Drew Dowdell

I echo the surprise that you got a pre-refresh Escape... usually that would have been out of the rental fleet by now.

AFAIK, the interior changes are so minimal, you'd have to look at them side by side to really tell much of a difference. 

3 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Ingested a Klingon....?

Wrong alien...

3 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Stringer could work because it would be a lower price point and a sporty car that they don't have.  But Stinger could make the Cadenza irrelevant also.

very different cars, particularly in interior room. going by the chart above, the Cadenza is already irrelevant though. 

It's a shame because the Cadenza is a credible alternative to the Avalon and better looking than Azera

12 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

I view VW fans in the US the same way  I view hockey fans in the US

• There are a few of them. Not as many as the more popular sports like football or baseball or basketball. (GM, Ford, Toyota)
• But the loyal fans are freakin' loyal. No NHL lock-out or strike will keep them away (No emissions scandal will keep them away)
• In some cities, hockey is THE sport in winter such as in Boston or Minneapolis...(just like VW's diesel engine....nothing else will do for these folks but VW's trusty TDI)

Excellent analogy!

8 hours ago, smk4565 said:

They can drop the K900 now, that has been a flop.

I think they're planning on expanding along with the stinger.

Chicken and egg.

The Chinese had virtually no charging network last time I looked. Interest will grow when filling stations do.

11 hours ago, smk4565 said:

Agreed, if someone wants a large car they don't going to buy an A4 or C-class.  But the Continental is supposed to sell based on interior, ride quality and being quiet.  It isn't that quite and it rides on a Fusion chassis.  So the interior better be amazing, and it isn't.  The XTS is just as nice and well made as a Continental, and the XTS is dated and has one wheel in the grave.

Now you're just making stuff up to knock the Americans. I like the XTS a lot, you know that, but I'm still willing to concede that the Continental has a better interior.

2 hours ago, smk4565 said:

A C-class has a better interior than a Continental though, unless you are talking rear seat room.  CTS does have a bad center stack, Continental has a bit more in luxury than CTS, but CTS has it in chassis and transmission, call the engines a tie without the V.  You can run a Continental up to $70k, that is a well equipped E-class.  I'd still take the A6 which is from 2012 I think over a Continental interior.  

Plus the Fusion underpinnings and 6-speed auto from 2010 are huge down grades to the Continental.  With how little they spent on the mechanicals, the Continental should have an A8 level interior because they $25k sedan under pinnings.

1 hour ago, smk4565 said:

They don't, the 400 hp twin turbo V6 does 0-60 in 5.4 seconds.   The base V6 must be lethargic.   The E-class V6 does 0-60 in 4.2 seconds.  Gets better gas mileage too.  And I know, the Continental isn't about performance, it is about "quiet luxury"  but an E-class is quieter than it (63 DBA at 70 mph vs 67 in the Lincoln), and has air suspension.  Give the Continental another year and it will be a fleet car like the MKS or Town Car were.  The Continental should be priced like a Lexus ES, more like $38k base and $55k for a loaded 400 hp Black Label with free maintenance.  Then maybe it is a worthwhile buy.

No one buying comfort cruisers cases about the 0-60 as long as it is sufficient.... anything under 6.0 is more than enough.

The C-Class is just too small for it's price to be a comfort cruiser.  Someone looking for a Continental size car wouldn't give the C-Class a second glance. 

1 hour ago, balthazar said:

I don't know the particulars here- is not SolarCity a legally separate entity, or is it a subsidiary/division?

As for the strict legal structure, I couldn't tell you.  However, Tesla purchased them and is including SolarCity in its quarterly and annual reports now.  It is reporting on assets of solar equipment purchased for future leasing and it is reporting revenues from electrical generation.  Those are in the totals in the Q1 Report I posted earlier today. 

I assume they're fully financially merged at this point. 

Just now, balthazar said:

If Tesla can get a small catalog of models (let's stick with 'S''3''X''Y' for right now), vastly increase the charging network and sit on those models until they pay down some of their capital improvements, they may show a profit in 5 years. But if they continue to steady grow the catalog before the existing (4) models are in the black (IE: the pickup & the semi), it will take a lot longer than that.

Hey! the pickup could be the 'B', the semi could be the 'I', then all they need is 'T, C & H' models.

Tesla has more irons in the fire than just automotive now though.  They have SolarCity as well which seems to be turning a profit.  Currently, it is only a small percentage of Tesla's revenues, but it doubled those revenues in a single quarter. 

On 5/4/2017 at 0:27 PM, cp-the-nerd said:

It really impressed me how GM never stopped tweaking and improving the SS, maybe we have Holden execs to thank. By '16-17 this car had added magnetic ride, dual mode exhaust, manual transmission, front and rear 4-piston brembos (rears were conventional brakes in '14-15), and that sound induction tube from the intake for extra V8 noise in the cabin. If there's anything still lacking whatsoever, I don't know what it is.

Assuming it's reliable and I can make the payments till I own it, you'll have to pry the keys from my cold dead hands. Also, I'll be in the driver's seat with rigor mortis so have fun getting me out.

You'll want to send your Thank You note to Mark Reuss.  He's the one who's kept this car alive for as long as it's been going on. He had major input in the Zeta program way back when he was working in Australia. 

Just now, dfelt said:

Much appreciated Drew, while I know the HP # is lower and I tend to ignore it as Torque is much more important, I was surprised that the Torque number was 16 lb-ft less than the old engine. I was hoping to maintain or go higher on torque to really make it scoot especially in AWD mode. Wait and see how people think when it comes out.

There are 3 more gears in the box over the old 2.0T diesel. It'll do fine.

2 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

Excellent point.  You have to review cars for intended purpose.  A Lucerne should be reviewed for how well does it haul old folks to bingo.  It isn't a performance car.  It should be compared to handling and ride of an Avalon.  

For the Continental though, it can't match performance with any other $50-70k luxury car, so it better smoke them in interior and it does not.  To comment on your later post, I'll give you that Continental better lines up price wise with CTS, G80 and A6, S90 also, but I think the only one it beats in that group is G80, it is maybe equal to a CTS, it isn't better than the A6 which is old.

A base A6 is rather spartan inside. I'd put the Continental slightly higher than the CTS right now... primarily because of the CTS's center stack and the capacitive touch controls.  For comfort concerned drivers, that better interior goes to the Continental over the CTS hands down.

You keep looking at the Continental as a $50k luxury car.... it's not.  It bases at $44k.  That's mid-range C-Class over at Benz, and even if you bump it up to $53k looking at E-Class you're in a taxi-cab that you can't even plug your iPhone into with spending an extra $45 for a cable. $53k gets an AWD Turbo V6 Continental with leather compared to a RWD Turbo-4 E-Class with plastic seats.  If you have $53k in your pocket to spend... and not a penny more... the Continental gives you more performance and more luxury.  Period. 

8 minutes ago, FAPTurbo said:

haha okay, gm required acts of congress and two presidents to manage to stay afloat, turf enormous debts and hang employees out to dry... and for all the billions lent in a grand gamble, they're still sending jobs to mexico and korea, and making new hires work for a pittance compared to their predecessors.

BUT TESLA TAKES GUBMINT SUBSIDEEZ GUYS

... just like gm is happy to with the volt and bolt...

You're talking about a time of extraordinary financial turmoil not seen in 80 years that saw many of the largest financial institutions in the country ruined. GM was making money and being profitable right up until the Bear Stearns collapse.  Don't try to paint it like it was an ongoing thing to keep GM running.  GM took the loans yes, but they paid them back and came out of it a profitable company.

Tesla has yet to be a profitable company.  They'll get there someday, but that looks to still be a year to 3 years away. 

33 minutes ago, dfelt said:

OK, So I have looked and looked and can only find the following from GM

1.5L Turbo Gas Motor 170HP, ??? Torque

2.0L Turbo Gas Motor 252HP, ??? Torque

1.6L Turbo Diesel Motor 136HP, 250 LB-FT of Torque.

This diesel is less HP and Torque than the older 2.0L diesel that the Cruz had. and why no Torque #'s on the other engines? While initially I was excited by the Diesel option, this is a big let down to me in the poor Numbers and I wonder if all they really did was make it quiet and go after MPG only?

1.5T - around 184 lb-ft (about the same as the 1.5T in the Malibu gets)

2.0T - around 260 lb-ft (about the same as the 2.0T in the Malibu gets)

1.6 Diesel - The old 2.0 was not a GM motor. and 250 lb-ft will be more than enough to move this new lighter Terrain along smartly, especially with a 9-speed automatic.

You have to basically ignore horsepower numbers in diesels. They're low because diesels turn at half the RPM that gasoline motors do and still produce the same torque. Horsepower is a measurement of torque at a specific RPM... since the RPM is lower, the horsepower numbers are lower.  In passenger cars, horsepower is nearly meaningless..... in diesel passenger cars, it is entirely meaningless. 

43 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Musk could already be thinking of more main stream as he starts his plan for a white night to buy Tesla.

I think there is great value in an EV Pickup, but leaving the S to rot and not have an update is a big miss with so many EV auto company startups going after the 100K EV auto purchase crowd.

I don't see Musk's ego allowing him to give up control of Tesla or SpaceX or SolarCity (which is now part of Tesla anyway).  He's not going to sell... and he's got the cash to push forward with more investment if he wants to.   Plus, for now... he's the darling of the stock market and can issue more stock if he wants to. 

56 minutes ago, FAPTurbo said:

that's a pretty flip floppy hypocritical liberal 'do as i say not as i do' attitude there.

no wonder you hate tesla, you can't stand seeing real success...

They are making money building cars..... as long as you don't count the money they're spending trying to build more cars.

In their recent shareholder update for 2017, Tesla reported strong Q1 revenues of $2.7 billion dollars, more than doubling performance of the same quarter last year and an improvement of $411m over the final quarter of 2016. However, losses also grew from $282m last year to $330m in 2017, or a per-share loss of $2.04.

Tesla reports that most of the loss comes from capital expenditures for the Model-3 development, Gigafactory development, and acquisition related activity surrounding SolarCity. 

