Read about a new car? Thats the 2024 Giant Piece of Shit

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Read about a new car? Thats the 2024 Giant Piece of Shit

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Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Mighty Horse posted:

Just an FYI, you the Magnums had the Merc 5-speed auto in them too.

Base models with the 2.7 and some 3.5 "SE" versions had a four speed for a few years.

# ¿ May 6, 2012 05:38

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 16:47

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

bidikyoopi posted:

There's something about the Flex ecoboost that hits the spot for me. The kind of people who buy a minivan/wagon for their family, but make sure it has 350hp and AWD are the kind of people worth meeting. Kind of like the CTS-V wagon or the E63 wagon.

The Flex is the only new car any company makes that I would consider buying, but it has a flaw, at least in my opinion. According to the Ford configuration site, if you want an Ecoboost Flex, you cannot have seven seats. If you want seven seats, you can't have the Ecoboost. They are mutually exclusive. I'm sure you could call Ford up and have them make one for you with all the seats... or can you? Can you still get a car made how you want, or are you limited to whatever options packages they offer and tough if they don't match your wants/needs?

# ¿ Jun 14, 2012 02:15

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

News about a truck. From the looks of some shots Autoblog posted, the 2014 Silverado will still have a bench seat and column shifter. I don't foresee myself buying one, but I'm pretty chuffed that the bench seat still exists.

# ¿ Jul 26, 2012 02:17

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Does anyone know anything about a possible electric Fiat 500? I think I saw one this morning on I-15 in Las Vegas. It had manufacturer plates, vinyl covers over the bumpers, an "EV" sticker on the rear glass, and when it accelerated away from me at the next exit, I heard the distinct whine of an electric motor. Not so good cell phone picture:

If it is, I think they're a little late to be hot weather testing in Las Vegas. Highs are back below 100 these days.

# ¿ Sep 3, 2012 21:07

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Pseudonym posted:

While it's not a wagon, here's another thing that pisses me off that it won't make it here, the Volvo V40:

It's also one of the safest cars ever tested by the European counterpart to the NHTSA.

It's on the same platform as the Focus, so in a sense, we already have that car.

# ¿ Sep 9, 2012 01:51

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

XCPuff posted:

I think that was called the Magnum SRT8?

I don't think you could get AWD on the SRT. Only on the RT, I believe.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2012 06:49

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

sanchez posted:

That scenario would make sense for a Toyota, spending $1500 on a 10 year old W body GM on the other hand.. (The grand prix I had taught me that ignition cylinders and intake manifold gaskets are wear items)

I know I'm a huge GM apologist, but why is it okay to spend $1500 on repairs to an '02 Camry but not okay to fix up an '02 Century (also a W-body)?

# ¿ Sep 18, 2012 07:00

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Cream_Filling posted:

Multiply 3 dollars by four corners by 100k units, and you're looking at 1.2 million dollars in basically free money, since most customers can't tell the difference and still won't be replacing them for years.

Of course, keep doing that going through every component in the car again and again and eventually you have a 90s GM product.

Nah. To get to that level, you'd have to use the same front brakes (and hubs maybe?) on eleven different cars spread across four platforms�the C, F, H and U platforms, to be specific. There's a good chance the W could be thrown in there too, making it an even fifteen different cars using the same parts. How's that for cost cutting?

# ¿ Sep 20, 2012 07:20

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

I've heard nothing bad about Aisin transmissions, but I had to wonder about GM's transmission choice for the first-gen Equinox. Even setting aside the fact that it had the 3400 as the only engine option for far too long (also a dumb move, the drat thing sounded like it had 200k hard miles straight off the lot), they used a five speed Aisin unit that didn't have overdrive. Seriously, fifth was 1:1. Sure, it had a 2.73 final drive, but so did Buick Centurys back in the early 90's, and they had a 4T60E with a 0.70 fourth. Why did they bother? Was it just to say, "Yeah, we have a five speed", while the RAV4/CRV/whatever the competition was back then was still rocking four speeds?

# ¿ Nov 15, 2012 02:11

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Toyota has redesigned the RAV4, and in the process, removed everything that made it unique in its segment.

Autoblog posted:

As many suspected, Toyota will no longer offer six-cylinder power for the RAV4. The automaker announced that the standard powerplant will be a 2.5-liter four-cylinder (rated at 176 horsepower and 172 pound-feet of torque) mated to a new six-speed automatic. Consumers will again be offered a choice between front- and all-wheel drive. Fuel economy estimates are 24 mpg city/31 highway (FWD) and 22 mpg city/29 mpg (AWD).

