Lord Blackadder
Feb 22, 07:06 PM
I'm not a big fan of GM on the whole, but credit where credit is due, as the company considers selling a diesel-engined version (http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/02/general_motors_considers_at_di.html) of the Chevy Cruze in the US.
In Europe, Australia and Asia, where GM already sells diesel versions of the Cruze, the diesel is the most fuel-efficient offering. Based on European versions of the car, an American diesel Cruze would probably get about 37 miles per gallon city/48 highway. That would give the Cruze similar mileage numbers to Toyota's Prius hybrid.
"That number probably would be achievable," said Mike Omotoso, an analyst in Detroit with survey and research group J.D. Power & Associates.
Omotoso said bringing a diesel Cruze to North America in a year makes some sense. The Cruze will be facing tough competition at that time from Ford's upcoming electric Focus and potential hybrid versions of the Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra. So a diesel with great fuel economy could get a lot of attention.
"Volkswagen has been very successful with their diesel engine in the Jetta," Omotoso said. "It's about time that someone provided them with some competition."
EDIT: Another news article (http://rumors.automobilemag.com/diesel-rumor-2013-chevrolet-cruze-turbo-diesel-4-20279.html) about the Cruze diesel from Automobile Magazine.
The only real argument against doing it is the cost of federalizing the engine plus the lingering (and ridiculous) diesel-hate that automakers are convinced most Americans harbor. But considering that a) the diesel version of the Cruze already exists in other markets, and b) the car equals the Prius' fuel economy numbers, the case for selling it here is pretty strong IMO.
Perhaps a successful diesel Cruze will convince GM to put a diesel engine in the Volt, further improving that car's fuel economy? I think the US is ripe for a more wholehearted embrace of the diesel engine in passenger cars and light trucks.
In Europe, Australia and Asia, where GM already sells diesel versions of the Cruze, the diesel is the most fuel-efficient offering. Based on European versions of the car, an American diesel Cruze would probably get about 37 miles per gallon city/48 highway. That would give the Cruze similar mileage numbers to Toyota's Prius hybrid.
"That number probably would be achievable," said Mike Omotoso, an analyst in Detroit with survey and research group J.D. Power & Associates.
Omotoso said bringing a diesel Cruze to North America in a year makes some sense. The Cruze will be facing tough competition at that time from Ford's upcoming electric Focus and potential hybrid versions of the Honda Civic and Hyundai Elantra. So a diesel with great fuel economy could get a lot of attention.
"Volkswagen has been very successful with their diesel engine in the Jetta," Omotoso said. "It's about time that someone provided them with some competition."
EDIT: Another news article (http://rumors.automobilemag.com/diesel-rumor-2013-chevrolet-cruze-turbo-diesel-4-20279.html) about the Cruze diesel from Automobile Magazine.
The only real argument against doing it is the cost of federalizing the engine plus the lingering (and ridiculous) diesel-hate that automakers are convinced most Americans harbor. But considering that a) the diesel version of the Cruze already exists in other markets, and b) the car equals the Prius' fuel economy numbers, the case for selling it here is pretty strong IMO.
Perhaps a successful diesel Cruze will convince GM to put a diesel engine in the Volt, further improving that car's fuel economy? I think the US is ripe for a more wholehearted embrace of the diesel engine in passenger cars and light trucks.
innominato5090
Feb 20, 01:24 AM
New work machine.
snip
beautiful. I love the colors and the symmetry of your desk! may I ask you for a bigger pic?
snip
beautiful. I love the colors and the symmetry of your desk! may I ask you for a bigger pic?
heehee
Apr 10, 12:13 AM
My fiancee and I both have stick shift cars. :cool:
mrsir2009
Apr 12, 01:26 PM
Maybe they are rare where you live. In the UK and the rest of Europe they are more common that automatics.
Wow, here in New Zealand you never see new manual cars (unless they're some sort of heavy duty utility vehicle or a utility van). Regular road cars are all automatic now...
Wow, here in New Zealand you never see new manual cars (unless they're some sort of heavy duty utility vehicle or a utility van). Regular road cars are all automatic now...
Huntn
Mar 19, 04:37 PM
Would you rather have the Libyan people (who have called for help!) slaughtered by Gaddafi?
Historical observation: The Iraqi people never asked for US help, but there we were.
As I've said we need to finish existing world combat projects before starting new ones. Or is it like Bush/Cheney said, "who gives a damn about debt?"- just the average citizens who will lose their pensions, health care, I suppose...
Historical observation: The Iraqi people never asked for US help, but there we were.
As I've said we need to finish existing world combat projects before starting new ones. Or is it like Bush/Cheney said, "who gives a damn about debt?"- just the average citizens who will lose their pensions, health care, I suppose...
eldo33
Nov 28, 04:31 PM
standard 13" MBA
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56429926@N03/5216005590/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56429926@N03/5216005590/
nick9191
Mar 22, 12:50 PM
a country (United States) founded on Christianity.
Where you lost all credibility.
Where you lost all credibility.
hellomoto4
Apr 7, 07:41 AM
I've also noticed that Spotlight has been pretty screwed up. First off it's been indexing every other day which is unnecessary, and while it's indexing it will say ridiculous things like "35 hours remaining" with it finishing soon after.
I think they mean minutes. :rolleyes:
Yeah often when I boot to Lion after booting to SL it'll want to index again. The first time it indexed I got an estimated time of 18 days, although it completed in maybe two hours. Now if it indexes again I'll get an estimate of around 30 hours but it would complete in ten minutes. Weird.
I think they mean minutes. :rolleyes:
Yeah often when I boot to Lion after booting to SL it'll want to index again. The first time it indexed I got an estimated time of 18 days, although it completed in maybe two hours. Now if it indexes again I'll get an estimate of around 30 hours but it would complete in ten minutes. Weird.
whooleytoo
Mar 24, 02:00 PM
Is it unusual for Apple to start supporting so many graphics chips in one release?
If it was just to support a new line of iMacs/Mac Pros, they surely would only have 2 or 3 new chips. But 10? Please oh please tell me that with the increasing importance of games to Apple's bottom line, they're starting to take gaming more seriously.
If it was just to support a new line of iMacs/Mac Pros, they surely would only have 2 or 3 new chips. But 10? Please oh please tell me that with the increasing importance of games to Apple's bottom line, they're starting to take gaming more seriously.
rasmasyean
Mar 20, 12:45 PM
Yeah, that's worked so well for us in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Yeah, you are right. They now use a lot of American arms, and American soldiers are there to train them and fight with them side by side. And Iraqi oil production is skyrocketing so much that they even invite economists to help their treasurers deal with "something never have been used to handling".
Can we count on you to volunteer?
No. It's not my place and my time has long past to be "volunteered" for such duties. However, should your children wish to become warriors and protect people like me, I vonlunteer them! ;)
Hey, check out this mini mushroom fireball thingie. What kind of bomb is this? It looks kind of big. Edpecially the fact that it's in the backgorund and the camera naturally makes it small. If you were up close, it's gotta be HUGE! ...and makes a mushroom too instantly.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-110303-libya-tabbed/ss-110315-libya-week4/ss-110320-libya-07.ss_full.jpg
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41888055/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1
Yeah, you are right. They now use a lot of American arms, and American soldiers are there to train them and fight with them side by side. And Iraqi oil production is skyrocketing so much that they even invite economists to help their treasurers deal with "something never have been used to handling".
Can we count on you to volunteer?
No. It's not my place and my time has long past to be "volunteered" for such duties. However, should your children wish to become warriors and protect people like me, I vonlunteer them! ;)
Hey, check out this mini mushroom fireball thingie. What kind of bomb is this? It looks kind of big. Edpecially the fact that it's in the backgorund and the camera naturally makes it small. If you were up close, it's gotta be HUGE! ...and makes a mushroom too instantly.
