What cars would engineers make?

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Lowglow

Lowglow

Newly Enlightened
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Dec 4, 2023
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Hemel Hempstead UK
Just thinking after the announcement of Vauxhall closing one of their plants with a loss of potentially over 1100 jobs.

Seems to me that almost all new cars are built with the following:

Too much complicated technology
Overstretched small engine
Too heavy
Lots of flashy tacky interior and exterior plastic trim
Forced EV mandates preventing best engineering practice.
Fancy needless tech to wow the punters

I'm not an automotive engineer but I have done some similar work and what direction I would take is:

Physical buttons and rotary controls a must
Simple style with easy to remove and replace panels and trim (using screws or bolts)
Established power trains with known reliability
No items that give nothing but future expenses (power tailgate, doors, multiple zone air conditioning etc)
Galvanised body and chassis.
Simple range structure with lots of shared parts.

I'd love to hear what designs would be on the road if only the engineering team had their say. Would you like to drive such a car?

Thoughts welcome!
 
+

Cars need to go back to being simple & straightforward

1977 Datsun 280Z

1732732861389.jpeg
 
I would want an engine bay large enough that you can actually turn a wrench without having to remove other pieces first. I would also want a vehicle that will last a life time if properly maintained. Unfortunately it is "ENGINEERS" who design the vehicles, not mechanics. Every single project I have ever worked on has had mistakes from the "engineers". Most don't have the real world experience to understand what is beyond the paper in front of them. Sure they may understand the math behind their designs but they cant seem to grasp the concept that one day it will need repair and you will need room to operate a ratchet without removing the skin from your knuckles.
 
No one wants to openly admit it, but we are currently in the 2nd Malaise Era of Automobile production. New cars in general suck! Boring, bland, and still overpriced, despite the fact that the bottom is about to drop out of the car market in very early 2025.

If you do find something exciting, it's hideously overpriced; and not very well-made. Plus, everyone is going with turbo-charged engines. Especially GM with those idiotic 1.2L and 1.3L Turbo-charged 3-cylinder engines! Frickin' hell. If you own a riding mower, you've got a more powerful engine in there! Well, that's why they put a turbo-charger on it. And, if you know how one works, you know why a 2.0L naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engine would be an intelligent alternative! You can't drive a turbo-charged car the same way you do one with a naturally aspirated engine.

Chevy Traxx with the 1.2L Turbo, 0-60mph. in just a tick under 10 seconds. The 1.3L Turbo shaves off literally half a second. Leave it to the "genius" engineers at GM to put a turbo on an engine and give it garbage performance. Meanwhile a naturally aspirated Subaru Impreza RS with the 2.5L 4-cylinder engine can do that in just a tick over 8 seconds, and comes with the best AWD system in the industry that is actually affordable for the average buyer.

I'm sorry but the vast majority of the engineers working in the auto-industry today have very little to be proud of. The collective incompetence is just staggering.

Edit: Clarification.
 
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Thanks for the thoughts.

Couple more for you.

Don't get me started on headlights! Making them like scowling eyes or gawky instead of the best possible shape to illuminate the dark roads ahead is genuinely stupid to me.

And what's with the reversing clanging? It may be regulations but it's something I find completely off putting. What happened to driver responsibility and looking around? Oh I nearly forgot. Ridiculous blind areas. Rear view mirror is hardly worth installing sometimes...
 
My friend has had an Octavia - a Super plus a rare Combi wagon recently came his way. I know they are dated but a modern car with a similar ethos would be something like I would design.

210430-SKODA-OCTAVIA-TOURING-SPORT-1-1440x1018.jpg
 
Lowglow said:
Just thinking after the announcement of Vauxhall closing one of their plants with a loss of potentially over 1100 jobs.

Seems to me that almost all new cars are built with the following:

Too much complicated technology
Overstretched small engine
Too heavy
Lots of flashy tacky interior and exterior plastic trim
Forced EV mandates preventing best engineering practice.
Fancy needless tech to wow the punters

I'm not an automotive engineer but I have done some similar work and what direction I would take is:

Physical buttons and rotary controls a must
Simple style with easy to remove and replace panels and trim (using screws or bolts)
Established power trains with known reliability
No items that give nothing but future expenses (power tailgate, doors, multiple zone air conditioning etc)
Galvanised body and chassis.
Simple range structure with lots of shared parts.

I'd love to hear what designs would be on the road if only the engineering team had their say. Would you like to drive such a car?

Thoughts welcome!
Click to expand...
Agreed.

Trouble is all of those safety features add weight. Cars are stiffer where it matters, which causes safety ratings to go up.
IMG_0876.jpeg

Never mind the US where stupidity is reigns supreme.

I blame the market for demanding all of those creature comforts. One car has an 8" screen with Alaxa, Goofle, car pray and other infotainment features but the market wants a 12" screen, heated steering wheels, air conditioned seats, and auto start.
In the US the CAFE pollution standards are impossible to achieve in a given size in the time alloted to meet said standards. So the once compact pickup truck is now the size of a full size pickup. Its poor little 2 squirrel engine is turbocharged to make up for how much power is being robbed by pollution controls.
And corparations have lost what little bit of soul they once had. They make rash decisions based on preditions of profits for the next 3 months instead of thinking long term.

