Motor Mouth. By Dan Woods
Gee Whizz! Make mine a V8. Now let me begin by making this clear; there are a lot of things wrong with the United States. The crippling national
debt of 6. Dr Who MOT TESTING SERVICE & REPAIRS TO ALL MAKES TYRES * AIR CONDITIONING * DIAGNOSTICS 4. David Walliams & Matt Lucas
2008 (58) A5 Audi 2.7 TDI Sport Multitronic Met Silver 2007 (07) BMW 120i SE Step 5Dr Met Blue FSH 2006 (56) Xsara Picasso 2.0i 16v Exclusive 5Dr Met Silv
£19,991 £9,991 £4,291
2009 (09) Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Dynamic 3Dr Met Blue Petrol £5,991 2008 (57) Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Style 5Dr Met Silver Hatch Diesel £4,991 2001 (51) Mondeo 2.0 Ghia Estate 5Dr Met Silver Petrol
2007 (57) Freelander 2 2.2 Td4 S 5Dr Met Black Auto Diesel £12,491 2006 (56) Mazda5 1.8 TS2 5Dr Met Blue Estate Petrol
2002 (51) Mercedes C220 CDI Elegance 4Dr Met Silver Diesel £5,491 2005 (05) Mercedes ML270 CDI Tip 5Dr Met Blue Diesel
£1,991 £5,991 £8,991
2008 (57) Mini Cooper Clubman 1.6D 5Dr Met Black Diesel £7,991 2006 (56) Mini Cooper S 1.6 JCW 3Dr Hatch Met Grey Petrol £8,991 2007 (07) Peugeot 207 1.6 HDi 110 Sport Met Blue Hatchback £5,991 1998 (S) Porsche Boxster 2.5 Tiptronic S Auto 2Dr Met Silver £6,991 2007 (07) SAAB 9-3 1.8t Vector Anniv Conv 2Dr Met Blue
£9,991
over $15 trillion. The nauseating patriotism which leads to a standing ovation for anybody who says the USA is ‘awesome’. The blame culture; how everything is somebody else’s fault, and therefore they should be sued. The portions of food which never fail to exceed the average wedding buffet. And worst of all, the ‘American dream’ in which everyone should have a helicopter and a swimming pool, regardless of who is exploited to make the money which pays for it. This is a generalisation of course, but there is truth behind it. Whilst I disagree with the ‘bigger is better’ mentality when it comes to food (and consequently stomachs) the Americans seem to be onto a winner when they apply this logic to car engines. The Japanese will always have their technology. The Italians like passion and soul, the Germans like functionality and the French like hot hatches. The Americans on the other hand? They want a car that is big, and has a V8. Everything else is an afterthought. They use leaf spring suspension set ups which are more commonly found on ox carts. The dashboards are usually made from the kind of plastic used to keep your coffee spilling out of the cup at McDonalds, and the overall build quality is such that you would expect the car to last no longer than 20 minutes. But because they are cheaply made, American cars are also cheap to buy. For example, the cheapest Ford Mustang is available for just $22,000; around £15,000. It has a 3.7 litre V6 and costs the same as a top-model Fiesta. This is exceptional value for money, and even the 19mpg fuel consumption is not too much of an issue due to cheaper fuel in the States. Here are just some of the sports cars which are on sale in America: Chevrolet Corvette Z06, Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang GT, Cadillac CTS-V, Dodge Challenger SRT8, Dodge Charger R/T Max. All cost less than £50,000 and some are more towards the £20,000 mark. These cars look good, have a big V8 and a few hundred horsepower. So why aren’t we all driving these muscle cars to the office? Well for starters, the fuel consumption would require us to remortgage our houses and sell our children. And then when we are on our way to work we will come across something rarely found in America; corners. American cars are not good at corners. The out-dated technologies are of little use and the driver will experience much discomfort trying to wrestle the big V8 around the bend. This ordeal will instil such terror that the next step is to go home and lock yourself in a cupboard. So would I have one? Yes. Without a single hesitation. To cruise along to some rock music and a V8 burble is bliss. Regrettably, over here the high fuel and insurance costs would prevent most people from getting one. However in the land of the free, where the speed limit is 65mph and the highways are long and desolate; how better to head off towards the horizon? It just seems right. Let me also introduce you to my new blog. For more news and pieces above and beyond this column, please feel
free to visit
http://motormouthdan.blogspot.com where you will find much more from me. There will also be polls/discussions and you can leave me comments to share your own views and experiences. Dan.
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