Show us your Cars

[Sal1950]

At ASR the EV discussion becomes a proxy for political views on the environment.

That's the problem Ron, how can you not discuss the whole EV situation when it's
entire reason for existence today IS political? We have a political faction in the US, and
world wide I think, telling us what we should be doing, what we should have, and in some
places are going to be forced into buying. All based on a lot of BS and who's making the cash.
It's all about the MONEY.

 

[Sal1950]

It took years and a lot of technology to build powerful ICE motors with an exhaust of only water vapor and CO2. This having been achieved there is now a war on CO2 as if it was poison gas. I guess they will go after water vapor next.

For sure, all we ever had to do was follow the liars money trail

 

[Blumlein 88]

And that was probably the worst of the vette design line.
1970's 150 HP 350's were due to the stupid government emissions regulations and such.
Somebody get me a rope.

Well maybe. The bumpers made it look dumb until 1980. You could of course mod up the engines to something respectable and the underlying driveline was same as that of the late sixties. The worst were probably the 1953 to 1955 versions. The C4 was not the greatest either. That was due to the crossfire engine (sometimes known as Misfire) which they did fix in time, the original dash which burned out quickly which was ditched eventually, and the fact it was compromised by an incredibly stupid decision by marketing which compromised the structure of the car.

 

[Sal1950]

Well maybe. The bumpers made it look dumb until 1980. You could of course mod up the engines to something respectable and the underlying driveline was same as that of the late sixties.

I never could warm up to any of the C3's and those with the rubber bumpers were the fuglist to me.
Gotta give the C4's there just do, the 1984 Z51 was the first US sportcar to make 1g on the cornering skidpad.
And one of the very few cars world wide to achieve that mark at the time.
Some of their electronics rated right up there with the Euro Lucas Prince of Darkness builds. LOL

 

[Blumlein 88]

I never could warm up to any of the C3's and those with the rubber bumpers were the fuglist to me.
Gotta give the C4's there just do, the 1984 Z51 was the first US sportcar to make 1g on the cornering skidpad.
And one of the very few cars world wide to achieve that mark at the time.
Some of their electronics rated right up there with the Euro Lucas Prince of Darkness builds. LOL

You mean 1984, they didn't make 1983 Vettes just 1984s on sale for 18 months. And just for the record, you are touting a car with a 205 hp V8.

It took 20 seconds to reach 100 mph, while the early versions of the C5 did that in only 11.9 seconds.

 

[Sal1950]

You mean 1984, they didn't make 1983 Vettes just 1984s on sale for 18 months.

I had already caught that. LOL

 

[Sal1950]

And just for the record, you are touting a car with a 205 hp V8.

It took 20 seconds to reach 100 mph, while the early versions of the C5 did that in only 11.9 seconds.

You can thank all the tree hugger environmentalists and the government for that.
Morons that knew nothing about engine design but got the joe-sixpacks to support them at the polls.
Just exactly the way todays EV's are getting pushed.

 

[Frank Dernie]

None of the petrol engined cars available today appeal to me.

The old ones which sound nice aren’t made any more because of poor fuel consumption so you end up with low revving high pressure turbo engines with fewer cylinders. They are by far the most effective IC engines ever built but sound pretty dire.

I have an old flat plane crank V8 sports car with a 6-speed manual, 3 pedals and the only driver over-ride is ABS.
Nothing modern is as interesting for fun local motoring but the noise gets tedious and is tiring on long journeys.

I wanted a quiet comfortable car in my old age but with a good turn of speed when I wanted. None of the petrol cars I looked into appealed and I have now had a sporty EV for about 6 months.
It is very quiet and comfortable and the “turn of speed” most impressive.

So far almost all charging has been at home. I have stopped to charge 3 times on a journey so far, I chose chargers with a cafe and on each occasion arrived, plugged in, used contactless card to start charging then went to order a drink. By the time the drink was made and drunk I had had enough charge.

So for me my EV has needed far less wasted time refuelling than any car I have ever owned by far and range is something I only needed to consider a couple of times in 6 months and it was no problem at all.

 

[Sal1950]

So for me my EV has needed far less wasted time refuelling than any car I have ever owned by far and range is something I only needed to consider a couple of times in 6 months and it was no problem at all.

I guess you just don't drive it very much or far.

 

[Blumlein 88]

None of the petrol engined cars available today appeal to me.

The old ones which sound nice aren’t made any more because of poor fuel consumption so you end up with low revving high pressure turbo engines with fewer cylinders. They are by far the most effective IC engines ever built but sound pretty dire.

I have an old flat plane crank V8 sports car with a 6-speed manual, 3 pedals and the only driver over-ride is ABS.
Nothing modern is as interesting for fun local motoring but the noise gets tedious and is tiring on long journeys.

