smk4565

If they don't care at all about performance then they aren't looking at, or shouldn't be buying, a Cadillac sports sedan. Why not then put a 2.0T in a Corvette because I am sure there are people that don't care about speed and like how the Corvette looks would buy it. Plus 270 hp in a 3300 lb car is good enough so maybe GM should do that too.

Bentley builds dinosaur cars because that is what most of their owners want. They don't want change, they a Bentley the way it has always been. That is why the Mulsanne and Brooklans type cars will go on for years. And then they have the Continental to try to bring in people under age 70 or that had never driven a Bentley before.

But why even bother? The A4, 328i, and C250 all have turbo 4's standard. The ATS should make the thro 4 standard. Who wants a Cadillac with a base model Malibu engine? Even if it has 210 hp who cares, it won't have the 252 lb-ft an A4 has. The 2.5 will be for the entry level model I assume so they can keep the starting price at 29,995. Again, it is a Cadillac, cheap isn't supposed to be what they are selling. 328i starts at $34,600, the C250 starts at $34,800. I'd say $34,700 would be a nice starting point for the 2.0T and dump the 2.5.

But why even bother? The A4, 328i, and C250 all have turbo 4's standard. The ATS should make the thro 4 standard. Who wants a Cadillac with a base model Malibu engine? Even if it has 210 hp who cares, it won't have the 252 lb-ft an A4 has.

100% agree and this is my favorite post of the year. The engine doesn't belong and l love the idea of upcharging for it.

BMW has 8-speed ZF, Mercedes though makes their own transmission and will have a 9-speed by they time the Dodge Dart does. But kudos to Dodge, it will be the Dart and the S-class ushering in the era of 9 forward gears. Although Hyundai has already begun working on a 10-speed transmission so the Book of Genesis may be rewritten to "in the beginning, there was a V8 and RWD and then God said "let their 10 forward gears" and there were 10 forward gears.

They don't, their brand is folding up and moving down market.

Looks like the current one. If they want to make a splash, make a 30 mpg version. But I expect the evolutionary changes and more of the same. Ford is the only one doing much innovation with pick-ups over the last few years and we'll see if Ford keeps to their promise of taking weight out of the F150.

While I do think Buick needs a small SUV to capture female buyers and those jettisoned by the departure of the Mercury Mariner, this is pretty boring to me. I suppose it will be more of a compact, like CR-V size compared to Equinox/Terrain size to avoid more GM overlap.

That will cannibalize XTS sales then. The product planners got it wrong as usual. Does GM really need an Impala/LaCrosse/XTS. Wasn't the reason of fewer brands to cut down the overlap and not compete with themselves. If the Impala is $28-35k as I always thought it should be, it would line up against the Avalon/Maxima/Taurus/etc. Then put a Buick in the $35-45k range to match up against Lincoln/Acura. Then give Cadillac a RWD car in the upper price range.

I don't like the idea of the 2.5 liter, that belongs in Chevy, not a Cadillac. If they want a 3rd engine, it should be a turbo diesel 4-cylinder because they need it in foreign markets anyway. I do like the 2.0T and V6 choices. Although I think the V6 needs more torque to set itself apart from the 2.0T and compete better with the 335i. Problem is Cadillac is stuck with a 6-speed transmission while Infiniti, Mercedes and BMW have 7 or 8. So will the fuel economy and acceleration numbers be able to match up what that class has to offer. This new 2.0T has less horsepower and torque than a Hyundai Sonata Turbo, so I hope the tail pipe emissions from the ATS can cure birth defects in baby seals.

Well the Aztec is correct. The Cimarron should be top 5 worst all time. But hard to compare to such legends as the Morris Marina and Reliant Robin. The Saturn Ion though bad, is not top 10 or even top 40 bad. The Ford death trap is worse than that.

The Cimarron returns!!! This will no doubt be a sad car, but Acura was never going to compete with the Germans, so at least they realized that and have aimed low. They are better off matching up against Buick, and to some extent Volvo, VW and Chrysler. Lincoln will probably be going this route soon too.

How has Bentley "always" been a "V8 brand?" Prior to the VW purchase, Bentley had used TWO V8 engines...a Rolls-Royce engine from 1959 and a BMW engine from the late 1990s. Prior to that, they had six-cylinder and inline eight-cylinder engines (up to 8 litres). Ok... for the last half-century they have been a V8 brand... Perhaps...but not necessarily by choice. Who chooses to use only ONE engine for nearly 40 years (and its still in production)? Buick 3800???

Has a lot of CLS in it, but it looks good.

Bentley always was a V8 brand, and 500 hp and 25 mpg is nice, not that Bentley owners care about fuel prices. Although the Continental/Flying Spur always seem sort of like "fake" Bentleys to me.

GM is about due for a new batch of 4-cylinders. That 2.4 liter has been around close to 10 years it seems, with just a few modest power bumps along the way.

The interior colors aren't my style, but the interior design, materials, and fit and finish look excellent in the photos. I like the suede head liner and the stitching in the seats. I like the 480 lb-ft @1700 rpm from the twin turbo V8 as well. But why is it so freaking big??? BMW is making a lot of large, heavy cars lately.

I thought about that too. It is really a bad car, so out dated compared to others. I am actually surprised Toyota has let it go so long without an upgrade. But the people that buy it don't care about cars, they want an appliance and believe that it will run a long time without braking down (cheap to own) so they buy it. Chevy still sells 12-14k Impalas a month, that thing shouldn't sell either.

Agreed. When I drove the CTS with the 304 hp version it felt like you really had to rev the engine, especially on hills, to feel like it was doing anything. That car needs more low end grunt. The 335i makes a lot of low end torque, even an A6 has 325 lb-ft @ 2,900 rpm, better mileage than a CTS as well.

Maybe a competitor for the Smart-for-us pick up truck.

I think they need to find a way to get the price on the SL to drop a little, $104,000 base price is a bit steep. They need to cut that back to about $90k. The SL does usually go on 10+ year model runs, that one generation was sold from 1972 to 1989 or something.

I think in response to this, the Hyundai Sonata will be getting a 12 speed automatic!

The Germans aren't retreating from the V8, Mercedes just came up with 2 new V8s in the past year, the 4.6 liter bi-turbo and the 5.5 liter bi-turbo AMG. Mercedes, BMW and Audi still make V12s. Plus the Germans have diesel power to big torque where needed. BMW does have the triple turbo inline six diesel on the way, rumor is that has over 500 lb-ft of torque. E-class and up has always had V8 power, and they still do. Cadillac of the 90s had a V8 in just about everything, today it is a CTS-V and Escalade, otherwise enjoy your V6. To me, Cadillac has retreated from the V8 more than the Germans. Although the six cylinders with the technology we have now and the turbos/superchargers are almost more compelling because of the fuel economy.

Once you build a 2.0 liter inline four, why not build a 3.0 liter inline six??? Or perhaps a 4.0 liter V8 (twin turbo). Or both.