American automakers closing the reliability gap

The Kernel · Post by **The Kernel** » 2004-03-16 08:02pm

aerius wrote: With the new Cadillac CTS-V in production there's just no reason to own a Bimmer based on performance, the only reason to get one is snob appeal.

Thank God someone else but me loves this car. A rear wheel drive, manual transmission Caddie with an LS6 derived 400-hp Corvette engine along with the usual Cadillac luxury. How can you say no to such a car, especially when it is cheaper than even the M3 despite being competition for the M5?

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2004-03-16 10:40pm

And the fact that the CTS-V uses a Corvette engine means that if you ever want more power the parts are readily available. Any engine mod that works on the Vette will most likely fit in the Caddy, just imagine a dropping a Lingenfelter twin turbo 650HP engine into it. With that you could kill pretty much anything short of a McLaren F1.

Durandal · Post by **Durandal** » 2004-03-16 11:13pm

aerius wrote:And the fact that the CTS-V uses a Corvette engine means that if you ever want more power the parts are readily available. Any engine mod that works on the Vette will most likely fit in the Caddy, just imagine a dropping a Lingenfelter twin turbo 650HP engine into it. With that you could kill pretty much anything short of a McLaren F1.

I had the pleasure of seeing a C5 with Twin Turbos run on a dyno. The guy had about 550 hp at the rear wheel, which translates to about 650 to 700 hp at the motor. Watching the dyno graph readout was a Corvette owner's wet dream.

Crown · Post by **Crown** » 2004-03-16 11:18pm

Darth Wong wrote:
Crown wrote:Mike do you still work within the automotive industry by any chance?
No, but I did work for an automotive industry supplier for many years. And we did supply automakers from Asia, America, and Europe. You'd be surprised at how disorganized the Japanese can be, but they do make things work.

Yeah I know, there is always this myth about 'Japanese Efficiency' and all that.

While Japanese quality control often deserves its reputation, European quality control is more reputation than reality. Mercedes, for example, does not really have Japanese-style quality control; they tend to "tighten up" cars at the end of the assembly line rather than building them right in the first place. Mind you, that practice sounds really good when you call it "hand craftsmanship" and charge tens of thousands of dollars extra for it ...

You serious? Man that is funny!

I wonder if this plays into people's fear of technology? I mean why do people want something to read; 'hand made'?

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-03-17 01:56am

Crown wrote:You serious? Man that is funny!

I wonder if this plays into people's fear of technology? I mean why do people want something to read; 'hand made'?

I don't know. The worst offender has got to be the Rolls Royce. Those things cost multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars because they're hand made, which means that the quality is shit. My dad knew a guy whose company loaned him a Rolls Royce to impress high rolling clients, and he said it handled like shit and was significantly less comfortable than your basic $20k sedan.

Post by **Vympel** » 2004-03-17 02:11am

Looked at a picture of the CTS-V. I don't like the front of it at all- I hate those huge, wide grills. Or whatever they're called.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-03-17 02:17am

Semi-OT - anybody got any predictions on what's going to happen to Ford? They've got this massive pension liability that's only going to get worse, and there's been some talk about Ford going out of business within a decade's time.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-03-17 02:34am

Joe wrote:Semi-OT - anybody got any predictions on what's going to happen to Ford? They've got this massive pension liability that's only going to get worse, and there's been some talk about Ford going out of business within a decade's time.

I would worry more about Chrysler being folded up by its parent as an unprofitable subsidiary.

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-03-17 01:14pm

Unprofitable, plus I think there's a very real danger of the Mercedes-Benz name being perceived as tarnished by Chrysler's reputation for unreliability and crappiness. Not that it deserved its good name in the first place, but it's all about perception.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2004-03-17 02:41pm

Arthur_Tuxedo wrote:Unprofitable, plus I think there's a very real danger of the Mercedes-Benz name being perceived as tarnished by Chrysler's reputation for unreliability and crappiness. Not that it deserved its good name in the first place, but it's all about perception.

Well, that name better has some reputation

Benz, together with Daimler, invented the gasoline-powered automobile, after all

Arthur_Tuxedo · Post by **Arthur_Tuxedo** » 2004-03-18 03:42am

Dahak wrote:Well, that name better has some reputation
Benz, together with Daimler, invented the gasoline-powered automobile, after all

True. And I think the 1909 Blitzen-Benz had to be the fastest, coolest car of all time for its time. 125 mph in 1909? Holy shit. 4 cylinder, 21.5 liter (that's not a typo) displacement engine? Hollllleeeee sheeeit. Even planes didn't go as fast as that thing.

Still, modern Mercedes are overpriced and inferior to the competition, IMO.