Other cool cars like the G70

[Slip_Angle]

Plug in hybrids are the way to go. Most people won't be driving more than 30 miles a day so a plug in hybrid with 30-40 mile electric range should suffice for most people. Most will use little to no gas on a daily basis with a plug in and there's the gas engine when they want to get out of town for a weekend.

It's cool that an EV can get 300 miles on electric but how many people are going to drain that regularly? They're likely to drive 30 miles a day or less so wouldn't it be better for the environment to use the lithium in 1 EV to make 10 plug in hybrids? You would have 10 cars that use little to no gas instead of 1 car that uses no gas... for daily driving anyways... Make better use of the limited resources

The problem with plugin hybrids is all the extra complexity and failure points. They need the worst of both worlds (ICE and EV) - I wouldn't to fix these things.

 

[SuperKing]

Aside from battery size and a charge port, what's the difference between a plug in hybrid and a regular hybrid? Hybrids have been around for 20+ years and are reliable enough for the taxi industry.

 

[Slip_Angle]

Aside from battery size and a charge port, what's the difference between a plug in hybrid and a regular hybrid? Hybrids have been around for 20+ years and are reliable enough for the taxi industry.

BEVs use electric motors for the drivetrain, so it's pretty simple. Hybrids use electric motors, batteries, ICE engine, transmission, exhaust etc and related cooling components... just so much more complexity in my mind. However, you are right they have been around for awhile, so intuitively reliability should be good.

 

[Volfy]

Complexity does not automatically equate to unreliability. Vehicles today are many orders of magnitude more complex than cars 35-40yrs ago, yet they are far more reliable and last far longer - using just about every matrix of evaluation you can think of.

Resource management presents the primary challenge in the transition towards electrification. Rare earth metals are called such for good reasons. Car makers are fast realizing that vertical integration now means getting into the mining business. Whereas fossil fuel has dominated geopolitics for the past 100 yrs, rare earth metals will begin to dominate the next 100.

I agree that the resources going into making a single 300-mile BEV can be more efficiently utilized in 10 plug-in hybrids than can run 30-40 electric miles. Even better yet... to serve the most immediate need during the transition from ICE, make 100 mild hybrids than can do regenerative braking, recover energy, and get 100mpg in city driving.

 

[Backslack]

So long as a hybrid has a crap CVT like in Toyota's, it'll never be a match for any standard ICE or EV.

Speaking of hybrids, have you guys seen the new AMG C43? 400 HP 2.0T 4-banger with an electric turbocharger. The definition of "lease only."

 

[Husky]

Yeah, looks quick but different class altogether.. like the Supra.

That front end is brutal

I actually don't mind the front end of the 400Z. I like the whole look, and I'll bet it's fun as hell.

 

[JCtx]

I do; looks like an old and cheap car already. And it's equally ugly at the back. No way I'd buy one of those things myself, but compared to the retro crap the big 3 put out, it's probably a better alternative. But without a 2+2 version, I don't think it'll have that much success, but we'll see. Nissan should have copied the 300ZX in that case, and not the uglier and cheaper 240, but damage is done. Curious how it does in sales. We'll see.

 

[Volfy]

So long as a hybrid has a crap CVT like in Toyota's, it'll never be a match for any standard ICE or EV.

Speaking of hybrids, have you guys seen the new AMG C43? 400 HP 2.0T 4-banger with an electric turbocharger. The definition of "lease only."

As is so typical of the Germans, it is over-engineered to the nth degree.


This is my kind of hybrid system:

It is basically an ICE car with a very small electric drive/regen system. Almost no weight/space penalty, as the electric motor replaces the starter motor, and the lithium batter replaces the conventional lead-acid starter battery. And no need for heavy gauge copper cables for huge batt and huge motor(s). It is still an ICE car experience thru and thru, with a focus on driving performance, made even smoother by the mild hybrid. The substantially increased mpg is almost a side benefit, but an important one nonetheless.

I do like the way Mazda engineers think. There are elements of Japanese minimalism, some of which is also evident in the new Z. The best solution is not always the novelest and the mostest. There is a simplistic elegance to refining an existing architecture, with just enough new tech added to enhance efficiency and performance both.

 

[Aquineas]

I think 30 miles might work for a daily for many, but you can drive for 50 miles one-way in Houston (as the crow flies) from The Woodlands to Pearland and still very much be in the metro area. I drove 75 miles from Montgomery to Rosenberg (Texas Hyundai) to buy my 2015 Genesis Sedan. Round-trip that's 150 miles. Would I want to make that commute? Absolutely not, but it's not inconceivable to put 100 miles on a car in a day in spread-out Texas cities.

 

[JCtx]

Just a correction I saw before: A Mazda6 will NEVER be RWD, period. It wouldn't be able to compete. It has always been a FWD chassis, and will continue to be. Remember sedans like those are disappearing already, so it'd be crazy stupid to invest in that now. Malibu and others are already out, and read the Accord is on its last year, which I find hard to believe, but guess we'll find out soon enough. The Passat is also gone, I believe. Sedans are on their last breaths, I think, at least the ICE variety. I'm actually not sure Genesis will redo the G70, which is already getting long in the tooth, but we'll find out soon enough too. Does anybody have sales figures for all the G sedans? Curious about that. Thx.

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[Slip_Angle]

Complexity does not automatically equate to unreliability. Vehicles today are many orders of magnitude more complex than cars 35-40yrs ago, yet they are far more reliable and last far longer - using just about every matrix of evaluation you can think of.

The comparison of old vs new doesn't work. You need to compare cars today... More complexity on average will always cost more and require more maintenance.

 

[JCtx]

Absolutely. And it only makes sense. More crap means more to go wrong; there's no way around that. At least we don't have air suspension, brakes-by-wire, and other crap like that. And the G is a lot more 'analog' that other vehicles that seem to be all electronic now, which I HATE. Give me buttons, even if they're not as attractive as they should be on the G70 (the ones on the SF Calligraphy are a lot better looking. Ha ha).

 

[Backslack]

This is my kind of hybrid system:

It is basically an ICE car with a very small electric drive/regen system. Almost no weight/space penalty, as the electric motor replaces the starter motor, and the lithium batter replaces the conventional lead-acid starter battery. And no need for heavy gauge copper cables for huge batt and huge motor(s). It is still an ICE car experience thru and thru, with a focus on driving performance, made even smoother by the mild hybrid. The substantially increased mpg is almost a side benefit, but an important one nonetheless.

I do like the way Mazda engineers think. There are elements of Japanese minimalism, some of which is also evident in the new Z. The best solution is not always the novelest and the mostest. There is a simplistic elegance to refining an existing architecture, with just enough new tech added to enhance efficiency and performance both.

I don't consider mild hybrids to be true hybrids. They're mainly there for smoother stop-start and erasing turbo lag, but don't give much of any benefit for fuel economy, especially here in the US where their freeway coasting function is banned due to silly outdated government regulations.

Actual hybrids combine some of the worst aspects of EV and ICE. They're heavy like EV's but without the immediate torque, and they're often paired with droning CVT's or buzzy 4-cylinders. The only benefit they have over EV's is less worry about range anxiety, but I couldn't care less when they're awful cars to drive.

 

[Volfy]

The comparison of old vs new doesn't work. You need to compare cars today... More complexity on average will always cost more and require more maintenance.

More complexity = always cost more? Well, that's a no brainer.

Top trim GV80 costs $80k and base Accent costs $17k. Lots of folks are quite willing to pay for the added luxury, convenience, performance and technology that more complexity brings. Judging by the fact that we here all bought Genesis instead of Accent, we are all just as willing to pay for complexity.


More complexity = more maintenance? Not true.

Comparing the cheapest car Hyundai makes and the most expensive (loaded full of tech and complexity), what are the differences in maintenance required? Practically none. All the basics still apply: various fluid + filter changes, valve adjustment, O2 sensors, tires, alignment, etc. What additional maintenance does a $80k GV80 need that a $17k Accent doesn't?

In some cases, it can actually be the exact opposite. Take power steering, for example. Today's electric power steering is integrated into many aspects of the vehicle's operations - from vehicle-speed-variable boost, to drive-mode-variable ratios, to active lane keep assist. It is arguably far more complex than the old dumb hydraulic systems. Yet, unlike the old hydraulics that leak and require periodic fluid check/change, these far more complex computerized electric power steering systems requires ZERO maintenance.

 

[Volfy]

Absolutely. And it only makes sense. More crap means more to go wrong; there's no way around that. At least we don't have air suspension, brakes-by-wire, and other crap like that. And the G is a lot more 'analog' that other vehicles that seem to be all electronic now, which I HATE. Give me buttons, even if they're not as attractive as they should be on the G70 (the ones on the SF Calligraphy are a lot better looking. Ha ha).

LOL... There is nothing analog about the cars we drive. If you are talking about the "analog" instrument panel vs. the full TFT panels, those are just faux analog gauges, The entire instrument cluster assembly talks digitally to the ECU via CANbus, then converts digital data back into movements of servo-motor driven needles on the speedometer/tachometer/fuel/temp dials. Quite honestly, a full TFT panels has zero moving parts that can fail compared to our faux-analog instrument clusters.

 

[JCtx]

I know there's nothing analog on any car nowadays, and that's why I put it in quotes. I meant less complicated.

 

[SweetG70]

Saw this and thought it interesting. Any videos of the G70 like this? Pixelcarguy3d30 on TikTok

 

[Aquineas]

So long as a hybrid has a crap CVT like in Toyota's, it'll never be a match for any standard ICE or EV.

Speaking of hybrids, have you guys seen the new AMG C43? 400 HP 2.0T 4-banger with an electric turbocharger. The definition of "lease only."

I honestly thought all German luxury cars were the definition of "Lease only."

 

[slimszy111]

New here and just got a 22 G70. Do you have FSM info on how to pull radio from dash and which are the speaker wires? Trying to add amp to base radio as no amp in trunk to splice into since no Lexicon. Thanks.

Just got a 2021 G70 and looking to add an alpine amp and a 10" sub, but cannot find anything on how to tap into the speaker wires or harness behind the head unit. Does anyone know?

 

[Slip_Angle]

Start at 4:19 to see a G70. I'm wondering if this is anyone on here?