The Driveway: COBbies talk cars

They killed the Magnum, though.

SUV's gave them a larger profit amount per vehicle built.

Take a basic pickup truck, slap a body shell over the bed, give it two more doors and a back seat, and mark it up ten grand or so from the base price of the truck it's based off of - more if you add in luxury features like leather seats, dual-zone climate control and other crap that is pretty much worthless on a pickup truck. There's no way that a Ford Expedition cost Ford that much more to make than an F-150 truck - much of the underlying vehicle is the same, so your design costs are lower than drafting up a totally new vehicle. Also, much of the truck parts will already fit the SUV variant.

Plus, they sold like crazy. People were willing to pay money for them, so why not make the things?

EDIT: Yeah, I'm biased agasint SUV's; as I see them as largly being redundant for most people who own them.

edited 11th Oct '11 6:22:06 PM by pvtnum11

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

My mother drives an SUV, but she actually uses it for its intended purpose (haul things in comfort - she does gardening) rather than as a status symbol. Of course, these days she drives one of the BMW ones, so status symbol is definitely a secondary objective.

And I've driven it...damn. Comfy, and it doesn't handle badly either.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Funny, I heard that the ride quality in those BMW SUVs was kinda crappy.

^^I know, which is why I wish they would bring it back.

edited 11th Oct '11 9:42:57 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

SUVs were also legally considered "trucks, not cars" so they were exempt from the MPG requirements cars had to meet.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

This seems like an appropriate place to get something off my mind, so here we go:

With the impending end of my master's program and a move or three in the foreseeable future, I'm beginning to think a new*

vehicle is in order.

I haven't needed to drive very much up until now (read: essentially not at all outside of everything that led up to my getting licensed), so I'm a little new to the whole experience, but I do have a few ideas of what I'm looking for:

• Safety's paramount. I'd rather not be driving a death-trap (not that there are many of those on the road these days), or subjecting anyone else to that experience.
  • For that matter, if it's not going to be a particularly reliable vehicle, that's almost as bad.
• I'd prefer to spend as little as possible on fuel, obviously (so absurdly large vehicles are out of the question).
• Due to the whole 'moving' thing, having a fair amount of cargo space would be valuable. (Yes, this is going to be at odds with the above, but...)

At the moment, the likeliest candidate that's come up with my own research into the matter has been a Mazda3 Sport*

(particularly if the new engines they're rolling out prove to be any good). That said, it would be terrible idea to fixate on one thing and miss out on something that might be better.

Thus, this post. What holes are there to poke in my line of thought to this point? Am I missing something obvious?

(One last note, in case it's relevant: I'm Canadian, and I'm going to be staying there for the foreseeable future, so what goes on here and what goes on wherever you're living may not be one and the same.)

This space for rent. Cost: your soul.

Hmm...I'd recommend the Mercedes-Benz A-Class (fits all criteria), but it's not sold in North America (yet).

Perhaps a Honda Civic, Ford Focus or Chevy Cruze Eco? Most if not all of these have the following: efficient turbocharged engines, hatchback body styles for extra storage space and are affordable. They're all also in the compact class, which the Mazda3 is in. The Civic and Focus even have higher-performance versions (Si and ST, respectively) if you're interested.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Subaru Impreza wagon, if you got the money.

A four-door hatchback can carry far more than a trunked car. I can fit a nine-foot ladder in my wife's Pontiac Vibe (Redwhitenblue's old avatar), if I fold donw the back and passenger seats. We used it to move; you can put a surprising amount of crap in one of those. The Toyota Matrix is the same thing, basically. Four-cylinder jobs, with either a 1.8 or (i think) 2.3-liter versions. The 1.8, in 1ZZ-FE configuration is a pretty torquy little motor, as it is a narrow-bore long-stroke design. All-aluminum, and among the more powerful engines based soley off of the weight of the engine itself. Most torque is available under 3000 RPM. The hotter 2ZZ-GE engine revs higher and makes 160 horses, but you have to sling it way up there to make those numbers. The GE is also stuck on manual transmissions, only. Not sure about the 2.3 options. There's an aftermarket turbocharger kit I've been eyeballing for the wife's car for when she replaces it with a van and I take it as a daily driver. I smell the need for a new transmission after I turn the boost up and cook all the clutch packs.

