Quote: Mark is a "perfect storm" of ingenuity and opportunity that I don't think exists at Mopar or Ford anymore. We would have to have had someone transplanting Viper tech into E-Bodies for the last 15 years to catch up to Stielow.
In the mid 90s when I was coming out of college it was all messed up. A GM recruiter in '92 promised to get me in to the intern program as soon as I made 60 hours. I was an ASE Certified Master Tech working my way through a Mechanical Engineering undergrad working full time, going to school full time and had a 4.0 GPA. The following year I followed up and he had been let go and they had a freeze on the program. I interviewed with Ford a few years later, but was not impressed at all by the company culture of the group I was talking to. At one point was talking to a Ford development guy who was willing to try to get me into the cylinder head development program. I was more interested in transmissions and integration than CFD. Chrysler was not hiring at all. So... I ended up in a different industry, one that actually pays well.
8-9 years ago I worked at a place where we were developing active suspension systems. We were also doing hybrid drivetrain development work. What DSE is doing is adapting production tech into older cars, it is not ahead of the curve. Stielow is doing good work. I like that he has at least added ABS and traction control. It would be even more impressive if he went all out with a stability control system (he is probably trying to do it now). I did some traction control, ABS, and tire modeling simulations in graduate school. We did a lot of interesting projects and testing in a vehicle dynamics course I took. Really interesting stuff. We make ABS controller chips for some of the big auto OEMs were I work now. I think I would have enjoyed very much doing the kind of work Stielow gets to do.
I have often felt that the aftermarket on our older cars across the board has been limited. I think that a smart enough system could be made that, with the right set-up could be on par with current traction control, ABS, and stability control. Put that in a light car with good tires and it will be pretty impressive. First issue is money. Second is time. It can all be done. Just wondering, how does someone like DSE fly low enough under the radar that they do not have to deal with the DOT and NTSB? Do these products fall under "off road use only" or some other gray area that makes it tacitly OK?
B/E-bodies? Go with the A-body and at least you can start with a weight advantage. I always wondered why so many people like those huge cars (just kidding guys).
I also wonder why DSE went with a 4 link? Is that a packaging compromise? Could a 3 link or truck arm put down better times? I see quite a few places where the design they are doing is made to work within the confines of a bolt in requirement. In the case of the rear it fits in with some welding and minor modification to the rear seats. I do not see any huge advantage other than they are leveraging production Corvette knuckles and have a few good dedicated engineers working on their systems. They also have a lot of inside connections, definitely does not hurt. Unfortunately the Mopar aftermarket probably can not support the weight of the overhead needed to compete directly. You guys are cheap and there are not enough of you.
Whatever happened to XV? They had a flurry of activity... I have not heard anything of them in a few years now. Were they not trying to do the same thing as DSE?
Last edited by 68cuda440; 01/28/1403:04 AM.
Michael
1968 Barracuda Notchback Coupe
440 EFI 6-pack, T56 Magnum 6-spd
