Autos Thread

I'm not good at foreign cars...

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Especially letters. :confused:
 
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Haha, same. I remember them being around at the same time as my B5 Audi.
 
There was a fatal accident near Boulder last weekend that killed one of the quarterbacks on the University of Colorado football team. He was driving alone at 3AM on a road just east of Boulder that is arrow straight for miles, but then has one nasty curve to go around a small reservoir. He allegedly was going extremely fast in his Tesla Model 3, couldn't hold his lane on the curve, the car hit the guardrail, blasted through it, then hit a power pole and caught on fire.

People questioned why the guardrail failed, but the reality is that the current standards for guardrails in the US assume the average car on the road is a lot lighter than they actually are these days. It is becoming a problem, with EVs weighing 4500-8000lb, giant pickups and SUVs, weighing the same, and even "small" cars weighing what a large car used to weigh. But the cost of upgrading the standard to deflect a 4500lb car is staggering, let alone a 7-8000lb pickup.

One thing I did discover in researching that is that there is another issue with EVs whereby they are engineered very well to withstand crashes from the side, but most have the batteries in the underbelly, which is not as well protected. If an EV tears through a guardrail, the jagged metal can drag underneath and breach the battery compartment. Sometimes this results in a fire. Paradoxically, the other issue with EVs is that they carry their weight very low, and they can submarine under a guardrail instead of hitting it in such a way that the guardrail absorbs the energy.

So add guardrail upgrades to the insane costs of road building these days.
 
flyoverstate said:
There was a fatal accident near Boulder last weekend that killed one of the quarterbacks on the University of Colorado football team. He was driving alone at 3AM on a road just east of Boulder that is arrow straight for miles, but then has one nasty curve to go around a small reservoir. He allegedly was going extremely fast in his Tesla Model 3, couldn't hold his lane on the curve, the car hit the guardrail, blasted through it, then hit a power pole and caught on fire.

People questioned why the guardrail failed, but the reality is that the current standards for guardrails in the US assume the average car on the road is a lot lighter than they actually are these days. It is becoming a problem, with EVs weighing 4500-8000lb, giant pickups and SUVs, weighing the same, and even "small" cars weighing what a large car used to weigh. But the cost of upgrading the standard to deflect a 4500lb car is staggering, let alone a 7-8000lb pickup.

One thing I did discover in researching that is that there is another issue with EVs whereby they are engineered very well to withstand crashes from the side, but most have the batteries in the underbelly, which is not as well protected. If an EV tears through a guardrail, the jagged metal can drag underneath and breach the battery compartment. Sometimes this results in a fire. Paradoxically, the other issue with EVs is that they carry their weight very low, and they can submarine under a guardrail instead of hitting it in such a way that the guardrail absorbs the energy.

So add guardrail upgrades to the insane costs of road building these days.
Click to expand...
The higher speed of vehicles today is much more of a factor since energy is
E = 1/2 m * v(squaredj
 
I haven't given up on that Cardle game, but it is challenging for me. If I fail, I don't bother to post any results.

I've always been very good at identifying cars/trucks while I was travelling or even just at home looking out my window, (we get around 8,000 vehicles per day that drive past the house) so I thought I'd be better at this game.

My problem is where I live and drive, around 75% of all the vehicles are either GM products, Ford/Lincoln, or Ram/Dodge/Jeep/Chrysler products. All of the rest combined make up the other 25%. People around here just don't buy many foreign cars. I see a handful of Toyota RAV4s and Tacomas, a few Nissans or Hondas once in a while, but I rarely ever see anything made by Porsche, BMW, Audi, or even Tesla. Anything more exotic than that I'd have to drive 3 or 4 hours to a big city to see.
 
ArmchairMillionaire said:
I haven't given up on that Cardle game, but it is challenging for me. If I fail, I don't bother to post any results.
Click to expand...
It's really hard because too many modern cars look alike, especially when the image starts with a swooping stylized headlight and an aluminum wheel.
 
Too hard.
 
Pointby2 said:
It's really hard because too many modern cars look alike
Click to expand...
You should read the article that helped me discover the game. I can't post the title here, but I'll provide a link.

The title says it all. And then the author ends the article with "Do you play one of these Cardles? If you do, great! If I’ve now introduced a new headache in your life, sorry!"
 
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I was totally lost today, then I almost got it in the last try. The headlight looked like a Renault or a Peugeot so I was way off.
 
Pointby2 said:
View attachment 62233
I was totally lost today, then I almost got it in the last try. The headlight looked like a Renault or a Peugeot so I was way off.
Click to expand...
See, I would have no idea what a Renault or Peugeot headlight would even look like, other than a Renault Alliance from the '80s.

Today I luckily guessed the make on the 3rd try, but that's as close as I got.

I'll post my results when I finally get a win!
 
ArmchairMillionaire said:
See, I would have no idea what a Renault or Peugeot headlight would even look like, other than a Renault Alliance from the '80s.

Today I luckily guessed the make on the 3rd try, but that's as close as I got.

I'll post my results when I finally get a win!
Click to expand...
Not only did I finally get a win, I aced it!

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- :biggrin:
 
If you think commenting on the candle game has any interest maybe you should start a separate thread. There are several that are specific to a game. This thread is titled autos thread, which I enjoy if people post pictures and stories about cars owned now or in the past. I do not enjoy seeing a new post about a game.
 
Tom52 said:
If you think commenting on the candle game has any interest maybe you should start a separate thread. There are several that are specific to a game. This thread is titled autos thread, which I enjoy if people post pictures and stories about cars owned now or in the past. I do not enjoy seeing a new post about a game.
Click to expand...
Sorry. I won't post them any more.
 
Yeah, start a new thread. I was pondering whether to start a new thread since this thread got crowded or post here, so if cardle stuff goes somewhere else, I'll post here about something that's on my mind about cars. Next post.
 
What's on my mind. What happens to all the "total accident loss" vehicles?

This is becoming a real problem. Cars of recent vintage are difficult to repair. I've been reading some insurance threads, and the number of totaled cars is ridiculous. No wonder there is a shortage of used cars. You wreck one, and it becomes trash very easily.

Today's post was from someone who nicked a semi trailer on a stupid lane change side-stupid incident. They ended up crushing the top of their door, and the door frame. Totaled. Repairing the A-pilar and roof is a major event. Back in the day, the guys would just torch it out and replace it. Not so easy today, what with side airbags, cage integrity and so on. And the door needs to be replaced. Before you know it, $10k and up in repairs.

And it goes on and on. Cars are made to disintegrate for safety. But repairing them is costly. Parking sensors, CANBUS taillights, and on and on.
 
Chuckanut said:
I’ve had plenty of neighbors from the Midwest laugh at people in my area who get very unsettled when they have to drive on snow.

We have hills. Steep hills. Many go downhill for several blocks. The first time they find themselves sledding down an icy hill in there car, they find out reality doesn’t give a hoot about their snow driving skills
Click to expand...
My dad was a truck driver in the mid west, he said he knew how to drive in snow, many people don't, but NOBODY knows how to drive on ice.
 
JoeWras said:
What's on my mind. What happens to all the "total accident loss" vehicles?

This is becoming a real problem. Cars of recent vintage are difficult to repair. I've been reading some insurance threads, and the number of totaled cars is ridiculous. No wonder there is a shortage of used cars. You wreck one, and it becomes trash very easily.

Today's post was from someone who nicked a semi trailer on a stupid lane change side-stupid incident. They ended up crushing the top of their door, and the door frame. Totaled. Repairing the A-pilar and roof is a major event. Back in the day, the guys would just torch it out and replace it. Not so easy today, what with side airbags, cage integrity and so on. And the door needs to be replaced. Before you know it, $10k and up in repairs.

And it goes on and on. Cars are made to disintegrate for safety. But repairing them is costly. Parking sensors, CANBUS taillights, and on and on.
Click to expand...
In 2023 27% of vehicles involved In collisions were totaled. In 2018 only 19% of vehicles involved on collisions were totaled. Probably has something to do with outrageous increases in auto insurance premiums.
 
Tom52 said:
In 2023 27% of vehicles involved In collisions were totaled. In 2018 only 19% of vehicles involved on collisions were totaled. Probably has something to do with outrageous increases in auto insurance premiums.
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Thanks for finding hard numbers. To me, it was just a "feeling" based on what I'm reading.

It absolutely is a factor in both premium increases and used car price increases.
 
JoeWras said:
Thanks for finding hard numbers. To me, it was just a "feeling" based on what I'm reading.

It absolutely is a factor in both premium increases and used car price increases.
Click to expand...
The insane complexity of newer cars contributes to their early demise, both after accidents, and after mechanical issues that would have been fixed years ago, rather than junking a car. They are more expensive to fix when they break for any reason. The old days of keeping a car alive with a junkyard engine or transmission is nearly gone.

Slate has the right idea in creating a vehicle that is as simple as possible, but the execution is wrong, IMHO. It should have been a modular powertrain design where the vehicle could be built as an EV, an ICE, or a hybrid on the same assembly line. And, of course, it should at least offer the option of AWD, that factor alone is going to make sales a non-starter in many areas. How many people in the northeast have enjoyed daily driving a REAR WHEEL DRIVE vehicle the past six weeks? None, I suspect. But at least they designed it with customer removeable body panels. That is a great idea, as long as they don't get stolen.
 
I would hope modular designs would make future repairs easier, but it’s a little hard when Ev and ice cars are so different in where weight is centered on the cars and how power is applied to wheels - the chassis, shocks, axles are all different.
 
I'll use the old engineering and design conundrum, which is real life.

PICK 2:

1) Modular design
2) Flex EV or ICE
3) Economy pricing
 
I recently brought back an older vehicle from the dead that needed an engine after reaching close to 400,000 miles. Between the cost of the replacement junkyard engine, front and rear crankshaft seals, cam seal, new water pump, new timing belt and tensioner, and new clutch kit since all of these parts are super easy to replace with the engine out, the dollars spent were close to the value of the vehicle. But I went ahead and did it anyway because of the fact that it's not a rolling computer like today's vehicles are and it's simple and easy to maintain, Cheap insurance is also a plus. I would certainly buy a brand new one of these if they still made them, but they don't. So I restore and enjoy.
 
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