Why are American Cars so BIG?

[DodgeNitroBIRM]

If you have had your Ford Taurus for 5 years... you know that you have spent thousands of dollars in repairs and preventive maintenance. now if you've had a Bmw 528 for the same 5 years... well, you still drive it to work and have virtually no problems with it.

As a Ford Mechanic, all I have to say is that the newest Ford Taurus that I had to do major repair on was one from 1989. The power steering pump went out. I have yet to see even an old 3.0L Taurus to have an engine change due to age, I've had one out of stupidity of the owner not doing his oil changes regularly. Also, you have to do preventive maintenance on the Beemer, too.

[Coventrysucks]

Somebody mentioned a list of Coupes to counter the Smart coupe- Hey genious, ALL OF THOSE CARS ARE SOLD IN EUROPE.

I KNOW THAT!!

LOOK AT THE HEADING OF THE LIST:

"EUROPEAN COUPES"

European Coupes include:

Genius

I don't like American cars
You know why?
Because no American manufacturer makes cars that I like.
I like Sports cars and GT's.
High performance, big bang cars with finely honed handling.
TVR Typhon, Ferrari 360 CS, Aston Martin DB9, Radical SR3, Lotus Exige, Porsche 911, Renault Clio 182 cup, etc.

There are maybe a handful of American cars that fullfill all the categories that I consider good in a car.

I don't like big bland Jelly mould saloons, or vast SUV's.
That doesn't mean I don't accept that there is a completely different culture in America that makes these cars popular.
Everytime I turn on a TV or radio I am exposed to American culture, it is everywhere in the streets, McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks
How much European culture do you see when you flick through your 10,000 channels?
Don't accuse me of stupidity or ignorance because I don't share your opinions.

[baddabang]

I don't like American cars
You know why?
Because no American manufacturer makes cars that I like.
I like Sports cars and GT's.
High performance, big bang cars with finely honed handling.

What about the vette, ford GT, Cobra, and panoz?

[Coventrysucks]

What about the vette, ford GT, Cobra, and panoz?

Corvette: Im not a great fan of its styling, although I recognise that it is a better car than many people make out. The C6 is a further improvement, but it wouldn't be at the top of my list.

Ford GT: I don't like the idea that Ford has just photocopied the GT40 styling at 110%, personally I think they should have done a completely new design that we would look back at in the way we look back at the original GT40.
It sounds like a hoover, but it certainly goes quite well. I think that it is probably my favorite American car available at the moment.

Cobra: Which one? The original AC/ Shelby Cobra, which, whilst looks and sounds good, has slightly dangerous handling.
I don't like the design of the "new" Cobra, but it's performance, if put into production, would be great.

Panoz: Not a great fan of their road cars, their race cars never particularly sparkled.

List of American cars I like:
Corvette C5-R
Viper GTS-R
Mosler MT900
Saleen S7
Ford GT

That's all I can think of now, although there are probably a few more

[sandwich]

coventry, i apologize for making a rude comment, it wasn't my intention to insult you....but I was a few glasses of wine into the evening and I couldn't believe there was another bash session going on....I kind of skipped over a couple comments too, so I apologize.

[Niko_Fx]

We love you sandwich, specially because you drive a civic like me... you gotta love a civic driver

[crisis]

The BIG problem with the big car mentality is that it becomes MUCH harder stopping all the inertia being trasnferred to the passenger. There is no point in the car surviving a 50g shock load as that will destroy your internal organs !!! Smart is better than strong Worth reading www.euro-ncap.com comments on cars and see the reasons why deformation is better !!!

My big Commodore stops vastly quicker than my (WIFES!) old Escort. Its all relative. If you are against big cars because of their weight/safety disadvantage then maybe anything outside 5 - 10 years old should be out too. People here drive sh*t boxes here that are barely holding together , 30 years old or more. My LS1 gets better economy than any pre 90s six I ever had so fuel issues are adressed constantly. It probably requires more developement to make a large engine economical than to simply throw a 1.6 litre in everything. All technology flows down so the fruit juice engines also are more economical. Is that drawing to longer bow?

[Egg Nog]

NEWS FLASH: America is a big country! America is different than Europe, Britain, and Japan. Correct me if I am wrong, but is America the largest country in the world (india, Russia, maybe?)?

Ummm....

1. Russia
2. Canada
3. China
4. United States
5. Brazil
6. Australia
7. India
8. Argentina
9. Kazakhstan
10. Sudan

[Slicks]

It's not, it's a LONG LONG LONG way from being typical.
It's almost haf the size of typical !!

Just returning the favour, but I've never understood why your car manufacturers and governments restricted cars so much. It limited the choice.

The only other country I've seen as similar is France. Until a few years go, if you went to a French company and look in the car park you would see almost 90% French cars. The USA is similar, though the Japanese "local builds" are significant now. In the UK, if you did the same you'd find the most eclectic mix. Everyone picking their own prefernce for cars.