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Slideshows/_production/ss-110303-libya-tabbed/ss-110315-libya-week4/ss-110320-libya-07.ss_full.jpg
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41888055/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1
takao
Feb 24, 02:59 PM
A bit off-topic, but why haven't car manufacturers created hybrid cars that use a diesel engine + battery? There are lots of petrol-electric hybrids, but not diesel. :confused:
well i suspect we will see such cars first from a european car company: the japanese are on the front for gasoline powered ones but they simply lack any know how in regard to diesel
just look at their european diesel line up where i suspect 70-80% of all their diesel options are in reality just an engine they bought and slapped their name on the cover
VW is actually working/worked on a diesel range extender hbrid system for their recent small car concept projects, like 'up!" etc.:
it combined light weight materials throughout with an electric engine for normal driving and for highway speeds and extending range a small 2 cylinder 0.8 liter diesel engine optimized to run at constant speeds
quite clever actually .. the overall output combined still was around 70 hp or so which combined with a low weight of the car (800-900kg) still was juicy enough
looking at the very current and very genius Fiat Twin Air engines i have to say that very refined turbocharged small displacement/ few cylinder engines are actually the next step over the overly complicated hybrid systems
well i suspect we will see such cars first from a european car company: the japanese are on the front for gasoline powered ones but they simply lack any know how in regard to diesel
just look at their european diesel line up where i suspect 70-80% of all their diesel options are in reality just an engine they bought and slapped their name on the cover
VW is actually working/worked on a diesel range extender hbrid system for their recent small car concept projects, like 'up!" etc.:
it combined light weight materials throughout with an electric engine for normal driving and for highway speeds and extending range a small 2 cylinder 0.8 liter diesel engine optimized to run at constant speeds
quite clever actually .. the overall output combined still was around 70 hp or so which combined with a low weight of the car (800-900kg) still was juicy enough
looking at the very current and very genius Fiat Twin Air engines i have to say that very refined turbocharged small displacement/ few cylinder engines are actually the next step over the overly complicated hybrid systems
SeaFox
Dec 27, 10:02 PM
I�m waiting on buying a HD DVD or BlueRay until the price comes down, so I could see iTV offering a HD alternative, and filling that niche.
I'm waiting for one format or the other to win, and I don't have an HD set anyway.
What else could be practical? Of course it will have a hard drive� a cable box DVR has a hard drive.
You're comparing apples to oranges now. A cable box is a tuner and a self-contained unit. As far as we know, iTV will not have a tuner. Its only known function at this time is to stream content from a Mac, so that makes iTV like a Slingbox, not a cableco DVR. And Slingboxes don't have hard drives.
If it also has the ability to surf the web and run a word processor, handle video from DVR and digital camera, I�ll get one�
I wouldn't hold my breath on the word processing and web surfing. WebTV showed surfing the internet on a TV sucked because trying to read normal-sized text from six feet away was hard, and bumping the text size up would goof up the page layout generally. Same reason word processing would be silly.
That is if the price is about $500.
I'm predicting a price around $400, but I'm also expecting a streaming device.
Some unanswered questions are where are they going to get the bandwidth to do all this? You will have to have a cable subscription, perhaps just a basic subscription, but even then bandwidth is limited.
What bandwidth? The stuff you watch is downloaded to your Mac first, or even the iTV itself. They don't stream it every time you want to watch it. The iTunes Store is open for business for movies. The bandwidth problem has already been addressed.
This could be very interesting. I have often wondered why all the cable companies and satellite companies are within $5 pricing difference of each other?
That's lack of competition caused by effects of previous government sanctioned monopolies. And some "cooperation" by the different players in the industry. Kinda like how airline tickets and auto insurance are all pretty much the same.
I'm waiting for one format or the other to win, and I don't have an HD set anyway.
