We like vans because they’re stiff October 4, 2009
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars , add a commentGIVE a motoring journalist a van and he’ll be your best friend.
Particularly if you are Ford’s Bob Wright, who controls the press fleet, and distributes said vans to house-moving journos who just so happen to also have a pressing need to get a van out on test.
But, why? Just why is it we love driving them? Is it their simplicity, their great visibility, their excuse for you to drive like an arse, the fact they’re just plain different, the fact they’re always so surprisingly good? Well, probably all of that.
There’s another to add in too, though. They’re stiffly sprung, to help manage those heavy house-move loads. And, thus, handle like big GTIs. Yes, really. The latest Ford Transit is an absolute riot through the lanes; a Mercedes Sprinter is an utter class act.
They’re chuckable, accurate, precise, lithe and fun. And why is this set-up such a welcome surprise, when GTIs and sports cars are so commonplace? Because, reckons a chassis pal of mine, car makers are getting scared of sticking stiff springs on.
Particularly the Japanese, he reckons. Car makers don’t want to offend with the initial thudder of a ride, so will go down on the spring rate to give response frequencies to bumps that are, well, pleasant. Trouble is, they forget to perfect the damping to deal with the after-effects of this – meaning as soon as surfaces worsen, so does the ride.
None of this worries van drivers. They need a set-up that will compensate for their gregariousness both on the way to and from picking up those 12 200kg generators – so, spring rates go up, handling benefits accordingly, and chassis engineers are forced to carefully consider the damping rates to deal with this huge variation.
Vans are stiff. But, because vans are stiff, vans are actually far more intricately engineered than you first may think. Making them a blimmin’ riot of a test car.
If only I could shift my house…
How Ford put the boot into the Sierra
Why Ford Econetics break the rules
What I learnt from Autocar – 18 March 09 March 19, 2009
Posted by richard in : What I learned today , add a comment… I saw a heavily cloaked test car a few weeks ago on the M42. Looked like a Jaguar, beneath the disguise. It was – the new XJ, which Hilton says will be unveiled in June.
It was going to be a reskin of the current model, but is much more than that. Jaguar’s taken the lessons from the XF – a rehashed S-Type – and applied them here, for an extensive overhaul using the same air-suspension wheelbase.
Styling will wow. Jaguar designer Adam Hatton stressed as much over a beer late last year, at a function in the Cotswolds… and I believe the Malvern-dwelling dude (who rates the Citroen C4, but doesn’t like the new MINI).
There’s even going to be an all-glass panoramic roof.
Jag’s 3.0-litre V6 diesel will feature: this is so powerful and eco, it makes the V8 diesel redundant. Range Rover only for that, then? Seems an expensive way of doing things.
… VW’s said it’s planning a Bluesport range of green performance cars. Like Bluemotion, but faster. Raking in more profits, then.
… Mercedes will sell a diesel version of the next SLK, due in two years. As it’s based on the fine current C-Class platform, expect the brilliant C 250 CDI engine to feature.
… Sweden is not to ban petrol and diesel in 2020. It will ban them in 2030 instead. So that’s why Saab and Volvo are so big on biofuels…
What I learnt… from Autocar, 11 March 2009 March 18, 2009
Posted by richard in : What I learned today , 1 comment so far… Top VW product man Ulrich Hackenberg says customers are prepared to pay more for Bluemotion ‘green’ cars. That’s because they’re 5-10mpg more economical. Win-win for VW, then. It gets more cash for each car, which customers are happy to buy in decent numbers.
With such a business model, why would it thus apply the Bluemotion changes to all models, cutting such a profitable revenue stream?
VW’s rivals may snipe and say that ‘all our cars are green, not stand-out green specials’ – but they ‘aint getting the profits of VW. That’s why Bluemotion’s here to stay.
Hackenberg also says customers are understand that they must look at engine technology, not size, to gauge performance. Good news for the downsizing trend.
… Next year, MINI will start selling patterned soft-top Convertibles. Not easy to productionise down at Oxford, but extremely lucrative, I’d have thought.
… Renault reveals the Megane Renaultsport 250’s carryover platform has been re-engineered to take a short-shift 6-speed gearbox. Why go to the trouble? Unless there are future transmission developments we’re not aware of…
… The Golf R32 will lose its heavy V6 for a more eco four-pot turbo. Probably the TTS’s 268bhp unit. It’s for handling as well as emissions, says VW.
… the origins of the TTRS’s five-pot turbo are revealed. It’s actually a tuned-up version of an engine seen in the US-spec VW Jetta. Not, as Audi claims, half a Lamborghini V10. Ahem.
