regfootball

i just done reading MT's article on this car. Several pages. Glowing. Like hyundai are the ones giving the bjobs to angus and bunch now, they must be writing bigger checks than toyota now, .....anyways.... after initially thinking the styling is ok, I still kind of do, in no way is it original, I think its even more derivitive than I did at first. and its not perfect. So, they get no design points from me. Its like a BMW and Infiniti mated and there a hint of Lexus in the front also. Its kind of got that 'generic luxury car' look. As far as imitation is, they've done a fine job of that. 30k for the v6. 35k+ for the v8. What bothered me about the article is how 'GM' and toyota will be scared. this under the premise that this car will undercut a Lexus and the GM Zetas. They also mentioned the 300 and Infinitis. OK, first off. No big GM fan who is in the market for a RWD car will buy a Hyundai. GM fans who have pent up desire for a GM rwd car will not just buy a Korean imposter of a Japanese/German car. So again, MT has no clue (just like usual). Second off, anyone who wants a Lexus, wants a LEXUS. Enough said. THAT said, if Hyundai impresses with the driving experience and the interior, it will bring new customers into the luxury v8 RWD fold. Keep in mind AWD was not mentioned, so the Hyundai loses out anyways because they do not compete with AWD. I could see them taking a few sales from Infiniti, but not enough to make a diff. German car fans and Germans and people with a Euro bias or dare I say ancestry will not stoop and buy a second tier Asian make. All the style setters in the world who are not car fans but buy luxury cars will not buy this car either. They buy Euro cars. Audi, Merc., BMW only for the fact its Euro and contemporary and artsy. Hyundai will never get that status because we all perceive korea as third world. Lastly, to say the Hyundai will cream the 300 and is a better value, UM, NO FW. By the time this car hits, with a measly 300hp v8......how will that compete with a HEMI? DCX is subsidizing their cars also and the 300 will have it beat in price and style and power. The loaded Hyundai will approach or pass the price of a Hemi 300 with AWD or RWD. Heck the discounted SRT will bring more value. And even then, Caddies get discounted enough so that you will be able to get one for the same price. This car will do just ok, but not because its pulling away anyone from established brands. It will merely provide luxury attributes to some who aspire but could never have it before. I can't wait for this thing to hit the rental lots. I'd much rather see the Statesman here. And I am guessing so would many others who are car fans. this Hyundai is the car no one really wanted.

congrats. GXP is a nice car. odd if you do work in AU, that the G8 holden wouldn't at least raise your eyebrow a bit..LOL

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH an ETC would be perfect............

the equinox is too narrow to be a family crossover. the equinox is fine as a small personal crossover. a short wheel base 2 row lambda in addition to a 3 row would be perfect for chevy. I'd like a diesel hybrid acadia.

wow, there is a 98 riv here 48k miles, 98, non s-c white fly'd look stylin in one

that sort of combo would get my large ass back into a small car again. the astra is THE HOTTEST LOOKING SMALL CAR out there. trust me. the 9.5 second 0-60 in C/D this month is not. Diesel or not, they need to get a bigger gas engine in the Astra if they want to sell them in the US.

my neighbor who works for Dodge, when he was working the autshow, said the only chrysler anyone was asking about was the new Sebring convertible. That's how 'iconic' this car is, oddly enough. dvd-a? tasty option

Satty, fly PM'ed me and said he is waiting for the next gen Suzuki verona to get here. If it doesn't come soon, he's gonna smuggle in a Chevy Epica from Canada.

the last year of the previous body impala with the supercharger and color keyed moldings, they had it looking quite mean and had some sinister colors. I always did like that style impala. i love the riv's exterior. a classic if there ever was one. get inside, however, and the feel is gone. The riv interior blows chunks. You could probably find a real wood trim kit or even a metal one to dress it up, but that will only get you so far. the 03 aurora could be GM's best interior ever. Northstar also. Those are TOUGH TO FIND!!!! They command top dollar. Maybe there is an OLDS LSS that could be had? Those were quick. Nice looking too. Just curious, why not a Grand Prix? No laugh, you might find an N/A Lacrosse in that price range. Does an early 2000+ SLS or STS or DTS or Concours do anything for you? Those would hit the 15g range. I might even try to scam a mid nineties Impala SS for that kind of money. Better yet, find an Olds Custom Cruiser or Caprice wagon from same years and PIMP IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, the Aura got a nice follow up writeup in this month's Road and Track. 5.9 0-60 (faster than Camlee) and a 14.5 1/4 mile. They praised the powertrain with glee. The match between the 3.6 and 6 speed automatic is impeccable. I may need to go drive one now! They say that the Aura redline should take care of any softness in the brakes and suspension...even if the current suspension is very comfortable. They said they even like the interior over the Accord. I gotta admit, an Aura with paddle shifters and sub 6 second time is starting to look REAL sweet.

