So you are complaining that your car is too hard after you put on not only stiffened springs, but rims with as little rubber as possible?
I am not really surprised that your Passat is not that comfy anymore... and quite frankly you demonstrate a part of the US Hip-Hop culture I really do not understand.
Which is good in general but also due to oversized wheels? My A4 is "essentially the same" as you Passat (much more than the r32) and I can turn my wheel with very little effort.
I believe it was quite some time till Ford won Le Mans the last time... that is done by Audi with engines that run on the stuff you do not like
The secret to fuel economy is to have the right size of engine and the right pressure in it for you purpose. In other words: For a normal highway ride, not an oversized v10 at idle is best, but a charged smaller engine in the middle of the revs it was designed to work. But that might be revvy
P.S: I do not care about creationism as long as no innocent kids are involved. I do not think stupidity is an US problem, it is everywhere.
I seriously wonder why an average US citizen should be critizised for some regional crazes.
Not quite!! the rules for le Mans where re-written in favour of diesel, so now its impossible for a petrol car to compete on a level playing field in the prototype class.
I'm English, not American my dear chap. My low profile tyres make my car a little bit quicker and a little bit more fuel efficient. They also make a family man feel a bit younger. I cannot abide hippety-hoppety.
I considered the A4, but the boot capacity is the smallest in its class. The responsive VW German steering feeds everything back through the wheel. Great when climbing an Alpine pass, not great for hours and hours and hours....
I conceded on the fuel economy thing. I was talking about endurance and comfort. The priority in American cars is great (excessive?) comfort over very long distances. This is all I have been stating right from the start.
I thought the rules were changed in 2007? The first Audi win with a Diesel, however, was already in 2006. Also the rules change meant a reduction of the amount a diesel tank was allowed to hold in comparison to a petrol prototype. So in what way are diesel cars favoured by this rule change?
Now I am really disappointed. You are from "Top Gear" and Lotus country, you should value a direct steering.
While I believe the "feeling younger" part the fuel efficiency is rubbish: For that you do not need pimped 21inch rims, but " Leichtlaufreifen " and always enough pressure in them.
America Bashing -- nothing wrong with it -- and this is coming from an American. I could bash the living daylights out of my country if I choose to and there are some days that I do. One of our most famous rights is that of Free Speech - so when someone uses their right to free speech to say something about my country I listen. Obviously there is a reason that they are compelled to bring it up -my responsibility is to listen to their point - think about it and respond properly. There are times I may agree with them or I may disagree but that is what having a good, honest conversation is all about - exchanging ideas and thoughts.
There are too many Americans who immediately freak out when they hear something negative said about the country. For them it is always an "attack" and that they must defend their country by frantically grabbing at what little they know about history, the world and where they think Americas place is in it to defend the country.
In my personal opinion - America has lost its way in the world. We are brought up that America is #1 - but #1 in what?
Long gone are the days of American manufacturing - those jobs and factories have been shipped overseas to save 5 or 10 cents per t-shirt. We are now outsourcing customer service jobs - airlines are sending planes to South America for maintenence - when do we stop shipping jobs out of the country and agree to pay a little bit more to keep them in our own country. It amazes me that Americans will gladly loose a $1 to save ten cents.
Through decades of budget shortfalls the school systems have become decimated. For whatever reason when budgets get tight the first thing to be chopped is education. As a result we are turning out more and more children who are ill prepared not only for the work place but for life in general.
Religon is another lovely piece of American work. Our country was founded under the idea of separation of Church and State. When you look at the government and see how rife it is with religious ideology it is disheartening. Even though American is home of many hundreds of millions of people, from many different countries and therefore different religons - in the US government it seems that only 1 "true" religon is accepted and the basis of US governmental policies. It is always the Bible you hear referred to -- never is any other religious book is referred to.
So yes - as an expat I expect to hear all sorts of America bashing. When that bashing is dead on -- I agree with them -- and when I think that they may not understand the issue fully -- I give them my perspective and hope that it changes their mind. However -- America really needs to listen more - learn more - and then maybe we will be able to find our way again. I think we rest on the laurels of the past rather than earn those of the future.
