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How Not to Be a Road Hog
One of the charges often levelled against enthusiastic drivers is that they are “road hogs”. “They think they own the road!” is a common complaint by non-car road users, such as cyclists and pedestrians (and, out in rural areas, horse riders). With the growing concerns about rising petrol prices and about emissions, more people are turning to these non-petrol forms of transport. You may have heard injunctions to “share the road” with what transport experts refer to as “active modes of transport” and avoid being a road hog.
- Remember that bikes belong on the road. This means that if you have a Give Way or Stop sign in front of you and the bike does not, you still have to give way to the bike, even if it’s the only thing on the road. The bikes have to comply with the usual give way rules at intersections and roundabouts, and so do you – having more power and seats does not give you extra rights. If you were living in Holland, you would have fewer rights: over there, if a car collides with a bike, the car is assumed to be at fault unless they can prove otherwise, with the responsibility for that proof being on the car driver.
- Don’t drive in the bike lane. The bike lane is designed to keep slower cyclists out of your way so you can overtake them easily. It is not designed as an extra lane to allow you to overtake the car in front of you, or to get to the front of the queue at the lights when you’re turning left. Nor is it designed for parking in.
- Don’t drive on the pavement. You might think that this is a statement of the obvious, but when I used to live by a busy intersection where a huge line of cars used to queue up at the lights, I often saw people trying to get to the head of the queue at the lights “because I’m turning left and all those people in front of me aren’t” not only driving in the bike line but also getting a wheel or two up on the pavement and driving along to the head of the queue like that – even though I was walking on the aforementioned pavement with small children. So it does happen. Don’t do it.
- Give bikes a bit of space. They are less stable and may need to dodge road hogs (not like you) who drive in the bike lane, open car doors in front of them, etc. and swerve to one side. They are also less stable and can tip over if a sudden strong gust of wind takes them unawares. A good rule of thumb is to keep at least 1.5 metres clear of a cyclist when you pass just in case he or she falls over as you pass.
- If you drive near an area where lots of pedestrians and cyclists are likely (e.g. near a school), slow down and be prepared for them.
- Be polite and considerate. You may not be obliged to stop and let a waiting pedestrian through if they’re stuck on a traffic island in busy traffic, but it’s a nice thing to do if you wave them through. Consider it a random act of kindness and a way of making the world a friendlier place.
- If you’re out in the country and see a horse rider, slow down and try not to make loud noises suddenly with your engine. Especially do not blow your horn. Horses are emotional things, and if they are frightened by a sudden loud roar (“Lion! Lion! Panic! Run!”), they are likely to start acting up and throw the rider. Watch out for a hand signal that is only given by horse riders: the right arm held to the side and waving up and down from the elbow. This means “I am having trouble controlling my horse; please slow down.”
- If you have to negotiate a mob of sheep or cattle being herded along the road, pull over to the left and slow to a crawl. Again, don’t blow your horn. Sheep run straight ahead rather than to the side and if one sheep runs, others follow. Cattle are large and able to dent your vehicle (Buttercup can think that your wing mirrors make a handy scratching post if you stop). Goats go everywhere. If a collision is inevitable, don’t hit the dog.
- One of the main gripes many have about road hogs is in their inconsideration of other road uses. When you’re out driving, a road hog is easy to spot. They will go right up the back end of a car in front. They will intimidate till the last moment before pulling out and passing at the slightest sniff of a gap in oncoming traffic. Often, but not always, they drive big vehicles or fast vehicles. It’s good to be patient and to keep your distance from other cars around you. I’m sure road hogs are more stressed!
Great Wall Motors on the move.
Great Wall: What a name for a car! However, it’s not all about the name. But I do think they could have come up with something a little more romantic or exotic. Something with a little more panache would have served them better. Shuan means river, and it has a nice elegant sound to it. Shan means mountain. Shan XR8 would do the trick.
