Satty

Expand the barn?

Hopefully a temp move until GM can attract someone who isn't old-school GM, like Ford did when they got Mulally.

Hooray for irrational "fear" Seriously, there probably aren't many people alive who would do worse than Rick has over the years.

Their perceived quality has improved by leaps and bounds. Statistically, their long-term quality seems to be improving as well. They're finally getting around to making decent looking cars now, too. One thing you have to factor in is that they were building some pretty bad cars just a few years ago, they they had nowhere to go but up.

I think most of the lights in the house were out last night. I dunno, I was in and out of consciousness yesterday. As for planting a tree, I'm going to wait for this year's Reforest the Ozarks event, $10 for a native sapling, everyone wins. Last year all they had left were White Oak, I got one for the front yard. I'd like to get a couple of Cherry Blossoms for the back yard, they were sold out last year.

I'm 6'3 and had plenty of room left overhead. I dont fit in the Tiburon, but the Genesis will hold tall people, bith the salesman and I were over 6 feet tall, I was an inch or two taller than him. It will be difficult for wide people, but any car with aggressively bolstered seats will.

Here it is in Nordschleife Gray, its a fantastic color in person.

Got a whole 4.5 hours! I was going to pop some sleeping pills, but they've been misplaced. So instead of being comatose for 7-8 hours, I got 4.5 and was awakened naturally by the sound of wind gusts and rain.

Do you have actual numbers to back this up or are you just making an anecdotal point? Call me a dork, but I love proof.

I dont like being awake for 20 hours at a time. In fact, I become a real bitch at about 19 hours. Thursday I was up at 4am, didn't get to bed again until almost 1 Friday morning. Then I was up again at 7 Friday morning, here it is 4:30 Saturday morning and I'm still awake. I should be able to reset this weekend and get back into a normal rythm starting Monday when classes start back up. If I dont, I'll be a freaking zombie, sustaining on nothing but energy drinks.

There are passenger related advantages to a sedan. I've admitted that. Getting 4 adults into a 4-door is far easier than into a 2-door, and they generally have more room in a 4-door, hence the keeping of the Prius. Our friends and co-workers appreciate the idea of not taking 2 cars everywhere. Not having to stand up isn't a comfort or convenience factor, its a laziness factor.

Reg, I cannot even begin to say how big of an ass you are. Your stupid stereotyping of hybrid drivers (you're not the only one, just the dumbest) is ridiculous. And, since you're probably not smart enough to have considered this, I'll put it out there. Everyone is being schooled by Hyundai because Hyundai is the only company to tell people they can buy a new car and give it back if they get canned. Like you did.

Yeah, but buying without trading in when gas was $2.50/gallon wasn't a bad move at all. Its hard to trade in a car thats burnt to a crisp. Mine has about 29,000 miles on it and has averaged 44mpg, so its used roughly 660 gallons of gas in just under a year. Lets say there is was a car out there for the same price (Got ours for $27k and change, fully loaded, a few hundred under sticker) that would have averaged 25mpg over that span. That car would have used 1160 gallons of gas. Now lets say the average price for a gallon of gas over that span was $3.00. A little math shows the Prius has burned $1,980 in fuel, which the hypothetical other car would have used $3,480. Thats $1,500 in my pocket over the course of a year. Making the hypothetical car average 30mpg (I do a lot of city driving, so thats unlikely) it still would have used 967 gallons, or $2,900 in gas, still $920 more than me. But lets stretch this out, since the hybrid components are warrantied until 100,000 miles, I'll use that as my number. We'll use the same 44mpg number for the Prius and 30mpg number for Model X. Over that span, the Prius would use 2,272 gallons while Model X would use 3,334. Lets put the price of gas at $2.00, which puts the Prius at $4,544 over that span and Model X at $6668. Thats $2,124 more in my pocket during the hybrid component warranty period. If the price of gas goes back up, or if I quit sucking at driving and eek a few more mpgs out, the difference is even larger. Because it uses less gas, the Prius has a cost-of-ownership advantage over anything else in the price range. The insurance on it isn't higher than any other $25k+ car, the yearly taxes on it aren't either. Maintenance is covered by Toyota, so thats not going to cost anything out of pocket. They hold their value too, I got some superb trade-in numbers last winter.

I didn't take any pics, but it looked like this one without the Korean women sprawled across it. If you want to see more, head down to your local Hyundai dealership, you wont be disappointed.

Really? The best case for the sedan is, "I dont want to be cold"? This really is a nation of pussies. As I mentioned in another thread, we need at least one sedan, or something with a bit of room in back, for nights like tonight when I take the 3 members of my team at work who aren't going to be fired in the coming week out for a "night of bonding" that involves a casino, some booze and Waffle House. Also, when my fiancee and I go out with friends or have to pick people up from the airport. Never once have I thought to myself, "Wow, I despise having a coupe because I have to deal with the minor inconvenience of undoing my seatbelt." That might have been the most asinine thing I've ever read.

