What do you drive…

[Alt-Nintega]

You know with gas prices going up like crazy these days, I think a lot of you are going to have a hell of a time keeping a roof over your head. 

[SignOfZeta]

You know with gas prices going up like crazy these days, I think a lot of you are going to have a hell of a time keeping a roof over your head. 

Bah, people exaggerate. People also waste. I get 30+MPG in the sorts of cars I drive. This works out to be about $25 a week or less. That's less than I spend on just about anything else I buy.

I actually welcome increased gas prices. Once it hits $10 a gallon the Ford Expeditions and Suburban will be done forever. Converted to...duck blinds...or something. I can't wait!

[guyjin]

at that kind of price, the plastics that house our electronic goods start to get scary expensive.

[nat]

Once it hits $10 a gallon the Ford Expeditions and Suburban will be done forever. Converted to...duck blinds...or something. I can't wait!

Everyone buys these fucking 40 foot long gas guzzlers, just because having a big SUV is "in," and then they complain about high gas prices. 9 out of 10 times it's some little 5'1" woman in this huge 18-seater. And for what reason? Why do people feel the need for these things? I don't think I've ever seen one passing by that was actually filled up with anything, whether it be people or equipment. Don't even get me started on those HUMMERs. Who needs one unless you live in the Australian outback or need to cross the Iraqi desert?

People with extremely large trucks and SUVs have been pissing me off since I started driving. They hog the road, and they obscure view. There's nothing I hate more than being at an intersection trying to turn only to have a 20 foot high, 40 foot long tank completely obscuring my view of oncoming traffic. I basically just have to wait it out until THEY turn before I can even think about making a move.

I, for one, am with you-- I'll be really, really happy when the high gas prices make these ridiculous vehicles too impractical to own. Unfortunately, part of me fears that's not going to happen soon enough.

[Ceti Alpha]

Once it hits $10 a gallon the Ford Expeditions and Suburban will be done forever. Converted to...duck blinds...or something. I can't wait!

Everyone buys these fucking 40 foot long gas guzzlers, just because having a big SUV is "in," and then they complain about high gas prices. 9 out of 10 times it's some little 5'1" woman in this huge 18-seater. And for what reason? Why do people feel the need for these things? I don't think I've ever seen one passing by that was actually filled up with anything, whether it be people or equipment. Don't even get me started on those HUMMERs. Who needs one unless you live in the Australian outback or need to cross the Iraqi desert?

People with extremely large trucks and SUVs have been pissing me off since I started driving. They hog the road, and they obscure view. There's nothing I hate more than being at an intersection trying to turn only to have a 20 foot high, 40 foot long tank completely obscuring my view of oncoming traffic. I basically just have to wait it out until THEY turn before I can even think about making a move.

I, for one, am with you-- I'll be really, really happy when the high gas prices make these ridiculous vehicles too impractical to own. Unfortunately, part of me fears that's not going to happen soon enough.

I agree wholeheartedly.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Once it hits $10 a gallon the Ford Expeditions and Suburban will be done forever. Converted to...duck blinds...or something. I can't wait!

Everyone buys these fucking 40 foot long gas guzzlers, just because having a big SUV is "in," and then they complain about high gas prices. 9 out of 10 times it's some little 5'1" woman in this huge 18-seater. And for what reason? Why do people feel the need for these things? I don't think I've ever seen one passing by that was actually filled up with anything, whether it be people or equipment. Don't even get me started on those HUMMERs. Who needs one unless you live in the Australian outback or need to cross the Iraqi desert?

People with extremely large trucks and SUVs have been pissing me off since I started driving. They hog the road, and they obscure view. There's nothing I hate more than being at an intersection trying to turn only to have a 20 foot high, 40 foot long tank completely obscuring my view of oncoming traffic. I basically just have to wait it out until THEY turn before I can even think about making a move.

I, for one, am with you-- I'll be really, really happy when the high gas prices make these ridiculous vehicles too impractical to own. Unfortunately, part of me fears that's not going to happen soon enough.

I agree wholeheartedly.

Indeed.  No offense to anyone here, but, SUV's need to be banned.

[SignOfZeta]

at that kind of price, the plastics that house our electronic goods start to get scary expensive.

Yeah, I don't buy that either. Petro-plastics are super cheap, that's why everything is made of them in the first place. I'm pretty sure it takes more money to process the plastic in, say, a Wii than it does to buy the plastic itself. I can buy a generic plastic "project case" for $3. If the cost of plastic quadruples the $12 case would still be a drop in the bucket compared to the $300 worth of semi-conductors I put into it.

And it plastic did actually become expensive, we'd have plenty of SUV interiors to recycle. There is about a cubic yard of ABS in your average Honda Pilot. You could easily get enough plastic there for a dining room table and chairs with enough left over for a PS3.

[NecroPhile]

at that kind of price, the plastics that house our electronic goods start to get scary expensive.

The cost of everything would get scary expensive, as the cost of shipping and energy consumed during manufacturing would go through the roof for almost everything we buy.

[Ceti Alpha]

De-railment:

Once it's announced that we are consuming more oil than we can produce, it's over. People won't be able to afford to bring food in to their cities. It would complete anarchy.

It's basically going to cost the world $190 billion dollars a year. If we don't do that, it will cost us trillions later on and at a higher human cost.

[SignOfZeta]

De-railment:

Once it's announced that we are consuming more oil than we can produce, it's over. People won't be able to afford to bring food in to their cities. It would complete anarchy.

Yeah, once again, I don't buy that. The amount of fuel being just outright *wasted* is such a significant percentage that it will give us a nice "cool down" buffer once its obvious supplies are getting extremely low. The wells aren't all going to go dry on the same day. Combine that with gas rationing and and semi-smooth transitions can be made.

Every day 25,000 people starve to death on planet earth. That isn't going to change significantly when the petrol peters off.

It's basically going to cost the world $190 billion dollars a year. If we don't do that, it will cost us trillions later on and at a higher human cost.

I'm not sure what you are getting at here, or where that number comes from. The world probably spends $190 billion a year on shoe laces.

I think the transition to solar (the inevitable conclusion) will be relatively smooth in the grand scheme of things. I'd actually enjoy seeing spoiled American brats walking down the street instead of driving every where. I don't think its going to come to that though. I don't think its going to cause anything as horrible as, say, the 2nd Iraq war, or even the 70s gas crunch.

We'll see though. Its a big wild card.

[rag-time4]

its nice to to see we have some people that love there cars here any dream cars out there you would love to have????

Here's mine, I would love to have it in this color:


Here's a back view, but this one is not painted:


Here are some pics of me and what I drive... a poor man's version of the DMC?

[Keranu]

I've met a guy in high school in my town who owns a big laserdisc collection AND a Delorean. Never actually seen it myself, but the kid must be loaded.

[rag-time4]

I've met a guy in high school in my town who owns a big laserdisc collection AND a Delorean. Never actually seen it myself, but the kid must be loaded.

There's a Kosher Israeli restaurant in Oakland I've been to, and someone who lives next door has a DeLorean!

[Keranu]

Nice pics you uploaded! Are you wearing a bow-tie in those pics?

[rag-time4]

Nice pics you uploaded! Are you wearing a bow-tie in those pics?

Yessir! This how I dress when I go to school, though sometimes in different colors.

EDIT: Keranu, I just noticed your post count is 7777

[guyjin]

you might wanna black out that licence plate in your favorite image editor.

just sayin'.

[Keranu]

Nice pics you uploaded! Are you wearing a bow-tie in those pics?

Yessir! This how I dress when I go to school, though sometimes in different colors.

Very Farrakhan-ish of you! ;)

EDIT: Keranu, I just noticed your post count is 7777

Cool!

/7777de3.png

[nectarsis]

its nice to to see we have some people that love there cars here any dream cars out there you would love to have????

Here's mine, I would love to have it in this color:


Here's a back view, but this one is not painted:


Here are some pics of me and what I drive... a poor man's version of the DMC?

No offense, but a painted Delorean is an abomination, and a sin against the car.  Defeats the whole purpose of the cars design.

[nat]

you might wanna black out that licence plate in your favorite image editor.

just sayin'.

Why do people do that, anyway? People see my license plate every day when I drive down the street. Why is it OK for them to see it and not random people on the Internet?

