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Throatwarbler posted:I hope you weren't looking forward to any new Volvo wagons, because wagons have all been dropped and replaced with SUVs. Goddamn it. So much for Volvo, this means they'll never produce anything useful again, right? Their wagons were the only thing about the company that I liked. Thats a shame, a friend of mine drives a S40 T5 AWD with a manual transmission and its actually pretty sweet. I keep telling him to get it on a dyno though to see how terrifying the drivetrain losses are.
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Mar 25, 2010 19:38
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Seat Safety Switch posted:poverty-spec S40s.  They start at $27,000, how can any of them be poverty-spec?
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Mar 25, 2010 20:27
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Naky posted:It's hard being a hatch lover in North America, I need to move to Europe. I really like hatches too, but I think their role is to be cheap. I wish that we had a wide selection of cheap, efficient, hatches with 1.3L engines and stick shifts that I could drive around at WOT all the time. The problem isn't that we are too fat, but rather that gas is so cheap here. These nice Euro hatches are not cheap by our standards, and Americans figure that if you are going to spend decent money on a car, it may as well be big and comfortable. Frankly, I agree with it to some degree. I'm sure that these Focus RSes are expensive, and if it was my dollar I would want something RWD for the money.
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Mar 29, 2010 17:51
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Leperflesh posted:I dunno. It's a little bug-eyed, not the most attractive car. But it's cool to see purchaseable, production electric cars from major manufacturers, and the tax rebates makes it reasonably affordable. Does it drive and feel like an econobox? If so, then this $25,000 car costs $10,000 more than a comparable new economy car, and assuming 30mpg and $3/gal that $10,000 can buy enough gas to go 100,000 miles.
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Mar 30, 2010 22:10
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Morphix posted:Besides, if you live in a city, you aren't taking multi hour trips to places. Everything you could need is within a 10-15 minute drive. That's the point of living in a dense city. This just isn't true in many US cities. However, Houston may just be the worst big city. In Houston, DFW, and LA you drive for hours within the city just to get places. Things are spread out, there aren't grocery stores close, and space is used very inefficiently within the city. That's at least three of America's five biggest cities where the tiny "city cars" have no advantage. Also, if you get out of town at all the speed limits are 75, where most of these sub-subcompact city cars like the iQ are very unhappy.
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Aug 13, 2012 22:57
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oRenj9 posted:The low-slung front end reminds me of the new 3-series. Of course, now I can't wait to see pictures of the new Miata. If it uses any of the current design language (and it will), then it will finally be a looker. New Miata is coming in 2015 though, right? If its a 2014 model I might be tempted to push getting a car off for another year.
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Aug 30, 2012 02:56
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What's going on with Genesis Coupes? I didn't realize until recently what a huge power bump the 2013s got, but no dealer my gigantic city has one on the lot that I can come look at the interior, let alone one with a stick for me to test drive. Are they selling like crazy or just barely build any at all? I'd also appreciate opinions from anyone who owns one or seriously considered one. I'm tempted by the cheap power in something that should have a passable chassis and brakes, especially with the R-spec package.
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Sep 4, 2012 20:08
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Keyser S0ze posted:I think they were told "Go look at some KIA's and rip them off" and did so in committee fashion. I think this is what happened, it has those side ridges that Hyundai has been doing combined with an attempt to make the front end look more truck-like, I think. Did the Camry get a refresh recently? Does it too look like an industrial accident? Maybe this is what it takes to be a big volume seller.
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Sep 5, 2012 22:57
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sanchez posted:Accord Coupe is the only way to get a 6cyl with the 6 speed manual too. Wouldn't the segment who wants a 270+ hp engine and a manual transmission be looking at Mustangs, Genesis Coupes, Camaros, or Challengers? I understand that Americans like power so the V6 Camrys and Accords must be faster than most sports cars from a few years ago, but I don't get who would buy an Accord as a "fun car".
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Sep 6, 2012 17:37
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http://www.autoblog.com/2012/09/11/2012-tesla-model-s-first-drive-review-video So the first couple Tesla Model S have been delivered to customers. This is the first real write-up I've seen about one. The Roadster was a Lotus with an electric drivetrain jammed in, which doesn't really prove that Tesla is able to put together a car. I like the looks of the production Model S a ton, it looks like a Jag crossed with a Panamera, but good. It's a good thing that they have a gigantic power option, because 4,647 lbs is quite porky, even for a full size sedan.
