thegriffon

Ahhh, I hate to tell you this Croc, but the Freestyle is actually quite a bit bigger than the SRX — 5" longer and 2" wider in fact.

Almost all would have been old rotary-pump injection diesels. Automakers are only now (2005) switching to cleaner, more efficient common-rail engines, and only in a few pickups and SUVs - the updated Ranger, S10 and Blazer. Beside pickups, trucks and vans, there are almost no diesels currently being sold in Brazil. Diesel models are more common in Argentina, where GM offers both the Meriva and Astra with older European diesel engines, in addition to the S10 and Blazer.

That's 45.6 mpg (imperial), not km/l. The Astra 1.3 CDTi gets 6.2 L/100 km city, 4.0 hwy and 4.8 combined. Although not the same as the EPA test, that's 37.9, 58.8 and 49 mpg (US). A 1.6 Easytronic gets 36.2 mpg combined, the 1.4 37.3 mpg, the 1.7 CDTi 46.1 mpg, the 1.9 CDTi 40.6 mpg.

Korean workers are already paid very well. Not as well as a UAW worker on overtime, but $50K for a laborer is not to be sneezed at. If labor costs were so important, would Hyundai be building Sonatas in the US? Would Nanjing continue building MGs in Britain? Chinese manufacturers may undercut American, but they do it by losing enormous amounts of money. Some will one day break even, but most will collapse. Such long-term thinking can pay off big-time, but it can also lead to spectacular collapses (as it did in Korea).

The problems with unions in western nations today is that they are focussed on an industry environment consisting of near universal union labor in a traditional manufacturing sector with insignificant foreign competition, when this has not been the case for years and never will be again. This is exacerbated by the existence of "union shops", where union management never has to deal with a company that has a large proportion of workers who are not in the union. Instead of adapting labor agreements to the market reality, the union movement is instead focussed on the pipedream of "global equality" in labor agreements. It's time the unions used their remaining influence to create real solutions to the pensions and healthcare crises facing American industry, solutions that will create jobs, instead of just fighting to retain as much of the old regime as possible as their membership dwindles. The problems faced by GM and the UAW are more extreme extensions of those facing the US economy as a whole. While the US healthcare and social security systems are faced with a growing, aging population that is being supported by a dwindling tax-paying population, the auto industry has an even larger employee/beneficary ratio as people move into other industries that do not pay into the GM pension and healthcare funds, while consumers buy an increasing number of vehicles from companies that do not face the resulting cost burden. What to do then? The solution for social security is usually "individual" retirement accounts - where everyone compulsorily contributes to their own retirement fund, instead of the current retired population. For US social security such a compulsory system is probably inevitable, but also far too late. Y'all will just have to pay and pay until you and your neighbors parents and grandparents all die. Blame those who thought that one or two kids would be enough (some people of course don't or can't have any, and the balance needs to be made up). For GM and other companies and industries in the US, the usual solution is to off-load pension obligations to the US government during bankruptcy. The increasing number of cimpanies doing so however has led to a pending shortfall in the guarantee fund. A better solution would be to compulsorily (there's that word again) combine company and industry funds into several that cover the entire population, not just those working at one company or industry whose future employment levels and economic contribution may be far different than they are today. As employment shifts from GM to Toyota, and from manufacturing to service industries, the burden of "guaranteed" pensions and healthcare will shift as well. Although not financially necessary in such a system, a universal sales tax on both imported and domestic products (physical or intellectual) could be used to support personal contributions to IRAs and health insurance, appeasing those concerned about imports and foreign outsourcing. It's time for the unions to show some visionary leadership, and use their remaining influence to force state and federal governments to push this through. If neccessary get members from every union (transport, hospitality, manufacturing and service) to camp outside the house and senate until it's done. Flood newspapers with letters, placard every morning show and flood talk radio with calls. If they have the chutzpah, they can do it, and give US industries, and the members, the biggest boost since WWII.

It's not subcompact, it's "entry-level". The sedan is actually much bigger than the Sentra, although the overhangs have been reduced. All the Sentra's extra length and width is purely cosmetic. The Versa is bigger than the Focus (although not as space efficient), Impreza and Neon, interior space is beaten only by the Focus and Spectra; and the hatch — with more rear headroom and a taller cargo area — is in the EPA "midsize" class. That 169.1" length is actually for the hatchback (3.5" longer bumpers in NA), the sedan is 175.9" long (2.9" longer). It's height creates great headroom, and enormous rear legroom, although it's not as tall as the MPVs such as the xB or Cube (a Cube is coming too, but the Cube is not coming). As I've said, in most markets this is the new Sentra, North America will get something else as a (late) switch.

The "Vauxhall" 1.9 is a diesel. In the aluminum-block L850 family there are the 2.0 L forced-induction variants, and also a new short-stroke 1.9 L VVT GDI variant developed by Alfa. There are also iron-block Family II engines, 2.0 L turbos built by GM Powertrain Europe, 1.8 and 2.0 L engines built by Holden for Daewoo, and Brasilian 2.0 L engines in 8V flex-fuel and 16V forms. The smaller cast-iron family I engines include SOHC brasilian flex-fuel engines (1.0, 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 L), GM Daewoo E-tec II 16V engines (1.4, 1.5, and 1.6 L), and the new GM Powertrain Europe 16V 1.6 Twinport and 1.8 VVT engines. The 86x86 1998 cc 4-cylinder is the world's most common engine format, currently used by Toyota (two different blocks), Nissan (two different blocks), Honda, GM (two different blocks), the Hyundai/Mitsubishi/Chrysler world engine, and Mazda/Ford/Jaguar (petrol and 2 different diesel families).

