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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Rear drive is preferred, and as I said in the Cadillac thread, when the sub-ATS car arrives I did say it should have better ride, handling and performance than a CLA. Barring Cadillac putting like a 1.4 liter turbo and 6-speed auto or something stupid in it. The CLA's current competition is the A3, Acura ILX, Volvo S40, maybe Golf GTI and the GLA competes with Q3 and X1. So those are all front drivers. I don't like the CLA, but it has the drivetrain common to the segment. The Continental wants to compete with rear drive Lexus, Cadillacs, Mercedes, Infiniti, Genesis, Kia K900, etc. They are all rear drive. The Acura RLX is the front drive entrant and has miserable sales volume. Can you ever ever ever please consider that something other than your particular pet peeve is the reason for poor sales of a particular vehicle? I tested the RLX four months ago and its interior is atrociously cheap and poorly made. Honda would/should be embarrassed at that interior in an Accord much less the top Acura. It doesn't matter if that car is powered by puppydog smiles and has the best handling in the world, the interior quality is grossly outclassed by everything in the segment including the MKS (which I have no love for either)
  2. Drew Dowdell
    The advantage the CT6 will have is lower weight, and that's how it will get away with a 4-cylinder. A Continental is going to be near or over 4,000 in FWD form, the heaviest Fusion at 3600lbs is the same weight as the base CT6. With Cadillac running an 8-speed auto, there is a good chance that the 4-cylinder CT6 will end up faster (slightly) in a 0-60 than a V6 FWD Continental. Things we already know: 2015 CTS 2.0T AWD 0-60 = 5.8 seconds. 2010 MKS Ecoboost AWD 0-60 = 5.8 seconds The base CT6 is lighter than the CTS and is RWD rather than AWD so expect it to be slightly faster. A new Continental is almost certainly going to be heavier than the outgoing MKS, so a 305 HP non-turbo V6 will be slower than a MKS Ecoboost. Thus, 4-cylinder CT6 will be faster than V6 FWD Continental. Could that change with new transmission other than the 6-speed on the Lincoln? Maybe, but it's still going to be very close due to weight differences. Not always about a few 1/10ths in acceleration, but also perception. People will be paying ~$60K for an I4 luxury sedan. People already do.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Don't be daft... different types of cars. Why should a buyer be asked to pay $60k or whatever the Continental will cost for a chassis and drivetrain inferior to a $30k Mustang? This is why Volvo S80, Lincoln sedans, Acura RLX, don't sell, why DeVille/DTS sales tanked into cancellation of the product. People don't want to spend big bucks for a car with garden variety front drive, 6-speed, transverse engine, etc. If I were going to pay $60k or more for a car, I'd want performance, handling and luxury. Or imagine if Honda was going to make a full size pick up to compete with the F150 and Silverado, and the Honda full size pick up was front wheel drive, with all wheel drive optional, 3.5 V6 and a turbo V6 option. Would the truck buyers used to V8s and rear drive body on frame want a unibody fwd honda full size truck? No, it would get laughed out of the segment. The Continental is sporting one of the most advanced AWD systems available today. It has full torque vectoring and they can even overspeed the rear wheels (make them turn ever so slightly faster than the fronts) to give even more of the RWD feel. It is also is one of the fastest reacting AWD systems out there because all wheels are always at least partially "on". But don't take my word for it. You can read more about it at Automobile Magazine. So how do you get to "inferior power train" via "worlds most advanced AWD system"? Furthermore, if "pure" RWD were so important to sales, the Eqqus would have outsold the A8. It didn't. The CTS would have outsold the XTS. It didn't. The Genesis Sedan would have outsold the XTS. It didn't The Kia K900 would have outsold the XTS. Not even 1/15th of XTS sales. Even MKS out sold the K900 by a lot.... Even the old, nearly put to sleep Volvo S80 beat the K900 by 500 units last year. The point is, in this particular segment, the "how" doesn't matter as much, and certainly no where near the weight you put on the orientation of the engine. If GM added AWD to the Camaro and Ford added AWD to the Mustang, they'd probably see a 50% increase in sales. All the husbands who were told they can't buy a sports car that is RWD would suddenly come out of the woodwork. The drive train simply has to be fit for purpose and there is nothing about the Continental drive train that is holding the car back from its intended purpose.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    You got me there! I thought it had it. Even more impressive that it handles as well as it does without HiPer then.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Completely agree. Once you pass that 250ish area with even more tq it's a recipe for a CAPABLE car but a disappointing car. This actually reminds me.. My buddy with his '12 GTI pulled up to a stop light next to a Focus ST which he had heard the blow-off valve on(assuming it was at least slightly modded). He wanted to race him(assuming he would lose to the much more powerful ST so his expectations were low). When the light turned green he just stood on the "go pedal" and the ST just sat there and lit up his tires. My friend let off fairly quick as it wasn't even a race at that point but the point being.. FWD is very limited when it comes to power to the pavement. Admittedly they should incorporate the AWD system in it.. but even with 300HP my Impala is devoid of any torque steer That's the HiPer strut talking in your Impala I'm sure. There will not be AWD in the Cruze. I'm told it is not possible with the suspension setup they are using.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Na, I bet the V8TT starts around $90k
  7. Drew Dowdell
    The advantage the CT6 will have is lower weight, and that's how it will get away with a 4-cylinder. A Continental is going to be near or over 4,000 in FWD form, the heaviest Fusion at 3600lbs is the same weight as the base CT6. With Cadillac running an 8-speed auto, there is a good chance that the 4-cylinder CT6 will end up faster (slightly) in a 0-60 than a V6 FWD Continental. Things we already know: 2015 CTS 2.0T AWD 0-60 = 5.8 seconds. 2010 MKS Ecoboost AWD 0-60 = 5.8 seconds The base CT6 is lighter than the CTS and is RWD rather than AWD so expect it to be slightly faster. A new Continental is almost certainly going to be heavier than the outgoing MKS, so a 305 HP non-turbo V6 will be slower than a MKS Ecoboost. Thus, 4-cylinder CT6 will be faster than V6 FWD Continental. Could that change with new transmission other than the 6-speed on the Lincoln? Maybe, but it's still going to be very close due to weight differences.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Wouldn't a sub-ATS with RWD make it better than a MB CLA by your logic? Can't have that now can we?
