hyperv6

June issue of High Performance Chevy list some of what they have been told to expect [in general] for the new Camaro from GMPP. Dealers will offer: Exhaust Packages Cold Air Packages Cams Headers Rims DOT Drag Radials I just hope they inclued the non GM aftermarket early in the cars development as it will be the key with winning the low cost performance car title back from the Mustang. This all falls in line with similar offerings from Pontiac SPO parts for the Solstice. I would expect the Camaro will have much more to offer and I hope some of of what GM offers will include the V6 engine packages too. In the same story they did offer some more info on the Camaro and it was not too accurate and is not worth posting. They did say a !LE would be offered but that was right after they said the Zeta was a shortened STS Caddy with 6.0 LS engine so reader beware. Sorry there is not much new here but it has been slow since Detroit.

The bottom line is. Holden=part of GM's Future GM NA+Holden+Opel+Daewoo=GM still being viable and not for sale like Chrysler.

As a owner of a Comp G GTP congrats. Also as a owner of a W body Comp G drive the car and buy your CTS or what ever GM may offer in 2010 you like. No reason to leave a good car sit and let you survivors sell it at a loss in the future. I have seen too many 600 mile ZR1 Vettes sit and are now being sold for 40K because the newer cars have passes it up in performance and comfort. FWD car collector market will be like the Japan car collector market. Bottom line no matter what enjoy your car!!!!!!!

This is the money car for Pontiac. It is the one that will be sold in volume. Or at least in Pontiac new lower volume niche market. The key is to build less but make more per car. Also it is very important to make this a car not like anything Chevy or Saturn offers. It must be performace base even in the more base mode. It must weigh around 3400-3500lbs With out a dought RWD. A low end BMW for the masses but with options and interior that is a cut above Chevy and below Caddy. Cost $21K-33K or just under the G8. Two Ecotechs one turbo'd and two V6 options one the 300 HP DI 3.6. Manuel and Auto with paddle shift. Coupe and Sedan with a later Convertible. Unless there is a sister car with AWD I would not worry about it. The development cost for just this car would kill the program. Make it the best handling and riding car in it's class and price range. No fake scoops or vents. If they are there make it real. A new original name no retro name with baggage to live up to in somes eyes. Target 25-45 year olds. Pontiac styling that is appealing but not too over board as the people in this class want to be seen, not stared at like they are in a clown car. Pontiac is now free to make a car more their own so lets see them do just that. we do not need any more fancy Chevy's.

The cars are just enough different so they say say they are. The bottom line Nascar wants the fans to all come to the track each week with the idea their car or diver can win. It is the close compitition they seek. Also they want each MFG to be happy that they do no have to dump F1 money into this and still have a change of leading and winning. Push rods and Carbs without any digital controls are cheaper and easier to restrict and catch cheating than computer conrtroled cars. Also have you ever seen the start up on a Ferrari F1? It take several lap tops and crew just to fire the new car. Toyota has only taken over the truck series since because the others have takne most of the money and put it into cup. Toyota is the only one putting money into it in any great sum. If you like NASCAR fine if not why complain just don't watch. The Impala name is the name they wanted to push and that is all their is to it. The car may still be a made up body but is now closer to stock than before with as more upright windshield etc. If Nascar was like F1 where on or maybe 2 drivers have a chance each week and they never pass no one in this counrty would watch. If you have notice F1 has never really caught on and for many think road racing is a bore. I love road racing but understand the appeal of NASCAR. Like it or not it is not going away and they will still provide the closest racing their is. MFG love the control on the cost vs other series, Toyota as long as the other MFG are involved will never doninate because NASCAR changes the rules if one MFG does. There is no free ride here just ask Dodge. The Germans have not been hapy because they were not given changes when they asked and I see the same for Toyota. They may win races but they will not dominate like Michale in a Ferrari.

Don't count this one out as feedback has been positive. It is one of the few thing most people seem to agree on with the newer cars. I have yet to here it is not retro enough or does not look like a Pontiac emblem. I expect we will see it some time in the future. I like it as you know it is a Pontiac emblem with out giving you that old 60's look. It like the G8 has entered the 21 century.

