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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The NVH of the old 2.0T in the Cobalt was actually pretty good for its day. Again, you don't need to take my word for it... look at all the articles regarding the turbo lag in that car AutoWeek - CLA Turbo Lag - Whether sport or economy mode is selected, the Mercedes always seemed to be a half-gear shy of where it should have been, and the combination of turbo lag and wonky clutch take-up makes smooth low-speed driving difficult. Once on the road there's plenty of power to get into trouble, so it's not a fundamental output issue -- rather it's a lack of refinement between the engine and transmission. Cars.com - CLA Turbo Lag - Despite the turbocharged four-cylinder engine's stout 208 horsepower and 258 pounds-feet of torque, excessive drivetrain lag sullies the CLA250. A sustained toe on the gas can induce gratifying low-end punch, where the little Benz surges ahead even at 2,000 rpm. The problem, however, is getting to all that. MercedesBlog.com CLA AMG45 Turbo Lag - To obtain the high power of 381 HP and the high torque of 475 Nm, relatively small Mercedes turbo engine operates with a big turbo which delivers a maximum pressure of 1.8 bar. But a big turbo means a high inertia and a big turbo lag which you feel at full throttle. Car and Driver - GLA Turbo Lag - In its default Comfort mode, sluggish shifts accentuate the engine’s turbo lag Consumer Reports - GLA Turbo Lag - But the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is unrefined and, combined with the engine's turbo lag, makes the GLA feel lethargic despite its quick acceleration times. So yea, you could use sport mode all the time, but that will kill your fuel economy. The reviews above tell me that Mercedes is still a long way off from perfecting this engine into something that is satisfying to drive on a daily basis. I would be disappointed in Cadillac if the XT4 came out with reviews like what you see above on the GLA/CLA. All Cadillac needs to do is tune it similar to the GMC Terrain and they have already beaten Mercedes. Car and Driver - GMC Terrain Turbo Lag - Our all-wheel-drive turbocharged 2.0-liter test vehicle achieved the top acceleration figures among its competitive set. Credit the Terrain’s minimal turbo lag and plentiful power, as well as the nine-speed automatic transmission’s ability to drop down a couple of gears quickly with a simple boot of the throttle. TruckTrend - GMC Terrain Turbo Lag - With 252 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque, its output lags behind the 3.6L V-6 that was optional in the previous Terrain, but you’d never know it from behind the wheel, thanks in part to that nine-speed auto. With fleet off-the-line reflexes, minimal turbo lag, and excellent passing power, the 2.0 is a surprising engine to find in the competent—but rarely fun—compact SUV segment. Mercedes-Benz... the best or is there a GMC in the comparison? Who cares? It is a dealer installed option fully supported by GM and covered by warranty. It allows the buyer to choose a higher performance model that would require 92 octane or the more standard SS that can run on regular. Same goes for the Mustang. It is functionally the same choice as a CLA 250 or a CLA 43... Benz just makes two models out of it while GM lets you upgrade an existing model. (yes I know there are other upgrades on the 43 over the 250.)
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Read my post after that. GM was doing 340 lb-ft from a 2.0T 10 years ago.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    There were engineering reasons for that. They added balance shafts to smooth out the previously rough engine. Once they got that sorted out they started increasing hp again. Also, about 10 years ago... "In December 2008, GM released a Turbo Upgrade Kit for the LNF engine which increases horsepower to 290 hp (220 kW) and torque to up to 340 ft⋅lb (460 N⋅m), depending on the model. The kit retails for $650 and includes remapped engine calibration and upgraded MAP sensors. The kit is covered by the cars' existing GM warranties." And before you try to play the CLA/GLA43 card SMK... It took MB 10 years to catch up to and exceed the power output of a 2008 Cobalt SS. A tuning decision is a tuning decision. It is not a indicator of engineering ability when a company has already proven itself able. Power delivery also matters and nearly every review of the CLA complains of turbo lag. So a fat lot of good that extra lb-ft is doing when it takes an extra 3 clicks of the mouse to get it.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Could be. The new V8 can run on as few as one cylinder in a revolution.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Still GM? ATS 2.0T -295 lb-ft Will you ever stop being a troll? A tuning decision is not indicative of engineering ability.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    This will actually be the third all-new 2.0t from GM. This new one has AFM. As we see displacements congeal around even numbers, we'll see this happen more often.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    If you were placing bets on who is more likely to get it right, would you bet on the 100+ year old company who has built suicide doors before or would you bet on the 15 year old company which still is using humans to manually drive the robots on their production line because they can't get them programmed correctly? THAT is all I'm sayin..
  8. Drew Dowdell
    We really need to dispense with the horsepower as a benchmark thing. It's not doing any of us any favors to be fixated on it. Lots of torque, way down low, is the best, way to go.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Panel gaps and door alignment have been an issue for telsa for a while. I can spot them when I'm sitting in traffic.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    I bet Ford could actually make them able to close and align properly. The trim piece on the front part of that door looks lovely also.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    This 2.0T is all new and for now is a Cadillac exclusive. More details will be released on it later, but I have an in with Cadillac and plan on getting the information ahead of time so I can release as soon as embargo is lifted. What he did tell me is that the engine is tuned heavily towards favoring low end torque (258lb-ft at 1500rpm!!) and they plan on making full use of the 9-speed gearbox. It should feel plenty fast. Just like my Encore has a rather pathetic 138 lb-ft but with very low gearing in first and second, it feels just as peppy in suburban driving as cars with 160 - 180 lb-ft. An additional 120 lb-ft and 3 additional gears with only marginally more weight... it'll be fine. Plastic Cladding.... only acceptable on European cars I guess. Look at all this plasticy plastic plastic.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    it seems like we might have a winner then
  13. Drew Dowdell
    What does everyone think about the 3rd version?
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Atlas EXT. With Ridgeline not doing all that well, I wonder how an even lesser known truck would do in the market when Toyota, GM, and Ford are all battling it out with "real" trucks in this segment with Jeep joining in shortly. The Atlas base price is $30k today and I doubt VW would make the truck version cheaper. For reference, the Ridgeline starts at $30k itself.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Because it was built and designed to be a Scion. It will probably be renamed Corolla SportCross or some BS during the next refresh.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    I'd have to look, but I think this 2.5 liter is all-new and supposed to have some ridiculously high MPG numbers for even the non-hybrid version
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Did you have a stroke? The CH-R is a Toyota.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    God he annoys me so much. Nothing about his reports... its the way he acts at the show. He has no problem pushing people out of the way or walking right in front of you when you're taking your shots. Even for such a short clip as this, it takes him for. freaking. ever. to get all his takes in.... If I see him working at a car I immediately turn around and leave because he's probably shooting a Time-Life mini-series. It's got something to do with height. The RAV4 is a much taller vehicle. The XT4 is not only shorter over all, but seems to sit much lower to the ground.... much more "tall hatchback" than crossover. I already hear @dfelt complaining about the headroom... anyone taller than my 5'10" height is not going to like the back seats. The cargo room of the XT4 feels roughly the same size as my Encore.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    They're the same 37+ way seats offered as optional in the Continental and Navigator. Like in those vehicles, they'll be optional or part of an upper tier package.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    The Velar interior is picture pretty, but fades quickly once you start casting a critical eye over the details. Q7 has to have a better interior because it is trying to play in the Escalade/Navigator/GLS class while also bridging down to GLE pricing. The fact that we're even talking about a mid-size Lincoln crossover in the same conversation as the GLE and Q7 is testament. The possibility that Lincoln could possibly sway would-be German intenders is not even close to zero. One really couldn't say that before today.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    This one is clearly still just a concept, but wow what a concept! Much of the vehicle is production ready with off the shelf parts from other Lincoln vehicles. I don't expect there to be as big a change concept to production as there was on Navigator and Continental. Even if only 90% of what we see in the interior makes it, it will compete easily with GLE and Range Rover. Those who like the Range Rover Velar but can't stomach the frequent trips to the dealer for warranty repairs will like the Aviator.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    I'm getting the pictures loaded into Lightroom now for processing. I think you all know my opinion on Toyota styling of existing products.... but I think this really changes the market for them. This RAV4 is now closer to Jeep Wrangler rugged looks than the Cherokee is.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, the XT5 is about the same size as the Acadia and the Acadia is just slightly larger than a JGC. Cadillac absolutely made some bad choices in the reveal of this. Poor space in the venue, the venue is fantastic just not appropriate for this type of reveal. The colors of the vehicles. The colors of the interior. They'll probably sell the crap out of these, but not for the quality of the initial presentation.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    They have a silver one as well. The venue they presented them in last night was terrible for this type of debut and getting pictures was hard. I'll have more up later today. It looks better in person than in the pics, but it still doesn't knock my socks off. Yes. It's surprisingly short and sits low to the ground for a crossover. I can see over the roof easily.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    Completely different markets. Cadillac does not have direct competition for the Aviator yet. This matches up with the MKC in price. That said, if this is any indicator of the future of Cadillac interiors verse Lincoln interiors, Lincoln will be making big moves on Cadillac very soon. There is nothing wrong with the XT4 interior, but it is nothing special, it could be a new Infiniti or Acura or BMW in styling. Cadillac cannot put this kind of half-hearted effort into the new Escalade or they will end up where the Navigator was in sales for the past decade.
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