smk4565
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Everything posted by smk4565
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I bet the 4-cylinder version has even less than 185 hp, but maybe it will make 185 and they can keep the sign and get Sam and Kate to do the commercials.
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Land Rover News: 2014 Range Rover Drops One V8, Introduces A V6
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Land Rover
Just as Jaguar dropped the 5.0 liter N/A V8 and Mercedes is dropping the E550 in favor of a bi-turbo V6 come 2015. Not sure how a bi-turbo V6 is a replacement for a bi-turbo V8, but that is what they are doing. The V8 is dying, I feel like by 2020 the V8 will only be found in high-end sports cars or Mercedes S-class or bigger sedans. -
I was most impressed with the Impala of all the GM vehicles. It looks great from the front, the interior is roomy, stylish, comfortable, the materials were good too. The back end is boring and the car a bit big for my tastes, but they hit the mark with that car. The Malibu I thought was a joke, when the driver's seat is pushed back all the way it actually touches the rear seat. The ATS is small inside, any of the 3 German rivals have more interior room, and the ATS doesn't really stand out or look all that expensive. There is nothing bad about it, but nothing really wowed me about it either. XTS Platinum is nice if it cost less. For $64k at other brands you can more car, and it isn't $25k nicer than the Impala. At Buick the Lacrosse looks a bit dated already, and the Impala is a much nicer car inside and out. The Verano is the best Buick right now, the interior on that is about the same as the other Buick sedans yet it costs way less, and the Verano has the 2.0T. I sat in the Encore, it isn't all that nice for a vehicle with a sticker of near $34k, and it has no power.
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Top Gear Ends Tonight ... Or Two Weeks From Now ... Or Sometime Soon
smk4565 replied to Blake Noble's topic in The Lounge
Tonight's episode was hilarious, the car they made for old people had me laughing so hard I was in tears. There are at least 2 more weeks because they have a 2 part special to Egypt coming up. -
Worse than the Aztek. Seriously.
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From the looks of it, not a very safe car. I have never seen that interior and would guess1985-1987, and it doesn't look like a GM or Ford interior, so I'd say a Mazda or Mitsubishi/Eagle type car.
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Problem starts to become how do you put all that power to the ground on a rear drive car that isn't very heavy and it still has leaf springs too doesn't it? Unless you have all wheel drive.
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Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Good and Bad News For Cadillac
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
Germany is a high cost country, wages are higher there than in the USA, and the S-class is 81.1% German parts content, yet it has been the #1 selling car in that class for 30 years. High costs in the USA isn't an excuse, and we are talking a high end Cadillac, not a $8,000 compact sold in 3rd world countries. Fleetwood and Eldorado are strong names, Deville is a bad one, they trashed it, and Seville ran it's course. Eldorado would be good for a grand touring coupe if they ever did a Jag XK or Maserati Gran Turismo competitor. Fleetwood is a nice name for a flagship sedan. But you either have to do names or alphabet soup, mixing doesn't make sense, which is why Escalade doesn't fit with the current naming scheme. I think ATS-V will have a turbo V6, it is a rather small car and BMW is doing a turbo six M3, and the M3 is the gold standard. -
Cadillac News: Rumorpile: Good and Bad News For Cadillac
smk4565 replied to William Maley's topic in Cadillac
The bean counters are what will always hold Cadillac back. Mercedes will spend $1 billion on an S-class without thinking about it, and use windshield wipers with lasar drilled fluid holes just because they can. Cadillac looks to drop cost by $12 per vehicle with cheaper door handles. And if they cut corners on something you touch every time you get in or out of the car, you know they will cut in the places you don't touch. Sad. Cars need multiple body styles also, if the wagon doesn't sell I can see dropping that, but ATS and CTS should both have coupe and sedan versions. Or if ATS has coupe and sedan, maybe CTS gets wagon and sedan, but you can just have all sedans like Acura or Lincoln. I am not a fan of 3 letter names because most are meaningless. Audi's A4-A6-A8 names make sense and are simple, but what Acura does putting random letters together is stupid. I wouldn't mind Cadillac bringing back some word names like Eldorado or making up some new ones. -
I sat in a 2014 Impala today and have to say, I really like the interior. They did a great job on it, and the front end of that car looks sharp in person as well. The back of the Impala is sort of boring and doesn't really look like the other Chevy's but they nailed that interior and it has the best front end design of any Chevy. The Malibu interior on the other hand looks tacky and the back seat room is non existent if the driver's seat is pushed back. The Malibu has nothing I liked about it and I can see why it is the 7th or 8th best selling car in the class despite being brand new. The Impala is too big though to compete with the Fusion, Camry, etc, so they need both. The Impala and XTS have similar shapes and very similar interiors as far as how they are shaped and the size. GM does have an overlap problem, the Regal doesn't seem to fit in, and the XTS could have been a Park Avenue, and the Lacrosse maybe made a bit smaller and Regal deleted.
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I disagree that the Malibu and Impala should be one product, as Hyundai has the Sonata and Azera, Toyota the Camry and Avalon. There is room for both. I could see them making the Imapala and SS into one product though, as the Impala looks better, this gives Chevy something in line with the Charger and 300. Having 3 sedans, and them overlapping Buick is a bit too much though. A good idea may have been to make the Impala RWD so that it wasn't the same size and prize as a LaCrosse. I do agree that Chevy needs to be the value brand though, which is why a possibly $45,000 base price V8 sedan doesn't make a lot of sense.
