G. David Felt

KIA = Kill It Again!

So that Means Pontiac was like 20 years ahead of time with the Aztek!

@oldshurst442 Truly EXCITEMENT!!!

Awesome price for a crate motor and the engine kit especially when you compare it to the GM performance crate motors. Would be nice if they did a complete powertrain setup like GM so you have a properly matched Transmission.

So you both do not think that countries bigger than us, Russia and China could benefit by having full size pickups available and before some Chinese company starts to build them?

@Drew Dowdell Awesome Thank you for clearing that up as the web site is not clear and the forums seems to be unclear also about the 6 spd. Even Jeeps descriptions tends to imply cvt. Great to know they totally dumped the cvt crap tranny's.

Update, found more info, seems they are almost identical but the 9 spd is a true gear transmission as the builder offers these pics. ZF (spd Transmission

Interesting as I discovered playing with the configurator. If you are FWD on the Compass you get their so called 6 speed CVT transmission. If you go 4x4, you get the choice of a manual or 9 speed transmission. Weird Part is their 9 speed appears to be the same picture as the 6 speed cvt. Their web site does not seem to really state that the 9 spd is a true gear transmission, but it could be with the new tech in packaging. Have to dig into this more as I always thought the 9 spd was a true gear transmission.

Awesome Post @balthazar Very cool to know they had these 100 years ago. The rest of the world tech is finally catching up.

Totally agree with this move, GM, Ford and RAM should have been doing this years ago.

Baby Boomer Money being spent!

Agreed, while I loved the interior room of my Son's Patriot, both him and I do not miss it or the weird crazy flaky CVT transmission.

Sell the Jeep Ram pieces to an american investment group. The rest probably would be sold to Chinese companies looking to grab an established dealership network to bring in their Copies of all things American into our shores.

WOW, I have to say that I would consider that a bit over saturated. I bet half as many properly set up dealerships could service that area.

But, But, But it has an aluminum bed?

I suspect Nissan is right siding their dealership needs. They have closed multiple in the Pacific Northwest as they have one to cover a 20-50 square mile area. They seem to be making sure they do not end up like GM with way too many dealerships.

Surprised Ford has not come out with additions to the Mustang Stable. Mustang - Performance Cars Clydesdale - Performance CUV's

Your wife is looking for a Mail Order Bride? Guess 3's Company! Some of the ADs are freakin funny. Drew Code 84 is always there.

370Z CUV, that would piss some fans off. Course I can totally see it as the bulk of the market is going that way. The desire for sit on the ground auto's is dying.

Amazing how people see flighty things, it should make them think twice how people will perceive them.

1) I am fine with that, very cool to get deals on Auto stuff. 2) Scince I pay to help support an awesome forum, this does not bother me. I hope you can find a good balance with making some money to support the site with ads. It should pay for itself.

G. David Felt - Staff Writer Alternative Energy - www.cheersandgears.com The Internal Combustion Engine, the Beginning of the End 2017 Washington Post Story The Washington Post wrote a story about why 2017 is the official start to the end for ICE or Internal Combustion Engine auto's. They did state that it could take 50 years before the last of ICE Auto's are no longer being sold, but just like 1876 when Niklaus Otto invented the internal combustion engine and by 1915 it was clear that out of electric, steam, and gas engines, gas was the clear winner for the next 100 years, it would seem we are looking at the dawn of the EV auto with 2017. Why would people think this you might ask, well as posted in the Washington Post Story as well as reported here at Cheers and Gears and other news outlets we really have 3 core reasons: Chevrolet Bolt and GM's announcement of 20 new EV autos by 2023. Other OEMS have also announced the plans to move to all EV auto product lines. GM was the first established player to launch a long range EV in the market. Tesla's Model 3 mass market EV Auto, yes it is stuck in production hell, but they have captured 512,000 pre-orders as of this 3rd week of Oct. 2017. Many auto companies would love to have pre-orders for a product like this. China, flexing it's muscle with the announcement that they are planning on killing all sales of ICE auto's by as early as 2030. The worlds largest auto market at 31 million auto's has some weight in how they change market dynamics. Yes the story goes on to point out that EV auto sales in North America account for less than 1% for 2017 and yet China says EV auto sales must be 9% by the end of 2018 and rises after that each year aggressively. Thus if an established auto company wants to survive and play in the global market, they have to change their global product lineup. Barclays analysis of Oil Demand is that by 2025 it could be slashed by 3.5 million barrels per day worldwide. If EV auto's reach a penetration of 33%, oil demand will reduce globally by 9 million barrels per day by 2040. Bloomberg puts the number of reduction at 8 million barrels per day by 2040 which they state is more than the current combined production of Iran and Iraq together. The next 5 years to 15 years will really show how fast things will change but most oil industry experts think 15 years will have minimal change on per barrel a day, then things will begin to drop. This could explain oil companies big push in the last 18 months into electric charging companies and infrastructure. Story state something that was posted earlier this month about Shell already adapting by adding charging points at their stations and pushing owners to remodel to have a convenience store, rest area, food, etc. Here they say their stations will adapt or close. The story also points out the effect of converting just 3 million auto sales in the US alone by the Sierra Club. Clearly people are looking to a cleaner future for themselves and their children: 6.5 million tons, or 13 billion pounds, of GHGs reduced annually. 35.6 million barrels of petroleum reduced annually, creating less of a dependency on foreign oil, further boosting demand on domestic electricity and keeping oil money spent in-state. 164.5 million pounds of carbon monoxide reduced annually. 11 million pounds of nitrogen oxides reduced annually, harmful to respiratory health and creates smog. 1 million pounds of particulate matter reduced annually. 9 million pounds of volatile organic compounds reduced annually.

@oldshurst442 & @ocnblu Tesla says they now have as of last week 512,000 pre-orders on the books for the Tesla 3. That speaks big to the desire for quiet EV auto's and as Oldshurst442 so accurately stated above, the BOLT is doing very well in North America and in Europe where they have suspended sales to allow catch up with the thousands of preorders.

I disagree, studies show people are excited but they want more choices. That is what will come over the next 18 to 24 months. Especially with one company having rapid charge batteries, just time before others build them and then the floodgates will open and people will happily give up the smell of gas / oil and higher maintenance and move over to EV with home plugin to charge. Afterall, never having to run out to the gas station, charging up your auto in 6 min for 200 miles or 12 min for 400 miles is nice. Society is ready for change more than you might think.

What has Sergio really made based on Italian socialist crap that is any good. He has destroyed what could have made FCA billions on billions to steal the millions to billions to reboot for umpteenth time the crap alfa on top of keeping fiat alive both along with maserati should have just been killed off.