gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
I have been driving rental gas cars a bunch recently. They are bad in many ways compared to EVs but what I hate most about them is their transmissions. I definitely understand why they call them slush boxes.
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Does anyone else still prefer to drive their gas cars?
- Thread starter itzkirb
- Start date
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
ICE cars still have their charms, expecially when they pull at the nostalgic heart strings, but the future of personal mobility, especially in congested and polluted cities, is EV.
XLR82XS
D M C
Dolemite
is my name
⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️
Village Idiot
mrbloons
Member
After driving a Tesla I haven’t been able to see gas cars the same, and have pretty much lost all interest in them. This is after years of being a car enthusiast, going to car shows, reading car magazines and websites, talking about cars etc.
My wife still drives a gas car (albeit a hybrid), and I pretty much never touch it. If she takes the Tesla that usually means I’m not driving until she gets back.
I’ve driven a lot of sports cars but never owned one, until now. Driving a Tesla is better than every gas sports car I’ve ever driven in pretty much every way. Really leaves nothing to be desired. I don’t get the nostalgia for gas cars and have trouble feigning interest when around people who do.
My wife still drives a gas car (albeit a hybrid), and I pretty much never touch it. If she takes the Tesla that usually means I’m not driving until she gets back.
I’ve driven a lot of sports cars but never owned one, until now. Driving a Tesla is better than every gas sports car I’ve ever driven in pretty much every way. Really leaves nothing to be desired. I don’t get the nostalgia for gas cars and have trouble feigning interest when around people who do.
Ciaopec
Active Member
Wonder if this is what did a number on Tiger's legs?
gavine
Petrol Head turned EV Enthusiast
Possibly, but I'm thinking he shattered his leg by braceing himself against the floor of the car this his leg. When the car crashes, those forces are transmitted to any limbs that are bracing your weight. This is why it is recommended that you trust your seat belt in a crash and let it absorb the force and spread it across your body. If you brace yourself, you're bound to get injured. I've heard that sleeping or drunk passengers usually fair better than others in accidents....this is because they don't brace themselves.
I've been driving electric for > 5 years now, but my wife's car is still ICE (actually hybrid/"self-charging"...). She's gone from a passive admiration for my car, to now being impatient for her car to be an EV too (doesn't make financial sense to get one for her right now with our current situation and a fully paid-off ICE hybrid in great shape). Even before the Tesla, my kids have always preferred the electric car and refer to it as "the fast car" versus my wife's "slow car". Certainly there will be use cases where an ICE is needed for quite a while, a few decades maybe... but eventually even heavy duty, industrial, or off-road uses of ICE will seem antiquated/inferior.
Someone really needs to make an all-electric minivan.
Our e85 series Z4 3.0si roadster has its charms: 6-speed stick, short-throw shifter to die for, perfectly weighted clutch, top-down fun. Goes exactly where you point it in the instant you do so. Sound system is nice - dual sub-woofers, one behind each seat. Makes pretty engine noises too.
Is it dated? Yep. It only does telephony over bluetooth - no streaming. No nav. Not even heated seats or mirrors. Is it loud, especially on the highway? Yep. Impractical? Oh heck yeah. I'm not sure you can even get 2 sets of golf clubs in the trunk.
Do I care? Nope. That's not what this car is about.
Any Tesla can out run it effortless. But being first isn't everything, or even most everything. It's about 1000# lighter than a Model 3 LR AWD, so while still heavy enough to feel planted, it's tossable in ways a Tesla just isn't.
At some point we'll let it go. But it will be the last time we ever have anything even remotely like it. Maintenance is pretty minor, mostly because it's nearly mint at 14 years and 26k miles. So I'm loathe to let it go too soon.
Is it dated? Yep. It only does telephony over bluetooth - no streaming. No nav. Not even heated seats or mirrors. Is it loud, especially on the highway? Yep. Impractical? Oh heck yeah. I'm not sure you can even get 2 sets of golf clubs in the trunk.
Do I care? Nope. That's not what this car is about.
Any Tesla can out run it effortless. But being first isn't everything, or even most everything. It's about 1000# lighter than a Model 3 LR AWD, so while still heavy enough to feel planted, it's tossable in ways a Tesla just isn't.
At some point we'll let it go. But it will be the last time we ever have anything even remotely like it. Maintenance is pretty minor, mostly because it's nearly mint at 14 years and 26k miles. So I'm loathe to let it go too soon.
For some, ICE cars don't evoke joy - or pleasure. For others, they do and, perhaps, always will.
I liken it a bit to flying. Turbojet propelled aircraft are more quiet, more efficient, probably more comfortable. But there's nothing like being in a P-51. Some people don't understand - and that's fine.
I've not had any "supercar" like rides - but I love getting behind the wheel of my 67 GTO Convertible, my old '67 Lemans . . . those were awesome rides. Big lumbering angry ICE cars. Love it.
YMMV.
I liken it a bit to flying. Turbojet propelled aircraft are more quiet, more efficient, probably more comfortable. But there's nothing like being in a P-51. Some people don't understand - and that's fine.
