Apply that logic to bicycles and modern internet "car enthusiasts" will howl for your blood. Apply it to racetracks and you're OK apparently?
Veloster is mine! I am also a supremely stupid buyer, as I didn't realize until I got it home that it was running wicked rich. Like, if this was an emissions state, it would fail before they even hooked it up. Still runs like a dream. The good news is, black smoke indicates a nonfatal problem. The bad news is, I hope this is just a sensor gone dopey because I'd not like to spend a would-be day off crying over a wiring diagram and a multimeter.
Congratulations! Just don't let it run rich forever as it can cause damage to the cat and mess up your spark plugs. --- Post updated --- I found this website with common fixes for Velosters running too rich: https://www.700r4transmissionhq.com/p0172-hyundai-veloster/ Hopefully you will find it useful.
Apparently, I found out after posting that, they pretty much all do that from brand new. Not the only GDI engine to do that, either, in case you were wondering why Europe now requires particulate filters for gasoline cars. Welcome to the 21st century, where a FWD compact can't have a V6 anymore because something something fuel economy something emissions, but a 1600cc I4 can straight up roll coal from the factory and still be certified for sale. Apparently some of the Veloster people have used some kind of oil catch can along with slightly longer exhaust tips to keep the soot under control, so now I guess I know what my first mods are going to be. In a way, I'm kind of sad that I never got to do anything with the Escort, but it was probably too rusty to save even before I got it. But I still have that Sunbird, and soon enough I might have the money to bring it back.
Continuing my thread takeover with horrible potatophone pics of the Veloster that look like an oil painting effect was applied: Apparently the GDI fouling can actually cause engine damage, so I'll probably have to get it cleaned out... at great expense. As for mods, it's likely the first two are going to be PCV catch cans to stop the soot, and slightly longer exhaust tips for the same reason. It needs a louder muffler (stock is too quiet and you have to turn the radio way down to hear your engine), it's going to get at least a decent air filter (first car I've ever had that's been worthy of a real performance air filter and not a genero-brand cheapie), possibly a carbon-fiber hood (would be painted) at some point because the stock one is idiotically heavy and also full of rusty rock chips. As revealed by a very spirited run up a very rough local mountain pass, the suspension feels very discombobulated over extreme rough surfaces, as if the rear of the body is moving laterally relative to the suspension and the car itself wants to skitter sideways over midcorner bumps, so that will need attention at some point, but probably later on as stock is 100% fine for any driving that doesn't approximate a tarmac rally stage and I don't have the money for really good aftermarket suspension. There's a whole ton of carbon-fiber rice for this car, which I will probably avail myself of at some point, but again, money.
I've got a theory on why Cadillac isn't getting its act together when it comes to making a flagship. The reason may be that it would not be that much more profitable than the Escalade. The Escalade is a rather high-margin vehicle, because it shares many elements with the other fullsize SUVs, as well as GM trucks. This means that the development cost per unit is rather low, and the production cost of these components probably isn't too high either. Making that flagship would be a completely different story. GM would have to make a new platform and drivetrain for it in order to play with the big boys. Unfortunately, there isn't really any mass-market use for that, so there would be fewer units to spread the dev costs between, which means a higher cost per unit, probably not making the profit per unit much higher than in an Escalade. What's more, GM may lack the high-end car capabilities necessary for making that competitive, and the production of such a car may have a negative impact on the sales of high-trim Escalades, which would make a flagship Cadillac even riskier. What do you think?
It's possible, but it's also possible that playing it safe like this is eventually going to kill Cadillac. Trying to copy the Germans note for note, with a me-too "sporty" label (V-series, which has about a tenth of the meaning of M or AMG) and incomprehensible alphabet soup names, hasn't worked, and it's pushed Cadillac downmarket from where it once was, in the process leaving no real room for Buick to differentiate its passenger cars from Chevrolet or its SUVs from GMC. If it were my decision, Cadillac would abandon German-chasing and go after players like Bentley and Rolls-Royce, leaving Buick free to be the German-fighter. With the exception of the Cadillac Escalade, both brands would be 100% passenger car, with nothing else in the light-truck category; those would instead be handled by GMC, which would be between the two but probably closer to Buick than Cadillac in terms of pricing and positioning. Chevrolet would continue its current position as the genero brand that exists to sell as many cars in as many markets as possible. Bringing back Pontiac to be Buick's opposite number, sporty rather than luxurious, would be a possibility. In all cases, Nordic alphabet soup is a no-no; cars have names rather than numbers.
They have nowhere near the clout that these brands have, and it's been the case since at least the 1940s. Similarly, Buick hasn't been considered a luxury brand for decades. Also, numeric Cadillacs have a long tradition - Series 62, Sixty Special, V16, V12, Series 75...
The new names have nothing in common with the old ones and are obviously just being used to rip off the Germans. They change so often, at this point, that I honestly have no idea what Cadillac even makes anymore, nor do I particularly care. I don't think it's any coincidence that the best-selling Cadillac is the only one with an actual name.
I hate to break it to you, but that would be a bad idea. Rolls-Royce and Bentley are some very expensive vehicles that really only cater to the richest of people, their MSRPs can hit the $300,000+ mark, while several Cadillac MSRPs fall under $100,000, some even bellow $50,000. Trying to compete with big names like Rolls-Royce and Bentley would only run the company into the ground. I would go for somewhere in between Buick and Chevrolet. Perhaps something that's both sporty and luxurious, more sporty than Chevrolet, not as luxurious as Buick. And the Pontiac Firebird would be brought back. I would also consider giving the Pontiac Banshee it's lucky break, by introducing a new Banshee V potentially based on the C8 Corvette.
That could have made sense when Pontiac had its own engineering, GM had a 50% market share to split between its divisions and passenger cars were dominant, but now a Chevy in a nice trim is enough in passenger cars and GMC is already filling that price gap in SUVs. What would they offer that the Camaro and Corvette don't, and why would that internal competition be done?
What does it have to do with the topic on hand? I can say that it plays an important role in the current market and is a vital GM asset.
