Indeed! History, and archeology demonstrate that love of transportation object springs eternal. Thus, even 4,000-?,000 years ago, people were buried with their chariots.

Still to the men in my office, talking about a Dodge Challenger SRT8 is what is cool. Probably even more so because fewer can afford and/or justify one. That is because men love things that make noise, look cool, and are fun. Until it is beaten out of young boys to end up as girly men (as hard as the school system tries) it’s just not going to happen.

“Michael Ayoub- I’d like an Elise or Exige too. I’d have to lose 100 lbs to fit in one though. Not sure about my height.”

Haha. Yeah, me too. Good thing I’m short, though.

And I have driven for the past 53K miles with 115 HP and still out drive most of the traffic around me.

The problem I have with the 40 HP variety are 45 mph hill climbs where the other traffic is cruising at 70 mph. That speed differential thing. It Italy not such a big deal. Here it can get you killed b/c Americans don’t cope with adversity as well.

Lastly I heard someone complain about the Republicans and the current economic distress: capitalism on the way up and socialism on the way down.

Applying that to consumer habits:

In the suburbs it is keeping up with the Joneses on the way up and everyone for themselves on their way down. Folks trying to be fairly frugal on the way down. Maybe that explains why markets rise slowly and fail catastrophically.

If I cruise at speeds were my Tach is higher than 3000 rpms, my mileage is easily down to 24-26 mpgs. I found that when i cruise with the turbo not pumpin out mad boost (which happens to be below 3000 rpms), i will get atleast 30 mpgs. Here’s how i figure. I live in Michigan and go to Michigan State University (GO SPARTANS!). My home town is a suburb in northeast Detroit. From when i get on the freeway in Lansing and then get off in Grosse Pointe, it is roughly 98 miles. I filled up in Lansing, drove home, and filled right back up to see how many gallons burned… 3.12. Erego i got 31.4 mpgs. Now all tests have a probability of error, so we can say that my WRX gets about 30 mpgs. so for you my fellow WRX enthusiast, i would honestly try it out. Don’t let me mislead you. If i dont do this AND keep the cruise on for 90% of the trip my mileage isn’t that good. But hey this method works for me. Let me know if it works for you

I remember one Shakespearean fellow summarizing his ride this way, “I do whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want, however the fuck I want, and if they don’t like it, fuck them.”

The strange thing is that it’s easier to feel safe on a middleweight cruiser or sportbike, than it is for me to feel safe in a subcompact car from a generation ago. The same philosophy applies to the two wheeled world as well. Even the scooter club I started several years ago is now composed of members that primarily ride maxi-scoots.

It’s not that we don’t like the small stuff. It’s that all things being equal, a bike with plenty of power and good bulk is a far better daily companion.

Those who disagree with can feel free to look at the mileage figures on the Rebels at these sales, and then mosey on over to the Goldwings and Shadows. The larger the bike, the higher the mileage, and for good reason.

I agree with you, except swap v8 luxury with motorcycle :)

Riding/turning/etc a motorcycle in light chicago traffic (6:30am), hitting speedbumps at normal road speed w/o worry, and being able to get away from tailgating buttholes at the flick of a wrist definitely relieves stress!

For my last tank, I did about 90-95% city & pulled 36mpg. That is accelerating at a decent clip and not rolling to stops. Today in 75-80mph cruising I hit 44mpg. (75mph = 6500rpm in 6th.)

I am not looking forward towards the end of summer.

Fall is the worst period for me.

It gets too cold/rainy to ride the bike, but doesn’t give the STi snow tires a workout :-/

Again, there will always be a not-so-silent minority of automotive enthusiasts looking for a little four-wheeled Viagra, be it muscle cars, tuned imports or monster trucks. But, in the main, America’s love affair with horsepower is over.

Robert,

If even #4 Muscle Cars on Sajeev’s list doesn’t count as a mainstream automotive trend in your opinion, then perhaps the American public never did have a love affair with big horsepower and highly personalized automobiles, and this was always an enthusiast niche market.

One of the things that Hyundai did to make the Genesis V8 a marketable alternative was boost the horsepower to the nethersphere. It’s 375 horsepower make it a far more marketable vehicle in the United States even today, than a 220 horsepower version with cylinder shut-off, variable valve timing, an electric motor and a small block V6.

In fact, a V8 is considered as a minimal requirement once you get to the S-Class/LS430/7-Series territory. A lot of folks, for better or worse, are still not visiting Acura RL showrooms because they don’t offer a V8/RWD alternative that most customers expect. Even with the onslaught of high gas prices. Even before it got ugly as a three-eyed dog, the Acura RL had been regularly snubbed by folks who demand the traditional V8/RWD model for a luxury car.

