goblue1999

It's good to be Bob Lutz.

How would you know? Are you hiding something?

I don't know how a front engine, rear transmissioned car would be able to have an AWD system. It would need like 3 torque tubes or something insane.

I believe that the next Vette is mid-engine.

don't they do their own crash tests? shouldn't they have known about this?

this is a condition that is not expected to occur every time, that's probably why GM's own crash testing didn't find it. Of course GM crash tests their own vehicles, you would be nauseus watching all that perfectly good metal getting crunched.

The Chevrolet Corvette should remain just that.

I disagree, Chevy is getting NO BUMP whatsoever from Corvette.....and the Corvette name is pulled down by the Aveo, Cobalt and Malibu.

Corvette needs to be its own brand, and can sell alongside Cadillacs and Hummers, Chevy can have the Camaro.

Anybody think that GM has an idea in the back of their head that they can power a house with the same unit, especially with solar power involved? Just think if GM were the

worlds top car maker AND the worlds top power generator! That could REALLY rain on Toyota's parade!

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That is the plan, and the genesis for the statement that this could harken a new golden age for GM. Buy the stock at 33, watch it go to 330!

Always the optimist eh? hows it goin Captain Sunshine?

This is a great looking, high quality vehicle! Period!

This product  from the drawing board to production unit is flawless. Why must you put a black cloud around everything they try to do to improve. Your like Eyore for gods sake, have some faith dude!  LOOK AT IT ,It can not be screwed up unless some one does it on purpose.imo of course. No offense intended, I just get sick and f*(%$#ng tired of people without any patience while they work on this recovery.GM is doing the best they can .It takes time they just started emplementing the plan a short while ago for petes sake!  (the rant is over, and  now back to the show.)

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my words exactly. when you have an agenda, everything looks like a conspiracy to put YOU out of business

Better to under-rate them and have it certified with higher hp/tq than the other way around

It's good PR

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The japs don't think so....they would rather advertise them high, to get the press and sales traffic, and then hope nobody notices when they come in low, since they have a full time apologist staff working in the automotive press.

Those were really stupid, sorry.

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don't be sorry.....the market will decide.

GM needs to expedite the Buick Enclave and Saturn Outlook to market.

Speed up the Camaro project.

Speed up the Cadillac CTS update.

Bring the Buick Velite to market.

How right you are!!

then, redo the malibu, get rid of the LaCrosse, stop building the minivans!!

But last year, sales were up 41%.  Down 36% for this year. Does it mean +5% from 2004?????

uhhhh..............no!

simple math

pretend: 2004 = 1000 sales

2005 = 41% increase => 1410 sales

2006 = 36% decrease => 508 less vehicles = 902 = 10% decline from 2004

another good example:

one year, your stock loses 50% of it's value, how much do you need to make the next year, to break even??

start with stock at $10/share, lose 50%, stock is worth $5

to get back to even you need to return 100%!! good luck.

Actually, I'm surprised I haven't commented either.

If the cost-return analysis indicates that a driver would break even on a plug-in hybrid after fewer than 36,000 miles, then HELL YES!  It would be the new golden egg!

Though if I were a betting man, I'd wager that Toyota would magically beat GM to the punch.

Edit: changed mileage to something more realistic.  Also, here's my mathematical reasoning:

36,000 / 30 mpg = 1200 gallons

36,000 / 80 mpg =  450 gallons

1200 * $3/gal = $3600

450 * $3/gal = $1350

If the plug-in hybrid system only adds $2000 to the cost, then you will be saving money after 36,000 miles.  Even earlier if gas prices go up.

where in your calculation is the cost of the electrical energy that flows through the "plug"

So... the Camaro will fail because the GTO did, because it's assumed that it will get poor gas mileage, because of its styling with respect to the more bland mustang, because it's  assumed that women hate it, because it's assumed that it will be too expensive...

I agree! 

You can bet your A$$ that the Camaro won't fail for fuel economy. Just take a look at the Vette.....28mpg plus on the highway, ripping asphalt all the way.

I've posted pics of my solar panels before:

I'm currently generating about twice the electricity that I use, and I'd consider getting a plug-in hybrid.  Some Prius owners have converted their cars to plug-ins.

My neighborhood had a black-out last night for about two hours.  I don't have battery backup, but I think I'm going to look into that.

Cool solar array, how much is the initial cost.....and what time to payback??

oops, i see that you answered someone else's question.

