2005 Chevy Cobalt SS ...

[speed05]

The Cobalt SS is getting really good reviews from Motortrend
CarandDriver
and MPH

[LateNightCable]

The fact that the Cobalt is a quality product I think means more than the existance of the SS itself. It seems to be doing a good job of finding it's own niche.

GM made a big deal of the Cobalt's "expensive" fluid filled bushings, something they discovered when they disected a VW. Perhaps GM will practice the art of disection a little more from now on?

[thepolarfoxqx]

GM learns lots of things disecting other people's cars. Ford buys companies that develop some very interesting things. Jaguar offered engine and suspension technology, as well as created the DEW platform that now underpins cars in a number of different brand names (Mustang, T-Bird, Lincoln LS, Mercury Cougar), Land Rover gave Ford driveline technology, and gave them an in into BMW engineering (notice how often ZF transmissions and steering boxes appear on ford vehicles, even north american ones now). Mazda is just creative, and designed such cars as the Ford Escape which has been a great seller, and the mazda six platform will underpin the taurus/sable replacement, and its upcoming lincoln counterpart. Volvo offered a world of safety technology, and the platform for the new ford 500/freestyle. GM doesn't use their global network as efficiently. They might not even have to disect stuff outside their own empire.

[LateNightCable]

But the DEW platform was created with Ford money under Ford direction. Since Ford bought Jaguar in 1989, for just over two billion dollars, Jaguar - who was in the dark ages under their own steam, hasn't offered much in terms of technology. It's all Ford.

I don't think boosting technology from other makers is really nesessary, American engineers are just given many constraints in regards to testing and development - mostly financial, so they do what they can, and that's what they do. Euro style technological trail blazing and the American high volume sell em' cheap mentality are strange bed fellows.

[thepolarfoxqx]

The DEW was designed in coventry by jaguar with jaguar technology. So was the AJ V8. They have no similarity to anything in Ford's North American or European divisions. The X-Type rides on a mondeo platform with a Duratech Engine, but the DEW and AJ were all jaguar. Whether ford funded it or not doesn't matter. We all know jaguar doesn't make money.

[LateNightCable]

They might make a little money now, mostly due to the S/X-Type. But they didn't make money before, and they didn't make modern technology either until Ford came along. I'm sure Ford engineers had their hands in the pie the whole way through while developing the DEW and AJ. Any platform that Ford would use for their own cars would. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to purchase Jaguar at all. You buy a flagging company so you can influence them and call the shots - then reap the rewards if any. Ford held restraint from any obvious fiddling for awhile though, I'll give them that.

[thepolarfoxqx]

No, what you are talking about is what GM and VW do. Ford does it a bit different. Ford uses technology from their companies to share. Ford uses a mazda designed 4 cylender in the focus, they use the S80 platform for the ford 500/freestyle (that platform was designed before Ford bought them, btw), Ford engineers had nothing to do with the AJ V8 or the DEW, if you look over the design of the AJ, it shares no common characteristics with any engine in the ford line. Ford has its independent subsidies develop technology, and shares it amongst them. The DEW and AJ are jaguar.

[LateNightCable]

Originally Posted by thepolarfoxqx Ford has its independent subsidies develop technology, and shares it amongst them.

That's the part that seems fishy. Not that they don't share the stuff, they do, but that they had no direct involvment in development. Ussually the one with the purse strings likes to know whats going on and then of course that turns into "we'd like it done this way." You know how big business goes. Developing a small block V8 had to have at least been Ford's idea. This is what I mean by Ford direction.