Vanity Fair Saab 9-3 Ad: Turbo-Charged Dumheter
Apparently, there’s an ad-copywriting school that offers a course called “If It’s Way Too Complicated To Explain, Just Lie.” In the October issue of Vanity Fair, a Saab 9.3 Turbo ad proclaims, “We believe every person should recycle. And so should every engine.” So far so good. But according to the body copy, “By taking exhaust that typically escapes out the tailpipe and redirecting it back into the engine, the Saab Turbo maximizes performance…” Now wait a minute. Saab engines can run on exhaust gases? There are three possibilities here. One is that the copywriters simply decided nobody actually cares how a turbocharger works. Another is that one of the creatives remembered hearing about something called “exhaust-gas recirculation.” But the most likely is that the dumb strokes have no idea how a turbo works and don’t care. How the mäktig have fallen.
I'm the automotive editor of Conde Nast Traveler and a freelancer for a variety of other magazines as well. Go to amazon.com and read more about me than you ever wanted to know if you do a search for either of my current books, "The Gold-Plated Porsche" and "Man and Machine." Been a pilot since 1967 (single- and multi-engine land, single-engine sea, glider, instrument, Cessna Citation 500 type rating all on a commercial license) and I use the gold-plated Porsche, a much-modified and -lightened '83 911SC, as a track car.
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16MPG? Really? My CUV AWD gets 25 mpg most of the time. Ouch... The turbo lag adjustments were an eye opener. Good points.
Some of you guys really need to get over yourselves here! So what YOU actually know how a turbocharger works! Go pat yourself on the back for that but, NEVER forget about all of those other things in life you are totally ignorant about! Come on, this ad is simply a "play on words" and is meant for folks that would say "who cares" if you told them the ad might be slightly misleading depending on how you look at it. Look, I know cars, computers, and history/ politics so people do ask me about that type of stuff. I do NOT know jack about many other things and sometimes seek out other more knowledgeble folks to answer my questions. Most them would not know a EGR valve from a turbo or a turbocharger from a supercharger. If anyone that does not know how a Turbocharger works but wants to know and has a "real" understanding of how the Fed Reserve works I would gladly trade knowledge with you right now.
“By taking exhaust that typically escapes out the tailpipe and redirecting it back into the engine, the Saab Turbo maximizes performance…” What wrong with that? Turbo is consider part of engine. The whole engine/turbo is built together in the same plant and ship together as a unit. I don't know why someone would make a big deal out of this (exhaust). It's like water cooler and water goes into engine... doesn't mean you have to "burn" water. Water carried heat energy away, and exhaust is redirected into the engine unit (turbo) to reuse its kinetic energy. What's not accurate?