smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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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. -
There should be a criminal investigation. Winterkorn stepping down and taking a $30 million bonus to retire is hardly punishment. That is why these CEO's authorize stuff like this, when the $h! hits the fan, they jump ship with their golden parachute. Same thing happens on Wall Street and elsewhere. If theses guys went to jail, you wouldn't see this happen as much.
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Bentley version of the upcoming Bugatti Chiron. Or if they don't want to make a hyper car, then a quadturbo W16 Mulsanne with 1,200 hp would work. It would perform well on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans.
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I do agree that the VW CEO, well the former one, should be fined personally. Because he got paid something like $28 million as a retirement, or payoff or whatever it was on his way out the door. Basically quitting your job and getting paid $28 million to sit at home is no punishment. He should have to pay that money back. And the punishment has to be for the lying and the cheating of the tests. They should be fined for their actions to knowingly sell a non-compliant car and lie about it. I don't think VW should be fined for polluting the air, because then you have to fine Gillig buses, Freightliner trucks, International, Caterpillar, etc who all make diesel engines.
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To make an earlier point of mine more clear. I think VW should be fined for cheating the emission test and lying to the consumer. I don't think they should be fined for their emissions leading to respiratory problems, because there are a lot of other things that are probably causing more air pollution.
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PS...I more peeved at this world wide corporate culture society that lets corporate greed rule us than the actual VW emissions scandal...this corrupt corporate culture needs to stop world wide... Agreed with that. The greed is what breeds the corruption, and often to just make the investors and CEO's wealthier while the workers don't get anything. Lots of other stuff causes pollution and no one cares. So let's clean everything up then.
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Looks like those BIllions U kept yammering on about Audi investing might be put on a weeee bit of hold. U kno what Smk.. go to your room.. and don't come out till your told. That German engineering U always hold so high, is as I have predicted for a life time it seems.. as being nothing but "Smoke and Mirrors.. NOX" Literally how a person feels after following a VW Diesel for too long >>> VW may have cheated the system, but BMW and Mercedes did not. Mercedes engineering is still at the pinnacle of human achievement. I would bet that a Silverado HD Duramax puts out more Nox emissions than a Jetta TDI. If that is the case, GM should be fined whatever VW gets fined. Because those Duramaxes and Ford Power Strokes are polluting the air just as bad. I think for sure VW should get fined and they deserve what they get. They misled and lied to the consumer, and their reputation should get shot too. The fine wont' be $1 billion or more, if you look back at previous car company fines there were never that big and always in the millions. GM knew it's ignition switches could lead to accidents and deaths, to me that is still worse than cheating an emissions test. I also think there should be one standard for emissions for all vehicles. To me trucks should not be emission exempt or CAFE exempt, they should have to fall into the same equation. Until you get to the Ford F700 medium duty level vehicles that are like 20,000 lb GVWR.
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Afterthoughts: Answering the Unknowns In the Volkswagen Diesel Scandal
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Opinion
That Audi A3 E-Tron got here just in time. They can try to shift the fuel economy seeking buyers there. -
The 2016 Avalon has adapted new technologies. They have taken the handling and rigidity properties of this, and applied it to their suspension.
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The problem with the 11,000 deaths thing, is how much of the diesel pollution is from trucks and buses. I would guess all the semi-trucks, Ford Super Duty Powerstroke diesels, school buses, city buses, delivery vans, etc out there are polluting a heck of a lot more than 500,000 Jettas and Golfs. I get stuck behind buses that spew way more fumes than any 10 cars combined I'd guess, so where is the push for making city buses electric or natural gas only and outlawing diesel public transportation? The whole thing is a double standard. That being said, VW blatantly cheated the system and should be fined and punished for what they did. I do think they'll get made an example of and their diesel sales may never recover, especially since to get the emissions they need it will add a lot of cost to the car and/or take away performance. The problem with recalling these, is I think a lot of owners won't want to fix the car. The fix is going to be to turn the emission control system on all the time and take away power and make the car feel slower and less fun to drive. A lot of owners aren't going to want to give away performance and fuel economy just so the car meets emissions.
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But a Buick Verano isn't an upscale car. I would rather pay $35k for a Regal convertible, which would be a $5k premium over the sedan. If the Cascara was Regal based it would be a good deal as it is priced. But the Camry and 200 based convertibles that were larger and cheaper than the Cascara failed. And I think that is the type of buyer Buick is after.
