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If you're an ingrained worry wart, like myself, driving will always be a chore!
Heart palpitations! Just when you think it's safe to go over the speed limit, you see, from the corner of your eye, a motorcyle cop hiding somewhere! You've been on Speedtrap.org, and you've read of them giving someone a speeding ticket for going 3 miles over the speed limit in Texas somewhere!
You're drivng around town at night, you bear in mind all the pedestrians killed in marked crosswalks (those not at stop lights), you come across one, and you're tempted to put on the brakes, just in case some fool/drunken homeless person decides to suddenly cross the street!
And there's the neverending possibility, just as you're enjoying this thrill ride in the country, something going wrong with your car! A bolt came loose in the caliper of my brake right smack dab in the middle of the Mojave desert one time, $550 to have it hauled a great distance to the mechanic! Some thrill ride that was!
Pictures of the carcasses of cars in accidents in the paper every month! How many of those people were out for a nice joy ride that day!
I also have night vision, so that's increasingly making it more of chore to drive anymore.
My days of being car-less are on the horizon and my joy rides will be taken on an electric bike at max speed of 20MPH! Whoppee!
Melbourne's street directory shows the location of all fixed speed and red light cameras so you can easily avoid getting fined. The local newspaper also lists all mobile speed camera locations in Victoria for the upcoming week so it's easy to avoid getting caught when you feel like giving her a bit of gas
I drive a ford station wagon, which is hardly the stereotypical image of a fun sports car lol, but the other day I got caught behind some clown doing 80kmh in the 100 zone, I had my foot matted to the floor as I overtook and before I knew it I was doing 140km/h
As for gas prices, my car runs on dual fuel, so both petrol and LPG, the latter costs 65c currently per liter, or about $2.50 per gallon to fill so I don't worry about driving long distances and my usage of fuel.
I enjoy driving, because I use LPG it doesn't cost me much at all and there are few things more relaxing than just going for a random cruise to the countryside.
Last edited by Galaxyman; 10-07-2012 at 08:48 AM..
Automatic cars suck. It's like taking the bus. You are barely driving, just steering. Takes all the fun out of it.
Personally, I drive a Smart and every time I wish it was manual (despite its size being highly convenient to park in our overcrowded European cities). I didn't choose it though, but got it for free, so I won't complain but whenever I can, like on weekends, I'll always use my father's Ford Fusion (manual). What a relief when I do. Manual transmission is so much better, you have a greater control over so many things. Like dropping a gear to overtake, or even better, rev matching (anyone else loves downshifting this way? Btw, it's much safer, economical and saves your clutch - highly recommended)
Automatic cars suck. It's like taking the bus. You are barely driving, just steering. Takes all the fun out of it.
99% of hwat you do while ddrivintg doe snot involve wiggling your left foot. Just steering? THos e other two pedlas and the shift lever in teh automatic are doing nothing? Tell you what, you put an automatic car in gear and just take all hands/feet off the controls and see how far you get.
Quote:
Manual transmission is so much better, you have a greater control over so many things.
Only one thing, actually.
[uquote] Like dropping a gear to overtake,[/quote]
i can do that in my automatic equipped cars, too. And have.
Quote:
or even better, rev matching (anyone else loves downshifting this way? Btw, it's much safer, economical and saves your clutch - highly recommended)
No need to rev match in most modern cars with proper synchros. And if I want to downshift in my auto cars, I just move the lever and it drops a gear.
Still love my paddle shift auto... I can control gears 100% if I want, when I downshift it rev matches etc... and when I'm in traffic I can not worry about it
Man (Merc63), it's a pain to read your first few sentences, did you type them while driving or what?
Rev matching is extremely useful, unlike double clutch which you seem to have in mind and which indeed is useless with synchronized transmissions. Rev matching saves your clutch, your brakes (by allowing you to use engine breaking much more efficiently) and allows you to release your clutch almost instantly instead of doing it progressively, which allows you to slow down with greater control...
But whatever, if you're happy with your automatic, that's cool
Man (Merc63), it's a pain to read your first few sentences, did you type them while driving or what?
Rev matching is extremely useful, unlike double clutch which you seem to have in mind and which indeed is useless with synchronized transmissions. Rev matching saves your clutch, your brakes (by allowing you to use engine breaking much more efficiently) and allows you to release your clutch almost instantly instead of doing it progressively, which allows you to slow down with greater control...
But whatever, if you're happy with your automatic, that's cool
That first sentence was a shocker I didn't even bother to read the rest of that post.
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99% of hwat you do while ddrivintg doe snot involve wiggling your left foot. Just steering? THos e other two pedlas and the shift lever in teh automatic are doing nothing? Tell you what, you put an automatic car in gear and just take all hands/feet off the controls and see how far you get.
