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Post by Deleted on Jul 2, 2012 10:29:29 GMT -5
I passed my driver's test and didn't parallel park again until I moved to Florida. I can do just about anything in any vehicle. I just despise parallel parking.
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Post by rscott on Jul 2, 2012 10:31:33 GMT -5
Hatter - If you can drive like this without computer control I might buy into your Luddite notions. Rally speeds jumped and driver and spectator fatalities dropped as a result of traction control.
Traction control seems a little strange at first but after you get used to it, it just feels safe and right.
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Post by The Mad Hatter on Jul 2, 2012 10:37:11 GMT -5
I freely admit to being an analog man trapped in a digital world.
I saw a police chase of a stolen vehicle and some person at a distant keyboard turned the engine off. All I could think of was the potential abuse of such a thing. My distrust of such technology runs very deep, parallel in fact, to my distrust of the government.
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Post by Tofu DeBeast on Jul 2, 2012 10:45:11 GMT -5
As far as anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability roll control, I'll never own another vehicle without them and top heavy vehicles like SUV's need it most. ...... There is no way the average human can out drive a computer It's so efficient at increasing race speeds that most auto sports like NASCAR and Formula 1 prohibit it. In the case of NASCAR it would reduce crashes and hence popularity. In Formula 1 they're worried the team with the best computer would win, not the best driver. The documentary "Senna" has a good bit about this. Overall it is about the Formula 1 driver named Senna, but it has an interesting bit about when traction control and active suspension was first introduced in Formula 1 in '94 I believe it was. Caused quite an upset because the few new cars that had it dominated all the others. Within a year or two they banned traction control and active suspension, which caused another upset, since many of the drivers had gotten used it and the cars started to be designed around it. Lots of accidents the following year because of that.
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Post by rscott on Jul 2, 2012 10:45:42 GMT -5
Hatter - If you don't want them shutting off your car, get one without Bluetooth, WiFi, or satellite but definitely get it with traction control for your own safety and that of others.
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Post by rscott on Jul 2, 2012 10:48:02 GMT -5
@ Tofu - I hope they don't ban my traction control, I'm used to it now and like it.
I just wish mine had active suspension.
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Post by The Mad Hatter on Jul 2, 2012 10:53:40 GMT -5
Hatter - If you don't want them shutting off your car, get one without Bluetooth, WiFi, or satellite but definitely get it with traction control for your own safety and that of others. Hell, I don't even like power windows or seatbelts. The second time the Jeep decided to go into traction control mode and set the brakes, forcing me to pull over and reset the computer I disabled that crap.
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Post by rscott on Jul 2, 2012 11:03:54 GMT -5
Mine has never done anything weird like that, are you sure your system was working properly? I can turn my shit off anytime I like but it turns itself back on again every time I restart.
You talk of distractions, I wonder how many people have crashed cranking a window up and down as opposed to pushing a button?? Especially reaching across the seat to wind the passenger side.
As far as seat belts, I'll never own a vehicle without them but it's always my decision to wear them. I actually prefer the safety and support of the 5 point harness I put in my Mini..
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Post by The Mad Hatter on Jul 2, 2012 11:50:19 GMT -5
The dealer said it was all working fine, and that it had to be in the shop when it was happening, I calmly explained that it would have to be towed to get it there.
See? People can't even figure out what's wrong with a newer car without a computer to tell them anymore.
I wore seatbelts when off roading and going down hills steep enough to make me hang in them. I once dropped the front left tire into a 6 foot deep hole and as the Jeep was teetering back and forth from the front left and right rear tire I was staring at 5 feet of water and trying to get the seatbelt undone so if it went over I wouldn't be trapped in the belt and drown.
If there is no one in the passenger seat and the window is up, it stays up. In good weather the top was always off so it didn't matter so much. I sure miss that vehicle.
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Post by rscott on Jul 2, 2012 16:12:03 GMT -5
For me, disconnecting my traction control because it didn't work once would be just like me disconnecting my brakes because they failed once. If your radio quits, do you throw it out? I'd have made the stoopid lazy feckers fix it. Whoever you talked to was no feck'n mechanic and he'd never work for me. Give me a laptop and Internet access and I'd have figured it out.
