G. David Felt

Having been a Truck/Full Size SUV guy all my life, the ONLY place for Chrome is the Front and Rear bumpers and Rims. I hate the look of chrome everywhere else. I grew up with Kenworths and while there is a certain look that I love on a big rig with chrome, I tend to be more Monochromatic. I actually have grown very fond of my 2006 ESV as I have the 3M covering the nose so the monochromatic paint job is perfect, no scratches, well waxed and garaged so it stays like new. With 125K on the odometer, the dealership understand why I will not be trading it in since I do not fit in the newer ones but multiple people there have said if I ever do decide to sell it, they will give me above blue book since it is mint perfect. Who knows, in 13 years I could have a state collectible plate on it. WOW, Next year my GMC Suburban SLE turns 20 years old Just proves, take care of your GMC and it will take care of you! Rock on with your new beautiful GMC Truck!

The S-class is as quiet as the Volt at 70 mph and beats it at 50 mph. With either the diesel or the V8 it is 66 dba at 70 mph, and perhaps the next year's model beats that since Lexus and Rolls are lower. So they have the quiet the engine down a lot, then the S-class gets 25 mpg highway, the CTS-V gets 19 mpg, so they need to find another 6 mpg there. Not to mention the S-class is getting a 9-speed transmission next year so fuel economy will likely go up. And Cadillac does not have a V12 (or W12) like Audi, BMW and Mercedes have. It is hard to beat the S-class, Lexus has spend billions over 20 years and all they have is a car that even priced $30k cheaper sells half as many. Cadillac has not yet optimized the use of quiet steel, insulation and blue printed a powerful V8 to meet the needs of a Ultra Luxury sedan. They can and eventually will do this I believe. In regards to gas mileage, there are many ways to optimize this also and we have not seen how the new V8 GM built or even the current CTS-V engine would perform with a 8 or 9 speed tranny. It is possible with the new V8 and supercharged or twin turbocharged even just normal but performance tuned, the V8 could do what is needed for the Ultra Luxury segment and with mid 20's to higher gas mileage. In regards to V12, old school thinking and due to world wide changes, no longer a game changing need. Like the dinosaurs, the V12 will go away. In it's place as Auto Makers learn how to build Performance high output electric motors, you will have an ubber quite High Compression generator that will be whisper quiet driving the vehicle to over 200mph while giving a cocoon world of peace and tranquility to the passengers.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - CheersandGears.com November 6th, 2012 There are multiple reasons for why American needs a true step to the next generation of fuel for the transportation industry and this article does a fair job of reviewing Electric, Hybrid and NGV or CNG auto's. Read the full story here: http://seekingalpha....ember_182477519 It is an interesting comparison piece that does mention the Volt out of context with it's proper place in Auto History but still a worthwhile read. Sounds Off on what your thoughts are on this? View full article

I can only imagen how that crap will affect the resell value.

I can understand where you are coming from. Seattle has never been a product launch, flashy car show so the shows were generic for every auto maker and the real show to go too was the HotRod shows every year. With that said, the HotRod shows have changed into two new shows for Seattle. The Tuner show of cars and a few trucks and the Bad Ass 4x4 truck / SUV show. There is a smaller more local show of slamed bouncy cars and trucks but every year that show seems to have fights with gangs and shootings so I just stay away. In regards to the Auto Show, I am hoping that the flash and excitement will get built back into it by having resources focused on just 4 brands. I always thought the 90's while it had allot of auto makers, really was also allot of waste. Quality was low, to many thrown together recyclable attitude auto's. Starting with last year, I am seeing a far bigger quality and variety on the cars, trucks and SUV's and you can spend a full day at the GM area just comparing the various auto's and their options. Not sure about else where, but for the trucks and SUV's last year they had at least 1 version in every trim so you could see the levels and then talk with a rep about the variable options within that trim level. It allowed for a nice showing experience. They can never have everything, but at least having the various levels of trim in the same Yukon or Sierra line of auto's gave one a better feel for what they would be looking for. I see as they gain in profit's better and better auto shows as they are not so stretched out over way to many product lines.

Funny part is we will always think the car shows we attended as kids and younger adults were the good ol days. We just have to consistently adjust our view point.

Very cool, look forward to seeing them.

Truly just a mild evolutionary change. Decent Evolutionary change.

