Tiny cars

We just recently bought a used Mercedes estate. Thing is LOOOOONNNNG! At least it seems to me. But, with two kids, and if we want to go away for a weekend, we need loads of room, and it's got it! I actually notice more GIANT cars here than I do the little mini ones.

I used to have an MG Metro.  Man, I loved that car.  I could park it ANYwhere.  Love the little cars.

I'm 6'5 and have a Micra which I barely fit in but honestly I love the smaller cars. My car gets amazing petrol milage, I only fill up once a fortnight (so my petrol expenses are the same as they were in the USA when I filled up twice a week, though I don't drive as far to work here). I like driving on the left, though it was confusing at first, I think it's cool I can drive on the left and the right, so it's easy to adjust when travelling to the Continent or to New Zeland or wherever. I suppose when it has come to driving, I've realised there is no right or wrong, just differences

Its nothing to do with space on the road..what about vans & lorries??

Everyone seems to be forgetting the main reason we drive small cars is less emissions and pollutants...we do try to be a "EARTH FRIENDLY" country.  Hence the reason why tax is so expensive on larger vehicles.

We don't have big car parking spaces because there is no demand for giant spaces.

Now as for my "silly Ford Fiesta" its the best car I have ever had with regards to petrol to the mile...so ship your big truck here and see how far you get on the petrol.

Also tax for large vehicles is going up and so is insurance...so your looking at paying about £2000 / $4000 to get your car on the road before you filled up with petrol! currently my Ford fiesta has a 40 gallon tank and costs me about £46 / $92 to fill her up.

As for driving on the wrong side of the road..surely thats your opinion??

Can I suggest you stop using words like CRAZY country etc..being British..you are offensive to me.

The OP is entitled to his opinion.  I can see how if you are used to driving a big car on wider roads things might seem a bit cramped at first.  Not sure how you would get on bringing a left hand drive car here though - don't they have to be converted before you can drive it on the road here?

I'm sticking to Shanks' pony myself.

The OP is entitled to his opinion.  I can see how if you are used to driving a big car on wider roads things might seem a bit cramped at first. 

It's not what he said, it's the way he said it!
Set my teeth on edge a bit, but you're quite right that he's entitled to his opinion.

It's not what he said, it's the way he said it!

Exactly!

Its nothing to do with space on the road..what about vans & lorries??

Yes, it is.  If everyone drove great big cars it'd be a nightmare driving.  That's why we hate 4x4s so much.  Parking on my road is a pain and if everyone had a big car it'd be impossible.  It's also one lane, so if someone comes up with a car the size of a lorry it involves a lot of maneuvering.
Even the vans and lorries are smaller.  Tractor trailers in the states are massive.  They'd take up half the motorway. There just isn't the space.

We don't have big car parking spaces because there is no demand for giant spaces.

Parking is also a space issue.  There just isn't the space in this country for acres of car parking.  That's why they try to cram as many spaces in as they can and that's why they're tight.  Where I live there are always 4x4's going over the lines in parking spaces or getting trapped at the top of some twisty car park and not being able to get out.
It's all about space.

Can I suggest you stop using words like CRAZY country etc..being British..you are offensive to me.

He could have put it better, but there's not reason to take offence.  When it comes to people picking on national stereotypes I find it's better to just laugh it off. 







[/quote]

They're not tiny cars - they're normal cars of a size which most of the world drives. Why do you think the vehicles you see on an average American street you hardly see any where else outside the Americas?...

Its because no one wants to buy them - they are oversized, over engined, over expensive for fuel and difficult to park. From a driving point of view American cars are
great in a straight line but on European or R.O.W roads they have very poor handling dynamics when compared to European or Japanese cars.

Its not that the cars in Europe /ROW are ridiculously small, its that the cars in the US are ridiculously big - thats why the rest of the world doesn't buy the models made for the American market.

Okay, this is a PROUD AMERICAN's car:

Most people in AMERICA drive something like it. When I went to South America people COWERED beneath it. It weighs 7 tons. I will do the driver's test in it and if the instructor fails me I shall CRUSH the test center.

This is a shoe:



It is a go cart in disguise. No PROUD AMERICAN would drive one. We don't even have cars this size in AMERICA. There is no such thing as "British Ford" Ford is AMERICAN. The Fiesta is not AMERICAN. It is a disgrace to the company.

Do you feel better now?


[MOD NOTE]

Let's keep in mind that you're talking to real people here and that humour doesn't always come across well on the written page.  Try to tone it down a little.

[mod note]













<-------------------------IGNORE BUTTON

Okay, this is a PROUD AMERICAN's car:

Most people in AMERICA drive something like it. When I went to South America people COWERED beneath it. It weighs 7 tons. I will do the driver's test in it and if the instructor fails me I shall CRUSH the test center.

This is a shoe:



It is a go cart in disguise. No PROUD AMERICAN would drive one. We don't even have cars this size in AMERICA. There is no such thing as "British Ford" Ford is AMERICAN. The Fiesta is not AMERICAN. It is a disgrace to the company.

Lol...think that should read; the guy who drives this is proud to spend a months wages on petrol, the guy who drives this is proud not too be able to park anywhere,the guy who drives this is proud at how badly it goes round corners, the guy who needs to drive this is perhaps a little less proud of something else....

Do you feel better now?


[MOD NOTE]

Let's keep in mind that you're talking to real people here and that humour doesn't always come across well on the written page.  Try to tone it down a little.

Tone what down?

Tone what down?

Oh Dear.

If you can't honestly see how offensive you're being than I doubt any amount of explanation will do it.

I'm sure you're a nice guy and you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but joining a forum and then in one fell swoop insulting not only all of the English people, but the Americans as well, will probably not make your stay here the most comfortable. I suppose it doesn't matter because you like to have a big truck that intimidates people and if anyone disagrees with you, you'll simply run them over. But you will probably have just put a LOT of people off talking with you which means you'll be put on their ignore list which means that if you ever want to ask a serious question or get a little advice about living in this country, You'll be SOL.

Thats what tone it down means.