Drew Dowdell

You seriously think that Cadillac is only 1/2 a step above Chevy? My point is, Pontiacs, for the most part, are no more special than Chevys. The G6 is majorly outclassed by the Aura and Malibu. The G5 is the same as a Cobalt and doesn't even come in a GXP version like Chevy's SS version. The Sky has a nicer interior than the Solstice. Torrent was a blatant Chevy badge job. The Vibe is pretty good, but the Astra has a similar package with a nicer interior. Only the G8 has something special going for it..... but you know what? All of that is ok. It's just that Pontiac isn't the performance brand everyone wants it to be.... and it never was. Every time someone calls Pontiac the "performance brand" the first things that come to mind is that landu roofed, fender skirted, white walled Parisianne or a ribbed for your pleasure Transport or the ghastly looking Aztek or the sound of a Grand Am Quad-4 that hasn't had it's oil changed since the first Clinton inaugural.

You probably already took that hit. I've always had a problem with the "ZOMG! PONTIAC IS A PERFOURMENCE BRAND!!!@!2" uh.... no.... They're an everyman brand, 1/2 a step up from Chevy and you could buy a couple of them with really big motors that the Chevy's didn't get. With the exception of some varieties of F-body and the Fiero, there was nothing at Pontiac that you couldn't buy at your local Chevy/Olds/Buick dealer with the same or better performance.

I'm sorry you feel that way. We had an exception to the political rule during the election season, but once the election was over the Politics rule was reinstated. Since their appeared to be a demand for an area for politics to be discussed, we created a section for it if people chose to join in that discussion. General government policy as it pertains to GM is not the same as partisan politics.

Wide Track! Doesn't get much more exciting than this..... landau roof, fender skirts, wire spoked white wall wheels, suspension by Serta.

Why can't Saturn/Saab/Hummer be spun off to one company? You'd have your everyman brand, your luxury brand, and your channel for trucks.

fixed

I don't know about US Bank Corp, but the lying by the CEO of Wells Fargo would make Ron Blagovitch blush.

I agree that the Malibu needs to match them in size. I'm saying they can't get any bigger without being called full size. Malibu does just fine with with it's 4-cylinder. Road warriors like us would want more, but your average Camry 4-cylinder driver will be fine with it.

The only downside is that even with the base engine the reviewers are going to expect GNX like performance and it'll get compared to some irrelevant BMW that costs $20,000 more and has the interior space of a Civic.

I think a subcription to TTAC should come with a free included.

1. Pricing hasn't been released for either. 2. You fail to account for the substantial tax credits on the Volt. 3. Sometimes people don't buy things just to save money. If I were cross shopping against the Volt (since I don't know the options that will be available), the Cruze wouldn't even be on my list. You're right that the CTS and Enclave would be the competition.... but that comes from someone who can actually afford any of the above.

Because I want a coupe and I like the looks of both. So there. P.S. Step the maturity up a notch. First verbal warning.

You're entitled to your own opinions, you're not entitled to your own facts. The CTS is in the same size range as the 6-series and Mercedes coupes. I doubt GM has any dreams of selling 50k of these a year, but if they want Cadillac to be a global player, they need the global body styles. A CTS is on my shopping list, a CTS coupe would be even higher. I've owned a CTS before, it's not unlikely that I will again.

It's not really a Dexcool problem but an intake manifold gasket problem. Dexcool is used in hundreds of thousands of other engines. That three engine types have coolant trouble while a multitude of others do not does not point to a dexcool problem.

Corollary: Nearly all of the mainstream imports had to make themselves more "American" in order to reach their current statuses. The current Accord is bigger than a 1987 Taurus. The 1987 Accord has more in common size wise with today's Aveo.

Chapter 11 won't happen without government financing. If GM is forced into bankruptcy and the government won't finance it, it's going to be chapter 7 and GM is done.

I don't buy that. Chapter 11 would have likely cost the tax payer more via debtor financing through the government.

I'd love to drive an old Eldosaurus like that.... but I'd prefer an '85 Toronado.

I'm not sure if you're agreeing with me or not. I'm saying that the Aura proves that having a "non-domestic" nameplate doesn't matter. Malibu is doing much better than Aura has and it's making a good name for itself. It was never going to beat the CamCordtima in sales in this first "very good" generation. Now Chevy has a whole bunch of new, happy, customers who don't have to be embarrassed to drive a Chevy. It took the Camry a few generations to get to the spot it's in now. This Malibu is a great place to start from and basically proves that Saturn is not needed as an "import fighter". Chevy can do the job just fine thanks as long as you give them great product. You don't beat the imports by trying to disguise yourself as an import. You beat the imports by being a superior domestic product.

uhm, aren't those a variant of the G8 wheels?

I like Saturn, but I have an issue with the idea that Saturn is there to "compete with the imports". Uhm.... Chevy is there to compete with the imports too. If anything, the Malibu and Aura show that you don't need a separate brand to compete with Honda... you just need great product. I think the direction they were taking Saturn was the right idea. Making it a Euro-niche people's car brand was about the only place for it to go. Something to compete with VW and low end Volvo/Audi.

SOX does cost a lot of money.

If there is minimal weight gain over the Malibu, I don't see why not..... but I would prefer the Turbo-Ecotec as the base engine.

Pontiac hasn't been it's own division for ohhhh 30 years now?