You are here: Forums Automotive News & Views What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?

8674 messages,  Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 11:23 PM

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What is this discussion about? Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit, smart fortwo, MINI Cooper

#7436 of 8674 Re: 2009 Honda Fit [nwng] by lilengineerboy Apr 01, 2008 (3:15 am)
Replying to: nwng (Mar 31, 2008 9:03 am) Different vehicles have different tuning on the bluetooth hands free mics. Some cars seem to do a great job with their noise cancellation on the mic, and some, well, some don't do as well. It also might depend on how loud the cabin is already, or not. The bandwidth of bluetooth is fine, there is plenty to send a voice signal, the issue is the microphone being used to pick up the spoken word.
#7437 of 8674 Re: Oh, podred... [dake] by andre1969 Apr 01, 2008 (6:06 am)
Replying to: dake (Mar 31, 2008 3:22 pm) My frustration is I pay higher insurance premiums (and gas prices for that matter) to account for all the yahoos tearing around in their giant SUVs crushing everything they happen to come into contact with.   Not necessarily. You're also paying higher insurance premiums because a lot of yahoos go tearing around in little cars too, and end up smearing themselves on the highway. Now I'm not trying to totally excuse big trucks and SUVs, but as someone who drives a standard-sized truck fairly regularly, and has been the hittee several times, but never the hitter, I'm questioning why I should be penalized?   I think the best way to make someone pay their fair share, is to look at their driving history and see what kind of damage/trouble they've caused in the past. If they have a record of ridiculous speeding, or at-fault accidents, then yeah, definitely hit them with a surcharge if they buy some big monstrosity that has the potential to do more damage. And if you buy a vehicle that's going to be more expensive to repair when it gets wrecked, be it an SUV, car, or whatever, then definitely tack on a surcharge. But make sure the punishment fits the crime.   As for fuel prices? Blame that on increased global demand. Not to sound too ambivalent about it, but if we weren't burning it up in big trucks and SUVs, it would just get burned up somewhere else. Or the oil producers would just cut back on production. Now I'm not advocating wasting the stuff, but if this entire nation suddenly switched to Priuses overnight, I don't think fuel prices would drop very much. They might dip briefly, but then as the prices dropped, it would become more in-demand for other uses, and it wouldn't be long before prices are up there again.
#7438 of 8674 Re: podred and nippononly... [iluvmysephia1] by podred Apr 01, 2008 (2:37 pm)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Mar 31, 2008 11:25 pm) Thank you very much for the recognition!   I make every efffort to give back, by sharing my personal experiences, and reporting in the most fair and neutral way possible. I do realize that I am very fortunate to have so many cars to compare and the many years of racing background that was the direct result of growing up in a Motor Sports family. I am grateful to have accumulated the driving skills and well as mechanical expertise to offer accurate feedback and my take on the subjects covered here.   Thus if there is anything that I can possibly contribute to this forum, I'm happy to do so.   Cheers!
#7439 of 8674 Re: podred and nippononly... [iluvmysephia1] by explorerx4 Apr 01, 2008 (4:13 pm)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Mar 31, 2008 11:25 pm) my focus was the most expensive vehicle to insure for each of the 4 years i owned it, compared to any of the others we own. do you really think insurance companies provide a financial break to suv's because they were popular? plenty of people love to bash suv's, but i am not one of them. everyone in my immediate family agrees because they are still able to.
#7440 of 8674 1st quarter results by nippononly Apr 01, 2008 (8:17 pm)
are in, and it looks like Yaris has started the year with a 60% increase in sales over the first quarter last year!   http://www.pressroom.toyota.com/Releases/View?id=TYT2008040198482   At this rate, it will sell well over the 100K mark this year, vaulting it into the top 5 Toyota models for sales!   Fit is supposedly up some 6800 units for the quarter (that's just the increase), which is a solid 50% boost, maybe more. Only Aveo is down, and well, it's Aveo after all! It's only down 2900 units for the quarter, so percentage-wise it's maybe 10-15%, and the release of the new 5-door is coming in a few months, which ought to boost sales back up some (maybe - we will see).   Subcompacts are coming on strong, now if there were only more models to choose from on sale in the U.S.!
#7441 of 8674 Me, bash huge SUV's? by iluvmysephia1 Apr 01, 2008 (8:50 pm)
Naw, I'd never see any reason why someone can't drive a huge, heavy ugly block down the street, take up viewing space for everyone in the area, accelerating agonizingly slowly, rolling along with stupid looking bling-bling wheels and getting 10 mph. Why would anyone object to a rig like that?   No, I've got no problem with women with toothpick small arms gripping their huge SUV steering wheels for all its worth, readying for out-of-control road situations at every turn with determined Detroit looks on thier faces, gabbing on their cell phones and offering to share their self-important lives on the roads by plugging them up with these huge excuses for Fo-Mo-Co to stay alive. Naw, count me right in there. I love huge overpriced, self-indulgent, gas-guzzling metal, rubber and plastic blocks.   Do me a favor, car insurance companies. Take about 40% of my car insurance bill and blast it over to the group that feels that it is smart and stealthy to drive around in huge, gas-guzzling SUV's. SUV's that blow huge holes in several vehicles at once if they need to to plow their soccer-moms and who-fores forward to their next shopping destination. The domestic automakers have basically been driving while blind for the last 30 years, so, some people decide that to keep the American automotive industry in those good paying important jobs, they'll buy "American." Keep those jobs here, where they should be. Oh, you heroes! Has anyone ever told you how...ummm...brave you really are? How good of you. Considerate. Huge. Large. SUV-ish. Love ya!   Glad you fully understand where I'm coming from. Large SUV's are living reasons to eliminate automotive usages for transportation altogether. Glad I could be of some help. Replies to this message: andre1969 (Apr 02, 2008 5:27 am) ateixeira (Apr 02, 2008 7:58 am) nippononly (Apr 02, 2008 9:31 am) ateixeira (Apr 02, 2008 9:40 am) oregonboy (Apr 02, 2008 10:17 am) explorerx4 (Apr 05, 2008 3:10 pm) and 14 more...
