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what are these people expecting everyone's reaction to be when they buy these cartoonish giant clownshoes trucks?
because i see those things and think "oh look, another sensitive douchenozzle"
Back when I was young, I had a job building, and installing, custom stereos for cars. The place I worked at also did a lot of modifications, one of the most popular things we did was lift trucks, add huge wheels, move exhaust to end above the backs of the cabs, etc. People who had trucks like that, just like the people with the stereos you could hear 5 miles away, absolutely did concern themselves with the way they were perceived, having that tricked out truck. They also rarely used them for work, or took them off road. They liked to cruise them down the night life areas, and show off. They would talk about how excited they were to do this. This was the same with people who tricked their cars out like something from TFATF movies. They never raced, they just showed off.
A lot of that is for the same reason people dress nice or have nice accessories like watches and handbags: Conspicuous consumption makes it look like you have money to at least some people.
And anywhere there are vehicles there's going to be a vehicle culture, from low riders to pickups to rice tractors
correct, and fast fashion, precious metals, and gems, etc for this are bad. it is a lot harder to deal with the fast fashion thing, because it took over the industry needed for clothing. but yeah, I feel the same about doing things like buying jewelry without concern for where it came from, as jewelry is something that can be easily boycotted. The big difference is, someone wearing a ring with a big old blood diamond on it will never inject its way into my life, and what I am doing, like getting stuck in traffic with some big coal-rolling d-bag, or someone whose muffler is replaced, or their stereo is as loud as a stadium concert, and so on.
I think the best solution to this is to just make cars not cool anymore, and EVs are doing a great job at that.
I mean, you can make cars cool without making them obnoxious, inefficient, intrusive, poorly fit for local infrastructure, etc.
Unless you think things that cause greater issues for other people are the only ways in which cars can be cool. Then I don't know what to tell you, at that point it is a personal problem.
I love my $30k Miata. 2339 lbs, 35 mpg, its fast enough, handles better than enough, can go for 200k+ miles, I've driven faster and more expensive cars, but that one is by far the most fun. Yes, cars can definitely be cool without having 13 mpg, and annoying other people, without blocking the vision of others to operate safely. The only issue is that it forces you to drive aggressively to avoid these giant fucking emotional support trucks killing you cause they can't see you.
Yes, I am glad to hear that the feds are at least looking at new regulations on truck/suv design due to the increase in pedestrian death.
Most of what are generally considered coolest cars are loud, inefficient, and hard to maneuver around a city. Think Lambos, Ferraris, Bentleys, low riders, hot rods, in addition to lifted trucks and fart-can Hondas.
It doesn't have to be that way though. A lot of that desire was created by car companies using massive advertisement campaigns over decades, to convince people the cars with the most profit margin, and dependency on the system, are cool. All the reasons beneath the obnoxious parts, that ultimately are what people like, can be done differently now. You don't need a loud car, with shitty normal road compatibility, to have a fast, agile, car, that could be targeted at the consumer. You don't need loud, smog belching, monster trucks, that fit nowhere, to be able to do all the off road shit. The rest are aesthetic desires, which are easy to manipulate, through advertising, over time.
The whole car industry could just start an unrelenting ad campaign on the side of those who do not like coal rollers, and paint those using them as bad people, and, since a huge amount of the population hate them already, it wouldn't be all that long before they are a thing of the past.
I agree that advertising did that for trucks, but race cars are loud and fast and terrible on the road and people will still think they're cool because they're loud and fast and agile. The loudness is because muffling the exhaust reduces horsepower, the lack of ground clearance is for handling. These are physics problems and people who want to go fast with internal combustion will always trend that way.
Plus if Lamborghini or Ferrari or Porsche could sell a fancy car without some insanely complex engine and suspension for the same amount of money they'd absolutely do it. Often those cars are built because there are rules in motorsport that require a certain number of production cars that often end up costing the company money.
And there will always be people who modify their cars for whatever reason. No car company in the world makes a car with an adjustable suspension that can make the car so low it scrapes the road, but people do it anyway.
But, like I said, car companies are doing a great job of making cars uncool by just making them electric, and then spitting out crossover after crossover after crossover that aren't just ugly, but are also uninspiring. Cars are turning into appliances like microwaves and dishwashers, which are very much not cool.
Yes, I get that loud attracts some people, especially people who want to force it on other people. They were why I was installing those stereo systems, in their car, and not in their house. As for things like the ground clearance, if you are going to spend like 6 digits on a car, of 10s of thousands on mods, there are things like clearance adjust suspensions, for road, terrain, track, shifting. The people who actually go as far as to make low riders, and other things where they have to do a lot of their own work, are so rare, its not really a concern compared to modded coups, lifted trucks, and fart boxes.
As someone who loves and talks up her subcompact, a lot of people won’t ever see it as cool. In part because it’s so practical in an unobtrusive way. It’s cool like getting regular cardio or eating a diet high in vegetables: once it’s a part of your life consistently it’s awesome, but it’s not showy, decadent, or immediately fun (ok actually it is if you like a zippy vehicle). At least where I live a lot of people see trucks as both a part of their cultural identity and as associated with things they enjoy like hunting and hauling.
Making the smallest practical vehicle cool will be difficult. I think bicycles are actually one of the easier for it because it’s the only practical form of transportation that actively makes you more attractive. But it’ll generally need to involve more appeals to fun and coolness than being a nag or appealing to practicality.
I am not saying we need to make subcompacts cool, or the smallest possible vehicle, just ones that aren't actively intrusive to the lives of everyone stuck around them, dangerous on busy roads, and hard to fit through neighborhood streets, that are wildly sucking gas down, while spewing pollution out.
What’s a fart can Honda?
They put a great big resonator in the exhaust of a four cylinder car, generally a Honda Civic. They think it makes them sound cool but it really doesn't.
Sometimes they'll even remove the catalytic convertor for extra fart sound.
I fucking hate those cars! Ugh!
At least performance mods can improve efficiency, with the focus of getting more power from the motor to the pavement. If they are actual performance mods (as opposed to just making exhaust louder or adding a rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car), with exceptions of ones that do that by increasing fuel use.
Though even with that one, driving style can matter. Anecdotal, but my car has a sports mode and an eco mode, as well as a fuel use indicator. I found that using sports mode and then having a range of speed I'd drive at (accelerate hard to top speed of the range, then reduce power so that it slows to the low end then accelerating again) was the most efficient way to drive it. If I tried the same in eco mode, the reduced power meant I spent more time doing the acceleration, and either of those was more fuel efficient than just maintaining one speed. Though it was a frustrating way to drive (both for me and I'm sure for anyone who ended up behind me). You couldn't go on auto pilot doing it that way and had to pay constant attention to your speed.
It's kinda like the race to idle strategy for CPU/GPU efficiency. Use lots of power when it's needed so that it can go back to using much less power.
Yeah, I don't mind mods that make things better for daily use. I also don't mind big performance mods, or truck get bigger mods. There is a caveat though, please put the mods to use. If you spend 10k turning your car into a racing/performance car, and you take it to the track, good for you for having a hobby, and skill. Need a big fucking truck to hall around your construction site worth of tools, and materials? Awesome, you have what you need. Modify it for off road use? If you go off road, even just for fun, sure, fine. If you need it because you work in remote locations, or something, wonderful, you have what you need.
Having these loud, intrusive, difficult, gas hog, emission machines, and all you do is daily drive it, and show off? Well, I will look down on that behavior.
Can we say the same about motorcycles? I feel like leftists give a pass to motorcycles because of efficiency, but they're always the loudest vehicles on the road, one fucking boomer around me loves cruising the neighborhood blaring his ambiguously gay 80s hairband music louder than I can even get either of my vehicles.
I absolutely feel that way about motorcycles. You love your motorcycle? Hell yeah, but if you’re driving past and I have to stop talking because you’re drowning my conversation out I think you’re an asshole. Honestly, I don’t even get why people think super loud motorcycles are cool. Motorcycles definitely can be cool, but obnoxiousness removes all coolness
Hell, I’m generally sympathetic to loudness, I’m hard of hearing and can struggle with volume control and need things louder than some people like, but there’s a line.
Yeah, the line is causing hearing loss apparently lol. But yeah there's no way those guys don't have hearing loss on those things. And I swear to God, if I ever catch someone wearing earplugs on a loud motorcycle? Hoooo boy! Someone's gonna wish they WERE back in 'nam!
Yeah, and, while they use less gas, they release more particle pollutants into the air.
A spoiler on a fwd car is not always for downforce. Yeah a giant wing on a fwd car puts more weight (both from the weight of the spoiler, and from the down force acted on it) on the back, and less on the front, reducing grip. However a lot of spoilers just make the car a little more slippery through the air, giving a passive, mild efficiency bonus.
peoople who had trucks like that, just like the people with the stereos you could hear 5 miles away, absolutely did concern themselves with the way they were perceived, having that tricked out truck.
Yep! This past weekend, my girlfriend and I were waiting to be seated at Texas Roadhouse, and we saw something interesting.
Some young guy pulled in with his tricked-out, shiny truck, meeting friends who were all decked out in cowboy hats, boots, and big belt buckles—total urban cowboy vibes.
