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riviera74

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Everything posted by riviera74

  1. riviera74
    Von is right, but costs come into the equation. Ideally, you get the best chips AND you streamline the code so that the infotainment system is not sluggish and reduces the possibility of it crashing. What GM and others should do is allow one vendor to do the whole infotainment system so that it no longer has performance issues. Basically they could call Apple to have them do this well.... or maybe Google.
  2. riviera74
    The best news about this is that the new Impala will not take the massive hit that the old model has already taken. Reminds me of the "Malibu Classic" GM allowed to stay around for a year. Only this time, GM is doing this the right way. Let the rental car companies have the old one; virtually all of the old Impala was paid for already.
  3. riviera74
    I understand why analysts would (and should) be concerned with a high number of subprime loans. There is one thing they are not counting on: everyone needs transportation and public transportation thorughout most of the USA is not very good. (Compact cities do not count.) If there is another nasty recession where jobs are really scarce, expect all other expenses to be cut back except for car loan payments. There might be some more delinquent loans and even a few more repossessions, but it may not be that bad.
  4. riviera74
    I agree with making diesels an option on all GM vehicles. But why is an 8-speed necessary?
  5. riviera74
    There is a reason the Crown Victoria survived as a NYC taxi ever since Checker went out of business in 1982: Crown Vics were everywhere and they were cheap to maintain. Nissan's Taxi of Tomorrow is the exact opposite! The NY Supreme Court made the right decision and the next mayoral administration would be wise to dispose of this well-intentioned, poorly-executed Bloomberg idea and start from zero. Virtually any CUV can be a taxi in NYC and it should be open to a proper auction rather than the beauty contest that Nissan's idea supposedly won.
  6. riviera74
    Nice idea and very good execution. But 30K for an Accord Hybrid will not cut it in today's marketplace. A $20K Insight will all of this tech would scare the Prius out of its complacency in a heartbeat because an Insight (with the new hybrid setup) would actually directly compete against it. Honda is being too rational again. Put that in a TLX or RLX, and it would work very well. Put that in an Insight so that the eco-conscious can brag about their MPG. Unfortunately, this is a well-executed idea that fails to adjust to the fact that many new car buyers want to make a statement a middle schooler would understand. A Prius does that; an Accord Hybrid does not.
  7. riviera74
    I wonder how much $$$$ GM will get for selling VM Motori to FIAT.
  8. riviera74
    I agree, but who will buy a midsize (off-road capable) SUV these days? $4 a gallon killed the GM midsizers off entirely.
  9. riviera74
    Ever met an exciting interior in ANY German car? I don't think so. Also, at least the Jetta steering wheel does not look misshaped like the '14 Impala steering wheel.
  10. riviera74
    ^^Right now, maybe. That may not be true in the next decade. Right now, there really is no real reason to buy a Lincoln, even though I do find a few on the road down here. Not Cadillac or Lexus numbers, but some are out here.
  11. riviera74
    Channeling Dinah Shore, eh?
  12. riviera74
    You would not believe the trend of old people driving midsize cars these days. It used to be LeSabres and Park Avenues, but now a lot of them drive Camrys and Accords (well, Baby Boomers do). Their elder siblings or parents are often in Lucernes.
  13. riviera74
    That is great that Tesla really made a VERY safe car. Now if only GM and Ford can be just as good. . . . .
  14. riviera74
    Now if Jaguar went all-electric, that would be an interesting development. The better question is whether ANY carmaker can make a car with an electric motor (as opposed to Tesla with just a battery) that just works and is affordable.
  15. riviera74
    Go for the Genesis; it has more room than the E550. If you want a badge, that three-point star is all you need.
  16. riviera74
    Jaguar dispose their V8? WHY? This is worse than Cadillac without V8s (Escalade and V-series aside). I was very concerned that Jaguar would succumb to those inane new regulations that the EU proposed recently. Now it has become obvious that Jaguar is willing to sacrifice part of their identity just to meet those regs. A total shame if they essentially turn Jaguar into a tarted-up, soulless Lincoln.
  17. riviera74
    Excuse me, but what is the point of Scion again? Fewer dealers does not correct for poor product mix and falling sales. Just terminate Scion; this is looking more like Saturn semi-done right.
  18. riviera74
    I have a question: is it 300k vehicles worldwide, or just sold in the EU? If the EU means worldwide, dwightlooi has the right idea. If that rule only applies to cars sold in the EU, then abandon Europe as a car market. Neither Jaguar nor Range Rover should deviate from their unique selling point if they are to remain viable. Screw the EU for their excessive rules.
  19. riviera74
    The SRX went FWD and sales more than doubled from the 1st-gen RWD model. RWD will never return because the market demands a luxury FWD crossover. Caddilac did this to chase down the Lexus RX and it worked like gangbusters. No need to mess with success.
  20. riviera74
    Perception seems to be the real issue here. Why go DOHC at all if the benefits do not consistently exceed the cost? Some people still believe that pushrods are obsolete and that DOHC is inherently better. 1970 called and they want their misconceptions back. I have wondered why GM (and Ford too) have essentially ditched pushrods for all non-BOF vehicles (Corvette, Camaro, Mustang aside). I am not sure if there is an inherent advantage to DOHC anymore. I do believe that Honda had SOHC engines as recently as the 90s, but I am not sure if they still use an SOHC rather than DOHC design.
  21. riviera74
    El Miraj, really? The name is kinda lame. Either go with Miraj or just return to Eldorado. The car itself is exactly what the doctor ordered. Although that interior dash will probably not make it into production unless it is a pop-up like the either the CTS or the SRX.
  22. riviera74
    I have a Q: Why does GM insist that all v6 engines in nearly all cars be DOHC? GM has made the best pushrod v8 engines ever and the best GM v6 is still the Buick 231 (the 3800 for metric), which was derived from a 1962 Buick v8. Supposedly the 3900 was even better than the 3800 when it came out pre-BK, but now it is apparently discontinued in favor of the 3.6 DOHC. (Why?!) The 3.6 is of course from the same family as all those Ecotec 4cyl straight from Opel in Germany (where displacement taxes mandate small-displacement engines). The 3.6 NA needs real torque right now. While a twin turbo patches that up (such as next year's Cadillac XTS), a pushrod v6 derivative of the v8 is what would really solve this issue. Why run away from a strength (pushrod v8 and derivatives) for some illusory upgrade that is DOHC? This is 2013, not 1973. DOHCs need more torque, period.
  23. riviera74
    Great idea. My only problem is that it should be required as of January 1, 2014. All car owners need this information STAT.
  24. riviera74
    Of course the Camry is riding on a reputation that may no longer be deserved. The 1990s have ended, and the competition is either catching up rapidly (Sonata, '14 Malibu) or has passed the Camry already (Fusion, Accord et. al.). If I had to buy one, I'll take an Avalon instead. Midsizers to me are too small these days, especially in the era of the CUV, which was invented by Toyota and Honda as a response to the BOF SUV boom of the 90s.
  25. riviera74
    The V6 also exists in the LT trim of the Impalas too. It is optional though. http://www.chevrolet.com/impala-4-door-sedan/specs/trims.html
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