Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

I wonder if it's anything to do with LEDS naturally emitting a blue tinted light, if you completely block that and only allow red then they won't be as bright as if you allow some blue through. Purple would be a good cheat to get brighter tail lights or use fewer LEDs/less energy. :unsure:
 
Is this like 1980s Toyota truck/Hilux lenses turning pink?

Not really, I think it's a styling thing on new or near new German cars. Or some component supplier the German brands use that uses a new process. My Alltrack doesn't belong to the purple light club, however. I'd probably need to buy an Audi Allroad to get to that level.
 
Not really, I think it's a styling thing on new or near new German cars. Or some component supplier the German brands use that uses a new process. My Alltrack doesn't belong to the purple light club, however. I'd probably need to buy an Audi Allroad to get to that level.

So it's not a color shift due to age, but a decision by the stylists to tint the tail lights a different shade (or possibly an unforeseen coloring shift due to manufacturing variations).
 
I imagine UV damage is what's causing the color shift.
 
So it's not a color shift due to age, but a decision by the stylists to tint the tail lights a different shade (or possibly an unforeseen coloring shift due to manufacturing variations).

I think it's a subtle marketing thing. The lights have a slight synthwave feel to them if you know what I mean.
 
I imagine UV damage is what's causing the color shift.

No, cars that are 30 or 40 years old have normal red taillights still so why would a near new Audi have discoloration on the lights?

This is on 3-4 year old cars at most, and it's always Audi, Porsche etc. It's very subtle but I can't un-see it now.
 
Blue-white LEDs behind red lenses.

Or are we talking cars with clear lenses? I don't recall what the arse of a current German car looks like.
 
Blue-white LEDs behind red lenses.

Or are we talking cars with clear lenses? I don't recall what the arse of a current German car looks like.

Normal red lenses with LED behind, like on most cars. Just like my current car and the car before that. But it's only that handful of cars that have the retrowave-esque purple tint to them. It's clearly designed on purpose like everything you touch, hear, feel and see on an Audi.
 
Normal red lenses with LED behind, like on most cars. Just like my current car and the car before that. But it's only that handful of cars that have the retrowave-esque purple tint to them. It's clearly designed on purpose like everything you touch, hear, feel and see on an Audi.
Yeah. Probably using a real high-color-temp LED then. Cheaper AND you can hit that aesthetic!
 
You can probably do a lot worse for a rental than a Grand Cherokee.

Related: What's the point of GMC? Do they have anything Chevrolet doesn't have? It feels like 80's GM way of thinking, when car brands were essentailly trim levels. Want your Chevy to have a rev counter and a clock? The Pontiac dealer is across the street, sir.
 
You can probably do a lot worse for a rental than a Grand Cherokee.

Related: What's the point of GMC? Do they have anything Chevrolet doesn't have? It feels like 80's GM way of thinking, when car brands were essentailly trim levels. Want your Chevy to have a rev counter and a clock? The Pontiac dealer is across the street, sir.

GMC has taken a more premium level over Chevrolet. Pontiac is gone, of course, that's what Buick is for these days.

They all share the same underpinnings, of course. So if one has a endemic problem, they all do.
 
You can probably do a lot worse for a rental than a Grand Cherokee.

Related: What's the point of GMC? Do they have anything Chevrolet doesn't have? It feels like 80's GM way of thinking, when car brands were essentailly trim levels. Want your Chevy to have a rev counter and a clock? The Pontiac dealer is across the street, sir.
There is a lot of overlap in trim levels between Chevy and GMC, but GMC ultimately is more premium, as CraigB said. Essentially, Denali>High Country. The GMC trucks are generally better looking (more conservative?) too (subjective, of course).
 
I've been thinking more about Jeeps recently after seeing different models around and for sale. They've managed to avoid radical designs and stay pretty traditional and inoffensive, something to respect I suppose but they look a bit boring. I find it hard to imagine someone going and buying one in this country yet they apparently do.

Jeep is of course our only real look into US SUVs as we don't get the others, they're not common anyway. You see the odd Dodge SUV but it's very rare since the Caliber.

Oh yeah, since I'm here and this is car related - my sister finally got rid of her awful Clio and bought a Mini Countryman. 1.6D with a lot of options, so it'll be dog slow but at least she isn't paying a load more on road tax. Bluetooth audio was apparently such an overpriced option that nobody bought it.
 
There is a lot of overlap in trim levels between Chevy and GMC, but GMC ultimately is more premium, as CraigB said. Essentially, Denali>High Country. The GMC trucks are generally better looking (more conservative?) too (subjective, of course).

Agreed, the styling on the GMC offerings is more subdued. In the case of the Silverado vs Sierra, that's a good thing.
 
You can probably do a lot worse for a rental than a Grand Cherokee.

Related: What's the point of GMC?

Fleet sales.

Companies who buy trucks by the hundred would like to have the same point of contact that they've had since forever on their lease/purchase deals. As such, if they have a GMC contract they will keep negotiating and renovating it. If GMC were to close, those contracts would have to go to tender again and further options evaluated. At best, this ends up with everyone just switching to Chevrolet, which is wishful thinking at best. And no, they can't just deliver Chevrolets. GM has already been sued for similar things in the past.

This is also the reason GMC survived the GM restructuring. It was it or Hummer, and GMC had at least a guaranteed quarter of a million sales a year. Everyone else has mentioned the differences on the consumer side, so add those to the list.

I've been thinking more about Jeeps recently after seeing different models around and for sale. They've managed to avoid radical designs and stay pretty traditional and inoffensive, something to respect I suppose but they look a bit boring.

2014-jeep-cherokee-front-action1-600-001.jpg


It doesn't work tremendously well when they try to be adventurous.
 
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Fleet sales.

Companies who buy trucks by the hundred would like to have the same point of contact that they've had since forever on their lease/purchase deals. As such, if they have a GMC contract they will keep negotiating and renovating it. If GMC were to close, those contracts would have to go to tender again and further options evaluated At best, this ends up with everyone just switching to Chevrolet, which is wishful thinking at best. And no, they can't just deliver Chevrolets. GM has already been sued for similar things in the past.

This is also the reason GMC survived the GM restructuring. It was it or Hummer, and GMC had at least a guaranteed quarter of a million sales a year. Everyone else has mentioned the differences on the consumer side, so add those to the list.
Also GMC is exceedingly cheap to operate - they aren't engineering entire vehicles, just appearance and interior trims for Chevys. Given the sales benefits and low costs, keeping it is a no brainer.

It's also a pretty good regulatory hedge - during the ICE wind-down, we're pretty likely to see some territories where you can no longer market ICE vehicles to consumers, but it is still permitted to sell them as vocational vehicles. Having GMC in the stable means it's just a matter of shoving the relevant ICE products into the brand and selling them out of a "different" dealer network.
 
Want your Chevy to have a rev counter and a clock? The Pontiac dealer is across the street, sir.

Hol up. A REV COUNTER being optional? I get that most US cars are auto so it’s not that essential, bur really, that still exists as a paid option?

My 10k Citroen had that as a paying option 10 years ago, I don’t know if you can even get one without in Euro country
 
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