Seriously, the way to go these days is to have one custom built. Used to be that was the way to get the most performance but now it's the way to obtain the best value.
Either that or spend $15k restoring the 1990's jalopy stem to stern.
 
Interesting, Car accident deaths increased in USA since 2019, I wonder what else corelates with that to increase deaths, and no doubt accident rates, , hmm, me thinks, drugs legalizations, soft on crime policies, maybe, just maybe open borders...
As far as cars, they have gotten safer than ever, due to passive and active systems.
 
ghostguy6 said:
I would want an engine bay large enough that you can actually turn a wrench without having to remove other pieces first. I would also want a vehicle that will last a life time if properly maintained. Unfortunately it is "ENGINEERS" who design the vehicles, not mechanics. Every single project I have ever worked on has had mistakes from the "engineers". Most don't have the real world experience to understand what is beyond the paper in front of them. Sure they may understand the math behind their designs but they cant seem to grasp the concept that one day it will need repair and you will need room to operate a ratchet without removing the skin from your knuckles.
Click to expand...
1984-85 Datsun maxima is the car you describing, too bad they could not make them not so prone to rust as volvos. ( full body hot dipped galvanized) Those old volvos still had very little to no rust when they were junked due to being too expensive to fix, Old Maximas otoh, were falling apart due to rust, (I personally had a jack go thru the floor while trying to change a tire) but still having little to no mechanical issues. and when you opened the hood, you'd see a straight 6 engine, and very little of anything else, you could smuggle 2 people under the hood, lol, and at the time they were most advanced cars sold in usa, no caddy or Lincoln had features maximas had. the dashboard lit up like a space ship, and it talked to you, lol
 
Won't lie, it does bother me than newer Nissans age about as well as soft, creamy cheese left out in the Sun; in Arizona.
 
+

Cars have become rolling connected devises with tons of driver assist crap mandated by Insurance Institute,
this not even getting into the EV mess.
When I bought my car new in '16, I told the salesman I didn't want all the driver assist $hit on the cars,,,, he said 'it's included in the price'
everyday, I'm thankful for not being easily told what to think.
Bought the base model, very intentionally.


Somewhat dread the day I have to go buy another vehicle.
 
orbital said:
+

Cars have become rolling connected devises with tons of driver assist crap mandated by Insurance Institute,
this not even getting into the EV mess.
When I bought my car new in '16, I told the salesman I didn't want all the driver assist $hit on the cars,,,, he said 'it's included in the price'
everyday, I'm thankful for not being easily told what to think.
Bought the base model, very intentionally.


Somewhat dread the day I have to go buy another vehicle.
Click to expand...
I hear you. Ironically, Base trims are usually the way to go nowadays if you don't want nanny aides. There are a couple of models out there at the bottom-end of new car prices that are an alternative as well. But by 2025, those will also dry up. So that won't be an alternative either.

Chevy Spark, and Chevy Sonic are gone. The under-powered Mitsubishi Mirage (both hatch-back and sedan versions) are officially getting discontinued in 2025. And, so is the slightly under-powered Nissan Versa. The originally economical (and under-powered) Nissan Kicks will still be around. But it has been re-designed into a bigger (still under-powered) more expensive model. No more cars costing $16K or $17K brand new.

So, back to buying Base trims. And I hate admitting it, but after 2025, in terms of price only, $23K is going to be the new $17K for a dirt cheap brand new vehicle. Unfortunately, outside of the LS (Base) trim crappy Chevy Trax, the car options will be what Jeremy Clarkson once described as the selection you'll find on the menu of a Scottish restaurant.... Not much in the way of selection. And, what is on the menu, is going to be nothing you want either.

Realistically, make damn sure the vehicle you want (not the one you're pretty much forced to get) has nanny aides that can all be switched off in the center touch-screen's menu options.
 
Lowglow said:
Just thinking after the announcement of Vauxhall closing one of their plants with a loss of potentially over 1100 jobs.

Seems to me that almost all new cars are built with the following:

Too much complicated technology
Overstretched small engine
Too heavy
Lots of flashy tacky interior and exterior plastic trim
Forced EV mandates preventing best engineering practice.
Fancy needless tech to wow the punters

I'm not an automotive engineer but I have done some similar work and what direction I would take is:

Physical buttons and rotary controls a must
Simple style with easy to remove and replace panels and trim (using screws or bolts)
Established power trains with known reliability
No items that give nothing but future expenses (power tailgate, doors, multiple zone air conditioning etc)
Galvanised body and chassis.
Simple range structure with lots of shared parts.

I'd love to hear what designs would be on the road if only the engineering team had their say. Would you like to drive such a car?

Thoughts welcome!
Click to expand...
I'm with you 100% on the physical buttons and galvanized steel.
 
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