Perhaps not Dong, Lu or Ning. Fukien means ‘happy establishment’, but for the European it sounds a little close to… something else.
Some poor soul has to get the lucky job of naming a vehicle for a country with a different language and culture. I shouldn’t poke too much fun at the Great Wall Motors car manufacturing team, as, globally, the vehicle sales are definitely picking up. And you definitely can’t argue with the price. A Great Wall Motors 4×4 SUV vehicle is only going to hit you up for under $24k in Australia. With ABS, airbags and a number of high end features onboard, Great Wall Motors can’t be beaten on value.
With this sort of competition, one thing I do hope will happen is that a new Mercedes Benz or BMW might become a little cheaper for the average Joe Bloggs.
All Great Wall models come with a three year/100,000 kilometre warranty. And this is as good as you’ll find elsewhere.
So far the Great Wall utes and SUVs are standing up to the test. Would I buy one? I definitely would if I had the need. I think that the new price holds so much ‘bang for the buck’ that for three years, at least, you’ve got it made. For the same price, the alternative vehicle would be someone’s discarded work vehicle with medium ks on it – and not under warranty. I know which one I’d prefer.
Aerodynamically speaking
When you are talking about a car’s aerodynamics, you are talking about the car’s design. You are also talking about how easily the car’s bulk and total surface area can slip through the air particles. Air friction causes drag on a car’s exterior while it moves through the air. The less aerodynamic a car’s design is, the more drag the air particles will have on the car’s exterior surface. A car’s drag coefficient expresses this friction. Obviously, a car with a lower value of drag coefficient, the slipperier it is through air. The drag coefficient is always associated with a particular surface area.
Well then: I wonder what the most aerodynamic car is in the world. Aerodynamics is hugely important to keeping your fuel bill down. And because aerodynamics has so much to do with fuel consumption, this is such an important area for any automobile design team member.
Think about the cars that you look at every day. Think about the car that you drive. How do you think they would compare to the likes of the 2009 Mercedes Benz E Class Coupe which has a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.24. This E Class Coupe is exceptionally slippery through the air. The Honda Insight combines its Cd of 0.25 with a hybrid motor. The result being that the Insight is one of the world’s most fuel efficient cars. And I’m sure that you’ve heard of the Toyota Prius. The Prius has a Cd of 0.26, and is also a hybrid vehicle. Obviously, the Merc’s bigger performance engine lets the fuel consumption get away a bit. The lower mass – as well as the hybrid engines – favour the two hybrids -making them exceptionally fuel economic. Both the hybrid cars manage well under 4 litres/100 km fuel consumption.
Now… I’ve found what I was looking for. The most aerodynamic car ever produced in the world was the General Motors EV1, with a Cd of 0.195. Below is a picture of what the car looks like. Not totally practical, but efficient none the less.
Looking at some of the sweet exterior designs that a number of production cars are coming out with these days – Audi’s TT, Alfa Romeo’s Brera, the Mazda 6 range and Peugeot’s range of cars – I wonder how their drag coefficient rates.
Enzo Ferrari once said that “aerodynamics is for people who can’t build engines”. However, aerodynamics is paramount today. Car manufacturers have a lot on their plates at the moment: A world recession, India’s and China’s ever increasing presence in the modern automobile world, fuel price rises and consumers’ fickle tastes. It doesn’t make an automobile manufacturer’s life easy. Handling all of these issues at once must be a difficult task. But, we can do our bit. How about considering a car’s fuel economy and drag coefficient next time you come to purchasing a new car.
