[s-cars] Truth vs. Joy

[Taka Mizutani]

A big +1, JC.

Audi has already lost their way as you've said. We need a more basic AWD
sportscar/GT in the spirit of the UrQ- the TT doesn't cut it in that regard
and the S5 is simply too heavy- if the RS5 was built with aluminum unibody
and outer skin, then maybe.

Also, a more basic A4 which is the bread-and-butter car for the company-
lose the millions of gadgets and offer a decently equipped one that doesn't
have to have everything. Same with the A5. Kind of in the spirit of the 1
series BMW, but with better execution.

IMO, the A3 doesn't really look right alongside the other Audi cars- it
definitely needs a restyle. The only "premium" hatchbacks that I thought
were styling successes are the Mini, the Fiat 500 and the original Volvo C30
(not the 2010 restyle which looks terrible).


Taka


On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 7:47 AM, JC <jc at j2c3.com> wrote:

> Wylie thanks much for this interesting read.
>
> I agree with a lot of it but disagree with the authors final conclusion in
> that I fear Audi following the BMW track as we speak.
>
> it's the curse of success - when you find yourself crushingly dominating in
> one segment after a while, hubris sets in, you think you can do anything
> and
> everything for everybody.  the only place to go is up and out and they turn
> to the 'seductive' (what Auto execs get seduced by I guess) idea of ruling
> in the mass market.
>
> then the next multiplying error is that apparently in the auto industry
> this
> means you require focus-group designed products. welcome to the ocean of
> mediocrity. while listening to the customer is critical, focus group
> product
> design has lots of problems and is usually done the WRONG way in the auto
> industry and that's what leads these companies down the path.  the best
> analogy is "would you ever ask Joe off the street what ingredients to put
> in
> a 5-star gourmet entrée?"  well if you did you'd never get the brilliant
> and
> mind-blowing creations of the worlds best chefs, you'd get the same crap
> that Joe has had before... he's not a freakin chef and car owners are not
> designers or stylists.   iconic and compelling design needs to stretch
> people's ideas - we are impressed by things that surprise us, not things
> that fall into our dumb comfor zone.
>
> back to AoA - while a lot of the current cars are still pretty great (love
> my wife's new A3 yes I know it's a golf platform) and it's nice that we
> continue get some S cars (surprised we were allowed the S5 for instance)...
> it's things like the disappearance of manual transmissions, and restriction
> of quattro availability and the bloat of curb weight and size across the
> range (an A4 now is massive compared to the little nimble car it started
> out
> as) that looks EXACTLY to me like AoA going down the BMW path...
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> > [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of W. Bean
> > Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 10:29 PM
> > To: s-car-list at audifans.com; quattro at audifans.com;
> > urq at audifans.com; 20v at lists.20v.org
> > Subject: [s-cars] Truth vs. Joy
> >
> >
> > http://www.autoextremist.com/current/2010/3/16/the-autoextremist.html
> >
> >
> > --
> > Wylie Bean
> > TheRingmeister at triad.rr.com
> > 90 cq
> > 91 90q20v sport
> > 92 UrS4
> > 08 Q7 3.6
> >
> >
> >
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