balthazar

I fail to see how a polarized opinion on a subjective matter such as styling can legitimately be derided as 'close-mindedness', an over-used term. I cannot recall anyone here ever being similarly labeled for drooling over -say- a ferrari's styling. Blanket admiration is no virtue, as far as I can see. >>"GM just never got around to making anything like this"<< What- the cube is 19 inches shorter, at a miniscule 157" ?? Who NEEDS a 157" vehicle maximum ? IMO- that's immaterial. In the realm of a low-cost, economic, stylistically-unique, cargo-centric lil' hauler, GM does indeed 'make something like the cube'. Only there, it's not accompanied by dry heaving sounds.

From the diesel consumer base, oiled filters have been repeatedly & thoroughly tested for numerous criteria of performance. Diesels are all about air & fuel quantity & quality- moreso than gas engines. There, the results were that while the oiled filters did offer an airflow advantage when first installed, within the suggested oil lifespan of the filter, the airflow dropped well below that of paper elements. The consensus was paper filter offer better overall performance (air flow, dirt filtration, performance & mileage), with a far better price as an added bonus.

Here's one of the very few 'right time; right place' stories RE this project : A guy on the B-59 board (yes; there's one of those) was looking for a good radiator for his car. He's in Moscow. I stepped right up with this offer- I'll get mine re-cored for you, you pay for the recore, the shipping to Russia, and half of the cost of my replacement custom aluminum radiator. He agreed- I had the orig recored, made a detailed drawing and had a one-off custom one built. $600 unit only cost me $300 for a 2- (1") tube aluminum rad. This sort of thing just does not happen often enough. - - - - - Had a problem earlier- when mocking up the motor- the guy who set that up for me placed the engine block sans heads. When I went to put the pass-side head on- it hit the firewall, missing it's dowel pins by about a half inch. Suck City. Moving the engine mounts & the trans crossmember mounts seemed like the long way around, so I decided to notch the firewall. Clearance here is tight- I'm keeping the factory under-dash heater box. So I traced the contour of the head & valve cover, added a little margin, and cut into it: Traced the hole on stiff paper, added an inch or so along one side, transfered it to steel, cut it, sliced it, contoured it, & welded it in. Heater box still fits inside, happily : In other news- I have been working in the basement- setting up a clean, semi-pleasant 'workshop' in order to get anything accomplished in steady below freezing temps as this winter has been dealing this area. I wanted to get the centerlink assembly down there and get my replacement pieces I waited the better part of a year on, going before the end of Jan. That should become a reality tomm, Jan 31st. Will have some pics of the quizzically-complex assembly soon. BTW- the factory shop manual drawing for this is incorrect, plus manual- & power-steering cars have different pieces involved. Fun.

A 6 in a Pontiac never seems right to me... or at least living up to it's potential, but then again; the 7 Pontiacs I've owned have all been 6-liter plus Pontiac V-8s.

>>"Interesting. I really don't see what you're seeing at the A pillar. The 2nd gen Prius pays homage to many Honda design elements, and this new Insight pulls a lot from past Honda's. VW did do that style front grille before the Clarity, so it makes sense to get a VW vibe from the front. Not sure about your comment on the upholstery, why exactly is it commercial airline upholstery? Did you expect leather?"<< RE: 'fractured' : I think it's the window sill line. The front termination is over the front wheelwell, and the downward angle there departs from the flow of the hood/A-pillar line, and to my eye it creates tension there. RE: design cues- the problem here is that the prius is not ubitquitous, and anything else that appears years later as a dedicated hybrid is only going to be compared to the prius- so whether or not the prius uses a few honda elements or not, IMO the perception is going to be that the insight is copying the prius, rather than ultimately 'copying' honda. RE: upholstery - it's the pattern.

Sorry- I find this next insight to be borderline hideous. The obvious silhouette homage to the prius with perhaps a bit more ungainlyness (almost looks like it's fractured vertically at the A-pillar)... and I'm getting a strong VW vibe in the grille. Interior looks both cheap & awkward, and it's not the commercial airline upholstery that's doing that, either. Blech.

My brother owns a '68 'bird coupe with a PowerGlide; his does 9.9s in the quarter. Oh; yeah- with a 400. Cammers are sweet motors, stock 4bbl cars put out 230 HP, IIRC. I do believe there's a bit of a logjam WRT aftermarket cams. Not aware of any inherant problems with this powertrain, tho.

Someone enlighten me as to the circumstances around the demise of the first insight- # of years made, why cancelled. How does this insight fit in with the fit & civic ? And it may differ from the prius in some aspects, but it's a loose tracing overall. It'd be distressing if I cared about the image of honda...

>>"What displacement and what are your plans for them? "<< '56 DeSoto 330 and a '57 DeSoto 341. Both apart. Plans are to flip them. Researching values...

