Northstar

So for that reason you decided to clone him?

My GTO can do so much better The GXP could probably do a lot better, but still I doubt it can melt the rears at will.

The interior looks pretty cheap. The cupholders, are, well, cupholders, so you can't harp on them much, but the HVAC controls look really cheap, and the black faceplate over the radio doesn't look very nice, either. The head-on view in red makes it look odd, I like it in blue better.

I'm going to edit the original post, but browsing GM's website it says that they are coming to the U of I for the EXPO... for whatever reason the people who set up the website listing the companies must have forgotten to put GM there.

griffon - didn't see your post before I posted, thanks. DCX isn't on the list of companies attending the EXPO at UI, but maybe I could interview with them somehow anyways if I don't get a job elsewhere.

Yeah, I definetly wouldn't want to have my long-term job be at Ford, but for the summer I think it might be okay.

EDIT: Now it appears GM says they are coming to the EXPO, but the U of I's site that lists the companies coming doesn't have GM... maybe they just don't know what table they're putting GM at yet. This is a long ways away, but I might be able to get an internship for the summer... there are a lot of companies coming to the engineering job EXPO at U of I, but the only two automotive companies interested in freshman mechanical engineers (what I'm in) are Ford and Rolls-Royce. I think Rolls would be rather boring, so Ford would be my only chocie if I want an internship in the car business (of course there are like 93 companies interested in ME freshmen, so I could get something else, too). The interviews are the 11th-13th, and I got a suit and a couple shirts and ties already... basically I just need to update my resume. So what does everyone think of an internship at Ford? Or do you guys think it'd be better to get something closer to home (assuming the Ford one is near/in Detroit)? Also, does anyone have any suggestions for the interview that wouldn't have been covered when I did these "practice" interveiws in class in HS?

Wow, that's very unfortunate. I'm guessing this must have been a pretty big stingray. RIP

In the other thread, "Camaro trim," I posted that maybe Z28 should be a performance handling package on the SS, so this would work well, I think.

I'm not sure that there's a way to make the Z the handler and the SS the big power car. If GM did that, the mags would complain that the SS had worse handling that the Z28, even though it offered more power. Maybe Z28 should be a package on the SS? You can have the SS, but then the Z28 could be lowered slightly, have better suspension, and maybe something else to differeniate it?

Toyota groups their sales with Scion, though. I don't think Autonews or Polk would combine them for the "official" sales at the end of the year. Also, Ford is ahead of both I believe.

I don't have the review in front of me, but I don't remember them giving the Escalade high marks in either styling or fit and finish. I believe a 7 for styling and 6 for f and f. I never got the chance to drive an Escalade when I worked at the dealership, but the Tahoes and Suburbans certainly didn't have nervous steering. They say it has a lot of cool features but I think it got a 6/10 for features amenities? WTF?

How about wheels from the Colorado Xtreme? If you want some H3 wheels and tires, here are some for $600, though I'm not sure about the big black spots where it said Hummer: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4-HUMMER-H3...1QQcmdZViewItem Ebay generally has good deals on wheels, but I didn't find many for the 'rado. Or, you could screw all those things and go for a sleeper: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Powerdyne-S...1QQcmdZViewItem

The Illini won 42-17, but it was basically a cupcake team they were playing. Croc - who is the new USC running back who's supposed to be like the next best thing to Reggie Bush? Is it CJ Gable?

Possible, but then that would put it at just above the Armada (if it has improved in quality since I sat in one, since it was basially an Armada with plood), and we all know that the Armada is no where's near as nice as an Escalade.

So I got my C&D today, and the Escalade was in a comparo vs. the Navigator (5th place), Infiniti QX56 (3rd!?! WTF?), Audi Q7 (2nd), and GL450 (1st). Now, it's not that I don't agree with some of the scoring (Escalade got low marks for the second and third row), but some of them are pretty much BS. Somehow it got a lower score on ergonomics than the Audi and MB (the MB tons of tiny buttons, and Audi locates their HVAC units in the worst place ever, as well as having the MMI crap in a terrible place if you're trying to drive), and it's interior design was also scored lower than each. Maybe it's just me, but it looks a lot better than either, IMO (I feel the Audi's is pretty ugly looking and the MB looks too VW). It also got an 8 on fit and finish while the MB got 10, and you can see from the picture than the MB has a sizeable gap between the stack and console?! One final thing is that it got a 6 on features/amenitites (out of 10). Finally, they say that the Escalade has all sorts of flash, and in the verdict they say "Famous for being Famous" but somehow it receives a 13 out of 25 in the "gotta-have-it factor"? It seems that the gotta-have-it factor somehow never seems to help GM cars, other than the Vette. And the dumbest thing they did - complained that the interior color caused too much glare from the sun (WTF?). No one in their right mind would pick the QX over the Escalade. Nothing pissed me off more than the Escalade coming in behind the QX.

I got to ride in (not drive though) an R500 at work, and it was actually quite nice. It looks dumb, yes, but the interior was nicely done and it rode well.

Well, it was down 15%. I'd say that's pretty bad for their most important product. Car sales were OK, they were up 12% for Ford and 8% for the whole FoMoCo.

Neither is the Escalade, and it does 0-60 in 6.2s. Of course, it's a little out of the price range. The interior reminds me of the VUE.

I'm plenty sober right now, it's just that I'm not COMPLETELY sober. A an or so ago and I would have been making a fool of myself, but I don't think I've even mis-spelled a word until nwo.

Yes, but how much of that is because of the Employee discount last year? Also, they might make some of it up because everyone who wants to buy a car hasn't already done so like last year.

So tonight I was walking back to my apartment/dorm with my friends and we were all drunk, and while we were walking I noticed how much better cars look when you're drunk. First, a '95 or so Camaro, which looked really low and sleek. I was like "holy $h! that Camaro looks awesome," then we went past a G6 coupe that looked freaking amazing. It looked like it was some super-sleek concept car or something. Yeah, that's my rant for the night. I'm still "under the influence" right now, but I'm basically sober.

I think that last August was just really good. 34.5k is actually better than average for the Accord. It's also interesting to note that at the 6-month point, the Accord was ahead of the Camry in retail sales by 6k units: http://fleet-central.com/af/t_pop_pdf.cfm?...06/cars_web.pdf

I would be willing to bet the 300 only went up because of fleets. Notice it says nothing about retail sales being up. 2000 units in a month doesn't show me a whole lot of positive customer reception. It's too early to tell if the masses like it. The Commander did surprisingly well. I wonder if it was fleet or retail?

Those numbers are hilarious. The only vehicles that aren't new (RDX, CR-V, Fit) and posted an increase are both about to be dead, the RSX and Insight The Accord tanked badly, though last August was amazing.