G. David Felt

Buying time for their stock.

It is interesting how the C&D does not talk about the electronically adjusted suspension that the 2006 to 2009 SS Trailblazer has. I do not nor does my wife who drives it far more than I do feel a harsh ride. With the growth of the Seattle area, pot holes are becoming more common, but for most parts, unlike Detroit and Montreal I agree, our roads are far better and we have no problem living with the comfort of our SS as a daily driver. ? Wonder if it could be cause we have more muscle mass. @oldshurst442 Needle all you want, does not hurt me. I agree that the sub-compact and compact EV CUVs seem to be more of a sedan style now. Will be interesting to see what and if Acura builds sedans in the future as their first EV is an SUV and the local Acura dealer has no sedans on the lots, just RDX/MDX and a ton of used Jeeps, Ram and Ford Pickups. Will also be interesting to see what Honda does as their first EV will also be a SUV. @ccap41 Thanks for the link to the story, interesting to read, but sad that they did not really cover the suspension better.

Open here too, but a smart choice is being pro-active on being protected due to the virus still being aggressive. Nothing wrong with wearing a mask, washing hands, using hand sanitizer, etc. to protect oneself. Sadly, too many people I observe have gone back to old habits with poor hygiene and as such, you see people sneezing without covering their mouth and too many other nasty habits to describe. This virus is not done yet with Humanity and as such, I agree with the CDC that we will easily see 100 million Americans infected come the end of summer/Fall when things get colder and wetter and the virus will replicate in that moisture.

We still have years left of covid infections and deaths ahead of us. Welcome to the still pandemic.

@oldshurst442 I get the point your making, but I still also think that for most drivers, they will not see the difference between those two SS in daily driving. The video is right on, the higher the center of gravity, the more likely you will roll over when you make emergency hard turns. Really comes down to the suspension design of the auto and GM nailed it for the Trailblazer SS. I think they also nailed it for the SS sedan and you are right in performance handling, the SS Sedan would beat the SS Trailblazer. Yet, most people will never drive it like a race car and the way the SS Trailblazer handles, I see no reason to doing deep squats to get into and out of a car compared to the SUV. I wish you all the enjoyment of driving the last of the cars out there as they die off and I will enjoy my suv my friend.

Interesting, BMW and Mercedes have failed after spending billions on ride sharing autos across North America and Europe and has sold the business to Stellantis. Stellantis to Buy Mercedes and BMW’s Car-Sharing Venture (msn.com)

OUCH, Idaho has surpassed Washington for the most expensive fuel. Idaho sets new record for expensive gas (msn.com)

Howdy all, Back from Dell Technology World 2022 in Las Vegas at The Sands Convention center between The Venetian and The Palazzo. Had 5,500 folks attend, was surprised, but the hands-on labs (HOL) did about half of the number we did in 2019 and talking with customers in the booth brought back lots of folks wanting to talk in person. I saw it as a dry run for bigger numbers in 2023. Sad part, I and one PM was masked the rest of the group from my division was not and from the Executive leadership team of my group on down everyone except myself and the lone PM that wore masks every day and was probably for others a bit OCD on cleaning everything and our hands and not touching our face everyone else is sick with Covid-19. BA-2 version, they all have pretty much the same sickness symptoms. Sad that so many that want to think we are back to normal cannot seem to take a little caution to avoid getting sick. Tradeshow over all was a great success for me, customer meetings and sales deals were awesome, I have no problem with having taken the caution of wearing a mask all the time and staying safe. Sadly this makes me very confident that what I posted above will be true in many getting sick un-necessarily this summer.

@oldshurst442 Bring up an interesting point, ground clearance which is the whole point of center of gravity. ? Guess center of Gravity does not make a difference here. At this point, I would say that both auto's are darn near impossible for most drivers to tell the difference in regards to center of gravity. Experience of the driver and how they respond to motion, pitch, yaw, etc. would make the difference in how they respond. Before you say the Trailblazer SS is taller so it would not do as well as the SS Sedan, the specifications are as follows: Full list in case you doubt me. 2008 Trailblazer SS Full list in case you doubt me. Trailblazer SS is 14.6 inches taller than the SS Sedan. For most driving that people do, that difference will not be noticeable in daily driving or spirited driving of the average person. Yes it would be noticeable in a serious race. Overall, I would take the ease of getting in and out along with the interior room space of the SUV over the Car. But I respect that we each have our own preferences. Market is saying they prefer the room of SUV/CUVs over cars as we both know.

If you ever get a chance to drive a Trailblazer SS, you will totally be sold, that hug the ground and go fast. Love it, course my Suburban has a custom suspension and hugs the road and goes fast too.

Q: What did the little boy tell his mom when he stuck his finger in the wall outlet? A: Mom, it Hertz!

I think that customized ride is a $75,000 plus after all you have a LT4 Wet Sump Connect & Cruise Powertrain System W/ 4L75E $25,411.03 So right there is a chunk and you still have installation, but that ride also has a ton of other customized work so I think easy $75,000 to $100,000 total for what they did and no I do not think it would be recovered selling it at auction. I get that they say it is an SUV, but it has a clear stationwagon look like how Eagle did their cars more than a traditional SUV. I could see you driving it.

