It’s not so much a case of “How fast do you Americans need to go?”, but for me rather an issue of being forced to do something against my will by anybody or anything, and particularly Government, including people in the government who think they know better than I what’s best for me. For those of us that have been here for a while (many decades), it’s not hard to remember days when we had far less government intervention and regulation, and much more freedom and choice in our daily lives. What I am fearful of is that the newer generations are used to having their freedoms limited and don’t realize what they are missing. When I grew up we ripped around our neighborhood in go-carts, mimi-bikes and mopeds, always had a B-B gun or firecrackers to play with and no one harrassed us. We could take a gun to school for show-and-tell. In High School everybody had cut-outs on their cars. Now, some of the things we did when we were free would probably make some people faint, some people call the EPA, the DEQ, the Police, some kind of Child Protective Services Unit, and what have you. I am sad for the freedoms that my children have left compared to what I had. A smile comes to my face when I think back in time. I have the memories of a more unrestricted world that nobody can take from me. I will continue to fight a controlling, confining, taxing, growing government. That is our heritage as Americans.
i understand that many people enjoy large engined,powerful cars,but in this day and age we have to start thinking about the enviroment for our future generations sake.global warming is definately here already,just look at all the unusual weather around the world right now!and we need to cut back on "greenhouse gases"as much as we can.but whats the point of the uk having strict limits on c02 etc…when most of the rest of the world doesnt seem bothered?if everyone in the uk stopped using their cars tomorrow,it would have little effect on global pollution. but if we all work together on reducing pollution,we can make a diffrence,and one way is to buy smaller,more fuel efficient cars.another way is to use public transport more.
This American Heritage bit only works if you are either self-sufficient in oil or are such a large exporter of indusrtial and consumer goods that you can AFFORD to import all that oil to fuel those thirsty vehicles. When you buy that monster truck with the steamroller tires, you are adding to oil imports which are indirectly financed by the Chinese!!
In other words, your American Heritage is putting the US further and further in debt. I’m not even talking about the environment, as stephen nunnery points out.
Pepole in Saudi Arabia drive big, thirsty cars becuasue they have large oil reserves and a small population, and can afford 14 cents/gallon gas.
On an earlier post about a gasoline tax, we speculated that if every American drove a European style economy car, the US would not have to import any oil!
So, take your pick what lifestyle you want to support.
I guess if your idea of racing is driving in circles in cold weather, have at it. I’ll stay here in Florida and pick a course with bents and twists. That is what I call racing. What you call racing doesn’t sound like much fun to me. To each his own!
I guess if my idea of fun was driving around an oval track, I would want your Corvette too. I prefer the curves, corners, twists, and bends of a race track that challenges the driver as much as it challenges the car.
Have fun driving in circles in cold weather! Evidently, that is what your Vette was made for.
It’s not about speed, it’s about STATUS!! We ARE WHAT WE DRIVE!! A Doube Diesel Dually screams “I AM sombody!” I have more money than you and I enjoy rubbing you nose in it. If you stand between me and my gas pump, I’ll kill you…It’s the American way.
My car runs on rich people farts and orphan tears. The exhaust is loud enough to break other cars’ windows and smells like a mixture of a garbage dump fire and a hog rendering plant.
To safely pass several lumbering big rigs (lorries to you) on a 70 MPH two lane road, about 110 MPH. But a few more (say 120) for extra safety is good. As Boy Scouts say - “Be Prepared”.
Luckily a few of us in the USA still believe (and fight for) something called Liberty. We believe the US Govt. (and certainly nothing like a EU or UN) should not interfere with our daily lives unless there is a darn good reason to do so. We don’t want a nanny state, we want the Govt to stay out of our lives (and our pocket books) as much as feasible.
Putting a cap on engine sizes, HP, or top end speed is not one of those things they should be allowed to limit our liberty on. Not to mention another important aspect - “the pursuit of happiness”. Limiting (however temporary) these tends to make life a bit more dull. Sure you don’t need to get to 60 MPH in 6 seconds most of the time, but having a good performing car can help you avoid many accidents you would otherwise be stuck in with a “regulated” car.
0-60 in 12s is still an option here, sometimes slower. It’s usable and many people get it. And I know Europe has even smaller engines which you conveniently didn’t mention that wouldn’t even be workable here; those are not an option here.
The reason is getting in/out of traffic. Over here we may complain about traffic, but it’s far, far better than Europe. Here we almost need the acceleration for passing, lane changes, entering/leaving the freeway or other fast traffic, etc. Typical speeds are 40-50mph in the city and 70-90mph on the freeway, while people whine about 30-40mph rush hour traffic jams. Most people prefer 0-60 in 10 seconds or less for this reason, but plenty of people on the economy side of things will get 12 seconds. The slower engines found only in Europe would almost be silly to try here, except maybe in some heavily congested cities.
As for V8’s and other faster cars, that’s on the sports car or giant truck end of things, usually more for fun or bragging than anything. Most people don’t get them.
