Drew Dowdell

The last STS before it went RWD was on the Aurora platform. The last Bonneville was also on the Aurora platform, it even got Cadillac's Northstar.

The next wave of hybrids is going to be more performance oriented, you watch. Maximum torque @ zero RPM buys you performance gains you can't get from an internal combustion engine.

judging by exterior looks alone, I think the XTS will own the segment. OCN, your 3" hood extension will be coming in the form of the ZTS

The more SMK brings up points about the XTS he finds objectionable, the more I seem to like the car. In many ways, it is filling a niche that very few are in and many have abandoned..... not because the niche won't sell, but because it's been neglected for so long there hasn't been an excellent entry in it to sell well for years. Put it this way, I like big cars that are on the softer side. The MKS is square in the middle of my tastes, yet I wouldn't buy one because of too many screw ups on the interior. Aye, she has a fine engine, but the windows switches and steering wheel switches are right out of the F-150. You can look into the heater vents and see foam insulation behind them. The interior was a huge letdown for me. The RL doesn't have the looks nor the hardware. Volvo is too out of the main stream for the S80 to sell. If GM can do the interior right, the XTS will sell and sell well... and possibly even sell to me.

The XTS is going for Camry like volume now?

Lamba sales 2010 - 230,565 Pilot+MDX sales 2010 - 149,533 Lambda sales 2009 - 201,159 Pilot+MDX sales 2009 - 115,079 Lambda sales 2008 - 145,944 Pilot+MDX sales 2008 - 142,143 Looks like the guy from Honda was right to be worried. GM came out of no where (well... the Rendezvous and Aztek) in this segment to completely eclipse Honda.

It's interesting to read the old comments about the Outlook and Volt with the benefit of 20/20 rearward vision. I have to go back and see if my guestimates were correct.

What the hell happened? This old thread is spiking off the charts on hits today.

Aveo (unfortunately) had two generations. I think they should have kept Cobalt.

Only if the base engine is a V8 putting down at least 380hp, which is the minimum you need on a public road. but it can't have pushrods, because despite having 380hp and RWD in a 2800lb package, then it would suck.... Mini could sell 300k of them in a year if they just used our formula.

Wasn't "Celica" originally a Corolla trim line?

They are attractive trucks... if only the interiors weren't so

"right" for a Buick isn't the same as "right" for a truck though.... that is my concern. They have yet to do an interior that is at once work truck rugged and handsome at the same time. The Sierra Denali I had could have been a DTS from behind the wheel if it wasn't for the sound of the Duramax.

Mini needs a sedan.

I'm not sure which is the bigger insult, calling something that isn't a Sebring a Sebring or calling something that isn't a Suzuki a Suzuki. that said, I do like the Kazashi and I didn't like the old Sebring (haven't driven the new one).

I have numerous problems with Prius owners too, but I don't think it would be news worthy.

I'm confident GM will get the exterior right. I'm mostly worried about the interior.

If you've got nothing new to show, why bother?

The XTS shares more with the Lacrosse and 9-5 than it does with the Malibu or Regal. Until there is a new Impala on Epsy2, the Buick is the XTS's closest cousin, hence my comparison to the Aurora. But if you insist, the STS shared it's platform with lowly, mundane, generic, rental car, Pontiac!!!!!!

Of course not. Zeta is RWD which is automatically superior to any FWD platform. FWD is appropriate for subcompact, compact and midsize appliances. So then comparing the XTS to a K-Car is just you two being stubborn old men? It's ok to share a platform with a soon to be out of production Chevy but not ok to share a platform with one of the best Buicks built in years...... RWD and FWD have nothing to do with generic or not. You don't get much more generic than a 2009 Crown Victoria (or in my area, any year 3-series) and there are few cars that are anything like the Mini-Cooper or Ford Flex or Nissan Juke.

That some individuals WILL NOT buy a 4-cylinder vehicle in a certain segment is not necessary to make a business case for 6-cylinder, less economical, CAFE busting models. That some individuals WILL PREFER a 6-cylinder is enough justification. Why? Because in this well populated field, even if GM goes all 4-cylinders on a Malibu, Regal or ATS it doesn't mean that every car maker will. This means that if you do not have a six you are losing business to competitors that do. For a model like the Malibu, this may represent a 10~25% loss of volume, for the ATS it may be half. But, when Gm has to fight hard for that 3.4% growth achieved, even 10~25% is not something they can afford to casually walk away from. The Sonata and Optima would like to have a word with you about their supposed falling sales volume. Having a V6 doesn't appear to be saving the Camry or Accord from the Korean onslaught.

It's only a matter of time before a 4-cylinder (turbo or not) becomes the base engine for the 3-Series. It's already sold that way in the EU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuqEyGHiq6g The XTS is no K-car unless you want to also count the DTS as one as well. It was based on the "lowly" Aurora. There is no shame in Cadillac borrowing a platform from another division if that platform is already excellent to start with. Somehow, I don't think you would be protesting if Cadillac slummed around enough to pick up a lowly Chevy Zeta sedan to build its car on.

The Lacrosse isn't even Lexus level floating. I expect the XTS to be sportier and stiffer than that (probably with Magnaride). GM also also virtually eliminated torque steer with hi-per strut so that the only time you'd even notice it were if you were turning a corner on a cobble stone road at full throttle.... not something done in typical driving. Also, the XTS is most likely going to be AWD for most models with just the FWD going to the base model for livery.

They arrived today. I will make a project on Saturday to have them all re-packaged and mailed out that day.