Drew Dowdell
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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I try that... but i'm mostly just tired.
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2015: Buick LaCrosse FWD 1SL (Leather) or Chevrolet Impala 2LTZ?
Drew Dowdell replied to GMTruckGuy74's topic in The Lounge
How much longer can you wait... there is a new Lacrosse coming and that either means 1. Cheap closeouts on the existing model 2. The wife likes the new model even better. I like the Impala.. a lot... I think it is one of the best cars in the segment, but I like the Lacrosse a little bit more. It has a bit more luxury feel in the intangibles... it just seems to roll down the highway better and smoother (GM is using better wheel bearing in higher end models now, don't know if that applies to LaX though). But the question I have back is this: If it's going to be primarily your wife's car, why not let her pick it out? You'll hear about it a lot less over the years and it sound like no matter which way it goes, you're going to get a great car. Edit: I just turned a rental LaCrosse in about an hour ago after a week and I really enjoyed it. -
It's usually the hybrids for us commoners that don't drive well because they're geared entirely for fuel economy with low rolling resistance narrow tires and sluggish throttle response. As you get into the higher end stuff, the hybrid tech turns more into a replacement for displacement. Torque from electric motors is fantastic to drive with when it is applied properly (read: Not the Pruis)
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I'm not sure what the Escalade has to do with the 7-Series or CT6's CAFE scores.What I DO know is that GM was producing half-ton pickups that were producing 25mpg highway with port-injected smallblocks and (if memory serves) four-speed automatics. And that was two truck generations ago. They have the tech in hand, it's just that the customers at the time didn't demand it. Overall corporate CAFE score. The Escalade sells really well and that is actually hurting their score. Not like it is going anywhere but they just need to make the big girl drink a little less. Or, make it bigger! No way was GM making a v8 half ton TWO generations ago that was getting 25mpg. With the bragging rights that they would tout in their commercials there is no way they wouldn't utilize it. When gas was $4/gallon down here(US) the consumer didn't want a truck that got 25mpg???? Hence the reason why U will be seeing a great deal of electrification coming into the Cadillac division over the next few years. I bet by 2018 .. at least half of their vehicles existing and new will have an electric/hybrid option. We already kno that the CT6 will.. I have read that the upcoming XT5 will as well I think Johan said they were basically doing the entire lineup with diesels or plug-ins or both for each model.
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This, I can not, for the life of me see what the hoopla is over the S-Class outside of the S63AMG and the coupe. The vehicle really does nothing to WOW me. Of the cars below.. the S-Class and the CT6 stand out more as Flagships than any of the rest.. and that's without the CT6 supposedly being a flagship. Again.. and now with the updated 7series: In appearance, the CT6 definetly holds its own in that crowd. I am one of the ones that does like the S-Class, and I would pick it over the 7-series or A8.... however, I like it for the really floaty ride. The CT6 is in a different price bracket, so that makes comparing a potential purchase difficult.... is the floaty ride of the S-Class worth the $25k price premium? .... na, I'd survive without it.
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I'm not sure what the Escalade has to do with the 7-Series or CT6's CAFE scores.What I DO know is that GM was producing half-ton pickups that were producing 25mpg highway with port-injected smallblocks and (if memory serves) four-speed automatics. And that was two truck generations ago. They have the tech in hand, it's just that the customers at the time didn't demand it. Overall corporate CAFE score. The Escalade sells really well and that is actually hurting their score. Not like it is going anywhere but they just need to make the big girl drink a little less. Or, make it bigger! No way was GM making a v8 half ton TWO generations ago that was getting 25mpg. With the bragging rights that they would tout in their commercials there is no way they wouldn't utilize it. When gas was $4/gallon down here(US) the consumer didn't want a truck that got 25mpg???? The Avalanche could do 21 - 22 on the highway back with a 6-speed, so I imagine a fairly basic Silverado 1500 V8 could do at least that and probably better.
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There is, but I don't think it will appear until the next en Ram/LX replacements. okay, I thought I had heard the next Grand Cherokee.
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The exterior of the Avenir could easily go into production.. The interior would need to be realistic though, the concept is too far out there.
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The CT6 has succeeded in one primary way... It is a Cadillac that is being mentioned in the same breath as the 7-series and S-Class even though it will likely not compete directly in price.
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Doesn't going from hollow to solid make a difference even if diameter doesn't increase?
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We have an ignore feature.
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Moog or nothing. Dorman is just your basic OEM replacement of which the quality will be roughly the same as the OEM. The Moogs are better. edit: Doh! I just re-read your post. Get the moog links. Get a moog swaybar if you can. the dorman being solid is an upgrade, but their stuff hasn't impressed me beyond that.
