And yes, sometimes I travel on highways, where the speed limit is 100 km/h (62mph) and I sometimes go as high as 120-130 km/h . Maximum speed of this car is 1 km/h (about 90mph) and it used about 6-6.5 liters of gas in a city and about 4.5 liters on the highway (equivalent to 36 MPG city / 54 MPG highway).
Fast cars with enormous amount of UN-NEEDED horsepower have been shoved down the American consumer’s throats for decades and even when the shit hits the fan (1970′s….2008…etc), the government still does not learn from it. It is your fault as well, American people, you HAVE A CHOICE, there’s better cars on the market yet you still choose horsepower over brains.

I would NEVER buy a car with over 70-80 horsepower, I know there is no need for that, unless I will buy an RV when I retire

Next time when you buy a car, think about it…buy something that uses gas efficiently, not something fit for races or some big ugly pick-up truck that never gets to be used for it’s intended purposes, ending up instead as a commuter car….

Are you willing to reimburse all of those injured because lack of power directly caused a crash? This really does happen. I was just a whippersnapper the first time. My ’56 Chevy was “horsepower enhanced” to about 300 to 325 or thereabouts. An old gentleman carefully watched the car in front of me as it crossed the street, and immediately entered the street on a collision vector for the left side of my car. Hitting the brakes would only have stopped me where he would have hit at about the “A” pillar. Instead, I dropped to low gear and floored the accelerator pedal. The result was a very startled old codger, I am one of them now, two black streaks behind my car and NO CRASH.

The old guy pulled to the side of the road as soon as he had cleared the intersection, and stopped. I stopped to see if he was OK. AS it turned out, other than elevated respiration and heart rate, he was. He surprised me by thanking me for having prevented the crash. He said that he just wasn’t paying attention and had just watched the first car. He had not even seen me. Horsepower and the willingness and ability to use it prevented a crash and possibly serious injury. This was the late ’50s and very few cars had seat belts. Us old codgers, I am one now, have more brittle bones than whippersnappers. Bouncing off of a steering wheel, even at only 7 or 8 mph can cause serious injury to one of us. By avoiding the crash, I am sure that I prevented injury to this elderly gentleman.

You call horsepower “waste” but what are crashes except “waste”? Perhaps it would be better to tax crashes.

Tim pointed out that 350 HP Corvettes and Camaros with 6 speed transmissions regularly get 30 to 32 mpg now. I had an “86 Mustang 5.0 that on one trip across the US got over 30 mpg because it was caravan restricted to the speed limit. The average 1950s V-8 got about 14 to 17 mpg when driven conservatively. My Chevy with 3 carburettors delivered a regular 17 mpg city or highway. Of course my final drive ratio was 3.56 to one as opposed to the at or below 2.0 to one that is normal with current high performance cars now. And ’56 Chevys were boxy, not aerodynamic. Having power available DOES NOT REDUCE MILEAGE. Using excessively does.

Now a few suggestions.

Obedience to the law is not your first priority as a driver. Your first priority is to have no crashes and to harm no one.

When you are driving you MUST look as far ahead as you can see. Your peripheral vision will pick up any motion and with a little experience, you will be able to discern danger from the motion.

At night you can use not only your own headlights, but also those of the car(s) in front of you to spot dangers along the roadside.

The “Two Second Rule” is valid. This means that for safety there should be 2 seconds between the vehicle in front of you and your own vehicle.

And in closing. You must protect yourself and those with you. The law can not do the job any better than the book on the back seat floor.

My qualifications are that since learning and putting these rules to use, I have driven well over a million miles without causing any damage.

I pray that all who read this will be able to do better.

Are you willing to reimburse all of those injured because lack of power directly caused a crash? This really does happen. I was just a whippersnapper the first time. My ’56 Chevy was “horsepower enhanced” to about 300 to 325 or thereabouts. An old gentleman carefully watched the car in front of me as it crossed the street, and immediately entered the street on a collision vector for the left side of my car. Hitting the brakes would only have stopped me where he would have hit at about the “A” pillar. Instead, I dropped to low gear and floored the accelerator pedal. The result was a very startled old codger, I am one of them now, two black streaks behind my car and NO CRASH.

The old guy pulled to the side of the road as soon as he had cleared the intersection, and stopped. I stopped to see if he was OK. AS it turned out, other than elevated respiration and heart rate, he was. He surprised me by thanking me for having prevented the crash. He said that he just wasn’t paying attention and had just watched the first car. He had not even seen me. Horsepower and the willingness and ability to use it prevented a crash and possibly serious injury. This was the late ’50s and very few cars had seat belts. Us old codgers, I am one now, have more brittle bones than whippersnappers. Bouncing off of a steering wheel, even at only 7 or 8 mph can cause serious injury to one of us. By avoiding the crash, I am sure that I prevented injury to this elderly gentleman.

You call horsepower “waste” but what are crashes except “waste”? Perhaps it would be better to tax crashes.

Tim pointed out that 350 HP Corvettes and Camaros with 6 speed transmissions regularly get 30 to 32 mpg now. I had an “86 Mustang 5.0 that on one trip across the US got over 30 mpg because it was caravan restricted to the speed limit. The average 1950s V-8 got about 14 to 17 mpg when driven conservatively. My Chevy with 3 carburettors delivered a regular 17 mpg city or highway. Of course my final drive ratio was 3.56 to one as opposed to the at or below 2.0 to one that is normal with current high performance cars now. And ’56 Chevys were boxy, not aerodynamic. Having power available DOES NOT REDUCE MILEAGE. Using excessively does.

Now a few suggestions.

Obedience to the law is not your first priority as a driver. Your first priority is to have no crashes and to harm no one.

When you are driving you MUST look as far ahead as you can see. Your peripheral vision will pick up any motion and with a little experience, you will be able to discern danger from the motion.

At night you can use not only your own headlights, but also those of the car(s) in front of you to spot dangers along the roadside.

The “Two Second Rule” is valid. This means that for safety there should be 2 seconds between the vehicle in front of you and your own vehicle.

And in closing. You must protect yourself and those with you. The law can not do the job any better than the book on the back seat floor.

My qualifications are that since learning and putting these rules to use, I have driven well over a million miles without causing any damage.

I pray that all who read this will be able to do better.

Here’s a radical idea for change: if you want more than 200 hp, it will come in the form of renewable energy.

Game. Set. Match.

Here’s a radical idea for change: if you want more than 200 hp, it will come in the form of renewable energy.

Game. Set. Match.

This way the rich and/or wasteful can have what they want and benefit the rest.