Drew Dowdell

I'm getting ready to change the graphics to the site to eliminate the words "greatest fans". When fans on a fan site get shouted down for, you know, actually liking the product and defending the product from slanted and biased attacks.... well, then the site doesn't deserve to use those first two words. The consistent negativity towards some of the best products GM has produced, ever, has kept me away. and the terrorists win.

buzz is more like it.... but it's not a function of the valvetrain layout. If GM threw the development money at pushrod V6es as it has at the LS engine I'm sure they'd be more competitive. Now, I'm not saying that GM should keep the pushrod engines and develop them more. They should use the HF v6 across the line. It's simply Accord matching. Since the automotive rags have declared that everything must act, sound, and look the same as the Accord, GM must throw out everything and duplicate the Accord Chinese style if they ever hope to compete. Those of us that actually like the grunt of a pushrod be damned.

The devil is in the details. 4 cylinders are lighter Smaller packaging, I know someone, somewhere, stuffed an LS1 into an Aveo, but get back to me when he needs to change the spark plugs. Minor tweaking to this package would allow it to run on E85 and allow the turbo to be cranked higher for even more horsepower. HCCI up to 55mph allows for substantially higher fuel economy than an LS1 could ever hope to get. You can't put HCCI on a pushrod. Making the LS1 into DOHC makes it...well... not the LS1 anymore.

but we do have wealth generators.... Haliburton comes to mind...... and isn't Toyota an American company now? that's how the people who buy Camrys often justify their purchase....

X 90% of those people couldn't tell you what a cam was much less why their car has two or more.

Perhaps I need to run a "Best of Oldsmoboi's suggestions" thread or something. Calling me a hardcore loyalist and not recognizing the need for change is to ignore the other half of my posts. I've advocated dropping all the pushrod V6es and standardizing across the HF line. I've since updated my position and now hold that the 4-Cylinder turbo BAS-II should replace the 3.6 on everything that has it sub-Cadillac. I've wished for the Atlas I6 replace the 4.3 V6 in the trucks. I've said that the Lucerne should be taken from Buick, restyled, and replace the w-body Impala over at Chevy. And the Chinese Park Ave restyled more to Buick's current look and brought over here. I've called for a pull ahead of Delta II I said that the latest Lacrosse looks like it was beaten with an ugly stick. I've asked for the 2.9 litre diesel and a mid-level V8 be made available for the CTS. I emailed Lutz directly about the diesel and got an answer which I posted here. I long for the Chinese SLS, an Alpha based Cadillac sedan, and some large Eldoradoish like coupe. I'm ok with the death of Hummer I think Saab is salvageable if done right, but otherwise kill it. I don't quite know what to do with Pontiac, but whatever it is, they're doing it wrong. I mean really.... to say that I'm a hardcore, oldschool, appologist, fanboy, unwilling to accept change is just silly. It's not like I'm out there harping for the return of b-pillarless, BOF, RWD, V8, manual transmission cars or anything..... ...and I wasn't actually targeting you.

I don't pretend to have any knowledge of the board. My comments are car specific. I'm surprised any of them still has a job, but that's corporate exec level job security for you. I'd be canned if I lost a laptop much less however many billions of dollars they've lost.

It's not even opinion. The people who generally yell about the federal funding of Amtrak usually forget that all of the airports and highways are build with tax dollars. Amtrak has to maintain all of their own stations, Amtrak exclusive tunnels, bridges, and track, and still pay a fee to the freight railroads for trackage rights. I hope you enjoy it. A lot of the fun of going by train is the journey itself. It really makes air travel feel like you're being crammed into a generic transportation pod.

yes

Nearly every post of yours regarding the Volt.

Size matters of course. How big are we talkin?

as I said, you are in the minority.

There is business smart, there is car smart, and there is short term shareholder ultimate return smart.....

I think it really depends on this weekend's driving statistics. If a LOT less people drive long distance for the holiday, it may spook the market down a bit. If driving statistics stay flat or increase, watch for prices to shoot even higher. I'm staying home and working in the yard all weekend.

Most local health departments collect them to be recycled.

Not that I think anyone on this board needs it, but it explains the situation to the lowest common denominator. 1. Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas. This is a proven fact, not a theory. 2. We are adding massive amounts of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. 3. We are cutting down the forests that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Unfortunately, the full situation proves too complicated to people who care more about who Paris Hilton is dating. So it really does need to be broken down to "Gas burning V8 = bad for puppies". Edit: You can't address the problem without finding the cause. Of course I realize there are many other sources of CO2 that need to be addressed, but this is a car website.

