Opinion
230 topics in this forum
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Recently, I have had many conversations with coworkers as well as family and friends with one large consistent thread, if possible, at all rates, they will not buy Chinese made products anymore. Japanese and Korean are fine, but a strong shift away from Chinese made products. The leading example of this is my sister who owns a 2017 Buick Envision and drives it daily for around 200 to 300 miles as she is an in-home care nurse for open wounds. As such she needs a solid auto and of course hers is well over 100,000 miles now, so she has started the search to figure out what she wants next and has told me she loves her Buick but will not buy another since they are Chinese…
Last reply by trinacriabob, -
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In Chaos Theory, the butterfly effect is the idea that a tiny change can result in massive changes later. The simple act of a butterfly flapping its wings could set into motion a series of events that change the weather. In the summer of 2018, the Detroit Auto Dealers Association, the organization responsible for putting together the Detroit Auto Show, more formally known as the North American International Auto Show or NAIAS, announced that beginning in 2020, the show would move in the calendar from its traditional time in January to a summer month to allow for exhibits and demonstrations outside of what was then Cobo Hall. Little did the show organizers know, but t…
Last reply by oldshurst442, -
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It's time to roll back the clocks, and one of Cher's most famous songs, "If I Could Turn Back Time" debuted in 1989. That same year, automakers introduced at least 51 new models to the public. Each week for the next four weeks, we'll take a look at some of those cars, and you vote for which car would make you wish you could turn back time. The categories will be Family Car, Sports Car, Luxury Car, and Exotic. 1989 was a good year for people who liked sports cars as many fun new options hit the market. Mitsubishi Eclipse / Eagle Talon / Plymouth Laser – This trio from Mitsubishi was a product of the Diamond-Star Motors partnership with Chrylser. While …
Last reply by A Horse With No Name, -
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With yesterday's report that the Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5/Optima may not be replaced at the end of their cycle, it has become clear that the mid-size family sedan in the U.S. has become an endangered species. The current Sonata and K5 are expected to last until at least 2025, but if they do in fact end, the number of mid-size sedans offered in the market will dwindle to 4. For perspective, that is the same number of mini-van models currently on offer. (Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, Chrysler Pacifica/Voyager, Kia Carnival). The remaining sedans are Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, stalwarts in this niche, the Nissan Altima, and the Subaru Legacy. The Chevrolet Malibu…
Last reply by trinacriabob, -
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While Hyundai owns a controlling interest in Kia and they share a significant amount of technology, they still operate as somewhat independent companies. For that reason, Kia needs a luxury brand to match. Hyundai officially launched its Genesis luxury brand in the US in 2016 with the G90, the replacement for the Hyundai Equus. Since then, Genesis has rapidly evolved into a true luxury automaker with three sedans and 3 SUVs. My recent drives in Genesis vehicles gave me the impression that Genesis is Hyundai’s torpedoes to the Mercedes-Benz’s Bismark. With its sumptuous ride, coddling interior, and robust engines, Genesis proves this. But as fantastic a job as Genesis…
Last reply by balthazar, -
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Fabulous Flops is a monthly series profiling some of the spectacular failures in the automotive industry. The automotive industry is by nature an innovator, but sometimes those innovative ideas are taken out of the oven before they are done cooking, others fall victim to poor timing. Today we are profiling Chrysler's two terrible piston-equipped children, the 2.2L four-cylinder engine and the 2.2L Turbo I four. During the course of automotive history, we’ve seen automakers take the engineering that goes into building an engine and turn it into something of an art form. The end result usually is nothing short of something brilliant. For example, Ferrari has given…
Last reply by Drew Dowdell, -
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Per reporting by state news agencies like King 5, a bill is being discussed today, Thursday February 3rd, 2022. This bill which has been done via Pilot Programs starting back in 2017 would eventually replace Gas Tax with a Road Tax. House Bill 2026 in Washington State would mandate the Department of Licensing to establish an early adoption program that would require registered owners of electric vehicles to pay a fee of 2.5 cents per mile beginning July 1st, 2025. Participant would be mandatory for all new electric vehicles and voluntary for older current electric vehicles on the road. Hybrids would be allowed to voluntarily participate in the program on July 1s…
