lanky9172

1. 0

2. Acadia

1. a 1998 Malibu

2. a NEW gen Malibu possibly, maybe a Cobalt if it's any good, but that's it. I don't think I would be able to afford a Camaro

1. no

2. IF I could afford a CTS (coupe?), then yes, but price is gonna be hard work with

1. no

2. Enclave and IF the Invicta would come to market, then I would SERIOUSLY consider...not to mention a rear wheel 'vert too if that were to show up

they could call the amalgamation World Motors Division, WMD for short

Gents, can we please keep the boards to car jabber? The political talk is kinda disgusting, especially when there are cracks made that really aren't backed by fact...I come here to read up on GM, not to read on how some people are devoid of correct information in political institutions.

Spanks

Alright guys, here are my thoughts (not that they really matter since I rarely post on here); I don't think there is any reason why SAAB is losing money and I say that for one reason: Hyundai. Hyundai as I recall used to be considered REAL sh#t and now it has a decent rep. What did Hyundai do? They boosted their R&D and injected their product with good design. I feel that if Hyundai can be an automotive phoenix, then GM has no excuse for any loss leading divisions. And if it means that profits have to be slim to none to plow good money into R&D, then so be it

I agree with what has been said regarding Saab proving to be a plus for GM in the future instead of a minus. Like it or not, even if Cadillac rocks the casba, you still need a Euro contender to get in the ring with the other Euro corps. Saab is to do just that and with a little tweaking, I think that it could do well.

Now my thoughts on Saab are that it should shoot for the same TYPE of customer as Subaru, ne the same price point. I think Saab can stay where it is price wise, but these two brands have LOTS of similarities, hence the General tapping Subaru to make an entry Saab. They both have turbos, they both have their niche markets, they both shoot for a more sporty and/or outdoorsy person, they're both known for making wagons. Now why Saab has basically ignored all wheel drive until this year is beyond me, but I think Saab needs to look to Subaru even more.

I think Saab needs to throw in MORE turbos and basically take the stance of Subaru and make AWD STANDARD. Couple that with Scandinavian environmental awareness, throw in a tent and you have GM's Subaru, but better. In all honesty I am a Subaru guy, but if Saab does a few of these things (like make a competitor to an Outback with AWD and a stick option) I am totally jumping ship and swimming over to the Saab vessel. I am a GM fan through and through, but they don't offer anything like an Outback...they could if they threw some more options that I feel should be standard onto a 9-3 or 9-5 though. Thoughts?

Who said that? When the Camaro concept was revealed they specifically said it looked far less production ready than the Challenger which debuted at the same show.

I really wish I had the link, but I know that when the Camaro came out, it was billed as the most production ready concept. I know that in these boards that doesn't amount to anything since that can be categorized as hearsay, but I know that was what it was designated. And even if it wasn't billed as that, I feel it has taken too long for the Camaro to go from concept to production. One of GM's problems is turn around like this and I think that most of us know and dislike that. I just wish their turn around were better...I'm sure we can at least agree on that.

I love the Camaro, but this is what ticks me off...it was said that this Camaro was the most production ready concept in ALL of automotive history...now why is it taking so damn long to actually produce??

What part of "...[the] newsletter highlighted vehicles not made by American manufacturers, thereby giving the IMPRESSION that HHS was encouraging employees to buy foreign makes of cars..." do some of you guys not understand? I try not to make political comments and all, but come on. It's like I don't label every Democrat out there for being an idiot just because Billary and Osama are retards and will subsequently ruin the country if they get their way...so let's keep this a little bit cleaner because I sure as heck sit here many a time looking at the Right being bashed on these boards...which to me at times doesn't make a lick of sense.

As for the Japanese argument...that couldn't be more comparing apples to oranges. Let's not take into account the Asian psyche one bit. Of course the Japanese president wouldn't be talking about anything other than a Japanese car...anyone ever here of "face" in Asian culture...that argument is already invalid...

What a great bunch of Facists we have here! You've all bought the view that the Internationalists want you to. I've seen this in motion for over 25 years now. The dismantling of the American middle class. Yes, unions have had their faults, and one of them is not keeping up with the times and trying to remain a viable part of the economy. But the real brunt of this comes from the corporations, who want to reduce working people back to poverty and the struggle just to survive. You think it's "good busienss" to send our jobs oversea to places where the people work in sweatshops for pennies on the hour? It's all to create this "New World Order" where the rich control EVERYTHING. And they will ruthlessly stop at nothing to keep it that way! This is what the greatest struggle of the 20th century was about. And we actually thought we defeated Facism when it's really been there all along behind the scenes! All we have left in this country is a population that is addicted to consumerism and a "credit card" lifestyles; reduced to modern day serfdom. At least unions have enough about them to take a stand against this.

