Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation since 02/19/2024 in all areas

  1. I took delivery of my Black Label hybrid 2024 Nautilus yesterday. I'll probably do a more complete post on it later, but thought I would drop in here my impressions on how the hybrid drives. In short, it gives a truly impressive driving experience. In my view, it is so much better than the base 2.0 I4 turbo (which itself drives quite nicely) that I can't imagine anyone foregoing the modest $1,500 cost of the option, which can be chosen along with any other trim or option package. Ford wisely left the power train upgrade option on its own -- you aren't forced to combine it with anything else. I am coming from a 2019 Black Label with the lovely 2.7 twin turbo V6. I have enjoyed that nearly trouble-free vehicle for the last 5 years and thought the 2.7 V6 ecoboost couldn't be beat by the new hybrid. I was wrong. On paper, the 2.7 has more power and more torque. In the real world in which we actually drive, this unique new hybrid system delivers its power and torque in a way that makes the 2.7 feel, frankly, a little clunky and less powerful (even though, obviously, it isn't). This is the first hybrid vehicle I have driven or owned, but I think it all comes down to the way this particular hybrid set-up combines a more powerful ICE engine with an improved e-CVT. As you work your way through the gears in a standard transmission there is a certain sweet spot in any given gear. RPMs below that spot in that gear can make power feel a little sluggish and the torque just beyond reach. Above that level the engine can feel whiney, that it is overworking and really wants to be some other place. Now imagine if you had a transmission where you were never switching gears and where you were driving all the time in that specific sweet spot. The torque is always perfectly available and the power is always at its optimal point. That's what you get with this new hybrid configuration. You get terrific torque and power for a quick start and also for fast passing at highway speeds. But the improved driving feeling is due to more than just having a(n) (electronic) Continuously Variable Transmission. The ecoboost ICE engine and the electric motor pair together seamlessly, providing a driving feeling that is greater than the sum of its two parts. From start, you begin with the instant torque of the electric motor but then the ecoboost soon engages to keep the smooth and linear power surge going. If you didn't have an indicator on the dash showing when you are in electric-only or combined mode you would rarely notice the frequent movement between the two modes. The engine is so quiet when you are driving it can be difficult to tell when it is on -- this is particularly so since you never feel any shifting gears. So, after having driven MKXs/Nautilus in their four power train configurations -- the new hybrid configuration, the 2.7 ecoboost V6, the 2.0 turbo I4, and the older MKX base naturally aspirated V6 -- I would rate the driving experience of those four power trains in that order, though none of them were bad. I should probably just leave my initial driving impression at that, but there are a couple more things about the new Nautilus that are worth mentioning, purely from a driving standpoint. The vehicle feels lighter and more nimble, the suspension simultaneously more comfortable and responsive. I reluctantly went with the 22" wheels because, frankly, I had to if I wanted a Black Label (which I very much wanted for the improved interior materials and especially improved seating surface which makes the upgrade seats the most comfortable seats I've ever driven in). But the drive quality on those 22" wheels are actually better than on the 21" wheels from my outgoing 2019 Nautilus. I looked at the two vehicles side-by-side when I took in my 2019 to trade in and was surprised that the 22" wheels looked like they had more rubber than my old 21" wheels. The overall rim/tire combination on the new Nautilus appears higher than on the previous generation Nautilus, allowing for more rubber, though maybe it is just an optical illusion and maybe the improved drive quality all comes from an improved adaptive suspension. Don't know, but this is definitely the best quality ride of any vehicle I've ever owned. It obviously doesn't handle like a mustang, but it is a Lincoln and that is not what the brand is all about. That said, given the physics of a tall mid-sized crossover the handling was not bad. I have some nitpicks with the new Nautilus (I mean, who came up with the idea of removing the bottle slot from the door storage area?), but I'm putting those aside for now until I'm ready to do a more complete review of the vehicle.
