regfootball

Nice new rig. Congrats!

Honda if i recall is not near as strong in their own country as we perceive them to be in this country. Honda has struggled with which side of the line they are on when it comes to automobiles. Are they a refined, well engineered piece, or are they a cheap and efficient value based $h!box? I'd rather see Honda prevail than Toyota but all factors suggest Toyota is the juggernaut and now especially more so considering the tie up with Subaru. You are not the only one to notice the craptasticism of Honda recently. I believe it started near the end of the 00's with the last Pilot and then it proceeded to extend to last new Civic and a bit to the Accord. The designs lost their edge and almost had a Korean feel to them. Every one of the last gen Honda products I've been brave enough to be in have been NVH bombs with cheapness inside. My most recent test of the CRv which is in reader reviews, I came away reviled with how bad it was (and why in the hell do people buy them)? My opinions were validated I feel when a good buddy of mine who has leased 2 Pilots and one or two CR'vs recently switched to a Toyota Highlander and he kept going on about how bad the CR-v was. I mean really how downright bad it was. And for crying out louds the Highlander is not bad but when a Toyota product feels like luxury compared to a Honda, there is a problem. Acura is unfocused and maybe some would suggest is it even needed anymore? Honda appeared to take themselves downmarket and I think they risk losing some fans. Just in time arrives the new Civic though. I have to admit I am flabberghasted at the new direction for the Civic. It has increased in size and it's cavernous inside. They are trying to make it sporting and there may be a coupe. Honda even is wading into the turbo waters. This may be the Civic that can take back people that moved away from Honda to other brands, pull them back. Outside of the Civic though yes I think Honda has some misdirection that should cause for concern. Even with Honda's engineering prowess I don't think I like the notion of GM cars becoming Hondaized in anyway. If Hondas process for reliability rubbed off some, maybe. But seriously, Honda can't match the prowess of a CTS-v or Corvette as far as I am concerned and I don't think GM should gravitate their products to an Asian feel quite so much either. Call me weird, but if GM hooks up with any Japanese name these days I wonder if Nissan wouldn't bring the best long term results (just leave the CVT out of the mix)

So this is where all the development money is going to go.

people need to temper their expectations on a NA v-6, those are fantastic numbers for something with less than 300 lb ft of torque (and most of it at high revs). the uninimous verdict of the v-6 reviews is that it is a fantastic car. Most dolts can't drive that fast anyways. There is a v8 (still while you can) have available, get yer rocks off on that. I can't wait to see how the 4 popper does in spring. I'd love to have 1 of each, 4 cyl auto and stick, 6 auto and stick, and then an 8 cylinder. Plus i want a new VOlt, new diesel cruze when its out, and I want a regular cruze in auto and stick too. I'll take a malibu and malibu hybrid and a diesel colorado to go with my silverado 8 speed too. glad the Camaro is redone, my test of a 15 stick v-6 I didn't care for. The new Camaro is leaps and bounds updated. We should be glad these cars are not legislated out of existence yet, although there are many parties that want to try.

a good friend leased one (wife's decision). they leased a pilot before also. he hated them, many reasons u mentioned.

good price on that, used.

i agree with those that suggest that the 3.0 tt should be available in these cars as well.

It seems the new greenhouse is even longer than the 11-14 models, and I think that makes it seem more spacious to some degree. Which engine? When i drove a 15 it had a nasty vibration and noise coming up through the floor when at a stop light.

LTZ rental......i pulled 33 mpg on my first run (330 miles in 10 gallons) DIC indicated 35. This was at probably a mid 50's average speed and nice calm cool night with moderate temps and few traffic jams. The return trip encountered stiff ND flat land winds which stayed for over half the trip home. Only netted 30 mpg calculated in 330 miles / 11 gallons, bucking massive winds. Again the DIC was off by like 10%. Average speed was about 68 mph for this part so I can see why the mileage dropped some. So, probably mpg not too far off what you saw way back yonder when. For such a wound up hamster mill under the hood, and all the buzz and fracas, though, i admit i would have liked to have seen my mpg closer to 40 rather than 30. Even a calculated 35-36 on the return trip would have been nice.

I had a Cruze LTZ rental this past weekend that i put about 700 miles on. I hope to come back here with more detail and compare vs. my old notes. I rented so as to have a break from the tyranny of my 5 speed cobalt, I've done road trips the last three weekends and I couldn't bear the thought of another trip with the Cobalt. It sure is interesting to see how some of my observations changed with a much longer sample drive, and a few years later. Just kind of as a teaser, I came away thinking the car is alright but maybe not my cup of tea. Something hard to put my finger on, at least the LTZ was sort of immature and too frenetic. It's like I told myself before I should really want this car, and now I really am not sure i do. At least not the LTZ. MOre later.

had many check engine light issues? there have been a handful of folks on a cruze forum that seem to repeatedly have issues with CEL's and related bits. A bigger issue is apparently not a lot of dealers know how to tend to and service the diesel. Even oil changes are a risky deal.

