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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Cadillac's number 1 seller is front drive and the XTS is front drive, XT4 is front drive. That is a lot of front wheel drive. And the bean counters read those sales charts and see front drive selling and CTS and ATS not. Will they be wider and have more interior space?
  2. smk4565
    They might replace ATS and CTS with a sedan based on the Malibu platform for all we know. Never underestimate GM's ability to cost cut and cut corners. I figure as long as the Camaro is around, they'll make a 4 door sedan on the same platform, that is Cadillac's mid-size sedan. CT6 for large sedan, the rest of the line up will be crossovers. Look how crowded the sedan segment is, and a lot of these entry lux sedans are selling 1,000 units a month, hard way to make a profit. 2, 3, 4 liter engines is a no brainier since China has displacement taxes at those numbers. I wonder if JDN is getting paid by Infiniti to run Cadillac into the ground. I don't think he is being coy, I think he is clueless how to beat the Germans, and he trails all 3 Japanese luxury brands now too.
  3. smk4565
    Floating roof strikes again! Why does no one make a floating roof 4-door coupe? Beat those dead horses some more.
  4. smk4565
    I agree with those who say it has derivative styling, the headlights look like they came off a 3-series, there is a lot of Mazda vibe with this car, and that is the problem with the Genesis brand overall, they don't really have a unique design language. It just looks like a mishmash of other brands. The interior looks like it came from a Mazda 6, which is nice for a family sedan, not so good if competing with Mercedes and Audi and BMW. I think that interior will let them down unless they are priced way less than the Germans. Or at CLA/A3 money, not A4/C-class money. The powertrain options look solid, the ATS really needs a turbo V6, that 3.6 liter is down 100 lb-ft of torque to the G70. If Hyundai wants to make a splash they would put the 5.0 V8 in this car with twin turbos, or do some sort of hybrid off the 3.3 V6 that adds like a 150 hp electric motor.
  5. smk4565
    Mercedes was the best in Formula 1 in 1954-1955, you know back when they didn't make luxury or performance cars and just made taxis. They best Ferrari then, now that they are back in the sport they aren't beating Ferrari again. Mercedes is joining Formula E so we'll see if they can win that. McLaren is ditching Honda engines in F1 for Renault next year so they should actually finish a race and be competitive.
  6. smk4565
    This car is biblically terrible. Looks ugly, interior appears to be designed on and Etch-a-sketch by a child with ADHD, and fitted together with Big Lots level switch gear, I think that door handle came out of a 90s Corolla. Gutless engine, as to be expected with a Lexus. Here is a fun fact, Lexus has only sold 1 vehicle ever with over 400 lb-ft of torque and it is the LX570 with 403 lb-ft. That's right, the LC-F, the GS-F and even the LF-A have torque ratings in the 300's.
  7. smk4565
    JDN is a bad manager. Infiniti sales and Audi sales have gone up since he left those organizations and Cadillac has fallen to 7th place in American market sales. GM can do chassis and suspensions, they are pretty good at that, Cadillacs, Corvettes and Camaros all often get high marks in that regard. But look at every comparison test a Cadillac has been in over the past 15 years, and every time, interior, build quality, NVH, refinement, etc always doom them. JDN inherited a known problem, has done nothing to fix it, nothing to elevate the Cadillac brand, nothing to fix the marketing. And people crash their Ferraris because they are upset and frustrated with 4 years of losing to Mercedes.
  8. smk4565
    True on the C8 and hardly anything is know about the mid-engine corvette. Project One is a whole other level that you almost can't compare anything to it. Lewis Hamilton had this to say: “I love cars. And I’ve been saying to Mercedes for so long, why don’t you do a real car? Like, you’ve got AMG sports cars, but I’m talking about a supercar. Why is Ferrari building these supercars? We can build a better car than them. We build a better racing car than them, why don’t you guys build something that takes Mercedes to another stratosphere. And eventually I guess, after I’ve been saying it for ten years, so eventually they’ve gone ahead with it, and I think that’s cool.” And so now Mercedes is in another stratosphere and can take it to Ferrari on the road, just as they have on the track the past 4 years.