I Amtrak. As long as you're not in a rush, it's a great way to travel. If you're going long distance, leave the night before, take a sleeper, and wake up refreshed the next morning in another city. My BF and I are doing a trip on Amtrak to DC sometime soon. For us, it's the going, not the getting there, that's good. As for the article. WiFi on at least the Acela, but ideally on all cars, would be great. The Acela already has cars that are set up so business people can have meetings on the train.

May? I've even been considering one.

Most of my posts have been replies to SMK <who pulls made up numbers out of his ass>, or The O.C. <with a decidedly So. Cal. view on things, though that seems to have changed lately>, or Enzl <who never has anything nice to say about GM... period> There is this prevailing opinion around here that if GM just came out with a 3-series sized RWD BMW fighter for under $24,999, the Impala were RWD, and the Malibu had SatNav, suddenly GM would be back at 50% market share and Toyota would go slinking back off to Japan. GM still needs the Lucerne. Could it be better? Yes, in many ways, but it's nothing to apologize for because it outsells everything in it's class except the 300 and every owner I've talked to is exceedingly happy with it. Saying "If it only had a 6-speed auto it would outsell the competition!" is dumb because it already does outsell it. GM could have put SatNav in the Malibu. Was it a mistake? Absolutely, but I'm not going to trash a very good car just because it doesn't have NAV and NAV wouldn't make it outsell the CamCord anyway. There are still people who won't touch a Chevy with a 10 foot pole. CR has made sure of that. NAV isn't going to change it. The CTS is a bit of a porker and it is slightly slower than it's rivals, but that does not make it a terrible car. It turns heads faster than a new 3-series or C-class does. I defend GM from unfair &#036;h&#33; like above. I acknowledge GM's mistakes, but some of you blow them up to be much larger than they really are or even create new ones out of thin air.

How about this then: Your gasoline powered BOF V8 is killing the environment, economy, dollar, and national security. Before anyone makes a quip about my Roadmaster, I log 5 times the number of miles on buses <sometimes hybrid ones> than I do behind the wheel of the Roadmaster. I also have been fueling the Roadmaster with E85.

What were the old aircooled VW Beetles good for mileage wise?

Not exactly. I've had my ideas. I've posted them on this board. I've even emailed them directly to Lutz and gotten an answer. I've hated on some of GM's cars. I've shown the luv to Honda and Ford. I roll my eyes at how in-freaaakingly-credibly long it's taking to get the Camaro out the door. I've both hated on and defended the Cobalt. I put my money where my mouth is and buy new GM vehicles, not stuff from the 70's I find on Craigslist <though that could be cool too>. I've pointed out many of GM's boneheaded moves. I even started a thread the other day calling on GM to pull ahead the Delta II like they did with the GMT-900s<truck pull ahead being a kinda dumb move, but it didn't turn out too bad product wise>. You, however, are never willing to give GM props when they do well. You've done nothing but throw poo at the Volt. You've dismissed the Malibu, CTS, and Lambdas etc etc..... you lost any air of evenhandedness towards GM a long time ago. I understand you are either employed by or professionally close to GM. One would think that you'd at least be fair to them if not actually being a cheerleader. As far as anonymous... hardly. I've met a number of members on this site. My photo is here, my name is on here, my location is on here, my job info is on here, my love life is on here, my car is on here, my future plans are on here....... you?

I don't doubt that there are multiple causes for climate change. There are those that we can't alter, but there are still those we can because we are the source. Carbon Dioxide is a greenhouse gas... that isn't in question. We are simultaneously vomiting up massive amounts of carbon dioxide while also chopping down the main sink for CO2, the rain forests. Much of that CO2 has been trapped under ground for millenia. A certain amount of CO2 is required for the balance of the ecosystem on this planet. Unfortunately, we are helping to tip that balance substantially. As far as the climatology record. Mother nature keeps her own record... she doesn't need any help from us. Ice cores are just one way of measuring what was happening way back in the day.

Cool, maybe they'll unveil it at a car show this year.... maybe even Detroit!

uh... TL, Avalon, RL........ Ridgeline ;-) ?