caddycruiser

Okay, so when the current craptacular CSV's are done, the idea is done for good? I could REALLY see that being a logical choice, ESPECIALLY if the upcoming Lambda crossovers offer just as much space, but don't suffer from the minivan stigma. Other than that question, they all seem pretty in line to me, except for the Oshawa thing....but maybe we'll hear more about that soon. :huh:

DEFINATELY a bad ass car, but this is just the concept, as has been said. I'll wait until the PRODUCTION version is shown to comment on the final design, but right now, I think it looks fairly good. A little out of proportion and TOO much of the old to some extent, but polish up a few of the lines, paint it some different colors, and give it some cool new wheels, and it really might take off. ESPECIALLY, considering that "if" it does come out, I can only imagine how well DCX will price it.... :AH-HA_wink: ...there will REALLY be lines around the block.

Just too bad it couldn't get a real update, where they threw out the god awful interior (by far the WORST part of the car) and gave it the most up to date mechanicals. Out of the whole GM line, it still seems like one of the most widely "leftover" '05s is the Bonneville... B)

I think it's a little mis-stated in this article. The TRUE problem (or at least one of them) was that, because they didn't design a small component in the brakes properly, a part that corrodes and completely fails after a couple years of winter muck and salt, people who live in harsher winter zones especially were having their brakes fail when this part went--NOT good. I can't remember what exactly the component's name is, but when it goes, so do the brakes, which has led to several accidents. There was also one or two other problems with the same trucks and their brakes. This is no B.S. recall, it's a real problem that they tried to minimize the severity of by selecting only certain regions to issue the recall in. And coming from someone who's driven a few different '99-04 full-size GM trucks over the years, the general braking and feel were about as bad as it gets in some regards to begin with. By FAR, the worst pedal feel I've ever experienced was our '02 Avalanche--it was beyond the point of feeling like you were stepping on a worn out dish sponge, from day one. Even stopping from slower in-town speeds was scary, just because there was so much pedal travel--which always seemed odd, because the braking distance itself seemed A-ok. Now, on the '04 Suburban with the Hydroboost system to aid in fixing the sloppy pedal feel, they are MASSIVELY better, but still not that great. Now it's about 1/4 as spongey as it used to be, but at least not frightening like the Av could be at times.

What in the living hell are you talking about? :blink: Two domestic luxo-barges, based on old mechanicals, are NEVER going to win any kind of best award, unless compared against one another only. Nice cars, but not even REMOTELY worthy of this kind of award. Some other notes: -The TSX is still somewhat of an "oddball", but based on everything I've ever seen and read, it just seems like one of the most refined, high quality small sedans available ANYWHERE for under $30k, which is why it always wins. I remember, once, they said it "defined the term precision" in every move and feel. -300C....I think that one pretty much explains itself :AH-HA_wink: -Corvette and Mustang....again :AH-HA_wink: All in all, just as expected, and all are very worthy of the award. Second Thought: Wouldn't it be interesting if GM had a sedan that could even remotely excel at almost everything like the Accord does, year after year? Like, for instance, if the G6 was similar in size to the current car, but had top-shelf interior materials and design, clean, crisp outside lines, and the 2.4L with 5-spd manual or auto and the 3.6L with 6-spd manual or auto ONLY? Hell, ditching the growly OHV engines alone would probably push it up several notches in the rankings. Oh well, just thought that'd be an interesting suggestion.... B)

That seems about right to me, even just judging from pics only. Overall quality and materials seems "right", but certain things like the blocky center stack and too low climate controls are questionable.

VERY good point, and one I never seriously thought about until now. While I still think a lot of the designs could stand to be stepped up a notch (or several), the level at which things like the interiors on the GMT-900s or the overall design of the Solstice are at, would probably never be where they are today if he wasn't there. It'd be great if they'd step it up further and get some exterior designs across the board that really had the wow factor, so until that point, such criticisms will most likely still remain. As is, things are definately better, but still seem a bit stifled overall.

Exactly. They just always struck me as something "different", but in a much better way than the rest. The designs were VERY good, and MUCH better than some of the other crap plopping out of the other divisions at the same time (i.e., Aurora vs. LeSabre, Intrigue vs. Impala, Alero vs. Grand Am). Honestly, a lot of the materials still were nothing to rave about, such as the overly hard dash with its jagged airbag cutout on the Intrigue, but they had the "look" and function spot on. Now, if they had just gotten a refresh and, say, some newer, nicer materials, and pumped up fit & finish standards, I think most would have been over the top. Hell, the engines alone, in the Intrigue and Aurora showed something was REALLY different and better in this brand, compared to all the rest. It never should have been killed off, but as has been said, that's old news. B)

