Over the years what has ford gotten rid of?
#1
11-04-2006
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11-05-2006
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I know in my 93 Splash, it has these power seat things. One is A lumbar support, and one makes the sides of the actual seat sqeeze in or out. It also has this thing where the underpart of your knees go that pulls out to make the seat a big longer. I have no clue as to the purpose of this...But whatever, its more things to play with. My 2002 does not have these. Both have bucket seats.
I think they also got rid of the split-rear window, instead going with one that moves sideways as one peice. I like the newer one because one can break into the split window with only a screw driver and some force. My truck got broken into this way, and I've retrieved my keys several times like this.
I think they also got rid of the split-rear window, instead going with one that moves sideways as one peice. I like the newer one because one can break into the split window with only a screw driver and some force. My truck got broken into this way, and I've retrieved my keys several times like this.
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11-05-2006
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Lets not forget the mudflaps.My 2000 has front and rear mudflaps.Some of the newer ones only have rears,and some don't have any at all.I love how they actually had to make a new plastic piece to cover the holes where the mudlaps were.So how much cheaper can it be to make a new part to replace one that already has existed for years.Also,some newer ones don't have the splash shields in the fenderwells whereas my 2000 has full splash shields on both sides.
#10
11-05-2006
#12
11-05-2006
I'm fully qualified on this particular subject! And I have some strong opinions on it too.
We in OEM engineering have cost and functional targets to meet. Those targets are set by upper management which is nearly all comprised of either marketting weenies or accounting weenies. (can you tell I'm biased?)
We have price goals which are nearly always unrealistic yet were expected to meet the functional ones. We do the best we can given the almost always impossible costing target. Which btw move as the program develops.
Case in point.. power & heated seats. Well.. Generally for a 6 way power & heated seat there are 3 electric motors & two heating elements. You need 2 or 3 switchs for the motors and one for the heater. You need the brackets to hold those switchs, and the plastic shrouds to cover it all. Then the "trim" (cloth or leather surface) is different to match the plastic covers. The tracks are different & transmissions are need to connect the motor to the tracks. The cars electrical system has to be able to supply the needed power. (30amps for each heated seat) This is the extent of a marketting or accounting weenies understanding. To them the way to "cut cost" and adjust the vehicles "price point" is to remove some of these features.
These people are completely uninformed IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!
The truth: When seats ARE DESIGNED to be powered versions from the start.. We design them for a 35mph frontal crash. The mass of the seats added weight drives how strong the seat structure and the strength of the vehicles FLOOR and FRAME moutning points. There is a HUGE cost involved in this developement process in order to meet federal safety standards. We have to design, do FEA's, and then validate with crash testing.
This is where they don't seem to comprehend some simple basics of business.
When they decide to *not* put a feature on a car after it's being produced.. they are throwing away millions of dollars of developement costs. Costs that they don't take into account!
This is one *small* example of how it works in motown. It does not supprise me one bit that the american car companies are having a hard time.
Guess what the Japanese car companies do differently? They understand the target.. they aim for the target.. and they shoot the target. And the whole time they seldom waiver.
Don't get me wrong.. I'm not a Japanese car advocate. But the north american companies had better wake up and smell the coffee before it's too late.
And for what it's worth.. I've worked for Yamaha, Nissan, and all the American OEMs. By my sig you can see what I spend my money on. It's not so much the quality of the car.. as it is the quality of the business producing it.
Rich
We in OEM engineering have cost and functional targets to meet. Those targets are set by upper management which is nearly all comprised of either marketting weenies or accounting weenies. (can you tell I'm biased?)
We have price goals which are nearly always unrealistic yet were expected to meet the functional ones. We do the best we can given the almost always impossible costing target. Which btw move as the program develops.
Case in point.. power & heated seats. Well.. Generally for a 6 way power & heated seat there are 3 electric motors & two heating elements. You need 2 or 3 switchs for the motors and one for the heater. You need the brackets to hold those switchs, and the plastic shrouds to cover it all. Then the "trim" (cloth or leather surface) is different to match the plastic covers. The tracks are different & transmissions are need to connect the motor to the tracks. The cars electrical system has to be able to supply the needed power. (30amps for each heated seat) This is the extent of a marketting or accounting weenies understanding. To them the way to "cut cost" and adjust the vehicles "price point" is to remove some of these features.
