QOTD: Any Bad Takes, Man?

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

Gearheads love to argue about stuff: Ford vs Chevy, Evo vs WRX, Senna vs Prost. There’s only one answer to that last one, by the way.

Inevitably, someone tells us we have an incredibly bad take on something, and we’re forced to defend our unpopular opinion. Click through and let us know yours in the comments. I’ll go first — and it involves the Porsche 911.

I think every 911 needs to have a rear wiper. There, I’ve said it. *runs for cover*

It’s an unpopular opinion, at least in the circles in which I run. This declaration is often met with scorn and derision, with other gearheads saying they ruin the lines of the car and spoil any semblance of aerodynamics. Adds weight, too, they say.

Never mind the last one, I say. If the whole works of it adds ten or fifteen pounds, I’ll simply hit up the gym and lose that amount of weight myself if it means that much. As for the aesthetics, I think the wiper adds to the European styling.

In fact, Petrolicious has a great write-up on the history of the thing. Allegedly, they first appeared thanks to a customer request, quickly gaining popularity when the first example showed up in public.

But that’s just my bleatings. What’s your unpopular automotive opinion? I’ve put my bad take out there for everyone to see; now it’s your turn.

[Image: Porsche AG]

Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • TheKonnstranomic TheKonnstranomic on Mar 12, 2019

    -Today's minivan's have become way too bloated. Compared to the original Chrysler vans, which make today's vans look like they had way too much to eat for too long. Not to mention all the emphasis today's minvans have on plush comfort and passenger entertainment, which is just more $$$ to be spent at the dealer, and more potential things that can break later on. We need more reasonably sized and utilitarian vans again! More things like the Ford Transit Connect, the passenger version of the Ram ProMaster City (Fiat Doblò), the sadly departed Mazda5, heck, even make a modified version of the Mahindra Marazzo for American tastes! -I don't mind the trend of tablet infotainment screens, but it would be helpful if they had another way to navigate them, i.e. a control knob. And no, the touchpads that Lexus uses do not count. -I never thought of the infamous 1st generation Ssangyong Rodius to be ugly at all. The lack of sliding doors on it is a bummer though. -While some people don't feel sad for crappy car brands that die out, i.e. Daewoo, I do feel saddened when they go away, because of less car variety. It makes you wonder how Daewoo's cars would have turned out, had they not gone bankrupt, and had GM not purchased them. And not to mention how GM's cars would be like today without Daewoo's influence...

    • ToolGuy ToolGuy on Mar 15, 2019

      Konn, Completely agree on the minivan thing- was just having that conversation while driving tonight. The Stylists got involved and are killing the segment over time. On your infotainment comment, I would like a real live jog/shuttle wheel when listening to podcasts/etc.

  • Hummer Hummer on Mar 12, 2019

    Turbo 4s are universally awful, either add displacement to a N/A 4 or put a V8 in it like God intended. V6s have one place in the auto world, that is Minivans, doesn’t matter if they’re the sliding rear door variety Minivans or the Traditional rear door style minivans like the Highlander or Cherokee. CUVs are less cool minivans, they’re like the dorky brother to minivans.

    • Arach Arach on Mar 12, 2019

      Funny. After I bought a turbo4, I fell in love. My Hyundai Sonata 2.0t is my FAVORITE engine I've ever owned, I like it more than turbo v8 diesels, Turbo 6s, NA 6s, and NA 8s. having INSTANT PEAK TORQUE at 1300 rpm is amazing. My Hyundai sonata feels faster in DD traffic than my Camaro SS did. On top of it feeling super torquey, I get 32 MPG! are angels singing? Did a magician design this thing? My V6s have to be revved up and are lucky toget 22 MPG. I decided the best mustangs and camaros are now the turbo4... unless you are racing where you are running your car at 6400 rpm, turbo4s are amazing for daily driving duties. In fact I'm mad that I can't buy bigger nicer cars with the turbo4... I don't think I could settle for an awful NA 6 again after owning this car for 4 years.

  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X Thankfully I don't have to deal with GDI issues in my Frontier. These cleaners should do well for me if I win.
  • Theflyersfan Serious answer time...Honda used to stand for excellence in auto engineering. Their first main claim to fame was the CVCC (we don't need a catalytic converter!) engine and it sent from there. Their suspensions, their VTEC engines, slick manual transmissions, even a stowing minivan seat, all theirs. But I think they've been coasting a bit lately. Yes, the Civic Type-R has a powerful small engine, but the Honda of old would have found a way to get more revs out of it and make it feel like an i-VTEC engine of old instead of any old turbo engine that can be found in a multitude of performance small cars. Their 1.5L turbo-4...well...have they ever figured out the oil dilution problems? Very un-Honda-like. Paint issues that still linger. Cheaper feeling interior trim. All things that fly in the face of what Honda once was. The only thing that they seem to have kept have been the sales staff that treat you with utter contempt for daring to walk into their inner sanctum and wanting a deal on something that isn't a bare-bones CR-V. So Honda, beat the rest of your Japanese and Korean rivals, and plug-in hybridize everything. If you want a relatively (in an engineering way) easy way to get ahead of the curve, raise the CAFE score, and have a major point to advertise, and be able to sell to those who can't plug in easily, sell them on something that will get, for example, 35% better mileage, plug in when you get a chance, and drives like a Honda. Bring back some of the engineering skills that Honda once stood for. And then start introducing a portfolio of EVs once people are more comfortable with the idea of plugging in. People seeing that they can easily use an EV for their daily errands with the gas engine never starting will eventually sell them on a future EV because that range anxiety will be lessened. The all EV leap is still a bridge too far, especially as recent sales numbers have shown. Baby steps. That's how you win people over.
  • Theflyersfan If this saves (or delays) an expensive carbon brushing off of the valves down the road, I'll take a case. I understand that can be a very expensive bit of scheduled maintenance.
  • Zipper69 A Mini should have 2 doors and 4 cylinders and tires the size of dinner plates.All else is puffery.
  • Theflyersfan Just in time for the weekend!!! Usual suspects A: All EVs are evil golf carts, spewing nothing but virtue signaling about saving the earth, all the while hacking the limbs off of small kids in Africa, money losing pits of despair that no buyer would ever need and anyone that buys one is a raging moron with no brains and the automakers who make them want to go bankrupt.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Usual suspects B: All EVs are powered by unicorns and lollypops with no pollution, drive like dreams, all drivers don't mind stopping for hours on end, eating trays of fast food at every rest stop waiting for charges, save the world by using no gas and batteries are friendly to everyone, bugs included. Everyone should torch their ICE cars now and buy a Tesla or Bolt post haste.(Source: all of the comments on every EV article here posted over the years)Or those in the middle: Maybe one of these days, when the charging infrastructure is better, or there are more options that don't cost as much, one will be considered as part of a rational decision based on driving needs, purchasing costs environmental impact, total cost of ownership, and ease of charging.(Source: many on this site who don't jump on TTAC the split second an EV article appears and lives to trash everyone who is a fan of EVs.)
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