Of course not, any argument is destroyed by extreme examples, that is an obvious genuine requirement (although I’m sure anyone could do better than a Dodge Caravan lol). I’m talking about the percentage of the population who make selfish, thoughtless choices about their footprint.
The Car thread
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And things that are not ergonomically friendly do not tend to get used. Just the prevalence of trucks (easier to get in and out of) and SUVs shows that in spades. Great if it never gets produced...but if we are producing cars just to sit there and die away slowly due to non-use, well that's pretty darn wasteful right there. I've had formal education in ergonomics, so that's where I'm coming from on this. It has to do with the 5-95 percentile data and accommodating them in a vehicle. There's a lot more to it than just being able to sit and reach controls. The best I guess for aerodynamics would be to lie flat on your back or stomach, but again, pretty un-ergonomic and unlikely to get used due to that.
Another example is neck movement, as you get older, you tend to not be able to move your neck as easily and you tend to not look left and right and be as aware of your surroundings. Yes, it seems like nothing will make people adjust their SIDE mirrors correctly, but past that, even looking directly left and right, like to make sure oncoming traffic is clear or the sidewalk or something similar, becomes an issue. Do you just revoke licenses at a certain age, like 65, or do you require recurrent tests? Prohibit certain age groups from certain vehicles? No real silver bullets and designing cars to match human ergonomics is an important design consideration. This is the same with aircraft design. You can design the best machine, but if the machine-human interface isn't designed properly according to ergonomic convention, you are setting up for issues down the road. A lot of our ergonomic "mega-disaster" stories and case-studies came from the automotive world (Prof was head of Ergonomics for GM). And don't think he didn't rip on GM for disasters of (human factors) engineering.
If you aren't including human ergonomics in the design, then they are just going to go back to their coal-powered bro-dozers.
Speaking of SUVs vs cars, I’ve spent the last several months driving a loaner cx5 while my car was in the shop waiting on parts from Japan. I got my car back and what a revelation it was. The first thing I noticed was that it felt smallish, lower… it made me think that strictly on the showroom test, the cx5 would beat the 3. After i drove for about 10 minutes and made a few turns, everything in the 3 was better (interior, driving dynamics, etc). The cx5 felt bloated, heavy and overly tipy by contrast… and IMO it’s one of the better-driving suvs.
Got in my car today and did a phantom key turn before remembering about the push button.
I hate the push button start. Also having to replace keyfob batteries every 10 months or so is annoying.
And with self driving cars coming, my generation might be "ok" to be able to travel after that age, but in Yurp they have actual public transportation, which we don't have. My point was more though about AARP and others never letting something that radical make it to law. Hell, it's not even AARP anymore because you gotta be working at that age just to get by...right?
I still stomp the floor to set the parking brake in the wife's ride. It's a switch on the dash now.
I still step on the clutch pedal when starting my car ... because the clutch pedal is still there, thank god.
I've never owned and rarely drive any automatic vehicles.I still step on the clutch pedal when starting my car ... because the clutch pedal is still there, thank god.
Will admit that there has been a few times while coming to a stop, where I've tried to mash the clutch down....only to hit the brake.
Damn that sucks and reallllly shocks the passenger.
Want to know how ancient Chrysler/Dodge/Stelantis/whatever cars are? They still have those foot operated parking brakes.
I bet @johnbryanpeters still accidentally goes to the front of a car and looks for the crank.
Our Acura RDX has the foot operated parking brake, being built on a light truck frame.Want to know how ancient Chrysler/Dodge/Stelantis/whatever cars are? They still have those foot operated parking brakes.
Her 2013 CRV had a foot parking brake, but her 2021 is shmancy.
My friend Amy bought a Ford Escape Police Interceptor at Auction. Its pretty badass.
A parking brake is one thing I don't understand why it needs to be electronic. I assume mostly to cleanup the dash and because not many people use them.
But what's fundamentally wrong with just having a hand operated brake? At least you're not hosed if something goes wrong with your battery, electrical signal etc etc.
And sick skids bro are way more fun with a hand brake...
But what's fundamentally wrong with just having a hand operated brake? At least you're not hosed if something goes wrong with your battery, electrical signal etc etc.
And sick skids bro are way more fun with a hand brake...
So car manufacturers can force you to go to dealerships for brake jobs cause they are the only ones with software to retract the electronic brake.A parking brake is one thing I don't understand why it needs to be electronic. I assume mostly to cleanup the dash and because not many people use them.
But what's fundamentally wrong with just having a hand operated brake? At least you're not hosed if something goes wrong with your battery, electrical signal etc etc.
And sick skids bro are way more fun with a hand brake...
My wife's Mazda has some convoluted button press sequence to get into maintenance mode so you don't bust the brake motor retracting the pistons.
A parking brake is one thing I don't understand why it needs to be electronic. I assume mostly to cleanup the dash and because not many people use them.
But what's fundamentally wrong with just having a hand operated brake? At least you're not hosed if something goes wrong with your battery, electrical signal etc etc.
And sick skids bro are way more fun with a hand brake...
Because some old people aren't strong enough to use them.
Active cruise control with stop and go, so I can watch the mountain goats up on the cliffs on the highway when there are accidents and traffic is backed up. Win.
Mine too and you can rarely get them up without a little persuasion. I have more diff locks than cup holders.
a ....truck.....like they used to make...?
i want a 83 ford f150 with the bench seat and the staight six....fun to beat the hell out of and not give a shit.
Crash worthiness has also improved significantly, belt-lines are higher because of increased side-impact requirements and all of it adds weight. So the new Nissan Z manages to be a little heavier than it's predecessor, pretty much every new car manages to be heavier. Some are just ridiculous heavy. New BMW M240i x-drive is 3871lbs curb weight. That is just mind-blowing. That's heavier than both my Camaro with a V8 and my 4-door stinger with AWD. If that BMW was say 3300 in that config and say 3000 with no AWD and the smaller engine...well then you'd have something. Massively heavy for such a tiny car.
not a truck, a tacoma
the poor version of a tacoma. But definitely not a truck
I decided last year that I'm not buying another vehicle that I can't bump start
No EV for you then.
I recall my grandpa got his license renewed when he was like 92 and it was good for 5 years. We joked it should have been month to month.
AZ has some deal where it's good for like 15 or 20 years when you become a resident, either way, you'll likely die first, so it's basically a lifetime license.I recall my grandpa got his license renewed when he was like 92 and it was good for 5 years. We joked it should have been month to month.
Yeah, he made it like 18 months. He quit driving about 6 months after.
Funny story. When pops moved him up to Turlock, he made him trade in his car. '72 Gran Turino with just over 300k miles on the OG 351 Cleveland.
<edit> he got a 400 series Lexus (GS?) he said "didn't have any umph". He got $500 on the trade if I recall.
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I'm not nearly douchey enough to own one of those until a used truck version existsNo EV for you then.
wow
that photo could not possibly be more "arizona 2001"
that photo could not possibly be more "arizona 2001"
Tucson 2001.
I still have the extra fast Spy sunglasses to go with it.
I met my Swiss wife later that year and ended up here shortly after that photo. What was she thinking?
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