Henry Payne for June 02, 2011

I had little cars when I was much younger, but I don’t feel safe in little cars anymore.Plus, they are easy to lose in parking lots, between the giant SUVs and pickups.

My labels would read; “18mpg, you’re about to be broke”“40 mpg, you migh have enough cash left to have a house”

Anything less than 100mpg is pathetic after this many years “improving” the internal combustion engine…

^true.

Physics is a funny thing, about fuel economy, and safety. The little micro mini “Le car”, proved safer in collision testing than any large car!! I don’t recommend getting run over by a semi in either a mini-car or a mini-van- mass does eventually catch up, when it’s hitting you, not the other way around.

That is actually an urban legend. The micro mini is much more likely to be rebounded into multiple accidents than any other car. The lack of mass makes it a ping pong, rendering each impact much more likely to result in injury and death.

Well, vortex, we have a good-sized hybrid SUV (Toyota Highlander) that gets mileage comparable to our four-cylinder Camry. We wanted the hybrid van, but it’s still available only in Japan. As for the “size = safety” argument, it gets more than a little silly after a while. Drive an 18-wheeler! Then you can crush everyone in your path!Let us not forget force equals mass times velocity. Bigger mass can also mean a bigger impact if you hit something that doesn’t crumple.

^^Actually, force equals mass times acceleration, not velocity. You need to revisit the argument.

My Lincoln gets 12 miles a gallon.

If I get hit in my 12 mpg Lincoln, I walk away whole, and the car doesn’t fall apart around me.

Amen.

M1A1 Abrams, 7 gallons to the mile, and NOBODY intimidates you on the road!

Sorry, should have said force = mass times velocity/time.vortex, the “as for the size = safety argument,” I was responding to someone else, hence the implication that I was moving on.But since the silly argument has continued: A well-built vehicle with safety considerations is considerably safer than a large vehicle without. Here’s an experiment, Bad Kitty: You get in your Lincoln. Heck, get in a 1970 Lincoln, which are real land-whales. Drive 50 mph at a guy in a Toyota Corolla. But first take off your seat belt. See who lives. Size is not enough to dictate survival.

They actually ran a ‘63 chevy into a 2010, much smaller one. Anyone in the ’63 would have died, nobody in the new, lighter, modern car would have had a serious injury. We’ve learned a lot about crash dynamics— and racing led the way. Crush space and airbags beat the heck out of being in a large moving mass.

Why do you lefties hang on my every word the way you do? Make your own comments and leave me to mine. At least I’m happy, but maybe it has to do with not being a slave to the Kool Aid, like you guys.

Actually I missed getting a point across. When you drive a small car you need good brakes because peoplepull out in front of you all of the time. When they see my midsized white pickup they are less likely to make me stand on the brakes. That is one reason I feel safer now.

Rock- try driving a Lotus Elan sometime, or a motorcycle. Cell phones have made it even worse- a semi becomes invisible to them.

THEN you drive a van. But if you don’t have 4 kids, you don’t need more than a regular car.Many huge SUVs are all hype and no inside space. You can hardly sit more than two in a 4×4.But hey, we need to show off that testosterone!