The key difference is that a good idea poorly executed can be fixed... a bad idea is always just that. The main problem with CVTs in the current day has nothing to do with them mechanically - they work great, it's all about how the computer controls them and what the consumer is demanding.
One of the worst I drove was…
Daniel MacCabe
danielmaccabe
You'll get no argument from me on that! Added weight and complication may help with ultimate handling, but they do fall down when it comes to repair frequency and cost. I respect what the new cars can do, but I wouldn't want to pay for the care and feeding.
Sadly, that wasn't specific to BMW... I had 2 Audis and 2 VWs that had similar awful cupholders. Pretty much every German car of the 90s and 2000s had some version of this awful joke.
I gotta fight you there: A CVT is a great idea that could be truly awesome if used right. Ideally something like a CVT would be amazing for most things - imagine if you will: you're getting on the freeway, you punch it, the engine goes immediately to it's max power setting and stays there, with the transmission…
He's absolutely correct about the H engine - as he said, it's two horizontally opposed engines stacked on top of each other - like an H8 made by stacking two WRX motors and adding a gearbox to combine the two cranks into one.
That Napier Sabre engine is one of my all time favorites. It also had a sleeve valve…
Why on Earth do you say that? The four wheel steering on the new Porsches is supposed to be amazing. I may accept the argument that it's a bit over complicated, but it definitely works.
I don't' think they ever even sounded like a good idea... It was just a way to get around a misguided, but well intentioned, law.
As with many things Porsche:
Step 1: remove engine
Step 2: everything else.
WTF? That may be the stupidest engineering choice I've ever seen.
Where I am (Monterey, CA) Diesel has been cheaper than regular for the last month! It's been great! (I have a '10 TDI wagen)
I had one with the 2.7 Biturbo. It was a service monster. I've never payed so much to own a car. There was no such thing as a "minor service" I never spent less than $1K on a service. OUCH!
I say "screw it." Let the USAF and ANG mothball them.
Let the people who really appreciate them scoop them up cheaply - the USMC. It really is, and always has been, the perfect aircraft for the Marines. They would love them and keep them around until doomsday and beyond.
Awesome picture. Grumman sure makes them tough.
You may need to explain to the non-navy types what an AME does. ;)
As the pilot of the Mighty P-3 Orion, I'm not impressed. They had a cowling come loose... annoying, but no big deal.
Kissing cousin of the Dragon Corvette?
I always thought those looked like shuttlecraft from Star Trek: The Next Generation. In it's day I wanted one for it's amazing nerdiness. It hasn't aged well. Better nerd option: Previa.
Here we have the winner! It's really hard to out-awful this steaming heap of badge engineering at its worst.
It's weird and only 3K and runs. NP for me. (But I'll keep looking for a Vanagon.)