smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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An ATS coupe was more important, coupes sell in that segment. The CTS isn't an entry level car any more. The 5-series, A6, GS, XF, Q70 don't have a coupe model. BMW has the 6-series but they start it at $76,000. The E-class coupe is the only mid-size coupe right now, although the E-class is the #1 seller in the segment too, despite being the oldest and highest priced. That said I'd be in favor of a CTS coupe and convertible, I just don't think it will add a huge sales boost.
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I actually just read the first pick, and didn't realize they had 2 winners. But considering the Cadillac only had a pick because it was $10,000 cheaper isn't saying a lot. They could have compared the Cimarron to the Cavalier and said the Cavalier was half the price therefor a better sports/luxury car than the Cimarron. The 190E spawned the Cosworth, that was a great late 80s sports sedan. The Cimarron was just rebadged GM garbage.
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Of course $200,000 V12 Mercedes are going to depreciate. They are priced at double the V8 model to begin with and who wants a 10 year old V12 car? The operating and repair costs are staggering and an S65 or SL65 isn't really a collectable like a Ferrari. If you want resale on a Mercedes get one with a diesel engine.
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The CTS is already priced below the E-class, 5-series, A6, XF, GS and Q70. They are undercutting the entire segment, they don't have a price problem, they have an advertising problem for sure, maybe a powertrain or interior design problem. More body styles helps, but I don't think a coupe will solve their problems.
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Mercedes sold 1.65 million cars last year, so I guess not too many people are worried about depreciation or running costs. On fuel costs though, the CTS-V has a gas guzzler tax, the E63 does not.
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Maybe Benz buyers have lots of money and don't care.
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Right, Mercedes cost more than Cadillacs, so the depreciation as a percentage is not as bad. And just the nature of the car, S-classes and AMG Mercedes are going to lose value because people are going to worry about running costs. Where as something like a 3-series will hold value because it is a more popular car on the resale market.
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I actually think the next E-class looks to have a body more similar of the W211 model. Looks like they are going with rounded off ends, no sharp creases on the sides. I wish they'd split the headlights again so it doesn't look like a C-class.
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The Cimarron was a Cavalier with a 90 hp engine before they got the V6 in there. Popular Mechanics got this one right, the 190E was the best of that bunch.
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Why have just one V8 though, when you can have two V8s!
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The CTS-V will be doing battle with this mostly, should be here next summer. They seem pretty far along in development.
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Except that you can't drive two of them at the same time! Well back in the 90s someone made a Cadillac Eldorado with a Northstar engine in the back, they lengthened the trunk a little bit to make it fit. But the end result was 600 hp and 4 wheel drive and terrible handling. So If you bought two MKS, and like welded them together some how you could have 8 wheel drive and 700 hp.
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The E63 does 0-60 in 3.5 seconds according to Mercedes, 3.4 seconds by some magazines, the AWD system gives it the acceleration, so it might beat the CTS-V in 0-60 despite the power to weight ratio disadvantage, but it will be close either way. I think the E63 is a little over priced because an S550 is $95k, to me an E63 shouldn't be about $94k, especially since the driver assist package and Bang an Olufsen stereo are options. When you load up the E63 you are up to about $115k, and now you are at SL550 money and $15k away from AMG GT money. New E63 is on the way next year though, so we'll see what they do. If you want real value though, you can get two Lincoln MKS for the price of one CTS-V. And that gives you over 700 hp.
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Bad month for the E-class but it was still #1 seller in its segment. That segment is hurting all around. Which is surprising because people like mid-size cars and why wouldn't you want a mid-size luxury car rather than some boring crossover.
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2 things shock me. I would have never thought half the 3-series sales were coupes. They sold a lot of 4-series. And what happened to the 5-series and 6-series? They tanked and the X5 and X6 sales soared. I can't believe they sold so few cars and so many crossovers.
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The Avalon, which they don't really even advertise outsold all of Scion. I don't get why the Scion brand is still around.
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They still have Econolines to sell? Mustang sales are on fire.
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C&D Places ATS-V Last in Comparo... for interior??
smk4565 replied to cp-the-nerd's topic in Industry News
The interior is a pretty big part of the car, I mean that is where the driver and occupants sit. A normal driver on a normal road will never get close to finding the difference between 1.02 g and .97 g. So I think the interior execution and design does matter a lot. I don't like piano black on any car, it looks like shiny plastic that should be in a Scion, even if it is expensive, they should find something else. Use carbon fiber or wood. The $8,000 up charge for 34 horsepower on the C63 is nuts. They already have margins built in there, just make the base C63 503 HP to make it stand out, and forget these S models on all trims. I am fine with a more hardcore black series that is more track geared. -
But what would sell better, a Corolla hatchback, or a Scion iM? What would sell better a Toyota GT86 (or rename to Celica) or a Scion FR-S? I think the Scion brand makes no sense. Their products are rebadged Toyotas from other markets that would sell better if they called it a Toyota. The Mazda 2 didn't sell here, so Scion thinks they can rebadge it and sell it for Mazda 3 money? This brand should be gone by 2020.
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I wonder why they didn't make ceramic brakes and option? Not that I'd want them, but a lot of high end cars offer that. Pretty good value on the pricing though considering an E63 starts at $101k which to me seems about $9k too much unless they are going to make driver assistance package and the Bang and Olufsen Stereo standard.
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C&D Places ATS-V Last in Comparo... for interior??
smk4565 replied to cp-the-nerd's topic in Industry News
ATS-V gripes were "acres of glossy black plastic, looks cheap and worse, highlights fingerprints, dust and dandruff." "gauges reek of Chevy thrift. Don't even get us started on CUE." And of course "ATS-V also suffers from the most squeezed back seat of the bunch" They said the engineers did their work, the designers let them down. If you just go on performance, all three were within 0.1 seconds of each other in 0-60 and 1/4 mile acceleration. C63 had the best braking, ATS-V had best skidpad, M3 had the best slalom. M3 had the best observed fuel economy, C63 was most quiet. The performance data was extremely close on all 3 cars, so that puts the decision on the details. The C63 lost 2 points on price, 1 point for no incentives, it would have won if it was 3-series money. Which is a complaint I have about the C63, there shouldn't even be a C63 and C63 S, the standard C63 should be the 503 hp engine. I think whatever they do on the AMG "S" models should just be standard, they already charge a lot. -
C&D Places ATS-V Last in Comparo... for interior??
smk4565 replied to cp-the-nerd's topic in Industry News
The ATS-V beat the M3 in chassis by 7 points. Powertrain let them down a bit, and the interior and vehicle really killed them, even with getting points for being lowest priced. The sad thing is they got the hard part right in the chassis, but couldn't execute on the interior of the car. Interestingly enough MotorTrend likes the Jaguar XE more than the 335i, and said it was better in every way. So I'd imagine the V8 XE is going to be pretty good too. -
One nice thing about F1 is the races take an hour and a half to two hours. I like that it isn't a 3-4 hour commitment like a lot of sporting events are.
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Alfa Romeo Begins Their $6 Billion Plan :Comments
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Alfa Romeo
Maserati has that mafia hitman sort of look to it, but I wonder how long they'll last. The Quatroporte has never really gotten any traction against the S-class or Panamera. The Gran Turismo looks cool, but the AMG GT is faster, newer, more reliable, etc. There was probably some pent up demand for people that wanted an Italian car, just like how the Fiat 500 at first sold, then it cooled off. The American market likes crossovers and trucks, not exactly Alfa territory. Look how Jaguar struggles since they have sports cars and sedans only. Even the home team Cadillac is struggling to move ATS and CTS, the Alfas will probably cost more with half the reliability, and less name recognition. I don't see them selling anywhere near 150,000 cars a year in North America. -
The same reason why we get a BMW X6, Mercedes-Benz GLE - Because we can. Not that those many any sense either, but since coupes are going away (Monte Carlo, Thunderbird, Solara, Riviera all gone) and new cars are being made sedan only, we start seeing all these "4-door" coupe styling and since crossovers are the rage, I guess I see why some would buy a coupe-like crossover. Even though I personally think that body style is pointless. 600 hp in a Juke is like a 500 hp Malibu or Camry, there is no point. The type of people that would buy a Malibu or Camry would never drive a 500 hp car. If you want 600 hp, go buy a GT-R that is actually made to go fast.