I wanted a quiet comfortable car in my old age but with a good turn of speed when I wanted. None of the petrol cars I looked into appealed and I have now had a sporty EV for about 6 months.
It is very quiet and comfortable and the “turn of speed” most impressive.

So far almost all charging has been at home. I have stopped to charge 3 times on a journey so far, I chose chargers with a cafe and on each occasion arrived, plugged in, used contactless card to start charging then went to order a drink. By the time the drink was made and drunk I had had enough charge.

So for me my EV has needed far less wasted time refuelling than any car I have ever owned by far and range is something I only needed to consider a couple of times in 6 months and it was no problem at all.

I mostly agree. Other than saying no petrol engined cars appeal. There are a few that appeal. I do agree on turbos. I've never taken to turbo'd engine cars even though they are efficient and powerful.

For engine sound, my favorite is an in-line 8. Of course that was last made by Packard in 1954. My 2nd favorite is 3 cylinder motorcycle engines. Mazda almost went with a high revving 3 cylinder in their last Miata generation. I wish they would have. A rotary Mazda sounds pretty similar to 3 cylinder piston engines.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I guess you just don't drive it very much or far.

I don't know what it is with everyone jumping on not being able to go far with EV's. If you don't like them fine, but this idea is a myth. Having taken some long trips in them I just have to shake my head. And telling people this is something they somehow are refusing to accept. It just is true. Denial of an obvious physical reality is not getting you anywhere.

I remember my neighbor up the street when talking about EVs. His wife worked for Mercedes where they were building one of their battery factories. He told me EVs are dumb and MB is making a mistake because they cannot go anywhere. Proceeded to use his Ford F250 diesel with dual tanks as an example, "It can go over 800 miles before needing to fuel up", he said proudly. I asked him have you ever gone that far? His wife piped in and said "No, not ever, not once. If he ever does, I won't be riding with him."

I don't get it. I understand people not wanting to be forced into something, but I don't get telling yourself obvious falsehoods.

 

[Sal1950]

None of the petrol engined cars available today appeal to me.

The old ones which sound nice aren’t made any more because of poor fuel consumption so you end up with low revving high pressure turbo engines with fewer cylinders. They are by far the most effective IC engines ever built but sound pretty dire.

What does it take to please you?
Ford, Chevy, and Mopar all make cars & trucks with big V8's, 400hp and up, that will deliver mileage in the low 30s if driven like you care about such things. Add free flowing exhaust and they'll sound just like the old ones?
Quit thinking rice burners.

 

[voodooless]

I guess you just don't drive it very much or far.

Why not?

I've driven an EV in one full year: 55000 km, median trips of 180 km one-way, about twice a day for 3 to 5 days a week. I almost never needed to visit a fast charger during these trips. Charge at home at night, and at work for free during the day. Worked like a charm! And this was more than 4 years ago...

And now, I charge from 20 to 80% in 15 minutes. With longer trips, it's a nice time to have a quick break and then drive another 300km or so... Or take a quick nap:

 

[sergeauckland]

I'm considering an EV in good part because of its lack of noise. I would like a totally silent car, but given that road and wind noise can't be completely eliminated, at least with an EV I can get rid of engine noise. I've never understood the attraction of a car that makes a loud noise. The height of stupidity in my view is those kids that deliberately get their cars to backfire on overrun.

As to motorcycles...

S.

 

[Sal1950]

As to motorcycles...

Loud pipes, save lives.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Loud pipes, save lives.

Well now you delve into the two philosophies of motorcycle riding. The optimistic view is on a two wheeler you are completely invisible to everyone else on the road. The pessimistic and safer philosophy is every single driver on the road always sees you, and they are waiting for the chance to run you over or off the road.

 

[Sal1950]

Well now you delve into the two philosophies of motorcycle riding.

Both excellent approaches for a long life.
So far I serviced 73 years.

 

[Sal1950]

 

[computer-audiophile]

The topic of great cars has long since fallen away from me. I no longer have to impress girls with a fancy sports car in front of a coffee-house-terrace. (My wife used to drive a Porsche 911 herself anyway).

Today I have a cheap compact car whose special feature is an engine that burns LPG. I also didn't want a lot of electronic toys in it to increase reliability. LPG burns relatively environmentally friendly and costs much less than gasoline, especially if I fill up in Poland. So I see the whole thing rather rationally. Electric cars are still too expensive for me and I can't charge them myself at home, because we don't have a garage in our townhouse from the Gründerzeit.

 

[voodooless]

I'm considering an EV in good part because of its lack of noise.

Well, that's still a bit of a dream. At low speeds, there is more of a difference, but with a modern ICE, from the inside at least, the engine noise is often negligible. At higher speeds, even more so. I drove a hybrid for a year before I had the current EV, and the difference between full-electric and hybrid driving was really small in terms of noise. Only when you really floor the pedal would the engine wake up and make itself known. But obviously, your mileage may vary...