regfootball

Malibu's trunk needs to be bigger AND have a larger opening. Current trunk is deep enough, it's just not very tall. Coupled with a restrictive opening, it pretty much needs to improve to be fit for family use. Visibility and closed in feeling are another problem, Malibu now is too much of a low rider for a family sedan. It's stylish, but at some point it wouldn't hurt to have a slightly higher seating position, better visibility, more comfort, more space efficiency for the size of car. Let's hope chevy fixes the cheap interior, too.

current problems with the corvette. price. yes you can buy a base base corvette under 50 maybe, but they make like 4 of them. yet we have them making 70k vettes. Hard to pitch a 70k vette, no matter how good, when you are blowing loss leader aveos out of the same showroom. absolutely the corvette needs to drop down the age range with some of its buyers. vette is getting a fogey stigma. Nissan GT-R has cache with those that will be rich in the future. How many trust fund babies buy Vettes still? As with anything over time if you want it to renew you have to bring the younger group into the fold. Ford has somehow managed to cultivate younger buyers into Mustangs. Dimensionally the Corvette is not huge or heavy but in person it looks extremely wide and large. It may be nimble but it looks bloated. Too much exaggeration of body shapes. Too much breeder hips. Corvette is too physically imposing for some buyer groups with this interest and amount of money. GT-R seems to have a following as does Porsche with less exaggeration in their shapes. Perhaps the Vette just needs a visual slimdown to appear more up to date and athletic. More techno like the GT-R. More purposeful like the 911. Maybe then the few late 20somethings and 30 somethings who are buying BMW's for fashion sake might take a look at a Vette. The last thing GM needs is for the Vette to become a retirees dream. The car HAS to appeal to teens and 20 somethings, and 30 somethings, even if they can't buy it. Not that they can anyways......you can be 25 these days and still living at home, buried in debt and have an 8 dollar job. Society is set up now so fewer people can buy cars like corvettes. the interior is atrocious. there is NO EXCUSE or reason anyone can come up with now for why after all these years the corvette still has horse$h! seats. I've seen some here try to make some weak argument that chevy can't afford to fix the seats in the car. BULL$h!. fix the f@#king seats so the buff books and racers stop bitching about them and so the interior comes off less cheesy than it already does. END OF ARGUMENT. THERE IS NO ARGUMENT. FIX THE f@#kING SEATS. there is a seat vendor out there that is more than willing to design you a new one. otherwise the dash, steering wheel, plastics, ALL NEED TO BE REDONE. Provide a little more upright seating, some more headroom, more general GT comfort. powertrain......some folks will dispute this, but its time to bring the vette into the 21st century and put all wheel drive on the option sheet. 911 can have it. R8 can have it. lamborghini. Nissan GT-R. More and more AWD is seen as a performance item. Can chevy make the car more stable and tractable with all wheel drive? YES. many of the young folks today have grown up thinking of cars like the WRX, Nissan GT-R, its time for Corvette to bring that to the table. Transmissions........chevy needs to show some innovation here.....dual clutch, 8 speeds maybe, something. 6 speed auto is passe. Chevy needs a base model to be in that 46-50k price range. And, they need to sell enough of those to get it out that the Corvette is within reach of more buyers, and those who fall into that now obsolete class of buyers who inherited money, or have always had it. Personalization options need to increase and special editions....like the Mustang. Engine........it's probably time to add a 6 cylinder into the mix. Also we need to get a DOHC engine in the Vette mix. While I see value in a good base v8......it may be time for corvette to branch out.....while its most recent past is as a v8.....all things must sort of evolve over time and if a high tech v6 say with twin turbo can create market buzz that the v8 is failing on, you gotta look at it. GT-R doesn't have 8 cyl....neither does 911, just sayin....... base vette could go fixed roof i think in future but it would be nice to have more airiness inside then. Visibility needs to be addressed. All the gray haired middle America white guys will need to live with the definition of corvette changing some. They're all gonna be buying rent at the nursing home pretty soon, not a new vette anyways. Vette needs to get younger, needs to bring import intenders into the fold, needs to reach out to more than just white guys. Hipsters these days like BMW's, Audis, and Minis. Funny thing is it really doesn't matter how knockout the performance on the new vette is.......chevy will need to produce a lux car interior in terms of quality and sell it at a chevy price in order to change minds. Powertrain and performance just need to exceed expectation vs. price, and have to meet or beat competition. it may also as smk suggested be time to move away from fiberglass panels outside.

