Annoying things motorists do

[Spacecadet]

A Range Rover is no more a business tool than any other vehicle so your argument is fatuous and based more on your concept of self worth via vehicle image than anything real.

This'll get Churchill going

where's my popcorn?

[TimberWolf]

All true and valid but the energy discharged when hitting something at 80 is the same and old cars were lighter

Plus, people are as soft and squidgy as ever.

Kinetic energy goes with the square of speed (and linearly with mass, ½mv²), so a 90 mph car has 1.65 times the energy of one of the same mass going 70 mph. Multiply by say 1.5 to account for the heavier cars of today (unfortunately that being in the engine, in front), giving say 2.5 times the energy to dissipate in a 00s car doing 90 mph versus a 70 mph 70s car. This has to go into heat energy (the brake discs and pads) or deforming things such as the car and occupants.

[Churchill]

Sorry Churchill, but you're far from the only tall person in the UK, I'm not a midget myself and a good friend shares your height, there are quite a few cars that he's comfortable driving. Neither of us rate the Range Rover as anything special and both of us drive far too much.

Fitted carphones/carkits and dare I say it other hands free devices like bluetooth are far from uncommon or expensive so the conference call issue (if it was legal in traffic which it isn't) is irrelevant.

A Range Rover is no more a business tool than any other vehicle so your argument is fatuous and based more on your concept of self worth via vehicle image than anything real.

I won't stoop to calling you names as I grew out of that in Primary school.

Ok, apologies for the insult.

I do a lot of driving. I want a big comfortable car that isn't going to have to go to the knackers yard after a couple of years.

Look at the roads today and you will see plenty of Range Rovers of all different ages and models still on the road, they last. They are built to last.

[TimberWolf]

You wouldn't want to be hit by a Rang Rover travelling at high speed. Approximating with an inelastic collision (the two cars collide and stick together).

Scenario 1: 2500 Kg car travelling at 70 mph collides with a 1000 Kg car also travelling at 70 mph, but in the opposite direction. Bang! Both cars move together at 30 mph in the direction that the heavier car was initially moving. The lighter car changes speed from 70 mph in one direction to 30 mph in an opposite direction, which doesn't look survivable.

Scenario 2: 2500 Kg car travelling at 90 mph collides with a 1000 Kg car travelling in the same direction, but at only 50 mph, so a rear-ender. Bang! Both cars move at 78 mph in the same direction as they were initially moving.

A good rule of thumb is to try not to collide things more massive than you. Small light things travelling at high speed can also be deadly, so the above is just an approximation. I think accident statistics show the same kind of result though, i.e. heavy cars win.

[Bagpuss]

Unfortunately you can also add that the roads are much much busier now than they used to be and that the driving standard certainly hasn't improved.

IMHO, you are right about driving skills. Possibly 60s cars taught better driving skills, RWD as opposed to neutral understeering FWD.
Average cars have probably become too powerfull now. Your average hot hatch would keep up with a late 70s early 80s supercar in acceleration, which is far too much power. Go back to the Golf Mk1 Gti, 110 bhp, most 1.6 family cars have more than that these days. Common thought of motoring journalists was > 200 bhp in a FWD was suicidal, now it's common.
Turbo diesels with endless torque encourge irratic driving styles.

All the above have made speed and acceleration increase dramatically.Even as short a while ago as the late 80s hardly anyone went over 85 on the motorways, the cars didn't like it, and plot was waiting. I'd say >=85 is now common (as a cruising speed).

[deano]

My own personal bugbears are drivers who don't understand the concept of mini-roundabouts. The number of times I give way because a driver is approaching from the right and then they stop! No reason, nothing coming from their right, but they abviously have no clue that they are on a roundabout. Mini it may be but it is still a roundabout. Are these people tested on these in driving tests?

The second are people who try to get in front of me on single-carriageway roads. Especialy those who try to cut in when 2 lanes merge into one at traffic lights. They can try but if I stay 6-inches from the back of the guy in front, there's not many who can do it!

I'm not slow by any means and always tend to keep up with the traffic, but some people are just gits, and I feel it is my duty to bring a little bit of rain into their lives as punishment for being gits.

Am I perfect? No. I try to always annoy taxi driver's. They are gits as well.

I always thought that traffic police could monitor cars in front and in the rear. The radar will work just as effectively measuring the gap in either case and then the computers do the rest.

[Bob Dalek]

IMHO, you are right about driving skills. Possibly 60s cars taught better driving skills, RWD as opposed to neutral understeering FWD.
Average cars have probably become too powerfull now. Your average hot hatch would keep up with a late 70s early 80s supercar in acceleration, which is far too much power. Go back to the Golf Mk1 Gti, 110 bhp, most 1.6 family cars have more than that these days. Common thought of motoring journalists was > 200 bhp in a FWD was suicidal, now it's common.
Turbo diesels with endless torque encourge irratic driving styles.

All the above have made speed and acceleration increase dramatically.Even as short a while ago as the late 80s hardly anyone went over 85 on the motorways, the cars didn't like it, and plot was waiting. I'd say >=85 is now common (as a cruising speed).

Is that the one you seem to have lost a long time ago?

[Bagpuss]

-t +d

HTH

[Spacecadet]

Look at the roads today and you will see plenty of Range Rovers of all different ages and models still on the road, they last. They are built to last.

not any more according to the topgear survey
http://www.topgear.com/content/carsu...r/range_rover/

[Bagpuss]

They had one on pulling power or some derivative of the other week. Mid range diesel model, 0-60 was an asthmatic 12.5 seconds, which was rather poo.