Igor2

I believe in the same thing .. ever heard of Kinsey scale? 0 = exclusively hetero 6 = exclusively gay 1-5 = somewhere in between Igor

ROFL ... TMP .. that is hilarious .... Igor

well not really --- trinacriabob --- there is always battle of positions ... many modern couples struggle with the way to organize families - and their couple functioning as such - it is not given anymore that a womwan will do such and the man the other way - the lines a blurred.. even in same-sex couples there is always struggle for positions - equality is never a given - one person might be better in social ciscumstances, and leave the other one feel excluded. One might be more assertive, and sometimes overrun the wishes of the other partner etc ... equality is always a struggle .. regardless of the sexual composition of the couple. Secondly --- ocnblu --- I think this might be somewhat true, except for the temrs.. I am queer (not exclusively gay) and have a female partner who is also queer - but I can tell you that while I value both of her sides (masuline and feminine), her masculine - assertive side is what attracted me to her and what makes her special in my eyes. We often discuss celebrities, or mutual acquaintances, as "possible hookups" or "possible partners" (a game us and our friends started back in college over beer) and it became clear that I would rather have Clive Owens as a hookup than Jude Law (we were watching Closer on that occasion). She similarly prefers masculine women - she still has a poster of Marylin, in jeans and bra benchpressing (a great and rarely shown shot), and a very powerful poster of Angelina Jolie, just commanding presence with her eyes - Catheriune zeta Jones is also on her favorite list. It is really a personal preference - some of our friends prefer strong personalities, while others do not, some prefer very feminine presentation (in guys of girls), others like the masculine one, and yet others really desire the middle ground... it is different... but I have to partially agree with --- Burns --- As a queer man, having only slight preference for Women (based on familiarity and experience), I cannot imagine not being able to be attracted to half of the population . However, Burns, I do not know how you can look at all the men around you and not think that one of them could make you happy for years as a partner, or for one night as a hookup .... Igor

soI assume it is not this one : http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2000-SLP-Po...1QQcmdZViewItem Ebay # 290003841416 when I clicked on your link it said that Item # 30004351074 is not available. Igor

Paolino .. I voted for the Aura.. and would put in another call for driving one of the Ford's CD3's (I do like the MIlan the best as well)... I think you should not be worried about the new vehicle launch from GM ... like Ford, GM has had very little launch problems over the past 3 years, and I would be more willing to buy a 1st model year from a FoMoCo or GM than from Toyota or Honda, and definitely Nissan or any of the Europeans. I think the Aura is a very compelling pachage.. sure it is simply a FWD, but has a good engine, good tranny, and some nice touches, and is very well styled. With the Milan, you lose the nice engine (although the D30 is not bad), but get the option of AWD (well i4wd to be exact). Also, without knowing the Epsylon chasis, the CD3 chasis is about the best midsize FWD chasis you can get - there is very little better than Ford products in FWD chasis tuning - again I do not know how good is the epsylon, but the only Chasis I know comes close to it is the Accord... anything else is way behind.. Anyways ... it seems you would like ot stay FWD (not RWD), so that makes the choices easier... FINAL REMARK: why no Mazda6? Mazda is a little smaller, but that seems to not be a concern to you. You can get it in the very practical 5door or Wagon. the V6 is the same as in the Milan, but you can get MTX and the ATX has a manushift. I drove the Mazda6 as a loaner when my mazda was in service, and the 6 is a suprisingly agile car... I would definitely put it on your list... especially, because it is not selling as well as Mazda wanted (because it is smaller than cometition) so there are a lot of discounts available. Well, keep us posted. Igor

the F150 is still the world best selling vehicle .. that gives you na idea how important US is in the global sense. I believe Ford's C1 or GM's epsyllon (or the Epsyllon 2 is slatted to become the global leader) .. (I am quite sure the Focus nameplate is the global best selling passenger car) Igor

I grew up in Europe, but have lived in the US for over 5 years. I also drove an Expedition for 4 years..... I do understand the point of SUV's but when talking about passanger cars, they are really not a good example of engineering excellence.. BOF is a workhorse chasis architecture. Automakers can make a passenger cars stiffer and lighter with unitbody than BOF - however so far has not ben able to replicate the very top end of the BOF capabilitiues - the 1/2 ton truck and above. My view was simply, that BOF as important as it is on both sides of the ocean as workhorse, is not a cutting edge innovative technology - sure it is perfected by now, but it is an antiquated architecture, misused in many passenger cars like SUV's, where this technology brings more trouble (weight, driving dynamics) than any benefits (towing capacity). That is all.. I think GM has muche better vehicles to pit against Renault / Nissan offerings to claim GM being superior to the French / Japanese alliance - a BOF vehicle, unless we are talking serious heavy duty trucks is not it. After all, Renault makes their share of BOF wokrhorses in Europe, and with the lower wight and powerful diesels, they would be well capable of competing with the GM 1/2 ton offerings... (but I believe not much above) Igor

I call BOF antiquated .. for the purposes SUV's are used for .. minivan would do .. or a unibody CUV - with better ride quality, more interior space, and better fuel economy. .... that is all ... (not a big fan of SUV's as you might notice) - I see the whole - towing etc points, but they are weak compared to the fact that most people never tow above the limits of a V6 minivan.. Igor

ont it would not it would mean each car was doing 47.5mph and were hit head on... quite plausible .. Igor

I know .. but then.. I do not want to be punished into driving an SUV, justbecause so many people around me have one.... I refuse to do that .... but I am not sure what else to do.. BTW for those that ever wonderred why the B and A segment have been so slow to come .. imagine a Yaris ran over by a Suburban.. BTW you are right noone tests againts big vehicles anymore .. they test and compare to the same class of vehicles - so 5star in a minivan is different than 5star in a b-segment .. at least from NHTSA .. IIHS might be different, but htey still do not test against big vehicles. Igor

I wouldn't call it pandering to koreans but MT lost it when they named the Ridgeline the truck of the year.... in any rate .... I have hard time finding nay professional or semi professional auto rags that have any cred in my eyes because of the glaring omissions in their articles and lack of accountability.. For comparos .. people finally need to get this straight - either price match (all cars are close to each other on price, and you compare features) or feature match (get each car with perfectly identical features/options and then compare prices)... anything else is alchemy or whicraft (pick one) Igor

on another note .. I just found this blog post aout MPAA and south Park... While I am still frightened by the steps taken by the congress, this puts MPAA in a different light .. http://wwtdd.com/index.php?type=one&i=1047 Igor

this is quite scary.... regardless of my views.. if MPAA considers "any serious discussion" a PG steppingstone it makes sense.... and if I choose to instill a certain view of Religion in my kid,s Iwant to be warned ... because like pregrnancy and sex and sexual aorintation these are serious discussions, that need to hapen in the famly before seen on the big screen... but the fact that congress - the republican part of it - feels almighty enough to demand that religion is not a serious subject matter, and should not be included in considerations is scary .. what next.. some chrch will vandalize a TV station that criticized its homophobia, and congress will be compacent to it? I know I am exxagerrating, but I am very sensitive to governmental oversteps like this ... Igor

I actually like Skodas .. although the VW's handle better. And the 40k Superb is well worth it, as it is a rebadged Passat with a lower price. no but seriosly, the Escalade is hardly the image of GM dominance... I would even take the current CTS.. the Corvette .. maybe the Kappas ... or even one of the Epsylons .. band if I really tried.. I could even accept some ofthe other GMT900's .. but not the escalade. Igor

Focus wagon ...no seriosly ... sub $20k, 37mpg, still the best FWD chasis on the market (better than my mazda3), 40 cu ft of space, Made in Wayne, MI ... the interior sucks, but if you really hate it, you can drop in the pre 2005 interior - plus the aftermarket for the dura engines is growing .. we have first turbos, some bore and stroker kits ... I know it is a FWD and 4banger ... but if you want practicality, fun and low pricetag, there is very little to compare to it (unless you consider a Mazdaspeed3's cca$25k sticker still low enough ) Igor

I had to laught at the way the impala plaughed through the Vega .. OMG.. but these are all scary... Igor

What? A vehicle based on aniquated architecture, with excessive weight, laughable driving dynamics, thirsty engine, and questionable utility, wrapped in tinfoil? I take ANY of the Renaults over an Escalade, thankyouverymuch. Igor

