Me post whoreing again...

as for XM...having it integrated in the car is much better than some of the solutions out there.

In the GP it is part of the stock radio, and works through the steering wheel controls and the HUD. A much better solution than putting a new head unit in or using the akward XM Roadie unit which is almost dangerous IMO.

Also for people who beat up on the HUD....trust me, once you have a car with it...it is almost impossible to imagine not having it. Much safer.

 

Same thing that happened to the Lumina Z34. I don't think an SVT Futura (or whatever they decide to call it) is out of the question. Don't quote me on this but I believe Colletti himself has hinted at this.

Where was the CTS back in 99? And don't bring up the caddy that didn't zig either, lol. It wasn't till 2003 that they came out with a really good mid-sized, entry level car in the form of the CTS. Unless i'm wrong, CTS-V hasn't even been out for one year. Probably not even a full year yet. I don't think you and i can jump to the conclusion that "nothing" is in the works on the lincoln side of the fence. I think we've been hearing about SVT expanding over to Lincoln as well, but we won't really know till an actual product is out. Time will tell i guess.

As for Lincoln falling behind Cadillac, a lot of that had to do with the financial health of Ford. It's no secret that GM has done much better (financially) than ford for a good part of the last decade. If they (ford) can find their footing, you bet the LS will go head and head with the CTS-V (or at-least try). Another thing, where GM only has one premium luxury brand, Lincoln isn't the only one on Fords mind. Does Ford REALLY need another luxury performance mid-sized sedan when Jaguars already got one? Still, Ford does need to build up the Lincoln brand, even If it comes at the expense of Jaguar I think. Way I see it, jaguar is already an established luxury brand, whereas Lincoln could use some polishing.

How is the Jag S Type R poor competition? Last I checked, performance was about equal with both cars differing in attitude, execution, and demeanor (jag more sophisticated/tamer). Take a good look at the jag and you'll see why it costs a bit more. Both excellent cars in their own right, with the CTS-V being the obvious performance bargain. In the end, both are relative bargains when compared to the likes of the M5.

WRX is nothing more than a trim level/model off the impreza which has been around for sometime now. People here in the states have been fixing up 2.5L RS's for sometime now i believe. You haven't hung around the import crowd long enough I see.

You've never played the Gran Tourismo series, etc..? You're missing out.

Anything that helps is a plus. In this case, stabilitrak is a plus, but i've done fine without it. Rustang gets by with snow tires and a one 50lb sandbag in the trunk, F150 did just fine thanks to the 4wd, and the fwd corrola did fine as well and this thing doesn't even have ABS. I think the point Guion was making is that one can get by without Stabilitrak on a FWD car, Xm radio, HUD (when a simple peak at the gauges will do), and paddle shifting when a simple manual or semi-auto tranny will do. These things may be on your "gotta have it" list, but they don't rank high on everyone else's. Difference of preferences/opinions I guess. Personally, most of those things don't excite me either, although I wouldn't mind having some of them if they came standard or optional at no extra charge.

I think there's a good difference between the paddle shifters on Ferrari, F1 race-car, and the ones on your Pontiac. Just giving you crap. I've got to try one out sometime soon.

I've always wondered, are the paddles mounted on the steering wheel or on the column behind it? Does the steering wheel become obtrusive or get in the way when shifting through a tight hairpin corner?

 

Yep, it's gone. ...it's been replaced by the supercharged Monte Carlo SS with three folding seats!

So again, where's a Ford intender supposed to go if seeking an affordable midsize performance sedan?


Ok... how about I bring up the 300 hp Seville STS instead



How about price, price and price? Quality too for that matter.


Nope. What is it exactly? I assume it's a PC game? Or is it in arcades.


Sure you can. Heck. Why not just go get an old Reliant K-car, and REALLY save some clams? I could do without a lot of things. My first car was a 1970 Chevelle and it worked... ok in the winter with snow tires. The stereo was atrocious (factory AM mono radio, one of those cheap KMart FM converters). I've come a long way in what I drive, and am grateful every time I turn the key. In the worst snowstorm I'm comfy in heated leather seats, hands on the wheel but tuning around over 100 crisp clear stations, watching the compass, outside temp and other key data in my military-spinoff HUD, protected from sudden icy patches by a lightning-quick digital controller and ABS. All this at a bargain price... frankly I don't care how many/few other buyers are into this... I'm having a blast!

Sure, it's no F1 racer. But it does a fine emulation The paddles are mounted on the steering wheel. They are inactive in 'D' but control gear selection in 'M' on the console shifter lever. When in 'M' the current gear selection shows in the HUD and a '+" upshift annunciator shows in the HUD as well at the top RPM in each gear. I haven't had trouble with it being obtrusive on tight turns - typically I'm not shifting in the middle of a very tight turning maneuver such as in a parking lot. Much more common is when turning a corner, I shift down just before entering the turn and then POW - the hefty torque of the Series III s/c 3800 V6 propels you out of the turn. So cool it is. You should try it!

 

HOTAS...

For cars w/ wheel mounted shifting I suppose they cold just call it HOS for "hands on steering" or HOW for hands on wheel. I like HOS better.

 

There are valid points on both sides: GM's products are getting better, but are still generally forgettable in styling and rebates don't help shake image of shoddy, bargain-bin quality; Ford and Chrysler might have some entertaining products as of late, but they have over the last decade at times as well and managed to fall on their faces.

