[theMAG]

Tushky, lovely pics! That car looks purposeful. Thanks for sharing.

[Jayabusa]

@Tushky: Great pics!
Looks wise I'd call this car the poor man's Conti. Flying Spur.
@Nitin: Most of us know that American cars have always been very bad in terms of handling, reliability etc. Legendary cars like the Dodge Viper and few others too carry these issues...Since you stay in the U.S. my question to you is, in spite of all these problems why do people buy American cars, just for the looks, company of American muscle or some other reason?

[Nitin]

[quote=Jayabusa;757982@Nitin: Most of us know that American cars have always been very bad in terms of handling, reliability etc. Legendary cars like the Dodge Viper and few others too carry these issues...Since you stay in the U.S. my question to you is, in spite of all these problems why do people buy American cars, just for the looks, company of American muscle or some other reason?[/quote]

To a certain extent,I would attribute buying of such cars to the aspect of being a hardcore American. I've lived in Ohio & in Texas,and in both states,I've come across huge chunks of people who prefer American cars (no matter how crappy they are) over Jap/Korean/European cars. They think that sticking to Chrysler/GMC/Pontiac/Chevy, makes them part of the American revolution. Sounds funny? Well,thats one part of it.

Second thing being, for American car makers to attract a crowd,they come up with some superb sales tactics, such as 0% APR for 60 months, or $2000-5000 cash back. Other car makers don't go to such level,since their sales are guaranteed no matter what.

As bimster mentioned,most of these make it to th rental parking lots. Enterprise (for the most part) has Chevy/Chrysler vehicles. Other people do buy these cars,but it doesn't stay with them that long as the resale value drops so much.

[DocG]

I agree with Nitin about the "being american" thing that drives them to buy American cars, there are people who argue that American cars are "real" cars, and that the japs and europeans make tin cans with small engines...

There are a few other reasons too, Americans are obsessed with size!!! size DOES matter...they love big cars [The accord is a midsize sedan in the US]
I love going shopping when I'm at home in cali...you always see these scrawny white chics at the malls driving escalades and navigators, once I saw a H1 in LA parking without anyone in the driver's seat, but then some tiny teenager in XXXXL clothing got out so yeah.

The second thing is that they are obsessive about engine displacement! I remember right after my brother got himself 3.0 V6 the reaction he got was "it's ok, but there aint nothin like a big block V8"

So yeah, things are now changing as gas prices are on the rise...wait and watch

PS: The vette is the number 1 midlife crisis car in Cali

[Nitin]

hehe..good points there,DocG.

Bigger the better. This is the thought process (of a typical American):

Ok..so i Have a Ford F-150, or a 1970 Caddy that I want to fix. What do I do? Get the biggest set of wheels for the F-150, or hunt all over for a refurbished V8 for the Caddy,closer to 400bhp sounds more like it!.
Gas prices...nah..who cares. Thats for all the Asians & Hispanics.

Well..tough luck,buddy. Its the Asians who stick to more economic cars,and they tend to have something left in the bank. Get yourself a guzzler,and see the back balance fade into oblivion.

[DocG]

Originally Posted by Nitin

hehe..good points there,DocG.

Well..tough luck,buddy. Its the Asians who stick to more economic cars,and they tend to have something left in the bank. Get yourself a guzzler,and see the back balance fade into oblivion.

Bank balance fade???
Dude it was never there in the first place! Some of them have the WORST credit ever! you should see some of the cars that get repossessed in Cali, people under the age of 25 have crazy insurance, and hence with the sports cars, kids can't afford them anymore, and beautiful cars get repossessed. [Seen this happen to a few vettes and 2 evos]

[desidon]

Originally Posted by Torqy

Why shouldn't anyone import a chrysler?
Do you mean to say people import Ferraris and Lambos NOT to show off?

-- Torqy

Agreed. I really question the practicality of these "super cars" in India. All the ferrari's, lambo's, AMG benz, porsche etc. Forget driving them like they should be driven....they are probably a pain to drive in Indian cities anyways. I cannot go beyond 3rd gear in my 911 in US residential roads where the limit is 45 mph so I can Imagine what gears these are running in India.
The only reason I can see is bragging rights. Someone correct me if I am way off here.

If I move to India...I would get me a good ol land cruiser or a smaller SUV(CRV??) which is more practical IMHO.

