The Lounge

I'm a huge GM fan. They have showed brillance beyond compare and yet have made some of the dumbest decisions in automobile history. And they have been hugely successful in so many ways...like being number one a lot of years. Many stunning, many dreadful cars and a slew of marketing schemes later, there has been but one shining star in their orbit. Corvette. Clear visionary, purposeful, consistant, ever improving Corvette. Some close calls for sure and a couple of iffy years, but they stuck with the plan. Now, I say, take the Corvette team and put them in charge of GM and change the name of General Motors Corporation to Corvette Corporation. Because no matte…

Just this weekend: $200 sunglasses-Lost (replacement cost: undetermined, but looking online I'm thinking $300ish) $80 tube TV-destroyed (replacement cost: $900+ for a 26" LG LCD/DVD combo) $20 dvd player-destroyed, in a separate incident (replacement cost: see above) Cant wait to see what the rest of this week costs me.

We talk about all kinds of meaningless crap in The Lounge - why not this? Everytime that the douche bag cleaning people come into our office and put in new toilet paper rolls, they place them so they dispense/roll from the bottom. It bugs the hell out of me, especially at a critical time. At home, the roll dispenses from the top. Virtually any household I've ever been to has the toilet paper dispense from the top of the roll. Does this irk you as well?

(Mods feel free to move this to where it may be but i thought in the lounge since its just a personal opinion.) so for the past week or so i have been seeing this really, really annoying toyota commercial that states "80% of toyotas sold are still on the road today"... how in the world do they get that number? one would think that with the rust problems of late, wrecks, salvage, fires, and apathetically parking it and never moving it again would amount to more than just 20% of total production. i just felt like i needed to vent cause it comes on twice an hour on some of the programs i watch and annoys the t total piss out of me. even worse they follow it up with that …

Well I finally decided to get myself a new pair of shoes. The cheap ones from, I think Target that were bought for me as a gift barely lasted a year. I've never owned a pair of shoes where the bottom of the shoe wore down to the point where a hold developed on one shoe. I could feel the damn ground under me. Sucked real hard when it rained. Plus they have holes by the toes and the soul is starting to separate on the right shoe. One of the few nice things about Lawrence is that New Balance has a factory, and a factory outlet here. New Balance is IIRC the only major shoe company that manufactures any of its products in the states. Some of their low end stuff is made in Ch…

Usually front-engine 2+2s, fastback or notchback, meaty engine, nice long hood, packed with creature comforts and bang for the buck. Pure style, absolute driving pleasure. The ultimate true personal car. A grown man's sports car in every respect. The great GM V-8 powered Bitter SC Not to be confused with the Ferrari 400i

We were all giddy about Buick LaCrosse spyshots? There was an Ugly Car of the Year Award? We thought Petra was a chick? Bobo was our biggest ricer? 4cyl diesel Corvette?

What's your opinion on GM (and others) vehicle introductions. Should they be in September or randomly throughout the year?

:metal: My daughter took me to see the show tonight. Some of it quite moving and some of it just simply awsome. I dont think there is anything else like it. With the current state of affairs in my life I believe it was the perfect gift.

Yikes!

I didn't want to steer Croc's "Cooking with Croc" thread too far off topic, but I found a couple of the posts in there interesting about Nutrasweet found in diet drinks and other synthetic sugar products. I had never heard any of this info before about how bad aspartame can be for you. I did a little research and came up with some suprising results on how dangerous this artificial sweetener really is. My mom drinks a lot of diet drinks, so I'm kinda worried for her health after reading some of this. Read the rest of it here My question is, how in the heck did the FDA allow aspartame to be approved if it is known that heating it above 86 F will be damaging to …

Wings lose. Another one and done playoff season. Jason Williams just had to take that stupid penalty in front of the net (while they are up 2-0 mind you) and totally swing the momentum.

