The Car Thread ... !

[quagmire]

Terrific post.

It doesn't even matter about the value involved either, a guy with a P90 in SF at the company where I was working abused the hell out of it, at one point he tossed a big heavy tripod right on (not _in_) the trunk, didn't even blink.

That being said, you also have to have some perspective: I see exotics parked at the curb in NYC, because, well, it's a car, and the owner (presumably) enjoys owning and driving it and that requires using it like a car, that involves parking, driving in inclement weather, scraping curbs, getting scratches in the paint.

Honestly, if you can't handle that in some capacity, just buy something you won't worry about.

I can handle damage due to to the fact I am out on the road or if I mess up and cause any damage. It's the people that don't care/lack apathy( true better word than not respecting) about another persons car that piss me off. Why do people feel like they need to park next to my car when there are plenty of other spaces around me when I park in the middle of no where. Though I know people who feel the same way as I do will do that in order to protect both of our vehicles. But that is still a minority....

I know when I get the Camaro it will get scratches, etc. I know it will get salt on it because I will be driving it in the snow( I am not the type of person to spend $40K+ on a car just to park it 5 months out of the year, though do wish I could have a 2nd vehicle just when it does snow). It's the people who damage my car and don't give a **** about doing it that irk me.

 

[D.T.]

Yeah, we already covered that
[doublepost=1477143079][/doublepost]Out of a kind of semi-random curiosity, and feel free to simply ignore this inquiry, how old are you?

 

[determined09]

It's not about not respecting others property, it's simply apathy. Actually disrespecting someone's car would mean they key'd your car on purpose or slammed their door into yours on purpose. Some people view a car as a utility and neglect their car. Ironically, these are the same people who long for a Model S and think it's the best thing since sliced bread. The same people who've never driven, been driven in, sat in or seen a Model S up close. Just about every S I've seen up close has build quality issues you wouldn't see on a Euro spec commuter MBZ or BMW with cloth seats and basic everything running a tiny engine. Mind you these are the same people who'll blindly state the Model S beats all exotics based on its immediate launch performance while ignoring what happens halfway down the strip or that it's better than an S Class. I took more issue with a reviewer who said it's as luxurious as a Rolls Royce. I made the mistake of listening to a sat radio show today where host and guest were barking about the Model S for 2 hours.

Great post thanks for clearing that up!

Edited to Add:

Oh WOW! I would have thought that MBZ would have better quality control than that. That's not good.

 

[D.T.]

YES!! WoooOoo! Now **this** is some convertible weather

 

[quagmire]

Yeah, we already covered that
[doublepost=1477143079][/doublepost]Out of a kind of semi-random curiosity, and feel free to simply ignore this inquiry, how old are you?

I'm 26, almost 27.

 

[D.T.]

I'm 26, almost 27.

I guessed mid-later 20s, like 25-29, I guess I guessed right I was just curious, as I was thinking about my own perspective of car ownership, especially my first "big purchase" from when I was your age, it reminded me of myself.

Plus now when I refer to you as a youngin' it will feel appropriate

 

[bunnspecial]

I was behind a guy that had just purchased a Toyota Corolla recently, when I was going into a parking garage on a steep incline and I was a few feet behind him waiting for him to pull up to the garage arm and enter that garage.

Your problem is pulling up so close behind another car that there's room for this to happen.

Back off to a reasonable distance and you don't have to worry about it.

I can't tell you how much people being on my rear end at a stop is, especially when I'm driving a manual and am on a steep hill.

Back off and you won't have to worry about your precious new Lexus or anything else.

 

[0388631]

Great post thanks for clearing that up!

Edited to Add:

Oh WOW! I would have thought that MBZ would have better quality control than that. That's not good.

What? I think you misread. By S I meant the Tesla Model S, not the S Class. The Model S and its variants have build quality issues that aren't seen with a very cheap econo German commuter car or dare I say a Corolla.
[doublepost=1477172906][/doublepost]

Honestly, if you can't handle that in some capacity, just buy something you won't worry about.

I've always wanted a jetpack.

 

[D.T.]

I can't tell you how much people being on my rear end at a stop is, especially when I'm driving a manual and am on a steep hill.

I always give someone on a hill/incline +extra+ space for manual tranny buffer

My GT on steep inclines holds the brakes, so you can operate the clutch without worrying about rolling backwards (we only have like two places around town where it's needed, but wow, having driven manuals without it, very helpful).

I've always wanted a jetpack.

I had one, but people kept parking their jetpacks too close to mine, so I wound up selling it.

 

[0388631]

You lost me. Is it a Mustang joke?

 

[bunnspecial]

I always give someone on a hill/incline +extra+ space for manual tranny buffer

My GT on steep inclines holds the brakes, so you can operate the clutch without worrying about rolling backwards (we only have like two places around town where it's needed, but wow, having driven manuals without it, very helpful).

Unfortunately, one of the worst places I run into the problem is on a very steep hill(coming out of an underpass) at work. It doesn't help when your work place has 20,000 people in the 18-22 y/o range who think that going 40 in a 25 zone(with a whole heck of a lot of pedestrian traffic) is going way too slow. Fortunately, most of them-by their junior year-at least realize that going a consistent 35mph on the surface streets going to and from campus usually saves you stopping at stoplights.

With the hill situation, though, I have a pretty good grasp of how to prevent rollback using the clutch and gas only at least with the main manual car I drive(of course, an unfamiliar car does require some re-adjustment). I can generally "catch" the car with the clutch without it rolling provided that the engine is behaving itself . With that said, I'm also not above a little bit of controlled roll-back if someone is consistently getting a bit too close.

I've driven a couple of recent manual cars that had a hill hold feature-I have to say it's a nice feature and I'd guess probably also saves a lot of wear and tear on the clutch. With that said, I think that parking and any other reverse operations probably wear the clutch more than anything. It also alleviates some of the learning curve with an unfamiliar car.

Heck, I managed to stall the MG a few times after putting a new clutch a few weeks back. My old one probably had 20K or better miles left on it(I still have it) but didn't know that until the transmission was off and it seemed stupid to not change it while I was there. I installed a slightly uprated clutch and pressure plate, which made the engagement just a bit different-I'd say it was probably even worse than driving an unfamiliar car since it WAS a familiar car that was now acting differently.

 

[D.T.]

You lost me. Is it a Mustang joke?

I lost everyone, including myself.

 

[0388631]

It isn't very hilly here. When you go the eastern side of the state, it does become hilly provided you don't enter desert area. The worst hill I can think of at the moment is a three way intersection with a shunted fourth street a few cities over. It's a long highway style street with houses on either side and it slowly evolves into businesses as you reach near the city center. It's a very steep hill, one that causes your body to be pressed into your seat. There's a small part of the steep hill where you can let go of your breaks and the car won't roll back. Newer cars with hill assist aren't affected, but people with cars that don't have the feature have to be very fast when the light goes green. You've got about a second or two before the car begins falling back. A lot of people who are knowledgeable about the area lightly hold their gas with their right foot while holding the break with their left or they feather the gas with their right heel.

I lost everyone, including myself.

Losing the train of conversation is a common problem. For a lot of Mustang owners, it's losing control of their car and slamming into trees, light poles, fire hydrants, jumping barriers and other fun stuff that litters my YouTube recommendations. I'd say you're on the good side of Mustang owners.

 

[determined09]

Your problem is pulling up so close behind another car that there's room for this to happen.

Back off to a reasonable distance and you don't have to worry about it.

I can't tell you how much people being on my rear end at a stop is, especially when I'm driving a manual and am on a steep hill.

Back off and you won't have to worry about your precious new Lexus or anything else.

No, I wasn't right on his bumper. I was good safe distance behind him and then he rolling back and I mean rolling back. I was at least four feet behind him. That gave him enough room to roll back just a little bit and apply pressure to the accelerator and move forward.

Edited to add:

The guy that backed into me he was in a new Corolla that still had the paper license plates on it. When we both got out of our cars, he told me that someone had sideswiped him which is why he was in that new Corolla. But something tells me that he was the one that was doing the sideswipping. I think that guy fell asleep at wheel because he seemed spaced out when he got out of the car. I got his phone number and his name. And he told me to call him if I had any problems. But I went to the police department at the company that I work for and I filed an accident report. When the police officer called him to collect his information, he didn't want to talk and he told the office that he just wanted all of this to go away. Then he hung up the phone on the police officer. I filed out this accident report in order to protect myself just in case if he was ever to try to file a claim against me and say that I hint him. And also so that the police department will be able to pull the video of this accident That day so, that I can prove that he rolled back into me and that I was right on top of his back bumper in the parking garage.

I don't think my car is better or worse than anyone else's car.

 

[0388631]

It reads like a mystery novel. Hanging up on a cop? Wow. I dread the day when paper plates are a thing in California. When you buy a car here, you get a dealer plate that's a thin sheet of plastic with the dealer info printed onto it. They're not difficult to make fakes of if you want to commit a crime. Then again, the politician who wrote the bill is a moron in our state.

 

[D.T.]

