Drew Dowdell

Damn, that line at the end of that commercial is great! "You can test drive the Camry, the Accord.... and the North American Car of the year, the Saturn Aura sport sedan"

Then I was polarized on the positive end the moment I saw it. As soon as I saw the concept it became a "gotta have" car for me.

I dunno... it didn't take me any time to warm up to the beauty of the Enclave/Sky/CTS after years of conservative Buicks/Saturns/Cadillacs.

the air cooled beetles are out in force this summer....

I'd be interested in seeing his response.

I'd be worried about preignition. By their own claim, Pulse plugs ignite faster, further and with more force than standard plugs. Without some timing adjustments, that's a good way to get engine knock.

Doesn't have to be symetrical... just has to line up right. Look at how the HVAC controls don't line up with the stereo and vents above it....like the Aura does...

More recently: The Japanese team builds a new canoe plant in Kentucky and decide to change their status to an American team. The real American team has gotten their act together, and though they aren't practiced, they now have 8 rowers rowing in the same direction and one person steering. After years of losses, they can only afford to use the old equipment but with some updates to try and be competitive. The Japanese team, with their new, costly, high tech canoe and paddles take off in the lead. One quarter of the way into the race, the Japanese team's paddles start snapping. Their team captain denies the snapping, at first ignoring the complains of the rowers, then suddenly and silently replaces all the paddles on the on the canoe. Meanwhile the actual American team, with their older and cheaper but proven and reliable oars, has caught up to the Japanese. With their new paddles, the Japanese team takes off again racing towards the finish line when suddenly their canoe springs a leak and river sludge starts seeping up into their canoe. This slows the team down greatly, but again the team captain denies the problem. Then, looking at his 79 cent timex watch, the Japanese captain notices the Americans consistently and steadily gaining again. The captain quickly patches the leak and bails out the canoe. By this point the Americans have completely caught up to the Japanese. Both teams cross the finish line so close as to require a photo finish. In the end, the Japanese team won but only by a hair. From the stands the sports reporters print a glorious victory for the Japanese and the crushing defeat of the Americans. In their articles they cite the wonders of Japanese advanced technology* and lambaste the Americans for using outdated equipment. No mention is made in the articles about the paddle snapping or river sludging incidents. Japanese canoe sales soar. American canoes end up at Willy's Ride a Rapid canoe rental shop. *Not counting 79 cent timex.

The interior of the canoe would still suck and the exterior would have all the hydrodynamics of a brick.... but it would be a very fast brick.

Yet the center stack still manages to look misaligned... or not center... or ... well.. just something isn't right there.

fixed

5.3 Advantages: Not slow Flex Fuel Active Fuel Management Cheaper More Fuel efficient Disadvantaged: No 6-speed yet

I can understand being into the performance aspect of this car.... but looks wise, I have never understood why you guys blow your loads over it. Put a diesel in it and it's just another Paris taxi.

I think the problem would be solved faster if we required all Californians to be spayed or neutered.

he's going to love those timing belt changes for $500 a pop every 90k miles

Interior volume is only important if you're hauling sand.

You know what disappoints me most.... that it took 25 hours for this joke to be posted.

I thought the Nitro was doing ok. I see a lot of them around.

I'm sure, much like washer fluid, it could be refilled either by the Benz dealer, Jiffy lube, or the owner.

Corolla is built in the U.S. Value of the dollar doesn't enter into it.

Doh! :banghead: Logic is always trumped by stupidity!

How much did you get taken for on the Corolla? In reality, you generally end up paying about the same car for car, feature for feature. The Japanese imports hit you for the money up front, the domestics hit you in the rear. That is... you pay more for a comparable Japanese vehicle, but you get higher resale value. You pay less for a comparable domestic vehicle, but you don't get much in resale. Is there really much difference paying $15,000 for an Ion getting $3,000 on trade and paying $18,000 on a Corolla and getting $6,000 on trade? Either way, you paid $12,000... but with the Corolla you paid interest on 18k instead of paying interest on 15k from the Ion. This is subject to change though as the domestics get their mojo back and stop offering big discounts to move cars.

I"m more interested in long term dependability studies....

definitely not clarinet or oboe. Too thin and there aren't any valves.