Petra

"Surprising and upscale interior"? Yeah, right, Toyota. That interior is about as "Upscale" as a trailer park. Nothing says "Cheap car" to me like a big, flat expanse of black-grey plastic for me to stare at all day. And when the sun hits it... Arrrgh! You're whole dashboard is one big glare! Besides the dash, there are other atrocities. That stereo faceplate looks like the same one Toyota has been using since, what, 1997 or so? Get with the times! And the faux-aluminum trim screams "Cheezy!!!" to me. Like nobody's gonna know it's spray painted, injection-moulded plastic! In about 20 years, we're going to look back on this crap the same way we look at faux wood trim right now. Also, the HVAC controls are an ergonomic nightmare. Not only do they look wacky, but anybody who buys one of these with a stickshift is going to be constantly plowing their fist into that stupid stack (unless this car has incredibly short throws, but I doubt it). Save the unconventional crap for SCION, Toyota. It will be interesting to see what else Toyota comes up with. The rumor was that Toyota was planning two replacements for the ECHO, one more conventional than the ECHO, the other yet more outlandish. I hope the Yaris is the outlandish one.

My Mercury with a Supercharger. You wouldn't even know what hit you. Interestingly enough, Supercharger kits are available for Panther cars. I wouldn't do it, though, because, 1: I don't have the technical know-how, 2: I don't want to decrease my reliability and fuel economy, and, 3: I'm just too darn poor to afford it. Supercharging isn't exactly a "bolt-on"; it requires a switch to a 3.55 or higher rear end gear, more advanced cooling systems for the vital parts, and a host of other upgrades. It could probably be done for less than $10,000 (including the cost of buying an old Cop car, which would have the 3.55 gears), a relative bargain for such a powerful car, but I don't have anywhere near that much money. :(

160 kilowats = 215 (mechanical) to 218 (metric) horsepower 510 Nm = 376 foot-pounds of torque

I'm as good as 18; I'll be 18 in one month. Speaking of music, this site will show you what song was #1 in the U.K or the U.S the day you were born. Mine were "Didn’t We Almost Have It All" - Whitney Houston (U.S) and "Pump Up The Volume" - MARRS (U.K).

I went to the Warped Tour, too. In fact, I wrote a big freakin' long blog about it, which you can read by clicking the following link, if you're so inclined: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...=20050827094229

I guess it does sort of have a "European" look; the styling looks somewhat similar to Euro subcompacts, especially from behind. But, yeah, like everybody else said, I think the grey plastic is gross. The last one looked so much nicer and cleaner! This one? Not so much. Oh, and that is the definition of "Spartan interior". You get what you pay when all you're paying is $10,000.

That guitar was called the Squier Super-Sonic. They were only made for a couple years in the late '90's, and they're pretty rare. I'd love to have one. There's more info here: http://squiersupersonic.co.uk/history.htm I agree. It takes a special kind of car to look good in orange, and a gutsy automaker to attempt it. I love that copper colour that Nissan uses... Really sharp!

"Many of you feel sorry for this lamp. That is because you are crazy." I miss Chief, too, though he kinda dissapeared for a long while before the crash.

This isn't a car, but I think it's one of the coolest paint schemes I've ever seen. Doesn't hurt that I like the guitar, too:

I miss AH-HA.

The Saturn/SAAB/Izuzu conglomerate. I wouldn't even think twice about it.

