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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Sonic is more expensive to build because it is built in the US. I would have like to see them move it to Lordstown with Cruze... Lordstown definitely has the capacity. If not there, then Korea to be built with the other Gammas.... but GM is fighting with the Korean unions at the moment. Maybe they want to bring Trax and Encore to Orion?
  2. Drew Dowdell
    That is a fantastic price for that lil runabout.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Since I know you like manuals, the RS is also available with a 6-speed row your own. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. IT's also one of the better/best/easiest to drive manual transmission setups anywhere close to the class. A BMW or Mini may do it better, but you'll also pay 50% to 100% more. Good luck trying to find one in that setup though.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    This is one of the few areas where size doesn't matter as long as you do it right. A SMART can take out the front third of an E-Class in a frontal offset collision and the passenger compartment of the SMART will survive enough that the doors will still open. GM got the Gamma platform very very right in regards to crash safety. While the Sonic, Fiesta, Versa are all in the same size class, driving them back to back should put to bed any doubts you have as to which is the more solid vehicle. The Fiesta and Versa feel like thinly built cheap vehicles... which they largely are. The Sonic feels more like a cut down Malibu. It has a mass to it that the other two do not have. Get yourself a Sonic with the RS package and the 1.4T, it has a sportier gearing and while not need for speed fast it won't be slow either.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Not sure why. My Encore is great around town. I sit in heavy city traffic in the Encore nearly every day. I had it in Manhattan last week. Sonic is one of the few small cars I would feel comfortable in and is also comfortable for long trips. Fiesta and Versa are the ones that make me nervous.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Sorry, but your statement about Sonic safety is rubbish. Sonic was one of the earliest small cars to get top crash test ratings. Indeed the gamma platform gets great ratings across the board. The crash test ratings for our Encore were a selling point for us. Sonic is built in the US at US wages and sells at a low price. Trax is built in Korea at Korean wages and sells at a higher price. Aside from the AWD available in the Trax, they are the same vehicle in terms of material costs yet there is a $5k spread in base price to the Trax's advantage.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Piecing together the various messaging coming out. I would expect the halo vehicle to be a large crossover / SUV, probably called Escala. Look for the interior to be a productionized version of the Escala concept. One thing to note about the recent news that "Escala" is going into production. No one ever said it would be a car. I could be, it might not be.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Yeah, I does, and I was aware of that when posting. I guess in San Fran that's not unreasonable, but I only pay $110 a month for 3 cars here in Pittsburgh.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    GM is putting vents in the bumper to swirl air around the tires because the rotation of the tires causes aero drag... they're really pulling out all the stops to get these as efficient as possible.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    I wish proper two-tone colors could make a comeback. I think only the F150 does it at the moment on the King Ranch, but it is subtle and only one secondary color is available.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    The XT5 outsells all of the Germans in its price class and all but one of the Japanese and it's not groundbreaking either... Nor is any of the competition. All the XT4 needs to do is duplicate that.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    $365 a month for a used 2015 Fiesta? Are they insane?
  13. Drew Dowdell
    If the payment was right, I could see doing this myself. I'm not sure they picked the right markets to test it in though.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    The 7G-Tronic is a longitudinal transmission, not a transverse transmission. If Mercedes couldn't design and build a decent front wheel drive transmission, they should have contacted the experts over at GM.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    I'd like any in the '87 - '97 range.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    An older Lincoln will just be a Ford with nicer leather and a fancy grille. If the interiors of the Town Car weren't so painfully "geriatric taxi cab", I'd totally own one.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    You're absolutely right that I am making assumptions here. I think I'm justified though. GM is already starting from a great position with the 9-speed, so any adjustments are likely to be minor. Plus, front wheel drive automatics are a GM specialty. They've been doing it, and doing it well, for longer than just about anyone in the business.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    The 9-speed has largely been fine in everything I've driven with it. I highly doubt that it will be less good than the Terrain 2.0t. Cadillac has to do literally nothing to the GMC tuning to make it top notch. If there is anything about this engine has a question mark next to it, it would be the active fuel management.