Automotive enthusiasts?

@Flying Pancake  
I would buy a diesel or hybrid before an electric if I was worried about gas mileage. Despite the Volkswagen diesel scandal, I think we’re going to see more diesels in America as automakers struggle to meet efficiency standards.

@SonGokuMonkey
 
For many situations yes but if a crash can’t be avoided and there appears to be an escape that may end in a worse collision (e.g. at the crest of a hill or just around a corner) it’s best to still take the non-fatal crash. There’s an early 1960s film, “Anatomy of an Accident”, in which a father and his family are driving on a road trip. The Father gets too close behind a bad driver who tries to go on a side road but swerves back into his lane, he swerves into the oncoming lane around a turn and dies in a head-on collision with a truck. His son then dies weeks later in the hospital. Of course, this was before seat belts and air bags were commonplace but the point remains; he should have hit her instead of going into a blind spot.
 
@kleptomage
 
Whoever hit the glass just got an A in head injuries. That kind of dimple in the glass was much more common before seat belts were common. Even once they were people didn’t use them much in the 1970s:
 

I could never do an electric car. the efficiency would be pretty low in December-March where Minnesota weather fluctuates so much! and it’s bad in the summer, too.
 
Diesels sound fun, I adore the sound of them and some of them have great mpg’s like the Volkswagens you mentioned above (besides the scandal lol). Jeep has a great diesel Grand Cherokee! I think the Colorado has a good driving range, too
 
@BarryFromMars  
Crashes were never too scary for me until I was involved in one on a day when school was canceled due to snow… I’m forever afraid and I’m quite jumpy now. :) It’s good to be constantly reminded that bad shit can happen

@kleptomage  
Well, Mazda’s hopefully coming out with a diesel 6, the diesel Cruze is coming back, and the Hyundai Santa Cruz was usually described as being diesel powered. (Now if Hyundai would just build it already…)
 
Beyond those, I’m worried that VW’s idiocy has heavily tainted diesel for cars in the US, and its market share was pretty small to begin with. I’m thinking that we’re going to see more hybrids, more gears in DCTs, and more CVTs before we see a significant number of new diesels. It’s really a shame too; small diesels are great engines, but, nope, VW decided to cheat to save a little money and that they were too smart to get caught and wound up screwing over their owners, their dealers, and maybe the whole engine type.

Hey guys!  
Remember when the Chevy Malibu, Impala, Dodge Dart, and Oldsmobile 88 were badges for performance cars before they were reduced uninspiring family “rental” cars?
 
It’s a shame Oldsmobile is gone though.  
Their Oldsmobile 88 ran TEN generations for half a century!
 
The first generation even had a song Rocket 88, dedicated to the car and its powerful Rocket V8 engine.

@Flying Pancake  
Maybe if those “Green police” policy makers hadn’t been so obsessed at raising the cost of carbon on “big polluters” and declaring war on “dirty energy”. VW probably wouldn’t have felt the need to cheat.
 
Yeah, I agree it was awfully stupid of them to do what they did just for a few bucks.

@SeraphimDawn  
I’m a proud Oldsmobile owner here. it broke my heart to see the brand gone deleted in 2004 :’(  
yah know, the reason they became rental cars is because the market desired cheap things that lead to rental cars… basically it’s the mainstream consumer’s fault! (I’m happy with it as long as the car has a comfy interior for long highway traveling)
 
 
@Flying Pancake  
ugh CVTs. great. I’m betting on diesels making a comeback, there are indeed a lot of restrictions and people know diesels are reliable (unless you put that stupid DEF fluid in it)

@BarryFromMars  
Volvo invented three point seat belts in 1959, as they like to remind everyone.
 

 
Volvo could have made millions with the patent. Instead, Volvo let everyone use their design so that more lives could be saved.
 
 
@Flying Pancake  
I might be interested in a diesel Mazda 6. Mazdas have great handling but lack engines stout enough to deliver the “Zoom zoom.”
 
Diesel already has a bad reputation in the US from GM’s Oldsmobile diesel engines back in the day and VW only made it worse. VW isn’t keeping their deadlines on buying back the diesel cars either. They deserve that 14.7 billion fine.
 
It would help the cause of diesels if there was more of an economic incentive to buy them. You can get a diesel Ram 1500 or Colorado but it’s a markup of several thousand dollars which negates any fuel savings.
 
 
@SeraphimDawn  
You know what happens when you don’t have laws about pollution? Fucking Beijing where the smog chokes everything in a toxic cloud or Rio De Janeiro where the water for the Olympics is filled with sewage. I for one am glad to have clean cities in America.

@RainbowDash69  
Olds was also one of America’s oldest brands.
 
 
Anyone remember a time when Oldsmobile made a failed attempt at diesel?
 
@kleptomage  
I know.  
BUT, those regulations have needlessly become increasingly stringent. At this point, it seems like a money grab.  
Maybe if they would just relax it to 1970s levels? I doubt we would ever reach China’s absurdity. China’s just… on a different field.
 
I want to see land yachts rule the roads again.
 
Also, Volvo invented seatbelts?  
Learn things everyday.
 
 
If I recall. Mazda used to make Mazdaspeeds. Those delivered “Zoom-zoom” right?  
Why did they discontinue them? This just leaves practically Ford unopposed on the Hot-Hatch market.  
There’s Subaru.  
But Mitsubishi EVO is gone…
 
Chevy Malibus have changed so much…  
1970  
 
2016  

@SeraphimDawn  
haha, I remember seeing a youtube video about the Olds diesel cars. they were land yachts for sure. I didn’t know they were so poorly designed though… it’s a shame because diesels sound so cool!!
 
yes, the Malibu has changed, but now I can go on the highway for more miles and I am safer, also I can get a Malibu with a sunroof!! I’m kinda sad, the Malibu looks just like the Impala once again. Remember when the Malibu was just a trim level for the Impala? good times…
 
 
@kleptomage  
Basically, Volvo is the embodiment of the Good Guy Greg meme

@SeraphimDawn  
I might agree with you if that was really the only way to meet regulations, but it wasn’t; every other diesel manufacturer figured out a way to comply. VW even co-developed BlueTec with Mercedes, but they decided to cheap out on the implementation. I might still agree if they’d only fudged the tests a little bit, but they went all out:  
 
If that graph is right, then a 2013 VW SportWagen produces more NOx than a 1980 Rabbit. How do you manage to get worse in 33 years?
 
Now to be clear, I’m not clutching my pearls in abject terror at what VW did to the environment or anything; realistically there weren’t that many of the cars, they were spread over a wide area, and it’s not like they were dumping radioactive fallout, so in the end their impact is probably negligible. What I am mad about is that they decided they were above the law, and that that decision has consequences for everyone involved except the ones who made it.
 
 
@RainbowDash69  
Eh, I could deal with DEF. Sure it smells disgusting, but you only have to replace it every couple thousand miles, right?
 
 
@kleptomage  
Class act by Volvo. And that “Since 1959” etching is a really cool touch.
 
 
@SeraphimDawn  
Mazda quit making Mazdaspeeds because they wanted to focus on a more “mature” product. No idea why they can’t do both, but that’s their logic.
 
Even though the Focus RS is king, Ford isn’t totally alone in the hot hatch market: VW has the GTI and Golf R, Honda has Civic Type-R next year, Fiat has the 500 Abarth, Mini has JCW versions of everything (I think), and Hyundai has the Veloster if you want to call it one. You could maybe even count the Juke Nismo RS, since that one was supposed to be a rally-esque Mini fighter. I really hope Mitsubishi, Subaru, and Mazda come back to that segment, though. They had some great stuff.

Cars had a lot of personality back then, all we have now from Chevy is the Corvette and the rebadged Pontiac G8, the SS. perhaps this is a good thing, it is certainly an opportunity for us to all buy a Chevy SS to show GM how much we want a car with personality!
 
actually, a car can have personality as long as you look for it… hard enough!

