smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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Cadillac has 3 twin turbos in production now... you just refuse to see them on the options sheet because for some reason it isn't exactly the one you want. ATS-V engine is put against a V8 Mercedes, and a V8 Lexus IS-F. CTS V-sport was aimed against the 550i, E550/CLS550, Infiniti M56, Audi S6, and Jaguar XF 5.0, and all those have V8s. Cadillac is trying to put an NA V6 against the boosted sixes from the Europeans, and a twin turbo V6 against the boosted V8s of the Europeans. That is my problem with the strategy. I'd like to see Cadillac come up with a 3.6-4.0 liter twin turbo V8 for the ATS-V, CTS V-sport, CT6 V-sport, and future performance crossovers, and future full size coupe/convertible product. Then they can have 2 liter turbo as a base engine, 3 liter turbo V6 as a mid-level (maybe 2 boost levels, like a 350 hp and 400 hp version) and a twin turbo V8.
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A. Why isn't the twin turbo V6 in production yet? This isn't new stuff, a 2010 Ford Taurus had a twin turbo V6. Poor planning by Cadillac 4 years ago. B. If you want to support American jobs it is better to by an Accord, X3, GLE or GLC (which are all made in the USA) rather than a Fusion, MKZ or SRX which are not. CTS is American made, E-class is German made, the argument works in that segment, but doesn't in many others.
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I am a cylinder snob. I would rather have a 3.2 liter V8 than a 3.5 liter V6. I think you can't replace that V8 sound. There are a lot of 1.5-1.8 liter four cylinder engine hitting the market, double that up and you have a 3.0-3.6 liter V8 that would be some good stuff.
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Cadillac should be making more profit (total dollars) than Chevrolet. If Cadillac were properly managed, then it would be responsible for at least 50% of GM's net profit. I doubt that is the case, and GM will never break the numbers down. But consider Audi alone makes more profit than Chevy, Buick, GMC,and Cadillac COMBINED!
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Johan did nothing for Infiniti, changing names was a mistake, G37 was all they had. It would be like Cadillac dropping Escalade for XT8. Infiniti has no soul, no identity, their SUVs are just Nissans, they mostly just have that V6, which now everyone has a good V6. They had that 420 hp V8 a few years back, haven't done anything with it since, the styling is boring and bland. How hard is it to turbo an engine? Turbo the VQ V6 and put 2 turbos on that V8. Also no halo car, no flagship car, 1 hybrid that no one buys. Poor product planning, no clear brand image, inconsistent marketing all left them drifting aimlessly. And Johan is bringing that expertise to Cadillac, let's see if he learned anything.
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All crossovers are expensive. $54k for an X3 is nor more ridiculous than $31k for a Rav4. What the X3 has going for it is 3-series chassis, Inline 6 engine and ZF 8-speed transmission. The X3 can run with an Ecboost Mustang or a Camaro V6 in a 0-60 sprint, might even win the drag race between the 3. Most of these small crossovers are derived on Focus or Civic platform, so the X3 has the better foundation than the Lincoln, Acura, Lexus crowd. That interior is looking really tired though, the GLC will eat the X3 for lunch, and the GLC has more power. BMW better get that Carbon Core and the next-gen 335 hp inline six in the X3 asap.
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Why do we have to wait for craftsmanship and quality? The ATS and CTS promised to be as well built as the Germans and Cadillac said they would out perform the Germans. That didn't happen, the sales reflect it. I don't think the Cadillacs are overpriced, as I have said many times they are still priced below the Germans (and Lexus) but they aren't getting the sales. So something must be wrong. Personally, I think they could price the CTS-V at $49,995 and the E-class will outsell it 3-1. Horsepower per dollar isn't why Cadillac loses the battle, there are many reasons beyond that. On the CTS I think the engine comparisons are not as bad as with the ATS. The step up from the turbo 4 on all the German small cars and the Jaguar XE is a supercharged or Turbo Six, all those cars put out 320+ lb-ft of low end torque. That is where the 3.6 V6 is out gunned. The CTS has the V-sport which is good power for the money, but I think also rwd only. At some point Cadillac has to break the brand image problem. That needs done on powertrain, interior, build quality, warranty, dealer service, styling, number of model lines, halo cars, marketing, etc. It is multi-front battle they have to fight. A good example is Car and Driver just tested the Lincoln MKX, which was $63,000, and regardless of how good the product might be, why would anyone buy that over a Mercedes or BMW? Cadillac has the same problem, if you have $65,000 to spend, why not buy the German car, rather than a Cadillac and have to justify to people why you did it.
