regfootball

Small block has no business being in a Cadillac mainstream model and I imagine Juergen or whatever would agree. Base should be 3.6tt and then develope some other unique motors. What is the point of making and keeping Cadillac unique and splitting off and going to NY if your gonna put a Chevy motor in it? The CT 6 motor base for the inexpensive models a 3.6tt is the way to go. The other motors should be brand new and unrelated to other GM products.

A swiss army knife in a really big box. Makes a great case for the modern 'mini'van. DRIVEN 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT (rental, amassed about 500 miles). No idea what the MSRP was, guessing close to 30k. HIGHS Pentastar is a Rock Star. Fabulous engine. Kicks down great, linear power. Cruises smooth. Pentastar is a Track Star. Vehicle chews up and spits out miles. If you need more room and space, then I don't know what to tell ya. Extended console creates a cockpit feel in a van, and the dash layout it great. Dash mounted shifter quickly becomes second nature, and functions quite well. SXT finally gives you the ability to customize your seating position.....power sear and power pedals. Power doors and hatch. Seats fold into the floor in seconds. How cool is that? Styling is endearing and sporty for a box. Interior with a mix of lighter and darker colors, breaks up the monotony pretty well. Hard to find a vehicle that serves function like a van. Particularly this one. Drives and handles surprisingly well for a big huge box. Almost sporty. Steering is quick and responsive. Would actually be a good vehicle for people without kids, but want utility. LOWS Well, it is still a box and looks like one, to some. Only 2 cupholders in the extended console for the front row. Seat cloth (non 30th anniversary version) is a bit cheap. Lack of seating position adjustability for height unless you get power seat, which is expensive. Trick second row seats are a bit thin on padding and comfort for adults. Cheap OEM tires. Armrests could be wider. Non U connect radio lacked features and sounded crappy. Dodge's trim levels and packages and optioning are too confusing and are too restrictive. Dodge should consider an AWD version in the future. Grand Caravan may feel different than the Toyota and Honda vans to those who like imports. SUMMARY It's really tough to generate anything controversial to say about a minivan. If you are looking at these vehicles, you are either trying to haul kids, or cargo, or both. This vehicle will do that, easily, and with a minimum of fuss. It will transport you comfortably in the process. It even feels energetic and sporty. My beef with Dodge is the complexity of which they offer options and packages. I suppose they feel this is like pickups where you need to give people a bazillion choices. But I think the way Honda and Toyota limit the options and keep the trim levels mostly consistent is a better way. Another big loss for Dodge is the poor resale on these vans. It does mean you can buy used ones cheap, and maybe that's a primary market. But I think Dodge could kill two birds with one stone. Create more value for MSRP by lessening the packages and options complexity, and then price the vehicle more reasonably, to keep the values up. Perhaps the rentals contribute to this. I guess I am not sure how much. Some bits of cheapness exist and pricing and options aside, the vehicle meets it goal of function and I would give it an A- on user friendliness and strength of powertrain. There is room to improve, but at least the vehicle is not compromised in a major way thAt folks intend to use it. That acutally is rare today. Be what you are advertised to do.

---to post later --- short version AVOID

---to fill in later tonight--- overall, nicely improved. good value.

I get that he wants that status of the German marques, but i think one thing that made Cadillac unique was its customer base, the fact that they had dealerships in areas where others didn't, and it wasn't really about snobbery. I guess if they want to cater to the punks who just got their license and are trust fund babies, fine. I like that Caddy wasn't trying to be a eurolux clone. I do agree that if the pricing is going to be held up, then yes features and content need to be better.

Well, after getting rear ended , I am on to a Dodge Grand Caravan.......the Altima had high marks from the passengers until it occurred. Will try to get an update on here later tonight.

