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All these fake exhaust tips integrated into bumpers on all the cars these days are really starting to annoy me. They look cheap, they get dirty much faster because they're in the exhaust stream in the case of models that have the real tips behind them, an they're usually made of plastic chrome. I used to ask myself "why do this???" , and of course the answer was that it cuts costs. Like the Volkswagen ATLAS and Tiguan, they have these chrome rectangles pieces with a moudling plastic inner, made to look like an exhaust!!! WTF?!! The real tips are actually behind the bumper.... Even the new Lexus LS. Same goddamn deal, you actually even see the real tips that look cheap because they're not plated, and then you see the fake tips that are part of the bumper....I see it in new Mercedes sedans....everywhere....it triggers like an OCD like rageeeee attack in my mind. FUCK OFF YOU FAKE EXHAUST TIPS!!!!

So many puns about sucking (or not losing suction), so little time.

@oldshurst442 - I split this into its own topic so as to not derail the original one too much beyond where it has already gone. Short version: My parents own a boat propeller performance tuning business, and an avocado orchard with 90 85 trees and 4 varieties after the hurricane. Long version: The avocado farm is not a working farm at this point. They bought it out of foreclosure and have spent most of their time rebuilding the house on the property into something livable. Their first night in the new house was the night I arrived to help them prep for the hurricane. Regarding the boat business. Imagine if you could, that you could take your tires to a shop and that shop would modify your tires to make your car a bit faster, a bit more fuel efficient, or both. My parents do that with boat propellers... and my dad is so good at it that they do virtually zero advertising and they keep a steady business going. They are almost entirely word of mouth and they are the go-to people when cheaper shops screw up your propellers. They take all of the vital statistics of the boat. Weight, width, length, engine size, engine speeds, rated horsepower, torque, gearing, all of that and more. They put all of that into a program which then designs the ideal shape of the propeller for that boat. They then scan each blade at set radii with an extremely precise scanning device and compare that to what the computer generates. They then use hamers, hydraulics, and some proprietary machinery my dad invented to shape the propeller into the exact design that the computer spits out. This results in ultra-balanced, very efficient propellers that will often result in a 2 mph - 5mph increase in speed and a reduction in fuel usage. That may not sound like much, but when you're talking about a 150 ft. yacht, that is a HUGE increase. So, if you have a big boat and you want to go faster than your friends, you go see my parents. If you have a really fast boat and you want to make sure you go faster than the Coast Guard (it is Miami, you don't ask questions), you go see my parents. If you hit coral with your $50,000 propellers and you need them fixed back to better than factory tolerances, but you already had a "cheap" shop do it and they still vibrate when you're out on the bay, you go see my parents. I come from a line of entrepreneurs. My parents, both grandfathers, two of my great grandfathers, all owned or ran their own companies. I'll be starting a 5th company of my own in 2018.

I believe that's only on the SIlverado / Colorado anniversary editions (all 2018's?).

So you went to Denny's to punish yourself for using a "fast" charger? I almost stopped at a Denny's over the weekend, but then I realized there were literally a dozen places that wouldn't give me violent diarrhea.

At the Air Force Museum in Dayton there is a rocket that made 30, 000 horsepower and was the size of a Ford 289. I thought about smuggling it out and dumping it in the Fastback back in the day, but figured military security might frown on that... ...in that sense Horsepower/displacement might have made my life really exciting in one way or another.

Ohhh my god, someone might plan for the future in this country....panties in the wringer much? Or perhaps sand in your private bits?

I really am starting to think that at the moment it is lack of selection rather than lack of interest. If Honda / Toyota / Chevrolet build a completely EV Accord / Camry / Malibu or RAV4 / CR-V / Equinox with range over 200 miles, I really do believe interest in EVs would increase dramatically. Right now, consumers have few choices for plug-ins: 1. Good range, odd Looking / Ugly, but relatively inexpensive - Bolt, Leaf 2.0 2. usable range, normal looking, relatively expensive compared to platform mates - Pacifica Hybrid, Volt, Fusion Energie, CMax 3. "why bother?", normal looking, relatively expensive compared to platform mates - Plug-in Pruis, Honda Accord PHEV 4. "why bother?" range, normal looking, expensive options - All of the BMW and Mercedes plug-ins. Volvo has a bit more range, but not much. 5. Good range, normal looking, expensive - Tesla 6. usable range, normal looking, expensive - CT6 PHEV With the exception of the Fusion Energi, there is nothing here in the meat of the market. No crossovers except for the expensive Model X and the Euros. Nothing AWD except for the Teslas and Euros. No trucks. If there is a lack of interest by consumers in making purchases, I'd argue it is because there is a lack of anything interesting to buy.

who'd be the bigger horse's ass in that situation?

There is going to need to be massive investment in charging infrastructure. Even if chargers are common enough for today's level of EV use, they aren't nearly plentiful enough for the entire state of CA to go EV. I've started to contemplate having the outlet installed in my garage in the next few years. When I get back into writing reviews in a few months time, I want to be able to take in plug-in vehicles.

Following my wife's little "off road excursion" in my 2005 Dodge Durango, I spent just over 6 months looking for a suitable replacement. I knew I wanted another Durango, but I wanted at least a 2006 model so I could get a Hemi wit the Multi Displacement System, and the replacement had to have AWD, the factory Class IV towing package, and the 3.92:1 axle ratios. I had the funds from the insurance payout, as my price limit (although in a pinch we could have found another thousand or so). I saw vehicles that were practically swiss cheese with rust that people wanted real money for, and dealers trying to convince me that a vehicle had a particular set of factory options, when 5 minutes with the VIN and the Dodge/Chrysler "factory build equipment" site would tell me otherwise. I wouldn't even consider a vehicle if the seller wouldn't give me the VIN. In the end it was a 2008 Chrysler Aspen that I found in Montreal that I spent my money on. Picked it up 2 weeks ago and drove it home. It's high mileage (almost exactly the same mileage as my Durango had when it met its untimely end), but it's a single owner vehicle, and the owner's wife worked in the service department of the same Chrysler dealership that the vehicle was purchased through. It has EVERY option that was offered in the Canadian market, so it has all the features that were on my "Must Have" list, plus more that I'd never have considered. It's well maintained (some rust minor non-penetrative rust bubbling under the paint) and because it was owned by a French speaking family, the English user manuals were still factory sealed. Even the two wireless headphones and the remote control for the back seat DVD player are still there (and working). Every other Durango I looked at with the factory roof mounted DVD player was missing the headphones and often the remote as well. The Aspens are rare in the US, but they are even rarer in Canada (just 4,063 sold in Canada from the entire 3 year model run). It needs new tires and a wheel alignment. The spare was missing (just the broken end of the tire hoist cable where the tire should have been), and things like the back-Up Camera, rear park sensors, and drivers' side exterior mirror defrost don't work (minor details). The maps in the GPS are at least a decade out of date (2006 maps were the latest installed when the vehicle was manufactured), and the software in the entertainment unit hadn't been updated since a "Bug Fix" recall in 2008. I got a seriously good insurance payout on my 2005 Durango (more than I paid for it), and the insurance company even returned my deductible as an apology for the inconvenience when there as an issue in their office that caused a 2 week delay in getting the payout cheque to me. The Aspen, plus the travel to and from Montreal, and all the taxes, left me with $5 out of the insurance payout. The tires are an extra cost, but at least two of the tires on the Durango were just about ready to be replaced, and maintenance of a few "issues" on the Durango (water pump, exhaust, plus some niggling minor things), were going to cost me more than a set of tires for the Aspen. The Hemi in the Durango had a best economy figure of 13.1 litres/100 km (18 miles/US Gal) if I really drove it carefully on the Highway. With the same axle ratios, transmission, and drivetrain, the Aspen returned 12.4 lit/100 km (19 miles/US Gal) after some driving in peak hour Montreal traffic, and about 1200 km on the highway on my drive home from Montreal. Looks like the MDS feature in the Hemi has already proved its value.

People complaining about an employer providing EV charging stations in an office lot is the dumbest thing I've heard in a while. I've worked at places that had employee incentives for car/van pooling, using public transportation, and having EV charging stations. I didn't take advantage of any of that because I commuted by SUV. Wasn't a big deal to me.

ERRMAHHGERRRDDD Hank got $4 worth of electricity and I didn't get anything! Give me more things! Sounds more like the employees are a bunch of whiny bitches. If they have a problem with somebody else driving an EV and getting EV benefits..go by a damn EV. If an EV doesn't suit your requirements then deal with it. Bingo. All their "fairness" only hurts the harder working individuals. Working hard doesn't get rewarded but doing minimum requirements gets overpaid.

