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  1. Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    335
    #31
    Quote Originally Posted by tidus1203 View Post
    Actually there are a handful of senators (Richard Shelby of Alabama being the leader) who believe that the car makers SHOULD GO BANKRUPT as the solution so they can restructure and be viable. So its not entirely true that the US government wants to salvage the BIG 3.
    Of the three, Ford has the best hand.
    [SIZE=3]Ford Might Be the Winner if the Auto Bailout Fails[/SIZE]
    By Bill Saporito Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

    Ford CEO Alan Mulally could be forgiven if he thought, The heck with this — don't give us any money, as he and fellow auto bosses Rick Wagoner and Robert Nardelli took a beating from unfriendly Senators at a hearing in Washington on Tuesday.
    The reason is that Ford alone among the Detroit Three has enough dry powder to get through what will be a very difficult 2009, when car sales aren't expected to top the 11.8 million units sold this year. (In 2007, 16 million cars and light trucks were sold.) General Motor's Wagoner and Chrysler's Nardelli made it pretty clear that without a government bridge loan — $12 billion in GM's case, $7 or $8 billion for Chrysler — there isn't going to be a 2010 for these companies, at least not without a pit stop in bankruptcy. Chrysler ended its third quarter with $6.1 billion in cash — but it's burning through $1 billion a month. Without federal money, Nardelli told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, "we become dangerously close to minimum liquidity level by the end of the year." (See pictures of the global financial crisis.)
    Ford, relatively speaking, is loaded. The company still had $18.9 billion in cash at the end of the third quarter despite having burned through $7.7 billion in that period — half of which was tied to halting the production of F Series pickups because of slow sales. The company recently introduced a new version. Ford Credit, the company's finance arm, remains profitable because, unlike GM's 49%-owned bank, GMAC, it doesn't have a subprime mortgage business. On top of that, Ford can still draw on credit lines totaling $10.1 billion. "We are doing everything we can to create a relevant company for the long term," Mulally told the committee.
    That includes balancing out Ford's U.S. product line by importing small, fuel-efficient models that have been doing well in Europe, where high fuel costs have been a constant for decades. European auto sales have also declined this year, but Ford has picked up market share. "We are shifting from an emphasis on large trucks and SUVs to a more balanced portfolio that also emphasizes smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles here in the U.S.," Mulally said. "By the end of 2010, two-thirds of our spending here will be on cars and crossovers — up from one-half today." So if Congress doesn't pass an auto bailout plan, Ford could actually prosper by not failing. (See the 50 worst cars of all time.)
    Ford is by no means wishing doom on its fellow Detroiters. It shares most of the same big parts suppliers, so a disruption in the supply chain that a bankruptcy would invariably cause would hurt Ford too, and even halt production temporarily. But longer term, customers might flock to a U.S. company that isn't in bankruptcy and thus stands 100% behind its products — and is free to operate without court supervision...
    For more follow this link

    Back to the topic - Focus TDCi for me.

  2. Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    207
    #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Horsepower View Post
    Actually, there's really nothing wrong with our local diesel. The Toyota D-4D Choking/Smoke Belching and Isuzu Trooper Injector problems are faults of their manufacturers.

    The boxer diesel has been developed for 11 years. Subaru has one of the highest quality in terms of craftsmanship (that's why people often mistake it to be of European origin) so there's no question they'll make it good.

    Don't get me wrong, I like the i30 and Focus TDCI but boxer diesel is a dream (it will have more torque than the WRX STI). Symmetrical AWD will come in handy with pocket rockets like these. Who knows, Hyundai and Ford might make an alternative model with AWD for theirs.
    Even so, until it has proven itself in our local market, we can only speculate for now. Also, isn't its release still a couple of years away?

    Back to the question, the Focus is still the best choice in the modern diesel compact segment today.

  3. Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    6,105
    #33
    Actually, it was already. It was unveiled last month in Paris. So the Subaru Phils giving huge discounts doesn't really surprise me because these are expected to arrive Q4 2008 or Q1 2009. Initially with 148hp/351Nm engine for the Impreza and Legacy. Diesel Impreza WRX is expected to have around 180-200hp and might have more torque than the WRX STI.

    So now, consumers will have a trio of these very nice diesel compact sedans (i30, Focus and Impreza). BMW 123d would've been a nice addition to the lot but its price is too far already.



