A Deeply Fractured US

[PrairieFella]

You literally can't fit those giant vehicles in so much of Asia and Europe. And Big 3 seem to have forgotten how to make smaller vehicles profitably.

Whats crazy is they cut their profitable ones like Cruze and Focus because they werent profitable enough. They still turned a tidy profit but I guess shareholders prefer the short term over maintaining global competitiveness long term.

 

[mariomike]

Ahh! So that's why every time someone on the highway is following me with only a half a car length between us when I'm already doing 10kph over the speed limit it's a pickup truck. The hood distorts their ability to judge distance.

Whether on foot, or behind the wheel, I try to stay out of their way.

 

[FJAG]

Whether on foot, or behind the wheel, I try to stay out of their way.

Strange. I'm a Subaru Forester owner - my third one. (No lesbian jokes please) I wanted a mini SUV and got it. My 2010 was built close to the ground with a low hood because of its flat Boxer engine. The 2017 was bigger and taller especially in the hood. My 2025 is bigger again and is much more like a regular SUV now. The engine is the same 2.5L Boxer (but a lot more powerful while better on fuel economy). There's space under the hood so it's more a matter of design than necessity to increase the size of the front end.

 

[Good2Golf]

As a pedestrian, vehicles with high vertical front ends get my attention.

Ahh! So that's why every time someone on the highway is following me with only a half a car length between us when I'm already doing 10kph over the speed limit it's a pickup truck. The hood distorts their ability to judge distance.

I was towing my little utility trailer and got rear ended at a red light by a (penile compensating) pickup truck driver who told the police they didn’t see my trailer. It seems safety can be an afterthought in many N.A. Brand vehicles.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

That's less about ideological control than that just maintaining old fashioned elitism though. How many senior bureaucrats or GOFOs do we have in Canada who weren't educated at a T20 school or RMC?

I know a few....

 

[Good2Golf]

“few?” Perhaps not a bad thing?

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

I was towing my little utility trailer and got rear ended at a red light by a (penile compensating) pickup truck driver who told the police they didn’t see my trailer. It seems safety can be an afterthought in many N.A. Brand vehicles.

Unsafe at any speed?

Actually, we own a F150 (full disclosure here: we live in the country and its a must for the Hobby Farm because you can't get really get the farm supplies delivered anymore). When my youngest son took his scooter permit, the instructor doing the practical training asked me if I could park it in a specific spot. He then put a scooter about 40 feet ahead of it and had all the kids alternate from being on the scooter and looking back in their mirrors and in the cab in the driver's position - from which they could barely see the top of the helmets of the scooter riders.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

“few?” Perhaps not a bad thing?

I know a few (upper) senior officers and GOFO's who started in the reserve/militia before switching to reg after university: They neither had the RMC experience nor the regular force basic officer course. That didn't seem to hinder their careers.

 

[OldSolduer]

Ahh! So that's why every time someone on the highway is following me with only a half a car length between us when I'm already doing 10kph over the speed limit it's a pickup truck. The hood distorts their ability to judge distance.

Some yes - I drive a Ram. I don't tailgate.

Alot of the sewing machine cars tailgate. I fckin hate them

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

Alot of the sewing machine cars tailgate. I fckin hate them

You will only have to brake in an emergency once to cure them of that disease.

 

[mariomike]

Unsafe at any speed?

Actually, we own a F150 (full disclosure here: we live in the country and its a must for the Hobby Farm because you can't get really get the farm supplies delivered anymore). When my youngest son took his scooter permit, the instructor doing the practical training asked me if I could park it in a specific spot. He then put a scooter about 40 feet ahead of it and had all the kids alternate from being on the scooter and looking back in their mirrors and in the cab in the driver's position - from which they could barely see the top of the helmets of the scooter riders.

My sister , her husband and their kids have a farm with horses, so they drive large pickups.

My grandfather grew up on a farm, so when he retired, he bought a hobby farm. I used to go there.

It was exactly like Green Acres.

Grandma said, "I told you I wasn't going to like the farm and I kept my promise: I don't like it".

 

[mariomike]

Alot of the sewing machine cars tailgate. I fckin hate them

A high-speed BRAKE CHECK will cure that.

 

[RangerRay]

Have you ever drove a car with that? Maddening.

It was annoying at first but I got used to it. Mine can be turned off at any time and only comes on in Eco mode.

Whats crazy is they cut their profitable ones like Cruze and Focus because they werent profitable enough. They still turned a tidy profit but I guess shareholders prefer the short term over maintaining global competitiveness long term.

For max profit reasons, they abandoned entry level vehicles for pick-ups, SUVs, luxury models, performance models and EVs. They don’t make cars for poor people anymore.

I know a few (upper) senior officers and GOFO's who started in the reserve/militia before switching to reg after university: They neither had the RMC experience nor the regular force basic officer course. That didn't seem to hinder their careers.

But did they go to a T20 school?

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

But did they go to a T20 school?

Once you eliminate the top 20 universities in Canada, honestly, how many are left?

 

[Czech_pivo]

Once you eliminate the top 20 universities in Canada, honestly, how many are left?

Drop off between the top 3-5 and 18-20 is quite steep.

 

[dapaterson]

Drop off between the top 3-5 and 18-20 is quite steep.

Brock: Because even RMC deserve to be able to look down on another school.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Some rankings here. Canada has 3 in top 50, with UT appearing first at 21. Collectively all the US institutions appearing ahead of it serve about 280,000 students; UT serves 80,000. (McGill and then UBC score very close to each other.)

There are sound reasons the top 10 in particular are favoured by anyone who can make the cut, particularly for post-graduate work, but the Canadian big 3 are more than "good enough".

 

[RangerRay]

Once you eliminate the top 20 universities in Canada, honestly, how many are left?

Mine.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Sure. But like everything else they have to turn it into some culture war nonsense with two lesbos in a Prius dying of heat. It could have been an email.....

By the way start-stop doesn't turn off your AC. And hybrids don't work like that.....

Also like doesn't change anything for anybody who already has it on their car....

That depends on the vehicle, if it has a traditional AC compressor, then yes the AC will stop. Other issues are that while the batteries and starters are beefier than in non-auto-start cars, they are also far more expensive to replace and may wipe out much of your fuel savings (7-10%). If your vehicle has turbo's then they are a really bad idea as the turbos require constant oil lubrication to protect both the bearings and the oil. Recommendations from mechanics is to do more frequent oil changes to reduce wear on components due to significantly fluctuating oil pressures.

Keep in mind that manufacturers need to meet a fleet mileage efficiency target. They do this in a number of ways, by offering auto-start, EV and and thin out the oils to gain small percentage gains across their offerings. They don't really care about the longevity of the vehicle outside of the warranty period. If you are buying fleet vehicles with a efficiency mandate to meet and dispose of them within 4-5 years, then you don't really care about the above. However if you are buying used or plan on having the vehicle for 10 years or more, than you better start thinking about the above.

 

[FJAG]

I was towing my little utility trailer and got rear ended at a red light by a (penile compensating) pickup truck driver who told the police they didn’t see my trailer. It seems safety can be an afterthought in many N.A. Brand vehicles.

Yeah. I'm a little more anal about tailgaters since having said first Forester totalled by a dimwit in Florida when I was stopped at a red light. She apparently didn't see either the light or the other twenty cars also stopped there as she came barrelling along.

You'd think that your trailer would have been obvious from further out. I can see losing it at 0 feet, but at 50 yards out? No way you wouldn't see it.