New cars and Overtechnology
03-05-2004, 12:48 PM
#26
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2003 MB C230 coupe
Re: Re: thoughts
Originally posted by Mike T.
It seems that you do agree with me. The A-Class and smart did not have to be that tall; it's an affectation of the design team that required the height. That is, cars this size could have been made to be safe to handle through inherent design.
But more to the point, the Peugeot 607 is a large FWD sedan the size of an E-Class, and when its nominally sophisticated suspension proved to allow the car to go up on two wheels in the Elk test, Peugeot had two choices: re-engineer the suspesion, or slap ESP on all the cars to avoid dangerous behaviour. They chose the latter. This is a trend, just watch for it.
It seems that you do agree with me. The A-Class and smart did not have to be that tall; it's an affectation of the design team that required the height. That is, cars this size could have been made to be safe to handle through inherent design.
But more to the point, the Peugeot 607 is a large FWD sedan the size of an E-Class, and when its nominally sophisticated suspension proved to allow the car to go up on two wheels in the Elk test, Peugeot had two choices: re-engineer the suspesion, or slap ESP on all the cars to avoid dangerous behaviour. They chose the latter. This is a trend, just watch for it.
however, there was obviously some design reason behind the style of the A-class and the smart. for the A-class (and possibly for the smart) they wanted more cabin room without making the car bigger, so they shoved the engine partially underneath the passenger cabin. it's true they could have just said hell with it and designed a lower more inherently stable car with either less passenger space or just made the car bigger, but the technology is there to both increase room and make the car stable, so why not.
so we see there are examples of overtechnology to make up for losses elsewhere (peugeot) (bad), and overtechnology to make the impossible possible (good). the latter is the whole point of technology itself and hopefully we won't steer more towards the former as we progress.
03-05-2004, 02:09 PM
#27
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'06 Lexus GS300 RWD, '07 Camry SE V6 auto, '91 190E 2.6 auto
I hated the way the elecronic throttle on our old C240 would give so little power upon initial acceleration! The electronic throttle on our Sequoia is MUCH better. I also disliked the way the 'adaptive' auto tranny in the MB seemed to 'hunt' for gears alot more than your average run-of-the-mill auto tranny does. I somewhat agree that MB's and BMW's are too 'advanced' for their own good. The carmakers should 'perfect' these electronic gizmos in the top-of-the-line cars (where they can afford to get their R&D money back) before putting half-baked designs in lower end cars, like the C class.
Oh yeah- I HATED the rain-sensing wipers! Sometimes they wiped too little, while other times they wiped too much.
Oh yeah- I HATED the rain-sensing wipers! Sometimes they wiped too little, while other times they wiped too much.
