Drew Dowdell

Not the I am a Toyota defender, but Toyota is REQUIRED to post the mileage numbers that the EPA determines. They have no choice.

But actually touch that grey dash material. It feels awfull!. It's the same stuff they use in the downmarket 300s and Magnums.

That looks like the interior of my dad's 1993 F-150

I'd like to point out the vaugeness of this question. Being a strong brand does not always equal having the most sales. Cadillac is one of the strongest brands at the moment even though Pontiac probably out sells it. In a matter of 3 years Cadillac has changed it's image into one of badass, in your face luxury and sport. What is pontiac's image right now? Driving excitement? With that lineup? I don't think so. To back up my arguement, which brand is stronger? Porche or Volkswagon? Mazda or Ford? Hummer or Mitsubishi? The point here is, the first collumn in my list is a strong brand, yet the second collumn is a weak brand that sells a hell of a lot more vehicle then the first collumn.

Soft != good and hard != bad

I never get any PMs. :( :( :(

what he said

I'm not saying the S/C 3800 wasn't powerful. Just that the 4.0 NS is more refined and smoother.

36-speed transmissions from Allison should be standard in the Cadillac line. </sarcasm> The only thing a 7-speed transmission does is highlight your engine's lack of power. Why is it that Chevy used to be able to race with 2-speed powerglides? I love my CTS, but it annoys me that it has to kick down out of 5th gear to get me up a slight incline at 55mph. My friend's '94 Roadmaster almost never kicks down going over the mountains at highway speed and that is a 4speed auto. I'm sure the 345 ft/lbs torque has something to do with it.

I'd like to invite you all to go sit in a new Passat. My partner and I were looking at one last weekend just to get a baseline compairson to his current <'01> Passat. The door panels, dash, everything is all hard surfaced.

Plus the Ultra should have had the 4.0 Northstar from the Aurora instead of the S/C3800.

Are you using a driver included with Windows or a driver supplied by HP?

*hands you some of the "special" KoolAid* There ya go.... drink up.

Aren't you missing a few brands here and there? I'd say either Cadillac or Chevy are the strongest brands. None of the rest qualify. Even Olds was stronger at it's death then Saturn is currently and Saab has ever been. It was on an equal footing with Buick and could go either way against Pontiac depending on which year you looked at. So what you're doing is asking us to pick a strongest brand out of a lineup of 4 brands weaker then a dead brand .

Him?? no...

Of the new minivans, the Relay and the Terraza are the best looking inside and out.

only if you buy the models that cost less then a Lexus. Hit 30k and you're into Northstar territory. 4-speed or not, a northstar Lucerne will cream an ES330. The 4-speed v. 5-speed isn't as much an issue in this class as long as the transmission is smooth, trouble free, and efficent. If the performance is similar or better with a 4-speed, yet you still have a problem with it, you need to look elseware for the source of your issues.

If GM goes under complete. The rest of the automobile companies out there won't be able to pick up the slack. There will be tons of people out of work around the globe. All the GM suppliers All the GM dealers All the GM factories Know how many workers that is? I don't, but I bet it's huge.

I would like to start a Car Rag that rates vehicles based on their intended purpose. This means rather then putting a Fleetwood through a slalom, I would test to see how much road imperfections are minimalized compaired to a Roadmaster/TownCar/New Yorker. Rather then testing 0-60 times in an Aveo, I would test the real world gas mileage of the car when driving normally and make sure it had enough power to get up the hills of Western PA with two people and luggage. Rather then compairing a CTS to a 3-series simply because they share a price point. I would compair a CTS to a 5-series because they are similar dimensions and weight.

Should say either "spouse" or "partner" as well. Because for about 20 of us Wife/Girlfriend will never apply..... Anyway... that's what I voted.

Oh dear... look what I found while "googling" the Citroen Logo. I have to link it.... if you're under the age of 18, please do not click. Please do not link to these kind of images - Northstar.

Not sure what would be lost here. The 9-3 is barely adequate. The 9-5 is beaten by everything in it's price class including Volvo. 9-2x is a flop 9-7x a great Saabravada* Things Renault should consider. Infinity doesn't do FWD. Saab buyers like FWD. Infinity doesn't do turbo-4 Saab is all about turbo-4 *name not coined by me.

I thought you Pontiac people might like to know, Hallmark is doing a 1968 Firebird convertible ornament this year. I've always collected the Railroad related and Star Trek related Hallmark ornements. Last year I added a Hallmark '66 Toronado to my collection. Linky