trinacriabob

That is the Southern European mentality as well. However, with their stop and go traffic in big cities, they are now starting to like cars that shift automatically.

Hence, the dual clutches. I was surprised at how nicely they shifted. I only had an issue with the VW once, where it gave me a strange message. I'll have to review these cars and post the photos. Are DSGs fairly reliable? Hopefully, they're better than CVTs. The American Ford Focus apparently used technology like the DSG and its transmission was not something I would want, given a few rentals. Incidentally, I just noticed that Hyundai has also gone the CVT route. Their Accent, for one, has shelved the 6 speed automatic for their CVT which they call IVT (Intelliseam Variable Transmission).

As rentals, I had both a small Volkswagen and a small Citroen, and both had the letters DSG etched onto the console mounted transmission lever. The shift quality was very good. When I first rented an automatic car (a Smart for two to save money) in the early 2000s, the shift quality was horrible. Still, in Europe, I'd gladly take a crappy automatic to a stick shift, given the way they drive in places such as Italy.

I was reading an auto forum article on CVT swap outs by dealers when they fail. The prices were all over the map! The most reasonable one I heard was when talking to a service advisor at a Nissan dealership when driving along I-5 in Washington state and pawing cars. He said that, on a Sentra, for example, the R&R for that CVT was about $3,200. Other quotes people offered in this forum article were much higher and the people posting were justifiably furious. Also, I thought CVTs were simple, based on the simplistic diagram you see. The transmission case is fairly lengthy and the cut-away shows a lot more parts than I previously thought. When you go from a CVT back to a step gear automatic transmission, it makes you appreciate the geared automatic that much more. In Europe, they are called DSGs (something to do with the dual clutch that's inside them) and, after a decade, they shift smoothly ... at last. In small cars, they tend to have 6 and sometimes 7 speeds/gears.

The only thing on which I'll opine is the more noticeable (and probably functional) front bumper. I like that. Hyundai products sure have gone in the other direction. I'm talking about their cavernous plastic grilles being more prone to damage in small mishaps. I'm hoping other auto makers will follow suit and put a real bumper of sorts at the front (and rear) of their cars.

With 2019 drawing to a close, 2020 will soon be here. And that means the big auto show in the spring. I'm wondering if we will finally get to see the new 2021 Dodge Charger at that time. I hope so.

No! I wasn't on U.S. soil when this transpired. That is really sad. His landmark hit IMO was "Take Me Home Tonight." It's a tune that is timeless. - - - - - So, I'm away across the pond and, thanks to the increased popularity of rentable econoboxes with automatic transmissions, trips over there go more smoothly. Actually, it wasn't a tiny econobox but a Volkswagen Polo 4 door. The first day I take it out for a spin, I hear the following on the radio ... perfect! So damn Teutonic!

If you get a dog with a great personality and high intelligence, consider yourself blessed. They make a great addition to most households and, for some people, such as the elderly and the disabled, they are God's gift to them. I'm not on board with calling them "children" even though, for some people, they function as children and they are free to call them whatever they want. For me, it was always "my dog."

In 1963, they didn't think that far ahead, either, and the 520 bridge across the lake was built with 2 lanes in each direction. I have not yet driven on the new 520 bridge. I am looking forward to that. As soon as I saw a video with 2 lanes inside the tunnel, I knew that it was a stupid decision. Was there not enough width to go for 3 lanes? That's just a rhetorical question. There are so many things to consider: ROW, soils, thickness of the tunnel walls, etc., etc.

I did just that. I was surprised to see that both the Spark and the Sonic continue. I thought only one would continue because the sizes and price points are so close together. IIRC, these are not built in the U.S. I did a little bit of build and price. If you get the base LS model on both of these cars, you get MANUAL windows. Huzzah! These cars share parts. The IP instrument cluster is virtually identical in both. The Spark comes with a CVT automatic while the Sonic gets a geared automatic transmission. You can't knock manual windows!