nice, and here I thought this was an automotive board, not a socialist propaganda board. Dude, hate to break it to ya, but this is inevitable and considering the human condition, things have been and probably always will be the way that you outline in "consumerism" and your definition of "facism". Idealism died with the '60s. Get real because no one in this world wants to pay, OVER PAY, those on the line. It makes me sick that I went to college and worked my butt off to become something better and I will probably never make, until I'm old and moldy, the kind of money along with benefits that these folks have. Sorry, but your argument died before it even left your lips. The unions have been part of the reason that R/D has been so low in the states which has left our product inferior to everyone else. Pick up the slack because I'm tired of shipping our stuff overseas to cover the cost of making a decent product since R/D abroad is so much lower.

i think this is the exact reason Plymouth should still be around. dodge is the muscle car/mid grade before you jump to chrysler and chrysler of course should be more like buick or caddy. i always thought there was a place for plymouth to be something like a chevy competitor or even a kia/hyundai competitor. although it would be highly unlikely for Cerberus to resurect the name plate, i think that a tiny car like this in dodge's portfolio would prove to be somewhat of a tarnish on the name as was, or in some cases, the pt was to chysler (since everything else in the line was more high end and you had the cheapest car in the chrysler corp under the chrysler label-not wise in my mind)

i actually got excited over the fact that there might be a cuv out there with a manual. the vue supposedly will have one, but as im sure most of us know, just because the general "offers" a manual doesnt mean you can ever find one.

I've been saying all along, including in another thread, that GM needed something the size of the Tracker again. The Tracker wasn't too bad out of the gate, but like all things GM and American (to which I shoot myself for saying), we let it slide without any MCE or upgrades. Then the Big Three complain that sales are down...well, if ya don't update a vehicle and keep it competitive, then it WILL die.

I always thought Pontiac could have saved the Aztek name. Some might argue that it's dumb to try and turn a turd like that, but I would argue that it's even more stupid to bring a product to market and then not keep it around or update it. My point for bringing the Aztek up is that they could have saved the vehicle if they had done what Subaru did and revised the exterior once they realized their car wasn't selling. Frankly I got passed the ugly exterior because I thought all its Swiss Army pocket knife features were awesome! Like a tent on the back, a cooler as a center console, outlets everywhere...what outdoorsy person WOULDN'T want a car/truck like that??

Just because the smaller 'ute probably wasn't selling well, it doesn't mean GM should have abandoned that segment of the market; same kind of arguement for leaving minivans...so why GM do we not have a Tracker anymore? Why is it that the 'Nox/Torrent are just about the smallest 'utes in North America???

This guy is an asshole and isn't entitled to anything. His car is getting on in its years and you can't expect technology, especially in this day in age, to last that long. I wish someone out there would sue the assholes like this guy and the coffee bitch just for wasting our judiciary system's time. Instead of addressing truly important matters like whether or not Pain Killer Jane or Fondeling Freddy get out of jail, the system is bogged down in crap like this...although that is a broad generalization and not a very good one at that, it still upsets me that the time taken on retarded cases like this could be used for much more important matters...I hope this guy gets a flat in a ditch and can't use his outdated OnStar and then dies...that would be ironic, especially if he won the suit and bought a Toyohondasan which was sitting in the garage because he wanted to take a nostalgic joy ride in the El.

Actually, an update from the poll I just voted and 83% (102k votes total) said GM makes better cars

I just saw that too...very interesting, but I wonder how accurately that gauges popular opinion.

Callaway C16

When even a Corvette isn’t enough, call Reeves

By MARK VAUGHN

Link to Original Article @ AutoWeek | Published 03/16/07, 9:33 am et

2007 CALLAWAY C16 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

AVAILABLE: Now

PRICE: $120,000 base, $192,000 as tested

DRIVETRAIN: 6.0-liter, 616-hp, 582-lb-ft supercharged V8; rwd, six-speed manual

CURB WEIGHT: 3375 lbs

0 TO 60 MPH: 3.3 sec (mfr.)

FUEL ECONOMY (EPA COMBINED): 22.5 mpg

What could a Corvette owner want that’s not already in the fabulously fast standard-issue General Motors Chevrolet product? Fer cryin’ out loud, the thing’s already got 400 hp in base trim and a whompin’ 505 hp as a Z06. And since it weighs just a little more than 3000 pounds wet, it can spank the decals off almost anything that lines up against it. What more could any sensible Corvette luster seek?

More everything, that’s what.