Subtracting SolarCity revenues, Automotive related revenue is reported at $2.289 billion, up 123% year over year.  Vehicle margins excluding ZEV credits are at 27.8%. 

Energy generation revenue is up significantly over Q4 2016 to $214m. 

Currently, Tesla is sticking with an outlook of 61% to 71% growth in annual vehicle deliveries, however Tesla indicated they will revise this guidance in Q3 after Model-3 production begins in July. 

Photo courtesy of Tesla Motors

Tesla Q1 2017 Shareholder Update (*PDF Warning*)

View full article

41 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

OK.. I agree on the manufacturing process, but when I speak of the Astra.. for Pontiac (we aren't talking Chevy).. the so-called "excitement division".. I was speaking of the VXR/OPC editions

That was never the Vibe's purpose.  It was meant to be an outdoorsy small crossover kinda along the lines of a Subaru Impreza Outback. Excitement can be more than just speed and handling.  Keep in mind some of the other products at Pontiac at the time, the Aztek (for all its warts, was actually a surprisingly good off-roader for being a chopped up mini-van, and offered a tent option, and had one of the best AWD systems offered at the time), and the cladded Montana, which also offered AWD. 

Pontiac was attempting to offer two forms off excitement in those days.... on-road performance or off-road adventure.  As a strategy, I could see it working.  It was in the execution where they failed. 

Seeing them in person, the platform sharing with the Q7 becomes very obvious.

then my mind wanders....

8 minutes ago, smk4565 said:

A Model S interior is on par with a Corvette or CTS, if you like technology and touchscreens it is better, if you like wood trim on doors, maybe a nod to the CTS, so to each their own.   Model S isn't a $100k sedan interior, but it selling performance and quietness and no gasoline, so they can get by with a $60k car interior.

Continental's interior isn't better than any of the German 3, it isn't better than the CT6, not better than a Genesis G90, not better than an S90.  So it is like the worst interior of the $50-70k segment.  It is better than a Lexus GS, so maybe 2nd worst interior in the segment.  Worst chassis for sure.

See these are the dumb comparisons that C&G exists to combat.  The G90 base price is $24,000 more than the base price of the Continental.  The CT6 is $10k more than the Continental and the CT6 product mix is heavily skewed towards the mid to high trims (they're intentionally not building many of the 2.0T RWD models) pushing its real-world base price even higher. 

The models you should have chosen were CTS, G80, and A6.  Compared to those, the Continental is quite competitive. 

5 minutes ago, oldshurst442 said:

well, what is worrying me is that Musk did say that a Model S replacement is not in the works.

But he did go on record saying that an urban pick-up truck is on its way.

And he did say that Model 3 suitors are confusing the model as a Model S upgrade...

Whether that last part is true or what Balthy and Fappy suggested is more on point, the end result does NOT bode well for the Model S as I fear it will be left to rot on the vine...

 

Telsa does running upgrades on their models over time.  I don't see a need for a full Model-S replacement, but they could do a refresh on it... give it a new interior that sort of thing.  

8 minutes ago, Cmicasa the Great said:

Nice way of looking at it.. Because they were the same with exception to SUBJECTIVE styling. Even I never tried to dog out the Matrix without dogging out the Vibe.. from a Toyota hating point of view. And I hate Toyota with a passion. My biggest quip with the Vibe always remained the fact that GM just didn't use Delta to make it or import the Astra at the time for Pontiac as it would do later for Saturn... another pointless, money costing venture that should have never been. Seriously.. Saturn was an expensive experiment that should have just been a renaming of Oldsmobile, but called Aurora.. which Olds was gonna be called eventually anyway. And hell if U look at the Saturns pre-names (when they were called SL etc) U see the face of what Olds would become in the Intrigue, Alero, and Aurora. Olds, historically was GM's test-bed for tech. Olds would get tech before Cadillac in many cases.. In other words the Alero could have shown up with plastic doors.. LOL.. now I'm just ranting

Vibe was the tail end of a decade and a half long venture where GM got to learn Toyota manufacturing processes. The value of that can be seen in the rest of the GM lineup today.   The Astra would never had made it as a Vibe... 1: it was too small 2: it was too underpowered (even by Vibe standards) 3: No AWD.

If someone else is paying the maintenance, the 7-series, but I'd still look longingly at the Town Car.

If I have to pay the maintenance, the Town Car. 

6 minutes ago, FAPTurbo said:

lol gm exists today solely because of massive bailouts and government input... and you're upset that tesla is savvy at getting government grants like everyone else? 

No. I think he's upset at the perceived difference in market value of the two companies. Also, GM no longer receives the level of aid it once got and even if all EV credits for Bolt, Volt, and CT6 PEV expired tomorrow, GM would be a continue to be a going concern. Can we say the same for Tesla which is already losing money with those credits?

On 5/3/2017 at 9:27 PM, Cubical-aka-Moltar said:

Lexus does have nice interiors, though.   It's good you can't see the front end from the driver's seat..  

Eh.... The RWD ones maybe. The FWD are too close to Camry for comfort.