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The Car Thread ... !

Lord Blackadder said:
More than half of all the new police cars purchased in the US annually are just one model - Ford Explorers. In 20 years nobody outside perhaps state highway patrols will be buying police "cars" at all (and most of them are buying SUVs too).
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Yeahhhh, last year, the dealer had about 100 new police Explorers delivered for all the RCMP & city/town cops here
 
Relentless Power said:
Which leads me to believe even the Chrysler 300 (Hardly see this vehicle ever) will be discontinued
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Apparently, the plans for a Alfa platform 300 replacement were scrapped. Instead, they're going to "heavily refresh" the 300 next year (and probably sell it for another decade).

Charger and Challenger will also be heavily refreshed in 2019. 2021 will bring the "all-new" Charger/Challenger.

http://www.autonews.com/section/futtable14


I believe I read somewhere that GM might be discontinuing some vehicles in their lineup as well
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The Sonic and Impala might be killed off, but they're still keeping the Cruze and Malibu.

http://wardsauto.com/industry/gm-sticking-cars-despite-market-rival-moves
 
Relentless Power said:
Initially, the Dodge Charger/Ford Taurus police interceptor was the _primary_ models used once the transition was ended with the Crown Victoria in 2011. (Even today, some agencies are still employing the Police Crown Victoria’s, but they primarily are being retired being they don’t meet the D.O.T safety requirements anymore.)

The Taurus interceptor (Both 3.5 Ecoboost and 3.7) have more than enough power on the roadway, the issue with those specific models is that they lack Space (Keyword) The trunk space in the P.P Taurus is partially consumed due to A converter box that is installed in the back for all the onboard electronics, leaving very little room enough for even for other emergency equipment. Inside the cabin, the visibility is rather poor (Safety concern), which is also another common complaint with the Taurus interceptor, but where the biggest complaint is legroom. When you factor in the partition from the prisoner transport to the officer cabin area, you have very little room, even with the seat completely back (Which is even restricted by the partition to reach its full length), and the seats are not nearly as comfortable and are somewhat smaller than what the crown Victoria driver seat was as well.

And then you had agencies complaining about the Ford Taurus Interceptor and officers wanting more leg space, more visibility, more room to store their gear and emergency equipment in the back of the vehicle, even in the prisoner transport‘s are extremely difficult with very little legroom.

So when agencies start to restructuring their fiscal budgets, in addition to listening Officers concerns/complaints and when they had the ability to upgrade their vehicles again, they were upgrading to the Ford Explorer police interceptor models (Which has exponentially grown considerably for the last three years for agencies upgrading to the Explorer model and abandoning the Taurus model for said reasons in my State) , which literally alleviates all the above issues mentioned, incorporating an immense amount more space for storage, additional head and leg room, the ride height increased variability and the Explorer can even incorporate a bi-dual partition to transport two prisoners if need be (Which also reduces the need for a second car on scene for a transport), and of course they are just as powerful with a 3.5 L AWD eco-boost in a larger platform for varying road conditions.

In my area, I believe I mentioned it somewhere prior in this thread, but almost all of the squads are the majority of Ford Explorer police interceptors and a mix of the Ford Taurus interceptor’s, which is shifted greatly, because it initially started as many of the Taurus line being used, but that’s since been opposite once those reached a certain mileage, they were retired and convertered to the Explorers.

So, that all said; I completely agree with Ford discontinuing the Taurus line (Amongst other vehicles in their line up). Not just for the police interceptor for reasons already stated, but also the civilian model which seemingly is very rare on the roadway compared to all the other economy vehicles. I think it’s been prevalent for some time that the Taurus line was fading and lacking physical upgrades, and even the SHO served it’s purpose for the heritage behind it, but it doesn’t serve a purpose and a need for a market for $43,000 vehicle when you can literally find them for half that price with very few miles. [Not to mention all the other competition in similar or better price ranges with upgraded aesthetic/interior packages]. The last major update for the SHO was in 2013, Which I am actually surprised they even made a 2018 model given the recent announcement, but nothing was changed in that model hardly at all as well. I Think altogether, it goes to show you the rising cost of vehicles, consumers are not necessarily in the market for a newer vehicle, when they can find a used vehicle with very few miles and still have a warranty attached.

