Rant: Current car commercials

WarmAndSCSI · 10-19-2010, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThoriumHotdog

The worst drivers I see are the texters.. I'd rather have some tweaked out meth addict or some coke snorting douche in traffic than a stupid teenybopper texting messages.

I'd rather have any of the above than ANY teenager driving on the same roads as I. I haven't been exposed to how poorly this age group drives until recently, but it's just horrendous. I have no idea why they let some people drive to begin with. It ought to be an even more exclusive "privilege."

370Zsteve · 10-19-2010, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theDreamer

Lately I have noticed a new trend in car commercials, many luxury brands, but even some non luxury brands. The idea that they are developing new software & hardware to prevent accidents. Now I am not against the idea of technology progress or the idea of preventing accidents, but why are companies spending so much money on new technology without upgrading current tech?

Brakes:
-A good upgrade for any car and through racing and other sciences have developed some major forward steps. Pads, current pad technology is great in that we can have great bite with low dust and no noise. Calipers, bigger calipers and proper design helps in cooling and making sure your brakes perform the same time and again.

Tires:
-A optimal upgrade which OEM manufactures could easily pick up. It might sacrifice a bit in noise or tire life, but with how much sound control and noise reduction built into cars an average driver would not even notice.

Heavier is better:
-Not sure how this became such a prominent thought in the industry, but you have cars which are very light weight (sub 3500) which stop better, just as good crash ratings and have solid real world results.

The reason for some of these points is that, you reduce stopping distance, you eliminate many accidents. Both on the highway, red lights or stop signs, etc.

One of the main commercials which has set me to write this post is a Mercedes commercial. They have 4 or 5 people talking about how they were falling asleep, drifting lanes, person in front of them stopped short. Why is Mercedes having to fix a human error or not provide better stopping abilities in their cars. Instead they want to develop nanny controls which stop for you or pull you back into your lane to correct your drift.

Well, the Mercedes commercial is for a car that has: great brakes, excellent tires, etc. One of the things you mentioned is people falling asleep...the nanny senses your head drooping and sounds a warning chime, not something you're likely to see on a cheap car. I haven't seen a commercial yet for a cheap car that touts things like performance tires and brakes..it's all about skinny tires with less rolling resistance for fuel economy.

Jeffblue · 10-19-2010, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

I told you a while ago, Jeff, but you should be in marketing.

haha, unfortunately i hated marketing in college. i don't know if its the way the teachers taught or what, but it just always seemed like such ethereal bs. marketing concepts are like breathing
'speak directly to the consumer, show you understand, offer a solution to their problem.'

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI

And I discovered Hyundai's are totally still pieces of sh*t over my vacation as well. The lady we were staying with had a nicer '07 Hyundai Santa Fe and it was barely out of warranty and multiple sensor were failing. It had a complete transmission failure during its warranty as well. This is all on a dealer-maintained well-cared-for vehicle. On top of that, the interior was the worse combination of fake wood grain plus painted silver pieces that I've ever seen

GG Hyundai!

*Cue somebody coming in to argue devil's advocate for Hyundai...*

blah blah blahh value blah blah blah blah G37 blah blah blah warranty blah blah hyundai assurance blah blah i'm gay blah blah i'm trying to make myself feel better about my stupid purchase blah blah blah.

shadoquad · 10-19-2010, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI

I'd rather have any of the above than ANY teenager driving on the same roads as I. I haven't been exposed to how poorly this age group drives until recently, but it's just horrendous. I have no idea why they let some people drive to begin with. It ought to be an even more exclusive "privilege."

We all had to start somewhere, though.

Texters are a huge problem, BUT, the real problem is that people don't pay attention to the road. It's been an issue since well before MMS. Road maps, lipstick, hamburgers, coffee, laptops, passengers...

MD legislation is in order right now that states that holding a phone to your ear while driving is against the law. However, it's ok to use a wireless head set. What this has effectively done is drive the market up for bluetooth headsets while doing nothing to fix the problem. Whether you hold the phone to your ear, talk over bluetooth, or hold a conversation with the passengers sitting next to and behind you, it doesn't f*cking matter. The problem is that you should be focused on the road. So the State of MD officially endorses spending excess money on a bluetooth gismo that you don't f*cking need, while the accident rate stays the same.

370Zsteve · 10-19-2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vipor

I hate the whole heavier thing. They make cars small and light when gas went up a while ago and now that they get better mpg (20+) they just start making them huge again. One of the major downfalls of the Z34 is it's weight.

