Re: Motor Madness

[Alan Cordeiro <cordeiro@avlna.com>]

At 01:26 PM 5/1/96 PDT, you wrote:
>More confusion on WHO makes the Motors
>
>The VW/Audi TDI  and the 2.5L BMW TDI diesel engines were designed by a company
>in Austria who specializes in Diesel engine development and who has
partnered with the vehicle 
>manufacturers engineering teams over the past 40 years to provide engine
development 
>expertise and  instrumentation. 
>
>I was able to visit this engine development company in Austria during  the
development of 
>some  portible  electronic test and measurement equipment (Digital
Oscilloscopes) that
>our company  provides to them. So who really "makes" these motors? VW,
AUDI, BMW?
>Only their hairdresser knows for sure....................................
>Scott M.

I work for the same company in Novi, Michigan. Unfortunately the automakers
named, 
and others, prefer if we did not proclaim that outsiders are heavily
involved in 
their engine design. However, anyone who visited our booth at S.A.E. last
year would 
ave seen a development engine with all sorts of fancy combustion analysis
sensors 
( we were showing off the sensors ) with distinct AUDI markings on the block. 
This year we had a Navistar engine.....

At any time six or eight of the test cells in Graz are sealed off, even
employees are
not alowed to wander in. Its kind of funny, competing automaker engineers are
working in adjoining labs just a few feet away.

Alan