What else could be practical? Of course it will have a hard drive� a cable box DVR has a hard drive.
You're comparing apples to oranges now. A cable box is a tuner and a self-contained unit. As far as we know, iTV will not have a tuner. Its only known function at this time is to stream content from a Mac, so that makes iTV like a Slingbox, not a cableco DVR. And Slingboxes don't have hard drives.
If it also has the ability to surf the web and run a word processor, handle video from DVR and digital camera, I�ll get one�
I wouldn't hold my breath on the word processing and web surfing. WebTV showed surfing the internet on a TV sucked because trying to read normal-sized text from six feet away was hard, and bumping the text size up would goof up the page layout generally. Same reason word processing would be silly.
That is if the price is about $500.
I'm predicting a price around $400, but I'm also expecting a streaming device.
Some unanswered questions are where are they going to get the bandwidth to do all this? You will have to have a cable subscription, perhaps just a basic subscription, but even then bandwidth is limited.
What bandwidth? The stuff you watch is downloaded to your Mac first, or even the iTV itself. They don't stream it every time you want to watch it. The iTunes Store is open for business for movies. The bandwidth problem has already been addressed.
This could be very interesting. I have often wondered why all the cable companies and satellite companies are within $5 pricing difference of each other?
That's lack of competition caused by effects of previous government sanctioned monopolies. And some "cooperation" by the different players in the industry. Kinda like how airline tickets and auto insurance are all pretty much the same.
mangis
Aug 24, 05:42 PM
It May Be Time For A Mac For My Entertainment Center
twoodcc
Mar 5, 11:23 PM
Wirelessly posted (nokia e63: Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.2; U; Series60/3.1 NokiaE63-1/100.21.110; Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413)
I've got it all running and installed, but it won't start computing! Really annoying Grr ill figure it out eventually.
post what's going on. just make a new thread, so if anyone else encounters the same issue it may help them
I've got it all running and installed, but it won't start computing! Really annoying Grr ill figure it out eventually.
post what's going on. just make a new thread, so if anyone else encounters the same issue it may help them
macgeek18
Feb 20, 11:49 PM
It is time to drink the intel Kool-aid my friend
Lol I again drank it 2 days ago by buying a Intel MacBook. Sorry G4's, looks like retirement is looming again. ;)
Lol I again drank it 2 days ago by buying a Intel MacBook. Sorry G4's, looks like retirement is looming again. ;)
hunkaburningluv
Mar 26, 08:28 AM
If someone had come out with a console allowing for full-color 1024x768 touchscreen controllers the other consoles would be scrambling to catch up. Even if that controller cost $499.
While there are some nits here (30fps isn't exactly ideal performance, the dongle connection seems too flimsy for real gameplay, etc) I think this is a huge step forward in gaming.
Nintendo and Microsoft should be shaking in their boots right now.
As a rather casual gamer, I'd love to see the bastard love-child of this and kinect.
you think? I think no none would buy the $499 controller as it's too expensive for a controller.
Ninty and M$ have nothing to worry about anything that apple does in relation to games will supplement the market as it is.
Not really. Properly designed controls on touch screen will be just fine... You will see...
Anyone who thinks that the long-term viability of the IOS ecosystem as a significant home game player because of the lack of hard controls is just missing the picture.
I can't figure out why some people think you have to look at the screen of a touchscreen device to use it to manipulate things in a game world. Between rotation and movement of the device itself with properly placed buttons you can do a lot with it, none of it requiring looking at the touch screen.
I suspect most people could distinguish between the lower left corner of their device and the upper right corner, for instance, without looking at the screen.
There is still a vast difference in the tactility (sp) and force feed back that hardcore gamers won't take too - as much as I don't like modern warfare, but I doubt the metric crapload of players would prefer to play with touch controls
but when you remove the need for look at a touch screen, then why need it? A simple touch pad would suffice. By removing the need to look at the screen, you remove the point of it.
