regfootball

For the Flex, my point of reference is the Taurus X I already own, and the GM Lambdas. When i bought my T-Rex, the Flex had just came out, and my impression of it then is the same as now. Where the Taurus X felt more agile and car like, the Flex felt a little more like a bus, larger, and a little slower with the reflexes. Same still holds true. The Flex drives comfortable and solid. Its not a floater, in fact, its ride is stiffer than the Taurus. Its just big and heavy. The FWD does help on acceleration, it was a little quicker than the AWD Flex i remember driving. It's also noticeably less quick than the 010 Taurus. But it was entirely good and non deficient for a huge crossover with standard rear air and all the space. I would guess if you 0-60'ed it it would be 8.5-8.9 seconds and probably a full second or tish more slower than the 010 Taurus. What's offputting to me is the feeling of driving a bus. while having some sort of drug induced flashback. It just is slightly creepy inside the Flex from an interior design standpoint. Materials and assembly quality are all really good except the seat cloth is an afterthought. Seats were REALLY comfy. I love the newly added tilt AND telescope on the steering wheel. center stack is logical and nicely laid out just not up as high as in the Taurus. Head room is IMMENSE. A pillars are like COLUMNS in your view. Everything is BOXING DAY because its so boxy. All the heft and solidity of the Taurus, and then some. Its like an heirloom piece. Visibility is insanely good and almost like no other vehicle in its class. Cargo, seating, and storage space are more than my T-Rex. The big question is how it compares to the Lambda. More in a bit. Not a fan of how the door wraps under on the bottom. Damage waiting to happen. It's inevitable. Tranny shifted smooth. Flex is extremely quiet. Rear air standard. You can drive 1500 miles non stop in this thing, and still hit the dance floor when you get there. You just get that feeling. It really is a better travel vehicle than my Taurus X. Its remarkably unique from it while being similar at the same time. I would give the nod to the Flex, its just more suited to full crossover duty. The Flex's main GM competition are the Lambdas. I have driven a few of those. It's been awhile. Where does the Lambda stack up vs. the Flex? Surprisingly I would rate both equally capable on hauling people. The Lambda has the wider third row which may be the deal maker if you want an 8 passenger. Third row in the Flex is extremely comfy for two though. Second row comfort on the shape of the seats may go to GM but the Flex has more legroom and foot space. Overall I think the second row goes to Flex. You just sit more naturally. Front piers are equal just that GM's sit higher. Interior design is your choice, although a tiny edge in material quality i would give to the Flex. The Acadia or Traverse have more typical interior designs even if their door panels have more cheapness. With no clear advantage on seating, it does seem clear that the cargo area of the Lambdas have advantages in size and width and perhaps even flexibility. The load height of the Flex being lower and the well behind the rear seat may be handy for some, but the higher load height of the Lambdas some consider nice as well. I would probably say that in base FWD trim the Lambda would feel quicker and more sprite. The Lambdas always felt a little ponderous to me, even if they have a decently firm suspension and sort of sharp steering. They just feel like there is too much weight, and the visibility is not as good. While the Flex feels heavy too, it doesn't advertise it as much. Maybe because its a little softer, and a little slower. More composed. If I had to pick, I think I would really appreciate the extra capacity of the Lambdas. However, something like a twin turbo v6 really could make me sway to the Flex. As could the 'unique' exterior. To own a traverse or Acadia would not feel unique. To me this one is a draw, it hinges on your styling preference, price and options, and what I consider a trade off between second row seat comfort of the Flex (and lower seating overall) and the cargo carrying and 3rd row advantages of the Lambdas. the lambda 2nd row seat does slide out of the way a bit easier too. and the hatch gets out of your way more easily on the Lambdas too. Really, too close to call. In base SEL FWD form I probably would give the Flex a B+ although I would really want to give it an A- for solid overall virtue. The seat cloth and slight lack of cargo space dings it a bit for me. Just as I would give say an Acadia or Traverse a B+ for poor second row footspace and occasionally ponderous feel. Really, too close to call. Pick which one you like, both are great options. it would EAT miles. Perfect long distance car. Just a little soft is all. No pretense of being a sporting sedan at all. Maybe that's ok! Get a LaCrosse if you want a little bit of liveliness. BTW, Fusion feels like junk compared to both of these bigger Fords. I bet an MKs with ecoboost is really nice.

