Igor2

I love the 93 Wagons ..... And Captainbooyah .. did you by any chance go to Oberlin College? Because it sounds just like my experience (ncluding the smelly, kno-it-all hippies). Going to a huge Hippie-school while driving an Expedition is fun .. me and my GF lived just across the street from the Environmental Studies Building, and as the captain of our hockey team told me, we were famous and profoundly hated by the Enviro Majors who could see us drive 2 blocks to class right in fron of their classrooms ... Made me feel good inside ...also it made me feel good when our moving would take mere 4 trips..... Anyways .... stupid people are everywhere ... their concentration in the US, unfortunately peaks, though. Igor

Well, the 3rd row in the Mazda is actually arguably more useful than in the Tahoe. Specs: headroom/legroom/shoulder room/hip room 07 Tahoe: 37.9 / 25.6 / 61.7 / 49.1 06 Mazda5: 37.1 / 30.7 / 49.2 / 40.9 (keep in mind Mazda says the 3rd row seats 2, Chevy says it seats 3) the bench in the Mazda, also folds flat to the floor .... you actually want the seats in there and up, if you only have a couple bags of croceries in the boot - otherwise you have the contents flying around the cargo area and the car itself. EDIT: I had legroom and headroom switched ... sorry. Igor

Oh I forgot to mention - I drive a Mazda3 ... but I thanks to stickshift and my driving skills I can easily get into traffic .. Igor

I have to admit - only FoMoCo drivers .. but I am quite corteous to any good drivers - regardless of what they drive. But if you do not know how to drive get ready to get a horn.... especially if you change labnes or cross the line without a blinker on. (I think it is a good think for everyone that I do not drive much ) Igor

As a Mazda3 owner I had the 5 for a couple of days while my baby was getting some warranty work done and I was mightily impressed .. the chasis was a lot stffer than I expected and the resduction of fun from the lower lighter 3 was not very noticeable ... I loved it very much ... as said in an earlier post .. if I had any need for 3rd row seats - Mazda5 would be on top of my list . Igor

this might be far from final... the Japs had some big releases this spring .. but GM especially has busy fall of brand new volume .. and the Ford's Edge should do we ll as well - I think they will at least split even ... after all Nissan is alread yslowing down, and the camry is far from sucess ... Igor

yes igor

based on paper - sure ... but I can tell you that I never longed for more power in my Mz3s stick ... the 5 is heavier though .... For me the chasis would make them great to drive even if the engine had mere 130 otr100 hp... I just love driving my car.. as you can tell I love my car and I am biased Igor

If I were looking to simply buy a tall compact - Mazda5 all the way - but I am biased.. since I drive MAzda3.. Mazda5 is practically a more spacious version of the same car ... I love it... If I wanted something more offroad ... I would have tougher times .. nothing there appeals to me ... as a Ford guy I like theEscape enough, but the interior makes me want to cry - Vue is no better - I would probably go with the Foreser just for the Subaru image and powertrain. Igor

Mazda5, Vibe/Matrix, HHR, PTC, Caliber - they are all simply Compacts with tall roof - commonly referred to in europe as Compact Space Wagons. Escape (trio), Equinox/Torrent, Vue, CRV, Santa Fe, Sportage and untill recently Rav-4 are "true" compact Crossover utility vehicles - offeting SUV styling anf softroading capabilities .. Forester, Element, Patriot and Compass are questionable, as they either look like nothing else on the road, or look like C-SW, but offer Off road capabilities ... There is also significant difference in price between C-SW and C-CUV I know in some cases I am splitting hairs, but these ARE two different segments.. they just have a few models that are trying to bridge them. Igor

It's a commercial billboard??!?!?! Crap.. I saw one on Broadway just north of Times Square ... and though it was hilarious .. just simple white background and black letters ..... If it is a commercial ad I will be pissed before calming down and maybe admitting that it was a genius idea. Igor

I hated her character in Sex and the City.. but liked her enough at Family Stone... She is not dropdead gogeous, but she has great "bod" and a face with character (in a good way) ... she is quite old, but attractive at that .... I guess I am indifferent or ambivalent about her .. I have not decided yet. EDIT: I agree with Crock EDIT 2: Decka - the only problem I have with your suggestoin is that I hate people that had any cosmetic surgery (unless they were a really deformed by birthdefect/disease/accident. There is something about knowing that someone paid $$ to have a bigger cup size, or a straghter nose - to look more boring and ordinary.... Heck, my girlfriend hardly even wears any makeup .... and I love that. Igor

this measures how many hours an average US resident speds working in its job to pay for the gasoline he or she uses to get to work. say you spend 20 gallons of gasa month - how many days do you have to work to pay off those 20 galons for that month.. This is similar to BigMac index used to compare the wealth of countries - how many minutes/hours one needs to work to buy a BigMac in their local MickeyD. Anyways the draph is seduactional, but hard to interpret because there are manyfactors involved: - What is the average wage / salary in the economy? - do people have longer commute? - do people drive fuel inefficient cars? - are our roads more congested? - and finally: how much does gas cost. Igor

