Northstar

With the Cobalt scheduled to receive a major update for the '08 MY, it might make sense to push the ION back and just have it be the Astra like the Vue will be the production Antara. We'd be looking at probably MY 2010 I think.

I think Velite is pronounced Vuh-LEET, but I'm not positive.

Personally, I'm not sure there's any reason for any brand to have a minivan other than Chevy. The reason there's no need for a Buick minivan, IMHO, is that the Enclave will suit 90% of those buyers. If Chevy got a Lambda X-Over then there'd be little reason for any GM minivan, except that GM needs some sort of minivan just for those who want a minivan and nothing else. One good reason to keep a Saturn van that I didn't think of before is that I think many buyers of the Sienna and Odyssey wouldn't consider a GM brand other than Saturn.

I don't know if that'd really be a fair comparison. The STS-V is better in just about every way and costs almost twice as much. MT did do a "two for one" comparison with the GTO (2004) vs. CLK55 a while ago, so I suppose it's possible some mag would do a comparo.

That is just an illustration, but if it does look anything like that it will be pretty disappointing for MT. The slope of the hood reminds me of our old minivan.

sciguy's sig reminded me of an interior I thought was pretty good for Cadillac: Now, there are some things I don't like, for instance it's a little overly simplified and could be a bit more creative, but it flows very well and you get a sense of luxury from it. If you added a NAV screen and production radio and HVAC units I think it'd look a lot more interesting; as is it's just some knobs and a big silver plate of buttons. Just as a side note, I think everyone will be very happy where Cadillac interiors are going judging from what I've seen of the next CTS interior.

The next Malibu is on Epsilon I (GMX386) and then about 3 years later a new one will debut on Epsilon II. And how do you get the feeling that the Malibu and Aura will look similar from this?: More striking doesn't mean similar. And being built in the same plant means nothing. The current Malibu and Aura will be built in the same plant for a while and they look nothing alike.

But then it won't be the SS SC, it'll be the SS TC :P I expect the Sky Redline to get the same engine and I wouldn't be surprised to see the HHR get it as well. I wouldn't mind seeing the VUE RL getting it instead of the Honda motor, and an Equinox SS with it would be fun. GM should spread the engine around to a lot of vehicles, IMO.

I think the BPG minivan is a GMC at this point and the Saturn is up in the air. Chevy will also get a minivan off Lambda. The last info I found (that was a GM document) had three minivans on Lambda listed (but not brands, just codes), but I think it's about 3 months old now, so it could have changed.

I'm pretty sure IL is at the top for obesity among the youth, and that's funny because it's also the only state that requires PE.

I'm surprised no one has posted the Sky yet:

Sure it lacks things, but so do the Fusion and Civic. As for performance, I'd say it's pretty up to par. Every comparison I've seen has had the Solstice within .2s within the Miata from 0-60, and one even have it in front of it by .1s. In addition, the Solstice isn't about brute force thrusting you forward, it's about flinging the car into a corner at speed and still having it stick to the road. The GXP is coming with a turbo with 250+HP, so that will solve any lack of power issues.

Well, I did post this three days ago, and at that time all signs were that it was cancelled. If I was to write some similar speculation today then I wouldn't have said anything about the NG Malibu being cancelled. Sorry if I assumed too much at the time I wrote this because of what we had been hearing then, and thank you for helping to confirm that the NG Malibu is in fact not cancelled. No offense was taken and I hope you didn't take any offense to my speculation.

The turbo + DI should be good for well over 250 HP I would think (if GM gives it as much power as it can make). The Nomad was 250HP (but from 2.2L) and didn't have DI, so I see no reason why the slightly smaller 2L with DI can't make more.

Here's a bigger pic of the one SoCalCTS posted:

Personally, I thought the idea behind the SS Concept interior was pretty good: I also think that the Nomad concept interior would make for a good Camaro interior: One problem I have with some of GM's interiors is that they aren't really too interesting to look at, like the STS or XLR. I'm not a huge fan of the RL's interior, and Acura may have gone too far with it, but I do like that Acura was willing to take a chance (unlike the exterior). Something more creative in the STS would have done wonders for its interior:

The plood isn't great, but I think it's better than just having it be empty black space. Aluminum would be better though.

Can DI be put on OHV engines? That would at least make the power from the HV V6s respectable. I'd assume that means the STS and SRX will get the 3.6 with DI first, and then the NG CTS will get it as well. Hopefully the LaCrosse gets it, and I'm guessing the Lambdas will all have it. Maybe the Aura too?

Well, since Saturn is supposed to be moving up I'd say it'd be about $24-25k if the $27k is correct for the Enclave. My guess is the GMC would be the cheapest in price but who knows.

In IL it's required you have two plates, but I've seen plenty of cars running around without them, so I'm guessing the cops don't care too much as long as you aren't speeding or get pulled over for some other violation.

Do all of these have some sort of accessory or no? I don't like the brush guard at all, but the wheels are decent and the luggage rack, is well, a luggage rack. The chrome gas cap is a nice touch will the black but I don't like it with the tan. I really like the pic of the front clip in silver. Thanks for posting these.

Do you have a digital camera? I'm sure you could get some pretty good money for some spy shots.

Right now GM doesn't make a lot of class leading products, but give them a couple of years to get all the Lutz products out and I think the vast majority will be very competitive or at the top of their segments. There are a good number of vehicles that I feel are class competitive/class leading, but the % is pretty low because GM has so many bad and outdated products. I think a better question would be: "Do you feel the new GM products (forget the ones that are 4-5 years old because no one builds class leading products that are outdated) are class competitive/class leading?"

By Jamie LaReau Automotive News / December 12, 2005 The important part: Enclave production will begin in early 2007. The vehicle, which should debut in spring 2007 as a 2008 model, replaces the Rendezvous sport wagon and Rainier mid-sized SUV. Analysts and dealers say the Enclave will be a full-sized crossover with three rows of seats and a standard V-6 engine. The vehicle should have a base price near $27,000, with prices rising to $40,000 for a fully equipped model, sources say. Whole story: http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=55696

Have the segments always been 25 mins? I thought they were longer. Anyways, one of those will be the Camaro/other concepts, one will be Lambdas, one will probably be for the Avalanche and other streched GMT900s, and I'm not sure about the other time.