So, what you do for? Well being or results?

"Nissan GTR vs Porsche 911"...
flip thru any recent car magazines, and chances is that this will be the headline you see... For the benefit of many, Nissan GTR is new sports car launched recently, which re-writes many records and created, sort of, a new legend. A new technological milestone, and fascinates every petrol heads worldwide.

Not that I'm not fascinated by it (had drool over Youtube abt it racing at nurburgring), but rather, i'm more interest about another car currently... it's the Mazda 2. Although it seems like another ordinary 5 door hatchback made for the masses, there's more to the car. Another rule-book rewritten, probably.

While every car had increased in size and weight with every successor, the Mazda 2 is one of the rare one that actually grew smaller and lighter by 100kg, as compared to the previous model it replaces. That's something difficult, because new cars developed nowadays have to meet with increasing tougher crash test (so heavier structure), more consumer demands (so more equipment installed) and less environmental impact (so cleaner engine, less fuel used)

And be lighter is indeed a solution to the problem of pollution... Forget the complex Hybrid system you see in the Prius... Just by reducing the weight of the car, it will need less power (drink less fuel) and become more agile (more fun to drive) . A simple solution, which is not easily done.

Yet those passionate guys at Mazda took up this route. In order to achieve this, the engineers used high strength steel which gives less weight, and reduces weight of everything in the car..including that mirror and stereo speaker, to save 1+ kg. Unneccessary items such as reading lights and hand grip are omitted too. Which gave us that total weight saved.

Brilliantly engineered, great handling, and a proud japanese styling...But did consumers appreciated that? It had received many awards and recognition form the automobile-media world, as the top 5 in Europe's car of the year and Australian 'wheels' mag car of year top 3, but does the consumers know about it? Would the buyer be informed about the weight lost benefit? Rather, what they would care is about the interior hard plastic, the more expensive price, insurance, and those items that they had ommited. And it will not be a fuel effecient car to them, as the Honda Jazz had already been identified as the fuel saver, and mazda is perceived as the drinker.

On the other hand, what is selling like hotcakes are cars that have a well known brand name, spacious, reskined but uses a outdated engine, old auto gear, and heavy. Better still, if the price is low, you dont even need the brand name. That's how those budget car sells, despite being loosely designed and poorly built.

Green car? Perception are, not the light weight one, but one that openly state themselves as one. That is why hybrids are perceived as the world saver when it still drinks as much on motorway, and use much more materials to manufacture, while fuel saving diesels are still not accepted here.

Isnt some events in life similiar too? Many times what deserves the attention and credits are not rewarded. Rather, winners are those who put the effort in whichever areas where the attention is at and which are perceived as the correct thing.

Does an examination really test our knowledge? That first class score do not imply that you know every thing in the subject and is passionate about it; it happens that what you knew well came out. Meanwhile, that true good student did not argue well enough for that question, so thus not so good scores. Like wise, a good car is not the best selling. The best selling one is one that ticks the consumers' box.

And just like car makers needing that sales level to survive, we need that examination score to survive. What it takes is not passion and study with interest, but hitting the correct point and doing it correctly for the examination.... which doesnt quite match the initial intention for further quest for knowledge isnt it?

Anyway, who will really go for studies nowadays for quest of knowledge? Many did a degree 'cos you need it to progress in society, and did business 'cos there's no other better choice.


.....and i'm doing all these so that i can earn enough to buy the under-rated but brillant Mazda2.
How ironic.

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