regfootball

this polo is more the size of the proper classic US rabbit. A polo diesel anyone?

C spec, Saab again?

small block v8. but make it smaller and lighter. reduce displacement if need be. add variable valve timing. direct injection. bigger fish to fry is needing AWD. Nissan GTR and 911 have that.

i have a new appreciation for the sebring avenger. never buy one new, but they are incredible buys used. the interior is cheese and they drive like crap, but they are not bad. just slightly behind the curve. i could prob stomach an avenger for a couple years. I like the dash layout and its fairly spacious in back. its a nice tweener size.

what are the tires on the HHR SS? the dealer i bought my aztek from has an 09 SS Manual which i have been eyeballing, and it will ROT on their lot. but its overpriced by far to begin with, when they get desperate to unload it and i can actually buy a car again, i would be curious to know if its good in snow or not. HHR SS is a great stealth speedster. and it cruises well on the highway at 70-80 mph. i wish i had the means to get my third SHO, but at 45k sticker, it won't be anytime soon. interestingly enough....the 89 I bought used, had an original sticker of 21 grand or something. 20 years later, the same car with AWD and 100+ mre hp is only twice the price. so technically the SHO is not priced out of range. the 89 was packaged masterfully. big trunk. comfy large rear seat. the 89 SHO had bolstered seats that rocked. I'd rather have those deep bolstered seats than the stupid suede and the stupid massage. the 89 had a neat swing up armrest and nice large space to put stuff between the seats. and i loved the simple dash. my biggest regret was selling my 89. of course it was rusting a lot, but the engine was like it was new!

basically, ford decided they would not replace the crown vic. they did not want to make a platform for one car. primarily because in the showroom, a rwd only mainstream car does not sell like a fwd one does. once the crown vic was killed, they knew they had to plug the large car gap with something. thus, the supersize taurus begun. ford was working on the ecoboost and knew that they had to spread the cost of it and sales out over several models. they also knew that to load up a fwd car with 365 hp would not work. they also had to amortize the AWD system. they knew they had to have an AWD offering to be credible there. especially with the great take rates on 500/freestyle/taurus/fusion, as well as the europeans and subaru. they knew they could not make a new rwd car platform that would not sell in the showroom or the north belt and not have it being a losing proposition. reusing and refining the P90 or whatever, a lot of the work was done already prior. its a good platform and they can build many salable models off it. also they can compete at lower price points and in the snow belt with fwd standard. so they determined that a SHO model would help fill the taurus lineup and amortize the ecoboost. this SHO will be the highest performing SHO ever. its no slouch, and to advertise that it has AWD helps because now they can say its a budget audi or something. if it were fwd it would crucified. ford only sold 20,000 of the 96-99 SHO. they are pretty sure they can easily attain that with this new model. Like i said, many models have the ecoboost AWD and its entire program is not dependent on the one model with unique motor like prior SHOs. Much like the way GM spreads its high per v8s across many models it helps pay for it all. There would be no CTSv if there were no ZR1. Once they become discounted I would not be surprised to see ford move about 7-8000 SHOs a year. and its no big deal because ford cares about how many ecoboosts they sell across their entire product line. If they sell 30-40,000 ecoboost v6's a year for 5 years that is a lot of units to pay off that technology. All on a platform that is shared likewise with many other models. So even if they STILL can keep the price up then its simply more profit. Whereas GM builds a nice g8, has to discount it because they didn't advertise it or it got bad mpg, or people said F this its RWD i wont make it up my driveway in powder. or, because they couldnt figure out how to make it profitable as one car on one platform in the US and had to ship it half way across the globe out of a pricey environment to begin with. Like it or not the bulk of the car buying public sees the AWD is a feature advantage over RWD only. So even if the G8 is a better track car, it really doesn't mean much when only a tiny subset of the population who didnt already get a BMW is interested in RWD. it kind of goes to show the silliness of GM. they have a great 3.6 litre motor, yet they insist on selling an inferior 3.0 in the same vehicle that detracts from the experience. they sell a 2.8 turbo which cant outperform the 3.6 in any way either. why dont they simply make a 3.6 and a 3.6 turbo, the Insignia / SRX / Saab 2.8 turbo can't come close to touching this ecoboost. Is the insignia turbo the same as the SRX or saab? in the mustang they will prob tune the ecoboost for 400hp. i can't wait for that. ford doesnt care how successful the SHO is, because it just is an image builder for the taurus line and the ecoboost technology. they can easily make as much $$$$ off a fwd taurus limited as they can a moderate equipped SHO. they will pay for the ecoboost with MKt's, the most (the ones that need it the most).......but they do need to sell enough of the ecoboost across the ford line to pay for it. in the meantime they get 17/25 against cafe and bragging rights about a sophisticated AWD system like europes best, as opposed to 13/20 cafe numbers, and a stigma of a car with limited market appeal (rwd only for the smoky burnout and bling crowd cough).

that could have been the cheaper than $h! and perform like $h! goodyear eagle LS tires common on the GP. check tire rack, that tire has horse$h! winter rating. i had an 01 and an 02 diamante. the 01 had cheap bottom feeder yokohamas, the car would do 360's on a moderately glazed flat parking lot. the 02 i had had i think either bridgestones (no gem brand either) or michelins, either way it was worlds better and was not at all treacherous.

