The O.C.

There are pics in the latest MPH magazine. Interior looks great.....very Wrangler-ish....but with much more style. Power windows a first for the first time too! I like this new Wrangler...... I was at first curious as to why they are using the 3.8L pushrod V6 instead of the newer OHC 3.7L V6 (which I'm a fan of.) The only thing I can think of is that maybe the "simpler" pushrod V6 is easier for performance/off-road upgrades to be made to it than the 3.7L OHC'er. The 3.8L has a bit more torque, 240lb/ft, versus the 3.7L's 235lb/ft so I can't see that as being the reason.....unless it's the torque CURVE.....although my Liberty is really grunty on the low-end also....???

Cute! Nissan definitely is moving the Maxima and Altima design language down the line and I think this "version" is the best realization of that language. The correlation with ION is very interesting....and funny that they are SO close. I do have to say that the Sentra has managed to execute the ION "look" far better than Saturn did (avoiding many fussy details of the ION such as the oval door handles that look out of place, the wide panel gaps, and the "swoosh" in the doors.) Interior looks fresh as well with a minimum of fuss. Good luck Nissan!

Do we have an STS competitor here? I like it.....first new Lincoln in quite awhile with some promise in it...... The interior is GORGEOUS! Let's hope the production version holds true to the concept's use of materials, colors, and shapes. I WISH it were RWD though...... I think this car could make Cadillac stand up and take notice......especially with their lackluster execution of the STS.

I LOVE it....! .....and this is the first LS Lexus that I can honestly say that...... I bet this thing will look FIERCE in black..... To me, this car has great proportions and I'm becoming a bigger fan of Lexus' L-Finnesse design language. The interior is a work-of-art in my mind. Look at the tiny details....like the chrome strips that wrap around the knobs on the center stack then run up the center stack. I would most definitely consider this car over the new S550.....which I think looks cartoonish in comparison (inside AND outside.) Everyone needs to consider the 8-speed a bit more before damning it. Don't expect it to run up and down through 8 gears each time you accelerate and decelerate....if it's like the Benz 7-speed, it will "jump" gears as appropriate to pick the optimal ratios based upon your driving style. E.g....laid-back, it will probably skip 2, 3 gears as the car accelerates. In "attack" mode, it may very well utilize each gear as to keep the car in the meat of the powerband. I'd LOVE to see how it drives....hopefully they've tuned a bit more driving enjoyment into this generation....

Well, if you wanted to get up early for breakfast, I'd offer to pick you up on my way into town....

Nice new pic, Paolino!!! :AH-HA_wink: (sorry for off-topic)

south Orange County is predominently caucasian and is just as import-oriented as the rest of California....in fact, you could say even more so with the incredible amount of high-end machinery here. In other words, I don't think race has as much to do with it as people may think.....

Neat car....I don't think it will hurt Corvette's bragging rights though. Being significantly heavier than a C6, I predict performance comparable to a base C6.....0-60 in the low 4's.....1/4mile in the mid 12's. Z06 should still remain King of the Hill.

That's funny......I sat in all of them at LAIAS and found the new RAV4's interior to be quite nice.....and a stylish place to be. It definitely avoids major blandness with the two-tier center stack.....and I like the contrasting colors (charcoal/beige) when you get the beige interior. The switchgear is the usual Toyota-quality stuff that feels beyond reproach and somehow Toyota continues to figure out how to use 100% hard plastics that feel, look, and appear better than many other guys' soft-touch stuff.

I really like it. I was hoping for some more design distinction in the greenhouse area, but the front and rear ends are nicely-stylish. For me, I think the interior rocks.....the center stack gives it a bit more style. I can't wait to see how the new 3.5L sounds/drives/feels. Since this is the first application of the Ford/GM 6-speed automatic.....when are we going to see GM's version? Lambdas? Unfortunately, Aviator (or MKX or whatever it's called) will be a sorry rebadge....

OK....does ANYONE know why my fu--ing pics always come up the SAME SIZE no matter what I do on imageshack?

