Lets talk about cars/motorsports

What Achaemenid said.

Also, start off with a 250-400cc motorcycle for round-town riding. Find a licensed, experienced rider who can help you out with both the technical aspects of riding and the legal process. Do NOT ride without a permit. Learn how to ride with a passenger at some point. It's a crucial skill that teaches you weight distribution and speed control in stop-and-go traffic. My first bike was a 1979 Honda CM 400T. Excellent beginner's bike. Very tough, too.

As for Harleys, they're not total junk but they're overpriced for what they are. The newer belt-fed cruisers are nice, but maintenance and parts don't justify what you're getting off the assembly line.

In Europe, you tend to see middle-aged people scooting about on big BMW tourers. All the kids are out of the house, they're retiring early and have benefits due to socialism and a midlife crisis due to no kids...seems like a lot of fun.

Handle, if you're an experienced rider, I would suggest the Honda Shadow for rural roads at lower speeds and the Kawasaki Vulcan or the Suzuki Boulevard for highways. Maybe a 900, 1300 or 1500cc motor. Personally, I wouldn't go any smaller than an 1100cc for long-distance cruiser travel. The BMW R1200GS is a very reliable machine, and it's deserving of its reputation as a good cross-country dual sport.

So apparently the design of the Honda NM 4 is starting to grow on me. I blame it on its being the basis for two of the three main Rider Machines in Kamen Rider Drive. Which also apparently features the only example of an NM 4 finished in a colour other than stealth fighter black.

Actually, should we spin this off into a separate motorbikes thread since this is for cars and all?

I don't think so.

we could change the title to "Let's talk about cars/motorbikes/motorsports" maybe

Not if the actual vehicle is newer then the transferred registration.

The new Mazda Miata (or MX-5 depending on where you are) US television ad, narrated by none other than Aaron Paul.

Silicon Valley Firm Pinnacle Working on Classically Insane Opposed-Piston Engine

edited 24th May '15 12:39:37 PM by Aprilla

Opposed piston, you say?

Has anyone else been affected by the Takata airbag recall? I have to get my replaced.

Not here. I apparently missed out on that by five years. (Mine's a 2010 Civic, and the affected Civic models are 2001 to 2005.)

Car and Driver magazine: "Massive Takata Airbag Recall: Everything You Need to Know"

In Spain the car permit allows me to drive bikes up to 125 cc. If I want more, I need to get the bike permit A1, which has the same limitation, then after two years ask for A, which allows me to use a bike as powerful as I like.

I just like to think a long time ahead, so I'm considering whether getting the bike permit is worth the extra time and effort, and what bike I should want to acquire.

Same goes for car. I'm very partial to Mercedes or BMW or Volvo-style sedans, but it's not because of the brands; I just like the style of comfort they've got inside, the safety, and the heft. The trick to getting one would be to buy it already 5-years-old from some middle-class person who hardly drives it at all. But it's being a headache, especially onco I add my concern for fuel efficiency and interest for hybrid engines into the mix...

Maybe I should just get a Prius? Prius are awesome!

edited 25th May '15 2:43:02 AM by TheHandle

For certain values of "awesome", maybe.

I drove one for a bit when my regular car was in the shop for some body work. Other than that I got it for the compact car rate of like $30/day instead of the $100/day it normally runs (had a reservation, but the Prius was all they had), there was nothing special about it.

Just don't be like the assholes around here that creep away from a stoplight to maximize their fuel economy, in the process fucking over everyone behind them that's trying to get through before the light changes back to red (and in the process burning a lot more gasoline, more than countering any supposed environmental benefit from the slow start).

Priuses are terrible for the environment aren't they? I always heard that thanks to their manufacturing process, especially the lithium in their batteries, they do more damage to the planet from production to the time when they're scrapped than a Land Rover or Hummer would ever do.

Wouldn't surprise me, though I've not looked into it too closely.

Not to mention the biggest source of those rare earth metals is China, which is hardly a bastion of either environmental or employment perfection.

(Yeah, "Cuyahoga River fire", but we've actually been cleaning up our shit for decades now, not just some token effort like the Chinese did for the 2008 Olympics.)

To say that Hummers are greener than Priuses is... inaccurate.

Certainly about half of taxi drivers in my town use Priuses, and I've made a habit of asking them what their experience with it was. I've yet to hear one say anything other than glowing praise for it: drops their monthly fuel expense by 50%, which is a huge deal for them.

I wouldn't call Leading The World In Renewable Energy Investment a token effort, exactly.

edited 25th May '15 6:48:07 AM by TheHandle

The Sudbury, Ontario nickel mines that supply the nickel used in hybrid/electric car batteries look like this.

The world's largest lithium reserves are in Bolivia, so even if Evo Morales lets foreigners have some, that's just the start of the problems.

Good discussion. I'm glad this has come up because there's a lot of confusion about how hybrid vehicles affect the environment and our wallets.

I've noticed that some people mistakenly yet understandably believe that fuel efficiency confers one's carbon footprint. On the other hand, it's important to remember that lithium battery technology is advancing quickly enough to where the battery itself can sustain multiple vehicle lifespans (i.e. the battery will last longer than the car itself to the point where you can refurbish it and put it in a new car). But, as others have noted, you basically have to blow up the top of a mountain to get the materials for said batteries. However, the problem can also be said to not have anything to do with current hybrid technology but with consumer habits (unnecessarily frequent oil changes, discarding reusable parts, etc).

Really, we're trying to have our cake and eat it too. With other nations rapidly developing their economies and generating a stronger desire to drive personal vehicles, we have to be mindful of the race between green technology and consumer demand. The number of drivers on the planet is steadily increasing, and to be blunt, if you really want to help the environment, don't drive your damn car so often. A Prius might be a somewhat helpful vehicle in terms of emissions standards, but stop-and-go traffic, short trips and user-related premature wear and tear of parts for any vehicle contribute quite a bit to pollution.

edited 25th May '15 7:30:36 AM by Aprilla

As an engineer who works in a factory, I absolutely need a car to go to work. Otherwise I'd never have bothered to get a permit, not when there's excellent public transportation, fuel is hyper-expensive, and every highway in the country is a toll road.

May I ask, how much of your cost of petrol/diesel is tax?^note  As for me, I paid 113.9 p/litre on Saturday.

42% for Diesel and 48% for Gasoil is taxes, full cost is about 1.3 EUR/litre right now.

50-60% here; the rate is £0.5795/litre + 20% VAT for petrol/diesel/biodiesel. Trains don't get a rebate, Buses do.

@Handle: I'll clarify because this comes up a lot. There's a difference between the people who need their vehicles to commute to work and school and the people who use their vehicles to go bullshitting with their friends and family who are within walking distance in their neighborhood.

I'm not saying I'm immune to this habit myself. I like to go on spirited drives every great once in a while. It's good to give my car very high RPMs, but I don't treat every single grocery trip or post office excursion like it's the Indy 500.

To put things in perspective for my habits, I bought my car with about 59,000 miles on it last May. As of today, it has about 66,000 miles. My driving frequency and range is below average for an American.

edited 25th May '15 2:23:07 PM by Aprilla