71–80 of 104 posts
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>equal damage to roads. That's an understatement. Afaik damage to the road scales with weight to the _FOURTH_ power.
Don’t wheels and weight distribution have something to do with this? Otherwise this property would be really easy to game.
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Instead of taxing fuel, governments should tax mileage * weight (or perhaps mileage * weight^alpha for some alpha...)
Here's a radical idea... don't tax either. Adding a disincentive creates an unpredictable incentive. Just add an incentive to the thing you actually want and be done with it.
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But I thought hatchbacks had hatches. Really though, a wagon checks all of the boxes an SUV does other than the need to be bigger and higher Room for the kids, the cargo, and the dog. Decent interior. Good ride quality.
Hatchbacks have three pillars, wagons have four. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillar_(car)
These terms are not fixed and not mutually exclusive.
I’ve always considered wagons to be based on sedans and with the same length as the sedan but with the trunk expanded into an open cargo area with a hatch/door.
A hatchback is similar but typically, the cargo area is shorter than the sedan and often the hatch is less vertical and contains less space.
An SUV was originally designed like a wagon but built on a truck platform and typically given 4WD.
A CUV is generally a tall wagon build on a sedan/hatchback chassis.
A crossover is more vaguely defined but is built on a sedan chassis with expanded cargo space but less boxy than a wagon and typically only slightly taller than a sedan. A lot a vehicles that are sometimes called SUVs would really fall into the crossover category (Mustang Mach-E, Hyundai Ionic 5)
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As much as I like hatchbacks and wagons, when a CR-V gets the same gas mileage as an Accord, I'm going to go with the CR-V. More stuff, more ground clearance.
Do they really get the same milage? Or are they just subject to a less stringent efficiency standard? Higher ground clearance is usually associated with less fuel efficiency.
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> The more hegemonic the system, the more the imagination is struck by the smallest of its reversals. The challenge, even infinitesimal, is the image of a chain failure. Seriously though, the purpose of those regulations is to prevent upstarts from making simple, cheap, reliable vehicles and to protect the incumbents. Gotta have a big bank account and a lot of lawyers to redesign and crash test a handful of vehicles…
1980 and 2021 civic get basically the same mpg.
Also, the EPA ratings have changed between now and then getting stricter and closer to actual mileage. That 1980 vehicle would get much lower mileage ratings now than it did then.
I've been looking for a new small car in the US. There really aren't any options any more. Even the 'small' cars are all 4 doors and I only want 2. All I can come up with is: Mini and MX-5 I'd love to go electric but the Mini-E range is terrible (~100 miles). They are supposed to be coming out with a new version that doubles the range though, so at least that is good.
People wanted rear wheel drive, American made, V8 powered cars. Detroit stopped making those, so people compromised and bought pickup trucks and SUVs. Now Detroit will be forced to stop making those. Just let people but what they want.
Same thing happened here in Australia. Lots of hand wringing over the fate of our big, RWD sedans, but Mazda 3 and Hiluxes were where the money went.
I've been looking for a new small car in the US. There really aren't any options any more. Even the 'small' cars are all 4 doors and I only want 2. All I can come up with is: Mini and MX-5 I'd love to go electric but the Mini-E range is terrible (~100 miles). They are supposed to be coming out with a new version that doubles the range though, so at least that is good.
Do they not sell the Ford Fiesta any more? Mazda2? Great little cars and surprisingly quick.
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But I thought hatchbacks had hatches. Really though, a wagon checks all of the boxes an SUV does other than the need to be bigger and higher Room for the kids, the cargo, and the dog. Decent interior. Good ride quality.
SUV's can tow, which is a very useful feature if you have a family and also need to tow something. I have been needing to tow an excavator for the past few months. Renting a truck to haul the excavator back and forth gets extremely expensive, like $200 per day for just the truck, not counting the trailer or the excavator itself. Making tools, like a vehicle that can haul, more expensive just hurts middle class DIYers…