Subject:
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Re: Recreational vehicles and more questions about the US
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Sat, 22 Apr 2000 14:37:58 GMT
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Viewed:
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133 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.geek, Fredrik Glöckner writes:
> When traveling in Florida recently, I saw a lot of recreational
> vehicles. I realized before traveling to the US that everything "over
> there" is large. But those RV's were extraordinarily large. Can you
> drive such a vehicle with a normal license?
Yes, you can with a normal license, or at least in Florida. I remember renting
one a while back. Quite an adventure. We didn't tow a car though.
>
> And what puzzled me the most was the cars being towed by the RV. How
> can you negotiate a turn with a vehicle hanging behind? And why don't
> all the rubber on the car hanging behind get torn off at every turn?
> Or is there some kind of "magic" which turns the front wheels of the
> car at the turns?
American RV's are huge, but the European-imported RVs, Volkswagen EuroVan
Camper (I think it is called Caravelle California Sun in Europe, or at least
Germany) and Volkswagen Reatta (not sold in Europe), are decently sized and
are my personal favourite RVs. The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter arrives in the US
shortly.
>
> We ordered the smallest and cheapest car we could get, and were
> somewhat surprised to find a brand new Sunfire waiting when we
> arrived. This would have been a medium large (non-family) car in
> Norway, but when we hit the highway, we soon realized that we were
> indeed in a small car. I really wonder why people need to drive
> around in oversized trucks all the time. Do you normally haul large
> items?
You bet. America's best-selling vehicle is the F-Series, which can be ordered
to be America's biggest vehicle, though size varies from around 200 to as much
as 300 inches long. Americans hate compact cars. The only compact cars that
sell in the US are Korean imports (Kia, Hyundai, Daewoo), Chrysler Neon, and
Ford Focus, the latter of which are the largest in the compact class. The
smallest car currently sold in America is probably the Kia Rio, which is still
bigger than a Mercedes-Benz A-Class. However, the BMW Mini goes on sale soon,
and so do the Suzuki Wagon R+ and Daewoo Maitz. Daewoo and Suzuki are hoping
there is a market for ultra-small minicars.
>
> And the gas prices. There were lot of moaning over the recent raise
> in gas prices, but please keep in mind that home where I live, gas
> prices are _still_ much more than twice as steep! And Norway is a
> major oil producing country. Of course, with the large vehicles you
> drive, I can understand the gas expenses is a major part of the
> household budget.
I'm not complaining. Even at $1.80 it is still dirt cheap, and the
>
> Oh, and the tipping system had me a bit puzzled too. This varies a
> bit in Europe as well, but mostly you get away with a small (10% or
> even less) tip if you find the service good. Normally it's not
> obligatory. In the US, you're supposed to tip in non-fast food
> places, right? So how about Pizza Hut, which is basically a fast food
> restaurant in my opinion? We tipped, but judging from the reaction of
> the staff, they don't normally get much tip?
>
> All in all, we had a very nice trip around in Florida and the Deep
> South, but we had a tad bit too much driving and fast food in my
> opinion. But both were quite hard to avoid, it seemed.
>
> Fredrik
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