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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. smk4565
    63,000 F-series is amazing.
  15. smk4565
    You know America has an elderly population when the Avalon and ES350 combine for over 11,000 sales in a month.
  16. smk4565
    The Corvette is a hot item so people must like the redesign. I think there is also that want of Corvette fans to be the first to have the new one. The Malibu had to have some fleet sales, 60% gain is too much to get without Avis's help. Although 15,000 Malibus is still behind the 20-30,000 a lot of cars in that segment sell. I wonder if old Regals were discounted to get the sales up, the 2014 Regal doesn't seem any better than the 2013, or maybe it was a flukey month, because that car usually doesn't sell.
  17. smk4565
    The CLA is a hit, with little loss to the C-class, so that is a good sign for Mercedes. The C-class's losses may also be due to it being a dated model since it came out in 2008. S-class is out to a hot start, being the 7-series 3 to 1.
  18. smk4565
    The path to Cadillac's success is to convert as many Chevys into Cadillac's as possible. This strategy has worked very well with Lincoln and Acura.
  19. smk4565
    The 2-series looks a lot better than the 1-series which was an ugly car. Agreed that BMW styling isn't great and looks the same all the time. I think their top designs of the past 30 years or so are the late 90s 750i (which still looks good today) and the 90s 8-series coupe. The new 2-series could hit the sweet spot for BMW traditionalists however since it weighs 3240 lbs, the same as an E36 M3, and that is like the holy grail of small sport coupe/sedans.
  20. smk4565
    If they can't sell the new truck at higher prices, either they aren't good dealers or the truck isn't good enough. Probably this is just dealers crying, but I think when the 2015 F150 arrives they will have something to cry about. The F150 is said to be dropping over 700 lbs and rumor is a transmission of 8 or more gears and a new ecoboost engine are in the works.
  21. smk4565
    Because they are GM and the company motto is "that's good enough." And I agree with you about needing more punch from the start because loaded up you have some weight to move.
  22. smk4565
    Hyundai and Ford have a 1.6 liter turbo, Chevy/Buick could benefit from one I think.
  23. smk4565
    1996 Chevy Cavalier Coupe: 1999-2003 and put about 80,000 miles on it 2001 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0: 2003-2013 and put 123,000 miles on it 2008 Mercedes E550: I have had it about a month, it has 70,000 miles on it currently Each was black also.
  24. smk4565
    They are a nice car, I only did brief test drives of them, but I imagine on a long trip that car is great on the highway. I always felt since the car came out in 2009 that the ergonomics were good, it is easy to get comfortable in in and all the controls are easy to use and understand.
  25. smk4565
    CNG is an intriguing option. There is a gas station in Pittsburgh that sells it for like $1.97 which I think is a gallon of gas equivalent. So if you are getting about the same mileage but at $2 a gallon vs $4 a gallon, CNG seems pretty appealing.
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