Robert Hall

Yeah, I guess I get repetitive harping about GM's mediocrities...

Different styling and interior trim, but still the same, stale meat underneath...4spd automatics and dated pushrod V6s...

It seems like the Saturn message got lost after the 'Different kind of company, different kind of car' era....in the '90s Saturn marketing was a big part of their distinctiveness, a lot of people didn't even realize they were part of GM. Now, they are just one of many GM brands and have their best product to date...it's going to take a new approach (not sure what) to get the word out..

Nah...it was a 'D'oh' moment for me.

You are right..I'm tired..I forgot about the various supercars that have CF bodies...

I'd seriously consider a diesel Rabbit as a commuter car.... an Audi A3 w/ a diesel would be perfect!

Coming out of the office today, I saw a met. orange 350Z roadster parked nose-to-nose w/ a black Sky. At the end of the parking lot, was a dark gray 911 GT3 (with rollcage)....opposite it was a silver CLS 55 AMG. In traffic, I saw a black CLS 55 AMG and a black SL 65 AMG. Damn, I love working in Scottsdale...so many hellacool cars...

'Mama's Room' and 'In the Clouds' by Under The Influence of Giants.

Interesting...are there processes to paint carbon fiber so it looks like a normal plastic or metal panel? I find the woven look of raw carbon fiber disgusting.

Those were a great example of platform sharing done well.... some common dirty bits (frame, floorpans, firewall, inner body panels) and things like glass and roof panels on some bodystyles, but a lot of differentiation where it is visible..(not to mention brand-specific engines). A lot of people on here some to confuse the concepts of badge engineering with shared platforms. A shared platform is like Epsilon, the B-bodies (or even the mediocre W-bodies), G-bodies, etc...multiple models that have some dirty bits in common with unique sheetmetal, interiors, etc. Badge engineering is like the late '90s Malibu and Cutlass. The current Cobalt and G5. The Corsica and Tempest. Most anything Dodge and Plymouth in the '80s-90s. Cars that differ only in plastic trim pieces and badges.

The 4 speeds would have been fine 10-15 years ago, but automakers have clearly moved on to 6-speeds and beyond...

A G8 GXP version would make a great Magnum SRT8 competitor...

Happy Birthday! Cheers, Rob

Yes...those are some of my favorite driving roads in the country, and I've driven backroads in many states.. I've had a lot of fun on the twisty roads of Ohio in a variety of interesting cars--several Mustangs, a 350Z, a Focus (even in rental car form, the '02 was a great handler, IMHO), several Town Cars and Grand Marquis, my M3..

That's one thing I've never figured out..esp. in subcompacts and compacts, hatchbacks are superior to sedans.. I certainly wouldn't want a small car with a small trunk. Hatchbacks are way more practical (and usually look better than their sedan counterparts---i.e. Focus, Mazda3, Golf vs. Jetta, etc).

Interesting idea... I'd like to see GM offer more hatchbacks in the US...way more useful (and usually better looking) than their sedan counterparts...

Some of us do enjoy windy country roads, it's not all freeway driving in the US... I've long enjoyed a drive on the twisty mountain roads in Colorado or Arizona, or driving the winding backroads of eastern Ohio... Not all Americans are as narrow minded as you are..

What a magnificent design...one of GM's finest, and my favorite Oldsmobile. I'd have one in my dream car garage, along with my other favorite vintage GMs---a '67 Eldorado, '63 Riviera, '71 Riviera, '71 Grand Prix, '67 Corvette...

36mpg is pathetic for something that small.... what a joke. It really has no place outside of large, congested city inner core areas.

Probably Pontiac w/ the '68 GTO. Plastic bumpers didn't really become wide spread until the late '70s...

Saw a sharp silver blue '70 Monte Carlo, a yellow '68 Chevy pickup, and a black '65 Mustang 2+2 today...

Yes...they seem to be on the path to eliminating model overlap... one thing that hurt GM in the '80s-90s was the endless look-alike generic FWD mediocremobiles that seemed to have no substantive differences across the CBOP brands...they have a come a long way from that.

It's unfortunate where they mounted the plate...the plates ruins the look of the grille...they should have mounted the driving lights higher or encorporated them into the headlight pod and mounted the plate to the side instead.

True...the G8 and Solstice are the only Pontiacs currently that embody a 'Pontiac spirit' and are worthwhile, IMHO..the rest of the line is just rental car filler, IMHO...

I'm guilty of that myself...I've been averaging almost 6 posts a day...got to throttle back and chill.