@Flying Pancake  
I wish it was that simple, diesel owners have been complaining that high mileages lead to engine buildup
 
also, they have to “regen” whenever buildup happens, where you gotta idle it for long periods of time. It is worth it for a leased truck, but not for long-term ownership

@RainbowDash69  
If the SS weren’t so expensive (both to buy and to feed- premium gas is pricey!) I’d be all over it. That and if it weren’t so anonymous looking; from a distance the only way I can tell it isn’t an older Malibu is by the vertical chrome piece on the fender.

@RainbowDash69  
I hadn’t realized that, hopefully someone figures out a way to mitigate that problem.

@Flying Pancake  
This. Almost $50k is a lot to ask for a V8 Malibu and I don’t like the Malibu to begin with.

@RainbowDash69  
Volvo has always tried to be the forefront of auto safety technologies.  
Their cars’ interiors are pretty. Love their wood accents.
 
 
@Flying Pancake  
What the hell do they mean by “mature”?  
Also, don’t even try to question how Japanese businesses think. You’re just going to be mentally walking in circles.
 
I DIG Mazda’s current “Kodo” platforms. They’re among the most beautiful things I’ve seen in the automotive world. The Mazda6 is a heavily underrated midsize car. For some reason, no one buys it despite their proven excellence and good price. It’s even considered by many as a great alternative tot he Honda Accord.
 
Holy crap Honda Accord. My dad still drive the 1998 Accord as a daily driver. It’s legendary reliable. I still see countless examples being driven on the road.
 
But what the heck did they do to it this generation?
 
 
@Flying Pancake  
They could have been a formidable competition to Subaru’s sport models.
 
 
WHY DOES THIS EXIST?!  
 
The Fiat Multipla.
 
I don’t care how much most would consider the Pontiac Aztek to be the ugliest vehicle ever made.  
The Multipla looks “out of this world”… in a bad way!
 
Also, what was the point of this one?  

 
Looks like it was designed with a child’s perception of a car via toy cars.  
It’s was a REAL car.
 
Suzuki X-90.
 
Is it a coupe? Convertible? ATV?
 

 
Anyone remember the Pontiac Stinger concept?  
 
Talk about excessive!

@kleptomage
 
Nice to know that about Volvo. I’ve seen footage of Jimmy Bryant (stunt car driver) in the 1930s testing a Plymouth and he had a seat belt, it was only for his lap and he’d put the car through a “torture test” - e.g. flip the car over, run it sideways, in short drive like a little like in the Crazy Taxi video game. I wonder though if the particular car he drove would have been fit with a collapsible steering column since it was invented in 1935.
 
@SeraphimDawn
 
My parents had an Olds Cutlass Diesel, probably with the V8 which is named the L9. Father took it for repairs frequently, the head gaskets kept leaking even months after repairs. My next door mechanic neighbor still thinks “Diesels are bad” based on just the L9. When I got my Suburban (with a 6.5 Turbo) he said I’d never get my money’s worth out of it since it’s a Diesel but he doesn’t know much about Diesels and said so himself. The 6.5 has a reputation for a few issues but nothing like the L9 did and those it does have aren’t understood by everyone. The funny thing is the L9 is a rarity in the Diesel world because of how stupidly designed it is. Not only is it unreliable in stock form, it gets less horsepower than a six cylinder gas engine of the same time period. If you check the horsepower ratings of the L9 vs. a 6 cylinder gas engine that was available in a Chevy Caprice of the same year the gas engine still wins out for reliability and horsepower. There’s also the 6.2 Diesel engine of the same time period which was in trucks and SUVs, it’s an improvement for anyone replacing an engine in a car that had an L9 in it but it’s still lacking in horsepower though not as much.
 
