Ask a Car Nut - Part Deux

[Formaldehyde]

I think a source of confusion arises because many vans and pickup trucks are dual purpose. So while many people use them as personal transport, they could as easily be used commercially, and many individual pickups and vans are actually used as both. And the various states are inconsistent in how they register these things, so the differences remain obscured.

Actually, it isn't inconsistent at all. One of the reasons why pickup trucks and SUVs are so popular in the US is because they are considered to be commercial vehicles and do not have to meet the safety standards for passenger cars. This makes them less expensive to produce.

Speaking of pick up trucks, you guys may make the best cars but we have this end of the market sewn up

Heh. A modern day El Camino with a covered bed. That might sell fairly well in the US.

 

[Cutlass]

Speaking of pick up trucks, you guys may make the best cars but we have this end of the market sewn up

Only to the extent that few people want something like that here, so we don't bother building them. The Subaru Brat has some sales, but not that much. I thin VW used to market something like that as well.

Actually, it isn't inconsistent at all. One of the reasons why pickup trucks and SUVs are so popular in the US is because they are considered to be commercial vehicles and do not have to meet the safety standards for passenger cars. This makes them less expensive to produce.

Heh. A modern day El Camino with a covered bed. That might sell fairly well in the US.

I don't know how much that lowers price, but I'd have a hard time seeing it lowering it that much. Particularly since SUVs and most versions of pickups cost more than similar cars.

What changed the market to SUVs was extremely heavy advertising to convince people that they "needed" them and that they were "cool". A created belief that the SUVs were safer because they were bigger and had 4wd. But people pay through the nose to get them. Now for the automaker the high sale price is a major selling point because high end vehicles have a bigger profit.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Yeah, I always thought it would sell better than the shamefully detuned Holden Monaro rebadged into a Pontiac GTO for the American market. I think it would have been popular. The hard top by the way is optional and many of them have a torneaux cover instead. They are very popular with tradesmen.

Plus, you get the credibility of being to say you own this

@Cutlass.....Few people would want it?? From the home of the muscle car?? For shame Cutlass, for shame. I assure you that VW never released a pick up truck with 6.2 god damn liters of American muscle under the hood (we import the block from you fine people)

 

[Cutlass]

Well, I just looked at the picture, not read the size of the thing. My bad there. But as Formy mentioned, that's a lot like what the El Camino was. And that was a popular body for something like 30 years. But was eventually overtaken by the compact pickup trucks. They just lost too many sales eventually. And they were in fact available with muscle engines, 5.7l V8s being very common in them. And 7.4l V8s being available for a number of year.

Of course, this is America, so we rightfully say 350 and 454cid

 

[Formaldehyde]

I don't know how much that lowers price, but I'd have a hard time seeing it lowering it that much. Particularly since SUVs and most versions of pickups cost more than similar cars.

It has made a radical difference in the cost of smaller pickups in particular. The first pickups weren't even crash tested until 2010.

Watch this 2008 video that shows how typically unsafe many pickup truck made in the US actually were. Fortunately this seems to now be changing with the new laws that require crash testing.

You can still buy a basic full-sized pickup truck with no options for less than $20K. Of course, most pickup trucks and SUVs have become much more upscale of late which has drastically increased their cost.

 

[Cutlass]

But people don't want a pickup with vinyl seats and no AC any more than they want a car that way, unless it's a utilitarian work vehicle. And if cost alone was the object, then a base subcompact is just as cheap.

 

[Formaldehyde]

I don't think there is a truck produced in the US with no AC, and I can't imagine that cloth seats cost all that much more. But now that pickup trucks and SUVs are being subjected to crash tests and must pass similar standards to passenger vehicles, it really isn't much of an issue anymore.

 

[peter grimes]

I read Lawrence Ulrich's review of the 2013 Porsche Baxter in yesterday's New York Times. It mentioned magnetic fluid filled transmission mounts.

That's so cool! I just wonder hoping until we start to see that stuff being incorporated in non-luxury goods...

 

[Formaldehyde]

There is no doubt that Porsche is extremely innovative. It usually doesn't take that long for other vendors to incorporate their ideas depending upon how much Porsche will want for the use of the patent, or how easy it is to come up with a similar design that doesn't violate it. At least now that likely means they will be appearing in performance-oriented VW cars in the near future.

The new Boxster is really cool. My next car will quite likely be a used one, but I can already see myself upgrading it to a 2013+ in the future.


Link to video.

 

[GoodGame]

LOL is it safe to drive with the steering wheel on the wrong side, or is that a trainer variant with a steering wheel on both sides?

About the Western Europeans surpassing Americans in "passenger vehicle" ownership, I'd really wonder how liberal they classified that term if Italy is number one. I'd be more impressed with the weight of those vehicles per capita than number owned per capita.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Are you referring to the Boxster video above? There is only one steering wheel.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Is the Eagle E-type the prettiest car you ever saw?

 

[Formaldehyde]

I owned a 3.8L E-type coupe for a brief period, and I certainly wish I still did so. And Jeremy Clarkson agrees with your opinion regarding the Eagle Speedster:


Link to video.