Now with Ford discontinuing the Focus, Taurus, Fiesta and Fusion, there is certainly some popularity in those specific vehicles, (Especially the Fusion) but I think the issue with those cars is that they are dated/ancient in the line up and sold well initially upon their release, but have been on the decline since crossovers have taken over in other segments. Which leads me to believe even the Chrysler 300 (Hardly see this vehicle ever) will be discontinued and I believe I read somewhere that GM might be discontinuing some vehicles in their lineup as well. Its an interesting time and shift where vehicles are ultimate leading with the hybrid/electric platform, but still in its infancy with Ford in many levels.

Also, another member mentioned (Puma1551) while back about a possible electric Mustang, seems that reality will be here soon enough, strangely. But for now, Naturally aspirated is plenty relevant.
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How do you feel about the Taurus Interceptor compared to the Charger and Caprice? Here in Boston they have a bunch of Chevy Caprice’s (I always wonder if any of them have the 6.0 V8- though I doubt it). I think I remember reading Chevy was discontinuing the Caprice with the closing of Holden in Australia (where they made the Caprice).

I know some other LEO’s who like their Taurus interceptors, a lot more than the CV’s, but basically said the same thing as you- police cars carry more and more equipment and the Taurus just doesn’t have the space.

I always thought it was silly that Ford didn’t come up with the true platform to replace the Panther platform. They completely risked their Police/Taxi/Livery market. Though I suppose with the space requirements needed for a Police car and the advancement of SUV’s power and handling, the Explorer fits the bill.

It’s too bad that Carbon Motors went under- the American company that tried to build a purpose built police car using the I6 3.0tt BMW diesel. I feel like a purpose build police car could maintain the positive characteristics of a sedan, while ensuring enough space.
 
Our PDs around the area moved onto the Chevy Caprice, Dodge Challenger and Ford Explorer long before Ford stopped building Crown Vics. There's a few Tahoes and Suburbans thrown about. Though the police forces still have a lot of Crown Vics in excellent condition. They did drop Harley Davidson ages ago for BMW and Honda motorcycles. Harley's cost them too much and they were always breaking down, according to some cops I've spoken to. In other cities, I've seen cops on Yamahas, too. Not sure of the model, but they're fairly zippy. I imagine they're 600-700cc.
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AutoUnion39 said:
The Sonic and Impala might be killed off, but they're still keeping the Cruze and Malibu.
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Malibu? Pfft, clearly you're confused. I believe you mean the BMW Model S Class 760il M-AMG Sport.
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bunnspecial said:
It's also the brand that has brought us what is, IMO, the single best mid-size sedan made in the US in the past 30 years.

Confession-I'm a die-hard Lincoln fanboy. My daily driver is my second Lincoln in a row, and my family has a long history of owning them.

At the same time, they don't currently make anything that appeals to me. My dad has a 2015 MKS, and it's certainly nice but it doesn't appeal to me THAT much.
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Call me nuts, but I'd love to see Lincoln bring out a new LS. The last one was quite the vehicle.
 
Zenithal said:
Call me nuts, but I'd love to see Lincoln bring out a new LS. The last one was quite the vehicle.
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I perhaps have an irrational love of that car since it was the first car I owned that was truly mine...but I've toyed with buying another one over the past year.

My big hindrance was that I had 150K on my old one, but I'd put 100K of those on it myself and was meticulous about maintenance. I don't know how much I'd trust another one with that kind of mileage on it.

Ford lost the magical DEW-98 platform when they sold off Jaguar. Jag still uses it, and it honestly was/is an amazing platform.

I really think that FLM screwed the pooch with marketing the platform. Mine had the sport package, which a lot of folks thought was just an appearance package. When I'd drive a non-sport one, though, I'd think that it somehow felt "different." When I redid the suspension, I actually asked on the LS Owner's Club website and someone from the design team gave me a list of Sport-package specific suspension parts. The big difference was that the shocks were a bit stiffer and some of the other parts were a bit more uprated.

