Compare to the rest of the world, cars in America are dirt cheap, roads are like runways; wide and all in straight lines only, parking lots are aplenty and mostly free, gas is cheap like bottled water.
Only in prairie states. Roads in mountains or hilly areas are windy, broken up (potholes), limited shoulders, low to medium for visibility. In other words, they were built upon a horse trail. The interstate system corrected much of that and made dedication to large radial turns, passing lanes, and limited access. We also have lots of buses, vans (in high demand when they do arrive in Europe), large commercial trucks that those in compact cars aren't thrilled about riding next to on crowded highways. compact cars suffer when they get on highways. milage drops a lot compared to a slightly bigger car with a little larger engine.
Just a bit north of Abbottsford there's a highway entrance that has a yield sign, then only a little more than 100 metres for you to accelerate from 0~120kph before the lane merges into the highway. It's fine in regular times cuz I don't have to stop, but during rush hour it's a PAIN IN THE ASS to try to merge in as I guarantee you there will be lots of cars - at around 120kph cuz this is still in the exurbs and the gridlock that starts at the suburbs is still a dozen km ahead - I must completely stop and wait for a gap. If I floor it, my Volvo can make it pretty close to 120kph in that short distance but only just, lucky I no longer live there and don't have to experience the adrenaline from worrying if the gap in traffic is wide enough for me to merge in. So for suckers like me, who has to use that short onramp to get on to the hwy. If the car's 0-60 is significantly longer than 7sec then it could be a problem. I am more nervous take that onramp with the ford explorer cuz that thing takes around 8sec to get to 100kph.
@@rickfeng4466 that’s why on European motorways drivers change to the left lane to allow cars to merge when approaching and passing a slip road. Just common courtesy and driving etiquette when you have slower accelerating cars. If there is a lot of traffic on the motorway then people let you in when trying to merge. Don’t see how this is a strange concept.
@@drzej3k794 Two problems: First is the angle of that entrance, it's not a parallel entrance but a slight turn, obstructing vision. Second and more importantly, not all drivers do that. Yes, some still do so I can get in after only a short wait. What I felt is that in the 9 years since I got my driver's license, fewer and fewer drivers do that. Some don't move over when people trying to merge onto the highway, some don't even accelerate when merging onto the highway, a lot will pass a car with the lane change turn signal on even if they aren't very close. Some don't even use their turn signal at all! Hey, this is Vancouver, the city with THE WORST traffic in all of Canada. It's awful and your "common courtesy" is mostly just a memory from a few years back.
the unfortunately cancelled Loremo LS had a 50hp engine and was going just over 200km\h... the GT had like 65hp and was doing 230... hell, even the Skoda Octavia wagon with the 1.6TDI loves cruising at 160km\h helps when you actually think a bit on aerodynamics and not designing you cars like bricks.
EPA and shit....bumper for example... American just like to buy car like fastbfood... they don't buy car without tv adverts and local dealer take too much cut...
I’m am American and I weigh less than 80kg. I’ve been to quite a few European countries and have driven plenty of European cars in Europe. How about driving a Dacia Duster on the German Autobahn? 110hp pushing 2 tons? Yeah, no.
Even my old 2002 Skoda Fabia with 75hp goes to 140 easily and is still happy to go faster... Edit: I managed to reach 167km/h (about 104mph, the rated top speed) in that 18 year old car! When going downhill, even more than 180km/h (112mph) is possible.
heck i got to 140 kmh in my 50 hp citroen ax ...granted if i were to crash i would have been dead and to be collected with a spoon, ah and and the steering wheel felt like some sort of reciprocating industrial machine, but it can be done
I'm probably a bit late here, given that this was uploaded in early 2020, but let me weigh in here as a German: Many of us Europeans tend to prefer smaller vehicles because: + as was mentioned, our infrastructure is smaller. This is due to the fact that most of our cities are fairly old (many 100s of years) and were thus founded at a time when cars weren't a thing (compare this for example to something like Las Vegas). This means that municipal pathways and parking spaces - while they have obviously widened over time - just cannot be as wide as they are for instance in countries that are much more expansive, like the US or Russia. + We are much more fuel-"sensitive", meaning we do gravitate to more fuel-efficient cars, given the expensive fuel we have to buy and the high taxing rates for high-displacement vehicles. We are also governed by highly ecologically minded politicians, who like to introduce very strict ecological policy rules, making gas-guzzlers fairly inattractive. + There is (weirdly) a shared sense of "he who's got a big car is a big j3rk". The thinking goes that people who feel the need to buy large, expensive, massive cars somehow have something to compensate which makes them seem less intelligent than people who go for the "optimal choice". + Lastly, our distances are just shorter and we are much more densely populated overall (233 people per km² in Germany vs. 33 people per km² in the States). I'm in the centre of Germany, if I drove four hours into any direction, I'd be leaving the country. Country-crossing trips are USUALLY only done for holidays and only if you really insist on going by car. Otherwise, people just like to fly. I don't. That's why I drove my Renault Scenic all the way down to Madrid and back :)
In the US, most of the German brands except for VW are high end luxury brands (Mercedez, BMW, Audi, Porsche, etc.) so people tend to think that the folks driving around in a German car are jerks. =) I write this with no disprespect to Germany and the great cars that the German automakers build.
I refuse to belive the "oh hes got a big massive car he is a jerk" when Europeans have brands like BMW, Audi, MB, Rolls Royce, Bentley and all the other typical "privileged brands" like some of those cars are huge. And continue ue to get huge every generation they have
it's a waste of time to translate this video is for stupid people from the USA who don't even have a passport, it's American propaganda🤣🤣🤣 Reno citi car for old people and Hona Jazz Fiat 500 🤣🤣🤣
@@R4donX Yeah, here in the U.S. you get these people that drive these massive over-sized SUV's like the Suburban or Cadillac Escalade, and much of the time there's only one person in the vehicle - the driver. The guys with the oversized pickup trucks and SUV's are definitely trying to compensate for something.
I drive a 1.2L 60Hp Fiat Punto and trust me, even though it is NOT fast by any mean, I can easily get to 130km/h on the French highway, and I even did 170 just for fun one day, so really the size of the engine is by no way defining its abilities. And while driving in a city, it is a perfect engine, it doesn't consume that much and has a nice enough acceleration for the road conditions. Even if I'm considering buying a ~150Hp Peugeot 308, this is just because I want more horsepower, not that I need more. Also it would have been cool to see other european cars like the 208/308/2008/3008 from Peugeot to compare
Top speed is fine. the problem with them in the USA is they must acccelerate very quickly to enter an interstate highway because many times people are unable to merge over to allow you to enter and the last thing you want to do is stop at the end of the merging ramp because merging on from a dead stop could be life ending for you.
