PurdueGuy

tnx. Really sad (in a kinda funny way) when it's all listed out like that.

I hadn't heard of problems with some of those - can you add the problem(s) with each vehicle to your list?

looks good, though I'm getting an Opel/Aveo mix feel in the front end. It works pretty well, tho.

The lights give it a bit of a "Mini" feel. Not sure if that's good, bad, or indifferent, just a thought I had.

Sounds like the car is safe. :AH-HA_wink:

If whatever it is is worth driving 10 hours for, I am free...

Um, because it is? It's a meaningless survey. There is no control over sample, or even over people voting more than once. You cannot draw any meaningful conclusions from it.

I like the CTS-V better as the "Vader car" personally. Both fit the bill well, though. I guess the CTS-V feels more spacey/techy, and thus feels like a better fit to me.

INL is the Idaho National Laboratory in southeast Idaho, where my wife works. This article was sent out as a news e-mail to employees, and is assumed non-confidential since it links to public website sources. INL has traditionally been largely a nuclear technology development facility, but is expanding/changing to other areas of study.

What a stupid survey. Voted anyway.

Honda does.

looks pretty cool

Nice sketch.

Sounds like you are under the misconception that a spoiler is non-functional on a FWD car. The general idea people seem to have is that a spoiler is there to give downforce on the driving wheels on a RWD car to help it accelerate. Problem with that is since a spoiler depends on air movement for its function, it's worthless from a stop, and not very functional at low speeds where traction is an issue. A spoiler's real function is to provide downforce on the rear wheels at higher speeds, keeping the rear wheels planted during handling maneuvers - something that is functional on any car, regardless where the driving wheels are. That said, I still agree that spoilers are silly on many cars, because A) they're designed to look "cool", not provide downforce B) they look silly, not "cool" This spoiler might actually be functional, and at least is not huge & uber tacky. Personally, I kinda like it.

Series hybrid = Volt Parallel hybrid = Prius, 2-mode Mild hybrid = GM BAS

Because politicians like their sports cars.

Not me... But then again, I haven't spent more than $5,250 on a car, and the one I'm currently driving I only paid $1,000 for. I drive 'em cheap, and til they die! Fix 'em myself, too. That's cheap transportation!

Operational concepts that are either booked for production (Volt) or push the envelope of applied technology (Fuel cell concepts) mean a lot, actually. They don't mean the same thing as a product that the general public can buy, but they do mean something. Non-functional concepts (especially ones that seem to only exist in digital imagery) are the ones that mean almost nothing.

+1 for thinking there was something wrong with dodgefan's cobalt. You say it had to have been working fine because it could get the EPA rating on the highway, but considering how many other people report getting better than EPA mpgs on the highway, I don't think that's a good assumption.

There are plenty that would argue that. Still, your point is made. I would guess HHR & Cobalt turbo models.

looks pretty good

This picture was released by GM? I figured it was just some random picture used with the article I saw online. *shrug* Guess it looked different enough to not look like a solstice. Might be a good thing...

looks like something from volvo or audi. Very classy.

A tailgate is made to hold only so much load weight, and some users that abuse their tailgates have to buy aftermarket heavy-duty ones, even on American models. The issue here seems to be that Toyota's stock tailgate is made for almost no load capacity. This is an issue of failing to set expectations with their customers. In all the marketing of the truck as being everything an American truck is, they set the expectation with their customers that the tailgate (among many other things) would hold up just as well as with other full size trucks. They could have set different expectations by letting customers know that Toyota was looking out for their fuel economy by supplying them was not a light-duty tailgate, but more of a heavy-duty cargo net on the back of the bed. :AH-HA_wink: