What do you guys have against the PT Cruiser

[ferrari_chris]

Ignorance is bliss, I guess. By the way, the new GM Ecotec 4-cylinder can make over 600hp on STOCK INTERNALS! Try that in your Civic and see how well your hood fares when a pushrod flies through it ... The reason why we don't have what you would call "light" cars over here is because they are illegal. A little something called "crash testing", in which case I'm sorry, but a Smart car would NOT pass

Dude, firstly Civic's don't have pushrods. Well, not the new ones anyway. By new I mean '80 onwards.

Second, Europe has pretty strict crash testing. I'm not going to pretend to know how well the Smart fared in the ENCAP(?) tests, but I think the European crash tests are just as strict, if not stricter than the American ones.

The American ones must have to allow for stuff like: "None of the 15 cup holders can come loose at a 30mph impact."

 

[JTSnooks]

Oops, I meant connecting rod. My bad The point remains the same And I know Europe has crash testing, but with all the huge, lumbering SUVs we have here, not to mention the generally higher speeds on the roads (excepting the autobahn of course...but I doubt people take Fiat Puntos in the left lane of the autobahn very often), many of the small cars in Europe would be deathtraps. That's why you're not gonna get too much smaller than a PT Cruiser, and why it's considered a small car. Even if the cars could pass the crash testing, very few people would buy them because they don't want to literally get run off the road on the highways or faster city streets.

 

[Duke]

Actually, American crash testing standards are much more strict. That has a lot to do with why we don't get a lot of imported specialty cars here.

 

[smellysocks12]

Actually the rules are stricter here. I went to this car show a couple of years ago and at the Chrysler stand I went to ask the guy working there where the Vipers were at. At that moment it looked like all the frustrations he had been saving up for years were released at once. He got all red and started a rant about our government and their rules and guidelines.... anyway to make a long story short. Vipers aren't allowed here due to safety problems. It sucks because I think they're great cars. I'd rather have a Viper than a Porsche.

 

[ving]

you know not wht you say!

porsche, there is no substitute!

 

[JTSnooks]

Where do you live, smellysocks? There are definitely Vipers for sale in Europe...have been since they first came out. And I don't know the actual rules for crash testing, but they are a lot different, because as Duke says, there are a LOT of cars over there that aren't legal for sale here because they don't meet crash regulations. I remember when the McLaren F1 was first imported, it had to have huge ugly bumpers stuck just below the headlights to meet safety regs for the US. Since then I've seen some that don't have it, I think they managed to get it classified as a low-volume somethingorother, I dunno. There are ways around needing crash certification, but for production I think the rules are stricter. They're at least different enough to disallow a lot of European cars.

 

[daan]

So I get reall really really tired of being confronted with uninformed dorks parroting the fanboy line that American cars don't handle.

But what do we care? We hate them, remember.

 

[Crash]

Who owns Renault then? GM or Ford?...

Neither, Renault-Nissan was suppose to be a quasi-merger that turned into Renault owning Nissan. It was kinda the same thing that happened with Diamler-Benz and Chrysler back in 1998.

Also, count BMW AG as one of those independent coglomerates that own other nameplates.

 

[connaugh]

looks like a hurse nuff said

 

[Praetorian]

I know Europe has crash testing, but with all the huge, lumbering SUVs we have here, not to mention the generally higher speeds on the roads (excepting the autobahn of course...but I doubt people take Fiat Puntos in the left lane of the autobahn very often), many of the small cars in Europe would be deathtraps.

Erm... I may also be an American, but I MUST say something here. I have travelled to europe, and while I didn't see large amounts of SUV's and the like, the roads there are clearly insane. City planning for traffic flow wasn't really part of the plan 1000 years or so ago when many European cities were built. roads are narrow, and people get through them in any way they can. Many roads are barely wide enough for 2 mopeds to go side by in, let alone throwing a subcompact car into the mix. But they do it anyway, and they do it fast, blind turns, close walls and all.

Actually I can see why they don't like American drivers over there. We drive on the wrong side of the road (at least they think we do), and for the most part we are only familiar with roads that have plenty of room for big vehicles to move around on.

anyway, back to the original subject...

I liked the PT Cruiser (style-wise, never been in one) when it first came out, and I thought Chrystler was on to a good thing. then I started seeing more of them. And more of them. And more of them. Now I'm pretty sure I can expect to see at least 5 a day. Clearly marketing was never a problem for the Cruiser. Now when I see one, I half think the owner should get something else. Its like all the kids out their that want to express their individuality by dressing and acting just like all the other kids striving to be different.

I seem to recall winning a Cruiser back in GT2, and after modding it out and being disappointed with its brick-like maneuverability & speed, I sold it to help pay for a turbo or some such for a car with more promise. Haven't bothered trying one in GT4 (of course I may be thinking of the Phaeton, not 100% sure)

 

[<_Spike_>]

Guess I'll stick my view in

Why don't I like it IRL?
Well it's god aweful in looks, I cringe everytime I see one on the road (much the same way as I do when I see a Fiat Multipla...thank god that isn't in the game). It's not the best sounding car in the world, not exactly fast unless tuned up. I'd much rather have a Prowler, though saying that...over a Prowler I'd much rather have the Lotus 340R (now why wasn't THAT in game)

Why don't I like it IG?
Pretty much same as above, added with the fact it can be pretty sluggish, it's slow and it just doesn't really have much use in the game when you can go buy yourself a nice Skyline to start off with (if you used the 100,000cr transfer that is).

 

[CRXnut]

Speaking of crash testing ...
GM actually cheated the crash tests with PT Cruiser by calling it a light truck (where there is less testing reguired and it's not as strict)

I only know one US car that beats the Cruiser in ugliness - Pontiac Aztec :-)