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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Because 48 volt is for gas engines, replacing the 12 volt system that ever other car has. And they have other plans for Tesla.
  2. smk4565
    This car is dead man walking. The S-class owns this segment, and to try to keep up with it, would cost Jaguar or anyone else too many R&D dollars. The 7-series has enough global volume and platform share with Rolls to stay profitable for years to come, but you wonder how Jaguar or Maserati last much longer.
  3. smk4565
    Mercedes had integrated screens before because my 08 has one, then they want to the floating screen which looks stupid and BMW and Audi jumped on board or BMW may have been first, but it became common. I prefer a built in screen, and Mercedes doesn't use touch screens so if it is far to reach it doesn't matter in their case. no one mentioned how the 3.5 liter Navigator has more power than the 6.2 liter Escalade and here is a fun fact, the original Navigator had a 5.4 liter V8 making 230 hp. Progress.
  4. smk4565
    Diesel isn't worth it for 3% of sales, especially when electric is the future. Might as well just invest in the future, work on the 48 volt system and new inline engines and hybrids.
  5. smk4565
    Every car has a pentagonal grill now. That front end could be on a Ford or Subaru and no one would even question it. No originality on the design, but the inside looks nice.
  6. smk4565
    The 300SL dragster is surely a kit car because an original SL even in bad shape is a million dollars. The restored or original ones go for over $2 million. No one is hacking up a 2 million dollar car. I also saw the Jaguar F-Type 2.0, which is interesting, that is a great looking car and with a 2 liter probably really light and would handle great. I won't be fast but it should still do 60 in 6 seconds I'd imagine, it isn't that big a car.
  7. smk4565
    The Hellcat is more all around yes, though it isn't going to beat an M5 or CTS-V in handling. But the Demon really is a 1 trick pony, it is made for drag strips, which it is awesome at, but it isn't really made to do anything else. AMG did used to just put a big engine in a 4500 lb sedan but they seem to have evolved over the past 10 years, putting more focus on handling and braking too.
  8. smk4565
    Agreed. Even Dodge says this car is basically just for the drag strip. And that they weren't trying to make a sports car or track car or pony car. They just wanted a beast on the drag strip and they succeeded at that.
  9. smk4565
    AMG doesn't build one trick ponies that only work on a drag strip though. They build cars for the road and for race tracks with corners. That being said AMG may take the 0-60 and 1/4 mile records next year. Their little 1.6 V6 makes more power than the Demon and in a car weighing half as much. I didn't know you had a P100D, you need to find a dragstrip with a Demon next year and race it and report the results.
  10. smk4565
    Mercedes is integrating the screens into the dash now and since every just copies Mercedes then in a few years the others will too. This is a big upgrade over the current Navigator which I feel is 10 years old at this point, I am surprised they only got 200 lbs out of it.
  11. smk4565
    I thought the Model S was like 2.4 or 2.5 on 0-60 time. On 1/4 mile the Model S starts to lose a little bit, because it is so amazing off the line, but runs out of steam a little over 100 mph. I think the Model S still runs a 11 second and change quarter mile though. And excellent point that the Model S has actually seats and interior trim, and they will probably charge Model S money for this Dodge.
  12. smk4565
    While all that above sounds awesome, I have to imagine that Dodge might go bankrupt with warranty claims. Their 300 hp cars aren't reliable, I can't imagine that with 800+ hp and repeated drag runs that the engine, drivetrain and transmission won't be shot after like 20,000 miles, let alone 60,000. I give credit to FCA for creativity on how to keep a a 10 or 12 year old model going, but at some point they have to make a regular car too, or replace the LX cars, and it seems like they have nothing in the pipeline. This will help pad the profit margins for another year, which makes them more attractive to a potential buyer. It is hard to run a mass market car company on limited editions SRT's and Alfa Romeos that don't sell and Fiats that don't sell and don't make money. But if they go down, good to go down swinging.
