smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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Close to 10,000 lbs with armor, a V12 is needed. A V8 in this car would be like a 2.0T in an Escalade ESV Platinum. WRONG! It is a little small 6 liter V12, The GM 6.2L V8 would do a better job than this engine with better gas mileage. Again you are hung up on the badge and not the real facts. That V8 could not produce the NVH standards needed buy a car like this. They Maybach cars don't use Mercedes most powerful engine for a reason, they need smoothness and quietness. The Mercedes-AMG V12 makes 811 lb-ft of torque, but the computer limits it to 738 lb-ft to protect the transmission and reduce wheel spin.
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This thing is about as big as a railroad car. It is 3 feet longer than a Suburban. They will sell every one of these they build I am sure, and probably at $1 million a pop. And they have made previous versions of the Pullman and 6 door limos, I think this is just a better execution of it than what they did on the W140 and W220 chassis. Close to 10,000 lbs with armor, a V12 is needed. A V8 in this car would be like a 2.0T in an Escalade ESV Platinum.
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The original Pullman came out in 1965, so Mercedes has had that name for a good while now. I read elsewhere that this car was designed specifically for "governments, rulers, and royal families." So in other words, dictators and monarchs. Clearly the best option is the possibly $500,000 upgrade for the VR9 ballistic protection, which let's be honest, the majority of people that buy this car are getting the armored version. Also important to note that this car has a rear cabin speedometer, so that El Presidente can yell at Jeeves for driving too fast, or perhaps to make sure that Jeeves is traveling at a high enough speed to run over the ifedels.
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I mostly agree with Z06, the two clowns are going to try and fix Cadillac with naming schemes, the move to NY and a bunch of PR spin. Marketing and Facebook posts aren't going to turn Cadillac around, product will. These two guys aren't car engineers or designers. The Escalade is the only thing keeping Cadillac alive right now, maybe Alpha-numeric names are not such a good idea.
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This guy is all talk, and little action. Cadillac has talked about renaissances multiple times, and after 10 years they aren't really in any better shape than they were in 2005. We'll see what he comes up with, but he even mentions how they will have a consistent naming nomenclature for their products, but then the Escalade which is their most recognizable produce is excluded from that naming system. That makes no sense. Johan was in charge of Audi of America, but Audi perfoms better everywhere else in the world, and he did nothing with Infiniti. If he couldn't tackle BMW and Benz with VW's resources, couldn't do it with Nissan's, I don't see why it will be any different at GM. Granted Cadillac I think is a better brand name than Infiniti, there is a bit more potential there, but why there wasn't a GT-R powertrain Infiniti sedan to take on the M5 just shows how clueless Johan is.
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Cadillac interiors need work, I sat in a CTS V-sport and XTS V-sport the other day, and they are Lexus GS level. They aren't up to Audi A6/A7 levels, they aren't even at C300 level, the whole center stack in a Cadillac feels like it came out of a Volt or Ford Edge with those weird, black touch button controls. The performance specs on this car seem pretty good, but you wonder if it will really hit a 3.8 0-60 time, because that quicker than a Corvette with more weight and not quite the power.
- 12 replies
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- 2016
- Cadillac
- ATS-V
- Cadillac ATS-V
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S-class has been the best car in the world for the past 30 years. I don't think the best in the world can be overrated. Few cars have had that long a run at the top of their class, 3-series is probably the only other one. The Phaeton can't even compete with the A8, there is no point in VW making it. They should put those resources into the Jetta and Passat and get them more competitive.
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Priced where you'd expect, but it seems way higher than the base ATS. I still think they need to drop that 2.5 liter base model. I figure the CTS-V will be around $85k base, this way they still undercut the Germans but are moving the price point up. I wonder how many they'll sell though, the ATS isn't really a hot item as it is, to me this car will be like the IS-F and fairly rare.
- 12 replies
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- 2016
- Cadillac
- ATS-V
- Cadillac ATS-V
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That has always been a weak spot for Cadillac, not enough body styles, and not enough engine choices. Not like it is hard to add a diesel or hybrid to an existing model. Lexus launches most models with a hybrid right away. Cadillac needs to learn how to move faster, especially if they are going to add more products, because then you need to mid-cylce refresh 8 or 9 vehicles, not just the 5 they have now.
- 28 replies
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- Cadillac
- CTS
- Cadillac CTS
- Sales
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The Quatroporte and XJ are barely competing. Really they should just give up. Since the A8 platform gets used for Bentley too, they might as well take the $737 million for the Phaeton and put it into the A8, maybe they can sort of catch up to the S-class. Because now Mercedes is coming for Bentley too with the Maybach S600. VW should have a $30-40k sedan above the Passat as their Maxima/Avalon competitor, sort of a poor man's Audi A6 I guess.
