Link to the Car & Driver article

[Greg]

Article (http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=41&article_id=10002&page_number=1)

[DavidF]

I love this at the end of the article: :rotfl:

"Who do you expect will buy this car?" It's a stupid question, like asking Henry Kissinger if he thinks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go all the way this year. But this time, a don't-use-my-name GM marketing type replied: "It's gonna be a mid-30s guy with a wife and two kids, and he'll tell the missus they need a practical, run-of-the-mill SUV that will tow the boat, and she's gonna like the sound of a Chevy, nothing fancy. And he'll come home with an SS and never once tell her it's a hot rod, and because of how the thing looks and drives, she'll never know. Bingo—everybody's happy." Go ahead and cry "sexist pig," but we think he's right.

[homertime]

I love this at the end of the article: :rotfl:

"Who do you expect will buy this car?" It's a stupid question, like asking Henry Kissinger if he thinks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will go all the way this year. But this time, a don't-use-my-name GM marketing type replied: "It's gonna be a mid-30s guy with a wife and two kids, and he'll tell the missus they need a practical, run-of-the-mill SUV that will tow the boat, and she's gonna like the sound of a Chevy, nothing fancy. And he'll come home with an SS and never once tell her it's a hot rod, and because of how the thing looks and drives, she'll never know. Bingo—everybody's happy." Go ahead and cry "sexist pig," but we think he's right.


That's a good point until she says "honey, why did you have to fill up the tank when you got to the end of the driveway?"

[westbayou]

You beat me to it! Glad I don't have to go out and buy the magazine, especially for that short little write up, but good info none the less. For some reason my gut tells me that Motor Trend will have a decent write up on the SS when they put out their "06 Truck and SUV" issue to follow up this month's car issue. But that is just my gut. Those stats are pretty sick, and did well to remind me why I am waiting for the SS to arrive. I was at my Chevy dealership yesterday, and they haven't even received an 06 Trailblazer yet. DOH!

Oh, and as for the end of that article about the 30 something man, well DUH! That exact reason is why I am looking at the SS, it hauls a family, hauls a boat, and hauls @$$. In all honesty, if I didn't have a boat and a baby on the way I'd probably be looking at a Mustang or GTO instead! But, around here there does seem to be a LOT of women driving performance SUV's. My buddies mother just got a G55 AMG (just awesome), and all the Cayenne Turbos, X5 4.6's, etc typically have a woman behind the wheel, so it won't suprise me to see a soccer mom pimpin' the SS to.

[Windy City]

The suspension doesn't transmit small displacement jitters, but if the front wheels catch a frost heave at the same moment, prepare to be snapped to attention. The condition of your local roads may well determine whether you can live with an SS.

This might be a limiting factor for a family-mobile. Ride quality becomes that much more important when the whole family is involved. I would have to ride in one to form an opinion but ride quality was one of the most important factors in my purchase of a TB and an Envoy.

I love the SS but I have a feeling it's going to sell only to a niche market and GM won't get the sales numbers they expected. I sure hope for GM's sake I'm wrong.

[Dave]

It doesn't have to be a real big seller. The market is not that big. If it gets the same gas mileage as the Sliverado SS, 12/16 they will sell even less. It isn't designed to be a vehicle for the family to be used as a daily driver or take frequent long trips.

Does anyone know if it uses premimum gas? Similar high performance versions of the LS2 do (corvette, GTO)?

I would still buy one though but for a family vehicle I would buy an Envoy Denali.

[02redhawk]

That's a good point until she says "honey, why did you have to fill up the tank when you got to the end of the driveway?"


'Cept my Firehawk (LS1, modded) gets 22mpg city, and my 4.2L TB only gets about 15.5mpg, same driving. Methinks the LS2 in the TB will fare just-as-good in economy than the I-6 once these vehicles see real-world driving.

[Greg]

Does anyone know if it uses premimum gas?


As per the GM Media Guide (http://media.gm.com/us/chevrolet/en/product_services/r_trucks/r_c_trailblazer/index.html) premium fuel recommended but not required.

[westbayou]

The estimates I have seen were 15/19 MPG which seems realistic to me. With a 4.10 rearend, its gonna suck gas at highway speed, but around town I would expect ok mileage if you can keep your foot out of it....yeah, like that will happen! :raspberry

Fortunately, like 90% of my daily driving is going to be city, and with a Tahoe that has averaged 12.9 MPG over the last 3 years, it won't be hard to improve on the gas mileage situation.

I know I have said it before, but from all appearances, the SS meets ALL of my needs in a vehicle. Sure, I can't go offroad in it, but I have a Jeep for that! I think there will be a fair amount of demand for it, especially since the pricing is fairly reasonable. If this thing came in at over $40K, that would have changed things. That is where I think the Jeep SRT8 is going to get hammered, they are projecting it to cost around $45K. Hemi or not, that is rediculous for a Grand Cherokee because realistically, you can get a V8 Grand Cherokee for practically half that amount! I know, I've owned 2 of them.