Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Got invited to the Ecoboost Challenge Media day today as staff for the mustang club....

Those ecoboost mustangs move out. They really let us beat on them. Put them in sport+ and turn the TC off, it's a very neutral car. Understeer at the limit whereas my 14 has a greater tendancy to oversteer. Definitely more composed under hard cornering.

Also, they somehow made the stock shifter on the manual even worse. Sloppy with very little feel.

And then I drove an F-150 3.5 EB, someone else had turned the TC off. I brake boosted it off the start so it'd be in boost and laid 11s all the way through first. Got in trouble for that :D
 
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What a neat solution (not) in order to fold the rear seats. Can you guess which new premium sedan does this belong to?

2lcl6dy.jpg
 
I'm blind. What's the issue? (Jag XE?)
 
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That release mechanism is hideous.
 
Eh, this is the only part of it the average person will see:
46-2017-jaguar-xe-fd-1.jpg


How does it compare to a Mercedes C, BMW3 or Audi A4?
 
What a neat solution (not) in order to fold the rear seats. Can you guess which new premium sedan does this belong to?

2lcl6dy.jpg

Wow, they didn't even finish painting the trunk. I also don't see any sort of protection on the sheet metal cutouts the cables go through so expect the cables to get sawn through in a few years by vibration.

There are 80s GM FWD econosedans that had better finished trunks.

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Eh, this is the only part of it the average person will see:
46-2017-jaguar-xe-fd-1.jpg


How does it compare to a Mercedes C, BMW3 or Audi A4?

Badly. Also, they're going to see that unpainted underside every time they bend over to get something out of the trunk or put something in. They didn't even put a plastic or hardboard cover over it. And I suspect that if you load up the trunk with stuff in the right way, you'll actually trip the seat releases.
 
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Wow, they didn't even finish painting the trunk. I also don't see any sort of protection on the sheet metal cutouts the cables go through so expect the cables to get sawn through in a few years by vibration.

Possibly...but speed at which it happens also depends on what that shielding is made from, and if those cutouts are rounded-off. 50,000miles? Unlikely. 100,000 miles? Possibly. 200,000 miles? I'm sure of it. They could just add plastic grommet liners, and that would help immensely, but again, it's all down to the materials on the shielding, and the aggressiveness of the edge on the cutout.

There are 80s GM FWD econosedans that had better finished trunks...they're going to see that unpainted underside every time they bend over to get something out of the trunk or put something in. They didn't even put a plastic or hardboard cover over it. And I suspect that if you load up the trunk with stuff in the right way, you'll actually trip the seat releases.

I agree, that looks unfinished...and while I don't think you'd trip the seat release, (probably needs a good 2-2.5 inches of pull travel to release), I could TOTALLY see getting things caught/scratched on the underside. Looking at it again, I understand that it's terribly done and really does need some sort of shield/cover.
 
Wait, is that actually the new Jag and not some pre-prod cobbled together model or a Lumina or something?
 
Wait, is that actually the new Jag and not some pre-prod cobbled together model or a Lumina or something?

Reportedly, no, that's the actual production XE. Production began last month at Solihull. North America isn't going to get them until 2016. If the rest of this car has this lack of attention to detail, they might as well not bring it unless they want a repeat of the X-Type debacle.

At this point, I think my cat would make a better management team than the idiots they have running the division now.

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Possibly...but speed at which it happens also depends on what that shielding is made from, and if those cutouts are rounded-off. 50,000miles? Unlikely. 100,000 miles? Possibly. 200,000 miles? I'm sure of it. They could just add plastic grommet liners, and that would help immensely, but again, it's all down to the materials on the shielding, and the aggressiveness of the edge on the cutout.

Those look suspiciously like cheap soft (read: easily cut) soft rubber over those solid nylon (read: easily cut) 'cables' makers are so fond of these days.

I agree, that looks unfinished...and while I don't think you'd trip the seat release, (probably needs a good 2-2.5 inches of pull travel to release), I could TOTALLY see getting things caught/scratched on the underside. Looking at it again, I understand that it's terribly done and really does need some sort of shield/cover.

If you load it up right, your stuff will snag on the cables. When you go to remove it, hey, there goes your seat.

There's also the rust aspect. This is a British car, that's an unpainted surface right next to a British rubber gasket. Britain is a country that's basically underwater for half the year and they can't seal a door or hatch for crap. I wonder what's going to happen to that unpainted metal in a few years. No, wait, I don't.

The stupid part is that this isn't even half as well done as the assembled-by-Communists Series III's trunk. Take the somewhat cheesy lining panels off and the entire trunk is painted. Even the underside of the parcel shelf and the inside of the C-pillars.
 
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Seems too "gold" to be unpainted. I realize that it's probably some sort of alloy...but could, perhaps, the whole body be painted with a metallic gold layer, and then maybe they only applied a clear red top coat to the visible areas?
 
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Seems too "gold" to be unpainted. I realize that it's probably some sort of alloy...but could, perhaps, the whole body be painted with a metallic gold layer, and then maybe they only applied a clear red top coat to the visible areas?

That's likely whatever the entire body shell was galvanized/dipped in. It helps prevent rust, but it won't work nearly as well without paint on top of it.
 
Today's left lane hog was a woman talking on her cellphone in an Allstate Insurance Ford Escape.

Excuse me while I go shoot myself.
 
Today's left lane hog was a woman talking on her cellphone in an Allstate Insurance Ford Escape.

Excuse me while I go shoot myself.

You could have called her in to Allstate.
 
You could have called her in to Allstate.

Thought about it, but I never screw around with my phone while driving, as a general rule. Besides, she wasted enough of my time already.
 
Got invited to the Ecoboost Challenge Media day today as staff for the mustang club....

Those ecoboost mustangs move out. They really let us beat on them. Put them in sport+ and turn the TC off, it's a very neutral car. Understeer at the limit whereas my 14 has a greater tendancy to oversteer. Definitely more composed under hard cornering.

Also, they somehow made the stock shifter on the manual even worse. Sloppy with very little feel.

And then I drove an F-150 3.5 EB, someone else had turned the TC off. I brake boosted it off the start so it'd be in boost and laid 11s all the way through first. Got in trouble for that :D

Aww man, they had the track minions verifying that you left all of the aids on at the public-day I went to <_<
 
They told us in no uncertain terms to leave it in comfort, which we all promptly ignored
 
Every so often I go see how car prices are doing in order to daydream about future cars. Today I got a pleasant surprise by remembering the Chevy SS exists; I was considering going automatic for my next car, but the expected prices on SS's (and their rather bulging standard features lists) make it rather tempting.
 
Every so often I go see how car prices are doing in order to daydream about future cars. Today I got a pleasant surprise by remembering the Chevy SS exists; I was considering going automatic for my next car, but the expected prices on SS's (and their rather bulging standard features lists) make it rather tempting.

I would say that would last right up until you started looking hard at the interior... But then again, you like your Dart, sooooo...

For the money? Get a Genesis.
 
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