Leaderboard

Was a beautiful 78 degree day today so I sat outside with the camera (and 200mm telephoto attached) and caught some of the wildlife out and about.

There are some cars I will not turn down the opportunity to spend time with again. A prime example is the Mazda MX-5 Miata, a car that brings a smile to my face. This past fall, I had a chance to spend some time in a soft-top version and to figure out whether I would have this or the RF. What has changed since our last visit with Miata? Only a few things such as the addition of Mazda's i-Activsense suite of active safety features (automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, and lane-departure warning) as standard; and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for the Club and Grand Touring models. I find myself drawn more to the standard Miata than RF because it looks a bit neater. The hardtop makes the Miata look somewhat bulky. The 17-inch wheels finished in dark silver help set the car off. The addition of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto makes using the MazdaConnect infotainment system a bit more bearable to use. I found myself using CarPlay more due to its easier interface layout and brighter graphics. Power comes from a 2.0L Skyactiv-G inline-four with 181 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque. This is paired with a six-speed manual, while an automatic is optional. As I noted in my review of the RF, the new 2.0 makes a dramatic difference to the Miata's performance. Leaving a stop, the engine freely revs and delivers a smooth rush of power. I think this version is slightly faster than the RF, mostly due to it not having the foldable hardtop. The six-speed manual is still one of the sweetest transmissions I have used. It feels smooth and precise when running through the gears. Handling is still one of the Miata's strong points as it eagerly changes direction and shows little body roll. Steering is sharp and provides the right amount of weight when driven hard. Ride quality is slightly better than the RF I drove last year due to the Grand Touring not having as stiff as a suspension setup. Yes, you will still feel several bumps and imperfections. But not at the rate as you'll experience in the Club. The Miata is one of those few cars I find myself still being impressed with every time I get the chance to drive one. It offers a level of driving fun that very few models can match, along with a price tag that won’t break the bank. If you were to ask which Miata I would choose, it would be the soft top. Disclaimer: Mazda Provided the MX-5 Miata, Insurance, and One Tank of Gas Year: 2020 Make: Mazda Model: MX-5 Miata Trim: Grand Touring Engine: 2.0L Skyactiv-G DOHC Four-Cylinder Driveline: Six-Speed Manual, Rear-Wheel Drive Horsepower @ RPM: 181 @ 7,000 Torque @ RPM: 151 @ 4,000 Fuel Economy: City/Highway/Combined - 26/34/29 Curb Weight: 2,341 lbs Location of Manufacture: Hiroshima, Japan Base Price: $31,670 As Tested Price: $32,790 (Includes $920.00 Destination Charge) Options: Grey Cloth Roof - $200.00 View full article

Love the car and love the looks of it. It was my second choice but can't beat a big V8 feel. How many cars today weight even close to 2300lbs! LOL, second generation of the GM Ecotec 4-cylinder 2.4L inline four (Buick Regal, Lacrosse, Chevy Malibu) had 182hp, 172lb/tq while this 2.0L gets same hp and only 20 less torque.

Seems no matter how many times I post the link people seem to not read when I do post that the LYRIQ will be available in RWD and AWD. All Press Releases here: Cadillac Pressroom - United States - LYRIQ The Original press release that covers the power train options: LYRIQ Show Car Leads Cadillac Into Electric Future QUOTE: LYRIQ, the Ultium battery system is a structural element of the architecture, integrated in ways that contribute to ride and handling, as well as safety. In fact, the lower center of gravity and near 50/50 weight distribution enabled by the placement of the battery pack results in a vehicle that’s sporty, responsive and allows for spirited driving. Additionally, the LYRIQ is driven primarily by the rear wheels, with a performance all-wheel drive option available. The placement of the drive motor at the rear of the vehicle contributes an even greater feeling of balance and agility — attributes that affirm Cadillac’s longstanding commitment to satisfying performance. It also enables the system to channel more torque to the pavement without wheelspin for exhilarating acceleration and greater cornering capability. Vehicles equipped with performance all-wheel drive go a step further, with a second drive unit placed at the front of the vehicle, which allows for a significant amount of tuning flexibility, enhancing vehicle dynamics and performance for drivers.

Why can't families haul families in 5-seat vehicles?

Lil' bit less- googlemaps from the port to my town is like 215 miles. Now just have to see how soon they load it and how direct their route is. We have a camping tent; with how empty the dealer lot is, I don't see why I couldn't camp out there for a few days and watch for the truck.

The GLC300 4Matic is faster than XT4 or XT5 and the Lexus RX350, so you don't need to pay extra for enough power to move it. And true we don't know what the price premium will be for AWD, but this is a general issue with EV's in cold climates, batteries degrade faster and AWD is a huge upcharge, so it is a harder sell for an EV in cold climates than it is in California or Florida. I would hope Lyric has the AWD option at launch, I think if they wait to see how the rear drive model sells for a year before green lighting all wheel drive would be a mistake.