As to lap/shoulder seat belts, I think they're dangerous. Why hasn't industry standardized them or improved them? Where is Ralph Nader when he's actually needed? If you're used to Nissan seat beats you'll never figure out Chevy belts in an emergency and visa-versa. Another reason to use a 5 point racing harness is they conform to a single industry standard so not matter who makes them, they function alike. They are much quicker and easier releasing than stock lap/shoulder seat belts under a full load. They are also destined to make them easy for emergency crews to reach in and release them. Some racing requires a tether from the release arm to the outside of the car in case of fire. If I was driving a lot of mountain roads or around water I'd invest in a set for my rig.
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Post by rscott on Jul 2, 2012 22:22:03 GMT -5
Been thinking about seat beats and the support 5 points would give my back during the rough riding job of herding cattle with pickups. Our pickup roundups resemble the Baja 500, a combination of trucks, four wheelers, motorcycles, horses and on foot. I'll think I'll at least get a shoulder harness and a good bucket seat for my ranch truck
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Post by StormInateacup on Jul 3, 2012 0:58:17 GMT -5
This was my high school graduation present. Dad found it in a junk yard, picked it up for a couple hundred and then had it overhauled for me. 1968 11 MG Sedan. Mine was navy blue and they reupholstered the interior to be cream with navy pinstriping. I adored this car. Wasn't synchonized in first, just as easy to take off in second. Would do 60 with a good tail wind. One of those fill up the oil and check the gas kind of cars. I adored this car. Drove it everywhere up and down the east coast. Right before my sophomore year in college, I broke up with my high school boyfriend, he revenged by poking holes in my brake line. Drove this car into the side of a building. When they towed it, both back tires blew almost causing the tow truck to crash. The mechanic said if I had been driving there would have been nothing left. I moved to Florida after that year. Oh she's pretty! I love old English cars. They ooze class and style. I have no patience usually with people who worship objects - cars, boats, fancy houses - but I can see why you'd fall in love with a car like that which spelled your first real taste of freedom and cost fuck all to run and maintain ....and which is so pleasant to look at. My very first car was a 1954 Vauxhall. Three on the tree, push up windows, bakelite dash and a back seat that could easily fit 5 friends across it - with three in the front. Dad bought it off an alcoholic he knew for $500. I sold it to a mechanic when I took off overseas the first time for $950. She paid for my airfare, but I always regretted letting her go. Her name was Veronica.
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Post by StormInateacup on Jul 3, 2012 1:07:06 GMT -5
And I still contend that the answer to escalating emissions problems is not smart cars - it's smart public transport policies.
Obviously people in isolated areas, farmers, commercial travellers and the like will always need their own vehicles. But millions of us could and WOULD do without the hassle and expense of running a car if there were affordable and efficient options available.
In German cities people share cars. Four or five families lease a car together. They use the incredible public transport system to go everywhere local and use the cars for weekend trips over the borders or to far flung corners of their own country.
And they have the best fucking road in the world...but they still choose public transport options for daily use, as they can see it works and makes sense.
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Post by rscott on Jul 3, 2012 5:52:24 GMT -5
You're right, without our big gas guzzling pickups, the world would starve. What irks me are city commuters driving big gas guzzling pickups just because they think they look cool. All you have to do is look at the junk in the pickup bed to see if they're a real farmer/cowboy or just the drug store variety.
I've read there are 2.5 vehicles on the road in the US for every man women and child and less than one per person in the rest of the world.. True some of these are fleet vehicles but how the feck does a child drive two and a half vehicles. I currently own six vehicles, my Mini, an 89 Ford Bronco hunt'n truck, 85 Ford van for HVAC service, 00 Chevy ranch pickup, my Ford Escape and my new 51 Jeep coyote rig. I drive about 10,000 miles a year and 90% of that is done in my most frugal rig, the 25+ MPG Escape. You might think my Mini should be more thrifty but with the high performance engine it gets less than 20 MPG. I know I contribute to all the bad statistics but like I said, "I'm a motor head". My vehicles are more than transportation, they're entertainment and income.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2012 8:42:37 GMT -5
I currently own a 94 Nissan Altima. It has over a 100,000 miles on it. It gets me where I need to go and service is not all that expensive in comparison.
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