regfootball

Tested..... 2009 Routan SEL I think. White / tan cloth. Used.....11k on the odo. 3.8 litre motor. Lightly optioned. Highs- Room and Space - cargo and passengers Front row seating comfort. For those that like to sit high, this is nice. Seat can be adjusted for perfect driving position unless you like it low. Engine does well at highway speeds. Excellent frontal visibility and decent out the sides and back. Excellent gauges, convenient radio location, nice climate controls. Steering wheel feels nice. Sliding door windows can roll down and have built in sunshades. Good steering and handling. 3.8 has a decent snarl at certain speeds. Engine turns only 2000 rpm at 70+ mph. Good plastics and build quality for the dash and door panels. Interior a nice upgrade over Caravan. Major styling improvements to boxy Dodge van. Lows- Instances where more power would be appreciated like in town driving and hard core roll on acceleration. Transmission doesn't bang off shifts as fast as you'd want. Lags off of stoplights in power and shifting and roll on acceleration the tranny could kick down faster as well. Powertrain does not feel "tight". In fact, whole vehicle with 11k does not seem as tight as my Fords with 50k. NVH needs some work. Lots of cabin noise from below at highway speeds and lots of powertrain noise as well. Feels heavy, tall, large, and long, and feels like a bus at times when you're not simply eating up straight highway miles. No steering wheel controls, and dumb cruise control and wiper layouts. Power window and mirror controls feel cheap. Despite really nice second row seats, piss poor footspace and leg comfort for adults in the second row (why not get rid of the storage wells and make it footspace if you aren't gonna have sto n go?). Lacks second row seating options of new Odyssey and Sienna. Engine upgrade to 4.0 is pricey but would solve some of the engine and powertrain issues. Floor console between front seats is cheesy and cheap. Residual values vs. MSRP are a big problem that may or may not be able to be offset by incentives or fleet dumping. Verdict - Overall I'd mildly recommend for anyone looking for a very functional van who can get one for a decent price. There is plenty of delight and user convenience in this model and the interior is pleasing enough that most mainstream families would like that. Engine, powertrain, some build quality, and NVH need work despite steering and handling being ok. Second row seating / footspace may be a deal breaker for people with adults or larger kids in the second row. I would definitely advise anyone to hold out and check the new Odyssey and Sienna first and also consider if a Ford Flex may not be a bad option as well. I personally know from a recent test drive that the Flex is more enjoyable to drive, is more refined overall, and feels more fun and carlike and less huge although cargo carrying is not to peer with the minivans. Note, because of the interior deficiencies, I don't think I could recemmond the Grand Caravan, but probably a more optioned T&C would be ok.

3 cyl 2 valave engines would never fly here

What I recall about tossing around a v6 Aura one time was that it had nuts, handling was good but steering feel and handling maybe were not in the top of class but acceptable, mainly at least in the Aura it seemed like impact harshness from bumps was noticeable and also the structure of the car itself felt like it could have used some beefing up or was a wee bit flexy. Of course, that may not be exclusive to GM in this class of car. It also felt like you could feel a bit too much through the floor and seat that NVH and isolation needed just a little work. The Malibu might be tuned differently and better. An I4 Malibu i drove a few months ago was quiet at partial throttle and low rpm, with the 4 it just seemed like it could have used more gusto. Plus, a less expensive 4 I hold to a lesser standard than what these days is 'exotic', a top of the line v6 model. More briefly, any suspension, NVH, chassis tuning observations?

i do know the GXP had a bad mpg rating. but the SHO had equal or more weight and AWD. The SHO yes is slower, so maybe someone can tell me what the G8 GT's mpg was. I do know one road test i read on the GXP G8 they only got like 13 real world mpg.

questions seat comfort mpg power and transmission kickdown trunk space rear leg room bluetooth and usb operation highway ride highway noise ingress and egress

SHO 17/25 G8 GXP 13/20 there is a fuel economy difference. look what happened with the 2.8t when GM said, 'premium only'.....

oooo....my reputation.....OOOOOOOO someone doesn't agree but doesn't have the nuts to rebut

thanks, cspec. nice article. its all about social control. you can track and control people with driverless and shared vehicles. Rail is not convenient to many as a car is. what should be borne of this. cheap, safe, cost efficient, low tech electric city vehicles smart sized or spark sized that urban dwellers can purchase or lease for minimal cost. electric powertrain with a tiny gas motor ala volt could eventually become cost efficient if they can find a way to charge them cheap on reg 110. i.e. think a refined tata nano with safety and a throughly optimized SIMPLE powertrain, plastic body parts. pressed wheels with simple tires. removable simple seating. spartan finishes. of course the powers that be want to remove your transportation freedom.