Already up

The Shadow? You can see right through it.

Probably didn't hurt that I drove up in a shiny, clean, new car.

Yeah yeah. I probably shouldn't have wasted all that time tearing down the old engine thats going to be sold for scrap. Its a matter of getting all the parts together, hopefully by the end of April.

I didn't even walk in, I drove around the lot once to see what they had, then parked and walked over to the green Coupe. The salesman came out, we chatted for a minute, he grabbed the keys to the gray one so I could look inside, then the keys to the green one so I could take it for a spin. I was honest, said I was interested in the car, never said anything about being interested in buying it.

To be perfectly honest, if we could live with 2 coupes, I would've bought that green one on the spot. Alas, there are times when we need easy back seat access and a little cargo room.

They were playing too safe after getting that 24 point lead, they weren't driving and pressing like they did when the game was closer, but it was a great effort. 1 guys played, and they played well, no other team in the country can match that depth or the intensity with which they play. As long as Mizzou can keep Thabeet in check (they held Blake Griffin to 12 points, so I think they can) they're going to make the Final 4.

I went by the Hyundai/Subaru/Mazda store today specifically to look at the Genesis Coupe. They had 3 on the lot (and 1 more that was out on a test-drive when I got there) but the one I was immediately drawn to was a Lime Rock Green 2.0T. There was a red 3.8 on the lot too, and 306hp is obviously better than 210, but I drove the green one anyways, since I was most interested to see how Hyundai does a turbocharged 4cyl. The other one was a Nordschleife Gray 4cyl manual, it was the best looking of the bunch. First Impression: The is a very attractive car in person. Its well proportioned and inoffensive, while the window dip at least keeps things interesting. Inside the feeling is pure quality, Hyundai has come a long was in the last decade. Its no Jaguar, but is a perfectly acceptable driving environment. Taking the Seat: The seats are aggressively bolstered, I imagine larger individuals will find them uncomfortable, but they were fine for me. This being the base model, there was no power adjustment for the seat, but it only took about thirty seconds to get in a good position. Outward visibility was good in all directions, no huge blind spots. The HVAC and radio controls were close enough and had a good, solid feel to them. Even the base model has steering wheel controls for the radio, an iPod input and airbags galore. And the backlit gauges look fantastic. Taking to the Streets: First thing I noticed is that the engine is quiet. Second thing I found out is that the brakes are really, really strong. The sweet little 2.0 has some serious grunt, more than enough to merge onto a busy highway without slowing things down. The 5-speed automatic shifts smoothly, I didn't try out manual mode. The excursion on the highway led to one of the car's two faults. There is a lot of road noise at highway speeds, its louder than either the MINI or the Prius. To be fair, I was driving it with the radio off, I bet that on my daily commute, with some tunes, it wouldn't be an issue. But getting off the highway is when the fun started. This car handles really, really well. Very buttoned down, and the steering is perfectly weighted. Going down the side roads and back roads was fantastic. I imagine using manual mode (or saving $1250 and getting the stick) would make it easier to keep the car in its power band, but it did just fine with the automatic. After going through a few twisties, I decided that the 4cyl is definitely the way to go the V6 is heavier up front. The After-Drive Walkaround: This is where I found the cars other major flaw, the trunk is tiny. Its wide, and pretty deep, but not tall at all. 10 cubic feet total, about twice what the Cooper will hold, but still not a whole lot. The back seat is surprisingly comfortable, although there isn't a ton of headroom or legroom or waistroom, so dont ever plan on having tall fat people back there. For kids it would be fine, access is really easy too, so a child seat is a non-issue. I'm sure I left a few things out, but this is, by far, Hyundai's best car ever. I could see someone picking a Genesis 2.0T over a Mustang V6. I'll have to drive a 3.8 Track, but I have a feeling it'll give the Mustang GT a run for its money. Money is the other big deal, $22,000 for the base models that doesn't need to apologize for anything. $2,250 more will get you a power seat, sunroof, push-button start and premium sound. For under $27,000 you can get the 2.0T Track, with 19 inch wheels, Brembo brakes, limited slip and tighter suspension. Stepping up to the 3.8 gets you another 96 horsepower starting out at $25,000 going up to just under $30,000 for the Track model, which promises to be a wild ride. Sorry guys, but it looks like the days of hating on Hyundai is over, the Genesis Coupe is a really terrific ride.

Hey Camino, I'll go do some dirty work for you today. I'm going to try and get a drive in a Genesis Coupe before I go into the office. Or maybe instead of going into the office, I haven't decided yet.

It actually is a lot like the LeSabre. Just get in the right hand lane and pray.