oldshurst442

Health and wellness technology? I dont need any kind of tech for my health and wellness... Eat proper foods. Plenty of exercise. And for me to stay the hell away from this vehicle. It creeps me out. Like the colour though.

El K....I may have to follow your lead. Any modern Bugatti, starting with the ugly EB110 of the 1990s and the Veyron...do not push any G-Spot buttons for me. The Veyron looks good, and I respect the engineering behind this machine, but unfortunately, I feel nothing for it. I still prefer a Countach centerfold in my room. This new Chiron will probably not move the needle either for me. If...I had a couple of oil fields in Saudi Arabia with a harem of minimum of 1 virgin, 1 slut and 4 milfs fanning me and feeding me grapes, Im sure Id reconsider its status with me, though.

This new E-Class has not made a friend out of me... That is all I have to say. Maybe one other thing. I hope they dont fudge the next generation CLS...

Cheers to you too CCAP. PS: I asked my partner why in the 'blazes' (yes...pun intended) did he choose a Model S? He said 1. AWD 2. Electric drive 3. Big enough to haul stuff...especially golf bags. 4. Looks good. Not awkward like my car. So he had to zing me...now...I hope his mother$%%# Tesla burns to the ground...

Im gonna pour more fuel to this fire Did someone say amateurs building cars? Did someone post a link on a Tesla fire? Alls I got to say is 1.6 liter ecoboost for Ford...since Drew took HONDA window switch fires.:..because Ford has got that covered too. I wont even bother mentioning Ferrari. OOOPS...I just did!!! Feels good to beat a dead horse...in that Surreal and Drew already covered this. I have nothing more of importance to say... One could argue, when do I ever say ANYTHING of importance? That age old question...when will Oldshurst shut his trap? To that I answer....probably never.

I naively did not want to believe that...even as far back as when I posted my first response in this thread. Which was October. I defended Sergio when it came to the Viper because I naively thought he could have just closed the door on it when he acquired Chryco. All he did was just green light a dead project on arrival, because in hindsight, its true what you said, some love from Ferrari would have been welcomed... But...when Sergio forced Ferrari to share technology with the other brands, that is when Ferrari people and engineers had a fallout, so maybe, all this blood may not be solely on Sergio's hands, maybe 'tis Ferrari that was not comfortable in sharing tech with a "low class, redneck sports car"... Because..I find it strange that Sergio just green lit a project in which he could have just let die. What did I just say? Let me rephrase that. The Viper was ALREADY dead when Sergio acquired Chryco. Sergio green lit what the Viper team had in store for the next generation Viper....but those plans died when Chryco. went bankrupt. So...Sergio did not have to green light anything....but he did. And THAT is what is sooooooo perplexing to me. Why waste money on a project that WONT bring any money back to you? Fresh from a bankruptcy with more pressing issues for platform sharing than a dead sports car anyway...because the Viper was gone by that time... Why waste money on a project when you know that there wont be a budget for? Why waste money on a project when you know you arent serious with it to begin with....because this Viper really had no major improvements from the last generation because there was no money. I remember Ralph Gilles saying he had to perform miracles with the budget and technology he had to work with... So...good on the Viper team to actually make competition for better technologically advanced machines... So...my question is: Why DID Sergio green light a project when we all know today, he was really not interested in it? I believe he had some interest in it, but Ferrari clashed with him so he said eff it in the end...

But the thing is, the old guard doesn't repeat the same mistakes. Any recalls the old guard have to issue have to do with execution of something g they already know how to do-they're cheap instead of ignorant, in other words. Tesla is riding a brutally steep learning curve, not merely because of their propulsion system, but because they truly don't know how to build cars all that well. Perhaps they will eventually if the money and customer goodwill doesn't run out. But as you yourself mentioned, your partner regards the car as a status symbol or appliance moreso than a car. In such a situation it is even more critical for a manufacturer to build something that even a non-gearhead can operate safely. I dont know if I want to agree with this post or disagree. I will however agree with this statement 100% Regarding why my partner bought the Model S? I dont know why? I dont know how he views it. He is not the one to flaunt, so it may not be as a status symbol...however, he did like the fact that I got an Acura...yes...as a badge. His former car was a Subaru Legacy. His wife still has a 2006 GMC Acadia. Runs beautifully and is in no hurry to change it... As an appliance? For sure! His main goal was to get off of oil. I thought he was gonna get a Chevy Volt, he really liked the first generation. He test drove it and all and wanted to wait for the second generation to come out. He did not wait....he pulled the trigger on the Tesla... Why? Because it is not a Chevy? I think Ill ask him on Monday when I see him again. We are closed tomorrow. I dont work Saturday, he does. I work Sunday, he doesnt.

That was because M-B screwed the pooch with that merger... SMK...look at how they engineered and sold the Crossfire...YOUR own example... THAT was the kind of crap M-B let happen in their showrooms... BEFORE that...not that Chrysler was a model company for reliability and for quality, but at least their designs WERE class leading and state of the art. Before that, at least Chrysler was spending money in R&D trying to figure out different ways to manufacture cars... Prowler was just an experiment to see how they could use aluminium in mass produced cars and how to manufacture mass produced cars withh aluminium. Cab Forward design was another R&D development program. The LH cars were some of the most spacious and comfortable cars in that era. The cloud cars, the JA platform aka, the Breeze and the Stratus and the Cirrus, never mind the build quality, were also some of the most spacious and comfrtable cars in their class. The merger of equals failed because the German overlords thought they were too good for their American counterpart. The German overlords FAILED to actually use ALL the resources they had at their disposal..THAT would include Auburn Hills engineers and product planners... After the 1980s...where Chryco failed...the 1990s were Chryco's finest in terms of products...and product planning...M-B failed to capture this specialty... And to tell you the truth SMK...M-B has NOT learned from their mistakes with that merger... M-B is just producing vehicles in all kninds of niches hoping they would be succesful in them. Whatever sticks is a huuuuuge success, but whatever fails is a huuuuuuuuge failure. But there are many failures.... Smart cars for one. The R-Class for another.

I also know how to drive RWD in snow. I grew up in Montreal. I still live in Montreal. I learned to drive RWD in snow in a 1988 Chevy fullsized 350 cubic inch V8 van. No weight...like at all...at the rear wheels. Oh...only one wheel turning. I guess no posi for me. I dont do RWD...I dont do AWD either. Yeah, my Acura TL is AWD...that is not for snow...that was because I like the car...and the car comes with AWD. Sure, I could have settled for the FWD version....the thing is...I like the 3.7 liter with 305 horsepower... Anyhoo, FWD is what I want in snow. Not RWD. I dont like fishtailing in snow and ice when other cars are around me. I dont like rocking my car back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth just to get out of a parking spot... And up until recently, I did not have to change tires in the winter for snow tires...all season tires were good enough for me. FWD...all the weight...a lot of weight over the drive wheels and all seasons were perfect. Problem is now, Quebec mandates and obliges winter tires. I got my SH-AWD winter tired Acura TL...and I literally never get stuck, nor have to rock my car back and forth back and forth... That is super cool. PS...I never got stuck with FWD either....true, with FWD I had to rock back and forth a couple of times...but it was only a couple of back and forth maonouevres, so it wasnt anything serious either. Unlike RWD to which it seemed like for ever...back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And the tires spinning going ZZZZZZzzzzzzzz. ZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzz What I might do though....since winter tires are mandatory anyway...and today there is traction control....but traction control is crap to get your self out of snow...I might try a modern RWD car in the snow and see how she feels. Because Im curious to know if modern RWD cars behave the same way as a RWD fullsized V8 van in the winter... OH...I also remember helping to push my dad out of very slippery spots with his RWD 1974 and 1979 Impalas...not much fondness there either with RWD...

Jurgen Schrempp was Chairman and CEO from 1995-2005, sort of the dark days of Mercedes. He had an engineering background too, but he wasn't a very good CEO. Dr. Z is a really good CEO. Chrysler was pretty much beyond saving, and they did give Chrysler the Crossfire and the LX platform, and the Grand Cherokee is still based on a derived ML-class platform. Notice Chryslers only decent cars are derived from mid 2000s Mercedes. Perhaps the problem with that merger is Chrysler was still developing their own engines, transmissions and cars, the Crossfire was the only Chrysler with a Mercedes engine/transmission and chassis. IT was a failed merger, but if Chrysler didn't have Mercedes or Fiat platforms, they wouldn't have anything to sell except Ram trucks and a minivan. Except Chrysler was very profitable at that point in time just before the merger. Except that "cab forward" design language was the most unique and sexy design language at that point in time. Except that Chrysler was spending a ton of money on R&D at that point in time before the merger and many effed up projects came to life. Viper being one of them. The Prowler is the other. The Prowler had NO Mercedes Benz input....THAT was ALL Chryco. Except that RWD was on the table BEFORE the merger and THIS was the Charger that was supposed to be with Chryco's engineering efforts... But because M-B generously 'gave' Chryco their old platform, Chryco had to improvise... And Chryco engineers probably did a better engineering job on that platform than what M-B did... The Crossfire was definitely proof of how M-B viewed Chryco...they viewed Chryco as a second class company... It was OK for M-B to rake in the billions that the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler raked in though...

I get that...sold at a price. They had Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn to fill that price niche. Oldsmobile tried very hard to keep an image of its former self. Engineering a car to a price point is what killed Oldsmobile then. What GM did, was screw Oldsmobile. Saturn had the L Series Sedan, from Europe. Pontiac the Grand Am and Oldsmobile the Alero all in the same price range. Alero would have benefited if they did go more premium. Offer the Shortstar...and give the Acura EL a run for its money...kinda like how the Verano is doing to the ILX today. It took GM 15 years to finally get this right....better late than never, I guess. It only cost them Pontiac and Oldsmobile...Saturn. Bankruptcy. If they had the cojones to make the Alero premium, what the Alero TRULY deserved, maybe 'tis Acura that would not have survived... Think about it...its not as if the last 15 years have been kind to Acura....other than its SUVs... The TL in the early 2000s was a bust! It took the 2005 model to gain success again. Then the super beak TL hit the streets. The TLX aint all that. The TSX either, that is why it is no longer. The ILX is a bust too. Think about it....the Alero, would have beat the European Accord/Acura TLX by 1 whole generation...4 years to be exact. Yeah...I think Ill stand by my words. Oldsmobile died a slow and painful death.

Yet...in 1999, Oldsmobile decided to go with a pushrod 3.4 liter V6. When its brother Intrigue ditched the other, yet proven pushrod 3.8 liter V6 and went with a very modern Shortstar V6, one that they designed...even for Cadillac. Northstar V8. Maybe Oldsmobile should have went with that Shortstar 3.5 in the Alero and go in another direction rather than just follow in Pontiac's footsteps... Sure, the Aurora had an on par interior with Cadillacs, but by that time, Oldsmobile no longer sold the way they did in the 1980s... Why I said they died a slow death....because after the rockin' 1980s, in between having the best General Motors products in the mid to late 1990s and into the 2000s where they were lay to sleep, the early 1990s is where Oldsmobile languished, where GM favoured production money and R&D money to such endeavors as Saturn and SAAB. GEO and Subaru. The one good product to come out of the early to mid 1990s Oldsmobile was indeed the first gen Aurora. However, crap such as the Achieva, 2nd generation Silhouette, should have NEVER been authorized for Oldsmobile. The Grand Am for that generation was good enough for Pontiac. Not for Oldsmobile, or Buick for that matter. The Achieva should have been what the Alero was....the Alero came a decade too late. Oldsmobile in the early 1990s still had badge engineered Delta 88s...that were re-worked twice...changed name to Eighty-Eight and took a face lift a second time to coincide with a new fresh start to have a face like an Aurora... Oldsmobile also had that W-Body Cutlass Supreme. Fantastic car, for a late 1980s Oldsmobile generation...but looooong in the tooth by the mid 1990s. Due to the fact that the Japanese competition in Lexus and Acura and Infiniti took no prisoners. Oldsmobile also had the Cutlass Cierra. Even Chevrolet ditched the Celebrity and went with a better vehicle. A loooooong in the tooth W-body Lumina....but still. Pontiac ditched the 6000 in favor for the very same looooong in the toooth W-Body Grand Prix. Yeah, I know....Cierras still sold like hot cakes...however, when Oldsmobile decided to tackle the imports and the Aurora was the one to lead the charge, crap like this should have NEVER been acceptable for Oldsmobile. Also...finally, when the Cierra was retired, a badge engineered Malibu replaced it...and badge engineered Malibu is being kind. It really was a Malibu... Only to have Oldsmobile cancel the Malibu in favor of the Alero anyway....which did not make too much sense as both the Malibu, Grand Am and Alero were from the same platform...albeit the Grand Am and Alero were revised and improved...and the Alero was made to be in the same market as the Cierra to begin with... The Alero, even with the 3.4 liter engine, still outsold the Cierra...because it was clear as daylight which car was superior.... GM/Olds just went with the Cierra because they probably felt GM sheeple would just flock to it...just because Cierra was its name...yet...on an Alero...OLDSMOBILE was kept on the hush hush becasuse Oldsmobile was said to head in another direction, and wanted to show that Alero REALLY was not your father's Oldsmobile... Weird, huh? In one corner, you are saying to your customers, forget the better Alero, go for the Cierra because THIS is what you are used to getting with Oldsmobille and in the other corner, you are telling your customers...No really, this Oldsmobile is NOT what your father drove....yes we know, we told you that fib before, but its true this time...look....no Oldsmobile badges...anywhere on the car....we even changed the logo for you... The Silhouette was still crap in the late 1990s... The other good thing about Oldsmobile....was that the Bravada was probably the best version of that SUV at that point in time before SAAB and Buick got Old's version. Like I said...the Intrigue, the Alero...which could have been THAT much more and the Aurora should have been the ONLY models...instead, when walking into an Oldsmobile showroom,in the late 1990s... people were confused...new generation Oldsmobile was there...however, old and bad and distasteful General Motors cheapened Oldsmobile was also present. And THAT is why I still stand by of what I said that Oldsmobile died a slow and painful death. Lansing Michigan employees knew what Oldsmobile was capable of....it must have been very painful for them to see billions of R&D money go to SAAB, Saturn, Fuji Heavy, GEO, and FIAT only to get crumbs, only to dangle good products knowing that if they have those billions, those good products would have been great, and MORE than enough to stick it to the Japanese and the Germans...staying true to what GM said Oldsmobile's mission was, to offer Americans real competition to the imports. Ill leave out Saturn as Saturn employees probably felt the same way Oldsmobile employees felt... with the same promises, an answer to import competition.

Happy New Year to you to, Wings... Hopefully after decades of the same 'ol same 'ol routine of yours on the internet of being less than truthful of your intentions....you will change your ways... Like I said, I see right through you! Im like the oracle of Delphi. PS: Im not the one who followed a handful of MT posters in this website just to continue the less than truthful intentions, Wings. Id look in the mirror before Id start calling someone else twisted... The Greek part. Well, the part of Greece my mom comes from, yeah, they are a tad twisted, so no harm in you saying that, its the truth... However, If I was you, Id seriously take a reflection of what it is you do for the past 2 decades in internet forums and Id change it...

I forgot...I have access to cute little emoticons. So Ill just start using them, like I did when I first joined up here.

Whatever Wings. I see right through you. But...Im not gonna be Charles Bronson anymore... Just so you know, you dont fool me!

