z28luvr01

So does anyone here have any insight on the shuttle replacement? I keep reading 2014 as the target date for the maiden voyage, but not too much in the way of technical details. NASA is primarily a research avenue and should be continuously charged with pushing the boundaries of our knowledge of things outside our atmosphere. It's really a useful tool for those of us that like to learn stuff. Once space travel to, say, the ISS becomes old hat and affordable by people other than celebrities and the infinitely wealthy and all risks and concerns can be addressed, I can see private companies springing up to offer trips to and from space. I could even see commercial airlines stepping up to the plate. Like Camino said, though, I think we've got quite a ways to go before that happens.

I'll always remember Discovery as being the shuttle that took the ball after the Columbia and Challenger tragedies - the one that sort of symbolized the space program rising from the ashes.

This is equivalent to Fiat selling Fiat to save Chrysler, but yeah - interesting. Perhaps they see more profit potential in well-done Saab vehicles than they do niche sports cars.

That's probably more a function of the Taurus' 19 gallon gas tank which is abnormally large for a midsized front driver. 19 gal * 25 mpg = 475 miles. However, that's an expensive fillup.

This. We need a multi-pronged approach. Some will have their needs best served by an electric vehicle. Some will have their needs best served by an ICE powered by alternate fuels. Either way we need to stop putting all our eggs in one basket RE: the impact of electric cars on the grid - how about a pole with a solar panel at the top, a 110/220V plug at the bottom, and a battery somewhere in the middle? Would that be that hard to engineer, and to plop in someone's driveway/garage?

The Epsilon I 9-3 TurboX and 9-3 wagon (or SportCombi, or 9-3x - whatever they call it) were given the Haldex AWD system. I don't see why they could just take the Haldex system, hit "resize", and adapt it to the smaller Delta cars

Insignia:Opel::Malibu::Chevrolet I'd tend to agree with you, but I think audio system sound quality would barely crack anyone's top 10 considerations when buying a car. From what Olds said, it doesn't seem to be 1970s 2"-paper-speaker-cone bad. It probably just doesn't have the thumping bass that is commonly used to fool the average person into thinking that top 40 music doesn't suck. I don't know - I'd love to hear a HK-equipped Regal in person.

True audiophiles are going to rip the stock speakers out anyway. Heck, for $100 I threw a pair of Infinity Kappas in the rear deck of the Cobalt and they made a world of difference over the Pioneers it came with (the new Disciple album desroyed them). I changed no other component in the system. Those that don't place a high emphasis on the sound system will leave it as is.

It's usually the hinge pin bushings that go bad on all those B/G/F bodies, due to lack of regular lubrication. No hinge-related issues so far in my extended cab Colorado. I'd have a reasonable level of confidence that they'd get it right on the Granite.

Though I haven't seen a Spark in person, I'd say it looks to be significantly bigger than the Smrt. I wouldn't be caught dead in a Spark, but if they can bring it in at an MSRP near the Smrt and offer more space I think it may catch on. Consider the sheeple that, when gas prices go through the roof again (oil went over $100 a barrel today), immediately sell their paid-for car and pay over sticker for a small car that gets great MPGs. Last go-around GM had the Aveo and the G3. When it happens again they'll have Sonic, Spark, Cruze Eco/Diesel, Verano, Volt, and potentially the Granite.

At this point, for the sake of keeping the thread civil, I'm going to bow out of this thread and continue this discussion with the table in my office. It at least has a leg to stand on.

Thanks. I had no idea E85 was the brainchild of Satan himself. We're better off sticking with oil. There's plenty enough to last us until we run out.

fixed

If E85 were taken seriously as an alternative fuel in this country (and not just a way to subsidize corn farmers) it would go a long way to reducing our dependence on (foreign) oil. Right now it's a half-assed implementation, and it's giving the fuel a bad name. reg's idea would work bundled with the proliferation of at least one E85 pump in most major gas stations. A better E85 infrastructure would give automakers reason to design engines from the ground up to run on E85. I also say we open up E85 production to competition. Let the corn farmers compete against sugar farmers, waste management outfits, switchgrass farms, etc to see who can produce the best ethanol for the cheapest. Slightly off topic, but I really do hope that they pass some sort of government funding bill relatively soon. I'd like to...you know....keep my job.

