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Re: Being able to start with car in reverse and foot off clutch Posted by Ari [Email]  (#2847) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Ari) on Wed, 23 May 2001 10:47:01
In Reply to: Re: Being able to start with car in reverse and foot off clutch, Dennis in Ottawa, Wed, 23 May 2001 10:10:38 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Quite respectfully -
I can't claim know the minds of the Saab designers, but as a designer of aircraft control systems, I always think of what can go wrong and try to avoid it. Any time you add a component, think of how it can fail. Adding a switch means adding another failure mode, one that would keep the car from starting. In addition, there is the cost of the switch. It may seem that at probably $0.50 it would be cheap and not add much to the price of the car, but there is much more than the cost of buying the switch. There's the bracket for the switch, the additional wiring, and interface into the starting system. Adding parts to the car means managing more part numbers, having extra spare parts to keep on the shelf, managing specifications and drawings, updating service manuals and schematics, updating troubleshooting trees, and training service personnel. All of this adds to the cost of buying the car.
Of course, if the switch fails closed, and someone starts the car without having the clutch in and hits a schoolbus of kids on the way to the Trial Lawyers' Association Day Care Center, Saab would be sued for having a defective safety system. So if there is no switch, but a stern warning in the manual, they are a covered (up to a point).
My guess is that Saab didn't put the switch in because the added value (possible protection from lawsuits) didn't outweight the risk of failure (and customer dissatisfaction) and cost of the part. Every time a car is designed, or the design reviewed for update, hundreds or thousands of ideas are reviewed. Should the window switches be in the center console or on the doors? Control the sunroof with a rocker switch, or go to one of those knobs where you select the opening, and the roof goes to that setting? Add tire pressure monitors? The list goes on, and although the decison seems easy from the outside, there are many reasons why not.
A few decades ago some folks drove Audi 5000 automatics into trees, garages, and loved ones. Cars were tested by numerous groups, but the only cause found (by anyone reputable) was folks mistaking the gas pedal for the brake pedal. But it made great "60 minutes" fodder. Not only did this event almost drive Audi out of the US market, you'll find that in new cars, you can't shift out of Park without your foot on the brake. Of course, there is no similar mechanism for manual cars, not because it couldn't be done, but because most folks don't have the co-ordination to do it.
, Wed, 23 May 2001 10:48:18, Wed, 23 May 2001 10:47:01 <-- Viewing This Message, Tue, 22 May 2001 22:15:49, Tue, 22 May 2001 14:53:59
, Tue, 22 May 2001 21:05:45, Tue, 22 May 2001 14:27:08
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