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Spare tires are becoming less and less common. You get a can of goop that most tire shops recommend you don't use anyway.
That said, I only skimmed the notification this morning on the way in so I may well have missed some critical points. Anybody?
New C can also be had with a manual, rare, but they exist.
And it's decently reliable.
The other vehicle I'd recommend is the Cadillac CTS. It's very nice and also designed by engineers in Germany who appear to be doing things right. Just one thing - change the synthetic oil every 6K miles and you'll be fine. The factory oil life sensor in it is wrong - the mechanics know this (it affects all cars with synthetic oil, actually don't rely on the computers to tell you when to change the oil as most are calibrated for non-synthetic oil.
Besides, once bitten twice shy. Why should I even consider buying another MB after my first one was such a disappointment.
The problems I had with my 2001 C-Class had nothing to do with oil. Mercedes put about $8000 worth of repairs into it while it was still under warranty... including one of the catalytic converters. It ate air mass sensors, and MB couldn't explain why. They just collected $750 each time they installed a new one. They also couldn't explain why all of the doors would unlock when I was running down the road at 60+ mph. Then there was the way it would reset all the vents behind the dash the way IT wanted them when I turned the engine off. It was designed to do this. So I had to put the vents back the way I wanted when I started up again. Needless to say the gears in the vents wear out at an alarming rate and are very expensive to replace. Then there was the time (1500 miles after an oil change) that the display screen suddenly told me I had TOO MUCH oil in the crankcase and should correct the situation immediately. I could go on like this for several pages. :lemon:
The new MBs might be better but they've already blown their only opportunity to make a first impression.
I wonder if the Germans put up with this. I learned from talking with people in Europe that the Mercedes sold over there don't have all the gadgets that the models made for America have. Like they have dipsticks while in American models one pushes a button to check the oil. Apparently the manufacturers think Americans want this stuff. :confuse:
Even the Germans can benefit from KISS.
Oh, another manual model came up - in the final run of W201 (190E) cars, there was a "sportline" model sold here, the 2.6, with a manual. I think all will be considered 1992-3 model year cars. They are quite rare, but they do exist, I have ridden in one. I think the manual could be special ordered on other models too.
Sudden fogged over windscreen, or inability to remove same.
System automatically switches to recirculate with HOT cabin, HOT cabin surfaces, HOTTER than OAT.
Absent manual over-ride SLOW heating of cabin, COLD cabin.
Automatically switches to COOLING mode, cool and dry airflow to the face and upper body, on the coldest night in the DEAD of winter.
Manual over-ride REQUIRED, temperature UP, to quickly demist/defog windsreen.
A/C disabled for demist/defog function with OAT <34F with no compensary HEAT supply.
IDIOTS.
If nothing else, this prevents you from forgetting the RSW mode is on and then taking your car to a carwash and having the brushes rip the wiper arms off the car.
Such a downshift is even more hazardous if one is driving a RWD vehicle.
No, it's wwestish. Even NASA, MIT and CalTech have given up trying to understand it.
ie - "I chose this because I wanted to."
Even today, nobody poor buys a new Cadillac. There's also the nice part about buying domestic and the image it subtly sends to others. Now, I know that you might not like GM, but GM does make exactly two really excellent cars. The CTS and the Holden Commodore (sold in Australia). My mother was looking at the BMW 3, the TSX, the C class, and a slew of others. And decided on the CTS. So far, it's been absolutely without fault of any kind. They've owned it for a year and not a single button or switch has broken. And the engine - their older LeSabre sounds like it has rocks under the hood while idling compared to the CTS. The engine sounds like it was made by BMW or Audi, it's such a vast improvement over anything GM has made in the past. (not surprising as the engine was designed by engineers over in Germany, some of who probably did work with other European brands over the years)
It's fast, feels nice to drive, has a fantastic interior (and a NAV system that actually *works*, complete with real-time updates and re-routing around traffic problems), and yes, it can be had with a manual.
Well, that's my take on it. It's turning out that despite GM's financial woes and all of the rest of the nonsense, they made a car that's turning out to be a true competitor for the European brands. But that's cheap to run and operate. Personally I love the new C class. But the cheapskate in me also knows it's not a 20 year old Toyota that you can get running again with stuff in your average toolbox under your kitchen sink.
When stuff does finally break, you're in for a world of hurt. (same with Audi and BMW,unfortunately). The C-Class is a great car. But you should own one only if you truly can afford a luxury vehicle.
So what about Japan? The only thing that comes to mind is the TSX and the G37.
The Acura TSX is almost as good. But it suffers from a noisy 4 cylinder engine (really needs a 6 as standard), and is front wheel drive. Front wheel drive is a disaster once you get over 200HP or so. If you drive it hard, as us with manuals sometimes like to do, its behavior on mountain roads comes at you with a vengeance and reigns in your fun like a Japanese bureaucrat telling you that you need to fill in another form you didn't know about. Torque steer, horrendous over-steer, not enough power from the 4 cylinder engine, and heavy weight all make it abundantly clear that it's not a real sport sedan but a very nice commuter car. Which it does excellently. The faults aren't apparent at all until you try to drive it aggressively with the manual and find that you simply cannot do so.
It honestly feels like a Japanese version of the new Buick Regal. Goregous to sit in and drive around, but something just is wrong when you try the manual in either of them. There is no magic, there is no fun. They just are and that's it. Perfect to go to work and back in style, but zero ability to make your heart race on the weekends.
