[thechat] Re: Gasoline/Petrol prices

[Bob Davis]

On Apr 30, 2004, at 10:28 AM, Luther, Ron wrote:

> Bob Davis revered:
>
>>> "To make it go faster you will have to add lightness."
>>> 	- Colin Chapman
>
> +1!
>
> Hi Bob,
>
> Didn't he also have some great quote about a part needing to do five
> different things or not belonging on a race car?
>

Probably - I know he said he wouldn't be caught dead driving a race car 
he built. Gotta love a guy who thought that if it didn't have a 
catastrophic breakdown on the cool down lap, it was overbuilt.

> ... more of an anonymous quote on the proper way to drive one of
> Colin's masterworks:
>
> "Flat out until you see God, count to three, then brake."
>

Yup - and it'll do it. I've always loved the 7, and seriously believe 
that some day I will own an Elise.

>
>>> Wow. That's esoteric.
>
> Ah! Then you probably also remember getting batteries out of the
> vending machine!  ;-)
>

I remember them being there... you mean little batteries? I remember 
Coke machines filled with glass bottles (old, scratched up, thick 
refillable bottles) that had a tall, narrow door to open. I loved those 
machines.

Back to cars though - Who thinks the Toyota Prius is cool?
It's a very practical hybrid car. I think it's kind of neat. From what 
I understand, it's pretty quick too. Lots of torque (electric motors 
are like that).

VW also has their new 2 liter tdi (diesel) here that they're selling in 
the passat. Again - not a lot in the HP field, but serious (like 250 
ft/lbs or ~335 NM). That's pretty interesting to me. People buy 
horsepower, but drive torque - and this gets 38mpg.

The neatest car that mortals can buy today, IMO, is the Mazda RX8. 
Rotary engines are way cool.

bob