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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    2015 :: 52,580 2016 :: (on pace for) 62,000 2017 :: ? 2018 :: 500,000
  2. balthazar
    ^ I have no comment other than : good selection & I get your point. I personally prefer a 'short hood / long deck' car, especially after the drought of such in the industry. We have "coupes" out there with decks less than 12" long. WTF. Cadillac, between it's taking the industry by storm with fins, and it's hallmark vertical tails… should make a concerted effort to again direct the eye to the rear of the car. It's their heritage ands it's high time the rear end of cars gets attention again.
  3. balthazar
    You "think" you read "some rumor"?? K. Bottom line; for a 6.6L V-12, the power levels are rather anemic for 2016. ​Point being- there is zero issue with the NVH of the 6.2 V8. Buyers aren't balancing nickels on the plastic engine covers of their shopping choices. But the smoothest configuration of all is the V16. If anyone actually cares.
  4. balthazar
    ^ Translation :: It's half-assed.
  5. balthazar
    In that case I'd use my own unless I had any doubts as to possible issues. ------ I have a 7 hr round trip in a few weeks. Going with a friend, I'd rather they drive, but they drive like a crazy person. I have no issues with my truck, but all the same I don't usually care to take it long distances. #onthefence
  6. balthazar
    You're claiming a mileage deduction on a personal trip? - - - - - If it makes for better financial sense, take the rental. I once rented one of those Home Depot trucks for $19.95 and picked up my new couch because the furniture store wanted $90 for delivery.
  7. balthazar
    Your information, as usual, is erroneous. BMW V-12 : 592 HP / 590 TRQ Cadillac V : 640 HP / 630 TRQ Already puts the smack down on the V-12, with a half-liter less displacement & 4 less cylinders. And no smoothness penalty. BMW's 12 needs a major overhaul.
  8. balthazar
    • Spent some time talking with my buddy tonight about this project. The plan is, once the '40 is up & running, we will turn to the B-59, clear the junk from on & around it, and start evaluating the Order of Business. I believe there's mostly labor to come next, as opposed to spending money. As the '40 should be running soon, this plan is imminent. This is no way to treat a project car :: • I really need to Clean House in my shop; I've accumulated a bunch of useless junk over the years, and nothing makes working on a vehicle more inviting than a clear, neat work space. And good lighting. • More time still was spent talking over the 3rd car in my shop, which was the first car I ever bought : '64 Pontiac Grand Prix. That car is complete but has been parked for a lo-ooing time (inside tho). He made reasonable points about working on 2 cars at once (the '59 and '64), something I never considered in the years I worked alone on my cars. I have at least 5 recent, standing requests to buy this car, and I have talked about selling it in the past few years, but perhaps that's not the best choice after all. It's supposedly a 'brass hat' executive-ordered car, came thru a Chicago dealer. Built in the home plant in Pontiac MI, it's a very well optioned car with 56K original miles. This car I would redo factory original (tho I might add a few factory options, such as Tri-P, which I have a correct unit). - - - - - June 12 :: Have spent 2 sessions clearing, purging, organizing all the … STUFF, made progress (that's my '40 bunking to the left) :
  9. balthazar
    12851 Model S's is 51,404 annually. Tesla sold 52,580 last year, of which around 52,375 were Model S's. Model X was predicted to be at a 750 unit/wk production rate, but perhaps quality issues are still a major hurdle, as Model X production in the first quarter is still only about 200 units/wk. Or maybe Jan/Feb were unusually low. Musk wants to sell 90,000 units this year but is only on pace to build 62,000. Would really like to know what kinds expansions are going on behind the scene to make this prediction plausible.
  10. balthazar
    How many active cars projects can 2 guys handle at once?
  11. balthazar
    Toyota and Chevrolet and Nissan have grown, too!!
  12. balthazar
    Pretty sure salaries are not being reflected in warranty/repair costs, DD. Otherwise, GM, Ford et al, would be MUCH MUCH higher with their employee count.
