Wide Cars

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No, you're not understanding me correctly. Mostly because I misspoke, so that's on me, not you.

The contact patches I was talking about are the corners of the rectangle. Everything between the wheels is the footprint.

The area of the footprint basically determines the minimum MPG you can have. (The more complicated point is that it is related to all the vehicles you produce rather than a specific minimum, but that overcomplicates the issue. The point is that CAFE standards provide strong incentives for manufacturers to increase the "footprints" of their vehicles. The larger the footprint they can claim, the less MPG improvement they need to make. So, longer and wider wheelbases.

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*NHTSA, but yes.

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In all honesty, the wideness of modern cars may actually be their downfall. I live in a suburban area (Not US, but that doesn't matter it's become everyone's problem.) and the roads were designed for cars to be parked on either side and two, narrow lanes in the middle where people could, slowly, get past each other, with a certain amount of tolerance (i.e. space).

Then came an EPA ruling in the states (late 90's I think) and trucks were immune to sensible laws and all the car companies made trucks that were immune to being too wide (among other things). They became objects of desire. Cars followed, because everyone wants a thick phallus I guess, or maybe needs to see the road when there's a fat car next to them, or one with tinted windows, and I'm nowhere near to a legal solution in a global economy.

Practical upshot, local roads are only one lane wide because of fat cars parked on either side with no regard to practicality, add endless renovation because property development is the one true way to richness /s, even though rich people already own the good land, and control their local environment.

TLDR, fat cars break suburban roads.

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This comment has been made before, and the feedback from people who actually drive them is nobody is driving a dually for fun, the suspension just isn't set up to be driven empty. Also, they're massive vehicles even by US standards.

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Top of the line in utility sports, unexplained fires are a matter for the courts

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Nothing wrong with public transport

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Always have been. H2s were the cybertrucks of their day

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Thanks for the explanation. It's just infuriating

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I get it now. Not a chance that's changing anytime soon I suppose, I can see how it's not convenient for manufacturers

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People absolutely do drive duallys for fun, ask any mechanic.

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Can confirm, am diesel mechanic.

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I don't think anyone doubts how much time, money, and effort are put into road infrastructure. In fact, I think about it a lot when driving.

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Lol I don't understand why people want wide cars. There are so many instances where having a narrow car saved me from some dinguses crossing the center line

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I often see a car in a crowded parking lot that is too wide or too long to fit in a parking spot, and I have to wonder if the person driving that vehicle is a complete idiot or a complete asshole.

How stupid are you that you chose a daily driver that doesn't work? That you take up so much space that everyone else needs to actively avoid you and curse you because you are so bad at making choices?

Do you regret your choice? Do you constantly think "Fuck everyone else around me, I do what I want.", or do you legitimately not notice how everyone else hates you?

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And this is exactly why we don’t see small trucks like Rangers or Dakotas anymore. I don’t know if it’s because it’s impossible to make an engine that efficient or if manufacturers are just lazy, but the consequence is that they can avoid stricter efficiency requirements by simply making bigger (larger wheelbase) and heavier (body on frame vs. monocoque) vehicles.

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They were designed so that the wheels would be the same width as the tracks on an Abrams tank.

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...medium?

lad

I'm guessing larger than medium are the ones that transport containers, trees, houses, and the like

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There is a guy at my office building that routinely parks his fucking VW Golf in 4 spaces under the covered parking. Dude it’s not even that nice of a car. Assholes exist regardless of what they drive.

Lived at an apartment complex that had external garages and they had two parking spaces, two single garages, and two parking spaces in these perpendicular to the road pull offs. BMW loved to park diagonal across the two space sections. Too bad for him that apartment had a manager that must have found so much joy in towing cars. They were relentless with their parking enforcement. Pretty sure that guy got towed 3-4 times before he got the hint. Parking was always a pain at that complex…

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You're stuck in the "defensive driving" mindset -- You gotta go offensive to keep safe. The Chevy Stretch offers significantly greater total mass than even large trucks, and a lower center of gravity. Now you'll be the one crossing the center line, striking fear into the hearts of the sensible!