regfootball

its so hard to even fathom why that sort of thing happens. a couple thursdays ago my mother in law had a heart attack out of the blue and died instantly. And having watch this following process play out and remind me how tough it is to deal with loss, how unfair it all seems at times, and how the finality of it all is tough to resolve. I just wish you and your family lots of strength and prayers in this upcoming time. By all means drop me a line if you want or need to talk. Someone asked me the other day how you deal with it yourself or counsel others close to you to deal with it, and I honestly have to say each time this happens the situation is such that it is a bit uncharted territory and its best to not try to advise, rather, just try to be there for your loved ones and become strong as a group. Its not a process or destination that can be arrived at alone. You really find out just how great many people in your extended family are and how they come together for things like this. Cherish all those moments and I for one am greatly thankful for all those people who continue to show all the love and support in my extended family. I wish that in spades for your family right now.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/2009/03/27/f...us.htm?page=all Canad. drvr is usually pretty charitable in its reviews, so for it to say its not even fun makes me think its still a puff cruiser. This is a good article though and has good pictures.

will the v6 have available stick? i would like a 250hp four pop turbo. new TSX feels a whole class larger than the last one. i'll have the rest of the brands comments later..

Acura- decent display. not much traffic but they had a lot of cars. this was my first chance at seeing the TL and TSX. the RDX i always thought was ok but i didnt like the exterior and its overall overpriced. the RL is redundant and lame. but i have to admit i was surprised sitting in the TSX. the car is to me now right sized and i was not prepared to like the interior like i did. the one i liked was tan interior with silverish accents. i liked the dash and interior quality. i did not expect too based on pictures. definitely surprised me. perfect size, and nice interior. what the TSX needs is a turbo (that doesn't inhale gas like the RDX). The TL and TSX are close to indistinguishable to the naked eye which makes me wonder why they have both or why the RL exists. The styling for both is evolved by Honda from the last gen Maxima I feel. Generic but nice and i do not like the meat slicer grille but overall its a likable design if generic. I'll admit, the TSX may be on my short list now and the TL i have a little more positive to say about it now, but the TSX in my mind is the one to get. I have liked the MDX but its pointless when a lambda is a better cheaper solution. Audi- only checked out the new Q5. Audi continues to master interiors and the Q5 is no exception. This is the quintissential chick lux SUV. Kinda pointless though with the A4 wagon? BMW- i only sat in the Aztek, er.....X6 this year. Its really one of those 'what's the point' vehicles. really? its nicely done from an execution standpoint, but it seriously is a 'why'? the trunk is small and the car is huge and ugly. Is this what BMW wants to be known for? Buick- new LaCrosse is indeed sexy. Wow, but from sight the interior plastic looks cheap. Does GM ever learn? Interior fit looks like it needs to be cleaner too, even if the design is sexy. Buick was getting some love though, amazingly. The Lucerne and Enclave had plenty of oldsters checking it out. I still like the Lucerne, even with its ancient powertrains. Cadillac- the new CTS wagon was there. HOT!!!! i love it. the CTS was getting lots of love and the V series was awesome. they had like 3 CTS-v's. The CTS interiors are well done! Proof of what GM can do. The STS refresh was even nice. I could take one in a pinch. I continue to like the SRX. The SRX is underrated and its a shame the dowdy wagon look killed the car's sales. THe new SRX was on the platform and honestly, it looked hot. Interior looked good but lets hope the fit and finish come through. You cannot tell the new SRX is a TE platform in the flesh. I wish GM could fully fund Cadillac. Chevrolet- I will do a separate write up on the new Camaro. They had 3 and i sat in a couple of them. I like HHR even if its getting dated. They had a cobalt SS coupe and sedan and i liked them. they look really good in SS trim. the seats are really nice, even if its just cloth. the malibu needs better plastic. the new Equinox is HOT. assuming the interior plastic is ok. Traverse was getting lots of love. Not much traffic for the trucks. Was the impala even there? Aveo is half ass. I think they had a Z06 there, i didnt sit in any corvettes (it was a quick trip). I think Chevy has a chance if each new model is great. Efforts like the Traverse make me think its doable. The Cruze cannot come soon enough. Chrysler- they had a large display and it was nice. Certainly not throwing in the towel. Many 300's and Sebrings. I spent a lot of time in a 300 limited v6. i really like it. tan interior. Too bad the car new is so pricey. There is indeed real substance to these cars. I kind of think Chrylser needs to get that phoenix engine and 6 speed tranny in there yesterday. Lots of sebrings and a cpl PT cruisers. Some Aspens. Dodge- also lots of cars on display. They had several challengers. That car is growing on me. I also liked the Chargers (i wish the magnum was still around). The Avenger is bad, really, but they had several of those and the minivans. The minivans were a botched effort plain and simple. Good value, sure, but the interiors are so bad on the new vans. Just terrible. The town and country interiors are at least passable. Lots of Rams and other trucks. Ford- I did not like the 010 Taurus like i thought. Will have to wait to sit in one that is not on a platform. Ford was getting lots of love. The 010 Fusion refresh is nice, but to me its merely a new nose and rear and powertrain improvements. The side view is still dated to me. Nonetheless it is to me one of those 'price is right' vehicles. The fusion sport was real nice. Focus and Edge and even Flex were getting lots of love. I saw the 010 mustang from a bit away and it looks nice. interior refresh is improved but didn't really seem awesome to me. Edge sport interior seemed out of character to me. Edge interior needs a refresh. Transit Connect was cool! but clearly is for business use. The tall interior would be way spookey as a family vehicle. GMC- was slow. I didn't even wander in there. Honda- I was amazed, no one was checking out Hondas! Maybe it was a fluke, but the only hondas getting love were a few accords and the Fit, and even then, not that much. The Civics (had a lot of them) were being ignored. I still like the Element, and some of the Accords with tan interior and higher option level to me were ok but basic accords are dreadful. Civic sucks. Fit is overrated. The interior is flimsy and cheap (if better than the Civic).

