• The Forums are now open to new registrations, adverts are also being de-tuned.

Do we still have engine snobbery?

RSTurbo50 said:
I have to say that on this forum and other forums there really does appear to be a bit of a snobbery around the ‘lesser’, ‘smaller’ 4 pot engines.

I guess most people couldn’t care less what other think but the older I’m getting the more I’m noticing this badge snobbery which I think is totally unnecessary.
Click to expand...

Just swap the E250 badge for an E350, or even better an E63 badge. Filling station man will never know the difference.
 
RSTurbo50 said:
I have to say that on this forum and other forums there really does appear to be a bit of a snobbery around the ‘lesser’, ‘smaller’ 4 pot engines.

Having had a C63, C55, E350 CDi, M3’s, M5’s
And various other high performance cars, I am as happy as Larry with my ‘inferior’ E250 CDi AMG Sport Saloon.

Having picked the car up a few weeks ago, it’s covered just 61k miles, FSH and only 1 former keeper. It drives absolutely beautiful, like a new car and is without doubt the comfiest car
I have ever had. I was filling it up the other week on the forecourt and a guy came over and said ‘you should have bought the E350 instead’. I asked why when my E250 was better on fuel, in the real world just as quick and with the brilliant sound proofing in the E Class, just as quiet.

I had an E350 CDi coupe a few years ago and honestly can’t tell the difference between either in terms of performance or refinement.

I guess most people couldn’t care less what other think but the older I’m getting the more I’m noticing this badge snobbery which I think is totally unnecessary.
Click to expand...
I guess there must still be a lot of snobbery around, because I drive a CLS 220, and I feel very hesitant about writing that here...

I have no doubt that a bigger engine would be even better, but I effing love my car already!
 
I think I read somewhere that it's a fairly UK thing to still have engine model numbers displayed on the rear of a car, in Germany most owners choose factory badge deletion, is that right?

In that case, maybe the snobbery is worse over there than here? Or is it the opposite, nobody cares at all?
 
CMJohn said:
I think I read somewhere that it's a fairly UK thing to still have engine model numbers displayed on the rear of a car, in Germany most owners choose factory badge deletion, is that right?

In that case, maybe the snobbery is worse over there than here? Or is it the opposite, nobody cares at all?
Click to expand...

Hardly conclusive but the debadged cars I see in Germany are typically lower spec ones (going by the exhausts etc.). Our Vito van is debadged partly for aesthetic reasons (avoiding lots of chrome badging on a dark blue tailgate) and partly to hide the fact that it has a 3.0 V6 under the bonnet (pretty rare and unexpected 17 years ago).

Many years ago I worked for a large manufacturing organisation that offered all their company cars for sale to employees at 3 or 4 years old. You could put your name down for anything from a basic pool car to a director's top spec. Jaguar or Rover. The junior sales reps at that time drove 1.3 Cortinas but (and I have no idea how/why) they were all badged 1.6?!
 
General rule
4 cylinders are economic
6 cylinders are smooth
8 cylinders make a lot of torque
12 cylinders are the best of both worlds if you can afford the running costs.

As far as snobbery? Buy what you like. Even call it an AMG. Nobody gives a sh*t what you drive and you shouldn't give a sh*t about what anyone else thinks.
 
If disagree that 12 cylinders are the best of both... especially when I comes to torque at low revs. The more cylinders you have for a given displacement, the more friction and heat loss the engine has, so the torque extracted from that displacement is lower than would be achieved with fewer cylinders. The air and fuel burned is used less well. Do more cylinders mean more power in a car? In general, yes..... but only because generally they can rev higher.
 
...... and to me V12 and V10 models don't sound anything like as nice as a V8 either. All personal taste of course.
 
BTB 500 said:
Hardly conclusive but the debadged cars I see in Germany are typically lower spec ones (going by the exhausts etc.). Our Vito van is debadged partly for aesthetic reasons (avoiding lots of chrome badging on a dark blue tailgate) and partly to hide the fact that it has a 3.0 V6 under the bonnet (pretty rare and unexpected 17 years ago).

Many years ago I worked for a large manufacturing organisation that offered all their company cars for sale to employees at 3 or 4 years old. You could put your name down for anything from a basic pool car to a director's top spec. Jaguar or Rover. The junior sales reps at that time drove 1.3 Cortinas but (and I have no idea how/why) they were all badged 1.6?!
Click to expand...
Lol, sales reps are always in competition with each other, I guess every one of them had the thought that they needed to look more successful!
 
I love a V8 AMG, but I wouldn’t change my 350CDi for one. And if I had a long commute and paid my own fuel cost, a 4 pot diesel would be high on my list.
It’s not badge snobbery. It’s just personal preference.
 
I've always preferred 6s, 8s and so on. I don't think it makes me a snob. I just prefer the noise they make when you're on it and the smoothness when you're not.
 
Londonscottish said:
I've always preferred 6s, 8s and so on. I don't think it makes me a snob. I just prefer the noise they make when you're on it and the smoothness when you're not.
Click to expand...

This. No snobbery here, but I prefer more than four cylinders for their characteristics. It's one of the many reasons I chose the M340i over the new C43.
 
Personally, I prefer the sound of the bigger engines. The way they deliver power and the torque they produce. I have never bought a car and think, I wonder what people will say to me now that I've bought a car with such a big engine! Most people don't care. I for sure don't care what size engine people choose to go for.

People will always judge. Some judge others by saying, it's so stupid to have a car with such a big engine [V6, V8, V10, or V12 ] What's the point in that? It's not as if you can use all that power! You also have those people that think, well why buy such a nice looking car but it's just show and no go! You can't win

I love cars and I will buy what ''I'' like [ within my means of course!]. If I meet some stranger at a petrol station that also appreciates the car I drive, great. It's always nice to get a compliment BUT, if I don't get a compliment from a stranger......... still great! I bought the car for myself and not others.

Saying all this, it would be naive to think that there are no people out there that are snobs. Hopefully we don't have them here as we all just share the same passion [ love for cars ] 😊
 
I would postulate that the vast majority of car purchasers don't care about the power unit's number of cylinders, configuration (inline, vee, boxer, etc.), and that a large number couldn't even tell you the number of cylinders present or the configuration of the engine in their current car. When you realise that most drivers don't even know if their car is FWD or RWD, it's not really a surprise that the niceties of the engine are a mystery to them too.

It's only the "petrol heads" (and perhaps some of the badge-snob company car drivers ;) ) that either know or concern themselves about it.

In our household we currently have vehicles powered by an inline 4, an inline 6 and a V8. In their respective platforms they all work rather well, and that's all that really matters.
 
Mactech said:
Just imagine how inferior I feel driving a car with no cylinders, skinny tyres and a BMW badge.....but smoother than a V12 :dk:

View attachment 152073
Click to expand...
To be fair Alistair, it's only your racing pedigree that's stopped us coming to East Anglia and tar and feathering you..... 🤣🤣
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

C
E250 or E350 CDI Estate
Replies
17
Views
1K
Cherrypd
C
R
Leaving Mercedes and heading back over to BMW.
2
Replies
21
Views
4K
Mactech
Mactech
B
Back to the future
Replies
0
Views
622
benzimar
B
W
E350 blueefficiancy
Replies
3
Views
388
wart67
W
N
E-400 Coupe engine 3.0 or 3.5?
Replies
6
Views
985
fabes
fabes
Back
Top Bottom