Robert Hall
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Everything posted by Robert Hall
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Almost got broadsided at an intersection coming back to work from lunch yesterday...riding in a coworker's sweet modded for offroading '80s Land Cruiser FJ60, he turned legally on a left arrow and some dumbass blew through the red light in a 90s Sonoma...the Sonoma nearly t-boned us, but he swerved and locked up his brakes and missed us by a few feet...
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Going to work this morning saw a red longbed '69 Ford Ranger pickup in traffic in solid condition w/ a rack w/ ladders and a wheelbarrow in the back...neat to see a truck that old still on the job... Saw one of the new Jeep Renegades in person for the first time in a light tan, neat little wagon. Also saw a new GMC Canyon short bed crew cab in dark green, first I've seen of the new generation..very sharp pickup.
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They could do a Pro Master or Pro Master City pickup w/ little investment, since Fiat makes pickups based on the vans they are based on. It would be functional and utilitarian., with diesel and good mileage. And it would be unique in the US market, not the usual predictable offering.
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That blue Chevelle looks like a '69. Didn't see much of anything this weekend, mostly stayed around the house and played in the pool and made only a couple trips out..
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This is a fun thread, good to see it updated. I've never had a mower of my own, but growing up I used to help my folks mow the acreage at the country place in Ohio (we've always called it the farm, but we weren't farming anything) and helping my Dad maintain the mowers..we had 4 Snapper Comet riding mowers, a '70, '76, '80, and an '86 vintage IIRC....the older ones were Briggs & Stratton, the later Tecumseh powered and they had more problems...finicky carbys IIRC.
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This point is one of the big hangups I've had with guys who cite Lexus sales numbers-Lexus is both Cadillac and Buick to Toyota's Chevy. I don't like the LS a whole lot, but I have no problem calling it a luxury car. The ES, not so much. To be fair, Lexus has begun to differentiate Lexus from mainstream Toyotas again with the extra emphasis they're putting on stuff like the IS. Lexus seems to be pursuing a two tier strategy---soft FWD based models like the ES and RX for the mainstream entry-lux, and their serious models (RC, IS, GS, LS) RWD based to compete w/ Cadillac and the Germans.. Cadillac has a similar strategy. Lexus seems to emphasizing performance w/ the F models and the violent styling, hoping it catches on against the established Germans. -
So like how the MKS shares its platform with the current Taurus.
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But a 'skilled', entrenched politician can too easily spin away sheer incompetence, whereas a beheading (today) would be harder to argue, caught on a dozen cell phone cameras. Yeah, and too old fashioned. Predator drones work better today..
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Except that it shares nothing with the Fusion, short of some hard points, a few common under body stampings, etc. The Conti will ride on a new CD4.3 chassis, which is heavily updated from the CD4 chassis. But again, it is the system(s) and the overall integration into the total system, that defines the car. So that is the platform the new Taurus will be on?
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Nothing different that I see so far in the Ford and Lincoln model playbook from what Toyota and Lexus are doing w/ their volume models..the Lexus CUVs each share a platform w/ a mainstream Toyota model, and the ES shares a platform with the Camry...so this Continental would be to the Fusion how the ES is to the Camry..
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A FWD/AWD transverse engine approach works fine for some luxury and near-luxury cars, like the current MKS, XTS, LaCrosse, Lexus ES, Avalon, Azera, Credenza, and RLX...the Continental could do well against those models.
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Got gas and used a squeegie to remove bird poo. I should go through a car wash, but it's pointless since there is another chance of rain. My next door neighbors moved out and took most of the cats w/ them, so less cat scratches on the cars these days..and they cut down the tree in their front yard that was dropping sap and tree spines on my Jeep..
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What are you talking about? Mediocre chassis engineering is still mediocre chassis engineering, regardless of era. Aside from possibly competing with a previous-gen version at the arrival gate I assure you nobody will seriously compare an S-Class to a Continental. Maybe in 2019 we can have this conversation. But certainly not today. So you are again suggesting that the new Conti is a mediocre chassis, yet you know almost nothing about it, other than the starting point, which is little more than fixed hard-point dimensions beginning with an all new chassis. Why is it that most in this industry already know what defines and contributes to a total system, which is the sum of it's parts and subsystems as well as, and most importantly, who they are all integrated together in that system -- except you? Because concluding 'mediocre' at this point suggests what many of us already know about what is behind your intended remarks. The car appears to have exactly what it needs, and more, to deliver on it's promises of the best Lincoln to date. Good enough anyway to completely steal the spotlight from it's recent auto show cross town rival. Must be a Ford employee...
