ShadowDog

I'm...not too impressed. To me, there are more unappealing style and design traits than appealing ones. I've never been too fond of the Solara's bloated appearances.

With no clue on what the interior looks like, everything is completely subjective when it comes to the exterior styling. That said, I think it's an overall improvement over the squared-off, billboard-sided styling of the current design. To me, with the angles given, it looks to have more meat on its bones over the current anemic-looking style. I'm not talking 'mean', as I don't care whether a truck looks mean or not. I'm just saying that it looks more suited to getting the job done in better-style. Is it a dramatic improvement? No. A heavier dose of the concept would certainly have made more of an impact here.

Society views each situation differently based on its culture. A soldier caught in a moment of certain death by his enemy chooses to die by his own hand than suffer the indignity of torture and information extraction, or to be a bargaining piece as a hostage in a war. Rationalize this one all you want, society views the soldier as a courageous one. Thinking that 'giving up' is easy is an opinion that not all of society shares.

Eh, get a loan and buy it out. Of course, this is coming from a person who absolutely HATES leasing for personal vehicles due to having too many restrictions and not enough value at the end of the lease. At the same time, if I wanted a Cobalt, I'd really consider jumping all over that deal just to buy it out.

I'm sorry to read that you witnessed such an event. Unless you find yourself in those shoes, it's far too easy to call it cowardly and selfish. I mean no offense; however, knowing firsthand the details of someone's life, and talking them through the course of their depression and suicidal moments, I've realized it takes far more bravery to end their life. The following words were simply meant for me to remember, for a kind of healing reminder. They need not be read if not interested. One friend ended it with a rifle under his chin. A group of us were to meet for a summer tubing trip down the river. He was to be picked up by his best buddy, and was found in the back yard. This was over fifteen years ago, and it changed all our lives completely. While he did have family troubles, they were common variety. It had been concluded that he suffered escalating psychological issues that were beyond his control. We were too young to understand the inner workings of his mind, or the humerous behavioral traits that turned out to be 'episodes'. In cases like his, rational thought didn't exist for ending his life. The other was the sister to my best friend. Our families were rather close. A couple years older than us, a gorgeous teenager at the top of her life with her final year in highschool with great grades, a great boyfriend and family. She was found in the garage with the car running. To this day, she took her secret with her as nobody knows what sent her to that decision. Some assumed the possibility that she feared she may have been pregnant; however, the family has always been so loving and caring, it's doubtful she would have feared the prospect, but would have immediately come to the family for support. If the parents did know the truth, they chose to keep it a secret from everyone in order to preserve the memory of her. When it happens to those you love, that they choose to end their lives, you can't help but feel pained by their decision. At least, we could only wish everyone could face their fears; but when we can't be sure if they even know what they fear to drive them to suicide, we can only speculate and lay judgement.

As far as I'm concerned, if they don't carry a reasonably affordable sedan and small car, they're cocking the gun with this plan, and it's aimed squarely at their feet.

I get the feeling he was thinking that the discussion on all around 'packaging' was limited to engine design, and not the passengar car as a whole. ...at least, when I brought it up, I was talking about the latter.

Oh, I completely understand your point. I was merely hoping to gather your opinion on this particular area since you'd said "I'd take almost any basic, dinosaur of a V8 over most super-modern, powerfull efficient 4/6 cylinders." But I think the main reason for the higher appreciation that exists for the V8 is due to its popularity in performance cars over the decades. Through the fuel crunch days, the V8 was about as useful as a four-banger, but needlessly inefficient. If D.O.D. can accomplish more to satisfy the masses, then we may very well see its popularity grow again. The unfortunate thing is that D.O.D. isn't quite effective in your daily traffic grind, but open roadway cruising. All things considered, it becomes just as effective as the V8s of old, being selected purely because it can be, not that it needs to be.

Eh, last ones... Me and my wife, Nicole ...and again ...okay, that's quite enough of me.

I FIGURED IT OUT!!! It took me a while, but I realized who looks like BV: Eric Millegan from Bones Unfrickenbelievable.

Whoops, somehow I missed that. Hrm, couldn't be the Firefly then. Tri-bangah anyone? I dunno...not the VW Thing?

While it appears clear that the V8 is not likely to slip out of the truck and SUV market, it is specific to its application. I would tend to think that most soccer-mom SUVs on the highway have a V6 under their hood. Practical use of a mini-van has put the V6 well ahead of the V8. I say it's quite likely that practical use of a passenger car will continue to drive the demand for the V6 for efficient and effective design over the V8. Everything else with an octo-cylinder engine will either be strictly upper-class and luxury models. I don't particularly enjoy poking at responses; however, 68, your post made me chuckle: The fact that my 3.4L DOHC V6 (the dreadful LQ1) from 1995 outpaced the rediculous '83 305 V8 in the Camaro on a regular basis solidifies both our points. That V6 had practical use, efficiency, and all-around performance for the most of its needs in the cars it was shoe-horned into. That V8 only had appeal because of the number of cylinders, and the car it was attached to - it certainly had nothing to do with its performance. If you still would rather have that V8, then it rests at being a novelty. Sure, it can be dressed and tuned for higher output; however, so too could the V6. At this point, I'll have to agree that for the passenger car of today, a V8 is a want while a V6 is a need. I would have to admit that I also believe the days of the V8 are far from numbered; however, technology continues to make leaps. Where the comparison of the hard drive is considered, I think it wasn't quite complete. Take two drives with varying capacity for storage. One is your standard hard drive, while the other is a flash card. One is only useful in the tower of your computer while the other is capable of use in multiple applications. Storage capacity continues to make leaps to where that flash card begins to have the capability to satisfy a greater number of users because of its flexibility and usage offerings. The hard drive is just a hard drive. The V8 horsepower wars will likely steady. It's abilities in performance cars will always be a/the determining factor in their purchase; however, in a passenger car, it's abilities will be treated as a luxury rather than necessity. The V6 will continue its steady march on to continue being the engine of choice as we know it now, due to flexibility, ease of design in practical packaging and lack for need of anything more. - stepping down now for further reading.

