Storylines. If I had to pick one reason why I enjoy watching endurance races more than any other types, it’s the fact that there are so many different “stories” occurring at any given moment during the race. Such was the case at the 58th running of 12 Hours of Sebring, the grand opening to the 2010 American Le Mans Series.

Before I go into talking about this race, though, I have some definite explaining to do. No, your RSS reader is not broken, and no, I haven’t been posting to a secret part of this site: the date of the last post I made is indeed August 9, 2009. Sad thing, isn’t it? Well, I’m back now, and I have new plans and ideas for Ignition Unlimited. Believe it or not, I’ve even convinced a guest writer to occasionally drop some content on here! Amazing! I’ll go into detail about the future of IU later, because now, it’s time to talk about Sebring.

Changes

Going into my second year of following this race, I knew what to expect but I didn’t know exactly how the 2010 12 Hours would differ from the 2009 race. My first answer came from glancing at the entry list every once in a while starting months before this race: it became clear that the Peugeot vs. Audi fight was over for this year, at least at Sebring, as Audi was nowhere to be found. Although Peugeot was to be the only diesel running there, new regulations put higher limitations on diesels in order to make the competition between them and petrol-powered prototypes more fair. This was evident, to a degree, as I’ll discuss later. Another change was Highcroft Racing: last year’s favorite for the whole ALMS Season, Patrón-Highcroft Racing ditched their P1 Acura ARX-02a for a modified P2 ARX-01c, a change that surprised me until I found out that the Prototype classes were to be merged for the 2010 ALMS Season. Like Corvette Racing (who transferred last season from GT1 to GT2), it seems Highcroft is in search of a greater degree of competition. Speaking of classes, there were five at this race: Prototype 1 (where you have your diesel Peugeots, a Lola run by Aston Martin, and others), Prototype 2 (the class of the aforementioned Patrón-Highcroft Acura team, a Porsche RS Spyder and one other), LMP Challenge (a new class of single-make/model racing using Chevy-powered Oreca FLM09 cars), GT2 (the biggest factory-backed class, featuring BMWs, Ferraris, Porsches, Fords, and more) and GT Challenge (the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup class).

The Storylines Of Sebring

Unlike last year, when the main event was an epic Audi-Peugeot face-off, this year’s Sebring 12 Hours was characterized by many little events that led to a fairly unsurprising end result. Since there were so many, it’s time for–yep, you guessed it–IU Bulletpoints… with video!*

• First Few Hours
  The beginning of this race was amazing, and I’m not sugar coating that at all. Really. Tons of passing action from all classes, coupled with the great fighting from LMP1 (yeah, believe it or not, the non-diesel P1 cars could stand a chance against the Peugeots) and GT2. Video speaks louder than words, though, so check this out. And don’t act like you’re not impressed. I couldn’t imagine why any woman in the world could resist Emanuele Pirro (green Lola-Judd with the British flag on the rear) after that insane pass, not to mention he also had a better single-best-lap time than the winning Peugeot.

• The Harsh Reality
  Sometimes things just go wrong. If your race comes to an end three-quarters of a lap in, and it’s the car’s fault, well, that’s what you call a bad day. Unfortunately, such was the case for Autocon Racing, Jaguar Racing, and Drayson Racing. All of these teams had catastrophic mechanical issues either at or very close to the beginning of the race. Although Drayson partially recovered after their Lola-Judd’s alternator decided to take a permanent vacation, both Autocon and Jaguar were both out for good. The real heartbreaker was Jaguar, though: on only the first lap, a cylinder head cracked and ended their day. It’s really too bad to see that happen to a fledgling team, but the reality is harsh: shit happens.
• There’s A Reason Why It’s Called “Endurance Racing” – Part 1: Cars
  Think about it: you have a piece of expensive, well designed machinery running at maximum capacity for 12 hours straight. You’d figure something always has to wrong, right? Well, miraculously, some cars never do run into problems, but all the others… yeah. A few instances of this notably stood out in this year’s Sebring 12 Hours. One of my favorite teams, Patrón-Highcroft Racing, had a little electrical problem in the cockpit of their Acura ARX-01c that turned into an issue that cost them 24 minutes of driving time (they were penalized for having too many crew members working on it over the pit wall) and therefore a first-place finish. Patrón Racing’s Ferrari F430 GT also suffered a slight issue while in the hands of its owner, Scott Sharp. It sort of lit on fire. See for yourself in the video below.

