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The problem with belt-type CVT’s is that they tend to be heavy and not all that efficient compared to even conventional automatics. Also the first couple of generations of CVt’s developed a reputation for not being very durable. The current ones used by Nissan, Toyota and Honda are probably pretty reliable and durable and they are more efficient. The efficiency does not come from the actual mechanical efficiency of the transmission, but from the wide and infinitely variable gear ratios that allow the engine to run at the most efficient speed/load point. The exception to this is when the driver calls for moderate-to-heavy acceleration, the programming tends to make the engine buzz up to high rpms to a greater degree than a conventional automatic. The CVT that is in a Toyota Hybrid is completely different and is a very simple and durable device known as a Power-Split Hybrid system. These are probably the most efficient and durable transmissions in production.
As you see, pretty much the entire auto industry is in Detroit, Germany or Japan, and there is pretty much nothing in Missouri. My best suggestion is to go through the Ford, GM and Stellantis web sites (in careers) and see if you can find anything of interest that you quality for with your current background and education. Seriously consider something in manufacturing. Also realize that these companies will pay your tuition.
Dave
It is worth it if you are personally interested in racing. The upsides are learning to work under pressure, intense teamwork, and a myriad of technical challenges. The downside is very long hours and a lot of time away from home. Even in the new era of electric vehicles, racing will continue. I agree with the statement “racing improves the breed”.
Dave
The main benefit is not learning but advertising and promotion. The applicable phrase was “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday”.
In the very highest echelon of motorsports, like Formula 1, there has been some powertrain and suspension technology that trickled down to production cars. Also, many of the engineers that took assignments in the racing groups learned a lot from their racing experience.
Dave
1. Check the health of the battery in your key-fob first. Also check the health of the 12-volt lead-acid battery in the back of the car. These both must be good for the car to start.
2. The main reason I have not purchased luxury cars is that I prefer sportier cars and I prefer cars with manual transmissions. Also great gas mileage is a priority for me; not just for the cost savings, but because as an engineer, efficiency is rewarding.
3. Just post questions whenever you wish!Have a great Holiday season!
1. Every car manufacturer’s quality has greatly improved (steadily) since the ’60’s, but the Japanese companies improved much more rapidly during the 60’s and ’70’s. The US manufacturers finally caught up during the ’90’s, some did better than others and you can see the statistics in the JD-Powers ratings. So American cars really were significantly worse quality, but today there is little difference between all the OEM’s. You can see the data on this at the JD Powers website. The worst quality companies today are very much better than the best in the ’70’s.
2. I am happy that I pursued Mechanical Engineering and got to specialize in internal combustion engines. Today the big opportunities are clearly in electronics, electrical engineering, chemistry, and computer programming. I also recommend following your interests and talents because you have to enjoy your work!In general, besides the salaries of all of the employees; the biggest costs are the tooling costs for new parts manufacturing
If you do a lot of short trips, yes a 5000 mile oil change interval is a good idea. this would be considered “severe” service. Check you owner’s manual for their recommendation of oil change interval for severe service. If you do a lot of short trips and follow this by a long trip, the long trip will get the oil hot enough for enough time to drive off most of the water (as long as your PCV system is in good shape.
I chose the Mazda 3 because it is a fun-to-drive car (great suspension and handling, 6-speed manual, responsive engine) with great fuel mileage. I chose the Ioniq for similar reasons, though it is a larger car with an extremely efficient Hybrid system (50-60 mpg in real-world driving) and a fantastic warranty.
Dave
I usually use Pennzoil full synthetic, but really any major brand of full synthetic is fine. the possibility that you have extra undrained oil in your oil pan is not a good reason to do an extra oil ad filter change with cheap oil. You will never have to be concerned with the quality of oil in you engine if you just stick to a reasonable oil and filter change interval with a top quality oil. You should stop doing the extra flushing oil changes. Remember that most folks in Europe only change their oil and filter every 10k miles, and they rarely have any any wear issues. I recommend Pure-1, Bosch, and Fram filters because they publish their filter efficiency test results and they all have better than 95% efficiency at trapping 20 micron particles.
I would only do this if the old-oil was really old and way overdue for changing. You would also want to change the oil filter each time; and leave the new cheap oil in for at least 500-1000 miles to give the detergents in the new oil some time to do the job of cleaning. Another thing to look for is evidence of sludge (remove the oil fill cap and look in). Other wise, you are better off just doing a single oil change with Mobil1, because there you can’t get all of the old oil out of the engine when you change the oil and filter and therefore you will be diluting your good Mobil-1 with about 1/2 quart of cheap oil. Probably the best approach would be to just do a oil change with Mobil 1 and only leave it in for 5000 miles. Why do you think the inside of your engine needs extra cleaning?
The reason why GM, Ford, and Stellantis have abandoned sedans in favor of SUV’s, CUV’s and trucks is that they are the most popular segments, and the sales of sedans and coupes has been falling for a while. The reasons seem to be primarily that trucks and SUV’s are trendy (no real logic to this trend) and that the public generally has little appreciation for the better driving characteristics of sedans and coupes over SUV’s and Trucks. Sedans and coupes handle better than big and heavy vehicles. The other reason is that the US automakers have not been competing very well with the foreign automakers (especially Toyota and Honda) in sedans and coupes. For GM, Ford and Stellantis, the SUV’s and trucks have been the most profitable vehicles.
Fuel economy is already mandated by law in most of the world. In the US is is called Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) and will probably get more stringent in the next few years. By limiting the average (weighted by sales) fuel economy of every car manufacturer, they preserve freedom of choice to the public, while still forcing better fuel economy. In other countries the law is written in terms of CO2 emissions, which are directly proportional to fuel consumption. You can convert directly from MPG to grams of CO2/mile.
Heavier vehicles (like SUV’s) do not tend to have more bearing issues than lighter cars because the engineers specify bigger and higher capacity bearings.
A lot of folks feel that OEM oil filters are the best quality, but the “premium” oil filters from puroator, Bisch, and Fram are actually usually better quality and filtering efficiency. OEM filters are certainly good-enough, but the specs on the premium filters are better.
For most of the other service items you might buy, major brand aftermarket is usually good quality. This includes brakes and suspension parts like ball-joints. I don’t tend to trust aftermarket gaskets though.
Hybrids cars have regenerative braking systems. When you first press on the brake pedal (up to a moderate level of braking force), you are actually not using the brakes at all, you are slowing the car down by forcing the electric motor in the hybrid system to provide braking force by acting as a generator that adds charge to the batteries. So you don’t need to coast, just try to brake early so you don’t have to use the friction part of the braking system. Most hybrids have a dash display feature to let you see when you reach the friction point. Whether the braking is done by regen or the actual brakes makes no difference to the wheel bearings. Wheel bearing life has nothing to do with the type of powertrain, just the design and quality of the bearings. the only things that increases the loads on the bearings are vehicle weight and how hard you brake or corner.