CRV is a pile of $h! i don't know why it sells. oh yes, i do. women love em, and guys who don't care what they drive or care to shop too. MDX has no cargo space and no advantage aside from that over a 10k cheaper and nicer Lambda. RDX drinks fuel at a v8 rate and nobody buys them. Overpriced crap. No style. Crosstour redefines ugly. Only reason it sells is its an Accord wagon. New Pilot is ugly. I read a new recent review of it where it got trashed as being slow heavy and inferior to most other class offerings. ZDX, interesting but pointless, and the sales show it. Honda lays the biggest turds in the crossover segment. Some of them still sell because of the H but they are setting themselves up for disappointment from unhappy buyers who at some point will realize they can get better for less pretty easily and won't have to look at ugly anymore. The new SRX may be a Vue, but all you need to do to sell one is get the buyer inside it. It's posh and sellable and why you'd want an ugly turd of a Honda instead is beyond any thinking and reasoning person's ability to comprehend.

darn curse......

Imagine getting a CTSv and then getting it dented right away.

it gets crazy when it rains here. I was worried about getting rear ended again since there wasn't much area to pull off. I am actually glad now I got a cobalt instead of say, a regal turbo. Imagine getting a brand new regal and then smacking it a couple weekS later.

will do. The plastic seems ok. The paint scratches are deep enough that I am unsure if there is a way to get rid of it. Lol, maybe this IS my chance for a G5 front clip. Really, most people won't notice unless they look close. Since it was so loud I will get it inspected underneath. Ever since I got the car I have been careful where and how I park it. But my tiny car is a MAGNET for big hulking SUV's to park next to it and not give a $h! about how they park. A cpl Saturdays ago I parked with no one several spots on either side of me. Bitch in a Durango pulls in right next to me as I was walking back to my car. The inisde of her passenger side tire was at least six inches to the left ofthe stripe. She left me about 15 inches to get in. I got pissed and yelled (as she was on her cell phone) "could you leave me some F---ing space to get into my car?". She just has this dumb as $h! look on her face and starts getting back into her car to move it. I am thinking to myself, "you stupid c--_€£¥". Seriously, a small car means big trucks take free reign to park however. Again, this morn at starbucks, the Q7 a spot away from us was easily 2 feet over it's driver side line and straddling it. Fu--.

Dang. This stuff just seems lime it happens more and more. Sorry to hear about that.

actual damage was minimal. my front bumper tagged a passat in front of me. my license plate took the biggest bump. it was freakish in how the front shape of my car mated to the shape of his car so as all the damage to him visually was some red paint scrapes on his plate frame. Alas, now i have some gouges and missing paint on my NEW CAR bumper. At least far as i can tell yet the bumper cover was not deformed in any way, or cracked. Odd considering how loud the noise made when i hit his car. Thing that sucked was I planned only to keep this car for a short time and try to sell it for max value when i wanted to. Now it will be impossible to sell it for any decent price regardless of the fact that there is probably no damage other than scratches. My neck did feel a little twinge different. I am just upset because nothing seems to be going right these days, this just underscores it. How often is it you get in an accident with someone and you are in total agreement on what happened but it doesn't matter? Short description. I was third in a line of three cars changing highways and in a merge lane to get on the new highway. there was some rain out so traffic was moving many different speeds, and with the bad weather people were out shopping so hence the high traffic. the area i was in is a high incident area by the way its designed. the first person in line was proceeding to merge but then stopped due to apprehension and lack of skill and probably the rain. the second car, which i hit, had to stop and probably narrowly missed a frontal. in the extremely short time i spent checking my mirror and behind my left shoulder for traffic to merge into what i saw of his car in front changed from 'accelerating and merging' to dead stop. I actually think another foot or so if i had that i woulda missed him. I could tell at the end there he was upset with the first person in line that got away.

cheese

Hey guess what. THE CURSE. guess which one. f--k.

if you install windows ME twice what does that mean?

chevy has a spoiler they tack on some of them from the factory. i would have been ok with one of those. this one though....at least have alum wheels on your car before you add the basket handle.

maybe i should buy some SS badges off eBay, along with the spoiler. personally though, i have always been partial to those 'aircraft aluminum' spoilers on my fast and furious machines. LMAO note that bitchen hubcaps came on that coupe (not visible in the photo). my 16" alum Wheels OWN that bitches plastic trays......

so bitchen......MUST HAVE the car goes 40 mph faster just with that spoiler on it......

site reads ok mostly on iphone right now. but an iphone app would be appreciated.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_XEEIzU0UA1M/TAVXw1VvCgI/AAAAAAAASno/zZ661pvJr0s/s1600/001.jpg now i am on board. this is nice. the 3 door and 5 door should be sold here as Buicks with the Opel grille slot. The wagon and sedan should be here sold with the Buick grille. Although I would even say the wagon could get the Opel grille slot too. full line up. many body styles of the same model. make the sedan here. import the other variants from Europe.

i like mercury, but it really needed a new sable to continue. i kind of wish they would continue the milan and mariner another year. i like the grille and interior differences. if Pontiac is gone, then i guess mercury gone isn't so hard for me either. wouldn't it just be nicer if most of the other Asian brands would go away so we could bring back Olds, Pontiac, Mercury?

poo-joe