Lexusfreak Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 I must say that overall I have been quite impressed as of late with some of the products the 'General' has been bringing to market (use to be a GM guy back in the day & my Dad will always be a GM man, including 2 Caddies which I loved to drive). :D Nice to see GM finally (!) seems to have started getting their $#it together! Just a personal opinion, but I love the redesigned 2008 Cadillac CTS they just unveiled in Detroit...and you can have one with a 300 HP V6 that runs on regular gas & AWD! B) Nicely done Cadillac! B) I just hope the thing proves to be reliable lol. Motortrend is calling the 2008 CTS "Cadillac's most important launch of the decade". Looking forward to the comparo's to the competition....including the Lexus IS. ;) http://www.worldcarfans.com/news.cfm/count...veiled-at-naias http://www.motortrend.com/features/auto_ne...08_cadillac_cts
SW03ES Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 Huge improvement over the previous car, which was extremely hideous inside and out IMHO. The nose on this will get some getting used to, not elegant like the STS. I've always said I really like the styling of the STS. I've also always admired Cadillacs, my dad had a 95 STS that was a beautiful car (but a pile...), I actually liked the previous Deville (still getting used to the refresh, it looks like the nose and tail were just welded on the old car, weird). The XLR is gorgeous. The sad thing about the STS is that they spent all that R&D time creating the beautiful and uniquely Cadillac shape and then totally blew the interior qualitywise. Shows Caddy still doesn't get why european and japanese cars are more popular. So, hopefully this car will be a step forward over the previous CTS, which was very popular and really established Cadillac as a real manufacturer of desirable sport sedans, but still completely laked the quality and class to look like it belonged next to BMWs, Benzes, and Lexuses.
Lexusfreak Posted January 10, 2007 Author Posted January 10, 2007 Huge improvement over the previous car, which was extremely hideous inside and out IMHO. The nose on this will get some getting used to, not elegant like the STS. I've always said I really like the styling of the STS. I've also always admired Cadillacs, my dad had a 95 STS that was a beautiful car (but a pile...), I actually liked the previous Deville (still getting used to the refresh, it looks like the nose and tail were just welded on the old car, weird). The XLR is gorgeous. The sad thing about the STS is that they spent all that R&D time creating the beautiful and uniquely Cadillac shape and then totally blew the interior qualitywise. Shows Caddy still doesn't get why european and japanese cars are more popular. So, hopefully this car will be a step forward over the previous CTS, which was very popular and really established Cadillac as a real manufacturer of desirable sport sedans, but still completely laked the quality and class to look like it belonged next to BMWs, Benzes, and Lexuses. Agreed Steve....and the first gen CTS interior was abysmal...and embarrassing. :whistles: I wish Cadillac alot of success with this new CTS. B)
Rx330driver Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 not too special to me, i would have voted for the IS-F to be most influential car of the decade...
SW03ES Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 Nobody called it the most influential car of the decade, they called it Cadillac's most important launch of the decade, which is true. The CTS is the sales leader and what gets young buyers in the door, and hopefully hooked.
blake918 Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 That is a great looking car!! It is probably one of the best looking Caddys to date. They should feel like tanks going down the road with curb weights starting at 3800lbs!! OMG, what did Ford do to my 500 sedan? I hope it looks better in person. The new Malibu looks pretty sharp! As for the ISF, what's so influential about being one of the last manufactures to show up to the game with a performance car division??
SW03ES Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 I just saw the Five Hundred. Yikes, they totally took the class out of that didn't they? What is going on in their styling department. Seen the new Navigator? Yuck.
Rx330driver Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 As for the ISF, what's so influential about being one of the last manufactures to show up to the game with a performance car division?? if it really handles well, it will change the image of lexus forever... i kinda like the way the new escalade looks. the interior is a big improvement. seems like it is in all the cars. I think the 500 is following the design of its family members with the grill from their other line of cars.
blake918 Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 It looks as though they have gone the wrong direction with the front end styling. The back end looks better, but the front is not looking too good. I'm hoping it looks better in person! The Navi isn't too bad. The front end needs some minor tweaking; I'd have the chrome at the top of the grill and the section in the lower valance painted to match the body color. I'd consider it for a lux suv.....The GX470 is a wonderful looking and driving car, but the hearse style swinging back door would be a complete deal breaker for me. Ahhhh, much better with only 30 seconds of editing in Paint LOL.....
blake918 Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 It's not too bad! The interior is an A+ (for that kind of car.)!!!!!
Lexusfreak Posted January 10, 2007 Author Posted January 10, 2007 That is a great looking car!! It is probably one of the best looking Caddys to date. They should feel like tanks going down the road with curb weights starting at 3800lbs!! Agreed....Kudo's to Cadillac in the styling department.....especially for it's interior! :D That 3,800 lb curb weight isn't even with the AWD system yet It's over 4,000 lbs....that's the only thing that's bothering me about it lol. ;) Also it looks fantastic in Silver too! B)
nc211 Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 Good lord, does the ford design team need a stint in rehab or something? My deal with GM cars is in the lines of the assembly. What I mean is the way they're put together. We've had a few GM products in my family over the years, and every one of them had misplaced lines. Like the spaces between the sides of the front dash to the doors, one side would be 1/2 inch, the other maybe 1/8 an inch. Glove box alignments, that sort of stuff. I love the way GM cruisers drive, probably my favorite driving position of all time. I seriously hope they've refined their manufactoring skills though, and now produce a product that doesn't seem like it was thrown together. They needed to ditch the underlying motivation of "get out the door asap" and shift to "if it's not perfect, it's not going out the door" like Toyota has embraced. Infact, in a recent article where Ford said it would fight for every sale to keep Toyota at bay, Toyota's response was "our focus isn't to be #1, our focus is to ensure excellent product manufacturing abilities". Which, in my opinion, is the right answer and business model to have. Not "sell sell sell, cut prices, sell sell sell, cut prices, sell sell sell". So, I hope these new models from the American boys are more than just lipstick. GM's got some slick looking cars coming out, that is for sure! I can't wait to see the new Camaro in person! And the new Vette is exotic to say the least. I love the new trucks and Tahoes too. Looks like they're on the right path, just hope quality and integrity has come up a few notches. That's what will win the race. People would rather have a fully loaded solid 4 banger that never breaks, than a slicked back V8 that spends more time in the shop than on the road.
