advances in plastics...plastic oil pan in near future...-Page 3: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Dec. 2, 2010 2:08 p.m. Wally SuperDork

alfadriver wrote:

warantee lenghts and actual testing generally have little to do with each other. Especially part durability.

But, if one wants to base 2010-2020 decisions on stuff made between 1980-2000, well, that's not exactly my problem.

And don't be fooled by the popular image of GM and Chrysler- they are doing a lot better than you think. And their cars are a lot better than you think. Maybe not as good as the cross town rivals...

Think of it this way- if any in the auto industry had failure and error rates near .1% of the computer industry, we'd be out of business next week. Moreso if the life span is put into any kind of thought.

That's very much why I have full confidence in plastic oil pans. And why working in the industry would be an eye opener.

If they don't take degrees and such too seriously I'm good at "testing" things to the point of catastrophic failure
Dec. 2, 2010 2:56 p.m. 1988RedT2 HalfDork

In reply to Wally:

That's a humorous dialogue and Chris Farley was a funny dude, but what exactly are you trying to say? There are many companies that make a good product and stand behind it with a strong warranty. When I plunk down 30 or 40 thousand for a new car, I want to know that the car won't be in the shop for awhile, or if it is, that it isn't at my expense.

You could go so far as to argue that warranty length is a pretty fair indicator of product quality. Do you think that Hyundai's warranty hasn't had a significant impact on their growth? I hear their reliability is pretty strong too. Coincidence?
Dec. 2, 2010 4:13 p.m. alfadriver SuperDork

Much of the extended warantees are about marketing and changing perceptions, which seems to be working, doesn't it? You think it's reliability is strong, when the reality is that it's no better than anyone else. And actually isn't even in the top 5.

So your preception changed of Hyundi. It, and pretty much the whole industry, changed reality greatly over the past decade. Hyundai had to do something to stand out- so it did a gimmick.

Warranty length, to me, is more about marketing. At least until it gives emissions credits, as it may in LEVIII.
Dec. 2, 2010 4:38 p.m. Wally SuperDork

1988RedT2 wrote:

In reply to Wally:

That's a humorous dialogue and Chris Farley was a funny dude, but what exactly are you trying to say? There are many companies that make a good product and stand behind it with a strong warranty. When I plunk down 30 or 40 thousand for a new car, I want to know that the car won't be in the shop for awhile, or if it is, that it isn't at my expense.

You could go so far as to argue that warranty length is a pretty fair indicator of product quality. Do you think that Hyundai's warranty hasn't had a significant impact on their growth? I hear their reliability is pretty strong too. Coincidence?

There is never a bad time for a Tommy Boy quote, but I think warrantes are over rated. I don't know that a number on a paper has as much how a car holds up as the way it is treated and maintained. Even the worst cars built today are lightyears ahead of where they were 10 years ago and should be dead reliable, at least mechanically. I have owned two new cars, neither has had anything done under warranty. My Malibu's first major repair was a water pump at 108,000, and my Escort's was a AF sensor at 95,000. My SIL bought a Sonata when I got my Malibu and had numerous repairs under warranty. My wife drives fast but has probably only hit 4 potholes in her life while her sister drives like she's blind and uses the oil light to schedule her oil changes.
Dec. 2, 2010 5:12 p.m. eastsidemav Reader

Ford rejected me years ago. In the end, it was probably a good thing, as they were in the thick of the SUV craze at the time. I've got a degree in mechanical engineering, and have spent the last 12 years doing software and electronic QA work. Perhaps that has made me a bit too cynical, but the auto manufacturers have a record of putting unproven tech into cars, and letting the customers do the beta testing. I know its the bean counters who've screwed things up a lot of times, but I'm buying the car from the company, not their engineering and design departments.
Dec. 2, 2010 6:30 p.m. SilverFleet HalfDork

m4ff3w wrote:

novaderrik wrote:

m4ff3w wrote:

stan wrote:

I remember some mag out of the 70s that had composite plastic wheels on the cover. Guess that went nowhere...(afaik).

'89 CSX had 'em.

i'm pretty sure the wheels were made out of steel and had plastic molded to them- my mom had an 86 Mustang that had wheels like that and GM also used wheels like that on mid 70's Monte Carlos.

No sir.

They weighed 8 or 9 lbs, in a 15x6.5 wheel.

Fiberides!!!!! Shelby even won some award for the advances in plastics and composites their engineers made back when they came out. They are a full composite wheel, and only the '89 CSX had them.

According to one of their parts reps (who I had the pleasure of listening to a lecture from a few years back at a SDAC event at the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline MA) they were actually a lot stronger than the alloy wheels of its day.
Dec. 2, 2010 9:38 p.m. Schmidlap Reader

njansenv wrote:

I confess, the announcement of needed engineers down there intriques me. How hard is is for one from the great white to get a work permit down there for that kind of job? Are the big guys willing to work one through the process? Cost of living is WAY less than here in the Toronto area (for one).....

You probably won't immediately get hired directly by one of the big three (they all say they will not sponsor people for work visas), but there are a huge amount of contract agencies that will sponsor you to work contract at the big 3 - TN work permits are very easy and cheap to get. If you're really interested, let me know and I can give you contact info for someone who deals with placing contractors at Ford and Chrysler (Chrysler is hiring quite a few contractors). After working contract for a couple of years, if you're good you'll get hired on direct. There are thousands of Canadian engineers living in Windsor and crossing the border to work in Detroit every day.

Bob
Dec. 2, 2010 9:59 p.m. Wally SuperDork

To bad all the math professors had me tossed out of college. When I signed up they kept showing me race cars and machine shops then when I got there they kept bombarding me with math, but no numbers.