    9 points
  2. Happy wife, happy life! Thanks for your contribution to the build. HRG
    8 points
  3. We moved to a new server today - we'll be upgrading the site sometime later this week or next week.
    8 points
  4. Blink twice if a recently banned EV obsessed commenter is holding you against your will.
    8 points
  5. Please.....this is Ford we're talking about. This plan will be cancelled, coming out next week, pushed back to 2050, and out in 3 months by next week.....
    8 points
  6. Oh you mean the way Japan has been doing it for over 50 years. What a concept. Good to see he recognizes lack of engineering talent as a big contributor.
    8 points
  7. I’ve always felt his info was true - at some point and/or that pieces of his info were true, but perhaps the pieces were put together wrong. i don’t think he’s ever made things up just to be “the source.” but what I think happens is that plans change since he got the info (we know how Ford likes to take a “spin the wheel” approach daily with its plans), so that by the time he shares it, the info - or at least parts of it - become outdated, OR that he misinterprets some things, that then result in speculation that winds up being off. The problem was he viewed his info - and perhaps more importantly, his interpretation of that info - as absolute gospel. If he were here and we for example pointed out that contractors are there now (as some have above), so his timeline doesn’t make the most sense, and that maybe some bits and pieces of what he shared may have gotten crossed up which then paint a slightly different picture than reality, he’d have gone on a tirade that none of us know what we’re talking about, his info is the only correct info, everything else is wrong.
    7 points
  8. His opinions weren’t interesting they were downright irritating because he continually ignored facts. He was just as bad as the anti-EV zealots you mention although there are only a couple of those. The rest of us are just realists and it turns out we were right all along about EV adoption taking longer and reaching a plateau and about autonomous cars not being viable.
    7 points
  9. With only 4 models to sell and annual domestic sales still under 100,000 units, I'd think that Lincoln would be taking every opportunity to show off new or refreshed product. Otherwise... it becomes, out of sight... out of mind! Ford's commitment and investment in Lincoln has shown few results. Lincoln teases future product and then continuously delays new product, even before the overall slowdown in BEV vehicles and production plans.
    6 points
  10. No discounts, huge volume, huge conquest rates, super happy owners. Screw that we need a cheap sedan!
    6 points
  11. The problem with Oakville is not low EV volume per se. The problem is losing Edge production and forcing Nautilus to be imported from China. Seems like a big mistake knowing what we know now.
    6 points
  12. This is why it’s paramount to have a strong relationship with your suppliers, so they don’t do stuff like that. I think it boils down to Ford paying a sub an amount to make a reasonable profit while having trust that they will bill a quality product. It’s a partnership, and shouldn’t be adversarial, kind of like how their relationship with UAW SHOULD be. Trying to extract every penny out of their supplier Doesn’t lend itself to to a good relationship. You can argue business is business, but that’s not exactly true when building relationships. Hopefully we will see some improvement on the supplier relationship index over the next couple years.
    6 points
  13. Even if they aren't debuting anything they should still be there to at least show off the new Nautilus.
    5 points
  14. Actions have consequences and for this CEO to go so hard, so quickly with adopting BEVs is seen as reckless. I know the intention was to cater to renters asking to hire Teslas and raising the profile of Hertz as a company thats changing with the times but sadly, that’s all come crashing down…….too much too quick.
    5 points
  15. It's crazy, because Ford quality seemed pretty good under Mulally (after he got it under control) and then it went off the rails after he left.
    5 points
  16. The quality issues go back long before the pandemic impact, decades actually. Now Ford is finally implementing some form of accountability at last. Accountability, gee what a concept!
    5 points
  17. Not if they looked at it realistically rather than "we want this to be the answer, so lets find data that supports it." They purposely ignored factors that affect the vast majority of the population that would negatively impact EV sales just to fit the mantra of EV sales will take over immediately. Also, going from relative 0 to where were at now was obviously going to be easier (massive growth rates) than shifting the entire industry/market overnight like they were predicting. It truly never made sense, even if they wanted it to. (Most) Tesla fans/buyers do not represent the industry as a whole - there's a lot of "Tesla can do no wrong" buyers there that doesn't translate to other brands.
