Bad weather

[GlytchMeister]

Right, I got so caught up in the emotional side of owning a nice car that I forgot to look at the practicality.

Speed isn't the whole thing. A car that can move 200+mph, by necessity, must be built to a certain exacting standard. Any imperfection at those velocities can be disastrous. This necessity results in some truly magnificent structural engineering and safety features.

If I had the option to choose a car to drive into a wall at 100mph, I'd probably choose a car with a much higher top speed to rather than one that can barely hit 100.

Probably something German. They seem to have this knack for automobile engineering. Audi or BMW. Maybe a Mclaren, they seem rather well put-together, especially the more recent models.

Supercars have to be built to safety standards well beyond those imposed by governments. Most governments require safe crashes at around 60mph, but nobody's going to buy a car that is certain death at 120mph. Even if the car will never go that fast, the fact that it can reach speeds two times faster than what it can handle in a crash would make customers very nervous.

Now, a car that can reach 120mph that is rated for crashes at 150mph would probably sell a lot better.

[Warrl]

In Europe, there are many places that have triple digit speed limits.

In Europe, speed limits would be in kilometers per hour.

100 kph = 62.14 mph.

[Dave]

Many sections of the German autobahn system have no strict speed limit, just a recommended limit (and a "do not drive so fast that you can't stop within the distance you can see" rule). It's apparently common to be overtaken by cars moving at over 120 MPH.

Too fast for my preferences.

[Catawampus]

I've driven around a few fancy cars, but the only one I've actually owned was a shiny new Porsche Boxster that somebody gave me. I didn't actually want it, though, so I just spent a few hours with it at a closed airfield runway where I drove it around at high speeds for a bit just so that I could say that I'd done it, then I gave it away to somebody else. It was a nice enough car as far as engineering and all that goes, but it wasn't really practical for my needs and I didn't have any use for it. And it seemed pointless to just leave it sitting around under a tarp.

A while later I did end up buying a Hudson Hornet that had been built as a police pursuit car and was later modified by a race car mechanic into a bizarre hybrid of engineering experimentation, which I kept for a few years and used for racing around. But that was hardly a luxury car, and cost me all of $200. Unlike with the Porsche, I could actually use it for hauling groceries or whatever without having to strap things to the outside of the car (I just had to keep an eye on the speedometer, as it was easy to unknowingly accelerate a tad far beyond the speed limit).

Huh, now that I think on it, I did own another Porsche. I just generally never thought of it as being one. It also wasn't a luxury car, but was a prototype for an amphibious car for the military that they never got around to regularly producing. The Germans gave it to the Mexicans, and I bought it from the Mexican army. Again, it only cost a few hundred dollars. And that car was a good one for bad weather. Plus it was fun to see how people reacted when I drove down the road, casually turned onto a boat ramp, drove into the river, and floated away.

I see anything considered luxurious, and I immediately think the owner is shallow. People who have a lot of money and then decide to show off are basically saying they're better than anyone with less money.

Often, the reason why people drive them is because their clients or customers are the shallow ones. The people have to be seen driving around in a fancy car because the clients won't appreciate a lawyer or financial adviser or whatever who drives around in a Toyota Camry. Pretty much the same reason why so many people have to wear suits and ties to work.

[Alkarii]

I don't mean cars with the $60k or price tag necessarily.

Those six figure price tags? Those. A Challenger (last I heard) costs around $40k, and yeah, I could see that, if you don't mind also doing some after market mods, like a roll cage and anti-ballistic windows and such. You know, power to get out of the shit fast, and durability to stand up to whatever going on long enough to use that power.

Like this one thing I'd seen on SKTFM.TV. Sean Kennedy (The F**kin' Man) was talking to some guy about his RV. Took him around $100k to procure and modify what started as an airport fire truck and became an armored RV. He could lower steel plates over the windshield, and thanks to the array of cameras and monitors, drive safely with the plates down. The wind was (I think) came from a tow truck meant to haul semi trucks, but that winch was still too weak to move the vehicle itself. Whatever you attach it to stands a good chance of being pulling to the RV.

Big diesel engine with a propane shot in it, which gave it a range of 1600 miles on a full tank of diesel and what looked like a standard propane tank for your grill. That's 800 miles out, and then back.

This thing could quite probably crash all the way through the lower floors of an office building and keep going, so long as the axels and most of the wheels stayed intact.

Those cars designed for racing on the street or those luxury vehicles with friggin' wipers on the headlights won't typically go far past the scene of a head-on or broadside unless you're going ridiculously fast and hit a light vehicle.

This thing would crush or push most of what's on the road until you apply the brakes.

~$100k for that beast, versus the same amount for one that could cost several thousand less for a different upholstery. (exaggeration, but you get the point).