  13. balthazar
    What body shape?? The raised-beltline, slightly faster-back 4-dr sedan? That's so minor, if a name hadn't been coined- no one would know it was even a 'thing'. Which it isn't. It's a higher belt line & less trunk surface. And it's never sold well.
  14. balthazar
    The Best… or Nothing… or This Cheap Crap :
  15. balthazar
    mercedes hasn't created any new niches either, to be honest. Their 'carpet bombing' product planning has also resulted in some damage & sales flops. Lest we forget; the cheap, cost-cutting C230 hatchback disaster. MB learned a ton about luxury vehicles by benchmarking Cadillac features, innovation & tech, because up thru the '80s their cars simply weren't very luxurious or competitive at all. The chassis's weren't bad, but the interiors were junk and a lot of the body building was a decade (or more) behind. MB didn't come into it's own until the '90s tho.
  16. balthazar
    OK, was only going on the above charts- not sure very many people are at all up on the 88 alpha-numerics of MBs out there.
  17. balthazar
    Cadillac has a car, right now, the exact size of the CLA, starting at $33K. It's called 'ATS'. I am aware Cadillac is going to intro a model that splits the size difference between the ATS/CTS and morphs those 2 into a new line, but IMO that means the ATS is being effectively renamed/packaged, and NOT that there is going to be a "sub-ATS" car.
  18. balthazar
    Small wonder BMW 'slipped up' and stuck the X1 in with cars- it's keeping the cars sales percentages from being disastrous instead of just alarming. Put the X1 properly in with the so-called light "trucks" and the car's loss percentage balloons to 22% !!
  19. balthazar
    INVENTED CARS? a-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Self-stroking fallacy, sucked down by the ignorant. What's this ?? :
  20. balthazar
    fOr ThE oNe ThOuSaNdTh TiMe; WhO cArEs HoW mAnY cOpIeS a MoDeL sElLs!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! The VERY LAST THING I do when considering a discretionary purchase is to consider the level of intangible approval of a bunch of people I will never speak to. It why I don't gravitate to, let's randomly say; Camaros. Be yourself, be an individual, don't be a number!!
  21. balthazar
    Master cylinder kit came in the mail 2day. Cleaned out & rebuilt the MC with the new components, installed it & carefully tightened all fittings. Put some fluid in & after an hour- no drips. Will wait & see tomm if the story's the same. Reattached the clutch linkage- had disconnected to remove the pedal assembly. Left to do : • distributor • bleed brakes • radiator • start UPDATE :: NO dripping from the MC overnight. UPDATE II :: Installed MC pushrod and clutch & brake pedal pads. Added more fluid & gave it 4 full pumps, going to let it sit overnight again for observation. Starting greasing the chassis, have had to replace a few zerks but otherwise it's taking grease nicely. Talked about various approaches to starting it, including forgoing any distributor disassembly, running it without a radiator (only way to access the distributor is to pull the radiator) but in the end we decided to replace the points/ rotor/ caps, install the radiator and start it. Soon.
  22. balthazar
    5-series was only up a couple hundred units and besides "that's just a snapshot". It's down 13% over the last 4 months- the bottom is dropping out from under the 5.
  23. balthazar
    Consumers have no idea what 'C segment is or means. All they understand is; more letters equal higher models, IE; GL > GLA > GLS. THAT, at least, makes sense on paper.
  24. balthazar
    I told this story before but : a good friend of mine (now) had a MB S430. Something broke related to the sunroof- it took MB 8 months to get the part to the dealer. After the front suspension collapsed and had the car sitting on the ground in the front, he sold it and bought 2 successive loaded Tahoes, which he much preferred. The poor service and the quality issues on his MB mentioned above have made him say since 'Not worth it and never again'.
  25. balthazar
    Car sales down 6%, not as bad as the free fall over at BMW...
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