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Sep 12, 2012 17:19
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Steve French posted:Apart from the A7? Which BMW do you think competes with the A7 and is better? I think the A7 is completely hideous, I've seen several on the road recently and they just look strange.
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Sep 27, 2012 22:30
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AdmiralViscen posted:Amazing post. I had no idea that the IS-F stickered at $60k+ until looking it up just now. I new they had big engines, but I was thinking upper 40s - low 50s. Someone I know has the basest IS250 you can get, and I thought it was a fine car for someone who doesn't really give a poo poo about cars but wants something comfortable and a hair better driving experience than a Camry. To get things back on the new car track, I think it's great that Jaguar is doing a real roadster again, although whoever said a couple pages ago that the Jag rep swore up and down that it would sticker at $60k was lied to. http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/01/2013-jaguar-f-type-pricing-video-configurator/
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Oct 3, 2012 16:50
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IOwnCalculus posted:Neat and I'm all for cheap electric cars, but...78MPH top speed? Even when I'm driving alone and not using the HOV lane, at least half of my commute is ±5MPH of that. Sounds like it's only useful for someone whose commute is entirely highway-free. Is it as hard on electric cars for them to be doing 100% of their maximum speed as it is for conventional cars? I don't see this as a huge problem as long as it can sustain 75mph with no difficulties like an overheating battery occurring. It is pretty funny to be selling a car with a lower top speed than some roads in Texas have speed limits set at. I'd like to drive our new 85mph road just to see what speed traffic actually moves at there.
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Oct 10, 2012 19:10
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tetrapyloctomy posted:Yes, if the ForTwo cannot keep up with the flow of traffic. On my drive last weekend, 78 MPH was slower than the norm during some portions of the route, and people who weren't keeping pace caused problems. Do people doing ~70mph in the farthest right lane really cause such huge problems? I spend some significant time in right lanes when I'm in my girlfriends car because the three speed transmission makes for disastrous fuel economy much over 70mph. I get passed like crazy, but I don't think I'm ever holding up traffic doing 65-75 in the rightmost lane.
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Oct 10, 2012 22:28
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Tacier posted:I don't live in a place where people drive aggressively. Why would someone want to prevent you from merging in front of them in the left lane? Because you will be in front of them any many people treat freeways like Nascar, aggressively tailgating and overtaking someone whenever there is space. If you leave a 2+ second following distance in front of you, there will be cars constantly moving in to fill it.
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Oct 11, 2012 19:22
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NOTinuyasha posted:So has anyone here actually driven the Chevy Spark? My dad was getting a recall done on his Z06 and test drove a Spark to pass the time and thought it was the best thing ever. Initial sales are impressive for what it's worth, 6300 in the first three months. I've read some reviews but nothing really seems to get to the point. The Spark looks absolutely incredible for a commuter in-city car. I think that having one of those and one larger car for road trips / highway commutes could be perfect for a couple.
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Oct 21, 2012 22:12
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IOwnCalculus posted:GenV LT1: 450+hp, 2014- I love seeing Chevy show how high-tech they can make a 2-valve pushrod V8. Are they still doing any live rear axles or is that just Ford?
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Oct 24, 2012 16:04
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I wonder if the price will stay the same as happened with the C5-C6. I bet there won't be a Z06 the first year and then the Z06 shows up in 2015 with 650hp from a twin-turbo LT1.
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Oct 25, 2012 21:18
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Cream_Filling posted:The thing is how basically no other car companies other than maybe Hyundai bother to try and compete in the pony car segment. I'm assuming it's something to do with product planning and world cars or whatever. I'd say that the G37 Coupe is pretty much a pony car. The Mustang, Camaro, and Challenger set a very high bar to match and nicely cover the range of sportier to softer grand tourer.
