rkmdogs

Free trade may be a myth to you, but FAIR TRADE is what we need, and that is not a reality!....... yet. It gets further and further away by each interfering step from career government mouths, who have no idea of what work or industry really are. They get tangled in their minds with politics! The best example........ look at some of the critical industries for national defense. Some we no longer have! And when committed American defenders in Congress tried to require that... only 65% of all critical materials purchased by the government be made in the USA, who complained? Why the generals in the DOD... and their political cronies! Brings up the question, if the generals are complaining because of the increased cost of making it here, who is minding the store??????

Whizzer, whizzer? That ain't no stinkin' whizzer! Here is the real whizzer---- and you can still buy one new!

I am amazed! 10 pages of B/S about this new truck, and only TWO comments about the ROOF RACK on the cab! If that doesn't prostitute the concept of a pick-up truck......... then my perceptions must be too old-school. And you jokers, lamenting the RED color, and wanting BLACK......... obviously none of you live in the SOUTH, where you can fry eggs on a black truck, any day of the week from May thru December.----- And if you are in it, you become the fried egg! Even in perfect dry weather country, with a black truck....... just one dirty thought, and you have to wash it to look decent! I have had two, one a car and the other a truck, and never again will I own a black vehicle!!!!!

Well let me add some fuel to the fire. I have a 1995 Caprice 9C1 that I got with 140,000 miles on it. It needed lots of TLC, which it got. It had clear, green coolant in it. Down the road, it needed a major tune and other replacements, which it got. In the process, and as a preventative maintainence move, I had the cooling system pressure flushed, drained and refilled with Dex-Cool, because of all the positive things that I had heard about it. Well late this spring, I started having problems getting heat in the car, and did not think too much about it, since 80% of the time we run using the A/C. But then the temp guage started to go up, so I checked the system. The coolant level was down about a quart, and the whole inside of the resevoir tank is coated in a brown goo! I have never used the "tablets" just the liquid. Checked it again this past week-end, and it is worse!----- and the fluid level was down about a pint. Now there has been no eveidence of any coolant leaks, on the ground nor in the engine compartment. Since this car is a 9C1 with the LT1 engine, I have "lifetime" green silicone coolant hoses. There is no signs of wetness, anywhere. So, if I have a system leak, which is supposed to be the culprit causing the "sludging" condition, I can't find it! BUT........ I am going to have the system pressure flushed-- again, and refill with green coolant, and hope my problems go away, without having any permanent damage. My current mileage is 190,000, but all of these observed conditons have occurred in less than 10,000 miles! I will no longer advocate the use of Dex-Cool!!!!!

For those who did not do the math - (me), I just got the conversions to figures more familiar to us. The 2.9L V-6: 160kW/500Nm = 215hp/369lbf-ft torque The 4.5L V-8: 240kW/750Nm = 322hp/553lbf-ft torque WOW !!!!! These are some mighty impressive numbers. AND: As of Oct 15th, 2006 all US diesel fuel must comply with the new low- sulfur requirements of the EPA. (20ppm of sulfur instead of the current 500 ppm of sulfur). This has been standard in Europe for almost 2 years now.

Your gloom and doom mouthings presume that development on V-8 engines has stopped, and all future development will be on engines with fewer cylinders. WRONG!!!!!

http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/showthr...=Diesel+engines

This opinion sounds like the individual who said 100 years ago we should close the patent office because there is nothing more to be invented! The sky is not falling, Henny-Penny.

You guys all are knocking this mule, but I ask you....... What is the General offering to compete against it? NOTHING !!!!!!!

