the grill

[Michael McLaughlin]

>From: Chris Thorp <thorp at spacia.org>
>Subject: Re: the grill
>To: dave.eaton at clear.net.nz
>Cc: quattro at audifans.com
>Message-ID: <8C454051-31D3-45FE-BBF0-E8FB592B8324 at spacia.org>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
>
>
>On Nov 8, 2006, at 4:11 PM, David Eaton wrote:
>
>> much of the current audi philosophy appears to be around the
>> removal of the engine for replacement of items like the
>> starter etc.
>
>I think that's a bit of a shame.  One of the things that I liked  
>about German engineering, over American or Japanese, was that they  
>acknowledged that parts fail and that they designed them so that  
>replacement would be as painless as possible.  Take the C4/A6 front  
>struts for example.  You can replace them with the car on its wheels  
>by just yanking them out the top.  That's not to say that everything  
>is always easy, but that on average it is easier.
>
>-Chris

That reminds me of a comment I've heard from my Mercedes mechanic a number of times. I have a '93 300E, and one of the things I love about it is when working on it you can tell it was designed to be taken apart and put back together again. Periodically my mechanic and I will be talking about the older cars, and about the newer Mercedes-Benzes he gets this look and says, "Now they're built like Hondas, except less reliable."

-Mike