And as a general rule, people in general know what works for them. There’s a good reason for the engine sizes chosen, which I mentioned. 0-60 above 12 seconds isn’t even an option b/c it wouldn’t work and nobody would buy it. Generaly any efforts to regulate are there to enforce what’s supposedly better, but really isn’t at all. They almost always make things worse. If it were better people would already be trying it and it would catch on on its own.
the uk government is giving cars that emit less than 100 gramms per km of c02 free road tax!but the only cars that fall ito this catagory are tiny 1.0 litre hatchbacks,or the odd hybrid.i personally drive a 2002 1.6 litre ford puma which is considered to be a moderately polluting car at 171g/km,and pay ?170 a year road tax,even though its a 1.6 litre,it will do 120mph,and 0-60 in 10.4 seconds,which i find perfectly acceptable for all driving conditions. for example its very responsive in town,and will cruise at 100mph all day on the motorway.(not that i would of course,with us having a 70 mph speed limit!)but most of the uk is badly congested,it took me 2.5 hours to drive from manchester to birmingham recently on the motorway,and its only 90 miles away!!next time i will catch the train there!!
I like to go one million miles per hour. My car runs on rich people farts and orphan tears. The exhaust is loud enough to break other cars’ windows and smells like a mixture of a garbage dump fire and a hog rendering plant. Periodically I drive through the forest, shearing off as many old-growth trees as possible.
But can your car kick small children and club baby seals? That’s a real man’s car.
Don’t pick on us about how fast, only a few states allow anything higher than 75, mph, If only we had an autobahn, So this question should be directed to Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Americans typically have a lot farther to go considering most of our states are comparable in size to European countries
Here, the double diesel dually crowd remove the perfectly adequate factory exhaust system and install two huge tailpipes exiting out under the rear bumper, right in the face of the hapless driver caught behind him… These people have ZERO concern about grams per mile and rather enjoy turning the landscape behind them a dull grey color. The obligatory trailer hitch is plugged with an eye catching plastic scrotum that swings in the breeze under the bumper.
On the bright side, about half of these vehicles have been repossessed by the banks that own them and are now commanding about 30-40 cents on the dollar at auctions…
If you need the dually diesel them by all means buy it. But, it not about status. If you do not need it then it is percieved status. It is not “I am somebody”, more accurately it is “I think I am somebody or I am somebody in my own mind”. It is not the american way but the way of anybody from any country that has a fragile character.
I ride a Honda motorcycle that pollutes a lot less and gets me where I need to go efficiently and quietly. I don’t know why people have to drive big 1.6 liter cars around everywhere when a little motorbike will do the job quite well a good deal of the time. How much of the time do you drive with all of those extra seats unoccupied?
If you truly, truly cared about congestion and global warming, you’d be finding ways to use even more efficient transport than what you’re driving.
One man’s conservative econobox is another man’s luxobarge.
Boy is this a double standard. Why do you Brits need to go 110 mph driving those small little egg shells?
Most Americans do not drive big gas guzzling V8’s. The most popular car driven over here are mid sized V6’s. And there is nothing wrong with that. I have owned v6’s that get the same or better mileage than a 4 cyl.
Do not believe what you see on your local or national news programs. Most often the news is telling you what they want you to believe.
Why the bigger engines?
0) Important so we know what we're talking about, realize US and Imperial gallons are NOT equal. A US gallon is about 83% of a imperial gallon, a 30MPG US car is 36MPG using the larger imperial gallons. 25MPG (US) is 30MPG (imperial). And, BTW, that 40MPG (imperial) car is getting 33MPG (US).
1) Heavier cars. We do not have 1-series BMWs, smaller Mercedes, etc. on the market. Nothing like a VW Polo, etc. This is very unfortunate. In terms of high mileage we've got like the Prius, a Corolla, and maybe a Civic model or two. Beyond that you're down to low 30s MPG highway, with large cars getting still well into the 20s. (I've gotten 30MPG on my parent's Deville, 300HP 4.6L Northstar V8 and everything... it's rated at 25.)
2) Altitude. There's extended ares of the country that are over 5000 feet, and a lot over 8000 feet. Engines lose a lot of power up there. Combined with...
3) Some kind of general allergy to turbocharging and diesels. A turbocharged or supercharged engine will allow a smaller engine to be used, while keeping power up under high-altitude conditions. Diesels get better mileage as well. But...
4) Emissions. They're *pretty* tight in the US and Europe, but US emissions are a bit tighter. That last little bit limits the cam profiles, ignition timings, etc. that can be used, ironically inreasing fuel burn to decrease emissions. This also makes diesels difficult -- the few VW car diesels available were NOT available in California or the Northeast due to stricter emissions, and there's very few other car diesels here. (There's truck diesels, but they're in monsterously large trucks.)
we dont need to go 110,i was just stating what they are actually capable of.our 70 mph limit motorways are very congested anyway,today most people were doing about 50mph whan i was on the motorway earlier.
Americans NEED to be able to go faster than the guy ahead of us, so that we can pass him at the earliest opportunity, then leave him in the smoke and dust.