Hardcore gaming will never change to the extent it doesn't need a controller and as such the market isn't going to change. Sure I can't wait until I play starcraft or the like on an ipad, but I won't be ditching any of my consoles.
While there are some nits here (30fps isn't exactly ideal performance, the dongle connection seems too flimsy for real gameplay, etc) I think this is a huge step forward in gaming.
Nintendo and Microsoft should be shaking in their boots right now.
As a rather casual gamer, I'd love to see the bastard love-child of this and kinect.
you think? I think no none would buy the $499 controller as it's too expensive for a controller.
Ninty and M$ have nothing to worry about anything that apple does in relation to games will supplement the market as it is.
Not really. Properly designed controls on touch screen will be just fine... You will see...
Anyone who thinks that the long-term viability of the IOS ecosystem as a significant home game player because of the lack of hard controls is just missing the picture.
I can't figure out why some people think you have to look at the screen of a touchscreen device to use it to manipulate things in a game world. Between rotation and movement of the device itself with properly placed buttons you can do a lot with it, none of it requiring looking at the touch screen.
I suspect most people could distinguish between the lower left corner of their device and the upper right corner, for instance, without looking at the screen.
There is still a vast difference in the tactility (sp) and force feed back that hardcore gamers won't take too - as much as I don't like modern warfare, but I doubt the metric crapload of players would prefer to play with touch controls
but when you remove the need for look at a touch screen, then why need it? A simple touch pad would suffice. By removing the need to look at the screen, you remove the point of it.
Hardcore gaming will never change to the extent it doesn't need a controller and as such the market isn't going to change. Sure I can't wait until I play starcraft or the like on an ipad, but I won't be ditching any of my consoles.
Outrun1986
Oct 12, 04:38 PM
Does anyone know where I can get a maroon case?
I don't want a silicon or a hard case, so it would have to be something else, preferably a case like the belkin grip vue, which seems to be the best case out there so far.
I don't want a silicon or a hard case, so it would have to be something else, preferably a case like the belkin grip vue, which seems to be the best case out there so far.
charlituna
Apr 12, 09:57 PM
will final cut express get an update too?
I am guessing yes. If it is kept at all.
Then a similar move with Logic
But I am curious about the rest of the suite and the remaining missing features from Shake
I am guessing yes. If it is kept at all.
Then a similar move with Logic
But I am curious about the rest of the suite and the remaining missing features from Shake
SciFrog
Feb 10, 07:03 PM
You need to update to the 6.29 client.
Bigadv are still more ppd but on win side many people are switching to SMP2 because the a3 core is quite fast on 4 cores (8 virtual).
Soon bigadv units are switching to a3 core also. I would then hope that we will not be loosing units due to restart or power loss or network switching as the a3 core is now threaded.
Bigadv are still more ppd but on win side many people are switching to SMP2 because the a3 core is quite fast on 4 cores (8 virtual).
Soon bigadv units are switching to a3 core also. I would then hope that we will not be loosing units due to restart or power loss or network switching as the a3 core is now threaded.
MacRumors
Apr 12, 08:11 PM
http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2011/04/12/nab-final-cut-supermeet-coverage/)
http://images.macrumors.com/article/2011/04/12/210422-275739796_500.jpg
http://images.macrumors.com/article/2011/04/12/210422-275739796_500.jpg
miamiracing
Jan 27, 07:59 AM
Some pics of my Impreza after a night of freezing rain:
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5366971777_ce8b11c76d_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5366971673_6d6ab4f12e_b.jpg
nice shots! yea i hated the freezing rain last week.
how do you like the snow we got last night haha
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5366971777_ce8b11c76d_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5366971673_6d6ab4f12e_b.jpg
nice shots! yea i hated the freezing rain last week.
how do you like the snow we got last night haha
Daveway
Aug 7, 07:36 AM
[B]Leopard
-Native NTFS write
-Soltaire game as a dashboard widget
-PC-run Mac OS X, but only via virtualization
-Tabs in Finder and Safari be draggable, Dragon Drop style tabbed windows-like OS 9, and be easily recalled-bookmarks.
