Comments by "David Elliott" (@davidelliott5843) on "Munro Live" channel.

  1. The sills A, B and C posts look ideal for megacast structures, maybe with tubular reinforcement bonded inside during construction. Studs and nuts on the rear door hinges would save a few grams of weight. My 2005 Fiat has numerous lead-in bolts where the threads start about 1/4" from the end. Sadly, Fiat also drill all the way though alloy parts which allows the bolt threads to corrode at the bottom end. Try getting them out after a few salty winters.
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  2. ⁠ @capslock9031  I was disappointed with the Audi A2 interior. The dash looked like they had raided a VW parts bin. Seats were just average. No thanks, not at the prices they were asking.
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  3. This battery construction makes a stack of 18650 or 2170 cells look simple by comparison.
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  4. What is the fascination with radar? It’s yet more electronic noise on our roads that will ultimately fog up every car fitted with radar.
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  5. BMW use a similar idea for a fuel tank level sensor. Reliability is abysmal due to broken circuit tracks. Apple use the same idea on MacBook disk drive cable. They fail internally due to heating cooling cycles. Plate heat exchangers were invented by Rolls-Royce. Very efficient in size terms when packed into multilayer blocks.
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  6. Panda already has electric power steering. SBW would improve stability at speed while not compromising agility at other times.
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  7.  @johntheux9238  You would need to chill the rotor to shrink it into the sleeve.
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  8. The yoke has a new advantage because it forces drivers to hold the “wheel” correctly at 3 o’clock / 9 o’clock. How many times do you see drivers sitting too close with both hands at 12 o’clock. It’s frighteningly common and impossible to react usefully like that.
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  9.  @PazLeBon  That’s a matter of opinion. The CT bed is as big as any other truck. If you need more volume, get a truck top as you would for any other truck.
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  10.  @FlipBoxStudio  I got out of the jobs Alex was talking about because I was sick of trying to fix bad design using engineers who cared about function first and last. Usability was and after thought. Sometimes you accept you can’t beat the system.
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  11. Some states allow passing on either side. Personally I think its the best way to deal with lane hogs that refuse to move over.
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  12. Is the front charging door really a good idea? Lots of heavy cables, relays, ‘tonics, etc perfectly placed for getting crushed in a crash.
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  13. The traction battery will go dead before the 48V system battery. The latter powers the steering and the brakes. The driver will be able to stop in full control of the car.
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  14. Tesla is doing their best to not hype if.
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  15. Wind turbines use epicyclic gearboxes because they are smoother running, more efficient, and longer lasting than parallel shaft gearboxes. Costs are similar because gears are straight cut. Tesla has always been super keen to maximise efficiency so why did they not use epicyclic gears?
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  16. Around 20 years ago, Prodrive (Banbury UK) had a tandem seat lean steer called the Naro. The industry was largely disinterested though Peugeot and Toyota had their ideas for the same setup. Narrow cars turn extremely well when they lean and passengers feel no cornering forces. The hard part them was finding computers that could make the switch from low speed normal steering to high speed counter-steering. Bikers could do it fine without but average car drivers could not. Fit a steering wheel and nobody could drive it. Considerable computer power is needed. Even worse, you still have to fit a mechanical steering shaft. Not good when the wheels are doing the opposite of when the steering wheel is asking for.
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  17. I’m with Sandy. A poor and especially slow user interface would be a show stopper for me. I also detest the use of discrete control boxes and fuse boxes scattered all over the shop. It’s no better than a 2005 Fiat Panda.
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  18. VW love their threaded fasteners. For example, the Audi A4 B6 had an unbelievable number of Torx screws (pre blued) holding in the dash panel. There was probably one every 50mm (2 inches). There were no rattles.
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  19. We are often told that lithium being the electrolyte but only about 3% of the cell. Nickel, aluminum and cobalt are far more significant by weight. Is that entirely true?
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  20. I would like to see a longer wheelbase. That would give a better balance of length to height with almost no additional costs to build.
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  21. There are electric cars and “electrified” cars. The latter (with engines and pokey batteries) are not clean and not green. But regardless, the big OEMs will move to PHEVs. They will use decidedly questionable advertising which for sure will be nodded through by the advert regulators.
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  22. With or without the motors, the screen has to angle left for US market or right for U.K., Australia, Japan, etc. This is clearly over-engineered but not worth the redesign/homologation costs to fit a cheaper bracket.
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  23. The old large steering wheel comes from a time when you needed many rotations to go lock to lock. Today we have less than two turns and with variable power assistance less than that.
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  24. Inboard motors can prioritise performance over weight. Ditto inboard brakes. However EVs do most of the braking via the motors so friction brake can be considerably smaller.
