12/21 What exactly does it mean these days to say a certain car
is American or Japanese or German or anything, seeing how most/all
cars are built in another country (e.g. Mexico)? Does it simply
mean that the engineers/designers are from that country or what?
\_ No they aren't. A large amount of American cars are made in
the US (Ford and many GM brands). Many German cars are made
in either Germany or another Euro country. Even some Japanese
cars are made in the US. All (100%) Toyota Corolla and Tacoma
trucks are made in Fremont. Even the ones shipped to Japan
and other worldwide buyers.
\_ Subaru also manufactures many of its cars in the US (Indiana).
\_ Yes, it means the engineers and management are from that country.
Almost all of the designers are from the USA. BMW builds cars
in South Africa and the US, but they are German cars built
by a German company to German specifications.
\_ so do American cars use metric measurements, with metric
bolt (17mm, 19mm, etc) vs. 3/8", 1/2" bolts? I know my Kawasaki
Ninja uses the metric system.
\_ No, American cars use English measurements. Duh!
\_ And the English use...
\_ Actually American cars use a combination of both
(ex. 5 Liter V8) as do British cars.
\_ The 5 Liter V8 is also called a 350; there's nothing
inherently metric about it, that's just a way of
referring to the displacement. -tom
\_ Right, it doesn't matter until things don't fit/
work together. Why oh why the US hasn't switched
over ... "If it ain't broke, don't fit it" ... but
it is broken!
\_ I think it's totally stupid that we're not using
metric units, but you can't use the way
displacement is reported as an argument.
Everything fits into a tub of water. -tom
\_ it's kind of hard to get a feeling of
a car's power in terms of Kilowatts and torques
in Newton/meter :p
\_ It's Newton-meter.
\_ That was just an example. Often the window
thickness is specified in mm, the radiator
capacity in liters, &c.
\_ The nuts and bolts are all (or almost all)
English-sized. This is what matters. |
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