So what did you think of the homes in Seattle? Very nice from what I've seen...I was talking w/ a buddy on Linkedin last night that lives in Redmond...sounds nice around his area. Redmond is Microsoft Home Turf and about as modern and electrically connected to the world as you can come, but then with all the start ups, you can pretty much be anywhere in Seattle and have technology connected homes, even if you wanted to live on property up on the mountain passes, about an hr commute into work, you can still be wired into the computer world.

So what did you think of the homes in Seattle? One thing I love is that since Verizon built their Fiber ring here during the R&D days, just about every home, condo, apartment has fiber internet connectivity. Pretty standard to have 50mb download, 25mb upload speeds for $50 a month or so.

Good thing this seems to be a bad trend that the baby boomers liked. It will eventually fad and go away as a foot note in Auto History.

Dodge of Tacoma here has been advertising them like crazy for the last couple months and still I see none on the road. Their web site shows a healthy inventory, but unless they are being only driven down in the Tacoma area, they do not seem to have made any dent here in the Seattle area.

Depends on which type of Track your going to run your XTS. Wish I'd had the time to shoot a pic..saw an XTS 'senior style' today--pearl white, cream padded top, gold trim, wide whitewall tires, chrome wheels... I will never understand that fake padded top. Why destroy the looks of a great car that way. What a shame.

You can buy that beauty for me please!

Very cool indeed. What an era of growing up care free, running around and not having to worry about pedo monsters or any of the modern day crap going on.

Community Chest

Wow, old place that would need to be gutted and then remodeled. Seems really disjointed. Truly an east coast or southern style of home compared to the Northwest. Now this is what I call a House. Love living on the water here. http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=301221020 Or this modern home http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=301464879 Or more down to earth http://www.johnlscott.com/propertydetail.aspx?IS=1&ListingID=301439004

Sad about dealerships that end up dying due to not investing in the long term. You bringing up the Yugo sign reminds me that my caddy dealership that was a Caddy, Volvo, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Hummer, Isuzu and Suzuki dealership all in one mega large place is sadly just a Caddy dealership now, but still has all the other signs up on windows, their big sign on the road, etc. The original owner retired and left the dealership to his two kids. One took Volvo and moved out to be on his own and left the other kid with the old mega dealership. Course, they gave up Suzuki a year ago as it did not look good having them on the lot next to Caddy, but I do wonder if GM did not push them out. Just wish he would remodel and remove all the old stuff and sprouce up the caddy dealership. Great folks working there, just needs a boost of Modernization as the place is clearly dated from the 60-70's area.

Depends on which type of Track your going to run your XTS.

Congrates on the New Truck, it really is a beauty. I am a big fan of chrome only on the wheels as I like the body for the most part to be monochromatic. So to me this truck is drop dead beautiful. Very hot ride. What is the actual color? Gun metal Grey, Steel Grey, Steel blue? Kinda hard to make out on my monitor. Way to rock it!

Or just Old.

A shame the pride of the japanease keeps them from realizing that a bunch of little companies no longer works in todays global economy. Mistubishi will be next followed by Mazda I believe. In retrospect, they should have realized over the great 2nd Depression of the US from 2007 till now that the best way to survive was to merge. Mistubishi, Suzuki, and Mazda. Great portfoloio of product that would of been a more complete selling option. Think of the Name MistSuDa or MSM Could have been the Joint new name. How about buying a MistSuDa 5 or a MistSuDa Kizashi. RIP to these guys whos ego was as big as the world but in reality smaller than a tick.

Actually, the CTS-V V8 is quite suitable for a flagship -- if it is fitted with the appropriate exhaust system that does not make a lot of noise. The LSA is a smooth and tractable engine with a 6100 rpm redline. The M3 V8 on the otherhand is not suitable because it is an edgy, high strung engine that needs to be wound out to 8300 rpm to deliver its goods. You can quiet both engines down with an exhaust system appropriate for a luxury saloon, you cannot make an edgy 8300 rpm engine appropriate for an S-class. Correct, there are many noise canceling exhaust systems that would allow the CTS-V V8 to be in a world class ultra luxury sedan that would not only compete but beat the MB S class and BMW 7 or 8 class.

Jet makes some great performance upgrade chips. Just have to supply what upgrades you have done to the engine. If not, they have a superior no limit chip you can buy and install.