smk4565

The 1949 XK120 was the fastest car in the world at the time, Enzo Ferrari called the E-type Jaguar the best looking car ever made. So if they can get back to that, added to them being near the top in JD Power quality and dependability over the past 3 years they will be in good shape. And they have a DOHC V8 and DOHC turbo diesel engines that are sweet.

Well GM makes trucks, vans and fleet, etc. If GM got rid of Chevy, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick, and just put a GM logo on every car, then they would be doing what Mercedes does. Mercedes brand has to build tons of stuff, Cadillac brand does not. Mercedes is #1 in JD Power Customer Loyalty at 67%. http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/daily-news/091211-JD-Power-Survey-Mercedes-Buyers-Most-Loyal/

That was Ford's doing, they were after a cheap buck, under Tata hopefully none of that garbage happens and Jaguar goes back to what Jaguar was in the 1950s and 1960s.

But they sell 1.4 million vehicles a year, generate loads of profit, and Mercedes has probably the best brand image of any automaker in the world (aside from low volume exotics like Rolls-Royce or Ferrari). Plus Mercedes is #1 in customer loyalty in the USA. If Cadillac can accomplish what Mercedes has, Cadillac can do whatever they want. My favorite brand is Jaguar, because their lineup is consistent, all rear drive, performance/luxury cars. No mommy-mobiles, no trucks, no front drive hybrid posers, just true performance, luxury, and style.

Well it is somewhat muddled because they don't know how to do performance and they are half unique cars, half dressed up Toyotas. The LS460 sport is a joke compared to other large sport sedans, and the IS-F is no M3, and there is no GS-F (yet) and no roadster or any sports car besides the LF-A which they are only making a limited number of. They aren't a truck brand though, they make a Camry based crossover and 2 truck SUVs that don't sell. But Cadillac's lineup is equally muddled. A brand specific rear driver, a crossover just like the RX or MKX, a old geezer front driver, about to be replaced by another old geezer front driver, and a dressed up Tahoe. Cadillac does the same thing Lexus does, except that Lexus has higher priced cars. Sure, but Lexus had DI on sale in calendar year 2005, for model year 2006. And Mercedes had it in 1954, so they win anyway.

But a LaCrosse is over 10 decibels louder than an LS460 at full throttle and nearly 10 louder at cruise. I know they are in totally different classes, but Buick is always claiming to be so quite and the LaCrosse is heavy with lots of sound insulation. Sound insulation is all well and good, but engine refinement plays a big role. The 3.6 V6 is a loud (and somewhat whiney) engine when pushed, and the pushrods are even louder. I'd never buy a Lexus or Toyota product, but I'll admit their V8 is refined and they build quite cars.

Toyota's engineering I don't think is the best there is, far from it, but they did lead the way with hybrids, and the LS460 has had some innovations. I'd put them slightly ahead of GM over the past 10 years. Lexus at least has a supercar and a flagship, they aren't as good as what the Germans have, but at least they have it. Cadillac has no supercar and no flagship, no IS350 competitor yet. Cadillac's goal by 2014 seems to be to compete with the Lexus IS, ES, GS, RX and LX570, so basically the lower 2/3 of Lexus. To me, the lower 2/3rd of Lexus is sort of crappy, why set a 5 year plan to strive for that. The Solstice GXP didn't go on sale until the 2007 model year.

Lexus had direct injection in 2006, and was first with an 8-speed automatic, and they have a car that parks itself. So aside from the very boring styling and unintended acceleration, their engineering is in front of GM's (or Ford's or Chrysler's) in many ways. Lexus is certainly not on the level of Mercedes or BMW or Jaguar, but at least they have some weapons in their arsenal, Cadillac barely has anything. The Lexus LS460 is 58-60 decibels at 70 mph (depending on the test), no GM car is close to that. The Lexus at full throttle has been measured at 65-70 DBA, so they must have gotten something right with that V8. Think of that, a Lexus LS460 at full throttle is as quite as an Enclave or CTS at cruise.

But the Genesis Coupe is a coupe on a chopped sedan frame and it isn't super heavy, it is under 3,500 lbs. So I don't see that as an excuse for the Camaro. The Camaro looks better than the Mustang on the outside, the Camaro exterior styling is great, but it is hard to see out of it and the interior is cheap. But mainly the difficulty in seeing out of the thing is the biggest turn-off for me. Mercedes and BMW weights have often been in line with everyone else, an E350 is 3,825 lbs, 4,034 lbs for an E550, that is right in line with other V8 midsize cars. Every car in the S-class's segment weighs a ton, except for the Jaguar, that is one reason I like Jaguars so much, their build their cars smarter than the Germans do.

Right, the Camaro is overweight due to poor engineering. That is the root of the problem with most GM vehicles. Ford, Hyundai, Nissan and the Germans have better engineering. GM cars are often heavier, need bigger, thirstier engines, etc. GM just milks along existing engines and platforms while trying to justify they are good enough to compete with the rest of the market. Much of this thread is how GM's technology is on par or even better than the competition, yet I don't see any competitor trying to copy the LS3 V8 or emulate GM's overweight platforms.

No, the Mustang would get worse, because it is 17/26 mpg with manual, 18/25 with auto, the redline is 7,000 rpm, and reviews have commented on how the car is very quiet below 3500 rpm, but above it makes the noise gear heads love. So the Mustang would lose refinement, sound, fuel economy and probably sales if it had Chevy's engine.

I think the issue is that the Camaro is plenty capable, but the Mustang is a better sports car (or track car) than the Camaro due to the lower weight and Ford's new 3.7 and 5.0 engines. Even with the solid rear axle, all the car magazines seem to prefer the Mustang (V6 or V8) to the Camaro, I think Car and Driver even rated the V6 Mustang higher than the V8 Camaro, due to the Mustang being so light up front, the handling was far superior.

I was a bit surprised the Camaro's interior got no mention, but since it wasn't a really long test on it, I suppose that is why. The E63's engine makes a way better sound than the Camaro's, and the E63 even looked like it had better grip and handling. But sound of the night definitely goes to the Maserati, I could listen to that engine all day long. Next week they build their own motorhomes, so the silliness and hijinks should be in full effect.

I watch every week. I am really interested to see how they react to the Camaro. Hammond likes muscle cars, but muscle cars are often ripped apart on that show. Of the 4 cars on tonight, the Camaro SS is the least powerful, so it should be a good show.

The Toronado is a good move, because if kept in good condition, it can be a classic car that you could take to a car show if you wanted to. Where as a late 80s Ninety-Eight, or similar car will never really be thought of as a classic or a collectible. $2500 is too much for that Ninety-Eight, an Aurora or similar mileage can be found for $4,000 (maybe less) and the Aurora is the best Oldsmobile ever made.

The only reason GM has kept using the pushrods is development cost, they are too broke to make a new engine, so they have to keep bringing the old one along, much like they did with the 3800 V6 for 20 years. For 20 years they kept claiming how it could match the smaller Japanese DOHC V6s in power and economy, but at the end of the day, the DOHC V6s left the 3800 in the dust. Same will happen with V8s. BMW, Mercedes, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Audi, Jaguar, Lexus, and Infiniti aren't all wrong. The only ones that think the pushrod V8 is still viable are Chrysler and GM, the two companies that have lost the most market share in the past 20 years and the only 2 that filed for bankruptcy. And I don't mean to say the engine is why they filed bankruptcy, but both Chrysler and GM had a long stretch where they chose not to innovate, and just try to milk every last dime out of old products or technology.

Well, here is a 2010 Corvette... Lots of gray plastic, and some fake leather with stitching. Just look at how cheap the AC vents look, or how chinzy the window and climate switches are. They have to do better than that. The Gran Sport is around $60k, the Vette isn't a $40k car anymore, at that price they better step it up. Or do the cheap interior, and sell it for $45k, I don't care.

I don't think it has to be luxurious either, but it has to be well built. The current car is cheaply made, the dash is all plastic, the center console is more gray plastic, everything you touch in that interior just feels cheap. Simple and basic was the Solstice, that Corvette has to go above that, and I think it has to be better equipped than a Camaro. I think of a car like the VW Passat, which isn't super luxurious, but it doesn't feel cheap, the car interior feels tightly assembled and well put together. Even the XLR, had some luxurious elements, but the car didn't feel well put together.

Size, weight, gas mileage are fine, those aren't even areas of concern. Width I think is an issue, because the car not only is wide, but it looks really wide. That could turn away some buyers because really wide, low cars can be more difficult to drive. Secondly, interior, interior, interior. The interior needs tremendous improvement, the current car's interior belongs in a $15,000 car, not a $50,000 car.

Length and height are fine, I think the next Corvette should not be as wide.

My grand parents had a 79 and and 88 Town car. Contrary to what the video says, the Town Car did not have agile or stable handling, it pretty much just floated and bounced over bumps. It was very spacious though, a small family could live in the trunk of those things.

If you use a loaded ZR-1 which is $120,000, then the ZR-1 is a 245% increase over the base car. Where as the S65 has no options. So the gap from absolute base model to top end is still greater on the Corvette. But every car maker does essentially the same thing, offering upgraded of special versions of the basic car, that is where the profit is. But balthazar brings up a good point, Mercedes charges $90k for a 295 hp V6 sedan. Cadillac could build a sedan with 600 hp and not get $90k for it. Cadillac has to do more to break away from mainstream GM, otherwise they are no different than Lincoln or Acura. Part of that breaking away is not using the same engine in the Silverado.

The Town Cou-pay with coach roof is pretty epic

What is cheap about it? The trim isn't exactly the same, there are more options and features, plus upgraded leather, different seats, suede headliner, upgraded brakes, wheels, etc. There is more interior difference in an S65 and an S400 hybrid than there is in a base Corvette and a ZR-1. Percentage wise, the ZR-1 and base Corvette are farther apart than an S65 and a base S-class, and at least the S-class adds equipment and upgrades the interior. The ZR-1 adds head up display and some leather on the dash to replace the Cobalt level plastic that normally lives there. The Bentley V8 is going on 60 years of usage, that is a dinosaur. And I am a Bentley fan (of real Bentleys anyway, not the phony Audi A8 Bentleys). Mercedes has been making V12s for 20 years, and the S65's V12 is in its 7th year. And that engine may leave soon, but I'm sure AMG will come up with something good for the future. Plus that is what this thread is about, a future GM engine, and how the 5.3 and 6.2 liter V8s are going to get replaced.

On the first point, then why not a pushrod V6 or a pushrod I4. A pushrod V6 would have smaller dimensions than a DOHC V6, and it would also be unique to GM. No one here can make an argument that a pushrod V6 is better than the 3.6 DI Cadillac uses, or the 3.7 liter Infiniti V6. The argument doesn't change for V8s, DOHC is still superior. The Bentley V8 is a dinosaur that gets 12 mpg, and struggles to pass emissions standards. It is a torque monster, but the redline is also around 4500 rpm, and compare the Bentley 6.75 liter V8 to Merc's AMG V12. The Mercedes V12 matches it in torque and beats it by a big margin in hp. Bentley makes the fastest trucks around, but Cadillac isn't competing against them, they are competing against Lexus, BMW and Mercedes (or are supposed to be).