As A 04 GTP owner I will miss the car but it's time has come and passed. The G8 Is the best direction to increase sales and provide a more modern Sports sedan. GM has mad the GP sporting and fun to drive but it is still not a sports sedan. As for the name. If one was to remove the fleet sales of the GT too few people really car about the car and name. If they are going to bring a new car to maket a new name is a must. I agree they could and should do better than the G8 name but I will not be so short sighted to shun a great car because of a poor name. It is time for Pontiac to bring in buyers that would never buy a GP as they really need to increase sales. Everyone has been wanting Pontiac to be a true performanc division, well here is our change to prove that is what we wanted as Pontiac has provided a great new sedan. Next if they can turn the G6 into the next Performanc sedan that can compete with the world market not just a Sebring. RIP Old Friend GP. You have served us well even if GM at times did not do you justice. I would love to find another 1969 428 HO GP with low miles.

Check out the Auto Week web site and issue as they hare showing the new Cadillac V-12 sedan It is a 16 with a shorter nose. If this is what they are looking into for production I like it

Cadillac V-12 Concept in NY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I expect it will show up as the world Concept premire with a production like 16 that they are looking into building. Check the latest Autoweek out for the pictures.

I will take the Cadillac V12 concept if you loved the 16 you really love the V12. I expect it will be the unanounced concept for NY.

The new Autoweek is out and the new Cadillac V12 sedan concept is just what they need to do. I do not have the photos's but it looks like a excellent 16 update and would be a styling killer compared to the high end BMW and Benz. Not a lot of details yet but he car sets a great future for Caddy. This must be the world concept for NY they have not anounced.....Yet!

The Impala I speak of is the 80's Impala. They were lane and under powered. A family friend was a Captain of the traffic division in our city and told me so him self. He for a while kept old rebuilt from the ground up 9C1 Nova's because they were faster than the cars they had. The Caprice in the 90's was a great car and could handle most chases except for open roads out west. It is just hard to justify the cost of a BC4 for 90% of the department. The limited use and price are not enough to justify 10 MPH top end. Most areas depend on the radio and it is far faster. The local department tried a few Impalas for a year and were please with the cost to maintain and purchase price. They are now changing the fleet over to Chevys. I never though I would see the day FWD would be accepted by departments. Impala was a close third in test but operating cost are far out weighing performance in most city department.

You have have the right idea with the achanges you state. The only question what is the world convcept? Could it be the Concept of the car Lutz plans to drop the V12 in? Could it be a Hydrogen Prototype update? what could GM be doing that would be of interest world wide? HMMMM!

The bottom line for most departments anymore is cost to buy and cost to operate with acceptable performance. Many departments are or have been changing to FWD V6 cars and keeping some RWD cars for pursuit. I think many would be suprised at how many Impala's they are buying now. The $3+ per gallon hit department budgets hard and they are looking at ways to stretch the budget even more. Most Highway potrols are still in Crowns but Even in Ohio I have seen a few FWD's being tested.

I am lucky to know someone that got to drive on of the XP400's and I grew up on hearing how it ran and all the modifications it had. Bill Mitchell over saw a group that did a lot of great cars like the Silver Arrow and the 65 Corvair Monza. Bill also had some misses along the way and I hope all remember that with Ed Welborn. We owe hm the same as was Given to Bill. All designs are not going to be hit out of the park but most will find their mark. As for the number cars it is a shame anyone would be short sighted enough to for go a great car just because of a number name. Am I the only one that thought the name Impact was a poor choice for the electric car and the Prob name did not slow sales too much [well maybe for men anyways]. Besides after all thew complining that a GTO did not look like a GTO I would not blaime Pontiac to drop all the old names for good. Besides you just can't live in the past for ever. I wish if they did use a number name XP400 would have been a great name for the G8 or a future car. New name with a little heritage but no stigma. One thing I wondered about is how Bill would have delt with the wind tunnels of today. So many cars are dictated by aero numbers that they lost much of their charm and emotion. I wonder how he would have delt with it.

I wonder of all those who demand AWD and FWD have really ever spent much time be hind the wheel of a RWD? I have been driving them for 25 years in snow often over ten inches and always get where I am going. I am affraid many today just don't have the skills to drive in the snow because they never had to do it in a RWD car or a car with out Stability, Traction and ADS controls. Contrary to some a car can get throught quite a bit of bad roads with out a lot of drama and it dose not take F1 skill levels. Our last major snow cleared 18 inches a few weeks ago. All the cars off the road were SUV 4x4's and one FWD and one V6 RWD Firebird in a big pile of snow but he was still moving. Limited slip rear diff is the the key to making it a pleasure to drive in bad conditions but you don't even have to have it. Even my Comp G GP with Stability Control is not perfect. I hit it hard in a parking lot today and if pushed the Stability control still can's over ride some slippery surfaces. I got the dreaded FWD push and the car would not turn. If I had RWD I would not have lost my steering and could use the gas to pull the rear out to turn the car. FWD is user friendly with it's point and gas action but RWD gives you more control if you know how to use it.

