I'll agree with this and the OP. I don't know where in the midwest the OP is from, but I'm a Kansan and I could agree that 9\10 trucks I see everyday (usually with pristine Yosemite Sam or naked silhouette mudflaps and untarnished chrome trucknuts) have hauled less than my Taurus which only has to hook up a trailer to move around a lawn tractor a few times a summer. Now there are places I've been where easily the majority of trucks I've seen are working vehicles... but go near the population centers and trucks become kind of a "blue collar conservative" status symbol for folks who don't really get what rural "blue collar" is actually all about. Europeans like the smaller smart cars and their Fiat 500's because they get good mileage and are easy to park. I live in a city (now) and would really like a Fiat 500 for those same reasons. However, I used to live in a rural township and worked for the county government there. I had a truck (I needed one back then) and I think that's where the disconnect is. I can see both sides of this argument and I'll agree with the OP, I didn't like the scorn that "truck owners" were just indulgent and wasteful for the fact that we are "fat Americans who don't care." But living in a city now... I see lots of people who really do fit that bill, and they annoy me because they really don't need that H3 or long-bed extended cab they ferry around in. Or to put it differently... some of us fat Americans do have some sense AND own a vehicle appropriate to our surroundings and needs. Some thin Americans do as well. And I'll take sensible, hard-working rural folk over snooty euro-jerks looking down his nose at someone who owns an F-150 because hauling hay bales 1 at a time is such a resource saver isn't it. But the trucknuts crew with truckcabs smelling of AXE bodywash, yeah they can go stick it too.evilneko said:
Fixing Misconceptions: Pickup trucks, SUVs, and muscle cars
- Thread starter BOOM headshot65
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Ha, tell that to my dad. While I, personally, will take any old pickup truck (so long as I can more or less be sure it was made in a factory on US soil), my dad HATES Ford (which makes it ironic that his mandatory work truck is a Ford F-450), or as he refers to it, "Found on Roadside, Dead." or "Fix Or Repair Daily." Same thing with Chrysler. But only slightly less with GM, aka, Government Motors....he still only drives GMs when he can help it.TestECull said:
Kyrian007 said:
Why would you think anyone in the U.K cares what you drive, you got a classic car (it's accepted that they use more fuel, and in the U.K you'll get free road tax for it) and a economical (it is) van/truck type thing that can run on hippy juice.Liquidacid23 said:
I've always had a soft spot for American cars, the issue is that it's ridiculously expensive to drive even a moped here anymore (even worse if you're male, but that's another argument...) that and as some commenters have pointed out, the roads are pretty narrow here.
I like trucks, but I really have no use for them. And every American made car I've bought has fallen apart.
Happy with my Honda Accord.
Happy with my Honda Accord.
I'm getting a nice American muscle car this year, like a Mustang or Firebird, and part of the reason is because of the misconceptions - IRL on-road trolling eco-mentalists and 'little car' drivers.
I don't want to deliberately start road rage, mind, but the very presence of these cars inspires silent fuming in a great deal of people and I think that's fantastic.
And really it's just a stepping stone until I can find a Viper RT/10.
Everyone I know asks me why I want such a noisy, gas-guzzling monsters - that's part of the joy. Nobody ever feels awesome tearing up the highway in a Prius.
I don't want to deliberately start road rage, mind, but the very presence of these cars inspires silent fuming in a great deal of people and I think that's fantastic.
And really it's just a stepping stone until I can find a Viper RT/10.
Everyone I know asks me why I want such a noisy, gas-guzzling monsters - that's part of the joy. Nobody ever feels awesome tearing up the highway in a Prius.
All I hear when I see a guy in a muscle car or a giant pick-up is what I imagine is the panicky "I AM INSECURE ABOUT MY MASCULINITY". And I literally cannot take anyone who makes their vehicle as loud as possible seriously. They are almost invariably a jerk, an idiot, or both.
Sort of like when I see a vehicle with truck nuts on it, all I can think of is the driver going "I LOVE BALLS. I AM AFRAID TO ADMIT IT SO I PRETEND IT IS SOMEHOW 'MACHO' TO PUT A DETAILED SCROTUM ON MY VEHICLE, RATHER THAN A FREUDIAN EXPRESSION OF MY DEEPEST DESIRES"
Sort of like when I see a vehicle with truck nuts on it, all I can think of is the driver going "I LOVE BALLS. I AM AFRAID TO ADMIT IT SO I PRETEND IT IS SOMEHOW 'MACHO' TO PUT A DETAILED SCROTUM ON MY VEHICLE, RATHER THAN A FREUDIAN EXPRESSION OF MY DEEPEST DESIRES"
Point of this post?
