cmattson

Is it JUST ME or does a BELT STARTER sound REALLY SCARY??----((BELT STARTER??))

It's no-less scary than using a belt to control your valve-train. If your belt snaps on your alternator-starter, the car doesn't start or charge. If your timing belt snaps, your engine could be ruined.*

* = If your engine has an "interferance" valve design, the valves open within the cylinder. If a valve is stuck in the open position when the piston reaches tdc (top dead center), your valve, your head, and depending on where the parts fly/end-up, your engine block could all *easily* be destroyed.

A 400hp Corvette Z06 gets 26mpg highway. Hybrids are a mixed bag: same (or slightly worse) mpg in the city and higher (but not as high as advertised) gas mileage on the freeway. GM's BAS system looks tremendously simple -- and it also looks "vehicle portable". Kudo's to GM. Toyota has to engineer their Synergy drive system into each vehicle they fit it into. GM's BAS system looks much more flexible. I think GM's two-mode hybrid system that will debut on the GMT9xx's is really going to be GM's best (most efficient) hybrid system.

I disagree. A smaller engine (< 2.0) shouldn't end up in a Pontiac. I would reserve something like that for the Aveo; which, based on it's weight and it's smaller-displacement engine, should be getting far better gas mileage than it currently gets.

I may add that GM adds should show how GM is/does it better than their rivals. If you have a car (Malibu) that's won the jdpa initial quality and vehicle dependability study for 3 out of the last 4 years, when the Camry and the Accord haven't placed in the TOP 3 since NINE years ago, I think the public should hear about it. Unfortunately, marketing has used "best...in it's segment" type adds for so long that the public is numb to it. It's not good enough to be best in your segment, you need to be best in your own segment, advertise the h*ck out of it, AND call attention to the fact that the perceived leaders haven't been leaders in almost a decade.

Glad to see it back up!