Last reply by balthazar, -
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In 2007 the auto media was projecting that GM might fall from being the worlds largest auto company in production terms. In 2009, the final numbers proved that Toyota Motor Corporation had surpassed GM as the worlds largest auto company by production numbers. Also Toyota was growing in sales of their Hybrid line under the Prius moniker. Fast forward to 2021, battery electric auto's are all the rage by auto companies. Toyota production of auto's in Japan has 50% of them exported to other countries such as the Prius Hybrid and TRD Trucks. The CEO of Toyota has stated that the country is a "export-reliant country" and by shifting Japan as well as other cou…
Last reply by trinacriabob, -
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A friend of mine has a 2016 Subaru Legacy 3.6R. It’s a very safe car, has a good interior, and a rather weak engine. Oh, it also has a CVT or continuously variable transmission. When I talked with him while he took me for a spin, he told me he doesn’t mind the CVT and it is smooth for his Lyft passengers. While being a passenger in his car, the CVT did act like a conventional transmission, although it did dip in the rev range lower than usual. Then he floored it. Drone. It stayed at 3,000 RPM for at least five minutes. It was extremely annoying, but not surprising. Let me explain how a CVT works, and how I think manufacturers need to stop using them. Nerd moment appr…
Last reply by Drew Dowdell, -
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Auto enthusiast have since the dawn of the car had a desire to go faster and in this, the 2 door, 2 person auto was the focus of go fast compared to the 4 door, 4 or 5 person sedan and especially in comparison to CUVs, SUVs and Trucks. Yet in the last few decades we have seen performance Trucks and SUVs / CUVs that have gotten close to what some call Muscle Cars. Even some specialty sedans like the Chevrolet SS of recent decades has also introduced performance fun to the family. Tesla burst onto the scene in the early 2000's and had a Roadster that blew people away that could afford such a novelty with it's gut pounding acceleration. Later came the T…
Last reply by balthazar, -
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Last reply by NINETY EIGHT REGENCY, -
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The news came during dinner last Monday. My mother asked if I would be able to take any time off of work, and I said that I might be able to if the circumstances were considered important. She revealed that my grandfather, her dad passed away that afternoon. It wasn’t from COVID-19, but other complications that had put in him the hospital since early June. After dinner, I needed some time and space to begin processing the news. So I grabbed the keys to my car and went for a drive. The past few months have been difficult for all of us in varying degrees with COVID-19. Many places going on lockdown have caused massive disruptions to how we work, travel, and interact wi…
Last reply by Robert Hall, -
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Some might say a steering wheel is the #1 interface a driver has with a vehicle. Those 'some' would be, of course, correct. Used to just steering and honk, now more & more controls are moving to it. Sure; airbags and crash standards are forcing ever-increasing homogenization in steering wheel design, but there's got to be room for something FRESH. There was a HELLA lot more creativity in the past, maybe a look back would do designers good. Some interesting wheels :: 1966 Toronado Deluxe with tilt/telescopic ~ 1961 Imperial ~ 1956 DeSoto with optional self-winding hub clock ~ 1956 Lincoln ~ …
Last reply by ykX, -
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*Note: this isn’t my opinion. This article is more to spark a discussion. I love #savethemanuals. With that, please enjoy a controversial article. Some people are fans of electric cars. Others regale the days of the glorious V12s which are now few-and-far in-between. Same goes for interiors. While the days of analog gauges, non-infotainment systems, and simple controls hearken back to an easier time, trends are making those just memories. Most people, car lovers or not, accept changes to vehicles. Fuel economy, safety, performance, and technology are constantly evolving. However, there is one aspect of vehicles that isn't sport or performance-based that needs to g…
Last reply by Drew Dowdell, -
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In my previous article, I praised four-door coupes. I love how they look in exchange for lost practicality while making up for the latter with charm and class. This is fine because they’re usually based on regular coupes or sedans. Great. Unfortunately, BMW had to mess things up. They had the excellent X5 and thought to themselves with a German accent: “We need to appeal to even fewer people. What if… we make the X5 ugly and harder to see out of?” Hence, the BMW X6 was born. Excellent, thank you, BMW. It sold well and now Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Acura at one point, and even Lamborghini have SUVs with raked rooflines. There must be a reason why I like sedan to coupe to four-d…