@@scrambler69-xk3kv Trust me, even low HP cars can accelerate quickly enough haha, in France on the Autoroutes 🛣️ (= interstate in the US) I will usually go from 50km/h to 130km/h in a few seconds and still have plenty of time to merge ^^
Reference to the part he states gas cost $6.8 per gallon and many are way too big. In many countries, like Germany, tax yearly on the size of the engine. So a 6l engine is going to get pretty F'n expensive.
You mean "why don't europe got 3500kg V8 SUV that does 14 mpg and 0 to 60 in 12 seconds ?" No thanks, my 2L Renault Megane with 3 times less power than the average car in the USA would outrun it and consume 3 times less fuel. We don't need those useless cars
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 NP, I kept waiting for him to mention it too... but ofc that was after the higher petrol prices... BTW welcome to the land that brought Europe the SUV, the Big Mac and the best tobacco in the world.... lol.... Well at least the Americas can be proud of bringing, Chocolate to the world :)
@@nc3826 Apparently you don't watch Trevor Noah? The 2 biggest cultivators of cocoa for chocolate are in AFRICA. In fact, those 2 countries account for 70% of the known cocoa and have decided to join together and form a cartel....the OPEC of chocolate.
10:00 - i was driving a 50HP car for almost 10 years on the Autobahn. maintaining 130-150 km/h (90-95 mph) was no problem. Getting there was tricky. But 120km/h (75 mph) was always possible easily.
That mean you were struggling. American cars could do that in their sleep. Most American cars feel like driving a Mercedes. I live in America and it never appealed to me so I drove European cars in America. How wrong I was until I tried driving an American car. They smooth to drive, powerful, spacious and can take lots of driving abuse. When I came back to Europe when I was driving european cars I was shocked at how flimsy the cars feel. The gear stick in European Cars feel like a toy.
@@bighands69 I dont know where they feel like driving a mercedes. I've driven mostly GMC and Ford. Also had the pleasure of riding around in some more expensive models like the Cadillac Escalade, and I gotta say they're handling is kinda shit. The biggest problem I have with American cars is it seems like no one figured out how to make a good suspension system yet. Going over a speed bump especially with a gmc feels like you're about to start flying. And while yes American cars are usually quite larger and more powerful we only tolerate it because the gas here is so cheap. While I had some fun with a 400 hp f series ford that thing drank fuel like a motherfucker. In germany where a liter can be up to 1.40 euros if not more I'd definitely prefer a smaller vehicle even with size restrictions. Most American's I see behind the wheel of trucks are either aged moms who god only knows why they need a f150 4x4 EcoBoost or some fatass who can barely fit in it already.
@@danielurecheanu Handling? That sounds like something a motor journalist would say when driving around a track. Cadillac are like driving a Mercedes as Are Lexus. We are not talking about over steer or understeer which is not relevant on a road. A Mercedes will have dreadful handling compared to a 1970s lightweight Porsche on a track.
@@bighands69 I have driven a Chrysler, with a gear stick that felt like the transmission is made out of gelatine pudding. I could move the stick an Inch in every direction without shifting. If it feels that wobbly i do not care how big the stick is. German or Japanese transimissions feel much better. American cars are better now than maybe 15 years ago, but still not really that great.
One thing you didn’t mention was that in Europe we road trip less and fly instead. I can drive the 1500km from London to Barcelona in Spain or I can fly for about £40.
"Europeans are no necessarily shorter" - what a weird thing to say, on average Europeans are taller than Americans "Wider drivers, that could a little bit of a problem, because European vehicles tend to be fairly narrow on the inside"... we're not as fat as Americans.
@Kathleen Henson No. USA is more fat than England. Europe is much prettier than the USA thanks to those old roads etc, it's their history. And whats wrong with Europe liking Manuals? That shows they are actually more engaged with their driving. moneyinc.com/most-obese-countries-in-the-world/ worldpopulationreview.com/countries/most-obese-countries/ www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/the-most-obese-fattest-countries-in-the-world/
@Kathleen Henson Big and roomy is not only a question of preferences, it comes as a cost. The Renault in this video is not small by any European standard, and at 41 mpg, it is not a fuel sipper either. European compacts, 10-11 ft long get close to 60 mpg.
@@Tore_Lund I OWN four parking spots, 2 in my garage, 2 in the driveway. And there's also free parking on the street in front and alongside my house. Amazing what you can do when 60-80% of your money isn't going to the government ...
But why would you want to speed crazy? Think, plan ahaed, leave in time, and you will get there anyway. And theres so much things to see while on the road.. :)
Y'all do realize 60mph is *slow* for a european autobahn, right? People 'round here are interested in 0-60 time (ok, 0-100km/h) since it is a decent indicator of what merging onto a motorway will feel like.
A couple of notes: - Many of us live in cities and have no need to leave said city more than once a week. Base engines are considered the "city choice". But for most of us the Captur 0.9 is underpowered. You're gonna get good city fuel economy but it drops significantly outside of it due to the 5 speed gearbox and the fact that you have to floor it to go anywhere. Our bigger engines don't really consume more fuel outside the city but the EU test cycle seems to reward smaller engines which is why we have them. It's not about the consumer. They calculate CO2 emissions based on the fuel economy cycle and if it's over 95 gramms/km (45-ish US mpg equivalent) the manufacturer has to pay a significant penalty for each vehicle sold. - We love(d) diesels (thanks VW...) because they get you real world 45-50 mpg if you drive them gently and they have variable geometry turbos (something you don't find in 99% of turbo petrol engines due to problems with heat management) which means they have peak torque at 1500 RPM and even in that region there is virtually no lag. That responsiveness is missing from turbo petrol engines. They have peak torque down low but if you floor them at 1500 RPM it's gonna take 3 seconds to get into boost vs 1 second in a diesel. - Our parking spots are smaller but we learned to use them better. If a spot is 5-6 feet longer than your car, it's considered big and easy to park. 3 feet longer than the car is still fine for us. And we do that even if the car has no parking sensors or cameras. - Due to fuel prices it's often cheaper to fly to a holiday destination than it is to drive there so we rarely drive more than an hour at a time.
