El Kabong

Ford is disintegrating before our very eyes, sales-wise.

*Looks around Forum* *Sees who ain't here* ...yup. It's good to be back. Better to be vindicated. "Vin"-ning in this case referring to winning, not whining. I like multilingual puns.

Far be it for me to question your expertise in said field.

I like cheese.

According to a guy in another place I post in who's a bit of a numbers cruncher they went from 87 days to 71 overall, adjusted for the extra sales day in December. I'm not going to post the link but I trust the guy, not least because fans of other brands never attacked him

It would appear that GM has reduced inventory to more acceptable levels without resorting to drastic measures. Good stuff!

(didn't read first seven pages because lazy. Shoot the messenger if I say redundant things. I'm good for it) The LT5 is an interesting development. It has the displacement of an LT smallblock, but if it's based on the LS architecture then how much, if any, did they modify the block? Is it earmarked for Cadillac as well? If so, what do we do with the rumoured 4.2 TT V8? There is no indication that it a forced-induction engine. But that doesn't mean it can't be a series hybrid. How hard did GM work on minimizing the sizes of the cylinder head and intake? Will it fit under the hood of a Stingray, or is it for a mid-engine? Will it screw up the C of G? Whatever it winds up in, it's going to be something both special and distinctive. If it's a front engine, non-hybrid application it's appeal will likely be subjective, like Ford's 5.2L V8. But if it's a mid-engine, hybrid (or both?), it's probably gonna destroy.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think this General Motors outfit has some potential.

It's always something with Dearborn. $h!e just gets old, and eventually you see the results.

Is Flat Rock up and running again? Look. All I know is that they were shouting from the rooftops about how this car was designed to go global. Then we find out that the 5.0 is constipated and the 5.2 is a non-starter in RHD markets. That doesn't sound like a very serious effort, especially in a segment where the V8 is still considered the norm.

A rationally planned global car would not have those compromises. Just a dispassionate observation.

My point was that when you're trying to make the same model in different markets losing that kind of power and torque to meet local laws is pretty chintzy. It's the kind of thing you'd see from Lamborghini circa 1985, when the Countach lost its six-pack of Webers and 35hp to meet US regs.

You cannot put Clark Kent's heart in Clark Griswold's body. You need to tune the chassis as well as put on gumball tires. Its even worse than that-C/D discovered that the tires were ringers, which is a moldy old trick Lincoln has been called out on before. It is interesting that as time goes on their reviews sound increasingly like me. A coincidence-but hardly a surprising one. Because Ford keeps cheaping out. And GM wised up to that long ago.

So anyways, I've just been on C/D's website, and it turns out the half-assed thinking thing has struck again-this time with a Lincoln's tires: http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2017-lincoln-mkz-30t-awd-test-review Memo to Ford: get the foundations right already. GM is just laying down the law all over the place ...meanwhile, GM just took an automatic ZL1 onto the Ring, left it in Drive, and beat a Shelby GT350R. Laying. Down. The. Law.

So... that justifies losing 25hp? okie dokie