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Final update on the Caddy as the lease is up and after initially contemplating buying it, I decided to turn it in for something different. Inventory is tight but I was able to swing a deal on something I wanted so I pulled the trigger. More info coming on the new ride in a few days. As for the Cadillac, I really had no issues with it. Final mileage was around 33k. I was 3K miles ahead of where I should have been when Covid hit but even using this as our primary family vehicle since then resulted in being well below mileage. You just don't put a lot on when you are work from home so I left 6k miles on the table. It still had the occasional 1-2 funky shift on the first shift after a cold start but the 8 speed is known for that. It would not do it again after that initial shift. Never bothered me enough to take it in to the dealer. I did notice a slight bubble in the sidewall of one of the Nankang's but keeping my fingers crossed I don't get charged for that since the rest of the car is so clean. Those tires held up extremely well and even after 10k miles of use had no appreciable loss of tread depth. All in all, very pleased with this vehicle. The 4-cylinder performed well enough that I never really felt like I missed out by not getting the 3.6 V6. The interior held up really well and was very clean. The front fascia had more stone chips than I would have expected (I don't live on a gravel road and never really travel on any) but they weren't super noticeable since what was underneath almost matched the paint color. I suspect since it was a demo when I leased it, the dealer may have repainted the fascia before I got it. Summary: Enjoyed my 3 years with the car very much. I will miss it. I would not hesitate to buy one used. Before the Covid used car price craziness, they were actually a pretty good used car value.

Wrong again. The 718 package that runs with the BASE Vette is over $100K, runs the 0-60 in 4.2 seconds (as opposed to the Vette 2.9 second time). The entry line Cayman can't touch it. The BASE Vette does, however, run with a $122K BASE Porsche 911. And I quote, "With the Porsche, it takes only 2.9 seconds, but the Corvette needs just 2.8, making it the quickest factory Corvette to 60 mph in history. The advantage carries through the quarter, the Corvette trapping in 11.1 seconds at 123.2 mph and the 911 in 11.2 seconds at 124.3. And these are just the base versions of each car. What a time to be alive." Got anything else? What you have to bear in mind here is that the Vette does this in its FIRST YEAR as a mid-engine car against a car that has been that way for 60 years. I don't give a damn what you say but that is a huge accomplish, in and of itself, and again with a BASE MODEL. I look forward to seeing what the upcoming Z06 brings to the table in October and I have never been a huge Vette fan.

With that being said... You dont seem to understand what engineering means... Ill repeat, if Mercedes and Porsche engineering is sooooo great, why is it that it takes Mercedes 3 times the money to accomplish what Chevrolet engineers could achieve, and STILL fall short?

How does this even happen?

Proper shout out to Tri-tones!

C7 Z06 put down a 7:10 lap time, that's faster than a Porsche GT3. Corvette test drivers are saying they expect the C8 to be 12-14 secs quicker than that, or a 6:56. Last officiated Corvette run was FIVE model years ago (the 7:13). But what fascinates me is smk's persistent yet erroneous view that Nurburing is a race track. It's not; it's a test track. They don't line up an Aventador & a GT2 and race them there... so how do 10 secs on a 7 min lap translate to... anything?? Question; is this a 'supercar' (it ran a 7:44 in 2019) ?

This was a nice Regal coupe ... not so much the color. Hard to tell the year, since it's stripped of its hood ornament and I can't see the rear light assembly. Not a Limited. It has the bland bench seat. Very nice. I believe they had alloys as an option and it would like nice with some aluminum wheels. And a hood ornament worked well on these, too. It definitely raised eyebrows and won't be forgotten, but, after its successful launch via the restrained but very attractive first Seville, I always got heartburn over this one. I love the Chevy SS made for GM in Australia by Holden. And this color looks great on it. I take notice when I see one on the road. It has timeless styling (great from all angles) and, in my book, it's even nicer to look at than a Bimmer.

Then, you'll have sightings like this on the same day to let the air out of the balloon ... Subaru ... at least it wasn't a wagon A boot ... haven't seen one in a long time ... I'm guessing this wasn't the first offense

This was also at that "car show" on the street and I'm giving it separate billing. This family had purchased this Buick LeSabre for their son years ago, and it was a family project. Some humorous things on this one ... I guessed it was either a '77 or a '78. It is a '79. Not sure which LeSabre trim level ... probably up from the base model. Manual windows but air conditioned. The brushed silver dials on this model were cool, as is the imposing full-size dash, and shared with the Electra and the "grafted on" Riviera on the coupe platform for '77 and '78. I am not a fan of the dice and never will be. The tray with the shakes and malts is funny. It screams, "Trans Am ... what's your pleasure?" This inscription takes the cake! The engine is original. Its pulley configuration is Buick. Even though Olds 350 V8s and Olds 403 V8s made it into these cars, most likely into California bound ones, these folks weren't going to have that, it seemed. This is the Buick 350 V8. Affirmative, per the car's owner.

I was in a small town with a historical downtown and, without expecting to see this, there was an informal auto show of sorts on Saturday, August 21. 1) I don't know what this is, but it was ominous ... 2) I don't know what this is, but it was humorous ... 3) Ford Thunderbird ... possibly a '64 (?) ... I didn't ask 4) Chevy full-size coupe ... possibly a '61 ... I didn't look to see if it was an Impala, a Biscayne, or a Bel Air ... the original engine was no longer in there; this is a now Chevy 350 5) Cadillac '64 REAR WHEEL DRIVE (the last year for RWD) Eldorado ... WOW ... the color, one of the "firemist" series, is the one that was originally on the car ... white bench with fold down armrest ... real wood applique ... and 429 V8. The owner knew the Cadillac brand thoroughly ... from then to now! End of photos in this post

Let me correct this for you, The Porsche 718 GT4 is about the same performance on a track as a C8 Z51 (which still uses a base 6.2L N/A V8 where as the GT4 is 114HP greater than a BASE model Cayman.) Just skip the last part of that article where they had issue with the $20K price difference while being basically neck and neck. Basically there Cayman had to be juiced (that extra 114 HP) to run with a BASE engine Vette. Guess by you bar moving BS logic, that the Cayman is better than the 911 (Vette won a similar comparo against the 911 in a MT review). You have literally missed the entire damn pint here because it flew in the face of your "anything but a lowly Chevy" argument. And do you honestly think they make equal pay? I have a bridge to sell you if you do.

Hit a curb at a high speed? Took a corner too hot and the g-forces tore the wheel apart? Manufacturing defect? Lots of possibilities...

Its not slower. In fact, in real track races over at IMSA, Corvette and Corvette Racing has cleaned BMW's clock now for 20 years. So....stop your phoquing lies... https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a37220827/watch-the-bmw-m4-competition-lap-the-nurburgring-in-730/ Despite its questionable exterior styling, the G82 generation BMW M4 Competition represents a significant step on from its predecessor. Thanks to the team over at Sport Auto, we now have a chance to see the new car prove itself on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. With test driver Christian Gebhardt at the wheel, the sports coupe posted an impressive lap time of just 7 minutes 30.79 seconds. BASE PHOQUING CORVETTE AGAINST THE TOP LINE 3 AND 4 SERIES BMW STOP YOUR TROLLING!!!

Nobody phoquing said that What was said is that the C8 Z06 WILL trounce the 'Ring's current times... To boot, the Z06 will be a fraction of the price of the German cars. If German engineering is sooooo phoquing great, I wanna know why Mercedes and Porsche cant seem to engineer a faster car than the Corvette at Corvette's engineering and MSRP price points? You see, it goes both ways. YOU say that why doesnt GM engineer a higher priced machine? I say, the opposite, why is it that German and Italian supercar engineering canNOT be met at Corvette's price point? GTFO with you shyte phoquing analysis! It means nothing. Its worthless.

Those 'halving the battery costs' aren't going to be passed on to the consumer. OK, so nobody needs to stuff 4-bangers in upper-level cars to "sell more". Thank God that strawman is dead & buried! ?

Nah, not going to drive like that for 15 miles... not when it's 90 degrees out...and the hatch open beeping would drive me nuts.

No?

Since awhile back we've talked about and seen 1980s two toned paint jobs. Those 3 Chevys (Bel Air maybe but def Caprices), I wonder if these iconic 1980s Chevys are considered two toned? And of course early C4 Corvettes that are NO question two toned. And this lovely Oldsmobile And the Cierra keeping the theme of the Supreme but more so from the Cavalier Z24 and early Z28s in that the bottom skirts are grey... Pontiac B Body was like the Chevy B Body Albeit these are from the 1970s And the Pontiac G Body followed suit But had an extra treat as the lower body lines also had the top colour I like this two toned treatment from Pontiac. The last two Pontiacs do have that shytty 1970s brown theme going on, this hue and application does look good!!!

Those are cool, as is the Orange Blast SS.

The Chevy SS colors I liked were the greens...I think they had 2-3 different greens over their short run. My favorite current Mopar performance car colors are F8 Green and Octane Red. Octane Red can look purplish in some light.

