regfootball

you know in my recent shopping i determined the 9-3 and astra (current ones) were both cars I like A LOT. of course, the 9-3 is more posh and performs on the next level. but when i started to break it down to 'family car functionality', i found that in terms of back seat room, the astra is actually more comfortable. I can't even get in the back seat of the 9-3 and the backrest angle and headrest location is too severe. the 9-3 is wider. overall, the astra is way more accomodating in the back seat. the astra has 92.4 cf of interior space, i think the saab is 93.4. you factor in the little bit of added width (the hip room is about an inch and a half and the shoulder room is about 2 inches) its easy to see why the back seat of the 9-3 is tighter in terms of leg room and backrest angle. Now look at the wheelbases. the saab wheelbase is not much more than the astra. 2 1/2 inches i think. Now, the 9-3 is much larger aft of the rear wheels, and it has much more cargo room. So my ultimate point. Even though the current 9-3 is on epsilon and the astra is on a compact chassis, i am thinking that if the next astra's wheelbase is the same or around that 104.0 inch mark (big for a compact) it will be able to produce hopefully as much interior room as the current 9-3 and maybe squeeze out some more leg room. And I bet we see a 5 door 9-3 next version which will basically be a much nicer astra. So where does that leave the 9-1? Corsa / Fiesta sized is my guess. And super tight inside. But they better not eff up the 9-3 passenger compartment size since so many people bitch about it now. My impression is the 9-5 is large enough to carry the big sedan tag for saab, it will probably be somewhere inbetween the aura and impala in size is my guess. Maybe the size of the Insignia or larger. Hopefully a little larger. It will be large enough so that the 9-3 can go down a bit in physical size, and hopefully remain somewhat commodious. this implies the astra chassis can actually be tuned to feel like an expensive premium car on the 9-3. We'll see. If anything, it makes me want to find out how the next Astra turns out. Maybe they are also counting on the 9-4x to carry the saab car with space torch. I like room in cars, especially after having that 500. GM doesn't make large cars hardly these days, at least in terms of passenger space. I gave up looking at the 9-3 that is current, because the backseat is really not usable.

i look at every car purchase as a 3-4 year term. in that respect, considering any GM right now, you would be fine with it working a-ok for those 4 years but then no one else would probably buy it from you. cars used to be lemons by comparison to their fairly faultless performance today (especially considering how complex and safe they are and how many electronics they have). the actual differences between the top and bottom rung are fairly small (i.e. their significance is way overblown by nazi organizations like CR) and really the impact of all this data and opinion has been WAY overblown. Buying a car is not like deciding if you're gonna go through with brain surgery or not! It was so funny. When i was at a ford dealer a few weeks ago, there was a couple in there negotiating their deal on a new MKs. The car they were trying to trade....a Lexus ES. The couple was excited about getting into the MKs, because it seemed 'so luxurious' and the ES was 'not an earth shattering experience'. I was listening to the bartering, and the dealer simply was not willing to offer much for the ES on the trade. The couple had pretty much committed to getting the MKs, because they were actually saving a couple hundred a month by moving into the MKs from the ES Lexus, so they had already gave in and were toast......point was, they felt the MKs was actually a step up from the ES, and they were getting a greater value moving forward. they really wanted the deal done because they were going to take the car on a trip that weekend. Last I saw, the group was in the parking lot going over the camry, er, ES, with a fine tooth comb to try to arrive at the trade value. But i guess where i was going with this.....GM needs to convince people that even if their business is not doing well, that the vehicles still represent a value advantage in many instances, in terms of people being able to fill their transportation needs and not having to succumb to extra expense of more expensive cars which while nice, don't go easy on the checkbook.

my guess.......the US Govt is fine bailing out GM and Ford...i.e. AUTOMAKERS, but wants no part of bailing out CEREBUS, a private equity firm....with the likes of nardelli getting measured up for golden parachutes......

