Do you really want to go 119 mph in a van?
YES, PLEASE!! I would like a vehicle that can go that fast safely, so it is that much safer at the speeds I will usually drive. Which, of course is much slower - say, 100 mph, given the chance.
That does not sound safe to me. Regardless, I have been wondering about U.S. cars for some time now. Why don't we have vehicles like the Citroen vans at the link you posted?
That really was the point of the post!
I also note that diesels aren't well liked in the U.S. for some reason I've yet to figure out.
I think that's based on the characteristics of all but the latest generation of automotive diesels. If you go to the link I provided in the first post to the road test, scroll down to the motor options and look at the CO2 numbers, the new diesels are 2/3 what the gasoline engines measure. It seems this newest type diesel - the HDI (High pressure Direct Injection) - burns so efficiently it doesn't smell and has a number of very civilized characteristics in comparison to what we know as typical.
to JLM: My understanding is that Citroens are not only reliable but surpisingly durable, in that you can expect very long life from the engine before needing expensive servicing, like rings. They always have been very complex cars, though, and maybe that, combined with the fact that almost no mechanic in the US or Canada has any familiarity with them make them a tough sell in terms of setting up a dealer/service base.
For almost 50 years they have been self-levelling. I talked to a guy 45 years ago who was so proud of his DS-19 that he took me for a drive around town (I was a stranger to him) and told me how when he first bought it in Vancouver he stayed on the car deck on the ferry ride back to Victoria and read the manual. Then, noticing movement outside he looked out to discover that although the engine was long shut off, his car was reacting to the ferry rolling and trying to correct by keeping the car level!
Aerodynamically, Citroen have led by 20 years or more.
