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auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 12:20 am

stately cars. I suppose the roads down under are probably maintained better than up here, so I wonder if cars down there are tuned stiffer, or just as soft as typical American car suspension tuning?



b9
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16 Feb 2018, 12:22 am

auntblabby wrote:
stately cars. I suppose the roads down under are probably maintained better than up here, so I wonder if cars down there are tuned stiffer, or just as soft as typical American car suspension tuning?


the luxury cars like i posted are softly sprung and have that classic "boulevard" ride, but they are sturdy.
in fact, one of the complaints about these cars was when you planted the accelerator, they lurched forward and the back of the car was depressed considerably.



auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 12:27 am

the squatting would give the impression of even more powerful acceleration.



b9
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16 Feb 2018, 12:47 am

auntblabby wrote:
the squatting would give the impression of even more powerful acceleration.

i loved the look and the feel. i totally agree with you.
here is a bit of a clip of the eyre highway (the 90 mile straight road), but i guess you can not tell in this time lapse how well the road is maintained.
i drove across it in a 1971 daimler vanden plas V12 a few years ago, and the road had no camber or ruts or potholes.
you can take your hand off the steering wheel for ages before needing to correct it.

so that's why an 80 mph top speed would not work here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGY1oSQ3uI4



auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 12:50 am

amuuurica should have such a nice drive. there is an 85 mph highway [private] in texas, reportedly well-engineered and nominally safe without design hazards, but there have been accidents on it also. I wonder if americans just aren't [by and large] up for skillful fast driving?



b9
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16 Feb 2018, 1:03 am

auntblabby wrote:
amuuurica should have such a nice drive. there is an 85 mph highway [private] in texas, reportedly well-engineered and nominally safe without design hazards, but there have been accidents on it also. I wonder if americans just aren't [by and large] up for skillful fast driving?


well obviously you know that the video clip i posted was 1 hr 28 mins compressed into 5 minutes.

the problem with super long featureless road with no bends, is the hypnotic effect it has on the drivers and they become fatigued and if they do not stop, they can start to doze off, and when they realize they are dozing off and veering off course, they suddenly overreact and the car goes into a fishtail and rolls.

it is not skill that is lacking in people who have accidents in such benign situations. it is overestimation of their wakefulness after hours of boredom.

i drove the daimler at 130 mph for most of the straight, and when i slowed down to 60 mph at the end, i felt i could get out and walk at that speed after being used to such speeds prior to that.

there is no speed limit on most of this road.



auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 1:21 am

I think that some highway designers have the germ of an answer to the soporific problem... one of a few different places in America [and other nations as well] is a portion of America's Rt. 66 which is paved with rough patches spaced so that when a car drives over it, musical notes are heard. :idea:



Kiprobalhato
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16 Feb 2018, 1:40 am

b9 wrote:
here is the biggest ford we ever made was the 1977 LTD, and it had either a 351 cid or a 390 cid engine.
Image

and here is a 1974 australian LTD which was also equipped with either a 351 or a 390.

Image


quite good looking cars, the deep blue in the latter model is lovely. the front end design on the 1977 is interesting, it reminds me of a jaguar xj of that era mated with a rolls royce, very british. i wonder why ford decided to go with the "pull-up" style door handles earlier while gm stuck with the push-button type?

as for speedometers, my LS has a speedometer going all the way up to 160, which is overkill for me personally but those cars are limited to 155 and can possibly exceed 160 with the limiter off. i assume it's because when the cars are on a track or a drag strip or some other long stretch of road where they can be taken to their full potential, you should be able to read your speed at all times. sometimes it's just cheaper for the manufacturer to use the same gauge cluster in their slow econobox as in their sports car.

still, i really like the look of the horizontal ones.

here the roads are generally curvy with various changes in elevation, i've never driven past 92MPH.


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auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 2:22 am

in my little town, the logging trucks tore up the roads, they basically [in large areas] require a vehicle of some ruggedness to avoid causing terminal vibration of car passengers. the downtown area which is about a block wide and a mile long, is the only well-paved flat and level part of town. i'd like to try something like a lexus or merc or caddy on those rough patches to see how they handle 'em.



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16 Feb 2018, 2:29 am

there's a used car dealership a few blocks from my house with several mercs and rolls royces. (corniche III and a newer ghost). i wonder what it would take for them to let me drive one... :chin:

the roads here aren't bad but down in ventura they are russia-tier. i drive over them in my dad's pickup truck and the whole thing feels like it's going to fall apart.


if i were in your area, or if you were in mine, i'd let you take my LS for a spin. you deserve it. 8)


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auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 2:44 am

Kiprobalhato wrote:
there's a used car dealership a few blocks from my house with several mercs and rolls royces. (corniche III and a newer ghost). i wonder what it would take for them to let me drive one... :chin: the roads here aren't bad but down in ventura they are russia-tier. i drive over them in my dad's pickup truck and the whole thing feels like it's going to fall apart. if i were in your area, or if you were in mine, i'd let you take my LS for a spin. you deserve it. 8)

I really appreciate that generous spirit :wtg: there is a car nut in me that is trapped in a fundage-deprived person's body. :|



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16 Feb 2018, 2:56 am

You're welcome.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6D7S2rcyIQ



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRg5lpCQKmI


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auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 2:59 am

^^^that street iron looks like it means all business :bounce:



blackicmenace
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16 Feb 2018, 3:18 am

Nothing quite like the sound of an inline 4 at high revs or the smell of a hot engine/oil after beating the snot out of it. Reminds me of the race track.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCmHxp8Od1Y


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auntblabby
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16 Feb 2018, 4:02 am

paint me as weird :alien: but I much prefer engines and cars being unstressed, treated gently and driven on good roads.



blackicmenace
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16 Feb 2018, 4:23 am

auntblabby wrote:
paint me as weird :alien: but I much prefer engines and cars being unstressed, treated gently and driven on good roads.


To each their own. Never felt more alive at the edge of chaos flirting with death. Guess it's the adrenaline junkie in me.


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