• There’s A Reason Why It’s Called “Endurance Racing” – Part 2: People
  If something doesn’t go wrong with the car, something can definitely go wrong with that fire-retardant-nylon-wearing mush of organic material that plops into the carbon fiber bucket seat for each stint. Yeah, you read that right, ladies and gentlemen: humans make mistakes while racing! It’s understandable, however: the cars are hard to drive (even for one lap, let alone all 12 hours), it’s physically uncomfortable (a driver had to receive medical attention for overheating while in a closed-cockpit car), and it’s tiring. The biggest failure of the day, though, was obvious: Corvette Racing’s pit crew. I’ll let the video do the talking; it was a mistake that cost them the race, needless to say. And, oh yeah, Team Falken Tire’s pit crew should probably make sure all the center-locking lugs on all four wheels are completely tight before letting their Porsche 911 GT3 RSR leave the pits (yeah, yeah, I know the axle end was broken, but they shouldn’t just be sticking a rim on there and praying that it’ll stay).

• The Results
  I’ll be bold with this: compared to last year, the end of the 2010 Sebring 12 Hours was boring. The P1 class was won undisputedly by Peugeot’s 908 HDI. P2 was slightly more interesting, with a 1st place finish from the independent Team Cytosport running a Porsche RS Spyder. Risi Competizione’s Ferrari F430 GT won GT2, and, oh, Level 5 Motorsports won LMPC and an Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup won GTC (for some reason I can’t seem to get excited about the Challenge classes).

• Odds And Ends
  There were a few other events of note on Sebring day. The two best came afterwards. Firstly, one of the winning Peugeot drivers, Alex Wurz, dropped a sweet F-Bomb during a live interview on Speed TV’s post-race coverage. Secondly, Radio Le Mans announced that Wolfgang Ullrich, Audi Team Joest’s head honcho, had been spotted multiple time throughout the day, in the stands and in the pits, observing the competition carefully. This is because, for the past week, Audi’s new car (the R15 Plus; don’t worry, I’m covering that soon), its crew and its drivers were at Homestead Speedway doing high-speed testing, and starting today, Audi was at Sebring attempting to beat the P1 lap times set during the Sebring 12 Hours. After a disappointing loss last year, Audi’s sights are now set firmly on the top of the podium at Le Mans.

The End Of The Beginning

Thus ends the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring. This exciting prologue is making it look like the beginnings of an excellent American Le Mans Series Season. I will again follow all 24 of the Hours of Le Mans on June 12th, and I will also be returning to the Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park on July 25th. It’s race time.

* Videos courtesy of MT89Motorsport’s Youtube Channel. These are awesome, thanks!

Ah, The Fast And The Furious trilogy quadrilogy: the single biggest butt of jokes in the history of car movies. The first, The Fast And The Furious, was possibly the largest impetus to the rise of ricers; the second, 2 Fast 2 Furious, was a terrible, terrible movie with a dry, boring plot and horrifyingly gross cars; the third, The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift was an interesting spin on things and possibly the best of the bunch (although that’s not really saying much). When I heard there was a fourth one coming, and that it would restore the cast of the original movie, I was wondering if they were attempting to redeem the sorry series with a retry of the original. Despite this, I wasn’t expecting much, as it is still part of the F&F series. Well, this past weekend I went to see Fast And Furious, and it was not exactly what I expected…

My Thoughts

Alright, I’ll go right out with it: I was expecting bad, but this was absolutely horrible. I don’t even know where to start, but I guess I’ll begin with the plot. It seems as if they took the plot from the second movie, nearly exactly, and swapped out some characters, cars, and objectives. Yeah, that’s right, the second movie. The worst one. Needless to say, the acting is horrible, with stellar, over-the-top performances from Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. The minor characters were acted stereotypically and in a way so easy to guess, I had the movie figured out literally twenty minutes in.

