GM and Walt Disney World

[stovt001]

Hey all,

I've been gone for the past week, enjoying a vacation at Walt Disney World with the family. A few items of interest to this forum:

The Lights Motors Action car stunt show is, of course, one of my favorite attractions at the World. Turns out the rest of my family loved it as well. The show uses Opal Corsas as the villain cars, and I have to say I prefer the look to the upcoming Aveo replacement (Agile? Viva?). The big headlights and thick, beefy Chevy crossbeam grill just don't work on a subcompact in my opinion. The Corsa may look like a small car, but it all just works very nicely for the sub-compact look. Then again, I'm a Euro-phile by the standards of this forum and I see nothing wrong with cars looking small. Just my opinion.

The bigger news for this thread is the GM Test Track attraction. For those unfamiliar with it, it is supposed to simulate the testing of a new model in development at GM test facilities. The individual "cars" have badges indicating brand, but otherwise look identical (except for color as well). It looks like they're in the process of reflecting the new GM brand structure, as many of the cars had their badges removed. However, I still saw a few with Pontiac and Saturn badges as well. At the exit of the attraction there is a GM showroom displaying a few models for each brand. Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saab were still there with no indication of their new non-GM status. A few thoughts on some of the cars on display:

Camaro - they had a 2010 2LT RS in RJT, and even though I was settled on RJT to begin with, this confirmed my choice another 100 times over. It is simply the perfect color. Sadly the car was ruined with goofy 21 inch wheels, but other than that, well, it was as gorgeous as ever.

G8 - they had a blue G8 GT on display, and it seriously had me considering that over the Camaro. Similar components, sedan practicality, great seats, great wheel, and improved visibility are all intriguing. Bummer you can't get it anymore. Thanks GM.

LaCrosse - man the new LaCrosse is nice, but huge. I can't see any place for a Lucerne or anything else above it. It couldn't be considered anything other than a full-size, large car. As much as I consider FWD to be completely wrong from a performance perspective, cars like this demonstrate its advantages. Interior room was huge with the entire drivetrain contained within the large engine bay. I have no idea how GM could think an I4 would be appropriate in this application. I think the 3.0L is the minimum to move this beast, especially since it is a flagship. It would make more sense to give it a two-mode hybrid system. Otherwise the interior is fantastic and this seems like a fine car.

[FenwickHockey65]

LaCrosse already is the Buick flagship, Lucerne should die out pretty soon.

The 2.4L I-4's only going into the CX model.

[MikesZ]

Originally Posted by stovt001

Hey all,

I've been gone for the past week, enjoying a vacation at Walt Disney World with the family. A few items of interest to this forum:

The Lights Motors Action car stunt show is, of course, one of my favorite attractions at the World. Turns out the rest of my family loved it as well. The show uses Opal Corsas as the villain cars, and I have to say I prefer the look to the upcoming Aveo replacement (Agile? Viva?). The big headlights and thick, beefy Chevy crossbeam grill just don't work on a subcompact in my opinion. The Corsa may look like a small car, but it all just works very nicely for the sub-compact look. Then again, I'm a Euro-phile by the standards of this forum and I see nothing wrong with cars looking small. Just my opinion.

The bigger news for this thread is the GM Test Track attraction. For those unfamiliar with it, it is supposed to simulate the testing of a new model in development at GM test facilities. The individual "cars" have badges indicating brand, but otherwise look identical (except for color as well). It looks like they're in the process of reflecting the new GM brand structure, as many of the cars had their badges removed. However, I still saw a few with Pontiac and Saturn badges as well. At the exit of the attraction there is a GM showroom displaying a few models for each brand. Saturn, Pontiac, Hummer, and Saab were still there with no indication of their new non-GM status. A few thoughts on some of the cars on display:

Camaro - they had a 2010 2LT RS in RJT, and even though I was settled on RJT to begin with, this confirmed my choice another 100 times over. It is simply the perfect color. Sadly the car was ruined with goofy 21 inch wheels, but other than that, well, it was as gorgeous as ever.

G8 - they had a blue G8 GT on display, and it seriously had me considering that over the Camaro. Similar components, sedan practicality, great seats, great wheel, and improved visibility are all intriguing. Bummer you can't get it anymore. Thanks GM.

LaCrosse - man the new LaCrosse is nice, but huge. I can't see any place for a Lucerne or anything else above it. It couldn't be considered anything other than a full-size, large car. As much as I consider FWD to be completely wrong from a performance perspective, cars like this demonstrate its advantages. Interior room was huge with the entire drivetrain contained within the large engine bay. I have no idea how GM could think an I4 would be appropriate in this application. I think the 3.0L is the minimum to move this beast, especially since it is a flagship. It would make more sense to give it a two-mode hybrid system. Otherwise the interior is fantastic and this seems like a fine car.

+1 about the 3.0L being the base engine for the LaCrosse. It will be the Buick "flagship" as intended.

[Mr. Wyndham]

I loved that test-track ride. And the showroom at the end was the icing on the cake.