We took it for ice cream just now. Tomorrow is the road trip. It's amazing, under acceleration, it's lack of refinement (the 2.5) is masked extremely well. Sit at a stop light and you hear the buzz and the floor and seat vibrate. Lots of Asian brand cars do that. Hondas do it too although the Altima here is bad. The jeep , don't even get me started. The story was when I got back to swap the car tonight I was prayin for a Malibu. When I pulled in, there was a Malibu there! But it was being held. So I got stuck with the Altima. It was either that or a Chrysler 200 (not the new style). At least I knew with the Altima I would have back seat space, the kids already think it's a limo back there. So that is a plus over the Malibu. Just the little bit I've had it, my initial impressions above seem consistent. I could've downgraded to a Fiat 500L. That would have been a hoot but man go read Fiat message boards. The 500L is definitely a fix it again tony. I'd hAve no confidence taking a family trip in that.

I have in my possession for the weekend, a Nissan Altima S rental. After a day with a dreadful 2014 Jeep Compass.

Z-06, the ATS manual bits have all been reworked and by recent articles apparently are pretty good now. Your description of German notchiness is pretty close to what the current Passat has. I'd probably have a Passat by today if my Taurus X hadn't decided to bankrupt me lately and still threaten a complete tranny dump sometime soon.

Hondas do tend to have good sticks. the last Fit had a good shifter. In my recent experience on a rather limited batch or segment of the automobile population, believe it or not, the Chevy Cruze 1.4 six speed manual is absolutely among the best and most pleasurable. Short shifter, falls to hand, short throws, smooth but definite and an easy clutch. The Passat had definite snick snick slots. Not buttery smooth, and makes some noise, but for the practice of shifting, is a good setup. The Fusion ecoboost manual is good. Also the ST Focus and Fiesta are very good row your own cars, but maybe more appropriate once you get some practice. A cobalt? NOT SO MUCH .......pile of garbage. Who wants my car? Manuals would sooooo come back if they could put a simple function on the car. The ability to flick a switch and go to fully automated and automatic. Would take care of all those times when stuck in traffic. Or the day off you just don't want to shift. Dual clutch is not the same.

A lot of FCA's sales numbers the last few years have been from making lemonade from lemons. Avengers, 200's, Patriot, Journey, Compass, Charger.....they buy time by doing a better job with MCE's and therefore the car stays attactive to people who want to spend less. Nothing wrong with that, but as you say, in awhile you will notice why. I've racked up about 5k miles on the company 13 Journey myself and I can tell you it has loosened up quite a bit by 40k miles. Plus there were things that weren't that great to begin with. But then there are other aspects like a freshened interior, excellent pentastar engine....... (Journey AWD is capable of 28-30 mpg highway often BTW) I think FCA will continue to milk this platform and the model for 4-5 more years. I doubt they will replace it with anything as large, nor will it be RWD. They are going to ride this out as long as they can. The increasing regs forcing people into crackerboxes with 1 litre turbos and such, and the large car market seemingly getting squeezed too......they will ride this out..... myself i wouldn't buy a Journey as a first choice, but maybe its an excellent lower cost fallback compared to say an Equinox or Edge or even an Explorer. One dealer here has new FWD v6 Journeys for a tish over 20k right now. That is amazing for a family vehicle with road legs and space. Makes the Equinox look like a real poor value in comparison if you are just looking for that. I'd consider a 300 for the right price as a family traveling car. But I'd always want a GM or Ford first.

4500 pounds. HEAVY

The relevant issue here is how overbearing the fed is.

a little of the body looks like an SS

Yeah, i myself could give a $h! if I see any of the old Caddy trunk lids in the current CTS trunk lids. Although the hood of the new CTS has some really good lines that harken to old Cadillacs but are not so contrived as on the rear. Think of the last CTS coupe. There really are no references to old Caddies on there at all. Think of the original CTS. I liked that it didn't have cliched old Caddy references, and that the taillights were a modern interpretation instead of reverting to the easy tall thin Caddy taillight look. The fricken turn signals on the CTS were Orange and it was cool! 2nd CTS had 'fins' a little, but it was tastefully done. The picture at the beginning of this thread actually is one of the most revealing new CTS photos; you can see some of the most appealing tie ups of the car and it has really interesting surfacing, proportions, solids and voids, and features. But almost no one sees the top of the car in normal everyday life! (note, the CTS coupe is also extremely interesting in top view). So why are the sides and rear of this new CTS so bland? Aside from the front fender bulges, there is not much dramatic about the basic 3 box or the greenhouse on the CTS............

