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Comments
DaveM
Bob
the statement "both are functions of its popularity" is misleading. it is partial truth-- the MAIN function of its high price is the processing of it! biodiesel and ethanol both cost significantly more to produce than they are worth. the ONLY thing that brings them remotely near competitive prices are subsidies.
-Colin
when we lived in England, a couple of the local buses were converted to run on bio diesel as an experimental test bed. This was the same oil used for coking fried food. The English are particularly keen on fish and chips.
The net effect was that as we drove around, we would periodically smell mouth watering fish and chip smells only to find that it was a bus. Judy would be particularly affected by it when commuting home at the low point of the day. I reckon it sent fish and chip sales soaring.
Cheers
Graham
http://www.imakenews.com/autospies/e_article000191323.cfm
Cayenne diesel?
http://www.imakenews.com/autospies/e_article000191340.cfm
New (production) Durango
http://www.imakenews.com/autospies/e_article000191345.cfm
Ken
Jim
I figured what the hey, it's less than an hour drive for me, so I'll see what it's all about. I'll be sure to post some information afterwards.
-Brian
The prospect of keeping a 55 gallon drum of bio in your garage and filling up at home is tasty though!
Jon
It was rather dumb. I had so much to say about the vehicle, and all they were interested in were the fabric choices of the interior...
Bob
-Brian
Steve
I also found my dream car over the weekend...
E55 AMG in silver. One mod to it... 5% tint on all but the windshield.
-mike
-mike
Diesel Porsche?! Why not, they've already sold out their identity...
The new Durango's front looks like a cartoon of the old one. OK, it's in your face, but c'mon, the grille size is getting a bit ridiculous.
Bob/Papa Bear: I do those things all the time, they want opinions on a specific aspect of the vehicle. Easy money. If it's a Subie, I expect a FULL report! :-)
-juice
I found the event to be interesting. There must have been 100+ people easy all walking around a showfloor with competitors models including many of Chryslers vehicles. Each person was given a touch screen laptop and follow the instructions. The laptop ran a marketing survey program that asked you to walk up to a certain vehicle and look at a specific feature and rate it. Naturally, I rated the Forester (which was on their floor) quite high.
The experience alone was enough -- the $75 or so they gave me afterwards was just icing on the cake.
Ken
-mike
Jim
-juice
Any idea if it's still body-on-frame construction? That's a big plus when pulling a boat or trailer, but not so much when you're just cruising. That Hemi will have plenty of pulling ability.
-mike
Jon
(who didn't think Durango could get any uglier)
Bob
Craig
Bob
A deer jumped in front of me while I was driving home at dusk. I missed it by only a couple of feet Good thing the guy behind me wasn't too close.
-Dennis
-juice
They told me I could bring it back for something else if I wanted to.
I started hauling away trimmed tree limbs, hedge clippings, etc. and decided to keep it.
-Dennis
-juice
We were given a touchscreen and asked to walk around several vehicles, sit in them, etc. and figure pricing and whether you would consider it, blah blah blah.
I'm pretty certain it was conducted by Chrysler. The room I was in had 4 Dodge Magnum's, 3 VW Passat Wagons, 2 Tauras Wagons, a Murano, an Audi Avant wagon, and a Subaru H6 wagon. You couldn't really see the other rooms, but what I could see was several Chrysler minivans and a few Honda's.
I think the Magnum looks better in person than in print. It's very roomy inside, even the backseat with the front seat adjusted for a tall person. Cargo room seems narrow, as does the liftgate. We could not pop the hood, but they weren't asking for performance results (too bad, I would have loved to take out the HEMI). There was a few trim levels shown for the Magnum and Passat. The Taurus' looks out of date with this group. I hadn't sat in one before, but rearseat room is worse than I'd imagine. I liked the Audi and the Passat - but they were both AWD (naturally! 8) ). The Outback wasn't anything special - just the H6 base version (non-VDC or LLBEAN).
In the end, you had to choose the vehicle you'd most likely consider. They presented screens with at least one Magnum on each. I choose the Passat and Audi when compared to the Magnum. You couldn't consider any models not currently in the room (so I couldn't say I'd prefer a '05 Legacy ;-)
-Brian
Looks like the torque curve is very nice, no less than 200lbs of torque and 250lbs of torque at about 2200rpms
-mike
PS: that's on regular 87octane fuel too!
Now, the Pacifica has $3k rebates already, so it'll be interesting to see if the Magnum is more popular, or also relies on heavy incentives early on.
Also interesting is that they really compared AWD alternatives, so I guess they are emphasizing that feature.
Bob: Traviq = travel + quick platform by borrowing from GM. Give us a real Subie please.
mike: cool link, thanks. I've mentioned DI technology in a couple of threads before. The 2WD model gets 40 more HP and a couple extra mpg to boot. The 4WD loses a couple of mpg on the highway, probably due to gearing, but the extra torque more than makes up for that trade off.