there are a handful of reasons why sticks don't sell, and trust me I LOVE STICKS. -the perception that a manual transmission only applies to a bare bones economy cars and small cars. lots of idiots think that because the chevettes and omnis they used to buy, if you couldn't afford the automatic upgrade, you got the stick with crank windows etc. a side perception of this is still that 'only furrin' manufacturers sell straight sticks'...i.e. my 1990 toyota corolla has 1.7 million miles on it and get 58 mpg and i've never had to change the oil once and its cuz it has a manual transmission'. Lots of Amerchan car fans from years ago felt a car was only a car unless is it was big and had an automatic. -'resale value stigma'. which these is some truth to. mainly because if you have to sell your car you immediately are limiting your buyer base since 3/4 the public is too dumb to know how to drive a stick and isn't looking for one. It's sort of like trying to sell someone a betamax who is looking for a vhs player. -probably the biggest limiting factor to stick sales is......metropolitan area traffic. people's left legs cannot endure the abuse of sitting in dead traffic with a stick. a coworker still curses not geting her mini with a stick, but the reason she got the CVT was she didn't want to sit in traffic with one. my own work commute these days is such that i could have a stick again, but change jobs and boom, you could be sitting in 1+ hour gridlock at crawl speeds every day. Tell your idiot politicans to build more roads to free up traffic and then maybe sticks will get popular. Stick drivers love real 3 pedal manual cars. that said, manumatics with paddle shifters or DSG type dual clutch trannies may be the death knell for real stick cars, sadly. I would bet if my sister drove a GTI with DSG or something, she would abandon her love of sticks. Myself, i like to feel the engine engaging through the clutch pedal.

since the acadia does not have the cargo capacity of a minivan it would fail at trying to be a minivan if you added sliding doors. Let a minivan be a minivan. The Acadia is an SUV. Its cargo area lacks the height and some length compared to a van. Chevy needs a unique minivan.

a-families don't buy sedans. too small. they want SUV's, crossovers, and minivans for family hauling. developing a malibu that competes does not compromise the need to expand the offerings in the most currently lucrative retail segment, crossovers. chevy needs to excel in both segments. b-a lot of Saab's lack of success is the fact they don't have a credible SUV in their stable to battle the Volvo XC, Mercedes M class, X5, Lexus products, etc. The new 9-5 may be Saabs biggest image need but at the same time its irresponsible to suggest that any Saab need should be ignored. Don't kid yourself. Even though the top sedans are image builders for luxury marques, the SUV's are the items that probably generate more $$$$. Q7, RX330? Why else would Audi have brought over such an ungly pile of pork in the Q7 when the Allroad A5 was just fine? They needed an SUV silly. Saab rebadging a Bravada and putting a pushrod v8 in it with a subpar interior does not cut it. If you asked dealers they would probably tell you they would immediately benefit more from a top drawer SUV rather than a sedan at this point. A twin turbo 6 cylinder 9-7x with unique style and a kick ass interior would be the cats meow.

fly, what's the budget, i viewed an ad last week for an 04 Bonne GXP with northstar and 5k miles on it for a tish over 20g's. That might be pricey though, huh? It was a beaut.......red. and all those dash vents...MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM otherwise, its a no brainer. Aurora. Hows about a supercharged Impala from the early-mid 00's?

maybe a larger vibe type x-over based on the camlee?

best buy is NOT dumb enough to buy circuit city, this i can tell you. comp usa was among my most hated stores. they had great deals. IF the product was in stock. and their employees and customer service were easily the worst of any store I can think of. they had it coming to them. i went into their 'store closing sale' a couple weeks ago to look at a puter. i asked why they were closing, the employee just looked at me with a stunned look and said 'you name it, bad management, bad purchasing, bad products, bad stores'. the honesty he conveyed beyond that opening remark was brutal.