But half a million pounds? I'd take a Ferrari F40 instead, or a number of other modern cars like the Ferrari 458 or the Porsche Carrera GT. But if money was no object and I had 10-12 cars, it would likely find a home in my garage.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hmm, I have been properly brainwashed by Top Gear on account of having seen every episode about 10 times, so that's why it pops up in my head as the prettiest car ever.

But damn, it is good-looking.

 

[peter grimes]

Has anyone tried the thing where you dope your gasoline with touch of acetone?

 

[Formaldehyde]

According to Snopes, it does nothing to increase gas mileage. And it will eat the paint off the side of your car if you aren't extremely careful, as well as dissolve rubber fuel hoses.

If there was some reasonable way to drastically improve gas mileage, I'm sure someone would be selling it on national TV.

 

[Cutlass]

Have you looked at the new Dodge Dart, and have an opinion on it?

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2013-dodge-dart-first-drive-review
http://www.dodge.com/en/2013/dart/

 

[Formaldehyde]

I haven't seen one yet, but there was a glowing article about it in Autoweek recently. Here's a good video driver review by them:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20120501/CARREVIEWS/120509987

It reminds me of the Dodge Neon, which turned out to be a great car that did extremely well autocrossing and racing for many years.

I guess I'm not the only one who noticed the similarities:


Link to video.

Automobile: First Drive: 2013 Dodge Dart

It's been said that fashion repeats itself on a twenty-year cycle. If you don't believe that also applies to the automotive industry, might we suggest you blow the dust off a January 1994 issue of this very magazine, in which we celebrated the new Dodge Neon, our surprise choice for Automobile of the Year.

Back then, the Neon delighted us with its impossibly low base price, distinctive styling, spacious interior, great handling, and gobs of horsepower. The biggest surprise was that the compact car happened at all -- it was developed quickly at a time when Chrysler's very existence was hanging by a thread, and the Neon debuted in the middle of what would be a highly successful onslaught of new, design-led Chrysler products that included the stunning LH cars (Intrepid, Concorde, LHS, and 300M), the handsome Cloud cars (Cirrus, Stratus, Breeze), and even a desirable supply of minivans.

But it is apparently quite a bit bigger than the Neon:

In fact, it's all so familiar that we're almost expecting a re-hash of the Neon's "Hi" advertising campaign. Except this time, the cute little car would have to say "Ciao," thanks to its Italian ancestry. Based on a widened version of Alfa Romeo's Giulietta platform, the first progeny to emerge from the Fiat-Chrysler union isn't exactly a small car. It's a foot longer than the Neon, making it closer in size to the mid-size 1990s Stratus, and with an even bigger interior than that sedan's, the Dart is also branded mid-size by the EPA. It falls short of its contemporary rivals in trunk space, but cramped luggage rarely complains as loudly as uncomfortable rear-seat passengers, and the Dart's rear seat is, by "compact" car standards, vast.

It sounds like a winner in the less than $20K sedan class, at least if you don't need a lot of trunk space.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Some 9-year-olds are more equal than others.


Link to video.

Indian man arrested for letting 9-year-old son drive his Ferrari

NEW DELHI — Police on Monday arrested a man who allowed his 9-year-old son to drive his Ferrari in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

Mohammed Nisham was arrested on charges of endangering the life of a child and allowing a minor to drive, said Inspector Biju Kumar.

He was later released after posting bail of 5,000 rupees ($92), Kumar said.

Nisham’s wife filmed the boy driving the sports car on his ninth birthday two weeks ago with his 5-year-old brother in the passenger seat. The video was widely watched on YouTube and created an outrage across India, causing police to file charges.

India’s economic boom has created a class of super-rich, whose excesses are frequently in the news.

Police Inspector M.V. Verghese said the boy’s father, who has a thriving tobacco and real estate business, owns 18 cars worth an estimated $4 million.

Nisham turned himself in at a police station near the port city of Kochi, Kumar said.

Police have impounded the Ferrari, but it will be returned to him in a few days after police complete the paperwork for the case, police said.

The boy’s parents were unabashed. “I am proud of him. He’s been driving since he was 5,” said his mother, Amal Nisham.

She said the boy has also driven the family’s Lamborghini and Bentley and other cars.

“It was his ninth birthday, and since he was insisting for months, we allowed him to drive the Ferrari. He is a cautious and confident driver,” she told television channel NDTV.

“It’s not easy for a child to achieve such a feat at this young age,” she said.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Sad news everyone. Two-thirds of all the McLaren P1s have already been sold, and they have 500 "hot prospects" for the remaining 125.

Top Gear: Inside the McLaren P1: part one

Fancy a 903bhp McLaren P1 in your life? Better get a wriggle on. McLaren has confirmed that some 250 cars from the P1's production run of 375 are already spoken for, with 500 ‘hot prospects' lined up from the remaining 125 or so.

But if you've got pointy elbows and a spare £866,000 lying around, should you want a P1? TG has spent a day poking around the wildest British hypercar in history, and here's the first half of what we discovered. Check back soon for even more incredible tech detail...

Link to video.


Link to video.


Link to video.