I miss roads that occasionally change direction :( Also, fall foliage is great too. Ray - try driving a few hours upstate - you really don't have to go far to have some gorgeous scenery and roads.

whoops, a couple of hours too late

Roadmaster wagon also had a solid rear axle with standard LSD. I remember right after I bought one, pulling out into traffic in freezing rain, and the end just swung way wide and then snapped back into place. I miss that car :(

@conebone69: in this example - motorweek is the genital wart, and

Top Gear USA better than Motorweek, Also BMW 1 series prettier than

Heh, funny that the E30 is on the most reliable list and the E24 is

@gman1023: Oh, I would disagree with you there - 180 hp in a 3600 lb car is plenty adequate - UNLESS you're the type of person who never gives the car more than a third throttle, and lets the transmission shift at 3000 rpm. My DD (which is a bit of a misnomer as I don't drive it very often at all...) is an LW200 - 10…

@duurtlang: GM has plenty of base models in this country - Buick isn't an economy brand.

@gman1023: well... i guess it's better looking than the camry - and you can get a manual with the top-level engine (camry looks like it's auto only for the v6). I'm also going to say it'll handle better than a camry, but seriously - why go for some sort of exotic 2.0L DI turbo as your top level engine only to end up…

Well, that's some impressive fuel economy but a very disappointing 0-60 time, especially considering 3.76 final drive. Oh, 3700 lbs, I see...

In 5 years, it'll be a Miata... I've spent years fixing stuff that's broken on my 160k mile E30 and am now intimately familiar with almost every aspect of the car. I have almost no clue what the bottom of my 190k mile Miata looks like as I've only done really basic maintenance items on it.

@P161911 probably shoudn't have: Well, it's a twin overhead cam, relatively high revving engine. I think using it exclusively on the trailblazer siblings was a terrible idea for exactly that reason - it's an alright truck engine, but would have been better suited elsewhere. fwiw, i testdrove one and thought that the…

Fine, I'll say it. GM LL8. Sure, it's GM and it's a truck motor, but it's the last straight 6 the company produced (that I'm aware of), was twin overhead cam, had variable valve timing (on the exhaust, anyway) and - while a base motor, produced almost as much hp as the 5.3L V8 "upgrade." If GM had actually put it in…

Great idea - now you can handle all of that excess front end loading?

@ament001: I've been too intimidated by desmodromic valves to ever buy one... :( maybe i should

@MrGoodCat: not all of us are fearful little whiners who are intimidated by the iihs. (also, i believe the cobalt as a good frontal and acceptable side impact rating and is still much safer than stuff made 10 years ago...). anyway - her first car was a 230sl and i don't believe she's ever looked at safety ratings when…

My Mom bought a Cobalt XFE, which I recommended because it qualified for c4c and with my gm card discount, was the cheapest car she could buy with a/c. She actually really likes it...

@dangertree: Well, that and AARP is one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the country, plus old people generally have much stronger voter turnout than younger people (if they don't get in a wreck on the way to the polling location, anyway...)

no... but a japanese liter-bike is a pretty affordable way into exotic motoring. you're hard pressed to find anything in the motorcycle world more expensive to buy and maintain than a ducati, except maybe an indian or something... (even then, I think most parts can be made one-off at a machine shop for less than…

@Ryan Turner: well, the lesson is - don't drain gasoline in your basement while your furnace / pilot light is on