18 Replies to “How’s That Hopey Changey Thing Working Out For Ya?”

  2. Ladas were Fiats made in Russia.
    From article:
    “Chrysler has enjoyed great success under Fiat’s ownership. It returned to profitability in 2011”
    [SNIP]
    “The U.S. government also held a stake in Chrysler at the time it emerged from bankruptcy as compensation for the federal bailout the automaker received. But Treasury sold those shares back to Chrysler at a loss in 2011.”
    Looks like someone at CNN Money is confusing earning a profit with receiving government cheese.

  4. “Fix It Again Tony” is going where Daimler feared to tread? Full control of Chrysler? Genius.
    Going to see lots more Fiat 500’s on the road, I guess. Or as we like to call them, the “Feel-It”. All the charm of the DumbCar with half the horsepower.
    Their first Eurogenius move is already in motion. Instead of putting the new Cummins 5.0L diesel in the new 2014 Dodge 1500 half ton truck, they are using some wheezy Italian 3.0L diesel thing. Who is getting the new advanced technology Wunder-engine? Nissan.
    Why would they do something to fundamentally stupid? Because they are EUROPEANS, and they don’t understand what Americans use a pick-up truck for.
    They don’t understand what “wide open spaces + snow” means. They don’t comprehend the sheer distance between towns in the Midwest, where driving for an hour to get to the nearest grocery store is the rule, not the exception. They don’t grok the problem of getting your boat in and out of the water every weekend up the idiotically steep landing ramp that’s always covered in slime, or the fact that your boat needs a double axle trailer.
    Because where they live you can walk to the next town, it only shows on the tops of mountains, boats are toys of the extremely rich and never come out of the water. In Italy trucks are used by people who don’t have any frickin’ money at all because they are workmen. Their primary concern is gas mileage and getting a small enough truck that they don’t go broke trying to pay for the d@mn thing.
    In America the primary concern is “will this truck pull my giant boat 200 miles to the lake at 70 mph?” and “can this thing accelerate when I want to pass some grandma on the highway, pulling my boat?”
    Italians don’t get that.
    BTW, the most popular trucks for tearing about in the desert down here in AZ are the Ford Ranger and the Toyota Tundra. No Dodges, no GMs. Because the Ford is cheap and easy to upgrade, and the Toyota while less cheap is stronger, and the bottom end of the engine can support 600 horsepower without the need for swapping to better crank, rods or bearings. Strap on a turbo and a 200 hp nitrous shot and go desert racing.
    Italians don’t get that either. For them racing is two seat sports cars with tiny engine displacements revving at 12,000rpm, screaming around a road course. Fun, but not American.
    If you have stock in this Chrysler venture, ditch it.

  5. I would love to see some repair records on Fiats for say the last 5 years?
    How much repairs compared to miles driven.

  6. The Phantom >
    You pretty much summed it up!
    I matured to Ford many years ago, could afford “more luxury” or foreign crap but there’s simply no practical need.
    Currently drive a 2010 F-150 FX4 5.4L for play, and a 2013 Edge Limited 3.5L V6 for commutes.
    Jap bikes are another matter all together for me though.

  8. The Japanese have 100% owned the motorcycle space since Honda brought out the CB 750. You want to go REALLY fast for cheap and never have to fix anything, you cannot beat the Japanese bikes. It can be said that Americans don’t get it about bikes. IMHO of course.
    Having said that, my current bike is a 250 Beta trials bike. Because there are no Japanese trials bikes anymore, and the old Honda TLs are getting into vintage territory.
    I drive an F-250 at home, down here in AZ I drive an F-350 because owning a truck down here is cheaper than renting a car for a month every year. Taxes on rentals are obscene in AZ, just another way to fleece the Snowbirds. My total expenditure over five years on a vehicle that gets 15mpg and sits 11 months of the year is a little less than renting one month for five years, which pretty much defines “obscene taxation” in my book. Over the five years I’ve had to rebuild the injector manifold, the transmission and this year the stupid oil cooler puked. Next year, brakes. Even given that I had to have the work done instead of doing it myself as I would at home, I’m still a little ahead. And I didn’t have to drive some cheesy Kia around all this time. Yay!
    Have you seen that the new Ford F-150 will have all-aluminum bodywork, except for the bed? They are saving about 400lbs and the new truck is supposed to have 25mpg+ as a result. This is an excellent thing, and long overdue. If they come out with an F-150 with a decent smaller diesel in it, that will also be awesome. Like a 4.0L to 5.0L little brother to the 6.7 Powerstroke. Sweet!

  9. The sad thing too is that the Ford Ranger ended in North America, with the end of the 2011 model year. I have a 2008 Ranger and I love it. Used Rangers sell fast and usually at the asking price, ie no dickering.
    mid island mike

  10. I have a 2011 ranger . fully loaded, drove it out of the showroom.5th car in a row that i have done that. only the suzuki that i wished i had driven back it. hoping the ranger will be my last ever vehicle , should take me to gumming my food

  11. “…Because they are EUROPEANS, and they don’t understand what Americans use a pick-up truck for…”
    True enough. But I’ll tell you one thing that Europeans understand that the Yanks don’t get: standard transmissions are the way to go.
    Mate a small displacement (diesel or gas) engine to an automatic tranny and you’ve got wheelchair acceleration and power like last night’s fart. Join it up to a stick and a clutch, and you’ve got something entirely different.
    Too bad the muscles in so many North American legs are atrophied.

  12. You know why the diesel trucks are all automatics now? Two reasons.
    First, its easier to meet CAFE standards with an automatic. Because the computer controls the shift points and the manufacturer can dial that in to get the best mileage and lowest emissions out of it. Fleet emission standards are the life or death of your modern American manufacturer.
    Second, they were having a lot of trouble finding manual transmissions that can hold up to 400hp and 800lb-ft of torque in a 4 ton truck. Older Ford 7.3L and 6.0/6.4L engines with the 6 speed Allison are notorious for eating clutches. Those engines are about 100hp and 200lb-ft shy of the 2011 Powerstroke. If you sidestep the clutch on that much power, you’re liable to break a driveshaft. Ford didn’t want the warranty headaches, so no stick for the F-250.
    But you’re right, there’s nothing like a standard stick to get the most fun out of your truck. I like to be the one who decides when to shift, not some CAFE bean counter in a cubicle someplace.
    And speaking of Ford Rangers, I saw a really crazy one a couple hours ago. This was a standard cab Ranger with a flatbed back and a headache rack, and dualie rear end. One does see some wacky stuff around here.

  13. Yup. Everyone knocks the Japs. But at least their dinky little tanks had some forward gears… 😉

  14. Jeez, by the sounds of this place you’d think they’d be getting rid of the 4 door soccer mom Ram 1500’s. Wow.

  15. Phantom
    this 3 litre diesel is bi-turbo, 240 hp/420fpdt, cw 8 spd slide box, so I’ma gonna try one when they come out. Anothger reason for slide boxes is that most ppl today can’t drive Mexican (manual), also this thing is female oriented, as many women now drive trucks to pull horse trailers and such

  16. Make-a sure you gotta mechanic named Tony, is all I can say. Only reason for an eight speed is to to make up for a serious lack of guts in the engine department. Helps in traffic, isn’t going to do much for you on a steep grade with that double axle boat trailer on the back.
    I’m prepared to be proven wrong, but I can tell you from driving the 1986 Ford with the 6.9 IDI diesel in it, they seriously lack guts. The 6.9 has roughly the same power numbers you mention for the new Dodge. Driving up the looooong hill out of the Verde Valley heading for Flagstaff, with a 40 foot fifth-wheel trailer on the back, my truck will be in first or second gear. I’ve seen them out there many a time, chugging up the hill like the Little Engine that Could. They can make it just fine, it just takes ’em a while.
    Newer F-350s with the 6.4 International or the awesome 6.7 Powerstroke are pulling the same trailer up the same hill at 70mph. There is no replacement for displacement. 🙂
    And always remember the desert racer’s maxim: Chrome won’t get you home.

  17. “And always remember the desert racer’s maxim: Chrome won’t get you home.”
    Who gives a rats ass what desert racers think?
    “Newer F-350s with the 6.4 International or the awesome 6.7 Powerstroke are pulling the same trailer up the same hill at 70mph. There is no replacement for displacement.”
    Where is it stated that Ram is replacing the 6.7 Cummins in their 3/4 and 1 tons with the 3.0 litre engine? The 3.0 is going in their 1500’s as an alternative to the 5.7 Hemi. You are comparing apples to oranges trying to make your self look smart.
    “Only reason for an eight speed is to to make up for a serious lack of guts in the engine department.”
    They also attach it to the Hemi, and it’s hardly gutless.

  18. Of course they made a profit – their debt load was reduced to near zero. (bailout)
    If you can have access to all Chrysler’s assets, and have no liabilities, any group of breathing humans should be able to make a profit.

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