They were laughing and showing off around his truck, talking about the truck, being impressed. But then something odd happened: they took off their cowboy hats, swapped their boots for tennis shoes, untucked their shirts, and walked over to the Kohl’s next door!!
I was like, what the fuck did I just see? They switched personas from country to urban real quick—they def cared a lot about how they were perceived.
They’re probably not thinking about it as such, but rather it’s an atavistic dominance display, like a gorilla beating its chest, coming directly from the hindbrain.
They aren't. See the fuck cars folks like to joke that they just want attention. Y'all can't fathom using the vehicle or having fun.
Y’all can’t fathom using the vehicle or having fun.
with the trucks on the market at this point, the actual "use case" functionality comprises maybe 10% of the reason people buy them. the rest is peacock feathers sticking out your ass
and the "you can't fathom having fun" bit LOL -- classic "you just don't get it" defense of anything dumb. and the fact that there's always always someone who has to chime in and come to the defense of stupidly large obnoxious emotional support trucks just proves the point: "y'all" can't handle anyone not thinking you're cool because your goofy ass truck
Oh we're just inventing numbers now? I'd say 98.72 % of raptor owners use them as intended 62% of the time!
Now go hit up Google and link me a secondary source leading back to a 2018 study done by a trade group (axios) that you didn't have access too.
LOLOLOLOL
https://www.axios.com/2023/01/23/pickup-trucks-f150-size-weight-safety
Instead, experts say, much of the big pickup mania is being driven by consumers' self-image. "Today, personality and imagery are playing an even more important role in how consumers choose which truck is right for them," Strategic Vision researcher Alexander Edwards told Axios.
The firm surveys owners each year about the character traits they associate with their vehicle. Two words set F-150 owners apart: “powerful” and “rugged.”dude, the trucks are just stupid security blankets. which would be fine if they weren't such a nuisance, a danger to others on the road, and didn't take up 4 parking spots. congrats, you are doing the exact opposite of making a case for buying one of these ridiculous bullshits
Where is the data and methodology? Oh right it's not there.
LOL you're literally demonstrating my point with every comment you make. it would be adorable if it weren't so sad. best advice i can give you is stop being SOOOOO concerned about what the entire world thinks about your own perceived lack of manliness
It's amazing how folks get off topic and start personal attacks when you point out they are making things up.
Been a year and not a single one of you have been able to actually pull the data on trucks y'all love to bitch about.
It's cult/GOP like.
"giant land-blimp trucks are cool because you can't find a quantitative study that says they aren't !!!!"
good job champ. keep up the good work standing up for those poor sensitive unmanly truck drivers
i'm honestly glad you're here. thanks for the entertainment
Amazing, you just continue to create lies and distortion to further OC's original imaginative comment.
Modern trucks are signifcantly larger and bulkier than their older counterparts. Their bed and bumper heights have increased and many of them have become luxury vehicles. The truck went from a workhorse to the family vehicle.
Many people also buy a vehicle, such as a truck, that is significantly over qualified/over capable for the majority of their trips. If you buy an oversized vehicle, it is on you to deal with parking it and fitting it places, it should not be society's problem to service oversized vehicles.
Where at any point did I say it wasn't up to them to deal with parking? Y'all love to lecture.
Have a bad take and get called out for it, then you bitch about being called out on a bad take. You're sounding a lot like an orange fella I know of.
Whatever you say 🤷♂️
Hi, I use a truck daily for work.
If I could trade in my current truck for something more economical, with similar cargo space for the things I actually use it for, I'd take it. Can't afford a new vehicle, but if I could trade my truck in for one of those stubby EU type trucks, whose beds are almost the same size, I'd do it.
I used to love bombing around the winding roads in the middle of winter at night, you can see people coming for a mile down the road and can go fast. It was fun. I don't need a big 2,000lb monstrosity to get the same feeling. An ebike and woods will do it.
Have you considered a cargo van? They tend to get slightly better fuel economy than similar sized trucks. I also find them much better to work out of. Their beds are low, their cargo is covered, you can build shelves and workbenches along the walls, they lock more securely than a truck cap, and they have better visbility.
I'd like to have one, actually. There's a few with a sloped front that allows for way better visibility that get great gas mileage.
Everything is expensive as shit though...
I'd love to get an Electric van. I don't need the huge amounts of height some have, it seems trucks get wider and vans get taller. the enclosed cargo space is great for peace of mind, though.
In a perfect world I would get a van with a small frame and small forward silhouette, with no hood or sloped hood, that sits no more than 8ft off the ground. Having a higher suspension, or the ability to raise the suspension for better off-road clearance is nice for some jobs, but not strictly necessary.
