Drew Dowdell

it's a very boring day at work....

$85,000 in US dollars.... off to Saudi Arabia.... The Lacrosse Super may lag behind the S600 by 1 second to 60, however, you'll still get there promptly with 157mph top speed and the best handling W-body ever. When you're not in a rush, you get 25mpg highway and the Super's worst city rating is the same as the S600's combined average rating. All of this is moot though as the very idea of needing, or even wanting, a V12 for commuter duty is asinine. How fun is that commute going to be when you're coming down Rt. 28 into the city? or waiting in the traffic piled up behind the Squirrel Hill Tunnels like I would have to every morning if I didn't take the bus.....* *Pittsburgh references... but he lives here so he'll know what I mean even if he doesn't respond.

when there are more buttons on your steering wheel and dash then there are on your computer's keyboard.... there is a problem. In the above picture I count 76.... that's just the ones I can see.

that sentence makes baby jesus cry...

Viper just doesn't have the legend... or sales.. of the 'vette.

He was leaving it in 4th or 5th for long stretches of road when the incredibly torquey diesel we were in can handle 6th at 45mph. He would do that so he could use engine braking if we needed to slow down slightly for a curve. When I was driving I would shift 1st - 3rd - 4th or 5th - 6th. I would leave it in 6th as much as possible for fuel economy reasons... we were not in a sporty car.

you really are a glutton for punishment aren't you?

not the RWD one.. no. none of the new Caddys since the first CTS have less than a 5-speed except for the '06 DTS... which was really just a refresh.

The new Saab-Hummer-Cadillac here in Pittsburgh is very nice. It's all in one building with 3 different "faces" angling away from each other but connected in back via a common "service and delivery" area. The Cadillac store is all glass and stainless steel. Very modern, very chic. It has giant.. and I mean large enough to drive a lifted Escalade through, set dual sliding glass doors that woosh open in a Star Trek like fashion as you walk up to them. It's relatively small inside compared to most of the mega dealers you see, but easily the classiest I've been in. The Saab store is like walking into Sweden. It's basically an IKEA catalog store. Very attractive if that's your thing... and for most Saab customers, I expect it is. The Hummer store looks ruggadized and old school industrial. I've never bothered to go inside, but there is a pile of rocks out front with a Hummer parked with one or two wheels on it. In the center of the building is a delivery and quick service area. It's open, airy, and glassy. Lots of natural light. The few times I've been in there it has been positively spotless. There is nearly always a car sitting in there waiting for it's new owners. Each of the individual stores feels small... like a boutique. I'm sure that is on purpose. Overall, if GM replicates this setup country wide, I'm sure they will do well.

aww... how sweet... Tina and Ed '06.

Only the most recent S-classes have been good for reliability. Most of the previous generation S-class had very poor reliability. It was the S-class, M-Class, and C-class that really put the hurt on Mercedes' image. To their credit, the S-class issues appear to have been addressed..... however an '03 model doesn't make that cut.

Who needs a V12 to sit on the freeway idling? He said luxury commuter car, not personal jet.

Top speed of the Lacrosse is higher. A Corvette can out accelerate a Concord jet liner from 0-60, but I'm pretty sure we can all agree on which one is faster. Who said Cadillac isn't getting a hybrid or two?

It was never the content, but the tone that mattered.

Now I know I made a joke about the Volt being powered by 200 cans of Red Bull..... but basically, the Volt battery technology is the same concept as what Tesla is doing. It's a series of lithium ion batteries strung together.

actually, it violates some old stupid law that Jimmy Carter signed back in the 70s because they thought Pebble Bed reactors would lead to nuclear proliferation due to their relatively small size. Congress could rescind the law.

I didn't buy. I'm just borrowing the Roadmaster long term till I leave for Germany. My friend Dominic has something like 7 cars, so he's letting me take the beat up Roady Wagon.

The drydock you see in The Motion Picture is part of the San Fransisco yards as they orbit over San Fransisco. The Utopia Plenitia yards get their name from the Utopia Plenitia area on Mars above which they orbit. The Intrepid class... much later.. which I doubt the original Constitution was fitted with.

I can see dropping the Outlook. Saturn clearly does not have the dealer network to support the sales. I'd keep the remaining 3 however. There are still lots of people out there who would never buy a Buick but be ok with a GMC. And there a lot of GMC owners who would never "step down" to a Chevy. If the Traverse's base price is low enough it just may win over the former minivan buyers who can't afford the GMC or Buick.

CTC-D for ME Viva La Deutschland! er.... yeh...

Well, I think it's more a symbolism than anything else. The whole premise of the website is that it's under construction. Besides, it looks as if the ship is being built on land... Newport News maybe.... the Enterprise was actually built in space.

here ya go

Higher top speed. I think the GNX is still fastest to accelerate.

I think my TC is more aggressive than yours. I'm pretty sure GM backed the aggressiveness down after the '04 model year. I burned through the original Goodyears in about 10k miles at which point I switched over to snow tires for the season. The Dunlop Wintersports are rated just as good as Blizzaks but are a good bit cheaper. Around here, snow tires are a must. I won't be into the Roadmaster wagon until after the primary snow season is over, so I won't have to deal with changing the tires over on that ever.

I am quickly moving myself to be debt free except for property mortgages. I'm not playing the credit game any longer.