Chris_Doane

"Spend less time at church and more time with me."

Strangely enough, the Terrain Denali prototypes are now running with camo over the front end. Same grille from the earlier spy photo is visible through it. Not sure why they would cover it up now. All that really does is confirm its' identity.

From talking to him, I get the sense the LEDs might've been quite a late add. They may not have had much choice, from an engineering standpoint, with other aspects of the car long since locked in.

Talked to my engineer friend tonight about the Malibu launch. The reason we are getting the Eco model first is indeed engine availability. The 2.4L eAssist powertrain is ready to go now. The way he put it, it was simply a matter of "dropping it in" since that powertrain was already in 2 other GM vehicles and the work was done. I asked him if the 2.5L was simply an enlarged 2.4L...and, well, I'm just going to post the exchange word for word: Engineer: Oh that is exactly what the engine is, they actually send it to todd's customs, he bores it 5 over and sends it back, then they drop it in Me: LOL Engineer: Todd is back logged right now though Me: I bet Engineer: so the program got delayed, what a bitch Sarcasm aside, I asked how much of the 2.5L was new: "Quite a bit. lots of the components are new, they are doing a lot for FE." He said he thought these new motors would really be competitive. The other funny thing was that I told him I thought the LED tails didn't look all that good. He wasn't really a fan of them either and said LED tails were never part of the original plan. Marketing said they had to add them in order to be competitive.

It's coming.

Vert Beetle was a given. Apparently a Beetle R, with the Golf R powertrain, is also. Though maybe downrated some since it'll likely be FWD. Super Beetle MkII, anyone?

This certainly takes the cake for the biggest surprise of the show. Looks fantastic and absolutely kills anything else in the segment. It makes the new Versa look especially hilarious.

Well...this does not look good. Subaru really needs help. They should be looking to hire a total outsider to come in as the new head of design. The entire lineup needs fresh eyes.

LoL, yup. I posted this on my FB yesterday afternoon:

Hah, you're free to think whatever you like, but, you really have no idea what you're talking about. Talk to some automotive engineers, I do all the time. Engineers don't tow the company line, that's the job of the people who represent the company in the public and in the media.

Ha, well, Drew is correct. One of my friends has spent the last 1-2 years of his life working on the Malibu program at GM. The motor simply won't be ready yet. If he doesn't know, no one does. R&D on a new motor is not something done over a month or two.

Perhaps the 2.5 engine won't be quite ready yet but the eAssist engine will be. Bingo. Most of the eAssist R&D would already be done.

Yes I do believe a man could be seen in it without being considered part of our wonderful rainbow crowd. Ha, well Im part of that crowd and I would not have been caught dead in the current one.

Would that three letter word be cat? Depends which end of the cat we're talking about.

I think you confused "hat" with another 3-letter word... To be fair, they said "Iconic Suzuki Sportbike Heritage." The Hayabusa certainly IS an icon in the sportbike arena.

It feels odd to be saying this about a Beetle...but....I like it. It's now a car that a man could actually be seen in!

Sorry Chris, I totally disagree with you, this goes with Dodges love or hate it style. I think this is what they wanted was to provoke a memory in people. You might love it or hate it, but you will remember what just blew by you and kicked your sorry mustang in the butt. Over all I love the exterior and interior. Just hate the over all Hip / leg eating room of the floor shifter / plastic rectangle mess. I still do not understand why the automakers think everyone wants this compared to a shifter on the tree. I prefer that myself and have the hip / leg room open just like my 94 suburban. Over all a Home Run in my opinion for Jeep! Hah, it's fine if it works for you. So far almost every industry person I've talked to thinks its a mess. That said, it will still be faster than a Cayenne and that's kinda always been the goal of this car. (When did I buy a Mustang?)

Its absolutely hideous. Heh...sorry to go the other way there, DF. The front end is just a disaster. There are different design elements all over the place, it's not cohesive at all. Looks like 4-5 different designers all got to add a part.

It's coming apparently. Don't expect to see it this week though.

Wow...the GC SRT8 sure is hideous. http://www.wk2jeeps.com/wk2_srt8.htm

Only new, major debut should be the Malibu. I guess Cadillac might have the "new" CTS with the barely new grille?

Chevy is the only brand with a press conference scheduled (Wednesday @ 12:05pm) Pretty sure it's just the Malibu and the Sonic Z-spec or...whatever that is. Colorado wouldn't be there. In other news, the embargo on the refreshed Taurus and Taurus SHO drops in about 90 mins. The new SHO grille is.....not good....

1) 1990 Dodge Spirit ES: 2.5L Four-cylinder turbo, 5-speed manual, FWD. Traded it in on the Explorer. 2) 1997 Ford Explorer XLT: 4.0L V6, 4WD, 5-speed auto, 4x4. Became a money pit, sold it. 3) 2005 Jeep Liberty Limited CRD: 2.8L I4Turbo Diesel, 5-speed auto, 4x4. Worst build ever. Chrysler bought it back. 4) 2006 Jeep Liberty Limited CRD: 2.8L I4 Turbo Diesel, 5-speed auto, 4x4. Sold it after 120k miles 5) 2009 Audi A5 S-Line: 3.2L V6, 6-speed manual, AWD. Current car. 6) 2011 Audi Q5: 2.0L Four-cylinder turbo, 8-speed auto, AWD. Current car.

Audi R8 5.2L or Aston Martin V8 Vantage