Frisky Dingo

Can't even lie, I really like this little thing. Can't wait to try one out.

Good riddance to some. They have hellbent on filling every niche within a niche for the better part of a decade. As a result, ALL of their products have suffered. There's not a single BMW product I would buy today. And I say that as someone who owned one and loved it just a few years ago.

On 7/29/2019 at 6:42 PM, smk4565 said:

Because the Cadillac red/awd sport sedans sell?  The CT5 is $38k, so CT4 is probably going to be about $31k.   And that is before discounts which will be available after about a year on the market.

Those cars don't appeal to traditional GM performance car buyers. They are targeting the wrong audience with most Cadillacs, and have been for a long time.

21 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

We've already had a few of those. The Subaru Legacy SUS, the Volvo S60 Cross Country, the Accord Crosstour, Acura ZDX, even the Chevy Bolt (Chevy insists it is a crossover)

21 hours ago, balthazar said:

The accord & camry may be, but I note the Accord is fully 25% off it's peak volume, and the Sonata is about 55% off it's peak, which was only SIX years ago. 

We bemoaned GM getting out of minivans, and now the segment is almost dead. Sedans are dying faster than any segment in my memory; Ford & GM may be ahead of the wave here. While I hear the '1 egg' sentiment, I note a number of brands that have or are doing just that (Jeep, Land Rover, ferrari, porsche-before-SUVs, etc). Yes- they are singular brands within a portfolio of brands, but no corporate heads wish/plan to have any of their brands fail due to a '1 egg' approach. It can and does work in some instances (in other cases, you have Mini…).

The first OEM to bring out the 'hybrid sedan/CUV' is going to pave the segment into the future. 

The BMW 3GT and 5GT would beg to differ.

Shame. This gen was a very good car when it came out. They made it worse with powertrain options and design changes. They should keep either the Malibu or Impala nameplate, and make it a RWD/AWD sport sedan.

37 minutes ago, aurora97 said:

If GM *REALLY* wants to go after the European market with the C8, then they should also pony up for a Formula 1 team and bring the US back into the series.

There is absolutely no point in getting in F1. The costs alone are astronomical. Marques with a history in F1 get preferential treatment and budgets, the series has been in a turn down for several seasons now, and most likely GM wouldn't be successful, even if they DID throw the necessary money at it. 

I'll be crucified for this, but I don't really care. Performance per dollar aside, I'm very disappointed. Though it looks better than I feared it would, it is still an unattractive car. I would struggle to think of another mid-engine car on sale that looks as bad. It it not cohesive, many of the details are fussy and look cheap, the rear end is visually massive, the proportions aren't great, and it doesn't identify as a Corvette to me. It really reminds me of like the generic cobbled together designs you see on racing games that don't have licensing rights like Burnout or Grand Theft Auto.

As for the interior, it actually looks quite good and of good quality. I think the strip of buttons and the wall below it was a major oversight, but hey. 

The powertrain is another area I find to be lacking, at least on paper. I thought they were going to a DOHC design here, but it's no biggie. The lack of a manual is far more concerning. I give them credit for at least pursuing a proper dual clutch trans, and being a Tremec unit, I don't doubt its quality, but no manual offering is a slight against enthusiasts. Seems an odd omission for what has traditionally been lauded as a rather raw and visceral car.

Overall, I think they transitioned to this designed with better adherence to their value quotient and marketplace positioning than expected, but I think there's some shortcoming, and I am very eager to see if any of the engineering challenges they reportedly faced during development made their way through to production. With no real experience building mid-engine cars, they certainly have some risk here. I guess time will tell. 

Look, as a car, it's great. If it meets the spec targets, it will undoubtedly offer incredible performance, and it will probably sell out with ease and give Lotus a nice little profit in doing so.

But if you look at it as a Lotus, this is quite a letdown. In an era when everyone is churning out 4 figure hybrid and EV hypercars, it would have been incredibly refreshing- and true to the spirit of the brand- to have forgone that with a new Esprit w/ an N/A Cosworth V8, a manual transmission, and sub 3,000lb curb weight. 

What a shame. The Alltrack is all things considered one of my favorite new cars on the market. It is such an incredibly well-rounded car that punches above it's price tag and class. This might have to make me reevaluate my future purchase for a new family friendly DD.

VW is stupid. 

So unbelievably cartoonish and stupid. They are as bad at coming up with names as they are designing a car, and putting together a nice interior.

This should be a surprise to noone. 

I love the idea of this new LT1 model. I've been saying forever they need to do this. This car with a manual would be an awesome fun daily.

As for the topic, this is a stupid decision. As with most of VW's problems, they only have themselves to blame here.

The Golf doesn't sell for 2 reasons- there's almost never incentives- they lease like crap; and they have constantly decontented thim and slashed trim models.

Point one- A standard Golf lease with no money down or lease specials will run almost $400 a month after taxes. I've seen it too many times. Know what a Civic or Corolla with the same terms will lease for? $275-300. For what is such a cost conscious and frugal market, you can't compete if your car is $100-150 more a month to own.

Point two- When they had a full a model spread, and were doing models like the Special Edition in 2016, they had fair amount of demand. But ever since the Mk7 came out, they have taken away equipment/features every year, cancelled trims, and generally made the car look worse, and a worse value.

If they sold a Wolfsburg model with a bit more power (not GTI levels), some nicer equipment, and a better appearance, it'd have sold. Or an R Line model like other markets get. They should have made AWD an option. There's plenty they could have done. 

What's really stupid is that they are doing this at a time when numerous other brands are finding a business case for hatchbacks, and they are so established already. On top of that, they aren't bringing the the I.D. Hatchback here, so there is no replacement, they have no sub-Golf hatchbacks that could capture those buyers, and a compact crossover for the American market is still realistically 2 years away.

