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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    Why? If you're driving some s****y car like the vast majority of people do it's not like driving is bringing you some sort of joy. It's not a particularly pleasant activity for the most majority of time and I think if they (SD cars) were available and people wouldn't be affraid of the idea of letting the car drive itself they would soon become the majority. Riding in a SD car would be no different to taking a taxi. If you're driving an old beat up Corolla, you probably can't afford a self driving car anyway.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    No. But streetcars should be reinstalled. My city just made one major avenue one-way downtown taking one lane and dedicating it to bikes. That's all well and good, but our temperatures stay in the low 20s for 4 months of the year so no one uses that bike lane in those temps.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    Wouldn't they first have to GET on the road before anyone could call for them to get off? Cost is still be breezily ignored; like I stated earlier- cost estimate I saw last fall for the technology was $150,000/vehicle. Hope your 'good income' is really really really really good. COST is the 'old man with ribcage-high pants and grumpy demeanor', not the opinions of those who were asked if they would buy one. $150,000 per car doesn't seem to be an up to date estimate Balth. Cadillac is releasing their semi-autonomous system in as little as 18 months. I don't know which cars they are releasing it in, but as the XTS is currently one of the test mules, I'm sure that one is a good bet.... and I don't think we'll be seeing a $150k Cadillac XTS anytime soon. The Cadillac Super Cruise system will allow you to drive hands and foot free on the highway and in bumper to bumper traffic. As I already pointed out... most of the components are already available in cars you can buy today.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    There was nothing inherently "worst" about the Cimerron beside the badge. It was just a typical domestic compact of the day. It could, and did, wear Buick and Oldsmobile badges just fine. The Saturn ION doesn't deserve to be on this list either... if any Saturn does, it should be the LS/LW. It was an Opel Vectra variation that foreshadowed the Epsilon platform. The engine choices went from bad (an underpowered Quad-4) to worse (the awful Opel 3.0 V6). The LS was also blander than bland. The ION's main offense was that it was initially equipped with a less than stellar CVT, though it later came with a 5-speed automatic. The Ion QuadCoupe was actually a pretty nifty idea and should have been put into other GM cars (Cruze Quad-coupe anyone?) The Mustang II was just a Sports Pinto... too easy to pick on but actually better than its donor platform.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    The Asian companies have franchises now, so they're out. The only ones that would be able to do this would be Tesla and maybe the chinese.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Highway or combined?
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Golden Hatchling.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    Doesn't make it dated. Buick was doing boosted V6es and 4s when you were in diapers. Benz is just now catching up.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    While you guys are arguing about range... here is the number that stands out to me... " 442 LB-FT" That is more than a GM 5.3 liter V8 and almost the same as the GM 6.2 liter V8. I'm sure in something as small as a C-Class, it makes it feel like it's pulling like a locomotive. I've seen the electric motor they're using in this... it's about 30% of a Tesla motor.
  10. Drew Dowdell
    I can't believe this is even still a debate..... they navel-gazed for years over a 4-door Wrangler and when they finally did it, they couldn't build enough of them to satisfy demand. The 4-door may piss off Wrangler enthusiast, but Chrysler can't turn away dollars over something petty like that. I don't think a Wrangler pickup would sell in the US at the same levels that the Frontier, Canyon, and Colorado do, but I think it will do well enough to justify its existence. Also, the overseas market would eat it up especially if they could put a 4-cylinder diesel in there.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Everyone who sells there is a local producer, very few cars are imported into China from other locations... this is based on Chinese protectionist laws. GM has to partner with other manufacturers to build their cars for the Chinese market. They basically are building licensed version of say, the Buick Lacrosse, to sell there.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    That's not supposed to be used on a desktop, so yeah, that would look weird. The software autodetects if you are on a phone and switches to that theme as needed.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    Well that's based on today's technology. Already we have fully automatic cruise control that you can engage in traffic and all you have to do is steer... the only time you have to intervene on the brake pedal is if you are the first car approaching a stop light. Cars can park themselves today... you can pick that up in a used MKS for under $25k. Some of the Benzes will nudge you back in to your lane if you're drifting out of it (and how they can tell between an unintentional drift and an unsignaled lane change, I do not know, but it works). Even my little Buick will ding at me if I start to drift out of my lane... the tech to nudge it back on course isn't that much more... it's just electric power steering after all. The Nissan Pathfinder is one of many vehicles that already has 360 degree cameras that activate while parking. All of these technologies are available on vehicles currently well into the used market. It's not a stretch that they can be combined in some way that will be within the price range of the typical end user to allow for a more automatic driving experience. Cadillac is testing super cruise (I believe this is a different technology than the automatic SRXes) that will allow for automated freeway and bumper to bumper traffic driving. They have XTS test mules running around in Pittsburgh. That technology is due out for the 2016 model year, so Cadillac is roughly 18 months away from releasing it.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Which is disappointing.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    the FWD v. RWD debate aside for the moment... I see a bigger issue than that. SIZE! How can they get from the nearly Full-Size Commodore to the nearly compact Insignia and keep the name!? Even going to the Lacrosse would be a bit of a jump down..... The only way I could see them moving to FWD for the Commodore and keeping true to the rest of the car would be to build an Aussie Impala.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    How quickly will these depreciate I wonder?
  17. Drew Dowdell
    It would, but I think it would be losing one of the key selling points of the vehicle. Why? All the other EVs out there have to plug in. This car should have other selling points going for it besides that one feature to make it compelling..... ... but then again, if it doesn't, maybe that's why it was canceled.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    ... hmm... a bunch of cars following another to ensure efficient and safe travel carrying people who don't want to drive.... I bet they'd even be electric.... If only we had such technology....
  19. Drew Dowdell
    I think the law should be "If you have franchises, no corporate owned stores. If you don't have franchises in the state, then corporate owned stores are ok" That way, the existing stores will be fine and new entries can join the market in either fashion. Tesla may do corporate owned stores because it has the money to do so, but a company like Coda or Fisker may do franchises because they don't have the money to build a network of stores on their own. I think that satisfies both sides.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    Driverless cars wouldn't even be on the radar if we had a decent public transportation system.. People who don't want to drive shouldn't be behind the wheel in the first place.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    It would probably be fine without the induction charging.
  22. Drew Dowdell
    Not gonna happen this go'round. The coming refresh is just a very light sand and spackle of the current model. Think 2012 Cruze v. 2014 Cruze.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    It's not dated at all... it is exactly competitive to other naturally aspirated V6es. Should Cadillac add a light turbo version? Sure, that would be a nice addition. But you're comparing apples to oranges and calling the apple dated just because you don't like the flavor. Different does not equal dated.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Who has tried it? What do you think?
  25. Drew Dowdell
    A 3.2 would just be sleaving down the current 3.6.
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