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I sat in the new MKZ, and the interior shape is identical to the Fusion, the center stack just has different buttons and the door panels have leather and wood on them rather than the rubber/plastic stuff on the Ford. It is pathetic.
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7 different car models with a V8. C-Class, E-class, S-class (CL-Class merging with S-class in 2014), CLS, SLK, SL, SLS. Cadillac has 1, Chevy now has 3. Cadillac needs some more love in the high performance area, or even just mid-range V8 luxury sedan, Hyundai makes more V8 sedans than Cadillac. Apples and oranges, though...GM's bread and butter is cheap FWD appliances...Mercedes is all about expensive RWD models..though they are sadly getting into the appliance thing also. Well Cadillac wants to be "Standard of the World" so that means expensive RWD V8 and V12 models and 200 mph super cars. Standard of the World means going up against Mercedes, Rolls, Bentley, Lamborghini, etc. Where is Cadillac's Lexus LFA or Audi R8 rival? Where is the V12 sedan to compete with the S600, Bentley Flying Spur and Rolls Royce Ghost. Cadillac is just not there, and never will be because GM is about FWD appliances. Which is fine, Toyota has been makings billions of profit for years on appliances.
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Back to the SS though, it is just a disappointing car, and another example of wasted resources. The Malibu is a mess, yet GM loves to get distracted by cars like the SS, SSR pickup, Sky/Solstice, etc. As much as I don't like Toyota, at least they focus on what matters and sell a boat load of appliances.
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7 different car models with a V8. C-Class, E-class, S-class (CL-Class merging with S-class in 2014), CLS, SLK, SL, SLS. Cadillac has 1, Chevy now has 3. Cadillac needs some more love in the high performance area, or even just mid-range V8 luxury sedan, Hyundai makes more V8 sedans than Cadillac.
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Anyone else think it odd that the full size Cadillac sedan has 300 hp and the full size Chevy sedan has 415? The ATS, CTS and XTS all get a 300ish HP V6 where at the V8s? And the CTS-V is hardly a sufficient offering when Mercedes has 7 passenger cars with an available V8.
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I don't think they need a manual because few people buy them, and this car isn't going to sell in much volume anyway, if they offered a manual they might sell 300 a year, it isn't worth trying. The styling is really bland and it looks closer to a Buick Regal than any Chevy product. I see it has the same bubble trunk as the Regal, Malibu and Cadillacs, I am hating that and don't know why GM is putting it on every car now. The 2014 Impala looks way better than the SS. The Interior of the SS is okay, looks like the Impala's. Chevy managed to make a car even more boring and with less character than the Hyundai Genesis. The Genesis has 429 hp and an 8-speed though, and probably weighs less.
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It looks too short in overall length, gives it a roller skate kind of look. Otherwise I don't mind the look of it, but I haven't seen it in person. Needs more motor though, for $25-35k and calling itself "premium" it shouldn't have the horsepower of a Hyundai Accent.
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Engine and transmission are a start, then chassis and suspension improvements are needed, longer wheelbase, better exterior design, more interior room, more refinement, better build quality. Basically make a whole new car.
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I'd rather see Cadillac use sharp edge rear ends, the original CTS and the XLR had good tail end design, far better than this current crop of cars they are coming out with. Imagine the original CTS back end with more expensive looking LED tail lights with red/clear/amber. Just look at how good the back end of a 2004 CTS-V looks even with old school bulb taillights.
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Fuel economy is a small factor, the Malibu doesn't sell because it isn't any good. The Malibu could get 50 mpg and the Camry will outsell it.
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Here's the new Commodore, with a side of Chevy SS...
smk4565 replied to ocnblu's topic in Heritage Marques
The problem with designing it to fit multiple brands is it doesn't look like it came from any one brand. It is just too generic looking. Does look a bit more Buick than Chevy though, it doesn't have an American looking design, it looks like a blend of Opel and Asian. -
Those price cuts won't be enough to move more cars. The segment is too competitive and the Malibu is not up to the task. There are several problems, one the car doesn't stand out. The 2013 Fusion or the 2011 Sonata when it came out had "Wow" styling that grabbed a ton of attention, this allows them to bring in new buyers, plus they both have full hybrids and Hyundai/Kia launched with best in class base fuel economy and their 2.0T crushed the V6s on fuel economy. So those cars made a big splash and got recognized. Second problem, the Camry and Accord are both new designs, and both have bullet-proof reputations. Like it or not, people will buy Camry and Accords just because of the name and their mind can't be changed. So some % of buyers will never give a domestic car a chance. Third problem, the Passat dropped in price, there is a new Altima, new Mazda 6. There is more competition than ever, and I feel like the 2008 Malibu was at least competitive when it came out, but this 2013 car launched already way behind the pack. This car is struggling now, imagine 5 years from now when it is still on the market how dated it will be, better get the fleet sales ready.
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The ATS looks a little bland to me, they could have done a more upscale grille, and I don't like the ATS trunk with the bubble, bangle butt thing. It looks worse on the next CTS. The ATS has good proportions though, the current CTS has a high belt line and looks chunky on the back half. The ATS looks good from the side, but I think could be better from the front and behind.
