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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The new 3.6 just got shared with the Camaro; so much for being only Cadillac and Buick exclusive. So how would you say when the 3.6 got clobbered by other force induced competitors to which it was compared to? Man, there's nothing wrong with the vehicle, the car should have been tested with other engine. Do you mean ATS-V vs the S4 or 340 or C400 or XE supercharged? Priceless! When you price the engine equivalent to its competitors, when you portray the car with that engine to be similar to the force induced motors of equivalent horsepowers, then you should at least be par with them on performance, not down and give an excuse of other choices. In this case the 3.6 is equivalent to the cars mentioned above and it fails in performance. When I've asked about the 3.0TT for the ATS as a V-Sport model, I was told with a wink and a nudge "We don't discuss un-announced product". And there is also always this: The Plug-In Hybrid is comprised of a 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine and two electric motors. A new rear wheel electric variable transmission and 18.4 kWh battery finish off the powertrain. Total output is rated at 335 horsepower and 432 pound-feet of torque. Good. But till then the 3.6 is going to be a weak duckling. Which is why it is priced against the competitors' 4-bangers.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    You can't base anything from these new cars on the 2015 ATS 6-Speed auto. The two new 8-speeds seem to be some of the best on the market with incredibly fast shifts and a wider range of ratios. My mpg focused highway run in the ATS-V 8-Speed Auto returned some incredible fuel economy numbers (65mph, fairly flat, driving normally with cruise control). Yup. That's what I was saying. The 8speed yields some pretty decent improvements all around so far. I think we are going to see improved ATS and Camaro speeds with this tranny. The extra HP will help as well. We are talking a 335HP 3400-3500lb vehicle that gain nice HP from a few bolt-ons sure to come and a pocket tune. I won't even get into the potential of the 2.0L Turbo. Some at other sites are trying to act as tho the sky is falling based on the Iron Duke from 32 years ago... That engine put out 88hp.. this is not that engine.. and it has proven itself to be quite nice in performance in various heavier applications It's not just "an 8-Speed", it's these 8-Speeds. The new 8-Speed Hydromatics seem to have been worth waiting for. The 8-speed in the CTS V-Sport was competent, but not stellar. This new 8-speed can shift as fast or faster than the Porsche dual-clutch.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    If this comment was for me - Good and that's what it should. But when you thumb the nose, you go one up, not one down. 3.6 is not a proper engine to go thumb the nose at when there are other powerful engines from the competitors. The 3.6 ATS is $7k less than a C400 4Matic. Start adding options and the delta between the two grows larger because Benz options are more expensive. The ATS 3.6 is a V6 at C300 price, or a 328i price, or A4 2.0T price....
  4. Drew Dowdell
    The new 3.6 just got shared with the Camaro; so much for being only Cadillac and Buick exclusive. So how would you say when the 3.6 got clobbered by other force induced competitors to which it was compared to? Man, there's nothing wrong with the vehicle, the car should have been tested with other engine. Do you mean ATS-V vs the S4 or 340 or C400 or XE supercharged? Priceless! When you price the engine equivalent to its competitors, when you portray the car with that engine to be similar to the force induced motors of equivalent horsepowers, then you should at least be par with them on performance, not down and give an excuse of other choices. In this case the 3.6 is equivalent to the cars mentioned above and it fails in performance. When I've asked about the 3.0TT for the ATS as a V-Sport model, I was told with a wink and a nudge "We don't discuss un-announced product". And there is also always this: The Plug-In Hybrid is comprised of a 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder engine and two electric motors. A new rear wheel electric variable transmission and 18.4 kWh battery finish off the powertrain. Total output is rated at 335 horsepower and 432 pound-feet of torque.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    You can't base anything from these new cars on the 2015 ATS 6-Speed auto. The two new 8-speeds seem to be some of the best on the market with incredibly fast shifts and a wider range of ratios. My mpg focused highway run in the ATS-V 8-Speed Auto returned some incredible fuel economy numbers (65mph, fairly flat, driving normally with cruise control).
