I prefer the long center screen to BMW’s “popup” digital screen that looks tacked on.

4th Gear advice re Chinese startups: don’t trust them. Long established Chinese companies are heavily influenced/controlled by the government while smaller ones are more likely than not to disappear under a cloud of mystery, murder and disappearing cash.

Large banks make money on “mistakes” at a massive scale, then pay a fine that’s worth only 15% of the mistake. Rarely are companies hit the way VW was hit; for the most part, it’s always worthwhile to screw the consumer and apologize later with an executive firing and public apology.

I love how that potted plant totally hides the giant building. 

They wanted you to validate their bad decision, which you did not do! As long as they considered a sensible alternative, they can truthfully say they “intelligently” thought it through, but this was all delusional. They wanted to buy what they want and  was hoping you’d support that decision.

Save on gas money and borrow a friend’s truck when you need it! 

72 months only makes sense if it’s like 0% financing (or at least as low as 1%).

1st Gear: and all those cars coming off lease in 2018 and 2019. Didn’t the huge leasing subsidies start 4 years ago? And now all those cars are coming home to roost. Almost time to shop for a 2015 Porsche Cayman.

LOL I had a few of those!

Let’s not blame the uneducated masses for what the media and pop culture espouses: reckless consumerism is the consequence of magazine ads, product placement and celebrity endorsements. You can’t blame sheep for wandering over the cliff when the shepherd is standing there waving them through.

2nd Gear: about American auto-manufacturing “...and companies aren’t willing to cut into profit margins to make it happen.” Actually, the only profitable American made models are pickup trucks because of the volume, and you see how expensive they are as well. Why then are American made Camrys and Accords so…

Living in Atlanta in 2000 right after the dot.com bubble, I had my choice of Porsche 993 low mileage cars as paper millionaires liquidated all their toys. But because I didn’t yet know how to drive stick, I wanted to thrash around in a manual Miata first. So I bought a new Miata, learned how to drive stick for 2 years…

What I want to know is how we got from 993 (1995) to 996 (skipping 994 and 995 altogether) then 997, and going back to 991 and now on to 992. Are we saving the 994 and 995 nomenclature for something special? And why did we jump around from 930 to 964 to 993?

LOL Porsche finally realized that camouflage on a car that looks 90% the same for the last 50 years is pointless eh? 

EV industry response is always: “Unless you drive more than 200 miles per day, every time you come home, it’s plugged in for at least 5 hours overnight which is more than enough to get it charged up for another 150 miles the next day. Daily commuters who drive no more than 150 miles per day would never have a problem.”

Yep, it’s a sad day when the VW Sportwagen has a larger cargo volume than CUVs in its size. Only the Forester is better.

I need to buy that sticker so I can slap “//MPerformance” on everything.

And seriously, how many people will ever drive their cars at a limit that would expose a well designed FWD BMW? Nobody will be tracking an X2 or drive it anywhere near the limits that would draw attention to the weakness of the FWD. EVERYBODY who buys a crossover is prioritizing cargo space, passenger space and ride…

Honestly, if she’s used to the GTI, I can’t imagine there are many cars that come close to the driving experience, including BMWs. She may be disappointed with the X2 (higher center of gravity, heavier, etc.). Why not the Golf R, considering it will cost no more than the X2 M35i (I’m thinking easily in the low $40K).

Even the “mild hybrid” from the new fallutin’ 48 volt system slowly making their way down the hierarchy.