PurdueGuy

You like mice better than plants, eh? Plants don't deserve to eat? It's just a mouse. Should we starve all snakes to save on feeder mice too?

No it wouldn't. Do AWD gasoline powered cars get half the fuel economy of their 2wd counterparts? No. Because it simply takes only so much energy to get a car to a certain speed. The difference in efficiency between AWD and 2wd is from friction & inertial losses. An electric AWD system actually would suffer far less of an efficiency loss than a mechanical AWD system does, as there is no driveshaft or differential parts to lose energy to. The bigger issue is likely to be the higher initial cost of the vehicle, as there would be 1-2 more electric motors to pay for. I think an AWD system for the Caddie would be an excellent idea.

I've gotta disagree with this one. I know many people who simply prefer cloth, and have no interest in leather, and it's not about the cost.

I'm looking for measurable things, not vague subjective things. Some people find Geo Metros enjoyable to drive. Some people can't be pleased by $100k+ cars. Gotta agree - No steel wheels on any Buick, GMC, or Caddy EVER. NEVER EVER. Only available on base model Chevys IMO.

In your opinion, what features/characteristics (measurable) should all vehicles from each brand have or at least always have as an option? Feel free to distinguish between trucks/cars, but otherwise it should be the same across the whole brand. A few of my opinions as Examples: Cadillac: HID projector headlights, LED signal lights all around, offer nav (maybe should be standard) Buick: LED tail lights, fog lights, offer nav Also feel free to do this in reverse, like: Nav: Cadillac (standard), Buick (always available option), GMC (always available option) So, what do you think? Let's stick to the remaining brands for simplicity.

It was a tough decision, but I voted #1. I like #2 a lot better than the plain tan interior though.

Yeah, that part was aimed at some other people who'd commented in the thread about their computers not being good enough for it. I can understand someone saying their computer isn't good enough to bother upgrading, though. I can't believe how some people I've been talking to lately (personally, not on here) have been holding onto & trying to continually update really old computers, like 5-7yr old laptops & stuff.

I would expect it to be nearly bug free - I've had almost zero issues with RC. BTW, this is what MS says the hardware requirements are: And people have gotten it to run on lesser systems than that. Anyone that has a computer that doesn't meet these specs needs to start saving toward a whole new computer, not just a new OS.

I've been running win7 rc for a while now, and am very pleased. I will be buying 2-4 copies as money allows. Nice to finally move to a real 64bit OS. Hopefully I can also pick up Adobe CS5 next year, which is also supposed to be native 64bit. Zoom zoom.

just a heads up - it's spelled Forza

What exactly is being subsidized so heavily in Idaho?

I'm curious what it cost to run the program - all the computers, staff, paperwork, advertising - how much did that cost per car?

Yay, a thread asking about people's favorite brands that purposely denies the existence of brands based on the favorite brands of the thread author. Do me a favor - stay out of journalism, it's biased enough.

LCD IMO

The problem with this is that it's very easy to construct a set of individually true statements like that, which linked together can be made to support ANY argument. What it does not address is how much or little importance the issue has, because we don't know to what measure we have an effect. WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE SYSTEM. Without understanding the system, we cannot make good decisions about cause, effect, or proper response. It's not that we should do nothing, but we need to focus on things that are economically viable, and will have measurable effect.

The sad thing is that this IS far more of a political topic than it is a scientific one.

Be careful lumping everyone together like that. I own an SUV. I didn't buy it over a minivan because minivans are uncool. I bought it over a minivan because a mininvan wouldn't stand any more of a chance on the backroads in the mountains around here than one of our Saturn S-Series would. My suburban, however, is perfectly happy chugging along the backroads or up a mountain gravel road. It also has more hauling space than a minivan.

That's pretty much what I said - there aren't many Saturn enthusiasts, because GM ruined the brand already. There's nothing to give back - AMGeneral still builds the original "hummer" for the military. All GM ever had in regards to that was the rights to distribution of the domestic/consumer version of the vehicle - they didn't take over ownership of the vehicle or anything like that. Hummer as a brand was a brand new entity that simply picked up on a nickname for the H1, then added reskinned GM products as the H2 and H3. AMGeneral kept building the military versions and will continue to do so - there's nothing to "give back".

I expect the same, but mostly because GM already ran off most Saturn enthusiasts from the brand.If this was 5-10 years go, there would be plenty of fans throwing a fit. As-is, half the Saturn enthusiasts I know are saying "good riddance" because they don't like what the brand has become, and are tired of watching GM trample what it was and could have been. Though I bet there are plenty of people with similar sentiment for Pontiac's death.

Or GM could have not squandered what Saturn could have been, and may have been better off today than it is. It's all too easy to guess at what could have been.

My worst interior memory has less to do with design than condition. I bought a '94 Saturn SL2 for $300. The interior was filthy. There was a 12pk of Squirt on the back seat. As I was cleaning out the car, I got to the case of squirt to pull it out. It was missing a couple of cans, but was an almost full case. Except... all the cans were empty. They had been left in the car during winter. When I eventually removed the rear seat base, I found "lake squirt". I pulled the engine & trans, and sold the rest of the car for $300. lol I actually know the guy that bought it (kinda, though STC), and his plans are to gut the car & either turbo it or do a nasty all-out n/a build that'll probably just blow up, then ditch the car.

I like it.

The difference is, if all the computers crash, math is a crucial skill. No one's going to be yelling "my computer won't work, if only I'd learned to write in cursive! Now we'll all die!" Given time, the only people who will need cursive is historians and artists.

Why wouldn't they offer leather seats? Do you mean real leather vs pleather, or are you thinking they'll only offer cloth?

Yes, and I agree it's still very important that people be able to write by hand. Cursive is another issue altogether IMO.