Random Thoughts... [Automotive Edition]

Forgot to post this yesterday due to distractions and general laziness. I was in the pub garden that overlooks a roundabout and petrol station, a place of much bad driving and twattery that entertains us.

See a silver Honda S2000 coming in, riding high on the revs. Maybe still below the power band though. Dude driving is older but has the backwards hat. Rather than heading to a pump he goes into a parking space hot with plenty of revs... and crunches the front bumper on the front kerbstones.

I couldn't actually see any damage when he left, but he was at the front of the car looking at it for five minutes after he arrived and five minutes before he left, he would've at least put big scratches in the lower face of the bumper. Still left like a twat so he apparently didn't learn anything. Feel sorry for the car, it survived 20 years but now has this tool in control and it's likely to be in a ditch before long.
 
Very strange accident in Naples. A college research Polo Tdi burst into flames killing one, badly injured another. There were two cylinders onboard.
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Auto esplosa in Tangenziale a Napoli: il mistero dell’esperimento fallito e il dolore dei familiari di Fulvio, gravissimo al Cardarelli

La famiglia dello studente affida a Facebook un messaggio: «È vittima di un test fallimentare che cambierà per sempre la sua vita e quella della nostra famigli…
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Il Cnr ricorda Maria Vittoria Prati | Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche

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That's not good, they mention hybrid and solar panels so I'd guess hydrogen tanks. Not sure what else they would've been.

It does meant that for a while it was a 6-cylinder Polo, though. :-|
 
Cruise control. Is it too much to ask that the set speed is displayed somewhere? It's one of the few things I find annoying about the MX-5, it's a 2012 car but it just has a light for CC. It was normal in older cars but is it really that hard to have it displayed on the LCD?

@DanRoM - does the ND have a speed display? I've been trying to find out and I haven't got an answer. I was even on the Mazda configurator and wow, what a dismal place that is. You can't get any interesting colours apart from red and I don't like red cars.

Has anyone seen cruise set speed offered on OBDII data? I was looking at a cluster upgrade kit for the NC, it's nice but only offers specific data.
 
Matt2000 said:
Cruise control. Is it too much to ask that the set speed is displayed somewhere? It's one of the few things I find annoying about the MX-5, it's a 2012 car but it just has a light for CC.
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Definitely a feature I appreciate in my 2015 Mazda.
 
DanRoM said:
The ND has a display for the CC speed in the left gauge/display in the instrument cluster.
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Thanks, that was kind of the answer I got but I just couldn’t confirm it. I’d really like that feature.

My Smart didn’t have that but did have a digital speed display, I’d accept that as an alternative and I can probably get that from an OBD display.
 
I have a dilemma, who do I go to if I want something that looks like a Tesla Model 3, has the build quality of a well established automotive brand, and has a center gauge cluster with speedo and battery life, center console or gauge cluster in the center dashboard has HVAC and a small or medium sized display that does not protrude above the dashboard line? But is also full electric with decent range between charges?
 
No idea about anything other that these specific features, but the Kia Niro is from an established brand, has a screen built in to the dash (not sticking up), and is full electric with decent range.

Definitely doesn't look like a 3, though. 🤣
 
Best I could come up with is an Ionic 6 and a hammer. :LOL:

I'd like a BMW i3, if it wasn't a BMW. I have no use for one and I feel like they're more expensive than they need to be, I just appreciate it's quirkiness more than I have done before.

Also it's apparently very difficult to find a decent Bluetooth adapter these days that uses a cable and isn't an FM transmitter. I'm not sure if the transmitter I have is dying but it has a lot more electrical whine that I think it used to, the aux input in the Mazda is right beside the 12V socket so I'd like to try a cabled one. Seems like they're really hard to find. I'm still considering swapping the head unit but they're never quite as good with my mapping software and I don't know where I'd put my phone. If I keep it in my pocket then it falls out and goes behind the seat. :hmm:
 
93Flareside said:
I have a dilemma, who do I go to if I want something that looks like a Tesla Model 3, has the build quality of a well established automotive brand, and has a center gauge cluster with speedo and battery life, center console or gauge cluster in the center dashboard has HVAC and a small or medium sized display that does not protrude above the dashboard line? But is also full electric with decent range between charges?
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It's gonna be something Chinese.
 
Today's one of those days when I wonder if I'm better off getting a newer Japanese wagon to replace the 9-3 and 9-5. Specifically, either an Infiniti EX35 or an Acura TSX wagon.
 
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Labcoatguy said:
Today's one of those days when I wonder if I'm better off getting a newer Japanese wagon to replace the 9-3 and 9-5. Specifically, either an Infiniti EX35 or an Acura TSX wagon.
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Infiniti? No. Acura? Meh, why trade a car with personality for one without?
 
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