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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Yes, I think on a coupe or sports car the badge on the grille makes sense, but on a luxury sedan it looks more prestigious and makes the car stand out more with the raised hood ornament. I love the stand up hood ornament on my car, I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do.
  2. smk4565
    Imagine the torque steer on a 270 hp Dart also, unless it was AWD, in which case the gas mileage will suck. ... it would be the same as any other 270 hp front driver.... not sure what the fact that it is a Dart has anything to do with it. Well most 270 hp front drivers are bigger cars that weigh about 3700 lbs, so the acceleration isn't as quick as it would be with 270 hp in a 3100 lb compact car. I'd imagine a 300 hp Cruze would have more torque steer feel than a 300 hp Impala. Baring massive changes to the steering and suspension from the standard Cruze.
  3. smk4565
    Agreed, the CTS grille doesn't look that expensive, and the badge is in a weird spot. But I am not a fan of the headlight treatment either, the front of the car just doesn't present as being as expensive as it is. The 3.6 V6 easily runs over $60,000 and a V-sport Premium is $70,000. The CTS I think suffers from a problem the STS had, it doesn't look expensive or special enough. A good thing about the CTS is that Magnetic ride control is available with every engine. The the E-class Airmatic is only available with the V8. Mercedes should make Airmatic available with every engine, and rumor is it will be available on the new C-class, so maybe that day is coming. On a styling note, one thing I don't like that Mercedes is doing is putting the 3-point star on the grill more and more, you can still get any sedan with the Mercedes logo standing on the hood, but it is less common now. I wonder if Cadillac would consider 2 front end designs for the CTS, XTS and whatever the big car is. It seems like a full size Cadillac sedan should have the wreath and crest standing on the hood. The S-class and Rolls-Royce are sort of the last hold outs to standing hood ornaments.
  4. smk4565
    I think none of them are great looking, but each have good aspects to them. If you put the XTS grille on the ATS, that would be their best looking car. The ATS in front is a bit boring, the CTS and XTS are too boring from behind, but the CTS probably has the best proportions.
  5. smk4565

    BMW Can Kiss My Ass

    smk4565 replied to avant1963's topic in BMW

    The problem with BMW's 4-door coupes is they don't look like coupes. At least a Mercedes CLS looks different from an E-class sedan or coupe. The Gran Turismo hatch things look dumb also, I think BMW is looking for niche vehicles to get sales because they can't keep up with Mercedes. The C-class is closing in on the 3-series in sales, and Mercedes has a lockdown on the E-class and S-class segments.
  6. smk4565
    I'd agree. The 2.4 liter in the Dart is already bigger than most compacts. 1.8-2.0 liter is common in this segment. Even the majority of the midsize segment is 4 cylinder, with CAFE toughing and Chrysler being weak there already a V6 Dart doesn't make sense. Imagine the torque steer on a 270 hp Dart also, unless it was AWD, in which case the gas mileage will suck.
  7. smk4565
    Cadillac needs 4 and 6 cylinder diesel power mated to an 8-speed transmission in a bad way. A turbo 4 diesel would easily out torque the 2.0T or 3.6 V6 in the ATS and CTS and probably give back 45 mpg and still get you 0-60 in 7 seconds which is adequate for most of the driving world.
  8. smk4565
    They might, Sprinter is from the Mercedes-Benz Vans division, so they could bring others from that group here, but I sort of doubt it. I think Mercedes feels that they can engineer the best product for any segment. Daimler builds the best trucks and buses, Mercedes is one of the standards of the auto industry, I am sure they can build a better van than the Transit or NV200, but just because they can doesn't mean they should. These vans could have diesel power though, instant win over vans sold in the USA right now.