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Dodge News: End of the Line for the Dodge Viper in 2017?
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Dodge
Not a surprise, the Viper doesn't sell, and FCA just did a new union contract. I am sure they would love to either close a plant in Detroit or build high margin Ram Trucks or a Jeep in the USA. While moving low margin stuff like the Dart to Mexico where labor cost is cheap. Plus the Viper can't fit a Hemi under the hood, the V10 isn't doing them any CAFE favors, and FCA might want to push Alfa Romeo and the Hellcats as their halos. There are probably a dozen good reasons to end Viper production, not many to keep it going. -
The engine won't drive or hurt sales all that much, the ATS and CTS are pretty much going to sell in a certain volume whether there is a 3.6 liter V6 making 335 hp or a 3.0 TT V6 making 370. The turbo engine would be nicer, but how many buyers will it sway? My dislike it is Cadillac doing what is easy and pulling from the parts bin, rather than get 3.0 TT to market faster and make that a Cadillac exclusive engine. Cadillac's big problem is lack of crossovers. They should have at least 3 in their lineup, and Crossovers have been hot for 10-15 years, this didn't just happen yesterday. So they missed the boat on that one. Part of that problem could be GMC. Upper management probably saw GMC as the luxury truck brand, so that is where the crossovers went, because again, it was cheap and easy to turn a Chevy into a GMC and charge more for it. I said during the bankruptcy that GMC should have been turned into the commercial truck and work truck brand. They could have had a Transit/Sprinter style full size van by now, work truck versions of their pickups, a small van like the Transit Connect on Delta2 platform, etc. Then you would have the entry-lux crossovers at Buick and the luxury crossovers at Cadillac.
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And what four might those be? 1. CLS, a mechanical twin to the E-class, but still a step above the E-class. 2. S-class (sedan, coupe, convertible) 3. SL 4. AMG GT I want Mercedes to go after the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari, there is rumor that they might. It is shame that they have the best Formula 1 car, and they don't put some of that tech into a road car. I think they could build a better car than the LaFerrari. And all but one of those is way above the V's price range and for under $100K it is the best bang for the buck hi-po sedan out there. Bang for the buck is for Chevy. Cadillac doesn't need to think that way. If they are top tier luxury then Cadillac needs a few $100k+ products. There is no reason they couldn't make a mid engine V12 supercar, or a Tesla-style 650 hp electric car, or a twin turbo V8 grand tourer, etc. Those will all take years to roll out, I get that. I don't think products like that are even on the radar at Cadillac however. I still think Cadillac feels like they can run out some corporate platform SUVs and toss the corporate V6 in the CTS and match up with the Germans, and that just won't cut it.
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And what four might those be? 1. CLS, a mechanical twin to the E-class, but still a step above the E-class. 2. S-class (sedan, coupe, convertible) 3. SL 4. AMG GT I want Mercedes to go after the McLaren P1 and Ferrari LaFerrari, there is rumor that they might. It is shame that they have the best Formula 1 car, and they don't put some of that tech into a road car. I think they could build a better car than the LaFerrari.
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Infiniti had a 328 HP, 278 lb-ft V6 back in 2009 in the G37. This was their base engine too. Cadillac in 2015 has an optional engine that is equivalent to the 2009 VQ V6, which for its day was the benchmark for power. But that was 7 years ago. I get that Rome wasn't built in a day, but BMW had a twin turbo I-6 in 2007, Audi has had the supercharged V6 at least 5 years. It isn't like they just did this stuff last year and Cadillac hasn't had time to catch up.
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Technologically and Mechanically the S-class is a better car than anything Rolls Royce makes. But with the Rolls you get leather from free range cows, wood grain from the same tree that matches all the way around the dash, hand stitched monogram headrests, 2 inch thick lambs wool carpeting, chrome polished for 17 hours by a man wearing white gloves, etc. There is a specialness to it. I have only seen 1 Phantom on the road, if you have a Phantom you are the elite of the elite. And I love the S-class, I think it is the best car in the world, but I see them every day. There is a sense of occasion in just seeing a Rolls Royce, let alone owning one.
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The current Phantom is made from a lot of aluminum. It is going to be heavy either way, the short wheelbase phantom is longer than a Chevy Suburban, it is a huge car. The Phantom coupe is dumb, they should drop that. The convertible needs to stay. That would be a shame if Rolls-Royce stopped making convertibles. I always thought the Corniche was a really cool looking car in every generation and there is just something truly majestic about a Rolls-Royce convertible.
