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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    More information about "No Encore For Buick Verano"
    Buick's compact car, the Verano may not see an encore after the model run is up at the end of the 2017 model year according to a report on AutoNews.com. With the addition of the Buick Envision going on sale in a few weeks, Buick see crossovers making up 70% of its sales going forward. It's not hard to see why Buick would come to that conclusion. GM sales figures for December 2015 show the Verano moving 31,886 copies for the year while the similarly priced Buick Encore sold 67,549 units. Buick's strategy lately has been to fill "white space" in the market. Offer models that don't quite have an exact match to offerings from any other brand. When the Verano debuted in 2011, it filled such a white space being a small car with premium features like heated steering wheel, large for the time entertainment screen, and a powerful turbo option. Since that time, redesigned versions of the Chevy Cruze and Honda Civic have started offering those features and more. Canceling the Verano makes it a one-and-done model. The writing apparently has been on the wall for the Verano for a while. In December we noticed that the Turbo model was apparently being dropped for 2017 as it no longer appears on the Verano's VIN card. The biggest impact will be to Buick dealerships who will now have to convince 30,000 customers a year that they don't want a sedan and what they really want is a shiny new Encore or Envision. Source: Autonews.com
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Do you lift, dfelt???? Am I talking to a fellow gym rat and didn't know this whole time??? Need you both to kick my butt into the habit once I'm done all of this travel at the end of the month. I was taught to never ski while tired or you'll end up hurting yourself, and I imagine the same is true for lifting. I can't get over the exhaustion to go make myself more exhausted at the moment. LOL, Yes, I was 6 ft tall at age 12, totally a mess in coordination and my dad took me to the Washington state body building competition which is now the Washington State Natural Body building competition. Saw Arnold and fell in love with the sport. I did everything I could to build myself and eventually bought his Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding and never looked back. Highly Recommend this book: ArnoldBible.jpg Even if you do not want to be a full blown body building but just to tone and shape up, this shows step by step the safest ways I know to lift free weights and build your body into a strong solid frame. At 48 years Old, I ski harder than most teens and 20's according to my son. Still hit the parks, jumps, etc. I truly believe being a Gym Rat is an important part of long life with little down time. Drew, best way to ease back into it when the Gym has not been a consistent part of your life is to have some dumb bells at home, not 20, 30 40 lbs, but simple 3,5 & 8 pound dumb bells, so you can do bicep curls and tricep presses while watching TV. Forearm curls to help strengthen and keep from having issues with your fingers and forearms for those of us at the computer all day. You can also then use these same dumb bells to do lungs while watching TV or a movie. Standing squats if you want to get a bit heavier dumbbells can be done also. This will get you into a routine and then you can slide back into the gym. So yes, a fellow Gym Rat and now hopefully people can understand why I find anything other than a full size SUV at 6'6" tall and 280 lbs to be a small comfy auto for me. Happy LIfting! How do you get around the pre-existing exhaustion?
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Shooting Brake is a body style. Balth can explain
  4. Drew Dowdell
    Size.. Cutting down a platform is easier than stretching one beyond its design.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    I have "status" because I rent with national so much. The selection in Pittsburgh has been unusually lame lately.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    I usually get something nice. Loaded Grand Cherokees or 300s. My last rental was a Maxima and it was fine
  7. Drew Dowdell
    I bought out the lease a year ago
  8. Drew Dowdell
    BMW fans won't buy a Cadillac at any price no matter how good it is and no matter how many times it laps a BMW around the Ring. Just like you still wouldn't buy a Cadillac even if it was a rebadged S Class. You like to make up stories about why your pet brand is so much better, but you keep having to move the goal posts when Cadillac meets or exceeds them. That's what's annoying about brand fans like you. You simply cannot admit that there are areas your brand falls down in.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    I guess that's another factor. I can rent something larger than our Encore. I'm reserved for a midsize, but because of my status with national, I can take anything on the lot.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    I'm not 100% sure they will, but I am 100% sure it doesn't matter. The Housewives of Miami who will buy this can't even pronounce Nurburgring.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    That's probably as close as we got lately..