I was driving through the Nissan-Saturn dealer today to see if they had any SKYs (they didn't) and I notice this orange 350Z convert sitting there with a sticker in the window. It read "MSRP: $39,xxx Reduced: $38,xxx" and I had to do a double take to make sure it was actually $39k. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but I think that's pretty rediculous. I'd take a SKY Redline over that any day and pocket the extra $10k. Hell, that's almost as much as a base Corvette! (granted not a convert - but still).

Chronicling the Death of a Car Have you ever stopped and thought about what a car goes through at the end of its life? It's a very sad and to be honest very brutal fate that awaits a vehicle that provided its owners years of service, usually asking little in return. To most people a car is nothing more than an appliance, something that is merely cast away like an cell phone. To car enthusiasts however, who think of a car as more than the sum of its parts, a machine which can have passion and soul, and something that is part of your family, the following may be difficult to read. Car and Driver recently sent a tired, old BMW 325i to meet it fate, likening the wrecker t…

Niiiiiice..

"I had to shout above the din of my Rice Krispies.."

... I received an email from eBay that I got scammed. I bid on this auction for a bluetooth headset, won it, sent the payment, and right afterwards eBay sent me an email that the auction was cancelled. Grrr.....

I was sitting here watching a car race (Bullrun) on Spike TV, they kept showing this Right Guard Commercial where the dude goes up to the deer and it's eyes turn red and attacks the dude, It's funny as sh*t. Have you seen it?

CARS YOU MAY HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE, some from the 20’s and the 30’s … Auto Makers need to pull from the past for style design in the 21st century! 1921 Farman A6B Sport Torpedo 1922 Marmon 34BSpeedster 1929 DuPont Model Speedster 1930 Isotta-Fraschini 87A SS Torpedo Sport 1930 Ruxton Model C Raunch and Lang Roadster 1931 DuPont Model H Merrimac Sport Phaeton 1932 REO Royale Convertible Coupe 1933 Hispano Siuza J12 Deletren Freres Cabriolet 1936 Delahaye 135 Competition Court Figoni et Falaschi Coupe 1936 Delahaye 135 Figoni etFalaschi Torpedo Cabriolet 1937 Delahaye 135 Figoni etFalaschi Torpedo Cabriolet 1938 Horch 853A Erdmann &a…

I am giving a speech on the impact of the UAW on the American auto industry, and have been looking everywhere for yearly earnings reports for GM, Ford, and Chrysler, as well as information on the cost of pensions and healthcare for union workers. Any help or places to look for info would be awesome!

Well, I didn't go up in a balloon, but I helped with one. I'm now the Ground Crew Chief for a small hot air ballooning outfit here in the Tampa area. My first day was today and since I'm better than some of the previous crewmen (one had a suspended license for DWI and a cocaine charge, another cursed alot around the passengers) and the current Crew Chief is going away next weekend for a vacation, I'm the main man now - at least for next weekend. I'll be second-in-command under the pilot/owner during unloading and loading and drive the chase Express van during the flight. Its really much simpler than it seems. Three stout men can do all the work with help from the van. Bas…

*Ed's Note- This may be in the wrong section, but given the multi-make nature of the test, I didn't really know where to put it. So here is one I thought was bound to stir up some conversation- http://f10.m5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1119503 Thoughts, feels, expressings?

I'm in need of locating a new trim part for my wife's '13 Buick LaCrosse and don't want to visit the dealership. The trim part is for the trunk, it's the plastic cover for the right/passenger side hinge, as seen in the attached pictures. We bougth the car a year ago November 7th and the wife pointed out two weekends ago that the trim was missing. Of course the selling dealer (CarSense) said that their warranty ran out at 6 months and I should pursue this with GM/Buick under the balance of the factory warranty (I disagree, as the part's missing it did not break). Anyway, I'd appreciate suggestions on any GM parts online sources.

