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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    ^ That's what Daimler thought with maybach 1.0, remember? We'll see.
  2. balthazar
    Not according to the press release; Daimler is calling it a "sub-BRAND". Which is stupid when it really is (besides a wheelbase stretch) just a Cadillac-style egg crate grille, more chrome, wheels & badging (on the outside). How is that a different 'brand'??
  3. balthazar
    It can't do it; it has rubber band tires with no tread. It's like a submarine with no props.
  4. balthazar
    Looking QUITE bloated. Wonder if it will be available in the prior, swinging' 70s 2-tones the Maybachflop was. The nameplate is going to be an albatross- should've bought another, long-dusty & unrelated nameplate and started fresh. 'Maybach' just reeks of failure.
  5. balthazar
    It's worth quoting myself- this is like FoMoCo introducing the 1963 Edsel. Except mercedes put out far less effort this time than last. And talk about badge-engineering. Allow me to act like a few choice internet idiots : "This should've been the base S-class, and it should've come out 10 years ago."
  6. balthazar
    Drew hit it dead on: range rover has 100% street tires; off road -beyond a front lawn- it would go nowhere. It's a joke.
  7. balthazar
    Really, this point is academic. Corvette performance is at such an incredible level that 90% of that is more than enough to 1.) Maintain any supposed 'Corvette is King' corporate edict, and 2.) Outperform any Cadillac sports coupe competition. The very important KEY here is to tweak a Corvette chassis to the point it is 'Cadillac Engineered' and non-interchangable with the Corvette/ gets a unique designation. Moronic auto writers & internet armchair critics will be UNABLE TO RESIST making 'Cein'/Corvette comparisons in Every Single Written Piece instead of looking at the Cad objectively. NOT that any component of the Corvette is in any way a detriment, but why quibble over details when they come from a 'Chebby'.
  8. balthazar
    s-class isn't in the same league as the RR/B pair. It's also completely pedestrian in appearance (never mind the new s-coupe (OHNOZIDIDNT!) wears the same nose as a $30K cheap/quickie car). 'Technology' is tough to brag with down at the Club, too, but 'presence' is obvious a mile off. s-class has zero.
  9. balthazar
    Bentley, for the money, is a monster rip off.
  10. balthazar
    The exterior design on the current Bentleys is so tepid, it just doesn't look expensive (and I see them all the time in central NJ). I do like the 'boat deck' treatment around the pass compartment. They've come light years ahead from this archaic garbage:
  11. balthazar
    They already DID exactly this, and it failed. Miserably. This vehicle needs to bring a MAJOR change up / new element, and doing a badge job on an existing model is NOT the answer. -- -- -- Even the "almighty" Daimler is subject to this industry marketing disease ('We need to make things eeaassiieeer to uunnddeerrsssstandd'), with no idea how to improve things but a really solid idea how to ashcan established equity in the dumbs names they already have.
  12. balthazar
    I believe it is semi-solidified brake fluid. Was in both ends of both wheel cylinders (BEHIND the dust boots) and inside the pushrod hole of the master cylinder. And I've never seen spider eggs like this- unless they would give birth to Tarantulas. My master cylinder cap is stamped 'USE G-M-C BRAKE FLUID". Apparently a GM cap, and it was correct for the 53-61 Corvette, among others. MC itself is different, tho.
  13. balthazar
    Pulled the master cylinder tonight. Same deal: some tapioca, some wet rust, a small pitted rot spot on the bore. Going to add it to the WC shipment to get sleeved, too. All other components inside (piston, cup, hardware) are in VG shape. With the turnaround time for these claimed to be 3 weeks, it'll be time to go back to the carburetor.
  14. balthazar
    Here's the axle shaft end. Much like the 'verbally unimpressive' 6-bolt rear, these are 16-spline shafts. My Buick has Mosler 36 spline shafts, as generally speaking, more splines equal less breakage: Here's the 2nd drum inside. Not sure how often cobwebs appear inside drum brakes, but yea; filth: But the tube cleans up nicely: Wheel cylinder, freshly pulled. This is a 1.5-in straight bore WC, unavailable anywhere, it seems: I have no idea what this goopy tapioca is under the dust covers: Makes sense to go with synthetic brake fluid (DOT 5) on this truck, as it will sit more than it will drive. Seems anachronistic, but only I will know, right?
  15. balthazar
    After repeatedly hosing the 2nd bearing retaining nut down with Kroil & letting it sit the better part of 2 weeks, tonight I went out, put the 3" socket on it with a 24" breaker bar, applied a moderate bit of torque and it 'POP'ped right off. I was ready to go the gas axe route next. Inside was slightly better that the other, but I'm still going to send both rear wheel cylinders off to get re-sleeved with stainless steel. They told me 3 weeks turnaround, so going to have to shift gears to one of the other few areas left. Everything else inside the rear brake looks good.
  16. balthazar
    Car's got good performance, but is still stylistically stuck in the 1990s.
  17. balthazar
    1963 Plymouth full-size 2-dr, done up in period NASCAR garb/equipment. 2015 Tahoe LTZ in Costco, sticker was $67K.
  18. balthazar
    mercedes SL stands for 'super light', yet that tiny 2-seater weighs up to 4300 lbs. Good luck trying to make perfect apple-pie order of car naming practices.
  19. balthazar
    ^ That addresses interior, extraneous power drain, but onboard accessories create their own relatively elevated consumption drains in modern vehicles. -- -- -- -- I believe that "7.7 MPG" is incorrectly labeled. http://www.automobile-catalog.com/car/1980/35960/renault_20_ts.html states the Renault 20 TS gets 7.7 L/KM (city). That translates to 30.5 MPG U.S..
  20. balthazar
    I would guess that today the percentages for accessories (MUCH more than in '80), transmission (more gears), rolling resistance (wider tires) would be up, and aero drag & friction losses would be less. Acceleration/climbing (cars are MUCH heavier now) probably evens out because engines are more power-dense now and don't have to work as hard, even tho they are moving much more weight.
  21. balthazar
    From Popular Mechanics from 1980, wonder what a given 2014 vehicle would look like broken down the same way. BTW, I do wonder how they came to such exacting figures….
  22. balthazar
    ^ Add to that when a new platform is developed, it's no longer done on a Divisional level, but at Corporate. IE: there is no 'Chevy platform' and as Drew insinuates, it's just as valid to say (not that there's any point to this sort of thing other than trolling) 'The Tahoe is riding on the Escalade platform'.
  23. balthazar
    ALL luxury full-line manufacturers have a mix of RWD & FWD. People don't commonly put drive wheels as a leading consideration; witness the buyers for the 1-series BMW.
  24. balthazar
    Thanks pow, I wasn't processing their site correctly. Now I see verification of exactly what I've been stating here. 2014 mercedes s550 RWD with the middle option package they give there to chose from, reveals a car that MSRP's for 119,095, but that car's average transaction price is 108,230, or $11,270 off sticker. Like I said; MB moves their (retail) s-classes by offering a free smart four two in the deal. In other words; appealing to the value shopper by giving a 5-digit discount. They 'hide' this by only offering 'factory' incentives around a mere 3,000.
  25. balthazar
    ^ Trucar doesn't, seemingly, include the cost of options. How they 'calculate' a new 'actual transaction price' MSRP without such, I've yet to learn.
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