regfootball

mustang I ironically have an extra copy of one of the boston albums, i will check and see which one it is....it might be third stage (a lost one in the car didnt find it till i got another one incident). its either third stage or walk on. i will let you know.

the Chrysler 300 is a success because 'its a mercedes' and because of its penis extender/mafia hitman styling. Most of the poseurs driving one don't care/don't know which wheels are driving the car. Had the magnum Charger been released with the 300, they would be sitting on lots even longer than they already are. By the time Gm gets its RWD product to the floor in 2009-12, the press will have turned on them and convinced the country to avoid them anyways.

if they can credibly build a 'near BMW' for less money and make it something anyone wants. sure, but they have never proven the capability to do anything like that. I would love it if they could. but imagine the new 'Pontiac coupe' and then we'll find it has 56/44 weight distribution and a 3900 under the hood. And 'dead steering'. yup, that'd be about it. and it would likely wouldn't be near as stylish as a 3 series either.

yeah, has GM EVER demonsttrated the ability to build FANTASTIC niche cars that will lure buyers away from import and competing brands? Naw, they usually just slap together something less than current or perfect for the ever decreasing 'GM fatihful' that seem to repel any other shoppers.

in concept its a nice idea. but 10 years ago or so the Bonneville, Grand Prix, Sunfire, and Grand Am were all selling in huge volume, probably all in the top 20 with a couple in the Top 10. Now, did the market change or did Pontiac just not build their product to a high enoug standard to fend off competitors? I should point out they did this without an all RWD lineup. There are many less populated parts of the country where a Saturn dealer does not exist. If we only route the fwd upscale cars to Saturn, they are not available all over the US. Plus, Saturn is chasing Honda and Toyota and VW and will turn off those folks by trying to make exclusively high performance cars. Their sportiness will be watered down by their need to be somewhat liberal and rice and tree hugger and 'toyota'. Chevy will never offer any complete performance cars ever again. And, chances are Pontiac and GM simply cannot build to the level of execution required if they want those serious niche buyers. the bean counters and shortcut takers always win out in the board room and the cars always get compromised. If they only focus on high performance niche cars and try to sell them to only folks with exacting demands and of course inevitably put out cheese like they always do then its a recipe for complete backfire. Then the fact that unless you offer AWD on every model in companion to RWD you effectively take away a lot of your market also. Pontiac has far more heritage than Saturn and deserves to be treated as more than a stupid niche brand. it can embrace high performance AND sell in decent volume.......but GM cannot limit chassis offerings to RWD only and they must EXECUTE the performance, styling, and interiors to levels they have not ever demonstrated that they can build cars to if they want to court those picky serious buyers. I do think a lineup with many RWD cars is a smart move but they need to offer the AWD as well and must also have at least two semi-volume sedans with FWD and true performance also.

GM hasn't built an efficiently packaged sedan ever, seemingly. The firewall is usually far too low and back too far, pushing the windshield back and upright for a nice claustrophobic feeling and shoving the dash in your lap. Then, the hood is acres long to house a 90 degree boat anchor. So we have no front leg room, and the seats are low and soft with no support. Then, we'll make the car too low and drop the back seat also. To top it off, the seats are soft as bed pillows, so you're left sitting in the back with your knees up at your face. they usually have all sort of seat structure right on the floor where you want to put your foot. Then, the wheelbase is too short so the rear seat back is too far forward and you neither get leg space, foot space or a proper seatback angle. Then, the trunk is long (deep) but the garbage around the wheel arches is so wide and the rear deck so low, you don't get any effective height or width out of the trunk and the opening for the (usually optional) fold down seat is compromised so much you can't put much through it. I was appalled at how small the Impalas back seat is and how average the trunk is. The Grand Prix is the all time poster child for how badly you can package an automobile in terms of space effienciency and comfort.

How long did VW build the beetle?

like I said in the pontiac RWD thread, GM always goes with the half baked solution. No surprise they fked up the cargo areas of the G6 cvt and the solstice. They just rush stuff out while taking their sweet time tripping over their own feet and then can't deliver on things like a functional trunk that completely destroys wanting the car.

well, it looks like the current X5 will remain desirable for a long time. No need to wait until the next version, the one now looks far better. This looks like a Pilot with a Bangle grille. I'm starting to get weary of BMW styling, except for the new 3 series. Too soft. Aero or soft corners is not in right now.

they had a very condescending tone......as in 'no one can disagree with us, we are always right' that's what i take issue with

don't get me going on that.....

like what BMW?

I like the IS. But honestly, they don't seem to have dethroned the new 3 series, so for performance I'd stick with a 3 series. The IS looks nice. If I bought one, it'd be for that reason over a 3. And since its a Toyota, then I guess I am not interested. Since Toyota tries so hard to pass itself off as American, does Lexus try to do the same thing? Or do they go the other way, 'we are not American"..its like a double standard. they will say they are whatever they need to say to sell cars.

larger mirrors are nice for their intended purpose, seeing traffic in them. I am ok with larger mirrors.

