I Hate Newer Cars Some Times.

This will take some time to be successfully engineered. Just like ABS for motorcycles.
Autonomous vehicles are just another liberal attempt to undemocratically control our everyday lives...
I will drive a car with manual transmission. And drive it myself.

 

I'm one of the one percenters who prefer a manual transmission too on my car, fotrunately my bike lets me do all the shifting. I did try to find a manual tranny for my car though and got tired of searching and settled for an automatic. My problem was I did a direct trade with my car dealer and told them to find the car I was looking for with a manual tranny. After awhile I got tired of waiting and settled for the old automatic slush box. What's really sad about this automatic is it comes with paddle shifters but they're worthless. For example if I wanted to shift into 5th gear while cruising at 30 MPH, I could do that with a manual tranny, while the paddle shifter will not let me make a move like that. Thus I never touch the paddle shifter, beats me what it's even there for.

 

A month ago, coming back from a neighboring town, I was travelling at 150km/h for 1½ hours. The concentration drained me. But, I will do it again - I was in control of the car.

 

You must live in a pretty cool country if you can get away with driving that fast without Officer Friendly pulling you over for a speeding ticket. On the highway around here I usually don't cruise any faster than 96 km per hour. I'm stuck with one of the slowest speed limits in the country. My insurance company gives me an A+ for obeying the speed limit too, since I did plug their monitoring device into my car's diagnostic port.

 

We can debate that until the cows come home...

 

True, the human element of surprise is still there to cause an accident...but on a positive note, I can't help smiling at the delight expressed by some elderly citizens who having surrendered their driving licence now think of the possibility of getting back their lost independence and still being able "to drive". They can at least dream ...

 

"Autonomous vehicles are just another liberal attempt to undemocratically control our everyday lives..."
I LOL at that one.
Autonomous vehicles are all about freedom and choice. More people can go where they want. You can do what you want while being transported. You can get drunk with your friends without a duty driver. And you can choose your route for scenery, speed or expense. There is a reason we say "trapped in traffic".

I re-read the last half of this thread and there still seems to be a common mis-conception that this technology is new and untested. Google is thinking about neighborhood communications where you want to go somewhere and you get a message that your friend is going there also.

 

One other advantage of autonomous cars is when you need to rent a car, there's no need to travel anymore to pick up the car, since the car will travel all by itself to pick you up.

 

I hate the idea that they can track you with that.I hate the idea that some of these newer cars have all the bells and whistles like wifi it's just another distraction for the driver.I don't even like the idea that my car has on star and can track me any time they want to.So watch out for the P0-Po they can track you if they need to put your ass in the slammer.

 

"I hate the idea that they can track you with that"
Car UPS is a secondary tracking, at least here in Silicon Valley. The cities have license plate readers and computers that track every car in every city. Plate readers are on many traffic lights and all police vehicles.
Fremont even does the subtraction for crime - what cars could possibly near the scene. They figure a habitual robber will pop up after a while and some have actually been caught after they narrow it down to five or less cars.

 

Some good terms and definitions:
https://www.quora.com/Why-doesnt-Elon-Musk-plan-to-make-Tesla-cars-fully-autonomous

 

Funny thing is I was just reading a autonomous car comparison test in Car and Driver between the Tesla S, Infiniti Q50, Mercedes S Class and BMW 7 Series. And Car and Driver concluded in this test that Tesla is as good as it gets now to creating a fully autonomous vehicle. It's still not there yet but when you're one step ahead of BMW and Mercedes, you gotta wonder if Tesla will become the first fully autonomous vehicle? http://www.caranddriver.com/feature...ed-tesla-vs-bmw-mercedes-and-infiniti-feature

 

To be quite honest, and toot my own horn, I have been driving for more than twenty years. I have owned thirteen vehicles, three of them sports cars.

The day an autonomous vehicle can out drive yours truly is the day hell freezes over.

 

I really like older cars and trucks. And motorcycles too. Best I've had were Camaros and Monte Carlos. Fun. And as less electronics as can be. Real carbs (not the diet kind), real distributors and fun to work on!

 

They are test driving transports with that technology .. not really sure if I am going to like it. I have seen so many bad drivers on the road, swerved to miss quite a few, not sure how a robot truck is going to be able to anticipate the action of other drivers and if it will manage to miss them. I like having full control of anything I am suppose to be driving. I trust myself.

 

I don't care, since they'll make the roads safer. I use a motorcycle most of the time too and I would have never had a car rear end me while I was sitting on my bike at a red light if it had automatic braking on it. The more schmucks I see cruising around while gabbing on their effing cell phones is just one more reason autonomous cars can't come soon enough.

 

You know what else would make the roads safer?

People learning how to effing drive. It's WAY too easy to get a license.

 

Then again we have to live with reality, not what SHOULD happen.

