What’s the most OVER-engineered vehicle in the past 40 years? What parts or designs were over-engineered so the vehicle had that moniker?
What’s the most UNDER-engineered vehicle in the past 40 years? What parts or designs made it so UNDER-engineered?
Depends on your point of view, I guess. For me, anything built after 1985 is over engineered. If you're the type of person who develops a twitch when you can't find your smart phone, you probably think nothing is over engineered.
I’m open to any POV. It will be interesting to see how the question is interpreted.
The product I had in mind when coming up with this question was the Supra and its 2JZ engine. The engine was able to withstand so much more horsepower than it was initially built for. And became a legendary engine in the process.
With that said, I am open to other interpretations of over engineered and under engineered.
A 50 years old example where almost everything is hydraulic-driven. You probably don't want any leak in that system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LnHdWgLlFI
Hydraulic everything?! Insane.
You could write a whole essay, so I’ll keep it simple. And this referring to cars sold here in North America.
Over-engineered = German
Under-engineered = Italian (under-engineered meaning they did not engineer it well to hold up or last.)
Interesting descriptions!
It's part of the reason the Germans lost the war. They over-engineered their tanks. The gearboxes were exquisite marvels of engineering. The lightest ever. But they were so complicated that they couldn't produce them fast enough, and they were quickly outnumbered. That's the story I heard anyway.
Speaking of OVER-engineered cars, … here is, just perhaps, the one: over engineered, way, way before it’s time: … https://youtu.be/BzMmcOQwsXo
F.S.
And to contrast above, … here is UDER-engineered example:
https://youtu.be/MAgE99f-zMg
Mind you, … if you really, really wanted a marvel of engineering, following was actually very good! Seriously, … for its time, in Europe:
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjtr9v_7-zuAhWBt54KHdxqAfIQFjAMegQIAhAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMikrus_MR-300&usg=AOvVaw2Hu3NRrex8VHH-BRVYIFxA
F.S.
under engineered, fiat palio
over engineered, modern Audis with the 2.0T engine
The craziest (and over engineered engine) in existence right now is probably the 8.0L quad-turbocharged W16 engine in the Bugatti Chiron, which itself is over engineered.
@daywalker
Isn't Bentley, Porsche, and Lamborghini all linked to VW Group/Audi?
Man those guys love putting $15,000 quality in $150,000 cars and putting $150,000 technology into $15,000 cars.
Yes they (along with Bugatti) are all under the VW group. It’s an engineering marvel, but I would not want to own any of their vehicles.
Modern under engineered? Geo Metro. I think they just superglued some sheet metal together on those things.
Over engineered? Pretty much every car current enough to have electric E-brakes. No one in history ever asked for an electric parking brake. Why do they make them? I couldn't tell you.
In recent days, I have found only 2 2021 model year vehicles that are not over engineered.
The GMC Savanna and the Chevrolet Express Vortec Rwd's.
Ugh. Those brakes. The latency is so high. It’s only a second, but feels like eternity.
For me, … I don’t think it’s OVER-engineering! As long as manufacturers are willing to provide me with, … or sell to me, a genuine service manual for a car I’m buying, I’m fine!
Ford did it in ‘66, GM did it in ‘76, BMW didn’t in ‘79 - but I was visiting Germany at the time - so I got one over there, Nissan did it in ‘97, Mazda in ‘04, Honda in ‘10, … and Toyota refused to do it in ‘19! But, … but one Toyota dealer (one out of six I was shopping) - under lots and lots of lengthy negotiations, provided me with a $400 voucher for their basic Toyota-tech access for one year.
Mind you, … when I was shopping for my son’s ‘19 RAV4, … all the other manufacturers/dealers I was shopping at the time, were uncooperative on that issue, …
Anyway, … give me a genuine, factory, complete, service manual with a car, … and I think I can live with an OVER-engineer car. But that’s me, … your situation may vary.
FWIW.
F.S.
Clever negotiation.
If 5 screws is the right number to hold a part in place, but you use 10 screws that is over engineering. If you use 2 screws that is under engineering.
I was wondering why my 1999 Accord 4 cylinder only had 4 bolts to the hub instead of the 5 like the 6 cylinder.
That already answers the question. Hahaha.
True, … but if engineer fails to reveal to you that she/he designed a specific doohickey with 5 screws in mind, … how would you know what’s right?
F.S.
Something BOTH over engineered and under engineered at the same time: DISA Valves on BMW’s.
If I understand DISA valves correctly, they work like the throttle and throttle body, controlling air flow. It’s a more precise and supposedly more sophisticated.
But that over engineering comes at a price. These things fail and need replacing. They are plastic pieces of crap.
At least a traditional throttle is metal and longer lasting.
I guess it depends on how you "qualify" the term over-engineered. It can have both a positive and negative connotation. Two give simple examples: If they over-engineer an engine so that it can handle more power than they gave it, this engine can be robust and be durable over the long haul. This is over-engineering in a positive light. If part(s) of a car was over-engineered so that the end result produced no practicable benefits for the added cost, or was overly complicated so that the car would be less reliable over the long haul, these are negative examples of over-engineering.