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Almost all highway travel? I did 85 highway miles in a GMC Canyon All-Terrain V6 this past week and the DIC claimed 23.9
  7. Drew Dowdell
    I think you'll be waiting for the Tesla Model 3. It will be in the $35k range.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Cadillac is very intentionally NOT following the German model at this point... they are actively thumbing their nose at it.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    That engine is uncompetitive with the force-induced engines from the competitors. And he still soldiers on this site. There are 4 engine choices in the ATS with 2 more coming in the future. If you don't like that V6, there will be no less than 5 other engines to choose from. In my experience, the 2.0T is the best choice in the ATS, excluding the V-series, as it keeps the car lighter and still has satisfying thrust. I also want to say that you are badly pre-judging it. There is more to the powertrain than just the engine and my assessment of the new 8-speed auto coming to Cadillac is that it is a whole new level of good. In sport mode it can shift as fast or faster than the Porsche DCT and it has a wider range of gear ratios than the previous 6-speed. Drew, a transmission cannot add to what the engine lacks. The competitors are already offering 8 speeds, don't have SAE numbers to abide by, thereby providing more power than advertised. Is it cheating? Yes, you bet it is, but GM has to respond and the 3.6 is a 38 special in the battle of 45s. Besides that, isn't that's what got GM into problem? The lack of full commitment. The peak torque of the new 3.6 is less than the torque of the 2.0T. That is unacceptable. The truth is this engine as much as GM claims is new, which it is possibly, is not going to be an exclusive Cadillac and therefore was "needed" by the bean counters to make financial sense. "If you don't like that V6, there will be no less than 5 other engines to choose from." Why stop there? No, I will find some other company that will. And that's going to be everyone else except Cadillac. I'll give you even better, why even offer that engine? It'll save you typing to defend that decision, since ATS has already 5 other engine choices, according to you. We have had this discussion before, and there's no contest that GM has messed this one up. Even the Cadillac Fan here who is supporter of the two bozos in charge at its helm claims that too. 2.5, 2.0T, 3.6, 3.0TT (highly likely), 3.6TT, 2.0T-Hybrid, I4-Diesel, V6-Diesel There is nothing messed up with the 3.6 V6 as long as other options are available too. There is nothing wrong with offering an additional option. Don't like it? Don't buy it. And yes, the engine is remaining Cadillac exclusive for now and when it does get shared will only be shared with upper end Buick... something along the lines of an Avenir and possibly Lacrosse.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Could you have or be developing an air bubble in the cooling system? Do you ever see foam in the radiator after a run (and after it has cooled enough to open)? I also wonder if it is possible that something is up with the water pump. What ever it is, you're looking for something that could be restricting the flow of coolant. At idle, the coolant is flowing enough to prevent overheating, but at speed, there isn't enough flow to cool the engine sufficiently. At highway speeds, the fans would do little if any cooling, the radiator gets all of its airflow from the movement of the car.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Hummer - Part 2
  12. Drew Dowdell
    That engine is uncompetitive with the force-induced engines from the competitors. And he still soldiers on this site. There are 4 engine choices in the ATS with 2 more coming in the future. If you don't like that V6, there will be no less than 5 other engines to choose from. In my experience, the 2.0T is the best choice in the ATS, excluding the V-series, as it keeps the car lighter and still has satisfying thrust. I also want to say that you are badly pre-judging it. There is more to the powertrain than just the engine and my assessment of the new 8-speed auto coming to Cadillac is that it is a whole new level of good. In sport mode it can shift as fast or faster than the Porsche DCT and it has a wider range of gear ratios than the previous 6-speed.