Car of the future?

Luis G said:
That's quite a newsflash for me. Commonly, the US make cars sold over here had no such features. Even now, only the luxury versions have those. That gave me the impression that the rules over there were not strict.

Ours are way lax.
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They sell cars in Mexico with less safety stuff because the laws require less safety stuff. Up here, the stuff's required. I'm not sure if Canada requires daytime running lights anymore, but I know they did in the '90s and so an otherwise identical car sold in Canada would have the daytime running lights while the US version wouldn't.

The reason cars wouldn't have air bags if not required is price... air bag prices are in the thousands of dollars, not to mention all the other stuff. That's why the Yugo could sell for $4,000 new in the mid-80s and the Hyundai Excel could sell for $5,000.
Meanwhile, the Hyundai Accent, which is the successor model to the Excel, starts at $10,775. Some of the increase in price comes with inflation, but a good chunk of it is also because the current model has all sorts of air bags and the 1980s model had none.
Air bags are expensive enough that if you try to amortize the cost of putting in air bags in every model, thus having one steering wheel and one dashboard to manufacture, versus having two of each to manufacture, but one is $2,000 cheaper than the other... it makes economic sense to not install air bags unless they're required by law or ordered by the customer.
 
Luis G said:
Well, I'm sure the US had some strict rules, but I don't believe their cars were the safest. I thought asians and europeans made the safest cars, while the US market focused more on luxury and looks than security.
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As an example of what American cars have available for safety features, these are the safety features on a Mercury Grand Marquis. And it's not even a luxury car - a loaded one costs less than $30k brand-new.

My Grand Marquis is equipped with optional side-impact air bags. It's a $400 option, and IMO, worth every penny. You can see in this video what happens in a side impact crash: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: New Side Crash Tests (3 min. 16 sec.). You can see the crash-test dummy's head leave a dent on the pickup truck's hood. Ouch.

Interestingly, a Grand Marquis rates higher in crash-test safety ratings than the luxury cars in the video.

Mercury said:
Grand Marquis has the longest running five-star front crash-test rating. It’s the only car in its class to receive the government’s highest five-star front crash-test rating 12 years in a row. In addition, when equipped with available front-seat side airbags, Grand Marquis is the only vehicle in its class to receive five stars in all five categories.*

*Government’s driver and passenger front, side-front and rear crash test, and Rollover Resistance rating (1996-2007). Six-passenger Large Car class.
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them cars drivin' round here with the Sonora plates are different, they are cars that aren't legal for US to buy here, when I saw the Ford Ka I so wanted one but alas I'm an American citizen and only Mexicans are allowed to drive them here

besides

its the cars being driven here by illegals using stolen plates
that you have to watch out for

Go Trans-Texas Corridor!
 
SouthernN'Proud said:
My God, why? Look like a VW Beetle on steroids.
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It is a fun ride actually, not something I would travel or buy thou. Since the car is so light, the V4 1.6l engine makes it fly. Shitty looks, shitty interiors and quite cheap, but still fun to drive for a few hours.
 
Sharky said:
As an example of what American cars have available for safety features, these are the safety features on a Mercury Grand Marquis. And it's not even a luxury car - a loaded one costs less than $30k brand-new.
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That price tag is kind of luxury around here.

My Grand Marquis is equipped with optional side-impact air bags. It's a $400 option, and IMO, worth every penny. You can see in this video what happens in a side impact crash: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety: New Side Crash Tests (3 min. 16 sec.). You can see the crash-test dummy's head leave a dent on the pickup truck's hood. Ouch.

Interestingly, a Grand Marquis rates higher in crash-test safety ratings than the luxury cars in the video.
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I just watched the video, didn't have much time during the week. Indeed, ouch. Too bad there's no such detailed video on side impacts on my car. Better to be careful and safe than losing your head.

Thanks for the info.
 
Luis G said:
Well, I'm sure the US had some strict rules, but I don't believe their cars were the safest. I thought asians and europeans made the safest cars, while the US market focused more on luxury and looks than security...
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The safest cars have usually come from Sweden (Volvo, Saab) and Germany (Mercedes in particular).

At one point in time, the American manufacturers focused more on luxury and looks, true. These days, it's more about how can they make the car as cheaply as possible, although they like to think they're still making good-looking cars. (Only Chrysler has shown any sense of style consistently over two decades, in my personal opinion.)

Regarding Asian cars and safety...You should see what happens to the people in an Asian car that gets rear-ended by a good ol' American dump truck, vs. what happens to the people in an American car. Working on an ambulance, I have seen it, and my opinion is a bit different from yours. It's not that they aren't worried about safety. But because Asian cars are typically lighter than same-sized (or even larger) American cars, there is less mass there to absorb impact energy and insulate the occupants.
 
I like the bird one a lot better than the cat one. The bird one, boom, it's instantaneous. The cat one, it suffers a lot more before being beheaded by the spoiler.
 
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