I've not had any "supercar" like rides - but I love getting behind the wheel of my 67 GTO Convertible, my old '67 Lemans . . . those were awesome rides. Big lumbering angry ICE cars. Love it.
YMMV.
I think the short answer to the OP's question is, "It depends on the ICE car..."
Plenty of forgettable cars in the world. Most of them, in fact, IMNSHO.
We also have an Audi Q5 TDI. I actually prefer its interior to the sterile interior of the model 3. An M3 is way too minimalist for my tastes. Almost clinically sterile. We keep the Q around as a tow vehicle, mountain car. It goes places a M3 cannot.
Plenty of forgettable cars in the world. Most of them, in fact, IMNSHO.
We also have an Audi Q5 TDI. I actually prefer its interior to the sterile interior of the model 3. An M3 is way too minimalist for my tastes. Almost clinically sterile. We keep the Q around as a tow vehicle, mountain car. It goes places a M3 cannot.
Dolemite
is my name
Agreed - definitely wouldn't mind a few more buttons & switches, especially related to driving-oriented tasks. Windshield wiper stalk, for example. ffs.
Saw some blogger the other day claiming how great it was that the TM3s interior was so "minimalist" instead of being like in the cockpit of a fighter jet. Probably the first time in history anyone's used a fighter jet analogy to describe something as "uncool." Sometimes less is more, but in this case I think less is less. Sat in an Audi Q7 the other day and that was way excessive... but a few extra buttons in the Model 3 wouldn't hurt.
To my way of thinking, the ergonomics in the M3 today are a giant step backwards overall. Wiper controls are just one example. I want to be able to make some adjustments and make some inputs without taking my eyes off the road. FSD isn't here yet, nor do I believe it's all that close. Sorry. Happy to be wrong about that. Even if I expect to keep the car 4-5 years, I'm still not thinking the current design is appropriate. Time will tell.
Adding a HUD or some displays in the usual position directly in front where I can track alerts with my peripheral vision would help. A lot. I'm not a fan of touchscreens in cars as it is, because "targeting" - actually guiding your finger to the location of a software control on screen - requires continuous attention away from the road until you make contact. You can't feel your way to the control, and sport suspensions especially make your finger move when you hit a bump.
I know people love their touch screens. Tesla has done a great job on the interface design itself. Cool technology. On your iPad. Not in your car as the driver. Audi resisted going to touchscreen for precisely these reasons, but eventually gave in to market pressure. Still not a good decision functionally speaking as far as I'm concerned.
As to the busyness of the traditional designs, yes, we could tone that down a bit. The eTron we sat in was a great compromise in terms of the interior. Range, price and lack of charging network are deal killers though for us. Waiting to see the Q4 eTron. Not sure Audi knows how to write software yet, either. We'll see. They're all a work in progress.
Adding a HUD or some displays in the usual position directly in front where I can track alerts with my peripheral vision would help. A lot. I'm not a fan of touchscreens in cars as it is, because "targeting" - actually guiding your finger to the location of a software control on screen - requires continuous attention away from the road until you make contact. You can't feel your way to the control, and sport suspensions especially make your finger move when you hit a bump.
I know people love their touch screens. Tesla has done a great job on the interface design itself. Cool technology. On your iPad. Not in your car as the driver. Audi resisted going to touchscreen for precisely these reasons, but eventually gave in to market pressure. Still not a good decision functionally speaking as far as I'm concerned.
As to the busyness of the traditional designs, yes, we could tone that down a bit. The eTron we sat in was a great compromise in terms of the interior. Range, price and lack of charging network are deal killers though for us. Waiting to see the Q4 eTron. Not sure Audi knows how to write software yet, either. We'll see. They're all a work in progress.
Uncle Paul
Well-Known Member
I used to make my bicycles louder and more fun to ride by putting balloons or playing cards in the spokes.
While this made my bike harder to pedal and slower, I enjoyed the noises it made.
Believe the same applies to great sounding ICE vehicles. While they pollute much more, they indeed make cool sounds. Depends on where your priorities are...sounding cool or protecting the environment.
While this made my bike harder to pedal and slower, I enjoyed the noises it made.
Believe the same applies to great sounding ICE vehicles. While they pollute much more, they indeed make cool sounds. Depends on where your priorities are...sounding cool or protecting the environment.
XLR82XS
D M C
Not all modern cars pollute. Sure, a 1970 Plymouth will be stinky - but anything made recently.
All cars pollute. No exceptions. Emissions can be broken down into manufacturing emissions, operating emissions, and retirement/recycling emissions. None of these is zero for any car.
The operating emissions dominate for any non-BEV vehicle. BEV operating emissions vary quite a bit with the source of power used to charge them, but are almost always less than for an ICE vehicle. However, there are manufacturing emissions tied to renewable resources on the power production side even in the best case.
Not sure where you get the idea that "modern" cars don't pollute. Of course they do. They just do that a lot less than the 70's clunkers did.