I am also starting to get cold on the Optima. Almost tries to hard. Particularly revolting to me is the arcing chrome band atop the side glass, going all the way to the back. Just like the chrome band extending atop the front fenders on the Sonata, its just trying too hard to be special. The front bumper on the Optima indeed is too busy. I think the Optima sits a bit too low, and its overhangs are too big. I would also raise the cabin an inch or so. It almost looks too low slung.

revised the poll question answers slightly.

even with the short wheelbase, the new Malibu is supposed to have improved rear leg room.

i haven't seen numbers lately but i would even guess it's initial sales burst is starting to slow down.........

simple.....sick of the Sonata yet? I know it's the car that saved the world, but..... the new Malibu is starting to INTRIGUE me. The Optima is even starting to get on my nerves. The Regal still i likey. But the Sonata is already looking tired and cheap and overdone to me.

or spell it out in separate letters above or on the chrome strip above the license plate area...separate chrome letters spread across the deck/hatch would look good.. ya could just glue on some great big letters.....

i like to see what rpm i am idling at, what rpm i am cruising at in a particular gear. especially when going 70+ mph on trips. with something like a CVT too a tach can be a nice story of how the engine rpm is not rising in complete correspondence with the vehicle speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veN2gyCEj8s

!nice!

it does look more aggressive. it really does seem to have similar massing to the regal though......

Here are some of the items I consistently search for at the Aldi. Box of saltines, 79 cents. why someone would pay 2.50 for the Keebler saltines is beyond me. pays for the gas out there. Basic staples, sugar and flour can be had cheaper. Dairy, sometimes I buy milk, sliced cheese, eggs, cottage cheese there. Generally a local supermarket will have close to the same prices on that stuff. Cereal. Not all but for example a huge box of corn flakes for like 1.19. You can't make that $h! up. Adult multivitamins although now i take the kids ones from target. 1.5 lb. bags of tilapia. Produce. If it looks good, the small bags of onions, the bell peppers, the mushrooms, avacoados, berries, celery, sometimes tomatoes. Snacks, sometimes snack crackers and such. Pasta. Two pound box of spaghetti for insane price. I don't really get much canned food at Aldi. They don't have much for low sodium options. Aldi is a good place, its just not glamorous to shop there.

only if all wheel drive is an option. and they lose some pork. and they put a new interior in it.

i sure hope they fix the premium fuel problem.

The Kizashi has a chance especially in the northeast. The ability to flip AWD on and off as needed is compelling. Only Subaru offers AWD in this size car for that price. If Suzuki offers that "AWD on demand" feature across their lineup, that could really be their "thing" that sets them apart. I pretty much agree on Mitsubishi. They really don't have much of a chance now. They'll survive on crossovers a couple more years, give another try at a mid-sized sport sedan, fail, and throw in the towel. nearly everyone who was shown the AWD on the Kashi it scored big points with here in the snow belt. I tend to think by 2020, most cars sold in the US will have standard car based all wheel drive. Doubt it, at a glance they look like last gen Jettas. a cross between a Pontiac grand am and a jetta.....lol. lease it problem solved.

what you really see nowadays is a large variety. I do know folks who put 20k+ miles on a year and there are those who don't. As an example a nice couple stopped by today to get maintenance done on their Aerio. 8 years old, 65k miles. Right now people are forced to keep their cars longer because there are no good cheap new options anymore.....at least not near as many like 4-5 years ago when everyone routinely flipped their cars. The cash for clunkers and bust in new car volume the last couple years turned used cars into the new new car. As a result, all prices are way up, and the people who can routinely get good credit is drastically reduced as well. I just think market forces are now in place that there will be a lot less folks who buy new and flip every 3 years. I do think you will have a fair amount of people from now on who will be keeping cars longer. There are just too many folks whose lives have been changed such that they simply won't have the financial means to make car transactions routinely and on impulse.

the wty is transferable, so no issue there.

I would have one myself right now if I could swing it.....either the kizashi or a cruze Eco manual.

Unlikely since so few people have actually met one. I really liked the Kazashi when I checked it out on the NY Auto show floor, but I've yet to drive one. I should send a note to Suzuki to see if I can get a press car. I can look into that. I met one of the reps but I am not sure if there is even a press fleet. Our problem, getting butts in to look at them. At the auto show the response to the car in person is overwhelmingly positive. If the car had another badge on it it would be successful. I think it would have made a nice Sebring and stratus. The car itself needs a little more sound attenuation. Lots of folks said they wanted more power. The turbo will take care of that. There will always be folks who won't want a CVT. I think a few cosmetic and option tweaks would be nice. The car drives fantastic in GTS and SLS trim for a bread and butter car. Where accords an camrys have gone old and soft, this car fills the void. It's not for everyone and I totally understand the hesitation regarding the brand presence etc. As a product it's well done. At least those that do have one will be happy with it. The turbo takes away the power objection.

I suppose vaulting oneself on the hood of passersby (all 3 or 4 of them) after awhile probably does generate a bad rep.......

fine. then stuff your big fatt butt in the trunk of your mini (if it even fits) and go drive off to metrosexualand from whence u came

my experience sitting in the base model and the leather one, the base model feels a lot less expensive inside. funny how that works that way. at one time i had interest in a base optima with stick, and there is no denying the value. but it does really lessen the car with the cheap bits.

this is news to me!!!!!!!!!!! lmao. lots of the zashi fans (all 6 of them) are hoping a turbo is part of the mix. a factory turbo kit though would mean the trans and drivetrain would need to be capable of handling the extra power while retaining the world's best warranty of 7 years, 100k miles on the powertrain. with no deductible and fully transferrable to the next owner. does that sound like something that would be of interest to you?

Bonnie Tyler total eclipse of the heart.....turn around bright eyes