Jump to content
News
Reviews
Discussons
Activity
Create New...
Close

Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    55,281

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    481

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    And the $175 oil changes.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    We need to fund a Kickstarter to buy Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram and make Ralph Gilles CEO
  3. Drew Dowdell
    The Volt may not make sense in that situation new, but for a $13k car with 30k miles it's really compelling. It's also built better than the Cruze. I know Balthazar had previously eliminated the Regal otherwise I would have suggested it. Veranos have the same cost/age/miles equation as the Volt, but don't get the fuel economy and are not a hatchback. A Fusion could work, but I was trying to keep it within the size restriction Balthazar mentioned.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    If Geely could do for Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep/Ram what they did for Volvo.... yes I would definitely take them over Fiat.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    As with all things, it depends on how you use it. If you already own a boat or camper that you tow often... if you are using your truck for hauling work like my parents do.... then diesel will make up the cost sooner. Using a gasoline turbo V6 in that way will cause the fuel economy to drop much faster than it would with a diesel. That said, I want to remind people that you should never measure the ROI in years but in miles. I have a friend who leases his vehicles and barely does 20k miles in 3 years where as Balth might do 20k in a year.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    They already severely restrict older gasoline cars in cities. Your inspection sticker comes with a certain color, Red, Yellow, Green, or (I think) Blue. Blue is for EVs. R/Y/G is based on emissions and carbon levels and older cars usually can't keep up. Red cars aren't allowed in City centers during certain hours, typically the workday hours. Classics get special passes, but have to meet other requirements such as maximum mileage per year, etc.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    The engine revs do change, but entirely independent of the vehicular motion. It seems to be programmed to have different RPM levels depending on the demand at a given moment. If the battery is near depletion and you are pulling up a long hill at highway speed, the engine will run at a higher RPM than if it is just regenerating at a leisurely pace. Depletion in a Volt does not mean that the battery has gone to zero. GM left a reserve in there, so the engine will run even at 30% just to keep the battery well managed. On the rolling hills here in PA, and being gentle on it, I've managed 75 mpg on a depleted battery. Edit: First Gen Volts also ask for premium fuel. This is largely because they operate at a higher than typical RPM when the engine is running and it is more efficient to run higher octane / higher compression. The current generation Volt added direct injection and no longer has the premium fuel requirement...it operates just fine on regular.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Probably Jeeps as well. All Jeeps are technically classified as light trucks, so while the Renegade and Compass will probably never get diesels, the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee still probably could. This announcement really means just no Chrysler 300, Alfa Romeo Guilia, or Maserati Ghibli diesels.... in Europe, no Fiat 500 diesels. So it's a much smaller announcement than it appears.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    You never need to charge the Volt ever. Just fill it with gas and it's a normal car. I have a friend in Columbus who has one and doesn't have a charging station. He just drives it like it were a hybrid and if he happens to go to a shopping center that has a charging station, he plugs in because it is cheaper than gasoline, but not required. As long as you can remember to put gas in it, you can weld the plug-in door shut and forget about it. The reason I like the Volt is that it feels much more solid than a Cruze. It shouldn't since it is on the same platform, but it does. It will get the best fuel economy you can get for the price range you're looking at. Also, being a hatchback, it can haul stuff better than a Cruze can. $10k - $15k for a solid safe hatchback that easily gets 40mpg without trying. I think you should reconsider and look into it more. Edit: One minor technical note.... the Volt is not a hybrid. It is an EV with an onboard generator. 99.9% of driving in a Volt is done by the electric motor only. There is one specific scenario where the gasoline engine and electric motor basically do a torque converter lock for efficiency reasons. (80+ mph, battery at or near depletion threshold). A Hybrid blends propulsion from two sources, the Volt does not.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Yeah, that is a pain, but you can at least adjust the volume from the steering wheel.... my issue with the poor design of this interface there is that we're so accustom to the big dial being the volume and in this case it is the driving mode dial. How often does one need to change that, even in an NSX, that it needs to be a giant, centrally located dial like that? The climate control buttons are convenient but.. here... let me get a pen out of my pocket so I can jab the heated seats that are tiny buttons down in the center console instead of next to the rest of the HVAC controls.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    G-Class is to Jeep Wrangler as GLB is to Jeep Renegade As for the metal speaker..... there is of course my personal favorite, the first generation Toronado.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    So mb will move in the direction of Lincoln, Caddy, and Buick then...
  13. Drew Dowdell
    CT6 for reference
  14. Drew Dowdell
    They need something to fill the time at shareholder meetings
  15. Drew Dowdell
