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What's something modern you won't miss when it becomes obsolete?

Gregg Axley

I'll Lock Up
Messages
5,125
Location
Tennessee
How about one of these?
Apparently it has an SRT4 engine (turbo 4cyl).
Stock those are 215hp (understated), but at the wheel they make 230hp.
I saw one at 24psi (for the turbo) making over 400hp, in a Neon SRT. His video showed 80 to 115mph in 3 seconds.
This picture shown is of a transplanted SRT4 with the boost turned up to 35 psi, which is probably towards the 500hp mark.
Now you have someone lacking all the concepts you listed Zombie, but in a much faster vehicle. :D
minivansmoke.jpg
BTW there is a video of this person on youtube.
 
Last edited:
Messages
13,672
Location
down south
Suburban got 16 mpg.
Oddysey gets 30 mpg.
Mrs.DH raises kids.
DH works.
DH buys the gas.
DH is pretty O.K. with the little van these days.

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Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
How about one of these?
I wouldn't turn it down if someone walked up and handed me the keys and the pink slip. :D

...DH is pretty O.K. with the little van these days.
To be clear, I don't have a problem with minivans as a concept. But over the last 20 years I've observed very few people know how to drive them. At best they're simply driving slower than the posted speed limit delaying the flow of traffic; at worst they're wandering all over the pavement with seemingly little or no awareness of other vehicles. Granted, we have our fair share of bad drivers here in California, but minivan drivers are definitely a "special" breed.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,757
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
When I'm dictator, minivans will be constructed with an internal Faraday cage which blocks all radio signals. Then maybe these jackass "suburban mom" drivers will be forced to put down the cellphone and pay attention to the road.

I'll also require a governor on all transmissions limiting them to 45 mph. And I'll dynamite all the freeways and interstates and turn them back into pasture land.
 

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,247
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
Those oversized shopping carts made up to look like vehicles - complete with "steering wheels"- to keep the kiddies placated while the parent shops. They are so big that they usually block the entire grocery aisle, and they take up all of the room inside of the cart pens in the parking lots.
 

sheeplady

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
4,479
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA
Minivans. What is it about them that makes the person who sits in the driver's seat forget whatever they might once have known about piloting a motor vehicle? In the last 20 years I've seen only one--ONE--person driving one who knew the simple concepts of acceleration, braking, steering, driving laws, courtesy, and common sense (which, I admit, isn't as common as it used to be). The rest were all menaces to society who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a vehicle of any type.

I drove a mini-van when my previous car had to be in the shop. They are horrendous things to drive. I know I had a loaner, but still, even a loaner I don't expect to be that bad. Their center of gravity is low, like a car; but the driver sits high.

It is the most disconnected experience I have ever had from the road. This might explain the lack of driving skills.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,757
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
It's interesting how the weight is distributed in those things. You're about as high up as you'd be in a typical American sedan of the thirties or forties, but the handling is extremely different. The one time in my life I drove one, a Toyota RAV 4 belonging to my best friend, I rammed it into a curb because I couldn't get the hang of it. (The automatic transmission didn't help either.)
 
I wouldn't turn it down if someone walked up and handed me the keys and the pink slip. :D

To be clear, I don't have a problem with minivans as a concept. But over the last 20 years I've observed very few people know how to drive them. At best they're simply driving slower than the posted speed limit delaying the flow of traffic; at worst they're wandering all over the pavement with seemingly little or no awareness of other vehicles. Granted, we have our fair share of bad drivers here in California, but minivan drivers are definitely a "special" breed.

You truly have to be used to driving a big car n order to understand those things. I dislike the windshield in the face kind of perspective but that is how they are.
It is one of the reasons I bought the wife an Escalade over a minivan or some such thing. Well that and the thing is fast. :p
 

Stearmen

I'll Lock Up
Messages
7,202
Minivans. What is it about them that makes the person who sits in the driver's seat forget whatever they might once have known about piloting a motor vehicle? In the last 20 years I've seen only one--ONE--person driving one who knew the simple concepts of acceleration, braking, steering, driving laws, courtesy, and common sense (which, I admit, isn't as common as it used to be). The rest were all menaces to society who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a vehicle of any type.

The funniest minivan drivers, are the ones with a Harley decal, and when they get out, they are dressed in full black leathers, complete with patch on the back. I always laugh at those Hells Angels wannabees!
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
You truly have to be used to driving a big car n order to understand those things...
That is actually my foremost theory on why minivan drivers are unable to drive them adequately--they bought one thinking it would be perfect for hauling their tribe around, but never considered how different it would be compared to driving around in a sub-compact. I've never driven one myself, but I can't imagine it being much different than driving a large SUV or a regular cargo van, and certainly easier than driving a 20-foot bobtail or a tractor-trailer rig.

The funniest minivan drivers, are the ones with a Harley decal, and when they get out, they are dressed in full black leathers, complete with patch on the back. I always laugh at those Hells Angels wannabees!
"Dude, the ol' lady made me buy it so we could haul the rug rats to school. *sigh*" lol
 
Messages
13,672
Location
down south
The one we have is much easier to drive than a regular cargo van. Maybe even a little more car-like than the suburban. I would prefer a good old fashioned station wagon, but nobody makes a full sized one any more. I guess that third row that folds up and looks out the back window isn't up to today's safety standards.

Years ago I was in Albuquerque and one night we rode a few blocks alongside a family of Mexicans cruising around in the biggest slice of awesomeness ever. They had a lowrider Chevy Astro-van, complete with hydraulics and all. It was bowling ball/bass boat glittery purple paint with a big gold Virgin of Guadalupe painted on back. I've been trying for a while (somewhat unsuccessfully) that I need to fix hers up like that.

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Messages
13,672
Location
down south
The funniest minivan drivers, are the ones with a Harley decal, and when they get out, they are dressed in full black leathers, complete with patch on the back. I always laugh at those Hells Angels wannabees!

That's too funny....one of those guys is my next door neighbor.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk
 
That is actually my foremost theory on why minivan drivers are unable to drive them adequately--they bought one thinking it would be perfect for hauling their tribe around, but never considered how different it would be compared to driving around in a sub-compact. I've never driven one myself, but I can't imagine it being much different than driving a large SUV or a regular cargo van, and certainly easier than driving a 20-foot bobtail or a tractor-trailer rig.

"Dude, the ol' lady made me buy it so we could haul the rug rats to school. *sigh*" lol

Yes, you can't go from a Prius(or as I call them Pius because they think they are better than you because they drive one to save the earth. :rolleyes:) to a mini van and expect them to drive the same. I can go from my Escalade to one of those because they are toys next to my car. :p
 

sheeplady

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
4,479
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA
I don't know. I've driven large trucks all my life, everything from one ton and three quarter ton pickups, suburbans, and everything in between. Minivans are unlike any other big truck I've ever driven. I think the issues they try to be like a car, but they're not a car. They're also not a truck either.
 
I don't know. I've driven large trucks all my life, everything from one ton and three quarter ton pickups, suburbans, and everything in between. Minivans are unlike any other big truck I've ever driven. I think the issues they try to be like a car, but they're not a car. They're also not a truck either.

They are neither that is for sure nor do they handle the same. Then again, it depends on what brand you have on your hands. The old Grand Caravan was quick and nimble. The ricers aren’t so much…….
 

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