Z-06

3.08 will do just fine then. I think XFE is rated 7,000 lb for tow and maximum weight rating of 11,000 lb.

Nice pics. What year is your SAAB, C-Spec? Does it have the 250+/- hp engine?

Roger That Sir.

^^^^^^^

Go backs and checks - You is behind me.

I am jet lagged.

Congrats.

It is the only state that begins with New.

Good write up Chris. As always. I love reading your articles.

Sorry about your car CSpec. How is the new 5-speed treating you?

:useless:

Tank ya.

Good Sig My Turn? Patience is a Virtue.

Wow

Calamari is a tricky meat for preparation. As soon as squid is caught, you have to beat it down continuously and strongly to soften the meat, otherwise you end up having rubber-like consistency.

Celine Dion and Nickelback do not contribute to the economy anymore?

Nissan Sentra Toyota Yaris Hyundai Sonata Chevrolet Aveo All four are top notch in that respect.

I personally think that Buicks should be offered with Acura's strategy, not Cadillac. Because I do not see Buick selling in droves, it will create a niche between Chevy and Caddy and keep within it. Therefore fewer the options they are made with the more profit GM can garner from those vehicles. While Caddy should be a no hold bar for top of the line vehicles and those options are profit centers.

And 4. Up to a certain extent Union

FL-DMW publishes the following ckecklist, most of it is NS Sherlock: Exterior Checklist: Examine in daytime Examine in clear weather Check for nicks and scratches Check for thin, worn paint Check for big defects (costly) and not minor repairs General look around the outside of the car. Examine both sides of the car from a distance (both front and back). Look for ripples, waves, poorly fitted panels and mismatched colors. Look for dents or rust around the bottom of the doors and fenders. Check for bubbles along molding or chrome (indicates rust underneath). Look under the vehicle for rust Check for welding spots on the frame (serious accident or repairs). Open and close the doors, hood, trunk or hatchback. Stand back approximately 10 to 15 feet from the car and see if the car is level. Check the shocks by pushing down on each corner of the car and letting go. Check the tires (sidewall cracks, uneven tire wear, brake fluid leakage) Look under the car for: oil spots, or transmission fluid or power steering fluid or shock absorber fluid. Open the hood and check belts and hoses for cracks or wear. Radiator coolant should be a clean, greenish (or blue or yellow) color. Pull out the oil dipstick. Oil should not be gummy or grayish or smell burnt. Check automatic transmission fluid, should be clear and reddish. Check the fluid level in the master cylinder as well. Look inside the trunk for an inflated spare tire, a jack and a lug wrench. Interior Checklist Check the mileage Compare mileage on service stickers (door jamb/under hood) to the odometer reading. Check the condition of the seats, belts and carpeting. Check the windows to see if they open and close easily. Check the brake, accelerator and clutch -- should work smoothly, no strange noises. Check all exterior lights and flashers on the car Start the engine and check the warning lights and gauges Make certain that the air conditioning blows very cold air. Check the glove box for the owner's manual. Do not be afraid to take up the salespersons' time. Stay in control Do not let anyone talk you into buying a vehicle you do not want. Test Drive Checklist Drive the car on hills, highways and in stop-and-go traffic. Start the engine and press down on the brake. Listen for noises which could indicate engine problems. Put the car in neutral and rev the engine. Check for smoke from rear exhaust. Punch the gas pedal. Does engine respond without hesitation then return to normal? Check the lights on the control panels--be sure they all work. Does automatic transmission shift smoothly? Manual transmission should shift smoothly between gears without grinding. Clutch should engage and disengage smoothly without grabbing Drive in reverse Does car pull or vibrate when driving on a flat, smooth road? Do the brakes grab evenly and does the car slow down in a straight line? Drive at 35 miles per hour and listen for any unusual noises. Accelerate to 45 miles per hour, does the front end shake or vibrate? Drive quickly over a rough road and listen for any loud squeaks or rattles. Does the car bounce or bang over small bumps? Check the temperature gauge to see if it shows a high reading Accelerate hard on an empty road, does the car respond immediately? Try it again. Accelerate on a hill, does the car respond immediately? Cut off the engine. Then restart the engine -- does it restart easily? Check for leaks under the hood and beneath the car. Check the tailpipe. Are there any black, sooty oil deposits? Does the odometer mileage seem to match the physical condition of the car? <a name="20">Check odometer for scratches, misaligned digits, digits that stick.

To SMK with love:

First Drive: 2010 Cadillac CTS Sport Wagon Euro Dash: Who Needs a Luxury Crossover? [source: Motor Trend] August 16, 2009 By Todd Lassa Photography by David Freers If ever there were a car designed to test the marketing mettle of the New GM, this is it. In a sneak peek a few years back, Cadillac said the CTS Sport Wagon was designed to lead its assault on the European market, where BMW 5 Series Tourings and Mercedes-Benz E-Class wagons sell like luxury crossovers. Cadillac expected to sell just 4000 per year in the U.S., mostly to GM's own employees, like Bob Lutz, and the well-heeled enthusiast friends of automotive journalists. Finances have since put the brakes on the European foray. No more diesel program. No more right-hand-drive CTS. The Sport Wagon has to sell here on its own merits, which are considerable. Styling alone should make it a sales breakout. Cadillac has transformed perhaps the best-looking modern luxury sedan into the best-looking shooting brake. Its roof extends to a very fast D-pillar and power tailgate. The "finlike" taillamps are exaggerated into vertical light pipes that run nearly to the cargo roof rails. As with the CTS sedan, the Sport Wagon's tail ends in that signature Cadillac vee. It's not the most efficient use of station-wagon space. It's the sleek kind of styling that has defined the luxury wagons from BMW, Audi, and Alfa Romeo. And unlike those nine-passenger Ford Country Squires and Buick Estate Wagons of the target market's youth, the CTS Sport Wagon's rear window doesn't provide an exemplary outward view. Modern wagons need rollover protection, so a thick rear header intrudes into the cargo area, making the optional nav system's rear camera screen quite helpful. Like the German competition, the CTS' cargo area is a nicely finished combo of sumptuous carpeting and a chrome cargo-management system. Motivating 200 pounds more than the sedan, the optional 3.6-liter direct-injection V-6 provides plenty of power. It's hard to break the rear tires loose at launch, but the mid- to upper-rev ranges are strong. There's no reason to expect anything better than adequate power from the new 265-horsepower, 223 pound-foot 3.0-liter gas direct-injection V-6, which replaces the port-injected 3.6 as the base CTS engine. Both engines come standard with GM's six-speed automatic. The six-speed manual offered standard in the CTS sedan (which, by the way, has been redesignated Sport Sedan) is not available in the wagon. Cadillac estimates a 0-to-60-mph time of 6.9 seconds for a RWD 3.6-liter Sport Wagon. That's 0.6-second more than our time for a 3.6-liter direct-injection sedan. For the 2010 CTS lineup, all-wheel drive is an option with either engine. Generally, Cadillac ties equipment levels to the engine choice to create two price points. As with the old port-injection versus direct-injection 3.6-liter dichotomy, '10 CTSes with the new 3.0-liter will generally be moderately equipped while the 3.6-equipped models will more likely be full-boat. The Sport Wagon benefits from updates and upgrades Cadillac issued for the '10 CTS sedan. The maker revised the powertrain mounting for better refinement and noise, vibration, and harshness characteristics and tweaked the chassis tuning for a slightly softer ride. A new 19-inch wheel-and-tire option offsets the softer suspension settings. The 19-inch summer tires on our tester added grip while mostly maintaining the ride quality, although the tires are rather noisy and create some bump-thump over metro Detroit's harsher roads. The 19-inch summer tire option is available with rear drive only. Cadillac will add an all-season tire option and make it available with AWD next year. The summer 19s come only with the optional FE3 suspension package, sportiest of the three. The 3.0-liter comes with standard FE1 suspension tuning, and the FE2 package is standard with the 3.6-liter engine and optional on the 3.0-liter. Just like the sedan, the Sport Wagon's steering is precise and communicative, and the brakes feel positively German. This remains one of the best chassis packages in its class, which includes the 5 Series and E-Class, but at 3 Series/C-Class prices. The Sport Wagon's base price of $40,485 compares with a $37,385 base for the 2010 3.0-liter sedan (our fully loaded wagon stickers for $54,635). The difference in base price includes the wagon's standard automatic transmission, its split-folding rear seat and power adjustable tailgate - you can set it to raise to various heights to avoid crunching a low garage roof or to avoid raising out of the reach of a short operator. Cadillac says $1000 of the $3100 price bump is a premium for the wagon body style. Is it worth it? In its third model year, the Mark II Cadillac CTS sedan remains one of the great buys in its class. Choosing the wagon over the sedan is a question of personal taste and need for more luggage capacity. With the split rear-seat up, it has 25 cubic feet of cargo space, nearly double the sedan's 13 cubic feet. With the rear seats down, it's 3.0 feet shy, at 58 cubic feet, of the new-for-2010 SRX's maximum capacity of 61 cubic feet. If you yearn for an even sportier CTS body style, the coupe version launches about a year from now in regular V-6 form and as a 556-horsepower, supercharged V-8 CTS-v, simultaneously. What about a CTS-v Sport Wagon? Cadillac hasn't decided, though GM certainly will build at least one, for Bob Lutz. Problem is a wagon body is inherently less stiff than a coupe or sedan, so additional suspension countermeasures may be necessary. And there's the cost of building a very low-volume car. How many v versions would Cadillac build of a model that may sell as few as 4000 copies per year? Cadillac brass have backed off that old prediction and say they hope the Sport Wagon might account for 15 percent of CTS sales. Based on last year, a poor year for the auto industry, that would be nearly 9000 units. It could be more only if the CTS Sport Wagon breaks through the station-wagon stigma and convinces enough buyers that, as a luxury model, it has more going for it than a luxury crossover SUV. Because as good as that new '10 Cadillac SRX is, we know which $50,000 five-seat cargo-carrier we'd pick. We'd choose the car.

I am feeling the same way. It seems like a job unfinished. Something old GM would do.

Were they good or bad? Let us have a brainstorm on how to improve this website. Things were not same since Fly left (November 2007 to be exact), whole GM was in flux, elections did not help either. But now it is time to introspect and chime in. There is no other way than all the members especially the senior contributing members like you providing the vital input. Members made this site and members brought it down and it is time for members to bring it up again. Under Olds, we are committed to make this website better and in some ways regain its aura of fun and informative place it was a few months ago and achieve greater heights.

Good points! While we are at it, how can we change it? In someways we might have let ourselves down, but how can we put an effort in moving forward?