General Automotive Thread

I have seen some one driving a mid engine Austin Martin, as well as a Ferrari... but there on the very rare end of things to see.

Its twice and thrice respectively.

Personaly I would have been way too worried about destroying a million dollars on a pothole.

Edited by Imca on Dec 5th 2019 at 3:42:14 AM

Merry Dougcember, more reviews coming from Doug De Muro

first, the BMW M8 Competition, the new top-of-the-line BMW:

and the on we've been waiting for, a review of the Vector W8

and here's the driving portion of his Vector W8 review:

Mc Laren just revealed their lightest car yet, the Elva:

For a second I was wondering why they called a car the Elvis.

that would be more appropriate for Mercedes, since he owned a Mercedes-Benz 600, which was really popular among celebrities and dictators of that time

Yup, I knew that.

Doug finally reviews the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG 6x6

Merry Dougcember, Doug finally reviews the Pagani Zonda:

Isn't it really, well, a bit late to be reviewing the Zonda?

he usually reviews old/special cars during december, since ad revenue is higher

I suppose that makes sense, though reviewing a car once it's had like a dozen models and a successor is an interesting one. Any particular variant of the Zonda?

it's a Zonda S, so the second version of the Zonda, though the car Doug reviewed was also used as a test bed for the Zonda F

Ah, so after they gave it the gloriously absurd exhaust pipe design?

nah, the exhaust design has been a part of Pagani since the beginning

From U.S. News & World Report: Mercedes Recalls 750,000 Cars Because Sunroof Can Fly Off

Umm, yeah, that's a slight problem.

I mean, it's more of an inconvenience for the driver... people behind, though. And if it's raining.

Though phrasing it as a total recall seems strange when they're just going to check and replace the sunroofs.

Edited by RainehDaze on Jan 5th 2020 at 10:38:44 AM

You know, my dream car used to be one of those German sedans, like BMW G20 or Benz E-Class series. But seeing more flaws get uncovered every year, I think I'll just settle with high end Japanese or Korean cars, like Genesis G80. XP

Also, tangentially related, but recently I've been practicing driving to get a driver's license. I haven't bothered to get one since most places I go to were within walking or subway distance. So far, the only thing I have a real trouble is parking. A LOT of trouble, that is.

God, I find basic marksmanship back in the army to be less stressful.

some Doug Demuro reviews, since i haven't posted them in a long time:

a car i have always had a soft spot for, the Bentley Turbo R:

the best verison of the worst car in modern automotive history, the PT Cruiser GT:

the BMW E92 M3:

Dodge Charger Hellcat Widebody:

Anyone following Australian auto stuff, Holden is going to be part of Australian auto history after 2021.

Canberra is pissed at GM for at least not telling them that Holden can't be saved.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/motoring/motoring-news/holden-to-announce-it-is-leaving-australia/news-story/07ee8038eadc4c58b24928ff20347889

Meanwhile, Chevrolet is leaving Thailand and Renault Samsung Motors will debut in the Philippines.

I got interested in the latter since my first visit to Seoul.

it seems GM hasn't changed much from it's pre-recession days. screwing up and cheapening out is just gonna end up biting them in the ass again

From Reuters: Shades of Detroit? Germany's auto heartlands in peril as 'golden age' fades

Germany seems to be heading for a recession and the most significant contributor to that is declining sales in its renowned auto industry.

Many companies are seeking to avoid layoffs by cutting workers' pay or hiring them in flexible work arrangements known as "Kurzarbeit".

Worth noting is that, while electrification, most notably competition from Tesla, is a major cause of the sales decline in the luxury internal combustion auto market, electric vehicle production can't wholly replace lost jobs because the assembly process uses less labor.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 24th 2020 at 9:40:02 AM

(crossposting to the Electric Vehicles thread)

From Sean Mitchell on Youtube: Why the Dealership Model is Anti-American

Note that this isn't just about EVs, although Tesla makes a very good headline case, but how the evolution of the dealer model over the history of the United States has transferred economic power from being held almost entirely by manufacturers to being held almost entirely by dealers, and how this restricts one of our most basic freedoms: the ability to choose whom we buy a product from.

It is illegal in most U.S. states to purchase a car directly from a manufacturer. Tesla alone has managed to get exceptions, but these only serve to illustrate why the current model is so badly broken. Dealers are a trillion dollar enterprise and they won't give up their power easily; indeed they like to talk up how they make the buying experience easier for the customer. Yeah... not for anyone I've ever talked to.

Auto dealers face an existential crisis going into the era of electrification:

• They make most of their profit from service, and electric vehicles require far less of it than gas cars. This creates basic economic disincentives to sell EVs.
• As more and more EV startups begin selling cars outside the traditional dealership model, dealers' market share will gradually erode. These non-traditional automakers are demonstrating how much easier a car buying experience can be.
• As traditional automakers lose market share to alternative fuel technologies or spend billions of dollars to invest in them, their finances will become more and more strained and ceding profit margin to dealers will seem less and less financially viable.

Now it is inarguable that new companies entering the auto marketplace will run into headaches when it comes to sales and service presence, as these require enormous investment in property and personnel (as Tesla has struggled with). This leaves a role for auto dealers, but only if they display a willingness to deal in these new vehicles and train their technicians to service them.

Edited to add: from InsideEVs, EV startup Rivian has joined in the call for opening up direct auto sales in the U.S.

Edited by Fighteer on Feb 24th 2020 at 3:28:52 PM

more manufacturers should allow you to buy cars to your specifications straight from it. unfortunately, it's mostly restricted to supercars and small manufacturers

new video from Regular Car Reviews:

some more videos from Doug De Muro:

Chevrolet Camaro ZL 1 1LE:

a video from Top Gear about Bond cars: