These Are Your Most Controversial Car Opinions

If there is one thing I have learned writing for Jalopnik for seven years, it is that the commenters here have a whole lot of deeply seated opinions, and you're more than willing to defend them. Earlier this week we asked you all to provide us with your most controversial automotive opinion, and boy howdy did y'all deliver.

While most of the comments revolve around the abysmal state of driving and licensing standards here in the U.S., a few venture into some less trodden paths that show who we really are as Jalopnik folks. When Jalop commenter with the username "Garland – Last Top Comment on Splinter" said, "The McLaren F1 is overrated and ugly," I felt that. While the F1 is a marvel of engineering, it is definitely overrated, and it is definitely ugly.

This was the most-answered question of the day in quite some time, so be sure to go check out a few of the other responses when you're done here, but for now I've picked out a few of my favorites for you to peruse.

Formula 1, as currently formulated, is awful.

Suggested by VBinNV

Petrol engines are a XXth century technology rendered obsolete by electrification.

OK, BEV were not very practical before 2015, but the solution was HEV/PHEV then ; petrol engines did not improve significantly after the nineties (direct injection maybe? Injection was the last big step forward, I'd say).

Suggested by PetroNiko

We should have pretty strict size restrictions on how big civilian vehicles can be. Trucks these days can't even fit to established parking spaces. They block other vehicles' sight lines on the road, they are unable to see pedestrians or other obstacles and hazards over their massive hoods, and their overcompensating drivers are (anecdotally) much more likely to be aggressive tailgaiting dipshits who roll coal and keep a copy of the legal statute that says they're allowed to tailgate and everyone lawfully has to get out of their way in their pocket at all times.

Suggested by NoWaitComeBack

Honestly? Cameras at every stop light. If you blow through a red light, you're getting an automatic ticket. If this was put into place (and assuming there'd be systems in place to make the appeals process difficult), people would stop. doing. this.

I see no downside if you're a rational person who values safety. Of course, there's people who will grumble about "mah freedums" as if the right to blow through a red light and put lives in danger is guaranteed in the Constitution.

Suggested by Joey Rappoport

There *should* be kill switches in cars that law enforcement can activate instead of engaging in chases. And I know people will bark about privacy and whatnot...to that I say FIGURE IT OUT and let's end high speed chases and general car theft.

Suggested by VoltRon

I can't think of a single Italian car made in the past 2 decades I'd want to own. And in addition to being generally unreliable, they're ugly.

Suggested by Lars Vargas, requesting another reboot

To your speed limit point: fines should be double if caught speeding with a trailer.

And since most drivers are shit and HP is cheap nowadays I say: you should need a special license if your vehicle has more than 100hp per 1000lbs.

Suggested by MrAcoustics

I am not a fan of Restomods. If you want an old car, drive it as it was built, warts and all. That's an essential part of the experience. If you want a new performance car, buy one of those. A restomod is just buying the style without the feel of driving an old car.

Suggested by emilminty drives an E30 and an Impreza for RallyX

People that don't use cruise control on interstates should be tried for crimes against humanity

Suggested by jkochman

C3's are the best looking Corvettes

Fight me.

Suggested by 12SidedDie

Cars over 10 years old should be required to have safety inspections, with STRICT criteria, every two years, in order to be allowed on the road. Many of the cars I drove over the years, all the way into my 40s, had no business being on the road. I'm so glad I fixed my credit and improved my income situation, and corrected my priorities, so I could afford a safe vehicle. I am now a car sales professional, now management, who once worked at a Dodge store, and briefly a Kia store, I've seen trades come in with staggeringly dangerous safety issues, that people would just ignore and keep driving on. Tires so bald you can see the air, brake calipers falling off the rotor with pads disintegrated and scraping against everything, multicolored (red, green, and brown) leaks, unable to roll in a straight line, etc. It is unkind to put your passengers, pedestrians, and other motorists at risk from your vehicle if it is at risk of losing brakes, sudden loss (or increase) of speed, breakdown at highway speeds, etc if it can be avoided. There are too many people out there who just don't treat these 3000 pound rolling liabilities with the care and upkeep they need in order to be safe.

Suggested by ceragan42

Well, here we go:

1. The United States needs better driver training nationwide. It should be rigorous, difficult, and offer opportunities for continuous education. It shouldn't be left to states.

2. Licensing should be graduated along classifications the way vehicles are and you should not be able to buy, rent, or drive a vehicle you're not licensed to drive. If you're licensed to drive a Mirage or Versa, that's what you can get. You can't drive a heavy duty truck, or a minivan, or even a Camry until you graduate — through testing — to that level.

3. Everyone should be completely reexamined — written and practical driving — every ten years from when they get their license, and every five years beginning age 70.

4. No right on red without a designated post-turn lane.

5. Cities with ring roads (the Beltway, the Perimeter, or whatever a town calls it) should charge a congestion fee to any vehicle not registered within that ring. If you don't want to pay that congestion charge, take public transportation.

6. Public transportation needs to be better. Better infrastructure. Better service. Better funding! Charge an additional $1 per gallon to fund public infrastructure like transit (and also roads, bike lanes, sidewalks, etc).

Suggested by InvalidnostCCCP

PROMISE no judgment? Then in that case, I think calling the Mach-E a Mustang was brilliant.

By borrowing the Mustang name and styling, Ford turned what could've been another forgettable SUV into something cool and desirable. It definitely made a big, albeit controversial, splash, and made much more noise than – what, a Ford Edge EV? – would've ever made. Yes it pissed off some customers, but how many Mustang fans were going to buy an electric SUV in the first place?

Suggested by disadvantage

Any performance car with over 400 bhp should require a performance driving class of some sort. Too many shit-necks killing people outside cars and coffee.

Suggested by My 2022 WRX Could Be Better

The legal age for driving should be raised to 21. Eighteen-year-olds have no business operating a car (or, God, a motorcycle) and don't even get me started on sixteen-year-olds. Probably no one should be driving, humans are just pleasure-driven monkeys, but let's not go that far for this QOTD. Twenty-one. There.

Suggested by Bindolaf