shakran

If that isnt bad enough, GM will now be using HONDA motors in their vehicles, starting with their "Malibu SS." They take one of the most coveted names in performance history and back it up by a N/A HONDA motor. Then there's the fact that GM refuses to put out any car that would challenge the performance numbers of the Corvette, until their flagship has come out with something even better.

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"Facts are stupid things." -Reagan

and even if GM were to put a Honda motor in the Malibu, it'd be better than the wussy pile of crap they've got in it now. I couldn't believe it when I saw the new Malibu - I was expecting something really cool like the old Malibu used to be. Now it's just a generic family sedan piece of junk with a pedestrian engine and the standard GM cheap "acres of gray plastic" interior. The new Impala looks boring as well. At least the previous impala (the one with the Caprice body) could be excused as a great sleeper car, but the current Impala isn't that quick, its brakes suck royally, and it looks like yet-another-family-car.

I can't wait to see the GTO over here. Living in the States means I've never gotten to drive a Holden Monaro, but I've read a lot about it and it sounds like one hell of a car. Hopefully it will sell well here and the GM execs will figure out that the reason their sales suck right now is because many of their cars are basically the same thing. I mean, there's very little real difference between the Malibu, the Impala, the Lumina, the Grand Am, and the Caprice. They're slightly different sizes, but they all feel pretty much the same to drive - i.e. they're dogs in the performance world and their ride isn't ultra-plush, which means they're not going to make any target market 100% happy. The only thing I can say for the current Impala is that its interior is nicer than most GM products these days. The Grand Prix is just a large version of these cars. They're all boring, and the "ribbed for her pleasure" body cladding crap they put on a lot of their cars is a styling pukefest that should never have seen the light of day.

It's irritating because you look at cars like the Corvette and realize that GM knows how to build REALLY good cars (I'm talking the C5 here -the other versions were crap as far as build quality went), yet they seem to still think they can foist junk on the general public and the general public will still buy it simply because it's a GM product. Well that strategy is working with some people - I know a few who are die-hard GM fans and won't buy anything else even if GM only offers a pedal car, but their sales figures reflect that a lot of people are moving to other makers.

You guys know me as a honda guy, but if Honda started pulling the crap GM has been pulling for decades I'd drop 'em like a rock and find another company. My loyalty goes to the company that's making quality.

And BTW regarding Honda engines, even American car fans acknowledge that Honda makes some of the best engines on the planet. While they don't have the raw torque figures of the American engines, they're built much better than other company's engines and will on average last much longer. 200,000 and even 300,000 miles is really no big deal for a honda motor. I'm always hearing people with chryslers, GM's, and Fords (and Mitsu's, and BMWs, etc) talking about how their car has a LOT of miles on it when there's only 150,000 on the clock.

I'd love to be able to buy an American car. I'd really love to be able to buy a GM because they're low priced compared to other companies, but until they start making quality cars other than the corvette, which I can't afford, I'll keep buying Civics and Accords as my daily drivers.