Ban SUV's NOW!

[washertalk]

Runner,

17 mpg is good heh? hmm. interesting. Here is an update for you. That ISN'T good.
However for a box truck or school bus it would be acceptable because it is serving a purpose more than merely commuting.

I wonder, If another box truck pulled in front of you when you were lumbering down the road, and acted the same way as a compact car, would it be as aggregous?

Reality- Box trucks will always be necessary. Who gets excited when a new appliance is being delivered or the UPS guy stops at your house? (that's a loaded question) Lets think the truck here. But they will, by nature, be slow and lumbering.

It is like a beloved elder who uses a walker to get around.
We love you granny or gramps but if the mashed potates are burning on the stove I need to move in front of you to turn them off.

When people start throwing eggs at your truck and giving you the bird just for being on the road or calling your company to complain of your presents on the road, then you will have a problem.

The suv longevity? Hmm, I remember on several occasions taking truckloads of old junked appliances to a shred yard. You came in, drove onto a scale, then proceeded to unload at the base of a huge paper shredder-like machine that was wayyyyy too loud. they had a huge crane attached magnet that would pick up anything from 5 to six washers at a time to an entire vehicle. They simply picked it up and dropped into the mouth and then the engine of the machine lulled for a second as we heard the sound of chopping. Then the machine spits out metal scrap into a rail car.
Wa-laa. I know what your thinking- I want one of those, right?

That machine works REALLY good on suvs. The woman at the cash box told me, they give off a special SQUEAL of satisfaction and certain lights flash in the office in a jubulent way when old suburbans, explorers, jimmys, and the like are fed into it. For this, the cash box pays more for those bringing in those vehicles versus say a Volkswagon Rabbit! yep. They know how to keep 'Jake the Muncher' happy.

I know, I should write childrens books.

 

[washertalk]

old or new it doesn't matter the age 'Jake the Muncher' will shred for fun and as a very good deed.

However, I need a spell check button and a dina, no, no, a thesaurus (hint, hint)
Presents should be presence.

 

[exploder321]

17 mpg's for a Subdivison isn't all that bad, but i can get 21 or 22 out of my explorer....

 

[toggleswitch]

oh no baby you aint ridin' my @$$ unless i give you perm

Jason and everyone:
Breathe in. Breathe out. AHHH isn't that better?

Keep this in mind. Yes they have a big one. That does not mean they know how to use it well.

Personally, I would like to have my brake lights wired to come on with the touch of a momentary-contact switch. That would surely get someone off my @$$.

 

[exploder321]

Theres a way to do that if you drive a Ford..

Don't know how, but my taurus you could tap the top of the break pedal and there was this little black box and it made the brake light come on/off.... My explorer is the same way.. Then i saw a car eqipped with a toggleswitch to do just this at the local ford place

 

[toggleswitch]

Sure blame the toggleswitch... LOL

 

[jasonl]

Good thing about those Toggles, once you turn them on, they're ON lol.

It all boils down to this: Yeah, SUV's drink gazz and Bugs don't, in fact, mine doesn't even use gas. But bad driving needs to stop. Hogging the left lane, tailgating, whipping around, cutting people off, not using turn signals, going too slow, flipping the bird at slow vehicles, etc. is BS and needs to be stopped.

17mpg in a Chevy Subdivision IS good (for the size of the vehicle). GM is trying to make them a little more efficient (again considering the size of those things).

Now, the 24' long Winnebago (which is actually a short one) that me and Helen are inheriting from her dad is a different story. It's big, slow, gaz guzzler, but I will keep to the right and let the a-holes just pass on by to the left.

 

[brit]

long live the diesel engine

much better than a hybrid - i am getting about 50-60mpg out of my 307 diesel in town driving (link for more details)

and considering it only has a 2ltr turbo diesel lump i have been in one (not mine) as a passenger doing over 120mph and it was still pulling

and look at the size of it, its not exactly a small car so i can fit four adults and a bootfull of stuff without overloading it and it has toys, auto wiper, auto headlights, climate control, wing mirrors that fold in automatically when you lock the car/open when you unlock it

when i am paying over 90p a litre - 1.78 us dollars a litre fuel economy becomes very focused in your mind

you guys need to get some French cars with French diesel engines over there - if you thought VW produced a nice diesel, you have not seen anything yet

http://www.carpages.co.uk/peugeot/peugeot-307-review-part-1-30-12-04.asp

 

[toggleswitch]

Does one need a permit to burn diesel there?

I heard that in Greece the diesel fumes have been attributed to the corrosion "melting-away" of the Parthenon, etc.

Any truth to this? Any restrictions on use of Diesel fuel there?

http://md1.csa.com/partners/viewrecord.php?requester=gs&collection=ENV&recid=8707533&q=pollution+destroys+marble&uid=789563053&setcookie=yes

 

[brit]

No, no restrictions on burning diesel fuel, a lot of cars on the road are diesel over here

I have always driven diesels - i love the fact that in my old car I could make it get to 30 without using the accelerator, just the clutch and clever use of the gearbox due to the sheer amount of torque

And that was a 1.9 turbo diesel - this car wont as the gearing is different

I have a particulate filter to filter most of the soot out and it burns the fuel really cleanly

Plus the Diesel engine has the advantage that most of them can run on vegetable oil (same oil that the local fish and chip shop use) with little or no modifications

One thing to remember every year we have to have all our cars tested for brakes/emissions/suspension etc to make sure the car is not putting too many emissions out and to make sure it is safe and not needlessly polluting

I will stand by what I said previously that my car is better for the environment than a prius and has enough grunt under the bonnet to enjoy driving it hard round some tight and twisty country roads, it also handles much better than any SUV I have seen

 

[oxydolfan1]

We can't get Peugeots, Renaults, or Citroens here anymore.

