Northstar

Wow, that sounds impressive. Did you happen to take any pics?

BMW would be smarter to make a Z6, I think. Aren't sales of the Z4 going to tank if there's something less expensive sitting right next to it? And I don't think a Z6 would suffer from Z4 taking its sales because it'd be significantly bigger and more expensive.

Yeah, that's pretty bad. The GTO's rating with a 4-speed auto is 16/25 (though I get 14MPG city) and the manual is 17/25, and that's with 400HP. The BMW's engine is smaller (even if it's as powerful) so that's probably why it gets better MPG. When DI comes on board I think it should be getting 300HP and 30MPG highway (I don't remember though what the MPG increase is).

Well look at where the front of the armrest is... it's basically as far up as the back of the seat (slightly farther though). It looks like if you want to use it with the seat in that position that you have to first reach your arm back and then use it. Look at other cars, they're well in front of the back of the seat:

Is it just me or does the center armrest look basically unusable?

Looks too ricey to me. The wheels are nice though.

The headlight covers are too blacked-out, but it looks pretty badass.

Impossible! No car could have a trunk smaller than my GTO's! It has to be at least 7.1 cu ft

Umm, GM is not trying to compete in this segment. So then what you're saying is because Toyota doesn't compete in the same segment as the Corvette no Toyota fan can point out shortcomings on the Corvette? Or the same for the CTS-V, Solstice, Sky (MR2 is gone, right?), XLR-V, GTO, or anything else Toyota doesn't offer a similar vehicle too? I think not... When the comments won't carry more than a grain of salt is when GM does compete in this segment and they bash the LS if it's way better than what GM puts out.

My Uncle has a Cobra version of that model. I've never driven it but I rode in it once or twice and it seemed pretty nice.

I think my dad might go on a test drive in one tomorrow too. It's also an XE in Ocean Mist with some dealer-installed wheels that look pretty good. I was hoping they'd get an XR, but they don't have any yet.

I'm not sure there is such a thing. Can trucks/SUVs look good? Yes. But sexy? No. When trucks/SUVs try to look sexy they end up just looking plain weird.

The Aura is way more bold than the Camry or Accord. It's similar to the Altima in terms of "blandness." In other words, it looks appealing instead of boring. The problem with having it be a lot sportier than the competition is that the millions of buyers in the segment don't want "boy racer" looks. They want something somewhat conservative that doesn't offend many people. Look at how the Mazda6 did for evidence that people in this segment don't want something that has boy racer looks. The RL will have the looks that you and most of us would want, but the fact is that's not what the millions of buyers in this segment want.

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Damn, sorry to hear that. Hopefully everything will turn out OK.

Good, now if only GM would have this same "We're going to come F up your plans" attitude in everything it does, maybe Toyota wouldn't be such a problem. And I don't mean coming to Toyota press events and sitting an Aura outside (though that was a good idea with the Camaro), I mean focusing on making products that will do the talking for GM.

Didn't the base model get the 224HP engine from the Aura instead of the 211HP one?

I didn't mention this before, but we have MetLife. One reason it's so cheap is because we have fleet insurance (for 5+ cars), so that helps considerably. Also, what are your other cars YJ? I'm the "primary driver" on the 1995 Olds LSS, and my dad is the "primary driver" on the GTO. That probably has something to do with it.

I just noticed how dumb the clock on the Aspen looks sitting up there all alone, and how cheap the material around it looks.

How many stalls does the garage have? :PSeriously though:Corvette Z06 - blackUmm, I'll think of some other stuff later. I'm rather tired right now.

Yikes, the rate for me on the GTO (no accidents or violations, 18 years old) is $2500 every 6 months. Again, we pay $750 a year for full coverage!

Yep, the Aura will get the 2.4L, but I'm not sure if it will in a non-GL version.

I saw an '07 Maxima at my local dealer. It wasn't a pretty sight.

But the Camry doesn't have any of those things he listed and you don't care? It's unfair to compare the Aura to the concept, because the concept is not mainstream enough to sell in large numbers. Everyone should stop their bitching until the RedLine comes, and if it doesn't look like the concept, then you can bitch all you want. Many sports sedans (READ: Not a FAMILY sedan) don't look as racy as the Aura concept, so I don't see what the problem is if the production Aura doesn't. What everyone seems to forget is many of us car enthusiasts are not the Aura's target market. That's what the RedLine is for.

The 6-speed is the only one with skip-shift. The only reason it has it is so that it doesn't get the gas guzzler tax on the V8s. Was the Camaro by chance red? That will raise the rates quite a bit... I think you're getting ripped-off though. We pay $750 a year on the GTO, but I guess we also have 5 cars which makes it go down.