Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

smk4565

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    13,686

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    11

 Content Type 

Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    The Town Carvalanche is biblically terrible. You do have to wonder though if they spent the money for the dual exhaust package which increased horsepower from 190 to a mind blowing 210. Because 190 hp from a 4.6 liter V8 is pathetic, but when you start talking 210 hp, it goes into a whole other realm.
  2. smk4565
    I think they should leave the V-class at home, at least for passenger duty, perhaps a cargo version for commercial applications could work since the Sprinter is huge. All wheel drive is a good idea for the snow belt. One thing that annoys me about the Sprinter is the V6 diesel is dated and sucks, 188 hp and 325 lb-ft and a 5-speed, when the 3.0 V6 in the cars has over 210 hp and over 400 lb-ft. A power upgrade and adding the 7-speed to the V6 would make sense. The "Mercedes" trait that the Sprinter has is engineering, build quality and longevity. The hauling companies will buy it because they know they can put over 300,000 miles on it, and the gas mileage is decent for a vehicle that size.
  3. smk4565
    What about a Hyundai Genesis? That has more front leg room and head room than any Cadillac or Chrysler 300 or Ford Taurus. It's pretty big.
  4. smk4565
    It looks awesome so far.
  5. smk4565
    They improved the 5.3, and it isn't that old an engine, it isn't like the Northstar circa 2010 when it had been on the market for 17 years with little improvement. But upping hp by 40 and adding 1 mpg and adding $2,000 to the price isn't really going to draw in hoards of new buyers. The 2014 Silverado is better than the 2013, but it is a minor evolutionary improvement, I just don't think they did enough to "wow" anyone.
  6. smk4565
    I agree the Mazda 3 and 6 are nice cars, both among the best in their classes. The 3, Elantra and Focus are my favorite cars of the small car class, and I think if I had to drive one it might be the 3. The 6 is pretty good too, I'd probably take a Fusion or Optima in that class if I wanted something a little sporty, if I just wanted roominess and soft seats maybe the Accord and Camry are good bets, but the 6 is a strong contender.
  7. smk4565
    Regarding the Mercedes 3.5, that engine came out around 2006, after about 5 years they reworked it and added direct injection so it got a power boost, and they are phasing it out next year for the 3.0 turbo V6, but it will have had about a 10-12 year run. The BMW straight six has been around forever yes, but they also have added the turbo 4, added diesels changed around the M engines, so the 3-series each generation has offered something fresh. On the pick up truck front, Ram added the diesel and an 8-speed, Ford is planning the 2.7 Ecoboost V6 and a rumored diesel, plus the weight savings, so those two have offered something new to attract new buyers. With luxury cars, you have a market of current luxury car buyers and people trading up, with pickups I feel more like you have to steal buyers from the other brands, because people probably aren't going from a Camry to a Tundra like they go from a Camry to a Lexus. That is why Ford is making radical changes with the F150, GM didn't really make any huge improvement that is going to make F150 drivers switch.
  8. smk4565
    Exterior hasn't changed much over 3 generations, but sometimes that works for cars. The interior is boring and spartan, and who really wants a front wheel drive sports car that costs $45k. Just go buy a Golf GTI and save the money.
  9. smk4565
    The Jeep looks better than any of the Japanese small utes, but I still like the Kia Soul a bit more. The thing I wonder is, Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge products are not know for reliability to begin with, and Fiat I believe ranks last in JD Power reliability in the USA, and Fiat is usually one of the worst in Europe also. It is as if they found a way to make a Jeep even less reliable by building it on a Fiat chassis and giving it a Fiat engine.
  10. smk4565
    The new Silverado looks similar to the old one, it is hard to tell them apart unless side by side. And the engines and transmissions are basically carry over, they might claim it is new, but it is still a 5.3 V8. HP and gas mileage might be up slightly, but there is nothing ground breaking added to these trucks. They have up to $7,000 discounts in March so maybe that will get sales going.
  11. smk4565
    99 ELRs sold year to date. I guess Cadillac found 99 fools to pay $76k for a Volt, let's assume they keep the pace and move 600 this year. In year 2 will sales decline because I imagine anyone that actually wants one will buy it in year one. Another flop for Cadillac, although this one bigger than the XLR or Allante, those cars at least survived about 5 years, I doubt the ELR will make it past 3. I always thought small Buicks would work because there are so few small cars that offer luxury and comfort. There are small sporty cars like the bottom end of Acura and Volvo or Mini Coopers, but those are tailored to sporty driving. There was never a smaller, cheaper version of a Lexus, and Buick has hit that target with the Encore and Verano. Well done to them, and that was a segment that Ford totally missed on with Mercury and Lincoln, Chrysler has too, any one of them could have made small premium vehicles, but they were too blind to see it and thought luxury had to be huge sedans or SUVs. Luxury does not equal size, like most American companies thought for years, so credit to GM for putting Buick in a position to capitalize on that.
