Northstar

Automobile's issues are generally thinner than other monthly mags, and I'm not going to renew my subscription. I'm not renewing my Autoweek subscription either because I can get everything online for the most part. I don't really like R&T's extra wide pages, but the articles are generally pretty good. I have a C&D subscription, and they generally have some pretty good stuff, so I'm keeping it.

The Equinox is pretty similar in size to the Highlander... it just doesn't have the 3rd row seat.

Last I heard for the Nox SS/Torrent GXP was the 3.9

Probably in his garage until it gets warm again.

A gallon is a different size in Canada. That's why his gets 45 MPG whereas in the US it would be like 35 MPG. There's no difference really, just that they're rated different because a gallon is a different size in Canada (Imperial Gallon).

Sweet, sounds exciting! It's unfortunate the weather will probably be too chilly to drive it right away, but at least you'll have something to look forward to in the Spring.

Congrats on the purchase aurum! I think I may like the Pursuit's front end a little better than the Cobalt's, but I happen to like the Cobalt's rear end better on the coupe version.

I didn't realize they blacked-out the taillights for '06. They did add a little burnout smoke too (obviously through photoshop).

I think the best way to get a convertible would be to spread the costs with a future RWD Buick sedan. Once the Camaro and Chevy RWD sedan come, the gates should be opened for a Pontiac sedan and new GTO and a Buick sedan and Velite-like convertible, assuming the Chevys do well and make money. I don't think Buick necessarily needs a convertible to change their image, all they really need is a couple knock-out vehicles.

Nice chop Bimmer, looks sweet!

I'll be surprised if that 0-60 number holds true. In the latest MT the Charger SRT-8 got 0-60 in 5.0 (if I remember correctly, I can't find the issue right now) and the GC has AWD and probably a worse drag coefficient.

I'm not sure what the production Pontiac would be, but I'm leaning towards the Vibe. Good news on the G6 'vert, though I really wasn't worried since Lutz himself said it's still on tract a couple months ago.

Saw a mid-90s Bently today.

It wouldn't be smart if GM decided to confirm that it had been greenlighted because they'd lose a lot of sales now from people who would wait for the GXP. I'm sure a large number of Solstice buyers can easily afford to spend more than $20-25k on them, so it wouldn't surprise me if they waited and spent $30k on a GXP if they knew it was coming.

The G6 top is a lot bigger than those though since it goes over two rows of seats. I could be wrong but I think the supplier does most of the work on the top, not GM, so I'm not so sure it's GM's fault if it has problems.

Won't there be a Mazdaspeed MX-5 with a turbo though? If it has 210HP or so it could still run with a Solstice GXP at least somewhat competitively even if the Solstice had 250HP because of the weight difference.

Last year in History we were talking about the Cuban Missle Crisis and the nuclear weapons that were there and stuff. Anyways, first of all she asked me (and this is after we've been talking about it for a week), "why would we be scared of the nuclear weapons there?" and then one day the teacher said "nuke" instead of nuclear weapon and she said "what's a nuke?" Then this year in English we were talking about something which I don't remember exactly, but anyways somehow we got onto the subject of dolphins. This one guy made some comment like "did you know humans and dolphins are the only mammals who mate for pleasure?" and the same girl that made the nuke comments said "wait, that's actually happened?" thinking that dolphins and humans mated, not that dolphins mated with themselves. The same girl thought trees were made of bark rather than wood and makes countless comments like that. And she's not a blonde either.

It's not bad, at least it's not totally rice. Nothing can really help the overly-short hood though. And yes, the interior is awful.

Exactly. I also feel that the LaCrosse and Lucerne aren't really meant to be sporty, so that's probably why there aren't any modded one. When the RWD sedan comes (assuming there will be one by 2010) then I'm sure we'll see tuned version of it since it's should be geared more towards sportiness.

That was my reaction too, though I think the outcome would have been better if the Raider looked better to begin with.

The Miata's probably the better driver simply because it weighs 400 lbs less. The Solstice looks 100x better though, and I'm guessing will outsell the Miata. The Miata's interior also sounds like it has slightly better materials from what I've read, but again I think the Solstice's interior design is much more inspired. MT picked the Miata too and the Z06 over the SRT-10. Then they didn't have the balls to pick a winner in the Z06 vs. GT matchup but basically said they'd take the GT just on exclusitivity. I'm waiting for Solstice GXP vs. Mazdaspeed MX-5. Should be a good battle, though I think the Solstice may win because it probably won't lose in every performance category like the base one.

I think it'll still make it to production. Bob Lutz said so himself a couple months ago that it was still on.

That looks pretty good if it's real. Much better than the new Civic.

Cadillac's car sales are up 17%, I'd say that's pretty good. The only thing doing a lot worse than last year is the Escalade and that's getting replaced in 2-3 months. The CTS could be considered aging and it's up YTD vs. last year. We knew it was going to be a bad month, I'm just hoping Nov. isn't so bad.

I haven't seen any press releases or pics relating to SEMA Buicks. I remember a year or two ago we had the TW (Tiger Woods) editions of the Rainer and Rendezvous which were less than impressive.