Is there a difference between fiberglass handles & wood handles on body hammers? I was looking at these two sets and was trying to decide which one to get. http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/p-11665-14367.aspx http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/p-10861-13305.aspx

I saw them filming this over a month ago on Angeles Crest; they really do test these cars hard. And I have to agree with their verdict... minivans might be uncool, but they're unbeatable in terms of packaging and carlike handling. We managed to fit seven people and skis, snowboards, jackets, and boots in the Ody last winter. Four-by-eight sheets of plywood fit easily too. (Edmunds didn't have an image of all three together, so here's one; just ignore the car in the foreground :-p) Cross-Functional Team Players By Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor Date posted: 03-09-2008 "What's the best car?" It's a question that often comes up in casual conversation with pe…

So I was playing basketball back in 2003, went up to the hoop, got hit, came down on my hand with my arm outstretched. Ouch. Urgent care doc diagnosed a minor rotator cuff tear, told me to rest it and take enough ibuprofin to keep me from feeling my thoughts. Didn't help, my doc diagnosed the same thing. Finally, after having some problems with it the last few weeks, I had it looked at again. Torn labrum (not torn labia as I inadvertently told my boss). Surgery is an option, dealing with it is also an option. Didn't even get any drugs. Stupid doctors.

Remember this Cadillac concept?...I see so many of it's elements in today's Cadillacs and yet I never warmed to this design. The 2000 Cadillac Imaj:

I was out and about, and bought this for my son's birthday. That got me thinking about getting an RC car of my own. Maybe this 1:24 Chevy Wrangler (I laughed when I saw that on the website) or an FJ Cruiser/Hummer type off roader so I can play with it in the back yard. Toys R Us did have a couple cars that I'm interested in, one is a green Barracuda that looked pretty cool, the other is a Porsche 911 that is incredibly detailed, but $65 for something that I'm going to burn the motor out on then disassemble for fun seems like a waste. Wal-Mart did have a Hot Wheels BMW M6 on clearance, but I hate RC cars that only use AA batteries.

Anyone want to do one for me?

Weeeel, today was the first "major" snowstorm of the year and I went alone to church this morning, so I was driving my G5. You may recall when I purchased it in May. When I was going through the buying process I was also looking at another Impala, the G6 and the GP. Fact is I wanted to go small because it was ultimately just going to end up my brother's car. When I was first looking at said car the window sticker, the build sheet, and a GM vehicle history printout I was supplied with all showed the car was equipped with the Enhanced Traction System, which has two prerequisites. In order to have ETS the car must have ABS and the 4SP Auto transmission. The reason f…

Going up to Lake Tahoe last weekend, I was able to marvel (for the umpteenth time) at its dramatic beauty. The fact that it could snow at a moment's notice and one would have to chain up put me in an "eh" mood. I was thinking: "there's no way I could live up here." Today, I was cleaning up and looking at post cards I collect. The common denominator: at least 95% of them are beach or port scenes. Besides, granolas and ex-hippies take refuge in mountain towns. They don't gravitate to the beach as readily. That being said, if I had to pick "beach" or "mountains" to hang my hat year round, it would be "beach." What about you?

I am trying to install a new aftermarket stereo into my Lumina and have some questions about the wiring. The wiring harness kit I have matches up with the stereo wiring, but some of the wires from the stereo have little metal tips with plastic covers. Since I am using plastic butt connectors and not solder to connect the wires, can I just cut off these ends? What are they for?

I hope you're having a good one, sir.

anyone else seen this show? http://www.fxnetworks.com//shows/originals/archer/downloads.php it had friend and I laughing tons last thursday, they had a marathon on of 3 episodes. wow, just hilarious.

Link: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=107104

If none of the above descriptions fit you or your situation please refer to the following topics: Informal Survey to Dispell Some Myths (impartial/union) Either of the 4 socio-economic groups and are impartial to manufacturers origin and agree with union policies. Informal Survey to Dispell Some Myths (foreign/union) Either of the 4 socio-economic groups and are mostly a foriegn supporter and agree with union policies. Informal Survey to Dispell Some Myths (Domestic/non-union) Either of the 4 socio-economic groups and are mostly a domestic supporter and do not agree with union policies. Informal Survey to Dispell Some Myths (impartial/non-union) Ei…

