Every days a schoo day (Merc/Renault)

Orionaut

Orionaut

Orionaut

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I wonder how many people paying top whack for an A class Merc diesel realise that beneath the bonnet there lurks a Renault engine, Indeed, the same engine that is used in the Dacia Duster!

Now, its not a bad engine as far as I can see, but even so. Its a bit like buying an Alfa Romeo and, on opening the bonnet, discovering a Ford Zetec engine.

If it was me, i think I would be feeling a bit miffed if I, as an owner, found this out after having made the purchase.

So. OCUK.

Is this sort of cross manufacturer collaboration acceptable these days, or is it actually a bit cheeky, deceptive even?
 
Orionaut said:
Its a bit like buying an Alfa Romeo and, on opening the bonnet, discovering a Ford Zetec engine.
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Interesting example to use, because as vanpeebles alluded to:

vanpeebles said:
Happens arl ower for ages now. You could buy an Alfa and find a GM engine in it etc.
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The Alfa 159 from about 15 years ago used a GM diesel , albeit modified somewhat.

And the Lancia Thema 8.32 used a Ferrari engine. How annoyed would you be when you realised that? ;)

In another Renault engine example, the Volvo 340 used one back in 1976.

I would say if it's a good engine and matches the car, who cares? If it isn't, then a sensible buyer wouldn't buy the car regardless of knowing where it originated.
 
Raymond Lin said:
The older Aston Martin has Volvo parts! :p
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That's true - which unfortunately included their terrible satnav, and their rather overly bulky key. And their recent cars have Mercedes engines. Which isn't exactly slumming it, but as an AMG owning Aston Martin fanboy, I'd ascribe a similar distance in desirability between an Aston and a Merc as between a Merc and a Renault!
 
Orionaut said:
If it was me, i think I would be feeling a bit miffed if I, as an owner, found this out after having made the purchase.
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I would argue that if it bothers you that much, you should do your research more thoroughly before making the purchase. It's not exactly a closely-guarded secret, and this sort of platform/parts sharing and collaboration has been going on since cars became mainstream.

I wouldn't have thought most people who buy a diesel A-Class care one bit about whose engine is under the bonnet. They've bought a badge, and an engine that gives them "good MPGz", and they're happy with that.
 
It's basically the same thing men's vs women's razors - selling the same thing to different people for different prices.
They use marketing to target different types of people, based on what sort of image they're seeking, and knowing what sort of money those people have to spend.
With razors it's easy to see they're the same product, so everyone's basically realised it's bs.
I'm not aware of how to figure this out with cars, and that's probably true of most people.
 
Yeah this has happened since forever, go back 10 years and seemingly all 1.6 diesels were the same PSA lump used by countless marques, Ford, Peugeot, Volvo etc etc. Same goes if it was a 1.5 diesel there's a good chance it was the Renault unit.

Engines cost so much to develop nowadays with such stringent emissions regs and the like so it makes sense to 'buy it in' rather than develop your own, as said it's not like its kept secret or anything.
 
Loads of 80s and 90s exotic cars borrowed stuff of other makes. I seam to remember TVR used upsidedown fiesta light clusters on one of their cars.

Edit: And of course they also used Land Rover engines.
 
The latest all singing, all dancing, Mercedes Pickup is basically a Renault with a few Merc parts sitting on a Nissan chassis - early owners even got Nissan branded parts like the keys!

Its been going on for years though but I'm not a huge fan of it personally.

EDIT: I'm not so bothered when it comes to the engines though a good engine is a good engine no matter who makes it.
 
Howard said:
I wouldn't have thought most people who buy a diesel A-Class care one bit about whose engine is under the bonnet. They've bought a badge, and an engine that gives them "good MPGz", and they're happy with that.
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They've bought the badge for typically a premium vehicle. VAG cars are a classic example here, you can look at the range across Skoda, Seat, VW and Audi. If you sit in a similarly type (not price) Skoda/Seat and then go sit in an Audi, you'll notice the difference in quality. Underneath the hood though, a lot of them all share the same parts.
 
Semple said:
They've bought the badge for typically a premium vehicle. VAG cars are a classic example here, you can look at the range across Skoda, Seat, VW and Audi. If you sit in a similarly type (not price) Skoda/Seat and then go sit in an Audi, you'll notice the difference in quality. Underneath the hood though, a lot of them all share the same parts.
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That was my point. An A-Class will feel nicer inside than the average Vauxhall. That's what most people care about.
 
Worst one in my experience was the Nissan and Alfa coming together with the Cherry europe and Arna, where for some unfathomable reason, nissan did the design and Alfa the mechanics and electrics :p
 
The cheaper models of the new Vito have Renault engines, transmission and are FWD. The 114 and up have the Merc engine, transmission and are RWD.

The power difference is pretty big between the Renault and Merc engines though so I'd hate to drive the lesser Renault, the Merc is bad enough to be honest. I can only assume they're much cheaper to buy.
 
Depends on the engine put in I guess, I’ve a mate who’s dad owns a Lancia Thema 8.32 which had a derivative of the Ferrari 308/Mondial V8, the Lancia had a cross-plane rather than flat-plane crankshaft but - after a lot of outlay - this example has effectively got the Ferrari setup and a custom exhaust, sounds wonderful and goes very very well in a straight line, it’s handling is woefully poor though, but for just rumbling around in it sounds epic!

Just looks bonkers to pop the bonnet on an old Italian snot-Box saloon to see red cam covers and the Ferrari sign!
 
Engine sharing is nothing new,Toyota and Psa engines could be found in all sorts of premium cars.

Even the horrible Chrysler’s ended up having merc power trains.
 
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