Sizzler

hate to tell you this, but you must have an exhaust leak into your passenger compartment. residential property costs JACKED UP, or NOT even available??? In New Orleans??

Gas prices are still in a state of flux. Consumers are hoping that they stay reasonable, and WANT them to stay reasonable. It's just that they have a screaming little voice in the back of their head shouting that gas prices are going to sky-rocket soon and "don't lock yourself into a gas guzzler right now". So the consumer dithers. Meanwhile, way back in the 70's, when automakers were toying around with rust-proofing and galvanized metal and thinking about longer and longer intervals between needed maintenance, there was some frank comments about 100,000 mile cars being BAD for business because buyers wouldn't need to replace them as often. Rust was a good thing. New models that made last year's model look dowdy was also a good thing. Turn was the word. Now we have the reality of 100,000+ vehicles, no-maintenance, no rust. This year's model pretty much indistinquishable from last year's model. Consumers don't feel the need to trade-in, buy new every year. What was predicted has come to pass. Quality has slowed the car market. Forecasts used today seem like they're still based on yesterdecades' sales patterns. Quality, REAL quality, has pulled the rug out from under manufacturers who counted on replacing all the cars in America every 3 years or so. Now, maybe the time for a complete turn is closer to 6 or 7 or more years. Quality has killed car sales.

At least if Ford sells Land Rover they'll have a very similiar-appearing vehicle to fill the void. Cut the wheelbase and they'd have the whole Land Rover line-up from one basic vehicle.

Well then, a 5.0l modular in a truck is definitely something I would NOT want. I don't care what kind of sleeving/coating/magic spell they use, that is just too thin a wall for a truck engine, and turbo-charged too? I seriously don't think so. The 4.6l maybe. Again, I think if they use the 3.5l head design on the modular, they could shrink the overall physical size of the modular behemoth substantially.

Add to the list an elongated set of 3.5l DOHC heads (direct acting cams) and I think you'd see the package shrink quite a bit and performance improve as well. Fewer parts than the current 3V heads, shared components. Simplest would be to just graft on two extra cylinders to the 3.5l V6...math works out to 4.7l for a V8 version and the 3.5l's block would probably allow for more boring than the original mod's block. (edit: pesty problem of V-angle between a V-6 and V-8 block, oh well, graft on two cylinders and spread the banks further apart.) ...just thinking along out loud...

So this blown 5.4l...will it get an extra set of injectors (and a new ECM) ala` the GT? If not, then why did the GT need 16 injectors?

unlike NASCAR for the past 40 years. NOTHING has trickled down from them. Anyone else think NASCAR is a major reason why American automakers are so far behind the rest of the world engineering-wise? Their attitude of "keep it down" and "good enough" is what kept OHC development and high-winding 4-cylinder development and efi-development overseas.

Maybe that's it. The LS is more prone to transmitting drivetrain noise and has a more jerky suspension so that when accelerating in the LS, the noise, jarring and general thrashing about makes it SEEM like it's faster, like Cherry Bomb glasspaks made all the cars in the highschool parking lot soooo much faster, when it's really not.

I'm not familiar with "Top Gear" magazine, or its readers, but I'm guessing it's some kind of "boy book"? The poll, I assume, was made with subscribers of "Top Gear"? So the results are: what do "Top Gear" (boys) think are sexy cars? Yeah, I'll use that list to buy a car that looks sexy to a boy. Right. Where's Cosmopolitan's list?

A new configuration is needed: a 2x(2x.5). Two full size front seats. Two permanently-equipped/sized childrens seats in back. Factory baby seats that can be removed leaving factory kid seats behind. Smaller sized seats could also be placed higher, leaving storage space, always an issue in 'sports cars', underneath of them. Make the seats totally removable, leaving the rear space just one big open space, for the buyers who don't need/want the family-friendly version. The only reason for young parents to go minivan/suv/bigger is that the kids just don't fit in the old 'sports cars'. And face it, the only people who'd be back there are kids. And yes, teenyboppers all want to pack the car with their friends, but if you think about the baby-seats rear seating area, it's actually a SAFETY feature. You won't have a bunch of yacky friends distracting a newby driver from paying attention to the road back there. I'd make access to the rear seating area easy so that parents can plop the kids in there, strap them in (no way legal would sign off on auto-strapping seat occupants??), and go. As for power, a mid-range 1-4 with a hybrid feature that sounds cool to the greenies, but is engineered for acceleration more than for mileage. An all torque electric motor that charges up while cruising but that the driver can choose to unlease (and disable the traction control at the same time) at will...probably in stop light to stop light zones. If not electric, then hydraulic.

