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Drew Dowdell

Editor-in-Chief
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Everything posted by Drew Dowdell

  1. Drew Dowdell
    why would you make that assumption? If it came to Oshawa it would likely be because it is sharing with Camaro.
  2. Drew Dowdell
    It seems like Kia and Hyundai know how to make their two lineups different.
  3. Drew Dowdell
    I have no such concerns on the Passat.
  4. Drew Dowdell
    I still want to drive one to experience it. My guess is that it is the most luxurious feeling and driving of the Mini-van crowd. Yes you can load a Sienna up, but a lot of the materials other than seating surfaces in the Sienna are cheapo carry over from the base model.
  5. Drew Dowdell
    Not surprising for this generation.
  6. Drew Dowdell
    One of my issues with the Malibu not mentioned in the review is weight. The Malibu is easily the smallest of its declared competitors, yet it weighs the most. Malibu 1LT - 3439 Malibu Eco 2SA - 3602 Kia Optima - 3223 Volkswagen Passat 2.5 SE A/T - 3221 Hyundai Sonata GLS - 3199 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid - 3457 2012 Nissan Altima - 3180 2013 Nissan Altima - 3187
  7. Drew Dowdell
    But at 100 years old it is still approx. 2 time more life-span than coal and nuke plants, and 3 to 4 times more life-span than estimated life of a solar plant. The problem with addition of more turbines is location and is the dammed water capable to handle the capacity? You do not want the lake to be empty. One thing to look at is regenerative turbines. I.e. placing turbines at two different elevations. So when turbine at higher elevation spits water out, it can be siphoned on to another smaller turbine sitting at a lower elevation. I love hydro plants for their simplicity and efficiency. We were doing research on some old hydro dams and I was amazed to know that the actual operational efficiency of the turbines can be close to 98% with modern bearings, and lubes. That is unheard of in any other source. These are river spillways so the water is flowing constantly. No more than a 15 foot drop, but most are lower than that. They sit every 5 to 15 miles along the rivers here. We're not talking about lighting up all of Pittsburgh with them, but it is energy that is literally passing us by.
  8. Drew Dowdell
    The 2008-2012 Malibu was still Epsilon 1. The first Epsilon 2 car produced was the current Lacrosse. You've forgotten Vectra and Insignia as Epsilon 1 and 2 respectively as well.
  9. Drew Dowdell
    There is still lots of room for smaller scale hydro. It doesn't all have to be hover damn size projects. A high percentage of the dams and locks on the rivers around me are pushing 100 years old and are in danger of failing right now. When they are rebuilt, they could incorporate small scale hydro. Since we need to rebuilt them anyway, why not throw a few turbines in them to generate electricity?
  10. Drew Dowdell
    Seems like a relatively simple fix. At least they reacted faster than GM or Toyota would have.
  11. Drew Dowdell
    Look at all the hollywood types that drive around in Pruises and Escalade Hybrids. There is a market for it.
  12. Drew Dowdell
    This looks pretty darn close..... but probably a bit pricey for a car you don't intend to restore. http://compare.ebay.com/like/270790768594?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar I can keep my eye out for you at the Olds meets or Carlisle if I go.
  13. Drew Dowdell
    ... so... just to be clear... you'd build a 2012 Malibu.
  14. Drew Dowdell
    Can you post the source of this info? I was totally unable to find a source coming close to this. I'm wondering if Germany is outsourcing the location of its solar power. As it was not long ago, I saw stats showing that it would require covering the entire US with solar cells to provide even a quarter of our needs. This article was from May, but over the summer it became such a routine thing for Germany that media no longer bothered to report it. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/26/us-climate-germany-solar-idUSBRE84P0FI20120526 It might be, but right now, the people who put in roof-loads of PVs are losing their shirts, as the SRECs are not covering the cost of the improvements. Not only that, I have been investigating putting PVs on my roof for 10 years now, and the end user pricing has not come down at all. Granted, I have not repriced in the last year, but last I checked, Harbor Freight's kit had the best watts per dollar. SRECs were never intended to cover the entire cost of the installation. The premise was that the owner would obtain long term financing and use the SRECs to help offset the cost of installation and they also got free energy for their home.
  15. Drew Dowdell
    Yes but the alignment problem there didn't show up well in the photo. The gap between the metallic looking piece and the side of the console is uneven.
  16. Drew Dowdell
    Okay Johnnie one note.... but what is your thought about the rest of the car/review.
  17. Drew Dowdell
    PV costs are entirely based on the cost to produce the cells. Those prices have already plummeted and should continue to do so. Roof surface area is a large untapped resource in this country.
  18. Drew Dowdell
    how about engine smoothness in Fuel Economy mode?
  19. Drew Dowdell
    Yet Daimler set a company record with $8 billion in net profit in 2011. That is $3,791 per vehicle, compared to General Motors who made $844 per vehicle sold in 2011. GM sold 7 million more vehicles than Daimler last year, yet Daimler made more money, so those taxis must be pretty profitable. Again, the Daimler business plan works, it may not work for everyone else, but it works for them. Then why are they pursuing the "everyone else" business plan?
  20. Drew Dowdell
    I would get a loaded Passat TDI over the Malibu and not even think twice about it.
  21. Drew Dowdell
    For my area, I can get $0.0707/kwh for "100% clean energy" which is blended wind and hydro. With the employee discount I get through work, I can get "dirty energy" for $0.0679/kwh
  22. Drew Dowdell
    Of the 1,016,000 Mercedes that were sold elsewhere, how many are taxi cabs, how many are in limo service, how many are executive car sharing (modern company car fleets), and how many are rentals? The numbers may shock you.
  23. Drew Dowdell
    "Some of our competitors try to hide their small engines by adding extra complexity like DOHC and turbo chargers.... Our integrated cam system gives you more fuel economy, better performance, with lower weight all in a bigger engine... because of course... (cue a Silverado ripping out a stump or something).... size matters. Integrated Cam, just part of the Simplicity System by General Motors"
  24. Drew Dowdell
    Use clips from this video: "Some auto makers like to use all sorts of complicated tricks to try and squeeze extra power out of their little engines. With our integrated cam system, you get more engine, better fuel economy, and better reliability with out all of the (cue clip of some V6 blowing a timing belt) .... fuss. Integrated Cam, just part of the Simplicity System by General Motors."
  25. Drew Dowdell
    Certainly you remember the Jetsons!
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