These people are completely uninformed IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!
The truth: When seats ARE DESIGNED to be powered versions from the start.. We design them for a 35mph frontal crash. The mass of the seats added weight drives how strong the seat structure and the strength of the vehicles FLOOR and FRAME moutning points. There is a HUGE cost involved in this developement process in order to meet federal safety standards. We have to design, do FEA's, and then validate with crash testing.
This is where they don't seem to comprehend some simple basics of business.
When they decide to *not* put a feature on a car after it's being produced.. they are throwing away millions of dollars of developement costs. Costs that they don't take into account!
This is one *small* example of how it works in motown. It does not supprise me one bit that the american car companies are having a hard time.
Guess what the Japanese car companies do differently? They understand the target.. they aim for the target.. and they shoot the target. And the whole time they seldom waiver.
Don't get me wrong.. I'm not a Japanese car advocate. But the north american companies had better wake up and smell the coffee before it's too late.
And for what it's worth.. I've worked for Yamaha, Nissan, and all the American OEMs. By my sig you can see what I spend my money on. It's not so much the quality of the car.. as it is the quality of the business producing it.
Rich
Last edited by wydopnthrtl; 11-05-2006 at 07:22 AM.
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at least they added more stability in the newer style 60/40 armrest. my 93 was only supported by 1 side, new one is supported by both sides.
i do miss my cargo net on the back wall of the 93, but they put the jack in that spot on the 01.
light under the hood which was mentioned is missed by me sometimes.
they did make the dome light turn off after 5-10 minutes of use on newer ones.
never transferred over the fact that you can turn off the ignition and play the radio til you opened the door, my mother in laws 2000 sport trac has that feature.
manual transfer case.
not a scientist but i think the ext cab actually lost some space from prior years.
new models have REAL front mounting points, wish they were hooks instead of hoops tho sometimes.
wish list: dump the 3.0 for something bigger..soemthing with a aftermarket. cough 3.8 turbo cough. bring back real transfer case. FULL skid plates standard.
i do miss my cargo net on the back wall of the 93, but they put the jack in that spot on the 01.
light under the hood which was mentioned is missed by me sometimes.
they did make the dome light turn off after 5-10 minutes of use on newer ones.
never transferred over the fact that you can turn off the ignition and play the radio til you opened the door, my mother in laws 2000 sport trac has that feature.
manual transfer case.
not a scientist but i think the ext cab actually lost some space from prior years.
new models have REAL front mounting points, wish they were hooks instead of hoops tho sometimes.
wish list: dump the 3.0 for something bigger..soemthing with a aftermarket. cough 3.8 turbo cough. bring back real transfer case. FULL skid plates standard.
#24
11-05-2006
Originally Posted by nated0g
at least they added more stability in the newer style 60/40 armrest. my 93 was only supported by 1 side, new one is supported by both sides.
i do miss my cargo net on the back wall of the 93, but they put the jack in that spot on the 01.
light under the hood which was mentioned is missed by me sometimes.
they did make the dome light turn off after 5-10 minutes of use on newer ones.
never transferred over the fact that you can turn off the ignition and play the radio til you opened the door, my mother in laws 2000 sport trac has that feature.
manual transfer case.
not a scientist but i think the ext cab actually lost some space from prior years.
new models have REAL front mounting points, wish they were hooks instead of hoops tho sometimes.
wish list: dump the 3.0 for something bigger..soemthing with a aftermarket. cough 3.8 turbo cough. bring back real transfer case. FULL skid plates standard.
i do miss my cargo net on the back wall of the 93, but they put the jack in that spot on the 01.
light under the hood which was mentioned is missed by me sometimes.
they did make the dome light turn off after 5-10 minutes of use on newer ones.
never transferred over the fact that you can turn off the ignition and play the radio til you opened the door, my mother in laws 2000 sport trac has that feature.
manual transfer case.
not a scientist but i think the ext cab actually lost some space from prior years.
new models have REAL front mounting points, wish they were hooks instead of hoops tho sometimes.
wish list: dump the 3.0 for something bigger..soemthing with a aftermarket. cough 3.8 turbo cough. bring back real transfer case. FULL skid plates standard.
the same for the armrest on my 92 all crappy