[NecroPhile]

No offense, but a painted Delorean is an abomination, and a sin against the car.  Defeats the whole purpose of the cars design.

Somewhat true, yet paint looks far better than damaged body panels.  What was the purpose of this car anyway?  To look cool while going slow?

[SignOfZeta]

No offense, but a painted Delorean is an abomination, and a sin against the car.  Defeats the whole purpose of the cars design.

If all you have to do to make a car pointless is to paint it, its not a very great car, IMO.

I've never really been a huge fan of this car. The time traveling one is OK, of course, but the basic model just always seemed like it was desperate middle aged 80s douchebags obsessed with the superficial. The car looks like a Lotus or a Ferrari or something, it looks *great*. I'm a big a Giorgetto Giugiaro fan. His stuff is fantastic....but this car has one big problem; it isn't anywhere near as fast as it looks. In fact, it isn't anywhere near as fast as a Golf GTI from the same year (to name another al Giorgetto Giugiaro design that cost 1/3 as much), and that's pretty sad. Its really just a total turd, performace-wise.

The good thing about them is that they are pretty cheap. You can get them for less than $20k easy, and I suppose that for $10k more or so you could put a decent powertrain in it.

[SignOfZeta]

you might wanna black out that licence plate in your favorite image editor.

just sayin'.

Why do people do that, anyway? People see my license plate every day when I drive down the street. Why is it OK for them to see it and not random people on the Internet?

When you find out the answer to this question please tell me.

[nat]

I'm a big a Giorgetto Giugiaro fan. His stuff is fantastic....but this car has one big problem; it isn't anywhere near as fast as it looks.

Awesome.

In 1995 I bought a '76 Lancia Scorpion for $1 from my neighbor. He was moving and just wanted to give it to me, but I felt we needed to put something on the bill of sale. If the Scorpion isn't a Giorgetto Giugiaro design, then I'll be damned. As a matter of fact, the Scorpion looks so similar to a DeLorean, it's almost like they recycled the Scorpion design, added a few gimmicks (like wing-doors) and called it a DeLorean.

I didn't own the car long and it ended up getting sold not longer after.... I'm still upset about that. Should have kept it.

Here's a pic of one (the one I owned was metallic silver/gray, just like a DeLorean)--



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Montecarlo

[guyjin]

you might wanna black out that licence plate in your favorite image editor.

just sayin'.

Why do people do that, anyway? People see my license plate every day when I drive down the street. Why is it OK for them to see it and not random people on the Internet?

When you find out the answer to this question please tell me.

more crazy stalkers on the internet.

[Ceti Alpha]

I'm a big a Giorgetto Giugiaro fan. His stuff is fantastic....but this car has one big problem; it isn't anywhere near as fast as it looks.

Awesome.

In 1995 I bought a '76 Lancia Scorpion for $1 from my neighbor. He was moving and just wanted to give it to me, but I felt we needed to put something on the bill of sale. If the Scorpion isn't a Giorgetto Giugiaro design, then I'll be damned. As a matter of fact, the Scorpion looks so similar to a DeLorean, it's almost like they recycled the Scorpion design, added a few gimmicks (like wing-doors) and called it a DeLorean.

I didn't own the car long and it ended up getting sold not longer after.... I'm still upset about that. Should have kept it.

Here's a pic of one (the one I owned was metallic silver/gray, just like a DeLorean)--



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Montecarlo

A dollar?!!  What kind of shape was it in. That is a sweet car.  Me want. 

But I actually like the painted black De Lorean. There's at least one around here. You can usually see it driving around town a few times of the year, during the summer months.

[SignOfZeta]

you might wanna black out that licence plate in your favorite image editor.

just sayin'.

Why do people do that, anyway? People see my license plate every day when I drive down the street. Why is it OK for them to see it and not random people on the Internet?

When you find out the answer to this question please tell me.

more crazy stalkers on the internet.

I don't get it...what are crazy internet stalkers going to do with a number that crazy real life stalkers aren't going to do with it? I mean, my car is sitting out in front my place right now with the plate in full view. Am I...in danger!?

[SignOfZeta]

Awesome.

In 1995 I bought a '76 Lancia Scorpion for $1 from my neighbor.

