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balthazar

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Everything posted by balthazar

  1. balthazar
    The thing this approach does, tho, is erode the price tag difference 'legitimacy' between models. IOW, once the vast majority of equipment/features is found on entry-level-esque models, why would anyone buy the mid-market or top-end models? IMO, it's a bit of auto-cannibalism. The only way I see this working long-term is lessen the number of lines within a brand and increase the degree of 'tailoring' one can do within the fewer lines.
  2. balthazar
    RE the manual, I can see that. However, since only like 5% of the vehicles sold are manuals, not sure that should be a guiding principal. The floor brakes I'm used to, like in the prior gen Malibu- have no separate release; it's push on, push off. I believe a lot of recent cars are this way, I could be wrong. Easy fix tho. AFA debris, people don't ususally shed french fries & general detritus under their dash NEARLY as much as over the console. Besides, that pedal is... under the dash- with the ubiquitous console, only the right rear passenger has a chance to see such. My bottom line is it's not used that much on average, it performs the exact same function in either location at identical speed & ease, yet one is tucked into an area where it's out of sight & by the (95% of the time) idle left foot, and other other is under the elbow of both front occupants. I guess it's just me. It is nicely trimmed, tho.
  3. balthazar
    An under-dash pedal is going to be cheaper than any console lever with it's leather boot, nicer handle etc., so the console lever has to be costlier. Why spend more for the exact same function AND less space- I can only conclude it's the fashion-ality of being more "sporty". If it's standardization for the rest of the markets, boo I say. As to standardizartion; the more you make yourself like everything else, the less compelling your pitch to buy your widgit is. However, show a real advantage to your approach (more room/storage in the console area) and you've earned yourself notice.
  4. balthazar
    The console E-brake lever is fine in a sports car, but in a mid-size sedan it's just a fashion (??) trapping. Space is a premium here, and an electronic or under-dash e-brake makes imminently more sense. That space could've been a small lidded compartment. A console lever certainly doesn't add functionality or ease of use or any other positive. And frankly, that leather boot is just a difficult-to-keep-clean debris catcher. The rest of the console does add function & looks pretty good- just eliminate the brake handle.
  5. balthazar
    Wow on that P-68! Tough to find '60s Pontiac wagons!
  6. balthazar
    Unquestionably, things have NOT improved from the consumer's POV over the years...
  7. balthazar
    Plum-tastic!
  8. balthazar
    '75 Pontiac Trans Am, 400/4-spd car, no powertrain, bad body cancer, stripped. '66 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 60 Special, all black, crusty from sitting but savable. '64 Pontiac LeMans 2-dr post coupe, extremely rough, no motor/trans/title, asking $1500, I wouldn't spend over $250 on it. '61 Cadillac Fleetwood Series 75 sedan, all black, factory air, rough & rusty, interior gone.
  9. balthazar
    I just thought it was interesting that GM back then "encouraged" people to wildly break the speed limit with an intentional, printed dial limit of 110 MPH. The thought that people were not in any way mandated to test the Speed Minder at 110 is, of course, nonsense; everyone was required to touch that speed on a monthly basis, to insure proper operation of the feature thruout it's range. It's there, you MUST use it. Like '10' on your radio dial. Or your peak HP in top gear.
  10. balthazar
    My '59 has a 'Speed Minder' feature : a dial to the right of the speedometer that you set so if you exceed your number, the unit buzzes to alert you. It's range is 30 MPH to 110 MPH.
  11. balthazar
    Radar detectors are not illegal devices and they do not cause anyone to speed. Only VA & DC outlaw them entirely. It's no different than selling a 638 HP car that goes 205 MPH in a land where the max in most places is 65. It's also akin to putting 10-in touch screens into the dashes of cars where for years video screens in view of the driver were illegal & there is now constant focus on driver distraction. Face it, people have gotten tickets for a mere few miles over the posted limit. It's not so black & white as you paint it. The tint thing is also akin to max speed capabilites. It would be possible to program a car, based on GPS location tech, to max tint while in motion to that state's legal limit. Many would see the advantage in darkening windows while parked to deter snooping/ potential theft/ keeping the vehicle cooler inside. It's not just designed for thwarting the cops...
  12. balthazar
    The headlight doesn't "cost" $1500; that's what they bilk you out of to replace it. I didn't think anyone would actually blindly accept that claim as remotely accurate. If 2 headlights alone were $3000, the whole car would "cost" hundreds of thousands ... instead of MB still making a profit on an average price of $8000 under sticker.
  13. balthazar
    Diesel has also not kept pace with gas as far as price goes. Diesel here in NJ was running about 20-22 cents over regular, currently it's running 40 cents over. Hard to believe that's merely demand (I know refining allotments vary, too). Saw the '14 Impala at a Chevy traveling exhibit in MD this weekend. Looks pretty snappy- as far as interior/exterior goes, the car could support $40K, IMO. What's left is the option & powertrain list, and refinement WRT justifying the top sticker.
  14. balthazar
  15. balthazar
    Ocean City MD Endless Cruise weekend. 3200 registered cars, easily another 1000 there. Overload.
  16. balthazar
    A mild reshuffling of the exterior elements (sans the jettisoning of the Mazda front fenders) - no forward movement design-wise. Interior is a baffling mixture of dated elements and the arbitrary, but folks don't buy these for many other reasons than to telegraph to others how much they spent. The 7-speed trans makes this completely uncompetitive, of course.
  17. balthazar
    Packard worked on radar braking circa '56. Just a historical footnote. Auto-braking is not anything I'd aspire to have on my vehicle, but autonomous vehicles are the way things are going.
  18. balthazar
    Only a 7-spd trans when others have 8???? This car should have been introduced with a 10-spd.
  19. balthazar
    Keep it in mind. I have some other parts left, both new & used.
  20. balthazar
    I pretty much stopped driving mine around '07, and it's been gone since '09. I have a brand new in-tank pump if he needs one.
  21. balthazar
    Ya: 300, or 4.9L. TRQ was 265- not bad. Never had an issue with the rear (over 146K). 3.08 gears. All the domestic trucks are underrated WRT capacity, anyway.
  22. balthazar
    Of course; I was looking more at '2 apples' (base trucks with base engines).
  23. balthazar
    ^ With all the emphasis on 7-pass SUVs (assuming there's any legitimacy to that), I would hazard to guess that the same situations occasionally are encountered by sedan owners. Curious that as mankind has gotten so much wider, cars have gotten so much narrower.
  24. balthazar
    I looked at the weight on the 2500HD : RC/LB 6.0L in 2013 is 5788. You have to jump to the Duramax in the same truck to get to 6469 lbs. - chevy website. Looks like I had picked the wrong truck (from the extensive portfolio) in my above post; site says the 1500 WT RC/LB 4.3L starts at 4596, not 5300. That is in keeping with pow's list above IMO, accounting for the strengthening since the Ford I referenced at 3900 lbs.... so I will back off of blaming electronics. The trucks aren't as heavy as I initially thought in baseline. Still, hopefully GM will continue it's newfound 'fitness regimen' and get the needle ticking downward some. IIRC, my F-150 was rated to tow 4900 lbs., and the chevy site says the same 1500 WT (with 3.23 axle) is good for 4700 lbs. Stronger truck... but the added weight takes away from towing capacity, it seems.
  25. balthazar
    Really? Well, it's not overall size, it's not an increase in steel, frames aren't that much different, there's more plastics & aluminum (don't the Silvies had AL hoods?), glass is thinner... ...from a Jeep forum, going from a 15" rim/tire to an 18" rim with identical (otherwise) tire size, same brands in both cases, raises weight only 55 lbs total.... ...where else besides interior (insulation, sound deadening, consoles, 10 air bags, padded power telescoping sunvisors... & electronics? Electronic throttles, parking brakes, rearview cameras, front proximity warning, cruise, NAV, telemetrics, tire inflation, anti-lock brakes, TC, ESC, etc etc is the weight coming from? It's certainly not primarily from the basic structure.
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