Northstar

Well, the week is finally, and thankfully, over. I just finished my Physics exam, which was surprisingly easy aside from 3 or 4 questions that it didn't seem like I had enough info to solve, but whatever.

The A5 is for those that want everything the others have to offer (power, nice interior, luxury features) but don't want the "look at me" styling. Some people like to stand out and show their wealth, others would like to be less "look at me" and enjoy everything that's nice about a luxury car without putting on a show.

You drive a car with a huge wing The A/S5 maybe be somewhat boring, but at least it looks classy, as it should for the probable price tag.

You sure as hell would get that with a Blue Devil. Either way, there's no way the Viper is sticking around if GM buys Dodge, and I see little chance it's going to stick around if they don't.

Sure you can. Most of the sales would just go to the Z06 anyways. The Viper's sales are so small it makes no sense for GM to keep it if GM does in fact buy Dodge/Jeep. Plus, the Corvette is the top dog, and it could be debated what vehicle is the top dog if the Viper is near the performance of the Blue Devil.

Wow, these numbers are terrible. The Silverado drops to 14/18 for 4WD with the 5.3 and 13/17 for the 6. The Tundra 4.7 is 13/17, but it doesn't have the 5.7? The Titan is 9/12 !?! with 4WD!

Whoops, yeah, they were the tips.

Good job by GM. I would probably have switched the Titan and Tundra and F-150 and Ram, but perhaps the Ram and Titan have improved while the F-150 has not and the Tundra is rather average aside from performance (and, last I checked, trucks are for towing and hauling, not racing).

I think SRT-x would die because GMPD would take over. Hemi would give way to LSx. Minivans would stick around obviously, and the Nitro perhaps (hopefully without the craptastic interior). I could see the Ram, Silverado, and Sierra all being developed together, actually. Zeta would definitely take over LX. kee I think if Dodge is acquired, it would become somewhat like GMC, more trucks/SUVs than cars. They could kill the Avenger, kill the Charger, keep the Caliber (instead of Vibe), kill the Viper, and then let Pontiac do cars and Dodge would have the Ram, Grand Caravan, and perhaps the Nitro and Durango, although they might step on the toes of the GMC Theta and Yukon. The Ram would obviously step on the toes of the Sierra/Silverado, but I think that at the volume it does it's not worth risking killing it and losing sales. It'd be better to develop three and spread the costs around than develop two and lose the Ram's sales to elsewhere. Jeep is as you said... paired with Hummer. We will have to see how this all plays out. I see no real value in Dodge other than the Caravan and Ram. Basically everything else is already bested by another GM product. Maybe Dodge gets 5 vehicles (Ram, Caravan, Caliber, Durango (?), Nitro (?) and becomes the utilitarian brand, and Pontiac gets the RWD G6, Solstice, G8, and maybe GTO and/or something else. That would be a pretty strong lineup, I think. Buick could then be paired with GMC to offer something a bit more upscale. So I would have the lineup looking something like this (just vehicles on shared platforms): Delta: Cobalt, HHR, Caliber, Astra T900/NG: Sierra, Ram, Silverado, and then T900 SUVs and Durango Theta: Equinox, GMC Theta, Nitro, perhaps Patriot Caravan could move to Lambda H4 and Wrangler could go on the same platform I think once acquired, it would actually be quite easy for GM to run Dodge/Jeep. More platforms would simply be shared and the cost to produce everything would drop. Doing a Caravan off Lambda should be pretty inexpensive because the Lambdas are paying for it right now. H4 would be cheap to do because the Wrangler provides a platform. Ram and possibly Durango would make NG T900 even cheaper to do per unit.

Why would GM be interested in Dodge? I guess that would give them a minivan, but GM already has products in every segment Dodge does, and most Dodges suck. Jeep, I can see them buying. I guess the Ram, Silverado, and Sierra could all share a platform too, but Dodge cars and Pontiac cars overlap way too much. Charger and G8, Avenger and G6, Caliber and Vibe, Nitro and Torrent. I just don't see that working, unless Dodge is becoming the Durango off T900, Ram off T900, Grand Caravan, and I guess they could keep the Caliber since the Vibe is probably not sticking around. Dodge is trucks/vans/Caliber and Pontiac is cars? That's like Pontiac/GMC though... Essentially, this would give GM three brands with very limited product range. Dodge, Buick, and Pontiac. I say if anything, only buy Jeep. The only value I see in Dodge is the Ram and Caravan.

I really doubt GM will buy Chrysler. Chrysler is of absolutely zero value to GM other than Jeep. They don't need production capacity, don't need RWD cars with Zeta coming, and really, Chrysler has nothing other than Jeeps that would be unique to GM. The Patriot would actually be a very nice vehicle if it had a GM interior instead of a Chrysler interior, the Wrangler is something GM doesn't have currently (and could share a platform with the H4). Maybe GM should offer $6 billion for Jeep only. Or, I suppose GM could just do nothing, let Chrysler die, and then take over Jeep's share with an expanded Hummer range. But, I think Jeep still has value regardless, as GM would have those sales NOW rather than later.

