SAmadei

I like these in retrospect. When they first came out, I didn't realize they were FWD. The whole idea of FWD being against the laws of physics, in my young mindset. If it was a coupe or one of those crazy special sporty editions (esp BOP) with all the stickers and blacked out trim, I'd consider it. But a plain sedan just isn't clicking for me. I hope someone does stash it away, because I foresee a huge gap in our automotive history in the future.

I cuss nonstop working on most cars. It blows off steam. When things get real bad, like a bolt snapping off, I cuss so fast, the words overlap and get munged. New words, more vile than ever are created... then tools get thrown.

No need to repeat supply and demand to me... but apparently there is need to repeat it to GM. The HHR shouldn't have been dumped on Enterprise because if demand for the HHR dried up suddenly, they shouldn't have built them in the first place. Without these raging bargains, let Enterprise and friends bid up for the cars that people actually want to drive, want to rent, want to see on the road and want to purchase. Honda and its keiretsu have the sense to forecast properly the Honda they plan to sell. Sure, they aren't going to get it perfectly right (Accord Crosstour), but then again, they don't have 100K Crosstours being dumped on Enterprise lots right now, do they? I never said the Cruze would flop. I said it was an ugly, Sebring rip off... and I stand by that. But its also the lower half of the meat of Chevy's sales. Even if it came out completely retarded, a huge number of loyal Chevy folk would still buy it... as they have been buying questionable Cavaliers and Cobalts for decades. There is no victory or loss to the ATS... I am forecasting... just like when I play poker, stockmarket or football bets. If its a huge success, I eat some crow and we all lose by GM never building a car longer than 180 inches again. There is nothing GM can do to the XTS to not make it into a "big FWD Buick"... that die was thrown when the platform was chosen. After GM demonstrated what Cadillac could be with the STS, CTS, XLR... the DTS became the odd man out. To lose Sammy Hagar for Gary Cherone does not help when the world wants a return to Roth. Not necessarily the best analogy, but... Buick doesn't supply what Buick used to offer, either. When I call new Buicks Lexuses... that's meant as an insult. I don't see the Ecoboost being that big of a deal, risk-wise. Ford had full size pickups for decades with 6 cylinders and sold tons of them. And that Ecoboost is not going to get the job done when you start piling in the weight. I think the livery market is just going to switch to trucks. Getting around in a car limo is a PITA (The Hummer super stretch was worse). The old DTS was a rare limo due to it being easier to convert Lincolns. I imagine the 300 is the next easiest to convert and it produces a nice looking limo. I feel the angles on the XTS will look awful once stretched... like a zig-zag. I doubt the XTS will have any takers for armored cars... I doubt the EpII platform is prepared for an additional 4 tons of weight, as it is already being stressed to bring us the XTS. I imagine the XTS will make a great hearse. But only 2000 or so of those are built a year, as funeral homes are holding on to them for longer and longer. I have asked my family to not permit me to take my last drive in a frigging SUV.

I've always seen rentals as good advertising for car manufacturers... so I feel fleeting a last-generation product, like the Captiva, continues propagating the myth that GM cars are out of date and inferior to the Equinox. Its a double edged sword, the dumping of fleet vehicles onto the secondary market, but then again, if you are building cars people will go crazy for, even a glut of used will get snapped up at a reasonably premium price. Note that when GM had 45% of the market, the Big Three were virtually the ONLY cars fleeted to rental companies and GM did not have the resale problems from the secondary market they have now. Because back then, GMs were so compelling, the people's demand bid them up. I also question how much of GM's recent resale value resurgence is due to GM restraining themselves or due to the secondary market holding its value due to the economy being in the toilet. I foresee GM being stuck with unsold ATSes because it will not have the cachet of the 3 series for a long time, and the CTS is cheap enough to be a better alternative for many. For the XTS to "TOFTT" will just confuse the consumers who will see a bigger car being given away at relatively cheap prices and people getting the XTSes at the rental will still see Cadillac offering its Buick-mobile to old folks. Signs, yes, but I'm not convinced they are done their colossal mistakes.

Actually, I should have mentioned, this is a crate engine Dad installed before his passing... but he put the stock parts back in the long block... including the EFI. I do not know most of the specs.

Of course, all this 3 and 4 cyl forecasting will be for naught if someone figures out a way to make a synthetic, clean burning gasoline substitute from sunlight. ;-) (Assuming, of course, that Big Oil doesn't already have this secret and owns all the patents to it) Dwight, I was curious if your expertise extends to the chemistry of gasoline. I know that gasoline is a mix of organic hydrocarbons and additives, but I've questioned for years is what compound actually makes gasoline into gasoline. I know that Benzene, Toluene, Xylene can be removed from gas and its still gas. But what chemicals cannot be removed? Can your car run on only Butane? Or Isooctane? Obviously, Ethanol is not quite a synthetic, gasoline substitute, as its water attracting properties and the idea we need like 10 more earths to grow all the raw materials to produce it. Reason I bring this up is that I don't foresee a future where everyone's needs are met by 4 cyls... and I'd rather burn LPG, CNG or E85 than be straddled with a 4 cyl.

You know, I applaud your going back to school, but sometimes I wonder if its worth it for the current batch of 20-somethings in the situation our country is headed. I won't try to discourage you, but at least think out your education plans so that you have a job at the end of the tunnel. There are too many people getting useless run-of-the-mill educations and a glut of people who are not employable. IMHO, you have to aim high and do the doctor/lawyer/engineer stuff to ensure you have a job in the near future. If you are considering anything that is sales related or writing related (as Camino noted your obvious writing skills), you might be better off getting experience now rather than a degree. That said, your immediate search is for a car that frees you from the Challenger burden... you need to shoot lower than your $2000 nut... like... http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/2661296487.html Yeah, its another head gasket, but its cheap, the parts are included, and it will be worth more fixed. http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/2647885527.html Needs a $200 j-yard tranny. Half an afternoon project with a friend on a Caprice. http://lexington.craigslist.org/cto/2646161908.html Claims nothings wrong with it... but I imagine it looks like a worn out '94. One final thing... if you need cash and have some height/muscle on you, the best place to make the money is bouncing... much of it is tips. Also, if you want to consider keeping the Challenger, you might want to consider a BK. You can many times get the value 'compressed' and still keep it. And while your credit takes a hit, its not as bad as you might think after you emerge from it. My BK'd friends had better credit than I did (at the time) the day after filing. A BK might cost you $2K, but might still be ahead in the end. The BK stigma is not as bad as it used to be, considering the current economy.

Enterprise is going to buy what GM has no choice but to sell cheap... and thats going to include its fair share of ATS/CTSes. Only way to stop that is to refuse fleet sales. As far as the new photos go, the XTS still doesn't move me. I actually prefer the DTS.

I've been reading that for some reason the Bosch O2 sensors don't get along with GM computers. Just find an AC Delco compare it to the feedback rating of the Bosch Yeah, Bosch is the brand I'm mostly referring to. But IIRC, they tend to run poorly as soon as you install them. Some other brands do the "install and 3 months later work like crap" routine. I've heard some bad things about Denso brand, as well, here and there. I forget which, but I know Bosch work really well for one of the GM drivetrains... but I can't remember to save my life. Might be the 3800 series II. Of course, with that, you have to watch what plugs you use. Details, details. ;-)

Which is sweet. I wish "Dad's" van ('89 G3500), which has few emissions parts, would have had a big carb instead of EFI, though. I always felt the EFI strangles the 350 somewhat... though it may be the heads/cam combo. It aint the exhaust, which is MASSIVE. Its not like the EFI is helping out the fuel economy... which is like 11 mpg freeway.

IMHO, the carbs are not too bad. As long as the carb is not completely wasted, tuning them is a reasonable task, but make sure all the vacuum lines are good and routed properly first. Sometimes rebuilding a carb is a plus, as you can modify a carb that has its adjustments made unadjustible into an adjustible carb. Rebuilding a carb is not a big deal, just be careful what you clean it out with and follow the instructions. After rebuilding a carb back to acceptable tightness, I've never had problems getting the vehicle to start on the first key turn. OTOH, I was always somewhat frustrated with the early EFI ("Dad's" van is EFI), and I have get frustrated with the lack of adjustment and the seemingly unending problems I've had with leaking injectors. OTOH, it always starts right up and has fewer vacuum lines and emission controls. A plus with the EFI is that you can take it off and put a carb on, assuming you can slide through inspection. I would have a bigger issue with the 305 (versus a 350) rather than the carb versus EFI issue. ;-) That said, I still have my fair share of 305s. :-(

I'd second the O2 sensor. The one closest to the engine is the most important in this aspect. Edit: Even if the O2 was replaced "recently", some engines just don't get along with particular O2 sensors long term, so I would research the best O2 sensor brand to go with the 3.5.

Insane Clown Posse... a far cry from my rock and metal usual. Of course, its normally coming out of a (what used to be) senior citizen mobiles.

No argument LPE is not the company it was under his brilliant leadership, but no man is an island. There are other people carrying on the flame. John did not live to see the latest incarnations of the Hemis and LSx engines that LPE continues to sell kits for... so _somebody_ at LPE is still actively developing and testing new stuff. His Ecotec stuff should have been far enough along for it to be on the market in some form. In any case, others watched John's developments, and could have brought them to market. If the Ecotec is the new SBC, where is a performance rebuild kit for the LNF? Hotter cams? Better heads for the LHU? The only performance kit out there is the GMPP LNF turbo upgrade. Other than that, its all intakes, "HID" headlight bulbs and drilled clutch/brake/accel pedals.