That is a '74. Those are easy to tell apart compared to '75 to '77. They had the much improved canted back front end yet lacked the wraparound rear back lite. Yesterday morning: A 1979 to 1983 vintage Cadillac Eldorado - white - white padded landau - burgundy leather interior, on a major bridge, but going about 45 mph when everyone else was doing 60 mph. I could not see the engine badge but, whatever it had under the hood, it should have been able to do 60 mph. It was in good condition. Yesterday afternoon: Those rare but unremarkable jelly bean Ford Thunderbird coupes from around '86 to '88. Again, it was white and may also have had a burgundy interior. A friend of mine in Atlanta had one of these and, while his parents were driving it across Texas, it overheated and warped the head gasket (Ford 3.8 V6 with cast iron block and aluminum heads). It was cruising along nicely at 65 mph. It was in fair condition.

Thank you! This is very interesting! Is the job complete? If not, when will it be completed? This is analogous to what both Boston and San Francisco did at their CBD waterfronts. From the video, it looks like the tunnel has 2 lanes in each direction. I was hoping it would have 3. I believe the viaduct had 3 lanes. Hey, driving on its top deck was o.k. ... haha. The first time I was in Seattle was in the mid-'80s. It wasn't as touted as it was a decade later. You could buy a brick ranch (rambler) in West Seattle for $ 85,000. Go figure. - - - - - Speaking of Seattle also makes it natural to talk about commercial aircraft. The Boeing 747-8, although lackluster in sales, still keeps going, mostly through orders for the freighter. The jumbo first flew on Feb. 9, 1969. However, I believe the double decked A380's days are over. Emirates has already retired several and Air France is planning to retire ALL of their A380s by 2022. This is mind blowing and I found this in this 2 day old article. Come on, Air France, order up some B747-8s, given that you already have a lot of B777s in the fleet. https://leehamnews.com/2019/09/30/a380-service-life-struggles/

I am getting older. Am I asleep? (Some Rip Van Winkle factor in the equation.) I remembered that, by September and October, American manufacturers released their next MY lineup ... all of the vehicles. Out of curiosity, I looked to see the 2020 Chevrolet (pared down) lineup in official form and couldn't find it. When will this information be made available and displayed to the general public? This would also apply to other manufacturers.

@daves87rs When dogs annoy me, which is rare, it's usually large, clumsy dogs or small pampered yappy dogs, especially the kind that get taken to the groomer. I much prefer the medium sized breeds of herding/working dogs. If trained correctly, they really listen to their owners.

What kind/breed are they? I find that always has something to do with it.

Thanks. I very much agree on Southwest. So it sounds like Frontier is o.k. and Spirit is the iffy one. Spirit's website even looks a little "off." But it's hard not to notice their taxi cab yellow aircraft. Those are a LOT of horror experiences. Even with Southwest? Interesting. Of the majors, I have done well with United. (And I think Star Alliance is the best among the worldwide airline alliances.) Of the big domestics, I find American to be the most so-so. Not a big fan. I doubt I will fly across the Pacific anytime soon since I never have up to now. It would be interesting to know if JAL is any good. They were a big name at LAX when I was a kid and I loved seeing their jumbo there. I will say that I've been hit and miss with Lufthansa. They CAN be rude. However, I applaud them and use them because they were the launch customer for the Boeing 747-8i (they operate 19 of them). I'd love to fly with KLM someday. They are operators of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a plane I only recently got to experience and think has an incredible cabin experience in terms of creature comforts (humidification, lighting, bin space, etc.) Wow. Thanks.

I'm all about Southwest Airlines and then Delta or United Airlines (about a tie). I don't fly them much anymore, but Alaska is an excellent airline - probably even better than Delta or United. I have never flown on Spirit or Frontier. They sometimes have that remote nonstop and/or the best fare before add-ons. I have read some horror stories. But then, it's always those who are livid that are sounding off. I'm sure that, most of the time, their flights get off and arrive close to schedule and the bags make it onto the plane and then onto the luggage carousel. Any experiences with and advice about Spirit or Frontier Airlines? Thank you!

The original rendition works better for me. This dude is sort of scary looking. However, WV cloaked in fall colors is anything but scary.

