[Willy Vanilly]

The following questions are designed to help us answer questions for a class project. We’d be very appreciative if you could take a few minutes to give us your opinions and answers. Thanks!


Survey

1. What advantages does driving a larger car have over a smaller car?
2. Do you believe in climate change? If so why? If not why?
3. How would a higher gas tax change your driving habits?
4. What factors influence your car purchase the most? (i.e. price, aesthetics, fuel economy, etc.)
5. How can new drivers be better educated about the effects of their fuel use?

 

[Sherpa]

Suck my balls

 

[dhmike]

o.k. i'll take the test because i'm not drunk.
1 your safer in a bigger car
2 yes i belive in climate change
3 i drive for a living so none
4 price
5 wtf

 

[narlus]

Suck my balls

 

[Arkayne]

I wish I was drunk

 

[AngryMetalsmith]

1. Makes the ladies think you have a big one, or so you think.

2. Yes, you should be able to adjust the AC when you want.

3. I would only make left turns.

4. If it's got an Eight Track, buy it.

5. Re-education camps are a must.

 

[4xBoy]

I wish I was drunk

A-men to that.

 

[r464]

1. Kielbasa
2. Beer
3. Tacos
4. A nice, long nap
5. Dope slap

 

[Rip]

Got change for a dollar?

 

[jonKranked]

Wow. I figured pinkshirt could be a little more creative coming up with a fake account name.

 

[Brian HCM#1]

1. Kielbasa
2. Beer
3. Tacos
4. A nice, long nap
5. Dope slap

You answered #5 wrong, the correct answer is Bacon.

 

[TN]

1. more room to smuggle illegals
2. yes. look a the ice age(s).
3. How much higher?
4. whether or not it is Swedish.
5. electro-shock

 

[vtjim]

1. Kielbasa
2. Beer
3. Tacos
4. A nice, long nap
5. Dope slap

Huh, 1, 2, and 4 were all part of my day on Friday.

 

[stosh]

Try this equation

1 child under 1yr old + 2 dogs + a 4 day vacation (read: short vacation) + me and wife + honda civic (for example) = -200 cubic feet of cargo space.

There is no way with a child under 1yrs we could go anywhere for an extended period of time with a civic or some other compact car.

Daily driving is another thing but I can't afford to have 3 cars on the road. The money it would save would be made up in insurance, car payments, and maintenance anyway. Right now even though gas is expensive it's at a point where driving an SUV is still an option.

People should point fingers at U.S. power plants and China not at the little people.

 

[jacksonpt]

1. What advantages does driving a larger car have over a smaller car?

Generally safer in an accident, easier to carry people/stuff, generally more comfortable for taller passengers.

2. Do you believe in climate change? If so why? If not why?

Not sure

3. How would a higher gas tax change your driving habits?

Probably wouldn't. If anything I'd buy a more fuel efficient vehicle, but I wouldn't change my driving habits.

4. What factors influence your car purchase the most? (i.e. price, aesthetics, fuel economy, etc.)

Functionality, reliability, fuel economy, aesthetics, price - in that order

5. How can new drivers be better educated about the effects of their fuel use?

I think the vast majority of them don't really care, thus they aren't going to listen, thus educating them is all but impossible.

 

[I Are Baboon]

...not at the little people.

While on our road ride Saturday, we saw a midget mowing the lawn.

 

[stosh]

While on our road ride Saturday, we saw a midget mowing the lawn.

I never in a million years would I have thought midgets mow their own lawns.

My new landscaping business was going to be targeting midgets. I even had a slogan.

"You can't grow but your grass can, hirer us to cut the grass while not taking a cut out of your wallet".

 

[syadasti]

There is no way with a child under 1yrs we could go anywhere for an extended period of time with a civic or some other compact car.

Parents did fine with smaller sedans in 80s? The Accord was smaller than today's Civics back then (along with all the other brands). Today people in other countries get along just fine with smaller cars.

People should point fingers at U.S. power plants and China not at the little people.

US has 5% of the world population but uses about 30% of the world's energy - yes pointing the finger is completely valid.

China and India combined, even with their large population, doesn't come close...

 

[stosh]

Parents did fine with smaller sedans in 80s? The Accord was smaller than today's Civics back then (along with all the other brands). Today people in other countries get along just fine with smaller cars.



