Gonna get a Chevy Volt, wish me luck.
11-23-2011, 10:19 PM
#16
I never notice, anyway
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Hmmmmm - I'll accept your apology as of now. But if I find out you've been at ANY show near KC, Des Moines, Chicago, or MPLS without letting me know...
11-23-2011, 10:38 PM
#17
Race Director
Thread Starter
11-23-2011, 10:54 PM
#20
Porsche Nut
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1) Big Bailout by gov't.
2) Screwed stockholders (that would include me) by wiping out old stock when new stock was issued.
11-23-2011, 11:43 PM
#27
Race Director
Thread Starter
11-24-2011, 01:26 AM
#28
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I bought my wife a Volt about a month and a half ago. So far it has been an absolute joy to own and drive. It does everything as advertised and does it well. It's scary quiet, solid as a German car (and I don't say this lightly.....I've owned many over the years and my daily driver is an S550), and so far has a lifetime fuel economy after 1200 miles of 105 mpg.
Duke Energy installed a 240v charger for free, it charges in 4 hours and goes over 40 miles on electrons alone. Since my wife usually drives less than 40 miles/day, she burns very little gas. On gas, it still gets over 40 mpg. Her lifetime fuel economy has been affected by a few 100 mile trips to see her ailing mom in the past month.
Fit, finish and materials are way above the usual American standards, especially with the optional leather package. The dash, instrument and "infotainment" screens are very cool as well as the touch-sensitive switchgear and controls.
I don't care what the critics, armchair and otherwise, say about this car, it's an amazing piece of engineering, a breakthrough design and something I think GM should be very proud of. We love the car are proud to own ant American car again.....the first one in 30 years for us.....other than the one in the avatar....which makes an interesting picture parked next to the Volt. Yin and yang sort of thing ya know.
Duke Energy installed a 240v charger for free, it charges in 4 hours and goes over 40 miles on electrons alone. Since my wife usually drives less than 40 miles/day, she burns very little gas. On gas, it still gets over 40 mpg. Her lifetime fuel economy has been affected by a few 100 mile trips to see her ailing mom in the past month.
Fit, finish and materials are way above the usual American standards, especially with the optional leather package. The dash, instrument and "infotainment" screens are very cool as well as the touch-sensitive switchgear and controls.
I don't care what the critics, armchair and otherwise, say about this car, it's an amazing piece of engineering, a breakthrough design and something I think GM should be very proud of. We love the car are proud to own ant American car again.....the first one in 30 years for us.....other than the one in the avatar....which makes an interesting picture parked next to the Volt. Yin and yang sort of thing ya know.
11-24-2011, 01:45 AM
#29
Burning Brakes
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I went to a tech talk a few months ago by the "father of the plug-in hybrid," Prof. Andy Frank, complete with demo. I was impressed with it from an engineering standpoint (me with a MSME from Purdue
), and notably, how it was designed with the needs of a real-world user in mind. That is, it's an electric vehicle for 40 miles then it uses gas assist, and its recharging scenarios make it usable.
Like you I'm not enamored with the gov't involvement in GM, and I can't speak for the long term build quality, but from an overall engineering design standpoint the Volt makes a lot of sense, especially when compared to the Prius and Leaf.
), and notably, how it was designed with the needs of a real-world user in mind. That is, it's an electric vehicle for 40 miles then it uses gas assist, and its recharging scenarios make it usable.Like you I'm not enamored with the gov't involvement in GM, and I can't speak for the long term build quality, but from an overall engineering design standpoint the Volt makes a lot of sense, especially when compared to the Prius and Leaf.
11-24-2011, 02:08 AM
#30
Burning Brakes
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Time to get rid of the wife's Prius while the resale and demand are still crazy-high.
She has the following demands for a car, in roughly this order:
New car with warranty only. Yes, I know a 20 year old POS is cheaper. I don't care.
Good gas mileage around town, short trips, under 30 miles a day.
Carry 4 people and still do a Costco run. Also fold down the rear seats to carry bigger stuff.
Bluetooth, auto climate, heated seats, GPS, decent tunes
Nice interior
Decent perf.
The Prius has been a good car for her as it's large and practical, but because her trips are often only 5 miles round trip, her mileage has been ~40mpg as the engine runs the whole time to warm up thus no hybrid advantage.
My plan was to talk her into the Jetta Sportwagon TDI. We also drove the Volt, Leaf and CT200h.
Leaf: Surprisingly, a LOT of fun to drive, but the 90 mile range is a deal breaker because maybe a half dozen times a year she needs to take a longer drive. Also too small.
