Hi Fi Spending Smarter Than Car Spending?

[JJB70]

My father was a doctor and mother a nurse and I grew up having motorcyclists being referred to as "Temporary Australians". Many years ago, I too dated, bought a house and nearly got married a nurse who worked in A&E/Intensive care. Many late-shift nights I'd go to pick her up and make the trip up to the top level ICU where I'd get to hang out and chat with the nurses and sometimes a seriously messed up patient who wasn't going to make it. Several times I'd talk to someone and then the next day or few later I'd ask how he was going. Often they had died.

The phrase my former girlfriend used was "organ donor". One of the things I quite liked about socialising with nurses and doctors when we were together was their very dark sense of humour.

 

[JJB70]

My wife's co-worker had her son beheaded at age 20 in a motorcycle accident.

Dreadful, there was an incident in my home town where I grew up which resulted in a motorcyclist being decapitated on the main street during the day, it was a hideous incident as a lot of people including children were waiting at bus stops and witnessed the whole thing, head rolling down the street and all.

 

[JJB70]

I completely agree with all your other points as well, but they are even worse than this, they barely have any more interior space than the salon they are based on. Cars on stilts is how I refer to them.

I tend to think that luggage and clutter expands to fill the available space. A good old fashioned estate is a better load lugger than most SUVs unless you go for one of the really big ones that is closer to being a commercial vehicle than a car but even with estate cars a good well packaged hatchback isn't that far behind in my experience.

 

[Soniclife]

I tend to think that luggage and clutter expands to fill the available space.

When we go on holiday in the car it's always full, does not matter how big or small the car is. We used to go in my wife's focus hatchback, now we use my Jaguar saloon, which takes a lot less stuff, we still only use about half of what we take.

It's it my imagination that modern cars keep getting bigger on the outside, but smaller on the inside?

 

[JJB70]

When we go on holiday in the car it's always full, does not matter how big or small the car is. We used to go in my wife's focus hatchback, now we use my Jaguar saloon, which takes a lot less stuff, we still only use about half of what we take.

It's it my imagination that modern cars keep getting bigger on the outside, but smaller on the inside?

It's like flying, if airlines gave people a 100Kg baggage allowance people would fly with 100Kg of baggage. The boot in my Audi A6 saloon is huge in terms of depth and volume, but the opening and height can be a little restrictive. I used to join ships for tours of duty lasting several months with not much more than many people now consider essential for a long weekend (and that isn't actually much of an exaggeration. Before the A6 I drove a VW Golf, and it was very rare that I found the boot too small and on those rare occasions it was too small I needed a full size van rather than an estate.

 

[restorer-john]

It's it my imagination that modern cars keep getting bigger on the outside, but smaller on the inside?

It's true. The cosseted lines and shapes of modern cars translate to less available interior space for the typical loads we carry- HiFi and speaker boxes!

My 2006 SUV can fit a washing machine and dryer easily standing up in the back as the roof line is higher and the load area folds completely flat. My partner's much "bigger" and newer SUV cannot, as the tailgate is more closed in and curved and the seats do not fold flat.

 

[Soniclife]

The cosseted lines and shapes of modern cars translate to less available interior space for the typical loads we carry- HiFi and speaker boxes!

I did once get a pair of PMC fact 12s, in their boxes, in my modern mini hatch, you just need to use your imagination sometimes. The dealer thought I was mad for trying.

 

[Soniclife]

and the seats do not fold flat.

What is that about? I've noticed it to in lots of cars, it just seems like bad design, not done for a reason. So many cars had this sorted in the past.

 

[JJB70]

What's the modern craze with electric tailgates about? They take longer to open and shut, add the complexity of a motor and closing mechanism and how lazy do you have to be to find it too strenuous to close a car boot?

 

[restorer-john]

What's the modern craze with electric tailgates about? They take longer to open and shut, add the complexity of a motor and closing mechanism and how lazy do you have to be to find it too strenuous to close a car boot?

Laziness sells to soccer mom's. And the same offroad SUVs don't have a proper spare wheel...

Imagine in this country (Australia) not having at least one full size spare. What a joke.

 

[Blumlein 88]

What's the modern craze with electric tailgates about? They take longer to open and shut, add the complexity of a motor and closing mechanism and how lazy do you have to be to find it too strenuous to close a car boot?

I thought the same thing. But I've noticed a surprising number of my elderly relatives and acquaintances have problems with their shoulders. They may have good use of arm and shoulder at normal heights, but anything overhead is a strain or their shoulder has no strength there. Usually a rotator cuff injury or arthritis. So at least half of those people over 70 would have difficulty or simply couldn't reach up and pull down the tailgates. So I don't know if that is a fair part of it or not.

Then the thing advertised is approaching the rear with a big package or packages requiring both arms so flicking a button on a remote or swiping near a sensor opens it when your arms are full.

 

[Blumlein 88]

They may be moderately non-crap as dragsters but as sports cars they are monumentally shite.
IMHO of course.
The increase in the number of these POS on the roads has more than cancelled the use of electric car emissions since they are so unbelieveably crap on fuel efficiency since they are stupidly overweight and have the aerodynamics of an apartment building.
Plus law allows them to have a higher bumper line, so not are much more dangerous too.

Not keen on them myself
Fine for farmers though though they don't even have more internal space than an estate car.
Inverted Tardis for those who know Dr. Who.

I agree with you. On the matter of drag however, they are better than they look. The Grand Cherokee claims .339 which isn't too bad. When combined with such a large frontal area it still is more drag of course. Some other makes are between .32 and .34. The Cayenne is .39 which is getting up there for modern cars.