To hell with you, Ford.

The BBQ Pit
1

Back in 1909, your Model T got 25MPG. After 90 years, you’d think gas mileage would be a LOT better. But no, now that you’ve started making Silly Ungainly Vehicles, the average MPG of a modern Ford is only 20mpg.

What happened, Ford? After all, you have 90 years of experience that Henry Ford didn’t. The Model T was primitive by today’s standards, yet it’s MUCH more Earth friendly than an Excursion or Expedition. That’s backwards, Ford, and you should be ashamed.

Fuck you, Ford. You should be moving forward, not backward.

2

What, you can’t handle all the Reagan tributes, so you have to bash the next oldest living former Republican president???

OOhhhhh, that Ford. :wink:

Well, if you wanted a 20 horsepower car, you could probably do a lot better than 25 mpg.

3

Earth friendly, a Model T? Have you ever stood behind one as it started up? :eek:

4

It’s because he pardoned Nixon, right?

5

Okay, I’ll bite…what happens?

6

I think you’re comparing apples and oranges here. Fuel economy per HP is definitely much better than the Model T. And you get a lot less exhaust from a modern engine than you do from a Model T.

In other words, your rant makes you look very simpleminded.

7

Here’s a hint - those old Model T’s don’t come with catalytic converters. In other words, they’re nasty polluters compared to modern cars.

As others have mentioned, the modern car is giving you a hell of a lot more value for that 20 mpg. But hey, if you don’t mind no heater or AC, no power brakes or steering, no radio, crummy horsepower and top speed, and other useless features like that, go right ahead and continue to extoll the virtues of that old Model T.

And finally, why is Ford the target of your ire when just about every other car company has at least one SUV in its lineup?

8

The next thread down from this one is someone pitting Dora the Explorer. “Ford Explorer” hehe.

Anywho. Just thought I’d drop by this rant to declare to all that I love my Ford Explorer. It’s got 210,000 miles and has never had a problem except for the expected routine maintenance. It’s a 1995 model and it passes the MA emmissions inspection every year with flying colors. I doubt a model T would.

9

This is another rant about SUVs and cars that don’t get ‘great’ gas mileage disguised by some Model T nonsense.

FUCK IT. Let’s just produce a bajillion cars/SUVs that suck gas at the rate of 5 mpg and rid the earth of the fucking oil AND MOVE THE FUCK ON ALREADY.

Please, whatever it takes to suck the earth dry of crude as fast as possible is highly desired right now. We should all drive two SUVs to work everyday.

Like ripping off a bandafe, just rip through all the crude and let’s get right down the last chapter right fucking now! PLEASE…please! The total amount of crude to be burned can never go up, so let’s just blow right through the shit and have OPEC stick their pipelines up their asses and tell them to go rot in the fucking desert right fucking now.

And, maybe most importantly, we can have an end to these threads, because the f-ers who post these threads are out there working on clean power, or they are donateing money to groups who are. Yeah, I’m sure of it. :rolleyes:

10

Supply. And. Demand.

Once you learn what that means you’ll realize why Ford (and virtually every other car manufacturer) produces a vehicle that you don’t like.

Simple as this: if people didn’t want them, they wouldn’t make them. As the fastest growing automobile sale segment in America, the people are voting in favor of them with their wallets, and are willing to accept the ancillary costs that accompany them, like promethean gas bills.

Too bad some of you are unable to understand that. You just can’t wrap your little minds around that, you just bleat about how they’re destroying the planet, they’re killing innocent people, they’re conspicuous consumers, and they’re the root of all evil. That last condemnation is particularly ignorant, as it’s based upon something as shallow as what vehicle they drive, without even so much as a single fact derived from investigation. All you have is assumptions. If you’re going to make that argument, provide cites, not opinions. Otherwise, shut the hell up.

Anyway, as for me, I have some simple facts for you. First, the Earth will eventually be destroyed anyway. If it isn’t, we will either die or adapt. All the fossil fuel consumption in the world will not appreciably hasten the inevitable. Second, as fuel is taxed, drivers of SUVs are paying considerable sums of money to the government for their vehicles, therefore, their consumption is not conspicuous. It is directly proportional to their consumption.

And I’d like to see a cite about the increase in fatalities over the last 15 years as SUVs have become popular. I don’t believe that as a nation we have become better drivers, so there must be a death increase, a statistically significant death increase, over the last 15 or so years or the argument that SUV drivers are killers is bunk.

So, have at it. Or shut up. Your choice.

11

Yes, but why do they want them? What is it that motivates them to want these types of vehicles?

Utility? I can vouch for the fact that they are easier to get into and out of. Especially if you’re a big guy with a bad knee. (like me!) But that wouldn’t account for the size of some of these behemoths.

Marketing? Are we, as a whole, being told what we want by being shown what is cool in media? Is the marketing becoming more and more effective? Are the masses simply “keeping up with the Jones’” and blindly following trends? Are manufacturers trying to predict trends? Are these interconnected? They produce what they* think * we want and we, thinking that this is what’s popular and trying to keep up, eat it up?

I will grant you that some SUVs look pretty cool. You will have to grant me that others lok absolutely ridiculous.