    5 points
  18. Wow. Based on the non hybrid specs of 250/280 I don’t think that one was upgraded. They must have targeted the old 2.7L performance wise with the hybrid. Oh the inefficiency. If only they used a smaller Atkinson cycle engine they could have gotten 3 more mpg…….😂
    5 points
  19. I contributed to the F-Series sales with a new '23 F-150 STX.
    5 points
  20. VERY long overdue. Let's investigate that idea. We have more improvements to do - hopefully this week
    5 points
  21. Autocrossing a Navigator or F150? You’re either trolling or you’ve lost your mind.
    5 points
  22. For years, we have spent time, money and energy to make our cars shine. Now we have a way to make them look dull for only $5000. Interesting how tastes and trends change.
    5 points
  23. Lincolns have phone as a key. We’ve discussed this before. If you don’t have your fob or your phone dies you can use the door pad to open the door, put in your password and start the vehicle. It’s the only way you can lock the door with the keys/fob inside. Many people do this when going swimming or running or anywhere you don’t want to carry a key/fob. You can let someone get something out of or put something into the vehicle without you there. If you’ve never used it you won’t miss it but once you use it you’ll definitely miss it.
    5 points
  24. It’s not bureaucracy that’s how the union contracts are written (that I’ve experienced or heard of) and a lot of union members follow them to the letter and file grievances as a sport. Because of that, management is forced to do the same so it just becomes an adversarial non productive relationship. The biggest problem I experienced when my wife was a union member is the union says all my people do good work all the time and no member is better than another. Therefore there is no reward for doing a better job than someone else and when it comes time for a transfer or promotion it’s all seniority based. Performance has no bearing. My wife was doing work 2 or 3 levels higher but it didn’t matter. No reward at all. It literally takes away every incentive to be a better employee.
    5 points
  25. The regulatory regime has gone from being a way to implement bipartisan policy goals to a means to implement the political agenda of the bureaucracy. The EPA didn't dictate catalytic converters back in the '70s. They dictated limits on pollutants and allowed the manufacturers to figure out how to make that happen. They did such a good job that those pollutants became a non-issue anywhere outside of congested areas with atmospheric challenges. But the bureaucracy changed in the intervening years and they were determined to get what they really wanted, which was the end of the ICE. So they declared CO2 a pollutant and decreed that the ICE must die. That has little to do with solving any actual problem. Even if you believe that global warming is as big a problem as some claim then the quickest path to a solution would be plugin hybrids. That solves 90% of the problem with no adaptation from the public required. But that will not do. This is a religious war against the ICE and the affordable personal mobility that it provides. The number one thing that consumers are buying in a vehicle is convenience. BEVs are great if you can park in a garage with a 240V charger and you never travel beyond their range in a day or have to tow or haul anything. But outside of those parameters they are not as convenient as ICE vehicles. People are discovering that as BEVs start to expand beyond their original niche. My boss is a perfect example. He bought a Mach E. His wife loves it. It's great for running around town. He just has to make sure it gets plugged in at night. So when they were planning a cross-country vacation I asked if they were taking the Mach E. No, he looked at it but wasn't willing to deal with the charging hassle. He took their F150 with over 100k on it instead. There is no way an average consumer wants to spend 40 minutes at a charger on a trip. Period. And that's before all the tales of range loss and charger failures in extreme cold this winter. These are city cars for the well-to-do. That's the only market for them outside of BEV enthusiasts. It's no wonder that they are not selling.
    5 points
  26. Some of it is definitely design like the original Bronco hard tops made by Webasto. It was too difficult to build reliably at volume but Webasto was also at fault for not pointing this out (maybe they didn’t realize it but that’s their business to know). But Ford also shortcut the testing process to get them out the door. I think the biggest problem with Ford and their suppliers is they squeeze them too much on cost. Imagine if they had given 1/4 of the $2B they spent on warranty costs recently to the suppliers up front. It takes discipline to spend the money up front and not be tempted to cut corners.