blake918 Posted January 10, 2007 Posted January 10, 2007 Agreed....Kudo's to Cadillac in the styling department.....especially for it's interior! :D That 3,800 lb curb weight isn't even with the AWD system yet It's over 4,000 lbs....that's the only thing that's bothering me about it lol. ;) Also it looks fantastic in Silver too! B) I wouldn't worry about the weight....all that means is that you need to buy the top level V6 with 300 hp! B) Any car looks teriffic in silver!!!!Looks like they're on the right path, just hope quality and integrity has come up a few notches. That's what will win the race.GM/Ford/DC have all been improving quality while Toyota is slacking off while focusing in on how to roll more cars off the line. A '97 Toyota Camry is far better than an '07 (I guess they're putting all of their money toward developing that silly looking Tundra.), but a '07 Tahoe is a far superior to the '97 in terms of quality.
Lexusfreak Posted January 11, 2007 Author Posted January 11, 2007 Also it looks fantastic in Silver too! B) I wouldn't worry about the weight....all that means is that you need to buy the top level V6 with 300 hp! B) Any car looks teriffic in silver!!!! Good point blake B) The 300 HP V6 has direct ignition so it actually might get better fuel economy than the base 3.6L V6 :D Looking forward to seeing it at the Canadian International Auto Show next month. :)
nc211 Posted January 11, 2007 Posted January 11, 2007 Looks like they're on the right path, just hope quality and integrity has come up a few notches. That's what will win the race.GM/Ford/DC have all been improving quality while Toyota is slacking off while focusing in on how to roll more cars off the line. A '97 Toyota Camry is far better than an '07 (I guess they're putting all of their money toward developing that silly looking Tundra.), but a '07 Tahoe is a far superior to the '97 in terms of quality. I agree with ya' there! I've read some articles in the Journal over the past few months about Toyota that makes me think they're going too fast to keep up their quality levels, and are struggeling a bit to keep that level of quality from the late 90's in play. With GM though from the 90's, all I can say is when you're on the bottom, there is only way to go! Hahaha. Kind of like my golf game. Dr. Phil Moment Warning:: In my opinion, being the best is not the best to be. You become the target for all others, and one mistep and you're smeared all over the place. It's like the straight A student who gets a B in one class, and gets grounded for it, vs. the C student who gets the same B, and gets rewarded for it! I had many friends who were A students that lost driving priveledges for B's, but me, being the C student, had a nice shiney red GTI, thanks to a couple B's here and there. Go figure?? And as time has gone on and we've grown into adults "sort of", I've found many of those high strung A students haven't done much better than some of those "average" C students. In fact, some have done much worse thanks to stressing to be #1 that cost them the oportunity to lead a team, due to poor people development skills.
RX in NC Posted January 11, 2007 Posted January 11, 2007 The domestic full-size "Big Iron" pickups continue to easily outdistance the so-called Japanese competition in value, power, performance, comfort, styling, and maintenance costs. The only category that remains potentially undetermined is longevity. Doesn't matter whether you prefer GM, Ford, or Dodge full-size trucks - at this point, they're all considerably better than the far more expensive Japanese wannabes. I've seen nothing even close to making me consider getting rid of my 1999 Ram that's still in fantastic condition with only 46,000 miles on it....
blake918 Posted January 11, 2007 Posted January 11, 2007 I've read some articles in the Journal over the past few months about Toyota that makes me think they're going too fast to keep up their quality levels, and are struggeling a bit to keep that level of quality from the late 90's in play.I agree! Road and Track really let the new Camry have it in the Feb issue...."Toyota sedans have never throbbed with driving passion, but at least they could boast of impeachable quality. This Camry was impeachable. A few trim pieces hung loose. Some dash panels didn't match up. The rear-seat armrest cup holder fell out with only the slightest persuasion, leaving behind a ragged hole in the fabric. If fit and finish ceases to be Toyota's obsession, what will define the company's products? We shudder to imagine." It comes as no shock to me that Kia and Honda took first honors in fit/finish. Those new Kias/Hyundais are really nice cars! The domestic full-size "Big Iron" pickups continue to easily outdistance the so-called Japanese competition in value, power, performance, comfort, styling, and maintenance costs. The only category that remains potentially undetermined is longevity. Doesn't matter whether you prefer GM, Ford, or Dodge full-size trucks - at this point, they're all considerably better than the far more expensive Japanese wannabes. I've seen nothing even close to making me consider getting rid of my 1999 Ram that's still in fantastic condition with only 46,000 miles on it.... I couldn't agree more!
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