So, its Friday at 4:30PM and its been raining since, oh, say, 10:00PM on Thursday. Visibility is less than a mile and the sky is still pouring torrents of rain. You come upon an intersection that is flooded out with perhaps two and a half feet of water. You're driving a Toyota Celica. Do you... A) Go as far around it as you can. B ) Stop, wait for the flood to subside. C) Stop, make a U-turn, seek an alternate route. D) Drive right through it because, hey, if the National Guard 6x6 in front if you made it, you can too! Some chick chose D and became the fifth of eight cars I saw flooded out today. One was a spankin' new Mercedes CLS with the window sticker still on it…

Just curious. If there is already a thread like this please close this one.

Alright let's try something new. We start off with a picture. When you view the photo/drawing/whatever you post the first thing that comes to mind... So for instance if the last post was a picture of the Canadian Flag and you think "Bryan Adams" then type Bryan Adams and post a new picture. It can be related to the last photo or phraze but it does not have to be. Like you could post a Hockey Stick as it relates to the Canadian Flag but you could also post Ghandi just for the sheer randomness of it. I'll start us off: Scion Xb and now my pic for the next person:

So, apparently, the Finger Lakes Region here has a "wine country" I love wine and am up for trying some new things and there is this tour company that will take you out for 6 hours for 300 bucks in get this.... a restored 1985 Cadillac Seville with a fake convertable top! My mom had an 85 and it would bring back some good memories. The back seat did have lots of room. Hummm.... what do you think?

HD Truck Showdown: Chevy vs. Ford vs. Dodge In a big three-way duel, Edmunds pits the toughest pickups of the Big 3 against each other to determine the king of the heavy duty truck hill. Get your Calvin pissing on _______ stickers ready. Read "2006 Heavy-Duty-Truck Comparison Test" @ Edmunds

Has anyone else seen this before? The ImpalaZ SS. It looks kind of like a Nomad. I like it though. ImpalaZ SS

We have been receiving news about the new Cadillac Tag Line, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit." However, I just noticed that the ad on the back cover of last month's C&D is for the Silverado, and it says, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Horsepower." If this tag line possibly for all of GM?

Chevrolet Corvair pickups, 1961-1964 Story and photo by Bill Vance When General Motors introduced its Chevrolet Corvair compact car for 1960 to counter the rising foreign car invasion, it was clear that it had followed the general layout of the top selling import, the Volkswagen Beetle. Like the Beetle, the Corvair had a horizontally-opposed (flat) air cooled alloy engine located behind the rear axle, although the Corvair had six cylinders while the VW had four. Both the Beetle and the Corvair had independent suspension all around, the Corvair's via coil springs and the VW's with torsion bars. Since the Corvair so slavishly copied the VW car's configuration, it wa…

Found that 64 Pontiac Wagon project you so dearly wanted... 1964 Pontiac Bonneville Rusted Abandoned vehicle on Morro Bay, CA Sand Spit - uncovered by winter storms, reported to have been stalled here in 1973. Photo taken 06 May 2010. Photo by Michael "Mike" L. Baird. Next time I'll look somewhere other than Ohio for a slightly more rust free car...

OMG ITZ TOTALLY GONNA LOOK PIMPA@@ ALL YELLO +25HP!!11 Nah, just kidding. Actually, I'm going for the silver look. Some of you my remember us painting the calipers on my father's Bonneville red... We finished doing his rear calipers red and now its time for mine. I'm going for an elegant silver look to match the general shade of the car. Before... And after... Its now 1:03PM and I'm all done, just to give you an idea on how long this takes, including setup and cleanup. Approx. 1:30.

This has been in the back of my mind since the pics first broke. I suppose there's no direct inspiration..... Bizarre then, bizarre now.

Have you guys noticed a similarity to the Chrysler Airflite and Chrysler Nassau concepts? The form and the grille position and rear end seem to have common similarites.