The only Zeta Police car I can see is the Impala. The real question why would they want a Camaro? If the Impala has the same engine, suspension and overall under pinnings why would any Police department need one. The new Impala should perform nearly the same as the Camaro while providing a useable back seat and trunk. The Camaro was only employed for persuit by only a handful of department when their Impalas were lame 305/350 under powered cars. The Malibu is in play as I see it as most Departments are really buying the FWD Impala now since they are better on gas and cheaper. If gas goes up it hurts budgets and the new Malibu in a new Police package would be a great replacment for the FWD Impala. My question is what city or state department could justify a higher prices G8 over a lower priced alturnitive? This is why you see so few Tahoe Police Packages on patrol as they cost too much vs the other cars. The Tahoes are only justified in special needs or areas that a car just will not cover.

There are many reasons the DTS sells well. Fleet sales to rental car fleets that are not profitable. Funeral cars a dying gig. Limo livery cars for big citys like New York/ LA/ Chicago People 60 and over who still cling to the old Caddy. My mother in law who like the image, see above. The fearful group of uninformed drivers that do not understand RWD works in snow too and they will not end up in a ditch. And as Caddys go they are cheap as hell. Sorry I should say priced very well. Lets face it it is a big car that is not much more than a CTS and lower than a STS. Price is king and that is why most of the abouve buy this car. Caddy need to just wory about meeting BMW and Benz and if they can get the cars where they compete they will do fine in time. Changing a companys rep has to be earned and it does not happen with one car in a short time. The big problem is FWD over 35K is a hard sell and a very limited market for most cars. The DTS has an advantage as it is used by many companys and does not have to depned just on public sales. It low price makes it prime for company use and retired people. Just watch the Sinefeld episode where he buys his dad a Fleetwood. The retirement area went wild. As for AWD, it would be nice to have but the future does not live or die on AWD. RWD sales vs AWD sales can't be less than 50 to 1. I live in the snow belt of the great lakes and I see plenty of new RWD cars and only a AWD once in a while. Caddy needs to trnas form the STS as it has the CTS. Get a new SRX in the works and find out why few are buying it now and fix it. They need to sell the hell out of the CTS. and they need to address the DTS to make it their flag ship and let the Lucerne take up the FWD DTS market. If they can do a small Caddy right to compete with the entry level Benz and BMW then go for it but no BLS as it is not the image Caddy needs in this country. Badge engineering is a bad thing for Caddy outside the trucks. GM needs to address the G and decide if they are going to go RWD or FWD. This car need to be different than the Malibu and Aura. RWD would make it differant and the AWD Holden drive train would give it options that Chevy won't offer. Pontiac as I have said needs to be a special car for special people. It needs to be more than a fancy Chevy. The next G6 will be their most important car at Pontiac. The most importnat cars to GM are the future Cobalt and Malibu as they will be the volume cars that have to make a profit.

I have seen every kind of car as a police car from Pt Cruiser to a Lambo. The question here is will the G8 be offered in a Police package from GM with the extra bits like heavy duty alt, plastic back seat with doors that do not open from inside, heavy duty radiator, Cheap steel wheels, Wiring package, etc. I don't see GM investing this into a more expensive imported car that is only coming here in low numbers. With the present Impala selling well and a future Impala I only expect to see the RWD Impala, FWD Malibu, and Tahoe offered in Police packages from GM fleet sales. I really don't even expect a Camaro package since a RWD Impala will do justabout anything a Camaro would do and more. When was ther last time Pontiac offered fleet sales Police packages? It was in the 70's and few would pay the extra price over the Chevy then. Now if they bust someone with crack and take their G8 that is another story.

