Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

ONE dollar per I’m assuming vehicle? Come on.
 
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Do understand the point of the chalk.
When the parking enforcement makes their round the tire position of multiple tires is marked with chalk and documented. Once the parking enforcement makes their next round they can spot cars which were parked there before since there are markings and those markings are at the same positions. If the car and therefore the markings had been moved between the rounds then it's not a parking violation.

I guess the issue is that the first chalking has been made within the time limit so it puts everyone under general suspicion as in "they might violate the time limit in the future" which would be unconstitutional.
 

And here I thought it was only tesla being super negligent in regard to their beta testing autonomous driving features out in the wild :| weren't the established brands supposed to be handling this better?
 
Well, to be fair, I was exaggerating to make a point. there's lurid reports every time about another "autopilot crash" by a tesla vehicle, despite the fact that the system is also classified as level 2 - exactly the same as the BMW here... the whole report is frankly garbage, because they clarify that the car is only marked as a test vehicle, because it's recording its surroundings. nothing to do with the driver aids - but still the headline and teaser are of course written in a way to suggest exactly that. as constantly happens with tesla crashes. at least they're now treating everyone equal with their bullshit.
 
Well, to be fair, I was exaggerating to make a point. there's lurid reports every time about another "autopilot crash" by a tesla vehicle, despite the fact that the system is also classified as level 2 - exactly the same as the BMW here... the whole report is frankly garbage, because they clarify that the car is only marked as a test vehicle, because it's recording its surroundings. nothing to do with the driver aids - but still the headline and teaser are of course written in a way to suggest exactly that. as constantly happens with tesla crashes. at least they're now treating everyone equal with their bullshit.
Big thing about why Tesla gets ragged on is that their marketing actively pretends their level 2 (MAYBE we can call FSD beta level 3 if we're implausibly generous) system is level 5.

Really. Just change the words. Call it Autopilot xTREME or some shit. Don't pretend it's fucking magic.
 
The restrictions don't seem too awful for a historic car event. The Festival of the Unexceptional had a pre-1998 restriction, 1995 and 1993 seem common years here and that sounds fair. Some turd still parked a 2021 Maserati supercar on field at FotU, an unfortunate result of modern cars having to go through the show area.

The selection of modern EVs with no Korean cars or Ford is interesting, as is allowing any French car. Allowing Porsche up to 2003 seems too generous to me.
 
The restrictions don't seem too awful for a historic car event. The Festival of the Unexceptional had a pre-1998 restriction, 1995 and 1993 seem common years here and that sounds fair. Some turd still parked a 2021 Maserati supercar on field at FotU, an unfortunate result of modern cars having to go through the show area.

The selection of modern EVs with no Korean cars or Ford is interesting, as is allowing any French car. Allowing Porsche up to 2003 seems too generous to me.
That's the thing, this didn't used to be a historic car event, just a celebratory one. Now it's become some combination of Radwood and a typical classic show.
 
Yeah, it makes me want to bring in something compliant but idiotic like an Alfa Romeo Arna. In any case I've submitted the XJR for entry, and they'd better be flexible on their "pre-1995" requirement given it's a 1995.
 
Had a supercharger manufacturer here testing two of their C8 Corvette test mules.

The cars will not do a burnout. If you put the brake and gas on at the same time it goes into limp mode. One of the engineers claimed this was not the case when they first got the cars. He's blaming over the air updates. He also blamed that for both cars shutting down on the highway before.

Anyone heard of this before (besides Tesla)?
 
Had a supercharger manufacturer here testing two of their C8 Corvette test mules.

The cars will not do a burnout. If you put the brake and gas on at the same time it goes into limp mode. One of the engineers claimed this was not the case when they first got the cars. He's blaming over the air updates. He also blamed that for both cars shutting down on the highway before.

Anyone heard of this before (besides Tesla)?


There are other companies/cars that use OTA updates but, most are EVs, or it is for things like the infotainment system.
 
AIUI under current FMVSS the brakes need to be able to hold the car against having the throttle pedal mashed to the floor (thanks, Toyota floor mats!) and a common way to implement that is just to have the computer cut throttle on braking.

At a guess, at some point they applied a tune to the car (you know, for the supercharger) that was based on a later factory tune than the cars originally came with which adds that failsafe.

Unless the car is actually throwing a code and *really* going into limp in which case their maps are probably screwed up.


If the C8 in fact can receive OTA ECU updates, I'd expect an aftermarket induction manufacturer to be *DEEPLY* aware of it and working non-stop to disable that because having somebody's custom tune wiped with a factory one is *very* bad.
 
So the great German summer driving subsidy in the form of a lowered tax on fuel is going to end at the end of the month - and that will result in petrol prices rising by about €0.35 and Diesel by about €0.16 per litre.
Result: People fill up. At least the ones who pay for their fuel themselves. So did I, for €1.689 per litre E10. And it was the first time in ages that I actually had to wait for a free fuel pump - but the station layout was - and that's rare - so that no one was blocking anyone else.
The person in the shop manned both registers simultaniously to work through the customers faster. :D
 
I managed to fill up for €1,999 recently with a loyalty card that knocked a couple of cents off the list price. It’s 15ct more than that now and annoyingly, diesel isn’t cheaper right now.
 
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