- cross-posted to:
- fuckcars@lemmy.world
- ausmemes@aussie.zone
- cross-posted to:
- fuckcars@lemmy.world
- ausmemes@aussie.zone
cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/35652259
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Fuck the car companies who subvert standards for more profit.
fuck standards that have obvious loopholes
The epa made this huge become epidemic with it’s emission standards and the suv exemption rule.
The end of CAFE loopholes in 2012 is the real reason cars have gotten so much bigger. They used to be able to classify virtually anything they wanted as a truck. When the 2008 PT Ctuiser was classified as a truck, the EPA adjusted the standards to start classifying vehicles by their foorprint and not their use beginning in 2012.
That’s why the Ranger, Colorado, Dakota, and the rest of the small trucks were discontinued. Suddenly a small truck used to haul shit had stricter fuel economy standards than a Corolla. And the auto manufacturers realized that instead of improving vehicles as the standards got tighter over time, they could just make the footprint bigger. It’s why when the Ranger came back, some models were bigger than older F150s and why you have these behemoths on the road today artificially bumped up in size with the same bed size as a Kei truck.
The CAFE rules caught up with vans a few years ago, and all the mini cargo vans (NV200, Transit Connect, ProMaster City) were discontinued.
It was especially inconvenient for the NV200, which had just been adopted as the new New York City standard model taxi, since it could comfortably hold several people, their luggage, and was wheelchair accessible.
The other thing that happened to the consumer, is manufacturer started making bigger vehicles because of the emission rules, but customers started feeling like small vehicles are unsafe because all the other cars on the road are big. So it become a rush to get a big car as well now we have an entire generation that wants a big car because is safety. All stemming from the intension of lowing emissions.
The “big car better” narrative was also heavily pushed by the auto industry so people wouldn’t demand small, affordable trucks.
Listen to country songs or watch TV shows about real men doing real man ranch things in their real man American trucks that have a perfect wax job right before splashing through the mud cinematiccally. They’re everywhere.
They don’t want people wanting vehicles that cost less and require real innovation in fuel economy. They want you to buy a $75,000 F150 Super Crew.
They also side with the insurance lobby to require separate liability insurance policies on all your vehicles even though your vehicles aren’t covered by liability policies. Otherwise you might buy a cheap used Kei truck without a separate policy for hauling stuff every few weeks and an affordable, efficient small car for daily driving with full coverage, all for less than half the price of a new pickup.
I wish the US would allow chinese evs and Japanese kei cars here.
You can import a Kei car that’s 25 years old, but some states don’t allow them to be registered.
Texas finally started allowing them to be registered in 2025, and they’re about 8-10 grand out the door. When the time comes to replace my NV200, I may look into getting one as a beater cargo car alongside a small electric or hybrid car as my daily driver. Would still cost less than a used full-size pickup or cargo van.
But I’m also keeping a close eye on Slate. Those have potential, but the Bezos investment has me questioning it.
I want an autozam az1 or the Suzuki version, but California won’t let them be registered. I might have to register out of state but with an the flock cameras i will get pulled over for sure.
I just don’t understand how can people enjoy driving this boat. You see nothing, parking is a nightmare and what benefits do you get?
Police can’t see you have gay sex with prostitutes, it’s why they jack up the suspension. Tell everyone.
Make pee pee feel big
Out of town they’re pretty nice to drive to be fair. Wide and long wheelbase = great on highway, tons of clearance = shouldn’t be too worried about getting gravel dings on a dirt road compared to a low car.
But of course most of them are driven around town mostly, where there’s literally no benefit to the size unless you’re trying to score a gouranga. You don’t get the seating capacity of a large SUV and unlike a van your back’s open so good luck storing anything there without getting it stolen when parked unless you get a cover for the bed, in which case why didn’t you just get an SUV that lets you switch between extra seats and cargo space?
Everyone i ever knew who drove these things is just because they can and how manly and loud it is.
