<VV> carz and lawz

[Padgett]

>Even our best "economy" cars carry around nearly 1000lbs of "safety 
>weight", making them
>neither cheap  nor economical nor fun to drive. And who was behind 
>outlawing small light cars? The
>same folks now complaining about how uneconomical cars are.

I'd make that more like 150 lbs, fed very quietly backed off the 5 mph 
barrier crash requirement, is now 2.5 mph. Fact is that "small light cars" 
never have fit well in the wide open spaces of this continent. Those in the 
"slow corner" which includes DC often do not realize it but the average 
speed on an Interstate today is somewhere in the 70-80 range and a 500 mile 
trip for many is "around the corner". Big slow winding engines in a 3200 lb 
package is appropriate for that kind of use (and "typical" engines now are 
140-250 cid, not 350-500 as in 1973 - the "worst" year).

The first four years of this century were about 99% travel for me and I 
drove a lot of new cars. My preference in my Avis profile is a 2-door Olds 
Alero - about 50% 2.2l I-4s and 50% 3.1 V-6s (something that reinforced for 
me that I really do not like 4s). These cars get very good gas milage.

Not like a 1.1 in the UK but that or less is what it takes to get great 
MPG. Still 70 mph in one of them is definitely busy. My wife wants a Smart 
Car (and if C-D had a lick of sense they would be importing them now) 600 
cc turbo two seater. Perfect city car but not something pleasant for an 
Interstate. However the Smart has never turned a profit even at 
$6.40/gallon gas.

Is interesting that as a "cult" car, the Corvair is almost exactly the same 
weight as the Fiero and the Fiero upgrade was a 2.8 six.

The biggest difference is computer controls and engines designed for very 
low cruising RPM. Could do the same for a Corvair but it would be 
expensive. Doubt if ever could save enough in gas to justify.

But the bottom line is that Detroit has given people what they wanted. The 
decades of 55 mph speed limits gave the oriental buzz bombs a chance to 
become competitive and what do we have now ? Toyotas and Datsuns with V-8s 
and which are just as big as American cars (looked at a Camry lately). 
People demanding SUVs are what made every manufacturer provide one. Ever 
see the SUX-6000 in RoboCop ? Best satire has a foundation of truth.

Padgett