What discontinued cars should return, and how would you build them?

[CyborgGT]

Isn't the Chevy SS what the second-gen G8 would have been?

[verothacamaro]

Isn't the Chevy SS what the second-gen G8 would have been?

Too expensive and too bland. Also - too much chrome.

Why are Americans so obsessed with chrome?!?

[Accrdwgnguy]

The SS is pretty much a re-skinned G8. It's nothing new. It's expensive for a reason, niche market and keeping up with CAFE standards. It's sad now that Holden is getting shut down GM will have nothing cool to offer. The new GM is not the GM I love.

[deevergote]

At least GM still has some decent stuff coming out of Cadillac. The new Camaro is based on the platform that was developed for the CTS (the first usage of a new Cadillac platform outside of the Cadillac brand...)
If they can get their interior quality up a bit and polish up their engines, Cadillac has a real shot at BMW in terms of sporty luxury (especially now that BMW is losing their sporting edge a bit.) Their platforms are solid. I hate to see them diluted through badge-engineering, but they could definitely serve as the bones of some serious Chevy and Buick performance cars.

[sonikaccord]

Did you say Buick performance?


I think GM is in the perfect position to do a re-release of this car.

The interior was my only beef with Caddy. Then again the new BMW interiors don't do anything for me.

[deevergote]

It's a downright shame Buick has strayed so far from that style... nothing of that car remains in the current lineup, so nothing they would release would fit (unless they decided to go bonkers and pull a Plymouth Prowler out of a thoroughly boring brand!)

Still, it wouldn't take much tweaking to turn an ATS-V coupe into a Buick Grand National! Hell, it already has a turbo 6 cylinder!

[CyborgGT]

Don't we get a rebadged Vauxhall Insignia as a Buick? They just need to give us the VXR trim. It's even got a wagon available.

[deevergote]

It's technically an Opel Insignia (the Vauxhall is a rebadge, though I do prefer its styling.)

2.8L turbo V6 making 325hp, manufactured in Australia (a joint design by Holden and Cadillac... it's related to the base Cadillac CTS engine.) 6 speed manual, AWD system sourced from Saab. The car hit the roads in 2008, and came here in 2010 as a Buick Regal.
We got the Regal CXL as our performance variant, making only 220 from a 2.0L Ecoboost. It was bumped to 258hp in 2014, but still a far cry from 325! Earlier ones were FWD, AWD models came later with automatic transmissions only.

I don't know if a 325hp turbo V6 AWD Regal would be worthy of the name Grand National... but that would probably be as close as we could get! It would have the turbo 6, at least (if lacking 1L) That engine IS related to the twin-turbo 3.6L LF3 found in the current CTS V-Sport, cranking out 420hp. That would be pushing the Regal into Grand National territory if it would fit! And, of course, if the AWD system can take it, seeing as that much power in a FWD Buick would suck donkey nuts.

[F22Chris]

Deev the walking GM encyclopedia!

On the topic of horse power selling cars. Yes it does, but I'd rather drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

[deevergote]

Nah, I just look things up before I post them. I'm learning as I go!
That's one reason I like these threads. It gets me thinking.


As for horsepower, I feel there's a perfect hp/weight balance. You need a car that is powerful enough to get out of its own way, but not so powerful that you can't actually enjoy that power within legal limits.
My CTS-V is a HEAVY car. Nearly 2 tons. And its 400hp is sufficient to move it. More than sufficient, as slamming the gas puts me well over the speed limit before I really even get the thrill of going fast! The thrust you get from the big V8 puts a smile on your face, but only for a few seconds... then you're breaking the law. The CTS-V can handle like a monster, but with proper tires costing around $1000, and decent brakes costing between $400 and $700 (or more, of course...) Not to mention the absurdly expensive rear shocks (commonly replaced with coilovers when they go)... who wants to push it that hard?
My Miata can't get out of its own way. It's shamefully slow. But it's nearly half the weight of the CTS-V. Brakes and tires are cheap. The car weighs nothing, so they last forever, even with hard driving. You can toss it into a corner, and as long as your tires are up to the task, it goes wherever you point it. Slamming a corner is fun as hell. Launching at a stoplight is disappointing. I had a Ford Escape walk away from me the other day, and I'm pretty sure the soccer mom behind the wheel wasn't even trying to get ahead of the little Miata that was buzzing alongside it (desperately trying...)