Basically, I would only own an Aston Martin if it could do exactly what Bond got it to do, like drop tire spikes or convert into a sub.

I'm the kind of guy who would rather convert a decommissioned nuclear silo into a fortified house than have a mansion built for me.

Yours says you have money, mine would say "I can withstand airstrikes, chemical and biological attacks, and fallout."

[lake_wrangler]

I don't care much about "sexy"...

Here I am, with my two vehicles:

[Hansontoons]

Many sections of the German autobahn system have no strict speed limit, just a recommended limit (and a "do not drive so fast that you can't stop within the distance you can see" rule). It's apparently common to be overtaken by cars moving at over 120 MPH.

Too fast for my preferences.

In 2014 I spent nine days driving around southern Germany. The autobahn between major cities is a pleasure to drive. Yes, you have the fast movers in left lane, middle lane (where I stayed) runs about 80 mph constant, all trucks and slow movers stay in the right lane unless overtaking a really slow mover. They take "lane discipline " seriously. I took the little Mercedes sedan rental up close to 120 mph on the way back to the airport. It was a rush, but "what if a/the ______ breaks/self destructs" was all I thought about during the short time I was at speed.

Stretches of highway in west Texas allow 80 mph which is really fast enough in my experience. Except when you run into a a Camry and 18-wheeler running side by side in a 65 mph rolling roadblock. :p

[Julie]

I don't get why everyone is fawning over a luxury car. People buy those to show that they have a lot of money. They don't do anything a much cheaper car won't, aside from maybe go fast.

But then again, all those fancy sports cars with several hundred horsepower? A waste, usually, because where are you gonna use that speed without breaking the law?

Most cars these days have speedometers that go to either 140 or 160 mph, but I don't think I ever heard about any place with a triple digit speed limit.

I see anything considered luxurious, and I immediately think the owner is shallow. People who have a lot of money and then decide to show off are basically saying they're better than anyone with less money.

So a fancy car like that? I wouldn't care if the owner crashed it if I wasn't involved, aside from wondering for a moment of they survived.

I got my dad the weekend use of a Maserati Gran Turismo convertible for his birthday (charity silent auction thing...and I'm super lucky that, thanks to a minor misunderstanding, I was able to afford it after no one else bid on it).
A) This totally made me the best daughter in the world for at least a little while.
B) It is damn near impossible to drive such a car without giggling like a school girl every time you touch the accelerator, and when you're not giggling, you're probably unconsciously grinning like a mad fool.
C) While not the most practical of vehicles, it was easily the most responsive car I've ever driven...and the ride feels different than a "normal" car even when you're not accelerating at a ridiculous rate or speeding for the hell of it. There's a certain kind of quality in construction that creates an entirely different driving/riding experience...which may not necessarily justify the amount of increased expense for the car in most people's eyes, but certainly makes it understandable that such a vehicle would be more expensive than your average Honda or Ford or whatever. Plus, after watching a few episodes of How It's Made Dream Cars, it's hard not to think the car is worth every penny. The amount of research and craftsmanship that goes into luxury and high-end sports cars makes them, as Glytch pointed out, as much art as they are functional machine. Actually, when I think of them as works of art, their price seems much more reasonable. (Just ask Paul about the price of man-hours in a work of art sometime. ) It also makes the death of such a car more agonizing when you think of them in terms of effort and beauty. To me, not cringing at such a thing would be like destroying a fresco or sculpture and not caring because the art wasn't practical.
D) I don't think that people driving such vehicles are inherently shallow. Some of them may be, but others could very well be incredibly deep individuals who happen to have a taste for the finer things.

[TazManiac]

The thread drift we've seen (actually On Topic re: Bad Weather...) serendipitously coincidences with a Random Button strip I just came across;

http://wapsisquare.com/comic/sweptaway/



edit- just noticed thats a Coupe'...

[Catawampus]

It's even windier than usual right now, over 40 kn much of the time. I saw a coyote come loping out of some trees and head up the lee side of a ridge. Just as it crested the ridge, a strong gust blew over. The poor coyote was literally blown off its feet, flipped over and rolled back down the ridge. It scrambled back to its feet with an unmistakable "what the heck?!?!" expression, then dashed back into the woods twice as quickly as it had come out.

[GlytchMeister]

[DinkyInky]

It's even windier than usual right now, over 40 kn much of the time. I saw a coyote come loping out of some trees and head up the lee side of a ridge. Just as it crested the ridge, a strong gust blew over. The poor coyote was literally blown off its feet, flipped over and rolled back down the ridge. It scrambled back to its feet with an unmistakable "what the heck?!?!" expression, then dashed back into the woods twice as quickly as it had come out.

