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smk4565

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Everything posted by smk4565

  1. smk4565
    Toyota Echo rather.
  2. smk4565
    Toyota should bring out the Eco Cross Sport, which would be a 2 door version of the Yaris Cross with a center mounted speedometer. And then the Solara CC (convertible crossover).
  3. smk4565
    Yes, that's it. Look how off road and rugged it is. They could sell those for double the price of a Yaris because it has plastic cladding and a black roof.
  4. smk4565
    There is actually a Yaris Crossover coming, I forgot I had scene a picture of it. It would slot below the CH-R I think. So Toyota will have: Yaris Cross CH-R Rav4 Venza Highlander 4Runner Sequoia Land Cruiser 8 SUVs and they aren’t even into crossover coupes yet.
  5. smk4565
    Add 3 inch of lift with 2 inches of plastic body cladding, raise price $5k and call it Yaris Active Cross X and you have sales fire!
  6. smk4565
    I think this is a pretty good package and the turbo has pretty good power for a compact crossover. Good interior on the Kona too, my favorite in the segment. I agree that the limited seems the way to go, get the turbo and a lot of equipment but avoid that high price of the Ultimate.
  7. smk4565
    So parts on an Escalade cost more than double to parts on a Tahoe? It’s the same parts!
  8. smk4565
    How is it twice as high? It is the same 2.0 TFSI engine, just turned a difference direction, the same ZF 8-speed, the same electronics, etc. All this stuff comes from the same parts bin, the only big difference is Arteon is on the MQB platform, while the A4 is on the superior MLB platform. Granted the A4 with the same horsepower is $5k more than the Arteon, but I can't see how they justify an Arteon starting at $36k, which means over $40k with any options. Compare that to a Camry, Optima, Sonata, Accord, etc that start $10k cheaper. And an upper level Sonata or Camry is just as nice as an Arteon.
  9. smk4565
    Problem is this car is Audi A4 money. So either it needs to cost lest or just buy the Audi.
  10. smk4565
    How would they do it? They don't make a rear drive platform, and the MDX/Pilot upper mid-size already. They share a platform the the Odyssey and Ridgeline which have a longer wheelbase, but they would just send up with a 6 inch stretch wheelbase MDX, which maybe gets them more 3rd seat legroom, but I don't know if that moves the sales needle any. They can't go larger, but they can go smaller than RDX.
  11. smk4565
    They have an Acura version of the CR-V and Pilot, although they claim the RDX rides on it's own platform, I bet that thing is 90% CR-V underneath. I believe there is an Acura version of the Honda HR-V either in concept or for sale in Asia, I would be surprised if they don't don't put that on sale in the USA for a BMW X1, Volvo XC40 competitor starting around $32k.
  12. smk4565
    This looks like a car that will not be on market in about 4 years. I think it follows the GS to the grave. They can let the ES cover the lower end and LS cover the upper end and go with a 2 sedan lineup, maybe the LC sticks around because at $100k they have to be making profit on it, even with low volume.
  13. smk4565
    I don't care that they make FWD, especially at the vehicle size and power level and price point they do it at. The new A-class and GLA/GLB look like pretty strong entrants to the entry lux segment, the original CLA drove like any other run of the mill car and had a run of the mill interior. The new group of entry lux is strong it will cater well to people that only know FWD, I think it is good to offer that in the market as an option. And if you don't like FWD, people can spend $5k more for a C-class or GLC.
  14. smk4565
    FWD with AWD that has up to a 50/50 split in their cheapest car. That is Acura's whole line, it is Cadillacs whole crossover line, it is half of Lexus's line up. If the A-class is terrible how do you describe the Cadillac XT6 and Acura MDX at $60,000 with the same drive train? In fact earlier in the thread you said it was good that the Acura TLX is front drive, the CLA is around to compete with TLX, Volvos, Golf R's and all that stuff. And absolutely rear drive is better that is why Mercedes makes C, E, S-class, GLC, GLE, GLS, G-wagon, AMG GT, SL in rear drive. What the Euro-car haters don't like is the Germans coming for that mid-market and taking it, and basically putting Buick, Lincoln, Acura, Infiniti and Cadillac out of the sedan business. We are going to be down to 4 sedans across those 5 brands in about 1 year's time.
  15. smk4565
    They build rear wheel drive. Not front wheel drive off a Camry, Accord, or Escape platform and try to pass it of as something fancy.