So your brother works for a stupid socialist company that treats everyone like Lemmings and would rather destroy the future than help to make things better. I drive a fun gas guzzling auto and my company has free charging for those that drive EV's and plug in. Big Deal, the few dollars in Electricity cannot compare and it is the step in the right direction. You have just proven how out of touch with educated humans Unions are. Thank you for proving why we are way past needing them except for those that are just lazy. In thinking about this, I question if the building is even owned by the company your brother works for. I doubt it as most do not own their own buildings as they can lease and write it off against profits to minimize paying taxes and usually the building owners are the ones who put in EV chargers to take advantage of write off's and to help change to a healthier breathing area for everyone. @ocnblu, post your brothers work address please, I am truly interested in knowing who owns the building as it can also indicate who is doing the EV stuff.

Wrong and you are showing your blind ignorance to the advances of technology and Moore's law as Batteries lost in the 1900's due to humans not being advanced enough to build the right parts to support EV auto's. We are now beyond the Dinosaur age or in your case Horse with Blinders as Engineers and Scientist are pushing the boundaries every day and this time EV will win out. Like so many companies that ignored the direction of the future and changes in technology, you will find yourself left behind Padawan by not embracing change.

This one? (I had to google it) (I had no idea Chevy went retro on it) I like that too!

I like the new "classic" badges that Chevy is offering now...

Thanks for clarifying for me... my memory was hazy. And welcome back!

Good. Good on GM for not taking their crap.

Chrysler raised displacement 0.5 liters and horsepower over DOUBLED. how much of a joke is 510 HP out of 6.3L against 707HP out of 6.2L? And I didn't even mention 840 HP out of 6.2L. Yeah - that's what I thought.

Stop this.... horsepower / displacement is a dumb metric.

You really need to stop looking a peak output that only happens under full throttle situations. The coming Benz electric turbo might change things, but for now, the only time you'll be getting that huge torque is when the turbo is fully cooking. Absolutely the wrong situation for driving a Wrangler.

Why? Nothing wrong with the Pentastar as it is...no point in a turbo version.

One has much less plumbing.

It's hard to believe the smart for two resale percentage. But that's because it's hard for me to believe anyone would buy a new one to begin with.

Your question was answered multiple times (even tho it didn't need answering at all). "Hella weird and stupid" I could agree with. "Not an apocalyptic event" I would agree with also... but as you implied; shouldn't such an 'internet friendly' company have gotten this small factor right, out the door? Tesla is still learning how to be an auto manufacturer... and they have a long way to go.

Sure, it would be great if CAFE were repealed, but neither Europe nor China are ditching displacement taxes or even tougher emissions requirements or electric mandates anytime soon. The USA may be somewhat behind on this front, but automakers want to sell worldwide, which means that Beijing and Brussels have a lot to say about these issues. As for Ford itself, I would simply let their actions do the talking. Besides, Ford does not have much in the way of PRODUCT in this area right now.

Easy to go up 3000% from the previous when the previous year was essentially zero. f@#k Alfa and Sergio.

fuel cells, "HCCI"... we'll see about the 2nd from Mazda, hopefully "soon" in production(2019 model) Riv, yeah, if the "powertrain" can be modular, just pull it out if it's a flop and and change it to the other version...

In talking about uber-luxury trucks -- don't assume all the same features high end luxury sedans are sought after in a high end truck. These are not the same buyers and these wouldn't be cross-shopped merely because both (potentially) had massaging seats. Different demographic that values different features.

Going to go look at the Regal tomm evening. Will report back.

The *worst* "invention" ever inflicted on office workers is the open office concept. I have no less than 7 loud conversations going on around me right now. Every. Single. Person. is on a different conference call, yet each call seems to be covering roughly the same subjects.

Any car, especially used car is a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to reliability. There are a thousand variables that could make one Chevy Malibu run for 200k miles with no problems, and another Chevy Malibu to have half the parts replaced at 100k miles. You have to look at overall averages, but buying a used car just because you assume it is the most reliable car is a bad idea, because you never know. So you have to buy the car that best suits your needs. Like in this case, if small, AWD crossover is what is needed, then you pick the best model in that segment that fits your needs.

I have finally unloaded a gigantic financial burden. The years of stress it has caused me ...it will take a while to feel normal again. But, here's to a substantially improved future!

