Decorated the Denali for Halloween...

[Stargazer]

...by installing some red lights the other night. I just bought some cheap bulbs from the autoparts store to replace all the dome lights:





Then I decorated outside too:





And if anyone's curious, the sticker on the back window says:

 

[SAUDILTZTAHOE]

:cool2:

 

[Black Dog]

SPOOOKY!!! I vote you leave it like that. What better way to celebrate the Christmas season than with a bunch of allusions to wickedness?

 

[metro273]

Looks good man! I think you should put a small pumpkin on the dash...:yesnod:

 

[Stargazer]

Another moody picture, from today:

 

[BimmerDawg]

Jeez, that last pic is nice. Great work!

 

[treepete]

yeah, that is a creepy shot. its like, almost black and white, and those clouds are evil lookin.

 

[Nnaboy]

Haha I'd be freaked if that was in my dream.
Is that Photoshop skills or what?

 

[treepete]

like from Poltergeist or Ghostbusters when the sky gets super ominous.. Im waiting for the houses in the back to crumble up and sink into the ground. ( which can happen from Stargazrs subz... Ive seen it.)

 

[PhxIrn]

I like the hitch light!

 

[Spcamno]

Beautiful pics!!!!

Sorry for being off topics but I think you are on the Ody forum too what happen to your 06 Touring and how would you like your Denali XL?

I am in search of a new vehicle (bigger) and thinking of the same thing XL / ESV (for my Touring)etc. any feedback will be very much appreciated!

Cheers

 

[385-425]

Hey Stargazer - saw somewhere else that you set up your rig with Blizzak snows - have you tried them out? Reviews? I picked up some 18" factory rims to replace my chromes for the winter here in Ottawa for my XL Denali and can't find much info. on winter tires. I think you went with 17s? John.

 

[Stargazer]

Sorry for being off topics but I think you are on the Ody forum too what happen to your 06 Touring and how would you like your Denali XL?

I am in search of a new vehicle (bigger) and thinking of the same thing XL / ESV (for my Touring)etc. any feedback will be very much appreciated!

I traded in the Ody for the Denali XL. We were originally going to get an ESV but found this Denali at a really good price. The only things missing from it compared to the ESV we wanted is the cooled seats and 22" rims.

I'm really glad that we went with the XL. I test drove a lot of different 8-passenger SUVs including the new Pilot and the new Sequoia but they simply did not have the cargo room. The 3rd row isn't as comfortable for adults in the XL compared to the Ody but for our family, adults don't sit back there--my kids do and it's fine for them. The cargo space is far superior in the XL. Rather than having to pack everything vertically like you would in the Ody, you can go sideways and keep everything more accessible--very handy for those trips to Costco and the supermarket with the family.

In terms of handling, the Ody was pretty nice--for a minivan. I find that the XL is pretty nice, too--for a full-size SUV. You can definitely feel it's weight but it is far from being a wallowing beast. It stays pretty flat in the corners and the 6.2L engine pulls hard enough to keep me happy. Of course, the rumble of the V8 puts a grin on my face, too . Also, when it's fully loaded the Denali has no problem with all the extra weight to haul around. Surprisingly, on the freeway, the Denali is very quite--quieter than the Ody. I think the larger engine has to work less, so it's quite a nice cruiser.

The factory Nav is no where as nice as the one in the Ody. It's very outdated and quite limited in its functions. Rather than wait for new nav disc that's been backordered for months, I bought a Garmin Nuvi (which beats out the Ody's nav, anyway).

The fit and finish of the XL is OK. The Denali was nice because it's just a step down from the Escalade. But the hard textured plastic in the Suburban was below what I was used to and made me cross it off my list.

 

[Stargazer]

Hey Stargazer - saw somewhere else that you set up your rig with Blizzak snows - have you tried them out? Reviews? I picked up some 18" factory rims to replace my chromes for the winter here in Ottawa for my XL Denali and can't find much info. on winter tires. I think you went with 17s? John.

I was originally going to get the Blizzaks but went instead with Firestone Winterforce because of the awesome price ($85 each) that TireRack was selling them for. They had good reviews at Tire Rack but it didn't seem like Consumer Reports liked them as much--although, they did say that it "performed slightly better grip on dry and wet roads than the Michelin and Bridgestone." The Nov issue has a whole story on SUV tires and they tested 4 winter tires including the Blizzaks and the Winterforce.

I haven't had a chance to try them out yet. It probably won't be for another few weeks before the frost hits us.

If you can't find a copy of that issue here's how they rated each tire:

Blizzak DM-Z3 (studless)

• Snow Traction = Excellent
• Ice Braking = Excellent
• Handling = Fair
• Hydroplaining = Good
• Ride comfort = Very good
• Noise = Good

Winterforce (studable)

• Snow Traction = Very good
• Ice Braking = Poor (with studs this score improved)
• Handling = Good
• Hydroplaining = Excellent
• Ride comfort = Good
• Noise = Good

Once again, I couldn't resist the price and the reason why a specifically looked for a 17" wheel is because I wanted to eventually get a winter-rated all-terrain tire like the BFG A/T.

I hope that helps!

 

[385-425]

Thanks - that does help - have to check it out. The Blizzaks seem to be the only winter tire that might fit on the 18" rims that are stock on the Denali. Snowed here yesterday so time to get on with this - thanks.

 

[Spcamno]

Thanks Stargazer for your prompt reply & insight!

I really like the luxury for being carrying loads of passengers while still have room for luggage / grocery etc, I've found the ody is okay for luggage but as your said I have to stack them up and it will be a pain in the neck if the stuff I'm looking for is at the bottom and we need to use our Thule cargo box for extended trip because the cargo space is not the greatest on the ody.

The only draw back I can think of owning a XL / ESV is the gas prices, I have read the stats on gas consumption on your blog but in real life how's the difference between the two vehicles?

Thanks again!

Cheers

 

[Stargazer]

I'm always glad to help!

I drive with a heavy foot and I live at the top of a mountain so my in city average has been about 10 mpg. Luckily enough, I don't use it as my commuter vehicle--it's mostly a weekend warrior. I've done a few extended drives and I get almost 15 mpg on the freeway. By comparison, in the Ody I got about 15/20 mpg (city/highway).

If anyone is interested in seeing my exact fuel consumption in the Denali XL, I'm keeping track of it here:

http://istargazer.ca/denali/denaliXL_fuel.htm

The XL has a huge tank: 119L (over 31 gal.) so the biggest annoyance to me was the gas pump limit when trying to fill it up. The Chevron stations in Canada have a $100 limit when you pay at the pump so I couldn't fill the tank without having to go inside.

But I really like having the large tank because I get a much farther range on one tank than I did in the Ody.

As for the Thule box, we have one too and when we did our road trip last summer in the Ody we had to very careful about not overloading the roof. The weight limit on the XL is 200lb so it makes it much more usable than the Ody's 150 lb limit.

 

[Spcamno]

Thanks for your info again!

I noticed that you have check out the GL as well how would you like that vehicle?

I am still in search of something to replace our Ody and in terms of size wise nothing beats the Xl but was also looking at the GL-320 CDI and the coming soon Audi Q7 3.0 Diesel.

Have you check out the Q7 before?

Got to get ready for the Halloween for the kids.

Cheers