This, so much. True, a couple of good things have come of it, like the US finally getting the Focus RS and the rest of the world finally getting the Mustang (and, I might add, they seem to like it a lot despite the loss of 25 HP in RHD countries), but the rest is weaksauce. It's a good idea in theory, but in practice the result is that everywhere gets everywhere else's (well, mostly Europe's) horrible, terrible, no good, very bad, adrenaline antidote soul-crush-mobiles. And then, on top of everything, you have the usual "version 1.0" aspirin consumption spikes as the old standbys that have grown long in the tooth precisely because they've been proven perfectly adequate for their intended roles get replaced or augmented by things that are newer, more complicated, and quite possibly less capable, less durable, and less reliable. Astute students of history may notice that this is pretty much the same thing that happened back in the 1970s and 1980s when OPEC threw a hissy fit and Congress went OH NO WE MIGHT RUN OUT OF OIL AND THERE'S POLLUTION CARS HAVE TO BE MORE EFFICIENT AND EMIT LESS STUFF NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW and the manufacturers had to re-engineer/bandage everything on very short notice. It's not as bad now, because our technical capabilities are better than they were back then, but I'm not yet ready to rule out another round of automotive dark ages as the fuel economy and emissions regulations become truly absurd over the next few years - and I'm not entirely confident that we'll recover from the next one like we did the last one, what with the dark forces of electrification and autonomization lurking around every corner.
i always think the car manufacturers went to the politicians to complain about the co2 emmissions regulation restrictions and the politicians said what to do then and the car manufacturers said we have have a thing that never worked well and never will its called electronic cars. Allright well be doing that then! Now we have electric cars wich emit more co2 than a normal v8 car
yeah, and then the next generations of people will think that internal combustion engines were horrific and electricity is the way to go --- Post updated --- there is being cautious and being worried, say if i know that a particular corner can be iced up due to water pouring down from up a hill then i will slow down just in case (black ice) but i don't go at it full speed limit, since the car might slide off the road. But if there is that one person that slows down to 20mph (on a 30/40mph) road in summer then there is no point, the car is perfectly able to go round the corner, but the old person behind the wheel doesn't know. I would be worried about crashing into something say if i was in a parking lot that was very tight then i would be wary of other cars, but out on a highway there is no point just sitting there. --- Post updated --- there is being cautious and being worried, say if i know that a particular corner can be iced up due to water pouring down from up a hill then i will slow down just in case (black ice) but i don't go at it full speed limit, since the car might slide off the road. But if there is that one person that slows down to 20mph (on a 30/40mph) road then i agree, thats why i do like this S.L.Y.D.E thing, where under 17s go in cars and drive around an assault corse, with a small theory lesson in the beginning, (simple questions like On a long descent do you? A.Brake B.Use Engine braking and brake C.Use Engine braking and avoid the brakes) and its easy since you just pick the simplest one. But with SLYDE you do have to do the normal practises (such as the weird wheel shuffling) that i just can't get my head around (like what if you suddenly need to turn faster, you can't since you are busy shuffling a wheel around), also i was shifting early (into 2nd at 7-10 mph [diesel hatchback]) and i did keep putting the clutch down to slow down (and brakes of course) but i was told that i need to go through all the gears (eg. 15mph in 2nd to slow down go on the brakes until the idle of 2nd takes its toll -5mph- then go to 1st and then slow down till the idle then put the clutch down. Not just put the clutch down at 2nd and use the brakes) imo i would be a better driver if i didn't conform to the specifications, wheel shuffling is weird and unnatural (and i haven't seen an experienced driver ever do it) and no coasting is a bit weird below 20mph! But i guess i am only 14...
That's part of what I was getting at. So few of this generation have a genuine interest in driving for its own sake that if the incoming CAFE regulations cause another regression to pathetic <200 HP "performance" cars, it'll probably be a one way ticket to a future full of Shiny Happy Googlepods. Just as an example, take one of my fellow cashiers at CrazyBurger. She's about a couple years younger than me, so probably about 19, and she's definitely cute, but... she wants a new Kia Soul that she'll absolutely have to go into debt for, just because it has comfortable seats, and she looked at me funny when I suggested she could get a very nice condition gen-4 Camaro with that kind of money (and since I underestimated the cost of the Soul, it would actually be more like half that much money). That's just one example of what we're up against - call it "speed apathy". Young people, the traditional source of adrenalin addicts among the car-buying public, have by and large been convinced that comfort, technology, and fuel economy are the most important aspects of a car and that they don't need to have a car at all if there are adequate public transportation alternatives. If car culture is to survive in this country, the most important thing is to get to people around my age and younger and get them hooked on the wonders of motorized personal transportation. The internet may have done some good things for car culture, but it's also done some bad and it may, in the end, completely kill it by making it so that youths no longer need to wander as far as they once did to find their fun - and I'm as bad about this as anyone.
