Today's new cars are way overpowered...

[toppop52]

I love the stories that start..."My uncle had '56 Dodge pickup with a 432 Hemi wedge, special factory one off built for the FBI..."

 

[Retiredguy2]

I love the stories that start..."My uncle had '56 Dodge pickup with a 432 Hemi wedge, special factory one off built for the FBI..."

Never heard that one...can you tell us how it goes from there?

 

[Retiredguy2]

Too much power?! What the **** does that mean?

When the speed limit on the freeway is 70, who needs a car that will go 160 mph... aside from law enforcement officers? I think back when they had speedometers that only indicated 85 mph that was an excellent idea. Almost exactly one year ago a local sheriff's deputy was killed in a night pursuit when his car left the road and struck a tree...had the fleeing felon not had such a fast vehicle the pursuit might not have reached that point.

 

[davesl708]

When the speed limit on the freeway is 70, who needs a car that will go 160 mph... aside from law enforcement officers? I think back when they had speedometers that only indicated 85 mph that was an excellent idea.

Many of the foreign cars are designed to run in Europe as well as North America. The Autobaun is the standard. Since there are no speed limits on that road cars need to keep up with the flow.

I prefer to ban low performance drivers rather than high performance cars.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I love the stories that start..."My uncle had '56 Dodge pickup with a 432 Hemi wedge, special factory one off built for the FBI..."

I have a friend with a 71 Dodge pickup with a 440, that he bought new, and it will make you wet your pants.

 

[KennyG]

I think back when they had speedometers that only indicated 85 mph that was an excellent idea.

I had a Mustang GT with an 85 mph speedometer. It was a dangerous feature. Do you realize how distracting it is to have to calculate the speed in your head from the tachometer when you are doing 130? :laughing:

 

[moriboy]

I am amazed by the #'s new diesel pickups put out. Ford and Ram are both at (or close) to 900ft/lb of torque. I wonder how much more they will go??? For the record I drive last years Ram, I only have 865lbs.

 

[Garandman]

Not really. We looked at SUV's and minivans. Both got about the same MPG but the SUV was a bit bigger and had more safety stuff. We can sit one extra person in the SUV and the minivan and have more storage. Minivan had more gadgets like sliding doors that would break and be expensive to fix compared to the SUV. Minivan was more expensive too. The wifey really hates minivans for some reason, the SUV had more positives than negatives vs a minivan so she drives a SUV.

Later,
Dan

What SUV did you get that has more room and gets better mileage than a minivan?

We have an Odyssey Touring Elite (6 speed) rated 28mpg on the highway and has 170 cu ft of passenger volume and seats 8. According to this, a Chevrolet Suburban has 122 cu ft. It is rated for 22 (4WD) or 23 (2WD) on the highway. They both do 0-60 in around 7 1/2 seconds. So what is bigger than a Suburban?

 

[Retiredguy2]

I am amazed by the #'s new diesel pickups put out. Ford and Ram are both at (or close) to 900ft/lb of torque. I wonder how much more they will go??? For the record I drive last years Ram, I only have 865lbs.
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OP here...I can understand the need for horsepower and torque in a TRUCK that hauls and tows, but as I mentioned in the beginning new CARS are overpowered. How many of you have actually NEEDED to use full power in your car during normal driving? I have been driving since 1967 and have never actually needed to use full power except for two or three times during a high speed pass, and that was when I was driving a dog-slow '79 2.3 litre Fairmont.

 

[davesl708]

Have you looked at the speedometer on the 2015 Chevy Duramax 2500? A picture I saw showed 150mph. Not sure I would want to go that fast in a truck on any road.