[rmackintosh]

I just got back from driving a Cadillac XLR with 600 miles on it.....the owner was my dad's neighbor....and was watching us set up my dad's new motorhome today to go to the races next week....he drives up in the thing I tell him "SWEET RIDE!" and he says...."Hey, go ahead and take it out! Take it for as long as you like!" (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

Well my wife is there with my daughter and 12 week old son, so I say to her..."....give the kids to grandma, lets GO!"

That car was NICE.......the interior was WAY nicer than I had thought it would have....very German car quality and finish.....leather seats that were firm and supportive but NOT uncomfortable like some....the suspension....VERY FIRM yet still smooth and luxury like...not great tires on it, but still a GREAT compromise for sport/luxury....the motor....Northstar....was peppy, more than I expect from a Caddy, but not Vette like either....

All in all a SWEET car! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Now if I could ONLY find $80,000 lying around..... (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

[94bird]

Well, there are many substitutes for cubic inches. The easiest one to think of is supercharging. Caddy will use that soon enough with a drop in displacement to 4.2L for their N*. It all goes back to the different strokes for different folks argument. I'm a big fan of turbos and superchargers. Owning that GLH Turbo for about 14 years taught me a lot about just how valuable that boost knob was. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Before CVTs are a main stay you'll see gasoline direct injection become much more common. That's one of the next big hitters coming down the pike. The good news is it's also a significant power gainer and economy / emissions improver. An estimate of 5% power gain is about right, with more power being enabled from other components once you properly tune the combination. It also works quite well with pushrod engines.

All this talk about pushrod engines in a N* thread. Who would have thought?