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riviera74

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Everything posted by riviera74

  1. riviera74
    GM can have Cadillac get away with v6 engines in the ATS, CTS, and the XTS. But once above that, the Ultra V8 becomes necessary. While the smallblock is the best v8 GM has ever built (and the v6 engines should be derived from that engine, not the European I4 DOHCs), the perception is that DOHC v8 engines are better even if that perception belongs in the 80s and is no longer true. There are still those who want DOHC even if the engines themselves are not better. That is why pushrod I4 and V6 engines are virtually all gone as of 2012.
  2. riviera74
    Ordering packages rather than line items for each option is more efficient from a factory perspective. It costs a lot more to do that than pursue options packages. If nobody went to the dealer and bought from existing dealer inventory, then your idea is more viable. Of course, state franchise laws may make that impossible (especially when culling dealers).
  3. riviera74
    Piledriver is necessary because Bulldozer was rather uncompetitive in IPC for single-core performance. Bulldozer was an embarassment for AMD.
  4. riviera74
    I have never understood the perception of DOHC is better than pushrod. What gives people that perception? I ask why for this reason: my Park Avenue Ultra has a SC3800, and the 3800 is easily the best v6 GM has ever put into a production car (prior to the 3.6v6, maybe). Why would a DOHC v8 be so much better when that may not be the case? Engine design and execution and performance, not whether you have OHC or not, should determine what is best for your car. If I have one complaint about the v6 engines that GM has now in its cars, it is lack of torque compared to the 3800. Can GM fix that please?
  5. riviera74
    Is the Encore about the same size or smaller than an Equinox/Terrain/SRX?
  6. riviera74
    Do you have any proof of that? I call BS on this idea.
  7. riviera74
    Wow. Remember when Buicks especially stayed as they were for five and six years? Not anymore. As for GMC, the trucks are still doing well and they keep the Buick dealerships around.
  8. riviera74
    Does anyone even need/use AWD in the Snowbelt these days? Shouldn't better tires solve those issues instead?
  9. riviera74
    This time, the Phaeton has competition from the Genesis sedan and the Equus. If VW prices the Phaeton at less than $50K fully equipped, they have a winner. $68K to start was the biggest mistake VW ever had made for the last one.
  10. riviera74
    BMW? FWD outside of Mini? GM did the same thing in the mid 80s and it was a disaster. Market share losses accelerated once GM went FWD on almost every car. BMW, don't do it!
  11. riviera74
    I remember reading somewhere (I forget which magazine article it was) where they mentioned that a lot of automakers are vying to build a profitable $10K car. Only problem is is that regs and standards are so high that cars can seldom be sold brand new for less than $12K. I bring this up because GM could do a lot of people a fairly big favor by moving Chevy downmarket to get those customers from the used car market and build truly affordable cars. That of course would help Buick and Cadillac out too, in terms of market segmentation. In other words, Corvette and Camaro aside, why are so many Chevy vehicles at or above $30K?
  12. riviera74
    Why does that Malibu have plastic wood in the car? Moreover, is Epsilon II (wrong platform?) really that bad, or is the car just under-refined?
  13. riviera74
    Wow. Buick is now actually expensive. Buick has come a long way from being a slightly upgraded Chevy. I guess the Traverse will still start at around $30K. . . . or so I hope. I guess the dealer was right in saying that the Enclave is Buick's flagship. . . . for now at least.
  14. riviera74
    CAFE is a big problem. Weight is the real problem. Abolishing CAFE will not prevent gasoline from rising further than current levels. Ending CAFE will simply mean more people buying more gas as carmakers (somewhat) walk away from greater fuel efficiency. No real winners here, unless you own an oil refinery and a gas station and the oil under the ground.
  15. riviera74
    CAFE is a big problem. Weight is the real problem. Abolishing CAFE will not prevent gasoline from rising further than current levels. Ending CAFE will simply mean more people buying more gas as carmakers (somewhat) walk away from greater fuel efficiency. No real winners here, unless you own an oil refinery and a gas station and the oil under the ground.
  16. riviera74
    According to the Free Press article, only Daimler, BMW and VW are doing well in Europe. It is past time for GM (and Ford) to shutter plants and get out of that economic pit that is Europe. Western Europe seems bent on preserving socialism at the expense of sound economics. Automakers are not charities: dump the plants and insource the engineering to the USA right now.
  17. riviera74
    All I see are precentages. Where are the actual sales numbers?
  18. riviera74
    So when will the automatics be released? Then we will see if the Dart is actually competitive.
  19. riviera74
    It would be better if the Volt were $30,000 MSRP and the future ELR be about $50,000. High entry prices are why the Volt has 84 days in dealer inventory.
  20. riviera74
    I do not miss SAAB. My mom had a 1995 SAAB 9000 CSE that I recommended because I had a summer job at that dealership at the time (Said dealership was shuttered in 2009.). That 9000 CSE was little more than a piece of junk. Worse yet, when the dealer shop found that there was a major engine problem, it was sent back to Sweden never to return. I have hated SAAB ever since. Good riddance. Instead of buying SAAB in 1990, GM should have corrected their financial and product issues instead!
  21. riviera74
    Since the new CAFE standards are quite high, automakers in general (and GM in particular) should stop focusing so hard on hybrids and focus on something more valuable: cutting weight. Remember the old Geo Metro from 1989? That little car had high MPG for one reason: it was a bantamweight. Diesels would be great for trucks, but current and especially future GM cars need to ditch the tonnage right now. Too many GM cars could stand to drop 500-1000 pounds right now and GM would become the MPG leader almost immediately. No GM car or truck should be vying to weigh as much as my 99 Park Avenue Ultra (about 5000 lbs.). Smaller engines and e-Assist will not correct the original problem of too much mass.
  22. riviera74
    QFT.
  23. riviera74
    An 84 day supply of Volts is unacceptable. They should not even consider making more until that inventory clears. As for the 2014 Impala, a lot of people (me sort of included) cannot wait, especially given the lack of truly large cars out there these days (XTS, Charger/300, Taurus aside).
  24. riviera74
    How does that CTS 3.0 compare to the CTS 3.6?
  25. riviera74
    Wise decision by both GM and Chrysler, especially since one party wanted them both dead.
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