Diesel cars banned in Frankfurt

[Keleth 9,321]

5 hours ago, toBnruG said:

Convenience rules, and that is the only reason that people don't get onboard with EVs.

Total and utter bollocks.

[slammer 889]

2 hours ago, fraufruit said:

 

 

Fact is, the warning systems that indicate when someone is driving in your "blind spot" have greatly reduced accidents. 

Have they? I would not put my life on the line that they work 100% all the time. But I am a biker and looking round the blind spot has been hard coded into my brain.

In my humble opinion, all this tech reminds me of the tortoise and the hare fable. People get used to the convenience of the tech and get sloppy. Tech responds with more tech, people get used to the tech and tech responds with more tech...uswusf.

[fraufruit 42,471]

Our car has a live camera that shows down the sides of the car when we turn on the blinkers. We would know immediately if they weren't working. We would be forced to turn our heads if that went out as well as the indicators on the side mirrors. All at the same time. Oh, and not to forget the picture of the car on the dash in front of the steering wheel that shows when any object gets close to any corner of the car while driving down the Autobahn.

[keith2011 2,678]

1 hour ago, fraufruit said:

Our car has a live camera that shows down the sides of the car when we turn on the blinkers. We would know immediately if they weren't working. We would be forced to turn our heads if that went out as well as the indicators on the side mirrors. All at the same time.

 

In case of such emergency there are driver hand signals  (assuming your electric window has not gone out as well) to indicate left and right turns and slowing down. One wonders how many drivers know them these days (if they are still taught) and indeed would other road users understand them.

[HEM 11,163]

Just now, keith2011 said:

 

In case of such emergency there are driver hand signals 

 

I remember then being taught in the UK 50+ years ago & them also being in the "Highway Code".

 

Must ask my daughter if they are taught here...

[fraufruit 42,471]

Giggling thinking about trying to hold my arm out of the window at 160 kph. 

[slammer 889]

14 minutes ago, fraufruit said:

Giggling thinking about trying to hold my arm out of the window at 160 kph. 

Heck, me too.

[GoBike 141]

On 11/02/2023, 13:26:21, slammer said:

Perhaps I am a minority here, but in my humble opinion ICE cars peaked in the late seventies, early eighties, cars then were cheap, no frills affairs that either worked or they didn’t. Anybody who knew the difference between a screwdriver and a socketset could repair it in the driveway and if you could use a strobe on the distributor it would run anyway you wanted it.

I think that today’s cars use too much Technology for too little gain. Manufacturers spend millions in development for a tiny tweak that is only noticeable on specialized equipment and don’t get me started on the tech you need to cram into making an EV move. In the end it’s just a car.

You were lucky to get 3 to 8 years out of an older seventies car. My current car cost me 1500 Euros 10 years ago. I still repair it myself and travel 45 km to work and return. No WD 40 no jump leads no pushing. Now 18 years old. Mercedes Smart badges, but Got lucky Japanese colt parts. I wonder how my greenhouse gas emissions look per km.  Add how much time I would have to work for 50k after tax. I bought the computer part to repair from China makes the job easy.

[slammer 889]

32 minutes ago, GoBike said:

You were lucky to get 3 to 8 years out of an older seventies car. My current car cost me 1500 Euros 10 years ago. I still repair it myself and travel 45 km to work and return. No WD 40 no jump leads no pushing. Now 18 years old. Mercedes Smart badges, but Got lucky Japanese colt parts. I wonder how my greenhouse gas emissions look per km.  Add how much time I would have to work for 50k after tax. I bought the computer part to repair from China makes the job easy.

Havn´t had to buy a car for the last 20-odd years. Bikes however are a different story. My latest was bought for 1600 Euros and will be next year 30 years old. I have now had it for the last four years and I hope to bring it through TÜV in April and ride if for another two years until the next TÜV.

[keith2011 2,678]

2 hours ago, slammer said:

3 hours ago, GoBike said:

 

Havn´t had to buy a car for the last 20-odd years. Bikes however are a different story

 

The new ones though are also becoming high tech, I was looking at a friends fairly new Triumph, when I was back in the UK for Christmas, riding modes, abs, you name it is all there, good knows what happens if the electronics packs up certainly not something you can fix at home.

BTW imo cars from the 70s and 80s may have been the peak but they were still rust buckets, both of the 2 Opel cars I purchased in the 80s (70s and 80s vintage),  were less than 10 years old when they went for scrap after failing the TUF, rusting away underneath. My wife's car a Fiat is now 12 years old with 200k on the clock and has no rust issues, not a high tech model (not even satnav) but I do like the electric windows.

[Krieg 15,072]

40 minutes ago, keith2011 said:

 

The new ones though are also becoming high tech, I was looking at a friends fairly new Triumph, when I was back in the UK for Christmas, riding modes, abs, you name it is all there, good knows what happens if the electronics packs up certainly not something you can fix at home.

 

True as well.  The current motorbike I use for transportation even if it is a cheapish one is already bloated with tech.   My main complain is they removed the kickstart and the bike can't be bump started (because electronics).   So if the battery is low and it does not start you are in for a headache.  And my second complain is related to the first one.  If the battery is low you can jump start the bike (with cables and from another vehicle, or from another battery), then your motorbike starts, now you want to go on your way, you want to put back the seat, but for that you need the key, but the key is in the ignition.   So you have to switch off the bike to put back the seat, but then the bike might not start again.   I swear nowadays people who make all sort of products (and software) never use them themselves.

[slammer 889]

2 hours ago, keith2011 said:

 

The new ones though are also becoming high tech, I was looking at a friends fairly new Triumph, when I was back in the UK for Christmas, riding modes, abs, you name it is all there, good knows what happens if the electronics packs up certainly not something you can fix at home.

BTW imo cars from the 70s and 80s may have been the peak but they were still rust buckets, both of the 2 Opel cars I purchased in the 80s (70s and 80s vintage),  were less than 10 years old when they went for scrap after failing the TUF, rusting away underneath. My wife's car a Fiat is now 12 years old with 200k on the clock and has no rust issues, not a high tech model (not even satnav) but I do like the electric windows.

Luckily as the cheapskate I am I buy motorbikes up to 3000 and even that crazy price makes me walk funny for a few days. But yes, more and more tech letting you do less and less. Apart from the obvious the main victim of this trend are farmers who literally need to hack their own tractors when something goes wrong.
It has me wondering, just how many miles to the watt would EV´s get if all the schnick-schnack were to be removed, also I think it is wrong simply to take a heavy car with wide, drag-heavy tires, strip the engine out and replace the drive chain with electric stuff. I said before the ideal EV would be a light weight pod on thin wheels. But then I doubt MegaMike would buy one, and we can´t have that... :-)

[LeonG 14,850]

2 hours ago, slammer said:

Luckily as the cheapskate I am I buy motorbikes up to 3000 and even that crazy price makes me walk funny for a few days. But yes, more and more tech letting you do less and less. Apart from the obvious the main victim of this trend are farmers who literally need to hack their own tractors when something goes wrong.
It has me wondering, just how many miles to the watt would EV´s get if all the schnick-schnack were to be removed, also I think it is wrong simply to take a heavy car with wide, drag-heavy tires, strip the engine out and replace the drive chain with electric stuff. I said before the ideal EV would be a light weight pod on thin wheels.

 

Tesla really doesn't like people who fix their own cars.  There are a few video's on that.  Here's one:  Tesla ruined my car and it’s the best thing to ever happen to me! - YouTube

 

A light weight pod on thin wheels makes me think fondly of my old Ford KA somehow.  I had a '99 model.  Nice little car and look at them skinny tires

 

[fraufruit 42,471]

2 hours ago, slammer said:

It has me wondering, just how many miles to the watt would EV´s get if all the schnick-schnack were to be removed

 

I think that most of the schnick-schnack as you call it also comes on newer ICE cars as well.

[slammer 889]

1 hour ago, fraufruit said:

 

I think that most of the schnick-schnack as you call it also comes on newer ICE cars as well.

Yes, but the ICE car has Welly and Grunt to spare in dealing with the schnick-schnack.

[slammer 889]

2 hours ago, LeonG said:

 

Tesla really doesn't like people who fix their own cars.  There are a few video's on that.  Here's one:  Tesla ruined my car and it’s the best thing to ever happen to me! - YouTube

 

A light weight pod on thin wheels makes me think fondly of my old Ford KA somehow.  I had a '99 model.  Nice little car and look at them skinny tires

 

In the right direction but still too heavy. 

More like these...:

I really like the 50ties retro electro Isetta and recently had a look at the Opel... thing. It´s bigger on the inside than on the outside.

[mtbiking 1,904]

Those things fail the IKEA and family vacations test  I try to minimize car-time as much as possible - bicycles being much superior - but it needs to be a properly sized family car for when we need it..

 

And for all the romanticizing of the seventies ä, eighties etc.. just compare the accident death rates back then to nowadays in pretty much any country, many of those modern systems save lives.

[keith2011 2,678]

10 minutes ago, slammer said:

More like these...:

I really like the 50ties retro electro Isetta and recently had a look at the Opel... thing. It´s bigger on the inside than on the outside.

 

I suspect they are very practical and efficient but I wouldn't be seen dead in one.  Noddy cars are not the way to sell EVs Tesla have the right idea!

[yesterday 2,027]

I thought the idea was to buy a small car for your daily needs and rent a bigger one when you need it.

[fraufruit 42,471]

Those things are death traps when you get hit by a big car/SUV.

 

ETA, beer truck.