LTB51

That article reminds me of that misleading type of advertisement where the manufacturer takes their vehicle and compares it so a series of others. "Better fuel economy than x", "More leg room than y", "More HP than z", etc. Most of the points are probably true, but how hard is it to pick out the weak points of your competitors and show that you are better than that? If you really think about it, the claim being made is often nothing more than the manufacturer's vehicle is slightly better in one area than the competitor who is the worst in that area. This article took it a step further by being able to pick out the strengths of several companies to compare. Plus he is so obviously misleading on the points that I can verify that I have to doubt everything else he writes that I cannot verify. Writing things like: "General Motors also reported a 3.9% rise in August vehicle sales despite high gas prices and a supposedly slowing economy. And even though Toyota reported record sales that month, they couldn’t match the non-record setting sales volume of Ford. GM’s sales rose 17% in October from the same month in 2005 and Ford sales rose 8% in the same period." …is completely disingenuous. Firstly, he is comparing total numbers and not the daily selling rate. There was one extra day of sales in Aug 2006. Using the DSR GM was unchanged. Further, he is comparing GM's Aug 2006 sales to GM's disastrous Aug 2005 sales after the employee pricing for everyone sales ended. Compared to GM's Aug 2004 sales, Aug 2006 was down 16% based on the DSR. October 2006 was off 6% from 2004 based on the DSR. Aug 2004: http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...n=6&docid=17843 Aug 2005: http://media.gm.com/servlet/GatewayServlet...n=2&docid=28297 Plus I'm a little annoyed that people are still quoting JD Powers results. The recent changes to their survey results show that it was radically inaccurate. And it still can't be trusted because they didn't really resolve the issues that caused it to be inaccurate prior to the changes. If anything they added more. Any person or article that uses JD Powers numbers should be considered poorly researched or dishonest. Really, if we want GM to have any credibility we have stop clowns like this. He does GM/Ford/etc. no favors by writing misleading garbage like this. And we have to stop being fooled by this crap.

At least that poster didn't let facts stand in the way of his rant. "Meanwhile, GM gets kicked for being a laggard in fuel economy, although, vehicle category by category, it has more fuel-efficient vehicles than Toyota. " According to the EPA (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/), Toyota beats GM in the following categories: Small Car Upscale Sedans Luxury Sedans Large Sedans Pickups SUVs etc. And that is even when exluding their hybrids. And I believe Toyota is #1 in the majority of those categories. (GM does manage to tie Toyota in the Family Sedans category and the Solstice/Sky and G5 beat the Solara in the convertible and coupe categories.) I'm glad GM is doing better, but they have earned their reputation well. The new hybrid may do well, but their current hybrids are only moderately better than what Honda or Toyota can do with a regular 4 cyl (if the Aura numbers are anything to go by). The next gen GM hybrid is going to have to be >40% better than their current one in the Aura just to catch the existing Camry hybrid. Not to mention that the stats that Toyota has been talking about for the next gen prius are even more impressive. It is time for GM to put up or shut up. They screwed up when it came to hybrids and now they are playing catch up. The GM spin machine can try all they want to get us to ignore the reality of the present, but the fact that they put a 4AT in the hybrid VUE (when the V6 non-hybrids get a 5AT) shows that they are still clueless. On a side note, what kind of idiot developed the menu system on the Saturn site? http://www.saturn.com/saturn/SaturnIndex.jsp Go ahead and put your mouse over the name of a car in the menu that is to the right of the name of the car that is being displayed in the main picture. Insane.

As to why Acura might be doing this... It probably isn't because they "realize V8s are better", it is probably because the perception of them "being better", especially in the MDX and RL's market, is forcing their hand. They make V6s as good as many V8s, but as can be seen even from this board, a lot of people don't understand that. I know a guy who raves on about some Taurus SHO like it is the best thing since sliced bread (he is an older ford guy) because it has a V8... but it is significantly slower than the V6 yamaha(?) powered Taurus SHO that preceeded it. That Acura does as well as it does with a largely FWD/V6 end-of-line car line-up is amazing. Now imagine what will happen next fall (or the spring after) when they have even better styling (if one can go by the next-gen accord sketch... time will tell), wider availability of SH-AWD, and Turbo 4s on the low end, 300+ HP V6s in the Mid, and 350-400HP V8s for the RL. I hope they don't do much to the interiors, because they are already some of the best in my opinion. They also need to get a 6AT. A SH-AWD 300HP V6 6SPD TL would be right on the top of my list of cars to shop for.