    5 points
  27. Yes, sir. You have that exactly right, sir.
    4 points
  28. Ford has to understand that Lincoln is not Ford Vignale or Ford Platinum+, specially at the top of their lineup (Navigator). But I guess at this point is a reality, let’s hope they find a way to differentiate both interiors
    4 points
  29. He'd being calling everyone an idiot and saying how the lack of growth, meant there was growth, or something like that.
    4 points
  30. We usually drive my wife’s Corsair. I put 370-390 miles on a tank of gas. That means I fill up about twice a month, which is a minor inconvenience. When I am by myself, I take my Mustang. I put 290-310 miles on a tank, so I fill it up twice a month. However, I can take either car on a trip and not worry about where to refuel or how long it will take. That convenience is worth the quick trips to the gas station for our routine driving. Final note: I like EV’s. The adoptions required are more than I want to make right now. Our next car purchase is probably another 6-8 years away. I suspect it will be an EV. They should have resolved my concerns by then.
    4 points
  31. 2026 Rivian R2 revealed with over 300 miles of range, 0-60 in 3 seconds - Autoblog Rivian reveals R3, R3X electric SUVs as surprise siblings to R2 - Autoblog I actually like both of them - I know the front is controversial, but I think they have a nice design language.
    4 points
  32. Perfect example of a passion product.
    4 points
  33. I think pricing has a lot to do with it - my same trim and options on Ford build and price is listed at $70,275!!! and that's before taxes, etc. Mine 2 years ago almost to the day was $62k out the door including extended warranty. And nothing has been added to justify that extra cost - maybe the Hoss3.0, but that is NOT worth an extra $8k before taxes and additions.......just insane. I'd have had to downgrade a trim or two if I was purchasing now. Yeah, I'm sure the numbers will drop back to "normal" figures, but it's nice to see the model seemingly gain some traction - Lincoln could use some positive momentum, especially with a dry upcoming pipeline aside from the warmed-over Aviator and new Navigator. I saw one on the road the other day, it looks fantastic - so odd that a press embargo would be lifted well after the vehicle went on sale to the public. It truly doesn't make sense...
    4 points
  34. And on the Ford side, Last month, Edge had 13,300 sales, a well aged vehicle due for replacement, I find it so strange that Ford is now more than happy to throw that away…
    4 points
  35. It’s a new vehicle launch that was delayed significantly by the strike and they’re being held for either a parts issue and/or a quality issue(s). Bronco is not new, Ranger is. Stop with all the conspiracy theories.
    4 points
  36. Who said that was for you? 😂 Actually we have lots of irrational folks here, myself included sometimes.
    4 points
  37. Next, they're gonna talk about P71_CrownVic
    4 points
  38. Ever consider he was pulling the information from his backside? Just because you talk about something doesn't mean you know what is going on. Attention seeking behavior
    4 points
  39. Come on think about this objectively-OAC is going down for retooling in the next 60 days...and they are going to keep the plant down for almost 36 months?! NO FUCKING WAY! That will cost Ford Billions not to build it-keep in mind suppliers need build parts for it and they need to keep their workforces employed too. Borg is most likely got information screwed up once again. He got chased off here for being wrong so many times before.
