Cartalk Wednesday
Bailouts are getting finished up for the Auto industry. Lets ignore the horrible and blatant 2 pillar political engine at work here for a moment, tho (i'll save that for a Tuesday Views soapbox.)
People say part of the problem is that domestic car makers aren't making cars people want anymore. "Want" can mean anything, tho, depending on the person. And the problem is so much deeper than that; its also a function of trust/reliability which was worn roughshod from 1985 to 2001. Not only were the cars mediocre, they broke. Alot. There were a few shining gems of engineering successes, but they were not the rule.
So if the problem is on 3 fronts, domestics have to build a seriously desirable car to not only overcome distrust of quality, but the 'want' factor that it has lacked for a generation.
People who know me can figure out what my 'want' typically is. Fun to drive first, all others second. I drove the 1st generation Chevrolet Cobalt, and it was MUCH more fun to drive than the Cavalier it replaced. But what about everyone else?
Edmunds.com , a popular car news and car shopping guide site, recently compared the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR, a sleeper car notorious for gobbling up unsuspecting sportscars and supercars, and being a track & offroad rally-x lynchpin, against an American car.
The new Pontiac G8 GXP.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=137186?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1.*
You can read the whole article if you like, but the gist of me posting this is to reflect that Detroit is, and has been for the last 5 years, largely putting out an excellent product. Here's some bites from the article.
"The G8 GXP is the most powerful Pontiac ever built, including all those Firebirds with halitosis-spewing poultry on their hoods."
"A six-speed automatic transmission comes as standard equipment."
"...although the Pontiac out-flabs the Evo by nearly 400 pounds when you compare curb weight, the big American sedan kills the quarter-mile some 0.7 second quicker.."
"...don't go thinking the GXP is some one-dimensional muscle car... G8 GXP's best stop from 60 mph to be 108 feet, compared to 113 feet in the Evo."
During their testing, the EVO proved to be more maneuverable, largely because of the lacking 400lbs of weight. But the review didn't diss the GXP.
"Despite its size and weight, this G8 is a genuine sport sedan...The chassis is terrifically solid - think BMW, not Buick. It's obvious that a lot of engineering sweat went into making this car hide its weight so well when driven in anger yet ride with such comfortable fluidity. "
"The Pontiac G8 GXP does more than politely ask to be invited into the sport sedan mixer; it kicks the door in...the G8 GXP is well-rounded in a way that carves out a special spot in the hierarchy of drivers' cars. "
"That it takes a car as good as the Evo to best the G8 GXP is a testament to what GM has accomplished with this Pontiac."
This is supreme praise from a review site known for not mincing words when something is displeasing, as most reviews are summaries of several people driving it, not merely the author.
The new Cadillac for this year has been lauded as a BMW slayer, both in performance and in cost/reliability.
America knows how to build a car, and has been building the good ones much more in the last 5 year.
But I guarantee you, nobody seems to care. Enough rightfully placed distrust, enough wrongfully placed self-nationalised persecution (the 'america can't do anything right' crowd), and enough international elitists are going to continue to cast a horrible impression on anything coming out of Detroit, no matter if its deserved.
People say part of the problem is that domestic car makers aren't making cars people want anymore. "Want" can mean anything, tho, depending on the person. And the problem is so much deeper than that; its also a function of trust/reliability which was worn roughshod from 1985 to 2001. Not only were the cars mediocre, they broke. Alot. There were a few shining gems of engineering successes, but they were not the rule.
So if the problem is on 3 fronts, domestics have to build a seriously desirable car to not only overcome distrust of quality, but the 'want' factor that it has lacked for a generation.
People who know me can figure out what my 'want' typically is. Fun to drive first, all others second. I drove the 1st generation Chevrolet Cobalt, and it was MUCH more fun to drive than the Cavalier it replaced. But what about everyone else?
Edmunds.com , a popular car news and car shopping guide site, recently compared the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR, a sleeper car notorious for gobbling up unsuspecting sportscars and supercars, and being a track & offroad rally-x lynchpin, against an American car.
The new Pontiac G8 GXP.
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Comparos/articleId=137186?tid=edmunds.il.home.photopanel..1.*
You can read the whole article if you like, but the gist of me posting this is to reflect that Detroit is, and has been for the last 5 years, largely putting out an excellent product. Here's some bites from the article.
"The G8 GXP is the most powerful Pontiac ever built, including all those Firebirds with halitosis-spewing poultry on their hoods."
"A six-speed automatic transmission comes as standard equipment."
"...although the Pontiac out-flabs the Evo by nearly 400 pounds when you compare curb weight, the big American sedan kills the quarter-mile some 0.7 second quicker.."
"...don't go thinking the GXP is some one-dimensional muscle car... G8 GXP's best stop from 60 mph to be 108 feet, compared to 113 feet in the Evo."
During their testing, the EVO proved to be more maneuverable, largely because of the lacking 400lbs of weight. But the review didn't diss the GXP.
"Despite its size and weight, this G8 is a genuine sport sedan...The chassis is terrifically solid - think BMW, not Buick. It's obvious that a lot of engineering sweat went into making this car hide its weight so well when driven in anger yet ride with such comfortable fluidity. "
"The Pontiac G8 GXP does more than politely ask to be invited into the sport sedan mixer; it kicks the door in...the G8 GXP is well-rounded in a way that carves out a special spot in the hierarchy of drivers' cars. "
"That it takes a car as good as the Evo to best the G8 GXP is a testament to what GM has accomplished with this Pontiac."
This is supreme praise from a review site known for not mincing words when something is displeasing, as most reviews are summaries of several people driving it, not merely the author.
The new Cadillac for this year has been lauded as a BMW slayer, both in performance and in cost/reliability.
America knows how to build a car, and has been building the good ones much more in the last 5 year.
But I guarantee you, nobody seems to care. Enough rightfully placed distrust, enough wrongfully placed self-nationalised persecution (the 'america can't do anything right' crowd), and enough international elitists are going to continue to cast a horrible impression on anything coming out of Detroit, no matter if its deserved.