If I am not misaken the EU diesls will not pass the 07 US emissions - which is the reason why VW will have no TDI and DCX will have no CRD in the 07 MY ... they all vow to bring it back for 2008 - after tey figure out how to fit under the limits. If I am not mistaken, Ford is the furthest along getting there. They purchased the recent Diesel EPA patent that slashes emissions to just about a 1/3 of EU levels, and Ford is said to be working with the EU bottom ends developing the heads for US use, but ETA is carefully guarded and thus unknown. However I still believe that that first domestic or Asian manufacturer that brings out a Diesel in a midsize or compact will have huge PR advantage... a good 4cyl diesel in a Malibu or Fusion would easily dethrone Camry Hybrid. A small car like Cobalt is perfectly fine with a 1.9l diesel.. look at the porky Rabbit/Jetta - they do just fine with 110hp 1.9l TDI... As a matter of fact.. diesels are realy about MPG, not performance... I would even advocate for 1.8l and Aveo to get 1.3l (or so) diesel.. just make it get 80mpg (not unheard of in Europe) and able to get to 60 in 13seconds. Igor

Those rims are Rota Subzeros ... te guy at least knows his stuff .. those wheels weight abour 12lb's each.... he probably increased his MPG by about 2 or so and probably cut his 0-60 as well... the car is sthitty, but at least he got nice light wheels. Igor

Finally CNN (or some other major paper) NOTICED .... I m so happy .. toyota and Bizarre in the same sentence.. but they could have gne further to criticize toyota in the published text it leaves the reader free to turn this around on NHTSA ... oh well.. babysteps. Igor

thwe ass is not attractive enough ... I have to say I liked the pre-bangle version better .... and I am a big fan of the 3series - but the new design -especially in the back is not as nice - I think that is hy I like the 3-wagon so much. Igor

I like Vince ... he is on my short list of fav' celebrities ... - well you know - we only know so little about him as a person - not as a character of some movie - but I like his characters. Igor

take the Yaris and the Camry and take the intersect of their design .. that is how the Corolla will look like. Toyota has been playing around with that desing language overseas for a while - now they are finally bringing it over - the US Toyota design was just dreadful. Igor

I would not even say that ... I will say thing Show me a minivan that is not uglyseriosly.. I know one day I will be driving one, and I do not make fun of anyone that drives one, because they are incredibly versatile, but they all are F-U-G-L-E-Y.... maybe with a couple exceptions like Mazda5 and Ford SMax and next gen Mazda MPV/Premacy) .. but Mazda5 is hlardly a minivan and the other two are not coming to US . Igor

what is "coming next fall" never matters in comparos - it deserves a mention in the text, but if it is a 2006 Minivan comparo, it is a 2006 minivan comparo... period...and Sienna is the segment leader, because it was over previous gen Odyssey, and since then no one has pitted them against each other to see how they measure up.. Actually this is true of many other segments.. no comparos of Compacts has Corola in it, I have seen very few comparos with the trucks, the SUV's etc ... This lets Toyota keep the image of the leader, because no one has a chance to challenge it ... can you imagine the embarrassment, should the Corolla end behind the like of Kia Spectra i na compact comparo? and well behind Civic and Mazda3? given my above post, I think this was deliberate move by Toyota - but if it was, MT etc should explicitly say it - "Toyota refused to give us a comparo vehicle - you readers can think why they would do it. Igor

a hardtop convertible: they also have a very hot Wagon version of the Megane, which looks especially badass with some optional bodywork: Of course a Sedan: and a HB (they also have a 3d HB) and a Megane RenaultSport 225 225hp 4banger I think Megane is a great compact - I would even pit it against the Cobalt (or Astra), and I am sure it would win in the minds of US buying public - it is truly a great car (not so much some other Renault, models, but in Europe the C-segment is the bread-and butter, so most manufacturers shine right there). Igor Igor

TTAC has been dissapointing in quality recently ... their editorials omit facts, their reviews are racey just to be provocative.. TTAC is on its way to be subscription only and I think they are tryingto etablish themselves as in your face honest, but thye simply come off as ignorant Unfortunately, I have been uite displeased with them lately. Igor

BMW 325xi Wagon for Monday through Sunday - I walk to work - so I just need one car - the fun one. Igor

The only sad truth in the editorial is the revelation that GM is still controlled by the Board (of course comprised of fat Cats and Beancounters)... I think this is where and why DCX and GM fall (will fall) flat... and this is where I see so much potential in Ford's restructuring - not only is Bill Ford not revokable as the chair, since he is Ford, he managed to force the Board to step back from managing Ford North America. As a Family member he had the power, and took the power to take on allthe responsibility for the future of Ford. He put in place an al new management, exactly to his liking, and without the oversight and hindrances from the Board, the new team has completely free hands in doing anything necesary, changing anything neccessary - just to save the company. The board has no control over them - the new management answers to a single man - Bill Ford Jr. - and he is happy with them - this is his dream team. This is why I have so much more belief in the Ford restructuring than in GM - Ford is chaging from inside ... GM is simply benefiting from having a good CEO (Wagoner) and a very focused Product Czar (Lutz), but once they are gone - and they will be - it is the same old GM as before - as vulnerable to bad moves as before - and this recent rebellion against the person that has brought GM on the edge of profitability just shows the old ways taking over again in GM, derailing all the hard work put into GM recently Igor