Drew Dowdell
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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What would your preference be?
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V6 is dying in Mass market cars anyway, so that's less of a consideration anymore. A RWD only I6 could be useful for Cadillac, Camaro, trucks and the RWD SUVs. The FWD 3.6 V6 can soldier on in the Impala, Lacrosse, Regal, and big crossovers. XTS is dying. Nothing else FWD still uses it. If Impala and Lacrosse go away... Well....
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It makes me wonder if the Americans should consider going back to I6 engines and add some boost. They make great truck engines too because they have more journal bearings than a V6 which makes them naturally more durable. In naturally aspirated form, they tend to have better torque delivery than a V, but that's not a hard rule. I'd not mind a 3.5 boosted I6 in a Silverado. I mean, why does C&D or Motortrend hire writers... They just reprint the same review each year and change the snark.
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If they do that, it will force the hand of the Americans and their truck offerings.
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- toyota
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Why not? There is a 4 cylinder turbo E class and the CT6 weighs less. The ATS is a substantially superior vehicle to the CLA in every objective measure... But brand whores prefer the fake pleather Gucci bag over and actual entry luxury performance sedan.
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The new battery part is interesting... I wonder what that will involve.
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I will also point out that these VIN cards are not set in stone. GM can add to them at any time.
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Well it's just my own guess. They could keep it on Alpha and have it RWD/AWD.... but the CLA and A3 have proven that RWD is not needed for sales success. Mercedes is selling as many 98-Taurus-Shrunk-In-The-Wash as they can while the superior chassis of the ATS doesn't move that well. If Cadillac can sell 1.8T/2.0T powered rebadge Cruzes for $30k, I totally see them going for it if the sales are there.
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Come to think of it. I think I've only driven the PHEV XC90 which may have different NVH characteristics than the others. I'm that case, I never found the power train objectionable. A Toureg V10 would have to be CPO. The only way I'd own one is if VW is picking up the repair tab.
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What sucks about the XC90? Not that it's on the list, it doesn't have the capacity... but I've liked it whenever I've driven it.
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Yeah... it's sort of a process of elimination. They've said that the ATS sedan is going away and that Cadillac is cutting down on the number of sedans. But there will be a CT4 that replaces the ATS in the lineup, so what will that car be? We know they won't do coupe only, it doesn't make economic sense to. We know that a CT4 won't be a crossover, that's what XT4 will be. So that leaves hatchback and wagon as possibilities. Given that there is technically no longer a Regal sedan, I'm guessing the correct answer here is "hatchback" or "sportback" if you want to use Buick's terms.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)ABS is a safety thing and more safety is more gooder.... Electric power steering, I don't think they could even articulate why/how it is different from "normal".
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The reason it got dumped was packaging. I6 engines are tall and as such they reach maximum displacement for a given engine bay a lot sooner than a V engine. Where an old I6 might have topped out around 3.5 liters with no room to grow, V engines could get larger even up to including V8s and V10s. Add to that European pedestrian hood crush standards and there was no way MB was going to be able to keep up with the power race. BMW did it with turbochargers and moving to 4-cylinders.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)I think the vast majority of Jetta buyers don't care about the torsion beam, and for those who do, there is the GLI.
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I'm reading this slightly different. Yes, the ATS sedan will be dropped, but that's because the CT4 will replace it and likely won't be a sedan but rather a hatchback in keeping with JDN's very qualified statement about Cadillac sedans. What this sounds like to me is that there won't be a CT4 coupe, at least at first, and the ATS Coupe will stick around for that role until a replacement is ready to go. I'm guessing the CT4 will be a more direct competitor to the CLA/A3... meaning FWD and 4-cylinder turbo only. It will be some sort of sport hatchback coupe crossover with 4 doors. The CT5 will be only slightly smaller externally than the current CTS, but will have better packaging and ride on the Omega platform with the CT6. Here is where the giant question mark comes up..... If ATS and CTS are going away, what happens to Camaro when its platform mates are dead? The only possibility I see is if GM has some sort of Alpha 2.0 in the works for CT4/CT5/Camaro to ride on that has the weight savings enhancements that come with Omega.
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Well the house is clearly blight. Time to bulldoze it.
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Neither. Using mixed materials was a technical breakthrough that first showed on the CT6. It doesn't always pay off to use aluminum on every part of the body. High strength steel, ultra high strength steel, and Aluminum each have different properties. On the CT6 the found they might save 5 pounds switching a body component to aluminum, but then they needed 8 pounds of sound deadening due to the different acoustic properties of aluminum. They built an entire technology around using mixed materials.... It wasn't some phoned in thing.
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Those are the easy favorites. I was looking for additional options that I hadn't thought of. I don't much care for the previous Expedition interior, but I do like the new one. Won't find it as a CPO yet though, too new. The X5 can come with air suspension, so I would seek out one equipped that way.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)Thank you. This is what I'm saying. Regardless of what the numbers say, the Passat feels as big or bigger than the Avalon.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)You really have reading comprehension issues. The Passat feels substantially larger inside than any of the other midsize do. I did not suggest that VW increase it's exterior dimensions. Just that it feels bigger and roomier than Accord or Malibu. Those larger sedans aren't tanking based on size, they are tanking based on cost. An Avalon is $30+k base, people start looking at Crossovers for less than that.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)I'm not saying make the Passat bigger. It is already one of the roomiest feeling midsize sedans on the market. In spite of the numbers, it feels cavernous inside compared to Accord, Camry, and Malibu. It feels on par with Avalon and Impala. So, that said, I can see VW moving the Jetta up to Malibu/Camry size and leaving the Golf where it's at. That would give VW a small, medium, large car lineup with the Arteon being the specialty car.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)Well VW thinks differently apparently.
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Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in North American International Auto Show in Detroit (NAIAS)And we all know that exterior length is the only measure of a car.
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That could be sufficient, but there is still too big a space between Jetta and Passat while Golf and Jetta are probably too close for the same showroom in 2019
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- volkswagen
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