They can try to spin this however they want with sales trends, skewed data, market monitoring; or like everything else, blame it on Millenials all they want, but in the end, this is a textbook example of a self-fulfilling prophecy. VW can thank themselves, and only themselves for the Golf's performance in our market.

20 hours ago, FAPTurbo said:

the current gti occupies the middle of some hellish venn diagram of basicness where its fanbase is split between vape-bros, urban professionals and hot to trot yoga chicks, and now I see gti’s everywhere. 

As a Mk7 GTI owner up until just a month ago, I really have to laugh at this and appreciate it's truthfulness. 🤣

This is great, but they need to shut up and put up already. The Tanoak is probably a little risky for the market. This would be free enough from competition it would own it's niche segment. But they have to be quick about it! VW has a HUGE problem with not striking while the iron is hot. If good ideas aren't capitalized on soon enough, they don't stay good ideas.

2 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Well, size matters. 

Sized right, I think this thing will sell like hotcakes. 

Oh, this thing will definitely be a smash hit. I think it looks great, and I'm thrilled to see they did a traditional, upright 2-box design.

1 hour ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I was dismissive of a Renegade sized vehicle.  Something that is nearly GLC sized and can seat 7 is another matter entirely.   I am actually really interested in this. 

@smk4565  Why no comment on the engine?  It has less horsepower than the XT4. It can't even shut down cylinders like the Cadillac can. 

I don't remember the size being the topic of conversation. I recall it being the design language and body style, which I was advocating for something like this.

The real problem ist hat this engine needs to be in a car that is 6-8 shorter in length, and inch narrower, and weighs 200-250lbs less a Mustang. THAT I would be more than okay with having this engine.

I mean, I don't hate it, but I still have no desire to have a Mustang powered by anything other than a V8. 

Yeah, I'm sure people were beating Acura dealer doors down for a hand built 50K TLX. Just offer the stupid Pkg on an A-Spec and be done with it. 

Funny, I seem to remember pegging this vehicle long ago for exactly what it is shaping up to be. And @Drew Dowdell either dismissed it, or thought it was a bad idea. Something along those lines. Looks like I have been vindicated! 😄

55 minutes ago, dwightlooi said:

You can call them that, but I will call them "STATUS REALISTS". The same kind of people who buy a Rolex never mind that watches costing 1/10th as much often have as good a movement or finish. They are realists because (1) a Rolex is recognizable by everyone and that is half the reason to spend $10K on a stainless steel watch, and (2) a Rolex actually GOES UP IN VALUE year after year. They are the same kind of realists who will buy a home with a hole in the roof and mold in the walls BECAUSE OF THE ZIP CODE. It is you who is arrogant and ignorant when you think that people do not, or should not, buy a car (or anything) based on the prestige and status its badge confers.

Not as ignorant and arrogant that you think you know more on this subject in regards to automobiles and a given market segment than I do. You know, since I am actually in the car business and all, and you write articles. 😉

47 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Those mass produced movements aren't near as high quality as an in-house movement from a company like Rolex. They also don't hold their value whereas there are plenty of Rolexes in high enough demand you can pay MSRP and make money off them. Those 1/10th priced watches lose 75% of their value as soon as you look at it. 

Yeah, I wasn't even going to touch the absurdity that is the rest of his argument. Comparing cars in general to watches or home values. 🙄

8 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

Overall, I like it. It doesn't look like anything special and there's definitely zero "wow factor" to it. 

You'd think they wouldn't have wanted to succeed to Lincoln in the interior game..but they certainly did. It's definitely an upgrade from the current one but it isn't a game changer. 

Also, that green might not sell but boy-oh-boy is it pretty. I'm quite obsessed with dark "colors" lately. Dark green, dark blue, dark red... Love'm. 

I was just in a new 101K Navigator recently, and I can tell you right now, even at that trim level, they are not an equal to Mercedes interior finishes, materials, fitment, tactility, and quality.

That said, I do like the the new Lincoln SUV's quite a lot, especially the Aviator.

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

Badge snobs will be badge snobs and pay even though they could get a superior auto for less from another OEM. With that said, you are right, I do believe many will look at the MB offer and then at others and go with others.

Badge snobs will be badge snobs, but badge snobs don't buy hatchbacks. This sedan might do ok, just because it's 'conventional'. 

On 4/13/2019 at 9:14 PM, smk4565 said:

It has a bit of an Acura NSX profile to it, and I don't think the NSX looks good.   We have to see it to really comment on how it looks though.  

I think the big make or break for the C8 is pricing.  I get the sense that GM will price this rather high and that may miss the mark for current Corvette owners and a price point that tChevy dealers can support.  And they need GM fans to buy it.  The C8 could go 250 mph and get 100 mpg and cost half what a Ferrari F8 costs, and ZERO Ferrari owners will even give it a look because no one is going from a Ferrari to a Chevy.  This is a similar problem Cadillac has with name brand in going to high dollar segments.

I'll stop short of saying ZERO.

I personally sold a C7 Z06 to someone who had 2 previous Ferraris. He was done with them. Done with poor service, done with poor reliability, and done with their outrageous costs.

In fact, in a lot of ways, i think Ferrari owners are the the stereotypical Corvette owners of the supercar realm. They buy them to conclude to themselves and show others they've made it, they hardly ever drive them, and they are oftentimes little more than petulant fanboys.

Looks great. These things are just fantastic vehicles. If i had to pick a big SUV to travel cross country in with a family and cargo in tow, it'd be a GLS all the way. I love the clean, subtle design here. Mercedes is doing some damn impressive things these days.