Yes, it is excellent that someone is doing this high level of R&D. Strange that it is a car company... but I guess they make jets now too. Heck, GM had to try twice to get me a signal light that worked!

Actually, I don't think you need to change the signs. If they are using GPS, they might just be able to enter their coordinates. Also, as the phone and cell networks are replaced with WLAN, this will become very feasible.

And I wonder if there is any correlation between people who don't signal and people who don't check their blind spot? Still, it seems like a step in the right direction. It could never be relied on, but it might work at the right time.

Well the aveo is a pretty dopey car. I think Chevy believed they needed a goofy ad campaign to counter Toyota's goofy Yaris campaign. I guess it is better to be goofy than dopey. I kind of like the ads. They are better than that stupid ad with the G5 on a roller coaster track. And way better than DCX trying to use a German to sell american cars. Talk about selling out your customer base. "You know how american cars suck? Well we aren't american. So buy our cars." ™.

The "Radio display" has the temp setting for the climate control on either side of the display, right beside the buttons for setting the desired temp. The stero controls are directly under the stereo. The "i drive" control is far away from the nav screen, but it puts your arm in a more comfortable position when you are using it. I think controls should be placed in such a way that they are within reach and the most common/important are closest. Why should controls be near their related displays? It is nice when it can happen, but I don't think it is the of the utmost concern. As an extreme example, should the gas pedal be near the speedo or tach? Honda used to take a lot of flak for having the moonroof controls on the dash. It was "illogical". But I for one, would rather not have to hold my hand above me head to close the moonroof. Perhaps one day manufacturers will get "logical" and put the passenger power window switch only on the passenger door

I think he meant when the 3 is at low or high RPMs it makes significantly less torque than when it is in the mid RPMs. I don't think he was comparing it to the absolute torque numbers of the Civic. This is interesting though. It might explain why the RDX is so much faster than the CX7 in spite of the similar peak numbers. The other thing that struck me was just how smooth the civic line is compared to the other cars. You always hear how Honda engines are "smooth"... interesting to actually see it shown quantitatively.

Honda overtakes Chrysler and Ford as Canadian September auto sales rise 9.3% Honda Canada sales up 46% in September and they passed DCX and Ford. The pecking order in Sept was: GM Toyota Honda DCX Ford GM still has a healthy lead. They doubled Toyota.

Sign me up for a new TL with the 3.5 and SH-AWD. As long as they offer it with an MT (hopefully that is possible).

Cadillac has no car with an interior as nice as the TL. So if you are going to put Acura down just keep in mind that Cadillac ranks somewhat lower on the "superb design" scale.

That is true. And if you notice, Toyota/Honda re-rated all their existing engines instead of waiting until the next model year. That was a big mistake. Take, for example, the 2.4 engine in the Accord. It was rated at 160 pre-SAE J1349, then down to 155(?) on J1349, and the next model year it was 166 J1349. Similarly, the TSX went 200 -> 195(?) ->204 If they had just done what some manufacturers are doing (no names ), and just rated new vehicles, the accord would have gone from 160-> 166 and the TSX from 200 to 2004. Look at how Honda underrates their engines! Just imagine what all their previous engines "really put out"! Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan about leveling the playing surfaces when testing. But what is impressive about this switch is the politics that GM played, not the change in the engine HP.

The way the Fusion outsells the Mazda 6 is a pretty strong testament to how much easier it is for the domestics to sell a car in the US. The Fusion is a good looking car... there is just no getting around how ugly the Malibu is.

Well-equipped for High 30's? The base of the base is 42.5K. I was up to 54K on V6 STS and I hadn't yet reached the features of the RL. And of course no level of options or $$$ will make that ugly square Cadillac interior approach the quality and curves of the RL interior. Perhaps something to think about while the Caddy is in the shop as they try to find those electrical gremlins. Can you at least try to be reasonable? Or are you interviewing for a job on GM's board and you are practicing your "Dillusional Denials of Reality" skills?