ponchoman49

Other than the high performance 3.6 and inclusion of the 3.6 this car screams rental queen to me with it's ultra bland styling, numerous compromises and lack of features compared to even the lowest entry level models from abroad. And losing interior space despite a 6 inch longer wheelbase cements this cars low ranking in upcoming comparisons. Also what sense does it make to put a nice retro interior in such a bland genric looking sedan. They should have saved it for the upcoming Impala which hopefully will have more interesting sheetmetal.

Toyota- moving apart.

OMG a bodyside molding! I thought those were outlawed with every new car design. Must be Toyota is sick of all the complaints from consumers hense the $195.00 option on all Camry and Avalon models built after October. Too bad they grafted on the Miss Piggy grille from the Camry.

Just as SUV's were a fad of the 90's!

Toyota needs to fire Miss Piggy from there design studios before I will ever take there current products seriously.

The LaCrosse may have a few issues but at least it looks more flashy and impressive going down the road than many of the dull boring blob sedans introduced within the last couple of years(Camry). Sure the grille and headlights were not done quite right and the 4 speed auto is very dated, we all know that. After driving extensively in a 2007 Impala, I couldn't wait to transition to the far more comfortable seats in the LaCrosse for instants. Plus the Lacrosse avoids some of the issues I had with the Impala such as lack of glove box light, hard dash plastic, no floor shift indicators and dual rear map pockets on the seat backs, the 2007 Impala LT had only one shallow pocket. I did however like the Impalas 3500 better overall because it got better mileage, revved to 6200 rpms and felt a tad quicker, 7.8 seconds to be precise. Lets wait and see what changes have been made on the Super version before panning it. Besides if the next gen LaCrosse is anything like the 2008 Malibu with it's plain looks like everything else exterior, smaller interior dimensions and poor fuel economy and odd taillights, then I will be highly unimpressed.

I wrote Chevy some feedback on the new Malibu. I commented that the side styling is a bit too dull looking and that a bodyside molding should be at the very least an option to help protect from door dings. I also commented that the tail lights need to be redone and made more like a Cobalt coupes. The 3.6 V6's dismal 26 mpg highway rating was also discussed as was the 2.4 Ecotec's loss of 11 hp compared to many 2007 versions of this engine. The lack of a rear seat center armrest is unforgivable seeing as how they let this slide on the G6, previous gen Malibu and the new Aura and now this! Is it my imagination or is the 2008 Malibus only real gain is V6 hp over the previous version, styling aside. I was expecting a much better effert than what is shown here from all the talk from the dealers when they previewed this car last year.

With LESS interior room, despite being on a longer wheelbase, goofy looking taillights, LESS 2.4 hp than last years models, no bluetooth or Nav, no bodyside protective moldings, generic looks like everything else side styling, ONLY 26 mpg with the one V6 option and lower power figures than the new Camry, Altima and probably 2008 Accord, I find this car very lacklustre! Why didn't they just take the current car and graft on the new front end, trademark round taillights and put a new interior in it. That at least would have kept the greater interior dimensions, better highway mileage, more distinctive looks and classy side trim and chrome accents of the current version. This car needs to go back to the drawing board RIGHT AWAY!!!! It's a classic case of one step forward and two steps back!

Highs: direct injection 300 hp V6, 6 speed transmission, some interior elements look classy, bold new front end, lots of gizmos for the kids Lows: generic side styling that looks like everything else, looks too much like a shrunken STS, some interior bits look like a 20K Chrysler Sebring Summary: fairly impressive new entry with lots of technical prowess but can't we move away from the plain generic slab side styling!

While they may not be drop dead gorgeous, what minivan is, these somehow manage to look more upscale and have a pretty impressive feature list plus that new 4.0 V6 and 6 speed auto which should give these a much needed power boost. Kudos for Chrysler for not dishing out a boring slab sided jelly bean with no trim or style. These should do pretty well. It's sad but I look at these as better efforts than the 2008 Malibu!

They had better not give it bland slab sided looks or make it look like 90% of the other sedans on the market or it will flop like the GTO.

The good: front end treatment is distinctive, wider use of 6 speed automatic transmissions, use of the 3.6 as the only V6 option, interor much better than the current car. The bad: No blue tooth, no nav, no keyless start already make this car uncompetitive, dull generic looking exterior copies too many other sedans on the road, rear end is very odd, no bodyside moldings or character lines make the side very dull, doesn't look like a Chevrolet which some may find good but I find annoying. Why the loss of 11 hp on the 2.4 compared to other Chevy models? I give this one a 50/50. They got the V6/6 speed transmission and interior right but somehow really flubbed up the exterior(except the front end) IMO. And how does the Ecotec lose 11 HP? It's sad that even a Kia Optima has better looking exterior styling and a 5 speed automatic paired with the base 4 cylinder, even on base stripper models. Overall I find the Aura a much better effert on the styling front.

