PurdueGuy

Thanks for spelling out my opinion pretty much exactly. I'd maybe go as far as making 2nd trimester illegal as well. A woman should know she's pregnant within just over a month, so that gives her almost 2 months to make a decision. After that, the decision should change to between adoption or keeping the child, IMO. Maybe extend it one more month, so within the first 4 months is legal, last 5 months is not. Choice is retained, but not without responsibility.

I pretty much agree to this whole list except abortion, which I view as a human rights issue that needs a more moderate solution worked out.

I usually default to republican, but I'm pretty sure obama will have my vote this go around. I still need to learn more about Idaho & it's various people (aside from Larry).

<also thought of the rail company right away

also, there have been no indications (that I'm aware of) that any Opel product other than the Insignia will be changed for the US market. NG Astra, as far as we know, will be produced in nearly identical configuration in Mexico, which gets around the currency exchange and shipping costs issues that haunt the current gen.

Looks good. I still chuckle at Lutz's comment about the concept having the "aerodynamics of a brick". lol

I generally agree with the original poster's idea. Some of you commenting on it increasing the costs of your mail services apparently don't understand just how valuable a few mpgs are to delivery fleets. Fuel-efficient vehicles pay for themselves very quickly in delivery fleets. I'm not sure I'd go as far as putting in a BAS system, but a strong ecotec-based setup with a purpose-built body would be an excellent offering.

well, let's see here... GM described their proposed system in great detail. Chrysler has shown some pictures of a flashy car, and unless there is substantially more information elsewhere, given zero details about the system, and haven't said they can or will make 300 miles, but just said it's a goal. Also, while the Volt compared to the non plug in prius is apples to oranges, a 300 mile electric car is apples to trout compared to a parallel hybrid like the Volt. Very different vehicles with very different pros and cons. The parallel hybrid makes more sense as a primary vehicle, while the EV really only makes sense at this point for a dedicated commuter and local runabout. It has the potential to be a hit, but for a different purpose. Don't get all crappy just because you've been uber-skeptical the whole time and so far GM has shown relatively little deviation from their original statements/goals. Yes, the projected initial price has gone up. Yes, the projected initial production volume has gone down. Yes, we know you like to bitch & moan that they said it'd be here for '10 and now (last I knew) it's supposed to be here in late '10 as an '11 model. Whoopidie doo, welcome to new technology. You're right though - Chrysler is possibly doing better at the PR game - by promising little, they can deliver whatever, whenever the heck they get around to it.

Before you buy a copy, you might want to read up & compare it with the Trainz offerings from Auran. I haven't kept up with either product, but a few years back it seemed like Trainz was the superior software. Can't tell you which is better now, but something to look into. http://www.auran.com/

Just a copy/paste from another forum of some photos I took while exploring roads around here. Usually when I go exploring, I take the 'burban, since I don't know what to expect from Idaho backroads.

Another related link: http://automobiles.honda.com/insight-hybrid/

last car built on a friday? *edit* I guess I'm curious if the hose failed (part failure), or if it came off (bad installation)?

Lessee, in '97 I would've been driving my first car still, a '76 Mercury Monarch. It was a pile and slow, but it was my first car, so I loved it. Couple times a year I'll have a dream where I find it for sale somewhere & buy it back. In my more lucid, awake times, I realize how silly that would be of me. lol

All 3 very good looking cars.

Saturn never used headlights like that.

IMO, the last thing a 17yr old needs is a new car, or payments.

I personally find the bigger annoyance when people's thread titles don't describe what's in the thread at all.

lol office space It's a fairly attractive car, but I still wouldn't be caught dead owning a KIA.

Many of those Chinese jobs wouldn't look the same in the US. A room like the video showed with a dozen basic machine tools and some boxes on the floor, with 3 dozen people running around, would be replaced by 3 high-tech machines and 2 people checking a computer screen occasionally to make sure it was working right. Ah yes, I remember now what my lean manufacturing prof said. He was asked what the factory of the future would look like. He replied "it would be staffed by a man and a dog." He was then asked, "well, what does the man do?" "He feeds the dog." "What does the dog do?" "The dog keeps the man from touching anything."

Except GM has given up on hummer, so even the best theoretical idea is a moot point...

At first I was like "Riviera? That's an old nameplate, they should use something new!" Then I got to thinking, and the Riviera has always been a high-tech Buick, so it's actually pretty fitting that a Buick e-flex would be named Riviera. Not sure how well it would market real-world, as more people may know it as an "old" car rather than a "tech" car, but the general idea I like.

You mean the Honda 3.5L V6? The 3.0L engine in the Vue was for the first couple years, and was the same 3.0L in the L-Series, a GM engine (which is known to be an utter pain to work on).

I love how they talk about average traffic speeds, and show how they're around the top speed of their vehicle. But... that's the average traffic speed. That means a good portion of the time, traffic is moving faster than that, and you might get your slow car run over. I support the idea of electric vehicles, but not if they're slow and thus a safety hazard. Something that slow doesn't even make sense as a second vehicle for most people, as a third vehicle, maybe. It would work for my wife driving the 6 blocks or so to her bus station 4 days out of the week, but then what happens when she has to drive all the way to work? She has to take a vehicle that has a much longer range & top speed. If we had 2 vehicles, and one was a 35mph short range electric vehicle, that means that for that day, I'm grounded close to home. That doesn't work out all the time. Thus, it could work as a 3rd vehicle, but then can most people justify the costs of a 3rd vehicle for a 2 person household for some fuel savings? I'm sure it works for some people, but the way they push the stats, they try to make it sound like it works for most people, and I'm far from convinced it does. *Looks forward to the day when a car like the Volt is established and at a reduced price.*

I would think whatever drivetrain you currently have is only just broken in at 100k miles, and should be good for another 100-200k if properly maintained, and with a few minor fixes. Not that an engine swap isn't fun to consider...

I remember about 5 years ago they were saying this, except the date was "by 2010."