Outrageous letters to Royal Auto

[schultzie]

understood and under good merrit. and i wish driver training was mandatory like over in europe.

you cant take idiots off the road, and in my honest opinion we call all make a mistake regardless of what speed we are doing...

and i am not saying all roads eithor....

[Falcon Coupe]

Cars are becoming faster and safer, the roads are bigger and better yet the speed limits continue to drop.

Unfortunately the only thing we cannot improve on is the driving ability of the lowest common denominator to whom the rules keep alive.

Not only do we have to share the roads with these morons but editors actually print their letters. :

[Debzilla_108]

Originally Posted by schultzie

understood and under good merrit. and i wish driver training was mandatory like over in europe.

completly agree with driver training....

i spent a day on skidpan with my fairlane that i had only had 3 weeks lol

and it was the best way to learn a car...

helped me about 6months ago....hadnt rained in a long time and then it starts raining and so the road was nice and oily...stupid woman pulls out on me on a round about...i tired to brake but wasnt happening...so i acclerated *** kicked (as it was wet...but didnt have much choice...it was that or the side of her car....) and i managed to staighten it up and all was good...minus me nearly $hi!ting my pants...

i feel more confident with my car after that...knowing that i would have half a chance of saving myself if stuff got nasty.....

its one thing the yanks got right....driver ed ? is it called...

[schultzie]

I havent done it mainly because well my panelvan would of made it boring, and even though doing it in my subaru would be some what fun anything they teach with the hand break wouldnt be able to be applied due to the fact it is on the front wheels.... now i have my ute i Will be going as soon as i can save up the funds to go and do it.

[Dezza]

Originally Posted by Silver Ghia

Yes, I got the Royalauto yesterday and it was in the bin less than 5 minutes later as there was nothing of interest in it. They should have useful articles like advising drivers how to negotiate roundabouts, so everyone will drive better on the roads.

Yep, Royal Auto is garbage. Maybe about 1/5 of it is actually dedicated to cars, and it's the wrong areas they focus on.

[janddbone]

Originally Posted by XR6_190

Just what this country needs, lower speed limits on it's major Freeways, don't enough people die due to fatigue as it is?

I agree 100%, I have been in a number of accidents in my time, both my fault and not, 99% of them has been because of fatigue...

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by flappist

Does a red userid preclude COTY nomination?

It can be arranged.

[snakeoil]

prydey

dear pencild-ck please get off the road before you take out a real car ie 100 klmh is first gear dude.

I can send you a RACV suede hat if need be for your rear parcel shelf

love ya work bud gav

[jmack]

driver defence courses most of the time only make the person think they are gods gift to driving .it takes years of experience in the real world not a days course in a controlled enviroment.its like sex ed class when you were younger,its all forgotten when in the heat of the moment.bit hard to say "but i nailed on the skidpan officer"

[[Tonko]]

Some of the stuff is funny in there, i still get them even though i havent been with RACV for 2 years...

But that latest rubbish the RACV are pushing regarding rego prices in relation to number of cylinders really gets me.

[Hunter]

I think the ideas suggested are silly but the fact is, driving slower on highways does reduce your fuel consumption... of course it also increases the anger ratio of those behind you and makes your journey take a lot longer... but yeah driving slower = less fuel used (and before you say 'oh but you take longer and therefore the same fuel', the calculations aren't that simplistic).

You shouldn't need stickers on the back of your car saying you're driving slow to save fuel - people should learn to f**ing mind their manners on the road and not be aggressive. If I want to accelerate slowly I bloody well will.

[Silver Ghia]

Originally Posted by [Tonko]

But that latest rubbish the RACV are pushing regarding rego prices in relation to number of cylinders really gets me.

Yes, forgot about that one. I thought the RACV was to support all members. I've been in it for nearly 30 years and its the first time I've been so ashamed of their views.

[XR8GRL]

Originally Posted by alecrain

I got the latest issue of Royal Auto (a free mag for RACV members) and in the feedback section, where some letters form public are printed two made my blood boil.


Sorry for getting your blood boiling by bringing those opinions here but I just needed to vent.

Get used to it, it's only going to get worse.

[JACK250]

Originally Posted by [Tonko]

Some of the stuff is funny in there, i still get them even though i havent been with RACV for 2 years...

But that latest rubbish the RACV are pushing regarding rego prices in relation to number of cylinders really gets me.

I'd hate to drive one of those 1920's V16's that probably put out 150hp!

How do they work out that driving 10ks slower would use 10% less fuel?!

[alecrain]

Originally Posted by Hunter

You shouldn't need stickers on the back of your car saying you're driving slow to save fuel - people should learn to f**ing mind their manners on the road and not be aggressive. If I want to accelerate slowly I bloody well will.