there is being cautious and being worried, say if i know that a particular corner can be iced up due to water pouring down from up a hill then i will slow down just in case (black ice) but i don't go at it full speed limit, since the car might slide off the road. But if there is that one person that slows down to 20mph (on a 30/40mph) road then i agree, thats why i do like this S.L.Y.D.E thing, where under 17s go in cars and drive around an assault corse, with a small theory lesson in the beginning, (simple questions like On a long descent do you? A.Brake B.Use Engine braking and brake C.Use Engine braking and avoid the brakes) and its easy since you just pick the simplest one. But with SLYDE you do have to do the normal practises (such as the weird wheel shuffling) that i just can't get my head around (like what if you suddenly need to turn faster, you can't since you are busy shuffling a wheel around), also i was shifting early (into 2nd at 7-10 mph [diesel hatchback]) and i did keep putting the clutch down to slow down (and brakes of course) but i was told that i need to go through all the gears (eg. 15mph in 2nd to slow down go on the brakes until the idle of 2nd takes its toll -5mph- then go to 1st and then slow down till the idle then put the clutch down. Not just put the clutch down at 2nd and use the brakes) imo i would be a better driver if i didn't conform to the spec yeah, if you are one of those people (comfort technology) then you may as well get an electric car, it fits the needs, but you are right in <200hp cars, they will reduce the weight but the weight will go up again due to Satnavs and other electronics
your an alarmist. More and more people are into cars every year and electric cars have nothing to do with that. Electric cars make for fine appliance like transport, everyone needs to stop being so xenophobic. Unless you live in California, you have NO right to complain that emissions laws hampers your ability to be a "car enthusiast". No one stops us from driving our shit boxes around so life is good. I'm running a diy test pipe for Christs sake. Being a "car enthusiast" is about more than complaining about laws. You don't like them? Do what I do and break them.
There's a good reason for the electric car hype train now anyway. We've got oil for about 50 years max. Run out of oil and boom, bye bye combustion cars. If we wait until we run out of oil then we're fucked, we're best setting up infrastructure now and starting to transition off of the oil in advance of running out.
its true, combustion engines cant stay forever, and they are too inefficient, they should focus on making power stations better and more efficient
Ethanol has its own issue. It's a renewable yes. But how is it made? It's usually manufactured from grown crop. We don't have the space to produce enough crop for ethanol production ontop of crop for food.
Never thought I'd see the day when a Korean company makes better muscle cars than most american companies.
Electric cars can be fun too. Plus, it's probably for the best that most people switch to things such as electric cars if you want there to be enough fuel for combustion cars to live long into the future as a hobby. Although to be fair I imagine that combustion engines will likely be more classic motorsports oriented by that time. On the Kia topic, I am looking forward to the stinger, it looks good and will likely be fairly cheap for what it is since it's a Kia. If it comes with the Kia 7 year warranty that would also be pretty nice too.
Don't forget all the people who are overly concerned about safety... and part of it is that now days with cameras everywhere you can't really make use of a powerful car. That said I am guilty of being convinced that comfort is the most important aspect of a car and fuel economy is of a slight concern to me(that said the car I'm planning on getting has an estimated economy of 11MPG so I have reason to be especially when I know I'm probably going to be working for minimum wage/near minimum wage for the rest of my life). I honestly feel like it would just be depressing to drive a high powered sports car down an empty road that nobody uses at 5mph below the speed limit for fear of getting a ticket from an automated system. Back in the 70's a road like that would be a great place to drive once you drive past it once to make sure there aren't any hidden cops, now days even if you did scout out the area thoroughly you'd still probably miss some cameras that have been camouflaged(I admit I have never heard of a camouflaged speed camera but I'm sure they almost certainly exist, especially with how small they could probably make them now days).
Well surprisingly some people don't want to die in a car crash (most likely caused by someone in a Saxo who thinks they are Ayrton Senna), so I would say their concerns are valid. Plus for me the systems that are put in place to make cars safe are just as interesting as the things done to improve performance. Since they require just as much engineering and skill to develop. The majority of people are buying cars to get from point A to point B. So comfort would of course be more important than speed for them. Fuel economy too, since they likely have their own hobbies and aspirations that they would like to spend their money on, as opposed to spending everything they earn on fuel. The reality is that markets act according to their customers and laws, the customers want more practical cars for commuting in, the laws want less harmful emissions (which considering you can still get cars with more power than the tyres could hope to put down is not the major driving force in more low power cars being on market). Even in the UK which is speed camera central you don't find them on country roads, the thing with speed cameras is that they cost money to install, its not worth the price to install and operate one on a stretch of road that barely anyone uses. Hence why you only tend to find them on busy roads, motorways and urban areas. Can't speak for other countries but I think in the UK all speed camera's are painted in bright yellow. Since they are mostly used as a deterrent to prevent people from speeding. Maybe the laws on speed cameras have changed since I haven't kept up to date on that for a while.
A lot of people are strapped for cash too, and gas isn't as cheap everywhere as it is in the US. I could never even consider owning a car that got less than 30mpg. I don't think the car industry's getting worse; in fact, I'm excited about new cars for the first time in my life. As for self-driving cars, I'll be astonished if they become mandatory within the century. The government could never get away with doing that without buying out all existing non-autonomous vehicles, and they're not going to do that unless it becomes affordable and, more importantly, they have a reason to. The only reason I can think of would be in a situation like at 3:45 of this video, who's system would require significant and costly changes to infrastructure of the type that would have to take place all at once. There is no way to gradually go from the current system to that one, similarly to how you can't gradually switch from driving on the left to the right. It's just not going to happen any time soon.
I want your guys' opinion on car mirrors from the 1960's. I feel like they are unsafe in short, but clean because of their simplicity.