    Last edited by Horsepower; November 23rd, 2008 at 07:44 AM.

  4. Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    840
    #34
    Maganda sana labanan nito kung ipasok ng KIA yong CEE'd model na sold sa europe kasi meron sila 2.0 version nito na rated at 200hp/400Nm torque. Maski Subaru WRX STI pa mahihirapan dito.

  5. Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    22,705
    #35
    Boxer Diesel? Count me in... hahaha... the Subaru Impreza is one of the best driving cars in the market, and a diesel will make it even more attractive.

    Ang pagbalik ng comeback...

  6. Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    2,452
    #36
    ok, now the discussion seems to be way off-topic anyway let's indulge...
    [Horsepower]
    Actually, it was already. It was unveiled last month in Paris. So the Subaru Phils giving huge discounts doesn't really surprise me because these are expected to arrive Q4 2008 or Q1 2009. Initially with 148hp/351Nm engine for the Impreza and Legacy. Diesel Impreza WRX is expected to have around 180-200hp and might have more torque than the WRX STI.

    So now, consumers will have a trio of these very nice diesel compact sedans (i30, Focus and Impreza). BMW 123d would've been a nice addition to the lot but its price is too far already.

    >> although its a good effort by Subaru to develop the world's first Boxer
    >> diesel, they still have a long way to go. esp. in terms of refinement,
    >> power, and emissions.
    >> REFINEMENT: Euro 1st. drivers say BMW's, Peugeot's, Honda's i-DTEC are
    >> way better in this regard.
    >>POWER: their 2.0li 150hp is just mid-pack level. nothing too low, nothing
    >> write home about either.
    >>no A/T: so means outside Europe, this car won't get wide-acceptance.
    >> maybe they're working on it now, but its still a few years down the road.
    >>EMISSION LEVEL CAN'T MEET tough US Tier2/Bin-5. withour Urea... and
    >> Honda's 2.2 i-DTEC with A/T couldn't meet it as well.
    >> though in the future, these diesels could provide more TORQUE than
    >> current WRX/STi's level, by that time STI's would have also gone up!

    [jeanpierre]
    Maganda sana labanan nito kung ipasok ng KIA yong CEE'd model na sold sa europe kasi meron sila 2.0 version nito na rated at 200hp/400Nm torque. Maski Subaru WRX STI pa mahihirapan dito.
    >> this engine isn't available yet, only earlier this month has Hyundai/Korean
    >> announced Development (R&D) completion of the 2.0li (180hp) /
    >> 2.2li (200hp) R-Series engines...u can expect it to be available in their
    >> commercial cars to within a year in Europe, maybe 2 or more in Phil.
    >> so this even higher spec. the the R-Series would be further ahead...

    for the meantime, the 2.0 TDCi with PowerShift + some tuning could already hit about 165-170bhp. its going to be one hell of a sweet ride!

  7. Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    207
    #37
    You'll be a guinea pig if you purchase a Subaru boxer diesel upon release since it is still unproven in our local market. It's best to wait for a year or two to monitor if it will have problems similar to the current diesel engines from Toyota and Isuzu. Time will tell if it will be as robust as the Ford and Hyundai diesel engines that have been around much longer.

  8. Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Posts
    207
    #38
    Quote Originally Posted by parakitoJDM View Post
    for the meantime, the 2.0 TDCi with PowerShift + some tuning could already hit about 165-170bhp. its going to be one hell of a sweet ride!
    Ford was actually quite conservative when they rated the Focus diesel's HP rating as a dyno run says otherwise.

  9. Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Posts
    22,705
    #39
    It's about 150-160 bhp, estimated, from what we've seen on the dyno.

    That's because the 136 bhp rating is not including the "overboost" function... which turns on for about 10 seconds... that's what enables the TDCi to achieve 0-100 km/h times of 8.5 seconds. After those 10 seconds or so, it turns off, and that gasoline car you left far behind you starts catching up again... ...doesn't matter that much on the racetrack, it's too short for the guy to catch up... but on the highway, it's noticeable.

    Ang pagbalik ng comeback...

  10. Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Posts
    6,105
    #40
    Maybe there's an ECU hack to keep the overboost always on. hehee

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Is the i30 CRDI better than the Focus TDCI Sport?