The general tendency to cover the ground with concrete is more than half of the problem of LA, they receive more than enough rainfall every year to cover 100% of their needs but more than 99% of it runs off because that's what they designed the city to do. It's not just wetlands, it's all the lands.

There is no part of California which is not earthquake country. Some places have longer periods than others.

Minivans are what happens when you take a car and stretch it into another vehicle. CUVs are what happens when you purpose-build a vehicle to do a job.

Minivans get crap mileage and have crap handling.

That's overstating the case a bit. I'm seeing grapes go in all over Northern California at a time when we can't afford the existing water consumption, let alone additional. Precious few of these vines are dry farmed.

That assumes your car has those, lots of cars don't. The W126 Mercedes was the first car on which they became standard... in the long-wheelbase editions, which means my 1982 doesn't have them. But lots of newer cars don't have them either, like most cars of the 1990s.

Not really. The seat mounts can't handle the load, and the original mounts aren't in the right place. The racing harness is designed to keep you in place in a car with proper crash protection around you. In the 1960s race cars still had wacky little half-seats, around then they started to become part of the crash protection and that's when race cars got harnesses.

A 5-point system without a cage is usually mounted to the seat, and usually reduces the safety of the vehicle as a result. You can get a cute little half-cage or even a roll bar with a proper place to mount the straps, so you don't need a full cage, but you need to add something.

Yeah, I self-replied much later with a correction, sorry. I meant SRS. I think in acronyms in car-land, too. Sometimes the wrong ones.

Spacers can dick with the airbag clockspring arrangement. If your car is old enough this ain't an issue. But ISTR it's illegal to defeat a working airbag.

In terms of overall volume it might be true, in terms of displacement it would probably be false. IIRC modern cruise ships have more vessel above the waterline than anything which floated before them.

Minivans are dying. They have turned out to be a fad. They are being replaced by CUVs. It turns out almost nobody actually wanted to carry cargo and a lot of passengers, and a minivan is half-assed at both. The only exception went out of production because buyers decided it was too old — the Chevy Astro. Only one engine but since 2000 it was awesome, and available in short or long versions and AWD or RWD. RWD with 3.23s gets up to 26 mpg on the freeway at speed, I wouldn't lie to you. We would have got rid of it already otherwise. This is on an engine rebuild and a trans rebuild and an axle rebuild and a brake rebuild, though, I'm not claiming it's great in all ways. But have you seen the kind of mileage minivans get? Mostly it's no better than that, and they don't behave like a truck when you want them to. The only one I ever wanted to drive was the mid-engined Previa S/C, and it gets like 22 on the freeway.

Nah, it depends on the state. You can improve the system in some places. Also, if you mount a 5-point to the 3-point mounts you're a fool, that's a waste of effort. You really need a cage.

If you make the A-pillar too deep, you'll have the same problem. You won't be able to see through it sideways. You can see this effect at work in the back of many cars, where it's often quite annoying. Hopefully advances in materials science (e.g. cheaper carbon fiber) will let us have skinny A-pillars again.

Right, if you have a spacer behind the steering wheel, that brings it closer. Unless, of course, it doesn't have tilt. My latest car has a telescoping column, so it's not a problem, I just adjusted the wheel back towards me.

I think it's the "The illegals are fleeing from a situation which we created with our War On Some Drugs For Profit" argument.

Who told you that? That's hilarious. Every automaker has complained about having to raise that line to deal with legal requirements, not to make them better pass crash tests, but because they've been legally required to raise the rear impact zone. Raising the rear increases drag, on its own; when you kick it up over the rest of the lines of the car, you're ultimately just increasing area. Sometimes it's an intentional part of a design meant to increase downforce, but that's exceptionally rare.

I meant SRS, I don't know how ABS came out

Well, you can get a spacer for some vehicles, it can be a challenge to retain ABS but it is possible.