balthazar

>>"Wow! It seems my powers of explanation suck."<< I knew what you meant, buddy. :wink: OPINION: the G8's location, for example, catches my eye. Again, it's minor, but seams should NEVER catch your eye, IMO- they are compromises; imperfections. The current styling trend of highlighting them flat sucks. I'd prefer the G8's seam to either extend straight off the hood line then angle downward to the beltline/window corner, or... it's be really clean if it was up by the top of the windshield. It's just in a really unconventional spot where it is, but for the 3rd time, it's really minor in the overall scheme of things. The Sunfire convert & the 3-series pictured above are both pretty bad here. >>"Who needs that when you can have this? "<< Talk about a generic jellybean...

I don't think we're all on the same page here yet. Another pic: Camino is not questioning the beltline vs/ fenderline, but the rising location of the SEAM between the fender panel & the A-pillar. Traditionally, it has just about always been aligned with the rear edge of the hood but look where it is on the G8.

Unless something comes to light that makes more sense, I'm sticking with it offering more latitude in styling differences.

The seam could still be even with the rear edge of the hood on the G8, but for some reason, it's numerous inches higher. Either location does not effect the visibility in the G8. Overall G8 vs. M-B A-pillar design/shape is another issue.

I wonder if the creepage is more a desire to affect the styling more than previously possible. Not that the last gen Camaro's fenders ended so high- but I'm still reminded of them in regards to this & their faired-in sideviews. I know it catches my eye and I personally find it disturbing, as minor as it is. Also makes me think the roof AND the windshield might retract. >>"It helps outward visibility for the side windows."<< <<"...trailing edge of front fenders ending high on the A pillar..."<<

Was looking at R&T (IIRC) on the newstand today- had a comparison article between the CTS & the g37 and even tho modern cars aren't the object of my lust, upon seeing the opening pic I actually said outloud 'Wow'. The CTS makes the g37 look 10 years old immediately. Nice allocade- should resonate deeply with the 'rag crowd. COngrats, Cadillac!

The CA Assembly voted 74-0 to revive the state's so-called 'sideshow car seizure ordinance' that had lapsed in January. The law authorizes a police officer to seize any vehicle he wishes by asserting that it was involved in "reckless driving" on a street or in a parking lot. That State will keep the vehicle for not more than 30 days, naturally accumulating all sorts of towing, impoundment, storage & admin fees in addition to fines up to $1000. Arrest, likewise, is allowable. Punishment of siezure is imposed withOUT any finding of guilt by jury or judge. In addition, Oakland, who lax record keeping of the result of this initial law led to it's discontinuance, has reportedly siezed 25 cars since 2002, but since has further enacted an ordinace that merely watching a 'sideshow crime' is punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $1000 fine, with other CA cities expected to follow suit. This is amended law Section # 23109.2 of the Vehicle Code, which covers offenses including: > a motor vehicle speed contest (racing) > reckless driving on a highway > reckless driving in an off-street parking facility > exhibition of speed on a highway The contention for opposers is that even screeching tires can be considered 'reckless driving', and this would be punishable to the same degree of penalty that highway racing is. Thing is, the bill is expected to pass the Assembly, and if approved by Schwarzenegger, would immediately become law under "emergency" legislative procedures. As if mudslides and earthquakes weren't enough to worry about.

There's only so many crayons in the box, fggr. Carmakers have been shuffling the same colors around since Day 1. I cannot fathom a color used so recently as '94 that is currently completely intolerable.

Design may (or may not) work better in person; depth of field and proportion change with viewing angles, but colors are colors, and their awful juxtapositioning here will not change from pics to in-person viewpoints. The interior is not so much dated as having obvious cheap bits and a terribly poor design sensibility.

>>"No I am not kidding! That interior is 10x better then any piece of sh*t that GM puts out now. Take off your rose colored glasses and realized that the american car companies are crap. They are making improvements but the foreign cars will always out do the americans."<< ...waits for 10 or 20 wink smilies to load..... ...still waiting...

