[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

The main difference between Europe and US cars is engine size.
[...]
The usual reason for this is that Americans demand more performance, but having driven there a few times I didn't notice traffic going any faster on freeways and on country roads I was being held up more than holding up others.

Maybe in the US it's not about going faster, but about haulling more. On average, American cars have more options than European (P/S, electric everything, automatically openning doors, etc.) which have a weight penalty. Add to that an automatic trans and you need a larger engine to get decent (by a certain standard) acceleration.

As for highway ramps: "too short" is a relative term. Maybe the speed you have to accelerate to is too big?

Originally Posted by Arragonis

I think it should be taught as part of driving school, it would reduce fuel consumption quite a bit as well as wear and tear. It would have also made my journey in the passenger seat a lot more comfortable.