These giant new trucks have the same flat frontal area as a fucking semi now. I drive a (by US standards) tiny car and when one of those pulls up next to me it's so terrifying to think about being in a crash with one. Like my head is at the same level as their bumper. Also so cool how the drivers of these bad boys are always the most aggressive on the road even though they can't see shit
https://www.thedrive.com/news/38238/ram-2500-drivers-have-the-most-duis-more-than-twice-the-national-average-report
Roughly 1 in 22 Ram 2500 drivers have been cited with a DUI before
I think there's a major ego and image thing at play here. Trucks can be useful. They can also be stupid symbols for whatever insecurity you have. A 2500 series does a little bit more than a 1500, costs way more, has a ton of extra shit that makes it look "tougher and more rugged", but avoids the serious "oh my god I'm actually driving something that would require a CDL in most countries" feel and vibes of 3500 and up. It's the perfect vehicle for someone who likes to drive drunk.
"Well, I do appreciate the sleeker, less murderous, styling of other models of trucks...but ultimately what I'm really looking for is something that screams "FUCK YOU EFFICIENCY" as loudly as possible in every aspect of its design. So I'm still torn between the F-150, RAM, and Silverado"
"Then, I propose we lift them even higher off the ground so that smaller vehicles will completely clear the undercarriage of the giant truck."
points to Dr. Seuss book as an example
There have been like 5 generations of terrorists, rebels, and militants have been using the same Toyotas since like 70s to mount anti aircraft launchers. Many of them are probably the exact individual truck. If these people can take down planes and entire state militaries with a a truck made before you were even born, there is no excuse for why you need some 500 feet pickup truck to transport “materials” for your blue collar working man job.
Of course, the exception is that they no longer sell these old trucks. But the modern day car brain isn’t demanding a retvrn to tradition, they’re just insisting that the modern truck is the only truck imaginable to do basic tasks. It is easier to imagine millions of dead cyclists than it is to demand Toyota to make good trucks again
I actually know someone who used to be high up an automobile company. According to him, the issue isn’t that Americans wouldn’t buy small trucks. They would. Especially Americans who actually need to use their trucks for the intended purpose and not as a way to broadcast their insecurities. One of those little S-10s from the 90s will get the job done as well as a modern F-150.
But the “problem” is that you can only sell a small pickup for so much. The markup on big trucks is enormous. So the small trucks, despite probably selling well, would cannibalize the sales of their larger, higher margin trucks.
Capitalism is the most efficient economic system ever developed.
FWIW Subaru Sambar is also a deathtrap in an accident at highway speeds, that's why we don't have them in the US.
Japanese domestic market vehicles seem liked they'd get obliterated in the US.
I can't imagine what would happen to a Kei car in a head-on collision with an SUV. An Autozam AZ-1 would fit entirely underneath a Chevrolet Silverado.
Yep, I had a Daihatsu Hijet a while ago. Similar design. If I was to drive at a wall even at about 5 miles per hour I'd probably get crushed. Thing's made of very dainty metal and your body is so far forward that it might as well be the bumper.
How can this Ford AR-15 be anything but a nightmare to drive? I get anxious ticks just thinking of having to park that monstrosity.
Park? What are you, a soyboy? We don’t park our trucks. We just rest our boys on 2 handicap spots
so do most F-150 owners. I always see them like a foot and a half from the curb