People who are minding their f**ing business and get stuck behind a car that takes ages to accelerate and then doesn't even go at the speed limit (and eg. miss a sets of green lights because of that) are entitled to loose their patience. Accidents will happen and road rage incidents will only get worse.

[samftr]

Originally Posted by alecrain

People who are minding their f**ing business and get stuck behind a car that takes ages to accelerate and then doesn't even go at the speed limit (and eg. miss a sets of green lights because of that) are entitled to loose their patience. Accidents will happen and road rage incidents will only get worse.

What about people like me who (sometimes) take off fairly quickly, and do the speed limit as told to me by gps, as ford are hopeless with speedo calibration.. and then get tailgated by (some of) the slow asses who take off like said coal trains at the afforementioned traffic light/intersection etc.

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by alecrain

People who are minding their f**ing business and get stuck behind a car that takes ages to accelerate and then doesn't even go at the speed limit (and eg. miss a sets of green lights because of that) are entitled to loose their patience. Accidents will happen and road rage incidents will only get worse.

No they are not entitled to do jack other than to obey the law and pass when they can. This means not sitting up their *** or trying to menace them since both are against the law.

I hate getting stuck behind slow trucks but abusing the truck driver and acting like a twat won't make his rig go any faster.

Driving slow and accelerating slow are different things. Remember that it is a speed limit not a speed you must drive at all costs. So long as someone is not driving too slowly (and there are laws against this) and isn't in the right hand lane, get over it.

I get tired of idiots driving 10 cm from my backside because I'm doing the limit or I'm slowing because the conditions make it necessary to ease off. I've had people tailgate me through school zones while I'm being swarmed with kids and then they have the ignorance to have a go at me for taking it easy? : It seems a lot of drivers (in brisbane at least) have the intelligence of a dead house plant.

Its my right to take off slowly. If I want to keep my engine under 2000 rpm because I want to save fuel or perhaps not flog the **** out of my car every day then that's my decision. If some git sits 10 cm from backside because he doesn't like this then I am going to do my utmost to ensure they get their comeuppance if they hit me (if I were rich and someone hit me, I'd sue them into a cardboard box to teach them a lesson).

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by Falcon Coupe

Unfortunately the only thing we cannot improve on is the driving ability of the lowest common denominator to whom the rules keep alive.

Amen.

I say we have a week in which no speed limits are enforced whatsoever. Let this lowest common denominator slowly eliminate itself. Then bring the limits back and observe how fewer accidents there are now that the LCD has been eliminated.

Unfortunately, these you-know-what-heads would end up wiping out innocent families as well which I couldn't condone so unfortunately my idea isn't practical without more refinement.

[samftr]

Originally Posted by Hunter

No they are not entitled to do jack other than to obey the law and pass when they can. This means not sitting up their *** or trying to menace them since both are against the law.

I hate getting stuck behind slow trucks but abusing the truck driver and acting like a twat won't make his rig go any faster.

Driving slow and accelerating slow are different things. Remember that it is a speed limit not a speed you must drive at all costs. So long as someone is not driving too slowly (and there are laws against this) and isn't in the right hand lane, get over it.

I get tired of idiots driving 10 cm from my backside because I'm doing the limit or I'm slowing because the conditions make it necessary to ease off. I've had people tailgate me through school zones while I'm being swarmed with kids and then they have the ignorance to have a go at me for taking it easy? : It seems a lot of drivers (in brisbane at least) have the intelligence of a dead house plant.

Its my right to take off slowly. If I want to keep my engine under 2000 rpm because I want to save fuel or perhaps not flog the **** out of my car every day then that's my decision. If some git sits 10 cm from backside because he doesn't like this then I am going to do my utmost to ensure they get their comeuppance if they hit me (if I were rich and someone hit me, I'd sue them into a cardboard box to teach them a lesson).

AMEN!
Hit the nail on the head there. Brisbane however, is getting bad really bad with the people coming up from down south with their attitudes hahahaha just having a dig at all the VIC and NSW plated drivers I see getting around here at the moment.
however I would probably say its got something to do with the state of the roads in general.

people need to be retrained perhaps.
get rid of the road rules and the "ITS MY FUGGEN ROAD!!!" mentality

ever see how some overseas asian countries drive. seems to work pretty well there. there is give and take, and none of this my road get out of the way crap.

How hard is it to move over,
how hard is it to let someone in when merging. one person lets one in and it flows.
how hard is it to sit back a safe distance...
to say ah stuff it "only a mistake"

say sorry or what not...

well, im off to tailgate, speed and crash into other motorists with a stolen vehicle

oh sorry I'm playing grand theft auto, seems to be safer driving in there hehe...

