Have people changed their attitude to cars?

[bookworm_020]

With all that has been written about "green cars" and "new directions" for car manufacture, have people really changed there thinking about what type or size car they need???

Would you get a smaller car or would you still want that big V8??

Post your reasons and your thoughts!

[Stealth Hunter]

I prefer a more powerful and larger vehicle (I'm a van guy) compared to small vehicles that are really only good for in-town/city driving. Of course, efficiency is also important to me as well.

[TarJak]

I've got a fuel efficent 4pot screamer so I'm not changing.

[Aramike]

Originally Posted by bookworm_020

With all that has been written about "green cars" and "new directions" for car manufacture, have people really changed there thinking about what type or size car they need???

Would you get a smaller car or would you still want that big V8??

Post your reasons and your thoughts!

Personally, I think the economy has done far more to change people's desires for the oversized car than any "green" movement.

$4/gallon gas doesn't mean squat if incomes are 33% higher. Likewise, it's crippling when incomes are lower.

[Letum]

If by small you mean two wheels...

[AVGWarhawk]

Supersize me. Been looking at Ford Explorers, Chrysler Magnums. You know, gas suckers. I have been eyeballing some of the smaller vehicles. I only drive 15 miles a day. Efficiency is not at the top of the list. I have a family of 4. I can not get a showbox on wheels. Sometimes it is just being practical. A Smart Car is not practical.

[VipertheSniper]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

Supersize me. Been looking at Ford Explorers, Chrysler Magnums. You know, gas suckers. I have been eyeballing some of the smaller vehicles. I only drive 15 miles a day. Efficiency is not at the top of the list. I have a family of 4. I can not get a showbox on wheels. Sometimes it is just being practical. A Smart Car is not practical.

Especially for short distances it would really make sense to get something like a station wagon that is at least more efficient than an SUV. 7.5 miles isn't exactly a distance where the motor gets in it's optimal operating range temperature wise, at least not for long. So you'll consume more gas anyway than what manufacturers claim (although I heard you got better methods of testing fuel consumption than European carmakers, so I might as well be off on that claim). But still only because a Smart isn't practical for you (which isn't the most efficient car by any stretch either) you're going the other extreme? Doesn't make that much sense to me.

[Thomen]

I choose " I am happy with what I've got".
Ford Explorer and Suzuki Aerio.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by VipertheSniper

Especially for short distances it would really make sense to get something like a station wagon that is at least more efficient than an SUV. 7.5 miles isn't exactly a distance where the motor gets in it's optimal operating range temperature wise, at least not for long. So you'll consume more gas anyway than what manufacturers claim (although I heard you got better methods of testing fuel consumption than European carmakers, so I might as well be off on that claim). But still only because a Smart isn't practical for you (which isn't the most efficient car by any stretch either) you're going the other extreme? Doesn't make that much sense to me.

Station wagons are not like those of old. Today's wagon are to small for vacations and day trips. As far as operation temps. yes, after the first two miles of drive I'm at operating temps(winter time not as quickly obviously). Never the less, a 4 banger will not be at optimal temps either but the V-8 heats quickly. No matter, it is a matter of practicality for me. The Mountaineer and Lincoln both average 21 miles to the gallon highway. 15 miles per gallon city. (yes both have the information center for these readings and they are fairly accurate) I do my own fuel/mileage average outside of the program offered on the vehicle dash. Currently a Chevy 4 door Cavalier is not practical for a family of 4 IMO.

[Max2147]

I don't quite get the whole "I need a big car to carry stuff around."

I've got a Mini, one of the smallest cars on the American market. I can pack anything I need into it. Two hockey players, plus hockey bags/sticks, plus me as the driver? No problem. All my worldly possessions for a cross-country move? Easy - I could have taken twice as much stuff. I've had the car for 5 years, and I've never felt like it didn't have enough room.

I also hate how SUVs drive. One of my parents has a big SUV that I drive on occasion. I absolutely hate it. I don't feel like I'm in control. I'm so high off the road that I don't feel like I have any connection with it. The steering has zero feel, and the car goes where all the electronic gizmos tell it to, not where I tell it to. I feel like I'm navigating the car, not driving it. It's even worse in the snow. It's heavy and lumbering, and I can't feel when it's sliding. In the Mini I feel everything, and the car is so light I can control it without any trouble. Even though I'm in Wisconsin, I've never needed snow tires.

Then there's the safety issue. The awful handling makes me feel unsafe in the SUV. People say that an SUV is safer in an accident, but the safest accident is the one you don't have. I was once following an SUV on the road when the car in front of the SUV slowed suddenly. The SUV simply plowed into the back of the car, and if I'd been in an SUV I would have followed them. But since I was in a small, agile car I could simply swerve around it without any trouble at all.

[August]

Originally Posted by Max2147

Two hockey players, plus hockey bags/sticks, plus me as the driver?

That's three people. AVG said 4 people. Then consider that hockey gear packs a lot more easier than diaper bags and formula bottles and child restraint seats.

[Max2147]

Originally Posted by August

That's three people. AVG said 4 people. Then consider that hockey gear packs a lot more easier than diaper bags and formula bottles and child restraint seats.

You ever carried a hockey bag around?

I'm not saying that the Mini is best for everybody, and I wasn't recommending it to AVG. I was just saying that a small car can do a lot more than people think.

[Stealhead]

Much of the car/truck/suv a pseron drives is down to personal tatse.Though really a vehicle should be chosen for what your primary use is going to be.If you are mainly simply driving from point a to b then you should get what best suits that job.

Diffrent people like a diffrent feel from what they drive some like the more commanding view of a truck/SUV others feel best in a car that is lower to the ground.I think cost of fuel is becoming more of a factor now what the hybrids wont tell you is something many europeans have known for years diesel engines in the US you rarely see them cars but they have very good mileage that new WV gets 55 MPG the same a Prius averages and you can still go over 10 mph in the WV.

I agree with Max2147 I had a 1991 Honda Civic that I hung on to for years until my wife told me to sell it. That little hatch back was versiatle it easliy had the same cargo cap. as a ranger or S-10(short of very tall items) and it had a very uber go-cart feel I got that thing up to 125mph on the autobhan while I was stationed in Germany and it was pretty fun on the hilly roads too.

I have 2 Accords and a late model Prelude. the Accords are pretty meh handling wise like most sedans. The Prelude is fun but that is not a practial car they only get 27MPG from a large 4-banger and mine is worse because I have done lots of stuff to that car i bet it gets 24 now if I go the speed limit.I only have one kid so a sedan is fine for road trips for 3 people and if there where an extra kid thyed be sitting side by side in the back seat just like me and my sister when I was a kid no huge SUV really needed there now if you have 3 or 4 kids that is a diffrent story.

My friend has a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee it is not a bad SUV I suppose its just not the type of thing I like driving. I had a guy who was a huge Dodge truck fan say to me once that once you drive a turck you want one. Not me I drove a truck alomst everyday while in the lower ranks in the USAF it did not make me want to own a truck. Though I fully see the value if one needs a truck for work purposes witch was why I was driving the USAF one.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Max2147

I don't quite get the whole "I need a big car to carry stuff around."

I've got a Mini, one of the smallest cars on the American market. I can pack anything I need into it. Two hockey players, plus hockey bags/sticks, plus me as the driver? No problem. All my worldly possessions for a cross-country move? Easy - I could have taken twice as much stuff. I've had the car for 5 years, and I've never felt like it didn't have enough room.

I also hate how SUVs drive. One of my parents has a big SUV that I drive on occasion. I absolutely hate it. I don't feel like I'm in control. I'm so high off the road that I don't feel like I have any connection with it. The steering has zero feel, and the car goes where all the electronic gizmos tell it to, not where I tell it to. I feel like I'm navigating the car, not driving it. It's even worse in the snow. It's heavy and lumbering, and I can't feel when it's sliding. In the Mini I feel everything, and the car is so light I can control it without any trouble. Even though I'm in Wisconsin, I've never needed snow tires.

Then there's the safety issue. The awful handling makes me feel unsafe in the SUV. People say that an SUV is safer in an accident, but the safest accident is the one you don't have. I was once following an SUV on the road when the car in front of the SUV slowed suddenly. The SUV simply plowed into the back of the car, and if I'd been in an SUV I would have followed them. But since I was in a small, agile car I could simply swerve around it without any trouble at all.

My wife and I are completely opposite from you. We had a Ford Escort. As August said, baby seats, in and out. Baby paraphanilia. After that we got a Dodge mini van and wondered how we lived without it. Ever since the van my wife likes to drive high up like the van and exactly as her Mountianeer is. She says she feels like she is sitting on the road in my Lincoln. BTW, I think the Mountaineer handles very well for being a barn door that it is. Anyway, my girls are now 11 and 14. We still need the room. Packing small dufflebags for vacation just does not happen. Throw in the other beach goodies and crap you will find having the space is much better.

So, your mini gets what per/gallon? 25 miles? Three guys and gear for hockey? My mountaineer gets 21 MPG, 4 people, weeks worth of clothing in no less than 4 suitcases, beach goodies(ie. chair, umbrella, sand buckets) and a cooler. All sitting comfortably and those in the rear watching a DVD on the player Nope, not feeling bad about anything the SUV has or not has to offer.

Go big or stay home

[Schroeder]

Still I don't get why a car that obviously isn't smaller than a Mitsubishi Lancer should not be enough for 4 people. We have had one for some years and we were 4 at that time. Absolutely no problem.
When my sister and I were small kids who needed child restraint seats and stuff my parents only owned a VW Golf I. It's rather small compared to modern Golfs and yet there was no space problem.
It's all a matter of what you consider appropriate. If every person in the car must have 6 feet space for his legs than you will have to buy a SUV, if you can sit for hours in a car that gives you just slightly more space than the economy class in a Jumbo then you can take pretty much every car and it will be big enough.

I wonder what my parents did when there were no SUVs around and they had to settle with a tiny VW Beatle over here... I wonder how they survived that.