mystik

Uhh because its a Honda...duhh. You forget the H factor that multiplies the truck's usefulness, credibility and reliability. I'd much rather have one of those than an Avalanche, which destroys it in every category imagineable...that thing should have won truck of the millenium.

Here are a few picture comparisons between the Enclave, RX, FX, and Touareg. Toyota better do something fast. The Lexus looks seriously dated.

I think it looks ok...am I the only one who thinks this thing looks way too retro? I mean, if you take the three coupes, Challenger, Mustang and Camaro, they go in that order in terms of originality and design flair. The Challenger looks...carbon copied. It just seems so bleh to me. Something about it just doesnt have that flair, that spark, that fire. It gave me more of an impression that an IS350 did rather than what the Camaro did. Just kind of an "Oh...yeah that was expected" over a "Hooooooly crap look at THAT."

That first pic makes it look like an idiot. The real one is much much much better....

So when is this truck actually going to debut? I've been driving around my 96 GMC Sierra and have been hoping for an Avalanche since I first saw them in 2001. Now its 2006 and the new ones are coming out....I want this as my next vehicle. But I want to see them already. Anyone know when theyre going to be shown? Chicago? When is that?

The Camaro is the single car that got me loving GM in the first place, and will always have a soft spot in my heart as my one true automobile love. I've shown this to friends who have said that if this car makes production, will do anything in their power to own one. Hell, my girlfriend told me if we got married it'd be my wedding present. If this car makes production, i WILL own one. Period. I dont care what it takes, but that car will be registered under my name if it makes production. There are cars that you "Settle" for. Then there are cars you crave and dream about. I have been buzzing about this car since I first saw the concept photos leaked, and then again when I saw it at NAIAS. I want this car. Now.

Some lines from the new Motor Trend review: "Running almost on empy, General Motors digs deep with its new full size truck platform and strikes it big." "A first drive smackdown test on the track and in the field reveals that GM brought game" "The technological advances are compelling-but the Tahoe's most critical changes are the interior. It's nothing short of stunning, especially when compared with the previous generation's. Cabin materials are significantly improved, with softer surfaces and tighter gaps and tolerances on all panels, the center stack, and gauges. Even the carpet fasteners have been hidden, giving the floor a better finised, seamless appearance. Gauges have a more upscale look with LED back lighting and chrome details that highlight but dont overpower." "Its not just enough to get to the party on time anymore, you have to get tehre ahead of schedule and with more goodies than anyone else. To that challenge the new Tahoe delivers." "The Tahoe is exactly what GM needed-a bigger, stronger, safer, more fuel-efficient sport utility with a decent interior-finally. Lets hope this is indicative of a better planning and development approach thatll produce more competitive products from here on out. Next up? Another high profit, high volume but risk filled segment: full size pick-ups. GM knows the drill." Motor Trend likes it.

Polar opposite of one....

I saw a 2007 Yukon and a 2007 Tahoe already at local dealerships. I only saw the Tahoe from far away, but I got up close to the Yukon and peered inside. The Yukon is definitely not the looker of the two, and there was a fleet of them at this dealer, roughly 10 or so. There was only two black Tahoes at the other dealer. Onto impressions: The interior is un-freaking-believable. Im serious. Yes it looks pretty in pictures. It is NOTHING compared to what it looks like inside. You'd swear you were looking at an ML or other upscale SUV interior. It is VERY nice. Its hard to explain, but looking at it, I just felt all warm and fuzzy inside. I could not stop thinking about it all day. It looks that good. It's just pieced together so beautifully....this is exciting. I still cant get over how nice it was. The exterior looked ok, the people that worked at the GMC place even admitted that they thought it was ugly. The Tahoe however looked incredible in black. I almost stopped had I not been doing 55. Go check one out if you can. They should be at dealers now. Im so glad I waited for an 07 Avalanche. I would have been kicking myself...

Thats some great news. It appears this Tahoe is a big hit with the mag editors, not to mention it looks fabulous. It's the perfect SUV. Now that it has an interior to match its rugged good looks, maybe it will be enough to stop the bleeding that GM is suffering from now. If this is a hint towards what cars from GM will be like (namely the new CTS) Im excited.

The Camaro was the car that got me loving GM. It was my car. Im 20, so I still havent owned one, but I will. I will own two. Anyway, here is how I got started on the Camaro and GM... I was 8. We would go to the park every once in a while, my family and me, and go hang out with family members and what not or have barbecues. It was during one of these days that I saw it. I had never noticed cars before, and never gave them a second glance, which was why I found it odd that this particular car just caught my eye. I'd never mentioned cars before, and never mentioned that I liked any particular car. But I was in the back seat, and we were driving behind a teal 1994 Camaro Z-28. It turned into a parking lot, and out of nowhere I just pointed it out and said "Thats my car." Which was a little wierd considering I'd never said that before, about any car. But since that day, I've always had a fascination with Camaro's, and striving one day to own one. Then I saw the pictures of the new Camaro concept that were leaked...and it will be my car if it makes production. I dont care how, but Ill make that car my car. End story.

