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CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

carsized.com

121–130 of 172 posts

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least in my region, the phrase is used about evenly to refer to both: - Parking in the roadway next to the row of parallel parked cars/in other ways such that parked cars are blocked in and - Parking a single car such that two parking spots are obstructed (unjustifiably so, e.g. nobody would likely talk that way about an RV taking two parallel parking spots). The difference in usage seems to depend on whether you…

Double parking is a legal term for a specific traffic violation. People who use it to refer to parking across two bays in a parking lot are using it wrong . It’s like saying ‘well people in my region use the word “speeding” both to refer to going over the speed limit, and for going through a red light’. People in your region have heard a term and misunderstood it. Laws commonly include exceptions like; > Vehicles use…

> People in your region have heard a term and misunderstood it.

Language is how people use it. That sounds like a perfectly valid route to adding a colloquial meaning to a word.

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Double parking is a legal term for a specific traffic violation. People who use it to refer to parking across two bays in a parking lot are using it wrong . It’s like saying ‘well people in my region use the word “speeding” both to refer to going over the speed limit, and for going through a red light’. People in your region have heard a term and misunderstood it. Laws commonly include exceptions like; > Vehicles use…

> People in your region have heard a term and misunderstood it. Language is how people use it. That sounds like a perfectly valid route to adding a colloquial meaning to a word.

I’m as descriptivist as the next enlightened linguistic scholar, but this phrase has a specific meaning in traffic codes. Misunderstanding it is dangerous.

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#123

I've found a few of these types of sites over time, and I find them pretty handy. This one gets added to the list! There's Handgun Hero [1] for comparing ... handgun sizes, which is super handy when window shopping for something new, to compare it to something I already have. There's Camera Size [2] which compares, you guessed it, cameras. Handy for the exact same reasons as the above. For a more technical comparison…

Camera size was great--I just wish they had old cameras, now that I don't shoot digital anymore.

One of the most useful for me is https://cycle-ergo.com . The fit and riding position of a motocycle is very personal--sport bikes lean you forward, adventure you stay upright, cruisers lean you back. But beyond that, can you reach the gound (and do you care), how much of a stretch are the pedals. The site is not perfect, but gives you an idea how you will fit before you have a chance to throw your leg over.

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#124
post #116

You don't even have to mess around with Smarts and Minis... The car I [try not to] drive (a Škoda Rapid liftback) fits four 180 cm (5'10") adults and their baggage for a week, yet I could almost drive UNDERNEATH some of the crap I have to share the roads with (LR Discovery, F-150, BMW X8). I used to love cars and driving, now they disgust me, along with the whole my-car-is-my-identity culture.

> I used to love cars and driving, now they disgust me, ++ I live in fly-over country, and cars, pretty much all of them, are monstrously large now. I notice the change, even to 15-20 years ago. Just as a small example; the physical experience of just being in a parking lot now, it's gotten really foul. The rooflines of cars parked on the street now block the view outside my local coffee shop. Not sure if this is rea…

My wife recently pointed out to me that cars from 15-25 years ago all have "happy faces" and newer cars (late 00's to current) often have "angry faces".

It's silly at first, but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense why driving has gotten so miserable. Our little monkey-brains see angry faces all around us, and we act more defensively. We feel the need to defend ourselves from all the scary metal boxes, leading to buying scarier looking boxes. It's an angry-headlights arms race.

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#125
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GAS may have come from guitars (I don't know really) but is now commonly referred for any hobby as Gear Acquisition Syndrome

I don't know where it started either, maybe originally it was Gun Acquisition Syndrome, ha. But I'd like to believe it all started right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-5io1muSQ

N+1 is the number of you need.

