Topic: Can we talk about vehicles? (Read 37316 times)

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #100 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 04:45 »

Quote from: Barmymoo on 26 Nov 2010, 04:42

[...] hit her head on the window [...]

Questions are no fun if you provide the answer.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #101 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 04:47 »

I have a strong suspicion she concussed herself and forgot all about it... actually I'm not that bad a driver, but I haven't driven for so long that I plan on taking another couple of lessons before I start driving alone.

Lunchbox · « **Reply #102 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 05:08 »

I'd been rallying cars for nearly two years before I went for my driving test. I failed the first time because I was driving an unfamiliar car and didn't go fast enough across a busy road. The instructor screamed at me to go faster. Whoops.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #103 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 07:36 »

Screamed, literally?

so it was also some kind of stress test?

jhocking · « **Reply #104 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 07:38 »

What is the licensing process in the US? I'm sure it's pretty different now from when I got my license, plus I barely remember that anyway. All I really remember is that I'm surprised I passed the driving test because I made a few mistakes. I guess none were bad enough to fail me.

Even though I don't have a car and barely ever drive, I am a very good driver now. It's kinda weird. I'm good at parking because my fiancee is the best parallel parker I know, and I had no trouble with basically the ultimate driving test: I took a UHaul into Manhattan to load it, and then drove it halfway across the country to move to Chicago.

Something Witty · « **Reply #105 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 08:11 »

Some states have implemented a staged license system, but when I got mine all I has to do was take. Ten-question written test(aged 15 yr and 6mo) then come back when I turned 16 to take a practical.

My motorcycle license didn't even require a written, and the test literally consisted of pulling out of the parking lot and making 4 consecutive right turns, going less than 100 meters between them and then parking and going to get the stamp on my license.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #106 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 09:43 »

Yeah, I sneaked in about two months before the requirement went from 25 to 100 or 150 hours or something ridiculous. The 25 hours was hard enough. Fuck that other shit.

Aurjay · « **Reply #107 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 09:45 »

you can get your learners permit at 15. Basically means you have to drive with an adult over the age 25. You also are not allowed to drive at night till you've had your learners for at least 6mths. When you turn 16 you get your regular license by taking a written test and then a driving test. The driving test standards depend on the state. Some parallel park some don't. Never knew getting a license was so hard in other countries especially since it is so easy to get it in the US.

Kugai · « **Reply #108 on:** 26 Nov 2010, 10:12 »

We have a graduated license system here, though that wasn't in place when I gained my license in '84 (Yes, late for me, but circumstances prevented me from getting it till I was in my 20's).

calenlass · « **Reply #109 on:** 27 Nov 2010, 17:04 »

I have often wished that the state of Georgia would require people to go back for a repeat of their practical test every 10 years or so. I know from experience with my friends that people learn stuff for the written exam and then forget all of it entirely, and then actually learn how to drive from people who have not paid any attention to local driving laws in 40 years (or since they moved here from Chicago/Seattle/Brussels/Odessa). Given that Atlanta is the Gateway City to the South, we have enough people coming through from out-of-town who don't know what's legal and what's not without having to worry about the locals, but I have almost been killed a number of times by people who think that being passed means they are saying you are a bad driver or that it's a competition, people turning left from the far right across 5 lanes, etc. I feel like people forget that driving around other people is a privilege and not a right.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #110 on:** 27 Nov 2010, 18:41 »

For some people, there should probably also be night-time restrictions. My grandparents both know that their night sight has gone too far for them to be safe driving after it gets dark, but not everybody is willing to accept their limitations that well.

In Colorado, you have to be 16 for a learner's permit, unless you took driver's ed (in which case 15), or something called "Alive at 25", which is like a shorter driver's ed (in which case 15 and 6 months). You have to be 18 for a full license, unless you have had your permit for a full year and driven 50 hours, at least 10 of which have to be night hours.

And people are still clamoring for an older driving age, as if somehow another year not spent behind the wheel makes you a better driver. My kids (if I ever have any) are going to be learning to drive from the moment they are tall enough to see over the steering wheel. The worst experiences one of my driving teachers had while at the DMV were people from New York, in their 30s but still never having had a license. They almost got him killed repeatedly, and wouldn't listen to instructions as willingly as kids.

Christophe · « **Reply #111 on:** 27 Nov 2010, 18:52 »

My first car was a 1994 Toyota Camry, not unlike this one:

Drove it for a good three to four years, up to when it finally broke down to the point where it wasn't safe to drive (approx. a month ago).