1. If he feels it aint safe for his offspring....he could sell said GM product. 2. Id he decides to keep said GM car...its because he feels it safe...therefore there is no WOW at the end of his "comment" 3. ..... 4. He finally took it in during holiday season? How convenient it is for him... 5. .... . MAybe its a nice engineering fix....but there is no WOW at the end of that!

Yup, Suave... I could live with what you said...no need to be that sporty...but stylish is a MUST!

Sorry man, misread. But even Fiat is in better shape than Lancia. Sergio's spinoff of Ferrari is their last, best chance to get development cash for their European ops. They need this platform, and they need to give it to Dodge and Chrysler as well as their European brands. If they show any preference to Europe at all, they're screwed. No probs, man. And yeah...THAT is what Im afraid of. The temptation that Daimler had over Chryco...in that those Euro retards use Jeep for the cash cowness to primp up Euro ops. The more years pass on this latest Chryco merger....the more it looks like another "merger of equals". PS. I agree with you. Lancia died a slow death. A slow painful death eerily similar in how Oldsmobile died. I just have a vision in my head as to how Lancia could be revived. And that would be to have Dodge and SRT and Lancia and Abarth be part of the performance arm of FCA since FCA no longer has Ferrari. Alfa engineers could work with SRT and Abarth as Alfa engineers no onger have Ferrari.

What the Regal needs to be...is what the original VW CC was....(VW just let the CC rot on the vine) A discount Mercedes Benz CLS. Or a discount BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe 4 door coupe. If possible, forget the regular CLS and 6 Series, and make the Regal a discount CLS AMG or M6 Gran Coupe... Let the Verano, Cascada and Encore handle the low end premium stuff. Make the Regal into a real sport sedan. No need for RWD. Make it into an AWD real premium luxury car. OK...a discount Audi S7.

Well I think Alfa has a great chance in Europe actually, perhaps China as well. Anything expensive and well-made should do well in China. Marketing. Here you need some nice marketing folks to get the product out there. The Alfa engines are designed by the same people who make Ferrari engines... That is worth a lot of intangible cred. Deployed effectively, and with plenty of SUV juice, it can work. But it requires very high excellence of execution. If Sergio went real cray cray, imagine SRT having access to atleast some of the same engines or similar engine tech as Alfa's hand me downs from Ferrari. That would be amazing, not that SRT is lacking in V8s or crazyness to begin with. That is exactly my reasoning....also...Fiat in Europe is econo and mainstream...but Alfa was/is econo and mainstream too, no need for both, but because Alfa used to do luxury and race cars and Alfa was actually the FIRST to be sport sedan, Alfa could EASILY copy BMW's business model....because Alfa IS Italy's BMW, with a richer racing heritage and much much sexier cars.

I said...save Lancia instead of...FIAT. In all honesty....Lancia, Fiat AND Alfa all have at least one foot in their perspective graves. And THAT has got me worried about Chryco's over all health too. Maybe not Jeep and ahem...RAM, but Chrysler and Dodge.

Normally, I should feel the same you do about Alfa, that their time has come and gone and its time for Alfa to join the rest of the dead automobiles in the sky. But...I am still seduced by the notion that Alfa is still a sexy brand, making cars that have sexy lines to continue to seduce us all, especially in 2015 when most car manufactures produce very bland and very ugly cars. Alas, this notion of mine is definitely a dreamer's dream, I cant help but be an optimist with and for Alfa. I do agree that Sergio should STOP raping Chryco... With me....if one FCA brand should kick the bucket, 'tis Fiat... Alfa should be like BMW.... Econo and lux in Europe Lux in North America. and lower trimmed Euro Alfas be sold in North America as entry level lux... There is no need for Fiat as econobox and mainstream as Alfa could fill those shoes better than Fiat could... I would try to save Lancia instead and pair them up with Dodge and have Abarth and SRT work together as both Dodge and Lancia could be the affordable performance brand...while Alfa is...like BMW...luxury.

At CCAP and Surreal... I edited my post you both quoted me on... Please re-read it because I dont want you guys to think I took anything you guys said was offensive to me. And yup Surreal....the old guard keeps repeating the same mistakes over and over again...THAT is why I HATE it when EL K mentions it for Tesla!

No....it was NOT mentioned to him... He has a memory like a sponge. He is very attentive... Maybe it is NOT in the manual...maybe he read it...and he did not come across anything on that situation... I did not question him on that, because quite frankly, Tesla prides itself on its customer service and encourages you to use their free 1-800 number to ask their technicians ANYTHING!!! ANYTIME!!!! Plus....Tesla has a on-line forum on their website where Tesla owners compare and contrast their experiences... All this to tell you that Tesla wants to be known as a human company where everybody is encouraged to communicate with each other...on a PERSONAL BASIS...IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MENTIONED WHEN HE TOOK DELIVERY OF THE CAR...especially when the explanations of how Tesla's regen braking works.... Again, Im not the one to blame this on Tesla and make it seem like my partner is faultless, he is a big boy and he knows what he could have done to prevent this situation regardless of the regen braking snafu... If you read what Drew said about Cadillac and how GM has software for a similar braking situation, Tesla whose Model S is ALL ABOUT software should have thought of this angle...ESPECIALLY when its a COMMON problem... In this case...El Kabong may have hit the nail on the head....rookies building cars....and you dont know how much I hate that line when El K uses it on Tesla... No offense taken Surreal....Its just that it aint as cut and dry as you think it is with owner's manuals.... Like you and I said...the Model S is NOT unlike any other car...and the Tesla buying experience is NOT like regualr car dealerships...especially when Tesla prides itself as a more personal buying experience... And yes CCAP....we are a different breed... I was SHOCKED when he bought a Model S...I thought he was going for a Volt... No offense taken...it is reality... It is second nature for us to overcome these kinds of situations because we read about them in car enthusiast areas....people like my partner only learn about it when they come across it, like a VIRGIN.....we know how to react because we are INFORMED BEFORE it happens to us!!!

Well guys...I dont know what to tell you. Im not the one that bought the car. I wasnt the one to deal with the technicians and the sales staff, nor do I have the owner's manual. (shout out to Surreal) Im not the one to have driven the car in the snow storm we had...a very nice 39.2 cm of snow....15.4 inches...anyway... Point being is that my partner is not a car enthusiast and I am. I know of the potential hazards of moisture on the brake calipers and to at least pump the brakes before hand to get friction going on to dry the brakes as soon as possible... I think this was the situation CCAP Plus there was a snow storm right....so there must have been snow and ice collected on the calipers and the discs...so by the time the computer reacted to stop regen braking and switch to conventional braking and by the time the friction gotthe snow and ice off, 4 seconds or so elapsed....and 4 seconds in ANY situation is a long time when you need to stop now...dont forget....although in the snow storm we had, the conditions were not that slippery, you are still braking in snow... I believe there are 3 levels of regen braking. Normal, Low and Off to which the user chooses what settings he prefers. But yeah...they should make a software program where the car detects this and switches automatically.... Regardless if its in the manual....who reads those anyway? I do...most dont...like CCAP said...we live in Canada...Tesla is supposed to be UNLIKE regualr dealerships in where the sales staff KNOWS the product...they should have VERBALLY mentioned it!!! But yes Surreal, it is a car unlike no other, some blame...MOST blame goes on him for maybe not reading the manual properly, and becoming MORE familiar with the car he bought. I was NEVER the one to blame a manufacturer or a product for incompetence...but...in this case...when the technician ACKNOWLEDGES similar problems across snowy areas, a reminder of what may happen is a welcoming advice. Its not as if he bought the car in the summer, he took delivery of it in December....winter time... This does NOT take away from me loving the car....its just strengthening my position in thinking that NO COMPANY truly gives a rat's ass about the customer....it will ALWAYS be the bottom line BEFORE the customer. Long gone are the days where the reverse was true... And thanx for your concerns. Yeah...we are both laughing at the situation now....Im disappointed in this little mis-communication, he even less...but he did have a scare.