Does GM have too much overlap and re-badged vehicles? Yes, probably. Are Ford and Chrysler going to bowl over GM with their latest batch of flashy designs and interiors? Unlikely. Toyota would seem a bigger threat.

If GM can infuse some more creativity into a car or two in each brand, works away from or lessens rebates on specific models, and continues to unravel the image of poor quality, are they really in so much danger? That seems to be the direction they are already heading in. Let's see the impact of Solstice, G6, LaCrosse, '06 Impala, Cobalt, etc. before declaring them failures and also-rans.

 

That just about says it all. Unlike WERM, I've got a garage/driveway full of Chevrolet vehicles, all of which have been great. Does Chevrolet - or any GM brand - have a vehicle that's on my automotive shopping list? The answer is no, and considering how close I am to that purchase, the 2008-2009 "wonder cars" will have been 4 years too late.

 

I think a more fair comparison is to compare the WRX sales to GTP sales, since the WRX is the souped up Impreza.

For once, I agree with redzed. Well, except I don't have a driveway full of GM cars, just the one.

I know that when I've been out looking for cars lately, I glanced at the Chevy dealer, admired how cool the 'vette is, and kept on driving to check out everyone else. Many thousands of dollars in rebates be damned

Same place a GM lover is supposed to go if he wants a car with RWD or a manual transmission, I suppose? Ford's lineup isn't perfect either, but it has a lot more attractive options than GM does right now. Plus Comedy Crown Vic option? :-D


I think the whole point of this post was that GM is positioning itself as a discount automaker, the K-Mart of auto sales if you will.

Gran Turismo is a popular series of games for the Sony Playstation and Playstation 2, the 4th installment of which is coming out sometime this year.

I don't get why it's a huge deal when the "sport shift" is on the steering wheel but not when it's on the floor. Hell, I can get a sport shift automatic in a Protege or a Corolla.

 

So we have here what I call the "McDonald's Theory of Supremacy" wherein I could use your same argument to say that McDonalds has the best and most desirable burgers on the planet because they sell the most. Oddly, I bet you'd disagree.

 

What do you not get? Subaru sales are very small....I am willing to bet the Comp G outsells the WRX alone...

 

On the other hand, it is wrong to say that Billy Bob's Cow Pies who sells .00065% the amount of burgers as McDonald's os serious competition because he sells some of the same fixings, and markets to the same buyer.

 

Well, McDonald's share of the food market and profitability has been deceasing over the years, largely because people have changed their tastes, and are now going for healthier foods provided by local restaurants and small chains.

 

Come on, now. Everyone wants to defend their own car, but I haven't seen the Comp G on any 10Best lists or in any conversation of performance cars (and I don't consider 30-40k units very small). The Comp G is nice and really it's a different type of car altogether from the WRX, but there's no sense in bashing it. As a former owner, its following and reputation is well-earned, I assure you.

 

I was not bashing it...I was trying to point out that comparing the two is absured.

 

GM still has the best looking SUVs from top to bottom - Escalade to Equinox. The H2 - even with its declining sales - is still a cash cow. Cadillac is in better shape than its been in for probably 30 years, it will probably move 200,000+ again this year, esp after the introduction of the STS. Cadillac truck sales are up nearly 70% year to date from last year - that's a fat profit on each one out the door and this isnt even after a redesign. A Chevy truck buyer wont be getting a Hemi any time soon, nor will a Ford and a Ford/Dodge guy wont be getting "the right truck" either. None of those three will be buying foreign trucks either, so that whole side of the business will probably be pretty stable up though the redesign. GM has sold 1.1 million trucks this year, no matter what anyone says thats a lot of freakin trucks.

Vette buyers are Vette buyers, they're not going anywhere except to CTSv's, which isnt exactly bad for GM either. It seems like the SSR is doing what it's meant to do - be a halo - and the people who dont care about performance are getting it this year while the people who are teetering on the edge will probably come around next year with the LS2. The thing that concerns me is aside from Cadillac GM cars are fairly stale. The GTO should move better next year with hood scoops/opposite side exhaust/recessed grilles and dealers who have a clue. Buick is pretty much a lame duck until they get their Zeta car. Pontiac is in decent shape, grand am and grand prix sales are both ok. Chevy is Chevy, nothing exciting aside from the Vette. Olds is dead. Saturn is in the dumps. GM needs to re think their car strategy aside from Cadillac, and quickly. Maximum Bob Lutz needs to turn this around, but he seems to be sitting on his hands right now. Im not quite sure why.

 

I gotta agree with you to a point. My old man and I are diehard, brand loyal GM guys as well, but my dad has been shopping for a new truck to replace his almost 300K mile '81 Chevy longbed-stepside for over a year now and god forbid that any local Chevy or GMC dealer carry a truck that isn't fully loaded! I swear virtually every GM fullsize truck on the lots is close to $40K. In their catalogs they show base/work truck models, but I have yet to encounter one on the lot, and it would probably be stripped down anyways.

Meanwhile over at Dodge, he can still find a base model truck for mid to high $20's, with the equipment he wants and a HEMI. But I don't think he can bring himself to buy a Mopar just yet. He also works for Hertz rent-a-car and can get a great deal on a Ford truck, but that would be even worse than a Dodge in his opinion. Personally, a Dodge would be a sweet rig for him to putt around in.