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Drew Dowdell

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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    The 1.6T will have a higher cost compared to the 2.5. Displacement generally doesn't cost anything. A turbocharger, Intercooler, Bypass valve, duct work and the other associated hardware adds about $1000 to the cost of the vehicle. The 1.6T may not deliver better fuel economy in the end. The reason being that while a 1.6T has lower aspirational losses, it as inferior thermal efficiencies at cruise due to the reduced compression ratio. At a 200 hp target, the 1.6T will be running about 9:1 compression whereas a 2.5 will be running 11.3:1. At 160 hp you can run a 1.6T at about 10.5:1 compression, but you can also run a 2.5 liter with an Atkinson Cam which gives an longer power stroke than compression stroke and exemplary energy extraction from each drop of fuel (Most Hybrids uses an Atkinson cammed ICE). I am not convinced that 1.6T will generate better fuel economy numbers. After all the GM 1.4T did not generate better fuel economy numbers than the 2.0 Ford engine. Basically it comes down to this... 1.6T @ 200 hp vs 2.5 NA @ 200 hp 1.6T @ 160 hp vs 2.5 Atkinson @ 160 hp The 2.5T has lower costs and less maintenance worries down the road. For ANY given hp target, Naturally Aspirated, Atkinson cammed, engines have better fuel economy numbers than small displacement turbocharged engines of the same output. The 1.4T in the Cruze has better fuel economy than the 2.0 in the Focus and the 1.4T doesn't even have direct injection yet.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    Good lord! $37k?! Would you buy one of these over a Terrain Denali or even a nicely equipped Traverse or Acadia? Heck, $37k gets you in the 2WD door at Benz, BMW, Cadillac, Audi, Land Rover, all of the Japanese Lux brands, and nicely equipped Hemi AWD models from Jeep and Dodge. Unless Kia was severely discounting these things, I would look just about everywhere else.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    I'd watch a Dodge Charger SRT-8 v. Ford Taurus SHO v. Chevy... uh... well... we'll just move on..
  4. Drew Dowdell
    replacement for the Neon SRT?
  5. Drew Dowdell
    I guess I just don't understand why no turbo then... the recent turbos, from pretty much everyone, have turned out to be excellent machines.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    Not really, at least not yet... They are moving about 500~800 a month and a tad under 7000 per year (2012). That is about on par with how many Camaros GM moves in the worst month in 2012. This is a sports coupe so demand tends to fall off after the first two years. The bright side is that they set a pretty modest target of 6000 cars so they are not saddling themselves with over capacity. Already Subaru is giving $400~600 in incentives to move their (more expensive) BRZ against the FRS -- not an auspicious thing for a 1st year coupe. The thing I don't get is that the market for sports coupes is modest enough as it is. Why they want to split the pie -- and the marketing -- between Fuji and Toyota is baffling. This should have been just a Subaru or just a Toyota. I would have preferred that it be a Toyota using a hypothetical "1AR-GE" engine. Basically the same 2.7 liter 1AR-FE Inline-4 in the RAV4, but with hotter cams and drinking premium to deliver about 220hp / 200 lb-ft. For a higher performance version, forget laggy turbos and simply the use a roots compressor on the 1AR engine. A "1AR-GZE" will be good for about 270 hp / 270 lb-ft with zero lag. The latter would be interesting. I think the only way to make the car work as-is is with a flat-four engine. They're worried about deck height restrictions now with adding a turbo, so I don't think any inline four will work standing up.
  7. Drew Dowdell
    Why the 2.5 and not the 1.6t when the 1.6t will have the same horsepower, more torque at a lower RPM, and get better fuel economy?
  8. Drew Dowdell
    That would be a huge size change for Insignia and then leave a gap in the Opel lineup. Europeans are more sensitive to overall size than we are in the States. (that's what she said) I think the XTS, de-contented and restyled, would make a great new Omega, but the Insignia would need to remain.
  9. Drew Dowdell

    Making Trax

    Drew Dowdell replied to ocnblu's topic in Chevrolet

    Keep in mind that the Equinox is due to be replaced very soon. It has, at most, one model year left in its current form. It will be downsized slightly and lose weight significantly, probably also dropping the V6 entirely in favor of a series of 2.5, 1.6T, and 2.0T. Considering how such an Equinox will likely be priced and what the Trax is being priced at today, do you see the logic in Chevy's decision not to offer it here?
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Great explanation of that! Thank you!
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Completely different feel. This is more Miata with a back seat for the 3 year old. The Camaro V6 feels huge by comparison... driving the FR-S/BR-Z after the Camaro is refreshing and carefree. The ZL-1 is waaaay faster than the Toyopet and Fuji Heavy Industry, but it still feels like it is the worlds best handling 747.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    You know the kinds of cars I like... and I was pricing them out after driving one.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    I wonder if fitting a 2.4 in the car would have been a problem... but I during my time with it, I never felt that torque was insufficient for the base model at all.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Don't they already share parts? 2.0T, Magnaride, AWD system...
  15. Drew Dowdell

    Making Trax

    Drew Dowdell replied to ocnblu's topic in Chevrolet

    Does National and Avis need advertising from GM in order to be persuaded to buy Captivas?
  16. Drew Dowdell
    <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.liveleak.com/ll_embed?f=b6a311ed13ae" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  17. Drew Dowdell
    I'm not old enough to drive a Buick ................... That type of thinking proves you're too old to drive a Verano T
  18. Drew Dowdell
    Eagle Talon - American branded Mitsubishi built in Normal Illinois.
  19. Drew Dowdell
    They had quadrajets back then. Why not just use those and make the secondaries more reluctant to open? Under light throttle, they operate as a small 2bbl anyway.
  20. Drew Dowdell
    maybe it's just me, but I find the commercial to be pretty lame.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    I though the eAssist LaCrosse I took to Detroit a couple years back was great
  22. Drew Dowdell
    but why is eAssist performing in different ways in different vehicles? especially in a counter intuitive way (better performance in a larger vehicle)
  23. Drew Dowdell
    What is strange to me is that this powertrain setup is perfectly reasonable in a base Buick Lacrosse yet is somehow woefully inadequate in the Malibu.
  24. Drew Dowdell
    there was a time we had that kind of talent hanging around C&G.
  25. Drew Dowdell
    the 1.6t is a torquier engine. 1.6t with 200hp and 200 lb-ft of torque at 1500 rpm. Without the 202hp 2.5 not a chance in Helsinki
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