Is this 2011 Chevrolet Silverado 3500HD LTZ 6.0L V8 Crew Cab Long Box?

 

Didn't miss much. Was more of a advertisement than an honest review.

 

I had an opportunity to see and sit in the Volvo EX30 last weekend. Days later and I'm still feeling that great first impression.

It's a very, very small car, with somewhat useless back seats. However the driver's seating position is excellent, and you don't feel cramped at all. It's quite comfortable, without being cushy. Also, the edge-to-edge panoramic glass roof is pretty freaking amazing. You don't feel compromised by size at all. At least, not up front.

The interior minimalism invokes some anxiety about how different it all is, but everything I've read points to an intuitive experience. And the exterior is very appealing, from every corner.

The single motor is RWD and zero-to-sixty speeds north of 5.0 seconds. That plenty fast, and RWD as well. Add a second motor, and you get a straight-line monster.

Lastly, the price from $36k to $46k There's a lot to like here if your goal is to buy an around-town car that gets parked and juiced up every night in the garage.

I need to test-drive the EX30 this Spring.

 

So this.... electric thing... is a possible replacement for your G? HOW COULD YOU DO THIS MAN!?

 

LOL. No time soon, however. We've other big financial decisions that come way before a new car for me. But yeah, this appeals to me.

God help me, but so does the ID.Buzz. Except that will never happen because it's hella expensive, and I don't like nor want the extended length version they're selling in North America. Now if they brought the shorter version here, the one they're selling in Europe, all bets would be off. Sitting in the ID.Buzz was a crazy rewarding space to be.

 

Have you looked at the ID.4?

 

You took the words out of my mouth, but with the courage I lacked to deliver them. Feels like the end of an era, but I guess we all need to move on at some point.

Good news is that Rochester will sell me his car and I will end up with a driveway full of cool RWD cars from a brand that peaked over a decade ago.

 

Interior materials look amazing. Still trying to get used to iPad displays in place of gauge clusters and mechanical buttons and potentiometers.

Guess I'm prehistoric and need to evolve at some point.

 

Like I said, there are other big priorities. The first one comes later this year. My youngest graduates from college in just a couple months, which means no more tuition. Yay!!! So this Fall we're going to sell this house and relocate into another, which will probably cost 2x the one I've lived in for 30 years. After that, we'll trade in the Subaru for something; (another Forester maybe, or the Acura RDX maybe.) And then after the dust settles, I'll sell my car and get something totally different to ride off into retirement with, like that little Volvo. So figure 2 to 3 years more with the Infiniti.

Unless we jump headfirst into a recession (which seems likely), or my job collapses (which could easily happen). Either of those things could really screw up my pre-retirement plans.

As for selling it to you... that's weird, but its yours if you want it when the time comes. I'll say this with as much humility as I can muster, whoever buys it will be a lucky duck.


It really does, doesn't it? Sitting in the ID.Buzz felt soooo good. Another car that gave me the same vibe of peaceful, upscale contentment is the Lincoln Nautilus.

That said, both of those are over $60k, and too big for our needs.

 

I have one through college, another one 2/3rds done and a third struggling to make it through HS. Hard to think about what's going to happen once all of them are moved out of the house. I'd prefer to live in the city, maybe Downtown SD, Manhattan or LA (or even Vienna or Rome), but that will be a tough sell to the wife unless one of the kids are in those cities. They will be young starting their families, so I will likely end up in an exurb somewhere near them, 50 or more miles from a major city.

As for your car, unmolested->pristine 6MTs are unicorns. My goal would be to build a CARB compliant TT sleeper based on Eugene's GTR based setup (can't trust any 7AT for this setup). By that time, my oldest son will be at the proper frontal lobe developmental state to inherit my car and join me in my obsession for the nostalgia.

Seems that not that long ago 40K bought you a nice set of wheels. Those days have passed with the advent of EVs. I work in the tech/semi industry, so I see the level of tech in today's cars from a much different lens (obsolete process geometry , signal propagation limitations, global supply chain challenges, Failure Analysis, Risk Management - I'm red Red Pilled). Gone are the days of owning one car for 10 years. In the near future, you will own a 50-80K EV for 5 years and sell it for a 1/3 of what you paid because most of the tech is obsolete.

Maybe that's retirement for me. Restoring/tuning 7 year old Teslas in the garage with an O-scope and Multimeter.

 

Hmm. OK then, you are first in line for my 6MT when the time comes. I don't see how I could forget that, seeing as we're both here in the forum for the long haul. There's a reason I made you Admin.

Apparently I did forget that your sedan was a 7AT. To that point, let me say this: the G37S 6MT, tuned by Eugene Turkov, with the RJM pedal, a short-throw shifter, and short gears in the diff... it's just about as perfect a driving experience as this platform gets. You'd love it. So you've got that to look forward to, LOL.

 

Funny. I felt a similar way when a couple of my long time car buddies moved to Teslas. One of them is always sending me details on cool apps he downloaded off GIT and is running on a dedicated server to track position and sensor values on both of his Teslas (wife has one as well).

As a friend, I try to be excited for him. I find myself interested at times, but then I also find myself drifting back to.....

 

I can understand getting an electric car for the utility, and yes they can be blisteringly fast in a straight line, but in my personal opinion (and everyone is entitled to their own, of course) it will never replace the spot in my garage for an ICE sporty car. It's a must-have in my life. You just don't get the same feedback and visceral feels and sounds in an EV.

 

Eugene is the wizard (key Black Sabbath song by the same name), so I go back and forth on his kit and the Stillen Supercharger as both are CARB compliant and based here in CA for easy support. I fear that Stillen will discontinue their kit in the next 2-3 years based on low demand. I have also been looking for a late model Nismo 370Z, but those are impossible to find anymore unmolested for under 35K. I think the Redsport will also be collectible and is somewhat amazing when you consider how much power it can make just by dumping air into the cylinders (albeit at a huge reliability hit), but I have time on that one. The issue with the VR30 is I cannot even find rebuild kits for that motor; maybe that changes in 2-3 years? The VQ37VHR has way more core aftermarket support and the Moto-IQ guys are close by....

Enough daydreaming. Back to 13 hour work days. COVID broke corporate America.

 

I would agree about Eugene. I've never felt so safe about a tune. He is so thorough! He doesn't just go for big power numbers, but focuses on getting the most performance while still being as efficient as possible. I love his explanations and teaching while going through the process as well.