Quote: Original post by HelplessFool

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi
...The only constraint recognized by advertisers and marketers in America is liability, thus the profusion of small print at the bottom of commercials. "Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt."...

The most hilarious thing about the professional driver one, is that many manufacturers put a clause in your warranty that says any kind of competitive driving/motor sports will void your power train warranty. There have been quite a few autocrossers who have found Mitsubishi & Subaru to pull that one on them.

That's not surprising.

The stresses placed on an engine in racing scenarios are well outside the bounds of normal vehicle usage, so it is not unexpected that a manufacturer who provides a warranty for a vehicle in normal usage might balk at one that has been subjected to racing. There is a reason that manufacturers often have racing divisions that will sell "bare" chassis and bodies to individuals.

Yes, it is mildly incongruous that vehicle advertisements frequently feature aggressive driving - sometimes on racetracks! - of the sort that you are then prohibited from engaging in with your purchase, but considering the alternative should clarify: Subaru and Mitsubishi are not going to provide repair under warranty for every blown transmission, burnt clutch and broken transaxle from a driver with too little track time indulging his inner Earnhardt. It would be prohibitively expensive.

(Personally, I am most interested in the "racing insurance" that some vendors now provide, comprising mostly of liability to cover another vehicle in the event of a collision and with no premium penalties for on-track accidents. That sounds like a welcome development!)

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi

Quote: Original post by HelplessFool

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi
...The only constraint recognized by advertisers and marketers in America is liability, thus the profusion of small print at the bottom of commercials. "Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt."...

The most hilarious thing about the professional driver one, is that many manufacturers put a clause in your warranty that says any kind of competitive driving/motor sports will void your power train warranty. There have been quite a few autocrossers who have found Mitsubishi & Subaru to pull that one on them.

That's not surprising.

The stresses placed on an engine in racing scenarios are well outside the bounds of normal vehicle usage, so it is not unexpected that a manufacturer who provides a warranty for a vehicle in normal usage might balk at one that has been subjected to racing. There is a reason that manufacturers often have racing divisions that will sell "bare" chassis and bodies to individuals.

Yes, it is mildly incongruous that vehicle advertisements frequently feature aggressive driving - sometimes on racetracks! - of the sort that you are then prohibited from engaging in with your purchase, but considering the alternative should clarify: Subaru and Mitsubishi are not going to provide repair under warranty for every blown transmission, burnt clutch and broken transaxle from a driver with too little track time indulging his inner Earnhardt. It would be prohibitively expensive.

(Personally, I am most interested in the "racing insurance" that some vendors now provide, comprising mostly of liability to cover another vehicle in the event of a collision and with no premium penalties for on-track accidents. That sounds like a welcome development!)

I don't want to throw this topic too way off. I understand why they throw in such clauses (even though some Subaru dealers were passing out SCCA/Autocross info to new buyers). Its just that... in autocross, the transmission & engine don't really come under much unreasonable/unordinary stress. Compared to how people drive on Florida's highways, one might say its less stressful. The average RPM my brother's scion tC maintains while going 80 on a highway is comparable to the average RPM his car sees during an autocross, but the auto-x is always less than 2 minutes a run followed by 5-15 minutes of cooldown.

His suspension on the otherhand...

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi

Quote: Original post by ManaStone
Btw, when I first saw Mays doing a commercial, I assumed he was a retired baseball player endorsing useless products. Did anyone else get this impression? He would say, "I'm Billy Mays and I wouldn't put my name on it if I didn't believe in it." That seems a bit odd to say if he is just a pitch man.

You've never seen the commercial in which someone says, "If they're saying it on tv, then it has to be true"? Or the one where they said, "If it wasn't real, we wouldn't be able to offer a full money back guarantee"?

It’s not that I’m surprised by somebody is pedaling bullshit on a commercial. I just thought it was odd that a pitchman would explicitly bring up his own name to lend credibility to a product. That sounds like something that somebody with a huge fan following would do.

Quote: Original post by HelplessFool
I don't want to throw this topic too way off. I understand why they throw in such clauses (even though some Subaru dealers were passing out SCCA/Autocross info to new buyers). Its just that... in autocross, the transmission & engine don't really come under much unreasonable/unordinary stress. Compared to how people drive on Florida's highways, one might say its less stressful. The average RPM my brother's scion tC maintains while going 80 on a highway is comparable to the average RPM his car sees during an autocross, but the auto-x is always less than 2 minutes a run followed by 5-15 minutes of cooldown.

Average RPM is a poor way to evaluate engine stress, though. In autocross - and forgive me if I'm wrong, as I'm speaking solely from observation - I would expect the stresses to result from rapid changes in RPM and loading (switching gears to provide adequate torque for varying track surface conditions). In contrast, normal driving tends to include gradual ramping up of RPM to a sustained output at cruise speeds. Even in stop-and-go traffic or normal suburban driving (with a plethora of traffic lights and stop signs), RPM and loading almost certainly don't vary as wildly as in pretty much any form of racing.

I mean, there's a reason factory racing programs are used as laboratories to test and refine technology that then trickles down to street legal vehicles.

Quote: Original post by ManaStone
It's not that I'm surprised by somebody is pedaling bullshit on a commercial. I just thought it was odd that a pitchman would explicitly bring up his own name to lend credibility to a product. That sounds like something that somebody with a huge fan following would do.

And I'm saying it's relying on precisely that reaction - "He's putting his name to it? He must be someone with a reputation to stake, which means it must be a quality product!" It doesn't hurt that he looks reputable, in contrast to the Sham Wow Guy, Offer "Vince" Shlomi.

Then again, you could argue that Billy Mays has built up a fan following over the years, especially since a number of the products he's associated with have delivered on the promises - OxiClean, by several accounts, and the Awesome Auger. He's become recognizable enough to parody himself in a

">brilliant spot for ESPN's 360 service.

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi
American advertising has no requirement to be truthful, but a substantial portion of the American public expects it to be so. (This, incidentally, is also how they continue to fall for "Nigerian scams" and so forth. Given the recent history of "your word and a handshake" being enough to seal significant financial deals, a shocking number of Americans are still extremely naïve when it comes to being propositioned.)

Wife to her mother: "Why did you rent that crappy movie?"
Mother: "Because the box said it was good."

Quote: Original post by Oluseyi
...The only constraint recognized by advertisers and marketers in America is liability, thus the profusion of small print at the bottom of commercials. "Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt."...

These are funniest on the commercials where the vehicle is obviously put there by the power of 3D rendering software, so there's really no actual driver