to me it would seem the general public would be most concerned with resale tanking, and warranty/service. I hope GM can avoid bankruptcy, because i fear that will have damaging implication for the brand(s) that last longer than what some people still knock GM for 30, 40 years after the fact now. GM has many excellent products out now, and yet still, the stigma abounds from events of long ago. Going bankrupt would only multiply those stigmas expoenentially. Whatever market deficiencies GM has these days are minor in comparison. GM is doing quite well relatively speaking in other areas around the globe, and yet in the US all we hear about is how badly GM is here. We do not ever have it said that GM is a major global player in one of the world's biggest industrial products......and if GM goes down, the US will lose that position in the world trade arena, giving it up to japan and europe. Let's see, we subsidize wall street now. We've subsidized agriculture FOREVER. But we can't loan GM and Ford etc. money to secure a chance of maintaining the US as a player in the global arena of perhaps the biggest industry in the world?...even though other countries make a habit of doing it as common practice?

surfing some tech sites, i just happened across some Veronica Belmont pages....and photos. Anyone who does not know who she is, by all means google her and tell me she's not one of the cutest women of all time.

another comment. can't they just test a basic version of this car, 4 cylinder with automatic? that would be the most popular. nobody buys a 4motion v6 passat.

but myself, i would absolutely love to see this car here as a saturn ASAP. i would seriously have it in my top 3 sedans to consider.

the main thing here is that a-the press will grill GM for not having here in any way in the US, reagrdless of its financially doable b-the current sitauation GM is in pretty much dooms this car having a chance to come here c-this car will likely be used as an example by punks all over (many of them barely old enough to drive or ever have made their own rent payments) of why GM sucks we're really in a time that GM loses either way, past inadequacies or current excellence misapplied. i tend to think the press will just pile on here and keep using this as an example to shut down the entire auto industry here and give it to toyota.

oh, let me throw SARAH SILVERMAN out there too

please google Olga Kurylenko

dear lord i just looked her up. OH MY GOSH!

well sure if you hang out with those gold digging trailer park girls all day....LOL

since my dad just bought his, he keeps bugging me that i should replace my now departed 500 with a good low mile northstar DTS like his. i have to admit, massaging seats are an interesting thought on a ride home from work.

o cmon, wouldn't it have been fun picking between zeta, sigma, and the LX chassis and still saying, 'we need a new rear drive platform for the next camaro that nobody will buy in europe.'

people need to get over their mancrush for the accord. i don't get it. my 08 accord test drove showed me that the accord was an average driving experience. slightly insubstantial feel to it. creepy dash. having driven the g6, aura, and newest malibu, i can say that there is not any real substantive difference in these cars to 95% of the drivers out there (save the G6's cheap interior). if you hang your hat on 'depreciation' you're a fool. you paid more for that rice burner to begin with, or its residual was artificially high on a subsidized lease. rest assured, with the market crash, any used car is worth nothing when you trade it in now, espcially a car like the accord or camry which are now commodity cars flooding the used market like everything else. the days of the golden resale of import makes is fast ending as they become as common as white bread and flood the market.

I don't think it would stop me. If GM or Ford etc. goes bankrupt, its said that it would kill sales. But assuming financing was there, would you feel comfortable buying their car even knowing that they were going under? Discuss the reasons.

me likey! reminds me of the astra! is this like the same thing as the saab 9-4x? take the car and jack it up and throw AWD under it? I bet the assholes at GMNA would never bring it here.

Let's hope the Senior Borger pulls out of it, and is OK.

that Russian model gal in the 007 flick who did the pictures with the new Ford Ka. I would say she might be the hottest thing going right now. Olga...K...?

catherine BELL

Melina is samokin too. but old, and her skin is a bit dark for my tastes. the curls though. yowsers.

i am sure this is entirely possible. GM putting the public on notice. Although if they do this, i think its terrible.

i just found out that my dad wrote in Hillary as his vote.........

i just talked GM into cutting out the B pillar on a new 'Maro for you and I called Kate Winslet. she will drive the car over to you nude and together you can go over the details of the missing B pillar at your leisure.

but they're not real. i will admit this. i was in microcenter one day and wandered into the plasma tv area. there was a movie on screen. some brunette chick was bent over the open hood of a car or something. i had no clue what show it was. my eyes were like glue on that tv (probably embarassed myself) for this big long scene. Jaw open, all of that. After getting a slight clue to at least search the net i found out later the movie i was watching was the Transformers! Then i figured out that the chick i was open jaw for was apparently Megan Fox ;P