Last reply by David, -
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Thanks, Mercedes-Benz. You created a car that literally no one asked for. What did they do? Well, in the early 2000s, they went to their E-Class, removed the hideous body, and replaced it with a different body. The new body looked like a coupe, but it had…four doors. With this, Mercedes-Benz created the “four-door coupe.” Let’s be honest—this vehicle, called the CLS, was beautiful. AMG created powerful versions that made the CLS even more appealing. Mercedes-Benz created a segment that nobody really asked for, but it worked. Granted, it cost more than the E-Class and was less practical. Both cars have been redesigned within the last few years, but these vehicles pose a qu…
Last reply by Drew Dowdell, -
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- 8 followers
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Imagine you’re me: someone who has used 0-60 MPH to judge how fast a car is. If a car is slower than 8.0 seconds, I wouldn’t poke it with a 10-foot pole. If it’s faster than 4.0 seconds, I cling to it to feel the rush and acceleration. That was until I was a short-lived car salesman and automotive blogger. As a car salesman, I found out that people didn’t understand or care that their vehicle did 0-60 MPH in 6.7 seconds. As a blogger, performance enthusiasts did care, but there are other statistics that mattered more. When I combine both, which happened at different parts of my life so there was no conflict of interest, I found out that 0-60 MPH has a few flaws. Let’…
Last reply by David, -
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Germany. Known for impeccable engineering, German vehicles usually have cutting-edge technology and are status symbols. Sweden. The Swedish are known for safety, and even though the only brand from Sweden is Volvo, they want to have a sleek design while making vehicles easy to drive. South Korea. In my opinion, South Korea is doing a great job with their vehicles. Creating Genesis as a stand-alone brand was genius because they can have vehicles close to or competing with the Germans while costing thousands of dollars less. What vehicles did I choose from these three countries? First, we have the Genesis G70. The particular G70 I am talking about is the G70 3.3T. It c…
Last reply by Drew Dowdell, -
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com 200 MPH plus EV, Do we care? Yesterday April 13th 2017, Lucid sent out an email about how their near production test car hit a top speed of 217 mph at the Ohio's Transportation Center banked oval test track. Many of us that follow the industry know that Tesla limits their auto's to 155 mph. Lucid is on record that they intend to meet the needs of the high-speed cruising market of Europe and Middle east. Simulations can only go so far on a computer and then you have to put rubber to the road. This allows the engineers to monitor and tweak everything from the power train, suspe…
Last reply by David, -
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EV-curious. That’s what I would call myself. Someone that is interested in EVs but just hasn’t found the right one. There are many aspects of an EV that is appealing to me. Instant torque, quick acceleration, the ability to charge at your house or apartment, and the continuation of creating semi-autonomous driving. It’s all so exciting! I’m ready to go out and trade in my 2016 Volkswagen GTI for one now! Or am I? Let’s take a quick look at a small field of electric vehicles, starting with the brand new 2020 Porsche Taycan. The release of the 2020 Porsche Taycan is a feat in and of itself. The car itself is downright sexy, is has a handsome interior, and performanc…
Last reply by Anthony Fongaro, -
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Last reply by balthazar,
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by Robert Hall-
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This is weird. I can create a new topic in here, but can't add a comment to the EV-curious thread.
Last reply by Drew Dowdell, -
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G. David Felt Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.CheersandGears.com Sand into Fuel, Reality or Fiction? We have all dreamed of the ultimate dream, how to drive the auto's we love without having to pay through the nose for fuel. Especially for performance, premium fuel can really hit the wallet and many of us have been forced to decide, our dream auto, or commuter car? Lately, I have noticed many Motley Fool stories about unlimited free fuel from sand. There have been other web sites and like the Motley, they are all long speeches without getting to what this new fuel is or how to make money on them. Most people today want you to get to the point so these mo…
Last reply by Chris Skinner, -
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Last reply by NINETY EIGHT REGENCY, -
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Last reply by NINETY EIGHT REGENCY,
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