Northstar

Sometimes when I'm having a little fun and it shifts into third (which results in accleration slowing down) I tell it to hurry the hell up because it's so damn slow (of course it's going like 100 when that happens). The GTO could really use an extra gear. If the 4th gear was 1:1 instead of the 3rd, that'd kick ass.

The 300 has done well and I'm happy that the LX cars have done well - if they tanked, I don't think we'd be getting Zetas. However, I'm wondering how much of an increase the 300 has seen in fleet sales. When the 300s first came out, the only ones I ever saw were C's and were obviously not rental vehicles. Now, I'm seeing a lot more base-level rental cars than before with steel wheels and cheap-looking trim. Before, when I saw a 300, it was striking because they were almost always 300Cs, but now they look rather dumpy since most of them are base models with steelies and the C's blend right in because of them.

Well, if you don't want them to make any money in China then I guess you can kiss GM goodby, because last time I checked they haven't made money in North America in a long time. And I don't think $1.1 million is very much for everything he does; he arrives every morning between 6:45 and 7:00 AM and leaves around 8:00 PM. That's a long work day involving lots of stress and hard decesions. I read the interview and it definetly did not sound like he was throwing in the towel. He was actually optimistic about what they were doing here.

The 2008 Malibu will be here in a year or so, so I think GM has their sedan coming. Whether it's going to set the world on fire, who knows, but what we've heard about it sounds impressive. It's interesting that Detroit always seems to build "Detroit style" vehicles better than the Japanese can, but the Japanese usually build better bread-and-butter vehicles. Look at the Corvette, T900s, Mustang, F-150, Camaro (when it comes), 300, Charger, and so on. The Japanese don't build anything that can touch those. However, when it comes to your bread-and-butter family and compact cars, the Japanese always win with the Camry, Accord, Altima, Civic, Corrolla, etc. Maybe Detroit should focus on Detroit-style vehicles. The next Impala will certainly be "Detroit-style," and so far the LX cars have been successful. Maybe Detroit needs to forget about taking sales from the Camcord with their own Camcord, and build their own style of vehicles that they're actually good at. Obviously it's not a good idea to abandon those segments, but it seems as though they have more success in other segments because the Japanese control those segments.

I think the Texans picking Mario Williams was pretty dumb. Why would they pass on someone like Reggie Bush? Sure, Mario Williams may get 10 sacks a year, but Bush is going to get 17-25 TDs a year. I wasn't surprised Leinart fell after Young got picked 3rd. I'm surprised LenDale White hasn't been taken yet. Whoever takes him will get a steal.

Not for 2007 unless it is a late addition, but I could see it happening for 2008MY.

Of the 19 Lucernes my dealer currently has in stock, only 1 is Ming Blue. I don't think I've ever seen a Ming Blue Lucerne on the road however.

Forgot to add this, but I saw my first new Suburban yesterday. It was an LTZ in tan. My dealer's site says they have a new Suburban in silver, so I'm going to check it out hopefully.

Those back seats looks terribly upright and not very comfortable. The intake is rediculous, I agree. Maybe that's why the 3.9 only makes 227HP in this application. It looks pretty good however.

Wow, it looks great in the sunlight! Congrats again!

3 GTOs in the span of 10 minutes today in St. Louis.

~8300 miles here

But that's not what got Volvo where it is today. The majority of Volvos cars that got them to their current spot were not flashy at all.

The manual gets 17/25 and the auto gets 16/21. I don't know if you're set on an '06 or not, but if you can find a new '05 on the lot you can probably get it for ~$25k (and if you have GM Card points even less). If you can find a good used '04 (less than 10k miles) then you can get it for around $20k (got mine for $21k with 6k miles in Feb.). If you have any other questions let me know. There are some problems with wheels and tires (if you go aftermarket) that you'll want to know about first.

Hopefully they can get something worked out with health care. I don't think they should dump all of it on the government, but they could use the fact that Canada pays for health care when it comes time to build a new plant. If GM demolishes a US plant and builds a new one in Canada, they don't have to worry about health care because the Canadian government pays for it.

This is definetly the base (LS or WT) truck. The climate controls are not automatic, and the radio is the lowest level one available. So, I'd say if we're comparing this to the F-150, we need to compare the base F-150. It's nothing to drool over either, but the upper models are very good looking.

It is sort of hard to tell, but I'd say it will look pretty good with the console. I'd say it will suit the truck's needs just fine. It does sort of look like a Dodge, but it also reminded me of the new Expedition dashboard at first. Needless to say, it's much better than what we have now. I have faith that it will be pretty good, since one analyst said he expects the Silverado to take 5% of the pickup share from the F-150.

bearrunner: Just because it says they're sold out doesn't mean that you can't get one. "Sold out" means that there are orders for all of them that the factory can produce. However, that does not mean that all of them have owners. I believe the Solstice has like a 30%/70% rate of production with 30% going to dealers (for anyone to buy) and 70% being already sold to customers. However, that could have changed, but that was the case originally. I would go to your local dealer and inquire about it. Heck, call a few around your area too and see if they have any that don't already have a buyer. EDIT: In regards to mark-ups: Some dealers do it and some don't. You should be able to find one that doesn't (or at least not much).

It's cool with me

Sky Red Line or Solstice GXP if you want something small.

Go look in some long threads. They get off topic all the time and really don't address any issue or give someone from GM any good feedback on what they need to do.

I have one (04 A4). On this tank of gas I'm gettting 14.5 MPG (all in the city) but I usually get 14.0. I don't take it on the highway much, but mine gets about 20MPG. I have a performance camshaft however, so that probably brings the MPGs down a little. I would go for the M6 (would have gotten one but my dad wouldn't get a manual) if you're looking for gas mileage. I think it's rated at 25MPG on the highway. The main reason it gets bad mileage is the weight. At 3700+ pounds (without the driver), it's significantly heavier than the Corvette.

Congrats! When we got the Alero we also looked at a Cavalier, but the Alero felt so much more solid and substantial, and it wasn't a whole lot more (we got it for $14k new - list was $23k, and we ordered it). Was the Alero a 4cyl too? You couldn't get the V6 with a stick (it would have made it a lot more fun) so I'm assuming it was.

Stupid idea. They should be putting the money into the ION replacement and NG Cobalt. Saturn NEEDS a small car, and the Cobalt needs improvements. Why not spend the money to sell 200k cars (I would guess 150k Saturns + an extra 50k Cobalts with the improvemetnts) rather than the money on something that's going to sell like 30k units? Again, I have to ask: Why is Saab getting so much product? They haven't even proven that they can sell over 40k units a year consistently, yet we're hearing that they're getting this 9-1, a Kappa, 9-3, 9-5, and TE vehicle all within 3 years? If Pontiac got this much investment, it could be selling 400k vehicles a year with limited fleet. Why is it GM complains that it can't supply Pontiac and Buick with product, yet it can give Saab so much product, and Saab hasn't done crap since GM bought them?

Well, he read the Aura thread. I'm guessing he looks at C&G every once in a while. This thread should give all of us an idea: Try to cut down on the non-car related discussion. How is Mr. Lutz supposed to navigate around the site and get good information from our posts if more than half of them offer him nothing good to consider?