Yeah, its not my favorite Lancia, but its nice as hell. And hey, according to this, also quicker than a Delorean.

My favorite Lanica:

[nectarsis]

No offense, but a painted Delorean is an abomination, and a sin against the car.  Defeats the whole purpose of the cars design.

If all you have to do to make a car pointless is to paint it, its not a very great car, IMO.

I've never really been a huge fan of this car. The time traveling one is OK, of course, but the basic model just always seemed like it was desperate middle aged 80s douchebags obsessed with the superficial. The car looks like a Lotus or a Ferrari or something, it looks *great*. I'm a big a Giorgetto Giugiaro fan. His stuff is fantastic....but this car has one big problem; it isn't anywhere near as fast as it looks. In fact, it isn't anywhere near as fast as a Golf GTI from the same year (to name another al Giorgetto Giugiaro design that cost 1/3 as much), and that's pretty sad. Its really just a total turd, performace-wise.

The good thing about them is that they are pretty cheap. You can get them for less than $20k easy, and I suppose that for $10k more or so you could put a decent powertrain in it.

I didn't mean that it made the whole car pointless, but it defeats the major point of having a stainless steel body.  Using paint to cover damage is a cheap fix, and hopefully anyone who has one wouldn't take such a cheap fix.

[NecroPhile]

I didn't mean that it made the whole car pointless, but it defeats the major point of having a stainless steel body.  Using paint to cover damage is a cheap fix, and hopefully anyone who has one wouldn't take such a cheap fix.

But what was the point of a stainless steel body anyway?  The additional weight that paint adds to a vehicle is negligible, so the only real advantage is corrosion resistance, which is unaffected by painting.  Depending on the severity of the damage, it would be impossible to perfectly straighten a panel back to its original shape while maintaining the grain direction; and even if one could source a new stamping, it might not fully match due to slight variations in alloys.  If an owner wants a flawless finish on their DMC-12, painting may be the only recourse, unless of course they want to have it gold plated. 

[nectarsis]

mmmm gold plated 

[Ceti Alpha]

The De Lorean that's around here isn't perfect that's for sure. It looks great, but there must have been damage done to it because the stainless steel doesn't match in parts. The black paint really does look great I think.

[termis]

Who-hoo! Sold my truck today.  Now I'm wheel-less (of the 4-wheel variety, anyway)!  Oh wait, that's not so good... 

My next car's going to be a right-hand drive car.  Hmmm....  the choices...

If an owner wants a flawless finish on their DMC-12, painting may be the only recourse, unless of course they want to have it gold plated. 

I guess you're referring to the one in Reno?

The Delorean certainly is total crap performance-wise, but the thing certainly has character.

[Mobius]

Acura RSX... Fun but practical.  I'm thankful for its 35+ MPG mileage these days.  Shame they stopped making them.  Here's mine.



I also saw a DeLorean driving around here a couple weeks ago.  I want one so bad.

[Ceti Alpha]

Who-hoo! Sold my truck today.  Now I'm wheel-less (of the 4-wheel variety, anyway)!  Oh wait, that's not so good... 

My next car's going to be a right-hand drive car.  Hmmm....  the choices...

Oh dear. I couldn't imagine driving standard with my left hand. It would certainly take some getting used to, that's for sure.

[NecroPhile]

My next car's going to be a right-hand drive car.  Hmmm....  the choices...

If you're in the US, I think you're limited to a Wrangler or a used Subaru for factory RHD.  If money's no object, then you can import just about anything in RHD; I suggest a Skyline. 

I guess you're referring to the one in Reno?

The Delorean certainly is total crap performance-wise, but the thing certainly has character. 

Indeed on all counts, though there's two other gold plated DMC-12s.

[termis]

My next car's going to be a right-hand drive car.  Hmmm....  the choices...

If you're in the US, I think you're limited to a Wrangler or a used Subaru for factory RHD.  If money's no object, then you can import just about anything in RHD; I suggest a Skyline. 

I'll be jumping ships to Australia, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of RHD cars to choose from.

