161–170 of 291 posts
I sometimes wish we would just burn it all and call it a day. It would be a disaster but it's already one anyways. Just burn it all so some rich people get richer and then are out of a job because there is nothing left
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You don't have metered on-ramps? These are ones with a traffic light at the start where one has to come to stop at the light and then accelerate to match your speed with the traffic.
Very rare in UK at least .. and the few that exist are only active when traffic is at a near standstill.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What opportunity do you have for dramatic acceleration driving legally on a public road? 0-60 in 3s vs 20s how much time can that really add up to shaving off your drive?
I borrowed (actually traded; swapping with my truck) a ~2016 Prius for a month and hated driving it. Merging is slow; I ended up flooring it and only reaching ~50 mph by the end of the onramp. Bay area ramps are, however, very short. Try the SB 101 Rengstorff ramp in Mountain View, it's horrible. In fact, that very ramp is why I replaced my 2002 Saturn LW200 with a 2010 BMW 135i in 2012. The Prius also can't maintain…
I have an auris which is mechanically identical to a Prius. I have not driven those exact roads but I have never struggled going up hills and it will hit 60mph from a standstill in just under 10s, so with a rolling start of say 20-30 getting onto the onramp you are at 60 or so in 6 or 7 seconds. If your onramps are so short that you can't drive for 6 or 7 seconds before merging, then I guess that is a different problem.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have been driving Priuses for a good chunk of my life now, and there’s really no way I could safely max out their acceleration while merging. Typically the right-lane traffic on highways here flows at 75 MPH when there isn’t much congestion. Why would you benefit from greater acceleration? It makes very little sense from my perspective. What am I going to do, cut someone off? Floor it and merge with no consideratio…
I am perplexed by the insinuation that an average power car is less safe than a sports car on public roads. Everything I was taught shows that proper driving technique is paramount, and I would have to see data supporting a contrary assertion. While we can construct edge scenarios where a fast car can get you out of trouble (mostly when overtaking) I'm willing to bet that's a marginal effect that is trumped by the in…
"I can't drive anything that does less then 3s 0-60s because ". If you want a fast car, just come out and say it. Driving a high performance car can be exhilarating - I have a second/weekend fast car for precisely the reason that I enjoy it, but I don't pretend it is required or that it is particularly responsible or socially acceptable to boot it away from the lights or go accelerate like shit off of a stick when merging with faster traffic. My hybrid does 99% of my driving, and the other is strictly a weekend guilty pleasure. I've never been in a situation in normal driving where the hybrid couldn't do something my weekend car would have handled (apart from just blow someone off at the lights if they have pissed me off)
The arguments here against PHEVs and EVs etc used to be towing speed boats up mountains every week (it was never made clear why people were taking speed boats up a mountain so frequently! Surely there is not much water up a mountain...)
I guess people need new arguments now that range and towing and charging are solved issues for 99% of people's needs.
I am sure someone will now reply about their journey out to meet their parents in the country with no chargers on the journey there etc etc... Did you try driving your speedboat there instead? :)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Very rare in UK at least .. and the few that exist are only active when traffic is at a near standstill.
Yeah, they are the same in the US, only metered when there is a lot of traffic. Which exacerbates the need for acceleration because you need not only match the speed before the ramp ends but also find a hole in the heavy traffic.
Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but bad traffic here means stationary or less than walking speed. There is no need for hot rod acceleration in these situations!
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, they are the same in the US, only metered when there is a lot of traffic. Which exacerbates the need for acceleration because you need not only match the speed before the ramp ends but also find a hole in the heavy traffic.
Why do you need to accelerate so much if the traffic is so slow? Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but bad traffic here means stationary or less than walking speed. There is no need for hot rod acceleration in these situations!
Why buy coal mines if you could just by oil tankers and let them idle? This would drive up oil prices in many places, reduce demand demand for oil and make renewables and energy efficient technologies more competitive.
To take the idea a bit further, you make them into floating plantations, delivering fresh fruit/vegetables to any location in the world.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am perplexed by the insinuation that an average power car is less safe than a sports car on public roads. Everything I was taught shows that proper driving technique is paramount, and I would have to see data supporting a contrary assertion. While we can construct edge scenarios where a fast car can get you out of trouble (mostly when overtaking) I'm willing to bet that's a marginal effect that is trumped by the in…
Yeah this sounds to me like a lot of "whatabout"ing. "I can't drive anything that does less then 3s 0-60s because ". If you want a fast car, just come out and say it. Driving a high performance car can be exhilarating - I have a second/weekend fast car for precisely the reason that I enjoy it, but I don't pretend it is required or that it is particularly responsible or socially acceptable to boot it away from the lig…
It’s the kind of thread that makes me really wish people on the internet would read what’s written, not what they’d like to think was written.
This kind of strategy ignores second order effects. For example, by buying a gas guzzler and not using it much you might lower the emissions from that specific vehicle. But supply and demand rears its ugly head: you're contributing to the increase of similar gas guzzlers' value in the market, which means that other people are more likely to maintain those vehicles in working order and resell them, instead of scrappin…
I think half the examples listed are used to teach people about second order effects. Yet the writer of the article seems to have taken them at face value…