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So, at some point soon, the Factory Five 818 might start being available: 1800lb, single Subaru Impreza doner running the engine and box as a MR setup, $10k for the kit and projected build cost of $15k.
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Feb 13, 2013 21:21
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Being open top pretty much kills it's autocross prospects, doesn't it?
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Feb 13, 2013 21:50
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Powershift posted:Because, gently caress audi, new A45 with 360hp and a dual clutch 7 speed. Great, now I live in a world where my V8 is beaten both in economy AND power by 4cyl engines, with almost as great sounding exhaust. At least Mercedes will never beat American V8 pricing, and I never have to worry about even trying to afford a well-performing Mercedes.
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Feb 13, 2013 22:14
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The McLaren P1 is the smuggest amphibian I've ever seen and might be the fastest, too. http://jalopnik.com/the-mclaren-p1-might-eat-gt3-race-cars-for-lunch-177313449 Speaking of horsepower wars, we could have 600hp cars in the 40 to 50 thousand dollar range with the SRT Core models and the supercharged "hellcat" hemi that's currently going through certification.
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Feb 13, 2013 22:23
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InitialDave posted:So, at some point soon, the Factory Five 818 might start being available: Their factory is about 15 minutes away from my house. I was wondering what prototype they were running around with. I thought it was a convertable version of whatever kit uses corvette bits.
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Feb 13, 2013 22:24
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That 2014 Stingray I posted about spotting a couple weeks ago?  I've seen that car twice since then on the same stretch of road driving too fast! Guess I won't be seeing it anymore.
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Feb 13, 2013 22:39
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ethanol posted:That 2014 Stingray I posted about spotting a couple weeks ago? Man, that car in that color still looks awesome even when it's crashed into a ditch. 
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Feb 14, 2013 01:07
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Guys, Alfa sales target for the 4C in the USA is 1,000 units. They'll sell that many to Alfisti based on the badge alone. Then when your normal people see those riding around, it builds a huge amount of brand awareness for all those people who don't know poo poo about Alfa. I've been burned on the Alfa in America thing before but goddamnit when they bring the Giulietta successor here I will buy one.
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Feb 14, 2013 01:45
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I would drive the poo poo out of it if it was badged as a Yugo and rode like a Crown Vic. On the other hand who the hell is going to buy that Mercedes? It's probably not going to have a center differential, what is it bringing to the Sti/Evo table other than the Merc Badge and poor reliability?
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Feb 14, 2013 02:19
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All this talk about the 4C, how about another 4-cylinder car... that shouldn't have a 4-cylinder engine  TOYOTA?!http://www.worldcarfans.com/113021153691/toyota-supra-to-get-a-turbocharged-25-liter-hybrid-engine Next Supra looks like it will be 4-cylinder. Sounds like a pretty nifty 4-pot, though. EDIT: pic... 
Taaaaaaarb! fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 04:47
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So Spinning off Ram as its own brand has at least one benefit: As a brand that only makes one product they can at least make them pretty reliable. Ram is now just behind Honda and far above Mazda or Nissan. In other news, Mercedes getting better? Guess in one or 2 years it will be a good time to pick up an SL63 AMG for $35k. 
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Feb 14, 2013 04:50
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Throatwarbler posted:So Spinning off Ram as its own brand has at least one benefit: As a brand that only makes one product they can at least make them pretty reliable. Ram is now just behind Honda and far above Mazda or Nissan. Of course Land Rover's at the bottom.
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Feb 14, 2013 04:53
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Throatwarbler posted:So Spinning off Ram as its own brand has at least one benefit: As a brand that only makes one product they can at least make them pretty reliable. Ram is now just behind Honda and far above Mazda or Nissan. Kind of surprised how high Porsche is on the list.
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Feb 14, 2013 05:01
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In case anyone's interested, here's 2012: And here's 2011:  I don't know how much stock I'd put in these ratings, as it omits very important information, such as how expensive or time-consuming each problem was to remedy - small numbers of big problems are arguably worse for the consumer than large numbers of small problems. Still, it does give an idea who performs consistently well (Porsche, Lexus, Lincoln, Toyota), who is improving (BMW, Chrysler, Mazda, Nissan) who continually sucks (VW, Jeep, Dodge) and who sells cars in such small numbers that there's lots of statistical noise (Mitsubishi, Land Rover, Jaguar and Suzuki).
