Drew Dowdell

Well 200 miles down. This thing was just designed to gobble up interstate. The seats are very comfortable for long range driving. At first I wasn't too pleased with the thigh support but some fine tuning of the seat took care of that... it could be better... but it's not bad. It does shift a lot in the 70-75mph range on inclines, but it's so smooth about it you only notice it if you're watching the tack. Engine noise is very muted, so much so that the washer pump seems louder than normal at highway speeds. The cruise is willing to let you drift +/- 4mph to avoid shifting. Clearly a fuel economy thing, but probably annoying to other drivers on the road. I got a rather disappointing 17.5 mpg average so far, but the first hour I was stuck in bumper 2 bumper traffic. Still, my 5.3 liter Avalanche could do that. (it made the trip to Columbus once) This Acadia has the heads up display. It's interesting because it's reconfigurable to your tastes. It will also display NAV direction summaries as you approach a turn and will show the song title of whatever is playing on XM. The little woman who lives in the NAV system is the harpy annoying wife I'll never have, more so than other NAVs that I've experienced. Interface design is excellent and easy to use. The stereo system simply rocks. The exterior styling isn't my cup of tea, I'd really rather have a Buick, but it's still handsome and understated. I'm trying to figure out why there are stereo controls in the trunk area.

Why is this in the Lincoln forum?

Congrats guys, we're on the first page of search results for "smiley face killer"

Well there you go, now you've attributed the photos.

Sale Mr. Lucas! You're both rather close to each other.

They were sent to us from another source at GM.

Everywhere you see a DOHC engine that just barely fits, you could put a CIB engine of a over a liter displacement greater or more. The pushrod 5.3 was able to fit, transversely in the engine bay of the W-body. The DOHC 3.6 was squeezed in there just barely.

This Just In: 2010 GMC Acadia SLT-2 Interested in the GMC Acadia? Take part in our Interactive Review of a 2010 GMC Acadia SLT-2. Now till February 23rd.

This Just In: 2010 GMC Acadia SLT-2 Kicking off our next interactive review, today I received a 2010 GMC Acadia SLT-2. My first impression was at how big this vehicle is. As a former Avalanche owner, I doubt anyone stepping down from a Tahoe or Yukon would miss anything size wise. It feels like a big vehicle, but it drives much smaller than it is. It's an elephant doing it's best Fred Astaire impression. The wheels are freaking huge and probably give me a heart attack when it came time to replace them. This particular Acadia came loaded with nearly every option and stickers at an eye popping $49,700. I leave tomorrow for a run to Columbus Ohio... so compile a list of questions for me to answer. In other news, filled out the paperwork today to be added to Ford's press fleet, so if you have a FoMoCo vehicle you want me to request, let me know.

None of that answers the question of why go with a DOHC over a pushrod. Vehicle weight, styling, and price all being equal, which is the over all better engine?

Appropriate... since my observation is that when a gay guy graduates college he generally trades his Jetta in on a BMW.....

So to those who support fully funding NASA, is the idea we allow Darwin to take care of those on earth who are sick and without healthcare while we go off searching for new life elsewhere?

on it's way here in the next year. Though in that regard we should probably add Fiat. Alfa Romeo returning to the US

Added Alfa

The Buick easily. Looks far more upscale, not everyone and their mother has one, 10k fewer miles, and of course uses the clearly superior Oldsmobile body shell.

SMK, why does this rather simple concept baffle you? Horsepower per litre displacement is stupid. Give me horsepower for overall package dimensions and get back to me.

A DOHC 6 liter will NOT fit in the space that a Pushrod 6 liter can.

OR, chances are, YOU are wrong and there is no single right answer to the valvetrain question.

Can you PM me some contact info?

wait, which one is the ROPOS?

Are you plowing for cash this year?

Try to stay on topic SMK. We're talking pushrod V8s, not V6es, though I personally think the pushrod V6es would have been fully competitive in horsepower and torque given the proper development. The 3800 and the 3900 are very different engines. The 3800 was a 90 degree V6 while the 3900 was a 60 degree V6. Just switching the cylinder angle made a huge difference in "refinement". Your argument that pushrods can't be whisper quiet and refined on the highway is laughable on it's face. The LT-1 in Buick and Cadillac applications had plenty of balls, was quiet enough for a library, and super smooth to boot. The 3.9 in the Lucerne I had was so smooth and refined that I didn't even realize I had mistakenly put it in 3 instead of drive until I noticed the instant MPG read out was unusually low. 66Stang and I took it for an experiment the next day where I took the Lucerne up to 80mph and dropped it into 3. There was no shudder, no increase in noise, no visceral difference in the feeling of the car. The Germans like to make things complex. It's kinda what they do. Having DOHC doesn't guarantee refinement.

I'll add that the pushrod, whether from GM or Chrysler, has a sound that is distinctly American. This is a characteristic that GM should be proud of an not massage to sound more like the German or Japanese counterparts.