smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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640 wouldn't surprise me either, it could be exactly the same as the CTS-V. Same chassis, I imagine they have the same air flow and exhaust abilities so power should be the same. Putting 600 HP in a car isn't hard though, the hard part is getting that power on the ground, and how usable is it.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it was like 580-600 hp. They probably don't want it as powerful as the top end Corvette.
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"N" is a stupid name for a division, that doesn't mean anything. At least P could have been for performance. But performance versions of their rear drive cars is a good idea, on the front wheel drive side, there probably isn't any more power to put in a Sonata or SUV. But they could do a V8 Genesis coupe, they under utilize that 5.0 liter V8.
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This thing could sell well by Jaguar standards. Being built on the XE/XF aluminum chassis you figure it has to have decent handling, and you get a 340 hp V6 for $43k. That is a lot more engine than you get in a Lexus RX, and it is $10,000 cheaper than a BMW X5. And the diesel will probably get like 35 mpg, compared to all the 25 mpg mid-size gas crossovers, it will look like a stand out. I think they could sell 1,000 a month, they should sell 500 a month at least.
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I love how GM will put a 1.5 liter engine in the Malibu in the name of CAFE, yet the Silverado still has a 5.3 liter V8. When will we still a 2.5 liter turbo 4 as the base Silverado engine?
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No base model mid size car starts at 200 HP. Which is why the Malibu should have. It would be #1.
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It looks pretty good on the outside, looks sporty and the rear end looks good The inside seems nice, but also looks sort of boring and plain. I think it is very well priced, I like that the diesel is the cheapest model and the 340 hp V6 is more than most of these other crossovers have, plus this has a rear drive chassis. I am curious about two things though. First is how big is the F-pace? Is this like BMW X3 size or is this a midsize vehicle? If it is mid-size they have really good pricing. Second question is why is it $14,000 more for 40 more hp? I hope the 380 hp model has every other option of the 340 hp model as standard equipment. Because $14,000 for 40 hp is a rip off even by Porsche standards.
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Malibu should have had 200 hp and 40 mpg standard. A 1.5 turbo is going to scare away more people than it attracts.
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I tend to like this more than the current generation. I think the current Tiguan has a bit of a roller skate look, this to me being longer, wider, lower is a bit more squared off, and looks a bit more trucky. VW needs some more crossover sales, this might help.
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The acceleration times are really good. I am not so surprised by the V8, but the V6 and I4 are about .2 seconds faster than I would have guessed. I have seen ATS V6 times of 5.4 so the Camaro is pretty quick.
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If Chevy wants better resale value they should offer 5 year/50k mile bumper to bumper warranty and 10 year/100k mile powertain warranty that are transferable. So that the 2nd or 3rd owner of the car could still have factory warranty. That would make the used cars more desirable and push up resale. GM or Ford still lose the reliability battle against Honda and Toyota in the mind of the consumer.
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Comments: Frankfurt: 2017 Bentley Bentayga
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in International Motor Show - Germany
Yes, but the people that buy Bentleys can afford whatever. It is likely that the Bentayga driver's other vehicle is a private jet. They could get a Bentley SUV maybe as the winter car to pair with their Mulsanne every day driver and Ferrari 599 track car. I would guess most Rolls and Bentley buyers are not financing the car either, and just pay for it outright. -
In November the AMG G65 goes on sale in the U.S. That has 621 hp, 738 lb-ft, but the G-wagen isn't at all made for speed. The GL would is closer in size to the Escalade, and the GL63 is faster than the G-wagen. The G-wagen is actually smaller than a GLE or even an SRX. When you look at the dimensions it is a pretty short vehicle and the wide of the average mid-size suv.
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Well Malibu needs something to stand out, sales are lackluster, and as the Cruze gets bigger it squeezes the Malibu and could be stealing sales from it. And as far as platforms go, GM is moving crossovers to the new Delta and Epsilon platforms, Cruze and Buick Envision have the same chassis, you could make an AWD Cruze easily. You can make AWD anything on the GM Gamma, Delta and Epsilon platforms. Perhaps awd wouldn't get Malibu more sales, that would have to be a marketing study done. But styling changes have never really gotten the sales needle to move with the Malibu.
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G-wagen is not my cup of tea. I think the G63 6X6 is a off road monster, that thing is pretty cool.
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I don't think it has so much to do with body on frame or solid rear axle (although those aren't ideal for handling), as it does size and weight. Cadillac fans praise how light the CTS or ATS are, yet call the S-class a fat pig at 4,700 lbs. The Escalade is 5,800 lbs before you put a supercharger, bigger brakes, stiffening rods etc on, you are going to have a 6,000+ lb vehicle. I believe an Escalade V-sport makes a lot of sense, you bolt a supercharger on to the V8, put a body kit on, upgrade the brakes and suspension a bit and raise the governor to 140 mph and you could charge and extra $20k for it, and that is probably like $10-15k of extra equipment and development cost per vehicle. That gives Cadillac $5k extra profit margin on a vehicle that already has good margins. A Bentley killer with the Escalade isn't going to happen. I don't think even Mercedes can get the GL up to 190 mph even with the V12. I'd say only the Lamborghini SUV will topple the Bentley.