The BLS is to Caddy what the Phaeton was to VW in the US market the wrong car for the precieved company. Most People would not be as accepting of the BLS in America since Caddy is seen as a larger expensive cars vs a low price FWD. Too many remember the the last FWD rebadged small sedan Caddy had in the 80's. VW was just the wrong company to push a $100,000 sedan in the states as they are seen as a affordable car company not a high end luxury car company. These preceptions can be overlooked in Europe as they do not view either car the same as we do. This is the same reason F1 racing is poplular in Europe and NASCAR is number one here. Different preceptions of what each group expects. Besides the Acura is better delt with by a future Pontiac and Saturn model. I just don't see the present Lacrosse appealing to too many Acura owners. Buick could do it but it needs something newer and better than a W chassie

The BLS is to Caddy what the Phaeton was to VW in the US market the wrong car for the precieved company. Most People would not be as accepting of the BLS in America since Caddy is seen as a larger expensive cars vs a low price FWD. Too many remember the the last FWD rebadged small sedan Caddy had in the 80's. VW was just the wrong company to push a $100,000 sedan in the states as they are seen as a affordable car company not a high end luxury car company. These preceptions can be overlooked in Europe as they do not view either car the same as we do. This is the same reason F1 racing is poplular in Europe and NASCAR is number one here. Different preceptions of what each group expects. Besides the Acura is better delt with by a future Pontiac and Saturn model. I just don't see the present Lacrosse appealing to too many Acura owners. Buick could do it but it needs something newer and better than a W chassie

I think we all should know by now not to write off anything this far out yet. How many times was Zeta on, off, on again, not off but in idle, back again but never really gone, reconstitited. and finally on the market. If Alpha is scrubbed that does not mean it may not be back or something similar takes it's place. Don't under estimate GM as no matter what we get it will fill the needs we see. The folks calling the shots today have more hits than misses and the misses are not Aztec like. We will be ok no matter what they call this class car.

GM knows where they are going with Pontiac but as with anything else it is subject to change due to shifitng markets. As for the RWD plan It could be true it could be false but GM will not be telling till they are ready. If one other division was going RWD other than Caddy the PBG dealer would be a great place to start. As for low volume higher price is they way Buick and Pontiac are going to go. It makes them a little more special than a Chevy or Saturn. Think of PBG as a mid premuim car dealer and competing against cars like Acura, Lexus, Low end Audi, Low end BMW etc. The idea is 3 name equals one dealer lets them do more niche cars and give buyers that I have something that not everyone else has felling. What it does for GM is gives them a more premium car wherr they can make more profit per unit. Its great to sell 500,000 cars but if your not making anything on them what is the good. I get the feeling we will all be please with the cars that replace the G6 and G5 as they are not part of the future plan. The G6 was well under way by the time Lutz got here amd the G5 filled a hole in the dealers lots for a cheap car. We did not see the G5 get the Supercharged motor since we should see a 260 Turbo in the Cobalt and I would guess it will find its way into the G5 as a GXP. The G8 is only the first step as the Aura was at Saturn we will see a lot more quality moves soon for both Pontiac and Buick. Oh as for the Solstice coupe I still hear it is the works but I have never seen a time table. I am sure as time goes on it will make a timely appearance when needed to spark sales. Lets face it if they can make Saturn cool the same folks can do the same for Buick and Pontiac.

This is nothing new the C4 was around for several years in several forms before it came out. Also it was several years of twin turbos and King of the Hill before we saw the ZR1 and Callaway option. Keep in mind this program pobably runs on less funding than most to they have to wait till they have enough to finish the car. We got 2-3 years of spy photos and short storys before they ever hit the streets. I recall the Fiero stories started in 1979 and went on like the Blue Devil till Sept of 1983 when it was released. While GM is proud of the Vette it is not their first priority. It is a small team and they do not get the funding like the truck develpment team would get.

First let me make it clear that I want this car to work and be everything we all hope it to be. Now let me state I worry that it has a 10% chance of failure, it also will not look like the show car. Both are not the end of the world but just remind me GM needs to get this car right and not have any problems with it to win and maintain the image of a technology leader. Toyotas Prius was not perfect but they got a pass from the media and public and I don't see GM getting a pass if all is not right with this car. The keys are that GM needs this car to be practial and affordable. It does not need to look like the concept but needs to be as stylish as the concept. It needs to perform better than the Prius or any other leading EV that may be out. GM also needs to make sure in making this a step or two beyond the Prius, Make sure that is is a real practical car and not let it just be a press gimick or little advanced clone. I love seeing GM approach this like NASA approched going to the moon. NASA Did not have the technology and they even had a greater chance of failure. But NASA kept at it and developed technology that was needed to get there. In the end they were heros and it paided off. But in working to a new far reaching goal there is always problems like Apolo 1 and 13. I see a lot of risk here with money and image if this fails but I think it is worth the risk. This could be a big pay off for GM if it works and the odds are in their favor. I just hope they get it right the first time. A good slogan for GM here is "We do these thing not because they are easy but because they are hard" [John Kennedy on going to the moon].