King for a day

Cars can be ordered by specific options, not as total options packages.

Cars shall be available in non-metallic vivid colors.

All vehicles shall be offered with 2 or 3 pedals.

All ECUs will be unlocked for easy aftermarket tuning.

Honda will make new EK Type-Rs in LHD, Nissan will make new R32 GT-Rs in LHD and Toyota will make new AE86s.

Federal mandate, no front plates required

If I were supreme ruler for a day, and could mandate car stuff, sad to say, but I'd start with licensing laws. 
1) mimimum iq of 101. This eliminates half the drivers on the road. Special exceptions made which involve thorough testing and an acceptance of double punishment for any moving violations. 
2) huge overpowering propaganda campaign to rename the "left/fast" lane. Henceforth it is only THE PASSING LANE. Riding in the lane and not passing results in $1000 fine and any repeating offenders lose license privileges for 6 months. 
3) Speeding cars will be subject to tire inspections and driver reaction testing. Classes of license available at extra cost and training to be paid by the applicant for speeding permitted driving. "+10mph" "+20mph"

4) tailgating results in having a cylinder permanently deactivated for each offense  

Then I think I'd require a factory service manual to be included with every car sold, and manufacturing processes that were more friendly to overhauling vehicles. Blocks and heads must be able to be milled flat and bored at least 2x and new bearings fitted, etc. 

And of course the afore mentioned manual transmission stuff. If your auto box dies and cannot be replaced or repaired economically, you should have the ability to swap a factory supported and tested manual box. Pedal clusters, hydraulics, linkage, you understand. 

That's all I have. 

Less trucks and SUV's, more cars

Actually there should be a form to fill out to determine actual need/permit for 3/4 ton and above pickups.  Stop the scourge of Super Duty's that only seem to go to Applebees and Costco

Any vehicle part that's made out of plastic shall be available at every dealer, local parts store, or online in plentiful quantities and incredibly reasonable prices, so that it can be easily, quickly, and cheaply replaced when, not if, it breaks. Replacing the part shall not entail disassembling any other components to reach it, remove it, or install it.

No weird hardware. No TTY, ever. If you can't design a car to use normal hex head, allen head, or Phillips head bolts and screws, you shouldn't be designing anything.

Stop requiring convoluted, multi-step processes to use something simple, like cruise control. Drivers shouldn't have to step on the gas pedal to reach the speed, press a button on the end of the turn signal stalk to "Turn on" the cruise control, and them twist the end of the stalk to "Activate" it. 

Streets are for cars, sidewalks are for people. If it doesn't have an engine, a license plate, lights, horn, annual inspection, insurance, the driver is required to take and pass a reasonably difficult, annual test in order to operate it, and it can easily reach and maintain the speed of all traffic around it, it shall NOT be on the street - punishable by arrest, impoundment, and crushing/shredding. 

slowbird said:

Alternators shall be positioned where they are easy to get to, remove, service, and replace. Same for timing covers/timing belts, spark plugs, water pumps, oil filters, and anything else of that ilk. If that means you have to make engine bays bigger to leave more space around the engine, so be it. Make big long hood cars again.

Mechanics will design engine bays for service , not bean counters

No removing engine mounts to change spark plugs anymore !

Eliminate TPMS.

Include a nice tire pressure gauge in the glove compartment, along with a small pamphlet explaining how to use it. Save money on every car.

Pamphlet should also include the link to a YouTube video, for idiots.

barefootskater said:

Then I think I'd require a factory service manual to be included with every car sold, and manufacturing processes that were more friendly to overhauling vehicles. Blocks and heads must be able to be milled flat and bored at least 2x and new bearings fitted, etc. 

Im down with this one.

earlybroncoguy1 said:

Any vehicle part that's made out of plastic shall be available at every dealer, local parts store, or online in plentiful quantities and incredibly reasonable prices, so that it can be easily, quickly, and cheaply replaced when, not if, it breaks. Replacing the part shall not entail disassembling any other components to reach it, remove it, or install it.

Yes, and you get paid a core charge for the old one.

Want to save the planet? 

Manufacturers need to start building stuff to last longer than "just out of warranty".

No screens in the first row. That includes phones. Somehow the car will know and jam anything from the front seat. The only way around this is fully autonomous cars. You pay attention, or you don't drive. 

Motorcycle licensing will be tiered, by CC—not unlike Britain (Europe?).

The starting/accessory 12v battery must be easy to replace and not coded to the vehicle (looking at you, BMW).

All steel framed/unibody cars sold near the coast or in corrosion-prone environments will be galvanized. 

