Holy over-engineering Batman!

"jminer" (jminer) 08/19/2019 at 14:30 • Filed to: None

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So I gave my sportwagen some love yesterday in the form of an oil change, air filter replacement and new headlights. I was quite surprised to find this level of detail in the plastic baffle under the front end.

The amount of acoustic baffling and detail put into that is nutso! I can’t think of a better example of German over-engineering than to take something most automakers just use a sheet of plastic with a mat of fiberglass and spend hundreds of engineering hours, testing and tooling on to make fractionally better.

Aso the damn thing was held on by two different size torque bolts and like 10 bolts altogether. It is not going back on the car.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:36

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Economies of scale on engineering time are sometimes a little weird. It may actually be ludicrously engineered like that to be *cheaper* than an appropriate multi-layer fiberglass mat.

Which is to say, it’s not always about overthinking for quality, but it usually *is* about overthinking. The end result isn’t the focus, the indulgence of the engineering time is.

HammerheadFistpunch > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:37

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Not over- engineered, just recycled keyboards.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:43

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aha!

its the long lost secret map to the hidden underground bunker of gated diesels and angry monkeys

Sovande > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:45

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I'd definitely put it back on. If the manufacturer went through all of that, they obviously deemed it to be important. In modern cars the splash shield can be a big contributor to engine Temps, not to mention protecting the serpentine and AC belts. Get a Fumoto valve and cut a small hole if it's the oil changes that are a problem. 

Chariotoflove > HammerheadFistpunch 08/19/2019 at 14:46

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What I was thinking too.  Nibby might take it for the cost of postage.

MonkeePuzzle > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:47

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Ssfancyfresh > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:47

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The wheel well liners for my Audi TT were held on with something like 28 torx head bolts each.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > jminer 08/19/2019 at 14:48

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Why don’t you want to put it back in?

jminer > Chariotoflove 08/19/2019 at 14:59

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That's exactly what my wife said!

jminer > MonkeePuzzle 08/19/2019 at 15:00

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LOL - I love it

jminer > Ssfancyfresh 08/19/2019 at 15:01

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I had to take off no less than 10 torx bolts to replace me air filter! It’s insane.

And a 32mm socket for the oil filter cartridge.

jminer > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 08/19/2019 at 15:02

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Now we just have to figure out how to decode it...

DipodomysDeserti > jminer 08/19/2019 at 15:09

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I have a sneaky suspicion all those baffles are in there, so when it starts leaking oil it does n’t make it to the ground.

My BMW just uses a flat piece, and thankfully there’s a little flap opening so you don’t have to remove it to change the oil.

jminer > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/19/2019 at 15:11

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I showed it to a co-worker and his response was it was a project of a single engineer to cancel out the resonate frequencies that annoyed him during egine operations .

I've spent a lot of time with engi neers and frequently have to look back and say 'how much time am I spending on this small problem?' 

Chariotoflove > jminer 08/19/2019 at 15:37

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I always laugh to realize our families are silently following our antics.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > jminer 08/19/2019 at 15:53

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That seems right. I have just had to fix my fixes of someone else’s fixes to a fix of mine to fix a problem created by a fix to something that cropped up when somebody requested I “fix” an issue created by a change to something I originally designed. After wrongly suspecting somebody else’s fix to a problem was the culprit, instead of merely bloody useless. So.

The “problem” in question is, predictably, pretty minor, but on this unit the fixes led to a greater problem due to something being made wrong. Something that (supposedly) should tolerate this kind of tolerance buildup and didn’t, after I forgot that I could now “unfix” something previously “fixed” against my will.

WHEEEEEE

jminer > DipodomysDeserti 08/19/2019 at 15:54

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That’s nice it lets you change the oil with it in place. Mine was filled with gravel and dirt, on my Focus it was there to stop you from seeing  oil leak.

jminer > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 08/19/2019 at 15:55

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Because it was full of gravel, cracked and I didn’t want to ;)

Thomas Donohue > jminer 08/19/2019 at 15:56

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Why is  your waterproof keyboard out on the front lawn?

jminer > Sovande 08/19/2019 at 15:57

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I’ve taken them off on every car I’ve owned tha t had one. Saves time during maintenanc e and this one was also the source of a rattle with those baffles it made an excellent catch for gravel that bounced around all those little plastic cubes making a racket.

It was also cracked in several places and will likely get replaced with a skid plate anyway.

jminer > Thomas Donohue 08/19/2019 at 16:00

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That is exactly what it looks like

jminer > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 08/19/2019 at 16:10

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Yep - I work in IT as a systems engineer and that's a lot of times exactly how my day goes...

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > DipodomysDeserti 08/19/2019 at 16:18

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My e90 actually has a steel plate that bolts to the subframe. Behind the subframe there’s a little flap for oil changes. Speaking of which my car is due for one

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > DipodomysDeserti 08/19/2019 at 19:22

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Our Hyundai Kona has a neat little access hole in the undertray that’ s just big enough to drain the oil and change the filter. It’s got nifty profiling around the hole that I’m sure is there for aerodynamic purposes.

pip bip - choose Corrour > jminer 08/20/2019 at 05:47

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german over engineering?

google gm part number 90570817

thanks for playing

:P

jminer > pip bip - choose Corrour 08/20/2019 at 12:29

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Ha! The internet tells me that’s an Opel part, so I’m afraid we’re back to the Germans there...

dieseldub > jminer 10/21/2019 at 15:02

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Must be a TDI. Only the TDIs seem to get the goofy sound absorbing cubes. That’s why they’re there, just to help make the diesel clatter that little bit quieter. The gas engines tend not to have that.