mr.x it is the same in america. there are sections of america with very twisty corners like where i live. currently. I dont know the exact numbers.... but how much road does america have compared to england? so what does it mean if america had 10x as much road as england?

Quote from mrodgers :

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/dragon_trucks.html

I've posted this stuff before somewhere.

If that road was in Europe, trucks like those would be banned on it.

Disclaimer: This is not a criticism of the USA, all his inhabitants or whatever someone might want to interpret in it.

Quote from TheDeppchef :

If that road was in Europe, trucks like those would be banned on it.

Disclaimer: This is not a criticism of the USA, all his inhabitants or whatever someone might want to interpret in it.

Yes, it is really stupid that trucks are allowed on that road. I think I've read that trucking companies sometimes purposely send them on it for a laugh.

Hmmm... I had a Ford once, a 73 Ranchero GT. Great ride. Most of you that seem to have problems with fords seem to be with little car models.
Ford just never really made very good econo boxes. A Crown Victoria.
A Taurus SHO Those cars seem to be their best ones - not counting Mustangs. Ford makes the best Pick Up Trucks I think.
My brother had an Escort. He bought it brand new right off the lot in
1990 or so. It was a lemon as soon as he drove off the lot . Nothing but some sort of problem after another.

And will they EVER design a Lincoln Town Car that has an electrical system that doesn't fall apart in 6 months?

My dad has a F-150, his dad had an F-150. Somehow I got a GMC Suburban.

Guilty of owning a 2.0l Sierra Liftback ( German assembled ) which are the pick of the Sierra's here. Neoprene bushing helps alot and its really hard finding a decent rear wheel drive car these days.
The South African versions had Windsor V8's fitted stock and that could be a fun combo to play with.
Mind you, my favorite ( after Mk1 Escorts ) would be an old Anglia, you can get those engines revving to over 14000rpm ( seriously, they just don't last too long ) and cus no one think's their fast you can build a real Q car out of one.

Wow how did I miss this thread

Right where do I start. Never owned a Ford, as I will explain. I work for Ford Motor Company.

Fords that I have had ( Company cars )

Focus 1.6 Petrol
Focus 2ltr Petrol
Focus 1.8i Petrol
Focus 2ltr Diesel TDCI
Focus C-Max 2ltr TDI
Focus 2ltr VVT
Mondeo 1.8 TDCI
Mondeo 2.2ST
Mondeo ST220

I am sure I have missed a couple in there.

And now I am in a Mazda 5 Sport

Nothing wrong with Fords ( except when they are built in Germany and the Door Locks fail ** hint hint Three Jump ** )

Quote from SamH :

Illinois definitely has a lot of straight roads, but every intersection is a potential 90 degree turn. I have to admit that my Grand AM was not bad at handling in corners, and wasn't uncomfortable on a longer drive either. I did tend to rent a Buick if I was going a really long way on the I-80.

The effect of the freeze/thaw in Chicago was dramatic. Because the extremes in temperatures ARE so extreme, a road surface has little chance of much longevity. I have to say, though, that road building in the US is attrociously slow. They took a whole summer over resurfacing a 2 mile stretch of a road that I used to get to work. Unbelievable. They're not fast here, but they're nowhere near as slow as in the US.

One thing that really works in here is road building, there is only few months in a year when it is possible to build roads and they lay new surface really fast with current technology, one end of machine eats old surface, middle and rear section process and lay new surface, they make over 10km of road in one day, which I find quite amusing.

Of course nothing else works here not even a little, or that is how I often feel, even roads are fast to repair with new technology there is no money for repairing them, also roads wear quite fast as we can have -30C at winter and +30C at summer, all winter time most cars have studded tires and most deliveries are made by trucks (no little trucks, weights are around 60 000kg).

Yes, the speed at which they resurface the roads here in PA is ridiculous too. The problem is with the so called "organized labor". You have 20 guys working on the road and each one has a set job. No one else can do his job, and he can't do any other job. Therefore, while one guy works, you have 19 standing around doing nothing waiting for that one guy to finish his part so someone else can do something. It is so frustrating on a beautiful afternoon heading home, after being on the road for half an hour, to be stopped mere 5 miles from your house and have to sit while you watch a bunch of Penndot (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) people standing around talking while one guy works. It's beautiful out, I WANT TO GET HOME!!!!!!!!

That happens on most major motorways in the uk sadly , 20 mile stretch of the busiest motorway in the country, and you're lucky to spot one guy, and when you do hes usually munching a ginsters pasty :P.