Agreed, and so is the sliding size scale than ignores all previous vehicles in order to grab a coveted size declaration. It's not like a "large" '08 Impala never pulls up next to a '96 Impala at the light.

Creepy : Never Forget Me, Never Forget Me - Akira Yamaoka

T. H. E. most repulsive production... thing on 4 wheels. Words fail.

>>"First, what car did the band use for the album cover?"<< 2004 saab. :P :wink:

Ironic; I just unloaded 2 Hemi engines into my shop this morning. No blowers, tho. Alison made a 4-spd auto ?

Almost indetectable changes to an ubitquitously uninteresting vehicle. Pig nostrils are really inching forward relative to the headlights. Going for a bit more 'snout-esque' look in profile, I see. And the interior still features a black steering wheel that matches nothing else in the car, looking every bit like a replacement wheel from another color-scheme car. Classy. There cannot really be people excited over this...

What happened to the supposed 90-100 billion in cash toyo reportedly had ??? Is the loss in the last few years really 70 billion instead of a "mere" 20 billion ?? On a 2-yr string of continual recalls, this is absolutely fascinating....

Promise - Akira Yamaoka

Ha- local hyundai dealer is running a radio ad where, if you buy a left-over '08 santa fey, you get a brand new '09 accent FREE. 50% off < 100% off.

DCH Saturn is right up the road from me. Been in there a few times kicking tires- nice store. Frankly, without knowing that DCH was a multi-state concern, I'm surprised the next-door toyo store stays open, it's a small lot and I seldom see much traffic in there (I pass it about 4 days a week). I've only passed by Laffin a few ties, but it's obvious vintage always warmed me. Sorry to hear it closed.

No, no, no, no! This isn't happening- we've all been assured repeatedly that the supposed amount of toyota's cash was 100% indicative of just how RIGHT they've been about.... EVERYTHING. Now- overmorgaged & over-expanded, they have nearly the same cash on hand as Ford ????

Was sharing the highway with a CLK350 yesterday. It was always ahead of me, darting & weaving in a vain attempt to gain position in crowded, 3-lane traffic. Failure for at least 10 miles (tho I admit to having a lead foot). Observations: > Showing the tubular steel tailpipe inside the bolt-on exhaust tip works for an off-shelf Pep Boys bobble, not a supposed class-leading lux make. Maybe if there were at least 'dual' tips, but with only 1, it looks uber-cheap. > Headrests still use the same 2 chromed rods that econoboxes used in the '80s. They stands out clearly thru all windows- look cheap. Couldn;t see the headrest construction itself clearly, but it reminded me of those sheepskin covers, for the rear of the 'rest was small & hard-looking, but the front swelled outward all around. Weird. > Making the tiny decklid out of 2 pieces instead of 1 stamping sure does no favors to the ol' 'engineering' image. > Hardtop styling, while great and admirable, is mared by very large plastic belt housings that jut up from either window 'sill'- engineers should have devised a safety-compliant system that bypassed this visual blemish. Frankly, WRT Cadillac- they are not doing anything different than the supposed 'leaders' bmw & mercedes have been doing, except with less SUVs and NO MINIVANS.

Sorry; correct: H3.

enzl - >>"With all due respect, what 'image' would you expect from a brand that sells reproductions of War machines (during an immensely unpopular war) that get crap gas mileage in a time of crazy prices?"<< H2 and H3 are no more 'repros of "war machines" than a Jeep is of another "war machine". Where is Jeep's bad image there? BTW- you have seemingly forgotten the wave of support & aspiration towards the H1 (a mere 125 sold in '07) on the heels of that very conflict- surprising, because it was huge. BTW- you'll pay less in fuel costs to drive an H2 than a nissan pathfinder, which is rated the same but requires premium. That's the reality. Now.... what, exactly, are we dealing with in calling an H2 a "war machine" and not raising an eyebrow at the pathfinder for "geting crap mileage in a time of crazy prices" ? Where are the pitchforks & torches outside nissan's world headquarters ? >>"Your description of brand 'image' only reveals your prejudices and ignorance."<<

Perfect sequence: Riv going thru the turn (58 sec ~ 1:04). Great, also, to hear that BB Buick roar- Buick's haven't snarled like that... since there were Buick engines... >>"This fellow has a lot of other interesting road tests on his You Tube site"<< Just watched the '63 Galaxie vs. Impala- and tho they didn't tell any accel times, by watching the flagman shrink to a spec as quick as he did; both these "top-engine" cars were flat hauling ass (1:24 & 1:45 sec)... info says 406 & 409 V-8... 4bbl 409 Impala was good for 0-60 in around 6.6 sec. Wonder how much quicker 427 cars would've appeared.

The prius is tired, even hearing the name incessantly is tiring - plenty of room for a newcomer here. Plus, for the hardcore greenies, 50 MPG is nothing compared to a potentially advertised "100 MPG".