-Well American Cities were built up a little over 100 years ago vs over half a millennium ago. So our infrastructure was designed with cars (model T's) in mind. This meant there was plenty of space for cars even in the cities, so vehicles like the gulf are as small as we need. Also with highway fuel economy being so important to auto manufacturers because of the dedicated epa rating, we got very tall overdrive gears for highway cruising, even on vehicles that realistically will never leave the city. But yea we don't have the same type of emissions regulations, but they get the same job done, but in a very different fashion. -Diesels in America and diesels in Europe serve 2 different purposes. Diesels in Europe are fuel economy champs, whereas in America they are workhorses. Fuel economy champs here go to hybrid petrol vehicles and quite honestly the hybrid petrol method of super high fuel economy seems to be the smarter way. Diesel here is usually tied to 5.9L+ inline 6 and V8 engines in large trucks designed to tow your house. No European would be crazy enough to buy a 15 mpg diesel torque monster -With the parking spot thing, in America there are regularly sold trucks that are 22 feet long and 7-8.5 feet wide. So while those parking spots seem colossal to a European, they might still be too small for some vehicles. Also Considering the size of said trucks engines, the hoods are usually bigger than some european compacts alone. So seeing over them is quite literally impossible so the new 360 cameras are a godsend. -Considering the distance most would have to fly here, especially coast to coast, a 20mpg vehicle (average highway fuel economy for the 3 most popular pickups) at 2.50 a US gallon would result in 125 dollars per 1000 miles, so double that for round trip. Tickets for a flight about the same distance would be about 800 round trip minimum so its wildly more cost efficient to drive. And since very few people will drive for almost 20 hours straight, a cheap hotel room for one night would still come no where close to a flight + rental car.
@@james2042 Don't get me wrong, most of our cars are perfectly fine on highways. I think the 0.9 engine in the video isn't a very good example because it's not what most of us drive. That engine really is meant for city use and nothing more. But yeah your EPA cycle makes much more sense than ours. It's ridiculous that larger engines are killed by fuel economy tests when in real life their fuel economy is often better than the tiny 3 cylinders. I do agree that hybrids are a smarter choice for fuel economy. But sometimes people want something rather than need something. Diesels are better to drive. At least when you're not stuck in traffic. They do get quite expensive when stuff breaks though. I don't know about the US but for us parallel parking spots don't really exist. You just have a line between 2 streets and park as many cars as you want. If you can fit your car, you park regardless of how long someone intended the space to be. I also don't think it's realistic to bring those huge trucks into cities. At least it's a rare problem from what I've seen. You can still park something the size of an F150 and most people don't have anything bigger than that. Cameras are surely nice but believe me, with the amount of space you have, it's way easier to park a truck without a camera than to park a small hatchback without parking sensors in most European cities. I spent 3 months driving around the US, mostly in California. I think I got an ok picture of what parking is like over there. I also realized most Americans have no idea how to parallel park properly.
@@ast5515 I personally drive an older grand cherokee and visibility to the ground is shit. My skid plates are always hitting curbs and can never see lines without opening my doors, and there are much taller and bigger vehicles than mine, so trust me when I say cameras are a godsend
@@james2042 They are a godsend but they are not necessary. I don't see the ground either. I just know where the lines are. Help with curbs: Just look to the vehicle next to you and position your vehicle according to what you see from them. This goes for not hitting curbs in perpendicular parking situations. With parallel parking you just have to feel it. I guess you can lower your passenger side mirror to help but I reverse parallel parked a car and a horse trailer into a spot about 25 feet longer than the thing. Just feel it. As for lines, you can look in your mirror and look at the lines behind you. In most parking lots they line up across multiple rows so it's easy to orient yourself. Otherwise it's just feel or position yourself so that you are in the middle compared to the car on your left and right. That's if you see that they are within the lines before you start parking. Parking in reverse also helps because once again you see the lines in your mirrors.
in Europe e just have pulic transport that works and cities that are walkable, it's not a matter of horsepower or how big we like our cars. We use our cars to go on with our lives, otherwise in the US your life is completely influenced by your car
Public transportation is disgusting with trash everywhere and crack heads asking for money. Nobody wants to sit next to someone in a crowded train, we just want to have our own space.
In London, where the average speed is about 8mph, with traffic lights every few hundred yards, whether your 0-60 is 3 or 13 seconds, is of little consequence.
yup. But even before fuel was as expensive as gold in Europe we drove smaller cars because our roads are more narrow and curved. Historical reasons for that, most of our roads have been there for hundreds of years and started designed for horses and hand drawn carts back in the middle ages. There's simply no room for a large US style car in many places in Europe. My dad had several and it was always a problem getting around older parts of cities, and getting into and out of parking garages. More than once he had to back out of a parking garage or road because the turns were so tight he simply couldn't make them in his Thunderbird, and a few times he nearly got stuck under an overpass with his Cherokee. Don't have that problem with a Golf or Focus.
I think you have just misunderstood the whole concept of buying a car: to buy a car that suit your needs. So while you talk all big about American horsepowers, 0-60 and 1/4 mile times, you fail to realise that a fiat 500 wasn't even built for this. Same with all the other compacts. They are rental cars and for old ladys/first time buyers. Its not going to haul 2 tonnes of water up Ike gauntlet or compete against a charger on the highway. It's strange that you think that America is STILL a trendsetter but reality is it hasn't been since the 80's.
500 as a rental or cheap car? Hell no. 500 is a fancy city car. It's for a people who have more money, and they want to have good quality small car. For rental and first time buyers (if ever) there is Fiat Panda. Just like from Seat lineup, Leon, normal compact car is cheaper than same configuration Ibiza, that is smaller car.
I rented a Peugeot 308 diesel while traveling in Greece. This thing cost nothing in fuel, the first day I thought the fuel gauge was broken because it wasn't moving, yet I never felt like I was underpowered even in mountainous roads. I would purchase this car immediately, as in I would be on my way to the dealer right now, if it was available in North America(Canada).
The headlight adjustment has been mandatory in some eu countries for well over 20 years now. The reason all new cars don't have a switch is because some lights (usually xenon and led) are required to have automatic adjustment.
The reason why we don't have American cars: Too large for small resident roads and too wide to park. Fuel is too expensive. Though I've seen some idiots driving a Dodge Ram, pure for thrills.
Don't all the US high earners drive Mercs, Bentley and BMW. seems your average American is told from birth that they should always buy American regardless...
As mentioned in the video, we have a fleet of small cars with 0.9 to 1.2 liter engines and 65-70 ps/hp. What he doesn't mention is, that the same cars often are offered with same or a bit bigger engines with 100-160 ps/hp.
Darth Wheezius Diesel models of small manual transmission cars are easier to drive. And they consume a lot less fuel compared to gasoline. Oh and gasoline is 1.5x the cost of diesel (in France).
Darth Wheezius maybe so. The only benefit I see is that manual petrol cars are slightly quieter. On larger cars though like the A4, 3 series etc there is very little difference. I would rather take the diesel in which case and get far better MPG. Also driving a manual diesel can be harder, in a petrol you can pretty much just be in whatever gear.