Funny how MT is quick to be rash about the underpowered H3, but dont seem to mind about the lack of EVERYTHING in the Ridgeline. Seriously now, thats enough. On the one hand, its like the SUV of the year award. Its not that the Xterra was insanely awesome and it sets a new standard. Its just that the competition sucked. It was an off year. The Ridgeline though, MT is trying its hardest to give it good press. It really is. I remember when the Ridgeline first released and they left no stone unturned on that thing to find its redeeming qualities. Only to finish with an "Oh yeah and its a little hard on the eyes sometimes..." heh. Had it been the Avalanche.... "OMG plastic! Plastic UGLY plastic everywhere. Even the engine is PLASTIC. The interior is HORRIBLE." The Ridgeline is ugly, its useless. I mean whats the point? If I want a car, Id get a car. If I want a truck, Id get a truck. Why get a crappy version of both? Have I sat in one? Yeah. We went with an Avalanche. A truck Im not ashamed to drive. I couldnt say the same for that thing. Way to go MT. Good luck convincing buyers to buy that thing.

Wow, they actually spent most of the article praising the darned thing. But still....we only got 12 MPG oh by the way we floored it at every light....thats kinda lame. Other than that though, thats good news to GM and us. Let the class leading begin!

*sigh* If you dont think Motor Trend is Import biased, you're a fool. Plain and simple. When you say that an 8000 RPM red-line is a super plus, then thats just ridiculous. I recently subscribed to 2 YEARS of MT because I thought they were a partial magazine. They have only gotten worse. They do nothing but bag on American cars, specifically GM and Ford. If you dont think they do, or you think that American cars dont deserve it, you cant be helped. Did the Solstice deserve it? Who knows. I've never driven one. Based on interior and looks alone, the Solstice is a much better statement purchase than the Civic. However, the Civic feeds the low budget, environmentalist cow-hugging crowd that seems to be ever growing nowadays a lot more than does the new Solstice. Which looks more like a CAR? A statement that you would love to show your friends, that you would love to pull up and talk to a girl in, that you would enjoy driving regardless of the day? Uhhh THE SOLSTICE. The Civic is just EFFICIENT. Its an efficient car made for efficient driving driven by efficient people who need efficient things to function efficiently. Civic is the statement of Honda, MX-5 is the statement of Mazda, the Solstice is a niche from GM. What would it look like if a mag gave a niche car from GM, a small SPOT on their automotive map, COTY? It'd make imports look bad. And we cant have that.

Well, lets face it, GM does get bashed. A lot. Look at the Hummer H3 articles. Look at the Pontiac Solstice articles. The cars have flaws, yes. Every car has flaws. But what the magazines do is draw out those flaws to the point where its all you think about. Its not "Wow that H3 is a beast off road, has really comfortable seats and a great interior!", its "Man that I-5 really sucks, I cant believe they put that in there, Id never drive it." If it were a Toyota, you know damn well that they'd be focusing a lot more on the positives than the negatives. Same thing for the Solstice. They nitpick. I dont really understand why. I sat in a DTS, an STS, and a new Benz. The interiors of the three did not significantly differ (to me at least). I thought the DTS's plastic was high quality and nice. On par with the Benz. Wait till the new FJ Cruiser comes out. It WILL be compared to the H3, and it WILL beat it. Significantly. Even though Im positive the H3 will kick its ass off roading. It IS fashionable to take shots at GM. Motor Trend said it best "Will these new SUV's be class leading? Of course. Their the new state of the art SUVs." Thats a pot shot at GMs GMT-900s. Saying 'duh their new.'. Go read the new Motor Trend and tell me they arent biased. Car and Driver as well. Im not going to seat there and say that the Impala and Cobalt are class leading, because their not. But the H3 and Solstice, and XLR and STS and DTS, they are all excellent vehicles. And if each one of them had a different badge on them, then they would get SIGNIFICANTLY better reviews. I guarantee it.

I believe the Solstice is a class leading product. State of the art exterior, refined interior. I believe the CTS-V is a class leading product. Bang for buck the best performance sedan you can buy. I believe the Z06 is a class leading product. No explanation needed. I believe the SRX is a class leading product. Best crossover still. I believe the Silverado/Avalanche are class leading products. The engine and ride qualities still have them up there. Heres one thing Ive noticed about GM cars...they have this soul to them. My dad was looking for a truck. Drove the Titan, the Tundra, the new F150 and the Avalanche. Went with the Avalanche. Why? Its the one that had the most personality, and seemed to try not as hard as the others. Go drive a Titan. Class leading horsepower, blah blah blah. Engine sucks. Ill take a 5.3 ANY day. You could tell that thing was Japanese if you were blindfolded. This reminds me a lot of sports. On paper, a team can be great. Like the Lakers that lost to the Pistons. But if it just doesnt click, it just doesnt click. End of story. GM still makes cars with personality.

