91z4me

So you know of 2 personally that weren't reliable. That is a great judgement against an entire model. The one that was in the shop all the time was it new? What was it in there for?The Astros had the 4.3 Vortec and 4L60E or 700R4 trannies that is a very reliable combination. Heck the S series trucks and W/T GM fullsizers are still using it!

thegriffon > *.*

Yes. For the Chevy Camaro and larger RWD Impala Yes and possibly AWD. Chevy sedan yes, in length and width and interior room. The Camaro will be wider but may not be for sure longer. See the concept and add a few inches for the Camaro. The Pontiac's and Buicks will likely be , in relatively low volume numbers, Holdens and so VE's till about 2011 or 2012. Buick will get the WM Statesman, Lutz has pretty much confirmed this in his leaks. Pontiac will likely get a Commedore with a new front and rear facia. I don't expect much to be different, though it was said that the GTO's design work was finished quite early on. I don't expect it would be very difficult to pull any changes from the finished GTO over onto the G8 (or whatever it gets called). That being said I don't think the next GTO will be a VE. It could be or it could be on GMNA's Zeta program. Both would arrive at about the same time.My reasoning about this is that VE just came online, the plant has been updated and people were laid off when the GTO went away. The plant does not run a 3rd shift at the moment. VE was expensive $1 Billion! It needs to be paid off from the Holden plant because the GMNA RWD chassis is not the same thing. They will share suspension components powertrain and other components but the unibody is new for the GMNA RWD cars. Also consider the plant that we KNOW will be making RWD cars in GMNA, Oshawa. We know the Impala was redone in 06. The RWD replacement will come online in 2009 or 2010 or so MY. The GP and Lacrosse are both getting re-skinned, and will share engines with the Impala (though the Lacrosse could keep the 3.6 HF). The reskinned GP and LAX are due around 08. So I expect, like the Impala, that they will be around 3 years and that puts it at 2011 or 2012.

That is HOT!I also like the little Saturn.

Twin charged engines are not anything new. Honda or maybe Suzuki has had one in production for years in the Japanese market. There is a BIG downsize to twin charging. Number one is weight. Turbos add weight, superchargers add weight and both together add a lot of weight. Also the internal components must be beefed up a LOT to handle the extra boost and associated pressures.And with all that extra weight and rotating mass will hurt fuel economy, especially in the city.

Agree! I guess now it has a name. I will be quoting evok's law quite often from now on.

Actually the TDI engines we got in the states were not up to the snuff of the 08 emissions. The Fiat common rail diesels and izuzu diesels are more than up to snuff and we should see them in the US in just a few years.

If GM were to partner with someone Honda is the best choice. They have very good small cars and GM has great trucks. 2+2=4. It is that easy.

ZR2 second gens are pretty nicely setup from what I have seen, they are definately packing some off road meats.

Others have indicated that a reskin is planned for the W-body GP about the same time as Lacrosse production break. Could they be moving over to the Impala, MC(which may not be around longer) plant while the other is re-tooled for Zeta? Impala could move over to the new Zeta plant while 3 or so years of continued W-body Lacrosse and GP production continues at the old Impala plant. When the W-body does finally die the other plant could be idled or retooled for Zeta to increase its volume, Buick and Pontiac RWDs could come online at that time (2012 ish).We know the NG Malibu is larger and is supposed to take over a lot of Impala's volume and it is planned for what 08 MY. Seems like the stars may have aligned just right for this senario, though I am sure that others are possible.

A BAS hybrid Cobalt with the 2.4 would NOT be a waste. Better performance, better gas mileage....am I missing the negative here?

Well I am the 1st to not like it. I think it looks a little over done, with the rear diffuser and all. After seeing the spy photos we have seen I don't think it will look like that.

I have worked on a chop but can't get the color correct. If anyone wants to give some advice here it is:

The STS is 72" wide and Zeta is likely wider. So this mini-Zeta would be almost 5" wider than a Civic?Also wider would mean heavier.

It isn't that flexible. It is way to wide and width changes costs lots of money.

I don't argue the name but the grill and headlights should be different. Keep the headlights the same but use a grill like the Woodward GTO concept had. :AH-HA_wink:

Werd.

My Return to Greatness plan for Buick: Throw a Buick grill on it and bring it to the states with a 6.0 and 6 speed auto. Price it at $39K and sell out quickly.

We could strap him to a Saturn V.

How about convincing dealers into stop trying to be the Walmart of Chevy, Buick...? What about showing them how running ads showing how the current models are competitive with the competition instead of just talking about the best deal? What about talking about and actually having better customer service?There are TONS of ideas that the average person outside GM can come up with that dealers just don't see, and I don't mean 1 specific plan.

Well just how many G8s do you think can be imported from AUS? Remember that there are going to be Statesmans coming over as Buicks as well.If the car is totally new with a kick butt interior like we have seen, awesome (think BMW level) driving dynamics, and packed with tons of features like the current GTO is I think the price should actually got UP! Load it with content and bring up the transaction price. Also remember the GP will get a slight refresh and be around for a few more years.

Grand Ville!

How close is the GTO to the current 5-series? And how close to a M5.

Would you feel the same way if you were taxed on engine displacement?

WFT are you talking about?GM putting more dollars into development and setting the designers loose to put out HOT new models that are more than competitive than models what GM has put out in the past, Lacrosse is a stirring example. Good but not great. Competitive with outgoing soon to be replaced models and not up to par with new ones.