They claim to be first, but I think Mitsubishi had it earlier, at least in Japan.
-juice
Sounds EXACTLY like the survey I took several years ago. That one was also run by Chrysler.
Ken
The event was held in Alameda -- a large landfill island that used to be used by the military. It's now a wide and deserted area that's perfect for events such as these and the filiming of big movies like the Matrix Reloaded (the freeway scene was shot here).
After an introductory presentation, we were set loose to drive both vehicles. The XC90 drew the biggest crowds. The course allowed one to test straight-away acceleration, go through a slalom course to test the VSC/anti-roll and then a bump-course to show off the suspension and ground clearance.
They had both the T5 and T6 XC90 -- I waited out for the T6. Acceleration wasn't too bad and it handled quite well. In the slalom course, I could feel VSC kicking in as it fought to slow me down. The vehicle felt quite planted the whole time. The chassis was quite rigid and I didn't notice any flex as I was going over the big bumps.
Lots of families were there are the event. People brought their kids and babies including car seats. Clearly, the event was attracting a lot more family-oriented group even though I saw a WRX and 2.5RS in the parking lot. Not too much tire squealing this time.
The S80 was okay. The steering felt way overboosted and I didn't get a good sense of roadfeel. The course that they had set up for the S80 featured a huge vinyl sheet with water and detergent to show off the AWD system. They had us start with the front wheels on the sheet and rears on pavement and floor it. The Haldex system does work pretty quickly -- one if it's trademarks.
The one vehicle that I spent a lot of time sitting in was the V70R wagon. 300HP, 6-speed manual. Very stealth and nice. However, I couldn't justify forking up $44K for this vehicle. The interior trim was nice, but not THAT nice.
On Sunday, I ran the US Half marathon across the Golden Gate Bridge. The race started at 7AM (before sunrise) at Aquatic Park and wound it's way through the Presidio before going across the bridge.
The view was just phenomenal. We were lucky in that there was no fog or wind that morning. As I was crossing the GG Bridge, the sun was just starting to peek over the east. The San Francisco skyline was a dark shadow against the bright orange sunrise. All around was the bay and the hills shrouded in a light early morning mist. Directly in front of me were the red, magestic towers of the GG Bridge soaring into an azure sky.
I also did quite well! I ran the 13.1 miles in 1:43:44 (that's a 7:55 pace) placing 192nd out of about 2000 runners.
Ken
http://www.autonews.com/page.cms?pageId=356
A V70R with a $14,000 rebate would make my short list. ;-)
Top 10% finish, good going! Didn't even know you still had time to run, given the diaper duty.
Hey folks, check out our reviews of the Armada and Quest in the Town Hall Test Drive Team thread, under News & Views.
To summarize, I liked the way the Armada drove, but not the way it handled passengers and luggage. As for the Quest, I thought it handled passengers and cargo admirably, but the silly instrument panel is a deal killer. Plus it should offer AWD and 2nd row windows that roll down.
I took my daughter, Ken, so it must've been like that Volvo event. We even had her booster seat. Hey, this is a vehicle for her as much as it is for us!
-juice
That D-Bone looks fun, if impractical. The Honda ASM must hint at the next Odyssey (don't forget our bet, Bob).
HSC is the next NSX, IMAS is the next Insight, and the Kiwami is the next...doorstop!? How ugly is that?
You gotta love Tokyo, though. Look at the SE-RO, and the Mobile. Where else do you see wild stuff like that?
-juice
Craig
Erin is a dentist, actually she's been a DDS since 2001 but is doing a 2 year program right now at the Children's Hospital in Denver to be a pediatric specialist. The weather was gorgeous! 72-80 F all four days I was there, couldn't complain one bit. She's in Highlands Ranch, just south of Littleton at the southern edge of the Denver metro area. It was an easy 45 minute drive to Boulder so we did some stuff out there on Sunday.
Friday night she bought dinner at a nice place and said "you're not buying anything this weekend, you paid enough just to come out here." Well-- yes, dentist money is totally absurd, but I'm not helpless myself so we informally agreed to go dutch the rest of the weekend.
It was a good time! I may head out there next summer with my dad and trailer our motorcycles (sportbikes). He did a dirtbike thing this past summer in Colorado near Pike's Peak, but those paved roads look like they needed our attention.
-Colin
Craig
I have friends in Boulder and you're making me want to go visit them. They even have kids so the infrastructure to host our whole family is in place. We could even rent an outback. Very tempting...
-juice
* G35X weighs 308 lbs more than RWD G35, ouch
* Next STS looks pretty sharp in spy pics
* Next M-Class will be unibody
* GST concept will become R class, share platform with ML
* Magnum will offer Hemi V8, AWD, wagon only (!) for now
* Saturn will market a 2005 Relay minivan without plastic side panels (Venture clone?)
-juice
-Brian