Driving on the wrong side of the road.

You might think from the title of this entry that it's going to be about driving in England, but it's not. This morning on the way to work I encountered a car driving the wrong way up a divided highway. Being the abrasive person I am, I stopped him and challenged him. His excuse was that he "just needed to get in to the back entrance to the post office". Rather than go to the end of the road and do a legal U-turn, he'd crossed the centre divider and started driving up the wrong side of the road because it presented a shorter route to him. One long, heated argument later, and I got the police involved - more because he was trying to call my bluff than anything. After a couple of minutes, we had assembled quite the audience, listening to the argument, and when the police turned up, it was immediately obvious to them what the problem was. The guy was given a ticket for dangerous driving based solely on the various eye witness reports, and the fact that he was parked facing oncoming traffic. He was also ordered to go to traffic school or face points on his licence and a ding on his insurance notification.
So here's the thing. It really doesn't matter what excuse you think you have, driving the wrong way down a road is never acceptable. You're not that important, and you will cause an accident or come across someone like me who'll make good and sure that you pay for your stupidity.
In this driver's case, his attempt to save 20 seconds caused him a half-hour delay making him late for work, a huge fine, traffic school, and potentially points on his license and increased insurance premiums.
Frankly if I'd been one of the policemen who turned up, I'd have just taken his licence away.

I love your car but the legroom sucks

There's a group of us who go out to lunch every day from my office, so we take it in turns to drive. Most of the cars are average runabouts but one guy has a beautiful red Audi A4 with full leather and the works. I love Audis - I'll defend them in any argument. But the legroom in the back of the new A4 leaves something to be desired. Actually - it leaves a lot to be desired.
What amazes me is how manufacturers will claim that a car has 5 seats when it clearly can only seat 4 people. The hump in the middle of the bench seat at the back isn't a seat at all. Worse, most cars have trouble sitting 4 normal people because of legroom problems in the back. Sure, technically you can fit 5 people, but not in anything resembling comfort. Realistically the average saloon car should better be described as a 2+2 - 2 adults plus 2 children. Alternatively, make the cars 20cm longer and use that 20cm as additional legroom for the rear passengers.

America to Chrysler : "Screw You".

Following on from Chrysler's ill thought-out advertising campaign in December (see Chrysler to America : "Scew You"), they finally entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy today and completed the deal with Fiat. CNN had a good list of reasons Chrysler have ended up like this, including the 6 vehicles that finally finished them off (2004 Chrysler 300C, 2006 Dodge Caliber, 2006 Jeep commander, 2007 Dodge Nitro, 2007 Chrysler Sebring, 2009 Dodge Ram).
So what happens now? Hopefully Fiat can inject some sense into the smouldering pile that once was Chrysler. Stop building awful, fuel-thirsty cars that are unreliable, ugly, and out-of-touch, and start producing cars like Fiat's own mega hit Fiat 500. Better yet - don't build anything - just import cars from Europe and sell them in America.
Whatever happens it will be interesting to follow this saga closely. Not least of which because as an American taxpayer, I own(ed) part of Chrysler thanks to the equally ill thought-out bailout package.

What a drag.

I've just finished adding the section on aerodynamic efficiency to the Hybrids bible and it was a bit of an eye-opener doing the research on drag coefficients. I know we all poke fun at the Hummer for being such a ridiculous vehicle, but did you know just how bad it is? In the grand scheme of things there are really only 2 vehicles ever made that have a worse drag coefficient than the Hummer H2. The Bugatti type 51 (which was made in 1933) and the Caterham 7 racing car, which is largely unchanged from it's 1950's design. Way to go GM - and they wonder why the company is failing.

Please don't race me.

You're going to lose anyway, so what's the point?
As a motorcyclist and a car driver, it never ceases to amaze me the number of car-only drivers who don't understand power-to-weight ratio. This lovely, clear sunday morning, I was out for a ride and at one set of lights I came to, a gold Subaru pulled up behind me, then backed up, and moved over to the empty lane to my left. The lovely little thing inside gunned her engine, and I could hear the big bore exhaust, and I thought "Do I let her win, or do I teach her a lesson". Obviously, being a testosterone-fuelled male, I went for option B and smoked her off the lights. The difference is that I settled at the speed limit whilst she went tearing past a good 20mph over it. At the next set of lights, there she was again, gunning her engine, looking over at me. Again, I smoked her and again she took off way over the speed limit. This could have gone on all day as far as I was concerned, because as well as she was driving the car, and as modified as it was, the combination was still singularly incapable of out-dragging a totally stock 1 litre motorbike, complete with lardy rider.
By all means race other cars, if you feel you must, but please don't try it against a motorbike - you'll only look silly.

Motoring, Vegas style

We just got back from a short trip to Vegas, and with the spring weather, driving down the strip was a joy for a petrolhead. From the stretch limos and "girls to you" advertising trucks, to the Ferraris and Aston Martins - everyone had their top down or the windows open. Most entertaining of all was a boosted F350 pickup that was next to us at one set of lights. As the lights went green, the guy in front of him didn't move off, so he used his horn. And what a horn. It was a diesel locomotive air horn - the sort you hear American freight trains using when they're approaching road crossings and freight yards. Glorious Vegas excess.
Of course the best place to go car-spotting is the valet at the Wynn or the Bellagio. Millions of dollars of exotica, just parked up for the pose value. If you've never been to Vegas, you really should go at least once. If you're a regular, you know all about what I'm describing here from a motoring point of view...