David Horsey by David Horsey

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Comments (31) Jump to Comments Form

  1. LateToTheGame

    LateToTheGame said, 6 months ago

    Sounds like a 2-for-1 benefit plan to me. Smaller cars means less resources and we get to down-size ourselves too. Win-win!

  2. cdward

    cdward said, 6 months ago

    I love my small car. And even if Americans have gotten fat, it’s not irreversible. We can learn to live with smaller just like everyone else. We’ll be better off for it.

  3. Anthony 2816

    Anthony 2816Genius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Get a Prius. It’s a mid-sized, not small car. 45 mpg, very comfortable and versatile, handles well.

    Oh, wait, he wants us to buy American…

  4. motivemagus

    motivemagus said, 6 months ago

    They build ‘em here, Anthony!

  5. danielsangeo

    danielsangeo said, 6 months ago

    “They build ‘em here, Anthony!”

    …then send the profits out of country.

  6. DHLEAKY

    DHLEAKYGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    danielsangeo says:
    “They build ‘em here, Anthony!”
    …then send the profits out of country.
    ,
    ,Caymans, Switzerland. Luxembourg, etc.
    ,Oh you meant the foreigners, sorry.

  7. cdward

    cdward said, 6 months ago

    Anthony, Prius is a great car and I considered it, but my driving is 90% alone, often in the city, so smaller works well for me. For half the price, I got a smart car and love it.

  8. cdward

    cdward said, 6 months ago

    And if the US made a car like the smart, I definitely would have bought it.

  9. oldlegodad

    oldlegodadGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    When gas hit $2.00/gallon again I slowed down and got 22MPG over the last 315 miles in my 1996 Pickup Truck.

  10. Anyol'tomcat

    Anyol'tomcatGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    AirpoD compressed air “fueled” car, article in the Guardian:
    http://tinyurl.com/oyubnn

  11. lcbiii
  12. Anthony 2816

    Anthony 2816Genius_badge said, 6 months ago

    CD, I wanted a Smart Car since I first saw one in Rome several years ago. But a few weeks ago (after being on the waiting list for several months) I test drove one and decided it wasn’t for me.

    I think one of the main things was the rough shifting. The “automatic manual” is a clever idea, but just not that smooth, although I guess you can learn judicious and timely application of the accelerator to smooth it out?

    The Prius gets slightly better mileage, and is just a much nicer and versatile car.

    Of course it costs, what, twice as much?

  13. LLeRay

    LLeRayGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Dredpiraterobts says “You mean a small car, like Saturn makes? That no one buys?”
    I was more than happy with the Saturn I bought in the mid-1990’s (it lasted until a thief wrecked it), but the GM management couldn’t stand having lightening-in-a-bottle and screwed them up. My second Saturn had all sorts of stupid manufacturing errors and I wasn’t happy with that one.

    Americans do buy small cars, even if it is only their second, but have few USA made options.

  14. Tigger

    TiggerGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

    Stupid

  15. dtroutma

    dtroutma said, 6 months ago

    A place for everything and everything in its place? Small cars for commuting came out decades ago, with big trucks. Commuting in a big truck/van/gas guzzler that you only need 10% of the time doesn’t really make sense, for your own wallet. Most people do NOT “need” the tanks they drive daily. BTW, my ‘67 Lotus was about the smallest car ever imported, gets 30 mpg at 100 mph, and accommodated a friend 7’2” tall in greater comfort than his Buick.(Granted he was tall and slender)

  16. cdward

    cdward said, 6 months ago

    lcbiii, I know all the spin on smart cars – that YouTube video is old and shows a car being rammed into a concrete barrier at 70 mph. What your video doesn’t show is that the interior was relatively unscathed, and the doors even worked afterward. It receives good crash test scores (albeit for a small car). Having said that, it’s safer than a Miata. And it’s remarkably comfortable even for big guys. I gave a friend who’s 6’5” a ride, and he had to admit that he fits just fine.

    Anthony, I’ll admit that the transmission is choppy especially at first. But we’ve gotten used to it now and shifting is pretty smooth.

    Dred, I used to own a Saturn (actually, two. We had a 94 SL and a 97 SL). Kept them both 10 years each with hardly any problems. But the 94 was a better model. Later Saturns became unreliable and poorly engineered.

    FWIW, we looked at the Yaris, too but didn’t like it.

  17. Cpt. Jay

    Cpt. Jay said, 6 months ago

    I refuse to drive a Subaru cupholder.

  18. Owlsly Whistlepig

    Owlsly WhistlepigGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    I worked in Springhill when Saturn wasn’t A true GM brand And we had fun and took pride in the manufacture of that auto…GM took over and sent us A bunch of lazy do nothing union workers and the car hit the sheets…unions in this country especially in the auto industry are what ruined the field…along with ultra poor management…I know I was there I have stories and proof of what occurred !!! Saturn could have been the best auto America ever made…Gm couldn’t handle it and forced us to build autos no one wanted

  19. Simon_Jester

    Simon_Jester said, 6 months ago

    Owlsly I read where Saturn’s two top marques are currently built in Belgium and Mexico repectively. Is that so?

  20. vatonaught

    vatonaught said, 6 months ago

    I’m 6’ 4” but if I try really hard I can be 5’6” tall and fit safely into a smaller car or underwear.

  21. Michigander

    Michigander said, 6 months ago

    Our excess weight adds to the gas guzzling. I’ve had a hard time losing weight myself, so I have to make more trips to the gas station for fill ups.

  22. lcbiii

    lcbiii said, 6 months ago

    cdward - well to each his own, but in my neck of the woods where every other person drives a dually truck…

    besides, I am more of a sports car guy myself and couldn’t tolerate driving something with so little power and performance…

  23. Anthony 2816

    Anthony 2816Genius_badge said, 6 months ago

    That feeling might change as you get older, lcbiii. I now find that sports cars are just an exercise in frustration. A few years ago I test drove a 6-speed Mazda RX-8. Getting onto the freeway barely past the end of the on-ramp I hit 100 mph in third gear.

    Knowing that a car can do that, but that I can’t do it for fear of getting a ticket (or worse)…frustration.

  24. oldlegodad

    oldlegodadGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Recession? What recession?
    http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090517/CARNEWS/905179987

  25. Corosive Frog

    Corosive Frog said, 6 months ago

    Sooky Rottweiler says;
    You can interpret the expression bite-sized car two different ways, both true;

    Either the cars are much smaller than they used to be or the mouthfuls are much bigger.

  26. LLeRay

    LLeRayGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Crunchy on the outside, soft in the middle.

  27. Corosive Frog

    Corosive Frog said, 6 months ago

    Sooky Rottweiler says;

    ^ Just like my new extra-chewy Fido-berries.

  28. NoFearPup

    NoFearPupGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Get out of my car Obama! Walk back to Chicago.

  29. MurphyHerself

    MurphyHerself said, 6 months ago

    vatonaught, my husband is 6’4” and is very comfortable in our Prius.

  30. Anthony 2816

    Anthony 2816Genius_badge said, 6 months ago

    Puppy, what exactly is your point?

    How much do you hate our environment?

    Do you bemoan the fact that Bush undid twenty years of environmental protection laws, and now you’re frantic that Obama might undo this damage?

    Why do you hate our planet?

  31. NoFearPup

    NoFearPupGenius_badge said, 6 months ago

    I hate lies, Pole-dancer! (The real kind of lies).