balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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Have to agree with Dave : interior and especially the exterior- this is fine as a generic, run of the mill $35K family sedan. I don't see anything here that supports a $76K price tag other than the HP rating. It's not even leading edge design-wise; it's barely current, and the detailing is sorely lacking. A-R is going to be piling cash in every orifice to get these moving in any kind of decent numbers. The cheesy 'good luck' fender emblem is hilarious considering A-R's reputation.
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I do like this one overall vs. the red job with the matte black hood. That one has a 'Chesire Cat' grin, and Camaros shouldn't be grinning- they should be angry. Those blue 'blades' thrusting forward are interesting.
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I know Drew loves molasses-slow Oldsmobiles ( ) but man could this be a killer 'run for the money' machine! Police-package akin to the Toronado GT powertrain, 390 HP 455 car. One-hand-behind-back simple to build this to 500+ HP. Go cruise and take people's money all day (even that mercedes they show beating a top fuel dragster in a straight line). https://www.ebay.com/itm/123066417340?ul_noapp=true
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A Cadillac 'hot hatch'? God forbid. -
Only thing confirmed is that a 'CT4' is being considered- it has not been confirmed for production. IF Cadillac replaces both the ATS & CTS with separate models, and since the ATS -as Drew detailed- squarely competes with the CLA/A3 already... then all we are talking about is a renaming of the ATS, in concept. In other words; Johan has confirmed the ATS exists currently.
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• Oh; max BUDGET, not max price. Gotcha. • NO body is buying the stelvio. • There is no released pricing for the CT5, and a CT4 is unconfirmed at this point. Cadillac may 'combine' the ATS & CTS into the CT5, which I think is a very good move if they do. That would move Cadillac's entry-level car up in price. Meanwhile, MB readies a sub-CLA for the US market. • ATS already currently competes with the CLA via both price & size. And it's a far better & roomier car. • The announced (but not confirmed) 'Escala' and 'XT7' are the upcoming upmarket push. So was the unveiling of the CT6 V-Sport.
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• Where did you come up with "max price of $38K"?? Buick Enclave goes up to $56K. Cadillac XT5 can go to $63K no problem. • Correct, Cadillac is not here to chase volume in every segment. That's why I have consistently railed against anything below a XT4 or CT5. If those pulling strings at Cadillac can keep their mission focused, the "still considering" CT4 will get cancelled. I can accept an XT4 if it's done well & sells profitably. As Cadillac introduces more upscale model lines, perhaps it can be dropped in the future, or the SUV lines can be upgraded/up priced. But you are still confusing GMC and Buick and Cadillac customers. Sure, some will freely shop between them in some instances, even purchase from multiple brands, but there's no reason each brand cannot be in the same segments (at different prices). That's EXACTLY what GM did when they were running a tick over 50% of the USDM.
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The auto rags/bloggers 'don't buy' vehicles in their articles, but consumers do. IE; OEMs are selling to consumers, so how they buy is paramount. Auto mags have, for the most part, lost their connection to the actual end user (ironic when they're also end users). Besides, I think the old metric is starting to show signs of changing up. 1. the rising tide of CUVs / SUVs can no longer be compartmentalized to others- IMO other than vehicle height and cargo capacities, sedans & CUVs do the same things; they should be compared. Further, the notable contracting in vehicles from brand to brand have allowed comparisons like this to be objectively justifiable :
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Mercedez Benz News V12s To Disappear From AMG's Lineup
balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in Mercedes-Benz
HA - my V8 is larger than MB's V-12. Actually- 3 out of 4 of my V8s are larger. But what I am curious about is; if MB's cache' was having that rare V-12 option available, something that showered all sorts of warm fuzzy good mojo down on the $86K s-class, how's it going to work out for future customers once it's gone? Now the top sedan is just another 8- 6- (and soon to be 4-) cylinder sedan in a sea of them. - - - - - I remember decades ago when I learned about Jaguar's 1960's V-12 in the E-Type. I may have laughed out loud when I found out it was a measly 326 CI (IIRC). -
Ugh. There's "room" for Mercedes to build a 3/4-ton diesel 4x4 pick-up and Rolls Royce to build an entry-level $90K compact, doesn't mean they "should". Many critics labor under the impression that for Cadillac to be 'complete' --yet, of course, remaining true to being Cadillac and not copying anyone else-- that the brand has go into every segment every one of their competitors are in. QX30 sold 1200 units in March, as yourself why a brand 'needs' to compete with that. Not remotely necessary OR advisable. Cadillac is a low-volume brand, there's really no business case to plug into every tier. No 'CT3', no 'XT3' - unnecessary distractions and money drains. Keep everything upmarket. CT5/XT4 should absolutely be the bottom of the Cadillac catalog.
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• Was in another $1.4M home today- no street-view pic; it's buried behind trees. Got a few weeks of work coming up in there. I'd like to slow down tho : M,-T, Th-F would be nice. Other than the house addition I did a few years ago, I've never had this much work stacked in my Inbox before. Finding it stressful. - - - - -
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Toyota News: 2019 Toyota Yaris Sedan Drops the iA
balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in Toyota
Isn't just using the Rain-X washer fluid only going to coat the sweep area of the wipers? Yeah, I would think so. -
EDIT : Something more... 'automotive badge/3-D' might spice things up a bit.
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Murano is where Pontiac would be had they lived and continued their over wrought styling, but since nissan isn't a domestic brand, it's uncool to bag on them for design. Edge is pleasant, but it's certainly not sporty looking. I liked the MCE 1st gen, looked at them back when new.
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Some of the trimwork was really shoddily finished, multiple times. In my book there's no excuse for so much Wrong. She asked for a quick fix but I can't work that way. Will have to meet up with her next week, work thru the language barrier and explain- it'd take a week to do it right / in accordance to the house's asking price. I think she thinks it's like a couple hour's time. If that's the case, I'm going to have to politely refuse. But this tier of homeowner doesn't care anymore for their house than someone in a (well-cared for) house that's worth $100K. Just like cars; people fool themselves.
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I work from other people's homes. Was in this one today, just went onto the market, $1.6M :
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You mentioned 'looks' multiple times and included exterior pics, and never mentioned interior space comparisons with those other SUVs. I responded accordingly. Edge has a long wheelbase and is fairly wide, but most of the other SUVs you posted exterior shots/no interior dimensions LOSE interior space relatively speaking, so my question is: which do you want?
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Toyota News: 2019 Toyota Yaris Sedan Drops the iA
balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in Toyota
Oh yeah- Rain-X is one of those very few products that works better than you expect. Last 1-2 months, depending. Now Rain-X has product-infused wiper blades, tho I haven't tried them. In mixed driving with a good application of Rain-X, you can almost use you wipers about a third or more LESS often. The water beads tightly, so it either blows off upward (@ speed), or trickles downward at low speeds. I don't apply it regularly enough. -
Don't discount the weight contribution of all the sensors and cameras & 18 airbags and TPMS and adaptive CC and rain-sensing wipers and .....
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I'm going to guess you're talking about weight, because in your example, the dimensional differences are about 5%. Weights are hugely up, but that has nothing to do with physical size here.
