brummeepants

Whenever I think about features I think of the old subaru xt...

Fighter jet inspired cockpit

Retractable door-handle flaps

Steering wheel with a single vertical and a single horizontal spoke

jet fighter shifter joystick

Digital instrument cluster that tilted with the steering wheel

Headlight Washers

Pneumatic suspension with height control

Push-button four-wheel drive (later changed to all-wheel drive)

Hill holder brake system, prevented rolling on hills in the manual transmission version."

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Yes, by definition they require electronics to operate.

An MR damper is built like a conventional oil-filled unit, except that it is filled with a much lighter oil than usual, and the oil contains teeny tiny little magnetic particles (like iron dust) in suspension. Then, a big electric coil is wrapped around the damper.

When the coil is de-energized, the damper is "soft". When the magnetic field is energized, all the little magnetic particles align themselves, which effectively increases the viscosity of the oil, thus "firming up" the damper. The stronger the field, the greater the change in viscosity.

The control of this system is extremely complex.

gearhead_318

iTrader: (1)

That seems like it would be very expensive.

Do not want.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

That's sort of how the Suzuki system works. From what I understand, they use it to smooth out the performance of the engine, limiting torque in 1st gear and preventing you from bogging it down with sudden, massive throttle inputs, but essentially you could program it any way you wanted to.

BTW, props for Awesome Mode™.

Faeflora

iTrader: (2)

really, why does my 99 not have power locks.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

RX7 FC's had a similar dual throttle system to what you two are describing, Joe and Y8s.

/They were made in the mid to late 80s too.
//All the real serious RX7 guys removed the second throttle so as to help with airflow and other factors.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Because it's a two-seat convertible, and even if you were fool-hardy enough to want to lock it, you can easily reach both locks from the driver's seat.

Next?

y8s

iTrader: (8)

because it's not the one that came with them.

oh sheet whats this:

Faeflora

iTrader: (2)

:(

JasonC SBB

Ya, IF you step hard enough so the car stops quickly enough, before the brakes fade.

If you are lame (like most drivers) and don't step hard the brakes will fade first.

AND there is an EASIER way - PUT THE DAMN CAR IN NEUTRAL.

I did a quick survey of random friends, more than HALF did not know what 'N' and '1' and '2' were for!!! They only knew P, D, and R.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Sawzall yourself a time machine out of rust and Burning Man ticket stubs and use it to go back and make better life decisions while purchasing your car.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

If you can touch the passenger door without leaning, you don't need power locks, lol.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Well, I'm assuming that most cars have power brakes with a greater assist ratio than on the Miata, and that the natural, instinctive reaction of any driver to such an event would be to immediately stand on the brakes with all their might when this occurred.

Based on the data that has actually been made public about the Toyota case, it would seem that this is in fact true, with one glaring exception- the drivers who claimed that they were standing on the brakes were in fact standing on the gas.

Unfortunately, you can't fix stupid, either with legislation or with engineering. If the driver presses down on the gas pedal without pressing down on the brake pedal, the car is going to accelerate. This is what we call "functioning as designed."

Yeah, there's that too. I guess I can grant people the benefit of the doubt, and assume that in a panic situation they may not be thinking clearly. I did once have the throttle on my Beetle stick open, and once I'd figured out what was happening (Beetles do not accelerate rapidly) it was a simple matter to turn off the engine, depress the clutch, shift into neutral, and coast to a stop at the side of the road.

But like I said, I'm assuming that people are panicky and stupid.

Well heck, even P or R would suffice in a pinch. Granted that you'd destroy the transmission in the process, but it would get you stopped.

Of course, there's one fundamental problem with that idea. In order to shift a modern automatic into P or R, you must first step on the brake pedal. And as I've stated above, the poor fools who seem to be having this problem weren't doing that in the first place.

Faeflora

iTrader: (2)

You have been paying attention!

BTW


Burning Man is VERY similar to Lemons Racing.

Art Cars
Cheap
DIY
Hot
Absurdity
Camaraderie

I have been to both and the vibe is eerily similar.

hustler

iTrader: (6)

LSD and herpes aren't standard issue at Lemons.

gearhead_318

iTrader: (1)

Not to mention all the goddamn hippies.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

i mean, this wasn't a debate how brainy should spend his money thread. this is the modern feature i want in my miata...specifically a vvt 1.8L motor

thats about it.

Faeflora

iTrader: (2)

LSD may be but the herpes rate is probably fairly close to the mean for sexually active people.

thank fuking god there are very few hippies at burning man. in my experience, hippies are whining irritable bitches and the desert for a week is not a good place for them. Also, fact of the matter is that burning man is expensive. $350 ticket, airfare/bus/carfare out there, a week of no pay (unless you have leave), event specific supplies etc deter a lot of the fuking bums.

blaen99

iTrader: (6)

And unlike the rest of us, yours is easily attainable ;b