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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The big thing is needing to re-engineer the turbo-V6 to work in a transverse layout and with the new 8-speed or 9-speed auto. I am unsure if the transverse 8-speed is built to handle the torque of the 3.6 TT. Watch the XTS.... if the V-sport continues after the refresh (and I suspect it may not), then you may see the 3.6TT show up in other FWD based vehicles.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    The new SuperDuty is indeed a great truck. I've only driven a top shelf $70k version (Limited Diesel) and was really impressed there. I didn't find the ride to be as bad as Cars.com described. So, I wonder if there are substantial suspension differences between the W/T and the SD. It would be a deal breaker for me if so. What's not news is that the newest truck available beats the oldest one. That's almost always how this segment works... GM, Ford, and Ram each trade places at the top of the hill for a couple years each.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    I make far too many trips to Costco, but I like that I don't need to remember to buy something for months. I have 6 months worth of deodorant, toothpaste, garbage bags, dishwasher detergent, and allergy meds in the house. What's crazy is that is one package of each, but many times I'm getting 6 months worth of product for the price of 2 - 3 months worth at other stores. I agree with you on the condiments. For stuff like Mayo or Ketchup, I use Aldi and buy a smaller jar. Aldi is another place where I've found the store brand to largely be equal or better than brand name (with some exceptions, but I've found out what they are). I use costco for a lot of my apartment stuff lately. I can buy attractive and stylish tile in bulk for less than anywhere. I can buy nice plumbing fixtures, appliances. They are usually the best deal on tires if you can find the model tire you want. My new laptop that I bought back during a Costco black friday deal was a planned purchase and I still to this day cannot beat the price for the unit I got. Anyway, my other reason for picking Mazda and Nissan. Mazda has already shown a williness to manufacture cars for other brands. They build the Yaris iA and the Fiat 124. Nissan probably wouldn't mind using up some spare capacity building another version of the Titan and Armada, which aren't selling all that well.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    What kind of take rate do you see for a Turbo-V6 XT5? 5%? 10%? Keep in mind the target market for these cars.....
  5. Drew Dowdell
    That version of Epsilon's time is ending. The XTS is done after 2020. I'd expect one more Impala refresh, and then it will move off Epsilon after that if it continues. Once the current crop of vehicles is done, I expect that there will be a shuffling of platforms. Where those cars land is anyone's guess at this point.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    I'm surprised GM is still using the 6.0. It's pretty out of date at this point. The definitely need to move to the 6.2 Ecotec3. That would be an instant upgrade that would give it more torque than the competition.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Correction. Cadillac doesn't need to put a Turbo V6 into the XT5. GM already had to add a 3rd shift to Spring Hill to build Acadias and XT5s. Adding a Turbo V6 won't do anything to increase sales.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Good write-up and welcome back Bob!
