Honda Car Forum

On Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:05:04 -0700, "Michael Pardee"
<michaeltnull@cybertrails.com> wrote:


>I wonder why the US makers decided to go bonkers in the '58 MY and turn out
>less desirable designs.


My take on it is that they had a styling theme and wanted to stick
with it for 58 and were in the middle of the range in 57, dead on
center at tasteful. Trying to keep the same theme but with
substantial changes took them out of tasteful for that theme.

I think we recently witnessed the same thing happening with aero
styling. Conisider the first couple of renditions of the Taurus and
then the one with the oval back glass. Same thing with the Intrepid
and other LH cars. And the Pontiac Grand Prix that's so swoopy the
back door beltline is at eye level for a back seat passenger. And
current Dakota, Durango, and Ram versus the previous models.

jim beam wrote:
> Comments4u wrote:
> <snip mindless trolling>
>
> your headers say it all there guy.
>
> <snip>
> Organization: Usenet Education and Entertainment Bureau
> <snip>
> Keywords: auto, lie, deception, cheating
> Summary: Troll
> X-Funding-Provided-By: The National Endowment for the Arts, Mercury
> Outboards, and your local PBS Television Station
> <snip>
>
> detroit is quite capable of shooting itself in the foot without your help.

Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else -- has
made it a worldwide laughingstock when it comes to sports cars.

senna@winning.com wrote:
> Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else --

from 1970ish until relatively recently, they couldnt even offer HP. 350
cubic inch engines delivering 150HP? boat anchors.

SoCalMike wrote:
> senna@winning.com wrote:
>
>> Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else --
>
>
> from 1970ish until relatively recently, they couldnt even offer HP. 350
> cubic inch engines delivering 150HP? boat anchors.

it's the only way they could make them halfway reliable. cast cranks?
what garbage! increase power? need to increase spending on materials
and production!!! and that would never do.

senna@winning.com wrote:
> jim beam wrote:
>
>>Comments4u wrote:
>><snip mindless trolling>
>>
>>your headers say it all there guy.
>>
>><snip>
>>Organization: Usenet Education and Entertainment Bureau
>><snip>
>>Keywords: auto, lie, deception, cheating
>>Summary: Troll
>>X-Funding-Provided-By: The National Endowment for the Arts, Mercury
>>Outboards, and your local PBS Television Station
>><snip>
>>
>>detroit is quite capable of shooting itself in the foot without your help.
>
>
> Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else -- has
> made it a worldwide laughingstock when it comes to sports cars.
>
so true. i think that every time i massively out-corner a mustang in my
89 civic hatch on my skinny little 185/60-14's. a friend of mine has a
seriously rodded mustang, and we went out one day into some hills where
there are some nice twisty narrow roads. first, we both went in his.
no question, /way/ more power. seriously way more power. then we went
in mine. thing is, power doesn't mean squat when you have to brake and
corner hard with two wheels in the ditch. after i drove, he wasn't
speaking much. then he drove. when we were done, he just got out and
threw me my keys and walked away! it took him days to stop sulking. i
love civics!

"jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote in message
news:y7qdnQeRV4jV-rbZnZ2dnUVZ_tidnZ2d@speakeasy.net...
> >
> >
> >
> > Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else -- has
> > made it a worldwide laughingstock when it comes to sports cars.
> >
> so true. i think that every time i massively out-corner a mustang in my
> 89 civic hatch on my skinny little 185/60-14's. a friend of mine has a

Everyone in the US who doesen't have a big powerful sports car makes the
same claims and tells this same story with minor variations.

The Europeans have tried to redefine a sports car as a car that goes fast
through the turns. This completely ignores several fundamental realities
of driving:

a) Driving like this makes you throw up
b) Just about all roadway corners do not have enough forward visibility to
safely go around at 80Mph. While you may be easily able to stay in
your lane, the big panel truck coming the opposite direction going 40Mph
could easily have crossed over the centerline, and your not going to have
enough road at that speed for him to get back over and for you to swerve
safely

The rest of the world doesen't like to look at straight-line performance
because if they built cars that had it, very few of their customers would
buy them.

But, driving in a straight line is the safest possible way to race against
the next guy on the public street, and there is nothing like being slammed
back in your seat with powerful accelleration as the feeling of power in
a car.

Watch little kids playing with their HotWheels, they race against each
other in a straight line, when have you ever seen little kids with toy
cars pretending to saloom through a bunch of curves? How fun is that?
little kids know what a fun car does, the only reason you have forgotten
is because you have been reprogrammed by the advertisers who only
have crappy product to sell.