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    Really? You don't know why they didn't use the automatic from the 2003-2018 era? Put on your deerstalker cap there Sherlock..... maybe you'll figure it out. The question was never and is never about raw performance in these crossovers. It is about drivability around town the way 99.9999999% of people use them. A jumpy, laggy engine transmission combo is not going to be as satisfying as one with low lag and no jumpiness. The XT4 will do better than the GLA there and still have plenty of scoot.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    The NVH of the old 2.0T in the Cobalt was actually pretty good for its day. Again, you don't need to take my word for it... look at all the articles regarding the turbo lag in that car AutoWeek - CLA Turbo Lag - Whether sport or economy mode is selected, the Mercedes always seemed to be a half-gear shy of where it should have been, and the combination of turbo lag and wonky clutch take-up makes smooth low-speed driving difficult. Once on the road there's plenty of power to get into trouble, so it's not a fundamental output issue -- rather it's a lack of refinement between the engine and transmission. Cars.com - CLA Turbo Lag - Despite the turbocharged four-cylinder engine's stout 208 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque, excessive drivetrain lag sullies the CLA250. A sustained toe on the gas can induce gratifying low-end punch, where the little Benz surges ahead even at 2,000 rpm. The problem, however, is getting to all that. MercedesBlog.com CLA AMG45 Turbo Lag - To obtain the high power of 381 HP and the high torque of 475 Nm, relatively small Mercedes turbo engine operates with a big turbo which delivers a maximum pressure of 1.8 bar. But a big turbo means a high inertia and a big turbo lag which you feel at full throttle. Car and Driver - GLA Turbo Lag - In its default Comfort mode, sluggish shifts accentuate the engine’s turbo lag Consumer Reports - GLA Turbo Lag - But the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is unrefined and, combined with the engine's turbo lag, makes the GLA feel lethargic despite its quick acceleration times. So yea, you could use sport mode all the time, but that will kill your fuel economy. The reviews above tell me that Mercedes is still a long way off from perfecting this engine into something that is satisfying to drive on a daily basis. I would be disappointed in Cadillac if the XT4 came out with reviews like what you see above on the GLA/CLA. All Cadillac needs to do is tune it similar to the GMC Terrain and they have already beaten Mercedes. Car and Driver - GMC Terrain Turbo Lag - Our all-wheel-drive turbocharged 2.0-liter test vehicle achieved the top acceleration figures among its competitive set. Credit the Terrain’s minimal turbo lag and plentiful power, as well as the nine-speed automatic transmission’s ability to drop down a couple of gears quickly with a simple boot of the throttle. TruckTrend - GMC Terrain Turbo Lag - With 252 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, its output lags behind the 3.6L V-6 that was optional in the previous Terrain, but you’d never know it from behind the wheel, thanks in part to that nine-speed auto. With fleet off-the-line reflexes, minimal turbo lag, and excellent passing power, the 2.0 is a surprising engine to find in the competent—but rarely fun—compact SUV segment. Mercedes-Benz... the best or is there a GMC in the comparison? Who cares? It is a dealer installed option fully supported by GM and covered by warranty. It allows the buyer to choose a higher performance model that would require 92 octane or the more standard SS that can run on regular. Same goes for the Mustang. It is functionally the same choice as a CLA 250 or a CLA 43... Benz just makes two models out of it while GM lets you upgrade an existing model. (yes I know there are other upgrades on the 43 over the 250.)
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Read my post after that. GM was doing 340 lb-ft from a 2.0T 10 years ago.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    There were engineering reasons for that. They added balance shafts to smooth out the previously rough engine. Once they got that sorted out they started increasing hp again. Also, about 10 years ago... "In December 2008, GM released a Turbo Upgrade Kit for the LNF engine which increases horsepower to 290 hp (220 kW) and torque to up to 340 ft⋅lb (460 N⋅m), depending on the model. The kit retails for $650 and includes remapped engine calibration and upgraded MAP sensors. The kit is covered by the cars' existing GM warranties." And before you try to play the CLA/GLA43 card SMK... It took MB 10 years to catch up to and exceed the power output of a 2008 Cobalt SS. A tuning decision is a tuning decision. It is not a indicator of engineering ability when a company has already proven itself able. Power delivery also matters and nearly every review of the CLA complains of turbo lag. So a fat lot of good that extra lb-ft is doing when it takes an extra 3 clicks of the mouse to get it.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    Could be. The new V8 can run on as few as one cylinder in a revolution.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Still GM? ATS 2.0T -295 lb-ft Will you ever stop being a troll? A tuning decision is not indicative of engineering ability.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    This will actually be the third all-new 2.0t from GM. This new one has AFM. As we see displacements congeal around even numbers, we'll see this happen more often.
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