LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO/MURCIELAGO/REVENTON EMISSIONS "IMMEASURABLE"

After arriving in Nova Scotia, The Good Car Brother bemoaned his Chevrolet Suburban's poor fuel economy and envied the efficiency of GoodCarBadCar's recent long-term addition, an '09 smart fortwo. Traveling extensively on highways all across this continent, his Suburban was achieving somewhere under 20 miles per gallon. The smart? Routine driving sees near 38 miles per gallon.

Converted to people miles per gallon, however, his Suburban would have been rated around 108 pmpg. GoodCarBadCar's smart with full human capacity wouldn't be rated beyond 76 pmpg. While it's true that no current Lamborghini could attain a pmpg rating over 40, there is another argument - another perspective, really - that ought to be considered when attacking the manufacturer for the consumption and emission of its automobiles.

Over its 46-year history, Lamborghini has produced approximately 22,000 cars. Americans made the Hyundai Elantra the tenth best-selling car in the USA last month by buying 21,673 sedan and wagon Elantras. Context given.

Of the 22,000 Lamborghinis manufactured in the last 46 years, only 11,000 are driven regularly. Unfortunately, this means 11,000 sit in living rooms, museums, and.... avert your eyes, junkyards. More context required? Toyota sold 10,656 Highlanders in August. One can assume they're all being driven. On the school run.

So few Lamborghinis are being driven, yes, but hardly driven in truth. On average, those 11,000 Lamborghinis are driven about 3,000 miles annually. GoodCarBadCar's long-term smart is driven sparingly yet will cover that distance in six months.

Measure the equivalent this'a'way. Take 2,750 cars and drive them each 12,000 miles per year. In other words, that's about 7% of the Honda Accords sold in the U.S. in August driven a regular amount.

Finally, says evo's Harry Metcalfe on Stephan Winkelmann's subject, the "CO2 levels of all the Lamborghinis ever produced is almost immeasurable". And yet, even amongst the automotive enthusiast society, we continue to expect companies like Lamborghini, Ferrari, and Bentley to produce E85-burning hybrids with hydrogen fuel cells and curb weights under 2,000 pounds.

Just for full disclosure's sake, here are some of the Numbers from the EPA on Lamborghini's 2010 models. By the way, the EPA (@ fueleconomy.gov) uses 15,000 miles per year to calculate the carbon footprint of automobiles.

Lamborghini Gallardo 6-speed manual: 12 mpg city/20 mpg highway, 12.2 tons of CO2/year

Lamborgini Murcielago 6-speed manual: 8 mpg city/13 mpg highway, 18.3 tons of CO2/year

Lamborghini Reventon Roadster: 9 mpg city/14 mpg highway, 16.6 tons of CO2/year

GM SAYS "NO GO" FOR DENALI XT PRODUCTION - HONDA SAYS "GOOD THINKING"

News from Autoblog (via Automotive News, somehow via General Motors) that GMC will not build a unibody pickup truck like the Denali XT concept from the 2008 Chicago auto show is not surprising. Other than a handful of products from Ford Motor Company, almost every car, all crossovers and most SUVs on the market make use of a unibody. Trucks, however, are typically built using body-on-frame "technology".

Theories persist that using a monocoque structure for a truck could work. Despite necessary sacrifices in payload and towing, the gains in ride & handling and fuel economy would pay off, right? Right?

As Autoblog points out, the only truck out there with unibody construction is the Honda Ridgeline. Honda's truck will get'cha one measly extra mpg in the city over the a typical Chevrolet Silverado 4x4.

Perhaps a stronger argument against mass production of unibody pickups is the sales, up to this point, of the only unibody pickup truck. The Good Car Guy, aka Timothy Cain, wrote extensively on this subject at LemonFree.com just last week. The Dodge Ram, which is far and away not the best-selling truck in America, sells more than twelve times as often as the Honda Ridgeline in 2009.

Is there no place for monocoque architecture in the truck world of tomorrow? Certainly not as a major player from a major truck manufacturer. As a niche product catering to a different kind of truck buyer, the Ridgeline can continue and a company like Ford, GMC, Dodge, or Toyota could make a simple but not very profitable run at 25,000 units per year.

DO ALL ASTON MARTINS HAVE TO LOOK ALIKE? RAPIDE GALLERY

Believe you me, the Aston Martin Rapide is one of the best-looking 4-doors in the history of 4-doors. Understand you this, were the funds available to The Good Car Guy, an Aston Martin Rapide would almost definitely be parked beneath GoodCarBadCar Towers. Don't doubt it for a minute, GoodCarBadCar.net is officially a firm supporter of the Aston Martin Rapide and its progression toward production.

That being said, why must it be styled to look exactly like all other current Aston Martins? There's this interesting Porsche dilemma that doesn't faze the designers in Gaydon, Warwickshire one bit. See, at Porsche, each new model is supposed to look like the 911 Carrera, only as an SUV (Cayenne) or sedan (Panamera). Unfortunately, Zuffenhausen's designers can't make it happen. Conversely unfortunate at Aston Martin is the designer's innate comprehension of what an Aston is "supposed to look like" and their spectacular ability to make the DB9 a supercar (DBS) or a smaller 911 competitor (V8 Vantage) or, as seen in the Gallery below, a four-door sedan..... er, hatchback.

And then, this company which designs and manufacturers some of the planet's most beautiful cars needs an ultra-exclusive front-engined British alternative to the Lamborghini Reventon. Thus, 77 examples of the One-77 are sold off to willing supercar connoisseurs. What do these cars look like? Ah, this time Aston Martin exaggerates the family look. How inventive.

Whilst I complain about this unnecessary design kinship, Aston Martin is becoming an increasingly successful company. At the same time, arguments start up every time Ferrari introduces a new car. Antagonists and apologists debate the merits of a new controversial Ferrari design. Then Ferrari goes on to sell more of the new car than they were able to sell of its predecessors. Perhaps it's useful for your cars to look like red-blooded Italian supercars without looking like triplets who were born in different calendar years.

Is there any sedan available today with greater pull-up-at-the-Ritz presence than Aston's Rapide? Certainly not the Mercedes S-Class or Jaguar XJ. Only certain (more expensive) Bentleys and Rolls-Royce Phantoms could compete. Notwithstanding its good looks, the future must hold something different for some of Aston Martin's cars lest we all ignore the brand for boredom.

From the top, the very similar front ends of the Aston Martin DB9, V8 Vantage, DBS, Rapide, and One-77.

FERRARI 458 ITALIA - WATCH

Over the next few weeks, it will become blatantly obvious that Ferrari's new 458 Italia, the replacement for the Ferrari F430, is The Good Car Guy's new favourite car. Early pictures helped incite like. Comparisons with previous mid-engine Ferrari V8s inspired awe. Specs invoked delight. Sounds brought about love. And the latest video of the Ferrari 458 Italia secures a passionate response from GoodCarBadCar.net.

Watch - and enjoy - the Ferrari 458 Italia in action.

"MAY THE BEST CAR WIN" SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD PLAN FROM GM

The ad you see embedded as an image in the right side of this post came to my attention earlier today. To be honest, at the time I noticed the GMC Terrain ad it was beneath this morning's post on the Honda CR-V. Of course, I didn't click it (that would be illegal, or at least immoral, by Google's standards) but I grabbed a screenshot and headed over to GM.ca.

There are two reasons I find this kind of advertising to be perfect to be perfect for the "new" General Motors. We've all seen the tv commercials with Ed Whitaker talking about great new veehickles and the company's desire to stand behind their products. And I greatly respect GM's desire to express confidence by offering customers the option of returning their vehicle inside 60 days. (Am I allowed to do that more than once? Ha!) To my own internal advertising response meter, the brief tagline beneath the ad which appeared on GoodCarBadCar.net and surrounds numerous vehicles @ GM.ca sends an even stronger message.

No, it doesn't sell the veehickle. But it does make me think, "Hmm, I should go take that veehickle for a drive". For many of my friends, family members, and acquaintances - and readers - the last decade of GM veehickles haven't done a decent job of getting them to the dealer, let alone buying the car once there.

General Motors is now saying, "May The Best Car Win". Well, shouldn't we at least take them up on the offer of exploring the possibility that their veehickle may be the best. They do, after all, sound as though they're okay with customers buying a Honda or Toyota if the Honda or Toyota really is the best. GM just doesn't think you'll find the Honda or Toyota to be the best. And by expressing such confidence in their veehickles, I become tempted to take their products seriously.

