pow

I know according to the manual, the 1.8T only requires regular but recommends premium. Meaning you can save the $2 each fill up, but you'll get less power. I've run it on 89 and can't really tell a difference. There aren't many engines that absolutely require premium - I can only think of the LS7, which doesn't retard enough spark to eliminate knocking. http://www.nextautos.com/running-on-regula...remium-gasoline

W.T.F. This is sounding like Nicole Richie blaming everything, and I mean everything, over her period. Except for you, it's the media. Saying the European Focus is as European as the American Accord is American is NOT quelling whatever "guilt" I have - it is based on reality, the fact that certain Hondas are dreamt up by Americans, designed and engineered by Americans, and built in America exclusively for Americans from start to finish, whereas neither BMW of NA nor Mercedes-Benz USA have the capacity to do the same. Does this make HoMoCo American? No. But I don't see how most European countries really are so much more "nationalistic" about their car purchases than Americans.

And Mitsubishi, Suzuki, and Isuzu are doing so well here? Or, perhaps people buy the Accord because of the reputation that the Honda brand has earned in the US, and because they admire the company's perceived achievements and contributions to the community, much like... oh, how Europeans buy Ford because they trust and admire the Ford brand and company.

Many Audis had this ten years ago... they called it a solar sunroof, or something.

The best-selling vehicle in the UK is the European-developed and assembled Ford Focus. The best-selling vehicle in the US is the American-developed and assembled Honda Accord. I'd say the US is similarly 'nationalistic' when it comes to buying cars.

Looks good. It has a real techie look, and I like how Acura is moving forward with their, uh, "Manga robot" design theme set by the MDX.

That's 177 lb-ft at 1800 rpm for ya.

Los Angeles, with its ancient and poorly planned freeways, isn't much better. The Pasadena 'Freeway' was built 80 years ago, when cars were slow and few, and 500 ft to accelerate to the speed of traffic (if any existed) was deemed sufficient. Compare that to today, when cars come out of a bend charging at you from a stupid 70 mph, and you've just run out of on-ramp. Every bit of reserve power is useful in these situations, in the same way strong brakes and good handling can help avoid accidents. Just the other day, the freeway I was on merged with a faster-moving freeway, and I needed to get across 7 lanes of traffic to make the soon approaching off-ramp. Again, it helped that I had a good amount of power, because I used every one of those horses getting my six passengers up to speed. I would gladly sacrifice 2-3 mpg (US) for the extra level of safety you get from greater power reserves. According to the NEDC, the 200PS Golf GTI gets just 5.6 fewer imperial mpg, combined, than an 80PS 1.4 Golf. And at high speeds, small engines labor as large engines dawdle. Last week's episode of Top Gear nicely illustrates how at high speed, small petrol engines can have higher fuel consumption than larger ones. I drive up a 6% grade hill everyday, and I've found during that stretch, I average higher mpg in a 2.8 liter inline-six than in a 1.8 turbo. The 1.8T occasionally needs third gear to maintain 50 mph, which makes instantaneous consumption increase to a lovely 7 mpg. The big inline-six soldiers on in fourth.

Libby

Yes, it does remind me a bit of the 733i, in the same way the 1 is sort of 2002-like and the 3 coupe is kinda 635CSi-like. It's too bad these will inevitably be driven by idiots and ruined by 5% tinted windows and 22" chrome wheels. Apart from maybe the XJ, practically all big sedans now are incredibly ostentatious.

Interestingly, its 17/24 mpg is just one fewer than GL320 CDI's 18/24. "Real-world" fuel consumption may be a different matter.

What's not surprising is that global vehicles tend to have lower domestic parts content than US-only cars. The CR-V is sold pretty much everywhere, and it's built in Ohio, Mexico, England, Japan, Thailand, and China for their respective markets. There will undoubtedly be parts sharing among plants. The ten most American vehicles, on the other hand, are available exclusively in North America.

It's quite bland and conservative and predictable. The interior doesn't break new ground like the 2002 model did. Yawn.

Pat Robertson

All-new 2009 7 will be available this fall.

Wow, the CX-7 tanked. It's too big, heavy, and thirsty next to cute-utes like the RAV4 and CR-V, yet it's too cramped and sporty against midsizers like the Edge and Murano.