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Feb 14, 2013 05:26
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MrChips posted:In case anyone's interested, here's 2012: It also omits failure to follow proper maintenance procedures and follow wearing in period
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Feb 14, 2013 05:37
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Throatwarbler posted:So Spinning off Ram as its own brand has at least one benefit: As a brand that only makes one product they can at least make them pretty reliable. Ram is now just behind Honda and far above Mazda or Nissan. What I don't understand about these charts is that in 2011 and 2012 there's a huge disparity between Hyundia and Kia, even though they're functionally the same cars right? But instead of Kia rising up to Hyundai's level, they just sort of met in the middle.
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Feb 14, 2013 05:39
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The one I posted is a 3 year survey, so that's for 2010 models.
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Feb 14, 2013 05:47
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i can kind of cut jeep and land rover a little slack because 1)anything heavily offroad oriented is just harder to engineer and probably just gets beat up more, since people buy them specifically to beat on offroad, and 2) air suspension is just a dodgy(no pun intended )thing for any carmaker to build reliably.
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Feb 14, 2013 06:00
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My 2013 Jeep had a loose cable to the battery causing the alternator not to charge. That counts towards this list even though it was literally a twist of a screw that fixed it. Still, proper QC should take care of stuff like that.
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Feb 14, 2013 06:10
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davebo posted:What I don't understand about these charts is that in 2011 and 2012 there's a huge disparity between Hyundia and Kia, even though they're functionally the same cars right? But instead of Kia rising up to Hyundai's level, they just sort of met in the middle. Because these are customer surveys, which means brand image ends up playing a pretty significant role. The number one "problem" in those surveys for decades has been "wind noise." Another popular complaint is that the car's voice-recognition system doesn't work. Many of the items on the surveys aren't real mechanical issues at all. Many come down to design or even purely the type of customer and customer expectations. This also explains Jaguar's weird up and down of meteoric rises and massive falls for what are mechanically identical lineups. Basically, JD Power is a pretty shaky metric that's only getting worse as the overall number of mechanical faults drops across all models, since this makes it increasingly dependent on customer perception of problems instead of actual things that everyone agrees are a problem like the car catching fire. Throatwarbler posted:i can kind of cut jeep and land rover a little slack because 1)anything heavily offroad oriented is just harder to engineer and probably just gets beat up more, since people buy them specifically to beat on offroad, and 2) air suspension is just a dodgy(no pun intended )thing for any carmaker to build reliably. Lots of people buy Wranglers and such based solely on looks without realizing the trade-offs they're making for stuff like solid axles, optional doors, etc. Then they get mad about their expensive lifestyle accessory because they spend 99% of their time on the highway or in traffic and what they really want is a Honda Civic that just happens to look super butch. But then again, this might simply be because the Patriot, Compass, etc., account for a lot of sales volume and are turds that are poorly designed and where little interior poo poo breaks off all the time. OXBALLS DOT COM fucked around with this message at 06:23 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 06:12
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Something that just occurred to me is that a small company launching a new model is going to get hammered in this survey. All new car models will have problems in their first year or two, which will affect your rating. If you're a big manufacturer with lots of models in your lineup, a rough launch might make a small blip in your rating. If you're Land Rover and you're launching the Evoque, for example, you're lineup just grew by 20% and your sales by a similarly large margin - any quality control problem, no matter how small, is going to absolutely kill your rating disproportionately to a large manufacturer.
