pow

If people didn't know they are corporate US GM pieces, they'd probably view the new radio interface as an improvement, truer to the Saab philosophy.

The most efficient one (and the sole GM car) gets 21/31 on gasoline and 16/24 on E85, which is still rather thirsty and expensive. Now imagine a Cobalt BAS hybrid that gets, say, 32/38 on gas or 24/29 on E85.

GM's E85 efforts are clearly being noticed, so much that even my biology teacher, who's this uber-liberal granola woman in her sixties, started talking about an Avalanche ad excitedly: "Wow, have you seen it?! I've always wanted a cute little truck; gosh, I'm going to buy one right away when we get an ethanol station. Are Chevy cars any good? They are? Good, as long as they're not Fords. I once nearly burned in a Ford...." and so on. I refrained from breaking the news to her, that the Avalanche is hardly "cute" or "little", and that it gets 11 MPG city on E85. I can only imagine the disappointment when she and millions of other consumers find out. At the moment, the ads only mislead the sort of people who are interested in the ads in the first place. So my question is, why doesn't GM produce any fuel-efficient FlexFuel vehicles for the environmentally conscious? Switching to alternative fuels is great, but focus should also be on reducing consumption, because even the water vapor coming out of a hydrogen vehicle is a greenhouse gas. An Avalanche running on E85 still burns 205 gallons of foreign-sourced gasoline into the atmosphere annually, in addition to 1160 gallons of ethanol. I don't think that's what my biology teacher was expecting. And spreading agriculture, as would be required to run more cars on E85, is always destructive to ecosystems. GM does not offer a vehicle for people who want to consume as little fuel and emit as few emissions as possible. They can change this by offering a FlexFuel Cobalt, HHR, or VUE, coupled to GM's BAS start-stop system. GM should offer compelling reasons for people to switch over from their unneccesarily gas-guzzling SUVs into smaller, more efficient cars. What do you think? Why isn't this happening now, if all it takes are new fuel lines and some programming?

They're crazy for not sending over the Swift here. It'd compete well against the Yaris and Fit.

Yes, surprisingly.

If it's the zymol Target-special you're talking about, no, because it's a cleaner/wax. The zymol will strip off anything underneath, and plus, Zaino is a lot more durable and offers more protection.

It's Golf + Touareg + Sorento, the interior.

Everyone knows that the CTS does compete with those vehicles... even Cadillac says so in their website comparisons.

Exactly. What Toyota does is put the "3.6" into all their cars, even the bread and butter Wal Mart versions. By '08, all Toyota V-6 passenger cars will be getting the new, 268-272 hp 3.5.

Yeah, I know, it's gorgeous. It's definitely my favorite minivan.

The last minivan that tried to be stylish was the Quest, and look at how "well" that did.

Clearly, you've missed the memo... http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...?showtopic=8869

Interesting... personally, I like the Outlook exterior and prefer it to the upcoming Opel Antara/VUE. I find the Outlook's interior ordinary, however, on par with the Kia Sorento, maybe.

Cool car... it's probably the best and most relevant car GM has introduced recently.

I like it more... the matte poplar (?) wood and leather wrapped (contrast stitched) handbrake/grab handle are great.

Oh, by the way, the Camaro concept is retro, too, just to a lesser degree than the Challenger. An evolutionary Camaro would be one that continues off the F-body. Think Corvette, C5 v. C6.

Yeah, 25 MPG city...

Yah shooor? Now this on the other hand, sure... ret·ro - Involving, relating to, or reminiscent of things past; retrospective: “As is often the case in retro fashion, historical accuracy is somewhat beside the point” (New York Times).

CTS 3.6 Sport = $35,570 + $720 (destination) + $2,995 (navigation) + $1,200 (automatic) + $1,200 (sunroof) = $41,685

18's, too, from the factory:

Cross out Enclave and insert Outlook, IMO.

It'll look good in brushed aluminum.

Same with C&D... I really like the 18" sport package grille design... not crazy about the body-coloring, though.

I agree... Santa Monica seems interesting to me. I went to the Ashes and Snow exhibition on SaMo pier Mother's Day, and the city seemed interesting enough, in a busy, lots-of-stores sort of way.