Newer cars with hill assist aren't affected, but people with cars that don't have the feature have to be very fast when the light goes green. You've got about a second or two before the car begins falling back. A lot of people who are knowledgeable about the area lightly hold their gas with their right foot while holding the break with their left or they feather the gas with their right heel.

... or use the handbrake

Losing the train of conversation is a common problem. For a lot of Mustang owners, it's losing control of their car and slamming into trees, light poles, fire hydrants, jumping barriers and other fun stuff that litters my YouTube recommendations. I'd say you're on the good side of Mustang owners.

It's a national epidemic ...

 

[D.T.]

re: CC&Cs (Coffee, Cars and Crashes ...)

Just a video recently of a guy smashing up a new GT350, but the really horrific thing was the spectators, if the car hadn't been stopped by the curb, it would've run over a guy and his two kids. Personally, knowing how many of these incidents occur (with ALL makes and models), I wouldn't stand on the side of the road at the exit, but CLEARLY the fault is with the driver.

I saw some halfwits talking about suspension hop, or this or that technical consideration, or cold tires - nope, sorry, it's ALL on the driver (regardless of the impact of the aforementioned external factors). This GT350 driver was in his 50s, he got a boner over some kids on the side of the road smiling and cheering, and he made an extremely bad choice. I've owned cars that would suck the headlights out of a GT350 and didn't have nearly the electronic controls, and I've never had something like that happen. It's not even losing control, it's WHERE he lost control, you have to assess the proper time and place (I'd suggest it's never the right place on public roads).

Eventually they'll just stop having these, a few idiots will ruin it for everyone.

 

[bunnspecial]

.. or use the handbrake

I never quite got the coordination down to do a handbrake-assisted start even though I know it's technically the "correct" method.

It's one of those things I do by muscle memory and can't really describe it, but like I said(after practice) I've not had issues using the the clutch to hold the car for time it takes me to get my foot on the gas.

I'm sure handbrake starts are the same thing, but like I said I have a method that works so I use it. I know folks will argue this to the end of time, but I've held a used(not worn out) clutch from my car in my hand and don't worry about doing it the way I do.

 

[AustinIllini]

Any Corvette owners on here? I'm getting the itch, but I just don't know, I guess.

I'm worried the self-drivers are going to make cars like the vette a thing of the past.

 

[0388631]

... or use the handbrake

At a stop light? Using the handbrake would mean your tail lights won't be shining red as if your foot were on the brake, possibly leading to a rear-end accident which would place you at fault, instead of the other driver. I shudder to think what the outcome would be with that steep incline and the 45 MPH speed limit of that long road.

On the other hand, it would be rather cool to see a car fly as if it were shot out of a cannon.
[doublepost=1477244191][/doublepost]

re: CC&Cs (Coffee, Cars and Crashes ...)

Just a video recently of a guy smashing up a new GT350, but the really horrific thing was the spectators, if the car hadn't been stopped by the curb, it would've run over a guy and his two kids. Personally, knowing how many of these incidents occur (with ALL makes and models), I wouldn't stand on the side of the road at the exit, but CLEARLY the fault is with the driver.

I saw some halfwits talking about suspension hop, or this or that technical consideration, or cold tires - nope, sorry, it's ALL on the driver (regardless of the impact of the aforementioned external factors). This GT350 driver was in his 50s, he got a boner over some kids on the side of the road smiling and cheering, and he made an extremely bad choice. I've owned cars that would suck the headlights out of a GT350 and didn't have nearly the electronic controls, and I've never had something like that happen. It's not even losing control, it's WHERE he lost control, you have to assess the proper time and place (I'd suggest it's never the right place on public roads).

Eventually they'll just stop having these, a few idiots will ruin it for everyone.

I think I saw that one. Somewhat wide street, white haired gentleman who got ticketed at the end because there was an off duty cop present or something like that, right? I caught the incident through a video from the children's side and you can see the father grab his kids and pull them back. The problem is a lot of people, mostly us men, think we're professional drivers once a little adrenaline coursing through out veins. If you want to drive like a jackass, do it on a closed course so that if you hit something, you don't kill a kid or yourself. There's autocross events, amateur race days that don't require special licensing, there's open days at drag strips, etc. No reason to street race.

Some police forces here in California use old airports to hold friendly drag races and sometimes race civilians. It's fun and the majority of admittance, food and drink fees go to children's charities.

 

[iLog.Genius]

re: CC&Cs (Coffee, Cars and Crashes ...)

Just a video recently of a guy smashing up a new GT350, but the really horrific thing was the spectators, if the car hadn't been stopped by the curb, it would've run over a guy and his two kids. Personally, knowing how many of these incidents occur (with ALL makes and models), I wouldn't stand on the side of the road at the exit, but CLEARLY the fault is with the driver.