CT200h: Nice looking but why would I trade my Prius for a smaller Prius that gets less mpg and has worse performance?
JSW TDI: Love the interior and overall driving experience. Price is good. Overall capacity and practicality almost at Prius level. However, no auto climate? last gen GPS? No HID or Xenons? No freakin' Homelink??? I don't even know where my original garage door openers are. Where's the AWD or Audi version? Also, diesel averages 55 cents per gallon more than gas out here, and around town the mileage is meh. Biodiesel is cheaper here than regular diesel, but not sure I can use it?
Volt: Very surprisingly (to me) the best quality interior materials. Nice dash and center stack layout. All the bells and whistles for electronics, climate, GPS, stereo, etc. Only seats 4 and rear seats require <6ft. Cargo area is small compared to Prius. Drives really well by econobox standards, pretty much the same as the JSW overall. Kinda ugly from some angles, but not as bad as the Prius and less boring than the VW.
But the cost is the kicker for the Volt. $42K becomes $32K after state and federal credits, so about the same as the Prius or JSW. PG&E will install the 4 hour charger for free and put me on a special EV rate plan of $0.06/kwh. Doing the math works out to costing the same as it getting just under 200 mpg.
Jetta would be better for road trips but we have my BMW for that which slays all these cars for driving enjoyment.
I feel a bit dirty taking all the tax incentives but I figure I'm just getting a small fraction of my own money back. I wish they weren't there, but it's stupid to not take advantage of them. I haven't bought an American car since my '67 Caddy Convertible DeVille, which picked econoboxes out of it's 8 mpg ***. Hope I won't regret it.
She has the following demands for a car, in roughly this order:
New car with warranty only. Yes, I know a 20 year old POS is cheaper. I don't care.
Good gas mileage around town, short trips, under 30 miles a day.
Carry 4 people and still do a Costco run. Also fold down the rear seats to carry bigger stuff.
Bluetooth, auto climate, heated seats, GPS, decent tunes
Nice interior
Decent perf.
The Prius has been a good car for her as it's large and practical, but because her trips are often only 5 miles round trip, her mileage has been ~40mpg as the engine runs the whole time to warm up thus no hybrid advantage.
My plan was to talk her into the Jetta Sportwagon TDI. We also drove the Volt, Leaf and CT200h.
Leaf: Surprisingly, a LOT of fun to drive, but the 90 mile range is a deal breaker because maybe a half dozen times a year she needs to take a longer drive. Also too small.
CT200h: Nice looking but why would I trade my Prius for a smaller Prius that gets less mpg and has worse performance?
JSW TDI: Love the interior and overall driving experience. Price is good. Overall capacity and practicality almost at Prius level. However, no auto climate? last gen GPS? No HID or Xenons? No freakin' Homelink??? I don't even know where my original garage door openers are. Where's the AWD or Audi version? Also, diesel averages 55 cents per gallon more than gas out here, and around town the mileage is meh. Biodiesel is cheaper here than regular diesel, but not sure I can use it?
Volt: Very surprisingly (to me) the best quality interior materials. Nice dash and center stack layout. All the bells and whistles for electronics, climate, GPS, stereo, etc. Only seats 4 and rear seats require <6ft. Cargo area is small compared to Prius. Drives really well by econobox standards, pretty much the same as the JSW overall. Kinda ugly from some angles, but not as bad as the Prius and less boring than the VW.
But the cost is the kicker for the Volt. $42K becomes $32K after state and federal credits, so about the same as the Prius or JSW. PG&E will install the 4 hour charger for free and put me on a special EV rate plan of $0.06/kwh. Doing the math works out to costing the same as it getting just under 200 mpg.
Jetta would be better for road trips but we have my BMW for that which slays all these cars for driving enjoyment.
I feel a bit dirty taking all the tax incentives but I figure I'm just getting a small fraction of my own money back. I wish they weren't there, but it's stupid to not take advantage of them. I haven't bought an American car since my '67 Caddy Convertible DeVille, which picked econoboxes out of it's 8 mpg ***. Hope I won't regret it.
Did you put the Lexus in Sport mode? It has three modes, and sport mode will actually spin the tires... although this defeats the purpose of the car. - Either way, not that it matters either way it is pretty subjective.
We have 220,000 miles on our other Lexus RX-330 so we're confident this car will last us for years.
I would have a hard time thinking I could get that out of a Chevy.
We have 220,000 miles on our other Lexus RX-330 so we're confident this car will last us for years.
I would have a hard time thinking I could get that out of a Chevy.