Some other notable details include the elimination of the RAV4's side-hinged rear door and signature spare tire. It has been replaced with a rear liftgate (a space-saver spare is now stored beneath the cargo floor) to improve convenience and space.

No more V6, spare is now under the back like every other SUV/CUV/van/truck, regular vertical hatch. Wonderful. Now it's just like every other vehicle in its class.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2012 00:33

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

The US has a trade agreement with Australia, so anything imported from there isn't subject to the chicken tax. Why would GM even have considered the G8 ST if the chicken tax applied?

# ¿ Dec 7, 2012 06:13

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Throatwarbler posted:

They also apparently added a balance shaft.

In other news the old 4.3l didn't have a balance shaft. Who knew?

It also makes more power, which one would certainly hope since the old 4.3l was at 200hp while Ford and Chrysler's V6s made over 300.

I sure hope it does, though it's a little suspicious that GM's press release does not say how much power any of the three engines makes.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2012 05:48

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Throatwarbler posted:

So the IIHS has finished up applying their new small front overlap test to some more mainstream models....
Surprised that the Kia did better than the Hyundai.

How does that work? Aren't the Optima and Sonata essentially the same car?

# ¿ Dec 21, 2012 07:47

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

dissss posted:

I still don't see why you'd buy a GTD over a GTI though, its only a few dollars more

Same fun, less fuel usage?

# ¿ Mar 5, 2013 06:51

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Throatwarbler posted:

IN other new GM car news, The W body Impala will continue production into MY2014.

travisray2004 posted:

Hasn't this been Chevy's basic model for the past decade or so? Use the excess parts on popular outgoing models for fleet-only versions.

Indeed. The 2000-01 Lumina, the 2000 Silverado (GMT400), the 2004-05 Malibu Classic, the 2008 Malibu Classic, and now the Impala have all been fleet-only last generation models sold with some deep discounts. Tooling is already long paid for, so there's really no reason not to. And it's not like it'll change anything for the current Impala anyway, which I've only seen around town as rentals and cop cars for a couple years now.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2013 02:50

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Cream_Filling posted:

Except nobody wants to buy a stripper POS with no AC or radio. The majority of people want options. If you want to streamline manufacturing, which is where the real cost savings are nowadays (not materials), then you standardize to models with all the popular options coming by default, because those are the volume sellers.

Back when the Aveo was new, GM offered a "Special Value" package. You got a brand new Aveo, with a warranty, for just under $10k. Five door, manual windows, manual locks, manual seat adjusters, manual transmission, no CD or tape player, no air conditioning. Literally a roller skate. Bill Heard Chevrolet in Las Vegas, Nevada, could not keep the Special Value Aveos on the lot, they sold so quickly. A car with no AC sold like fuckin' hot cakes in Las Vegas.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2013 17:24

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

You Am I posted:

http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/ford-announcement-plant-shutdown-mooted-20130523-2k22c.html

Looks like Ford Australia will be shutting down local production. If that happens, that will only leave Toyota and Holden having Australian assembly plants.

Will that mean the end of the Falcon and Territory then? :ohdear:

# ¿ May 23, 2013 06:16

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

kill me now posted:

I'm not sure exactly what your getting at with the "Dodge. Automatic." part. The 5spd in the SRT8 is actually very stout and has been shown to be very reliable in those cars even with significantly more than stock power.

Isn't that a Mercedes box? Like, similar to the one used in the bonkers SLS AMG?

# ¿ May 26, 2013 19:00

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Devyl posted:

My old Jetta had the 2.5 and the whole driving experience with that engine can be summed up in one word: Blah.

"Goes like a 4, drinks like a 6" is what I've heard of the 2.5, which says to me that it combines the worst aspects of both smaller and larger engines.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2013 04:50

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# ¿ May 13, 2024 16:47

Left Ventricle: Feb 24, 2006; Right aorta

Sorry to bust up the rental car chat, but I wanted to discuss the BMW i3 briefly, if I could.

I saw one futzing around downtown Las Vegas yesterday, specifically at Fremont Street and Maryland Parkway. It had the usual blue swirly camo, but it also had a couple of plaques or whatever affixed to the side that read "Hybrid Vehicle". I'd read over at Autoblog that there was going to be a hybrid version with a 650cc bike engine, but without a timetable for release. If one is being, I assume, hot-weather-tested, I'd wager the hybrid is pretty close to coming out, yeah?

# ¿ Jul 24, 2013 03:54

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > Read about a new car? Thats the 2024 Giant Piece of Shit

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