Recent Comments:
Ghastly! Saab may have used human cadavers for safety research {Autoblog}
May 9th 2008 1:54AM What a shame it is that these bodies were wasted in the pursuit of saving lives.
You know you've pushed your car too hard when... {Autoblog}
May 6th 2008 4:29PM For what it's worth, kudos to the dealer for getting it taken care of. I've owned two Evos and both have been the most reliable cars I've ever owned (and yes, I've owned both Toyotas and Hondas). They're also cheap to own and easy to maintain yourself.
I've had no issues with warranty with either of them, and the only thing that has gone wrong with my newest car (2006 Evo MR) is a loose seat cover.
Conversely, my wife's A4, while also a great car, has had three coilpacks fail in a month (cheap and easy to replace but would result in a tow to the dealer for the average owner) and a failed hatch release. None of these things are expensive to fix yourself but pretty inconvenient for the 99% of owners who will never take a wrench to their cars. Also, the dealer took 3 visits to fix a broken turn signal stalk because they caused other problems. My dad's Mercedes C32 is fraught with electrical problems and can't seem to go for more than a week without triggering the in car SOS feature.
I love german cars too, but they do seem overly ambitious with the complexity of their products. Toyota and Honda build great products, but they have the heart of the bread and butter market and don't really have to challenge themselves to pursue niches.
Oh- the Evo GSR starts at around 33K with all the performance bits included- seems like a far cry than the 40K quoted in the article.
Lots of car companies have design flaws, even the mainline Japanese ones like Honda and Toyota. Well, Toyota, anyway. Honda is just about perfect but makes boring cars.
First Drive: 2009 Audi A4 on the Autobahn and in Ibiza {Autoblog}
Apr 8th 2008 11:45PM I love my 1.8T avant, it's sad they don't sell more of them new. Used A4 Avants in the SF bay area sell for at least 20% more than a similar sedan and don't stay on the market for very long.
BMW builds big @$$ ad in Moscow {Autoblog}
Apr 1st 2008 7:15PM I'm sure they are foam replicas just like the Ford Edge billboards of last year. This is Russia- remember?
Audi R8 cabrio won't get canvas roof or folding hard top {Autoblog}
Mar 28th 2008 2:57PM Cars with this much performance shouldn't suffer the ignominy of having their rigidity halved. Look at the total disasters that are the S4 and RS4 cabriolets.
Porsche Carrera 4 could switch to Haldex AWD system {Autoblog}
Mar 27th 2008 7:55PM Only the 997 Turbo has the new Porsche Traction Management system, the C4S retains the old viscous coupling. Conceptually, there doesn't appear to be any difference between PTM and haldex, they are both electrohyrdaulic clutch based systems.
OUtsourcing this development to a company that specializes in the technology may result in a cheaper, better system. Haldex has had a bad reputation for their initial systems which could not precharge to provide off-the-line traction, but they now have the capability to transfer torque before any slipping occurs.
This system is much like the original 964 Carrera 4 system in that it is a clutch based system with no center differential.
BMW considering cutting the cylinder count on M-models? {Autoblog}
Mar 27th 2008 1:21PM Actually the 2.3L S14 engine in the M3 made only 192 HP with a catalytic converter and 197 without. It was the 2.5L stroker Evo model that made around 220 hp.
Did we say 50/50? Audi R8 V12 TDI not coming, 4.2 V8 TDI instead {Autoblog}
Mar 20th 2008 1:29PM Wouldn't it be cool if they called it the R10, a la the lemans TDI cars?
Mercedes-Benz launching urea-injected diesel SUVs this fall {Autoblog}
Mar 14th 2008 1:22PM Sorry. I misunderstood. My original thread was really about the ML bluetec, which doesn't have the 40% additional efficiency you quote. Given the additional CO2, low incremental mpg, and cost of diesel, I don't see how these cars make a lot of sense in the US market. Sure, a Ford Focus TDCi would be another story but the diesel advantage seems to evaporate in luxury SUV's where performance is more of a priority than efficiency.
Mercedes-Benz launching urea-injected diesel SUVs this fall {Autoblog}
Mar 14th 2008 12:19PM Sorry Samuel,
I call BS. According to the EPA, Diesel has 15% more carbon per gallon.
http://www.epa.gov/otaq/climate/420f05001.htm
