Ridiculous cars.

Who else finds the continous development of new, larger, less efficient, more ugly, cars totally sickening? Cos I do. Why is it that most peoples only goal in life is to get a new car? Surely it is time for a complete re-think?

And what really pisses me off is when you are reading a so called 'environmentally' orientated magazine, like the New Scientist or National Geographic, and they have an advert for a vehicle that does about 10 miles per gallon! Hippocrites the lot of 'em.

 

yep... I agree. There is a guy here, in my flat-assed praire town, who drives a Hummer. The guy drives around in the Gross Domestic Product of several third world countries, and he and others think it's a "totally awesome ride". Talk about a waste of money, fuel, metal and air. He could feed a family of what? 12 people for his daily fuel costs!

 

That is exactly it. Why is it that we have this addiction to motor vehicles? And why is it that even with the current threats to climate more and more are being manufactured that use more fuel, and with approval from the government?
And all that waste just to drive up and down the road.

 

I think it's called capitalism, if people want what you call an "ugly car", then the auto manufacturers will make it,

 

Obviously, but what I'm trying to get at is what is it about cars that can still make an environmentalist think twice?

 

I think we ought to do away with car races and replace them with "Economy Trials" .The car that would win the race would ot be the one that reaches the destination first but the one that used the least amount of fuel.

 

They have thoughs, and do you know why they aren't broadcasted?

Because they aren't exciting.

 

I love new cars. Not like the gas guzzling SUVs, but this year Ford is coming out with a new Shelby Mustang that is gonna have like 450 horsepower. That is exciting. And Dodge's Charger comeback and Pontiac's GTO.

 

Who cares? they can have who they want advertising.

 

The government over here is trying (rather pathetically it has to be said) to get people away from the 4x4 craze by introducing two rates of car tax.

car tax for smaller cleaner engines is about 70 quid and for a big 4x4 is nearly 200.

For someone who is a millionaire this is like the biggest waste of time but for 17 year old boy racers hopefully it will deter them somewhat because most 17 year olds are strapped for cash.

I think they could go a lot further though.

Some people need 4x4s and so they should have an allowance. Farmers for example often use landrovers for the purpose they were built.

The people I have a problem with are mothers who drive their child 1/2 (maybe 1) a mile to school in a gas guzzling 4x4.

If you really feel the need to drive 1/2 a mile fill the car up with other peoples kids and save the planet.

Even better walk it.

Another good thing the government here is doing is creating a new lane on the motorways for car sharing vehicles only. Basically you will only be allowed to use this lane if your car carries at least one passenger. I wonder how many people are going to buy mannequins to place in the other seats of their car to use these lanes.

 

When motorists talk about cars, fuel consumption is a far maore talked about topic than performance. Today even small hatchbacks are capable of doing twice the legal speed limit. The wow factor is in how small the fuel consumption is.

 

HOV lanes? That's a new thing?

 

Yes, motorists talk about fuel consumption when they talk about their cars. But, you said they should have fuel economy races where the car that uses the least fuel wins...They aren't going to go all out in those races, they will drive at the optimal speed, which isn't particularly fast in any car.

 

I'm on a mission to destroy all hummers and useless large cars! Who wants to join me?

 

How do you plan on doing it?

 

i have no clue. it would be great if I could do something without consequences.

 

Must be... *g*

 

i really don't understand the obsession with new cars either. i drive an '87 honda accord with a 5 spd and am completely content. as much as i love driving in general, i couldn't stand the idea of having any nicer of a car than i do now. and my car really is nice i think- got power windows, locks, and sunroof even! cracks me up, though, because at the community college i attend currently, my car is THE beater in the huge parking lot. i can glance out over the lot and pick my car out pretty easily from amongst the new hondas, acuras,large jeeps, land rovers, and occasional BMW's and benzes. my honda gets 20-ish mpg, which i think is pretty decent for a car that's as old as i am!

 

its not so easy to implement such lanes over here as we have less space available to us.

But yes it is a new thing for us.

 

totally amazing that a 1947 4 door with an inline six that was all steel, not some alloy was getting around 20mpg at 70mph and here almost 60 years later we rave that a car 1/3 its weight and 1/2 its size is great for 28mpg at 55mph. I kinda think somebody is holding back technology for profit.

As for smaller cars, hate em, death traps and if your under 6 foot they are fine, but Im 6-4 and it kills me. I want room to move, to be comfy. I think a Hummer is stupid yes but nothing wrong with a Caddy STS or Caprice that get 25mpg+ at 70mph. I do believe we need to seek a cleaner fuel sorce and really thing products that are grown are a future for us not only for cleaner air but also it would be a product we do not have to pay others for but rather our farmers can grow for us, good for the economy.

I think small cars have there place, in like major cities, and short hops for shopping and such, would be great for people who are able to fit in them and like em. I think they need to use technology like the internet for shopping and home delivery. People could online shop from home and have preset delivery dates so instead of a few hundred cars and large parking lots, would be a few clean burn fuel vans delivering. Shingle replacement solar panels mandatory for all new home construction :http://www.solarintegrated.com/

there should be extreme goverment grants to assist in conversion of pre existing homes. Central power stations are not good for many reason, one if there is a major event then the entire grod goes down, another is that power is lost thru travel thru lines thus wasted energy. West Plains Missouri is building an emergency backup power system for the city in the event of severe weather taking out the power. Idiots do not realize the the power still would have to come thru the same lines that would be down and the cost could provide every person in thier town (not household but every person) a 4500 watt generator.

Central is out, local is the cure. We all need to get out of this for me thought shit too. We dont carpool becuase we dont know each other becuase we dont socialize or help one another. Hell I work for the largest motorcarrier in the US and most will sit on there ass and watch another tired driver back right into a truck. Its pathetic! Truck drivers really have no one who gives a crap about us and sadly we wont work together to help each other out. Our country as a whole has this sad problem too, quick to bitch but if the cures make us put out effort then forget it. The old America worked together prior hippy days (and no the hippy movement is not the problem) they used to collect metal, not eat certain foods ect to help out the country. Could you imagine if everyone gave $1.00 a day to help the homeless and poor of our own country, or donated 1 day a month to help out if they did not have money. If people would carpool, if jobless poeple would work in the parks ect like they did so many years ago for a check. I mean there is nothing wrong if you cant find work but surely there are things a person can do to help out to lesson the load, like volunteer at a school, clean a park, volunteer at a hospital ect. If your handicaped then maybe volunteer to watch kids so others can work who could not afford daycare ect, team work, but we are no team anymore. People want to be Irish American, African American, Native American, and so on, we are Americans I thought not surname American. None of us are special just only as strong as the whole. Think of the gatherings you go to, did you all clean up afterwards? Did you use that large force to do some sort of good for the community? Every summer a group of people from some sort of church travel the US and do work on homes for free. You have the material and they do the labor for nothing, they wont even accept a donation. They have roofed, sided, replaced windows, plumbed, wired, bricked, decked, you name it for free, just a way to help out.

A bunch of kids in LA managed to get thousands to march on this imagration issue in a day, all that power and could they have used it to help clean up there community? To clean up crime? Nope just protest and offer no solution.

I guess we might have become a nation of complainers and let others fix it and her I am doing the same thing.