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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Well written review. The 3.6L does need shown the door, peak torque at 5,000 RPM is like 90s Honda VTEC sort of numbers, it is just way too high in the rev range to do anything with. This vehicle would be better served with the 2.0T base and 3.0T V6 as an option and make the turbo V6 standard on Platinum trim. Skip the 20 inch wheels and save $2,000 if buying. And that goes for any car, every car seems to ride worse with 20" or larger.
  2. smk4565
    Escalade has moved up, but CTS moved up only because it replaced the STS. Plus you have inflation. In 2006 an SRX was $36,270, STS $41,020, DTS $41,195 Adjusted for inflation the SRX is $44,495, STS would be $50,322, and DTS would be $50,537. The XT5, CTS, and XTS are cheaper now compared to the SRX, STS, and DTS then. They are still basically selling cars in the same market space as they were 10 years ago.
  3. smk4565
    Perhaps in China, the Avista line will have more play and drive some profit there. But GM has Cadillac for a reason. If you want more than a Buick, GMC, Corvette or whatever, you go to Cadillac. GM in the past 10 years has been trying to push Corvette, Buick and GMC up market, Cadillac hasn't made a move. The thought of a $100,000 XT5 would be laughable, it is more than an Escalade, but there are competitors selling small and mid-size crossovers at that price point. If Cadillac doesn't get up there, and sits in the $35-70k range, I don't really see the point of pushing Buick and GMC up market on top of them.
  4. smk4565
    A Buick luxury trim doesn't make too much sense because that is what Cadillac is. Just like Chevy doesn't have a luxury Traverse because Buick builds one. If Buick can charge $10,000 extra for an Avista trim Lacrosse more power to them. They should do and take the money and run. But look at the Reserve and Balck label Lincolns, they aren't really doing anything. i think Cadillac would love to have higher trim cars and be able to option cars the way Porsche does, but I don't think they know how to get there. $100,000 XT5's is a big reach but you can run a Porsche Macan to that price and their customers are happy to pay it. Probably why Mercedes is so hell bent on going after Porsche.
  5. smk4565
    If it makes you feel better, the 2018 S550 will have 476 hp.
  6. smk4565
    All these "Range Rovers" make no sense. There is only one Range Rover in my mind and that is the big one that is a hard core off roader with lambs wool carpeting. All these watered down things should be called Land Rover Evoque or Velar. The F-Pace shares its aluminum chassis with the Jag XE, so this might be a sporty vehicle.
  7. smk4565
    On the Yukon Denali there is a powertrain upgrade, but there is not on the Terrain or Acadia, which is why I suggested those two. Acadia Denali has the same engine as a base Traverse. On Maybach there is no powertrain upgrade from the S550 and S600, but they lengthened the body of the car and raised the roof height and upgraded the inside, and the base car had a V12, not a lot of room to upgrade, plus it is a chauffuer driven car anyway.
  8. smk4565
    Agreed that the curvy look keeps it different from the Chevy and GMC and we know there will be a Cadillac version too. For sure there will be a 2.0t for China because of the displacement tax, so maybe it will be sold here too.
  9. smk4565
    I agree with Hyper, it isn't for me but more power to them to sell a Tahoe with wheel and trim upgrades for $70k. You charge what people are willing to pay. Of course it is huge money maker. It is like Porsche charging $750 for painted air vents or $1,500 to have a 911 logo painted on the door. People pay for that crap and it is pure profit. And agreed again with Hyper on there being some powertrain upgrade, like maybe a turbo or hybrid system on the Terrain and Acadia Denali trims that other wise are mechanical twins to the Chevy.
  10. smk4565
    Even at a division, $2 billion isn't much. Mercedes spend $1 billion on the mid-cycle refresh of the last E-class, this gets you like 8 cars for only double that money. Buick doesn't really even need the Regal, they could sell 3 crossovers and the LaCrosse, sedans sales are tanking anyway. And if Buick needs another sedan they can clone the Malibu or Cruze.
  11. smk4565
    The first AMG hybrid will be their hyper car that makes it's debut in September. There will be a 48 volt electric system on all Mercedes, that creates a mild hybrid affect if you want to count that. I think the real performance AMG hybrids are a couple years away mostly due to wanting to keep weight now, gotta get lighter batteries first, but they will come. I actually don't get the purpose of the GT4, they already have a C63 and E63 sedans. I don't get if they are going after E63 buyers who want even more performance, or GT buyers that want a sedan, but making the GT a sedan sort of makes it not as good. This is like the Aston Martin Rapide, except Aston Martin didn't have a sedan. I guess they just hate the Porsche Panamera, so if they want to take out Porsche I am all for it. If they are going to spend R&D dollars on a low volume vanity project though, I'd rather see it spend on a Lamborghini/Ferrari competitor to slot in between the GT and hyper car.
  12. smk4565
    Right except an XT3 is sized like an X3 or GLC, so it should be $39k and an XT5 like $52k if they were lining up with the Germans. They are lining themselves up with Lincoln.
  13. smk4565
    It isn't much money for a car company, but GM doesn't make money on it, they should just sell it. PSA would gain market share and have sizable chunks in France, UK and Germany, in time they can consolidate brands or models and get the profit from it that way. Makes sense for both sides.
