Drew Dowdell

Yeah, it's the Toyota Yaris. I'm sayin I don't think it will outsell the Aveo.

I'm no fan of the Aveo's looks, but you really think that will out sell it? :blink: :blink: :blink: :blink:

Maybe the 2005s, but the 2006 is a huge step back for VW. My partner and I have already been to see the new Passat and walked away thinking "Well, stratch that, now what will we replace the Passat with?" Hugely disappointed. Don't get me wrong, I like the '02 my partner has. I'll just never hold it up as a model of quality that everyone else seems to.

Sounds like my kinda guy.

Well when you're paying a premium for a car, it is reasonable to expect premium service. Likewise, when you're trying to get a discount on the cheapest car possible, you don't mind going through self-checkout.

I hate to sound snooty, but Cadillac and Hummer buyers don't want to take delivery of their car next to an Aveo buyer. There is a reason Lexus and Toyota are nearly always in seperate buildings.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If Toyota can sell the Highlander next to the 4Runner, why can't Chevy sell a Lamda next to a GMT-360, or Chrysler a Pacifica next to a Grand Cherokee*, or Ford a Freestar next to an Explorer? *most Chrysler dealers near me picked up a Jeep franchise after they lost Plymouth.

I think Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Holden should become a division. Hummer would be a sub-division of GMC. Chevy would be a division Saturn, Saab, Cadillac, Opel/Vauxhaul would be a division. Buick would be down to two sedans, a coupe/convertible and a medium crossover. The cars would be cushy luxury varients of the Pontiacs. Pontiac would be two sedans two coupe/convertibles, the would be sport varients of the Buicks. GMC would have all the trucks and mini-vans in the BPGh Division. Saturn/Saab/Cadillac/Opel would be more on the Jap/Euro flair. Chevy would pick its vehicles from any of the above divisions to decontent and make it's own. The 3100, 3400, 3500, 3800, 3900 would all be put out to pasture. Sorry pushrod fans, I like the 3800 as much as any of you, but the 2.8 and 3.6 have won this round. The HF engine with their turbo varients will be the only V6s available. The inline 5 and inline 6 would be adapted for car use on the upper end of the car lines. 6-speed autos with available 6-speed manuals across the board. Don't care if Mercedes has 7-speed, it's overly complex.

I have orders that in the event that I end up like Terri Schivo, they are to yank that feeding tube out like they're starting a lawnmower. Ziiiingggg!

Well, you obviously like Toronados....so I suppose I'll forgive you for now.

As a CTS owner, I wouldn't describe the center stack brittle at all. Sure it's hard, but so is the plood around the center stack of my partner's Passat. As far as interiors go, I'd rate the CTS and Passat about equal in design. The Passat may have higher quality looking materials, but the CTS is holding up much better then the Passat is. We constantly have little bits of interior popping off the Passat. I'm sure the parts falling off the VW are of the highest German quality.... but what do I know, I only live with both cars every day.

Isn't it telling how 240hp and 280 ft/lbs of torque isn't nearly enough these days. If it's less then 300hp it's junk. If a 3800lbs car can get to 60 in only 7.1 seconds, it's slow.

Honda has another take on this. The camless, valveless engine. It works with a ceramic cylinder that runs the length of the head. In the cylinder are holes cut to line up with the intake and exhaust ports at the top of the combustion chamber, and the intake manifold and exhaust manifold respectively. If you've ever seen the inside of a trumpet valve, it looks kinda like that. The ceramic cylinder spins overtop of the combustion chamber and as it is spinning the intake and exhaust ports open and close as the holes line up then disallign. The advantage here is there is no longer the reciprocating mass of a valvetrain. This allows much smoother operation and extremely high rpm. There is also a substantial friction benefit. The disadvantages are that the ability to do variable valve timing has been eliminated and that this setup requires some sort of at least light forced induction to work fully.

Well if nothing else at least count Monte Carlo and Impala as one like Toyota does with the Camry and Camry Solara. The Matrix is technically the Corolla Matrix, no? Toyota doesn't add up sales from other brands though. You don't see ES330 sales listed in with the Camry. So I don't think it'd fly listing LaCross or GrandPrix sales with the Impala.

Your hunch is most likely correct.

Eh, a '92 Toronado Trofeo' interior would pwn both the Passat and the Grand Prix.... but it's also about 50% more money.

How can you seriously talk panel gaps on a pic that small?

Eh, I'm not gonna get on him for it. It's not the prettiest out there, but I like it. I'm also not holding up as a standard to be compaired to *unless* it's being compaired to the awful dash material on the 300 and now the Commander. I think the new Mustang even uses this stuff. It just needs to stop.

Imagine trying to find that in a parking lot! :blink:

I think Buick could have a Lamda Rendevous to compete with the RX. Saab/Saturn <whichever> could have a Lamda 9-6x to compete with the MDX. Chevy could have both a Lamda and a GMT-360.... after all, Toyota has the Highlander and the 4Runner. GMC could have just have the GMT-360 Cadillac can stick with Sigma and GMT-900 models. No SUVs,Crossovers,CSVs, for Pontiac.

Try getting UPS or Fedex to move that standard business envelope for 37 cents, across country in about a week. Let us know how that turns out. UPS builds in $100 of insurance that you'll get your package in one piece. They charge you an additional 40ish cents per $100 of additional insurance. What people like you fail to realize is that we all pay for health insurance. You pay into Medicare and SS. You pay for it in the price of items you buy. If the government paid for healthcare it would just shift the collection point of the money. Personally I'd like to see government run healthcare because it sicken's me to see the obsenely lavish offices of Highmark Blue Cross here in Pittsburgh. The Execs that run these healthcare companies are the ones that are benefitting the most from the high healthcare prices.

I think Chrysler could get away with reusing some of it's older, more important sounding names. Imagine a LX based car, perhaps a lil stretch in the wheel base, geared more on the luxury side of the spectrum. Base around 38k. V8 standard. called the Imperial A front drive large mid-sized car to replace the Sebring called the Ambassador with a Dodge varient called the Diplomat. A neon sized car could be called the Rambler, and a sub-neon sized car could be called the Metropolitan. I'm only half joking....

I think it's the front that really strikes the resemblance chord with me. I see it more of an evolution thing. Kind of like how you can tell that a '06 Deville is related to a '84 Deville... but one is obviously older then the other.

I think the difference is with attitude. GM is like. "Yeah, we fucked up, but we've got some great stuff now! Why don't you come on down and take a look?" Toyota is like. "You aren't driving a Toyota already? What is wrong with you? Everyone knows Toyota is the best and loves puppies, clean air, and American jobs"

mmm..... lunch.