I saw some halfwits talking about suspension hop, or this or that technical consideration, or cold tires - nope, sorry, it's ALL on the driver (regardless of the impact of the aforementioned external factors). This GT350 driver was in his 50s, he got a boner over some kids on the side of the road smiling and cheering, and he made an extremely bad choice. I've owned cars that would suck the headlights out of a GT350 and didn't have nearly the electronic controls, and I've never had something like that happen. It's not even losing control, it's WHERE he lost control, you have to assess the proper time and place (I'd suggest it's never the right place on public roads).

Eventually they'll just stop having these, a few idiots will ruin it for everyone.

I saw that. I don't know why drivers floor it coming out of a turn especially with a RWD car and in front of people. Chances are you're not going to know how to counter-steer the oversteer and something bad is likely going to happen.

 

[0388631]

I saw that. I don't know why drivers floor it coming out of a turn especially with a RWD car and in front of people. Chances are you're not going to know how to counter-steer the oversteer and something bad is likely going to happen.

Because everyone thinks they're MacGyver.

 

[D.T.]

Any Corvette owners on here? I'm getting the itch, but I just don't know, I guess.

I'm worried the self-drivers are going to make cars like the vette a thing of the past.

Quick disclaimer: At the moment, I'd take a GT350 over a regular model C7 and a [5th Gen] Viper over a C7 Z06, but that's mostly due to subjective qualities.

I had 4, in various degrees of tuning, they're generally excellent [sports] cars - if you don't need back seats - and just continue to get better. I personally like the looks of the C6 a little better, but the C7 is better car, without question. It's very livable, it's effective on track, it's special but not so unique it draws too much unwanted attention. As I mentioned, they're also easily tuned, upgraded.

You know, I think you're right, at least in terms of the next 10 years of automotive engineering, it'll be a shame when you can't get a Vette with a V8 ...

At a stop light? Using the handbrake would mean your tail lights won't be shining red as if your foot were on the brake, possibly leading to a rear-end accident which would place you at fault, instead of the other driver. I shudder to think what the outcome would be with that steep incline and the 45 MPH speed limit of that long road.

You only use it right as you're starting to move, I've done it for [literally] decades, and never had a hint of an issue.

1) sit at light on hill using primary brakes
2) light changes
3) hold handbrake to prevent roll back, swap brake foot to clutch, proceed forward

Step 3 is a few seconds, everybody is already stopped, now everybody is moving forward. Easy

I saw that. I don't know why drivers floor it coming out of a turn especially with a RWD car and in front of people. Chances are you're not going to know how to counter-steer the oversteer and something bad is likely going to happen.

Yeah, I've run a pretty significant number of HPDE events (and a handful of A/Xs), and I'd consider myself pretty educated when it comes to driving, chassis/suspension setup, etc., and even with that experience under my belt, I'd never pull anything like that, regardless of my confidence level.

 

[0388631]

Does it work with an electronic e-brake?

 

[quagmire]

Quick disclaimer: At the moment, I'd take a GT350 over a regular model C7 and a [5th Gen] Viper over a C7 Z06, but that's mostly due to subjective qualities.

I had 4, in various degrees of tuning, they're generally excellent [sports] cars - if you don't need back seats - and just continue to get better. I personally like the looks of the C6 a little better, but the C7 is better car, without question. It's very livable, it's effective on track, it's special but not so unique it draws too much unwanted attention. As I mentioned, they're also easily tuned, upgraded.

I would take a C7 Z51/Grand Sport over the GT350. Heck, I would much rather have a Corvette over a Camaro SS, but like the GT350, out of my price range.

I love the Stingrays design. The C7 is what the Corvette needed badly. A departure from the general C4 'Vette design theme. I don't mind evolutionary designs( clearly as I like the 6th gen Camaro which is an evolution from the 5th gen), but there is a time when a revolutionary redesign is needed. After 3 generations of evolutionary design based on the C4, it was time for a revolutionary redesign. The C7 still looks unquestionably like a Corvette, but it is so much modern looking. I am a fan of them ditching the round taillights to many 'Vette purists dismay.

You know, I think you're right, at least in terms of the next 10 years of automotive engineering, it'll be a shame when you can't get a Vette with a V8 ...

It's why I am doing my damn best to be able to get the Camaro SS. Very much bet within the next 10-15 years, V8 powered RWD cars will be decreasing and increasing in price.

Also, wished I lived closer to the Tail/Back of the Dragon. They look like awesome roads to take the Camaro to.