Re: Audi Price Cuts

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

On Fri, 14 Oct 1994, Robert D. Houk wrote:
>    then explain to me how (1) nissan can put a pickup truck engine into a
>    "sports" car and enjoy great sales success.  (2) downgrade the suspension
> 
> Good engineering, I'd say. Also, parenthetically, I will point out that a
> lot of very-successful British Sports Cars (Lotus comes to mind) used a
> *fire pump* engine to very good effect . . . to this day outhandling just
> about anything the Germans have ever managed to field (for less than my
> annual salary, anyways) . . .

i'm not talking about handling here; neither am i talking about the v6
which i have no quarrel with.. i'm talking about the 2.4 liter "nails"
4 banger, which is the most cynical piece of work i have ever seen.
i am talking about the 240sx (and to a lesser extent the altima).
have you driven a nissan with one of these?  of course compared to a
1960's british sports car it may be reasonable, but let's compare it
with current standards, shall we?

>    bits in the new maxima and still get away with it.  (3) how honda can
>    specify 5 inch wide wheels for a 3000 pound car and sell tens of
> 
> OK, so the "Common Man" CAN be a fool sometimes (although also I'll point
> out that today's 5-inch tires outperform "yesterday's" 6-inch times, and
> "yesteryear's" 7-inch tires!).

*wheels*, not tires.  i hate it when they stick 215 or 205 section tires
on 5.5 or 6 inch wheels; or 185 or 195 tires on 5 inch wheels.. hell, you
need to go down to the base model VW fox to find 5 inch wheels.  the
mushy feel often comes from this setup.
 
>    from the marketplace, the void being filled with glorified trucks with 40
>    year old technology. 
> 
> ...which will readily take me places that I wouldn't dare take my prized
> German piece-of-Engineering-Excellance (comme par example, the lumber store
> to pick up a 2x4, not to mention the hunting camp up in the hills)

if everybody used their SUV's and high clearance 4X4 off road, i'll shut
up right away.  can you tell me with a straight face that everyone does?
as kawamoto righfully says, a vast majority of them buy them as fashion
statements.  if only the EPA will start slapping gas guzzler taxes on
them.