I meant reliability wise. Yeah, there's no denying that american cars were slow, heavy, gas guzzling machines.
While living in Europe I have seen more crashes in 1 year than I have in all the years I have lived in Canada. These are no small fender benders but fatal accidents and they almost always involve some smaller Euro or jap car(But also keep in mind that most of this happened in Poland). Fuel costs are of concern but I most certainly value my life over the cost of fuel. just my few cents. To improve fuel economy, auto makers primarily reduce the size and power of vehicles. Unfortunately, this downsizing has tragic consequences. As far back as 1989, consumer advocate Ralph Nader admitted that larger cars are safer as there is more bulk to protect the occupant. Numerous studies have proved this point. For example: ■ Researchers at Harvard University and the Brookings Institution found that, on average, for every 100 pounds shaved off new cars to meet CAFE standards, between 440 and 780 additional people were killed in auto accidents or a total of 2,200 to 3,900 lives lost per model year. ■ National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data indicate that 322 additional deaths per year occur as a direct result of reducing just 100 pounds from already downsized small cars, with half of the deaths attributed to small car collisions with light trucks/sport utility vehicles. ■ Using data from the NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Traffic Safety, USA Today calculated that size and weight reductions of passenger ve- hicles undertaken to meet current CAFE standards had resulted in more than 46,000 deaths.
As "ugly" as the mustang now is, it DOES now finally have an IRS, which the euros, with their fancy schmancy handling cars, should appreciate...and the fact that they're gonna throw in a turbo 4 cyl, I think the europops can stop bashing it for being ugly (which it follows the euro ford design trend anyway) and start appreciating it for what it is. An affordable, sporty car that's fun to drive and (now) probably gets great mileage. The euro countries are getting the new 'stang? Im not familiar with how that works. - - - Updated - - - Nah, I like it too...like my rant ^^^ supports. I like that they are getting away from the super-heavy "retro" look. Retro is retro, not current or future. It was cute for 10 years, lets move on The retro look is now outdated lol IMO seriously. Challenger is garbage, Charger isn't even really a charger, (should have just made it a continuation of the Concorde/Intrepid line lol) The current mustang looks pretty dated, The Camaro (I sell chevys mind you) just had such a horrible redesign trying to replicate the 70's type taillights, only to make it resemble an Acura TSX (Accord in Euro)...before the redesign, the Camaro looked pretty good in the retro garb, but now is getting tired looking. However the Camaro WAS the #1 selling sports car in the last few years, its a great car. Heavy, but good lol and the 6 cyl is definitely a refined motor, and gets close to 30mpg HWY. Not bad for a "big, clunky, heavy American RWD car"
It is definitely good they moved to an IRS, it is supposed to be a sports car after all.. The retro design of the new Mustang/Challenger/Camaro is so incredibly ugly imo. At least here in the U.S. I can't go more then a few miles down the highway without seeing a couple . A big part of the whole idea of a 'sports car' is that you won't see another car like yours everyday, they need to be a bit exotic.
Which is why I think the new Stang is definitely a looker, they were bold in making the car look the way they did...It looks modern and slightly futuristic, like a radical concept car that was toned down for the masses. I support Ford in their decision to finally bring this car into the 21st century, as the Outgoing model is basically the same layout and chassis as a mustang 40 years its senior. However, I hope the mustang doesn't steal my Camaro customers!!
I don't hate american cars, but the biggest are pretty useless in here Finland at cities, because they are so big (well now speaking about the pickups) and it is impossible to find a suitable parking spot for them. American musclecars and sportscars are cool, so are old plymouths etc. Personally I like how "chunky" they (older muscles) look and love the V8 sound.
yeah and my dad had several old cars "back in de day meaaaaannn" including a 1970s (don't know year) trans am and camaro. He says our new 1985 300zx with shitty all terrains holds the corners better than his car with fat tires did. Independent suspension is neat. oh and I don't really hate the new mustang. It doesn't look as 'mean' as some of the earlier ones though.
In the community where I live, its all Range Rovers, GL550s and X5's. Those, to me, are the most USELESS mode of transportation. Get a Tahoe or Sequoia, both of which have more utility and offroad capabilities (well, except the Range. Ill give them that ((Top Gear endeavors lol)) for half the price.
