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Don't know where else to put this, so it goes here! 2011 Toyota Tundra trip report I get to drive around for a couple of days in this beast.  It has the 'ROCK WARRIOR' special edition package, which adds pretty wheels, Bilstein shocks, and some stickers. The truck has a 5.7L V8 putting out 381HP and 401 ft-lbs of torque, all at a cost of $40,000. I don't normally drive trucks, and this is definitely a truck. It feels enormous, and very wide. Power is very good though you can tell it is a heavy vehicle. It lumbers around and makes a lot of pleasant noise but doesn't feel fast or anything. The ergonomics are pretty terrible. Maybe I just don't drive enough Toyotas but it took some time to find essential controls. I think Toyota has to be the only company to put the cruise controls on their own stalk, hidden behind the steering wheel. Economy is 13 city / 17 highway, which I think is pretty standard. I can't imagine how much gas would cost if I were to buy such a truck.  Also, for $40,000 you don't get power seats? Or auto up/down windows? The driver gets auto-down and that's it, period. Kind of surprising given the price. See, I have a problem with expensive pick-ups. If I needed a truck, I would get some $20-year-old beater so I wouldn't be afraid to use it as a workhorse. Brand-new shiny expensive trucks seem more for the middle-aged guy that might need to pick up lumber once a year and that's it, otherwise it's just a luxury item. And being a luxury item I would have thought it would have been better appointed. Of course, I'm sure it's all in the packaging, but I'm still not impressed. Also, in profile it looks really odd. I think the American trucks look a lot more aggressive and manly.  Maybe it's the odd proportions of the crew cab + short bed. Anyway, just my .02
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Mar 30, 2011 00:33
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I've driven both Japanese and German cars set up like this. You've never encountered it before? I meant new cars. Both of my cars have it on the stalk, but it seems that everybody has moved it to the steering wheel since about five years ago.
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Mar 30, 2011 03:05
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I saw my first new Focus today. Front looks great, interior looks great, but I saw it first from the rear and thought it was a new Hyundai. 
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May 16, 2011 17:44
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Christobevii3 posted:Too bad it wont have the sweet blue interior like the early Taurus. Or maroon, my god those maroon interiors. I think they all had the same strange smell, too.
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May 18, 2011 19:35
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Trip report: 2011 Kia Optima Pros: - This is a really nice looking car. In profile it looks like it should cost about $10k more. The rear end is really well done. The front, well, it looks like other ias with the gaping grill. One nice touch is the top of the windshield has a small kink in it that matches the front grill. - Decent power. I didn't have any problem with a lack of power from the 2.4L four. Granted it's not what I would call quick but it's certainly sufficient for most people. - Very large inside. Cons: - The car drove a lot like the Forte. Steering was fairly numb and it felt jittery. I'd say it drives like a car $5k cheaper (The car was $23k as optioned) - The driver's seat at least was not very comfortable. I wouldn't want to spend an entire day in it. My back is a bit sore from the hour long commute I have. - The six-speed transmission isn't very refined and it didn't really communicate all that well with the engine in determining a good gear to be in. All in all it was a pretty decent car. I can see why people would buy it. Driving dynamics-wise, it's not nearly as good as some of the other cars out there, but being a Kia I thought it would be worse. It really does look a lot more expensive than it is. It's a shame the neighbors will see the Kia badge and assume it cost half of what you paid, though. At least in my experience people associate Kia with cheap economy cars, and I wouldn't really call this car a cheap economy car. More like a cheap economy car in a big expensive car's body, if that makes sense. If it stops raining I'll post some pictures.
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Jun 9, 2011 16:05
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Faerunner posted:That might actually be attractive. Agreed. I'm digging the rear quarterpanels for some reason. Of course, being a Caliber, it's going to have a poo poo engine and poo poo handling (but a refrigerated glovebox!) so we'll see. I'm still baffled that this is Chrysler's "small car" that replaced the neon.
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Jun 27, 2011 16:34
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So, surely you guys saw the renderings of the next Corvette, right? I like it, but I was hoping for a more radical departure from the current design.
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Nov 14, 2011 20:09
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The problem with the Impala is that it has no design language. If you removed the badges, I would have had no idea it was the new Impala. Or even a Chevy, for that matter (though that may be a good thing). I guess I see a little bit of the new Camaro in the grill shape, but barely. Debadge a BMW or Mercedes, you know it's a BMW or Mercedes. Same with an Acura or Infiniti. Debadge a new Ford, you can tell it's a Ford either using the old 3-chrome-bar look or the new Euro-oriented look. Similarly, Dodges and Chryslers have design language. GMs lately have been 'nice cars' but they're too unassuming and after the first year or two they'll be so completely bland that nobody will consider them. They're the 'beige' of the auto industry. Cadillac is an exception, because they have consistent design language, but I think they're the only group within GM. Then again, people still buy the current Impala, so I guess beige is cool for some people. edit: Also, what is the difference between a Malibu and an Impala supposed to be these days? Seems the Malibu is as big as the Imapala anymore, or am I mistaken? CornHolio fucked around with this message at 16:37 on Apr 4, 2012 |
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Apr 4, 2012 16:30
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Mighty Horse posted:Hello, Sexy. I love this so much. Forward-opening hood, side exhausts, manual transmission, V10... I can't wait to see Top Gear ring this out. It looks properly badass and beautiful.
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Apr 4, 2012 17:42
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asmallrabbit posted:Those headlights really bother me with what I assume is a ring of LEDs all the way around them, the rest of it looks fantastic though. The headlights just remind me of a gaudy diamond ring or something and seem out of place with the rest of the car. They look like eyelids. Angry eyelids. I'm sure the headlights will have an illuminated ring around them like the current 300 does. I don't really like it, but I'd have to see a Viper with them on to judge for sure.
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Apr 4, 2012 17:50
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SouthLAnd posted:You know, I dismissed the new Chevrolet Impala at first, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. Did something scratch that quarter panel? I thought it was tree reflections at first, but they'd have to be right in front of the photographer or something to reflect like that.
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Apr 4, 2012 19:05
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bidikyoopi posted:
Those wheels 
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Apr 4, 2012 20:03
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Elephanthead posted:Column shifters are kinda dumb now that it isn't physically connected to the transmission anymore, but old guys like me don't like things to change in our pickups. They even make it seem like it is still connected to the transmission by making it hard to pull down and pick your gear. What was that, about not liking things changing in your pickups?  (From the 2013 Dodge RAM)
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Apr 5, 2012 17:27
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I just want to say that yesterday I had the pleasure of driving a brand-new SHO (as my father is probably getting one) and god drat it's a nice car. Certainly huge as hell and not a track car or anything, but for a highway missile it's hard to beat.
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Apr 6, 2012 22:27
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Anybody know when the 2013 Fiesta will go on sale? I see a bunch of pictures of the '13 Fiesta ST and it has a substantially different interior than the '12, but I can't find anything for the lower trim models.
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Apr 16, 2012 21:36
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SouthLAnd posted:I've always like the Flex. It's just such a drat weird box. The new face makes me like it even more. I actually like this look. I wish I would see more Flexes on the road, but it seems like most people either fall back on the Taurus because they don't need the extra room or don't like the look, or jump up to an Edge because they want an SUV and the Flex is too small.
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Apr 17, 2012 16:28
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:It's funny, because the Flex is actually substantially bigger than the Edge. Really? Wow, I actually never would have thought that, the Edge seems quite large.
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Apr 17, 2012 18:13
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Cakefool posted:
I've constructed spreadsheets of economy/price/equipment multiple times, actually as recently as last week (for my father, who's getting an SHO).
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Apr 18, 2012 13:30
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I don't believe what you guys are saying about design being so important. I mean, GM sold more than zero Aztecs, explain that.Throatwarbler posted:
Honestly, I think GM's just too big. I would have loved to see it broken down into three or four smaller companies. Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac and Chevy each as an independant, competing manufacturer. Though I don't know how well they would have been able to compete against Ford and Chrysler. In my mind, American car companies should have never been allowed to merge together and congeal into three cancerous masses. I think back in the twenties or thirties there were forty or more separate car companies in America. I'd like to see a return to that - competition should drive innovation, their spread would be such that a single city wouldn't be slave to the marketplace's undulations, and the consumer would have a huge variety of options to 'buy American' rather than one or two that are actually built in Mexico. Of course, the benefits that come with such large scale mass production would probably go away, and if not restrained the Japanese/European car companies would certainly take huge advantage of that... dammit anyway, it sounded like a good idea at first. CornHolio fucked around with this message at 14:35 on Apr 19, 2012 |
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Apr 19, 2012 14:28
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Faceless Clock posted:Just FYI, only interiors of cars that are new or have been substantially redesigned are eligible and the award is based on a lot of factors besides how it looks. like what, number of cupholders?
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Apr 19, 2012 18:12
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So are modern small cars such as the Honda Fit and Ford Fiesta deathtraps since they weigh under 1.5 tons?
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Apr 25, 2012 00:02
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PT6A posted:No, but that's because they're small cars. Not everyone wants a small car, though. Some people want a larger car. The larger car will be heavier! Okay, just making sure I didn't miss something. People want a large car and complain that it is also a heavy car like it's made of a bunch of metal or something. Crazy I know! Man, large cars of ages past sure didn't weigh as mu-  -oh. 2.5 tons. hurm.
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Apr 25, 2012 01:03
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I just learned something. My first car was a 1994 Nissan Sentra, and I can still buy that exact car brand-new in Mexico as the Nissan Tsuru. Looks like the same 1.6L engine, the same interior, everything. I want one.
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Apr 28, 2012 01:20
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dissss posted:I think it has some Renault engine/transmission in place of the old GA16 (which is comparatively expensive to produce) aw, I saw 1.6L and assumed the best. They don't have OBD requirements in Mexico, do they?
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Apr 28, 2012 01:44
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skipdogg posted:Oh man I really want a Focus ST. I'd have to drive it though. I wonder how the back seat would be... I'd have to put a couple baby seats back there. Would I get extra AI cred for buying the Recaro baby seats? I think the regular Focus gets up to 40mpg highway, so the ST would be somewhere between 30 and 40 I would imagine. baby seats can easily fit in the back of a Fiesta, they should have room to spare in the back of a Focus.
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May 1, 2012 18:56
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Crustashio posted:Aren't true LSDs being dropped in favour of brake-based torque vectoring? I know the GTI uses that as opposed to a real LSD. And I'm pretty sure Ford has such a system on the SHO as well, which would imply (strongly, I think) that it would be used on an ST or RS.
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May 2, 2012 23:45
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Q_res posted:Ferrari really hasn't made a good looking car since the 550 Maranello Noticed a typo in your post, must have snuck past your spell checker.
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May 18, 2012 03:55
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Krakkles posted:you're talking about fog lights, not headlights, and they're still an option, as they were before. I thought fog lights were supposed to be closer to the ground. Weren't the big grill lights in Mustangs just driving lights. edit: After some research you could indeed buy Mustangs with the grill lights and standard fog lights, so I think they are just driving lights. CornHolio fucked around with this message at 18:20 on May 23, 2012 |
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May 23, 2012 18:18
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I won't be happy unless it has a rotary and a tendency to catch on fire.
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May 24, 2012 16:25
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So, several weeks ago I ordered a nicely-specced '12 Ford Fiesta. Turns out, they couldn't put the order in because production on 2012 models was done. My 2013 Fiesta will be built in the next couple of weeks, and it's a bit cheaper! Problem is, I think the '13 is getting a facelift of some sort. Also, the interior of the 2013 Fiesta ST concept is considerably different (like the new Taurus with its high-tech looking buttons) and I'm wondering if the production 2013 is getting the updated interior with (maybe) the new Ford touchscreen system. Anybody know what changes the 2013 has?