I want to add to the description of Renault as soneone who greaw up in Europe .. The new designs (besides Clio which will be replaced next year) are a move similar to Toyota in US to make the cars less boring. They introduced this new "edgy" styling with completely vertical rear windows, with an executive sedan being based on Minivan, and looking like a minivan etc. The new design was quite well accepted, and brought about freshening of the styling in all other models on the EU market, including the Opels. Renault defined the minivan market in Europe with thier Scenic back in the 80's, and has always been leader in offering MPV or single-box designed vehicles on their platforms. They have also been experimenting with crissing boundaries with different products (like the Vel Satis), or the Kangoo / Modus. I am not too familiar with their chasis architectute, but unlike Peugeot which dominates WRC (along with Ford) or Citroen which dominates the Dakar rally, Renault is not that involved in stock car racing. However they have been in F1 for many years. They do lack a halo car, but they do have quite powerful versions of their Megane, which is their C-segment car and the Clio (a B-vehicle). The Clio also has a version with a v6. Overall, like other French cars, Renaults are not known for technological advances, uberplush interiors or perfect handling, but they have been doing well (although I read they just started an important restructuring) French cars are bought for city driving, they are all FWD, appliances, that aim mostly at being unotrusive and letting the owners commute and run errands... they are very much like Nissans and Toyotas in the US. I believe 20% of Renault is owned by the French Government. Igor

No beacuse people are too ignorant to realizewhat is going on. Most are cheering that we will finally have GM that can build better cars, since no one in America knows how to build cars and weneed to be saved by the japanese and French.... people do not care anymore .. if they did do you think NAFTA, the selling out of US tax and private dollars to toyota would be tolerated for so long? We live in the age of apathy ... and I am not sure what will it take to change that ... Igor

for me the hardest to believe thing is : FLAT !!!!! this is amazing ... you have Nissan down 18%, and Honda Flat ... that leaves Toyota only Japanese manufaturer (of meaningful size) with an increase in sales .... I am really surprised ... I wonder what happened at Acura. Igor

well Ford's goal with the Zephyr/MKZ ad milan is to make sure they fill the capacity of Hermosillo factory, and with Fusion selling all over Latin America and Canada, and Zephyr also selling in Canada, they are well on the way there. I noticed the Zeph sold less than CTS, but then CTS is RWD, well established as a performance sedan, and so it is likely not that much of a competition.. the real Zephyr competition is ES lexus and TL Acura since they are FWD/AWD and modestly powered and similarly priced..(really it seems Lincoln is being positioned more as a Lexus Acura I nfinity fighter, than a competitor in the real luxury performance market of Caddilac, BMW and Mercedes. So separate models aside, with sub- 10% of fleet sales, Ford is perfectly set to run the mexican plant on 100% and that is all that matters to them right now. Now with Five Hundred, the thing to watch is the performance of its archrival the Avalon. Five Hundred, up to now has had 10% fleet sales, but as Taurus is being spaced out, it will likely take up some of the voalume to run its factory full time. However not worrying about fleet sales for now, the Five hundred sold some 8k, while the Avalon had soly 7k... this is that Ford is watching with that car. Igor

well the Fusion siblings.. and Five Hundred siblings are doing OK and escape et al are doing OK Focus is also doing well, but with 30% fleet (a little more than cobalt) but they do not really have much else on the lot: the Freestar and Monterrey minivans that will be cancelled, the Ranger, and the SUV's Igor

NDL, I did not mean to stereotype, or draw some lines on this forum. What I was describing was the type of hate posts I received on Gay theme topics on other Forums (BlueOvalforums, FocusFanatics (although 3rd try went well), and Mazda3forums). Those hate posts fell into the "christian witch burning" category, but I did not want to imply that all Christians would react that way, just that I would not have had the courage to start another gay themed topic on an open Forum, because I would have been affraid of such reaction. I apologize for that sentence, I should have made my thoughts clearer. Feel free to PM me if you ant to discuss this further. Igor

Me too.. but w will have to wait and see untill about november to know for sure though.... Igor

very true .. as much as Solstice/corvette and sky are hits and make gm look good again, the sell less than 3k each a month .. that will not save GM .. look at Ford .. one single product line - the Fusion trio - is singlehandidly saving their asses right now, as it is managing increase in car marketshare and each month offests at least half of the truck sales decline .... Ford has been lucky this first half of the year.... Igor