Yes The V200 is known as the Daewoo Magnus, Formosa Magnus, Suzuki Verona, Chevrolet Evanda (Europe) and Chevrolet Epica. With the switch to the V250 more European markets will change the name to Chevrolet Epica. The platform is unchanged, but interior and exterior are completely new and vey competitive.

Much better photos here: http://www.uaz.ru/eng/ They list a US distributor: Nour USA, Limited 8075 Leesburg Pike, Suite 760, Vienna, Virginia 22182 1 (703) 442-8668 1 (703) 442-3829 Future models will switch to the platform of the Ssangyong Rexton, which will be built in Russia (Tatarstan to be precise), by new sister-company ZMA, currently producing the Oka micro-car designed by GM-partner AvtoVAZ (the world's smallest mass-produced 4-seater road car).

BMW Project Warwick

Booooorrrrrrrring. The Taiwanese Galant Grunder is much nicer (inside and out), even if it only has a 2.4 L 4-cylinder engine. http://www.grunder.com.tw/

It looks like s Solstice chop because the Solstice was designed in the same vein as British sports cars like the original Austin-Healey. The Tempest is a ver good interpretation of a modern Austin-Healey 3000 (the Big Healey, as opposed to the smaller "bug-eyed" Sprite). Unfortunately for project Tempest, the Austin name will be controlled by Nanjing Automobile (Group) Corp., while the Healey name is controlled by the family. BMW also designed a modern "Big Healey" concept (BMW controls the British Motor Heritage Trust which provides spares and support for classic British cars), but again could not use either the Austin or Healey name at the time, although they may have been working on a Z8-based big-Healey some years earlier. As for a modern Triumph, BMW does retain ownership of Triumph (although due to some shifty shenanigans at MG Rover it is not the original company). GB Sports Cars is working with Nanjing on a new line of MGs, and there has been some confusion between this and the Tempest project.

With extensive modifcations they could fit it in, but it has been said that a GM version would no longer be the same architecture. If GM is satisfied with the Solstice production model it could be done, but like the original Cobra and the similar Sunbeam Tiger it would be relatively expensive. You probably wouldn't get much change from $40K (perhaps more). While it would be one h... of a halo car, GM might not think the potential sales worth the investment.

What everyone has said since the concept version first debuted at Tokyo two years ago. Although the Versa sedan (Tiida Latio) is shorter than the Sentra, in every other respect it is a bigger vehicle that in every other market outside North America is a direct replacement for the "B" Sentra/Sunny and the "N" Almera/Pulsar. I expect the North American Sentra will be replaced by the next-generation Bluebird Sylphy instead, currently based on the same platform as the last Sunny and Pulsar.

What I'd like to see? G6/GTO (midsize) Invicta (mid-large) SS-style Monte Carlo, 400+ hp Riviera and lwb Electra sedan(large)

Well, now, are you talking volume of vehicles (an indicator of how many GM sells, not how many problems there are) or number of recalls per model? And are you including only rrecent vehicles, or pickups built 10-20 years ago?

Perhaps he's thinking ES300, which would probably be around 197 hp under the new SAE standard.

35 and wrong market, but: Tempest Ventura Riviera Nova Chevelle Barracuda Corsa Electra Falcon Camaro Mini Fox Supra Impala Bronco Blazer Impreza Solstice Cien Celica

The A3300 Opel Astra is based on a stretched version of the T3000 Astra platform, as was already used in GM do Brasil's T3000 Chevrolet Astra (and thus the RHD South African Opel Astra), so of course the A3310 Chevrolet Vectra also uses an updated T3000 Astra platform even though it is a sedan version of the A3300 Opel Astra. The A3310 Vectra shares the majority of the A3300 Astra structure and design inside and out, but the platform is not really that much different than the T3000. Although the new Astra and Vectra are nominally A-bodies, just like the Delta-platform Cobalt and Ion, neither Opel nor GM do Brasil wound up adopting the new platform as originally intended.

Pre-production Chevrolet Vectra, and it's a version of the new A-body Astra (right down to interior details), not the Vectra. Later photos are slightly different.

35% efficiency has very little to do with how much fuel is burnt, and a lot to do with friction, pumping and heat losses etc., as well as the inherent inefficiencies of the otto cycle in even "ideal" conditions. A modern engine already burns practically all the fuel, as well as a most ingested smog and other gases in the atmosphere. Improvements in combustion for improved power and emissions are relatively minor (going from 99.9% fuel burn to 99.99% is a tenfold reduction in unburnt fuel, but less than a 0.1% improvement in efficiency). Major efforts to increase efficiency center on lean mixtures and high compression ratios to extract more power from the combustion process.

It's only someone's speculation, don't get upset over nothing. Reichel tends to do fanciful extensions, not real programs as well.

The automatics are ZF units built under licence in Korea. The company, originally part of Daewoo Telecom, has been bought by GM Daewoo and will later introduce new GM 6-speed autos.

I think the F-150 has a better designed interior if only for the better-integrated center console. Fuel economy is impressive. 21 mpg combined for the 4.8, compared to 15/18 for the 4.7 L Sequoia, and 21 mpg combined for a Landcruiser 4.2 L turbodiesel.

Overall competent but uninspired - a lot like most Toyotas.