It should be noted, while some folks here are bitching about a hypothetical price jump with AWD, that the Lyriq undercuts two of its competitors in the segment, the Jaguar I-Pace ($70K with LESS range) and the Audi E-Tron ($67K, also with less range) so even if AWD is $10K, it is right in line with the competition so maybe these phantom complaints should sit this out until its known for certain what AWD will cost.

AWD will come later. It dont matter. You want AWD, you'll have to wait. It will come. No problems there. Unless you wanna make it into a problem. But it is a non-issue, really. Second part. Not the GM way. That is kinda more like the Porsche way. And there is NOTHING wrong with that as THAT kinda way brings in the money. TONS of it. And seeing that strategy will be on a Cadillac...NOT a Chevrolet. It really is not a big deal, but a SMART move. Cadillac shouldnt be in bargaining selling mode. Cadillac, while producing high quality, should also be charging high prices. And if it means by charging an arm and a leg for certain little extra things, then so be it! Its the Porsche luxury market way...

MMm... pie.

Were I to buy any car on the planet, i am with ykx. This or a Mustang.

It’s a nice one!

Northern climes buyers will expect AWD on the option sheet for this expensive of a crossover; i don't care if the vehicle itself weighs 5600 pounds and actually has good weight distribution...you don't tell buyers what they should get, you provide what the market says it wants, which is AWD for a crossover. We went through this fight 10+ years ago talking about luxury sedans and heard all the 'learn to drive' excuses for rear wheel drive, in the end what the market wanted for the sedans also was all wheel drive, now all the lux sedans have all wheel drive options. (except the high end performance Cadillacs).

They have 4drs for the same reasons luxury sedans have 4 doors.. to carry 4 people. Not necessarily as a family hauler. Am I missing something? Are two kids and two parents no longer a family? Or parents and one kid?

how did I miss this thread until now>?

Those are luxury SUVs, not intended as family haulers like 3 row SUVs tend to be. Different niche.

Good grief bar mover. It’s more expensive than all of those (not to mention the XT4 is a whole class smaller), and it’s only rocking a four banger at entry level. Just stop and pay attention to what’s actually being said instead of making up new criteria and kicking that bar around. Why in the F would they? All that proves is that Porsche buyers have more money than sense. Just a stupid, stupid comparison.

Actually the early comments here were about it possibly not having AWD at all, which is why David posted that again.

^^^ depending what she got under the hood and yeah, if she could fly, she a sports car! Im willing to bet that your Buick could whip that little Miata's a$$ in a straight line any length. 1/8, 1/4 and the full mile. It wont matter to your Buick. However...to all that diss that little Miata, the Miata AINT about that. It IS about the enthusiastic driving. ALL driving. NOT just the straight line driving. Its about hitting the high revs, getting in and out of the corners, using ALL of the horsepower and balancing the car neatly going to and leaving the curves... When in the straight line, it AINT about leaving two strips of rubber and smoke behind you, its about cornering speed, USEABLE exit speed and then punching it and revving it high and unto the next corner... THIS is what little Miatas are all about. If we are truly car enthusiasts, then we all, hopefully, understand, that there are many types of enthusiast cars that do many kinds of and specializing in many types of enthusiast types of things.

Cool- that means my Buick, having a 1:1 top gear, is also a sports car. I knew it! ?

d to the uh.

I have to say I do find the RF very attractive, it is like a mini Jaguar in a way. And if someone is daily driving it, the hard top is the way to go. However, if I was buying it as a weekend fun car, I would probably get soft top in a Club spec, cheaper and lighter than the hard top.

Chevrolet is paying to install the 240 V charging outlet in your garage if you lease or buy a 2022 BOLT EV or EUV.

Personally, and from experience with what every single company ever has done, I very much expect the AWD performance model to not be offered on the base trim and it'll be a pretty penny more than the base model.

Because reading is fundamental and some readers are just mental.

Yes this does indicate that they will have a much higher priced version, but this does not say that their will not be other trim levels that you have a choice on of RWD or AWD. Right now it is all up in the air till GM finally releases details about the trim levels, powertrain options etc. The only fact we know for sure is that the first initial launch version will be a RWD version initially with a performance AWD version coming afterwards and further updates to be announced. Interesting is that the official web site for the LYRIQ now shows that the LYRIQ will start at $58,795 rather than the original announced price of $59,990. 2023 Cadillac LYRIQ | Electric SUV | Model Overview 2023-cadillac-lyriq-electric-suv-brochure.pdf

Yes east coast sucks when it comes to the crazy half ass approach of the states / counties / cities supporting or not supporting EV charging. Like the write up says, we will have this craziness as normal pains till chargers are normal everywhere. Not unlike the early 1900's where you also had to plan out your drive as finding a gas station was not always available and many ICE owners out away from the cities ended up needing a pull from the local farmer Horse.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a36175755/ev-charging-infrastructure-in-america-still-sucks/ Such a train wreck of an infrastructure, right now.

Actually, I think it is. That is the ultimate family car or utility car for the Lamborghini or Ferrari or etc owner.

I mean... I'm a middle child of three and my parents had an older chrysler minivan before making a sweet jump to a GMC Safari with the raised roof and a DANG TV(maybe 6-8 inches ?)! That's how people think these days.. I have a coworker who recently had their first child and they got rid of his Sonata for a Traverse. One kid.

Oddly, this A6 looks more like the A7 than the real A6.

Are you just being obtuse or is there a purpose to such nonsensical posts?

Mach-E looks a lot better than this.

^hmm. The Lyriq grille does kind of remind me of the pattern on some shaver heads.

meh. did the Fusion and Escala breed?

LOL Im an only child...I LOVE to hear stories like that. I have ALWAYS been OK without having any siblings. Only two times in my life I think that it sucked that I didnt have any brothers and sisters. 1. When my parents passed away. 2. NOW! I love my wife and my wife loves me. I LOVE my kids. BUT...sometimes, you just need a brother or sister to vent certain things about life that a wife or kids need not listen to... I do vent to my wife about those things, we are very close...but a wife is not a sibling... My wife, and certainly not my kids, need NOT listen to my extremely filthy mouth or deranged ideas floating in my head that sometimes NEED to get out. A sibling will ALWAYS understand where you are coming from... A wife, (not mine anyway...at least not now and after 18 years of marriage, but you never know) might question her marriage to you...

The XT5 is not that great compared to its rivals either but I guess that requires you to move that bar again. I’ll give you a minute. Again, bar moving. Make up your mind.

Well the XT6 is terrible, so maybe Lyriq will outsell it by default.

I swear @smk4565 must have a notification that alerts him when there is any article regarding Cadillac because he only pops in here to troll anything to do with Cadillac because I guess when you have a 13 year old Benz, you have to stand up for it even when the rationale being used is an utter crock of $h!.

What if they're "demanding" a 3-row Cullinan? Is Rolls just ignore those "demands"?

And that is a crock and you know it. The two are nothing alike other than sharing a price. Just stop it already. The Lyriq is night and day better looking inside and out, than the XT6 and will probably run circle around it, performance wise. You can’t even pretend that won’t happen.

Can you share this crystal ball with the rest of the class? And I second Balthazar’s response about the XT5.

I doubt if the typical Cullinan or Urus buyer has school age offspring. Wealthy folk that have kids and want a 3 row would gravitate towards a GLS, X7, Escalade, LX, etc..

Did you even read what I said or do you just normally make up scenarios where it means nothing? I provided you with actual data, via a link, of the top 25 selling vehicles. Go back and actually read that before making another snippy reply. You totally sidestep the fact that most buy those particular CUVs because of their, not because they wanted a barely usable rarely used 3rd row seat. Understand it yet? Again, I provided some actual data backing up my claim. You cannot say the same. That’s the difference here.

Wealthy folk don't reproduce?

Rivian has released their first batch of R1T and R1S accessories. Tents, various sport rack mounts, camping system for the tunnel along with the gear shuttle that looks like a table and more to come. Here are a bunch of accessories Rivian is bringing to its electric pickup truck and SUV - Electrek Want Weird, this is it, want to debate how small a bed should be, you can debate it on this, Alibaba has just started to sell the Trucklette. This 4 seat micro truck can handle a 1,500lb payload capacity and has a top speed of 28 mph all for the base bargain price of $3,100 for your electric truck. It even includes a bed cover. Awesomely Weird Alibaba EV of the Week: A $3,100 electric pickup truck? (electrek.co)

I stumbled onto this Curbside Classics vehicle. A very basic '77 Malibu Classic in impeccable condition. You scroll down and see a bullet proof inline 250 c.i. 6 and nothing much else except the automatic trans, power steering, and power brakes. So, no A/C, no electric accessories, but nothing to spruce it up. either. I think it could be much helped with (1) a set of thin whitewall tires, (2) some nicer wheel covers (like the "spirograph" ones of that era), and (3) 2 body colored exterior mirrors ... and (4) some blue seat belts. This is basic, reliable motoring at its best. I wouldn't mind having this. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/cc-for-sale/cc-for-sale-1977-chevrolet-malibu-classic-simply-good/ Pampered, it would be amazing how low this sled could last.

Ummmmm.....no.