having spent 5 years working for a best buy several years ago, the first thing i would say is, if you are working at circuit city and expecting that to be something to hang your hat on, then that's your first mistake. Not saying its right, but consumer electronics retail has no future unless you are blonde with pouty lips and sleep with the district manager and have a great big heaping set of breasts. other option, you are a big yes man and in that case some vcr salesmen i shared the floor with are now high level VEEPs in the best buy chain. But no one working retail these days should be expecting to make a career out of it. Go to school. secondly, circuit city can only blame themselves. Although I think they offered good products and deals, they never remodel their stores and they just don't have a hip image. Retail stores need MCE's just like cars. Retailers ought to remodel at a maximum interval of five years if they want to remain relevant. and yes, they are victim to internet retail....although I even find that bizarre because their web site is among the easiest to use I know (far easier than best buy's) and they give you the option to have it shipped, or pick it up in store. This is a unique thing that say, tigerdirect cannot offer. I recently shopped for and bought a plasma tv and what i found was that i loathed going into stores because of the idiots working in them. And that is a function of pay. I would gladly pay SOME more for a higher quality employee who preferably doesn't still have teen zits and can speak in complete sentences, but there is a limit to how much more. I cannot tell you how much I loathe best buy pimple faces, and also many car salesman. It is an insult to get 'customer service' from these sorts of morons. However, the last 5 cars I bought, were primarily due to getting a good salesperson and being treated well.....and in all those cases I think or at least hope those salespeople got decent pay. oh, regarding unions, i probably would avoid stores if they unionized. i have to shop at unionized grocery stores but even those are being undercut by walmart, supertarget, and other grocery places. most folks i know are big time anti union and despise having to pay more to subsidize a union worker and the union itself. most folks view it as paying another exhorbitant socialist tax. it is a big reason why some folks shun domestics. its never specifically mentioned, but many people resent union employees. they don't think union folks deserve to be entitled to things beyond what average folks get.

chevy should have a minivan in addition to a lambda SUV

how long was it between Hysteria and the next Def Lepperd album? Same deal. Its insane that these guys can take 5-10 years between making 40 minutes of music and still make money or be relevant.

GM knows what it is doing. Lambdas are the NEW family sedan like the Caprice was in the 70's/80's. They need all the volume out of lambda they can muster, especially with trailblazer sales tanking. the styling will be unique. The trailblazer is different than the envoy. Acadia/outlook will continue to share panels. We should all rejoice this. GM got smart. This is what will keep chevy in real cash flow for the next 5-7 years. not the camaro, not a rwd only impala. Now if they would announce a 9-7x and SRX that are unique, but on Lambda, then we are set.

diesels need to cost more than gas because their injection systems are more complex and costly. Also, the emissions systems are most costly. Also, the structure of the motor needs ot be beffier because the high compression and extreme torque compared to a same sized gas motor. For example, a diesel head bolt would need to be much more sturdy and beefy and built to a higher tolerance. However, anything over time gets cheaper in volume, so i cannot understand why diesels cost 3-5 k more (CTS). the 1000 dollar number thrown around for the Astra seems very pleasing in that context. The rebel states in this country need to be federally overruled on all this diesel witch hunt bull$h!. (CALIFORNIA COUGH). Now that the diesel itself is clean and the emissions are not an issue, it wouldn't hurt to back off on the socialism and bias against dielsel so we all can benefit from it as another alternative fuel choice. Withhold federal highway funding if these pricks erect barriers to diesel car sales. If the BMW 3 does 40mpg w. a diesel, I would kill for an all new 9-5x diesel that gets that kind of mpg.

from melodicrock.com

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/03/29/uaw-hos...toyota-workers/ maybe its time for shoppers to boycott and strike against the unions...i.e. do not buy anything UAW made.

no lie, the new 07 G35 driving in front of me today had the big green E on the trunk lid. CAN YOU SAY RENTAL? i thought the DOMESTICS were the only fleet cars......

OOOOOOOO! i think my dealer has one! test drive time.......