RE: PH Fleet: C63 AMG Going Nowhere...
Discussion
ArosaMike said:
Why on earth do you bother to drive?! You could happily walk that in about 30mins and cylce it in 15! I utterly hate having to drive to work. If I could take any other option I'd be straight there. Sadly....public transport from the East of Leicester to an old WW2 airfield in Warwickshire isn't exactly forthcoming or straight forward, and as good as it would be for my health, a 99 mile round trip on my pedal bike 5 days a week is pushing it somewhat!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
I couldn't agree more. How ever much it pains me to admit it because I love cars and driving, I would much rather spend my journey to and from work each day doing something else than looking at the rear number plate of the car in front.I also think that if people who are in a position to walk or use another form of transport do so and free up the roads for those that have no other choice, then not only does it make their commute easier but it also stops the government imposing blanket measures that penalise everyone because there are simply too many people on the roads.
ArosaMike said:
KP said:
Don't think he's after any sympathy?
If you can afford it then do it.
If the Greens had their way V8's etc wouldn't be allowed on the city commute!
KP
I wasn't suggesting he was after sympathy....just questioning his choice! I mean, driving a decent AMG Merc is great.....on an open road. Why on earth drive it 3.5 miles in the city to work at 4mph average?! Trying to drive anywhere in London even outside rush hour is about as fun as a poking your own eyes out with a blunt fork! There are about 1000 other ways I'd rather commute 3.5 miles in London. I mean, crawling on your hands and knees would at least mean you got to study the types of tarmac Boris is using for the pavement AND it'd still get you there quicker...If you can afford it then do it.
If the Greens had their way V8's etc wouldn't be allowed on the city commute!
KP
I'm not even pretending to play the green argument or anything either. It's just that driving around London in rush hour makes about as much sense as rowing to New York!
I'd take the fastest/cheapest way to work I can. At the end of the day it's realistically:
1. Spend £10 in petrol sitting in traffic for an hour
2. Keep fit and get to work 45mins earlier whilst spending nothing
No brainer!
Munich said:
ArosaMike said:
Why on earth do you bother to drive?! You could happily walk that in about 30mins and cylce it in 15! I utterly hate having to drive to work. If I could take any other option I'd be straight there. Sadly....public transport from the East of Leicester to an old WW2 airfield in Warwickshire isn't exactly forthcoming or straight forward, and as good as it would be for my health, a 99 mile round trip on my pedal bike 5 days a week is pushing it somewhat!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
I couldn't agree more. How ever much it pains me to admit it because I love cars and driving, I would much rather spend my journey to and from work each day doing something else than looking at the rear number plate of the car in front.I also think that if people who are in a position to walk or use another form of transport do so and free up the roads for those that have no other choice, then not only does it make their commute easier but it also stops the government imposing blanket measures that penalise everyone because there are simply too many people on the roads.
PSBuckshot said:
gumsie said:
Then perhaps we should make billboards out of it?
I'm actually for people having crappy little save the planet cars, means less fuel is used and there is more for us petrolheads. Jay Leno said something similar, mentioned it like how the car saved the horse.
I could never drive an eco car though, it'd ruin me, be angry and annoyed all the time.
For starters, if people aren't using horses to get around, surely they will need fewer of them than if they were. It's not like horses are a great source of food, and it's not like they do much that's useful to humans if they aren't being used as transport. And sure enough, in general it certainly seems like there are not too many horses about, and I live next to the country, about 100m from some stables. I suspect that compared to the early 1900s, considering horses per capita, we would see a massive decrease relatively speaking, and probably a decrease in absolute terms despite the increase in population. Is this "saving the horse"? Strikes me that it is not.
Secondly, horses thrive on there being lots of horses. The whole point of a horse, in fact, is to make more horses. They're not just there for show. So if you have more horses to start with, because people use them for transport, then you'll have more horses to end up with. Horses mean more horses; more horses, means more more horses. It's like magic (but more fun (for the horses)).
That's ignoring the economic aspect, which is that if there's a big demand for horses, people will pay for the things. So people will arrange things so that there are even more more horses than there might have been otherwise! Not only would you naturally get more more horses from your huge stack of horses that people are using to get about, but you'd get even more more more horses, because people can make money from getting horses to f
k.Now I could really do with some statistics to back up my argument (it seems like the internet isn't interested in historical horse data, and I don't care enough to visit my local library) but I'm pretty confident that it would turn out that any feeling that horses had been somehow "saved" by the advent of the motor car would turn out to be somewhat wide of the mark, and probably wide of the mark by a long way. And indeed the very notion that horses needed "saving" in the first place is a bit curious. Saving from what, exactly? (Saving from being plentiful, and valued? Well, if you put it like that, maybe.)