There will never be NTFS write abilities in Mac OS X for a long time as Microsoft still keeps NTFS writing a propritary technology only licensed for use in Windows XP.
-Native NTFS write
-Soltaire game as a dashboard widget
-PC-run Mac OS X, but only via virtualization
-Tabs in Finder and Safari be draggable, Dragon Drop style tabbed windows-like OS 9, and be easily recalled-bookmarks.
There will never be NTFS write abilities in Mac OS X for a long time as Microsoft still keeps NTFS writing a propritary technology only licensed for use in Windows XP.
FireStar
Oct 29, 08:37 PM
Hi everyone, I just recently purchased an Ipod Touch 4G to replace my aging 1G, and have decided to buy a case to help protect my investment (to resell at a later time) this time to avoid the massive damage my 1G went through (long story...it's not pretty anymore, but hey, it does work).
My requirements are as follows:
-It MUST protect the glass on the front if it were to fall face-down onto a hard surface. Now, I'm not expecting miracles here, but it has to offer some protection for this (if you're wondering, this is what happened to my 1G...).
-It must protect the back from scratches and whatnot, but I assume most cases do this by default...
-It must not compromise any ports/buttons at all.
-It must not be too bulky.
-This isn't a major thing, but I'd like to be able to open it up without too much of a hassle if the need arises.
-I'm looking to spend between $20-25 at most.
Right now, I've narrowed it down to the Griffen Reveal, Switcheasy Colors, and the iFrogz Luxe due to their overall positive reputations. Does anyone have any thoughts on the above 3? Does anyone have any other recommendations that I missed? Thanks.
Griffin Reveal seems nice, plus very customizable. Switcheasy Colors, i love Switcheasy, but the silicone, I just don't like silicone. The Luxe is probably the same protection as the Griffin.
Out of the three, I would suggest the Griffin.
I am waiting for something else from Switcheasy, maybe a TRIM or Rebel.
My requirements are as follows:
-It MUST protect the glass on the front if it were to fall face-down onto a hard surface. Now, I'm not expecting miracles here, but it has to offer some protection for this (if you're wondering, this is what happened to my 1G...).
-It must protect the back from scratches and whatnot, but I assume most cases do this by default...
-It must not compromise any ports/buttons at all.
-It must not be too bulky.
-This isn't a major thing, but I'd like to be able to open it up without too much of a hassle if the need arises.
-I'm looking to spend between $20-25 at most.
Right now, I've narrowed it down to the Griffen Reveal, Switcheasy Colors, and the iFrogz Luxe due to their overall positive reputations. Does anyone have any thoughts on the above 3? Does anyone have any other recommendations that I missed? Thanks.
Griffin Reveal seems nice, plus very customizable. Switcheasy Colors, i love Switcheasy, but the silicone, I just don't like silicone. The Luxe is probably the same protection as the Griffin.
Out of the three, I would suggest the Griffin.
I am waiting for something else from Switcheasy, maybe a TRIM or Rebel.
Lord Blackadder
Mar 7, 05:18 PM
Indeed, I think you've also inadvertently described the perfect engineering challenge that todays manufacturers really should be embracing, but instead seem so reticent to take up. The most remarkable thing about the original Mini, wasn't its size, it wasn't its cost… it was the whole. And in that respect alone, I cannot think of one car today that is really in anyway comparable whatsoever.
I agree. If you look at "small" cars these days, they really aren't that small. Of course, what made the Mini special was packaging, and I don't think we've seen a revolutionary new "package" since the Mini.
The problem is Chevrolet is in a somewhat unique position in many respects here, it's a known brand, but by name only, usually as the carrier of good ol' boys... to a levy of course, when I think of a Chevy it's either something bright pink, with chrome… lots of chrome, or a pickup truck, not the rebadging of dreadful Daewoo cars. I suspect I'm not alone on that one.
