G. David Felt

Loads? are you referring to the bed, because the current and only aluminum truck on the market has double the load capacity of the competition. Yes, my experience with aluminum box's and beds on trucks is they wear out faster than steel. As such, I could see the inner liner of the bed being high strength steel but the outer shell being aluminum.

That is one way to look at it but then the MB GLA and GLK are also competitors with Buick, Acura and just about everyone else in the auto industry based on the starting price. Just another average CUV.

This is good, I can see an Aluminum exterior shell but a steel inner one that is actually used for the loads.Be interesting to see how GM implements the aluminum into the next generation SUV's and Trucks. Be interesting to see how they hold up in work and off road.

Take the Terrain with the 2.9L Baby Duramax and Rock it in AWD mode and still be in the high 30's for gas mileage I bet. I personally see no use for the clatter, the noise is not needed and I love that when GM went to Isuzu to build the Original Duramax one of the top 3 items was to be quiet like a gas engine. This proves you can have all the power of Diesel and quiet like regular gas. The Duramax is an awesome engine and my choice or the terribly noisy Powerstroke and the quieter but still noisy Cummins.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com 1969 Chevrolet Corvette 427/430 L88 http://rickcole.com/1969-chevrolet-corvette-427430-l88-coupe/ Found this on Rick Cole Auctions web site, was not aware myself of the L88 Corvette, but WOW talk about SEX on Wheels! This is a freakin BEAUTIFUL Corvette. Quoting from their page as this car goes on auction and based on their estimate is expected to sell between $650,00 to $750,000 dollars. Only 2,576 original miles. 1 of 10 built with a 4.56 positraction rear axle. I love this part of the stated info: When launched in late 1967, the L88 option created much confusion among Corvette enthusiasts with its laughably conservative 430-horsepower rating and stiff pricing making the L88 seem less powerful at twice the price of the former top L71 427/435 Tri-Power unit. In fact, the L88 produced well over 500 ponies – stock. Chevrolet’s disinformation campaign actively discouraged L88 sales to customers who were not professional racers and in company literature, Chevrolet cryptically declared the L88 Corvette an “off-road vehicle.”

Interesting issue, I found the following on this: http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/PlayStation-3-Support/ps3-3d-glasses-are-not-working/td-p/39284785 Seems to be an issue from Playstation as I see other threads where the PS 3D glasses are hard to sync with various other manufactures.

I just do not get this brand. I get the Idea that they wanted a cheap entry way for people in Highschool and college to get an auto and then move up to Toyota and then to Lexus. So I get this thought process. What I do not get is just how ugly, Cheap looking these autos are. The interior is one of the worst right there with Yugo. I could get far better options from Ford, GM or Dodge.

Found the original story on The Street (http://www.thestreet.com/story/13249495/1/toyotas-newest-tacoma-truck-a-salvo-to-regain-us-vehicle-market-share.html ) I will say that the GoPro mounting points will be popular I think with buyers. I wonder if GM will consider doing this, the only way to cover your backside is to record your pull over to counter the cops. Will be interesting to see if this trend takes over.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com 2016 Toyota Tacoma, Butt Ugly or just my take on their design style? MSN reposted a story from The Street about the all new 2016 Toyota Tacoma. http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/new-toyota-tacoma-aims-to-regain-us-market-share/ar-BBlBQ9s?ocid=ansfinap11 I can see that they are going for a very butch look on their trucks / SUV's / CUV's but I am not a fan of this body style, the nose is clearly taken from the (Personal Opinion) BUTT UGLY 4Runner. With that said, I will say that the military looking side of the truck is nice and I am sure current Tacoma owners will love to upgrade to this. I wonder as the story says, can Toyota recover their lost market share since our modern Great Depression that hit the US and will this steal sales from the GM twins? Will they add a Diesel to the power train lineup like GM is doing? This should be an interesting battle to watch between Toyota and GM. Hopefully Drew or Mudd will get one ASAP to test drive. What is your thought on this?

Wonder how much additional burn the CUV Tesla X will add to the equation? They really need to either get enough models to break even and start to be profitable in 18 months or else they will have to be consumed by some other auto giant.