@Flying Pancake
 
Speaking of Diesel emissions there’s a funny thing about cars that have DEF: if you do have this you can’t use 100% Biodiesel fuel in the vehicle which would eliminate many emissions but increase NOx. It has to do with the fuel being too thick for the emissions system. Biodiesel gels up easier in cold temperatures and it rots rubber hoses but rubber hoses haven’t been in Diesel vehicles from the factory for over 23 years now. Biodiesel does have lower energy content but it cleans a lot better than petroldiesel and may make an engine run noticeably smoother depending on how dirty an engine was. For the first few tanks an engine may not have as much power if running on 100% Biofuel but it’ll perk up.
 
@SeraphimDawn
 
Hmm, that Fiat Multipla looks like Barney the Dinosaur wearing glass on his head. The Suzuki and Stinger both look like toys but I suppose the Suzuki might not be a horrible candidate for fuel mileage. Not great by 2016 but still, for a cheaper car these days it might not be awful either.

@SeraphimDawn  
yep Volvo interiors are so nice, exteriors perfectly match the design too. I drool every time I see one of these babies. they really do care about every detail (for a great price, too!)  

 
 
@SeraphimDawn  
those ugly cars are proof that Europeans/Japanese people are crazy! The ugliest car from the US isn’t even that ugly, I think it’s a sweet car.  

 
Pontiac makes great concept cars, they were a push in the right direction but engineers and designers couldn’t meet expectations… just like the Pontiac Aztec concept  

@SeraphimDawn  
According to Mazda’s North American CEO:
 
“Mazda brand has become more mature, more upscale, more sophisticated and we have a new transition of the brand to relate that direction.”
 
And they’re focusing their engineering on SkyActiv generation 2 instead of performance models. Hopefully they’ll bring them back once they’ve finished with that, though.
 
 
I kind of like the Multipla; it’s so ridiculously wrong that it comes back around to being right. The X-90 is just regular wrong, though. Why build a Mini-Jeep that only seats two?
 
As for the Stinger, I’d never heard of it before, but now I want one. In that color. With those wheels. In my driveway. Right. Now. A factory dune buggy would be all kinds of fun, and the 80s/90s styling works surprisingly well there. I like the storage containers too, though they could probably leave off the camp stove, picnic table, and garden hose. Not sure there’s much point to them.
 

 
@RainbowDash69  
I’ve been steadily growing fonder of the Aztek. I mean, I know it’s not a great car, but with Pontiac gone I almost feel sorry for it, and I will give them credit for trying something unique, even if it was poorly executed. Plus, I always associate it with that yellow color, and there aren’t enough brightly colored cars on the road now; too many are some variant of white, gray, or silver.

@Flying Pancake  
Yep, it would be very cool to get a yellow one with the polished wheels and put a mean exhaust on it… perhaps tune the v6 engine and make it a sleeper!! what would be even more fun is to buy one with the attachable tent setup. it would be a good unit for camping
 
of course, being the strange person I am, I’d be more likely to get a Pontiac Montana… they’re basically the same, it’s just the Montana is a sweet minivan. both vehicles look awesome with those polished wheels. I’d say the styling on both has grown on me.
 
Hm it is interesting we talk about Mazda being more mature, I remember the commercials even stated how the driver of a Mazda travels through adulthood (getting a kid, buying the crossover) as maturity. it was a sweet commercial.

@RainbowDash69  
I’m not sure which got hit harder with the ugly stick: the Pontiac Aztek or the Nissan Juke.
 
@Flying Pancake  
That’s a strange comment from the Mazda CEO. Who says a well performing car can’t be mature?

@kleptomage  
well it depends on where you look. for the front: the Juke. for the back: the Aztec.
 
overall though, the Juke is uglier, but it appeals to a wider range of people with its ugliness. lol

@kleptomage  
Especially when nearly all luxury brands have at least one or two performance models in their line ups. Why couldn’t they have both? Mazda is just not making any sense. Then again, they aren’t exactly the biggest major auto manufacturers on the scene.
 
If I recall, they were about to launch their own luxury department the Amati brand to compete with Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti in the North American market, but then scrapped that plan shortly afterwards right?

@kleptomage
 
The Aztec was the ugly stick of the last decade. The Juke (or Puke as I call it) is this decade’s.