In France it was government who flexed most of the control, limiting what makes of car peopl could buy on tax breaks.

In USA it was a mix of big business and government trying to support those businesses.

In the UK it was spend your money on what you want, your choice.

Sorry, it's so often missed the greater freedom from BIG business control.
And so often missed when it IS control and limiting choice. Just tryign to shine some lights on choice and why any US comment on cars is limited by those that the big 5 allowed in

Just recently my friend went to Europe, i told him to get pictures of any cool cars. When he came back he only had 3 pictures of cars, he said atleast 1 out of every 10 cars over there was a Smart car. He also took pictures of some streets, in every picture there was atleast one smart car. I would call that "typical."

Returning what favor?
Its not about govornment restrictions, its about saftey, and money. The car must pass the crash tests ect ect and the emissions testings, and the company must be willing to either build a factory over here, or import the car. The "big 5" have nothing to do with this controll you seem to assume is going on.

[Slicks]

Why don't you go Slicks and check all the threads that I have made huh??

1021HP Camaro

Mystichrome Mustang Cobra SVT

Sonic Blue Mustang Cobra

Corvette Video

Speed Racer (Mustang Cobra SVT)

Old Cars in Venezuela (Mostly old muscle American cars)

Awesome Mustang Video

Anti-Rice Video

2007 Camaro

Dodge SRT-4

Cobra vs Vette Video

Mustang Mach III

Poll for the Best Mustang

9.9 Sec Venezuelan Mustang



Now Slicks, take a wild guess if I like American cars or not!!! Don't tell me to join a Vtec forum cause I am an OPEN MINDED PERSON towards every car made in this planet.

I never said you dont like american cars, again you assume things, and dont tell me to join a SVT forum becuse you think i only like american cars, my favorite car is european BTW.

[sandwich]

this thread NEEDS to be deleted, things are getting way out of hand.

Egg Nogger et all, I knew from the start that the US wasn't the biggest, but it is undeniably big. I asked people to correct me because I wasn't sure. 4/(how many?) is still pretty high on the scale.

[Matra et Alpine]

Just recently my friend went to Europe, i told him to get pictures of any cool cars. When he came back he only had 3 pictures of cars, he said atleast 1 out of every 10 cars over there was a Smart car. He also took pictures of some streets, in every picture there was atleast one smart car. I would call that "typical."

Sorry SLicks, where in Europe did this guy go ?
SOunds like he was staying in the hotel next to the Smart factory
No, seriously, it's not anything like that.
And to only have 3 pics of cars is weird !!! Sure he just wasn't interested in cars ?

Returning what favor?
Its not about govornment restrictions, its about saftey, and money. The car must pass the crash tests ect ect and the emissions testings, and the company must be willing to either build a factory over here, or import the car. The "big 5" have nothing to do with this controll you seem to assume is going on.

And who do you think lobbied to make companies build factories in the US to sell in the US ?
It would be worth reading on US automotive history. Lea Iaccoca's book was excellent. They once had REAL power in the U S and boy did they play the hadn !!!
It was second only to the French Japanese Video import "restrictions"

[Coventrysucks]

Just recently my friend went to Europe, i told him to get pictures of any cool cars. When he came back he only had 3 pictures of cars, he said atleast 1 out of every 10 cars over there was a Smart car. He also took pictures of some streets, in every picture there was atleast one smart car. I would call that "typical.

That is utter bollocks.

Where in Europe did he go then.
Of course he went to France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Italy, the UK, Denmark, Greece, Liechtenstein, Ireland, Austria and Andorra.
And of course he toured all of these countries in detail, not just visiting a few cities.

I haven't seen a Smart in weeks

In the first two months of 2004, in the whole of Western Europe, with a population of roughly 370 million, a grand total of 16,380 Smarts were sold.
That includes the Smart Fortwo and Smart Roadster/ Coupe

In the first two months of 2000 (the last year I can find the figures for) in the UK alone, population 60 million, Ford sold 13,876 Focus'


Who are you going to believe;
Your friend, who spend a few days in one or two places.
Or the people who actually live here?

Data:
Jato dynamics & 4Car

[Niko_Fx]

this thread NEEDS to be deleted, things are getting way out of hand..

I agree

I got a reply for Slicks, but honestly I don't feel like throwing more wood into the fire. I'm done with this thread.

[crisis]

this thread NEEDS to be deleted, things are getting way out of hand.

Egg Nogger et all, I knew from the start that the US wasn't the biggest, but it is undeniably big. I asked people to correct me because I wasn't sure. 4/(how many?) is still pretty high on the scale.

Why delete it. You arent always going to get everyone to agree. Its about time things started to hot up around here anyway. Its been a bit quiet. Its up to each contributor how they react to comments.