Callaway has been giving Corvette owners just what they love and lust after for 20 years, and non-Corvettes for another 10 years before that. Reeves Callaway started in his garage in Connecticut in 1977, making turbochargers for various performance cars. Then, in the late ’80s, a particularly well-done Alfa supercharger caught the eye of Corvette chief engineer Dave McLellan. That led to the fearsome twin-turbo Callaway Corvettes of 1987-91, including the all-conquering, 254-mph, twin-turbo Sledge Hammer. From that slobbering beast came the SuperNatural LT1-based naturally aspirated Corvettes (AW, Jan. 25, 1993), followed by the C12 homologation cars that allowed Callaways to race at Le Mans and now this, the C16.

The 16 in its name does not refer to cylinders, as many people who saw our test car assumed, but to the car’s spot in Callaway history. This is the 16th project to come out of the Old Lyme, Connecticut-based supercar maker. Given the marque’s powerful history, this one is a somewhat more subdued version, if you can use the word “subdued” in the same sentence as “616 hp.”

The heart of the Callaway conversion is an Eaton/Magnuson roots-type supercharger that bolts nicely on top of the 6.0-liter aluminum V8 Chevrolet engine (a kit for the 7.0-liter Z06 is in the works). The engine has the same 4.00-inch by 3.62-inch bore and stroke, and it wasn’t necessary to change the compression ratio. Callaway also adds higher-flow injectors. That gets horsepower up to 560 at 6200 rpm and torque to 500 lb-ft at 4750 rpm.

That’s for the base C16, which you could glibly call C16 Lite. But the base C16’s 560 hp is probably not going to be enough, is it? So Callaway has an option package that adds unique cylinder heads, larger intake and exhaust valves and Callaway-specific rocker arms and pushrods, all of which bring power up to 616 hp at 6200 rpm and torque to 582 lb-ft at 4750 rpm.

It’s not at all unmanageable. With only 7.5 psi of boost max, Callaway didn’t even have to rebuild the bottom end of the motor.

“It’s not a big stress on the components,” said Pete Callaway.

Yes, there’s a Pete Callaway, son of Reeves. He started working in his dad’s shop at age 11 and is now West Coast rep for Callaway Engineering, setting up Chevrolet dealers to service and sell C16s. Like his dad, he is tall, polite, soft-spoken and knowledgeable, not at all what you’d expect of a “tuner” proffering 616 hp of anything.

He gave us a walkaround of the car outside the Callaway family compound deep in the heart of Orange County.

“The C12 was the total package. You could only get one trim level, and that had everything on it,” he said. “With the C16, you can do just the brakes or just the suspension or whatever you’d like. The C16 is essentially a menu for all the components.”

There are a lot of components.

For brakes, you can leave the standard Z51 four-piston calipers that GM puts on Corvettes, or you can upgrade to Callaway six-piston front and four-piston rear grabbing 355-mm by 32-mm discs.

The suspension is a collaborative effort with Eibach. You still have the SLA upper and lower A-arms and transverse leaf springs, but Callaway added double digressive shocks and Eibach springs. The dampers adjust 10 ways for jounce and 10 ways for rebound, allowing you to come up with a track setting and a commuter setting, for instance. Ride height adjusts more than 2 inches.

“We bring the spring rate up a little bit,” said Callaway.

Our test car rode on Michelin Pilot Sport 275/30ZR-19s front and 325/25ZR-20s rear, mounted on Dymag wheels with magnesium centers and carbon fiber outers. Callaway is working with Yokohama on a 345/25 for the rears that should be available in early 2008.

The entire car is wrapped in the wild Tangelo from House of Kolor fiberglass bodywork you see here, though you don’t have to get orange. The only original exterior parts are the roof, decklid and mirrors. Everything else is all Callaway, from the big hood bulge to the uniquely subtle strakes that form faux C-pillars in back.

On the road, the C16 immediately feels even tighter, stronger and faster than a stock Corvette. It’s everything buyers love about that car and more. While roll, dive and squat are mighty hard to sense in a standard Vette, they’re almost entirely absent in a Callaway. And yet the extra power and torque are there anywhere on the tach, especially from launch.

Our car had the optional racing seat, awkward to get into but one of the most comfortable and secure buckets we’ve ever sat in.

Just as with the regular Corvettes, this one was easy to drive in typically lousy commuter traffic, even easier since the one-to-four shift lockout had been disconnected mysteriously in our car.

It would have been fun to tabulate lap times back-to-back between our 616-hp C16 and a Z06 straight from Bowling Green. But a tough schedule meant only a single afternoon in the Callaway and no time for a Corvette loaner from Chevrolet. We have no doubt the C16 would hold the edge, but it sure would have been a fun day finding out.

If you own a Z06, we suggest buying one of these, too. Then send us your results.

Callaway is taking orders now and needs about two or three months’ lead time. Order now (www.callawaycars.com), and yours should be ready for track days once spring rolls around. Prices are about $190,000 total for a fully loaded honker.

Link to More Info and Photos @ Callaway

Never really liked some of the Callaway models' looks. I hate that rounded lower air vent on the front. The new Corvette is a lot edgier and it seems Call' has retained that 90's bubble car look.

And one heck of a lot larger w/ a better powertrain and interior.

Although I am an avid domestic fan and really dislike the ricers for the most part, I must say that I really like Scooby, I have owned two now in my short driving career, and will most likely get another. THey aren't too expensive, they all have AWD, which in Indiana is nice, AND I can get them with manual trannys. I always wanted an SUV, but then I realized that a wagon was nicer for me because it handles like a car and the fact I can get it with a stick rocks as I HATE autos. Subaru owners are perty loyal, but their product does need A LOT of help and design direction. All the models need some serious updating as their little MCE's are still getting long in the tooth. The Impreza hasn't been overhauled in years. I hate to say this since Toy is like the Evil Empire, but I wish they would take their minority stake in Scooby and infuse some of their capital into Subaru R&D

posted on businessweek.com

Nissan recalls 1.01 million vehicles

TOKYO

"Nissan Motor Co. said Friday it was recalling more than 1 million vehicles because of problems with the gas tanks.

The recall affects 1,015,306 units of the company's March and Cube subcompacts that were manufactured between 1991 and 2000, spokeswoman Pauline Kee said.

The vehicles can have small cracks in the gas tanks that leak fuel fumes. Nissan will repair the problem free of charge.

"It creates an uncomfortable smell," Kee said. "It's not a safety problem."

Nissan expects the recall to cost 3 billion yen ($25.6 million).

About 4,000 of the vehicles were sold overseas, mostly in Southeast Asia. About 600,000 of the affected vehicles are expected to still be on the road."

I like Nissan and all, but ouch...and isn't this just about all the Nissans out on the road in the world today?

Sir, it said that the reason it wouldn't be built in the states or Western Europe is due to lack of profitability. We can't build cars here just to make people feel good at the cost of losing money. The reason that Toy and Honda, and all the other transplants can do what they do is because they don't have a union, an outdated commodity of the 20th century, holding them down...yet. With things in place like equal opportunity employment, OSHA, the nature of competition, there isn't a need for unions anymore. Those issues that unions used to address and defend against have now been taken care of through other methods rendering the union almost obsolete. I hope this wasn't offensive, just my take and observation.

and as for the sub-Nox type vehicle, I felt that GM was really leaving a void when they shelved the Tracker. I think GM needs SOMETHING in this place, especially as gas rises and people still want the image or at least versatility of an SUV

I wouldnt buy it just becuase they are sending the work over to these countries, why cant they build it in America? This will only hurt GM's appeal to the middle class who are tired of seeing jobs move over seas and get them to buy a Honda/Toyota made right here in America. And there is also the stigma of being built in Thiland, India, or Mexico as being of poor quality. Not a good move on GM's part.

Sir, it said that the reason it wouldn't be built in the states or Western Europe is due to lack of profitability. We can't build cars here just to make people feel good at the cost of losing money. The reason that Toy and Honda, and all the other transplants can do what they do is because they don't have a union, an outdated commodity of the 20th century, holding them down...yet. With things in place like equal opportunity employment, OSHA, the nature of competition, there isn't a need for unions anymore. Those issues that unions used to address and defend against have now been taken care of through other methods rendering the union almost obsolete. I hope this wasn't offensive, just my take and observation.

The one and only Genesis:

What does the Compass' crappy interior material composition have to do with vehicle quality? Most reviewers like the Compass except for the graining on the plastic, and others don't like the looks.

Actually, if I am not mistaken, Peter Gabriel was part of Genesis once, so that wouldn't really be the "one and only" Genesis, techically, a la Nissan, it's Genesis 2.0

GM trucks were getting all kind of love at the auto show. the turdras were pretty lonely.

You make something ugly, it's bound to be alone.

yeah...that's what the Scion xd said when no one asked it to the prom...

Wow, you guys think of Bently, I think of an earlier product of theirs! It was a push button automatic!

Behold the Imperial's ancestor the mighty Plymouth Valiant. They are both butt ugly!

The only similarities I see between the two, aside from an obvious car shape, is MAYBE the grill which are just a tad bit similar and round headlights. I hope this was a comparison made in jest. Again, I like the Imperial and think that the details are nice. Although earlier someone quoted me about the "details" and relating it to other Chryslers, I equated the details with some of the more historic British cars, as was pointed out earlier, Rolls and Bentley.