Drew Dowdell
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell
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Utter insanity from an armchair CEO. You really have no clue where the profit is do you? Chrysler brand with only 3 models sells almost as many vehicles in the US as Volkswagen with 12+ models. GMC is a huge profit center for GM. People who buy GMCs usually specifically seek them out over their Chevrolet versions. 25% of all GMC sales are Denali trim when a Denali trim is available. The Denali trim alone outsells the entirety of Jaguar/Land Rover. If you are a CEO and people are offering $3,000 - $5,000 dollars for Chrome trim and extra woodgrain... you take their money and run. -
Wheelbases are about the same. The Grand Coupes are a bit larger overall length.
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I've never friggin understood why people tailgate when there is PLENTY of room to make a pass! It can be so frustrating. All it does it piss off both parties. I want to drive a car with active cruise so bad! I'm just so curious how it actually feels when behind the wheel. I'm an avid cruise control user so the whole active cruise intrigues me. It just.. .workes. It makes driving in heavy volume at any speed much more relaxing. Nice...Nice... What kind of vehicle were you in that had it recently? Mercedes-Benz CLS400 4Matic - I'll have the review up in a week or two (I hope)
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You keep putting the blame on the drive system. Do you really think those cars would have sold ANY better if they were RWD instead of FWD without ANY other changes? I don't think so... and in fact they probably would have sold worse.
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Why are they aiming at the "gran coupe" class when this isn't a "gra coupe"? Wouldn't that mean E Class and A6? That is what those are both built on, correct? Aiming for the size and room of the bigger cars without the handling penalty (lighter weight, 4 wheel steering). The CT6 is building it's own segment rather than trying to align exactly with what the Germans are doing. Hmmmm.. interesting.. Kind of confusing by saying they are aiming at the CLS and A7 though. Well the CLS and A7 are a bit bigger than the E-Class/A6, but aren't as large as the 7-series/S-Class. They're trade-off cars.
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I want to drive a car with active cruise so bad! I'm just so curious how it actually feels when behind the wheel. I'm an avid cruise control user so the whole active cruise intrigues me. It just.. .workes. It makes driving in heavy volume at any speed much more relaxing.
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Maryland had signs up saying they were targeting aggressive drivers...... so instead I drove passive aggressively.
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All sides.... to your corners.
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Why are they aiming at the "gran coupe" class when this isn't a "gra coupe"? Wouldn't that mean E Class and A6? That is what those are both built on, correct? Aiming for the size and room of the bigger cars without the handling penalty (lighter weight, 4 wheel steering). The CT6 is building it's own segment rather than trying to align exactly with what the Germans are doing.
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That's... exactly what happened. Numbers rounded for simplicity: They got $50 billion of TARP money $40 billion was converted to equity that the government owned. The remaining $10 billion was considered a loan that GM would have to pay back. About $7 billion of that $10 billion balance was held in escrow to be used only if GM really needed it. GM paid back a couple billion from their earnings. GM decided they didn't need the rest of the loan, so returned the remaining TARP money back to the government, thus paying off the loan part of the TARP. Maybe it is just confusion, but from what I read in a few articles last night was that what was in Escrow was part of what was given to GM and not part of the loan. From FactCheck.org - "GM simply handed back TARP money it had been lent and hadn’t used. Those funds had been sitting in an escrow account, should the automaker need them. (The company didn’t borrow new money to pay back an older loan.)"
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Love the RAM with air suspension!
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That's... exactly what happened. Numbers rounded for simplicity: They got $50 billion of TARP money $40 billion was converted to equity that the government owned. The remaining $10 billion was considered a loan that GM would have to pay back. About $7 billion of that $10 billion balance was held in escrow to be used only if GM really needed it. GM paid back a couple billion from their earnings. GM decided they didn't need the rest of the loan, so returned the remaining TARP money back to the government, thus paying off the loan part of the TARP.
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Well, I still disagree with your assertion that what GM did in this case was "a bad thing". It wasn't... if it was a shrewd financial move, then why shouldn't they take it? They did not take an additional loan to pay off an original loan. They had cash from the original loan left over and returned that to the government. Even if GM did refinance a loan through the government, why would that be a bad thing as long as the loans get paid off? People refinance credit cards, houses, cars, all sorts of things all the time. I just don't understand this talking point. It makes it look like you are trying to smear GM for doing something that just makes good financial sense.