The Fast And The Furious series is about street racing, right? Well there’s ONE main race, and it’s unrealistic and packed to the brim with CG and corny drifts. It also featured what would be the coolest navigation system ever – if it existed, and furthermore, didn’t look like something out of Star Wars.

And now, the cars. Oh, this is going to be fun. Well, it’s the second movie all over again: riced imports against old muscle that border on tasteless. I had an admittedly hard time keeping myself from cracking up at a scene I know should have been 100% serious: a certain funeral (I’m giving no spoilers) sees a group of ricers’ racers cars parked along a cemetary road, sporting their oversized wings and wheels. It was almost insulting.

Paul Walker is given the choice of any import on the city’s impound lot to use in his undercover mission, and after filtering through plenty of rice but also legitimately awesome cars such as the Honda S2000 and the new Nissan GT-R, he goes with a cool yet horrifyingly outdated (and overused in this series) Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, only to tune it exactly how he does in the second movie. Boring. Vin Diesel’s got yet more old-school muscle, both a Chevelle SS and the same Charger from the first movie. Boring again. Later in the movie, Diesel and Walker steal a riced 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI from the impound lot. That should really please the Subaru fans who saw this.

Ok, ok, there were some good cars as well, but let me make this point: they do NOT, in any way, redeem this movie, especially because most of them are only featured for a few seconds, tops. A black Buick Regal GNX plays a fairly integral part for the first five minutes, then disappears entirely for the rest of the movie. The best part of the movie only lasts for about five seconds, though: a white, rally-tuned Ford Escort Cosworth RS shows itself, light rack and all, at the beginning of some miscellaneous drag race. At the very end of the movie, the audience is slightly rewarded (like I said, nothing redeems the rest of the movie) with seeing Jordana Brewster driving a JDM-spec Honda NSX-R. Finally, there’s some Porsche Cayman which I guess could be considered cool. Overall though, in terms of cars, I was left far short of impressed.

Conclusion

I wanted to give Fast And Furious a chance. I really did. I heard it was the best of the series, and after Tokyo Drift, I was convinced that the people responsible for this movie had what it takes to make a good movie. Sadly, no. The fourth movie in this series is a tremendous failure, bringing back the same things that ruined the second movies. I’ll give this an Ignition Unlimited Media Rating of 3 out of 10. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t. Wait until DVD to see it, if ever.

Alright, so I’ve looked at the SUVs shown at the 2009 New York International Auto Show, and now it’s time for… everything else. Represented here are examples of speed, sluggishness, beauty, and monstrosity. Lots on the menu here (almost too much?), so shall we begin?

So, What Do We Have Here?

I’m going straight into it with the little footnotes about each… there are quite a few as you will see…

