The Idiocy Of The U.S. Astonishes Me...

I was thinking the same thing yesterday as to why you can not import non US specs cars into the country when most are safer and pollute less than the average barge sold by american companies.

 

As an Italian I should not comment on this as we are pretty bad.....
But can someone explain how it is possible that I (a foreigner on holiday) can walk into a a Bank and open an account in 15 minutes, buy a house in my name, etc....but I cannot register a car in my name or get a car insurance without an American drivers licence (which I can't get as I don't live in the US and only come on holiday)

 

Nothing new with the weight differences. Take the 1976-77 US Lancia Scorpion for example, 1075 KG in the US due to fed-mandated bumpers and emissions versus 970 KG in rest of world. 25% less horsepower than the rest of world due to US emissions. Then, the headlights were too low according to US so they slapped on ugly raisable headlights and 1 inch taller suspension springs to add height and bugger the handling. Same old story for US spec cars for decades.

 

I don't think it's about safety as such. I believe they had troubles meeting the "5mph bumper standards" which limits how costly the damage can be from a 5mph crash into the bumper. I believe these laws were initally lobbied through by American insurance companies who wanted cheaper repair bills.

 

The Euro weights are dry weights, so its not as light as you think anyways. As for US soec, a chunk of that weight is from things like AC which are options elsewhere so not part of official weights. There are also kore manadtaed airbags on Us versions. But yes a US version has more structure so heavier stll.

 

Chalk it up to the friggin' EPA (the Employment Prevention Agency), safety nannies, and all the a**wipe slip and fall lawyers here in the USA...

 

IIRC, european specs cars meet these standards now (and maybe 10 years ago already). And even if they didnt, they should then allow the import of cars 10 years or older and not 25 years..

 

I went to the lotus factory 7 or so years ago, and thye told me about meeting US spec. Apparently the 5mph bumper test involves a metal ball on a string pendulum which is dropped and swings into the bumper according to regulation at a very specific height and locatrion.. It is not allowed to cause damage.

The height where the pendulum ball hits was laid out in 1966 and corrosponds with the height of a then mustang bumper.

If you look at US spec Loti and 993 porches for that matter you will see that there are dumpy plastic squares on either side of the license plate, these are put there to recieve the ball in the drop test, while the rest of the car is otherwise unmodified, a simple neat elegant solution by lotus.

Possible the Alfa had problems in the front with this test, but even then they shoud just have added some easily removable bumperettes at porche did with the 993 turbo.

Euro cars do not meet the same bumper or crash standards, they meet different ones.

As to the 25 year rule yeah its ridiculous. Origionally there was an emission componant but now Euro cars do meet the same or betetr stanbdards and have since OBD2 in the mid 90s.
The crash standards are not hugely dufferent. What happened was the 25 year rule was also to protect car dealers and used car dealers. but seriously who other than an exotic owner is importing a car older than 10 years, so yeah 10 years makes sense. In fact the EPA rule is 21 years, its only DOT between 21 and 25.

If you want really ridiculous its the headlight height rule, which may have been relevant in the 60's when all cars used bulbs, but these days with led the lights could be anywhere, other than regulation. The regulation means the front end of a car is not allowed to be as low or aero eficient as otherwise might be the case.

 

There were very few specifics (something vague about added steel beams) in that article as for the reason for the wight differential so are folks jumping to the wrong conclusions due to all the historically correct prejudicial reasons listed in this thread?

Maybe most of any potential weight gain is due to AC components and wet vs dry measurements. That article was very light on specifics and heavy with castigation.

 

If you have a US drivers license then the insurance company can pull your driving record
and make a decision as to how much premium or whether or not they are going to insure you
if you have a foreign license they have no idea so they don't provide coverage

 

I know...but that's the only country I know of which has that problem ;-)

 

It's the only country that pays out millions to accident victims So the insurance companies have to be careful

Sent from my SM-N900 using Tapatalk

 

American companies haven't sold "barges" in years. Considering the new Caddys are the handling standard for sport sedans these days, the Camaro outruns Porsches around the ring and the the Chevy SS performs as well as an M5 for half price-perhaps its the other countries producing barges these days-many new BMWs come to mind.

 

Based on what data?

 

This has been going on for years...I see the bumpers on my '84 308 to remind me constantly!!!

 

A California resident can not, under any circumstances, complain about onerous car regulations. Your ELECTED state representatives have ruined it for the rest of us.

No personal ill will intended, I hope that you are being held in Kalifornia against your will. This from a former Alfa owner (1966 Duetto), lifetime Alfa enthusiast and one who likes to visit California.

 

yes the liberals in California are off leash.

Now they are working against the diesel trucks, But there is a proposition in the works to split California into six different states! Many Californians love the Idea of the state being split up so we can all control our own areas, but the liberals know they need to suck off of the right wing population, this is how they live sucking off the general population, so it will be a difficult battle, but there is hope!


Liberty to California!

 

Actually, almost every new model US spec car has 2.5mph bumpers. Canada had a 5mph bumper requirement until recently - but we are now harmonized with the US (for example, late model Pontiac GTO was never 5mph bumper compliant, so it was never sold in Canada, but now that we're harmonized - it's now allowed into Canada as an import)


Alfa 4C US Spec?

It's still gorgeous - full stop.. strap a lead weight to all four corners, I'll still drive it, put ten catalytic converters on it, I'll still want it, raise the car - I'd lower it...




In Canada, we're allowed imports that are 15 years old, so you'll see a lot of Japanese and other imports that are quite interesting.


to the wazie -'84 QV, I know what you mean - but at least you can somewhat easily fix that...

 

Rates are based on statistics I would imagine they are double or triple normal rates but for short periods of time, in the end the insurance companies always make their profit and I would have to guess they make extra on customers from out of the country.


on the car topic look at Pagani they are not allowed in because of a air bag issue. What would they sell maybe 25 cars and how many miles would go on those cars? Does it really make a difference ??? The laws are are much too strict

 

In europe thye have different rules for comapnies making less than 500 cars per year. It allows a cottage car industry to exist.

 

So did the US. Ferrari, Rolls etc were exempted from many requirements until 1/1/01. A 99 Ferrari wasn't required to comply nor was tested for a variety of systems. It was referred to as "Limited Manufacturer Status". I believe it applied to any car maker who produced less than 10,000 units.

 

shrug