Show Me Examples of Poor Design

In reply to gencollon :

Can the 6-speed manual from the NC/Fiata be swapped in?

VolvoHeretic said:

Why does every car ever built have weld-on rear quarter panels when every other body part excluding the roof is bolt on? Why isn't the rear quarter panel bolt on over an internal structure just like the front fenders???

Every exterior body panel save for the roof unbolts on the Ford Maverick:

Now we need someone to develop a bolt on widebody kit ​​​​​​

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to ShawnG :

Merkurs have welded on front fenders.

Unibody Jeeps have welded on door hinges.

Fing stupid but that's Chrysler for you.

Streetwiseguy said:

I work on one Rover 2000, and only because the owner understands certain opinions I have might be considered offensive.  Same with his Saab900.

Go find a diagram of the rear calipers on that pile.  Lord Thundering Jaysus, the team that drew those had never seen a caliper before.  3/4 inch piston pushing on a lever held together with springs and pivots and park brake pushrods and oh E36 M3, just let me die...

 

I had a 2000tc.  It was a delightful car but very unreliable. Never had any trouble with the lucas electrical stuff but problems with other weirdness abounded.

stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:

VolvoHeretic said:

Why does every car ever built have weld-on rear quarter panels when every other body part excluding the roof is bolt on? Why isn't the rear quarter panel bolt on over an internal structure just like the front fenders???

Every exterior body panel save for the roof unbolts on the Ford Maverick:

Now we need someone to develop a bolt on widebody kit ​​​​​​

Is this so the bed can be replaced like typical pickups?

widebody would be sweet but:

1) how much tire can fit under the stock body already and

2) I'm betting it's wayyyyy cheaper to attach flares to stock bedsides than to make a whole new one (because it's huge).  It's cool that could potentially take them off and do that work on a bench though.

TheRyGuy said:

In reply to flat4_5spd :

Bolted on body panels aside, what the heck is going on with that Rovers front suspension?

The idea was to feed suspension loads into the front firewall and allow the steering box to be placed close to the firewall as well. It was exempted from the "collapsible steering column" requirement because the front of the car could be massively crushed w/o sending the steering column towards the driver.  

Pete's mostly got it right about the rear suspension. There's no twist beam. There are trailing arms and coil springs, a DeDion tube to force the rear wheels to have constant camber throughout their travel. The DeDion tube isn't solid like most of them, because that would be too normal. It's a two piece affair that allows one side to swivel relative to the other side while maintaining constant camber, so the suspension is more independent than a standard DeDion type. They were on a war against lift off oversteer. I think you could probably accomplish much the same thing with double wishbone suspension with equal length upper and lower control arms, but the DeDion probably has better toe control. 

I've only driven mine about 10 miles in the 15 years I've owned it, but the suspension delivers a magic carpet ride with decent handling, so I'd say it does what it was designed to do even if the design is a bit whacky. It's got a ton of suspension travel, way more than any normal car nowadays. 

Streetwiseguy- yes, those Girling swinging rear calipers used on the later Rover P6s are an insult to Rube Goldberg. Absolutely horrific. 100% belong in the poor design thread.  

Arguably, the long/short toe link arrangement in modern IRSes provides better lift throttle oversteer prevention, at least in theory, because of the toe-in in both droop and compression.  The worst offenders for weird oversteer characteristics (generic, single arm trailing arms) had heavy toe-out under cornering loads, which the automakers compensated for in part with heavy static toe-in, which has its own peculiarities.

But, again, it takes a little while to zero in on what works the best.  I see weird contraptions as people at least trying to figure out what works.

In reply to Patrick :

It's obvious that Ellen drew that thing back when he was 10 and after all of these years, he finally got to build it. 

Resurrecting one of my favorite threads.

This steering wheel.  Its found in a lot of cheaper Fords.  The arrow up button on the left side and the volume up button on the right side curve up onto the top surface of the center of the wheel, so they really aren't things you can press with your thumb without tilting your hand in a weird way.  I'm not sure why Ford deviated from what I would consider a fairly "standard" wheel design now, like what was found in my Kia Soul, my Hyundai, the Corolla rental I had, the last Mazda rental I had, etc. etc.

VolvoHeretic said:

Why does every car ever built have weld-on rear quarter panels when every other body part excluding the roof is bolt on? Why isn't the rear quarter panel bolt on over an internal structure just like the front fenders???

Usually the rear quarter panels are structural because it's actually a unibody/monocoque hybrid chassis rather than a true unibody (like the Rover P6 or Ford Maverick). It is a poor design choice to use any kind of monocoque-like chassis on an ordinary street appliance though.

Every time I go to start my 2013 F150, I have to lean way over to the right to visually align the key with the ignition switch. Each time, I mentally subtract a point from Ford for not having a more convenient arrangement. I could do it by feel but don't want to end up with (11 years and counting) scratches all over the steering column.

In reply to kb58 :

Similar on my '06 Ranger and why the hell is that idiot lever there that  I have to manipulate to get the first click out of the ignition switch?! You can't just reach in and pull the keys out without sitting down a working that berkeleying lever.

VolvoHeretic said:

In reply to Patrick :

It's obvious that Ellen drew that thing back when he was 10 and after all of these years, he finally got to build it. 

You know, There may be some truth to that and if that's the case then I somehow like it more, or at least dislike it less because of that.