  12. Drew Dowdell
    The majority of coupes we have today all seem to tumble forward rather than sweep back. None of the sedans seem to sweep back... That would immediately show up on my radar.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Uh, no. That is a completely dishonest comparison..comparing when the torque peaks occur is basically immaterial. The BMW and Cadillac produce the same amount of torque within 500rpm of each other, but the Cadillac goes on to produce even more as the RPM climbs while the BMW gets left behind. No one ever in all the history of automobiles is going to complain about 590 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm (plus more later) verses 590 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm (absolute max)... Except of course you and your badge snobbery.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Your information, as usual, is erroneous. BMW V-12 : 592 HP / 590 TRQ Cadillac V : 640 HP / 630 TRQ Already puts the smack down on the V-12, with a half-liter less displacement & 4 less cylinders. And no smoothness penalty. BMW's 12 needs a major overhaul. I think I read some rumor where BMW might up the power of the V12, as Rolls Royce will use it too. But if it is the 592 of the 760 which it probably will be, that engine does make peak torque at 1,500 rpm, which is really low. The CTS-V makes peak torque at 3,600. Regardless though, it is physically impossible to make a V8 as smooth as a V12 or an inline six for that matter. The V12 is the smoothest engine configuration. So wait.. the BMW "only" makes it's 590 lb-ft at 1,500 rpm, and that's the most you'll ever get..... and the CTS-V makes that same 590 lb-ft at 2,000rpm and will continue to deliver another 40 lb-ft once reaching 3,600rpm... . but somehow the BMW is better and has better power delivery? What exactly have the Germans been putting in your Kool-Aid?
  15. Drew Dowdell
    The quality of the materials in the interior is exactly my point. A Cadenza has nicer materials than an Optima. An Avalon has nicer materials than a Camry. A Maxima has nicer materials than an Altima... etc. A Lacrosse has nicer materials than an Impala and a Regal has nicer materials than a Malibu. Agreed. And a Lexus ES nicer than an Avalon, and Infiniti Q50 nicer than a Maxima, etc. You can get luxury features like a heated steering wheel in a Kia Forte, doesn't make the Forte a luxury car. It is harder to say what is more luxurious a Cadenza or an A4 the Cadenza probably has more equipment and features, the A4 better build quality or materials. In that overlap price point in the mid $30s buyers could have different opinions of luxury. I still think materials and driving experience are what set the true luxury cars apart, which is why I think a rear drive chassis is important, because you can create that premium feel, long wheel base for smoother ride, 50/50 weight balance for better handling. These are the things a Toyota Avalon can't do, the Avalon will still drive like a Camry. Comparing base to base... yes. But a loaded Avalon is about the same as an ES (I'm not all that impressed with the ES anyway, so there's that), I'd take a Maxima Platinum over a Q50 any day all day, the Maxima is just that good. The Cadenza... eh, it's a half hearted effort from Kia, so I wouldn't go there, but a K900? Sure! The Lacrosse over an Impala for the same price? No contest. The lower model Audis have not been impressing me at all lately. I see a lot of VW in them. I'd love an A8L, but that isn't the level of effort Audi is putting into the A3/A4 these days. I really dislike the A3, the automotive writer in me can see all of the Jetta hardpoints in it and it does not feel premium to me at all... it's a premium over a Jetta... but not premium over other cars for its price. And no, the Avalon doesn't drive like a Camry... Toyota tried too hard to make it a "sport sedan" so now it doesn't have any of the cushiness it was once known for. The suspension is stiff and it slams over the pavement... the ES is equally as bad... but that's a Toyota engineering decision, not anything else.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    I dare Cadillac to look at their most iconic vehicles from each decade and try a reproduce few of those formulas with modern requirements. Pull from their history. I would start with a '39, '48 Jetback, '57 Eldorado, '67 Eldorado, a '75 Seville, an '85 Seville.... I don't mean copy the styling... I mean copy the formula. Most of the ones I listed were when Cadillac dared to be different in some way. That said... as I'm sure Balth would point out a pattern in my selection..... I would totally be in line ready to sign up for a long hood, short deck, swept back coupe or sedan from Cadillac.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    I found you one. The CLA/GLA. Same platform, same engines. CLA250 FWD - 26/38 GLA250 FWD - 25/35 CLA250 AWD - 24/32 GLA250 AWD - 24/32 The GLA is just a CLA hatchback with a 0.75 in ride height increase... so maybe not what you're looking for. Edit: Another one... Infiniti Q40 (the old G-series) and QX50 (same platform as the old G-series) Q40 - 19/27/22 QX50 - 17/24/20
