liveforphysics said:
The weight of the Coda is 3660lbs!
That's as much weight as my Honda Insight hybrid AND my Honda Civic racecar combined!
Cars over 2000lbs = No buyer interest from me.
If the US didn't require 1999 lbs of useless safety garbage and emissions equipment that makes cars burn twice as much fuel in order to burn it cleaner, we'd see some neat lightweight cars here! I get so sick of hearing people say that they want a small fuel efficient vehicle but are scared of getting run over by SUV's when you basically have to build an SUV to fit all of the garbage needed to comply be the rules.
I miss the good old days. Our 66 GMC van is completely recyclable because it's made of steel. The guys that built it got paid enough to have a decent house and put their kids through school. It gets 24mpg, which is much better than our stock Toyota 4 cylinder trucks, and burns way cleaner than they do too. I can buy everything I need to rebuild the engine for under $100. The transmission has been in service for 44 years and is still going strong. Also wrecking in it would not be fun. It gives us more reasons to focus on driving. If you give the public a huge, safe, quiet place to sit while driving, systems like cruise control, gps, and automatic transmissions to eliminate driver input whenever possible, then add the horrible reality of forced insurance purchasing, and the perceived safety of an airbag, it all combines to make the drivers feel so safe that they neglect to drive properly. Then, we're stuck in the situation we're in now. People want to spend less on gas, but they still want a giant safe living room on wheels where they can kick back, watch a movie, and be transported to work. We have removed, as much as possible, the personal responsibility involved with driving, just like our social systems have removed the responsibilities of raising our own kids and eating/living right to maintain our health. I wish those folks would just get on a train where they belong, put the kids in the daycare car, suck a McDonalds Big Breakfast through a straw, with their necessary medications ground in, and leave the roads to those that would prefer to drive. The "civilized" world's priorities are all mixed up. Given the current state of general ignorance displayed by the masses, and the companies providing endless, unsustainable products for them to consume, I'm afraid that things will probably get a little uncivilized before anything changes though.
Sorry to rant again. I just envision the world with all of the commuters on buses and trains where they belong, and neat e-bikes for short commutes, Ariel Atom style electric cars for having fun driving, and little hybrid suv/truck transformer things for hauling crap around and getting work done. The car that this thread is about is just another step in the WRONG direction.
