Life of the car.....

[mrvette]

Jim, others, wondering just what, if anything, was a general company directive to design staffs for overall product life cycle.....

I know about test tracks, heat/cold and road testing....but when pen goes to paper, what are the overall standards for product longevity??

obviously it has to make it past the warranty period....but

what is generally considered the 'life of the car'...??

how about trucks, such as big rigs??

or farm equipment??

:shocking:

 

[TimAT]

Back in the 70's Caterpillar had an engine- 1693TA was it's designation- 425 HP, thing pulled like a train and nearly ran forever. CAT quit selling that engine for OTR use- 500,000 miles and never needed a tuneup. Their reasoning was they weren't selling any service or parts for it. And it was no big step to turn it up for more HP. 10% was a real easy step, and it's burn tires- all 8 of them.

 

[DeeVeeEight]

1960's GMC pick-ups and trucks had a 305 V6 that was the same way - it was dropped because it did not generate enough revenue in repairs.

 

[greg75vette]

1960's GMC pick-ups and trucks had a 305 V6 that was the same way - it was dropped because it did not generate enough revenue in repairs.

My grandfather had one of these in a '60 suburban. Had a lot of torque and ran like a top. It had some ridiculous cooling system too I believe. Apparently there was a commercial at the time that had a fountain running off of the cooling system?