Drew Dowdell

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.

might be related to the blank topic issue we have going on. That ticket is still out there.

I think google streetview caught some RV thieves a while back....

My Toronado's speedometer goes to 100...... ..... well it's good to have goals I suppose.

I think it is reconfigurable. I find on the GM's that do this partially now, I set the display to digital speed readout and use that instead of the needle.

Did I mention she took 3rd place at the regional Oldsmobile show back in September? Not bad considering I hadn't actually prepared her for it. I only registered so I could get good parking and the $10 goes to the club. Starring down her competition in the 1980-1989 class. That white coupe in the distance took first. Also only has 27k miles on it... but what use is a car that you don't drive? Again, I was the only Toronado of any year on the show field.

Topic preview is working for me. What browser are you using and have you cleared your cookies since the upgrade?

Cool save bro!

This is basic trouble ticket tracking stuff.

but it's got teh pushrods... so... meh.

When this Forte was first released, I felt it was a ripoff of the previous generation Civic.

This is why Consumer Reports sucks. Because every rating is relative. To put this another way, out of the 97 domestic cars in the survey, 67 were average or better.

Happy Belated!

No. Most people don't even know which way the engine is oriented. As long as when they turn the key, or push the button in SMK's "high tech" world", and the engine starts, they never have a reason to even open the hood.

Some would say it is the ONLY factor. The question is, do they know which wheels drive the car? For everyone except SMK and maybe 3 others, once the car is AWD, what the car is "based" on no longer matters.

na, I like the idea of hybrids. I had an Escalade Hybrid sneak up behind me at the hotel yesterday. Damn thing is quiet.

As I said in the other thread.... why aren't they calling this Supra?

Why they won't call this Supra is beyond me.