As a VW owner and enthusiast, I am familiar with the concept of improving a car through aftermarket modifications. There is quite a large percentage of Volkswagens on the road with at least something done to them. It’s because VW’s (and of course, Audis) respond particularly well to small modifications. I’m sure this is largely due to the ubiquitous 1.8L 20-valve Turbo engine (commonly known as the One-Eight Tee. Natch.)
The automotive industry in the US is facing it’s toughest challenge yet. The price of gasoline in this country has been on an extremely rapid rise in the last three or four years, to the point where people are either tired of filling up their tanks, or unable to afford the luxury. Sales of America’s top automotive product, the pickup truck, have been in the tank for a good time now. Ford announced their new business plan this past week which includes a massive cutback on truck production and a big push on cars. Makes sense to me. When I started driving about 4 years ago, the price of regular unleaded gas was $1.77. Yesterday, it hit $4.00 per gallon. I for one have pretty much had enough. I don’t drive for the fun of it nearly as much as I used to - my car takes 93 octane gas at a rate of about 28mpg on the highway and 22 or 23mpg around town. While I don’t have it as bad as most people, I simply can’t afford to put 50-60 dollars of gas in my tank a few times a week. I just don’t have the money.
So I’ve decided what my next automotive purchase is going to be, when funds allow:
Since I first understood a thing about cars, I’ve been a fan of the Colin Chapman school of automotive design. Chapman, for those not in the know, was the founder of a little sports car marque called Lotus. His basic design idea was “add lightness.” Extraneous components were not needed or welcome. It has been said that he would continue to remove material from a component until it failed, then add a little back in, and move onto the next one. This obsession with weight was obvious in the cars he made. Drive a Lotus Esprit and you can’t have a heavy right foot - the gas pedal hinge will bend under your foot. You want carpet in your Elise? The Porsche dealer is down the road, you wuss.
The reason for this isn’t hard to understand. Let’s break it down. What makes a car fast is, basically, it’s power-to-weight ratio: how many pounds is each horsepower burdened with? The less weight and the more power, the faster a car is going to accelerate (in a nutshell.) So there are two ways to make a car faster: add more power, or subtract more weight.
One thing I’ve noticed about car magazines in the US (besides the boring ones like Consumer Reports) is that above anything, they like to emphasize acceleration as a defining characteristic of a car’s worth. It’s not hard to notice. On the front cover of the latest Car and Driver, they have a few headlines. The big one proclaims “The Fast Lane!: BMW 135i, 0-60 4.7s.” Further down there’s “Nissan GT-R 0-60 3.3.” At the bottom, in small font is “The Slow Lane: Smart ForTwo, 0-60 14.4s.”
Let me be the first one to say: Who gives a shit how fast a Smart Car gets to sixty miles an hour? No one’s going to be drag-racing from light to light in their Smart. A Smart is an economical fashion accessory, like a Swatch (imagine that!) It’s a conversation piece. It’s the new Prius. The only people racing smarts are the ones with Smartuki conversions, so all three of them. The 0-60 time on a Smart is about as relevant as the fuel efficiency of a dump truck.
But this is America, where we have (comparatively) cheap gas, the roads are wide and straight, and if you’re not going 80 on the highway, you’re getting run over. So magazines shout about how fast a car can reach 60 - which is a pretty arbitrary number.
There are a lot of fast cars out there. But let me let you in on a secret: some of them really, truly suck.
I was recently on my way from my house in Raleigh to visit some friends in nearby Chapel Hill. It was about 9:00 at night or so, and it was raining lightly. The weather struck me as being vaguely British in it’s awfulness. It was cold, rainy, and windy. I had the new album by Against Me cranked on the stereo in my Jetta and was slightly zoned out. I decided to make a pit-stop at a gas station just off I-40 to pick up a soda and a pack of cigarettes.
this one came to me in a stroke of brilliance yesterday after, I don’t know, perhaps my 7th cup of coffee. Want a fast car? But also want to be ecologically responsible and reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Well you’re going to need a few things.
1) 1980’s (W123) Mercedes Benz diesel wagon (300TD)
The W123-generation Benzes are undeniably badass. They’re rock solid, reliable as the changing of seasons, and classy in a way that no modern Benz ever will be. They’re just a bit short on power. So what they need is…
I have always appreciated that people go through the time, effort, and expense of restoring a classic car. I don’t always understand it, of course: there are some cars to me that don’t seem to be worth the effort. Thousands of hours spent straightening and fixing up an 80’s Monte Carlo doesn’t strike me as a good investment. A polished turd is still a turd, and a restored Monte Carlo is still… a Monte Carlo.
Nowadays, most people take the safety features of their cars for granted. There aren’t really a whole lot of cars on the market that actually get bad crash test ratings from any of the various agencies that rate them. Rafts of standard airbags, stability control, antilock brakes, brakeforce distribution, electronic brake assist, and built in anti-submarining and crumple zones mean that even a base-model economy car isn’t a bad bet in a wreck. It hasn’t always been like this. There are still a few cars around that I would recommend not driving for the practical reason that they might end your life.
1) 2001-2004 Chevy Blazer 2-Door 2WD
Why: High occurence of rollover-related deaths due to inadequate roof structural integrity
One persistent rumor that has been floating around automotive circles for years and years is that the triumphant return to the United State of Alfa Romeo is just around the corner. I think perhaps we should pause and look back to when Alfa last sold cars in the US for a bit of perspective.
this one came to me as I drove home from work in a torrential downpour tonight. I think society has finally abandoned and forgotten the art of appreciating the base model car.
One of the things that mystifies me the most about today’s auto market is the prevalence of the huge amount of options packed into small, cheap cars. Things like the Mini Cooper, with it’s available rear-parking sensor, dual-zone climate control, rain-sensing windshield wipers, GPS Satellite Navigation, and other such useless gewgaws usually desired by those of the female persuasion (Sorry, it’s true.) In a Mini Cooper? Are you kidding me?