Datsun310Guy said:

And if I were the king of the world

Tell you what I'd do

I'd throw away the cars and the bars and the war

Make sweet love to you

It's a pandemic, man, stay away and keep your hands to yourself. 

If a manufacturer comes out with a new technology that helps get .0001% better gas mileage but cost $xxx ( insert expensive number ) to repair, when said technology breaks, will forever be banned.

Right to repair is no longer a concern as all manufacturers use the same infrastructure and same plugs to communicate with the vehicles, no matter the type of vehicle (on road or off, personal or commercial.)   Infrastructure is open source to allow for faults and hacks (such as VW dieselgate) to be found quickly and updates to be applied easily.

Plug style will only change when data transmission is impaired by the plug design.

Wifi updates are possible, but only when the car is unlocked, Key On Engine Off, at least two doors are open and a physical switch is thrown.

There are some good ones already

1.  All electronic safety devices that change throttle/breaking/steering  can be turned off completely with the push of a button.
2. Cars with only two doors are not allowed to have back seats. 
3. Any lift kit applied to a vehicle that is driven on public roads will require a bumper relocation and headlight adjustment to ensure these items are compliant with the current standards for bumper height and headlight aim points.
4. Vehicles with more than a 6000 pound GVW require a license endorsement. This endorsement will be obtained by driving (without driver aids) for 100 miles in city/highway driving while surrounded by remote controlled Miatas and motorcycles. Causing any of the remotely operated vehicles to have to take evasive action or panic stop is a fail. Hitting any of them results in the loss of ALL your licenses for six months, after which point you have to start the licensing procedure from scratch.

Brett_Murphy (Forum Patrón) said:

There are some good ones already

1.  All electronic safety devices that change throttle/breaking/steering  can be turned off completely with the push of a button.
    

And they can be toggled to remain in the off (unmodified map) position.  You don't have to reset every time you start the car.

All Traction control/stability/etc. must be fully defeatable on cars with a track width > vehicle height.

• If you use metric and standard in the same car we are allowed to take you behind the woodshed and beat you. 
• All bolts will have the size and rating clearly marked on the head. 
• No specialty tools required for basic work.
• IF you buy anything bigger then a half ton truck you need to get a note from your doctor that you are not compensating for something and you really need the size. 

No electric vehicles.

No self driving vehicles.

Death Penalty for driving the speed limit or less in the left lane.

Any truck larger than the standard pickup must stay in the far right lane, no exceptions.

Every other vehicle must stay in the right lane unless the road has 3 lanes or more, in which case they can not travel in the 3rd lane unless actively passing.

Bad drivers, rude driver's, road rage drivers, drivers passing vehicles waiting at an exit and then trying to cut into line at the last second: summary execution on the side of the road and left there as a warning to others.

Have a nice day.

All over-the-air data communications to and from the vehicle shall be able to be permanently disabled by the driver in no more than two operations (button presses, knob turns, etc)

All owners manuals shall be no more than 50 pages in length, and shall be printed in no less than 10 point font. 

All factory shop manuals shall be available for download at no charge. 

Tire aspect ratios shall be no less than 50.

Wheel diameters shall not exceed 17 inches. 

All Toyota exterior design proposals shall be subject to binding review and comment by an appropriate third party organization for a period of at least 5 years. 

This is required of all drivers when an ambulance or fire truck is approaching

No transverse engines. No CVT's. Manual transmission will get a $2000 credit on the purchase price.

Powertrains that last are more important than squeezing out that last 20hp or 3 mpg.

No screens beyond a single DIN radio display, everything shall be a switch, button or knob.

Cupholders shall not interfere with the shifter.

Rust must be covered under warranty for 20 years. Plastic and fiberglass are ok.

Drivers must take a road test every 2 years.

Belt lines shall be low enough to comfortably rest your arm on the door when driving.

True snow tires required in winter for northern areas .

Sounds like the King wants you all off his lawn!

Truck bed rails shall be no taller than armpit height. If a truck cannot be easily loaded from the side without a step ladder, the manufacturer will be fined.

4wd Shall be a shifter on the floor.

I would impose a momentum limit instead of a speed limit.  Momentum = mass * velocity^2.  Suburbans must go much slower than Camrys which in turn are much slower than X1/9s, Alfas, Miatas, etc....and thus must stay in the slow lane.

Also, I would allow properly qualified individuals to have vaporizer guns installed on their vehicles to eliminate Morans on public roadways with no repercussions such as jailtime or lawsuits...

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

Bring back wire wheels, hand crank starting, cut away doors ( MGT series, Lotus 7, Triumph TR3's etc) eliminate tops on 2 seater sports cars, max weight 2000 pounds, on 2 seater sports cars.