But one thing I can say -- my freedom of speech is why I can say what I just said. It may anger some of my fellow Ameicans -- but as an American it is my right. That is one thing of many we did manage to get right. So I am proud to be an American but I wish I could be more proud of America.
Because this Michigan man bought from foreign makers - the last American car I bought was back and forth in the shop because of manufacturing issues -- so from then on I bought foreign -- although I guess wait a few years and all US cars may be foreign built.
It's not exactly clear what "fallacies" are in mind, or exactly where, when, how, or by whom they are "disproven," but government-funded school systems in which the creation paradigm is positively taught are extremely rare (and not officially authorized), if they exist at all. Challenges and objections to evolutionary dogma are more readily allowed, and although the mainstream media may misrepresent that as "teaching creation," even in the "religious" South the histrionics would be heard round the world if a government school system were to positively sanction the teaching of the creation model.
Everything taught in American government schools is "forced down their throats" — including the politically correct flavor-of-the-day, patriotism, nationalism, imperialism, socialism, militarism, and — yes — even evolutionism. The mainstream media do a nice job of gently reinforcing the same. All else gets tagged as "wacky" and "fringe." Which is exactly why private schools and home schooling have steadily grown in popularity over the past several decades — parents are growing ever more concerned about what the government calls "education."
"Public, state sponsored" (read: government ) schools have been doing this for as long as they've existed — the most heated criticism invariably comes from those whose own "wacky religious mythology" is either insufficiently protected as the norm, or is excluded altogether.
And of course it is a given that all children are too stupid to figure anything out for themselves when fully informed — hence the need to force mainstream dogma down their throats and "protect" them from becoming familiar with anything politically incorrect, lest they embarrass the "grownups" by learning to practice genuine objective thought and develop critical analysis skills.
Between 1936 and 1975, the General Motors cars for Switzerland, including Oldsmobile, were assembled in the GM assembly works in Biel/Bienne. Later the company was transferrred to Glattbrugg and is now part of GM Europe which has its HQ in Glattbrugg
Lutheranism is majority denomination in Northern Germany but in Switzerland, Protestants are Zwinglians/Calvinists.
The Mennonites are part of the Baptist movement which indeed started in Zürich. But Mr Zwingli had them drowned in the Limmat, and this habit was happily continued by his predecessors, so that those who escaped went elsewhere.
I had a friend for a time in CH, who was had very American conservative principles, pro-gun rights, pro-US military, etc. and this was during the Iraqi war invasion. He was well-traveled and well educated, spoke German fluently and a lawyer, who loved to argue but when I went out with him and there were other Europeans there, we spent 90% of our time arguing about America, it was rather boring for me. So I love exchanging ideas, but it can get abit much at times, so I tried to avoid such discussions after that whenever possible
And that is the heart of my message -- arguing and having a conversation are two completely different methods of communication. From my experience an argument gets you nowhere and can even hurt your point of view. That doesn't mean you can't be passionate in your conversation - but there is a difference between passionate speaking and just plain ole arguing.
America bashing, love it !!! Do it all the time, with a devilish pleasure, especially with the Americans working in the same factory as I, errr, I mean company.
Those who have lived a few years outside the US usually get a very realistic outlook about their own country and it does them some mighty good. They're saying so themselves so...
I realize this is off topic but thought I might point out a few points. Increasing the rolling radius of your wheels (which you must have unless you are running rubber bands for tyres) will increase top end speed at the expense of acceleration. Furthermore your car is going to handle horribly, as your steering input will be prone to tram lining and the suspension will not match the tyres.
Having an over assisted steering is great for city driving but crap for high speed. Being that light you will end up crossing 3 lanes of traffic after every sneeze.
The reason why some prefer American cars for long trips is that the seating position is often horizontal due to the high roof rather than reclined. Its like driving in a couch. And handles just as well.