NPR's Car Talk

GSV · Feb 16, 2004

I confess to listening to this show on weekends. I like to play the radio while I mess around in the garage. Some of the NPR / PRI weekend lineup is good. {American Roots is my favorite of the lot}

I have to say that I'm getting sick of the Car Talk brothers and their habit of injecting their idiotic Cambridge Mass. ideology into their advice. They appear to hate all types of trucks but of course their bedwetting rants about SUVs have just totally gone off the edge.

Maybe their advice is usefull to the increasingly urban populace. I'm sure NPRs listener base is exceedingly urban but please. In the last few months I've heard them advise Subaru Forresters to people out West who are forrest rangers, ranchers, and National Park ranger in Moab just to name a few.

I like Soobs (we own one) but these callers need a truck based vehicle. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given the lefty NPR bent.

After a weekend of listening to NPR I really need a Rush fix.

Drew99GT · Feb 16, 2004

A rancher in the West needs a 1-ton Dodge Heavy Duty with a Cummins and a manual tranny

Try pulling a trailor with 4 horses in it with a Subaru Forrestor

Pick · Feb 16, 2004

I guess most city folk think all pickup trucks are SUV's or recreational type vehicles. They don't realize they are work type vehicles. They also don't realize that full size diesel pickup trucks can get better fuel economy than some mid sized automobiles and SUVs.

GSV · Feb 16, 2004

Another thing about really small SUVs and/or their substitutes....

Where I live I see an awful lot of Subarus, RAV4s, CRVs and other "responsible" SUVs running around with Thule and Yakima cargo boxes on top. I guess the owners wished they bought a bigger vehicle?

Guess what happens to the fuel economy when your mini-ute is pushing one of those boxes through the air?

I'm don't want this to turn into an SUV war. I've also read where one of the brothers wants laws passed banning cars with really high power to weight ratios.

Classic northeast liberal do-gooders masquerading as car experts.

labman · Feb 16, 2004

Our tax dollars at work.

joatmon · Feb 23, 2004

NPR: Where o where:

1. Do you get the energy to broadcast your signal?

2. Do you get the energy to light, heat and cool your offices and studios?

3. Do you get the energy to fuel the cars and buses that take you from your domiciles to the aforementioned offices and studios?

4. Do you get the energy required by TAXPAYERS to earn the money used to fund your operations?

5. Do you get the energy to send your people globetrotting?

6. Do you get all the products you consume and the services you require to market without energy?

NPR, if you cease to exist, there will be more than enough energy to power my home and large SUVs for as long as I care to operate them.

Oh, I forgot, you want US to live a certain way, but YOU are exempt.

Have a nice day!

Spector · Feb 25, 2004

They can be entertaining though and unlike many sponsored shows they are not pushing BG products as a cure all for every ailment!

Propflux01 · Feb 27, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by GSV:

After a weekend of listening to NPR I really need a Rush fix.

Whats the difference??

javacontour · Feb 28, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by GSV:
Another thing about really small SUVs and/or their substitutes....

Where I live I see an awful lot of Subarus, RAV4s, CRVs and other "responsible" SUVs running around with Thule and Yakima cargo boxes on top. I guess the owners wished they bought a bigger vehicle?

Guess what happens to the fuel economy when your mini-ute is pushing one of those boxes through the air?

I'm don't want this to turn into an SUV war. I've also read where one of the brothers wants laws passed banning cars with really high power to weight ratios.

Classic northeast liberal do-gooders masquerading as car experts.

First, I want to say that everyone should drive what you want, but I don't want to hear you complain about the cost of fuel while you fuel your vehicle that gets 12MPG.

I for one see the logic of using a car top carrier. Why? Because it is capacity on demand. Let's say you drive 15K miles/year and 1500 of those miles are recreational that require the use of that carrier.

You are only getting the diminshed fuel economy during 10% of the vehicle operation. The other 90% of the time, you get the better fuel economy.

If you buy a large SUV, you get that vehicles poor fuel economy all the time.

Now if you use it for work, then to me, it appears to be a smart purchase. If the only off roading or heavy hauling you do is to the Christmas tree farm or hauling packages from the mall, then perhaps there is a better use of those resources.

But that is just my opinion.

Large vehicles don't need to get poor fuel economy either. I just picked up a 1995 T-Bird with the 4.6L V8, and I get about 24MPG in mostly highway driving, and in the 1200 or so miles I've owned it, I've not seen less than 23 MPG.

That's not bad, and quite amazing since I average about 32.4 MPG in my Geo Prizm (Toyota Corolla with a Chevy Badge)

I do understand that many of the unibody SUV's get this kinda of fuel economy as well.