WOW.....what a cool website...... Well, there were no current photos of my city, Aliso Viejo, but here's the maps that came up on the site...... And here's where Aliso Viejo is located relative to other California cities..... ....and here's where it is relative to its location within Orange County...... (I hope these pics come out big enough)

<whew> Thank goodness.....an "old" age survey that I DON'T fit...! Yippee! I'm a 70's boy.....

I totally like it.....and like it much better than the Durango front-end...... I JUST rode in my first Durango today....co-worker got a new one. Base model 4X4 3.7L V6 and I was really impressed!!!! The interior plastics suck....but other than that, it rode really well, was whisper quiet and tight on the road, and although she didn't "get on it" it seemed to have decent power for how she was driving and at the regular speeds she was driving, you couldn't hear the engine. I think the Aspen (name aside) will be a nice ride.

I find it hard to believe the 10% figure....that's 29.1 million people. I don't see that many directly and indirectly associated with the auto industry. My 1% figure came from someone on this site....but I don't remember who.... My whole point wasn't to be unsympathetic to any auto workers that might be affected by a GM or Ford disaster....but to point out the fact that we (this country) have been down this road times before.....and we've bounced back stronger each time... Look at the steel industry..... Or the defense/military industry (which hit southern California and San Diego pretty hard back in the 80's)..... Or the oil industry that affected Oklahoma and parts of Texas back in the 70's..... Or the aforementioned Boeing issues in Washington State.....

Well, what I know at THIS point.....is that Turbo200 and I are meeting for breakfast around 9:30am on Friday, 1-13-06. Then, we are meeting Croc at 11am somewhere outside the convention center on the 13th. I don't know about anyone else.....but everyone's welcome to join our breakfast...or meet to go to the show. Cheers!

Josh, just because you bought a Solstice doesn't mean you have to take the comment personally...... <Chris offers "chill pill"> My "creaming pants" comment was in no way directed at you...... B)

.....but the point is....is that you buy a car like that IN ORDER TO drive it with the top down. When I go run errands on the weekend, I take the C6....with the top down. When I drive to San Diego, Las Vegas, or Santa Barbara for the weekend, I take the C6...with the top down. When I go out to Temecula (southern California's wine country) to pick up wine, I take the C6....with the top down. IF I had a Solstice, I would not be able to use the vehicle for those reasons.....at least wouldn't be able to use it while driving it with the top down.....which IS the whole reason to buy a ragtop in the first place!

If money WAS an object, I'd take an ($30K) Impala SS over a decently-equipped ($30K) Lucerne CX V6. If money was not as big of an object, I'd DEFINITELY take a $39K Lucerne CXS over a $30K Impala SS.

Why would ANYONE be "privledged" to live in SE MI....? :lol: (JUST kidding.....'couldn't resist the dig)

They look GREAT in person. I even like them better than the Tahoe/Yukon twins. For some reason, the extra length looks very natural on the Suburban.....almost making Tahoe look too short for it's relative bulk. Of course I'd buy the Tahoe because I don't need the extra space in the Suburban....but Suburban is really classy.

Yaris will surprise you. I just looked at it in L.A.....and the sedan has an AMAZING amount of room inside.... With the front seat set where I'd drive, I slipped in back and had a surprising amount of legroom. In person, Yaris sedan looks bigger than the new Aveo. Interior plastics quality is nice too.....rebutting fears that it was going to be too cheap. It's all hard plastic, but matte-finished, nicely-grained, and would be a good car for GM to study relative to how they can do better hard plastics in their less-expensive vehicles (re....Cobalt...) Switch quality, radio and HVAC controls, are beyond reproach....a step above....

The current Camry shares no sheetmetal (or interior styling) with the current ES......

Nope they are both Caliber brothers. At Frankfurt, they both had near-identical interiors.....dashboards/door panels/instrument clusters.

.....another interesting point...... Out of all my friends here in southern California that are NOT involved in the auto industry.....I'll guarantee you that not a single ONE knows anything about Delphi, their bankruptcy, and the significance of that......unless they just happened to catch a brief report about it on TV or in the newspaper. AND if they did catch the Delphi news story, you can bet it didn't hit a single chord of importance with them.