Drew Dowdell

The only 3 cylinder I would consider is a motorcycle.

More shrinkage to come... Possibly from the 8 series itself. The 2 door versions may go away.

It's cut to 3500 lbs on 22s. That's why I asked.

At the end of July we told you that BMW was planning a slew of model cuts in an effort to save some cash. The first of those cuts has just arrived, for 2020, there will be no 3-Series GT, 6-Series GT, or 6-Series Gran Coupe. This announcement effectively kills the 6-series lineup entirely which the 8-series has taken over for. The GT versions of the 3 and 6-Series never caught on and visually looked ungainly. That enough would be perfectly good enough reason for canceling the cars, but the real reason has to do with the markets massive shift towards SUVs. Already the X3 is outselling the entire 3-series lineup on a regular basis, so keeping such a low volume variant around is probably not in the best interest of a company wishing to cut costs. We'll update you as we find out about more cuts to the BMW line. View full article

Do you think they have 20s or 22s on that Tesla?

Because the Duramax is built for towing. Like I said, you could tow almost as much with a Panamera as well.... but you don't buy a Panamera for towing. (I picked the Panamera because it is currently the sedan with the greatest towing capacity)

Honda is cutting back on production at two of its U.S. plants in anticipation of a slide in sales. The Marysville, Ohio plant and Honda of Indiana are the two plants being affected. The cuts primarily come to the Accord and Civic built in Marysville. Marysville operates two lines and one shift at Marysville on Line 1 will be suspended temporarily. That line produces the Accord, CR-V, ILX, and TLX, but the cuts there will mostly impact Accord. Acura production is unchanged at this time. The CR-V is also produced in Indiana so some production can be shifted from Marysville to there. This news comes after the announcement of the closure of Honda's Swindon UK manufacturing plant which builds the CR-V for Europe and the Honda Civic Hatchback and Civic Type-R for the U.S. Honda sales are down 0.9% for the year, but the Accord has slipped 5.9% July YTD, and the Civic which is Honda's second most popular model has slipped 2.1% July YTD. CR-V, which is Honda's biggest seller is also down 0.9%, but a light refresh is in the works for the CR-V and should debut soon. Honda says these adjustments are to help maintain Honda's sales discipline and to flex to the shift in market demand away from sedans. Honda has already announced they are looking to trim fat from their model lineup and have fewer regionally specific models. They will also be reducing the number of variations available to one third of what they are today. These plans are to be completed by 2025. View full article

You also don't generally buy a Tesla to regularly tow a horse trailer. I mean you could... but it's a bit of the wrong product for the job. You don't buy a Panamera to tow a horse trailer either and it has almost the same tow rating as the Model X at 4,850 lbs.

That was my only issue with the video. They drove nearly 100 miles first before picking up the trailer. You wouldn't do that normally. Otherwise, the video was very informative.

Nissan has a 3.0 liter twin turbo they could use. 400 HP and 350 lb-ft of torque from 1600 - 5200 rpm

I would have liked to see the 1.6T they used in the Cascada in there. 200 hp and 206 lb-ft of torque with an overboost to 221 lb-ft would have moved this along smartly and given it the premium feel it needs to be a Buick.

Yeah, back at Thanksgiving time. The brake lines had all rusted out and so had the front subframe holding the engine in. It was going to cost many thousands to fix, so we just sold it for $1000. My partner's dad had a series of strokes last September and can't drive anymore, so we ended up with his Cruze, with very low mileage for its age, as a second car as soon as the CR-V was gone. We're probably going to put it on the market soon. In other news, I signed the paperwork this afternoon for my rental property to go on the market as well. It's about damn time the agent got around to that.

Also, to be clear, the Encore was bought for my partner and I was to take the CR-V until we replaced that. We just never did replace it, we sold it for scrap instead. I use my Toronado as much as possible as a daily driver now. And then I have that Cruze that mostly just sits there.

Cost and efficiency... yes.

It's only in the FWD models. The AWD get the 9-speed auto. I assume most of these are sold as AWD.

It's no secret that Mini's fortunes have not been good lately. In the first half of this year, Mini has only moved 17,583 cars of its five model lineup in the U.S. Parent company BMW needs to do something. Last month, Mini unveiled the all-electric version of the Mini-Cooper with a range between 146 and 167 miles. Now, a report out from Automobile Magazine says that Mini has canceled the internal combustion engine versions for the entire model range in the next generation of cars. Starting in 2023, Mini will use a skateboard style chassis to underpin the entire lineup. There will be a new downsized mini... a MiniMini, a more compact 3-door version, and a Mini crossover. All would be front-wheel drive and offer 35-kWh or 50-kWh battery packs. Part of the development is being done by China's Great Wall Motors. The electric Minis will be built in China with no word on other manufacturing locations. This follows Daimler's strategy on SMART to make it an all EV brand and build it in China for Chinese consumption. View full article

Based on your browsing history.

True, but they now have an end date for the Grand Caravan. It'll run until May 2020.

Doh! You got me. The extended cab and crew cab are staying.

The test mules have already been spotted.

When the Buick Encore GX debuted in late May 2019, it was originally reported that it would have a Turbo-4 cylinder with more power than the current Buick Encore. That turned out to be both true and false. The engine will be more powerful than the current Encore, however it will be in 3 cylinder form rather than 4-cylinder. GM Authority uncovered the fleet order guides yesterday and published the stats. The Buick Encore GX will be offered with a 1.2 liter three-cylinder turbo that produces 137 horsepower at 5000 RPM and 166 lb-ft of torque at 2500 RPM. That is 1 less horsepower but 18 lb-ft more torque than the current base 1.4 liter turbo four. The 1.2-liter will only be available in front-wheel drive trims and paired only with a CVT. The step up engine is a 1.3-liter three-cylinder turbo that produces 155 horsepower at 5600 RPM and 174 lb-ft of torque at 1500 rpm. That compares roughly the same to the offered but not often ordered 1.4-liter direct injected turbo offered in the Encore Sport Touring at 153 horsepower at 5600 rpm and 177 lb-ft at 2000 - 4000 rpm. This engine is offered with a CVT on front-wheel drive models and with a 9-speed automatic on all-wheel drive models. The Encore GX is the slightly bigger brother to the Encore, offering five more cubic feet of cargo room. Built in China, the Encore GX will arrive in dealerships this fall. View full article