Most trendy and/or fashionable cars?

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by GT Mike:
I have a friend who constantly hangs in the far inside lane. Her logic is that she's usually passing most the other traffic, so why keep moving back and forth.

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What I've seen in Germany (and I've driven about 1500 miles here thus far) is that most of the cars that hang out in the left lane are going at least 100MPH, and that tends to be true when the right and/or middle lanes are occupied with slower moving vehicles.

Although I have seen people might into the right or middle lanes only to immediately move right back into the left lane when they see a much slower moving vehicle which they probably should've seen when they were still in the left lane.

Anyone passing in the left lane will move over for a faster vehicle IF the right lane is clear of slower moving vehicles. Nobody expects you to slam on your brakes to slow down to 50MPH for the truck that might be in the middle or right lane to allow someone to pass. That wouldn't make any sense.

The trucks here can be a little aggressive about pulling out to pass. They will give very little warning before pulling out. When they do, traffic will stack up in the left lane (if the roadway has only two lanes in one direction) because trucks are speed limited to about 50MPH.

As far as the trendy vehicles here in Germany:

Opels, VWs, Audis, BMWs, Mercedes. Opels by far seem to be the most common, followed by VWs.

Then I'd say it's Fords -- they seem to be more common than Mazdas. I think Kias and Hyundais might be more common than Mazdas and Fords, but not by much.

Then it would be Toyotas and Hondas--these are pretty rare. I only saw a couple of Priuses here which is in direct contrasts with the Washington, DC area where everyone has one. (But they probably don't have HOV restrictions here to exempt them from). Kinda strange with $6/gallon gas that they'd not be more popular than the Smart car which I've seen much more of.

The most rare vehicles here seem to be Saabs and Porsches.

I've seen a few Dodge and Chrysler vehicles but not many.

I saw one Chevrolet vehicle so far.

Incidentally, the Focus C-Max looks much like the Toyota Matrix / Pontiac Vibe. I drove a diesel one, basically it seemed like I was driving a gasoline car. I thought it'd have a lot of torque but it didn't really seem like it did.

Incidentally, Microsoft's Autoroute Europe 2006 makes a strange intermittent screeching noise from the laptop speakers when you go over about 115MPH. I have no idea why except maybe it doesn't have enough CPU power to handle those speeds

 

[gedcruise]

I'm taking "trendy" pujoratively, so:
1. 3 series BMW
2. C class Benz
3. Prius
4. Full size four door truck, diesel, for commuting, of course.
5. Any vehicle anyone buys in the hope of being perceived as hip.

 

[The Critic]

Around here, driving a GM family sedan is already ghetto; driving one that has a transmission leak is ten times worse, hence the reason why I'm fixing my leak.

 

[SpitfireS]

The Honda S2000 has to be mentioned.
IF one could keep up with it, only then could one attempt to "park on top of it"

 

[Earl Filter]

You should have told him that buying that new hybrid was more damaging than driving your old '50 Chev. The materials and energy to build his hybrid polluted more than just driving a used vehicle that already existed on the planet. Where does he think all that plastic was created? The materials needed to build that Chevrolet, when amortized over the 50 years it has been driving, is more ecologically responsible. Maybe he should put down Al Gore's books and think for himself for a change. I would have reminded him that they'll have to call the HazMat team if he manages to crack the batteries next time he puts it in a ditch. Copy this, and leave it on the windshield of every hybrid you see.

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=27&article_id=9844

 

[ekpolk]

Quote:

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You should have told him that buying that new hybrid was more damaging than driving your old '50 Chev. The materials and energy to build his hybrid polluted more than just driving a used vehicle that already existed on the planet. Where does he think all that plastic was created? The materials needed to build that Chevrolet, when amortized over the 50 years it has been driving, is more ecologically responsible. Maybe he should put down Al Gore's books and think for himself for a change. I would have reminded him that they'll have to call the HazMat team if he manages to crack the batteries next time he puts it in a ditch. Copy this, and leave it on the windshield of every hybrid you see.

http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=27&article_id=9844

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Absurd. Brock ain't exactly the "Mr. Fair & Balanced" of the auto press, at least not when it comes to hybrids. I noticed at least four completely wrong statements in that article.* And you're not far behind. All that plastic? My Prius contains no more plastic than the Camry, the G35, or the Highlander I've had in recent years (of course, all cars today have loads more of it than cars of 50 years ago). That awful battery? Newsflash -- it's about the size of a suitcase -- not exactly a monster store of world killing pollutants. And any that are there are outweighed by the fact that over the car's life, it will consume far less gasoline than similar-sized gas only cars. And if you're headed for a violent landing in a ditch, your tank full of ready-to-burn liquid gasoline is a much greater threat to your safety than the pasty stuff inside all the little cells that make up the NiMH battery array. Hey, no question about it, the guy that Louie pulled from the ditch is an A-hole, pure and simple. Beyond our agreement on that point, you clearly don't know much about hybrids. Yes please, leave a copy of that article under my wiper -- I'm needing a good laugh. . .

