You shan't be missed.

"Spanfeller is a twat" (theaspiringengineer) 03/13/2018 at 11:46 • Filed to: None

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I of makes jumps.....

You know what’s wrong with this picture?

The man to the left is out of a job, and the man to the right has the job for all the wrong reasons.

Luis Videgaray Caso is probably one of the smartest, best educated, and most loyal of The President’s Men, this is also true of his very friend Jose Antonio Meade.

Both of them are great economists and executives that carried out their jobs with their best intentions, sometimes overshadowed by orders from a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Luis Videgaray has no place as our Chancellor, he literally said “I’m not a diplomat” when he arrived to the Secretariat of Exterior Relations. Rex Tillerson didn’t get educated as a diplomat either, but many saw reassurance in his expertise as an oil executive for many years.

In the end, Pompeo doesn’t have any real foreign policy expertise either, other than bashing democrats for their foreign policy. Funnily enough, both Tillerson and Pompeo are engineers by training and both have been involved in the energy sector, other than that I do think they divert in paths of life.

But not hiring someone trained in, or even experienced in,diplomacy sort of reaffirms my worry that the US government is becoming more and more like the Mexican one by the day. Plus, the House investigation on Russia got shut down despite the minority party wanting to continue investigating... it’s not like that has happened here a few times!

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 11:51

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I didn’t read anything you wrote, but WHY haven’t I seen that Stinger wagon photoshop before. I WANT IT NOW!

Spanfeller is a twat > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 03/13/2018 at 11:53

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I want it too... But I want it with the Hyundai V8 they said would fit in the Stinger!
Plop in a couple of turbos and fuck over every E AMG wagon in the horizon!

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 12:04

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No relevant credentials = the new swamp.

Mueller is still working. Gotta draw this out so the worst president in history can’t pardon these cons and crooks.

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 12:04

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LOL good luck with that.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 12:07

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Plus, there’s still two non idiots working for the man: Chao and Rosenstein.

Would I have chosen them? Maybe Rosenstein, but still... lets see how the ship slowly turns closer and closer to what my gov looks like... you will understand us finally.

facw > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 13:10

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Chao seems competent, but I also really doubt she’d be in that job if her husband were not the senate majority leader.

Spanfeller is a twat > facw 03/13/2018 at 13:21

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Yeah... But she’s not the most horrible choice and one of the few with actual executive branch experience... Not that working with Bush is even remotely reassuring

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 13:28

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One can always dream

facw > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 13:30

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Yeah, I’m mean I think it’s a somewhat corrupt hiring, but I also think it probably got us someone better (and probably less corrupt) than we would have gotten if Trump had just picked his top choice.

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 13:31

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With the current E63S rated at 603 hp (likely conservative) while combining design and material quality that few can match in the segment, it might take more than dreams. Hyunkia still needs baby steps.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 13:41

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Yes... I wouldn’t ever cross shop a merc and a stinger... even if that’s what they intend.... the stinger is less luxurious than a comparable Mercedes in spec if not in cost.

However, the current v8 is rated at 420hp and it’s naturally aspirated... a good set of turbos, a big intercooler, a higher redline, maybe a few more forged components could probably get it to do 570 or 600hp without being a maintenance nuisance. Would it fit with turbos? Maybe not... but they did say that there was space in that engine bay for the v8

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 14:20

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Sometimes I am skeptical of how long we’ll have V8s in passenger cars - maybe they didn’t want to jump onto a fading ideal. It’d be cool if they offered it anyway. Make it too complex, and you’re playing a dangerous game - if someone is going to deal with a Germanic maintenance regimen, they will want a German car.

Playing the “discount” S-Class/AMG game is not an easy road. Prior Equus and K900 have tried to put on that show, but few fell for it.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 14:26

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Well I think the best engine is the inline six cylinder engine and I hope that it survives as a replacement for v8 and maybe v12 because of the magical balance it has.


But yeah, I understand your point, I can’t speak for the k900, but the Stinger is a notch down on luxury compared to the germans, however, when it comes to mechanical competence I’d say the opposite: the Stinger is way better than, say, the CLS400.

I know the current CLS is an old platform and a new one was announced, but hey, the stinger has a better engine, it has a better gearbox, it has a better diff, dare I say it’s got a better suspension!

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 14:31

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That’s where it is going - I6. You can do a lot with it, and once you get to a certain amount of performance, incremental gains become less important. One can already load up an E43 to approaching 100K USD, so the price is there too. I suspect V12s will live on as range-toppers.

CLS doesn’t pretend to be sporty (unless in AMG trim), and you are also getting better design and material quality. I suspect it’ll sell to a usually older buyer, too. I’d call it a grapefruit to oranges comparison- they look mildly similar. And then there’s the age issue as you mention. I’d compare Stinger to A5/A7 the most, perhaps a 4er GC.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 14:40

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The E43 uses an inline 6? The big deal about straight six engines is that they are so easy to balance that once you overcome other of their design flaws (like very long cranks that can succumb to stress faster and packaging) they are very appealing, no wonder mercedes is looking at replacing their v6s with i6s! But having too large pistons on i6 is also a problem, there’s usually a sweetspot in size for engines, most people have found 6is (at least gasoline ones) at around 3L, where a v8 could be larger.

But my comparison is not how sporty it is, everything about the CLS except interior quality was worse about it. But as you say, a lot more people care about interior quality than mechanical competence, it’s not like the Merc is a crackpipe, it’s a great car, but the Stinger is just so much better mechanically! Not that it will matter for long because we’re moving into electric cars and interior quality will be key for sales, specially for higher end manufacturers because I know for sure that if Mercedes made a direct competitor for the Tesla Model S, it would crush it!

