4x4 Photos

Jeff396 · Nov 7, 2001

Yeah, I remember working at a gas station back inthe late 70's when we had lines at gas stations. Heck, some would even limit the amout you could buy per visit. Back then everyone went running from the large cars hence the Japanese car invasion. America could never figure out how to build small cars for some reason(Chevette, Pinto, Gremlin, Omni) ....still can't. I think after that mass hysteria it would take a lot more to get everyone to switch to small cars again. Also, whatever happened to the gas prices? Was it 6 months ago I was paying $2.00 per gallon for premium on the west coast? The great white beast and my full size van at the time would regularly require well over $50.00 for a fill up! We were yelling, the govt. was yelling and without a word it just went away. Anyway, I ramble....

Jeff

cowboydoc · Nov 7, 2001

Jeff,
You were talking about big cars but look at how well the bigger ones perform now. I've got a Pontiac Grand Prix GT that is over 200 hp and fun to drive, roomy inside and still gets 25 in town and 32 on the highway. Why get a small car when you can get that kind of mileage out of a larger car. Last year when I was looking at buying a new car I looked at Honda and all the others. I didn't want a 4 cylinder. I didn't find any of the compact cars in the 6 cylinder that got better mileage than this pontiac did, most were worse. To top it all off none of them performed like the Pontiac did.

Jeff396 · Nov 7, 2001

That brings up another point. The first new car I purchased was a Toyota Corolla with a 1.6 liter 4 inthe sportier SR5 version. This car was not in the smallest class but still managed mileage in the high 20s to low 30s. Now the same cars are, as you say, not that much better on gas than the larger cars. What happened to the fuel efficiency....is it just that the gas crunch went away so that was not a concern anymore? Also, my last vehicle (which I loved ergonomically) was a full size Ford van conversion with a 5.0 liter V8. It got mileage in the high teens to the low twentys. Yet a much smaller SUV like the Ford Explorer on the lot are rated at 9 to 13 mpg. I just don't get the draw to the SUV's. They are not as useful as a pickup, they are far less roomy and far more expensive than a full size van and their gas mileage stinks (unless you go diesel). Anyway, I ramble again!

Jeff

Oh, and I would be far to embarassed to drive a vehicle with those things on the back which tell you when you are going to hit something. Man, I guess I need another cup of Java!!

Bird · Nov 7, 2001

Why get a small car when you can get that kind of mileage out of a larger car

Oh, a couple of reasons: (1) our '99 Escort has averaged 32.905 mpg for the first 37115 miles, and (2) even more importantly, window sticker price when I bought it was $15.075./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Jeff396 · Nov 7, 2001

Hey Bird,

Man, did you ever think we'd see the day where we would be happy to get an Escort for 15k. I think it's kinda like the frog analogy...put a frog in boiling water and he'll jump out, turn the heat up slowly and he'll boil to death!! Yes, I guess if you look at it totally from a price perspective then I do understand why people get the sub compact cars. More what I was saying is that while large and midsize cars seem to have more power while also getting better mileage, the compacts have not and in some cases like my corolla they now get far worse mileage than they did in the early 80's. Now I'm pretty sure your Escort has improved since that time but it probably has more to do with the fact that Ford finally gave up trying to develop the Escort and now puts its name on a Mazda which I think was a good move. But if you apply the fuel mileage increases to mid and large cars to sub compact and compact they should be getting in the 40's for mileage. Anyways, I gotta wonder when the prices of cars will stop going up at an exponential rate as compared to wages. Also, it used to be if you were poor you could get a car and just pretty much keep it running. Today with all this computer gadgetry and emission controls the cars are becoming just too expensive to fix. I know, rambling again...

Jeff

njrqs · Nov 7, 2001

Chris

Yep I would have though diesel is easier to make, easier to transport - Why it is dearer now is a pain.

MJB - Yes ARB makes serious gear and their diff locks are great. I'd love one but the $ are a problem. A mate has one and he can go anywhere !!

Neil from OZ.

Bird · Nov 8, 2001

limit the amout you could buy per visit

Yep, and I had a little motor home at the time; had to go to 3 different service stations to fill up./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird · Nov 8, 2001

Yeah, Jeff, picking the right car can be a pain at times. I never thought much of the early Escorts, but in December '92, I needed a little car to tow behind a motorhome, and my wife and I were both pleasantly surprised when we test drove a '93 Escort station wagon, so we bought it. It turned out that we were also surprised at it's durability and economy; still looked and ran like new when she rolled and totalled it with 121k miles on the odometer (of course 15k of that was being towed behind the motorhome). So I didn't even go shopping for a car; just did a little research on the Internet and telephone and went and picked up this '99. Of course, I didn't pay quite as much as that sticker price, and it hasn't been back to the dealer since we got it.

scruffy · Nov 8, 2001

I never thought much of the early Escorts My Pa-in-law had a 71 that he put 235,XXX miles on without so much as having the valve cover off of it, before he sold it, last seen two years later still moving on down the road!

TerryinMD · Nov 8, 2001

I have '91 Topaz (Mercury version of Escort) with 182k miles on it. It has just recently been relegated to new teenage driver service rather than daily 100 mile commuting service. The car has performed very well up until this year. Now, the age and miles are starting to take their toll. First the regulator pump in the tranny, then the modulator in the distributor, two fuel pumps (one faulty), struts front and back, goes on and on. I figure that it should make it until the next teenage driver comes along (two years) if its treated nice. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

Terry