bcs296

DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! Unions have absolutely no place in the global economy of the 21st century.

That was a good read. Points out the same old problem: the discrepancy between perception and reality -- GM = bad, Toyota = good.

When you say people are going to buy a competitive car because it has an American edge, you are assuming they would prefer an American car over a foreign car, no? I don't believe that many people buy cars this way. I don't believe they put any weight towards "nationality" of a car. For this reason, GM is going to have to make their cars above and beyond the competition to GIVE people a reason to switch. Make it more feature rich, make it more affordable, etc. Assuming their cars are simply competitive, I don't think that being American will be that reason.

Oh, but I'm talking about CR giving it a top reliability rating after it's barely been out, while C&D and edmunds nitpick the GMT900's to hell and back while excusing the Tundra for any and all quirks, just so MT can go on and give it Truck of the Year even though the Silverado will be superior in several ways.

CLASSIC. I love it. Wait, let me guess. They would get even worse mileage with a DOHC engine, and a 6speed auto would barely improve mileage. Right. Silly Toyota. Obviously they don't know what they are doing, since these fancy fuel efficient pushrod's and ancient 4speeds are getting EXCELLENT mileage.

Legacy GT Altima Mazda 6 Accord Everything else is a wash to me. Notice what all 4 of those have in common: can be had with a decently powerful engine mated to a standard tranny. I love the NG Malibu's interior, and from what I've seen, the exterior is sharp as well. I sure wouldn't mind a Malibu SS with a 6 speed. Too bad that will never happen.

Good. I'll be 10x happier when it shrinks to 0.

Mark my words: CR, edmunds, as well as possibly MT and C&D will swing from the new Tundras nuts, HARD. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see it rated/scored above the new GMT900s.

Unionizing the foreign companies is something that can be done now and provide results later, but what is the likelihood that it will happen? Seeing the position that the UAW has GM in (read: BY THE BALLS), Toyota and friends can't be too excited about it. Busting the UAW may seem impossible, but it's probably the best thing that could happen to GM, and it provides results NOW. I think there is a drive to produce winning cars within the company that didn't exist before. Unfortunately, now they have the drive but not the money. If the UAW isn't going to go away, then GM better try its hardest to convince them to loosen its grip. It surprises me that these union workers, seeing a huge market share slide followed by thousands of job cuts, can think of nothing but sucking more life out of the company. I don't think they realize that for the first time in awhile, GM wants to (partly because it HAS to) build great cars, nor do they realize that this requires money that doesn't exist like it used to. One thing they better start to realize is that if they don't give GM some money now, a time will come in the near future when GM isn't going to have any money to give them.

I'll be interested to see how they manage to make it smaller in overall dimensions than the N*.

So it seems apparent that both engines have their fair share of good cases and bad. There have been horror stories about the Series II 3800, as well as horror stories with the 3.5. My best friend has been driving a '99 Intrigue with the 3800 for 2 years now, and with around 150k it's still running fine and has yet to have a serious problem. My dad also has a '97 STS with 130k trouble free miles on its Northstar. Looks like a flip of a coin to me, but I would probably go for the 3.5 because I think it sounds better and runs smoother, not to mention I'd like the better mid-range and top end.

One of the stupidest decisions I've seen GM make in quite awhile.

It's about time people start coming around and realizing this. If GM had the 50%+ market share (and profitability for that matter) that it did many years ago, there might be room for the many brands that it has today. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Times have changed and GM is JUST NOW beginning to adapt. When a company with 2 brands is on track to sell more cars than you globally, there is something wrong with your approach. Anybody who doesn't accept this is stuck in the past (most likely because of their age) and has a bad case of denial. Model overlap (IMO) is just as big of a problem for GM as the entire union issue and everything that goes along with it. It simply wastes resources and leads to a bunch of mediocre vehicles that compete against each other rather than fewer GREAT vehicles that sell in huge volume by taking market share from evil Toyota.

Wow. 2008 STS doesn't get the new SLS interior. If that isn't the biggest disappointment ever, I don't know what is. We are talking about an interior that is a 6/10 compared to a 10/10, and GM doesn't even have the sense to make the change. Sometimes I just don't know if there is any hope.

4 cylinder: Any Honda B or K series. Incredibly smooth, powerful, fuel efficient, and modifiable. 6 cylinder: While GM does have some nice 6 cylinders these days, they have yet to really wow me with one that is completely satisfying. Nissan's (specifically VQ) engines are undeniably excellent, Toyota's new 3.5 is impressive, and all of Honda's are probably the smoothest and most fun to drive V6's ever. I really just don't really like V6's that much unfortunately, so I can't say I have a favorite. 8 cylinder: I have always had a thing for the Ford 302. It's so simple, powerful, has infinite potential, and is one of the best sounding V8's I've ever heard excluding exotics. Deep down though, the first generation Northstar is definitely my favorite. When it debuted in '93, it was simply unmatched in terms of power and operation. I also LOVE the sound, and despite it's sometimes stained reputation, my family has owned 3, all used, and none have had any serious problems including one that currently has ~130k miles and counting.

Maybe it shares some parts with the Aura. It is still different, which is more than can be said about GM cars of the past where it simply would have been a COMPLETE rip off with a different badge on the steering wheel. The design is different -- it looks more complete and more integrated, flowing. WHY DOES GM HATE GATED SHIFTERS SO MUCH?

That's funny, Honda somehow managed to make it work on the 3.5 OHC engine in the Odyssey.

And how much of that 80% revision actually made a damn bit of a difference for how it performs? 20hp? Please.

Alright, so I may have exaggerated a bit. I still believe that the performance is going to suffer and I personally would find the huge spacing between gears annoying. You know the mags are going to rip it apart for having the 4 speed. Do we know when the 4speed is going away?

If they didn't appreciate this when they were younger, why would they when they are older? You are betting on changing priorities when it comes to car purchases. They aren't just going to wake up one day and say, "I'm going to buy American from now on." You're still not being realistic.

The new Tundra is being shown off at the New England International Auto Show in Boston. I got a good look at it but didn't find it overly impressive. I don't like the convoluted design of the interior, and after sitting in the GMT-900s, I don't think it will have too much of an advantage in fit/finish either. Unfortunately, I still know it will sell based on the fact that "it's a Toyota" and I don't think a 380hp/6speed combo will hurt sales either. EDIT: I'm planning on going back to the show this Friday and want to spend some more time looking at it. I should have pictures as well if anyone wants to see anything in particular.

With the situation GM is in, production must go down before the company can be profitable. GM can't maintain the market share it once did many years ago, and thus it can't be the same size company. When the size of the company is proportional to the amount of cars it is selling, they can make money. This fact is what makes me believe that there is still waaay too much overlap in GM product. Too many brands. When they had 50+% of the market, they were selling enough cars to maintain so many brands. Not anymore.

GET REAL. Yes, people will always be getting older, but those soon-to-come old people aren't going to buy Cadillacs. You aren't understanding something: Right now, the old people who drive Cadillacs drive them because of what Cadillac was in their times. In the future, Audi/MB/BMW/Lexus/Infiniti drivers aren't just going to start buying Cadillacs because they "got old."

WINNER!

I don't think that the F-150 should be Chevy's concern right now. If you ask me, that ridiculous 4L60E is going to kill this truck. Consider: the new Tundra is packing 380hp and a 6speed automatic. These are numbers that don't appear in GM's lineup until 3/4 ton and beyond.