In particular, the difference of the 010 Taurus to my old 500 or just about any other vehicle, is striking. The car feels larger and more substantial than the 500 or heavy Taurus X. Partly this is due to the high sill on the side windows, which actually i was fine with. Its not as confining as the LaCrosse as far as the windows (although the console and dash are more confining in the Taurus). The rear window is a mailslot though. The old 500 had exceptional visibility. The view out the back of the 010 Taurus is marginal. Fortunately, the view out the front is good. The interior itself is a unique automotive cocoon. It feels solid and substantial and swoopy with the curve of the console sweeping up into the dash. I really liked the new interior aside from the visibility issues. The center stack is awesome. I liked the controls. The removal of the center storage atop the dash sucks though. The gauges are really nice. Non leather steering wheel felt great except it lacked leather and of course was thin. Ford needs to move their SWAC up where the thumb wants to be and make them rock up and down, not side to side. I liked the paddle shifters but the car downshifts for you in M mode anyways, WTF? Rear seat space has not been compromised so much like others say, it was too big on the 500 to begin with. Seats felt a little soft and lacking support. No surprise since the target audience is blue hair baby boomers and toyota defectors. Interior quality I felt was really good. A few hints of cheapness here and there but there is so much heft and detail in the design that overall the impression is you get more than you paid for. MSRP was about 28,000, price was around 25 OTD. Power was good. Moved out nicely but didn't slam you into the seat or leap off the line with torque steer. brakes average. car felt REALLY BIG. Sort of like a luxury tank. Not as lively as I assume a 3.6 LaCrosse would be, although the tranny banged out shifts a little quicker than the 3.0 LaCrosse does. I will go on record saying that the LaCrosse has sharper steering, and a firmer ride. The Taurus is a big comfortable soft tank. Not as soft as the Lucerne. Nor is it a floater. But the Taurus is what I term the ultimate new age cruiser. If you want a little bit more involvement and maybe even a slightly quieter and smoother car, the LaCrosse has an edge (no pun). LaCrosse's motor is more aurally pleasing. Both have equally dramatic interiors. The huge trunk on the Taurus or optional SHO or generally better value vs. pricing may just tip the scale in favor of the Taurus to some. (the new Regal interior after seeing it this weekend may indeed be a little better to a lot of folks than either the LaCrosse or Taurus but clearly the LaCrosse and Taurus are going foot to foot in a larger car market). So overall I liked the Taurus and I obviously like Ford's products on this platform. Its a nice evolution of their large products and it feels worth more than its price. Its comfortable and solid and stylish. Provides great utility also. The car needs a better ride steering and handling setup on the non SHO models. Overall, because I feel it nails basic virtue, I give it an A-. Taurus SEL compared to the LaCrosse CX I drove before I would probably call a draw. Personal preference. My only comment is that the LaCrosse felt more lively and had some better ride, steering, and handling. Interior quality of the LaCrosse was maybe just a bit shy of the Taurus. Really, similarly equipped, the two cars are potatoe, pototo. I would encourage nearly anyone I know to put the Taurus on their test drive list if they want a large, comfortable, high value car, just like I would the LaCrosse.

Had to beat the deadline and do my auto show test drive to get my 50 bucks. So i went to my local Ford dealer last saturday. Considering I just bought the cobalt, and really should be getting out of my Taurus X for financial reasons, I really wasn't shopping cars. Just wanted the 50 bucks. But i hadn't driven an 010 Taurus yet. I had driven a Flex once, but very briefly and it was AWD. I have had a Ford 500 and currently the Taurus X so its kind of like dating your girlfriends sister or cousin or mom. "It's all going to feel the same". IYKWIM.....LOL. I really wanted to test the more basic trims because if i do buy again anytime in my life that would be the trims I'd probably get. I would have loved to have shredded a SHO or an Ecoboost flex but i didn't want to violate someone else's future nice ride. This particular dealer has a very short and restricted test drive loop so i really couldn't beat on it, or slalom with it, or cruise at high speed for a long time. That, coupled with the familiar feel meant I was just searching to find the unique flavor in these more recent P90 variants.

cool beans

yowsers, u cud haf 4 cobalts for dat

maybe i will hit the donut store today and check out that used G3 again across the street from there for sale tomorrow.

yeah, I have still have the orignal card so there were no redemption limits.

