georgejetson

Around here Subarus are what the soccer moms make their whipped loser husbands buy to park next to the minivan. So "practical", and good in snow too!

You mean like SRT Chargers do?

The Sebring and Avenger are a disaster, period, and I'm saying that as a Mopar guy. What a huge, expensive, hideous, wasted opportunity. They're ugly, they're not fun to drive, and the interiors are a mess. I'm surprised the fleet number isn't more like 80%, with the remaining cars all going to employees or those with supplier discounts.

I think it looks fine. They can't alter the biggest Holden design signature (the roofline and big greenhouse) without a much bigger investment than "stopgap" volumes will warrant, but my American eyes like it better here than on GTO and the rest is fine. It's not a knockout design statement but it's cool enough. That said, the fact that it's not a total visual knockout means it will succeed or fail on the features/price equation. $40k for an LS2 ain't gonna cut it.

What does that make the $30k 350 hp Charger? A steal? The Charger is the real competition here, not the BMW. Pontiac has a LOT of work to do before it can plausibly expect to be cross-shopped by significant numbers of BMW intenders.

Lutz's hints suggested that they had learned something from the GTO experience, pricing-wise. I don't see this being anywhere near $40k.

All the V8 HSVs.

I have heard that the G8s will have LS2s, not L98s.

Same platform, yes. And probably similar powertrain options and dimensions. But I would bet heavily that it will be a substantially different car, with a very different roofline, interior, etc. Like the GTO, I expect the first G8 to retain the Holden "look" around the greenhouse, which to my American eyes looks kind of goofy (apologies in advance to any Holden fans hereabouts). I expect the Oshawa-build G8 to be a more dramatic design statement.

The HSV wheels are kind of a clue.

Specifically, the Charger R/T with the Road and Track package -- or an SRT-8.

In terms of Vette styling, everything from the '68 on is just an ever-evolving rework of a Ferrari 250GTO. :-P But seriously. You guys who imply that the Viper is only good in a straight line are kind of forgetting that Team Viper got themselves a whole shelf-full of Le Mans trophies a few years back. It's a great-handling track car -- IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING. It's got that Porsche 930 vibe of being able to really bite the clueless in a hurry, which is why the internet is full of pix of wrecked snakes. But it's a great piece of sporting equipment for the skilled driver. Really. I wouldn't want one as a daily driver. But as a Sunday morning car... hell yeah.

I hear the vans are indeed very, very good. We'll know how good shortly. But there's cause to be optimistic, even after a disaster like Sebring. The vans get more attention than any of their other products. For better or for worse, they'll be the best that Chrysler currently knows how to make.

I'm not sure I agree -- that is, it looks great, but to a casual observer it looks like an evolution of the current CTS, not something that completely resets the game. It's a little blingy for me, and I think someone thought a little too hard about a 300 while they were drawing that face, but it's very well done and if the execution is there I think the car's a winner.

I think this thing is a hundred times better looking than the Sebring. I'll have to wait to see the execution and details, but from here it looks very promising. Sebring, IMO, is a missed opportunity.

Remember that the Challenger (and second-gen 'Cuda) came out in 1970 and their styling was cribbed pretty closely (albeit in a Mopar-flavored way) from the first-gen Camaros. Hard to say who looks like who at this distance, y'know?

Keep in mind that Ford is widely expected to do a 400 hp "Boss" model sometime in the next couple of years, for around $30k. An LS2 Camaro will compete with that nicely.

I find it hard to believe that they would be stupid enough to dilute the Corvette brand in any way. I don't see this happening. Besides, speaking of Vettes, Chevy already has a "roadster"... it comes with world-class handling and a 400 hp V8. Building that little Nomad, on the other hand, would be an excellent move.

Maybe, maybe not, but Airflite was based on the RWD LX platform like Challenger. The new Sebring is off a different new (FWD/AWD) platform.

You've seen the Challenger pics, right? :lol:

GTO, I suspect.

I don't know how they'll make it streetable, but it will be interesting. Making horsepower is (relatively) easy; the tricky part is developing a chassis that will let the average driver control that horsepower on the street. Chrysler must think they've figured it out. We'll see.

If you think like a Chrysler marketing weenie, there's no conflict with Jeap, really. Jeeps are sold to the traditional Jeep market. Expect Aspen to be positioned as more of a bling truck against the Cadillacs etc.

It's legit. The motor is a 10, and the magic number is 700. It won't be marketed as a Hemi, at least not as of now. Early 2007 production as a MY08 vehicle. No MY07 Viper. It's gettin' crazy out there.