I just started working out of a tall van I can stand in. I can't imagjne going back to crawling around vans. We do need a lot of space for some of our jobs so we do end up needing the larger cargo area. The back of the van doubles as a workshop which is nice as well. Our company did buy a smaller all wheel drive van for some of the more remote places we service.
The upfront cost is a lot but compared to modern trucks worth making the switch when the time comes to replace a work truck. Another benefit of the van is the side can be an excellent billboard when you put the company phone number and name along the side.
Oof yeah, if you work IN the van, standing room would be fantastic.
Right now I have work tables I flip out of my truck bed that all my stuff goes on. If I had to fabricate things on the fly more often, I'd definitely want the tall enclosed space. Slap an exhaust fan on there and good to go.
I imagine it's great for cold days and rainy days, too...
Lmfao at "2,000 lb monstrosity" sir, my Miata weighs 2339 lbs. 2k lbs is featherweight. Pray I never get hit by a cyber truck.
My work truck only clocks in at 1700. I might hit 2100 when I've got myself and all my tools loaded up.
I legitimately think my truck would break in half if it got hit by an EV.
Wtf is it? A Datsun?
Lol a Chevy from the 90s. Back before someone ripped a huge line of coke and went "but what if we made them BIGGER?!"
"I like to ride higher so I can see"
You should look at importing a kei truck from Japan. They're tiny little things but the bed is still about the same size as an American pickup. They're cheap too, including any extra import fees, still less than a truck here, I think like $10,000 total. And if you like working on cars, it seems like it'd be fun to convert to an EV.
Ah yes, so much fun to be had on the daily commute, stuck with everyone else from your sleepy suburb on a congested highway moving at glacial speeds because there’s no other option to safely and effectively get around for the people who don’t want to be there and can’t get out of your way.
Sure, you can take that thing out on weekends on country roads, mudding, camping, hauling ATVs to your favourite trails, building you or your buddy’s cottage, whatever you dream - but that still leaves 5 days of the week in traffic hell if you work in a city. Do you really want your neighbours to be left with no options to get out of your way so you can enjoy driving more on those days?
Most of these oversized trucks you wouldn't really want to take offroad. They're built to exploit a tax loophole, not to actually be good trucks. Because they're generally pavement princesses anyway the makers know they can skimp on the parts that make good offroaders, like suspension and transmission. The people who know anything about offroad wouldn't look at them twice anyway, so it's not where their market is.
Being giant and heavy is actually pretty bad for offroad performance, which is why people will cope by talking about "towing capacity" instead, where weight is an advantage, although most of these trucks don't get used that way. If you want good offroad performance something like a Jeep is a way better investment.
Whistlin' Diesel is pretty good at beating on these trucks and showing how weak they are. Although one time he tried to kill an older model Hilux and it was hilarious to see the dangerous lengths he went to try and fail to break anything on that truck.
Some trucks are made to do work, and it's not these giant hunks of overpriced garbage.
Another big consideration for off roading is the wheelbase. Shorter wheel bases are easier to maneuver around tight trail corners. They also tend to have better approach angles for hills. There are some situations a long wheel base is better off road but more often shorter is better.
Wat?
What does that even mean?
"Do you really want your neighbors to be left with no options to get out of your way"
Jesus 🤦♂️
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Every single time anyone posts something vaguely critical of these emotional support vehicles, we always get someone with a bruised ego in here trying to fight the entire community over it. Which is hilarious because it kinda just proves the whole point. If it’s not about image then why are people so sensitive about it?
There really isn’t any other explanation for why these monster trucks have become so popular than vanity. Larger trucks with higher, smaller beds have become the norm, and they’re actually less useful for the things you might need a pickup for. And there’s similarly no reason to think that Americans have suddenly discovered a huge need for pickups that didn’t exist 50 years ago. Yet their prevalence on the road has increased dramatically.
It’s just another fashion accessory. But unlike the fedora, it’s a deadly one, and so of course we will criticize you. Don’t like it? Easy solution: stop choosing fashion accessories that kill people. There are plenty of other ways to cosplay wealth or rugged individualism.
Whatever you say. You all clearly know what truck owners are using their trucks for. Clearly a long bed is the only reason to own a truck!
Thank you for linking back to an article linking back to a secondary source without any primary data that I've already pointed out as a source of misinformation. I applaud your ability to do the exact trade group I've pointed out numerous times that I called out in early comments. Just fantasicly amazing 👏👏👏.
"I like to lick windows and drive high up so that I can see, in fact, so high that I can't see smaller cars"
Don't you have something to scrawl in a gross bathroom stall or something?
I'm sorry for pointing out that OC has invented a need for reactions 🤷♂️