Robert Hall

Basically that the earthquake was God's revenge on Haiti, that they had a curse on them, had it coming because of Voodoo in the 17th century. Pretty bizzaro stuff.

I've been to Delaware Water Gap park, but it's not really near Delaware the state... stopped there a couple times for a few hours on trips when driving from Ohio to Boston back in '92 and '93. Beautiful area.

Cool...never knew the history of the LH relative to the Premier/Monaco. A friend in college had a Monaco, but I never looked under the hood.

You are stating your opinions as if they were facts. Lexus has it's own design language, it just may not be apparent to you. If you actually looked at the car in person, you would see it's much more than a Camry..it's a very nice product, beautifully built. The LS is the only Toyota/Lexus product I really like. The only automakers that are currently successful in upper luxury and ultra luxury w/ FWD based AWD models has been Audi and Bentley, both VW brands. RWD and RWD/AWD is still a necessity in luxury cars, as RWD is fundamentally superior to FWD--that's my opinion, of course, but you don't see Porsche, Maserati, Jaguar, Mercedes, BMW, Infiniti, Lexus (in their higher end models) using something as mediocre/generic/pedestrian/lowly as transverse V6 w/ FWD..

Really...interesting. AMC never had a FWD car. There was the Renault model, though, that was sold as the Eagle something and Dodge Monaco for a few years, IIRC it was FWD but no idea how the engine was orientated.

Perhaps, but at least the LS is a strikingly handsome sedan w/ proper RWD proportions. The ES is the appropriate Lexus target of the XTS.

Huh? Delusion...AMC had no FWD models, and Renault's models the sold in the US during the AMC/Renault era were just ordinary FWD generics. Cab-forward is a unique Chrysler contribution of the '90s, from Tom Gale's design studio, IIRC.

I meant LH. Typo. The shortest rear was on the 300M, the others had longer rears. LX are most definitely NOT cab forward, very RWD proportions...

It wouldn't make any sense for this car's wheelbase to be less than the CTS. It's the wierd proportions that get me..short, tall nose...long midsection, really short rear. Those proportions arguably worked on the cab forward Chrysler LH products, but I can't see them on a Cadillac. I'm more of the long hood/short deck tradition, I guess.

Anyone hear Pat Robertson's comments about Haiti?

I don't think 3.9L translates to 3.9" (inch) holes. 3.9 is the sum of the volume of all the cylinders in litres, isn't it?

MKS, RL, and ES are the obvious competitors for the XTS.

Saw a couple cars in person for the first time today--the new BMW 5-series GT (hatchback). Looks stranger in person than in pics..oddly tall compared to a 5-series sedan. Also saw a black Terrain..not bad, but I think I like the Acacia styling more.

Time for a 60 Minutes segment.

Well, what's the weight distribution on an AWD Epsilon II? 75/25? 65/35? I can't imagine it would be very good..

Being transverse engine FWD/AWD I would assume it will be nose heavy compared to the A8 or 7-series. But as a DTS replacement, good handling is not a requirement.

Not to me. The A8 looks much better, IMHO. Nicer proportions, clean lines.

Speaking of people cross-shopping BMWs w/ Caddys,et al..I know one anecdotal story of a friend's father--not a car enthusiast, but a civilian--that had an '02 Merc S-class--had massive electrical problems, traded it after a couple years on an '04 BMW 7 series--had problems w/ the I-drive, brakes, etc--traded on an '06 DTS. Still has the DTS last time I talked w/ my friend, been happy w/ it.

Today at lunch it was Pontiac Thursday. At one busy intersection, on the same side as I, I saw near each other a black Solstice GXP, white G8 GT, and a blue '70-73 Firebird in nice shape, mildly modified, lifted in the back, wide Cragars on wide tires, kind of a '70s street machine look. A few min later, I saw a white late 4th gen T/A w/ red headlight covers.

I didn't realize the Carribean was prone to earthquakes...sounds horrific from what I've heard on NPR and BBC news.

I'm sure there are regional variations in the US. I know some areas where I suspect it's well over 50%. And if you add the Europeans, import brand market share is 75% or more in some areas, I suspect.

RWD, V8 and the larger size make it above V6 FWD models Malibu and Impala.

$50k is the price point of a nicely equipped CTS. S-Class, 7-series, LS are all well north of $85k, well over $100k for some versions. I can't see an Epsilon II-based car in that league.

I've experienced #2 in my sister's old Mercedes..don't know what causes it, but at idle the engine often races up to 4000rpm or more and the car shakes violently..settles down after a couple minutes. With 180k+ miles, who knows what it is...

Odd that they chose that styling cue, so long ago, I doubt if very many prospective buyers are aware of it.