Japan's relationship with the U.S is symbiotic. They need us as much as we need them, perhaps even more. For example, don't think for a second that, if U.S naval forces pulled out of Japan, China would hesitate to blow Japan off the map. Perhaps more to the point: what do you think would happen to the Japanese economy is we suddenly banned or put high tariffs on all their imports? Of course Toyota wants to succeed in America. It's only, you know, THE BIGGEST CAR MARKET IN THE WORLD!!! If you owned a successful business with the chance to expand to a much bigger market with much higher demand, would you let that opportunity go? Not bloody likely. While Toyota does have a bit of arrogance among their ranks, it isn't really their fault that their products have developed a sheep-like following in the U.S. They build good products, the press starts giving them good reviews, people start buying their products and never find a reason to look outside of Toyota again. Before Toyota came, it was exactly the same way: You bought a Ford or a Chevy or a Dodge, and, from that day forward, you were a Ford or a Chevy or a Dodge person. It didn't matter that Chrysler offered a sophisticated push-button transmission, because you were a Buick man. There was no need to even think about Chryslers. You wanna make the world a better place? Start educating people to not to be so foolishly loyal and to look at the alternatives. It's the only way. Can the Japanese be arrogant, and ignorant of their past? Yes... But so can anyone. And, frankly, I don't see what how that 60 year-old wartime quote is remotely relevant today. It was obviously put into that article for dramatic effect, just like a plot twist in a sitcom. Are there people in Japan who think America is the enemy? Probably. Are there people in Japan who dislike America(ns)? Definetely. But they're not in the majority, and they realize America are a neccessary evil. Remember this, C&G readers: When you give up your discernment to be a critic of GM, you're no better than any Import fanboy. And I, for one, won't bother reading your posts.

Does this mean we can use those little gravel cop hideouts that go in between divided freeways, like the 402? :D I hope they do sell some cop cars, though. Petra needs a new exhaust system (yeah, that too!), and I'd like to get Police-spec dual exhausts if I can.

Now this is some great news. This is the sort of stuff we need to see GM doing more often: Acting rather than re-acting, thus delivering a competitive product before it is outclassed. Bravo, GM & Ford! :cheers:

Factory horsepower figures are always recorded at the flywheel. Dynometers record the amount of power that is transmitted to the ground. The Dyno number is lower because, in between the flywheel and the tires, there are a number of mechanical pieces that drain power (transmission, torque converter, etc.). All automakers do this.

...I hope that these "other innovations" include higher quality powertrain components. But, somehow, I doubt it.

Well, I do have some stop & go driving when I do my Pizza delieveries, but I live in a rural area, so I have a lot of highway driving, too. I'd say that I probably drive 10-15 miles on the open road for every 5 miles I drive in town.

Curse you 'andsome devils!

"Hey, anybody want a Mazda RX-8, reeeeeeeeeeeal cheap?" :D I wouldn't be surprised if that happened in London. I know there's a place somewhere in that city where GM builds vehicles for the military.

Seems to me we had this topic not so long ago in the old forums. Ah, well. :CG_all: I'm currently listening to "Black History Month" by Death From Above 1979. Can't get enough of that song. FYI, the title is meant to be a double entendre... they're not racists or anything.

Meh... I just bookmarked the new address for the time being.

I don't follow you. How are they not scheduled? I mean, sure, a car that gets driven 30,000 miles a year will need to have its oil changed more frequently than a car that gets driven 20,000 miles a year. That's why they put both a date and a 3,000 mile interval on the window sticker... whichever comes first. But, yeah, I think I will wait it out. From what I've read here and elsewhere, the car should be fine, it just won't deliever peak performance. I can deal with that.

True. Chrysler's minivan platform dates back to 1996. The only major change it has had in the last 9 years was when they changed the the chassis a bit to accomidate Stow 'N Go. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same mechanicals from the mid '90's. And, if you know anything about Chrysler vans, you'll know that those mechanicals aren't very reliable. For their next-generation of minivans, I hope Chrysler decides not to mess around the with chassis a lot (they've got it down pretty good), but, instead, focus on delievering a higher quality powertrain with more guts. I would suggest keeping the current lineup of 3.3L. and 3.8L. V6s, but hooking them up to the new 5-Speed Automatic transmission. These are good engines, but the 4-Speed, 42LE transmission is a power-draining, unreliable P.O.S (trust me, I know from personal experience). The 3.5L. V6 could appear as an uplevel engine. The 2.8L. Diesel from the Liberty would be great, too, but it isn't produced in large enough numbers.

Thanks for the info, guys. You guessed correctly, rkmdogs... I'm not exactly mechanically inclined, but my brother is. Interestingly enough, I'm now more worried about the belt than the spark plugs! The question still persists, though: I've got about 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) until my next oil change... Should I bring it in now, or wait?

Remember: Bernhard and Zetsche have a history. I'm really not surprised by this at all; it's just another corprate, "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" deal.