The country lanes up in cumbria/lake district are mental, well twisty, and most have a 60mph speed limit, which you'd be lucky to cross.

edit: We have a ford ka, and its a bit pants, but it goes... Sister can get 110 on the motorway in it which is a little scary. Althrough recently it blew the head gasket :/, and now the radiator is leaking.

Ok, someone post a picture of this Ford Ka. Sheesh, I've never heard of one. Funny how vehicles from an American automotive manufacturer isn't even available in America. You guys have all the good stuff (not meaning the Ka, sounds like a hunk-a-junk).

http://www.viarural.com.ar/via ... ulos/ford-sauma/ka-02.gif

Not really that much of a hunk of junk, just small and cheap. We've had ours for ages now, and these are the only real problems. Was really hot in the summer and the radiator boiled dry :/ (silly sister :X)

another link: http://www.ford.co.uk/ka/

Quote from fragile_dog :

http://www.viarural.com.ar/via ... ulos/ford-sauma/ka-02.gif

Not really that much of a hunk of junk, just small and cheap. We've had ours for ages now, and these are the only real problems. Was really hot in the summer and the radiator boiled dry :/ (silly sister :X)

another link: http://www.ford.co.uk/ka/

Very interesting on the Ford link. So, I looked at it. We, as America wanting to purchase a car from an American car company, do not have the Ka available. I was wondering why folks were bringing the Fiesta into the conversation as it hasn't been available since like, the 80's. Our Fusion is the replacement for the Taurus which your's shows as a Subaru Forester type vehicle. Though, your Forester may be different than that is available to us as well. The Mondeo looks like a nice car. I wouldn't know as this American car is unavailable to us Americans, LOL. We have the Freestar, which appears to be a bit bigger than the Galaxy. But of course, to cater to the idiots who need the biggest vehicles they can find to compensate for personal size in an area we can't discuss, we have all the sport utility vehicles and oversized trucks, the F150, F250/350, Escape, Explorer, Freestyle, and Expedition. It's funny at work to hear folks complain about gas prices as they pull into the parking lot in their huge trucks and giant SUV's. "Uh, dude? You get 10 mpg in your vehicle capable of pulling 14 million pounds that only hauls your fat arse to work and back, what do you expect?" LOL.

No such problems here, average 48-50mpg thrashing it

Quote from _Rob_ :

.....thrashing it

Hooligan!

Yes, Rob does like to put his foot down, I remember following him back from the last LFS meet...he is a nutter!!!

I don't really see ford as an american company as such, the first ford factory opened in the uk in 1911, and in australia in 1926, and imo each one ended up making cars to suit the needs of the country it was.
Pickups have never been popular in the uk so no pickups turn up here (well the f150 has started to be sold, but I haven't seen one on the street). As for the SUV's/jeeps the kind of people who want one are either farms, in which case they get a landrover defender or rangerover, or people wanting to protect thier kids on the way to work, who can usually afford a bmw or simular, so low/mid range suvs don't sell well either.

The taurus looks simular to the old style mondeo except maybe bigger. And I really don't see the ka selling well in the US :P.

Oh, street ka ads [edit by SamH] Don't watch this if you like cats. Seriously! [/edit] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Guufs3mdgg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urDEbDgLXao

Sorry to jump in with an edit. Last time I saw that first video posted, it caused an uproar among the forum members who objected to not being forewarned.

I believe those two are viral ads, sponsored by Ford. Ford actually denied involvement at one point, blaming the first (cat) ad on an errant marketing company, who submitted it to Ford as a proposal. Ford claimed that it was rejected. I'm not entirely sure everyone was convinced by the claim.

The marketing company claims that the cat is entirely CGI. If so, it turned out to be too convincing for many people and Ford's viral ad campaign backfired. The target audience for this version of the Ka is definitely the same bunch you can find on Friday nights, binge-drinking.

Uhhh, I was sorta scannin thru the posts again. All this nonsense about American Roads... Like it or not, the US Interstate Highway system is the best on the planet. And it is also the most boring. THose highways were not meant to be scenic, exciting or whatever. They were designed to move goods & people in mass amounts in a relatively short amount of time. Now there's also plain ol' US highways (think Route 66) Some of these roads can be fun to travel on, but they also have traffic lights to contend with when it goes through small towns. The problem with the conditions of some of these highways - is the way they are funded. about half the cost of these roads are
paid for by state governments instead of all of it being Federal. and these states are also responsible for the highways' construction and maintenance
so depending on where you live and what your particular state does with its transportation budget, depends on the condition of the roads where you live. not to mention what salting roads topped with asphalt does to it.

Lately though, there's a new type of highway cropping up, toll roads. Not
Turn pikes like whats on the east coast, but roads specifically built to make a profit. And they're mostly owned by foriegn companies.

