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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. '09 Malibu is gone, 9 years & 134K miles, a good car overall but started to have some minor issues at the end, decided to let it go. Going to miss one of the nicest sedan designs of that decade, IMO. Broke our SOP and kept the 'family sedan' past 110K miles. In rolls the replacement, a '16 Malibu LT, 28K miles.
  2. ^ It does make it sound like they're playing it very cautiously. Corporate-level belief would have this REPLACING the Q5/Q7 outright.
  3. ^ Ya, ya, ya! I 've looked 2 over (exterior) and 'I got no problem wit dat' whatsoever. Was curious about the complexity of the front end- no problem. Was curious about the front fender 'swish'- no problem. I think it's the most striking Silverado in decades (yet I don't know WHY exactly). I have an '04 (bought 2nd hand on '06) and I've never thought it was a "good looking" truck. Passable, decent, yet not "good". Sat in a brand new '18 tonight, wasn't really impressed. A few features were neat, others I didn't care for. I'm still gunning for a '19. Maybe a leftover in 12 months...
  4. What a bizarre 'plan'. Having a dealer buy an e-tron from audi or order when they get a deposit has zero effect on the profitability of audi other than minimizing the loss by not building one more than theoretically necessary. Dealer floor space occupation has no bearing on Corporate profitability.
  5. I would HAVE to believe all dash screens- whether encircled or 'live edge' are already tempered due to crash/impact standards if they are glass.
  6. Where is that piece of amorphously-shaped glass in/on a Lexus?
  7. No restoration- my truck is done.
  8. Was judged 953 points out of 1000. Only thing I see that seems non-stock is the chrome center caps. Up for auction at Barret-Jackson.
  9. As opposed to -say- GM or FCA or toyota, 'Tesla' is 'Musk' and visa versa. I suspect a huge portion of the stock price/investment is because of Musk the person. In that vein, I tend to agree with dfelt; portraying an image of composure & professionalism is just 'playing it safe' WRT future investments, which the company so desperately needs. Musk, as it is, is missing a few crucial filters that, for a while, can be played off as 'eccentricity' or perhaps even 'mad genius', but toe the edge too frequently and he courts a turn of good will.
  10. Cadillac has owned the vertical lighting signature when everything else has horizontals (here; mostly talking about taillights), it would be another unique design distinction to re-intro a markedly 'formal' roofline.
  11. 'Horch' sounds like a cartoon sound effect for vomiting.
  12. Lunacy. A8 is dead- August US sales was THIRTY-TWO CARS.
  13. Cheetah was an imposing, aggressive design, but it wasn't an official GM program. Interesting story : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Thomas_Cheetah
  14. I'm not saying I don't want to know it, but stick that number in the sidebar and don't even bother talking about it in the copy.
  15. ^ Do you know the era of that? On the surface of it, I'm doubting that was official Cadillac prose.
  16. My buddy picked up a '72 Dart Swinger 2-dr hardtop, black vinyl top over blue, decent shape for it's age, but nothing shiny/impressive. Ooops- I said that already at "Dart".
  17. I'm going to agree with ccap on 0-60 vs. 1/4 mile. There's a bunch of testing metrics that have almost nothing to do with 'real world' (top speed testing & ultimate lateral G's are 2), but rather than pitch to real world operations, the bevy of testing metrics gives product capabilities. Also to ccap's point- back when family vehicles could be separated by 10 secs to 60, 0-60 differences was a lot more tangible. In contrast, the range has condensed considerably at this point. On a slight tangent : these testing metrics are less and less critical, which is why the ubiquitous 'ranking' in vehicle comparisons is the most pointless of all. 'Oooo! Brand X CUV is 0.2 seconds quicker to 60 ; WIN! Rank #1!' is laughable.
  18. I like how they put chrome trim OVER the 'wood' applique. Always thought these were fairly ugly. Not sure I've seen a '60 Merc in person; their survival rate must be relatively low for this era.
  19. A Dalek ???? - - - - - Big Merc Estate ~
  20. Will be at the dealership tomm, will be drooling over the pair of '19s they have- didn't go check out the dark red one. Hope to get inside. - - - - - Hmmm :
  21. Pretty much the only Packard reboot I've found I've liked :
  22. That's NOT what you said. You said There's no airflow at 0 MPH. Downforce aero aids don't become contributory until well after a car has traction. And most of them aren't effective until closer to 100 MPH. In fact, many are a detriment at lower speeds (below, say 60-75) because invariably they create drag. If they didn't, they wouldn't funnel airflow in a manner that creates pressure on a car's body.
  23. Downforce aerodynamics has zero impact on 0-60 times.

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