It looks just like the current car with the bodyside moldings removed. Big deal!

The new Tundra IS a 2007 model! Remember how Toyota cheated the system by calling it a 2007 to avoid the new fuel economy regulations. I think they may have outwitted even themselves in this sillyness. How is Motor Trend going to call the "all new 2007 Tundra introduced in Feb of 2007 Motor trends 2008 truck of the Year? Nice to see that even Gods make mistakes!

I am a bit underwhelmed so far with what I have seen. Hardly a car to drool over. The front end looks interesting and thanfully different than a bland pigish Camry or sterile Accord but it looks as though GM has blandified the side of the car with the same exact slab sided look that everything from a Camry to a Avalon to every BMW seems to be shoving down our throats. All these new cars without a side protective strip will look ok for the first few weeks, that is until the wife takes the car to a store and comes home with a lot full of door jams. If the current Malibu can have this then why not the new one. I swear these idiot car companies must be in cahoots with Dent Doctor!

This is one of those GM cars that I want to really like but after spending time with a few rentals have some reservations. Many GMisims surfaced there ugly heads but there were some surprises too. The things that annoy me are the rock hard seats, lack of shift indicators on the floor console, no glovebox light, having to pay extra for split folding rear seats on both LS and LT models and the noise of the V6 engines. Lack of the previously available dark blue interior really sucked as does the reduction in hp for the 2007 3900 and cost cutting by eliminating the drivers side rear seat map pocket for the lower end 07 versions. Carping aside, I did like the ride and handling compromise, front seat room and trunk space and both the 3500 and 3900 provide plenty of power(especially the 2006 version of the 3900). The LT3-3900 provides the best value in this line.

Just wish they could have squeezed 6 more ponies out of it to shut the Toyota RAV4 lovers up. Otherwise it looks good.

It looks like they shrunk a Charger body and slapped it over the front drive mess Chrysler calls the Sebring.

The Camry Hybrid is the family car that doesn't let you take along the family luggage. 10.6 cu.ft trunk! Thats pathetic for a car of this size even with the hybrid crap back there. His annoyance with the tiny buttons and not so smooth drivetrain were interesting.

Oh look it's a Nissan Versa with a Kia front end slapped on. Sad to see even Kia is following the terrible bland ugly styling theses from the Asians.

Yes, it looks like in my quick typing I didn't quite word things the way I should have. Indeed the 1991 version of the (L27) 3800 had tuned port injection with the snake runners but were rated at 170 hp and 220 torque. This engine debuted on the new 1991 redesigned Park Ave, 98, Toronado, Riviera/Reatta and of course the Regal Sedan. The 1991 88/LeSabre still used the old 165 hp version of the 3800 and in 1992 got the Tuned port motor without EGR valve which caused some big time headaches. In 1993 this engine was revised with a different intake and gained 5 lbs ft of torque to 225. I have some original Buick showroom catalogs that confirm this. I have yet to see a tuned port motor in any 1990 Riv or Toronado but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. I also could swear to have seen some late in the model run 1990 Regal sedans with 3800 tuned ports in garages for repair so this engine may have found it's way into the Toros and Rivs in that year. One thing is for certain, Buick really spent a lot of time developing this motor in the late 80's and throughtout the 90's but seemed to have given up for the new Millenium. One has to wonder why?

It looks more Toyota this time around than the last version which is not a good thing!

The interior is nice but the exterior to me already looks dated. The been there done that slab side look has been done to death by most every Asian manfacturer and is being copied by everything from Ford to Audi. If this car does hopefully come to our shores in NA, I do hope that GM will make it look a bit more distinctive, add some side trim, give it bolder grilles and head lights and of course those neat circle taillights that make the Cobalt look neat.

This car had better have the goods to fully compete with the ever tiresome Accord and Camry. Things like floor shift indicators, glove box lights, rear seat armrests on all models along with split bench, DOHC power plants with 6 speed automatics, powerful base engine with at least 175 hp and a large trunk. Build quality of course needs to be perfect and for all the kids, integrated dashes, blue tooth and Navigation will have to be available. Can't wait to see the finished product next month!