Date:         Sun, 7 Apr 2002 22:38:27 +1200
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: American Knowhow vs German engineering vs British electrics
In-Reply-To:  <bd.1ee45b37.29e15930@aol.com>
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><< Ha! US-market (and Canadian, I thihk) cars have detuned suspensions.
>Every single one. Policy based on a market where the majority of
>buyers are lazy slobs who want soft rides over all else, so those who
>want better suffer... without even knowing it!  >>
>
>What is better?  The American car evolved to satisfy the bulk of the market;
>those who live in that great expanse called the Midwest between the
>Appalachian Mountains and the Rockies.  There, you just point the car, stuff
>your foot to the floor and eat up the miles.  For better or for worse,
>America is defined by the Midwest, not by some Yuppies in Connecticut or San
>Francisco.

So the entire country suffers.

>So, what is important when the roads are smooth, level and straight?
>Certainly not body roll and skid pad performance, but comfort.

I wonder how many Americans and Canadians have DIED because they and
the cynical US car manufacturers believe that?

>  Formerly, the
>American car was ideally suited to the job.  They achieved their epitome with
>the big boats from the 50's through the 70's, the REAL Land Cruisers.  Any of
>them could take you from Pittsburgh to Chicago at over 100 mph and your
>biggest concern would be where to set the A/C.

Until a cow ran out on the road... these barges couldn't even go in a
straight line! I've experienced Broncos and US Ford vans, which weave
all over the place on a windless day on a straight road. I couldn't
believe it when I drove the first one!

>  Even one of the greatest cars

WHAT???

>of all time, the Dusenburg, appears to have been designed to fulfill all of
>the desires of the lazy slobs who drove them.
>
>Before you judge what is better, you have to spend a day loafing along in a
>Buick Deuce-and-a-Quarter with Booker T and the MG's.

A car which cannot get out of its own way is a deathtrap. Add
tuna-can-sized brakes and a 2-ton-plus mass and it's a recipe for
disaster. Keep seeing these "Hairiest Police Chase"-style TV
programs, where US cars are seen wallowing and crashing nastily where
a car from a nonUS market would have avoided the accident entirely.

Unsafe at any speed... anywhere.
--
Andrew Grebneff
165 Evans St, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand
<andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz>
Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut