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Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Mustang is much more livable for day to day driving than Camaro for that reason
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Those sound like bugs. I'll report them later.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Couldn't be that it has less usable cargo room than the tC? Or that somehow they made this tall hatch feel more cramped for rear passengers than the tC? This is just Toyota's version of a Juke without the frog eyes.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    There is a very specific reason for that. They are interference engines, so a timing belt going usually takes the engine with it. That means that if people don't keep up with maintenance... (see the thread on turbo engine longevity for my opinion on that), a simple belt failure can cause catastrophic engine failure.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Of all the roadsters, I like this one the best. As much as I like big luxury cars, there is a part of me that wishes I had the garage space and time to futz with an old British roadster like a Triumph or Austin Healey. The Fiata is about as close one can get to a modern incarnation of those cars... which is blasphemy because it's an Italian name on a Japanese built car..... but it is what it is. Only the Z4 compares in atmosphere. I've never really cared for the looks of the Miata in any generation. It's for that same reason that I would like an old Saturn Sky Red-Line.... they hit the nail on the head with that car. It's a shame it didn't live on in another brand.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    The Volt, easy. Now had you posted a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse..... I might take a little longer to answer. The Acura never impressed me as being anything more than a fancy Civic... and barely that.... just like the ILX today.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    If you would be so kind as to do an experiment? See if there is a difference if you like/react to a post in a thread as opposed to reading but no reaction.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    I expect I will too the next time around... but not for issues of longevity.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Almost none of that is true. While the basic premise of how a turbo works hasn't changed, things like bearings, materials, design, flow, lowering mass (related to materials), have all improved substantially. There are alloys available today that were unthinkable 30 years ago. There is nearly no difference in a turbo maintenance schedule compared to a non-turbo maintenance schedule. The difference is that turbos are more sensitive if you go outside of that. Furthermore, there isn't a great deal of difference in the compression ratio of these vehicles. The compression ratio of the GM 2.0T is 9.5:1... which is actually slightly lower than the old 3900 pushrod V6 found in the Impala of 9.8:1, and much lower than the naturally aspirated 2.5 liter's 11.3:1 (The old BMW M5 V10 ran at 12:1)
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Quite right... turbo reliability has increased dramatically not just in 30 years, but even in the last 10-15 years. That, coupled with the fact that most manufacturers have switched to synthetic oil as spec helps the segment. I think, properly maintained, a non-performance turbo motor that is driven normally will last every bit as long as a non-turbo equivalent. I just don't think americans are good at proper maintenance.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Turbo motors are more sensitive to being neglected. The old Quad-4 and original ecotec weren't particularly great engines and they sounded terrible when running... but people would run them to 10,000 plus miles on conventional oil and they'd still run. I can hear when my newer Buick is below 25% on the oil life monitor... and I try to never go below that. If maintained properly, Turbo motors aren't an issue.... the trouble is we Americans are lazy about doing car maintenance.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    Well, the email thing should be resolved now. I have no idea what happened early this morning. I went to bed and the site was functioning fine with people posting until about 1am. Woke up this morning and somehow our theme was corrupted. I had to set it all up again from scratch, so things might not look exactly like they did yesterday. Report any glitches here.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    I wonder if the Hybrid will be FWD only or something.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Not every luxury vehicle must have every luxury option to be considered luxury..... I mean gosh, the Escalade doesn't even have those luxury plastic seats like the GLS has.... it only comes with real leather and it is still considered a luxury vehicle.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    I don't think he was saying size-wise. I think he's saying more premium than the current platinum
  16. Drew Dowdell
    It's also expensive to try and hide a vehicle while also testing it in the real world.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    More than one.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    I approve of anything that isn't just another jellybean style crossover with 14 juicebox holders and 33 USB charging ports and a vacuum built into the trunk
  19. Drew Dowdell
    That's why both options exist
  20. Drew Dowdell
    That potentially sounds like a pretty decent deal! One of them is an R-Design, which is decidedly not base, the other is a Momentum, which is mid-level. Both are AWD. It only requires $500 down. $500 down plus $600 a month for a mid-level Momentum optioned to $39,145 and that includes insurance and maintenance.... and you get 15,000 miles a year... That's pretty solid deal actually.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    You + Guy 3 + Guy 4 = My Mom's F150 + My Dad's F150
  22. Drew Dowdell
    There are a lot of them here in Pittsburgh... only sold one year? I thought it lasted a little while longer than that. People in pittsburgh must love obscure SUVs. I see a lot of Borregos, Envoy XUVs, Suzuki SX4s, there is someone near me with 3 Azteks. Sightings of the Rendezvous seem to be dying off, but they were popular here too.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    It seems to be a nice, if light visually, refresh. They did a good job with it. @Cubical-aka-Moltar is correct that it is a bit tight inside... this is a bit of a tweener. Bigger than the Equinox / Smaller than Traverse, ditto CR-V / Pilot.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    The only factor here is if intentional deception occurred. There is no way GM didn't share forecasted sales of each car. If PSA felt they were too rosey, they should have said something during due diligence. I don't need to be an expert to know that 20k Ampera-E is a bit optimistic for a car that the new Brand's owner would lose lots of money on per car.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    If GM intentionally misled, I do think they might owe the refund. That said, if the stats are true, there is quite possibly the largest reason for GM dumping Opel. They still had to pay the pension costs and such, but these issues would have made Opel intensely unprofitable.
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