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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. smk4565
    Reminds me of a Nissan Cube, but with a Jeep grille and round lights. Looks like this Suzuki too.
  8. smk4565
    5.5 liter V8.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. smk4565
    It will be missed by no one.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. smk4565
    I think the GS F-sport should be $75,000, if people are foolish enough to pay $60,000 for it, they'll pay $75,000 because it says "Lexus" and "F" on it. That F should stand for "Fail." It can be the sedan version of the Acura NSX, $75,000 and you get a 300 hp V6. The CTS-V will need awd to get the 0-60 time down, they can put all the power in the world under the hood, unless you can get it to the ground it doesn't matter. Look at the Nissan GT-R as an example, it gets the power down and grips like no other.
  21. smk4565
    I wasn't talking profit margin, on that GM gets killed by the luxury brands. I stated total dollars, so price of the vehicle doesn't really matter when GM sold nearly 10 million cars in 2013. But if you divide it up they sell about 2.4 million cars per quarter, if they made $913 million, last quarter that is about $380 per car. So if Cadillac, GMC and pickups are really such big profit centers why only a $380 per car average? They would have to be losing money on every Chevy and Buick sedan sold, and maybe they are. To Lamar's question the E63 has AWD, but is is default 67% rear bias. Audi of course does, the M5 and XF-R are rear drive only and Lexus has no performance sedan, unless you call the GS F-sport with yesterday's 305 hp V6 and 6-speed auto sporty. I think the big question is the V-series going to be worth the price premium over the V-sport? The car magazines and tv shows all love how the V-sport drives and the handling and driving dynamics, and it does 0-60 in 4.5 seconds which is pretty quick. The knocks are on CUE and interior, which will be the same on the V-series. The CTS-V has to do something more than just take .5 seconds off the 0-60 time.
  22. smk4565
    But GM only made $3.8 billion in profit in 2013, while Daimler made $12 billion. Mercedes-Benz cars division alone made $1.9 billion in profit in 4th quarter 2013, while all of GM made $913 million. If GMC is such a profit machine, and Cadillac is about making money and Buick is so hot in China, where is the money going that Mercedes car division alone can out earn all of them plus Chevy. Cadillac's problem is similar to Acura's and Infiniti's, they have no halo cars. At least Cadillac and Infiniti have rear drive platforms and try to break away from the corporate FWD platform (something Acura and Lincoln don't do), but there is still some lower end parts bin in both brands. Infiniti and Cadillac are a lot alike, the cars are good, but the SUVs are just based off a Nissan or Chevy. Neither have a big flagship sedan or a sports car or super car, neither have mass global appeal and they lack that upper echelon prestige. Cadillac needs to fill out the lineup, otherwise they'll always be like Infiniti.
  23. smk4565
    Cadillac needs entrants into all the luxury segments, but they can't just try to copy what everyone else already did, they need to innovate on some level. What they do need to copy are things like diesels and 8-speed transmissions and come up with some technology and new engines to set them apart. Digging into the Chevy parts bin or making a half-ass attempt like the STS or XLR were won't get it done. The do need a sports car, either something like the Audi TT, Z4 or SLK or else something more expensive like a Jag F-type or XK. Cadillac needs a more diverse product line than 3 sedans and a couple 4 door SUVs, you can't compete with 5 products when some of these German brands have 15-20.
  24. smk4565
    I don't think it should be less than the Z06 just for the sake of being less so the Corvette can have the highest number, but I could see GM doing that. If the engine has less just because of the way the intake and exhaust work or for vibration or noise reasons, that makes sense. I do think they'll want 600 hp for advertising purposes.
  25. smk4565
    AMG haters are just jealous. They have more than one engine too, the 2.0 turbo, the 5.5 N/A in the SLK, the 6.2 N/A which is soon to be phased out, but a 4.0 bi-turbo is replacing it, 5.5 bi-turbo V8, and the V12 bi-turbo. So that is 5 engines, and they'd still have 4 if the 4.0 replaces both the 5.5 and 6.2. I don't think Cadillac should copy AMG, just like they shouldn't copy BMW and BMW doesn't try to copy Mercedes/AMG. Each brand has to have something unique, because people don't want to buy the copy when they can get the original version. What Cadillac should strive towards is a broader lineup of V-series cars. The problem is Cadillac doesn't have many body styles of cars, or no true sports car in the line up and their SUVs aren't conducive to turning into a V-series. Making coupe and convertibles out of the ATS and CTS is a start, but they still need a roadster of some kind, whether that be like the Z4 or the F-type or the SL, they need a sports car. As far as the CTS-V goes, I am predicting Z06 engine tuned down a little to 580-600 hp, rear drive, 6 speed auto or 7 speed manual. But I think it should have an 8 speed auto, and an all wheel drive option. I prefer rear wheel drive, but with that kind of power the back end is going to be wild if you are putting all the power on 2 wheels. I am going to guess $89,795 for price.
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