But the reality is the opposite! Part of the reason for the death of the small truck in America is the batshit ratio of vehicle size to acceptable fuel consumption. The current “footprint” CAFE model defines the footprint of the vehicle by multiplying the vehicle’s track by wheelbase, and the MPG target is drawn like a curve on a graph such that vehicles with a larger footprint are allowed a lower fuel economy score and vise versa. So the manufacturers, who really don’t feel like designing new more efficient engines every few years to meet the requirements, can just cheat by making their vehicles bigger to qualify for a lower MPG target.
If that scheme sounds completely asinine to you, that’s because it is. It is effectively not possible to sell a small pickup truck in America anymore unless it delivers the same gas mileage as an economy sedan – which is not going to happen. For the 2020 model year, a truck the size of an oldschool Chevy S10 would have to deliver ~39 MPG. My Crosstrek can’t even do that.
So we get giant trucks for no reason other than to be giant instead.
Agreed. I have a ‘99 Silverado with a single cab (bench seat, crank windows!) but an 8’ bed, and it is the most amount of truck I ever predict needing. I will drive it until it either falls apart and I can’t weld it back together, or gasoline is no longer available. And before the latter happens, I will probably get around to converting it to electric. It wasn’t a “small” truck at the time it was new but it is now, yet somehow it can still carry more than today’s “big” trucks – including two entire motorcycles with the tailgate shut or a stack of 4x8 ply or drywall.
The current trend of bloated trucks that may as well just be SUV’s is beyond stupid. You can’t haul anything useful in the back of them, nor can you put anything in the cab for fear of tearing your leather or scratching the screens on your DVD players. Most people who buy them would be better off with a station wagon instead.
But the reality is the opposite! Part of the reason for the death of the small truck in America is the batshit ratio of vehicle size to acceptable fuel consumption. The current “footprint” CAFE model defines the footprint of the vehicle by multiplying the vehicle’s track by wheelbase, and the MPG target is drawn like a curve on a graph such that vehicles with a larger footprint are allowed a lower fuel economy score and vise versa. So the manufacturers, who really don’t feel like designing new more efficient engines every few years to meet the requirements, can just cheat by making their vehicles bigger to qualify for a lower MPG target.
If that scheme sounds completely asinine to you, that’s because it is. It is effectively not possible to sell a small pickup truck in America anymore unless it delivers the same gas mileage as an economy sedan – which is not going to happen. For the 2020 model year, a truck the size of an oldschool Chevy S10 would have to deliver ~39 MPG. My Crosstrek can’t even do that.
So we get giant trucks for no reason other than to be giant instead.
That is Insane and extremely depressing, I love my small truck and will keep it going as long as possible.
Agreed. I have a ‘99 Silverado with a single cab (bench seat, crank windows!) but an 8’ bed, and it is the most amount of truck I ever predict needing. I will drive it until it either falls apart and I can’t weld it back together, or gasoline is no longer available. And before the latter happens, I will probably get around to converting it to electric. It wasn’t a “small” truck at the time it was new but it is now, yet somehow it can still carry more than today’s “big” trucks – including two entire motorcycles with the tailgate shut or a stack of 4x8 ply or drywall.
The current trend of bloated trucks that may as well just be SUV’s is beyond stupid. You can’t haul anything useful in the back of them, nor can you put anything in the cab for fear of tearing your leather or scratching the screens on your DVD players. Most people who buy them would be better off with a station wagon instead.