Hybrid sales are gaining momentum, too... http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/07/01/gm...on-1-149-in-ju/ If you must have a Tahoe, the $4000 rebate and $2200 tax credit make choosing the hybrid a no-brainer, though it will still be more expensive than a Lambda, which has the same combined fuel economy and more interior room. Lutz says GM can make 10,000 two-mode GMT900s a year; more of that capacity should be given to hybridizing the Silverado and Sierra pickups, which have no crossover alternatives.

The Cars.com American-Made Index What Are the Top American-Made Cars? Cars.com's American-Made Index rates vehicles built and bought in the U.S. Factors include sales, where the car's parts are made and whether the car is assembled in the U.S. Models that have been discontinued are disqualified, as are those with a domestic-parts content rating below 75 percent. Rank Make/Model U.S. Assembly Location Last Rank 1. Ford F-150* Claycomo, Mo.; Dearborn, Mich. 1 2. Chevrolet Cobalt Lordstown, Ohio 2 3. Chevrolet Malibu** Kansas City, Kan. 9 4. Pontiac G6 Orion, Mich. 5 5. Toyota Tundra Princeton, Ind.; San Antonio 4 6. Toyota Sienna Princeton, Ind. 6 7. Honda Odyssey Lincoln, Ala. - 8. Chevrolet Silverado 1500* Fort Wayne, Ind.; Pontiac, Mich. 3 9. Chrysler Sebring Sterling Heights, Mich. - 10. Ford Explorer/Sport Trac Louisville, Ky. 10 http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story.jsp?se...tory=amMade0808 Ford and GM continue their reign in this summer's American-Made Index, but two new automakers — Chrysler and Honda — have joined the list, raising the number of manufacturers on it to five. That's the most carmakers the AMI has featured in the two years we've been compiling it. How did those two make it? The Alabama-built Odyssey minivan led Honda's charge thanks to its high domestic-parts content rating, which indicates the percentage of U.S. and Canadian parts, by cost, in a given vehicle. The 2008 Odyssey's domestic content rating went up to 75 percent, compared to 70 percent for the '07 model, which comprised a sizeable chunk of last year's sales. Honda spokesman Chuck Schifsky said it's hard to single out what specific domestic content was added in the Odyssey; Schifsky noted that Honda has a number of cars in the 70 percent range. Chrysler, meanwhile, has had a tough time making the index because a number of its strongest sellers — the Dodge Ram pickup and Grand Caravan minivan, for example — are either assembled mostly in Canada or have comparatively low domestic-parts content ratings. That's not the case this time: The Chrysler Sebring sedan and convertible, both built in Michigan, pushed a number of others out of the way to make it to ninth place on the list. In Chrysler's wake? Among a few models to drop off the list this time around was the Ford Escape, long an AMI staple; it's domestic-parts content rating fell 25 percentage points (from 90 percent to 65 percent) when it was redesigned for 2008. Last winter, Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood couldn't give a reason for the domestic content drop, but said Ford is "proud of the domestically produced parts that go into our vehicles ... but there are changes from year to year." Sherwood need only point to the F-150 pickup, which has claimed the top spot in the AMI five times running. Sagging pickup sales have had no effect yet on its status: The F-Series is built here with consistently high domestic-parts content, and its high — if falling — sales continue to give it a commanding lead. We've seen earlier contenders like the Toyota Camry go from near the top to elimination, though; all it takes is a precipitous drop in a car's domestic content. With the redesigned '09 F-150 in the wings, it will be interesting to see how its content ratings fare. Ford's other model on the list, the Kentucky-built Explorer, continues to rank 10th. GM has always been a strong player, but that's true for different reasons this time. The Kansas-built Chevy Malibu moved from an unremarkable 33rd ranking in year-to-date sales in December to 15th overall today, and its 85 percent domestic-parts content rating is as high as any vehicle we surveyed. It jumped to third place in the AMI, up from ninth. Making the opposite trip was the Silverado, whose sagging sales and increased production in Mexico and Canada knocked it down to eighth. Other GMs, from the Chevrolet Cobalt to the Pontiac G6, generally held steady. So did Toyota's two entrants, the Sienna minivan and Tundra pickup. Stagnant sales, meanwhile, pushed the aging Chevy TrailBlazer off the list. All the same, coupes and sedans seem to be making limited headway — strange, given higher gas prices and headier sales in those segments. Our first index, in June 2006, had three cars; today there are four. Why is that? The answer might be as simple as where the models are built. For this particular index, Cars.com surveyed the country's 58 best-selling models through May 31 of this year. Of the 30 trucks, vans and SUVs