I agree that the main reason Americans prefer more power is cultural. There is a tendency for people to compare themselves with those around them - I live in a neighbourhood surrounded by hippies and urbanites, so for me, the Mirage is a regular small car, the iMev or electric smart car would be the small choice and the Honda Fit would be the "large" car. In a rural area, the regular car would be the F-150, with maybe a Jeep Patriot being the small car and a proper diesel one ton pickup being the big one. My point being it is all relative to what your friends and neighbours drive.
The other part of the equation is infrastructure. Around here speed limits are 100km/h on the highway (about 62mph) and people usually drive between 90-110 for the most part. At this speed, a 250cc motorcycle or a 660cc Kei Truck can keep up fine, and there is enough room to get on and off the highway, so drag-race-merging isn't required. Compare this to some busy US interstates where the flow of traffic is going 140km/h and there is a short on-ramp and I understand why one might want the Blues Brother's car ("Our Lady of Blessed Acceleration don't fail me now!").
As for the complaints about hard plastics, the car making noise, and other more cosmetic things - my favourite car was a 1985 Dodge Omni - that one had character. I prefer character to refinement in cars, and also in actors in Westerns.
Last edited by Canoehead; 01-14-2014 at 02:09 PM.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage SE 1.2 manual: 45.0 mpg (US) ... 19.1 km/L ... 5.2 L/100 km ... 54.1 mpg (Imp)