Car (or bike) Chat!

[Marco]

Or this sex on wheels, just listen to that ROAR - feck yer electric pish, no matter HOW fast they are:



HUBBA, HUBBA!

Marco.

[struth]

A rip-roaring fart or a whoosh. You choose. [emoji23]

[Marco]

Give me dat FART GAS, BABY!!!!!

Marco.

[struth]

Summat to be said for the sneaky whoosh too [emoji106]

[Pigmy Pony]

I think there's something pretty cool about the way electric cars can take off like a scalded cat but without any noise, smoke or drama. Having said that, Nissan GTR is Anita's favourite car by a country mile, and she would choose it over anything out there, regardless of price.

I was a little put off by my daughter's partner (who had one for a while) telling me the interior is really second rate, with some switchgear and other bits common to the Nissan Juke. I'd want the interior to feel pretty special, as that's what you see when you're driving it.

[walpurgis]

I've nothing against electric cars in principle, but they'll never have any 'character' and will be regarded as the equivalent of a domestic appliance.

They do have the potential to achieve huge mileages before wearing out. In comparison, piston engines are pretty hopeless. Unfortunately, the real usable range of electric cars bears no comparison to the manufacturer's claimed figures. We have a way to go yet, before electric cars are an all round alternative.

Hybrid cars actually make no sense whatsoever. They still burn fuel and don't seem to gain much from being 'electric assist'. I think they will turn out to be a blind alley in car evolution terms.

User maintenance will cease to be a realistic option. Mind you, that already applies to modern cars as a whole. If you get a problem, you won't get them running again with a feeler gauge. Give me plugs, points, condenser and coil and I know where I stand.

[Marco]

Lol - Geoff nails it right on the button, as he frequently does (because I think he 'gets' what makes me tick, car wise):

I've nothing against electric cars in principle, but they'll never have any 'character' and will be regarded as the equivalent of a domestic appliance.

Yup, and THAT alone would preclude me from owning one, regardless of *anything* else, including any coolness attached to 'whooshing', etc.

Quite simply, I don't 'do' normal cars, as with my lifestyle I don't need to, so practical considerations, such as economy/running costs etc, which would be important factors to others, simply aren't a consideration, as I use cars simply for pleasure

So 'character' and 'personality' are important. Any car I drive needs to be something that sticks out from the crowd, rather than blends in with everything else.

That's why, although not especially 'spectacular', I love the Brabster, as I like cars that have some element (preferably a lot) of bespoke/modified aspects to their design and/or looks. In that respect, there would always have to be something different from the norm about any car I drove [essentially reflecting MY personality], and subsequently the sense of satisfaction that would give me every time I got behind the wheel

Mass-produced electric cars (as they soon will be), certainly those being marketed to appeal to your average 'Joe Bloggs', are the complete antithesis of that - and also the complete antithesis of my personality!

Marco.

[Marco]

I think there's something pretty cool about the way electric cars can take off like a scalded cat but without any noise, smoke or drama.

Yeah, I *totally* get that, and if someone were to design a car that LOOKED like a GTR, or that gorgeous black Mustang Jay Leno was driving, and made it feel like it had some kind of 'soul', at some sort of vaguely sensible price, whilst being electric, then it'd consider it.

Perhaps they could build in a function that would enable you to press a button and choose the 'sporty noise' you wanted the car to imitate - that would be cool, if it was done well!

Basically, if someone could harness the cool aspect of electric cars, as you've outlined, and house it in a 'retro shell', as it were, and also something that you could further CUSTOMISE, to make *yours* stand out from the rest, then I'd be in!

But to sit behind the wheel of some soullessly homogenised, glorified 'shopping trolley' or 'SUV', which every other Tom, Dick and Harry has, would simply turn me off from driving altogether. Aside from anything else, driving should be FUN - not simply a 'task' required to get you from A to B, rather mundanely!

Marco.

[Macca]

Tesla Roadster 2020? Looks like a GTR, 0-60 in 1.9 seconds, certainly not a shopping trolley or what every tom dick and harry will be driving, bit spendy though:

[walpurgis]

This isn't slow! 1/8th mile on an electric drag bike. Weird not having any engine noise though,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQJMtjqerOY