tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post3133469807600631162..comments2023-09-29T06:58:20.125-07:00Comments on Badtux the Snarky Penguin: If you stand still you will be passedBadTuxhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-15542658259063069692011-09-24T23:23:10.432-07:002011-09-24T23:23:10.432-07:00This begs the question, is there still something t...This begs the question, is there still something that America is actually good at now besides corporate malfeasance and puritanical religious fervor?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-91829075957806879942011-09-22T18:07:55.061-07:002011-09-22T18:07:55.061-07:00'Tux, your comment about the pizza delivery dr...'Tux, your comment about the pizza delivery driver made me laugh so hard I forgot what I was going to write--something about being married to the status quo, I think.Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09974356693812650266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-78453547968264305752011-09-22T16:29:32.839-07:002011-09-22T16:29:32.839-07:00As vs. American industrial buyers, who are... Fere...As vs. American industrial buyers, who are... Ferengi.<br /><br />- Badtux the Snarky PenguinBadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-52188300725881612992011-09-22T16:27:21.512-07:002011-09-22T16:27:21.512-07:00A marketing manager in high tech I once knew refer...A marketing manager in high tech I once knew referred, with great respect, to the Korean buyers of our product (an electronic component) as "Klingons". What he meant was that they were value-demanding and hard-bargaining, but then turned around and were champions of producing high-value, good-price-point end products in return.Karenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03079852628674185384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-7662373269571327302011-09-22T13:36:34.795-07:002011-09-22T13:36:34.795-07:00Well, the salesman was sorta right, within the lim...Well, the salesman was sorta right, within the limited intellectual ability of a salesman (remember, car salesmen usually aren't too bright, else they'd be working jobs that required more brain cells -- like, say, pizza delivery driver ;). But in any event, yes, the two transmissions ARE the same, as far as I can tell. The only difference is the controls for shifting them. <br /><br />Compare/contrast to my antique Jeep Wrangler, where the 2wd/4wd lever pushes directly on planetary gearsets within the transfer case and the shift lever pushes directly on shift forks within the manual transmission. Just a different generation altogether, even if it *is* a six speed medium truck transmission rather than the traditional four or five speed of Jeeps of yore.BadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-61833797723293522652011-09-22T13:26:08.446-07:002011-09-22T13:26:08.446-07:00Ford's target market is still apparently 18-22...Ford's target market is still apparently 18-22 y/o male sweat hogs from 1972.<br /><br />My salesman told me a story about the automatic being just like a manual, but without a clutch. I just figured he thought I was a moron. I'd have responded much more vigorously to the phrase "shift-by-wire."Nangleatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908938252272172718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-77456795805620696612011-09-22T12:55:13.377-07:002011-09-22T12:55:13.377-07:00Ford's been using GDI to get horsepower, not e...Ford's been using GDI to get horsepower, not economy. Their 3.5L turbocharged GDI engine, for example, makes more horsepower and torque than their 5.0L V8 engine. That wasn't Hyundai's goal with GDI -- though it's certainly a nice bonus.<br /><br />- Badtux the High-tech PenguinBadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-85730904157270266272011-09-22T09:28:42.165-07:002011-09-22T09:28:42.165-07:00Ford has not been a slouch in the GDI engine depar...Ford has not been a slouch in the GDI engine department either: http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=29653Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18344788134893554213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-59067794837425473672011-09-22T09:20:07.889-07:002011-09-22T09:20:07.889-07:00All I know is that certain "foreign" car...All I know is that certain "foreign" car manufacturers are taking full advantage of the automotive talent one finds in the greater Detroit area. I drive past a joint Hyundai/Kia research facility every day on my way to work. Toyota has a pretty major facility in the area too. The "big 3" have been cutting wages for their engineers and many of those folks have found they can get higher salaries elsewhere. What the auto companies need to do is to figure out that excessive executive compensation isn't going to do it for them. They need to compensate their creative talent well too.NoNamehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14525122106635914532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-20598689305360967582011-09-22T08:01:19.616-07:002011-09-22T08:01:19.616-07:00Nans, from what I can tell the manual transmission...Nans, from what I can tell the manual transmission on the Accent is the <i>exact same transmission</i> as the automatic transmission. The gear shifter on the "manual" transmission doesn't even go into the transmission -- it's just a gated joystick like on a video game that just pretends to be a real gear shifter. The "clutch" similarly just sends electronic signals to the real clutch packs in the transmission. So don't feel like you lost anything other than some entertainment value by not being able to get the manual. <br /><br />My brother needed a family car back in the early 'oughts and got a Sonata. That was the first year of the previous-generation Sonata. It was/is reliable as a brick, as reliable as any Honda car my mother has ever had. And about as exciting as a brick, it wasn't competitive powertrain-wise with the competition on either power or fuel economy. Hyundai has decidedly fixed that with this generation :). <br /><br />Regarding an independent auto industry in the US, the biggest problem is that the auto manufacturers spun off their parts suppliers and thus lost control over their parts. One reason the Chevy Volt is so outrageously expensive is that GM no longer has AC/Delco in-house to fashion new parts -- it has so many new / unique parts that the parts suppliers are reaming GM to get back the R&D funds they had to spend to create new production lines for the new / unique parts (because designing the part is only the first step, once you design the part you have to design how to *manufacture* the part). So anyhow, now you know why when Chrysler re-designed the Jeep Wrangler in 2006, it no longer had the flat paddle-style door handles of the previous-generation Jeep that slid through deep brush so well. There was one (1) supplier of those things in the entire world, and they were charging Chrysler an arm and a leg for them because their last other customer (AMC) had been shut down by Chrysler long ago. So Chrysler put a standard door handle like had been on all their cars since the 1970's on the new Wrangler and called it good. I guess new Jeep owners just get free garnish for their dinner when they yank all those leaves and branches out of their door handles at the end of a run :).<br /><br />- Badtux the Industrial PenguinBadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-7262935060910809222011-09-22T05:36:55.531-07:002011-09-22T05:36:55.531-07:00Signing for an Accent tonight. I wanted the manua...Signing for an Accent tonight. I wanted the manual transmission, but they just cannot be had in this country. You go into a Hyundai dealer and ask for a car, and they print out a list of dealers across the country that maybe have one, and go phoning them up, one at a time.<br /><br />If you're at all picky, you'll have to wait for weeks.<br /><br />Of course, they DON'T have the car you want there!<br /><br />I sat in a brand new Mustang a few years ago. A friend rented it. Now, I like the way American cars are looking lately, but when I sat in this Mustang, it was like being in a car from 1970, perfectly preserved. The same fit and finish. Probably some of the same molds formed some of the same parts you know from decades ago. There's just an unbelievable amount of inertia and stultification in that industry. Nothing, not even bankruptcy and government rescue, can get them out of it.<br /><br />We need some independent car industry to grow in this country, free of the infection of the old.Nangleatorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908938252272172718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-53723300409445270292011-09-21T21:35:59.259-07:002011-09-21T21:35:59.259-07:00Those who "quit valuing education for educati...Those who "quit valuing education for education's sake" are those who never have had an education.Jerry Critterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870618647449723147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-83303917617590235462011-09-21T21:27:13.228-07:002011-09-21T21:27:13.228-07:00I'd say "welcome to boomer America"....I'd say "welcome to boomer America". This all started in the 60's with the campus revolts against education that wasn't "relevant", which led into the 70's with the revolt against education that didn't specifically train you for a specific job (and leave out all that fancy stuff like Civics, history, etc., that had no relevance to a specific job), which leads right up to today. When America quit valuing education for education's sake and started demanding that it be "relevant", the die was cast, and the stupid eagerly grabbed that opportunity to validate their stupidity.<br /><br />- Badtux the History PenguinBadTuxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01345749557330760251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-48824798912595080132011-09-21T21:13:12.299-07:002011-09-21T21:13:12.299-07:00Welcome to the republican America.Welcome to the republican America.Jerry Critterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01870618647449723147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9612609.post-15143445285699988812011-09-21T20:33:13.881-07:002011-09-21T20:33:13.881-07:00So WASF in an entirely different way.
Lovely,
JzB...So WASF in an entirely different way.<br /><br />Lovely,<br />JzBJazzbumpahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07337490817307473659noreply@blogger.com