12

I’m sure marketing has something to do with it, but to what degree? In their zeal to appeal to the masses, they have created such vehicles as the Ford Excursion, Lincoln Blackwood, and the Pontiac Aztek. How many cars are attempted and fail in relatively short order? A good number. And since those aren’t exactly cheap to design or set up for production, they rely on focus groups who try to determine exactly what the public wants. And they still fail pretty often. So, you tell me…are they catering to the people? More often than not the design that tests well fails, so catering to the people, trying to tell them what they really want, seems to me like a pipe dream and a recipe for failure.

I think people like them because they’re so damn useful for everything that they would ever need to do, and for those occasional uses they’re willing to foot a larger fuel/insurance bill than people who drive other more fuel-efficient, smaller cars.

13

Probably not quite the info you’re looking for (it doesn’t show fatalities over time), but here’s some data on vehicle fatalities–scroll down to the table.

Malcolm Gladwell article on SUVs

14

Want my opinion? I think it all boils down to three (possibly 4) reasons:

  1. They’re cool. Lookit me drivin my sweet Escalade. Yo, word, phizzat, (whatever the hip lingo is these days).

  2. They’re big. We got size issues here. Nuff said.

  3. They’re useful. I can put all 4 kids, a couple friends, the dog, a cooler, and a bunch of fold-em-up chairs in the truck, hitch up the boat, and spend a day at the lake.

  4. They’re safer. Maybe - for the driver of the vehicle in question that is. Though I must confess I’ve never run into anyone who purchased a Suburban over a Miata for safety reasons.

(Note that I own two of 'em - a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Mitsubishi Montero)

15

For myself, it’s simple. An SUV is the most versatile, practical and useful vehicle I can own. If I couldn’t own an SUV, I’d have to go for a 4x4 truck.

Sure gas mileage is important. But not as important as having a vehicle that does what you need it to do.

Well said Airman.

16

Once you have a family and a house, a vehicle like an SUV becomes damned handy. For me, almost indispensible. If I need to take a lawnmower in for service, or haul a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, or load up the family plus the dog and beach supplies and head for the lake, an SUV is indispensible. You can use a minivan as well, but then you’re driving a minivan.

An SUV also has a ‘command seating’ position, which I’ve learned to really like. My Ford Escape gets identical mileage to my old Ford Windstar minivan. But it has a shorter wheelbase, bettter visibility all around, a tighter turning circle, more towing capacity, a better roof rack, it’s easier to park, and more fun to drive. Unless you need to haul more than four people, it’s pretty much superior to the minivan in every respect. Plus, it looks way better, is lighter, and has better acceleration. And, it has AWD for the winter or those occasions when we want to go camping and drive in off-road a ways.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Great vehicle.

17

Fair enough. A few points, though:

  1. Don’t park your rebodied aircraft carrier next to my little Honda. That blocks my view of approaching cars. Let’s say some Ford Valdez^H^H^H^H^H^HExcursion is parked to my left. I can’t pull out of that space safely, because that behemoth of a vehicle is blocking my view to the left. I could be pulling out into a fender bender and not even know it until it’s too late simply because the other driver and I cannot see each other coming. If I had it my way, all parking lots would have their own seperate section for these monsters - and all oversized vehicles MUST use one of those spaces. What, so that section of the lot is full? Too damn bad - no space for you, then!

  2. Do NOT tailgate me at night. Your headlights go directly into my rearview mirrors, effectively blinding me. If I had it my way, all Stupid Unsightly Vehicles would have a sensor that automatically dims the headlights and kills the fog lights entirely when it’s less than 50 feet away from another vehicle - and disabling that device would be a felony.

That’s it for now. I don’t really hate SUVs, I just think that a lot of SUV owners suck.

18

I didn’t see it mentioned in the thread, but I could have skipped it if someone else has already noted it: One reason for the popularity of SUVs is the decline of the full-sized station waggon. The SUV fulfills many of the same requirements for passengers, cargo capacity.

My understanding is that the CAFE requirements include the station waggon in the manufacturer’s fleet for average milage, so in order to comply, manufacturers essentially dropped the full-size waggon. SUVs, on the other hand, are counted as trucks and hence avoid the issue.

Another case of a regulation with unintended or even perverse results.

19

Well, let me just note something…

The other day I popped around to the local private girl’s school to start organising some things for my 18 month old daughter. It’s a pretty well-to-do school and there were simply SHITLOADS of SUV’s all over the place.

OK, I thought… that was to be expected… no great dramas.

But here’s the thing - that particular day I was driving my '66 Red and white GT350 Shelby Mustang Fastback because I was getting a wheel alignment done. Man, when that thing pulls up you can really hear (and feel) that classic 60’s lumpity-lumpity-lumpity sound that only a car from that era can make.

And you should have seen all the looks of horror on all the faces of the school moms in their SUV’s! They looked as though they were witnessing the coming of the Four Men of the Apocalypse.

Then, after a few minutes I started seeing the admiring glances as well - and it occurred to me that human nature is a funny thing. The moment everybody has something much the same as you do, you’re no longer quite as exclusive, and the grass starts to look greener when the dickhead who owns the Shelby Mustang starts showing up at the school gate.

20

Hey, I’ll trade you my Escape for your GT350…