However, I do understand the logic behind a small car and the capacity on demand offered by a car top carrier.

It's not insane at all.

TB

sprintman · Mar 1, 2004

I take it NPR is National Public Radio?

labman · Mar 1, 2004

Yes. It is tax funded leftist rants and miscellaneous other garbage that doesn't attract enough listeners to pay its way. As good a place as any to start cutting the deficit. Don't tell me with the net, people are left without a choice.

Do you have the same problem?

TooSlick · Mar 1, 2004

I'd be willing to bet you don't need that "Rush fix" as badly as he does ....

Car talk is clearly "Info-tainment" ...in that respect, NPR listeners have a lot in common with the Dittoheads.

sprintman · Mar 1, 2004

NPR's 'All Things Considered' is on ABC Newsradio several times a day here. I listen to it whenever I can. High quality journalism and some interesting topics and one of ABC News Radios most popular segments.

bkrell · Mar 27, 2004

Javacontour,
I have a CR-V and it gets no where near 32.4 mpg! I commute an hour to work each day and got a CR-V as a compromise vehicle that could haul a lot of stuff and handle a tad of off-road activity (nothing serious, I just hated getting my little 2 wheel drive car stuck). I was flabbergasted to see that I averaged around 21-22 mpg on my commute (all empty interstate, crusing at 70 mph) with the a/c on and with it off I only got up to 24-25 mpg. The rated mpg was 21 city 26 or 27 highway. I felt really shafted. Now, my brother only gets 20 mpg in his 4-wheel drive Tacoma, but I felt like I should be getting a lot better! Now, I only take the CR-V when I know I need it and take my Saab 900 turbo on all other days. It averages 27-33 mpg depending on how well I can resist the urge to "floor it!"

Yeah, a CR-V does the job for me, but at my previous job, I hda a 4WD Suburban. I wouldn't begin to compare the two. Some people just have a need for bigger ladder-framed trucks. These car talk guys are getting really obnoxious! Most suburbanites who purchase SUV's for family hauling aren't going to be choosing among fuel-efficient vehicles, anyway! If you went in to a dealer looking for something to carry the family around, you wouldn't be choosing between a hybrid toyota car and a Land Cruiser! More than likely, you'd be choosing between a mini-van and an SUV. What's the difference between the two??? Passenger layout and image!!!! Mini-vans are just as bad on gas!

Besides, a Forrester is just a wagon with awd and a high roof! At least some cute-utes have a bit more clearance. If I were to buy a Subie, I'd get the WRX wagon. But I wouldn't go plowing through the mud with it!

Bror Jace · Mar 28, 2004

Yes, I've gotten in and out of the habit of listening to Click 'n Clack over the past decade or so. I haven't been listening to them lately, however. Not sure why ... just got out of the habit for some reason.

Before BITOG, I used to spend a lot of time at Edmunds. Before Edmunds, I spent some on their general automotive forum. It had a lot of trolls, though, and that was a turn-off.

Yes, I think the problem with the show is that they are too P.C. Maybe because they are from Massachusetts, maybe because they are on Public Radio?

It really turned me off when they bad-mouthed powerful sports cars ... or defended ridiculously low speed limits. At least once I heard them rave about some car one of them had driven with a lopsided power-to-weight ratio ... and then later they bad-mouthed the car company which produced it ... calling them insane. I take this as typical hypocritcial blather. It's OK for THEM to drive a nice, powerful car ... but it's not right for the 'general public."

But that's what being PC is ... being arrogant and then condescendingly being unable to tell the truth for political reasons.

I do think NPR's format is good and when they cover a non-political story, they can be helpful. However, whether it's an economic, environmental or human interest story they usually manage to insert partisan/ideological nonsense into it.

I should write C 'n C a letter telling them what a couple of PC sissies they've beome ...

--- Bror Jace

Asinine · Apr 2, 2004

NPR doesn't get federal funding. But it's nice to spread those bogus "facts" when it suits your political agenda, isn't it?

sbc350gearhead · Apr 2, 2004

NPR recieves almost 3 million a year in federal money.........according to NPR's own website.

Bob Woods · Apr 2, 2004

NPR is funded by the taxpayers and local fund drives, yet The Childrens Workshop (TCW) the home of Sesame Street, Bigbird, Bert and Ernie, and a few other toys makes millions and millions and millions.

BrentB · Apr 6, 2004

Geez. I never heard any rant about "working" trucks or vehicles - those serve a purpose. Where the rant is directed is to the mommies that need a 4WD SUV to go to the store on a sunny day, and what a waste in total $$$ it is to do that. If you can afford it, fine; it's still a waste, though.

NPR's Car Talk

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