F a As I have said before, I think Americans refuse to abandon the British Imperial system because deep down inside they regret the revolution and want to be subservient to Britain.
Metric doesn't work. The people in the USA are smart enough to know this. People who make airplanes and fly them are smart enough to know you don't use metric when lives are at stake. Don't believe me? Then tell me how far the moon is from the Earth in metric. I guarantee you will get it wrong and try to tell me the distance in an incorrect format such as kilometers. Why don't Europeans measure their time in metric? Oh yeah, they tried it for a few years in post revolutionary France, along with their calendar, then gave up and went back to the good old honest 24 hours to a day. So shut up about your stupid metric. It doesn't work.
For the record, any metric idiot will look it up and tell you it's about 360,000 - 405,000 kilometers and they are WRONG. Everywhere you see that listed on the web as the distance by metircards, but why aren't they doing it properly? I have yet to find ANYWHERE on the net where they state that the distance is 360 MEGAmeters to 405 MEGAmeters as would be correct in metric. Use your damn system CORRECTLY or don't, but until you do, stop harassing those who are smart enough to stay away from it. I can't find a single metric watch or clock easily on the internet either. Nobody I know of has ever gone by ten hour days, ten day weeks, ten month years, ten minutes to an hour, and ten seconds to a minute. All navigation on the planet uses the Coordinate system, not the metric system. We use latitude and longitude along with radians for the compass headings, NOT the metric method of navigation which I doubt any of you can even find a book on to tell you how to do it. No aircraft of any kind on the planet navigates with metric.
@@jkutyna I can't really tell if you're trolling or serious, but it seems like you have some misconceptions about the metric system. I could tell you the distance in centimeters and it would be equally correct. Time and Navigation are just straw man arguments. Tell me again what those 'klicks' are, your military likes to use...
@@Gunrunn3rTV we used nautical miles so i dont know wtf you are on about and the one and only reason to use metric in any argument is the decimilization so if you refer to the distance between the Earth and the moon in cm or km, then you are outright wrong.
@rogue I've driven punto naturalpower in work delivering food - when new, 0-60 was 19 sec, and this car was so tired after years of abuse... anything below 15 feels like rocketship to me right now
Most American cars can do 0-60 in 5-6 secs. And then the more powerful ones, can do it between 3 and 5 seconds. My 3.5L V6 Twin Turbo EcoBoost in my Supercab F150 can do it in the sub 5 sec range. Haven't tested it exactly, but a tuned version did it 4.3 secs, so I'd imagine that my stock version could do it at least around 5 seconds.
Right Lane Hog Alex didn’t mention them but they are still strong and for some models they outsell other variants. A good example of this on this list is the Octavia. Also the Golf and Focus have Wagon variants that also sell well. For example Focus Wagon is a very popular fleet car for reps in Poland as are similarly sized Renault, Opel, Peugeot and Toyota models.
@Pauline Weinberger The European wagons referred to are just better versions of hatchbacks not the 3 ton behemoths of yesteryear. BTW we have bloated, behemoth SUVs aplenty today.
I'm French and live in Houston so I'm acutely aware of the differences. I never even owned a car until I moved to Houston because you can't walk anywhere and there's no public transportation (or very little). I keep hoping for Citroen sedans in the US though :P
@@willswomble7274 Oops, wonder what they would think of me - regularly doing 16-18h drives from Baltics to Germany and back. I honestly never thought that the length of driving non-stop would affect the punishment in case of accident, how would they even know that?
@@willswomble7274 Five hours is just getting started. It's not that hard to cover 1,000 miles in a day if the traffic isn't too bad. Last October I drove from Boise ID to Maryland between Baltimore and DC over the course of 3 days.
Headlamp levelling adjustment is a legal requirement in the EEA/EU as it takes into account vehicles towing trailers/caravans. Its usually deleted for other markets and the headlamp level fixed in place. A rear fog lamp is also mandatory in the EEA/EU as an early visual warning in low visibility fog for cars at the rear... believe me, they really are a useful in safety device in poor visibility... but an absolute pain when some arsehole uses them in the rain. No one uses gallons any more, just litres so it might be easier to include and apples to apples comparisons in future reviews.
The manual headlight adjustement is only used in "older" light forms (halogen bulbs) Xenon by law has to be self leveling, as do all the newer (LED) ones. Maybe due to the american models beeing higher trim they only sell the expesive light solutions there. Thumbs up for the mention of the foglight rain morons! But i have to say considering my 22 years of driving, i think the rear foglights should be removed. I have met more (more is an extreme understatement) drivers misusing their rear foglights those using them like intended. (people switching them on when still beeing able to see 200m ahead, not switching them off when another car is behind them and they can clearly see the headlights of the car behind them, using them just because it's dark outside, using them in light rain...)
@@EdgyNumber1 Right. Come to think of it. The ambiguity of national units like the ton, mile and gallon has led to a lot of engineering disasters with a big deathtoll over the decades. But then again abolishing it had the same effect. See wikipedia and documentaries here on youtube. Something's gotta give sooner or later. Let's see where China is heading: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_units_of_measurement
@@Telencephelon SI units are the way to go... even American professional engineers have to use them these days. The only other country I know that officially only uses the old measurements that don't make any sense is Liberia. A third world low index country.....
Isaac Alonzo If Skoda was sold in the US, they’d be the same price as Volkswagens due to import costs from Europe. That would destroy Volkswagen as a brand. The same for Séat. It’s a major issue for European manufacturers. It’s also why the US won’t get the standard Golf Mk8. Its manufacture was just moved back to Germany from Mexico. Imports from Mexico have been tariff-free due to NAFTA.
Isaac Alonzo Where do you live? Here in US some people are obsessed with speed and power, and so the nice, torquey diesels are not so popular. I drove 2015 Golf TDI and sadly someone else took it quickly because it really goes effortlessly and get good mileage. I was scared about service though on the particulate filter.
James Medina That’s not at all why Diesels aren’t popular. They’re not popular because their fuel costs more than premium gasoline, negating all fuel saving aspects and because Diesel was banned for passenger cars since the 1970s. The Diesel cars are also more expensive here than gasoline. In Europe, they’re cheaper and the fuel is cheaper than gasoline. Their added noise, vibration and refueling mess are trade-offs of them being cheaper to buy and own, but in North America, they’re just added inconveniences.
