babyGS3

At the dealership, we call the X6 the "I got more money than you do" car.

cmon.. ~$70,000.00 4 passenger coupe SUV/grocery getter?

Nope.. gimme x5 or even the dinky x3 and I'll be happy.
sure the x6 is nicely appointed, handles nice..love it or hate it style...but utility is not its main selling point. Style and handling yes.

babyGS3

huh? what are you guys talking about? Is this one of those things that happened before my time?

sdbrandon

last I checked the X6 starts at $52k, has more standard features than a loaded X3 at $46k, and rides a hell of a lot better. But you you can get the V8 turbo nicely equipped for $70k if that floats your boat. But comparing it to an X3 is rediculous because the X3 was made with old technology. the new X3 with updated electronics will easily be $50-60k.

Jujharoo

clear tails
UGH

JHStrange

One more observation. We're starting to see cars with faux winglets just ahead of the front tires or in the little grills on either side of the main grill placed down low. A racing addition to trim the balance of the big rear wing. The front splitter is also a bad addition, think running into curbs; many drivers park with the front end overhanging the sidewalk at the store.

Och

iTrader: (3)

Yep, my old Dodge truck has a floor mounted high-low switch. Its a pain in the ***, I keep resting my size 14's on it and accidentally flipping it on and off constantly, lol.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I haven't tried it yet but with the amount of complaints I hear, the i-drive seems to be one of the most controversial interior design elements of cars today.
I guess trying to turn this **** to search for your functions while keeping your eyes on the road would be problematic.

Lil4X

Passenger cars had headlight beam switches on the floor for many years, and they continued on trucks until just recently. Of course there used to be other buttons on the floor too - for one, the starter switch. As late as the late '40's, it was located on the floor because it was a high-current spring-loaded button that stuck up about three inches from the floor - about the size of a small frozen orange juice can covered in a rubber bellows. Heavy gauge wiring made it necessary to be located as close to the starter as possible. You turned the ignition key in the dash, then stepped on the starter usually located to the right of the gas pedal. I drove a few old Ford and Chevy pickups with this feature in the early '50's. Because cars and trucks in those days had manual chokes and throttles on the dash, you didn't have to dance between the accelerator pedal and the starter to choke, prime, and jockey the throttle when starting. It was a different world.

Then there was the radio "seek" button. Both high end GM and Chrysler products had a "signal seeking" radio (AM only) that in addition to the regular ***** and push-buttons on the dash sported a switch similar to the dimmer switch, located on the floor usually just to the right of the dimmer. Floor mats would usually cover it up so you faced the very real possibility of impressing your date by changing the radio station when involved in a moment of passion.

Finally around the late '60's and early ''70's some European cars had the windshield washer and intermittent wiper switch located on a little pedal where the dimmer switch would be on an older American car. Actually, it was quite handy on my Opel. Press the pedal and the wipers would activate for one stroke. You learned to touch and hold the pedal when following another vehicle in rain and spray. To get a squirt of water from the washers, you just pressed a little harder to squeeze a rubber bulb that served as the pump.

Following another car though a curve on a wet country road, you could downshift to third on the overrun, blip the throttle with a dab of clutch, then shift to second and brush the wiper pedal on your way off the clutch to clear the windscreen as you exited the corner in a nice 4-wheel drift to position yourself alongside your victim. Simple and elegant. It was one of those deft maneuvers you practiced so you could look cool at the proper time. Sadly there is a generation or two that will never know that skill in an age of automatic transmissions and rain-sensing wipers.

Koma

iTrader: (3)

The winglets you see on cars like the STI and GT-R? What other cars have them, I haven't noticed.

JHStrange

What caught my eye, aside from the Nurburgring LF-A, was the new Jaguar XF. They're chrome accents but give me the impression of winglets.

Habious

Seconded!

Or, at the very least, do away with the 2-position High-Low switch.

My old 1970 Volvo had the Hi-Beam switch on the turn signal stalk but, it was an alternate action switch. Pull it once, goes to Hi Beams, pull it again, back to the lows but, here's the key....the stalk was always in the SAME PLACE!

I don't like the fact that the darn thing moves to a new location when I go to switch it! When I'm driving around the twisty bits, I don't want to have to fumble for the stalk that's one inch further from the steering where than it was a moment ago!

chrisyano

Not a big fan of the fake hood scoops that Toyota is using on their "sport" versions of vehicles like the Tacoma and 4Runner. They look OK, but when I was considering a 4Runner I wanted to get the sport package and then replace the hood with a regular one.

LexFather

While I do understand where BMw is trying to go with it, every review has said
-wow what an engine
-handles well for what it is
-we don't know what it is
-its ugly as sin
-its expensive, a gas hog and ugly as sin

BMW can sell it b/c its a BMW. I dare anyone else to try that stunt. The thing weighs over 5000 lbs, wtf is sporty about that, as well as it being on high-heels?

Its an "image" vehicle nothing more, nothing else.

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

I would buy the hybrid that's supposed to come out or V8 twin turbo if I could afford it. It's pointless, retarded powerful, has no trunk space, only seats 4 (rear bucket seats!), has 315width tires, but cool to me!

but then again, with that much money, id rather buy a Touareg.

Lil4X

Ford had the first 2 position hi-low beam switch (like Lexus/Toyota) that I had come across back in 1990. It was an age of experimentation with control locations, and I found myself the guinea pig.

I landed at LAX and picked up my rental car (a T-bird, I think) about 10 pm and headed for Mojave and a series of meetings the next morning. Headed out of the lot, I got caught up in traffic, still not having found the light switch - and drove up the 405 tugging on the turn signal lever to illuminate the road ahead. I must have gotten as far as Mission Hills before I could get off the freeway and rummage through the glove compartment for the owner's manual.

I'd done the same thing a few months earlier with a Mitsu Vista van in New Orleans, when I went plunging out of the parking lot in my rental to discover I was in total darkness beyond the perimeter of the lot with no idea where the light switch was while being swept along Airline Hwy.

An old fighter jock buddy once told me you haven't been truly lost until you've been lost at Mach 2. Somehow I can relate. I now take the time to find all the appropriate switches before moving off the lot in a strange car. After all, how many times can you wash the windshield while flashing the high beams and NOT be pulled over on suspicion of DUI?