The G37 is good. But it somehow exudes zero bling as well. In fact, it feels like a boy racer trying to be the real thing, somehow. (considering its DNA is from the Z, this isn't far off-base). I know Nissan is trying to get it right, but they still don't quite "get" luxury and refinement aside from their top-end model, the M. But that's a huge floaty boat as well...
http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/CTSV/USSCTSV.htm
($400 and makes it shift like a $100K exotic - just buttery smooth)
This is a typical solution for it and like with most factory shifters, a proper aftermarket kit solves the issues. OEM shift linkages are usually rubbish. I always upgrade mine in any car I own unless it's expensive. This one
is good because the linkage is shorter and not the actual shifter itself.
Gee you'd think that for $65K ++ General Motors would have given you a decent shifter to begin with.
The transmission is almost the same in the base model, and unfortunately, almost all factory manuals are in need of upgrades to really perform best. (even the S2000 needed a few upgrades)
I like my G37, sport with the 6MT. It has more "bling" than I need :shades:. Though, I still have problems finding the right gear with the 6 spd during quick downshifts.
You could fully LOCK the rear wheels, FULL SKID, and still maintain directional control via the front wheels. Back in my days in MT during the winter going down a relatively steep slope, SLIPPERY slope, I would often apply the e-brake to create just enough drag to hold the rear BEHIND the front.
You haven't been to very many car races have you...?
There is a reason NASCAR team owners NEVER select FWD vehicles, and when they do they modify them to RWD.
Provided the driver SURVIVES the initial incident, more likely to occur on DICEY roadbeds than otherwise.
And look how long it took the GM/Cadillac engineers to learn THAT lesson.
Besides all that, a mere electronic blipping of the throttle isn't going to save you if you jam it into 2nd gear at 60 mph. When racing and double clutching into a turn, you're not blipping the throttle, you're really revving it. I doubt that any nanny-blipper is going to take you to a redline type of double clutching.
Only an IDIOT driver would try that and the laws of nature will eventually take care of that issue.
As for you're almost non-stop anti-FWD rhetoric, please cease and desist; you've gotten it wrong and the rest of us don't want to hear it again.
So, I'm not "speaking" to those with their mind made up, CLOSED, just to the "newbies" that have a need to know the truth.
Other than the weight biasing helping to initially get up and going just what advantage is there to FWD...?
Maybe that's why I like driving an older rear engine RWD VW so much.
Anyone...?
Incidently, I drive rear wheel, front wheel, 4 wheel and one front and one rear wheel drive interchangeably. The transitions are almost seamless. Do I wish all of them were rear wheel drive, or wish they all were front wheel drive? NO !!
I think we all get that you like RWD. Just the shear number of times you repeat it should be indication enough.
A: None are the subject of this thread. Not really.
I don't get around to transmission discussions that often, but even *I* am experiencing deja vu with this line of conversation. Let's try to stick a little closer to the topic... just because something's important doesn't make it worth repeating when it's not the focus of this discussion.
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2015 Kia Soul, 2021 Subaru Forester (kirstie_h), 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 (mr. kirstie_h)
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Uhhh... that's a pretty big one. Get stuck, or don't get stuck. That's often a pass/fail difference.
FWD also has packaging efficiencies. No center tunnel, more passengers foot room, more cargo space, lower cost, etc.
I prefer AWD, then RWD, then FWD, but even so, there are plenty of advantages to each configuration, plenty.
Getting back on topic...manuals tend to go in each for different reasons. On RWD models, it's usually because they're in a sport segment. On FWD, it's usually an issue of lower cost.
The TSX can be had with a V6 (but that's auto-only), but if FWD is a disaster over 200HP, would you want one?
My Volvo has OFF, INT (with a dial to set a range of intervals), low and high. And there's a little button on the lever that I can push to activate the rain-sensing wipers (and use the INT dial to set the sensitivity). It comes in quite handy in changing conditions!
Last winter we had a massive ice storm in November, which was really unprecedented for interior Alaska, that last three days. On the first day, which was arguably the slickest due to it catching DOT maintenance crews unawares, the roads were so slick that even the crowns were causing vehicles - even otherwise non-moving vehicles! - to slide into the ditch.
While I would have loved to have my AWD Forester that day, I drove my FWD Escort. For a one-wheel-drive car, it did very well even though I had to work my rear off to keep it on the road. I can say without any reservation at all that had it been RWD, not even I could have kept it from landing ditch-side. At times, I had to drive it toward the center of the road at a significant angle just to keep it from sliding down the crown. I could not have maintained that sort of directional control if the drive wheel was not also steerable - no way.
I think the manual transmission also helped dramatically, as it allowed me to keep the tires in "low torque" as much as possible so that my tires - very good ones, I might add - could keep what little traction they had available to them. After all that, though, the most stressful part was the downhills. I was so relieved to get home (finally!), swap out to the Forester, and get back on the roads. That car was such a blast that week! :shades:
I also don't like torque steer and with the TC turned off on my MINI, there's plenty of that.
That particular day, however, all other factors being equal, the FWD set up served me better than RWD could have.
I did hit one hill that proved both steep and slick enough to stop me; I ended up having to
turnslide around. It was a simple enough maneuver, though... I just threw it in reverse as I lost forward momentum, blipped the clutch to start the front end swinging around, then threw it into first as it spun around to face downhill, then slowly continued the crawl to the bottom. The only problem was that my alternate, less steep path to the top was a point part-way down the hill, and there was no way to actually slow down... I could only limit how quickly I gained speed. I made it, though, and eventually made both the hill and our destinations.I love winter driving, but the condition of the road that day was not something I would want to repeat overly often. Well, at least not with that car. :surprise: