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Chevrolet Metro 1998-2001
The second generation of the Sprint/Metro line in North America was introduced in 1995 as a three-door hatchback and four-door sedan — using an adaptation of the longer wheelbase platform from the second generation Cultus for both body configurations. Also designed at GM's Design Center, it carried styling cues similar from the bigger Chevrolet Cavalier and was built on the Suzuki developed M platform with Suzuki drivetrains. These models were marketed only in North America, carrying the nameplates Geo Metro (later re-branded the Chevrolet Metro), Pontiac Firefly, and Suzuki Swift — and sourced only from CAMI Automotive. Thus this version was never sold as a Cultus, which was replaced by the Cultus Crescent in Japan. Production ended after model year 2001.
In 1995, the second generation Metro came with the 3-cylinder still used on base models and becoming an option for non-LSi models in 1997. This generation had the first Pontiac Firefly to offer the 1.3 litre inline four cylinder engine.
The third generation North American "Cultus" featured two engines, a revised 1.3 L multi-point fuel injected four-cylinder engine (with hydraulic lifters and lash adjusters, and a 30,000-mile service interval) and a 1.0 L throttle body injected three-cylinder engine. The 1.0 L became the last engine on a vehicle available in the US to use TBI. The 1.3 L I4 offered 70 hp (52 kW), and was the same engine that had been in use in the Suzuki Swift (except for the GT models) in prior years. LSi models produced after 1997 featured the four-cylinder engine with a sixteen-valve head instead of the eight valves of the earlier design, yet was still an SOHC design. It produced 79 hp (59 kW). Contemporary Suzuki Swifts were available with only the four-cylinder, and only as a hatchback. The hatchback body configuration featured a three-inch lower liftover height compared to the previous generation model. Safety equipment included optional anti-lock brakes, safety cage construction with deformable front and rear crush zones and five structural crossbars engineered to spread side impact loads throughout the car's structure, steel side impact door safety beams, and daytime running lights (the second generation Metro was the second GM car to offer DRLs in the United States. The 1995 Chevrolet Corsica was the first.), and dual frontal airbags. A new, one-piece instrument panel was mounted to one of the five crossmembers with a new, full seal filling the gap between the instrument panel and the dash. The sedan and coupe chassis were 20% and 5% stiffer respectively than the previous generation 5-door and coupe Metros, and at the time of its introduction, the Metro was the smallest car in the world to meet the impending 1997 North American side impact standards. The revised sedan was also introduced in the United States, replacing the 5-door hatchback. The third generation featured a coefficient of drag of 0.32.
At the time of the third generation introduction, 41% of Metro buyers were first-car buyers, 62% of the buyers were female, and the median age of a Metro buyer was 37.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) named the third generation Chevrolet Metro and Suzuki Swift as the top two gasoline-fueled vehicles within their Top 12 Greenest Vehicles in 1998 and 1999. ACEEE assigns a Green Score to each vehicle make and model sold in the US, based on the vehicles’ exhaust emissions, fuel economy and other specifications.
[SIZE="1"]Source: wikipedia.org[/SIZE]