I dont like purple on most cars either. Other than the Mopars. Although one Mopar I dont like purple on IS the Prowler oddly enough. I used to like it. I got over it. I prefer a yellow Prowler nowadays. On the 911 I posted, I kinda like it. Both Midnight Purple Skylines are 2 die for! Both Mercedes' cars are doable in purple. Although these are wraps I believe. The Volvo, like a mid 1990s Pontiac Sunfire is a hard NO! But the point is: That many folk like purple cars of all shapes and sizes, brands and it dont matter where on the money scale they are in... Yes. The Orange Blast colour for the SS was a blast for sure, (the colour came after the initial launch as my pic was from the original launch colour pallet for the SS)

I like Plum Crazy Mopars.

Yes... Nothing accounts for that taste... Yes...Barney purple is not for everyone. Yet... There are plenty of FACTORY purple cars and SEVERAL customized wraps that people opted for over the years...

Look how boring GM/Chevrolet got even with their 4 door MUSCLE CAR... The colour pallet was diverse enough. But there was something missing. The blue and reds were dynamic but something was amiss. They look lifeless on this car. . Both greens did not suit this car too well. The greys and white should have not even been offered. But somehow, over at Dodge they got it right. I think GM takes itself too serious. They have been taking themselves too serious the last decade. Far too long. Snap out of it!!!

I honestly wish there was a vomit emoji reaction for this. I guess this will have to do.?

How a proper two tone paint job is done.

mercedes can't do it, Tesla can't do it, GM won't do it, but lookit how it's done: That said, those yellow calipers against that barney purple paint is hideous.

Unlimited colors doesn't seem to be the case with there Maybach trim. [L to R] ~ black, black, black, silver, silver, dark red, dark green, grey, grey, white, red... and seven 2-tone combos of those colors. So... 7 colors, basically. Well, it is 2 more than the Model S. ?

Update on the Caddy - still cruising along and doing well. No warranty work since the last report and no more tire issues once the Pirelli run flats were replaced with something different. I still enjoy driving this car a lot. The lease is up soon and if I can't get a good lease deal on its replacement (likely a GMC Canyon for the wife) then I may just buy out the lease and keep it a while longer. Regarding the Nankang tires - After almost a year I am actually still pretty impressed with them. Had I known for certain I was going to keep the car I would have more likely than not bought something better (I'm a fan of Continental tires) but that said, they really have been good tires. They do well in the dry and the rain. I didn't drive them much in the snow last winter but on the rare occasions I did, they did okay. They actually seem to perform better than the factory Pirelli run flats. Even after hitting more than a few big pot holes (thanks MDOT!), they have not gotten any sidewall bubbles or shown any signs of belt separation. If you are on a tight budget, they are definitely worth giving a try.

The 265 is a garbage motor.

But if the Corvette is a "super car" why is is slower on a race track than big, heavy sedans from BMW, Mercedes and Porsche? Why is it slower than an M4 for similar money that gives you a (small) backseat and is more practical and has all wheel drive for bad weather? Now on VIR, where GM sort of tunes their cars for that track, the C8 Z51 has a 2:49.0, the AMG GT63 sedan a 2:49.3 and the CT5 Blackwing a 2:49.5, but still, barely beating 2 sedans, albeit very fast sedans. And people here want to say the Corvette is a competitor to AMG GT, Ferrari, Lamborghini, but when the lap times go up and the Corvette is way slower, then people say, well the Corvette costs half as much so of course it doesn't have the performance of the Europeans, or the luxury of the Europeans. If the Corvette brand name is so strong, and they want to compete with the European heavyweights, then why not make the base Corvette say $125,000, the Z06 about $200,000 and the ZR1 $300,000. Go up there and play with the big boys.

Because Mercedes and Porsche are luxury brands. Chevrolet is not. And actually the Porsche 718 has very similar track times to a C8 and at similar price.

The Porsche 718 GT4 is about the same performance on a track as a C8 Z51. Car and Driver tested them against each other, the C8 was $86,000 as equipped and the Cayman was $105,000. And the Cayman won the comparison, the Cayman is over 400 lbs lighter, it brakes better and it grips better, gets better gas mileage too, not that people buying those care. The Corvette has more straight line speed, the Porsche has it every where else. https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparison-test/a33825844/2020-chevy-corvette-stingray-z51-vs-2020-porsche-718-cayman-gt4/ And sure the Z06 will be faster, we'll see how it compares to a 911 GT3 or GT2. But the other guys are getting faster too, by the time the ZR1/Zora arrives, there will be a new AMG GT, new Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Tesla Roadster, etc. But to me the Corvette still has a mediocre interior, it it light years away from a Porsche, Mercedes or Audi/Lamborghini. The Corvette is built by union workers.