What would it take to make small cars desirable?

[VetteOwner]

Originally Posted by Mike T

I've always driven small cars...my first was a 1976 Renault 5.

My smart has power windows, ESP, ABS, remote central locking, A/C, cruise control, heated seats (two stage), heated/electric mirrors, electric softop, decent sound system, locking glovebox.....it's pretty much as comfortable as any larger car I've been in, and is definitely not a bare-bones stripper.

I have had a guy who is 6'8" sitting "comfortably" (his words) in the car, saying it was much more roomy than his New Beetle.

I think it's just complacency. Why do so many people eat at McDonalds? Surely not because of the food.

lol see i couldnt buy one, too much extra junk thats gonna break in 6 years or cost an arm and a leg to replace.

RANT:/
dunno why we need electric mirrors in the first place. in my opinion, the best kind of mirrors are the manual kind but have the positioning knob on the inside on the door pannel, because in reality how often do you have to change your mirror position? (same with power seat positions, takes 1 second to lift a lever and go from full forward to full reverse )

lol or heated mirrors, i mean if its bad enough to stick to th glass then its bad enough on the roads to go low and be payign atention to whats in front of you.

lol at heated seats..., its called wearing cloths!!!! or crankign the floor vents for heat.

end rant


hehe FYI even my chevette has a locking glovebox and it has cruise control

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by theclencher

yeah, well i had to walk to skool 10 miles, uphill each way, threw 10 feet of snow!!!

Two wheels and a crank... just too much convenience

[VetteOwner]

LOL now i learned at a young age bycycles+ snow doesnt equal good.

bigwheel+snow=not going anywhere at all

[WisJim]

I would only consider a new car if it got better mileage than the Metro or VX in our household. And the Metro is a 2000, the VX is a 1992--can't those car companies do better than they did 15 years ago?

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

LOL now i learned at a young age bycycles+ snow doesnt equal good.

bigwheel+snow=not going anywhere at all

Ya just need the right tires.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

Ya just need the right tires.

Or just get rid of one of them

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Haha! I remember that. IIRC, some people on BF were talking crap about it. Unless the rider's in the middle of BFE Canada it's not supposed to be all that.

[ffvben]

my wife likes the big trucks shes 4'11" i think its a power feeling she has when shes driving. my best Friend died driving a sentra 11yrs ago(fell asleep and had a head on with a tractor trailer) his wife had to get the biggest truck she could find.. excursion v10 and shes always complaining about the over $100 fill ups. its the big veh vs the small it seems, she said if she gets into an accident she wants to run over the other veh. it still doesn't matter if its excursion vs tractor trailer. huge mass always wins.

[Mike T]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

in reality how often do you have to change your mirror position?

Couple times a day sometimes, it depends who is driving the car.

The comment on sliding the seat back and forth is funny....I've never had a car that only has a fore-and-aft seat adjustment. My new Mercedes B 200 has 8 separate seat adjustments. OK, driving a Chevette, I see where you're coming from...

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

lol at heated seats..., its called wearing cloths

I wear clothes, I thought cloths went out of fashion in the Bronze Age

Once you've had heated seats, you'll never go back to non-heated.

Anyway the point of this thread was not: "look at me, I drive a stripper beater", but what might get more US residents into small cars. Modern conveniences like the ones in my microcar could be part of the answer.

[DarbyWalters]

DIESELS with torque...good fuel mileage...pulling power...ect. I am talking about I4's and V6's in smaller that TRUCK sized vehicles. 30+ mpg highway