#viper canyon challenge

[createdbychristy]

The Sims 2 Viper Canyon "Challenge"

I present to you a loosely-named challenge for The Sims 2 family/lot bin sims or what I lovingly call as "the spares".

*stares heinously in Cedric Diggory*

If you have never plucked up the courage to play all of the sims that are dumped in your family bin when a new neighborhood is created, you're not alone. Luckily, @meetmetotheriver has developed a beautiful neighborhood that makes this task a little less painful - along with cleaning up a lot of Maxis blunders along the way.

Viper Canyon is a desert neighborhood where all of these spares live, so you can get rid of them in your other neighborhoods forever!

I've created a little challenge for myself that I thought other simmers would be interested in partaking in, because let's be honest - families like the Goodies are painful to play through. Here's the "challenge" rules:

Play through each family for three "generations". Here, the first generation is the adult sim in the family - so the challenge only requires you to play until their grandchild reaches adulthood. In the case of the Newsons, we will count them as the first generation since there are no adults in the family.

No cheats are allowed, but can use aspiration/career rewards

The Sim's Lifetime Want and Career track must be picked based on their interests. You can update their original Lifetime Want if it doesn't seem to coincide with their interests.

A sim's partner must be chosen based on their zodiac signs. The signs do not have to be in the "most compatible" category, but cannot be married if they have "incompatible" signs. This means starting out from the gate - Priya and Sanjay Ramaswami have incompatible zodiac signs. This should spice up these families right from the get-go!

All sub-hoods attached to Viper Canyon must have a desert layout. This means you can choose "La Fiesta Tech" for the University or create your own. You cannot use the Downtown, Bluewater Village, or any of the vacation destinations but can create your own.

**UPDATED 3/8/24** Additional "Extreme Challenge" Rules

All original family bin/lot sims, besides the elders, must have offspring. This means all Newson kids, all Ottomas kids, and all adult sims (even if they currently have a child) must have at least one child - whether through natural means, adoption, or alien abduction.

You cannot have more than two sims in a single career track.

And that's all there is to it (hence why I can hardly call this a challenge, but man, it's going to be challenging for me). Help keep these families interesting by spicing up the couples and taking a totally different approach to their stories than their original "Description" entails (whyyy wouldn't they originally match up their interests with their storyline?!).

If you decide to do this challenge, please tag me or use the tag #Viper Canyon Challenge so I can see what you do with these boring families!

LINKS:

Download @meetmetotheriver's Viper Canyon here: https://meetme2theriver.livejournal.com/108255.html

See the zodiac compatibility chart here: https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Zodiac_sign

Download the BatBox to change a sim's LTW here: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,72.0.html

[simscorruption]

[jacquiesims]

Viper Canyon - Chapter Six

‘...She met eyes with her reflection in the mirror. 

“Yes. I’m fine.”’

September 1852

With every new morning, the same sun shone brilliantly above Viper Canyon; a testament to all who called the humble settlement their home that although much was uncertain in their lives, they could always depend on one thing – that each day was a new one, no matter how challenging the last, and every daybreak held infinite promise and possibility.

The early morning sun slipped through the windowpanes of Winnie and Beatrice’s cozy loft, where the two sisters were still sleeping soundly. 

In her sleep, the eldest Hawkins daughter stirred gently, her eyelashes fluttering slightly as her murky dream shifted and changed until she was reliving moments that had passed not long before.

“This is where we’ll live,” Peter said proudly, surveying the vast plot of land in front of them. “And one day, when we have our own children and grandchildren…they’ll live here too, in the house we built.” 

It was hard for Winnie to see the dazzling future that Peter had planned for them, but she shook away her doubts as her fiancé took her by the hand. 

“What do you think?”

“Hm…well, it’s close to my parents and not far from town…the river is only a short walk from here, too. I think you’ve picked a fine place for us, Peter.” 

He grinned broadly at her, something that had come to cause her heart to skip a beat. She returned the smile as they turned to the desert before them. Peter put his arm around Winnie, pulling her close. 

“I’m glad you like it. I’m really glad, Winnie.”

“I know the house still has to be built before the wedding, but I can hardly wait that long. It’s foolish to say it but I feel like I’ve been dreaming all this time. To think that I’ll be marrying you…I’ve got to be the luckiest man this side of the Mississippi.” 

She was touched by his affectionate words. Her cheeks were flushed pink as Peter turned to her, face dangerously close. She looked back and forth between his eyes, heart beginning to race.

Winnie had never been kissed before. The feeling was strange and foreign, yet somehow still comforting and warm. She could feel the gentle brush of Peter’s breath on her cheeks as her heart pounded madly in her chest.

Just like that, he pulled away. His ears were bright red and he avoided her eyes, still holding her. 

“I – er…sorry, Winnie. I don’t know what came over me.” 

She laughed. “That’s all right. I didn’t mind.”

Winnie awoke to the phantom feeling of Peter’s kiss lingering on her lips. She blinked the sleep from her eyes with a small sigh before throwing back the covers and getting out of her warm bed. 

Beatrice was still in deep sleep as Winnie made her way to the wash basin, scrubbing her tiredness from her cheeks with lukewarm water. It wouldn’t do to be half-asleep, especially with all she had yet to do that day.

Dressed and put together, Winnie descended the stairs into the kitchen, where Mamma was already finishing breakfast. 

“Good morning,” Mamma said cheerfully, greeting her daughter with a smile. Wrinkles pulled at her fair skin. “You’re right on time. I’ve just finished the porridge. You’ll have a nice hot breakfast before work.”

Winnie’s belly was full of Mamma’s cooking as she made her way to the barn. Papa had already taken his horse that morning, but Winnie’s handsome colt was still in his stall, eager to be taken out. 

“Morning,” she murmured to him, giving his broad neck an affectionate stroke. He nipped at her hair. “It’s time to go to work.” 

With learned hands, Winnie outfitted her horse with his bridle and saddle, mounting him and taking off down the dirt road.

Winnie arrived at the schoolhouse before any of the students. After loosely tying up her colt at the hitching post, she unlocked the front doors, stepping into the quiet building. 

The interior smelled faintly of woodsmoke and chalk. She started a fire in the stove before taking a seat at her desk, looking out at the empty classroom. It still felt foreign to be looking at rows of desks instead of sitting at one herself – but there was no time to think about that. She had to get her lesson plans together before her pupils arrived and the school day began.

Just as she finished writing down her plans for the day, her students poured into the room from the front door. They grinned at Winnie as she stood up, brushing off her skirt. 

“Good morning, class,” she called happily. 

“Morning, Miss Hawkins!”

As her small group of students settled themselves at their desks, Winnie took a moment to gather her thoughts. 

All had come from the California territory months prior. A terrible fire had ravaged a small settlement there, burning it in its entirety and claiming many lives and livelihoods. A few families who had survived the tragedy came to live in Viper Canyon, where the land was cheap and aplenty and there was much business to be had due to the miners slowly finding gold in the outlying area. 

Many of Winnie’s students had lost homes in the fire, to speak nothing of their family members that had died in the disaster. Although she was happy to finally see children in town, she regretted the circumstances terribly and tried her best to be a charitable and kind teacher – her students had far better things to worry about than a harsh schoolmistress.

Winnie grabbed her scant roster from her desk. “All right. Now that we’re all settled, it’s time for attendance. Andrew Campbell?” 

“Present,” the boy responded sweetly. 

He was a mostly shy soul who rarely spoke up in class, but was a bright and diligent student nonetheless. He was the middle child of the Campbells, a couple who had recently opened a tailor’s on Main Street. Winnie had heard that the tiniest Campbell, only a few years old, had passed in the great fire. Her heart ached when she looked at the children who were surely missing their baby sibling.

“Bonnie Sampson?” 

“Present.” 

Although Winnie would never admit it out loud, Bonnie was one of her favorite pupils. She was the only child of a doctor and her mother had passed from complications after being caught in the fire. Despite this, she was a fiery and spirited girl who eagerly pursued knowledge with an unquenchable thirst. Winnie would sorely miss her when she finished her schooling that spring.

“Cora Campbell?” 

“Present!” 

Cora was the youngest child of the Campbells and their only girl. Although she was regularly a distraction to her classmates due to her talkative and friendly nature, Winnie could hardly find it in herself to scold the sweet girl who usually meant well and was always profoundly sorry for disrupting lessons.

“Ida Evans?” 

“Present,” she answered softly. 

Ida was one of the twins whose parents had lost their cattle ranch to the terrible fire. Her parents urged Winnie that she would eventually come out of her shell, but she had yet to see the girl playing with her classmates or laughing during lunchtime. Winnie found herself often worrying after the welfare of Ida despite her nearly perfect marks.

“Leonard Campbell?” 

“Present.” 

Leonard was the Campbell’s eldest. He seemed like a completely ordinary child to Winnie, who was happy to have him in her class. He was often the voice of reason and the younger students looked up to him as an authority figure – she thought the role suited him quite well.

“Isaac Evans?” 

“Hmph.” 

The last student on her roster was her most problematic. Isaac was Ida’s twin brother, and despite their uncanny resemblance, he in no other way reminded Winnie of his sister. He was constantly causing trouble, whether it be from creating messes or starting fights. It was a rare occurrence when Winnie could go an entire day without having to scold Isaac or avoid some kind of disaster that he had caused.

“Isaac, when I take attendance please answer ‘present.’” 

The boy frowned silently, looking out the window and ignoring her. The rest of the class tried to not look in his direction but the desire was palpable. Winnie decided it was best to pick her battles and if Isaac wanted to pout, she would let him do so. 

“Well, I trust we all had time to finish our homework last night? Bring your slates up to me, please. If you had any questions we’ll discuss them in a moment.”

The school day passed by without incident until noon. At lunch, Winnie caught Bonnie as the girl made her way outside to sit in the shade of the tree where all of the students enjoyed their midday meal. 

“Bonnie, do you have a moment? I wanted to ask you something.” 

Bonnie looked surprised. “Of course. What is it, Miss Hawkins?”

“Don’t worry. You aren’t in any trouble. I was only wondering if you’d taken the time to think about what I asked you last week, about what you think you’ll do once you’re finished with school.” 

She looked uneasy. “Well, I have thought about it a little. I was going to ask you for your advice about it after school today, actually. Do you have the time now?” 

Winnie was flattered. “Certainly. Though I’m sure you’ll succeed in anything you choose to do after graduation,” she added with a smile. 

Bonnie was a little embarrassed by the flattery. “Thank you. You see, my father is a doctor, so I grew up knowing quite a bit about medicine – well, more than the average girl, I’d say. I just thought…maybe I could do something like that and follow in his footsteps. He always seems very fulfilled with his choice to study medicine.”

“That’s a fantastic idea, Bonnie! You have the perfect temperament to be a doctor or a nurse. And you’ve been such a model student – I’ll write you a glowing recommendation to any school you’d like, just say the word.” 

Bonnie smiled weakly. “That’s very kind of you, Miss Hawkins, and I’m very grateful to you for offering. I’ll have to let you know once I’ve fully made up my mind about it all.” 

Without another word, Bonnie walked over to join her classmates beneath the tree.

Winnie pondered over the conversation for a moment. She had no more than a few seconds to think over what Bonnie had said before there was horrible shrieking from where the students were eating their lunch. 

“Miss Hawkins!” Cora screamed. “Miss Hawkins! Isaac poured his milk all over me!” 

With a deep breath, Winnie collected herself, marching over to her pupils. She should have known better than to hope that Isaac would behave that day – or any day, for that matter.

The school day ended after Isaac received a harsh tongue lashing from Winnie and Cora’s hair had been thoroughly rinsed at the classroom’s wash basin. She always felt horribly guilty after and was unable to meet his eyes despite not raising a hand against the child. The thought had more than once occurred to her that he may derive some sort of smug pleasure from making Winnie miserable after punishing him – but each time she quickly pushed it away, wanting to never think such an awful thing of her pupil. 

The students had gone for the day, leaving behind only silence and a moment of peace for Winnie. She took a few minutes to clean up the place, wiping down the blackboard and sweeping the dust out of the front door before taking her horse back home.

Winnie found her sister quietly painting on the porch when she returned home. 

Beatrice had gained a sort of calm about her in the months that had passed since she found out about her sister’s engagement. She was more often than not found doing something silently, often painting, and had started doing her chores and helping out around the house unprovoked and without complaint. Her family wondered what had brought on such a change in her, but decided to not question what was for the better. It was no secret that she had also grown to be quite beautiful, following in the footsteps of her mother, but had shown little to no interest in settling down. It would seem that Beatrice was happy to paint the rest of her days away all alone.

“That’s lovely,” Winnie told her sister. 

Beatrice looked at her, expression unreadable. She studied Winnie’s face carefully before bringing her brush back to the canvas. 

“Thank you.”

Inside, Mamma was dicing potatoes in the kitchen. 

“You’re home. How was school today?” 

Winnie stretched, feeling exhaustion from a long day in her muscles. “It was fine. Isaac still enjoys tormenting poor little Cora, though. Would you believe that he poured his entire milk bottle on her head today at lunch? If he would just mind his manners, teaching them all would be much easier.” 

Mamma laughed. “Oh, I shouldn’t laugh, but that’s terribly funny. Cora can be so dramatic at times. Anyway, I’m sure the poor boy doesn’t mean to be wicked. He’s been through an awful lot after losing his ranch and having to move here, you know.”

“I know, and that’s why I go easy on him. But it doesn’t feel like I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt when I have to shout at him in front of his classmates. It must be horribly embarrassing for him – I know it is for me.” 

“Give him some time. He’s only eight or nine years old, isn’t he? There aren’t many well mannered children at that age. Watcher knows I had my hands full raising you and Beatrice when you were that small. Be a dear and help me with dinner, won’t you?” 

Winnie wanted nothing more than to kick off her boots and put her feet up by the fire with a good book. Sometimes she hated that she was such a devoted daughter. 

She rolled up her sleeves. “Of course, Mamma.”

Winnie felt Mamma’s eyes on her as she cut up the beef for the stew. 

“What is it?” She asked. 

Mamma waved her hand as if dismissing a thought from the air. “Nothing. I was just thinking that at this time, you should’ve been cooking meals for your husband instead of for us…you would’ve made a terrific wife, darling. I’m sure of it.”

A wave of emotion passed over Winnie like a cold front. She said nothing in response to Mamma. 

“I’m sorry. I know you don’t like for me to talk about it, but it breaks my heart that Peter left like that.” 

Winnie put down the knife with a bit too much force, causing Mamma to jump in surprise. 

“Excuse me.”

She escaped upstairs in the loft with her chest aching. Memories she wished to forget came relentlessly flooding back all at once, overwhelming her senses.

“I can’t believe you!” Winnie shouted. “You’re really going to leave your family behind for those people?” 

“'Those people' are my family!” Peter snapped back. 

Winnie’s face twisted in anger. “They disowned your mother for marrying your father. She lost everything because of them, and now you’re ready to abandon your entire life here for their money?”

“You don’t understand – if I don’t go back east then that entire fortune will be lost. I’m the only one who can go there and save it! My grandfather put me in his will for a reason. I think this is his way of making amends. If I go back to the city and inherit – “ 

“Do you hear yourself, Peter? ‘Making amends?’ You never even met your grandfather! You told me that when you were born he didn’t care at all, he didn’t even write a letter to your mother. And you want to go there and save the fortune of some awful man who put your family through so much grief?”

Peter was silent.

“And…” Winnie said quietly. “What about me? And the wedding?” 

Peter watched her with grief in his eyes. 

“What about you and the wedding?” 

She sniffed, hating that she was crying in front of him. “I thought you…loved me. That we had grown to care for each other. Am I truly not enough to keep you here?”

Peter wrapped Winnie in a shallow embrace. 

“No. I’m sorry.” 

She sobbed into his chest, feeling bitter sadness deep in her heart.

Winnie gritted her teeth as more molten tears threatened to spill from her eyes. 

“Winnie? Are you okay?” Mamma called from downstairs. 

She wiped her face with the back of her sleeves and tried to compose herself. She met eyes with her reflection in the mirror. 

“Yes. I’m fine.”

To Be Continued

Previous Chapter | Viper Canyon Index | Chapter Seven

(Tumblr really didn’t want me to upload this chapter!!)

[coloradomamma]

FIFTY

As I approach my fiftieth birthday, I keep thinking of incredible, life-changing experiences to plan for myself... get a new tattoo, go sky diving, hike El Camino, kayak the Grand Canyon, swim with dolphins... Then I realized that none of those things would mean as much as a genuine, heartfelt reflection on the first half of my life. This would be for fun, of course, but also as a cathartic exercise to learn, grow, and perhaps make the next fifty even better. So, I have decided to highlight 50 discoveries from my first fifty years. I'll be posting thoughts from my birth day in 1971 until my 50th birthday in 2021. I hope you enjoy my posts. May each be a new insight or a refreshing reminder for you. May each bring forth a fond memory or allow a dream of yours to take flight. May each cause you to pause, take a deep breath, sigh, chuckle, or perhaps shed a tear. Most importantly, may each encourage you to get up, get out the door and discover more!

Here we go...

I'm not the only one turning 50 in 2021...

[letthemplaysims]

Here’s a short list of some of the challenges/stories I’ve done; literally none of them are finished, most never will be, but it’s a bit of reading if someone wants to binge something old.

The Neengiacy (that one isn’t dead!)

PSVV (Pleasantview-Strangetown-Veronaville-Viper Canyon, I don’t even know if it’s dead or not, but it’s just gameplay)

Chill the BaCC Out (gone but not forgotten)

Hayes Legacy (dead and gone, but went pretty far)

Project MT (reposted from my LJ. THAT old. Only 2 chapters done, and unlikely to be picked up again)

Strangeville (a truly ancienct Strangetown/Veronaville, I remember nothing about it other than makign Cyd the Goodies’ son for the first time in it, and also that I styled Circe after the TF2 Medic.)

Collegeville (playing college premades as adults)

And a couple screenshot-less oneshots about the premades.

There’s also some stuff on my old LJ, but it was literally 10 years ago, I doubt much of it is something I’d still stand by. 

[katatty]

Hey Kat :) I love your Pleasantview Plus, it's making me want to add more hoods to mine too (it's currently just PV, ST and Viper Canyon). Only problem is I often feel a bit bored by some households in other hoods or I get overwhelmed by the amount of households to play! Do you ever get that? If so, how do you get yourself to play through it? I've been considering just making anyone I don't want to play townies, but I thought I'd ask you first to see how you play. Thanks!

Hi!! That’s an interesting question & is something I struggle with too at times - I hope you don’t mind me answering publicly! 

I know a lot of people enjoy playing an uberhood with all of the neighbourhoods right from the beginning so that everyone is the same age but I think that can be too overwhelming to play at the start! I prefer starting small and getting attached to a smaller cast, then adding more sims as you go to keep things fresh. I only started with the basegame hoods and then added university and sims from Bluewater, Riverblossom and Desiderta Valley much later on, when things were starting to feel stale. That makes it more interesting for me - having the neighbourhood grow over time!

For households I’m notfeeling so excited to play I think about why that is… single-sim householdsget boring for me quick so I like giving them roommates to shake things up –like moving Erin Beaker and Chester Gieke in together. If the household is toolarge you can do the opposite and move some of them out!

You can try different sortsof gameplay with different houses too -  likemaybe running a business if you haven’t done that before, or making them asupernatural you’ve not played much with, or surviving on date rewards insteadof a traditional job, or playing a black widow challenge! All sorts. I likeplaying the Tinkers ISBI style for example and have made a lot of theVeronaville bunch into werewolves, witches and so on. I’m trying to start more “unusual”households too like communes, maybe an orphanage, retirement home or prison infuture??

If it’s the sim themselvesthat I’m feeling totally uninspired by I try to come up with some interestingheadcanons, backstories or drama potential for them. I’ll get them involved ina tangled love web, family feud, or a grisly divorc, etc. I like looking atwhat other simmers do for ideas too and will shamelessly copy if it’ll make meenjoy my game more, haha.

Of course you can alwaystownify sims you don’t care about or straight up kill them. Killing off AjayLoner’s townie wife has given the Loner family more depth for me & while Dina’sdeath wasn’t planned gosh it makes the Caliente and Goth households feeldifferent to other versions of them I’ve played in the past!!

Even given all that - some householdsare just less exciting for me than others so I try to alternate betweendrama-heavy households and more relaxed low-key ones.

So yeah – lots of things! Hopefullyat least a few of these tips help you out :)

[woodleyagnatanjahj70insuran-blog]

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[itsworn]

Taking Two Days Off with the 707-horsepower Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk

Readers of Mopar Muscle might be unaware that parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) offers the widest variety of high-performance SUVs of any manufacturer. It starts with the Dodge Durango SRT 392 (read our comments – hotrod.com/articles/taking-day-off-dodges-mopar-edition-durango-srt-392/ – on our road trip in the Durango SRT 392 Mopar Edition, a high-performance SUV that can tow an 8,000-pound tiny home), the Maserati Levante (which is a very distant corporate cousin to the Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger), the Alfa Romeo Stelvio (whose 505-horsepower V-6 is three-quarters of the V-8 found under the hood of a Ferrari California T 2+2 hardtop convertible), the “standard” Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, and the subject of this road trip, the bad ass, over-the-top, Hellcat-powered, 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk. That’s quite a high performance SUV portfolio. Bet you didn’t realize that?

While we would have loved to have rented Willow Springs for a day (or have FCA do it for us) to put the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to the test, we recognize that most owners will never drive their Trackhawk to its limits on a proper race track. What most owners do is drive their Grand Cherokee Trackhawk to the bank, to the supermarket, take it on a family vacation, and a few will use it to tow their Viper race car to the track… Willow Springs perhaps.

Instead, we took it on a two-day road trip touring some of the best drivers’ roads in Southern California, most in Northern San Diego County, the same ones often used by manufacturers for their new-vehicle press launches. Some of these California secondary roads feature long high-desert straightaways. wide sweeping turns while others feature switchback that are the envy of any you’ll find in high Alpine passes in Switzerland, Italy, Germany, or Austria. I know because I’ve driven these great roads in my backyard as well as those challenging Alpine passes on many trips to Europe over the last 15 years.

Day One Our adventure starts in Temecula, California Wine Country. There we stayed at Pointe Winery Inn which allowed us after an Eggs Benedict breakfast at the on-site Bouquet Restaurant. With one of my buddies, Dave, who helps me out with the photos on my local road trips, we were able to get out the door before 9 AM, heading south towards our day-one destination, Borrego Springs.

So as to not to duplicate the roads on our route, we headed north through the various vineyards in Temecula to Hemet where we picked up CA 74, part of California’s Palms to Pines Scenic Byway for the climb to Mountain Center. With the Trackhawk’s all-wheel drive and huge tires all around along with the 15.7-inch front rotors on its Brembo brakes (larger than those found on the last-run Vipers), it’s possible to effortlessly attack the curves easily at twice the suggested speed without breaking a sweat. Every time I drive a Grand Cherokee SRT8, I never cease to amazed at what’s possible in an SUV that weighs more than 5,000 pounds.

At Mountain Center, we took a quick left to detour to Idyllwild where we stopped for coffee at the Mile High Cafe. We doubled back to Mountain Center, to one of my favorite stretches of two-lane road in all of California, the stretch of CA 74 that runs to CA 371. In the wintertime, when there is snow on the mountain peaks to the east, you almost feel as if you’re driving in the mountains of Switzerland. While there was the temptation to hammer it, knowing better, I didn’t. And a good thing I didn’t as if I had, I would most likely have been pulled over as there is almost always a CHP Explorer hiding off on the right-hand side of the road.

At the intersection of CA 371 we make a right and head towards Anza and on to Aguana where we make a right turn on CA 79. At one point we will be just three miles south of our starting point at the Point Vineyard before making a left turn to head south on CA 76 to County Road S6 for the climb up to Mother’s Kitchen Restaurant for a photo op on the way up to Mount Palomar, This is a very challenging section of smooth tarmac, just the ticket for the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, which again makes us forget we’re driving a 5,000-pound SUV, one that itself can tow up to 6,000 pounds.

After a quick stop at what might be the smallest post office in California, we head south on West Grade Road through the trees back to CA 76 past Lake Henshaw on our left, to The Hideout Saloon, just off of the highway. It’s been recently renovated but wasn’t open on the day of our visit. A building that was once a gas station provided a photo op for my Golden Retriever Max.

Had it been open we would have eaten there – we will return at a later date to sample the grub – and headed to the famous Julian Pie Shop at the intersection of CA 79 in Santa Ysabel where CA 76 goes off to the southwest towards Ramona while we headed to on CA 78 to The Candy Apple Bakery in Julian for lunch.

On weekends this is a bikers’ favorite and the wait just to order a sandwich can take up to a half hour. On a Friday afternoon, we walked up to the counter and ordered lunch and sat out on the patio with Max, who drew a lot of attention. The road through the center of Julian was blocked off for the annual Homecoming Parade.

As soon as the festivities concluded, after we walked down the street to the Apple Alley Bakery for a slice of no-sugar-added apple pie (I’m still on my low-carb Keto diet, more on that later) we loaded up Max back into the Grand Cherokee’s cargo compartment. We were off through downtown Julian to CA 78 and pushed on through the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Again, with the change in elevation and some tight turns, we pushed the Grand Cherokee Trackhawk hard but not even close to its capabilities. That will have to wait for another day.

Look for the signs for County Road three and the Tamarisk Grove Campground on your left for the road into Borrego Springs. You’ll approach Borrego Springs from the south, making a left-hand turn on Borrego Springs Road about two miles south of town. When you get to the huge roundabout in the center of town, depart at the nine-o’clock position on Palm Canyon Drive. On the left, you’ll see a vintage trailer park before reaching a sharp left-hand turn. There, turn right on Hoberg Road and you’ll reach the day one’s destination, the classic Palms at Indian Springs.

While there are several highly-rated places to stay in Borrego Springs, none has the Mid-Century vibe of The Palms at Indian Head. Originally built in 1946-7 when it was called Hoberg’s Desert Resort and rebuilt after a fire in 1959, it has played host to many Hollywood luminaries who wanted to get away from it all. Some who flew in on their own private planes that landed on the airstrip to the east of the center of town. Those that stayed at the hotel included Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Raymond Burr, Montgomery Clift, and many other stars who wanted more seclusion than offered in Palm Springs. The Hoberg’s offered a three-day, two night’s special that included six meals.

For us, just one day was necessary to absorb its Mid-Century charm as well as a gourmet, price fix three-course meal at the onsite Coyote Steakhouse. But not before taking a swim at the hotel’s gigantic, almost-Olympic-sized pool. (All this Mid-Century ambiance will set you back about $100 a night but searches online found rooms discounted to as little as $80. Such a bargain.)

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[eddiejpoplar]

Let’s Call First Three Quarters of 2018 Auto Sales ‘Not Bad’

IHS Markit had expected 2018 U.S. car and light truck sales to end up at 17 million, about half a million short of 2016’s record. But after September’s seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 17 million, the analysis firm is increasing that number.

How? It’s statistics. “Seasonally adjusted” means just that.

“This September bounce back, and expectations that the pace of sales in the fourth quarter should not move drastically from this level will likely push full-year light vehicle sales volume to 17.1 million units in total,” says Christopher Hopson, manager of IHS Markit’s North America light vehicle forecasting.

Seasonal adjustments mean that July and August historically are very strong sales months as consumers take advantage of warm weather and end-of-model-year prices, while September traditionally is a transitional month as new model-year cars and trucks arrive.

Even though Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor Sales, American Honda, and Nissan North America saw sales declines last month, the numbers are skewed because September ’17 sales to which they’re being compared were “atypically high,” says IHS Markit’s principal automotive analyst, Stephanie Brinley.

Which might help explain why General Motors switched from monthly sales reports to quarterly sales reports early this year. Quarterly reports give a more steadied look at what’s happening to auto sales. This serves as a reminder that from now on, I’m running year-to-date auto sales ever quarter in place of monthly sales columns, with percentage increases or decreases compared with the same period a year earlier.

We know so far that most car models continue to decline as most SUV and truck models increase, and that Subaru is running ahead of both Hyundai and Kia, while Volkswagen struggles—it’s up 5.5 percent thanks to a new, more competitive Tiguan and the addition of the Atlas three-row SUV, but seems to be selling them mostly to fans of its Golf, Jetta, and Passat.

Mercedes-Benz including its van and Smart division can’t keep up with BMW and Mini, though Mercedes the marque, on the strength of its GLC- and C-Class, has sold 319 more cars and SUVs so far, than BMW without Mini.

Among popular-priced marques, the Toyota RAV4 remains the bestselling model after the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500 pickup trucks. Speaking of those trucks, the Ram brand is about even for the first nine months of this year, compared with the first nine months of last year, while Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep brand is on fire, outselling Subaru by more than 240,000 units so far this year.

While the Fords Escape and Explorer have lost a combined 26,659 so far this year, the Chevrolets Equinox and Traverse are up a combined 40,134, which is a commentary on either the power of having fresh product on your showroom floors, or the problem with everything at Ford except pickup trucks and truck-based SUVs, or both.

One more clear trend is that with midsize sedan owners trading them in for compact SUVs, compact sedan sales is catching midsize sales by default. So the Honda Civic is outselling the Accord, the Toyota Corolla (including iM) is outselling the Camry, and the Nissan Sentra is just 1,452 units behind Altima.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 2,168,808, off 1.2 percent.

This breaks down to 1,504,038 Chevrolets, off 0.8 percent, 395,924 GMCs, off 2.4 percent, 155,606 Buicks, off 2.6 percent and 113,240 Cadillacs, off 0.5 percent.

Chevrolet has sold 424,403 Silverados for 2018 so far, up 1.4 percent. All but a few thousand sold in September were the old ’18 model. GMC Sierra was off 1.4 percent, to 152,242.

Chevy Equinox was up 10.2 percent, to 234,379, while Malibu was off 23.9 percent, to 107,458 and Cruze was down 26.5 percent, to 109,662.

Chevy Traverse was up 20.4 percent, to 106,998 and Colorado was up 26.3 percent, to 104,838 and GMC Canyon was up 8.6 percent, to 25,273.

Encore again leads Buick sales year-to-date, up 7.7 percent, to 69,747. Buick has sold 35,277 Enclaves, up 12.1 percent, while Regal is up 22.4 percent, to 11,008.

Cadillac has sold 46,983 XT5s year-to-date, off 5.7 percent, plus 212 XT4s all of the latter in September.

Cadillac Escalade is up 3.3 percent, to 27,299, while CT6 is off 10.6 percent, to 7,270.

Both Chevrolets Bolt and Volt have slipped this year, so far. The Bolt EV is down 17.4 percent, to 11,807, trailing the Volt, which is off 13.7 percent, to 13,243. Corvette is off 21.2 percent, but leads both electrics with 14,881 sold in ’18 so far.

2. Ford Motor Company: 1,887,625, off 2.4 percent.

Ford Mustang leads Pony Car Wars, at 61,619, off 0.9 percent, to Dodge Challenger’s 52,313, up 37 units for the year so far, with Chevy Camaro third at 39,828, off 25.9 percent.

Ford says September sales of the F-Series topped 70k for the seventh straight month, at 75,092, off 8.8 percent. Year-to-date, Ford has sold 679,018 F-Series, up 3.1 percent.

Escape is off 10.2 percent year-to-date, to 210,050 and Explorer is down 1.6 percent, to 171,416, meaning that both models are slipping in two of the hottest segments.

Ford Fusion is off 21.8 percent, to 124,964 and Focus was off 19 percent, to 100,267.

Expedition is up 0.3 percent, to 40,521, while Lincoln Navigator has rocketed up 81.9 percent, to 13,085.

While the Ford marque is off 2.1 percent, to 1,812,345 through September, Lincoln is down 9 percent, to 75,280.

MKX was off 12.6 percent, to 19,886 through September, a month before first deliveries of the Nautilus replacement. MKC is down 5.5 percent, to 19,270.

Continental languishes at 6,334, off 28.6 percent.

3. Toyota Motor Sales: 1,824,235, off 0.4 percent.

Toyota Division has sold 1,610,613 so far this year, off 0.1 percent, and Lexus has sold 213,622, off 2.7 percent.

RAV4 is Toyota’s bestseller, and according to the automaker, the best-selling non-pickup in the U.S. It was off 8.2 percent, to 37,440 for September, and is up 2.2 percent, to 319,147 for the year.

Toyota Camry is off 6.9 percent, year-to-date, to 262,887, while Corolla is down 11.3 percent, to 265,273 (this includes 17,867 iMs, up 10.6 percent).

Prius is off 17.3 percent year-to-date, to 68,925.

Highlander is up 14.2 percent, to 180,699, and 4Runner is up 7.6 percent, to 102,267.

Tacoma is up 24.8 percent, to 183,909, while Tundra is up 2.5 percent, to 87,782.

Buoyed by addition of the three-row model, Lexus RX is up 4.9 percent, to 79,563. NX is up 3.6 percent, to 43,513.

ES is the bestselling Lexus car, off 12.1 percent to 34,344.

IS is off 9.8 percent, to 17,393. LS is up 115.1 percent, to 6,672.

4. Fiat Chrysler: 1,679,983, up 6 percent.

Fiat Chrysler had a particularly good September, with sales up 15 percent, to 199,819 over September ’17. Jeep remains its star, up 14 percent for the month and up by 20 percent for the first three quarters, to 746,194. Ram was off slightly (2,032 units, or 0 percent) to 416,661 year-to-date, though up 9 percent last month. For the first three quarters, Chrysler was off 12 percent, to 127,156, Dodge slid 2 percent, to 359,728 and Fiat slumped by 43 percent, to 12,084. Alfa Romeo was up 147 percent, however, to 18,160.

Wrangler has become Jeep’s bestseller for the year so far, at 190,951, up 27 percent. Cherokee is next, up 53 percent to 179,743, while erstwhile brand leader Grand Cherokee was off 8 percent, to 166,653 year-to-date.

The new Jeep Compass also is a success, up 146 percent to 132,674, while Renegade is off 6 percent, to 75,574.

The 2019 Ram 1500 pickup was beset by launch problems, though Fiat Chrysler still sells the old truck. So year-to-date sales are 0-percent changed, up by 682 units to 375,583. ProMaster van is off 1 percent, to 31,591.

Chrysler Pacifica is up 6 percent for the first three quarters, to 91,595. The 300 sedan is off 13 percent, to 34,555.

The old school Dodge Caravan is up 12 percent to 120,935, and Journey is up 2 percent, to 77,233. Charger is off 12 percent, to 59,308 and 15 Vipers were sold, off 97 percent.

Fiat 500X was down 28 percent to 4,221, and the 500 two-door fell 64 percent, to 3,717.

Stelvio leads Alfa Romeo, up 1,329 percent, to 9,044 and Giulia was up 39 percent, to 8,933.

5. American Honda: 1,206,997, off 2 percent.

Honda accounts for 1,092,514 of that, off 2.2 percent, with Acura at 114,483, up 0.3 percent.

Bestseller CR-V is running -1.2 percent, at 277,621.

Civic is off 10.3 percent year-to-date, at 255,036 and Accord is off 14.2 percent, to 215,299.

Pilot is Honda’s big gainer, up 42.4 percent, to 199,901. HR-V is off 5.5 percent, to 69,979.

RDX leads Acura, up 13.8 percent, to 44,598. MDX is off 2.6 percent, to 37,187.

Acura TLX is off 13.6 percent, to 22,917. Acura has sold 122 NSXes this year, off 65.6 percent.

6. Nissan Group: 1,124,682, off 6.0 percent.

Nissan division is off 5.8 percent, to 1,082,527. Infiniti has lost 7.4 percent, to 105,249.

Rogue remains Nissan’s bestseller, up 4.4 percent to 309,979, but it’s 9,173 units behind Toyota RAV4 for the year-to-date.

Altima is off 16.6 percent, to 166,599 and Sentra is off 0.3 percent, to 165,147.

The Leaf EV is off 0.5 percent, to 1,686.

Pathfinder has slid 18.7 percent, to 50,152, though Titan is up 6.4 percent, to 37,839, and Frontier is up 7.9 percent, to 59,574.

Over at Infiniti, QX60 is up 8.3 percent, to 31,795, while Q50 is off 6.8 percent, to 26,180.

7. Subaru: 503,418, up 5.1 percent.

Outback leads sales, off 1.8 percent to 137,992, and Forester is off 7.7 percent, to 121,924. Crosstrek is up 45.1 percent year-to-date to 11,415, but sales have slid for a couple of months. In September, Crosstrek was off 0.9 percent.

The new Ascent more than covers decreases elsewhere, with 16,580 of the new three-row SUV sold.

WRX/STI is off 9.1 percent, to 21,957. BRZ sales have slid 11.4 percent, to 2,930. Combined year-to-date sales with Toyota 86 is off 30.2 percent, to 6,153.

8. Hyundai: 501,701, off 2 percent.

Hyundai is off 0.8 percent, to 492,792, while Genesis has dropped 40.9 percent year-to-date. Genesis has held back on importing vehicles as it prepares for the 2019 model year, and a change in its distribution model at Hyundai dealerships.

As Hyundai sorts out its SUV strategy, its sales leader remains the Elantra compact sedan, up 41 percent to 148,879.

Tucson is next-bestseller, up 25 percent to 103,514.

Santa Fe is off 7 percent, to 88,969 and Sonata is down 24.8 percent, to 80,975.

9. Kia: 452,042, off 1.3 percent.

Sorento leads Kia sales, up 10.8 percent, to 85,692 through Q3.

Optima is off 5.7 percent, to 79,845.

Soul is off 14.2 percent, to 77,888.

Forte is off 18.7 percent, to 74,888.

Sportage is up 11.7 percent, to 62,272, and Niro is up 6.9 percent, to 22,100.

Kia has sold 12,999 Stingers year-to-date.

10. Volkswagen: 266,228, up 5.5 percent.

VW was off 4.8 percent for September.

Although Jetta led for September, the new Tiguan SUV has become VW’s sales leader in the first nine months, up 987.2 percent, to 67,232.

Jetta is down 32.8 percent, to 61,118. Golf is off 38.1 percent to 34,353.

Atlas is up 251.6 percent, to 43,002. Passat is down 33.8 percent, to 33,527.

Beetle, entering its final model year, is off 2.6 percent, to 12,150.

11. BMW Group: 259,258, up 1.7 percent.

BMW is up 2.2 percent, to 225,065, while Mini has slid 1.7 percent, to 34,193.

X3 leads BMW sales, up 30.2 percent, to 41,825.

Soon-to-be replaced 3 Series is down 19.6 percent, to 34,731. The 4 Series is off 22.5 percent, to 23,466.

The 5 Series is up 9.3 percent, to 31,181, and X5 is down 9 percent, to 31,120.

Mini Countryman is up 33.7 percent, to 14,142 and the Hardtop 2 Door is off 7.4 percent, to 7,320.

12. Mercedes-Benz USA: 254,366, off 5.8 percent.

Mercedes cars accounts for 225,384 off 7 percent. Vans are up 11.1 percent, to 28,023, and Smart languishes at 959 sold year-to-date, down 63.6 percent.

Mercedes GLC-Class sales account for nearly one-fifth of MBUSA sales, up 53.8 percent, to 50,585.

A car model is next; C-Class is down 28.3 percent, but still at 42,252.

GLE-Class is off 11.3 percent, to 34,617 and E-Class/CLS is down 12.3 percent, to 32,013.

S-Class is off 3.2 percent, to 10,334.

13. Mazda: 235,122, up 6.7 percent.

CX-5 is up 26.1 percent, to 116,728, year-to-date, and continues to outpace VW Atlas and (new) Tiguan sales combined. It has outsold the two Volkswagens by 6,494.

CX-3 is up 14.5 percent, to 13,715, and CX-9 is up 17.2 percent, to 21,184.

Mazda3 is off 14.7 percent, to 51,294.

MX-5 Miata is off 23.2 percent year-to-date, to 7,460. Combined sales with the Fiat 124 Spider is 10,375 for the first three quarters, off 22.5 percent.

14. Audi: 167,420, up 24.4 percent.

A computer glitch limited Audi’s sales information at press time.

15. Mitsubishi: 93,398, up 17.9 percent.

Outlander Sport sales totaled 31,407 for the three quarters, up 30.8 percent. Outlander is up 17.8 percent, to 30,810.

Mitsubishi has sold 3,050 Outlander PHEVs and 5,513 Eclipse Crosses for the year, so far.

16. Jaguar/Land Rover: 86,309, up 2 percent.

Land Rover is running plus-20 percent year-to-date, to 65,133, while Jaguar is off 30 percent, to 21,176.

Range Rover Sport sales are up 13 percent, to 17,321. The new Velar is Range Rover’s second-bestseller, at 12,761 delivered, so far.

F-Pace is Jaguar’s bestseller, though off 30 percent, to 10,088. Jaguar has sold 2,808 E-Paces, so far.

Jaguar XE is down 54 percent, to 3,381, and F-Type is down 43 percent, to 1,739.

17. Volvo: 73,929, up 29.8 percent.

Volvo splits its bestselling XC60 into two numbers; one for the old model and one for the new. But I’ll combine it here. It’s at 23,511 sold year-to-date, up 44.9 percent.

XC90 is up 15.9 percent, to 23,652.

S90 is up 2.5 percent, to 5,732; V90 is up 209.2 percent, to 371; and V90CC is up 12.3 percent, to 1,710.

18. Porsche: 42,626, up 3.4 percent.

Macan is the clear sales leader, up 11.6 percent, to 18,103.

The 911 is Porsche’s second-bestseller, up 7.4 percent, to 7,013.

Cayenne sales are down 29.6 percent, to 6,841.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 225,384 2. BMW 225,065 3. Lexus 213,622 4. Audi 167,420 5. Acura 114,483

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 14,881 2. Chevrolet Volt 13,243 3. Chevrolet Bolt 11,807 4. Mazda Miata 7,460 5. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 3,223

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 262,887 2. Honda Accord 215,299 3. IFTTT

[jesusvasser]

Let’s Call First Three Quarters of 2018 Auto Sales ‘Not Bad’

IHS Markit had expected 2018 U.S. car and light truck sales to end up at 17 million, about half a million short of 2016’s record. But after September’s seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 17 million, the analysis firm is increasing that number.

How? It’s statistics. “Seasonally adjusted” means just that.

“This September bounce back, and expectations that the pace of sales in the fourth quarter should not move drastically from this level will likely push full-year light vehicle sales volume to 17.1 million units in total,” says Christopher Hopson, manager of IHS Markit’s North America light vehicle forecasting.

Seasonal adjustments mean that July and August historically are very strong sales months as consumers take advantage of warm weather and end-of-model-year prices, while September traditionally is a transitional month as new model-year cars and trucks arrive.

Even though Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor Sales, American Honda, and Nissan North America saw sales declines last month, the numbers are skewed because September ’17 sales to which they’re being compared were “atypically high,” says IHS Markit’s principal automotive analyst, Stephanie Brinley.

Which might help explain why General Motors switched from monthly sales reports to quarterly sales reports early this year. Quarterly reports give a more steadied look at what’s happening to auto sales. This serves as a reminder that from now on, I’m running year-to-date auto sales ever quarter in place of monthly sales columns, with percentage increases or decreases compared with the same period a year earlier.

We know so far that most car models continue to decline as most SUV and truck models increase, and that Subaru is running ahead of both Hyundai and Kia, while Volkswagen struggles—it’s up 5.5 percent thanks to a new, more competitive Tiguan and the addition of the Atlas three-row SUV, but seems to be selling them mostly to fans of its Golf, Jetta, and Passat.

Mercedes-Benz including its van and Smart division can’t keep up with BMW and Mini, though Mercedes the marque, on the strength of its GLC- and C-Class, has sold 319 more cars and SUVs so far, than BMW without Mini.

Among popular-priced marques, the Toyota RAV4 remains the bestselling model after the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500 pickup trucks. Speaking of those trucks, the Ram brand is about even for the first nine months of this year, compared with the first nine months of last year, while Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep brand is on fire, outselling Subaru by more than 240,000 units so far this year.

While the Fords Escape and Explorer have lost a combined 26,659 so far this year, the Chevrolets Equinox and Traverse are up a combined 40,134, which is a commentary on either the power of having fresh product on your showroom floors, or the problem with everything at Ford except pickup trucks and truck-based SUVs, or both.

One more clear trend is that with midsize sedan owners trading them in for compact SUVs, compact sedan sales is catching midsize sales by default. So the Honda Civic is outselling the Accord, the Toyota Corolla (including iM) is outselling the Camry, and the Nissan Sentra is just 1,452 units behind Altima.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 2,168,808, off 1.2 percent.

This breaks down to 1,504,038 Chevrolets, off 0.8 percent, 395,924 GMCs, off 2.4 percent, 155,606 Buicks, off 2.6 percent and 113,240 Cadillacs, off 0.5 percent.

Chevrolet has sold 424,403 Silverados for 2018 so far, up 1.4 percent. All but a few thousand sold in September were the old ’18 model. GMC Sierra was off 1.4 percent, to 152,242.

Chevy Equinox was up 10.2 percent, to 234,379, while Malibu was off 23.9 percent, to 107,458 and Cruze was down 26.5 percent, to 109,662.

Chevy Traverse was up 20.4 percent, to 106,998 and Colorado was up 26.3 percent, to 104,838 and GMC Canyon was up 8.6 percent, to 25,273.

Encore again leads Buick sales year-to-date, up 7.7 percent, to 69,747. Buick has sold 35,277 Enclaves, up 12.1 percent, while Regal is up 22.4 percent, to 11,008.

Cadillac has sold 46,983 XT5s year-to-date, off 5.7 percent, plus 212 XT4s all of the latter in September.

Cadillac Escalade is up 3.3 percent, to 27,299, while CT6 is off 10.6 percent, to 7,270.

Both Chevrolets Bolt and Volt have slipped this year, so far. The Bolt EV is down 17.4 percent, to 11,807, trailing the Volt, which is off 13.7 percent, to 13,243. Corvette is off 21.2 percent, but leads both electrics with 14,881 sold in ’18 so far.

2. Ford Motor Company: 1,887,625, off 2.4 percent.

Ford Mustang leads Pony Car Wars, at 61,619, off 0.9 percent, to Dodge Challenger’s 52,313, up 37 units for the year so far, with Chevy Camaro third at 39,828, off 25.9 percent.

Ford says September sales of the F-Series topped 70k for the seventh straight month, at 75,092, off 8.8 percent. Year-to-date, Ford has sold 679,018 F-Series, up 3.1 percent.

Escape is off 10.2 percent year-to-date, to 210,050 and Explorer is down 1.6 percent, to 171,416, meaning that both models are slipping in two of the hottest segments.

Ford Fusion is off 21.8 percent, to 124,964 and Focus was off 19 percent, to 100,267.

Expedition is up 0.3 percent, to 40,521, while Lincoln Navigator has rocketed up 81.9 percent, to 13,085.

While the Ford marque is off 2.1 percent, to 1,812,345 through September, Lincoln is down 9 percent, to 75,280.

MKX was off 12.6 percent, to 19,886 through September, a month before first deliveries of the Nautilus replacement. MKC is down 5.5 percent, to 19,270.

Continental languishes at 6,334, off 28.6 percent.

3. Toyota Motor Sales: 1,824,235, off 0.4 percent.

Toyota Division has sold 1,610,613 so far this year, off 0.1 percent, and Lexus has sold 213,622, off 2.7 percent.

RAV4 is Toyota’s bestseller, and according to the automaker, the best-selling non-pickup in the U.S. It was off 8.2 percent, to 37,440 for September, and is up 2.2 percent, to 319,147 for the year.

Toyota Camry is off 6.9 percent, year-to-date, to 262,887, while Corolla is down 11.3 percent, to 265,273 (this includes 17,867 iMs, up 10.6 percent).

Prius is off 17.3 percent year-to-date, to 68,925.

Highlander is up 14.2 percent, to 180,699, and 4Runner is up 7.6 percent, to 102,267.

Tacoma is up 24.8 percent, to 183,909, while Tundra is up 2.5 percent, to 87,782.

Buoyed by addition of the three-row model, Lexus RX is up 4.9 percent, to 79,563. NX is up 3.6 percent, to 43,513.

ES is the bestselling Lexus car, off 12.1 percent to 34,344.

IS is off 9.8 percent, to 17,393. LS is up 115.1 percent, to 6,672.

4. Fiat Chrysler: 1,679,983, up 6 percent.

Fiat Chrysler had a particularly good September, with sales up 15 percent, to 199,819 over September ’17. Jeep remains its star, up 14 percent for the month and up by 20 percent for the first three quarters, to 746,194. Ram was off slightly (2,032 units, or 0 percent) to 416,661 year-to-date, though up 9 percent last month. For the first three quarters, Chrysler was off 12 percent, to 127,156, Dodge slid 2 percent, to 359,728 and Fiat slumped by 43 percent, to 12,084. Alfa Romeo was up 147 percent, however, to 18,160.

Wrangler has become Jeep’s bestseller for the year so far, at 190,951, up 27 percent. Cherokee is next, up 53 percent to 179,743, while erstwhile brand leader Grand Cherokee was off 8 percent, to 166,653 year-to-date.

The new Jeep Compass also is a success, up 146 percent to 132,674, while Renegade is off 6 percent, to 75,574.

The 2019 Ram 1500 pickup was beset by launch problems, though Fiat Chrysler still sells the old truck. So year-to-date sales are 0-percent changed, up by 682 units to 375,583. ProMaster van is off 1 percent, to 31,591.

Chrysler Pacifica is up 6 percent for the first three quarters, to 91,595. The 300 sedan is off 13 percent, to 34,555.

The old school Dodge Caravan is up 12 percent to 120,935, and Journey is up 2 percent, to 77,233. Charger is off 12 percent, to 59,308 and 15 Vipers were sold, off 97 percent.

Fiat 500X was down 28 percent to 4,221, and the 500 two-door fell 64 percent, to 3,717.

Stelvio leads Alfa Romeo, up 1,329 percent, to 9,044 and Giulia was up 39 percent, to 8,933.

5. American Honda: 1,206,997, off 2 percent.

Honda accounts for 1,092,514 of that, off 2.2 percent, with Acura at 114,483, up 0.3 percent.

Bestseller CR-V is running -1.2 percent, at 277,621.

Civic is off 10.3 percent year-to-date, at 255,036 and Accord is off 14.2 percent, to 215,299.

Pilot is Honda’s big gainer, up 42.4 percent, to 199,901. HR-V is off 5.5 percent, to 69,979.

RDX leads Acura, up 13.8 percent, to 44,598. MDX is off 2.6 percent, to 37,187.

Acura TLX is off 13.6 percent, to 22,917. Acura has sold 122 NSXes this year, off 65.6 percent.

6. Nissan Group: 1,124,682, off 6.0 percent.

Nissan division is off 5.8 percent, to 1,082,527. Infiniti has lost 7.4 percent, to 105,249.

Rogue remains Nissan’s bestseller, up 4.4 percent to 309,979, but it’s 9,173 units behind Toyota RAV4 for the year-to-date.

Altima is off 16.6 percent, to 166,599 and Sentra is off 0.3 percent, to 165,147.

The Leaf EV is off 0.5 percent, to 1,686.

Pathfinder has slid 18.7 percent, to 50,152, though Titan is up 6.4 percent, to 37,839, and Frontier is up 7.9 percent, to 59,574.

Over at Infiniti, QX60 is up 8.3 percent, to 31,795, while Q50 is off 6.8 percent, to 26,180.

7. Subaru: 503,418, up 5.1 percent.

Outback leads sales, off 1.8 percent to 137,992, and Forester is off 7.7 percent, to 121,924. Crosstrek is up 45.1 percent year-to-date to 11,415, but sales have slid for a couple of months. In September, Crosstrek was off 0.9 percent.

The new Ascent more than covers decreases elsewhere, with 16,580 of the new three-row SUV sold.

WRX/STI is off 9.1 percent, to 21,957. BRZ sales have slid 11.4 percent, to 2,930. Combined year-to-date sales with Toyota 86 is off 30.2 percent, to 6,153.

8. Hyundai: 501,701, off 2 percent.

Hyundai is off 0.8 percent, to 492,792, while Genesis has dropped 40.9 percent year-to-date. Genesis has held back on importing vehicles as it prepares for the 2019 model year, and a change in its distribution model at Hyundai dealerships.

As Hyundai sorts out its SUV strategy, its sales leader remains the Elantra compact sedan, up 41 percent to 148,879.

Tucson is next-bestseller, up 25 percent to 103,514.

Santa Fe is off 7 percent, to 88,969 and Sonata is down 24.8 percent, to 80,975.

9. Kia: 452,042, off 1.3 percent.

Sorento leads Kia sales, up 10.8 percent, to 85,692 through Q3.

Optima is off 5.7 percent, to 79,845.

Soul is off 14.2 percent, to 77,888.

Forte is off 18.7 percent, to 74,888.

Sportage is up 11.7 percent, to 62,272, and Niro is up 6.9 percent, to 22,100.

Kia has sold 12,999 Stingers year-to-date.

10. Volkswagen: 266,228, up 5.5 percent.

VW was off 4.8 percent for September.

Although Jetta led for September, the new Tiguan SUV has become VW’s sales leader in the first nine months, up 987.2 percent, to 67,232.

Jetta is down 32.8 percent, to 61,118. Golf is off 38.1 percent to 34,353.

Atlas is up 251.6 percent, to 43,002. Passat is down 33.8 percent, to 33,527.

Beetle, entering its final model year, is off 2.6 percent, to 12,150.

11. BMW Group: 259,258, up 1.7 percent.

BMW is up 2.2 percent, to 225,065, while Mini has slid 1.7 percent, to 34,193.

X3 leads BMW sales, up 30.2 percent, to 41,825.

Soon-to-be replaced 3 Series is down 19.6 percent, to 34,731. The 4 Series is off 22.5 percent, to 23,466.

The 5 Series is up 9.3 percent, to 31,181, and X5 is down 9 percent, to 31,120.

Mini Countryman is up 33.7 percent, to 14,142 and the Hardtop 2 Door is off 7.4 percent, to 7,320.

12. Mercedes-Benz USA: 254,366, off 5.8 percent.

Mercedes cars accounts for 225,384 off 7 percent. Vans are up 11.1 percent, to 28,023, and Smart languishes at 959 sold year-to-date, down 63.6 percent.

Mercedes GLC-Class sales account for nearly one-fifth of MBUSA sales, up 53.8 percent, to 50,585.

A car model is next; C-Class is down 28.3 percent, but still at 42,252.

GLE-Class is off 11.3 percent, to 34,617 and E-Class/CLS is down 12.3 percent, to 32,013.

S-Class is off 3.2 percent, to 10,334.

13. Mazda: 235,122, up 6.7 percent.

CX-5 is up 26.1 percent, to 116,728, year-to-date, and continues to outpace VW Atlas and (new) Tiguan sales combined. It has outsold the two Volkswagens by 6,494.

CX-3 is up 14.5 percent, to 13,715, and CX-9 is up 17.2 percent, to 21,184.

Mazda3 is off 14.7 percent, to 51,294.

MX-5 Miata is off 23.2 percent year-to-date, to 7,460. Combined sales with the Fiat 124 Spider is 10,375 for the first three quarters, off 22.5 percent.

14. Audi: 167,420, up 24.4 percent.

A computer glitch limited Audi’s sales information at press time.

15. Mitsubishi: 93,398, up 17.9 percent.

Outlander Sport sales totaled 31,407 for the three quarters, up 30.8 percent. Outlander is up 17.8 percent, to 30,810.

Mitsubishi has sold 3,050 Outlander PHEVs and 5,513 Eclipse Crosses for the year, so far.

16. Jaguar/Land Rover: 86,309, up 2 percent.

Land Rover is running plus-20 percent year-to-date, to 65,133, while Jaguar is off 30 percent, to 21,176.

Range Rover Sport sales are up 13 percent, to 17,321. The new Velar is Range Rover’s second-bestseller, at 12,761 delivered, so far.

F-Pace is Jaguar’s bestseller, though off 30 percent, to 10,088. Jaguar has sold 2,808 E-Paces, so far.

Jaguar XE is down 54 percent, to 3,381, and F-Type is down 43 percent, to 1,739.

17. Volvo: 73,929, up 29.8 percent.

Volvo splits its bestselling XC60 into two numbers; one for the old model and one for the new. But I’ll combine it here. It’s at 23,511 sold year-to-date, up 44.9 percent.

XC90 is up 15.9 percent, to 23,652.

S90 is up 2.5 percent, to 5,732; V90 is up 209.2 percent, to 371; and V90CC is up 12.3 percent, to 1,710.

18. Porsche: 42,626, up 3.4 percent.

Macan is the clear sales leader, up 11.6 percent, to 18,103.

The 911 is Porsche’s second-bestseller, up 7.4 percent, to 7,013.

Cayenne sales are down 29.6 percent, to 6,841.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 225,384 2. BMW 225,065 3. Lexus 213,622 4. Audi 167,420 5. Acura 114,483

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 14,881 2. Chevrolet Volt 13,243 3. Chevrolet Bolt 11,807 4. Mazda Miata 7,460 5. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 3,223

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 262,887 2. Honda Accord 215,299 3. IFTTT

[createdbychristy]

Next round of my Viper Canyon Challenge is up! Sh*tty thumbnail because I played with walls down the whole time to keep an eye on the chaos 😂

(sorry, I've been bad at tumblr lately... as promised, the Broke round in my Pleasantview Reimagined story will be up soon! And hopefully The Burbs as well)

[simscorruption]

miscellaneous snapshots

[jonathanbelloblog]

Let’s Call First Three Quarters of 2018 Auto Sales ‘Not Bad’

IHS Markit had expected 2018 U.S. car and light truck sales to end up at 17 million, about half a million short of 2016’s record. But after September’s seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 17 million, the analysis firm is increasing that number.

How? It’s statistics. “Seasonally adjusted” means just that.

“This September bounce back, and expectations that the pace of sales in the fourth quarter should not move drastically from this level will likely push full-year light vehicle sales volume to 17.1 million units in total,” says Christopher Hopson, manager of IHS Markit’s North America light vehicle forecasting.

Seasonal adjustments mean that July and August historically are very strong sales months as consumers take advantage of warm weather and end-of-model-year prices, while September traditionally is a transitional month as new model-year cars and trucks arrive.

Even though Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor Sales, American Honda, and Nissan North America saw sales declines last month, the numbers are skewed because September ’17 sales to which they’re being compared were “atypically high,” says IHS Markit’s principal automotive analyst, Stephanie Brinley.

Which might help explain why General Motors switched from monthly sales reports to quarterly sales reports early this year. Quarterly reports give a more steadied look at what’s happening to auto sales. This serves as a reminder that from now on, I’m running year-to-date auto sales ever quarter in place of monthly sales columns, with percentage increases or decreases compared with the same period a year earlier.

We know so far that most car models continue to decline as most SUV and truck models increase, and that Subaru is running ahead of both Hyundai and Kia, while Volkswagen struggles—it’s up 5.5 percent thanks to a new, more competitive Tiguan and the addition of the Atlas three-row SUV, but seems to be selling them mostly to fans of its Golf, Jetta, and Passat.

Mercedes-Benz including its van and Smart division can’t keep up with BMW and Mini, though Mercedes the marque, on the strength of its GLC- and C-Class, has sold 319 more cars and SUVs so far, than BMW without Mini.

Among popular-priced marques, the Toyota RAV4 remains the bestselling model after the Ford F-Series, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500 pickup trucks. Speaking of those trucks, the Ram brand is about even for the first nine months of this year, compared with the first nine months of last year, while Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep brand is on fire, outselling Subaru by more than 240,000 units so far this year.

While the Fords Escape and Explorer have lost a combined 26,659 so far this year, the Chevrolets Equinox and Traverse are up a combined 40,134, which is a commentary on either the power of having fresh product on your showroom floors, or the problem with everything at Ford except pickup trucks and truck-based SUVs, or both.

One more clear trend is that with midsize sedan owners trading them in for compact SUVs, compact sedan sales is catching midsize sales by default. So the Honda Civic is outselling the Accord, the Toyota Corolla (including iM) is outselling the Camry, and the Nissan Sentra is just 1,452 units behind Altima.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 2,168,808, off 1.2 percent.

This breaks down to 1,504,038 Chevrolets, off 0.8 percent, 395,924 GMCs, off 2.4 percent, 155,606 Buicks, off 2.6 percent and 113,240 Cadillacs, off 0.5 percent.

Chevrolet has sold 424,403 Silverados for 2018 so far, up 1.4 percent. All but a few thousand sold in September were the old ’18 model. GMC Sierra was off 1.4 percent, to 152,242.

Chevy Equinox was up 10.2 percent, to 234,379, while Malibu was off 23.9 percent, to 107,458 and Cruze was down 26.5 percent, to 109,662.

Chevy Traverse was up 20.4 percent, to 106,998 and Colorado was up 26.3 percent, to 104,838 and GMC Canyon was up 8.6 percent, to 25,273.

Encore again leads Buick sales year-to-date, up 7.7 percent, to 69,747. Buick has sold 35,277 Enclaves, up 12.1 percent, while Regal is up 22.4 percent, to 11,008.

Cadillac has sold 46,983 XT5s year-to-date, off 5.7 percent, plus 212 XT4s all of the latter in September.

Cadillac Escalade is up 3.3 percent, to 27,299, while CT6 is off 10.6 percent, to 7,270.

Both Chevrolets Bolt and Volt have slipped this year, so far. The Bolt EV is down 17.4 percent, to 11,807, trailing the Volt, which is off 13.7 percent, to 13,243. Corvette is off 21.2 percent, but leads both electrics with 14,881 sold in ’18 so far.

2. Ford Motor Company: 1,887,625, off 2.4 percent.

Ford Mustang leads Pony Car Wars, at 61,619, off 0.9 percent, to Dodge Challenger’s 52,313, up 37 units for the year so far, with Chevy Camaro third at 39,828, off 25.9 percent.

Ford says September sales of the F-Series topped 70k for the seventh straight month, at 75,092, off 8.8 percent. Year-to-date, Ford has sold 679,018 F-Series, up 3.1 percent.

Escape is off 10.2 percent year-to-date, to 210,050 and Explorer is down 1.6 percent, to 171,416, meaning that both models are slipping in two of the hottest segments.

Ford Fusion is off 21.8 percent, to 124,964 and Focus was off 19 percent, to 100,267.

Expedition is up 0.3 percent, to 40,521, while Lincoln Navigator has rocketed up 81.9 percent, to 13,085.

While the Ford marque is off 2.1 percent, to 1,812,345 through September, Lincoln is down 9 percent, to 75,280.

MKX was off 12.6 percent, to 19,886 through September, a month before first deliveries of the Nautilus replacement. MKC is down 5.5 percent, to 19,270.

Continental languishes at 6,334, off 28.6 percent.

3. Toyota Motor Sales: 1,824,235, off 0.4 percent.

Toyota Division has sold 1,610,613 so far this year, off 0.1 percent, and Lexus has sold 213,622, off 2.7 percent.

RAV4 is Toyota’s bestseller, and according to the automaker, the best-selling non-pickup in the U.S. It was off 8.2 percent, to 37,440 for September, and is up 2.2 percent, to 319,147 for the year.

Toyota Camry is off 6.9 percent, year-to-date, to 262,887, while Corolla is down 11.3 percent, to 265,273 (this includes 17,867 iMs, up 10.6 percent).

Prius is off 17.3 percent year-to-date, to 68,925.

Highlander is up 14.2 percent, to 180,699, and 4Runner is up 7.6 percent, to 102,267.

Tacoma is up 24.8 percent, to 183,909, while Tundra is up 2.5 percent, to 87,782.

Buoyed by addition of the three-row model, Lexus RX is up 4.9 percent, to 79,563. NX is up 3.6 percent, to 43,513.

ES is the bestselling Lexus car, off 12.1 percent to 34,344.

IS is off 9.8 percent, to 17,393. LS is up 115.1 percent, to 6,672.

4. Fiat Chrysler: 1,679,983, up 6 percent.

Fiat Chrysler had a particularly good September, with sales up 15 percent, to 199,819 over September ’17. Jeep remains its star, up 14 percent for the month and up by 20 percent for the first three quarters, to 746,194. Ram was off slightly (2,032 units, or 0 percent) to 416,661 year-to-date, though up 9 percent last month. For the first three quarters, Chrysler was off 12 percent, to 127,156, Dodge slid 2 percent, to 359,728 and Fiat slumped by 43 percent, to 12,084. Alfa Romeo was up 147 percent, however, to 18,160.

Wrangler has become Jeep’s bestseller for the year so far, at 190,951, up 27 percent. Cherokee is next, up 53 percent to 179,743, while erstwhile brand leader Grand Cherokee was off 8 percent, to 166,653 year-to-date.

The new Jeep Compass also is a success, up 146 percent to 132,674, while Renegade is off 6 percent, to 75,574.

The 2019 Ram 1500 pickup was beset by launch problems, though Fiat Chrysler still sells the old truck. So year-to-date sales are 0-percent changed, up by 682 units to 375,583. ProMaster van is off 1 percent, to 31,591.

Chrysler Pacifica is up 6 percent for the first three quarters, to 91,595. The 300 sedan is off 13 percent, to 34,555.

The old school Dodge Caravan is up 12 percent to 120,935, and Journey is up 2 percent, to 77,233. Charger is off 12 percent, to 59,308 and 15 Vipers were sold, off 97 percent.

Fiat 500X was down 28 percent to 4,221, and the 500 two-door fell 64 percent, to 3,717.

Stelvio leads Alfa Romeo, up 1,329 percent, to 9,044 and Giulia was up 39 percent, to 8,933.

5. American Honda: 1,206,997, off 2 percent.

Honda accounts for 1,092,514 of that, off 2.2 percent, with Acura at 114,483, up 0.3 percent.

Bestseller CR-V is running -1.2 percent, at 277,621.

Civic is off 10.3 percent year-to-date, at 255,036 and Accord is off 14.2 percent, to 215,299.

Pilot is Honda’s big gainer, up 42.4 percent, to 199,901. HR-V is off 5.5 percent, to 69,979.

RDX leads Acura, up 13.8 percent, to 44,598. MDX is off 2.6 percent, to 37,187.

Acura TLX is off 13.6 percent, to 22,917. Acura has sold 122 NSXes this year, off 65.6 percent.

6. Nissan Group: 1,124,682, off 6.0 percent.

Nissan division is off 5.8 percent, to 1,082,527. Infiniti has lost 7.4 percent, to 105,249.

Rogue remains Nissan’s bestseller, up 4.4 percent to 309,979, but it’s 9,173 units behind Toyota RAV4 for the year-to-date.

Altima is off 16.6 percent, to 166,599 and Sentra is off 0.3 percent, to 165,147.

The Leaf EV is off 0.5 percent, to 1,686.

Pathfinder has slid 18.7 percent, to 50,152, though Titan is up 6.4 percent, to 37,839, and Frontier is up 7.9 percent, to 59,574.

Over at Infiniti, QX60 is up 8.3 percent, to 31,795, while Q50 is off 6.8 percent, to 26,180.

7. Subaru: 503,418, up 5.1 percent.

Outback leads sales, off 1.8 percent to 137,992, and Forester is off 7.7 percent, to 121,924. Crosstrek is up 45.1 percent year-to-date to 11,415, but sales have slid for a couple of months. In September, Crosstrek was off 0.9 percent.

The new Ascent more than covers decreases elsewhere, with 16,580 of the new three-row SUV sold.

WRX/STI is off 9.1 percent, to 21,957. BRZ sales have slid 11.4 percent, to 2,930. Combined year-to-date sales with Toyota 86 is off 30.2 percent, to 6,153.

8. Hyundai: 501,701, off 2 percent.

Hyundai is off 0.8 percent, to 492,792, while Genesis has dropped 40.9 percent year-to-date. Genesis has held back on importing vehicles as it prepares for the 2019 model year, and a change in its distribution model at Hyundai dealerships.

As Hyundai sorts out its SUV strategy, its sales leader remains the Elantra compact sedan, up 41 percent to 148,879.

Tucson is next-bestseller, up 25 percent to 103,514.

Santa Fe is off 7 percent, to 88,969 and Sonata is down 24.8 percent, to 80,975.

9. Kia: 452,042, off 1.3 percent.

Sorento leads Kia sales, up 10.8 percent, to 85,692 through Q3.

Optima is off 5.7 percent, to 79,845.

Soul is off 14.2 percent, to 77,888.

Forte is off 18.7 percent, to 74,888.

Sportage is up 11.7 percent, to 62,272, and Niro is up 6.9 percent, to 22,100.

Kia has sold 12,999 Stingers year-to-date.

10. Volkswagen: 266,228, up 5.5 percent.

VW was off 4.8 percent for September.

Although Jetta led for September, the new Tiguan SUV has become VW’s sales leader in the first nine months, up 987.2 percent, to 67,232.

Jetta is down 32.8 percent, to 61,118. Golf is off 38.1 percent to 34,353.

Atlas is up 251.6 percent, to 43,002. Passat is down 33.8 percent, to 33,527.

Beetle, entering its final model year, is off 2.6 percent, to 12,150.

11. BMW Group: 259,258, up 1.7 percent.

BMW is up 2.2 percent, to 225,065, while Mini has slid 1.7 percent, to 34,193.

X3 leads BMW sales, up 30.2 percent, to 41,825.

Soon-to-be replaced 3 Series is down 19.6 percent, to 34,731. The 4 Series is off 22.5 percent, to 23,466.

The 5 Series is up 9.3 percent, to 31,181, and X5 is down 9 percent, to 31,120.

Mini Countryman is up 33.7 percent, to 14,142 and the Hardtop 2 Door is off 7.4 percent, to 7,320.

12. Mercedes-Benz USA: 254,366, off 5.8 percent.

Mercedes cars accounts for 225,384 off 7 percent. Vans are up 11.1 percent, to 28,023, and Smart languishes at 959 sold year-to-date, down 63.6 percent.

Mercedes GLC-Class sales account for nearly one-fifth of MBUSA sales, up 53.8 percent, to 50,585.

A car model is next; C-Class is down 28.3 percent, but still at 42,252.

GLE-Class is off 11.3 percent, to 34,617 and E-Class/CLS is down 12.3 percent, to 32,013.

S-Class is off 3.2 percent, to 10,334.

13. Mazda: 235,122, up 6.7 percent.

CX-5 is up 26.1 percent, to 116,728, year-to-date, and continues to outpace VW Atlas and (new) Tiguan sales combined. It has outsold the two Volkswagens by 6,494.

CX-3 is up 14.5 percent, to 13,715, and CX-9 is up 17.2 percent, to 21,184.

Mazda3 is off 14.7 percent, to 51,294.

MX-5 Miata is off 23.2 percent year-to-date, to 7,460. Combined sales with the Fiat 124 Spider is 10,375 for the first three quarters, off 22.5 percent.

14. Audi: 167,420, up 24.4 percent.

A computer glitch limited Audi’s sales information at press time.

15. Mitsubishi: 93,398, up 17.9 percent.

Outlander Sport sales totaled 31,407 for the three quarters, up 30.8 percent. Outlander is up 17.8 percent, to 30,810.

Mitsubishi has sold 3,050 Outlander PHEVs and 5,513 Eclipse Crosses for the year, so far.

16. Jaguar/Land Rover: 86,309, up 2 percent.

Land Rover is running plus-20 percent year-to-date, to 65,133, while Jaguar is off 30 percent, to 21,176.

Range Rover Sport sales are up 13 percent, to 17,321. The new Velar is Range Rover’s second-bestseller, at 12,761 delivered, so far.

F-Pace is Jaguar’s bestseller, though off 30 percent, to 10,088. Jaguar has sold 2,808 E-Paces, so far.

Jaguar XE is down 54 percent, to 3,381, and F-Type is down 43 percent, to 1,739.

17. Volvo: 73,929, up 29.8 percent.

Volvo splits its bestselling XC60 into two numbers; one for the old model and one for the new. But I’ll combine it here. It’s at 23,511 sold year-to-date, up 44.9 percent.

XC90 is up 15.9 percent, to 23,652.

S90 is up 2.5 percent, to 5,732; V90 is up 209.2 percent, to 371; and V90CC is up 12.3 percent, to 1,710.

18. Porsche: 42,626, up 3.4 percent.

Macan is the clear sales leader, up 11.6 percent, to 18,103.

The 911 is Porsche’s second-bestseller, up 7.4 percent, to 7,013.

Cayenne sales are down 29.6 percent, to 6,841.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

1. Mercedes-Benz 225,384 2. BMW 225,065 3. Lexus 213,622 4. Audi 167,420 5. Acura 114,483

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

1. Chevrolet Corvette 14,881 2. Chevrolet Volt 13,243 3. Chevrolet Bolt 11,807 4. Mazda Miata 7,460 5. Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 3,223

Midsize cars, YTD:

1. Toyota Camry 262,887 2. Honda Accord 215,299 3. IFTTT

[robertkstone]

2018 Motor Trend Car of the Year Introduction

The adage “May you live in interesting times” is both a a blessing and a curse. And its two-sides-of-the-coin quality rests on that key word, “interesting.” Not its simple meaning—like, it’s interesting to watch the Ken Burns’ documentary The War. Rather, it’s interesting like World War II itself—a global trauma that both tested civilization’s fabric and forged the greatest generation. Interesting times make for remarkable, jolting changes.

On a small scale, these past few years have been interesting times for the car, too. SUVs and crossovers are gobbling up car sales. Stiffening regulatory demands for better fuel economy are resulting in alien new power sources under their hoods—technologies unfathomable a few years back. And the developmental pace of semi-autonomous features are starting the slow process of disconnecting us from traditional 100 percent human control. It’s a slippery slope that ends in a pile of questions that begs the meaning of what is to be an automobile. Our old friends the sedan, the coupe, the station wagon, and the minivan—the familiar car variants that our mom and dad and their moms and dads had no trouble defining—are in the midst of a major identity crisis.

In response, lithium-ion batteries provide the sole power for a record four of our contenders (the Tesla Model 3, the Nissan Leaf, the Hyundai Ioniq EV, and the Smart Fortwo ED). The Model 3 and Leaf also offer startlingly progressive adaptive cruise control and lane-centering technologies. Then there are the hybrid Hyundai Ioniq and Kia Niro, plus the Prius Prime hybrid, which adds extra plug-in range. And several automakers have uncorked their design departments to shed their boring, steady-as-she-goes mantra—witness the retail giants Honda Accord and Toyota Camry and their go-for-it, attack-mode styling.

Don’t miss all the latest Car, Truck and SUV of the Year content at MotorTrendAwards.com!

That’s not to ignore the experimentation expressed elsewhere in our field of 26 models and 46 variations. There are the brain-boggling family features of the new Honda Odyssey, the cool performance-wagon interpretations from Audi and Mercedes-Benz, the sexy Alfa Romeo Giulia, the straight-off-the-autoshow-turntable Lexus LC, and the point-me-to-a-racetrack Civic Type R. Everywhere, explorations in the redefinition of the car.

The petri dish for all this mutation is a circle with its epicenter at Mojave, California. To its east is Hyundai’s test facility where—over seven days—our closed-course testing and subjective studies narrow the field to our eight finalists. Then we decamp to Tehachapi, west of Mojave, where over two more days, our 27-mile real-world loop funnels our hopefuls down to one. Every step of the way we remind ourselves of our competition’s six foundational criteria: Advancement in Design, Engineering Excellence, Performance of Intended Function, Efficiency, Safety, and Value.

But all rules are open to interpretation. One judge feels this car is a great value; another disagrees. Two judges gang up on another who views a certain car as a design advancement. “But it’s ugly!” “Are you sitting on your eyes?” Slowly some of us wish we could relocate from our original seat around the table where the debates rage on and on. But ultimately, editor-in-chief Ed Loh passes out small pieces of paper for us to submit our top three picks. He leaves the room for tabulation and returns with a surprised look and declares the winner. A quiet “Yes!” is exhaled by a few in the room. A few others drop their heads. But that’s democracy.

We’re living in interesting automotive times, and the Motor Trend Car of the Year competition gives all of us a ringside seat.

Picking the Motor Trend Car of the Year is a sprawling, complicated process. And as most of us are generalist automotive writers, the program has come to incorporate some expert insights in the form of our two guest judges, Tom Gale (design; for example, the Dodge Viper) and Chris Theodore (engineering; the original Ford GT).

For instance, first thing on one of the days, Tom arranges all of the cars into groups on the asphalt expanse of the Hyundai facility’s vehicle dynamics area, angling them such that the sunrise caresses their flanks just so. Group by group, he talks us through their surfacing (and explains what a “horizon line” means). This fascinating chat ought to be worth a few class credits at the ArtCenter School of Design. Meanwhile, Chris is popping open hoods or pointing out the manufacturing challenges in making body panels.