The MKR concept was pure poetry, gorgeous. It's what Lincoln needs. In comparison, this MKS (from pics) is a huge letdown, but compared to much of it's intended segment, it's seems quite capable. It's not going to shake things up, tho. Has Lincoln called the MKS it's 'flagship', or is it assumedly so due to it's position in the marque?

No love for Winn Dixie's, Fly?

Diesels, at least with the 6.6, maybe a wash due to the current/recent price differences in gas vs. diesel- currently roughly 30 cents in my area. In evaluating a potential job an hour one-way from me, it would save me $48/month to drive my 16-MPG gas truck vs. my 17-MPG diesel truck. The 4.5's numbers, of course, remain to be seen. The 6.6 loafs so much it's numbers are very good- would the need for more pedal in a 4.5 offset it's inherantly better numbers due to less displacement? This is going to be a highly watched/anticipated motor, IMO.

Out of your year range, but here it is anyway: '04 Silvie 2500HD Crew Cab short bed 4x4 DuraMax - around town: 17+, recent highway trip : 19.2 99% of the time it's in 2WD, 3.73 gears, 5-spd Alison

>>"How did Toyota go from paragon to pariah so quickly? "<< Simple; they never were a 'green' company- as usual, the media overhyped the prius and broad-brushed the company with that perception, when in fact toyo is no different than all other full-line manufacturers- driven by profit, not an environmental consciousness. Now than gas/oil/energy costs is so much in the forefront, along with ever-increasing attention to the environment, that perception is being shredded by the Cheese Grater of Reality.

Again- the name will add to the value in the future if it has a tangibility; doesn't sound like in this case it signifies much of anything at all. And there's no rub-off from the concepts whatsoever; too old & obscure (1963, 1972). I still am convinced it will not add any more than 15% 20 years from now.

Yeah, a badge package- not worthy of the name there, either, IMO. Give me the Silver Arrow I or III anyday- those are worth tons more than their standard production brothers.

Sorry- I cannot agree on the "double" estimation- for an apples-to-apples car comparison, I would say the price difference would be more like 10% over a non-SA Riv. These are just not yet big collectibles where packages will spurn big price jumps. What exactly does a SA include over a standard Riv?

>>"Is it the American thing, Dad? Because the tundra is built right here in America, by people who build things that way you do, Dad."<< Yeah. Is toyo going to back off the 'American' slant, now, so it can point a trembling, shameful finger?

0-60 in nearly 10 seconds ??

Lot of color 'disharmony' to my eye: the off-white sides of the console overlapping the flat black of the upper dash, that 'surfboard' of wood extending to the right with none to the left, the off-white A-Pillar against the black of the dash & window frame... makes the interior look very cobbled together. Other details look quite cheap (door handle & glovebox latch shared with $15K cars, window switch surround, obvious pass ABS cutline, 'glued-on' look of the center HVA/C vents, etc). This is supposedly an aspirational, head-of-class, expensive interior. I don't see it.

Wagoner was on --IIRC-- Squawkbox this morning. Did he have a mini-stroke at some point?; he often talks out of the right side of his mouth and he was blinking every 2-3 seconds. Anyway, he said the same as above- car-operations profit of $122M, the $xB was a non-cash charge. He also said GM car operations have been profitable all year (again; IIRC), and that was expected to continue in the near future. Granted, it's not a huge profit, but it's far better than running in the red there. With the recent profitablility in c.o., the ramp-up of the recent UAW contract, better operating fundamentals ($9B in reduced expenditures, reduced inventories) and with the future product pipeleine in mind, he was (naturally) quite bullish on the near future for GM.

If the alternative is the clunky, Fisher-Price, un-aerodynamic, 'Mitten-Friendly' door handle hoops most vehicles are plagued with these days, shave 'em !!! Most driver's are all too happy to not have to use a key to unlock, use force to close the trunk or use a crank to open the window...; relegating door opening to a button likewise seems right in step with where things are irrevocably going.

>>"...you can never quite shake the impression that there are three too many gears in the box."<< I did NOT just read that, did I ??

Dodge's Cummins inline 6 diesel was putting out 325 HP 4 years ago. As a production engine.