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When buying an amplifier for your home theatre, people in the know take into account the weight of the thing; more being better.

With cars, more weight is a sign of lazy engineering, and only the most advanced companies manage to retain strength while keeping weight down.

I applaud GM for making their cars have integrity at last, but like the last generation Hyundais the attempts are dragged down by the avoirdupois.

As products from GM’s friendly brand see tremendous progress, weight reduction appears to be the final frontier. Interiors are improving, Opel is making Saturn beautiful, and ride and handling are matching or surpassing the competition. All Saturn has to do to make the Vue a worldbeater is pare a measly 500 pounds. Okay, maybe that’s a bit much. But cut some fat, and the Vue—already a very good miniature ute—will take another key step toward excellence. – Car and Driver

That said I prefer the current GM approach to the current everyone else approach – i.e. make it so light and tinny that it feels disposable (even if it isn’t).

“After driving the Saturn and Forester, I got into the RAV and CR-V and thought, good gosh, there are horrible seams and bumps in this road I didn’t even realize were there.” St. Antoine: “The CR-V is disappointing in terms of ride. And I’m shocked at the RAV’s ride. Typically, when you get into a Toyota, you expect soft and cushy.” Through the back-and-forth curves, the Honda also has a peculiar squirmy thing going on: tiny gyrations deep down in its suspension joints. – Motor Trend