Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Charlie
What is driving? Changing speed and direction. Isaac Newton said you need a small car to do that properly: overcoming inertia works better when you bring less mass.
Overpowered barges that Kingofwylietx applauds (Raptor? WK SRTs? Really?) are not sporty. Their engines could easily be placed in less bargelike platforms, but they're not. Because they're not about driving, they're "vehicular viagra", and I don't mean that in a good way. I remember the LM002, the Syclone, the Lightning, even the Ram SRT 10. Three words cover them all: pa, fscking, and thetic. They can not turn well except when compared to their own base versions, and they could accelerate much better if their powertrains were in smaller platforms. Adding a few hundred horsepower to go in a straight line does nothing for me, especially in something gratuitously overweight.
Someone wanting to add a few hundred horsepower to make a pickup truck go in a straight line makes me question their sanity. Someone wanting to add a few hundred horsepower to make a Jeep go in a straight line leaves nothing to question.
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The spirit of my entire post went right over your head.
I agree that lighter is better in most vehicles, but that option isn’t on the table today....unless you want to daily drive an Ariel Atom or Lotus Elise. The Ariel isn’t suited for anything but sunny days and it’s comical for anyone over 5’ tall to get in/out of an Elise.
What I think is needed is for all manufacturers to agree on significantly reducing the weight of their vehicles. That way they could be driven safely and designed for impacts with other light vehicles. They would consume fewer resources to make them and greatly improve performance. With the use of smaller engines or motors, it would naturally increase efficiency considerably.
The current issue that I see with small vehicles is that the rate of death in small vehicles is much higher in small vehicle vs large vehicle collisions. Unless everyone is in a small vehicle, you will always have people wanting larger heavier vehicles for increased safety. Also, since everyone and their dog is driving an SUV or truck, it’s harder to maintain good visibility in a smaller vehicle. Some of my perspective is from where I live. I’m in Texas and people here have fully embraced the bigger is better mentality. Most of our roads are straight. Trucks are family cars. Most people haul around a full load of air in their trucks 365 days a year.
No true Motörhead would diss the Syclone, it was one of the quickest vehicles in its day. It was akin to the Grand National...
As for design, I’ve heard a teardrop shape is ideal. But, who wants to drive a teardrop? I think the manufacturers could offer smoother designs, but they spend a lot of time/effort trying to streamline what people really want to drive. The market dictates styling cues. They have to make what will sell.
In the meantime, we buy what we buy...and most folks on here then try to eek out the best efficiency that they can from whatever they bought.