Jalopnik has gone down the toilet ver. 3.0

[Dr_Grip]

In any case, it's not Jalopnik badmouthing Alfa by twisting facts, but an issue affecting at least every single car on the U.S. press circuit.

 

[Cellos88GT]

In any case, it's not Jalopnik badmouthing Alfa by twisting facts, but an issue affecting at least every single car on the U.S. press circuit.

No one said they're twisting facts. However, I do believe they have an inherent bias against certain brands and cars, Alfa being one of them. For example Tesla's Autopilot has actually killed people due to its software bugs the press has been pretty blas? about it. Meanwhile when the Giulia has software bugs that are merely an inconvenience, there is such an overreaction that you would think the car killed the author's first born child.

 

[prizrak]

No one said they're twisting facts. However, I do believe they have an inherent bias against certain brands and cars, Alfa being one of them. For example Tesla's Autopilot has actually killed people due to its software bugs misuse by drivers the press has been pretty blas? about it. Meanwhile when the Giulia has software bugs that are merely an inconvenience, there is such an overreaction that you would think the car killed the author's first born child.

FTFY

 

[CrzRsn]

FTFY

I'd probably call it a mix of customer error and company strategy error/misinformation. When you call something "Autopilot" you give the general customer the idea that the car can drive itself - regardless of how many warnings you flash on the screens and how many press releases you issue, afterall, your average consumer is pretty dumb. I don't think they should've ever named the feature that. That and initially the system didn't disable if you ignored its prompts to put your hands back on the steering wheel.

It was very advanced cruise control ? and to Tesla's credit, it has become more advanced since I explored it. When it's fully activated, auto-steering allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel for short periods, although Tesla has repeatedly stressed that drivers shouldn't do this. And when you activate the technology, a warning presents itself on the instrument cluster.

These are the warnings that the driver, Joshua Brown, may not have followed. To address that issue, Tesla has updated the software so that if you ignore them, Autopilot will deactivate for the remainder of your journey.
http://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-autopilot-no-way-drive-car-itself-2017-6

Like you said, I wouldn't call that a bug, but bad feature design.

 

[Cellos88GT]

Never mind the fact that the system still drives like a drunk person.

 

[prizrak]

I'd probably call it a mix of customer error and company strategy error/misinformation. When you call something "Autopilot" you give the general customer the idea that the car can drive itself - regardless of how many warnings you flash on the screens and how many press releases you issue, afterall, your average consumer is pretty dumb. I don't think they should've ever named the feature that. That and initially the system didn't disable if you ignored its prompts to put your hands back on the steering wheel.



Like you said, I wouldn't call that a bug, but bad feature design.

Point taken, the name is quite misleading.

- - - Updated - - -

Never mind the fact that the system still drives like a drunk person.

It's just adaptive cruise control with lane follow, whether it sux of or not is irrelevant it's not something one ever needs to use. Mind you I generally dislike Tesla and how it's being treated in the media I just don't think autopilot issues are something that can realistically be used as a con.

 

[Cellos88GT]

It's just adaptive cruise control with lane follow, whether it sux of or not is irrelevant it's not something one ever needs to use. Mind you I generally dislike Tesla and how it's being treated in the media I just don't think autopilot issues are something that can realistically be used as a con.

I'm not really saying that it's a con per se, I just don't think that it's a piece of software that had been rigorously developed given the observed bugs and odd behavior during its initial launch.

 

[prizrak]

I'm not really saying that it's a con per se, I just don't think that it's a piece of software that had been rigorously developed given the observed bugs and odd behavior during its initial launch.

I don't know if I could say that, as someone who deals with software development it's very hard to account for all the real world scenarios. The only problem I have with Tesla here is calling it "Autopilot" or not saying that it's essentially a public beta, which it really is.

 

[Cellos88GT]

I don't know if I could say that, as someone who deals with software development it's very hard to account for all the real world scenarios.

As someone who has dealt with automotive embedded software and now deals with aerospace software development, yes, I very well understand that. Hence, why I excuse these electronics bugs on the Giulia and don't chop it up to some gross negligence on the part of Alfa Romeo and subscribe to the "lol Italians" stereotype. It took all of two minutes to research that the issues plaguing these press cars have to do with software and that there already exists a SW fix to remedy the issue, why is it necessary to write such a scathing review for something that is fairly trivial?