But on the days leading up to this, the VDA is the domain of three vehicle dynamics specialists: road test editor Chris Walton, associate road test editor Erick Ayapana, and me. To begin, Ayapana coordinates the check-in process: documenting vehicle-loan logistics, torqueing lug nuts, adjusting tire pressures, and weighing every one of 46 vehicle variants we were to test. All told, we faced 920 lug nuts and 184 tire pressure checks.

Once the cars are processed, Chris and I head to the VDA to share figure-eight duties, obtaining lap times and maximum lateral accelerations. On the nearby straight stability area, Walton and Ayapana run all the acceleration and braking tests. That comes to 184 quarter-mile runs and brake stops and 276 figure-eight laps (that’s 82 miles worth of figure eights).

Like Gale’s judgments on design and Theodore’s on engineering, this enormous testing regimen offers a focused quantification of each vehicle’s dynamic differences. It’s a comparative baseline for the rest of the judges as they later spread out onto the facility’s high-speed oval (to check stability and wind noise), winding road handling course, various dedicated ride-quality surfaces, and then our all-encompassing real-world loops in nearby Tehachapi.

Once the track testing was complete and our finalists decided, we took 11 cars forward to tackle the real-world road loop in Tehachapi, California. This 27.6-mile mix of highway, city, and tight canyon roads starts in Tehachapi before climbing a mountain pass. The route snakes back toward State Route 58 via a two-lane country road. Judges pay attention to road and wind noise, steering response, and ride quality. They also test audio, climate, and driver-assistance systems.

1. Tehachapi Boulevard

Low-speed stop-start driving tests transmission calibration, throttle and brake tip-in, low-speed ride, and visibility.

2. Tehachapi–Willow Springs Road

Broken pavement tests tire noise suppression and whether NVH is transmitted into the body structure.

3. Tehachapi–Willow Springs Road summit

A sustained climb tests torque and transmission response; a sustained descent tests cruise-control effectiveness.

4. Cameron Road

A canyon road with mid-corner elevation changes induces major transient loads, ideal for testing steering, chassis balance, and body control.

5. Rail Crossing 1

A sharp bump at 10 mph tests the suspension effectiveness.

6. Freeway

Patched and broken concrete induces tire noise and high-frequency vibrations. Smooth asphalt tests ride quality in a commuting situation. The freeway stretch also allows for testing of cruise control, passive and active safety systems, semi-autonomous driving, and passing power.

7. Rail Crossing 2

An angled crossing induces twisting loads for a good assessment of chassis rigidity.

The post 2018 Motor Trend Car of the Year Introduction appeared first on Motor Trend.

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[buildercar]

New Post has been published on http://www.buildercar.com/july-2017-auto-sales-a-slow-slide-as-expected/

July 2017 Auto Sales: A Slow Slide, As Expected

Hand-wringing and hype mark the two sides of the July auto sales coin, as they have pretty much since it became clear the U.S. market would start to retrench a bit after the back-to-back 17.5-million-unit years of 2015 and 2016.

By midday, while compiling these numbers for your perusal, analysts were estimating July 2017’s seasonally adjusted annual rate was 16.8-million, with incentives down slightly for the month.

Of the top four automakers in the U.S., General Motors, Ford Motor Company and FiatChrysler all were down heavily, while Toyota Motor Sales’ numbers rose slightly. Toyota sold 7,787 more vehicles in July ’17 than in July ’16 to pass Ford as the second-largest automaker in the U.S. The Toyota RAV4’s sales were up by 9,122.

The Detroit automakers are facing growing inventories of unsold models, especially GM, which is stocking up on full-size pickup trucks in anticipation of having to shut down and retool for all-new 2019 Chevrolet Silverados and GMC Sierras.

Pickup truck profit margins are so high that the Detroit Three can make lots of money off them, even with aggressive incentives. And they help drive up average transaction prices (ATPs), especially as suburban cowboys continue to buy nicely equipped models.

According to Kelly Blue Book/kbb.com’s Monthly Auto Sales Profile, released Tuesday morning, GM’s ATP for its four U.S. brands was $39,274 — though down 2.3 percent from July ’16, up 0.4 percent over June ’17. Ford’s $38,445 was +2.4 percent/-0.7 percent, and FiatChrysler’s $36,834 was $36,834, +3.5 percent/-0.8 percent.

Toyota’s ATP (Toyota and Lexus) was just $31,217, -0.1 percent/-0.7 percent, American Honda’s (Honda and Acura) was $27,650, +1.6 percent/0.1 percent, KBB says, and Nissan North America’s (Nissan, Infiniti) ATP was $28,421, +3.3 percent/+1 percent.

Having shed many brands and such labor costs as the United Auto Worker’s job bank, and pension and health care costs, the Detroit Three, especially GM, are in better shape operating as stripped-down companies. Before it released falling sales data Tuesday morning, GM announced it had closed the sale of Opel and Vauxhall to PSA Group/Peugeot/Citroen. Its goal now is not to reclaim global sales leadership from Toyota and Volkswagen AG, but to remain profitable as it gets even smaller in anticipation of a transformation in the number of and manner in which we buy cars and trucks in the future.

And so, to the numbers …

1. General Motors: 226,107, off 15.4 percent.

Chevrolet slid 15.3 percent to 151,502; GMC was off 7.3 percent to 47,412; Buick plummeted 30.5 percent to 15,966 and Cadillac lost 21.7 percent, to 11,227.

Chevy Silverado was down 15.1 percent, to 45,966 and GMC Sierra was off 11 percent, to 19,963, though Chevy Colorado sales jumped 21.9 percent, to 11,206. GMC Canyon was down 21.8 percent to 2,761. Big truck sales totaled 65,929, and the midsize pickups added up to 13,967.

Chevy Equinox was up 2.5 percent, to 23,524 and Malibu was off 10.8 percent, to 10,549. Cruze also slid, 10.5 percent, to 12,278.

Corvette was off 10.6 percent, to 1,930, as Chevy sold 1,971 Bolts, and 1,518 Volts, the latter off 36.9 percent.

GMC Yukon sales fell 6.6 percent, to 4,370, Yukon XL was off 5.3 percent, to 2,780 and Acadia was up 30.3 percent, to 9,722.

Buick’s new Chinese-built Envision compact SUV was the brand’s only gainer, up 97.9 percent, to 2,812. Encore was off 6.3 percent, to 6,488.

Although it’s a new model, the Buick LaCrosse plummeted 56.4 percent, to 1,028.

At Cadillac, gainers were XT5, up 11.2 percent to 5,504, Escalade, up 2.6 percent to 1,748 and CT6, up 7.6 percent to 890.

Cadillac ATS was down 63.3 percent, to 777 and CTS was down 40.1 percent, to 786, amid news the two cars would be combined into one CT5 sedan in the future. Escalade ESV was off 17.1 percent, to 978.

2. Toyota Motor Sales: 222,057, up 3.6 percent.

Both the Toyota and Lexus divisions were up 3.6 percent, with Toyota at 193,155 and Lexus at 28,902.

RAV4 was up 36.6 percent, to 41,804, to sail past Nissan Rogue, Honda CR-V, and Toyota’s own Camry, off 0.9 percent to 33,827, and Corolla, off 15 percent, to 28,333.

Prius sales fell 26.1 percent, to 9,384.

Toyota 86 sales were off 4 percent, to 655.

Highlander sales rose 25 percent, to 19,017 for its best July, and 4Runner was up 2.9 percent, to 9,874.

Tacoma was up 4.8 percent, to 17,372 while Tundra ticked up 0.7 percent, to 10,546.

Lexus NX also had its best July, up 15.3 percent, to 5,406. RX was up 13 percent, to 9,632.

Lexus ES sales rose 20.8 percent, to 6,641 as IS dropped by 29.4 percent, to 2,443.

3. Ford Motor Company: 200,212, off 7.5 percent.

F-Series totaled 69,467, up 5.8 percent. Ford has sold 499,327 F-Series so far this year, up 8.3 percent over ’16 year-to-date.

In Pony Car Wars, Mustang dropped by 35.1 percent, to 6,206, while Dodge Challenger was off 5 percent, to 5,333, though it still leads Chevy Camaro, off 14.6 percent, to 4,713.

Escape was up 5.5 percent, to 27,716 and Fusion plummeted 42.2 percent, to 13,886.

Explorer was up 12.9 percent, to 18,763, with the Explorer-based Police Interceptor Utility up 7.3 percent, to 2,766.

Focus was up 18.1 percent, to 16,505, and Fiesta, likely on the chopping block for the U.S. market, was off 12.5 percent, to 3,582.

Ford accounted for 191,337 units, off 7.7 percent, while Lincoln sold 8,875, off 2.5 percent.

MKX was Lincoln’s bestseller, off 8.8 percent, to 2,422.

MKC was off 0.4 percent, to 2,129.

MKZ dropped by 19.2 percent, to 2,399.

Lincoln sold 958 Continentals, topping Cadillac CT6 by 68 units

4. FiatChrysler: 161,447, off 10 percent.

Jeep was off 12 percent, to 69,351, but last month the outgoing steel-bodied model of the Wrangler was not the culprit. Wrangler sales ticked up by 36 units (0 percent) to 18,698. Grand Cherokee had its best July since 2005, at 19,024, up 14 percent, and the new Compass was up 8 percent, to 7,528.

Compass may have cannibalized Jeep Cherokee sales, however, which fell 23 percent, to 11,818. Renegade was off 12 percent, to 8,858, and the discontinued Patriot dropped 70 percent, to 3,425.

Ram brand was up by 33 units (0 percent), to 44,090, with the pickup off 101 units (0 percent), to 39,708. ProMaster City had its best July, at 1,347, up 13 percent.

Dodge Charger was up 9 percent, to 5,426, and Viper, which discontinues production this month, was up 14 percent, to 56.

Dodge Charger was up 9 percent, to 5,426, and Journey was up 7 percent, to 6,800.

Chrysler Pacifica had its best July, at 8,288, up 5 percent, though Dodge Caravan sales dropped 25 percent, to 7,503. Chrysler 300 was up 31 percent, to 3,090.

Fiat lost 18 percent, to 2,244, with 500 off 6 percent, to 1,026, 500L down 24 percent, to 171 and 500X sliding 37 percent, to 597.

The Fiat 124 Spider was off 30 units, to 450.

Alfa Romeo was up, predictably, by 2,749 percent, to 1,225. The brand sold 1,104 Giulias and 99 Stelvios. The 4c was off 49 percent, to 22.

5. American Honda, 150,980, off 1.2 percent.

Honda division was off 1.7 percent, to 136,803 and Acura was up 3.7 percent, to 14,177.

Civic led, up 11.3 percent to 36,683, with CR-V off 11.8 percent, to 31,761 and Accord off 3.3 percent, to 30,903.

HR-V sales rose 32.3 percent, to 9,779, while Pilot dropped by 3.5 percent, to 9,985.

Odyssey was off 9.7 percent, to 10,134, and Ridgeline was down 26.5 percent, to 2,586.

Acura RDX had a banner month, up 28.2 percent, to 5,539, to carry the division and stanch overall Honda sales. MDX slid 3.6 percent, to 4,727. TLX dropped by 20.1 percent, to 2,495. NSX rose 42.9 percent, to 30.

6. Nissan Group: 128,295, off 3.2 percent.

Nissan division was off 4.1 percent, to 117,455, while Infiniti jumped 9 percent, to 10,840.

Rogue remains the brand’s bestseller, but it dropped by 2.6 percent last month, to 32,425.

Altima sales fell 10.6 percent, to 22,314 and Sentra was up 1 percent, to 18,724.

With a new model on the way, Nissan’s Leaf EV jumped 20.7 percent, to 1,283.

Pathfinder was off 8.4 percent, to 5,066, though Murano ticked up by 0.7 percent, to 6,314. NV200 had its best July, up 9.8 percent, to 1,625.

QX60 was Infiniti’s bestseller, off 5.3 percent, to 3,505. Q50 was next, off 7.5 percent, to 2,596. The premium brand sold 729 QX30s.

7. Kia: 56,403, off 5.9 percent.

Soul, off 1.5 percent to 12,961, was bestseller. Forte was closely behind, up 16.7 percent, to 12,022.

Sorento was off 1.2 percent, to 9,734.

Optima dropped 18.9 percent, to 7,933. Sportage sales fell 12 percent, to 7,135.

Kia sold 2,753 Niros, more than twice the number of its electrified vehicle platform sibling, the Hyundai Ioniq.

8. Subaru: 55,703, up 6.9 percent.

Though Hyundai leads Subaru by 40,110 for the first seven months of ’17, Subaru is ahead of Kia by 8,374 units for the same time period. Subaru says last month was its best July ever, marking 68 consecutive months of growth.

If you think you’ve seen a lot of Outbacks in your neighborhood lately, yes, you have. Sales were up 19.6 percent, to 17,581. Legacy dropped by 27.4 percent, to 3,785.

Forester ticked up by 2.9 percent, to 15,283. Crosstrek, just short of its replacement model, was off 6 percent, to 7,972.

Impreza was up 49.6 percent, to 7,777, but WRX/STI dropped by 10.8 percent, to 2,933.

