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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    Well which is it? You've adamantly mentioned a laundry list of Cadillac so-called 'problems' all along , now you're just going to shrug and point to a single intangible? (Of course, by tomorrow, it'll be right back to the laundry list.) IMO, 'Cadillac' is minorly tarnished, and a major chunk of that is a few individuals continually harping that it's an "image problem", perpetuating the rumor. For example; 15 years ago Cadillac had as it's leading 'enthusiast' car: the uninspired Catera. Today we have the CTS-V (or ATS-V). That's light years ahead of 1999, yet the bleating of the whiners is no less abated. It's always 'But– but– but– there's an IIMMAAGGEE PPRROOBBLLEEM!' as if there can never NOT be 'huge problems' with Cadillac, no matter what they do. Somehow, this is seemingly all lost on all the consumers of V cars- wonder how that could be? Image is built on the back of product. I read elsewhere from a self-proclaimed, master-degreed marketer on the West Coast all the time how it's image first, product second, but you cannot market an image without a tangible product. Image if Apple only ever TALKED about successive iPhones but never manufactured any.
  2. balthazar
    Circa '49 Dodge business coupe, super clean resto, grey on white whites, sucking groceries into it's 100 CF trunk at the super market, then chugging off.
  3. balthazar
    Cadillac has been in the black car / livery segment for what- 80 years?? It's certainly not a problem for the brand. I used to see (subtle) livery DTS's running around- most folk wouldn't have recognized them. I've yet to see a confirmed livery XTS- they all look like private cars. That's the BEST way to utilize commercial sales; high-end cars that don't look it, rather than cheap-assed, stripped taxi cabs.
  4. balthazar
    • Likewise, Cadillac livery / black car sales don't hurt them in the U.S. or China. This segment does not look to Buick for these vehicles; to push the segment over to Buick would be another abandonment of a (small) demographic. Besides, some folk have continued to say 'Cadillac should be Cadillac and not follow the German twins' and the XTS does just that. • Saying Cadillac has an 'old man's image' when MB has a mere 5 yr less ABA is ignorant. MB is just as much an old man's car (except that metric is accelerating whereas Cadillac's is falling). • "BESTEST SAHLES EVAR" is the harbinger of luxury degradation; there is no exclusivity when there's a few mercedes' in every parking row at Wal-Mart. In Jersey, they are as commonplace as nissans. Besides, a lot of luxury buyers see MBs (and BMWs) as the prick-owner brand still. • Having 2 sedans at the same relative price points gives options to the buyer- that's a great thing. But MB doesn't make sense here either- the C63 and the CLS sedans start at the same price, too.
  5. balthazar
    ^ Hard to get more ignorant than this. Funny how mercedes requires no "protection" from taxi sales, but Cadillac "needs" such from black car sales. Ignorance again.
  6. balthazar
    1957 Chevy Bel Air 4-dr sedan, white over red, nice shape, cruised right past the Balthy Ranch.
  7. balthazar
    E-cars are so underpowered, I imagine they struggle to achieve 'normal' acceleration. Even merely upping HP by 50% should give better MPG right there.
  8. balthazar
    ^ Gotcha. ATS 2.0T is rated at 23 combined MPG in a car about 3400 lbs with a 6-spd. Your Toro curb weight is 3700 (with the V6), I'll bet its more like 4100 with the 5.0 & options (but that's a guess). I assume you have the 5.0 / 3-spd / 2.41 gears, yes? That was rated then at 17/23 with a combined of 19. You desperately need an OD trans in there, if so. With that, you could get a bit better gear in the transaxle than the pathetic 2.41. Then, a mildly built 350 would put out easy 300 HP and you should edge into the low 20s combined. I just don't see it as cost-effective to plug a modern power train in there, what with the retro-fitting / re-engineering. The hours involved to figure things out to an acceptable level of reliability would be considerable. When did the E-cars get a 4-spd?
  9. balthazar
