The Big Car Con
()
About this ebook
Why do car manufacturers spend so much on advertising and model changes?
After decades of extensive road building why is congestion still such a problem?
Why do so many motorists buy over-priced, over-powered gas-guzzlers?
Imagine a world where cars were designed by teams that were led by thinking, rational engineers rather than by the marketing department.
‘The Big Car Con’ shows how it is possible to both improve our road transport system and at the same time lower costs for the private motorist.
‘The Big Car Con’ is a discussion of modern car design.
1.It considers car design first from the point of view of the marketing department, who want to make maximum money for the minimum of product. It illustrates the ploys used to persuade us to make buying decisions with our emotions rather than with our intelligence.
2.Then it considers design from the point of view of a pragmatic, rational design engineer who wants to design the best product for a fair price. An engineer considers the actual functions required of the product and then uses ‘best engineering practice’ to design the right tool for the job.
Current models are then graded by their engineering quality based on their efficiency/emissions. Estimations are made of the fuel wasted by inefficient gas-guzzlers.
The effects of the two approaches to design are discussed and suggestions made to raise standards in car design.
This is a pro-motorist book that considers the interests of the driver above those of the manufacturers marketing department. It encourages the car buyer to make intelligent choices when buying a car rather than being duped by marketing fluff.
Buy this book! Cut your motoring costs and save the world!
Related to The Big Car Con
Related ebooks
Engineering Wonders Smart Cars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings101 Ways to Market Your Auto Repair Shop Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Automotive Intelligentsia Money-Saving New-Car Guide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCar Buying Revealed: Buy A Car With Confidence: Buy The Best Car For You Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnique Hustle: My Drive to be the Best Car Customizer in Hip Hop and Sports Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere There Is A Wheel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Motor Cycling - A History of the Early Motorcycle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsShould I Restore a Collector Car? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKarts Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Shifting Gears at 50: A Motorcycle Guide for New and Returning Riders Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Economics of Cars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pocket Guide to the British Car Industry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPorsche Cars: Facts Everyone Should Know About Porsche 64, Porsche 914 and More Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Luxury Cars of the 1950s and ’60s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/54WD Driving Skills: A Manual for On- and Off-Road Travel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow Mechanics Cheat Women: A Guide to Honest Car Repair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMotorcycling the Right Way: Do This, Not That: Lessons From Behind the Handlebars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPocket Bikes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScooters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning Autocross Techniques Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I'm Building a Car: How to build a car Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWomen at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sixteen Steps to Six Figures: A Game Plan for Sales Success Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSuper Cars Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5BMW M4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rootes Group: Humber, Hillman, Sunbeam, Singer, Commer, Karrier Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTruck Nuts: The Fast Lane Truck's Guide to Pickups Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Quarter-Mile Mustangs: The History of Ford’s Pony Car at the Drag Strip 1964-1/2-1978 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMegafast Motorcycles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Choose Motorcycle Riding Gear That's Right For You: Motorcycles, Motorcycling and Motorcycle Gear, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Environmental Science For You
Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Silent Spring Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Quickening: Creation and Community at the Ends of the Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - 10th anniversary edition: A Year of Food Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homegrown & Handmade: A Practical Guide to More Self-Reliant Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Desert Solitaire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Basic Fishing: A Beginner's Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing: 101 Tips for the Absolute Beginner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The World Without Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not Too Late: Changing the Climate Story from Despair to Possibility Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Secret of Water Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sacred Plant Medicine: The Wisdom in Native American Herbalism Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Forest Walking: Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Uncertain Sea: Fear is everywhere. Embrace it. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Big Car Con
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Big Car Con - Chris Rainsford
The Big Car Con
By
CHRIS RAINSFORD
Copyright 2013 Chris Rainsford
All rights reserved
Smashwords Edition
Website: http://www.chrisrainsford.com/
CONTENTS
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: If the Design Team was led by the Marketing Department
Chapter Three: If the Design Team was led by Engineers
Chapter Four: Appraisal of current models
Chapter Five: Discussion
Appendix
References
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Have you noticed that some technologies, such as telecoms and computing have made huge advances in the last 30 years whereas many of the problems facing today’s motorist are similar to those facing a motorist in the 1960s?
Many people are killed or injured on the roads. Cars are expensive to buy yet they depreciate rapidly. They are expensive to run due to the cost of fuel, insurance and maintenance. Health problems related to air pollution are on the increase. Congestion is still a problem despite decades of road building and upgrading. Parking and car-crime are a problem in some areas.
Car designers have made a significant impact on some of these issues, e.g. better brakes and tyres improving road safety.
In the future better design can further improve the quality of the road transport system, however, there is a tension between the requirements of good engineering design (i.e. safe, efficient, long lived with value for money) and the requirements of the accounting and marketing departments of car manufacturing companies i.e. maximum profit for minimum outlay.
The best design engineers want to design the best possible product giving value for money to the end user. Conversely the marketing department are committed to obtaining the maximum profit from the consumer.
In this context, ‘a design engineer’ is a technically skilled pragmatist who will prioritise ‘best engineering practice’ in the field of road transport i.e. would design the right tool for the job. The engineers’ priorities are safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness. The interests of both the motorist and other road users are considered. Success is defined by making a well-engineered product at a fair price.
The marketing department or ‘Marketeers’ are only interested in the profit. They use an array of psychological tools and images to encourage motorists to pay more for their motoring.
Techniques used to beguile the motorist include:
1. Seductive adverts, often depicting the car on empty roads in an exotic Mediterranean location, (whereas the car is more likely to be used on the M25 on a wet Monday)!
2. Many of the brand names have a mystique associated with that particular manufacturer. Their reputation may be based on the quality of their products or it may be based upon the quality of their advertising.
3. There is conflicting advice from the motoring press. They sometime quote ‘authoritative reports’ produced by marketing organisations which use (often carefully selected) data to support their client’s product.
4. There is also ‘greenwash’ where manufacturers make sometimes dubious claims about the greenness of their products.
5. There is a bewildering choice of models. For each model, there are usually many variants with differences such as petrol/diesel, 3, 4 or 5 door, different sizes of engine, different levels of trim and different gadgets e.g. Sat-nav/parking sensors. Excessive choice makes comparisons more difficult for the consumer.
This book considers car design from an engineer’s viewpoint and compares it with design from the point of view of a manufacturer’s marketing department. It is aimed at the intelligent car buyer hoping to choose the best car for his or her budget. It aims to cut through the fog of marketing ploys to enable the thinking motorist to obtain the best vehicle for his/her needs.
First there is a discussion from the marketing department’s view discussing the marketing ploys used to persuade people to spend more on their motoring. Then there is a discussion of design from an engineer’s point of view. This discusses the factors that must be considered to design cars to suit modern conditions.
Current models of cars are then appraised both from an engineer’s viewpoint and from a marketeer’s viewpoint and grouped into categories A,B,C&D. An estimation is made of the costs of inefficient car ownership.
The car manufacturers have been evaluated and ranked by the percentage of above average cars in their model range.
The results are discussed and the consequences of current car design are compared with the consequences of improved design. The last section gives advice on how to choose the best car from the cars currently available.
Hybrid electric cars have been considered in the same groups as conventional cars so that a fair comparison can be made.
Most cars use petrol or diesel so electric cars have not been considered in this study. (There are only a few electric cars available in the UK at present so it is easier to judge them on