I do not like Lexus. Not my thing. However, this is, at the very least, interesting ... Lexus's equivalent of the Smart Car. Hopefully, there's a nifty low price to match its size. I have driven Smart Cars about 5 or 6 times ... as rentals in Europe. Twice they were a "For Four" (better) and the remainder of the time they were the two-seaters. Let me tell you, if you have one small suitcase and a small backpack or personal item, there is nothing finer for tooling around Sicily or making your way through the small streets of Lisbon, and all the better with a (nevertheless sh!tty) automatic trans. While the Smart's trans is dismal, the ride is surprisingly okay for being so damn small. They feel like slightly bigger cars, until a truck goes whizzing by you in the adjacent lane on the highway! To own one would be a NO.

Chrysler 300, right? I rented one. I liked it. I didn't love it. I expected it to be a much more refined experience than the Charger, to differentiate itself. It wasn't. It was all in the sheet metal, seating, and shape and finishes in the dash. I know I've reviewed one here. I certainly think they are much easier on the eye at the end of their run than what the initial (now a "gang banger") version looks like. Got to be careful with the 300, too. It really needs toned down colors, wheels, options, and such to keep it classy. It can go pimpy real fast. This is my idea of nice as far a 300 goes. Yes, folks, L.A. does have an ugly side ... or two ... or three. That would be in the revitalized arts district right next to the concrete culvert that is the L.A. River.

I read that the Italian government "officially" collapsed. I don't exactly know what it means. But is it any surprise, given that they've changed presidents and prime ministers as frequently as normal people change their underwear? Sad. You put the synergistic force of a bunch of pompous Italian bureaucrats who like to hear themselves talk in one big room and you expect something to get done?

I cannot. I think that, right now, a CT6 with a 3.6 would be the closest thing to a GM heirloom. I know that it would be wonderful for about 7 years and then give me fits with all the expensive gadgetry that will go sideways every other month after that.

Cadillac will need to overhaul its design vocabulary sooner than later. It did a formidable job of this, having come from trunks and deck lids that were too long, fins, and engines with over 400 cubic inches.* However, Cadillac's current styling is etched in consumers' heads as "oh, it's a Cadillac," which is not necessarily a bad thing (thinking of the CT6 et. al.) It will still need to reinvent its own wheel. * I think I told you all about a black woman named Velma I worked with as a teen who had this beautiful Cadillac Coupe de Ville. It was a '78. Of the '77/'78/'79 grouping, the '78 was the best looking. Hers was the extra cost Cerise Firemist Metallic with a burgundy landau and a burgundy interior. Too bad it had wire wheels instead of some more toned down Cadillac alloys. I told her she had a 425 under the hood and showed her some features on her car. I also helped this other lady in the office buy a smaller Cutlass Supreme coupe instead of a Monte Carlo coupe and she was real happy with it. These ladies liked me, for some reason. We had one of those hippiesh office to office lunch vendors working out of some wicker basket who came around daily and she was from Germany. They howled at my German accent impersonation. Everybody was given carte blanche to be a little crazy in SoCal. Those were the days, baby. Whereas I couldn't tie break between which GM car I wanted in the past, I am now hard pressed to find a GM car I want to own. I am not a happy camper in this regard.

It was supposed to be released in 2020. Now, the release date is 2021. This means it should be in the showrooms in late 2020, just a little over a year from now. It (probably) is going to be built at the Brampton, Ontario, Canada plant. That's a good thing! Canadians built my current and last car! Mum is the word. Complete silence. Any ideas as to when we will see what the next-gen Charger is going to look like inside and out? By the end of this year? As a Christmas present? I'm frustrated. When a Malibu LT with a 1.5 L (90 c.i.) start-stop turbo assisted L4 would sticker for $26K and a Charger SRT with a 292 hp very familiar Pentastar 3.5 L V6, along with loads more room and substance, stickers for around $29.9K, my loyalty to GM wanes and the Charger it is. I just hope I like the next one because my current car doesn't even have 100,000 miles on it and is just "broken in" ... well, not quite.

Circular vents really depend on the overall dash design. On the venerable '76 Cutlass Supreme, they looked great. On the '04 to '07 Pontiac Grand Prix, they really looked great. Loved that dash board, except for the orange back lighting and the low build quality of the materials. I think it has to do with the shape of the dash AND how the circular vents are distributed and placed across the dash.