The State of The Car

[Kitdy]

I've gone the combo, I'm driving my old 850R (literally the same one I used to own, it's mum's now) with one of those cassettes-with-a-cable so I can plug my ipod in.

Yous a balla'.

Works pretty dang good! Better than some crappy FM transmitter anyway.

The NSA/Five Eyes listens to your brainwaves through those... I read.

The MkIV had a CD and no cassette deck, which was maddening. The M3 (Mazda 3) has an aux and USB jack and it's like entering the year 2009. Now I can listen to podcasts about cars while I'm stuck on the Gardiner Expressway - our major downtown artery - which is undergoing 3 years of lane closures! Huzzah!

[crisis]

I thought that the music in cars came from the engine bay and exhaust.

My eternal quandary. Turn the stereo up to enjoy the music or down to enjoy the sound of the car. Whichever I choose I always feel I’m missing something. It’s a good problem to have though.

[NSXType-R]

I've gone the combo, I'm driving my old 850R (literally the same one I used to own, it's mum's now) with one of those cassettes-with-a-cable so I can plug my ipod in. Pro tips:
- Open it up and lubricate everything with a silicone based or other 'dry' lubricant to both make it quiet and stop the infernal auto-reverse mechanism ruining your phat beats (or nonsensical podcasts)
- Get an adaptor from some sort of dealie to give a proper line-out from the 30 pin connector (like this). The official 30-pin to lightning adaptors have a built in DAC so will work with that doodad (I've tried it)

Works pretty dang good! Better than some crappy FM transmitter anyway.

What's wrong with just hooking up the iPhone to the 3.5mm jack?

[Ferrer]

My eternal quandary. Turn the stereo up to enjoy the music or down to enjoy the sound of the car. Whichever I choose I always feel I’m missing something. It’s a good problem to have though.

Well, buy a diesel and you won't have this sort of dilemmas...

I certainly don't!

[Rasmus]

I'm fine with a loud exhaust, and a loud stereo..


...it's the drone that makes me want to dig my brain out with a blunt spoon

[pimento]

What's wrong with just hooking up the iPhone to the 3.5mm jack?

It's not a proper line out, it's been pre-amplified and whatnot. Proper line out is more betterer.

[f6fhellcat13]

The Fantastic Apple Car | Monday Note
The Apple car seems to be a point of contention among many autojournalists; those who think it is true have no qualms wildly speculating about it and those who don't give the rumors any credence seem very annoyed with the perceived clickbaiting of those who do.

[NSXType-R]

The Fantastic Apple Car | Monday Note
The Apple car seems to be a point of contention among many autojournalists; those who think it is true have no qualms wildly speculating about it and those who don't give the rumors any credence seem very annoyed with the perceived clickbaiting of those who do.

Can't wait to find all lightning connectors in the car instead of USB.

I love their laptops, but I hate their mobile devices.

I'll worry about it when they actually make one.

Watch them start using non metric lugs on the wheels just to be "different".

[Ferrer]

Because relevant, from our friends over at sniffpetrol:

Rumours abound that Apple is working on a car. Sniff Petrol rhetorical headline correspondent BUZZFACT CLICKBAYTE gives eight amazing reasons why that is definitely the case.

1. Steve Jobs often drove a car.

2. Company rumoured to have trademarked the name iFiveDoorHatchback.

3. Chief designer Jonathan Ive has been seen getting into a car. What was he doing in there?

4. Architects’ drawings for new Apple campus mysteriously show a large area earmarked for the parking of cars.

5. Several roads spotted leading towards Apple headquarters and Apple shops and even Tim Cook’s house.

6. Apple insiders have made reference to top secret programme known only as ‘Project Let’s Make An Apple Car That’s By Apple And Is A Car’.

7. Bono keeps talking about an Apple car, even though you didn’t ask for him to.

8. Endless ****ing stories about Apple making a car so must be true.

[Ferrer]

Maserati's downsizing into mainstream market not going as well as planned, apparently.

Maserati cutting Ghibli, Quattroporte production on slowing demand

[Kitdy]

They set pretty high targets,which FCA seems to have done a lot of recently.

The numbers they have sold are pretty impressive to me.

[Rasmus]

Well, the Ghibli really isn't that pretty -- but I'm probably in the minority on that one. There's a Maserati dealership around the corner from here, and I haven't been able to find an angle that really works for me.

Aside from that, I'd have to be hard pressed to pay a 50% premium over a comparable E-class, 5-series, A6, or even XF-type. Italian styling and heritage be damned.

[Ferrer]

Well, you could argue that it costs more than 20 grand less than an equivalent 6 Series Gran Coupé.

Anyway.

I rather like the Ghibli. It looks good, goes fast and is relatively affordable (for a Maserati at least). However I can understand the problem; Maserati is not the first name that immediately comes up when shopping for an executive saloon. And also, the Maser does not have entry level versions which actually account for the bulk of sales.

[NSXType-R]

Well, the Ghibli really isn't that pretty -- but I'm probably in the minority on that one. There's a Maserati dealership around the corner from here, and I haven't been able to find an angle that really works for me.

Aside from that, I'd have to be hard pressed to pay a 50% premium over a comparable E-class, 5-series, A6, or even XF-type. Italian styling and heritage be damned.

To me the rear taillights look very Korean to me.

I'm not sure about pricing, but both of Maserati's current sedans don't look as great as the old Quattroporte did.

[Rasmus]

Well, you could argue that it costs more than 20 grand less than an equivalent 6 Series Gran Coupé.

True, but I don't see the Ghibli as a 6GC, A7, or CLS competitor; to me it fits in with the regular 5, A6, and E-class segment cars.

I've only ever driven the S Q4, and the impression I was left with was "not Maserati enough". It went to an 8 out of 10, where I would have expected an 11.

..and it was mid $90k, where a 550ix was $30k less, an S6 $20k less, an XFR $10k less, and about the same as -- at the time -- the fastest Model S, fully loaded. I didn't feel that the Ghibli merited the higher price. Had the price been $20k-$25k lower, I could have seen it as a contender in its intended market segment.

To me the rear taillights look very Korean to me.

I'm not sure about pricing, but both of Maserati's current sedans don't look as great as the old Quattroporte did.

I always thought it looked a bit like an Infinity from the back.