Automotive enthusiasts?

Oops

@Flying Pancake  
That was how town folks carried cargo back in the days before SUVs. Trucks were for the rural areas.
 
What use are sedans for nowadays other than transporting people which SUVs can also do?  
What merits do cars have over CUVs?

@SeraphimDawn  
Cars have:  
-Performance  
-Handling  
-Styling (subjective)  
-Convenient size (compacts)  
-Fuel economy  
-Lower rollover risk
 
CUVs have:  
-Ground clearance  
-Cargo volume (negated if we include station wagons as cars.)  
-Higher seating height (it makes people feel safe, or something.)  
-More likely to offer AWD  
-Towing
 
Now, if you think about it, none of those qualities really has to be tied to either of the two classes. My thinking is that eventually, there will be a “blurring” between them, and we wind up with a bunch of stuff like these:  

 

 
Which will collectively be referred to as “cars,” ending the crossover category. And after all, think about where cars came from:  
 
That’s definitely a car, but build it today and it’d be called a crossover.

@Flying Pancake  
The problem with crossovers is that everyone tries to make them sporty. Why is that a problem? Because what you end up with is something that is too big and heavy to actually go fact or corner, too big of an engine to be efficient, and really too small to be of any other use.

@Prince Artemis  
They do? I’m not sure which ones you’re talking about, most crossovers I see are semi-underpowered appliances with no sporty pretentions.

@Flying Pancake  
Those exist also. There are only two crossovers I like, and I’m not sure either of them qualify as actual crossovers. The newer Range Rover Sport, and the Tesla Model X. The Range Rover actually does go around a track, and off road, still useful. The Model X is just big and really freakin fast.

@Prince Artemis  
My parents encountered the problem with a lack of space for cargo with their Lexus RX-350, and they were hard pressed to make enough space for both cargo and people.  
The RX-350 is a small midsize crossover similar to the Toyota RAV4.
 
It was definitely a lot smaller cargo space than our old Mercury Villager minivan we used to have.

@Prince Artemis  
Yeah, I’d call the Rover an SUV if it’s respectable off-road, and I have no idea what the Model X counts as. I’ve seen “minivan” thrown around, but I doubt Elon Musk would take kindly to that designation. Their website calls it “the safest, fastest, and most capable sport utility vehicle in history,” which leads me to wonder if they have any idea what an SUV is, or if they know the definition of the word “capable.”
 
I guess “crossover” probably is the best word for it, considering it’s exclusively on-road, but has the general profile of a rounded off SUV-ish thing.

@SeraphimDawn  
Who ever thought the crossover was a good idea has clearly never taken a step back and actually tried to live with one.

@Flying Pancake  
The newer Range Rover Sport models are actually just as good as any other Rover off road, and they can keep up with the hot hatch cars around the track.

@Prince Artemis  
That’s an impressive combination; almost like a big rally car with a luxury interior.

@Flying Pancake  
Thats why I actually like them.

@Flying Pancake  
Personally, if I’m going to be driving on-road, I mind as well be driving cars like sedans, coupes, or hatchbacks/station wagons.
 
 
@Prince Artemis  
Nah. Compact/midsize crossovers typically have as much space as any old hatchbacks. Just they are higher off the ground which is apparently one of the best selling points of a crossover.
 
I’ve been hearing a lot of crap about Jaguar cars.  
Are they really that unreliable and defective?

@SeraphimDawn  
I don’t know but Ford did not learn their lesson with the Mustang. The 2018 model is just the 2015 version with a few minor changes to the front.

@Prince Artemis  
Sports cars have been getting shafted lately.

@SeraphimDawn  
Yeah they sorta have….

@SeraphimDawn
 
On Jaguars:
 
Dick Van Dyke’s Jaguar caught on fire with him in it on the side of the freeway a few years ago but someone pulled him out before it spread, not knowing it was him until after the fact.
 
My parents had three Jaguars, the third bought once I was born. It was a 1985 XJ6 which fell into disrepair after we moved and I can’t really blame the manufacturer for that but given our location at the time my Dad kept saying that parts were difficult to come by. I heard a bunch of other Jaguars from the same time period caught on fire with ease due to the Lucas starter too.

@BarryFromMars  
Jaguar cars are classy but seem to have worst luck out of them all.
 
Skyscraper ‘death ray’ melts car with building glare in London

@SeraphimDawn  
There is a similar building in Las Vegas I think, it is also a death ray.

@SeraphimDawn  
I don’t know from personal experience, but what I’ve always heard is that British cars developed a reputation for electrical problems in part because they used a positive ground, unlike everyone else. Treat them normally, and you’re going to fry something. The other part is that they actually do have questionable electrics, for some reason.
 
Not sure how they are mechanically, but I’d tend to assume that any high-performance luxury car with a LOT of moving parts would be a bit maintenance intensive.
 
 
@Prince Artemis  
Los Angeles had one for a while, too:  
 
The Disney Concert Hall had a nasty habit of cooking the condos across the street and blinding drivers into crashing. Fortunately, in 2005 they scuffed the building up enough to fix the problem.

History of the Ford Edsel
 
Check out this neat ad made for the Dodge Avenger!

@SeraphimDawn
 
These videos of Roman’s videos do turn out nicely too. I don’t suppose it’s funny by the “odd” definition that I was just thinking the other day “What if RCR reviewed an Edsel?”. IMO they don’t look awful but I like underdog cars like it and the AMC Pacer (funny there’s such a thing as an Edsel Pacer then the AMC Pacer and both were considered “not quite a good car”)
 
That Dodge commercial was funny.

@SeraphimDawn  
How did I miss that in my subscriptions?

I watched a video a little while ago about the Dodge Challenger GT - the new one with AWD. It was pretty lame all around.
 
“Everything you want to know about the Dodge Challenger GT except not everything because I can’t talk about how it drives.”
 
It’s physically impossible for Dodge to fit a V8, AWD, and the 8 speed auto in the Challenger so it has a V6 pushing a very heavy car and it’s supposed to be performance oriented. I don’t know why Dodge couldn’t offer the old five speed or a manual that would allow for a V8, since the Hemi is basically the point of buying a Challenger. I think the smarter buy for any enthusiast who wants a reasonably priced AWD sports car is the Subaru WRX.

@kleptomage  
Don’t bother with the WRX either, it has not stayed true to its name and is basically any other sedan out there, just with more power and AWD. Get a Focus RS instead.