Text 2978, 202 rader
Skriven 2010-01-09 13:23:46 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
Kommentar till text 2867 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Misconceptions
======================
09 Jan 10 07:09, Robert Bashe wrote to Roy Witt:
RB> Roy Witt wrote to Robert Bashe on Friday January 08 2010 at 12:10:
RB> [VW bus]
RW>>>> Because the vehicle cannot maintain enough speed to not obstruct
RW>>>> the flow of traffic.
RB>>> It certainly can here, and Germans are not known to be particularly
RB>>> slow-moving drivers. You're talking about special circumstances.
RW>> If you call driving up a hill special.
RB> Depends on the "hill". The Alps have some pretty steep grades, you
RB> know.
I'm sure the Rockies can show you some grades that are even steeper.
RW>>>> If and when it got to the hills on Interstate 10, west of here,
RW>>>> the minimum speed is 100km/hr, which it couldn't maintain on any
RW>>>> of the inclines required to get over the hill country into west
RW>>>> Texas.
RB>>> _Minimum_ speed 100 km/h?? That would be roughly 60 mph, and more
RB>>> likely a max. speed limit in the States.
RW>> Wrong. The max speed limit on I-10 west of San Antonio is 80mph.
RW>> East of SA it is 70mph and like I said, 60mph in San Antonio.
RB> You wrote "minimum" speed, Roy, not "maximum". Read it again.
But you claimed that it was more likely a max speed. I corrected your
ASSumption.
RB>>>>> Remember the Beetle and the bus were designed for Germany, and
RB>>>>> although there are considerable grades in the mountains there
RB>>>>> too, much of the country is relatively flat.
RW>>>> Which is why they're no longer sold here.
RB>>> No, they simply were outdated and were replaced by the VW Golf.
RW>> No, they're still being made, in Mexico. The Golf is even worse than
RW>> the bug.
RB> You're twisting and turning, Roy. You claimed the BEETLE was still
RB> being made in Mexico. It's not.
If you're interested in buying a 2010 model, they only sell for $18,690...
http://www.vw.com/newbeetle/gallery/en/us/#/exterior/0/
Basically, it's a Beetle on a Gulf chassis. In fact, under the skin of
the body, all the mechanical bits were lifted directly from the Golf,
including the transverse-mounted, water-cooled, 115-hp, 2.0-liter, SOHC,
eight-valve, inline four in the nose; the five-speed manual or four-speed
automatic transmissions; and the all-independent suspension. Theoretcally
the Golf is still in production but now has a Beetle body.
If you're thinking of the old 'air cooled' beetle, they were being made in
Puebla, Mexico until 2003. They're still being sold there from new, old
stock, but they can't be used as Taxi cabs in Mexico City anymore, as the
city has designated that all taxi' have 4 doors.
RB> Now you're twisting around and saying the Golf is being made there.
Your favorite source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Golf
is still in production and being sold in six nations.
RB> That's correct, but has nothing to do with your original claim.
I'm always correct.
RB>>> They had disadvantages (the lousy heater, for example) that were no
RB>>> longer tolerated even in a cult car. But before they ceased being
RB>>> made, over 10,000,000 were sold - that's quite a record.
RW>> That's a lot of under powered cars putting others in danger.
RB> ;-) Bullshit and you know it.
That's a fact and you're denial is not the name of a river in Egypt.
RW>>>> Although they're still being made in Mexico and you see them here
RW>>>> every once in a while.
RB>>> The Mexican production of Beetles ceased years ago, Roy.
RW>> Not. We see them coming across the border all the time. You can tell
RW>> their not old because they look brand new.
RB> I don't care if you see 100 in a straight line driving over the
RB> border, the Beetle ceased production in Mexico many years ago.
I don't care if you get blue in the face denying it, it's still in
production and being made in Puebla, Mexico.
RB> Do try to check your facts before making such statements. And try to
RB> accept that you're not right 100% of the time occasionally, it makes
RB> a better impression and would boost your credibility.
There's nothing wrong with my facts nor my credibility. Most people like
you just can't take it when you're wrong.
RB>>> You've never seen the streets in Heidelberg ;-)
RW>> You've never seen the streets in Jerome...
RB> Were they built in the 1500s and earlier, when the streets only had
RB> to be wide enough for a carriage? Those in Heidelberg were.
The streets of Jerome were built in the 1800s to accomodate the width of
a horse drawn ore wagon from the copper mines. There was an up street and
a down street seperated by land wide enough to build a cabin on. They
still exist as built, although now paved with asphalt.
Try the website and scroll down to the photo of the Flatiron Cafe. You can
get an idea of what the place was like. Of course, it's now more populated
than ever and modern improvements have been added.
http://www.azjerome.com/pages/jerome/shopping.htm
RB>>> You're lucky you live in the States, since you'd never be able to
RB>>> afford driving such a car in Europe.
RW>> You're assuming that...
RB> I'm assuming you're neither immensely wealthy nor a fool who puts his
RB> car above everything else in life.
I'm wealthy enough to afford to drive what I want, when and where I want.
I'd be like Ward and have to import something worthwhile to drive if I
lived in Europe.
RB>>> The road tax would be sky-high, the gas cost absolutely
RB>>> astronomical and the insurance prohibitive.
RW>> That has never stopped me from driving what I drive.
RB> You've never paid $500 a year road tax,
I have and do.
RB> something over $7.40 a gallon for gas (that's the current price for
RB> super here)
The price of fuel never enters into what I drive. The quantity it uses
might.
RB> and perhaps $1500 a year for basic liability insurance either.
I shop around for insurance and don't settle for just liability, nor do I
buy the minimum amount required by the state of Texas. $1500 every six
months wasn't unheard of when I lived in San Diego. It's a lot cheaper to
insure my cars in Texas though.
RB> I figure if you had, you'd talk a little differently.
I once owned a Corvette when I was 22-24. The insurance on that was more
than you would pay in Europe now, and that was in the 70s. The cut-off for
lower insurance rates was at 25 where the premium almost halved.
RB>>> But of course you probably wouldn't drive anything like that in
RB>>> Europe anyway, since there are not many day-long stretches of
RB>>> highway (American translation: "short jaunts" <g>) here, and large
RB>>> cars for short hauls just don't make economic sense. Nor is their
RB>>> comfort advantage really a selling point for the relatively short
RB>>> driving distances.
RW>> Which is another point of contention. I don't find any European cars
RW>> comfortable and they should be. The Japanese do a better job of
RW>> ergonomical design.
RB> Really? I don't find much difference _nowadays_ (Note: that does
RB> _not_ mean that there were not differences years ago:
Then you've not spent very much time investigating the difference.
Japanese cars have plush seats that almost make you want to take a nap.
Unless you're driving a cheap-ass model, then you're getting the comfort
of a BW Beetle: none.
RB> I am trying to anticipate your rejoinder). But for the short hauls we
RB> usually make in Europe, the differences aren't really significant.
Statistics show that Americans don't travel very far from home, usually no
more than 25 miles, round trip. I can count on one hand the times I've
been that far out of town this last year.
RB> I can even stand the Opel Aguila my wife bought against my wishes -
RB> and that really _is_ a roller skate, not only by your but even by my
RB> definitions.
As I can stand the BMWs my wife has had over the years. She has a hard
time finding someone willing to work on it.
R\%/itt
You can put lipstick on a pig, but the pig still stinks!
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