in that group, 23 are assembled in the U.S. (though not always exclusively; some models are assembled both in plants here and in other countries), but just half of the cars on the list — 14 of 28 — are built here. "Among popular models, more cars are imported to the U.S. than trucks, vans and SUVs," said Tina Jantzi, a senior forecaster at J.D. Power and Associates. "It's difficult to say definitively why, as there are likely many reasons that vary by manufacturer." One possible factor is the cost of shipping vehicles, which favors cars because they're lighter and smaller. Either way, it's a trend that could persist for some time. Jantzi predicts that by 2015, some 69 percent of popular imports will be cars, up from 67 percent today, according to J.D. Power data. David Cole, chairman of the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Center for Automotive Research, says it makes sense to build where there's demand. "Since the market for larger vehicles is more narrowly focused on North America, more would be built here," Cole said. "But for many of the cars, they could come from production facilities just about anywhere. "I'm not sure this is likely to change much, although with the general downsizing of more cars and trucks here, that may lead to globalization of more production. Ultimately the objective of any manufacturer is to maximize utilization of all production assets — that is, operate at 100 percent of capacity or more." Globalized production, of course, also means that a number of popular models already aren't as homegrown as you might think. Take cars like the Ford Mustang, Chevy Impala and Chrysler 300: The Michigan-built Mustang has a disappointing 65 percent domestic-parts content rating, while the 300 and Impala are built in Canada. What's more, America's beloved retro hatchbacks, the Chevy HHR and soon-to-be-discontinued Chrysler PT Cruiser, are built in Mexico. The pint-sized Chevy Aveo is built in South Korea. Not that import automakers fare any better: Hyundai's Alabama-built 2009 Sonata has just 43 percent domestic content, while the Ohio-built Honda CR-V comes in at just 10 percent. That portrait of urban frugality, the Toyota Prius? It's imported from Japan — and so are suburbanite favorites like the Nissan Murano and Toyota RAV4. Editor's note: In today's global economy, there's no easy way to determine just how American a car is. Many cars built in the U.S., for example, are assembled using parts that come from somewhere else. Some cars assembled in the U.S. from strictly American-made parts don't sell very well, meaning that fewer Americans are building those models. Cars.com's American-Made Index highlights the cars that are built here, have the highest percentage of domestic parts, and are bought in the largest numbers by Americans. There are a few options for determining a car's domestic-parts content. We went with the figure that appears alongside the window sticker of new cars as a result of the American Automobile Labeling Act, enacted in 1994. The AALA mandates that virtually every new car display the percentage, by cost, of its parts that originated in the U.S. and Canada. We deemed cars with a domestic-parts content rating of 75 percent or higher eligible for the index.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure when comparing comparable engines (i.e., similar levels of power or displacement), these Chevy models beat Toyota's equivalent - Malibu (2.4 LTZ), Colorado (3.7 2WD), Silverado (4.8 2WD, 4.8 4WD), and Tahoe (4.8 2WD, 4.8 4WD). As far as the Impala and Avalon go... 3.9L AFM 233 hp / 240 lb-ft - 18/28 3.5L 268 hp / 248 lb-ft - 19/28 Even if you compare the base Impala engine (211 hp, 18/29) with the Avalon, they're tied if city/highway are equally weighted.

Lexus

Happy belated bday!

Yeah, last month I got a "premium full-size" - a leftover '07 Accord VP (black door handles, manual mirrors, two-speaker stereo) with 28K miles and NeverLost (which apparently makes it "premium").

What's funny is that back in 2004, MINI created a viral spoof website for an agency called the Counter Counterfeit Commission, "Protecting every man, woman, and child's right to motor genuinely." http://www.counterfeitmini.com At the time, it was intended to be a joke for existing MINI owners and enthusiasts, and as an infomercial on cable TV, it was less expensive than traditional 30-sec ads. (They also did the MOTORmate infomercial.) Who would have predicted an actual counterfeit MINI?

Congrats! So 2.0T or 3.2? For 2009 you can get quattro with the turbo motor.

Corollas are cheap. You can get a new '08 for $13K, and Toyota dumps them onto rental fleets. All I'm saying is that the EPA segmentation (or is it NHTSA?) of the Corolla as "midsize" actually works out in favor of the Cobalt, as then the Cobalt XFE can be the most fuel-efficient "compact" manual transmission vehicle. edit - Hm, according to the EPA the Corolla is still classified as a "compact" (<110 cu ft). Maybe GM uses Hertz's segmentation methods instead.