The O.C.

No diesels either.....

WTF...? Toyota's "fleet dumping?" Scion a "worthless dud?" BMW's selliing "without A/C?" Why does "Acura exist?" Man lay off the sauce.....it's too early in the evening......

Well, it appears Cadillac is moving away from it's original heading of being GM's brand to take BMW and Mercedes-Benz head-on.....and is falling back towards a Lexus and Acura competitior. (Not even Lexus....it doesn't appear we'll have a V8 premium sedan to compare with the LS.....or even the GS.)

Ugh....we only have GM to blame for this car's demise..... From what I remember, the original GM-10 GP coupe was a half-hearted effort.....the sedan version that came out was a bastadized rush-to-market job because "we-totally-missed-the-market-with-the-coupe-only-version." Then, the next gen was a pretty decent car...and started Pontiac's trend away from add-on "ribbed" plastic cladding. ....but then they came out with this current gen GP which has been pretty lame all around. I remember seeing where the current GP was running 75% fleet penetration.

The guy makes a very salient and relevant point in today's marketplace....... Something I've been about on this site for a long, long time. Too many divisions......too many models.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Saleen Camaro at some point. At one time, a year ago, I had some dealings with Steve Saleen and one of his major investor/partners. Do you guys realize that GM contracted with Saleen to build the original Camaro concept car? Yup..... I asked Steve directly if he'd ever considered branching out from Ford and building a Saleen Camaro. He said it's not "out of the question." Remember....Saleen is a vehicle manufactuer (as opposed to, say, Roush, who is a "tuner.") Saleen Mustangs are officially not Ford products. Saleens have their own individual VIN numbers as well. At that time, Steve was not happy with the overall relationship with Ford in terms of the marketing and distribution of the brand through the select Ford dealerships and he had a huge desire to begin building his own dealership sales channel (hence my initial dealings with him.) Since his departure from the company, I haven't had any interaction with them and I'm not sure where the new owners are wanting to take Saleen.... But a Saleen Camaro was certainly something that had been considered.......

I think it's HOT...... I heard a rumor that because of the exchange rates it would be too expensive if sold over here. Shame.

I know that's a charming phrase that's been around for ages.....especially charming for those fans of the muscle-car era......but it's a phrase that's hardly applicable in today's times..... I think you're being pretty close-minded in this argument and don't realize that spouting stats in this case doesn't tell the whole story. I've never driven an RDX so I can't comment on how it compares to an SRX...... But I'll tell you this.....there are many times (most times) that I don't feel lacking for ANYTHING when I'm driving the A4 with the 2.0T compared to the CTS with the 3.6L. In fact, in the midrange, alot of times, the 2.0T feels torquier than the 3.6L. I'm not sure the difference in curb weights, but C&D got 0-60 in 7.2 secs for this current gen 2.0T Quattro....and 6.9 secs for a CTS 3.6L manual. So in outright grunt, they are close. But I average 7mpg MORE in the 2.0T in comparable mixed driving (25mpg versus 18mpg.) My point is....there's way more to how a powertrain works in any particular car than what we can ascertain just by spouting specs, or torque peaks, or whatever. I'm sure my A4 is helped by the addition of the 6-speed manual, whereas the CTS would probably be a better car with the automatic. I'm sure an automatic CTS will walk all over an automatic 2.0T. Maybe not. I don't know. But I know we can't ascertain that just by looking at the specs pages in a brochure. I never thought this Audi would be so agreeable to drive compared to the CTS with a HF V6.....that was until I lived with them both. I think we are just blessed to have so many choices out there in the marketplace.

I wouldn't be surprised to find Starbuck exhibiting some lesbian-otic tendancies.......(although who would want to when they could have Jamie Bamber all to themselves??) LOL

Oh....no problems with that. We'll have to see....sounds like Croc and Nick don't wanna get up so early to come to the show......maybe we can hit the show then meet up with them somewhere afterwards after they roll out of bed.....LOL

That's fine....I mean the only reason I offered for people to come down here is the car show (worth it...) and even Derelict Donuts in Huntington Beach has the same type of early-morning schedule....... At Cars and Coffee in Irvine, they are pretty much early-starters.....and by 9am, people are starting to head out....

Wimp....... C'mon down the night before and get drunk.....LOL

There's plenty of parking outside of the car-show parking......if you want to park your car in the show, you can pull in and see if there are any open spaces....and if there are not, you can just park outside of the car show.

Yeah....me too.... In general, I'm not saying it's bad to offer a choice, I think chromes just are beginning to look tacky on a classy, mainstream midsize car like the Malibu. Used to be, you needed shiny chrome wheels to add some "sparkle" to a blandly-designed car.....not so with the Malibu. I like those charcoal wheels, or any wheel that is machine-finished....like F.O.G said. I generally do not like painted aluminum wheels (like the standard Corvette wheel.)