*1) Replacement batteries for a Prius cost $2300 today, not $5300 as Brock claims. Is he way off, or just lying about it to further an agenda?
2) He makes a cost comparison to the Corolla. Not technically "wrong" but certainly misleading. In size (especially interior room) and performance, the Prius is much more akin to the Camry than the Corolla. I wonder if he's ever been within 100 feet of an example of this car he knows so much about???
3) He makes bogus cost comparisons to the Corolla. The lines are simply not comparable, not in size (as noted above), nor in equipment selections. Hey, if you want dirt cheap, get a Yaris or Aveo -- totally different cars.
4) He falsely suggests that the HV batteries won't make 100k miles. Well, we're now starting to see more and more examples of both Gen I and Gen II Prii going well over 200k miles on their arrays with no signs of problems.
5) Then he brings up an early glitch with the ECUs on some early 2004 Prius models. Now, this is actually TRUE, but was quickly corrected and is a now a non-issue. So how fair is this criticism??? As if the Prius is the only car that's every had a computer or electric system glitch. Oh please.
6) And finally, he brings up disposal of dead arrays and the environmental impact thereof. First off, the concept of Brock Yates even remotely caring about the environment is laughable -- bringing that up here shows how far he's willing to go to further his anti-hybrid agenda. He also failed to mention that Toyota actually has a battery recycling program in place (though it hasn't gotten much use yet...). They even pay shops (dealers and others) a $150 "bounty" for the return of replaced batteries so they can be recycled.

Shall I stop now??? Yeah, leave me an extra copy of that silliness. . .

 

[Mustang_Cougar]

Quote:

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Absurd. Brock ain't exactly the "Mr. Fair & Balanced" of the auto press...

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The smug, "know-it-all" personas of Brock Yates & Csaba Csere are the main reason I'm letting my C&D subscription lapse. I've read enough of their ultra-critical rants about alternate fuel vehicles to understand that there is an agenda being grinded out. First it was those rediculous Cadillac ads where Joe SixPack is allowed to "compare" a Caddy against other luxos (gee, that's not a setup is it?). Next it was the fact that Car & Driver, Road & Track and MotorTrend have become clones of one another...testing the same exact vehicles, same layouts, same conclussions.

But it's the aloofness of the previously mentioned two schmucks that has sealed the deal. It's pretty bad when the "Letters to the Editor" section consistantly posts replies praising them...makes you wonder if it's not just another Caddysham situation.

BTW: You'd think that with all his "success," Csere could have ditched the monkcut and gotten some hair plugs by now. The fact that he still sports the "Lee Greenwood" makes me wonder if he's not as completely vain as I figure him to be.

 

[Alan]

"The materials and energy to build his hybrid polluted more than just driving a used vehicle that already existed on the planet."
Not to

however
I noticed you didn't seem to address this Epolk.

 

[ekpolk]

Quote:

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"The materials and energy to build his hybrid polluted more than just driving a used vehicle that already existed on the planet."
Not to

however
I noticed you didn't seem to address this Epolk.

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Well, allow me!

This is another oversimplistic attack on the concept that really doesn't withstand scrutiny if you take it apart. First off, yes, the hybrid (let's assume Prius for now) does have a suitcase sized NiMH battery that conventional cars don't have. Sure, that takes some energy and resources to make that are not required in other cars.

On the other hand, from the day that the hybrid rolls of the line and is fired up for the first time, it is using less energy and polluting less than its same-sized conventional counterpart. That benefit multiplies until the day, years later, when the car hits the scrap yard. And when you add to that the fact that the battery array is small, and can easily be recycled (again, Toyota's program is on line), the "messy battery" argument fades to meaningless.

On the other side of the scale, at least with the Toyota HSD design, the transmission (which happens to have the motor-generators built within it) is a model of simplicity compared to a standard auto trans. Basically, it's just an overgrown planetary gear set. It has none of the complexity of the current multi-speed autos or belt-and-pulley CVTs (it functions as a CVT). So why are the Toyota Hybrids not getting credit for using far fewer resources and energy in the making of their elegantly simple CVT transmissions?

Beyond the battery and transmission, the Prius is -- hold onto your hat -- just another car. It has sheetmetal body panels, laminated glass windows, covered foam seats, an instrument panel, tires and wheels, and -- well you get the idea. None of these features, which are the vast bulk of the car, are any more environmentally damaging than the same parts made for a Camry, or Corvette, or BMW 7-series, or Ford Focus.

If you're going to criticise the Prius buyer, because buying a pre-esixting used car would be less environmentally damaging and more efficient, wouldn't this same analysis apply to the purchase of ANY new car??? BTW, I bought my 04 Prius used -- what about pre-existing hybrids??? What will we see next? The Prius hammered because a rickshaw or bicycle or unicycle is more efficient and enviro-friendly -- sure they are -- go get a bike if you're really about clean to the n-th degree.