Worlds worst naming conventions (Cars)

[bubblewhip]

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?

[Greg]

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.

No. No they don't, and haven't.

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.

No, even the Japanese have problems. Acura, well their letters mean different things at different times. Infiniti and Lexus have been somewhat better. But the real problem is, if you have an overly clever naming convention (which really means "if you have a naming convention") you WILL outgrow it. It's just a matter of time, and the number of product models you offer.

[bubblewhip]

No. No they don't, and haven't.

Between Nvidia and ATI, I haven't found total inconsistencies with their naming so far. Especially since they gotten rid of the the GT GTX and GTS sperate cards after they moved to 3 digits after the 9000s.

At the moment it's pretty simple that the first number denotes the generation of the card and the rest of the numbers just means higher=better.

650 is part of the 600 series, and 650s are better than 640s which are better than 630s and 620s. They also got rid of the GTS and GTX in a way that anything above 660 is always a GTX and anything under is always a GT. Ms at the end like 650m's are always mobile graphics cards, for both ATI and Nvidia.

(Yes I know it's AMD but whatever, call me an old fart)

[Greg]

No. No they don't, and haven't.

Between Nvidia and ATI, I haven't found total inconsistencies with their naming so far. Especially since they gotten rid of the the GT GTX and GTS sperate cards after they moved to 3 digits after the 9000s.

At the moment it's pretty simple that the first number denotes the generation of the card and the rest of the numbers just means higher=better.

650 is part of the 600 series, and 650s are better than 640s which are better than 630s and 620s. They also got rid of the GTS and GTX in a way that anything above 660 is always a GTX and anything under is always a GT. Ms at the end like 650m's are always mobile graphics cards, for both ATI and Nvidia.

(Yes I know it's AMD but whatever, call me an old fart)

Go back just a couple of years.

[bubblewhip]

Go back just a couple of years.

Yeah, I'll agree with you that the 8800s and the 9800s were quite a mess.

Here's an 8800 GT , it's better than the 880 GTS, but the GTX is better than the 8800. Is a 8600 GT better than the 8800 GTS? Hell i don't know?

[Greg]

Go back just a couple of years.

Yeah, I'll agree with you that the 8800s and the 9800s were quite a mess.

Here's an 8800 GT , it's better than the 880 GTS, but the GTX is better than the 8800. Is a 8600 GT better than the 8800 GTS? Hell i don't know?

And then go back a little further....

Any kind of rule-based naming convention will break down as it gets overwhelmed. At first there are one-off exceptions to try to shoehorn in oddities, but then it all comes apart. And then the convention gets redone, everything is renormalized for a little while... until the new redone convention gets overwhelmed. And one-off exceptions gets shoehorned in... Lather, repeat. ATI's been doing this for 15 years at least.

[Rod]

Want a real oddity? Look at firearms, especially Smith & Wesson.

[Netpackrat]

This was bound to happen after BMW bought what was left of the British auto industry, and started slapping British names on German cars. Now the chronic British disease of automotive naming illogic has crossed the pond and infected the krauts, as well.

[evan price]

Cadillac Eldorado Touring Coupe.

Who wants a Cadillac Etcetera?