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I probably would have made all wheel drive available. This segment is the most competitive of any segment to begin with. There are about 10 entries in it. Then you have the shift to SUVs, where a lot of people are trading in a mid-size sedan or cross shopping the mid-size sedan with a C-segment crossover. So the CR-V, Rav4, Escape, etc all offer 5 seats, similar equipment, more cargo space, all wheel drive and similar fuel economy to a Fusion, Camry or Malibu. If the Malibu had awd, maybe you prevent some people from going to the crossover because of the perceived safety that awd provides.
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Tahoe police package is a far cry from the level of performance we are talking about. To get to Bentley SUV performance, we are talking about making an Escalade accelerate and have a top speed like an ATS-V or Corvette Stingray. I don't think it can be done. They can make a faster Escalade, it isn't going to out perform that Bentley.
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Porsche Cayenne has a .37 cD, and the Mercedes GL is a .38 cD. The Cayenne Turbo S can do 171 mph, the GL63 is electronically limited to 155 mph. With the Escalade though, you have to look at weight and chassis too, and find tires that can support the weight and speed. But the GM truck platform was never made for 150 mph speed, let alone 190 mph speed. There are a lot of factors working against it getting an Escalade to add 75 mph to the top speed. If they had made the XT5 and future XT3 of the Alpha platform, and did an XT7 off Omega, they could have had the chassis that would have been capable of competing with the German performance SUVs. I'd suggest maybe an Omega platform SUV could be above Escalade, but then you mess up the naming structure because Cadillac wants it both ways with XT and CT, but then have a word name product. It should all be one or the other.
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Probably the best looking car since the 1961 Jaguar E-type. Oh wait, no I meant ugliest car since the Aztek.
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Looks ugly, and of course it has "4-door coupe" styling, which every car does not, it is so overdone. It does look really big, I don't get why these cars keep growing. Like Ford has made the Focus and Fusion grow to make room for the Fiesta, not the Taurus might be phased out. So here the Civic is like becoming their new mid-size, if the Accord gets any bigger it will be a full size car, then they'll need a Fit sedan to fill in for where he Civic was 10 years ago.
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Autoextremist Drives CTS. Autoextremist Likes CTS.
smk4565 replied to El Kabong's topic in Industry News
There are plenty of old Mercedes out there. I went on Auto Trader and did a search of cars 1981-1990 within 200 miles of Pittsburgh. Mercedes 87, Ford 75, Buick 66, Cadillac 25, BMW 19, Honda 18, Toyota 13. Just to name a few, and I am pretty sure the sales volume of Ford, Honda or Toyota in the 80s was a lot higher than Mercedes was, yet there are still more 80s Mercs for sale. And my comment about the 3.6 V6 goes to other cars also. Look at the ATS segment. The Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes and Lexus all have a 2.0T standard. Then all of them except Lexus jump up to a supercharged or Turbocharged V6 (or straight six) for the step up. Lexus, Mercedes and soon Jaguar have a V8 for their performance car. The Audi RS5 is a V8 as well. -
I think the Malibu doesn't have anywhere near the reputation of Accord or Camry, but at the same time I wouldn't dump the name. I would however make some ads that make the Malibu look cool, or fun to own. The last good Chevy car ad I saw was the Impala launch ads and they had Sinatra music and they were playing to the 50 and 60 something segment, but it made the Impala look like a desirable car, not just a rental sedan which it had been.
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Comments: Frankfurt: 2017 Bentley Bentayga
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in International Motor Show - Germany
The Tesla Model X is a competitor too. That is the SUV 0-60 champion and horsepower champion with 762. The Tesla tops out at 155 mph though, I imagine the V12 Rolls will be able to go past that (if they want, Rolls probably will limit to 155 mph). -
Every Air Matic Mecedes automatically lowers ride height at highway speed, I believe the Range Rover does also. Putting an air suspension on the Escalade is easy, but you still have to deal with a .36 drag coefficient and a lot of surface area to push though the air so drag is going to limit top speed. Plus a 6,000 weight. The Escalade now has a top speed of 113 mph (governor limited). But you have to figure that limiter is there because of tire blow out concerns and the drag limited speed is probably not all that much higher. I don't know where you get an extra 75 mph of top speed out of the Escalade. Plus an Escalade V-series would compete more with an AMG GL63. I don't think it would be in Bentley territory. And what about an XT5-V to compete with the X5 M and GLE63? Why not put a 600 hp V8 in that front wheel drive crossover Cadillac is about to launch, and they need a Porsche Macan competitor, so they need an ATS-V powertrain in an XT3 crossover. But XT3 is rumored to be based on D2XX, so I guess that won't work either.