In 2013, I went to the USA for a road trip. The rental company gave me a 2012 Jeep Liberty 3.7l V6 with 213hp and 235 lb-ft of torque. My own car here in Germany at that time was a 2010 Renault Grand Scenic 1.9l diesel with 130hp and 221 lb-ft of torque. Both vehicles were about the same size (same width, the Renault a few inches longer, the Jeep a little higher). Disappointingly, the Jeep offered much less space inside (the usual disadvantage in space economy a SUV has compared to a minivan). As expected, the jeep accelerated much better from a standing start, but the perceived difference at motorway speed was only slight. But my Renault was significantly quieter at highway speeds and hardly needed more than half of the gas the Jeep guzzled (I know, the comparison with a diesel is not fair, but ultimately the result counts). This comparison showed me quite clearly how different the priorities between American and European drivers are and why American cars sell so badly in Europe an vice versa.
@@ikuzoburandeon i know plenty tall italians (even taller than you). Old italian generation were short, especially from some regions, now all teenagers are at least 6 - 6.1 tall.
Does anyone else find it suspicious that Alex on Autos, and Alec from Technology Connections are never seen in the same room together? Seriously I just realized you guys are like brothers, bordering on clones.
We tend to like torque over horsepower, so we go for larger displacement slower turning engines. This gives us acceleration, longevity and low rpm at highway speed (buzzy engines increase driver fatigue).
Us speed limit 70 mph on 99 percent of interstate 80 in some midwest rural areas. No one needs 200mph car or bike but we still want them. If like me I sometimes break the law and go faster than limit.
@@BICIeCOMPUTERconGabriele True, although not as much as they used to. What a lot of automatics do when attached to high revving engines is shift before the engine hits the power band.
@10:07 This is total BS. these engines are smaller, because it makes them fuel efficient, and modern cars use their power more efficient. My 1.2 polo has a 75HP engine. No it is not a fast car, but 80mph is easy. Any of those cars with small engines he mentions can do 100mph without breaking a sweat.
Quarknjaguar I wouldn’t consider this true at 100%. Ever country has people who don’t know how to drive and don’t respect speed limits but the problem in Italy is that the same people think they’re better than everyone else. It’s mostly due to the fact that a lot of people who drive come from ignorant parts of Italy, you know, the stereotypical regions with a lot of small groups of homes with old people...
@@ilpatongi I think it's the same problem that we have in Romania. we have a lot of idiot drivers on the road. I call them "professional suiciders". Anyway the point is that the Us has lower speed limits then the EU. And even if the roads are narower we go faster. I like a lot of things made in america but to compare gasolin prices from us to europe and not mention that european gasoline has a much higer octane rating an to forget that in europe there are a lot of really fast cars on the road(bmw, audi, porche are euroean brands right?) is somehow misleading. And by the way. in eu 1liter of 95 gas is about 1.23$, in the us is about 0.77(theyr 80 to 90 octane rating). the average car in eu can go 100km with about 5.5l of gas and the american one uses at least 10. so in eu the price for 100km is about 6.7$/100km and in the us is about 7.7$/100km. Cheaper my ass.
"Why dont we have these small little efficiant cars to America" Doing it the American way, instantly starts talking about HP :-) *facepalm* A similar silly arguement would be "Everything in Europe is just scaled ½ of the US" , that would make just as much sence One of the real reasons, is car taxes, in some EU countrys they are INSANE high, i think Denmark was the highest, clocking in at 180%. Imagine that for a sec US people, paying allmost for 3 F-Series truck, everything you get one ?, but if you bought a VW Up, you would only have 50% tax or something, what would you then buy?
True! And really in Europe when you talk with friends 'Oh how good that car would be!' refering to a luxury car. For sure your friends will say 'Yeah you will need a gas station for that!'. The fuel consumption is the biggest part in buying a car in Europe.
You don't need 350hp+ and a 4 second 0-120km/h to drive 120km/h or 50km/h in the city's. Also everything in america is bigger. Houses, vehicles, people
Nope. We don't base every life decision on what we need. I happen to have a 350hp vehicle that will not get even close to 120 km/h in 4 seconds, but it pulls a 14,000 lb trailer like it doesn't exist. It's all about what you want to be able to do. If you have the means to have a big vehicle and/or house and that is what you want then who should tell you otherwise?
The size of our cities and streets weighs equally. You just cannot use a full-size truck in a European city. You can barely use it in big American cities, actually.
@@james2042 Well, 15 mpg is pretty horrible, but people mostly don't buy it because it's 40% more expensive here than in the US, which pits it against much more refined sports cars. The latest Mustang took a big step but it still doesn't corner very well, and it's too heavy - Europeans appreciate handling more than straight line grunt.
@@TheUrbanEpicure yea you people run around with the fiesta rs and focus rs. Here we get mustang's, explorer st's and Raptors. The only non suv crossovers ford sells stateside are the mustang and the fusion, everything else got axed. And like said in the vid, most americans like trucks more than anything. I drive a grand cherokee with a 5.7 hemi. I plan on trading it in for a Sierra 2500hd with the diesel later this year. I'm going from one gas guzzler to another because quite frankly it doesn't cost that much and the usefulness outweighs the extra cost in fuel. The ability to hook a 7200lb trailer to my jeep is a massive convenience
In Europe this type of car (small city) exists in almost every family, either because it is a second car for the city, the first car of a young person or the only car of families with less resources. There are usually other cars in the families, usually from above segments (such as a Golf SW, a 3 Series, or an average SUV). These small cars are economical in European cities, are practical and cheap to maintain.
yea I call them shopping bags on wheels... I would rather take Polo than Superb for a quick run to get me a beer and pretzels :D especially during rush hours when parking lots fill to last spot
@@lamebubblesflysohigh "shopping bags on wheels" Haha, I have the same attitude towards it. We would never just own a big car. You always want a smaller one as well. I'll take the X5 BMW with 300+ HP to go on holiday throughout South-Europe or move the boat around. But to get the big shopping done I'm taking the 206 Peugeot(daily shopping is on foot)
I have a car that gets to 100km/h in around 10 seconds, and I've found that the only place where you actually need fast acceleration is an on ramp to a motorway and correct me if I'm wrong, those are typically a *lot* shorter in North America compared to modern motorways in Europe. If I'm getting off lights, etc. I'm not gonna put my foot to the floor in any case, so the motorway is the only scenario where I find a sub 10 second 0-100 even desirable.
its a paradox in america: If the lanes are wider, and the parkingspaces are large, so everything needs more space, everything is farther away. so you gonna need a car
This is a very good video!! I drive a diesel ford Mondeo (sold as a Fusion in the Us), it's a great car, quick, returns 56.9mpg on a run (47.37mpg US). it's 6-speed manual and on some of our roads, I wouldn't want to have an auto box on this car. A manual transmission means you have to be more aware of the vehicle, the road etc. as you also use the gearbox to help brake especially on mountain roads in southern Europe - a place where brake fade is all too easy to happen. Now, when in the US, I prefer the bigger cruising SUVs. But while remote towns in places like Italy require a tiny car, around town and basic urban driving doesn't require speed and long-range comfort so most homes have both a small car and a larger car for comfort and distance driving. I did street mapping work across the southern Italian mountains in an automatic diesel Golf and while it handled the mountains fantastically, and the vehicle torque was astounding - the car was physically too big for several places. But the whole thing is driven by economy - more miles for less money due to the fuel prices - which you touched on perfectly.