I think you'd dig the SASS JORDAN records. Not as glam as Saraya, more bluesy but in each case, strong female singers. I would love to see that Suzie McNeil from last years ROCKSTAR INXS make a hard core rock album, even if leaning to a hair band tinge. She had a great hard rock voice. You ever listen to BOSTON - WALK ON? Brad Delpless....I really like that album. Its probably the most hair bandy of the Boston records.

dang...you really do need to check out that essential metal dot com site....all the bands you mention, right up that alley. I must be more into the chick / style hair / metal bands. I haven't ever listened much to Armored Saint or Testament for example. Or even Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. But I think think all those groups are immensely popular and talented. Maybe I need to branch out and sample some of that. I'm just such a sucker for the '3 minute pop song'....the ear candy.

my buddy Scot I think Motorhead is like his favorite band. metal heads all seem to like Motorhead.

only his debut and Shine are rocking enough. avoid Ceilings and Walls.

damn, it was 90-100 here this weekend. BUT, do this....I bought a new shower head and hand held shower for the bathroom this wkd. Got it up and running today......took a shower during mid day in about 90+ heat.....that hand shower kicks ass......want to get rid of the sweaty balls, just spend about 5-10 minutes with some high pressure jets working away at the nether regions and getting all good and clean. Dry off nicely and you'll be fine for the rest of the day. No animals were harmed in the making of this image in your mind. .... hey, I'm not the one that started the topic........! and no funny business occured in sampling the shower either.....

not raining on anyone's parade here, i'm just saying Pontiac will be really narrowing their focus if they do this, potentially to the point where they could cease to be relevant for the majority of the public. And not be good enough for the folks they still would be trying to attract. They would essentially be surrending their ability to ever be a volume brand, with no guarantees of being able to sell anything profitably. They would just need to make AWD available across the board. Since they don't even make overhead cam available, i highly doubt they would go to the effort to make any of these cars AWD as well. GM never seems to go the distance they need and do what they have to do. They always cheap out and take shortcuts. Their propensity to do that without fail to me means a plan with no margin for error, but a company (GM) with a history of always making errors.

yeah, those half a million Camry buyers a year will flock over to the Pontiac dealer for a RWD pushrod equipped vehicle

Basically, Pontiac can shut its doors in about 20 states if they go to this plan because no one will buy enough of them to keep the doors open. UNLESS they offer all the cars with AWD as well. I wouldn't think another car compnay would be dumb enough to do this, but I do believe GM could be dumb enough to do this because they pull this dumb $h! all the time. "Hey, let's sell the G6 with a manual transmission!" "Great idea! The buff books love that stuff" "Hey, let's put a pushrod engine in it though" "Sure, we need to get rid of those!" "how's about we just stretch the wheelbase of this narrow epsilon so we get at least some leg room in the back" "great idea, but it'll get heavy!" "that's ok, we'll put a 4 panel heavy sunroof with lots of mechanicals way up high above the center of gravity on the thing, THAT'L KEEP THE CAR PLANTED AT DEM HIGH SPEEDS DOSE GUYS LOVE" "Wait, I thought wider was better!" "Not with an Epsilon!" "Hey, the guys from Rubbermaid called. They have some old plastic they want us to use! Can we make our G6's out of em? "Sure, but only if we make all the dashboards pitch black......It'll remind em of the CRUDE OIL!" I am fine with a lot more RWD choices for Pontiac. But most of the car buying public (women, CR readers, liberals with cash, Import Intenders) will not buy a RWD Pontiac....on top of the folks in snow states avoiding them like the plague. Even wonder why BMW quietly sells AWD 3 and 5 series? Ever notice how Infiniti sells AWD versions of the G and M? I think Lexus even sells AWD of their RWD models now. If GM and Pontiac simply would execute their cars right, cars like the Grand Prix and G6 would be fine regardless. But neither the G6 nor Grand Prix has the 3.6, the Grand Prix is built on a 1988 Architecture, etc....and so on. For 07 the GXP G6 gets the 3.6 but no stick. It'll be division suicide if Pontiac goes all RWD and then resorts to its typically absurd level of execution. To top it off, if all they sell is vehicles that DO NOT appeal to women or families, they are toast.

X was decent too. YEAH! sounds good, but why not just sing your own material?

do you have WINGER - Pull? I have it but have never really acquainted myself to it. three albums you might like..... ANDY TAYLOR solo album KANE ROBERTS - self titled and SAINTS AND SINNERS perhaps one of the best AOR albums ever, just at the end of the hair band craze, MITCH MALLOY self titled debut. It was produced by a guy who also produced some Ratt records. It is hard rock but not like Motley Crue, its a bit softer but still in the hair band vein. One example of how there IS a smidgen of talent to come from NORTH DAKOTA. I would highly encourage you to find ANYTHING AT ALL and STRANDED IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE by Mitch. If those won't blow your car speakers, nothing will. Too bad he's more into country now. He actually auditioned for Van Halen at one point before the whole GARY CHERONE debacle.

ASIA - GO from ASTRA GTR - WHEN THE HEART RULES THE MIND