I'm pretty sure I've seen a rhd wrangler once in my life somewhere in the US, but I can't ever seeing non-antique, non-postal unit rhd cars in the US.  On the other hand, I've seen quite a few random rhd cars in Canada that came in through a gray-market imports.  Just from memory, I've seen an MR2, Civics coupe, & a CRX or two.  I believe the import laws in respect to cars in Canada are a bit looser than the one in the US, as almost any cars that are 15+ years can be imported here relatively hassle free.  I think a few folks in Toronto were going after the R32 Skylines after the 15 year-limit was reached on those models.

I'm going by fuzzy memory, but I believe that time length is almost double that time in the US, making it 30 years, or else the car has to go through some super-expensive conversion which is prohibitive (as the gov't says you'll need imperial gauges, the whole thing has to be converted to LHD, put in proper emission controls, etc).  I once imported an antique bike into California, as since it was an "antique" that was older than 30 years, so it didn't have to go through all that conversion junk, but even though, it was still a pretty big hassle -- it took months until everything was sorted out.

Oh dear. I couldn't imagine driving standard with my left hand. It would certainly take some getting used to, that's for sure.

Yeah, I thought the same way too (in video game analogy, it'd be like using a controller with the buttons and the control pad reversed), but you actually adjust to it surprisingly quickly.

[SignOfZeta]

Somewhat recently the US government has made it much easier to import a single car into the country. You have to prove that it has some sort of technical or historical significance though. So if you wanted to import that Delta S4 up there, its not that hard to do. If you just want to import 100 units of some cheap piece of brand new shit (like a Cherry or a G-Wiz,) they'd tell you to piss off. There is a guy in NJ that imported a Golf Rally a few years ago, and he's not the only one.

Basically the EPA/NHSTA/whatever must have figured out that this country's problems weren't caused by the swarms of 959s and Ford Falcons from overseas. More likely though is that some senator collects cars and pushed this thing through when nobody was looking.

This just covers you for the Federal government. If you want to, say, get a state inspection sticker for North Carolina (needed to get a plate) you are going to have a hard time whereas here in Michigan you can register a car you build from scratch with no catalysts, crash bars, seatbelts, doors, etc. Just give them a clear VIN for a '72 Beetle and they'll fall for it. Nobody in the government here will even look at the car except for a cop, and that's only if he decides to pull you over for some reason.

Still this is an improvement since before the EPA would actually force you to destroy an illegitimate import. I recall an issue with a popular American car magazne (probably either Road and Track or Car and Driver, can't recall) where they were forced to destroy a Trabant they imported. They held a contest to see how it should be done away with.

[NecroPhile]

I'll be jumping ships to Australia, so I'm sure there'll be plenty of RHD cars to choose from.

Indeed; if Ford decides to pull a GM and start importing rides from down under, the Falcon XR6 Turbo with a manual tranny would certainly get a look (were I in the market for a sedan anyway).

[nat]

That still blows my mind that some states actually require you to bring your vehicle in to be "inspected." That's just so..... foreign to me.

In the Seattle counties and surrounding area we are required to have a hydrocarbon test every 2 years for cars less than 25 years old, but that's it. Cars older than 25 years are exempt from this. There are no other "inspections" and they don't even pop the hood-- just stick something that looks like a giant thermometer in the tailpipe for a few seconds.

I've heard some states require you to pass "safety" inspections where they actually inspect all parts of your car on some kind of regular basis. Sounds like a real pain, and I bet they make the driver's pay for it, too. "Great news! We've found a spot of rust on the undercarriage and therefor determined your car is not roadworthy. Please take a bus home. Oh, by the way, that will be $200." I just can't imagine.

Here in WA, like Zeta mentioned, you could register a piece of sheetmetal with an engine attached and nobody would give a shit (my dad did this numerous times back in the '70s and '80s, he used to build prototype vehicles, usually out of fiberglass, for gas mileage tests) as long as you had a VIN to fill in the DMV form.

[Ceti Alpha]

That still blows my mind that some states actually require you to bring your vehicle in to be "inspected." That's just so..... foreign to me.

In the Seattle counties and surrounding area we are required to have a hydrocarbon test every 2 years for cars less than 25 years old, but that's it. Cars older than 25 years are exempt from this. There are no other "inspections" and they don't even pop the hood-- just stick something that looks like a giant thermometer in the tailpipe for a few seconds.

I've heard some states require you to pass "safety" inspections where they actually inspect all parts of your car on some kind of regular basis. Sounds like a real pain, and I bet they make the driver's pay for it, too. "Great news! We've found a spot of rust on the undercarriage and therefor determined your car is not roadworthy. Please take a bus home. Oh, by the way, that will be $200." I just can't imagine.

Here in WA, like Zeta mentioned, you could register a piece of sheetmetal with an engine attached and nobody would give a shit (my dad this numerous times back in the '70s and '80s, he used to build prototype vehicles, usually out of fiberglass, for gas mileage tests) as long as you had a VIN to fill in the DMV form.

Yup. All provinces in Canada require a yearly inspection. Quebec was a haven for a while, but even they now require yearly inspections. Here in Nova Scotia, inspections were pretty slack. Unless you had something seriously wrong with your car (i.e. a broken emergency brake) you would get a pass. The garage I went to for inspections would just put my car up on the lift, give it a quick look over and then send me on my way for $15.

That all changed last year. Inspections are super tight now. Your car has to be pretty much perfect now to pass inspection. As I said, for the 3 years I had my car I only spent $45 in total for inspections. Then take last year when the laws changed, my inspection cost me $900.  As sucky as it was to get hit with a bill like that, it's safe to say that if my car was getting properly inspected every year my bill wouldn't have been nearly as high.

I also like to know that my car isn't going to shit the bed on me out of nowhere. A friend of mine also took his car to get inspected at the same place and his brake lines ended up snapping going down one of the steepest hills in the city. I don't expect when my inspection is due in October that I will be spending even a quarter of what I spent last year. That being said, I don't mind spending money on my car because if one thing is wrong with your car, that will effect something else, and so on and so on.

[SignOfZeta]

That still blows my mind that some states actually require you to bring your vehicle in to be "inspected." That's just so..... foreign to me.

I'm firmly of the belief that this should be mandatory nation-wide. The safety thing is much more important that the emissions, IMO. There are tens of thousands of people driving total fucking deathtraps on American roads right now.

What is totally batshit stupid is how much this varies from state to state. North Carolina has some rather tight stuff. A "spot of rust" isn't going to condemn anything but if the seat is falling through the floor, how well will the car fair in a crash? Not very well, I'd imagine. You have to pass a "tampering" inspection which basically says you can't have aftermarket ECUs, cat-less exhausts, etc. Then there is the emissions part. If your car is OBDII they just plug a computer into the DLC. If its pre-OBDII then there is a tail pipe test. If the car is more than 20 years old, but pre-OBDII then you don't have to pass the tailpipe test. This test is a whopping $35. If you can't afford $35 you really can't afford a car...especially in NC where you have to pay tax on cars you own. Not just when you buy it, but every year like a house or something. Crazy. They also make you get a license for your cat, and keep its shot up to date even if it never leaves the house.

Now California is completely fucked. The state puts catalysts on lawnmowers, but doesn't care if you Civic still has the bumpers and seatbelts. Zero safety at all. Furthermore there is the bullshit where every other year you have to take your car to be inspected not by a real mechanic that actually knows WTF he is doing, but to one of these shitball "inspection only" places that don't do any work. The theory, I guess, is that this protects the driver from getting sold repairs he doesn't need and stuff, but in reality its just a big pain in the ass because if you fail the inspection you still have to find a real mechanic to do the work anyway. Furthermore, why are they even doing tailpipe tests on 5 year old cars? The OBDII cars either pass or fail their own internal emissions checks anyway. If the MIL isn't on, and all the monitors are ready, there is no way its going to fail the test. If the MIL is on, then its an automatic fail. Easy.

I'm told Colorado uses an abbreviated IM240 with an actual rolling road. I'm not sure about this though.

States rights is a bunch of shit...

[Turbo D]

yes, us Californians are completely fucked! The gas is more expensive in California because it is a special blend. The gas is also lower octane than what you other states get.

[MrFulci]

In addition to sucking all the fun out of driving, they also suck all the power, speed, and fuel out of a car.

