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The trick is to find a truck going the speed you want to travel but on the interstate finding a semi going 70 isn't that hard. If you anticipate needing to change lanes and let him in a few times, it seems to help the relationship.
Got hit today, actually an SUV hit a Prius, and pushed it into the back of my Miata.
Surprisingly, the Prius suffered the least damage. Tough bumpers on that thing. The front had no visible damage yet it managed to crack my Miata's bumper completely in half! It even fared better than the SUV's bumper on the other side.
-juice
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
This also works if there's a crosswind. Let the metal behemoth block the gusts for you(though it kind of needs to be 3 lanes or wider).
Just a few tricks I learned running up and down route 5.
In an automatic, lugging the engine isn't a bad thing - GM makes their living doing it
My old Mercedes gained 15HP and about 2 mpg the second I cut the belt to the A/C(which needed recharging anyways).
If an automatic transmission gets to the point that it's starting to strain from lugging, isn't it usually "smart" enough to downshift? Presuming that it's geared reasonably?
Back in 1981, when Chrysler bumped the axle ratio on their V-8 cars from a 2.41:1 to a 2.26:1, it was too much of a strain on the existing Torqueflite, which had a 2.45:1 first gear and 1.45:1 second gear. So to compensate, they changed it to something like a 2.74:1 first and 1.58:1 second.
My old Mercedes gained 15HP and about 2 mpg the second I cut the belt to the A/C(which needed recharging anyways). Hmmm, maybe I should try that trick on my '85 Silverado, and see if it does any good.
Absolutely. After WWII, Europe was in ruins, by and large. Nobody had any money to buy new cars and the distances that people travelled on a daily basis was relatively small.
Compare that to the US, where all that manufacturing capacity that was used to build B-29's and tanks and such were quickly converted over to automobile production.
Couple that with the post-war growth of suburbs around every major metropolis and it's easy to see why Americans liked their cars "lower, longer and wider" than those in Europe.
As an example, Google Maps shows the driving distance between London and Rome to be 1126 miles. Denver to LA is 1016, and that's only one third the width of our country.
I suspect that most folks travelling between these two pairs of cities would fly; but, if they aren't flying, then the alternative in the US would be to drive, while in Europe it would be to take the train.
Interstate 90 is the longest interstate in the US (Boston to Seattle) and its 3,099 miles long. I-95 (Boston to Miami) is 1,927 miles.
Europe is 8.38% larger than the U.S. but has 137% more people.
Yep we gots some elbow room.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I've made the trip from the DC area to Houston, about 1400-1500 miles, in a day. Well, okay, it was a 22-24 hour "day", and I was dog-tired when I reached my destination! I wonder how long it would take to cover 1500 miles of Europe by car? I'd imagine that would probably take you through 5 or 6 countries and over a wide variety of roads ranging from Autobahn-esque superhighways to cowpaths. Plus, how much of a hassle is it to drive from one country into another in Europe? It isn't like trying to get into Mexico, is it?
Didn't I read somewhere that we have more paved roads in the US than all or Europe combined?
I seriously doubt that. They have a very heavy population density and we have wide tracts of land with few if any paved roads.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2.45 + 1.45 + 2.41 axle
1st 5.9045
2nd 3.4945
3rd 2.41
2.45 + 1.45 + 2.26 axle
1st 5.537
2nd 3.277
3rd 2.26
2.74 + 1.58 + 2.26 axle
1st 6.1924
2nd 3.57
3rd 2.26
Those are some stunningly languid gears. You'd need a giant V8 to get anywhere with those. My 2000 Accent (1.5L) has around a 12.5:1 reduction in 1st, the 1.6L Accent was around 13:1, and the new Accent is about a 14.7:1 in 1st (all manuals). My S2000 with an aftermarket 4.77 rear is a 14.88:1 in 1st.
Man, that eastbound drive once you climb out of Palm Springs is mind-numbing. If only there were no such thing as a highway trooper, I would set the cruise on 120 and cover the distance to El Paso (a sometime destination for me) in half the time. But the only place you can ACTUALLY do that is New Mexico.
Did it a couple of times in the RSX, a subcompact. :-P
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I think Europe (or at least western europe) has a higher percentage of paved roads than the U.S. You get outside of the major metroplatain areas in the U.S. and you start running into a lot of unpaved roads. Get into rural America off the main roads and you will see a lot of unpaved roads.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
1) Childress, TX (SE of Amarillo) to Phoenix .. 900 miles, IIRC. In an '85 Honda Accord, which I suppose would be considered a subcompact by today's standards. At least I had someone to share the driving chores with.
2) LA suburbs to Arcata, CA ... 650 miles. By myself. In an '88 Isuzu Trooper. Long, long, long day. Didn't help that I got lost in SF and drove around in circles for an hour before finding the Golden Gate bridge. Decided to come home via I-5.
On unpaved roads: I've got one about 2 minutes from my house. It's a county road that runs for 2 or 3 miles before it becomes paved again. Lots of unpaved roads near me, and I'm only 30 miles south of Denver.
On unpaved roads: I've got one about 2 minutes from my house. It's a county road that runs for 2 or 3 miles before it becomes paved again. Lots of unpaved roads near me, and I'm only 30 miles south of Denver.
Yeah I am about 30 miles as the crow flies from the loop (Downtown Chicago) and I can be on unpaved roads in 15-20 minutes. What really weird is that some of the better off farmers actually pave the road in front of their house to keep dust down. So you go a mile or so down gravel roads then hit a 150 foot stretch of pavement then back onto gravel for a mile or so and then pavement to about 150 feet.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yeah, unfortunately that was a sign of the 70's.
On the plus side though, some of those loafy 70's cars could hold first up to close to 50, and then practically skip 2nd and go right into 3rd! I guess the old saying that the bigger your engine, the fewer gears you really need does hold true.
Once the automatic overdrive transmissions came out, they could shorten the axle ratio to give better acceleration, while still getting good highway economy. Ford was the first to take advantage of that. In 1980, the 4-speed automatics usually had a 3.00:1 axle, while the 3-speeds had a tamer 2.50:1. Some of 'em had 3.27:1 and 3.55:1 ratios, although they also offered a 2.73:1. GM didn't seem to take advantage of the overdrive in the same way though. Instead of putting in a quicker axle, they'd just go for even lower highway revs. Probably looked good on the EPA tests, but in real life you'd just end up having to downshift more for power, so fuel economy was probably a wash in many cases.
Right off the top of my head, I can only think of a few unpaved roads left around here, unless you go out on a farm or find some service road that runs along a power company right of way, or a private driveway or something. Just about any state, county, or city street is going to be paved. There is one street that runs on an old railroad right-of-way that goes back to some houses, and the last time I was out that way it was still unpaved. One of the farms gave way to a McMansion orchard though, so I'm sure it's been paved by now.
One of my friends moved to a trailer park in Delaware a couple years ago, and it was unpaved...a combination what appeared to be ~#57 gravel and potholes.
And for you guys asking about what is faster to get around Europe Top Gear has proven time and time again it is always faster to drive...
SLR VS boat part one
Look to the right for parts 2-5.
Ferrari 612 VS Jet Part 1
Now what about Ireland, Portugal, the Nederlands, Luxeumburg, Belgium, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Russia, Turkey (part of Turkey is in Europe) Several former soviet Republics, the countries that made up Yugoslavia, Hungary and maybe a couple others I may have missed?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Considering I didn't see Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, and finally two really big countries, Belarus and Ukraine, then when we add those to the ones already mentioned, it is quite possible.
Not that it really makes that much of a difference.
Oops my mistake, sorry.
I was thinking Ireland was part of the UK.
Oh don't tell the Irish that.
And I didn't know Russia was part of Europe
Most of Russia is in Asia but there is a sizable portion (with most of the population) in Europe.
Still, we have a lot of paved roads compared to any other nation.
Since we are the fourth largest nation with the fourth largest population and highly industrialized I am not surprised.
Do you think I missed another 1,000,000 miles of paved roads?
It would have been 395,000 miles and I do think that the other half of Europe would have that many miles of paved roads.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
But my main goal was to try and guess as to why we as a nation developed the car culture to the point where at one point SUVs and light trucks were "listed" as 50 percent of vehicle sales in the us?
and you are right about some of our unpaved sections. we also have an additional 2,000,000 KM of unpaved highways.
Route 66 and simmilar "western" expansions/movements of the population during the 30s-50s. If you wanted to get to California or out west to escape the midwest dust bowl and depression - all you needed was your trusty hunk of Detroit steel and enough gas. See, we built these beautiful roads all over the west, and they were just sitting there...
The idea that cars were equivalent to social and physical freedom - it stuck. Of course, movies and songs and so on - all helped make it a permanent part of our culture. Even today, most Americans feel like they're missing something if they don't have a vehicle.
Cheap gas, huge highways, huge parking stalls... It's no wonder that SUVs took off. In Hong Kong my parents probably paid more for their parking stall for their condo (mid-sized sedan!) than what some homes cost in parts of the US. (over 100k USD)
Let me give you some observed examples. I have noticed in European countries the proper distance between two people talking seems to be one arms length. If you are standing close enough to a person to touch them with your outstretched arm that seems to be comfortable to most people on a social basis. In Asia it seems to be half that distance. Except Japan where I found the proper distance confusing. Africa seemed to be about the same as Europe as far as conversation distance was concerned. In the US two arms distance is more acceptable. If I can reach out and touch another persons fully extended hand that seems about right for most social contact.
Commercial contact is different as well. In Europe or at least England I noticed the seats on public transportation were a bit closer together. The distance between two people was about the width of your hand. A booth for four people would only sit four people even if your squeezed together. In Asia a booth for four people did not allow even a hands distance between the people. The Reason Japan confuses me is they allow more room to talk and eat but on the sub way they cram you in like a Sardine. (Talk about pressing flesh!) And they had cars that if there were two people sitting in them their shoulders would touch unless they were both women.