AND.............. if you want to add more fuel to this fire, go read my thread about GM's new diesel developments down under, and what they plan for U.S. models. Then consider this news item, that was just published in Edmunds! Honda to launch diesel Odyssey & Acura MDX in US There have been several rumors about new diesels coming from Honda recently, one being a V6 diesel for their larger vehicles. Now we get word that the Odyssey and MDX will get this engine by 2009. Not mentioned in this link, but has been rumored elsewhere on the Net is that the Ridgeline could also get this engine. I see these as very smart moves on Honda's part. Snippet: ‘‘We think Honda’s light trucks, such as the Odyssey and the MDX, will be more fuel efficient with diesels,’’ Mr Fukui said adding, “We don’t have any plans to put hybrid systems in light trucks, such as the Odyssey and MDX in the US.’’ Mr Fukui said the four-cylinder engine can be installed in vehicles by 2009. Bloomberg Diesel engines will use less fuel than hybrid systems for light trucks driven longer distances, Fukui said. Honda is developing a V6 diesel engine, mainly for the US market. If diesel engines in light trucks prove popular, the company may also use them in cars. This is also interesting... Snippet: Nissan Motor Co, Japan’s second-largest carmaker, is also considering diesel vehicles for the US market. The carmaker may put diesel engines in U.S. pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles, chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn said in November.

Boy, are you blowing smoke! Real engine packaging STARTS with bore center distance! The rest is based on other parameters, and strength of materials. You can't make an engine out of tissue paper, yet! You have all missed one of the main reasons for a V-8! Smoothness of operation due to even firing pulses. Yes, you can do that with a 60 degree V-6, but then you introduce other spacing constraints. They haven't repealed any of the laws of physics yet, no matter how much you "whiz kids" would like to!

Lets look at two basic facts. Only 11% of the car market are so-called "enthusiasts", who are the ones demanding a manual trans. Since these "gearheads" grew up, so have automatic trannies, and the latter can outthink and outshift you 99.9% of the time! That other 0.1% is sometimes on a track, but unless you are 100% accurate ALL the time, the automatic will beat you! And who drives on the track every day, going to your daytime job? C'mpn guys, if performance is your passion, then get real about your own inconsistancies and driving abilities! ....And tell Jim Hall that he was full-of-shXX when he put automatics in his race cars!

Just read this one from down under. Maybe some have seen it, but I have not seen anything about it posted here, so here 'tis! GM Plots Global Diesel Offensive & Holden Could Benefit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Motors Is Plotting A Diesel Offensive On The Hitherto Compression-Ignition Shy US Market Gautam Sharma 19 May 2006 www.carpoint.com.au GM is armed with a pair of high-tech new powerplants -- and it's not inconceivable that these units could eventually be offered in our own Holden Commodore. "We are developing right now two highly modern diesel motors that won't just fulfil the Euro-5 emission standards, but the more stringent Bin-5 regulations in the USA," a senior GM source told German journal Automobilwoche. The car-making giant is reportedly readying an oil-burning 2.9-litre V6 and a 4.5-litre V8 that will use cutting-edge new technology dubbed Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI), said to boost fuel economy by about 20 per cent and generate fewer polluting hydrocarbons. No power and torque figures have been released, but outputs of 160kW/500Nm are not inconceivable for the turbo-diesel V6 (compared with 175kW/320Nm for the current Commodore's 3.6-litre petrol V6), while the 4.5-litre V8 could punch out 240kW/750Nm (versus 260kW/510Nm for the existing 6.0-litre petrol V8). However, we must point out that these numbers are only our estimates for what the diesels will generate. US sources suggest GM's diesel offensive will start in 2008, with the engines ultimately destined for a range of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), pick-ups and large sedans in all GM brands and all markets. GM's new-found interest in diesel is largely driven by a new law (which took effect from January 1 this year) in the US that allows consumers who purchase some new diesel-powered cars, light trucks and SUVs to be eligible for up to $US3400 in tax credits based on the weight, fuel efficiency rating and emissions level of the vehicle. A recent study by JD Power and Associates reported that diesel and hybrid vehicles are expected to garner 11 per cent of US vehicles sales by 2012 -- with the diesel market increasing from a 3 per cent market share in 2004 to 7.5 per cent. According to RL Polk data, diesels have already seen 56 per cent market growth in the US over the past five years with the introduction of models such as the Jeep Liberty CRD, Mercedes E320 CDI, and TDI variants of the Volkswagen Touareg and Passat. But what does it mean for us? Well, GM's local Holden subsidiary has expressed interest in adopting diesel technology for its upcoming VE Commodore, so it's not impossible that one or both of the new-age engines could be slotted under its snout in due course. Holden boss Denny Mooney has already conceded that diesel technology is being trialled in the Commodore, although he admits that a production variant is "further down the track". "We have a (diesel) prototype running around, but there are a lot of barriers to diesel right now," Mooney said recently. "Not every service station has diesel fuel. And there's the stigma associated with the smell. You know, if you get diesel fuel on you it's like a cologne, it stays on you. "So you've got to overcome that stigma that a lot of consumers have on their mind -- that they're dirty, smelly -- which they aren't. Modern diesels are very clean, as most of us know, but the public doesn't necessarily see it that way." It's widely believed a 162kW/500Nm 3.0-litre V6 built by Italy's VM Motori is the leading candidate for the VE Commodore, but the new US-sourced diesels may also figure in the equation. Meanwhile, arch rival Ford is also evaluating diesel technology for its Territory SUV, which is currently handicapped by relatively high fuel consumption from its 4.0-litre petrol engine. As previously reported by CarPoint, Ford Europe's Dagenham Diesel Centre in the UK recently unveiled a high-tech new 200kW/640Nm 3.6-litre turbo-diesel V8 to supplement the smaller 140kW/445Nm 2.7-litre turbo-diesel V6 that's already available here in the Land Rover Discovery 3 and Range Rover. And either, or both, of these units could be candidates for the Territory. Our analysis ['Who's Fueling Who?'] corroborates that buying a diesel only pays off in the long-term. In the case of a Volkswagen Golf 2.0 TDI Comfortline, you'll need to drive it for around 80,000km to recoup its price premium over its petrol counterpart (based on current fuel prices). However, if and when fuel prices hit $2 per litre -- as is being tipped by analysts -- the payback time will be dramatically shortened. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Last edited by JoeT : Today at 07:06 AM.