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May 29, 2012 17:52
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I swear I see a ton of the previous-generation Focus wagon. Maybe it's just around here but it seems that that car did pretty well. And re: the G8, I tried to get my dad to consider it when he was car shopping a few years ago but it was roughly the same price as a Cadillac CTS. It had more power but suffered in pretty much every other department relative to the CTS.
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May 30, 2012 18:14
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If only Ford still made the GT, every one of your arguments would be moot. The obvious solution is to retool up for the GT and call it a day.
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Jun 13, 2012 14:45
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skipdogg posted:The Taurus SHO was designed to compete against the BMW 5 Series. Not sure how successful they've been, but the SHO is a drat nice car. If my commute wasn't so long, I would trade my Fusion Sport in for one now there are some reasonable used cpo models out there. My dad just got a '13 SHO a week ago. I got to ride in it on Friday. It's huge, comfortable and full of crazy technology. For the $40k price tag, if you want a big, heavy, fast car it's pretty drat nice. I haven't been in a new 5-series. I'm sure it's classier and probably feels better to drive, but in terms of comfort and technology (especially for the cost) I think the Ford may have it beat.
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Jun 13, 2012 16:20
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I ordered a Ford Fiesta 12 weeks ago and it has yet to come in. Originally it was supposed to take 6-8 weeks but at this point we've blown through about four ETA dates. The dealership says they still have 7-12 as the ETA but that's obviously not going to happen. What the hell?
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Jul 17, 2012 19:27
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Thwomp posted:This is what I do at work. Bitch and moan at and about Ford for blowing ETAs. Did you order a 2013? Holy hell it sounds like a nightmare. My dealership originally ordered it as a 2012. I think they didn't know that Ford had stopped taking orders for them or something, and the order wouldn't take, and it took them awhile to figure out why. I'm assuming there was some delay because of that as well.
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Jul 17, 2012 19:50
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Guinness posted:"I basically want an Audi/BMW, but I only want to pay for a Focus. The car manufacturers are screwing us again!" It's like used cars don't exist or something. davebo posted:To be fair, what they wanted was a manual transmission and AWD. BMW/Audis cost a lot because they're luxury cars and you're paying for the name. They weren't asking for a luxury car. Isn't the Suzuki SX4 available with a manual and AWD?
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Jul 26, 2012 16:37
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:If you have not lived in a truly cold climate and experienced the wonder that is cloth heated seats, I pity you. Seconding this. We have a Volvo 850 with cloth seats (they seem kind of rare in the 850) and not only are they the most comfortable seats I've ever sat in, they're heated. In the winter, they are incredible.
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Jul 26, 2012 17:54
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Cream_Filling posted:I'd argue that '99 isn't really "modern" anymore. I don't actually know, but don't current gen BMWs not even have dipsticks anymore? And isn't everything stuck on using Torx screws? Also, the parts for brands like Audi are pretty ridiculously expensive even ignoring the cost of labor. I would argue that if you're worried about money, just about any used car will be a smarter idea than a new car. A three-year-old CPO BMW would be hugely cheaper than a brand-new one, for instance, even if you take it to the dealer for every service.
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Jul 26, 2012 19:33
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Keyser S0ze posted:
Our new Fiesta has Sync. I really don't care about the hands-free aspect of it but being able to play Pandora from my phone is friggin' awesome. The only thing I don't like about the Fiesta's Sync is that when I have a USB drive connected, it's a pain in the rear end to scroll through the albums I have on there. Gotta go into like three menus just to scroll through.
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Jul 26, 2012 19:55
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Warcabbit posted:Both are still better than the rear of the '74 911 I grew up in. Talk about 'a very uncomfortable place'. Worse than a VW Bug. Yeah but at least you got to grow up in a 911. My mom had a Plymouth Horizon.
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Jul 28, 2012 16:09
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