OT: German vs. Japanese car comparison

[sfwilliams@comcast.net (Scott F. Williams)]

I got in to a debate with a dude on another forum about German versus
Japanese cars. Y'all might find some of this interesting...

> :P  germain engeneering...  good luck...  have fun...  if you like
> the buggers go for it...  and yes I know they are the same company,
> yet it seems they don't share the same engeneers...

Oh believe me, there is a helluva lot of cross pollination between the two
branches. In fact, I've got lots of Audi parts in my VW. And, as I explained
before there are lots of VW parts in the Audis. VAG is composed of VW, Audi,
Skoda, and SEAT. Aside from trim pieces and other proprietary bits the cars
share *lots* of genetic code.

> their fuel injection and other electronic experiments leave much to
> be desired...

Its all Bosch stuff. -similar to what comes on Volvos, Saabs, BMWs, and
Porsche. In fact, a lot of the Nippon-Denso equipment that you'll find in
Toyotas, Mazdas, and Nissans is really Bosch stuff built under license. VW
definitely did fall off the back of the quality truck back in the early 90s,
though. The car's basic underpinnings were typically solid and reliable.
However, certain electrical gremlins plagued the cars for several years.

The truth is that German car reliability is simply different than that for
Japanese products. In my experience, Japanese cars are typically very
reliable and well-balanced appliances with little character and emotion.
Engineering-wise they are very competent. On a day to day basis you just
can't kill them! They run forever with little maintainance, thus making them
superb daily drivers. On a soul level, however, they often lack.

German vehicles, on the other hand usually require more regular
maintainance. They've got little quirks and sometimes big quirks. But, they
have tremendous amounts of personality and keep their solid feel for far
longer. The main components (engines, transmissions, chassis, brakes,
suspension) last forever under hard conditions whereas Japanese cars have
typically worn out earlier. Close the door on a Japanese economy car and it
feels like a tin can. Do same exercise on a 1977 Rabbit and you get a solid
"thunk".

If both sides could just get together and combine the best attributes of
their cars... then we'd have something truly tremendous. :^)

>  + the price and wait on parts makes haveing a jap car
> feel cheap...

I agree with you 100% on this point!
--
Scott F. Williams
NJ Scirocco nut
'99 Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS
Mazda 323 GTX turbo "assaulted" vehicle
Golf GTI 16v "rollycar"
ClubVAC: "Roads found. Drivers wanted."