Would it be practical? Why have 3 different Hybrid systems?

Risk management, just like having 4cyl, 6cyl, 8cyl, diesel, di-gas, etc.

248 HP? That's 20 less than the Camry.

On another note, the Sky Redline looks really cool.

Don't forget to apply the Jap fudge factor to any published HP figures. A Toyota claim of 268 will likely boil down to 240 or so when tested to an SAE standard.

Worst case sinario is your rear wheels collapse into the wheel well. Going 60, 70, 80 mph...how could anything bad possibly come from that?

As for wiper motors. Yeah in a rainstorm it could be tricky if the wiper fail, but then...the instant you notice they are not working...PULL THE F*** OVER!!! But I would think most people would notice the wipers not working before that time, unless it's a sudden faliure, in which case, my advice comes into play .

You're right about the fronts, especially in FWD cars, bu still, any issue with the suspension is a serious issue.

I certainly understand that, I performed structural analysis on front and rear suspension parts for years, corvette, fcar, ttruck, gmt800, saturn, gm10, ek, and the highly vaunted EV1.

c'mon, who really needs those back wheels anyway.

theyrre bound to fall off at some point.

this way, the tires don't need rotation or replacement

This is pretty bad, it's tough to take shots at Toyota's transmission recall with a recall like this. It's pretty serious.

At least Chrysler is only recalling vehicles for a wiper motor, lol

That sounds funny, and a suspension part sounds more important than wipers, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that wiper failure, during a rainstorm, is more likely to result in a crash than a rear suspension issue. A FRONT suspension issue, on the other hand, terribly serious.

Anyone know who makes the rear toe links??

Global Peak Oil production will make $5-6/gallon gasoline a reality by the end of the decade, just as GM is bringing out its V-8 Zetas.  Believe me, we'll all be driving little hybrids soon (or we'll want to be driving one).  Meanwhile, the economy will suck, we'll be bogged down in more wars, and chances are our government will stage another 9/11 to keep us all in line.  Get ready to give up your Camaros for good.

Just hope the staged 9/11 is in a more liberal city next time, maybe LA.

Maybe EPA estimates will be 113, but that means you're looking at about 70 in real world driving (going by the drop off seen in the current one). 70 is obviously really good, but I highly doubt it will get 113 in real-world driving.

One of my teachers has a Prius and doesn't even get 40MPG.

They can get 193mpg, I'll still run them off the road with my Suburban.

I loved this quote: 'Mr. Lutz took issue with a statement by President Bush earlier this year that G.M. "needs to develop a product that's relevant." Responded Mr. Lutz: "I'm a lifelong Republican, by the way. But next time around, Hillary, here I come. I'm a protest vote."'

Translated: "Stick it up your ass GWB" This is a guy who's built nothing in his life telling GM how to do their thing. Did Karl Rove come up with that big word for you too?

I'm a conservative as well, and that comment burned me. I ask, once again, were the machine guns, planes, submarines, boats and armored vehicles GM built during the War against Japanese exapansionism (WWII) relevant????

When American needed GM, and its manufacturing might, she was there......where the he11 is America now.

Stupid...they should just have one standard for "light-trucks"

I couldn't disagree more.

The market imposes its own standards. If people want fuel efficient vehicles, they will demonstrate that through their purchases, and manufacturers will meet their needs.

The FEDs should get their grubby hands out of this too, the people can vote with their wallets.

$h! is going to hit the fan. There's absolutely no way around it.

It's going to be ugly, very, very ugly.

They absolutely need to force the Union to strike.

Then, the ONLY option is to hire replacements, which would become PERMANENT replacements rather quickly. GM would then have to do the same thing, and the whole problem, and the UAW, just goes away.

Interesting scheme. Move your head office out of sunny California and you know you'll loose a good chunk of your workers and then you can replace them with new ones with lower pay and no pensions.

That is a very well known scheme and Nissan has no patent on it. I work for GM Powertrain, we have been consolidating since 1992. Every single consolidation has, as a side benefit, a reduction in workforce that simply "won't move". It is known, understood, and planned for.

it would be 30 years before GM would even see anything of benifit to that...

but... no companys these days offer good retirement program...

Actually, due to accounting rules, GM would see a rather sizeable benefit, as shown on the books, right away. Of course, the benefit in an operational sense is small, but the reduction in future liability (which is supposed to be carried on the balance sheet) is large.