Volkswagon unveils car that gets 282 miles to the gallon.

Not helping that the cost of medical insurance in the us amounts
to $1500/vehicle, and that the union labor cost is $25/hour for
uneducated high school dropouts who can barely be trusted to swing a
hammer.
These costs cut into the profit margins on the manufacturing
end, and must be made up somewhere, and you can't really do it with
efficiency improvements because those are capital intensive. so they
make up for it on skimpy design cycle and poor tolerance machining, n
other words, our cushioned american asses make crap cars because our
union cocksuckers would rather make crap cars than get paid what
they're worth.

 

Not helping that the cost of medical insurance in the us amounts
to $1500/vehicle, and that the union labor cost is $25/hour for
uneducated high school dropouts who can barely be trusted to swing a
hammer.
These costs cut into the profit margins on the manufacturing
end, and must be made up somewhere, and you can't really do it with
efficiency improvements because those are capital intensive. so they
make up for it on skimpy design cycle and poor tolerance machining, n
other words, our cushioned american asses make crap cars because our
union cocksuckers would rather make crap cars than get paid what
they're worth.

 

I guess it boils down to the way each individual views things.

I tend to think along the same lines as Jeremy: If the insides of the
transmission are fully automated, fluid controlled, and use a torque
converter instead of a clutch, I call it an automatic transmission. On the
other hand, if the gears are physically enguaged/disenguaged with levers and
actuators and/or requires a clutch, that is a manual transmission in my
book - no matter how many gismos are bolted on top to do the shifting.

Back to the main article: Greg Wilson (the author) says the VW has a "
6-speed manual transmission that shifts automatically." It sound like Mr.
Wilson also views this as a manual transmission, but is pointing out that
the operator may have no control over the gear selection (other than Park,
Reverse, Neutral, and Drive).

The lesson here is: If someone is trying to sell you a car that says it has
an automatic transmission, the Buyer may want to ask for more details.
Otherwise, he may get a vehicle that comes with someone in the passenger's
seat to shift the gears for him!

~JP

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm

 

I guess it boils down to the way each individual views things.

I tend to think along the same lines as Jeremy: If the insides of the
transmission are fully automated, fluid controlled, and use a torque
converter instead of a clutch, I call it an automatic transmission. On the
other hand, if the gears are physically enguaged/disenguaged with levers and
actuators and/or requires a clutch, that is a manual transmission in my
book - no matter how many gismos are bolted on top to do the shifting.

Back to the main article: Greg Wilson (the author) says the VW has a "
6-speed manual transmission that shifts automatically." It sound like Mr.
Wilson also views this as a manual transmission, but is pointing out that
the operator may have no control over the gear selection (other than Park,
Reverse, Neutral, and Drive).

The lesson here is: If someone is trying to sell you a car that says it has
an automatic transmission, the Buyer may want to ask for more details.
Otherwise, he may get a vehicle that comes with someone in the passenger's
seat to shift the gears for him!

~JP

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/gw/vw1litre.htm

 

Good Lord !

That would translate in UK equivalent terms to a US productvity rate for auto
workers of only about 2 vehicles per year !

I suspect the US auto compnaies could save *VAST* sums of money by operating their
own clinics and hospitals and recruiting health workers as direct employees.

Graham

 

Good Lord !

That would translate in UK equivalent terms to a US productvity rate for auto
workers of only about 2 vehicles per year !

I suspect the US auto compnaies could save *VAST* sums of money by operating their
own clinics and hospitals and recruiting health workers as direct employees.

Graham

 

In message Eeyore sprach forth the
following:

not if the hospitals were unionized.

 

In message Eeyore sprach forth the
following:

not if the hospitals were unionized.

 

Hmmmmm.... I've survived for 67 years without the modern nanny safety crap.

JT

 

Hmmmmm.... I've survived for 67 years without the modern nanny safety crap.

JT

 

Egg-Zact-Lee!

<G>

JT

 

Egg-Zact-Lee!

<G>

JT

 

Yep... Sorta like the Pinto problem of the 1970's.

Ya gotta luv 'em!

JT

 

Yep... Sorta like the Pinto problem of the 1970's.

Ya gotta luv 'em!

JT

 

Plenty more haven't.

Personal anecdotes of that nature are hardly convincing are they ?

Graham

 

Plenty more haven't.

Personal anecdotes of that nature are hardly convincing are they ?

Graham

 

Maybe not but good defensive driving practices are.

JT

 

Maybe not but good defensive driving practices are.

JT

 

But then again they may not.

A 'stiff' vehicle will in fact exert much higher damaging g-forces on its
occupants than one that does indeed have crush zones.

Yet another classic example where so-called 'common sense' proves to be very
unsensible.

Graham

 

But then again they may not.

A 'stiff' vehicle will in fact exert much higher damaging g-forces on its
occupants than one that does indeed have crush zones.

Yet another classic example where so-called 'common sense' proves to be very
unsensible.

Graham