Those came out just as I was buying my first bike, and I remember that they were expensive, slow and funny looking, and they sold quite poorly after the first year. IIRC Honda skipped production for those three middle years because there were so many new, non current model year leftover PC800s sitting unsold at…

IIRC the 454 in the 1995 Suburban made 230 hp and 385 lb-ft of torque when it was new. So yeah, not a lot of power for something that big and heavy, especially turning those big tires and with the aero drag of a small barn. Single digit mileage too.
Even a bone stock 2005 Cummins at 325 hp/610 lb ft would be a better…

I saw what you did there

I know, right? Never seen anything like it in such good shape. If I had a gazillion dollars, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

That’s awesome! And check this out too, holy crap -

Can’t argue with much of that, although GM has a long and infuriating history of putting lots of work into a car, rushing it out half baked and killing them just as they got better, arguably to where they should have been in the first place - 1988 Fiero GT, Grand National, 1996 Impala SS, 2nd gen Volt and so forth.…

Yes, you don’t like Saturn. We get it.
Yes, it was not perfect and it didn’t work out in the end for a litany of different reasons, mainly internal corporate politics amid changing upper management. But at the time it really was a seismic shift for GM for the better, in philosophy, design, manufacturing, engineering,…

If you take a look at my reply to Mercedes’ prior post asking about handy tools, you’ll see that the other tool I recommended along with this one is a set of JIS screwdrivers :)

Thanks, Captain Obvious :P

I’m not talking about dragging knees, I’m talking about dragging parts on the ground taking average freeway onramp curves at normal, sane traffic speeds. Which has happened for me on at least a dozen different Harleys I’ve ridden on very undemanding chaperoned corporate fixed-route test rides…

The satellite controlled, pickup truck mounted machine gun recently used to assassinate the head of the lead Iranian nuclear scientist was blown up right after the attack by an onboard self destruct explosive.

Yay!
If you’ve ever cursed engineers after stripping out a few of these screws changing rotors, this tool is pure magic, for not much money. And most people have no idea they exist outside of people working on japanese motorcycles. So this post may really help a lot of people who face this problem on their own cars…

It’s all good, thx for the clarification.

Nice writeup, thank you.
How does that thing corner? For about 10 years I went to Americade and test rode every new Harley and Buell they had in their test fleet, and every harley dragged hard parts on the ground as soon as you leaned it over appreciably.
The Buells were better, but you whacked the rev limiter as soon…

I dunno if you’re planning on getting a CDL, but if so, be aware that some states (like California) increase the points for certain driving violations for CDL holders, sometimes even if the violations happen while you’re driving your own personal vehicle.

Saturn was Roger Smith’s baby. Once he retired, the next guy didn’t give much of a shit about a division selling exclusively in the least profitable market segment. This was also in the pre-bankruptcy era, when GM had staggering retiree pension and medical benefit costs. IIRC at one point they had something like five…

Nah. I have no idea what you’re talking about or when/if you worked for a dealer but when I was there we always competed with our local Lexus franchise for #1 in customer satisfaction. Every quarter either they were #1 or we were, and they sold $40,000 cars to our $14,000 cars.

When I was there from about ‘94-97…

Sure thing - What’s your email?

Yep, Mercedes (the name) came before Mercedes (the car) did.

Nah. You’d need to get the 3.6 outback to get in the same power league as any TourX but it still gives up 50 lb-ft, and for $20k that puts you in an older, higher mileage Subie with worse seats, louder inside, worse handling and braking, worse fuel mileage, a crummy Subaru CVT and it’s still slower 0-60 and in the…

Nah, they’re great all weather long commute cars. Comfortable, quiet, smooth, plenty of passing power - even at altitude - good mileage, decent space, good brakes/ steering/ handling and the LED headlights are excellent. I’m 6' tall and I can comfortably sleep in the back, plus the low roofline makes it easy to get to…