In the US we sit about two hands apart on a bus, enough room so both people have an arm rest if they have arm rests. Even on a elevator we consider it too full if people are required to stand shoulder to shoulder.
So besides out available room could it be our culture that makes us feel cramped if we aren't sitting an arms length apart? Isn't that what the Adds about Auto-claustrophobia are all about?
Well as I said before Europe is more tightly packed than the U.S. is they have way more than twice the number of people and only about 10% more land. So its a pretty short hop from one major are to the next.
Now if I were to go west from my house it would be about a thousand miles before I hit any metro area of any considerable size (Denver). Drive through Nebraska sometime :sick:
Also consider that for every mile of autobahn that Germany has they have 20 square miles of land. For every mile of interstate the U.S. has we have something like 80 square miles.
I just think the differences of circumstances drives (no pun intended) the difference in cars we drive.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
On the wide cars/wide seating discussion...part of it has to be that Americans are usually wider than people in those other areas, too...
the same outside door panels on the taurus as 10 years ago.
Anyhoo-I looked at the state extensively as we tugged our furniture and household possessions on east to Missouri. Everything we kept we fit into our '01 Kia Sportage 4x4 and behind it in our 4'X 8' utility trailer. BTW-the '01 Sportage 4x4 towed like a champion! What a great little Korean-built SUV. Ford, GM and DCX ought to sit up and take notice of HyunKia, they are superb carbuilders.
Kansas is not as flat as a pancake...it rolls and rolls and goes up and down everywhere...it's not flat. Illinois is a lot flatter state IMO. Missouri is chock full of hills but does possess some less hilly, tornado prone areas. Actually, tornado's hit Missouri in hilly areas as well as flat. Stockton, MO, was torn asunder by tornado's in 2003, just before we moved over there.
Interesting points about distances between people during conversations. I like a good two arms distance between another person and me while speaking face-to-face here in these United States, that I do.
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
You hit the nail right on its head. What more, I'll rephrase that..
"most Americans feel like they're missing something if they don't have a NEW vehicle"
BTW, I want a new vehicle
5 year old? I am pushing 7 and hope to get another 2-3 years out of it. :P
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Is it a better car? Yes, in every way. Is it 6 times better. No.
Somehow I was expecting the difference in the cars to be the same as the difference between Buffalo, New York and Maui.
It's not like that. :P
I like the new compact Mazda 3 Mazdaspeed. That would be a nice shifty car, and a nice compromise between too small and too big (or too small and too expensive and too big and too expensive)
Yeah its normal. But I have other things I want to do with my money right now.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
So Scion will not be making a new xA or xB. They say the xB will be replaced with another box like the one it came in but there is nothing about the xA. What do you think they will replace the xA with?
I think the biggest advantage of the ITR over the Integra GSR was the limited slip, and that is also what gave Nissan a devoted following in the early 90s is most of their manual transmissioned vehicles were available with a limited slip differential.
I wish we could get a Focus like they race in WRC but that isn't going to happen. Looks like Ford will take the manufacturers championship unless they blow it in the last race on the 29th. To lose they will need a DNF and Citroen will need 26 points, I don't think you can get 26 points in one race. Subaru is a distant third again. They can't win even if they are the only ones to show up.
And I had a chance to test drive the new Suzuki SX4 tonight, and my opinion on its size has changed somewhat. You could almost call it a subcompact - I figure it can't be much bigger in any meaningful way than an xA. It's definitely smaller than a Matrix (I know because I had one), and maybe roughly the size of the Impreza, so it's probably bordering on compact size. But its wheelbase is only 98.4 inches, and you wouldn't want to put more than two adults in the back seat, width-wise. I would have a hard time if I had absolutely had to pick one category or the other.
I left the dealer quite favorably impressed, by the way. It's hard to believe this thing only costs $15K. With shipping and the $300 package that includes cruise and a leather-wrapped wheel, it's a shade under $16K before fees. Almost exactly the same price as the Fit Sport, and equipped about the same, but with a lot more power (and 300 extra pounds of weight) and AWD. Kinda fun. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
link title
By the way, we have a new driver in our family so I've been following this thread for a while. Thanks in part to some enthusiastic reports here (which in this case I value more than CR's inexplicable ratings) we recently purchased an xA. I am very impressed and pleased not only with its price and included equipment, but also with how it handles, stops and goes in hilly, curvy, wet roads -- it's a blast to drive! Nothing at all wrong with it.
The 2007 Suzuki SX4 is not very big, and that's precisely why I like it, Mr.Bond. The snobbish high-priced cars are boring cars and really don't interest me at all. The real new cars are small cars. It's all small cars.
It's true. Catch the feeling.
nippon...I caught hell in this very forum for heaping early praise on the 2007 Suzuki SX4. Now you're saying you like it and I have always liked the sport crossover for four seasons. It's Hip. Tragically Hip. :surprise:
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
isn't the 2007 Suzuki SX4. some sort of a motorcycle :confuse: I didn't know Suzuki, made cars still....sorry :P
Rocky