And therein lies the problem. That and the Spark of course.
Chevy definitely has a lot of work to do to establish a brand presence in Europe - especially since Opel already covers so much territory with its lineup. Apart from niche vehicles like the Corvette, there isn't much of "American" Chevy that can make the transition to Europe. And in the long run, Chevy can't rely on rebadged Korean cars.
The Cruze is entirely inoffensive, and does the job entirely adequately by all accounts, as it should, after all it does have 4 wheels and an engine. Autocar likened it to the old Mk2 Seat Toledo saloon, and that's probably an apt comparison. Vanilla. Much like the rest of Vauxhall/Opel/Holden/Buick ranges etc actually. And that is a big problem for GM. A very big problem. One that almost sank the ship in the first place in fact. The captain might be different, but there's still no one at the helm.
Damning with faint praise! In the context of this thread I am happy to see a Cruze diesel come to the US, and I think the Cruze will be an improvement over previous GM small cars, but I don't expect the Cruze to be anything other than a cheap-n-cheerful small car - solid but unexceptional. It is true that their biggest problem is coming up with a reason to buy it over other similarly anonymous cars.
In typical Ford U.S. fashion you mean, fortunately, the profit making arm of Ford, i.e. the european division, produced the even better Mk2. ;)
And we never got to see it here. :mad:
While I haven't driven the Insignia over in Europe, the Regal drives solid and is very stable. So I don't think they did any modifications to the suspension.
A SPEED TV show went over to Europe to drive a US Spec Buick Regal and drove it on the autobahn and nurburgring.
I haven't had any experience with the new Regal, but on paper it certainly looks like a substantial improvement over the previous iterations.
I agree. If you look at "small" cars these days, they really aren't that small. Of course, what made the Mini special was packaging, and I don't think we've seen a revolutionary new "package" since the Mini.
The problem is Chevrolet is in a somewhat unique position in many respects here, it's a known brand, but by name only, usually as the carrier of good ol' boys... to a levy of course, when I think of a Chevy it's either something bright pink, with chrome… lots of chrome, or a pickup truck, not the rebadging of dreadful Daewoo cars. I suspect I'm not alone on that one.
And therein lies the problem. That and the Spark of course.
Chevy definitely has a lot of work to do to establish a brand presence in Europe - especially since Opel already covers so much territory with its lineup. Apart from niche vehicles like the Corvette, there isn't much of "American" Chevy that can make the transition to Europe. And in the long run, Chevy can't rely on rebadged Korean cars.
The Cruze is entirely inoffensive, and does the job entirely adequately by all accounts, as it should, after all it does have 4 wheels and an engine. Autocar likened it to the old Mk2 Seat Toledo saloon, and that's probably an apt comparison. Vanilla. Much like the rest of Vauxhall/Opel/Holden/Buick ranges etc actually. And that is a big problem for GM. A very big problem. One that almost sank the ship in the first place in fact. The captain might be different, but there's still no one at the helm.
Damning with faint praise! In the context of this thread I am happy to see a Cruze diesel come to the US, and I think the Cruze will be an improvement over previous GM small cars, but I don't expect the Cruze to be anything other than a cheap-n-cheerful small car - solid but unexceptional. It is true that their biggest problem is coming up with a reason to buy it over other similarly anonymous cars.
In typical Ford U.S. fashion you mean, fortunately, the profit making arm of Ford, i.e. the european division, produced the even better Mk2. ;)
And we never got to see it here. :mad:
While I haven't driven the Insignia over in Europe, the Regal drives solid and is very stable. So I don't think they did any modifications to the suspension.
A SPEED TV show went over to Europe to drive a US Spec Buick Regal and drove it on the autobahn and nurburgring.
I haven't had any experience with the new Regal, but on paper it certainly looks like a substantial improvement over the previous iterations.
