New cars are better in every way... ?

New cars are better in every way... ?

  • Newer cars are faster, handle better, are safer...

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Modern cars are all too safe, boring, sanitised. Save for a few supercars, like the Koenigsegg, they're all the same way. Old cars looked better and were more exciting to drive.

One can say that modern cars are certainly more efficient transport machines, they're faster for sure, but that's not not really the point. Motoring as a whole was just better in the past.
 
its gotten to a point where everyone has run out of ideas. nothing nowadays is as shocking as new cars were, say 30 years ago.
 
I want my flying car, damnit! That would impress me.
 
If someone were to ask me if i want a Lancer EVO or a Subaru STI Vs a Ford Escort Cosworth, Id take the Ford hands down, some cars they dont build like they used to

RX-7 v RX-8 id take the RX-7

E30 M3 V E46 M3 Id take both haha.
 
mautzel said:
The imperfection of a modern car is being perfect.
:clap:

And just for the record, I think that nav systems are for pussies. :twisted:
 
That's easy to say BlaRo, and I used to think so as well because I had done all my driving in my home town which had a nice grid system. Now I'm out here in the San Francisco area where no streets are numbered, what appears to be a major road will simply end or will go under the street you need to turn on.

I finally broke down and bought a GPS system for myself and it helps alot. I am capable of navigating with a map of course, but it's hard to do that, drive a clutch in San Francisco, watch for street signs (they don't like them so they don't exist or are hidden behind utility poles) and manage to avoid the crazy divers and suicidal pedestrians. It just makes life so much easier. I will probably chuck it in a cupboard when I move back to Salt Lake but for now I'm so happy to have it.

And it's a goody for the technophile in me.
 
BlaRo said:
And just for the record, I think that nav systems are for pussies. :twisted:

Have you ever had to endure hours of being driven around as a kid by people who didn't know how to use maps?
 
FATMOUSE said:
BlaRo said:
And just for the record, I think that nav systems are for pussies. :twisted:

Have you ever had to endure hours of being driven around as a kid by people who didn't know how to use maps?
Haha, that was my entire childhood. By age 7 I was pulling U-turns like a pro in my dad's lap, because I learned from the best. 8)

As for nav systems, I'm kidding, I'll probably get one myself when I get a car after getting lost over and over and over again on my way to parties and movies and whatnot. Hopefully a TomTom with John Cleese's voice. "Do that funny walking thing you do!"
 
What bothers me most is that IMHO most modern cars seem to be lacking in character and looks. (Not that there weren't soulless POS cars in the past.)

What happened to cars that look as beautiful as this?
Sure you'll see modern cars make some attempt at mimicking it, but it always seems to lack that certain something that'll make your heart beat a bit faster when you see it.
http://img165.imageshack.**/img165/1598/picfetchpic6231tl5.jpg
 
targa_997 said:
Svempa you're a lucky guy with your Delta, I hope it's not too expensive to run. Right after I dropped my brother to pick up his Fiat X 1/9 in a classic car restoration garage, a wonderful red Integrale (probably an Evo) with white OZ rally-styled wheels followed me (in the 325i) at a very very fast rythm. It was really funny how neatly but vigorously he keep my pace while I was struggling to limit the oversteer.
It is rather expenssive now I'm afraid since the conrod bearings broke on a recent trackday. So I'll have to get the engine out and replace them which will cost about 3500$ :(
 
ESPNSTI said:
What bothers me most is that IMHO most modern cars seem to be lacking in character and looks. (Not that there weren't soulless POS cars in the past.)

What happened to cars that look as beautiful as this?
Sure you'll see modern cars make some attempt at mimicking it, but it always seems to lack that certain something that'll make your heart beat a bit faster when you see it.
http://img165.imageshack.**/img165/1598/picfetchpic6231tl5.jpg

Because that shape is outdated now. It's simply been made redundant by smoother shapes with less drag. Supercars nowadays really are about going the fastest, and that particular shape simply won't accommodate for that need.
 
The thing I really like about old cars is that they look cool and are really powerful.

Then again, modern cars look cool, are really powerful, and have airbags. Therefore...
 
West said:
ESPNSTI said:
What bothers me most is that IMHO most modern cars seem to be lacking in character and looks. (Not that there weren't soulless POS cars in the past.)

What happened to cars that look as beautiful as this?
Sure you'll see modern cars make some attempt at mimicking it, but it always seems to lack that certain something that'll make your heart beat a bit faster when you see it.
http://img165.imageshack.**/img165/1598/picfetchpic6231tl5.jpg

Because that shape is outdated now. It's simply been made redundant by smoother shapes with less drag. Supercars nowadays really are about going the fastest, and that particular shape simply won't accommodate for that need.

if they made again a car that looked similar, i don't think many people would care it's a fraction of second slower caus of the little bit less dynamic shapes

i know i wouldn't 8)
 
If Tiff couldn't outperform ABS, I doubt you, or any one of us, could better it. You can also use ABS in really cool ways, such as providing each wheel with a different amount of braking power, using your traction to the fullest. A good example of when this would be useful is when you're forced to the edge of the road to avoid an object, and half of your car leaves the pavement, or when you have to do an emergency stop while one side of your car goes through a pudd

I don't think you need an OFF switch for ABS
How wrong you are... ABS is terrible in winter time with slick roads. You have almost no braking power at all. I'm never more happy than I am in the winter time to have no ABS on my car.
 
I agree with MXM. These are all fine as long as there is an off button. I'd even take an off button for the ABS in case I wanted to do somthing stupid. My old 94 (pictured) had a TC that came in VERY early and COULDN'T be turned off

What really worries me is these new Mercedes fly-by-wire brakes. If there is one thing I want a physical, mechanical connection for, its that. I think Lexus is doing the same thing. Their new line is pretty tech crazy.

Also, in MBs I hate how the off button for the traction control isn't really an off button, whats the point of that? JC pointed that out in the CLS55 video.

I think we're probably going to see the market split between cars to drive and cars in which you are driven. If electronic brakes, ESP, AYC, active steering, multimedia controlers, and adaptive cruise control (new mercedes S-class stuff) become common place it will be tough to make a car which is all things to all people. There will wind up being poor compromises like the BMW M gearbox with 11 settings between smooth and hardcore. Instead they could just offer a high tech automatic and a simple, manual, CSL kind of thing. I'm hopeful though. Ferrari's little knob thing is an elegant solution

The next thing I anticpate is active steering which works with the lane departure warrning system to keep you in your lane. Next they'll tie that to sat nav and the adaptive cruise control, and wham - Hal gets you from point A to point B.

Plus cars seem to be getting better looking today. I think the 80s and 90s were just a lapse as far as designed was concerned. Although I definitely never got why interior materials all became grey plastic and in the box thinking. Its like it followed the evolution of kids toys, from metal and wood with actual corners to a bunch of soft rounded plastic. Even 80s interiors at least made some stabs at originality that are absent today.
 
epp_b said:
If Tiff couldn't outperform ABS, I doubt you, or any one of us, could better it. You can also use ABS in really cool ways, such as providing each wheel with a different amount of braking power, using your traction to the fullest. A good example of when this would be useful is when you're forced to the edge of the road to avoid an object, and half of your car leaves the pavement, or when you have to do an emergency stop while one side of your car goes through a pudd

I don't think you need an OFF switch for ABS
How wrong you are... ABS is terrible in winter time with slick roads. You have almost no braking power at all. I'm never more happy than I am in the winter time to have no ABS on my car.

That is not true for all cars though. Many cars have snow modes now that change how the ABS and traction control work and improve braking in icy conditions.
 
^ Cars that cost a pretty penny. I've never seen snow mode for cars that I can afford.
 
Mischief007 said:
^ Cars that cost a pretty penny. I've never seen snow mode for cars that I can afford.

Most Lexi have them even older ones from the late 90s. Just get some seatcovers because it is a proven fact that factory Lexus seats suck your soul straight out of your ass.

I know GM put a winter or snow driving button on many different vehicles but I think it was more of a second gear start feature.

Modern cars with ABS I have found work ok in the snow. Even a lot of SUVs now have off-road oriented ABS that will work on non-standard surfaces.

Our new Land Rovers have a five setting terrain response system that can adjust everything on the vehicle for different surfaces.
 
I think the 80s and 90s were just a lapse as far as designed was concerned.
Ack!

You can't possibly tell me that this...
Ferrari-Enzo_1-mid.jpg


Looks even half as good as this...
F40.jpg


...or this...
100_0636.jpg

^ THE difinitive sports car look, if you ask me!
 
ESPNSTI said:
What bothers me most is that IMHO most modern cars seem to be lacking in character and looks.

I agree. To get really peculiar cars, you gotta be ready to spend a lot of money. Otherwise you get a plastic econobox with automatic, cruise control, traction control, power windows, ABS, FWD and Air Con. Even a Camry is just a glorified econobox.

I think we suffer from the commoditization of cars. With Japan and Korea and now China producing these cars like they are white goods, and your average consumer not caring about "the hungry rumble of a GM V-8," or the "total oddness of a Saab", even North American manufacturers are now just making white goods.

What ever happened to the days when every auto manufacturer was out there taking risks?

1971-sl280.jpg


52bent01.jpg


pont6401.JPG
 
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