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We're living in hilarious times...
Never has the consumer being paying as much for "Made in Germany" quality products... while on the other hand German content is on an all time low.
Say... New AUDI S4, A8 4.2... Engines made in HUNGARY
Say... VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne... made in SLOVAKIA
Say... (BMW) Mini... Engine made in Brazil!
Say... Mercedes Star on your hood... made in Turkey!
The exmaples are endless...
German engineering... hardly... more and more of it is being done in India, China... everywhere except Germany.
Not only have the Germans become masters at selling you stuff, that they don't actually make... but to top things off... German companies control much of the US Car Press and have become the primary source of the Muscle Cars they keep criticizing in their own Press. Simple system... the families that own the media are large shareholders in German car manufacturers.
They have also become masters at selling "safe" cars, due to their "superior" electronics... which in fact only mask some serious handling problems... then when actual crash tests come along... well they can't match the safety of a late model French made Renault.
You see... image is everything... if BMW makes it... it must be good.
Like their latest 6Cyl engine... 258hp on paper... only 246hp when you test it... consumer pays for 258, gets 246... BMW would be stupid not to do it, the consumers believe what is printed. The new US BHP standards will help.
Well with the high fuel prices we shall see how much longer large manufacturers are going to continue to ignore the fact that "turbocharging" is the future... you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that all things being equal... 4 to 6 cyl produce a lot less friction then 8 to 12... not to metion the large efficiency gains one gets from a properly installed turbo engine.
But right now, Germany is in a Turbo Diesel frenzy... of course without the latest filtration technology, which can't be good cause it was not a German idea... well Mercedes is now installing it. VW and AUDI keep are thinking about it, BMW will do what Mercedes does.
As to late "standardized" fuel efficiency data... I have yet to see a late German "sports" car that in fact meets what the manufacturer states.
German car companies are simply cheating to avoid "gaz guzzler" taxes... will see how the EPA reacts once they can prove it. Simple trick... called motion detector in the ECU. Makes the difference between a test rig, and real driving. Neat idea!
The last VW FSI engine I tested, a 1.6L FSI GOLF... which simply had to follow my .5 ton heavier 9-5... consumed a neat 10% more then my 280Hp Hirsch 9-5 SAAB for the same distance. You only get the fuel savings if you drive it like Ford Model T, avoiding to drive with the speed of the traffic. Here VW came up with the ultimate system to provide "phoney" consumption values... test it during normalized tests and things look good for the FSI, thanks to a silly test and motion detection.
As to me, I love nice cars... I do like many of the new German cars... but why should I pay premium for a Hungarian made engine, in a Indian designed car... when I can get better quality and performance from another non German manufacturer.
Btw... I had loads of fun driving to Munich this year... every new V8 Mercedes Diesel or BMW V8 Diesel tried to keep up with me... in vain ;)
Hp and Torque... still tells you nothing about how willing an engine is to rev up... with those heavy internals they need to make a V8 Turbo Diesel... well you don't get the acceleration you would believe you get
at higher speeds.
Regards,
Coolknight
posted by 212.77.42...
, Tue, 23 Aug 2005 22:35:23
, Tue, 23 Aug 2005 17:07:27
, Wed, 24 Aug 2005 08:27:42, Wed, 24 Aug 2005 09:50:59
, Tue, 23 Aug 2005 11:36:31
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