Yeah now that u mention it, it seems alot of my recent GM rentals do have pretty badly-stained seats compared to other rentals I get. (Recent HHR rental comes to mind.) It wouldn't concern me 'cause I'm anal and if I got a GM car with this fabric, I'd keep it clean anyways..... I think the fabric looks good in the showroom......much more tastful than some of the "crushed" velours they use to use.....

Well since most of us have never met, we'd prolly need to meet somewhere first then all go over to the PAG building together. Maybe a Starbucks or something? Or everyone could meet here at my house....about 10mins away from PAG.....

This Saturday morning??? It's supposed to be decent weather..... You guys have to get down here early......I usually get to the parking lot by 6:45am or so, and it's already filling up. But it's worth it. They even open the cafeteria up in the PAG building so you can order breakfast or get coffee too....and there's also a group that sets up a table by the cars with more coffee and donuts. I suggest we meet there, have fun looking at the cars, then head to Laguna for breakfast.....I know a good place, Coyote Grill in south Laguna.

Oh c'mon.....we ALL know Captain Picard was gay.....

I heard Scotland is beautiful........ Next time I go to London, I'm going to get out of the city more and venture out into the countryside more.....

A convoy of uncamo'd 5-door BMW 1-Series (actually was my friend's sighting....but he called to tell me.) Wonder if they are bringing the 5-door over finally? He said they had manufacturer's plates on them and were followed by some MINIs..... Hyundai Genesis V6 at "Cars and Coffee" in Irvine last weekend. It got lots of attention......

Oh I've gone on-and-on here about the weather....but we pay a price for enjoying it (literally in housing costs.) And it's very congested here. Ironically it's not for everyone......my parents would rather <gasp> be in Florida. While they agree that the lack of humidity is really nice out here, my Mom is very sensative to temperature and she doesn't like the cooler nights we get out here....even in the summer. For me? I LOVE how it gets nice and cool in the evenings. At her house, when you walk outside at 10pm in the summertime, you still break out in a sweat. And for those people that like 4 seasons, you won't find it here......(although winter snow and skiing are about 1.5-2 hours away at most.) Probably the best part of our weather would be during May through the end of November/beginning of December. Other than a few weeks of "June Gloom" you get sunny days, low humidity, a HOT sun, but a cool breeze. Here by the coast, that will mean temps, generally, in the mid-70's-to-80's and lows in, oh, the mid-50's-to-60 at nite. In late summer, early fall, it will get into the low-90's pretty frequently even here by the coast....but we'll still have the low humidity and cool breezes to make it comfortable. Another wierd thing is the micro-climates. Let's say on a warm summer afternoon here (3 miles from the beach) the temp could be 85-degrees. If I drive a mere 30mins inland to where my office used to be, over the hills and in another valley, it will be easily 95-degrees. AND, if I head down to Laguna Beach, only 3 miles away, but on the other side of the coastal south O.C. mountain range, it could be only 70-75 degrees. Finally, I've had many days when I've been seeing clients up in the San Fernando Valley (north of Downtown L.A.) and it's been in the 100's.....but I drive home an hour or so south, and it's easily 25-30 degrees cooler (I'm not exaggerating.) The beaches are typically cool here.....mid-60's to mid-70's. While someone used to, say, south Florida might think that's too cool, you have to remember we are effectively in a desert here and the sun is really hot here. Hotter than it feels in alot of other places. That truly makes it feel warmer than it actually is. Think Phoenix without the surface temps. That's how I could best describe it. Therefore it's still nice when you are out at the beach. Yadda, yadda, yadda.....sorry for the off-topic rant.....

I'm likin' more-and-more the charcoal aluminum wheels you see now, like what are available on the Corvette, and the Audi A4 with "Titanium" package. On the Audi, it works even better 'cause the chrome around the windows, on the back bumper, and the entire front end/grille is blacked out too......so the car is black, black, black, with charcoal wheels....looks good....

My buddy that works for Audi has said that the scuttlebut in Auburn Hills is that not everyone is thinking this is going to be a positive move. For example......what happens to vehicles like the R8 and Gallardo? Prime competitors for Porsche. Also, does Cayenne now get viewed with more importance over the Toureg and Q7...?

Absolutely. We are taking this slowly. He's coming down here on the 13th and will probably spend a few weeks down here before we figure out what to do about bringing down the rest of his stuff......

Lord they are as bad as GM at dragging their feet for something hot (Camaro...lol)