G. David Felt

3 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Are you lookin' at me?

Of course she is lookin' at you! We all look at you! 

A slow death this is going to have.

31 minutes ago, balthazar said:

This is an awesome engine bay with plenty of room to turn a wrench. Wish they were still that way. At least my 1993 GMC Suburban has plenty of room and is easy to get around to work on in comparison to my Escalade.

Meh, I would pass on the smarter at this point and work on the Reliable please have no Recalls! 

Like I posted in another thread about Mercury taking the 7 liter 505 HP V8 Crate motor and upping it to 750 HP, if you can spend the coin on this car, then spend the additional coin on this engine and give it a real thumping heart!  After all what is an extra 32K plus installation costs.

2 hours ago, riviera74 said:

OK. I may not be for this idea, but I will say that MB is the best brand to try this out.  Badge snobs will LOVE THIS once it is implemented in the USA.  If MB leads on this, then Audi/BMW/Lexus will be sure to follow.

Cadillac has had this program for the last couple years in NY and other select markets and it does well in very dense cities with disposable income. I honestly do not see these programs working out for everywhere.

WOW, So much MB style traits. One would wonder if Kia has any original thinking on what their style should be? 

1 hour ago, daves87rs said:

Everything but those wheels please....

What is wrong with the low profile rims? Very different than you see on other auto's and of course I bet a pain in the ass to wash. I like a simple easy to clean rim, but this is nicely different. 

46 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

1) What Nissan is that?

2) Why would ANY potential Z buyer choose this hybrid over another Z?

3) That is not a Nissan Leaf.  What is the case for this car over a Leaf?

LOL, Actually that is the all new Generation 2.0 Nissan Leaf EV.

@ocnblu Hates all things EV or Hybrid. Wants the world to stay static for ever in his one moment in time!

This was his response to me keeping the current Z going forward till Nissan gets out their new Global Modular Platform that will carry ICE/EV/Hybrid. I stated keep the Z alive as is with updates till they can roll out a 300 mile range EV-Z.  

New Honda Accord Hybrid is so Fugly!

10 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

There probably won't even be a 4-cylinder in 20250.

I would hope we would have not ICE in 20250, There should be the age of Star Wars or at least Star Trek!  

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

Model X came out in beginning of '16 (actually it was summer of '15, but the rate was barely a trickle).
But the Model X is flat in sales vs. 2017 (1550 vs. 1575). It's NOT a model preference shift there.
What's the possibility the Model 3 is cannibalizing Model S sales?

Sharp Ride you posted!  

Excellent Point and very possible as some stretched to have the S so they could have a long distant EV, now they lower price of a Tesla 3 makes sense but then we have also seen due to the reduction happening at Tesla in the federal credit that there have been those that have canceled their order and gone BOLT.

I also still believe that there are pent up demand for an EV but not Tesla but other OEM builders. Gonna be an interesting 24 months as they start to roll out. 

1 hour ago, ocnblu said:

But... they already have one red hot electric sports car, and it's a DOOZY.  Hold onto your hat! 

Such an Ostrich with his head in the sand!  

12 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

12 and 10 cylinder will be the first to go, V8 sales are shrinking by the year.  I think V8s will hold on until the day the gas engine dies.

I agree that the 12 & 10 cylinder engines will probably be gone by 2025 to 2030 and the V8 & V6 will end up going by 2050 with the only possible engines left will be small 4 bangers as generators in Hybrids.

This makes sense as Europe and Asian have the hated, disgusting displacement tax. As we move towards a EV / Hybrid World, the days of W12, V12, V10, and even the V8 will dwindle sadly enough.

It was interesting to see and hear so many auto's screaming to go up the pass this weekend to ski. My escalade held at 70 mph at 2500 rpm and you had mini vans to various Subarus and other auto's that you could hear with the window down that they clearly were around 5,000 to 7,000 RPM to keep up at the same speed or at least it sounded like that and even they most could not keep up with me. Hard to replace displacement / Torque of large engines when going up grade.

Nice looking CUV, they have reduced the Coupe like top of the auto. I hope they keep this as the Coupe roofline is so overdone. I have to say I really like this look in the drawing. Now execute it 100%.

Z should limp along till they can move it to a new EV platform.

