
Suaviloquent
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Everything posted by Suaviloquent
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2016 Cadillac ATS sedan 2.0t 8AT AWD Luxury
Suaviloquent replied to regfootball's topic in Reader Reviews
Again....I find it hard to compare the two brands together as if either would benefit from adopting the other's practices. They make competing products in fewer segments than actually where they don't compete at all. -
Buick News: Buick Makes it Official, Verano Disappears in 2017
Suaviloquent replied to William Maley's topic in Buick
That's just dumb, and FUD, and more dumb as well. Opel is on the rise, they're coming back to solvency, and they create wonderful cars, and are under-appreciated for the amount of engineering work they have contributed to GM. There are brands/cars that you hope would be shuttered for good - Fiat, Mitsu...some cheap Mercedes cars/suvs...anything coupe crosssover. Opel isn't one of them. I think the reason is that Buick wants their cars to be more premium, and actually space wise the Regal and Verano were pretty close, because the Regal is a smaller car than the Malibu. The Regal is coming back, with vengeance I might add, and given how GM is going, I think we can expect it to punch way above its weight for the price. Maybe the strategic decision is that sedans are still prevalent, but they're not the de facto anymore,even for smaller economy cars. If someone wants a Buick sedan - why not let it be one that can be optioned far higher, and have better, more powerful engine options, and be more consistent with the brand moving premium? A lot of Lax's are fully loaded, Buick can be the mainstream vehicle based luxury brand of GM, Cadillac can go straight after the upper tier RWD cars...because there RWD matters, and otherwise milk crossovers because people just want the utility above all else, and the Escalade can be milked because it's based loosely off a very mass-market BOF truck.- 54 replies
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2016 Cadillac ATS sedan 2.0t 8AT AWD Luxury
Suaviloquent replied to regfootball's topic in Reader Reviews
I saw an ATS-V Coupe in the triple coat white paint, and that is a car I can wholeheartedly say is sexy as f@#k. I honestly thought it was as low as a Corvette - but I was at a higher elevation. Now...aside from my apathy as to the powertrain choice...it makes a good noise. But not a great noise as V8. And you know what, V8s are becoming rarer, and thus they're suddenly even more the proper luxury choice. I hope Cadillac understands that, even the smallest V model should get a V8, or somehow there should be a V8 in the ATS or CT3...whatever. XT5's sure as hell don't need a V8. But if they don't, no problem, ultimately. It's the fastest car in it's class around a track, it's the better ultimate driving machine, and it looks great. Now...there are other cars...heck even supercars now that have a V6 of some sort, GT, NSX..... Now the GT has a racing engine. It's not a luxury choice, but it's a racing engine so...they are correct when they say the supercar will be very close to the same car they race, and by the same virtue, it's kinda rare to find a V6 powering a supercar, but when the i8 gets a 3 cylinder and some pundits call it the hybrid supercar....again. I digress no further, because that is a totally unrelated, off topic thing. Though the grille is so much more appealing on the V....just so much better, even the badge is smaller, and it all fits well. -
Petro will not die. What will happen is that was battery costs come down, advancements are made, BEVs will become more affordable. At the same time, they will displace oil normally associated with petro powered cars (even the energy grid on the aggregate uses less fossil fuels to produce energy that powers a BEV than conventional ICE). Then oil prices will go down as there will be a glut of supply to work through. And concurrently, efficiency gains will be made such as HCCI, even better (and CLEAN) diesels and stuff like 48 volts systems being able to power electric turbos and such on, so forth). Then what will happen is that either prices for local electicity bills will be rising due to increasing costs, especially life cycle renewal as much of the grid, while largely reliable, is old, and starting to show inefficiency, wear and tear, as well as more renewables being injected into the system. Then governments will realize with flailing gas tax revenues, you will be taxed on miles driven, not fuel consumed or energy used....and/or if they're archaic and dumb they will just place another levy on energy prices or raise the gas tax through the roof. The point is not the make EVs the majority. The point is to reach a place where ICE and battery cars are fully substitutable (if ICE cars start getting powered by wonder Algae). And also, making the grid sustainable and increasing capacity at a competitive price to fossil fuels. But, here is the thing. When you drive an EV, any of them, hell even the 400 lb-ft of tq Spark EV....you realize what the difference really is. EVs will always be more efficient with the energy require, even with their poor record of meeting their lofty MPG-e than any gas car could ever be for the time being. Some advancements may be forthcoming, but EV should be here to stay. However the true test of EV's will come not when they start making affordable ones...but they start making those that don't need a tax credit or any outside party incentive to sell. Sure, regular cars get older, and incentives correspond to product cycles. Also, because of the current way people pay for EV use, the leases pay for themselves because of incentives and offsetting the cost of fuel (less with low gas prices) that isn't purchased. In a more closer equilibrium, when people are taxed on the miles driven, and paying higher energy costs (unless they become net energy neutral or positive), the advantage of efficiency will actually diminish. But if gas prices go through the roof, supply gets killed, Iran/Saudi nuke each other...etc....there is so much upside to EVs, And also, how do manufacturers deal with EV obsolescence? ICE cars are much more stable than EVs. EVs might or might not get increasingly better range. I will not say the EVs are more reliable than ICE cars. But they don't require as much traditional maintenance, such as oil changes, brake pad replacements, other fluid changes. However, that might be pretty disruptive to the entire car industry that is built on maintenance of existing things. When things simply need less maintenance, where will those jobs go, or how will those employees remain as productive? My bet is that the cost of maintenance of a vehicle will rise regardless of whether it's a ICE, or BEV. So....that's kinda long-winded, but what I think.