A 2200lb car that makes about 200whp would be the sweet spot, I think (EG Civic with an H22 swap)
A 3200lb car that makes about 300whp would also hit that spot (Evo VIII with enough mods to pull an extra 100 crank horsepower out of it.)
Anything more heavier or more powerful is beyond the realm of what I feel is practical. Heavier is hard to handle, and expensive to maintain. Yes, there are plenty of heavier cars that are perfectly capable... such as the new CTS-V... however, guys like us (if we could even afford one...) would go broke keeping it in tires and brakes! More powerful than that (again, the new CTS-V is a good example) is just too much power to use anywhere but a track.. and unless you're an experienced track rat, you still probably couldn't use that power effectively.

It's sad. As I'm contemplating moving on from the CTS-V, I don't want to downgrade in horsepower. I want to upgrade in luxury, while keeping the same degree of engine performance (some handling performance may be sacrificed... I don't use the CTS-V's abilities as it is.) There are LOTS of perfectly good sport-luxury cars out there that crank out nearly 300hp. 400hp limits me to American/Korean junk, German stuff I would be terrified to own due to repair costs, or Japanese stuff that is too new to be in my budget. Despite knowing what I said above regarding the hp/weight sweet spot, I'm still sucked in by the horsepower gimmick.

[h22sparkle]

The evo when I had it ran pretty well. With bolt-ons and a tune will get you to the 400whp mark. As for the eg I'm still working on that I plan on getting h2b swap. I wonder what that's going to feel like though. the eg can really handle eventhough my car is beyond slammed I hate it. I know im going to have to raise that up too.

[deevergote]

H22 in a lightweight EG is a fantastic combination. Get a quality suspension that can handle the extra weight of the H22 (maybe hit up Ground Control and get some stiffer springs for the front...) and it'll be a beast! I believe those things will run 12s with just basic bolt-ons. I/H/E, cams, a good tune, and some sticky tires... 12.8 should be within reach, without the car being useless on the street.

I wouldn't mind a little more power in my Miata. I'm ok without it, as it's a blast to drive even though it's slow as balls... but 200hp would probably make it perfect!

[sonikaccord]

And the H22 doesn't weigh much more than a B series! Isn't it like 50 lbs or so? I've been eyeing ek hatches recently...I've never owned a Civic, but that would be my choice.

German isn't too bad as long as it doesn't have an AMG, ///M, or S badge on it.

An S54 would make my e46 the perfect car. It would be like the CB I never had...balanced in all categories, but not exceptional in any.

[h22sparkle]

H22 in a lightweight EG is a fantastic combination. Get a quality suspension that can handle the extra weight of the H22 (maybe hit up Ground Control and get some stiffer springs for the front...) and it'll be a beast! I believe those things will run 12s with just basic bolt-ons. I/H/E, cams, a good tune, and some sticky tires... 12.8 should be within reach, without the car being useless on the street.

I wouldn't mind a little more power in my Miata. I'm ok without it, as it's a blast to drive even though it's slow as balls... but 200hp would probably make it perfect!

That Miata is light as hell. I know what you mean as far as the hatch though I feel the same way about my car with 90 hp but once she picks up speed its not that bad. Im just waiting to do my swap though. Its definitely going to be a h2b I was thinking of selling my S.I so many people are hounding me about buying it.

[deevergote]

And the H22 doesn't weigh much more than a B series! Isn't it like 50 lbs or so? I've been eyeing ek hatches recently...I've never owned a Civic, but that would be my choice.

German isn't too bad as long as it doesn't have an AMG, ///M, or S badge on it.

An S54 would make my e46 the perfect car. It would be like the CB I never had...balanced in all categories, but not exceptional in any.

I like EG and EK. I'm not a Civic fan, really, but if I ever considered one, it would be one of those two hatches. I forget what the H22's weight difference is over the B series. I thought it sat further forward than the B series, but I just compared pictures, and it looks to sit in the exact same place for the most part.
Still, yeah, what weight difference there may be can be addressed via suspension changes. It'll still be nose-heavy compared to a B or D powered Civic, but not unreasonably so.

It's sad that the German cars everyone wants are AMG, //M, and S! Those are the cars I'd buy new. Used... probably not. Though an older M3 (E36) would probably be somewhat safe.

Remember Tippey? He just dropped an S54 into his manual AWD E46 wagon. He's been flipping BMWs like crazy, including a V10 M5 and an E30 M3 that he rescued from the weeds... but he's hanging onto that wagon.