Now, this is coming from me, a person who likes BMW M3s, Miatas, GTIs, etc. If your favorite car is a Rolls Royce, then obviously anything but an auto is stupid. However if your favorite car is a Rolls Royce than I don't see why you don't just stay at home on the couch...there isn't much difference.

Stick shift is a lot of fun, it does cause one to be absorbed. One gains a lot more control over what is goign on with the road. I miss owning a stick shift car, and my next vehicle will surely be one.

A Rolls Royce and a Couch.... i like that.   Zeta, you are a bit negative on the idea! Imagine driving your couch, it's good fun. The couch at home also cannot go from point A to point B too easily. The boats/tanks are a lot of fun to drive, if you are driving an automatic, luxury is a good place to be. Bench seats all around!

[Turbo D]

I miss owning a stick shift car, and my next vehicle will surely be one.

Me too! I learned to drive in a stick shift truck. I drove it around for a year or two till my pops sold it.

A Rolls Royce and a Couch.... i like that.   Zeta, you are a bit negative on the idea! Imagine driving your couch, it's good fun.

There is some dude in the UK who converted his couch into a fully functional automobile! I think somebody posted the video in the youtube thread a while back.

[guyjin]

That still blows my mind that some states actually require you to bring your vehicle in to be "inspected." That's just so..... foreign to me.

I'm firmly of the belief that this should be mandatory nation-wide. The safety thing is much more important that the emissions, IMO. There are tens of thousands of people driving total fucking deathtraps on American roads right now.

As long as the deathtrap is only for the deathtrap's passengers, I support this. I am in fully in favor of vehicle assisted suicide. (Iowa is one of the few states that doesn't require motorcycle or moped riders to wear helmets.)

[SignOfZeta]

[quote author]

As long as the deathtrap is only for the deathtrap's passengers, I support this. I am in fully in favor of vehicle assisted suicide. (Iowa is one of the few states that doesn't require motorcycle or moped riders to wear helmets.)[/quote]
Well...you're just a social Darwinist dick then, and rather short sited since accidents caused by faulty vehicles often kill more than just the drivers.

[guyjin]

Well...you're just a social Darwinist dick then,

Actually, no; I'm a big fan of safety regulations, the 40 hour work week, single payer healthcare, etc; But I also think consenting adults should be able to do what they want so long as it doesn't harm others. In other words, every vehicle should have seat belts, but you shouldn't have to wear them.

and yeah, accidents involving idiots usually tend to harm non-idiots. it's not a perfect world.

[NecroPhile]

That still blows my mind that some states actually require you to bring your vehicle in to be "inspected." That's just so..... foreign to me.

I'm all for inspections, since I want to exercise a M107 every time I see some douche with a busted taillight, sheet vinyl covered window, jacked up redneckmobile, etc.  That said, I don't think that inspections do that much good as far as emissions go.  Those who modify their cars for performance reasons are used to reflashing their ECUs and swapping exhaust, as they do it for warranty work anyway.  I wonder if anyone's ever done a study of emissions compliance and/or accident rates and their severity in inspected states versus those without. 

As long as the deathtrap is only for the deathtrap's passengers, I support this. I am in fully in favor of vehicle assisted suicide. (Iowa is one of the few states that doesn't require motorcycle or moped riders to wear helmets.)

If you limit that to safety equipment and non-minor passengers, then I agree.  If you're including things that affect the ability to control a vehicle or include kids in the car, then it's vehicle assisted murder-suicide, which I can't condone (except on bank holidays).

[turbokon]

Here are mines.

[Sparky]

The Delorean certainly is total crap performance-wise, but the thing certainly has character. 

ya that is the best way to describe that car as having character, i guy was selling one close to where i live and the thing always caught my eye but not sure if i really like the looks of it when the doors are up it looks wwwwway better, and with the doors up it reminds me of car in the old 80's cartoon M.A.S.K 

Yup. All provinces in Canada require a yearly inspection. 

Ceti me friend the only inspection here in Ontario is the the 2 year emission testing and thats it... seriously... Never had a yearly inspection on the car (mind you i do keep up with my repairs with all the driving i do) does this inspection work like the emissions testing, where you get a notice in the mail and have to have it done when you renew you plate sticker? Watch me get a notice now since i mentioned it. !!!

EDIT: Love the little stang turboken