  13. smk4565
    The weight is down over 300 lbs, so with that and the 9-speed it should be a little quicker, it is rated at 15/22 mpg with all wheel drive which is pretty thirsty. I don't like the grille, looks like the Mercedes diamond grille (which I don't like as much as their classic grille) and the logo looks like a Chrysler logo. They copied the Lexus/Nissan/Mazda "floating roof" D pillar effect, not a fan of that anywhere. Overall, the outside looks alright, it looks a bit Asian, but I think a lot of people looking for a premium, family hauler crossover will like that look. Inside looks better than a Lincoln, or Acura, looks the part of a $45-50k crossover.
  14. smk4565
    They are like Lincoln with the new face every 3 years. Keep throwing things against the wall and see what sticks product design. Maybe if their top end engine had over 290 hp, they would actually get car enthusiasts to look at their product. As it is, they are just fancy Accords, or fancy Accord Euros.
  15. smk4565
    Agreed that all cars are expensive but $29k for a Cruze is crazy. You can get a decently equipped Camry for that and the Camry will hold value like crazy, even if it drives like crap. I guess they have the Sonic and Spark for cheap cars, but as they push Cruz up market, then you have to push Malibu up, and then Impala gets squeezed and eliminated.
  16. smk4565
    Shouldn't the car detect the incapacitated driver and drive itself to the nearest hospital?
  17. smk4565
    Where is the Sport? A base S-class could tune this thing up.
  18. smk4565
    Because I am interested in autonomous car technology, even though I like driving and would prefer to drive myself. I also think it would be really neat to have a car that you could drive to the airport and then have it drive itself back home and park itself in the garage. Pushing the limits of technology interests me.
  19. smk4565
    Well that is why I want to know how long Super Cruise is. Plus it is highway only. These current "autonomous" drive systems are really just crash avoidance nannies which are good for safety, but aren't really "self driving." Freightliner has a level 3 autonomous truck on Nevada roads now. But the real finish line is when you can get in a car, type in a destination and it just goes there.
  20. smk4565
    Hands free for how long? You can drive an E-class "hands free" for about 45 seconds before it wants hands on the wheel again.
  21. smk4565
    But isn't the important thing here how a 241 hp turbo 4 GLC is faster 0-60 than a 310 hp V6 XT5 or a 300 hp V6 MKX?
  22. smk4565
    But a downsized turbo 4 all the time is going to be a V6 with cylinder cut off. For V-series cars, or expensive sports cars and luxury cars the CAFE numbers are less of a concern, because they are getting profit margin, which can in turn help pay any fines for missing CAFE targets or any other country's targets. And the volume is low anyway. But when you look at something like a Fusion, Camry, Rav4, etc, they are selling 300-400,000 of those a year, they need ever 1 mpg improvement they can get. And even Acadia/Enclave/Traverse combine for 150k a year, maybe 200k units, Ford probably sells that many Explorers. The pickups are going to be the killer to Ford and GM, you are going to see 2 liter turbos in F150s and Silverados by 2025. The ATS-V is rated at 17/25 mpg, there are V8s that do that or beat it. I love V8s, but this engine downsize trend isn't over. If you think about it, the carmakers have more ground to cover from 2017-2025 CAFE than they did from 2008-2015 and crossovers and SUVs are outselling cars, so they lost the ability to offset thirsty trucks with cheap cars.
  23. smk4565
    That is probably all true, but manufacturers are still going to go with the turbo 4 because they get better gas mileage, weigh less, and take up less space. If a car is designed for 4 cylinder only they can cut weight on the body and cut space under hood and apply that to the cabin. And even on something like an E-class wilhich is made to fit a V8 they dropped that 3.5 V6 in favor of 2.0t because of fuel economy regs, emissions regs and displacement tax. It isn't about what the consumer wants it is about meeting regulations to a lot of these cars.
  24. smk4565
    I thought that too, a Model X is faster. The Stelvio may not beat it in a straight line, but would destroy it on a track and that is from FCA.
  25. smk4565
    I think it would start over $70,000, not below. This was expected and it is cool that they make these 700 hp vehicles. But at the same time, FCA doesn't have mass market cars/crossovers that people want. Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat sales are falling off the map, even Jeep has been down this year.
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