Drew Dowdell

Those niches are growing rapidly. Subaru is on pace to outsell all of Mazda and VW combined this year and Subaru only has 7 models (less if you don't count Outback as a separate model from Legacy). They outsold all of Ford's car lineup. Subaru's biggest concern is matching manufacturing capacity to meet growth. With results like that, how much longer can we call Subaru a niche market vehicle? Volvo is in a similar growth trajectory. They've outsold Lincoln YTD, they've outsold Jaguar/Land Rover YTD, they're neck and neck with Infiniti YTD. The new XC60 just hit the showrooms, a new S60 is coming, plus a smaller crossover I think, @William Maley will correct me as I'm out of the loop, the XC40. Acura, Audi, and Buick need to be looking in their rearview mirrors. Even if Volvo is niche today, they won't be niche for long.

Volvo is doing quite well with their latest floating couches. But Cadillac is by far in the best position to offer both in a single vehicle. With magnetic ride control that they already have and air springs they could easily add as an option.... there could be a dial for "Serenity", "Touring", or "Sport". click it to whichever you prefer.

But that's not what Cadillac is doing. Is the CTS comfortable by current standards? Sure, it's the same as a BMW or Audi with firm suspension and firmer seats. I don't expect a boaty ride like my Olds, but something akin to the more cloud-like ride of the S80 with air suspension would be good. And plush seats rather than the park benches that all cars seem to come with these days

We have hybrid busses here in Pittsburgh. Not completely silent, but there is a substantial difference in the amount of noise they make.... they can also creep up on you if you've got headphones in because they can be as quiet as a gasoline car at slow speeds. The drivers here however, drive them like they're on the 'Ring

To me, chasing on road ultimate performance rather than comfort.

Indeed. At least the Escalade stays true to it's roots. I will say that the CT6 is probably an excellent blend of America and Euro. The CTS and ATS are too Euro even for my tastes.

If they had Wells Fargo car loans, WF bought gap insurance for them automatically..... so what might be a scandal for WF might be a win for those they scammed.

To put it another way, the 2.3 Ecoboost is an excellent option in the Mustang, the lower weight improves balance, the engine pulls strong and performs like a V6. However, the "Eco" part of the engine just isn't there. I've never had a chance to drive a 2.3T Mustang next to a V6 Mustang, but I suspect that in the real world (not EPA fantasy land), the V6 gets the better economy.

@cp-the-nerd hit the nail on the head. Are these engines producing less emissions and using less fuel than the engines they replaced. I can't answer the emissions part, but on fuel, my experience the answer is no. Part of the reason is that there larger engines have kept up with technology as well. Honda and GM both have cylinder shutoff in their V6es. GM and Chrysler have it in their V8s. At highway cruise, a Suburban is a 2.65 liter 4 cylinder.... Dead on with a 2.7 liter V6 from Ford using no boost. Likewise a Buick V6 Lacrosse is a 2.4 liter V4 at cruise. The Mustang 2.3 Ecoboost puts out the same horsepower as the Lacrosse, but requires premium gas to do so. Yet, even being a substantially heavier car, the Lacrosse will get better fuel economy. I do like turbos in the appropriate situation, but throwing them in everything in the name of branding doesn't seem to be working.

I called to make sure I had it before I even left Pittsburgh. I wanted to be sure of replacement in the event I was caught in the storm there.

Lincoln already has electrification, you've been able to buy a Hybrid MKZ for 6 or 7 years now.

What a week it's been! On Tuesday, looking at Irma's track and strength, I made a last minute decision to drive down to Homestead Florida to help my parents prepare for the storm. At that time, it was looking like an extremely strong Cat 5 hurricane was going to go through their back yard.... looking at the center of the track projection maps, it was literally a line drawn over their house. On top of that, had she made landfall on that track, they would have been a mere 30 miles from the landfall point. Things just didn't look good. Adding to this was the complication that they were in the middle of moving to a new house. They've been rebuilding a home for the past 2 years and had just started moving from the house they have been renting for the past 7 or 8 years. While the new house was built to the latest hurricane standards and might survive a direct hit from a cat 5 hurricane, the old house was a slap job rebuild that was put together in a rush after Hurricane Andrew demolished Homestead in 1992. It was already leaking and in a bad state of repair, we had no illusions of it surviving a direct hit. There is only about 10 miles between the two houses. I loaded up my Honda with the chainsaws, water, vehicle ramps, jack stands, and three 5-gallon gas cans strapped to the hitch mount cargo platform. I drove 19 hours overnight from Pittsburgh to Homestead, arriving mid-afternoon at my parent's house. The gas panic there had already set in with many stations running out of gas. About 15 miles from my parent's house I stopped and filled up one last time. It took over an hour in line to get gas, but I knew it could be my last chance to get gas before I left, and with a range of merely 275 miles per tank, I would need every mile possible to get out of Florida before the storm hit. We worked until 10:30 that night moving furniture, appliances, and large items in my parents' trucks. Thursday was spent grabbing smaller stuff that wasn't replaceable and a trip to my parents' business to do computer backups, grab computers out, and cover electronic machinery with plastic. There was an odd state of both panic and normalcy in the air all of Thursday. People were having fist fights over gasoline. There were hoarders who had bought truckloads of bottled water selling cases for $20 each sitting in otherwise vacant grocery store parking lots. Yet at the same time, there was this guy mowing his lawn ...and people giving haircuts on front porches. Friday, my dad went to grab as much as possible out of their boat, remove all the canvas, and secure it as best as possible. On the original track, the storm surge was forecast to be as high as 20 feet. In that situation, we assumed the boat was going to be lost. It is too large of a boat, 45 foot long with a 15 foot beam, to trailer it out. To give you an idea of the devastation a 20 foot storm surge would have caused, Hurricane Andrew's storm surge in Biscayne Bay was 14 feet and Andrew is among of the worst natural disasters to hit the US. I spent the day with my sister and mom to get the last of the things they wanted to save out of the old house. We were down to stuff that could be easily replaced at that point, so it was more like a regular house move. At 2:30 on friday we finally could stop to catch our breath. Everything that could be done to prepare was done. They had over 35 gallons of gas for their generator, plus all three vehicles filled up. The fridges and freezers were loaded as much as possible. I noticed on my last few trips around Homestead that the local panic had subsided a bit. Nearly all houses had their windows shuttered or boarded over. Gas stations still had lines, but they were minimal and moving fast. Even the traffic, which is irritating even under normal circumstances, had greatly subsided. Everyone who was going to leave had left and everyone who was going to stay was done with their preparations. I took a few hours to just spend some time with my family. My sister and I walked the avocado orchard that is part of the new property picking avocados to bring back to Pittsburgh with me. Their trees produce some famously large avocados. By Friday afternoon, Irma's projected path had shifted substantially to the west. Storm surge estimates for where the boat is kept were reduced to under 9 ft max, this meant the boat had a chance. I don't have an update yet on it's status, but as I've been following the storm surge totals, I expect that it has survived. (An old picture of the boat and my partner helping to get us ready to go out for a day on Biscayne Bay) Friday at 5pm the air changed suddenly. After 3 days of oppressive heat, humidity, and no wind, there was suddenly a cool breeze in the air. That cool breeze that normally would have been a welcome guest, was actually an ominous sign; the outer bands of Irma would be here soon. I had already packed up the car. I said my goodbyes to my family and started the trek north. Rather than try for 19 hours direct to Pittsburgh, I aimed for 15 hours to Manassas Virginia where my partner's sister lives. I took it slow, trying to squeak every last drop of miles-per-gallon out of the Honda to get me as far as possible north before needing to fill up again. I waited too long, and due to gas stations as far north as Daytona Florida being out of gas, I got a bit nervous. I made it into a Wawa just north of Daytona with 325 miles on the trip meter and a very angry looking low fuel light. The rest of the trip was uneventful. My parents are still assessing the damage to their properties, but it looks like they escaped with relatively little damage. They still have no power at the house and their generator fried. Five of the avocado trees out of their ninety or so came down, twenty other trees, various tall palms and such also came down. The business did not sustain any damage, and they've emailed the marina where the boat is and they report only superficial damage to the marina and no boats down. It's been an exhausting week, but I'm glad I was able to make it down there to help them get ready for what could have been an epic disaster. I'll probably go back down in a few weeks to help with cleanup, but I'll probably drive to Virginia and take the AutoTrain down instead. For now, I sleep.