BRZ was up 5.4 percent, to 372. Combined sales with Toyota 86 totaled 1,027, off 0.8 percent.

9. Hyundai: 54,063, off 28 percent.

Last year’s sales of 75,003 was Hyundai’s best ever July, the automaker says.

Elantra was off 35.6 percent, to 13,287, and Santa Fe sales fell 11.1 percent, to 12,749.

Tucson dropped by 45.7 percent, to 11,257 and Sonata plummeted 48.4 percent, to 10,648.

The only bright spots were the new Hyundai Ioniq, of which 1,252 were sold, and the Genesis G90, which was up 156 percent to 305, compared with last year’s Hyundai Equus. Genesis also sold 1,339 G80s, versus 47 Hyundai Genesises (Genesii?) this July and 2,117 Genesii last July. Genesis brand sold 1,644 last month.

10. Mercedes-Benz USA: 28,849, off 10.7 percent.

The Mercedes brand was off 9.2 percent, to 25,909, while vans fell 15.7 percent, to 2,758 and Smart plummeted 63.1 percent, to 182.

Benz’s car models took big hits, but the C-Class was still its bestseller, at 4,899, off 22.3 percent. GLC was up 17.3 percent, to 4,002.

E-Class/CLS was off 25.8 percent, to 3,876 and GLE was off 12.1 percent, to 3,879.

S-Class fell 17.6 percent, to 1,470. CLA-Class slipped 4.5 percent, to 2,181.

11. Volkswagen: 27,091, off 5.8 percent.

Even 1,306 Atlas and 593 new Tiguan SUVs trickling through dealerships early in their production runs wasn’t enough to put VW in positive territory.

Jetta sales fell 3.5 percent, to 11,053. Golf sales rose, though, by 4.3 percent, to 5,583. Beetle was down 11.1 percent, to 1,359.

Passat plummeted 21.5 percent, to 5,143 and the old Tiguan fell 56.1 percent to 1,484.

12. Mazda: 27,089, off 3 percent.

Three more Miatas, for an even 1,000, would have pushed Mazda ahead of VW for the month. Where were you, people?

Mazda sold 11,402 CX-5s, up 5.3 percent.

CX-9 was up 3.3 percent, to 2,318, and CX-3 was off 1.2 percent, to 1,481.

Mazda3 was off 8.6 percent, to 7,407, and Mazda6 was off 19.8 percent, to 3,462.

MX-5 Miata had a good month anyway, thanks in part to sales of the new RF, at 997, up 13.2 percent. Combined sales with the Fiat 124 Spider totaled 1,447, up 6.3 percent.

13. BMW Group: 26,363, off 13.7 percent.

BMW dropped 14.8 percent, to 21,695 and Mini was off 7.9 percent, to 4,398.

The 3 Series continues to slide, off 39.9 percent, to 4,084 as its two- and four-door coupe companion model, the 4 Series, rose 31.3 percent, to 2,866.

The new 5 Series rose 12.4 percent, to 3,713. The 2 Series dropped by 22.1 percent, to 1,331. X1 was down 14.4 percent, to 1,824.

On the SUV side, X5 was up 8.8 percent, to 2,986, and X3 was off 0.8 percent, to 2,657.

Mini’s 2 Door was off 1 percent, to 808 and the 4 Door fell 40.4 percent, to 551.

Countryman sales rose 2.8 percent, to 1,462, while Clubman slipped 0.5 percent, to 1,071.

14. Audi: 18,824, up 2.5 percent.

Audi says the new Sportback, Cabriolet and coupe versions of the A5 pushed sales up 203 percent, to 2,255.

Sales of the $50,000-plus Q7 continue to impress, up 44 percent, to 3,334.

Q5 remains Audi’s bestseller, though off 15 percent, to 4,116. A4 was up 1.5 percent, to 2,652.

Audi sold 2,300 A3s, off 24 percent, and 218 A3 e-trons, off 38 percent.

TT sales slipped 14 percent, to 181 and R8 was off 17 percent, to 73.

15. Jaguar/Land Rover: 9,081, off 4 percent.

Land Rover dropped by 2.6 percent, to 5,915 compared with its best July, last year.

Jaguar was off 7 percent, to 3,166.

Range Rover was up 21 percent, to 1,414, and Discovery Sport was up 9 percent, to 1,272.

F-Pace remains the bestselling Jaguar, at 1,748 units.

16. Mitsubishi: 8,025, up 1.7 percent.

Outlander carried the month with its best July ever, at 2,530, up 29.6 percent.

Mirage also was up, by 21.9 percent, to 1,560.

Outlander Sport remained the brand’s bestseller, but was off 17.9 percent, to 2,910.

Lancer slid 6.2 percent, to 1,025.

17. Volvo: 6,967, off 18.8 percent.

First month for the new XC60. Volvo sold 855 in the U.S., plus 1,329 of the old XC60s, off 36.6 percent.

Though short on supply this year, the XC90 remained Volvo’s bestseller, off 12.7 percent to 2,521.

S90 sales rose 230.1 percent, to 855. Volvo sold 47 V90s and 176 V90 CCs.

18. Porsche: 3,901, up 0.6 percent.

The new Panamera was up by 49.1 percent, to 510. Bestseller was Macan, up 71.9 percent, to 1,600.

Porsche sold 873 Cayennes, but that was off 18.2 percent.

The 911 was down 27.2 percent, to 587. Boxster/Cayman sales fell 54.8 percent, to 331.

Luxury/Premium Brands, YTD:

Mercedes-Benz 187,869

BMW 171,051

Lexus 162,662

Audi 121,795

Infiniti 89,983

Sports Cars and EVs, YTD:

Chevrolet Corvette 15,637

Chevrolet Volt 12,450

Chevrolet Bolt 9,563

Nissan Leaf 8,531

Mazda Miata 7,970

Toyota 86/Scion FR-S 4,391

Midsize cars, YTD:

Toyota Camry 210,724

Honda Accord 190,994

Nissan Altima 168,598

Ford Fusion 121,111

Chevrolet Malibu 94,448

Compact CUVs, YTD:

Nissan Rogue 228,114

Toyota RAV4 226,570

Honda CR-V 219,017

Ford Escape 184,672

Chevrolet Equinox 156,978

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Porsche GT Boss Andreas Preuninger on the GT3, PDK vs. Manual, and His Love of Alcantara

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As high-level automotive engineers and executives go, Porsche GT project director Andreas Preuninger is one of the most forthcoming and affable interviews around. Not content simply to give an answer, he’ll wander off script and let the pitch of his voice change to emphasize the good bits. Of course, coming from the guy responsible for the development of some of the most impressive and highly sought-after performance vehicles in the world, they’re almost all good bits. We caught up with him earlier this year, at the 2017 New York auto show.

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Car and Driver: Your first car was a Volkswagen Scirocco, followed by other VWs that you modified. Do those experiences inform the decisions or processes you use today to develop Porsches?

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Andreas Preuninger: Subconsciously, very much. At the age of 18, I had a Mark 1 [Volkswagen] Scirocco 1600 with a five-speed manual, and at that time [mine] was a quick car with an eight-second zero-to-60-mph time, and it was light and nimble with a sleek profile. I had this thing of getting the weight out, and I was always experimenting with wheels and tires and lowering, which served as my first experiences of how small changes can affect how a suspension and even aerodynamics work. Later, I moved on to the Mark 2 16-valve, but really it was kids’ games. When these cars could no longer feed my need for excitement, I moved on to a turbocharged four-wheel-drive [Lancia] Delta Integrale rally car, which had turbo lag like the Grand Canyon but was so much fun. But here is the point: It had an Alcantara interior, and this was at the end of the ’80s. I loved the Alcantara so much, it made me introduce it in the 996 GT3 RS for the first time a couple of decades later, because I remembered how good that felt, and it wasn’t [widely] introduced in the contemporary automotive realm. We did it on the steering wheel and expanded it to the whole cabin in the first-gen GT3.

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C/D: So, the quest for power has been on an upward slope since then.

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AP: In general, I always liked things that were a little bit overpowered, because this is what keeps a mechanical instrument challenging. It always has to have a little bit more power than you can handle, so it never gets boring. So naturally I was drawn to GT development at Porsche. The first-generation 996 GT3 was already in the works when I came on the team, but I was fascinated by this powerful, high-revving flat-six motor and kept developing it. The car you see today [the 2018 911 GT3 on the Porsche stand] is, I think, my 15th car, my 15th baby.

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C/D: Speaking of high-revving engines, let’s talk about the changes to the valvetrain in the new GT3 4.0-liter. I understand it has been revised for simplicity.

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AP: Yes. Because I believe in KISS [Keep It Simple, Stupid—although we could totally see Andreas rocking out to “Detroit Rock City”—Ed.] because then it lasts, it’s easy to maintain, it’s lightweight. The reason we decided to take away the hydraulic valve adjusters was to make the engine more efficient. [Previous hydraulic designs] call for a lot of oil pressure and volume to keep them operating, which means you have to drive the oil pump harder. By taking them out, you can lower the spring rate of the valve springs, which results in less friction and makes the camshaft easier to turn. That, in turn, means less internal resistance, which results in less energy needed to turn the crankshaft. And that frees another fraction of horsepower, about 5 to 8 horsepower gained by leaving things out in this case. It also means a lot less oil that needs to come through the motor in comparison to the Gen 1 4.0-liter; and the oiling system has been revised accordingly. It helps that the new oils we’ve developed with the oil industry are very stable.

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C/D: I understand that the manual-transmission GT3 uses a dual-mass flywheel.

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AP: Yes, a dual-mass flywheel on the manual transmission. We had it on the 911 R as well, but you could opt for a single-mass flywheel, which most everyone did. But in the new 4.0-liter we have a different crankshaft, and it is stiffer because the main bearings are larger in diameter, which increases rotational inertia. A single-mass flywheel will fit, but we found out it hurts the main bearings. And all the people working at shops who have the great idea to fit a single-mass flywheel to the car? Don’t. It will void the warranty. But the car doesn’t need it; it revs so explosively, the 4.0-liter is such a cracker of an engine, that it doesn’t miss it.

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C/D: If you were putting your own money down, would you get a PDK (dual-clutch automatic) or a manual?

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AP: That is a very good question. My attitude changes almost daily. I’m driving a dark gray PDK GT3 second-gen at the moment, and I have a Guards Red with manual as well. I’m really happy I don’t have to make this decision. I think track-oriented people should go PDK, but for the driver who really likes to think, be challenged, and wants to be an integral part of the drivetrain, the manual provides a very satisfying experience. Those who spend a lot of time in traffic will like the PDK, too. Even though the GT3 clutch is lighter, the PDK is easier in traffic.

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C/D: The PDK is faster, too, right?

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AP: Not as much as many people would think. The launch, definitely. But who is launching this car on a regular basis? It’s your driveshaft and tires. Do you want to replace them every other week? And if the car is in gear, and you are side by side with a PDK driver—I don’t just believe in numbers, I want to see it—rolling at, say, 20 mph and you’re good with a manual, which is 17 kilos [37 pounds] lighter,  you won’t see that much of a lead from the PDK car until about 160 mph.

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C/D: What do you think the take rate will be?

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AP: We think it will be around 35/65 percent manual/PDK. But it’s hard to tell because currently only the PDK is on sale. We have many bets going inside the company. I don’t envy the people who have to make that calculation.

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C/D: What’s the latest on the return of the GT2?

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AP: Expect to hear from us this year.

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C/D: Now that the 918 Spyder has set new standards for a hybrid vehicle, where do you go to top that?

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AP: Personally, I’m an old-school guy, but I love the 918 Spyder. It has given me one of the most intense driving sensations since the Carrera GT. I love to speed between villages and then put it in E and whistle through the town with no one yelling at you. It’s as fierce as it can get. To top it, I don’t know, but that’s hypothetical, as we don’t currently have any new hypercar in development—that we are openly discussing. That said, would it make sense to do another hybrid? As Porsche, we need to be the leaders of any movement, and that is why we are doing the [Mission E] electric car. As a company, we have to do it [EV and hybrids], but maybe it doesn’t make sense to do it on a GT level. Not yet. If someone decides all motorsport would be all hybrid in the future, different story.

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I take my hat off to the new Acura NSX; how they did it is very clever. But that is a sports car. A GT car is a very different thing.

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C/D: Everyone wants to know—do you still have a Hemi-powered Ram pickup?

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AP: I do, but it’s in the shop right now getting modified: a new bike rack for the top, new exhaust, new 22-inch SRT Viper wheels. And it’s lifted; I mean, you can’t get more attention in a town like Weissach, where every other car is a GT3 or a turbo, than with a big yellow truck. My wife loves it! She’s not into cars, but she loves it dearly because it’s so different.

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C/D: Clearly your passion for performance is wide-ranging.

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AP: I’m a freak for dirt bikes—I have a couple of KTMs—and I need the truck to transport them to tracks or deserted farmland. I watch these videos of guys dirt biking in America and people shooting [firearms], and, well, there are so many incentives to come to America.

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