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I really wish everyone was competing on efficiency. Most journeys require nowhere near the range capabilities of current EVs, instead carrying around excess wei

by carwyn 7y ago

I really wish everyone was competing on efficiency. Most journeys require nowhere near the range capabilities of current EVs, instead carrying around excess weight when not required. Similarly on the acceleration side, other than showing off, why do we need cars that can do 0-60 in 2-3 seconds? Those kinds of g-forces are certainly not pleasant for passengers.

read_if_gay_ 7y ago
I agree that nobody needs fast 0-60s but they’re just fun. Now, for the range thing, that’s no different from why you want a fast CPU even though 99% of the time you’re using 1% of its power, or why bridges are built to withstand many times their rated maximum load etc. You want to be prepared to deal with demanding situations. In this case that’s something like your family vacation that you maybe don’t want to buy an extra car for.
zarkov99 7y ago
Acceleration is super fun and range is essential for a general purpose car. It sucks to have to plan your trip around super charger proximity.
CapricornNoble 7y ago
>>>why do we need cars that can do 0-60 in 2-3 seconds So you can pass cars that are driving too slow in the fastlane at highway speeds. 0-60 times are a general indication of the car's torque curve and power delivery. Depending on gearing, there's a pretty good chance a car with crazy-good acceleration will have no problems "bobbing and weaving" around some slowpoke in front of you without requiring hundreds of meters of space in the other lane to facilitate the overtake. >>>Those kinds of g-forces are certainly not pleasant for passengers. That entirely depends on the character/personality of your passengers. After a friend's wedding a few months ago I drove some of his relatives to the after-party. These guys were visiting from Hong Kong and don't own cars. Along the way I had an impromptu drag race with a random motorist and my passengers were ECSTATIC. "OMG this car is sooo awesome!!". Most of my friends are similar but they are predominantly car guys anyway. But I have another friend who is more of a "boulevard cruiser" type of guy who gets uncomfortable with aggressive driving. shrug
- threeseed 7y ago
  > impromptu drag race with a random motorist Reckless driving like this consistently kills innocent people and most drivers who do this eventually end up losing their license or ending up in jail. Not sure it's the sort of target demographic car companies should be looking at.
  - MegaButts 7y ago
    > and most drivers who do this eventually end up losing their license or ending up in jail How could you possibly know this? You have no idea how many people do it and never get caught. > Reckless driving like this consistently kills innocent people You know what else consistently kills people? Tesla's Autopilot. I bet Tesla isn't discouraging use of that expensive feature though. In fact they defend it ruthlessly in the media and in court, despite more and more evidence pointing towards it being more dangerous than manual driving. To be fair though, I'm unaware of it ever killing anyone outside of the vehicle, so I guess it's just people killing themselves which is very different from killing innocent bystanders.
  - CapricornNoble 7y ago
    >>>Reckless driving like this consistently kills innocent people and most drivers who do this eventually end up losing their license or ending up in jail. Citation needed. I can't even recall the last time street racing in this part of Japan killed anyone, let alone anyone outside the vehicle itself. The combination of more stringent licensing requirements, bi-annual vehicle inspections, and overall cost all combine to keep most sports cars out of the hands of all but the most dedicated drivers. Fatal mistakes are rare here. Accidents are usually drifting-related on secluded mountain roads.
    - reitzensteinm 7y ago
      Whatever lets you sleep at night.

by carwyn 7y ago

read_if_gay_ 7y ago

I agree that nobody needs fast 0-60s but they’re just fun. Now, for the range thing, that’s no different from why you want a fast CPU even though 99% of the time you’re using 1% of its power, or why bridges are built to withstand many times their rated maximum load etc. You want to be prepared to deal with demanding situations. In this case that’s something like your family vacation that you maybe don’t want to buy an extra car for.

zarkov99 7y ago

Acceleration is super fun and range is essential for a general purpose car. It sucks to have to plan your trip around super charger proximity.

CapricornNoble 7y ago

>>>why do we need cars that can do 0-60 in 2-3 seconds So you can pass cars that are driving too slow in the fastlane at highway speeds. 0-60 times are a general indication of the car's torque curve and power delivery. Depending on gearing, there's a pretty good chance a car with crazy-good acceleration will have no problems "bobbing and weaving" around some slowpoke in front of you without requiring hundreds of meters of space in the other lane to facilitate the overtake. >>>Those kinds of g-forces are certainly not pleasant for passengers. That entirely depends on the character/personality of your passengers. After a friend's wedding a few months ago I drove some of his relatives to the after-party. These guys were visiting from Hong Kong and don't own cars. Along the way I had an impromptu drag race with a random motorist and my passengers were ECSTATIC. "OMG this car is sooo awesome!!". Most of my friends are similar but they are predominantly car guys anyway. But I have another friend who is more of a "boulevard cruiser" type of guy who gets uncomfortable with aggressive driving. shrug

threeseed 7y ago
> impromptu drag race with a random motorist Reckless driving like this consistently kills innocent people and most drivers who do this eventually end up losing their license or ending up in jail. Not sure it's the sort of target demographic car companies should be looking at.
- MegaButts 7y ago
  > and most drivers who do this eventually end up losing their license or ending up in jail How could you possibly know this? You have no idea how many people do it and never get caught. > Reckless driving like this consistently kills innocent people You know what else consistently kills people? Tesla's Autopilot. I bet Tesla isn't discouraging use of that expensive feature though. In fact they defend it ruthlessly in the media and in court, despite more and more evidence pointing towards it being more dangerous than manual driving. To be fair though, I'm unaware of it ever killing anyone outside of the vehicle, so I guess it's just people killing themselves which is very different from killing innocent bystanders.
- CapricornNoble 7y ago
  >>>Reckless driving like this consistently kills innocent people and most drivers who do this eventually end up losing their license or ending up in jail. Citation needed. I can't even recall the last time street racing in this part of Japan killed anyone, let alone anyone outside the vehicle itself. The combination of more stringent licensing requirements, bi-annual vehicle inspections, and overall cost all combine to keep most sports cars out of the hands of all but the most dedicated drivers. Fatal mistakes are rare here. Accidents are usually drifting-related on secluded mountain roads.
  - reitzensteinm 7y ago
    Whatever lets you sleep at night.