Automotive idiot stories...

[Radoman]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

My daughters kit car was purchased from a couple in their early 70s. They both drove it fast and well and he was building himself an AC Cobra rep kit car at the time !!

Yes, most folks over here drive manual. It's a falllacy to believe it's difficult. The only elderly folks I know who drive autos are ones who have suffered major disability as they have aged and either cannot move a gear stick or have weak left legs ( those with weak right legs either give up or convert the car to hand controls )

Originally Posted by Jakg

when youre brought up with it is easy, im 14 and it took me 30 mins and then it was natural

Guys....

I know. I was making referrence to the fact that I live in Canada in a town that is mostly old people, and I am telling the honest truth that we have literally no old people that drive manuals; around here the belief is that you simply aren't allowed to drive a standard once you hit a certain age; I've even met many people who have no clue what a manual is or how to drive one. I once driven this old dude home; the car is a new pontiac torrent. It is very clearly an auto, with the big P R N D etc. letters printed down the side of the shifter. It is on the dash, rather than on the steering wheel stalk, as anyone who knows what a torrent is knows this.

Anyhow, we hopped in and he exclaimed "Oh, is this one of those Manual Transmissions..???" as if he's never seen one before.

And, I've had an uncountable number of folks tell me "oh, you'll grow out of driving those manual transmissions". And these comments don't always come out of old people. One time about a year ago, there was this rather large woman who was with a slightly older man who looked rather displeased with himself. The woman was roughly in her 40's, I assume a couple (I found it hard to believe they were married due to what a completely mismatched pair they were), and the woman asked me what car I drove, and after telling her (I usually wind up having to explain what it is because most people I meet don't know what an MR2 is), she said "oh, you'll grow out of that as you grow older. Manuals are unneccessary. When you grow up you'll find yourself driving automatics."

I was very close to chewing her out, but her companion that evidently knew better did that for me

[greg.harvey]

Haha!

Actually, my dad is English and has driven manuals all his life, but even he is getting too lazy for manuals these days ... Much to my disappointment, he passed up the opportunity to buy a manual 1969 Jaguar S-Type on the grounds that if he was going to drive a Jaguar, he couldn't be bothered with anything other than an auto - apparently the manual boxes are a bit like truck gears!

G

[kingofthering]

Originally Posted by greg.harvey

Haha!

Actually, my dad is English and has driven manuals all his life, but even he is getting too lazy for manuals these days ... Much to my disappointment, he passed up the opportunity to buy a manual 1969 Jaguar S-Type on the grounds that if he was going to drive a Jaguar, he couldn't be bothered with anything other than an auto - apparently the manual boxes are a bit like truck gears!

G

um.. the s-type has been around since 1969!?!?!? i thought it was introduced in 2000

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by kingofthering

um.. the s-type has been around since 1969!?!?!? i thought it was introduced in 2000

http://www.jdht.com/jdht_collection/...YPEEKT979.html

The original bank robbers car

[kingofthering]

ohhhhh.but wasnt it the mark x saloon or something like that? because s-type is the new one.

[Matra et Alpine]

Originally Posted by kingofthering

ohhhhh.but wasnt it the mark x saloon or something like that? because s-type is the new one.

From the Jaguar-Daimler Heritage Trust site that the link pointed to .....
"The S-type was the car for the customer who wanted speed, comfort and style, in a car smaller than the Mark X, but without the overtly sporting image of the Mark II."

[greg.harvey]

Like Matra says, the S-Type you're thinking of is the new S-Type ... like the new Mini or the new Beetle.

[Clivey]

The two guys I describe in this thread definitely qualify for the "automotive idiot" status!

3 Fast, 3 Furious

[PBB]

A couple great stories from the STi forum:

Some jerk-off was tailgating me today.. I could not even see the hood of their car at 55mph.. (I R E A L L Y hate that above all things because 1st off, nobody in the world who doesn't drive 200mph on sundays or hasn't broken the Pike's Peak record is that good a driver, and 2nd, our STI's stop a hell of a lot quicker than anyone behind us could hope to achieve from that distance.)

Well, I tried slowing down, they stayed with me, I sped up they stayed with me.. They refused to pass.. That was even worse.. So I am coming over a hill, and I see this old tire in the middle of the road. I am thinking damn, what is that doing there just as I whip around it (effortless in the STI).. Well, needless to say, the person behind me whacked that tire so hard I saw the front of their car bounce up and they lost their muffler and something else.. I was laughing my ass of at that point..

serves em right.

