Are we mislead by reputation?
A few years back I decided to treat myself to a decent car. Not being a car enthusiast I wanted something that was, above all, reliable. So I purchased a German car from a manufacturer that advertises reliability as its thing - "If only everything in life was as reliable as..."
What a mistake.
I have never had such an unreliable device in my life. It all started going wrong the second day I had it, when the remote key wouldn't unlock the doors.
It progressed via such diverse things as suspension failure & the steering interlock disarming the starter motor at random times.
But the killer was three turbo failures in a single year. At what is really annoying was the simplicity (and inevitability) of the problem. You see, in winter, things - including engine oil - get colder. And when liquids - especially engine oil - get colder, they get thicker. And when liquids get thicker, they require more force to pump. None of this is rocket science, but it had completely escaped the much-vaunted German engineers responsible for the engine. They had designed an oil pump drive that wasn't up to the job of pumping cold oil round the system. So, on cold mornings, the turbo ran for some time with no lubrication. Which killed it dead. To add insult to injury, they'd designed a remedial scheme for this problem that actually made it worse. And then designed a remedial scheme for the remedial scheme which made it worse again.
Forgive me for raking up ancient history, but German engineers got first-hand experience of the difficulties of operating internal combustion engines in cold weather, on the outskirts of Moscow in the winter of 1941. Just in case it didn't sink in, the lesson was repeated at Stalingrad the following winter. Then they got an extended masterclass from the 'subhuman' Russians, as their 'inferior' tanks whipped them in coldest part of that winter, and then kicked the arses of the 'Master Race' with their 'super tanks' all the way back to Berlin.
So dear reader - be warned. A reputation for excellence may be justified. Or may just be the result of massive propaganda exercise. Dr. Goebbels would certainly be proud of the bunch of clowns who made my car.
What a mistake.
I have never had such an unreliable device in my life. It all started going wrong the second day I had it, when the remote key wouldn't unlock the doors.
It progressed via such diverse things as suspension failure & the steering interlock disarming the starter motor at random times.
But the killer was three turbo failures in a single year. At what is really annoying was the simplicity (and inevitability) of the problem. You see, in winter, things - including engine oil - get colder. And when liquids - especially engine oil - get colder, they get thicker. And when liquids get thicker, they require more force to pump. None of this is rocket science, but it had completely escaped the much-vaunted German engineers responsible for the engine. They had designed an oil pump drive that wasn't up to the job of pumping cold oil round the system. So, on cold mornings, the turbo ran for some time with no lubrication. Which killed it dead. To add insult to injury, they'd designed a remedial scheme for this problem that actually made it worse. And then designed a remedial scheme for the remedial scheme which made it worse again.
 |
| Soviet T34/76s giving the Germans a lesson in building vehicles that work in the cold |
So dear reader - be warned. A reputation for excellence may be justified. Or may just be the result of massive propaganda exercise. Dr. Goebbels would certainly be proud of the bunch of clowns who made my car.
Comments
Post a Comment