  9. smk4565
    I think the word "small" doesn't fit with Bentley, so I don't know what a small SUV would be. I can't see them doing a Porsche Macan size SUV. Why not make an electric SUV? They have the Continental, I don't think they really need another mid-size sports car, and they have 2 big sedans. EV makes sense for Bentley, but their owners like big cruisers.
  10. smk4565
    There is the X5 M and X6 M also, Range Rover SVR, Alfa Romeo Stelvio, etc. But I feel like Porsche is Mercedes biggest competitor in performance SUVs. Until BMW gets an X3 M and X7 M anyway. Porsche buyers don't care if it costs $140,000 they care that they can get leather wrapped AC vents and illuminated "Turbo S" door sills. And carbon fiber engine covers, got to have those. If there isn't a carbon fiber rear wiper blade option on the Cayenne, Porsche better add that, they are leaving $900 on the table without that.
  11. smk4565
    Project one is estimated to be under 2,800 lbs. One estimate was at 2,650 lbs. F1 technology.
  12. smk4565
    The 707 hp will make it worth the price of admission.
  13. smk4565
    The Porsche 918 gets 67 mpg-e with full charge, the Project One will beat that, it weighs over 1,000 lbs less and has more batteries. The Porsche 918 on gas only still does 26 mpg combined, the Project One should be able to beat that since it 1/3 the displacement and the weight advantage. Perhaps Volt would have been a better comparison than Prius since it is a plug in hybrid.
  14. smk4565
    $100k for an optioned up Trackhawk, and no FCA car has an interior worth $100k, not even the Maseratis.
  15. smk4565
    Depends on how you define performance. Personally I would take a Mercedes SL over an AMG GT because I'd rather have a comfortable cruiser with more luxury than a hardcore feel every pot hole sports car. AMG is working with cars designed to be luxury cruisers first and modifying to be sporty. The one exception, besides Project One, is the GT which AMG did from scratch and it sets faster lap times than a great majority of cars on any track including the Nurburgring where it beats every Chevy ever made. If your definition of performance is lap times are all that matter on a budget than the Camaro is the way to go. We seem to be. But it is pointless. The Project One is in territory no road car has ever seen. This is faster acceleration than a Bugatti Chiron with handling better than an Ariel Atom and gas mileage better than a Prius. Basically that is what they have built.
  16. smk4565
    I liked the XLR 's looks but the interior had cheap materials and with the 320 hp base engine didn't make it worth $77,000 at the time. With a better interior and more motor it could have worked. The SL has 302 hp base back then but they also had a 600 hp V12 and the C6 Vette had 500 hp then. The XLR's problem was it was slower than a Corvette and cost way more with little interior upgrade. They should learn from that though and do another Cadillac sports car above the Corvette. The Cadillac brand is dying and about to be a bunch of dressed up Chevy crossovers, which is the state of Lincoln right now.
  17. smk4565
    The C63 S sedan was the only one they had tested, the old C63 black series was actually faster (2:58.0) but that was a 2012 car, not really relevant now. Everything else on the list I posted is current generation. The 2014 Mercedes SL63 ran a 2:59.1 and has had a refresh since then. For a convertible that is really fast. When the Camaro gets 4 doors then it can compete with the C63. The C63 beats the M3 and ATS-V, its direct competitors. If you look at all around car, not just lap time, look at refinement, rear seat room, luxury features, interior, etc, and compare a C63 to a Camaro and they aren't in the same league. If your sole purpose for buying a car is going on track days, then the Camaro 1LE is the way to go. The C8 isn't going to be close to Project One, I think you don't realize how fast Project One is. A Koenigsegg One:1 with a 3,000 lb weight and 1,340 hp does 0-200 kph in 6.6 seconds. The Project One is nearly a second faster than that. And Project One is designed for corners, not straight line or top speed. And Project One can travel on battery alone for 15 miles. If Chevy racing is so great, there is a spot in Formula 1, they could even take over Sauber or Haas and go from there. Bring it on, I would love to see more people challenge Mercedes.