In any case, rather than pumping it up as a nimble sports sedan that could trade blows with the 5 series, they chose to market it as a "smaller" Lincoln and it had a hard time finding its target audience. People who actually realized what it was-like me-absolutely fell in love with it. If they'd actually put the effort into marketing it, they could have had a CTS-V competitor with the supercharged engine from the Jag S-type R.

Also, in another baffling move, there was an M/T version available but I think it was only sold in 2000. I've never seen one in the flesh, but it got rave reviews. The only issue was they only paired the M/T with the V6. I think that a V8 manual would have sold decently well. The 3.9L Ford/Lincoln only version of the AJ-V8 had some teething pains, but once they added VVT and some other upgrades in 2003 it became a REALLY great engine. It would have been a killer with a manual behind it.
 
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Something interesting regarding the Crown Vic:

Back around 2010 when it was confirmed that Ford would be discontinuing the PP crown Victoria in 2011, The LVMPD decided to purchase a large fleet of them (Approximately 100) {Rumored to be higher} and store them under ground at one of their facilities. What they would do, is if one of the officers totaled or reached retirement mileage with the crown Victoria’s, they would simply switch all the gear out and outfit everything in one of the spare squads. The retired or totaled squads would be at least salvaged for parts if they needed to make any repairs for the current Victoria models in use. It was a method to mainly consolidate and be cost effective, while retaining the Crown Vic in their line up without having to migrate to a whole new squad with the Charger being a primary at the time.
 
I think Ford is about unveil in a few years an electric car platform that will encompass hatchback and sedan models for world markets. I would compete against Volkwagen's Modularer Elektrobaukasten (MEB) multi-car platform.
 
bunnspecial said:
I perhaps have an irrational love of that car since it was the first car I owned that was truly mine...but I've toyed with buying another one over the past year.

My big hindrance was that I had 150K on my old one, but I'd put 100K of those on it myself and was meticulous about maintenance. I don't know how much I'd trust another one with that kind of mileage on it.

Ford lost the magical DEW-98 platform when they sold off Jaguar. Jag still uses it, and it honestly was/is an amazing platform.

I really think that FLM screwed the pooch with marketing the platform. Mine had the sport package, which a lot of folks thought was just an appearance package. When I'd drive a non-sport one, though, I'd think that it somehow felt "different." When I redid the suspension, I actually asked on the LS Owner's Club website and someone from the design team gave me a list of Sport-package specific suspension parts. The big difference was that the shocks were a bit stiffer and some of the other parts were a bit more uprated.

In any case, rather than pumping it up as a nimble sports sedan that could trade blows with the 5 series, they chose to market it as a "smaller" Lincoln and it had a hard time finding its target audience. People who actually realized what it was-like me-absolutely fell in love with it. If they'd actually put the effort into marketing it, they could have had a CTS-V competitor with the supercharged engine from the Jag S-type R.

Also, in another baffling move, there was an M/T version available but I think it was only sold in 2000. I've never seen one in the flesh, but it got rave reviews. The only issue was they only paired the M/T with the V6. I think that a V8 manual would have sold decently well. The 3.9L Ford/Lincoln only version of the AJ-V8 had some teething pains, but once they added VVT and some other upgrades in 2003 it became a REALLY great engine. It would have been a killer with a manual behind it.
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Can't blame you. They were great cars. Though I recall the transmissions being spotty in the 1st gens? The LS had a somewhat timeless exterior. It could easily be updated a little with some creases or curves, newer lighting, newer suspension and it would cost less than what Lincoln has done now. The biggest flaw with those cars was the interior, which was dated by the third year of production around the time the 2nd gen rolled in. Currently, the Continental is the only sedan they make that would be worth buying if you want American/domestic luxury. Though that's my opinion, which shouldn't affect others' decisions.
 
I mentioned using Griots in a previous post. I had a minor/superficial hairline scratch on the back of the pedestal spoiler on my GT. It was fairly annoying, even though I could see it, no one else could. Used Griots by hand (Did not require an orbital buffer for something so minor) with minimal pressure and it _literally_ removed the scratch in under four minutes. Used a good microfiber cloth to remove the excess (Do not let it dry) and I could not even find it after the fact. Great Product for the minor inconsistencies like Scratches and oxidation.