so much of that is spot on. One reason I think Mercedes is flourishing is it is using lots of deeply sculptured features on their bodies and they are bold and interesting. That is why a POS like the CLA seems exotic. Fast forward to Cadillac, the sedans are basic wedges now and just the run of the mill falling to the front character line. Its hardly bold and its been done over and over now. Even BMW's flame surfacing crap is getting tired and old. Post crash, people who could actually get a new car were flocking to the new cheap subcompacts with big mpg. We are almost a full trade cycle beyond that now and so many people who forced into smaller cars due to budget or the oppressive arm of the feds shoving tiny displacement and 23 speed trannies down our throat may be moving towards going back to bigger and not giving too much of a $h! about mpg, at least deciding that room and space may be more important than fuel economy again.

but where else would Ford get its front end styling from?

HIGHS: beyond previously reported Interior Improvements, the new center stack is a sweet upgrade, as are the gauges and steering wheel. Complements all the other existing bits well and very easy to use. Quite fantastic. Good Mid range and top end power with the engine refinements. Powertrain wise fairly smooth and confident. Still fairly quiet inside (although it seemed less quiet this time around for some reason) Exterior refinements clean up the exterior also. Steering felt real nice and acted well for this type of car. Good value, actually for the price (MSRP or best pricing) LOWS: beyond previously reported Disclaimer, the frame of reference changes as you get older and grow larger again, but the 'intimate' interior feels too small in back, and too snug in spots in the front. GM has this thing lately with bringing the lower part of the dash so far back to cramp your legs....and the rear seat leg room and space is very tight when you get the front seats set for 2 big guys. Engine coarseness and buzz through the floor, a bit in the low rpms as you accelerate. The newest turbo four could stand to more smooth like glass or a v6 for that matter. And less buzzy as it initially winds up; I can understand some the criticism it gets in the press on some of the GM models.... Turbo takes a bit to spool up, a bit of lag......not whiney or anything, but the grunt takes a slight hesitation before it builds into the very healthy midrange and top end. Perhaps the grunt is there and maybe its the tranny being slow getting it passed on....... Ride isolation could still improve some, as could quietness from road noise (did they get rid of some quiet tuning?). Suspension felt ok, not A or A+. Fine for a 30k list car, but I wonder why the rag books have been so complimentary on the recent Regal tests. Perhaps the chassis setup on the base car is stepped back a bit. It's possible that this is all the further they can go with the dated Epsilon platform SUMMARY Maybe its due to the fact that this car has been around now going into its 5th year and so we would all probably like to see a new one. But Buick did a lot of nice sensible upgrades here to a line that doesn't sell a lot. They're keeping it attractive enough so sales don't go off the deep end. I wonder what is for the next version of Regal. I hope its not another squashed Epsilon. So to those points, the new dash, gauges, and center stack are the star. It does transform the view out the front a bit and make it fresh that way. Very well done. The chassis is better overall, but it didn't feel as smooth as i had hoped it would. Maybe the lack of real tight sports steering and suspension (which I understand with it being a base car) really contrasted inflated expectations. Who knows. Let's just say i enjoyed it, it was pleasant, but I was not blown away either from a luxury / near luxury experience, nor with anything in particular on vehicle dynamics. I will also throw out that the drive path did not lend itself to flogging the car, or stretching its muscle. So perhaps the low end performance and the bits of engine roughness and buzz stood out more because. Also, its not an all new model. The car books always seem to fawn on all new models and get less complementary as the vintage wears on. Perhaps there is some of the familiarity breeding minor contempt here too. In the end I like the car still, but I've lost the wow factor. The new dash enhancements were what really stuck with me. The seats are still comfy too. You can get the car now too with AWD if you want. Maybe that should have been the one I drove. To be fair, i think a longer than 10 mile run on this car would be really helpful. More situations and a longer time to see where the charms are again. And really at 30k and the low to mid thirties, the car still represents itself well. I'll stick a B+ on it due to its value at lower prices like this. There is a limit to the value of the car when the price goes too high. And that is why there is Cadillac I guess. I would not go over 35k on a new Regal. Buick does not profess to fight BMW and yet it provides some of the luxury experience at a price that is palatable for many. The price = the return. And that is where Buick is, and its ok. So maybe some day I can drive one longer again and see if anything changes in my thoughts. I really hope they are ambitious with the next Regal as far as sportiness, and make it a little bit larger inside as well.