  18. smk4565
    Car and Driver Lighting Lap times from this month's issue: 2016 Cadillac ATS-V sedan: 2:59.8 2015 Mercedes C63 sedan: 2:59.2 2017 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio 2:58.6 2016 Cadillac CTS-V: 2:56.8 2018 Mercedes-AMG E63 S: 2:55.4 (fastest sedan ever recorded) 2018 Chevy Camaro ZL1 1LE: 2:45.7 2015 Corvette Z06: 2:44.6 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT R: 2:43.4 2015 Porsche 918 Spyder 2:43.1 seconds (all time record holder) The fastest AMG coupe beats the fastest Camaro and fastest Corvette ever. And it doesn't end there, Mercedes has Project One! 0-200 kph acceleration times: Camaro ZL1: 13.1 seconds C7 Corvette Z06: 10.2 seconds Porsche 911 Turbo S 9.3 seconds Ferarri LaFerrari 6.9 seconds Bugatti Chiron 6.5 seconds Project One < 6 seconds See the gap?
  19. smk4565
    Never can have too many CUVs, might as well bring it over. They could use something below Sportage for sure.
  20. smk4565
    How are they getting spanked by Camaros and Mustangs? First off the Camaro and Mustang aren't luxury cars. So they aren't really that comparable. Look at the interior and luxury feature list on a C-class vs a Camaro, not even close. Secondly a C63 out performs a Camaro SS in some ways, can't match a 1LE, but then again the C-class is a luxury sedan first, not a sports car. AMG makes the GT if you want a hardcore sports car. Agreed, AMG does have performance SUVs, something you can't find at GM, and something Cadillac should have. And it is good that cars like the 4 cylinder Camaro, the Miata, Golf GTI, WRX, etc exist because they have fun to drive at an affordable price. An AMG car or Porsche is out of reach for the masses. Here is a question, is the Chevrolet brand getting diluted but the Sonic and Spark? Is Chevy losing Corvette sales because they sell sub compact bottom feeders like that and perennial rental car Malibus in the same dealer? I always hear Mercedes haters saying CLA kills the brand, but never complain about a $100,000 Corvette next to a $13,000 Spark and a $19,000 City Express rebadged Nissan at the same dealership.
  21. smk4565
    Bring it on, I'll put a Mercedes interior next to Jeep any day. I imagine a new X5 M should show up in a couple years, and Land Rover has their SVR's so there is some competition for performance utility. All the profits from that Grand Cherokee Trackhawk go back to Italy so Sergio can make more Alfas. Just so he can spin Alfa off as it's own company and take his golden parachute.
  22. smk4565
    At least someone is giving AMG competition in SUVs. I never was a Cayenne fan, always seemed to have odd styling to me.
  23. smk4565
    Few things since I don't want to quote everyone. On Corvette interiors, remember them the XLR came out with a better than Corvette interior and fell flat on its face vs Jaguar and Mercedes and whatever else they tried to compete with? The C6 had a worse interior than the XLR and the XLR didn't make it against luxury brands. I think the C7 interior is fine for the $60-90k range when you get over $100k I think it is out of steam. Think of it this way, is the Corvette interior better than a CT6 Platinum? Because the top end buyers in the $100-200k range will demand more than CT6 luxury combined with high level performance.
  24. smk4565
    I agree with this. There is good value in the Corvette at the low end because you are buying performance and not a luxury car. At $100k or more you have added performance only usable on a race track and now you still have an interior that was acceptable at $60k but isn't worth $100k.
  25. smk4565
    I get that GM has a few really strong performance cars but Cadillac has ATS and CTS V. 3 V models, the C-class alone has 3 AMG 63 models. Where are the V-series crossovers? What if someone wants Corvette performance with an luxury above Escalade Platinum? I am all for a turbo 4 Camaro and $30k sports cars because that is where the bulk of car buyers are Chevey needs to hit the mainstream segments hard. Cadillac V series can't beat Chevy right now, perhaps a reason their cars don't sell, among many others. AMG proves with this car there is no limit as to where they will go. BMW and Audi probably won't do a hyper car, we know Cadillac and Lincoln won't so if you want luxury performance, there is a clear choice. Even the M division is fading.
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