Taxes is most important. The Tesla Model 3 was actually the best selling car in the Netherlands in 2019 because you don't have to pay rigorous road taxes and taxes for emissions.
@@UhOhUmm Yes the Golf I used in the Italian mountains was an Auto, with the "flappy paddle" style leavers. You had to learn to be quick and in "sport mode" for it to be effective, and in that case it was very good.
Nr 1.reason ... cars in Europe are much more expensive compared to US. Less space, narrow roads, taxes, low emission pressure all rarther artificial reasons.
Cities. Cities were planned centuries before cars were invented so it's really hard to make it work as an American city. All that that you mention, the road sizes, the gas, the taxes are deterrents. They don't want small cities filled with cars because it's nightmare
You are right. If you take the price of fuel, most of it is made up of taxes put in by insane left wing governments. If you removed all fuel taxes, it would come closer to $3 a gallon, instead of $7. Same goes for emissions. The roads are narrow but not everywhere. Countries like Germany, Sweden or parts of Eastern Europe have quite wide roads. It's just the old historic cities of France, Italy, etc. Still, there are plenty of places here where you could enjoy a large car. The problem is the insane taxes. A new Mustang V8 would cost you about 5000 Euro a year just in taxes in most place.
Cities in europe weren't planned, which is the main reason. Most of them grew from little settlements, villages... into cities. And the raods couldn't grow in the same rate as the city itself because of buildings. @Protector of the Republic: easy to blame left wing governments, but if i take my country it's BS. Since WW2 we had a coalition of left and right for most of the time, and the taxes on fuel and cars in general were always put in place by both (and no not just tolerated by conservatives they actively wanted them). As for wide roads, it doesn't help you if you can drive a F150 on the highway or over land if you then have to park it ouside the village/city you wanted to go. A drive always has a begin and ending and those too are problematic if the vehicle is that big. Yes there are few places where it doesn't matter, but Italy and France aren't the exception, they are the norm. (even in Germany, Sweden and eastern Europe.)
This is an excellent review. Really enjoyed your video, always been interested in particular topic American/European cars and how they differ. Keep up the good work👍🏻
I am a Brit who recently moved to the USA. I guess I must follow a stereotype because for my first car since moving here, I bought a Golf Wagon with manual transmission. I kinda like how it’s a little more unique over here vs the UK and how it stands out from the crowd of trucks and SUVs. The only engine available on the Golf Wagon in the USA (until recently) was the 1.8L turbo and by European standards that’s huge! When visiting family the UK we always rent the smallest and cheapest possible car and there is something to be said for them. Tiny engines with light clutches are a ton of fun to throw around the European roads and roundabouts. Thanks for the video. Really well put together!
I live in UK, you have hit all the main points but also forgot some others, our housing is generally a lot smaller, most have no parking specific to their house in semi-detached or terraced style in cities. With people owning 2/3 cars per house parking is a nightmare so smaller cars help. I’d say the other main issue is people’s salary, I’d imagine we are on a LOT less than people in USA for doing the same job so smaller cars are a better option. The average car buyer looks at MPG before anything else. This is due to smaller incomes, a V8 petrol as a daily driver could cost you a daily take home for a weeks worth of work. We like our cars but due to the above we are forced into a huge compromise.
This is how I like it becuase it lowers the price of good cars on the used market becuase people are too scared of fuel guzzlers so they go and spend lots of money on some shit like a Vauxhall.
In Sweden more cars have automatic transmission sold than manuals. The dual clutch transmissions now give you more milage than a manual can achieve in the long run. This has lead to more and more automatic transmission cars being sold to save fuel. I still have two manual gearshift cars out of my three but they are getting more unusual. RoadTax is payed on emission and weight and this is one more incentive to get a automatic.
A couple of years ago we went to Germany for Christmas. We brought presents for my family there. My wife is quite generous so we asked Hertz for a big car. They rented us a Ford Edge. It was still an automatic, but it was diesel and the engine stopped when the car was standing still. There it felt immense! I parked it in a parking garage in Heidelberg and I thought it was going to get stuck in the tunnels. I felt really out of place driving an American SUV in Europe. I wanted to drive up to somebody, roll down the window and ask "Excuse me? Can you tell me how to get back to New Jersey?!!".
Ford canceled the Edge last year due to poor sales, small margins, and big CO2 emissions. It has been replaced by the even larger Explorer, which is offered with Aviator´s plug-in hybrid engine, as these are funded by the countries in Europe.
I'm something like 2.5 years late coming here. I was taught to drive 50 years ago in the UK. At that time nearly all vehicles there were manual shift and some of the main criteria were that when stopping at a signal we had to come to a halt, apply handbrake and shift into neutral. Then when the light changed, we had to get into gear, release the hand brake then move of sharply without wheelspin, the reason being to allow as many vehicles as possible through the light before it changes back. Here in the US (I've driven in some 30 states) the protocol seems to be that while stationary the drive sits on the brake while in Drive and when the light changes, moves their foot slowly to the accelerator causing a significant delay in increasing speed.
Back in my day, our Escorts in the USA had 88 horsepower brand new, and we were glad to have it. Only Cadillacs, Corvettes, and a few mustangs and Camaros tipped in at a robust 120 with their v8. You greedy kids and your turbo injected magical engines. Get off my lawn.
En France ou en règle générale dans l'Europe pas besoin d'un gros V8 pour 120cv! c'est ridicule, nous le faisons avec un 4 cylindres robuste plus économique et vu le poids de s voitures américaines 2 fois plus rapides ! alors je vois pas le besoin d'un tank américain qui bouffe 15 litres à 90 km/h alors que moi je consomme pour la même vitesse maxi 6 litres sur autoroute.
I have a European 1997 Ford Escort originally 1.8 115hp and then swapped for 2.0 150hp. It's my first car and I still have it and still use it. I have plenty of other cars, but how can I sell my little Escort if it is still making me smile when I drive it? I had it for 12 years and it is a never ending project car.