4957D60B-10CE-468A-8632-F98447F69DD1.jpeg
 
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SactoGuy18 said:
I think Ford is about unveil in a few years an electric car platform that will encompass hatchback and sedan models for world markets. I would compete against Volkwagen's Modularer Elektrobaukasten (MEB) multi-car platform.
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I think at this point, Ford will have an array of different vehicles that are going to be electric in multiple variants. I’m willing to believe 2021 will likely be significant in exactly where this is all leading and introducing an electric performance car option of the Mustang as well.
 
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D.T. said:
Yeah, in my head 490+ HP in the Boxster would be *insane*, but we all know Porsche won't let the 911 be second place (even if it's just numbers on paper).
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Indeed. What really surprises me is the 911 GTS. The 'best' all-rounder and it packs a punch at 450 HP in 991.2 flavor. I can't imagine what power figures the 992 generation of the GTS will have in the first and second half. If Porsche can maintain body size and lessen weight through better materials research and science, then it's going to be fantastic ride. Provided they don't increase the price. Then again, this is the same company that charges for leather ventilation slats.
 
I was kind of chuckling at this:

“Natural aspiration is one of our main USPs,” Andreas Preuninger, head of GT car development at Porsche, told Autocar earlier this year.
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vs. the "all in" they seem to be in regard to FI (like the current Boxster). The people at GTCD are like, no, big flat sixes ... that is the way.
 
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D.T. said:
I was kind of chuckling at this:



vs. the "all in" they seem to be in regard to FI (like the current Boxster). The people at GTCD are like, no, big flat sixes ... that is the way.
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People want traditional. It's funny to read through old threads on 6speed or RL and laugh at the way people troll each other, then I remember I was in that position, too, albeit with another brand. Personally, while I care for the environment, I think cars such as the 911 should be exempt from some of the restrictive silliness. There's not a lot of them on the roads and they're driven far less than other cars.

Not sure if it applies as much, but the way people are "NA flat-six grumble grumble grumble" is very old guard, IMO.
 
MPG would be negligible unless it added serious weight and drag. Otherwise, the combined loss would be 3-4 MPG. Handling is dependent on how the car's set up, to be honest. Nothing will handle like a coupe or sedan. It can get close, but never the same.
 
The picture below is my previous GT/CS grill. I personally did not appreciate the overall look and it appeared generic like a lot of aftermarket grills you can purchase online, although; I wanted to extract the tri-bar Pony emblem from the grill to use on my new CDC Grill, as it’s the real metal authentic Pony emblem versus the plastic one you can buy online.

The Issue is, Ford used these metal rivet screws on the back of the grill securing the emblem, which the only way to remove the rivet screws would Actually extirpate the backing of the Grill, essentially making it worthless. I would rather sell the grill used as a whole and then use the money to purchase a brand new tri-bar emblem, which Ford sales for an exorbitant price of approximately $110.00. Others have tried to extract the emblem from the grill, but was unsuccessful without ruining it. I don’t mind paying for something that is of quality as the current stock Emblem is on this grill, but some of these other tri-bar emblems that are available online are _Not_ the real authentic Tri-bar Pony emblems, even if they claim that they are, Some reviews have also indicated this.


EE19858E-314D-4E61-B6E0-B55C9826DEC9.jpeg
 
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2020 Corvette :cool:
IMG_2090.JPG

[doublepost=1525321027][/doublepost]Oh! The other day, I had AM & satellite radio all day, but no FM at all
until exactly midnight!
anyone know why or how???
 
Not a Lincoln fanatic. But the MKZ 2.0 looks stellar in black. First thoughts, its bigger than I expected, but not in a way that would be off putting. This 2017 is marked down to clear for other inventory, which this model is priced at $45,000. The only thing I find is distracting is the pattern of the Grill, but I can overlook the chrome accents/Grill.




Interior is simplistic enough. Its _so_ strange its missing the Gear shifter, which is all electronic now. I would much rather like to see black interior to match the black exterior. At least it doesn’t have Alcantara, which I find to be a garbage material, especially stitched on the steering wheel.



This model also has the full panoranamic roof, which I really like. Overall, this a very clean looking vehicle with nothing to over the top in terms of design. I think the MKZ has refined nicely, and I wouldn’t hesitate to consider this trim level with all the included options.
 
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