regfootball

the SRX is much wider than the thetas also. i think the large overhangs are throwing everyone for a loop.

key words, FULL LINE

with this economy, and dead halt to construction industry, i hope i don't get a SEVERAL month vacation soon.....

the reason saturn had to proliferate models was to sustain volume. the S series had huge drops and couldn't sustain the brand. and that was with sedan, coupe and occasionally wagon. and then this means saturn would get probably any compact pontiac was supposed to in the future. in my mind you have to continue to have vue, aura, and astra equivalent at a minimum to justify saturn. i think also that the compact saturn then needs to be in a configuration (i.e. sedan) that allows for you to depend on it for volume. all i know is this. I don't want a chevy typically or a buick. i will buy a pontiac or saturn. (or saab). Until Buick get a major makeover I don't buy the opel transformation. I do know this. Tomorrow they announce loyalty rebates and GM card round up. Plus new incentives. So I can finally once and for all see if I can get that Astra I want for as cheap as I want it.

lambda escalade will be caddy's 7 seater.

it is from the standpoint of marketability. this one will score with women (someone caddy desperately needs in the stable). plus, this is a 'crossover'. the now prior srx was a 'wagon'. this new one has hotter styling. not to mention this can sell at lower price points and higher volume.

crapola! a buddy of mine in HS had one of these 442's! i love these styles. its a pittance. fk the cost! do it!

G8 ST ...LOL!

i say this. get the CAR ITSELF out into the urban and young demographic PHYSICALLY. let them DRIVE it and GET INSIDE IT. let them smell the german interior and touch the german leather. let them feel the shifter fall to hand. give a free 100 dollar visa gift card to as many under 35's as they can. or give them a cell phone, or do something. free dinner. free starbucks cards. put the f---cking car in a mall where these people shop. park a corolla next to it. let them drive the two back to back. even if say a lot of them said, 'hmmm, needs more power with an automatic' it would at least break down the unknowns about the car and get it on the map. maybe someone would say 'wow the door hinge has detents on it and has heft, just like an audi'. at the auto show here the astra, once people checked it out, had some decent comments about it. at least the car goes from being unknown to getting SOME kind of opinion about it. you just need to GET THEM IN THE DOOR. it doesn't have to be a game changer, it just needs to not be an unknown. you will get enough positive opinions over time if you just take away the unknowns.

i've driven the mazda 3 enough to know its a good car, but not substantially better than the astra. it's different is all.

wise move, on his part.

DAMN! that's a sweet deal! many congratulations!

because they might be the only ones who think of themselves as smart. when in fact, they might be dumber than $h! to the rest of the common sense nation. of course, i appear to be right in the literacy capital of the universe. there is an equal amount of dip$h!s right here as well.

GM should bite the bullet and get standard NAV screens in every car for 2010. then, build the value of on star by integrating the on star turn by turn with the standard NAV screen. now THAT would be innovation and leveraging the existing service. make the screen standard with the on star assistance a small fee based deal. give it away for free for a bit and make sales off new added on star features that correspond with the screens. add entertainment and travel services and internet to on star. then it becomes a profit center.

have you driven any of the saturns? aura-fun to drive. very good car. vue- test drive any vue and then drive a rice model like a forester etc. you won't buy the competition. outlook- along with the acadia was GM's first crossover and is among the best family haulers. more useful than the cargo space challenged cx-9 (could never use it for a family trip) or overpriced mdx astra-quite peppy with a manual actually and class leading handling. if you tested one you'd find out it feels upscale. sky- affordable 260hp roadster? yeah chevy has that right now. there was incompleteness to which saturn has developed each vehicle, but honestly that occurs with all manufacturers and models. even though saturn appears fairly dead now, had the marketing been correct and a few details been done better on each of these vehicles, saturn would probably be thriving. one thing the auto collapse may do is force GM to throw all the resources at chevy (it's least esteemed brand, go figure, lets throw our rebuilding efforts at the brand the public thinks is the biggest loser, the biggest hole to unbury from). and hopefully it focuses buick and pontiac. funny though did pontiac need focus as much as 8-9 year ago when they were still pushing half a million units?

the school year needs to be changed. get rid of the summer vacay. schools should be set up in quarters and there is no reason why we shouldn't utilize the summer in some way for education as well.

matt dillon's score record with hollywood ladies (at least on film) is among the best. he's still up there fairly high on the totem pole.

a legit question. you are a casual car fan with money to burn and want to buy detroit iron. CTS or MKs? The CTS is more stimulating, but honestly, a case can be made that many of the masses might sway towards an MKs because it is more vanilla.

you know, i like that comparison a lot. i think an aurora owner would find the MKs to be a nice follow up.

apparently i have made some really terrible career choices...LOL

damn. you guys got to design buildings?

i honestly don't know much about the edsel, other than its allegedly ugly. and i don't care much for it. and that says a lot considering there is an aztek in my garage. i have a high pain tolerance. this makes no inference on my preference in vag1nas however.

yeah. plus the fact that kurt was a wastoid, and had terrible choice in women. i get that courteney was a ho, but aside from that, a genuine embarassment. and nirvana only really had one solid album. even the doors were mildly consistent with a wastoid at the helm.

honestly i never once had any interest in the Astra, however, in the showroom looking at outlooks and auras and vues, i was drawn to the astra as a compact, as i had recently rented a focus and had some interest in the current Jetta and Rabbit. in fact on the same day i drove my first jetta and astra side by side. i ended up liking them both, but for very different reasons. i recall thinking the jetta was very taut inside, but stark and cold. The jetta had more power and better shifter, however, i much preferred the lightness of the astra's steering and overall feel and the ride was not as choppy to me. what started to endear me was the interior. Just the subtlety of it, and the scale and design themes. It was teutonic but not cold. the SMELL of the interior (only German bred cars can smell like this) and the quality of the plastics and leather and the look of the gauges compared to the asian cars. the feel of the seat, i ENJOYED driving it, even though it is no speed demon. the steering felt like an extension of your arms on the sweet steering wheel and the brakes were very good for a basic car. everything was very tactile and such. passing power at higer mph is actually pretty good because of the gearing. i can't really bust on the sentra, not having driven it, but i have sat in it and it sort of has that nissan weirdness to it. i figure if its at all like the versa, i won't like it. honestly i think the cobalt is a pretty ok car and i would love to try an SS. the impreza i did not like. the sx4 is a good car. i won't set foot in a civic. the mazda3 like all mazdas underwhelms me, mazdas are really overhyped. who even needs to try a corolla. the recent focus of course i drove an 08 focus for two weeks in 2008 and its a good commuter car with nice convenience and that but you can tell really how i think the astra is way beyond the focus, and that's hard to say from a ford fan and someone who would love to have another car with the convenience of sync. i can't wait to see when GM brings the version of the next astra here and what badge it has. i bet that car will be pretty close to the holy grail of small cars. I hope it meshes the German qualities of the VW's and current Opel products, and the powertrains of the better ecotecs and such.

the current sentra really is cheap inside. i can't vouch for how it drives but i sure hope its not like the versa, which is a tin can. have you tried an astra xr yet????