verde stereo question/ suv rave/ looong

[Jonathan Drout <fiatrn@xxxxxxxxx>]

First the Alfa question so that those tired of the sport ute thread can
skip onward.  My sig.other has gotten her hands on a set of very nice 8"
round coaxial speakers.  They were part of a 164 sound system, and can ber
hers for a great price.  However, she drives a Verde, and we're hesitant
to ship these drivers across the country (from CT to CO) if they aren't at
least possibly going to fit without me doing something bad to the car.
her Verde is truly wonderfull and the rear speakers are truly dead, but it
these monstrous 8s are hopeless to fit... for background, I've built
several car stereos (including one iasca competitive system) so can do
most basics, but prefer not to mangle the Milano in any way.  Advice?
Experience?  

Now - the sport ute rave -

The trouble w/ SUVs in crashes are several fold.  First off, they only
offer their occupants good protection because of size and mass - they tend
to take the better of another vehicle but in barrier tests actually get
tremendously damaged.  
   Second - they are dangerous because of their bumper heights and their
poor ability to AVOID accidents.  They have poorer stopping distances,
poorer handling, and poorer acceleration than most if not all passenger
cars.    While an emergency nurse I attended a seminar that examined
automobile trauma as seen in ERs, of which a special session was devvoted
to SUV vs car data.  SUVs kill the people in cars they hit with alarming
efficiency.  You are safer running into the local Kmart head on than being
t-boned by an SUV.  The bumper of those monster Ford things is exactly
equal to the head of the driver in a Spider.  Scary stuff - and stuff that
the American consumer has allowed to happen.  
   Higherbumper heights also make suvs more dangerous in head on and rear
end collisons with 'normal cars' as the suvs tend to ride up/over the
normal cars and crash into the passenger cells rather than using the
collision absorbtion built into both vehicles.  
   Third - SUVs are part of CAFE economy, as someone pointed out - which
is a mornonic system that allows the building of some clean cars but not
all.  Of course, 100 new Honda civics running make less pollution that the
evap emissions from my parked 72 Fiat Coupe.  new cars are amazing in
their emission efficiency, and I'll admit that a new truck makes less
emissions per gallon burned than even our 88 Verde.  And assuming equal
gas milage...  
  All of this has occured because, honestly, the American consumer does
not care.  Look at LA air quality, or even Denver air quality (the current
home town) to see what people care about.  Denver is building a tax payer
financed football stadium but has no public transportation to speak of.  I
sit at traffic lights and am literally surrounded by SUVs in a state that
pretends to be environmentally conscious.  When the public insists on safe
clean trucks we will have them.  It will probably come about through
legislation, and it will take awhile for consumer demand to fuel public
outcry to change the legislation that the auto companies will lobby so
powerfully against.  

Jonathan  The Fiat RN
- -and yes, I drove a pathfinder part time for two years.  It was fun,
handled poorly but for a 'truck' was pretty nice.  Then a drove an
explorer for a couple weeks.  it was the worst livid peice of $#!+ I have
ever driven, was terrible off road, got stuck in 3  feet of snow that I
drove my Honda through, and fishtailed in 4 wheel drive.  I laughed and
beeped when someone spun their jeep off the road trying to keep up with me
in the Verde last time it snowed here in Denver.  Ranting and Raving off.
I think I'll go blast around town  in the Verde to recall my love of
Icars.

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