Sorry, but just for a reality check, the last Oldsmobile models were about the ONLY GM products that may have shared underpinnings with other cars, but were VERY different otherwise. It seemed to be the only brand there for a while that had anything worthwhile, whether it be the Alero that was a MUCH better car than the craptacular Grand Am (even though the Olds still had its own issues), the Intrigue which had some of the best suspension and steering tuning ever out of GM, not to mention the unique 3.5L OHC engine, or even the Aurora, which was so completely unique from the other G-body relatives, it really might have went on to be an absolutely outstanding piece, had it been refreshed again before death. I remember reading an article where it said, near the end, the Buick guys at GM were P.O.'ed that the Olds guys had a car as nice as the Aurora with its real wood trim and 4.0L OHC V8, when all they had was the plasticky rental-grade LeSabre and its antique 3.8L--and really helped seal the deal on the death of Olds. Sounds like a VERY likely scenario to me. Even though they're dead and gone now, it's always interesting to look back and imagine what level the only trully "unique" brand in GM would be on today, if still around. B)

Yeah, right. Let's automatically think someone is lying when they say BOTH domestic and import makes have great cars, and he's owned them both. Terrible, just terrible... :rolleyes: I think some of the "GM only" or "domestic only" morons on this board need to shut up, go drive some real cars from a lot of different manufacturers, and STOP accusing people of being fakes or flamers just b/c they haven't accumulated many posts. Did ya notice he happened to really LIKE the GMC he commented on, just like he now LIKES his Ridgeline? Think about what was actually said. :AH-HA_wink:

Probably next month, since they're supposed to hit the lots in January. Hopefully, they'll be DRAMATICALLY lower too, i.e, no more $37k 2wd Tahoe with no options and the smaller engine. Well, that, and low enough that they don't need to keep $5-6k rebates on the hood every single year.

That makes sense. Actually, I see the CX doing a LOT of fleet duty, even though it's no longer nearly as cheap and drab as the typical LeSabre Custom could be. And, it also seems, the CXL V6 will be the big "normal" seller, filling a nice hole left by once loaded "Customs" and basic "Limiteds". Now, to another question--the CXL V8 and the CXS. I'm thinking the CXS will actually be the more popular of the two, because it is the "top" with everything, and the CXL iteration just a bit lower on the scales. Thoughts on the V8 models?

Is your place planning on stocking most as CX's with one or two options and the front bench? Just from looking on GMBuypower, it seems all the dealers around here seem to be getting nothing but those--I guess so all the grannies can have something comparable to trade their LeSabres for.

How the heck is a fairly deep gray "really just a Mauve color"?

Haha, wow, great cartoon!

Ewww...and I have a feeling it isn't the first one, just because of the way some people drive :(

Yep, that's exactly the reason why people did like the cargo doors--particularly when towing. Regardless, the taking rate apparently wasn't high enough for the General to keep them around as an option, so off they went.

I think the more interesting point is that it even HAS camo on it at all. Everybody in the world knows that the Suburban is just a lengthened version of the Tahoe, so what's the big deal in letting it show? It's not like the "official" intro is going to be all that monumental or exciting, or show anything we haven't already seen.

No, it doesn't. That's the same full liftgate with flip-up glass as they've been using since '00. And that'll be the ONLY available configuration, ever since they last dropped the cargo doors option in '04.

What flip-down tailgate? They killed that on the last gen, and that isn't even available on any other ute' on the market, save for the oddball BMW and Land Rover. The liftgate on the GMT-800's and 900's is just one big piece that all flips up, or just the glass flips up. Yes, it still might be a little difficult for shorter people to use effectively, but so would be using the upper section of the dutch doors. Then again, a lot of the new ute's will have the power opening and closing feature (one of, I think, the BEST features ever :AH-HA_wink: ), so ease of use should be at a maximum.

Those stupid doors are too many pieces, are too much of a potential rattle source, are unattractive to most buyers (the full liftgate with flip up glass is the best of both worlds, IMHO), etc., etc. They were interesting on the Astro and Excursion, but only to a select few.

EXACTLY. So, what would happen? Anybody?

Wow! How the heck did you drive that much in 4-5 years? :o I think our '04 just rolled over 24k, which we thought was a lot for only 1.5 years. Guess not!

Okay, maybe the '05-06 isn't exactly as low up front based on that pic, but in person it looks a lot more so--especially when compared with our '04 that has no extra air foil underneath.

Mostly, yes, I would think. They said a big problem with the current gen trucks is the fairly large and ugly gaps up front, along with a design that just wasn't the best in terms of air flow. With the newer ones, they've worked to get the gaps down to a bare minimum, preventing unnecessary air "leakage" through different open spots, along with a more slippery design. I really don't think its that low to the ground--check out any current '05 or newer full-sizer with the new extra air dam down at the bottom of the front, and you'll see that they're just about as low.