Random Car Facts

[RDF97]

I'm pretty sure that I've seen Daewoo cars here in the US badged as suzukis and I also seen something about that on wikipedia.

What I can tell you is that here is Australia. Holden (think of it as the Australian equivilant of Chevrolet) have had some models that have been rebadged Daewoo's. The Holden Viva is a Daewoo(or Chevy) Lacetti. The Holden Barina is another example. I don't what it is when its rebadged but its a Daewoo/Chevy when it is.

 

[ND4SPD]

Early C6 Corvette's from '05 to the middle of 08 have a tiny little orange LED light above the passenger side visor that provides very faint ambient lighting to the interior. Confused me when I first noticed it in the car.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

What I can tell you is that here is Australia. Holden (think of it as the Australian equivilant of Chevrolet) have had some models that have been rebadged Daewoo's. The Holden Viva is a Daewoo(or Chevy) Lacetti. The Holden Barina is another example. I don't what it is when its rebadged but its a Daewoo/Chevy when it is.

I'm not surprised (I'm also aware of Holden being Aussie GM), GM tends to rebadge a lot of cars. I don't know why I rant on this, I guess I just find it unnecessary at times.

Yup, some daewoo cars were rebadged as Suzukis.

Suzuki Forenza

Daewoo Lacetti

 

[RDF97]

I'm not surprised (I'm also aware of Holden being Aussie GM), GM tends to rebadge a lot of cars. I don't know why I rant on this, I guess I just find it unnecessary at times.

Yup, some daewoo cars were rebadged as Suzukis.

Suzuki Forenza

Daewoo Lacetti

Then it came over here as Holden.

 

[White & Nerdy]

How? It's a good economy car.

It's still rather tragic. They must have set the bar pretty low to let a tiny, way-too-tall-for-its-size box car with a tiny, underpowered engine become car of the year. Guess it just goes to show what direction things are headed in. If you want a "car of the year" award from someone, you don't need it to be fun or cool or fast or even good-looking, you just have to get an astronomical MPG figure and then build enough of them to qualify it as a mass-market car.

 

[RDF97]

The Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Cosworth was originally designed to go rallying. But the Audi Quattro; the first AWD car to win the WRC, showed rallying success just before Mercedes-Benz was about to enter. But one thing led to another and the Cosworth 190E went track racing instead.

 

[Famine]

It's still rather tragic. They must have set the bar pretty low to let a tiny, way-too-tall-for-its-size box car with a tiny, underpowered engine become car of the year. Guess it just goes to show what direction things are headed in. If you want a "car of the year" award from someone, you don't need it to be fun or cool or fast or even good-looking, you just have to get an astronomical MPG figure and then build enough of them to qualify it as a mass-market car.

I suppose it comes as no shock that you don't have the first idea what you're talking about yet again.

2006 WCOTY - BMW 3-series (from Mazda MX-5 and Porsche Cayman)
2007 WCOTY - Lexus LS460 (from MINI and Audi TT)
2008 WCOTY - Mazda 2 (from Ford Mondeo and Mercedes C-Class)
2009 WCOTY - Volkswagen Golf (from Ford Fiesta and Toyota iQ)
2010 WCOTY - Volkswagen Polo (from Mercedes E-Class and Audi A7)
2011 WCOTY - Nissan Leaf (from Audi A8 and BMW 5 series)
2012 WCOTY - Volkswagen up! (from BMW 3 series and Porsche 911)
2013 WCOTY - Volkswagen Golf (from Mercedes A-Class and Porsche Boxster/Cayman)

Not to mention that the VW up! - and its Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii platform sisters - are highly rated as one of the most fun cars made this decade.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Then it came over here as Holden.

Interesting.


Another random fact the hatchback version of the Daewoo Lacetti is sold in the US as a Suzuki Reno.

 

[Tornado]

Ok, making large engines redundant in that car manufacturers are increasingly using smaller engines to achieve the same amount of power and torque as previous discontinued larger engines while reducing the weight and emissions.

Happy.

The thread isn't "Random Car Theoretical Ideas for the Future of Car Design."

Old Engine - Two Cylinders + 2 Turbos = More Economy isn't the catch all fuel saver that it is presented as, even in the cars where manufacturers have done so on that exact basis. The more accurate statement would be "Car manufacturers are increasingly using smaller engines so they can game the fuel economy ratings better."

 

[MatskiMonk]

What? It's not simple to be aware that a car company owns a lot of car brands. That's what I meant by 'simple'.

Porsche and VW ownership of Porsche and VW is not a straight forward affair, hence all the court cases.. Not to mention the complexity in voting rights of the sub-subsidiary companies such as Lamborghini, or the sub-sub-subsidiary campanies like Ducati.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Porsche and VW ownership of Porsche and VW is not a straight forward affair, hence all the court cases.. Not to mention the complexity in voting rights of the sub-subsidiary companies such as Lamborghini, or the sub-sub-subsidiary campanies like Ducati.

Ah, that's what you meant. Alright then, I'm moving on.