    Smog standards, at least in NJ, follow the year of the vehicle, not the power train. Can't say I can recall someone putting a considerably older engine in a model year X vehicle- the common practice is almost always newer, in which case you are improving your emissions. High performance builds generally are, naturally, much more efficient WRT emissions, anyway. Now, if one wants contemporary emissions in a greenie sort of way, that may be another matter. As far as MPG, gearing plays a huge part there. I don't see that as a primary concern to someone buying a 556 HP 6.2L. Still, no reason not to put the next generation -say- THM400 behind a vintage motor; a 4L80E. They can be installed sans computer connections, yet still give a nice OD.
  10. balthazar
    FI, sure. Not sure what other 'stuff' you are referring to. With FI, costs are likely to go much higher, of course. FI is not really necessary; quality aftermarket components can handily erase FI/computer/stuff advantages.
  11. balthazar
    Most steel bodywork is replaced rather than repaired, anyway.
  12. balthazar
    If I had a -say- '59 Impala, I'd be far more tempted… tho there the price difference would probably be 50% cheaper, or better. And I say that fully aware that an LS engine is NOT a "Chevy" engine. These are appealing pieces, but at these prices they are primarily for the 'cost it little object', 'checkbook builder'.
  13. balthazar
    I can do a Divisional engine/trans at the same power level as the 6.2SC for around 3 grand less, and that's having them professionally built. Great packages but I'm not up for putting a Corproate engine in a non-Corporate-era car.
  14. balthazar
    In that we know the CT6 is a sedan, it sure would be nice to read daydream comparisons to the Ciel rather than the ElMiraj coupe.
  15. balthazar
    I was finally in a Wrangler earlier this year & I thought it was nearly intolerable on a few major counts… but I recognize & respect that some folk love them. I certainly would not call it 'one of the worst' or whatever, especially since it's such a niche product with no competition.
  16. balthazar
    Generally, I agree with the sentiments above. Ferrari's never do much of anything for me, but I admit I like the Lambo Aventador. That's a lot of bad assery right there. The rest of the so-called super cars can get lost. Lambo's chronic problem is that the body envelope is OLD, the Countach (which everything has been based on since) was way ahead of things when first shown in 1970, but realize that there is NO WHERE forward to go for Lambo (or the others). Said it a number of times before; we're at the 95th percentile of advanced auto design. From here on out it's tiny details & fiddling with minor elements.
  17. balthazar
    Hand-cut gaskets for differential cover & axle ends :
  18. balthazar
    BMW i3. What a funny looking thing, so disconnected with the bland, dated stuff BMW is known for. '55 Bel Air 4-dr sedan, white over blue, solid, in garage with flat, customer's son's car (15 yrs old). Nice to see the 'utes' into cars older than their parents for a change. It was a '62 Ford Galaxie convert, rough shape but restorable.
  19. balthazar
    This is a lot about nothing IMO. The Elmiraj is clearly linked to the A&S language, but tho the body envelope is a beaut as a big coupe, the details are not refined enough to my eye, falling below those on the ATS & CTS. What I would least like to see is that huge, bland grillwork in the CT6. Overall, I give the Elmiraj a 7 and the Ciel a 9.
  20. balthazar
    Weird how unharmonious the headlight cluster and the Nike swoosh LEDs are with each other.
  21. balthazar

    Flops?

    balthazar replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in The Lounge

    Maybach. Just to prove the point beyond the obvious, the 2.0 version is going to undercut the 1.0 in price by at least half, which will completely suck the tiny remaining 1.0 values right out from under it. Monetarily, it's worse than the Edsel by far.
  22. balthazar
    EPA should never have stuck its fingers into size classifications, they have no earthly idea what they're doing. Cubic feet of interior volume is a meaningless stat we've been dieting on for what- 20 years? I've said it before; unless you are delivering inflated party balloons in your car, you cannot utilize a large portion of the mathematical cubic volume of a vehicle's space and the stat is misleading. (A cargo van is obviously something else).
  23. balthazar
    ^ Must be "terrible packaging".
  24. balthazar
    That is hilarious. I hope someone is randomly taping overheard comments at the auto shows; should be some real funny bits there.
  25. balthazar
    Impact ratings?
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