Quote from: Morris Minor on May 08, 2024, 02:09:52 PMJay Leno jokes that the received wisdom was that it was best to be "thrown clear." I remember that exact thing being said by the adults when I was a kid.
My friend's dad got in a wreck and was thrown out forwards through the windscreen, bounced along the road like skipping a stone on a pond. Covered in agonizing abrasion injuries. He swore he'd have died if used his seatbelt.

Far more die from ejections than survive.

Quote from: giant_mtb on May 08, 2024, 07:11:34 PMhttps://www.instagram.com/reel/C6th4AvMaxZ/?igsh=OGsybm5xcWtzZ3Rw

It's amazing to me Tesla can do an over the air update to address this with better sensing on the frunk enclosure. 

The amount of things Tesla can successfully address with over the air updates in many ways shows how advanced their product is compared with everyone else. That they let these oversights get through prior to releasing the car, to Mr. H's arguments, show they're also too reckless. 

Part 33: Isuzu Como


In the previous installment, I mentioned the Isuzu Fargo was replaced in 2001 by the Isuzu Como.  Como, of course, being a city, province, and lake in northern Italy.  Once again, Isuzu turned to Nissan to provide its Urvan as the basis for the badge engineered Como.

The Japanese really love their forward-control vans and the Como continues with this familiar layout.  Taking into account the fact space comes at a premium in Japanese cities and driving speeds are rarely fast enough to make the lack of a front crumple zone much of a concern, it's not hard to see why.  Pushing the driver and front passenger as far forward as possible to create maximum space for the payload makes perfect sense in such an environment.

Outside of Japan, forward control vans are a much harder sell.  The 1991 Volkswagen T3 Vanagon being the last forward control van sold in North America.  Forward control vans fared a little better in Europe but even there they have fallen out of fashion.  And as you may have already guessed, the Isuzu Como never made it to Italy.  With Isuzu ending European consumer vehicle sales some twenty-odd years ago now, it is unlikely it ever will.

Quote from: giant_mtb on May 02, 2024, 01:16:45 PMI have no memory of ever being in a car seat or using a booster seat. I was born in 1990.
Kids these days are probably gonna have PTSD from being strapped/locked in to a car seat because they can actually remember it since it's required 'til they're in 2nd or 3rd grade.

Jay Leno jokes that the received wisdom was that it was best to be "thrown clear." I remember that exact thing being said by the adults when I was a kid.
My friend's dad got in a wreck and was thrown out forwards through the windscreen, bounced along the road like skipping a stone on a pond. Covered in agonizing abrasion injuries. He swore he'd have died if used his seatbelt.

Wild. Seats look super more comfortable than US minivans- but those are designed to be removable so need to be lighter weight.

Part 32: Isuzu Fargo


Not to be confused with the Fargo Trucks once sold by the Chrysler Corporation, the totally unrelated Isuzu Fargo was a Japanese market forward-control commercial van.  The Fargo was produced over two generations, from 1980 through 2001.

Despite its looks, this is not a kei-sized van, it's more of a mid-sized van.  The Fargo is roughly similar in size to the 1980s Volkswagen T3, otherwise known as the Vanagon in North America.  Personally, I never understood the fascination with kei-vans in the US.  If you really want to import a small, practical van, there are a plethora of options from Europe which, unlike the kei-vans, can be safely driven at Interstate speeds.  Plus, as long as you buy on the Continent, you won't end up having to sit on the wrong side of your newly imported van.

The first generation Fargo (shown above) was made from 1980 through 1995.  Like the 1980s Toyota Van (AKA LiteAce/Space Cruiser) and the Previa which followed it, the Isuzu Fargo had an inline four cylinder engine under the floor.  Upon launch, engine choices were 1.6 and 1.8 litre gasoline units or 1.8 and 2.0 litre diesels, sans turbocharger.  Turbodiesels became optional by 1984.  In September 1987, the naturally aspirated diesels were discontinued in the passenger models, leaving only turbodiesels for these noncommercial versions.  By 1991, a new 2.4 litre diesel replaced both the earlier diesel engines.  In August 1993, a 2.4-litre turbodiesel became standard.

The first generation Fargo was sold under a few different names in various parts of the world.  In Australia, it was called the Holden Shuttle.  Locally built versions in the UK were badged as the Bedford Midi, later to become the Vauxhall Midi.  On the European continent, you could have either an Isuzu Midi or a GME Midi if you bought yours from an Opel dealer.  And in Colombia, it was a Chevrolet WFR.

The short-lived second generation Isuzu Fargo was much lesser known, only being built from 1995 through 2001.  Rather than develop a new van in-house as before, Isuzu turned to Nissan to provide them with a badge engineered version of the Nissan Caravan/Urvan/Homy (E24 platform).  In 2001, the Fargo was replaced by the Isuzu Como, based on the new E25 platform Nissan Urvan.

So, considering this van was never going to be sold in the USA, why name it after North Dakota's most populous city?  Or perhaps someone at Isuzu was a fan of the Cohen Brothers film Fargo?  Oh wait, that wasn't released until 1996.  Oh well, if you do decide to import a Fargo from Japan, don't bother asking the dealer over there to remove the TruCoat.  They install that TruCoat at the factory, you know.  They can't take it off! 

I have a Tonale PHEV as a loaner.  It works decently as an EV when the battery has charge.  Zero battery it gets ~29 mpg which I'm not sure yet is good/bad/neutral for a smallish crossover

We had a PHEV Sorento for three weeks in New Zealand. It had a battle-tank thirst for petrol, at around US$6.80/gal, a CO2-pumping demon. I sure as hell wasn't going to plug the thing in anywhere, because... where?

But Europcar looks good by having them in the fleet, and they get a 30% tax discount on the NZ government's Road User Fee.

And then there were the lectures on global warming and the receding glaciers on the South Island.