Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

TestECull said:
If someone of my meager skill level can do it I'm sure most people can.
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Some people can't handle cars even with all the electronic wizardry in the world. It's not that hard, no, but some just don't have the knack for it
 
maxtortheone said:
Some people can't handle cars even with all the electronic wizardry in the world. It's not that hard, no, but some just don't have the knack for it
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True. You have a point. But a safe solution could be reached by simply putting those sorts of drivers on a bus, taxi, bicycle, some means of transport where they won't kill themselves or others.
 
CVTs seem highly variable (constantly variable, even, hur hur hur) in their quality. I've driven a few, and while some are reasonably responsive and decent as automatics go (Nissan) others make me think the transmission is broken (Dodge Caliber). So, it's kind of a test drive, see if you can live with it thing.
 
TestECull said:
True. You have a point. But a safe solution could be reached by simply putting those sorts of drivers on a bus, taxi, bicycle, some means of transport where they won't kill themselves or others.
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I agree but unfortunately depending where you live/your income you might not be able to. My friend lives in Gloucester, the only ways getting out of Glouchester is the train or a car because the road out is a highway. The trains in this state basically just go to Boston, so she can only go places in a straight line between Gloucester and Boston or she has to keep switiching trains. If I want to go somewhere with her she either has to take that train to Boston to take another train to my relative direction where she still can't get to my house because there are no trains in my town and the bus that goes to the train only comes when it feels like I STILL have to pick her up. Overall the jumping from train to train costs more than it costs me to drive there and back to pick her up and it's a good 60 or so mile round trip.
If I wanted to use public transport myself I'd be even worse off. I would have to take a taxi to the train station and switch trains at least 3x to get to the city my Uni is in, and I am not even sure that there is a shuttle from the train to the school so I would possibly have to take ANOTHER taxi to school.
 
katwalk said:
I agree but unfortunately depending where you live/your income you might not be able to. My friend lives in Gloucester, the only ways getting out of Glouchester is the train or a car because the road out is a highway. The trains in this state basically just go to Boston, so she can only go places in a straight line between Gloucester and Boston or she has to keep switiching trains. If I want to go somewhere with her she either has to take that train to Boston to take another train to my relative direction where she still can't get to my house because there are no trains in my town and the bus that goes to the train only comes when it feels like I STILL have to pick her up. Overall the jumping from train to train costs more than it costs me to drive there and back to pick her up and it's a good 60 or so mile round trip.
If I wanted to use public transport myself I'd be even worse off. I would have to take a taxi to the train station and switch trains at least 3x to get to the city my Uni is in, and I am not even sure that there is a shuttle from the train to the school so I would possibly have to take ANOTHER taxi to school.
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Where I live taxis don't even come out unless you specifically phone for them.
 
Here too, and they are expensive so not something you want to use regularly.
 
I'd still rather people who can't drive use them. Safer for the rest of us, and it would boost the economy a bit.
 
TestECull said:
True. You have a point. But a safe solution could be reached by simply putting those sorts of drivers on a bus, taxi, bicycle, some means of transport where they won't kill themselves or others.
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I assumed all the people incapable of operating a vehicle were already on a bicycle? sure looks that way to me.....

Btw it's quite easy to kill a pedestrian with a bicyle :p
 
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Spectre said:
The manufacturers sell them with disclaimers saying that they are not responsible for damage resulting from the use of those speed bumps, the purchaser is. So your mom is wrong.
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I thought so... she just knows I'm a bit of a paranoid individual and so she was just probably trying to save me some hassle.

Should I cite any specific possible damage when I write them? Don't worry, I won't quote you on it. :p Just so I have an idea myself what sort of damage is possible, because the only thing I can find online is damage if you hit them at speed.
 
Shawn said:
I thought so... she just knows I'm a bit of a paranoid individual and so she was just probably trying to save me some hassle.

Should I cite any specific possible damage when I write them? Don't worry, I won't quote you on it. :p Just so I have an idea myself what sort of damage is possible, because the only thing I can find online is damage if you hit them at speed.
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Mention front air dams, bumpers, fog lights, shocks, struts, ball joints, control arms, oil pans, bushings, rocker panels and exhausts - all can be damaged by vehicles of legal-in-CA-ground-clearance vehicles going over those giant speedbumps.

I would especially note that such speedbumps are likely to cause $15,000 worth of damage or more to a car like a Ferrari Testarossa even if the driver crawls over the bump. (See the Supercars In France TG ep for an example.) And that in CA's litigious climate, they are very likely to lose any lawsuit brought as a result of this.

By the way, this may also amount to breach of contract with regards to your lease - consult a lawyer about that, then talk to the apartment management about their screwup.
 
Spectre said:
Mention front air dams, bumpers, fog lights, shocks, struts, ball joints, control arms, oil pans, bushings, rocker panels and exhausts - all can be damaged by vehicles of legal-in-CA-ground-clearance vehicles going over those giant speedbumps.

I would especially note that such speedbumps are likely to cause $15,000 worth of damage or more to a car like a Ferrari Testarossa even if the driver crawls over the bump. (See the Supercars In France TG ep for an example.) And that in CA's litigious climate, they are very likely to lose any lawsuit brought as a result of this.

By the way, this may also amount to breach of contract with regards to your lease - consult a lawyer about that, then talk to the apartment management about their screwup.
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:thumbsup:

Thanks, lots of good stuff to go on. Hopefully it won't come to a lawyer, there seems to be plenty of 'car people' here based on the cars in the lot so hopefully they have or will have a bunch of strongly-worded letters/emails on their hands.

Still, I can't help but think if the idiots had just driven at a sensible speed management wouldn't need to take any kind of action, sensible or otherwise.
 
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It should also be mentioned to them that they will be held responsible for any personal injuries, should a motorcyclist attempt to negotiate the speedbumps, fail, and fall off. Hope they like multi-hundred-thousand-dollar lawsuits. :p
 
Barely a month in the US and I'm already getting to know why this is such a litigious place. :mrgreen:

Like I said, there's plenty of even more at-risk cars than mine. A bunch of sports bikes, a few Corvettes that seem hideously low, and a bunch of lowered luxury cars. I'll test the waters first and see what they reply with, I don't want to go in with guns blazing right away. I'm sure the owners of the more at-risk cars are in the same spot as me, it seems like people value and take real good care of their cars down here.
 
So my windscreen washers are hopelessly frozen, and the spray valve for the left headlight isn't even moving back into place after (trying to) spray. Damnit. And even in my garage it won't be warm enough to defrost the thing...
 
We got around 5cm snow today evening, and Stuttgart doesn't seem to have that much equipment for cleaning the roads. That's very nice, while now I had more than two hours of salt free snowy roads to drive with the MX-5 (I'm avoiding salt because I want to keep small surface rust under control).

Continental winter tires from 1997 didn't have much grip, but after managing to drive up a small slope from the garage it didn't matter.Scandinavian flicking into corners and sliding around roundabouts and trying to maximize the angle is incredibly more fun than it should be at 25km/h. :D
 
You bring out equipment to clear 5 cm of snow from roads?

Weird.
 
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