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 14:47

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Not yet, but I6 is coming (I think in the x53 models), MB has been chattering about it for some time. I have an old car with an I6, and I can attest to its smoothness, and it also has easy access for maintenance.

I don’t think the Stinger wants to compete with the CLS, so I don’t compare them. Stinger pretends to be sporty (only actually is in a trim or two), CLS doesn’t even try for that unless it is an AMG variant. CLS is for someone who wants an E in more fashionable clothes, which is what it always has been. Some mechanical bits on top models are nice, but the typical driver will never know it and won’t care. Interior quality is definitely something where Tesla falls short - get inside a loaded model, they feel like a car costing half as much or less. And still amusing to me, they use ca. 2010 MB switchgear.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 14:51

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The Stinger doesn’t know who to compete with, Kia brings Porsche Panamera’s to compare it with!

I’m not a big proponent of EVs, I think they have a long way to go in battery tech and recharging ability, and recycling of the batteries, but yeah... many years ago, buying a car included caring a lot about mechanical competence unlike today when basically any car will be reliable... so an added focus goes to interior quality. I agree the stinger doesn’t compete with the CLS due to cost and approach, if the Stinger was as expensive as that CLS400, I’d be expecting a similarly good interior !

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 16:06

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That’s kind of the problem. You have to be really awesome to make a new market segment.

For EVs, I want range, and better charging infrastructure. Even in the greenie area where I live, most residential and commercial parking areas have nothing. A long road trip will be significantly longer with an EV. There has been progress, but it needs more work to lure me in. A diesel hybrid is interesting.

With growing traffic and crumbling roads, I think performance stuff will be more pretense than reality, other than for legitimate tuned models used as show-off vehicles. Everyone wants to look sporty, but they aren’t. I know you love your car and it is a great machine especially for the money, but I think the styling needs more differentiation, too. Right now, to me anyway, it resembles a prior Optima with a little Panamera DNA. I don’t think it looks as refined as those it wants to compete against. The dealer experience, at least here, can also be marginal. Baby steps, they can work on all this.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 16:13

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It is a very niche car because of all of it’s shortcomings. I personally like the styling and I’d rather be confused with an Optima... It’s subtle I think. But it’s very personal and it is a bit bland

I’d like it if Hydrogen was studied too as a method of fueling... I just want fast delivery and not having a heavy, toxic battery, specially with the 500km range teslas

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 18:25

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It’s not offensive anyway, just too much of a corporate theme, which is a little odd to me as it mimics a prior model. but I know what you mean about the subtle, it is a sleeper. I see Kia as the style leader between it and Hyundai.

The battery recycling issues don’t irk me as much as the range. 500km can be something I do before lunch - I don’t want to stop for an hour to recharge, if I can even find a station. Diesel hybrid sounds like my ideal mix. EV in the city, diesel on the highway.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 18:31

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Yeah, or what the volt is, a gas generator for the long runs. The thing about the range in the model S is that, when the Union of Concerned Scientists made their video about EVS they used 100 mile packs, which is bullshit because Teslas are hitting 315 and that’s a lot of resources for a single car in a pack that degrades. recycling isn’t going to be a big issue in the US, but in Mexico I can see many shortcomings and that really scares me because lithium and cobalt are not good for the enviroment.

Also, those materials are very hard to find, unless we finally figure out how to make lithium air batteries I wouldn’t be in favour of EVS... though they do reduce a lot of NIMBY emissions which is very good.

Making hybrids is probably the best solution at the moment, the biggest issue with ICE engines is in city centers, if you contaminate in the open road it almost doesn’t matter... the real issue with climate change is how we festoon on cow meat and how they produce idiotic amounts of methane

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 21:11

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I’d want something that looks like a normal car. The Volt is cool for what it is, but I am not into the design. I don’t want “look at me” efficiency. From what I have read, 315 is quite optimistic for a Tesla, too - if I drive it over the mountains on 75-80 mph roads, the range won’t be near that, and I will have to make a pit stop before my destination 300 miles away.

Rare earths mining is a big issue, especially as the profits from much of it go to regimes that aren’t exactly benign. I don’t worry about emissions much either - isn’t it something like 40 of the largest container ships put out as much pollution as all the cars in the world, combined? My car won’t make a difference, even my old car which predates emissions equipment by some time won’t make a difference.

I think hybrid in the city, diesel on the highway, is the best of both worlds. The theoretical cruising range in my diesel car is over 1200 kms - but the mileage is more like a gasoline car in the city. If I could be an EV in the city and a diesel for trips, it would be amazing.

Spanfeller is a twat > fintail 03/13/2018 at 21:22

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Well, yeah, no car reaches the EPA standard, it’s just that the bigger the pack, the more rare resources it uses, and the harder it is to recycle ethically...


It is probably the best way to go, to have an ICE engine for highways and an electric system for the cities. After all, the biggest issue to human health is concentration of CO2 or NOX gasses, and the really dangerous sources of green house gasses are factories and farms that could be easily regulated. Like, so many people cherish California for having tough emission standards for cars, but they often run into droughts producing excess food due to farm subsides.

Those emission standards do save lives in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Sacramento and their respective metropolitan areas, but the real kicker for global warming has probably a lot more to do with their farms and ports, it’s not impossible (maybe a little bit more expensive tho)

fintail > Spanfeller is a twat 03/13/2018 at 23:49

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I suppose it is wasteful if it is never really going to be utilized. Another elephant in the room is the power grid - if everyone switches to EV, can today’s power generation handle it? And how green is it when the juice comes from coal or fossil fuel?

Emissions standards have definitely helped CA, and we are all better off for it - LA in the 60s could be nightmarish in terms of air quality, smog pumps and catalytic converters did a lot. Ports have gone untouched - everyone has to be “business friendly” (the same reason commercial vehicles have lax emissions standards), not sure if that will really change.