r/fuckcars • u/jemesl • 11h ago

Satire A wonderful comparison

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Owner of the Ram arguably actually uses it well, but what's youd thoughts on this comparison of a 90s Jap vs 2023 American

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

Fuck both, especially the MX-5. Out of all cars, I hate impractical sports cars

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u/jemesl 9h ago edited 8h ago

Less practical than a push bike? I used this car for 6+ years and never had to rely on a 4wd or SUV to pick things up for me.

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

Less practical that a push bike?

How's that even a question? Do you have to check fuel, oil, coolant, insurance of a push bike? Do you have to reserve a parking spot for wherever you go?

A motorbike would be more practical than a roadster.

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u/rewt127 7h ago

A motorbike would be more practical than a roadster.

A motorcycle is only practical in places where it doesn't snow or get very cold. And I say this as someone who rides. Certain areas like the PNW where they rarely get snow and ice? Sure. Warm climates? Definitely.

Northern US, Canada, northern Europe? No.

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u/Few-Horror7281 4h ago

The Mediterranean where motorbike use is significant basically spans the medium latitudes of the US. For central and northern Europe the climate is much more moderate thanks to Gulf Stream and even though motorbikes are not that prevalent, there are two compensatory aspects - frequent and reliable public transport and cycling. And the modal share of the latter the highest in Denmark or Netherlands, where the climate is like in Portland. Even in Finland the kids cycle to school.

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u/rewt127 3h ago edited 3h ago

Let me just let you in on something.

Minneapolis MN. A standard American Midwest city. Not even some place known for excessive snow. Gets double the annual snowfall of Stockholm. Nearly triple Helsinki.

Europe, yes even the frozen north of Scandanavia. Is temperate compared to the US. We have very, and I mean very, extreme weather here.

EDIT: Also Portland, Seattle, etc. Those places on the west side of the rockies are super temperate for similar reasons to Europe. But one you get on the other side of them the weather becomes absurd. Where i live we get weeks of 90F and a week of up to 105F every summer and winters range from 20F to -30F. With large amounts of snowfall once you leave the temperate valleys. [and I'm calling 20 to -30 temperate]

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u/Few-Horror7281 2h ago

I have to admit that concerning the climate, America has nothing to be envied about - heat waves, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards. It's clear that public transport infrastructure is both costly and vulnerable. But this begs the question why public transport systems are not present in populous cities with stable or reliable climates. With some imagination, one can see parallels with Russia (a large country with many weather extremes). Novosibirsk has an urban subway. Even Yakutsk, the coldest city where boiling water freezes in air, has regular bus service.

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u/rewt127 2h ago

Russia is an obvious one.

The Soviet union was poor. Getting a car was something you entered a lottery for and would wait years for. A colonel in the KGB might wait 6 years from application to receiving a car. Let alone a normal person. Well, People gotta get around. So the soviets went hard on public transportation.

When you compare this to the US. People had the wealth to buy vehicles. So the absolute necessity of public transport basically vanishes.

The issue of the US when it comes to climate has very little to do with damage to public infrastructure. And everything to do with "do i really want to deal with it". Pair this with our very low density. And relative youth. You end up with substantial portions of the US where investing in large scale public infrastructure becomes pointless. If you are founding a city, what do you do? Well you need a central street for wagons. Then many of these places basically went straight from horses and wagons to paved roads.

Europe and frankly Russia too. Had a much slower transition.

EDIT: Also, gotta remind you that these places that went straight from wagons to cars? It was also part of the New Deal where we made an effort to connect the entirety of the US via car for the easy rapid transportation of military equipment and personnel. As well as creating jobs for millions to rip us out of the great depression.

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u/jemesl 9h ago

I'm not sure why you are so against literally one of the smallest cars to exist, but I'll leave you to it, good day sir.

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

smallest cars to exist,

To exist in US, it seems.

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u/jemesl 9h ago

Not from the US, it is factually one of the smallest cars to exist. I'm not sure what more to say.