09 SS turbo sedan. MSRP was 26,300 I think or close to it. I'll go back and look that up. I had i think 3000 cobalt rebate, 1000 GMAC rebate, and 1000 Pontiac rebate. they had a dealer discount of like 2000 I think. On top of that I had like 2800 GM card dollars. so i think i had it figured out that i would still be on the hook for like 16,500 or something like that. Which, for the SS cobalt, would be a great deal, especially considering the resale. But in my current situation, i couldn't justify the extra almost 7 grand i would have had to spend just for the turbo, and then have to strip the summer tires off it right away and put all seasons on or get snows. The extra sales tax and additional set of tires (unless i did a take off trade) would have been a net difference of like 8 grand. that started to put me up into some territory where something besides a cobalt would have made a lot more sense as a family car. And the SS lacks the armrest. My car has over 2k miles on it now. One thing i have going on right now that kinda bugs me is when decelerating in upper gears with no gas, i get a really bad gear whine. i know gears whine....but its just too audible. On aspect of the car that I am not sure is fixable, and is most definitely an NVH issue. It's odd because it cruises so quietly when the throttle is on. Especially when the cruise is set. When I trade or sell this thing to get a cruze, i am thinking i will get an automatic next time. Sticks are fun when you have a sports car or a car with power. The Cobalt has more power than most econocars. But more power and 6 gears with a better clutch and shifter would make it more fulfilling to drive. And the automatics now with six speeds and quicker shifting are lessening the gap of performance and mpg. Don't get me wrong, on say a Cobalt SS, you gotta get the stick.

IOW, an SS. 6-7 grand extra and i coulda had an SS.....FK

ah f-ck, i should have got the SS>......... i bet the SS is a hoot.........

most likely waterloo, cedar falls, or cedar rapids I am guessing.

bought it here from a dealer in Mpls but they got it via a dealer trade with one of their networked dealers in IA. I might have the info. I will go back through my email and find out.

wow. great story. i've had my onstar for a couple weeks and it does seem handy. hope i never need it 'like that'. this is the part where i gripe and say, the directions and connections are nice, but really would be fully realized with an integrated on screen nav display (which is missing in many models)

love it! HUGE CONGRATULATIONS!

awesome. i love that show. can't wait to see it.

i have the stick. i coulda got a new holdover 09 SS sedan as there was a couple available, but it woulda been 6-7 grand more. I was thinking though in order to really use the nice motor to the maximum, if it had a state of the art 6 speed it would be a good deal. Cruze gets the 6 speed, but doesn't even have the power output of the Cobalt.

29.40 culuative mpg in over 1100 miles so far. I'd say that 60% of it though with 4 people a loaded trunk....that's with about 600 pounds of stuff. it's breaking in. 600 miles this weekend loaded to the gills. lotsa power for an economy car. surprising guts on the roads. mpg drops off rapidly after 70. 55-65 mph is really the best for optimal FE. 75mpg+ they really should have had a 6th gear. A six speed auto would be perfect in this car, since high speed passing requires manual downshift, where the automatic would just kick down and gut it out. a 1.8 turbo with about 185 hp would be just about right in a car like this or the cruze mated to a six or 8 speed auto.

yeah, its more a dig at the hypocrisy of the GM engineer more than anything. I am like, 'aren't you responsible for putting out such an apparently sh1tty car'?

Blu, its a good car. I'm just pickin fun at a couple things. One, that GM's lead engineer just NOW is bringing up any self deprication on the car, conveniently when its successor (which they are promoting at a PR event) is on the horizon. Where was he 6 years ago to render that judgment? I am more picking fun at GM's dysfunction than the car itself. The Cruze is just another compact, it doesn't have much of a power advantage over the Cobalt, from what i can tell, the most quanitifiable improvements so far the Cruze has is 3 more inches of hip and shoulder room, a couple inches of rear legroom, wider wheelbase and track, and a couple more feet in the trunk. There is not much else it seems that they are doing that will make the Cruze light years beyond a Cobalt for daily driving. So in that regard i am sure it is just engineered PR theater for the top GM engineer guy to be that distraught at the cobalt when he should have known how it sized up years ago. Or maybe GM's head staff IS that clueless and doesn't even evaluate their own products before they release them?...... Two, Chevy's are nice but I still would have preferred something with a Pontiac badge. Poking fun at the notion that in order to make it a 'real Pontiac', that I would have to add some tack ons. Reality is it would be fun to have a unique car, a 'Cobalt' with the G5 grille. Reality is for me it's a bridge car, something to keep transportation cost down for awhile. If i were just driving it myself I might keep it longer term, but fairly often there will be 2,3,4 of us in the car. It's a bit small for us long term. In the meantime I am sure it will be a great car. I like a lot of things about it. It would just be fun to do some things like Pontiac it to make it unique since there are so many cobalts out there. But really so far, I am liking it. Aside from the ergonomic and comfort / covenience shortcomings..which all cars have to some degree....it really has good power for a small car.

as someone who has had to deal with a large percentage of my working 'career' in a construction related field, without work because of recessions and horse$h! economy, I guess I would offer up the notion that building a nice large wall across the entire southern border of the United States would not only be a nice obstruction to illegal immigrant entry, but it would employ lots of folks doing so in the process. We could even build sniper stations on top, in case anyone thinks they can scale the wall. Just a thought.

which leads me to Adam Sandler's quote in the Wedding Singer....."that information would have been useful to me YESTERDAY"........

NOW you are ON to something. Are you sure there isn't a Chinese model of the Cobalt that was badged a Buick? What would I call it? Skylark? Century? If i want to do the Pontiac thing though, I am going to need to seriously tack on some ribbed cladding on the sides, too. If I turned it into a Buick I would need to put baby blue leather in it.

gosh, all that work for a little EXCITEMENT?

my furnace kicking in

more random observations. still loving the steering wheel. thumbs fit nicely on the 9 and 3 spokes. the leather feels great. actually now wishing the wheel was a bit larger but really its no big deal and perfect size for a small car. ergonomics and confort convenience are the cars achilles. window switches and mirror switches are in the right spot and I love the big readable gauges (Focus can you hear me). Stalks are good too. But even with the seat up all the way, I can't get in a sweet spot on this car. Maybe that is the issue, but I have the seat up to max high and its still lower than i want. Set the way i like, the dash is too low, the armrest is too low. Most certainly the radio is in a tolerable spot but the climate control and cupholders are the backbreakers. Climate controls are too low and can be blocked by travel mugs and bottles in the cupholders. Fan switch is too small. Cupholders won't securely hold much more than a 12 oz. can reliably. No door cupholders. Parking brake is obscured by the armrest. me understanding the cobalt was inexpensive and is an older design......so its all stuff i can live with. Knowing the Cruze fixes a lot of this helps. Love the steering wheel cruise and audio controls. Cruise control in particular so much easier than the Ford units with the rocker switches. Car is definitely a good cruiser, but does indeed seem happier when the mph is closer to 60 than 70. Instant mpg confirms better at the lower speed too. Engine seems to be breaking in and getting more spunky. The ecotec is happy at any rpm range and just goes about its business. It's not thrashy. Likes rpm. Unfortunate the Cobalt never got a 6 speed auto or 6 speed manual. I would guess a refined 6 speed auto kicking down in traffic or in freeway passing when gas is applied would really make great use of the very flexible engine. Love driving a stick but admit the automatics kick down much faster when doing high speed freeway passing. The car 69'ed me .....'instant average' of 69 mpg a couple times. lotsa 99's too. Car feels much more responsive with just me in the car vs. 4 of us. No surprise, just that it is entirely noticeable and appreciated. Steering even gets some occasional life and feel / feedback once in a while. Me wonders how some 17's or 18's with some wider tires would feel on this car. The 16's still feel a bit squishy. I know, they are just Hankooks. Haven't fully tested the brakes yet. Hate seeing drums back there. I know, they are cheap. Wife likes the car. She's foiled my plan; part of the plan was to buy a car she wouldn't like to drive so i could drive it more. Bugs me that she's taken it to work all week. I guess its payback for her not driving it at all the first week. 200 miles and gas gauge is right at half. I overstuffed the tank last fill so its probably through a bit more than half a tank. Wife loves how it sips gas. Too bad part of that is offset by a little higher insurance costs. Glad I didn't get the HHR even though it would have been more useful. We have crossover fatigue. I like being in a 'car' and not another vehicle that feels taller than it does wide. A little remorse since it seems HHR rebates are more this month but still the Cobalt feels like a good purchase.