A Horse With No Name

But for those of us who want a premium, performance oriented small car its a great choice. Chris

The whole vehicle seems to have a very high quality feel to it. Like I said, this is when I knew GM was coming "back" Chris

Beautiful! Chris

In its own way, the SSR was a nice product. It just kinda missed the market. Too heavy, too fuel inefficient, and not a real truck. I didn't like them at all when they first came out, but they ahve grown on me over time. One of our local Chevrolet dealers, BobMcDorman Chevrolet, has a couple of the first 10 SSR's built, and IIRC they both are purple or dark blue. It's been a few years since I've seen them. This (SSR) was one of the first vehicles that convinced me GM might really be on the right track, because once I got over my initial dislike of the SSR I began to see that it was built to a really decently high standard of fit and finish, and that GM had put a lot of passion into it. My fav. SSR moment is the GM ad where they run the SSR up onto the car carrier backwards after doing a 180. Chris

God will smite you...but only if you don't buy a Jesus thong. Chris

...the BMW, the Impreza, and the Pontiac are all wildly different cars. I'd love to have an old BMW 2002 for vintage racing, a WRX for Rallycross, and a Pontiac G8 for a family car. Right now I can't afford any of the above, but the point I think is clear-each car has to stand or fall on its own merits. And while I obvoisly have no hesitation at having a subie or bimmer in the garage, I think the G8 is the coolest of the bunch. Unless SMK can point to some real fault in the G8, I think my earlier point is still valid-people usually bash cars over the internet because they can't afford them. Just my two cents. Chris/66

Sounds like it could be a clutch slave cyl. or clutch master cyl. Good luck, and keep us posted! Chris

Oh, and at some point the car just becomes that muich better than its driver. Probably less than 1% of Pontiac or BMW owners can drive them at 85% of their capacity, much less 95%. The real cool part of the G8 is the musclecar essence that it conveys. LIke I said before, to me it really recalls some of the cars I really loved as a boy and haven't seen around in forever. Chris

Speed is only one comparison. For 40K it is a really decent new car...I doubt anyone driving it under real world conditions will be anything less than thrilled with the car. But smk, if you really want to spend 85k for a new BMW to go as fast as a 40K Pontiac, I am not going to stop you. That it's selling 1000 units a month in this market is really good. Almost all other "pure"perfromance cars are running 250-500 units a month. RX-8, Miata, Solstice, Sky, S2000, whatever...not selling well at all. Give Pontiac time, they'll be "back" Chris

Warning-Rabbit Trail- gm4life, I am quickly thinking Cobalt SS/TC would be an even nicer "next" car than a MINI. Going to ask a question in the Chevrolet forum to see if I can find an answer, but the new Cobalt SS has a warranty that covers autocrossing and track days. That was my biggest "arguement" for buying an older Cobalt, because usually once the carmaker finds out that you've used their product for high performance/competion use, they void your warranty. MINI does, it, Mitsu does it, Honda does it, Nissan does it, Ford does it, etc. But Chevrolet supposedly (according to several sources, including some friends of mine in the SCCA in the know) say that Chevrolet is so confident in the Turbocharged Cobalt that warranty coverage continues even if the car is used for autocross/track use. But on a personal note, I still like the idea of a Firebird or Camaro. We had a Michigan Vs. Ohio State party at my friend Steve's house, and his basement is done up with a pool table and a big screen in an automotive theme, relaly nicely with a lot of vintage stuff. He has a door cutout with a white "IROC" label on a dark blue door. One of his buddies was pulling the 350 from a wrecked IROC for a 32 Ford Street rod, and he saved that portion of the door skin. It made me think hard about a third gen Camaro. But a long rambling post to say...Cobalt SS/SC would be cool, Cobalt SS/TC would be even cooler, and there are IROC 3rd gen and Decent 4th gen cars out there for decent prices. What I really need is for the economy to stabalize so I can justify spending $ on another car. Oh, yeah...back on topic...the Prius still sucks. Chris

Get a lawyer at this point, maybe. I wonder what that clutch is going to cost...it won't be cheap. A Co worker needed a Clutch put in a Hyundai Tibron, it was going to be two grand, and he gave the car back to Hyundai motor credit. I LOVE VW products, but yeah, they can be tempermental. Chris

Scott, the guy at our Miata club autocrosses with the GT-3 Porsche, the Lutus Caterham 7, and three other Porsche's (968, 944, Cayenne) is the world's nicest guy. As is the father of the boy down the street, who owns a pristine 40,000 mile 70 Chevelle SS, about 5 Monte SS's, an Impala SS, and a pristine Fox Body GT Mustang. As are a lot of other people who own nice rides in the real world. Generally, people who feel a need to put everyone down and everything down don't own anything worth having. Just my observation, FWIW. Chris

Hey, my son and I would like to own a "special" car together and he's 15. Why don't you just sell him on the idea that this is a very special car that you'll enjoy together, mother and son. That might also be emotionally helpful to him with all of the crap divorce brings to a family. Chris

...and like I said before, now you need a Cobalt SS to go with it. (: (: (: I know that's not the plan, but to me I can't think of a better pair... Chris

I'm in lust over the MINI S. Why don't we just clone your S.O., Satty? While I'm married and too old to be her boyfriend I could probably adopt her (the clone) as my daughter. She has my kinda taste in cars. Chris

$1.47 at the station down the street... Chris

(Channeling SMK) The Chrome around the rear ashtra isn't up to BMW standards, and Pontiac really should have introduced this in 1957 alongside the Tripower Starfire convertible if it ever expected to keep up with Honda... (End Channeling) Chris

Let's see how much media attention this gets...sadly I'm betting just about none. Chris

We need to get people into the cars to experience just how good they are. Very few people that bash the Sosltice have ever driven one with an open mind. The G6 is a good car IMHO...I could see firming up the suspension and refreshing the interior a bit until GM had money to upgrade the whole product lineup. Chris

I had a similar (but older) era Cutlass when I was dating my wife. That car is a great car fr double dates, as another couple can ride very comfortably in the back seat. Chris

Actually it's tough times for the imports around here in Ohio. In Marysville Honda is shutting down a few days early for X-mas, and the local big Toyota dealer just laid off several people. We may be in for more of an automotive landslide than we thought. Chris

Actually, the French car is better looking. A little bit more agressive, which helps the design IMHO. Chris

Like I said in another thread...I really wish I had 40k to buy a car right now. Maybe like C5 Corvettes this car will be affordable in a few years. Chris

I love the interior on that car also....really miss the two tone interior from my 55 Chevy. The one B-59I have seen in the flesh had a two tone blue interior, which looked really good also. Chris

The Fit is laid out nicely and drives nicely. But if it were up to me, I'd rather have the Astra than the Fit. Although let's be honest, for the same money I could buy a very gently used supercharged Cobalt SS and a sticky set of Auto-X tires. I'll give you one good guess as to where my dinero would go. Chris