Yuge mistake dropping the hatch.

I got goose bumps reading about your family's business endeavors, Drew! That is how America became great! That great American ingenuity to take something and make it better and the natural entrepreneurial skills they possess which drives them to be self made! Im the first in my family to be an entrepreneur. From my mom's side...all farmers farming their own land and using the barter system with their fellow villagers(islanders) to help feed each other. My grand-dad had olive trees and almond trees and plenty of chickens. With that he supplied the village with olives and olive oil and eggs and he bartered that for milk and bread and feta cheese. On occasion a chicken or two would be bartered for a fish or two. During tough times, the village would just help each other out and nobody would starve. My dad's parents...I really dont know what they did in Greece, but they did come to Canada when they were fairly young...which was the late 1890s. My grand-dad was in the Greek Navy and when his tour of duty ended (all Greek boys have to serve in the military) he had the chance to immigrate to North America. He chose Canada with his soon to be bride (my grand-ma and grand-pa were married in Montreal). I guess there is a strong military background in my dad's side of the family. My dad and his other 2 brothers fought for Canada during WW2 and my dad additionally joined the USAAF in 1950 and fought in the Korean War. Before WW2, at the age of 14 or 15, my dad worked at Canadair (Bombardier Aerospace ...yes..THAT 220% trade duty penalty Bombardier Aerospace) as a riveter to help the war cause and when he turned 17, he joined the army to fight Hitler. After the war, he stayed 1 year in the occupation of Germany and then came back to work at Canadair again only to join the USAAF. After Korea, before finally settling in Montreal, he would go back and forth from Canadair helping his brother-n-law in Boston. He would do Montreal-Boston and Boston-Montreal for about 8 years when he finally chose Montreal as his home. Something about Boston he did not like. OK...my restaurant. Its just a regular Quebec style hot dog joint. Steamed hot dogs is our specialty. Steamé (steamay) en Français. Il y aussi (there is also) des hot dogs toasté (toastay) or toasted... Steamed would be when the hot dog is cooked using steam and the bread is warmed up with steam too while toasted being when the hot dog is cooked on the grill and the bread is toasted... An all dressed hot dog in Quebec is mustard, relish onions and coleslaw (no carrots and more vinegary and bittery rather than sugary...but not so much vinegar and salt that your mouth caves in unto itself...the customer customizes his toppings. Along those hot dogs...we serve french fries. Freshly peeled and cut every day. Thick cut. Blanched onced before the final deep fry. We sell a boat load of fries in the summer as people in the neighbourhood love to BBQ but want our french fries to compliment their BBQ parties. We have a peeler and a cutter for that job. Tough work it is!!! We have hamburgers. They are small and thin...about .25 of an inch and 4 inches in diameter. But they are delivered fresh each morning except for Sundays. And each item so far is priced low so we could sell on volume. Because we want (and we have) all the workers in the neighborhood to come to us and not McDonald's or Burger King(long since closed down) who are or were right next to us. The customer dresses his burger the way he wants and likes. Same as the hotdogs. We have poutines. Gravy style sauce, cheddar style cheese curds and french fries. Very similar to this: We also have Italian poutine which is spaghetti meat sauce instead of the gravy style sauce. We have hot submarine sandwiches. Steak and pepperoni and fried onions, mushrooms and green peppers, topped with salad and tomatoes and special sauce on a toasted 12 inch baguette bread. The customer picks and chooses what he wants on it. One standard price. Makes it easy to order and speeding up the pay process. (No pepperoni...we put extra steak. No steak...we put extra pepperoni. No green peppers means no green peppers) We have smoked meat sandwiches. We buy from Lesters deli packers. The best smoked meat that isnt made in-house...like a Schwartz's deli for instance. For an extra you could add smoked meat on any thing you want to add it on. On a poutine or submarine sandwich for instance. We also do chicken burgers. And Chicken souvlaki pitas. We marinate our own chicken breast...Greek style...no secret there as Greek marinade for pork and chicken is simple and no big deal. Oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice and oregano. The chicken burger is dressed with mayo or tzatziki, salad and tomato. The pita is dressed the same although we add onions to a pita...Customer could customize it as he/she wishes...we use the same breast for both. The chicken tenders goes for the pita and when we run out of those we use the breasts. (I must say...a REAL GREEK PITA OR GYRO...THERE IS NO SALAD...STUPID QUEBECKERS WANT SALAD IN THEIR MOTHERPHOQUING PITA!!! I HATE THAT!!!) OK...I feel good now! There is no "feel good" dietary trendy shyte on the menu. No salads, no veggie burgers, no tofu crap. Its a classic greasy spoon fast food joint. Other than the french fries and the smoked meat...there really isnt any real unhealthy stuff on our menu anyway. A hot dog or two aint bad. A hamburger is not really fattening either, considering it is a smallish portioned burger. Lay off the mayo and the calories stay pretty reasonable... It is a smallish restaurant on the inside. I have seating for 55 people. Booths and stool seating areas. About 3-4 years ago we renovated and made a drive-thru window for (duh) drive-thru ordering. Like I said. This is purely a fast food restaurant so the time it takes you to order your food at the cash and by the time you pay, you food is literally ready for you to go...(if you order any hotdog, fries and hamburgers. Hence why we chose the burgers to be thin. But we also chose a bread that is not too thick so there is a perfect blend of condiments (we just dont slather up on the ketchup or any other sauce either just to say we sauced up your burger good!!!), bread and meat in every bite)The rest of the stuff on the menu does take more time but not that much more time...add another 2-4 minutes...and literally its ready.) Because we are fast and we serve fresh food daily and our prices are fairly low, we get the Mon-Fri workers for lunch and we get the big family orders for supper and the week-ends. McDonald's is McDonald's but we do give the former clown (Ronald was killed off, non?) a run for his money. Hey...we managed to close down Burger King even before we invested in a drive-thru!!! The only thing we dont offer is any kind of dessert. We have been thinking about this a long time now, but we dont know what to offer. We want something cheap in price, but good quality, easy and fast to make that will represent and compliment our food service. We havent found that product yet. My partner is quite good in that. He is always testing new stuff and he brings it to the store. He goes to these conventions often. But there is always something a-miss...