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G-Class Quality, Lettuce Count the Ways
Robert Hall replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in Mercedes-Benz
I see a few every week..the best sighting was one night a few years ago in the Dairy Queen drive thru--one in front of me, an SL AMG behind me, with another G-wagen behind it... -
From a usability perspective, I don't see much improvement in usability in car audio interfaces from 15 years ago...my two 15 yr old cars have simple set ups that work just fine--cassette (don't that any more), single or multiple CD player, easy to use knobs and buttons, redundant steering wheel controls for volume, station, mode..no touch screens, only extras I'd like would be an AUX jack or USB connection..
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Welcome aboard!
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Welcome aboard!
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Lincoln seems to be pursuing a similar approach to Buick,with softer, quieter, FWD/AWD sedans and CUVs.not that far out of line from where Lincoln has been for a long time..Cadillac has generally embraced the performance driven luxury approach of M-B and BMW..nothing wrong with that, near-lux and lux market is big enough to support many approaches. Lexus, for example, used to be in a the soft, quiet precision niche but they are trying to move towards a more performance driven approach w/ their violent styling and F series models.
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Maybe a 3.0 is replacing the 2.7. Wondering why the didn't use the existing 3.5 that Lincoln uses today..
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Looks like Cox Cable are a bunch of Dicks...you know...for making you wait that extra hour and a half. But mostly, I just wanted to mention Cox and Dicks in the same sentence. LoL...I do wonder if any of the cable services have good customer service. I had Comcast when I lived in Denver, they were fair... long ago I had Adelphia..had just moved in, they were coming out to set up the cable and phone..had a window, never showed up. I called them (on my cell), they said they had tried calling me to reschedule..it was the new number they were coming to set up that they were calling.. ARGGGGHHH
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I have to make the time read them. But there are so many other things I wish I had the time for and don't. That's life I guess. I try and read for an hour or so every night before I go to sleep...either on my Kindle or a physical book. I used to have a Kindle (Paperwhite) and I loved it, except when I figured out that the light it emits kept me from falling asleep. Also, I was buying too many books and not reading them. I sold it a while back. Might get another one though. I've read that it's not good for going to sleep to use a lighted reader before bed...I have a 1st gen Kindle and a Kindle Fire HD tablet, which I use the most..probably not good to have the backlit screen in a dark room before bedtime, but I have strong meds to knock me out after 9:30 (500mg of prescription sleeping pills)
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You didn't snap a pic? Shoot first, upload the pictures here, then ask questions! I was in the far left lane, 40mph afternoon traffic, the car was in the middle lane then moved over and went into a Safeway lot..I would have followed it into the lot and taken pics had I been able to get over.. It looked like this...but no graphics or badging except for the VW round badging. The hybrid seems to be the only one I can find pics of with the C-shaped led lighting on the front fascia..
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I have to make the time read them. But there are so many other things I wish I had the time for and don't. That's life I guess. I try and read for an hour or so every night before I go to sleep...either on my Kindle or a physical book.
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Saw a dark rootbeer brown '16 Passat wagon in traffic, I think it was the plug-in hybrid Euro spec model,had the C-shaped LED front running lights in the lower fascia. Had a strange license plate--an AZ plate in dark blue w/ white characters. Hmmm...VW evaluating a prototype here?
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I've enjoyed a lot of long-haul 1-2 week vacations in the past, but 10-15 hours of flying on each end made them endurance events and not completely relaxing. Most of the vacations I've taken in recent years have been long weekends to West Coast Indy Car or NASCAR races coupled with a few quiet days at a nice hotel on a beach or in wine country...where I would disconnect and catch up on sleep. I love simple sleepcations---go to a local resort (esp. in off-season) and pretty much do nothing but sleep for the weekend and enjoy the restaurants.