Driven: 2014 Buick Regal FWD (base) MSRP 30,615 sale price 24,995 Note: truncated review. I've reviewed Regals previously, so this is merely an update on whatever refinements over time that have been had. past reviews http://www.cheersandgears.com/topic/75027-2011-buick-regal-cxl-and-cxl-turbo-updated-with-turbo-manual/?hl=%2Bbuick+%2Bregal

the styling is an issue from some angles, the original CTS had a sports sedan look. It even lacked the upright rear lights that Caddy keeps foisting on the world. It looked lean and purposeful. The 08 CTS got porky looking but still had some sleekness to it. Now Caddy tried to copy the long hood / short greenhouse windhshield too far back / 'hey i'm a rear drive car' look this go round and then mated a very disconnected looking grille to the front. It has no sportiness compared to the original CTS and it looks like its meant for older people than the last CTS. I think Caddy either needs to completely change the character line on the side of the car, or make the front fonder flares more distinct, articulated, whatever....the car lacks shoulders....... The overall 3 box proportions of this latest CTS don't match the last two, you can't make a visual connection between them. The new CTS maybe should have been called STS......... Most of the interior is pretty good on the new CTS, i think they can get it tweaked where it needs to be. The pricing and option packaging is a problem. Heated seats should be standard on a CTS. Heated / cooled as an option, rear heated seats option.

That engine makes all the difference ! The 1.8 is very good, the 2.5 was a boat anchor!

Cadillac only has one crossover. The SRX. The Escalade is an SUV .....as are the suburban, Tahoe, and Yukon. If they had 3 or 4, their sales would be a lot more. Look at all the lux marques.....the percent of crossover sales vs sedans.....

Cruze is ok sized inside for a compact but by no means is big enough inside to be a family sedan.

Impala now only has 4 cylinder base engine with about 200hp for the same price as a Taurus with like 270hp v6. Or, i can do an ecoboost 4 upgrade for mpg on the Taurus and it only hits me 1k. (Reality is best pricing will have more discount on the 4 cylinder Taurus). Impala should let the 2.0 turbo into the stable, and they need to adjust their product mix to the stores for units less loaded up and with lower prices. They should run some kick ass lease deals on the Impala. Malibu should be the fleet heavy car now. Until they fix the small back seat and overall get a new one out, they will have to do whatever it takes to move that one. I still believe you can't jump straight from Cruze to Impala. Ford has the Focus, Fusion, and then Taurus. Its just that lots of shoppers find two huge defects comparing the Fusion and Malibu, one is the back seat, two is the ugliness factor (I don't happen to think the Malibu is ugly but i believe many others don't care for it). A friend has either a 13 or 14 Malibu work vehicle and he likes it a lot actually.

I give Chrysler props for selling the $h! out of a lineup of lemons. The new Jeep products and the 200 are coming on line and finally the Dart has room in the showroom with dirt cheap Avengers going away. Let me give you an example. You can buy a new Dodge Journey FWD six cylinder for not much more than 20g best priced these days. Think about that for a bit, especially compared to an Edge, Escape, Equinox, Terrain, etc. And that's with an 8.4 inch touchscreen. Chrysler is whoring out the old models. How in the hell can compass and patriROT continue to sell? Look at the Ram pickup! And it makes you wonder why GM can't achieve these sales gains. WTF is up with the 500L though......did they already pull it from the market or did really no one want it? I would drive one for free as long as nobody saw me driving it.