[sujaylahiri]

Originally Posted by Jayabusa

@Tushky: Great pics!
Looks wise I'd call this car the poor man's Conti. Flying Spur.
@Nitin: Most of us know that American cars have always been very bad in terms of handling, reliability etc. Legendary cars like the Dodge Viper and few others too carry these issues...Since you stay in the U.S. my question to you is, in spite of all these problems why do people buy American cars, just for the looks, company of American muscle or some other reason?

I would also say that many of these American cars are "proper" cars unlike the Accords and Camrys as they have a big engine in front and rear wheel drive at the back.

It also goes with the whole impression of having ample amounts of "reserve" torque, especially when passing on the freeways. I mean try passing big trucks and other vehicles on the freeway at 75-80 mph with 4 passengers on board and you'll know how much of a difference it makes between most of the Japanese and American engines.

And of course the deep throaty sound you get from these engines (GM's pushrods) is something which many people die for.

But in the end if you look at true car enthusiasts all over world, they don't care if the car is reliable or not, they care about the whole character of the car. You see so many of them spending hours every weekend on old Camaros and Chargers (my neighbour) just to get an hour of fun in those cars.

Try looking at those millions of boring Accords and Camrys whose only job is to go from A to B for a 100 years without breaking down. They have no character, there's no fun. When you come out of these cars after driving them, it doesn't feel like you were driving. It feels like it drove by itself and you didn't even realize you were in an actual car.

[dhaval]

Good pics there Tushky!

FE is definitely something to consider,when in the US.

Aah! good to know that people in US also care for mileage/ FE figures, and not everyone go after gas guzzlers, despite the fact that the US is a more prominent player when it comes to the global oil prices and more or less the OPEC is controlled by them, big time.

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by dhaval

Aah! good to know that people in US also care for mileage/ FE figures, and not everyone go after gas guzzlers, despite the fact that the US is a more prominent player when it comes to the global oil prices and more or less the OPEC is controlled by them, big time.

The trend seems to be changing slowly,dhaval. Some people,especially the Texans,care a damn about the gas prices. Today,at $3.30 a gallon in Houston, not many people care about how much gas is being consumed by these mighty pick up trucks. Some of them have a FE of 15mpg within the city & 19mpg on the freeway. $70 for a tank isn't a big deal.

Its mostly the Asians/Hispanics that conserve fuel.A few Americans are begining to take on the trend,with a lot of them giving up burly trucks for Japanese/Korean sedans, in the anticipation of the $4/gallon senario.

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

Try looking at those millions of boring Accords and Camrys whose only job is to go from A to B for a 100 years without breaking down. They have no character, there's no fun. When you come out of these cars after driving them, it doesn't feel like you were driving. It feels like it drove by itself and you didn't even realize you were in an actual car.

haha..such a valid point.There are very few Japanese cars that give you the fun factor. To give you an example,when I was looking for a car in 2004,I test drove Toyotas/Hyundai/Honda cars,and none of them seem to have a zing to the driving experience. Thats why I was taken quite a bit by surprise,when I tried the Mazda 3.Its truely one car that have the 'fun factor'! Add in a peppy 2.3L engine,and you've got a lot of good times ahead!

[sujaylahiri]

Originally Posted by Nitin

Thats why I was taken quite a bit by surprise,when I tried the Mazda 3.Its truely one car that have the 'fun factor'! Add in a peppy 2.3L engine,and you've got a lot of good times ahead!

True. But the Mazda 3 is based on Ford's C1 platform, which is the basis for many Volvos and the Ford Focus C-Max.
So technically it's not Japanese, more like American/European.

[artofzen]

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

Try looking at those millions of boring Accords and Camrys whose only job is to go from A to B for a 100 years without breaking down. They have no character, there's no fun. When you come out of these cars after driving them, it doesn't feel like you were driving. .

I loved driving the Accord V6 . Wish it came in manual mode as well!!!!

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

True. But the Mazda 3 is based on Ford's C1 platform, which is the basis for many Volvos and the Ford Focus C-Max.
So technically it's not Japanese, more like American/European.

True,but coming from a Japanese name brand,it stands out in many ways. Its a small size sedan,and outright beats some of the competition in the same segment.

[SirAlec]

i am confused here!!

what are people saying here, that japs are make boring cars? Or american cars are exciting??