Idiot! That is when this article was published. I did not alter it for you who are unable to think!

Here's an oldie, but goodie, that most of you probable have never heard! Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907. "In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American ... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag ... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." Theodore Roosevelt 1907 ............And that's the truth!!!!!!

For what it is worth, think about this.............. Subject: Illegal Immigrants WASHINGTON (AFP) Immigrants' rights advocates, elated by the resounding success of Monday's "National Day of Action," which drew the backing of hundreds of thousands of protesters across the United States, now are planning a national boycott which they hope will have an even greater resonance. Organizers are planning the May 1 "Great American Boycott," urging illegal immigrants -- who cannot vote and who have only limited political power -- to flex their economic muscle. Protesters are being urged to refrain from shopping, and to stay away from school and work. You should take a moment to let that sink in. > This is a movement orchestrated by people who entered the US illegally,and then want to scream about their "rights." WHAT RIGHTS? YOU DON'T EVEN BELONG HERE! Let's take a look at some of the many benefits that illegal aliens have blessed our great country with: Street gangs, graffiti, drugs, skyrocketing health care, depreciation of property value, illiteracy. The list could go on. What they actually have to offer (cheap labor) pales to what they have given our country to deal with. I'll take expensive vegetables over expensive health care any day! And now, like terrorists, they are going to attack our economy -- the one entity that makes our nation stand out from all the others. The backbone of our nation. The country they came to like locusts so they could reap the benefits is now the focus of their boycott. You've seen it on TV: Marching on our American streets waving their Mexican flags, boldly showing that they can be more racist than those who they accuse of being racist, and yet the obvious is totally oblivious to them...... IF YOU'VE GOT IT SO BAD HERE, THEN LEAVE!!! To all the real Americans, you can do one small thing on May 1st, 2006. It won't be racist, nor will it be violent. It will not be boastful,arrogant, selfish, nor distasteful. It will not be any of those things that our "guests" have already displayed. What it will do is nullify a movement. All you have to do is buy something on May 1st. Make up for what they will try to take away. It doesn't have to be a new car or house (unless you were already planning on getting one). It simply needs to be a day of trading. Hold off grocery buying until May 1st.Take your wife out to eat that night. Get the kids pizza, hamburgers, whatever! Make several trips to the convenience store. Buy your meals at work. Fill up your tank. Shop for clothes, furniture, outdoor equipment. If it needs to be bought, BUY IT MAY 1st! Those are just a few suggestions. We're not asking you to spend your inheritance that day, but just to spend more than you normally would. Even if it's only a few dollars, this will help soften the blow that the illegal Mexicans will try to inflict on our economy that day. It sounds trivial at first, but if this idea gets around, what the illegal Mexicans set out to do will fail. NOW COMES THE HARD PART: This email will not self-destuct if you don't send it to someone. It will not cause bad luck, nor will it make you impotent. It will not do some trick or show a cute little animation if you send it to "X" amount of people. You will not get paid for doing it. It will not spread the message though, if it just gets deleted. Forward at will..... If you can read this, thank a teacher and since it's in English, thank a soldier!

