Silly Names with nothing to do with the design.

[wawa1992]

We can't forget Aztek... was a hideously deformed Pontiac SUV/minivan supposed to remind us of the Mexican culture that existed 600 years ago?

Mazda Tribute - Tribute to what? Ford?

Aveo - WTH name on a WTH car

Accord - Okay it's my car's name, and I love my car. But what does the name mean exactly?

Ridgeline - This one's just... out there.

Pilot - It thinks it can fly!!!!

These are but six of the goofy names. I bet half of all cars' names mean nothing nowadays.

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by Chango

The Chrysler Pentastar... The devil's first choice in engines.

What is so cryptic about a five pointed star? Pentastar not pentagram.

Originally Posted by hoffdano

Hemi by the way is relatively meaningless today. It really doesn't offer a combustion advantage, and even more offensive, current "Hemi" engines don't have a truly hemispherical head. Chrysler's "Hemi" engines are no more special than comparable pushrod engines from GM. Chrysler brought back the name to distinguish their high performance V8s from everyone else's. If a hemi head was valuable, everyone would use it because it is not a patented feature.

Which is ironic because when the gas embargo killed off the old Challanger and it was replaced with a rebadged Mitsubishi Sapporo, Chrysler still sometimes marketed its 4cyl as a Hemi because Mitsubishi's engines used hemispherical heads.

Originally Posted by wawa1992

Accord - Okay it's my car's name, and I love my car. But what does the name mean exactly?

I always thought of Accord as "a chord" as it pertains to music. Like Honda wanted to create a smooth harmonious word that was pleasant to say. Then it occurred to me that maybe Hyundai, who was trying to bite off this went with Sonata as in sonnet - a nice poem, sonorous. etc. Nissan Altima? Kia Optima.

[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

ColdJensens - I think you expect too much. What would you suggest Mazda call their new super-high compression engine that uses direct injection, regular octane fuel, combined with lighter weight and efficient transmissions?

Hemi by the way is relatively meaningless today. It really doesn't offer a combustion advantage, and even more offensive, current "Hemi" engines don't have a truly hemispherical head. Chrysler's "Hemi" engines are no more special than comparable pushrod engines from GM. Chrysler brought back the name to distinguish their high performance V8s from everyone else's. If a hemi head was valuable, everyone would use it because it is not a patented feature.

An engine. It is not much different that anything else on the market. They might call it "Mazda's new high compression engine." . Besides, Skyactiv is not the name for hte engine, it is the name for a fictional "new technology" that applies to anything they come out with, including the engine.

I did not know they no longer made real Hemi engines. Found this:

The current-production "Hemi" V8, with its pinched chamber, does not have true hemispherical combustion chambers despite the name; rather, it bears a closer resemblance to the mid-1950s polyspherical chamber, which Chrysler engineers developed as a lower-cost alternative head for their V8 engines.

I guess calling it a "Pollie" just wasn't catchy.

That is as bad or worse than a made up lable that menas nothing, it is just misleading.