Went to see Transformers last night with Julie & a few friends. I was very happy with the movie. Let's just say that it's quite possibly THE best movie of all time. It makes Casablanca seem like a B- rated porno. By contrast Gone With The Wind would be a made for TV Lifetime movie & Citizen Kane would be Speed 2. All joking aside here's 10 reasons why the movie kicked A$$! 10. Even a 1974 Camaro rocks given some TLC & a little faith 9. Mustang = BAD, Camaro = GOOD 8. If Transformers DID exist they sure as hell WOULD only disguise themselves as RWD cars... 7. As cool as it was the catroon can't hold the candle to todays CGI 6. The Energon Cube mak…

http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/opini...cle_1804986.phpAnd slowly, the premature global warming hysteria is starting to unravel. Like I said a while ago, we'll look back on global warming hysteria by Gore & Co. as one of the great scams of this era. http://www.kxmc.com/News/Nation/151418.asp

Congratulations to the 2007 Philadelphia Phillies for a great season, which led to the first playoff birth since 1993. C&G Phillies fans rejoice!!!

What is your definition of a car enthusiast? What do you think makes someone a car enthusiast? I was just wondering how everyone interprets that.

Kicking off since I did not see an April Car spotting thread. Was over picking up my Durango as the Trans needed rebuilding. I got 223,000 miles on it before I had to rebuild it. Saw this Cherry of a Buick at the shop.

Lately i've rediscovered the joys of the library, and naturally the GM related books spark my interest... on recommendation from a friend, i took out SLOAN RULES, a biography of the wonderful ALFRED P SLOAN, and discusses how much of a business genius he was, and his transformation of Billy Durants shaky holding company into one of the quintessetial American companies.... The second book, which i just finished, is called THE CAR THAT COULD... now this book is written more like a novel then the nonfiction it is. It documents the EV1 program from its beginnings with Roger Smith's plan for the future to the release a few years later... the book is filled with twists and tu…

I've recently started a new job (about a month ago) working for the same company but in a new city. This weekend went to hang out with some co-workers at the bar and since we had Thursday and Friday off for the 4th, we were there Wednesday night. One of the girls there I had met before a last winter at the company holiday party when I was in Des Moines, and we started talking and things were starting to click. I went golfing with her and two other co-workers the next morning and since we were in the same cart, we started talking about a lot of things and I found out she is 31 and was married at 21 and divorced at 25. I'm only 24, so I was a little bit surprised she…

#3 was tolerable, and it looks like #4 will be even better. They finally figured out that all people want out of this franchise is some cool cars and bad ass driving. Fast and Furious 4 Trailer Jordana Brewster doesn't hurt either.

Seriously. What a douchebag.

Have a good one up there in Hill Country.

It should really be a circus this year, with irate stockholders, the board under fire, a new CEO, the angry Public outside chanting, government agents, Buickman, and of course yours truly ... So come one, come all, to the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, DE the 1st week of June, unless they have it at the Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C. or 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! :rotflmao:

Friend and I decided to wire LEDs up to our planes so we could fly them in the evening and still see them. Took 3 runs to Radio Shack and about 4 hours of work. This is my plane.

Right now I own six Chevrolets: one daily driver, one parts car, and four project cars. I think I'll be needing a change once I get through this batch of projects. And no, I'm not thinking of jumping into the Jag project.

most definitely JIF! Jif Creamy! I love the Jif Natural too. Yummy. Trying the Simply Jif and Jif Crunchy these days too. Another one I tried recently was Trader Joes unsalted creamy, although i hate having to refrigerate peanut butter. Thought i'd give the whole foods peanut butter a try. Every time I try skippy, meh. Doesn't match up to Jif. The walmart and target brands are ok but in truth JIF reigns supreme and has something going on with it that just rocks. I am even split between the natural and the regular creamy depending on my mood.

... a Solstice coupe "in the wild" ? I really want to check one out up close.

