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Assimilator

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Everything posted by Assimilator

  1. I like the Explorer the more I see it, the design is all about proportions and the design does a pretty good job accentuating them with a wider and lower stance in the rear, longer and aggressive profile, and a wide and flat hood. It's definitely a car that looks better in person. I'm still not a fan of the fascia and the unibrow headlights. I saw a ton of Escapes on the road over the Holiday and the SE is especially bland. I think I've really narrowed it down to two things. The sheetmetal has this outdated featureless design combined with a fascia that lacks presence. I personally don't think any utility should have a grille that sits below the headlights, only Porsche gets away with that. Once you put it on a cheaper utility it looks too bland and weak, especially when this car doesn't have much design confidence elsewhere (like a Porsche). I don't really like the alternative Escape/Kuga fascias from Europe or China either, so for me I would really like to see a complete rework of that front-end with very different headlights.
  2. I guess the only thing I would investigate next is to see if the front of your car, like the headlights and bumper, show any signs of comparable pitting. Best way to do this is to clean your headlights and look at them at off to the side at night when they are on, you'll see the pitting or sand-blasting pretty clearly in the lens. For a new car, it should be virtually nothing at this point unless you've had some abnormal road debris. That might eliminate or confirm driving damage.
  3. Tesla is reckless about ensuring driver attentiveness, I believe this is something that may need government oversight to ensure the automakers are playing by consistent rules. Most automakers with their business and reputation on the line don't need regulation on this tech to know that their systems need to factor in driver-attentiveness. It's one of the reasons Ford has CoPilot 360 2 with a face-tracking attention monitor, not just a steering input monitor which is what Tesla exclusively relies on. Tesla believes that one day all of that will be irrelevant, but that day is NOT today.
  4. That's a far more typical cross-shopping experience however. There is a Nissan Sentra-sized price gap between a Kia and a Lincoln.
  5. I love the person who claims they were cross shopping a much more expensive vehicle and chose the Kia not because they couldn't afford the Aviator, but because reasons.
  6. I still see the Rangers rarely, but there are always a few versions that look particularly good, such as Anthony's. That's the version I would want personally, monochromatic Magnetic all the way, just like my F-150.
  7. Nope! Ford needs to make things Tesla couldn't make as well as Ford. Ford seldom thrives by following or duplicating. And as a Moderator, do you think it's appropriate to pick on members that can't block your annoying abuse? This happens way too frequently with you.
  8. I think Ford is going to have hard time with Mach E since it's close, but not nearly close enough to a Tesla. I don't think Ford is going to do well directly copying Tesla, even if I would like them to, but they need to create EVs that Tesla doesn't have, and I think that starts with larger crossovers. The main reason I don't buy a Tesla now is because their Model X is outdated (by Tesla standards) and is not as appealing as something like an Aviator. That's where Ford could do something.
  9. I would say a minimal design needs to execute build and material quality better than a more expressive design. I like the Escapes minimal design (save the doors) but not the quality.
  10. I'm sure this is an LED fixture which accounts for the unusual bar design across the center of the round reflector. I also recognize this facility, it's one of Ford's headlight suppliers. I've known a few of the guys working on Ford fixtures over the years. Also worth nothing is that it looks like this fixture doesn't have a circular DRL like the Mini, unless the chrome is transparent. I don't think you can have a masked DRL, but maybe they worked some magic.
  11. I haven't seen it directly, but friends of mine have described the Bronco Mini's interior as mostly unique with more prominent vertical vents similar to the F-150. For some reason I'm getting this image of the old Escape dashboard design from that description. It does have the same sort of detached infotainment screen design as the '20 Escape.
  12. I don't think it's reasonable to write off the Escape when there are so many configurations and options. The SE might not be great, but the Titanium is a very different car. What is a little different this time is that the 2020 Escape doesn't elevate the segment like it did when the last one debuted in 2013, it was quite a striking departure for a pretty drab appliance segment. The 2020 Escape definitely is not that sort of standout today, although it still stands out for its available engines.
  13. From my perspective, Ford's good cars start with the Edge and move up from there. Below that and it's not very convincing. I think they aim to change that by offering more appealing entries soon.
  14. It's hard to get a sense of the boundaries with this fixture because it looks like it's meant to be surrounded by trim.
  15. Escape looks weak by itself, but Ford has more crossovers coming in this size including the compact pickup and the companion utility (whatever that looks like). I don't think Ford intended to sell as many Escapes as it once did because they seem to be hurting on margins and want richer customers. Their solution is not to make Escape more upscale but to make a different series of more exciting products. Escape to me seems like something designed to appeal to the car customer and previous Escape customer while designing an efficient package best suited for economy and a Hybrid. I actually think the best Escape to buy is the Hybrid AWD and I hope the adoption rate on that is pretty high. Ford has an extremely weak Utility range right now (the only company with declining utility sales), it's going to take a few years to fill it out.
  16. It's definitely not the Baby Bronco so I'm going to assume this is the Bronco Bronco. The reason it's not the Baby Bronco is quite simple, the side markers are in the bumper, not the headlights.
  17. CR's view of the 1.5L is in line with others however. The Chinese Escape was also tailored locally for the market. Ford in China is now operating more like a subsidiary (think PAG) with less "One Ford" oversight from Dearborn. So a Chinese Ford is going to look increasingly unfamiliar moving forward. The Territory is entirely Chinese grown with a Ford badge.
  18. They also didn't care for Corsair, although you wouldn't know why from the description.
  19. The other thing to note about the Explorer is that it's an extremely complicated vehicle to work on, everything is unreachable and complicated to service. I'm sure we'll hear more about that as the vehicles age out of warranty. The techs are describing it as a nightmare, although I'm sure that'll become the norm as they become more experienced with them. I hate to see Ford's IQS scores for this and next year.
  20. The Chinese Ford Escape has some nice interior upgrades.
  21. I wouldn't necessarily equate minimal design with cheapness however, although the Escape doesn't make a strong case for itself.
  22. The Ranger's interior is really odd for a Ford pickup, it lacks that sturdy and robust feel of the typical Ford pickup. It's one thing to have hard plastics, it's another thing to have flimsy hard plastics. Tacoma is a pretty good example of a purpose-built truck interior rather than the parts-bin passenger car design they are using for Ranger. Ford can certainly do better.
  23. I drive it in Comfort mode 99% of the time, when I'm feeling spirited and....defensive, I'll hit the Sport button. Comfort in Nautilus is noticeably more relaxed than it was in the MKX, but changing modes is a pain so I generally don't do it.
  24. I don't know how common this is, but one of the things that has always perplexed me was the cheapness of the interior door handles of Ford's cheaper cars, especially the Escape. The 2013-2019 Escape wasn't particularly budget looking at all, especially compared to the tupper-ware interior of the old Escape, but the interior door handles are terrible. Small, thin, with a crunchy feel to the way they operate. Every time I got into one of those cars, it was always that terrible door handle that reminded me I was in a budget car. I don't know why this important touch-point is handled soo consistently badly. The new Escape is slightly better. What I would be looking for in the new 2020 Escape is a more settled ride and something less twitchy and course. The Escape handles beautifully and it's a nice riding car on perfect pavement. But around uneven pavement, it always felt way too thin and fragile, especially for the price. I would much rather have a cheaper Edge over a loaded Escape, the quality is night and day. The 2020 Escape overall definitely looks like the least expensive vehicle in its segment, the design is so minimal.
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