	Hyundai Equus I don’t think there’s anything I’d like to see more than Hyundai unseating Lexus at the head of the flagship sedan table. The Equus is truly a fine piece of work. I hope it comes Stateside!
Bentley Continental Supersports You can run the Bentley W12 off of E85 Ethanol (read: corn) and hit 204 miles per hour? No more rear seating and more carbon fiber instead in the name of saving weight? Yes please.
	Porsche 911 GT3 Doesn’t look to interesting. Looks just like the old one to me. Good thing they bumped up the horses to 435 and the top speed to 194, then. It’s a real sleeper, this one.
Merecedes-Benz E63 AMG A new face, new horsepower figures, and a new top speed of 186 seem to be telling RS6 and M5 drivers to look cautiously into their rear-view mirrors… but by the time they do, this will already be ahead. Nice work, Mercedes.
	Nissan NISMO 370Z I love the 370Z’s design for being closer to the old 280Z than any other more modern Z yet, and this NISMO version keeps that beauty while adding necessary aerodynamic upgrades. Indeed one of my favorites at NYAIS.
Nissan 370Z Roadster Let’s just say I was liking the pictures of the NISMO far, far, far more. The convertible conversion destroys the 370′s beautiful curves and adds weight. Oh, and that color. Bleh.
	Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk VI While it should be called the Mk V.5 because it rides the same chassis and utilizes many of the same underpinnings as the previous GTI, the redesigned interior is cool and I’m curious to see whatever R-Line variant they’re cooking up.
Subaru Legacy One of the world’s most underrated sleepers gets slightly more aggressive. Still keeping with the Subaru tradition of AWD and the famous Boxer-4, this is sure to be a winner.
	Subaru Outback Well, at least we know the Subaru designers were working double-time on the new Legacy.
Mazdaspeed3 I’m beating a dead horse, but it’s still too happy, and the American version seems to get braces of some sort in that big ol’ mouth.
	Scion iQ As usual, Scion takes something (usually neutral or poor in my tastes because it comes from Toyota), and makes it astronomically worse. The paint color is named “radioactive,” which is funny, because when I saw this I realized I’d rather absorb a large quantity of radiation than be caught in the driver’s seat.
Kia Forte Koup Eh, a Kia, it’s going to be bor- wait… what’s this? An attractive design paired with a fun powertrain and a bang-to-buck ratio that outdoes its competition? Wow. Never saw that one coming. Very cool.

And there it is. As usual, some good, some bad, some… interesting.

With the American car industry up in flames (well, save Ford), the New York Auto Show has been really interesting this year. Foreign competitors are showing off some serious new concept and production cars, while the domestic manufacturers are putting in a last ditch effort to defend the homeland. Geneva had some weird stuff, but New York is all business. Make the jump to see what I mean.

Heavy Artillery

You’d think with the current economic situation, SUVs would be in the process of downfall, right? Nope. Day one of the New York Auto Show saw the debut of a bunch of new and interesting sport-utility vehicles from all around the globe. Let’s start with good old America.

Jeep. They’re really common around here, and they don’t stick out at all. Boring. But now, Jeep has done a much-needed full exterior and interior redesign on the Grand Cherokee. This version, due out for the 2011 model year, is built on the same chassis as the Mercedes-Benz ML SUV and features the “Quadra Lift” air suspension system which allows the vehicle to vary height from around 4 inches while parked to over 11 for off-roading fun. Another system, “Selec-Terrain” lets the driver choose traction settings based on the driving surface from five settings. Engine choices are a 3.6L V6 with 280HP or the 5.7L HEMI V8 with 360HP.

What about the styling? Wow. A more sporty profile with great edges and a mean front fascia are an epic improvement over the previous generations. And then there’s the interior. That’s a JEEP? I was skeptical of this thing from looking at those releases they made to the government during stimulus talks, but now I’m convinced that this thing has the potential for great success. It’s clearly the best thing Chrysler’s come up with since… I don’t know… the 300C? Regardless, this is cool, and I hope it isn’t too late.

However, the Europeans are here as well, and they’re well-armed. Here’s what I mean:

	BMW X6 M-Sport I’ve always been an admirer of the X6, and now it’s got the power to match. 555 HP is no joke, and nor is a sub-five second zero-to-sixty in this 5,300-pound “Sports Activity Vehicle.”
Mercedes-Benz ML450 Hybrid Retaining the horsepower of a V8 while upping fuel economy considerably is no easy task, but Mercedes has managed. A combined output of 335 horsepower paired with 24 mpg isn’t too shabby, though I’d still never buy this. Ever.
	Range Rover Sport The X6 M isn’t the only hotshot, insane SUV on the show floor. The new Range Rover Sport is packing 510 horses in the supercharged variant of the V8, and it doesn’t hurt that the thing’s a looker as well.

Close Enough

Acura. They’ve done some really great things with powertrains for this model year, and some even iffier things with styling. I know this post is supposed to be about SUVs, but I really can’t place this new concept by Acura… It seems to be a competitor for the X6, though. Crossover? I guess so. This new car, called the ZDX, is powered by a V6 (the specifications of which are currently unknown) and an apparently all-new six-speed automatic (likewise on the specs). It uses the same SH-AWD system that the new TL does, which is good news, and I’ll be excited to see how they adapt it to the weight of a heavier vehicle. In terms of styling, it’s pretty cool, but I want to see the final production version to make a real judgement.