    4 points
  40. OAC will not be down that long. Job 1 is around March 2025.
    4 points
  41. Related to examples of management and union relations when I was the Business Agent for the IATSE Motion Picture Local #273 covering New Haven County in CT. For several years, I ran the two 1,000 seat theatres at the premiere Showcase Cinema location that often ran premiere screenings including the New England premiere of the original “Arthur” with Dudley Moore. The premiere was scheduled for a Saturday night with Showcase Cinemas executives, including then Chairman/CEO Sumner Redstone, and numerous Warner Brother executives coming in from Hollywood. As such, the theatre manager wanted me to run a test of the film Saturday morning, before the theatre started running its regular schedule and the theatre wouldn’t be available. We ran the screening test, and it looked great. Shortly afterwards, we got a call from Warner Brothers telling us that a replacement reel (20 Minutes) was being sent by courier from New York to replace the first 20 minutes. It was common for studios to run different versions in different regions to test audience reaction before locking in the version for wide release. I was in the projection booth, started the screening and found that the print was out of focus because the replacement footage had been rushed through the lab and hadn’t been cured making a sharp focus impossible. Sure enough, a Warner Brothers executive came into the projection booth, while I was with the Showcase Cinemas Vice President of Operations, who I knew well and knew my work, looking for a scapegoat related to the focus problem. I told the Warner Brothers executive what caused the problem (wet print) and that the studio was responsible. Sure enough, after the first 20 minutes had been screened, the focus was perfect for the rest of the film. The Warner Brothers executive was still not satisfied and still looking for a scapegoat. At that point, I informed the Warner Brothers executive that CT projectionists were licensed through the CT Department of Safety and had more authority than theatre management. I then informed him that only licensed personnel were allowed access to the projection booth and instructed him to leave. The Showcase Cinemas VP backed me up 100%.
    4 points
  42. One more thing. My typical daily driving is the worst for fuel efficiency for standard ICE engines: multiple less-than-five-mile trips in a day in heavy traffic with lots (and I mean lots) of stop lights. In normal mode in my 2019 (with the 2.7 V6 ecoboost) I was lucky to average 15.5 mpg. In sport mode I was lucky to get 14.5 mpg. But hybrids love that kind of driving, and so far I am getting nearly twice that. OTOH, on long trips in my 2019 I could get nearly 30 mpg. I don't expect to get much more than that in the hybrid.
    4 points
  43. I can’t speak for Mexican unions but here the obsession with restricted job duties and time really kill productivity. I witnessed my buddy have a grievance filed against him by other union members because he stopped to turn on the printer as he was getting coffee because it took 5 minutes to warm up (this was in the early 80s). So by the time he started working it was ready to go. They said he was doing work outside scheduled hours. I’ve so had several occasions where I was supposed to put in a ticket and wait hours or days for someone to do something I can do myself in 2 minutes such as move a monitor. Training and skills are necessary for some tasks but when it prevents even the simplest things from being done efficiently it’s a problem.
    4 points
  44. IMG_0038.webp IMG_0039.webp Ford basically took their original idea of a more conventional 3-row Utility and re-engineered the daylights out of it the way Tesla does to achieve the battery efficiency objective. Think Mach E is to Tesla Y as Ford 3-Row is to Tesla X styling is differnt but overall shape is similar, in the ballpark. I reckon the Lincoln 3-Row BEV is gonna make German luxury brands cry….
    4 points
  45. On the covered spy picture, the squared off rear of the vehicle that everyone see is actually scalloped when looking from the rear. Don’t get me wrong, the vehicle is not awful, it’s just not what the folks in the clinics were expecting, a boxy 3-row like Explorer. If people were looking for a large car hatchback crossover, then these vehicles will delight those folks, I just don’t think Ford is pitching this vehicle early enough to build up the hype, they’re gonna let it plop on the market and wonder why folks just don't respond/ say anything. IMO, it says more about Farley than any vehicle shortcoming…..
    4 points
  46. Many times focus groups are wrong. It’s a very small sample size. You only need to appeal to 100k - 200k buyers a year so you can find a niche. Especially if it’s something unique. Not saying that’s the case here but I’m sure that’s the thinking if they’re continuing. Then again that’s probably what Pontiac said about the Aztec…. ?
    4 points
  47. On a completely unrelated note, it drives me nuts how ford authority ends every damn article with the same fill-in-the-blank form paragraph.
    4 points
  48. As I’ve said before, you have to make it more painful to have a problem make it to production than it is to miss cost and date commitments. Farley making quality a 70% factor is a good first step.
    4 points
×
×
  • Create New...