armchair engineering

[L DC]

Hey Mike, have you run into any of FL's finest or rice
rocket racer boys lately?  :)

-Regards,

Louis




--- Mike Arman <Armanmik at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> (weird - this was sent at 9:30 AM and didn't show up
> by 3 PM - six hours 
> is a long distance at the speed of light . . . )
> 
> 
> > I know the temptation to armchair engineer is
> strong with many of  
> > you ;-) but give thought to the fact that Audi
> didn't see fit to  
> > install (part or modification X)  
> > and I have NEVER seen a vehicle with a heat shield
> around the master  
> > cylinder, even in an insanely packed engine
> compartment like the TT.   
> > Maybe it'll work and there will not be any
> downsides, but I would be  
> > concerned that there is -some- reason Audi didn't
> do it, other than  
> > "hee hee, let's make them buy new master cylinders
> every few  
> > years" :-)  I would also say that if you are going
> through MCs every  
> > few years- something's wrong.
> 
> 
> I could suggest a number of very good reasons why
> part or modification X
> was never installed at the factory, and is a very
> good candidate for
> armchair engineering.
> 
> 1) they didn't know it would later develop into a
> problem
> 
> 2) pre-production testing didn't show a problem
> 
> 3) accounting said no, you gear-heads are over
> budget on this car already
> 
> 4) the car has to go into production by date X,
> we're out of time.
> 
> 5) Oh s**t, we forgot . . .
> 
> 6) actual use of the device by the customer turns
> out to be different
> than anticipated use ("sorry, abuse, therefore no
> warranty coverage")
> 
> 7) aging parts in the real world, such as loss of
> efficiency of cooling
> fins because they are covered in dirt/dead
> bugs/grease/oxidized paint or
> whatever
> 
> 8) part delivered by supplier for actual production
> was different (or
> inferior) to parts supplied for prototype and
> testing.
> 
> 9) part vendor just went out of business, this is
> the ONLY replacement
> we can get and still keep the assembly line moving
> 
> 10) "Don't sweat it, that will never be a problem .
> . . "
> 
> 11) The standard lie from the warranty department to
> each of the
> 4,000,000 owners standing there with greasy,
> identically broken parts in
> their hands "We've never seen that before!"
> 
> 
> I am sure there are more.
> 
> 
> The real world is very unkind to assumptions made by
> engineers,
> professional or otherwise. If the factories "got it
> right" the first
> time, every time, there would be no aftermarket at
> all. These people are
> good, often very good, but they are not perfect and
> cannot cover every
> possibility. Sometimes they even make mistakes. In
> our case, the
> mistakes they made in 1986 can be remedied easily
> (louvers in the
> plastic wheel wells, for instance), and if they
> can't be remedied, we
> can sell or junk the car. Other mistakes are
> significantly more
> consequential - Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the Titanic
> and Challenger come
> to mind.
> 
> I have no problem at all improving vehicles I own,
> and I am not talking
> about candy apple paint on the air cleaner. Part of
> the fun of owning
> stuff is improving it, going the last mile to make
> the improvements the
> factory forgot, couldn't justify, or (dare I say it)
> just screwed up.
> 
> Best Regards,
> 
> Mike Arman
> 
> 1990 V8Q - Not just a car, it's an ADVENTURE!
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> quattro mailing list
> quattro at audifans.com
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
> ---
> Watch this space for ads :)
> 


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