American cars are built for Americans, traditionally that is why they sell very poorly in any other countries.
The initial justification for why they are viable is fine for justifying their appeal to another American but utterly redundant for trying to justify their purchase for anyone else who is not American, because mostly we have our own alternatives that are massively better in just about every way because they are more suited to where and how we drive our vehicles.
The only point that is total bunk is the first one about handling. Yes it is subjective but a car that handles badly will handle badly irrespective of who is driving it. The difference between drivers is how they cope with that poor handling but the end of the day a Ferrari 458 is still going to go round a corner faster and more controlled than an F150 no matter who's driving it.
American cars are built for Americans, traditionally that is why they sell very poorly in any other countries.
The initial justification for why they are viable is fine for justifying their appeal to another American but utterly redundant for trying to justify their purchase for anyone else who is not American, because mostly we have our own alternatives that are massively better in just about every way because they are more suited to where and how we drive our vehicles.
The only point that is total bunk is the first one about handling. Yes it is subjective but a car that handles badly will handle badly irrespective of who is driving it. The difference between drivers is how they cope with that poor handling but the end of the day a Ferrari 458 is still going to go round a corner faster and more controlled than an F150 no matter who's driving it.
Again, I have no problem with Chevy or Ford. I will take either. My dads complaint is that on older Fords, there are "Too many parts in the way. You have too move, like, 4 different parts to get the the one you want to fix, whereas on Chevy everything is right there" (on explaining why I couldnt have a Ford so long as I live under his roof...maybe hes mad Ford didnt need a bailout from the government). Now, I am not sure how acurate that statement is, but whatever. From what I have seen, Fords are longer lasting while Chevys are easier to fix.TestECull said:
They are equal in my eyes, thus it will be hard to decied between a 1964 Chevy C-10 or a 1967 Ford F-150 when I am on my own. Then when it comes to a family vehicle, if I have 2 kids or less, then it will be a 1983 Chevy Blazer S-10. If 3 or more, then a 1985 Chevy Suburban. Sorry, Chevy makes better SUVs IMO.
Did you know an American car company released a car "with a European handling pack" .... All your roads seem to be a lot more straight and grid like but European roads are more twisty and turny. That is just my perception though.BOOM headshot65 said:
"2) Road Hogs" your roads are like 30 foot wide! Your cars are like 10 foot wide! Joking but seriously, every shot I see of your roads and it seems like it would take me twice as long to walk across it and I am just talking about roads round residential areas, your motorways have like 6 lanes!
"3) Gas Mileage" always remember, your cars run on lower octane juice than European cars. We get crazy jungle juice, you get watered down stuff.
I am not sure how that effects your mileage but there you go.
Also old school muscle cars didn't have carbs, they had buckets with a sieve on the bottom.
Made me think of the first Mad Max movie;RhombusHatesYou said:
'Hows the donk?'
'It's the last of the V8 interceptors'
My old man drove a HO Shaker and so I had a variety of V8s, then turbos/rotaries (when the Mazdas were faster and handled better than the local V8s).
When I worked in mining I drove big 4WDs around the outback, the kind of vehicle that would win an argument with a kanga, emu or cow.
Now I drive a tiny i20 1.4 L.
Cheap on fuel, 5 star safety and keeps me from getting in trouble with my boss over speeding fines / having a radar detector (which can cost US$100 for less than 10Kms over the speed limit).
BOOM headshot65 said:And now the big one:
3) Gas Mileage: Yes, they all have bad gas mileage. But people miss the point. They look at the gas mileage and write them off:
Pickup trucks....are for transporting heavy loads. And that is what most people that I have seen use them for.
Seriously though, I have no problem with people having an SUV if it actually serves a purpose; you're a farmer, live in a remote area, or do a lot of landscape gardening or whatever
But it does piss me off when you see individuals driving these fucking huge pickups and SUVs in the middle of a city when they obviously don't need them, given all they're used for is shopping and the school run. It's worth pointing out that this isn't just happening in America though, you're getting it more and more in the UK as well.
The other issue is safety. A lot of smaller cars (not to mention pedestrians) just don't stand a chance if they're hit by a pickup or SUV at any speed. Because they build these things like tanks they just roll over a smaller vehicle.