I wish every automotive journalist could go through an automotive industry bootcamp before writing the click-bait drivel they like to regurgitate on to their keyboards.

 

[CrzRsn]

As someone who has dealt with automotive embedded software and now deals with aerospace software development, yes, I very well understand that. Hence, why I excuse these electronics bugs on the Giulia and don't chop it up to some gross negligence on the part of Alfa Romeo and subscribe to the "lol Italians" stereotype. It took all of two minutes to research that the issues plaguing these press cars have to do with software and that there already exists a SW fix to remedy the issue, why is it necessary to write such a scathing review for something that is fairly trivial?

I wish every automotive journalist could go through an automotive industry bootcamp before writing the click-bait drivel they like to regurgitate on to their keyboards.

Have there been any reports of customer cars being affected by these problems? One has to assume that if press cars are still being affected by major issues, then there will be a subset of customers that will see the same problems if their cars were shipped from the plant without the software updates (dealers are notoriously bad at updating cars once they arrive on the lot). The real telling story will be the Consumer Reports review of the Giulia as they buy a random car off the lot rather than use a press car so theres no way the manufacturer can prep the vehicle.

I second the auto industry bootcamp for auto journos (I've been saying that for years), but in this case, I don't think this is the worst thing Jalopnik has done/published. Granted, I haven't actually read the articles so I don't know what wording was used and what assumptions were made, but since whatever outlet got a car that failed this late in the game, its fair to call it unreliable.

 

[prizrak]

I wish every automotive journalist could go through an automotive industry bootcamp before writing the click-bait drivel they like to regurgitate on to their keyboards.

So much this

 

[CrzRsn]

It would have to be crazy intense. I've been in the auto industry for 5 years and I'm still learning new stuff on a weekly, if not daily basis. Plenty of topics that I wouldn't feel comfortable writing about with the concrete certainty a lot of these guys do, and yet I feel like I'm still more qualified than they are. And it would need to cover everything from planning to engineering to testing to marketing as there are some journos out there that used to be in the auto industry and still get stuff wrong. Obviously no one can be perfect and know everything, but even a small base layer is better than nothing.

 

[CrzRsn]

The only problem I have with Tesla here is calling it "Autopilot" or not saying that it's essentially a public beta, which it really is.

And on that note.... Lexus Won't Call Its Driver Assistance Systems Self-Driving Technology

 

[93Flareside]

... But does that mean that all cars being tested in the US right now are running "old" software? Kinda hard to believe...

Absolutely. If it's anything I've seen in industrial and commercial equipment. American brands will run the oldest stuff until they're forced to change because it's no longer supported. Never mind that a product has been delisted from UL.

 

[Cellos88GT]

Here's another shit article claiming that the Bolt isn't selling without even mentioning the fact that it isn't even available in all 50 states yet...

Chevrolet's Tesla Killer isn't selling very quickly.

Click-bait at its finest.

 

[CrzRsn]

Here's another shit article claiming that the Bolt isn't selling without even mentioning the fact that it isn't even available in all 50 states yet...

Chevrolet's Tesla Killer isn't selling very quickly.

Click-bait at its finest.

Going by this, I don't think the Bolt is doing bad at all.

 

[prizrak]

Going by this, I don't think the Bolt is doing bad at all.

Those look like very healthy sales for something as niche as a people's electric car.

 

[Cellos88GT]

Here we are again, another "fuck Alfa Romeo" article about its list of TSBs and teething issues.

Here are all the problems that FCA has attempted to fix on the Alfa Romeo Giulia

Mind you that most of these TSBs are either software fixes or manual labor fixes that require less than a half-hour's worth of time. Judging by the commenters that doesn't matter, "Alfa Romeos are pieces of shit!!!!!!1111ONEONEONE11!!! AND I'M NEVER BUYING ONE!!!"

I hope all new product launches get this much attention in the future, but sadly I doubt it.

 

[Mitchi]

I hope that not too many people jump on this bandwagon. I wouldn't think the Alfa is an unreliable car. If you can already tell such a thing after this short period...

 

[Thanatos]

The guy doesn't know Yugo was made in Yugoslavia and not Russia/USSR.