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VENGEANCE!!!
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Afterthoughts: The Mitsubishi/Nissan U.S. Conundrum
Suaviloquent replied to William Maley's topic in Opinion
I think Nissan wants the manufacturing capacity that Mitsu has.- 3 replies
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Buick News: Buick Makes it Official, Verano Disappears in 2017
Suaviloquent replied to William Maley's topic in Buick
Maybe they have something else in mind. Perhaps the newer Veranos would be priced too close to the Regal replacement. Or maybe they feel the new Cruze has come closer to the new Verano than the separation the two cars had before. In terms of being a smooth and quiet car, the Cruze is basically tops in segment, and already is right there in smoothness with the A3. And the Cruze can pull off variants such as hatch and larger engine options.- 54 replies
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2016 (new) Mazda CX-9 Sport AWD 2.5 test (and impression)
Suaviloquent replied to regfootball's topic in Reader Reviews
Yeah, bu the price dude. This is like having a car that punches above its weight in every aspect, even the interior and costs less than the competition, and works on everything crossover buyers want. Besides, even the GMT2XXX aren't as roomy as the GMT400's. -
Dodge News: Rumorpile: It Will Be A Long Wait for the Next Charger
Suaviloquent replied to William Maley's topic in Dodge
Well, I think they still have a grapple on that niche, and they are large sedans that still seem to sell well. If they do it right, they could have something like how he Volvo XC90 was old, but then the redesign, however late, was worth the wait. -
Sexifull, 10/10 would lick screen pic again. Highly amusing...yesss, quite.
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2016 Cadillac ATS sedan 2.0t 8AT AWD Luxury
Suaviloquent replied to regfootball's topic in Reader Reviews
I never understood why exactly Mercedes commercial vehicles are purchased by anyone/business. Sure enough, just when I think commercial operators or businesses have turned down the Mercedes van/truck, sure enough I see one or two or three around. -
2016 (new) Mazda CX-9 Sport AWD 2.5 test (and impression)
Suaviloquent replied to regfootball's topic in Reader Reviews
Yeah, I think the Mazda CX-9 is a gem. But also, the U.S. dollar is strong against the yen right now, so they can be a little ballsy with the pricing. But no doubt, it seems like a strong SUVOTY Contender. -
They're both hideous, and lucrative.
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2016 Cadillac ATS sedan 2.0t 8AT AWD Luxury
Suaviloquent replied to regfootball's topic in Reader Reviews
Cadillac is on the upside though. The ATS is excellent in everything underneath, like the CT6. And they will probably take even more of those tech to the second gen ATS or CT3. Imagine a featherweight 3200 ish pound Cadillac small sedan. And have the luxo interior of the XT5, and it'll be a COTY. The standard of the world. -
Buick News: Buick Makes it Official, Verano Disappears in 2017
Suaviloquent replied to William Maley's topic in Buick
On the contrary the new Chevy is much closer to the Buick than ever before. Now they are more akin to the difference between Hyundai/Kia - aka platform mates with the same function. The Cruze Premier can function as a real Buick replacement. The downward pressure from conventional makes is present everywhere, and the Buick Verano is going to be another casualty due to it.- 54 replies
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I think Bong wants to see a CT6 and Mustang comparo to happen, just so Christian Seabaugh at MT can say how the CT6 feels like a Town Car in the nicest way possible. Yep, let's post Pohbst in both at the streets of Willow and see how the CT6 gets destroyed by the Mustang at the track, at the strip and on the street.