As for the save-the-planet cars, I think that is wrong too. If driving is cheap, people will do more of it, and they'll end up using as much petrol as they did before. It's not like there's some limit on how much extra convenience people will put up with, or anything like that.
(Yes, I know - this is completely the opposite of what happened with computers, because we've ended up with just one small and cheap computer per household rather than having a small and cheap computer in every last thing from your car to your washing machine to your walkman. I don't have any explanation for this.)
PSBuckshot said:
I'm actually for people having crappy little save the planet cars, means less fuel is used and there is more for us petrolheads.
Jay Leno said something similar, mentioned it like how the car saved the horse.
I could never drive an eco car though, it'd ruin me, be angry and annoyed all the time.
Ah. I see your reasoning and I like it. Motorway fodder. We can kick up a cloud of dust in front of them Dukes of Hazzard style.Jay Leno said something similar, mentioned it like how the car saved the horse.
I could never drive an eco car though, it'd ruin me, be angry and annoyed all the time.
will261058 said:
Munich said:
ArosaMike said:
Why on earth do you bother to drive?! You could happily walk that in about 30mins and cylce it in 15! I utterly hate having to drive to work. If I could take any other option I'd be straight there. Sadly....public transport from the East of Leicester to an old WW2 airfield in Warwickshire isn't exactly forthcoming or straight forward, and as good as it would be for my health, a 99 mile round trip on my pedal bike 5 days a week is pushing it somewhat!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
I couldn't agree more. How ever much it pains me to admit it because I love cars and driving, I would much rather spend my journey to and from work each day doing something else than looking at the rear number plate of the car in front.I also think that if people who are in a position to walk or use another form of transport do so and free up the roads for those that have no other choice, then not only does it make their commute easier but it also stops the government imposing blanket measures that penalise everyone because there are simply too many people on the roads.
Trains - it's damned expensive for a ride in a extremely filthy, often delayed tube and I don't just mean the actual carriages, I mean the air itself (try blowing your nose into a tissue after 30-40 mins travel on the underground and you'll see what I mean). Furthermore, rush hour being stuck like a sardine with some-ones sweaty armpit in your face and no seat five days a week is not the business.
Buses? You're joking. I've no interest in waiting around for a bus that doesn't run on time and so upsets my plans for the day let alone having to dodge peoples spit whilst having to sit with feral, gobby kids who think it's cool to play crappy music as loud as possible through mobile phone speakers.
As for bikes, I don't want to arrive at my destination feeling like I need to shower again, I've already been to the gym in the morning for a work-out so I don't need another one thanks. Of course, that's assuming the weather is reasonable... If it's raining forget it. And it it me of does it seem like everyone I've ever met who regularly rides a bike/moped/motor-bike in London has ended up in some kind of skirmish with another road user!? If I'm going to get into an accident I'd rather be in a car than on any of those.
In conclusion; I will pay to drive my car, regardless of how much it ends up costing me if it means I get to enjoy the privilege of air-conditioned comfort, cleanliness, music of my choice and the ability to take a different route when I come up against a traffic jam!
ArosaMike said:
Why on earth do you bother to drive?! You could happily walk that in about 30mins and cylce it in 15! I utterly hate having to drive to work. If I could take any other option I'd be straight there. Sadly....public transport from the East of Leicester to an old WW2 airfield in Warwickshire isn't exactly forthcoming or straight forward, and as good as it would be for my health, a 99 mile round trip on my pedal bike 5 days a week is pushing it somewhat!
Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
If you can happily walk 3.5 miles in 30mins I suggest you start training for the olympics.Not meaning to be harsh, but I don't have any sympathy for anyone who sits in traffic for 30mins a day to travel less than 10miles!
alolympic said:
Cars and cities have had their day. Cars are making less and less sense as a means of commuting.
Get on you bike and use the car for fun, it's a smoother love affair that way.
Ducks for cover......
Think I better duck too.... 17.5 miles each way my commute & I now enjoy cycling it (after going through the pain barrier!) its not just the money saved as I earn a decent wage, but I feel great & am guilt free when I take the drive in the car just for the hell of it :-) Get on you bike and use the car for fun, it's a smoother love affair that way.
Ducks for cover......
Dont get me started on how the government stitched up the cycle to work scheme this year though....Grrrr.
marc2 said:
am guilt free when I take the drive in the car just for the hell of it
I like cycling too, but why should a motorist EVER feel guilty for using their car? We pay for the 'privilege' through the nose. Don't let a few news items make you feel guilty for turning a key in the ignition.Garlick said:
I like cycling too, but why should a motorist EVER feel guilty for using their car? We pay for the 'privilege' through the nose. Don't let a few news items make you feel guilty for turning a key in the ignition.