Great idea, but you are forgetting a few reality facts. There are currently only 600 stations in the country that can dispense E85 properly. This is out of almost 400,000 gas stations! Secondly, distribution and storage are the big problems, and the reseachers say that it will take 10 years and over 35 Billion dollars to equip all gas stations with alternative fuel dispensing and storage capabilities. AND that is only for ONE alternative fuel! What happens when hydrogen is the front-runner? And the major fuel source material in Brazil is Sugar cane, not corn, like here. Sugar cane is less than half the cost of corn! I didn't hear Ol' George say anything about the Fed contributing into this part of the solution.

Not true! In Saudia Arabia gas sells for $.50/gal! In Venezuela it was $.38/gal. Don't say that we are just catching up to the rest of the world. In most other countries, gas is taxed ABOVE the actual cost as a political statement. And lastly, what European country has the demographics and expanse that we do? How many people over there drive 30-40-or even 50 miles to work? ---- one way? The insurance companies "average" driving statistic of 15,000 miles a year is a joke. Some people do that in a month, just commuting!

Hello! Wake Up!! When was the last time you looked at the Trade Balance deficit? Those are not egg-rolls that are being sent to china or Japan ----- they are good ol' U.S. dollars! AND about his REDUCED salary ---- what is the salary ratio of other CEO's to their hourly employees? It is no where near what this mogul makes! And Exxon is no example to hold up, unless you are demonstrating greed & rape!

You have to register there first before you can do anything. Yes, it was from GuionM but at GM Inside News. And it was a current April posting. The crap that has been getting posted here lately might be better suited to the Potty Mouth pictorial, or the Sat Eve. Post, for all the real car stuff that has been here! Too many of the posts here lately have been written by people who do not put their mind in gear before engaging the clutch on their mouth. This was real CAR news that I ran across; that I had never seen this information posted HERE, a site which is supposed to have an inside track on the Generals' plans, even if none of the plan makers want to acknowledge their presence!

