Z4 - Coventry Degree Show Project

[Matt]

Hey guys,

I am currently studying Automotive Design in my final year at Coventry university, and as part of my project i need to research the pleasures and emotions felt towards internal combustion engine sports cars.
And i thought the perfect car to aim my research at is the Z4!

So to aid me in my research I have a few questions that i would like to ask, to get a greater insight into how the public feel about owning and using sport cars.

1. How often do you use your car

2. On average how far do you drive (miles)

3. What is the longest journey you have made, and to what destination?

4. Please order the following into which you feel is the most important when it comes to sports cars (most important at the top)

Brand
Looks
Sound
Materials
Smell (interior)
Balance and acceleration (performance)

5. What do you think about the concept of electric sports cars and how do you think they will affect the experience?

 

[mikedav]

1. Every day
2. 20k per year
3. Nurburgring, probably 1100 miles round trip
3 Looks, Sound, Performance, Materials, Brand, Smell*
4. The Tesla Roadster is great - a real step forward. But having no engine note will take a while to get used to. I think it will catch on with 'normal' cars a long, long time before it does for sports cars (for whom efficiency is not the number one priority). Hell diesel hasn't even managed yet... There will be enthusiasts revving Ferraris long into the next century, whatever the cost.

* This question is a bit flawed IMO because performance and sound tie into each other, while brand can have a heavy impact on both the performance aspect (depending on our a particular manufacturer sets up it's cars - BMW, for example, delivering high quality RWD sports cars that drive brilliantly) and materials (quality of construction)...sound is crucial though; I had a Bora V6 4Motion at uni, the VR6 VW engine, and I still think that's one of the best engine notes under £50k. A chipped 1.8T 4 cylinder can be as fast as the larger engined car, but who cares - the noise the VR6 makes tops it every time and is at least 40% of the driving experience IMO.

 

[gannet]

1. Mostly at weekends, occasionally during the week
2. 8k a year
3. Scottish holiday - 1500 miles round trip
3 Looks, performance, sound, materials, brand, smell
4. electric sports cars.. hmm without the benefit of driving one I can't really compare. The theory is fine, though I'm not so convinced that they are as environmentally friendly as everyone makes out they are when everything is taken into account (manufacturing batteries etc). For me a sports car has to handle and 'feel' right - some of that 'feel' is the drive train which for electric cars is completely different which will make them different in any case. I do like the sound of a good petrol engine which will be absent with electric cars...

 

[bras0782]

1. Mostly just weekends plus the odd day or so during the week.
2. 8k a year
3a. Road trip through France and Italy. Around 1400 miles round trip.
3b. Looks + performance (equal), sound, materials, brand, smell.
4. Agree with what mikedav says but I know little about them because they are too expensive to consider.

Again, like mikedav said 3b isn't a great question - but it's hard to explain how you could improve on it :?

 

[2dogs]

1. Every Day
2. 8-10K
3. 300 miles Birmingham
4. Looks, performance, sound, brand, smell, did i say looks.
5. hoping their's not one.

 

[JetBlackZ]

1. Spring/Summer only
2. 60 miles (if I take it to work) otherwise it sits in the garage sometimes for weeks at a time
3. 100 miles to a resort
4. Looks Brand Materials Balance and acceleration (performance) Smell (interior) Sound
5. No way, electric is for sedans not a sports car.

 

[GAZA62]

1 Every weekend

2 6k

3 1000 miles round trip Le-Mans

4 Looks Performance Quality

5 Electric cars way to quiet :thumbsdown: bit like the Audi and Peugot Le-Mans race cars

 

[MonsterZ4]

1. I use the car pretty well daily, its the Coupe

2. Around 12,000 miles a year

3. Looking to do my 1st road trip next year, probably into France, Italy, Spain, so approx 4,000miles

4. Looks, Performance, Brand, the others.....

5. Part of what i love about cars and motorbikes, especially petrol engined one's, is the smell, noise and sensation they provide. I like being able to tell what kind of car is driving up the road behind me because of its engine noise etc. Sad i know, but this is what i like. The electric car concept for a sports car isn't doing it for me at the moment. If i lived in somewhere like London, i would firstly use public transport, but would consider an electric car there is i had to.

Good Luck, Mark

 

[Sticks]

1. Every day of the British summer, sorry, both days. About once a week.
2. 30miles
3. Prob about 150 miles.
4. Performance, looks, sound, brand, smell, materials.
5. When they get electric cars right, including making the right noise, the next generation will look at petrol cars like we now do steam engines - charming, quaint, fun, but not every day thanks. I'm glad I'm around now to enjoy it.

Good luck with your degree. You'll need to include a 'field trip' you realise. Maybe someone local can take you for a spin - purely to advance your studies, of course

 

[Matt]

Thanks guys this type of information is really useful, My project in more detail is to analyse the pleasure and emotion towards current sports cars in the hope to replicate these or generate them in new ways for alternate fuelled vehicles.

The next part of my research is to record the inputs the driver makes in the sports car for example accelerating (Applying Controlled pressure on pedal, may grip more firmly on the steering wheel for better control/feel, Up shifting)

And the outputs the car makes as a result for example (Induction, exhaust, engine sounds all increase volume with acceleration rev counter moving in your peripheral vision, increased pressure of the body on the back of the seat, visual feedback of seeing the scene moving past at higher speeds, Increased speeds of moving parts).

So if there is anyone who lives in the Coventry area and wouldn’t mind taking me out with them on there weekend run then please get back to me!

Thanks

Matt