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Oct 26, 2012 21:32
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So Ford did poorly on Consumer Reports list this year. I don't know very much about how CR's long-term reliability works, but I'm pretty surprised to see Ford rated as garbage-tier reliability and Audi as the most reliable European make. Either my internal impression of car brands is massively out of date, or CR's methodology is questionable. My own instincts would say that GM interiors fall apart, VAG stuff will need window regulators and occasionally have electrical gremlins, Chrysler group stuff that isn't a V8 will be trash, and Ford stuff will work well because most of it is really old tech. I know that looking at the entire brand doesn't say a ton because there will be huge variance between different models, but what on Earth happened to Ford that made them instantly become the worst? Does the new Focus suck or something? Twerk from Home fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Oct 29, 2012 |
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Oct 29, 2012 20:27
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So the Hyundai group got caught cheating on EPA fuel economy. http://www.epa.gov/fueleconomy/labelchange.htm I'm surprised this isn't more common, it seems like manufacturers are gaming the system like crazy. I see many cars now that seem to have higher ratings than older cars that I know get better mileage. It's very difficult to accurately compare fuel economy though, because some places have pure gas, some have E10, weather varies so much between different locations, and some people have heavy feet. I do about 23 in my tiny little Miata while a friend of mine has proven that he gets 26 mpg mixed in a mod motor Mustang.
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Nov 2, 2012 15:52
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Steve French posted:As for the 2.5 Jetta wagon, I see a shocking number of them around the SF bay area. A significant majority are the TDI, but I'd estimate around 15-20% of the wagons I see are the 2.5, and I shake my head every time I see one. Can someone catch me up with what's so wrong with the VAG 5 cylinder? I know 2.0 bad 1.8T good, but what's wrong with the 2.5?
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Nov 7, 2012 20:49
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The King of Swag posted:Whatever happened to the days where you could special order cars from the factory and get any possible combination of features as long as you were willing to wait for them to make it? Was this only a Chrysler and AMC deal (the only two manufacturers I know where you could do this)? Ford definitely does it, and it's very easy and painless. I think its much more feasible for cars manufactured in the US. Edit: Oh, you still need to fall into their option package brackets, but generally there's a ton of flexibility and standalone options.
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Nov 14, 2012 20:26
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Bob NewSCART posted:So what do you guys feel like is the Civic of now, now that the civic no longer fills the roll as well as it used to.(being better than every other car at the price point) The Civic of right now is either the Mazda 3, Kia Soul, Hyundai Elantra, or Ford Focus if you're looking for my educated estimate.
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Nov 20, 2012 00:08
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The Midniter posted:It still blows my mind that a turbo I4 these days can hit 250hp with no problem, when an NA V8 from less than 10 years ago in a Mustang made about the same amount of power. I'll be impressed when they make the power an LS1 did in 1997. 
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Nov 29, 2012 19:16
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Which are the first mass market (sub $40k) cars to use GDI? I'm curious what the long-term reliability ends up looking like. Are the high pressure fuel pumps more likely to fail? Do the injectors get beat up? I'm talking about 150k miles and onwards, really long-term stuff where patterns might not be clear yet.
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Nov 30, 2012 22:04
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NathanScottPhillips posted:Every tiny diesel hatchback in Europe has a tow hitch on it. Americans are just vain and want something big with shiny wheels. It's unfortunately not just vanity, most things that aren't trucks here have half of the legal towing limit that they do in Europe or even Canada. I'm not completely sure why, but it could be related to most small trailers here being unbraked, or higher speed limits or something. Mechanically identical cars can tow different amounts in the US, Europe, Canada, and Australia because of differences in liability laws.
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Dec 10, 2012 18:58
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Cream_Filling posted:No way I'd want to encourage already overweight small cars to be poking along the highway carrying loads they can barely accelerate with. Wow, color me educated. That's one hell of a torture test, especially being able to do stop and go up a 12% grade and the Nevada dam climbing.
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Dec 10, 2012 21:12
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SouthLAnd posted:I saw a new Lincoln MKZ on the road around Dearborn the other day and I think I really...like it? I think the MKZ's problem is going to be that the Fusion Titanium is cheaper, looks arguably better on the outside and has a similar interior.
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Dec 12, 2012 17:26
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Throatwarbler posted:Looks pretty nice. It's interesting that the are sticking with pushrod engined throughout the range, and the 4.3l 90* V6 is staying with DI and cylinder deactivation, and all engines are now aluminum blocks. They talk about using "truck engines" like it's a huge advantage vs using engines derived from passenger cars. What's the big deal about pushrods that I'm missing? Ford seems to be having great success with the 5.0 Coyote and the 3.5 Ecoboost, which are both passenger car derived engines.
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Dec 13, 2012 17:47
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davebo posted:Not fast enough for my liking. I knew it'd never happen but I was really hoping the C7 would at least have a dsg as an option, if not entirely replace the auto. I hope that when they get around to the z06/zr1 of this generation they're able to do something like that. What's the highest torque application we've seen dual-clutch transmissions in, though? Is there a DSG out there that can handle Z06 levels of torque, let alone the 600+ ft-lbs in a ZR1? I haven't heard of any diesel trucks using dual-clutch transmissions yet, and it's really hard to hold gigantic torque with conventional manual transmissions, let alone newer tech.
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Feb 20, 2013 00:10
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Cat Terrist posted:I wish that were true, I really do. But from what I see I dont think that's the case - it seems to be that being a car geek stopped being something to get into a few years ago. I'm a recent engineering grad, and I've seen tons of my 23 year old friends buy new cars. The one who spent the most got a Ford Edge Sport, several got Honda CR-Vs and there was a Toyota Rav4 as well. Come to think of it, among my 7 college friends who got new cars after graduating the only non-crossover is a Prius. It's really anecdotal evidence, but seeing the segment of twenty-somethings capable of buying new cars are getting mostly crossovers says a ton.
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Feb 20, 2013 16:03
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D C posted:A "Poorvette" if you will. I really hope this gets made because a 350hp $40k C7 would be awesome, but how on Earth will it sell to the carbuying masses when the V8 Mustang and Camaro are both ~420hp? Anything that would increase Corvette volume numbers is great, but I think that the market buying new corvettes isn't very price sensitive. The difference between a $45k car and a $55k isn't that big as far as what demographics are able and willing to afford it. Most people who need a car for utility would take the fatter muscle cars if they want an everyday driver with tons of power, the price-sensitive groups will be buying C5 Z06 or C6 vettes used for a long time to come.
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Feb 26, 2013 22:40
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That Kia looks gorgeous. I also think the style will age better than Hyundai's creases on the side of the car.
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Mar 27, 2013 16:43
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Has anybody here actually driven a Leaf? One might actually work as a second car for my girlfriend and I. I think that if you drive a ton in city it might be only slightly more expensive than just getting a subcompact hatchback. I would be afraid of their long-term reliability and probably would lease one under one of the big incentive things going on. There are also used 2011 Leafs available locally, but the independent used car dealers are asking more for a used model than a new one costs from Nissan. I think they might have gotten shafted when the MSRP on them dropped $7k for 2013. Twerk from Home fucked around with this message at 17:33 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 17:19
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kill me now posted:It looks nothing like any of Kia's current design language though?   You don't see it even a bit? Edit: found a better picture 
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Jun 7, 2013 17:27
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dissss posted:The Fiesta/2 Polo and Swift are all much better cars - I'd sooner take whichever of them is available in your market. How so? I've seen a consensus among journalists the the Sonic Turbo is a blast to drive while having comparable space for people / stuff. My fiancee is looking for a cheap new hatchback, and the Sonic Turbo is at the top of our list. Is there something I'm missing? http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/sonic/2012/long-term-road-test/2012-chevrolet-sonic-ltz-sonic-vs-fr-s.html
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Jun 16, 2013 05:35
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Powershift posted:It'll be nice when those are 35 grand in a year. I see jokes about this all the time, but are 3 year old off lease S-classes really THAT expensive to own? They can't be breaking often at 3 years old, so do they need 12 quarts of full synth every 5k miles or something?
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Jun 17, 2013 04:22
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InitialDave posted:Brian Greenstone's rundown on the monumentally terrible interface in the Fisker Karma is always worth a watch: I never understood how the Karma had such good PR early on when critical looks at it revealed what a giant boondoggle it was, with zero real-world aspirations like Tesla has.
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Jun 19, 2013 22:51
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Guinness posted:If that material isn't a chain, then they must be shortening the 'lifetime' of their products. Why timing chains aren't more common is beyond me, especially on interference engines. Engines with timing chains are probably more expensive to produce, but they're just shifting the costs to maintenance/repairs. Timing belt jobs ain't cheap, and it especially ain't cheap when your valves meet your pistons. Chains aren't entirely maintenance free, the tensioners need service eventually. Belts also have lower parasitic losses as I understand it, and manufacturers are looking for efficiency wherever they can get it. I understand the aversion to belts on intereference engines. On a Miata if the belt breaks you're just waiting for a tow.
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Jul 3, 2013 22:33
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