regfootball

the market for ricers and gearheads to blow 40g on an impractical hatchback is pretty small. Like blu says, EV's are a growth market. New volume markets are things like the Lancer, Outlander and O. Sport, stuff they have to sell because of CAFE. And then if anyone does want to blow 40k they are buying cute things like minis or 3 series.

the diatribe about manuals is more to show the relative amount of importance to the number of people as a whole. evo is nice, but it doesn't bring new buyers to the brand. car and driver thinks their manuals campaign is quaint, but it really just makes most folks say, move on. they should just live with the notion that fewer cars will have them, and appreciate that some do.

diesel fuel price volatility is an issue. no one cares if the diesel gets 10% better mpg if it costs 40 cents a gallon more. most Americans don't want to touch diesel, the only excepting reason is mpg / fuel cost. diesel fans who actually prefer diesel power delivery and character to gas based on merit alone are extremely few.

wish the interior was nicer. the outside is nice.

pow said it best. sure its a great piece, but it sells in few numbers. if you want to remain in business you need to sell. it's totally fine for mits to ditch a revenue drain. further proof that the auto industry does not survive on overpriced boy racer fantasies. the whole car and driver save the manuals thing is another piece of crap. they want to save the manuals. whoop de f@#king do. i drive a stick and even i know that overwhelmingly others do not want to. cede the evo and let subie sell the Sti. it's not like they still won't sell the ralliart.

cruze manages to hit a lot of basic virtues dead on. lots of room to improve. but at least its a usable car, and not something severely limited to most folks....like a mini.

leasing, yes. rather shocked at how well malibu is doing. sets the stage for success with the next body style. leasing across the board is taking off again, all it shows is how out of control new car pricing really is. are we just propping the moment up for another failure very soon? in the meantime if it means fewer accords and camry's i like it.

let me go out on a limb and say 'it'd sell here'.

good thing! since i missed buying myself an astra, a cruze hatch with a similar look would be a nice thing. maybe even liking this more compared to the focus.

Those Continental Extreme Contact DWS tires have some great reviews behind them, and the price for the size I need is great (P225/50-17). I may have to look into these a little more based on the price alone. Thanks for the input!! i had conti extreme contacts on my 99 sho. HUGE upgrade over the goodyear $h! tires......oops, RS-A's......... Forteras we had on the Aztek were very good except for some cupping. Not a huge problem since we got so much tread out of them. We replaced the Forteras with Hydroedge by Michelin, those were fantastic too. I agree Pilot Sports are overkill for the G6. The other pilot suggested looks intriguing. the assurance looks like a great tire. Just replaced tires on the Taurus X last summer. I've had two fords with the Pirelli P6. They get average reviews but I thought they were good. In fact, the P6 new version just came out when i needed them, it quickly became obvious to me they were the right blend of ride, handling, and price to replace the OEM P6's. Some have said its not good in wet or snow but i disagree. Best tires i ever had on the 89 SHO ......Eagle GT's by goodyear.......stuck like glue. fantastic handling, not great treadwear. fantastic in wet and snow. I am sure these days the Eagles are very different. Pilot Sports might be too stiff and overkill. The MXM or whatever are fantastic all season tires i hear from many. I would have gotten those over the P6 except they were 150 bucks more. 150 bucks I had no reason to spend.

Global?

so the a3 becomes the old A4....the a4 now is an a6?

If the only thing I see on the tv the rest of the year in Jennifer Lawrence in that red dress at the oscars, then Charlie sheen can be on tv all he wants.

they always had a boxy GM style to me

to love a Chrysler this was the one Chrysler I would have forsaken a GM for, growing up back in the day. It still looks good to me. 80's yes. Has the same qualities that all the late 70's / early to mid 80's GM cars had to me. Anyone else love the Mirada / Cordoba twins? I would still love to find one of these to drive.....

new paradigm......this is a 'base' car. Chevy should add cruise and power windows. To be honest at least with the manual to me the 1.8 didn't seem too anemic but certainly with the auto I could see how it might not be up to snuff. Cruze 1.8 is an 'it is what it is when it is' kind of car. New era, 4 bucks US gas, this may be what is being forced on us, aside from performance it may be what most folks will be put into and find 'the norm'. Generally the Cruze is well sorted out and the interior is a nice place to be. Overall despite folklore a Chevy especially in this class will be solid over time and won't break your pocketbook. Nice review. Remember just how average to below the rest of the competition is in this field, except some of the newest competitors. To a lot of folks out there, the Cruze will feel like a luxury car compared to what they drive now.

survive

and then there are people like my sister who are well north of 100k, like 120-130k on her Elantra GT and not a schosche of a problem....... i have to admit push come to shove I would not prob by a hyundai new. Used with really low miles, maybe. Lease? Definitely if the warranty covers the lease term and lease is much cheaper.

some 2010 HHR's have a two tone interior treatment. the upper dash and doors stay black while the bottom is gray or tan. A neat rarity if you can find one.

i need to research that. i would have expected it too, and i swore the sales guy said it was on the back dash. there is a center channel speaker..... sometimes they mean each individual woofer and tweeter, etc. marketing folks love to stretch the truth.

in normal CD its a fantastic test disc....in 5.1 high res DVD-A its off the charts..... I also have some Diana Krall, Jackson Browne, and a good Faith Hill DVD-A that really are great for testing. the regal had a subwoofer? woulda never known. (sarcasm)

like yours Jett.....nice sketches....

how did you know metallica black album was what i was testing on the regal......among others.......... the regal stereo in was terrible with the metallica in 5.1 high res.........

methinks the volt is the blueprint for the near future in terms of where the market is headed. But the volt in concept. Now we have the concept, the execution needs to go now to the next level. For one, the volt is basically a lard ass cruze......because not only is it heavy from being a Cruze, but also its hauling ass.....an ass made of batteries. I have a hard time believing a 1.4l turbo 4 is needed to generate electricity for the car.....(yes i know it provides some high speed assist also). I mean really, what purpose does the turbo serve on a generator motor? Why can't they get 1.21 jigawatts from a 1.0 litre 3? Over time the engineers will figure out more how the chassis needs to be specifically designed for this type of hybrid. And, batteries get smaller. Space utilization must increase dramatically. Weight needs to drop dramatically. Chevy has proved the concept can work. Now its time to integrate the design and engineering more fully and specific to the concept. Not just tack more stuff onto a delta. So for 5 years at least I don't see big electric car inroads yet. We have no plan nationally for how to create and distribute the power we will need to plug in our cars anyways, anytime soon. The Volt is where the car is going, but i still think its a part way to the eventual solution....individual wheel motors.