The Holy Grail of Automotive Design

[TooSlick]

Question:

What the most hardest thing to design into any vehicle, regardless of how much or how little it costs, or the size of the engine? In other words,what makes a Honda Accord, Camry, or 3 Series BMW so desirable, even though less expensive, larger, domestic cars can outperform them in many respects ...

I'm looking for a one word answer, and it's not quality, reliabilty, or value....

FWIW, I'm willing to bet that most folks who drive domestic vehicles will NEVER get this, yet it's the reason why the Japanese auto makers are eating our lunch. I'm also willing to bet that most of the design engineers will intitutively understand what I'm talking about....

Tooslick

 

[crossbow]

I'd say emissions.

How do you meet them without completely destroying the cars performance

.

 

[Pablo]

reputation

 

[Leo]

Definitely reputation and image. No matter how good your car is, if its not accepted by the public, its completely laters.

 

[jarmstrong]

how about engineering?

i.e. japanese engineering, german engineering

 

[pinoy99]

ergonamics

 

[TooSlick]

Nobody is even close yet ...

 

[Leo]

Brand loyalty.

 

[TooSlick]

Here's another hint ...what I'm referring to is a holistic, organic approach to vehicle design ...It's almost a Zen thing, if you are old enough to remember the 60's ...

 

[icruse]

Compatibility.

Good Day,
Steven

 

[2KBMW]

TooSlick. I would say PRIDE. Domestic design
is - lets build a car with lots of H.P. with
disregard to fit, finish, handling etc. European
design is -lets make it perfect. I know because
I work for a domestic car company but my own
personal toy is a BMW.

 

[ZiTS]

I'm afraid your question is totally your own opinion. The only thing I would say is desirable about the cars you mentioned is their quality and reliability. The Toyota Camry "desirable"? I don't think so. That is the one car that has been panned time and time again by automotive sources as being one of the most unemotional cars out there. I tend to agree.
Sure, the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry sell huge numbers each year, but that is attributed to their quality and reliability - not their looks or performance; whereas the BMW has the looks and performance, but not the huge sales figures. Yet all three cars have lots and lots of reliability and solid foundations.
Maybe I'm totally misunderstanding what you're asking for, but saying a design engineer will understand flies in the face of citing a car like the Camry as "desirable".
FWIW, since you posed this question under the "Engine Oil" forum, my answer will be "motor oil viscosity"

[ January 09, 2004, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: ZiTS ]

 

[Patman]

More cup holders!

 

[Matt89]

Gestalt.

I can't articulate why or how, but my Hondas have all had it. My Chevies all haven't.

 

[Lucky]

"What is Feng shui Alex?"

 

[nick778]

Integrity

 

[harper]

As an entire whole the Camry/Accord outperform domestics. I don't mean 0-60, handling, etc but I mean all aspects as a whole meshing together working as one. (ergonomics/comfort/accelaration/mileage/handling/reliability.....) They don't exceed any other cars charectoristics except maybe reliability/mileage.

Domestics always have a nice assets but fall short as an overall package. If you love the aspects great the car is for you, but if you want everything average or better as Car & Driver puts every year for Honda Accord (10best for nearly 20 years) you have it. Basically the masses don't want those special charectoristics so Accord/Camry's fill the gap and sell like mad.

[ January 09, 2004, 10:18 AM: Message edited by: harper ]

 

[Patman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by ZiTS:
I'm afraid your question is totally your own opinion. The only thing I would say is desirable about the cars you mentioned is their quality and reliability. The Toyota Camry "desirable"? I don't think so. That is the one car that has been panned time and time again by automotive sources as being one of the most unemotional cars out there. I tend to agree.

---

I tend to agree also. At the risk of offending a few people on here, I like to compare the Camry (or many of the popular sedans out there for that matter) to a refridgerator. Reliable as can be, it'll last 20 years, but completely boring. I'd rather own a car that only lasts ten years but makes me smile every time I fire up the engine. (actually, that's a bit of a lie, I want my car to last 20 years also, but realize it might cost me more to continue to maintain it that long compared to a Camry and am willing to accept that risk)

[ January 09, 2004, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Patman ]

 

[labman]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Leo:
Definitely reputation and image. No matter how good your car is, if its not accepted by the public, its completely laters.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by harper:
snip.... If you love the aspects great the car is for you, but if you want everything average or better as Car & Driver puts every year for Honda Accord (10 best for nearly 20 years) you have it.

---

Of course at least for a while many of the Car and Driver staff were paid consultants. News not brought to you by our America last news media. I think many people are mislead by the anti American bias in the media. It is true, 30 years is not long enough for the American auto companies to live down the crap they were building in the 70's. I can't think of any manufacturer that I haven't seen detailed, wide spread, ongoing problems discussed here.

My one word answer is marketing. The same reason so many people lust after Fram filters.

 

[JohnnyO]

Tailfins and chrome, of course.