    I'm not looking for a direct replacement for the Encore. If I was, I'd get another Encore as we've been very happy with it and it has served us well over the 72,000 miles we've owned it. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one to anyone looking for a city crossover that is still a comfortable road trip car. It just no longer fits our needs. I don't give a rats ass what Car and Driver says about the GLS or Navigator. I've driven both and the Navigator is my choice by a country mile. I like the exterior of the Escalade equal to the Navi, but the Navigator blows it away on the interior...it isn't even a fair fight. Navigator also has a more comfortable ride.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    The GLB won't have what I want in a vehicle. The only Benzes that do are the GLS (I'll take an Escalade or Navi instead) or possibly the GLE.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Because N is more than just a turbo engine. From the Hyundai I30 N: "Under the skin, Hyundai has added an adaptive suspension to change ride and handling characteristics to suit your mood along with new brakes. An electronic limited-slip differential, larger brakes, Pirelli P-Zero tires, and a variable exhaust system come with the Performance Pack." Definitely more than just turbo...
  18. Drew Dowdell
    The Envision is the 3rd best selling Buick after Encore and Enclave. Lowering the price will probably make it #2. That said... the packaging on the Envision is still all wrong. You can't get AWD unless you get the 2.0T which also means you can't get a base trim. Here in Pittsburgh that means no one buys the 2.5. Well of course not.... you only find things appealing if they have a 3 pointed star on them. It could be a '96 Sable with fogged headlights and you'd be into it if someone drilled a Benz hood ornament on the front. You'd claim it was the next big thing in automotive tech.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    Cruze-size or smaller? I'm going to make some unconventional suggestions. Chrysler 200 with V6 and AWD. The 200 got an unfair rep based almost entirely on base model cars with the terrible 2.4 liter in a vehicle that was too heavy for its size. The complaints with the 9-speed hunting are largely because the transmission was shifting looking for torque from the 2.4 that it would never find.... not an issue with the Pentastar. Fuel efficiency for the V6 isn't terrible either as long a they're not racing it. You'd have to come up in price a little bit, but you can get OEM Certified used ones for $16k and 10k miles. It's a little bit larger than a Cruze, a little bit smaller than a Malibu, has AWD for the upstate NY snow. Being certified, it gets a 7 year / 100k mile warranty. https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=475729426&zip=08610&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D08610%26listingTypes%3Dcertified%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DmileageASC%26maxPrice%3D17000%26incremental%3Dall%26engineCodes%3D6CLDR%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DCHRYS200%26makeCodeList%3DCHRY%26searchRadius%3D200&listingTypes=certified&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&maxPrice=17000&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=CHRYS200&makeCodeList=CHRY&searchRadius=200&makeCode1=CHRY&modelCode1=CHRYS200 My second one: First gen Chevy Volt - I found a certified 2014 with 21k miles at Fred Bean's in Doylestown for $15k. Even if you never plug it in, 40mpg is not uncommon and they have just a bit more scoot than a 2.4 Malibu. If you did plug it in, her commute could be potentially gasoline free. Not too bad for a $15k car and there are lots available near you for under that price. They drive well, better than the same size Cruze. They have some interior quirks, but usually nothing deal breaking. The one thing that could be an issue is no center rear seating position, but I don't get the impression you'd be using the car in that fashion very often. Being a hatchback, with the rear seats folded down, they have large cargo capacity. https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=467331259&zip=08610&referrer=%2Fcars-for-sale%2Fsearchresults.xhtml%3Fzip%3D08610%26listingTypes%3Dcertified%26startYear%3D1981%26sortBy%3DmileageASC%26maxPrice%3D15000%26incremental%3Dall%26firstRecord%3D0%26endYear%3D2019%26modelCodeList%3DVOLT%26makeCodeList%3DCHEV%26searchRadius%3D75&listingTypes=certified&startYear=1981&numRecords=25&maxPrice=15000&firstRecord=0&endYear=2019&modelCodeList=VOLT&makeCodeList=CHEV&searchRadius=75&makeCode1=CHEV&modelCode1=VOLT If being certified isn't a concern, prices go down and options go up. There are no big reliability concerns with the Volt though you may want to budget some Blizzaks for upstate NY.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Almost none of FCA's last 4 year plan was actually implemented except for Alfa (late) and a couple Jeeps....
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Well, the Chevy equiv would be the Equinox. If they did an RS or SS version with an uprated 2.0T like the new Envision and maybe some sportier suspension.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    This perked me up a bit when I saw the news. The Envision has naturally been on my radar as I'm an Encore owner, but moving to the current iteration didn't seem to be a huge jump in tech for what is a huge jump in price. I wondered why the 9-speed wasn't there from the start when the Terrain has it. The 9-speed plus the healthy increase in torque make this much more compelling. We both went to the Pittsburgh auto show this year. The Regal is flat out eliminated from the running as he hated the interior. The Envision makes the cut, and surprisingly, so does the Terrain. I'm not a huge fan of the looks of the Terrain, but I might get on board with certain trim levels. He did really like the Lacrosse and you can get killer deals on them lately as long as you don't lease. The surprising thing... he loves the Durango R/T. I thought I knew the guy....
  23. Drew Dowdell
    There have definitely been worse ideas. I was pretty impressed with the Veloster N I checked out in Chicago.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Thinking about a mild performance upgrade for the Toronado..
  25. Drew Dowdell
    Just not a fan of the 4-cylinder noise
×
×
  • Create New...

Hey there, we noticed you're using an ad-blocker. We're a small site that is supported by ads or subscriptions. We rely on these to pay for server costs and vehicle reviews.  Please consider whitelisting us in your ad-blocker, or if you really like what you see, you can pick up one of our subscriptions for just $1.75 a month or $15 a year. It may not seem like a lot, but it goes a long way to help support real, honest content, that isn't generated by an AI bot.

See you out there.

Drew
Editor-in-Chief

I've whitelisted
Continue without support

Write what you are looking for and press enter or click the search icon to begin your search