Top Movie Cars
Unless you confine all your movie watching to fantasy movies and historical movies set in worlds or times when the motor car didn’t exist, you’ve probably seen a few cars race across the silver screen (OK, you can also see a car in the background of the chariot scene in Ben Hur if you look carefully). Let’s face it: the car chase scene is pretty much an essential part of any good thriller – even a comedy thriller like the Rowan Atkinson James Bond take-off Johnny English where most of the chase scene involves a tow-truck and a hearse. Some car companies even pay big dollars to have their cars appear in the movie (it’s called product placement and is a form of advertising) – I remember the way that the Mercedes logo stood out silver on black on a 4×4 during a rather exciting part of Jurassic Park II; Cars has another example, with the audience seeing that Sally, the heroine, is a Porsche Carrera, complete with a pun on Portia (name of the Shakespeare heroine who saves the day with her skills as a lawyer). But, advertising aside, what are the most recognisable silver-screen sets of wheels?
In no particular order, some of the most recognisable movie motoring marques are:
1 VW Beetle: This very popular make had several movies where the car was the star: the Herbie movies. The self-powered VW Beetle with a mind of its own starred both the original 1968 The Love Bug and its many sequels in the next couple of decades, and also in the 2008 Herbie: Fully Loaded. This is one of the few movie cars that also was as popular on the roads as it was on the big screen.
2 Aston Martin (various): The Aston Martin is as recognisable a part of the James Bond movies as 007 himself. Interestingly, in the original books, Bond, James Bond doesn’t drive an Aston Martin but a Bentley. And the first choice of car for 007 in the movie versions was actually an E-type Jaguar, but Jaguar didn’t know about product placement and declined permission. Oops. The most impressive of the Bond Aston Martins would have to be the DB5 in Goldfinger, Thunderball, Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale, ejector seat and all.
3 DeLorean DMC-12: Not many people drive one of these cars. Not many people know much about these. But one thing that everyone knows is that the De Lorean was a time machine in the Back to the Future series.
4 Dodge Charger (1969 model): In bright orange and with the flag of the Confederate States emblazoned on the front, this was the General Lee, the wheels of the Dukes of Hazzard. This film began life as the very popular TV series in the 1970s. This car started a craze for bright orange vehicles and denim cut-off shorts.
5 GM Batmobile: Hmmm, I wonder who drove this vehicle…
6 Mini Cooper: in The Italian Job, this is the car that really steals the scenes. This thriller has plenty of hot cars (a Lamborghini Miura, an Aston Martin DB4 and a pair of E-type Jags) but it’s the Minis and their nippy handling that get the protagonists through the traffic jam, around various iconic locations, into the sewers and out into the Alps.
7 1976 Ford Gran Torino: The wheels of Starsky & Hutch. Another garishly painted 1970s classic car and another popular car-based TV show that became a movie in the turn of the century.
8 Ford De Luxe Convertible. It’s automatic, systematic, hyyyyyydromatic; it’s GREASED LIGHTNING… Well, you probably know where this one appeared unless you have been living under a rock (and I envy those rock-livers – I can’t stand this movie with its irritatingly catchy songs and the suggestion that the way to be popular and get the guy is to turn into a chain-smoking slut). Few schools haven’t done Grease as a musical. Although an assortment of old junkers get trotted out for high school productions, the movie version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John had the Forde De Luxe Convertible.
9 1977 Pontiac Trans Am: This was The Bandit’s form of transport in Smokey and the Bandit, complete with the “flaming chicken” decals on the front. The movie website http://www.rottentomatoes.com describes the rest of the film as “one of the wildest car chases of all time”.
10 1968 Ford Mustang GT390 Fastback This was driven by Steve McQueen in the movie Bullitt. You guessed it – the hard-bitten detective hero drives this in an iconic car chase scene.
Other notable movie cars include the 1958 Plymouth Fury (evil car in Christine), the Lamborghini Countach (The Cannonball Run), the Lotus Esprit (goes underwater in The Spy Who Loved Me), the Paragon Panther (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), the Chevrolet Camaro (Bumblebee in Transformers), the Model T Ford (in The Absent-Minded Professor but not in the disastrous re-make Flubber) and the Plymouth Valiant (takes on a big rig in Duel). Plus all the cars in Cars.
Level 2, 9 Help Street