12 August 2009

Nation of Ninnies: why hide car performance specs?

Are Americans afraid of everything? I'm looking at cars in the US and notice that it's almost impossible to get 0-60 and top speed numbers for anything. In the UK, these are almost always included in available info as a matter of course.

6 comments:

zim said...

yes, i noticed the same when researching cars for the gf. sadly, even edmunds has become light on info.

Rick said...

A quick scan of Car & Driver suggests that they include those stats in reviews. Not easy browsing, but there.

pyker said...

They should be clearly listed on the carmakers' own sites.

Rick said...

The interesting thing in the small sample I pulled from C&D's site was that the Euro carmakers seem to provide the info, i.e. it's listed as "manufacturer's estimate" or somesuch. While there's no provenance listed for domestics, when the stat is provided. (Though it was provided for the Chevy bloody Impala, fer chrissake.)

pyker said...

Yes, here they are listed on manufacturers' sites as a matter of course. Check honda.co.uk (Jazz 0-62 in 12.5s, top speed 110mph) or toyota.co.uk (Aygo 14.2s, 97.5mph) or Aston Martin (V12 Vantage 4.2s, 190mph).

Maybe everyone in the US is worried that merely seeing performance numbers will encourage you to drive recklessly (not possible in an Aygo).

zim said...

it's totally possible to drive recklessly in an Aygo! one could, e.g., play 5 on 5 football with them.