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Comments
Even with a $7500
bribecredit from the Fed and $2000 from state (MD), you're looking at Mid/high 30s for an economy people mover.Just get a Prius V for 10 grand less.
You would have to drive well over 100,000 miles to pay $10 grand for gas on the V, and that assumes the electricity is free.
Not to mention the opportunity cost of that $10 grand.
At least hybrids and diesels make economic sense. You do break even, often when they're still under warranty, at least the emissions stuff.
EVs are still too pricey to be economically viable, even with these huge credits.
That's before you consider that Li-ion demand exceeds supply so the battery prices will only get worse.
The SQ5 will be powered by the all-new V-6 turbo-diesel engine boasting two turbochargers which Audi has been working on for various models in the lineup. This engine produces a total of 313 hp and 479.42 lb-ft of torque between 1,450 and 2,800 rpm. This power is enough to sprint the SUV from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.1 seconds and up to a top speed of 155 mph, but also deliver a fuel economy of 32.67 US mpg.
2013 Audi SQ5 TDI
So for example, the GC's tires (specifically size/s (unknown obviously), and ratings) are interesting "limiters" in the more so called "upgraded" sizes. The very attributes that give it almost startling dry roadability, etc are a little to a lot trickier when the "CUV" tires are used. Even more so on the winter side of the performance range.
Upshot: as the tire designs become more exotic, cost, selection, wear and bang for the buck become interesting issues. While I swag Touareg tire wear (smallest oem size) to be app 60,000 to 75,000 miles (this being conservative, as actual consumptive wear is really more like a minimum of 80,000 miles), just one to 2 in larger 19 in and 20 in (265/50/19, 275/45/20) sizes have a lot of folks who bought those sizes, replacing tires @ 18,000 to 23,000 miles. :sick: :lemon:
Probably even further off topic in the case of the VW Touareg tires. The choice of app 56 tires (on Tirerack.com) shrinks to app 14/16 choices each for the 19/20 in. Needless to say, the cost goes up also.
Reminds me of a "great moment in automotive history" shown on Calvin Broadus' hilarious TV show a few years back:
the first time someone upgraded with rims that cost more than the car.
Well thanks ! I would if I did, but I didn't, so I won't !
Just for grins, I did look on tire rack for the Touareg fitment. The tires and wheels that I halfway liked takes about 6,000 of a 10,000 dollar bill. :P Since this would not cover the winter, another 2,000.
Gee that is a LONG way for a spare set (4) of steelies for the 2003 Jetta TDI @ $ 50 . That is $12.50 each, including hub caps !
Sounds like a "you might be a redneck" joke.
The one around here is you might be a redneck if you keep more money at your deer stand than in your house.
Here's another one you diesel fans won't get (two diesel engine choices in fact):
Mercedes Unveils CLS Shooting Brake (Inside Line)
http://www.trailmanor.com/WebDocs/Camping-Towing/towtest.html
Funny that the test used an Odyssey as the test vehicle. My brother has an Odyssey but only tows the TrailManor with his F-150 when they base camp. When they visited us a week or so ago, they tent camped out of the minivan. Got even better mpg.
Varies a lot. When we camp with my brother, they have to have flush toilets and showers, and up in Copper Harbor they tent camped with a hookup site so they could run their fan. That was okay since they treated - we used our electric t-pot and kept the laptop charged, and had wifi at the campsite. Good company so it was fun.
When just my wife and I go, we always try to boondock somewhere for free. We're pretty expert at finding those spots, so long as we stop in the afternoons. Getting harder to find those spots since trails to old gravel borrow pits and the like are closed off more often now.
Second choice is a primitive campsite, like those you find in the national forests. Sometimes those are $8 or $10 though - too much for a pit toilet and a picnic table. If we're traveling more on a schedule, we'll hit the state parks and those get pricey (sometimes $25 for a tent - oh, the humanity!
The RV crowd - the ones with stinky diesel pushers that run their generators all night so they can have TV and AC. Why bother camping? If you just want to see the country, get a Town Car and hit the motels. Probably a cheaper way to travel than an RV.
I am logged in from Torrance, CA. I was going to log in from the Starbucks in the Farmer's Market on 3rd St, LA, but I could tell it was going to be a day at the zoo.
That is 44 MPG US combined, for those that would like to have a luxury sedan that gets great mileage. And a not so shabby 53 MPG US on the highway. But who worries about mileage when Fuel is so cheap in America.
Still waiting for confirmation of C diesel info. That engine with ~200hp in a C getting amazing mileage would be a nice performer. The much larger displacement E bluetec only has like 210hp.
A 75K CLS will be absolutely base, and might not even exist outside of a special order. Those options carry huge profit margins.
o A Cd of 0.29 is the same as the 1980s Audi 100, (not sure what it was called in USA). Audi were so proud of this then-groundbreaking number that it was etched into the glass of the rear quarter windows. Seems we haven't move on a lot in the last almost 30 years.
o In Europe MB are asking us to think of this CLS as a "Five seater sports car". Silly people. For my money the Jaguar XF Sportbrake, (wagon/estate), is just as pretty and doubtless cheaper.
Prices for the Jag, here in UK, range from - in approx USD equiv - 51k for the base-spec 2.2 diesel to 81k for the top-of-the-shop 3.0 V6 diesel model. The 335bhp V6 gasser will follow later. Still want the Merc ?
Strangely enough, The kind of boxy and angular W212 E-class has an amazingly low Cd, 0.25 for sedan, 0.24 for coupe.
Noteworthy, is the thrust of the inquiries seems to be aimed at picking EVERY aspect/detail apart. There are many spots and lines to post problems (problem comment blocks) and for each and every issue they are inquiring about.
Indeed, one might have no problems nor issues at all. Yet there is not one(comment block) line to say THAT, even as they ask one to rate the over all quality and experience !? I am sure one can, but it would be structurally deemed a "problem". It is almost like one can feel like an oddity, if one does not have a complaint to pitch. They seem to the the lawyer questions like: when did you stop beating your spouse. So if one says, have never, then instantly one is STILL suspect.
I really did use that methodology to approach the car. But at 6,000 miles, the 2012 VW Touareg continues to "behave" flawlessly. I rated it accordingly.
http://www.tdi-panamericana.com/
My personal (day) best was 1,150 miles, (no alternate driver) but then I was (I didn't know it at the time ) outrunning Hurricane Katrina's LANDFALL ! I was supposed to stay in downtown New Orleans with 6 story covered parking (nearby). That reservation was changed enroute (before hitting NO's) by cellphone to Houston, TX. That was probably one of the more surreal car traveling experiences. Even Houston, TX was close to rain fall crisis status.
Even as the oem recommendation for the Touareg TDI oil change is 10,000 miles, I would swag it would make it easily to 20,000 miles. (I do 30,000 miles OCI's on the 2003 Jetta TDI with 177,000 miles. :shades: ) Even at this early stage of Touareg experiences, I do not anticipate nor swag any longer term issues.
So anecdotally, I have had three near flawless TDI AND VW experiences.
as for 2-a-reg TDI and towing something and getting 30 mpg, i don't think so. Both Feynman and the old TV commercial were correct:
there is no fooling mother nature. And it's not nice to try.
in this case that means that for every 100 lbs towed, mpg will drop 0.25 mpg. or whatever. It's a linear drop in mpg per pound towed, just with some different coefficients than if the weight were inside the vehicle.
How do I enter that panamerican race? :}
I found it amusing that a more expensive diesel had lower payment costs than a gas car, not to mention lower fuel costs (as diesel is cheaper than premium which the engine is designed for). I looked closer and MB is indeed jacking up expected resale for the diesels. Would be tempting if I could negotiate a sweetheart price for the exact car I want...and if I didn't have a pristine long since paid off car sitting in the garage.
https://www.prevostcar.com/content/prevost-h3-45-vip
From what I have been reading, it seems all OEMS want to sell as many 2012 MY cars as possible, to have a so called "good year" after so many bad to marginal years. 9.5 M to 10.5 M being the "bad" years. It looked like a 14.5 M pace early in the MY, but now the pace seems to be slowing WAY down.