5 hours ago, balthazar said:

2016 Tesla Model S US sales were 28,896.
2017 Tesla Model S US sales were 27,060, a decline of 6.5%.

Jan-Feb of '18 is running 27% behind where Jan-Feb of '17 were. While I fully realize Tesla's sales swing wildly month-month, is this an indication the Model S is falling out of favor? Myself, I feel the car has gotten long-in-the-tooth; I see then daily i here in Jersey and the design came out in 2012.

I would have to say that the Tesla S sales drop is due to the Tesla X coming out and people wanting the CUV over a car. But Drops this year is in fact more to other OEM builders coming out. I have lately heard from a few coworkers who had deposits down on Tesla and have pulled them as they like what they see with the Jaguar EV and with others coming out. I think Tesla is going to be hurting if they cannot get their Tesla 3 out in mass productions and next year is going to be very interesting for them.

2 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

My feelings exactly.

I see my partner's Model S everyday. I have Fallen out of love with it.

I do love the motors and the battery tech the Model S P100D has. I want to know more about what the new roadster motors and batteries could do, but as far as the Model S' looks go, I feel like "long in the tooth" is too nice of a statement.

Its dated styling is what it is really!

 

Styling STALE like old bread. Will make a nice crouton for those that like it still but for the rest, I suspect 2018 and 2019 as new EV's are introduced by other OEMs that they will eat into Tesla sales.

After all, do you want an EV that has an established dealership network or one that rely's on a cheap auto parts store and hopefully you can find an experienced mechanic to work on your auto that truly knows something more than appliance repair.

17 minutes ago, balthazar said:

It does have a semi-formal 'squareness' to the profile that's a bit different from & pleasant relative to the current crop, but the greenhouse totally says 'Mustang' to me. And those wheels are utter crap, but that's a quick fix.

Agree that there is a Mustang vibe to this coupe.

I did mine in Gray with Matte Black rims.

White with the Matte Black Rims is nice too.

The blue color they have is just weird to me.

Configurator is up online and you can also put down your $2,500 Euro or $3,074 US dollars deposit for your 600HP EV Coupe based on closing friday 3/16/2018 exchange rate.

https://www.polestar.com/se/configurator?id=00Q0Y000009OW1pUAG

Totally makes sense as the US is market #2 behind China and always will be now. 

Good that they are using their single MQB platform for a global auto.

Found this on Jalopnik, Mercury built LS7 NA V8 putting out 750 HP on 91 Octane.

https://jalopnik.com/this-750-hp-ls7-crate-engine-from-mercury-racing-will-s-1823828455

Nothing like taking a GM supplied 505 HP motor and redoing the heads and increasing the HP by 245 to a neck snapping 750 HP. 

Redlines at 8,000 rpm

You get a fully tuned ECU and Wiring harness to go with the engine.

12 month, 12,000 mile warranty

Cost $32,995

Found this video today.

Seems the Aviator is back to go with the Nautilus aka old name MKX.

I see some think this is all about trying to take the brand and grow it in China. Interesting

50 minutes ago, Suaviloquent said:

You know, in hindsight this car probably wasn't worth it, but Lincoln tried the old nameplate routine, and it seems that it has failed. No Conti means definitely no Taurus ever again too. Tho I do remember mentioning how the Continental was just a bonus for USA and Canada, as it was really meant for China.

 

That explain why you conk your head and get a concussion every time you get in one DFelt!

Very True,

USA Average Man is 5'9" tall

China Average Man is 5'5" tall

4 inches makes a big difference in how an auto fits people. Wonder how many Conti are sold in China compared to the US? 

13 hours ago, frogger said:

Rent is $2250 for 700 sq feet.  With that we are just barely cash flow positive.  Real estate has gone nuts here, another reason why many young people don't buy cars, they are too much of a luxury when spending that much on their residence.  The maintenance fee of the spot would be more per sq foot than the condo itself.  We might have been able to rent it out for $200 a month.

 

And as you state, that is why Zipcar, BMW and MB car service program makes sense for inner city living. I do not see the GM program working in the city, maybe more of a suburban thing, but then people living in the suburban likes their own auto's so again, Just not seeing this working.

I would love to have facts on if the Cadillac NY program is actually profitable or not.