I just read another web-site posting from someone who apparently has an inside track to the policy and goings-on within the General. Here is what he had to say,....... and it is very interesting to say the least! ____________________________________________________________ Cutting through the clutter of GM's RWD program There's a few pretty intresting rumors floating around on various sites that I wanted to cut through, and maybe clear up without giving away anything that would get me nasty-grams from people I'd consider friends, or give too much away from books that are being worked on. 1st, the Zeta. Last year it came out that Zeta was dead. It wasn't and isn't, and never was. GM is a company that has backup plans to it's backup plan's backup plan. The initial idea was that Zeta would be done by GM-Holden, and GM-North America would simply make the same cars here, with perhaps different styling. Keep in mind that Zeta is more about being a modular assembly method than being a particular architecture. What Holden came up with was a vehicle that was based on the current VZ (Commodore series) car. Much of the structure was carried over. big difference was the rear Independent Suspension was far more complex, and (like the Sigma) a self contained unit attached to it's own subframe. This was affordable to Holden because it required only modest changes to it's existing methods of assembly, but for GM-NA, it would have been much along the same lines as creating a new car. Another issue is that the structure required additional added on pieces to pass upcoming US rear crash standards, adding weight. Finally, there was an issue with parts. Holden is mostly self sufficient. Most of the parts, right down to instrument panel assembly is done in house, while GM-NA tends to outsource alot of their items. in the end, the car didn't make sense, and GM looked at other alternatives. Many years ago, GM began a project in which a "Sigma-lite" chassis was under development. This was put on ice by the "Old' GM management, but seems to have been dusted off and sent to Holden for more work and cost cutting. This structure was ideal because from the start, it was made for US crash standards, and utilized alot of the "blue metal" from existing structures (assume they mean "Sigma"). In the end, what apparently came out was a new "zeta" chassis that was as versatile as the Holden version, a bit cheaper to build (thanks to the addition of struts up front), and in the end all but guaranteed that the new Holden VE Zeta will be a short lived car as GM standardizes it's worldwide "Volume" RWD chassis. Now, about what's going to come off that chassis. You have heard all kinds of rumors by now on everything from Grand Nationals to Firebirds. Buick is NOT going to create any car that goes against it's "theme". That includes Grand Nationals, GNXs, or anything that doesn't fit in with "American Road" cars. By every account, it ain't goinna happen. What IS likely to happen is that Buick will get a convertible in the form of the Velite concept. Last word I recieved is that it won't be based on the Zeta, but on another chassis. Keeping speculation out of the mix, that could mean Kappa, Espilon, or (and this is also unlikely) the Y-body. So it could be FWD or RWD. The car did go through a dramatic change when GM re-evaluated what vehicles should be RWD & which didn't need to be. Firebird currently ISN'T in the cards. GM is very aware that it essentially spent twice to sell the same car, and they are getting away from that by eliminating overlap. What IS possible or likely is that Pontiac will gain a large coupe. It's also possible this coupe may even be a quad coupe. Although a "Firebird" could possibly be done in the last minute, Trans Am will never return. GM paid a royalty on the name (a story in itself). They've been trying to get out of it since the 3rd gen. There were a pair and maybe even a trio of coupes that were proposed over a year ago for Chevy, Pontiac, and maybe Buick as well. These were the cars delayed along with the original Zeta sedans. This line was supposed to replace the GTO, Bonneville, Monte Carlo, and Park Avenue. As you may very well know by now, those models are left hanging, since all now have a gap in their replacements. Finally, what can we expect with the new "Zetas"? The chassis is primarily Chevrolet's. It a large car chassis, as planned back when the whole Zeta idea was talked about back in 2002. But unlike initial plans, it's going to be a dramatically smaller project than origionally planned. Expect a full sized Chevrolet sedan based on the chassis. Also expect a Pontiac sedan. Expect a Buick sedan. Expect a coupe for Chevrolet & Holden. Also expect a variation of the coupe for Pontiac. You probally heard rumors that the GTO and Camaro are the same car. Not so. Both were different projects. Camaro was done by GM-NA. Holden did the Monaro replacement and next GTO. As for when we can expect the new Camaro, that seems to no longer be a secret. Seems after not even wanting to talk about the possibility of a new Camaro for over 3 years, it's now the only thing GM seems to want to talk about. Bob Lutz is almost bursting at the seams trying not to say too much. Ed Welburn himself publically said Camaro could be done very quickly if approved. My own sources say Camaro will likely be out quicker than anyone expects once given the go ahead. Why? Typically, a concept is given to focus groups and the results are sent back to designers and engineers numerous times for changes. Bob Lutz already said there would be no aditional focus groups for Camaro... "if approved". Next, as most of you noticed, there was already an extremely detailed CAD of the chassis. The underhood work was done over 2 years ago. This is perhaps the most complete "Concept Car" in automotive history. Finally, under normal conditions, a new car needs to wait for an existing vehicle to run it's course before the plant is converted. GM has excess capacity, so it's not going to put a car in a plant that's too big for it (as was done with the 4th gen). Logic would dictate that a coupe would be made on the same assembly line as the sedan it's based on (ie: Monte Carlo & Impala) to protect it against fluxuations in the coupe market. However, when GM announced that it's closing one of it's Oshawa Canada plants, and Bob Lutz announced that Camaro "If approved" (again, that disclaimer) would not be made in Canada. That left only one plant. Wilmington Delaware used to make the Saturn L. It's capable of making over 200,000 cars per year. When the Saturn L was killed, it seemed odd that GM would assign the Kappa (Solstice, Sky, & the Opel GT) to that factory, especially since combined, it only is projected to make 35-40K vehicles per year. The F-body's Ste. Therese plant operated at 33% capacity and was closed as GM's most underutilized plant (Wilmington with Kappa uses about 15% capacity). Wilmington also has the entire Saturn L machinary still intact (Solstice uses only a small portion of the plant). With an expected 120-150,000 Zeta coupes planned, that will bring the plant up to full capacity. In short, all GM has to do is grant the budget, and the conversion begins. As for names and models, outside of Camaro I'm not going to (or can't) say. I will point out that Impala has just been restyled, Lecrosse was done last year, and Grand Prix is the old man of the group. I'll also say the W-body is done once these cars run their course. I'll also point out that Oshawa #2 is planned for closure & it makes Grand Prixs and Lecrosses. I'll also point out that Oshawa (like Ste Therese and the Camaro-Firebird) have exclusive mandates to make Impala, Grand Prix, and Monte Carlos as long as GM uses the name and those plants are in existence. If you want to speculate, it could mean alot of things. Maybe one or all of those names are dead. Maybe those cars will all be made in one plant. Maybe one of those cars will be made elsewhere under a different name. But there is another thing to note here. Like the Chrysler plant that's going to make Caliber, Compass, and Patriot, and the former Ford Taurus plant that's been reconfigured for both FWD & RWD cars, GM has-is investing a large amount of money to turn the Oshawa plant int a flexible assembly plant. Means anything could come out of there. (Officially this is all speculation, of course. )" :AH-HA_wink:

All of you "handling pundits" need to go read the California and Michigan police car test reports. You will have to eat some of your words! In a somewhat biased abbreviated report, go to: www.allpar.com/squads/police-cars/charger-police-testing.html There you will get the FACTS on handling tests! But it raised a question for me that maybe one of you might know a factual answer. In the new 9C1 Impala package, the only engine offered is the 3.9 V-6. Insider info says that the V-8 is not offered due to airflow/idling/overheat issues with the V-8 in police-style testing. Can Anybody contribute some facts on this? I would be curious to see a comparison test of the 3.9L V-6 Impala 9C1 car with a regular V-8 Impala SS. Can anybody comment here----- not opinion now, but facts!

Hey Northstar! Wake up & read the whole thread. This was(is) commentary on a basic WORK truck interior, not a frew-frew queen! In that ball game, functionality and durability outscore pretty! If you want "pretty" go upscale, but if you want to know what's goin' on ---- and will it do it forever, you need a different score card!

Anybody read the interview that Motor Trend published on p.90 of their June 2006 issue? They spell it out in no uncertain terms. He is throwing in the towel on the US market, hoping to just tread water, and pinning all his future hopes on GM salvation in China! That's why we are getting 2nd-class, ho-hum models, 'cause he wants to push the brand in China and make lotsa moolah! Although he cut his pay in half, it still is $1.1 MILLION dollars! And what about the rest of the management tier? The burden of 2.5 retirees per each US employee, with full benefits won't go away with a switch to a different money market. If the thinking is that China is their star market, how long do you think it will take for the Chinese government to throw up some new road-blocks to keep GM from taking profits out of the country? And then how will that fix the situation over here, that he did not create, but sure-as-hell is not trying to solve for the good of American workers! When the company(Wagoner) brags about half of the companies profits coming from outside the USA, everybody should get down and kiss NAFTA! -- right after they file for unemployment! The idea of make'm there and sell'um here doesn't work when your prospective customers are unemployed.