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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    ^ Audi really only has 6 models too; the other 6 "no one buys".
  2. balthazar
    This is just another "fwd/transverse appliance, nothing interesting". Also, perhaps something like "Kia Paektu" would've been a more fitting name.
  3. balthazar
    flathead VEE eight tho, yes? Or were you pining for a Ford I6 flathead? (85 HP IS a neck-snapping amount to handle)
  4. balthazar
    So you're boycotting??
  5. balthazar
  6. balthazar
    First off, 'XT3' and 'CT4' should not happen. Lineup spread too thin & they are redundant. XT6 should have merely been a 3-row 'XT5 ESV'. I would add an AWD XT4-V and XT5-V.
  7. balthazar
    Here we're 'worried' about a "Corvette engine from 2015" but we're advocating inline 6s from the 60, 70, and 80s.
  8. balthazar
    I can't believe the average new car payment is $538/mth. Here at Rancho Balthy, the highest monthly we've had over... 8 different vehicle loans is $249. Yet I build & price different new trucks and cringe at the payment which comes in between that low-mid $500 to low $600 range.
  9. balthazar
    There are also those who look down those who buy German lux cars, believe it or not.
  10. balthazar
    Find an (online) clean Chevette and marvel at the interior. It had nothing inside, and you sweated. It was 10,000 miles away from a Cadillac/mercedes. Now a kia forte HAS to have a leather-wrapped steering wheel, touch screeen, full power features/A/C, active safety warning features, 17" alloy rims, etc etc etc. It even looks like a low end mercedes. How they hell could it possibly be $8000?? Then we have the supposed wave of electrics coming, just about ALL of them priced 25% higher than their gas counterparts. Heading right toward $40K average price? Yep, I think so; electrics are supercharging that price push. If a brand was to offer a quirky, futuristic, Minimalist Kar with a base sound system, A/C, crank windows/manual seats, no heated seats/wheel, no screen, peppy performance, upper class MPG- it has a chance but at those levels it starts to simply compete with used stuff, better equipped. So it hopes to 'win' volume on those who are willing to do without but HAVE to have a brand new car. How many consumers is that pool comprised of? I blame the massive upgrading of entry level cars in features and design; it's eroded the degree of difference vs. upper crust cars, and upended the pricing range. Ultimately, a lot more model lines are going to fall- as amenities greatly overlap and size differences are minimal and everyone has 3 or 5 CUVs- the industry sags with oversaturation. I've advocated for this before and I still think it has major merits. Less model lines, more variants within the model line. Mainstream brands STILL have too many model lines- it's not going to last ESP if new EV brands actually start producing.
  11. balthazar
  12. balthazar
  13. balthazar
    You can tow/haul with shockingly low torque ratings, but you won't be going fast. Or even posted speeds. It's all about the gears. My 1940 had a registered/loaded weight of 15,975 and only has 180 torque. I have a 2500HD Duramax, rated at 520 torque. It's getting on it years/miles now, but judging off of that I don't think anyone 'needs' torque in a 2500 to be over 650-700. It's all a pissing match over that, IMO. Not that 'need' is the only factor driving sales, of course.
  14. balthazar
    Nice try; try again ~ And if consumers have to squint into the headlight cluster to try and figure out if they should be impressed at how much money you're willing to drop in depreciation (S-Coupe) or how much of a poser you are (CLA), you've failed at Styling.
  15. balthazar
    Stand up hood ornament, rebadging & 2-tone paint = 1970s.
  16. balthazar
    I know you were making a joking analogy, but I'm a numbers guy, so I had to look it up. And this is only posted as good-naturedly as possible, I assure you: Mustang P51D, Packard-Merlin V-1650, 60-degree V-12, supercharged, 1649 cubic inches [27L], between 1300 and 1400 HP, 437 MPH. ?
  17. balthazar
    I like to leave people's personal beliefs alone. If it works for them; great. People believe all SORTS of things, as long as they aren't hurting others, go to town. Especially if it brings them comfort / guidance. Life is hard enough without fighting off people who want to call you stupid all day long.
  18. balthazar
    ^ It's sad how they all look exactly the same up front- the $100K models wear the same nose as the $30K. Imagine if Cadillac put a Sonic nose on the CT6-V.
  19. balthazar
    The Ford flathead indeed was around a while, tho it made significant strides during that time. It had multiple displacements, started out at the bottom with 60 HP, finished off with 125 at Ford & 154 @ Lincoln, but the architecture made a huge design change to OHV- and in 4 short years it was up to 400 HP (gross). Are there those kinds of gains possible when you have a legitimate 700+ HP (I'll toss the Demon aside for now) tunes in productions? Is there some CNC titanium Monoblock triple OHC swirlsupercharged design good for 1200 HP that they want to chase for production? IMO- no. So does FCA scrap the Hemi V8, spend a 100 million to design a new V8, also IBC, also Hemi-headed? To gain what- with the same 'tune' as the current one so it'll give 425 HP instead of 375? Is that worth it? Would it be worth it if the Hemi was only -say- 5 years old? There is 'outdated' power/performance levels, but Dodge/Ram doesn't have that problem. So we're simply talking about the date on the engine blueprint.
  20. balthazar
    No, of course not. I was saying in response to 'they need a new V8 because it barely has anymore power than a twin turbo EcoBoost', that FCA has like 5 Hemi tunes in the catalog : 375/395 HP, 475, 707, 808, 840. The Hemi is capable of delivering more HP than any other street engine out there; the engine doesn't 'end' at 375 HP. IOW; it's in no way 'outdated'.
  21. balthazar
    Only reason I can see is to sidestep the extremely dated BMW design 'language', but this lumpy also-ran is not the shoes with which to take that step. What an epic admission of failure to buy/rebadge someone else's hand-offs.
  22. balthazar
    30 HP / 60 Trq = "basically the same" ? We've been over this before. Just slip a higher tune version in if its power one is looking for- there are 4 MORE Hemi's above the base 5.7L.
  23. balthazar
    Noooooo; the Rivian MARKETING MATERIAL is big into the outdoors. The Rivian truck is big into the garage it was hand built in.
  24. balthazar
    Cute, but fat. ;)
  25. balthazar
    HA, we don't compete; she handles some scenarios, I handle others. I was joking above.
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