I’m currently driving around Iceland. I have seen a Renault Megane, a plethora of newer Yaris’, one Yaris Cross (I lost my damned mind) and a crap ton of Suzuki Jimnys. Now, I’ve driven in some awful conditions in the states. Blizzards in Montana, Tornadoes in Texas, hail storms in the South and ridiculous wind in Arizona. I have driven in all of that in this tiny country, all in a short wheel base Kia Sportage. I was also outpaced by a fucking Yaris today, absolutely bombing down the mountain in 1c weather. Mind you, it was not a GR so AWD was out of the question.
I am so impressed by this Kia and all of the insanely capable Jimnys I am seeing coming off of F-roads.
If a harsh place like Iceland can coexist with RAM 2500s and modern Yaris’, why can’t we?
Oh, and when I say around I don’t mean poking around Reykjavik, I am literally driving the Ring Road around an entire country. Coolest experience ever.
The US laws prefer large vehicles.
Look into the 25% import tax on small work trucks- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tax
Also, larger SUVs and trucks get preferential treatment under gas mileage standards. Someone more familiar can explain better.
FYI - my daily is a 24 year old Subaru.
Once a vehicle is over a certain size, vehicles get exempted from fuel economy standards and taxes because they’re classified as “light trucks”, which was originally intended for work vehicles.
Do you have the same light bulbs in your instrument cluster as the 01? Fuckin tachometer and speedo lights went out in my Forester and I’m a little salty. I had a ford fiesta, loved it, hated it, sold it before we moved so we wouldn’t have to tow it. Got an 01 Forester. Miss having subcompact hatches so hard, so we found an 01 Honda insight, but it’s rouuugh lol.
There are a few out but I can still see. The light on the radio annoys me because it is out entirely and I haven’t gotten around to replacing the radio yet.