BTW all that NONSENSE about how great the euro cars and rice burners are compared to American cars.....
I was stuck in a very big traffic jam during Hurricane Rita. LOL most of those "superior engineered" cars didn't make it. Actually, any car that had all that computer crap all over it conked out pretty quick.

Well, I'm not sure which comments are nonsense, but I'm irresistibly drawn to question the statement that the US highway system is the best in the world. Best in which way? Condition-wise, I'd definitely have to disagree. I've driven back and forth on the I-80 enough to know that that road isn't in good condition compared with, say, British motorways or.. well, anything I drove in Europe this summer, actually.

It's also 2 lanes each way for a lot of its length, which is a bit limited considering its role. The Eisenhower system was definitely needed when it was built, but IMHO it just hasn't been maintained like it needed to be. It should never have been treated as a one-stop fix, which in the great scheme of things it really has been. A road system needs a continuing guaranteed investment, and it should have been federal because it's fundamental to the health of the nation as a whole.

We've just recently got our first toll roads in the UK, and while I find the concept offensive, it has eased congestion around Birmingham. Britain is definitely drowning under the weight of its obsession with cars.

Also, on the topic of Euro/ricer vs US cars, I'm not sure where you're coming from there either. I'd sooner get in an Audi A3 than a Ford Focus. I suspect that I'm more likely to be ABLE to get out of an Audi A3 after a crash. I've seen plenty of crashes on the I-94 through Chicago, and been appalled at the damage to cars and people. I know things are improving, but the safety issue has really only properly taken off in the last 6 years or so, and it's being driven by an independent company that's hired by INSURANCE COMPANIES. It should be legislative, but I guess the car companies have a pretty big lobby budget in DC, too.

Statistically, you are no safer in a Ford Explorer (especially if you didn't get your tyres changed) just because it's an SUV. People are lulled into a false sense of security just because their car can ride a curb like it's a man-hole cover.

I always thought the german autobahn was the best in the world, not because of the speed but because of the way its run, and repaired etc. And most motorways are boring and not scenic (apart from the m62 over the pennines some great views up there :P). Also toll roads have started infecting the uk, making drivers pay more and more and more money :/.

Personely I've always thought of american cars as a bit... brutish if you know what I mean. European cars seem more refined in a way. And like it or not new american cars are proberly just as over engerneered electronics wise as the rest of the worldtm

edit: just to say cheers for editing earlier post, I thought it was pretty obvious it was fake. A cat would be way to smart to let a sun roof close on it :P.

I think I'd have to agree with you about the Autobahn. Exceptionally good driving on there. I was a bit disappointed to find that it's not ALL speed-limit-free, but I did stretch my legs a bit where allowed

I live a few minutes away from the M62 and will be travelling right over the top of it tomorrow to go see my brother. I dread it, really. Good views, definitely, though my favourite is the M6 up through the Lake District, even though it only clips the edge of the mountainous parts, it's still a good looking drive on a nice day. It's another ruddy awful road in bad weather though, like the 62.

The French have the best roads, no nonsence investment, automatic fines for all speeders, being mostly provincial people the French stay away from them so they're empty for us tourists, and you get funny cut out animals on the side of the road for no reason at all. Brilliant.

All you people are stupid,

Ford is one of the best company's out there and possibly the best..
Think of this Ford GT, GT40, The best two supercars ever made.

Escort Cosworth, Seen one of these that does 0-60 in under 4 seconds, Tuned though..

My brother has a Ford Fiesta Tuned up looks better than a saxo, 106, corsa and any other you can think of, and it does 140 MPH

But in my opinion Ford is one of the best company's ever...

Quote from tisy0 :

All you people are stupid,

Ford is one of the best company's out there and possibly the best..
Think of this Ford GT, GT40, The best two supercars ever made.

Escort Cosworth, Seen one of these that does 0-60 in under 4 seconds, Tuned though..

My brother has a Ford Fiesta Tuned up looks better than a saxo, 106, corsa and any other you can think of, and it does 140 MPH

But in my opinion Ford is one of the best company's ever...

Nice bump

I used to have an old D reg orion with a full cosworth style bodykit on it with a stupidly large rear spoiler...yea it was the mutts nuts (when i was 18), we used to cruise around the centre of nottingham till the early hours checking out the ladies, while racing people off the lights..... I look back 10 years, what the hell was i thinking?...it was dam ugly and the body kit cost me 3 times as much as the car!!
The car basically fell to bits (typical D reg ford rot box)and went to the scrappy

Quote from tisy0 :

All you people are stupid,

How to spot a troll, lesson 3