Decisions, decisions... car advice...

[westernforce]

What's with all this "miles" talk. Ever hear of the metric system?

 

[0007]

What's with all this "miles" talk. Ever hear of the metric system?

I once had a Beetle when I was in (West) Germany that had a speedo marked in kilometres.
However, it was evidently a Friday-afternoon car because the jokers at the factory had put the steering wheel in on the wrong side. So I had to get rid of it when I returned to UK.

 

[shadowninja]

 

[JTrader]

I know we're supposedly on the verge of a recession, oil prices through the roof, higher taxes etc... but ignoring that...

OR

:?:

My thinking currently: Elise is better on fuel, better handling, more focused fun. Chimaera is heart-achingly beautiful (strong hints of '60s roadster in the design), sounds fantastic, accelerates harder (my previous Chimaera out-accelerated an Elise 111S from standing on a runway to about 130mph (at that point, we ran out of runway)).

Whats the point in a 130mph car when the speed limit is 70mph :?::innocent:
I know you can go to race tracks etc. to drive your car but........if cars like lorries (which i think have) had a mechanism to prevent them going faster than their speed limit ,i think ther'd be a lot less road fatalities. For cars, lets say, the speed CAP was set at 80mph, in excess of 70mph - as there may be times that for safety reasons, on the motorway you need to break the speed limit by 10mph to avoid some kind of incident....

 

[the blades]

Whats the point in a 130mph car when the speed limit is 70mph :?::innocent:
I know you can go to race tracks etc. to drive your car but........if cars like lorries (which i think have) had a mechanism to prevent them going faster than their speed limit ,i think ther'd be a lot less road fatalities. For cars, lets say, the speed CAP was set at 80mph, in excess of 70mph - as there may be times that for safety reasons, on the motorway you need to break the speed limit by 10mph to avoid some kind of incident....

pipe and slippers are in the post:whistling

UTB

 

[JTrader]

pipe and slippers are in the post:whistling

UTB

and what about a 100 weight of hob nobs

I can't even fit in my mates lotus elise at least if you buy something dull like a vectra, you get afforability, cheap and plentiful supply of spare parts, and more car for your money.

I think cars are the biggest gimmick of the industrial age - so much snobbery, status, kudos etc. associated with them, and for what.........I look at cars like SLK320, Boxter etc. and think - for £40k or whateva, you don't get much car do you - give me the Vectra anyday - much more car at a fraction of the price!

I'd rather be in a crash in a vectra, than in a tin-shed like a boxter, SLK.CL320, TVR etc.

 

[shadowninja]

Have you driven the likes of a Boxster or even a TVR? It's fun... and safe (unless you flip the car... which is rare).

It isn't about speed, either. Most Vectras can do 130mph, I would imagine. It's the handling and acceleration: something you can't experience by just arguing the case.

The bottom line is that it is a passion of mine. Maybe you enjoy fishing or golf. I enjoy driving sports cars, playing the piano, climbing and, of course, martial arts. How would you explain that you actually enjoy something like fishing or golf to someone who has only seen what a golf club looks like? They would be concerned that you're launching heavy objects into the air, swinging lumps of metal about dangerously... or even launching heavy lumps of metal into the air if you accidentally let go.

 

[JTrader]

Have you driven the likes of a Boxster or even a TVR? It's fun... and safe (unless you flip the car... which is rare).

It isn't about speed, either. Most Vectras can do 130mph, I would imagine. It's the handling and acceleration: something you can't experience by just arguing the case.

The bottom line is that it is a passion of mine. Maybe you enjoy fishing or golf. I enjoy driving sports cars, playing the piano, climbing and, of course, martial arts. How would you explain that you actually enjoy something like fishing or golf to someone who has only seen what a golf club looks like? They would be concerned that you're launching heavy objects into the air, swinging lumps of metal about dangerously...

I understand what you mean, and i'm not criticisng/judging. If money was absolutely no object, i'd get something flash also in terms of car.

No i haven't driven a sprts car, so can't fully appreciate it.

Just from my perspective, the expense involved, that perhaps could be better spent, would not justify the temporary buzz of driving a dream car.
Like all things material, for me, the novelty soon wears off, and i'm left with a piece of kit that now feels normal, rather than new and revolutionary.

I can get plenty of types of buzzes/highs for free, and without the use of expensive equipment or chemicals. These free and simple pleasures are also the best - for me.

 

[shadowninja]

Firstly, not everyone buys a sports car because they are "flash". As I say, it's an interest of mine. You can tell those who buy a car because it's flash or to prove that they are superior to you: they're the ones who one minute drive a 911 and the next minute have part exchanged the 911 for a Range Rover Sport when they haven't had a change in lifestyle to require a practical off-roader (4x4s being the en vogue vehicle of choice until recently); telling them, "It's a shame you had to get rid of the sports car for such a frumpy, practical family car but it is more sensible for the kids and the shopping..." is a good way of getting them riled.

You're right about novelties. However, if you enjoy doing something whether it is golf or driving, then it will last far beyond the novelty value period. And I can get buzzes/highs for free, too, from climbing or sparring.

 

[JTrader]

Firstly, not everyone buys a sports car because they are "flash". As I say, it's an interest of mine.

You're right about novelties. However, if you enjoy doing something whether it is golf or driving, then it will last far beyond the novelty value period. And I can get buzzes/highs for free, too, from climbing or sparring.

True, and i never said that they were.
However, thinking about it, i would suggest that a decent % of sports car owners are flash gits , who -
1) Their primary reason for buying the car was to look good.
2) They Know little about how the car actually works as a mechanical object under the bonnet etc. and maybe don't even care.

 

[shadowninja]

Yep! (Personally, I do know how it works but rather pay someone to not **** it up. )

 

[strongboes]

Lol, imo I would much much much prefer to have a crash in a lotus than a vectra. I once wrote off an integra type r at well over 100mph, the front alloys actually sheared off and carried on up the road without me! hmm.. can laugh now but i walked without a scratch. Really wouldn't have liked to have been in your standard family run around saloon!

 

[shadowninja]

How?

You didn't do what Clarkson did to his Fiat Coupe did you?

 

[strongboes]

I don't know what he did, I um, err! Well you see the roads where I live are just awesome, and no I don't treat them like a personal race track before anyone has a go! So there is this corner where you go down a 50m, height wise dip, then come straight back up and turn blind over a brow which if your going over 70ish will make your car go light, over 100 then you are a passenger. So during the night I might go over it at 100 no worries really, you just had to set up well before the brow to make sure you were on the exact line you needed so whilst you were light on the road you didn't end up in the stone built pembrokeshire hedge, although even then you would skip sideways as you had to be turning.

Well for some reason after a long drive from Cardiff as the sun was setting, went over the top at 110, sun got in my eyes before the brow, didn't know where i was with regards to the road, or which direction i was going to hit and so was turning too much over the top, obvs span immediately, knocked the hedge down on the other side of the road in 3 places and ended up over 300m up the road on the roof. The only thing i could think about whilst it happened was, ****, no shagging for me tonight,as i had a date lined up!

My mate who lived around 900m from the scene was outside polishing his lotus and heard the crash from there, said it sounded like a bomb going off. I was totally relaxed and unfazed as it happened which helped alot i think, cos when you get scared you hold on tight and thats when you break! So i had a few nightmares about that one a year later but thankfully they didn't last!

 

[shadowninja]

Yoikes! :-0

I've never had such a hairy crash.

 

[JTrader]

How?

You didn't do what Clarkson did to his Fiat Coupe did you?

Top Gear is designed to appeal to yuppies, presented by 3 girly-men type yuppies, who don't know a spanner from a monkey-wrench. They even admit they know little about cars, perhaps thats why they talk nothing but hot air. I just don't quite get it!

Good luck with you car though SN, whatever you choose!

 

[shadowninja]

Top Gear is just entertainment with a car theme. It used to be very geeky and pretty dull.

 

[JTrader]

Top Gear is just entertainment with a car theme. It used to be very geeky and pretty dull.

True.
Actually i quite like it! Thats why i watch the repeats on Dave .

 

[BSD]

Ninja-san, lovely cars both, but I'd probably always go for the newest model on the assumption that that will have the best / safest handling.

I really love Lotus, what I really don't get is why they refuse to put in an electronic stability control in their cars, the gadget that helps prevent under- and oversteering.

"Study Shows ESP Saves Lives

Research conducted by Mercedes Benz has found that the ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) breaking system could prevent up to 500 deaths and 2000 injuries annually on UK roads alone.

The study showed that the amount of single car loss-of-control accidents were reduced by 30% as a result of ESP. ESP was developed by Bosch and is being ordered by manufacturers five times faster than its predecessor, ABS.

Toyota, in its own study, found that ESP reduced accidents by a whopping 50% and reduced the risk of death or serious injury by 35%. A Bosch spokesperson said in a statement: "...I hope to see ESP as a universal fit in the near future."
Study Shows ESP Saves Lives

Maybe if your name is Lewis Hamilton you'll be able to control pretty much any situation that comes up, but then again even those guys crash, so what's the situation like for 99,9% of the rest of all drivers ?

If you want to have fun and race tracks like you do then one should be able to switch the ESP off by all means, but on public, let alone wet roads, I'm totally in favour of making that mandatory.

Another article here says that adding a stability control will add no more than 200 Pounds to a car, money that is well invested seeing as how it can save lives or keep you out of a wheelchair.

ESP could save 380 lives a year | Automotive & Motoring News | Car Magazine Online

I have absolutely no doubts that Lotus would sell way more cars if they dropped their puritan approach.

People may like to think that they have great driving skills, but for most a powerful car with them in the driving seat is not really a perfect match, is it.

Did you know that Jensens were the first car makers who had a version of anti-blocking brakes adapted from a then available version for airplanes, and 4 wheel drive, invaluable like traction / stability control systems for torquey engines in the wet let alone snow etc ?

Jensen Motors - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drop dead gorgeous car that, I always thought.

 

[shadowninja]

Well, you're right; they're right. For most people, ESP is good, but if you learn to drive properly then you don't need such driver's aids.