Well, the pundits here claim turbos haven't had lag in decades. I can see what you're trying to do, though... I'm used to cars that produce power low down, and its all instant on. While driving turbos is not my thing, I wonder if a slight speed shift (don't let the engine fall to idle (or whatever speed lag is an issue) between shifts) would take the lag out of the equation. I shift pretty fast, and with all the spinning inertia, I don't lose too much engine speed.

Yeah, we've heard this for 8 years... but why does LPE not list any engine packages for the Eco?

You think people are going to buy GM cars over others because of the updated plant that built the vehicle? The Volt was/is being built on the same line as one of GM's most antiquated models. And how high tech are these new plants, since GM has demonstrated repeatedly that they can't move a certain platform from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, or even apparently more production from plant to plant easily to maximize capacity... something Chrysler could do in 1984. I'm not seeing compelling increases in engine tech, if that's were the money is going. If anything, GM has streamlined its powertrain offerings and should be saving money since the BK. I don't consider an engine "new" just because it has a new RPO code and 5 hp more than the last RPO. Models "selved" [sic], are just more of the same old same old. Watching the improvements between the models coming out now and the ones pre-BK are like obsessing over LG's new kitchen appliance line. Only exception to that is the ATS, which I still think will be a huge disappointment, already losing a bodystyle (convertible)... and GM will lose interest in it (like Zeta, Sigma, etc.) when the first ATS doesn't sell 100K+ the first year. Well, the economy is going to be a problem for a while, unless they manufacturers "race to the bottom" and start offering cars that compare, affordably, with the quickly shrinking used car pool. And waiting for the economy to recover just gets GM closer to its coming war with Chinese makes on its home turf.

Yeah, some of the P-brand GM cars were like that, too... '97-'03 GP comes to mind. A couple others, too... but I can't shake the images out of my mind, ATM. I remember the '97-03 GP having an offset front plate on some versions, like the early '90s Grand Ams. I've long been a fan of offset plates. I like the offsets, too... but it was a matter of necessity for years with Ponchos having such pronounced beaks. I think that has the cheaper models (SE?) that had the grills below the bumper line that used the offset plate. I'm not sure these were made much beyond '97. The ones with the above-bumper grills had the plate in the center. I have the cover in the garage for the '99 GP GTP.

Historically, my favorties were GM, AMC and None. And since GM discontinued my favorite two split grill divisions, GM is no longer a favorite anymore... so favorite makes as of 2011: None, None and None. I'm trying to warm up to Mopar, BMW, Mercedes... Lamborghini, but I doubt I would ever actually buy one, even if I could. Fisker has potential.

Yeah, some of the P-brand GM cars were like that, too... '97-'03 GP comes to mind. A couple others, too... but I can't shake the images out of my mind, ATM.

Business as usual at GM. I've been hearing more and more about how GM still has no money. Where are those profits going? The whole point to the BK was to lose the legacy costs, where were something like $5-6K per car. Now that thats gone, and GM is gathering profits, where is it going? To the UAW? 100% of these profits (except proceeds needed to pay back the US government) need to go into making new kick-ass cars. Otherwise, it seems like what we have now is the status quo and is not going to improve... in other words, those profits are going to some fat cats or sitting in a bank somewhere for a rainy day. Reinvestment is what makes businesses grow.

That's an advantage to buying in a one-plate state. All the states should be one plate. The front plates double the cost of printing plates and contribute (granted, in a small way) to us wasting that foreign oil through a loss of aerodynamics. NJ a few years ago considered getting rid of the front plate to help save money, but a few idiotic groups complained... like meter maids... too lazy to walk to the back of the car. Front plates are so useless... have you ever tried to read one while heading in the other direction at a combined 90+ mph? Modern lighting, reflectorization and silkscreening have made then nearly unreadable unless you crawl by. In NJ, its my experience that you will get harassed for having no front plate. A problem since I've bought quite a few cars from one plate states, and I hate drilling holes on the front of my car's bumper.

This better have an off switch. I could imagine this going off NONSTOP during some of my drives in the shore towns, where you can't go 20 feet without someone running out in front of you.

Johnny Lightning is making some cool small die-cast vehicles that you typically would never expect to see. Would never expect to see? Hot Wheel released their Citation in 1981! ;-) Oddly, with all the wear and tear, it looks like what most REAL '81 Citations look like today.

Odd. I only skip-shift on low speed limit roads when lazy... In the Firebird, it was usually 1-2-5th. When driving aggressively, I have to hit all the speeds to keep the engine in the powerband... skip-shifting would slow the works down.