F-150 SVT Raptor vs Vehicross

[Gussie2000]

Uhh... well... nah, I can't swallow what I think you're trying to say here at all. First, it doesn't sit well with me that you try to single out "American builders" as morons. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, GM, Ford, Chrysler/Daimler... all of them and more, release rebranded autos that aren't much more than a rebodied chassis. When the Rav-4 was introduced, it was nothing more than a Camry with bad aerodynamics - much like a Hummer H2 is a Tahoe with bad aerodynamics. The Crossfire sits on a hybrid chassis from an SLK and parts from other cars. And doesn't BMW sell a car called the 3-series...? To my understanding, adding some ground effects, tuning the suspension, making it perfom a little more suited to certain individual's desires, and all a sudden you have car called an M3! Kind of sounds like a performance version of a standard coupe to me but people adore them. Oh, but then again, the Raptor kind of sounds like a performance version of a standard 4x4 pickup truck, doesn't it?! Ford has SVT, Dodge has Mopar, Nissan has Nismo, Toyota has TRD, Mazda has Mazdaspeed, Mercedes has AMG - I see no difference in any of these performance-oriented divisions, no matter what country in which they build vehicles.

BTW, the SRT-8 is a full second faster than a Typhoon in the 0-60 (yet weighs more), is more practical, and handles better on the skid... all improvements. Porsche took a stab at it, so did BMW... and yet still, the American SUV's are the quickest... hmm.

Even in the Dakar rally, vehicles are organized by classes or types. The VX won in it's class, nothing more.

Now, if you were trying to say that ALL major auto-makers need to focus their attention on better economy, new designs and ideas, and affordable ownership... I could agree with you. You say "the average car built in America doesn't bring anything interesting to the podium". Well, prepare yourself... the thing about the "average car"; no matter where it was made, it's still "average"! So if those average cars are to be sold, how would you bring the buyers into the showrooms? Hmm, I hear performance vehicles work pretty well for that...

I agree & disagree with you.

I can understand that many american car consumers praise to the frase : BUY AMERICAN,i call that loyalty,but when american builders begin to reward that loyalty i may consider buying american.

For instant,when i was on the market for a SUV my 1rst choice were american,oh yes a jeep was my preference,especifically a liberty renegade.however,when research the background since 2000 when this models was put into production i notice that year after year jeep keept building the same jeep with the same issues,means that no improvements were done to overcome that & make then more reliable & sustain value over time up to today 2009.

On the opposite side of the street,isuzu built a 3.5L engine in 1998 with oil issues as all we know about,but in 2002 they overcome that issue & no oil burn related was ever found again,now,that's improvement ! isn't it ?

Of course there's few american cars that i trully like,the cherokee SRT8 is one of them,they are nice looking,powerfull,but the downfall....interior cheappy looking,cost of ownership is mind blowing for a american car compared to others SUV's on the same segment.The tahoe/yukon is also a great option by GM as same as the acadia,ford with the Edge,expedition & navigator are good options.

Please feel no offense about my input,just different point of views