ponchoman49

The Impala, Lucerne and DTS are all very fine examples of FWD sedans. My buddy and I drove a 3LT Impala with it's 17" tires and were shocked at the handling of this car. We pulled that car around some very sharp curves and were amazed that it didn't even let out a peep from the tires and remained composed throughout. The yuppie crew over at Honda & Driver needed to find a way to justify once again that american cars all suck, the Accord and Camry are automatically superior and should be considered over the terrible GM FWD outdated cars but people are thankfully finding out what a nice job GM did with these refreshes. It's funny but very few car nuts I know even bother with C&D as it is the same ol $h! month after month with them.

I already know 3 current Camry owners who will not be renewing there payment with the current 07 edition. This was music to my ears. Toyota has also botched up the wonderful new 6 speed automatic tranny in the Camry and Avalon with people writing in with ruff shifting issues and even failures. Add in smaller interior dimensions on the Camry, inferior styling on both, a 14.4 cu.ft. trunk on the Avalon which some compact cars can beat, no door protection molding which is ticking a lot of people off at a local dealer when they find there 35K Avalons with door jams everywhere(Toyota is finally offering a dealer option install to correct this) and higher prices. Sur there will always be the blindly loyal faithful Toyota lovers out there but many are looking for something new and different. Add in Toyotas arrogance and there downfall is inevitable.

My background had my ass driving a rental 4 door 4WD Colorado with the 5 cylinder/4 speed automatic trans. The 5 cylinder does not have a really good powerband. It peels out a tiny bit, then power sags until rpms climb and the vvt gives that extra bit of kick then all of a sudden second gear comes with an enormous chasm with the engine gasping until rpm's climb again. I have driven lots of CVT and 5/6 speed automatics and know exactly how it affects engine power. My whole point about adding the 6 speed automatic has nothing to do with what others are saying or the dumb auto rags but this engines lack of power in this obviously weighty truck. The 6 speed automatic would offer a big improvement in low end response with a much better first gear. Then with a second gear ratio that doesn't drop like water over a cliff the engine can stay revving in it's band as it shifts up towards it's tall 6th gear which combined with a lower axle ratio in the rear would improve highway mileage. As these vehicles keep getting bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier extra tranny gears are becoming a necessity. As for the disk brakes, drums are more complicated and are seldom in adjustment after a few years of driving. Many mechanics screw them up and disk brakes are just plain easier to change out and offer better less fading stopping distances. And when your a giant ship that is slowly sinking you DO NOT need antique 1982 designed transmissions and outdated drum brakes on a truck that is hardly competitive to start with! Perception plays a big roll on which vehicle a consumer plunks down his hard earned cash for.

Things that need to be fixed on the GP Rear seat is the worst in the industry for such a large sedan. Back seat legroom is non existant with seat moved back more than half way. Backrest is like sitting on a park bench. Seat bottom sits way to low giving a confining feel. Rears of seat go all the way to the floor leaving no space for feet and toes. Cloth seat material screams cheap, as it is the same crap as in the Colorado but a different color. Too much hard plastic. 3800 puts out 200 hp and 230 torque. Compare that to a 1995 GM such as the Bonneville which actually put out more hp at 205 and the same torque! 4 speed automatic drastically kills engine power when it shifts into second gear until engine revs back up, but then this engine is all packed in past 5000 rpms seeing as how it is mainly a low end torque motor. No front seat passenger overhead assist handle when even a freaken base Kia Optima from 2001 has them. No rear seat center armrest that the 1997-2003 version had. 0-60 acceleration times are actually slower on the base and GT versions of this car compared to it's predessor. The base car lost it's 3.29:1 gears in favor of economy 3.05:1 which when combined with more weight gives slower times. The supercharged 3800 with 260 hp looks better on paper but in reality offers no power gain over any 1997-2003 240 hp S/C 3800 because the tranny has been programmed to back off more on full throttle shifts to "save" the trans. Add in a goofy looking steering wheel, no front seat headroom whatsoever if you order the moonroof, haphazard quality control from car to car and that pretty much sums up what a disaster this car is.

Wow GM is just one dissapointment after another these days! Yup bankruptcy is a very probable thing for MY 2007

I have driven them. This and the Escalade are the best Caddys out there. The CTS and STS suck with there plain blah looks, el cheapo interiors, and rock hard rides. Not everyone wants a BMW clone! This is easily the best G-body I have driven, it comes with an awesome blue interior instead of the endless tirade of dull boring lackluster tans and grays, has a real flashy appearance with the chrome trim and door moldings and is the last sedan that Caddy bulds that looks like a Caddy. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that Caddy should kill it off! This is america where you are supposed to have the freedom of choice. The only 2 beefs I have with this car are the outdated 4 speed automatic and same Northstar power output from 1993.

