smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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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.
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The Eos is a weak seller, and it seems like for a couple years they have been saying they were dropping it altogether. That is why I think mid $30s for a compact Buick convertible is a hard sell and it won't find a lot of buyers. Luckily for Buick there are very few convertibles on the market. The 20" wheels look low profile too. I have 18" low profile tires on my car, and Hankooks on tire rack were still around $200 per tire. I have seen some 20" tires at $300 each. This isn't an enthusiast car, I don't know if the Buick buyer wants to spend $1,200 for new tires.
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Not sure standard 20 inch wheels is a good idea, 20's usually aren't the best for ride quality, especially on a smaller car, plus I bet the tires are expensive to replace. They priced it higher than the Eos and that doesn't sell. I think the Cascada looks better, but I probably would have priced it $2,000 lower than they did to line up with VW. And some how I am guessing a Camaro convertible on a Cadillac Chassis with 335 hp will cost less than this Buick on a Chevy Cruze or Spark platform costs. So could be a tough sell for Buick.
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VW News: Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn Steps Down
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Volkswagen
Bring back Ferdinand Piech! -
VW should have just used the urea system like BMW and Benz. That is a lot of cars to recall and fix. Although a lot of owners probably won't even care. But there are way worse areas of pollution in the world than what the VW diesels have done. Not that that is an excuse, that was shady, and illegal what they did and they should pay for it and produce cleaner cars. But look at the Chinese river there, or the rivers in Rio de Janeiro where the olympics are this winter. The rivers there have dead bodies, fecal mater, toxic waste and disease, and they think they can have swimming there. There is some seriously bad pollution out there that should be cleaned up.
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They might as well merge with FCA to get economies of scale to offset these losses. Sergio is probably behind the whole thing!
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Nissan News: 2016 Nissan Altima Makes Small Changes
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Nissan
I think it looks to busy and there is too much going on with the styling. 39 mpg is impressive though. -
Important to note that G-wagen sales have been on the rise, form under 100 a month 5 years ago to now over 300 some months. Still small volume, but at $140,000, there has to be at least $10,000 of profit on each one, probably more.
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I kind of like the winged look on the new grille. It is a bit busy to have the waterfall and a horizontal line, but I like this more than the current LeCrosse grille.
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I think it is more that people are SUV crazy so they could do a higher end GL just like Cadillac is wanting a higher end Escalade . I don't think either have Bentley cache. Mercedes is working on a new V12 hybrid for a sports car, but if they put that onto a GL they could get Bentley money.
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VW News: Volkswagen Issues A Stop-Sale On TDI Models, CEO Apologizes
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Volkswagen
To VW, all we can say is: -
I think the Maybach GL could be in the $150k range. When they redo it to GLS, they could push the base price up to $70k, which moves it away from the GLE also. An AMG G63 is like $125k, better interior and a V12 is easily worth an extra $30k. They won't get Bentley level prices though.
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The Unimog makes the Hummer H1 look weak. Mercedes knows how to build awesome off roaders. I still think this pickup truck would be a Frontier chassis with a Mercedes 4-cylinder diesel and 7-speed auto (9-speed eventually), the dash from a Sprinter/Metris. And it will be sold as a commercial work vehicle.
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They already make a V12 G65 that is $230,000 I think. But the G-wagen is like its own unique thing. The Bentayga competitor would be based on the GL. Which being a unibody SUV built on a modern chassis is the more logical move.
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Emissions regulations will push automakers to do more plug in hybrids. Doesn't really mean it is better than diesel, or more fuel efficient. Diesels still are great for highway driving and can rack up lots of miles. But when cities have sections that are emission free and only electric power cars are allowed in those areas, the plug-in hybrid is going to win out. Hell yes to a Bentley Bentayga competitor. Put a Mybach interior in the GL and add the V12, this stuff is already in house, put it to use!
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I think a Mercedes truck would be better suited to pair with the Sprinter and Vito/Metris commercial vans and they may want to see how the commercial market wants mid-size trucks. I don't think they plan on making a luxury pickup
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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.
