A Horse With No Name

Agree....my life paradigm has changed, and I am much more interested in woodworking, reading, and travel. Given a billion dollars, it would be an Alltrack or a GTI or a WRX....which I would drive the 4 or 5 days a month I was actually home in Ohio...

Or seat belts, or crash test safety, or unleaded fuel, or emissions controls, or any number of other things...

Subaru ironically has picked up the amrket for cars bought by out of the mainstream people that VW once held...one of the real ironies of automotive history.

The higher level cars...big difference between a used IS250 at 25K and a Bentley...

Yeah, i have visited Japan several times....one of the times was with someone taller and larger than you....definitely not made for small people.

I have this vehicle on my short list as well. Thank you for the review....

Exactly. Remembering the early 1970's before a lot of the EPA laws kicked in, I for one am glad we do regulate the auto industry. The whining about electrics is the near exact same sort of whinging that happened in 1974 when Catalytic converters started in use and we did away with leaded fuel. And the auto industry has responded and prospered just fine... If anyone would have told us in the early 1970's that cars would often get over 40 mpg on the highway, that Camaro's, Mustangs, Corvettes, and Cadillac would become available with over 600 horsepower, and that cars would become orders of magnitude safer more reliable and less polluting as a result of the changes forced on the auto industry.... We would have told them that they were stoned. Quite proud of both of our domestic car makers at this point actually...I think they have a lot of special things in store for us. I for one am going to greet them with joy rather than whining.

The Prius was developed with the help of the Japanese government and it sells hugely world wide, although US sales are down.

Agreed....which is why I have been so interested in sued luxury cars of the entry level.

Excellent list, dfelt!

We had one as a rental for five weeks after our MINI was in a minor accident and parts were back ordered at the body shop...it is one real reason I have a Jetta today!

Kind of like the luxury thing...I am really into simpler cars. Enjoy looking at a Ferrari 458 at cars and coffee, but have little desire to own one. Only cars above I would actually want in my garage would be a CTS-V wagon or Shelby GT 350 R.

Passat is an amazing long distance cruiser. Shame they are doing away with the diesel....50 MPG in a car that size....

#1. WRX #2. GTI #3. VW Golf Alltrack #4. Off lease acura TLX #5. Focus ST.

Shocking....

Sure thing!

On the contrary, we need robust competition in the automotive market to have each car maker bring us their best. Right now Lexus, Acura, BMW and the like are a bit on the defensive IMHO in terms of product in the luxury market. I need them to bring better product so GM improves our current lineup even further....Adam Smith got a few things right...

I think Ford and GM will continue to bring their A game, and will continue to make conquest sales. This can only hurt FCA, with its lack of investment.

I would upvote this by a hundred if I could, maybe a thousand. I have been saying Tesla is doomed for awhile now... When we talk about pride in our domestics, they have really brought their A game with this last group of cars/our current model lineup. When we electrify our cars will have a blue oval or a bow tie on the front.... Our domestics liked their wounds and actually had a sane moment of self reflection after having their ass handed to them by the Japanese and are now much more product focused. They do not have battery or reliability issues like the Honda Hybrids or the Nissan Leaf. GM/Ford also did not pour a crap ton of lost money down the hydrogen rat hole like Honda and Toyota did. They are in an excellent position to kick some ass....and I am sitting here on the sideline with my popcorn cheering them on... Tesla's stock is wildly, wildly over valued. We can't discount the words of someone who works in the finance industry just because he works in the finance industry.

Holding onto technology for too long is a bad thing also. The flathead was a fantastic motor for 1932 when it was introduced. GM abandoned for the most part valve in block technology as obsolete before Ford did, which gave them the experience to build the fantastic Small block Chevrolet motor that came out in 1955. Ford beat GM to market by one year with the Y block, but the Y block was by nearly all accounts (first hand people I have talked to, restorers, collectors, people who bought these new in the 1950's, people who were still using 1950's cars in the early 1970's when I started loving cars...) a dud compared with the SBC. As Wings said, people use what is reliable, affordable, and available... Agree completely on developing the ICE as well though. Ford's Ecoboost truck motor is wonderful. I live in an area where lots of people drive trucks, even a few years after the Ecoboost F150 came out....people are still just raving about it... When I was in kindergarten, we used to sing a song called make new friends and keep the old, one is solver and the other is gold.... Same with technology. I like woodworking...I use Japanese chisels that are made with the same forge technology that made Samurai swords in the 14th century... ...alongside chisels made with PMV-11, a 21st century alloy that stays sharper than traditional metals. Still freaking love the damned semi in this article though.... PMV-11 http://www.pm-v11.com/Story.aspx Japanese chisel making....

Reviewing regulations is crucial, and will have implications beyond the auto industry. There is such a thing as a proxy war...we are fighting a proxy war with Iran by arming the Saudi's to the teeth in their battle against the Yemeni Hoothi rebels, which are backed by Iran. It feels like we are fighting a proxy war with the German auto industry via diesel gate. The punishment is way out of line with the crime, and will be much more environmentally damaging to crush half a million cars. You have an additional impact on our relations with Germany.... We had an interesting dialogue at a debate tournament I judged/Coached this last weekend...between students and coaches of very liberal and very conservative as well as libertarian viewpoints. We all were of the view that were society to more closely follow the ideas of Adam Smith we would be much better off. I think electrification is inevitable....but I am damn sure going to enjoy my ICE cars while they are around...and my electrics when they come.