BTW, you definitely won’t enjoy a fast sports car driven slow as much as you could unless you’re in a parking lot. But a fast luxury car is an entirely different matter. I’ve been driving my 2002 S-Class a bit more these days specifically because it helps relieve my stress in a way no small car could. Especially in dumber than water metro-Atlanta traffic. With an attention towards comfort and fuel economy, I’ve been getting fuel economy in the low to mid-20’s on a regular basis… which is just as much as my wife gets with our dog friendly, kid taxi, 1994 Volvo 940 Wagon non-turbo.

In fairness, I do my fair share of hypermiling during the week with various small cars and even take other dealers/auctioneers to the sales with the Benz. But for daily commuting I would much rather share gas and keep the Benz than take a small car and endure the slings and arrows of rush hour traffic.

The SUV is a different matter. They aren’t particularly powerful for their weight, but having engines tuned for truck use, their torque and aggressive throttle tip-in make them feel more powerful than they are, relative to what the engine is humping around. The SUV is rapidly losing whatever “prestige” it had. Actually it never registered with me that there was any prestige at all to an SUV, but if there was in some circles, that’s fading fast. And yet the incidence of new Escalades and Range Rovers here, along with Lexus and Mercedes variants is still considerable, if diminished. No, I don’t think the SUV communicates wealth or success any longer, but it does remain the wanted conveyance for more than a subculture population.

2008 is seeing a serious and damaging erosion of the new car market in terms of demand and selling volume, but the declines are only disastrous relative to the high floor in production capacity needed to be put to work for car maker economics to be viable. It’s still striking that with total vehicle market sales down by 20+% for the year, truck sales across the board only exceed that rate of decline by perhaps 50% more, depending on how you scope the truck market. That’s not really an epic shift. It’s an adjustment. Americans still will get out of tiny cars just as soon as they are able.

Even young people I work with who are half my age or less, aren’t glamourizing mpgs. In fact, among people who had put aside a truck or high-horsepower car in favor of a second car with better fuel economy, $3.40 gasoline is bringing the truck back on line. I paid $3.65 for premium yesterday and listening to the chatter at the crowded pumps, the general tone was people feeling gasoline is almost cheap again. Nevermind that it’s over a buck higher than two years ago. After paying nearly $5.00 last spring, any price in the threes feels like the new two-buck gallon. With everything else financial in a worrying meltdown, the price of gasoline is off the front pages and has receded from coffee conversation.

At least here. SoCal may not be representative of the rest of the country either but it is a full-spectrum economic microcosm. The people nearer the bottom economics of the new-car-buying population are often in Corollas, Cobalts, Civics and Focus. Fit and Yaris certainly are blossoming but aren’t yet numerous. Minis continue to be bought more for being cool than for economy, given the BMW economics of their accessories and service. The vehicle that really stands out here as enjoying a surge is the Chevy HHR. They are everywhere and surely are an intra-mural part of that “epic shift” as much as Fit-is-go. Meanwhile, I want to add a utility vehicle and what could be better than a small-block pickup? That’s right, nothing.

Our roads are still jammed.

Phil

“Geeze, except fo the V8, i could be in my 4 cyl golf now, and give up nothing”.

ANd thats how i feel. Occasionally, some poor sap in a vette roars past me, but only for 50 yards or so, slamming on the brakes as the small hole in traffic closes abruptly. Its just no fun to have a fast car around here any more. Maybe in other places it is, but here its over. Even my 100 hp golf rarely has a chance to really stretch its legs, why would anyone pay extra for a car that can go 195? alot of people are realizing that now, i guess.

Hey, I’m young, and single… might as well take advantage of that!

When gas was $5.00 here in San Diego, all my sister would tell me is how she is going to get a Prius or a Yaris, and save the World!

Now that gas is at $3.50 here, she is shopping for used Land Rover Discovery. Oh, the short memories we have.

But, what is missed is that the car manufacturers have not done anything to reduce the weight of the internal moving parts of an engine.

All, they have to do is drop the weight of the pistons, piston rods, cam, crank, and valves. Use a turbo-charger without a muffler with good inbound and outbound non restricted airflow and let the revs go to 10,000 while still producing horsepower. You will have a 30 mpgh car with 300+ horse power and still be civilized. If you are running ethanol, you can add a bunch more horsepower and clean power at that.

Once in a awhile, I cheat and take out my Yahmaha MAX. 10 second machine for a 60 year old and I don’t get STD on it. It doesn’t lie to me about my hair, my teeth but gives me a heart attack that’s as good as any I have had.