When not polluting the environment, I putted around on one of these:

A Downtube 9-speed Folding Bike. Nifty as all hell!

As of two days ago, I'm rocking this machine:

The guitarist in my band has the same make, model and colour as my Yaris, so I intend to fuck around with him fully, all parking my car next to his in parking lots and what have you.

Kugai · « **Reply #112 on:** 27 Nov 2010, 19:52 »

The first car I ever owned was a Hillman Imp

squawk · « **Reply #113 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 02:36 »

I was super lazy and late at getting my permit, which meant I kinda fucked myself over for getting my license, time-wise. I was older than most of my friends in my grade but also friends with a bunch of older kids so I always got rides from people. Which I felt bad for, usually, just 'cause, that's what I do, but I'm still kinda sad that I didn't get my license as soon as I could have, because fuck me I love driving. I don't get to drive anymore in college. When I'm home I drive a 1999 Acura TL, 3.2 liters... best fucking car ever. No other car drives as well as this one. Well of course there are other cars, but, man, I want to keep this car forever. The newer TLs are too big. I want a Lotus.

pwhodges · « **Reply #114 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 10:57 »

Quote from: Kugai on 27 Nov 2010, 19:52

The first car I ever owned was a Hillman Imp

My second car

Something Witty · « **Reply #115 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 16:15 »

Quote from: squawk on 28 Nov 2010, 02:36

I want a Lotus.

Everyone wants a lotus.

Inlander · « **Reply #116 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 16:43 »

We have lots of locusts in Victoria at the moment if anybody wants one.

Lunchbox · « **Reply #117 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 16:46 »

I hate Lotuses. They sound like bees and they look completely idiotic. Anybody who buys a Lotus is Trying Too Hard.

jwhouk · « **Reply #118 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 16:47 »

I'd rather have something that looks like a Lotus:

If I had the money and the wherewithal, THIS would be my ride. Screw the "it's only got two seats" thing.

Aurjay · « **Reply #119 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 17:35 »

Best thing about that car is that it's electric. 0-60 in 3.7 seconds in an electric car is just fuckin sexy.

jhocking · « **Reply #120 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 18:12 »

Quote from: Inlander on 28 Nov 2010, 16:43

We have lots of locusts in Victoria at the moment if anybody wants one.

Do you mean actual locusts or cicadas? Some people think cicadas are called "locusts," that bothers me.

Inlander · « **Reply #121 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 18:14 »

That's dumb, they're completely different creatures!

http://www.abc.net.au/rural/locusts/

To tie it back to vehicles, we've got public safety announcements on the TV at the moment advising people about what to do if they're driving through a rural area and find themselves in the middle of a locust swarm.

Something Witty · « **Reply #122 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 20:31 »

Quote from: Lunchbox on 28 Nov 2010, 16:46

I hate Lotuses. They sound like bees and they look completely idiotic. Anybody who buys a Lotus is Trying Too Hard.

My car is a mazda and it sounds like bees.

I can see your point though, I'd still love to have an Elise. In some horribly flashy red, to boot. Because I don't care if you judge me about my car, as long as I like my car.

Nodaisho · « **Reply #123 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 22:39 »

Quote from: Aurjay on 28 Nov 2010, 17:35

Best thing about that car is that it's electric. 0-60 in 3.7 seconds in an electric car is just fuckin sexy.

Yeah, it is. I would say that it also would be a great car to drive in windy or wet conditions. That extra weight at the bottom would keep it well anchored. I drove my grandmother's hybrid civic in the rain once. I was doing 80 in hard rain on a road that is windy for a flatland highway and didn't feel the slightest shimmy, even enough for the traction control to have come on.

Although if someone were to be concerned about the environment, and were to live in one of the more polluted parts of the world, they might want to get a gas-powered car. Some higher performance gas cars are so efficient now that they will reliably put out cleaner air than they took in unless you are in the middle of the sahara or some other equally-clean place. That also would happen accidentally with some older cars, just as a fluke of luck with how it was set up, but there is a porsche (I forget which one) that does that reliably.

Something Witty · « **Reply #124 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 22:48 »

The only problem with the tesla is that the 1500-or-so laptop batteries in it's belly kill it's performance in the corners, the range also goes to squat if you drive it fast. Then you have to spend FOREVER charging it back up so you can drive 2/3rds of the advertised charge mileage.

What people need to do is push for the Honda Clarity to make it to the mass market, because it's all the glory of a gas/electric hybrid except it produces water clean enough to drink as it's exhaust. right now it's only available in California.

pwhodges · « **Reply #125 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 01:28 »

Quote from: Something Witty on 28 Nov 2010, 20:31

I'd still love to have an Elise.

For a moment I thought that people were talking about a real Lotus:

Jimmy the Squid · « **Reply #126 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 05:05 »

Quote from: Something Witty on 28 Nov 2010, 22:48

What people need to do is push for the Honda Clarity to make it to the mass market, because it's all the glory of a gas/electric hybrid except it produces water clean enough to drink as it's exhaust. right now it's only available in California.

This is easily the best thing I've ever seen (today).

Barmymoo · « **Reply #127 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 05:46 »

When we were in Cornwall, the day the orchestra arrived a Lotus was parked in the car park. There was a big group of us peering out of the windows at it and wondering who it could possibly belong to - surely none of the students in the cast or orchestra, and certainly not any of the elderly women who came in each day to pick up their newspapers? Later that afternoon I was hiding behind the doorframe with a friend, watching as someone got something out of the miniscule boot... and as he turned round we realised it was the quiet, middle-aged man who was inexplicably playing in the orchestra and made the girls uncomfortable because he stared at them all the time. He was the most incongruous person to own a fancy sports car, it was really odd (and rather impracticable in the treacherously narrow and winding Cornish roads).

Verergoca · « **Reply #128 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 13:57 »

Well, today the first snow fell... Today is also the day i ordered winter tyres for my carmobile. We'll see how things go when i head out to work tomorrow...

celticgeek · « **Reply #129 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 14:34 »

My vehicle:

edwinalink · « **Reply #130 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 16:44 »

Quote from: Jimmy the Squid on 29 Nov 2010, 05:05

Quote from: Something Witty on 28 Nov 2010, 22:48
What people need to do is push for the Honda Clarity to make it to the mass market, because it's all the glory of a gas/electric hybrid except it produces water clean enough to drink as it's exhaust. right now it's only available in California.

This is easily the best thing I've ever seen (today).

wow... so basically most of America's problems are solved, but we can't buy it?

squawk · « **Reply #131 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 16:57 »

I just want a lotus because i want a little green froggy car.

edwinalink · « **Reply #132 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 17:35 »

My dream ride.

My ride

Nodaisho · « **Reply #133 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 17:59 »

Quote from: edwinalink on 29 Nov 2010, 16:44

Quote from: Jimmy the Squid on 29 Nov 2010, 05:05
Quote from: Something Witty on 28 Nov 2010, 22:48
What people need to do is push for the Honda Clarity to make it to the mass market, because it's all the glory of a gas/electric hybrid except it produces water clean enough to drink as it's exhaust. right now it's only available in California.

This is easily the best thing I've ever seen (today).

wow... so basically most of America's problems are solved, but we can't buy it?

Think of it more like the problem can be solved, but they designed the faceplate for the device that fixes it first. And then they started showing it off in order to get people in on the idea so they build the rest of it. A car is useless if you can't get anywhere to fuel it.

Kugai · « **Reply #134 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 21:29 »

Dream of owning a Bowler Wildcat

edwinalink · « **Reply #135 on:** 29 Nov 2010, 22:22 »

Quote from: Kugai on 29 Nov 2010, 21:29

Dream of owning a Bowler Wildcat

there's an Obscure 4x4, so flipping sexy...

the nemesis seems to be their big deal currently.

ibrahimdelil · « **Reply #136 on:** 30 Nov 2010, 05:07 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 29 Nov 2010, 01:28

For a moment I thought that people were talking about a real Lotus:

this

A Wet Helmet · « **Reply #137 on:** 30 Nov 2010, 05:53 »

My favorite vehicle that I've ever owned was one of these . Although this one wasn't mine, except that I had bucket seats (lifted out of a late 60s bronco) instead of the bench, mine looked about the same. It was tough as nails and would go anywhere. I once got rear-ended in that thing by a bright yellow Porsche 944. It totaled the Porsche, I sprayed some primer on my bumper so you couldn't see the yellow paint anymore. Done.