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Feb 14, 2013 06:59
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Cream_Filling posted:But then again, this might simply be because the Patriot, Compass, etc., account for a lot of sales volume and are turds that are poorly designed and where little interior poo poo breaks off all the time. Nope. The new GCs are everywhere and a massive sales success.  It wouldn't stop me from buying a Jeep especially a GC SRT8 but they do have/have had plenty of legitimate reliability issues that are born out in further research. The new GC's air suspension has been problematic from day one and they've had lots of problems with the sunroof, and the Compass, Patriot and Caliber have all had relatively minor but frequent issues with their suspension components. Actually the Patriot and Compass (OK, really just the Patriot because even I can't defend the Compass with a straight face) are pretty decent deals on the used market because the suspension issues are well known and easily fixable with uprated after market suspension parts, and then they're not too bad. MrChips posted:Something that just occurred to me is that a small company launching a new model is going to get hammered in this survey. All new car models will have problems in their first year or two, which will affect your rating. If you're a big manufacturer with lots of models in your lineup, a rough launch might make a small blip in your rating. If you're Land Rover and you're launching the Evoque, for example, you're lineup just grew by 20% and your sales by a similarly large margin - any quality control problem, no matter how small, is going to absolutely kill your rating disproportionately to a large manufacturer. With the Evoque Land Rover went from 4 products to 5 (Evoque, LR2, LR4/Disco, RRS, RR). That's not an especially small lineup. Going down that list from the top: Porsche: 4 or 5 - Cayman/Boxster, 911, Panamera, Cayenne Buick: 4 - Regal, Lacrosse, Enclave, Verano. Cadillac: 4 - CTS, ATS, SRX, Escalade. Lincoln: 5 - MKX, MKZ, Navigator, MKT, MKS Acura: 5 - RDX, ILX, MDX/ZDX, RL, TL. Scion: I have no idea because who gives a poo poo but it's probably less than 5. So I think LR's problems lie elsewhere. Throatwarbler fucked around with this message at 07:28 on Feb 14, 2013 |
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Feb 14, 2013 07:25
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Throatwarbler posted:So Spinning off Ram as its own brand has at least one benefit: As a brand that only makes one product they can at least make them pretty reliable. Ram is now just behind Honda and far above Mazda or Nissan. I started getting JD Power surveys after I bought my Audi and let me tell you, the surveys are garbage. They aren't specific at all and the questions are loaded. They have such gems as, how many times did you bring your vehicle to the dealership in the past x amount of time. It doesn't matter if it was for regular service, an actual problem or whatever. I have no faith whatsoever in JD power surveys anymore. it's a complete joke what they ask you and how they word it.
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Feb 14, 2013 17:16
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Ram 1500 to get V6 diesel engine later this yearquote:February 14, 2013 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Beginning in third-quarter 2013, Ram will become the only brand to offer a small-displacement diesel for its half-ton line of trucks.
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Feb 14, 2013 17:19
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Diesel is really catching on. This thing is already in the Wrangler in overseas markets, it will probably come to the US as well, and maybe even a new Powerwagon? http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/1208dp_banks_vm_motori_630t_v6_diesel_engine/
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Feb 14, 2013 17:51
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Throatwarbler posted:Diesel is really catching on. This thing is already in the Wrangler in overseas markets, it will probably come to the US as well, and maybe even a new Powerwagon? Why Chrysler keeps holding out on a diesel Wrangler in the US I have no idea...
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Feb 14, 2013 18:05
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I guess Tesla got burned once by bad press (Top Gear) that they blackboxed everything on the NY Times journalist's test drive... http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/most-peculiar-test-drive  
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Feb 14, 2013 20:29
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Apparently the reporter that did the review has done zero other car reviews and usually reports on oil and energy. I haven't confirmed so maybe its internet hearsay but loving El Oh El if true. Between this and the dealer lawsuit it makes me want to buy a tesla just to stick it to the man.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:41
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Wow. After reading through the reply from Tesla and checking out their graphs, that dude is hosed with a capital F. I'm assuming he didn't know and/or expect Tesla to have a full datalogging black-box in there. Believe it or not, it's actually becoming a more common feature to be implemented when an auto journalist reviews a new car. Sounds like someone needs to be seriously reprimanded. I hope The New York Times issues a full apology with a legit review.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:45
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I've seen four Model S's here in the SF Bay Area, and they all looked fantastic and drew a lot of attention from onlookers. The recognition is probably due more to the fact that it's a California product than its looks, which are more elegant than flashy. When I first saw the NYT's report, I was thinking "man, this would be the stupidest car to do a hit piece on" throughout the entire article, considering that the Tesla is basically a rolling computer with gps, wifi, and all sorts of other gadgetry. Nothing you do as a reviewer should be unknown to the car. The fact that someone was dumb enough to do this is some unbelievably hilarious poo poo.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:54
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Xguard86 posted:Apparently the reporter that did the review has done zero other car reviews and usually reports on oil and energy. I haven't confirmed so maybe its internet hearsay but loving El Oh El if true. http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/john_m_broder/index.html Decide for yourself.
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Feb 14, 2013 20:58
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EnergizerFellow posted:The 3.0L V6 diesel is also hitting the 2014 Grand Cherokee here in the States. Seeing a diesel half-ton here is very much into the a-loving-men about-damm-time territory. The only diesel Wrangler they ever even pretended they were going to make was the J8, even then it was 'Government/Military' only, which is such a joke because I guarantee you could turn around and sell it civilian and people would eat it up like candy.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:13
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As much as I love the Tesla Model S for its technology, I'd like to see one with a gas engine in there like Lutz's company is doing with Fisker Karmas and the ZR1 engine. I know it's not exactly the same because the Karma already has a normal engine in it up front and doing so to a Model S would basically require redesigning the entire car, but I can dream.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:21
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Devyl posted:Wow. After reading through the reply from Tesla and checking out their graphs, that dude is hosed with a capital F. I'm assuming he didn't know and/or expect Tesla to have a full datalogging black-box in there. Believe it or not, it's actually becoming a more common feature to be implemented when an auto journalist reviews a new car. Sounds like someone needs to be seriously reprimanded. I hope The New York Times issues a full apology with a legit review.    Tesla's big thing now is that they turn on full logging for press loaners, which is undoubtedly documented in the paperwork you have to sign to get a press loaner.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:30
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Throatwarbler posted:maybe even a new Powerwagon? There isn't any Maybe involved here at all. Or fanfare, for that matter. http://www.ramtrucks.com/en/2012/ram_2500_3500/
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Feb 14, 2013 21:30
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CommieGIR posted:The only diesel Wrangler they ever even pretended they were going to make was the J8, even then it was 'Government/Military' only, which is such a joke because I guarantee you could turn around and sell it civilian and people would eat it up like candy.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:31
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Hog Obituary posted:I guess Tesla got burned once by bad press (Top Gear) that they blackboxed everything on the NY Times journalist's test drive... The guy posted this in response to Elon's tweets (but not the blog post, this was posted before that): http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/the-charges-are-flying-over-a-test-of-teslas-charging-network/?ref=johnmbroder One retarded tidbit: John Broder posted:At that point, I was already experiencing anxiety about range and had called a Tesla employee from the New Jersey Turnpike to ask how to stretch the battery. She said to shut off the cruise control to take advantage of battery regeneration from occasional braking and slowing down. Based on that advice, I was under the impression that stop-and-go driving at low speeds in the city would help, not hurt, my mileage. Low speeds helping your mileage, sure, but the idea that speeding up and slowing down would *help* mileage? I wonder if a Tesla employee actually said that or if he just fabricated that "advice" as well.
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Feb 14, 2013 21:48
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Powershift posted:http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/john_m_broder/index.html I don't know if that's his official area or what but ya... looks like most of what he writes is in that purview. What a loving joke. I don't think the model S is a world changer but its clear that people are afraid of it and fighting dirty to resist innovation. Steve French posted:I wonder if a Tesla employee actually said that or if he just fabricated that "advice" as well. The dude is so full of poo poo there is nothing he can say that I'll believe.
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Feb 14, 2013 22:26
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First drives of the new Cayman S are starting to come in, pretty much exactly the praise you would expect, an even better car than the already phenomenal new Boxster: http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=27122.htm
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Feb 15, 2013 02:10
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Steve French posted:The guy posted this in response to Elon's tweets (but not the blog post, this was posted before that): I could see regenerative brakes extending your range... if you're using them to slow your descent down a mountain road.
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Feb 15, 2013 02:42
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