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G-Class Quality, Lettuce Count the Ways
Drew Dowdell replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in Mercedes-Benz
I've seen the test and it wasn't really valid because they didn't follow the same paths..they each took different routes to get up the mountain. It is one of the reasons I hate Clarkson and Top Gear in general.... he sets up the "tests" to have the desired outcome. -
SMK hates any technology or process that Mercedes doesn't use, until they use it... then it's the best evar. He'll ignore every single performance stat that might beat is beloved brand and then moves the goal posts to favor them. But what works for Cadillac isn't working for Lincoln. The F150 sits on the market too long before getting chassis updates, and is the F150 chassis what you want to use as the basis of your BMW X7, Merc GL, Maserati Levante, and Jag-LR products. Lincoln isn't a tier one brand, making a Navigator off the Explorer platform gives them 380 hp/460 lb-ft turbo V6 in a 5,000 lb vehicle for $55k. That matches up extremely well against top end Tahoes, Enclaves, MDX, undercuts the Escalade a lot in price while offering better acceleration and fuel economy. It gives Lincoln a chance. Lincoln doing a half assed job turning and F150 into an Escalade competitor hasn't worked since like 2006 when the previous generation Escalade stepped it up. The F-150 just got a chassis update and the Navigator is moving to it.
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400hp in an AWD car.. and it's supposed to be running through the fancy AWD system of the Focus RS so it should still be able to get the power down(all 400hp) pretty easily. I don't doubt that the car will be competent. What I doubt very much is Lincoln's ability to make a production version that will distinguish itself. I already mentioned that this is nearly identical to the XTS-VSport in concept. And look how it turned out. Drew mentioned that the pricing should be competitive with the Koreans in he segment-ouch for prestige. And wings shot himself in the foot once again with his failed diss of the CT6's styling. I am glad to be in a place where I can criticize without being accused of being a troll. I harbour no ill will towards Lincoln. But by the same token, I'm not going to blow sunshine up their tuckus over a concept car that is a rehash of a failed product strategy. They. Must. Do. Better. I think they should price against the Genesis because the Continental is a new-comer (Return-comer?) to this segment and they need to build cred before they can go around demanding $75k. It's not that I think the Genesis is that fantastic of a car, but the Genesis 5.0 is roughly similar in size and stated output though only RWD. All the Continental needs to do is beat the Genesis on luxury (which is a fairly low bar) and it should do fine because there is more prestige to the Continental name. In short, the Genesis is the lowest common denominator in price. I don't see any rehash of a product strategy here. Lincoln hasn't put out a Continental level Continental since at least 1987... but that has nothing to do with the driving wheels. You seem to want to hang the entire strategy on the drive wheels, all 4, without seeing what they do with the interior. If they MKS the interior, I will be first in line to bash it. I am willing to wait until I see the car until I declare Lincoln's strategy a success or failure.
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G-Class Quality, Lettuce Count the Ways
Drew Dowdell replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in Mercedes-Benz
Everything and anything can fly. Chevy actually had to put an airborne mode in track mode of the ZL-1. They had the problem where when the car went airborne, the traction control would kick in and slow the wheels down... which you don't want when you're on the track. That's great for a military operation. I don't see doing such repairs in the Saks Fifth Ave parking lot. -
I admit, I really like the Rebel. I'd probably not buy it myself, but I like the look and the idea.
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they should match the Genesis 5.0 for base price. $51k. The CT6 will be a 2.0T with RWD at the base price, thus my guess. The 3.0TT with AWD and all the extra tech will be in the range you are citing.
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You are harping against a particular technology for no particular reason.... just like your rants about pushrods.... you ignore the performance focusing entirely on the "How".
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A new Journey would be nice. It's been ignored by the media lately, but it goes right on selling in great numbers.
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G-Class Quality, Lettuce Count the Ways
Drew Dowdell replied to Drew Dowdell's topic in Mercedes-Benz
I don't buy the off-road thing on the Escalade as it wasn't meant for that... but at the same some none of the G buyers are doing off-roading either unless the valet jumps the curb at Bergdor Goodman. What doesn't work for me is the poor poor material quality and level of build of the G.. if they were charging Wrangler level prices, that would be one thing... even double the price of a Wrangler just to get the badge.. I might not raise an eyebrow....... but they aren't.. they are charging 5 times the price of a Wrangler. -
?? That's not really accurate and I don't see how it is relevant. They paid back part of the loan with loaned funds they weren't using.... there is nothing wrong with that. Can you both just go back to your corners?
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I happen to like both. I think the base price of the CT6 will be lower than $80k though. I'm guessing it will be mid to high $60k range.
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Ram News: Don't Expect A Midsize Truck From Ram
Drew Dowdell replied to William Maley's topic in Ram
Totally agree on the Wrangler pickup, but I still think Ram needs something in this field besides a promaster based one. I can already hear the reviews now about it being a FWD full size pickup if they did a Promaster pickup.