Other interesting vehicles I've owned: '56 Bel Aire. 64 1/2 Mustang. 66 Mustang GT convertible. In the not-cool-but-kinda-unusual category I had a 69 Toyota Corona and a Chevy Caprice that looked exactly like the ones the DC snipers were using. Oooh! I also owned a lowrider for awhile. That was an 82 S-10 that was freaking slammed. The hilarity of me driving that thing was the whole reason I had it. Me and a friend did a low rider cruise in Virginia Beach in it. Everybody was thumping bass, I was blasting the Bad Brains. It certainly drew stares. Currently I have a 71 Chevelle sitting in my driveway that I either need to sell or drive once in a while because it's really just going to waste.

Growing up my dad was into the British cars. We had a 51 MG TD, several MG Bs, and a Triumph Spitfire.

Something Witty · « **Reply #138 on:** 30 Nov 2010, 09:51 »

I'm not saying I don't want a Lotus 7, I'm just being a realist.

Also the Honda Clarity works in cali because there are at least a few hydrogen fuel stations scattered around, James May covered it on an episode of Top Gear, They're not on every corner or anything, but they exist, but only in California, which is why the car is only for sale there.

jhocking · « **Reply #139 on:** 01 Dec 2010, 07:05 »

Quote from: Nodaisho on 27 Nov 2010, 18:41

The worst experiences one of my driving teachers had while at the DMV were people from New York, in their 30s but still never having had a license. They almost got him killed repeatedly, and wouldn't listen to instructions as willingly as kids.

Teaching adults sucks, many people get offended at any suggestion that they don't already know everything. Usually they don't really want to learn anything, they're just taking the class as a formality.

Kugai · « **Reply #140 on:** 01 Dec 2010, 17:19 »

I have owned in order;

Hillman Imp
1962 Ford Anglia (Which made me laugh as I was born in '62)
Daihatsu Charade Hatch - (late eighties model)
Nissan Bluebird Wagon (Can't remember the model year)
1990 Nissan Largo Van

calenlass · « **Reply #141 on:** 03 Dec 2010, 01:27 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 29 Nov 2010, 01:28

For a moment I thought that people were talking about a real Lotus:

My great uncle used to race these when he lived in Yorkshire (I think? He is really vague about where he lived, actually).

Runs_With_Scissors · « **Reply #142 on:** 04 Dec 2010, 19:51 »

Quote from: Nodaisho on 24 Nov 2010, 18:08

I expect Hartley uses her truck, and most people that have posted cars or trucks in here use theirs. Not everybody lives someplace where you can walk everywhere, or ride a bus everywhere. Or bike, I like to ride my bike, but doing the ride to school every day is a bit much in the late spring and early fall, and downright dangerous to impossible in the winter.

I could take the bus. But after seeing one flipped on it's side in a ditch after a snow storm...yeah Alaska and busses don't mix really super well. Same with most small cars. Especially Smart Cars. There's a guy who was driving his smart car around today after we got a few inches of snow last night. Hilarious.

Verergoca · « **Reply #143 on:** 05 Dec 2010, 00:38 »

Whoo, i have gotten my winter tyres, on the day it started snowing again! Plowing through epic (for dutch measures, alaskans would just laugh at me) snowbanks without problems = win.

Kugai · « **Reply #144 on:** 05 Dec 2010, 18:56 »

Quote from: edwinalink on 29 Nov 2010, 22:22

Quote from: Kugai on 29 Nov 2010, 21:29
Dream of owning a Bowler Wildcat

there's an Obscure 4x4, so flipping sexy...

the nemesis seems to be their big deal currently.

One has to admire any vehicle that can get Richard Hammond to yell "I AM A DRIVING GOD!!!" on camera.

edwinalink · « **Reply #145 on:** 05 Dec 2010, 23:40 »

Quote from: Kugai on 05 Dec 2010, 18:56

Quote from: edwinalink on 29 Nov 2010, 22:22
Quote from: Kugai on 29 Nov 2010, 21:29
Dream of owning a Bowler Wildcat

there's an Obscure 4x4, so flipping sexy...

the nemesis seems to be their big deal currently.

One has to admire any vehicle that can get Richard Hammond to yell "I AM A DRIVING GOD!!!" on camera.

And in that Vehicle. he very nearly was.

Kugai · « **Reply #146 on:** 06 Dec 2010, 21:33 »

No, it was the jet powered rail dragster that nearly killed him.

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Author Topic: Can we talk about vehicles? (Read 37316 times)