So, if no one buys it, then what...?

Thanks... The whole Chief ordeal is so blown out of proportion, and what is really ridiculous is there isn't even an Illiniwek tribe anymore, so I see nothing wrong with it. I'm in the Orange Krush (not sure if you're familiar with it, it's the student section). I get to sit on the floor every game, it's sweet!

Probably when the NG one was going to start production, or perhaps a bit after now that there is no NG, which was... oh... a bit over 2 years away.

Wow, WMJ, that sucks. I'm not too worried about Chem right now. First, we get a bunch of equations to use so I just have to remember properties and then it's like algebra (plugging stuff in and manipulating) so I think I should be able to do it for the most part. Second, the professor said today the average is usually around 50%, so I don't see any reason why I can't get at least 50%. I don't know why they make tests so ridiculously hard. It makes you feel like you did poorly even if you did better than average (and the best grade was a 71 on the Calc 2 test - that's not exactly good IMO) and rather than just testing your knowledge, it's all about trying to trick you into something so that even if you know how to do a problem you get it wrong. It's like they want you to fail so that they can feel like they're extra smart. Is that how it is everywhere?

Yeah, I know I shouldn't be on here, but I need a break every now and then so I can stop thinking constantly about math and science. Depends where I would have been able to get in I guess. It's hard to beat having one of the top 5 engineering schools in the country right in your back yard (no out-of-state tuition charges).

The G6 should outsell the Aura. It has 3 models to the Aura's one, a 4 cylinder model, is less expensive with bigger rebates, and there are definitely a lot more G6's sold to fleets than Auras. I bet the average transaction price on the Aura is $4k more than on the G6.

Yeah.... This week totally blows, partly because last week we had two snow days that messed up the scheduling somewhat. Last Thursday I had a Calc 2 exam (average was 45; I thought I did good when I left and I end up with a 48?!?), then my crazy ass professor gives us a quiz today, and homework due Thursday that I've been working on for 2 hours and still am not done (and that we didn't learn until yesterday). Oh, and that's just Calc. Physics? Well, since we missed a lecture due to the snow day, we didn't learn any of the stuff for this homework (which is due tonight) until yesterday so I'm stuck doing it tonight, and oh, I have a Physics exam on Thursday. Oh, and then there's Chem. We didn't have discussion last Wed, so we had a take home quiz instead of a normal one on Friday. That's all fine and dandy, but that means it's just like more homework. So, I did that yesterday, as well as online homework that took an hour and a half, and oh joy, I have a Chem exam tomorrow that I haven't had time to study for yet. And... I have next to no time to study for Physics tomorrow, because after my chem exam is done at 6:45 to go see the first half and halftime of the last basketball game of the year (the NCAA sucks and is taking away our "disrespectful" Native American "mascot" which is really a symbol of pride and tradition) and I want to see the Chief (the "mascot) perform his last dance. So I guess tonight consists of Physics homework, studying for the Chem exam, maybe study a tad for the Physics exam, and that's about it. How fun. The snow days seemed to be a good thing last week, but this week I'm realizing they're about the worst thing that could have happened.

Let's see... The Tundra has more gears, more power, and more torque. Even if the tow/haul is switched on (which I'm guessing Edmunds was too dumb to do if they didn't do it on the dyno test) then the Tundra should be faster. If the Silverado, in addition, doesn't accelerate with full power for the first four seconds, then the Tundra is going to be even faster. Not putting on the tow/haul mode would be like someone racing but only pushing the gas down halfway, it just doesn't make sense.

That's not even close to accurate.... Edmunds dyno'd the 6.0L. If they would have put it in tow/haul mode the power would have became available instantly instead of after 4 seconds and the graph would have looked much different. Both engines are SAE certified... so GM is not claiming they put down more HP than they do. SAE Certified 6.0L Dyno Chart SAE Certified 5.3L Dyno Chart

I like the rear, but the front is boring. The interior is also rather boring.

The bigger the pipes, the louder it's going to be, generally. I know there are people on LS1GTO that have 5 inch (yes 5), pipes that totally fill up the holes in the bumper and they're loud as hell. It looks kind of dumb to me, as i think 4" would be plenty, but 5" is louder...

Congrats! What options does it have?

The SRX is a CTS wagon with slightly more ground clearance...

Yes, we're getting the CTS wagon, though it's going to be low-volume. I'm guessing NAIAS 2009 will be when we see the CTS coupe and wagon, as they're '10 MY vehicles.