[FreakOil]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'I')'ll try to explain Freakoil , I had two good friends who were brothers when I was 13 , we remained good friends well into our twenties . The younger brother was into engines , motorcycles , go-karts , the older brother not so much( he developed an affinity for caddy's and el dorado's )where the younger bro' got the fever I don't know but when he worked on motors I was right there with him , I loved taking stuff apart and rebuilding it so it worked better. Once we were old enough to drive this turned to cars , I think as teenagers fast cars were about status , competition , attracting females, adrenalin rush from high speeds. They say the car bug gets in your blood and I've found it's true , now for me it's about the rush from speed , but more important I think rebuilding my current car( 1970 dodge charger) is a form of therapy , it's like how some build bird houses , some play guitar , some do yoga , some converse with strangers through a modum ,alot sit in front of the TV with a cocktail. I'm very mechanically inclined and I like to drive fast so this seems natural to me.It's how I unwind and find some peace for myself , away from everyone for awhile.As far as new sports cars that don't require re-building and constant maintenence I think you have guys that like to just go fast and maybe enjoy the attention. It's genetic in some guys , I'll bet there were two cave-men racing right after the invention of the wheel.

[FreakOil]

Let me rephrase the last part of the previous post: Car lovers and car companies should have already made the sacrifice.

[gampy]

I don't own a car, probably never will. I despise all the cars I see on the roads everyday (and not just because they hog the roads, and it sucks to breathe exhaust while pedaling) but that is a damn nice car...lol. What are ya gonna do? It's hardwired into our brains that speed is sexy.

I don't hate motor cars, I just hate that everyone has one. That is the collective problem. Everything in moderation, eh?

[JonathanR]

The biggest problem with cars is that people commute in them. This bad habit leads to all sorts of complications, mainly to do with having to design the road infrastructure to accommodate a peak loading, as most people start and finish their work at roughly the same time.

I enjoy cars, but I also recognise their failings. In our family, we have two cars, firstly the (Australian) V8 Ford Falcon, which is the family hack, and secondly a Mazda MX-5 (Miata), which I bought a few years back for a job that was too far to commute by bicycle. Both of these cars would probably do less than 12,000 km a year (combined). It is in their state of relative unuse that I justify owning such vehicles in my peak-oil aware brain.

I commute by bicycle (now 29km round trip, soon to be 39km), and if it is raining or if I have to carry stuff to-from, then I'll catch the train (which happens to be reasonably handy).

Having said that, whenever I do get the chance to drive, it usually is fun, because it is not peak-hour commuting, and their is no work-pressures associated with the event.

So if everyone chose a different method of commuting (cycling, walking, tele, PT, etc), then we'd have much more oil to go-round, and we'd all enjoy the times when we do use our vehicles.

The few times I have been on the freeway system in peak hour, I always ask myself, 'how is this any different to sitting on a train'? (apart from the fact that you can turn your mind to other things without having to worry about the car in front).

[jboogy]

You are all of course , right . I'm very aware that my love for fast cars goes against many of the things I find concerning about the world and resource depletion . Perhaps this is an example of the point I was making about , " cars getting in the blood " and " it's genetic in some guys ", as Gampy so eloquently stated " it's hardwired into our brain that speed is sexy" , I love nature , the environment , clean air and water , I would love to see this country revert back to the population distribution we had in 1900 , 90% of us living in the towns and cities with vibrant main streets and locally owned businesses , ( we will return to this soon , by necessity ) with the rest of the country farmland and forest . I get pissed when I see one person in an SUV that's obviously their primary means of transportation . Right now I drive a Civic with my old pick-up for haulin' stuff , my wife drives a prius and my muscle cars have always been strictly hobby week-end cars so their footprint has been small.

[Twilight]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('strider3700', 'A')ny word on when this will be released? GM's stock took a hit today when the CEO mentioned that the all electric volt may not be ready for release in 2010 which was the expected release date.

[Zardoz]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gampy', '.')..I despise all the cars I see on the roads everyday...but that is a damn nice car...lol.

[master_rb]

i'm with jboogy, it's in our blood, when i drive in a fast car I feel like I own the "world" and feel good, when i'm in a car that makes more noice than push and i literally push the steering wheel to make it go faster (especially uphill when it chokes) it seems as the whole world is messed up and i go into depression mode

seeing an old woman talking on a cell, laughing, driving 50 mph on highway and avoiding small potholes in a freaking SUV gets me pissed too, for people like that any car is good as long as it has steering wheel and four wheels, why waste so much for nothing