They didn't make a lot of horsepower because they turned pretty slow. The 1986 Ford Escort GT (1.6L) had a power curve that fell of a cliff at just over 5,000 rpm. Seeing that torque is multiplied by engine rpm and then divided by 5,252 rpm to calculate horsepower the max HP number was actually not that bad. The newer small engines get their peak horsepower numbers by spinning the shit out of a low torque engine.
Well . . . this is different . . . is this going to be a 2020 thing ? I'm liking it too. Reviews are very entertaining but I'm OK with some regular old fashion chit chat.
Headlight leveling knob is only in cars with halogen bulbs. With xenons and leds the leveling must be automatic. So if you find a leveling knob in European car, it is there for the cost reduction from cheaper headlights.
VW is introducing an SUV that will be smaller than the Tiguan in the US soon. I think it will be big for a subcompact too... that’s why we don’t get the T-Roc.
Most of european brands (Renault, Fiat, Seat, Peugeot, MG) are available in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina or Colombia, and those countries are AMERICA too...
Very informative video. Here’s a question...why do we in America, don’t get some models that are available in Canada? Both countries are in the North America region...I always wondered about that.
I would not buy small European car. I have been living in Germany for the past four years (finally going back to US). It is true that majority of vehicles sold here are smaller than those in America but it is due mostly to gas prices, not parking spaces. There are actually quite a few Durangos, Grand Cherokees, Rams, Edges and few other ones driven here on German Autobahns. Some are sold with European specs (mostly diesel engines) but some are imported to EU with US specs. What they do with these vehicles is they convert them to LPG. That cuts the costs of fueling by about 40-50%. The only European vehicles that could potentially make sense to sell in North America would be the wagons as not everyone likes big SUVs. Almost every European manufacturer sells one in Europe. I particularly happen to like Mazda6 wagon that is being sold in Europe but is not available in USA.
@@AAutoBuyersGuide I don't know what percentage Alex but they are here. Not a lot of them but here. For example Ford Kuga (Escape) is selling in Germany well. The problem with "US made" cars sold in Germany (and EU in general) is also VAT and duty. Any vehicle imported from USA to Germany gets hit with 19% VAT (tax) and I think 20% Customs duty. In Poland for example it is 22% VAT and 20% duty plus 5% import tax.
What's really funny: I've a fuel saving engine in my Citroen C4 Cactus - with 90hp. But it's really lightwight, so 120mph is still possible on the Autobahn :) The car is slightly larger as a VW Golf I guess.
American cars would be so much smoother at 120mph on the Autobahn with their larger engines. The only reason why American cars are not in europe is that taxes are used to block them from the European market place. This has been happening over the last 60 years. You will see European cars in America. You will never see American cars in Europe.
@@BenyKarachun I was driving American cars in NY. But french cars aren't as bad as you might think. It's more about comfort instead of sportiness - at least for my car. Since 60k km, it's just two years old, I have nothing to repair. Just the breaks need a replacement. Not even the wiper blades. And I'm driving more than 1,5h per day :)
@@benjaminplut9448 99.99% of people know to tie their shoes on a monday morning rather than a tuesday. Now back to the real world of sensibility. American larger engines are smoother hence why Mercedes has them on their larger luxury cars. Taxes and regulations makes it impossible for American cars on european roads. Even the Ford cars in Europe are not proper American cars. American cars do not break down anymore than European cars.
bighand69 the build quality of American cars is atrocious compared to even the cheap European cars and why would you need a big engine when a turbocharged 1l 3cylinder is brilliant, gets way better economy, is very smooth and is plenty of fast for the real world and is cheaper, even with 0 taxes europeans wouldn’t buy american cars, why would we, when we can get something way better for the same price or cheaper from Volkswagen, Skoda, BMW, ... and maybe in America American cars don’t break more often than european cars, but here European cars are practically bulletproof and of course you put a bigger engine on a big heavy limousine, it’s power to weigth ratios, if car is heavier then it needs more power to have the same performance
Really upset we aren't getting the new Focus ST. Seems like Ford has completely given up on selling Compact cars, and maybe even Sedans in general, in America.
It's due to you not buying them . The profits on the SUV and pickup market with a sprinkle of muscle car. I love my focus ST it's a good size, fast enough, good in the corners and not too bad on fuel/insurance
I'm too lazy to look for a mpg/l/100km converter. But speaking of my 3series BMW, i get fuel consumptions between 4.7 and 5.5 liters/100km. The RAM i drove once consumed about 18-25liters. So the consumption is about 1/4.
Nice coverage of the topic. The power numbers you mentioned are for the peak of the curve. Europeans tend to drive closer to maximum power maybe more often than North Americans. But that being said, in US on highway or wide roads, people tend to drive in bursts of acceleration and breaking, especially at rush hours. I live in Canada and do have a rather low power car, a Nissan Versa Note with max power of ~ 109 HP I think. I took my car for a trip to Long Island where I stayed for a couple of days for work and I had to commute a few times. There is no way my car could ever keep with the bursts of power most people practice when driving in traffic! And that includes many of the trucks and SUV on the road. Also, in Europe there are high power cars (especially luxury models) and it is those which really can take advantage of high (or no) speed limits. I can also go easily 130/140 km/h on the highway, is just that, if traffic slows down to lets say 70/80 km/h, and then picks up speed rapidly, I'm doomed. The lack of power in cars is the most painfully evident when trying to accelerate from 70/80 to 130/140 km/h as at low speed the transmission is usually geared such that one gets reasonable-ish acceleration.
@@onivlasbrony7432 I agree I've now got a 135bhp Fiat Punto (my own money) 1.4L 0 - 60: 8.5 seconds I had an American from my uni in it once, he was all like 'ain't this thing slow' Bruh, it's faster than what 90% of people my age have
@@GeFeldz A Buick in the mid 1960s was built to the same standards as A Mercedes yet it was a third of the price and it would have a V8 6 litre engine as well.
I love your videos! A lot of the generalizations about Europe are fair, although talking about height and physical size of an average "European" is quite silly. As you said, the Dutch as an example are the tallest people in the world on average. You can't compare that to other countries in Europe or frankly the world. The overall point is that of course the USA is physically a larger country, but gasoline is subsidized by the government to keep it inexpensive. This is to help the fossil fuel and oil industry/companies who practically control the US government in many ways.
My daily driver is a tiny city car, the 208, a naturally aspirated 1.2 liter. It's true that 0-100 km/h is something like 12-13 seconds, but the thing is, 0-50 km/h is actually faster then many cars i have driven before. And what it lacks in acceleration on the highway, it makes up with ludicrous efficiency.
I don't know what your definition of Fast is, but i highly doubt that things faster in any respect to any Turbo 4 or V6 sedan, and especially not faster than anything V8. but i suppose in the european market most of what u have to go off is the 1-1.5L Diesel/Gas engines that can barely out accelerate a snail.
