletic ride.

Both cars are outfitted with disc brakes up front and drums in the rear and power rack-and-pinion steering. Both systems are well matched to the weight and handling abilities of sedan and coupe.

An attractive interior

The interior doesn’t break any new ground in terms of styling or technology, but it is attractive, well laid out and user-friendly. The cupholders, for instance, have been designed to hold everything from the biggest cup of soda you canbuy to a coffee mug with a handle.

The three rotary air-conditioner switches feel excellent and are extremely easy to operate. The analog gauges, with their orange needles, white numbers and black background, are easy to read and nicely placed within the instrument cluster. Unlike the old Lumina, you can reach the radio and pop in a cassette without having to lean forward.

But after driving some of the cars that the Lumina and Monte Carlo will compete against – such as the Honda Accord, Ford Taurus and Dodge Intrepid – I realized that Chevy interior designers dropped the ball when it came to seating comfort.

I tried all of the seating options Chevy offers in the Lumina and Monte Carlo – bench and bucket, cloth and leather – and I couldn’t really get comfortable.

Specifically, it’s the lower portion of the front seats that need work. There isn’t enough padding and support in the lower cushion. I weigh 172 pounds and I felt the lower part of the seats sink slightly as I sat down. It was almost as if the seat cushion was touching the floorboard.

Even though the cars I test drove were pre-production models, Chevrolet officials said the seats in production cars would be virtually the same.

With more padding and support in the lower portion of the seat, the cars would have been as close to faultless as you can get in a lower-priced family sedan and sports coupe.

In any case, rear seating is excellent. And so is the legroom and headroom available to rear passengers.

Chevy officials hope to sell 300,000 Lumina sedans and Monte Carlo sport coupes in the 1995 model year. Chevrolet dealers already think the Monte Carlo, which went into production Feb. 14, is a real sweetheart. They’ve jammed Chevy with more than 90,000 orders for the cars.

Throughout the summer, Chevy dealers will start receiving both cars in volume.

No car ever starts out perfect. The new Lumina and Monte Carlo are no exceptions, but Chevr let is not far off the mark.