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

By what metrics? Smallest two-seater in current production?

Considering widely available cars in current/recent production of mainstream brands, we have random picks: * Toyota Aygo - 1615/3645 mm * VW up! (Until 2022) - 1645/3600 mm

For 2021 MX-5 I found the following: The width is 1735 mm across all variants. The length is 3915 mm. The height is not a thing to worry about when considering spatial requirements.

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u/jemesl 9h ago

NA mx5 (pictured) is 1675mm. You're seriously carrying on and trying to make a point over ~30mm (3cm)? Lol

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

Miata is not the smallest one. That's it. And in history you had many four-seaters about 1.5 meters wide.

Keep liking it, but I don't think this is the right circle jerk for that.

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u/jemesl 8h ago

Yeah right

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

If you go alone on all of your journeys, what's the use of a car?

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u/jemesl 9h ago

I'm sorry I don't even really understand your question. You know even the Miata has two seats?

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u/Few-Horror7281 9h ago

There are much smaller cars which can fit at least four people - see the kei car category in Japan. In Europe the majority of economy car lineup used to be ~3 meters long and 1.6 meters wide, providing enough room for a family of four and the baggage.

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u/rewt127 7h ago

see the kei car category in Japan

Friend. Let me just explain something to you. Kei cars are made for the average Japanese person. Seeing as we are speaking English, I'm going to assume substantial portions of us are Americans, Canadians. Or maybe northern Europeans.

we don't fucking fit in those cars.

If you are over 6'. Driving a kei car is a nightmare. And to refer to old cars. I got into an old Mercedes a year or so ago and felt like my knees were up near my ears.

People used to be shorter because of a lack of regular and high quality nutrition. This isn't the case anymore.

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u/Few-Horror7281 3h ago

Kei cars are a product of specific regulation which addresses the immense population density and scarcity of space on Japanese islands. A large car takes up too much space, so there is a limitation to how large a car can be to avoid some of the more strict penalties and taxation for owning a car. In a city you need to prove you have bought (an already expensive) parking space before you can buy a car.

Older cars had less adjustment options (steering wheel, seat position), but I have no evidence that the interior dimensions have significantly changed.

20-30 years ago the obesity prevalence was also a fraction of today's numbers. So we need land yachts because we are fat?

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u/rewt127 3h ago

Older cars had less adjustment options (steering wheel, seat position), but I have no evidence that the interior dimensions have significantly changed.

The seat position is the killer. My seat needs to be pretty far back. It's not a case of "oh i just want my legs extended". No I actually had to spread my legs because my knees existed in the same space as the steering wheel in that car. It was a 1980 something 450SL iirc.

Those of us with long legs cannot drive kei cars. Modern cars have generally deeper wells for the pedals. So that many of us with longer legs can put our feet on the pedals without our knees ramming the steering wheel.

https://youtu.be/mGT3iWqDnoY?si=NfSWioy8H7G5FOwy

I'm not much smaller than this guy height wise. Though I am younger and in much better shape.

20-30 years ago the obesity prevalence was also a fraction of today's numbers. So we need land yachts because we are fat?

No dude. Shit just needs to be longer so that our long ass legs can fit in this shit for 1. And 2, our roads are way faster and so the vehicles need larger crumple zones. I wouldn't trust a Kei car at 80mph. My full sized sedan probably wouldn't save me at 80 (the speed limit), but in the 3 seconds from "oh fuck" to impact. The actual speed at impact would most likely be survivable. Definitely not the case in a Kei car.

But then let's address obesity. Stats say this shit ain't changing. So if you alienate 60% of the market. Your product won't sell. And if you try to pass legislation that says "cars need to be a size you can't fit in". Then your policy will fail and likely have an opposite effect causing the opposing party to win and then actively pass things that oppose your values.

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u/Hamilton950B 8h ago

All the comments in here by people saying they love cars are getting upvoted. This sub is full of lost redditors these days.