IE boring!

 

For some enthusiasts, yes. For the majority of people buying cars, I don't think they even know what torque is.

 

This is/was a case study for my Engineering Design class.

Apparently its not the design/function/blahblah blah.

in the end, its the automakers (gm,chrysler,ford) NOT doing enough during the planning phase. this is why all the products came out CRAPPY. They had a slow design process that was never really 'done' til after the car was in production, thats why there was/is a lot of recalls, lots of common stupid problems that shouldnt be there.

Japanese automakers on the other hand, would spend many times the manhours to design+model the car. It would also be a faster process since more people would work on the design. Faster design->production time = better stuff in the market.

+ america needs 'torque' since we haul a lot of fat around ;D

I think the big three, if they come out of this alive...will become a better company. Im glad they're finally coming to terms w. reality.

+the unions have to back off a little.

 

I have heard from my ME teacher that the toyota plant that he visited (in N.am) was SPOTLESS. He said he commented on this to the manager at the plant, and the manager said something along the lines of cleaner enviroment for workers = workers caring more + cleaner work done...

IDK how the american automaker plants are.


i guess it helps the japanese plants = newer.

 

[quote name='xmatt' date='Jan 5 2009, 04:55 PM'] Let me mention what I think is a good example of what they do wrong:

 

I really hit a button with you, didn't I? For someone who proclaims to be the end all/be all of finance and a former Big 4 audit master who rubs elbows with multi-quazillionaires, you really should have more important things to do with your time.

You can talk all the crap you want about how bad the Big 3 are doing, but the FACT of the matter is, there are WAY more vehicles I would buy with my own money from GM/Ford than I would from Honda/Toyota.

GM/Ford:

G8 GXP
CTS-V
Corvette (all 3 models)
Cobalt SS
CTS
Silverado/Sierra
Tahoe/Yukon
Escalade
Malibu
Fusion Hybrid
Shelby GT-500
F-150/250/350

Honda/Toyota:

RX350 (bought wife one)
LS460 (maybe if I got bored with my life and wanted a nice cruiser)
S2000 (needs a new model before I would seriously consider another one)

That's it.


The market may prefer Honda/Toyota for certain offerings that are plebian in nature, but car enthusiasts frankly have MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more to choose from with GM and Ford than Honda or Toyota. That is sad.

 

Low power, appliance cars are boring, but they are the bedrock of a car company - profits from a boring car give automakers the freedom to make niche cars like roadsters and convertibles. American car companies forsook this basic car and look where they are now - no money, canceling the fun projects, etc.

 

More power= cars needs to be built more durable. Let's not forget, even with Hondas, you start upping the torque, things start to go wrong (think early 2000 V6 accords, TLs, and CLs, not to mention our "glass" diffs).
But, it has more to do with the material selection vs. power output, and the fact that the domestics really can't try and replicate what honda and toyota are doing because most consumers are fickle in that regard.
More than anything, the domestics need to rebuild their reputation and regain consumer trust, even folks on these boards wrongfully mudsling on occasion, just read any thread regarding a cobalt ss or corvette.

 

I know more people that buy brand x because their last car was brand x than with any other product - they'll stick with an automaker regardless of cost, quality, what they really want, as long as they are not let down too much. People don't like change and it takes a pretty negative experience to get them to switch imo.

 

My dad worked at Ford for a few years so my sister and I bought loaded explorers for a good employee discount. Now 6 years later my sister's is falling apart, tons of electrical gremlins. Mine is better with a few gremlins. My s2000 I bought a year earlier (granted it has 30k miles less than the explorer) is trouble free. My sister's accord 1996 model is trouble free. The American cars just aren't built well.