  9. Drew Dowdell
    The Buick can have an optional Turbo V6 and Cadillac can do the same. Plenty of people don't care about speed as long as it is sufficient enough to merge onto the freeway... for that, the current V6 is sufficient for Cadillac as a base engine.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    There are definitely deals to be had at Costco, but only if you can actually use all of what is being sold, even if you can't, sometimes costco is still better. We can never get through the whole box of salad greens from costco before they go bad, but even if we waste half the box, it is still a better deal at costco than the grocery store for the same stuff. Kirkland brand products are another category entirely. I have found their stuff to be really good quality and lower price than the brand name. Paper towels, contractor bags, allergy meds, toothpaste, gasoline all equal or better than the top tier brand name counterparts for substantial discount. For example, I can buy 6 months worth of Kirkland brand Zyrtec (365 count) for two of us for $14. Target brand Zyrtec is $12 for a 25 count. Brand name Zyrtec is even higher priced. Even when name brand paper towels are on sale at Costco, the Kirkland brand paper towels are still a better deal. Kirkland contractor bags are the best deal anywhere for top strength bags. Kirkland stuff tends to be good quality, but not flashy. The Mazda line-up seems to fit that bill. I'd just transplant that over and then rely on Nissan for the trucks. Naming would be simple. C2 (3), C3 (6) for the cars. S2 (CX-5), S3 (CX-9), S4 (Armada) for the crossovers, T1 (Frontier) and T2 (Titan) for the trucks, and V1 (NV200) and V2 (NV Cargo). I left out C1 and S1 intentionally in the event the brand took off and they wanted to add the Mazda 2 and Mazda CX-3. No showroom that I've ever seen. They just have a web portal where you can arrange a purchase. They are the largest single automotive transaction broker in the US these days.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Well, that's above your paygrade. Your job is to assemble a lineup of existing vehicles that could easily be rebadged into this new brand.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    Oh I'm sure it would just be a Kirkland (Insert Model-Alpha-Numeric).... we don't go around calling a Lincoln Continental The Lincoln Motor Company Continental... even though that's the full name they're using these days.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Costco has hired you to revamp their automobile program. Instead of offering discounts on other brands they've decided to market their own line under their Kirkland Signature brand. You have to create a model line up using other manufactures products rebranded. You'll need broad appeal. You'll also need to change the designs slightly so you can't exactly tell what it's badge engineered from. What are you going to offer? What cars, trucks and SUV's will you offer? What'll you call them? Create your lineup for Kirkland Signature Motors!
  14. Drew Dowdell
    I'm not sure the fuel economy thing did anything. Most people were like, "They still make Mitsubishis?"
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Wait a minute.... the arm rest on the Tahoe and Escalade are almost the same @smk4565??? Next you'll be telling me that both steering wheels are round!! zomg!
  16. Drew Dowdell
    If any vehicle in the GM lineup could benefit from a turbo V6, the Enclave would be it. The regular V6 just has to work too hard to move all that weight.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, I'm aware there are no perfect cars. I'm saying that the Atlas in particular was a let down on material quality especially given the levels we've come to expect from VW in the past. While the show car I was in was well put together, the whole thing felt over a decade old in materials all over. The outgoing Chevy Traverse, which I would never point to as a standard by which to do things, has much better feeling material quality than the Atlas, particularly around the switchgear and HVAC controls. And that's the rub, the Atlas is already behind an old Chevy I don't particularly like and that is about to be replaced.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    I wonder if they're just trying to swap powertrains at this point. If the Outlander was supposed to be in dealerships 2 years from now, much of the platform design work must already be locked down. The only thing I could see swapping out is the engine and possibly transmission. Either way, not good news of Mitsu...
  19. Drew Dowdell
    Not on the highway he can't. Remember, I had the same vintage Avalanche and 19 was the best I could do even when I was being careful. You've posted 26 or 27 highway on here before.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Do the mid-sizer have AFM yet? I bet that would help substantially. It seems to be the main driver as to how a 5.3 liter Suburban can manage it.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Yes
  22. Drew Dowdell
    Eh... the plastic on the door panels is just this side of tupperware. The HVAC controls in particular were from Fisher Price, only not that solid. (The Atlas, not the Passat. It's been awhile since I've been in a Passat). It was all put together really well, but the material quality isn't what I'd expect on a vehicle that will likely sell primarily in the mid-$30k range. Some competing vehicles that have been on the market for years or are just now going out of production have better material quality than what this new Atlas is getting.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    The interior is the biggest let down on the Atlas
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Yes, the mid-size trucks can get absurd when you get to the higher trims. I'm in the same boat going back and forth between a loaded Canyon SLT or a mid level Sierra All Terrain. It's at the lower end where the value of the mid-size trucks shows up because they are more consumers spec there while the low end full size truck are construction grade.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    I think the recent resurgence of the mid-size truck class has a lot more to do with full-size trucks getting so large and so expensive. It has little to do with fuel economy as gas prices are relatively cheap right now.
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