On the plus side, you never see them in places with difficult parking.
You do. They just use more than one parking space or partially block the road/sidewalk
Nah, they just use 2 or more spots, or block part of the way.
in placea with actually difficult parking, no
but you do see them blocking shit nearby. and making places perfectly normal but slightly tight parking absolutely terrible to navigate through because they jammed a boat into the small parking lot and blocked half the lane
Because it makes small PP look large. Very big. Get many women.
They like the idea of everyone looking at them longingly. What they don’t realize is everyone is looking at their abhorrent vehicle.
deleted by creator
My truck is a luxury SUV without the back end being covered, has alll the comforts you’d need. Amazing vehicle
all the comforts that I need except being able to see out of it, drive safely, and not worry about killing people
“f you, I got mine”, right?
In case anyone is wondering if this person’s opinions are worth caring about: https://lemmy.zip/comment/27726132
How’s the visibility? Have you driven a normal car before? I enjoy driving but I actually like seeing the road and most contemporary pick up trucks are so bad regarding this.
I have to other cars, a 05 Camry and 08 edge, so I do have other cars. To answer your question visibility is amazing. 360 view cameras, I can see it all
These cameras are all on while you’re driving? So you could see a child if they were close to the front of your truck?
Front and back cameras can be but I don’t see why I wouldnt see a kid
but I don’t see why I wouldnt see a kid
That’s part of the issue with these big, slab fronted trucks and SUVs. They’re so blunt and tall that they obscure anyone shorter than the vehicle, like a child, if they’re too close.
cameras
Lost me. I have no interest in looking at screens when I drive.
I know how to use a cross walk (the signal lights up and makes announcements here, it’s hard to get confused by it) and have still been almost hit multiple times after I started crossing. I don’t wear urban camo, people truly just don’t even look for anything except other cars. ‘Is something that can fuck me up in the way? No? Time to blindly accelerate!!’
It’s even worse in parking lots. ‘I’m in my car now, time to go!’ with zero understanding that they just walked through the parking lot and other people might also be walking through it.
i mean, anti tank weapons don’t have to be used only on tanks.
Distribute panzerfausts to all pedestrians
In college I sometimes biked to campus. I lived a few blocks from it (technically less than a block, but there wasn’t an exit on the corner). I remember one day biking back, crossing the road to where I lived, and a car damn near almost ran me over. It was only like a 20mph street, and I wasn’t speeding by, so they had plenty of time to see me. That moment stuck with me to never trust that drivers are doing the right thing. Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean you won’t be hit doing it. Luckily, IIRC, it was a small car though, so even if it had hit me I probably would have been mostly fine.
I recall walking home from highschool with my friend on their bike, older person unintentionally let off their brakes while we were in the cross walk. Super low speed, literally couldn’t have been more than a few km/h but was enough to mangle the bike’s wheel, I got clipped in the leg but I was further from the car so was just a light touch.
That distrust of drivers carries over to driving (people should be driving defensively), people do stupid shit, sometimes without realising (which is scary in of itself).
Boy have I got the solution for you
Just carry a brick and wave it at traffic as you cross. Make sure they know that you can fuck them up and everyone should play nice.
I’d wager that a fake and lightweight but realistic looking brick for ease of carrying around would probably work too, since it’s the visual warning you’re after
If you forget to bring your brick with you, sometimes a silly walk can be just as effective at getting attention and intimidation (most people don’t fuck with crazy).
But if what I need to use brick? Should I carry a backup real brick© just in case?
a well-marked emergency propane tank is also acceptable.
I always have those on me! Good thinking my friend.
Maybe Ninja Rocks could be the solution for you. Only fucks up windows, though
Why do they make the grille so tall on pickups? Styling? It has to negatively affect aerodynamics. Same with visibility in front of the vehicle. Commercial trucks have big frames and huge radiators, so they just look how they have to look. I think that American car makers just style their pickups like that to make them look more like commercial trucks.