The Matrix/Vibe used to be in AWD trim, but I believe they droppped it as it didn't sell very well.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

So, I went from driving a '00 Volkswagen Golf to an '04 Chevy 1500 pickup. Sort of like switching from a Cigarette racer to a battleship. It feels weird to suddenly tower over other cars. Also, I miss my manual transmission...auto is so boring. :(

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Something I've discovered from the used car site: A Silverado 1500 Work Truck is just jargon for "no backseat". Kind of my favorite sort of truck anyway. They're pretty rare today, but I say there's a purity to it, and that if you want to transport a bunch of people regularly, get something other than a pickup.

I'm getting S40 obsessed again. Nothing like a right-sized, right-priced car that feels like a technological cross between your mom's previous ('07) and current ('11) XC70s. Familiarity goes a long way. Though then again, I did take my driver's tests on local roads through the driving school, rather than make the car the familiar element but the roads completely new by taking it at the DMV.

Flora Segunda | World Made By Hand | Monster Blood Tattoo ^You should read these series.

Yeah, Crew trucks are more popular, it seems.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Auto may be more boring, but auto is also more consistent at hitting shifts when you race - you dont' even have to think about shifting points, all you have to do is keep the car pointed in the direction you want to go. A large number of hi-po racers use either heavily modified Powerglides (two speed auto) or some other beefed up automagic.

Even my car has an automatic, and it's nothing to sneeze at. (well, mine is, as it's a high-mileage beater example, but still.)

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

Well, hypercars these days seem to love sequential gearboxes (you know, the paddle-shifters).

Speaking of automatics, Hyundai is making a 10-speed automatic transmission. I think it's for the Genesis and Equus models.

edited 13th Oct '11 1:23:14 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

...pffft, better off simply making CVT's better, then ten gears....

Advantage of CVT's is that you never have to leave the powerband. Nail the gas and enjoy keeping the engine at peak torque the whole time.

edited 13th Oct '11 3:02:43 PM by pvtnum11

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

I think the only car I've ever been in that had a CVT was a Nissan Versa. :|

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Yeah, they could make them able to handle appreciable torque and make them reliable. Look ma, no clutch.

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

True, no need to worry about low-end torque when it's available at any revs.

Handling a lot of power would probably require getting into more expensive materials, though.

edited 13th Oct '11 6:40:01 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

So, I filled the tank on my new rig today. One word...OUCH! Almost a hundred bucks to top it off. I pine for the days of thirty-dollar fillups that lasted two weeks.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Jeez, that's almost as much as what it (apparently) takes to fill up an '87 Porsche 911 Targa these days.

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Yep. Filling my Suburban from almost completely empty to full up is $110.00 right now, give or take a few dollars. Fortunately, that does last me about three weeks, since I don't have to do much driving.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

I work in one township. DG works in another. We live in a third one. We have one car. The math isn't difficult, only annoying.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Ouch.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

I don't know if it's just the specific implementation or CVTs in general, but after 4 years of use I'm not terribly impressed with the one in my '07 Dodge Caliber. Supposedly it gives better mileage, but I've yet to see significant improvements over a similarly configured car with a conventional A/T. At times it feels like I'm saving more money on gas compared to my '95 Eagle Talon TSi (not AWD, sadly) that I used to have because the Caliber doesn't require premium fuel to run, not because of better MPG rating.

edited 13th Oct '11 8:28:14 PM by Nohbody

All your safe space are belong to Trump

The Dodge Caliber is apparently not very good.

Might wanna wait for the Alfa Romeo-based econobox Dodge will have in forthcoming months. Also, Chrysler Group is only now getting better transmissions.

And yeah, premium fuel is much more expensive.

edited 13th Oct '11 9:25:38 PM by RocketDude

"Hipsters: the most dangerous gang in the US." - Pacific Mackerel

Well, it's not bad, but it's not great either. It was, I admit, one of my less well-considered decisions, but the Talon was killing me between gas costs (even if they were just starting to rise back then) and maintenance.

Unfortunately, I didn't figure in full insurance for a financed car (the Talon was a straight purchase, so I could get away with the bare-minimum car insurance) along with the car loan monthly payments, so the savings weren't... well, there, period. In retrospect (20/20 hindsight and all that) I should've just taken out a small loan to fix up the Talon (ECU needed replacing, front end banged up from an accident that kept me from going too fast for fear of the hood popping open and smacking the windshield at highway speeds) and just stuck with that. Oh well, I guess. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, didn't.

Now, I figure I'll probably wind up driving the Caliber until major body parts start falling off, as the money isn't exactly rolling in for me.

All your safe space are belong to Trump

The Talon was a mistake.... for you didn't get the AWD version.

A pity that they, like most other manufacturers, turned their back to turbocharging when they introduced the third-gen Eclipse...

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.