normally this would go in the auto show section but mpls is not a major show so its basically like going car shopping, but i thought i would post some observations. more people read the lounge anyways. it was a really scaled down autoshow. no concepts hardly and not much for glitz in displays. nearly no models. GM in particular was next to nothing. it really made the GM portion look sad. Gave the impression that GM is dead. on the whole, it was a ripoff for 10 bucks admission and 10 bucks to park, but fortunately, Ford and Mercury each will be sending me 50 buck gift cards after a test drive. that will make it pay off. comments......

the silver is nicer than the graphite gray. the lower XE versions for 08 had the graphite gray. in europe you can get piano black and colored trim and even wood i think 010 saturn astra was supposed to have tan seat option.

custom, congrats, at least it is European company. Hey, i'm still pounding the pavement. BMW got anything for moi?

mustang is slated for the 3.7v6 and hopefully the twin turbo 3.5 as well. those would be the mustangs i would want. i agree the next mustang needs a bit of a new aesthetic. i actually like the challenger's interior the most of the 3. the camaros design is awesome but materials are bad and the windows are non existent.

i really appreciated the challenger a lot more after seeing the 010 mustang and sitting in the 010 camaro at the auto show. the challenger feels unique and i am glad they have it on the market. to have all three of these cars available is a good thing.

i've generally despised renaults but the new megane is a fantastic looking car. if it were here, in the 5 door or wagon i would seriously consider it. i like that the next astra looks a little like it. what i don't like about this upcoming astra is they got rid of the wide opening door on the back. one of the reasons my wife would consent to a current astra is that the top part of the rear doors now are super wide and make it super easy to get in and out of the car and put kid seats in.

buickman's fantasy has come to a climax.

gm should just merge with hyundai and get it over with. they could really cream toyota that way.

take her up on her offer to 'catch up'. maybe she'll pay for a nice seafood dinner and cheesecake dessert. Then after she pays the tab, break it to her gently.

dodgefan would like those brand new late 80's shelby dodges with less than 100 miles on them.... also at that dealer, 89 vette cvt with really low miles and some nice crossfires, and a few other interesting low mile or collectibles.

'83 deville coupe, 23k miles also

http://www.gessweinmotors.com/show.aspx?vid=1201556 spendy, but its nice!

with a saturn or pontiac badge, and a 6 speed manual and about 170hp under the hood there would be this car in my garage.

look at a profile shot and a top shot of the HHR. the front end overhang is way too long, the hood is set too far back. the hood is longer than wide. really should be wider than long for a good use of a front drive chassis. the interior of the HHR prob gets cheated of 6-12 inches of interior length because of poor use of length forward of the windshield.

unless you're used to torqueless hondas LOL

buy a new car with all the money involved and you will indeed care if you got your money's worth.

whatever the case, the cars they had on the floor, the big expanses of plastic were badly beat up and hashed, and looked terrible. not befitting of any car in that price range.

ok, made one for the dinner party tonight. right about now i don't feel so good. it was glorious, and oh so good. but this is definitely a one time deal. i think i am gonna hurl. pictures tomorrow, if i make it. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

but that's exactly the deal with the prius. even if money is a driving factor, the first cost of the prius is still far too high to be considered economical.

in the 010 prius thread you go to great lengths to justify the prius as godlike based upon user convenience and comfort factors. and then in this thread suggest that one example i use as user convenience and comfort is not a reason to justify four doors vs. two. lets weld shut the rear two doors on your prius and now lets see if user convenience matters. in other words, you just said you want the convenience of a sedan. wow. the cold example i used was one instance where the convenience of 4 doors comes into play for a lot of people. it dont matter whether its hot or cold, easy access to the rear matters for a lot of people....and you contradict yourself in the same thread. you call people who want four doors pussies but yet you say you like the convenience of it. most folks want their only car or both their cars to have the same level of user convenience and that doesnt make them pussies. hypocrit. because you apparently are a pussy too, you own a 4 door! face it, you got the prius to be a follower of that bunch and the mini to be a follower of that group too. its easy to defend any decision to make purchase decisions based upon wanting to be accepted as part of some 'in' group. i suppose that genesis coupe will be a nice group to join too, the 'my new asian coupe is better than the detroit coupe' crowd. but you just said you can't have two coupes, right. in the past you said the mini was enough for real use in other threads but your quote above seems to intimate you're not happy with it in that regard? Which is it? Are you Bill Clinton or Obama? that sports car mini 'don't pay the bills' does it. ask a honda element owner if they wouldn't mind two real rear doors and not having to undo their seat belts to let someone in.

so let's say its colder than $h! outside with snow on the ground and you want to pick your kid from school, or other similar scenario....where you pull up to the side of the curb and need the person to get in the car into the back seat fast. major inconvenience if you are in the coupe. gotta get out of the front and seat and unbuckle. gotta move the seat forward and watch someone's ass get into the back in front of your face. then wait for them to wiggle into place and then you are standing in a stiff cold snowy breeze and have to get your feet messy and back into the car and buckle up and situated again. with four doors, you stay in the car unscathed while somone quickly opens the rear door and gets in and out. not worth it, most folks say. the only reason coupes sold was a perceived style advantage. now adays there are so many good looking sedans and enough ugly coupes that 4 doors actually are more visually attractive to most folks. altima coupe or passat CC? malibu sedan or g6 coupe? stylistically and functionally its just tough to make a case for the 2 door. and that is why most of the time people want 4 doors.