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  25. It's probably a panel that could have benefited from stiffening ridges. Maybe some anti drumming mastic mat would stop the popping. Then again - strippng the car to get to it...
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  26. If Auto is an assembly shop. If the big suppliers don’t make it, they don’t use it.
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  27. Legacy car makers design their cars with parts the parts makers choose to provide. Then they assemble their cars. Nobody asks if this is a mistake because it’s a career limiting question. Tesla avoided using car Industry staff and found much more efficient ways to get things done. They messed up with early Model 3 body shells, but that was easily fixable.
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  28.  @DavidHRyall  the US left British Empire in 1776. The British banned slavery in 1808 and gradually rolled back racism. The US did nothing until 1885 and then allowed apartheid to continue to the 1960s.
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  29. A highly efficient Diesel engine driving via electric transmission would be far less fuel hungry than the multi gear systems used in today’s semi trucks.
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  30. The Mini built and marketed by BMW is what the British engineers wanted to build in the early 1990s. Rover managers at the time wanted a bland corporate style so wasted huge sums creating the Rover 200 and 400 to follow the existing 600. The latter was pretty good. The other two were duds. BMW bought Rover and dumped everything except the stalled “new mini” design.
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  31. The 48 volt electrical system has its own battery.
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  32. I have a 2007 Fiat. The basic structure is strong and the under-dash reinforcement frame is tremendous. BUT hidden metal is not deburred. That dash frame is not exposed to users, but it’s like razor blades under the dash plastic
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  33. The Niro/Kona are older model cars. Upcoming EVs from Hyundai are purpose designed rather than compromised for housing an engine.
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  34. I think Tesla should have updated the Citroen hydraulic suspension system. With two electric pumps there would be no need for a hydraulic accumulator. It could power suspension, brakes, steering and even give a basic active suspension.
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  35. Get into any other high end car and it’s infested with itty bitty stuff. Citroen took it to the max with their C6 (which was really good). Audi with the ETron have not really learned. It’s still far too busy. Just like the original iPhone v querty keyboard feature phones, Musk has gone to the opposite extreme. It’s all in the screen and software.
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  36. I would like to see Tesla using hydraulics for ride height, suspension control, brakes and steering. This removes the following - Brake booster not needed Suspension legs do not wear out and can be individually controlled. Pressurised gas springs can be refilled. Steering gives proportional control Brakes use recirculating mineral oil no corrosion issues. Brake mechanics are smaller (less unsprung weight). All powered by a small hydraulic pump and pressure accumulator. Use two pumps for redundancy and you don’t need the accumulator.
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  37. Lectures by Professor Eric Laithewaite (inventor of linear motors) are well worth a look.
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  38. Good design is fundamental in maintaining good quality as it maximises construction efficiency.
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  39. Fiat cars have always been very modular with common parts carried forward (sometimes! over decades. But while the rear hubs and hub carriers are almost identical they have stuck with mounting studs and nuts. Bolts would be faster to fit, easier to service and save a few cents. But they never changed.
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  40. That plastic tub in the trunk looks like a big source for road noise coming through. Could that be why the kiddie seats have not been fitted at this time?
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  41. For a fixed connection, there is no need to use stranded cables. Weight for weight, aluminium is more conductive than copper. It could be stranded, but a solid pure aluminium busbar (with suitable electrical insulation over the top) is the least cost and most effective.
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  42. It takes an engineer to understand what they are facing. Every other large company, the bean counters control what gets done.
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  43. I drive a Fiat Panda. It’s great and goes the job, but fully steer by wire would be a great improvement.
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  44. That B post wiring issue on both sides looks like an error during the wiring loom manufacturer. Probably happened too late to stop car production and they did a line fix. It’s unlikely to be a problem and unlikely to be there on many cars.
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  45. Alfa Romeo had a passive rear steer system but any wear in the bushes and joints just messed it up.
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  46. Weight for weight, aluminum conducts better than copper. But aluminium will be a larger wire diameter than copper.
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  47. Sandy regularly points out that these new EV makers are completion to traditional auto industry. They are no competition to Tesla as the latter can sell all it can make - and some.
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  48. If shop assistant jobs were really life threatening, nobody would turn up for work. Tipping is another matter....Their pay is bad at any time.
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  49. Japanese motorcycle manufacturers use many of the details Sandy discusses though they seem highly resistant to modularity between products. They often use moulded O-ring gaskets running in joint face slots. No sealant needed. The Tesla gaskets have to be a lower cost way to achieve the same result. Triumph (U.K.) use anaerobic gasket sealants. Clean and no rubbery waste to ooze out.
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  50. Automotive electronics began with electronic ignition systems. They evolved into separate modules plugged together with complex bundles of wires. They have been surprisingly reliable but costs must be high. Tesla had a clean sheet design, so fewer boxes were the obvious solution.
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