G. David Felt

Cool, let us know how the install goes and take a pic and post it of what it now looks like.

@FordCosworth @surreal1272 Let keep the political in the political section. In regards to a general race base, if you guys want to debate statistics then also do it there. To help you both have your own opinion on race, go here: https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=922 This is the Bureau of Justice gov web site with all the PDF's you can review for your own take on who assaults who or hurts who. Just so you both know, Asian, Pacific Islands, Hawaiian have the least amount of assault, rape, murder, robbery, etc. on each other and on other races. Middle of the Pack is Black, Hispanic, south american, african in regards to the same issues. Highest is caucasian for assault, rape, murder, robbery, etc. Interesting note is that across all religions when broken down the % is pretty even. So no one religion versus another is worse. Exception is Terrorist and this is also pretty even focused across the various versions but has a spike among HATE GROUPS. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO RANDOM THOUGHTS THREAD. Leave the politics in the political area please to you BOTH! Debate to your hearts content there. Leave the rest of this to healthy debate about auto's and the industry. Good News, My Gas seems to be gone!

I love Chinese food, even when they say no MSG, but it always gives me gas!

I put up that dinosaur of a 90's G-Wagon Convertible and Raise you the far better Escalade EXT that should have never been killed but both are history.

Take some pics please and post!

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/mercedes-benz-g63-amg-6x6-six-wheel-debuts.html Based on this story and others which I found. The 6x6 that you talk about would have never happened if not for the Australian Army that approached BENZ and paid to have it created to their spec with a hefty Turbo Diesel. This is when AMG then took it and ripped out the diesel and made a limited run glorified version that was bought up by the Arabs mostly. Mercedes builds great auto's but I will challenge you that they build the best! They have just as many failures and especially among their bleeding edge tech that is fine as long as the auto is under warranty. Luxury car Brand, Yes as a part of the over all GLOBAL AUTO COMPANY that builds from Eco Box FWD appliances to Ubber Luxury brands. Among brand snobs especially in the asian rim you find MB to be considered a Luxury brand only, but then they mostly just sell their high end. America used to be Luxury but now more and more say it is a universal auto company unless again you talk to brand or badge peeps. Europe, that is pretty clear, They see MB as a normal auto company just like Toyota, GM, VW. You need to accept the reality that MB to grow had to stop being a Luxury only auto company and is a global brand that sells from cheap ass FWD Appliances to Commercial Trucks and Vans, Class 8 semi's to luxury and ubber luxury auto's. Just to be very clear, no company is ever the Best! Every company goes through good and bad times and builds crap and what is some of the best options out on the market. MB has build many nice auto's and just as equally as many lemons like every other auto company.

Makes one wonder how much we depreciate it also based on how much is leased by people wanting to pose as being wealthy. Leasing I believe while having it's clear business points also tends to exaggerate the market of so called buyers.

Gotta love old Photo's of our Auto Past. Racing on the roof of the Fiat plant in Paris 1923: 1970 Porsche assembly line: Auto Polo, I want them to bring this back, looks like a hoot to watch:

Yes, two stories are blended here. Ford was all about moving small car production to Mexico, but the drop in sales and changes have changed that and this is what POTUS was all about. Ford is now looking to move small part production to Mexico which is another story. Be interesting to hear how POTUS will feel about this. Especially when those plants are building for other markets.

Reality hitting home Europe Socialist system is a failure, The gov cannot keep everyone employed and a perfect example of the Union Socialist killing approach is that Mercedes-benz is moving c-class production to the US, South Africa and the asian rim and of course the German Unions are scrambling to try and keep everyone unionized and keep the jobs in Germany. You cannot afford to keep paying everyone on average $67 dollars an hour or $139,360 a year. This makes no sense when you look at the value of a engineer, assembly line worker and janitor. The over paid union protected jobs by the gov will kill companies. Right to work is a better way to go.

I like this idea, GMC could also do what many of us have always said from the very beginning, Hummer it should have been an Off Road package for GMC. This with a GMC Grill would do wonders for the lineup and big bump in sales.

I would take one for some play time fun!

Airbnb comes with an R8 for play! Seems you can now book yourself into this bnb in death valley and have access for free to an R8 with the 80 acres of lake bed as your supercar driving playground. Very Cool! Story

Interesting, MB is stressing under the weight of Union costs. This story says they are moving the building of the C-class to the Alabama plant and now the German Union is trying to unionize them in what appears to locals as an attempt to keep the jobs and production in Germany. MB is moving productions to South Africa and the asian rim reducing production in Germany and the German Union is ramping up to fight. It would seem the high cost is a factor and one has to wonder how long before someone trys to introduce a bill in their parlement to allow right to work free zones? Right now all of Germany is a Union required job work area and that just sucks IMHO. http://www.al.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/post_63.html Interesting reading of what is going on over seas and in Alabama. WHY DO I BRING THIS UP? I think Cadillac not only has quality products, but what little they make with such high ATPs is scaring the Germans and you will see more and more production move out of Germany as they have to fight at all levels from Eco box to ubber luxury on price and quality. The cat is out of the bag and what the Germans had in the 90's and early 2000's is over. Welcome to a New Day Everyone! Quality exists all over and not just in Germany. Except for Italy, garbage still built there.

Interesting how you mention the VW group and yet do not point out MB's own profit or lack of profit in that ultra category. Maybe the fact that has been pointed out so many times before, the heavy discounting, the fact that MB leads the word as the number one leased auto, etc. Just accept that MB is a global auto company that competes from the basic Eco box auto and commercial van to ubber luxury and as such is no longer a luxury only brand. They are a global company competing against Toyota, VW, GM, Ford, etc.