I figure a bunch of you will enjoy this, but for sure @balthazar @oldshurst442 @ccap41 @trinacriabob @Robert Hall @Drew Dowdell @A Horse With No Name @GMTruckGuy74 @regfootball @Cmicasa the Great @surreal1272 Classic Custom. Modern Power (theblock.com)

In other words, let you slide your ass in and out of the auto without having to do a deep squat press every time you want to get out or in.

Hi Guys, crazy long days but wanted to post this, wow. April U.S. auto sales: Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia volume falls by double digits again as chip woes bite | Automotive News (autonews.com) April deliveries skid 23% at Toyota Motor, 40% at Honda, 20% at Hyundai and 16% at Kia. White House announces $3B plan for EV battery boost (autoblog.com) Wiesmann Project Thunderball returns firm to retro form (autoblog.com) Ford F-150 Lightning even better than we were told. Again (autoblog.com) Lexus engineering boss: 800-volt system done, electric is the future (greencarreports.com) 2023 Cadillac Lyriq Will Have 500 HP From Dual-Motor AWD Setup (thedrive.com) GM Is Adding a Heat Pump to Its Ultium EV Platform. Here’s Why That Matters (thedrive.com)

FYI, will be away for the next 6 days in Vegas working our tradeshow. Not sure if I will get to check in or not, nothing planned to post by me while I am gone, but just letting you guys know that I will not be around much if at all for a bit. Take care, hopefully some interesting stuff pops up. Later all, David

So my Note9 by Samsung, I accidentally swung around, it was in my coat pocket and hit something cause it was not zipped up and wack, cracked screen. Hit hard enough to crack through the safety screen and actually crack the real screen. So off to Verizon, and I got me a new Galaxy S22 Ultra that replaces the Note series of phones. Been a long time since I was on a note 9, 4 generations ago as I learned they had a Note 10, then Galaxy 20, 21 and now 22 series. Left the store, got home and the wife wanted to run some errands, so I drove her in the SS and thought, lets plug in my new phone to the Pioneer AVH-2500NEX Android Auto head unit. First, only a black screen, I could hear my Spotify play and the instructions for Google map worked but no mirroring of my phone to the head unit. About 5 minutes later, head unit reboots. WTF Got home been searching online and finding plenty of Reddit, Google and Samsung threads of people having issues with the Galaxy S22 and Pioneer units. Also many people complaining about the death of the traditional Android Auto apps on the phones. Checked and sure enough with no prior info, Google stopped existing apps and changed to what is called Google Driving. The old Android Auto apps are greyed out and no longer work. Seems that this change is what has caused the black screen of nothing and crazy audio levels. I called Pioneer, they are aware that their head units do not work with the S22 line up from Samsung and have no plans to provide updates other than over their OTA Head Units only. DMH-WT86NEX, DMH-WC6600NEX, DMH-WT7600NEX, DMH-WT8600NEX are their new lineup of OTA units and once they have a fix they will push it out. At this time I can confirm after going to Car toys that the Pioneer units do not work even those listed above with the S22 Ultra that I now own. I tested all of the Kenwood units they had on hand also and for them only 25% of the screen would work with the S22Ultra so everything is really small. The only unit from Kenwood that seemed to work just fine was their top of the line eXcelon Reference DNR1007XR or DMX1057XR. The wife's S21 Ultra works fine except that sometime in the last 2 weeks, she cannot use the Pioneer audio "Hey Google" and has to first push the microphone first. To say that I am unhappy with Pioneer is an understatement. They have made the decision to ignore existing customers and move to an OTA format for their new 2022 units only.

I have noticed that on the east coast and in Canada even Victoria BC in the past when I visited, no one seemed to care about clearing the sidewalks for safety. Very interesting, but I guess if no one complains, then why spend the money might be the attitude.

Two awesome stories on GM: BrightDrop and FedEx Take Part in Record-Setting EV Campaign (gm.com) Ultium Energy Recovery Can Help GM EVs Charge and Accelerate Faster and Drive Farther Some very interesting videos on the Ultium Energy Recovery at this web page.

Very interesting read Tesla Vs Legacy Automakers: Which Will Win The Electric Car Race? (insideevs.com)

Wonder if they will have any kind of torque vectoring with the hybrid system? ?

Another good use of electric that benefits the disabled and elderly. ?

Wow, Wonder who copied who here Lancia of Kia or Kia of Lancia. crazy

? Happy Earth Day to All Totally remodeling the backyard, leveling it out for my Golden Years! No more hills, changing all the garden to raised beds so no more hands and knees. Not sure how much of a garden will get planted this year as I have to put in a retaining wall to my back neighbor, new fence and a retaining wall dividing 2/3rds of the yard from 1/3rd of the yard. Will have a slopped walk area to the upper section where the garden will go. Lots to do, so not sure my garden will get in this year. I also have to replace the decking on my 16'x20' deck, they are 23years old as I put them in new back in 1999 and have lived out their life. Rotted sections that a foot can go through, so looking at Trex to put down that will last till I die. I have 20 Leland Cypresses to plant once the retaining wall is done and fence put in, I will use it for a natural green barrier to all my neighbors, so I have a totally private back yard. Will keep it trimmed like mine in the front that gives me total privacy.

Some cool reading: https://www.linkedin.com/embed/feed/update/urn:li:share:6922162749586239489 Upcoming Cadillac Celestiq Flagship Sedan Could Be Unveiled In June (cadillacsociety.com)