Recent Comments:
California law proposes ban on lap pets in car {Autoblog}
May 7th 2008 4:28PM Let's See........Where could this go?
1. No, nose rubbing, picking/scratching.
2. No, radio on while driving......
3. No, munching peanuts, cashews, or other snack foods.
4. No application of make-up.
5. No map reading/checking.
6. No GPS screens on while moving.
7. No back seat DVD screens/movies operating.
8. No smoking
9. No gum or tobacco chewing
10.No talking with passengers
11. ********Please continue this list......California, where I reside needs more intelligent input *******
I'm a native Californian, and I'll tell yah.....I'm ashamed to say I am.....We have bonafide loonies running CARB, the Department of transportation/DMV........
Might as well let Shirley McClaine run things here, it couldn't get any worse.
We make rulings that ruin oportunities for the other states to have nice, efficient clean burning diesel cars.............you name it. So goes California........So goes our economy. :(
UAW strikes GM Malibu plant {Autoblog}
May 5th 2008 11:38AM I am a union member (retired), but I just don't understand the way the UAW targets their strikes.
Their "bread and butter" is the auto industry, yet they target GM's "one of few" models that's turning into a successful product, as sales show?
Sure, hitting the Malibu production will certainly get quick results, but it sure won't endear "labor" with management at all.
This, "Them versus us" approach has to be tempered.
I can only see the UAW making their importance to the industry that much less.
The result will be that more assembly plants will pop up in the non-union Southern states as Nissan/Hyundai/BMW, and other automakers investing, or it will be Mexico, and then no American labor will benefit.
VIDEO: It's good to be the King: Jay Leno drives the Nissan GT-R {Autoblog}
Apr 29th 2008 1:33PM That's why I ended my Porsche Club of America membership, and sold my Porsche.
The snobbery of so many of the club's owers was too much. At autocrosses the snobbery was rank and thick. "Hey, look at me.......in my Teutonic Wonder!"......
.No, I don't care about brands anymore. Just want a fine balanced machine, and reliability. Reliability, Porsche ain't got for and should for it's price of admission, and the cost to have it maintained burns a hole in a man's pocket book.
Actually, I sometimes laugh to myself quietly as I watch a person drive by with their Turbo 911.........It reminds me of my Mother in Law's male Peacocks that strutted around her farm fanning and vibrating their tail feather to anything that moved. Those peacocks were walking vanity. I always wondered how they would taste, roasted with a nice Merlot. Would my Mother in Law miss one bird? :)
Give me a Nissan, that can burn circles around a Porsche and my day is made. I'm also a "boomer" generation person. Vanity is something I grew out of. Some folks never do. They stay perpetual children in adult bodies.
Fuzzy logic has Cadillac CTS-V producing 567 horsepower {Autoblog}
Apr 27th 2008 11:10PM I thought that Caddy was using a H.O. version of their Northstar V8, and not the Chevy mill used in the Corvette?
The article says that the CTS engine is basically the Z engine in the vette.
Toyota may move all Tundra production to Texas {Autoblog}
Apr 3rd 2008 3:58PM I'd say that Texas is quite a few miles further away from North Eastern U.S., UAW influence too.
Wouldn't be surprised if that is really Toyota's reason from moving all operations to Texas from Indiana? Nissan is set up in the South with Titan P.U. production, and Hyundai is building a lot of cars in the Southern U.S. too.
Mark LaNeve: Camaro won't be positioned as a muscle car {Autoblog}
Mar 22nd 2008 11:53AM Think Buick Grand National.......It wasn't a V8, and it was more than impressive. :)
Toyota scores first official NASCAR Sprint Cup win {Autoblog}
Mar 10th 2008 2:48PM Yeh, like it really makes a difference which make wins.........:(
All the engines are built to identical specs, the body profiles of all the makes are identical.
So, really it's a driver's and pit crew's competition..........
The old Nascar, where the manufacturer built a stock body, got it homologated, and then a team ran it is over.
This racing is souless when it comes to competing auto manufacturers.
They should follow the format of the old SCCA Trans-American Sedan races of the late 60's and early to mid 70's where Mustangs, Camaros, Javelins, Challengers, Barracudas, Firebirds, all competed with their stock, acid-dipped steel bodies. The SCCA rules required that any parts on those cars had to be produced in at least 500 parts, and they had to be available to the public. That was homolagation of racing parts.
Sadly the later Trans-Am was nothing compared to the old one, where folks trully could identify with their make of car, and route for Ford, Chevy, Pontiac, Dodge, Plymount or AMC. The drivers were still great personalities in those races too. You had Mark Donahue, Peter Revson, Swede Savage, Sam Posey, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, George Folmer, Ed Leslie, Jerry Titus, and so may more. It was trully a manufacturer's and driver's contest!
Who cares if a cloned nascar bodied racing car with with a tubular racing frame wins. Just because it has painted-on headlights, and says, Toyota, Dodge, Ford, Chevy, doesn't mean a thing anymore.
It's no different than the defunct IROC-Z challenge.........bunch of Camaros running aroung the track with identical internals, and it's just a driver's expertise, race.
Updated Mazda RX-8 now on sale in Japan {Autoblog}
Mar 10th 2008 2:35PM Crimoney! While my Nissan Maxima is in body shop for getting damaged in a weather related thing, the body shop gave me Mazda Protege for a free loaner car during the repair time.
This is just an average little automotic tranny, LX, sedan, that has a big old gaping hole in the dash where the radio was before a burglary, but all the other accessories work fine. The Protoge has almost 90k miles on it, and it is an absolute "ball" to drive around town. It handles beautifully, It's engine I believe is just a little 120 horse 2.0, but it really gets up and goes!
I'm actually going to miss driving it around. The darn gas gauge moves so very slowly. It's heartening in these times.
The car has its front wheel covers missing too.
Just one downside beside not having a radio. The last person to use it must have smoked like a choo choo train inside the car, and the car reeks of cigarette smell. My sinuses have been killing me.
Anyway..........Mazda's are fun to drive. It's like having a poor man's bimmer. Parts are cheap to replace to.
We have one of the last of the MPV vans, and it has been running flawless. No CEL's in 40k miles from this 05 MVP.
"Dear Dodge, Thank you for giving the Ram a really strong frame." {Autoblog}
Mar 9th 2008 3:48PM Dodge trucks are not unibody, but are frame on body, like the Ford and GM Pickups.
Pontiac to hype the Hell out of the G8 {Autoblog}
Mar 4th 2008 9:31PM Someone posted that this is a $33k bargain with RWD and high horsepower V8. It is a bargain and is not a common offering in the U.S..
Here's the "But" part of my comment. The Tau V8, 375 Horsepower, RWD Hyundai Genesis, is going to price in the low $30k area, and will be finished both interior wise and exterior in a class that will be way beyond the G8 Pontiac class.
That Hyundai Genesis is going to be presented as an infinity/Lexus/BMW/Mercedes/Cadillac/Lincoln alternative and the Pontiac G8 can't touch those marques in quality, only raw power, and possibly handling. For the G-8's price, I'd jump at the Hyundai 375 horse Tau V8 and have the performance, handling, refined/power, and the creature comforts combined.