It's not that it's anecdotal, it's that it's not a good comparison. The Titan engine has never been and today is still not competitive on the balance of power and fuel economy compared to anything from Detroit. GMs modern direct injected VVT V8s are what you want to compare. They are modern technology to compare to the Ecoboost. I have gotten equal or better fuel economy in the GMs than in equivalent Fords. The point I was making earlier was that while your friend might think he is using a light touch on the throttle, the computer could be tricking him and giving more throttle than he thinks he is to use the boost to try and compensate for the lack of displacement.

For a city so used to hurricanes you'd think they'd be more organized about it. I can to Miami to help my parents prepare. Some things in Miami very well organized other things are pandemonium and panic.

ANYWAY....

This would be for long distance trips. Pittsburgh to Miami and back or Pittsburgh to Denver and back. I use(d) the Avalanche as a camper with an air mattress in the back and would sleep with my feet in the bed area and my head in the cab with the midgate down.

Need some tow hitch advice: I want to put a motorcycle carrier on the back of an Avalanche. The carrier is rated for a 600 lb bike and weighs 97 pounds itself. One of these: http://amzn.to/2x1Hkc0 The bike I want to put on there is 485 fully fueled for a total weight of 582 after adding the carrier. I know much is made about tongue weight when towing, but I'm not really towing in this case, it's really just a platform with a bike riding on it. Can I put this setup on an Avalanche with a 500 lbs max tongue weight? The max tongue weight with a weight distributing hitch (which is not possible in this scenario) is at least 800lbs depending on setup, so the metal can take it. A Class III hitch receiver is supposed to be rated to a 600 lb max tongue weight. Something else makes me think this is just GM being stupid. The Escalade EXT and Suburban are rated at 600 lbs... and I doubt they use different receiver hardware between those two and the Avalanche. I'm just 85lbs over the official GM rating...... thoughts? tagging @balthazar and @ocnblu

I haven't left the house all day.

Dang! These guys are really good!

You are correct that the throttle is opening artificially higher. In the 55% case, that was more spirited driving, but still not 50% of the pedal. I'll have to get a screen shot or find a way to record the screen of my android while I'm driving the car.

Honda announces the 2018 Honda CR-V Type-R. This newest edition to the Type-R family features a 370 horsepower 2.4 liter turbo-charged direct injected engine with available 6-speed manual transmission. Configurable All-wheel drive is standard on all CR-V Type-Rs. In the driver selectable Comfort mode, the All-Wheel drive continuously monitors road conditions and adjusts traction as necessary, Sport mode locks the AWD into full time 4x4 mode with torque split evenly front to rear, +R mode allows the AWD system to adjust to performance driving inputs favoring torque to the rear wheels with the ability to send up to 90% of the torque to the rearward. Like Civic Type-R, Brembo calipers are standard. An active damping suspension automatically lowers the vehicle up to 30 mm at speeds above 45 mph or when +R mode is selected. Thicker front and rear stabilizer bars assist in handling the curves for spirited driving. The 2018 CR-V Type-R comes standard with HondaSense safety system. Optional Recaro front seats are available. The 2018 Honda CR-V Type-R arrives in dealerships on September 31st with a base price of $38,995 plus delivery.

They need one, but it can't be a rebadge of a Trax. They need to head the Renegade route and put a completely different body on the thing, probably raise the ride height a bit and give a little more driver control over the AWD system. The Trax AWD is already excellent for a softroader, but putting the ability to lock it into 4x4 mode and having some hill descent control would be good additions. Oh, and put a professional grade engine in there. The 1.6T gasser and the 1.6T Whisper diesel would do just fine.

Fake news has been in the press a lot lately, so I figured let's generate some of our own. Rules: 1. It has to be automotive related, no politics, not even a hint of politics. 2. It has to be plausible enough to be believable by someone who isn't a car enthusiast. (I.E., no Tucker is not resuming operations, no GM is not reviving Pontiac) 3. Write it as if it were a press release or news announcement.

The reality is, in daily driving around suburbia, you're really just driving a 1.5T minus the T. 1.5 liters in a large compact aren't all that fun.