 

[hydralique]

Well Brit, we don't have any French cars here in the US since they all pulled out of the market years ago. Citroen last sold here in '73, Renault in the late '80s, and Peugeot in '91. Italian cars are gone too, except for Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini.

For many years I drove only Citroens or Fiats, and I can tell you that the older models are a lot better designed and built than my modern VW. My parents had Peugeots and those are OK as well, if not so nice to drive as Citroens. I still keep an old Citroen around, but due to its' age I don't subject it to the perils of everyday life in LA. If I could have a newer one, preferably a diesel, you can bet I'd dump the VW asap!

To be honest, European diesel manufacturers are really, really disinterested in the market here. VW discontinued diesels in California after 2003, and Mercedes at about the same time. Daimler-Chrysler has a diesel Jeep Liberty, but again didn't bother with California. They all say they can't meet the emissions standards, but you can go right down to any Ford, Chevy, GMC, or Dodge dealer and buy a full size pickup with a five or six liter turbodiesel . . . don't ask about any compact diesel truck, though, as the whole attitude is diesel = big. At least we finally (this year!) have universal ultra low sulfur diesel fuel mandated throughout the nation, which might help VW turbos last a wee bit longer.

 

[dascot]

My car will get around 35-40mpg on average driving, and that's what we'd call a medium sized car. To some I guess it'd be a small car - a Seat Leon, based on the VW Golf. I don't need anything bigger, and I'm not a small person.

 

[exploder321]

My 2.5 L 4 cyl. 5 speed 1998 Ford Ranger with 116K miles gets 27.5 mpg's..... 31 on the interstate (driving 70 mph, window slightly cracked, cruise set)

 

[jasonl]

VW

Seems like VW is a love it or hate it kind of thing. I love my VW. It's very reliable and good on fuel. Also, it's very tall-person friendly, especially the Bug with it's high roof.

 

[exploder321]

No offense Jason,

The only people around these parts that drive em are either true tree huggin hippies or young girs disobeying every driving law or women in a middle age crisis.. I think thats why i hate them... Matter of fact one almost ran me off the interstate eairler...

We hardly have any diesls up here, unsure why, i think it's a lack of fueling facilitys..

 

[oxydolfan1]

"Tall Person Friendly"

That's what I hate about my Saturn.

It has that "cab-forward" design that looked so good on the Intrepid....but the Saturn ain't no Intrepid...

My skull may have a permanent dent in the side of it from slamming into the side of that car...

 

[jonv112]

I've seen the occasional VW TDI here in Toronto. The Smart car is pretty popular, too.

 

[hydralique]

Well, I see pretty much every type of person in VWs here, from ratty old Jettas to the occasional new Phaeton. Very few diesels, though, as even when they sold them here most dealers didn't bother to stock more than a couple, if that.

I don't hate mine, but I bought it when I started my own business in hopes that it would be a mostly set and forget appliance so I wouldn't have to worry about maintaining an old daily driver (as in my previous 180,000 mile Fiat and 160,000 mile Saab). It was pretty good for three years and 64,000 miles until the first turbo blew up in a major way, and ruined the engine. The dealer replaced them under the Emissions Equip. warranty, but another 6,000 miles and it would have been MY $9,000 bill. As it was I was without a daily driver for 7 weeks, and when I got it back it ran like crap. I finally diagnosed that the new turbo was bad, and to save time at the dealer I just bit the bullet and bought and installed a new one myself. It then ran well for another 13,000 miles when it made a big noise one day, which turned out to be a failed timing belt tensioner . . . installed new with the second engine. I was super lucky in that the belt just got noisy and sloppy; had it jumped time my new engine might have been ruined. So, I bought $300 worth of tools and $200 in new parts and replaced it. Now it is running well again, although the clutch is starting to judder some. I would be a little annoyed if it was the original 78,000 mile clutch, but I paid to have it replaced as preventative maintenance when the second engine was installed so I'm understandably mad at another premature failure. It looks like I'll have to be budgeting time and money for a clutch job, as I drive in a lot of traffic and really hate a jerky clutch.

At this point I think that the parts from the dealer are not the same quality as installed on the car new. Dealers also are pretty cluless about the diesels, and a lot of parts are special order, like the one-use-only stretch bolts used on the engine mounts and injecton pump. The mileage is really good, though, as it is hard to get much below 35 mpg even in the city. The a/c and stereo are nice too, better than in the Saab and much much better than in the Fiat, which is important sitting in traffic . . . and unlike the Fiat there is at least a dealer even if I don't trust him to work on the car.

 

[exploder321]

People seem to have liked those Fiats.. Have never even seen one.... But i do have a whole bunch of paper work from about 16 of them i got when cleaning out my attic.. Either some one traded a bunch or worked at a fiat place in winston salem