Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
#131
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
As many here would say... it's marketing that tells us what we want (yeah right) and since marketing is not on board, you won't see those cars here.
#133
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
One thing I have noticed when I'm going around in Europe- the 'big' cars on the roads are often American brands. It may not be a general truth, but it's my observation. All the cute little cars that zip around curves and through narrow paths are European brands, Smart, VW, whatever, and they look boxy or racy or shrunken in all kinds of interesting ways that I find very appealing but that we just don't have in our market. Why is our market so stupid? Why couldn't we have those choices here?
#134
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
You'll be safer if you choose a bigger car! People will slow down to look at you AND you have plenty of engine in front of you to smash first in case of a head on
#135
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
Very Nice "RIDE"
#136
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
A WISE response might be to buy a hybrid with a stronger ICE like an Honda Accord, why not. That is a WISE response. But don't tell me is needed a 5.4 liters engin to feel safe at Houston or I don't know where. A Hummer is 3.7 liters. Don't tell me there is no room between 1.3 liters and 5.4 liters.
PierreM
PierreM
#137
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
Don't sacrifice safety for fuel economy. To me, that means hypermiling, which is an unsafe practise as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't mean that the HCH-II is at all unsafe because of its power. The HCH-II is very capable of reaching legal freeway speeds within short merge lanes, so if you're getting run down by stupid drivers maybe you should be speaking to your local law enforcement and lawmakers to voice your concerns. If you drive properly and confidently, then you shouldn't be intimidated by others. I used to drive a smart fortwo cdi that had only 40 hp, and I could and would take it on the freeway.
Don't lose faith in law enforcement. In Ontario, a tough new "racing" law came into effect that has taken over 400 vehicles off the road in a week's time. Minimum fine is $2000 and the vehicle is impounded and the driver's license taken away for a week. I say, "Bravo!" There is no excuse whatsoever for one's joy riding to affect others.
Don't lose faith in law enforcement. In Ontario, a tough new "racing" law came into effect that has taken over 400 vehicles off the road in a week's time. Minimum fine is $2000 and the vehicle is impounded and the driver's license taken away for a week. I say, "Bravo!" There is no excuse whatsoever for one's joy riding to affect others.
#138
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
Don't sacrifice safety for fuel economy. To me, that means hypermiling, which is an unsafe practise as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't mean that the HCH-II is at all unsafe because of its power. The HCH-II is very capable of reaching legal freeway speeds within short merge lanes, so if you're getting run down by stupid drivers maybe you should be speaking to your local law enforcement and lawmakers to voice your concerns. If you drive properly and confidently, then you shouldn't be intimidated by others. I used to drive a smart fortwo cdi that had only 40 hp, and I could and would take it on the freeway.
Don't lose faith in law enforcement. In Ontario, a tough new "racing" law came into effect that has taken over 400 vehicles off the road in a week's time. Minimum fine is $2000 and the vehicle is impounded and the driver's license taken away for a week. I say, "Bravo!" There is no excuse whatsoever for one's joy riding to affect others.
Don't lose faith in law enforcement. In Ontario, a tough new "racing" law came into effect that has taken over 400 vehicles off the road in a week's time. Minimum fine is $2000 and the vehicle is impounded and the driver's license taken away for a week. I say, "Bravo!" There is no excuse whatsoever for one's joy riding to affect others.
That is an interesting Post you shared here on GH. However I think the OP lives in the USA and here drivers don't really care what the posted speed limit is, Period.
So if the OP felt like he was unsafe in the HCH II he had and wanted to get a different vehicle that he did feel safer in I guess he did make the right move for hisself.
#140
Re: Selling my '06 HCH II for safety reasons
I've been following this thread for a while now and had always been a bit skeptical about the assertion by some that there was something severely wrong with the acceleration of an HCH. This weekend, though, I had a conversation with a friend from out of town. She reported that a while back, she had taken an HCH for a test drive with a friend. She described to me how, on a downhill freeway entrance ramp, with, apparently, the pedal to the floor, the car had only gotten up to 40 mph by the time they entered the highway, freaking out her friend and causing the friend to go with a Prius instead.
Now, my first reaction was that her friend may be a lousy driver, or not have known how hard to accelerate, being unfamiliar with the car. My second thought, though, was that the test drive was in a dealers' model, when hybrids were still in fairly short supply. Surely that particular car had been treated terribly by every lead-footed would-be purchaser and probably all the staff, not to mention the fact that the assist won't come on if the battery is depleted, and it probably was. It could even have been in forced charge mode. I don't know, it's mostly all been said, but hearing her story makes me think again of how easy it is for an entire type of car (hybrids) to get a bad rap because of one lemon or one bad experience for which a given salesman probably has no explanation, even if there isn't anything really wrong with the car. If these cars are the test drive models, they're even more likely to have problems AND to be the cause of spreading around mistaken reputations. Just my thoughts.
Now, my first reaction was that her friend may be a lousy driver, or not have known how hard to accelerate, being unfamiliar with the car. My second thought, though, was that the test drive was in a dealers' model, when hybrids were still in fairly short supply. Surely that particular car had been treated terribly by every lead-footed would-be purchaser and probably all the staff, not to mention the fact that the assist won't come on if the battery is depleted, and it probably was. It could even have been in forced charge mode. I don't know, it's mostly all been said, but hearing her story makes me think again of how easy it is for an entire type of car (hybrids) to get a bad rap because of one lemon or one bad experience for which a given salesman probably has no explanation, even if there isn't anything really wrong with the car. If these cars are the test drive models, they're even more likely to have problems AND to be the cause of spreading around mistaken reputations. Just my thoughts.