Nice Ocnblu, the photographer did an outstanding job of using bounce lighting to highlight the side profile, the body lines, plus the warm color just makes it over all an outstanding looking Spark!

Lets Just admit it, that society has moved on from their love affair with cars to a love affair with CUVs.

Autoparts

SMK, Without the whoring out of the E-Class as the Taxi of Europe and all the Chevy Low end stuff that they sell in droves, all your high end stuff would not exist! That so called high end stuff does not bring in the profits or keep all the lights on. Many have tried to explain in multiple ways and very clearly how and what is needed first and yet when an Auto beats your MB equal, you move the field goal post to meet your needs. An auto company does something different than what MB does and you state it as a failure. MB has a failure like their PULLMAN series auto and you give some another excuse. If it is not done the MB way, it is clearly a failure, not right, wasted $, etc.etc.etc. You're so high on MB that nothing else will ever equal them and in fact if you ever do detox, you might just realize MB is not that much different than the other big boys that have been around just as long.

Very cool and nice and smooth CCAP41 I would suggest one thing, state how big your video files are. The first one as an example was 624mb and took a couple min to download. That way people who might not have the space for such a big file will not download it. Over all nice job on the install and nice recording of the video.

Calazone I finish my left over Pizza for dinner tonight!

Exactly what everyone was saying just before WWI and WWII. Interesting.

G. David Felt - Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com Nissan Leaf 2.0 Beta! Seems while Nissan has talked in fuzzy grey circles about version 2.0, finally some details are coming out as well as the capture of the Mules running around or as we like to call in the Tech Industry, BETA Baby! So with this ugly heavily wrapped black nose (Full Photos Here) from Motor Authority, we can clearly see that version 2.0 is based on the IDS concept. In fact as multiple various other auto web sites report it really does have some clear connections to Nissans Micra which was launched at the 2016 Paris Motor Show. Nissan Micra Clearly the Floating roof is to stay but a more common look and feel much like what the Chevy Volt did from Version 1.0 to 2.0. Nissan seems to want to have the Leaf just blend in with the rest of the family. According to Green Car Report, at the annual Nissan Meeting 18 month ago, Nissan showed off their Advanced R&D EV with a 60kWh battery pack good for about 250 miles. According to their story they state that today's 30 kWh battery pack in the Leaf good for 107 miles is being replaced with two options expected to be 40 kWh and 60 kWh size which they say should produce about 140 and 220 miles.These two batteries fit into the same space as the old 30 kWh battery pack. Much like every other auto company, Nissan has been saying that their auto on the highway will self drive plus much more. Yet like any Beta, no firm list of what all will be included or optioned until the auto is released. Interesting is that The Guardian post a story that states where Exxonmobil and other oil companies say that oil and coal can handle the electricity needs of the world well past 2050 needs to rethink as dropping prices of EV's and Solar panels could make the growth of Fossil fuels neutralized by 2020. This report goes on to state that the market share gain of solar power and clean cars was the cause for the collapse of the coal mining industry in the US and Europe. The continued growth of Solar, Wind, thermal and the final acceptance with long range EV's is making people think twice about burning fossil fuels. This report is also predicting that EV's will make up 35% of all road transportation by 2035 and 2/3 rds by 2050 which would displace 25 million barrels of oil per day. End result is getting climate change to stop changing in regards to temps rising and help the ecosystem balance out sooner. End result, cleaner air, healthier planet, quiet auto's and long range for the Nissan Leaf 2.0. My one question is who many people do they think will continue to buy an EV with such a short range battery? I question how many 40 kWh battery pack Leaf 2.0 will actually get built versus the 60 kWh 220 mile range battery enabled Leaf.

G. David Felt - Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com Bollinger Motors, Worlds First EV Off-Road & On-Road Sport Truck! Bollinger Motors, What and who are they? Bollinger Motors just recently turned on their web site, but have been in business since 2014 flying under the radar as they prep their roll out for later this year of their new Sport Truck EV. According to their mission statement: " We are engineering the world’s first all-electric off-road and on-road sport utility truck. By designing the truck from the ground up, we are creating a unique vehicle capable of exceptional off-road performance, combined with never-before-seen utility features. The all-electric, dual-motor drivetrain creates best-in-class horsepower and torque. All-wheel drive and 50/50 weight distribution provide unbeatable traction, and the suspension delivers best-in-class ground clearance. The end result is the perfect truck for work and play. " From their web site, it appears to be a dual motor AWD truck with a motor on each axle for optimized power to weight distribution. They have an impressive group of folks with a diverse skill set that should make this happen. Will they be able to compete with the big auto companies or survive to be the next Tesla of EV's? Who knows, they have staked out an interesting area that no one else has chosen. The Full Size truck market. Will be watching this new Auto Startup with interest to see if they can deliver what the US loves to consume. Trucks as an EV!

G. David Felt - Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com GM CEO Mary Barra states BOLT will be platform for complete series of EVs! This is exciting to see in this interview that Road/Show posted with GM CEO Mary Barra who was excited to talk about the BOLT and was asked about a Hybrid or EV Camero and she says anything is possible. This was based on the interviewer asking her thoughts about the Hybrid announcement by FORD of the mustang. They also talked about Hybrid trucks in California and Fords announcements of other EV's and Hybrids. Much more on Crossovers / SUVs etc. They also talk about Cadillac subscription service. Pretty good interview only 4:46 min long. Currently driving an XT5. Road/Show chat with GM CEO Mary Barra