balthazar
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Everything posted by balthazar
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I dunno; you can make ANYTHING handle really well, but fixing that cheesy body takes a whole 'nuther slate of skills/dollars. The hardtop coupe is decent, but there's no prettying up/ classing up the econobox sedans.
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I have a C&D comparison that had the same results: very comparable. I think more than the actual product itself (because the Germans siblings were crapboxes, also) was the disparity between the Cimarron & the rest of the Cadillac line. LOL- BMW is STILL using the same body shell conceptually!
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C&D Places ATS-V Last in Comparo... for interior??
balthazar replied to cp-the-nerd's topic in Industry News
"ATS-V steers better than the M3, has better brake feel than the M3, digests a road with more verve than the M3…" ~ Munich is not only sitting up, they are likely tearing out their hair. ATS-V has 0.1 sec on the MB in the 1/4, but a huge 6 MPH- that's pulling a bunch harder than the C63. MB is still putting a governor on their cars, but at least they upped it from the long-standing 155 MPH. Heavy weight in the C63 is showing in the slalom time- car needs a diet. They also charge you $8000 for 34 HP - LOL. -
Yea, count me in as one of those who doesn't get completely out-of-my-mind wrapped up in animals. They're… animals, not people. I say this having grown up with a dog, and having lived with 2 different cats over the last 19 years (with a 6-yr break). I like animals just fine, but I don't see them as anything beyond what they are. Also, frankly, if it were up to me alone, I wouldn't live with any… but I do. Boo the Cat will be 3 July 4th, we've had him since he was about 4 wks old. He's certainly entertaining and I like him pretty well, but I don't 'love' him.
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C&D Places ATS-V Last in Comparo... for interior??
balthazar replied to cp-the-nerd's topic in Industry News
It may be, but no one buys Jags so the point is moot; no one cares except magazines. - - - - - The auto rags are invested in an editorial slant; they know for the most part where their readers' preferences lie and - especially in a time where print is slowly sinking - they need to cater to that expectation or set themselves up for reader satisfaction risk. Didn't read the article, but if they for a half sentence dinged the ATS because of the supposed rear seat room issue, they risked & lost the critical thinker right there- these are the highest performance compact luxury cars; rear seat room is about as important as the knurling on the valve stem cap. The incredible take-away is that the ATS-V is SO GOOD on the road they could NOT deny it the #1 ranking against the holy grail of such, the M3. This is a red letter day for Cadillac comparison testing. Let's look at that again; the ATS-V is a better performer than the holy BMW M3. BAM. -
For the first time in YEARS, I lay awake last night for about a half hour, contemplating family news, vs. the normal 1-2 mins it takes me usually to slip under. That's a sign of rising stress…………. . .. … . . . . . . . must work on that.
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I don't find the nose to be particularly attractive. Many folks claim to have issues when the emblem floats to the top of the grille; I don't, except that here it's really 'hanging'. The lower grilles shape & integration are stylistically crude IMO, as is the texture. And I foresee AR locking themselves into a very dated grille 'trademark' which may well put them in the same 'grounded on the rocks' boat that BMW has been in for a few decades now. The rest is generic / nothing new.
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Cadillac has no need to 'compete' with a q3/gla. Whatsoever. For a guy who incessantly harps on how 'relatively little' Cadillac investment funding there reportedly is, why would you possibly advocate spreading that out over more & more segments? Nevermind, I already know the answer.
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How old is the current MB GLK now? That one looks a full 15 years old compared to the above 'XT5'. 'XT5' looks interesting, nicely upscale… but I know I'm getting misled by the size of it. Had a good look at a slowly passing Buick Encore today (I realize this is a class larger) but that was offensively small. Cadillac had better avoid going to that segment completely.
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Faith No More ~ Last Cup of Sorrow
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Slowest throttle response of any (well-functioning) car I've ever driven. Sounds like an engineering deficiency, not intentional. Fell for the whole 'drilled rotors' thing, did you.
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83X ?!?! I want a monocular that'll do just half that.
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Last time I drove an e-class it had terrible throttle & BRAKE lag, very disconcerting. I've read that commentary more than once since. I felt it was a borderline dangerous characteristic. Not impressed.
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Don't everybody miss that all those audi I4s are Volkswagon engines (IIRC). Oh, so sad.
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If Benz did anything in 1885, he copied it from American James Hill, who invented this in Fleetwood PA in 1868 : Ohhhh, so sad!
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The same rate I charge clients for work, I am, from this point forward, going to charge them to listen to them talk. I should make about double on that.
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IF… the Continental concept comes to market at 98% of the concept PROPORTIONALLY, I think Lincoln has an excellent chance of really turning heads & opening wallets. I've seen same-angle shots of the concept and the camo'd mule together tho, and there are unquestionably differences to the naked eye. ANd those differences, IMO, 'mainstreamed' the sedan when that's the opposite direction from where this car should go. Let's see what debuts…. But yes; all the talk of the production CT6 being compared to the concept Connie is premature.
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Isn't the EcoDiesel Ram rated @ 29 on the highway?
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"Luxury cars should prioritize style and luxury, and of course, quality." Agreed. But that's not the only components that have been trending. Go read a pre-DTS road test from the late 90s, they were widely perceived as being 'behind the times' primairly due to roadability characteristics. That said, Lutz is wrong about Cadillac (and Lincoln) in the 60s and 70s. Oh, certainly one could poke at some details/quality, but overall they were still at the forefront of what those decades were defining as 'luxury'. You certainly weren't getting better materials in mercedes/BMW in the '70s. Cadillac's "downhill" trajectory began right about 1981, where you had serious quality blows at the hands of the 350 diesel, the V8-6-4 and the Cadillac J-Body car. If I were in charge of Cadillac planning, the Ciel, in sedan, coupe and 4-dr convertible, would have been in production as we speak. Well F-ing put!!
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From what I've seen, Ford is 'bragging' about the weight loss vs. the previous F-150, not vs. the Silverado. Looking at truck loyalty figures, that makes a ton more marketing sense; they are primarily marketing to Ford customers.
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BMW News: Rumorpile: What's Upcoming For BMW's 7-Series Engine-Wise
balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in BMW
"A six in a flagship model???" "Diesel & V12 should be available at launch, not months/years later!!!" At ;east from some pics elsewhere, it looks like you can FINALLY pony up enough clams to get that horrid black (regardless of interior color scheme) rubber school bus steering wheel ripped out of the 7-series. Maybe BMW is finally running low on the container ship of them they bought from International in 1980. -
Seemed like the place to put this:
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Some people are like sharks; apparently, if they stop talking, they believe they'll die.
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Tesla's Next Model - The Model 3 - To Include A Crossover
balthazar replied to William Maley's topic in Tesla
With the track record of getting ONE model out close to the initial intro date, I would agree with Buzz; 2 at once is likely too tall an order for Tesla. However, given the 2-3 year delay on the Model 3, perhaps they pull it off this time. -
DODGE certainly has not been asleep at the switch on the Ram over the last decade.
