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Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One

1123 messages,  Last post on Apr 24, 2013 at 1:18 PM

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Messages Page 113 of 113

#1114 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [xrunner2] by fintail

Apr 24, 2013 (7:25 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Apr 24, 2013 5:06 am)
That Corvette will be a smash sales hit, just wait. It might be good that certain people don't work in the auto industry
 
The Plymouth Acclaim being mentioned earlier strikes me as odd, too. While a bland invisible car, it wasn't particularly bad - just a larger updated K-car. Can't say it is more objectionable than a Corsica or Tempo.

#1115 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [xrunner2] by andre1969

Apr 24, 2013 (7:27 am)

Replying to: xrunner2 (Apr 24, 2013 5:06 am)
I probably wouldn't drive most of those low-slung, sporty cars, mainly because they're hard for me to get in and out of. Plus, most of them tend to scream "LOOK AT ME", and I'm just not that much of an attention whore. I don't do a whole lot of driving these days, and usually don't go all that fast, so I simply wouldn't get that much use out of one.
 
As for crash protection, I'm sure the Corvette would score pretty well. Just as long as you don't go up under a truck or something!

#1116 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [andre1969] by uplanderguy

Apr 24, 2013 (8:00 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 24, 2013 7:27 am)
I don't imagine the Corvette would be any less safe than anything else like it it's sold against.
 
I tend to not like driving real showy cars either (obviously!)--I call it the 'car as phallic symbol' thing. That said, I'm blowing myself out of the water on that one as I would enjoy owning a new Corvette at some point after the kids are out of the house, and my wife is even 'in' on that plan! I would buy as low-key a 'Vette as possible though--absolutely not red, yellow, white, silver, or black--I like 'Carlisle Blue' on the C6--and I'd buy the standard wheels and probably pretty much the standard car to keep the price down, although I'd insist on the glass top. And no personalized license plate!
 
It's definitely a 'car as phallic symbol' too, obviously, but I think its history and heritage and really, being the only American product like it (I link Mustangs to Camaros; also, Vipers compete but IMHO don't have the heritage and history), all that stuff overcomes that negative label.
 
Plus, what else would I take across Route 66? LOL
 
Again--it CAN"T be red, yellow, white, black, or silver!

#1117 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [fintail] by uplanderguy

Apr 24, 2013 (8:02 am)

Replying to: fintail (Apr 24, 2013 7:25 am)
The Plymouth Acclaim being mentioned earlier strikes me as odd, too. While a bland invisible car, it wasn't particularly bad - just a larger updated K-car. Can't say it is more objectionable than a Corsica or Tempo.
 
Agree totally. It looks like it would have been roomier inside than either a Corsica or Tempo.
 
I used to see oldsters driving them quite a bit around here, but can say the same about the majority of Studebaker Larks I remember seeing as a kid.

#1118 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [uplanderguy] by andre1969

Apr 24, 2013 (8:54 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Apr 24, 2013 8:02 am)
The old Acclaim and Spirit were fairly space-efficient, and just to see how they stacked up, I pulled up the stats on Fueleconomy.gov.
 
Interior volumes were as follows:
Acclaim/Spirit: 97/14 (passenger volume/trunk space)
Corsica: 95/14
Tempo/Topaz: 89/13 (oddly, the 2-door was slightly larger, at 90/13 )
Pontiac Grand Am: 90/13 (and oddly again, the 2-door was slightly larger at 91/13)
 
Interestingly, the old Dodge 600/Plymouth Caravelle, which the Spirit/Acclaim replaced, had the same passenger volume, 97 cubic feet, but a larger trunk, at 17. Somehow, the Spirit/Acclaim seemed smaller to me though. Maybe they were a bit shorter and narrower, but taller? Inside, they seemed to have a bit less shoulder room, but legroom was about the same. Perhaps headroom was greater, and that's what kept the interior volume the same?
 
I usually don't notice headroom differences in cars. It seems like I either fit okay, or I have to slouch. But once the clearance enough that I can lean forward without brushing my head against the ceiling, I really don't notice it. However, I do notice differences in shoulder and legroom more.

#1119 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [andre1969] by uplanderguy

Apr 24, 2013 (9:10 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 24, 2013 8:54 am)
I notice legroom and headroom, but I don't really notice shoulder room. Even though our Malibu is considered a five-seater, for instance, I can think of maybe twice when we've had five people in it, and when we did we put a kid in that middle seat position in back.
 
With four people riding in it, shoulder room's not much of an issue for us.

#1120 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [uplanderguy] by andre1969

Apr 24, 2013 (9:18 am)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Apr 24, 2013 9:10 am)
I usually tend to notice shoulder room, with regards to how jammed up (or not) I am against the door panel and armrest. However, sometimes a car with less shoulder room will have the seating position further from the door, then a car with more shoulder room. And, there can be such a thing as too much shoulder room. For instance, when the 1991 Caprice came out, it had something like 64-65" of shoulder room, whereas the 1990 was around 61.5". However, the seating position with respect to the center of the car seemed about the same to me. So, rather than making a roomier center seating position, it seemed like all it did was move the armrest out to where is was a bit too far away to be comfortable.
 
And, I was actually surprised when I read that the '08-12 Malibu only had 53.9" of shoulder room in back, I've been in a few, and I swear it seemed a lot roomier than that.

#1121 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [andre1969] by lemko

Apr 24, 2013 (10:14 am)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 24, 2013 8:54 am)
I used to see a lot of those Dodge Spirits used as rally cars back in the day.

#1122 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [lemko] by jipster

Apr 24, 2013 (12:41 pm)

Replying to: lemko (Apr 24, 2013 10:14 am)
The Mitsubishi V6 in the Spirit rental I had was fairly powerful from what I recall. Tore up those Smokey Mountains.

#1123 of 1123 Re: "Wouldn't Be Caught Dead Driving One" [jipster] by andre1969

Apr 24, 2013 (1:18 pm)

Replying to: jipster (Apr 24, 2013 12:41 pm)
And for awhile, the Dodge Spirit R/T was about the most bang for the buck you could get. I think they got its 2.5 Turbo 4 up to something like 224 hp, and with a 5-speed stick 0-60 was around 5.9 seconds.
 
I guess that's still pretty impressive, even today. I'd imagine something like an Altima, Accord, or Camry can get close to that, with their V-6es. But, they're also using a lot more hp and torque to get those results!

Messages Page 113 of 113

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