  9. smk4565
    They both face the same problem in Europe. They don't have the distribution channels or the popularity or trust of consumers there. Europeans for the most part like European cars. Plus they like diesel and the top 2 selling Lexus in Europe I think are the CT200h and RX400h; their hybrids get a little bit of traction because of the gas mileage. Cadillac doesn't have 40-50 mpg cars, so that is another disadvantage. Cadillac does have a good chance in China, although Buick is the GM band winning there, so they have to get Buick people to trade up to Cadillac. All 3 Germans do well in China too though, and Audi is the strongest of the 3 and Mercedes the weakest, sort of the opposite of the American market.
  10. smk4565
    So is Cadillac's path to global success to sell 1,500 CTS per month and 2,500 ATS in the USA, and even less outside the USA? Lexus has had over 10 years of the IS and GS, and over 20 years of the LS, and they still are basically America only and the IS And GS are slow sellers. The Lexus brand survived on the backs of the ES350 and RX350. Cadillac needs the ATS and CTS to sell because they don't have a version of the Malibu to sell, although they do have a version of the Impala and Equinox to prop them up.
  11. smk4565
    This sounds more like they want a luxury minivan in the USA, and they may be successful with this, but the R-class bombed, so I sort of doubt it. But if a Toyota or Honda minivan can cost $40,000, maybe Mercedes can get people to pay $50,000 for a minivan. I don't see the Vito coming here, that is a small commercial vehicle for Europe.
  12. smk4565
    If BMW can fit a straight six in a 180 inch long 3-series, then it should fit in a 195 inch long CTS. But I can't see GM making a straight six because it would have no use for Chevy or Buick and they aren't really in the habit of making Cadillac exclusive engines anymore, unfortunately.
  13. smk4565
    Car and Driver just compared the CTS and the 3 Germans, the BMW got a 10 in engine, the Cadillac 3.6 and Mercedes V6 got a 7 and they criticized both for being harsh at high revs and lacking refinement. The straight six is the superior engine, this is why Mercedes is going back to it. Combined with the 9-speed transmission that should give Mercedes and advantage over BMW.
  14. smk4565
    Interesting comparo in Car and Driver with the CTS vs the Germans, and the CTS took 2nd beating the E350 by 1 point (due to the CTS getting a 25 in fun to drive vs 18 for the E350). The A6 was the winner since C/D loves that car, but what is interesting is the 5-series fall from grace. They mention how there is very little E39 left in the 5-series and the engine/transmission is really the only good thing left about the 5-series. That car has gotten big and heavy and they bashed the steering and suspension. So there is opportunity for Cadillac here as the CTS was the best in handling and most fun to drive, although also the slowest and the 3.6 lacked refinement. The CTS 3.6 was $67,000 as tested, so the coming challenge for Cadillac is going to be getting people to pay that much for a CTS.
  15. smk4565
    I get that, but why is the SRX so poor at packaging and on a FWD platform from Chevy? It is like saying the Malibu has the same interior size as a Hyundai Elantra (which is probably does) and saying people should cross shop the Malibu and Elantra, when the Malibu is way bigger on the outside. Regardless, the SRX doesn't really compete with anything the Germans make, it competes with Lincoln, Lexus and Acura which is where the soccer mom crowd of the entry lux market lives and it is a big market. I do think if Cadillac really steps up their game they can put a hurt on Lincoln, Acura and Lexus. Acura and Lincoln are already dwindling and Lexus is living off one cross over and buyers over 70. If Cadillac can make themselves cool again and get some younger buyers they can overtake Lexus in 10 years time.
  16. smk4565
    I think this is going to be one of the best looking cars on the market, if not the best looking car on the market.
  17. smk4565
    Cadillac needs a middle size SUV, but the SRX is actually 1 inch longer than an M-class and 1 inch shorter than an X5, it is sized right with them. So if they make an SUV off the CTS platform sized like an X5 they will have 2 SUVs the same size. If they make an X5 competitor then the SRX has to shrink. Maybe this is part of the problem, Cadillac wants to compete with Lexus. Lexus isn't a global luxury brand, they are an American luxury brand that lives on vehicles under $40,000. The RX sells about 7k a moth, the ES 6k a month, and the IS 3500 a month, no other Lexus topped 1,500 units last month. The GS, GX, LX are duds, always has been, the LS sells okay because it is $20k cheaper than the German rivals. Lexus is just a step above Buick, a better managed and marketed Lincoln if you will, they will never make it globally. They make it in the USA because 300,000 people a year get rid of their Camry and 20% of those people mindlessly buy a Lexus.
