this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2023
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Fuck Cars

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[–] SeaJ@lemm.ee 30 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I agree but diesel cars are much more common in Europe and they have better towing capacity due to higher torque.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 50 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Not the core issue. My car does not run on Diesel, but I would not have any issues dragging such a caravan around. That is perfectly normal in Europe.

Why the Americans think one would need a thick fat pickup or truck just to pull a caravan is beyond me. Maybe it is just smart marketing to make people buy even bigger cars than they ever need.

[–] limelight79@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The caravans in Europe are much lighter than the trailers in North America.

[–] Screeslope@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I've seen plenty of small "Euro-sized" cars pull fully loaded horse trailers, so I suspect weight is not much of an issue. You need to get power on the road, and for that bulkyness of the frame is hardly the main factor.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are they? As caravans are quite popular in Europe, I can't imagine we are missing something in a lighter caravan, so who do Americans have in theirs that makes the heavier?

[–] NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

From a quick look at an store for caravans a bit back it seems like the American caravans are much longer and have expanding sides. Basically you would need a lorry permit in Europe to be allowed to pull one of those.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Many of those are not really intended for travel, but as permanent housing. See also: Trailer Park.

[–] NotYourSocialWorker@feddit.nu 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It was caravans in this style:
https://usacaravans.nl/stock?token=4nplMHTi4fpWnU0C1uGPxmoGQzV6M6YEKi4xsZO1&vehicle_type[]=travel-trailer

So they don't really look like the ones that are intended to be left in place.

The lightest of these you might be allowed to drive in Sweden with a standard license but most would require an extended license for heavy load at the least.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I'd still consider these not "caravans" but "mobile homes". That's some monsters I'd expect to be hauled around by film crews and circuses for permanent living on the move.

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well our Rv are way larger then that most of the time. That's why the most popular models are self mobile

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Have you ever seen those Atros-based RV's that I've seen here in Europe?

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's about to change. After finding out the vast minority, if not all, car manufacturer were found cheating emissions tests, diesel car usage has been limited and production stopped, or will stop in the near future.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That’s about to change. After finding out the vast minority, if not all, car manufacturer were found cheating emissions tests, diesel car usage has been limited and production stopped, or will stop in the near future.

i'm aware of volkwagen and co. doing this; what other manufacturers have been caught?

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They were all basically at it, it's the only way the emissions and performance numbers could be hit.

[–] eldavi@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

does that mean no one's been caught doing it?

[–] cyborganism@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

No. Simply that Volkswagen, then another company was caught, then they went after all of them and they all admitted before they could look into each individual company.

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Many have been caught. Not all of them have made a big deal about it.

You simply cannot build a compliant engine without cheating. The fight has gone to the courts to find out what kind of cheating is permissible...

[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Basically all of them have cheated. You needed good emission test results, but without having a miracle idea that evaded everyone else in the business you simply had no competitive results without cheating. That's physics, and physics is a very hard and unforgiving ruler.