 

I think I must be the luckiest guy in the world. Just listen-up... Late November 2015 I purchased a brand new 2016 Audi A7. I've been dreaming for the last 2 years with my "dream car" AUDI. Guess what, after leaving the dealer I drove into a gas station and as I was leaving some IDIOT slammed my dream car on the passengers side. He was speeding and the cops told me that he was going at least 60 t0 70 MPH.... Luckily I was okay and just emotionally shaken-up. What a nightmare. The guy was driving a late model Ford pick-up and he was seriously injured but he, fortunately, recovered. He was in a hurry to get to his job. He recognized his fault and he covered the "insurance deductible". I had to wait a few weeks for the insurance to pay but I have my "dream car" back. Crazy things happen.....

 

You're certainly the calmest guy in the world. I would have exploded... having my brand new car smashed into on the day I take delivery of it?

BTW The Audi RS7 has to be the greatest car in the world. Remove the speed limiter, and it will stay with a Porsche Panamera Turbo S, which in my country costs about $60,000 more.

 

"Calmest guy in the world"... heck no. Actually I was very very mad. I was taken to the hospital after the accident and I hadn't sustained any injuries, not even a scratch, but I was so intensely mad and anxious that the ER doctor gave me some medication for my anxiety. It really took me a few days to get back to normal. I wish that no one has to go through that kind of an ordeal. Here in Puerto Rico it's in the $70,000 range the AUDI 7 coupe. Taxes are a bit high. Excellent car. Like I've said before, it's my dream car....

 

Your dream car is a great car!
I think the Audi A5 (5-door) and A7 are two of the greatest cars ever.

Remember the original Audi S4? That annihilated the American V8s?
Enjoy...
http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/5484/Audi-90-Quattro-IMSA-GTO.html

 

Yes, I had a used 1985 S4 in the late 80's and sold it around 1996 or 97. Never had any major repairs, basically tires, brake pads, oil change and stuff like that. It was an excellent car. A friend messed around with the engine and fine tuned it and some other things he did and it would blast by the V8's. That's when I fell in love with Audi. I think that Audi is, in my humble opinion, in the top 5 cars. But there's one car, if I hit the Power Ball, that I drool over. The Porsche 911 Turbo S...... I must be MAD!!! I love that 3.8 liter 6 cylinder box engine. I'll have to hit the Power Ball, it's over $200,000, I guess it's okay to dream. Can you believe it, I'm 65 yrs old and thing of a race car...... It's like dreaming over a 18 year old teenager. I must be going NUTS... ha.....

 

With all due respect...
The first Audi S4 was built from 1991 to 1994.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_S4

 

Okay... Yes, I know... that was a misprint >>> typing to fast on the keyboard..... It happens.

 

Thanks for replying to my comment. CRAZY... you can say that again. A6 is an excellent choice. About the R8, they are expensive and here in Puerto Rico I have yet to see one. To have a car like that shipped here and then the taxes (we have a luxury tax on cars and it's high) that car would be over $142,500.... outrageous. I had to wait almost 3 years to get my S7. It was $104,799 and I had to convince myself that I was making a sane purchase if you know what I mean. My girl friend thinks I'm crazy. I said..." I'm 65 yrs old and I've wanted that car for ever so if it's not know then when will it be?" She just smiled and said... " you're right. You'll look real funny sitting in the car in a funeral parlor." I'm retired and worked my butt off and this is my second NEW car ever.

 

LauraR, did you get the Audi A6?

 

Hi...
No, my first Audi ever was a 1994 Audi S4 and used. Great performance and would blow away the V8's. What I have is the S7.... I'm in love....

 

WOW.... are you gonna have fun.... wonderful car... enjoy.

 

When I mentioned "had to wait 3 years" for my S7 what I mean was to save some cash and be in a healthy economical condition to buy it.... not waiting for the car to arrive. The wait was worth it. My girl friend thinks I'm nuts but that was until she saw and drove the car. She also fell in love.... ha

 

"GOT THE MONEY"... no, I'm just a hard worker (college professor) and also had my own business. What I did do was set a goal to save as much $$$ as possible. That was 3 yrs of a sacrificing a few things but oh was it worth it. That actually was a problem with my girl friend but all is just fine now...
Laura... how about hitting the Super Ball jack-pot? Maybe you can get me a R8 as well... .... lol......

 

LauraR... you lucky lady!
Any Audi is great.
I'd happily settle for a RS3... just to make fun of the V8's.

But, here's my dream car... I'll sell a kidney.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/first-drives/a26249/dodge-charger-hellcat-test/

 

LOL.... sell a kidney. The Hellcat... WOW... you just might as well get a rocket with wheels..... My dream car... Porsche 911 Turbo S... I must be going nuts. Maybe we both are... LOL http://www.porsche.com/latin-america-en/_puerto-rico_/models/911/911-turbo-s/featuresandspecs/

 

"When you stop having dreams and ideals -- well, you might as well stop altogether."
Marian Anderson.