Rocket ships go stright with tons of accelleration. Racing jet boats
go in a straight line with tons of accelleration. Drag cars and drag
motorcycles go in a straight line with tons of accelleration, and you
have not lived until you have sat on a 1000cc Kawasaki with wheelie
bars and shot down a quarter mile at full throttle.

Ted

"Ted Mittelstaedt" <tedm@toybox.placo.com> wrote
> "jim beam" <nospam@example.net> wrote
>> so true. i think that every time i massively out-corner a mustang in my
>> 89 civic hatch on my skinny little 185/60-14's. a friend of mine has a
>
> Everyone in the US who doesen't have a big powerful sports car makes the
> same claims and tells this same story with minor variations.
>
> The Europeans have tried to redefine a sports car as a car that goes fast
> through the turns. This completely ignores several fundamental realities
> of driving:

Uh, "redefine"? Seems to me the original British sports cars that
went fast around corners *DEFINED* the sports car, around 40 years
ago.

FloydR

Methinks you friend does not know how to drive. One of my neighborhood
kids challenged my stock 2005 Mustang GT convertible to a timed run with his
riced up 2006 Civic up over a local six mile mountain road, loaded with
hairpin turns where all the locals 'test' their cars . If we had been
running for titles I would have yet another car for one of my grand
children, if he had the title instead of the bank. LOL

mike



>> Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else -- has
>> made it a worldwide laughingstock when it comes to sports cars.
>>
> so true. i think that every time i massively out-corner a mustang in my
> 89 civic hatch on my skinny little 185/60-14's. a friend of mine has a
> seriously rodded mustang, and we went out one day into some hills where
> there are some nice twisty narrow roads. first, we both went in his. no
> question, /way/ more power. seriously way more power. then we went in
> mine. thing is, power doesn't mean squat when you have to brake and
> corner hard with two wheels in the ditch. after i drove, he wasn't
> speaking much. then he drove. when we were done, he just got out and
> threw me my keys and walked away! it took him days to stop sulking. i
> love civics!

"Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
news:Ki-dnQdX7IkyarbZUSdV9g@ptd.net...
> Methinks you friend does not know how to drive. One of my neighborhood
> kids challenged my stock 2005 Mustang GT convertible to a timed run with
> his riced up 2006 Civic up over a local six mile mountain road, loaded
> with hairpin turns where all the locals 'test' their cars . If we had
> been running for titles I would have yet another car for one of my grand
> children, if he had the title instead of the bank. LOL
>
> mike
>

Wasn't that an unfair competition? RWD vs FWD, real competition experience
vs. (probably) none? ;-)
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

More likely it was my 60 some years of driving experience, vis-a-v his 6 or
so years I supose. I guess he never heard of the Ford GT 500 that blew the
doors off every sports car in Europe, in the sixties

There is no question a RWD vehicle will out handle a FWD vehicle and that is
the point. The original poster seem to think otherwise.


mike hunt


"Ray O" <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOTcomn> wrote in message
news:1619f$442c1d5b$44a4a10d$23551@msgid.meganewss ervers.com...
>
> "Mike Hunter" <mikehunt2@mailcity.com> wrote in message
> news:Ki-dnQdX7IkyarbZUSdV9g@ptd.net...

>> Methinks you friend does not know how to drive. One of my neighborhood
>> kids challenged my stock 2005 Mustang GT convertible to a timed run with
>> his riced up 2006 Civic up over a local six mile mountain road, loaded
>> with hairpin turns where all the locals 'test' their cars . If we had
>> been running for titles I would have yet another car for one of my grand
>> children, if he had the title instead of the bank. LOL
>>
>> mike
>>
>>> Detroit's decades-long obsession with HP -- and NOTHING else -- has
>> made it a worldwide laughingstock when it comes to sports cars.
>>
>> so true. i think that every time i massively out-corner a mustang in my
> 89 civic hatch on my skinny little 185/60-14's. a friend of mine has a
> seriously rodded mustang, and we went out one day into some hills where
> there are some nice twisty narrow roads. first, we both went in his. no
> question, /way/ more power. seriously way more power. then we went in
> mine. thing is, power doesn't mean squat when you have to brake and
> corner hard with two wheels in the ditch. after i drove, he wasn't
> speaking much. then he drove. when we were done, he just got out and
> threw me my keys and walked away! it took him days to stop sulking. i
> love civics!
> Wasn't that an unfair competition? RWD vs FWD, real competition
> experience vs. (probably) none? ;-)
> --
>
> Ray O
> (correct punctuation to reply)
>
>