Personally, I LIKE that center dash-mounted gear selector. Look at all the space it frees up underneath, next to the driver. Diaper bag, lunch, purse, briefcase, shredder, they could all use that space better than a giant mount for a pointless means of selecting a gear. The only thing better than a center dash-mounted selector would be push-button selectors...just don't put them too close to the radio controls. I like that brown leather interior above. I, actually my wife, really likes the asymetrical design of the door handles on the lower picture. When I'm driving, she really, really likes to have a vertical handle as shown to grab onto. I have the steering wheel, so I'm set. Just for those twisty roads ya know...

too bad that during their extensive research and study of the projected marketplace they didn't come across the well-hidden fact that the average height of a non-Hispanic male, 20-39 years old in the USA, is 5' 10". so it looks like the average American male will be banging his head on this thing...

Is that a 'smart' design for a vehicle that is apparently shorter than your normal SUV/minivan? If you open a liftgate up, overhead, what if your head is at 6 feet? That's why stationwagons, which this is more closely sized to, had side-opening doors, or combo opening doors that opened sideways or down like a tailgate. I already hit my head on many SUV's, some rather LARGE suv's, that have top-hinged rear doors. What's this going to be like? Is this a Bill Ford (short guy) design spec?

Overall, it looks good. In profile it looks like a pickup truck with a cab on back, from a distance. From the low angle pictures they're showing, it looks very Range Roverish. Quibbles and Questions: with my hands at 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock, I'm not going to be able to see the speedometer. Rather have important stuff like that front and center and unobstructed. Do I really need to keep a weather eye on the gas gauge in this century of idiot lights? that clock takes up an awful lot of critical dash space, and it doesn't even look like that portion of the panel flips up! Storage, storage, storage. The fridge will be appreciated as a purse-locker, but where do the sunglasses, tissue, loose change you need to fling down quickly because the joker behind you wants you out of the drive-through window NOW. Where do you park your ipod exactly? Where are the MULTIPLE power outlets? Maybe in the big center console, where you won't be able to read their displays? anyone know how the rear door/hatch opens? Power open option? Whole door vs just the glass part? To the side? Which side? Can the glass be lowered or vented while in motion? Is that even legal anymore (ah, long ago memories of facing backwards in a 9-passenger wagon with the back window down). is there any talk of AWD?

Could it be that in order for the seatbacks to fold flat for the second row seats, that the bases needed to be set back a fixed distance behind the farthest position back the first row seats could be placed? Are there drawers in the 2nd row's seat bases? How does that refrigerator affect battery life if you leave it running on a 100 degree Phoenix day, with the windows up?

I'm actually very surprised that it hasn't been used by some other manufacturer already. Especially in this day and age of FLEXible fuel powered vehicles. Is that an umbrella (verticle) storage area at the front of the front passenger door? Where does the cane and/or walkers latch to?

Looks like a fine addition to the tailgating option package. No more siphoning the gas tank if you leave the lighter fluid at home. Plus it looks like a great warming station. Is this part of Ford's 'blind spot warning system'? Only it warns anyone IN the blind spot to get out?

When the Hurricane was first proposed, my thoughts were it was going to be CGI, and the platform/design used for both diesel and gas engines. Why exactly can't that still be the plan?

My stupid question of the day: Can Hydrogen be used in a diesel-cycle engine? If not, why not?

from today's WSJ: the F-150 gravy train is being sloshed from side to side by oncoming competition and high fuel costs. can ford keep it on track? should they? should the F-150 be switched off the mainline and run off the trestle?

why don't car sales get the old 'bad weather' is responsible for the lower sales? it has been bad car shopping (usually done outdoors on streets that may very well be snow-covered) winter. I mean, Wal-Mart and others can whine about the weather keeping customers away Bad Weather but car dealers can't? Bad weather, LOTS of snow across much of the upper US, could also explain why people slowed down buying RWD Mustangs in the past month too.

Be a handy place to store your white gloves. Aston Martin used to provide a built-in tool kit, with (really) a pair of white gloves, in the trunk. Personally, if you're going to be designing/engineering little doors and access panels, I think you'd be better off spending the time and energy storing things in the sidewalls than in a moving part that's subject to pounding, battering, stomping and slamming.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070303/bs_nm/...ton_martin_dc_1

Are we hearing the dying moans from members of the modular mafia? Wonder how they recognize each other? Secret signs, handshakes, make an "M" with arms akimbo? Do they smoke kudzu in belief that like it, the modular cannot be killed? It's a secret brotherhood seeing their congregation fading away, what can they do to keep them? Promise hell and damnation to the non-believers, suffering and hardship if they go down the 'wrong' path?

soon it'll be "what's water?" "what's WATERmelon?" I hear Australia has just had a federal takeover of the provincial water systems due to waste, and want. Little water now, NO water soon? Say what you want about snow, but remember that snow is just clear, clean, fresh water. Want some?