  14. smk4565
    Photos of the test model, not even the production E-class. The E-class is the standard for interior and just about everything else in mid-size luxury sedans. I don't like the piano black on the E-class, I wish there was a wood trim substitute for that, not sure if there is. But then there is this with a lot of piano black:
  15. smk4565
    Without the optional leather package in the XT5 you get a lot of plastic and the door panels below the arm rest are plastic. I even thought the CT6 was just an average interior, you get better in an Audi A6 or Q7, or even a Volvo S90. When you sit in a lot of Buick, GMC, Chevy and Cadillac at once you see a lot of design similarities and parts sharing. And you can see the same dash shapes in a lot of these cars the Cadillac just swaps out the head unit and center stack from what a Chevy would have. i feel like XT3 is going to bring us an Equinox with the CUE center console and the Envision's 2 liter turbo. Because it is all about parts sharing and speedy development and low cost. We shall see when it is revealed.
  16. smk4565
    GLC43 coupe for that money!
  17. smk4565
    Not loyal to brand but I am just saying people that want a Cadillac or walk into the show room have one option. If you go into a Lincoln dealer you might debate between MKC and MKX because with options there is going to be a lot of price overlap. An XT3 will naturally steal some sales of an XT5, but steal some from Competiors also because small crossover is the fastest growing auto segment right now. i don't get how they can pile on $30k of options on an XT5 when there is no engine or transmission change. I did sit in an XT5 at the auto show with a sticker of $57k but no car sells at base price they are all optioned up. I don't see where the money went either, the interior seems just as cheap and plasticy as a Lincoln.
  18. smk4565
    XT5 sells because it is the only crossover in the show room. It is also mid-size vehicle for the price of a small european crossover, I think that helps it with female buyers with a family that want space. XT5 basically sells the same way the CTS sold in 2008-2013 era, it was a mid-size car for the price of a 3-series, that has appeal. It is the same formula Lexus used on the ES and the RX. It is a formula that works, but then you get into a situation that Lincoln and Lexus are in, where you have a mid-size SUV at $40k, and need to get a small and compact SUV below that.
  19. smk4565
    But what percentage of sedans are performance based? V-series is like 5% of ATS and CTS sales, yet they still build them. I happen to think the performance crossover market is getting ready to boom. And even if you aren't taking horsepower wars, rear drive products just have better ride and handling, even on a 250 hp vehicle it is noticeable. When the XT3 enters the market, what does it do better that a Lexus NX, MKC, RDX, Q3, Q5, BMW X1, Infiniti QX30 or whatever their small crossover is don't already do? It is already crowed marketplace in which it will be hard to stand out.
  20. smk4565
    The great thing about Mercedes is they cater to many tastes and many levels of performance. If you want a solid all around luxury sedan, the C-class does a great job. If you want an off road vehicle for Safari, the G-wagen does it, want a 570 hp track car they have the GT R. You want a convertible, they have 5 of them. You want a V12 limo they have that too. If you thought, gee how awesome would it be to have a Formula 1 car engine in my car, well it is coming. There is no ceiling. Cadillac seems to have self imposed ceilings because no SUV can be better or more expensive than an Escalade and no sports car at GM can be faster than a Corvette. And not sure what the goal is with CT6, if that is flagship or place holder, it isn't enough for a flagship but maybe there will be a CT8.
  21. smk4565
    That is pretty funny, I like the Darwin Award winners line. The C-class isn't too cheap though, they start at $39k but I just saw a test of a C63 that was over $90k. I actually think the C63 is priced a bit high. And we know Mercedes cars cost more than rival BMWs, Audis or Lexus. And they beat them still so they don't need the CLA to do that. Only ballers and rappers (and actors) drive G-wagens because that is who can afford them. In reality the GLE is the same size and a much better daily driver and it costs half as much. But there are those willing to pay for an icon even if they will never use the 3 locking differentials or even know what they do.
  22. smk4565
    But an ATS-V engine and chassis would be a good match for the Macan Alfa Romeo and coming GLC63. And where is the X5 M and Cayenne competitor? Those things have been anoint a dozen years. If Cadillac said the next CTS will be on the Malibu platform and the CTS-V will have a 3.0 TT V6 with a Haldex all wheel drive system, GM fans would flip out. Yet Cadillac builds crossovers (which out sell sedans) with this philosophy and GM fans praise it.
  23. smk4565
    And yet Mercedes is charging around $500,000 for the G650 Landaulet. I don't see any Cadillacs selling at that price. The RX, NX and RDX are top sellers because they are cheap. I guarantee that people buying a Porsche Cayenne or BMW X5 care that it is a rear drive based vehicle especially those buying the 500 up V8 versions. If they didn't care they wouldn't spend $90k on a crossover the same size a $45k Lexus. Sedan sales are dropping across the market, last month mid size sedans dropped like 24% while crossovers were up 18% or around there. The future is crossovers but Without rear drive you can't do performance. What Cadillac is doing with their crossovers is the same as using the Cruze and Malibu platforms to target the 3-series and 5-series. The problem Cadillac fans have is they never had a good crossover (with exception maybe being the Northstar SRX) so they don't miss it. Imagine BMW without the X5 M or Porsche with no Cayenne Turbo S, or If Land Rover decided to scrap all the Range Rover's off road ability and build it on a fwd mid size Sedan platform because most people don't go off road. But Cadillac never had a true off roader or a 650 hp supercharged V8 SRX so their fans don't miss what they never had.
  24. smk4565
    Cadillac's number 1 selling SUV and #1 selling sedan are front wheel drive, and XT3 and XT7 are coming with more front wheel drive. The dealers will pressure them for product volume, they'll get that with crossovers based on Chevy/Buick products because it is fastest and cheapest to do, that is just how GM works.
  25. smk4565
    I think it is very luxurious.
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