Bikes, snowboards, surfboards, guitars, etc

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess it's like guitars and bikes, a small group will "need" a new one/another one (guilty of both), but for most people you either need zero or you need one and never need to swap once you have one. But I agree that having a site for comparing feels quite alien to those of us outside the US (for reference, I'm 40+, made military service and still haven't even seen a handgun outside of its holster on uniformed offi…

I didn't really get handgun culture (I'm in the UK, everyone has rifles and shotguns, handguns aren't a thing any more since we had a school shooting in the 90ss) until I read an exchange on Reddit which was full of comments like "Ah yeah but what you do is you unscrew that top part, drill and tap it a size larger, and then you can bolt on which allows you to mount and by taking a bit off the grips it'll actually be…

We do still have some handguns, such as single-shot flintlocks, muzzle-loading revolvers of 1850s design, and some modern handguns which have been extended with long barrels and counterweights to make them >= 60cm in length (IIRC). I think that these aren't very common at all compared with shortguns and rifles though. From what I've heard, when modern handguns were banned some shooters switched to modern reproductions of the mid-19th century models only to find that they didn't much like the cleaning (black powder makes a lot of mess), fiddling and slow loading that goes along with these guns.

https://www.henrykrank.com/guns/muzzle-loading-guns/

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Found longer! Dodge RAM 2500 https://www.carsized.com/en/cars/compare/bmw-isetta-1955-1-d...

The 2500 also has the highest amount of drunk drivers per capita in the US. Truly, a terrifying vehicle.

It’s not a good buy so people that get them are by nature have poor impulse control. I’d love to see a chart of car vs avg credit rating sometime

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#128
I was very excited, but it seems external dimension only, and I've found time and again that outside dimensions have lose relationship to inside dimensions. Choices and tradeoffs around engine orientation and placement, front vs rear vs trunk sizes etc, can all make a massive difference. They include cargo volume in numbers but not front/rear seat sizes, which is critical to me both as tall driver and with children seats :-/

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#129

No Toyota Tacoma…probably the most popular truck in many US states. No Ram trucks. No Subaru WRX, nor BRZ. Really neat concept, but I wish it had more US vehicles.

>probably the most popular truck in many US states.

Wealthy inner suburbs where white collar professionals live they absolutely dominate. Everywhere else people buy half tons because you get so much more vehicle for your dollar, the fuel economy penalty is marginal and with modern tech they're not really that much more unwieldy to drive.

Re: CarSized: A way to visualise car dimensions

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't really get handgun culture (I'm in the UK, everyone has rifles and shotguns, handguns aren't a thing any more since we had a school shooting in the 90ss) until I read an exchange on Reddit which was full of comments like "Ah yeah but what you do is you unscrew that top part, drill and tap it a size larger, and then you can bolt on which allows you to mount and by taking a bit off the grips it'll actually be…

We do still have some handguns, such as single-shot flintlocks, muzzle-loading revolvers of 1850s design, and some modern handguns which have been extended with long barrels and counterweights to make them >= 60cm in length (IIRC). I think that these aren't very common at all compared with shortguns and rifles though. From what I've heard, when modern handguns were banned some shooters switched to modern reproduction…

> From what I've heard, when modern handguns were banned some shooters switched to modern reproductions of the mid-19th century models only to find that they didn't much like the cleaning (black powder makes a lot of mess), fiddling and slow loading that goes along with these guns.

One cleans black powder firearms with regular old soap and water, which is really interesting to me. I hear some people even just put them in the dishwasher!

A practiced shooter can load faster than you'd think, but using a powder horn and the plunger is still considerably slower than loading a cartridge revolver with a speed-loader or by hand. It is possible to make paper cartridges with pre-measured powder charges that can just be dropped in and then plunged. In that case it's almost as fast as loading brass cartridges one at a time, which is still considerably slower than modern alternatives. This is why American cowboys would carry at least two revolvers for a total of 10 rounds, or 12 if they were feeling brave. The reason why 10 is that there were no firing pin safeties, so if you got banged hard and there was a round in the top chamber it could accidentally discharge.

As an aside, in the USA a 19th century design muzzle loader isn't even legally a firearm under federal law. You can buy one on eBay and have it mailed straight to your door. I don't know if any of the states have restrictions, but so far as I know black powder firearms aren't really used for any kind of criminal activity except maybe poaching.

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