Drew Dowdell

Question: Reduced RPM verses what exactly? Reduced RPM verses a traditional 2-stroke I could see as being a good thing rather than a detraction. Even Honda owners don't want their engine buzzing away at 8,000 rpm all the time.

my friend Dominic "wholelottabuicks" on here wants one also.

The Civic is "all new" but any Jack on the street can't really tell the difference unless you park them side by side..... even then, it is seen as "just an update" It took Honda a good 5 years to get their 5-speeds to function properly in the first place..... even today they lack the smoothness that even the old GM 4-speeds have. Unless there was a press release that I missed, none of Honda's current offerings have direct injection. VTEC has fallen way behind as far as VVT technology goes. When Chrysler is leaving Honda in the dust on engine technology, you know the world has really turned upside down. They've done close to nothing to address the loudness of their cars over the road where Chevy, Chrysler, and VW have all made great improvements.

I didn't know it actually went into production.

I like the engine idea Dwight, but the 2.5 isn't even going to be here in time for launch, I don't think they could have incorporated your idea too. The reason they are putting BAS in right now is that the 2.5 isn't ready yet. Chevy was going to wait to launch the car till the 2.5 was ready, but Akerson said "Why? Why should we wait?" so the engine that is available now gets launched with the car 6 months earlier.

I think that was the single biggest botch right there. Not that Plymouth was a Pontiac, Oldsmobile, or even a Saturn... they had a place in the lineup. They should have continued to be the cheap end of Chrysler and could have had the PT Cruiser as their unique vehicle. Instead we ended up with a muddled, directionless Chrysler that couldn't decided if it was super cheap or nicely luxury. Think of this, instead of a 2.7 powered 300 with felt seats and awful plastic wheel covers, it could have been a Fury. The Sebring could have been sold in only the loaded version and probably not taken so many knocks for its interior. Let Plymouth keep the Breeze in sedan form.

Well not entirely true. The Regal was always planned for sale in China. The Saturn was just going to be the Insignia we see today with the name scratched off. With the death of Saturn, GM just took the Chinese fascia and put it on the Opel.

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I've seen the interior in person, and I love the design.

The amount of errors in that article...... 1. No the 2.5 doesn't fill the role of the V6, GM never claimed this 2. Yes a turbo is coming. 3. Yes we can expect a price drop 4. A Malibu LS is $22,700, so the e-Assist would be additional over that, not the 1LT price of $23,300

We have a lot of Sprinter ambulances here. The non-sprinter ones seem to run Topkick or F-series SD cab..... so maybe the Econoline will be supplanted by greater chassis cab availability when really heavy duty is needed.

They are 0.4 inches different in length. But they aren't that comparable since the Regal is quieter, more comfortable, uses much higher quality materials, handles substantially better, and will last longer. Agreed totally!

As I thought this out, there are very few cars right now that don't fit this chart. The Challenger being one that jumps to mind first.... other than that... this is pretty much how it goes.

get another similar vintage... sounds like you already have a parts car lined up for your next miata.

From the Land of Generica: The Idiot's Guide to Automotive Grill Design 9/19/2011 - Drew Dowdell - CheersandGears.com How do you break into the world of modern automotive design? Our new "Land of Generica" series will coach you through the intricacies of modern automotive design. First in what promises to be an exciting series, designing the grille of the car. The grille is the "face" of the car and carries your and the car's personality out in front. Naturally, such an important component of automobile design requires a strict selection process. You can print and keep this guide in your pocket in case Ed Welburn or Harley Earl's ghost ask your advice on a new model.

Hyundai can't keep the hinges from rusting 3 years in around here.... they certainly aren't going to make it to 20.

Didn't the old Quad-4 get run at those speeds AND raced?

No more teasing, Jeep!

Names? what are those?

Because they were "cute and retro" right around the same time the New Beetle came out..... but they were cheaper and easier to get.

Happy Birthday Cort.