Z31 - 2900-3000lbs
Z32 (2 seater) - 3200lbs
Z33 - 3200-3600lbs
Z34 - 3250lbs

The 240Z was only 2355lbs lol.

My 240SX at ~2700lbs felt very quick with it's mere 155fwhp

What you don't mention is that much of the added weight is due to Government-mandated safety features. Without the mandated features, the Z34 would have come in much lighter than the Z33!

m4a1mustang · 10-19-2010, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffblue

haha, unfortunately i hated marketing in college. i don't know if its the way the teachers taught or what, but it just always seemed like such ethereal bs. marketing concepts are like breathing
'speak directly to the consumer, show you understand, offer a solution to their problem.'

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

shadoquad · 10-19-2010, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve

What you don't mention is that much of the added weight is due to Government-mandated safety features. Without the mandated features, the Z34 would have come in much lighter than the Z33!

WarmAndSCSI · 10-19-2010, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve

Well, the Mercedes commercial is for a car that has: great brakes, excellent tires, etc. One of the things you mentioned is people falling asleep...the nanny senses your head drooping and sounds a warning chime, not something you're likely to see on a cheap car. I haven't seen a commercial yet for a cheap car that touts things like performance tires and brakes..it's all about skinny tires with less rolling resistance for fuel economy.

Great brakes? Excellent tires? I would like to believe that, but I had to go look for myself.

From a C300 SPORT Sedan:

Quote:

Dual-circuit power-assisted 4-wheel disc brakes. Front: 11.6" perforated and ventilated - single-piston floating. Rear: 11.8" ventilated - single-piston floating

Single piston floating calipers, small rotors, presumably crappy brake pads to reduce noise.

Quote:

225/45 R17 front - 245/40 R17 rear, all-season performance

Nothing about an all-season tire coming from an OEM says "performance."

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.

shadoquad · 10-19-2010, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.

Ah, but C class is the entry class Benz, which means "I'm paying for the badge alone."

m4a1mustang · 10-19-2010, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI

Great brakes? Excellent tires? I would like to believe that, but I had to go look for myself.

From a C300 SPORT Sedan:

Single piston floating calipers, small rotors, presumably crappy brake pads to reduce noise.

Nothing about an all-season tire coming from an OEM says "performance."

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.

They actually aren't that bad. They are just expensive for a small sedan.

We have a CLK500 and it's pretty badass.

m4a1mustang · 10-19-2010, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadoquad

Ah, but C class is the entry class Benz, which means "I'm paying for the badge alone."

370Zsteve · 10-19-2010, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

And the best marketing minds didn't become marketing professors either

Jeffblue · 10-19-2010, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

I agree. Not to generalize, but most of the marketing majors in my school were ditsy girls and gay guys. Management was the other major that kind of annoyed me. I think a good manager, first and foremost, has to know a lot about the field in which they are a manager. you can know all the 3 letter management jargon in the world, if you don't know anything about Steel, you won't be a good manager in a steel manufacturing company. Same thing with marketing. While there is definitely something to be said for ad agencies etc which come up with brilliant ideas of how to sell a product, i think a good product sells itself. Of course, a good product will sell more with good marketing, but if you paint turd gold, its still turd. and the people i met in those majors had this attitude of like 'oh it doesn't matter if i don't know anything about the specific field i plan to enter or anything about its products, i'm a hot shot, i can sell/manage anything.

finance<3

shadoquad · 10-19-2010, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

The best marketing minds don't go to school for marketing!

Quote:

Originally Posted by 370Zsteve

And the best marketing minds didn't become marketing professors either

Marketing is such a slimy and dishonest profession by its nature.

370Zsteve · 10-19-2010, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WarmAndSCSI

Great brakes? Excellent tires? I would like to believe that, but I had to go look for myself.

From a C300 SPORT Sedan:

Single piston floating calipers, small rotors, presumably crappy brake pads to reduce noise.

Nothing about an all-season tire coming from an OEM says "performance."

People who buy C class Benzes are delusional. They're utter pieces of crap, from a performance and handling perspective. And the above is on the SPORT Sedan. Even for the C350 - a $40k base price car - the rotors are just larger in diameter up front with the same crappy 1-piston floating calipers and sh*tty tire package. That's pathetic.

Totally agree. And I'll add that people who buy C-class Benzes can't afford a decent Benz. They'll do anything to get that coveted 3-point star so they can pretend they are wealthy. And "Sport Sedan" is an oxymoron, unless it's an EVO lol

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