  9. Drew Dowdell
    Don't be daft... different types of cars.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    The systems are biased because of the orientation of the engines... and the defaults aren't the defaults during heavy acceleration. The best AWD systems are the ones that can shift power around front to rear or rear to front. The system Ford is using in the Focus RS, Continental, and others that I'm forgetting is the GKN system that can send all the power to the rear wheels when needed or is programmed to. The latest versions of Haldex can send up to 90% to the rear wheels and they don't need to wait for slip to occur to engage the rear wheels. The Chrysler system linked to the 9-Speed FWD auto can be (and is in the 200S) programmed to favor power to the rear wheels rather than the front when in sport mode. The new Dual-Clutch in the most recent GMs (XT5, Acadia All-Terrain, Buick LaCrosse) is just a variant of the GKN system. Even my Encore sends 50% of the torque to the rear when starting out and then dials it back to FWD mode once underway. So let me ask you a question.... when you're just poking along on the turnpike, why do you care which wheels are powering you along? It's not like you'll feel any difference front to rear in that situation. The only time it matters is in full throttle acceleration or Nurbergring type driving.... the former is addressed through AWD system programming and the later is irrelevant to the typical buyer in this class.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    None of that is even close to true. First off, during acceleration, most of the advanced new AWD systems including this one send the majority of torque to the rear wheels anyway, which completely alleviates your false assertion that RWD is somehow smoother at acceleration than FWD (probably the crowning achievement of your absurd statements). The suspension uses continuous dampening control shocks. They are lighter weight than MRC and offer nearly as much speed as MRC. No one is going to walk into a dealership to buy a Continental and then turn around and leave over the 6-speed. You like a car for what it is, not the number of gears in the box. The 9-speed will be along soon anyway, it's not done being developed.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    Thanks for the updates Hyper. Those cases do seem like someone hunting for a winning powerball ticket.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    GM just re-entered one of the most popular size segments in the industry that they've been noticeably absent from for over a decade with an entry that is both attractive and sufficiently capable, while remaining in the larger segment with two popular vehicles...... I think GM will do fine here. The only question is going to be price. If they price it the same as a Durango, they'll do great.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    It was the fastest FWD around the Nurbergring until some froggy Renault took that title. It was beating its RWD contemporaries from BMW at time.... so yeah, it was probably more canyon carver than most hatchbacks today aside from the GTI.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    I did no such thing. I don't think the Acadia looks frumpy at all. In terms of appearance, it looks like a strong Grand Cherokee or Durango competitor, and a bit more upscale than Edge. If anything GMC just gave women a new choice in the mid-size segment.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    See, I like the front end of the MKZ and I like the back end of the MKZ.... Just not on the same car. Yes, I do think the Continental has presence. Remember when the concept came out and Bentley got mad? The Continental reminding people of something as posh as a Bentley isn't a bad association to have... Better than invoking a Genesis that has virtually zero brand or image equity. Two decades ago, Lexus pulled the same trick on Benz and it worked. It got people's attention and built the brand.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    bollocks.... entirely. You're getting out of the realm of opinion and into making up facts that you cannot back up simply because you have an agenda against a certain brand. You don't know how stiff or not either car is. And being FWD based has nothing to do with chassis stiffness. When the old GM FWD G-Bodies came out, they suffered side effects of their chassis' being so stiff, GM ran into problems they'd never had before.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    The G90 can have 20 speeds and that won't help the dowdy look when sitting next to a Continental or CT6... or anything else in that segment.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    There are a lot of vehicles out there that just don't do as well in pictures as they do in person. I think the Continential is one of them. The Buick Avista is like that too because it was hard to capture all the little details in the design.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Every year Ford take the Joe Louis Arena, they are usually only ones who don't do their presentation at their booth.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Wings, how is the Raptor all new when they gave me a model of the Raptor at last year's Detroit auto show? What they showed this year is just a larger cab model of the one that they showed last year?
  22. Drew Dowdell
    I think the Continental will do very well. One of the rap stars will get one and the rest will be history.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    Indeed, there should have been a higher performance Cruze model way back when. Even just the 1.6T would have been nice.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    That's exactly what this truck is for.... people who think they need an 4x4 Truck to bring home 10 bags of mulch from Lowes... (yet my '04 CRV handles at least 16)
  25. Drew Dowdell
    "big engine" will be relative I'm sure.
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