NOS2006

haha It's the new Oldsmobile concept!

Incorrect to say the least. Also, 138 HP in anything short of a motorcycle or go kart won't feel zippy. FWIW, the Impala is ~15.5 lbs/HP. At 2700 lbs, the 1.4T Sonic would be about ~19.6 lbs/HP. Hell, even a Cobalt LS is ~18.8 lbs/HP. Zippy?

Yeah for sure, we'll see what happens. Who else will be there Wednesday? Drew and BV will be there 'til tomorrow, but not Wednesday. Not sure about Z-06, but I doubt it since he's also there all day today and tomorrow.

I'd have to drive both to see for myself. I drove Drew's 1.4T Cruze rental yesterday and it didn't seem too quick at all, although there were 4 guys in the car. I couldn't imagine driving the 1.8L if it's noticeably slower quite honestly. I'm interesting in driving both the 1.8 and 1.4T Sonic 5-doors though.

Depends on what time you get there. I'll be there from about noon to 4ish, then I'm hanging out with the girl since she lives downtown. Do you know when you'll be there approximately?

Looks like the appliques are real wood and plastic covered in a silver metallic film. Upper IP looks to be padded vinyl and lower IP looks to be nothing more than a soft-grained injection molded plastic substrate. How accurate does that sound?

I'll be there Wednesday and my goal is to get a good amount of pictures of all vehicles that are new to the market or yet to be released (concepts and just released vehicles). I typically get a few interior pictures as well as front, rear, and side pictures. I'm going to aim for all of the following: GM Verano Sierra HD Concept Special Edition Corvettes Camaro Convertible Cruze Sonic [*]Chrysler 300 Charger 200C Journey interior Grand Cherokee Jeep interiors Compass [*]Ford Escape "concept" What else is there?

3 HP and 23 ft-lbs (albeit at lower RPMs) is a significant enough upgrade in performance to warrant this choice in powertrain? You can get more power (though slightly less torque) than that if Chevy were to throw a performance intake and exhaust on the 1.8L or give it a slightly different tune and call it an RS.

How are the materials in the Verona's interior?

What is the point of having two motors that are so close in size and power? Does the 1.4T really deliver that much better fuel economy than the 1.8L? Aside from that, I like it, and love the look of the interior. Is that an extra storage compartment on the passenger side of the dash, just above the glove compartment? It looks like there's a handle there, so the airbag would pop out of the top of the dash. Only gripe as of right now is that the sedan looks really strange to me, almost foreign. The 5-door looks good though, and I like how they hid the doorhandles on the rear doors.

I believe so. The CTS has it also.

Keep in mind that the IS250 starts out at $32,145 whereas the A3 tops out at $30,850 (not including options).

Let me know if you miss anything, Drew. I'll be at the show Wednesday.

This is simple: if your main concern in buying a new vehicle is to seat tall people in the backseat, buy a bigger car. Also, the Cruze weights ~200 lbs less, so there goes your 30-40 HP.

I'll be sure that we do a terrific job on the interior quality for you if you give me what I want too!

I'm wondering about the general opinion of the quarter windows up front. I'm not sure if I like them or not. It seems like there might be more visibility, but I just don't know..

The Cruze came out first by about 2 years, so my guess is that they've had more time to fit it in there and do some testing with the engine in the Cruze first. And I feel like a Chevy is probably more deserving of a performance model than a Buick.

Honestly, I think it'd be hard to call anything a homerun in this class. But I do think this is sufficient. I'd be more happy with about 24/33 MPG or a bit more power though as well as the addition of the LNF.

Mr. Bond, you'll be the best moderator ever if you can put an ATS-V Coupe in my driveway for $30,000

Downloaded CS5 trial for now, so I might be able to whip something up on Sunday..

3300 lbs... average for class Rear leg room... it's a compact car 31 MPG... okay they could've done better IMO 8.0sec... it's a small Buick and not called a GNX Turbo... it's not even in the Chevy yet; why would it be in the Buick first? Wagons... They always release one model first and have others follow. Why don't we have a 3 or 5 door Cruze? Look at the CTS.

Buick Verano: 177 HP, 170 ft-lb, 3300 lbs, 22/31 MPG Lexus IS250: 204 HP, 185 ft-lb, 3455 lbs, 19/27 (manual) or 21/30 MPG Audi A3: 200 HP, 207 ft-lb, 3219 lbs, 21/30 MPG *Note: IS250 is RWD; Verano and A3 are FWD Source: http://autos.msn.com

I do think it's a bit goofy looking (although that Velite grille is making it grow on me everytime I see a picture), but it's a very impressive car for what it is IMO. Nice job, Buick.

Thanks, Dave! MI has jumped from 355 yesterday to 242 today... thanks for the support, everybody!

http://www.leftlanenews.com/buick-verano.html LLN said, "Buick says the Verano will eventually be offered with a 2.0L turbocharged engine." If true, I feel that says a lot for a Cruze SS...