Drew Dowdell

Of course they'll bring it here.... it's the fastest growing segment

2 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

The big issue that he has is that those brands ahve zero equity, or perhaps negative equity, here in America.  Lincoln can regain it's market equity because it is attached to Ford and has an 80 year plus history of selling the Lincoln name here....the Italian brands have none of that.

You and I know that.... but Serg thinks he can rebuild the Italian auto industry and he is raiding the American one to do it. 

2 minutes ago, surreal1272 said:

Hope he was not responsible for that product or the ad lol.

No, he wasn't marketing.  He was the guy responsible for handling us media types in the mid-west.  Being based in Pittsburgh, I'm right on the dividing line, so I deal with both mid-west and east coast PR reps.  He is a good guy though and really put his heart into trying to do his best for Ford.  I know from personal discussions (as I said, we're at a friendship level as well) that he was very frustrated with the Ford corporate bureaucracy. 

Just now, A Horse With No Name said:

Really nice lineup!  I thought of a Ford Crown Vic myself, both for the thread and for an inexpensive family car.

I could totally go for a grannymobile Town Car.  They have drop in head units with full NAV, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto available... that's all I'd need.

Just now, A Horse With No Name said:

He will buy them as rolling shells and electrify them, easy done...

LOL

13 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Simple for an old car lineup:

Daily Driver: Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Aero 1986

Utility: GMC Syclone

Road Trip: GMC Typhoon

Track: Buick Grand National

 

you ain't getting any of those for under 15k total unless they're already totaled.....

26 minutes ago, Stew said:

He isn't going to sell off one of the only brands bringing in money and what I said is true.  Dodge is needed for Alfa.  Chrysler, well, IMHO, they have been dead for a while, as much as Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Hummer, and Mercury were before they got he chop. 

Why would Dodge be needed for Alfa?  Alfa can share platforms with Maserati and a growing Fiat and possibly a rebirthed Lancia. 

Fiat can replace Dodge in the "family car" segment

Lancia can replace Chrysler in the "premium family car (aka Buick) segment".  Lancia Pacifica anyone?

Alfa is to be the BMW/Benz/Cadillac fighter.

Jeep and Ram are spun off to pay for all of this.

Serg has no love for the American brands.... his vision is to restore the greatness(??) of the Italian Automotive industry. 

28 minutes ago, A Horse With No Name said:

Pretty much all of them...

He was making a joke since they are no longer visible. 

Just now, oldshurst442 said:

A question...

Its more like a hypothesis or an assumption.

 

The people that whine about others and "run to tell teacher" are...Im guessing and assuming, THE ones that are THE problem.

Am I right or wrong in this hypothesis?

They are a subset, yes...   but we still have to step in sometimes when things go unreported

10 minutes ago, Stew said:

I have little doubt Chrysler will die, but Dodge is integral to being able to Amortize the costs associated with Alfa and a very pricey platform.  Now, if they were spinning everything off, Alfa, Fiat, Maserati, etc too, then you may have a point. 

How the frig did it go from spinning them off to selling them off?  I hate these wild jumps of assumptions.

Serg doesn't value any of the American brands beyond what money he can suck out of them to revive his failing Fiat and attempt to rebirth Alfa.  He is raiding the American companies to pay for his pet projects.

On 4/26/2017 at 10:19 AM, A Horse With No Name said:

hmmmm...as a guy looking for a sporty family car, that suddenly becomes very affordable.

Still prefer the GTI.

I could totally go for a Fusion Sport for that price. 

8 hours ago, surreal1272 said:

Random funny for the day (and somewhere, someone in an marketing department is banging their head against a brick wall)!

 

 

Actually, my Ford PR contact just left and went to Nissan about 2 weeks ago. We're friends on Facebook.

Yeah, I'm sure it is more annoying for us admins because we have to moderate such disputes when people go "running to tell teacher".

1. The newest Cadillac DTS I could find 

2. Suburban

3. 2001 Cadillac Eldorado

4. An old Miata for me to wrench on... doesn't matter the year.

16 minutes ago, lengnert said:

After reading through some very insightful posts on here.... Scout, olds - you boys are, as usual, spot on with your commentary!      (And the video of the trailer above is possibly the best feat of engineering I have ever witnessed!   ).....  I can say that it bothers me little what trolling etc goes on in these threads.

I do not mean to belittle this forum (or any other, for that matter) when I say that this is just an internet forum....  I do not come here to look for the cure for cancer etc.  

In point of fact, the more the 'trolls' are allowed to... well, troll... the more foolish they will appear and without 'making a big deal out of it', they tend to moderate themselves.  Even the most ardent and/or even the most unintelligent of them, figure out that once they do not get the attention they seek, and then they see how moronic there words are... they don't wish to repeat the same tactic over and over.

Just my thought(s)....

 

I think for us old timers who have been coming to this forum for more than a decade and a half.... we've been relatively troll free up until recently. so to suddenly have a bunch of them pisses us off. 

In other news, I'd like to add motorcycle reviews and news some day

If anyone needed proof of Serg's long-term desire to kill off Chrysler and Dodge, this should be the final piece to that puzzle. 