quick update gas mileage still impresses. 19-23 in town. highway runs usually 25-27 etc. Average overall maybe around 21, 22. Not bad for a tank. It's been in the shop, sort of. When i was getting an oil change, the place i go said to take it and get the cv boot checked. Turns out it was torn and they said they would have to replace something, and that they would order an axle. They still haven't gotten back to me. I called to check the status of the part order and they claim it was not ordered and already fixed. So i am not sure wtf is going on with that. Found my work order again so i will have to clear up tomorrow. I am beginning to be less than impressed with the dealer. the rear hatch (power hatch latch) has virtually never worked. this is a big pain in the rear. Several times we have packed the back and the hatch would not latch so we literally could not drive. At first we played with the latch part by trying to unstick it. Now the interim solution seems to be to grab the hatch latch handle if it doesn't latch itself, then it will sometimes grab. When you start the vehicle, it makes a large loud moan and whine for quite awhile. No bad symptoms yet but it sure gives no confidence when it does that. MPg readings are consistently 10% optimistic on the DIC. My mpg above are calculated. Makes me wonder why its so far off, I'm leasing, is it showing 10% more miles used too? Tire took a nail and had a leak, DISCOUNT TIRE fixed it free. I always get tires there. No digital clock display unless radio is on. Just a blank screen. Big fail. Radio and connectivity needs to be simpler to use and needs to be updated. Have to use too many buttons just to reset the mpg and tripmeters. Cruise control is clunky to use. Speed takes far too long to set or re-set. I am talking seconds here. Tapping up and down is a useless ordeal. Engine and powertrain overall rate pretty good, and it winds out well, but really needs a turbo to give it a mid range burst. THere's a lack of torque unless you really hammer the throttle and then your mpg goes way down. The family likes it lot though. It satsifies it intended basic function farely well so far. Winter is coming and i only have FWD. I may look into winter tires.

Here is what pisses me off about Tesla. Tesla is the equivalent of the computer makers back in the day. Bolt together a bunch of parts developed by others and market them. By that in this case here, yes Tesla is investing heavily in the electric propulsion, but they are basically buying / stealing all the other technological development of the rest of the car from vendors and all the R&D done by the big automakers for decades. As an example, it's not like Tesla has to develop an airbag on their own. Or a brake disc. Or a wiper motor. Or a power steering system. Just buy whatever from Bosch, etc. They haven't done the work, so i don't want them to claim the prize. I'd love for GM to be the game changer in electrics but as previously mentioned the wiser and more practical solution is all the automakers getting together to standardize bits and pieces.

new punkmobile

I don't want tesla, check it, make that Elon Musk to succeed. My preference is GM or ford make the breakthrough or the world automakers collaborate to define the electrical infrastructure before the governments tell them more specifically how to build their cars. Really, global electric car standards may force global electricity production standards, grid design etc. plus the possibility of roadways that themselves collect electricity. What will creep in too, unfortunately is integrating automated driving cars and their tyranny with big brother. A truly globally managed solution I'm afraid. Self driving little plastic $h! boxes that look like tata cars and have every bit and piece monitored or controlled by one central think tank.

Somewhere in between would be ok!

Yes bailing on NASA was complete stupid We still need to lead in space ventures.

All the mfrs will eventually have to get together to standArdize plug in only electric infrastructure and electrical architecture before it takes off but gm could choose to lead in this area. It will take a world effort however. Many countries. Many automakers.

As hyper alludes to. Electric infrastructure being not much and charge times being an issue. All electrics being majority still long ways off. HOWEVER the tech crowd rightfully is enamored and gM should be the automaker to claim making electrics mainstream. Not tesla. Gm won't make a full court press on pure electrics though because they are too cheap too. Not only that, their investment may get leapfrogged be other technologies related to what happens when the infrastructure stRts to develop. Why should gn put so much in now? Pure electrics will only become viable when the same gas stations you stop at on road trips now have 5 minute chargers as well. This will require a complete dismantling of our grid and distribution somehow someday. In the meantime, the volt is a pretty damn good way to get electric and still go far. Where GM is faulty here is not making a voltec malibu, Equinox, i.e voltecs for its mainstream lineups. Plug ins. Not just hybrids. And with 200 mile plug in range. I think in 2-3 years the 50 mile range will look like a joke. All for 30 grand or not much over. Sorry but to lead means to conquer hard tasks. An Equinox with a volt powertrain and 200 mile plug in range would be lights out.

My 2015 town and country all of a sudden looks that much better. Should be an easy decision to leave when the lease is up now. Was checking out an odyssey today that was parked nearby. That would be good if the rear ass didn't hang over so much. People still may have interest in vans, they just want AWD which sends people to crossovers. We have two kids but three row vehicle still sees frequent use for family and kids friends. The van gets the same mpg as a mid size crossover anyways. Just freaking add all wheel drive to the option sheet. And don't make it ugly like this new one might unfortunately be. Sergio if he screws up chryslers signature product should be burned at the stake. Imagine if he got his merger with GM.

gm needs to provide volt and bolt like options for LARGER vehicles. i.e. midsize / family and crossover

save the diesels LOL

Actually. GM's percentages not as nice as most of the others. ....

anyone have a 6s yet?

wow, look at Ford. GM is doing well too.