Drew Dowdell

The kid that tries way too hard to be cool.

Volt only gets 40 miles EV range. That is expected to increase to 50 miles in the refresh. The BMW is going to cost a loooot more.

I'm not particular about how my torque is generated only that I get a lot of it and at a low RPM. I've driven the BMW i8 and it is an absolute blast to drive.

What diesels were we promised or were told about but that never arrived? Ones I can think of: 2nd Gen CTS diesel Subaru H-4 diesel mazda 6 diesel Tundra diesel (going back further)

Uhm.. Hi BMW... if you need me to cover this event, I typically fly US Airways, but any OneWorld Alliance member will do.

Posts in this category are only visible to Admins and Editor/Reporter. This post is meant to be treated as a Wiki and Members of both groups can and should update this with new information as needed. Press Days: 01/12/2015 - 01/13/2015 Credentials: Arrived Drew's planned travel days: 01/11/2015 - 01/14/2015 Model Debut Spreadsheet: Google Docs (only Drew, Michael, and William can access) (3 truck debuts?) Press Release Schedule: Updated in the Google Docs above or the official press release schedule here. Banner Items: Completed by Dodgefan in mid November Accommodations: Reservation confirmed to rent a 4 bedroom home. It has enough room that William can crash there if he wants to or needs to. Drew will bring some groceries along for breakfast and snacks. Please leave any food/drink requests in the comments. Property can be seen here. View full article

I had to change the way the menu bar at the top functions. Instead of the menu popping up on mouse-over, you now must click the menu bar to click the sub-menus. This change was made because the mouse-over function does not work on touch screen devices.

Another 3k miles till it is broken in then. ;-)

that's a relatively minor issue I think... how far can you really recline any of the seats in this class?

Take it to the Subaru thread. ;-)

How many miles on the car?

Not all CVTs are bad. Though I haven't driven the OS to know if that one is or not.

What is it with German brands and their desire to call each and every body-style or engine-option variation a model? Back in the day, you bought an Oldsmobile Cutlass, but that wasn't the end of the story. You could have bought a 2-door coupe, 2-door hard top, 4-door sedan, 4-door hard top, convertible, wagon, or a 442... or you bought an Eighty-Eight, again with just about all of those available variations. Up to 14 different options, but in the end, just two models. Mini has 8 "models" but they are all just variations on two cars... at it's base, Mini has the Mini Cooper which is the basis for 6 "models" and the Countryman which is the basis for 2 "models" BMW is just as bad. Audi is worse. *might turn this rant into a longer Op Ed later.

LOL! Wow! I struck a few nerves there!

Those of us into cars are a special breed. Many of us keep our cars as if they are another member of the family. So when we see friends or relatives mistreat their vehicles, it raises hairs on the back of our neck. What annoys you the most about these people? Is it: How messy they keep their car? I have a relative that just picked up a clean used Ford Explorer 6 months ago. I saw it when he first got it and while it is a 2006, it was clean and in decent shape. I saw it again over the holiday weekend and it was loaded with junk, brake dust all over the wheels and in need of a bath. Their disregard for for regular maintenance? Back in high school I had a friend who had a 1986 Mercury Cougar. It was a 10 year old car but in showroom condition with low miles. A few years into it, I noticed the oil change reminder sticker had never changed and the ink on the reminder had completely faded away. I asked him when was the last time he changed his oil and he replied "uh... never". Well, the next weekend he came over so I could change the oil for him. It came out thicker than crude. The engine survived though and ran just fine after the oil change. While I was under there, I looked at his tires and they were down to the cords. We had a talk about that later. The way they drive? Pretty self explanatory here. Are they shaving while talking on the phone while eating a taco while driving? Their lack of passion? I had a friend in college who had a '98 Toyota Corolla and he thought it was just the bestest car ever! He was fairly devastated when someone broke into it and stole the stock cassette / CD player. I felt they did him a favor. Their misuse or misunderstanding of how certain vehicle features work? This is my personal pick. In my house, I pick out the vehicles and manage their care and feeding. What I can't seem to get through is that in a car with automatic temperature control, you don't need to set it to max because the system will manage the fan speed for you. Every time I get into our Buick Encore, I have to set the climate control back down to 72 from the 85 it is at when I get in. In the summertime, it works in reverse. Other: Something else I didn't list? Put it in the comments below.

If the O2 sensors aren't getting the amount of exhaust they expect, they'll throw a code.

Wtf? Why?

Happy Birthinday big man!

I've driven a prototype. RAV-4 feeling inside.

Also, it's really easy for him to say this when his main competition's base models are $29,900. He can price his base model at $30,000.01... just 100 dollars and one cent more... and still not be fibbing.

he implies that the reason Benz and Audi went down market was because of CAFE, but that isn't the reason. They are doing that to chase volume and are diluting themselves in the process

You know what, they could probably put this on the 200 platform and still give it a unique and attractive shape.

I've seen a number with factory CB. It's apparently an easy thing to swap out (I don't know what you do for the antenna) and they show up on Ebay with enough frequency that there had to be at least some take rate on them.

but you've gotta turn up the sport mode to get it... which is my point. it's not a FWD/RWD thing, it is a suspension tuning decision by Audi.

I think the J-bodies, X-Bodies, and whatever Chevette/J1000 was didn't get them. I'm pretty sure the FWD A-bodies did. I know that as late as 1985 the CB was still being offered on the E/K bodies. I've never seen it on them after the 1986 change over.