Car Chat

[93JC]

The complaints that lead to the strike are two fold:

Over saturation of drivers in large markets that lead to fewer rides for all is part of it...but

Rate cuts, and surge pricing removal (just for the driver, mind you) is another big one.

In Columbus, I’m paid $0.875 a mile. San Francisco makes a paltry $0.91 a mile.

Orlando gets a borderline criminal $0.59 a mile.

I'm not saying that that's moral or right for them to do, but they can get away with it because the bar to become an Uber/Lyft driver is incredibly low. They have a huge pool of potential drivers. This is exactly why cities enacted stricter taxi licencing schemes with caps on the number of taxis in operation: if the supply of cabs is too high the prices drop to the point that it's infeasible to continue. They bounce back high enough to settle out at a reasonable number of drivers, but the amount of money they can command in fares will be a pittance and the cabs will therefore become as shitty as the driver can get away with.

[FoMoJo]

Autonomous cars...what's more boring than driving a long freeway slog in a normal car?  Not actually having to give any inputs, yet you still have to keep a hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road or else the car will yell at you...this shit is so dummmmmb.  Excuse me, sir, please stop looking at the scenery, the car may be driving for you, but I still require the majority of your attention to be on the road. 

That would be more nerve-wracking than just driving the damned car.

[r0tor]

That would be more nerve-wracking than just driving the damned car.

I'm not a huge fan of using adaptive cruise control with start/stop for that reason... Everytime some twat decides to nose in front of you - you have to hope the tech is locked onto them

[giant_mtb]

That would be more nerve-wracking than just driving the damned car.

Yup.  Yet here we are with these systems being thrown into cars as selling points as if it's the year 3029.  It's so...stupid.  And it's hilarious that all the ads and commercials have asterisks about paying attention and not using a handheld device while using the self-driving stuff...LOL why do you think people want these features in the first place?  So they can be even more distracted while driving than they already are.  But now the self-driving cars actually require you to pay more attention than you might in a normal car because the self-driving ones monitor you and yell at you...it's so bizarre.

[BimmerM3]

Autonomous cars...what's more boring than driving a long freeway slog in a normal car?  Not actually having to give any inputs, yet you still have to keep a hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road or else the car will yell at you...this shit is so dummmmmb.  Excuse me, sir, please stop looking at the scenery, the car may be driving for you, but I still require the majority of your attention to be on the road. 

I had a rental Mazda6 with adaptive cruise control last summer and it was a godsend driving through Atlanta rush hour traffic. Just set the cruise to 75 and it followed the car in front of me.

But I still had to steer, which was more than enough motivation to keep my eyes on the road. I'm not so keen on automated steering  systems for all the reasons you mentioned.

[CaminoRacer]

Maybe it's their best available employment option? :\

But if the complaint about the pay actually being less than minimum wage, it seems like there are a lot of better options out there. Maybe not good options, but at least better

[FoMoJo]

So, I had a close encounter with a Chevy Silverado Grille.  Pulled into the parking spot directly facing me.

What the hell were they thinking?

[Eye of the Tiger]

That grille hurts my eyes.

[FoMoJo]

That grille hurts my eyes.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was like looking into the Sun.

[Eye of the Tiger]

wtf is a Buick Cascada

[Laconian]

wtf is a Buick Cascada

An Opel convertible for FOGs

[FoMoJo]

Bronco, if this it it, I'm not very impressed ...

[BimmerM3]

Bronco, if this it it, I'm not very impressed ...

Looks like it's just a Ranger cab with a shortened bed from... something... that they threw on the Bronco chassis for the test mule. I wouldn't make any judgements about the styling based on that.

[FoMoJo]

Looks like it's just a Ranger cab with a shortened bed from... something... that they threw on the Bronco chassis for the test mule. I wouldn't make any judgements about the styling based on that.

I would hope that it would be a lot more stylish than that suggests.  Bronco, presumably, uses the Ranger chassis but, by the looks of it, they've shortened the wheelbase by an appreciable amount.  However, I'd be looking at the Baby Bronco when the lease is up on our current vehicle.

[CaminoRacer]

Looks like it's just a Ranger cab with a shortened bed from... something... that they threw on the Bronco chassis for the test mule. I wouldn't make any judgements about the styling based on that.

Yeah, that's gotta be it.

[giant_mtb]

I would hope that it would be a lot more stylish than that suggests.  Bronco, presumably, uses the Ranger chassis but, by the looks of it, they've shortened the wheelbase by an appreciable amount.  However, I'd be looking at the Baby Bronco when the lease is up on our current vehicle.

That's literally just a Ranger chopped down in length for testing. Relax.

[giant_mtb]

My buddy's CTS-V has been making the rounds on the interwebz with his Crown Rally decal shenanigans.

[FoMoJo]

My buddy's CTS-V has been making the rounds on the interwebz with his Crown Rally decal shenanigans.

Legit or just mashed potatoes?

[giant_mtb]

Legit or just mashed potatoes?

Huh?

[FoMoJo]

Huh?

Does he rally it, or is it just the North American version of rice?

[giant_mtb]

Does he rally it, or is it just the North American version of rice?

https://www.crownrally.com

He got #3 this year and decided to go all out and Do It For Dale.

[BimmerM3]

https://www.crownrally.com

He got #3 this year and decided to go all out and Do It For Dale.

So basically a shorter version of the Gumball?

Do they still do the Gumball?

[FoMoJo]

https://www.crownrally.com

He got #3 this year and decided to go all out and Do It For Dale.

That's a pretty good cause.  Good on him.

[giant_mtb]

That's a pretty good cause.  Good on him.

Yeah. Not sure which events he'll actually be attending, but yeah, he's been doing it for a few years now.

[Eye of the Tiger]

https://www.crownrally.com

He got #3 this year and decided to go all out and Do It For Dale.

Interesting. What woukd they do if a 4-cyl Dodge Dakota happened to be holding things up on the Tail of the Dragon that day? Cancel the event?

[AutobahnSHO]

Ford ford ford.   

https://news.yahoo.com/lawsuit-ford-hid-focus-fiesta-114040994.html

[dazzleman]

Autonomous cars...what's more boring than driving a long freeway slog in a normal car?  Not actually having to give any inputs, yet you still have to keep a hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road or else the car will yell at you...this shit is so dummmmmb.  Excuse me, sir, please stop looking at the scenery, the car may be driving for you, but I still require the majority of your attention to be on the road.

I hate the trend toward over-engineering cars and having the car constantly beeping, buzzing, etc and doing too much for the driver.  Driving skills are going to atrophy further as people rely on the car more and more, and it is a dangerous things since they still ultimately need to control the car.  My car is a 2014 model and has very little of that crap, and for that reason, I intend to hold onto it for a good while longer.  I want to drive the fucking car, not be yelled at the whole time.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

I hate the trend toward over-engineering cars and having the car constantly beeping, buzzing, etc and doing too much for the driver.  Driving skills are going to atrophy further as people rely on the car more and more, and it is a dangerous things since they still ultimately need to control the car.  My car is a 2014 model and has very little of that crap, and for that reason, I intend to hold onto it for a good while longer.  I want to drive the fucking car, not be yelled at the whole time.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Ford ford ford.   

https://news.yahoo.com/lawsuit-ford-hid-focus-fiesta-114040994.html

It is true that dumbass people have no idea how to treat a DCT. People love to creep in their automatics. Creeeeeeeep.

[12,000 RPM]

It is true that dumbass people have no idea how to treat a DCT. People love to creep in their automatics. Creeeeeeeep.

I mean what are you supposed to do in traffic

Plus no other DCTs have this issue

Powershift is Powershit

(FWIW I had no problems with the Focus rental I had a few years back)