I wouldn't buy a gm if a range rover was an option. The gm might be better until every sensor goes bad in 2 years
Perhaps on old GMs, the current body and the new 2015 are lightyears ahead of the 90's, and don't forget the Range is definitely $110K once you tick the supercharged box, and who in their right minds wont buy a supercharged? Only the fronters lol The Tahoe in my dealership showroom that I'm sitting here looking at while I type, is $61K, and that's with 22" Chrome (useless, expensive) wheels/tires, the special Crystal Red Tintcoat paint, and rear seat DVD, leather, Heat/Cool seats, Navigation and Sunroof. Without the wheels/tires, the price goes down around $6K. So mid to high 50's for a real truck with all the creature comforts? Ill take that instead of a Range and then go and splurge at the Lotus dealership and pick up an Elise and stick it in the back of the Tahoe lol. Plus our leases are waaay more reasonable than Range, and the warranty is better. Talk about reliability issues? Have you looked at any Range dealer? You would think the service parking lot was the new car lot lol (we have a range dealer in our group, and quite a few people are getting out of Ranges and going for a Tahoe, or even a Traverse!!!) /friendly rant
In Germany you see lots of Volkswagen, Mercedes, Citroen, Peugeot (dat name though...), an increasing number of SUV's but mostly hatchbacks and coupés...and I really have never ever seen a pick-up in reallife...here you mostly Vans like the Sprinter... And for the parking-lot problem -> Bash me for that and laugh at me, but I'm driving a Smart and I don't have a problem with finding parking lots and the car is just enough. Absolutly no fuel gazzling, enough power to get my ass up to 140kph and enough space for me and my beloved girlfriend to get me everywhere - - - Updated - - - In Germany you see lots of Volkswagen, Mercedes, Citroen, Peugeot (dat name though...), an increasing number of SUV's but mostly hatchbacks and coupés...and I really have never ever seen a pick-up in reallife...here you mostly Vans like the Sprinter... And for the parking-lot problem -> Bash me for that and laugh at me, but I'm driving a Smart and I don't have a problem with finding parking lots and the car is just enough. Absolutly no fuel guzzling, enough power to get my ass up to 140kph and enough space for me and my beloved girlfriend to get me everywhere
That's pretty awesome in my book, really no need for big or fast cars if your just driving around town, plus your one less person who's polluting the shit out of the planet.
I am german and a lot of my folks think VW is premium .______. Due that they think american cars have less/bad quality and a bad suspension. One point is just important: We have high gas prices. USA not at all. 1l - 1,60€ till 1,80€ depends on months You got like 1l - 0,70$ ? We just get pushed due politic to buy cars with less power and better economy. and most europeans are just stupid in their mind, easy reason to name. My dream is a pony car - Ford Mustang or a Ford F150 SVT Raptor
86mph, not bad for a golf cart with body panels Jokes aside, gets you going quickly enough, doesnt cost much to run, has the room you need. Job done. To be fair, you can park big cars with a bit of skill, but there is no denying that its far more straight forward to throw a smaller car into the same sized box the big car has to fit in I have a 3 door 2004 vauxhall corsa with the 1 litre engine. Only thing it outdrags would be a lorry, I even got outdragged by a god damn prius once :/ But let it get going and its perfectly fine for british dual carriageways, national speed limit is 70, does that no sweat, just takes a good 20-30 seconds to get there. Most I ever had out of it was 105mph on a single carriageway, I have managed to hit that speed 3 times on the same road, never beaten it, I think that is probably the absolute limit for that engine on standard fuel (perhaps I should try premium unleaded to see if it makes the difference )
Google just did the math, but 1 liter would be somewhere around 95 cents, or 3.60 a gallon (which is pretty average near the highway).
1 litre when I topped up on tuesday cost me £1.36, which is $2.22. So over double what you guys pay. Actually, heres a question, what octane value would that be? Our standard unleaded is 95RON whatever the heck that means whereas we can pay more for premium unleaded at 97-99RON depending on the garage chain, BP did trial 102 once though...
Yeah...regular petrol is about 1.60€/l and diesel is about 1.40€/l in Germany... Even if you'd like american cars, you'ld need to be the owner of a fuelstation and get it for free, or be rich. But VW as premium branch? Never heard that... Though the VW Passat and the the Scirocco are quite nice. But Audi, Mercedes and BMW are kinda Premium I guess...comfy and stuff, with enough sport to drive on the left side (for left hand drivers right side ofc) the whole time on Autobahnen (Highways I guess in US?).. And there are economy cars with quite decent power...but what do you have when you are able to drive 250kph but can only drive 100kph, 'cause you mostly drive out of town / in town, but rarely at Autobahnen (again...Highways? )? And I don't see whats wrong with sparing the environment from all that CO²... Yeah, I'd love to have a 67'Chevy Impala, but mostly for the looks. It'd be my 1-week-a-year type of car, purely and solely for fun.
