If you thought the interior of your brick stinks, imagine sitting in this 745 after a minute long burnout. * cough cough *
Slow Burn
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Parallel parking
This isn’t the tightest spot I’ve gotten into, but at least I had my camera. Shot from my apartment. The rear spare on the jeep made it feel even smaller.
I’m continually amazed at the tight spots I can fit this car in. A few factors contribute to the 32′ turning radius:
• RWD cars can turn sharper because the power is independent from the steering. That’s one reason a Nissan Maxima, for example, has a 40′ turning radius.
• The 240 is narrow. 67″ vs. Subaru Outback’s 72″, not to mention the Cadillac Escalade’s 79″.
• The huge rear overhang above a short wheelbase. The 240 pivots sharper since the proportion of the wheelbase to the overall length is shorter than most cars. Compare 104/190 with the Mini Clubman at 100/155.
This may not mean much to suburban bricksters with driveways and parking slots at the local strip mall, but living in the city it saves my ass again and again. The streets are narrow and parking is scarce, so I’m always prowling for a spot. Once I find one there’s no room for error; there’s usually a line of 2-3 cars behind you, revving their engines and hovering over their horn. Sure, I occasionally pinball back and forth from bumper to bumper, but that’s why matt black rubber bumpers were made. I’m so glad I don’t have a fiberglass, body color non-bumper like most cars have these days.
The Brick Podcast
Ah, ain’t the internets grand? Before now the world was lacking an audio version of the endless discussions that scroll on-and-on within the various brick message boards. No more! The Volvo Ninjas have been pumping out their audiotory observations for the past year to anyone with a pair of earbuds. Check ’em out!
No Lights, No Lanes
Fascinating video shot from a proto-dash cam in 1905 on Market Street, San Francisco. The chaotic mix of pedestrians, horses, trolleys and cars is pretty cool.
Traffic Cops in Pyongyang
I imagine that Drivers Ed in North Korea includes a section on interpreting the odd signals of the counter-clockwise turning traffic cops at some intersections in Pyongyamg. See the Flickr set.
BONUS: Nothing explains the moves of this dork in Rhode Island. At least Officer Johnson’s moves somewhat resemble traffic direction for a pedestrian intersection at University of Pennsylvania.
In the Eye of the Storm
After the last snow storm my black brick was speckled with so much salt it had turned white. I’m hoping this snow bank will protect from all the splatter on this high-traffic road. A fresh coat of wax makes the snow just slip off.
Cars and Kludge
Some new sites I’ve added to the sidebar. Tons of crap cars and jerry rigs.
Image from thatwillbuffout.com
Twin v4?
Great comment from the Jalopnik QOTD, “What Modern Car Will You Have to Explain to Your Kids?” I had no idea the Passat W8 engine existed. Could the same idea be applied to 2 red-blocks?
Assuming I find a woman desperate/masochistic/imbalanced/whatever enough to settle down and raise a family with (I think I have better chances of growing a third arm at this point.), the resultant offspring would probably be most puzzled by the Volkswagen Passat W8 Wagon.
The conversation would probably go something like this:
Kid: Daddy, what’s that car in the picture?
Me: Well sport/princess, that’s a Volkswagen Passat W8 Wagon.
Kid: What’s the W8 mean?
Me: It was basically two overlapping V4s driving a common crankshaft.
Kid: Why?
Me: So they could cram eight cylinders under the hood longitudinally and still have room for the all-wheel-drive system.
Kid: But if it was all-wheel-drive and the back was shaped like a box, why not just buy a crossover or something?
Me: Well, some people – including your old man – preferred proper station wagons because they usually handled better and got better fuel economy. Even better when they were available with manual transmissions like this.
Kid: You mean flappy paddles?
Me: No, you had to move the gear lever up or down and left and right while lifting off the gas and pressing down on the clutch pedal to change gear.
Kid: Wow, driving one of those must have been a lot of work. Good thing the government outlawed cars that can’t drive themselves.
Me: Go to your room.
Kid: But-
Me: DON’T “BUT” ME, YOUNG MAN/LADY, GO TO YOUR ROOM!
*Kid runs off crying*
Wife: How can you be that way to our son/daughter?
Me: I have no son/daughter…
*Chugs glass of wine*
So…wanna get freaky later?
The Dodge Charger War of the Sexes
Hot off the heels of the ridiculous Dodge Charger Super Bowl ad, which depicts heterosexual relationships as a torturous, emasculating hell that can only be relieved by the loud burning of massive quantities of gasoline, comes this parody, depicting the oppressed women who have to deal with their poor Moparians:
“I will listen to Rush and tell you, yes, if there were a gold metal for air-drumming, you would win it.” Nice.
Via The Sexist
ZOMG! My Gas Pedal’s Stuck!
The aftermarket, one-size-fits-all floormats I got from the local Pep Boys last year didn’t quite work as planned. After a few weeks the driver side developed a fold that occasionally grabbed and held the gas pedal until I kicked it out of the way. I trimmed and re-shaped the rubber and everything has been fine since.
Not so for Toyota. What supposedly started as a problem with insecure floor mats on 3.6 million American cars has metastasized into a global recall of 6.5 million vehicles and has halted production of almost their entire line of cars.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Toyotathon of Death | ||||
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While there’s some humor in the “Toyotathon… of Death” title and segment on the Daily Show, the 2,100 reported accidents and 16 deaths isn’t funny.