Yesterday, I came home, changed the filter, and went right back out again. It made a much more profound difference on the truck than it did the car, possibly because the Colorado intake is not all that restrictive (relative to the Cobalt's. The K&N realy opened it up. It's noticably quicker off the line and seems to have more oomph throughout low and mid RPMs.

Did the fuel filter and put the K&N on the Cobalt tonight when I got home, after seeing how easy it was to change the fuel filter without even jacking the car up - all I needed was an $8 "quick disconnect" tool. There's definitely a seat-of-the-pants difference, but unfortunately I can't say how much of it is due to the K&N filter because I did the fuel filter at the same time. However, the gas that came out of the old filter was essentially clear, and I can see right through it so I assume no clogs. I'll be better able to gage the effects of the K&N on the Colorado tomorrow, as I plan on putting it in after I come home from a bike ride. Either way, I'd love to hit 30mpg city in the Cobalt this summer (I'm usually at 28-29 in the warmer weather) and 20mpg city in the Colorado, which has given me 17.5mpg city ever since I got it.

It's the same roofline and the same A-pillar. They changed something that didn't need to be changed, and made it uglier in the process.

I'd equate this to 2010-up Mustang vs 2005-2009. It looks like every piece of sheetmetal below the roof is new. The coupe actually looks more muscular, with the redone rear quarter glass and the "hips" over the rear wheels. That's about all the praise you'll get from me. They totally screwed up with the fixed glass on the front door, and there was no reason to do so other than for change's sake. Unfortunately, it totally kills the car's exterior. Interior is what it is. I find it interesting that they show a pic of the interior with the automatic shifter. I guess they're moving the Si away from the tuner crowd?? Otherwise I'd have banked on a manual being between the front buckets.

This. Akerson so far seems more aloof than anything else. The "perform or GTFO" mentality that Big Ed instilled in GM's culture seems to be gone now with Akerson. His attempts to trash talk the competition (a la Lutz) come off as forced and made him look really bad. My only hope is, as hyperv6 alluded to, that Akerson is just keeping the chair warm for Mark Reuss, and they want to bring on Lutz to help groom him.

So I decided to shell out $50 a pop for K&N drop-in air filters for the Cobalt and the Colorado after reading a few Cobalt owners report some mpg and hp gains after replacing the conventional filter. I won't get to do the installs till the weekend (when I also do the fuel filter on the car) but have any of you experienced any worthwhile increases in power or economy from one of these filter? If nothing else, they'll pay for themselves over time since they are reusable.

The base interior in the GMT355s is crap, all around. Solid plastic door panels. A padded park bench for a seat. Grey, grey, and more grey. However, the uplevel interiors (like that in my Xtreme) are a bit of a different story. The buckets have a fair amount of support for a truck. Overall it feels very solidily built, and it must actually be pretty solid because at 68K miles my truck has not a squeak or rattle inside. The Super Stalk is what it is. The truck has it, the car doesn't. I can't say I prefer one to the other. My biggest complaint about the interior of the Colorado has always been the feel of the knobs on the HVAC unit. It felt like GM used rusted cables to link the unit to the doors in the HVAC ductwork. Thankfully my truck doesn't feel this way. The current truck's inside can be spruced up on the cheap, though. The HVAC unit could be upgraded to an electronic unit, perhaps with a digital display for the gadgetophiles. A black tie radio would be nice - I'd personally love to swap one in. So would a new drop-in gage cluster with LED lighing like today's clusters.

If we're going to have to wait till CY2014 for the GMI700s, it makes sense for GM to extend the life of the GMT355s at least until CY2013. GM shouldn't cede this market, even temporary. Furthermore, if GM can justify giving the Impala the 3.6L/6spd for the sake of homogenizing their engine lineup, they can use the same justification to replace the Atlas engines with the DI Ecotec and the HFV6 to make the GMT355s more competitive, if on paper.

The fan is another possibility. Does it go on? If you have AC, turn it on and see if the fan turns on. If not, let the car idle until it gets up to operating temp and see if the fan goes on.

The 3.5L/4spd was capable of low 30s mpg highway in the Impala. Given the number of 3.5L-equipped Impalas that sell, going with just the 3.6L could seriously hurt GMs CAFE number. Perhaps a 2.4L version is in the works too?

The Chryslers are the only ones that don't make me want to throw up my breakfast.