Listen to “AAH #683 – Car Critics Fire Away With Both Barrels” on Spreaker.
– Take Your Pick: Love It or Hate It
– ICE, Hybrid, PHEV or BEV?
– Trends To Keep An Eye On or Stuff That Should Have Never Made It To The Market
PANEL:
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Mark Phelan, Detroit Free Press
Gary Vasilash, shinymetalboxes.net
John McElroy, Autoline.tv
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Good show. Not enough time.
John, I couldn’t tell if you were just kidding around or not when you said, “…if a car doesn’t have a backup camera, I don’t know what to do.” I’m not even that old, but I can’t imagine backing up without craning my head around to look through the rear window – backup cam or not. I guess I’m just old-school that way.
I found it interesting that everyone seemed to really like the little GM Korean vehicles. I’ve never really looked at them, but it always seemed that they should use bigger engines than the tiny 1.2 turbos that aren’t quick, and don’t get any better mpg than other similar size cars with much bigger engines. I’ve never seen a Buick Envista, but they seemed to really like its appearance. I’ll have to go to the nearby dealer and see what it looks like. They are all bargains, price-wise, compared to my much less roomy Mini. The Mini is faster and sportier, though.
I’m old, 77, but I’ve finally gotten to where I mostly trust and use backup cameras. It took a while, though.
Agree about the back-up camera; I still have one vehicle without (and I miss the camera) when I drive it.
Also, on the Envista; it is a Chevy Trax but from Buick (and Korea, of course) but there are genuine differences that make it appealing if you want to go upscale on a small CUV.
The Envista is what BMW, Mercedes, or Porsche would call an “SUV Coupe.”
Continue to talk about Lincoln problems. Great products. Especially the Aviator vs Ford Explorer but yet Explorer gets better reviews for reliability. And Lincoln delaerships perceived worse than Ford?? Ford should fix or add Lincoln styling or interior to Ford Explorer. Ford Explorer for the expense should have closer to Lincoln interior and they would sell more.
Gm has lost its way with performance ss options in every segment. Like above mentioned. Make little cars with performance options. Make ice blazer with a more powerful engine and more towing capability. They are light and fuel efficient though. These little cars or cuvs with small engines end up having less range because they put in tiny fuel tanks despite their good mpg. Gm has no midsized performance suvs and it wouldn’t be to hard to add a set of performance brake calipers and rotors, upgrade engine performance significantly, ect. Also gm blazer too close to size of equinox. Traverse is nice for families but not very attractive and no performance option. Gm needs an Explorer ST competitor. Give Dodge credit for making brake and engine upgrade options for their customers. If anyone has worked on brakes. Performance brake caliper, rotors, and pads are so much easier to replace and hold up to corrosion and make more even pad and rotor wear with the extra pistons biting from both sides rather than the sliding version that only works so well especially as the caliper and pad ages.
Gm has lost its way with performance ss options in every segment. Like above mentioned. Make little cars with performance options. Make ice blazer with a more powerful engine and more towing capability. They are light and fuel efficient though. These little cars or cuvs with small engines end up having less range because they put in tiny fuel tanks despite their good mpg. Gm has no midsized performance suvs and it wouldn’t be to hard to add a set of performance brake calipers and rotors, upgrade engine performance significantly, ect. Also gm blazer too close to size of equinox. Traverse is nice for families but not very attractive and no performance option. Gm needs more performance options in every segment. Give Dodge credit for making brake and engine upgrade options for their customers. If anyone has worked on brakes. Performance brake caliper, rotors, and pads are so much easier to replace and hold up to corrosion and make more even pad and rotor wear with the extra pistons biting from both sides rather than the sliding version that only works so well especially as the caliper and pad ages.
Great show and another great episode. Please ask Henry Payne to leave his politics at the door. He opinions seem to be driven more by politics than by auto business. You could tell that Phelan and Vasilash were trying to keep him in line and focused on the products.
Is the current BEV growth rate due to real consumer demand? If they are consumer demand driven, why would we need government incentives and the ever-fluctuating Federal fuel economy regulations to restrict ICE vehicles?