Cortazzo

But their interiors are so nice! :-P My folks each had a lexus from 01-04, my moms, an RX was of surprisingly poor quality. Neither of them cared for the dealer experience and have gotten different brands of cars now. Toyota isn't beyond reproach, you notice they are actively advertising their quality REPUTATION, where they didn't 3-4+ years ago. They have to advertise reputation because their quality scores for the toyota brand aren't out of the park anymore. They are on the peak of their rise, and will probably level off or decline as people realize that other cars of both import and domestic persuasion are just as reliable if not more so.

Exactly what I'm saying. I think that GM has the ability to capitalize on the strong positive association consumers have with the chevy smallblock by downsizing it, and utilizing the best technology to make a wonderfully powerful and flexible v8 that gets mileage to make some v6s look like gas hogs. On a mildly related note, everyone seems to be obsessed with making things smaller, cell phones, computer chips, laptops, etc. Wouldn't it be great marketing to present what would be the equivilant of a die shrink for GMs engines and make it look like a big technological advance. I imagine the day when GM is ahead of the fuel economy curve, uses small, efficient v8 smallblocks as the step up motor in many of it's vehicles (not just trucks but cars) with 3v heads and DoD, maybe even DI. They couple this to those alternators that shut down the engine at a stop to make a car that gets great power, and killer gas mileage. You can't just catch up to the competition at this point, you must exceed it.

While toyota may be pushing the envelope in terms of advancing hybrid technology, i think the real promise is the hydraulic system that the EPA came up with and are testing out in UPS trucks. The vehicle stores energy from braking, and then uses it to help you take off from a stop. This kind of start/stop is what makes the city driving cycle so inefficient, and it's not a very expensive setup compared to all of the batteries and electronics required in a traditional hybrid. Something like this in combination with lightweight materials and other engine advancements should provide vehicles of all types with increasingly good economy. And in regards to the person who said that efficiency hasn't gone up since the 70s, it has tredmendously. A full size pickup truck today gets the same mileage as a midsize sedan 30 years ago. Consumers have made the choice of using these technology gains to buy larger vehicles and more powerful vehicles (or both). With gas prices going up like they are, and probably going to stay around this level for ever, i'm sure that preference is going to change somewhat.

Very interesting indeed, it didn't really make clear whether you could get a manual with the 3.6l. I have no problem with the 3.9l set aside from it's fairly miserable fuel economy. If it had DoD it would be a much easier sell in my mind. Besides, i think having a small displacement v8 with DoD would be a better move for GM instead of a fairly unremarkable v6 in terms of smoothness (more cylinders are smoother than less), power, efficiency, and consumer response.

Do we really need 500hp? How about using technology to increase v8 mileage across the board while still delivering comparable or increased HP over current models? If they say the camaro concept can get 30 mpg highway with a DoD 6.0L, what could it do with a more advanced DoD 5.0L smallblock, etc.

On another note, does anyone find it funny that a vue concept would look more like the Buick Enclave than it's mechanical sibling the Outlook?

I wish they would sell it as a two door and with the diesel. And I LOVE the side exhausts! Seeing the Aura's conversion from concept to production, i was dissapointed, not nearly as dissapointed as with the g6 though. If they can keep the exterior shape faithful, and give us an interior that is just a step ahead of what we've seen for the new outlook, and it will be one hot ride. Just give us the turbo diesel!

It looks pretty good to me, the only thing that is really different from the concept is the lower intake area, i couldn't distinguish much else from the photo. Now, I hope to God that 248 means a current gen 3.6 and not a 3.9. The 3.9 with DoD and 270+ hp i could accept happily, but not at 248hp without DoD. I don't think the Aura is a world beater, but it's a very attractive car, and it should be a solid and reliable seller for saturn. A nice accord alternative.

The fairy reference in the commercial was CLEARLY of the tinkerbell variety, not of any kind of homosexual reference IMO. With the biker guy, he goes from one 80s fashion nightmare to the opposite 80s fashion nightmare, ultra preppy country club, i wouldn't necessarily consider it gay, but cutesy. I wouldn't blame any group of people for these stupid accusations by minority interest groups of prejudice. Interest groups from every sort of minority (from italians, to blacks, to women, to gays) try hard to find things to complain about to remain relevant and to stay in the media. Either way, Dodge continues to position their brand as aggressive and macho, if that doesn't appeal to you go buy someone else's car, no big deal.

'm going to have to join the chorus of haters for this car. The twin port grill looks terrible in this iteration, i think you either need large headlights or a prominent grill, not both; it makes the front too busy. And the wing is not just over the top, but ugly over the top. There are excessive wings that are asthetically pleasing, this isn't one of them. I do like powder coated trim pieces on the interior, but I'm a fairly young guy so that stuff doesn't turn me away like it might for others. I've wanted to like the g6 coupe but there is something about its proportions that just turn me off.

I did see the new interior on the program, and it blew me away as much as the exterior did of what's hopefully the new CTS. I still can't believe how impressive it looks, if the rest of GMs lineup is getting this kind of quality to detail and design, wow.

OMFG! That looks way to expensive to be a CTS!

The car is handsome, don't care for the simplistic audi roofline though. If the car is to be sold here, it needs some more attitude.

I really hate the CR commercials i hear on the radio, they say at the end, "we're not biased because we don't have advertisers", you don't advertise because you don't advertise, it doesn't mean you aren't biased. If they have a foreign car bias, they are even more free to perpetuate that.

I do wish they realized the obvious as far as global business procedures long before there was a bankruptcy scare. Once GM starts breaking even/small profit and Delphi is resolved the stock is going to get a really healthy bump.

Anyone check out Autoextremist.com today? Delorenzo was comenting on the death of the GTO, and how it was a great car but a little overpriced. He then said Camaro MY 2008 FIREBIRD following by 12 months for 2009 'you heard it here first' in his words. Going on the assumption that the camaro design is already done and finalized which i believe it is, GM has 20 months to tool up a factory and test models before a fall 2007 launch as a 2008 model. It seems reasonable if a design is ready to be produced, 20 months is enough time, perhaps even generous just to get tooling ready and crash test the models.

I've heard so many conflicting things on the GTO it's disgusting. Every other month there is an 'it lives' or 'its dead' article somewhere. Pontiac needs an image vehicle above the solstice, whether it's a GTO or not is a different matter. I'm sure we'll see some V8 excitement one way or another though. And as far as badge-engineering, the term really only applies when only the badges are changed. So you'll probably see some zeta pontiac something or other, it just won't share body lines or interiors with a camaro.

In response to evok, you are right about the development period, and if you're an insider you know much more about the industry than outsider enthusiasts like many of us. But Ed Welburn's comments and Bob Lutz's comments have led me to believe that a lot of work has already been done. Let's say that the design is, if not finalized already, virtually finished. That is a sig. portion of time there, the rest is mechanical. While that constitutes the bulk of development time, there has been so much talk of plans in development being frozen and dusted off, i think there is a significant body of work completed on camaro and zeta, they really just have to some engineering and construction issues before we hear more. And in regards to the original IL article, it said based on supplier sources. I don't know if anyone remembers, but about a year ago there was a leaked supplier document that showed MY2008 camaro and other RWD projects, and it turned out to be false, so I wouldn't put my eggs in a suppliers rumors basket.

My heart is aflutter. We'll have all of the goodness of the european models, with the added benefit of them built in the good old USA (i'm pretty sure). I believe the europeans have gen II ecotecs while we're still on gen I, but i can't say for certain. I can't believe that with all of this amazingly hot product coming from saturn currently and in the near future, they could be one of the hottest brands going. It's amazing what quality and great design can do to a brand in the course of a few years.

I really don't understand the need for this AND a crew cab pickup... Image?

It's good they are dropping the price on the CTS, especially the 2.8l version. THe product is near the end of it's lifecycle, and honestly, in 2.8l trim it's not worth more than 30k. This will keep volume high for the end of production and hopefully snag some acura or bmw intenders to the general. In general l like the idea of having realistic MSRPs, Chrysler does this with their LX cars, and they are worth paying their reasonable stickers for.

What happened to the 3.9L DoD variation??? I remember reading that the 3.9 would have DoD before it was released in the g6. It's not a very expensive addition that will add value to the product as the 3.9 gets pretty lame mileage for a v6.

None of GM's brands represent any kind of honest technological progress. Even their last big splash, DoD, Chrysler beat them to market with it. I believe that offering exciting kinds of powertrains across the board in a brand like pontiac would do wonders. Instead of using mostly v6s, make all models of reasonable size standard with a 4 banger and turbo option, make a stick available on all models. Look at the new honda civic, a lot of folks on GM boards have scoffed at it, but as a 18-24 person, i think the LED displays look cool, and it's different from all of the other cars out there, and its affordable. I bet the new Civic Si will sell very well and give honda credability again, i bet they would do even better if they brought over the great looking european spec hatch. To sum it up, GM needs to make cool small cars, the HHR misses the mark because it's retro and appeals more to middle aged buyers. The cobalt, while a good small car, is somewhat forgetable IMO.

Wow, that is stunning with the chevy grill, it looks more polished than the original concept. I hope that is looks as amazing with 4 doors, same for the Antera for saturn. This is exactly what GM needs to improve their image with new buyers! Just don't put a crap chinese built engine into it. I would love to replace my 2dr Jimmy with that.

Mobile home's for trendy 20-somethings, not bad.