US has 5% of the world population but uses about 30% of the world's energy - yes pointing the finger is completely valid.

China and India combined, even with their large population, doesn't come close...

Dude, I'm all for saving the planet and I really enjoy all your charts and graphs and stuff.

What was the gas mileage of the sedans in the 80's?

 

[I Are Baboon]

You can connect the dots there to draw a sailboat.

 

[stosh]

You can connect the dots there to draw a sailboat.

Ahhh it's a subliminal green peace message that everybody should drive sail boats to work.

 

[syadasti]

Generally safer in an accident, easier to carry people/stuff, generally more comfortable for taller passengers.

As you know from the Ford Exploder, Ford's big SUV and trucks have been poor designed. Even after all those safety problems with roll overs due to their poor suspension design (which they just instead ran the tires lower and caused tire failure) they still haven't improved the strength of their roofs in some of their models so if you roll over you might be screwed. Safety advocates have been on Ford's case for years..

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/car-safety/car-safety-reviews/roofcrush-standards-1005/overview/

Old generation F150 vs. Minicooper - 40mph in to barrier - Mini safer:

http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150/

Also linked from that article...

http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

“Are the best performers the biggest and heaviest vehicles on the road? Not at all. Among the safest cars are the midsize imports, like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord. Or consider the extraordinary performance of some subcompacts, like the Volkswagen Jetta. Drivers of the tiny Jetta die at a rate of just forty-seven per million, which is in the same range as drivers of the five-thousand-pound Chevrolet Suburban and almost half that of popular S.U.V. models like the Ford Explorer or the GMC Jimmy. In a head-on crash, an Explorer or a Suburban would crush a Jetta or a Camry. But, clearly, the drivers of Camrys and Jettas are finding a way to avoid head-on crashes with Explorers and Suburbans. The benefits of being nimble–of being in an automobile that’s capable of staying out of trouble–are in many cases greater than the benefits of being big.”

 

[ire]

...

From that chart it is clear the U.S. isn't the problem, its the damn United Arab Emirates!!

 

[syadasti]

What was the gas mileage of the sedans in the 80's?

Look it up for yourself. They are corrected for the updated 2008 testing standards...

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2008selemakef.jsp?year=1985

 

[stosh]

As you know from the Ford Exploder, Ford's big SUV and trucks have been poor designed. Even after all those safety problems with roll overs due to their poor suspension design (which they just instead ran the tires lower and caused tire failure) they still haven't improved the strength of their roofs in some of their models so if you roll over you might be screwed. Safety advocates have been on Ford's case for years..

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/car-safety/car-safety-reviews/roofcrush-standards-1005/overview/

Old generation F150 vs. Minicooper - 40mph in barrier - Mini safer:

http://bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150/

Also linked from that article...

Does anybody north of the Mason Dixon line still by American cars?

 

[stosh]

Look it up for yourself. They are corrected for the updated 2008 testing standards...

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2008selemakef.jsp?year=1985

My dad's 1985 2 door Lazer was better than my Nissan Xterra whoop-de-do! To bad you can't pull a pop-up camper with a lazer or haul a load of wood home from the lumber yard with it.

 

[syadasti]

My dad's 1985 2 door Lazer was better than my Nissan Xterra whoop-de-do! To bad you can't pull a pop-up camper with a lazer or haul a load of wood home from the lumber yard with it.

Probably can, has a much bigger motor than this little POS hatchback and pop-ups are smaller and lighter than a medium sized camper

 

[DRB]

You can connect the dots there to draw a sailboat.

Looks like a vagina to me.

 

[stosh]

Looks like a vagina to me.

You should see a Dr. about that.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

1. What advantages does driving a larger car have over a smaller car?

Higher scrap value.

2. Do you believe in climate change? If so why? If not why?

Yeah. Been reading the scientific literature since the 60s.

3. How would a higher gas tax change your driving habits?

Not very much.

4. What factors influence your car purchase the most? (i.e. price, aesthetics, fuel economy, etc.)

Function, then price. The auto industry does not understand the concept of esthetics.

5. How can new drivers be better educated about the effects of their fuel use?

Stop them from breeding, then you'll have to worry less about fuel use.

