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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Some of it boils down to preferences. The italian supercar engines' soundtracks don't appeal to me. I like the deep throat growl of high displacement American V8s. I also like low end torque... spinning an engine to 8,000 rpm doesn't appeal to me at all. So, other factors aside, I prefer the GM 6.2 or the Hemis. Are they the best? That's not for me to decide, but they are certainly my personal preference. I don't care at all about hp/liter or max peak horsepower as long as the actual delivery of the power is satisfying. What it is like to live with is far more important than what it might perform like on paper. Soundtrack + usable power delivery + reliability + fuel economy = GM SBC or Chrysler Hemi for me every day of the week and twice on Sundays. A Sierra 6.2 at full tilt is what brings the hairs on my neck to stand up and take notice.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    @regfootball what are the $$ details on this. How much down, how much a month?
  3. Drew Dowdell
    An AWD V6 Charger isn't a bad place to spend the time. I lean more towards the 300 and Chrysler practically gives them away on leases.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Horsepower per liter is the dumbest metric possible. If we use that metric, most 2-stroke chainsaws would beat most cars. Even your grandmother can make 800 horsepower if we spin her fast enough.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Exactly. My only issue with the Encore these days is the size, but it's not the vehicle's fault that our needs have changed since we bought it. For us, it is a fine commuter, we both work in the downtown Pittsburgh now, so on days that I go into the office instead of working from home, we often drive. It's also still pleasant for long haul drives when it is just the two of us. We'll be taking it to DC on Saturday. The issue we're running into is that as his parents get older, they are less willing to drive on their own for the long trip to DC to visit his sister, so they're riding along with us. It's a bit snug for 4 adults plus luggage. That's where the comfort cruiser SUV comes in.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Because I'm not insane.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    I don't have a lot of sympathy for him. I picked the 1.4t Encore that has a lot less power. It's still fine in city. We've been fine with it for 70,000 miles.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    I have an issue with you saying that GM forced the 1.5t on you when there were 2.0ts on the lot. You chose the 2.0t because you didn't want to pay more. You also could have gotten a V6 Impala. You have multiple choices for better performance without leaving the Chevy lot.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Because, as I said earlier, it depends on engine architecture. The 2.0t is a variation on the 2.5 engine block. It is much larger than the engine architecture the 1.5t uses. They ate two completely different engine families. This is a GM specific thing based on about a decade of corporate development. GM is not going to produce two different but similarly powered 2.0t engines. It's just not economically feasible. Could they build a 2.0T on the smaller engine family? Probably. Will they? Probably not. A performance 1.8t though... As for a Cruze SS, the regular Cruze isn't selling very well, so why make an SS version? Building cars is multi-dimensional there is never one sole reason for doing or not doing something.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    No niche left uncovered
  11. Drew Dowdell
  12. Drew Dowdell
    Not when they sit in them. The C-Class definitely feels roomier. The CLA is nearly unusable for more than 2 people.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Probably not
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Again, you're looking at it from the consumer's point of view. Look at it from a manufacturer's point of view. A 1.5T would cost the same to build as a 2.0T assuming technologies are the same. (DI, VVT, Turbo, etc). There is not going to be some huge amount of price difference for that. Manufacturers (not just automobiles) often offer options that have a perceived value to a product while actually adding little or no cost to the underlying product. A good half of the consumer market is built that way.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    E Classes have the advantage of also being high volume taxies. The reason why Chevy puts the 1.5t in instead of the 2.0t has to do with engine architecture. The 2.0t is on the same block as the 2.5 which won't fit. It's a shame you can't ever see in more than one dimension at a time.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    You're only looking at customer price, not manufacturing cost. I'm not looking at the customer end at all, only the manufacturer end. A1.5t costs the same to manufacture as a 2.0t does. They're both turbo direct injection 4 cylinders with VVT. There is 1.25 cubic centimeters of displacement per cylinder difference between them. There is no advanced engineering difference. Mercedes gets to charge more for the higher output, sure, but it doesn't cost them more to build it. Mercedes is selling cars that are technologically the same (aside from rear suspension) as the Cruze for $10k more. AWD is an option that further increases the price. The rest is low cost fluff that Mercedes adds to get the fake Gucci crowd to buy it. This whole debate started because @Dfelt wondered why MB was chasing this segment. I was pointing out how MB was making a huge profit on it by selling the lowest common denominator to status seekers.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Again, no. The costly stuff is largely the same. What better tech does the base $33,6k CLA that a $23k Cruze LT doesn't?
  18. Drew Dowdell
    It's the same one.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    That may be true in the US, but we're fast becoming a secondary market to China. Just because a particular car sells poorly here doesn't mean it does in China. Buick sells more Regals in China than they sell of all Buicks in the US.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Didn't it have magnetic ride control?
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Yeah, that there is the Silverado look I don't like. Try this one.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    Think cost to build rather than MSRP. Does Cruze 1.5t with direct injection cost any more to build than an MB 2.0t with direct injection? Largely no. Unless there is some weird technology in an engine, that type of engine with the same technology will cost roughly the same regardless of who is building it and regardless of it's performance (baring ultra performance models). A compact FWD platform will cost roughly the same regardless of who is building it. There is nothing particularly special about the CLA. The only difference might be suspension complexity, but there is certainly not a $10k advantage there. So for what it costs Mercedes to build a CLA versus what it costs Chevy to build a Cruze, they're going to be pretty darn close.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    I can go either way on chrome in a vehicle. It really depends on the vehicle in question. I like the Escalade's looks and think it's amount of Chrome is fine. I think the Denali is a bit over the top, but I'd still drive it. I do not like the 2017 Silverado's chrome at all, I think it is gaudy, I only like the Silverado in Z71 trim where most (all?) of the chrome is converted to body color. I'm not a big fan of the '17 Sierra's chrome, it's not gaudy, it's just not attractive. In this truck, I prefer the All-Terrain model which blacks out the grill and uses a body color surround. I don't mind the chrome on any of the F-150 models. My favorite F-150 is the King Ranch, but any of them suit me in styling. The Ram I definitely prefer with body-color trim. I think the big blingy Limited is over the top and tacky from the exterior, though I really like the interior. The chrome on the regular old Big Horn is fine though.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    @dfelt, you beat me to it! I even had a C&G Holiday card made.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    pfffft... who cares about that when there are quarterly profits to consider?!
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