I am very happy to hear this, I know my Cadillac dealer has become far more customer focused with service, but I will say that GM does need to change the way they do things with Cadillac and focus on upgrading the dealerships to be new and fresh, focus on service and quality. I think there are many ways they can improve and this sounds like a good start.

It is freakin amazing the info on the new LT4 V8 engine. Superior to just about anything I have seen that is V8 DOHC. http://media.chevrolet.com/media/us/en/chevrolet/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2014/Aug/0820-8speed/0820-compact-powerhouse.html Interesting to see this comparison to other supercars. Weird but hard to find a comparison chart to Ferrari's. This is the only one I could find for a 2000 F1

Those would normally go for UberBlack, but only the very newest ones will still qualify for the age requirement which is less than 5 years old. I can't see these as being super profitable to run in UberX service. In UberX service, you want the best fuel economy possible. A previous generation Lincoln MKZ hybrid or Ford Fusion Hybrid might be a good idea if you can find one cheap. I would go for an Escalade Hybrid

You have a better chance of actually buying and driving the hottest new James Bond car than the Lexus.

Monday Morning at work and having to wait on people that take for ever to do a simple job just to justify their job.

This will be an exciting engine that will shock most people and should help sales of Diesels. Like the Duramax and how nice and Quiet it is, I agree that in auto's the engine needs to be quiet and in trucks you can accept more noise but that does not mean it is any less powerful. Just look at the faithful who love the quiet Duramax in comparison to the solid Cummins or Powerstroke.

Maybe if Lexus stopped doing what the American auto makers did in the 80's and 90's with poorly done rebadging. You sit in a Lexus and all you see is some glorified bits on a blaw Toyota. Pathetic.

Hybrids make the most sense to me if you want to be an uber driver.

MPower, I have no problem with you expressing you opinion so vividly. I welcome all who want to share their passion and respect each other here. I just have a difference of opinion in regards to reving, HP and Torque. I understand the rev thing as I have two Yamaha Wave Runners SVHO that are a blast to run though I do find it crazy that I have to rev to 12,000 RPM to go 65MPH on the water. I have seen plenty of quality engines in boats that only have to rev to 4k to 5k RPM to go just as fast. Torque = Motion HP = Sustaining that Motion Without proper Torque to get moving it does not matter how much HP you have if you cannot get moving quickly, but like I said, having driven my share of Italin auto's I also respect people who like to rev the engine and hear it before actually moving. In response to your OHV versus DOHC V8's, I am NOT a fan of DOHC engines in any size. They are Bloated Fat Pigs that make HP with little Torque. Did Cadillac build a DOHC engine? Yes the Northstar and while a nice engine it was far heavier than needed and no real gains over a quality built DI Pushrod V8. Plenty of Evidence has been given to show that we do not have to build Bloated Fat 4, 6, 8 or any size engines and Turbo's have their pro's and con's. Dwightlooi who started this thread has intelligently shown that we can achieve all the same things in traditional Pushrod engines, yet marketing has twisted the public's perception as such, DOHC Turbo engines will become more common, but not because they are a superior engine. IMHO Hope you all have a great weekend. No problem, thank you for checking with me.

G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Robotic Charger for Tesla August 6th, Tesla quietly posted to You Tube the following video. The goal is to eventually have self plug in chargers at your home so when you drive into the garage or where ever you park, this would automatically move and plug in your car to recharge it. It is pretty amazing to watch.