35 minutes ago, Scout said:

Motor Trend forums died because the forum software sucks so bad and the powers that be seemed to not care.  The moderators there did what they could to no avail. The end. After hundreds of requests to fix the form falling on deaf ears the members finally threw in the towel and moved on.  

It was in a Motor Trend thread one member mentioned this place. That's how myself and a handful of others discovered this form.

Well glad to have you... and invite more of your friends.

11 minutes ago, dfelt said:

The video was great in bringing out what you stated for us. Thank you

Question, how does this compare to Jeeps GC AWD system? Do we have any comparisons or know how it stacks up?

Oh Jeep..... their AWD systems are so great in number they have a webpage just to explain what each one does.   The Grand Cherokee has four different AWD systems available.  I'm just going to link the website so you can read them for yourself.  The Quadra-Drive II with rear ELSD is the most capable. Quadra-Trac I is the least capable and most like the standard AWD systems in the Acadia.

I would put bets on the Grand Cherokee with Quadra-Drive II and ELSD being the most capable off-road vehicle in this class with the only possible competition coming from certain off-road equipped Toyota 4-Runners.

All of the other Acadias have a "normal" AWD system, which as @ykX mentioned isn't as capable. Oh it will get you through mild snow, but that's about it. 

14 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Drew, I noticed the Advanced AWD Dual Clutch system on the All-Terrain, but have not found much more on explaining the differences. Have you access to a better explanation of the differences between the two AWD systems?

Only thing stated on the web site: 

• Specially tuned AWD for off-road and multi-terrain environments to enhance handing and stability

Weird, doing multiple Bing and Google searches I found vague  comments on their advanced AWD system for the All-Terrain system. Then I copied and pasted the line from their web site and boom, BING actually listed the following page for the All-Terrain AWD system. VERY COOL

http://www.gmc.com/gmc-life/suvs/testing-the-2017-acadia-all-terrain.html

The AWD in the All-Terrain is the advanced new twin-clutch that the Cadillac XT5 and Buick Lacrosse have.  It is also the same system setup as the Focus RS, though without the performance characteristics.  The twin-clutch can act much more like an actual 4-wheel drive system than most AWD systems do, but it can also shut off power to the rear wheels completely when on dry pavement at speed, saving fuel.

I'd probably go for the All-Terrain.  Looks wise it's a wash for me as I like them both the same, but the All-Terrain has a superior AWD system that the Denali does not have. 

2 minutes ago, ykX said:

@Drew Dowdell

Just curious, have you driven the new Pilot?  If you did what's your opinion against others in the segment? It does have a lot of space.

I have driven the new Pilot. It was remarkably fast for a regular V6 and felt very light on its feet.  What I didn't like was the interior (a trend for me across the Honda lineup) and that there was very limited sound deadening. You hear everything.  I have an odd sense of hearing, so noises really bother me to the point of causing stress. I have a hard time in crowds for the same reason.  I like the quiet of Buick and Lexus.   I wanted to like the Pilot... but I just couldn't.  Not only is it the roomiest of crossovers until the new Traverse arrives, it would be the easiest for me to sell at home since he likes Hondas. 

Just now, ykX said:

As was said before GC does not have a third row, we occasionally use third row so GC is not good for our needs.  

I have ridden in CX-9 and I disagree with your review.

I think the CX-9 is fabulous. I'm a little let down by the engine as I am with nearly all turbo-4-bangers.  The only reason it's off my list is space, I need cubic feet.   The new Traverse supposedly has the largest cargo area of all of the crossovers though, so that's why it's still on the list. 

If I were to rank my personal preference for an actual purchase

1. Tahoe (but not allowed)

2. Explorer

3. Durango

4. Jeep Grand Cherokee (but probably not large enough, might go to my partner)

5. Traverse (maybe.... if I like it)

1 minute ago, ykX said:

I have not driven Explorer so can't say how it drives but every comparison  many car magazines ran rated it quite poorly,  

Explorer Platinum starts at $50k, MDX with technology package is $48k and I am not sure that Explorer will have more equipment from a quick look on the website.

I do like how Explorer looks, and personally I like it more then MDX but I don't think I would buy it over MDX.

I also would like to say that showing my wife a bunch of three row CUV's and asking her to rate them just based on their appearances I learned that women look at exterior very differently then man, and since most of these CUV's are driven by women our opinion is irrelevant.

If my wife says she likes MDX better I will get MDX even though it might not be my choice

 

The Explorer drives big, I'll give you that. It feels big like a Tahoe.  But for it's class, it does drive very well for what it is.

Too often I find that reviewers tend to try to compare everything to a mid-90s BMW.... and that's just not what these vehicles are.

The MDX too, drives really well.  It was the interior on the MDX that felt like a letdown, far too much Pilot in there.   The Explorer Platinum comes with just about everything you can get. 

I know what you mean about the wife thing though.... part of the reason I'm not allowed to get a Tahoe. 

The Explorer, GC, Durango, and Tahoe are my current top three choices in no particular order.  I'm interested to see what the new Traverse will be like.... I do like it's looks, but I wasn't a big fan of how the new Acadia drives, so that leaves me wondering about where that will leave me with the Traverse.