Giannis
Staff member
Just like almost every automotive enthusiast around the world, I followed this year's Frankfurt Auto Show quite closely. Many new cars debuted there, many concepts were shown and many new technologies were previewed.
What struck me this time, and gave me a good reason to write another blog post, is the last one: The new technologies!
There are tons of new technologies regarding hybrid drivetrains. Many different combinations of an internal combustion engine, a couple of electric motors and a few hundred kilos of useless batteries. Then, there are hundreds of new technologies about safety. New pedestrian recognition system, new anti-fatigue systems, new adaptive cruise-control systems. My personal favourite is the one that can understand when the driver is falling asleep and starts to beep and vibrate the driver's seat. If only it could suggest the type of coffee the driver should have, it would be brilliant: "I am your car and I reckon that you need a nice double espresso macchiato"
So, we have safety, hybrid, efficiency technologies. All possible types apart my favourite one: I still fail to read about a new technology that enhances the driver's feel.
A modern day medium-sized sport-sedan.
Ok, there is BMW's Active Steering and all those adaptive suspension systems. Still, I don't think that those technologies can make the driving experience more direct. They aim to make the car easier to drive, the car which is two times more heavy than what it used to be 20 years ago.
At this point, I have to state, once again, that I find it difficult to accept that the automotive world is moving forward. I don't like the direction it takes. I don't want my car to be an appliance, to offer the same level of pleasure with a washing machine. Why is, with every new generation of sporty sedans, heel'n'toe getting more and more difficult? Why aren't the pedals positioned the proper way? Why is the gas-by-wire slow as hell? I miss the era when the gas pedal was directly connected to the intake butterfly...
Why modern steering systems fail to give the driver a proper feel of the road conditions? Why is it getting increasing difficult to balance a car with the throttle? Why aren't most stability systems fully disable-able?
Toyota Camry: The most famous full-sized transportation appliance.
The modern family saloon, the one that is supposed to be of the sporty type, is slowly turning into an appliance. The comfort-biased family saloon is already an appliance. I miss 80's and the 90's, the era of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta that later became the Alfa Romeo 75. The era of the BMW E30 and E36 3-series. The era of the Mercedes-Benz 190 series EVO. These were automobiles.
A sporty saloon of the late 90's - early 00's. The BMW E46 3 series.
So what changed? The answer, according to most, is very simple. What changed is what customers want. The average customer wants a more comfortable car, a car that is easier to drive, that has more buttons than his previous one. A car that is quiet, fast and safe. Not a car that is more demanding, more direct and more challenging to drive, which is what me and a couple of other guys want.
A few months back, a member of the forums said that he was glad that I wasn't in charge to design his next car. Believe it or not, if I was to design a modern car, my outcome wouldn't be much different from any modern car. But I would give the potential customer, to buy it in a trully sporty version. There would be the possibility to order a car in either the typical comfort-biased soft version, or the driver challenging sport version. And the difference wouldn't be in the aluminum vs wood door inserts and a few "R" and "RS" letters on the boot. All the new safety technologies would be there, but they could be operated with only one button, one that wrote "OFF" on it.
I am hearing that the 1M was a true engineers' project, not a marketing one. And I am also reading that the press has gone banannas with it. Why can't the average sport-sedan be like that as well?
What do you, dear reader, think about this? Are modern cars turning into appliances or are they still cars enough? Are there any true sport sedans left?