Did you just say it aint the torque that gives us the dopamine surplus we crave when driving? Well...I could see by your style of driving enthusiasm....that may be true. But...Im a muscle car guy...and what you just said sir, couldnt be farther from the truth....for me at least... So...instead of judging somebody's taste in style of cars...one could have an open mind instead. Because...I could easily say this: Anyone who has ever driven a real muscle car...(and then I could go on a similar rant like yours defending and praising everything that makes muscle cars great while using examples of how a pushrod V8 is the best...yada yada yada...and using GM's vehicles...Corvettes, Camaros, Cadillac V Series and and V8s as well asHemi Hellcats...yes...supercharged as proof....) But you see...all that you said is just subjective BS... What I do see though...is your love for V8s...DOHC or pushrods... What I do see is your love for performance cars... So...why must you push your philosophy and denounce another? Ill never get that from people... Agreed and Since F1 cars are not street legal nor can they really do real world driving duties, I will take a V8 with a Flat Torque curve and HP equal to Torque. Without the Torque you will never have the push in the gut feel off the line nor that same feel when you are doing 60, 70 or more and stomp it to go even faster. Having driven a number of Italian sports cars, they are nice but a very different feel compared to a traditional USA Muscle Car. Both have their place but I have to agree with 442 that it is and always will be subjective to each individual. Love of V8's CHECK Love of Performance Auto's CHECK For me give me a proper big block with 500 hp 500 ft lbs of torque and I will be happy. Marketing has totally screwed up people to think that only HP counts, without Torque in the right places all that HP is a waste of fuel. In regards to the Germans, glad you like to send your hard earned money to Germany, I will stay with supporting my fellow American keeping my profits here and buying the quality American Auto's that is way better than those that love their asian / european auto's know about and much cheaper to repair, maintain and drive. Honestly, it amazes me how many people forget that when America was building the worlds best cars, Asia and Europe were trash, and in the late 70's to early 90's is all people here think about in regards to garbage american auto's and yet there were many awesome cars and trucks still built then. Did the Asians bring 100K mile tune ups and pretty much trouble free driving for the 100K miles? YES, US was still stuck on 30K tune ups and many have proven to be LAZY about taking care of their ride so then the auto runs worse and they can only say nasty things about US auto's, but there is plenty of dirt to share as every auto maker has built their fair share of garbage.

I would stick with the BFGoodrich All Terrain, far superior tire over the Wrangler. It's amazing how much different and rugged the truck looks with just the A/T tires. But yet, from what I've read(I read quite a bit on tires, actually - last job was a service tech changing oil, tires, light builbs, batteries..etc.) the BFG All-Terrain T/O are about the best you can get for this look AND off road performance. But if it were my truck and I know I won't be doing any serious venturing off-road I'd go with something more like the BFG Rugged Terrain T/A ( http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=Rugged+Terrain+T%2FA ). It still has a good ruged look but it isn't really agessive. I wouldn't want to sacrifice much on-road performance for looks, just not worth it. I can understand that but the Terrain KO are great, not really noisy and I usually get between 80-100K miles on a set. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO Very impressive that you score 80-100k on a set of those. Very Very impressive. What did/do you have them on? See if I were to put a set on a hypothetical truck that I don't own I would be coming from cars/suv where even a small amount of tire noise would be annoying. So, baby steps it is. lol I have these tires on my 1994 Suburban, 1998 Dakota, 1999 Durango currently, they rock and keep on going. I have on my 2008 Trailblazer SS AWD the Bridgestone Duelers as well as on my 2006 Escalade ESV since these are low profile. Both tires rock for trucks and suvs, but I do like the look of the BF Goodrich tire best.

I hadn't heard of it before (I was dealing with a family medical issue during SEMA last year)... but it was a SEMA concept... i think they should build it. At least we know a 3rd gen avalanche would have looked pretty darned good. X10000 Lets not forget that as a Chevy Avalache and an Escalade EXT they would have sold another 50K units or so if memory serves me right.

I would stick with the BFGoodrich All Terrain, far superior tire over the Wrangler. It's amazing how much different and rugged the truck looks with just the A/T tires. But yet, from what I've read(I read quite a bit on tires, actually - last job was a service tech changing oil, tires, light builbs, batteries..etc.) the BFG All-Terrain T/O are about the best you can get for this look AND off road performance. But if it were my truck and I know I won't be doing any serious venturing off-road I'd go with something more like the BFG Rugged Terrain T/A ( http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=Rugged+Terrain+T%2FA ). It still has a good ruged look but it isn't really agessive. I wouldn't want to sacrifice much on-road performance for looks, just not worth it. I can understand that but the Terrain KO are great, not really noisy and I usually get between 80-100K miles on a set. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO

Agree they are both lovely packages, the TrailBoss edition will be wicked in the Special Green Paint job. I still in the Z71 they need to dump the stupid plastic airdam as it is an offroad truck.