#7442 of 8674 Re: Me, bash huge SUV's? [iluvmysephia1] by andre1969 Apr 02, 2008 (5:27 am)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Apr 01, 2008 8:50 pm) SUV's that blow huge holes in several vehicles at once if they need to to plow their soccer-moms and who-fores forward to their next shopping destination.   And now, let's twist this around and put the onus on the DRIVER, not the vehicle. That same SUV that could blow huge holes in several vehicles at once when it is the hitter, might also allow those same vehicles to bounce relatively harmlessly off of it when it is the hittee.   Take my '85 Silverado for example. Okay, so it's a truck and not an SUV, but it'll still hit like one. Back in 2006 I got rear-ended by a 2000 Infiniti I-something-or-other. Probably did a good $4-5K or more worth of damage to the Infiniti. Damage to my truck? About $350.   Now, had I been in a smaller, lighter, "softer" vehicle, I would have definitely taken more damage. That might have negated the damage somewhat on the Infiniti, but probably not reduced the repair bill. After all, a hood that's only buckled a few inches, versus a foot, still needs to be replaced. However, even in my big truck, that impact really sent me flying. I had to fight to keep from shooting into oncoming traffic, and it was just luck that the car in front of me happened to move forward as I got hit. No doubt if I had been in a lighter vehicle, I would have been thrown even further. So there's a greater chance I would've ended up on the wrong side of the road, or in the trunk of the car in front of me. So this is one of those situations where a bigger, heavier vehicle probably reduced the overall severity of the accident.   The way I look at it is, it's not what you drive, but how you use it. If you're a bad, aggressive, tailgating, speeding, weaving driver, then a bigger, heavier, sloppier handling vehicle will only exacerbate it. But it's still the driver. The only difference is that if you go zipping through traffic in a Yaris or Mini, cutting people off and encountering a bunch of near misses, you're just an annoyance. Do it in a big SUV or standard-sized pickup, and you're a bully. But it's still the DRIVER. The vehicle is just a tool.   Now, if you have a bad driver with a record, they should pay a surcharge regardless of vehicle. A smaller, lighter vehicle is more likely to get seriously damaged and easily totaled, while a bigger vehicle is more likely to inflict more damage. Either way, it's a liability for the insurance company. And the more powerful a vehicle is, regardless its size, the more potential there is for damage.
#7443 of 8674 andre... by iluvmysephia1 Apr 02, 2008 (5:43 am)
no, I don't disagree at all with your points. I am just giving my personal opionion on huge bling-bling SUV's, vehicles that just don't fit in to the 2008's and on. They really don't. They just look like waste. Period. Self-indulgent waste.   Of course insurance companies should peg them with higher rates if they use their large SUV's as ram-rods. I'm not saying all huge SUV drivers drive like that, but some do. It's just that large SUV's, with their huge set-ups that block vision for others on the road and get crappy ghastly mileage...ummm....don't win any points in the "look to the future" department. They represent a once-proud American vehicle product, one whose train has since sailed. I do realize that an idiot can drive a Mitsubishi Lancer GTS as well as an idiot can drive a 2005 Ford Expedition. It is a very individualistic thing, how we drive and how we view our privilege of driving. In light of $4.00 ghastly, I don't see how driving a Ford Expedition can do anything for a person but win them the Darwin Award. Nuff said.
#7444 of 8674 Re: Me, bash huge SUV's? [iluvmysephia1] by ateixeira Apr 02, 2008 (7:58 am)
Replying to: iluvmysephia1 (Apr 01, 2008 8:50 pm) Wow, don't hold back, tell us how you really feel!   To be fair, about .001% of SUV owners actually do make use of their towing capacity and off road ability. Replies to this message: nippononly (Apr 02, 2008 9:31 am) ateixeira (Apr 02, 2008 9:40 am) oregonboy (Apr 02, 2008 10:17 am) explorerx4 (Apr 05, 2008 3:10 pm) podred (Apr 06, 2008 1:45 pm) and 13 more...
#7445 of 8674 Re: Me, bash huge SUV's? [ateixeira] by nippononly Apr 02, 2008 (9:31 am)
Replying to: ateixeira (Apr 02, 2008 7:58 am) Actually, I believe it's 5-10% for towing, according to the last numbers I saw. And a much smaller percentage (but not .001%!) for offroad users.   And the real problem with the large SUVs, besides the obvious foreign oil implications of their sub-20 gas mileage, is the bumper height disparity with cars, something the NHTSA is derelict in its duty to fix.   And andre: yes, it's ultimately the driver responsible, but we have little to no real driver education anywhere in this country, and we can more effectively regulate improvements in vehicle design and mix than we can solve this driver education problem.   But when liability insurance for drivers of large trucks and SUVs approaches or exceeds twice the cost of the same insurance for drivers of small cars, it may provide a push for people to think twice about buying the largest vehicles unless they really, REALLY, need them. Gas costs will do the same. Replies to this message: ateixeira (Apr 02, 2008 9:40 am) oregonboy (Apr 02, 2008 10:17 am) explorerx4 (Apr 05, 2008 3:10 pm) podred (Apr 06, 2008 1:45 pm) steve_ (Apr 06, 2008 5:55 pm) and 1 more... andre1969 (Apr 07, 2008 5:19 am) and 10 more...

You are here: Forums Automotive News & Views What is "wrong" with these new subcompacts?