There would be cases for either way....

1) Why move the Impala name from the success it has enjoyed on the FWD vehicles?

2) Move the Impala name to the RWD car to play the heritage card on the new RWD...

My opinion is they can achieve both by leaving Impala where it is, and perhaps using Chevelle on the RWD... especially if there is a coupe (or quad-coupe) variant to go with it if the FWD Monte Carlo goes away the way it looks it might. I suppose Bel Air would work that way too, but the name is just too fuddy-duddy for a modern sedan, IMO.

 

I agree... add to that the fact that if EVERYTHING comes with an LS2, it sort of loses it's uniqueness... especially in high dollar specialty cars like Corvette.

I think we are reaching the limits of what shuld really have the LS2 in it at this point... barring, of course, the new Camaro if LS2 is still the mainline production V8 at that point.

 

On that topic, two names are floating around....

Impala and BelAir.

 

Ya, that's what I've been hearing as well... Seems Chevelle was in the mix for a while (maybe not for this car, but somewhere), but may have been put on the back burner...

I'm just not a fan of the Bel Air name on a new car....

Personally, if that was the only other name being considered, I'd rather see Impala moved to the RWD, and a new name put on the FWD (not Lumina, either)...

Of course, to do that, you'd have to rework the FWD sedan the same year the RWD sedan came out to avoid name overlap issue and total confusion... and the waters just get real muddy from a logistic standpoint to try and pull that off...

Plus, I wouldn't want both these cars coming out at the same time anyway... too much thunder-stealing, perhaps... or general confusion anyway.

Maybe simply using an all-new name on the RWD car would be the best move.

 

I see nothing wrong with that name. I kind of like it and the idea of the car that would wear the badge.

 

Ya, it's just my personal opinion...

I just think of "Grandma's Icebox", sliderules, and black & white television when I hear "Bel Air"...

 

I don't know, when I think BelAir, I think of a '57 fuelie or dual quad hardtop.

 

has Caprice been considered as an option? that is, if the RWD drive is going to be bigger than the w-car.

 

I'm not certain, but I'm thinking it will be Commodore sized.

 

too bad we didn't find out last nite . i wouldn't mind a Commodore sized car being called Caprice. at least it's a name associated with large(not huge, just large) RWD family sedans. i think Bel Air has history and would be great but GM might get the same guff the Charger is getting about the name.

 

LS3 is okay too. Or LS7. I'm flexible.

Seriously, though, the LS2 is one of the top engines in its class. The HFV6 is not. There's room for different formulas, but if you're talking about a car like this, why screw around?

If GM can do a HFV6 turbo that has better than the LS2, go for it. Same with the Northstar. I just don't think much of the current Northstar or HFV6 turbo. I find the non-turbo HFV6 disappointing too, for that matter. The fuel economy numbers and power numbers are just not that good.

 

I think you're missing the point here, teal. HFV6 will be part of EPII program. LS2 isn't. In fact, there is nothing with an LS2 or LS3 that will be available to Buick that could be turned into a Riv convertible hardtop by '08. That is the whole premise of this thread.

If we want to use an LS2, fine. How do we do that? Which architecture would be used? How does Buick get a RWD, hardtop convertible, LS2....before the end (or beyond) the decade?

What I'm trying to get across is.....an Epsilon based, AWD, turbo V6, Riv convertible.....would be possible. A Sigma/Zeta/whatever, won't.

 

You could always use the XLR/C6 platform.

 

Nope.

A second row of seats on C6 would require engineering a whole new platform...just like Kappa would.

 

I like the idea of an "AWD" Velite, blown V6, or small H.O. V8, American styled 2 seat roadster...to run with the Z3, Boxter etc...
Give more than expected...it's a Buick!..