  12. smk4565
    They want a piece of the Kia Soul market. The plus side to buying the Jeep is form the driver's seat you don't have to see the exterior of it.
  13. smk4565
    Reminds me of a Nissan Cube, but with a Jeep grille and round lights. Looks like this Suzuki too.
  14. smk4565
    5.5 liter V8.
  15. smk4565
    No, I sold the Aurora to an acquaintance. That picture was from last September when I still had the Aurora. I always liked the Aurora, but it had 150k miles, the headliner was drooping a little, it needed a wheel, brakes, tires, check engine light was on, etc. It needed a lot, but the guy that bought it likes working on cars and planned to fix everything himself.
  16. smk4565
    Even the XJ which isn't saddled with the Ford platform is cramped inside compared to an S-class or 7-series. I love how Jaguars look and the interiors are well styled, they just don't have as much room as competitors. It always seems like Jaguar lags a bit in function or technology compared to the Germans which obviously have more money to spend developing a car. I agree with Dwight, the 2.0T is an ecoboost, nothing thrilling there for Jaguar pricing, the 3.0 V6 seems good, 340 or 380 hp and it gets decent gas mileage. In a car this small it should fly, the C-class is getting a 339 hp V6, so it would line up well with that Mercedes is doing. Even on my car which is nearing 4,000 lbs 340 hp would be enough, my car has more power than I can really use.
  17. smk4565
    I will probably keep it 10 years, I'd like to see how long it lasts. This model E-class is fairly cheap too they are a bit old school but they are a good deal.
  18. smk4565
    It will be missed by no one.
  19. smk4565
    Jaguar makes great looking cars, you just have to hope they can keep the reliability up. A lot of their cars are cramped on the inside, roomier interiors would be a nice thing.
  20. smk4565
    It does not have COMMAND, they added that in 2009, but on the same old buttons. My car has navigation and the map and 6-disc CD, plus the single slot, so there are menus and buttons for all that stuff, but it doesn't have the clicky wheel that the S-class and C-class had in 2008. But I sort of like buttons rather than having to rotate a nob and cycle through menus to change things.
  21. smk4565
    VW has a twin turbo V6 on the shelf they can use, they aren't going to make up a new V8 for a car with tiny sales volume. And Audi's have grip, let's remember a 420 hp S6 is quicker 0-60 than a 556 hp CTS-V. It is all about low end torque and grip. If the Porsche Macan turbo can do 0-60 in 4.4 seconds, I imagine the same engine in an RS4 that weighs less will be near the 4.0 second mark, that is pretty quick I bet the Audi S6 goes V6 also, saving the V8 for the RS6 with an insane price.
  22. smk4565
    Here is my car, it has premium 2 package, AMG sort package, panoramic roof, designo black metallic paint and the sand color Nappa leather. I got rear wheel drive since rear drive handles better and all wheel drive E-classes prior to 2010 had the 5-speed automatic. This car is actually good in snow too, I got Blizzak tires, but I drove it every day it snowed this winter with no problems.
  23. smk4565
    That is a good choice. Upon reading your list at first I had hoped you would have picked a Focus or Mazda 3, so I think you made the right decision on the black ST. The Saab would eventually break and parts would be a hassle to find and expensive, the Mini and Audi are also in that unreliable car hall of fame, along with Fiat.
  24. smk4565
    It will be a twin turbo V6 because they have that available from the Porsche Macan. With Bentley getting more and more turbo V8s, and the Audi's big gun the S8 has a turbo V8, it makes sense that the smaller vehicles in the VW stable get turbo V6 power. If this is a Europe only car, maybe they'll go with a 3.0 liter to try to beat displacement taxes, not sure why they wouldn't sell it in the USA, unless they just figure no one will buy it over an M3 or C63.
  25. smk4565
    What is sad is they new about in testing phase, so that was probably 2003-2004 and they for sure knew of the problem in 2005, yet did nothing. This is why they have a bad reputation and people don't trust them. How about getting it right the first time, rather than doing what is cheapest or "good enough." GM always had these press releases that say we are committing to doing better or being world class, and the new GM is different from the old, but they have been saying that for 30 years. Actions would speak louder than words.
×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search