Here's a thought. The cars that got Ford started - the T, the A, etc - were closer to CUVs than modern sedans. They're just going back to their roots!
Here's a thought. The cars that got Ford started - the T, the A, etc - were closer to CUVs than modern sedans. They're just going back to their roots!
Duke said:aw614 said:I still rather have a minivan over a 3 row suv if I needed a people and cargo hauler. Image be damned, the minivan does a lot more better especially with entry and cargo room.
Too bad the smaller sliding door minivans never caught on, coworker has a mazda 5 manual and I really liked it over a smaller suv.
I've always bought LWB Mopar minivans. My sister has always bought Suburbans. The amount of extra usable interior space my vans have over the Suburbans is positively staggering, even leaving stow-n-go out of the equation. You can actually get in and out of the vans' third row without shedding your dignity and all of your outer garments, and adults can be comfortable back there. For day-to-day suburban driving, the vans are far superior.
BUT: the minivan's Achilles heels are towing capacity and ruggedness. If you need to tow anything significant or go on less-than-good terrain, the SUV wins every time. Speaking as a diehard minivanner, you'll get no argument from me on that score.
I *really* wish they made minivans with at least a 5k tow rating. Sprinters and stuff just seem so much larger and I think you lose the dual sliding doors etc
rslifkin said:I feel like some of this issue is this: Take your average non-car person and put 2 identical cars in front of them. One is badged as a Ford, the other a Toyota or Honda. They'll happily pay more for the Toyota / Honda even if it's exactly the same car just due to their perceptions.
In my experiences, take many a non-car person and ask them about the CUV they just purchased and they will tell you all about how awesome their "Jeep" is. At the consumer level I regularly hear these called "Honda Jeeps"
Of course I also hear these called "Honda Jeeps"
The Jeep brand has apparently become Kleenex, Xerox, and Coke (in the south)
Jaynen said:Duke said:aw614 said:I still rather have a minivan over a 3 row suv if I needed a people and cargo hauler. Image be damned, the minivan does a lot more better especially with entry and cargo room.
Too bad the smaller sliding door minivans never caught on, coworker has a mazda 5 manual and I really liked it over a smaller suv.
I've always bought LWB Mopar minivans. My sister has always bought Suburbans. The amount of extra usable interior space my vans have over the Suburbans is positively staggering, even leaving stow-n-go out of the equation. You can actually get in and out of the vans' third row without shedding your dignity and all of your outer garments, and adults can be comfortable back there. For day-to-day suburban driving, the vans are far superior.
BUT: the minivan's Achilles heels are towing capacity and ruggedness. If you need to tow anything significant or go on less-than-good terrain, the SUV wins every time. Speaking as a diehard minivanner, you'll get no argument from me on that score.
I *really* wish they made minivans with at least a 5k tow rating. Sprinters and stuff just seem so much larger and I think you lose the dual sliding doors etc
I *really* wish they'd make just about every CUV and SUV with sliding doors. No idea on the packaging requirements, but sliding doors are amazing.
In reply to logdog :
That must be a southern thing, I've never heard it up here. Heck, most people don't even call Jeeps Jeeps unless it's a Wrangler. They just call it a car.
In reply to rslifkin :
Nah, I've heard it up here in the North before. A Toyota Jeep for an FJ cruiser etc.
MotorsportsGordon said:trigun7469 said:In reply to Duke : I meant Roadracing, I assume that Chip G's IMSA car will be done after this year.
Depends on what they plan with the mustang I could honestly at the very least see them do a gt3 mustang since they have a gt4 car already. A gte/gtlm would be less likely but not impossible. Or just a mustang dpi .
The Mustang is the Ford model currently being used in NASCAR's second tier Xfinity series (along side the Camaro). I doubt it'd be a big deal to change over the Cup cars as well.
Maybe this is like the Camaro where they take it away for a while to make you appreciate it more when it comes back.
Ian F said:MotorsportsGordon said:trigun7469 said:In reply to Duke : I meant Roadracing, I assume that Chip G's IMSA car will be done after this year.
Depends on what they plan with the mustang I could honestly at the very least see them do a gt3 mustang since they have a gt4 car already. A gte/gtlm would be less likely but not impossible. Or just a mustang dpi .
The Mustang is the Ford model currently being used in NASCAR's second tier Xfinity series (along side the Camaro). I doubt it'd be a big deal to change over the Cup cars as well.
yes but this was asking about road racing not nascar
The GT is now 2 seasons old, while it's certainly competitive are there any plans for a replacement? Alfadriver? Adrian? Bueller?
06HHR said:The GT is now 2 seasons old, while it's certainly competitive are there any plans for a replacement? Alfadriver? Adrian? Bueller?
No comment, but the restrictions on it to compete are a severe. Just let it have stock hp and it would be multiple seconds a lap faster.
Why do they call them road racers? Any road I've ever driven on would chew the ever loving bejeebus out of a low-slung modern race car. Call them anything but road racers especially when snootiness about NASCAR is involved.
In reply to nutherjrfan :
It was probably because back when they first started racing, it was to represent racing on a course that resembles curvy back roads compared to circle tracks.
In reply to Mr_Clutch42 :
I'm not entirely ignorant. I've marshalled Dundrod and it's the most amazing tarmac I've ever seen. My insinuation stands. Don't hold as holier than thou mega millions of dollars left and right neo-prototypes as divinity to pagan spec-modern roundy rounds. And ok yes I was being facile in the previous post about 'road' racing. Nothing personal but unless it's humorous I hate the Balkanization of our passion.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
That is pretty darn awesome. Les Deux Chevaux and it's eggs mais faux. Okay that was a slight on Citroen.
This changes the Edge ST story quite a bit. I wonder if this increases our odds for getting the EcoSport ST in the US. Probably not.
I hate this whole thing from a psychological perspective. I grew up in the 70s when most cars were terrible, and the American ones were worst of all with the possible exception of the Italians and a couple other outliers. Even in the 80s and 90s as Detroit pulled it's head out of its ass and started improving products, I wondered if they were even capable of building world-class cars. In recent years they've improved to the point of there being many models that I'd readily cross-shop versus the Japanese.
To me, the improvement in American cars is the sort of thing that I have a patriotic pride in, not some political gladhanding slogans (by either party). To see American companies scraping their way to the top, only to abandon the territory is discouraging, and symptomatic of American-style corporate short-sightedness.
In reply to Kreb :
So watching consumer and market trends. Paying attention to what is selling, what areas sales are increasing in and where sales are falling off. Then making long term investment decision as to where to spend your (not unlimited) R&D $$' is short sighted is it? A better long term approach would be to ignore burgeoning sectors and sink hundreds of millions or billions of $$'s into a traditional market share that is shrinking at double digit % per year. OK, got it.
Appleseed said:In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
What model Ford pickup are you planning on buying?
I know this is in jest - but it illustrates the way a lot of people think. If it's not a Focus, it's an F150. No middle ground. The reality is quite different.
Interesting chart from the CBC. I'd like to know exactly what their definitions of each category are, but as long as they're consistent it does show the trend in Canada. "Cars" vs "Truck/van/SUV". Dunno exactly where a RAV4 sits.
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