Which is when the 60-day money back guarantee kicks in. "May The Best Truck Win" sells me on the idea. "If it hasn't won you over, we'll take it back" sells me on the reality.

Remember, GM isn't applying this incentive to Hummer (to be sold), Saturn (sold), Saab (sold), or Pontiac (dead and/or dying). Rather obviously, GM doesn't stand behind those products as firmly. Though not completely suggesting that the new Buick LaCrosse, GMC Terrain/Chevrolet Equinox, Cadillac CTS, or Chevrolet Camaro are "the best cars", it shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that GM's veehickle lineup is a whole lot better than it was just last year. Hyundai didn't become a huge automaker by backing away from its cars and saying, "They're cheap". Hyundai provided gigantic warranty coverage instead. GM won't sell enough cars if all their commercials ever tell you is "Get this Chevy for a whole lot less money than the foreign jobbie down the street".

GM has begun to walk the walk. Might as well talk the talk, as well.

HOW IS THE HONDA CR-V GOING TO KEEP SELLING LIKE HOTCAKES?

Pictures of the 2010 Honda CR-V were released recently. Apparently these pictures show a different vehicle than the 2009 CR-V, but you'd be hard pressed to tell. This is where you're supposed to read the standard auto scribe line bemoaning the lack of excitement and the dearth of change, something to grab hold of and perhaps even believe in.

But Honda believes in success. In the case of the CR-V, increased success will come by sticking to the straight and narrow. Yes, even I was disappointed that Honda bothered to release new images of the CR-V considering its lack of change. They say the front fascia has been altered with a new grille and bumper. Wheels on the upper-end models use ten spokes now, an increase of three spokes. Per wheel.

Read more about Honda on GoodCarBadCar.net

More significant changes can be found underneath the only-slightly-tinkered-with exterior. Horsepower jumps by fourteen at the same time as fuel economy rises by one mile per gallon in both the city and on the highway; both on 4WD and 2WD models. The 2.4L is still relatively torqueless. Only 161 lb-ft of twist is generated at best; which isn't until 4,400 rpm. Then again, the CR-V isn't a very large vehicle. A wheelbase of 103.1 inches and a basic curb weight of less than 3,400 pounds makes the power available plenty, perhaps.

Moving inside, the CR-V offers up enough space for the EPA to qualify it as a large sedan.... if it were... umm, a four-door car. Indeed, chief amongst reasons tens of thousands of Americans buy a CR-V each month is this space. Passengers enjoy 103.8 cubic feet of oxygen. 35.7 cubic feet of cargo space is available behind the second row.

Check out more Sales Stats on GoodCarBadCar.net

The CR-V doesn't try to be something it's not. Though unavoidably dull and not the least bit sporty, Honda's CR-V became the ideal family vehicle for 30,284 people in the USA in August. Combined sales of the Honda Odyssey, Honda Pilot, Honda Ridgeline, and Honda Element total 10,000 less. Despite a huge increase in Hyundai Santa Fe sales, that SUV's total was only one-third of the CR-V's August sales. Toyota witnessed a huge gain in RAV4 sales, too, but still fewer than 20,000 were sold in August.

Lots of space, a little bit of pace, and a modicum of grace: even Jaguar's Sir William Lyons would've been able to see why the CR-V was succeeding in the American Marketplace.

Honda CR-V 2009 Sales:

August: 30,284

July: 19,151

June: 13,720

May: 14,550

April: 12,175

March: 12,959

February: 12,370

January: 13,143

Year-To-Date: 128,352

GM SALES FROM THEIR FOUR CORE BRANDS FROM AUGUST 2009

General Motors has emerged from bankruptcy. That's old news. GM sales are lower this year than last. Hmm... old news. General Motors has plans to operate more safely and sanely as a smaller auto conglomerate by reducing brands with just four makes on sale in the future. You've heard about that, but have you examined the consequences?

Pontiac sold 29,921 vehicles in August. But Pontiac is soon to die. Saturn has been sold, but that also means 8,479 sales down the tubes. But for one Hummer statistic thrown in for fun, the three Graphs below show the strengths and weaknesses of a renewed General Motors. Take a look at August's car sales, then SUV sales, and finally truck sales. Click any Graph to see a larger view of these Sales Stats.