regfootball

my buddy called me today he was on the road with his early 2000's passat. he has told me he normally doesn't get much over 20 in town. turbo, premium gas, tiptronic. he called from the road and said his car was getting phenomenal mileage. all highway, 35+. BIG swing from the 20 +/- he gets in town.

if this is what the future of cars looks like, i.e. sucking major ass, then i am going to have get rid of all of my interest in cars and develop a sick addiction to destructive porn and building little voodoo shrines of all my coworkers to pass the time. this egg shaped green car $h! sucks ass, i don't care if gas if 5 bucks a gallon. to hve to deal with this crap is a major pain in the ass. if anything this is the opportunity for the domestics to come back. cars that have real style but have good fuel economy. but those cars need to be here now and none of the domestics have any skill in getting on top of a market. cars like prius and this egg honda might actually force me to vomit and other things. edit- i am not saying the prius is a bad car, i just don't like the styling direction it is taking things.

if you go to saturnfans.com you can get the explanation straight from JILL herself. the aura's product cycle is being lengthened is how it was explained, because of 'high product upside' and the success with the 4 cylinder models and now the 6 speed version arriving.

i've noticed now that a dealer has an 09 Aura with 4 cyl/6 speed combo.

what is ridiculous about so many people's situation is that their monthy gas bill is greater than their car payment is, even for some small vehicles. another bent, i can run electricity for my house in summer including A/C for 1/3 of what my gas bill is. Again, highlighting how out of whack gas prices have become. at the dealer the other day they had a nice simple F-150 6 cylinder/5 speed manual that that sort of truck i have always wanted (simple and basic). it was 7k off sticker and was priced new for 14 grand. but a quick calc, gas was gonna out spend my truck payment. I don't want that. That's just wrong.

what, that hasn't occured yet already? what is a vauxhall anyways? is that like that Indian Jag-u-lar? a 1.4 turbo is an ok solution, but not for everyone. the turbo solution only works in a light weight car. look at mazda and honda with their heavy cx-7 and rdx. major fuel drinkers. as long as the car its propelling is sufficiently light, then a small trubo will make sense and only then as an option. a larger non turbo base engine makes more fiscal sense for the owner where the turbo is a nice trick to up the cafe chart. the US isn't europe. small and tiny. people will take 1500 mile road trips. I have a friend who averages 50k a year on his company vehicles, like many other business folks. these folks demand making fast time over large distances. the 'small' solution is not the best one for everyone.....plus during the week small might not work, but on the weekends you need to tote everyone and use your vehicle. are you supposed to buy an extra vehicle just for commuting during the week? don't think so.

what, that hasn't occured yet already? what is a vauxhall anyways? is that like that Indian Jag-u-lar?

really what you are watching is the impulsive reactionary nature of people in this country as well. 90's-people tell mom she needs an SUV to be safe. gas is cheap so its ok. mommy pays through the ass to drive an SUV to stay politically correct. 00+ - combination of al gore and gas prices mean mommy has to be green. mommy can't buy a vehicle based upon thinking about what her own needs really are, but the home equity can't be tapped for that Lexus GX anymore and she doesn't want to come off as unhip and nongreen so now she needs a small car to remain politically correct.....to go one step further, anything with an American brand is poison, if she buys on her coworkers will spurn her and besides, consumer reports tells her so. so its all about reacting to the latest popular fad and not doing smart planning. maybe if buffy hadnt blown 45k in home equity on that Lexus GX back in 01, she wouldnt need to worry about 4 dollar gas now and being stuck in a (still sucks fuel despite being small and cute/ugly) CRV.