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There's a limit to what GM can do. They've already mentioned they are going to double the useful lives of their platforms. What it means is that more aggressive competition could come up and beat GM back. But don't confuse with what's in the CT6 is already present anywhere else, it isn't. And the Silverado getting aluminum body panels is such a complete turnaround to what even GM tried to due with the bear cage ad campaign. But this MT piece clearly lacked any kind of thought as to what other automakers are really doing for lightweighting in the future. Aluminum bodies is nothing new to the industry. Already another utility mfg - Land Rover was doing it. Audi does it. Jag does it. Tesla does it. So I could see why it appears "no one else is following Ford." It's already being done everywhere, except American trucks. But still, across the range the F150, depending on equipment, if compared against the competition in exactly equipped models, enjoys a 300 to 600 lb weight advantage. That's it. The piece is inaccurate, and presents story that is just incomplete. And that invalidates it and points out the real intention. This was a pure editorial piece. And it lacked depth. So it's of low value.
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Either way, Toyota's TNGA architecture and the new Lexus platform are supposed to be very efficient with weight too. The new Honda Civic (which is larger) in most config's weighs less than the new Cruze. There's a lot of other things happening out there in the automotive world that aren't being mentioned, because they wouldn't garner as much a.r.p.u. (average revenue per user/viewer) where light weighting is a huge priority to mfg's.
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Eh, a Cadillac being faster than a Ford? I don't just expect that, I would demand it. And thing less is worthy of seppuku/harakiri.
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I took the exact words from Car And Driver of comparably equipped CT6 and XJ models. I'm trying to point out the absurdity of doing that exact thing - taking words out of context to make it appear as though it's the only truth. And it's not a cheery pick if you actually consider than it was a LWB, loaded up blown V6 XJ versus CT6 3.0TT. That's VERY comparable. Of course a four cylinder CT6 will weigh less than an XJ. The point is that some would want to believe the CT6 is magical with how feather weight it is. But it really isn't when you try to find a config that matches to some of the competition, such as the XJ and A8 in features and powertrain. The point I'm trying to make is that lightweighting isn't going to stop at any mfg. And only idiots would believe that the GM trucks are the same weight as the aluminum trucks. Period. Go anywhere, typically equipped, like for like, tit for tat, the F150 is 400 to 500 lbs lighter than the Silverado/RAM. That's not up for debate. Even more idiocy is where people quote the numbers on how much it cost to reconfigure the Dearborn and Kansas plants for Ford, without realizing those assembly plants were archaic and needed a do-over anyways. I agree with the C/D test on the F150 only being 81 pounds lighter for that test. But that's wholly appropriate, when we know one easy way to lower curb weights is to just skimp on features and then call such a vehicle fully loaded. And then MT corroborating how the GMC Denali trucks pitifully lack any sort of luxury feature is just evidence of how GM trucks currently try to keep the weight down on their trucks. I can agree with that.
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I think the cars will be a lot closer than we are speculating. Pretty much Mercedes next-gen platform share common bones for a lot of cars/cuvs. I'm thinking along the lines of Voltec and D2XX.
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You've gone soft? Don't tell me you want to be on a fluffy bed in an enclosed space.
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Mustang outperforms Camaro, Challenger in crash test
Suaviloquent replied to FordCosworth's topic in Industry News
None of the three are a top pick, and the Mustang is the first loser. Yay? -
There we go, now that there is some finest quality cut vengeance I have seen. beautiful, keep up the good work you are doing here sir.
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It was a slow day for Motortrend, so they churned the pot a bit. Anyways, Evans said it before, their goal is to rouse opinions and get views/sell magazines whether by design or by coincidence. Look how many comments that article got. But how they would have such a glaring omission is just laughable. By the way, I think it's great that Cadillac has the mixed material mojo, and it might end up of use for a pickup truck coming as 2018/19 model. So - is the technology out there for use today? Yes, and now let me call the PR BS, and mention how an 8 year old Jaguar XJL weighs just 26 pounds more than a comparable CT6 3.0T. I think the extra rear legroom causes it to weigh more, don't ya think? Where's the new fangled lightweight champ now? Or can I also counter that cherry pick with something something about an F150 and Silverado, where in that case there was a clear indication one was a top level, fully loaded to the guts truck versus a light-level high trim truck?! And then let me grab something about some Denali truck that MT tested where they said and I quote, "“How does a Denali not have A/C vents in back? Or rear heated seats? Or any real luxury feature?” associate editor Christian Seabaugh said. “I can get heated back seats in a Kia Soul! C’mon, GM.” And now I pull out a Trump card by saying "NO Pano Vista roof to add weight is there, or additional a/c bulk, especially for a Denali, is there, mo-fo?" Sheesh.... I'm not here these days, but I check periodically. You wanted a discussion. I ended it.