  18. Drew Dowdell
    The quality of the materials in the interior is exactly my point. A Cadenza has nicer materials than an Optima. An Avalon has nicer materials than a Camry. A Maxima has nicer materials than an Altima... etc. A Lacrosse has nicer materials than an Impala and a Regal has nicer materials than a Malibu.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    So I usually like shooting brakes, and this could have worked... But somehow I think it looks like someone grafted a second gen Pruis onto the back of an FRS
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Not claiming a mileage expense, just using it as a guideline to make the decision.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    So I have another 900 mile round trip journey to make next week, but this one is for family reasons rather than work. I can get a rental car for $250 all in, and that includes the extra insurance. Using the standard mileage deduction, using my own car would cost me $486 (900 X 0.54)... assume that includes fuel. A $250 rental plus figure $100 in gas. The other kink in the chain.... the Buick really needs tires... It'll make it through this trip, but I'm nearly down to the wear bars. Those will be about $750 (I think I'm going with Triple-Treads and see if I can skip snow tires this year)
  22. Drew Dowdell
    Do you lift, dfelt???? Am I talking to a fellow gym rat and didn't know this whole time??? Need you both to kick my butt into the habit once I'm done all of this travel at the end of the month. I was taught to never ski while tired or you'll end up hurting yourself, and I imagine the same is true for lifting. I can't get over the exhaustion to go make myself more exhausted at the moment.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    To be fair, there are very very few sedans and crossovers that actually share a platform. The first one that comes to mind is the Sonic/Trax. The Corolla and RAV4 technically share a platform, but it's one of those flex platforms that allow for huge ranges of customizing.... so you start getting into big weight differentials between vehicles and weight is the biggest killer of fuel economy.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Who knows!? I'm not Mary Barra!! Why does Benz charge $2600 for Voice Control when it is a feature that even a low end Chevy Sonic and Ford Fiesta have?? Buick dropped the price of the 2.4 powered Regal and then apparently stopped building it, leaving it as an entry in the catalog only. The 2.0T Regal is now the $29.9 car. You're going to get your wish on the '17 Lacrosse. There is no more 2.4 available and I would expect it to move up in price. You're all over the place on your definition! If having leather is a qualifier, than most of the base model Benzes get disqualified for having plastic seats. If performance is a qualifier, than nearly all of the 4-cylinder Benzes get disqualified. The Maxima and Avalon are both faster than a much more expensive E300, and the Dodge Charger Hemi and Taurus SHO are right there with an E400. If handling performance is a qualifier, the big cloud-like S-Class and Lexus LS get disqualified as luxury cars while the Chevrolet SS is one. So the Chevy SS.. is that a luxury car? It has a fantastic interior (much better than the Impala, which itself is very good), it's got the performance, is all it missing is a badge? The question is more than specs on a sheet though. The Maxima is the best example of this. It is basically the same size as the Altima. It checks nearly all of the same boxes for "specs" as the Altima (leather, NAV, power windows, V6), and if you lined up the spec sheet of each car next to each other with Yes/No next to each spec, they would look essentially the same. But these are not the same levels of car. While they both have leather seats, the Maxima has much nicer leather seats, the Maxima has a much nicer dashboard, it uses much nicer materials all around, it has fantastic (I'm driving one this week) sound deadening. So maybe... it's more than just a statistic or a badge that make a luxury car a luxury car.... but I doubt you'll ever get that through your badge snobbery.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    Base model CLAs exist. Base model Lacrosses and Regals don't. Even the rental fleets don't order them.
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