Funny thing is, I bought 2 years of MT because for a while they were better at not bashing GM than Car and Driver. But lately, its been nothing but Japan-biased drivel. In the SUV of the year, they wrote 2/3 of the article on how the I-5 sucks on the H3. Then one smaller paragraph about the nice leather, great interior, and superior off road abilities. But come on man...this is getting downright ridiculous. Comparing the SRX AGAIN? We get it, its old! It PISSES me off to see such an exaggeration of opinion. Ford doesnt get any love either. It seems an American brand can only get any love if it merges with a foreign brand...

Heres some of the things that were said about GM in this years COTY test. Impala: "More like a water buffalo than an Impala" Cobalt: "The best Cavalier ever!" HHR: "Better late than never." Solstice: "Proves looks arent everything." Lucerne: "Its a better Buick. But is that enough?" DTS: "Cadillac still needs a flagship sedan." Hyundai Azera: "Its not Lexus GM should be worried about. Its these guys. When better Buicks are built, Hyundai will build them." Toyota Avalon: "The best Buick GM never built." Oh and Cadillac pretty much lost the STS-V Comparison because it was a Cadillac. They ended it by saying 'Yeah Cadillacs was good, but we just cant place it in front of a Mercedes'. "The STS-V does such an honest job that one no longer needs to ask whether Cadillac deserves to play in this universe. The STS-V appears the better buy, but with a major caveat. Cadillac is new to this price territory. Can it play at 75k and is it liley to hold its value as well as BMW or Mercedes? If not, then its up front price advantage will dwindle." The hell? And they compared the SRX AGAIN to the new R500 and Volvo XC90. How many comparison tests has the SRX been in? Naturally, it came in third. Oh and there was the standard GM is going out of business article in the front. Just a heads up on some fiiiine reading.

Its fashionable in the auto industry to take pot shots at GM and Cadillac. After all, the Escalade is just a crummy GX470. CTS a sad excuse for an A4, STS a pathetic 5 series...every single time GM is mentioned in any sort of news, journalists will try their hardest to squeeze in a pot shot here and there. It wont stop until GM goes under, after which they will focus all their attention on Ford. Not until one of these companies merges with a foreign market will they recieve any praise... coughcough300cough.

Man....wouldnt it be cool if this thing had a HEMI in it?? NO ONE would see that coming...

Any word on when the Avalanche will be making its unveiling?? They've release all of them pretty much except for this one, so Im waiting impatiently...anyone know when theyre gonna show it?

That Tahoe looks meeeean. Love it. Escalade looks kinda goofy.

The mags will do what they can to make sure the 900s fail. They'll rate the Tahoe behind the Sequoia or 4runner, behind the Pathfinder, but ahead of the Expedition. After all...theyre the experts right? Im very very curious to see what they have to say about these new vehicles, and how they review the new Tahoe. Theyve been raving the Z-06...so we'll see. They didnt give the Solstice a whole-hearted thumbs up so you never know...

Some thoughts: -The Black Escalade looks far and away the best of all the colors I've seen. It looks frickin amazing that color. It really makes the hint of chrome in the grille stand out. -The Ebony interior looks the best as well. I think the black interior doesnt bode well with the brighter shade of wood they put in it. They should have gone with a darker shade of wood for the black interior. -The design is still a bit jellybeanish, and I cant understand what would drive GM to not even differentiate the sheet metal from the Yukon if they did it so in the GMT-800s. It just doesnt make sense, at all. -The center stack looks crummy without the GPS. -Im starting to think that the new CTS, not the Escalade, will be one of General Motors most important vehicles in the next few years. Seeing as how the market is shifting, and better Chryslers (300) and foreigners (BMW 3 series, Audi A-4, VW Passat, etc.) are starting to be produced, the CTS, not the Escalade, will show exactly how important the consumer and quality is to Cadillac. I dont really care that the Escalade was watered down. It's a nice vehicle. Perfect for what it is. An upscale iconic truck, made for 22 inch wheels and driving to front row seats at a ballpark. The CTS is different. Anyone from a company exec to an average joe can look into one, for different reasons. That car is where my hope for Caddy, and GM lie. If that car doesn't come through, flawlessly, then I'll throw my arms up in the air. They have time to produce it. If it gets watered down and looks like a damn A4...

Hmm. Anyone ever watch the Animatrix? Where the robots started making their own industry, stupid humans started buying nothing but robot products, then got pissed when the human markets started crashing? Nobody is helping GM. Not the consumers, not the press, not themselves. This sucks....I wont ever own a foreign car. I never want to or care to. Oh and at least some bit of sunlight...gas prices are on the drop again, just in time for the GMT-900 releases. Maybe, just maybe, it will drive people to look into SUVs again.