I am really warming up to this and the new Golf. I really like the new front ends. A lot crisper than what is on the current rigs.

what a shame....such a tidy little rig! http://www.km77.com/00/volkswagen/polo/2009/t01.asp new article and photos up

I did once see a 3.0 wagon 5 speed at a used dealer that sells lux lease returns. that would be a great crossover. i may give the x type another chance. this one i tested though i just did not like.

yeah, a 40k subcompact. not much of a market in general for those types of cars. but, BMW does have a good share of that miniscule market.

yes, that is a good idea actually, the one i drove although only with 59k miles, it felt kinda used like courteney love to me. in particular i think the struts were toast and the chassis loose in all aspects. are you sure we aren't talking about the "XTS" type?

an excoworker....hot redhead, about 28 got rid of her klunker sunfire a couple years ago and got a three series. thing is she just shopped all the luxo brands until she found the car and color she wanted. last winter she called me because she said her dad made her get winter tires for it. she had no clue about what drive wheels meant even though i said she should get the AWD 3 series. she ignored me. then she had trouble getting around and her dad made her get the extra tires. she is a fashionista. she didnt get the 3 because of track pedigree. she got it because its automotive fashion accessory just like her handbag is a fashion accessory. that's why the professional women get them.

nutella is a hazelnut cocoa butter that tastes like chocolate pudding with a hint of nut. target even has it, its the cheapest there.

that's reality though, and why people who don't get it, need to. you can't buy the G8 because the wife wants an SUV etc. You can't get the RWD car because the wife wants front drive or AWD. this is what GM has to deal with and there is no sense poo pooing the preferences of someone who actually has checkbook in hand and is spending the money to keep GM and companies like it afloat. your average 30 or 40 something or 50 something woman doesn't care about the g8, or zeta, or an s class cadillac type car. women have more of a say in most car purchases than men, and that's GM has to make the stuff they do. As a whole, the market for things like a zeta, or an old style SRX are very tiny.

finally, a topic in life i have high appreciation for. bravo fair man for talking about what really matters! was at the mall today..yeah, the girls dress really slutty these days. tight little tank tees with straps that will bust at any moment, and the thinnest fabric. bras with pushup effect. tight everything. not much covered. i'm really not against that.....but when i grew up in the 80's it was all about bulky sweaters and jeans. and other multi layer clothing concepts. girls back then didnt show anything near what is shown now. thing is, even the married cougars and divorced ladies my age now try to dresst like the teens so its a bit of fair play for all that was missed then. people don't like to really equate it much like I do, but the aids scare back then with all the safe sex talk and fear of being sexually showy really meant a lot of girls dressed more conservatively. and the whole preppy look popular then was about wearing a lot of elaborate stuff anyways. today's britney generation thinks its ok for ten year old girls to dress and look like they are picking up guys at the bar. slightly sick this is, all this focus on being fashionable, sexually attractive, and uncovered. Far too many girls and women car far too much about 'looking hot'. even too many guys these days too. but if they all want to show it, you might as well look because they are basically asking and begging for everyone to look the way things are.

which is probably just all cadillac wanted to do.

ok, this i think is a bad move by them. i can see the why to some degree. i suppose if you want the 5 cyl boat anchor and a stick you could just get a jetta. i can't foot the bill for the GTI and the TDI is pricey too although i understand the TDI has all sorts of more goodies. leather touch points, better radio, etc. i would seriously consider the Golf if i could have the 4 door hatch with stick at the base price point. i am still convinced VW purposely puts the lead anchor 5 in its low end cars to convince folks to move up for the turbo or the diesel. how about a golf 6 speed 4 door with a 2.0 4 cylinder 160hp non turbo?

they do. and its unfair. but humans also need mechanisms to make judgements on others without taking the time of years to get to know one another. its too much easier for our species to fall back on generalizations and looks and run with that because it eliminates the labor of having to sift through everyone to find what we like. i think it sucks too. they did these at my work, and they basically used it to label people and slot people into either confirming their preconceived notions of each of us, or to use that new label to put us down. the guy that administered the test where i worked told me to my face in front of a crowd that my personality the way it was i didn't belong in my industry doing what i do. i wanted to f-cking clock him.

congrats, DF. talent lands you the gig. good job!

fabulous choice, sat. you will love that cargo area......... did you get the DSG or the stick? big sunroof? awesome choice. hope you enjoy the snot out of that vehicle.

NO MANUAL TRANS 4 DOOR GOLF?

I test drove a TDI Jetta with DSG. It was my first test of a DSG car, i didn't care for it myself. VW's sticks are so good, i can't help but think the little diesel and a 6 speed would be oodles of fun.........

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