  18. smk4565
    Good to see them sticking with the V12. The S63 will probably be quicker 0-60 because of awd, but I bet this thing from 100-150 pulls like a freight train. I'd like to see what happens when the speed limited is turned off. I am also more interested in seeing the Pullman.
  19. smk4565
    Yes, the CTS was going to challenge the 3-series, the STS would challenge the E-class, the SRX would take on the BMW X5, and the XLR would compete with the Mercedes SL. None of that really worked, 2 of those products are dead, the CTS stuck around and the SRX went FWD to take on the RX350 and Lincoln MKX. The ATS and CTS are now better equipped to take on the Germans, but the rest of the product line needs some work. It could be doable in 10 years, but they need to improve marketing and distribution channels while enhancing the product line. That will cost a lot of money, and I don't know if Cadillac can keep up with BMW or Mercedes in that regard.
  20. smk4565
    Imagine the CTS and ATS with a 3.0 liter twin turbo straight six with around 340 hp and 340 lb-ft instead of the 3.6 liter V6 shared with the Impala.
  21. smk4565
    They can get rid of the V since most of their products are rear drive and the A-class platform cars are FWD and 4 cylinder. A company like GM or Toyota will need to keep the V6 because their SUVs an cars like the Avalon and Impala have a V6 and an inline 6 likely wouldn't fit. BMW and Mercedes have a product line conducive to inline engines, and probably 85% of BMW and Mercedes sold here and around the world are 4 or 6 cylinder, and most of the ones in Europe are diesel. When the V8 and V12 are 15% of sales that could be done on a different architecture because they are going to charge a lot more for it anyway.
  22. smk4565
    Probably because at the time they had a lot of V8s, and they probably sold more V12s in the 90s when gas was cheaper, so having all the engines in V formation was easier. But now that gas is $8-9 a gallon in Europe and they have CAFE and Euro emissions requirements and smaller engines can make more power, they are in downsize mode. Times change, Cadillac put a V8 in everything they made back in 1995, now 2 of their cars have 4-cylinders and the only V8 is the Escalade and CTS-V.
  23. smk4565
    The V12 is going to continue on for this generation of the S-class, but it is just a revised version of the same V12 they have had for years, basically making it meet emissions standards. Maybe they will combine two of the new inline 4's, rumor is they are planning a 4.0 liter V8 for the 2016 AMG C-class, that V8 could be re-tuned for use on the S-class and GL. A twin turbo 3.0 liter V6 is supposed to replace the V8 E-class and it is likely that it replaces the V8 in the ML and CLS also. They are looking for better fuel economy, and BMW and Audi are also heavily using turbo sixes in most of their cars now. I wonder if this means an inline six turbo diesel will be coming to replace the 3.0 V6 diesel. That could be interesting.
  24. smk4565
    This would be a good move, inline sixes are smoother than V6s. They get the benefit of better refinement and it makes it easy to share the inline 4 and 6 cylinder architecture. They already announced this is the last year of the E550, their V8s are going to get limited to the GL, S and SL class and AMG cars.
  25. smk4565
    The Panamera is a hideous looking car, hopefully they don't copy that. Buick could probably benefit from a coupe/convertible. If they build a slightly bigger and nicer LaCrosse as the flagship, then it will just be an XTS. Trying to fill every niche sounds of old GM and that is what got them in trouble. They need to focus on making the core products great. The Malibu is a joke of a product and that is the #1 segment in the industry. A lot of the current products can be improved, which is a better use of resources rather than to make niche cars with low sales volume while ignoring key volume segments.
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