I was thinking about this lately. Most of us remember the absurd lines from movies. Some of the funniest lines are in Eddie Murphy movies. However, one Eddie Murphy movie, "Trading Places" has a lot of funny lines, but one of the most profound (in my mind). If you recall, Eddie Murphy is being prepped to make a switch to the Ivy League/Philly Main Line world in "Trading Places." The butler in the movie was really perceptive, especially after years of catering to the snobs that lived in that mansion. As he sends Eddie Murphy off into the limo, he says "just be yourself, they can't take that away from you." Wow. For some reason, that stuck. Have any movie lines r…

Can burn. Specifically Lawrence. Lawrence, Kansas can burn. Again.

I'm starting to wonder if, perhaps, I might have gotten scammed in some fashion and if I should go ahead and get a refund. Here's the story. Let's see what you think. On Tuesday, July 27th, I purchased a guitar from eBay, an '84 G&L Superhawk (for those of you who are familiar with Alice In Chains, Jerry Cantrell uses the one-pickup version of the Superhawk called the Rampage). I was previously the high bidder in the auction (ended on the 26th), but the auction closed with the reserve not being met. I get a message through eBay the following day (the day I bought the guitar) with a Second Chance Offer, the seller saying he would let me have the guitar for $360 bucks…

If you could change something about a GM car, which car's would you change and what would you change about them? I would change the Equinox's engine choices and the head lights,the headlights seem to big for the car, alltho its a good car just needs a little change

I'm very excited for the holiday season this year. I'm set to go. To start, Halloween wasn't bad, but the rest will be amazing. November 1st is when one of the radio stations around here (100.3 WNIC) starts playing Christmas music. Well, I already went out a few times and listened to it on random cruises to here and from there. It's so cheery. Then Thanksgiving should be great fun. Turkey and all the veggies and stuff I can (and can't) handle. Plus, I get like 3 days off school that week. Christmas break is going to be sweet as hell because it's like one of my biggest breaks this year (and almost as long as my summer break because I start at Ke…

I think this picture pretty much sums it all up...

January 18, 2005 Regular or Premium: choosing the right fuel grade by Jim Kerr Deciding what grade of gasoline to use in your vehicle has been a question asked by many readers. Should I use regular, or is it worth spending more for the premium grade fuel? While premium grade fuel may contain a few more additives, most vehicles will operate fine on regular grades. There are some vehicles out there where premium fuel is specified by the manufacturer. What happens if regular fuel or gasohol is used in these vehicles? Premium fuels have a higher resistance to pinging or detonation in the engine's combustion chamber than regular fuels do. Higher compression ratios, hig…

How cool is this? 1960 Volga GAZ-21M

Ahh, the ol' pop-culture favorite... with a twist: David Dunbar Buick, 9/17/1854 - 3/5/1929. Founder: Buick Auto-Vim & Power Company, 1899. Buried: Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit MI. Henry Martin Leland, 2/16/1843 - 3/26/1932. Founder: Cadillac Automobile Company, 1902. Buried: Woodmere Cemetery, Detroit MI. Louis Chevrolet, 12/25/1878 - 6/6/1941. Founder: Chevrolet Motor Company, 1911. Buried: Holy Cross & St Joseph Cemetery, Indianapolis IN. Ransom Eli Olds, 6/3/1854 - 7/26/1950. Founder: Olds Gas Engine Works, 1890. Buried: Mount Hope Cemetery, Lansing MI. William Crapo Durant, 12/8/1861 - 3/18/1947. Founder, General Motors, 1908. Buried: Woodlaw…

Faceoff: Lexus IS350 Vs. BMW 330i Horsepower isn’t always the only thing. by Conor Twomey (2006-03-20) Last year was a bumper year for Lexus, having sold 303,000 vehicles in theU.S. and beating BMW's 266,200 units into second place in the luxury vehicle charts. But before you go feeling sorry for the BMW, consider this: BMW sold almost as many 3-Series models in Europe last year (229,932 units, despite a March '05 introduction) as its entire U.S. sales volume and found a total of 644,000 happy European customers in total, excluding MINI. And do you know how many vehicles Lexus sold in Europe in 2005? A grand total of 28,777, or about 4.5 percent of BMW's sales. In …