The Liberty was RWD/4WD on a unibody platform, not BOF. The Compass and Patriot were FWD/4WD on a Mitsubishi-origin platform, the Renegade is FWD/AWD on a Fiat 500X-derived platform... size wise, the Compass an Patriot were smaller than the Liberty, and 4cyl only.

Gotta Love Crazy trucks that do cool things. Tunnel Washing, who knew!

Exactly- so what's to stop another intending OEM to follow the same path Tesla did? James Dyson is supposedly worth $8B (Musk: $20B), and the Dyson Co pulls down $2.5B in revenue (Tesla: $7B). But that's Tesla now- what were it's number in Year 1?

And when the the touchscreen fails or gets broken, a lot of features on the car will be unusable..not good.

And I’m sure they are not aware of that at all, being a billion dollar company and all. Good thing you let them know lol!

The price of the Model 3 I don't think will slow down sales at all. They will sell as fast as they can make them, actually they sell faster than they can make them since you have to order your car up front from Tesla, there is no dealer supply of 100 days sitting on lots. What is funny though is that if I mention the Cadillac XT5 starts at $39,395, GM fans quickly point out that they usually sell over $50,000 or even $60,000 in Platinum Super Trim. But if the Model 3 starts at $35,00 and transacts at $45-50k, that is a bad thing.

Nah, you are going too clinical and smart for me, dfelt. I was referring to the second to last sentence in my post. The answer: Genesis is a band whose lead singer is Phil Collins. Phil Collins released an album entitled "Face Value". Now I feel stupid for writing that question because in retrospect, it was frivolous and inane and had nothing to do with the main article! LOL

3/8 scale plaster model above, concept Tucker Torpedo circa 1947. Beneath is full-scale repro build, in progress, will be fully functional. Ida Auomotive, Morganville NJ

^ since Day 1 : "Why buy a copy when you can buy the original"??

Ruh-Roh @smk4565

No, not really. Plenty of people use Mustangs, Camaros, Wranglers, and even F-150 Raptors as daily drivers. The G-wagon is a ginormous gas hog, rides poorly, and built the same way they built cars in 1975. The main redeeming quality is you can buy most replacement parts off the HELP! rack at Walmart.

Pick a goal post and stick with it. You're all over the map SMK! We get it, you think that no matter what GM does, Mercedes does it better, and you'll make up every excuse or strawman argument in the book when you're shown to be wrong.