siegen

Lol. He speaks the truth!

This is exciting. GM and Toyota are pushing plug-in hybrids, while Honda is pushing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Last year Takeo Fukui made a statement about plug-in hybrids, saying they are unnecessary and do not reduce emissions (link). Now it looks like GM and Toyota are firing back saying hydrogen fuel cell vehicles won't be viable for another 40 years. Who's going to be right? Perhaps they will both be right. Also, plug-in hybrids should not be confused with traditional hybrids. Honda plans to release two new dedicated hybrid models in the next couple years, and plans to grow substantially, narrowing the gap with Toyota, perhaps even surpassing Toyota.

I'm thinking more along the lines of the taller gearing and lower resistance tires (less traction possibly), among other changes they made. These are things that might have a trade-off of delivering a poorer drive. It is only speculation at this point however. False advertising? 36 mpg ties the current segment leader, but it only does so with a manual transmission. The automatic is lacking considerably compared to the segment leader. Shame on GM. I expect this kind of spin from Toyota, not GM.

Why yes, yes it is. I was mainly referring to the likely horrible blind spots (but I can't say for sure until sitting in it), tiny side windows, and lack of storage space. Yes, the S2000 convertible and CR have usable trunks.

I think you underestimate how many people have heavy throttle feet, regardless of the vehicle they're driving. I'm not saying it is not possible that the Malibu will return 4-5 MPG better than the Camry/Accord in real world driving, but I will wait and see averages, and not base any opinion off of one fill up from one user.

It sounds to me like the way they described how they drove doesn't really tell us anything, and only makes it sound like they were rough on the car. My idea of a "gas mileage run" doesn't mean keeping all accessories off, shutting off the engine, not passing, etc. It means driving normally, without the lead foot. Look closely at their description: Lights, air conditioning, sound system: These accessories don't suck up mileage like they used to, especially with electric A/C pumps. No coasting or shutting off at stoplights: These kind of techniques are generally reserved for hypermilers, and wouldn't be needed to get good FE out of a vehicle. Passed cars every chance they got: Which could be 100 times or just once. It doesn't say. So my point is, they likely drove the car with FE in mind. And only one fill up does not give any sort of average.

40mpg seems to be the average for the Metro. A Yaris is only a few MPG off. The early 90's Civic VX also did low 40's, and was larger with a larger engine. The early 90's, late 80's CRX did low-mid 40's with a larger engine and was undoubtedly more car and funner to drive than the Metro. The Metro was a POS all around. The Aveo is the modern day subcompact, and there's a good reason GM decided not to use the name Metro for it.

It looks even more unpractical than in the press release photos.

I'll wait and see what real customers are getting over the course of 10k miles or so, before making any judgments. If I went for a gas mileage run I could get 30-35mpg; but as it is I have a lifetime average of 25.5mpg because I drive with a lead foot. Also, newer cars tend to reach their peak FE at a higher speed than older less aerodynamic cars. I wouldn't be surprised if the Malibu gets better MPG at 75 mph than at 60 mph, especially with the tall 6th gear.

Does GM have anything else they can build in there factories?

She's actually a Cylon

I feel for ya man. I hate it when people do dumb $h! like that. I also feel sorry for the owner of the 94-97 Integra, as it was undoubtedly stolen if the driver ran off. 3rd gen Integra's are stolen fairly often unfortunately.

Wow, what a jumble of words. Sounds like they hired someone from Toyota to put that line together.

I purchased a 22" LCD in advance. :AH-HA_wink: Perhaps a set of nice Sennheiser headphones and an 8GB flash drive too. These were things I wanted and buying them didn't really have anything to do with this insignificant amount of money I am apparently getting from the government. lol

There are always trade-offs. Whether they are evident to the driver or not is yet to be seen. And remember, this is only on the manual transmission model, which will not by any means make up the majority of sales.

It seems like the copied footage was just for "fluff" (I didn't listen to the audio) anyway. I haven't seen Al Gore's show nor do I want to. I know I'll be yelling at the screen the whole time as I usually do whenever I watch something like that.

My point is that they isolate the two instances where that is true, the manual transmission Cobalt and automatic Malibu. It is nothing against GM at all, just this author isn't reporting all pertinent information.

It's convenient to only mention the specs where a car exceeds. The article fails to mention the automatic version of the Cobalt and how it is anything but class leading. It also fails to mention that the Malibu isn't offered with a manual. I wonder how the mileage would compare among manual transmission competition. On the Malibu, it looks like those final gear ratios were good for another 2 mpg on the highway. Not bad, the 6-speed will definitely be a selling point.

Do these contracts go unresolved because the Union is asking for outrageous amounts of money? At this point, it is critical for GM to keep building that car, although a shortage certainly wouldn't hurt the car's image itself, just the pocketbook.

Ah it'll grow on ya. Have you seen a BMW lately? :AH-HA_wink:

I can't say I wouldn't not mind a vehicle like this.

The Audi A4 is a tempting buy. It looks nice, has a nice and efficient AWD option, and the turbo-4 is economical yet provides a fair bit more torque. Acura needs a "lite" version of SH-AWD, something that isn't so over-the-top (a small sports sedan that already handles well doesn't necessarily need all the torque vectoring and overdrive mechanisms SH-AWD has). As it is, SH-AWD would add a lot of weight to the TSX, and combined with a V6 it would weigh somewhere in the neighborhood of 3700-3800 lbs. The V6 option coming for the TSX next year (which has been all but confirmed) will be a nice addition, as well as the 2.2L turbo-diesel. My best guess is the V6 will be the 3.2L 260HP V6 from the current TL, likely not tuned any higher. It will not be called the Type S (this has almost been confirmed as well). I am still holding hope that a Type S version comes later with a 3.5L or 3.7L 300HP engine and SH-AWD. Also, price has been announced for the U.S. TSX (not Canada yet). Click here. "MSRP pricing starts at $28,960 and tops at $32,060. Destination and Handling for the 2009 TSX remains unchanged at $715." My guess is that a V6 TSX will carry a premium of $2,500-2,900 over the base and tech models. The pricing is only a few hundred more than the current, and it adds considerable refinement and luxury-ness compared to the current model. TOV has the first dyno test of the new TSX as well (with 6-speed manual). Click. Despite 4hp less for "rated" horsepower, they actually produce very close to the same at the wheels, and once the new engine breaks in (this one only had 122 miles) it will probably produce more. The torque curve is also substantially improved. The 2nd image shows a comparison of both torque/horsepower curves.

CanadianDriver First Drive: 2009 Acura TSX, eh? Full Article - Photo Gallery

They are probably 17", although I'm not sure. Why does it need larger wheels? Edit: They are indeed 17", although they don't look it. Here is a complete spec sheet.

The CR-V is indeed the best selling, but it only became so after the redesign. And you can't say that it did not receive at least this much if not more blasting of the exterior design. And the CR-V also received considerable drivetrain blasting, something the Pilot hasn't received. I see no reason why this new Pilot won't increase sales over the previous gen. Here are some more flattering photos of the Pilot. It has been receiving pretty positive reviews from the magazines.