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I think the only people who care about that aspect are Cadillac fans.. because whoever buys a 7 Series wants the car for what it is.. not for how much it weighs. What it weighs has a direct effect on how it performs. The CT6 has a 600+ lb advantage over the 740i. That means all of the various engines Cadillac will be putting in the CT6 will have that much less work to perform to move the car. That means better cornering and handling. While you are correct. I think I said it in a different thread it all comes down to how well they tune the suspension. It could weigh 2000lbs and still drive like crap, it would weigh 6000lbs and drive like crap. And that is why I don't think weight matters much "In this class" of cars. They are large cars.. the vast majority will not be taking them to their nearest road course or canon but they will want a superb ride for sure. No argument whatsoever on the acceleration advantages, and with that comes mpg as well. I completely understand that part for the manufacturer..again most people buying a 70k car aren't the most concerned over 1mpg. But they will want it to accelerate hard when they demand it. It just means that Cadillac can tune a softer ride and not have the car lean over in corners. It means that 400 horsepower and 400 lb-ft of torque go a lot further, faster, in the CT6. It means a 500ish horsepower TTV8 will go even further still. It means a few more miles of electric propulsion on the plug-in models. It means longer driving ranges on the diesel models (and I'd argue the diesel buyers would be concerned, otherwise they'd buy a gasser). Cadillac has been really good at tuning their suspensions for a few years now, that's not one of the areas where they get complaints... so I'm not too concerned there.
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I thought there was a Twin-Turbo Pentastar coming too?
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I think the only people who care about that aspect are Cadillac fans.. because whoever buys a 7 Series wants the car for what it is.. not for how much it weighs. What it weighs has a direct effect on how it performs. The CT6 has a 600+ lb advantage over the 740i. That means all of the various engines Cadillac will be putting in the CT6 will have that much less work to perform to move the car. That means better cornering and handling.
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Well it does tell me that they aren't going to beat the CT6 in weight... not by a longshot.
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That title..... this isn't the X-Rated forum!
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- paint
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It's okay, I don't think you'll be CEO either.
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They only cut 190 lbs?!
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GMC sells at a higher transaction price. You may not see a distinction there, but the accountants do. Put it another way, if GMC was such a money loser, it would have been closed during the bankruptcy.
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Sorry. You lost me when you said the 300 sold on the basis of fleets and the wimpy V6 engine.Same old wings. Yup yup yup Actually, he's right. At release, Chrysler was selling base base base model 300s with a 2.7 liter V6 and cheap wheels. They had a ridiculously low base price (lower than the Magnum, about $22k, I recall) because there was no Charger at the time and Chrysler was trying to sell a single the sedan to cover the now dead Intrepid, Concord, 300M, and LHS (dead for 2.5 years at that point). Sales did well if you consider the 300 to have replaced the Concord and 300M, but they weren't great if you considered the lost sales from Intrepid. A good many of those 2.7 powered 300s ended up in the rental fleets or got snapped up by gangstas on a budget.
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The first-gen 300 had a Hemi. It sold on that primarily and the interior for the day was .. sufficient. It wasn't spectacular, it wasn't bad.
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- Continental
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Pretty low bar you set there...
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The MKZ is not even the same size car as the Chrysler 300.... There is unlikely to be any cross shopping there.... the MKS's interior is simply not up to snuff of even the lower end 300. Again, you keep trying to hang these cars' failure on the drive wheels when it's the rest of the car that is the issue. The MKS looks and feels like a consumer grade Ford. It doesn't matter if the car is RWD and powered by puppydog smiles, it isn't going to sell as a luxury car if it doesn't feel like a luxury car inside. Even the Acura RLX is selling poorly because it is such a dull car. It really feels like an Accord DeLux in so many ways. The switching the drivetrain to RWD would not change the fact that the materials and switchgear inside the car look and feel like consumer grade Honda. You just cited the Catera and 1st Gen CTS as if they were proving your point when in fact it proves mine. The Catera had fantastic handling and in the regions where the car was powered properly (i.e. not with the wretched Opel V6) it is a well respected performance sedan. It had everything in your check list... it was RWD and had great handling, yet it still flopped. Why? Because the interior was not up to Cadillac expectations and it had reliability issues. The CTS addressed most of the reliability issues and did better than the Catera for it, but it was a 5-series sized car selling at a 3-series price... why? Because the interior was not perceived as 5-series level. It didn't matter that it was RWD or that it used the same fantastic 5-speed auto that the 5-series used... the interior was simply not the luxury level people were expecting. All of the same things can be said about the final STS... which did worse than the FWD model it replaced. The savior for the Continental will be what they do with the interior... not which wheels are driving the car (which, again, is all of them)
