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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    I'm all over the map on what I want to do. Part of me wants to go with a new Tahoe lease, another part of me doesn't want that kind of payment since I'm having some misgivings about the economy in the next few years. I know I can find Rainiers, Bravadas, 9-7xs, and Envoys with <50k miles on them for $10k. I could theoretically pay cash for that and not have this 125k mile CR-V costing me $500 every other month. Put a new Android Auto head unit in and I'm set. I no longer put lots of miles on my cars, so I wouldn't see 100k in something like that for 5 to 6 years. Even if I did want to finance part of it, my credit union only charges 3% interest on used cars and doesn't ask questions about the year of the car.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    I think for the last of the Grandpa market the new base engine is fine. I hope the eAssist smooths out the 2.5 though, it's not a great sounding or feeling engine. The old LaX with the 2.4 eAssist was decent.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Gosh, it only would have been like $700 to ship it.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    I wouldn't mind owning a recent Benz as long as someone else is picking up the repair bills.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Yes it the same interest rate, but you pay more interest overall because you are paying on it longer. If you're comfortable with the 60 month payment, just pay that.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    I was referring to a high octane, high performance variant. It would have to be power train certified which costs a lot of money. There would need to be some economy of scale to do that. The mount of the engine has nothing to do with bias in an AWD system. Haldex has been able to send 90% of the power to the rear wheels for more than 10 years. Most modern AWD systems with even a whiff of a sports badge (Chrysler 200s, Focus RS, Regal GS) can do over 60%.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    You've got DI and I don't in my Encore... but from my observation, I get no change in performance or fuel economy. I nearly always fill up at Costco, so I'm staying in the same brand and just switching from 87 to 93.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Well yes... but those were larger versions of the car.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    It looks like the eAssist is 8-speed and the V6 is 9-speed.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    I was mostly being snarky. I didn't finance for 84 months, but my credit union didn't even ask the year of the car when I bought out the lease. They do 84 month "second chance" financing as well, so that's not for people with good credit.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    I like the expansion of the AWD availability. I dislike the expansion of the use of the 2.5 liter 4-cylinder.... hopefully the eAssist tames the NVH a bit.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    You've gotta keep in mind the economies of scale. If they do a hi-po transverse 2.0T, they need to find other places to use it. If they do it in the XT5, then they've gotta put it in the Regal, Malibu, etc. Unless you're talking the normal 2.0T that they already build..... then I'd have to disagree. I don't have high hopes for it in the Traverse.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, the CLA is the cheapening of Benz. Benz really needs to have a lower brand to work with... or maybe even expand SMART to include normal vehicles.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Yeah, I could see a 3.0TT in place of the 3.6 in most cases. I'd leave the 3.6NA in place for the XT5 as a base engine and the 3.0TT as a buy up engine. Make the 3.0TT the XTS's base engine with a buy up to the 3.6TT. The 3.0TT would be detuned in both of these cases when it made the transition to transverse layout. Buick could then have the 3.0TT as a buy up engine in the Lacrosse with the 3.6 as base.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Because what's the point? You'd only want that in performance cars because of the octane requirement. No way they'd put that into the new Traverse when a relatively tame 3.6 liter can do the job on 87. So what's left? Camaro, ATS, Regal GS, Malibu 2.0. Aftermarket will take care of those who really want it.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    Yes... the handling was well regarded and on par with the Germans (because it was German). The 3.0 was indeed weak, but DOHC humpers like @smk4565 had to have DOHC. The main reason the 3800 wasn't used was that there was no 3800 production in Europe and these were built in Germany for US consumption. Before we ever got the Catera, Opel made a crazy for 1991 horsepower levels 372 HP / 411 lb-ft of torque 3.6 liter V6 Omega tuned by Lotus.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    But you couldn't get to the next stoplight in 4.2 seconds dontchaknow....
  18. Drew Dowdell
    I'm not even that big a fan of the Audi... but I'd go with the Audi by a country mile. My biggest hangup is the interior of the Dodge. I have in the past tried really hard to like the Magnum SRT, but I just Could. Not. Do. that interior. Put a 2015 Charger interior in a Magnum and I might have been convinced.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    2010 MY vehicles being financed for 84 months? That's gotta be social climbers chasing used money pits Benz S-classes just to have the badge.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Cadillac also sold the Catera in the US. Again, reliability issues owing to the US getting the worst engine option in the GM lineup at the time (See what happens when you insist on DOHC instead of what actually performs well @smk4565?), it was actually a very good vehicle. The Australians had the right idea and put the 3800 and 3800 S/C in them instead and they were fine. It had the same wheelbase as the 3-series, but had a larger trunk and front overhang allowing for a slightly larger interior. It did compete in the same price class as the 3-series. The Omega which the Catera is based on is still a well regarded cult car in Germany.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Putting a big engine into a small package isn't all that big a deal... GM started the practice 50+ years ago depending on which vehicle you want to count. The vast majority of CLAs sold do 0-60 in 6.4~ seconds. A Saturn Ion Red-line could do better than that 13 years ago with a base price of $20k. The AMG CLA 45 base price is $50k. I can think of lots of better ways to spend $50k than a sub-compact sedan that goes to 60 in 4.2 seconds yet doesn't even come with Leather, AndroidAuto/CarPlay, NAV, XM Radio, Auto Dimming Mirror, or Heated Seats. (Minimum total MSRP to add all those options = $57,825 )
  22. Drew Dowdell
    I think only the Miata/Fiata and FR-S/86/BRZ really qualify for slowish tossability. They're not fast straight line cars, but I'll be damned if I didn't have more fun in the BRZ than I did in a ZL-1 on the same day. The ZL-1 just had so much power that I couldn't use on unfamiliar back mountain roads where the BRZ I could push to its acceleration limit toss into a corner and not worry. Chrysler really needs to invest in the suspension of the Hellcats
  23. Drew Dowdell
    1983 BMW 320i 1982 Cadillac Cimerron Cadillac wasn't even behind the curve here on Luxury. Even the Cimarron had a better interior than the 320. Handling was another matter, but in terms of being an actual luxury car, the Cimarron was there with the Germans.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    The 3-series succeeded here on the pretense that "Euro" = "Better"... a subset of the pretense that "Import" = "better". 80's 3-series are absolutely NOT luxury cars... not by today's standards and not by the standards of 1983. A 1983 3-series was a decent handling VW Jetta. Aside from their Jetta level interior, they would also return to their Eisenoxid roots at an alarming pace. But they were expensive and handled decent... so whatever the '80s equivalent of a rich hipster is bought them. They were significantly, not luxury, just pretense. If you want a modern example... the CLA should fit the bill.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    There is no replacement for displacement..... they have other engines out there, they should have turboed them.
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