Relay

Duh, make it RWD which was also the intent of my post which would also
create enough room. You have totally missed the point of my post. Pop a
hood why dont you... Trust me no one wants that f'ing pos from Honda,
that is the worst damn engine you'll ever put your hands on. I'll take
the sh***y 3.5v6 from GM before I touch an even sh***ier honda. I'm not
screwing with no timing "belt" or a water pump buried behind a timing
belt! I dont want to loose fingers nor money working on silly crap. The
I5 has more than enough refinement to kick honda to the curb.

The whole point of using the I5 was to create an easy to service van
that would be more than enough to compete by numbers alone. Those who
like to service their own vehicles or want to save on labor cost should
know to put a I5 powered van on top of their list. An easy to service
van is something that I havent seen to this day and the I5 is the most
accessible engine you can get. The new U platform is more than capable
of holding that engine.

Embarrassment? Hardly. GM only gets that pos honda engine because of a
trade deal in diesel tech they had and bean counters dont care about
intellectual property or well thought out motors...their only care is
getting million dollar bonuses for saving GM a million dollars. GM cant
make money if they actually start paying retail for that POS Honda
engine. They also cant make money off of Honda's already sky high parts
racket.


In article >,
says...
> HIGHLY unlikely that the inline 5 would fit cross-ways into the van, and
> that engine is hardly noted for its mechanical refinement. (an I-5 is
> inherently out of balance, so even with balance shafts, the idle will 'lope'
> and there will be unpleasant second-order vibration)
>
> - and 700 lbs lighter and only gets 1 mpg more?
>
> (maybe GM's embarrassed agreement with Honda to purchase 3.5L V6 (250 HP,
> 19/25 mpg for the Saturn Vue) should be extended to the full line)
>
>
> "blah blah" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >, ie
> > says...
> > > We are considering a new Relay van. Does anyone have experience with
> them.
> > >
> > > Also, I may be able to get one for wholesale through a GM
> employee/friend.
> > > Does anyone know how to estimate wholesale price ? e.g. is MSRP say 30%
> over
> > > wholesale ?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > The new GM minivan design is much much safer than the previous platform.
> > However I say wait until the bean counters get fired and the engineers
> > throw out that POS FWD V6 3.5L and install the far superior powertrain
> > found in the Chevy Colorado.
> >
> > -GM mid size truck-
> > 3.5L I5 (inline 5, easy as hell to work on)
> > RWD
> > Horsepower: 220@5600
> > Torque: 225@2800
> > Final Drive Ratio: 3.42
> > Weight: 3783 lbs
> > MPG: 19 / 24
> >
> >
> > -GM mini van-
> > 3.5L V6 (POS design, ie: about 2 hours to change the t-stat!)
> > FWD
> > Horsepower: 201@5600
> > Torque: 216@4000
> > Final Drive Ratio: 3.29
> > Weight: 4470 lbs
> > MPG: 18 / 25

"blah blah" > wrote in message
...
>Trust me no one wants that f'ing pos from Honda...

LOL! ;-) I guess you don't visit here much, do you?...

http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/

I do...

http://www.lt-solutions.com/images/Picture%20002.jpg

My wife and I started looking at new V6 VUEs last weekend. Freggin' sweet
rides! Can't wait.
--


Mark
'99 Civic Si

My wife has an '05 VUE with the Honda 3.5L V6, and I'm driving an '03 Malibu
with the (marginal) GM 3.1L V6. Despite the 'blah blah' rant, I know which
engine impresses me for power, refinement and mileage, and it isn't the GM.
An I5 in a rear-wheel drive van hardly reflects 2006 tech, sounds more like
a throw-back to the Astro, which were purchased in surprising quantities and
regretted equally. The fact that you think a RWD van with this very tall
motor sitting North-South is viable would be laughable if it weren't so
close to GM's recent product mix. If GM is to survive, they can't keep
pushing 70's tech, it just doesn't measure up to the competition. (the
'Vette notwithstanding)

(maybe they should resurrect the tooling for the 'stove-bolt' six and
Powerglide 2-speed tranny --- now THAT would be easy to work on, and of
course that should be the prime consideration in any auto purchase, right?)

"Mark Gonzales" > wrote in message
news
> "blah blah" > wrote in message
> ...
> >Trust me no one wants that f'ing pos from Honda...
>
> LOL! ;-) I guess you don't visit here much, do you?...
>
> http://www.saturnfans.com/forums/
>
> I do...
>
> http://www.lt-solutions.com/images/Picture%20002.jpg
>
> My wife and I started looking at new V6 VUEs last weekend. Freggin' sweet
> rides! Can't wait.
> --
>
>
> Mark
> '99 Civic Si
>
>