Topic: Articles, you would like to see

[Ex-airbalancer]

I would like to read is an article in the difference in schedule maintenance and cost between a diesel and a gas engine
 You could do the difference between ram 1500 Ecodiesel and Hemi or vw TDI and their gas engine
Ram Ecodiesel is suppose to take 10 l of oil and filter is over $40

It would be nice to know cost per km for each engine

[jyarkony]

I would like to read is an article in the difference in schedule maintenance and cost between a diesel and a gas engine
 You could do the difference between ram 1500 Ecodiesel and Hemi or vw TDI and their gas engine
Ram Ecodiesel is suppose to take 10 l of oil and filter is over $40

It would be nice to know cost per km for each engine

This is a neat idea. I'm doing a test of various Golf models for my next long-term test, so standard maintenance and running costs differential between the 1.8T and TDI would provide some valuable insight as these engines are probably closer in all other respects than ever before. However, It might be a couple months before we reach that point in the evaluation.

I think a standalone article about comparative costs of various diesel niches (Ram 1500, Mercedes-Benz ML and E, VW Jetta, Jeep Grand Cherokee, and Chevy Cruze) would provide some great information for prospective diesel consumers.

[Noto]

I'd like to be invited to test lots of cars.  I would post another Picard meme, but you yelled at me last time 

[blotter]

I second AB!

and maybe even a simple list of various parts / systems that add potential replacement costs over the non-diesels and prices to fix that stuff.  (particulate filters, etc)

[Northernridge]

Slowest developing thread ever. 

[jyarkony]

Slowest developing thread ever. 

I guess we've covered everything.

[tpl]

You do cover most things very well imho

But here is one.

Try to get someone from Transport Canada to talk, anonymously, off the record, about their procedures and processes for deciding on things like:   Whether Canada will continue to follow US laws when the EU free trade comes in.  Does TC test cars themselves .  Why don't we have the equivalent consumer protection laws  etc.   All that stuff.  Can TC make exceptions to US regs if they see a safety benefit . 

You know what sort of questions.  Ideally it would be a series of articles maybe once every couple of months or when something interesting comes up ( the Audi variable headlight thing comes to mind)

[blotter]

Slowest developing thread ever. 

I guess we've covered everything.

Just about! 

[Snowman]

Ergonomics, I would like to hear more about driver and passenger ergonomics.

[Hannibalsmith]

You do cover most things very well imho

But here is one.

Try to get someone from Transport Canada to talk, anonymously, off the record, about their procedures and processes for deciding on things like:   Whether Canada will continue to follow US laws when the EU free trade comes in.  Does TC test cars themselves .  Why don't we have the equivalent oconsumer protection laws  etc.   All that stuff.  Can TC make exceptions to US regs if they see a safety benefit . 

You know what sort of questions.  Ideally it would be a series of articles maybe once every couple of months or when something interesting comes up ( the Audi variable headlight thing comes to mind)

Actually this would be very interesting.

[SaskSpecV]

After reading the Edmunds experience repairing the aluminum F150, but having to also replace a very expensive safety nanny, I'm interested to read a feature article about the pros and cons of some of these newer safety features (lane departure warning, adaptive cruise, blind-spot monitoring, etc)

Questions such as:
1.  Do they work well in Canadian winters?  Many of these things seem to rely on sensors/cameras, but will they work if the vehicle is covered in snow or ice?
2.  For LDW, how obvious do the lane stripes have to be before this will work (or is it based on something else other than lane stripes, like straight-line trajectory?)  Just thinking during my drive yesterday - most of the lane stripes right now are either covered in snow/sand/slush, or the paint has totally faded anyway.  Would LDW work?
3.  What is the cost of replacing these systems?  Are they stand-alone components, or would the entire housing have to be replaced? (headlight, bumper, side panels, etc.)
4.  Is there any significant difference between MNFRs in terms of the effectiveness of these systems?  Is there one car brand that does them really well, or really poorly?

I still don't want any of these things on next vehicle - KISS - but it's definitely the direction the industry is going, so it wouldn't hurt to know more about them.

[Ex-airbalancer]

After reading the Edmunds experience repairing the aluminum F150, but having to also replace a very expensive safety nanny, I'm interested to read a feature article about the pros and cons of some of these newer safety features (lane departure warning, adaptive cruise, blind-spot monitoring, etc)

Questions such as:
1.  Do they work well in Canadian winters?  Many of these things seem to rely on sensors/cameras, but will they work if the vehicle is covered in snow or ice?
2.  For LDW, how obvious do the lane stripes have to be before this will work (or is it based on something else other than lane stripes, like straight-line trajectory?)  Just thinking during my drive yesterday - most of the lane stripes right now are either covered in snow/sand/slush, or the paint has totally faded anyway.  Would LDW work?
3.  What is the cost of replacing these systems?  Are they stand-alone components, or would the entire housing have to be replaced? (headlight, bumper, side panels, etc.)
4.  Is there any significant difference between MNFRs in terms of the effectiveness of these systems?  Is there one car brand that does them really well, or really poorly?

I still don't want any of these things on next vehicle - KISS - but it's definitely the direction the industry is going, so it wouldn't hurt to know more about them.

Is a US winter different then a Canadian winter ?

[SaskSpecV]

Is a US winter different then a Canadian winter ?

Why don't you ask your snowbird friends? 

I include this because many of the US auto publications are in the South or California (think of Edmunds long-term tests), and don't experience any appreciable winter conditions. 

Or the US car being tested faces only mild winter conditions - but not "snowfall has been accumulating for 5 months" conditions, or "this is what happens at -40" conditions.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Is a US winter different then a Canadian winter ?

Why don't you ask your snowbird friends? 

I include this because many of the US auto publications are in the South or California (think of Edmunds long-term tests), and don't experience any appreciable winter conditions. 

Or the US car being tested faces only mild winter conditions - but not "snowfall has been accumulating for 5 months" conditions, or "this is what happens at -40" conditions.

I do not have any snowbirds friends but I know people in Fargo , they are not to happy in the winter time

[Northernridge]

My bias is showing here but I really like the auto industry marketing articles like the Infiniti F1 sponsorship piece today. More along this line would be great.

[johngenx]

Behind the scenes stuff on tests would be nice.

[jyarkony]

My bias is showing here but I really like the auto industry marketing articles like the Infiniti F1 sponsorship piece today. More along this line would be great.

i thought I was going to get run out of town for being a corporate shill on that one, but as I am embedded with the marketing teams at trader and have a bit of fascination with the advertising and marketing world, it spoke to me. and that they could peg the on-air exposure at $2 billion was astounding.

it can be hard to tackle the marketing efforts, and we've lost our advertising/marketing insider to retirement in Italy (Steven Bochenek was an ad copywriter and did some agency work in the advertising biz), but he did a neat article that we ran on trader:

http://www.autotrader.ca/newsfeatures/20140806/best-auto-marketing-of-the-past-year-or-two/#vt1rYhMLexL8RYK6.97

 

[jyarkony]

Behind the scenes stuff on tests would be nice.

I've been thinking about this for quite some time (and collecting photos), so I'll add that to my assignment pile.

[Ex-airbalancer]

Slowest developing thread ever. 

I see it took you a while to think of something 

[Northernridge]

Slowest developing thread ever. 

I see it took you a while to think of something 

That's how I roll. 😎