These are the SUVs that have debuted thus far in New York, and expect a lot more to come relating to the NYIAS in the next few days.

Back in August, before I took my ridiculously long hiatus from blogging on this site (due to academia), I wrote an article about why I wanted GM to survive. Unfortunately, due to some news late last night, it looks like it’s going to be much harder for my favorite three brands, not to mention the entirety of GM and the other two of the Big Three, to survive. It saddens me, too: just last Friday I was walking the floor of the New England International Auto Show in Boston, looking at the newest of what every automaker had to offer. All I could think while walking through Cadillac, Pontiac, and Saturn (among other American brands) was “there’s too much potential for them to go down.” Due to a certain UAW (that’s United Auto Workers union), the age of the American automaker may be coming to an end as we know it. Why am I so ready to point a finger at the UAW? Read on.

Outdatedness Requires Amends

I don’t like the UAW. I think they’re a fairly gigantic reason for the majority of the Big Three’s current issues. Before I go into why, however, I’d like to give a brief history on Unions as a lead into why they should no longer exist in the automotive industry. Wikipedia defines a union as “an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions.” This definition happens to fit the current status of the UAW perfectly. Some of the first trade unions in the United States battled harsh or unsafe working conditions, work days that lasted far too long, and child labor. As the government did not enforce laws regulating any of those issues back then, the unions were necessary. Today however, it’s a different story.

Until the bill failed last night, the UAW was lobbying for the “bailout package” for the Big Three. Without the bailout, the workers associated with the UAW would no longer have work to do at all: if GM, Ford, and Chrysler file for bankruptcy, job cutting will come as standard; this is a given. Why, then, would the UAW not sacrifice some of their “rights” to try to save their jobs? It baffles me.

When “Right” Becomes “Ridiculous”

An interesting post from an engineer who has had experience working in union appeared on the internet not long ago. His whole writing and other opinions can be found here, but here’s an important excerpt of what he’s seen of the UAW:

Oh and a bit about working with the union in factories. You can’t touch anything. For example if you’re a process improvement engineer and you need to figure out how to improve a process. You need to stand and watch some guy with only a high school diploma do it. You can’t touch anything. See a piece of trash on the ground. Leave it (even if it’s a safety hazard) if the floor sweeper sees you, you’ll have another grievance because you’re “Taking his job away”.

Union rules and regulations seem to only slow down and hinder practical labor… and then it gets worse. In the following quote, it’s nearly clear as day why certain automotive products from American companies are unreliable:

We have a project going on “Why is this bolt failing” on a certain product of ours. Turns out that it is over torqued at the factory. So management and the powers that be put out an official decree: No air wrenches on X bolt. The union continues to use them. Legally we can’t ‘take them away’ or go into their tool boxes after they leave. So our bolt continues to fail because Joe Blow is too damn lazy to use a proper torque wrench.

It’s clearly one thing to slow production, but it’s another thing entirely to damage it. No wonder Americans turn to imports in the face of such poor construction at the hands of the unionized worker. Speaking of imports:

It’s great hearing UAW employees try and spread rumors and stupid falsities about Toyota’s non-union plants. I work in a UAW shop and most of what they say sounds like the Red Scare. “But I hear that Toyota requires you to sign over your first born” “I hear that Toyota only pays them $1.24 an hour”. I have friends that work in the Evansville plant. Everyone loves the place. On site pharmacy and health clinic (100% Free), among other things.

Is it just me, or is that absolutely ridiculous?

Concessions And Demands

A word of advice to the UAW: when your jobs are at stake, don’t make ridiculous demands. Make offers of concessions instead. When the UAW finally offered to end their long-used “job banks,” which requires the Big Three to pay workers who are currently not working. It is undoubtedly true that such a practice puts major financial strain on the companies and probably should never have existed in the first place, but what I find outrageous is that a certain UAW Local (that of Charlotte apparently had the nerve to consider asking for a seat on the GM Board as a trade for cutting the “job banks.” They must not get it: it’s their miscellaneous rights or their careers. Make a choice. It isn’t hard.

So What Do I Think?

I think the gravest mistake that GM, Ford, and Chrysler all made was to let the UAW destroy them slowly through demanding rights, compensations, and other ridiculous conquests. Unions were created to protect workers from the company, and yet, in the most ironic way, the company now needs to be protected from its workers. If the Big Three are to live on, the unions must fall. Do you see Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Mercedes, or Nissan having major problems right now? No. Why? Because even though some of these may have unions, the companies are not hampered by insane restrictions somehow elicited by those unions. The American auto industry’s survival depends on at least the reigning-in of the UAW, and if that’s not enough to save them, the UAW should be disbanded entirely. Without the Big Three, our economy will suffer. Without the Big Three, American automakers will never get a chance to right themselves and finally move in a better direction. Without the Big Three, I will never get to drive that gorgeous Pontiac Solstice Coupe I saw at the Auto Show last week.

I had the opportunity to drive a 2008 Pontiac G8 GT last week. Equipped with Holden’s L76 6.0L V8, the G8 GT is Pontiac’s long-awaited replacement for the flagship GTO that ended production in 2006. Before the drive, I had read a couple reviews that openly compared the G8 to German competitors such as the BMW 550i. Oh-ho… wow. No, no, no. It’s solid. It gets that for a start, for sure, because it is. It’s a very solid performance car without a doubt. But for certain people (me included), 361 horsepower doesn’t cut it if the vehicle is seriously lacking in other areas…

Raw: The Good

It was the first word that popped into my head post-drive. Raw. The G8 GT’s 6.0L V8 delivers a whopping 361 rear-wheel horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque, and you can feel it—oh so well. Put your foot down, and you get an exhilarating rush as 60 mph comes up in only 5 seconds coupled with an awe-inspiring sound. All that torque goes straight for the rear wheels in a very unsophisticated but effective way. Unlike similarly priced performance cars (Evo and STI, I’m looking at you), the G8 operates in traditional muscle car fashion: sans any ultra-high-tech computer-controlled aids or torque-distributing systems other than a fairly basic limited slip differential and your average traction and stability control. That being said, it does a great job at more than just straight-line power: with a reported 0.88G on the skidpad and a 60-0 distance of only 109 feet, the G8 GT has some extremely well-balanced and surprisingly fun handling for a 4100-pound car. I found the steering response to be especially pleasing on the winding roads that the test drive route followed. The steering is very well weighted and you go exactly where you aim, even without any twitchiness when you’re not trying to drive enthusiastically.

Uncut: The Good

How much would you literally have to cut off the G8 to make it the length of cars in its large sedan competition class? The answer is, a lot. At 196.1 inches in length, the G8 is one hell of a huge car. As I previously stated, it also weighs 4100 pounds. None of this seemed to affect the handling, but it does affect overall feel… in a good way. I took a seat in the back before the drive just for testing purposes, and I can safely say the only cars I’ve found to have equal or greater foot room are town-car or limousine-type things. There was such a plentiful amount of room in all dimensions, and I’m just over 6′ in height. Headroom usually isn’t a problem in most cars, but the G8 has so much that you could probably be closing on 6’6″ and not have any issues. Lastly, the trunk is cavernous. With 17.5 cubic feet of space, you can fit every last bag in for your week long road trip… but wait! Who said you’d ever want to take this car on a week long road trip?

Raw And Uncut: The Bad

Because I was just talking about interior size, I figure the interior is what to start with in talking about the definitive cons of the G8. Let’s start with materials. Is that aluminum on the dash? No, it’s very cheap plastic. What about the bezel around the gauges? Cheap plastic. And the door panels? The switches? The air vents? You can guess. I know lots of automakers use plastic in cars. This didn’t seem like any normal plastic, though: this seems to be the kind that deserves a place in economy cars like the Chevrolet Aveo or Saturn Ion, and maybe that’s because that’s where it’s derived from. I’m not sure about this, but I can only assume. RAW materials? I think so.

Next, we have the transmission. I also choose to describe this as raw. For a manual transmission, raw is a good thing; it’s a good old rough and visceral driving experience. There’s one problem, though: the G8 GT (and the base G8) have a five-speed automatic that is simply poor at best. A raw automatic transmission has nothing but what it needs to work, as I see it. It’s the kind of automatic you find in an economy car whose driver lacks the ability to drive stick, hence the reason for said automatic. It just leaves something to be desired. A sporty automatic transmission is no easy feat to accomplish for an automaker, but companies like Volkswagen with their Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) and Mitsubishi with its Twin Clutch Sportronic Shift Transmission (TC-SST) have pulled it off. The G8 5-speed has a manual shift option, but it’s so poor that I’ll leave out any further description of it. To add more insult to injury, the automatic also curbs fuel economy to a low value—even lower than you’d expect from a monstrous V8: 16 city and 24 highway. In a car with this much power and handling finesse, I’d like to be more involved: give it a proper six-speed manual!

Lastly, there’s the in-car technology. No, I’m not talking about what helps you drive the thing; I’ve already said that the G8 has little in the way of advanced systems in this department and that works just fine. I mean the interior’s features: what you can use, interface with. A large LCD in the center of the dashboard indicates a possible navigation system, which the car actually lacks. In the way of musical entertainment, the G8 GT’s Blaupunkt system is actually quite good but lacks better iPod connectivity than just an auxiliary input. There is also no sign of bluetooth connectivity, which in this world full of idiotic, cellphone-wielding drivers, is quite necessary. And about the seats: if you don’t get the black-on-black leather, you’ll regret it. The cloth material used otherwise feels as cheap as it looks—and it looks pretty damn bad.

The Verdict

From a distance, the G8 GT is a big, aggressively-styled modern-muscle cruiser. Once you’re in the driver’s seat, the only thing that’s keeping you there is the excellent driving experience that this new-age Pontiac gives you—trust me, the interior feel is that bad. So what market is the G8 in? Just who is Pontiac trying to sell them to?

The aggressive styling, the even more aggressive V8, and the most aggressive sacrifices in the cost-cutting department lead to one sad verdict. The diet-Corvette performance, the ability to carry a bunch of screaming children and all your stuff in the back, and the affordable pricing ($29K-$34K, with slightly used models as low as $24K) can only mean one thing. If you haven’t already guessed it, this is undoubtedly not necessarily the new benchmark for performance sedans: it’s the new benchmark for the typical mid-life crisis car.

A good try overall at a new market segment, but I can only hope the Solstice Targa will be a better showing from Pontiac.

With all the recent announcements of how American car companies are in danger of bankruptcy in coming years, I’ve been thinking more about what the automotive world will lose if that occurs. Specifically, I’ve been considering the cars, and more specifically than that, the cars GM is currently (or will soon be) giving us. At the beginning of July, there was a particularly drastic piece of news concerning GM and the project cost estimates of keeping the automotive giant alive.

My first thought was, “good, finally Buick and Hummer will get what they deserve,” but then I remembered things like these…

Cadillac

It’s obvious that Cadillac has made a huge improvement in terms of almost their entire lineup since the break of the new millennium. The reason I say “almost” is that I still greatly dislike the Escalade and both of its ridiculous variants (ESV and the EXT), as well as Cadillac’s laughable attempt at dethroning the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class Roadster with its XLR and XLR-V. However, bloated SUV and failed roadster attempt aside, I really like what Cadillac has done over the past eight years. Even more, I like where Cadillac is now going.

Very recently, at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Cadillac announced something I (as a big wagon fan) am particularly excited about: the CTS Sport Wagon. Slated for a Spring 2009 release, the Sport Wagon will feature the same 3.6L V6 and 6-speed automatic combination which has already proven itself in the standard CTS. The Sport Wagon also has available AWD and a very large panoramic sunroof. It also doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the best looking wagons I’ve seen in a very long time. I’ll take mine in Thunder Gray with the AWD, the 40GB Navigation System, and that sunroof. A V-Series version would make the CTS the coolest wagon ever, perhaps even better than the Audi RS6.

Pontiac

I haven’t always known how I’ve felt about Pontiac… until now. I still don’t like plenty of the vehicles in their lineup, such as the Vibe, Torrent or G5, but there actually is so much good in their current and upcoming lineup. Take the G8, for example. With the modern GTO gone in 2006, Pontiac was left without a serious flagship vehicle, a spot the 2008+ G8 fills nicely. An upcoming GXP version features the LS3 engine which is currently found in the Chevrolet Corvette, tuned to 402 horsepower and mated to a six-speed manual. Performance-wise, then, the G8 runs with the best European sports sedans in its class without fault. The G8, though, isn’t my favorite car in Pontiac’s lineup. My favorite isn’t available yet.

The Pontiac Solstice (or at least the platform it shares with its Saturn counterpart) has always been my favorite American roadster, and it’s about to become my favorite Targa. At the 2008 New York Auto Show last March, Pontiac announced that the older Solstice Coupe concept will be put into production for early 2009 release as a 2009 model. Although details surrounding powertrain choices are unconfirmed at this point, rumors speculate that a new turbocharged inline-4 producing 300 horsepower should not be ruled out as a possibility. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing the same setup that’s currently at work in the Solstice GXP model: GM’s Ecotec 2.0L Turbocharged Inline-4 with a 5-speed manual. The current GXP is already known to be absolutely awesome to drive with its well-balanced rear wheel drive; give the roof the beautiful curves the body already has and you can’t end up with anything but a winner.

Saturn

Saturn. They don’t have a fancy new-for-200x model like my other two GM favorites do, and they don’t sell high-horsepower sedans either. So what do I like about them? I can’t really explain it. I just really like what they’ve done as of late. One of the best moves they’ve ever made wasn’t designing something new but instead pulling from GM’s immense international pool: the Astra. Originally designed by Opel for the European market, the Astra’s addition to Saturn was announced at the 2007 Chicago Auto show. I really liked the thing from my the time I first sat in it at the Boston Auto Show. If I were told to choose an economy car for myself, I’d skip past rivals such as the Nissan Sentra and Ford Focus and go straight for the Astra. Only 138 horsepower, you say? It doesn’t matter. The Astra will easily out-handle anything in its class, making it a better drive overall, because face it, you don’t buy an $18,000 car for its 0-60 time (which on the Astra XR happens to be an unremarkable 8.6 seconds).

Saturn’s appeal does not end with Astra, by any means. The Sky and Sky Red Line are roadsters built on the same, well-designed platform as the Pontiac Solstice. As I stated earlier, it’s my favorite roadster “template,” and if I were to choose between the Pontiac Solstice Roadster (not the coupe) and the Saturn Sky, I’d go with the Sky, simply based on the originality of the design. Like the Astra, the Sky is an Opel converted for the U.S. market, and like it’s Pontiac cousin, the Sky is a great-to-drive, well-balanced roadster.

I’ll ask myself again. What do I like about Saturn? It’s clear now: Saturn is naturally cool because it’s become the U.S. gateway to GM’s European cars. Recently, even Ford has followed in Saturn’s tracks by announcing the importation of the Euro-spec Focus in the coming years. Finally, the American economy car market is getting the attention it deserves, rather than the old “Honda Civic will do, and leave it at that.” Thanks, Saturn.

Conclusion

Notice that the title of this post is “Three Reasons…,” not “The Only Three Reasons…” These companies happen to be my current American favorites, but it doesn’t mean they’re the only ones that are essential. Buick is the GM’s bestseller in China and makes a damn good crossover, the Enclave, for domestic consumption. Chevrolet has the Corvette; enough said. And HUMMER? Well, they’ll be gone soon, hopefully. But I’d actually be sad to see the better part of GM go.