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Wait.. so BMW can peddle a 180hp 4-cylinder 320i, Audi can peddle a 220hp 4-cylinder A4, Mercedes can run a 241hp 4-cylinder C-Class.... but Cadillac must have a 335 hp V6 minimum? The bottom end Infiniti has 328 hp, so why not. BMW doesn't have a sales problem, hey can pretty much do whatever they want and they keep on selling. But how does Cadillac get more ATS and CTS sales? Cadillac is already priced cheaper than Jaguar, Lexus and the Germans, they have to generate excitement some how, so why not more power. And they'll probably make the alpha chassis Camaro with a standard 325 hp V6 for $25,000, yet not put a standard V6 in a Cadillac, that's whack. Let's see the outrage if they put a 200 hp 4-cylinder in the Camaro and made the Camaro SS a 330 hp V6. Because if that engine lineup is good enough for Cadillac then it should be more than enough for Chevrolet. And the 90s Camaro had 200 hp base, 305 optional, so they can get those same numbers with better fuel economy now with smaller engines. In the 90s the Seville/Deville had 275-300 hp, and today the CTS/XTS are making 270-304 hp, so if 90s level horsepower is okay for Cadillac, why not do the same for Chevy. How's that base engine strategy worked out for Infiniti so far? The alpha Camaro is almost certainly coming with a 2.0T as the base engine. Also expect it to drop massive amounts of weight. I am completely guessing here, but I bet it will be slightly larger than the ATS but weigh about the same or less. Now.. I agree with ditching the 2.5 from the ATS, but the 2.0T as a base is fine... in fact the 2.0T is probably the best match for that car unless you're going for a V-series (and I just spent a day and a half driving the ATS-V, more on that later). If Cadillac wants to keep something in the 200hp range they should use the new 1.6T instead.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Wait.. so BMW can peddle a 180hp 4-cylinder 320i, Audi can peddle a 220hp 4-cylinder A4, Mercedes can run a 241hp 4-cylinder C-Class.... but Cadillac must have a 335 hp V6 minimum?
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Also.. the JGC Summit is pretty darn close to Land Rover levels... put some nicer wood and better materials in it, make the transmission knob retract and call it a day.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    uhm... isn't that a job for Maserati?
  17. Drew Dowdell
    I prefer this car over the Genesis. Though technically it is not a 1:1 comparison. This car rides on the last gen Equus chassis rather than sharing the Genesis chassis. If you look at it that way, you're getting a hell of a deal on a K900.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    The ATS 3.6 is being replace by the new 3.6 for 2016.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    U mean like the upcoming features and improvements like: Improved system speed and performance Faster, more accurate map loading and voice command execution Faster service reprogramming Redesigned navigation interfaces Single press mute navigation voice/cancel route Expanded cities with 3D maps Bluetooth Media browsing I'm talking about the guts that makes all of the above possible.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    +MKC That said, I much prefer the turn-dial of the current Chryslers. It took me a day or two to get used to in a Ram 1500 and after a week I was like "I hope all cars get this!". I hope they put that into the next mini-van.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    Not really; IMHO in Cadillac's case I think it's holding to MSRP and improving the content (i.e. eliminating the 'base models'). Yes, but they still need to clear out the existing inventory on the lots.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    I can't reveal any more than this; A new CUE is very near on the horizon.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    If you're going to dry up incentives so drastically, you need to adjust the price as well. I get that he doesn't want to appear like they are giving discounts for their cars, but then the MSRP needs to be adjusted.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    The Pentastar + 8speed is probably the best V6 powertrain out there right now. It's a shame Chrysler todesn't get more credit for it.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    Again: Chrysler Brand - 308,785 units sold - 3 models and one model base price is $30,000 Volkswagen Brand - 366,970 units sold - 11 models - only 1 model base prices above $30,000. Why on earth would a CEO want to close Chrysler Brand in favor of VW brand if they have both in their portfolio? You see Chrysler as a damaged brand. It isn't... it is a successful brand waiting for more models. VW is the damaged brand and their crashing sales figures show it. The entire brand is being supported on the Golf and TDI models right now. Ocn is right that the Europeans are more patriotic than Americans. The national brands have to stay for that reason alone.
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