Buick really should have kept the 3800 and brought it up to modern power levels of say 225-230 hp at least. It's really embarressing that Chevy gets 211 and 242 hp out of there smaller and only slightly larger 3500 and 3900 for the lower priced Impala and Monte Carlo.

And to add insult to injury, the 95% of GM 07 models are equally hopeless just like the 06's, 05's etc. The only cars to get any changes worth while were the G6 and the 3 new Saturns. UNBELEIVABLE

It looks like Chevy has lost interest in this car even as the 07 changes leave it without the 3900, less models to choose from, no interior changes, no door moldings nothing! They are letting it rot on purpose!

The only change here that makes any kind of sense is making the 3900 std for the Terrazza.

This is scary! Still no telescoping wheel. No power upgrades to the totally lacklustre 197 weakling 3800. No 3.6 even as an option. No wood steering wheel from the factory. No 6 speed automatic. No 291 hp version of the Northstar. What is GM's problem?

Guess the report of this car getting the 3900 and a new front end treatment were more BS. The 3.05:1 axle should have been offered right from the start. Hope the cloth fabric is darker and is still made from the nice stuff and not the synthetic crap like in the Malibu. This would have been a good chance to add some pizazz to this car which Buick has only half done here. Why couldn't the 3.6 get a power boost to at least the 252 of the new Aura?

Now why couldn't they have replaced the outdated 3400 with the new 3500? That would at least help fill the gap with the performance loss going with a lower axle ratio. Where is the 3900 performance varient?

There should have been a hell of a lot more changes than this! They couldn't even be bothered with an additional interior color? Where is the promised 3900? Is the outdated 3800 going to be around until the next decade? No new grille etc. Just shows that GM has totally lost interest in this car.

2007 would have been a perfect opportunity to install the new 6 speed automatic tranny but no! All we get are useless color changes and not even a new grille or tail light! GM has really let me down for 07!

Still no 6 speed automatic! Still no interior improvement! Still no 4 wheel disk brakes! Still no higher towing capacity! Gosh GM is really screwing Chevy for model year 2007.

What!!!! They are still using that pathetic China 3400, now with a lower axle to reduce performance! Boy Chevy really got boned for 07 changes save the new Silverado/Tahoe.

So this is how GM is going to increase sales! Changing colors, reducing hp, taking away E-85 capability and not using the 6 speed automatic as promised. Way to go guys! Newsflash: Expect GM quartly loses to be even greater in the months ahead!

I had the opportunity to drive both a base LS Monte with the 3500 211 hp engine and an LT3 with it's 3900 and 242 hp. Both cars felt very similar to drive actually with the LT3 version having more bells and whistles, 17" vs 16" tires and dual exhaust. What surprised me was that the 3900 didn't really seem much if at all faster than the base 3500 model. The LS did have 5,000 more break in miles so maybe the 3900 was still green and tight. Still for the 3 mpg difference in mileage I would take the 3500 engine in a mildly loaded LT for the extra fuel economy in these insane energy crazy times. 4 things that really annoyed me with this car were the lack of exterior door moldings which gave the side of the car a unfinished appearance, the lack of shift indicators on the floor shifter made it look stark, the rear spoiler on both models really shouldn't be included as std equipment and the lack of wood trim as an option to the silver stuff is strange seeing as how the Impala has it. I also wish you could get an interior with two-tone tan or gray and leave the black steering wheel and upper dash to the ebony interior option. There needs to be more choices on how you can set up the interior on this car. I alos couldn't help thinking how much better these 2 engines would have performed with the new 6 speed automatic. The old 4 speed auto saps a lot of pep from 40-70 mph compared to some CVT and 6 speed automatics I have sampled. Fix these issues and I would purchase a MC!

Check out Edmunds consumer writeups on the 07 Camry and Avalon. Lots of people in there complaining about ruff shifting trannys and even a couple of failures.

Maybe with a little japanese guy under the hood on his hamster wheel going down hill with a tail wind. Give me a break. Hasn't arrogant Toyota learned that people aren't that easily fooled.

These Toyota driving yuppies need to shut there traps! There are so many new products coming out in the next 5 years it's not funny. Lets see what happens by then.

They sure as hell better get that damned 1996 spec 185 hp 3400 out or they will be the laughing stock of companies for sure.

Where in the hell did a 227hp 3900 come from? Why do we need a 227, 240 and 242 hp version of the same engine? Why did it get detuned? What hp does the 3500 produce. It's the vvt version so I would assume 211 or 225 like in the new Aura. This makes no sense having a 225 hp 3500 and a 227 hp 3900. WTF!

"Heritage Camry body shape"! Idiots!