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Politics : The Citizens Manifesto
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To: TimF who wrote (293)7/19/2005 7:51:30 PM
From: combjelly  Read Replies (2) of 492
 
"If no European car could work on American roads than my statement would have been counterfactual"

This is pointless. Your statement was "In any case I think a lot of those European cars". A lot implies, well, a lot. If you had said some, I would not have quibbled. But you said "a lot". If you drive on the autobahn, you won't see "a lot". You will see some, Volvos, Saabs and some of the Mercedes. Even the occasional US SUV. But low single digit percentages doesn't qualify as "a lot". To be anything but contrafactual, you have to equate "a lot" with "a few". And you have nothing to back that statement up but a wild guess.

You can choose to accept my observations or not. But I actually have observations. You don't. End of story.

The reason why the suspensions are so low has to do with managing air flow under the car. Laminar air flow under the vehicle means that there is a lot of drag on the components under the car. By lowering the car the manufacturers reduce the mass required and it manages the air flow at speed. An air dam can have similar effect, but it is an extra component and adds weight. A cover over the bottom would have a similar effect but wouldn't be as effective because of drag on the cover itself.

And it works. Something like a Polo gets well over 30 miles per gallon at more than 100mph. But it has too, it easily costs $50 to fill it up and that will take you 300 or so miles. More US-like speeds, 120kph or a touch under 75mph, means over 40 mpg...
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