More cheat tricks on some Audi vehicles

[Brad_C]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27

Now, I enjoy driving almost anything almost always, but simple durability and reliability beat entertainment in a daily driver every time.
Just the way it is.


You must be fun at parties. Personally I thrive on my daily drive and find a simple reliable breadbox is about as interesting as Chartered Accountancy. So, we all have different tastes. You should probably qualify your statements so you don't presume to speak for those of us that actually enjoy a fun machine no matter the idiosyncratic nature.

 

[supton]

I enjoyed driving my "fun" car. Found that I could drive rather rudely--and the car rewarded that behavior. Giving up "rewarding" cars for a bit seemed wise, and as a result, I drive less "fun-like". Especially since good portions of my drive are anything but areas where fun should be done: long open stretches, what are you to do? Open it up and risk a ticket?

In my Bore-me I just set cruise to 65-70 and sit back. That works for well over half my commute.

Now, if I was driving in MA on a regular basis, I'd want a fun car. Plenty of opportunity down there (and in other cities) to enjoy a car.

Edit: I should add, I don't begrudge drivers of "fun" cars. If money was no object I'd have something German in my driveway right now. Someday I might again; I used to own one, and I rather liked it.

 

[PeterPolyol]

Originally Posted By: Garak
By the way, Akio Toyoda actually races personally, including at Le Mans, and sometimes under an assumed name.

It's a good thing for him that he wasn't behind the wheel of the 'fatally incompetent' LFA supercar test vehicle that killed Toyota official test driver Hiromu Naruse. Old fella probably thought it handled on track as well as it did on paper. I don't know how to rationalize Akido's personal involvement in motorsport either, is it a "as long as I get to have fun" thing or what?? Because his company is still rooted in selling large volumes of rolling incompetence.

Quote:

Look at what's going on with the VW/Audi group right now. Certain executives and motorsport directors are being moved or retiring, and things get scaled back.

Even MB and Renault, and to a lesser extent Ferrari, are one boardroom decision from leaving motorsport, and there are precedents for that. All the companies are in business for money.


Industry standards and FE/emission targets are becoming prohibitive and they're all feeling it. They simply can't simultaneously protect their profit margins AND blow money screwing around with personal hobby funtime projects. For all automakers it's time to get serious, especially for VAG in the wake of intense persecution for their earlier 'solutions' to said prohibitive targets.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: Brad_C
Originally Posted By: fdcg27

Now, I enjoy driving almost anything almost always, but simple durability and reliability beat entertainment in a daily driver every time.
Just the way it is.


You must be fun at parties. Personally I thrive on my daily drive and find a simple reliable breadbox is about as interesting as Chartered Accountancy. So, we all have different tastes. You should probably qualify your statements so you don't presume to speak for those of us that actually enjoy a fun machine no matter the idiosyncratic nature.



A car that can't be daily driven is useless.
My warm weather daily driver is a 5 spd ragtop BMW, which would have to qualify as more fun than an old Volvo.
As I alluded to in the post to which you replied with an apparent lack of comprehension, given the choice between fun and reliable, no sane person with an actual need for transportation would opt for fun at the expensive of reliability and useability.
Fortunately, there are plenty of cars that are both entertaining to drive and reliable.
Finally, almost anything is fun to drive in its own way, including our old Ford one ton extended length E350.

 

[PeterPolyol]

fdcq, your ragtop BMW is also a daily driver (without the ragtop) all over the world and often reliably so. E36s are pretty decent and 318 drivetrains are rock solid and quite economical IIRC. Has it let you down during the course of your ownership?

 

[artificialist]

I would like to see how many other auto makers are trying to cheat like Audi and VW. I think VW was simply the first to get caught, while at the same time, other companies have other cheat devices, but haven't been caught.

 

[fdcg27]

That was the point I was making.
There are cars that are both fun and trouble free.
The e36 is about as solid and reliable as anything from any maker.
The car recently did let me down in that I now need to replace the ignition switch.
I was still able to drive the car home since an inability to engage the starter is no problem with a stick if you park it on even a very moderate grade.
Shutting one down is no problem either. Just pop the clutch as though you were a novice and then disconnect the battery to kill power, since the switch will no longer do that.
While the car did let me down in a way, it also did get me home. A good thing, since I didn't want my wife to have to drive twenty five miles to fetch me from work.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: supton
What about LeMons? Testing the, err, end life durability of components?

OEMs should sponsor that, but there would be rampant cheating.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: PeterPolyol
It's a good thing for him that he wasn't behind the wheel of the 'fatally incompetent' LFA supercar test vehicle that killed Toyota official test driver Hiromu Naruse. Old fella probably thought it handled on track as well as it did on paper. I don't know how to rationalize Akido's personal involvement in motorsport either, is it a "as long as I get to have fun" thing or what?? Because his company is still rooted in selling large volumes of rolling incompetence.

I have no idea, but he likes to do it, and does it far more than just a once a year Le Mans experience. And, he's not driving for the competition, either. He runs basic GT cars, as far as I know, which aren't terribly removed from their road going versions.

Quote:
Industry standards and FE/emission targets are becoming prohibitive and they're all feeling it. They simply can't simultaneously protect their profit margins AND blow money screwing around with personal hobby funtime projects. For all automakers it's time to get serious, especially for VAG in the wake of intense persecution for their earlier 'solutions' to said prohibitive targets.

Note that outside of F1, motorsport isn't terribly expensive. And, with respect to fuel economy matters, some rather remarkable things have been done in F1 in the past few short years.