 

[brungeman]

Try this equation

1 child under 1yr old + 2 dogs + a 4 day vacation (read: short vacation) + me and wife + honda civic (for example) = -200 cubic feet of cargo space.

There is no way with a child under 1yrs we could go anywhere for an extended period of time with a civic or some other compact car.

bullsh!t... my parents did this sort of thing all the time with my sister and I in a 69 vw bug! You (and the majority of the American public)are just conditioned to think YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT A BIG@SS CAR!!!

 

[syadasti]

bullsh!t... my parents did this sort of thing all the time with my sister and I in a 69 vw bug! You (and the majority of the American public)are just conditioned to think YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT A BIG@SS CAR!!!

VW shuttle truck...

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191328

 

[stosh]

bullsh!t... my parents did this sort of thing all the time with my sister and I in a 69 vw bug! You (and the majority of the American public)are just conditioned to think YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT A BIG@SS CAR!!!

Ha, were your parents hippies?

 

[Willy Vanilly]

Hey Sydasti, some good info. Thanks.
Specifically, we were trying to get ideas for alternatives to the CAFE Standards (which impose minimum fuel efficiency values on cars and created a penalty/credit system). There have been arguments that it is not effective b/c people with more fuel efficient cars just drive more.

Also, since fuel economy is not necessarily a good indicator of the amount of pollutants a car puts out (the LEV, ULEV, SULEV, PZEV scale is more related) we wanted to try and figure out other ways to encourage people to drive less, etc (not that most of the people on here are driving that much anyway).

 

[stosh]

Hey Sydasti, some good info. Thanks.
Specifically, we were trying to get ideas for alternatives to the CAFE Standards (which impose minimum fuel efficiency values on cars and created a penalty/credit system). There have been arguments that it is not effective b/c people with more fuel efficient cars just drive more.

Also, since fuel economy is not necessarily a good indicator of the amount of pollutants a car puts out (the LEV, ULEV, SULEV, PZEV scale is more related) we wanted to try and figure out other ways to encourage people to drive less, etc (not that most of the people on here are driving that much anyway).

This summer I will be driving less because of gas prices. We're going camping closer to home instead of 4hrs away. I'm sure we also won't be doing much shopping while on vacation since it's extra driving.

 

[splat]

Survey

1. What advantages does driving a larger car have over a smaller car?
2. Do you believe in climate change? If so why? If not why?
3. How would a higher gas tax change your driving habits?
4. What factors influence your car purchase the most? (i.e. price, aesthetics, fuel economy, etc.)
5. How can new drivers be better educated about the effects of their fuel use?

1) more stuff I can carry, possible safer in a accident
2) Yup its been changing for 200000 years why should it stop now ?
3) the same as Price does , Most dinfatly think about it now
4) Price, make, model, milage , reliability , what is the intended purpose, etc
5) Make them pay for it .

 

[narlus]

bullsh!t... my parents did this sort of thing all the time with my sister and I in a 69 vw bug! You (and the majority of the American public)are just conditioned to think YOU CAN'T DO IT WITHOUT A BIG@SS CAR!!!

absolutely.

we lived in ireland for 15 months, and had one car (VW Passat). our kids were 1.5 and 3.5 when we moved. we did plenty of things w/ the boys.

 

[stevew]

My dad's 1985 2 door Lazer was better than my Nissan Xterra whoop-de-do! To bad you can't pull a pop-up camper with a lazer or haul a load of wood home from the lumber yard with it.

Hmmm...I had a picture somewhere of a VW 411 pulling a camper in Europe.

It was this car, just not this picture..

 

[brungeman]

Ha, were your parents hippies?

nope... it wasn't called the "peoples car" for nuthin! we just couldn't afford bigger cars and if you remember we did go through a gas crisis another time in my lifetime! This type of crisis happens when we as Americans think "wow we MUST HAVE BIG CARS." Well that and a few other factors... but mostly the brainwashing of middle class America into thinking bigger is better!

 

[brungeman]

absolutely.

we lived in ireland for 15 months, and had one car (VW Passat). our kids were 1.5 and 3.5 when we moved. we did plenty of things w/ the boys.

right on! even though I hate my sister... we did have great times crammed into that car! I neglected to mention that we had a 85+ pound Chesapeake Bay retriever that would go along as well! :biggrin: yeah it was a tight fit but, good times for sure!