It makes PP more bigger.
smaller*
I do suspect that some of those 5, 6 and even 7 liter engines also warrant fairly beefy radiators. Like the Ford F150 is available with small engines from 3 to 5.2 liters and has a lower grille, but the super duty that has a ridiculously tall grille gets either a 6.7 liter diesel or a 6.8 or 7.3 petrol… And you know the diesel crowd likes to tune them too, so those need a lot of cooling to cope with those stupid ass coal rolling remaps (those tend to raise EGTs quite a bit, meaning your turbo runs even hotter, so now you have to cool down the charge air and engine oil even more).
The front engined Corvette had a 7 liter engine at one point. No tall radiator there even though that engine made more power than the truck one. Still, if used for towing, an oversized radiator on a pickup could be a good idea. They jut need to mount it lower and give it a wider, lower profile.
Yes, the paneling choices on modern consumer pickups definitely seek to emulate the aesthetics of a semi-trailer cab. Which is a vehicle that you need a special class of license to operate and can only legally drive on specific roads, even in the US.
Yeah, I drove one of those as my job for 5 or 6 years. Why anyone would want their personal vehicle to emulate those in any way is beyond me. They suck.
I occasionally drive large things like lorries, large vans and tractors, and I also cannot fathom why anyone would voluntarily drive something big just to get around.
I’m very happy with my 40 year old hatchback.
Pretty sure semis have better front vis than many modern trucks, especially GMCs.
special roads? you mean almost all roads that don’t have silly signs?
https://matt.jajkowski.com/blog/cars/y-are-trucks-so-big-now-the-surprising-role-of-cafe-standards/
Pretty sure this is a lot of it. By making them bigger all the proportions change thus a big grille for a massive truck.
The information isn’t inaccurate, but is that an AI written article? LLMs tend to use emojis like that
Could be. Was just a quick article I found to explain.
If it is I’d love to find a non slop article.
Actual drawing of a 2018+ Chevy truck. Fucking butt ass ugly pieces of shit, like almost all new cars. I’ll go back to 2004 thanks, when cars were peak.
If it has to be cars, I prefer the Trabant or Citroen DS style look. Those are beautiful.
But that said… what is y’alls favourite bicycle? I personally really like the omafiets ones, they’re solid and have incredible durability. I’ve seen people easily do 15+ years with them, and they can also carry two adult people sometimes (one on the saddle, another on the luggage carrier if it’s steel).
For brands I never buy anything but Dutch-manufactured, tbh.
Isn’t the trabant made of plastic?
It is and it’s a piece of shit, there’s a reason you don’t see them on the road much anymore. Actually, there are many reasons.
Minus the last year or two of production they had tiny two stroke engines. Like basically dirt bike engines, but nowhere near as powerful since it had low compression and a low redline.
Of course that later engine, which is pretty rare, is barely any more powerful since it’s twice as big but also four stroke - but at least being a four stroke it should run a fair bit cleaner and you won’t have to add oil to the fuel.
It also had no fuel pump, so the fuel tank sat on top of the engine. I imagine that would be fun if it started leaking, like in an accident or something.
Fuel consumption per Wikipedia is 7l/100km which doesn’t sound too bad but it’s about comparable with a luxury SUV in 2026 which weighs 4 times as much. At least a 6 cylinder diesel or hybrid one, big V8s will of course be worse.
You really wouldn’t want to take them out of the city either. The things weren’t powerful enough to warrant an overdrive gear so in fourth you’d be cruising on the highway at 90 km/h doing 4000 rpm or so.
The thing went out of production because by the end, more modern and better (in pretty much every way) cars were actually cheaper to buy too.
Yessir, the more wall-like the front of the truck is, the more better it is and the more of a big strong boy the driver is.
I have to give credit to the drawing in the OP, since they even got it right that the hood line is now higher than the rest of the midline created by the bottoms of the windows and the top of the bed.