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No point to this car, they need to let it die already. They thin a VW can compete with an S-class? That is a waste of $737 million. They could make it compete with the Equus or K900, but that isn't enough sales volume, and no point to do that. If someone wants a $75k luxury car from VW, they can buy an A8. The other problem is a Passat starts at $22k and then the Phaeton is one step up at $75k? A $50k price difference and they look the same! I think VW could use a sedan larger than the Passat, priced in the $33-43k range, as more of an Azera, Maxima, Impala and LaCrosse competitor. But by no means should they make a $75k sedan. That would be like Chevy making a $75k full size luxury sedan to compete with Cadillac.
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There are 2 nice things about a self driving car, it takes stress away from the driver, and you could read a book, watch a tv show on your tablet or work on your laptop while the car drives you somewhere. The other nice thing would be on a long car trip, you could go to sleep for a couple hours and perhaps arrive at your destination. But for those to happen you need a level of autonomy like KITT in Knight Rider, where the car could almost think for itself. Personally I would still rather drive myself, with the exception being a long high way drive where the car could drive overnight while the driver slept.
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Cadillac and Buick are getting a bit more individual attention as of late. I think GM is trying to make it more about those brands and what they are doing to strengthen them. Which has to be done, because I think people buy the brand more than anything when they buy a car. Pickups are a good example, there are Ford guys and Chevy guys, and not many people could care less about the brand and just buy based on appearance or horsepower. I think a big mistake GM did back in 2005 or 2006 was when they put those Silver GM badges on every car to show how these are all made by GM. People don't buy a corporation, they buy a brand name. That is why they don't sell Proctor and Gamble toothpaste.
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It is a massive amount of torque, it might beat that 0-60 in 5.9 seconds estimate, because the C400 can do 0-60 in 4.8 seconds with the V6. For me I'd have to see the performance data and fuel costs and pricing of the C350 plug in and compare to the C400 V6, or ATS V6 or 335i or other near $50k cars.
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The justification for the price is that a V6 C-class is $50k. And while the hybrid gives up 1 second in 0-60 time it is basically doubling fuel economy. You could spend near $50k on an Acura, Lincoln, ATS/CTS etc that has a 0-60 time near 6 seconds and not the interior that the C-class has, and won't get the fuel economy of the C350e. If you were already going to spend $45,000 on a C300, I think a few thousand extra is worth more performance and economy. But as I said I'd have to see how the pricing was. Personally I'd rather have the bi-turbo V6 over the hybrid if they are the same money.
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I would have thought it would be called C300 Plug in, because it is a C300 4-cylinder, but whatever. I think it could be good vale, I would need to see the price and options that come with it. But it is faster than a C300, and obviously will save on gas, and 20 miles of electric only isn't bad because you aren't going to drive it in electric only mode unless in traffic or maybe highway cruise. When accelerating you'll need the gas engine. They aren't trying to make a full electric like the i3 or Tesla, or even a Volt that is an electric car with a range extender. This is the second of 10 plug-in hybrids that are coming, the S-class plug in is on sale in Europe, on sale here in spring. They must figure it will sell if they are making 10 of them.
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They need to do something, the current 3.6 gives up so much torque to the Germans boosted sixes, it is a dated engine now, imagine by 2018 how obsolete it will be. Mercedes has a new line of inline sixes coming in 2 years, this 3.0 bi-turbo V6 is only living for about 3 model years before they replace it. If Merc and BMW are doing it, watch the lemmings follow. Hybrid drivetrain could be another area for improvement, probably every Cadillac should have a plug-in hybrid model and a diesel.
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Cadillac only engines would help. Maybe develop a new 2.2 liter turbo 4 that is Cadillac only, let that current 2.0 be used in Chevy and Buick. The 3.6 V6 is old news, they should just come up with an all new Cadillac only V6, maybe a 3.2 twin turbo, maybe an inline six. An inline six would be unique to Cadillac as it likely would not fit in any Chevy or Buick, plus you get that balance and smoothness. And where is the Cadillac V8? They build that brand on V8s, and if they really want to go after the S-class, they better have a V12.
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Audi's $30 billion figure is correct, I don't know why I thought it was 24, I went back and found the news article. But $9-10 billion is going into plants and production, so they'll have $20 billion for product. There is definitely a constant game of one upsmanship going on with the Germans, Cadillac will need deep pockets to hang with them. Cadillac can use a car smaller than the ATS, they could make it hatchback or coupe. Cadillac needs more body styles of existing cars I think more than they need more sedans.
