Northstar

I agree they should make helmets mandatory. If seatbelts are mandatory, then helmets definetly should be; I'd rather get in a wreck in a car without my seatbelt on than get thrown off a motorcycle without a helmet. BTW, I found it funny that Roethlisberger said he didn't buy motorcycles to go fast on, yet he bought a Suzuki that Suzuki claims is the "world's fastest street legal bike" and I also found it funny that Suzuki claims it's their safest bike as well. What makes one bike safer than another? Last I checked your body is unprotected on all motorcylces, so I fail to see how one is safer than another, much less safe at all.

I see what your saying now, and I agree. What threw me off was the part about it "drives" more like a coupe... I intrepreted that to mean the handling/steering was somehow more "coupelike" and didn't understand what that meant.

As for the article, Flint does make some good points, but GM doesn't necessarily need Pontiac to sell in the numbers it used to so long as GM as a whole sells in as big or bigger numbers. How is it a shift in strategy? As far as I'm concerned, Pontiac's startegy was always (at least advertised as) being the sporty division from GM. I don't think the strategy is really changing, it's how that strategy is being executed. For starters, an auto division cannot survive today without offering trucks, such as sport utility vehicles and minivans. Wrong. I'm pretty sure Toyota would do okay only selling cars, even if trucks are still important to them. Same thing for Honda. Prior to the Pilot, Honda was the CR-V and cars, and they did perfectly fine. If Pontiac accomplishes what GM wants it to accomplish, then obviously it will survive. Flint should have said an auto company cannot survive without trucks. Toyota has a division without trucks that's doing well: Scion. Umm, that leaves Buick as the upscale division above Pontiac, with a FWD LaCrosse and RWD Lucerne. The LaCrosse would be for the ES350 type, while the Lucerne targets people who want a lot of room and smooth, less sporty ride, something that Pontiac wouldn't offer. Is it just me or is this a bit contradictory? If the secret to success is making cars that consumers want to buy, and Pontiac builds cars that consumers want to buy, what's the problem again? Before Flint claimed that not automotive division could survive without trucks, but if they're just a marketing arm of a division (BPG) that sells trucks, why does it matter? Rear drive is not going to save Pontiac without proper execution, but front drive isn't going to save it even if the cars are great. There's no reason for Camcord owners to buy a G6, so why not give other people a reason to buy a G6 (even if they aren't Camcord buyers) by making it RWD, something that no one else offers and some people really want?

How does it drive more like a coupe? What does a coupe drive like? Sportier?

I couldn't agree more, and this is why I see no need for Saab in the GM line. If it is kept to only the 9-3 and 9-5 I won't whine too much, but Saab SHOULD NOT be expanded until it can prove there are the seeminly endless amount of people that want a Saab as GM seems to think there are Rather than giving Saab a Kappa, give Chevy the Nomad. There's an extra 75k sales rather than 15-20k. Rather than spending money on a 30-40k/year 9-2, give the Cobalt better materials and make be at the top of its class. There are a lot more sales that the Cobalt can conquest if it's class-leading than a 9-2 could ever hope to garner. Rather than giving Saab the 9-4, give it to Buick. It would be the perfect replacement for the Rendezvous, which was really just a 5-seater in most cases anyways. And finally, rather than giving Saab a 9-6, spend the money on making the Chevy Lambda better. I will expand on this later.

That pricing seems pretty good. It's funny that the Aura XR starts at $24,595 with the 3.6L HF V6 and brand-new 6-speed auto while GM still commands $23,490 for the Malibu SS with far fewer features and the less sofisticated engine and tranny and asks $23,690 for a base G6 GTP that is inferior for the same reasons as the Malibu SS. I'd bet that once you get the same features on a SS or GTP they're just as expensive as the Aura and have far fewer features.

Congrats, BV! Glad to see you finally got into a pretty nice car.

http://img234.imageshack.us/img234/3633/silvyblack7wr.jpg

Sounds good, NOS. Black isn't my favorite color on the Cobalt (red, blue, silver), but whatever floats your boat is fine!

My dad's MAXX has been very reliable except for the steering column recall, but I don't think the '05s have that problem. He likes it pretty well but then again he isn't a car guy. I think he gets like 24 MPG on average and that's mostly city driving, so it's pretty economical. I've driven it a few times and it's pretty nice, though I found the radio to be confusing at times and the HVAC controls feel pretty cheap. All in all it's good reliable transportation that would be good for hauling around a baby and can haul a good amount of cargo with the rear seats folded.

So how did the test drive go?

That new autospies pic looks better, but I still say it would look sharp with the hood closed.

At first glance I thought it was weird, but I looked at it in more detail and it actually is a pretty good design, IMO. I like the big fender buldges, and I think the front only looks weird because of the big gap made because the hood is open. If it was closed I think it would look sharp. The rear is not so good, but that's much less important. One thing is for sure, it will look bad ass in black.

I've seen a black one and a white one. Black is far better. If it had a really good interior it would be unbeatable, but the TB's interior is average at best.

I was speaking with one of the managers at the dealership, and he was talking about the GTO since I have one. He said he thinks if GM had named it something other than GTO it would have done a lot better, and I agree. He said that everyone expected it to look like an old GTO, even though he didn't agree with that (he said it's not 1965 anymore), and that's why everyone was turned off by the looks. I think that sums it up pretty well right there.

2007 is a long ways away, but it sounds like it will be good!

I don't know where all we're stopping but I know we have quite a few stops.

They won't be able to give buyers the whole package a BMW delievers because it would be too expensive, but there's no reason Pontiac can't have the best-driving mainstream vehicles. There are plenty of people who would love to have a car drive as well as a BMW, but don't really care if it's luxurious and don't want/can't afford to pay for it. Look at where BMW started, think 2002. That's where Pontiac should aim for. Unless I'm terribly mistaken, BMW's didn't start out being luxury machines, just ultimate driving machines.

It's a Carnival ship. I plan on playing poker and stealing the drunk folks' money legally.

I'm leaving tomorrow at 4:30AM for the airport to get on a plane to go to Miami where I will stay for a day and then get on a cruise ship to cruise around the Bahamas and other areas. Just thought I should let everyone know why I will probably not be here much from tomorrow until June 11.

The regular Vette really isn't fit to handle all the power of the LS7, which is why there isn't a mid-level offering. There really wouldn't be much reason to buy the proposed 427 Corvette because it wouldn't be much cheaper than the Z06 most likely.

The interior looks a lot different than the Silverado's unless the HDs get different interiors too. It also looks similar to the Yukon interior, but it's hard to tell. Maybe the Sierra is going for the more luxurious interior while the Silverado stays focused on being a 'work truck'?

Well that may be, but I still say it is going to cost them sales. Not everyone wants to pay an extra $2k+ for NAV so that they can get the DVD player.

A yellow GTO with the license plate "IBFLYN 6."

It can't be too much longer, the 2006 Product info came out Aug 1 last year, and they should start building '07s pretty soon (they have already started '07 CTSs).