Highway minimum speed limit

[big lo]

^+1

[bentjazz]

myyaris or anyone,

If they can sell a high efficiency car like the CRX HF way back when when the gas prices were low in the US, why can't they give us something like this now when the gas prices are only going up? I really don't get it.

[rningonfumes]

Newer safety requirements and standards have to be met now than years before and cars have grown. Consider this, our car is considered a sub-compact but it is actually the size of a corolla or even a camry from the early 90s.

[Idahotom]

I set my cruise on the 75 mph interstates at 63, that lets the truckers pass me, and they are good enough drivers to just get over to the left and pass. The drivers who are so clueless as run up my rear end, when they could just pay a bit more attention and pass me.....screw them. This is assuming little traffic if any, so in others words I am not slowing anybody down as they can pass anytime. When in busier places where passing for others is less of an option, I bump it up somewhere between 65 and 70, and then the truckers are the slowest. Mostly I adjust my cruising speed by using my mirror to see if I'm "the problem", and if not I don't worry about it.

[mryaris]

Originally Posted by bentjazz

myyaris or anyone,

If they can sell a high efficiency car like the CRX HF way back when when the gas prices were low in the US, why can't they give us something like this now when the gas prices are only going up? I really don't get it.

This is an interesting question and one that is not so easy to answer. I can't begin to gove a complete answer, but here are some of my observations (sorry if they seem to ramble.....I type as I think, which is sometimes in circles).

Part of it is todays consumer would not buy a CRX HF if it were presented as a new car today. It is a no-frills car....it only came with a 5-speed, has no power options at all and with only 62HP is very slow. Modern cars are a lot heavier due to safety mandates and engines are more powerful because most people want to accelerate more briskly than the 12 or 13 seconds it takes the HF to get up to 60MPH (maybe closer to 15 seconds!).

Then there's the fact that in the mid to late 80's and early 90's there was a "battle" over who had the most fuel efficient car in the US. The Geo Metro XFi and CRX HF (later the Civic VX) were the front runners. You have to remember that the whole oil embargo thing was still relatively fresh in people's minds in the mid-80's and cars were still pretty basic (if you had power windows, etc then you had a fancy car). Even though gas prices are high today, the majority of Americans aren't necessarily clamoring for a fuel efficient car and if they are, then anything that get 30-35MPG is a lot better than what they are currently driving so why get an even slower car for another 10-20 MPG. Essentially, there is no real incentive for manufacturers to build a car like the HF anymore.....there's no profit margin in a car like that.

Todays CRX HF is honestly the Prius and cars like it. They get 50+ MPG, but have all the bells and whistles that people want nowadays. I persaonlly hate the Prius, but there you have it.....the tribe has spoken. They want great fuel efficiency without relegating themselves to driving a small little tin box with no modern creature comforts. The Yaris sort of fits in this category, although it has a lot of modern conveniences. The reason people don't buy one is it is a small car that people perceive as cheap and junky.....something that the CRX was never considered in its day.

The last great fuel efficient Honda (in my mind) was the original Insight. It gets well over 70MPG on the highway, but sales never were very high. It was a bit goofy looking and people wanted a "normal" looking car that got great mileage (which is where the Civic hybrid fits in) . The new Insight is more normal looking now, but gets nowhere near 70 MPG, so that's the trade-off.

Anyway, as cars evolve and consumer tastes change the end product also changes. Today is all about the hybrid, so that's what manufacturers are building. Maybe that will change again.....who knows.

[rningonfumes]

^+1

[Flipper_1938]

The original Insight was a neat little car, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $21,000 for one. I bought a loaded Toyota Echo for $12,000.

As great of a deal as the Echo turned out to be, I find it hard to believe that my yaris with more bells and whistles was only $13,700. If you factor 9 years inflation into the mix, the yaris got quite a bit cheaper.

[bentjazz]

Thanks for the great responses to my CRX HF question, guys.

Drudge is reporting $5 per gallon gas by Memorial Day. That's $50+ to fill up our Yaris tanks. I think as these prices go north, people will start to demand more fuel efficiency. It's inevitable, although I could be wrong. And there has to be a market for those who either can't afford a hybrid car or for those who don't want a hybrid. I, myself, would prefer a bare bones type of car that skipped hybrid tech altogether (but achieves similar FE), like the CRX HF or Metro XFi.
I like my Yaris, but if they started pumping out high fuel efficient non-hybrids I'd trade my Yaris in without question....

[end user]

Originally Posted by Thuja

Specifically British Columbia, there is a section of the motor vehicle act which states that a driver must not impede the normal flow of traffic. There is no specific speed nor number of vehicles you can have following you, it is up the the police I suppose.
Check your motor vehicle act (or equivalent) for similar wording.

:)
Thuja.

Shit wish those on the #1 would follow those rules. With the two lanes in the morning going east from Surrey its either being stuck doing 60-80 or having to speed in the left lane so people don't tail gate you unless you don't mind weaving in and out of the lanes every 30 seconds which done 100'a times in 45min gets a bit tiresome.

Even if they built 4 lanes on the #1 it wouldn't matter as people would still be spread out over the 4 lanes. All it would take is people looking into their rear view and move over for faster traffic and I'm astounded how many people DONT use their rear view mirror.

Alberta has min speed signs on their highways. Never seen any in BC.

[brg88tx]

yall do realize the yaris will still get 37 mpg even at 78mph, right? i did it this past weekend.

[matthewai]

just flip em back with 2 fingers

[end user]

Expensive gas is gonna make some entrepreneurial criminals pretty rich soon. Can we look forward to some Mad Max style Yaris wars?

[Yaristeve]

Originally Posted by end user

Expensive gas is gonna make some entrepreneurial criminals pretty rich soon. Can we look forward to some Mad Max style Yaris wars?

Yeah, another round of gas thieves siphoning from peoples' tanks...

[rick996]

Originally Posted by Yaristeve

Yeah, another round of gas thieves siphoning from peoples' tanks...

Maybe they will leave our Yari alone because our tanks are small .

[STC]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSaZ5v1eW5I

Cheers!

[mazilla]

I assume people speeding by are on the way to an emergency, and if it was me I wouldn't want somebody intentionally holding me back...I know that's not the case, but I'd rather not play games.