@@neon_lavander The 208 is considered a city car here as well, i guess it depends where in europe you live. After all, the 208 is in the Polo category of cars, one class below the normal golf sized hatchback.
@@TheTemplarnight In Europe we have very small engines, but we have also very big engines like v8, v10, v12 so the european market is bigger than the american one
@@jamespatagueule9013 what exactly do you mean by bigger? are you tryna compare all of Europes car sales vs 1 countrys car sales, or are you tryna say oh we have lamborghini with v12's so we make the bigger engines? Either way your points pretty irrelevant. and on average North america has far larger engines, you guys have the very rare occasional car over 5L displacement, over in the USA/NA 5L+ V8's is a pretty normal everyday motor.
Excellent explanations!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 In India the cars are even smaller (no space, fuel prices are astronomical (esp. relative to incomes) & taxes are high), so the Captur in India (though with a 1.5 L 110 hp diesel) is considered an up-market vehicle (if it is the same vehicle as in Europe, which it looks like...) 😜! PS: lived in the US for 7+ years, last 2.5 years there owned the Mark 5 VW GTI.
While road and parking size are certainly an important factors, I believe fuel cost (which you only briefly mentioned) is the most significant one. Here in Canada we have similar road and parking specifications as our southern neighbour, but fuel is significantly more expensive (though not as expensive as in Europe). As a result, small cars are much more popular and many models are sold here that can’t be bought in the USA.
From my impression having lived in both the EU and US, cars are something you need in the US whereas in Europe, they are something most have but are not really needed as public transports is a lot better in Europe and overall, a lot of the services that the people need is in closer reach. Also, I get the impression that Europeans prefer smaller to medium size cars whereas the US seems to prefer big cars, two different markets with different ways of thinking.
@@r.chavez5513 It's more expensive but I wouldn't say it's expensive if you put it in the context of life, I've lived in both the US and EU and quality of life is high in them both, just the way money is distributed around the economy is different where in Europe we are fine with paying higher taxes to gain a lot of benefits from them whereas the US want to pay lower taxes but they tend to pay through the nose for basic things that we in Europe get for free or dirt cheap. This is why overall the quality of living and purchasing power isn't that different over the two but I do think the European system is better because it looks after the poorer and middle classes a lot better whereas the US system feels like your all on your own with little help from the system.
Fuel prices. That's why euro cars look like they do. I agree with parking spaces, even in countries where space isn't a problem they build spaces like we're driving f'ing segways 😌
@@NathanAlderGigaBITNate Not even a conspiracy that we're in a transfer of wealth plot over here. Member fees will see a rate hike in the billions soon. Brexit and all that
@@NathanAlderGigaBITNate What exactly is the problem? Why should we waste ressources as much as the US does, when we can get around with much less fuel consumption?
I would like to say that, at least in nl but also many other european countries the road taxes are very expensive and based on the weight of the car. For example a 1300 kg Petrol car costs 56 euro per month for road taxes, an 800 kg car about 25 euro per month. In other european countries its based on cylinder capacity or CO2 emissions. Also insurance costs are based on new price and a large car usually has a higher new price Than a small one. This, together with the high petrol price makes it very expensive to maintain a big car, its not really worth it. You can see this effect clearly in the prices of second hand cars since large second hand cars are usually dirt cheap compared to small ones comparable in Milage and age because noone wants the large ones because of the costs. So this makes the depreciation also considerably more with an large car. Also, i have owned several cars with 50 hp or less, and i can tell you that driving 80 mph is not really a problem. I drove 150 km/h all the time in my polo 1liter 44 hp . Point is they have less drag because they are so small and light and therefore the top speed is not really an issue. Overtaking at high speed and wind can be more of an issue though.
@@bighands69 While it is one effect of them i don't think it is the sole purpose. In most cases the "original intention" once was that whoever can afford an expensive car or uses more fuel can afford to pay more tax. Expensive cars always were bigger cars with more hp and mor displacement, not just american cars. (And in most places in europe these taxes started whith the first oil crisis) The AMC Pacer was a european sized car and still there were none over here. The Chrysler Voyager on the other hand was pretty common on our streets. The heights our taxes for cars have arrived at nowadays are because the manufacturers adapted their cars to the taxes and so the countries Budgets were getting less tax money they relied on, so they adjusted the taxes.
Interesting comparison, from the US perspective - thanks! I regularily drive my Skoda Octavia diesel on 52-58 miles per US gallon. I have done even better in the summertime with a lot of driving outside cities. On the Autobahn, average 130 km/h with some stretches of 160 km/h to catch a ferry, it crept down to about 50 miles/US gallon. (AC is always on) With the fuel prices we have, you just cannot drive a gas guzzler. Mu cupholder is between the shift stick and the hand brake. I do have a cruise control, but I never use it.
Remember the USA gallon is small than the gallon in Europe. Also,diesel is much more expensive than regular petrol in the USA, so not many diesel cars at all You will see heavy duty diesel pickup trucks in the USA most are used for towing and plowing snow from car parks.
You're right about the road trip, we don't do that as often. Also many European roads are small and congested so cars like that 0.9 litre Capture don't really feel slow round town . Torque is key for real world performance in these conditions rather than 0-60 time so you find more small turbocharged diesel and petrol cars.
I feel sorry for you to live in Amsterdam. It's the most horrible place in Netherlands to live in, too many people, overoveroverpriced real estate, and they are led by "The Greenies", which are very car unfriendly and they ban all the fun stuff.
@@weetikissa Ya most large European cities have good mass transit systems. I was just in Florence in October, WTF would anyone bring a car into that city. Park in the suburbs and take the train in. WTF weren't they planning for cars back in the Renaissance? jk I love European cities, Stockholm is one of my favorite. Again, Vikings didn't plan for cars when they made Gamla Stan.
Fuel efficiency might also differ by country of purchase. I know that in the Netherlands cars are tuned to safe fuel when shifting up at really low RPM's because of the flat terrain. Can any1 confirm?
And neither is smaller better. European cars are simply too small to raise a family with. Americans used to laugh at little 1 litre european lawn mowers.
@Friedrich Every time I see somebody as brainwashed as you with some insane world view that you just displayed I wonder what kind of a shitty life you must be living.
@Friedrich Those not options for lower income families trying to get up the social ladder. A new Passat in Germany starts at $36000. In the US that price is in V6 luxury car category. Fuel is cheaper in America so your European little go carts are not really needed. American bigger is better hence why it beat Nazi Germany into the ground go and ask Grand Pa Himmler.
