Worlds worst naming conventions (Cars)
Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 9:23 pm
Looking up on a couple of cars, I can't help but to think some of the German Companies notably BMW and Mercedes have the worlds worst naming system.
BMW used a 3 digit naming system to name their cars with the first number denoting the platform it was on. So a 1 series is it's own line of cars and so is the 3 series and a 5 series. They USED to name the last two numbers after the size of the engine in liters. So a 318 was a 3 series car with a 1.8 liter engine. A 328 was a 3 series car with a 2.8 liter engine. The E90 used a 3.0 liter engine but was close enough.
So you get the picture, but recently BMW has decided to throw this all to hell.
The new 328 has a 2.0 liter engine, and the 750 has a 4.4 liter engine.
I hear this is even worse in the UK where multiple engine choices are the norm over there.
This isn't just BMW as well, Porsche seemingly has done this for over 50 years with the 911 calling different model series a 9 followed by seemingly random 2 digit numbers ahead of them.
911/964/993/996/997/991 are all the same series of cars just different models over the years. Confusingly the last one goes down rather than up adding to the confusion. There's no rhyme or reason why they are given those numbers other than it's the "internal name" of the car. Of course there's also the sub naming system of Prosche which they'll call and S, GTS, Targa, Turbo, GT3 which has no turbo, but the GT2 has a turbo. Why? I have no idea.
Mercedes has kinda screwed over their naming system as well where the 3 digits usually mean how big the engine is, and it sometimes means that and it sometimes doesn't. An SLK350 today has a 3.5 liter engine but the SL500 has a 4.6L liter engine. The MLK350 has a 3.5 liter engine.
Ferrari usually stay consistent but even they mess around with their naming system. Usually the first two digits is the size of the engine, but the last is sometimes and sometimes not the amount of cylinders.
A 308 is a 3 liter engine with 8 cylinders, a 348 is a 3.4 liter engine with 8 cylinders, and a 458 is a 4.5 liter engine with 8 cylinders. But nooo they had to make the Ferrari 360 which is a 3.6 liter V8 and left a 0 there.
This is honestly worse than graphics cards because at the very least graphics cards naming system stay consistent over the years, car naming systems for European cars seemingly DO NOT except Audi.
At very least the Japanese have stayed consistent with their various combinations of letters and numbers, and the other manufactures namely Americans and Asians don't have this problem opting to name their cars after actual names rather than letters and numbers.
I'm kinda baffled as to why marketers think naming their products not just cars, but everything under a series of letters and numbers, especially when they lack any form of consistency as to be appealing to the customers.
"Hey what laptop did you buy?"
"Oh it's the ASUS G75VW-DS72"
"Sexy..."
Anyways that's my rant, has anyone encountered naming conventions that make no sense at all in their lives?
BMW used a 3 digit naming system to name their cars with the first number denoting the platform it was on. So a 1 series is it's own line of cars and so is the 3 series and a 5 series. They USED to name the last two numbers after the size of the engine in liters. So a 318 was a 3 series car with a 1.8 liter engine. A 328 was a 3 series car with a 2.8 liter engine. The E90 used a 3.0 liter engine but was close enough.
So you get the picture, but recently BMW has decided to throw this all to hell.
The new 328 has a 2.0 liter engine, and the 750 has a 4.4 liter engine.
I hear this is even worse in the UK where multiple engine choices are the norm over there.
This isn't just BMW as well, Porsche seemingly has done this for over 50 years with the 911 calling different model series a 9 followed by seemingly random 2 digit numbers ahead of them.
911/964/993/996/997/991 are all the same series of cars just different models over the years. Confusingly the last one goes down rather than up adding to the confusion. There's no rhyme or reason why they are given those numbers other than it's the "internal name" of the car. Of course there's also the sub naming system of Prosche which they'll call and S, GTS, Targa, Turbo, GT3 which has no turbo, but the GT2 has a turbo. Why? I have no idea.
Mercedes has kinda screwed over their naming system as well where the 3 digits usually mean how big the engine is, and it sometimes means that and it sometimes doesn't. An SLK350 today has a 3.5 liter engine but the SL500 has a 4.6L liter engine. The MLK350 has a 3.5 liter engine.
Ferrari usually stay consistent but even they mess around with their naming system. Usually the first two digits is the size of the engine, but the last is sometimes and sometimes not the amount of cylinders.
A 308 is a 3 liter engine with 8 cylinders, a 348 is a 3.4 liter engine with 8 cylinders, and a 458 is a 4.5 liter engine with 8 cylinders. But nooo they had to make the Ferrari 360 which is a 3.6 liter V8 and left a 0 there.
This is honestly worse than graphics cards because at the very least graphics cards naming system stay consistent over the years, car naming systems for European cars seemingly DO NOT except Audi.
At very least the Japanese have stayed consistent with their various combinations of letters and numbers, and the other manufactures namely Americans and Asians don't have this problem opting to name their cars after actual names rather than letters and numbers.
I'm kinda baffled as to why marketers think naming their products not just cars, but everything under a series of letters and numbers, especially when they lack any form of consistency as to be appealing to the customers.
"Hey what laptop did you buy?"
"Oh it's the ASUS G75VW-DS72"
"Sexy..."
Anyways that's my rant, has anyone encountered naming conventions that make no sense at all in their lives?