OR ASIAN

you know that topic where someone posted the link that a tv station ran a report on the vibe and matrix.....people said they would not buy the American brand but then found out the two vehicles were the same, and then would they buy a Pontiac? until we get our nation over that hurdle, this is all just high drama.

insignia stall bothers me, but....will it become a pontiac? makes me think saturn is dead in the water. cobalt living on....er.....at least give it a new interior....something! in fact, you gotta wonder, will pontiac become saturn? and will saturn be the sacrificial lamb? WOW.

i dunno. you'd still think the profit margins that a hollister top they sell for 70 bucks at the mall would not be adversely affected by having some college kid here making them instead of shipping them all over high hell. translation, they exploit cheap labor elsewhere and whore out our economy here so some few people at the top of whatever are the ones that benefit. with cars if they could ever figure out flexible production plants, they could regionalize plants and easily swing supply and demand for models and capacity and labor and save all those transport costs. California seems to think they are king sht on every public issue yet look at all the cars they buy and how many auto plants are there? if they want electric cars, then they should get off their ass and design and build em. American flags, something we should never have to outsource. i guess people enjoy outsourcing our standard of livin.....er....globalization.

and toyota doesnt have this issue either? FK!

500 - about 22.5 mpg in recent few tanks aztek, always around 20.0 my 08 focus loaner i had last week which i drove the tar out of netted abut 25 mpg so going small didnt seem that beneficial. however, the trip computer average said 30.0 maybe that was true for all users.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/14/busch.rea...=rss_topstories http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/14/anheuser....v.ap/index.html not that i drank that rice beer p155 anyways, but again, it goes to show our business community failing us all and how used we really get. note how much more bud is worth than GM. more profits we'll send overseas......

GM's problems are not brands. the brands and everything are big time assets. the issue is the bloodsucking dealer and distribution setup, and the bloodsucking labor arrangements (which they are addressing). If every store was a GM superstore like where i bought my tek at (chevy, BPG, caddy and saturn under one roof...now add saab and hummer) then think of all the dealer/bloodsucker consolidation they could accomplish. And the customer can have choice of any GM brand under one roof. It would benefit GM, and the customer. The weight of the dealer clusterfk is what is really dragging GM down.

a rep at a dealer emailed me back and says on the fuel filler flap it says 87 is fine for the 4 and 6. i've seen numbers all over the map for true fuel economy for say, a 9-3 four cylinder/man. a lot of user posts on sites i see saying it will consistently net 28 mpg or a little more and stories of high thirties on the highway. if that is true with regualr gas, then its an efficient car. my buddy with his turbo premium fed passat only gets maybe 1/2 more mpg than my 500 gets with its v6.

j/k on the snob thing. Just some ribbing. I know you Love honda but are pretty partial on everything else as well. I wish we could say that about the Toyota clan who reads CR before they go to bed at night. i really am disappointed by the TL's styling....it really drives one to cheaper (TSX) or up the ladder (hugely discounted RL).

will this have real meat or is it a total PR move? Could just be a dog and pony show to get all the press off their back for awhile. Ah, who needs to go to the theater now, we just watch all the drama created in the news media these days. This might just be Act 3 or something.

the 2.0T is turbo? I can't even find on Saab's website where it says whether it needs it or not. The VW turbo needs either 91 or 93 octane which is pricey and defeats the purpose of going to a 4 cyl turbo vs a nice relaxed 6 cylinder.

i was blown away as much as you were when i tested the XR 5 door with 17" sport package. I must say you basically are echoing a lot of the exact things i thought at the time. And to top it off, i drove a Jetta 5 cylinder manual right after that that same day so i even get an idea of comparing it to the VW. The VW feels larger and more stout, but not as sprite and energetic as the astra. The Astra really blew me away. handling and ride were perfect and power was fine although I would wish for about 20-40 more hp. I would not let the lack of power deter me from buying the car. the cupholder and armrest debacle do, however. Why the Astra only comes in 4th in C/D's comparo and loses to a corolla shows nasty journalism. Did they test the manual? I thought the shifter felt fine, actually. I got to revisit the astra feeling when i tested a 9-3 2.0T manual this weekend. Same type of thing. Light and nimble car, great ride handling and shifter. If my budget does not allow a larger car, the Astra is almost a no brainer choice to me now, as long as Saturn drops the price a bit. I would have a hard time deciding between the 3 door and the 5 door with twin panel S/R. Edmunds users give Astra a 9.5. Might be the highest rating I've seen on that site. Go read the reviews. Civics and Accords and Camrys are not getting that rating even.

just checking. my buddy hates having to put good gas in his vdub. can you get by with 87 octane in saabs?

premium gas though

when does the a4 come out and what is its base price?

yup