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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. The only way we have to generate hydrogen in any great number today is by.... burning fossil fuels. So, yes, you CAN waste hydrogen. The only way around that currently is to generate hydrogen via solar, wind, or other renewable means.... and last I checked, you poo pooed those too. Yes, there are those algae that fart hydrogen, but that is still a scientific curiosty right now. Burning hydrogen with no mechanism for regeneration is, indeed, wasteful.
  2. While it is a problem, these bills amounted to seizure without due process. The AG of Pennsylvania could seize the C&G doman on a CLAIM of copyright infringment and shut us down until it was resolved in court.... effectively killing the website.
  3. Which reminds me, I need to get one as a press car at some point and have albert model it.
  4. I think Porsche could get away with a Sub-Boxster in the US quite easily. Look at how well the original Z3 sold until BMW jacked the price up. Share it on a VW platform and price it starting at about 32k with a smallish turbo-4
  5. You thought you were going to pass emissions with a hollowed out cat? ..... in PA?...
  6. You know... except for the cost... I could probably drive one of these.
  7. Yes, yes it would. Hydrogen-powered ICEs would make me most happy. No batteries! Hydrogen powered ICEs are a waste of fuel because of all of the mechanical inefficiency of the turning engine. The way to take the most advantage of hydrogen is to put it into a fuel cell to run an electric motor instead of burning it in an ICE. Thus regenerative braking can actually re-charge the fuel cell partially. A fuel cell is just a battery that consumes the chemical used to generate the electricity. In a hydrogen fuel cell, the process can be reversed to create more stored hydrogen.
  8. Sometimes Dodgefan forgets that he's an admin and can bypass things that are turned off... it isn't broken.... it was shut off.
  9. Just a reminder to email your representatives today
  10. Doesn't exist. This one has the navigation system, lane departure warning, and crash avoidance warning. Those lights take up that space.
  11. That is very respectible sales for a car that didn't even get into the dealer networks in any volume till mid summer. Had the dealers been fully deployed and fully stocked Jan 1, 2011, I bet they could have done double that.
  12. So you could name change the name of the Focus to the Ford SkankButt and it wouldn't matter? People do not like the MK names.... not at all.
  13. Again, I'm not advocating for the closing of either. I feel each according to his gifts. Opel does certain things very well. Holden does certain things very well. GM should retain both. I also believe that if Reuss has any pull at all, Holden will remain. Zeta isn't as flexible down in size as it needs to be. It can go up easily, but not down without retaining too much weight. That said a good lot of what was learned in Zeta have been reincarnated into Alpha using better materials.
  14. I'd say it does. For many people, a smaller car that is comfortable on the road and not a penalty box is a holy grail. There are a lot of people in my age group that find the camry way too large. One friend in particular expresses frequent hatred towards his mom's "boat" Camry... yet he is a Toyota buyer himself.
  15. Not really... as I like the Buick styling less and less and it all looks like a Opel. And being a Riv/Buick would seem to imply it would be FWD. A large coupe would be nice, but how about a sedan that didn't require me to sit 6 inches behind the B-pillar. Or a large wagon. Something like the Challenger with a trunk or a Magnum/Flex that looks better. Wait, wait, wait. BTW, I couldn't care less about the new RWD platforms. Zeta was fine, Sigma was fine... B-bods were fine. I'm not buying a car based on what the dirty parts look like... I am buying based on the driveline configuration and the functionality of the body on top. Looking bad-ass would be a plus. I very seriously doubt anything of Opel origin will ever grace my driveway on a regular basis. Zeta and Sigma were too heavy and not flexible enough. The Alpha is highly scalable on either side of the ATS. The ATS also clocks in at 350lbs less than its primary competitor. Alpha platform is superior to the Zeta in just about every way in terms of production ability. Omega is coming to take the Zeta long wheelbase end of the lineup. This is what we in the industry call "progress". I wouldn't bet on a Riviera being FWD. I got pushback when I suggested it should be. No, I don't as I stated in an earlier post. Addressing the problem doesn't equal solving it. Look at it this way, if all of the recent Opel-derived products sold here had been kept as Opel property built in Europe and shipped here, just how well do you think they would have sold at the increased sticker that would require? Opel needs to back away from production in a large way. .....and... they.... are.... The Regal sold just fine being built in Russelheim
  16. Have you ever driven a Tesla roadster? A Tesla Model S? One of those 600hp AWD mini coopers?
  17. Do you deny that GMNA, GMDAT, and GMAU have all benefitted from Opel R&D without paying much for it at all? GM is already addressing the labor issues as Z-06 pointed out.
  18. Opel is massively over capacity and suffers from the same debilitating legacy and labor problems that GMNA did pre-bankruptcy. Add-in the disaster that the EU is in general, and something clearly needs to be done. A much smaller Opel with an emphasis on FWD development has value - I realize this. However, as a manufacturing concern, and an export concern, they are nearly hopeless and geographically challenged. Let's not forget that Opel has lost $14.5 billion since 1999. You really can't wrap your mind around the elephant that is the GM accounting department can you?
  19. It was pretty much what the sticker says. Highway cruising (at legal speeds) got me 36 mpg. City I got 27.6mpg. Blend that to suit your driving.
  20. 100% of trips can be made in a Chevy Volt with 95% of them being electric only.
  21. But is Opel 30% over capacity or should they just take the entire hit in the European market because you don't like them? Opel being responsible for the development of 50% of GMNA's lineup is certainly NOT beside the point. It IS the point. Opel has developed excellent front wheel drive cars for GMNA... and excellent SMALL cars... something GMNA has NEVER been good at. You may not like the Sonic, Cruze, Verano, and Encore but they are nessesary parts of the GMNA lineup.

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