Current trends you don't like?

[Duck Vader]

[quote=""aaronatstate""]I think the reason the windows are smaller, belt line is higher, a/b/c pillars are bigger, is because of the increased safety standards. With crossovers it is even worse, since they want to have a good rollover rating, but they are built on a passenger car platform. Sure they are doing some of the stuff for design purposes, but I think the main driver has been passing the safety requirements, not just for looks.

I don't think vehicles from the late 90s/early 2000s would come close to passing today's safety standards.[/quote]

God no they wouldn't. I love the XJ for how easy it is to see out of it, but I do NOT feel safe at all while driving it. I am way more cautious.

That being said, the Kia Soul actually isn't bad to see out of. It borders that line between a crossover and hatchback.

[happygeek]

Shouldn't one be cautious all the time?

Thanks to the GMC's visibility I was able to see the newer vehicle attempting to change lanes into me on I20 outside Augusta GA. Maybe his blind spot detection was off, who knows? Had to swerve into the shoulder whilst using the horn to signal "hey bro, you can't simultaneously occupy the same physical space as me!".

[Duck Vader]

[quote=""happygeek""]Shouldn't one be cautious all the time?

Thanks to the GMC's visibility I was able to see the newer vehicle attempting to change lanes into me on I20 outside Augusta GA. Maybe his blind spot detection was off, who knows? Had to swerve into the shoulder whilst using the horn to signal "hey bro, you can't simultaneously occupy the same physical space as me!".[/quote]

Of course, but when it feels like you are driving something "unsafe" it makes you feel even more cautious. Handles worse, brakes worse, accelerates worse, etc. than the volt, so you need to give yourself more space and time to adjust for issues that may arise. You can't quickly swerve out of the way or slam on the brakes. When in it I drive slower, give bigger gaps in traffic, etc than when in the Volt.

[mjannusch]

[quote=""Duck Vader""]CVT - again this depends on the car. On things like my Volt it is perfectly fine. It is a quiet car with no engine noise and doesn't feel like a normal car when driving it. So I don't even notice it has a CVT since there is no engine to listen to as it goes through the gears. In regular cars though that actually have a normal I much prefer a standard transmission to allow for proper gear selection based on the current want/need.[/quote]

There is no CVT in the Volt.

[Duck Vader]

[quote=""mjannusch""]There is no CVT in the Volt.[/quote]

It acts like one though. 1 speed auto is pretty much a CVT in the way it behaves. At least that is how it feel when driving it.

[mjannusch]

Not CVT at all - there's no "variable" component in it. It is direct drive off an electric motor.

[Duck Vader]

Does it not feel like a cvt to you though? It does to me.

[mjannusch]

It feels like direct-drive electric motor to me. It just speeds up or slows down as you command it to. Essentially it is just a single "gear" and there's no variability or change about it at all. If it felt like a CVT, there'd be a "downshift" delay when you step on it to bring the motor up to higher RPMs, but electric doesn't really care what the RPM is so it just pulls without changing "gears".

It feels a lot better to me than a CVT because your foot is essentially directly connected to the drivetrain and there's instant response to whatever you do, whereas CVT is looking at the throttle position to try to determine your intent on how much acceleration you want and then setting the drive ratio to get it there - and there are delays inherent in that happening.

There's some software control that ramps up the power output so you aren't just spinning tires all the time, but to me that doesn't feel "CVT".

[Duck Vader]

I think the software that delays the response makes it feel more CVT than direct for me. Then again, haven't driven a true CVT in many years. So it might be different than I remember.