Awwww...the poor wil' puppy...

[Julie]

It's even windier than usual right now, over 40 kn much of the time. I saw a coyote come loping out of some trees and head up the lee side of a ridge. Just as it crested the ridge, a strong gust blew over. The poor coyote was literally blown off its feet, flipped over and rolled back down the ridge. It scrambled back to its feet with an unmistakable "what the heck?!?!" expression, then dashed back into the woods twice as quickly as it had come out.

*gigglefits* I feel bad for the little guy, but I'd have loved to see that.

[shadowinthelight]

It's even windier than usual right now, over 40 kn much of the time. I saw a coyote come loping out of some trees and head up the lee side of a ridge. Just as it crested the ridge, a strong gust blew over. The poor coyote was literally blown off its feet, flipped over and rolled back down the ridge. It scrambled back to its feet with an unmistakable "what the heck?!?!" expression, then dashed back into the woods twice as quickly as it had come out.

Are you sure it was the wind that knocked it over and not a road runner that decided to go on the offensive?

[Catawampus]

It's even windier than usual right now, over 40 kn much of the time. I saw a coyote come loping out of some trees and head up the lee side of a ridge. Just as it crested the ridge, a strong gust blew over. The poor coyote was literally blown off its feet, flipped over and rolled back down the ridge. It scrambled back to its feet with an unmistakable "what the heck?!?!" expression, then dashed back into the woods twice as quickly as it had come out.

Are you sure it was the wind that knocked it over and not a road runner that decided to go on the offensive?

No, the only bird in evidence in the area was a hawk who seemed to be having a terrific time zooming through the skies at about Mach 2 or thereabout.

Nor did the coyote change into a nine-foot-tall part woman, part goat person, either. At least not where I could see.

[Alkarii]

I'm curious... Am I the only person who likes blackouts during summer thunderstorms?

I kind of like reading by the light of a kerosene lamp with the windows open so I can listen to the rain, and when the storm passes the frogs in the swamp nearby will usually start singing. And considering that swamp is at least a hundred yards away, on the other side of a bunch of trees which completely obscure it during spring and summer, those frogs got some serious pipes.

(No, I'm not talking about French opera singers...)

Does it still count as bad weather if you like it?

[GlytchMeister]

Blackouts in my location mean the storm is fairly severe. And seeing as my experience with severe weather includes some pretty terrifying events, I get a little... Skittish around especially severe weather.

(I saw that tornado form right next to the car I was riding in on the highway right there, and I saw the debris ball when it hit the plant. I also felt the car jolting and juddering as the wind tried to take us into the vortex. I also happened to be about 10 at that time, so... All in all, I had a pretty stressful day that day. It stuck with me.)

I'll sleep like a baby during a mild thunderstorm, though. Rain and some thunder is really relaxing to me. The problems don't start until the power goes out, I see rotation in the clouds, or I hear a tornado siren. That's when I freak the f**k out.

Interesting fact: that tornado of that magnitude shouldn't have been able to form in those conditions... A big reason it did was because the storm that gave birth to it WAS A CANNIBAL. It ATE another storm became much more powerful.

[Sgt. Howard]

I have kerosene lamps on wall sconces all over the house. I always keep them fueled up and lighters/matches handy in case of blackout. On those rare occasions where the kids are gone at night, we shut down the electrical lights and run the oil- quite romantic, actually. Miss Annie certainly enjoys it.

[DinkyInky]

I have kerosene lamps on wall sconces all over the house. I always keep them fueled up and lighters/matches handy in case of blackout. On those rare occasions where the kids are gone at night, we shut down the electrical lights and run the oil- quite romantic, actually. Miss Annie certainly enjoys it.

I'm a candle fiend. Ditto my baby sister. My sister and I once took turns rotating the candles and kept a single room in the house seventy degrees for the entire week we were without power, and unable to open any outside doors to shovel our way out...buried to nearly the roof from drifts, then freezing rain hit right after that, then snow again. The subzero ice storm broke several poles, and messed up transformers, whch knocked out power to many cities.
On the seventh day, neighbours managed to get to us with basic medical and food supplies...just in time for the power to flicker back to life.

[Catawampus]

I have kerosene lamps on wall sconces all over the house. I always keep them fueled up and lighters/matches handy in case of blackout. On those rare occasions where the kids are gone at night, we shut down the electrical lights and run the oil- quite romantic, actually. Miss Annie certainly enjoys it.

I'm a candle fiend. Ditto my baby sister. My sister and I once took turns rotating the candles and kept a single room in the house seventy degrees for the entire week we were without power, and unable to open any outside doors to shovel our way out...

You just want to make sure that you don't go and asphyxiate yourself doing that sort of thing.