[Green X]

If these jugheads are so concerned about fuel usage, that they are watching the Int/Lh readout then they should get off the road cause clearly there mind and eyes are not on the road.

[vztrt]

Originally Posted by samftr

ever see how some overseas asian countries drive. seems to work pretty well there. there is give and take, and none of this my road get out of the way crap.

Which countries are these, cause I been in Asia for over 4 months and I cant wait for Sept to get back to normal driving. Or even in a taxi that doesn't make you think twice about getting life insurance as they will either put you under the front, side or back of a truck.

[bob^]

Our local free paper published a readers letter about using hydrogen from the car battery, in the motor...

[alecrain]

PROGRAM FUEL USE
One suggestion to reduce fuel usage on modern cars would be to program the computer to only allow a certain number of litres per 100km through the system. My Falcon indicates to me the litres/100km as I drive. When I accelerate it can go up to 39L/100km and when I cruise it generally goes to about 6L.100km, my average is 9.3L/100km. I have manually been testing to keep this figure around 10L/100km and found that all this does is reduce the acceleration of my car. If you could set the maximum litres/100km to be used, I think you'd be able to drastically reduce fuel consumption. To alleviate the annoyance to following cars, there could be an education campaign and stickers on the bumper warning motorists of why the car is accelerating slowly up hills, etc. Jason P, Alfredton

I've got a better idea.
We all can save a drop of petrol by not turning headlights on and another by not using indicators. All we need to do is put a sticker on the car advising other road and an education campaign.

[SB076]

Now I know where politicians come from.

What are either of those two thinking? Most people dont delibrately drive to see how how much fuel they can use. If people do use 20l per 100 for a short stint or more its probably to avoid having a head on with another vehicle. As for dropping the speed limit I would suggest that we would actually use less fuel travelling faster depending on cars etc - what kills fuel economy is traffic so why dont we ban traffic...

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by SB076

As for dropping the speed limit I would suggest that we would actually use less fuel travelling faster depending on cars etc - what kills fuel economy is traffic so why dont we ban traffic...

Wind resistance significantly impacts on fuel economy at speeds above 90 km/h - wind resistance = more fuel used. Unless you drive one of those funky aerodynamic vehicles from the 1930s...

See this graph I found on wikipedia:


Note how it drops over 50 MPH (about 80 km/h)...

[SB076]

Originally Posted by Hunter

Wind resistance significantly impacts on fuel economy at speeds above 90 km/h - wind resistance = more fuel used. Unless you drive one of those funky aerodynamic vehicles from the 1930s...

See this graph I found on wikipedia:


Note how it drops over 50 MPH (about 80 km/h)...

hmm good point - it takes a big man to admit he is wrong... I am not that man how about I disagree with current speed limits cause I think they are too low and I am not overly concerned with using more fuel if I can travel a bit faster

EDIT I still think traffic (stop start driving) is a big problem for fuel economy

[Hunter]

Originally Posted by SB076

EDIT I still think traffic (stop start driving) is a big problem for fuel economy

Well it is a big killer, possibly more than wind resistance alone but there is also more risk, greater damage etc when traveling that fast. Oh and I would not want to travel 'fast' on most roads in Australia purely for the fact that they're so terrible.

[Wally]

SLOW AND SAFE
In these times of costly fuel prices, it would make sense to reduce the speed limit by at least 10km/h, especially on freeways. This would result in a 10% saving on fuel and safer roads. From my observation of freeways with speed restrictions due to roadworks, traffic flow seems to be smoother. When you see 110 drive 100, 80 drive 70, etc. B.M., Sunbury

Absolutely. And if we all dirve around in reverse we'll convert carbon dioxide into fuel.

[sleekism]

Originally Posted by alecrain

I've got a better idea.
We all can save a drop of petrol by not turning headlights on and another by not using indicators. All we need to do is put a sticker on the car advising other road and an education campaign.

People are going absolutely ballistic over fuel prices which is causing car manufacturers to over-react. Think the fourbanger Mustang, VB Commodore and
dropping the V8 Falcon.

It's absolutely hilarious watching the huge traffic jams to the local Woolies Petrol so people can save 4 cents a litre then watch these same people buy a coke and mars bar and pack of smokes as they pay for fuel.

I have adjusted to rising prices by walking to work, making my own lunch and mixing my own drinks. I have never once thought of switing to a smaller FWD fourbanger. If I have to drive a boring car then I'm not going to bother driving.

Retrospect is a wonderful thing but what would have been great as if a decade ago the Government had funded a mid-sized RWD platform that both Holden and Ford could use so in 2008 we could all be driving Cortinas and Toranas using 9L/100km.

[WindsorXR]

I think these type of people need to stop using their cars all together and leave all the fuel to us people that actually like to use it!!

All I can say is damn they are simple!!