 

[Bo]

It's still rather tragic. They must have set the bar pretty low to let a tiny, way-too-tall-for-its-size box car with a tiny, underpowered engine become car of the year. Guess it just goes to show what direction things are headed in. If you want a "car of the year" award from someone, you don't need it to be fun or cool or fast or even good-looking, you just have to get an astronomical MPG figure and then build enough of them to qualify it as a mass-market car.

May I ask how this is tragic? Just because it doesn't have a twin-turbo V12 with huge horsepower figures doesn't mean that it isn't a great car - these awards are for innovative and interesting mass produced cars that the general public can easily purchase, not a hypercar or luxury saloon intended for rich businessmen. Random car fact, VAG have their own font, called VAG Rundschrift. Although no longer used as the official VAG font, it is still used exclusively by VW and is available on Adobe systems.

 

[05XR8]

If you watch closely, during a brake-stand in a Buick GNX, the back end will raise up before take off.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

The SRT Viper is the first viper equipped with assists.

 

[Roger the Horse]

The Fiat Punto was available in yellow.

 

[eight6er]

Nissan made the most powerful naturally aspirated production 1.6 in the world with 200ps. The SR16VE was fitted to the Pulsar VZR N1. It was also the highest specific out put production engine in the world until the Honda F20C.

 

[Slash]

The Mustang II actually uses an ever so slightly revised 1973 Mustang grill with the only difference between the 1971-73 is the hood is behind the grill.

 

[Roger the Horse]

My Dad can't afford to keep running a car that consumes petrol like a big old Alfa Romeo engine does.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

The 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS came in 2 engine sizes; 396 and 454 cubic inches.

 

[Conbon14]

Nissan made the most powerful naturally aspirated production 1.6 in the world with 200ps. The SR16VE was fitted to the Pulsar VZR N1. It was also the highest specific out put production engine in the world until the Honda F20C.

Never knew that!

 

[eight6er]

The Rover v8 was actually an American Buick engine originally.

@Conbon it's not a very well known fact, there was only about 500 made and there's a few of them imported to Ireland second hand.

 

[Slash]

The 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS came in 2 engine sizes; 396 and 454 cubic inches.

The 396 was actually a 402 IIRC. Both are the same engine.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

The 396 was actually a 403 IIRC. Both are the same engine.

Why did they call it the 396 then?

 

[Slash]

Why did they call it the 396 then?

I've heard several things. One of them was that apparently buyers got charged by insurance companies (some tax I'm guessing) for every engine sold displacing over 400ci starting in 1970, so GM lied. Others say they just never changed the name and it was easier to keep the 396 moniker. In small cars it was still called the 396, in full size cars it was called the Turbo-Jet 400. Another reason was to distinguish it from the 400 small block, so they bored it. The motor was well established so they didn't feel the need to change the name. And I'm sorry, the correct displacement was 402, not 403 because the 396 was bored .030 over.

 

[Cano]

The Rover v8 was actually an American Buick engine originally.

Yes. It's most obscure form was the Turbo Rocket in like 1962, which wore a turbocharger with a small carb, and made 215 hp out of 215 ci, a big figure in those days. Since we're talking prehistory here, a speciall "turbo fluid", which was the grandpa of modern water-methanol injection, was used to prevent detonation. This didn't last long as, of course, it was a driveability and maintenance nightmare.

The engine itself was pretty iffy to begin with, with antifreeze that corroded the aluminium construction and other mishaps that led GM to sell the design to Rover, which refined it enough to keep it alive until well into the 2000s.

But yeah, that crap you always hear about the BMW 2002 Turbo bein' the first production turbo car and blah blah, my rear. This car and the Turbo Corvair predated it by decades.

 

[Tornado]

The Rover V8 also continued to be an American Buick engine in the form of the 3800 V6, which GM retained when they sold the V8 tooling to Rover (until they sold it to Kaiser, then bought it back a decade later).

 

[Slash]

The Rover V8 also continued to be an American Buick engine in the form of the 3800 V6.

That V6 is wild. Insane.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

I've heard several things. One of them was that apparently buyers got charged by insurance companies (some tax I'm guessing) for every engine sold displacing over 400ci starting in 1970, so GM lied. Others say they just never changed the name and it was easier to keep the 396 moniker. In small cars it was still called the 396, in full size cars it was called the Turbo-Jet 400. Another reason was to distinguish it from the 400 small block, so they bored it. The motor was well established so they didn't feel the need to change the name. And I'm sorry, the correct displacement was 402, not 403 because the 396 was bored .030 over.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was always curious on why car companies would lie about the engine size in their cars.

 

[Slash]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was always curious on why car companies would lie about the engine size in their cars.

I think that is the biggest on I can think of. Most were pretty spot on with displacement unless there were similar engines. Ford for exmaple had the 427, 428 and 429. The 427 was a rounded up 426, and the 428 was a, IIRC a 426 or a 427 as well.

 

[Tornado]

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I was always curious on why car companies would lie about the engine size in their cars.

For the same reason they lied about horsepower ratings, performance and... pretty much everything at the time. Marketing.