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Problem is the 3.0TT V6 is probably not out until 2016, they haven't even priced the CT6 yet, when does that ever go on sale? And aside from that, the 2.0T and 3.6 V6 are in all kinds of Chevy/Buick/GMC level vehicles. Chevy has V8s in more cars than Cadillac, how does that make sense? Cadillac isn't really offering better power trains than what Chevy has, so how can they be expected to challenge the Germans? Where are the plug-in hybrids and diesels in Cadillacs? The ELR hardly counts, that was a dud. There just isn't anything special about Cadillac powertrains outside of a CTS-V which shares it engine with a Corvette and likely a Camaro. Aside from the limited body styles and powertrain options that Cadillac has offered recently, they also don't have much wow factor outside of the CTS-V, and one car can't make a brand. Think of it this way, the CTS-V's competitor is the AMG E63. Mercedes makes 4 model lines of performance cars that are better than that. Cadillac sees the CTS-V as the ultimate, when really the CTS-V should be seen as mid-level Cadillac and they should have a few products that are better.
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It has that aggressive boy racer look, so I can see that appealing to some people. The interior has a 90s design to me, the build quality is better than a 90s car, but all that black and the air vents, just seems like yesterday's design. Which I guess goes well with yesterday's V6 engine, I think that engine is unchanged since 2007.
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By comparison, the V6 in the C-class is 362 hp, 384 lb-ft and 24 mpg combined. So that would be better then. As far as Lincoln goes, I think they could price the Continental at $29,995 and the 3-series would outsell it. Lincoln is dead in the water, except for their crossovers, which are basically to Ford what GMC is to Chevy.
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CTS is priced lower than a 5-series, Lexus GS, Jaguar XF, E-class, and whatever Infiniti is calling the M37/Q70 this year. So it isn't the price, they are already under cutting.
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The Model X has a Bio Weapon Defense button for the HVAC, the air filter is 10 times larger than a normal car air filter. The Falcon wing doors are double hinged, which makes a lot of sense. And now I wonder why didn't Mercedes think of that on the SLS AMG.
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As soon as I saw the headline my first thought was the Miata would be the winner. But 3rd place is still a strong showing. I have never driven a Miata, but I imagine you can use all of the power almost all of the time, and it weighs like 2,300 lbs, so it has to handle like it is on rails. And if you take out the Golf R, the average price on that list is probably $100k, the MX5 is $25k. I am surprised there was no Nissan GT-R. Not surprised by the Cayman being up there, that is like the $60k Miata. Strong showing by AMG, they are putting handling and braking into cars now, not just building muscle cars like they did 10 years ago.
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I watched Musk's presentation on the Model X. It is pretty amazing, half the rollover risk of any other SUV, 5 star crash rated in ever test, the doors when you see them in person are pretty cool, and can open with hardly any space, and 762 hp and 0-60 in 3.2 seconds is ridiculous for a 7 passenger SUV.
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Sales: Sales Figure Ticker - September 2015
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in 2015 Sales Archive
I heard that September had over an 18 million annual sales rate. That is huge, double what the industry sold in 2009. -
Sales: Sales Figure Ticker - September 2015
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in 2015 Sales Archive
Pretty solid gains from everyone, except Chrysler and Maserati/Fiat. Not surprised about Maserati/Fiat, those seem rather undesirable. This is the first time in recent memory that so many brands had double digit gains, that is good news for the industry.- 96 replies
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I assume these have the urea system and that they are held to the same standard as a gas engine. Hopefully people still buy diesels, because they do offer the best combo of torque and fuel economy.
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Mercedes-Benz Over stating MPG on A, C & E class auto's.
smk4565 replied to G. David Felt's topic in Mercedes-Benz
Either Road and Track or Motor Trend did a 400+ mile trip of mixed freeway and back roads with an E250 Bluetec and a Prius. Both cars got 42 mpg average. The E250 actually beat the EPA number. I drove from Pittsburgh to Cleveland last weekend, I got 27.4 mpg round trip and my car is rated at 23 mpg highway, so I was more than pleased. Actually I was shocked that from my house to where I pulled off I-77, (which is just over 2 hours) I got 29.3 mpg, so no complaints from me about Mercedes gas mileage. And for years when they had the CDI engines and the 3.0 V6 bluetec, owners often reported better real world highway mileage than the EPA sticker. Diesels from any car company often beat the EPA number, where as a lot of turbo gas engines do worse.