  16. smk4565
    I am curious to see the size and how it does. I think a pick up that is smaller than Colorado and Ranger that is more of a lifestyle truck rather than a work or off road truck could do well if priced below those mid-size trucks.
  17. smk4565
    Acura makes one sedan, a front driver with 200 hp base and a torqueless V6 as the option until that Type S arrives. Is that thing a CT5 killer? Something like 80% of Acura's sales are SUVs. Lincoln is trending toward 100% SUV, Cadillac and Lexus are probably pushing 75% SUV, maybe higher. So if that is 80% of your brand, I would hope it is a fun to drive product. Time will tell if there German strategy works or if the Cadillac/Lincoln/Acura strategy works, over the past 20 years the German strategy is winning. If you search SL on auto trader it only pulls from 1994 and newer because before that it was 500SL, 560SL, 380SL, etc. The models that lead with a number aren't pulled into that search. The 80s ones cost more than the 90s or early 2000s SL's.
  18. smk4565
    But is an Acura SUV fun to drive? They sell like 250 NSX per year or something low. So for the masses that want fun to drive, or want a sports car but need a family hauler and need 1 vehicle to do both, Acura doesn't have it. The Germans and Alfa Romeo and JLR to can all sell you an SUV that performs like a sports car. Which is why I think a Mustang Mach E could do well because I bet a lot of people want a Mustang but don't buy it because they worry about RWD in the snowball, or need a to put car seats in it, or fit adults in the back seat, etc, so they go buy an SUV instead.
  19. smk4565
    They could have made Omega platform SUVs with a Blackwing V8 that cost more than the Escalade and had potentially an even bigger profit margin. Although they would have needed an Omega SUV priced below Escalade also to get volume and enough scale on the platform. Lots of ways to make money, but obviously the platform is dead so it doesn't matter much now.
  20. smk4565
    All Chevy and GM do for the tuner market is great and probably profitable for them too. But that is a separate issue than lack of sports cars or super cars built buy American car companies or lack of performance SUVs coming from America or Japan. This Acura has 272 hp, there are at least a dozen European SUVs with over 500 hp. There is Road & Track article about how there was going to be an Omega SUV with a Blackwing V8, but the GM top brass killed it and we got cheap to produce Cadillac Acadia instead. That’s my issue with American and Japanese luxury cars, underneath most those “luxury/performance” cars is a Camry, Pilot or Acadia chassis.
  21. smk4565
    2020 Corvette Z51 is 7:30 on the Nurburgring 2020 Porsche 911 Carrera S is 7:25 on the Nurburgring. There is an even trim level comparison. And my hope with Zora is that it is an all-in effort and not designed to a price. Like a Ford GT is $500k, I like they engineered the car first and priced it 2nd. GM tends to price first and engineer 2nd which means budget cuts, see CT6 as an example. But still we have Camaro, Corvette, Mustang from America, NSX from Japan (although I think it is made in USA), a super aging GT-R from Japan and a Supra made by Germans. How do 2 continents produce 5 sports cars? Ferrari alone probably has 5 cars.
  22. smk4565
    Aston Martin uses AMG V8s. No one swaps an AMG V8 into an old car because of cost. Also I am not sure if they even sell a crate motor version. Also I never said Chevy has no business building a sports car or that they didn’t have some fast cars. I am saying America should build something faster or more than just Corvette, because Camaro/Mustang are not super cars. But American car companies only see profits in pickups and crossovers. And the 911 ran the Nurburgring in 6:47 in 2017, a year before the Camaro did it in 7:16. The Lamborghinis are both low 6:40’s, that is the benchmark we are looking for to be elite. And even if AMG One is under 6 minutes, under 7 minutes would still be in the elite club.
  23. smk4565
    The Camaro ZL1 has a 7:16 Nürburgring ring time while the 911 GT2 did it in 6:47. Pretty big gap there. As far as LS swapping goes, it is a cheap motor and easy to swap in cars, good packaging and easy to work on. And LS engines are good, reliable engines.
  24. smk4565
    Electric van makes a lot of sense because most delivery vans, especially in urban areas aren't doing a ton of miles per day. Also for things like contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc that don't put a lot of miles per day on a van. Plus with a van you can stick batteries in the floor easily, from a packaging standpoint is is easy on design. From a maintenance standpoint, an EV needs less maintenance and thus less downtime for what is a work or delivery vehicle.
  25. smk4565
    And yet there are so many left on the road after 35 years.
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