The title of the article was “Where DETROIT lost me” -
So argueing that a WRX is an effectively smarter car than the standard GM crap is kind of off target.
I have two Alfas, a Sienna, and a Mercury Sable. I drive the Sable with the idiot light on. It passes smog with the light on, and mileage has not changed. It is a fine car - probably the volume production helped them iron out many of the silly things.
Have you had an American car with greater than 70,000 miles in the last decade? Go back and read the original note - not your biased interpretation of it. The author does not mention engine management system - he mentions overcomplicated diagnostics - which is accurate. Cheap plastic connectors? Problems for domestics and Europeans - seldom a problem for Asians.
Maybe you can write a response - “Where Detroit lost ME” - there is no American equivalent to a WRX - why not? Ford had Escort and Cosworth RS - and Cortina and Lotus Cortina before that - when Subaru was struggling to import grocery getters.
How is Toyata able to launch and support Lexus - with re-badged Toyotas - but Ford has to kill Mercury (re-badged Fords?) -
There is much that could be simplified on a modern car without affecting any of the engine management system issues you bring up. And reliability - and performance - of American and Euro cars would be improved if they paid attention to the details - such as connectors and switches. And ease of maintenance, and part interchangeability.
I appreciate your response, and I think you got my drift pretty well nailed. I am not by any stretch anti-technology. I am for technology that is robust, sensible and accessible to the common citizen.
Chevy 283’s would run 200K back in 1967. HEI was a great improvement (maybe not in an energy impulse attack, but that’s another thread). On-board diagnostics is cool, when meaningful and open platform, instead of proprietary and expensive gobbledegook.
There was an apparent disconnect between marketing, engineering and the DIY consumer that resulted in the US losing its pre-eminence in an industry that should have been perpetual here.
I admire European engineering. I own a BMW R1000CS that is light years ahead of my evo 1100 Sportster. I don’t admire Europe for electing socialists who placed $6-8/ gallon tax on gasoline, forcing the commoner to drive microcars or take the bus. Doesn’t work for us here in flyover country.
As for spewing emissions, breaking down, etc.: While I’m not a global warming freak, I don’t have a problem with cleaner fuels, ethanol, cat converters ( I don’t run them if I don’t have to), high energy ignition with computer-controlled advance, just give me a system I can set with an open platform laptop, with a fail-safe workaround.
The serpertine belt was a Detroit invention, IIRC?
As spread out as we are, the US needs solid transportation infrastructure and reasonably priced energy. The current situation has most of the population making ridiculous ongoing car payments or struggling to keep older stuff going in order to have the personal mobility a free society deserves.
It could be a lot better than it is, for everyone, not just the Beemer crowd.