Fair point Sir! I shall step down from the moral high ground I felt I was occupying.... & take the car to work tomorrow in you honour. splitpin said:
Get the theory of a derv powered Caterfield, but the urban reality/worst bit might be something else completely?; imagine sat in a long hardly moving traffic jam on a drizzly day in London etc, no ac, ventilation that mainly comes complete with a damp crotch, windows misted up, idiots in lycra screaming obscenities here, there and everywhere unbaffled via little or no sound proofing ...... mmmmnnnn maybe for once, I'd rather have the relative isolation and tranquility of an all metal soundproofed cocoon - even if it is using three or four times the petrol.
Nah, forget the maybe, the C63 everytime thanks, it's a very nice place to be anywhere anytime.
I did say maybe a kit car with a roof if I was to do this i'd go for something like one of these Nah, forget the maybe, the C63 everytime thanks, it's a very nice place to be anywhere anytime.
Edited by splitpin on Tuesday 8th March 23:31
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTM_Libra
the looks arent fantastic any more but I think they still look nice and have a decent handling chassis
marc2 said:
Garlick said:
I like cycling too, but why should a motorist EVER feel guilty for using their car? We pay for the 'privilege' through the nose. Don't let a few news items make you feel guilty for turning a key in the ignition.
Fair point Sir! I shall step down from the moral high ground I felt I was occupying.... & take the car to work tomorrow in you honour. 
That's up to you Marc, but I will not be made to feel guilty for using my car when I pay (a lot) for the right to do so. As I said I cycle too but not to ease my conscience, more to stop my stomach from expanding.....Garlick said:
That's up to you Marc, but I will not be made to feel guilty for using my car when I pay (a lot) for the right to do so. As I said I cycle too but not to ease my conscience, more to stop my stomach from expanding.....I do regularly go to London (at least once a month) so I am familar with the 'joys' of the tube etc, but perhaps I just have a different perspective on things. I'll always take the quickest option to travel from A to B, and in London the car is so far from the quickest option I avoid driving there at all costs. Clearly it's not a view shared by everyone, and that's fair enough. I'm not one to try and impose my view on others at the expense of a free choice!
As I said earlier on....I currently 'have' to drive to work because there is no practicable option available. It would be possible to catch public transport but it would involve about 3 buses and a train with about 15-20mins of walking! In total it would take between 2-3 hours each way!
Ultimately, there are all kinds of variables involved in peopls commutes, but to me (and a few others it would seem), to drive 3 or 4 miles in any kind of car to work, especially when that journey takes an hour is just a no brainer.A good mate of mine lives in Fulham and works in central London. The times it takes him on various forms of transport;
Car - 1 hour
Tube - 40mins in rush hr
Bus - 30mins in rush hr
Push Bike - 15mins in rush hr at a leisurely pace
Needless to say, he cycles!
And just to counter anyone saying I'm being an eco-mentalist....
-My 'commuting car' is a Mk1 Skoda Octavia vRS that manages about 35Mpg ave
-I have a completely impractical second car - A Caterham Roadsport which spends its life on track and probably averages about 10Mpg
-My job mostly involves driving stuff at high speed that has capacities >4 Litres
Not trying to boast or anything gay like that. Just trying to prove that my motives aren't those of a greeny!
As I said earlier on....I currently 'have' to drive to work because there is no practicable option available. It would be possible to catch public transport but it would involve about 3 buses and a train with about 15-20mins of walking! In total it would take between 2-3 hours each way!
Ultimately, there are all kinds of variables involved in peopls commutes, but to me (and a few others it would seem), to drive 3 or 4 miles in any kind of car to work, especially when that journey takes an hour is just a no brainer.A good mate of mine lives in Fulham and works in central London. The times it takes him on various forms of transport;
Car - 1 hour
Tube - 40mins in rush hr
Bus - 30mins in rush hr
Push Bike - 15mins in rush hr at a leisurely pace
Needless to say, he cycles!
And just to counter anyone saying I'm being an eco-mentalist....
-My 'commuting car' is a Mk1 Skoda Octavia vRS that manages about 35Mpg ave
-I have a completely impractical second car - A Caterham Roadsport which spends its life on track and probably averages about 10Mpg
-My job mostly involves driving stuff at high speed that has capacities >4 Litres
Not trying to boast or anything gay like that. Just trying to prove that my motives aren't those of a greeny!
Edited by ArosaMike on Wednesday 9th March 11:07
As you say it should be possible to not need a shower after pedaling 4-5 miles, however- if you are even mildly competitive, you will soon get sucked into the 'I think I can just catch him if I speed up a bit' mindset & be almost melting by the time you stagger into work... or is that just my midlife crisis kicking in?
Still, a wash & change into clean clothes from your locker & all is well.
Still, a wash & change into clean clothes from your locker & all is well.
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