Ram 700 Sighted

[Redneck Garage]

Hate to break it to you, but virtually all the body panels on the Sante Cruz are different than the Tuscon. They look similar, but they aren't the same. Meaning it's not any cheaper per say. You still have to pay the tens if not hundreds of millions for all new body panel stamping molds. A bumper with a shape that's 5% different still requires an all new stamping press.

You still have to do the validation testing, the areo testing, safety testing, so you aren't saving a ton of money. The similarities you describe aren't due to cost. It's designers creating vehicles with a similar visual identity. A practice that's been in use our entire lives.

On a side note, are you ok man? You kinda went off in your response. You seem upset, whatever you're dealing with, I hope it works out.

Hey, you keep on thinking its the designers running things and not the bean counters.

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[JimParker256]

That’s larger than I remember.

That was the cruelest part. And now when I see “sport” attached to something I give it a long eye.

Yeah, Honda throws the "sport" label at a lot of things that only have "stripes and chrome" differences. The one that really makes me laugh is the Ridgeline HPD (Honda Performance Division) that basically consists of some bronze painted wheels, unpainted black plastic fender flares, a "more aggressive" grill, and some "HPD" stickers. All for the bargain price of only $2800. I like Motor Trend's comment: "We should say right up front the HPD package does not bestow any performance improvements on the Ridgeline."

I just don't get it... Honda engineered racing engines for the Red Bull F1 team, and absolutely kicked ass. But most of their off-track stuff is so bland it makes oatmeal seem exotic. But hey, it's solid, reliable, break-proof "oatmeal"...

 

[OneAlienBoi]

Hey, you keep on thinking its the designers running things and not the bean counters.

To quote the founder of Hot Wheels "Good design doesn't cost extra". The designers don't run things, nor do the bean counters. Both of those groups are highly valuable and provide their own inputs which influence the program.

Design is rapidly becoming the most important thing about cars. It's one of the only remaining things giving brands a competitive advantage. So the smart people listen to what designers have to say.

 

[Redneck Garage]

To quote the founder of Hot Wheels "Good design doesn't cost extra". The designers don't run things, nor do the bean counters. Both of those groups are highly valuable and provide their own inputs which influence the program.

Design is rapidly becoming the most important thing about cars. It's one of the only remaining things giving brands a competitive advantage. So the smart people listen to what designers have to say.

The first thing said to "designers" ........ how much will that cost ???

 

[OneAlienBoi]

The first thing said to "designers" ........ how much will that cost ???

It will cost basically the same as an ugly design. Again, good design doesn't cost extra. The tools and materials needed to manufacture a vehicle are pretty similar in cost regardless of design.

I mentioned sheet metal presses for body panels earlier. Those are basically the same cost regardless of if the fender is hideous or gorgeous. You're saying Hyundai went with a more radical design to save costs. But if anything, a mold/press that has to accommodate more complex curvatures and lines will be more expensive than a mold created to make a boxier, simpler fender like what the maverick has.

So what you're saying is Hyundai went out of their way to make their vehicle more expensive to manufacture. Which doesn't make any sense. If they only cared about cost, they would have straight up reused the front end and sides body panels from the Tuscon. We've already established that this isn't the case.

Or they would have made a more restrained, simple design like the maverick. Yet they went all out with all new body panels and make a more radical design. All done because the designers were calling the shots on the Sante Cruz. The end results were mixed, but I hope we start to see more emotional designs like the sante Cruz. They may not be perfect, but it's better than being boring.

That's why I love the mavericks design. It's restrained, but it has some visual character to it.

 

[Lone Star Proud]

Looks too much like a Santa Cruz. No hybrid option .. wouldn't be interested anyway.

 

[Decayed]

Thank you for the link. That is very interesting.

I kinda like it. The interior is good looking. Exterior is at least OK, though the RAM badges front and rear seem too large for the truck. Nice center screen, has standard decent number of amenities.

85 HP doesn't sound like much but then I'm old. My 1983 Honda CRX HR made 60 HP. It was NOT a fast car, but it looked and felt sporty with the five speed manual. It also got 50 MPG on the highway and close to 40 in town. My 2011 Hyundai Accent made 110 HP and it was fine for getting from point A to point B cheaply and efficiently. And it got about 35mph on the highway just under 30 in town. If you don't spend all your time hauling loads of bricks up a steep hill or pulling a 34 foot camper , you could probably do just fine with 85-100 HP. And the USA version of this truck probably gets an engine/HP bump.

What I find really interesting is the truck is offered in standard cab (two door) with a much larger truck bed. Now I LOVE my Mav hybrid and it's four door configuration, but LOTS of people here have said they wish they could get the Mav in standard cab/longer bed version. So here you are.....

And while it would probably cost more brought to the USA and updated for our market, the truck is cheap as F..k... . Starting price under $12K?????

It will never hit the US market at that price point. Honestly, for that kind of money I'd consider one as a spare vehicle.

 

[RalphVa]

Cool! Can’t wait to see one myself.

that being said, they are gonna be so unreliable, the fiat way.

I was surprised. RAM is tops in reliability.

 

[RalphVa]

Our Maverick order won't go in until August. Hoping for maybe Ram or Toyota alternatives by then. The Ram 700 would suit us fine.

 

[NoVaJimmy]

I was surprised. RAM is tops in reliability.

Full size RAM is one thing, for the most part they have American Dodge lineage, the Ram 700 will just be some iteration of a horribly unreliable Fiat product.

 

[Redneck Garage]

Our Maverick order won't go in until August. Hoping for maybe Ram or Toyota alternatives by then. The Ram 700 would suit us fine.

Think about it this way - Toyota is selling every truck they make at 50K. Lets pretend this is a Toyota lemonade stand. Toyota is selling lemonade at 5.00 a glass for 16 oz. There is a line out the door and people waiting. Someone comes up and says hey - Ford is selling lemonade for 2.50 a glass for 8 oz -

Toyota thinks about this - Hmm we can continue to sell our beautiful 5.00 a glass lemonade - all we can make OR we can drop the price half to 2.50 and have to sell double to match what we are already selling to compete with Ford ......

Toyota could already have been making a small hybrid truck if they wanted.

 

[Scupking]

Looks funny like the Santa Cruz. Is it that hard to make a small truck look like a truck. Ford did it right with the Maverick.

 

[wax87]

I was surprised. RAM is tops in reliability.

RAM turns into "DAMM I should have bought a Ford" after 3 years....

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