Yea I had a similar experiance the other day. I was comming up on this older SAAB to pass him, right when I get next to him he speeds up so I cant pass. I was like whatever and just pulled back into the right hand land, then he slows down so I go to pass him and he trys to speed up again, ive had enough of this drop it into 5th and take off, as I fly by I notice its some kid and his GF I guess he was trying to impress. I drop it back to about 85 after he is just a speck in my mirror. Few minutes later, hes back but now his game is to ride my ass 2 inches from me. Now I cant stand this at all, it makes my blood boil if you know what I mean. So I just start to slow down once I get to about 50 he passes me, now my road rage as set in and I cant be held responsible for my actions. As he passes I pull right up on his ass so he knows how it feals but instead of slowing down he speeds up, we get to about 120 MPH comming up a hill when my radar goes off. So I signal and get into the right lane and quickly slow down to about 70, as we top a hill there is a state trooper, that instantly turned his lights on and pulls over the SAAB.

[TVR IS KING]

Those stories made my day. And I thought karma didn't exist...

[bikky]

A lad at work had a 1990 Honda civic 1.6 (all bog standard, and if he fast n furiosed it (with new body/engine/wheels/shocks/etc..... and then learned how to drive it would do what he said)

apparenlty a nice tight corner on one of our back country roads, went round it at 80MPH in thick fog. Well an Evo/Scooby might make it at a max of 85 in perfect conditions.

My new late 05 astra sri has managed it at 60, with front wheel drift, in good conditions.


mind he also told me that 200PS was approximatley 130BHP.
and that his unmodified mkII astra GTE would keep up with an Evo.

[bikky]

Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine

Just not in the UK, Japan, India, Australia and a numebr of other countries PLEASE

yeah but its right lane here, and if i'm not mistaken, its actually illegal in the UK to "HOG" the right lane when no one is to be passed.

I know the police in the north around newcastle started clamping down on lane Hoggers in beginnnig of 2005

[h00t_h00t]

Originally Posted by bikky

mind he also told me that 200PS was approximatley 130BHP.
and that his unmodified mkII astra GTE would keep up with an Evo.

Assuming the Evo was traveling at the speed limit, it would.

[greg.harvey]

Originally Posted by bikky

yeah but its right lane here, and if i'm not mistaken, its actually illegal in the UK to "HOG" the right lane when no one is to be passed.

I know the police in the north around newcastle started clamping down on lane Hoggers in beginnnig of 2005

I think Matra's point was that he wouldn't the people described in the post by MrBikerMan on UK roads - or anywhere else for that matter! So yer, it is illegal. It's illegal in most countries, albeit not enforced. I thought it was even illegal in the US, no?

BTW, it is also illegal (in the UK at least) to "undertake" (pass on the inside) such idiots, as this is potentially dangerous too. Why? Because motorway users do not expect people faster than them in the inside lane and may move over without properly checking on the assumption the lane is clear. Sadly, the only safe and legal thing to do in a situation such as this is sit behind afforementioned idiot and try to get their attention (NOT by tailgating them either!) In my experience, a quick flash of the headlamps moves most people. If that fails, a pip of the horn works every time.

[bikky]

Originally Posted by greg.harvey

I think Matra's point was that he wouldn't the people described in the post by MrBikerMan on UK roads - or anywhere else for that matter! So yer, it is illegal. It's illegal in most countries, albeit not enforced. I thought it was even illegal in the US, no?

BTW, it is also illegal (in the UK at least) to "undertake" (pass on the inside) such idiots, as this is potentially dangerous too. Why? Because motorway users do not expect people faster than them in the inside lane and may move over without properly checking on the assumption the lane is clear. Sadly, the only safe and legal thing to do in a situation such as this is sit behind afforementioned idiot and try to get their attention (NOT by tailgating them either!) In my experience, a quick flash of the headlamps moves most people. If that fails, a pip of the horn works every time.

errm there's special rules for undertaking. Its not illegal to undertake if you are either in traffic congestion and your lane moves faster, hence undertaking, and its not illegal to do it if you don't pull into that lane to pass a car on the underside, ie, if your cruising at 75 on left lane on a quiet motorway, you can undertake a car doing 70 on the middle/right, as you have NOT pulled into that lane specifically to do so. Although that type of overtaking is frowned upon, and the police would probably pull you and tell you its dangerous as people don't expect you to pass on their left. To which point i've said ok, and asked the copper if he can now catch the car i'd done it to and tell them it is infact illegal to hog a lane when not overtaking. I got told to shut my mouth and drive more carefully, he followed me for 10 miles after that.