Isn't that what evok pointed out, for the passenger car market particularly?

I'm not quite seeing a shift in interest simply due to D.O.D., considering it's not quite efficient enough to be considered an alternative to what can be from a more economical V6. The issue isn't purely based on fuel economy anyway; rather, I see it's based more on the viability of having a more efficient package. It can be just as powerful as a V8, though lighter, and easier to design with a particular engine bay in mind. I'm certainly not going to list positives for a V8 that deal with the sound at the tailpipes, or the roar off the line. None of that really has as much significance in the passenger car market. A V8 would likely be more of a marketing ploy for image than for practical use in anything else that a V6 can't accomplish itself.

Chevette? I was going for the 50's styling cue to being a chrome steel bumper. ...but you should be defending it since it has RWD.

Listening to yesterday's broadcast, the only one I've watched in the whole 'look at me I can sing' show, I was wincing at how many flats Kat was tipping. I agreed with Simon at the end, that Taylor had basically won the contest. I'll put it another way...if you could hear Kat sing, but couldn't see her singing, would you vote for her over Taylor's rich vocals? Well, your opinion only matters if you vote, and I'm Canadian, so it doesn't matter what I think. I would still pick Taylor anyway. I think the watered-down scene could do without just another 'pop' princess.

Eh, it's just a car. I've never really been a fan of the 911 model. People keep referring to its former generations as its pedigree. What ever. I tend to think that the shape is tired. My brother-in-law owns an '83 944. He was storing it at our place, allowing me to drive it and maintain it at the same time. I enjoyed it, and thought about buying it off of him (at the time, they wre valued at $8,000 for one in good condition). After the research, I found that it was just too time consuming and expensive to maintain. The closest reputable dealer shop was across the border. The timing belt alone is a 13 hour book job...that's just nuts. That was all kind of funny when you think about the fact that it's as heavy (if not more-so) than a late-model W-body (Monte Carlo / Grand Prix / etc.) and it only had just over 150 HP. He still has it too, collecting dust in his own garage now. He doesn't have the time to invest in listing and talking to prospective buyers. Who knows, I could still buy it if I wanted to...but that maintenance thing still bugs me.

You're absolutely right, this is great news from a marketing standpoint. I don't mind that the car was designed by an Italian, built by a Korean, and sold as both a domestic make, and a foreign make. That is a nice car to have at the forefront of the WTCC series. I may be a touch biased due to the fact that my wife drives the Optra5; however, regardless of the mediocre press, such an attractive car like the sedan and our 5-door still has me feeling as though it was a great purchase.

Well, I don't think it's such a bad thing. Personally, I'd rather have the G5 than the Cobalt. There's only slight differences; however, I'm more fond of the traditional G5 rear end than the Cobalt's. While the interior doesn't have much for differences, I'm attracted to the G5 more.

If there's one thing I can appreciate about the retro styling, it's that when you line up the coupes in this class from each manufacturer, they all have the image that fits without anyone thinking, 'One of these things is not like the other.' So, Ford throws a party, Dodge brings the beer, and hopefully Chevy shows up before the party-scene dies down.

GM planning on giving those 7 of us a lollipop? j/k - Let the mileage in our GM continue in happiness. ...and let the ignorant bliss keep the 'yota owners the hell away from us.

I've seen more taste in the artisitic expression of a child's full diaper than can be appreciated in that ugly piece of garbage. Honestly, I don't care what scene or popular showcar antics this car represents; it's a disease, and a stick of dynamite is the cure. Motor that thing onto the stage at Barret Jackson's and the crowd would be laughing their asses off.

I know what it is, and I won't bother typing it; however, the front end of this car looks like it's screaming, "DUUUUH!"

Sweat-shops making a comeback?

I've a collection of PS2 and PS games that I've been slowly getting through. I picked up about five games over the last couple months that I've yet to really begin playing. Since I tend to play long-term games like Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy, I like to finish a game before starting another. The problem is now that I don't always have the time to play them...at least, not as much as I'd like. In the winter it was easy, since there was little to be done outside. Isn't that the ironic thing now, that when we were teens, we'd get annoyed that having to do yardwork or chores for the parents would interfere with our game time. Now, I pray it doesn't rain just so I can actually GET to working in the yard in the evening and weekends. Gaming is now just a rainy-day luxury, if we've caught up on our recorded shows that we miss because of work. Oh, to be a kid again. My wife loves the stories in the Final Fantasy series, so I've been playing them all from #2 (Nintendo), a.k.a. #4 (Japanese release). Will I consider buying a PS3 so I can continue the trend and enjoy other games? Whew! At that price, I'll really have to think about it. I'll likely be playing the other ones still, buying the PS3 when a newer generation will be hitting the market.